>> it may be. and again people understand that the s&p 500 is not the focus. [closing bell rings] it is the other part of business in america. liz: great to see you, kim forest of fort pitt capital. the markets end higher but not high enough. we snap a four-week winning streak. there is the closing bell. david and melissa. have a great weekend. david: same to you. melissa: ending the week on a high note after a strong february jobs report. the dow climbing back into positive territory this afternoon. the s&p and the nasdaq all ending the day higher as well but it has been a rough week, with all the major averages snapping multiweek winning streaks. i'm melissa francis. happy friday. david: happen friday to you do. i'm david asman this is "after the bell." we have you covered on the big market movers and here is what else we have for you at this hour. president trump going all-in on health care with republicans, who are on the fence meeting with key congressional leaders.

can he get them all on board. what about the aarp? why they say this plan hurts seniors. 400 u.s. troops joining the fight in syria. former congressman dennis kucinich say our troops have no business being there. he will tell us why. you can bet lieutenant colonel oliver north has something to say. he is our guest along with the former member of the white house national security concerns sill, gillian turner and forbes media chairman, steve forbes. wow. melissa: back to the markets. the dow ending higher for the day but down for the week. ending a four-day winning streak since late december. oil weighing heavily on stocks. phil flynn watching the action from the cme. lori rothman from the floor of the new york stock exchange. lori, first to you, stocks up on a solid jobs report and looking at one sector getting a real boost. >> that's right, melissa. stocks did a whole lot of nothing but we had late something buying.

recent losses probably bought buyers in. oil was a problem this week. i'm sure phil will get well into that. look at some staffing stocks. you pointed out the better than expected jobs report led to a boost to the sector. not household names per se but you hold them in your retirement plans. better than 1% gain for those stocks in the staffing services industry. let's look back at the week dow winners and losers. dupont hit an all-time high today. the chemical company along with johnson & johnson. that is also a all-time high with a gain of 1.6% today. on the downside, exxon, no surprise, crumbling energy down quite a bit as well as caterpillar. we've been reporting on the government inquiry. caterpillar is accused of carrying out tax and accounting fraud. we'll follow that story closely. on wall street shares were punished for the heavy equipment mover. look at a couple ever airlines. "tale of two cities." southwest surprised people are

not making last minute travel plans lower than expected outlook and jetblue had better than expected numbers. that is why shares performed better than expected. have a great weekend. david: thank you, lori. we saw it in the energy sector ending down more than 9% priced for the whole week. what's going on? >> this week we got blindsided by inventories and concerns about ongoing glut really hammered this market. we did strong technical damage to this market this week by breaking below $50 a barrel. the big question today, could the market close above it? it tried. it tried a couple times. it couldn't do it. one of the reasonse iled in the last part of trading u.s. oil rigs went up aga for the 8th week in a row. they keep adding rigs. interestingly enough though, where they were adding rigs, wasn't in texas or new mexico where most of the rigs have been added. it was in louisiana. so that may be a sign there is some pulling back by the drillers but we'll have to wait until next week. it was an incredible week. back to you.

david: they found another big load of oil in alaska. at that is there to think about as well. phil, thank you very much. melissa. melissa: the first jobs report of the trump presidency is a winner with the u.s. adding 235,000 jobs beating expectations of 197,000 with unemployment ticking down to 4.7%. joining me now in our all-star panel, forbes media chairman steve forbes, "barron's" senior editor jack how much, james freeman of "wall street journal" and michelle girard. what a panel. michelle start with you, what is your impression of the jobs number? looks pretty good? >> it was. it was a great report. nice healthy jobs gain. nice performance by sectors. it was really leds by goods-producing sectors. construction benefited from weather. manufacturing, hourly earnings numbers i was really impressed. we had even more people finding

job than a whole bunch that came in to look for jobs t was through and through a very solid report. like the cherry on the sundae of all the good data for february. it really confirms the economy has got good momentum here in early 2017. melissa: yeah. steve forbes, do you agree with that? >> one of the key things to look at is something that gets no attention at all, that is the household survey of jobs. that came in at 447,000. it is very volatile month to month but measures small businesses and business creation better than the traditional figure which measures existing compies that are already on the government's radar screen. that is after a year of punk job creation in that category. so if that number continues or anywhere near that number in the coming month that is very strong for the economy. but we still have to look at the fact that the economy itself still is sluggish, i think that gets to the tax cut which we'll be discussing to get business investment really rolling and continue what looks like the beginning of real momentum. melissa: yeah. james one of the important

things in there, you had more people going out and looking for a job but at the same time labor force participation going up, unemployment ticking down. those are stats that we hadn't been seeing necessarily moving in the right direction at least with enough momentum? >> yeah. it's a positive report. good news across sectors. it is not just burger flippers although those are important in the economy too for unskilled people to get skills but look, this is a very good report. i think the only thing, the danger is the white house and the staff there maybe not appreciating as steve said how much we still need that big tax cut. gary cohn, president's advisor saying he is fine with revenue neutral, which is sort of beltway talk meaning there is not a big net tax cut. melissa: uh-oh, jack, real quick, your thoughts? >> one of the best parts about this was wage growth. that is great news for the economy t could pressure some comps that rely on a lot of

