it? you heard speaker ryan. >> they're focused on health care and not taxes. maria: and kristin. >> they can do health care right for the american people. maria: we're watching this aggressive timeline. obamacare replacement and then tax reform. have a great day. here is "varney & company," stuart. stuart: i'll take it, you have to laugh, be not outraged, just laugh. nbc exposed as a propaganda machine as president trump says, fake news. good morning, everyone. for years the left taunted him, he does not pay tax and he's not as rich as he says he is, then last night rachel maddow held up a two page summary of donald trump's 2005 tax return. oh, dear, he paid $38 million that year and earned 153 million and paid a lot in tax and, yes, he is very rich even worse for the left, he paid a

higher tax rate than socialist bernie sanders and president obama and comcast the parent of nbc. and for rachel maddow, msnbc, everybody else on the left and the great tax revelation was a bust and actually made the president look good. there is other news, interest rating going up, and the president is going to detroit and likely looking at the gas mileage regulations and then to nashville. no big selloff. the trump rally holds. we might go up at the opening bell. oh, yes, dear viewers, we are going to have fun today. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ >> for the record, the first amendment gives us the right to publish this return, it's not

illegally published. nor are we fake. pinch me, i'm real. stuart: oh. okay. i'm back. that was the big reveal, okay? rachel maddow thought she could beat up the president on taxes. turns out he'd actually paid a fortune in taxes. liz peek is here, i say you boil it all down and this actually looks good for trump. >> without a doubt. i mean, honestly, this is the greatest nothing-burger yet. they reveal, yes, he's just as he said. he had enormous income in 2005, 153 million and he actually paid taxes. the last time a tax document revealed the new york times supposed for the next 18 years, donald trump probably had not paid any taxes, remember? because he had those big tax losses carry forward and he did have some and that's why they weren't higher he paid amt, but

the truth is he paid $38 million more than most americans-- >> 38 million is a lot of money. >> funds a lot of programs. stuart: remind me of senator reid lying on the floor, saying that mitt romney didn't pay taxes. liz: and democrats have been saying that donald trump made no taxes, but took so long to be revealed that the white house scooped rachel maddow and the daily beast scooped rachel maddow and cnbc, the sister station said that donald trump got a nice victory thanks to rachel maddow. stuart: who said that? >> cnbc. stuart: well, well, well. >> van jones and people have made her out to be a dimwit on this and the rollout was atrocious, took 23 minutes of her show to actually reveal th this. >> if she knew what was on the

two pages, why on earth did she do that? he paid 38 million. liz: and ginned up a conversation. you can't get two pages, connection to russia and the mob, that's what they tried to talk about during that show. ashley: because they didn't prove their point they're saying that donald trump himself probably leaked it, because it's in his interest. stuart: it's an embarrassment. ashley: it is. stuart: an embarrassment. donald trump, in fact, he's just tweeted this, this morning, about that tax return leak. here he goes. does anybody really believe that a reporter who nobody ever heard of went to his mailbox and found new york-- my tax returns? nbc news, fake news. do remember, please, last week, a new york times reporter had tweeted an invitation to any irs employee to leak trump's returns. judge napolitano is here on the legality of this. if anybody leaks somebody else's irs tax return, that is a felony, isn't it? >> you're talking about somebody in the government,

somebody who has lawful custody of the tax return. stuart: yes. >> absolutely is a felony and there may be other felonies involved. if this was literally put in the mail, then using the federal instrumentality of the mail to transport a stolen document, compounds the felony. now, i don't know that it was an irs leak that got this tax return. i do not know that. >> the copy that we saw this morning says client copy on it. we have all scene these stamps, client copy. we get them from our accountant and the reason we're chuckling, it almost appears as though this was pursue loined from someone in the trump organization or wherever the president keeps or kept in 2005 his personal records. look, the law is clear. the thief is culpable. the publisher is not. so, if i'm out on the street corner of 6th avenue and 48th and i stumble across stuart

varney's tax returns, besides it would take a wheelbarrow and move them. stuart: take that smile off your face. do you think would your president leaked this himself? >> no. stuart: you're not sure. >> i fully agree with liz, it makes him look, generous, law awiding, wealthy, all things he's claimed to be. stuart: proves his point. >> why she waited 23 minutes to deliver this and the mechanism of the hoe is just the way they chose to do their show, but it doesn't look good for them this morning, doesn't prove any of their points. stuart: a bust, in my opinion it was a bust. if it was a leak from inside the irs, if it was, and don't know, then it's another exampl of the federal bureaucracy undermining the boss, the president of the united states.

>> the boss does not have in place the full hierarchy in any federal executive department, in part because they've been slow to get names up to the hill. in part because the congress has been slow to confirm these people. certainly treasury and certainly irs. in fact, the commissioner of irs, the republicans in the house tried to impeach him twice. everybody is scratching their heads why he's still there. he's still there. i'm not suggesting this was leaked by somebody in the irs, we don't know. stuart: we don't know where it came from. we have our suspicions don't we? >> yes, we do. stuart: thank you so much, sir. despite all of this political turmoil, stocks of still holding onto the trump rally and even with rates going up today and yes, they are going up today, we will open just a little bit higher at the opening bell this morning. how about the price of oil? it's been down for a week straight. we are swimming in the stuff. there's a ton of supply and we'll get new numbers on supply a little later today. snap, stock, taking a hit in

the early trading. cantor fitzgerald gave it a price target. 18 a share. and charges against alleged yahoo! hackers. what's this, liz, maybe ties to russia? >> maybe, there are four people expected to be indicted. one will be arrested, he's going to be in canada. three are in russia, there's a dispute whether there are ties to the kremlin. this was so bad. 1.5 billion user accounts dating back to 2013 when the hack first started, that the hackers left cookies on users computers that let them come and go without passwords at will. so there will be a department of justice and fbi press conference, no indication tied to the kremlin yet. there may be, we just don't know that yet. stuart: when you say russians, you automatically think of bugging of trump tower or the dnc. liz: or the dnc.

stuart: there's not evidence of that at all. >> it seems like a criminal enterprise looking for personal information to hack banking accounts. stuart: a very serious one. >> for sure. stuart: meteorologists predicted a ton of snow. the weather was indeed nasty for sure, but not quite as bad as the forecasters said it would be, ashley, welcome back. ashley: thank you, good to be back. i'm-- have you seen the weather? >> what's this about, the feds knew that the storm was not going to be-- it was going to be a bust? >> yeah, by monday afternoon their so-called models showed the amounts of snow they originally predicted was dramatically less and they held a conference call and decided we'll stick with the forge forecast, why? they thought it was still a bad storm. they didn't want people to go out. the bottom line, that's lying. isn't it putting out, as one senate senator here in new york said, that's fake news. new york city spent a lot of

money on this, businesses lost a lot of money and yet, you sat on this knowing that the actual depth and ferocity of the storm was not as bad. stuart: the new york post, flake news, referring to the meteorologists. >> i think that's apulg-- appalling. appalling. >> i'm wondering if this is global warmers, this is climate change and this is bad. another busy day for president trump. he flies to detroit later on this morning and holds an event in nashville. that's tonight. he's talking gas mileage standards in detroit, health care in nashville. how about in? land rover showing off a new suv made for search and rescue teams. it's got a retractible roof, opens to launch a drone. the landrover says the drone can land on the car's roof when driving. got to see that. ashley: cool.

stuart: what's the market for that. and martha stewart going to sell meal kits through the grocery delivery service. another one for you, a new gold rush in california, the devastating floods uncovered veins of gold covered up for centuries. you can bet your life we're on that one. back in a moment. and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis.

>> oh, listen to this coming to us from general motors. liz, i'm reading that they are hiring back workers who have been slated for layoff? >> it looks like 500 they'll keep and retain them and add 400 jobs. 900 jobs total. three michigan facilities, in addition, that's on top of the 1,000-- excuse me, 7,000, 7,000 jobs gm said it's going to create earlier this year. a billion dollar investment gm says it's going to make in the u.s. stuart: get rid of the mileage standards and maybe gm stock will go above 37, we shall see. the live action presidency,

we'll talk about it. ash, where is it going today. ashley: it's interesting on the announcement by general motors, what a coincidence that president trump will go to town when general motors makes the announcement. he'll you can-- he'll talk about mileage standards and talk with them and say, i want you to create more jobs in the united states and help you do that taking away the regulations. stuart: has he got a big rally in nashville? >> he does, after that flies down to nashville and does a rally in the municipal center there in the middle of the city. it's going to be a huge crowd, talking about the healthcare empire. stuart: you were a local news anchor. ashley: i was for ten years. stuart: in nashville? >> you can tell by the accent. [laughter] >> welcome back!

