neil: wellit's friday. do you know where your big government is? welcome, everybody, i'm neil cavuto. if nothing has come out of these bubbling administration scandals, it is this: big government could be in big trouble, and apparently so is faith in that government, especially ifit involves irs agents supervising large swaths of it. but leaving aside the public's rightful indignation over nosey agents, this is much bigger than the irs. this is the president's agenda itself, an agenda that now looks in tatters. if you're thwhite house right about now, do you seriously think you're going to have your way on almost anything now, on raising taxes again on anybody, or pushing through more green energy inittives for any one or having the upper hand on buet matters anytime soon?

now, i'm not saying the president is a lame duck, but all of these scandals have left him a bad wounded one, and the more these hearings into the irs, spying, the justic department snooping and whole agencies benghazi-revising, you've got to a urself something: is this the week the white house proved weak? it's trying to defense the indefensible and proved even weaker. no heart what comes of these various embarrassments, this much is clear: the president's best excuse was that he w, wellout of the loop. he has gone from hands-on to hands-off, but it is still going to hit his approval numbers hands down. because it is hard to pound the pulpit when you're taking a pounding in the polls. so is big gov being given the big shove? and will the political fallout have money for democrats falling short? let's ask melissa francis and bob cusack. melissa, what do you thi? >> i think that every time we see a scandal like ts, i want to say these are the folks you put in charge of your health

care, and how do you feel about that? i mean, that is really terrifying, and used to say have you been to the dmv lately, have you seen what's going on at the po office, why would you put these people in charge of your health care? now we have an exact example. this sarah hall ingram who is in charge of the office that decided on the tax-exempt status, shis now in charge of the irs' affordable care office. if that doesn't make you run screaming from big government, i don't know wha will. neil: full disclosure, i'm in charge of the government's fitness program now, anything i ca do to help. [laughter] noel, what do you make of this? up until now the president's had the upper hand on a lot o things, and now many republicans are seizingon this as a lnerability going into the 2014 mierm election, furthermore, particularly when itomes to men benghazi for hilly clinton. play this out money wise. >> many good god, this has been a horrible period for the

democratic party, and first of all, obama is the brand for the democratic party. and everything from the ap to the irs to benghazi to going back to fast andurious, everything is hitting the n, and it can't help but damage the brand, number one, which in turn helps the republican party build their brand. it's kind of like this. so, yes, neil, that's goin to help us. it's going to help t gop raise money. because no one's going to want to giveo this current administration any of the 2014 raises. it's going to affect things like goinginto 2014 with the, where i am, the pryor race. it's going to effect some of these gubernatorial races all around the united states. the hillary big rah-rah train, that's going to come to a screeching halt because, look, shs in the thickof it as well. so it's going to dry out a little bit of potential money so far. and, neil, i think we're going to find out whether the

democratic party, hillary clinton, everybody and the whole shebang has got a teflon brand. let's see if things can be thrown their way and not stick on 'em, but i think it's going to stick. neil: well, that's what you love, of course, because you raise ney for these republicans. [laughter] history pves a lot of it can be short lived, bob. what do you think happens with these various scandals and these various hearings? you've heard the watergate anogies and everything else. >> right. neil: how you think this stacks up? >> republicans have to watch for overreach here. we sawaw it with monica lewinsk, you had a lot of probes, and house republicans ended u up losing two seats in 1998. they've been telling us, listen, we learned our lesson. i agree with lissa on the obamacare angle, they're nervous. we're going to see the bulk implemented on january 1, and you have this trust in government not just one agency like the gsa scandal. now you've got the justice department, the state department, a member of congress

says they didn't follow the proper procedure. and, of course, you have this ongoing irs scandal. so this is, this is something that the democrats are very nervous about. i also thinit could hurt immigratio because, remember, the department of homeland security's going to get a lot more power if immigration reform is signed into law. neil: that's a very good point. i'd almost forgotten about that one. that's a od point about whether it's on the administration's agenda, at least shor term it does. if you're pushing for expansion of health care, you'll still get it, i guess, butt's not ging to hapn rapidly and maybe not fall out the way you wanted with the irs. >>ou would think so. and i think the biggest scandal this week might have been the ap scandal because you saw the press really transformed, you know, from these lap dogs to all of a sudden their toes were the ones thahad been stepped on, and they were rraching up to bite. neil: how long do youhink that lasts? think abt th. >> i don't know. neil: i always think once a lemming, always a lemming. >> don't know. i mean, they were very, very hostile. and as you see, you know, the white house continue to

