disruptive passengers from now on. the whole flight is canceled and they're not going to lay a hand on them. people need to take personal responsibility for their own behavior when they get on an aircraft, too. maria: thank you. gin me tomorrow, my exclusive interview with president trump. let's get to stuart varney and "varney & company." stuart: we can't wait for that, by the way, maria, we'll see you then. all right, a passenger dragged off an overbooked flight. it's a pr nightmare and a crisis for united airlines and its ceo. good morning, everyone. millions have seen the video, united getting the scrutiny it does not want and it's going to hurt. ceo oscar munez described the passenger as belligerent. united has been in a merger

with continental, and he has come back from illness. everyone an outraged. when people have a camera, things like this go global. and why do they overbook so much. confrontation with russia, secretary tillerson says, take sides. you're with us or with iran and hezbollah. he's going to moscow, but putin will not meet with him. tax reform. no firm plan, no firm timetable and on the markets, no correction, but the trump rally is clearly on pause, saying it every day. we're all about politics and money and today we'll throw in passenger dragging. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪

[yelling] >> oh my gosh! no! my god, what are you doing? no, this is wrong! oh, my god, look at what you did to him! . stuart: that video is all over social media after united airline removed that passenger against his will to make room for crew on an overbooked flight. the premarket is down over 2%. earlier, it was down 6%. now, here is an excerpt from a leaked e-mail from united ceo to employees, the quote. he, that is the passenger was approached a few more times after that, in order to gain his compliance to come off the aircraft. and each time, he refused and became more and more disruptive and belligerent.

i think there are going to be consequences from this. i would suspect that the airlines are taking a look at overbooking, i think maybe the ceo's job is threatened and airlines have become the most unpopular industry second only perhaps to lawyers and politicians. [laughte [laughter] >> can you guess? let me introduce the guy and he's here. wait a second, when i buy an airline ticket, i think i'm buying a contract. >> yes, you are. stuart: and that contract says i can be removed from the flight, not once i'm on board, and i can be denied access. >> once they put you in the seat you have an absolutright to stay there, as long as you're complying with the rules of civility which this fellow was, the argument that he was belligerent is belied by the tape which is being complaint. he's screaming in pain because

they struck him and beat him about the face and bleeding as they drag him out. so we have the violation of a contract, which obviously gives right to a lawsuit for whatever his damages are, we have not overbooking. we have the wish to replace fee paying passengers with nonpaying united employees who need to get from one city to the next, who very easily could have gotten to the next city on another flight or by another means. and then we have the gross overreaction by the police and the use of force in a case where it's absolutely not indicated. the police do not exist to be the pawns of private people to resolve their disputes. stuart: okay. first of all, it was not the chicago police department. it was not their-- >> not sure what police it was. stuart: it was aviation, what have i got here? an aviation security officer and he's been placed on leave. and secondly, judge, i don't believe that the aviation

security officer struck the passenger. he may have struck his head on the way out. but look at this from the passenger's point of view for a second. if i board a ticket to get on a plane, i bought it, i paid for it, i've been through security and i'm sitting on that plane, there's no way on god's green earth that i should be asked to get up and leave. >> if they interrogate you while you're sitting there and have reason to believe that you pose a danger to the flight. how was this guy chosen, algorithm. whatever human being was in that seat has to go. i'm harsh on this police force, whatever it is, the federal force or a local force, because the police should not be in the business of using force, unless a crime is being committed and politely sitting on a seat where the airline says you don't belong and you have every right to be there is not a crime and does not call for use of force. stuart: i'm with you all the

way. i'm going to take 30 seconds, producer, please be aware. ashley webster has a story of ashley: happened to me in london to nashville. got to chicago, changed planes, went to the ticket desk, got my boarding pass and my wife, we sat down, the plane pulled away from the gate, our luggage was loaded, full plane, suddenly the plane goes back in. opens the door, someone calls out my name, my wife's name, they wanted us to leave. the family showed up at the last moment, one extra seat, when we left the family could get on. i refused i said no. liz: this was christmas eve. ashley: they said you have to leave now. i said no, it got heated and heated. and they said we're going to call the marshal and i said, great, he can arrest you for did you go selling the fee. money fee and hotel, christmas eve. my kids were waiting for it.

the kicker our luggage went to nashville so we had no presents for the next day and the presents had gone. >> what airline? >> american airlines, i still, it bubbles to the surface again, this was in 2009. thanks for the story, ashley. ashley: oh, my goodness. stuart: a three hour show for that. let's move on to politics, serious stuff here, not that your story is not serious. ashley: no, no. stuart: this is politics, okay? secretary of state tillerson travels to russia today. he will not meet with russia's president vladimir putin. this is to some degree an escalation of the confrontation. what is tillerson telling the russians, liz. liz: he's saying it's clear the reign of the assad family is coming to an end. we want to relieve the suffering of the syrian people. russia can be a part of that or keep the alliance with syria and iran. that axis there. he's saying that we believe that this will not serve russia's long-term interest, if they do side with syria and

iran, he's saying now that the distinction, whether russia was complicit or incompetent about syria's chemical weapons and the deal to get rid of them doesn't matter to the dead. he said we cannot let this happen again. stuart: strong statement. all right, there's another confrontation, this is with north korea, the u.s. aircraft carrier headed to the korean peninsula. north korea says it's ready for war, wait a second, ash, did they use that word? >> no, they didn't. and here is the statement with the carrier off the peninsula, we will hold the u.s. wholy responsible for the coequences to be entailed by outrageous actions and comes after the u.s. launched the air strikes on syria in turn sends a message to pyong yang. stuart: today at the white house, the president holds a meeting with leading ceo's. the g.o.p. remains divided on tax reform and a schedule for

tax plan keeps being pushed back. james freeman, wall street journal editorial guy is with us this morning. i see this as bad news, flat-out. no plan and no timetable. bad news. >> well, what i am concerned about, we see gary cohn kind of consolidating his power in the white house on economic policy. i don't know if he believes first and foremost that we need economic growth. and that should be the priority in tax reform. and you see it where the donald trump campaign plan with tax cuts across the board. don't worry whether it means washington's accounting standards, we've got to grow the economy. you're seeing now, an emerging message. maybe we don't want to let rich people have tax cuts and a lot of concerns other than how do we grow the economy. i think this is going to work out, but there's cause for concern here. >> the cause for concern is that gary cohn is running the ship now. the tax reform ship. gary cohn is a democrat actually and has no interest in-- i don't know about this, but i

