[laughter] stuart: all right i'm going the pitch now to niel cavuto who has a spirr -- special guest today. andy puzner, niel. neil: you think about it, stuart , famous as well for talking about the dangerous of hiking minimum wage too much too soon, famous i will saying that he would be looking at the machines to replace the workers. thatid not fit welwith unions, the very same union that is are now trying to favor with donald trump. whether that had anything to do with his decide to go cancel his appearance the night before to a committee that was going to decide his fate. we just don't know because he has really spoken to anyone until now. to tell us what happened and why a job for which many in zmè corpofzz community thought he wasd÷@q uniquely qualified, buty unions thought him uniquely disqualified, well, finally he

is going to spill the beans what happenedçó and why. a former wife had to say about abuse. i talked to her. ;with him. in the meantime, happy birthday, bull market. but again, just?5vcq keeping itg is proving a challenge today. take a look at that here. this bull market, eight years young, today, it ise1 already tq second longest bull market we've had in american history. but it is being mightily tested today. and as you were just hearting of it hasdbñ to do with concerns that tax cuts that this investment community has beenzv looking forward to, they are not necessarily panning out right now,/ê÷ soon as investors want right now. this is uncanny. i mentioned it many, many times look for big ol' tax cuts this crowd lovesñr it. the less likely it looks, this it. when we got word fromr8)enate

majority lead areñr a minute, we might have to push the time frame, august timehj frame, remember theq one secretaryqh mnuchin raised withe ind] washington, august time fre approved and signed by the president, that might have to slip back a little bit. that begs another question. fu be retroactive? are they unlikely could be retroactive, so many months after the fact. you have all this playing out concurrently with markets that have run up far and fast since3% donald trump's election. a lot of people say justifiably so that these high levels, which are well higher than would

justify the prices we'r,gh standing at, that all of aajfñ sudden if that looks like it is delayed, a factor you built in for improvedinv earnings, welle it? problem. we're keeping an eye, we're continue to monitor speaker paul ryan. he is making the argument for dumping obamacare but some conservatives say he is speakin to the choir onç that one but there is anfá acknowledgement on the both the right and the left, the affordable care act the way it is going is simply not fina$.i-lly stable. conservatives in his own party with, with the establishment for a better term came up with. they don't think this is their cup of tea. so he is not addressingi-[ their concerns. he is saying this is conservative alternative. many are saying not conservative enough. they referred to tv)(xd obamacae areq the type ofúsñp analogies n quote. the others are frankly rude andp crude.

ñ houseot do that we hav;@d republica:z policydilç committee chairman luke messer on this. a republican from indiana. younb like the first step, congressman, right? you have your druthers about other aspects. this thing. almost as bad as obamacare itself. >> some of those criticisms are unfair. under obamacare, you have taxes and mandates and bureaucrats identying headlight care do away with all the taxes and mandates. we put the patient back in charge, the consumer make their own choice, whether to have health care and what the health care will look like. it is not a perfect solution. i frankly believe we'll have dialogue and give-and-take here. i was in the white house with made the point, someopé has constructive suggestion,vl9 we can get this done. but you have to start someplace. repeal obamacare and replace it

with something else and now this is tim@e= do it. neil: the same thx0÷ congressman, you accused democrats doing, rushing along, vote before you see what is in1% it? ñ>khd cbovúd hasn't scored it , fairness, why don't you have a plan. why haven't you already passed it, what are you going to do? we've taken several months deliberate producing a bill. process and both the committee and the floor. it will go to the senate as well.

>> i don't think fair lure is an option. we promised for years we would get this done. the speaker comes from a construction family business. he has a ganchar which is plan to get this done in the timing. we're precisely on the timing w thought we would be. now is the time. this month -- neil: all right. wouldn't that be wild if a conservative congressman just pulledñínv the plug out? we don't know. this is battle royale going!qx,. this is upsetting theñi applecat forékmñ many things thatçó haveo proceed almost asç planned. remember we got the promise from the treasury secretary of the united states.5&[dç this is just last week. take a look. reform by the august recess. i think that is very aggressive timetable. realistic, something that the president and i are very committed to doing.

neil: so by august, voted,çó doe agreed? >> and signed. neil: you hear that? not just out of the white house and a measure out of the(yx&÷ treasury department mutually crafted but voted,ñr approved, obviously and then signed by the president of the united states, in other words the new law of the land. blake burman that looks like a generous timeline.çó reporter: wellñlthe voted part f it would involve senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and he made very interesting comments morning at a question and answer session. he was asked whether or not he is bullish, that is how it was phrased on both health care reform and tax reform, health care, the plan and tax reform, being done by august? that was the time frame he was given, what steve mnuchin talked mitch mcconnell didn't seem as optimistic. take a listen to mcconnell's answer from momentssi[÷ ago. >> well, as you and i were discussing before we came in here there are some constraints

here. i don'tçó want to get too much down into the legislative weeds but we have, we have two )jju to do. c e for health care out of the way before we go to the second one. o÷ view, i think 5írmecond one. finishing on taxi9ôx reform will take longer. reporter: will take longer, he believes. there was a second follow-up question to that, neil, which the questñ:p) was, what's a realistic timetable for tax reform? it wasñi phrased to mitch mcconnell, could it be mid 2018,ñr maybe early 2018? here was his response. he said it is complicated. all of those discussions are already underway. you are writing about them. so here you have, mcconnell on this day saying, whoa, here, and when the 2018 time frame wa put before him, it is not like he swatted that away, neil. help also brought up just momens latmrz in that interview, he sad it is not like we're having a kumbayah moment here on capitolc he knows the political realities