stonewall and continue to say, you know, they say we would like to know more about this investigation and, and the white house just continues to stonewall on this, i don't know. i don't know if they relaxt quite the same rate. we would hope not, and that could, you know, change things going forward. neil: you know, noel, 40 years ago when we had the first watergate hearing kick off -- this very day -- one of the things that stood out in my mind looking back on it -- >> neil, you werenot even born. neil: i wish that re the case. everyone dismissed the case that they would go nowhere, an embarrassment, a slowdown, but what happens in hearings is you have to hear a lot of folks, and they sometimesive conflicting testimony, and sometimes a bombshell is dropped like, oh, the president has a taping system. but that was then. i know different things could happen now. since there are so many scandals going on concurrently now, do you think the more this drags on, the more surprises we'll see? >> i think so. i think that we're going to

see -- i don't think that we have heard the fat lady sing, so to speak. i think there is so much more going on. when you have people joking should i watch the miniseries scanl, or should i just turn on the news and see, you know, what coming down the pipes next with the white house, you know, from the money point of view this is going to do nothing but help build the coffers of any republican running, because all they have to do is use the current press on what's out there. so i know that your other guest had said something, you know, republicans don't need to be far reaching. yeah, i think that we need to get on this train now because now is when you take adntage. people are so disgusted, pecially with the irs. and whenever you ar irs, everybody, you know, everybody pretty much ps taxes. some don't, but everybody, you know, that's not real -- >> [inaudible conversations] ye melissa. >> wdo kit, we hate it, and when we hear about abuses, boy, it gets everyone incredibly angry. neil: but, bob, here's wat i think where there could be a

leak taken here. if you're the president, you've got an agenda not only to expand health care, to get these exchanges going by year's end, etc., i could imagine this slows a lot of that down. but does it damage you in budget negotiations? does it make it next to impossible to get further revenue increases, or is that just a disnnt? we assume that the case. but there's always going to have to be give and taken these negotiations, and that doesn't change. >> right. i think it doesurt the president because his poll numbers are going to take a hit from all these scandals. they are going to linger. they have to play defense for the next several weeks and months. i ink there's more, we're hearing a little bitore aboot irs. there's a lot more information going to come or out on the irs, and senator max baucus is indicating there's more to that story. io think it hurts his stding. i don't think gives republicans the upper hand, but clearly, t president is hurt by this. and as we go into the fall, these probes are still going to

be ongoing, i think, thiess a couple of them -- at least a couple of them. it could hurt him in a fiscal fight. neil: you know, melissa, there are a lot of people that look at the markets,and part of what's going on, they're rejoicg at that prospect. i always see this as ben bernanke, you'll be the last surviving adult. >> that's right. the market, at the end of the day, it's all about ben bernanke and, boy, when he heads for the exit, put youour helmet on. it's going to be something. neil: assuming he has health care. [laughter] all right, guys, wayn't to ththk you -- i want to thank you all. meanwhile, where are the whistleblowers? what if i told you they're a lot closer than you think? the read from one of this country's most celebrated whistleblowers, so celebrated russell crowe played him in a big movie. member "the insider"? >> wipe that smirk off your face! >> associated with satisfaction,

it has an effect that crosses the blood i'm so glad you called. thank you. we're not in london, are we? no. why? apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity, you could also set up free account alerts. okay. [ female announcer ] at wells fargo we're working around the clock to help protect your money and financial information. here's your mporary card. welcome back. how was london? [ female announce] when people talk, great things happen. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can help make this a great block pay. ♪

[ male announce ] advair is clinically proven to help signicantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a lo-actin bronchodilr working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace ft-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not bused more thaice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may incrse your risk of osteoporosis some eye prlems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood essure before taking advair. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. [ male announcer ] advair diskus fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder. get your first prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com.

neil: the hearings starting, the irs chief's now talking, but behind the scenes the wheeling and dealing just beginning to get more of these indians talking. legal experts have already told us on this very program that is how you get folks to testify in turn. you grant them some clemency and deals and just go. to jeffrey wagon who knows this process well, and he did it without a net. because wh this famous whistleblower revealed to the world that tobacco giants were spiking their cigarettes, he invitethe wrath of an entire industry. >> go on television and tell the truth? >> yes. >> is it newsworthysome. >> a portion of your

severance -- [inaudible >> chapter and rse. neil: forever emblazoned inthe insider" in which russell crowe played his character. jeff, what do you think of these characters and what you've seen out of washington? i'm still waiting forhe guys like you who might emerge to reveal something more. maybe they're there, maybe they're not. what do you think? >> well, i mean, this whole process started with the irs in 2010. and we haven't seen much of anybody comingorward with what may have been immoral or criminal activities come forward. and it's kind of surprising that nobody has stepped forward. i guess what's going to have to happen is the justice department is going to have to, you know, give them immunity for testimony, and find out who is the cast of characters that are actually responsible not only for the implementation, but the approval of the procs. are the only a few rogue agents, or is it a whole system