don't think he's got any interest in across the board tax cuts for individuals, high net worth and across the board tax cuts for companies. i see this muddled, messy and not good news. >> i still think it's going to work out because you saw from candidate trump what he wants to do with the tax system. how he prioritizes growth. you see that on capitol hill. so, i think this can work out, but they really have to focus here on big reforms because if you're talking about that world leading corporate rate of 35%, bringing it down to the high 20's is not going to be a game changer. that's well above the averages in europe and our major competitors. you've got to get that corporate rate to 20 or more. >> and you've got to get personal income tax down as well and that's how you fire up the economy. it looks like a limited plan, and the corporate tax rate,

that's very, very limited and that's not good, is it? >> it can be pro growth if you've got a competitive tax rate, but you need work on the individual side, too, you need incentives for them to work, save and invest just like the corporate code. >> despite all of this, there's no correction of the trump rally, i'm shocked. >> we've still got very low interest rates. the feds are talking about it, shrinking the portfolio, but this is a driver for stock prices. they're buying money very cheaply and can buy back their stock. >> i want to check for tesla. the news there, it's official, it's now more valuable company than both ford and general motors, it's up again this morning, 3.13. he says that north korea is looking for trouble and will

take them on with or without china. and churches that were bombed by terrorists on palm sunday, more varney after this. 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.

>> did you see it yesterday? whole foods very nice pop yesterday, after activist investor took a stake. they want whole foods to sell itself. dead flat after the pop yesterday. now, pope francis is going to visit egypt this month and he's going to visit two churches which were bombed by islamic terrorists on palm sunday. can you give me details. liz: the pope got word of the bombing during mass on sunday. he will be visiting the april 28th and 29th and invited by both the grand imam of cairo and the coptic pope. he has condemned the bombing. there is concern, of course, about the continued attacks on christians there and the murders of christians there. terrorists have christians

reportedly on a hit list and a target list. and the christians there apparently supported the overthrow. and there's a complicated issue and the pope is going to come out condemning it, whether he says more about improving security for christians in churches in cairo and the rest of egypt remains to be seen. stuart: he's going this month. got it. thank you, liz. secretary of state tillerson will be in moscow tomorrow, but vladimir putin is not ing to meet with him. do you support-- this is an ultimatum, essentially tillerson is giving an ultimatum to the russians, you're either with us, or with hezbollah or iran. make your mind up, which is it? confrontation. >> tillerson is definitely getting a different reception than couple of years ago with the friendship award from putin. i'm personally glad that

tillerson is not getting the john kerry treatment from putin. don't forget he was the last secretary of state putin met with and he went on meet the press and announced that 100% of all the chemical manufacturing facilities have been taken out. it was peace in our time. so i'm glad that rex tillerson is not getting the john kerry treatment from putin. stuart: it is a confrontation. it's escalation here. there's no sign he's backing off tillerson especially. do you agree with that. >> absolutely. i think that putin and other thugs are beginning to find out that this is not a president who has a wish bone where his backbone ought to be. this is a president who leads and i think they're finding out that real american leadership is back on the world stage and, stuart, i think that vladimir putin just might be playing poker with the wrong guy in time. stuart: we shall see. but there's confrontation of another time. president trump tweeted this morning, it's a warning to north korea. here he is. north korea is looking for trouble.

if china decides to help, that would be great. if not, we will solve the problem without them, usa. now, that's a complete turn around, in our policy towards north korea and it's another confrontation. how do you feel about that? >> this president has inherited the most complex national security situation. he's done so with a military at an all-time low in terms of readiness, army cut to pre-world war ii levels. make no mistakes. the president has to look at this and i put north korea at the top. the weapons program is a threat to t country. we're in the 59th minute of the 11th hour dealing th the north korean threat because prior administrations, both republican and democrat kicked the can down the road and this president has got to deal with it. stuart: if the north koreans fire off more missiles headed

out to sea, do you think that president trump would shoot them down? >> well, he's deployed that kind of capability and we've got a great missile defense capability in alaska and california. we've go that capability. what i'm looking to is on saturday. saturday marks the 101st-- i'm sorry, 105th anniversary of kim il-sung's birthday. it's usually on his birthday they fire off a missile and conduct a nuclear test. look to see what he does on saturday and what the u.s. response will be. stuart: what do you think? do you think mr. trump will shoot down a missile, do you? >> well, what i like about this president it is-- >> do you think he will? >> i don't know, he's got a full range of options and the truth is there are no good options. there's a reason they're called

the hermit nation. we have no idea what is going on there. and rex tillerson indicated that the chinese would help us. where they can help us the most is getting good intelligence as to what is going on inside the hermit kingdom. stuart: thanks for joining us, sir. apprecia it. more action at the white house today, presint trump's holding another meeting with his ceo panel. here is the question, are all of these meetings helping us get closer to a deal on tax cuts? let us hope. we'll be back. you always pay

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>> all right. there will b in the white house today. president trump and i think it's about 20 top level ceo's. come on in, fox news contributor steve cortez who was a member of the trump transition team and the trump campaign and the rest of it. you, sir, are an insider. so i'm going to put it like this. president trump's running out of time. get on with it! what do you say? >> stuart, i think that time is of the essence. you are correct, but i believe that he's going to get this done. this is holy week, stuart. i have faith in our president. i believe he is going to get this done. he has to. stuart: hold on a second. we hear that some of the shots

being called inside the white house are being called by gary cohn. gary cohn does not have much interest in across the board personal income tax cuts. he's big on infrastructure and big on corporate tax cuts. that's not going to do the job, steve. >> stuart, i concur and by the way, that's not what president trump ran on. he ran on across the board tax cuts. tax cuts for everyone and particularly for middle income earners, people who haven't had a pay raise yet in this century and partly because of onerous tax policy so i don't know that gary cohn is advocating against individual tax cuts, but if he is then i'm on the other side of that in the trump train. >> if president trump doesn't get individual tax cuts done this year, that trump presidency is in real trouble. i'm sorry, i've got to take a break because we're coming back for the opening of the market. steve stay there, we're coming back are for the opening of the market.

we're down 10 or 15 points, are you surprised 20,5, 600, it's amazing, isn't it? back in a moment.