>> that's a great day for the president because in this, the mileage standards are so draconian, the second wave of them, and the auto industry clearly is going to be hurt and that's-- >> that's why they build smaller lighter cars in mexico. >> at that point it's a danger issue because the cars are not as safe as they used to be. stuart: there are reports we're in the early stages of planning for that trillion dollar infrastructure project. the planning has begun. come in, mark, the author of "saving america", the ceo of transpro, i believe that's an infrastructure company. mark, welcome back. two point i want to make, you say that an infrastructure plan that's successful must stop giving money to congressmen to spend in their districts on pet projects. sounds like a great idea, but you'll never stop it, will you? >> well, i think the way we're going to really see president trump succeed in this disruption approach that he's

taking to the way we distribute dollar and make sure to spend money so it's value. remind people that pet projects are like pet rocks, you buy one at the grocery store because yelling for it and you get home, what on earth did i spend money on the stupid rock for. stuart: got it. we've said that time and time and time again, how will the president stop this kind of thing from happening? how will he do it? >> what i think we're going to see president trump do different than others, he's actually going to tweet out nicknames of members of congress and hold news conferences in their districts and say, look, we're not going to let bridge billy spend a billion dollar on some project that's not going to do deliver value for the american people. infrastructure spending makes sense, stuart, as long as it's, number one, makes the american people safe, and two, creates jobs. we've got members of congress that for years have spend billions of dollars on infrastructure projects that are nothing more than pet rocks

for the american people. stuart: that is true. if that comes to an end, we'll all be happy. next one, you say these infrastructure projects should get private funding. i don't know how a you're going to do that. if private enterprise builds a road, the only way to get any money out of it, put a toll on it. >> i think you'll see that happening. when the president goes to detroit today, he can stop, there's a bridge that goes over to canada, guess what, it's pri privately managed and people pay a toll. and they want to fine people if cars don't hit mileage. the reality, we have so many bridges and tunnels that don't meet governor standards and we let people cross them every day. if you privatize them, hold them to a standard and charge with a user fee, like a toll in

indiana. we have got them working. stuart: you would be demagogued to death if there's a bridge you cross every day and you suddenly pay a toll on it to some corporation. come back soon because the infrastructure stuff is going to be big news. >> indeed. great to see you. stuart: see that one, that's the goodyear blimp, they're decommissioning it. it's going to be replaced, they say by something bigger and better. netherlands, the sitting candidate has a challenge by the challenger. anti-immigration and what happens to our money over here if he wins. we're on it, of course. more varney after this.

>> goodyear is deflating the last blimp. that's bad news for you. however, they're replacing it with what. >> a faster, quieter blimp that can turn on a dime and cover golf tournaments, not as loud as the other one. >> turn on a dime.

stuart: i watch golf and so often, you hear the blimp go by and they're going to get rid of that. >> easier for the putters. >> isn't that what blew up. >> it doesn't roll off the tongue. stuart: the hindenberg was years ago. we're having too much fun. the dutch holding an election and the prime minister anti-immigration, anti-muslim, anti-european union guy. ife wins, what happens to my money here? >> well, if you invested it in tulip bulbs? it's another shot across the bow of establishment. and a precursor of what would happen and what would happen in germany.

this he's a hello who is anti- anti-eu. he and others would come into more power and have a pretty anti-immigration stance, so, that is the established outcome of this election, so of no matter what the vote tally is. >> his opponent has been dragged to the right, all dragging to the right on the issues. ashley: and the french election is next month, really interesting. >> that's big. stuart: we'll cover that. and if we get any exit polls out of holland, we'll give them to you. i don't know whether they do exit polls. liz: and we won't trust them. kidding. [laughter] >> remember november the 8th. remember, remember, the 8th of november. [laughter]. futures, show me, please, up for the opening bell, despite it all. i say this every day. despite it all we'll open slightly higher on the dow jones industrial average. how about that? back in a moment. kevin, meet your father.

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>>ohi'm in trouble. there are 35 seconds to go before the trading begins on this, what day is it, wednesday morning? that means i've got to tap dance now for 20 seconds. i say the same thing every day. despite it all, despite the political turmoil, despite

interest rates going up despite political trouble for president trump, that market wants to go up. i say it every single day and just said it again. the bell is ringing and in five, four, three, two, one, bang! i bet that market goes up. am i right, am i right? am i right, right, right? there you go sports fans, despite it all, despite the turmoil, despite interest rates going up we've opened 44 points up higher. plenty of green. >> this is exciting sports fans. how about the price of oil? it's been down for a week straight. we've got a ton of supply. today, it's up and we'll get more supply numbers coming up 10:30 eastern time. what happens to the price then? how about snap? down in early trading off another 2%, why is that? because cantor fitzgerald says that thing is going down to $18 a share.

the justice department unveiled charges against alleged yahoo! hackers, some with what we think would be criminal ties to russia, not political or espionage ties. yahoo! stock is up 12 cents. who is with us to cover this endless story the market just wants to go up? [laughter] >> liz peak, ashley webster, welcome back. liz macdonald, keith fitz-gera fitz-gerald, and scott shellady. interest rates may be going up today and may be signaling two or three more rate hikes this year. doesn't seem to hurt the market. what say you, keith? >> i agree, it doesn't hurt the market as long as they're measured in slow. the only they think that yellen could do is jaw-bone this to death. they lost that a long time ago, markets set the space. stuart: the rates are going up, do the market care? >> no, the market is more concerned if we are going to

get tax cuts and less regulation, those will way outweigh three or four tax hikes this year. the market is more concerned with what the president is going to do than what janet is going to do. we'd like to see a plan after she raises today and whether she raises is a different story. and once we see a plan the market will be more excited what the president will do, not janet will do. stuart: we're looking for a plan. >> she had laid out in the past and totally blown on it afterwar afterwards. i think there's more potential than the rates. ashley: the economic data has been strong, the job market is strong and the market is expecting possibly threee rate hikes this year, including one today. and then what they talk about next year will be important, but i think it just speaks to the-- to a robust economy and inflation, let's not forget inflation, that's a big thing that the fed looks at.

prices are going up. >> i think the market is getting a lot of support from the business round table, top rate ceo's saying optimism has exploded, small business same story. liz: nearly half of the nation's top ceo's says they're going to hire and started hiring and that's up from a third in the fourth quarter. stuart: that's a very big deal and you don't see it on the front page of the new york times, "the washington post," don't see it on the evening news, it's just not there. not -- i'm going on again. [laughter] >> price of oil, well, it's moving up today. the first time in a week it's going up. scott shellady, come back in, please. i've got the question here. if oil really started to go down seriously, say it goes down to 45, 44 a barrel, if it did that would that be a big negative for the stock market? >> it wouldn't be a big negative, but it would be a negative for a while wile we had our energy component sort itself out. the reason we're down here, obviously, we've had two fundamental things come out

with more oil and discoveries. at the end of the day, we have folks thinking that the oil price is going above 55, so too many people on one side of the boat. we're kind of correcting here. in the short-term, oil going lower say to $40, hurts in the energy sector. as you mentioned, donald trump putting people back to work, if i've got a job and gas is a lot cheaper, that's good for the broader swath. short-term negative, long-term positive. ashley: maybe scott could talk to this, u.s. shale, as much as the opec countries say it doesn't have an impact, it does have an impact, they're trying to protect their own patch and i think it's disrupted what opec would like to have as far as control for prices. stuart: three cheers for america's frackers, keep pumping. president trump will review fu efficiency standards, gas mileage standards put in place during the president obama administration. if he does this, i would say it's very good news for car

makers in general across the board, liz. >> during the obama years we had a big ratchet up in fuel efficiency standards and the automakers met that and expensive to do it and basically they're saying we cannot afford this next move, which is draconian as i mentioned earlier, huge increase. stuart: they want to go to 55 miles per gallon average. >> get rid of the cars. liz: the cars have to get smaller, lighter more dangerous, so it's cheaper to build those cars in mexico, that's the fight with the auto maker. stuart: scott, come in, please. >> this is keith, actually. >> you have to factor in the fact that we're going to have gasoline prices going down at the same time, while we want more gallons per mile or more miles per gallon, sorry, with cheaper gasoline there's going to be a little bit of a tug to and fro there that will watch them play out. yes, i think it will be fantastic for the car makers, but i'm also really interested to see what gasoline prices a lot lower would do to the

industry as well. stuart: very interesting. keith, come in, please. >> there's a hidden cost, if we reevaluate these things and produce the suv's and what we want. the rest of the world is moving on to fuel efficiency, i think it takes the eye off the ball and makes detroit lazy and behind the curve and opens the door to chinese competition, they're working on huge numbers of renewable energy cars and that, i think, is the real cost and the real danger here. stuart: all right, you made your point, keith. all right, we heard that. [laughter]. not sure i liked that. >> like someone from seattle, really. >> he's on the west coast. stuart: i think he is. come back, keith, please. come back. yeah, go on. >> i was going to say the republicans in seattle, we love these things. [laughter] >> exactly. the dow industrials holding with a gain between 20 and 30 points. you'll probably see a holding pattern until 2:00 this

afternoon when we get the news from the federal reserve, how many rate increases and what does janet yellen see for the future. steady as she goes, probably, until early afternoon. look at this, higher profit, better sales, at the twinkie maker, who makes twinkie these days? hostess and it's up 1 1/2%. never forget about facebook. that's been the stock of the month, maybe the stock of the last year. close to $140 a share, close to an all-time high. google, it did hit an all-time high just a few days ago, it's back at 864 on alphabet. i should call it what it is. alphabet. the price of oil is up and i believe we've got the oil stocks up today. sorry, airlines. let's move to that. airlines, they are down today, in part because oil is up, so jet fuel might get a little more expensive. i think that's got more to do with the delays because of the storm. ashley: i do, too, hedge their

oil prices way out. stuart: jet fuel prices are not the factor on the airlines, it's the storms and the delays and recovery, airlines down again. now, got this one for you, justice department is going to unveil charges against alleged yahoo! hackers, some of them have what we think are criminal ties to russia. what have you got. >> news breaking out of dow jones news wires. yahoo! hackers said to have ties to russian government. so. stuart: russian government. liz: russian government, we're tracking that. three are expected to be in russia, the u.s. does not have extradition treaty with russia, with one is expected to be arrested in canada. stuart: keith, would you buy yahoo! at 46? >> no way, not with a 10-foot pole or free e-mail account. stuart: okay, i've got it. we've got news on snap this morning. the shares are taking a hit. cantor fitzgerald gave it a price target of $18 per share, and more news, vice media, says

that it will produce original exclusive programming for the app. that will be the disappearing picture app, snap. scott shellady, does any of this make you want to go out and buy the stock? >> no, i'm not swayed still at this moment in time. i still say, it does not look like twitter, it does not look like facebook, it looks like gopro, a one-hit wonder, i'll have to see tangible evidence. stuart: i might buy it at $17. >> no one knows, this is a company with no model and analysts are plucking numbers out of the air. they need to find new avenues to generate revenue. stuart: or maybe i'll buy it at 12. ashley: went down quick. stuart: there's all the voices coming at me. >> you could only lose 12. stuart: scott shellady says then you could only lose 12. no, you can't be wiped out totally. all right.

