>> welcome back, i'm out for the next couple of of days. dagen's got you covered tomorrow. "varney & company" begins right now. stuart, over to you. stuart: here we go again, the media contemptuous of president trump, eager to undermine him. good morning, everyone. give the man a break, two months into the 48 month first term and the new york times says this. little sign of a trump bump in the economic forecast. the times, of course, conveniently fails to mention the surge in manufacturing reported by three federal reserve districts. and it considers the blockbuster surge in confidence and optimism as merely soft

data. can we remember, please, it took two years before the reagan plan began robust growth. the trump plan hasn't started. he's pushing hard. with secretary mnuchin today. a fox poll shows seven of ten wants tax reform this year and more than half say they're paying too much. no matter how much the times wants to block it. jeff bezos can't stand trump, but he's the second richest person in the world. we have a samsung galaxy phone, the 8 is here and we'll check it in a moment and we'll see it on the now unfunny daily show. "varney & company" about to begin. ♪

>> robert murray, who runs a big coal company he's on record saying what the president is trying to do for the coal mining industry, quote, can't bring mining jobs back. >> yeah, i never thought i'd say that, but we should listen to the coal mining boss. deregulation isn't going to help. energy production has moved on. coal jobs are like those dads who went out to get cigarettes, they're not coming back. ♪ >> yeah, now, that was the daily show. back in the day i thought jon stewart made fun of me and i thought it was funny. and sad trombone for the daily show. sad. our producer in washington says there's a push to force on the health bill. next week before the mid april recess. >> joining us now, chris collins, republican from new york. sir, you're inside this process. is there going to be a vote on that health care bill that was rejected last friday?

there's going to be a vote on it before easter? >> well, stuart. that's a decision of our speaker paul ryan. right now, i personally don't think we're going to see a vote, but that's my personal opinion. there are some members who absolutely do want a vote. they want to be on the record as voting yes. but, you know, we did certainly understand there's some members, perhaps some in the northern states, pennsylvania, new york, not me, but some who are reluctant to make that-- take that vote and they would prefer there not be a vote so right now i would say our conference is divided on that. it's ultimately a decision of the speaker. i don't think there will be, but that's just my personal opinion. stuart: well, let's look forward to tax cuts and the tax reform package. is the party united on that? and specifically, i'm referring to the border adjustment tax. >> we're not united yet. there's no question about it.

the retailers, the big box stores, wal-marts and best buys of the world are opposed to the border adjustment tax because those everything they made in their stores is made overseas. there would be a hit on the big box retailers, they would be opposed to it and there are agricultural issues. we're not united on that yet. we've heard the senate where we'd have to have 51 votes, i don't think those votes are there perhaps today so we have to have more discussion, we've talked about, you know, there could be some exceptions, we all realize we need to move this forward, but then again we realized and thought we had to move health care forward. stuart: i think there is a real mood of disappointment. certainly amongst voters in general, who wanted something done. it's failed with health care, and now, we hear, lack of unity on tax reform. i think you are disappointing a lot of people who supported president trump and supported republicans in the election. >> well, you know, stuart, what

we're seeing is with the democrats totally locked down, nancy pelosi, you know, has forbidden any member of her conference to vote with the republicans, regardless of any of the key issues and it's very difficult, very difficult to pass any bill with one party, no bipartisan support. stuart: it's very difficult for the supporters of the republican party and president trump to blame democrats. you know, you've got the house, you've got the senate and you've got the white house. >> i'm not blaming democrats, i'm saying how difficult it is when you look at a new york, new jersey republican versus a louisiana, florida republican. and we did not come together, i'm very disappointed and frustrated. stuart: i'm short of time, but can we wrap it up with this, if you don't get tax reform done this year this presidency has completely lost its momentum, i think you will agree with that. >> i will agree with that, fortunately, president trump is there for four years, if we

don't get it done this year, next year is mid term election and we would have to face the wrath of the public. stuart: i wish we had better news. chris collins. new fox poll, 49% think their taxes will go up, i repeat, go up under the trump administration. trump raising taxes? can you explain this to me? >> no, at first when i saw the headline and looked at the poll i thought, was this happen after the health care bill got yanked? but it was not, it was before. march 12th to the 14th, i'm not sure what the skepticism is based on other than naysayers in mainstream media. stuart: that's the word skepticism. liz: there's a militant move against trump, even if the democrats agree with him, they agree on the refugee pause,

agreed on the border wall years ago. democrats, 45% think taxes are too high. we talked to a major democrat ic party. they need to shift. >> show me a democrat and tell me which tax that democrat would cut. i can't think of one. liz: not in this. moving on, attorney general jeff sessions, he wants to withhold funds from sanctuary cities, we've got that. however, the city of seattle has filed a lawsuit calling the withholding of federal funds unconstitutional. here is the mayor, roll tape. >> u.s. constitution says that the federal government may not coerce local governments by denying them federal dollars, they're not germane-- if they are not germane to the program in question. yet, that is exactly what the president's order does. stuart: judge napolitano is here and i noticed the use of the word constitution. that means you're involved with it. [laughter]

>> who is right here? >> well, there are deficiencies in both arguments. the lawsuit is premature, they can't sue the government until the government stops giving them money that the government is contractually obligated to give and the attorney general and the executive branch can't impose conditions on the receipt of money after the money has started to flow. so, they're going to have block grants in the new trump budget, in the new fiscal year that starts october 1st. they could say, for example, to seattle. here is $100 million accept it on the following list of conditions. one of them is, every agent service and employee will cooperate with ice, cooperate with the feds and cooperate with the feds on that. if seattle takes that money, they're bound by that condition. stuart: so they can do it. >> but what the trump administration is trying to do is impose the condition on monies received from the obama administration, it's too late. the supreme court says the conditions have to be clear and they have to be at the outset.

they can't be added later on. stuart: i remember when they wanted to raise the drinking age to 21. and states would not go along with it and then they had to go along with it, otherwise they would have lost federal funds. so they caved. >> so the states got a fortune to repave federal highways and south dakota said we want the money, but we're not going to change the speed limit and we're not going to change the drinking age and the supreme court of the united states said, you don't want to change the speed limit, you don't want to change the drinking age, you're not getting the cash. if you accept the cash, you accept the conditions. stuart: back to seattle and sanctuary cities. the feds, president can say, here is the monthly, you can only spend it if you meet these terms and that's legit looking forward into the future. >> yes. stuart: what i'm getting at the feds have the power to make the seattles of this world to say. >> the feds enforce the federal law. seattle can't interfere with the enforcement of the seattle

law, but seattle can't become part of that at its own expense unless it's pursuant-- >> the condition imposed by congress at the time they award the grant, i would think so, but-- >> they will win. >>, but it can't be imposed retroactively. stuart: i got it out of you, judge, it's like pulling teeth. >> you're starting to understand. stuart: it's been 40 years. stuart: and the market no clear sense of direction, down what, 12, 13 points, that's it. however, listen to this, amazon stock, we talk about it all the time, why not? it hit a record high, $876 per share and that stock has been on a tear this calendar year and that has increased founder jeff bezos' wealth, he's got a

big chunk of amazon stock, he's made an extra $10 billion this calendar year. we're only the end of march. >> wow. liz: he's worth now 75.6 billion dollar, the 53-year-old owner of amazon and he surpassed warren buffett. what happened here, there's a lot of action in the trump rally and they're benefitting from it even though warren buffett campaigned for hillary clinton. the value went down right after the election and then started popping up. stuart: can we all remember, please, that's 75 billion dollar and wealth is not taxed in this country. they tax income. they can say tax em, tax em, they don't pay. >> like warren buffett. stuart: we're paying because we're getting our income taxed. >> what about the billions you have sitting out there. stuart:. [laughter]

>> and had a lawmaker in massachusetts warning illegal immigrants about a possible immigration raid posted on the page. if you're undocumented, don't go outside. we're on that one. and another one, andy puzder, his restaurant chains ads, and in the typical fashion. daddy, you're back. yes. >> take this down, put that up. >> that was supposed to be fresh ingredients and that lady got in there and her clothes flew off, it was-- >> would you please dismount that bull? yes? please repeat the objective.

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>> all right. we've got some political drama for you. president trump going on the attack against the freedom caucus. this is the tweet we've just received. the freedom caucus will hurt

the entire republican agenda if they don't get on the team. and fast. we must fight them, and demes in 2018. got that, there it is just right-- that's the president going right out there on the attack. liz: he's saying unite against the democrats. stuart: and joining us a republican from alabama, senator strange replaced jeff sessions in the senate. this is coming at us where the trump tweet, he's going after the freedom caucus big time. what do you make of that, sir? >> i'm glad you told me that. i gave up twitter for lent. stuart: no, you didn't, really? >> and i've been very happy with that decision. but i have not gotten this news, so i'll have to digest that. i'm not sure exactly what that means. stuart: forgive me for trying to interpret this, but look, he's going after the freedom caucus. i think he's putting out-- them out there and saying this is your fault, unify, unify,

unify, i think that's what he's saying. let me ask you this: is the republican party at this point showing science-- signs of new unity. >> it seems to be, i'm new to the senate taken jeff sessions place two months ago now and i'm learning some of the traditions and coalitions, but i think that's happening, stuart. i think that lessons will be learned from the recent episode involving the health care debate. i think the president's digesting that right now. i do think we need to come together. the freedom caucus has a lot of good ideas, they were very close. i personally would like to see some more conservative market-based solutions incorporated into the replacement plan. so we'll see. i think a lot is going on behind the scenes right now. stuart: here is something i know you've seen, the fox poll. in that fox poll, one third of registered voters most want the president to create jobs. but you are focusing on rolling

back environmental regulations, but that's nowhere in the polls. people don't really care about that, but that's your focus, senator. >> well, having been attorney general for six years and filed more than two dozen suits against the epa and government agencies for overreaching their authority i would tell your listeners and folks taking the polls, think about the regulatory wet blanket on this economy. every time the president signs an executive order and regulations, it equates into jobs and energy independence and you know the ripple effect of that. i'd like to see taxes come down and jobs and wages go up and i think the first step to do that, we could do immediately without writing the tax code, to lift these regulations off the backs of our small business men and women. >> one fast question, it seems like the sticking point for tax reform is this border adjustment tax. now, you know, i think that splits the republican party.

would you vote for a border adjustment tax? >> right now, knowing what i do about it, i would not do that, but i'm open to the concept. i think that that has been like other things, taken back to the drawing board. i have not received-- there's two sides to the story. i haven't heard a lot of support for it in my state of alabama, but i have an open mind and i'd like to learn more about the effects of really improving the lives of our citizens and businesses in my state. i'm not convinced yet. stuart: lent has quite a long way to go before you'll get back on twitter before good friday? >> maybe i need to after what you told me. stuart: thanks for joining us, sir. appreciate it. congressman republicans, i'm going to say they're in a tough spot. either take the blame for shutting down the government or make some deals with the democrats. this is-- they're between in rock and a hard place on this raising the debt ceiling.

