nominee to be the energy secretary. we also saw mr. trump leave manhattan and get into a motorcade. my time is up, but neil, sir, it is yours. thank you very much. the confirmation hearings you are watching now, and fireworks at steve mnuchin for treasury and perry for energy. all those three will be in.

that there could be debate over mike pompeo at cia. a lot of people looking at that, saying what does that mean, how does that compare to prior administrations. it is actually in line, with most cases, we have about a handful of cabinet members approved and ready to go as president of the united states takes office. usually two weeks more than half the cabinet is in place. by three weeks the entire cabinet but that is not a foregone conclusion. the institutions of course remain in place. that is the crucial issue here. how all of this is weighing on stocks? nah, not one way or the other. most say this is going to plan. they don't see any cabinet nominations imperiled as a result. nothing to imperil stocks. stuart pointed this out, if it looked like, for example, mnuchin would not get the treasury post, then all bets are off here because the expectation is that all of these key positions will be approved and their nominees confirmed.

but that is not a given. again in the case of mr. mnuchin and his wall street guys, his goldman sachs guys, and how we handle housing loans and the like, they will make a great deal of that, just as they have been making a great deal of his investments. this is the richest cabinet that has ever assumed office. on paper it will dwarf any other cabinet in american history. whether that was good or a bad thing it, wasn't a bad thing under john kennedy who had richest before this one, was it a good or bad thing, roosevelt who was rich in inflation terms. this cabinet will be populated up to five billionaire if you include the president-elect. so much going on, read on this, telling them they have.

nicole petallides, "fbn:am" co-host and down on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole, any jarring developments any one of cabinet picks not looking approved or likely all bets off, what are you hearing? >> that would be a headline-driven market. things are going as planned but democrats are trying to grill mnuchin and also perry as well but things are going pretty much as planned. you see a relatively quiet market. everybody talks about dow 20,000, then they started to say it will be after the confirmation hearings, after the inauguration and after president-elect donald trump becomes president we'll see the market take a breather and move forward. the overall feeling on wall street watching mnuchin newspaper, they're very impressed with him. he is very serious. he had direct answers. he is very accommodative, pleasant, polite trying to go

step by step anticipating the questions. he also made a few things where he said he would support changing tax laws to make them more effective. don't forget in his new role as treasury secretary, he would be shaping legislation for tax purposes. this is why it is so key. markets are pretty tepid right now, down 36, neil. neil: alex, some other developments might have slowed down this 20,000 rally as we discussed in the past. markets had run very far and fast since donald trump's election and some pause to be more than expected, but is this what you expected? >> we're stuck in a sideways trade. since thanksgiving we've all nated, one week down, one week up. that hasn't happened 50 years like what we've seen. market is waiting for some sort of a catalyst or crisis to make

a move one direction or another. it is good tv. i think he is very solid candidate but don't think he will drive the market. we're in holding pattern. it seems like this is long, long time. neil: dan, developments have come up given pause to the capitalist crowd, yourself included what a trump administration could bring, including the talk he would be open to tariffs as sort of like a premove on the part of countries that he thinks do not trade fairly with us. whether there is any truth to that, it comes on heals of him jawboning countries that he thinks fairly disproportionately manufacture goods abroad. do you think that offsets whatever progress could be made on lower taxes and all of that? >> neil, i think a trade war is a problem.

if you want to have trade wars for companies manufacturing in the united states, history has shown that is very dangerous to an economy. all depends what level the tariffs are and what other negotiations are going on. as far as the tax code is with this, i was listening to mnuchin all morning. i think he is terrific. i want to switch to that the way the tax code is set up is going to lower taxes for the middle class. keep taxes basically the same for the upper class. but i just don't think between trade wars, lowering taxes and having government debt at levels it is, that it will really help the stock markets. i think equity markets at this point are quite concerned. positioning in the futures markets are very bearish for the dow joins industrial average and the russell 2000. neil: it is always in the eye of the beholder. left of your screen, president-elect arrived in washington. he is a little less than 24 hours away from being sworn in

as president. of course there is routine to this. an event has been going on lincoln memorial. voices of the people event. wreath-laying ceremony for the president-elect at arlington national cemetery. hopes to make 4:00, 5:00 p.m. eastern time today, a celebration. make america great again celebration at the lincoln memorial, where of course he will be the guest of honor. we're following all the developments very, very closely. nicole, as we watch all of this and see what has happened, this really represents a remarkable development, does it not? if you think of 68 congressman, all democrats who are not going to be going to the inauguration, and yet this quadrennial event continues without them, it is incredible to step back and see what has happened here, isn't it? >> it really -- if you were never interested in politics

ever before, you're interested in it now because everybody seems to have an opinion, and we're seeing things unprecedented with boycotting and protests and you have obviously congressman say they're not going to arrive. a lot of senators will be there. we had the heart-felt note from bush 41 saying that, you know, he supports donald trump and how he can help in the transition going forward. so i thought that was really nice. big picture it is very troublesome to be an american, regardless of who so going into that commander-in-chief role and really see so much turmoil in our nation, what a divisive situation we're in and donald trump has over and over and said it to himself, his staff, to put it out there he is for all americans. it will be time to prove it. it will be difficult to change the ideas some people already have, preconceived notions. for example, to bring it right back to mnuchin, they were saying to him, wasn't your firm

a foreclosure machine? no, it was not a foreclosure machine. in fact, it was a modification of loan machine. so i don't make money on foreclosures. i tried to make modifications on loans for people's homes for over 100,000 people. tried to make it better for them. just the perception sometimes. but now they're really going to have to put it front and center and try to bring together america. neil: it is interesting, alan knuckman, to nicole point, some marvel this will be heavy business cabinet and business titans, who will be running key departments. some people harold that. some of the democratic questioners today get nervous about that markets obviously like market guys in there but not all the time. what is your read given the fact that these are all guys esconsed in money and money, do the

market's bidding or markets bid up. what do you think? >> i'm not so sure. issue was crisis of confidence. that is all the change, confidence came back. people have the optimism. fundamentally, we have plans right now. see if the plans can be executed. we'll have to wait and see how this develops. what i want to not forget, our focus needs to be on earnings. earnings are looking for second quarter in a row of growth. that is what truly drives the stock market. that is truly much a positive. neil: on the left of your screen as alan was speaking there, the president-elect arrived in washington. it is city he will become the most powerful man in the free world. that is little more than 24 hours away. one of the things that has happened as well, there is a rush to get his cabinet secretary appointees, get their confirmation hearings, sort of sped up a little bit, and maybe

get some votes in. the earliest indications we have as mr. trump arrives is that, most likely early approvals would be for general james mattis for the defense department. mike pompeo head homeland security. mitch mcconnell leads the senate, with the numbers. knows the body as well. chuck schumer can only envision james mattis and john kelly a yea vote at this point. continues with mike pom pay yo. -- pompeo. dan shaffer, if we have only two cabinet picks approved at time donald trump is sworn in, that would be a bad thing for the markets? it would be, kind of historical precedent here but what do you think? >> would be a bad thing.

what i notice in all the hearings, neil, the senators don't really understand business. i clearly saw that this morning with mnuchin in front of the senate. they were asking questions about the tax code that mnuchin knows, he could do it with his eyes closed. they're complaining that he used the tax code to make money or whatever he did. this is going to be the clash. that is the concern that i would have or the markets would have is that president-elect trump has got all of these ideas. he is bringing in these billionaires or very wealthy business people and the, old guard, or the swamp as you want to say in washington, don't even understand it because they're full-time politicians and they have been in business or may have not been in business for many years. so what i'm concerned about, we're going to see the clash between the old political stream in washington and fighting against trump. neil: we're seeing that right now. i don't want to jump on you, my friend that happened in the mnuchin hearings and escalating.

let's dip in if we can. >> when we met, and i have a lot of respect, as you as a senator to hear your issues. now i did tell you, i did acknowledge that you sent me the letter. i was advised by the staff that the appropriate thing was for me to come here and answer questions, or meet with all of you independently, and answer questions that you have. and if i don't satisfy that, you have the ability to submit questions afterwards which i will respond to. when i came to your office i told you that. and i said, that i would spend as much time with you as you wanted answering those questions. that they were quite significant. because i knew they were complicated. so i did tell you, although i wouldn't respond to them in writing at that point, that i did understand your questions and i wanted to address them. >> senator thune. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. mnuchin, welcome.