here is the many a-- amazon story of the day. martha stuart's meal kits are added to the amazon grocery service, amazon fresh. keith, the stock is still near an all-time high. you're the one that likes to buy amazon, you like it even at 850? >> absolutely, this company has so much value. never mind martha stewart. that's one of the brands that you're surprised is still here. and fantastic for her. a lot of people like what she does. >> years and years ago, i interviewed jeff bezos when amazon was a book seller and i think the stock was 12. i didn't buy it. that ends my stock market coverage of the day. [laughter] >> i want to thank liz peek, scott, keith, one and all, a lively open to the market this wednesday morning. thanks, everyone. check the big board, we're holding with a gain between 20 and 30 points, interest rate news comes out at about 2:00 eastern, this afternoon.

it's been a running theme on this program, retail ice age. coming up next, a guest who will pick the winners and losers amongst the retailers. also, msnbc goes all out, reports president trump's 2005 tax return and it is a bust. the network is being mocked all over social media. we'll have more on that, believe me, we'll have more on that. ♪

>> well, we've moved up a little bit. i thought we were in a holding patte pattern. we're now up 42 points. look at alphabet, google, 863 on alphabet. there's a new, a new gold rush in california, explain. ashley: this is fascinating, and maybe we'll make plans to go out to california for the summer and look for gold in them there hills. why? because the flooding as terrible as it was, it's basically, as someone said, rearranged the rivers and that's exposed veins of gold that have not been seen or have been hidden for more than 200 years and washing through old mines and gold is flowing down rivers downstream. if you're tempted to run out there now and say, hey, i'm in. the water is still very high. they're saying, what will happen is the waters will

eventually start receding sometime in june to july in the summer and that is when the gold will be revealed because they say, a lot of these river beds, you can just see gold lying on the surface, so a lot of people are very excited and all heading out west just like the old 49ers and they're looking for gold in them hills and apparently could be one of the best seasons ever for gold. stuart: i'm just laughing because here you have a british accent and you're saying there's gold in them there hills. liz: covered, tennessee, nashville. ashley: that's accent. stuart: the accent didn't pick up. and here we go, the state department is warning college students, don't spend your spring break in mexico. now, why not? connell: . >> they're saying that u.s. citizens have been victims of violent crimes, hijacking, robbery, and acapulco, a great tourist spot is now called the drug capital of mexico, it's the tourist s flooding and

buying assumed to be buying drugs and it's an ease pacific coastal route for drug gangs, and that's-- >> another angle here? hey, mexico's government we want you to pay for the world, we'll build it you may for the wall and if you don't agree we won't let you get so many college students spending the money-- >> in the message nearly half of the states of mexico now violent crime. that's from the state department saying that. stuart: fair point. now this, congressional technology contractors are now under investigation. now, this is related to a story that we brought some time ago, i ink, ash. give me more on this. ashley: these contractors were brought in, at least six now, under investigation, focusing on their access to house computers. did some of these, including one who worked for debby wasserman schultz, this i.t.

person was working with her, had unauthorized access to the system, were e-mails possibly hacked? these people given the key, if you like, to all the secrets, they weren't authorized to do this. stuart: wasn't it three brothers? >> three brothers. stuart: who earned a small fortune. >> yes, they would take equipment out and it's like procurement scheme and sell it back to the congress at much higher prices, there's all sorts of things going on here. the question, how could people who weren't properly vetted get into the house computers and the secrets contained within? >> certainly the e-mails, but there was other issues going on. three brothers and maybe now, they say, extended family members. stuart: well, that could be a very important story. >> yes. stuart: if you've got access to all of these high congressional people. >> yes. stuart: you've got access to their computers and not on the up and up, that's a big problem, very good story. ashley: yeah. stuart: check the market scan, we're holding now with a gain

of 40 points, a lot of green on the left-hand side there, a lot of green indeed. only five losers of the dow 30. we'll be back. yes? please repeat the objective. ♪ thrivent mutual funds. managed by humans, not robots. before investing, carefully read and consider fund objectives, risks, charges and expenses in the prospectus at thriventfunds.com.

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ticker symbol, hog, h-o-g. they got an upgrade and 61 a share. we have a long running theme on this program. we call it the retail ice age. the bottom line, the bricks and mortar stores are in deep, deep trouble, having a hard time competing with and transitioning and meeting the challenge of on-line sellers like amazon. bill simon is with us. bill is the former wal-mart usa ceo and president. and bill, let's get right at it here. these bricks and mortar stores, a lot of them are inl trouble. give me the names of big name stores which you think are going to go out. i want the names of those going out. >> well, it is. it's a tough environment, stuart. retail is in transition. ice age is a dramatic term, but even out of ice age came a rebirth and so, i think while the industry is in transition, there will be some clear winners and some clear losers. >> here is the clear loser?

>> j.c. penney has got a tough road ahead of it as you well know. sears and kmart, those guys had a struggle for quite a while. i think there's going to be some real changes needed for those guys to survive. those will be the ones, i would look for to have first difficulties. costco continues to do well, i think they've had a wobble here and there, but a good business model and good approach so you'll see winners too. stuart: what we're interested in is the changing landscape of america. when we talk retail ice age and some of the big department stores literally going out and closing their stores in shopping malls, that changes the way america looks because we're going to be seeing a lot of these ghost malls. so you're saying that sears, kmart, j.c. penney in serious trouble, you're hinting they might go out. give me some more names that are in serious, serious trouble. >> stuart, it's not the first time this transition occurred. we used to be a main street

driven culture and now main streets have changed fundamentally. we had big malls and malls are fundamentally changing, so i think department stores, that that model's challenged because the on-line sellers can sell a lot of the items that are sold inside of the big department stores. i think if you're special, if you're unique, if you've got the ability to be famous for something, you'll be successful, if you don't, getting stuck in the middle is a very, very difficult place to be. >> understood. now, you're a former retailer and yet you told us on the program you favor the border adjustment tax, you like it. >> i do, i do. stuart: you're the only retailer i've met who says the border adjustment tax is a good thing. give me 30 seconds why it's a good thing? >> the way that it works stuart with a high corporate tax of 35%, retailers and any company that makes money off shore

can't pay their money back without paying a 35% tax yet, they can buy goods off shore and buy them tax free. until you have cost to import products like that, you'll never reestablish a manufacturing base in this country which is what i think we desperately need to do in order to move forward. stuart: am i right saying the retailers do in fact pay a very high tax rate, which some industrial companies or technology companies do not pay? >> they do. their corporate income tax rate is very, very high and the dedubses for capital investments and overseas losses and the things that industrial companies like big companies like ge get, are not available to retailers. so, there'll have to be devil in the detail as you implement this thing, but it needs to be done and i think there's a sensible way to implement it over time with a phase and triggers that get it done. >> if prices go up, at least

initially, that surely is bad news for the j.c. penney's, the sears, kmarts and everything else. >> it is, it is. i think it can be done without that happening, if a phase in, say 5%, the first year with a trigger that gets you to the second increase. you know, there's a projection that the value of the dollar will strengthen and offset some of the costs. if that happens you go to the next phase and implementation of the next phase. i don't think that the tax bill and tax code as contemplated is designed to create winners and losers, they need to think about that as it provides implementation. it needs to be done and it's important for us to reestablish who we are as a country and reestablish our manufacturing capability. stuart: we appreciate it. thank you. next, nbc's rachel maddow exposes president trump's 2005 tax return.

it didn't go quite the way she wanted. my take on that the top of the hour. . .

stuart: she tried. oh, she tried to really hard. and she failed. badly. for two hours last night rachel maddow on msnbc had teased her audience. she had trump's tax returns. then she went on the air and revealed, a two-page summary of his 2005 return. that's it. things want downhill from there. mr. trump had actually paid $38 million. that is a lot of money. the left had always implied he paid very little. $38 million in tax in one year. and the left had so often implied he wasn't as rich as he said he was, but that tax return showed he made $153 million in 2005. yes, he is rich. a little context here. mr. trump paid a tax rate of

25%. what do you think socialist bernie sanders paid? 13%. how about former president obama? 19%. so, donald trump paid a higher percentage of his income in tax thanid his critics. rachel maddow's broadcast was a bust. she wanted to embarass the president. she ended up exposing her employer, nbc, as a propaganda operation. one more point. somebody leaked that tax return and that is a felony. it is also another example of what may be the federal bureaucracy undermining their new boss and doing it deliberately. there you have it. the media and bureaucrats teaming up to discredit the presidency of donald trump. disgraceful. fortunately in this case they failed miserably. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪

♪ stuart: i don't know who is singing and i don't know the song. liz: sounds like kiss, "detroit rock city." stuart: okay. the president will be leaving the white house shortly and he is going to detroit. ash, tell me what he is doing there? >> he is meeting with captains of industry when it comes to automakers. ford, gm. fiat chrysler. daimler. a big part of this conversation will be undoing the fuel regulations put in place during thama a. the fact that cars and fleets of cars should reach 54 miles per gallon by 2025. that is one of the last things obama administration did before he left. the automakerses given okay given market conditions they

felt they had an out. trump says we need to manufacture in this country. i will help by taking away these regulations. stuart: which is a constraint. ashley: huge constraint. stuart: check the big board. we're 32 minutes into the trading session. look at this, we're up 47 points. even though we'll get a rate increase this afternoon the market is up and get close back to 20,900. the price of oil currently at $48 a barrel, that may change at half past the hour when we get new numbers on the supply of oil. if it goes up again, we may not see that gain if price for oil at $48 a barrel. we'll see. 27 minutes from now. alphabet, otherwise known as google, hit a new high earlier today. it has backed off but still at 862. homebuilders confidence, highest in 12 years. there is another confidence and optimism indicator, decade-long.

ashley: highest number since june of 2005. stuart: you never see this reported on front page of newspapers or evening news. you don't see it. look at that. confidence and optimism all over in business. let's get back to my take that would be my editorial at top of the hour on rachel maddow and the left's so-called scoop of president trump's 2005 tax return. here is what fox's sean hannity had to say about it. watch this. >> now the other issue we've got to address tonight is the corporate jihad being waged by nbc news against president trump. now as i said earlier they're the leaders of this alt left propaganda, destroy trump at all costs now releasing his 2005 tax return, it proves they will do anything, spin any conspiracy to destroy the commander-in-chief including working with people clearly that have broken the law. stuart: well, hannity does not hold back now, does he? joining us is the former trump

campaign manager corey lewandoski. what do you make of that, nbc jihad against what your candidate, donald trump what do you make of it? >> it is amazing. all of sudden rachel maddow goes on and says she has the president as tax returns from 2005. all the people saying in that year he sold a piece of property to some russian and it was long-term plan 11 years later he would ran and won presidency of the united states. this is the exact same group of pundits who said donald trump would never run for office. he is never real candidate. now they're giving him credit for selling a piece of property 11 years ago. here is comes down to anybody that releases president's tax return or summary is jailed. dean from "the new york times" said i would go to jail to publish the president trump's tax return. he paid 25% effective tax rate. paid $38 million in 2005 on

$1,153,000,000 in income. is is really really rich. he paid higher tax rate than president obama, nbc corporation or where is media outrage? where is they made a mistake? they never do that but don't admit when they're wrong. stuart: seems president trump has a deep state problem. that would be thbureaucracy, the federal buaucracy, staffed with holdovers from the obama administration, committed to president obama's policies, now leaking left, right, and center to try to damage president trump. in this case, it could be, we don't know for sure, it could be somebody in the irs leaked this tax return. that would be deep state, operating against the current president. are we on target with this? it zooms to be developing as a huge story? >> i think you are on target and if you remember it wasn't that

long ago we know the irs was targeting conservative groups internally as it related to their tax status and refusing to give tax status to certain conservative groups. we know the irs has not been truthful in their testimony in front of congress. irs is punitive against individuals who are conservative. donald trump said publicly he has been under audit from the irs for the last six or seven years. that is the reason he has not released his taxes. this deep state are truly operating they will do what they can to damage the president. career government officials bureaucrats, accountable to nobody. there are many, many people serve in our government but some have their own agenda. that agenda should be the president of the united states and nobody else. stuart: you do know what is being said this morning. that this release looks so good for donald trump that he must have done it, released it himself. you're smiling. are you discounting that completely. >> what is the value of

donald trump releasing taxes from 2005? to show that he paid 25%, to show that he is really rich. stuart: yes, yes. >> we already know he is really rich. stuart: this proves it and makes him look real good relative to bernie sanders and to president obama and to comcast which owns nbc. >> he doesn't need to look good. if this were the case he could have released this if he wanted to during the campaign to put the issue to bed. he released personal financial disclosure statement required for candidate of office shows net assets are worth more than $10 billion. $10 billion. we see that e year, 11 years ago he mad53 milli. we know he is reallyich. no one should be surprised. he also pays his fair share. this is the important part, what donald trump always said, what he believes, as private citizen, business owner he has unnoble gauges to pay the least amount of taxes as possible so that he can give back to his business and reinvest in those things. he is still paying 25 percent.

where is the outrage all of a sudden? where is bernie sanders? where is bernie sanders saying that donald trump paid double what he paid? stuart: cory, i'm getting to that right now. i promise you. corey lewandoski, time as up. thanks for joining us. see you again soon. thank you very much indeed. >> thank you. stuart: tammy bruce joins us now on that issue, the president, president trump, candidate donald trump in 2005 he paid a tax rate of 25%. bernie sanders in 2014 paid 13%. president obama in five five paid 18.7%, the list bows on and on and on. the left is hypocritical here. >> they believe that everybody -- well, leona helmsley, taxes are for the little people according to socialists. they expect everybody else to pay. jason chaffetz in january filed a bill to deal with 100,000 federal civilian employees who owe more than one billion dollars in federal income taxes still working for the federal government and are simply not

paying their taxes and never been held to account. this is a system that believes that all of the hard-working people in america are the ones who should pay for their free ride, for their beh homes, for their, not having to pay taxes. this is where politicians and federal government have lost the american people. stuart: got it, lizzie. liz: nine msnbc personalities had tax liens against them including al sharpton didn't pay taxes. got in trouble with the irs for not paying taxes. stuart: this is quite a story. completely changes the focus of political coverage. it is distracting the left away from obamacare reform. ashley: they did it themselves. stuart: did it to themselves. >> may i add because of their desperation, lack of focus, this is about their own personal jihad if you will about getting one individual at any cost, they're more inclined to just not question what it is they're doing and notice what the problems are associated with what they're doing. stuart: headline in the "new york times" that i'm looking at right now, front

page, trump in '05 had a writeoff of $100 million. [laughter]. liz: still didn't zero out his taxes. stuart: still didn't zero out his taxes. he still paid 38 million. we'll get to that a little later. it snowed, i think we know this yesterday, it snowed in new york not as much as originally predicted. meteorologists knew their predictions were inaccurate but they chose not to change their forecast. emac, do you know why? liz: basically, this is the nanny state. we were worried about ice. concerned about ice. we'll keep the forecast of two feet or whatever. it was only seven inches in central park because we're concerned about the dangers from this storm. as ash has been reporting, the "new york post" has been reporting, they misled the population about the storm. stuart: there were a lot of closures because of that very necessary. that is another story. did you get snowed in, tammy? >> i waited for stella. she took a long time to get

here. i waited and waited. when she arrived she wasn't what she was purported to be and she left early. so i was fine. stuart: that's stella right there. >> that is stella. you can never count on her. my dog loved it. she jumped in the crunchy snow. it was a snowstorm. its with a snowflake armageddon where i was. ashley: flake news. >> flake news. very good point. stuart: that is new york city. but outside of the city, northern new jersey, upstate new york -- ashley: had about seven teen inches. stuart: my farm had 28 inches of snow. that is a lot. liz: fake weather news? we know they get it wrong a lot but now they really decided to mislead everybody? stuart: "new york post" front page says flake news. kind of clever i thought. moving on. new report warns that islamic extremists are being allowed into america legally on religious visas and a lot of

them can even apply for green cards. meanwhile, north korea threatening the u.s. saying they will hit us with merciless, ultraprecision strikes. general mcinerney on that next ♪ 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 to thinkorswim's chat rooms 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: ierest rateews comes out in about four hours. the market with modest gain, 37 points up. macy's stock is down, back to $30 a share. why? canada's hudson as bay turned its focus away from macy's make doing something with neiman marcus. hudson's bay runs saks and lord & taylor.

macy's shares one of the biggest losers on the s&p 500 as of now. how about this a visa program for religious workers may allow islamic extremists to enter the country. what have you got? ashley: it's a big loophole. it is r-visa program for religious workers and clerics. they say this is door wide open for extremist views, jihadi perhaps. allows applicants who are granted visas five years. no quota on visas at all the during that period they can apply for permanent residency. this is backdoor way no one said much about. critics say it is long abused by religious leaders with extremist views. stuart: hard to stop. ashley: hard to stop. very dangerous loophole. needs to be addressed. stuart: addressed but very difficult to close. ashley: exactly, yeah. stuart: ash, thank you. secretary of state rex tillerson, he has arrived in asia. he has planned stops in japan.

ths wherhe is getting out of his plane. he goes on to south korea and china all this week. north korea, threatening, quote, merciless ultrahe precision strikes on america for taking part in military drills with the south koreans. fox news military analyst lt. general thomas mcinerney is with us right now. that is the most dangerous part of the world, isn't it? the two sides are lined up against each other. the slightest mistake, we have a real problem, what do you say? >> i agree with you, stuart. after four tours out there supporting forces going into korea as a colonel, brigadier general, major general, lt. general, this is the most dangerous i have seen in the last 50 years, since the end of the korean war. i think it is now time with the way china is building up in the south china sea, with taking the islands we look at a pacific area treaty organization for the long-term benefit of the region.

i would call that p a ato versus nato. stuart: do you think secretary of state tillerson will suggest something like that? have you inside sources to make that suggestion? >> i do not. but after five tours in the pacific, i have now concluded that we must go to that version because of the long-term consequences. china has overtly, covertly supporting north korea and it is instability. everybody looks to china to help solve the problem. i no longer listen to that logic. we need to take issue in our hands and lead it in the pacific. stuart: we are building up our forces in the area. we are taking a more forward stance. there is an aircraft carrier battle group taking part in the exercises. we have moved a missile defense shield into south korea. all of that suggests a different approach from the trump administration compared to the obama administration. are we getting just a little bit more aggressive?