>> 30 seconds till the opening bell and we bring you this, that's an airport near moscow

where secretary of state rex tillerson is expected to arrive within the hour. you maybe ought to see some smoke at the airport there. we're told they're burning grass and debris around the perimeter. nothing to worry about secretary of state tillerson arriving at that airport shortly. okay. three seconds, two seconds, boom! we're off and running on a tuesday morning. where are we opening? down 13 points, down 20 points. that's the state of the market, a lot of red on the side there. i'm sure the market is worried about a lack of timetable, lack of content for the tax reform. i think the market is getting nervous. we'll ask the panelists about that, that's my judgment, the market is worried about the schedule for tax cut. we're barely holding at 20,600. now, the stock of the morning, where the big story is, that's united airlines. it's down 2%.

a lomore on this coming, of course, because of the draggin incident with e united passenger in chicago sunday night. we're still talking about it, and there are serious consequences for the company and ceo. take a look at the automakers. because, tesla's market value surpasses of that general motors. tesla close to its all-time high, worth more than gm and worth more than ford. whole food, whoa, nice pop yesterday. dead flat this morning to slightly higher. an activist partner, that's janna partners have taken a 9% stake. what's going to happen to whole foods? up as talks today. tuesday morning, we're off and running and down 25 points. who is covering this? ashley webster, elizabeth mcdonald. james freeman and mike murphy. now, i say if we don't get a tax cut and a deal on tax cuts, a knowledge of a tax cut soon. i say we've got a correction coming.

mike murphy, are you going to take me on? >> i will take you on there. in a sense, we do need the tax cuts, we do need tax reform, stuart, it's coming. everyone knows it's coming and just getting it out there. >> what do you mean, everyone knows it's coming? >> is there anything out there that doesn't think we're not getting lower taxes? >> the timetable. >> i agree we need to see something, if needs to be output there and something concrete. more importantly, stuart, are earnings, corporate earnings, because if you get a timetable on a tax cut and earnings do not support the dow up near 21,000, i think that's where the correction comes. so we need corporate earnings along with the tax cut. because the market has moved up in front of that. stuart: okay, steve cortez, my premise is no news on tax cuts. no tax cut this year, we've got a correction on the stock market. >> stuart, i completely agree

with your hypothetical. if we don't, i think that the republicans will lose the house in 2018 and that would hobble president trump. i think there are dire consequences not to get broad deep tax relief passed this year. stuart: james freeman covers politics across the board. are we going to get a tax cut plan this year or are you worried about it? >> no, i think this will work out. i'm a little concerned, i talk more focus on economic growth. markets will have to reprice, if the trump promises don't end up being fulfilled. i think the jobs report shows we need a tax reform program. stuart: we need news of that, it was supposed to happen by easter, not going to happen. then august, probably not going to happen. i can't see it as good news for stocks, i can't see it. >> it's a concern.

let's look on the bright side. we have at least some concensus that you need simplification, so that's good. i think you have-- i would like to see more, but you have certainly an understanding on the hill that you need economic growth inducing policy. you look at candidate trump as we discuss. he got the idea that you need a plan to grow the economy even if short-term deficits were there, there are a lot of good reasons to think it works out, but the timetable is not what we like. >> steve cortez. >> stuart, i'll give you another reason to believe. i believe in growth. who cares what i believe. the markets believe in growth which is more important. we're just off an all-time high in most stocks and sectors. ang i think the stock worse watching today is disney, it got an upgrade from goldman sachs, that's a great barometer of where the consumer is out there. lumber places are finally back to where they were pre-housing crash.

so, markets believe in growth and that we're going to get the tax reform proposals and faster economic growth. i'd like to think the markets are right. people are putting their money where their mouth is and they believe in the agenda. stuart: all right. steve cortez. the company of the news, united airlines. look at the stock price down just over two points. we've all seen the video on the left-hand side of the screen. to say it went viral is the understatement of the decade. it's all over the place and everybody is talking about it and i say that there's going to be some changes at united because of it? >> the department of transportation is looking at the overbooking policies of united airlines. there's a report that the chinese social media platform has 130 million views of the video. i'm not sure if that's correct. wow, this is a really bad pr black eye for ual.

stuart: i think that the ceo's job, oscar munoz is in trouble. >> i completely agree. not only the video as liz pointed out, but the way he handled it and supported the employ's who dragged the passenger off the plane. there's a way to handle it, but-- >> i think that the flying public is outraged about this and other things when you fly. ashley: to liz's point they've got to address the overbooking issue. all the airlines do it, many people got bumped. i know they try to make up for money for empty seats, but i'm sorry, that situation on that video. i've been in that situation and nearly been dragged off. it's outrageous and people don't enjoy flying these days, it's a pain in the neck. liz: the stunning statistic is 430,000 people are overbooked every year on u.s. airlines. stuart: on united. liz: on united. that's a stunning statistic.

stuart: 430,000 overbookings on united. ashley:. ashley: they sell the same seat twice. stuart: some took the money and another flight. 40,000 removed from the flight. doesn't get on line. they were involuntarily taken away. how about that? >> you have to-- i guess maybe this is the silver lining for consumers, you have to believe that those offers are going to rise now, whether it's cash money or whether it's for future flights in return for getting off the airplane. liz: more for their reputation. >> the cost of doing it the hard way, i think you're going to see better offers to flyers on overbooked flights. stuart: they could have given this gentleman, $10,000 and a limo chauffeured to his destination and it would have been 20 times cheaper. >> apparently he's a

grandfather and 68 years old. >> the public hant happy flying and that brings us back to start-up companies that disrupt the industry. the way you fly now is as bad or worse than 40 or 50 years ago. there are going to be start-up companies giving you a better experience in the near future. stuart: do you know of any? >> i do, wheels up. they're advertising a lot. right now it's private air travel so that may not be for everybody, but they're trying to make it open to more of the public and doing a great job of it and give you great service. stuart: look for the disrupters right there. now, i want to talk about tesla. the value of that company now surpasses the value of general motors and the value of the ford motor company. mike, fast, would you buy tesla wherever it is, 312. >> i wouldn't by tesla, there will be a negative report, and a putback.