that was turned upside down during the 2010, 2011 and now into the 2012-'13? neil: jeff, in your case you knew something was amiss here, and the company was lying and doing something deceitful. and i'm always trying to give the benefit of the doubt in some of these other scandals that maybe these whether they're rogue irs agents or groups following thei orders, they thought what they were dng was on the up and up, and no one connected the ethical dot to say is is wrong. what do you think of that? >> well there's definite an ethical disconnect here. i mean, i don't know what the culture in the irs is. i can tell you wha the culture was in the company i worked for, brown and williamson, it was do most anything to prevent the outside world from understanding what the truth was. and that was pt of the culture. neil: but did others know that truth, jeff? you, obviously, were aware of% it, but did they know that things were being nipulated? the company was lying,

misrepresenting itself and worse? >> oh, most certainly they knew it. and, i mean, it was controlled by lawyers. and the lawyers instructed the scientistsow to write, they edited their papers, edited their conversations, their communications in meetings only to prevent anything from ever being discovered. and also at the sameime scientists like myself were trained what to say osidethe company versus what you could say inside the company. so there was a culture of keeping it inside and never letting the facts outside until it was reluctantly produced. neil: guys like you, jeff, in other words, when i see these kind of things pop up, the enron scandal comes to mind, sharon watkins said, well, there really weren't other whistleblowers. why is that the case? could we be waiting for that to be the case with the irs? >> i most certainly expected others to follow me. you have to realize the only senior officer in the company

having many silos, there were many people who knew more than i difor 20 years, and they continued to perpetuate the in fact, there's a whole climate, an attitude of what i call bystanderrism. you watch the wrongdoing, not disrupt what's going on. it wasn't very -- it's not very comfortable when you go outside the box with the tth. and you have to be prepared for some hard times. i don't think everybody's willing to do that. neil: yeah. >> i think there are an exceptional few people that have that intestinal fortitude that they see they are becoming just as bad as those thatere doing the harm. i mean, when i watched theeven ceos, particar my bos in april of 1994, deliberately and consciouy lie in front of congress, it just forces you to say am i the same person as he is? am i just as guilty as he is? and i think -- neil: well, you just read my mind. because then i'm thinking if

you're an irs worker bee, an indian, and you're heing your chief, district chief, bureau chief, whatever, say, no, we weren' targeting these groups, or this was not part of an orchestrated plot, would you, let's say hypothetically, say, no, that's bs? you did know, and we did know what was going on, are they out there? what do you think? >> i believe there are good in every person. and i imagine there are some people that want to come forward with it. i think they could be incentivized by the departme of justice investigation. they're going to look to these people to sort of roll, and as they roll, they will give up the bigger fish up the line. neil: and that's the idea to exonerate them or shield them from any legal, you know, attacks themselves, right? >> by becoming a witness and getting immunity, they basically e shielded from any kind of critical -- neil: gotcha. >> -- remedy that the justice depament has. somebody had to be approving this process. somebody had to know what they

were doing was not conforming to the law. and most certainly, it had to be -- somebody had to have the signals going off in their head this is immoral, this is wrong. now, part of it could be that people are in different silos, and thedon't know what's going on and they're just given a specifictask. somebody puts it all together and pulls it all together. neil: yeah. >> i don't know what the case is. i thinwe're seeing the tip of the iceberg. this h has been going on since 2010. there's got to be some bodies there that are willing to come out now particularly given the level of scrutiny it's going to get. congressional, it's got the department of justice, it's got the media. i mean, it's ripe for somebody to come forward and y this is what i knew, thisis what i was involved in, let me tell you what really was going on. neil: and you think that's going on right now behind the scenes; finding these people, getting, you know, protection to go ahead and talk? >> i think that could be very possible i mean --

neil: interesting. >> most certainly the people on the bottom that were actually dog it, the agents that were actually doing the illegal rk must know now what they were doing was wrong. and i would think they have a good motivation or incentive to say, come on, i want to get out of this. i don't want to be locked up in jail, or i don't want to be fired or whatever the remedy is. they may come forward voluntarily. maybe they'll be incentivized to come forward with immunity. i don't know what's going to happen, but most certainly the onion's going to start being peeled back. neil: we'll watch very closely. jeffrey wagon, always good seeing you. thank you. >> are likewise. thank you. neil: the fox guarding the henhouse and sending all of us to the poor house. the s story that'll have you feeling very sick, that i thank you orvie and wilbur... ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teachings that you can't crea the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind...

delta is looking bond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below... tohe finest comforts abo we're not simply salutg history... we're making it. but maybe the problem isn'isn't your lawn. introducing the all-wheel-drive mower from husqvarna. we engineered its unique drive system and dual transmission to handle his& thick grass& and tough terrain& the all-wheel-drive mower from husqvarna. without losing traction or power challenge the impossible. find the all- wheel-dre mower exclusively available at lowe's and independent dealers nationwide. at bny mlon, our business is investments. managing them, moving them, making them work. we oversee 20% of the world's financial assets.

and that gives us scale and insight no one else has. investment management combined with investment servicing. bringing the power of investnts to people's lives. invested in the world. bny mellon.