a tough environment to deal in.i neil? neil: certainly not a kumbayah market. only thing markets cling to, i could be wrong on this, better delayed than denied whenñr it comes to the tax cuts but is there any talk even if we're late on this guys, here is what we plan to do, we plan to make them retroactive of the, even if it isc'ñ a 2018 he eventñjr we'e them retroactive to 2017. that doesn't look like a gimme either but what are you hearing? reporter: i asked white house press secretary sean spicer during one of briefings, i put it point-blank blank guarranty tax break in 2017? he wouldn't commit toñi that. look, secretaryññ they feel this is the timeline. we anticipate thisñr tax bill or the first phases of it to be rolled out of the white house or rolled out in washington in the

theç retroactive part, non-committal to that. but the standard company lineñrt this point when you talk to folks here in the administration side of things they feel august or at least some portion of 201r is realistic. again they point to the second starts fiscal year 18, which starts@? starts fiscal year 18, which neil. neil:yoicççó fast-moving develo. thank you very much, blake burman. the reason we're focusing on this, when the president met with mid-sized independent bankers earlier today, why he will have an update tos2@[ñ disa of his optionsçó that are before him, it is so much hinges onçt this. agù those tax cuts,ñrñr we say this market rally has been propelled in large part on promise of big tax cuts coming. there is even a separate school been maybe spending a little more money than you;uhh' normay would, convinced you will get a tax break, if it looks like you

won't get a tax break, would you continue to going to retail stores the way it looks like many of you have? or would you dial it back? if you're my wife, you will keep going whethe$ñ there is money to spend or not, but, not everyone is so devil may care, and my wife can notñi single-handedly support this economy, folks. she is going to needq your help. leaving thatñi aside, there isua fascinating dynamic going on in washington about the tax cuts, keeping them going and wall street equally convinced hey will keep them goin. no one wants to let down the other side, hence the battle[4t royale. certainly for the labor secretary of the united states. it looked like it was a job for a guy named puzder. it was his to lose, then he lost it. some controversies, some stories that were vicious. other stories that left people wonderingq?)pá really went on there? the man who had the job in the palm of his hands before he

didn't. his first tv init view since all that went down. coming up on fox business. ♪

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>> if you look at the totality of it, it is kind of things we've been working for years and years and years to get the patient centered health care going. if people look at entire package together they will be wholly supportive. neil: senator, he thinks it is that plan, not your plan. what do you say? >> i think we're pretty united on repeal but we're pretty divided on replacement. i don't think conservatives in the house or conservatives in the senate want a new

entitlement program, continued cadillac tax. we're not for an insurance mandate. neil: they don't sound like they're that close together. we're monitoring this, speaker paul ryan presser right now. he is going through complete with ross perot type charts why the measure they're kicking around right now, the only measure out there for the time-being is better than anything else that could be out there. that this is the best chance to get repeal and replace of obamacare. obviously conservatives like rand paul disagree. it is all about the numbers and the votes. if more than 22 republicans says thing is doomed, forget about the three senators, republican senators who don't like it, this thing could die of its own accord in the house. now we're a long way from that. the president, we're told, is throwing his weight behind what spiker paul ryan want to do, but these markets up normally today could fall apart if this effort

falls apart and delay the tax cuts. the second longest bull market in history could be a big factor keeping it going or not going. to charlie gasparino on that. charlie, what are you hearing? >> two interesting things bouncing around wall street these day, neil, one of them has to do with you. i talked to some traders who pointed out something interesting. when you had your interview with mnuchin, when he mentioned, gave a date, semicertain about the passage of tax reform, business tax cuts, guess what? the market popped, went to all-time highs. i think it popped 100 points. i could be wrong on that but it definitely went up. people used that as a barometer how important fax reform is to this market. we should point out look what happened today. at least mitch mcconnell was out there, hinting tax reform would be delayed past august, guess what? the market fell off the highs. this isn't market science, neil. the market is pricing in tax

reform. if we don't geit at some point this year there wi be a problem with the markets becau you dow 21,000 does not equal what corporate earnings are. we'll get some pullback. there are other technical factors at work keeping markets up. one of the technical factors that is simply that there is not, you know, there is a lot of money sloshing around and not a lot of stocks to buy. if you -- neil: could you explain that for a minute. you're very good at this, a lot of people ask what difference would a tax cut make? it changes the multiple for the market right? it improves earnings and everything is adjusted. >> markets price in future earnings. they price in a lot of things, supply, demand of money available. neil: right. >> supply of available stocks. that, stock ownership, number of stocks that are listed on the major exchanges have shrunk. so there is a supply issue of stocks here. that naturally increases stocks. generally the markets reflect

what future earnings might be. dow 21,000 predicates future earnings that are much higher than they are now based on fiscal stimulus, aka, the tax cuts. if you don't get the tax cuts, logic would tell you there has got to be some pullback in this market. you know the markets are reacting on these daily headlines whether tax cuts come or not. whether you get dogged down this morass of health care. -- bogged down. this theoretically the health care thing debate could tomorrow we'll not do it and move to tax cuts. that might be positive for the markets. i'm telling you if there is lengthy delay where tax cuts get put off, you have to have some marginal pullback in stock prices. the numbers can't sustain. now there is other fiscal stimulus measures out there. infrastructure spending, generally markets like that. it does produce jobs. you would thin it is not as efficient as tax cuts added to gdp but it is something there. you have to just watch this thing. the bottom line is this.