we've had in the last eight years we haven't had a single year where the growth rate exceeded 3%. neil: we were monitoring this closely. aggressive back and forth with steve mnuchin and ties to the business community, more particularly when he was overseeing lending, that he foreclosed on widows and orphans, that sort of stuff. you heard this again and again. he would argue he was following federal edict and laws, and talk to hud, eventually taken over by ben carson, should he be approved, there are laws in place over what banks and institutions, what federal financing agencies will underwrite, indymac, some of the others and he was following a rules. a lot of democratic questioners, said yeah, in so doing, you threw out someone from a home because of 29-cent underpayment or mispayment, to try to make the guy look like ebenezer scrooge. this happened on both right and

the left. he saying the following the law, letter of the law, if he were to become treasury secretary around work with colleagues in the cabinet and those agencies which oversee this sort of thing which would be hud, to find human-friendly ways to go about this business. he will be the target of that. whether he profited off the housing morass, this come up again and again with mr. mnuchin, in the midst of the meltdown, he disproportionately profited off of that, at time we the economy, enriched him several immeasureably. eye of the beholder and political party, trump family descending their own plane which will be air force one come tomorrow. here, see the formal inauguration of their dad, something that seemed unthinkable when donald trump first entered this race and joined by former arizona governor jan brewer here, who

saw this, back in february much 2016, governor where you were one of the earliest, so-called establishment figures to say, i like this guy. now here is donald trump own the verge of becoming president of the united states. what do you think? >> it is so exciting, and atmosphere out theren d.c. today and last night, euphoria everywhere. everybody is really pumped up change is on its way. neil: what do you think, governor, of all these 68, by last count, congressman and women who are not attending the inauguration? >> i think it is disgusting and disturbing. we're all americans, we're having inaugural for america. it would seem to me that they would be there to see that peaceful transfer of power. i just, it is just so disappointing to me and to others. it is disrespectful for one thing. i can't understand it. neil: you know, you and i have

gotten into this before, these events, inaugurations, it's as much to honor the institution of the presidency than the president. people always snap pictures in front of the white house, not so much because who is in the white house but it is the white house. >> we've all taken pictures in front of the white house for years and years and years. you're absolutely right. why we have have people out there, that want to participate in america, when they say are american, it just blows my mind. neil: donald trump, melania trump. this is a full turn of events from something that seemed unthinkable, i always remember when he descended that escalator at the trump tower, a lot of people think this is rather curious. here he is descending, descending steps from a plane that will soon be air force one, that will soon be recognizing, of course any plane with the president travels in will be air force one. but all the stuff that

accompanies being president of the united states, and it will be trump this morning. all of this will kick off tomorrow. he will meet with the president of the united states and his wife with the famous tea at the white house. how do you think, governor, this is all going, besides these 68 or so democrats who aren't going? the obamas themselves have been very gracious. that keeps with hess tore call precedent. do you see that continuing? >> there will always be a rocky road moving forward, but hopefully, at least allow to us have one day all together, collectively. everybody is not going to agree, but donald trump is going to make this a huge difference in america. i believe, and i believe from the beginning, that he will bring our country together. he will be good for america. he will secure our borders. he will bring back the economy. he will lower our taxes. i am just so pumped up about tomorrow, to see this change taking place. neil: as a governor in your own

right, people watch you very closely, when you first stepped into office, you were like energizer bunny, right? appearances count for a lot. getting a lot done, with the fdr days we tracked the first 100 days, right? now seems like we track the first 100 hours. there is talk he will sign a lot of executive orders essentially undoing barack obama's executive orders. what do you expect to see, what should we see? >> i'm looking forward to see some executive orders enacted by president obama unconstitutionally in my opinion. neil: ones particularly? >> daca, dapa. got people in america outraged, see that changed and i hope he issues executive orders under new power of our country. i'm anxiously awaiting for all of this to take place tomorrow. which direction are we going to go. donald trump will deliver the goods. he will make america great again. neil: there are a lot of high expectations for him. a lot of people said they will

challenge him. challenge the policies. use the fact going in, he is a controversial figure. that he doesn't have high approval ratings of other presidents coming in. we should point out normally those that don't, of course his are especially low given the nature of this campaign, end up being pretty effective presidents. leading that aside, how do you think he works with the other side, especially democrats or who don't much like him personally. and feel, you know, he is going to be very tough to work with? what does he do? >> mr. trump, our president-elect trump is willing to work with whoever can work with him and together make america great again. we had so much division in our country last eight years. it has been absolutely downhill, so divided. so divided. in politics, you have to make compromise. you have to make things work. neil: do you think he will be a

compromiser in that sense, governor? i don't think neatly fits into a republican label or democratic label, which probably explains his election? that he seems pragmatic. some expressed concern in the business community, we like idea of cutting taxes and regulations but we don't like he polices where we hire our people or don't hire our people? how do you think all that will work out? >> the last case, that it is going to work out. i haveaithn it. people want change and people that he will do what he promised to do. that. neil: that shot of you pointing your finger at president barack obama. you didn't have a scared bone in your body. tweeting out trump's last day in

office and real donald trump securing our borders tomorrow. a lot of people aren't familiar. that is rare for someone, most people are in awe of the president. republican or democrat, what went on there? >> i went there very respectfully to meet him. he was coming into town. and i went there respectfully. i wrote him a note. we got into the situation of securing my border. and he just doesn't think that it was necessary, and he talked to me like i was a child, like i didn't know what i was talking about. and by god, it was his job, it was his job. neil: you're pointing back to him at that picture, sue, so show that again. what were you saying to him at that point and was it reairable? >> i don't know exactly what i was say, i this know exactly what you were saying. >> he was not disgracious to me. he wasn't gracious at all to me. he was not listening to us. he has a job to do as president

of the united states, secure or border. that is the fundamental purpose of the federal government. neil: what would president trump would do? what did he tell you he would do as president. >> he would secure the border. enforce the law. i think the tenth amendment comes back to the states. neil: enforce the law, building a wall we might have to pay for it first, mexicans will eventually what do you think of that? >> i think that is good possibility and good way to go about doing it. the bottom line is, he is going to do something. probably going to be the wall. going to be technology. but he believes in the rule of law. he understands the damage which has been afflicted upon the united states because of that open border. it is not anything to do with any racism or bigotry but we have rules. if you don't like it, then change the rules. neil: one of the things we're watching as trump motorcade -- >> that is so exciting. so exciting. neil: we're in washington overlooking tomorrow where there will be a peaceful change in

power, and that is something, unique to this country. >> it is. neil: doesn't maer the divisive election or whatever. >> the best thing that could ever happen to that peaceful transfer of power of america. should be all americans coming together to enjoy, embrace and celebrate that day the everybody. neil: do you think it doesn't matter whether he is getting to work inauguration day? some say no, you can wait until monday. others say no, you have to do something on saturday? how do you feel about this. >> i know mr. trump. mr. trump works every day. he is a hard worker and a great listener. and a sharp mind. and i'm sure he will be working tomorrow. he will be doing stuff, getting it done, doing the job for america. neil: the most likely thing, governor, appears to be these executive orders he would do. but would you find it at all ironic, he is doing one thing he criticized his predecessor for doing? >> you have the privilege and right to do executive orders.

neil: absolutely. >> what president obama did, in my opinion, and a lot of other people was unconstitutional. you can't decide immigration law by the stroke of a pen. i can do executive orders as governor. there is limit what you can do. you can't write laws. neil: bottom line, today with the events and the speech, we're told that donald trump has been fine tuning that speech. what do you want to hear in it? >> well i ho that he discusses certainly the border. i want to hear him discuss the issue of education because that's why i got involved in politics, and i'm hoping that the congress certainly looks to betsy devos and they get her confirmed because he really is truly a person that supports education, and an education with high academic standards, for all children, and i am a big cheerleader for her. i think she's great. i don't know her personally but

i know her background. i know she has a good heart and a smart brain, and that's what we need in the department of education. work with the states. get the job done. betsy can get it done. neil: we'll watch it closely. governor wry brewer thank you very much. watch the next couple days. now to a congressman who doesn't want to be any part of this event, skipping out on it, john yarmuth of the fine state of kentucky, democrat among those 68 not attending tomorrow's event. sir, good to have you. >> thank you, neil. good to be here. neil: why aren't you attending? >> governor brewer talked about the respecting the presidency, an in my opinion donald trump has shown by his behavior since he has been president-elect, clearly before the election but even after that he doesn't respect the office. he has denigrated the office. he has trivialized it. neil: what has he denigrated, what has he denigrated and

trivialized, what he said? >> if you get up in the middle of the night and tweeting about "vanity fair" and "saturday night live" and arnold schwarzenegger's ratings on celebrity apprentice. you're not showing that you take the office seriously. presidents don't do that. neil: you are not going to this inauguration because of his tweets? >> i'm not going because in his behavior he has shown that he doesn't show proper respect for the presidency. you know, this, i'm not going -- my boy cot is not because i don't consider him legitimate. i do consider him legitimately elected. i disagree with john lewis in that respect. when you behave the way he has based, this is opportunity, since it is has become a matter of public interest whether you attend or don't attend, at least for democrats, i found this was an opportunity to make that statement. neil: but you worry though, i guess i'm trying to understand

