need regain leadership. i like to say there is always a bull market somewhere, i promise to try it just for you right here on "mad money." i'm jim cramer, and i will see you tomorrow! good evening, everyone. i'm larry kudlow. this is "the kudlow report." another record high for the dow and s&p, and yet there's still no love for this market rally. so what's it going to take for america and especially the mainstream media to at least pay attention to this great stock market wealth creation? and guess what? we have some stats on how much the market has soared just since the last time i pointed out that this is the no love rally, and actually it's a big number. i got it right one time in a way. anyway, the kpmg insider trading case gets more interesting by the hour. photo evidence of a shady looking payoff on a california side street. the question is can we trust any of the kpmg's audits of the

public companies involved? and is the political chill in washington starting to thaw? well, i think it may on guns and perhaps immigration, but the republicans should stop a $1 trillion tax hike and keep the budget-cutting sequester in place. that is pro-growth. don't fall on that. i'm kudlow. we'll begin right now. another day, another record high on the dow. this market just doesn't want to quit. while our networks and newspapers aren't giving this market rally the respect it deserv deserves, my loyal kudlow viewers have been clued in from almost the get-go. i dove into the "kudlow report" archives and pulled this clip from january 18th. take a listen. >> it has been a good run, and it's funny. it doesn't seem to get respect, and you don't see it in the mutual fund flows, and you don't sort of hear it in the chatter. all right.

so there it is. got one right. look at this chart. the dow is up 13% year to date. it's up more than 9% since my early january call, three, three and a half months ago. thankfully i got it right one time. corrections or not, i still believe this rally has strong and durable legs. that is still my best take. here now we bring back steve weis of shorthill capitol, author of "unhedged, a killing in the market." larry mcdonald is with us head of global strategy at new edge and he's the author of "a colossal failure of common sense" and james petrocukias, cnbc contributor. why doesn't this market get any respect? >> well, people don't understand the dynamics going around the

world. what's happening in japan and what's happening in europe, the u.s. really looks very attractive because what's happening in japan is hurting the emerging markets and what's happening in europe -- >> japan is great. what happened in japan is terrific. >> a weak yen. >> china satellites are doing bad. japan is great. usa and japan are the best performing stock markets, as you all know. >> a weak yen and strong dollar is bad for emerging markets and in europe economic activity is almost at 2008 u.s. levels so you're talking about -- >> double dip. >> so people, if you're going to invest in the world, the u.s. right now, is one the only games in town. >> let's talk about that. you've got monetary expansion, right? you've got a cyclical slowdown in government spending and defici deficits, not bad. moderate growth and moderate profits, but i don't see any of that particularly changing. unemployment claims nosedived again today.

that's a great positive stock market indicator. what's wrong with this picture? >> what did you dal in the not so lovable ral? >> right. this gets no love, gets no respect. >> not so lovable economy, not so terrible economy. this isn't like the '80s, '90s boom. i would love to have 40% growth. maybe this quarter we'll get 3.5% growth, between 3% and 4% in the first quarter, rest of the year 2, 2.5, easy money. nice spending cuts from washington. you know, if the republicans don't blow it and go for the tax hike, nice spending cut austerity. >> spending cuts are good. that's one of the things i argued all this past winter that the spending cut sequester was a plus, not a minus and would help the economy grow because, steve, lowering spending is like a tax cut for the economy. i want to get your take on this, and also just as a wrinkle you had this really terrible pc

sales report come down, and i know it hurt a lot of stocks today, hewlett-packard and so forth, dell. probably been hurting apple, too. they are in the pc business to some extent. but does that slow down technology? does that sort of thing slow down this market? >> no, and here's why i say it. i agree with you that the market gets no love. as a matter of fact, people throw pejoratives at the market. they say animal spirits. there are no animal spirits in the market. it's been very orderly. it's a stock-picker's market. even yesterday when the market was moving higher, we had some sectors that were down. steel, iron ore and coal, and they should be down because they are linked to china, so pc shipments being down is not news to anybody. technology not going with the flow, although it did yesterday, isn't news to anybody. apple continues to underperform. we've had days where google, the tech leader, has really underperformed, actually for a couple weeks there yet the market moves higher. >> where do you go?