the longer it takes to put the fiscal stimulus in place, the more people are going to question whether dow 21,000, we're about at 21,000, is a realistic measure of corporate earnings given the current fiscal, given the current economic environment and that's a question for the markets. generally markets trade down on that, and you can see it in those two things. your init are view with mnuchin, date certain, likely august. and the markets go up. mitch mcconnell just now saying, not so fast. there is a lot of reasons, we have to do this, that the other things. markets trade back down. that is what stock traders are doing. markets are indication about people's bets about the future. that is what they're doing. they're trying to figure out all the headlines. for the average viewer, watch this -- i'm not saying sell all your stocks. if we endon't get fiscal stimulus. it will be an issue for the markets. there will be some pullback.

neil: sounds like all your buddies you dine with, all about money, money, money? >> you know, it is. they are greedy sobs, that's what i love about them. neil: they are you. >> they're a rao flexion of both of us, speak for yourself, young man. charlie gasparino. we're monitoring this very closely. we're monitoring speaker ryan. you don't have to do this at home. we're monitoring his address via perot type charts, remember those days, ross perot, it is bad, it will get worse. he is outlining or walking out in a huff, i have no idea, saying we're open to tweaks in the health care measure. some of the conservatives point out, no you're not, we decan baited 18 hours around you only accept ad couple of hours. we don't know where the truth is. if you're working on something that long, testimony percent get short and they're short right now. if you're paul ryan, you dispense with the jacket and you start breaking out the charts.

that's where we are. that is what everything in america depends on right now, if they don't get it done, katy-bar-the-door. one of the most successful investors and mark account pros to keep the bull market going after this. thanks for doing this, dad. so i thought it might be time to talk about a financial strategy. you mean pay him back? knowing your future is about more than just you. so let's start talking about your long-term goals. multiplied by 14,000 financial advisors, it's a big deal. and it's how edward jones makes sense of investing.

>> hearing these calls from some of the manufacturers, we decided to work with them to give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details we have, so that fixes can be developed and pushed out so people can be secured. neil: julian assange saying there is a way to help tech companies sort of monitor what is going on when the government wants to seize on their devices and have them turn on their owners. homeland security secretary,

very first one, tom ridge, thanks for joining us second, governor. thanks for joining us again. >> fascinating, neil. neil: every time we get together there are some new leaks. >> thank you. neil: not you. >> not me. fascinating i've always been an advocate of interdependent cyber-connected world one of the most important things government can do if it discover as vulnerability it ought to share it. neil: did you know the cia had this capability? >> i did not personally know but there is good and bad news he will month to this story. truly tough for me to believe apple, samsung, microsoft, their engineers were not aware of the vulnerability, if they weren't, maybe it is comforting to know the quality of the technology we have of employee in the federal government exceeds theirs. but in any event they got the information. neil: it is known by our enemies. >> more importantly should have been shared earlier in my

judgment. i'm a big believer, if google is exposed and if amazon is goesed so every corporation is exposed relying on those systems, that is one of the reasons we work with the national association of corporate directors at carnegie mellon having a course for board of directors. a lot watch your show. they don't mind the plug. the vulnerability exists. people rely on the google system. so share the information, government. neil: we're always surprised, governor, i talk to a lost people who shrug their shoulders, what else is new. they're almost used to their privacy being invaded even when he mention, yeah they have this technology where your tv, they're spying on you even when they're off. they go, ah. i don't know what worries me more the technology or we're blase about it. >> i worry about being blase. there will be 20 billion devices connected to internet by 2020.

three billion people are connected. we're all expressed. john chambers about said it is not the internet of things but everything and everyone is potential point of vulnerability. neil: you mentioned chambers. i thought of scott mcnealy, who said, if you want your privacy get over it. what do you think of that. >> >> i'm not over it. i don't want to surrender my privacy. i want the federal government to secure it. although the way we arranged this incredible network we're so dependent on it. i asked a law school class last year, how many law graduate, clicked terms of privacy, raise your hands? nobody raised their hand. we're so dependent upon it. neil: it is everywhere. i'm wondering donald trump has been complaining about that but it does seem to be particularly widespread and almost wondering

if the institutions themselves are turning against a president who turned against them and questioned their intelligence data and whether this is tit-for-tat? i have no idea, but what is going on because it seems out of control? >> well, my perspective is simply that for america security, both from a geopolitical point of view and economic security, given our mutual dependence on the internet, there needs to be far more collaboration between the capabilities of the federal government and these behemoths, these iconic digital companies in the silicon valley. neil: do you think it is within their wherewithal to be that vindictive if they don't like donald trump or things that he has said or done they would literally turn on him, embarass him, embarass the intelligence community? >> i would hope not and i don't think so. neil: why does it keep happening. >> you have to ask somebody from the valley.

neil: what do you -- >> i'm not sure, i guess i'm a little uncertain what we are both referring to. these -- neil: coming from everywhere. >> these leaks are probably coming from within the government. neil: right. >> but that's, that is what you're referring to, there is area i think it is -- neil: no one leaked on you. no one leaked on you. >> but i do think it is, i think it's wrong if yohave a, like snowden, not taking his concerns to a source that could have done something rather than turning his back on his country and he fleeing and let our enemies get access to that information. if there is something that my president, our president, probably a democrat, you have to protect his flank. that is your job. neil: very good, governor. >> nice to be with you. neil: we have a lot more coming up. the epa chief scott pruitt is next. how does he feel about the new standards, new fuel standards coming out and climate change? he said a couple remarks that

had people step back on the right and left. scott pruitt will be here. we'll hear a little later on the first time, first interview after opting out the labor secretary post for president trump. andy puzder, what went wrong and why. whether he is bitter. i had a chance to talk to his former wife. we'll talk about that we'll talk about much more after this. ♪ as after a dvt blood clot,ital i sure had a lot to think about. what about the people i care about? ...including this little girl. and what if this happened again?