where you're coming from, that the precedent you're setting here, if you don't like president-elect's behavior in that period he is president-elect, or she, down the road, you just don't go? that is looks like, you know, you're the one having the temper tantrum? >> well, i've got a lot of temper but i accepted fact he is going to be president. i actually think we're going to be able to work -- neil: what if republicans did that, what if republicans did that, what if republicans did that eight years ago? obama obama was meeting with a lot of celebrities. it was historic election. he was going to be inaugurated, first african-american president, what about republicans, we don't like you hanging out with james taylor, we don't like all these celebrity-driven events we'll not go to your inauguration what would you have told them? >> i don't think anybody would accept the case that barack obama has ever anything

less than total dignity and respect for the office. neil: dignity and respect is in the eye of the beholder, right? if i'm donald trump commenting on "snl" or commenting on something i don't like, that might not be my cup of tea would you really sit out something because you found that to be ok june shunnable? >> let me say one thing neil. in 2012 there were dozens and dozens of republicans who doesn't go to the inaugural. now they didn't make a public issue out of it, because nobody cared. nobody asked them. this became a matter of public interest when john lewis said he wasn't going. neil: well i had four who didn't. if you're saying dozens and dozens that is alert to my. i will check that out. i will ask you this, donald trump is going to be inaugurated president of the united states tomorrow at noon. will you work with him next monday? >> absolutely, and, actually started to say this, i think

they're going to be number of opportunities for democrats to work with him because, if he pursues the agenda that he mentioned to the extent he mentioned an agenda, when you talk about infrastructure, when you talk about preserving social security and medicare, there are a number of things that he is going to need democrats to get his agenda pushed through because he won't be able to get a majority of republicans to vote for his agenda. so i think there are going to be lots of opportunities to work with hem on. if he truly wants to get insurance for every american, i think you will find a lot of democrats who want to work with him. neil: what do your constituents say, maybe might be concerned, i know they elected you by a appreciable margin, what if they say we're concerned we'll get screwed because of your position against going to trump's inaugural. >> you know, after all of the things that were said about donald trump by people he has now embraced, i think he has shown he is perfectly willing to bury the hatchet, no matter what

people say about him. i don't think he will hold a grudge about people who decided not to go to his inaugural. i think he probably won't care one way or another. it is his day. it is america's day, to a certain extent but he has the platform there to himself. he's the star of the show which he knows how to do. and so i don't worry about that. neil: there is nothing that is going to change your mind, right? you're so far going to stick to this and your 67 colleagues by your last count stick to this and not go to the inauguration? >> i have no plans to go to the inauguration. neil: your constituents are fine with that? they're not coming back to you saying many who voted for you, we don't like him either and he -- >> obviously when you make a decision like this you will make some people mad. i have some people criticized my position but i had literally hundreds of calls over the last weekend not no-go.

whenever i'm out over last few days, when i'm out in the district i have people coming up and thanking me. i'm not worrying about me taking a position that i think most of the people in my district respect. neil: you feel donald trump is duly elected and legitimate president of the united states? >> absolutely. you know, i think there were things that happened during the campaign that were unfair to hillary clinton. there were probably moved the election but there were things unfair in every campaign. neil: all right, but you don't think it tilted the election? >> well i think probably comey's moves, had a effect on number of voters. so, yeah, i think, more so than the wikileaks revelations. and, but, it doesn't really matter. neil: that is whole separate argument. >> things happen in every election that you wish wouldn't happen, and i think george bush's first election was far

more questionable in terms of legitimacy than this one. neil: all right. well, it is what it is. all -- >> it is what it is. neil: congressman, thank you very much. very good having you. >> my pleasure. neil: you might have been seeing flashing on the bottom of your screen talking to the congressman, george bush, sr., is stable. he was in intensive care. barbara bush, his wife was brought to the hospital for fatigue we were told. no doubt in response to her husband going back into the hospital. we're told she is feeling 1000% better. in the gallows humor of the typical first president, he apparently sent prior to this, a note, a tweet, an email, i don't know means correspondence to donald trump to let him know he wouldn't make it to the inauguration. his doctor said being outside in cold weather could be six feet

under n that gallows humor and even though the bush family was not a fan of donald trump, that is fair to say, they had great respect and have, continued great respect for the office and sent their regrets they could not make it. medical issues certainly the big reason. their son, of course the last republican president, george bush, will be there with his wife laura, as will hillary clinton with her husband, bill clinton. i do want to dip in, meanwhile to the ongoing hearings going on particularly for steve mnuchin for treasury. let's get some fireworks because they are getting them going. >> what i want everybody to understand when they're talking about these mortgage issues, i was in the real estate business for 31 years and was of course in congress at the time this went on but what happened in a lot of these loans is they were made because inducement or direction of congress to take more of them. what was affordable housing loan which ended up with a subprime

loan which ended up high-risk loan which ended up high interest rate with high coupon and packaged into securities and sold around the world, is that not correct? >> that's true. the loans had different type of acronyms, low-docs but should have been called bad loans. that's what they are. >> your indymac as i remember, and as i recall tried everything it could to recalibrate those loans, restructure those loans and rye negotiate those loans to keep as many as possible from not going into for closure, is that not right? >> that is true. not only loans we owned but loans we serviced for freddie mac and fannie mae. as a matter of fact, the one person who came to my home and protested at my home, it was fannie mae loan, and i wasn't able to do anything about that and it was through my multiple calls to fannie mae that i was able to get a loan modification for that person. but many times people thought we owned the loans and we did not. they were owned by fannie mae and freddie mac and other security holders.

>> the main point i want to make for the sake of this argument, i'm sure at of questions you're going to get, a lot of these loans were originated at as pa significance and encouragement of night government and congress of the united states and they were called affordable housing loans, a lot of people bought the loans made by somebody else when they bought an institution so they inherited problem, they didn't originate the problem. there is world of difference originating a loan and buying a loan, is that not correct? >> that's correct. i can assure you the loans we originated on mortgage side going forward were good loans and had nothing to do with those terrible legacy loans. thank you for pointing that out. >> that is the important point. if you originate something you own it something that is a bad debt or booed piece of paper, shame on you for buying it but it is not your problem for creating it, that is the important thing to know, is that not correct? >> that is true, senator, thank you. >> when i say shame on you, shame on you that you did something wrong, you inherited something wrong by buy something that was good.

>> i understood that. thank you. >> one last point, i hope i made that as clear as i could. i've been told my state director of revenue, that the irs is not sending out, that federal government is not sending out w-2 forms to the state revenue departments in the united states, is that not correct? >> correct. >> when you become treasury secretary, i would hope you would pay attention to that and try an direct them to start going back to doing that. the only way we keep bogus loans and intrusion into our portfolios is for the people to get back their income tied to their social security and federal government get their report on that at same time or ask to get it at same time. if you would work seeing to it those practices are ended somewhere around country would appreciate greatly. >> thank you. i will be committed to working with your staff on that. that sounds like a very important issue. >> thanks for your willingness to serve. congratulations on your nomination. >> thank you, sir. >> senator heller. >> mr. chairman thank you. and mr. mnuchin.

neil: we're continue to monitor steve mnuchin. he is picked to be donald trump's treasury secretary. so far no bodily blows. i was goldman sachs banker and gone on to produce and finance movies, "sully" was one th went on to acclaim and academy award success. i don't know if he get as academy award for his performance on capitol hill. they're throwing everything they can at him. one thing they laid at his feet and he bristled at it, he profited from the housing meltdown and profited of closing of a lot of folks that had to give up their homes. i at the position at time, banking institutions, indymac, he was following federal statutes and rules an sticking to them, and sticking to them. this was federal policy and policy on federally sponsored loans. as treasury secretary he would

not be in the business of bailing out big banks. this is particular issue in both parties populist wave after the meltdown where institutions were bailed out but individual mortgage-holders were not. they said that wasn't fair. he doesn't favor that. that banks have to sort of hang on their own if we were ever to revisit that. the question is whether democrat or republican would support that. if bank of america were on the brink. of course that was then. this is now. no one is talking about that happening now but he does seem to be holding out the possibility, steve mnuchin, that even if it came down to that we would not get back to the business of bailing out big banks. so we're watching that one closely. we're watching the confirmation hearings going on for rick perry, for the department of energy position. but let's go to henry kissinger right now, the former secretary of state is looking at al these crosscurrents, and one of the things, secretary, and very good having you, that has come up is

our debt and our debt is a national security concern. virtually all cabinet members, enconcluding rex tillerson up for your old job said that it is a concern. is it? >> i didn't get the issue. neil: our debt, i'm sorry, sir. that it's a big issue right now. it kind of limits us and it's a threat now at almost $20 trillion to our national security. do you agree? >> yes, i think the national debt is a major problem, and a major challenge. neil: now, one of the things that has come up is that republicans could worsen it and, some fear they will by big tax cuts. that would be a bad idea. what are your thoughts on that? >> well, i must tell you, i

normal don't go on television to discuss economic issues. so as a general rule i would prefer, i, i am impressed by the efforts to stimulate the economy but how to balance against the debt, i really, it is not a subject on which i should pronounce myself. >> all right. i was just trying to embarass you, truth be told, doctor. let me get your take on our biggest security threat right now. a lot of russians, john mccain said russia, got to be russia. the president-elect says there is a way we can improve relations with russia. we needn't have this acrimonious of relationship we've had now under president obama. do you agree with that, there are opportunity with russia? because donald trump sees them even if a number of republican leaders do not? >> no.