i don't know if you're saying sell technology or not. >> no, i'm not. >> where are your favorite investment picks? >> you mentioned japan. i'm long japan. >> lost -- love it. they should and i'm a hard money guy. if they are deep in deflation they have to create money and bring their currency down, and i don't know why so many people don't understand this. japan is doing the right thing. >> absolutely right thing. so had my annual golf trip with dave tepper and some other investors this past weekend, dave said fire all your analysts. just buy the s&p. there's a drive for risk assets. it's being driven by jap. being driven by what's happening in europe so buy j&j, the household names that have yield. they will keep going because they are safe. they know what those names are in japan. they know what they are in europe. cyprus scared people in europe. the u.s., as larry said, is the

market to be, both for return and for yield. >> yeah. all right. hang on. i want to go. it's a hot topic on wall street right now. it's very interesting. digital money called bitcoin, i can't resist there, digital money called bitcoin but the value of this money is totally unpredictable. it fluctuates from $20 a unit to $260 a unit, and all the way back down. in fact, today trading was halted. so how do you know to make bitcoin real money? how can we make bitcoin real money? i have a very simple solution, larry, link it to gold. bitcoin, digital money, link it to gold. you've got an alternative currency to the dollar and all the fed shenanigans are and i think that would be totally cool. >> that was the amazing dynamic. the weakness in cold this last ten days and the -- the bert explosion. one of my good friends had bitcoin a couple years ago,

going through divorce, $2,000, $3,000 worth. put it on one of his pcs, ten pcs. he's lost the bit coin and on monday it's worth $26,000. he lost -- in other words, the bitcoin was actually -- the file was on a pc, and he couldn't find it. >> i see. >> he called me today, almost in tears because the bitcoin value was down 50%, 60%. >> if they linked it, i mean, to serve as a medium of exchange and an investment store of value, if they link this digital money, which i like, i like it as an alternative currency. make it legal tender and link it to gold and you can trade it and it will have staying power on all these transactions. this is the winkel vosses, by the way, the guys who went up against mark zuckerberg. these guys have had their ups and down but they may have

something. >> conceptually it makes sense, and i short it like i like to short gold because i don't know what the intrinsic value is. i don't know what the intrinsic value of bitcoin is. to me it sounds like ponzi scheme. >> it has no moneyness. >> most people don't understand what it is. >> there has to be a moneyness of money in order to do this kind of thing and they don't have it. that's why i suggested the cold play. can you buy stocks with bitcoin? that's a serious question. >> i haven't heard of a way to buy stocks. >> that would put leverage under the markets. >> you'll be able, to but there will be double pink sheet stocks. >> can you go out and make a transaction online and pay in bitcoin with any degree of confidence, larry? >> no, not now, with confidence, and also the regulators are going to flock to this because you have transactions that are going on yesterday. when one of the dealers, the pc went down, that's a bad thing because that means people are getting hung up. >> in you leave your pipes open to it, it's a lot of fraud.

they are coming in and they are picking your pocket. >> right. >> so they are just tacking you to death. >> larry mcdonald, bull, bear, some place in between, real quick. >> well, real quick. i'm bearish on the financials. i like technology. i do think there's problems brewing in europe that will give us a shock sometime in the next 30 days. >> next 30 days. >> so you want to be on guard defensive. a correction could be here from the european problem. >> but each year 2011, 2010 down 16% this time. 2011 we were down 20 and last year we were down 10 all because of systemic risk. >> struss selling all its gold in a world to knock the gold price down some more or not? >> they say no. i say yes. >> all right. that's it. you heard it. switching gears on "the kudlow report," astonishing new reports on the kpmg insider trading case. a real mean story. we'll have more details, incredible pictures. much more. you're going to be looking at

one of the pictures right now. that i believe is an exchange. look at that there. there they go. is that called on the take or what? two liars going to jail. later on on "the kudlow report." no filibuster for now on the gun bill in washington, but some republican senators are not promising anything yet. we're going to talk to one of the biggest second amendment defenders, senator mike lee of utah, and please, folks, don't forget. free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity. bitcoins, i'm going to have to work on that a little bit. i'm kudlow. we'll be right back. join us at projectluna.com

impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. but at xerox we've embraced a new role. working behind the scenes to provide companies with services... like helping hr departments manage benefits and pensions for over 11 million employees. reducing document costs by up to 30%... and processing $421 billion dollars in accounts payables each year. helping thousands of companies simplify how work gets done. how's that for an encore? with xerox, you're ready for real business.

it's easy to follow the progress you're making toward all your financial goals. a quick glance, and you can see if you're on track. when the conversation turns to knowing where you stand, turn to us.