>> well, i think we're being, have a little more he resolve. i don't see us being aggressive around frankly the forces we're building up are piddly compared to when i used to be out there. we need to take a lot more build-up in our defense budget. these are long-term things. that is why i say we have to look at our allies playing a role in pacific area treaty organization. we're nibbling at the problem. it will get much worse. we need to grow our economy, stuart, three to 5% a year to afford the buildup that we need. stuart: in the north koreans launch another missile flying over towards the sea of japan, should we shoot it down? >> i don't think we have to do that yet. there may be covert things we want to. they know we can shoot it down but i think having the forces out there, guided missile cruisers, the thad we're putting in south korea he,t cetera, is the right thing to do.

can shoot it down if we want. i don't think we have to go there yet. stuart: the slightest mistake, you have two huge forces lined up against each other. one little mistake you have got a real, you could have a shooting war, it is that close, isn't it? >> it is that close. look, they have artillery they can decimate if we aren't properly prepared. seoul, they have a destablized government in south korea, they impeached president, the sunshine policy they called which was utter failure to think that north korea is going to capitulate or be friends. that is not happened and it is not going to happen. this is the third korean leader that i have looked at in the last 50 years and none of them are going to adopt a sunshine policy. stuart: tom mcinerney, always a pleasure. thanks for joining us sir, appreciate it. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: i broke in there to get breaking news.

we're getting this in. two suicide explosions in syria. what do we have? ashley: two different locations, the main judicial palace building in damascus, the capitol. the attack are was stopped. they disarmed him but managed to dive into the building detonating suicide vest. 30 people killed, 45 injured. this is in damascus. stuart: this is in damascus, central area, which is supposed to be a green zone like middle of baghdad. it has been breached. ashley: al qaeda militant groups they believe are behind these attacks. another one at a restaurant not far away also killed some people inside of that restaurant. it is a continuing campaign against areas that are controlled by the syrian government by al qaeda. stuart: brutal. ashley, thank you. ashley: sure. stuart: now, i'm going to show you some video which you may remember. look at that. just priceless, isn't it? that is a professor reporting for the bbc in a live interview.

you've seen this. i know you've seen this. ashley: this is the best. stuart: he is on the air. these children keep on coming in. his poor wife rushes in. oh, i think the little boy comes back in again. desperately tries to push him out of the way. well that professor -- >> i love the toddler walking. he is like -- ashley: determined. >> like a race car driver there. stuart: all of us in television are scared to death of anything like that happening to us. by the way, that guy, the professor is speaking out, making a very good case for himself. we'll show you about it. actress ashley judd, fierce critic of president donald trump, upset because she was confronted by a trump supporter. do you remember when ashley judd said this? >> i'm not as nasty as a man who looks like he bathes in cheeto dust. a man whose words are a

deathtrap to america.

>> i'm not as nasty as a man who looks like he bathes in cheeto dust. [shouting] a man whose words are a deathtrap to america! electoral college sanctioned, hate speech, contaminating this national anthem. stuart: that was actress ashley judd during the women's march on washington, clearly taking on president trump. well now, she says, she's scared. why? she had an encounter with a trump supporter who told her, we like trump. is that all, tammy? >> look they approached her at a basketball game. they talked to her about the

towns that they like and that they liked her. she signed a photograph. at the end they said we like trump. i view that effort to bridge the gap. we have a lot in common. we're trump supporters and we like you. she viewed that as being hostile. she is also then imagined on a facebook post maybe they were defiling the picture she gave them. for me, what is important, as a feminist and as a woman, is to have people not view this as being a normal dynamic. my impression she needs some help and i hope she is getting it but this is not a normal way to react. i think the trump supporters were pretty decent thousand they approached her. stuart: tammy, interesting analysis i think you're right. thank you very much. moments from now we get the latest how much oil we've got in inventory, in storage. sounds mundane, sounds technical, but could affect the price of oil, the price of gas and indeed the stock market. right now we're up 37 points.

we'll get oil numbers in 90 seconds. we're checking the big-name technology stocks. they're going nowhere today. fractional losses. amazon at 849. microsoft at 64, alphabet, et cetera, et cetera, no big movement in the big-name stocks but listen to this. amazon, they have a patent for new, ah-ha, deliveries drone. what is that? liz: more cool stuff from amazon. it can land on ice, can and on slippery surfaces. why? it has retractible legs like a tripod. could have suction cups or magnets on the legs to the bottom to attach to the service to deliver fragile packages and the like. stuart: i'm beginning to believe that the era of drone delivery is almost on us. i know it started here and there withal things but that is what it looks like?

liz: yes, that is the amazon drone. it could help them deliver packages to rural, areas and the like. cool stuff. stuart: that is absolutely fascinating. here is comes. ashley: suction cups. stick to the window. stuart: reminds you of a lunar landing module when it comes down, sort of sets there. liz: cool stuff. stuart: we'll get that, i do hope. okay, it is 10:30 eastern time. i believe we get those oil numbers. dow industrials are up 48 points as we go into this. the price of crude $48 a barrel. have we got the numbers yet? ashley: we do, down a fraction, 237,000 barrelses. the they were expect ad build of 3.million. that was a huge miss as far as th goes. let's be honest, about this we're still swimming in it i don't think that is a huge game-changer, a fractional

drawdown, a tiny bit less oil in storage does not move the market and it didn't. $48 a barrel for crude. 41 points higher for the dow industrials. i'm not calling it a bust. i thought it might move the market and it didn't. ashley: ray he chyle maddow moment. stuart: speaking of rachel maddow, the big reveal on her show, that president trump paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes, yes he did. he paid 38 million in one year. that was revealed. he paid that kind of money. ah-ha, you remember when hillary said this? >> maybe he doesn't want the american people, all of you watching tonight that he has paid nothing in federal taxes. dearthere's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony.

together, we are perfectly balanced. our senses awake. our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say...if you love something set it free. see you around, giulia

stuart: the mayor of everett, washington, that is a little north of sate it will is taking on the opioid epidemic. his city is suing purdue pharma, the maker of oxycontin. the mayor alleges that company knowingly allowed pills to be funneled on to the black market and did nothing to stop it. former senator scott brown with us from massachusetts. mr. senator, we frequently spoken about this opioid problem in massachusetts and elsewhere in new england. the mayor of everett is suing, going after the maker, imposing liability on the maker of oxycontin. do you think that is the right way to go? >> well, stuart, as you know i'm an attorney for 32 years now and this is an issue where he has a very high burden to prove the nexus between what the company did and actually what is happening in everett. certainly i feel badly for him because it is happening not only in new hampshire but massachusetts and throughout the country.

91 deaths per day through this epidemic and it is huge. not only that, stuart, it is leading to human trafficking, people supporting the habit by prostitution. going to a different and new level as well. i think it's a novel legal argument but he will have some real challenges. i think he would be better off having a better check and balance system going after the doctors prescribing that like new york state is doing a wonderful job where they have a check and balance system where you can get at the bad actors and those general practitioners, stuart, they can't be the first thing, by the way, i have a backache, here is oxy. you go to therapy, chiropractor, acupuncture, go to the gym to get in shape. there are a whole host of things you do first. that is more of a better effort. we'll see. stuart: when you tell me more about the new york state idea, but as i understand it you can only prescribe this stuff, it has to be online, so a central authority can check out who is prescribing this stuff and how much and with what frequency.

then you can concentrate on the doctors who are the problem. i think that is how it works, right? >> yeah, that's correct, stuart. it is a very novel approach. i've understood, my daughter lives up near syracuse, ithaca area, she will be in the medical field. she is obviously familiar at this. i have spoken at length to her. is a novel idea, a novel approach. i want to commend the new york authorities doing it but it should be almost a national database to go throughout the country because somebody in new york may be able to go to another state, same thing in massachusetts, new hampshire, maine, vermont they are closely tied together where you have have a national database where it functions properly. going after the general practitioners who are overprescribing d -- stuart, i had a simple operation. the guy says you need oxy? i said no, a little tylenol would be great, extra strength. no, i will give you two weeks of oxy. i didn't know what to do with it. i didn't use it.

you dump it down the toilet? stuart: how long ago? >> about two years ago. what do you do? put it down the toilet? no that affects the water table, that is what people are doing. do you turn it into the police. a lot of towns don't have systems set up. what do people do, leave it in the medicine cabinet. god forbid if you have teenagers or others, use it or sell it or use it themselves and become addicted. there needs to be all hands on deck approach. all tools in the tool box approach to very serious thing affecting our youth and regular folks from every walk of life. stuart: it is a terrible thing. senator scott brown. thanks for joining us. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: yes, sir. earlier this morning president trump put out another tweet. here it is. ceo's, most optimistic since 2009. it will only get better as we continue to slash unnecessary regulations and when we begin our big tax cut. now adam shapiro is in d.c.