i sympathize with the president-elect's view. i don't know if there was an opportunity, but i think it would be highly desirable whether one can get to an agreement on the security of ukraine, and on the, a political solution for syria. so if the president-elect is saying that he would like to explore what could be done, that it is compatible with our security, i would strongly support it. so, a great deal would depend on whether russia is prepared to accept the situation in which ukraine can conduct autonomous and independent existence and in between syria can find a political solution for the

various elements that are fighting with each other. >> secretary, as you know, president obama threw out 35 diplomats in this country in response to reports that they had a key role hacking our election last december. do you think donald trump should stick to that or allow them back? >> as a general rule i think the outgoing, the incoming president should stick to policy pronouncements of his predecessor. so i think probably he should go through with it. hacking by russia, it is part of the cyber system that exists in the world today. the bad aspect of the russian conduct was less the hacking

then the fact they leaked what they hacked to media, and thereby created a political issue for one of the american candidates. courts don't approve of the hacking. until there are some rules established for the conduct of cyber capacities, this is a reality that it is going to exist. one of the major topics that should be addressed by the new administration. >> dr. kissinger, the president-elect said a far bigger threat to our country these days is china, not russia. do you agree? >> i think it is extremely important to get into a frame of mind in which bo russia and china we first explore the possibilities of a settlement

before we head into a confrontation. it would be very uneasy making with respect to both russia and china, confrontation with the basic principle of the new administration. china is developing at an extraordinarily rapid rate. that is inherent in its economy and in some extent to its politics. if they challenge our vital interests, we must resist and we should resist but we should not begin the administration with the principle that we will confront both of these countries without making an effort to indicate a way by which these issues can be settled.

>> as we're speaking to you, secretary, i want to let people know what they're watching on the left of their screen. president-elect has arrived in washington, d.c. he will be joined by the vice president-elect, mike pence, for a lunch at the intercontinental hotel tonight. the president-elect will stay at blair house across the street from the white house. this is keeping largely to tradition. president-elects stay there. i believe barack obama eight years ago, that couldn't happen, because they were renovating blair house but staying at the adams hotel i believe at the time. that is the big event we're waiting for. later on a number of event being planned, including a gala at the lincoln memorial, make america great celebration at which mr. trump will be speaking. prior to that, after this lunch, the president-elect will be laying a wreath at arlington national cemetery and paying homage to our veterans in the u.s. military.

as you can see the whole caravan is just arriving right now. you know, dr. kissinger, if i get back to an issue donald trump has raised, and you were talking about the message he want to send other world leaders there is a new sheriff in town, the new way we respond to things in town. he has gone on to question whether the way we go about recognizing r nato allies, nato, whether it is up-to-date, he is scaring some, who seem to think that he is going to throw out all the old. if you were advising him, what would you tell him about addressing these fears? >> i would say there are two aspects to nato. one is, let's call it the moral aspect. there is a declaration of unity of the western democracies and assertion by the united states that their security is essential

to american security. that is a key element of our policy for the old post-war period. the second question is to what extent the various countries adapted their security policy to the changing international situation, to the disintegration of the middle east. to the rise of china. to the evolution in russia. and there i believe that the allies have not kept up their thinking with the proclamations of our -- [inaudible] if president-elect trump wants to have a discussion, propose a discussion about what nato is supposed to do now, 40 plus years after its creation, i think that it is a very

statesman-like and important step. if he threatens that we would withdraw otherwise, that is where i would part company. but if he, if as long as we affirm the basic principle of the unity of nato, and at the same time call for an adaptation of its existing strategy i think it would be a creative act. neil: what kind of a president do you think donald trump's going to be, doctor? >> well, he, it is, i think he has an unusual opportunity. many of the leaders in the world, most of the leaders i know in the world have been disquieted by their belief the outgoing administration was withdrawing from an american role and an american leadership, and in the process, even if they did not alwaysgree with the

united states, they learned about the importance of the united states in maintaining peace and progress in the world. so in many parts of the world there is now a readiness to follow some new ideas of american leadership that restores our restores our previous importance and adapted to new conditions. that is the opportunity that president trump has, and that might make him go down in history as a significant, transformative president. neil: dr. kissinger, thank you very much for taking the time. we had a lot of breaking news. we appreciate your patience. i know you don't get a chance and don't like talking to journalists. i can't blame you. >> no, i like to talk to you. you are the only one i'm doing today. neil: well, i'm very honored. i appreciate it. thank you very much, sir.

and for your service toe this country. >> thank you. neil: henry kissinger. let you know donald trump is now, i think i might have misquoted, intercontinental, he is at his own hotel in washington, d.c. wonder how they got the lunch reservation. he is there with his wife and all his kids and mike pence. he is there with the chief of staff and everything kicks off tomorrow. with me my buddy charlie gasparino, looking at all of this. something dr. kissinger, charlie, the difference could be his strength, that that could be very refreshing. >> yeah. the world were, markets were used to one way for so long, it didn't do much good economically for us, maltierly or just in --

militarily just in terms of america's stature in the world it doesn't work very well. our stature has gone down in the world. this is wild card. neil: someone says in the defense budget if i see waste, i will go after it, right? >> one thing where sort of the wild card gets a little crazy, and you made the point about the new sheriff in town, there is some good reports about that we're doing reporting now, we're finding out reince priebus is soon to be chief of staff, is actually calling corporate ceos and saying what would you thinaba 5 to 10% impt tax across the board? they're actually -- neil: in other words not in reaction to but just establishing it? >> just establishing it, with most of our trading partners. neil: do we know the reaction he has gotten? >> what i understand, reaction is like, don't do it. theoretically favors u.s. companies but the worlds economies are so at that

greated. people manufacture stuff here. companies manufacture stuff here but a part built somewhere else. parts built here around manufacturing overseas. neil: his argument they're doing it already. they have tariffs. that is the reason why there are no chevies in germany. the finance minister says, he said something like we don't like your chevies but do you think that he is just going to call their bluff on this? >> you know, i don't know. and that's the wild card aspect which could be good. i think trade wars are bad. i think free trade is done -- listen, you know, donald trump once said nafta caused detroit's demise. i hate to break it to him, it is not nafta. it wasn't a trade agreement that destroyed the auto industry and a lot of others. it is like unions, by the way that city has been in decay because of liberal policies for many years. neil: that could be a whole separate show. let me switch to these confirmation hearings going on. this is donald trump and his motorcade arriving at trump

international hotel in washington. this hearing getting a good deal of attention, steve mnuchin up for treasury secretary. i don't see any body blows landing here, charlie. one thing that interested me, he said, among others we will not be bailing out big banks. he is against that, he doesn't like that. i always think if this ever happened again with financial melt down or bank of america or citigroup were on the brink we wouldn't rescue it? >> i think he is talking out of both sides of his mouth. there may not be a official bailout and wonder if you put one of him and his compatriots, gary cohn from goldman sachs, national economic commission, if you put them on there, say, we should let -- gary was there during the financial crisis. so we should have let goldman sachs go under. which they would have gone fund it weren't for the bailouts, particularly aig bailout, had a backdoor mechanism that bailed

out goldman, wonder what they would have said then. i think these guys are talking out of both sides of their mouth. banking reform is key here. we'll get rid of parts of dodd-frank. better figure out what they do with big banks and small number of them holding a lot of assets. that is risk -- neil: what about his role and some democrats are saying, you're a scoundrel, you profited from the meltdown and you were throwing old ladies out of their homes? >> he wasn't. he made a smart business move which a lot of liberals on wall street did too, by the way. they went in, bought distressed assets. the bought a bank, took it off the government's hands. yes there was foreclosure process that occurred, guess what? people took out loans they couldn't afford. neil: he was honoring the federal laws at the time, especially if they were federally underwritten loans, but he is coming across as somewhat who fairly or not and legally or not profited off of a crisis.