a lot of really bad breaking news over the kpmg insider trading case and the partner who gave tips to one of his buddies. just criminally charged today. that's the kpmg partner. jane wells live in los angeles for us with all the gory details. good evening, jane. >> reporter: larry, scott london just left court with his attorney harlon braun. he had no comment for us. we do have sketches inside the courtroom where he had made a brief appearance before the judge where he will be posting $150,000 bond. in the face of charges that could land him five years in prison on insider trading.

his attorney harlon braun tells us when his client next meet in court may 17th will plead guilty. they should avoid a try. we have a photo of london accepting allegedly cash from his friend bryan shaw in exchange for inside information he gave in this particular case on deckers outdoors but this case involves several companies. at least five companies, and over the course of that it is alleged that shaw, the friend, profited illegally $1.27 million worth before the fbi confronted him, and he started working for the fbi to sting london. now, one of thenter things, larry, is that scott london did not know that bryan shaw had made that much money. he he, scott london, believes he only made about $35,000 in illegal profits and kickbacks from shaw on his gains. $1.27 million. when i asked his attorney outside court about that, here's what harlan braun had to say. reaction to the $1.27 million

for bryan shaw. >> almost vomited in my car. >> reporter: how much did he think the guy made? >> he thought he made maybe $100,000, 200,000. it was beyond his comprehension there was that much money. >> reporter: now we're going to show you video where this all kind of started. the two met at the north ranch country club where they became friends, golfing buddies, and it developed over a series of years. allegedly bryan shaw said that his jewelry business in twn suffered in the recession, and that's when the tips began to allegedly help shaw get out of this. we also stopped by bryan shaw's house inside a gated community, a very well-to-do part of southern california. again no, charges yet against bryan shaw, though he made a lot more money on this. he was originally listed as a co-defendant in the paperwork. he is not, at this point, the judge and the attorneys are telling scott london that he is not to contact shaw except

through counsel. he is to surrender his passport and has to stay within the area of the central district of california, and within a week he must post $150,000 bond. by the way, 100,000 of that is unsecured based strictly at this point on his wife's signature. again though his attorney says, larry, that he will plead guilty on may 17th. and why? why has he come out so public and admitted his guilt? because, according to his attorney, he wanted to protect the firm. protect the clients and didn't want this to turn into a market crisis where kpmg could potentially be investigated for all of its clients and suffer very badly. back to you. >> we'll talk about that in just a minute. jane, one quickie. is this guy, scott london, was he trading the scott also, and how do we know he wasn't? >> reporter: well, according to the criminal complaint, there is no evidence of that. he was merely giving tips, and that bryan shaw would occasionally reward him. scott london's attorney says that bryan shaw has exaggerated

the value of some of those gifts, that he thinks scott london probably only got $35,000 which for the kind of salary i was making i asked why would he do that for $35,000? his own attorney says i don't know. i just don't get it. >> jane wells, stay with us please. we'll bring in a former federal prosecutor under now governor chris christie and also an attorney at wilson, good rich and rosati. mitch, what does this do for kpmg in. >> bad for kpmg. not as bad as some of their prior scandals because this is apparently one bad ale, but it's bad for kpmg. >> prior scandals, refresh us. >> their biggest prior scandal is they were part of a big tax shelter problem where the treasury department came into a number of the leading law firms and kpmg and basically said that something that they had on purpose designed was nothing but a tax fraud. >> right, right, right.

okay, so, look. this scott london guy, the l.a. partner. he was monitoring all these companies. we know about herbalife and now about skechers. deckers and pacific bank corporation. do we believe the financials on these companies? mean, how does that affect? kpmg said we're okay, we're okay, but we're dropping out. do we believe the auditing returns they filed are valid? >> well, two of those companies don't exist anymore. kpmg was representing them as their attestation firm, and then they were acquired and what london has been accused of doing is tipping his guy at the golf course about those upcoming m & as so those two just are not existent companies anymore. >> you don't think -- let me get this right. arthur andersen put out of business over enron, am i right? >> absolutely.