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but thinkorswim already lets you create custom alerts for all the things that are important to you. shhh. alerts on anything at all? not only that, you can act on that opportunity with just one tap right from the art. wow, i guess we don't need the kid anymore. cust alerts on tnkorswim. only at td ameritrade. neil: to the white house right now.

the president is discussing his budget right now. you might recall in his address to the a joint session of congress last week he talked up the possibility of adding $54 billion to the defense budget. he would pay for that by conduct the budget at the state department and the environmental protection agency. something that was at the time a little bit of news to the new incoming administrator scott pruitt. i don't know what success he had maybe changing the president's mind on that. he joins us out of houston a big energy confab. there is a little bit of a sound delay here with the secretary. so, i don't want to surprise you with that or the epa administrator. sir, good to have you. thank you for coming. >> good to be with you, neil. neil: okay maybe more than i thought of a delay. administrator, the president want to cut your budget. how have you been responding to that? >> look, the president has said,

i think very important priorities as far as defense and homeland security, law enforcement. so i think all agencies across the federal government are going to have to prioritize within their mission to make sure we fund those other activities appropriately, and neil, i think as we look at our priorities as an agency, looking at those regions across the country, doing a better job partnering with the states, helping save money protecting water and air in in country is something we can do, to make sure we protect the core mission and achieve good outcomes. neil: you said earlier you want to address some of these new fuel standards that will be going into effect in stages and over the next few years. what did that mean, that you want to rescind them, delay them, what? >> well, neil, as you know, the c.a.f.e. standards as they're called, there was a midterm review that was supposed to take place in november of 2018. the lasted a administration on

the eve of president obama leaving the white house, that comment period closed at the end of december, and within 10 days they issued their final statement with respect to those reviews, unheard of as far as timing. those weren't due until november of 2018. so what needs to be done, we listen to those across the spectrum in industry and consumers, others to make sure those targets that have been set are properly evaluated. that hastened or accelerated to truncate the process. there is going to be announcement on that i think very, very soon, an important announcement about how we're going to address those c.a.f.e. standards from our perspective process matters. the process was truncated. it needs to be respected so all voices are heard. neil: sounds at least it will be extended or delayed? >> i think that original timeline, neil, of november of 2018 is an important timeline and one that should be respected. neil: sir, you also called into

the question the paris agreement, sort of a climate deal, most of the big nati signed on to it. you questioned whether that was a valid deal but it got people wondering, does the new ep administrator does man is behind climate change, and a warming earth? >> well, neil, the paris discussion that occurred, there were things about that that i think from a process perspective should be concerning to us all. one, it was an agreement, truly enforceable and respected by all the nations participating it should been treated as treaty and gone through the treaty process. it did not, as you know. more importantly in my view it is right to have a discussion internationally i believe. secretary tillerson and i talked about that personally and privately. what happened in paris, neil, was a bad deal for this country.

this country front-loaded its costs to address those co2 targets that were established while china and india backloaded their costs from 2030 and beyond. that is representative not putting america first. that is it is important as we go forward on this issue we put the domestic policy of this country at center where we find a pro-jobs, pro-growth agenda and at the same time having a pro-environment agenda as well. neil: so are you walking away from that agreement, sir? >> well that is actually a state department decision, neil. that is not something epa was a sig tore too. neil: if you were administrator, what would you do? >> i think that make sure that whatever discussions occur internationally, respect the processes, that if agreements are made they go through the treaty process with the u.s. senate. and secondly, that america first, the decisions made are in conjunction with oer nations

across the globe. china and india contribute to the co2 issue much greater than this country as far as us finding a balance between our economy, jobs and our co2 footprint is you know at pre-1994 levels. that is largely because of conversion to natural gas and innovation of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. we do it better than anybody in the world to find the balance, neil. to go to paris, another location around engage in international discussions and not recognize that, put america second behind china and india finding balance is not the right approach. neil: i apologize, sir, this delay is must be exasperating for you as it is for me. i think you're on record saying you see the data, you see the earth warming up. you just question whether man has had a role in that. am i assessing your position accurately? that you have -- >> not a question whether human

activity impacts global warming. it is not a question, the delay is challenging here, neil, but it is not a delay, it is not an issue whether man is contributing in some way to global warming. it is measuring with precision the amount of human activity. there are many causes that contribute to global warming and i think as we look at that issue we need to recognize measuring with precision is very challenging. but at the same time, neil, it is important to ask the question, does the epa have the tools in the tool box to address that issue, even if that is quote, unquote, something we get beyond the debate about how much man contributes to it. congress has never spoken on this issue. you have the supreme court decision in 2007. you have an endangerment finding in 2009. thers not been a legislative response making sure the epa is actually equipped to respond to this statutorily. that can not be dismissed and something that needs to be discussed going forward. neil: finally, sir, you talk about the tools to address this, well environmentalists are

concerned if the president wants to cut your budget, you will have fewer tools to do just that. and they're worried about that. what do you tell them? >> well, look, i mean, this, the core mission of the agency protecting our land, air and water is going to happen. the epa is very instrumental supporting water infrastructure across this country. that's very important. the superfund sites, the brownfield programs that we see that have created retrite tallization in -- revitalization in certain markets across our country has been success. we have much -- attainment issues, under pollutants under title one. those things are important to do as country and we'll do those things. at the same time we do those we'll strike a balance between a pro-growth agenda and pro-environment agenda. we've done it historically and we can do it again. neil: administrator, thank you, very, very much.