>> this will not sit well with a lot of people. there were two ends of financial crisis. excesses by banks and excesses by individuals who said, i make $50,000 a year but i deserve that 350,000-dollar home and i will get a loan. banks lent it to them because they were flush with money. it was a bubble but still individuals had a role here. yes, a lot of individuals got hurt after making stupid decisions. neil: speaking of which, mark warner is addressing some of these questions i believe right now. is he sue? can we listen to it? >> if we could prioritize those debt obligations and potentially pay off bdholders, many of them foreign, many of them chinese and ignore obligations to pay states which would affect their bond ratings, social security trust funds, honor commitments of united states made to pay salaries of fbi employees, et cetera. it is your policy that united states in terms of its debt obligations needs to honor all its debt obligations and should not have the ability to

prioritize those obligations? >> absolutely. i hope you will work with me so we get that done. we've already spent the money. we have the obligations. there should be no uncertainty that we are paying the bills. >> i think that is extraordinarily important in those who somehow argue for prioritization would wreak havoc in the financial markets. reraise again what senator bennet raised, clearly if you get this role, words you say and president-elect will say will have consequences. we've already seen this. the actions of the president-elect in terms of commenting on the strength of the dollar, unprecedented. no president, democrat or republican has ever done this before. it has effects. now you will simply be a senior advisor in the cabinet of the president but how do we insure since words have such consequences that there will be an ability for a trump administration on economic policy to try to speak with a single voice?

>> well, if, if i am confirmed, i think that once we all get in office, and, have regular access, both myself, and the administration i think you will see that. and again there may be times where, you know, there is a view that the dollar is slightly too strong, but i do believe we will speak with a unified voice. >> you then expect the president elect, then president, would continue to break all precedent and be willing to weigh into these matters unlike any other prior president? >> as you know, this president is willing to do a lot of things other presidents have not done and many of them are great. >> let's move to another area. one area that i have had a huge amount of concern and interest in, i know senator crapo and number of us on this panel is on fannie and freddie, and i know that there were some people potentially interpreted some of your comment abo recap and

release, which would in a nse say, even though the american taxpayer was paid back the $188 billion we invested in those failing institutions in a moment of crisis, i think both of us from perhaps our business standpoint that was high-risk capital we ought to get a better return, but those who simply say let's refloat these two entities and basically ignore some of the underlying challenges, do you support that position of recap and release some have advocated. >> so, let me first be clear. i did make some comments about this. my comment were never that there should be recap and release. what my comment were, first of all, i've been around the mortgage industry for 30 years. i've seen this for a long period of time, so this is an area i do believe i have expertise in. for very long periods of time i think that fannie and freddie have been well-run without creating risk to the government, as well as they have had an important role, i know you're

running out of time, bear with me. >> chairman, could i get an extra 30 seconds, sir? >> go ahead. >> answer you this so you get more time. i believe they're very important entities to provide necessarily liquidity for housing finance. what i committed to i will work with both democrats and republicans. what i said, i believe, we need housing reform. we shouldn't just leave fannie and freddie as is for next four or eight years under government control without a fix. that i believe we can find a bipartisan fix for these, so on one hand, we don't end up with a giant bailout. on the other hand we don't run the risk of completely limiting housing finance. >> i appreciate those comments. i look forward to working with you. >> thank you. >> since i took 30 seconds on your statement, two quick questions, hopefully you can answer them with yes or no answers. one is, in light of those comment about recap and release you commit not to support any

kind of administrative effort that would bypass congress in terms of efforts to recap and release? >> so again i don't want to make any commitments to legislative or not. what i will commit because it is my responsibility an treasury as it relates to certain issues with fannie and freddie. what i will commit to, it is moye objective to find a bipartisan solution to it. and i would welcome the opportunity to sit down. >> my hope would be the bipartisan consensus banking committee would arrive at, we can argue or discuss how we get there should end up with a housing finance system that preserves things likes the 30-year mortgage and makes sure there is not the current status which has, which has when things are going well, private sector gain

i'm sorry, i suppose right now lifting in the sanctions. >> to support a sanctions against russia? >> well, the answer is i don't have the termination. i haven't been able to receive classified briefings. i would want to wonders in the classified or may chin and i would want to work with others to wonders in it. i don't have an opinion right

now as to whether we should want more. i do have an opinion we should have the famous ones. >> would you agree your you agree your new boss is famous for firing people? >> well, he has to show about it. other than the show -- >> at the blurred line at this point. we aren't sure where the show stops and the reality begins. do you think you'll hesitate to fire people if he disagrees about or believes they're doing a bad job? >> well, if he disagrees with them, no. i can tell you the president-elect and i have disagreed on things. sometimes i've been able to convince him and sometimes i haven't and i haven't been fired. if people do a bad job, absolutely you should fire them. >> will you be able to fire and hire the ethics officer. >> the ethics officer as it relates to his trust? i have no idea. >> who would hire and fire if it wasn't him? >> i don't have access to the trust documents. >> we are not talking about

trust. he said he will have an ethics officer to oversee him in the government. who is going to hire and fire his ethics officer? him? >> it's a good question. i would be more than happy to ask him and talk to him about it and come back. i think you raise an important issue and i think he'll understand that. i don't have the answer. >> is not the best in any business interests, correct? correct. i believe he is sold his public stocks. >> is it fair to characterize him as an international businessman? >> i believe so. >> you will enjoy the benefit of his businesses success while he is president, correct? >> again, i believe he'll do everything legally. no, no, this is not my question. my question is he had said very loudly he will go back to his

business after its president. he then studied fire his son if they hadn't done a good job. so whatever six as his business enjoys during his residence in a comment he will get the benefit of, correct? >> i miss the part about firing his sons, but that sounds like something he may have said. yes, he is the economiowner, so by definition i would assume he would have that. >> his businesses and other countries intersect with foreign countries. you agree? >> so i've read, yes. >> is a natural lot >> is mature a lot of his debt is held by foreign interests? >> i don't know. i just read it in the papers. >> do you think you should now set at as someone who runs the committee on foreign investments if we are talking about the commander-in-chief. should u.s. secretary of the treasury know what percentage of his that -- i am told by people

familiar with the business that it is a huge percentage of his dad that is held by foreign interests. >> well, as i said, if i am confirmed, i assure you i will make sure the requirement of the constitution are upheld and i think you have a valid point about foreign debt and understanding foreign things and if i'm confirmed, i will research data to back to you. >> okay, i want to get a commitment today that you will report to this committee what percentage of that against the trump enterprises is held by foreign interests. that is your job as a secretary of treasury. i want your commitment you will report to the committee estimates are able to get the information from the new president. >> i'm not making the commitment today to report to the committee on anything. but what i am willing to do to the extent i am confirmed, i am willing to speak to the chairman

and make sure that whatever the committee thinks it is, i will discuss with the president. >> i can assure you the american people need to know and you and your job as secretary of the treasury supposed to be determining national security interest based on or an investment come at american people want to know how much debt is owed by the trump businesses is owed to foreign entities and that could have a direct impact on our national security. thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator, thank you. i think you've got some interesting questions, which i follow up. neil: we are watching that, by the way, sudden interest is rather interesting. on the right of your screen, donald trump making some remarks at the trump international hotel here in washington this day. >> i have a lot of responsibility, like to tak re of and he will make america great again.

[applause] [inaudible] >> so anyway, [inaudible] that's great. so i want to thank everybody. we've had such great, great support in this moment -- where's mitch mcconnell? various. [applause] [inaudible] caught month thank you.

[inaudible] [applause] he's been coming to my office for years and he risks the law. i didn't even know. i said okay, how much is that? for years i didn't know him. and then when i ran into them -- [inaudible] but he's a great guy and i think we will have a fantastic relationship and i appreciate it. thanks for being here. [applause] it is cory. cory is here. [applause]

kevin mccarthy appeared where's kevin? [applause] [inaudible] he's got so much legislation to riot. [inaudible] [cheers and applause] i just want to let the world know we are doing very well together. we agree. he called me up, do me a favor. this is like two days ago. let's not talk about the tax is publicly because it's very complicated and stuff. i said i know that. but i was in an interview five or six days before to "the wall

street journal." i said absolutely. i'm not going to talk about taxes. this is an evening call. the following morning, it cannot trump on taxes. but paul ryan has done a great job. [inaudible] i appreciate it. thank you. [applause] all my friends. patcher, what a name. where is patcher? who's in the audience, too. come very famous lately. senator jeff sessions. [applause] [cheers and applause] >> so it is the -- is it easier

than you thought? but the did i do this for? you have done so well, so amazingly well. you know, we were so tough on just at the beginning and all the sudden man, this guy is smart. i knew he was smart. he's a great guy. he will be one of the indian stars of this country and he is legit all the way. just. [applause] anyway, and some of the others. kathy mcmorris rogers. where is kathy? she's around here somewhere. [applause] so we also have steve mnuchin who is right now getting grilled. he's doing a good job. you know this. he's out there doing what you are doing four years ago. he's doing a fantastic job. i will say i think nikki is here

someplace. nikki haley. [applause] on a center over to speak to everybody, we are going to do a lot of great things. said thank you for going through this. you did a fantastic job. thank you. tom price. it was so nice to talk. where is tom? they wanted to end his career and then they found that man, he's smart. we have a lot of smart people. one thing i've learned, we have the highest i.q. of any cabinet of error.

