crisis that president trump is trying to deal with. the situation in syria was created because of the vacuum by president obama, there was a red line and essentially putin and assad took over. maria: we'll see you, everybody, here is stuart. stuart: let's not hold back on this. it was a right, an ugly, violent riot, free speech took another hit. berkley, california, a reporter was invited to speak, they shut him down. trump supporters were assaulted. one woman was pepper sprayed by a royter. at dawn this morning, prime minister fired off this tweet, if uc berkeley doesn't allow free speech, look at it, no federal funds.

our president is in a combative move. he had a fight with australian prime minister. president trump does not like president obama's deal that would invite refugees to america. and he tells senator mcconnell go nuclear if you have to. look at this, an early morning tweet about iran, they've been put on notice because they fired ballistic missiles. it looks like the president has laid down a red line of his own. the white house is not occupied by casper milquetoast, is it? never a dull moment any moment. president trump will speak at the national prayer breakfast and you'll see it. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ >> the people watching tonight should look at people protesting, and look at the

color hat they're wearing, it's certainly not red. ashley: lovely. liz: that's awful. stuart: does that make you mad or what? you witnessed chaos on the campus of cal-berkley. and an editor was to speak on, of all things, milo yanpoulos. ashley: they are bombs and using those to smash windows and the young lady said -- was wearing a hat that said something about bitcoin, but enough that looked like a trump hat that she was sprayed. and a group of anarchistnarchis

masked protesters. there are no arrests. stuart: that's outrageous. liz: the cops were attacked. stuart: why were they not in force arresting people and charging them and about ut in prison. >> it's not like it's know the been out there milo is a conservative. his speaking tour has been out there on college campuses. ashley: the put out this, the left is terrified of free speech and will do anything to shut it down. stuart: mon and politics, that's what we do. president trump made the riot at burkeeley. if they don't have free speech, no federal fund. can he do that?

>> he can't do it retro actively. the money in the universities in california system, there may well be a string in there. the states are obliged to respect free speech. cal burkeley is public property. the law enforcement as well as the people that run the college have the obligation to protect the free speech of the speaker, however provocative he may be. sometimes police make a judgment call. this is such a bad situation we're going to diffuse it by stopping him speaking. that's the last resort, but they're permitted to make that decision. i'm frustrated as you that no

arrests. and sometimes it's impossible for the police to determine who the culprit is because of the dynamics of constantly moving violence and don't want to arrest the wrong person, but it's deeply frustrating and the other side of this is, this is like cambridge, massachusetts the most liberal city in the country. the people that run the city are much more likely to be on the side of the protesters than on the side of mr. yanoupolus. stuart: president trump's tweet was about uc berkeley and it's a larger target, the safe places, shutting down speech codes around the country. and maybe he's sending a message, that's over it. >> that's a message that ought to be, because the state of california, which owns this college, has the same obligation to protect free speech as the federal government does.

stuart: we're a free speech show. >> you let me say whatever i want. stuart: almost. >> beautiful neck tie. stuart: you want to buy it? >> here we go again. [laughter] . stuart: a moment of levity in an otherwise sad morning. >> a sense of humor. stuart: come back, please. to the politics and our markets, open for stocks, we're going to be down 40, 50 points. there's a lot of uncertainty over president trump's policies and the implementation of those policies and that's hurting stocks again today. i'm going to say the stock of the day is likely to be facebook, revenue, that's the amount of money coming at them up over 50%. mobile advertising okay, but only up a fraction. that's an interesting talking point. why is mobile advertising at facebook residential growing slightly. liz: because basically there are concerns about the content of facebook is too politicized

and not happy seeing their content, the conversations are about politics and you know, livestreaming of suicides is an issue. live streaming of attacks is an issue. and also there's a drop of the sharing of original content. photo share, not a drop, but a concern about that. snap chat is picking off the millennials and teens. lack of room. stuart: two of my relatives said we're not taking this any longer. ashley: my wife. stuart: really. ashley: it's become so hateful. stuart: it's a stream of hate and i don't want it and i'm not going to pick through it. ashley: life is too short for that. stuart: now this, reports of a heated phone call between premium and australia's prime minister malcolm turnbull. the president pressed him on an obama deal to take refugees fr australia. here is the tweet that came at 10:55 eastern time last night. do you believe it the obama administration agreed to take thousands of illegal migrants

from australia. why? i will study this dumb deal. joining us now, congressman chris collins, republican from new york. you know, why did our president sort of get into a spat with the prime minister of australia, who is an ally? >> there's no question australia, stuart,is one of our most loyal allies, but with that said, by all appearances this would know the be the kind of deal that president trump would have reached with any country and what you had is apparently president obama making this deal with australia to take these refugees, these immigrants, and certainly everything that donald trump campaigned on it's certainly appropriate for him to question whether he's going to have to honor that deal. he is now the president. so certainly, that would appear to be the tone that he was being pressed by the prime minister to honor the deal and one thing about president trump, he makes up his own mind and i guess you could say

you're not going it misunderstand after you've had a conversation with him where he stands on something. stuart: true. >> clear-- political correctness aside i think he wh when the call ended the prime minister knew where he stood. stuart: i want to talk to two republicans in the senate who say they're not going to vote in favor of betsy devos for secretary of education. is that in trouble for the nomination? when you take away those two, it's 50-50 and you have to bring in the vice-president to vote. >> it's disappointing, but we have some senators who have their own politics, it wouldn't be the first time that senator collins was in disagreement with trump being through the campaign. but the main thing let's get betsy devos confirmed. 50-50, vice-president pence,

they would make her nomination and-- >> and you said that mr. mcconnell will do what he has to do. stuart: i believe he's going to force a full senate vote, i think it's tomorrow so you're going to have jeff sessions, senator jeff sessions vote. otherwise, it would be too late and he wouldn't be able to vote. so i think that mitch mcconnell is forcing the issue. i think the vote is tomorrow. so, you're telling me that if all republicans hold firm, devo? >> and exactly that's what matters and that she's in and i believe she'll be the next secretary of education. stuart: you're one of the first to support now president trump and one of the gate keepers, for the jobs available there. we wish you the best of luck with that. >> have a great day, stuart. stuart: we shall, sir.

a rosie ouook fr tractor supply. that's up 4 or 5%, not a bad gain. metlife losing money. there's a stock that's going to be down 3 or 4%. now, let's go to the president and he's about to speak at the prayer breakfast, let's listen in, please. [applause] >> thank you, mark, so nice. thank you very much. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. it's a great honor to be here this morning and so many faith leaders, very, very important people to me, from across our magnificent nation and so many leaders from all across the globe. today we continue a tradition begun by president eisenhauer

some 64 years ago. this gathering is a testament to the power of faith and is one of the great customs of our nation and i hope to be here seven more times with you. [applause] >> i want very much to thank our co-chair senator bosman and senator kuntz and all of the congressional leadership. they're all over the place. we have a lot of very distinguished guests and we have one guest who was just sworn in last night, rex tillerson, secretary of state. going to do a great job. [applaus [applause] >> some people didn't like rex because he actually got along with leaders of the world. i said, no, you have to understand that's a good thing. that's a good thing, not a bad thing.

he's respected all the over the world and i think he's going to go down as one of our great, great secretaries, we appreciate it. thank you, thank you, rex. [applause] >> thank you, as well to senate chaplain barry black for moving words. i don't know, is that an appointed position? is that an appointed position, i don't know if you're democrat or republican, i'm appointing you for another year and i think it's not even my appointment, it's the senate's appointment. your son is here, your job is very, very secure, okay? thank you, barry. appreciate it very much. i also want to thank my great friends, roma, where is beautiful roma down aney, the voice of an angel, and everything is beautiful about

roma, and including her husband, mark burnett for a wonderful introduction, so true, i said to the agent, i'm sorry, the on thing wrong -- i got on the phone and fired him myself, you don't want to do it, it will never ever work, listen, i fired him after it became the number one show, so successful and he wanted a commission and he didn't want to do the-- that's when i really said, but we had tremendous success on "the apprentice" and when i ran for president i had to leave the show and that's when i knew for sure i was doing it and they hired a big, big movie star, arnold schwarzenegger to take my place, and we know how that turned out. the ratings went right down the tubes. it been a total disaster and mark will never ever bet against trump again and i want to just pray for arnold, if we can for those ratings, okay?

but we've had an amazing life together, the last 14, 15 years, and outstanding man and thank you very much for introducing me. appreciate it. it's a great honor. [applause]. i also want to thank my dear friend, vice-president mike pence who has been -- [applause] >> and incredible wife karen and every time i was in a little trouble with something hwhere they were questioning me, they'd say, but he picked mike pence. so he has to know what he's doing. and it's true. he's been -- you know on the scale of zero to 10, i rate him a 12. i want to thank you. thank you very much, appreciate it. [applause] >> but most importantly today i want to thank the american people. your faith and prayers have

sustained me and inspired me, through some very, very tough times, all around america i have met amazing people whose words of worship and encouragement have been a constant source of strength. what i hear most often, as i travel the country, are five words that never ever fail to touch my heart, that's "i am praying for you." i hear it so often. i am praying for you, mr. president. [applause] no one has inspired me more in my travels than the families of the united states military. men and women who have put their lives on the line every day for their country and their countrymen. i just came back yesterday from dover air force base to join

the family of chief william ryan owens, as america's fallen hero was returned home, very, very sad, but very, very beautiful. very, very beautiful. his family was there, incredible family, loved him so much, so devastated. he was so devastated. but the ceremony was amazing. he died in defense of our nati nation. he gave his life in defense of our people. our debt to him and our debt to his family is eternal and ever lasting. greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. we will never forget the men and women who wear the uniform, believe me. [applaus