that's what this is all about and the republicans are in a tough spot. we'll be back. ♪

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awfully close to $50 a barrel. 49.87 to be precise, but that's not having any direct impact on the stock market thus far. congress, well, they've got to fund the government. they've got to. but they're almost out of cash so they've got to vote on funding the government. and our next guest says, whatever the republicans do, they've got a big problem with this one. brian brenberg is business professor here in new york city. what's the problem? >> the problem is the republican base wants the republicans to defund planned parenthood, build the border wall and the republicans say we can't pass the budget if we have those things because the democrats won't vote for it. they're going to punt to fall so we can get to tax reform. stuart: i thought would be a sticking point. that's a fight. they have to fund the government. >> the republicans get the blame. if the house, presidency shuts

down, they blame the republicans no matter what, you can't do that. stuart: to get the vote a yes, they've got to drop the defunding of planned parenthood, the wall. >> get those done in 2018 when you have momentum. they need momentum, they'll get it back with tax reform and do it in 2018. it's strategy, republicans smart about getting done what needs to be done. i think we should be happy with that given what happened with health care. stuart: it's fascinating, it really is. all of these road blocks coming up. >> there are a lot of road blocks. liz: and the market is moving. stuart: all right. where are we going to open this morning on the market? it's thursday morning and we're going to be flat. i say this most days. no clear trend established in the early going on wall street. but we'll be back in a second to follow it for you. i mean wish i had time to take care of my portfolio, but..

well, what are you doing tomorrow -10am? staff meeting. noon? eating. 3:45? uh, compliance training. 6:30? sam's baseball practice. 8:30? tai chi. yeah, so sounds relaxing. alright, 9:53? i usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. wouldn't it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do? yeah. introducing essential portfolios. the automated investing solution that lets you focus on your life.

>> all right. we're coming up to the opening bell this thursday morning. about 30 seconds away. frankly, we're expecting a pretty flat open to this market. there's no serious big-time news event in politics or just general current affairs that will move this market. that's why it's been pretty

flat as we go. we thought maybe the republicans would resubmit the health care bill before the easter recess, that's been pooh poohed by chris collins a few moments ago. they're talking tax reform, there's urgency about that. maybe that's a market factor. 9:30 we're up and running and i see some green, i see red, a mixed bag at the opening of this market. as of right now, i'm going to call this flat. we're up 1 is.70 at 20,660. dead flat. let me show you the big technology names. this is how they've done so far this calendar year. frankly, i find that absolutely extraordinary. look at that. apple, again, this is just this calendar year. january, february, march, look what they've done. apple is up 24%. amazon is up 16% and facebook 24%. let's move on. netflix, 18% higher.

this calendar year. google 7% higher. these are the biggest names in technology worldwide and they have produced stunning gains thus far in 2017. let's discuss this further with ashley webster. liz bem mcdonald, brian brenberg and fox news the contributor, scott martin. i'm starting with big name technology. scott, to you first. they've run up so much just this calendar year, forget about the last 18 months before that, they've gone up and up and up, is there further room for them to grow? scott martin. >> you know what's interesting about the tech sector, last year the tech sector was one of your lag guargardlaggards, mayb repatriation, overseas mostly

is in tech, apple, google, microsoft, so forth. if we get the repatriation, they'll bring it stateside, for research and that's why they're going up. stuart: and on the street almost always the first question, is apple going to go to $150. facebook to $150? that's the question all the time. that's where the money is and where the money is flowing. brian, it seems that the american technology giants on the screen right now, they absolutely dominate global technology. >> and they disrupt every industry, name after name, whether it's television or retail. they're changing the industry and making money doing it. they're not as dependent on policy as some of the dow companies are. they're rechanging the landscape. that's why the stock is going up. stuart: back in the 1990's, the dot-com bubble, that went straight up. that was based on nothing. >> people buy stuff from amaz amazon. ashley: they're real. stuart: technology dominates

the auto industry, who would have thought? >> yes. stuart: amazon dominates retailing. facebook dominates social networks around the world and that's why the money is flowing there, i guess. any other reason? >> i can't think of it. the new york times, let's get back to that, we must. the new york times says i'll give you the headline. little sign of a trump bump in the economic forecast. may i point out, the man is less than 70 days into his presidency, and they see no sign of a trump bump for the forecast. >> you've got to get something done. they're not going to bake anything in until it's done. anybody watching in says that tax reform is going to happen and regulatory change is going to happen. and i don't buy into the forecasts because they're not willing to bake anything in until it happens. liz: i think the reality check bounced over at new york times and elsewhere. took reagan eight months to get a tax cut. clinton 18 months for reform

and obama with obamacare. give the guy a break. he's what, how many days in? not even 100 days in. ashley: they will never give him a break. liz: they want him impeached and want him in jail. stuart: we have hard evidence the economy is doing quite well. remember charles payne on this program yesterday, he talked about the three federal reserve's, philadelphia, new york, richmond, all of them say that the manufacturing sector is doing extremely well, and that's happening right now. it not a forecast of the future, it's happening now. they know that data is weaker, consumer is sky high and pending home sales are going through the roof. home prices are going up, that's another good sign of the confidence in the economy. liz: and that's consumer confidence survey, also says that they-- the consumers think that stocks are going up, half of them think that stocks are going to rise in the next 12 months.

stuart: let me get to that fox news poll that just came out. three quarters, 73% of registered voters think that the tax system should be reformed this year. scott, clearly tax reform is popular. i'm not going to ask you whether or not it's going to get done. i'm just saying, look, voters are ignoring, at least the political noise and focusing on what's important, cutting taxes. >> well, and i'll tell you, stuart, i hope that congress listens to them. because, obviously, what's happened with the health care bill in the last couple of weeks has been a little bit of a hiccup. with respect to tax reform, i think this is something that trump is going to get nice bilateral report on. if he wants to get a win and a bill tl bill through and taxes prepare for america, listening to the voters and following what they want. stuart: i'm sorry to interrupt. dow winners on the left-hand side of the screen all over the map. there was technology, energy, there was health care, all on the up side.

look at that, and big bank, goldman sachs. all of them on the upside. all across the board. very interesting. liz: it is and to scott's point, 45% of democrats want tax cuts. we a talk to a big democrat donor. they think they're so off the rails, the democrat party right now. the democrats are silently behind the scenes whispering, we've got to go back to tax cuts. stuart: the democrats, 45 or 55. liz: 45% think that taxes are too high. democrats. stuart: 45% of democrats think taxes are too high. >> and the border adjustment tax, don't do something you can't come together on. give us a tax cut, we want that now and give us something we can work with. stuart: this is a politicized stock market. granted it's looking the a the economy and profitability i've got that, but they're ignoring the political noise going on here. look at this, check that big board. okay, we are down 8 points.

look at the level, 20,647. lululemon back in the news, they've given a weak forecast, ooh, ouch! that hurts! down 21%. 52 bucks a share, $13 down. how about mcdonald's, big change coming. it will swap out frozen beef for fresh beef patties in its quarter pounder burgers, the change coming at most u.s. locations next year. no impact on the stock. there you have it, fresh. amazon and apple hit all-time highs yesterday. apple retreating to the tune of 15 cents this morning and i think that amazon is right there at $873 per share and actually moments ago, both those stocks did again hit all-time highs. apple and amazon. all right, now, from the-- let's go to the rival, that would be samsung. they have rolled out, i've got one so i know they rolled it out, it's given to me, folks, okay.

they have rolled out the new phone, the galaxy s-8. it's got a new voice assistant to compete with siri and a big wide screen. >> you're excited. stuart: no, i don't know which side is on. >> that's the beauty of it. ashley: wrong side and upsidedown. stuart: this is competition to apple, but apple goes to an all-time high. what do you make of that, scott martin? >> it's interesting because they need a comeback after the issues with the phones blowing up and catching fire on everybody. what's interesting, the apple iphone coming out here that we have in the fall, the iphone 8, the granddaddy, about $1,,000 in price. if you look at apple reports from recent quarters, talk about how the price of the iphone has this, and they're selling more than they ever have. samsung has a good start. stuart: i'm astonished, it's a nice phone.

i clicked the button, a beautiful screen. >> the reviews on this are very good. i think that samsung has done the right thing. i would expect them to compete well with the apple iphone 8. stuart: so do i. look at the chart, straight up even though galaxy comes out with this. pretty good, i would say. and how about this, hold you back. that man, amazon chief jeff bezos bumped warren buffett out of second place, bezos is now in second place. the second richest person in the world. how much has he got. liz: 75.6 billion. so the two guys who don't like trump are neck and neck with jeff bezos and warren buffett. warren buffett 74 billion and bill gates is still the wealthiest at 86 billion. stuart: 86. i want to make a point, and in america we do not tax wealth. bezos is not taxed on his 75

billion dollars in wealth. we tax income. >> i don't want to penalize either one of those. stuart: neither do i. but what drives me nuts is the multi-billionaires, the rich have got to pay more in taxes. they don't pay more in taxes, we do, for heavens sake. >> it doesn't burden them the way it does the middle class american. stuart: scott, do you want to weigh in. >> i was going to disagree until you put it that way. what's funny about jeff bezos, i'm happy for him because we've talked about in the show where amazon shareholders at the firm. and he didn't get richer by buying "the washington post" for sure. stuart: it's given him quite a vehicle for his outrage. amazon, do we pay a tax when we buy on amazon. liz: the sales tax. third party collectors. they've gotten a big chunk of sellers, small business guys,

those small business shops are going to have to start collecting sales tax for a growing number of states. stuart: it hasn't affected the stock. >> that's 9,600 tax jurisdictions, have to figure it out potentially. ashley: more money grab. stuart: they love to tax you. thank you to brian and scott, great performance in thursday morning. gentlemen, thank you very much indeed. where are we now? still dead flat on a thursday morning, we're down 1 1/2 points. okay. a state lawmaker in massachusetts, a democrat, warning illegals of an upcoming immigration crackdown. says, hey, stay off the streets. don't answer the door. there's a story and we're on it. samsung releases that new smart phone. we've got one. i showed it to you, the question, what's so special about it? can you take it on a plane? back in a moment. ♪

>> all right. i'm not going to say this is a rally 'cause it's not. it's up four points. 20,663. there you have it. the most interesting two stocks of the day are clearly apple and amazon. behemoths in the technology world and both hit new, brand new all-time record highs, apple and amazon. look at that. president trump with a twitter account first thing this morning. watch this, look at this. the freedom caucus will hurt the entire republican agenda if they don't get on the team and fast. we must fight them and demes in 2018.