[applause] [inaudible] very, very easy, right? we h a little different take on it. it is called we want our children educated. that's our take. number one in the world and we are ranked number 80. some are much worse than not. route 28 out of 30. [inaudible] >> all right, they told the press to get out. you're not staying for lunch because you're the last people

we want to see eating here. this is the leadership luncheon. these are the republican national committee and big payers for the inauguration. keep in mind donald trump has raised more money for a private fund sources than any other president in history, more than barack obama raised for his two inauguration. that is what private enterprise has forked over for donald trump for the next few days of this exaggeration. so we are keeping track of that. also keeping track of other developments. michigan republican runner broadening the e-m@developments. michigan republican runner broadening the e-mails is financed from a gop presidential candidate mitt romney. remember him? just chosen as the new rnc chair. the first woman to hold that position in 40 years. that was telegraphed, but it is official now. so even though mitt romney did not get secretary of state position, his niece goes on to

lead the republican national committee. and again, we are seeing a lot of fast-changing development on the part of the president he lacked. those two will go over. they will be going to another event i believe honoring our nation's veterans. from there later on today, the lincoln memorial where there is to make america great rally going on. these are largely donald trump supporters not surprisingly. he is expected to address them later on today. of course everything begins in earnest tomorrow morning. charlie gasparino with me as we monitor these developments in the admin not these steve mnuchin hearings. but it came -- when it came to what he said by cnn friday come at inking we will leave them as is, careful. >> member to have my data back

with claire mccaskill a believer's questioning and. sword every litigate donald trump's business folder. that probably will be a theme going forward for democrats. neil: by the way, i was looking up these remarks. but what is the role of the treasury secretary when it comes to our reporting. who owns that? no such obligation there. he obviously will convey that in the details, but is under no obligation to answer to the committee. the >> that is fascinating. a couple weeks ago he was on maria bartiromo's show where mnuchin said we wanted to get thin and friday off from government control. what the market perceives those comments, which investors shouldn't have because we discussed this on your show a few times with danny and freddie were going to be released, but the government asked that

enjoyed all those great years that led up to its implosion was going to remain and that's why people bought the stock. it's known as recapping release. what he said today as we are not going toputthe taxpayer on the hooklike in the past. that's why a cnn producer lisa that the government back to come and the stock is worth less than $3. >> is he saying we don't need freddie and franny? >> i don't think they don't know yet, but it's pretty obvious to basically bring back to its pre-financial crisis role whereby if a private company with the government backstab, may be good for the holders of the bonds in the dead -- excuse me, the stock, but not good for the american people. >> when they both left at a financial reform and everything else? >> yes, they were putting conservatorship before all that. >> you could argue the catalyst for the meltdown or contributed

to upper left out of the meltdown. >> yes. but remember, they are controlled by the government. so they don't have the same capital control. >> they are plus i -- >> what a lot of people want them to do. the stockholders. he saying people thought his initial remarks were yes good old days are coming back. he pointed out now that's not necessarily the case and that's why the stock created. neil: how do you think he's doing? >> is doing a great job. he's a smart guy. neil: he didn't take the missed casco bay. you come right away and give us these details. he more or less told her to stuff it. >> is not a politician. the other thing that was interesting when they asked him if the government going to speak on one voice? donald is spouting off about the dollar any kind of soft-pedaled. he may say the dollar is a

little too strong right now. trump said -- the president-elect said the dollars to strong and that's my stomach started to tank. it's interesting how you handled that question about will the administration speak with one voice or will donald trump, the president-elect, soon-to-be president be tweeting staff that he had to put stuff back in the bottle after he says that. neil: thank you very much. also we had our debt ceiling, by the way, early march. by that time they really have to have an agreement in place to experiment. this is contention with republican, democrat. when you raise that, you are more or less saying we can't get our act together to get spending under control. when you're the republican in the white house come you get the mayor. but then it mnuchin insane as we hoped to avoid that kind of thing then that is sooner rather

than later which isn't exactly a foxhole or exactly a fox lurker might just pass on the obvious that if they had -- gerri willis catching this back-and-forth good what is your sense of what are you hearing from people? >> what i think is that when choosing is when choosing is there to kind of treasury secretaries could want from wall street and one that doesn't. he's in the robert ruined hank paulson date of treasury secretaries. then they tell you, not only do the work at goldman sachs comment his dad was an executive at goldman sachs. this is a guy steeped in wall street and some people will think that's the best thing i've ever heard in some people think it's absolutely terrible. you have to say he's acquitted himself very well. i want to point out one problem in this testimony today. they say he's not barely not big rigs. heard that veryclearl. when a yacht and a mac, one of

the biggest subprime loan underwriters in the country before, he bought it after it failed. he was given backing by the federal government to his profits from if his return did not history novels. so he himself has relied on the government to back them up. but he's in a beneficiary of that. for him to come on and they will never do that again is interesting to say the least. i have to tell you he's done a great job deflecting concerns and worries about how it's going to perform. he's going to be one of the most important people in the administration on issues that are close to fox business watchers hard taxes, taxes, taxes. whether or not we have some sort of trade sanctions, he'll be involved in that as well. he will oversee the iris which is time to instead they don't have enough people to do what they're doing. fascinating to hear him talk about how subprime loans, which is called them what they are.

he said bad loans. well, he was right involved in the middle of that presiding over that. lots of interesting detail here. he fascinating and clearly superduper's archive. neil: superduper rich guy, too. gerri willis, thank you very much. we are getting word that u.s. secretary of state john kerry will be holding a meeting at donald trump's nominee to be his successor. that has been a secretary of state designate rex tillerson on thursday, that would be today. john kerry is not attending the trump moderation. we don't know why. but he is going to meet with the man who most likely will be his doctor come in for exxonmobil chief, rex tillerson who frequently criticize john kerry's stewardship of the state department in his confirmation hearings in the way we've gone forward with our relations with russia and reacted to china. not so essentially he would do things. that being said i miss peaceful

transfer of power, being pretty much the case as is always the case every four years continues now with john kerry saying he's going to meet with rex tillerson sometime today. don't buy the venue, don't know where, none of that, but they are going to me. former virginia governor as well. governor, very good to have you. >> great to see you. neil: ddy you make of that move to meet with his successor? >> there always seems to be a good transition, particularly in foreign policy, but in every aspect of government. as the thing not to be done and what's expected and i guarantee every administration has done that. neil: here's something we don't always see. so many elected officials opt-out of attending an aggravation. 68 by last count. when you make of that message? >> i think it's very disappointing.

i went to president obama's inoculation in 2009. it wasn't historic event. people were all happy with it. and it's part of history. neil: i agree with you. >> is poor sportsmanship in my point. i grew up in the world of sports. you congratulate the winner. a lot of times you could determine the timbre of someone not so much when they win, but when they lose and how they carry themselves. i don't think it's going to matter, but for their constituents it may be only 10% of the things they agree with president trump within the administration. get this 10% in some fellow help constituents. to me is poor sportsmanship, disappointing, but i don't think it's going to have any effect whatsoever on the enthusiasm of those of us who will be here tomorrow for this exciting event and weon't care i it's raining, knowing. >> of course. maybe that's good but.

>> my father a veteran gives weather. neil: that they get a sense of matches made of poll numbers and approval numbers and the fact that donald trump goes into office one of the more controversial incoming presidents. the controversial incoming presidents, think abraham lincoln comes to mind. i'm not comparing abraham lincoln and donald trump, but i insanely get fixated on his approval numbers in the controversy after an election. would you think? >> there'll be approval of numbers and they may be low, but so what. he was overwhelmingly winning in the electoral college. the approval numbers are going to matter six months from now. and has he kept his promises to reduce taxes on american businesses. neil: saying those low approval numbers could hurt his agenda because he might not have that went behind his back.