[applause] >> thank you. from generation to generation, their vigilance has kept our liberty alive, our freedom is won by their sacrifice and our security has been earned with their sweat and blood and tears. god has blessed this land to give us such incredible heroes and patriots. they are very, very special and we are going to take care of them. [applause] >> our soldiers understand that what matters is not party

or ideology or creed, but the bond of loyalty that link us altogether as one. america is a nation of believers. in towns all across our land, it's plain to see what we easily forgot, so easily we forget this, that the quality of our lives is not defined by our material success, but by our spiritual success. i will tell you that, and i tell you that from somebody that has had material success and knows tremendous numbers of people with great material success. the most material success. many of those people are very, very miserable, unhappy people and i know a lot of people without that, but have great families, they have great faith. they don't have money, at least

not nearly to the extent and they're happy. those, to me, are the successful people, i have to tell you. [applause] >> i was blessed to be raised in a churched home. my mother and father taught me that to whom much is given much is expected. i was sworn in on the very bible from which my mother would teach us as young children. and that faith lives on in my heart every single day. the people in this room come from many, many backgrounds. you represent so many religions, and so many views, but we are all united by our faith in our creator and our firm knowledge that we are all equal in his eyes. we are not just flesh and bone

and blood. we are human beings with souls. our republic was formed on the basis that freedom is not a gift from government, but that freedom is a gift from god. [applaus [applause] >> it was the great thomas jefferson who said the god who gave us life gave us liberty. jefferson asked, can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these berties her the gift of god? among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs. that is why i will get rid of

and totally destroy the johnson amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. i will do that. remember. [applaus [applause] >> freedom of religion is a sacred right, but it also a right under threat all around us, and the world is under serious, serious threat in so many different ways. and i've never seen it so much and so openly as since i took the position of president. the world is in trouble, but we are going to straighten it out, okay? that's what i do. i fix things. we're going to straighten it out. believe me. when you hear about the tough phone calls i'm having, don't worry about it, just don't

worry about it. they're tough. we have to be tough. it it's time we're going to be a little tough, we're taken advantage by virtually every nation, it's not going to happen anymore, it's not going to happen anymore. we've seen unimaginable violence carried out in the name of religion, acts of wanton slaughter against religious minorities, horrors in a scale that defy description. terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom. it must be stopped and it will be stopped. may not be pretty for a little while. it will be stopped. we have seen -- [applaus [applause] >> and by the way, general, as you know, james mad dog, shouldn't say it in this room, mattis. there's a reason they call him

mad dog mattis, never lost a battle, always wins them and always wins them fast. he's our new secretary of defense, will be working with rex he's right now in south korea, going to japan and other spots, i tell you what i've gotten to know him really well. he's the real deal. we have somebody who is the real deal working for us and that's what we need. so you watch. you just watch. [applause] >> things will be different. we have seen peace-loving muslims brutalized, victimized murdered and oppressed by isis killers. we have seen threats of extermination against the jewish people. we have seen a campaign of isis and genocide against christians where they cut off heads. not since the middle ages have we seen that. we haven't seen that. the cutting off of heads.

now, they cut off the heads, they drown people in steel cages, haven't seen this, haven't seen this, nobody's seen this for many, many years, all nations have a moral obligation to speak out against such violence. all nations have a duty to work together to confront it and to confront it viciously if we have to. so i want to express clearly today to the american people that my administration will do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty in our land. america must forever remain a tolerant society where all favorites - where all faiths remai respected and we have to feel safe and secure. in recent days we have begun to take necessary action to achieve that goal. our nation has the most

generous immigration system in the world. but these are those and there are those that would exploit that generosity to undermine the values that we hold so dear. we need security. there are those who would seek to enter our country for the purpose of spreading violence or oppressing other people based upon their faith, or their life style, not right. we will not allow a beachhead of intolerance to spread in our nation, you look all over the world and you see what's happening. so, in the coming days, we will develop a system and help ensure that those admitted into our country fully embrace our values of religious and personal liberty, and that they reject any form of oppression and discrimination. we want people to come into our

nation, but we want people to love us and to love our values, not to hate us and hate our values. we will be a safe country, we will be a free country, and we will be a country where all citizens can practice their beliefs without fear of hostility or fear of violence. america will flourish as long as our liberty and in particular, our religious liberty is allowed to flourish. [applause] america will succeed as long as our most vulnerable citizens, and we have some that are so vulnerable, have a path to success and america will thrive as long as we continue to have faith in each other and

faith in god. [applaus [applause] >> that faith in god has inspired men and women to sacrifice for the needy, to deploy to wars overseas, and to lock arms at home, to ensure equal rights for every man, woman and child in our land. it's that faith that sent the pilgrims across the oceans, the pioneers across the plains and the young people all across america to chase their dreams. they are chasing their dreams. we are going to bring those dreams back. as long as we have god, we are never ever alone, whether it's the soldier on the night watch, or the single parent on the night shift, god will always give us solace and strength and comfort.

we need to carry on and to keep carrying on. for us here in washington, we must never ever stop asking god for the wisdom to serve the public according to his will. that's why -- [applause] >> thank you. that's why president eisenhower and senator carlson had the wisdom to gather together 64 years ago, to begin this truly great tradition, but that's not all they did together. let me tell you the rest of the story. just one year later senator carlson was among the members of coness toend to the president's desk a joint resolution that added "under god" to our pledge of allegiance. it's a great thing. [applaus

[applause] >> because that's what we are and that is what we will always be and that is what our people want. one beautiful nation under god. thank you, god bless you. and god bless america. thank you very much. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. stuart: the president addressing the prayer breakfast, just as the market opens. the president comes to an end of his presentation. we have opened on the down side and president trump, i have to say, the introduction, the beginning of his speech at the prayer breakfast was a very political speech. it had those moments when we're always surprised at what he says. he actually suggested prayer for arnold schwarzenegger because arnold's ratings on "the apprentice" were not very good. [laughter] >> president trump suggests me pray for him.

nobody was expecting that at the beginning of a prayer breakfast speech. that's what we got. and he went on, freedom is not a gift from government, it's a gift from god. he went on to say that those coming into our countries must love our values know the hate our values, but concealed in that speech was a nugget about the president wanting to allow churches to become involved in political activity. that, lady and gentlemen, is a blockbuster. quick word from elizabeth. liz: yeah, a mine field. senator lyndon johnson passed it, said you pastor, you minister can't tell people who to vote for. and allowing this through t church and would we want that through mosques. stuart: let's now focus on money. we're down 30 points at the opening bell.

a lot more red than green. the preponderance of down side moves. i'll bring you up to speed on facebook, posted some very, very big numbers, but the stock is down. that's a surprise, but remember, please, its growth in mobile advertising revenue was very, very slim. appears a lot of people are turning off the facebook feed because it's so political, so full of hatred. that's a problem for facebook, despite the good numbers. all right, it's thursday morning, who do we have with us? i'll tell you now, ashley webster is here, liz macdonald, scott, and mitch is with us, mitch, the sporting goods guy. mitch in very, very quickly here. you are a trump guy, but horrified at the idea of a border tax, aren't you? because your stuff is made in mexico. >> it's made in mexico, it's made in china-- 98% of our goods are imported.

stuart: you're a trump guy, but you don't want a border tax? >> we don't, the consumers will pay 15% more more merchandise, and 39 more for gas, from 2.29 to 2.60, it doesn't make sense. stuart: i'm sure you're lobbying hard for no border tax, is that right? >> i'm on the board of retail federation and a lobby group to help. i think that once trump understands the ramifications and effect on the consumers, he's going to do the right thing. stuart: mitch, thanks very much for being with us. you sat there for about a half hour with nothing to do and i'm sorry we cut it so short, but it was a pleasure having you on. stuart: good luck, and with the super bowl, too. sell those jerseys. brian brenburg, i want to know what you think about facebook? why is it down? >> they're going to figure it out, if they don't figure it out, somebody else is going to. too much competition in the

space for somebody not to take advantage of it. this is a facebook issue, i don't think it's an economics issue, a big macro economics. stuart: that's a fair point. ashley: and they're changing themselves into a video first. mark zuckerberg says this'll be getting into that and facebook transitions more in a video company. stuart: scott martin, i want your opinion, too, on this program we've heard it said that facebook would become the first trillion dollar company. in order the stock price would go up so much, that the market value is a trillion dollars. it's not doing that today. it's down a buck 77. what say you here? >> it tried to do that somewhat, stuart, last night and give or take a couple of pennies, it needs to double or so to get there. i think it's going to get there. i think that the markets got this wrong. after the earnings came out that the stock shot up to 138. facebook is the domineer in the space.

now they're going more application based instead of the facebook phone which is a flop. don't bet against mark zuckerberg, they have acquisitions over the years that are quiet, that's going to take it happen not the earnings in the fourth quarter. stuart: left-hand side of the screen look at big name technology stocks, they're down this morning, not that much, the point is they're down. i want to focus in on amazon for a moment and they issued their profit for-- their profit report after the closing bell today. listen to this, this is one of those amazon amazing stories. more than half of the internet's sales growth now comes from amazon. that's why we call amazon the king of on-line selling. they really are kind of the everything company. half of internet growth comes from amazon into that sales group? >> and half of on-line sales originate through amazon as well. everyone going on-line is going through amazon.

they're going to continue to pick up, the growth is huge. >> looking for 137 billion dollars in annual growth. that's a gigantic number and the way that amazon does it, their average delivery comes in a little more than three days, versus about six days for the competitors. >> and going way down. liz: that's what people are happy about, with delivery time and other things as well. stuart: the retailers who bear the brunt of the on-line onslaught, you can see what's happening there, they're at depressed stock levels. macy's on the upside 3, nearly 4% today. i'll tell you why, terry lundgren says he wouldn't be opposed to buying macy's and that's why this particular stock is up nearly 4%. otherwise bricks and mortar stores are not doing well, facing the amazon onslaught. kar karl rove, an article, amateur

hour at the white house. and when the trump administration didn't perform well implementing the policies, particularly on immigration. is that creating a kind of investor lack of confident? the performance of mr. trump? >> it is, but the big thing on tax reform. they don't have to worry about president trump, that's paul ryan. he needs it up and moving to get the people's opinions behindt, but ryan executes there, not president trump so i think it's weighing on investors now, if paul ryan gets that moving, it helps quite a bit. liz: somebody has to say to donald trump, slow down, don't be so unfortune how you move forth-- that's what karl rove's point

is, it's called make america's markets choppy again if-- it's policy by tweet. stuart: i think the opposite. i think donald trump, president trump should go gung-ho for a tax cut. there's a meeting at 11:15 eastern time in the white house. the top guy, top democrat and republican from the ways and means, i think that donald trump is going to lay down the low, get me that tax cut and says that in forceful terms, and gets it, i think the market goes up if that's the news we get. >> that's one of the biggest rallying cries, everything would get behind. he wasn't talked as tough on the tax cut. there's been rhetoric, maybe it doesn't get done in the first 100 days and i think that's what's happening with the market here. you're start to go see opposition, maybe some backtracking that trump promised that it was not going to happen and that's why it's having a hard time staying

above 20,000 on the dow. stuart: a delay with tax cut, that doesn't help. lack of proper implementation of certainly a couple of items from president trump, that's not helping investor sentiment. we're down. and the big name in technology, google, facebook, and others, plan to write a letter about the travel restrictions. some call it a travel ban, it's not, it's a restriction. ashley: temporary. stuart: and also visas, and another issue. and here you've got the titans of tech lining up against the president on policy grounds. >> they want access to h 1 vb visas, and access to foreign talent and they feel it's going to be cut out. it's going to be a problem. stuart: clash of titans. >> and roping other industries and it doesn't become silicon

valley versus donald trump and the trump administration, but business as a whole. >> so the negotiation between the president and business is now going to focus on silicon valley about visas and money and president trump who wants it build it here and the clash. >> there's negotiation on the money overseas, visas for money to come back to the united states. stuart: visas, what's wrong with na. oh, ralph lauren, i have a connection to ralph lauren, stock is at a six-year low, nicole, give me the story. nicole: oh, well, mr. lauren himself and the ceo, stephen larson put in place less than two years ago in the ceo role, they've been butting hea and the ceo is going to be stepping down and this is because, ralph lauren himself saying we've found different views how to evolve this company, basically, i'm paraphrasing. it's the number one loser in

the s&p 500, it's down 9% and it has been lagging. a conference call is on right now and they also said they plan on closing about 50 stores. so this is a developing story and a huge mover today. down 9%. stuart: let's not forget, it was ralph lauren to designed the blue outfit for the president-- for the first lady at the inauguration. >> good point, yes. stuart: remember that one. nicole: indeed. stuart: i loved that outfit. nicole: i did, too. stuart: i'm going to say this, i don't think that the federal reserve matters much in this investment environment, i think it's all about politics and not the fed. why are you laughing? [laughter] >> actually, i think you're right because i think we know what the fed is going to do this year by and large and what we don't know what's going to happen, what is donald trump going to do this year. liz: he can appoint two vacant seats or seven--

