counterterrorism, isis, syria with the chemical gas attack that's going to be on the table. stuart: my time is up but, neil, i believe it's yours now and i think we will shut up as we wait for the king and queen of jordan. neil: there's a little answer as to what ashley was raising. they used to take foreign dignitaries as king abdullah makes arrival, you had magnificent shots, they have chosen this entrance. i don't know why but i think ashley is quite right that as far as camera shots are involved, they are much easier and far more dramatic because it's all open. i thought that was a very good question, of course, on ashley's point here but the north portico enters the northern entrance to the white house that leads you to the west wing and eventually the oval office.

welcome everybody, i'm neil cavuto and we are keeping an eye on dignitaries and wife visiting the united states. timing is everything because all of this comes in light of our wanting to get punishing measures on syria for what appears to be the use of chemical weapons against its people and we are looking at for a universal slapdown of the syrians there. we'll spell it out. we see power shifting within the national security team that is at the white house of the steve bannon, we're hearing right now, has been removed from that position. it is not necessarily what it appears. blake burman on the phone to tell us what is going here. blake? >> reporter: i'm on the phone. watching live shot of king's arrival. they wouldn't let us cross to the camera positions because there is butch of highly important people here at white house. what the secret service says we do and follow. hello from the phone, 100 feet away from video you were

watching. as it relates to steve bannon. he has been taken off as a permanent fixture. that is the key part of the national security council's principal committee. let me wind you back from the beginning. steve bannon is the chief strategist here at the white house. one of the top advisors to the president. when the president came in there was reorganization of this principle committee, standing members, folks invited into nsc meetings every single time and steve bannon was put on that select group. in past administrations a person of steve bannon's caliber within the administration was not automatically put on but he was in this case. this today is another reorganization, steve bannon, not automatic member now as it relates to these nsc principle committee meetings but he will be able to attend as senior administration official, breaks it down with the following, neil, was put on the committee as a check on michael flynn, former nsa advisor who was

trying to depoliticize the nsc. as we know flynn is no longer here. there is essentially that check on flynn and what he was trying to do, not needed. thus bannon taken off the nsc principals committee. there was a lot of angst among sum why the chief strategist would be put on committee in the first place. now he is off but still invited to attend events. neil? neil: i assume they didn't need the same check on h.r. mcmaster who took flynn's place? reporter: right, what they're saying according to this official the check was the whole trying to depoliticize it. they have a new guy in mcmaster, the president doesn't feel bannon is needed at this point in that role. neil: thank you, buddy. we appreciate it very much. "real clear politics" associate editor, a.b. stoddard here. charlie gasparino here. what do you make of this there is no more subterfuge or drama behind it than what blake

outlined? still bannon is a lightning rod for critics. i wonder if think make him any less so, what do you think? >> it was interesting he was removedç permanently they saidn their statement but still ad loud to attend the meetings, so in the end he will have his eyes and ears in there. it is true actually that he was trying to monitor flynn. that was reported in "the new york times." clearly from sources close to bannon, before flynn was even fired or we were even wrapped up into that whole story about him not informing the vice president of his conversations with russian ambassador. so there was tension between bannon and flynn before that. but, it was highly unusual as blake pointed out, that a political appointee would be in that group on the principals committee, attending those meetings reserved for top national security officials and defense officials. mcmaster as you know was on active duty and could not reject the offer, neil, when he was

asked to replace michael flynn as national security advisor. he had to say yes, upon taking the job, there were reports he doesn't have walk-in privileges in the oval office. you know many in trump's circle have the privileges, omarosa to kellyanne conway on down. there was tension when a nsc lawyer, made him into the news with the devin nunes story about the white house showing the chairman of the intel committee, you know, certain information on unmasking, mr. cohen watnick was going to lose his job. that was a flynn holdover when mcmaster wanted to get rid of, but he appealed to steve bannon and he got to keep his job. there are tensions in the overlapping power circles to be sure. i don't know if there was casualty of that but there might be more in the future. neil: are you hearing, charlie gasparino, of any reining in going on?

>> i don't know. but here's what we do know and we do know inside of the trump white house there are competing and warring tribes. there is the steve bannon tribe. there is the gary cohn tribe, who is very associated with jared kushner. there is other -- there is the reince priebus tribe and probably three or four others. what we do know, some of them are engaged in software fare between themselves but there is hard hardware fare inthe trump trump -- hardwarfare. when you look at this from the political, policy standpoint, it looks like, just on the basis, steve bannon and his nationalist, sort of agenda gets a slight downgrade, and gary cohn, much more of a keynesian,

money-spending likes infrastructure, used to work at goldman sachs gets his plus. gary cohn is former democrat, a liberal. neil: cohn is the left of him. saw steve mnuchin. >> i believe jarred kushner is a democrat. there is a moderate democratic faction, more liberal than the other guys, that's in the white house that may be asserting pressure right now, more power. what does that mean in terms of policy. >> yo, the foreign affairs stuff. ab probably would know that better than i do but from an economic standpoint it could mean, and i said could, we don't know yet, it could mean infrastructure projects over tax cuts. it could meanç keeping obamaca, when you do reform it as much as the freedom caucus might want to reform it. that is the sort of stuff that plays out. we don't know yet. neil: ab, is it your sense, you mentioned something very interesting, i think these

things who has access to the president and who can walk into the oval office, you mentioned something that is not always a guarranty. you would think as a national security advisor that would be instant. hasn't always been instant. remember with henry kissinger was a national security advisor that he had more leeway than did the secretary of state at the time. ultimately kissinger became secretary of state. there is much to be made of that position but right now it is a sort of a back-bencher to the likes of some holdovers from the early trump days. what do we make of that? >> i think mcmaster learned very quickly, just as rex tillerson, secretary of state, that jared kushner is the chief diplomat for this adminstation. he is leading on all foreign policy and national security issues. he sits in on critical -- neil: why? that is pretty dramatic. >> donald trump trusts him even though he has no experience in this area and in this space and he keeps everything in the

family. and he is known to create these sort of feuding factions. >> right. >> so far, and charlie brings up something very interesting, so mcmaster as you know, i mentioned, active duty, had to say yes. you have to leave the service to get his job. neil: is that correct, you can't say no. >> no, i don't think he could. neil: that is interesting. >> appointment to fill the slot right immediately he has to say yes. but, long-term he might -- neil: bottom line he did. i mean if you know omarosa has dibs on the oval office ahead of you, that isn't going to fly well. >> there is definitely tension here between the people, like tillerson and mcmaster, taking direction from jared kushner, but also i think we're going to have to start to can he whether or not this former very tight bond between jared kushner and steve bannon wings and two themselves actually beginning to erode because that is what sort

of looking like is on display here. neil: can always go back to their comfort level. jfk did it with his own brother bobby after the bay of pigs fiasco. relying on his counsel heavily. >> right. neil: there is precedent for that. this is glaring that he is so young and -- >> inexperienced. neil: doesn't appear to have the experience. >> let's be clear here, bobby kennedy was kind of a known political entry. neil: and a lawyer. could make the argument -- >> he did stuff politically. neil: got his brother elected president. >> jared kushner may have ran his father's real estate business and, he definitely married donald trump's daughter. omarosa, the notion she has access, walk-inccess and head of national security doesn't is bizarre. i would say this, you know, jared kushner is, i'm not saying he is a stupid guy but think about a guy with almost no

experience calling shots on all these policy levels, foreign policy levels is actually scary. neil: that is interesting. guys, thank you very much. we'll be getting a pool feed from the white house in this sit-down with king abdullah, they will make jointç press remarks about an hour from now. ahead we have senator john thune from the beautiful state of south dakota, very prominently republican, to put it mildly. senator, so much to hit on with you first, if you indulge me, bannon stuff, white house intrigue, not senate intrigue, what do you make of it and what the white house could be telegraphing going forward? >> we're kind of digesting it like you are, neil. i think it is an appropriate move. as you pointed out early on in the administration there was concern about having checks and balances on certain players that were involved and seems to me at least, perhaps that now is not necessary. i do think that in every white house you have this