neil: and the health care hits just kp on coming. get this, those irs screenings of conservative groups? well, the womanin charge of thingsuring that fiasco is running the health care division of the same fiasco. to monica, adam and jean. what do you make of this, a woman whwas there when all of this was going on is now overseeing the unit that will implement a lot of the health care changes over which the irs will have direct control. >>ell, she shouldn't get too cozy in that st, because a lot of heads are going to g chopped off over this. that's the most graceful thing i can say about her at this point. there's no way that youan even suggest this was low-level employees and this was people just ridiculing others for their, you know, own -- under their own devices. like, why would they want to create more workor themselves? this runs deep. to get rid of the ticks, you've got to get all the ticks, and you can't just shed one and think this is over. neil: gene marx, you know what's

comi your way in terms of the responsibilities of following all these new health care rules, regulations, fees, etc. most of which will be controlled and implemented by the irs. what do you feel and how do you feel about this? >> it's a terrifying thought, isn't it, neil? you have the irs right now that really can't even keep track of what its own employees are doing. now they have to audithe 34 million people walking around inunshired -- uninsed right now. if you're required t have health insurance next year and you don't do it, it's the irs's responsibility to find out. what's that all going to mean about hiri new auditors and increasing the budget? for a small business owner, it just seems like more chaos and bureaucracy. neil neil adam? >> well, i suggest we not hyperventilate what's going on in this very real situation where people should be punished for wrongdoing if they committed wrongdoing or be too terried about the i are, s -- irs.

people in the united states voluntarily pay their taxes and have done so for a couple hundred years. that's a good thing. we have to make the irs better. we'll do that by criticizing it, but there's every reason to believe that these audits will lead to a better future wh more people being insured -- neil: yeah, but not with this person. this is like putting me in charge of the p ponderosa buffe. good luck getting at it. [laughter] >> well, neil, i think we need to be responsible about the ponderosa buffe and maybe you'd be a good person to be in charge. neil: not really, buddy. >> versaw ts department, then clearly -- neil: she shouldn't be overseeing this one. >> -- clearly should go. neil: that's all you were saying, moni, not thright person for this job. >> i think is diminishing the gravity of all this and, honestly, i'm more offended by this than adam, for sure. thiss ople in power taking advantage of people who put their faith in those people. this is no wore than priests molesting little boys. honestly, i don't think i'm being too dramatic --

[inaudible conversations] neil: there's a little extreme difference there, but i just ask this of my small business guy, gene marx. at the very least, do you think that we should go slow on giving the irs any added responsibilities, and by definition wouldn'that delay the rollout of the health care law itself? should we risk that to get this right? >> i mean, neil, look,he biggest issue that most small business owners have had with the health care reform act is that it's being rolled out too% fast. why not take a little bit of time and mak sure we get the syst right? most of the irs -- don't get me wrong, there are plenty of smart people, but they're just trying to get their arms around the tax legislation. now they're being asked to do a whole bunch of new requirements that's going to take some training and eduti to do. if they don't know the right questions to ask, they don't know their job, it's going to impactus. that's a b thing for aot of business owners. neil: go ahead, adam. i would just say that's what the regulatory process is for. it's 2-year-old legislation, and

so we should take time enforcing th regulations and writing them well and getting public comment on them. that's all fine. i would just like to point out, neil, at we are predisposed to not like the tax man. i meaa, we don't like the meter maid either. nobody does. so that's fine. we should criticize the irs -- >> we shou do more than iticize the irs. >> nobody likes, nobody likes the people who come to us and say, hi, we're here to collect your taxes. neil: no, i mean, it depends if they're going to audit me right away. here's my thing with this whole predicament, monica, is that i think -- we had laws put in place after watergate to prevent this sort of thing, to use the irs as a bully to go after enemies. and, obviously, we shifted fr that. they found ways around th. so we've built up laws and systems in place with this health care law, and if anything it's taught us with the irs is that there are ways around the system where it can be abused.

so do you want to risk giving the irs the responsibility to lock and load on a stem that itself is flawed? >> i think it's taking it too far. i don't think we need to scrutinize all of thisother legislation just because of what's happening at the irs. i think -- neil: how about just keeping them out of health care? >> we need to deal with what's happeng in the irs, we need to deal with the corruption in the irs. i think it's separate from the issue of the health care legislation. what offends me ishe woman wh was on topwhen all of this stuff wasoing down, why is she not just put on the sidelines? why isn't she in a rubber room? why is she at the head of something that can cree more chaos at this point? >> neil: all right. >> neil, i can speak to -- neil: go ahead, real quick. >> there's two pieces of mail i dread every year, my son's report card a my health insurance premium. [laughter] and the whole -- neil: my son's report card comes with my health insurance premium. [laughter] >> in my case, you need it as