>> am i right, or am i right. they're not looking what the federal reserve will do in the next year, they're looking at what president trump is going to do this year. >> i agree. how crazy that the fed doesn't matter. i can agree with brenberg if i can use him on a last name basis. who would think that janet yellen is safe in the job? and president trump talked about how her ouster would be one of the first business. she knows she has high grades here and the market can take it. liz: you're all wrong. >> what, she's out? [laughter] >> we'll continue this discussion. liz: i know the fed is your favorite topic. stuart: brenberg and scott martin, thank you for joining us. it's a narrow loss for the dow industrials at this point. we're down just 33 points, 34 points. 19-8 is the level.

check out the white house, the trump action presidency continues. look what's happening today. the president meets with top lawmakers who run our tax policy. the senate finance committee, the house ways and means committee. this is all about tax reform. the meeting at 11:15 this morning. it's very important. up next, the man on the short list to replace janet yellen at the federal reserve. man of the moment. i'm going to challenge him. investors don't watch the fed anymore. it's all about politics. i told you. we'll ask this gentleman momentarily. ♪ at old dominion, we see freight...

...as a combination of products and customers. every on-time arrival is backed by thousands of od employees, ...who make sure the millions of products we ship arrive without damages. because od employees treat customer service... ...like our most important delivery. od. helping the world keep promises.

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>> now, here is a headline. well, first of all, the dow industrials are down a mere 20 points. that's not exactly a selloff. it's a very, very modest downside move. now, look at this. the headline from karl rove's op-ed piece in the wall street journal this morning. whoa, opinion, amateur hour at the white house. now, that's provocative, isn't it? glenn hubbard joins us, the former chief economic advisor to bush 43. welcome to the program. >> good morning. >> what do you make of that, that some would call it the amateur hour at the white house. undermining investor confidence. can i get your comment on that, first? >> i think it's important to separate noise from signal. yes, there will be things that happen in any white house, if you look at the underlying signal, the policies and issues and tax reform and regulatory reform, that is good stuff and where investors need to focus. stuart the executive order on

immigration, for example, suggest that the rollout of tax reform and deregulation will be equally incompetent, that's the problem. >> i don't think so, for two reasons, there's learning, i assume, over time how to handle things and second, the congress has worked hard on tax reform and regulatory reform, speaker ryan, ways and means chairman brady worked hard on it, and a lot of work has been done. stuart: you know you're called mr. federal reserve, you're tipped as the person who is going to replace janet yellen, keep nodding sagely, keep noddle. i think the federal reserve at this moment in time is irrelevant to investors. it had its day over the past couple of years, but now it's irrelevant. the focus is on donald trump, president trump, what is he going to do? >> i would agree with what you're saying, we have

overrelied on the federal reserve for some time because the government has not been in fiscal policy and i think it's a mistake to write off the fed. come march, the fed will be in the headlines. we're going to have better data, woo we'll have another rate hike, issue about inflation and rates, and make no doubt about it. the fed shouldn't be the subject, it should be the president. stuart: you made news for it. you're known as mr. federal reserve, and you've said publicly that we're going to get a rate hike in march. >> i think it's highly likely, that the fed is at full employment given payroll report we may push beyond that. so i think we are definitely going to see a rate hike, but i don't think that's why there's news. there's news because we're seeing a normalization of

policy and a handoff where it belongs to fiscal policy and that's where president trump-- >> a handing off from the federal reserve and monetary policy, handing over to president trump and fiscal tax policy, stimulating the economy with real bucks. that's the story. >> correct. because we've relied on the fed too long. monetary policy at this point in my judgment isn't helpful in reflating growth. fiscal policy can be. stuart: we rarely cover the federal reserve on this program and we rarely have fed watcher much less future officials on the program. you should be flattered, sir. >> i very much am. stuart: i've got a lot of nerve. the truth, ie got nerve, but, you, sir, will be back. another check of the markets, because it's a very, very narrow loss we're looking at this point. a pre dominance of losers for the dow 30 and the industrial average is down a mere 18 points.

president trump speaking at the national prayer breakfast. we'll check the tape, what did he say versus former president obama at the prayer breakfast. wait until you hear the difference.

>> been grappling with these

questions throughout human history. and lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the crusades and inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of christ. and our home country, slavery, jim crowe all too often was justified in the name of christ. stuart: that was then president obama at the 2015 prayer breakfast, comparing christian crusaders to islamic terrorists. fake a listen to president trump at this year's prayer breakfast. >> our republic was formed on the basis that freedom is not a gift from government, but that freedom is a gift from god. >> ashley, liz, i would say that is a difference. ashley: it was a huge difference and, okay, where was

president obama's outrage at the slaughtering of christians that have been going on systematically in the middle east over the last part of his administration? we never heard anything to that effect, only that christians can't throw the first stone when it comes to terror in the name of religion. stuart: and why were those christians who were being slaughtered allowed to come. liz: and when obama had made those comments, a jordanian pilot was set on fire by isis, and stop with the persecution of christian with terrorists for those who said. stuart: and the prayer breakfast comes at a time when christians were named the most persecuted religious group on earth in 2016. lizzie you have the numbers on this or the report. liz: basically it's that--

it's from open doors and says, this is not being picked up by the media, that basically persecution of christians is again on the rise. so, what is stunning here though, stuart, it seems like "varney & company" and only other small number of media outlets is reporting that this persecution of christians is endemic around the world. stuart: we were on it and outraged by it quite frankly. there you have it. coming up the top of the hour how president trump is dealing with what i'm going to call the obama hangover, muslim refuge refugees, defeating terror and yes, iran. my take is three minutes away. . now on the next page you'll see a breakdown of costs. what? it's just... we were going to ask about it but we weren't sure when. so thanks. yeah, that's great. being clear and upfront.

multiplied by 14,000 financial advisors, it's a big deal. and it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. with toothpaste or plain water.an their dentures and even though their dentures look clean, in reality they're not. if a denture were to be put under a microscope, we can see all the bacteria that still exists on the denture, and that bacteria multiplies very rapidly. that's why dentists recommend cleaning with polident everyday. polident's unique micro clean formula works in just 3 minutes, killing 99.99% of odor causing bacteria. for a cleaner, fresher, brighter denture every day.

stuart: president trump dealing with obama hangover. dealing with several issues left over the obama years. they popped up to bite the new president in the very early part of his presidency. first, australia, australia. turns out president obama had

struck a deal that would bring 1600 largely muslim migrants to america. they're stuck in camps in the south pacific. president trump doesn't like this. he calls it a dumb deal. he had a fight about it in a phone call with australia's prime minister. the iran nuke deal agreed to by president obama. iranians have tested ballistic missiles. that is not allowed. but president trump has to deal with it. he put them on notice. that sounds like a red line, does it not? third, the raid into yemen where a navy seal was killed. this action was planned by president obama, executed by president trump. a lot went wrong. regardless of blame, it is another example of the new president taking action on plans and policies established by his predecessor. we are just 13 days into this presidency. and the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin.

it is thursday morning 10:00 eastern. we have the latest on mortgage rates. ashley: very exciting. exactly same as it was last week. 4.19%. i'm being sarcastic. freddie mac 30-year mortgage fixed year coming in at 4.19%. no change from the week before. we were ticking up at the end of last year. we got up to 4.3%. a few alarm bells went off. it is drifting lower. stuart: and they're saying there as of right now. ashley: yep. stuart: facebook just hit an all-time high, above $134 per share. what is the story? liz: daily active users, 1.2 billion. that is gigantic. that is equal to entire populations of the china and the

u.s. combined. you see the revenues popping 51%. their profit more than doubling. the question of rate of revenue quote, quarter to quarter. expenses and costs going up. facebook warns about that. stuart: i have dug into this. part of the story on facebook is, a lot of people don't like the politics and the hate on their facebook feed and they're getting rid of it. revenue from mobile ads is up but hardly at all. liz: people spending less time, that means less potentially ad revenue coming in. ashley: here is a stat for you. every user of facebook in the united states they get 20 bucks from facebook. stuart: that's not bad. ashley: quantifies. not bad, is it? liz: 20 bucks ad revenue. stuart: a year. ashley: they can set aside 20 bucks. stuart: you have to do something about the stream of hate. i don't like -- ashley: listening to a tv channel ultimately, facebook. stuart: especially hatred of stuart varney. we don't like that at all. [laughter].