tension and sort of push and pull where the power is and who has the president's ear. neil: right. >> part of it comes down you have to have people around you are comfortable with and trust but you also have the people around you with the depth and experience and knowledge that can give you good advice. so trying to figure out how to couple those and get the best possible decisions is the challenge i think every white house faces. it seems like that this is something that this white house is going through as well. neil: i don't know how you deal with that on your own senate staff. i'm sure they're clawing for your attention and love, senator. you will tick off somebody, right? there will be people on own turf, why am i being reported or second-guessed by this kid, jared kushner. i don't mean to disparage him. if you have vast military experience and pecking or the of things you will be a little annoyed, right? >> neil, you don't want people that will be rubberstamps. you don't want a lot of yes, sir

people around you. you want people with dissenting opinions. neil: not me, senator. i love to be surrounded by yes people that never argue with anything i say. >> you're always right, neil. your own instincts are good. neil: there you go. let me ask you while we have you, thank you for indulging my offbeat humor, what do you interpret is going on in the house right now reworking the health care proposal? i talked to your colleague senator capito from west virginia, she said proceed with the tax cut thing and paraphrasing, leave the health care fight for another day? how do you feel about that? they are hell bent making sure they get it right this time and proceed with the tax thing. what do you think? >> i think, neil, as everybody knows, obamacare is in a death spiral. at some point the wheels completely come off. it has been, the market has been collapsing. premiums and deductibles and co-pays are skyrocketing. something has to give. we have to have a solution for this at some point.

sooner, probably better than later, i hope the house can figure out a path forward. i know they have been engaged in discussions with the vice president. i hope those are conductive and meaningful, eventually they will be report something out we can deal with in the senate. neil: doesn't sound like they are, senator. i don't want to leap on that and assume a half empty glass, but looks like whoever might win over on conservative side to throw a lot of things back on the states they will tick off moderates or senators maybe like yourself, so what you gain you will lose on the other end, then you're right back in the same pickle? >> it's a delicate balance. to get 216 over there is not easy feat. to move past that and other items on agenda, one reasons we want to look at health care because is frees up billion --

trillion dollars on the cqseline in reform. i hope they fifth it out. i think it is really important for the country if they do. neil: senator, indulging my around the world with these issues, we're urging a punishing measure against syria for this action on the part of president assad to hit his people with chemical weapons. he argues no, it is not his doing. that he bombed armament buildings that housed these chemical weapons. we want to crack down on him. be that as it may, how is that different from the red line barack obama drew? some are concerned this president used to say assad has to go and now he is saying not necessarily. are you worried about the mixed signals we as a country are sending syria? >> i think it is important that the united states develop a policy, a clear-eyed policy. it's hard. we're six years late on this. you know, we missed a lot of opportunities in the past in the

previous administration. this is a problem that the trump trump administration inherited. particularly that region of the world is looking to america for leadership. i think we have to take actions that will discourage the sort of thing that happened. obviously when you see barrel bombs and chemical weapons used against these syrian children, it is horrific. and tragic. and i hope that there is a, international response. united states has to be a part of leading that. i don't think we can mess around and say we're going to be agnostic to what is happening there. we have to try and promote a good humanitarian outcome, a good political outcome. important to peace and stability in that region which affects directly our national security interests. i think the american policy ought to be that assad needs to go. whether that is now or at some point in the sequence of events into the future, i think it's clear that anybody who would do

this to his own people is not fit to hold power. i hope that the administration will take that kind of a stance. neil: senator john thune, thank you, sir, very good catching up with you. >> thanks, neil, you too. neil: all right. a separate issue here, we are waiting to get from the white house with the president meeting with king abdullah ii of jordan. this whole syria thing will likely come up. jordan borders syria on the south and obviously jordanian king would have some idea how to proceed. keep in mind jordan, was one of the first countries to say you, israel, you have a right to exist. there was a pound of flesh. that pound of flesh is not going down well at the white house. we'll explain after this.

>> you'll see. neil: you'll see. response to take any action regarding latest reports that syria used chemical weapons on its own people yet again. up wards 60 to 120 depending on reports that you believe were killed in such attacks. including a third of them children. we have former presidential envoy to iraq, ambassador paul bremer on this whole situation. very good to have you, but i'm sorry under these circumstances, sir. everyone waiting to see what the president does here. they're worried he might dial it back. it wasn't too long ago demanded assad leave. he said not necessarily. is that another potential red line moment for him? i'm referring back to barack obama's, if he had proof that, the government was using chemical weapons against its own people, that would be a red line moment and nothing happened. what should we do here? >> first i think we should understand that this shows again that there is no long-term

solution in syria which makes american interests and, has assad staying in power. and there is no, i know the president has spoken and i think rightly about the importance of defeating isis but there is basically no way to conclude the fight against isis in syria, which also involves assad staying in power. so it is very hard to see how the president's stated objectives can be met if he is willing to keep assad in power. i don't think that is going to work. neil: if you can educate me, ambassador, as you often do, these areas assad hits, he always and his people say these are isis strongholds. i am targeting them. sometimes they're collateral damage is kids die but that that's what we're doing and that is what you and the united states want us to be doing. you say what? >> well, first of all, i think it is obscene to suggest as your

sort of summary might have suggested that we would look the other way if assad were using chemical weapons, if we were using them against isis, that is simply not the case. the russians are implicated in this because after all assad by using chemical weapons is violating the agreement that the previous administration, working with the russians did with assad where he promised to give up his chemical weapons. he obviously hasn't done this. neil: ambassador, he says he has not. he says i bomb armaments and positions where chemical weapons are stored. once i bomb them, the chemicalç weapons are unleashed and it is not my doing. it is what was there that i attacked. what do you think of that? >> i think it is nonsense. first of all, if you accept that the chemical weapons were on the ground and inadvertently bombed, whose chemical weapons were they? if they were the syrian government's chemical weapons, they surely knew where they

were. this is a just a shadow game he is playing. neil: the question becomes now, what do we do? nikki haley, ambassador to the u.n., wants to lead global effort to condemn that. nikki haley a few minutes ago. i want you to respond, sir. >> when the united nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action. for the sake of the victims, i hope the rest of the council is finally willing to do the same. neil: but the rest of the council isn't, right, led by russia, not at all inclined to do that. so what do we do? >> ambassador haley correctly put her finger on the key problem, which is credibility of all these resolutions that the security council fasts for years and years, and nothing happens. we have very unfortunate experience with the league of

nations which passed a lot of resolutions in the 1930s trying to stop aggression in various places like absynia in those days. it had no effect and in the end entire international system under the league collapsed. so there is a lot at stake at the u.n. she is right to underline it has a credibility problem. i frankly don't think the u.n. security council can do much to restrain mr. assad. he is not afraid of them. neil: ambassador, you mentioned aggression, i'm reminded of the line, not exactly word for word from winston churchhill, sometimes the only response to aggression is aggression is aggressors. i'm thinking comparison to assad or even north korea, the next step is something that few people really welcome or want. those leaders in those countries know that and keep doing what they do. >> churchhill had even more precise statement, relevant to this. he said, it will often be shown that the easy moderate course

leads directly to the bull's-eye of disaster. at a certain point, in other words, as ambassador haley suggested, individual nations are going to have to strap up and get ready for some tough action. neil: so when rex tillerson, our secretary of state, was talking specifically about north korea and south korea, last week, and again in response to this latest missile firing off of the coast, and in korean peninsula, he had very little to say today outside it was noted, which seemed to telegraph to some that the administration was set to do something. what? >> well, i mean i'm not part of the administration so i don't know. i think that the north korean situation, the syrian situation is an immediate tactical question. the north korean missile program is a strategic threat to the united states, and i'm sure will be on the discussion that, president trump has with chinese