where lawmakers are attending the hispanic business luncheon. all right, adam, are those folks feeling more optimism? reporter: very simply, yes, they are. this is a gathering of the hispanic chamber of commerce for the un states and they represent small business owners, strt. so what you were talking about, the business roundtable survey, yes, 78% increase among the ceos who responded they expect sales to increase over the next six months. the same thing is reflected when you speak to the small business owners who are here for the hispanic chamber of commerce's legislative summit. but they also point out they're worried about their sales and consumers holding back among the hispanic community in the united states because of the rhetoric of the trump administration. so they're addressing that as well. for instance, the president of this chamber is javier pamirez. you remember over the summer he had very harsh words and endorsed hillary clinton, not president trump.

but president trump reached out to him and invited him to be an advisor to the diversity council. so he is now part, you might say of the administration. and they're going to hear from different members of the legislative body here in washington. senator ted cruz for instance, how mr. trump, the administration and this chamber of commerce can reach out to the hispanic community. stuart: bring them all in. good stuff. adam, thank you very much indeed, sir, appreciate it. we have news on mcdonald's. what's this? mobile ordering. liz: ordering and paying on your smartphone for the mcdonald's hamburgers and french fries. they're at the timing it in california and washington state. could roll it out nationally by end of the year. catching up with dunkin' donuts and starbucks. stuart: i order on this. i walk in. it is there waiting for me. already paid for, i walk out. i don't touch anybody, see anybody, speak to anybody. ashley: 50-cent coffee. stuart: 53 cents seniors black

coffee to go. i pay taxes. ashley: yes you do. stuart: just like trump. we're about to show you video, i'm told video of the day, staten island, new york. two ponies escaping the snowstorm. the doors blew open the door. ashley: we're out of here. stuart: good video. interest rate news, going up but how much and when, we don't know. we'll find out at 2:00.

♪ ashley: and now this. house speaker paul ryan on "mornings with maria," listen what he had to say on tax and health carrie form. roll tape. >> there is a reason why we're making the decisions we're making so it is we can actually deliver on our promises of the so we could actually do what we said we would do. take the president's agenda, things we talked about in the campaign, things we ran on in the campaign and actually get it done as quickly as possible through the legislative process. this for congress is lightning speed, getting tax reform, repealing and replacing obamacare. we're defederallizing a entitlement and capping it, replacing entitlement replacing with republican tax policy. we rebuild the military and rewrite the tax code for economic growth. that is a pretty tall agenda.

why pause a spontaneous moment? cialisor daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. stuart: how about this. snap, kantor fitzgerald, the investment firm, says that stock will go town to $18 a share. it hit right at 20.05 earlier. bounced back just a tad but a lot of pressure on snap. by now i'm sure you've seen that bbc interview, it was live where the guest's children

walked into the room and derailed the entire segment. here is a refresher. roll tape. >> what will it mean for, for the wider region? i think one of your children walked in. >> i would be surprised if they do. pardon me. my apologies. sorry. north korea, north and south korea polys are limited. stuart: that is every tv guy's nightmare. wait a second, the parents of children are commenting on the incident. watch this. >> i was able to see as anna waking in the door. i would hope my wife eventually see it and run them out of the room. maintaining straight face hoping to get through it. stuart: i've done that myself. make a straight face. you hope to get through it. ashley: every day.

liz: that is robert kelly. he is an expert in korean affairs. his daughter, the four-year-old came in first was in hip mood that she was at a party. she thought it career at a guest was over t was really cute moment. it went viral around the world. stuart: let's get him on the show. i want the kids on as well. liz: bring the kids. stuart: great stuff. all right, everyone, do you remember, you may not but we certainly do, do you remember when hillary clinton claimed that donald trump had not paid taxes? well, why not give you a refresher? roll tape. >> maybe he doesn't want the american people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he has paid nothing in federal taxes because the only years that anybody has ever soon were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities, when he was trying to get a casino license and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. stuart: well, hold on a second.

according to msnbc's big scoop, turns out he did pay $38 million on income of 153 million in 2005. 38 million in one year. that is a tax rate of 25.3%, compare that to socialist bernie sanders, who in 2014 paid a rate of 13%. president obama in 2015 paid 19%. and nbc's parent company, comct, they paid an average of 24%. wait for it. socialist and occidental college of professor politics karen hell man, frequent guest on this program, invited back specifically to address the extremely low tax rate paid by bernie sanders. have you got an explanation for this, caroline? >> well, stu, i'm a democratic socialist. no, i think bernie sanders given his income should probably be paying a higher percentage. i find it fascinating donald trump did indeed pay

taxes and it was anti-climactic moment reminded me of geraldo rivera opening the titanic safe and lot of play-up but nothing happens. he pay as lower percentage than average americans who pay 31% in taxes when you put together state, federal, social security income tax and medicaid and medicare. stuart: caroline -- >> higher than average american. stuart: i want you on the show i honestly could barely believe this. donald trump paid a tax rate in 2005 of 25%. and bernie sanders, who is a democratic socialist, just like yourself, and you and i have gone backwards and forwards over tax rates, he only paid 13%. i can't spell it but i know hypocrisy when i see it, and that, caroline is hypocrisy. >> i love bernie sanders but you're not going to get any disagreement from me. he should have paid a higher tax rate because he is able to. people who make more money

should pay a greater percentage into the kitty because we have the means to do so. so we should. stuart: okay. i got to ask you again, you and i kicked it backwards and forwards so many times in the past but we always come out of it with a smile on our faces. i will ask you, again, if you make $10 million a year, let's say you make $10 million a year, how much of that should you lose, should go to the government in taxes, out of that 10 million, how much do you think should go to the government? >> well, i have no issue returning to something that looks like the system of taxation under eisenhower or under presidents in the '60s. stuart: how much would that be? >> i would like, well, it is somewhere between about 60% and 80% for people who make an incredible amount of money. for the top 1%, i would like to see them taxed at much higher rate because they an afford to pay it. stuart: they can afford it. okay. i will have to leave it there

regrettably we have a hard break coming up. you made a great effort. you were in an accident before you got here. i do apologize for that. come back when we have more time. would love to talk to you again, caroline. >> thank you, stu. stuart: sure thing. video for you. fire from an illegal fireworks factory in central israel. fireworks exploding in every direction. two people killed. multiple buildings in the surrounding area was damaged. the manager of the factory was being questioned by authorities. still no word on the cause. what an explosion that was. another quick check of the big board, we're up 34 points. interest rate moves coming up this afternoon. up next why one varney viewer upset with me calling accountants bean counters. the that viewer says, the term is demeaning. more "varney" after this.

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[shouting]. stuart: there are some aspects of my commentary on this program that displease some of our viewers. i'm going to start with this message from richard. he says, please stop saying that those people, that people will lose their health care. no one loses health care. they may lose health insurance but not health care. richard, you are correct on that one i think.

no argument with that one whatsoever. if i slipped and said you lose health care i'm flat-out wrong. i apologize for doing that. next one from another richard. listen to this. stuart, i love your show, watch it most mornings. i'm a certified public accountant. please quit calling accountants bean counters. it is a very demeaning term for accountants. ashley? ashley: well, yes i understand if i was an accountant, i do more than count beans. it is a old-fashioned term, stu, i would say but i take the point. however if you're not very good accountant, bean counter is not that bad. stuart: it flows off the tongue. ashley: i agree. stuart: it's a little demeaning, i got that. i do apologize, richard. liz: there are only government bean counters. i'm kidding. call them green eyeshades. how is that? stuart: i like to be conversational. ashley: yes. stuart: not always using formal bean counters, kind of works, richard?

liz: easier than certified public accountants. stuart: or cpa who knows what that is for heaven's sake. ashley: what kind of beans? stuart: i do apologize if i demean your profession. but we will be back.

..

trained to you just joined us, we have not forgotten and we are not ignoring the bus. she tried to embarrass the president by revealing his 2005 tax return. didn't embarrass him. he paid a fortune in taxpayer to bigger percentage than socialist bernie sanders and president obama. we will get to the story and that is a promise. right now, looking at a live-action presidency. he heads to detroit where he holds a big rally for autoworkers. let's see how he is received. remember, those union guys used to see democrats.

he's expected to roll back the gas mileage standards. the automakers just love that. then the president goes to nashville to speak about health care. where does he get his energy? live-action president. the third hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ i can barely sit still. the red hot chili peppers -- poppers -- peppers. the song is i can't stop. let's get to your money. at 47 points on the dow jones industrial average. interest rates in about three hours. look at this.

the homebuilder index of optimism and credit titles level since 2005. another indicator of optimism and confidence and is usually very strong level. he's a strategist right there. the name of the company is b. a strategist. did i get that right? >> you did. i think it's a 12 year high. that fits the narrative of optimism and confidence benefits your narrative that the economy is going to grow in the market will grow with it. very much in line with which you can saying. >> yes. the optimism spreads around good investors appetite for risking globally also. this indicator is another one. the housing market has been somewhat suppressed. looking at the opportunity to

keep building and further inventories and sell a lot more. as long as interest rates stay fairly subdued commission of a veryoo17 and 18. stuart: i want to give you credit because from the get-go after the the election come you're the one the election coming are the ones that the market is going to go straight. you're also the one who said when he was at 19,000 that he would go to 21,000 in a day. repeat that again for maybe a brace for maybe abrasive america go from now? >> would really reach the levels they expected us to get to. we've got married in a fashion, orderly fashion. i'm a little bit nervous on account of the fact that the expectations players have had, investors have had it that the markets would continue higher as long as we saw son tax cut friend for corporate and personal and if we saw some stimulus movement. right now the administration's move towards trying to repeal and replace obamacare if the wrong move. we should focus on tax cuts.