moving on. white house security advisor general michael flynn. he put iran on notice. watch this. >> president trump severely criticized the various agreements reached between iran and obama administration and united nations being weak and ineffective. instead of being grateful, iran is feeling emboldened. as of today we're officially putting iran on notice. stuart: president trump followed it with a tweet, you are on notice. that is the expression. lt. general thomas mcinerney is with us. that sounds to me, general, my intpretation, presidt trump just laid down a red line of his own? >> well, it is not a red line t was a brilliant statement. it was not a red line you but it is a red line, stuart. you're exactly right. that plays into iranian persian psychology. they don't know what is going to

happen. i can assure you president trump and our allies have some very good courses of action i would outline for you if you like. stuart: real fast, give me 30 seconds what he could do. >> immediately marshall the allies that we should not accept this, which is a major step forward. number two, start, sanctions on them in key areas. number three, start covert actions. i don't want to discuss what they are. but i can say they can have a lot of accidents in iran. why, i don't know. a lot can happen. they're not playing with boy scouts anymore. they have got true leadership. stuart: i think all of our readers are reading a great deal what you just said, general. i will move on to another subject. the prayer breakfast talked terrorism. roll tape. >> terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom. it must be stopped and it will be stopped. may not be pretty for a little

while. it will be stopped. stuart: well, general that sounds to me like a hard-line, somewhat like the hard-line with iran. what say you? >> that's a hard-line and god bless him for saying it, stuart. it is about time what they are doing. over 900,000 christians have been slaughtered in the last 10 years and not a peep out of the obama administration. in the last year 90,000 have been slaughtered. not a peep out of the obama administration. finally, in less than two weeks in office, president trump stands up and says what is going to happen. and that is i believe another covt red line. stuart: a covert red line. in other wor you think he will take more covert activity behind the scenes, undercover, for example. you think that is going to happen? >> yes i do. and he will do overt things but i mean to say, it is a red line without saying it is a red line. and he has put a, demarking what

is going to do and you are going to see changes and very good changes i believe. stuart: general mcinerney thanks for joining us, sir. we'll see you very soon. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: i will call this intolerance from the left. actually that is an understatement by a long way. the latest on the campus of uc berkeley. rioters wearing masks, broke windows, set fires, threw rocks. they were throwing commercial great fireworks and molotov cocktails, setting firings all to force the cancellation of a talk on sanctuary campuses by a "breitbart" editor, mile yo -- milo yiannopoulos. he spoke to tucker carlson about this at night. >> no one's physical safety is in danger from political ideas from a speaker on campus, but universities allowed this to happen. in some cases encouraged it. stuart: the scene was really nasty. a young woman pepper sprayed by a rioter.

watch this. >> think people watching tonight look at people protesting what color hat they're wearing. certainly not red. >> ma'am? stuart: dear lord. liz: that is so dangerous. she could have been blinded by that she is saying she is okay. she was basically wearing a red hat said make bitcoin great again. basically coming to listen to the speech. she was not a rioter, not a protester, got attacked live giving interview local station abc. stuart: have they arrested gentleman? >> no arrest made. stuart: flat-out ugly riot, property damage. fires set. people pepper sprayed. trump supporters assaulted, nobody arrested. that is the scandal at this point, in my personal opinion. president trump tweeted about this riot. here is the tweet. if uc berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with different points of view, no

federal funds. "washington examiner" columnist, lisa booth is with us. >> hi, stuart. stuart: i hope president trump follows through not just with uc berkeley, but with colleges all across the country which deny free speech on their campuses. >> a lot of what he is trying to do, what we've seen really from the start. he lays down the gauntlet to push people in the direction he wants. we have seen things like this happen not just on college campuses but saw it happen on the day of the inauguration with people just can't not get past the fact that president trump is their president. what is just the baffling about it all, they're doing this under the guise of wanting tolerance but they're the most intolerant -- stuart: look at that, that is a tweet from noah's bagels outside of the riot. >> friendly message. this is disgusting. stuart: will president trump follow through and actually stick it to the colleges limiting free speech? >> depends what they do in turn,

right? depends how uc berkeley responds to that tweet and responds to that message. we don't know what conversations are happening in the background. it would be dependent what they do. i really glad you called it what it is which are riots. it irks me, from many people in the media calling things like this protests. this is not a he protest. when you're burning things down, when there are violence, this is protests, these people are thugs. they're criminals. they're not protesters. this isn't covered in the first amendment. i'm glad that you're saying it is riots. we need to call it exactly what it is. uart: i'm appalled there are no arrests. we can't find reports of an arrest. young woman pepper sprayed in her face because she was wearing a red hat might have been a trump hat. no arrests. >> it is disgusting. what kind of message does that send? you're basically sending the message -- ashley: go ahead. >> go ahead. free-for-all. do whatever you want. same thing when the media continues to call things like

this protest, one these people do it for attention. they want to be making headlines. they want this kind of attention. they're doing it. when the media continues to condone it by calling it protests, somehow making excuses for what we've seen people in hollywood do as well, it is disgusting. they need to be called rioters. people are criminals. liz: wish rhetoric would tone down, from the white house on down, tone down the rhetoric. stuart: violence is coming from the left. provoked by the left. not by the right. don't tell me trump is doing anything to encourage violence. liz: not saying that. tone down the rhetoric. >> my concern you call them protesters making excuse for behavior. we need to be honest about what this is. stuart: i think we sorted that one out, to my satisfaction. >> as long as you're pleased. stuart: all right. harry dent, he is an economist, frequent guest on this program. he says the trump rally has

another six months. and then what? we'll find out. meanwhile hillary clinton back again. she is working on a new project. i want to know all about. we will have he details in a moment. ♪ hey gary, what are you doing? oh hey john, i'm connecting our brains so we can share our amazing trading knowledge. that's a great idea, but why don't you just go tots where you can share strategies, ideas, even actual trades with market professionals and thousands of other traders? i know. your brain told my brain before you told my face. mmm, blueberry? tap into the knowledge of other traders on thinkorswim. only at td ameritrade.

stuart: we teased you before the last break. we said hillary clinton is working on a new project. what could that be? ashley: i have no idea. no, i do. hillary, apparently coming out in the fall, putting out a memoir including the stunning loss for her race in the white house. we're official told it will be a book of personal essays inspired by hundreds of quotations she is

collecting for decades. everyone wants to know what happened behind the scenes during those final days when donald trump eventually got to the white house. stuart: i want to know why she thinks she lost. liz: a a tell. ashley: the russians? of course it was. reminder for next christmas. there will be a picture book version of hillary's it takes a village. stuart: i tell you why she lost. she told tens of millions of americans you are racist, sexist, islam phobes. ashley: deplorable. stuart: and irredeemable liz she ignored her husband's advice. go into minnesota and rust belt states. stuart: don't fire me up more than i need to be. dow industrials on the upside. very modest gain. four points up. better than 60 points down where we are. next guest, he business the trump rally another six months. that is it. he is author of this book, "sale

of a lifetime." how the bubble burst 17 to 19 can make you rich. harry dent is back with us. harry, we get a lot of comments on this program anybody can forecast a crash down the road because there will always be a crash down the road and you're one of those forecasters. do you believe that the crash is coming in six months time when the trump rally stalls? >> i do but i do need to see some more signs. i think two important things. one, i don't know if people are aware that california has a petition to put on the ballot for november 2018 of beginnings of its secession of united states. if greece was a threat to europe leaving, magical fornash if that happens. that is due on july 25th. that is could be important point for the market. stuart: hold on a second, harry. you can have at petition and petition can say yes we secede, that doesn't mean to say the union breaks up. >> puts it on the ballot to be voted on.

it threatens to make it possible. one out of three people polled support this secession movement now. trump only two weeks into office. i said before he gets into office we have very strong blue state, red state split. stuart: harry, i will interrupt you, rex tillerson, the secretary of state or about to be is speaking. >> perform your duties regardless of who is in charge. so important. many ofou have assisted and ambassadors and other officials during the senate confirmation process. indeed some of it have been through it yourself. having come through it first time i assure you senate is takes it serious as ever, they're energetic as ever and thorough as ever, but we're here. [laughter] [applause] in the days and weeks ahead, we'll have plenty of opportunity to discuss some more detail, the

goals, the priorities and strategic direction for our organization but for now i really wan to take a few minutes to communicate my high regard for the men and women of the state department and want to share with you principles for all of us to live by as we pursue our shared mission. the individuals who comprise this department among the finest public servants in the orlando. many of you serve our nation abroad and have served our nation abroad. state department staffers in the field are not just conduits for policies and plans. you are our emissaries of our nations and ideals we stand for. when people see you, they see america. when i wake up each morning the very first thing i ask myself is, are all of our people safe? the safety of every single member of our state department family, regardless where he or she is posted is not just a priority for me. it's a core value you.

it will become a core value of this department. [applause] this means the state department family here in the u.s. and all those agencies serving under of chief of missions abroad, including civil service, foreign service officers, specialists, locally-engaged host country and third country nationals, interns, fellows, support contractors and implementing partners and not least of all the family members who support us at home and in our service to our country overseas. the foreign service is not the only component of the state department. the civil service workforce at the state department plays an indispensable role in all we achieve and we can not attain success without the mission-critical services that you provide but we often live in a world of headlines working outside the of the public eye

does not make you any less essential to our operations. our dedication, your tell bense and your sound judgment are the brick and mortar element of all we do. we all depend on your good work and i know it will continue. one of the great -- can. [applause] one of the great challenges and thrills for the state department staff is how to confront changing conditions in every corner of the world and i encourage all of you to use your natural and well developed skills to adapt to changes here at home as well. i know this was a hotly-contested election and we do not all feel the same way about the outcome. each of us is entitled to the expression of our political beliefs but we can not let our personal convictions overwhelm our ability to work as one team. let us be understanding with each other about the times we

live in as we focus our energies on our departmental goals. as secretary i will deploy the talent and resources of the state department in the most efficient ways possible. that may entail making some changes how things are traditionally done in this department. change for the sake of change can be counterproductive and that will never be my approach. but we can not sustain ineffective traditions over optimal outcomes. i will party information on what processes should be reformed and do ply part to make sure we're functioning in the most productive and efficient way possible. regardless of the circumstances shaping our country or our department, we must all remain focused on the mission at hand before us. i remind you that our undertakings are larger than ourselves or our personal careers. our duty is to faithfully represent our nation in the arena of foreign affairs. if we stay focused on the work

before us, i promise i will work to insure you achieve our own personal success and your professional satisfaction in what you're doing. for every individual who works at the state department, i ask that we adopt a few core principles. i believe any organization runs best when all its members embrace accountability. from the mailroom to the boardroom, every member of a team has a job to do. i know nobody will always be perfect in that certainly includes me but i ask that everyone strife for excellence and assume responsibility for their actions and their decisions. the new england patriots have signs posted all over their team facilities that simply say, do your job. it is a brief message but one with profound importance. if we all do our jobs and embrace a willingness to be held accountability for our performance we work better as a unit, move closer to attaining

our goals of the it working pretty well for the patriots over the years as i must admit. secondly i want us to be honest with one another. we're on the same team. we share the same mission. honesty will undergird our foreign policy, and we'll start by making it the basis of how we re going to treat eacher. other with respect. no one will tolerate disrespect of anyone. before we are employees of the state department, we are human beings first. let us extend respect to each other, especially when we may disagree. what i ask of you, and what i demand of myself, i will embrace accountability, honesty and respect no less than anyone. before president trump called me i thought i would be entering retirement this spring after four decades of business

experience. brenda and i were ready to head off to the ranch and enjoy our grandchildren. but when i came back from my first meeting with president trump and he asked me to do this, brenda said, you didn't know it, but you had been in a 41-year training program for this job. [applause] so despite our own dreams, she said you're spoused to do this. well, my first days here i'm on the job. hi, i'm the new guy. [laughter] [applause] as such, i will depend on the expertise of this institution. there are over 75,000 members of the state department workforce. both foreign and civil service