leader xi, this at the end of the week. i think that the president needs to make very clear to the chinese, he can do it in private, and shouldn't talk about it publicly that it is completely unacceptable to my any american government, that the government like the north koreans should have the capability of launching a military missile against american territory which is what the north koreans appear to try to do. he has to draw a very clear red line on that. i would keep it private. he needs to make it very clear unacceptable.e, that is neil: other presidents tried to work with china means which to triangulate this, whatever, with little success. so what would change here? >> well the other administrations, this process of the north korean nuclearization started after an ill-considered agreement by the clinton administration in 1994. neil: right. >> which was followed by desultory talks with clinton administration and the obama

administration. at a certain point, you quoted churchhill, the aggressors have to be met with aggression. i don't know whether we're there yet, but i do know i think it would be a threat to vital american interests if we allowed the north koreans to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile which is what they're aiming for, they say they are, which could bring a nuclear weapon to american territory. neil: ambassador, thank you very much. >> good to be with you. neil: all right, in the meantime we're waiting to hear from president trump who will do joint newser with jordan's king abdullah ii. this comes at a time abdullah, maybe by virtue of key timing could play a key role in easing a lot of this pressure building now in the middle east, specifically, in syria, and what we do, many say that he is the means by which you get the russians to sort of double down, put the pressure on assad to stop this. others have tried. and others have failed. more after this.

neil: is making a point or burying herself in a deep ditch? >> when you see things that have gone wrong in the obama administration, seems like susan rice is always right there, and so when the news broke yesterday, i was not surprised to see her at the center of this. i think this is just the beginning of this. i think she needs to come in front of congress and intelligence committees. i think the fbi, they clearly need to be investigating the leaks. because those are criminal offenses. neil: that is just one among many of republican prominent lawmakers saying that susan rice has got to testify over this whole unmasking thing. meanwhile democrats are pounding the white house over this whole russian collusion thing. take a look. >> i would say this. that my impression is, i wouldn't be surprised after all of this is said and done, some people end up in jail. neil: you know, think about that. we don't even know where this is

going. all of sudden we're surmising someone would be in jail. i don't know. we have a former counterintelligence agent. one of the things that struck me, it is lost in the sauce on ms. rice's comments, if these leaks were not done for political purposes, that didn't, mean that, that they still weren't done. so, that's a broad area to cover to say i want doing this for any sort of political agenda here but they were still done, and that leaves a wide room to i guess avoid legal action against yourself but what do you make of that? >> so, neil, i'm going to give you three words and you're probably going to hear these three words over and over again as this investigation continues. foreign intelligence purpose. that is the legal standard for which you can unmask or reveal the identity of a u.s. person

caught up by accident, not accident, incidentallyç when mn iting another target. if there is a legitimate foreign intelligence purpose it's legal. if there isn't, it's not. neil: what if you're making the argument, i'm no lawyer, you know the ins and outs of this far better than i, you thought at the time there was. is that enough cover for you but enough cover to say no, i never had any political ends or goals here? >> well, i think we need to be clear how this takes place. so. the national security advisor can not uninvest this, this is not a button to push. this is the request made to the intelligence agency that did the collection. you have to provide the justification for the request. then, there are officials who review the request and decide whether it meets the standard.

and they have to document all of this, and so you have a lot of people who aren't even in the white house, who have to get their names on paper, and sign off on this. they have a lot to lose if this is being done for spurious reasons. so i think it would be tough to hide behind something. what we need to know is really what the reasons are and those reasons are probably classified. so, while maybe some members of congress might be able to hear that, it is unlikely that you are or i are going to ever hear this on national television. neil: well you might be right about that, but i'm thinking about the timeline for a lot of this stuff and i know we're putting dots together after the fact but it is the best i can do when i hear james combing my say, or report last fall, he wanted to give the president a heads up there were clear indications that the russians were muddying around in our elections. not that anyone came out and said they discernibly changed

the results but that the russians were -- burr the president opted to pursue it around raised enough antenna are concerned and susan rice and others let's monitor these guys around trump in surveilling them, they also may surveillingp himself. wouldn't what do you make of that argument, there was enough concern they had, maybe initially triggered by james comey there was something there and they were going to pursue it. it got to the point that they were quite happy to unmask at least one individual and maybe more? >> well, i don't know about quite happy but, i think, you might be seeing what is perfect storm of three events. so you have an ongoing foreign intelligence investigation, from the fbi starting back in july. then, you have a change in transition, change in, transition right after the election where you have an old

administration still trying to conduct foreign policy. neil: right, right. >> with a new administration coming in. neil: and concerns that new administration was screwing things up and not honoring what was the conformity that we've had in the past, right? >> well, i don't know what the, what the views were on what the incoming administration might or might not do. there definitely wasn't a lot of communication going on. you do have foreign countries in this kind of transition period really seeking to potentially look at opportunities to exploit their advantage. neil: yeah. >> and i think, you will have a pickup in collection at that point. you wantç to know what the countries are up to. whether you're a republican or democrat, our national security is about protecting our country, making sure we know what foreign

countries, particularly ones that don't have our best interests in mind might want to do. neil: all right. it's a wild. thank you very, very much. good talking to you again. >> thank you for having me. neil: all right. if any of this is a big concern or worry on the corner of wall and broad investor have a silly way of proving it. buoyed by economic news and jobs report could be signaling even better jobs report out on friday by uncle sam, nicole petallides looking at all the green arrows. >> let's certainly hope so, neil cavuto, as we're watching here. we're also taking a look how the market is faring. the dow right now is up 150 points. you have the nasdaq at a new high and jobs picture as you noted has been pretty after that. we have latest report on private sector jobs, 263,000 private sector jobs in march. maybe that will be indication of friday's numbers. we know donald trump has been a

president promoting job growth here in the united states of america. that being said, you can see nasdaq at all-time high. some of the names on the nasdaq hitting lifetime highs including amazon, broke 900 yesterday, on record again for yet another record close. so is apple, talk of a little bit of a push back for iphone. names our viewers know and love are moving into these record new levels. you can look at a 10-year chart on amazon. we saw earlier this morning on "fbn: a.m.," big picture looking very bullish, liking the policies, tax cuts and that but also talking about the underlying earnings growth and that it looks good. so feeling a little bullish. back to you. neil: feeling a little bullish the president will still get through his agenda, still get tax cuts going. that seems to be near and dear to these guys more than anything else. >> no doubt tax cuts are front and center even if they come in

wonderfully as everybody hoped. something on the table would be good news and good earnings and underlying growth we're expecting for earnings this year, that will help things along. neil: nicole, thank you very, very, much. in the meantime, to that end, vice president pence working late into the night last night, with key republicans trying to revive the health care plan but concessions being apparently made to conservatives going to tick off moderates? will we be back to square one? should they just be focusing on tax cuts an forget about the health care thing? some senators of that view. some congressman not, what happens after this. ♪ predictable. the comfort in knowing where things are headed. because as we live longer... and markets continue to rise and fall... predictable is one thing you need in retirement to help protect what you've earned and ensure it lasts. introducing brighthouse financial. a new company established by metlife