my apologies for our audio issues. epa administrator scott pruitt. we have a lot more coming up. include being one of the independent bankers that had a meeting with president of the united states. did anything he heard from the president give him hope that fortunes improve for a slice of bankers that are not necessarily enjoying the same success some of their bigger brethren are. that is coming up. of course andrew puzder is here, his first interview since opting out when republicans made it very clear he had no chance moving into the labor department. ♪

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♪ neil: you know it is hard to believe it has been a week that snap has been a publicly-traded company. it is up nominally today.

remember its debut price was $27, and -- $17 and still comfortably over that. it is a week since it first debuted but we'll see how things end up. meantime that meeting ended with the president and independent regional bankers. the american bankers association ceo bob nichols was at the meeting. he joins us right now. bob, very good to have you. what came of t meeng? what did the president outline for you guys? >> thanks, neil. great to be with you. we had a great meeting with the president. lasted about an hour. talked about a whole host of things. we had nine community bankers from across the united states representing different communities and we talked to the president some of the i am medments, some of the pieces of regulatory tools and architecture trickled down impacting community baines manging them harder to serve their customers, clients and communities. we talked about that a little bit.

talked about fixing some of those things through legislation versus regulation. we also, neil, had a good conversation about upcoming appointments president trump will make, specifically the financial regulators. we had a great exchange with the president about the need to have people with real-world experience in a number of those positions. so we had, we had a great visit. one of the threshold questions that he asked, neil, the president asked the group of bankers was, how are you doing? and the answer kind of to sum the answer up was, we're doing well but we could be doing better and here's why. so we had a great exchange of views about the particular plight of community banks here in the united states, which as you know, are the overwhelming majority of our 6,000 banks. you have really 5000 -- neil: your colleagues, bob, maybe yourself, offer him any advice in there? he had many such meetings, as many in his first six weeks in office as barack obama had the entire eight years but did

anyone offer him advice? >> actually they all did, neil. that is a great question. we talked in some specificity about a series of rules, some legislative, some regulatory getting in the way of additional lending. we talked about mortgage rules. we talked about small business lending rules which are important to small business community across the united states which are a huge labor force driver ithuned states as your viewers know. we did talk about some specifics as well. one thing, neil, really encouraging from the president he demonstrated an understanding of a need to do this in as expedient manner as possible. that was encouraging. neil: to what expedient manner? health care, repeal and replace, what? >> we did not talk about tax issues or health care. we talked just about banking policy. neil: financial reforms efforts and regulation. >> we talked about that in the meeting and gary cohn and

treasury secretary steve mnuchin -- neil: you mentioned about mnuchin raised august time frame to get the tax cuts essentially signed, sealed and delivered. we heard today, from mitch mcconnell that looks a tad unrealistic. would that make a difference to you, and to your fellow bankers if that were delayed significantly so. >> we didn't talk about that in that meeting. neil: i understand. but would they? >> the desire to get our tax code more internationally competitive vis-a-vis our peers, reduce rates and clear out the underbrush and get rid of some of those loopholes. i think that is good public policy. we had this conversation for years. we hope that can occur expediently as well. neil: robert nichols. thank you very much for joining us. to the timeline of all of these goodies wall street wants to see happen, route 90 holdings chairman, former chairman of ubs joe grano, what he makes of all of that.

you know the collective read, joe, of wall street, it has a temper tantrum if those tax cuts don't happen. do you agree with that? >> i think frankly i would advise the president to go slower. neil: wow. >> you don't want to take 100 days tcrash it into 100 hours whicseems to be happening. you need to vet these things a little bit me. i think you have got to educate the american public. the immigration policy a perfect example. you come out without setting a stage and you get all kinds of -- neil: how do you think the president is doing? >> i think when he stays on message like he did with the congressional speech it was excellent. when he goes off into his tweets and tries to be extemporaneous and fight back if somebody criticizes him that is a huge mistake. neil: would you tell him to not tweet? >> i wish i could cut his fingers off personally. yes, i would tell him not to it tweet. neil: okay. you think he gets easily distracted and gets in the way -- you like the message, right? >> i think there is a pattern.

if he gets attacked or sessions gets attacked he wants to create some other controversy to deflect it. look what he said about cruz's father, for example. those are the things he does. that is the pattern. neil: he tried to make peace. he had dinner with heidi an ted cruz. had dinner with rubio. jon huntsman will be ambassador to russia. what do you make of all those efforts? >> i look at it as four-legged chair. he wants smart people. he is bringing in smart people. he wants to reinforce the military of the generals he brought in are excellent. he wants to show his ego is not as big as people think. that is why he will do a huntsman, et cetera. i think, or will talk to romney. in terms of having lunch, will he bring obama after the latest tweet, i don't know. neil: what you did you i this of that? >> i thought it was inappropriate, personally. neil: what if it is true? >> we this huge leak right now. i think the country is in a precarious position.

neil: you don't think he should have done it the way he did it?. neil: say he had evidence. even if -- >> then he should have gone to the intelligence communi and fbi in particular and have them take the lead. neil: the bull market is eight years old today. >> that's correct. neil: how much longer does it go? >> you know, neil, we're off about a year. i'm looking for a correction. right now we're at historical high price earnings ratio. i think the trump effect has helped. now if he has to delay or he doesn't get through regulatory reform, or tax base or even obamacare, replacement, i think you could see a correction coming. that correction could be as high as 20%. you're still at a 16,000 dow if that happens. neil: you're right. we haven't had one. people say we're due for one, right? >> i've been early. neil: or gotten a lot right. >> i understand, right now, i would tell you, you know, there is an adage i used to follow. if a stock is not good enough to

buy, it is not good enough to hold. so you tell me what you're going to buy. if you're not willing to buy, you better not hold. neil: young people look at enormous run up, out of this market. all of a sudden they say, hey, joe, i want in, i want to be part of this party, you tell them? >> i tell them to stay predominantly in cash and lay again on the fundamental basis of companies you really like. and you can dollar-cost-average. don't just go into the market. neil: dollar-cost-average, same amount every month, whatever? >> if you like the stock at 20, still like it at 15, buy more. neil: okay. if the tax cuts don't happen or if they're significantly delayed, then what? >> then i think you're going to see a correction. neil: as much as it still hinges on these tax cuts? >> i think we are the beneficiary of a trump effect that has been positive since the inauguration, no question, up over 5%. neil: how do you think would the markets be doing if hillary clinton were in the white house right now?