employees, with an average of over 11 years of service in the department. i have 25 minutes. you have accumulated knowledge and experience that can not be replicated anywhere else. your wisdom, your work ethic and patriot system as important as ever, and as your secretary i will be proud to draw upon all these qualities in my decision-making. i ask that you join me in upholding high standards of ethics and professionalism, committing to personal accountability and honesty and respecting your colleagues. there will be undoubtedly be times of victory but there will also be many times of difficulty. let's go forward as a team through all of it. let's make the american people proud of what we do in this building and beyond. inscribed on the walls in this lobby are the names of fallen foreign service personnel who in the words of abraham lincoln gave their last full measure of

devotion. they died in service of causes far greater than themselves. as we move forward in a new era it is important to honor the sacrifices of those who have come before us and reflect on the legacy that we inherit. in closing i'm honored to be serving alongside each of you as i serve our nation as the secretary of state. so now i'm going to take a moment, pay my respects to those individuals that are memorialized on this wall. i then look forward to making the rounds, greeting you personally. it may take me a few days. [laughter]. but in all, sincerity i do hope to have the opportunity to shake the hand of everyone of you that is here. thank you so much. [applause] stuart: rex tillerson formally

sworn in as the secretary of state of the united states of america. he was formally the -- formerly the chair, i note ceo of exxonmobil corporation. we should remember, that there were 43 no votes in his senate confirmation vote. that is the highest number of no votes in recent memory for any secretary of state. 43 went against him, but he is the secretary of state. what do we make of that? ashley: he has a very commanding voice and a sense of calm, which is perfect for the state department. everything, you know, we were just saying as we were watching him, certainly a good counterbalance to some of the other things going on within the trump administration. a little bit of teething problems you like. i think he comes across as very stable, incredibly capable and will do a good job. stuart: solid. liz: he brings a lot of needed ballast to the administration. he probably has the toughest job. he has to deal with iran and

fight with mexico. now a combative phone call between trump and australia. middle east still a hotbed of terror activity. one of the toughest jobs in the administration. stuart: i think we have one williams with us, who no doubt has been watching installation of rex tillerson, is that correct? is mr., yes, he is. there he is. have you guys on the extreme left gotten used to the idea that the former ceo of a large oil compny can make a very good secretary of state? are you used to that yet, juan? >> that is not the point, is it stuart. you are so smart. the point is his connections to russia and specifically vladmir putin and all investments and decisions that he's made especially with russia now making incursions into ukraine and into that whole region again, make him a highly controversial pick and someone causes great unease not also in the state department where we

have seen a wave of resignations but obviously in the senate where we point out large opposition. stuart: i think they would owe pose him for anything he may ever have done because it is oppose all things trump no matter what. that is surely -- >> you on the far right, you on the far right seat to be victims of everything. you're victimization. you need to stand on your own feet. by the way, i think tillerson did a great job there. he hit the right chord, this has been controversial election but everybody on this team in the state department has to stand together. i appreciate he spoke to the elephant in the room if you will. stuart: i think that was very generous of you, juan. i was surprised to hear that generosity from the extreme left to newly-installed state department guy. well-done. >> when i think to the extreme right and your person i seek to be generous. stuart: all right, juan. hold on a second. i have some serious stuff here. campus riot, uc berkeley. it was a riot any way you slice

it. it was ugly. it was violent. juan, watch this, a woman pepper sprayed by a rioter. >> people watching look at people protesting look what color hat they're wearing. certainly not red. >> ma'am? stuart: now that is appalling, juan. and i think you will agree with me or worse. it is denial of free speech on american campuses, particularly violent example right there. this goes on all across the country. it is the left, i'm not joking, it is the extreme left which is provoking this and i think that is absolutely wrong. i think those of you like yourself who are moderately on the left-hand side of the aisle, i think you should come out forcefully and condemn it. >> i have written books condemning it. i wrote a book called, muslim, which is about the whole idea we don't have honest debates and part of it is the far-left

shutting down honest debate on far-left campuses. i don't agree with the speaker there, he is a provocateur. i think as a provocateur his free speech rights have to be protected. according to the people in charge of this protest at berkeley, they had no part in the violence. they feel there was a criminal element came and took advantage of the larger protest. the policing to back that up. but the point is, you can not interfere with anyone's giving a speech, even if you strongly disagree with it. you can pick the most vial, most reprehensible speech in the country, but i think that given our constitution, given our values, we need to allow that speech and then properly respond. stuart: how do you feel about president trump taking the lead in denying federal funds, denying money to campuses which deny free speech? the president tweeted about that this morning. he was, he mentioned uc berkeley.

he said, no federal funds. now i think that is a good idea. we need somebody who is going to stop this nonsense on our college campuses. i think president trump is the guy to do it. do you join me on that? >> no. i think that is an empty threat. the government has no role in this. i don't want government determining what they consider to be legitimate speech and illegitimate speech. stuart: they're not. they would be supporting free speech. free speech is being denied, wait minute. free speech, undeniably is being denied on our college campuses. do we agree on that? >> yes. stuart: how do we stop that? how do we fix that? how do we tell our universities what they should be doing, free expression of opinion? one way you knock it off, or you don't get my taxpayer money. i see nothing wrong with that at all. >> i do. again i don't think government is in the business of determining what is good art, bad art, good speech, bad speech. stuart: that is not what is

happening. >> you spoke just a moment ago about these schools where free speech is being impeded. and i agree with you. and let them solve it and let the individuals private individuals -- stuart: that is what the president is saying. if you don't fix it -- >> he is going to make the call from washington. stuart: no he is not. you're flat-out wrong. the president trump is saying, if you don't let free speech on your campuses, if you don't do that, you're not going to get taxpayer's money. >> what is that but a threat, stuart. outright threat from the federal government to intervene in your business. stuart: no. it is an outright threat from the federal government if you don't fix yourselves and allow free speech which is your mission in this country, if you don't do that, you don't get my taxpayer money. i see nothing wrong with that at all. that is not interfering in deciding who gets free speech and who doesn't. >> well who is going to decide if they are in fact impeding or

intruding on someone's free speech? i think we had a clear case in berkeley last night. but in general, what we have are cases where somebody said, well, i wanted a speaker invited and they have too many liberal speakers, not enough conservative speakers. someone came in here whos are pro-life and i thought they should have had someone po, stuart, let the government stay t of it. stuart: the government can not stay out of it if it is funding. >> it the government -- stuart: yes it is. >> student funds go to speakers fees whatever you like. in general the government is funding education research. that is what they should be doing on those campuses. they should not be intruding on decisions about who was invited to speak. stuart: juan, i'm terribly sorry to break this off. it is not because you're losing and i'm winning. because i have some breaking news. >> that happens every week, stuart. that hasn't happened yet. stuart: i win every week. juan, thank you very much. breaking news from the scott pruitt hearing. what do we have?

ashley: he has been nominated as the head of the epa. from republicans on the environmentallable public works committee hope to vote him through, the democrats as we've seen last couple days, are boycotting this again. they will not show up. apparently john barrasso, who is ranking republican on committee, he told the white house we'll get this confirmation or nomination through. not sure how they will do that. to change the rules. do the same thing that happened yesterday. basically said we don't need the quorum. we'll do away with rule that requires that and push the nomination through to the full committee. stuart: that is what republicans are pushed toward. ashley: they have no other choice. stuart: if democrats won't show up, they stalled everything. you can't have that. it is legitimate, change the rules, vote. liz: you can see the backstory to what the democrats plan is. deny the agenda, stop the agenda. then headlines come out, no economic growth, flat line, right. stuart: got it. liz: that is the push. stuart: exactly right, well-done liz. i think we're agreement on this

one at least. at least. liz: i agree with juan by the way. stuart: what? liz: let parents choose. let parents walk away from the school. not the government. stuart: why should my taxpayer money go into institution that denies free speech. liz: i'm so sorry getting your blood pressure up. i don't think the government should choose winners and losers on college campuses. ashley: on the record after the commercial break. stuart: pastor darrell scott, freak guest on this program, was at the white house made news that chicago gangs want to work with president trump to fight crime. roll that tape please. >> i was recently contacted by some of the top gang thugs in chicago for a silt-down. they reached out to me because they associate me with you. they respect you. believe in what you're doing. they want a sit-down to lower body count. they want to work with this

administration. they didn't believe in the prior administration. they told me that out of their mouths. stuart: pastor darrell scott, this is the engagement we've been waiting for. this is the engagement of, of the two sides that we want to see. we were delighted to hear you bring that up at the white house yesterday, pastor. >> first of all, thank for having me on. juan did lose. you defeated juan in the battle. we have to go on record. he lost again. i used improper vernacular as i referred to them as gang thugs. i said former gang thugs. they were formerly in the street life in chicago. they're well-respected in the street still. they have their hand on the pulse of the community. they are actively engaged with the guys in the streets. they contacted me. only because of my proximity to the president. we were -- i was contacted by a brother torrence cook. and he is a friend of a friend who connects us. he wants to be very proactive in

addressing some of the issues that they have in chicago. and so among other things, i told him, we need to work together to try to reduce that body count. we need to lower that murder rate. it is out of hand. we'll get together. so that the is purpose of our engagement. mr. trump embred it wholeheartedly. stuart: we were watching the meeting at the white house. and two things popped up here. number one, the mood, feeling in that meeting seemed to be very amicable. we didn't see any angry people there. we saw a lot of smiling faces. we're not used to that in that kind of meeting, and secondly it occurred to us what we're looking at is the rise of a new black representation at the highest level of politics. i didn't see sharpton there. i didn't see the reverend jesse jackson there. i saw you and people like you there. that to us was very different. >> yes. and i, you know i don't take it for granted. i don't take it lightly.

mr. trump, for whatever reason, he allows us access and lends us his ear. i can't deny it. i can't turn it down. scripture in the bible says you have been called to the kingdom for such a time as this. so he gives us this access, he gives us his ear and when we offer suggestions to him, he is able to process them very quickly. he is always helpful. never denied me anything that i requested. so i appreciate the fact that very much wants to engage with the african-american community. i've been trying to tell everybody, i've been the voice crying in wilderness. he wants to engage and he wants to do something to alleviate whatever depressed or disenfranchised conditions that we experience. he really wants to help. he listens and he filters and he will send aid in these communities. stuart: president trump is at the national prayer breakfast this morning and he said freedom isn't given by government. it is a gift from god. roll that tape.