if there's a large push back and there seems to be that authority began on the new aca comments that is going to create a larger fight between democrats and republicans and that they impede the progress and tax cut. america says wait a second, this is not what we bargained for. this is making me a little bit nervous in here. stuart: you got that right. a pause is what you're talking about. looks like a positive 20,800. i've got to ask you about interest rates. 2:00 this afternoon we'll find out if jenna yellen ll raise rates twice this time and twice more this time in three times more. does it matter? for rate increases this year, does that matter to the stock market? >> i don't think it matters. the tax cuts is a must for more important to the markets right now. if the fed raises to quickly come of that will matter. right now there's no reason to do so.

there's only two surprises that can come out of today's meeting. if there is in a rate hike in the other is any talk about the runoff on the balance sheet. he told $4.5 trillion worth of securities. if they plan on letting that runoff, that means they are not replacing those. that means interest rates probably will start inching up higher, faster than we'll expect. i'm watching for anything to do with to do with the worth runoff of the balance sheet. that's something increasingly from now on the investors will keep an eye on the terms the fed he. stuart: headline, all "varney" viewers come "varney" viewers, shah gallani has just turned cautious. you're not going to contest the imac, are you? >> no, i'm optimistic but cautious at this juncture. i'd like to see clearing on the pathway increasing estimates again. stuart: you sound like an economist. one hand and the other hand. always appreciated. thank you on the sir.

ing a lot about growth on this program and was often outlined how much growth we might get in the future forget tax cuts and infrastructure plans and some deregulation. we do see growth in the future. joining us now is nicholas eberstadt but the american enterprise institute. this gentleman is a demographer and an economist and his brilliant and a guy that i read all the time. i slowly religiously. i'm not just been flattering here. you really are g do. what you've been saying recently is when we don't have growth as they have for the past generation, all breaks loose in the economy and rent for a miserable time. spell it out for us, please. >> amen, stuart. you've got that appeared since the year 2000, america has a new normal growth rate considerably lower than her previous postwar norm.

we've seen not only much slower growth, but the bottom drop out for the labor force with labor force participation rates live over for men and women than in recent memory. you have to be in your 30s now to remember when the american economy was healthy. also said bad things happen been a slow growth. now increasing by women this reliance on disability insurance programs as an alternative in the income lifestyle and disability insurance comes oxycontin prescriptions for medicaid and subscribers. as far as for economic growth. >> was supposed to 3% growth in maybe 4% growth. does that count some of the problems you're talking about? >> some but not all.

i fear that the miracle of the market isn't going to take care of everything. certainly not in the next couple of years. if we were back to work great for the work great city or two guys and for the population as a whole, we would have 10 million more people at work today than we thought. 10 million is a very big number. people who drop out of the workforce, especially people in the key 25-54-year-old groups, a lot of them are habituated to disability insurance lifestyle. a lot of them have been caught in this awful opioid lifestyle, too. throwing them back into the market isn't going to happen just with fast growth although that can be done. stuart: i don't know your politics but osu political question. in nepal, florida 10 people 30 and under have a favorable view of socialism. i don't think it's an answer to america's problems. you want to make a comment on

that? >> you can't redistribute what you don't have. stuart: yes. that was a very brief comment period is going to get at least another 10 seconds. >> people want to be on an escalator in the problem is that looks badly broken for the bottom half of our society. that is why there's be so mu of a drop in our institutions and our country or it least it's related to that. if we get the escalator going for everybody is going to be really good for everybody, too. stuart: good stuff. nicholas eberstadt, please come back again, sir. >> force me. stuart: list inside of your screen. the president coming down the stairway on marine one, join-based andrews. used to be known as andrews air force base. the president just getting out of marine one. later on today he goes to

detroit and the national months on. there is news on the company hiring back workers. >> this could be related to the uaw contract signed in 2015. it comes on top of the 7000 jobs gm is going to create in the united states. stuart: the president is on his way to speak to the ceo of general motors. stuart: the top ceos say four of 10 will increase hiring next six months. good stuff. thanks very much. msnbc to go all-out and reporter president tribes 2005 tax return. turns out it was a total bust. the network is being mocked all of her social media. batman, the president paid 30 million in tax than one year. how about that. back in a moment.

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>> what i have here is a copy of donald trump's tax return. the record, the first amendment gives us the right to publish this return. it is not illegally publish nor are we fake. pinch me. they're real. stuart: that was the big reveal. rachel maddow try to beat a president jump on his taxes from 2005. in the end, it showed president trump is indeed very wealthy and he does indeed pay a fortune in taxes. in 2005 he paid $38 million. now listen to what sean hannity had to say all about that and about nbc last night.

>> the other issue is that to address tonight is the corporate jihads being waged by nbc news against president trump. as i said earlier, they are the leaders of the oblast propaganda destroying trump at all cost media in now releasing his 2005 tax return. it proves they will do anything from us than any conspiracy to destroy the commander-in-chief including working with people clearly that have broken the law. stuart: martha mccollum, hosted the first hundred days with us this morning. >> pinch me. bottom line, i think president trump just one big and i think nbc, msnbc and rachel maddow just last day. >> exactly. the idea that there is this huge reveal. it's almost embarrassing they did a build up. when you saw what was the inherent cultural tax returns, one year they had, which

revealed that he paid a lot of taxes impact. 25%. most people in this range pay 25 to 50%, north of that. the fact that he paid that basically says there's only one thing that matters when it comes to the irs. is your tax return a legal or not legal? everybody tries to go down that line and make sure they're not on the wrong side of it because nobody wants to do with ramifications of that. he has an army of tax attorneys to make sure. he's added all the time and wants to make sure he's on the right side of the line and nobody wants to pay 1 dollar more than what they legally have to pay. what is the issue? stuart: to me the issue is he paid 25% tax rate on income of $153 million or as bernie sanders, a socialist who always rails paid 13.5%.

president obama paid 18.7%. his critics on the left paid a whol lot less than the donald trump did. >> it's not an ethical question. it's not like you pay in as much as is appropriate. it is a legal question. it's what you technically no one what you pay. some of the information released. the fact that the legal venues claimed so far there is no evidence to the contrary. the other big thing to mention as it gets everybody not talking about obamacare for at least 24 hours. don't pay attention because it didn't exactly turn out the way they wanted it to. >> hold on a second. we have some reaction that came

in on twitter. rachel maddow is mocked. >> it took an hour and a half to reveal it at 7:36. i just found my 2016 taxes with all due respect. not even can you imagine if rachel maddow was "star wars." you know what makes good tv? taxis that no one other. stuart: far too much fun with this. the live-action president goes to detroit. we think you might roll back the seal economy standards. then it goes to nasille where believee's got to talk about health care. what is to get the energy from?

>> is definitely the energizer bunny. he has great energy and most of us. what has to happen is the president has to take a leadership role. he has to bring in the jim jordan and ran paul and paul ryan and get that in the same room. he sold himself as someone who's a great negotiator. now's the time to prove that on this obamacare bill. i don't think it's impossible. both sides benefit from coming out to say they got what they wanted. they are combined here and it's up to him to do it. stuart: got a great title for your show, the first 100 days. >> voice ever. great to see you all. train to check market scan. look at all 30 of the dow stocks. most in the green. the dow industrials are up 44 points.

coming to you in 3.5 hours. we will be back. ♪

stuart: you know, we've got a

ton of oil in storage. there is a glut of supply and the price is at $48 a barrel. i want to bring in a principal authority on the price of oil and trading in oil. his name is stephen and he joins us on the phone. i would've thought the price of oil would drop significantly because we are just -- we've got a flood of his staff. wildly oversupplied. few expect the price becomes to come significantly below $48 a barrel. >> at this point i have bearish oil since december. we are absolutely glutted in oil. we came out with our inventory report today. a meager 237-barrel decline in stocks. this is the stocks this year. up until this point we've added 49 million barrels back to u.s. inventories. sincere point i've been embarrassed about $53 a barrel. i have to ask, is support here

or can we go lower? at this point, it is a make or break a point for oil. stuart: are going down? >> actually, where a significant area support between 4720 and 4530. unexpectedness support to hold at this point so it had a significant selloff. we are going to see at this level. we are at the right time of the year. refineries are not buying a lot of oil right now because they are in their maiden season. in the weeks and months ahead, demand will pick up head with oil sub $50, i find it hard to believe we are going to bring the mid-40s at this juncture. stuart:.slowly wanted from from you, stephen schork. a clean-cut analysis of where we are and were going. support 47, $48 a barrel. >> thank you, stuart.

stuart: president trump is headed to detroit. he's going to meet the automakers. he's expected to take on gas mileage standard. very good news for the carmakers. on that, let's listen to some beatles. ♪

into the skin of the market. goldman sachs has cut it out look on stocks. ashley: for the next quarter, they believe the growth momentum that we've seen is reaching its peak. with interest rates going up, he believes that the stocks over the next quarter are going to be flatter than they have been. they are still very positive 5% return. time for a breather. relax. the automakers in detroit. he walks across the tarmac and off he goes.

he's expected to announce a review of gas mileage standards that were put in place by the obama administration. jeff flock in i believe you are as a research facility which the president will visit. what are they working on? >> they are working on driverless cars. but now the focus is on mpg. the 70s in response to the arab oil embargo. some question whether we need feel standards. the president is expected to say they will review standards pushed through by the obama administration in the last months of his presidency because the automakers say we can't meet those sound like the economy is getting us now. people want cars that use more gas. right now the standard is in