if you want to own it, own it at a pullback not the all-time high. stuart: steve cortez, it shows you how much technology has taken over old industrial kms. >> it's incredible, stunning, that did it could be bigger than the massive old line companies. i'm not interested in buying, one of the reasons i'm not, i don't like the models the u.s. taxpayers are subsidizing the cars primarily for wealthy people. i think it's a terrible model, i'm not sure it's sustainable. i wouldn't bet against tesla. i'd stand by the said lines, e-lon musk is a winner and a visionary and may figure out something to do with batteries, not so much outhe cars, but batteries that will be transformational and i hope for america's sake he does. he's an amazing immigrant success story just like you are, stuart. stuart: i happen to get on the air and do correction here, i said it was 430,000 people were taken off-- not taken off. liz: overbooked last year. stuart: it was all airlines.

liz: correct. stuart: not just united. all airlines 430,000. let's be fair to the airlines. i guess we should. we're down 22 points for the dow industrials, that puts us back to 20,636. left-hand side of the screen that's secretary of state tillerson's plane just arrived at the airport in moscow. they were burning debris and grass on the side of the airport. we've put it on the air and showed it to you. not much to say about the burning grass, but a lot to say about tillerson arriving in moscow. i sense confrontation and wondering if the price of gold is going up. right now it's at 12. ashley: 66. stuart: confrontation? >> i'm not sure you'd-- confrontation. rex tillerson has a lot of experience dealing with putin, i think he's going to be a tough, but careful negotiator, i would guess and i think back in the u.s. maybe some people would like to hear what the

plan is beyond last week's strike. stuart: i'm interested that you've got, i'm going to call it confrontation with the russians. tillerson has given them an ultimatum. you're with us or with the iranians in hezbollah. you've got a confrontation with north korea and-- >> newt gingrich made a good point on sean hannity's show. there was a lot of sabre rattling during the cold war, never turned into a firing, no shots were fired in the cold war between the russia and the u.s. despite the sabre rattling. stuart: now we're the 20,600. mike murphy, i'm going to ask you this. next big move for the dow is down. that's a question. >> i disagree. i think the next move the earnings will support the market higher. i think that people are watching in syria and democrats and republicans like the fact that the united states is standing up for ourselves. standing up for our interests globally and tillerson going over to russia i think is a

positive for us, because he's facing that bully face-to-face that should have been done a long time ago and now we're doing it. i think it's it's an overall-- >> if profit reports show up, a 10% gain from last year. cancels out from moscow, north korea. >> if he gets the news on tax reform. >> it goes up. >> new highs in the near future. >> well, well, well, how to turn things around. we're down 53 points, ladies and gentlemen, thank you, steve, james, mike. we thank you for being here this morning. we're down 51 points on the dow right at 20,600 as rex tillerson secretary of state arrives in moscow. you will not, you will not be able to take a phone call on a plane anytime soon. the new chair of the fcc says he's not going to lift the ban

on using your cell phone while you fly. full story coming up for you. you might like it. the republicans divided on the tax cut issue. here is question. if they can't make a deal on health care, will they be able to come to an agreement soon on tax reform? we'll be back.

>> secretary of state rex tillerson has arrived in moscow. he's getting off the plane and it just arrived. 's going to have a confrontation with the russians. he's said to putin who will not meet with him, saying hey, you're with us or with iran and hezbollah. i'm calling it a confrontation, a head to head, put it like that. the big board shows the low of

the day, the dow is off 64 points. we've dropped below 26,500. the chair of the fcc says no way for phone calls on planes. i personally think this is a great idea as rex tillerson comes down the gangway there. ashley: the trade-- i sound curmudgeonly, but no one wants someone yakking away on a cell phone at 30,000 feet. and the chairman says, i do not believe moving forward with this plan, however, the department of trance sayings that's fcc doesn't have the jurisdiction, we're the ones who have jurisdiction and we're exploring that option, so not the end of the story yet. >> oh. liz: somebody made the point, if you didn't have phones you wouldn't be able to take that image of the united airlines guy dragged off. >> you can't make the calls.

liz: good point. stuart: and what a stake in public behavior and consideration for those around you. ashley: lack thereof. stuart: public behavior when you're crammed into an airline feet and that's not the way we want to fly and i don't want to hear somebody talking on the phone about heaven knows what. liz: that's why i wear ear plugs, even in the airport. stuart: i noticed that. ashley: what about the screaming baby? another story. stuart: if it's my screaming baby, it's okay. on the left side of the screen there, rex tillerson just arrived in moscow, he's not going to meet with putin. or i should say that putin will not meet with rex tillerson. he's laid down the law and told the russians in no uncertain terms, look, take sides, you're either with us, america, and you are with them, the iranians and hezbollah.

liz: he said it's clear the reign of the assad family has come to an end. it doesn't, you know, he says we cannot let this happen again, the slaughter of innocent people in syria has got to stop. stuart: okay, we're now just off the low of the day for the dow industrials. we're off 49 points, we had been down 60, we're right at 20,600. no firm plan on taxes. no firm timetable. come on in, dan with heritage action for america. dan? i'm getting worried here because if we don't get tax cuts for individuals this year, this trump presidency goes away. i mean, it's finished. what say you know? >> yeah, i mean, president trump ran on an ambitious agenda and i think we need tax cuts and we also need health care reform. and i think that vice-president pence has it write. repeal obamacare and give americans the worldclass health care and once obamacare is

gone, we'll have across the board tax cuts. that sounds like a good plan to me and we've got to get the people in washington to deliver on it. stuart: you couldn't get health care, 80%, but couldn't get the last, and that went off the table. i could clearly imagine a situation where you've got an a similar situation with tax reform. you don't get everything you want so you're voted down and the trump presidency ends. assure me, please, that's not going to happen. >> that's not going to happen. i think you need to take a step back and understand what's going ton with health care. best way to do that look at iowa, 52% for barack obama in 2012, gave donald trump 51% the past year. over the past couple of weeks, the people of iowa found out they're losing blue cross and aetna out of the marketplace. 51,000 people had health insurance through those two companies. that's what obamacare is doing across the country.