>> wow. please. >> our republic was formed on the bases is that freedom is not a gift from government. but freedom is a gift from god. stuart: you have it in the president's own words. you heard it pastor. what is your response? >> tse are some great words. you know, those e words based upon our constitution that said all men are created equal. we're endowed by a creator with certain inalienable rights. freedom is the something god placed in the heart of man. we have freedom in us. we can't be bound, caged or restricted. it is against our nature. i'm glad mr. trump expressed that. that goes back to different communities that we have that feel oppressed, that feel disenfranchised. it is our job as neighbors, our brother's keeper, alleviate, if we have the power to do so, alleviate any depressed and deplorable conditions our

brothers and sisters are in. for me to have the access to the president and not use it on behalf of the black community i would be doing a disservice to our country. i'm doing best we can to help our people. stuart: if you were next to me, pass, i would give you another bro hug. but we remember it well, pastor. we really do. come and see us again. >> thank you for having me. god bless you. stuart: god bless you sir. sebastian gorka, one of president trump's top security advisors we'll get his take on the raid in yemen and if the trump administration is ready to start taking prisoners and about that?o. gorka next. whether it's connectf the world's most innovative campuses. or bringing wifi to 65,000 fans. businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. g new cars. you're smart. you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car.

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♪ ashley: it has been suggested that a border tax on goods made overseas would help pay for the wall. well stuart asked modell ceo mitch modell about that. here is what he had to say. roll tape. stuart: you're a trump guy but you don't want a border tax. >> we don't want a border tax. at the end of the day consumer pays 15% more for merchandise. 389 cents more for gas. go from 2.29, to 2.. it doesn't make sense. stuart: you're lobbying hard for no border tax, mitch modell? >> i'm on bored of national retail federation. they're a big lobbying group. stuart: yes. >> once mr. trump understands

the ramifications and effects on the consumer he will do the right thing. ♪

>> when i came back from my first meeting to president trump and he asked me to do this, brenda said, you didn't know it but you've been in a 41-year training program for this job. [laughter] stuart: that was the secretary of state rex tillerson moments

ago addressing the state department employees. have we got breaking news now? we have a lawsuit? ashley: we do. we've been expecting a lawsuit. new york's attorney general eric schneiderman filing a federal lawsuit against president donald trump's immigration executive order. he said new york is doing this, that the complaint says that president trump's intent to discriminate against muslims is clear. it is not only unconstitutional and fundamentally un-american. it does profound harm to our families, our economy and educational and health care institutions. stuart: so he says it is a profound threat to muslims. that he is bringing that up. ashley: unfairly targeting -- stuart: unfairly targeting muslims even though religion is not mentioned in the president's executive order. ashley: not at all. liz: second state behind washington state. washington state is also suing. stuart: be clear in the executive order of president trump, religion is not mentioned. it is not a travel ban.

it is a temporary travel restriction. ashley: on seven countries that have been the very hot spots of terrorism. liz: can i give you run-down democrats before? 2000 two, 80 democrats support ad travel ban in similar to this and have in ensuing years. stuart: move on to the yemen raid you heard about. it was planned by president obama. executed by president trump. one navy seal was killed. bring in sebastian gorka, deputy assistant to the president. he joins us from the white house. sebastian, welcome to the program. we're watching something else at the moment. we're watching senator barrasso right now. sebastian, i want to know this, that is executive act -- aggressive action in yemen. in the past we used to drone and kill suspected terrorists. will we now take them prisoner

and interrogate them? >> i'm not giving away the playbook i'm afraid. that is something the lasted a administration would do. the art of strategy is to keep your enemy guessing. i will comment in general, overreliance on drones which is exactly what happened on the obama administration, has serious negative consequences. in a irregular war, one we've been fighting the last 15 years, one of the most important assets is intelligence you gather in the battlefield. sometimes you can't get that with satellites or signals intelligence. sometimes you have to have a guy on the ground. either an agent either an asset. many cases the troops go in and bring that intelligence back or that capture the terrorists. that is very essential. stuart: sebastian, let me explain to our viewers. the left-hand side of the screen, the scott pruitt hearings for confirmation hearings. he has been confirmed. the democrats walked away from the committee hearing. republicans changed the rules. they have gone to a vote and he

has been confirmed. so, scott pruitt, from oklahoma, is going to be the administrator at epa. just happening right now. republicans had to change the rules to make that vote happen. he is in. sebastian gorka still with us on the white house lawn. another question about policy, see if you can answer this one. will we refill gitmo? >> gitmo as i said before, is not just a detention facility. it links very nicely to your, not just a detention facility. it linkses very nicely to your previous question. it is an intelligence asset. this isn't about organized crime or the mafia. we are picking up terrorists in the battlefield, not so they should be prosecuted in a court of law but for their intelligence value to keep americans safe. so i'm not going to comment on the president's decisions with regards to the guantanamo bay facility but it is a very important asset in our war against global jihad jihadism.

stuart: you're part of the administration, sebastian. you deal with security. but our viewers are watching on the left-hand side of the screen the confirmation of scott pruitt for epa. earlier we saw the new secretary of state rex tillerson addressing state department employees. yesterday we saw steve mnuchin confirmed as treasury secretary. and dr. tom price confirmed at health and human services. as a member of the administration, it was, delay on cabinet nomination but it appears the republicans are now taking strong action and it is happening. >> absolutely. as a left-wing politician once said, elections have consequences. donald trump won the election. he is now our commander-in-chief, our president. and he has a cabinet that he wishes to put in place to get to work. if you just look at, i have only been here for what, 11 days. it feels like a month, the

amount of product we pushed out in the last 10 days is really quite stunning even for somebody familiar with the private sector. stuart: it is all action, live action news. live action presidency. we love it. but you're right, sebastian, seems like we've been doing this for years. sebastian gorka on the white house lawn of all places. thanks for joining us, we'll see you soon. >> anytime. stuart: yes, sir. dead flat market. no reaction to the confirmations which we've been seeing in washington. dow industrials down seven. that's it. back in a moment.

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stuart: you know we're getting used to the idea that maybe we've got to wait for that tax cut. we've interviewed various lawmakers and the consensus seems to be we're not going to get a tax cut until maybe the fall, eight, nine months away. so we asked you, can you afford to wait that long? here come the responses. first of all from wayne. yes, i can afford to wait but apparently you can't wait for one, mr. moneybags. now that is nasty. kenneth says this, come on, mr. varney, the alternative would have been six years, at least. i take your point. this one is from francis, taxes are not passed with executive orders. give trump a break. lastly from randy, eight month is way better than never. agree with that, randy,

wholeheartedly. ashley: look alternative would have been more perhaps hillary clinton, no tax cuts, more taxes. so let's keep perspective. however, a lot of thi a lot of this campaign for donald trump was on the premise we would get tax cuts, put more money in our pockets to help the economy grow. stuart: where is the tax cut. ashley: should be priority number one. stuart: why do we have to wait so long. that is not my question. liz: not about moneybagses. small businesses suffering from tax hikes and tax increases. reagan did it out the box. signing ceremony, tip o'neill. sell it as a jobs package, right? do tax reform instead of getting tied up with other things. stuart: well there is a very important meeting at the white house today. top money men from congress meeting with president trump. maybe we get news on the tax cut from that. we live in hope. we'll be right back. of the hey gary.

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in about 15 minutes a very important meeting takes place in the white house. it's about tax cuts and when we get them. the chair and ranging member of the senate finance committee will be there. and the chair of the ways and means committee will be there. they are the top money politicians in the land. president trump will shirely ask them what's holding things up? don't you have agreement on what kind of cut we get, who gets it and when?

it's a closed door meeting so we won't know what goes on unless president trump goes to twitter to even couragerogress. investors have been anxious because we had no information on when a bill will go to the president's desk. the economy needs taxes cut now. this is a live action news program. happening now, politics and money be they are tied together and the action comes thick and fast from this live-action president. the third hour of "varney and company" is about to begin. [♪] breaking now, senate budget committee holding an executive session to consider the

confirmation of mick mulvaney to be the bun -- to be the budget . president trump meets are top lawmakers who write tax policy. joining me is chris stirewalt. i think this is a standoff. these are the top money politicians, senate finance committee, house ways and means committee, and the president of the united states. the president wants these tax cuts. he will press for congress people to explain, why don't we have a plan in place now? >> everybody there wants tax cuts. there is no question by the. but the what and the how continue in the devil as it does on obamacare. taxes are a piece of that, too. one of the big -- greatest

appeals inside the repeal is that you get to bring back that increase on top incomes right off the bat. you get that cut. these are all tied together. this all in the piece. and neither side wants to go first. the white house doesn't want to put down its plan first and neither does congress? stuart: is it that simple, neither side wants to go first? can it be there are several plans and congress can't decide what they want. >> they would like the white house to say -- once mick mulvaney is confirmed, that will advance their ball. they would like the white house to say, here's what we want, here is the trump tax plan, go forth and prosper. this is what we wanted to do, now, you make it so. the trump white house seems to be saying to paul ryan, what are

you going to do, how are you going to make this happen. they have to deconflict their missile shots a little bit. stuart: what we seem to be seeing, the republicans are changing the rules in these confirmation hearings. the democrats are boycotting, they are not showing up, they are not allowing votes to be made. so the republicans say forget that, we are going to change the rules, we are going to do it. looks like the republicans are taking a much harder stance to get things done. is that accurate? >> we don't know what democrats would have done 8 years ago. we have democrats testing out the concept of maximal resistance. total opposition to anything that happens. what ends up happening these hearings. these are symbolic. the person got zero votes in the

committee. this is democrats making symbolic shows, these are prests. in the end it doesn't affect anything. they only need 51 votes in the full senate anyway, and everybody september for betsy devos. everybody will get through on 51 votes and this will pass away. >> there is a great deal of noise. but at the end of the day, christmas stirewalt says that cabinet is going to be confirmed confirmed. stuart: chris, you know what you are talking about and we appreciate it. that's politics and we cover it all. money included. a modest gain for the dowell industrial, 19,900. sam done reports their profits at 4:00 eastern this afternoon.

half of the dow's growth comes from amazon. check out merck. results bert than expected, and the stock is up 2.5%. u.s. steel you have big. upgrades from three big banks. president trump wants to use american steel to build those pipelines. the stock is up 300% since last february. who saw that coming. >> not me. harley davidson increased its dividend. company representatives meeting with president trump later today. 18 cents later. we call him the action president, but there is a meeting going to start in 10

minutes, a meeting about tax cuts, when we get them, when they are on the legislative schedule. i think if there is any positive news about a tax cut package this year, the markets go up. what says john layfield. >> city wish he would have started with the tax cuts rather than the wall and the potential bored officer tax. if he gets the economy going he will have a lot of political capital. if he can take the small businesses and put them on the corporate side of the ledger and give them 20 to 30 cents out of every dollar they earn, that's a huge boost for the economy. stuart: let's take a look at facebook. the stock at the moment is down 3 cents. despite a pretty good earnings report late yesterday.

i'm asking you. would you buy it at $133 a share? >> no. i think they have done incredible things. especially when you have over a billion users. you have a potential for originating contents. the problem they have and the reason i'm not buying it right now. i think you will have short-term issues with the fake news posts on facebook and what i believe to be ridiculous political rants. >> you have no idea how many people come to me and say i'm turning this facebook thing off because i don't like the ranting that comes right at me every single time i get into it. i have got breaking news on microsoft. they are prove posing --

>> they say why don't you create a program that would allow people from the 7 countries to enter and leave the united states on family or emergency travel if they hold a valid work or student visa and have not committed any crime. they sent the letter to john kelly at the department of homeland security and rex timer on as secretary of state. they said we could do a case by case program if you like to review, they believe the exceptions to the travel ban continues suit is legal. how about let's look for exceptions here. stuart: john layfield, you are a money guy. what do you make of this, my crow some of the getting involved in the president's order on travel resphrikss from seven countries. >> i'm not sure if they should get involved with the migrant issue. but with the h1b visas.