>> oh gosh, that is a rhett tore ral question. i have to admit more of the same relative to the obama administration. i think some of those policies were stifling. you were talking earlier about the banks. there are small banks that have a client never missed a payment and otc walks in, put it in non-performing category. so they're not going to lend to that type of individual again or business. so that has got to change. if she were in, you would continue with that kind of -- neil: we would be worse off? >> much worse off. neil: pleasure to see you again, joe grano. >> a pleasure. neil: first time here since he opted out of coming or given a shot becoming next labor secretary of the united states. what went wrong? what really happened? how did one of the most celebrated fast-food executives on the planet get eaten alive in washington? andrew puzder is next.

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tree into neil: when he was first chosen by donald trump and secretary of the united states, on the corporate side they loved it. wanted to get a handle on union and their influence at the times to jack up wages and forth a lot of businesses. then, it morphed into something like a struggle between union and that pic, andrew puzder. his confirmation hearings were delayed for times and that allowed many who were monitoring very, very closely to gather all that code on it coming dating back two decades earlier. we have never seen anything like this semester went back to the days of raymond donovan, who was

also a labor secretary candidate for then ronald reagan. that was then. history had an eerie way of repeating itself. of course now, and are puzder is the former candidate for labor secretary. he took himself out of the running, when it looked like it wasn't going his way at all and a number of republicans were getting skittish after the bet the devos. even more skittish after the nominee. that's what you know. what you don't know is how andrew puzder feels about all of this spirit hasn't been talking about it. the former labor secretary nominee tennessee ke restaurant ceo with this right now. good to see you. >> good to be here. i'm doing fine. i'm disappointed. it was sad to watch the president's state of the union well the speech was incredible and watching the democrats act like petulant children is enjoyable. it's sad to see other guys have

gotten to know in the cabinet and to hear the president talk about a lot of issues to you and i have been talking about the past eight to 10 years and have been very involved with and could've been a big help to the president. it was hard to watch that. and if heartbreaking. but i'm fine. i will continue to fight for workers rights in it was a tough fight. neil: how did you tell the president you are taking herself out of the running? >> i got a call from somebody high up in the administration who is that low, we talked to senator mcconnell. mitch was spectacular. he was absolutely 100% supported and gave despite everything he had. but he didn't think he could get the vote because at that hearing delays, which you mentioned, which are unfortunate. a lot of the press was they hadn't filed an ethics paper. we filed that in early january, but we couldn't get the office of government ethics to respond

until middle of february. neil: it allows them to get time i knew. >> a day. the delay was unfortunate. i would've been confirmed had it gone as originally scheduled. once you have three senators who wouldn't support you in the republican party, you are done. neil: who told you you're done? you or did mitch mcconnell conveyed to the administration? >> the administration said if he wanted to be hearingwe a bendou. i had offered dp out earlier when all these allegations came forward because i didn't want her to president. not because they didn't want to fight it. allegations about her business oppressing workers rights, allegations back in the 80s. neil: are you surprised that when you came up? >> i was particularly surprised because my ex-wife has admitted to many people come in media outlets, written to the committee, many, many times

admin allegations simply weren't true. neil: their allegations at the time goes back to the abuse. your wife for my chatted with yesterday. >> she's a big fan. tranter as severe as as well. you have an amicable relationship. she recounted those and get the media never took back, just went back and we had the release of the tape with her and that gave a sort of a new lease on life did what he think of that? >> i kept repeating allegations. at the end, they would say she recanted. she had done more than recanted. she said these allegations simply weren't true. he was a good guy. he never abuse you. marriage there's a lot of arguments and every marriage. there is never any substance to the abuse. i had always denied it. she admitted shortly after the divorce that they weren't true.

it was somewhat of a surprise. neil: this is where i want to go back and get the story right that this was certainly come up in confirmation hearings. did you talk to her? she to you because it's amicable today. look, this is going to come out. did you tell the president this could come u >> i told the administration early on. we have thanksgiving dinner together. my kids for my first marriage and former wife and my wife and our kids have thanksgiving dinner together. this is not the relationship you'd be having with someone abuse that she alleged. but the very amicable relationship in a thanksgiving dinner she said if anything comes up at the trump administration, she wrote this to me. she sent me an e-mail that said i'll be happy to tell anyone who wants to know these allegations were untrue. the only people in the world to

know whether they were true or not were saying they were untrue. neil: it became sort of like more of a drawing point of media attention and your views on labor at the minimum wage. >> article was the worst. they did an interview with my former wife and she actually called me in tears because she believed she'd been taken advantage of. in fact, when they announced my withdrawal, there was a tweet from someone in his term, saying that they broke out in applause. you can imagine the biased nature of the coverage with respect to this issue. >> did you think it would come up? >> i thought my former wife and i would go say we are good friends. this never happened. to put it to rest. i think the big problem here was the left and democrats really didn't want a successful businessman who started out as a working-class kid who worked working-class jobs who knew what