2025, 54.5 miles per gallon on average. that would be wonderful but they are not on pace to reach that. here's the problem. the president relaxes for the u.s. they have the right to keep the old standards in place. they would make two different kinds of cars to be a nightmare for them and not good. stuart: that's very interesting. thank you in need. we have with us now james lacey. these are california guide. i think you heard that, james. his president trump was the gas mileage standards, california has the option to say no, no, you can't lower them at all. stay where you are, which would mean two different kinds of cars. one for california, one for everybody else.

i would imagine that california and people want to stay with those very high gas mileage requirements. >> i think the word donald trump. trump is right to quality standards. cost benefit analysis is very important in business and very important regulation. when we look at fuel efficiency standards, we see two reasons for them. one of the high cost of gasoline and dependency on foreign oil and we know that's been greatly reduced. the other reason is the environment. pollution particularly from vehicles is way down over the last 20 years. some of you say the polluon in the los angeles basin attributed to automobiles is down 99%. usc did a study last year that

showed respiratory diseases have young children in the l.a. basin really gone down. there has been success with the regulations on smog and automobiles, but to make them two different standards and the automobile industry is irrational. it doesn't need to. stuart: have got to bring this up. california has a proper proposal of no income tax. no state income tax for schoolteachers. am i right? there is a proposal. >> there absolutely is. california bust attacks. california bus to tax. it has the highest income tax 13.3%. california would love to have you back paying taxes. would love to have you back here. but according to this

legislation, a public school teacher who has five years of experience would be completely exempt from the high income tax. here's what's wrong with that. california teachers are already high income teachers according to "forbes" the average salary of 90,000 a year average. that's a high salary, way above the average. the private school teachers are discriminated against. they are not in good. what that means is because they are politically powerless, california teachers association is the special interests will read this thing through and the california legislature will be responsive yet again to the teachers union which is the largest special interest in this day. the cta has spent $325 million in california. it's just wrong. stuart: every time i bring on

the show i end up shaking my head about california. there they go again. always appreciated. stuart: investigation ends capitol hill. i.t. workers investigation has expanded. fox news reports as many as six people including three brothers may have been continued unauthorized access to computer systems used by house members. judge napolitano is here. sounds to me like a nasty conspiracy going on inside congress. >> i'm sorry to tell you i think there's more than meets the eye. there is allegations as fast of hardware. there is allegations that the unauthorized access of members of congress come the sun contain national security secrets. the allegations of nepotism, hiring of family members.

none of these people has been fired. some have security clearances and some have i see card so they can get into computers other than their own. they are still there. has any of them then criminally charged? no. i don't know what the government is wait for it. this is the head scratcher. these are people not investigators, particularly cybercrimes. the investigating authority should be the fbi. stuart: somebody who knows what they are doing. >> congresswomen debbie wasserman schultz has hired one of these people is that i don't see anything wrong. stuart: i get the point. more news here. the justice department announced charges against individuals behind the massive breach of

yahoo! user accounts. ashley: several massive breaches or the u.s.a. diving for individuals. these include russian intelligence officers. this is for the 2014 at the half million yahoo! account. to gain information about millions of subscribers from yahoo!, google and other webmail providers. that's a large group, a large swath of people. i was in 2014. this is related to this one. precious intelligence officers indicted. stuart: big story. thank you indeed. that too the judge of that tax return story. let me back up a second here. rachel maddow on msnbc revealed a two-page summary of president trump's tax return for 2005. it should be paid dirty million

dollars in tax on income of 153 million. here's the president trump treated this morning about a week. does anybody really believe that a reporter who nobody ever heard of went his outbox and found my tax returns? nbc news, fake news. last week by "new york times" "new york times" reporter to get an invitation for any irs employee to leak trumps returns. judge napolitano is still with us. sounds to me like a felony. >> that carefully the showed up in a mailbox. somehow this must've been orchestrated. for a human being at two private information and expose it as a felony as they know from a major supreme court decision to reveal it. politically they not backfired

because it's almost as wealthy as we are in paid almost as much in taxes. by his standards. they should pay anything. >> but it may mean -- here's the troublesome part. the president is not in control of the executive branch. if this was leaked by somebody in the irs code that is devastating to the integrity of the branch. there is no category of documents more protected by federal law that incomtax returns. stuart: could be her example of the entrenched rockers the exposing damaging information which they think is damaging about president trump. >> they want to torment him. though it reveals secrets, it was helpful. somebody is willing to break the

law. deep concern to the present administration. ashley: thank you very much indeed. appreciate it. the land rover showing off the new suv made especially for search and rescue teams. it has added were tractable roof that opens up in the drug was launched. it can return, land on the roof of the car even lots driving. i think there is a limited market. the pope says if you want to save the planet, have fewer children. father jonathan morris joins us on the subject. will he agree with the pope? who should pay for the poor and the sick when they get sick? he just made a quick appearance. he's with us. that could double that. -- back in a moment.

♪ a spontaneous moment?

cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. >> good morning. laura rockman light on the farthest exchange with their fox business brief. the fed decision on interest rates. i was up 50 points. oil up as well. if your index is down 5% at the moment. winners than losers for you.

caterpillar up about half a percent. hitting an all-time high for the united health group of one and one third of 1%. the downside wal-mart and intel lowering his price target is $10. 35 bucks a share. an industry survey shows come and it's among homebuilders. we will talk with jerry howard, the president. without touching our savings. yeah, our insurance won't do that. no. you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance

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visit quickbooks-dot-com. stuart: pope francis is urging families to have fewer children for environmental reasons. seems to me like a contradiction with firmer policy. father jonathan who insist on responding to this. he didn't insist. i remember back in the day in 1960s, not even allowed to use birth control. procreate, go forth and multiply. i believe that is the political injunction. why is that pope saint fewer children. >> first of all, he didn't change any teaching to the church about abortion.

what he is saying is he speaking to the whole world. he's a latin american, saying there's not a moral obligation to have as many as you can. believe it or not, there are people who in poor areas of the world believe that. to have as many babies as possible. they have a responsibility to take care of people to the world. for environmental reasons and for the individual child would bring into the world. stuart: in very poor countries a child is regarded as an asset because they work to the family. in societies, children are regarded as liabilities because we've got to pay for education, this, that any other. liabilities in rich countries.

if you were born -- what he's saying is we can use the god-given gift of reason to determine how we are going to do our best to be open to life all at the same time be responsible. i try to learn from what i can. he doesn't want me to say i agree 100% on everything. stuart: within the catholic church there is room for serious debate? >> of course. i absolutely love him and i've learned a lot from him. stuart: he's a leftist. >> i would say he leans further left than you, which is thank god he does.

producers are urging me to ask you the question, who pays for poor people when they get sick and dismissed for a second. you told me an interesting story and i wonder if he can share with us. on his deathbed. >> whether it's about having babies at the moment of her death. i was at the gentleman who loves soccer. this gentleman was two days from dying as it turns out. with all this serious personal conversations about forgiveness, mercy, getting right with god and others. this idea of have any other questions? he looked at me and he goes did naples when? referring to the soccer team.

let me check into it. stuart: does this kind of thing happen a lot? >> u.s. in all seriousness saying let's get to other things that are important. it wasn't money that mattered the most although it's important. that's why we have fox business. it's also honest there's other things in life like family, god, soccer. true to father jonathan has been absent from fox. you're in the hospital for seven days. nothing terribly serious, but i want to tell everybody we are very grateful to be back again. stuart: you lost 10 pounds coming in at 10 pounds to lose but you get and you look great. other jonathan. check this out, please. zero gold rush in california. anyone. we will tell you all about it. ashley will. welcome back, ashley. we'll be back.

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dream to 1849, gold rush california. there's a new gold rush in california 27 team.

explain. >> all of the flooding out there literally created new members are older rivers going in a different direction and because of that, there has been news rich veins of gold that are being revealed that are hidden for more than 200 years. also, running through these orders taking pieces of gold with a downstream. we should all go. you can go right now because the letters are still dangerously high. but this comes when those waters recede. you can see the river bed shagging. when i first arrived in america. that's a good story. two items coming to stories related to the growth and optimism and confidence in our society. first of all, the homebuilders,

their optimism, an index of optimism for homebuilders. the highest since 2005 it's a big deal. item number two, ceos of major corporations hire far more people. have to ceos are going to have significant numbers of people in the year 2017. what we've got is all kinds of indicators on an exploding confidence and optimism situation in america. my point is to not proceed on the front page of the newspaper and you never see it leave their evening news and is never included in a newspaper >> it doesn't fit the narrative. you know what? last night when rachel maddow said she was going to reveal, here we have these tax returns. what do they show?

donald trump had paid $30 million in taxes. they'd all been saying he doesn't pay anything. and then he found out that he actually earned $153 million into the five. donald trump paid a 25% rate and paid 13%. about president obama? the owner of msnbc. thank you very much indeed. the national association of home builders will be on tomorrow. more "varney" after this.

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stuart: i want to welcome back ashley webster after his vacation. what is your favorite story today? ashley: father jonathan's napoli story.

we have to go with the gold in california. there is gold in them there hills. stuart: lying on riverbeds, treasury revealed. ashley: sparkling in the sunshine. stuart: i'm leaving new jersey. our time is up. charles payne in for neil. it is yours. charles: thank you very much, stuart. we have a very busy two hours to kick off. i'm charles payne in for neil cavuto. right now president trump prepping for a big trip to michigan where he he is expecting to keep a campaign promise. jeff flock is in the plant. reporter: this is a big airplane hangar in yip sill lant at this. these are auto workers and interesting to hear what the president has to say about the