that is a very direct tweet going right after the freedom caucus. joining us now scott brown, former republican senator from massachusetts and a fox news contributor. welcome back. good to see you again. >> great to see you, stuart. stuart: now, what do you think about the direct action trump tweet. he's going right alt the freedom caucus? >> listen, the freedom caucus has some really good ideas when it comes to dealing with costs and the size of government, but don't forget, this is president trump's agenda, it's not the freedom caucus agenda or paul ryan's agenda, it's the trump agenda. i thought they put him in a bad place the other day. hopefully they'll work and come back with a better plan because obamacare is crushing individuals and businesses right now. so, his direct threat, he goes after everybody, and that's his style and a message across the bow. a warning shot across the bow. stuart: tax reform, here is comes, don't you get vieded--

divided on this, that's a clear shot. >> absolutely. and reform, it's a no-brainer, start with repatriate, simplif simplify. the taxes in the code recording obamacare are in there and they can't work around them. so, it's kind of a mess, but hopefully they'll get it together. stuart: you're in massachusetts and i know you've seen this, i want your reaction. a state representative in massachusetts defending her facebook post warning immigrants. >> if you're undocumented don't go out on the street. if there's a knock on the door and you don't know who it is, don't open the door. i ask you to be careful. i think that's outrageous, scott. what's the reaction in massachusetts to this? >> listen, you have to know a

little about brockton, this is a historic city of rock yy mar marsiano. some serious crime, above the national average when it comes to crime and other types of issues affecting the safety of the community. they're pretty outraged, obviously, the folks who are law abiding citizens. the law enforcement personnel. this is a liberal legislator and only in a city like brockton, unfortunately, where you have a lot of illegal immigrants and a lot of crime can you get away with something like this. other parts of massachusetts wouldn't be allowed and quite frankly, if anyone was hurt or injured on this, any law enforcement personnel was set up because of this, and they died or got hurt, it's directly on her. i think it's rououtrageous as y do. stuart: what should happen to that state legislator? >> well, you know, she obviously has the ability to use her first amendment rights,

but what i would do, i'd find someone pretty good to run against her in the next election cycle 'cause the state reps are two year terms. there's an opportunity there to really send a message. i don't care if it's another democrat, but a democrat who believes in law and order and the safety and security of its citizens, especially in brockton where they have some pretty, as i said, above the national average when it comes to crime and related issues. stuart: scott brown, we hope you join us in the near future. thank you. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: next hour, we will be joined by the sheriff of bristol county in massachusetts. he says mayors of sanctuary cities should be arrested. how about that? he's on the show. check that market scan, please. sent to the market. a pretty mixed bag. a lot of red, some green, the dow is up five points. here on the set, we have the new samsung smartphone. at the risk of sounding facetious, here is the question, will it blow up in your pocket?

more varney after this. at crowne plaza we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. 'a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly.

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oilsands assets to sin novis energy. and we're laughing because i just got a phone call and managed to put it down. i just managed to answer it before i got back on the air. ashley: you did, quite impressive. stuart: some lady wants to confirm my birthday. all right, all right, all right. meal kit company blue apron is getting ready to go public this year. they give you a box of everything you need for the evening mill. liz: i think that ashley used it. they ship around dinners and meals to customers around the world. a possible $2 billion plus ipo. stuart: 2 billion. liz: this is a burgeoning market. ashley: very competitive. liz: food in a box, good food in a box, ready to make. stuart: $2 billion. liz: valuation for this, goldman sachs, morgan stanley.

stuart: where have i been? samsung unveiled the galaxy 8, and joining us editor, joining us, a quick list of what's new and what's good on the galaxy 8? >> there's three big things. one is the fact it's almost all screen upfront and all new design. it sort of gets rid of the buzzles you see on the iphone 7 that i have over here. so, it's a beautiful display and of course, hdr, more color. almost like having a 4ktv in your hand and the second one is bixby. it's basically samsung's answer to siri. instead of just answering questions, there are things like send this over to mom or shoot this video to my tv. it's smarter than apple. stuart: you can say that to bixby. >> and being able to use a

phone as a mini pc. a dock called dex that's coming out this spring. you drop it in and you'll be obviously to output-- these are powerful phones as powerful as a laptop and enjoy android and multiple apps on the big screen with a keyboard and mouse. stuart: three good things about it and you can take it on the plane. i'm not being facetious, but you can take it on the plane and in your pocket. >> they talk about the eight point battery check. stuart: they've got it right. now, how much? >> the price is a little bit more expensive than last time aroundment starting at $750. in the iphone ballpark. stuart: that makes it more expensive than cheaper iphone models. >> the iphone starts at 399. samsung is going after the premium market with this device. so it's a gamble given the fact that the lower cost android phones, but this is where samsung wants to play. stuart: if i'm going to pay $750 for a new phone, i want it

to be a breakthrough, a leap forward in technology. is it? >> in some ways, yes. we're waiting to see how good bixby is as an assistant, for example. i think the jury is still out. there are things we don't love, for example, the camera although it's great, it's not a dual shooter that you have on the iphone 7 you don't get the true optical zoom and other things we'll wait and see the battery life and how long it lasts. stuart: which would you like to have iphone 7 or the galaxy 8. >> i'd like the design and the app-- >> he wants it all. stuart: you fail the finals test. appreciate it. the live action presidency rolls on and the republicans plan to replace obamacare failed, but that failure has put some momentum into the tax reform movement. my take on that coming up top of the hour. thanks for doing this, dad. so i thought it might be time to talk about a financial strategy. you mean pay him back? so let's start talking about your long-term goals.

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stuart: the defeat of the health

reform bill, less than a week ago put some fire and momentum into the tax reform movement. there is a clear understanding that the president's entire growth program is on the line. it really is do tax reform or this presidency fails. there's a new way urgency to the get it done wing of the republican party. the president today hold as white house meeting, doors closed with treasury secretary steve mnuchin. they're not saying but surely this is about get it done. kevin brady whose committee writes new rules, is all over the media saying he will get it done. new "fox news poll" 73 want it done this year. i attend admit call discussion. the audience was asked, will the republicans produce a tax reform bill this year? it was a fairly conservative audience. most people raised their hands in agreement.

one person shouted, they better. loud applause for that. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ stuart: not bad. we're up 22 point now. 20,681. fresh all-time highs for apple and amazon earlier today. they're still at 144 apple, 876 on amazon. by the way, amazon's chief, jeff bezos, just bumping warren buffett out so that bezos is now the second richest person in the world. he has gained $10 billion just this calendar year because amazon has gone straight up this calendar year. he is worth 75 billion. microsoft is up today. i think it is pretty close to its all-time high. look at that, a half percent higher. 65.81. yes i do own -- ♪

on track for a record close, ladies and gentleman. play those trumpets consistently please. look at the homebuilder stocks. we're getting latest read on mortgage rates. liz: down from. it was 3.7% a year ago. new home sales are beating expectations. the pending home sales, the second highest clip in a decade. we haven't seen pending home sales, meaning contracts to buy existing. so people are rushing in, oh, rates are going to go up. now we have a turnaround in mortgage rates as the he's-- u.s. treasury yield went down. stuart: i see that as positive for the housing market and positive for consumers. liz: it is. stuart: we have a presidential tweet this morning. look at this, that is our president, president trump taking the gloves off. he is on the attack. read this. the freedom caucus will hurt the entire republican agenda if they

don't get on the team and fast. we must fight them and democrats in 2018. that's an attack line if i ever heard one. joining us now, mark serrano, republican guy. mark, that was, i don't know where you stand on this debate but that, sir, was a presidential attack like i've not seen in a long time. >> indeed, stuart. when the president gets frustrated, he had six days to sympathy about the health issue, he doesn't wear it on his shirt sleeve. he wears it on his tweets. he is very frustrated with the freedom caucus. he should be, but equally as frustrated as speak are ryan. effectively what we saw yesterday, sean spicer said that the white house will take the lead on tax reform, and they should because speaker ryan is a policy wonk. he is not a strategist. the next tweet should be reserved from the president for speaker ryan. stuart: what people want unity in the republican party, get something done.

i don't think most people care whether it is ryan's fault or the freedom caucus's faults. they have party hands on both sides. what you want republicans want, get something done, is that the case. >> i totally agree, stuart. there isn't that much of a distinction who is at fault. the republicans have to seize the moment in history. they have to rally behind this president, a recognize a win for donald trump is a win for the gop. they are not there yet. in reality, on health care, what they should have done was they should have come to agreement as a conference. that is what is going to happen on tax reform. i guarranty it. the white house will take the lead. they will get all the parties into the room like they're starting to today with mnuchin and they will cut a deal before they introduce the package. stuart: we're talking taxes. watch this. listen to this. marker is rain know, listen to this, fox news poll, 49% of those responding to the fox poll

think taxes will go up, i repeat, will go up during the trump administration. mark, where the devil did that come from? >> well, it is an expression of frustration with eight years of tax increases under obama, and disappointment in mistrust of the government you but i would point out to you, stuart, that that same question was asked to voters in august of 2009 and 50% more voters thought taxes would go up then than they do now. i credit with donald trump with that. more voters believe donald trump will bring tax cuts this year. i agree 49% is too high. not as high as it was under obama. stuart: i want to return to you, as a republican insider. are you telling me, you guarranty the republican party will get it done this year, will get a tax bill, this year? >> i guarranty it, because donald trump learned his lesson on health care. he will not trust that agenda to the leadership on the republican side in congress on tax reform. i guarranty we'll get it done.

stuart: i think market listening to you, mark. we're up 50 points on the dow industrials. when you started we were up a mere 20. well-done, serrano. staying with president trump's agenda, look at this. "new york times" headline. little sign of a trump bump in the economic forecast. well, why don't we bring in an economist for a comment on that one. john lonski is here. well? >> well look back at first two years of the reagan administration, gdp grew less than half a percent. second year, 1982, we had one of the worst recessions since the great depression. what occurred during the final two years? the u.s. economy went gangbusters. '84 we had growth in excess of 7%. growth averaged just under 6%. my goodness, gracious. you can't look at the first couple of months of a new administration and then conclude that it is going to fall

considerably short of what it aims to do in terms of economic growth. stuart: now "the times" does point out most economists are forecasting two, 2 1/2% growth for the remainder of this year and into next year as well. is that a legitimate forecast? >> that is the consensus forecast but we want to remember, one of the reasons why growth is so slow is because product tivity growth is negligible. it is just above 0%. when ordinarily it is close to 2%. my goodness if we can go ahead and just maintain the 1.6% payroll, i know you hate the numbers, take the 1.6% payroll growth and go back to 2% growth real gdp will hit 3% if not higher! stuart: will you get to that by cutting taxes and regulation. >> that is how you do it. you have to basically change the operating environment for american business. you have to improve it, by doing so you will get gains in product

tivity. stuart: if i'm not mistaken the stock market say it is going to happen. that is why the dow is at 20,700, am i right. >> that is exactly what the equity market believes. they think he will look at you look at profits growth indefinitely. as you go ahead free up businesses, free up markets, you will not he see the equity market upset by unforeseen surge by inflation and interest rate hikes. the equity market strongly believes some of these economists who think that the 10-year treasury yield is going to goo soaring higher among 2% are absolutely incorrect. i think equity market is right. the consensus of economists on that score is wrong. stuart: last question, don't mean to throw you a curve, but the five big technology companies, most of them have gone to all-time record highs. the money is pouring into them. they dominate all kind of other industries outside of technology. is that a valid claim to make that they are truly global leaders of the entire universe

of companies and industries? >> without any question. stuart: really? that big? >> where else in the world do you find an area like silicon valley, bay area in california, that has the same type of power, prowess in terms of technological change, technological advancement? the u.s. is still the leader in technological change. stuart: investors have done the right thing pouring tons ever money into those stocks? >> as long as they're convinced profits are going to continue to grow for these giants they're correct. but we don't want to forget, remember ibm of the 1980s. stuart: i do. >> that was an investment, a can't-lose type situation. a lot of money poured into ibm. all of sudden unforeseen technological change took place and ibm lost its dominant position and share prices tanked. with high-tech you always have to be careful about the considerable uncertainty that intrinsic to that particular sector.