>> jim cramer and i started the show many times during that sure. kpmg, are they vulnerable to what i call a institutional criminal pursuit by the fbi or whoever? could kpmg actually go down over this? >> i don't think so unless, and let me give the big unless. the financials for those three companies, and herbalife is the most important of the three because there's somebody out there who has big money saying that this thing is a ponzi scheme. >> bill ackman. >> this is one of the hottest m & a arbitrage issues. carl icahn is involved, ackman is involved, dan loeb, one of the hot-trading stocks. turns out this thing is insider information. i'd like to know the inside information. i bet carl icahn and ackman would like to know. maybe a head start on these' counting disclosures before they are published. >> go ahead, jane.

what have you got? >> reporter: well, according to scott london an what he's tell federal authorities, this did not impact the audits of herbalife at all, and he has said, to the authorities and so far they appear to believe him, that this was not a kpmg thing at all. >> he does not want kpmg to become arthur andersen and that's why he's thrown himself on the mercy of the court and admitted all. he says repeatedly this is not about them, and his attorney said there was, quote, relief on the faces of the federal agents when they finally contacted him and met with him approximately two weeks ago because they feared this was just the tip of the iceberg at kpmg and now according to london's attorney they know it was just one guy. >> all right. mitch epner, wrap me up on this. what's your take on this whole thing? >> here's my take. herbalife, somebody new is going to come in, probably one of the other big four, and do those three years of financials. this is a raging civil war about

whether the books are right or wrong. >> that's right, that's right. >> and if the new big four accounting firm says they are wrong, it's going to be a big problem. >> for kpmg. >> for kpmg. >> they will be accused of cooking the books or malfeasance for something that could spill civil into criminal. i'm the worst case guy on this. >> that's the worst case. >> i remember the whole enron story and all the accountants lied through their teeth until the moment of truth. >> if i'm kpmg's general counsel, that's my fear, that is when the new guys come in they will say the books were cooked. >> the books were cooked. oh, my god. mitch epner, thank you very much. you work for my favorite prosecutor, governor chris christie. jane wells from southern california, as always, thank you very much. now, a shocking statement from a member of congress about north korea's weapons capability. it is not good news, but you need to hear it. the congressman who brought that

information to light today at a hearing. he's about to join us live. please, stay with us, "the kudlow report." [ kitt ] you know what's impressive? a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪

and coffee is coffee, a quick bite is a quick bite, and play time is play time, because for 24 hours my heartburn is lights out. prevent acid for 24 hours with prevacid 24 hour.

troubling new assessment of north korea's nuclear capability was made public today. here now is congressman doug lamborn from colorado who broke that story. congressman, thanks so much. here's the unclassified quote from the defense intelligence agency report that you read

today at a hearing on capitol hill and i quote. dia assesses with moderate confidence the north korean's currently have nuclear capable of delivery by ballistic missiles. however, the reliability may be low. this sounds like very rough sledding for that whole powder keg situation, congressman. how do you see this? >> i'm glad that we are sending aegis missile destroyers to help our ally and japan. we had a station there. beefing that up. japan has good capability, and we also have good international ballistic missile defense in alaska and the west coast of the u.s., so i don't have an immediate concern that we're doing anything wrong. i think that that gravity of the situation and the potential threat is something that everyone should be aware of though. >> a lot of people have said on this whole issue, this gradual discussion, this gradual

development in north korea, that they may look silly at times, but every time they run one of these tests up, they learn something and get something. i guess what i'm asking you is in terms of odds, how would you handicap on a scale of 1-10, 10 being absolutely perfect and 1 being nothing going on. how would you rank their nuclear capability, right now, today. >> larry, we know they have set off a nuclear test of a rudimentary nature. we haven't known that in the past to put that device on a ballistic missile. the dia has come out and said that there's some belief on their part that that capability does exist, and that's a huge concern. now, let's fully found our nation's missile defense. barack obama has submitted a proposal where he cuts it by half a billion. i think that's a mistake. i would like to see that reversed to better protect our country, larry, and i think

that's really the ultimate goal that we should have here. >> well, i'm reading in the "washington post" that general dempsey doesn't disagree and says the extent of north korean progress on designing a nuclear weapon small enough to operate was classified, but he didn't rule it out, congressman, and then he says they have conducted two nuclear tests and conducted several ballistic missile launches, so that leads me to the other question, congressman, what about their delivery system? do we think they have a delivery system, too? >> well, that's the whole question. we know they can explode the device. this dia reports says that they may have the capability of combining the two. there's some belief on their part of the dia which i think is an impartial and credible intelligence community agency that we have, so we have to take this very seriously. >> you broke a he ll of a story today, congressman. public service.

thank you very much. appreciate it. next up, i see some more evidence, a little more evidence of a possible thaw in the political chill of washington, d.c. there could be some common ground. please, stay with us.