u.s. labor going forward t james's point we need corporate tax cuts to help offette the earnings drag. david: treasury secretary steve mnuchin is calling on congress to raise the debt ceiling and clear the way to roll out president trump's agenda as our nation approaches $20 trillion in debt. steve forbes, look at the debt added under the last three presidents. we can't continue to double this debt load every eight years, can we? >> no, david. that is why it is critical again, getting back to the theme of tax cuts. the federal reserve getting out of the credit markets essential. we'll only deal with the debt with massive economic growth. after eight or 10 areas of punk growth, four or 5% of the few years, assets of the nation goes up. we'll get what with had in the late 1990s, we'll get budget surpluses but won't be for a few years. we need to lay the groundwork now which means tax cuts and

stop the fed from mucking around with interest rates. david: michelle, one of the thing fed will do with interest rates, every time they raise them our debt service increases. we did a rough calculation every time there is a full percentage point increase in interest rates, that adds $100 billion a year to debt service. that's going to take a big chunk out of our ability to pay for things we want. >> well, it will just continue to put the focus on the need to get the economy to grow. and ultimately too, we do have a spending problem in terms of the entitlement burden and that's something that could become increasingly an issue as we look out over the five to 10-year window. eventually that will have to be addressed. but we do need, i couldn't agree more with you, we need to get the economy growing more. david: right. >> we need to let interest rates rise. i would argue one of the things also played into this economy growing so slowly is the fact that interest rates have been kept artificially low. david: right. >> we need to let rates normalize. we need to let the economy do

what it can do with the help of some fiscal support and all of that. i think ultimately we'll have a more positive effect on higher interest rates. david: james, there is a psychology of this. when interest rates are at zero, politicians feel like, hey, nobody is paying for it. we can increase, we can borrow as much as we want, get anything we want if we're in the government, right, because nobody pays. >> certainly what enabled a lot of spending in the obama era because interest rates were historically low, we were basically paying roughly what we were paying in the '90s to service our debt even though the debt was much bigger but while those rates remain low, this points out the government really should be selling a lot more long-term debt. i think they should put it into tax cuts as opposed to infrastructure or some other spending program. like a homeowner should do a big refi right now. david: there was talk on the campaign trail, jack, i don't know if you recall, donald trump was saying maybe we could do

renegotiation. nobody knows debt renegotiation like donald trump. you have mnuchin there, gary cohn, will there be some kind of an attempt to fiddle with long-term sales of treasurys in order to do this. >> there might be. we argued at baron's, they ought to look at 100-year treasury to finance infrastructure plans. david on subject of debt ceiling, let me say one of the dumbest things congress did during obama years was turn ceiling into a big fight. the time to fight about money is when it is spent, not when the bill being paid. let's hope it is not raised without too much of an issue. melissa: gary cohn committing the trump administration to tax reform this year by any means necessary. >> it's a stated objection, objective of the president to get tax reform done this year. we're actually prepared to work through the recess. we're prepared not to go on recess. we're prepared to stay here to work on it but we can work on it in the fall. we need to get it done this calendar year. melissa: james, they're willing

to give up their vacation in order to make sure that tax law happens. i love that spirit. >> that's great. and i like that he is saying we're going to do it. the question what it is because i think we're not hearing from him that his priority is growth. he is talking about how he is concerned about government revenue and wants to make sure that this doesn't have too big of an impact on the deficit. as we've been discussing that is important but first you have to solve for growth. that is what we need. that is what workers need. melissa: senate majority leader mitch mcconnell though, steve, i don't have the quote in front of me, but he was less positive about it getting done this quickly. who do you think is right? >> he has to get the cobwebs out of the way. melissa: there you go.u think t?

>> the ride on the stock market, absolutely. i think a corporate tax cut is coming. it has to come. we're at 20 times earnings now. we need that to get it down to maybe 16 times earnings which is full valuation. individual tax reform. that is coming a little further down the road. that is a mess. corporate job is lot easier. >> guys, thank you. david: we need it. melissa, we need it. melissa: i think we made that point. david: we need to pay less in taxes. >> michelle girard, thanks as well. david: thank you, michelle. don't forget to catch steve forbes and me every saturday on "forbes on fox" at 11:00 a.m. eastern on fox news channel a solid jobs report in february,

president trump's first month in office. fa democratic leader nancy pelosi says the president can't take credit for that, that he hasn't lifted a fink tore create jobs! david: a lot of fink are lifting in order to create jobs. at any rate a former democratic lawmaker says he doesn't agree with president trump very much but he thinks the wiretapping accusations are plausible because something similar happened to him. dennis kucinich is here to tell husband story. melissa: president trump goes all-in on health care trying to win over republican and conservative leaders who are still on the fence. what about the aarp? we'll speak with a representative from one of the nation's most inflew witness domestic policy groups -- influential policy groups who says this will hurt seniors. >> law is collapsing around us. if we do not act to save americans from this wreckage, it will take our health care system all the way down with it.