stuart: lon ski, you're right again. thank you very much for joining us. >> my pleasure. stuart: now this. the federal government is giving companies more time to make bids on the border wall. why the extended? ashley: well, the federal agency says it needs more time to answer all the questions that are coming in from perspective bidders. there is a lot -- there are two ding projects being put up to here -- distinct projects. there are a lot of questions to be asked. they don't have time to answer them all and for the company to get the answer and consider. there has been over 200 companies bid so far. what is interesting, 32 of those, at least 32, are hispanic-owned. stuart: that is interesting. ashley: we'll get into that more but it is interesting. stuart: yeah. you're looking at brand new images, you're about to, from jupiter from nasa's brand new billion dollar juno spacecraft.

it is a gas giant known as jupiter. that is decent pictures. i like that. that is cool. coming up could one of mr. trump's vocal critics be headed for public office? we'll tell you why mark cuban thinks he is ready to lead the people but should focus more on his day job. i don't know about that. president trump staying behind closed doors working the phones to get a health care bill and tax reform passed. we could see a bill next week. not so sure about that. the second hour of "varney & company" rolls on. ♪ my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business...

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stuart: this is the high of the day, 57 points up. how about this? weak forecast from lululemon.

boy takes it on the chin, back to $51 a share. how about mcdonald's? a change is coming. they will swap out frozen beef for fresh beef in the quarter-pounder. change comes in most locations next year. no impact on the stock which is at 129. how about this? dallas maverick owner and big-time billionaire mark cuban. he is an outspoken opponent of president trump. he is seriously considering a run for the presidency in 2020. hold on a second, just yesterday cuban tweeted this. to president trump. when will you address the exploding cost of college and the problem of student debt? he he is on the attack. my next guest a former dallas mavericks co-owner he says the mavericks tv ratings are hurting because of cuban's anti-trump statements. come on in please, frank zacanlei who joins us from dallas. is that accurate? i believe the mavericks tv

ratings are down and you say it is because of cuban? >> because the team is not very good and because of things cuban has done and said. the combination is what we'll really want to talk about here. the interesting thing i went through two presidential campaigns with the great h. ross perot in '92 and '96. i worked on them. i was around them. there is no way your business is going to stay stagnant when you're running for president or you're intimating like cuban you are going to run for president. there are going to be things that will happen. i think that you would be, you shouldn't get out of bed in the morning if you don't realize that the world around you is somewhat going to change. stuart: so you think if cuban does indeed run for presidency or keeps making vigorous, shall we say political statements that could be bad for the dallas mavericks? >> i think it is just going to be what it is going to be because again when you move into that realm, if you sat down and

talk to donald trump i think his whole world changed he made a decision this is what he wanted to do. so, you get yourself into that paradigm you will have some people that think that you're political views are correct and some think they are not very correct. that is how it works. stuart: you know him. you worked with him fairly closely, i'm sure. what do you think, not of his politics but his approach to politics, what do you make of cuban? >> well, i am a firm believer the constitution allows for anybody to run for president, you, me, anyone else. i'm not running for president. but it is good that you can do it. i think he is exercising his constitutional right. i think he has the right to do that and i think he needs to understand what those ramifications are. stuart: do you want him to? >> i really am indifferent about it, stuart. i'm indifferent bit. the thing that i want is i would like to see our country come together. i would like to see the name-calling stop.

i was involved in a business insider article where they asked us, it's a great publication, they asked us about, you know what we thought about cuban and this and that. i got into the job thing. cuban made statements about jobs that 25,000 jobs was not that significant t was like moving chairs around the titanic. i would suggest to you him or anyone else who took that position is taking a very dangerous position because those are 25,000 families that depend on those jobs. and so, i just think he has to be very, very, very careful. again the business insider didn't get into -- stuart: he is not known for being careful. he is not known for being careful, frank. i got to run, frank. thanks very much for joining us from dallas. we appreciate it. thank you very much indeed. >> thank you very much. stuart: good luck to you. this, socker is star cristiano

renaldo with a statue. a lot of people say it doesn't look like him. what do you say, ash? ashley: people say this bust is a bust. it is not very good at all. in fact there have been all sorts of comments about it. i was trying to see, looks like the sloth from the movie ""goonies"." people would know this, former irish soccer player nile quinn. look at that. not even close. stuart: no. that is not quite right. ashley: it is actually, you know he what, he had other statues unveiled around various parts of portugal where he is from and they have been pretty rotten. he is a great soccer player. stuart: no longer -- got it. look at this, everybody. a gem and a 1/2 i would say. 60-carats, a pink diamond goes on sale in hong kong, 60 million plus. don't you love it? it's a beauty. would you wear it? less than an hour president

trump and his treasury secretary will meet in the oval office. on the agenda you bet it has to be tax reform. by the way, 49% of us think their taxes will go up in the tax administration. where on earth does that come from? but we will be back. ♪ this is judy. judy is 63 years old. her mortgage payment is $728 a month. that's almost 9 thousand dollars a year. now judy doesn't think that she'll be able to retire until her mortgage is fully paid off. this is mike. mike is also 63 years old. his mortgage payment was $728 a month. mike thought he would have to work for another 12 years until his mortgage

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stuart: how many of you dear viewers have a 401(k) and want to tap into it? it's a minefield. gerri willis is here. tell me th tapping into the 401(k). >> specifically talking about

retiring, tapping that money, how you do it. if you do it wrong, 50% excise tax what fail to take out they think you should. stuart: what circumstances do i get hit for 50% retired after taking money out? >> miss a deadline. april 1st, april think this year because it falls on a saturday, for people who became 70 1/2 for previous year, first time taking money out of 401. if they miss the deadline, whatever the government said they should taken out, half of that to the government. half. this is the most unfair -- this is money you saved. you did the right thing. you satisfied money for your own retirement. the government comes in and wants to take a piece of that. let me tell you, stuart varney why. stuart: let me tell you stuart varney. tell me why. >> $25 trillion sitting around in retirement accounts. government wants its hands on it. what do they do? they try to force you to take money out of your retirement accounts on their timetable.

stuart: it's the law. >> not yours. stuart: as i understand it, tell me i'm right, get to 70 1/2 you must take money out of the 401(k). >> the deadline, usually december 31st, but the very first time, a special exception april 1st. falls on a saturday. now monday april think. liz: don't you have enough to think about? stuart: the government says you have a life expectancy of 15 years. therefore you must take out 1/15th of everything in your account now and for the next 15 years. that is how they do it. if you missed that deadline, they will really mess you up. >> it is my retirement money? why do i have to be on their schedule. stuart: they don't want rich people to build up whopping big 401(k) to pass on to their estate. >> what about us who are not fabulously wealthy? stuart: i don't know about them. [laughter] >> that was funny. stuart: no, it was not. gerri willis you're all right. thanks very much. last week was not, i, moi,

not happy at the debacle of the republicans when they did not pass the replacement for obamacare. many guests told me, hey, stuart, just calm down. the woman who said this is on the show shortly. watch it. >> well you know my 10-year-old would say chill lax which is chill with relax. i'm pushing, he predict we'll see a vote definitely come before the easter break. gives them a couple more weeks to hash this out. it's great to finally meet you.

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pants people, lululemon. put out a poor forecast. don't do that. microsoft, the stocks which i own -- ♪ all-time high, ladies and gentlemen. retirement is around the corner. ashley: should i applaud? stuart: no. i want it to go up some more. 65.88. got it. >> president trump is going on the attack. he is going after the freedom caucus. look at this tweet came out earlier this morning. the freedom caucus will hurt the entire republican agenda if they don't get on the team and fast. we must fight them, and dems, in 2018. joining us fox news contributor mercedes schlapp right here in new york incomes to me. >> wonderful to be here. stuart: that was an attack and a half. >> sending a very direct message. president is upset at the fact that the president, vice president, secretary tom price, they spent a lot of time, a lot of their energy in courting conservatives, the freedom caucus members to support the health care bill. obviously that fell apart.

so now where are we on this next step? thing in shuns, what i heard from my sources it is going nowhere. they were hoping to get a second wind in the next two weeks get something passed. there was a big, sort of a big -- stuart: your senior producer in d.c. says there is a chance and republicans are talking about resubmitting that bill next week, before the easter recess. are you saying that ain't going to happen? >> i told you last week to chillax. at this point i think you need to worry. i don't think you will see a bill next two weeks. that is unlikely. moderates and conservatives do not seem to get to the middle ground, to the place. for freedom caucus members what is critical is finding a way to lower premiums. they feel the bill as it is will not get there. they're worried that the senate bill won't push forward in that direction. so, you know, it is interesting, if you're going to see the house leadership and moderates being able to bring along these

conservatives at this point that they're stuck. interesting enough, congressman poe from texas he left the freedom caucus. no more of saying no. we have to govern. we need a legislative victory. time to move forward. stuart: don't you think some other members of the freedom caucus with a trump -- with a tweet like that from president trump, don't you think some will come over to see the middle ground here? >> i hope so. the way conservatives work, they get infuriated and double down. stuart: wait a second, mercedes, what do you mean some of these conservatives? you're the lady who chaired the conservative party conference a month ago in d.c.? >> no what i'm saying there are those conservatives who will double down. they are in safe districts. for their constituents this bill makes no sense. they want to be able to drive down premiums. there are other conservatives on your show last week, marcia blackburn who were leaning towards the bill. some are willing to go along with the president and

leadership. there is division among conservatives. american conservative union, matt schlapp my sweet husband chairs, they were in favor of the like tea party express. this is not perfect bill but shouldn't support the bill. what do we have with heritage foundation? we shouldn't support the bill. stuart: you freedom caucus guys, get on board with the tweet? >> i'm a lover, not a fighter. i want to see people work together to have a legislative victory for the president. stuart: you will join the president? >> i'm a big believer in not throwing threats out there. i do understand the president's frustration, spending so much time and political capital courting conservatives look we can get to the middle ground, they were unable to achieve this victory. stuart: i think the republicans are a party of government now, get out there and governorrer. >> part of it is compromise. stuart: if you can't get one hundred%, compromise, take 80%.