so if you have a flat tire, dead battery, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional

better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today, like our 24/7 support and service, because at liberty mutual insurance, we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, so we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call... today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? welcome back to "the kudlow

report." i'm larry kudlow. first up, is there a spring thaw bringing a spirit of bipartisan to washington politics? president obama invited 12 republicans to dinner where they discussed immigration, guns and taxes. let's get this report from robert costa of "the national review." if i'm not mistaken, you've also dined with senator mitch mcconnell, interviewed paul ryan all in recent days. is there a thaw? >> i think there is a possibility of a thaw. of course, we're in did i n divided government, larry, but this is the president reaching out to a dozen republican senators trying to find common ground on fiscal issue, the budget, immigration and guns. >> the move to cloture passed easily today on guns. what does that tell you? >> something is going to come out of senate, larry. the real question is what happens now in the republican-controlled house. there will be some pressure,

especially on moderate republicans, to consider the gun legislation because it plays well in moderate states. >> and what do you hear about the immigration? that's coming later. the gang of eight is going to report. everybody is waiting for them. very interesting situation. let's say senator mcconnell, if you can share with us, what was his feeling about the gang of eight on immigration? >> the feeling among the senate leadership is that something will come out of senate from this gang of eight senators, a bipartisan group, and the key to this is marco rubio of florida. he's the keystone to the senate's immigration package. i think it's important that the president invited marco rubio to the white house to have dinner with this group because it shows the president understands rubio's importance in this immigration calculus because rubio allows a lot of republican senators to be part of a bipartisan deal. >> last one, real quick, robert. could this make or break rubio's career? some people say it's that pivotal. >> it is really that pivotal especially ahead of the 2016 election, larry. what this shows about rubio is

he's willing to take a political ring. a lot of senators looking at the white house don't take the political risk. he's putting himself out there and how it unfolds will have a big impact on his presidential aspirations. >> i can't wait to talk 2016. robert costa, thanks, buddy. we'll see you tomorrow, too. let's bring in another distinguished guest, david drucker, sunshinior editor of "roll call." there is a risk, it seems to me, and we've been talking about this, and i talk about it later with senator mike lee. if the republicans are seen as totallying negative, obstructionist and filibustering, that is going to do even more damage to them after the election, will it not? >> well, it could definitely hurt them. i think there's a serbs and i think republicans understand this, larry, that the american public, that voters can understand if republicans on principle are not willing to go in certain directions and support certain pieces of legislation, but the idea of simply saying no without being willing to debate it and explain

themselves i think has grown a little bit tiresome. i think the country after the serial crises that we dealt with over the last few years has simply worn out, and i think that's why you've seen republicans simply being a little bit more careful in where they choose to filibuster and how they choose to do it. the rand paul filibuster over the drone policy was a resounding success so it's not that you can't do it. it's how and where and where the subject matter is. >> keith boykin, i don't know whether it's president obama's charm offensive or sheer raw politics that the gop has to play ball, that they have to deal with these issues one by one on the merits? what's your take? >> i think it's necessity and opportunism. if you look at the issue of immigration, they lost 70% of the latino vote in the last election so, of course, they have to compromise and do something and marco rubio has to do something because he wants to be the 2016 standard bearer. if you look at gun control, 90% of the american people support background checks.

of course they can't just step in the way and say we're not even going to allow a vote. it makes them look really bad and that's not good for the republican brand. >> jimmy p., what also is not good for the republican brand and that's if they sign on to the obama budget which basically strips away all the bell and whistles and says no budget-cutting sequester, $1 trillion, take the caps away and instead raise taxes by $1 trillion. now, if the republicans are sweetness and light and spring thaw on that, they are out of their minds. >> david was talking about we're going from crisis to crisis. what this says to me is we're going to have another crisis, a debt ceiling crisis, because if the president thinks the republicans are going to go along with this, if they are going to go along with other sorts of tax increases, big tax increases for minor entitlement cuts, that's not going to happen. i mean, as we were saying before, it's the sequester, the spending austerity, the right kind of austerity, that is helping this economy right now. balanced off by the fed. we're not going to get rid that

have and replace it with tax hikes. >> dave drucker, the gop wants to win in 2014, i get that, but if the gop becomes democrats, i don't think they are going to win in 2014. >> well, larry, i think everybody should disabuse themselves of the fact that the republicans are going to sign on to the obama budget in any form as it's presented today, and that they are going to support tax increases of any kind, and if the president thinks that the fiscal cliff deal is a way forward for him to cut more deal with the republicans he's going to be disappointed. not only is it bad for them politically, they simply don't believe in it and it will hurt them. it will hurt them in the 2014 primaries and in the 2014 elections so it's something that's not going to happen, but i think what you will see with republicans is a greater effort to try and show what they are for and to show a process that says we are doing something. it's just not what he wants but it's something that we think