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melissa: the battle to repeal and replace obamacare. president trump urging congressional leaders to act now to save americans from the imploding headlight care law. fox business's blake burman is at the white house with the latest. blake. reporter: hi, there, melissa. a senior administration official tells fox that president trump aling th the american health care act right now is very much in his element, in a deal-making mode. that is way it was put. president looking at all the numbers, weighing his options. he had meetings here at the white house with more republican leaders and he sounded pretty optimistic. >> this is the time we're going to get it done. we're working together. we have some great results. we have tremendous spirit. and i think it's something that

is just going to happen very shortly. reporter: both on capitol hill had and here at the white house the outreach is very much underway. in fact last night here after the white house was the first of two bowling nights, bringing republican lawmakers over here to hang out, and talk a little bit of health care along the process. the top democrat on the, in the house show, nancy pelosi earlier today was talking about that and mocked that strategy. >> i think he is making fools of his own people quite frankly. you don't agree philosophically in what the legislation is. let's go bowling at the white house, okay? come on. reporter:meantime the, here at the white house they still have to get many republicans including members of the conservative house freedom caucus on board here. one of them the leader, mark meadows, a congressman, he fears that the ahca will actually drive costs up and not down. that is one of the reasons why

at the moment that group is still reluctant to throw its support behind this bill. melissa. melissa: a lot of work left to do, blake, thank you. david: the aarp is slamming republicans for proposal for replacing and repealing obamacare as harmful to senior citizens. the lobbying group is accusing the house republican members drafting a sweetheart deal for drug companies and increasing premiums that coulbe particularly harmful to the elderly. joining us is aarp, the group's legislative counsel. thanks for coming in, appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. david: explain to me exactly how this would hurt seniors, the gop draft plan. >> well, of course the big problem that we have here for many people they have seen soaring premiums. the promise was that we would try to address these premiums and make sure people could have affordable coverage but when we look at is in the bill exact opposite is happening for seniors. they will see premium costs

soar, and tax credits that helped them to afford the insurance go down. with the double-whammy, people from 50 to 64, with increases five, 6, 7, $8,000 depending on age income. we think this is the wrong approach. david: as you know conservative members of the house and senate don't like the bill either, sometimes for reasons not dissimilar to yours. play a sound bite from senator rand paul who has spoken out about part of the plan. >> really excited about bailing out the insurance companies and assuming their risk, having taxpayer assume their risk. david: do you think that is one of problems, that there was a carveout for insurance companies and they get all these tax credits but individuals don't get to use that money in the way they see fit? >> well, further of the deal here is that the insurance companies are getting a big $140 billion fee waiver for them. at the same time they're being allowed to charge older americans five times as much as others for insurance. so this combination for older americans and for insurance

companies, they're getting a big win fall. seniors are paying the price. david: are you working with people like rand paul to try to come up with a better idea, better plan while it is still in the draft stage? >> well of course right now we're still over in the house and we've been meeting with literally hundreds of congressional offices to let them understanded what the problem is here. i'm not sure how many people realize what these gigantic impacts are for people. u can't have a senior age 60, making $25,000, seeing a premium increase of $5600. it doesn't make sense. they can't afford it. they are going to lose their insurance. that is not the way we want to see the country move forward in health care. david: now the aarp did a lot to support the obamacare plan back in 2009, '10, '11. there were carveouts and similar problems a lot of seniors had with obamacare despite the fact that you guys supported that. why support obamacare around not support this?

>> well, one of the big issues we had when we were putting together the aca, make sure people age 50 to 64 could get affordable health coverage. quite frankly we've seen since passage of aca number of people without health insurance in the age group dropped and their costs have gone down. david: they may have insurance but doesn't matter because their deductibles are so high they can't afford to go to the doctors? >> no, this isn't quite the case because what was allowed under the law is how much insurance companies are allowed to charge people what is called age rating. we refer to it as the age tax. if insurers are allowed to charge you five times or more than everybody else, you're not going to be able to afford insurance. right now the law says you can't charge senior more than three times somebody who is younger. that is still a lot of money, but at least it is somewhat affordable. david: very interesting. david, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thank you. melissa: has at that la vista hollywood? how the arnold could reenter the political fray. david: plus crossing political lines.

speculation over president trump's wiretapping algations grow. one democratic lawmaker says he might have a point. former lawmaker from ohio, dennis kucinich is coming next. >> here's the thing, do i think they were looking at donald trump? without a doubt! barack obama would do that in a second. he did it to james rosen. apparently to kucinich this is politics. this is the dirtiest game in town.

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cme group: how the world advances. melissa: so questions still stirring over president trump's claim that former president obama wiretapped him. the white house responding earlier today. >> we believe that the house and senate intelligence committee have the appropriate forum and process and staff to look into this matter and report back. melissa: all right. my next guest says president trump does have a point. joining me now is former congressman dennis kucinich from ohio. he is also a fox news contributor. this story sounded a little too

familiar to you when you heard it, is that right? tell us what happened to you. >> it sure did. in 2011 after checking with the house general counsel, i received a phone call from a foreign leader, in this case a member of the libyan government