i'm firmly against the freedom caucus on this issue. are you. >> they were defunding planned parenthood, definite components made sense for conservatives. i think the freedom caucus brought up a good point, how will you bring down premiums? how will you work getting rid of essential health benefits? there were several questions like guaranteed issue could be flushed out. unfortunately they could not get there, the president, went all the way towards the conservatives. they gave them a whole lot of what they wanted. >> let me warn president trump, he will not get anywhere with democrats. democrats want to protect obamacare, former president's legacy. the idea he will bring democrats along to help him, that is unrealistic. stuart: so we're not going to have a bill represented next week? >> i don't see it in next week. i could be wrong. i told you to chillax last week and now i'm telling you to worry. we'll see what happens. stuart: maybe you should be my

shrink? perhaps not. mercedes, always a pleasure. >> likewise, thank you. stuart: thanks very much much. for the first time android users spend more money on apps than apple users. that just came out of nowhere but we find it very, very interesting. tell me. ashley: to be honest with you, they should. the number of a people with android price compared to apple is five to one in favor of androids. however don't count out the app store at apple t generates massive amount of revenue and will continue to. the apple app store will continue to generate money overall for next five years. it speaks to the growth if you like, like samsung. the one we had on the set, s8 plus whatever it is, very high-end phone. they will try to match apps to go with the phone. there you go. stuart: quick check of a big board if you please. new high of the day. session high, up 78 points now and climbing.

i'm not sure what message the market is sending. maybe they like the idea of a full-court press for tax reform. maybe they like the idea that treasury secretary steve mnuchin is about to meet with the president in the oval office, in the white house. maybe that's why this market is going up. maybe they sense that they're going to get something on tax reform. maybe the market likes the attack on the freedom caucus, get on board, boys, come on, get on board, i don't know. but the market is up 84. as you watch this thing it is going up. what is doing well? financial stocks are doing very well. morgan, jpmorgan, morgan stanley , citigroup, wells, they're to the upside. let me remind you please, microsoft is now up 47 cents. very close to $66 a share. the regional banks are doing extremely well. we keep on climbing. look at that 90 points up. ashley: keep talking. stuart: if i keep talking like this, mercedes fill in a

sentence every now and then, up 90 points. 20,750. this is the high of the day. joining me now, congressman michael burgess, republican from texas. congressman, welcome back. good to see you again. >> good to see you. thanks for having me on. stuart: sir, we just heard, we hear a lot of talk about the obamacare replacement and repeal being resubmitted before the next week easter recess. various guests throw a lot of cold water, ain't going to happen. what says congressman burgess? >> i won't throw cold water. it is still a significant uphill climb after last friday when things kind of came, came apart. but, people are still hurting from this darn thing. the high deductibles, high premiums. premiums paying in the individual market with after-tax dollars.

people looking for tax relief for the premiums. stuart: stuart: yeah. >> these are things within our control. oh, by the way we got $20 trillion in debt. we can't get to that with discretionary cuts. there will have to be entitlement reform. this bill had $800 billion of entitlement reform. it was a good first he step. stuart: i would like to see it pass. got to say. i'm sure you're aware, congressman, earlier this morning president trump made a tweet. i'm interpreting it, i don't think there is any way otherwise, a direct attack on the freedom caucus. he is saying basically guys messed things up. look at that. you will hurt the entire republican agenda. our viewers can read rest of it. what do you make of that, congressman burgess, an attack on freedom caucus? >> let me say this. every republican is crucial. there are places we can differ but we need to come together and stay together.

these are rules brought up under recollection sill ages rules. they are crazy rules. they are senate rules. i don't understand why we have to play by those. that is the deal. the reconciliation vote means it was going to be, it is going to have, no procedural vote. no democrat will vote for reconciliation bill. stuart: so why not just resubmit it next week? what is wrong with that? why not just do it, get people on board so you have done something? >> truth of the matter is my comments to the conference earlier this week, i wasn't going to be terribly public about them, you know whether next week or the week after, but the last thing we can do go home for the easter recess and not have fixed this problem. stuart: yes, sir. stuart: thank you very much. glad you're on the show. hold on a second. you and several other lawmakers are having lunch with the president today. can you tell us what this meeting is going to be all about? >> my understanding to address

opiate crisis. we had several hearings between fentanyl and fentanyl analogs coming mostly from china and asia. people are being hurt. the dosages are not well-understood by the populace that uses them albeit illicitly. it is devastating in some communities. some states are affected worst than others. it tends to be in the center of the country right now, but it could be in everyone's state before you know it. stuart: you're a doctor yourself. you practiced for many, many years. you have something to say on this. congressman, appreciate you taking time from obviously busy day. come back real soon. >> anytime. thank you, stuart. stuart: yes, sir. brac to your money. take a look at those tech stocks there is apple and amazon are close to all-time highs. highest level they ever reached. lots of money going into big tech. microsoft close to a new high. $66 a share.

i own some microsoft. always have to put that out there. 65.94 is where we are. a lawmaker in massachusetts warns that illegal immigrants that immigration raids could be coming. issues a warning to them. they say she is obstructing justice. full story coming up at 11:00. next hour, labor secretary nominee, andy puzder, democrats object and obstruct policy of president donald trump. that gentleman on this program at 11:00. we'll be back. ♪

ashley: john williams, the san francisco federal reserve president says we could be seeing four rate hikes this year. he sat down with fox business's maria bartiromo this morning. take a listen. >> right now i think this view that my colleagues have expressed in our various projections that, three rate hikes over all for this year seems to be about right. i think there is upside risk to the economy. not risk but up side potential to the economy. maybe four rate hikes this year, depending on economic data,

depending how inflation and employment do. that will continue next year until we move to more normal interest rate. that is kind of what i think.

stuart: not much change in the yield on 10-year treasury. a lot of people check that very, very carefully as an indicator of future growth. now this. massachusetts state lawmaker, democrat, michelle dubois post ad warning to illegal immigrants on facebook. here is the quote. quote please be careful on wednesday the 29th. i.c.e. will be in brockton on that day. if you are undocumented, don't go out on the street. if there is a knock on the door, you don't know who it is, don't open the door." my next guest is the a sheriff of where that lady came from just over the line. this is sheriff of bristol county. his name is sheriff thomas thomas hodgin. >> thank you, stuart, for having me. stuart: you want to go out and arrest mayors of sang wary cities. can you do that? >> i don't have the jurisdiction to do it. certainly federal authorities

do. look, mayors and elected officials who are saying they're going to defy the federal law and harbor, conceal people who are in our country illegally, they need to be held to the same standards of accountability for violating the law that everyone much their constituents would be held to if they did the same thing. stuart: the idea you should warn illegals, hey, i.c.e. is coming, get out of the way, that is clearly out of bounds. but sheriff, do you have some sympathy for illegals who may have come to this country as children, maybe against their own will, and they could be subject to deportation? do you have some sympathy for them? >> well of course i have sympathy for young children who may have been brought here by their parent illegally or became citizens after they came, but here's the issue. you know, i suppose, and i heard people say, well, aren't you really, sort of breaking up families? i suppose that could be said of

me as a sheriff for the last 20 years because i have people in my facility every day who have committed crimes who are separated from their families. but, what is interesting people continue to blame the system and not hold accountable the people who made the bad choice to begin with that caused a hardship for their families and their communities. so, look, yes, of course we feel badly for children that get exposed to that, and have irresponsible parents who violate the law, certainly set a bad example for their own children, but realities are, this whole issue about warning illegals and president trump's made it clear. we're targeting criminal illegal aliens here. for her to have sent that out, alert out, to notify members of a transnational gang that i.c.e. might be targeting, giving them the opportunity to maybe stock weapons and, when the i.c.e. agents show up attack them, these are serious, serious offenses. stuart: understood, sir.

you did say you would like to arrest the mayor of some sanctuary cities. i got that. now the mayor of summerville, that is a sanctuary city in massachusetts, the mayor there is saying to you, come get me. what is your response? >> well, my response is first of all, that wouldn't be a you are is prize sort of statement to deflect away from the fact he doesn't want to explain why he is violating the federal law, choosing on his own not to obey it. secondarily he will be a little bit disappointed i won't be there. it is not my jurisdiction. what he needs to be concerned about, if a federal agent shows up he is in a violation of that federal law. stuart: sheriff, thanks fo joining us today. we know you are very busy. >> thanks for having me, stuart. appreciate it. stuart: we have this for you. blue apron, the meal kit company, comes in a box, get everything you need to cook the evening meal, i think that is how it works, they're making plans to go public. emac, you told us earlier how much they are going to raise

with this. tell us that again. liz: this valuation they're sticking to $2 billion they would value that? who would have thunk this. online groceries are a big market. hundred of billions. $60 for three meals a week. people love it. prepackaged, good ingredients. comes in a bock, good delivery and service. people like it. stuart: i'm astonished valuations put on a meal company of $2 billion. >> you wonder, wonder if it is a sign of a market top. came right after snap, right? stuart: good question. very good. well-done. how about this one, bill ackman, you know him, hedge fund billionaire, he apologized to investors of a $4 billion loss. i think that was within his hedge fund. he says, sorry? liz: he is saying, this is disasterous move by bill ackman. stuart: what did he invest in.

>> liz: valeant. valeant was basically a roll-up company, pharmaceutical company that acquired a lot of pharmaceuticals, small players. this stock has plummeted. his hedge fund got smacked around big time with sizable losses. and he is saying we should have been on the stick, we should have seen the bad management team at valeant, that they didn't know what they were doing. stuart: it is a brash guy. it is rare for him to apologize. $4 billion loss is something to apologize for. look at that charge of valeant. thanks, lizzie, good stuff. liz: sure. stuart: president reagan's in the tax cuts helped me fulfill be part of an american dream. remember it took two full years to return the whole country to prosperity after president reagan's tax cuts. i will do my take on that at the top of the hour. yes?

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i did not have a bowl cut. i did not wear a beatles shirt. anything to say, ash? ashley: my mother pudding bowl haircut. put pudding bowl. my mother watches the show. i can't remember having a top haircut but maybe at some point. stuart: i hitchhikerred around the world. part of my time i spent in iran. i did not have a beatles t-shirt. i had an american white t-shirt, which i brought bought given from college friends from america. a pair of blue jeans. ashley: you didn't stick out in iran? stuart: well, back in those days,. ashley: the shah. stuart: i saw the shah of iran. he went through mashed i was there. >> said look it, stuart varney. stuart: no he didn't. i said look, there is the shah of iran. happy days, folks. maybe one day i will write a book about it, but probably not. okay? we'll be back with more after this.