' i am not sure it's good for microsoft. you have got 50% of the country that's going to disagree with you when you take a political stand. a live look at the white house coming up for you. the trump action presidency continues, happening in a couple minutes. the president meets with top lawmakers who run our tax policy. is this a shot in the arm for tax-free form? we'll be joined by the lieutenant governor of florida to talk about sanctuary cities. remember when president obama said this in 2005. >> we simply cannot allow people to pour into the united states undetect, undocumented, unchecked. of dna in every samp.

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stuart: president trump meeting with senators and congressmen, the top tax writing people in congress. the question is when are we going to get those tax cuts? when are they on the legislative schedule. president trump will hold a meeting tomorrow at the white house. this is with financial people? >>it is. a wide range of tecs. we understand they will be talking about taxes, regulation, women in the workforce. the whole gamut. it's being reported that jamie dimon from jpmorgan chase. walmart, you name it, a large group of the business leaders around the country.

>> the big point is the legislative schedule. where does the tax reform package come. does it come soon, does it come late summer? does it come in the fall? for the stock market which wants tax cuts now. these meetings are very important. liz: sell it as a jobs package. you don't get a tax cut, that changes. now this, democrat leader nancy pelosi at a town hall on cnn says sanctuary cities make us safer. listen to this. >> our city of san francisco is a sanctuary city and we see is at a place where it makes us safer because people can go to school, they can get driver's licenses, they can be witnesses against other violence they see in the community.

where if they came forward to profess that, they would have to be taken up by i.c.e. we don't think that we should make our police officers immigration officers. stuart: that would be kate steinle notwithstanding. joining us, the lieutenant governor of the state of florida. miami has given up its status as a sanctuary city. do you want to see that throughout the entire state? >> thank you for having me on. you know, the way we look at it here, federal law is the law. we need to comply with the law, whether you agree with it or not or whether you like the or not. there is a process to change the law. going and talking to your member of congress and changing federal law if you disagree with it. there is a process our founding fathers created for that.

stuart: leader pelosi articulating the other side of the coin, suggesting if you don't have this reporting to the police, if you allow sanctuary is, you get a better relationship between reporting crime and the community. what do you make of that? >> i haven't seen any data to back that up. i don't expect nancy pelosi to do anything more than parrot the talking points of the democratic party. that's all that they have. they are still trying to figure out why they lost so spectacularly in the 2016 election cycle. i think the democratic party, especially the leadership in washington, d.c., the way they have been acting the last couple weeks should be a reminder to them that that is exactly what the american people rejected in 0 and it's why president trump is president trump. and it's why the republicans

maintain a majority in the house senate. stuart: it was short, but it was meaningful. thank you for joining us. thank you. check this out. got a number for you. for some in the middle class. net worth down 43%. a 6-year period. liz: less attention has been give didn't dramatic slide in the middle class's net worth it started before the great recession. they don't have a lot of net worth different many tied in their housing value and home equity. that dropped by half. so in the ref home ownership has slid for the mdle class down 8 percentage points. so this is the story line of what the trump administration is inheriting.

the obama administration, the clinton administration didn't capture, the.com bubble, the housing bubble was masking the slide in net worth. that's a tax cut issue and serious policy issue. stuart: rex tillerson sworn in as secretary of state. confirmed by the senate. but there were 43 no votes. that's the most no votes against a secretary of state in history, by the way. now this. reports of a heated phone call between president trump and the prime minister of australia. he pressed president trump to take refugees from australia. we'll tell you how that phone call ended. not well. president trump making comments at the national prayer

breakfast. >> freedom is not a gift from government, freedom is a gift from god.

stuart: the director of the office of management and budget is mick mulvaney. he has been confirmed that

position. the democrats did not boycott. they were there. the vote went along party lines, and mulvaney won that vote. we got reports of a heated phone call between president trump and malcolm turnbull of australia. he pressed our president to take refugees from australia. >> turnbull says the obama administration signed off on this and it is a done deal. refugees have been denied -- they are not going into australia. they are mainly muslim refugees, many from iran. they have been sitting in these camps for over a year.

president obama said we'll take them but -- and trump saying we have to be very careful. the worst deal ever and we could be importing the next boston bombers was his comments. stuart: i don't believe the president who is on the phone there on saturday is the phone call with malcolm turnbull. president trump may soon sign an executive order that may change the way h1b visas are used. liz: microsoft, netflix, tesla, they are against what the executive order might say. it may say if you are going to use the h1b visa you have to raise the salary level from 60k

to 100k. they are saying you are exploiting this program to do outsource. get more outsourcing jobs and not create american jobs. a big fight coming down if this happens. well, look who is coming down the hallway. he's on his way, we believe. napolitano is his name. he's got one word to describe president trump. we'll tell you what it is. but we'll give you a clue. listen. [♪]

stuart: our next guest has been write being the best word in the world to describe president trump. let him announce it himself. what you see on the left side of your screen is the preparation for speaker ryan who holds a weekly news conference. what is that word that best describes the president. >> you are flattering in

referring to a column i wrote entitled, "donald trump revolutionary." he directed the irs not to collect taxes that are due. because by the time he collects them they will no longer be valid taxes. he also directed the thousands of people that enforce obamacare when they have discretion in their enforcement to exercise their discretion against the government and in favor of individuals who are challenging governmental behavior. that is truly revolutionary and never comes from an executive branch person. stuart: i think he articulated that at the prayer breakfast when he said freedom is a gift from good and not the government. >> including a rule that threatens to wipe out thousands

of jobs in coal country. we'll be able to bring immediate relief to those workers. and this is just the start. in the weeks ahead we'll have more relieve from excessive regulations. the obama administration was issues major regulations at the rate of one every three days. this is real sea change. this is job creation. we have a step-by-step approach to repeal and replace obamacare. today the committee is holding a legislative hearing on four bills to provide relief from collapsing markets. in 2009 be president trump said and i quote, my guiding principle is that consumers do better when there is choice and competition, close quote. i couldn't agree more. that is the way obamacare was sold. but that is not how it has turned out.

in fact choice and competition have dropped so much in our health insurance markets that one-third of all the counties in america today have only one insured to choose from. five states, one insured to choose from. that is not a choice, that's a monopoly. another 37% of all counties in america have only two insurers to choose from. that it' 70% of all the counties in america have monopoly or duopoly. consumers do better when they have choice and competition. right now they have neither. they are paying a whole lot more for less under this law. that's why we have to step in. this law is collapsing. we have to rescue people from the failure of this law, and that's why step by step we are going to keep our promise to repeal and replace this law so

consumers can do better and have more choices. >> i have two religion questions. >> rough going to wait until sunday. >> at prayer breakfast the president said he wants to get rid of the johnson amendment. >> i always supported that. >> would you have you fourth religious freedom executive order fit allowed discrimination against -- >> i'm not familiar with what you are talking about so i'll pass on that. we don't want the little sisters from the poor to be forced to buy coverage that violates their conscience. if you are talking about that. then i'm in full support. >> there is reports of a difficult call between the president and the prime minister of australia. john mccain has called the australian ambassador. do you have think what mccain did was the right move. >> don't know about the ever

ralsity of the reports. i know prime minister turnbull, he was in my office a couple months ago. he's an important ally. i think its important that presidents and prime ministers, heads of state are able to have candid and private conversations with one another. >> the president also referenced arnold schwarzenegger today. >> did he do the accent? >> arnold schwarzenegger tweeted to the president perhaps they should switch jobs. >> i'm not going to comment on this stuff. let's talk about policy. >> you also mentioned about choice in healthcare. is there a particular model you have in mind. most employer-based programs have two choices for insurance. what is the model for that that you point to.

>> on the model of the plan we point to last year. you want a vie grant individual market and vibrant employer market. we want medicaid to work so the states can innovate and doctors take medicaid patients. we medicare to be solvent and something you can depend on when you have retire. what we've mean by choice, we don't want one choice, it's not a choice. we want more insures and providers in the marketplace competing for our business. we want pay shernlts and our doctors being the driving force in the system instead of some regulator telling it what you have to buy and when you have to bite. that's what i mean when i say choice. the whole point of all this is, it's the cornerstone of the free end prize system in america. the more choice you have, the more competition there is,

consumers benefit from that. it's one of the big reasons why obamacare is collapsing. you heard me say how few choices and options there are because of obamacare it's not coincidental that we have double digit premium increases every year. the deductibles for obamacare exchange program ofs are three times as high as the deductibles as people in the large insurance markets they get through their jobs. this law isn't working, it is collapsing. and this what else we call a death spiral. you are not getting the pool that needs to be aloud with competition to get -- that needs to be allowed so we get rates down. >> all this discussion about the word repair you guise are starting to use. there has been some pushback on that. nancy he localsive said you have guys have having a vocabulary

change. the allegation that you are intentionally rebranding this. can i respond to that? >> there is a misinterpretation of what we are trying to say. our job is to repair the american healthcare system and rescue of it from the collapse it's in. if you want to repair the american healthcare system you have to repeal the law that is destroying it and replace it with a system that's much better. >> i know most you, but thank you for saying who you are. >> can you give us an update on the timeline. stuart: we are watching speaker ryan's news conference. this is important for what he has not thus far talked about, that is tax cuts. as speak for ryan sneacts oval office in the white house, president trump is meeting with the leaders of the senate finance committee and the leaders of the house ways and

means committee. they are talking tax cuts. everybody wants to know when do we get a tax cut and who gets it. we were hoping speaker ryan would refer to that. what he said moments ago, we are moving forward with obamacare reform, then we'll get toax cuts in the spring. 367 dan henninger is with me. wee all wanted, i think don't know people wanted, deal with the tax cut now and get the economy growing. i'm disappointed with what we are hearing. >> i think there is confusion over what the content of the tooks cut should be. since president trump said he was not in favor of a border adjustment tax, calling it too complex. it fills a $1 trillion hole. what paul ryan those, there are

a lot of fiscal hawks in his party in the house who will not sign a tax bill fit has a $1 trillion hole in it. the house and the white house are in negotiation over what will be in this bill to make it work. he won't talk about it until there is clarity on that. stuart: speaker ryan just repeated, this is not a muslim ban. changing subjects here. but he's obviously referring to the president's executive order which in fact was a temporary travel restriction from -- travelers from 7 different countries. judge napolitano, speaker ryan has to get the word out of what president obama was talking about. everybody is saying it's a muslim ban and it's not. >> here is the argument the left will make. the effect of it is to ban

largely muslims and therefore it's unconstitutional. but the purpose-effect distinction has never been applied to the courts. if the president said you can't come in from this country. it doesn't matter if everyone to wants top come in from that country is the same religion. it's a geographic ban or place of national or gin -- national . >> the. he's purporting to represent all persons confined in the state of new york, known and unknown. affected by this because of this argument which the courts have never received. that just because most people affected are muslim, it is therefore a muslim ban. it's not a valid principle of

law and i'll guess he knows that. stuart: speaker ryan just said it's christians in the middle east who are being percent cute. the left will say it is religious favoritism. >> there is language that allows for case-by-case exemptions if you can demonstrate ridge persecution. stuart: dan henninger. you have say too many forces are coming to light against the young presidency. >> it was a dilemma. they just put it out there incomplete. this has set off a reaction from all sorts of segments of the american population. tech so sight, universities, research scientists.