well. but just the whole health care insurance industry is relying on these 334 million more people who are gointo be in the market. it's not with all the coverages, you know, who's going to pay the benefit of those extra premiums. a lot of business owners are really concerned about that, and we're letting the irs be the guys a who are going to have to audit these people. with their trackecord, it's very much of an issue. ne: adam, final word. >> so far there's no evidence that there was any political interference in this. we haven't seen that. so i would say the watergate -- neil: oh, i think there was political interference. we don't know the extent -- >> just by virtue of who was targeted shows there's political interference. >> it shows you the alleged biases of the people who alledly did the srutiny, ght? but that doesn't -- neil: that's political interference. you and i might -- you're right. naudible conversations] neil: potato, poe at the toe. relax, we've got it covered. when the white house says it can

handle this investigation on its own, get worried. and fast. aw this is tragic man, investors just like you could lose tens of thousasands of dollars on their 401(k) to hidden fees. thankfully e-trade has low cost investments and no hidden fees. but, you know, if you're still bent on blowing this fat stacof cash, there's a couple of ways you could do it. ♪ ♪ or just go to e-trade and save it. boom. ♪ when i first felt the diabetic nerve pain, of course i had no idea what it was. i felt like my feet were going to sleep. it progressed from ther to burning like i was walking on hot coals... to like 1,000 bees that were just stinging my feet. i have a great relationship with my doctor... he found lyrica for me.

[ female announcer ] it known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor t away if you have these, new or worsening depron, or unusual chaes in mood or behavr. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight includinblurry vision, musc pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effes ar dizziness, sleess, weightain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taki lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyri. having less pain -- it's a wonderful feeling. [ female announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerveain. to hear more of phyllis's story, visit lyrica.com. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ het rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this?

[ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. >> the ig has done an audit, it's now my understanding, it's going to be recommending an investigation. and, you know, attorney general holder also announced a criminal investigation of what happened. between those investigations i

think we're going to be able to figure out exactly what happened. neil: form irs commissioner mark everson heard that one, and he really started getting worried, muse that the president and his attorney general were quite confident ey could handle this probe on their own, thank you, no need for special comes or special anything. commissioner, welme. good to have you. why is that troubling to you? you don't think it's a case of the government or wing of the government sort of policing itself, or is it deeper than that? >> well, i'm not sure i actually said that, neil. but what i do think that what i have said was it's very serious for the service once you get any criminal inquiry from doj. that puts, oh, a real dampening effect on theervice. this is a horrible event for the irs. and i'm confident that the congress will get to the bottom of this.s. you've got whatever it is, three or four different committees looking at it. it's just starting. and i do think they're going to ge to it, through it with

justice. neil: so you dot feel that there ought to be a special committee or a special prosecutor, any of this ki of stuff that others have suggested going beyond just sort of like either justice investigating itself or justice investigating the irs? >> no, not at this neil: okay, gotcha. >> now,if -- and i'm not speculating this is the case -- if youwere you to find things gg into treasury or the white house, of course, at that becoma ry different effort. prankly, what we've -- frankly, what we have heard so fr, you have an operation in cincinnati th was deplore cial in what it was doing. neil: how do you know they're rogue? there might be some since natty agents who -- cincinnati agents who said we're going to look into these conservative groups and not give them tax-exempt status, but what if it's larger than that? >> well, we'll see.

they're going the find that out. i mean, to me, the ig report clearly documents that the, that office w acting on its own, and then when lois intervened -- which to way too long -- neil: right. >> everyone's question was why did it take so long once she gaged to get this cleaned up, that's one whole set of issues. and then that office, if i recall, they discarded her guidance and did something on their own. that's atrocious. that's bad management.. it shoulhave been evenanded. neil, when i was at the service, we did a lot of work on political intervention with c3s in '04 and '06, and that was controversial. as soon as the issue was raised, i asked the aim ig, rustle george, to look at it. he said we could have done it better, don't get me wrong, but he clearly found there was no politicking. neil: i remember that. there was no concerted effort to go after just liberal groups.

here it's a much larger sca. >> right. neilthe last thing i'll leave you with is more a psychological or emotional-type question. at what point do agents, even their bosses, come to the realization, hey,we are targeting groups of a political persuasion, and this is not ght? >> that's, that's what's so disturbing here. because even if there were four consvative groups for every fifth liberal group, if you will, in the c4s, they should have had a balanced approach here so that it would survive any scrutiny on the outside. and it clearly sn't the case. and management didn't respond promptly enough, and then you have the whole set of issues that are being addressed today at ways and means. was the conversation candid with the congress which makes this far more difficult to unravel. neil: got you. mark, i apologize for overstating your point of view. >> that's all right. neil: thank you very much for

joining us, commissioner. we appreciatet. meanwhile, a week ahead of memorial day weekend, and the gougers and fee mongers are out. but one airline's making sure you are safe, happy ad, get you are safe, happy ad, get this,h everyone's retirement dream is different; how we get there is not. we're ericans. we work. we plan. ameriprise adviso can hp you like they've helped millions of others. to help you retire your way, witconfidence. ♪ that's what ameriprise financial does. that's what they can do with you. let's get to work. ameriprise financial. more within reach. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. never really thought i would make money doing what i love.

[ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. and make your business dream a reality. if you've got it, you know how hard it can be to breathe and man, you know how that fls. copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. you know, spiriva helps me breathe easier. iriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucomatrouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, ev eye dro. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation.

nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? don't wait to ask your doctor about spiriva. neil: all right. a nerdy venture that seems scandalous, a market rally that maybe is scandalous, and an airline that seems to have had pangs of guilt and now offering something that is not scandalous. an endover the week -- end of the week b blitz. welcome, guys. first off, microsoft and samsung want to kck google glasses. they want in on thos same dorky internet-seeing glasses i thought up til now only google dare dork. charles, there's got to be something to it. i always think these things look stupid, but maybe i'm missing something. >> think about this, how har do people work for years to make the hearing aid look like invisible, and then people started putting those big cell phones in 'em anyway?

what was unattractive ten years ago is hip today. if i'm google, i'm not too worried abt microsoft. maybe samsung may provide a greater thing, but right now it's too cool and expensive for me. keith is the leading edge guy on this stuff. [laughter] neil: well, keith is leading edge. there was supposed to be $1500 or more, oh, neil, they've got to get under $1,000. i said, well, they've got to get under $100. but these glasses, what's the draw? why is that the future? >> well, i don't know, i thk they're new, they're innovative, they're giving people informion they wouldn't have otherwise -- neil: like what? let's see you're walking on a city street. are you just walking into light pos? >> you're getting information. according to the guys i'm talking to, you're getting information on which of your friends is in the neighborhood, which coffee shop is -- neil: oh, i thought it told you about a light post before you ran into 'em. >> casinos are already banning these things, you can't be on

the gambling loor. think about it, if you pair those thinged with implantable microchips which are coming down the line, this is n too far away from human andomputer merging. neil: i can't see you get too far in a casino. >>ou'll get some old-fashioned technology. neil: we're going to wrap those glasses around your face. [laughtee] anyway, maybe you don't have to fly commando after all. american bucking the industry fee for all by offering free early boarding forustomers with limited carry-on luggage. keith, what do you make of this? a sign anirline can have a guilt complex? >> i fly an awful lot for what i do, and i'm glad to see this, but i think they ought to just get over it. people are going to take whatever they want on this airplane until they actually start charging fees that provide a disincentive to do that. this is going to, this is just more shade of the same. it's an effort to improve their on-time record, nothing more. neil: this is a tough issue for

charles payne. this is about commercial travel. >> it doesn't apply to first class, so stop sweating it. [laughter] neil: what do you thi of this? >> it reminds me a little bit, the whole industry, i don't know if you guys remember the old underdog cartoon. he would turn ople upside down and shake every nickel out of their pockets. that's what they've become, riffraff, are you kidding me? neil: i'd love to see you on that airline. [laughter] into yeah. and that'd be -- 5. think it helps with efficiency. anyone who thinks this has gone aw, they're out of their minds. neil so don't get spoiled. final issue, is the stock surge since all of these crises came to life the market's way of saying keep the crises coming? the more these scandals soar, the more the predent's b spending issues are stymie charles, d you buy that? >> in a word, hell yeah. actuly, it's two words. laugh.

neil: you need those glasses. >> i do. the president's anti-business agenda will be mired in muck and slowed down dramatically, absolutely. midterm election.s u to the maybe the gop keeps the house, gets the senate. we like balanced govnment. we like gridlock particularly in this case because it will stop an agenda that's not too friendly to capitalism. neil: you know, i generally agree with charles on everything he says, a, because he can beat me up, he's also very smart. but normally i'd agree with that. here's my concern. we've got a lot of issues wee got to address now like getting spending under contro some sort of agreement on a simpler tax co. maybe that's wishful thinking on my part. this just delays if not negates that, and that is a worry. is this a sign gridlock would not be welcome? >> yeah, but you know what? this is the oldest game in the kick the can down the road. il: yeah, well, we can't anymore. >> i don't know about that. they've been doing it for 40 years. i would argue as lg as

bernanke's got access to the printing press, he's going to continue until he's grgreen in e face. buthe bottom lin here to me is the markets like this bebecae it keeps washingt out of wall stet's hair. ceos can go ahead and spend money because they're not worried about additional legislation screwing it up further than they've already been screwed up -- nnil: whoa, whoa, whoa. are you saying then that by no additional legislation, in other words, no additional attempts on the part of this administration for green initiatives andll that, you think these crises have stopped that? >> well, they're not going to stop it entirely inside the beltway. but you know what? ceos that i've talked to in the last 72 hours are all saying, great, let 'em have it. neil: i see. >> we've got enough uncertainty with what's on t plate. let's ju g through this now and actually begun to capitalize our -- begin to capitalize our expenditures. neil: understood. >> i'm just not sure washington's going to somehow stop kickinthe can down the road. i'm not so sure we ultimately have to have a hard landing to

learn in the hard way. it's unfortunate, but i believe that's the way it's going to happen. neil: all right, guys, i want to thank you both. have a great, safe wkend. by the wa you've got to chaales this weekend. oy. anyway, it got ugly on capitol hill today. >> you're arguing today that the irs is not corrupt. but the subtext of that is you're saying, look, we're just incompetent. il: i want you to meet the republican congressman at today's aring. think it got ugly? thank you orville and wiur... ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us at you can't create the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions...