it was not to come up with enough money at the end of the month and would create tens of thousands of jobs and knew what it took to generate economic growth. that was their worst nightmare for the department of labor. they were going to do anything they possibly could to keep me out of the office. donald trump -- president trump is a great guide will be a successful president has the same problem. the problem is it's not that they are concerned that would've been a bad secretary of labor. it's not that they are concerned president trump will succeed. they are concerned we will succeed. if we succeed with cutting taxes and reduce regulations like reagan did and have a similar result for employment goes up, economic growth perspective 35544%, to put the lie to what the left has been telling working and middle class. neil: do think he is the thing with your former wife as an amusement to torpedo a guy who would be brought to labor and maybe you and your wording might have said that when talk about

machines in the workplace, replacing workers with robots. he famously said they're always polite, thales of cell, never take a vacation, never show up late. never a slip or fall or sex or race discrimination case. >> i'm glad she laughed i'm glad you asked back. my only chance to address these issues was going to be in the hearing, which i was really looking forward to. you're in a cone of silence for two months. i was taken from an interview i did for the reporter asked me what are the websites for businesses and what are the downsides of automation? i said the things he said, but he also said he can't create a company culture. a lot of your customers don't like automation. they are not comfortable with it. neil: ironically doing just that. automating a lot of these facilities. neil: back to your point, i gave both sides of the issue. all they quoted was the positives.

neil: people read into that they're what he is saying is this is yet another reason not to double the minimum wage because you're all that enticing guys like me to use machines to replace workers who certainly don't deserve 18 bucks an hour. neil: and part that was true. >> -- if you were an increased minimum wage, it'll incentivize people to automate. neil: you're not against raising the minimum wage, can dublin appeared in macros to cast an increase in net for working-class americans. if you kill jobs for people who need to get on the letter of opportunity. if you make this a low skilled workers can't find a job, you are acting contrary to what you claim you trying to do. they're not trained to help people. you're trying to make a political point. i've actually advocated for the restaurant association franchise association to get behind the minimum wage increase.

thus determine the point which is to go jobs. at that point come your courage people, maybe using wendy's company donald announced broad-based automation. we have not come up right away, but other friends house. neil: by the way, that was one of the ironies that carl's junior was not doing any of the staff that they most feared he would. >> i was just trying to explain people what the risks of taking in the retail industry people make $6300 a year in profit per employee. apple makes 400,000. and thousand. in retail, wal-mart, everybody makes 6300. if you take the average number of hours that a worker works in retail and reseller person to $15 an hour is over $12,000 raise. people are not paid $12,000 for a worker producing about $6000 in benefit. but there is some room to get a raise, but we have to be rational about it.

neilexplained the industry in your industry, but nevertheless, when you opted out and said i am done here, then he said low pay, no way, and the puzder went away ,-com,-com ma celebrated your not getting this job. how did you feel about that? >> i felt disappointed by the fact they would be secretary of labor. i wish i could help president trump you think is going to do a great job. i think to. >> are you surprised unions are the ones who kind of like him and sam, given the fact the teamsters, having seen favorable things about him that maybe the administration was relieved when he walked away. >> i didn't get that impression. i always felt like i had 100% support from the president and vice president. neil: what was their reaction when he made the announcement?

>> before they made the announcement is that if you want to go through during a fight this, we are behind you 100%. i think it was very sincere. neil: what do you think of the dead sea devos thing, which have been okay? >> i've been told by my republican senator francis that is actually what killed it. a lot of the senators who are a little bit nervous about getting reelected went home and they had protesters and demonstrademonstra tors at their offices that could really never seen before. that made some of them, they began to waver. when the left sensed there was wavering in a hearing kept getting delayed, that was kind of the death knell. neil: are you bitter? >> not at all. i knew going into this favorite people opposed to me. the labor unions really shouldn't have been opposed. i've never said anything against collect bargaining. i don't think we should raise the minimum wage to the point to kill jobs.

neil: the same guys who are singing praises of donald trump. what do you make of that? >> donald trump got a 42% union despite what the leaders of the movement had said. they need to get behind them for the support of their union members. whether that manifests itself in policy support, we will see. in some areas that will particularly immigration, bringing jobs back to america. i'd like to see them get behind other things where we can generate genuine economic growth and really helping american workers back on the track, defend free enterprise system. i intend to continue doing that myself. that's incredibly important something i'll be committed to for the rest of my life. neil: what came up also in some of the hearings and a surprise, but not too surprised that a numb of senators said the ads, featuring pas hilton and s of these others are demeaning to women. you have made the comment when

you were here at young males are disproportionate customer base. they seem to like the ads. listing six ads. it was deemed sexist, demeaning to women. >> 46% of consumers are women. adult and call when it found these demeaning. i've been ceo for 16 years. when i took over, our company is on the verge of bankruptcy. we almost didn't have a company. i approved a lot of marketing techniques to engage consumers and is a very competitive media market or make a company about to collapse. we prevented it from collapsing. but it part of that was the way they advertise the brand. we got the attention of the demographic, which is our marketing research people advise. neil: nobody had a problem until you're up for this job. >> we've got 75,000 people in the united states today. because of our team, 75,000 people in the united states have jobs. 60% of women and 62% --

neil: you know what you're doing at those eyes? >> we did. we save the company. neil: some of the female senators particularly sad we don't like the message it's sending the women are sex objects. >> in a grocery store you go into your going to see magazine covers that are more revealing than he seen any he seen any of our ads. i'm sorry they feel that way, but we save the company with those ads, saved a lot of jobs. neil: are you going to give you that? >> we changed ad campaigns end of last summer before all this started. when you and i used to talk about paris hilton 2005. neil: i never did. back in 2005, there is a very impactfuad. now you can see your friend on snapchat; the internet -- neil: i did want to step back from the syndicate your take on this experience. i know what you say you still