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stuart: i have often said that ronald reagan's tax cuts helped put me and fulfill my american dream. i was doing okay financially, but i have a large family. his tax cuts allowed me the move up the food chain. but let's not forget that it took two full year reagan program to produce the robust growth for which he is justly famous. now look at today's new york times headline. little sign of trump bump in the economic forecast. oh, how quickly the left belittles the trump growth program. he's less than 70 days into his presidency, the lefts has blocked everything he's tried to do, and along comes the times dismissing him before he even gets started. the times considers the surge in confidence and optimism as soft data, and it fails to report at all on the blowout performance of the manufacturing sector

reported by three federal reserve districts. as we said, ignore the noise, focus on what is actually happening. now look, i can't resist including this: it's from the timesagain. their sports page, even there the contempt for trump shines through. the sports page. the lpga, we are told, has a couple of golfers who are uncomfortable about playing in the u.s. women's open in july because it's being played on a trump golf curse. quote: the storm clouds are gathering, says "the new york times." trump contempt even on the sports page. the third hour of "varney & company" is about the begin. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

stuart: you know, why are we doing this? why are we playing this? i'll tell you why, this is for lawrence in california, a viewer who requested this particular song. >> i love it. stuart: it's by the ojs, by the way. >> yes, it is. great song. stuart: by the way, lots of our viewers request music, and on this occasion we've granterred the request. >> lovely. stuart: if you want to request the beatles, you'll have a lot more -- [laughter] a very important guy is on the show this morning, he's thor equities ceo, this guy counts when it comes to watching wall street. welcome back, joe, good to see you again. >> thank you. pleasure to be back together with you today. stuart: okay. what'd you say? somebody's got -- okay. you're coming up on the show shortly, okay? i'm not supposed to go to you just yet, so let's be clear here. my mistake. >> we're excited. stuart: you are a great guy, i'm telling you, and we'll get you

on eventually, hold on. who else is on the show, let me tell you, please -- [laughter] cke restaurants ceo andy puzder, former apple ceo john sculley, jam packed hour. there you go. let's get right to your money, because the dow is at almost the high of the day. that is a 91-point gain as we speak. that puts the dow back at 20,750 or almost. there was some economic news out this morning, fourth quarter growth annualized at 2.1%. we know that, no impact on the market, frankly. look, let's look at individual stock groups, shall we? the big banks, all of them, moving higher. jping morgan, goldman, citigroup, wells fargo on the upside yet again. how about the regional banks? i think you're going to see even bigger gains, yeah, 1-2% up for regional banks.

check out lululemon, the yoga pants people. a weak sales forecast is taking them down, a 22% drop right there. we've got fresh, all-time highs for amazon and also for apple and for microsoft as well. i own some. getting close to $66 a share. still on those big tech companies, look at amazon's jeff bezos. he is no fan of donald trump, that's for sure, but he has benefited mightily from the trump presidency. his net worth, that's jeff bezos, has gone up $10.2 billion this calendar year. now let me introduce you to joe sith, the ceo of -- eye glasses there. you're on, by the way. >> thanks. stuart: thor equities s is that correct? >> yes, sir. stuart: what's this about, a retail boom?

>> i really see a goldilocks moment in our country if people can see past the rhetoric. first of all, some of the bumps along the way, the down shift i would call it the trump administration's taking from sixth gear to fifth gear, i think, is a positive. i think all the rhetoric against his children's involvement, and/or gary cohn is so wrong. and now you've got a balance in the government at least in the white house. you've got bannon and miller on one side, you've got gary cohn, jared and ivanka on the other side. and what i see going forward for the administration is them taking a two-pronged approach. bannon and miller will handle one sector of the government, and i think jared, sank ca and gary will all make an extra approach to the moderate democrats. stuart: hold on, i know you're in full flight, but stand back a second. what you're saying is that politics is extremely important for stock prices, and you like

the way politics are going because you think that this administration is beginning to move towards the center. have i summed it up about right? >> better than i could have ever said it, so on the money, and you see it in the words you used earlier. you said amazon, microsoft, google all hitting all-time highs. and if you think what that means for the economy here in the united states and even globally, it's tremendous because it creates dollars, it creates business and activity. you look at los angeles, a city that candidly, while we loved it for the sun, from pure business, i don't think it's been 30, 40 years of any type of economic vitality. today you go there, you go into the restaurants, you see the business, the activity, and so much of that is either from the trickle down effect of call it the bay area of all those businesses moving, expanding homes, or you have it coming a little bit from the, companies like -- from the south, companies like youtube and snapchat that are based down

there and overlay it with hollywood. you might say, why hollywood? hollywood today has been infected by the technology bug. you see companies like netflix, you see amazon, you see all the content that's coming up. there's not a week that doesn't go by, i'm sure, that a friend doesn't tell you about a new television -- >> absolutely. >> did you see game of thrones, did you see night manager, did you see this, did you see that. and that's driving business. today actors are getting paid more per film -- stuart: you're a positive guy. you're laying out a very posse their owe. all kind of good, positive developments. you're looking forward towards a really growing economy? >> myself, yes. i'm not always a positive guy. i think that i was a little bit more bearish, you know, from a real estate investor's perspective. we were way more net sellers three years ago than we are today -- stuart: you're a real estate guy primarily. >> yes. we're in all investment classes, but primarily real estate

globally, be it latin america, mexico, western europe and the united states investing both for institutions and high net worth. and from my perspective, what's on the horizon -- be it the trillion dollar spending budget the trump administration's planning to do or the tax cuts -- all very positive, very bullish and very exciting for business here in the united states of america. stuart: we've got to get a tax cut deal this year. you're confident we yet9 the deal -- we get the deal this year? >> i think the best thing that happened to this administration, be it tax cuts or the infrastructure spending, was the failure that happened to health care friday. stuart: the best thing? spell it out. >> i'll tell you why. sometimes all of us need a little taste of humble pie. i think the administration got a little bit of a reality check in how hard some of the politics is to actually get done in washington d.c. and i think that they've regrouped, they're going to redouble their efforts, they're going to be smarter, they're going to be more tactful, and they're going to be more inclusive in terms of their approaches to be able to get

through the the political hurdles with their ideas. and be inclusive in terms of maybe sharing some of the credit for a lot of what they're doing. and i'm hoping that eventually, as i call the doctors with the bad bedside manner, to say the least in some cases, but his genius in terms of so many of the programs that are pro and are positive to the left and the right, ivanka's agenda with all the negative publicity we saw in the last 48 hours about ivanka's new role as his assistant, her agendas are all what the democrats want to see in terms of the environment -- stuart: have you any friends in new york on wall street? are you any friends left? you just said this on national television. >> you know what? i am a friend of both sides. gary cohn, who really is running the entire economics of this country who happens to be a very good personal friend of mine, as well as jared, the two of them are, believe it or not, very

strong leaning democrats their entire lives. so i believe this is not an administration that other than the rhetoric is purely focused on right, but with time will show that that triumvirate will be -- stuart: you've got a lot to say, but you said it very, very well. for a financial guy, you do quite well. >> i think you set me up well. [laughter] you gave me a freebie. stuart: so then you'll come back? >> after today, yes. as long as you don't make up for it -- [laughter] stuart: i'm not going to touch it. i promise. joe sitt, you're all right. thank you very much, indeed. all right, let's get to this, carl's jr. reworking its image, pulling those racy ads that you see on your screen. they made a funny announcement about the change in the image that they're projecting. we're going to play you the full clip in a bit with the man

behind those ads. andy puzder, he's also the former labor secretary nominee. he's back on "varney & company." he's got a lot to go at, so do we. back in a moment. ♪ ♪ the bottom line is, for your goals, this is a strategy i'd recommend. this actually makes sense. now on the next page you'll see a breakdown of costs. what? it's just... we were going to ask about it but we weren't sure when. so thanks. yeah, that's great. being clear and upfront. multiplied by 14,000 financial advisors, it's a big deal. and it's how edward jones makes sense of investing.

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>> it's not his policies that really bothers them -- stuart: that's right. >> it's not the tax plan or the immigration plan or the travel ban. they're not fond of that, but that's not it. it's donald trump they don't like. stuart: he spells it right out, bernie goldberg, media critic, frequent guest on this program, thankfully. he says the left obstructs president trump because they just don't like him. that's one good reason. andy puzder joins us now, former trump economic be adviser. andy, you know a thing or two about democrat obstruction. that's what happened to you, isn't it? >> it is.

there's really no way that the democrats wanted a successful business person in there that might be able to help president trump generate economic growth and the job growth and wage and benefit growth that would come with it if i got in there. so there was -- they were, they were -- the opposition was stiff. stuart: but did you -- i know this is a touchy subject, but did you get the support that you should have gotten from the republican party and from the administration? >> well, you'd always like more support, but the president and the vice president were very, very supportive. there came a time when the press went after me very hard, and there were some attacks on my family and on our house where i went to the transition team and said, look, if you would like, i will, i'll withdraw from this. and i was told that from the highest floors of trump tower that the message was there's no darn way that -- and i cleaned that up, there's no darn way you're withdrawing, you hang in there, we need you.

i always felt i got support. stuart: what now for andy puzder? >> well, i signed a deal to write a book. i'm still ceo of the company. as you mentioned, we've got this new ad campaign coming out so, which is my responsibility if it fails. and jasonen marker, the new guy coming in, he can take the credit if it succeeds. but i've been working on that. and i'll be doing more -- in fact, i'm writing op-eds again, i'm on your show, which it's a pleasure to be back. i'll have plenty to do. i'm looking forward to it. retiring was my idea, and i spoke with my wife about it. i've got six kids and six grandkids, and we're going to enjoy our life, and i'll do more political writing. stuart: well, i've got six kids and nine grandchildren. >> good for you. that's much better. [laughter] stuart: you know politic, you've been on the inside of it over the past few months. tell me, what do you think about a tax reform bill this year? is it gonna happen? >> i think it is going to happen, and i, you know, i know the president's gotten a lot of

criticism for what happened with the health care bill. but, look, as a businessman, i think he played that perfectly. because once, you know, you don't always get dealt the hand you want, and he got dealt this hand with the freedom caucus and the difficulties of the republican party coming together. we're citying try -- still trying to learn with how to be the party in power. but when he lost, what he said was, okay, guys, fine. i'll now work with the moderates in our party, i'll work with the democrats, we'll come up with a bill. you're going to like it a whole lot less than the bill that would have passed if you'd work with me, and all of a sudden you start hearing talk about republicans are reconsidering. i think "the art of the deal" is this guy. he handled it like a businessman, not a politician, and i think he'll push tax reform and have a much more receptive crowd after this debacle with the health care bill. stuart: well, he's pushing hard on the freedom caucus. the president was tweeting this morning. it was a direct attack on the

freedom caucus, basically saying, you people, get on board because we've got to win this one. get on board. do you see republicans coming together? >> they're going to have to. if you think about it, stuart, you think every democrat supported the obamacare bill, the aca, when it was initially passed? do you honestly think joe manchin and bernie sanders and elizabeth warren were on the same page? no, they weren't, but they were on a team. they understood about moving the ball down the field. some republicans don't understand that, and they need to understand it, or we're not going to get anything done, and we're going to lose the house and lose the senate.so we need n getting these bills passed. stuart: i think the democrats do politics better than republicans -- much better. stuart: andy, please stay there, i'll i talk to you more after this. carl's jr., they're getting rid of racy ads, we'll have more on that, but here's a clip from their announcement of getting new ads. watch it. ♪