>> he does. he is more wind at his back than ronald reagan did as ronald reagan did not have a republican house at donald trump has republican house, republican senate. he ran on ideas to reduce regulations and resources and get our tax code more competitive, nominate a conservative to the supreme court. so he needs to keep his, says penny scott the people behind had and more importantly he's got the house and senate easily. this excuse for them to doddle and not get these accomplishments done. neil: at they work against you sometimes. if you like the redskins heavily favored to win the game and all of a sudden you don't. >> you got to keep your republican team together. neil: is there some concern he might not be old to do that? their differences of what he wants to do on infrastructure

how you pay for it and how it's done and how much is in the private sector and financing needs to be figured out. on taxes i think republicans naturally want to have lower taxes. democrats are put here on earth to raise taxes. we're put on earth to reduce them. neil: you know what happens under either, deficits get worse. >> then you have to also reduce spending and there's a lot of things that the federal government is involved in they don't need to be involved in. they can run a much more lean, more efficiently on regulations in a lot of areas. neil: do you agree he has to do that sort of stuff, unpleasant stuff, spending stuff, curtail the growth right away because you only bet one honeymoon? >> i agree. you're right, you're exactly

right, neil. this is the time to make the big structural reforms and reductions in spending and a lot of them will be reduction in increases. nevertheless, it should be done right at beginning, needs to be part of the package as far as tax reform. indeed if reducing some of the regulatory burden and redundancy, you don't need as many government workers. a lot of positions, having a hiring freeze from day one would be make a great deal of sense. when i started which cut 10% out-of-state employment. neil: he is looking at doing dramatic things like that but even ronald reagan, who you remember wanted to shrink government, kept saying in his inaugural address, that government isn't the solution to the problem it is the problem, even with that government grew under eight years? >> where government grew was one area where federal government has paramount responsibility,

national defense. neil: it grew across the board. >> he didn't have the house. tax cuts are important for people keeping what they earn. manufacturing and -- neil: what about tax cuts, governor? one of the things coming up at least if we believe steve mnuchin he thinks tax cuts for upper income, guys like you -- >> no, guys like you. neil: one thing he said they have to be offset by limiting their deductions so in the end they're not really getting a tax cut? individual. >> all of that, all of that has to get worked out and negotiated. one of the things they will have to figure out on the corporate tax aspect, there is a lot of businesses, including manufacturers are pass-through entities. you can't just do tax reform for corporations without doing individual. neil: they will apparently one-two it. first the corporate stuff. then after that, maybe coupled with infrastructure spending. then the individual rates. >> but i think the individual

rates are going to have to get coupled with corporate reform, otherwise those corporations that the, smaller businesses that pass through to individuals, you will foul them up. neil: understood. >> it all can be done. if there is a will, there is a way. if people work together we'll make america great again and most importantly make americae r advancement of jobs. neil: governor, good so see you very, very much. >> wonderful to see you alive. neil: same here. right back atcha. another guy pleasant to not in the flesh but had opportunity and honor, joe lieberman, former senator from fine state of connecticut and al gore's running mate in 2000. i don't want to bring up those unpleasanttries. senator, always good having you. governor allen raises a good point where there is a wail there is a way. there is always that with

democrat or republican, how much follow-through will donald trump get on some of its goals? >> it is important. one he get off to a good start to get some things done. some of that he can do by administrative act. i presume that will be regulatory reformerly on but really make some big changes he needs the help of congress and, so he has got to select wisely. i think corporate tax reform is a great first step around which there may be bipartisan support but the challenge is going to be to get enough votes to get it pass, that will require some democrats. i think here's where president trump's personal abilities, the ability to reach out and market will be very important and i hope that he will do it personally. i expect tomorrow in his inaugural address he will reach out to strike a unifying theme but has to pursue members of the democratic congress to work with

him on something like corporate tax reform and maybe on an infrastructure program. neil: that seems to be the latest signal we're getting from the trump folks, senator, and it could be wrong but they want to do this tax thing in two different waves. one is to do the corporate thing, maybe marry infrastructure spending to bring in democratic votes, and as you indicated on corporate taxes there seems to be a lot of bipartisan support and simplify it and clean up that. that would set the stage for moving on the individual rate. what do you think of that? >> yeah, i think that's right, and i think, they have to be careful not to do too much too soon. i understand what george allen said about the small business owners and personal taxes but i think if you're talking about really substantial personal individual tax cuts they ought to be saved for later on. a good corporate tax reform program that cuts corporate taxes combined with regulatory reform and an infrastructure

program, i think will probably have a tremendous stimulative effect on the economy, and, that will begin to make everybody more optimistic about the future. >> senator lieberman, what do you think of these 68 democrats by last count who are not going to the inauguration? >> well, look it is their right to make that decision. i don't agree with it, and i don't agree with it because i think this is a day for national unity. as i said before, i expect our new president will reach out, both to try it unify the country and specifically but 60 of them or more will not be there. 2000, kind enough to mention, long enough to go i forget the pain i remember thrill of running for vice president, al gore and i went to the swearing-in of george bush and

dick cheney. that was our responsiblity and our way of saying, even though we were upset the way it ended, this is peaceful transition of power. this is what america is about. so i wished that they had gone. let's be really specific bit, if there's a grievance how the election ended this year, it ought to be held most intensely by hillary clinton. she is going to be there. neil: you're right about that i remember in your case, i was only in grade school at the time. >> nice of you to remember that. neil: by the way, on left of your screen, steve mnuchin is wrapping things up. they're taking a lunch break. they aren't finished yet. he got a lot of tough questioning. donald trump's choice to be treasury secretary of the united states. one of the issues that came up, senator, was the role of debt and how much debt we have, and whether it's gotten so unwieldy, maybe should we face a crisis, we're not even able to bail out

banks, nor should we bail out banks. do you think, if we ever had another meltdown like we did eight years ago and bank of america or city group, on the brink, that we wouldn't aid them, wouldn't help them, that we shouldn't. >> obviously depends on how bad the situation is, but i think that whoever is in power then would have the same response as president bush did, and a lot of democrats and republicans in congress, to help those institutions because, because if they went down the whole country might go down but on the general question of american debt, which as you know is approaching $20 trillion, long term government debt, really we have to begin to deal with that. one of the worst consequences of the partisanship and political dysfunction in washington that nobody wants to take the risks that are necessary to solve big problems like this. you can't solve the debt problem without cutting some spending,

maybe, even raising some taxes but that is for the betterment of the country. if we get the economy going this year, through the kind of measures that we talked about a moment ago, neil, then i think that does generate more revenue and hopefully reduces the debt but that won't do it long-term. you have to make real tough structural changes. paul ryan knows how to do this but it's not easy and it's not going to be popular with everybody. it will be a real test of president obama as to whether he's prepared to take this on, not first, but don't wait too long. neil: do you get a sense, senator, when you look at the landscape of the political divisions alive and well, donald trump, reaching across the aisle and closing a deal, that that, there is anyone who can try to do that it's donald trump, but he's had a lot of pragmatic messaging going on

here, populist theme that angered some republicans, for example, on going after companies hire abroad? that is a democrat theme and seems to be resonating well with his base. so that he by his style and by his positions by his populist approach might be the guy to bring thtwo together? >> you would think so. a number of my fellow democrats already i see going into kind of resistance mode. neil: right. >> i remind them how ringry democrats were in 2009, when mitch mcconnell said our goal the next four years not to make sure that barack obama gets reelected. don't repeat that approach. i think there are democrats in congress prepared to work with donald trump. he has to reach out to them. we need a little bit of bill clinton approach. i remember, said, if president clinton wanted your support on

something, he would call you, not only call you to the white house, call you at home any hour of the night and basically wouldn't hang up until you said yes. maybe on some of those occasions when president trump might be inclined to tweet late at night, he might want to call chuck schumer and see if he can convince him to work together for the betterment ever the country. neil: you mentioned tweeting thing. he says he would keep doing that. what do you think of that? >> it is a very powerful device and i wouldn't tell him to stop. with respect to him, be select tougher what he will tweet. he will be president of the united states. neil: it worked for him. but this tweeting thing is big, i don't know if you heard this internet will be huge, senator. i suspect he is on to something. >> inter, what? neil: always good having you my friend. be well. >> you too. neil: thank you for your loaning and loyal service to this country. >> thank you, my friend.

neil: both parties would commend you on that front. more from washington. right now we are less than 22 hours away from having a president trump and something that seemed unthinkable, unimaginable, but in our incredible republic, anything is possible. you can be a billionaire an become president of the united states. we'll have a lot more on this, and the fallout from those cabinet picks and what happened in the latest confirmation hearings as this remarkable whirlwind activity picks up pays. you are watching fox business. ♪

>> the stage is set. live from our nation's capitol where donald trump is about to become the nation's 45th

president, here is neil cavuto. neil: does that guy have a great voice or what? don't you want a guy, in the morning, your eggs and bacon are ready. that is a great voice. anyway, welcome, everybody, just in front of the white house which will soon be donald trump's home. tomorrow at this time, he will be watching a parade. we will be witnessing history. he arrived in this town a little bit about an hour ago. melania trump, by the way everyone is emailing, neil, do you know what designer melania will be wearing? i have no idea. why are you asking me? a lot of other people are saying, do you know what she will be wearing? i assume some clothes. i'm sorry i can not pass along the designer, but i always remember that jack kennedy line, no one cared about what he or lyndon was wearing. there was much more attention to jackie kennedy. that is understandable.