we have to get this right and there's no confidence by anyone that the plan that paul ryan put forward a few weeks ago, would have changed that situation. if we want the president to have a successful presidency and be reelected in 2020. that will build momentum to tax reformments are we just going to get tax reform as in a lower corporate tax rate? is that what we're going to end up with? >> i certainly hope not. i think we node across the board reform of the tax code, it's messed up and complicated and hurting growth. the individual side is hurting families and small business owners across the country. we need to be able to do both of this. but if we get health care right that will provide a sense of confidence from the american people and from within the american party to get tax reform, a complicated issue. >> are you in favor of or opposed to the border adjustment tax? right now the border adjustment tax is one of the biggest

things standing in the way of tax reform. i don't think you could find too many republicans that went out there and ran on it. if we want to see tax reform done and sticks condition the calend calendar, it's tough with the border in there. stuart: you want corporate tax down and-- >> i would like to see across the board tax cuts and the federal government takes too much of our money. we could do less in washington ap let the private sector take up there. stuart: let's see the plan, we'd love to see that, dan holla, thank you for joining us, appreciate it. the dow industrial is close to the low of the day. some of the stocks are in the green and the rest are down. and the immigration plan seems to be work. they've dropped the number of

people crossing the border. we have the numbers for you next. so for once i've got plenty of time. what's going on? so those financial regulations being talked about? they could affect your accounts, so let's get together and talk, and make sure everything's clear. thanks. yeah. that would be great. we've grown to over $900 billn in assets under ... by being proactive, not reactive. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing.

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>> the rio grande valley. the immigration lower. ashley: a 64% decrease.

less than 12,000 people caught in the month of march. number of families and unaccompanied miners caught in march was 37 a day. it was 291 a day a year ago. simply put, border agents said we're not doing anything different other than enforcing the rules on the book. would you risk a dangerous 1,000 mile journey, pay a smuggler $8,000 and still be unsure you'll get to stay in the united states? some other people getting the message. the immigration raids, the policies, the rhetoric from the trump administration is having an impact. stuart: i guess we could call that a success of the trump administration thus far. we'll do that. coming up my take on the united airlines dragging incident. airlines, surely, one of, if not the most popular industry. this video does not help. hour two, three minutes away.

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stuart: we can all relate to the

passenger-dragging incident at you united airlines. most of us have been on overbooked flights. last year the airlines had to persuade 430,000 passengers to take another flight. they were overbooked. but the video of that man being dragged off because he would not give up the seat that he had bought and paid for really touched a nerve. of course it did. it could have been any one of us. let's face it, flying is no fun these days. take your shoes off to go through security. fight for overhead luggage space. buy food on board. buy a blanket, a pillow, earphones, nothing is free. you paid an arm and a leg for a ticket in the first place. this may be one of those moments when a video has consequences. first, overbooking. airlines will have to ta look at that policy. you know it, could have been far cheaper to offer this guy 10,000 bucks to get off and give him a shover driven limo where he

wants to go. the ceo's job appears to be at risk. oscar munoz has a heart transplant. turned into a nasty leadership flight. first legging incident and now dragging incident. accountability at the very top? third, airlines are surely one of the most popular -- unpopular industries. that is not good when you rely on customer goodwill. here is the bottom line. in a age where cameras are everywhere, you can not bury customer service problems. somebody will take a picture. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ stuart: it is happening this hour, the president meets with more than 20 ceos. these are business leaders. they're back at the white house. they will talk tax cuts and infrastructure. we may get headlines from the

meeting. you will get them when we get those headlines. check the big board when we come back. we were down 35 points. ha been down 65. how about tesla? that is interesting. the market value of tesla surpasses the market value of general motors. who would have thought. starbucks is going to rolling out new lunch offerings at more than 100 chicago locations. grab-n-go sandwiches and salads on offer. no impact on the stock. look at united airlines. we have impact there. now it is getting worse. now the stock is down nearly 4%. this is all about the dragging episode. we have a comment, actually it's a quote from an internal memo written by the ceo of united, oscar munoz. here it is. he was approached, that the passenger, was approach ad few more times after that in order to gain his compliance to come off the aircraft. each time he refused and became more and more disruptive and belligerent.

disruptive and belligerent, that behavior was not seen in the video shared by tens of millions of people around the world. joining us liz peek, the "fiscal times" columnist. this is one of those rare occasions when a video creates real change at a company at an industry. >> let's face it. there is no love lost between passengers and the airlines. all of us have been in the situation where you're furious about delays that have no seeming relevance or whatever. there are people bumped off airplanes because the airplanes made a mistake. not because the passengers has done something wrong, but this is really a problem for united airlines, particularly weirdly, in china. this has been trending on wbao for a day since it happened. 270 million hits on wabo and comments bawls the people think it was an anti-chinese, fellow looks to be asian. people are suing that as discriminatory. that is huge market for united airlines.

that is something they are advertisinthey have mo direct flights to china than any other airline, et cetera. this is really not stopping with the united states. it is not stopping with passenger outrage. this could be a real economic problem. stuart: do you think that accountability should go right to the top, to the ceo put out that statement. he is the top guy. >> yes. stuart: should he lose his job? >> i don't know if he should loose his job, but face it, it was unbelievably tin-eared response. i don't know if he had seen the video and he talked about reaccommodating the passenger, i think that was his word, i mean, really, that is a public relations disaster. by the way, maybe shouldn't lose his job, remember jetblue had a similar situation several years ago, kept people waiting on a tarmac for four hours, et cetera. they engaged a very aggressive public relations effort. they did correct their problem. this may be worse than that i don't know that he can really bounce back from this. this is horrifying. stuart: this is on sunday night this occurred.

the video came out sunday night. it is tuesday mid-morning and we're talking about it. ashley: still talking about it. stuart: leading show each hour. extraordinary thing. ashley: horrifying. stuart: liz, one more for you, gop in my opinion totally divided on tax reform. press secretary sean spicer would not commit to an august deadline. listen to this. >> what you're seeing is us going through this process. his economic team, everyone from secretary mnuchin, secretary ross, to gary cohn, and others, sitting down internally beginning that process of meeting with groups that have been advocating for tax reform. not getting pushed. i think, obviously that would still be a great opportunity before they leave for august recess. we'll make sure we do this right. stuart: i didn't get much clarity, frankly. i did not get clarity on when and if and what's going to be in tax reform. liz, i think this is shaping up