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stuart: as you saw before the break, carl's jr. is getting rid of those racy ads. they had a very interesting transition with an ad that resurrected the racy ads to some degree. andy puzder is still the ceo of cke restaurants, and i want to know, andy, why you -- as the ceo -- would want to change those very successful, albeit very race -- racy, ads. why do you change them? >> thanks very much. and jason marker, who's a great guy -- he's going to be the new ceo -- he may want to bring them back. the reason i changed was back about a year ago in december 2015 i went to our ad agency and said, look, young, hungry guys aren't as affected by the racy ads with the swim suit mod pells because you can get a lot of that on the internet now. it's not like it was 10, 12 years ago.

now they don't have as much of an impact. young guys today, the millennial young guys are concerned with where do you source your beef, what kind of cooking system do you have, and we're the only brand with all natural beef, char broiling -- is. stuart: no, no, no -- [laughter] >> well, that's what the research -- you and i certainly may like the ads we've been running a long time, but the younger guys can get that on the internet. stuart: please. >> they are more interested in where your beef is from. so we'll see. stuart: you're trying to tell our wonderful viewers that somehow or other young guys in their early 20s are more interested in what kind of cooker you use than sex? come on, andy. >> no, i'm not trying to tell you that at all, but you don't need a carl's jr. or a hard des ad -- hardee's ad. the way you get their attention is the food, not so much to the beautiful actresses or supermodels anymore. look, jason marker's coming in,

did a wonderful job at kfc, had those ads with the different colonels. he may decide at some point to go back. if this doesn't work, it's on me. but i think this is what we needed to do to continue to bring in these young, young-hungry guys, not older guys like you and me. stuart: before we leave you, andy, i have to tell you that your statement was greeted with a great deal of skepticism in this studio, but, hey, what do i know about marketing? >> well, maybe it won't work, you never know. [laughter] stuart: ann. andrea: -- andy, it was great to have you. any moment now we're going to be hearing from speaker paul ryan, approximately half past the hour. remember, earlier this week he made news in his regular conference by saying health care, that vote is not dead. and there are some reports that say that bill is going to be resubmitted next week. maybe we'll hear something about that from mr. ryan momentarily. stay with us, please, it could move the market. ♪ ♪

stuart: speaker paul ryan expected to hold a press conference any moment now on the republican agenda. we're going to take you there when he appears.

is he going to say anything about resubmitting the health care bill next week? there's speculation that might happen. right now, though, bringing in senator john thune, republican from south dakota, a member of the senate finance committee. senator, will you address, please, the big debate about keeping the government funded? i know there's going to be a vote fairly soon. seems to us the republicans are between a rock and a hard place. whichever way they go, they've got a problem. what says john thune, senator? >> look, stuart, i help we get a vote that funds the government for the rest of the fiscal year, up until september 30th. unfortunately, last year democrats blocked consideration after owl these appropriation bills -- all these appropriation bills. there are 12 bills, so it has to happen now, the other 11 bills have to be packaged together and moved as one big omnibus appropriations spending bill. probably comes from the house of representatives first, then the senate will consider it.

there's still discussions going on about what might be in those bills, but at the end of the day, we've got to found -- to fund the government, we we that. stuart: do you news 60 votes? >> we do. stuart: you've got to have democrats onboard, and they won't give you money for building the wall, take money away from planned parenthood, you'll have to bend to their will. >> it's very likely when the house moves a bill, it'll include certain riders that address some of the issues that you mentioned. the question is as we, you know, take it up in the senate, what can we get 60 votes for, and you're correct, i'm guessing that there probably isn't going to be much democrat cooperation on some of those issues. so that'll trigger some decisions we'll have to make about how to process that bill here. the one thing we know is we've got to fund the government through the end of this fiscal year, and then very soon now we've got to get started on next year's budget. stuart: heaven forbid you shut the government down because you, sir, will get the blame.

>> we always do. stuart: mr. senator, would you hold on for a second? speaker ryan is approaching the podium. we want to hear what he's got to say. listen in, please. >> congress was able to successfully use this authority just once, but since president trump took office, we have already sent 11 measures to his desk, and the senate is acting on another one today. many of these initiatives are designed to protect jobs, especially for america's energy workers. with one bill we stopped a rule that would have wiped out about one-third of the jobs in coal country alone. combine our actions with the steps that the president has taken to jump-start pipelines and reverse president obama's hold on affordable energy, these things will help people get back to work and give a real boost to our economy. with all of these measures, we are doing something very, very fundamental, and that's the point i think is really worth seeing here.

for too long we have had unelected bureaucrats writing our laws. we have been having unelected bureaucrats dictating the rules that we have to live under, and the rest of government just goes along with it. but now we are turning power from washington back to states and communities and to the elected branch of government. we are giving people more control and more of a say in the decisions that are made in their classrooms, at their businesses, on their lands. this is good progress, and we're going to make more in weeks to come. phil. >> speaker, i know your policy is not responding the all the president's tweets, but this one directly involves your conference saying of the freedom caucus, we must fight them in 2018. sounds like he's calling for primary fights. do you agree with the assessment the move his agenda? >> look, i understand the president's frustration. i share frustration. about 90% of our conference is for this bill, to repeal and replace obamacare, and about 10% are not. that's not enough to pass the bill. we're close. i'm encouraging members to keep

talking until we can get the consensus to pass this bill, but it's very understandable that the president is frustrated that we haven't gotten to where we need to go, because this is something we all said we would do. he is expressing his frustration. you all know that he does that in various forms including twitter, and i understand his frustration. >> the senate today is moving forward with their russia investigation exposing the real immediate danger that russia poses to america's democracy. the house committee seems to be bogged down in politics, focusing more on the president's tweets. is the house committee missing the big picture? >> i want the house committee to have a full, thorough and bipartisan investigation, get everything out there, follow the facts wherever they go and get to the truth. that's going to take some time, and i, i'm confident they're going to do that. this has gotten political, let's take a pause and get all the evidence, all the documents and find out what happened. what i'm worried about with russia is you've got elections

coming on line in europe, you know, this year. so is the russians clearly are trying to meddle in other countries' election. we have to help our allies prevent that from happening and uncover it. we have to find out what they tried to do here, we've got to make sure we get to the bottom of that. and wherever the facts go. but we also, in my opinion, need to do more to help our allies guard against this invasion into their democracy from russia. >> thank you, mr. speaker. a number of republicans i spoke to this week said that you need the $880 billion from medicaid savings from the health care bill in order to lower the revenue baseline so is you can achieve significant corporate -- >> it's the other way around. it's not the medicaid, it's the revenue. it's the -- you know how this works. you're a budget guy. >> do you agree there is a direct correlation between medicaid -- >> no, there is not a direct correlation, that's not correct. somebody's misunderstanding how baselines work around here.

the spending baseline has to do with tax reform. it's the obamacare taxes that themselves affect tax reform. here's the way the math works. if we repeal the obamacare taxes, then that is a revenue baseline that we don't have to put into tax reform. if we don't repeal the obamacare taxes, it is my position that we're just going to have to leave those taxes over there with obamacare and reform the rest of the irs tax code. but it does make tax reform harder. it's all about the revenue baseline, it has nothing to do with the spending baseline. chad. >> mr. speaker, explain this idea of not wanting the president to work with democrats -- >> oh, yeah, sure. >> -- on the health care bill, but also -- [inaudible] chris collins, you know, a big trump ally, and he says, you know, the next time that thefrey group, we should hang up the phone. he says we're not going to hit health care again until 2019. you say we're close. why should anyone believe that?

>> well, because about 90 president of our conference -- 90% of our conference is there -- >> 90% doesn't get you there. >> that's exactly right, but 95 does. that's why i say we're close, because we are. democrats aren't for repealing obamacare. we are. we work with democrats all the time. patty murray and i did a big budget agreement. so we have long histories of working with democrats. but i don't think it's a stretch of the mind to suggest that the democrats disagree with us on repealing obamacare. they're not going to help us repeal obamacare. that's my point. and so if we're going to do what we said we would do, which is repeal and replace obamacare and save the american health care system, something tells me the democrats aren't going to help us repeal obamacare. they're the ones who created it in the first place. yeah. >> mr. speaker, on fiscal '17 will you send an 31-bill -- 11-bill omnibus to the house? will it fund the wall -- >> the bill hasn't been

completed yet, so it's premature to get into the cop tents of the bill -- contents of the bill. there's 11 other bills that we would pass, the question is, is it one, is it two, i think that's up to the senate. it's really about their calendar and how they work. but our goal is to work on the rest of the bills, and that's what our appropriators are negotiating. those negotiations aren't done, so it'd be be mature to get into the contents of -- >> [inaudible] think you're going to send them a spending wrap-up. >> yeah, that's right. we've already sent them dod. >> how should republicans -- [inaudible] posturing reductions -- [inaudible] >> well, yes, and right over there. that didn't sound too good. [laughter] yes. i think the answer is, yes, on your last part. but the lawsuit's going to take some time.

this is a separation of powers issue, and i don't know when the lawsuit's going to get with regard up. i think it goes into may if we end up going to court, that could take us months. so it's just a continual -- it's currently an unresolved issue. >> but if the payments should be continued -- >> while the lawsuit is being litigated, then the administration funds these benefits. that's how they've been doing it, and i don't see any change in that. >> sir, to follow up on that, you just said that the $7 billion, this would destabilize -- [inaudible] if this lawsuit is successful, so why not drop the lawsuit? >> we don't want to drop the lawsuit because we believe in the separation of powers. we believe in congress retaining its law-making power. but this lawsuit has not seen, hasn't run its full course. while this lawsuit is running its course, the administration is exercising their discretion with respect to csrs. our plan a here is the repeal and replace obamacare and have that transition occur where these markets are stabilized,

and that's what we hope to achieve. >> [inaudible] >> so the house bill seems to be a little bit in limbo, and you're encouraging members the talk to each other. will you commit there will be another vote on this bill or a similar bill? >> i'm not going to commit to when and what the vote's going to look like because it's my job to help make sure that house republicans can coalesce and come together and draw consensus. what i'm encouraging our members to do is figure out what solutions get us to a bill that everybody can vote f and pass. that's the kind of conversations that are occurring. this is too big of an issue to not get right. and so i'm not going to put some kind of artificial deadline on saving the american health care system from oncoming collapse. i just think it's too important. let's forget about all the beltway talk here and think about there are families that are hurting, there are families that aren't getting the kind of health care they need. premiums are going up double digits, plans are pulling out of marketplaces.