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neil: all right, we're getting flashes now, considering speaker paul ryan says health care discussions are very productive. what there have been of them this rework, retake, repeal and replace. the speaker also saying we've got time too figure this out on

the health care bill. that is certainly in the eye of the beholder of course. you can strike only in short-term period and get tax cuts done. i talked to senators on this very show who you heard more inclined to find broaderç agreement on tax cuts, pound that then on health care. go to glen hall, "wall street journal" u.s. editor. what do you make of that, this optimism that speaker ryan has they're coming along on this? i don't know, whatever consensus you make to conservative groups like the freedom caucus, are you alienating moderate republicans? >> that is exactly we saw in the first round with health care reform efforts. concessions on one hand alienating people on other hand. this issues touches a lot of aspects of the economy and different ways it interacts with states and insurers and so forth t was very difficult to get alignment across the gop what right solutions are for all those various issues. neil: where this is going,

glenn? i heard the white house still stands by what mnuchin was raising, an august goal to get the tax cuts thing through and approved. given their work schedule, tomorrow they're off for two weeks. >> right. neil: how is this going to get done? >> that is the issue. the legislative calendar can only handle so much at a time. if they keep health care on the table and push for a second half win on the health care that may delay when they can bring tax reform to the table. and i'd also point out though as secretary of the treasury office they really don't have their full team in place yet in order to buildout the tax reform plan. so there are some other reasons that might cause delays beyond the legislative agenda. neil: i'm not asking you to play a market soothsayer here. i've seen the market. this notion they're running up in full expectation tax cuts are going to happen. what if it is not on that schedule? and what if the best they can hope for maybe some corporate tax relief but individual rates

get pushed to next year if they get done at all? what do you think? >> my sense the markets looking for action. we saw after the health care reform didn't make it, markets took a little bit of a dip that the agenda might not be pushedr. if they get a win on the board is specially something that impacts companies on the markets, changes to corporate tax rate, lowering that, maybe repatriation efforts to bring money back from overseas, i think markets would respond favorably to that kind of a win. neil: but the wisdom of revisiting health care is obviously, you build in a lot of tax savings, spending relief there, that gets the ball rolling, that is the method to it but that is that magnus? >> issues with health care and tax reform they are so big and touch so many parts of economy that so many constituents are involved, it will be hard to get alignment around a total package to address all those things. maybe lesson from the health

care situation, tackle this pieces at a time. to be fair, a lot of people criticized that approach, the approach they took with health care, saying what if plan b and plan c, the second and third stages reform don't come now? you have the repeal portion without the replace. the type of situation either way. neil: yeah, i don't know. glenn hall, "wall street journal" u.s. editor. gee seeing you. >> thank you, neil. neil: we're following the dow right now, up very smartly here. not that shy of 21,000 again. a lot of this has to do by optimism first quarter just done will show a great report card and earnings up north of 9% on average for the s&p 500 companies. now that would be the strongest advance since 2011. furthermore, they're expecting revenues for those companies to surge better than 7%. strongest such advance since 2010. so they're basing it on a lot of things going just right, just fine, just marvelous. after this.

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neil: we just completed first three months of the year for markets, first quarter, what everyone seems to be saying, expect a gangbuster report card to come inç very, very shortlys companies roll out those earnings which are expected to be strongest we've seen in six years. to market watch's brian benburg.

scott martin with us. scott, all expectations are they will be off the charts. you know what happens if they slightly disappoint, these guys go nuts. will they if they do? >> i think as market makes new highs, markets are priced for perfection. as we saw 70% meet or beat, expectations are high. let's hope the report card comes in strong to keep the rally going, keeps technical strength we've seen in most of these sectors entack, so the rally continues as we deal with a lot of rhetoric coming out of the white house. neil: brian, i was looking at some better performers during the first quarter stockwise, forget about revenues and earnings, apple leads the way, 25% run-up in accounts, one out of five points for the dow's advance during the quarter, that's a lot of faith in one entity, one stock. what do you make of that and whether it's a good or a bad

thing? >> look, apple has had strong performance. they have great potential as do other companies in the technology space. neil: true. >> that is one sector where their performance is not as dependent as president delivering on policy promises as other sectors of the economy are. doesn't surprise me technology had a breakout quarter. neil: scott, you always hear statistics that amazon has twice market value of walmart or tesla. a greater stock market capitalization than ford. almost as much as gm. people always seize on that, that's weird. what do you say? >> well the trend has been there for multiple years. i've been trading these markets over a decade. last five years after ever report, you know how many analysts downgraded that stock but didn't look towards the future, didn't look to see what amazon was doing? amazon is basically everywhere. although the market cap is a little high, the trend are strong and the trend has been there for a while. they have been absorbing businesses like macy's, walmart, target. unfortunately it is the way it

is as we move forward. if you find those companies and find these trends early you can make a lot of money in those individual type names. neil: indeed, individual investors have. brian, looking at these markets, they are paying attention to washington and speaker ryan is continuing to put out these updates with the house and senate conferees and white house. they're not on the same page as tax reform but it is tax reform that the markets really want to see even more than the health care thing, isn't it? >> they do want to see that. what was interesting yesterday the president came out to talk about infrastructure spending and in the past when he has done that you've seen markets jump. you didn't see the markets do that. they're paying much more attention to the hard underlying numbers because i think there is a sense we don't know what will come out of washington. even with the gop in power in house, senate and presidency, we don't know if we get health care reform or tax reform. we don't know when it will come. all the hard economic data is so much more important. the president needs to basically come in at perfection as we saw

with the adp numbers and jobs. neil: that could telegraph a good jobs report from the government on friday. brian, thank you. scott as well. quickly to the rose guarden, outside presser on the part of jordan's king abdullah ii, and of course president donald trump. they will be dealing obviously with syria, dealing with a lot of other issues. health care might come up, obviously russia and everything will come up, seconds from now. stay with us. yes? please repeat the objective. ♪ thrivent mutual funds. managed by humans, not robots. before investing, carefully read and consider fund objectives, risks, charges and expenses in the prospectus at thriventfunds.com.

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. neil: all right, minutes away right now from a joint news conference featuring jordan's king abdullah ii and president donald trump. blake burman at the white house on the latest what might be coming up a few minutes from now. >> reporter: big news out of the white house within the last hour or so, that involving steve bannon, the chief strategist at the white house for the trump administration. he's been taken off the national security council, off principles committee, to step back, he is the chief strategist, that doesn't afford him of being on the roll of national security council. the president made that decision in january to elevate him to the position in the nsc, there is a reorganization, restructuring how all this works. the line coming out of the wos this afternoon is this, bannon was overseeing components of what michael flynn was doing with the nsc. now that flynn is gone, there

is no need for bannon to step in and to be a part of that role. bannon will still be allowed to be in meetings, but no longer a guaranteed member of those meetings. here just outside of the oval office at the rose garden, we are awaiting the joint press conference between president trump and king abdullah of jordan, in the next 20, 30 minutes or so, lots of issues to get into here, isis, tackling that, middle east peace and syria, as we saw the chemical weapons attack in the last 24 hours there, and the president after he greeted king abdullah spoke about that syria attack just briefly. take a listen to the president from moments ago. >> these are very troubled times in the middle east, and we see what happened just recently yesterday in syria. horrible, horrible thing. unspeakable. >> reporter: by the way, neil, the president just gave an interview to the "new york times" in the oval office this afternoon. he was asked about susan rice

and whether or not he thought she committed and crimes as it relates to the unmasking of individuals, especially within those of president trump's campaign orbit, and president trump said he thinks that she might have. that a major statement from the president of the united states as it relates to the former national security adviser. neil? neil: all right, thank you, blake, very much. coming back to you shortly. speaking of susan rice, steve bannon who blake was mentioning leaving that position on the nsc said that susan rice optionalized the nsc during the last administration, so i was put on the nsc to make sure it was deoperationalized. back to proper function again, this coming from steve bannon, the white house chief strategist, and more or less saying this was something he felt was a natural thing to do since they felt the nsc was in better hands right now and no needs for essentially a

watchdog there. to former defense official then, former navy s.e.a.l. carl higbie and former cia analyst tara, what do you make of the bannon thing and that he was there essentially to play eyes on a council that veered off-course under susan rice, you can use the same definition when it came to general flynn, and now it better served with the master. what do you think of that? >> there are a few things to see here. basically when bannon was named to the national security council, the trump administration got a lot of criticism on the move because he put a political adviser in the nsc, in addition to that, you see mcmaster come in, he's taking on a bigger role, he's brought on people and maybe the trump administration realized bannon was not the best person to be in the position on the nsc, you've also seen a shake-up in terms of the