it's better. >> puts obama in a box. >> i think obama is playing this the best he possibly can politically. came out and said he's in favor of chained cpi, in favor of means testing medicare. got liberals outraged over these two positions so he's put himself squarely in the middle while the left and right look like they are the ones who the obstructionists who aren't getting anything done so from president obama's objective he's right where he needs to be but the problem -- >> his approval rating is falling, is that where he needs to be? what's going on? >> the problem is nothing is getting done because the republicans aren't willing to compromise. >> see, all this paul ryan stuff reform is way down the road. seniors are going to get hit next year if that chained cpi goes into place. >> that's a tax increase. that doesn't count. that's 1 for 1 >> you can't have it both ways. you can't say you want cuts and you want to deal with entitlement but then you're afraid to deal with them right now. president obama deserves credit

for the courage to put this on the table. >> the plan does not change the long-term trajectory at all. >> you need broader-based -- >> what are the republicans going to compromise on? >> no answer. >> it's not going to be tax increases because that's political sub side. >> you win that round. get the nobel prize. a key procedural vote on gun legislation did pass the senate today by 68-31. that moves forward with the debate. we have utah senator mike lee, a strong man on the second amendment. he's threatened to filibuster the whole gun story. that's up next. store mike lee. [ male announcer ] it's the little things. the little details. the little moments that make life truly amazing.

that's why southwest worked hard on the little and big things to build a better in-flight experience featuring access to wi-fi, live tv, and updated cabins. getting there just got better. we are southwest. welcome aboard. the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf., and every day since, we've worked hard to keep it. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy. we've shared what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. bp's also committed to america. we support nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger.

but i wondered what a customer thought? describe the first time you met. you brought the flex in... as soon as i met fiona and i was describing the problem we were having with our rear brakes, she immediately triaged the situation, knew exactly what was wrong with it, the car was diagnosed properly, it was fixed correctly i have confidence knowing that if i take to ford it's going to be done correctly with the right parts and the right people. get a free brake inspection and brake pads installed for just 49.95 after rebates when you use the ford service credit card. did you tell him to say all of that? no, he's right though...

controversial gun legislation passed a procedural hurdle in the senate. a 68-31 vote that will allow debate and amendments on the measure. we welcome back to the show senator mike lee, republican from utah, who voted against today's cloture motion and threatened to filibuster the gun bill. you voted against the procedural motion today. could you tell us why. >> yes. i voted against because this is legislation that would restrict

the rights of law-abiding american citizens while doing little or nothing to protect us against the kind of violent gun crime that precipitated this whole movement a few months ago, the tragic events of newtown, connecticut, and we need to look out for our second amendment rights and need to look out for all the rights protected in our constitution, and any time we're restricting the rights of the law-abiding, that ought to be a concern to us. there ought to be a careful balancing test, and we ought not do that unless we can show some demonstrated benefit from that restriction. >> if the senate bill is amended, as i understand it, majority leader reid said the first amend cement going to be on the background checks from senator manchin and senator toomey, their new compromise. if their amend mt. ment is substituted into the current amendment, would that change your mind on investigate on the whole bill? >> no. the short answer is no. the longer answer is that i haven't seen it yet. it still isn't public. we've been waiting for it.

it's been discussed on various news channels over the last 48 hours, as if it's a fixed legislative proposal and i've yet to see legislative text. i'm told it will be coming out soon, but i've been hearing that for about the last 48 hours. >> senator toomey was on the show yesterday. i interviewed him on the question of background cherks and senator lee, you're a distinguished attorney, i'm just a report, but i did try to ask him what the key spots were. he says basically this is for gun shows and internet. it's not for the exchange of family members or close friends, and there will be no, you know, federal registry on this. that's how i understood it. do those things meet your approval or disapproval? >> okay. well, i understand that description and that description certainly makes it a lot less threatening than what was proposed by senator schumer and what moved through the senate judiciary committee a few weeks ago, but, again, the devil is in the details. we need to see what the details