in everything from the best experiences below... to the finest comforts above. we're not simply saluting history... we'rmaking it. we're not in london, are we? no. why? apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity, you could also set up free account alerts. okay. [ female announcer ] atells fargo we're working around the clock to help protect your money and financial information. here's your temporary card. welcome back. how was london? [ female announcer ] when people talk, great things happen.

>> how can we not credit card

at you misled this committee? >> that was a lot of questions, sir. >> it's one. how can we conclude you did not mislead this committee? >> i did not mislead the committee. >> regardless of whether democrats or republicans did something like this, the outrage should sll be there, is that not correct? >> the outrage as to -- >> the abuse. >> yes. >> are our most expansive federal powers are given to our most intrusive agency. and then you add on top of that incompetence or whatever else we have, and it's a disaster. neil: man, oh, man, and to hear republican congressmen tell it, they're just warming up. the man who wants to get to the bottom of this mess joins us right now. congressman, did we get any answers at all today? well, we got a mixed bag of responses from mr. miller regarding what he recalls and what he doesn't recall in this very important time period from january 2010 to present. he seemed to have some good memories on some issues and very

lackluster memory on other issues. so i think bottom line is our committee got a lot of information from which to build be on now our further inquiries and further investigation about not only how tax-exempt organizations were handled for 501c4 status or even t dissemination of taxpayer information to outside groups, whether that occurred as well and who has a result should be held accountable if or that. neil: do you suspect this goes way beyond conservative groups? the reason why i ask is a number of very prominent ceos and top conservatives, replicans and moderate republicans at that told me, neil, i was audited. hey, you were audited too? in other words, they're not groups. these are individuals. and i'm wondering, it might just be coincidence, buthether there might have been a larger systemic problem and targeting going on. >> well, that's what we need to find out. the purpose of today's hearing

was just to set the table for the parameters around which we're going to continue our work on the ways and means committee. chairman camp has done a great job just to get everything in place so that the full committee as well as the subcommittee on ersight can continue to look into these individual issues that are out there and he a lot of credibility and for the answers that i heard from mr. miller were certainly not answed by what his commentary was today. neil: yeah. real quickly, sir, the one thing that caught my mind with some of the democratic questioners today, they kept mentioning a lot of these were bush appointees as the if they minimized the seriousness of what was going on today. we do know enough that it was these conservative groups that were targeted, so whether they were bush appointees or millard fillmore appointees, does that really matter? >> no, i don't think it matters at all. the question is why employees in th irs both in cincinnati but also in washington, d.c. and other offices clearly violated

their obligationsunder current federal law and how they handle the apications and how perhaps they handle taxpayer information generally. and it's not, it's not really relevant as to who was appointed to whom. when youe in that position, it's what your legal obligation is and h that information is used and how you handle those applications.% and that's what we're going to continue to move the inquiry. ne: we're going to have a summer of hearings, aren't we? >> well, there's a lot of informatiothat we want to go over and a lot of information that's not been produced for our committee as of yet. and if you listen to the testimony by inspector general georgethat office is g continue to do a lot more investigation into these issues. so there's going to be a lot more hearings that are going to ultimately lead to the truth of what happened. neil: alright. congressman, thank you for taking the time. >> thanks for having me. neil: all right. well, here's a weird one for you. apple's ceo bein dragged to capitol hill next week to explain to the folks who have no cash why he's sitting cautiously on a lot mowing your lawn isn't always easy.

but maybe the problem isn't your lawn. introducing the all-wheel-drive mower from husqvarna. we engineered its unique drive system and dual transmission to handle hills& thick grass& and tough terrain& without losing traction or power the all-wheel-ive mower from husqvarna. challenge the impossible. visit us online to enter the challenge the impossible promotion how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them sw us. we lened a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪

[ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good. ♪ [ agent smith ] ge software connects patients to nurses to the right machines while dramatically reducing wting time. [ telephone ringing ] now a waiting room is just a room. [ static warbl ] [ tele[growl]inging ] now a waiting room we used to live with a bear.. we'd always have to go everywhere with it. get in the front. we drive. it was so embarrasing that we just wanted to say, well, go away. shoo bear. but we can't really tell bears what to do. moooooommmmmm!!! then one day, it was just gone. mom! [announcer] you are how you sleep. tetempur-pedic.