administration trying to sort out what foreign policy positions are on issues like syria, on issues like north korea and middle east peace. there is a lot of pushback on bannon's role particularly because of his lack of expertise in the national security arena, good move from the trump administration, shows they're learning from early mistakes and correcting them. neil: you've been around the circles for a while, i'm not saying you're old, you're seasoned as they say. and van, one of the things i wonder, jared kushner, in a role that eclipses many in the eyes that are watching, rex tillerson at the department of state, that's got to bother some folks. >> well, you see, a got a little gray hair, too. neil, i'm not surprised by bannon today. there's been speculation about that for a week or so. when he went in there we did not have a director of national intelligence, dan coats, when dan coats got confirmed, took his role on the nsc, it was

logical he'll come off. and steve bannon was a strong advocate of general mcmaster. i'm not surprised, and i got to say this. i'm so proud the president reached out to king abdullah and they're meeting today. i got to meet king abdullah 20 years ago, neil, he's the real deal. he came to the congress complaining that the obama administration was not giving him what he needed to take the fight to radicalthis president to king abdullah, one of our most important allies in the middle east. neil: carl higbie, you can ask what abdullah can do here? given the borders in syria, unique position to jawbone the russians or make concessions or force president assad to do more than what he's done. no one wants to, in this administration, throw him out, so what are we to make of that

and where this is all going with syria? >> keep in mind, abdullah has never been one to shy away from a fight. he's made a career of it actually. not too long ago, he almost completely exhausted arsenal in bombing raids. neil: i forgot that. >> yeah, king abdullah is a grave ally of ours in the area. if we want to take this fight. there are two options, leave assad there or take him out. if we take him out, we might have to deal with the russians and spend 50 years rebuilding the government. we got let him get out whenever he wants and not whine about him anymore. the options are clear, and abdullah can play a huge role. neil: i want to bring in an fbi former assistant director. danny, one of the things you hear about the foreign policy matters and checking who's talking to whom and what, the susan rice thing comes up, they can claim we're not doing anything for political purposes, but in a way, that's

great cover, right? that could be your goal, but doesn't made to look like it is. >> yeah, i think we have to remember, neil, that the great authority that our intelligence services have is dependent upon their dedication to protecting the privacy interests of american citizens, and when i was there, and i terra networkss today, there's a great effort placed on not unmasking people who are innocently caught up in these surveillance techniques. remember too, susan rice is not an operative. she's a policy adviser, and for her to ask an individual, in the intelligence community, to unmask somebody, that's inappropriate. that's done by the agency that collects this. in order to do it, there has to be a law enforcement purpose, or an intelligence purpose. she wouldn't know if there was a law enforcement purpose or an intelligence purpose. and for her to do that, it says volumes about where we are right now, and i question why

that stuff was done. if i was one of the congressional committee to do this, i would want to know. why did you release this information to her? neil: we're lookinga the front line getting seated in the position, jared kushner and ivanka trump, and terra, there is this comfort expressed among some they have such a prominent role. every administration has a kitchen cabinet or those whom it relies on for advice, maybe disproportionate to those in official capacity. in this case, both his daughter and jared kushner are in the official capacity. i'm sure it's chaffing rex tillerson and others, maybe not, that they're kind of second fiddle to these guys. what do you make of that? >> i'm sure it is. and i'm sure ivanka and jared are smart, competent, experienced individuals in their field. they're around my age, but not been working foreign policy issues. they have not serve in the military. they have not served in the

state department. not worked on capitol hill on the foreign affairs committee. background and experience are vast and great expertise in real estate and the business world, and perhaps if president trump wants to use them in adviser capacity, he should use them in the realm of expertise to. have the broad reaching sending jared kushner with the joint chiefs to iraq solving middle east peace, having him weigh in on syria, and ivanka's role slightly unclear in terms of what her portfolio of issues is. they need to define the areas of expertise, this is the white house. people that work in the white house have, deep-rooted expertise and experience. diplomats have served in their countries, working on countries for decades in cases, and these are not easy and light issues. north korea is launching missiles. they launched another one last night. syria, the regime launched a chemical weapons attack. these are some of the most serious intractable issues that our country dealt with for

decades and should be turning to leadership that has worked the issues for decades. if he wants to have family members play advisory roles, fine, aide-like positions to assist within political matters and areas of expertise. this is going to cause problems as you see us moving into areas of potential crises with countries like north korea who are testing us right now. neil: we're watching queen rania of king abdullah ii's wife and, of course, melania trump. seconds away from the president and the king. what do you want to hear out of these two leaders, regarding first off syria, van? >> they're going to work together, first on radical islam. but also i think king abdullah, this is the opportunity for i think president trump to engage putin. everybody talks about his cozy relationship with putin, but he's one of the foreign leaders he's never met with. this is an opportunity for the president to reach out to putin and say, hey, you helped

sustain the syrian regime. neil: you hang in there, both leaders have been introduced, king abdullah and president trump. >> thank you very much. your majesty, thank you for being with us today. very much appreciate it. this is our second meeting since my inauguration, but our first at the white house. very special place, i can tell you. that i've gotten to know it well. long hours. very special. it's really an honor to welcome you here today, but before we begin, let me say a few words about recent events. yesterday chemical attack. a chemical attack that was so horrific in syria against innocent people, including

women, small children, and even beautiful little babies. their deaths was an affront to humanity. these heinous actions by the assad regime cannot be tolerated. the united states stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this horrific attack and all other horrific attacks for that matter. your majesty, jordanians are known for their legendary hospitality, and we will do our very best to be equally gracious hosts. they're also known, however, i have to say this, for their fighting ability, and you are are a great warrior, and we

appreciate it. thank you. the historical ties and close friendship between our two countries dates back three quarters of a century. in that time the middle east has faced many periods of crisis and unrest, perhaps never like it is today, however. through them all, america has looked to jordan as a valued partner and advocate for the values of civilization and a source of stability and hope. i am deeply committed to preserving our strong relationship, which i will, and to strengthening america's longstanding support for jordan. and you do have tremendous support within our country, i can tell you that. as we know, the middle east and the entire world is faced with one of its gravest threats in many, many years. since the earliest days of the

campaign against isis, jordan has been a staunch ally and partner, and we thank you for that. jordanian servicemembers have made tremendous sacrifices in this battle against the enemies of civilization, and i want to thank all of them for their incredible courage. so many have been lost, and we pay homage. so many. in king abdullah, america's blessed with a thoughtful and determined partner. he's a man who has spent years commanding his country's special forces. he really knows what being a soldier is. that i can tell you. and he knows how to fight. the king has been a leader in calling for a plan to defeat isis once and for all, and i'm with you on that. we're both leaders on that, believe me. that's what we speak about today and that is what we are

going to do, and it will be a shorter fight that a lot of people are thinking about, believe me. we've made tremendous strides, as we discussed. as you know, we had a very, very fine delegation come over from egypt, and also from iraq, and they said more has been done in the last six weeks than has been done in years with the previous administration, and believe me, we're going to keep it that way. we will destroy isis, and we will protect civilization. we have no choice. we will protect civilization. king abdullah and i also discussed measures to combat the evil and ideology that inspires isis and plagues our planet. in addition, we also acknowledge the vital role that jordan has played in hosting

refugees from the conflict in syria. we've just announced that the united states will contribute additional funds to jordan for humanitarian assistance. this aid will help countries like jordan host refugees until it is safe for them to return home. the refugees want to return home. i know that from so many other instances. they want to return back to their home, and that's a goal of any responsible refugee policy. finally, as we discussed to advance the cause of peace in the middle east, including peace between the israelis and the palestinians, and i'm working very, very hard on trying to finally create peace between the palestinians and israel, and i think we'll be successful. i hope to be successful. i can tell you that.