are. we haven't seen the details. i in all probability will not be voting against it. in fact, i'm certain i won't be voting for it because there's still enough things in it that i find not warranted. i find not worth voting for. they still would have a significant restriction on the rights of the law-abiding in the absence of any real empirical evidence suggesting that this would deter the kind of violent crime that we're concerned about. >> when you say vote against it, you mean vote against the toomey/manchin amendment? >> yes, as well as larger legislative package. difficult to see because we haven't seen the toomey/manchin language. it's terribly frustrating when people go on television and talk about it as if it's an existing proposal and there's nothing there. >> very much appreciate that. let me ask you a political question. all the opinion polls show the public wants something done. in term of assault weapons ban, that's gone. in terms of ending the

multi-ammunition magazine cartridges, that's gone, okay. so the worst of these things that came from obama is gone, but the polls show that the public wants something done, and it just seemed like the background check was a matter that republicans could come around and show the public they want to get something rather than obstructing. do those kind of politics enter into your thinking? >> well, sure. look, i understand that public opinion seems to suggest one thing or another. that often is a powerful motivator in the senate, but we have to dive a little bit deeper into the details. what we discovered, larry, is that although people may answer the question one way, when all they hear are background checks. when they come to an understanding that a universal background system will prove feckless, completely ineffective unless it's backed up in some way by a record keeping system, perhaps culminating in a nationwide gun registration

system, it's not going to work and americans are not comfortable with that. not comfortable with the government keeping track of what guns they own and where they bought them, and -- >> it's a freedom issue. last one, sir. senator cruz, senator rand paul, senator rubio, yourself and others have threatened to filibuster this. will you in fact filibuster the gun bill? >> as you know, larry, the word filibuster carries many means and the way it's often used, the way we have implement it had here refers to the fact that we're going to demand a 60-vote margin, a 60-vote threshold. we demand that had in connection with the motion to proceed. we will demand that again in connection with cloture on the entire bill, and we do that because we believe that particularly with this kind of legislation, a legislation that would tend to restrict the rights of law-abiding american citizens, we shouldn't have a law that moves forward without

broad-based bipartisan consensus. we don't want something negotiated behind closed doors and a back real deal brought to the floor of the senate in the last minute and enacted into law with a bare simple majority consisting of senators from only one party. >> all right. we'll leave it there. senator mike lee, appreciate your time and very much appreciate your point of view, sir. >> thank you. >> all right. for some quick commently let's talk to keith boykin and jim pethokoukis. republican filibuster of the gun bill, hurt or help them politically? >> as you saw from the graphic up there, it's a matter of are they going to win this thing slightly, or is this going ton an overwhelming victory? they have already knocked down like three of the big four elements. they have this last one. i don't think -- i don't think they fear public opinion on this issue. it's completely different. >> they being? >> the republicans. i think it's completely different than immigration where they see a huge political risk if immigration reform doesn't happen. if gun control doesn't happen, i'm not sure they are so afraid

of that as a moment overwhelming polls. >> i think they should be afraid of it. in terms of the fact that they are not, 90% of the american people tell you; you should listen. a new story that came out that said rick warren's son died because of an unregistered gun used to kill himself purchased on the internet. when people hear about these types of stories it reinforces the need for commercial background checks. may not be able to get to the private checks. manchin/toomey bill, even though it's not comprehensive enough, something in the wrong direction >> you want the national registry? >> that's not even on the table. >> it's all for show. >> it's not on the table and even if it were on the table, register a lot of things, our automobiles and people don't have a problem with that. >> automobiles aren't in the u.s. constitution. >> most reg stem them through their insurance companies. it could be done in a local process. people talk about the right to vote. that's also a right, and that's an unrestricted right because

republicans wanted to make sure you couldn't do that without i.d. >> the thing about politics. you may want bigger registrations and so forth, but really the president's original proposals have all been defeated. they are gone. >> it's a loss. >> so i think the gop has an opening here to get a decent background and square some political points publicly. >> ronald reagan supported background checks. >> but i support background checks, up to a point. keith boykin. jimmy pethokoukis, we appreciate it. now we're going back to the shameful part of the new obama budget, the shameful part that may confiscate tax or at least limit your hard-earned retirement money, all right. so important for you, so important for the overall economic growth, a top man at biggest name in retirement funds fidelity is speaking out against this limit, and he will join us next up on "kudlow." i know what you're thinking...

transit fares! as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. no? oh, right. you're thinking of the 1.6 million daily customer care interactions xerox handles. or the 900 million health insurance claims we process. so, it's no surprise to you that companies depend on today's xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. with xerox, you're ready real business.

which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. tired of fees piling up introducing chase liquid. the reloadable card with no fee reloads and withdrawals at chase atms. all for one flat monthly fee so there's zero confusion. get rid of prepaid problems. get chase liquid. but i am your rmarket data. i know what you're looking for. i'm not chained to your desk anymore. i'm faster and smarter now.

and so much less expensive. i am your market data. and if i do say so myself, i have never looked better. superderivatives introduces dgx. data done differently. how dare president obama tell retirees how much they can make and how well they can live? and in fact this country needs as much saving and investment as possible. it all should be tax-free, not limited, not confiscated. joining me now to talk about this we have ron o'hanley. he's president of asset management and corporate services at the great did i felt investments. thank you very much. what gives the government the right to tell people how much they can save and how well they should live in retirement? these are free people. what gives the government the right to do that?