i'm afraid the merits of the order aside, i'm a little afraid they are putting too many 7 negative political forces in motion, not just democrats and progressive activists. but a lotfther people becoming anxious about what the trump presidency is doing. there comes a point where you have overweighted the opposition and people having doubts about your presidency. the way they have been doing orders like this runs that risk of building up too much public sentiment that is pulling back from the trump presidency. they have to be careful about the optics and the way they go about these things. stuart: yes, they do. >> it's nice to agree with dan. stuart: we set frequently, this is live-action presidency. on the left hand side of your

screen, house speak per paul ryan, weekly news conference. we were hoping he would address directly when do we get a tax cut. he said it will take second place to obamacare. >> you are better over -- you ae bitter over this. stu are's also talking about the spat with australia's prime minister. he said he didn't know anything about it. but he has gone the into it. liz: paul ryan wants a tax cut plan before august. he just said that. liz: yes. >> bitterness goes away. a little. stuart: if you get a tax cut plan before august, then you know businesses can plan for what's in that tax cut plan.

so if you can expense fully right now, then businesses will spend right now, is that right? >> if they know they can spend it, it's retroactive. but if it goes into 08 -- 2. >> -- 2018, they will defer to 2018. stuart: president trump is meeting in the oval office with the top tax writers in the house, the chair and ranking member of the house ways and means committee, plus the chair and the ranking member of the senate fibs committee. that's got to be about tax cuts. that's got to be important.

dana loesch is joining us. we are expressing disappointment that the tax cut was not part of the update. >> there were a lot of things i would have loved to see covered in the first 100 days. obviously that's one of them. you know how most people put together a fantasy football team? i put together fantasy items i would love to see. stuart: where does the tax cut flank the fantasy wish list? >> it should be in the top 3. it has to be in the top 3. stuart: the top 1. >> national reciprocity. stuart: what's that? >> you have a driver's license.

i live in texas. if i want to drive a vehicle in illinois or in n york o anywhere else or if i want to use my driver's license as prove of my identification i can do that with my driver's license in all 50 states. i can't do that with my conceal cary permit. >> -- my conceal carry permit. >> i wasn't sure what order it would be in, just to make sure it's in the top three. stu rrp president trump held a meeting with people associated about the supreme court ask pick. sitting next to the president was the head of the nra. you are a big gun lady. there was wane sitting next to president trump. >> i love you, stuart. i take a little bit of issue that it was just wayne sitting there with president trump.

he represents 5 million nra members. the way i look at it, that was 5 million americans sitting next to president trump. i was represented at that table. that's exactly what that means. stuart: what's in danger with the second amendment at the supreme court it's not in danger, is it? >> there are a number of court cases that could be winding their way up to the supreme court. we have seen a ban in massachusetts on semiautomatic rifles. if you want to get involved in shooting sport or anything of that nature. one of my good friends, kim roady, and she is struggling with how she is going to practice because of the laws out there. those are two particular examples of states that may find

themselves before the supreme court arguing why they have constutional authoty to ban guns. that'save much in danger november 8. losing those cases and seeing more right infringed upon. stuart: national rels possiblity does not apply to driver's licenses being used all over the country. it refers to your concealed carry permit. >> and the hearing protection act. it's good manners. stuart: was i remind on my sense of manners. >> it's good manners who make those with whom you go shooting deaf because of the loudness of your firearm. contrary to the propaganda out there, it does not render a firearm silent. it just reduces the level. stuart: you are about to see and hear president trump after his

meeting with the top tax people in congress. watch this. >> hello, everybody. nice to see you all. thank you, senator. good to see you. i know you like that. the one thing we really get along on. so thank you all for being here today. great honor. we have put together an all-star team of top-level people that are work on trade. we are working very, very hard

and will be very soon, as on as we get the go ahead to have the 90-day period we have to think about. we want to get it kickstarted and going. we have statutory limit and we don't want to have those statutory limits so it's important. i have serious concerns about nafta it's been a catastrophe for our country, a catastrophe for our workers. our jobs. they are leaving our country. i want to change it and maybe we do it, maybe we do a new nafta and put an extra f in the term nafta, you know what the f is for, right? free and fair trade. not just free trade. because it's very unfair. all of the statutory guidelines we are adhering to. i would like to speed it up if possible. you are the folks that can do it, senator, so important. and we'll make great trade deals and have something that will --

i don't care if it's a renovation of nafta or brand-new nafta. but we do have to make it fair, and it's very unfair to the american worker and very unfair to companies that do business in this country. that's why they are leaving. one of the many reasons, including the taxes are too high. we'll take care of that also. you also wilbur ross, one of the great people of wall street. and he will be representing us in negotiations along with his other great people. we assembled tremendous talent. some of the best in the world. carl icahn said i can't believe you got wilbur. he's one of the greats. and he's fair. he's fair tort countries, he will be fair to other countries. i think we'll have a whole new picture by the time we are finished. i want to thank you for being

here. we are starting therocess, and i think it will be a tremendous thing for o country, for the workers and for our companies that employ the workers. thank you all for being here. stuart: there are the usual shout questions. i don't think president trump answers them. they have been dismissed and they will leave the room. that was a meeting president trump held with senior tax people along with his people who were handling financial issues. what he talked about largely was trade. the meeting was about the legislative schedule. from what we learned, we are still going to get obamacare reform first and then tax cuts and the tax package later. speaker ryan said we'll get a tax cut package before august. that's what he said. some disappointment about that. when this meeting started.

the dow industrials were flat. now we are down 35 points. maybe there is a little bit of disappointment that president trump didn't pound the table saying we want a tax cut now. i believe we have senator mike leave with us. there is some disappointment in this new york studio that we have not had the president pounding the table and give me a thanks cut now, first job, priority. do you share that disappointment? >> i would like to see tax reform sooner rather than later. this is something the american people need and i would like to see it get done as soon as possible. i hadn't heard the news until just hearing it now on the program. interesting story to follow. but i share your enthusiasm for it. stu require's a mixed -- stuart: it's a mixed story. what seems to be emerging is

various parts of the republican party and congress generally cannot aggrieve on the base i cans of what should go -- on the basics of what should go into that tax reform package. >> it's one of the reasons why we would love to move it forward. get something on the floor, get some kinds of proposal on the floor of the house and senate and let us start debating it. there is no need necessarily to wait until you have everybody agreefg before it hits the floor. get on the floor, let people propose amendments. stuart: is that how you do it, put a basic proposal. cut this, cut that. let's discuss? that's how it could be done? >> that's how i would like to see it done. that is the perspective of one who doesn't manage the floor of the senate or t house. but as a rank and file member ke me, iould like to see things move to the floor more

quickly and leave the details to the amendment process allowing individual members to ask' pro pose amendments. stuart: do you think congress has been aggressive enough in pushing the president's policies? >> i think so. it's been aggressive so far. but we'll need to build on that. there is a lot to get done. i think the american people expect and deserve to have action as quickly as possible by congress in moving an agenda forward. i would like to see that. stuart: do you agree with the president if push comes to shove you want to get neil gorsuch approved as justice of the supreme court, use the nuclear option? >> let me it this way. we'll get judge gorsuch confirmed.

of that i'm certain it's not clear to what extent we are going to need to get there. we might not need the nuclear option at all. even if we get to the point where some are suggesting we need it. there is rule 19, the so-called two-speech rule that could allow us to exhaust the right of the of democrats to filibuster. we have a lot of options on the table and i don't think we should take any of them off. stuart: senator mike lee, it's a pleasure to have you on the program. dan henninger still was. is the leadership agrelsive enough in going with trump's policies? what would be your answer? >> they have need to see wt those policies a. this will and crowded legislative calendar. there are only so many days in the senate's calendar in a given session. we haven't talked about the

infrastructure bill. these are highly politicized pieces of information. infrastructure, obamacare, the tax bill. people like senator lee or even speaker ryan are trying to figure out how do they categorize these things. what comes first, and try not to get bogged down so nothing happens. they need a big success. the president needs to get one of these things through congress. stuart: it seems to me there is so much to be done, obviously you can't do it all. you have to get your priorities right which should be tax cut first. >> senator lee those tax legislation must begin in the house, not the senate. the house has to fully vet it and debate it. most important person on this is the guy from whom we just heard

who displeased you, speaker ryan. stuart: i'm not displeased by the speaker of the house of the united states of america. >> you want more cash in your bank account. >> who doesn't. >> the stock market is down below 20,000. i think the market is trying to digest resalts we are re -- dige realities we are talking about here. stuart: maybe when the markets got ahead of itself in expecting tax cuts now, growth now, we are not going to get it. liz: the gdp was upped by the atlanta fed. stuart: i'm almost out of breath. this is a live-action news show following a live-action

president. >> worth every minute of it. stuart: to summarize. we had all kinds of meetings in the white house and capitol hill. we have a stock market that turned just a little bit lower. it's trending down as we speak. we had a statement from speaker ryan. we'll get a tax cut proposal before august. we have president trump pounding the table on trade, not tax cuts. neil cavuto, it's yours. neil: you are right on the money on this. i think what happened is this collective shrug from official washington outside of the white house saying this is not going to happen anytime soon. i know what dan is saying to you about this border tax and how that was somehow baked into -- you needed that to pay for the tax hikes. but that was a weird one. you are saying you need a tax hike to pay for a tax cut. i understand that, but it was crazy.