the king has been a really tireless advocate for a solution. he's going to help me with that and help me at the highest level, and we'll be consulting with him very closely in the days ahead. king abdullah, i want to take this opportunity to thank you for your partnership. working together, the united states and jordan can help bring peace and stability to the middle east and, in fact, the entire world, and we will do that. thank you very, very much for being with us. [applause] >> mr. president, thank you for such a kind and warm welcome to the white house. i fondly remember the meetings we've had many years ago, and more recently, several months ago. you've always been a generous

host and have always looked after us. we are very delighted with the way the discussions have gone so far, and we're delighted to be here in such a wonderful setting, such a beautiful day, which i think is a tremendous mark how we are going to move into the future. we've had a very good round of talks today, and i'm looking forward to continuing these discussions later on in our meetings after the press conference. what i do want to say is how much we deeply appreciate the close relations we have with the united states, with you, mr. president, and with the american people. this is a strategic partnership that we call and keep very close to our hearts and it is a partnership on so many levels that we will continue, i think, with the frank discussions that we had today to improve on as we face the challenges of the future, and i'm very delighted for your vision, your holistic approach to the challenges in our region and the dedication of your team in being able to translate your policy into

actions, successfully as we move forward. the challenges we face today are many and not exclusive to my region, they are global and particularly the threats to global security. terrorism has no borders, no nationality, no religion, and therefore joint action with a holistic approach as i mentioned, mr. president, is crucial. i'm very delighted that you have the vision to be able to move in that direction, and i think that the world will be in a very good place, as we move with all these challenges ahead. no doubt, with all the challenges that we face in the world, the role of the u.s. is key to all the issues that we have around the world, but it's not just the fact that we should expect united states to do all the heavy lifting. the heavy lifting has to be done by all of us in the international community, to support the united states in being able to translate that vision into the right direction, so there's a lot of responsibility for all of us in the international community to support the president, the administration and the american people to bring brighter days

to all of us. we are very encouraged with the president's dissemination to support arab and muslim states in the fight against terrorism, but it is not only the fight of terrorism inside our societies but we as arab states standing behind the international community in being able to defeat this international scurge. in syria, we need a political solution that ends the conflict in the country and preserve its unity and territorial integrity. as the president mentioned, the issue we discussed with the israeli-palestinian conflict, which is essentially the core conflict in our region and the president's early engagement is beginning in bringing the palestinians and israelis together has been a very encouraging sign for all of us, and i think, sir, it was that initiative that allowed us at the arab summit last week to extend through the arab initiative the issue of peace to make that come about. all arab countries relaunched

the arab peace initiative as i said last week, officer historic reconciliation between israelis and palestinians as well as all member states of the arab league, it is the most comprehensive framework for lasting peace and ensures statehood for the palestinians but security, acceptance and normal ties for israel with all our countries and all islamic countries. we appreciate your commitment in all these issues where,s have failed. you will find a strong ally in jordan in supporting you and all your policies, and if i may just say, as you have on syria and the gas attack, unfortunately, as you and i both agreed, this is a testament to the failure of international diplomacy to find the solutions to the crisis, i believe under your leadership, we will be able to unravel this very complicated situation. this has been going on for seven years now, has descended into proxy wars from different parties with dubious agendas, but other than today as you

pointed out, mr. president, the civilians, women and children that are paying the heaviest price. this is happening on our watch, on our conscience as well as the global communityin and the passion and emotion that the president has expressed and how this should not be tolerated whatsoever, and the threshold of inhumanity and savagery that i've crossed every day is something i know the president will not allow to happen wherever it may be, and i fully endorse and support the president in this issue. i want to thank you, sir, you have the outlook of looking at the challenges in iraq, israel, syria and palestine, the message is a message of hope and that's what i take away from the conference, and i thank you for what you've done so far and what you will do in the future. thank you. >> we'll take a few questions.

julie pace? >> reporter: thank you, sir. i have questions on syria for both leaders, if i could start with you, mr. president. you've condemned the chemical attacks in syria but appeared in your statement yesterday to pin some of the blame on the obama administration. you are the president now, do you feel like you bear responsibility for responding to the chemical attacks, and does the chemical attack cross a red line for you? >> well, i think the obama administration had a great opportunity to solve this crisis a long time ago when he said the red line in the sand. when he didn't cross that line after making the threat, i think that set us back a long ways, not only in syria but in because it was a blank threat. i think it was something that was not one of our better days as a country. do i feel that, julie, i feel it strongly. >> reporter: do you feel you now have the responsibility to respond to the chemical attack? >> i now have the

responsibility and will carry it very proudly. i will tell you that. it is now my responsibility. it is a great opportunity missed. as you know i'll be meeting with the president of china very soon, in florida, and that's another responsibility we have, and that's called the country of north korea. we have a big problem. we have somebody that is not doing the right thing, and that's going to be my responsibility, but i'll tell you, that responsibility could have been made a lot easier if it was handled years ago. >> reporter: before i move onto the king, can i ask you if the chemical attack crosses a red line for you? >> it crossed a lot of lines for me. when you kill innocent children, innocent babies, babies, little babies, with a chemical gas that is so lethal people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many lines, beyond the red line.

many, many lines. thank you very much. >> reporter: your majesty, if i could ask about refugees, your country borne the brunt of the crisis in syria. the president signed travel bans that would block syrians from coming into the u.s. if that goes into effect, what would the impact in yur country and the region be? >> as the president pointed out, most if not all syrian refugees want to go back to syria. and we're working with the united states and the international community is to be able to stabilize the refugees in our country given the tools so as we're working with the solutions in syria, we have the ability to send them back as a positive influence into their economies, and the president and the europeans are being forward leaning in being able to look after host communities. tremendous burden on our country but tremendous appreciation to the united states and western countries for being able to help us in dealing with that.

>> your majesty, how does the outcome of the recent arab summit help the united states in its policy to advance palestinian-israeli negotiations? >> as i said the arab peace initiative came out with a resounding solution to offering peace to the israelis, to make them feel accepted into the neighborhood, and to be able to support the president as he brings both parties together. and again, i have to remind people very, very early on, there was an early engagement by the president and his team to the israelis and the palestinians to be able to see what he can do to bring them together. it is the core conflict for a lot of us in the region. the president knows this. he has instincts in the right place and working with his team, our job as i said, is to do the heavy lifting, the arabs are prepared to bring israelis and palestinians together under the leadership of the

president. >> thank you. john yang? >> reporter: thank you, mr. president. i'd like to follow up on julie's question and press you a little more on syria. how will you distinguish your policy and your actions on syria from the inaction that you criticized of the previous administration? you say it's now your responsibility. what should we see, or what should we look for that would be different? and your majesty, like to ask you, what gives you, this is your second meeting with the president, what gives you the optimism that mr. trump will succeed in the israeli-palestinian conflict where so many others have failed before him, to be a broker for peace? >> i like to think of myself as a very flexible person. i don't have to have one specific way and if the world changes, i go the same way, i don't change. well, i do change, and i am

flexible and i'm proud of that flexibility. and i will tell you that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me. big impact. that was a horrible, horrible thing. and i've been watching it and seeing it and it doesn't get any worse than that, and i have that flexibility, and it's very, very possible, and i will tell you, it's already happened, that my attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much, and if you look back over the last few weeks, there were other attacks using gas. you're now talking about a whole different level. so as you know, i would love to have never been in the middle east. i would have loved to have never seen that whole big situation start, but once it

started, we got out the wrong way, and isis formed in the vacuum, and lots of bad things happened. i will tell you what happened yesterday is unacceptable to me. >> reporter: i can follow up, sir, last year you were reluctant to get involved or intervene in syria directly, is that one thing that's changed after yesterday? >> one of the things i think you noticed about me is militarily i don't like to say where i'm going what i'm doing, and i watched past administrations say we will attack at such and such a day, at such and such an hour, and you being a warrior uwould say why are they saying, that and i'm sure you sat back in jordan saying why did they say that? i watched mosul where the past administration, we're saying we will be attacking in four months, and i said why are they doing that? then a month goes by, and they said we will be attacking in