>> well, first of all, larry, thanks for having me tonight, but i think the real issue here is a misunderstanding of how these incentives work, and a misunderstanding that by curtailing them or limiting them really doesn't raise any revenue. it just moves revenue around. >> yeah. i mean, look, i understand that, i definitely get that. but in this what we know, they don't want -- the government says, look, i'll quote. $205,000 is substantially more than needed for reasonable retirement so they want to put a $3 million cap on these retirement vehicles. how the hell do they know what $205,000 is, and for a lot of things don't you pay taxes when you withdraw them or redeem them so i don't understand how the government can direct and force people to behave? >> well, in fact, you've hit the major point here is that these -- these amounts are taxed anyway. they are taxed when they come out. they are taxed after all the

gains have been earned so they actually get tasked at a much higher rate than they would be otherwise, and they get taxed at the ordinary income rate, so this real isn't a revenue producer. it's -- it's something that takes revenue from the future and moves it forward. on top of that the challenge of the president's budget which, again, we're all studying and trying to get our arms around, it it's based on a calculation that's very dependant on interest rates, so administratively that's going to be awfully hard to figure out how to comply with that. >> just in a broader sense, something else that bugs me about this administration. i don't think they understand how important saving and investment are to the state of our economy, and if you ask me, ron o'hanley, i would make saving and investment tax-free and just tax consumption, but we can't grow unless we save and invest. >> well, that's right, and i

think people forget about just the power of retirement savings on capital formation in the country. there's roughly $19 trillion in retirement savings, 36% of all household assets, and it really is a driver of growth, of competitiveness and of investment in the country, and anything one does to limit that is just, one, going to hurt retiree down the road but also going to hurt our competitiveness, raise the cost of capital and make it harder for small business. >> just in a small period, sir, did i felt is a great firm. when i worked on wall street, i used to call on it, of course. what are you telling people to do about saving and investing right now, as quick as possible? >> well, we tell people to save early and as much as possible try and increase that a little bit every year. i mean, this is the challenge. in this age of retirement where people are responsible for all themselves, they are typically not in a defined benefit plan.

they need to save a lot and need to keep as much as they can. >> got to leave it there. thank you, sir, ron o'hanley from fidelity, a major, major investor. that's it for this evening's show. as always, thanks for watching. i'm larry kudlow. i still believe in freedom and let us save and invest and make america great. see you tomorrow night. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 searching for a bank designed for investors like you? tdd: 1-800-345-2550 schwab bank was built with tdd: 1-800-345-2550 all the value and convenience investors want. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 like no atm fees, worldwide. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 and no nuisance fees. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 plus deposit checks with mobile deposit, tdd: 1-800-345-2550 and manage your cash and investments tdd: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab's mobile app. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 no wonder schwab bank has grown to over 70 billion in assets. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 so if you're looking for a bank that's in your corner, tdd: 1-800-345-2550 not just on the corner, tdd: 1-800-345-2550 call, click or visit to start banking with schwab bank today. welcnew york state, where cutting taxes for families and businesses is our business. we've reduced taxes and lowered costs to save

businesses more than two billion dollars to grow jobs, cut middle class income taxes to the lowest rate in sixty years, and we're creating tax free zones for business startups. the new new york is working creating tens of thousands of new businesses, and we're just getting started. to grow or start your business visit thenewny.com she's always been able it's just her way.day. but yourctilion - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache.

to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. but i wondered what a customer thought? describe the first time you met. you brought the flex in... as soon as i met fiona and i was describing the problem we were having with our rear brakes, she immediately triaged the situation, knew exactly what was wrong with it, the car was diagnosed properly, it was fixed correctly i have confidence knowing that if i take to ford it's going to be done correctly with the right parts and the right people. get a free brake inspection and brake pads installed for just 49.95 after rebates when you use the ford service credit card. did you tell him to say all of that? no, he's right though...