as one huge negative for the stock market. >> if we thought health care was a mess, this could be even worse and here's the reason why. the white house, there is no single voice on basically how to get tax reform done. remember, they're still trying to do this through reconciliation. yohave to have aalancing mechanism to all the tax cuts. the border adjustment tax is not popular widely, but the white house people, there is nobody there with one exception who has any tax policy background i am told. and there is like 100 different opinions how to create the balance needed to go through reconciliation. so, when ryan said last week, or the week before, that the white house and senate and house were on really separate pages, he was totally telling the truth. and now, i had a long talk with someone over weekend involved in this. sounds to me we're lucky if it is this year. stuart: lucky if this year? >> sorry. i know that is incredibly dispointing. i think it is disappointing but

there is a chance that they will revise a little bit the goalposts on this, but it is will be very tricky. liz: they were trying to get it through a simple vote with just republicans saying, tax reform, obamacare reform, avoid democrats 60 filibuster level, as liz points out through budget reconciliation. you have to raise money, make it deficit neutral. that is the problem. >> the other issue that people aren't talking about, the failure of the health care act basically, that was a trillion dollar tax cut over 10 years. that was the amount of money that was going to be saved on taxes over 10 years if they took away all the obamacare fees and taxes. that is a huge number. now they don't have it. stuart: have to have it. >> that's right. stuart: i want to bring in congressman marcia blackburn, republican from tennessee. marcia, we're in despair. i know you're laughing, but you know the republican party can not many come together and get this thing done.

the time frame keeps backing up and backing up and backing up. i sense enormous frustration from voters and investors. >> well, i think it is fair to say that people are frustrated with us right now. and, actually, i can understand why they are. they are wanting to see action. they're wanting to see movement. i'm continuing to talk with my colleagues every single day, and yes, i do believe that we will arrive at consensus on health care, and just as liz said, it is a trillion dollar tax cut that is embedded in rolling back the affordable care act plans. and there is also a savings to medicaid and ability to block grant medicaid back to the states. stuart: marcia, i do hate to interrupt you, but we've been through this countless times. >> yes, we have. we have. stuart: and you're still no closer to a deal on health care

and the deal on tax reform plan gets, keeps on getting put off. liz peek right here talked to somebody involved in all this over the weekend, we'll be lucky if it is this year. lucky if it is this year? >> by the end of the year. stuart: lucky if it is this year. this is the essence of trump presidency. >> i will tell you this. i know that congress functions when they have a deadline in front of them, and yes, they missed the firstne on health reform but i do believe you're going to see us do this when we go back. people know it was a promise made. it needs to be a promise kept. you will see the pace pick up as we move forward to tax reform. stuart: hold on, marcia. >> sure. stuart: when you go back to congress after the easter recess, you're going to have something on health care for us all? >> i think that you will see something because there are individuals continuing to work on this every day.

even though we're working in our districts, stuart, every day, there are members talking, we are discussing different components and i think you will see something put forward. stuart: then, after that, after the summer recess, then we get to tax reform, maybe by the fall, is that the timetable? >> i would hope that we will begin to have some discussion on tax reform. individuals are very anxious to see the marginal rates lowered. that deals with all your pass-through entities and sub h is, llcs. i am asked every single day when there will be relieve on that and decreased regulatory relief. stuart: i hate to press, people don't want a lot more talking and talking and talking. >> i'm with you 100% on that. they are ready for action. stuart: marcia blackburn, come on this program, say we got it. here it is. >> that's it. that is exactly what they're

looking for. you're exactly right. and, i think that my colleagues will step up, that we will have that agreement, that you will see health care done, and then tax reform, infrastructure, broadband expansion are going to be following in the next year, 18 months. stuart: we'll hold you to it. we'll hold you to it. >> i hope you do. i hope everyone holds the republicans in the house. yes, that is exactly right. stuart: we will. marcia blackburn, as always, thank you very much. >> good to see you, thanks. stuart: all right. terror in egypt. we've been reporting it. isis bombs two churches and did it on palm sunday. the pope as in pope francis is headed to egypt later this month. we'll tell you all about that. another day, another democrat conspiracy theory. congressman claims the airstrikes against syria were all a ruse to show the administration is not colluding with russia. you got to hear this.

it is the second hour of "varney & company." ♪

stuart: down 50 points on the dow, off the lows of the day, holding at 20,600 for now. i will say the trump rally is on pause and i'm going to say that the market is not expecting that much growth in the economy. that is why the yield on the 10-year treasury is down to 2.32%. now this. pope francis will take a trip to egypt this month despite recent deadly isis bombings at two coptic churches in egypt. robert jeffress, first baptist church of dallas, fox news contributor.

what gets me, father, we have not seen real coverage of this utter outrage on palm sunday. that is what gets me. >> it is not politically correct that radical islam is in a jihad against christians t has always been that way. persecution has been part of the christian story since the beginning of time. the good thing, it is ironic, when christianity is pressed, it expands. that is the good news that in spite of all of this, the message of easter is god can take the worst things, whether it is the killing of coptic christians, or the crucifix of the christ, he can take those horrible things and use them, not for immediate good but for ultimate good. stuart: what should we christians in america be doing for our brothers and sisters who are getting slaughtered in north africa and the middle east? >> look, i think it is not a woman-complexity of what to do, i think we have a mt. who is

willing to act decisively. whatever you think about the syrian attacks, getting involved in that, i think the president sent notice to isis he will not put up with this stuff. i think we must take decisive action when we can. stuart: can we get action on refugees who are christians who have been denied access to america. >> yes. stuart: muslim refugees come by the tens of thousands and christianss do not. that situation is not being rectified. i want to know why. >> i can tell you from personal conversations with the president just a few months ago he is very moved and troubled by the plight of syrian refugees, but, stuart, he has to it balance his moral responsibility, like he did the other night launching these missile attacks, he has to balance that with his constitutional responsibility to protect this country. until we can vet these refugees better he can not afford to put americans at risk. there are things he can do, like bombing assad, like helping to

provide safe zones but he can not constitutionally endanger the american people. stuart: how does a christian justify the use of tomahawk missiles, albeit against a military airfield, but it is violence? it is almost war. it is an act of aggression. how does a christian rationalize that? >> by turning to the bible. the bible gives government the authority to do that. romans 13 says god instituted government to be quote, avenger of those who practice evil, including giving government the right to take life. president trump was fulfilling his goard-ordained mandate to do that. stuart: the alternative is, turn the other cheek? >> that is for individual christians. when you hurt me, i am to forgive you but government has never been called on to turn the other cheek or to forgive it is to be an after venger evillers. stuart: render under to caesar and taxation.