three months, and then two months, and then we'll be attacking next week, and i'm saying why are they doing that? and as you know mosul turned out to be a much harder fight than anyone thought, and a lot of people have been lost in that fight. i'm not saying i'm doing anything one way or the other. but i'm certainly not telling you as much as i respect you, john, thank you. >> sir, i think on behalf of the president, what i saw was early engagement by the president and his team with all of us in the region about the challenges between the israelis and palestinians. i have the honor of seeing the president and his team again in january where, this was discussed. the president understands the nuances and the challenges, i think he has the courage and the dedication to be able to do this. like i said before, all of us have the responsibility to help the president push us toward the finish line. his team has been in the region, they've been talking to

all the partners and it is our job to facilitate the atmospherics between the israelis and palestinians to move together and give the support to the president to be able to smooth the edges over between israelis and palestinians to achieve this. and the president understands if we don't solve this problem, how are we going to win the global fight against terrorism, which is his number one priority. this is a core issue he understands, and i think he has the commitment and has my full support as he does from many, many countries in the region. >> and i have to just say that the world is a mess. i inherited a mess, whether it's the middle east, whether it's north korea, whether it's so many other things, whether it's in our country, horrible trade deals, i inherited a mess. we're going to fix it. we're going to fix it. okay. >> thank you. >> reporter: thank you, your majesty, if i ask to you look forward, how do you see the

future of fighting terrorism in mosul especially the role jordan will play in eastern iraq, and do you believe the real battle will start then? and if i may, mr. president, you know very well that the iranian militias and hezbollah propping the syrian r.j. for a few years now. will you go after them? what message will you give today and will you work with the russians to ground the syrian air force and to establish safe zones? thank you. >> well, the first part is that we are seeing very recently tremendous gains on the ground in raqaa and mosul. again as the president alluded to, it's difficult to put timelines on the situation because the battle space is very fluid. the swar being won on the ground. having said, that terrorists are on the move. they'll be on the move inside of iraq and syria so we have to make sure we adapt our plans accordingly and move beyond

borders, beyond our region and elsewhere, and the administration have discussed, if the holistic approach, how do we fight them wherever they are? that is the understanding. terrorists have no respect for borders and religions and people, so it's the seriousness of how we do the holistic approach they mentioned several times, and what i'm delighted is the understanding of the president and the administration in how to deal with this globally, and i think you're seeing a move in the right direction because the policy is being charted out and my discussions with the defense secretary and the foreign secretary allows us to be there to be able to decide how we adapt ourselves in the region to be able to come in line with international diplomacy. >> the iran deal made by the previous administration is one of the worst deals i have ever witnessed. and i've witnessed some beauties.

it should ner have been made. it was total one-sided against the united stes and frankly, against much of the middle east. i will do whatever i have to due. they have a deal. it was, some people say, not done properly, even in the form of its finalization. there was no vote from congress. there was no real ratification. but i will do what i have to do with respect to the iran deal. as far as isis is concerned, the united states will work with whoever it's appropriate to work with, to totally eradicate isis and other terrorists and by the way. isis is one group. but others have formed. frankly, they're all over the place. we will do what we have to do to

eradicateç terrorism. reporter: sir, talking about the iranian militias in syria, supporting the syrian regime separate of the nuclear deal. what message do you have? >> you will see. they will have a message. you will see what the message will be. thank you. thank you all very much. thank you. thank you. neil: all right. you will see what the message will be. the president not tipping his hand with jordan's king abdullah ii, what he will do in response to syria. more indications yesterday, that that country's president assad used chemical weapons against his own people, many of them children, and that the united states will not sit by idly and let that happen. the president has he has done in the past, frequently criticized his predecessor for painting a big red line, with use of chemical weapons being a trigger for u.s. response and never following up on that. he would not make the same mistake. critics said of president trump

said he has done just that, but saying earlier on when he was running for president, that assad had to go, 10 taking away that stipulation, whether he brings that back is anyone's guess. back with former defense official, dan hitt. former mayor of shiloh, israel, joining us right now, david ruben. mayor ruben, to you first on this, the signal that the president seems to be sending as we're looking at area kushner and ivanka trump. jared kushner recently visited iraq, sending a signal that the u.s. means what it says and says what it means when it comes to tough middle east policy. do you think that should include taking out president assad in syria? >> well, frankly i think that the main problem here is humanitarian in syria. syria is, is a quicksand. it is, to get involved in syria i think, and other than

humanitarian basis, would be a very dangerous policy for the united states and it would be destined for failure. look, i've, i've been wounded in terrorist attack. my 3-year-old son was wounded. i witnessed so many thousands of children who have suffered from the trauma of terrorism and, and that's, i ended up starting the shiloh israel children's fund because of that, and when you have trump advertised children like you do in -- traumatized children as you do in syria, the united states should get involved on a humanitarian basis, create a safe zone, near the jordanian border or on the syrian side. but i think that is what needs to be done right now. that's where the united states should put its effort. military level, i think when you're talking about a choice between assad, isis or al qaeda affiliates, i don't think that it is something that the united states needs to be getting involved in right now. neil: in other words, the enemy

you know could be beaten by an enemy you can't even comprehend. van hipp, former deputy assistant secretary of the army, coming up we have to try to work with russia to try to deal with this and just as we have to work with the chinese. of course the president will meet the chinese premiere tomorrow, but to make some progress with north korea. that's easier said than done on both fronts, isn't it? >> this president said he inherit ad mess, and he is right. inherited most complex foreign policy and national security situation a u.s. president ever faced. he has done it with a military that is decimated. our army is cut to preworld war ii levels. sometimes we have to work with people that aren't good characters,ç to profession the national security interests of this country. i think the president tomorrow, with president xi xinping of china lean on that hard to deal with north korea. they helped to create the north korean situation. just as i believe the president

could and should lean on putin to help deal with assad, because let's face it, that regime in russia has helped sustain the assad regime. i have to say this, this president and king abdullah, what a testament of king abdullah to this president's vision. let me tell you why it is so important in the middle east. king abdullah referred to the fight against radical islam as world war iii, a fight within islam itself. king abdullah, the king of jordan, he and his father were direct desend ants of the prophet prophet muhammed. very respected in the muslim world. neil: one of the thing that encourages israelis about king abdullah, not only he honors and respects israel's right to exist and working on behalf of other middle east nations to similarly recognize israel, part of that sort of agreement if you will,

that, he has been a critic of some settlements expanded beyond israel proper. something has to be done about a palestinian state. he is not quite as vociferious as some other critics in the middle east. where does israel stand in that regard? how crucial it is that this president deal effectively with abdullah? >> well i think it is very nice that he is in favor of israel's right to exist. but, i think it is important to point out that about 70% of israelis are against israel withdrawing from eastern jerusalem, dividing jerusalem again. jerusalem is the eternal, undivided capital of israel and i have to point out that king abdullah's arab initiative he spoke about speaks specifically and requires the establish itment of a palestinian state in the biblical heartland of

israel, including its capital in eastern jerusalem. while -- neil: that is nonstarter. >> that is a nonstarter. most israelis will not accept that. and i think president trump needs to understand if he enters that slippery slope, it is a mistake. we've been banging our land for peace against the wall for 40 years. it hasn't gotten us anywhere. neil: blake burman joins from the white house. the president made it very clear, wouldn't tell you guys like you or guys like me what it is. reporter: right. neil: he will do something. it won't be a red line kind of a thing. once out there he will act. what are you hearing are some of the options that involve russia, to try to deal directly with assad? if that fails, what next? reporter: well the president, talked about neil, the word he used was flexible. flexible andd of set himself up for this flexibility here at this news

conference. keep in mind this is a president who has talked about being anti-intervention as is relates to the middle east. he says he has been that way for 15 years plus. it was his administration this week, rex tillerson, nikki haley, who said not removing bashar al-assad, not the top priority of the administration. that was a turn from the past administration and had drawn international condemnation. here today, the president said he was clearly moved by what he has seen on television over the last 24 hours. he will remain flexible as he put ittk"p$e said, what he has n television has crossed many, many lines. listen to the president little while ago. >> it crossed a lot of lines for me. when you kill innocent children, innocent babies, babies, little babies, with a chemical gas that is so lethal, people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line.