neil: all right. what's that they say about no good deed goes unpunished? apple cautiously guards its loot to prepare for a rainy day, and the folks who have spent all of our lt, all of our futures want to know why he can't be like them and blow it all away. that is, basically, what apple's ceo tim cook is up against when he playshat i'm sure will be a pinata an capitol hill next week. laakers are asking him to defend h $100 billion cash stash. y can't you blow it like us? adam, that's weird. that's all i'm saying, that's weird. [laughter] i think i got the gist of it. >> i don't know that they're asking him to defend anything so much as discuss and explain apple's tax policy. i mean, there's a perfectly legitimate discussion to be had here abo why it is, first of all, that apple doesn't repatriate its cash. tim cook has a very good answer for that. they would have to face high taxes to do it. but there's also this elaborate scheme that apple and other u.s.

companies very legally use to put their, to route their money through caribbean islds and luxembourg and ireland and reno, nevada, and the list -- neil: wait ainute, how do you get from luxembourg to no, nevada? gene marx, what do you make of that? >> first of all, whatever schemes they're doing as long it's legal, it's legal. and it's very interesting they're bringing in tim cook because, you know, he runs apple which happens to be one of the most well known companies on the planet, so why not get a little press out of that as well. neil: good point. >> imagine someone saying toou this is the amount of money you have in your account, and the government says you have to spend it on this or that. that'shat i've got a wife for. [laughter] neil: u just ienated a few viewers, but what the heck? monica, what i wonder wi this is to what end is apple used, as - >> guys, i've lost sound. neil: and what do you make of that, make a example to sort of

guilt these companies into not just sitting on that dough? >> i think this is just preposterous, to be honest with you. apple's not doing anything against the law, and they owe to their shareholders. that's who tim cook should be looking out for, and they're doing absolutely everything by the leg of the law, and to even suggest that there's a level of ethics involved here, i think, just turns my stomach over. i don't think jesus has a position on aax code. i don't think -- [inaudible] krishna has a position on the tax code. neil: you know, jesus loves -- neil: >> i completely disagree with you. >> the goverent needs a certain amount of money, and if the legislators need more tha that, they should be very clear with the tax code. >> so, monica -- >> if you're creating loopholes, then don't get outraged when people use them. >> at the risk of, at the risk of suggesting a civics lesson you, the congress makes laws. they would like -- they have every right to change the tax law. and we can have a -- >> so change it! why are you grilling people --

in let me finish, please, about whether or not -- let me finish, please, about whether or not the tax law is correct and appropriate. so i even said and i agree that apple is following the tax law, and they're going to have a conversation about whether or not we should cnge the tax law. in other words, should it be legal -- neil: all right, fair enough. gene, here's what i like about this, and i'm not afan of the congress scrutinizing anyone about fiscal propriety. but leaving aside that, i like the fact that t coolest company on earth that was always above getting picked apart is now getting a little bit picked apart. so that is an encouraging development, i just thinkfor althe wrong reasons. what say you? >> you know, i can say one thing, um, i think making the attention on apple certainly puts aention on that issue. but i want to give cret, actually, to tim cook. he's playing it the right way. he'seing summoned, and i bet he'llhandle it -- neilyou can't not go, right? >> you can't ignore it, b at the same time look at the trouble microsoft got into,ook

at the antitrust trouble google's in right now you have to play this game, and i give him credit for doing that. >> to gene's point, he could send his head of tation, and he's going and taking sponsibility. i compmpletely agree. neil: apple had taxation? you wrote the book on it, so i guess they do. >> i assume there's someone who's in charge tax policy, yes. neil:h, all right. >> i don't think he'll be a pinata at all. neil: oh, i guarantee you, i'm going to replay that press conference or hearing -- it will be like a press conference. >> this is not market research. like, if you're telling me there isn't going to be grandstaing going on, i'll send you lunch. >> well, it's congress. come on. neil: whoa, whoa, whoa -- [inaudible conversions] guys, i want to thank you all. gene marx, good luck sleeping on the couch tonight. [laughter] >> you know i'm going to get in trouble for tha neil. neil: by the way, stand in line. i've done the same thing. have a great weekend, everybody. we're going to be monitoring all of these hearings and can all of

these scandals and all of thes croscurrent events. we're watching them all, each and every single one of them. it's you, it's your money, it's your life, it's your country. we are on it like no one's >>. >> tom: it's an old golden rule of consultants. when faced with bad get it out immediately but inste the obam administration has been caught lying the as a result the scandal sories continue to dominate the headlines. we're talking, do you believe our government? right here a right now. >> tom: thanks for joining us. here at the top of the stack. we know jay carney lied about the benghazi talking points, but we still don't have answers to many other questions surrounding the attack. f.b.i. is investiting the irs's targeting of conservative groups. do you believe the f.b.i.s