>> tha stuart: it is coming up april 15th. do you have any comment on render under to caesar. >> we have to obey government. romans 13 says we are to obey government. when there is conflict between what government demands and god demands there is no choice for a christian. we would rather obey god than men, peter said. stuart: why are you in new york today? >> to see you, stuart. it is holy week and it wouldn't be holy if i couldn't get to see stuart varney. stuart: i can't let it go out on that. >> that is true. stuart: reverend jeff of -- jeffress, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. stuart: at the auto show ford will debut a car. jeff flock is in the car, calling it-zilla. >> pull it over, varney.

get out of the minivan. so you're having a party?

how nice. i'll be right there. and the butchery begins. what am i gonna wear? this party is super fancy. let's go. i'm ready. are you my uber? [ horn honks ] hold on. don't wait for watchathon week to return. [ doorbell rings ] who's that? show me netflix.

sign up for netflix on x1 today and keep watching all year long. is. stuart: look at this. retail, online selling operation, online sales. retailmenot. they put coupon website i should say. they have announced a deal to sell themselves. that's why the stock is up nearly 50%. coupon discount website, retailmenot. how about this? nissan unveiling a near series of cop car. we have the jeff flock from central park here in new york city. jeff, you will show us the car, i got that but tell me why it is a big deal? just because it is nissan and the police force is going to buy it and a hybrid, that's it? reporter: well, no, this is not a hybrid. ford is coming up with a hybrid

policear that ts 38 miles to the gallon. this one, if you want to catch people, i don't think you get a hybrid, right? you get one with all bells and whistles. this is nissan gtr. show you what it can do. we just lost you. okay. this thing will go, as fast as a race car. okay. look at that. how about that, huh? also i can also, hey, you in the american any van, varney, you're going too slow. pull over. [laughter]. stuart: so, how much? reporter: no price on it yet. no price on it yet. they're not sure they will go into the police car business, but they this, this is what they can do, if you're going to have a police car, you should have it go pretty fast, because there is a lot of fast cars out on the road. there you go. stuart: by the way, i'm pointing out it is only a two-door. how do you get the perp in the

back? lift the seat and mind your head? reporter: this just catches them. it doesn't transport them. there you go. stuart: we've seen it. we'll take it. thanks very much, jeff. we'll be back to you later, driving around in circles in central park, new york. how about this? more news from the airlines, the fcc says no phone calls on planes. but that is not the end of the story, is it, liz? liz: the department of transportation, fcc may not authority here. d.o.t., we could weigh? they were moving ahead to allow voice calls. under the obama adminiration they put out this idea, yes make phone calls on planes. fcc says, no, we don't want it. you can text and look up internet on your phone call, just no voice calls. fcc says no, d.o.t. says yes. delta, jetblue says we don't want phone calls. an knows passengers. stuart: thank you. i don't want it. i can wait.

i don't want anybody talking. liz: right. stuart: democrats have a pretty wild imagination. one congressman inventing a theory about why president trump really bombed syria. you got to hear this. united airlines under fire today after forcibly removing rg that passenger from an overbooked plane. tom sullivan says the screaming is just too much. i will challenge him next. ♪

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stuart: now not at the session lows of the day but we're down 50, hanging there at 20,600. let's check the big names, the fabulous five we call them,

big-name technology stocks. all of them are down this morning. not much. but in retreat from the recent record highs. secretary of state rex tillerson arrived in moskow. came in next hour. president putin will not meet with him. hear what tillerson said ahead of the trip. roll tape. >> i hope the russian government concludes they have aligned themselves with a unreliable partner in bashar assad. now assad has made the russians looking not so good under these circumstances. it is worthying about, russia has really aligned itself with the the as regime, iranians and hezbollah. is that a long-term alliance that serves russia's interests? or, would russia prefer to realign with the united states,

with other western countries and middle east countries seeking to resolve the syrian crisis? stuart: well senator scott brown joins us now. secretary of state tillerson is taking it right to the russians, saying look, are you with us or are you with them as in iran and hezbollah? that is a confrontation, scott. >> well, certainly. if you remember when the secretary was being, going through the nomination process everyone said, oh, he is just a businessman. you know he has ties to russia. we really can't trust him. we don't know what he is going to do. we find out he is a man of few words, but when he actually speaks he makes complete and total sense and sends a direct and powerful message not only to russia but the rest of the world. i think obviously russia needs to reevaluate itself dealing with assad because assad will be a war criminal. doubt everything he has been doin he wille tried as a war criminal ultimately. does russia want to be associated with that? that is what it is going to come

down to. stuart: a total 180 from the foreign policy of president obama, especially with russia, certainly with china and north korea. are you comfortable with this, because it's a series of confrontations? >> listen, of course. there is going to be confrontation before you can have normalcy. don't forget russia's economy is very, very fragile right now. they're teetering, the ruble is weak and the stock market is puffed up, et cetera. that is where the real power is. i'm hopeful that the big people, the real people will come to the table and sit down once they get through this kind of chest-pumping approach. they will work it out. i think having a relationship with russia is in everybody's interest. stuart: i want you to check this out. this is a new conspiracy theory coming from the left. the theory is president trump struck syria to show he is not close with putin. just listen to this. >> increasing the size of our

nuclear arsenal, deregulating energy sector, backing keystone pipeline these are all things russians hate and for good reason yet you're saying still, there is no evidence that trump is not in the pocket of putin? even when he bombs a country where russian troops are stationed now, propping up the regime of bashar al-assad, that is not enough evidence for you that he is not putin's puppet. >> right. and called the russians to make sure they got their troops out of the w. >> should he not have done that. >> i'm on armed services committee, didn't call us before doing that but felt it fine to call the russians. hard to say he wasn't concerned about the russian troops. stuart: would you like to respond to that, scott brown? >> yeah. "invasion of the body snatchers" is actually really happened too. aliens actually come and take over peoples bodies this guy is so completely off the wall. he is a member of the armed services committee? his constituents better be very concerned.