reporter: neil to leave you with one last note from the rose garden, in the front row were many of the top senior advisors of the president, vice president, ivanka trump, jared kushner, h.r. mcmaster on down the line. not present today, steve bannon. as we have been reporting he is removed as member of the national security council. when we've been coming to the press conferences. steve bannon was not in the front row. coincidence? who knows. but significant nonetheless. neil: blake, thank you very much. dan, thank you he as well and mayor ruben, thank you you as well. we'll keep on efforts and promises the administration has made. what promises donald trump made to king abdullah made to address this i am planning something. he is not telegraphing, president trump, what that will be in response to syria. once again using chemical weapons against its own people. when we come back, the fight over health care here.ym one that has more conservatives on board we're told but at the

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>> i think the obama administration had a great opportunity to solve this crisis a long time ago when he said the red line in the sand and when he didn't cross that line after making the threat, i think that

set us back a long ways, not only in syria but in many of the parts of the world. it is now my responsibility. was a great opportunity missed. neil: all right. unlike his predecessor, donald trump says he will not telegraph what he is up to or what he might be planning but he is going to respond to what syria has done there inflicting chemical weapons on its people yet again. he will deal with the chinese premier tomorrow in mar-a-lago, florida, discussions how to move on north korea. the president keeping these things short and tight as they have been of late. he took about three questions. no the four he had been promises folks. this is the rule of them for the president. i think on beautiful day like this, even other side, who is ever visiting kind of welcomes it. connell mcshane with what kind of signals he was sending in this exchange. >> i think some significant

ones, neil, i really do. he talked about the world being a mess. he said he inherited this mess and will fix it. by his own comments, brought it up unprofolked, north korea is the topic will bring it up with chinese premier xi xinping going on friday. we saw, i was looking back at some of his past comment during last commercial break, look at private citizen donald trump on syria and president trump's attitude towards syria, by his own acknowledgement is changing, saying the attitude towards the country of syria and leader bashar al-assad changed very much as he said it. i will tell you what happened yesterday is unacceptable to me, that was a quote, talking about the attack on children and chemical weapons we think were used in that attack. if you look back to when donald trump was a private citizen in the summer and early fall of 2013, he made a number of comments about syria. just one taken off of his twitter feed from june of that

year, he said, we should stay the hell out of syria. the rebels, in quotes, are just as bad as the current regime. what will we get for our lives and billions of dollars? zero. he sent a lot of other tweets out there, neil, similar to that. difference between a private citizen commenting on theseç matters. bashar al-assad was a bad guy done terrible things and used chemical weapons against hess own people is the allegation. when you're a sitting president, much different manuever. he didn't telegraph what he is going to do. certainly sounds like he may do something. ñ separately hearing from a senior state department official rejecting the russian accusation the syrian gas attack was not perpetrated by syria's assad. it was result of a strike on opposition arms depot, blaming very people that were killed. that this official goes on to tell, i believe this is reuters, that it offer asset of false facts only it and assad its

regime supports. what do you make of that? >> what nikki haley said at united nations earlier, doesn't seem like a lot of people are buying in the united states command here what is coming out of syria by the way of bashar al-assad. haley in her comments in new york earlier today was pretty clear indicating if the world body, meaning the united nations doesn't act, the united states might act. so, it doesn't sound like any explanation that is coming from assad is being believed by the u.s. government, not that any other past u.s. government necessarily, may not have acted had believed assad. neil: connell. thank you, very much. connell mcshane. meanwhile the stock market. all these vagueries notwithstanding, some more vague than others some agendas more up in the air than others. stocks at highs of the day, around up 16points on the dow -- 168 points on the dow as second quarter looks some general advances we saw in the first quarter, what could be first quarter report cards out

of corporate america. republican congressman doug collins suspects that has a lot to do with optimism we'll get a tax deal and market-friendly developments. the congressman is with the house republican caucus vice-chair and a very big cheese. congressman, nice to have you. >> neil, you're making the points. appreciate to be on. neil: when you hear this, and see what markets are doing and seeing there is optimism here they will get what they want, they will get those tax cut, maybe even a rework of the repeal and replace on obamacare, i often say on this show, a lot of times they are priced for perfection. they can't afford even the slightest disappointment. that is a lot to expect all by the summertime. what do you think? >> i think it is not just a lot to expect in general big things we may can do here. go back to the start of january, i was in my district recently, start with a business owner. i went out and bought two forklifts for $50,000. i have been holding off. my business is picking up.

i feel an economy trying to make a comeback. he is in an industry would be more disposable income if you would. says there is something coming back in these kind of industries, through regulatory reform, getting got off our backs. once you get outside the beltway, bigger cities, middle america and businesses and farms they're desperately want to see growth and they're taking the words of this president who has done exactly what he would do, to relief the regulatory burden to get it back on track. they're taking him at his word. neil: how frustrated as you were freedom caucus, human life and dignity deserve fierce protection under the law. i'm unable to understand how many of my colleagues allowed political myopia to defend the america's biggest abortion provider. not to care for our neighbors nor unborn americans f they

don't change on these pigs we'll revisit this all over again, right? >> i think we'll revisit it anyway. there is lot of discussion going on. president made it a priority, and, what we understand i do believe there is certain point in time. go back to reagan and certain point in time, the conservative deal we push, push conservative principles radically looking at entitlement such as medicaid. looking for ways to not evenly repeal and replace. move the taxes back. those are gains moreç than symbolic gains. those are actually dismantling obamacare. neil: your view to be clear, whatever qualms the caucus had with this deal, the obamacare rework, it was better than the law it was replacing, right? so they should have gone along with that? >> well i think that was a given. it was better than with we replaced. obamacare is a dismal failure. everything we had was much better improvement. others felt you could take and add things. we did that up until the end. my situation at this point, let's get to the point where we get as much as we can under the

constraints of reconciliation we're dealing with, under constraint to get it back to the senate. i want to see the senate go to work. if they can do more, let them. they have been very vocal saying what we can do, get them forward to move it to the senate. people want to see progress and good, conservative action in place. that is what we're seeing here. is it perfect? no. i have a go vote, yes, no, present. i don't have perfect. if i had perfect i would vote every time. we fulfill promises doing so best way possible. neil: congressman, thank you. good seeing you again. >> neil, always good to see you, take care. neil: meantime, dow still up and again investors still confident that we're going to get something and soon an maybe sooner than thought. i hope. after this.

:

. neil: all right, a quick look at the dow, up about 163 points, growing indications, meetings are continuing and the hope is to get conservatives in line but in trying to win over the conservatives on the health care rework of a rework, they might be losing some moderates, not all but might be, and some of the moderates are concerned states would have broader powers. normally that is something that is republican dna. what concerns some moderates they might take away the guarantees of coverage for preexisting condition, trying to nail that down one way or the other. the dow up to 20,852, we're

going to get the first-quarter earnings about, take you through that and fed minute release coming very, very shortly. here's trish regan. trish: hey, neil, up 165. i'll take it. see how it goes. thank you so much. critics question her motives for allegedly unmasking trump team members' names in the obama surveillance scandal. all of this as president trump and king abdullah meet to calm the mounting tensions we are seeing throughout the entire world. i'm trish regan, welcome everyone to "the intelligence report". today's presidential meeting with the king comes alongside news of north korea launching another missile overnight, and fresh evidence of syria using chemical weapons on its own people, and just a short time ago, president trump denounced the latest chemical attack saying these heinous actions against children in fact also children cannot be