love the president, still of the country and i understand that. a lot of people went through what you went through. i don't want to go through the same thing. ironically in the demonstration that is staffed with a lot of business titans, so obviously the message isn't far and wide spread it but they did locate you talking about a decades-old relationship in a marriage that ended as it is perpetrated in the media. i can't obviously to you about it, your former wife about it. obviously, your kids know the story. so they look at what happened and say no way i would ever do what he did. to try hand at the public sector. >> i can't blame people for feeling that way. udc in a six. by good people don't go into government. i hope that won't discourage

people who can make a difference trying to go into government. knowing what i know, i would've done it anyway. look, no country in the world for working-class kids like me could aspire to this level of success have achieved within a reasonable chance of achieving it. that's something we need to preserve for future generations. that is something worth protecting and taking risks were. i didn't fight in a world war in iraq and risk my life, but i put myself out there and i would do it again. this is incredibly important. we've got a great president. neil: how's he doing ?-que?-que? >> is doing very, very well. he's got the media very scared. neil: he invites the negative media response. once it's on the other. >> that's true. he goes right for the people appear to sketch the media. not like a press conference or press release. he decides that they might do they might be something you want to tell 50 million americans, he treats it out.

neil: would you ever run for office? >> on the little old. and 66 now. i certainly would serve if they asked. i would want to go through this process again. but you know, i decided a year ago it was time for me to no longer be the ceo of the young hungry guys brand because i'm 66 and that i should go into government service to pay back the reasons i told you. it's to late to do that. this is a setback. i'm not giving out. neil: people forget. your former wife lisa reminded me that you were an antiwar protester and had the long hair. i said you have pictures, lisa? she said yes. >> i hope she's not sending them. neil: i wanted to give you an opportunity to explain what happened. he's alive, well, still here. >> thanks for the chance. neil: we'll have more after

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>> i think the big problem here with the left and democrats really didn't want a successful businessman who started out as a working-class kid who work these jobs, who knew what it was not to come up with enough money at the end of the month and then create tens of thousands of jobs. i knew what it took to generate economic growth. that was really their worst nightmare for the department of labor. they are going to do anything they possibly could to keep me out of that office. neil: andy puzder a moment ago. the president first race has labored secretary. had to take himself out of the running for that. my colleague and friend trish regan right now. what i'd forgotten about in the whole series of events is off in hearings were delayed.

three or four times, which gave his opposition plenty of time to gather whatever they wanted. >> to keep digging and digging and inde ty did. keep in mind, he is absolutely right when hsays there were political reasons for people did not want to see him in that slot. he had been very antiunion. this anti-federal minimum wage. neil: it is doubly met. got stuck in their craw. the pros and cons to pushing this too far. that, they didn't like. >> will comment with a dose of reality they didn't want to hear. that would have been advantageous in the long run to them because they would've had something who had experience being a business owner and having to employ all these workers and say look, this is the way we can do it. we wanted make sure you are employed. we want our country to thrive and have full employment.

let's tackle it this way instead of that way. it would've been an innovative approach, someone who no-space from the inside out. we've lost that now. that's the reality of it. the left is happy because they got someone out who would not have been a friend. neil: now, it is very former high-ranking labor department official called me i had a talking to andy puzder, very high-ranking syrian adult leaves mr. puzder gets the fact he's the labor secretary of the united states, which means he is supposed to look after labor's interest. when you think of that tape? >> i think they felt that he was on the side of business as opposed to labor. here's what everyone is losing en masse. business is what makes labor go. in other words, you need the employer to actually have the jobs. you need someone who understands

their current employers spected. i guarantee plenty of people in washington d.c. who understand from labor's day. this would've been a fresh and innovative approach to tackle these issues knowing what he knows about business owners and how it all has to work together. this is not a one-way street for anyone. neil: that's right. it's not a sexist question, so i don't mean it to be. the ads came back to bite him. i thought well, where did this come from? do what they wanted -- >> absolutely not. an attractive woman walking through the market is going to get your attention. you remember it. let's not forget again how business factors into all of this. he's trying to sell a hamburger and it's a good way to do it. neil: and he did. trish regan, always so much fun. take a look at oil right now.

it is down again. something is not jiving what stocks they continue to go up i am large and oil that does not. two different worlds. after this.

neil: maybe we don't want to make a bigger deal out of this than warranted, oil is slip sliding a way. most in nine months. jeff flock at the cme with what is going on. what is going on, jeff? reporter: crash ad few minutes ago below 49. look at intraday chart well above 50, down 5% yesterday, down another two, 3% today. too much oil out there. a big build. if you look at the three-month chart, we haven't been this low since december. we were thinking bullish for a while. world has too much oil at the moment.

this affected stocks, particularly exploration stocks. u.s. explorers were coming back. more rigs added today. particularly sm emergency, weaker exploration stocks. if you're more diversified, the bigger oil companies have not done quite as badly. others are down big time today other than marathon. overhanging this thing is saudi aramco ipo that will be an ipolf alphabet and apple put together. it's huge, even though they will only offer maybe 5% of the company but still this is not the time to be launching an ipo when oil looks like it is going to be below 50 for a while. neil: jeff, thank you very, very much, jeff flock at cme. back to the corner of wall and broad, stocks are trading down a bit. we god indications blake burman at the white house, part of the

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neil: you were not against raising minimum wage. >> not at all. neil: bense doubling it.

>> where it is killing jobs for working class americans. opportunities. you're acting contrary to what you claim you're trying to do. you're not really helping those people by increasing the wage. you're trying to make a political poin