no one has a choice in a third of american counties. this is a problem. and the actuaries, the insurance companies are telling us it's just going to get worse. so it's really important that we do something to fix this problem, and that's going to take us to continue to work to get consensus. and i'm not going to put a timeline on it, because i just want to make sure we get this done right. thank you very much, everybody. appreciate it. stuart: you heard it right there, he's not going to put a timeline on it. early this morning we had some reporting that maybe they'd resubmit the health care bill maybe next week and get a quick vote on it. paul ryan, the speaker, there saying he's not putting a timeline on it. we're still talking, we're not going to go until we've gotten agreement that we'll pass. so probably we'll not get that bill replaced into congress in the next couple of weeks. probably not. that's my reading of it anyway. dan henninger is with us this morning, "wall street journal" opinion page guy. welcome back, dan. >> good to be with you, stuart. stuart do you agree with my

reasoning there having listened to paul ryan? we're probably not going to get a health care bill resubmitted. >> it doesn't look like it. the freedom caucus is under a lot of pressure, but bear in mind that the house and the congress will go into easter recess in a couple of weeks, so they're going to go away for a week. when they come back,back, the speaker was describing, they've got the spending bill to deal with and the tax reform bill as well. the whole idea was to get this health care reform done so that they could move forward on this very crowded calendar. now it's all bunched together. stuart: i think you pretty much nixed the idea of that health care man, and the market's come back a little bit. we were up 90 when he started the speak, now we're up 65. >> yeah, i don't know that he nixed it entirely. it would have been a good thing to do. the freedom caucus has thrown -- let's talk about absolute fundamentals, stuart. what happened on the night of november 8th last year?

donald trump beat hillary clinton. and he beat -- we all agree it was for one reason and one reason only, change. people wanted change from the status quo. fast forward to last week, you've got this bill to repeal obamacare, start the process of replace, and the freedom caucus takes it upon themselves to say, oh, no, the election wasn't about change, it's about our objections to the details of this bill. it doesn't pass, and here we are, and they've got the democrats with the winds at their back. you read through the details of the fund raising right now, democratic senators like claire mccaskill are raising huge amounts of money from democratic donors for that 208 election. stuart: can i just put on the screen president trump's tweet about the freedom caucus first thing this morning? for the benefit of viewers who are just joining us, you not seen it, this is a flat-out attack on the freedom caucus. he's saying: you guys had had better get in line, because we've got to win this one.

we'll get it up in a second. but, essentially, dan, the president is with you, or you are with the president, and i think he's also with paul ryan. there it is on the screen now. he's basically pulling towards the center here. that's what he's doing. >> well, he's trying to hold his base together, his coalition in the congress. he mentions in that tweet the dangers of lose anything 2018. stuart: yeah. >> it's only two years from now. if you get into next year, 2018, get closer to that election, every member of congress has started looking out for his own interests. now is the time when the president has the political capital to get these things done. the freedom caucus has got to come to their senses and see their legacy could be tanking the republican party. stuart: and that was a warning shot across the bow with tax reform in mind, i do believe. dan henninger, thank you, sir. now this, president trump says under his america first agenda, iphones will be made here in america.

yeah, he says that. john sculley joins us now, former apple ceo and rx advanced chairman and ceo. sir, welcome back to the program. we've not seen you in a long time. welcome back. >> thank you, stuart. nice to be back. stuart: you have some experience of silicon valley and apple. do you think that we're going to be making apple iphones at any point in the future in the united states? >> well, apple's got a great ceo who really understands the complexity of manufacturing, and what i would say is that the only practical way to make iphones or other products liking that in the u.s. is you've got to be able to manage the supply chain effectively. now, that means that many of these components are being made in mexico, so we've got to figure out how do you get the components in the supply chain to the u.s. so they can be assembled, and that requires getting past a lot of these border tax issues. stuart: i'm reading between the lines, john scully, and you're saying, no, we're probably not going to make the iphone in

the united states. can you tell me one other thing, however, before we move on. you know silicon valley, why do most people detest and have contempt for donald trump? >> well, i don't live in silicon valley anymore, so i don't have maybe the firsthand knowledge even though i'm very involved in the high-tech industry. the reality is immigration, i think, is such a central issue for high-tech people. about almost 70% of the leadership of silicon valley, stuart, is people who come from some other part of the world, who have come to silicon valley because they have unique talents. we need the h-1b visas for the most talented people. immigration is very, very fundamental to america's innovation. it's a big issue in silicon valley. stuart: what do you think the corporate tax rate should be? i believe it's 35% now, where would john sculley put it? >> i'd put it at 20%. 20% is what a good deal of the world has.

we need to get a lower corporate tax. but in addition to the lower corporate tax, we've got to reduce regulations. the greatest legacy of the obama administration was they went in and added regulations in financial services, the fcc, health care. we've got to roll back that, regulations. it's killing small and medium business, and as you know, stuart, that's where all the jobs are. stuart: yes, sir. real fast, you're working on a new venture. now, straighten me out. i believe it is a cloud-based pharmacy benefit manager. can you give me 20 seconds of explanation, and then we'll figure something out after that? >> sure. well, the single highest cost in the health care system relates to the rx ecosystem, the pharmaceuticals and related medical costs. turns out, stuart, there's about $450 billion of avoidable drug-impacted medical costs. and what we're focused on is how

do you take tens of billions, even potentially hundreds of billions of dollars of costs out of the system. do you know that only 5% of the population are spending $1 is.5 trillion -- $1.5 trillion or 50% of our health spend? the politicians are all focused on do we get a a peel and replacement for obamacare, and yet those subsidies aren't enough to live up to the president's aspiration of we want a better health care alternative for people and more people covered. the only way to do that is to go in and focus on where the money is. these are the most expensive patients, the ones who are chronically ill. they're 50% of the health spend. most of that is in drug-related costs. those are the things we focus on. it's little the private sec -- sec -- letting the private sector figure out how to lower the cost in health care. stuart: oh, i'd love to get that

one fixed. john sculley, thank you very much. we appreciate that. thank you, sir. check out that big board, we've come back down a little. we were up 93 points, then speaker ryan talk took to the microphone and said -- i think he was throwing cold water on the idea that anytime soon we're going back to the health care bill. >> yeah. he also said the obamacare taxes, the fact that was not done makes tax reform harder. stuart: he did. he said tax reform is made more difficult by the failure of health care reform. >> right. stuart: he said that, and the market came down a bit, not much. we're still at 20,700, but i think it did have a market impact. all right, everyone, we've got a lot more for you. don't go away, we will be back. o give investors even more value. and at $4.95, you can trade with a clear advantage. fidelity, where smarter investors will always be.

>> it's my job to help make sure that house republicans can coalesce and come together and draw consensus. what i'm encouraging our members to do is figure out what solutions get us to a bill that everybody can vote for and pass. that's the kind of conversations that are occurring. this is too big of an issue to not get right, and so i'm not going to put some kind of artificial deadline on saving the american health care system from an oncoming collapse are. stuart: there was talking early this morning that that health care bill would be resubmitted before the easter recess. i believe speaker ryan put some

cold water on that one, saying he's not going to bring in any kind of timeline. judge andrew napolitano joins us now, and i've got kind of a philosophical question, if you like. it's all about health care. is health care a right in america? or anywhere? is it a right in america? >> i think it's a great question and, you know, i've i've opined on this elsewhere. stuart: yes. >> i think the way obamacare came about and its pervasiveness, it affects so many people, it has subtly produced the view even amongst traditional small government people like speaker ryan and the majority in the, of the republicans in the house that it is a right and the federal government has an obligation to provide it. now, i have argued in my column today, to which you were trying to make a reference, thats it is not a right. -- that it is not a right. it's a good -- stuart: a product. >> correct, it's a product like a good education. and it's not something that is an inherent right like speech or travel or privacy.

it's not a natural right, it's not even articulated in the constitution. government has decided to give away. this is what the supreme court said about it. so people who were forced to make contributions about social security and didn't want to make them and sued the government, and the supreme court said social security's not a right. the federal government can take that money and spend it on constructing buildings if it wants. this is no right -- there is no right or obligation of the government to provide for social security, medicare or medicaid. it can do it if it wants politically, but you have no claim to it. so a right is a claim. you don't have a claim to it. politicians want to give something away, they can do it. they want to take my money and give it to somebody else and they do it lawfully, they can do it. but that doesn't entitle that person to the claim of that money. stuart: understood. >> that's the argument i wish would be made. it troubles me when small government republicans begin to sound like democrats.

it's our job to fix health care. it's not your job to fix health care. it's the job of the free market to fix health care. stuart: take your judge's hat off, your robes for one moment and consider the obvious question: what do you do with a poor person who has a terminal illness, and they haven't got enough money to pay for care or treatment? >> very, very difficult question. stuart: what do you do? >> i would contribute money to that person -- stuart: but that's charity. >> that's charity. but if the government takes your money, that's not charitable. it's someone else's money. stuart: what is it? they don't have a right to your money, but -- >> the government has decided whether it's constitutional or not, whether it's to biggity or not, that as a country we will be charitable towards poor people. and it will take your tax dollars and mine. we're in a position where we can afford our own health insurance and get health coverage for people who can't. now the governments has taken that and said we're going to make sure everyone gets coverage. stuart: when it comes to

deciding who does the government help, you draw a line somewhere whether it's income or occupation, whatever it is, but the government has to draw that line, and politicians decide where that line is, up here or down there. >> right. and because that's not in the constitution, the supreme court says you can be a poor person and rely on government largess, and one day it could stop, and you have no right, no claim to it. so if the government wants to face society, if the american public wants a society where those who have will help those who have not, they better put it in the constitution. stuart: ten seconds, last words to me. you always felt political reality. >> yes, you're right. i don't always forget political reality. we're talking theory. stuart: five second toss a hard break. >> still love you. stuart: you're done. [laughter] three, two, one. more "varney" after this.

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stuart: yet again we're seeing what i'm going to call a politicized stock market.

about a half hour ago, 40 minutes ago we were up 90 point. then speaker ryan came out, went to the microphones and said, probably, didn't say it in these words, probably not getting health bill returned to congress before easter recess. that did it. market up 45 points. neil, it is yours. neil: incredible. why are they doing it? these tax cuts are slipping away. i know he they're quite a cause for you and they should be but these guys are botching it. stuart: you joining chorus of criticism that i spend too much time on tax cuts. neil: what i worry about, mixed up priorities, speaker not optimistic about the time frame, then why should we be? thank you, my friend. boy, you're right on the money on this and we're trying to follow the money and the fact a lot of people say, we want our money? we want more of that money back. three out of four americans say,