i don't know what kind of design melania is wearing. some are protesting, we don't want anything to do with her. knowing her wardrobe and and i don't think she is worried about what designer will give his or her blessing versus what is not. that is the extent of my wardrobe update. to another update here on comings and goings of one donald trump. he is at a leadership conference, thank you to those who have been financially supportive, raising record funds for this inaugural. then he is going to be doing a whole bunch of other stuff as the pace picks up ahead of tomorrow, when he is formally inaugurated. connell mcshane following his every single move. connell. reporter: very much enjoyed your fashion report leading into me, neil. we have been tracking every move of the preside-ect here in washington, d.c. that is interesting. on-camera appearance you alluded to, talk in a second, came to a

surprise for us. we didn't know we would see the president-elect at a luncheon. he began at joint base andrews with presidential arrival. arriving in military aircraft and came down the steps and saluting members the military did with his wife melania. he did not call it air force one but a military aircraft until he is president. what woks like very much to the naked eye as air force condition. we did not know a pool camera would be allowed to show the rashes at least it was for beginning of those remarks. he said this about the team that he has assembled. watch. >> i tell you what we've learned. we have by far the highest i.q. of any cabinet ever. [applause]

reporter: lighthearted as those remarks might be, highest i.q. of any cabinet ever assembled they play into the news here today in washington as was talked about incoming press secretary sean spicer at his first on camera briefing at the transsession headquarters earlier frustration as they see it on team trump with the confirmation process for some members of that cabinet. here is spicer. >> there is really no excuse for the delay tactics and frankly the partisanship being expected by the democrats. there is time and place for it, i get it. if you hold to the standard they were held in '08, you recognize the fact that they are continuing to employ delay tactic, after delay tactic which isn't good for the government. reporter: that has been denied, there is any delay tactic taking place by incoming senate minority leader chuck schumer. from the national ball, where you can make over my left

shoulder, the swearing-in takes place, i will send it down to you, you might make out they're starting rehearsal for tomorrow's national anthem. kind of uncomfortable taking over that. but it will be great. neil: connell mcshane -- next 24 hoursere and then some. one of the other dramas today, on going confirmation hearings for key cabinet picks for trump administration including treasury secretary steve mnuchin who is a very rich guy. keeping with the theme we have a very rich cabinet coming in. i don't know they have the highest i.q. i know they have the highest net worth on paper of any cabinet in american history. and the issue an the controversy over that will kind of spilled over into the questioners earlier today. i want you to take a look at this. >> senator wyden, i've got a valium pill here that you might want to take before the second

round. >> mr. chairman, i hope that comment about valium doesn't set the tone for 2017 in this committee. i just, i like senator roberts but i think just can't quite believe that he would say that to a distinguished senator from oregon. >> i said that to the president of the united states at one point. >> perhaps you did. i would hope that doesn't set tone for the session. mr. chairman -- >> all right. all right. i sit -- >> i have the time, please. i have the time, please. >> this is so different from this. this is out ridge rage just. >> i don't know about outrageous, i think a little pinprick of humor might help this committee from time to time which i engage in. neil: seemed to work like a charm. that was just among the questioners. so go figure. caitlyn huey burns, "real clear politics" right now. this is all part of the theater around confirmations, right? >> absolutely. democrats don't have a way to block the mom needs.

they passed that filibuster changes to the rules. neil: they must rue that day every day. >> exactly. her chuck schumer, they wish they could have those 60 votes. neil: now you just need a majority, right? >> majority of republicans. for most of these nominees, republicans are widely on board with a lot of them. neil: is anyone in danger? >> tillerson, secretary of state nominee was kind of in dank canner at points, particularly in contrast with russia and all those sorts of things. republican senators wanted to use the confirmmation hearings to draw a proxy fight on issue. they're not seeing a ton of resistance. you might get democrats on board for him. most of the confirmation picks will go through. most republicans are on board. just a matter for democrats to confuse platform and stage, set up issues they care about, you mentioned tillerson again. john kerry we're told they are meeting.

even though john kerry is not going to the inauguration. i don't know why, do you? >> i don't know why. typically most people go. there have been a lot of democrats-- neil: any democratic senators not going? >> interestingly enough, democratic senators, most are going. we haven't heard any dissent from democratic senators saying they are boycotting this. a reason why, they represent entire states. a lot of them. neil: right. >> you played the senator from ohio, for example. trump won ohio, he is going to be there. neil: one thing if you come from a rabid district where you have overwhelming support like 2/3 of the non-goers are from california, for example. >> exactly. districts that didn't support trump. many lawmakers on other side were not going to probably show up anyway but -- neil: but this number. >> they were looking for ways to protest. their district the allow them to do that in a way. senators have a different deal. a lot of them campaigned respecting the process, right?

respecting peaceful transition of power. saw that as big campaign theme coming from the democrats during that one debate, an subsequent weeks. so it is kind of hard to say they respect the process and institution and peaceful transfer of power and not show up to witness this. neil: what about the pressure to deliver the goods in the first 100 days? i don't know where that started, i think with fdr. i joked with one guest, it is almost first 100 minutes you have to be signing executive orders to undo the other guy's executive orders. something to do to look busy. >> immediately do away with everything you said you were going to do. it is interesting, republicans started process of repealing obamacare this week. neil: lay the groundwork. >> get the ball moving, to show their constituents, we've been campaigning on this for years, particularly this cycle. we need to show them things are getting done. particularly since trump doesn't have the full cabinet in order, he will have to do things to make sure everything is okay. neil: what does he have to say tomorrow?

>> well, you know, i think a lot of people, not just democrats, but other voters are looking for him to talk about unity. we want to get things done. he is going in with the lowest approval rating of any other president-elect. that would have been the case for hillary clinton of course too. that was the theme during the campaign. neil: all right. >> wants to get the numbers up. want to talk about unity. we'll see what he says. it is supposed to be short. fors if it is raining. neil: if it is raining. don't say that. don't say that that's what i'm hearing. that is where it will go down topped take place. donald trump donald trump is the 45th president of the united states. it all takes place 22 hours from now.

.. coming back on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler

for sudden breathing problems. breo is specifically designed to open up airways to improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. learn more about better breathing at mybreo.com. it's a performance machine. of engineering... with this degree of intelligence... it's a supercomputer. with this grade of protection... it's a fortress. and with this standard of luxury... it's an oasis. the 2017 e-class.

it's everything you need it to be... and more. lease the e300 for $549 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. neil: the inauguration of donald trump and strange inheritance,

you might have some ideas. >> my mom would agree with you it is strange inheritance but i will be in washington for the inauguration and kickoff -- i have been on the road 300 days. so nice to be back with you and the vice president elect mike pence has a cameo in our first episode. we found abe lincoln's rail splitter, what we believe to be, that helped him become president and watching everything unfold in washington, more of my neighbors will put their american flags back up. we have a terminus amount of patriotism and that is what the show is about him a meeting great american families who have strange inheritances, willing to share. neil: i like what you said about the american flag. honoring the presidency, history and traditions, people forget that. we forget on inauguration day

everyone comes out. >> it is a day for all americans to see the strength we have, our show launching on inauguration day is a real symbol of the kind of stories we want to tell at foxbusiness not just about your money in the markets but also about americans, small business owners and how they are getting by, passing wealth and some of the wacky veiny things a lot of us can relate to. 11 of 28 shows we are doing on foxbusiness are from viewers. the emails jamie@strangeinheritance.com, next thing you knew i showed up in their living room. neil: did you do what i said? don't fall down in the basement when i say i want to show you something in the basement. >> basement and attics can be

creepy. some people live differently but there is a jewel among them. we found a penny that was worth $1 million, that will be one of our episodes monday at our regular timeslot at 9:00 p.m. but friday night at 10:00, strange inheritance is back, season 3. i cannot wait to share the privilege i have had of traveling all over this country and crossing the pond, we found jane austen's ring, one that the uk did that even know about. i'm enjoying this assignment. i will be at the armed services ball tomorrow night in a gown with trish reagan who would not tune in for that. neil: i will be at the perkins hall, all-night breakfast. i will tell you about it when i get here. thank you very much. it is a fantastic show. strange inheritance kicks off after all the inauguration festivities. who wouldn't want to watch a show like that, great people,

the essence of america which can be said of trish reagan who joined me now. trish: we are excited for tomorrow night. you are with "the intelligence report" live from the nation's capital where in less than 24 hours we will welcome the new president of the united states donald trump, the president-elect arriving in dc a short time ago. i can tell you as word leaks today he is preparing to cut government spending and government bureaucracy like we have never seen before. welcome to "the intelligence report". trump arriving on what will become his air force one. got a lot going on today. we will take you there live as soon as they happens and he had to a big welcome celebration at the lincoln memorial. joining me wit