obviously making the call to the russians was brilliant dip can low mat tick relations, we were going after the regime of assad terrorizing its own citizens. it makes complete and total sense. by the way russia, we'll hit the guys 45 minutes to an hour. get your troops out of there it was that dick, thoughtful, methodical strike and, so he is full of it. i will move on. president trump tweeting a warning to north korea. here it is. north korea is looking for trouble. if china decides to help, that would be great, we will solve the problem without them, usa. now, senator, on saturday, there is an important anniversary coming up in north korea, and they often fire off missiles, or occasionally a nuke, just to see, get some reaction, do you think that the president trump would shoot down one of those

missiles if indeed one was sent up? >> i don't see why not. everybody in that region does not want a nuclearized north korea. china especially. and they have to step up. if they don't step up, quite frankly the rest of the world needs to step up because, north korea continuing not only to abuse its citizens, taking money that can be used to feed them, using it for militarization and throw and lob missiles at will to just terrorize that part of the world. that is completely unacceptable. i'm hopeful because we should have a sim by on i can relationship and positive relationship with china they will step up and put pressure on north korea. cut the crap. be a citizen of the world. stuart: it's a whole new world, that is a fact. scott brown, thanks very much for joining us. appreciate it. >> stuart, thank you. stuart: low of the day, just a couple steps downwards this morning. now we're down 102 points, 20,500 is where we are.

i don't know why we suddenly dropped. i think it may have something to do with tax cuts, tax reform, pushing back the schedule. that would be my reading at this point but we're down 100 points as we speak. we're looking for the reason of the day. i think i found it with the tax cut deal. i want to get back to the outrage of united airlines. you know the dragging incident. i'm sure everybody has seen that video by now. tom sullivan is with us. he is a licensed pilot. and he will do something unusual, different, not exactly dangerous, but he will do it. >> yes. stuart: you are going to defend united airlines. >> yes, i am. the only person in the planet willing o that at this point. stuart: go. >> two things. one is, this isn't united airlines. it is skywest who is the contract carrier that -- they have fly united, all these regional jets. stuart: okay. >> secondly is, the plane was two hours late getting out of there, finally in chicago.

how much of that two-hour delay was them negotiating with this guy? they got the manager to come on board, say, please leave. no. so they finally got a police officer to come on or security officer to come on, please leave.cond police officer, secuy officer comes on, please leave. and at some point when you have, on your stuart varney coffee shop door, no shoes, no shirt, no service, you can throw somebody out. you don't have to do business with them. under the contract of carriage under transportation law, we have no rights. the airline can say we don't want to fly you, get off. stuart: and look what they have done. that is a pr nightmare. >> it's a pr nightmare. stuart: the job of the ceo -- >> let me ask you something. let me ask you something. first of all, ashley was telling his story how he -- ashley: yeah. >> you at least got up and left. that is what most normal people do. the other thing, if i'm a police officer and grab your harm, say come on. stuart: yeah.

>> we're done talking now. we're done talking. this is, do you scream like a banshee? something is wrong with this guy. either he has a medical condition or he was -- ashley: i felt his pain. i was pretty close to standing my ground. >> you were mad but scream like somebody sticking a knife in you? ashley: no, up i was close to it. stuart: okay. do you think the overbooking policy, whatever that policy is on the part of united airlines, do you think that overbooking policy should be reviewed? no. stuart: not at all. >> i'll tell you why. because united airlines flew 86 million people last year. they involuntarily 3400 people. that is .00004%. stuart: so. >> so you're running a business. you want to fill the plane. they know that this particular flight, four people don't show. this particular flight normally

three people don't show. so they sell three or four more seats they normally would. stuart: don't you think you are in the public service business you better not disserve the public. >> you can't make everybody happy all time. if you displease .0004%, stuart, .0004% of your audience is unhappy. stuart: frequently. okay. so no change at all? it's a pr disaster. live wit. get over it and carry on? >> yes. nobody likes the airlines. ashley: drag him out of here. >> yeah. and american airlines. ashley: yes, thank you. stuart: interesting perspective. you're totally wrong from most of our viewers. i'm glad you came on the show. >> i'm not leaving. staying right here. stuart: no, we're dragging you out. [laughter] one quick second. weren't you once a police officer in california? >> i was not only a police officer but i was also one of the first air marshals.

stuart: were you really? >> yeah. liz: you would have been dragging people off the plane? >> i would have been the dragger. ashley: i see the biased. stuart: he would have been the dragee. this is fascinating. look, stay there for just a second. >> no, i'm leaving. stuart: i'm dragging you out later. retail ice age. that is our story. everybody is picking up on it. more retailers are closing their doors. i want names and numbers, lizzie. liz: surprisingly foot locker, kohl's, cvs. double the pace of store closings versus last year. could be more than 8600 stores will shut this year. according to credit suisse projections. so it is worse than what we saw at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. what is happening to these shopping malls zombies? they're being turned into medical clinics, office space. google bought a shopping mall in mountainview to move its offices into, a dead shopping mall. google did that. high schools, hockey rinks.

you name it the hopping mall bubble has burst. stuart: that is the bottom line, the shopping mall bubble has burst. ghost malls, here we come. president trump is about to meet with ceo's to discuss his trillion dollar infrastructure plan. maybe tax cuts as well. we'll head to the white house for details shortly. angry snow flakes shut down war on caps author heather macdonald's speech in claremont college, california. she is here. she will tell us really happened. we'll drag sullivan out. the fine lady, heather macdonald. [laughter] [. >> ah! ♪ yes?

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gary cohn does not have much interest in across the board personal income tax cuts. he is big on infrastructure and big on corporate tax cuts. that is not going to do the job, steve. >> stuart, i concur. by the way that is not what president trump ran on. he ran on across the board tax cuts. stuart: yes. ♪ ie's list, we believe there are certain things you can count on, like what goes down doesn't always come back up. ♪ [ toilet flushes ] ♪ so when you need a plumber, you can count on us to help you find the right person for the job. discover all the ways we can help at angie's list. because your home is where our heart is.

stuart: at this moment, president trump he is about to meet with 20 ceos from all across the country. they will talk about the trillion dollar infrastructure plan, and we hope, tax reform and tax cuts. we'll bring you the developments as they occur. now this. really is hard to believe what is going on our college campuses these days. our next guest tried to speak at a college in california. her speech was disrupted and blocked by violent left-wing protesters. heather macdonald is with us this morning. she is with the manhattan institute. she is the lady who tried to speak. author of the book, "the war on cops." welcome to the program. great to have you back. you are welcome on "varney & company." >> i can speak. i'm waiting for cameramen to walk off campus in protest. they're all here. unusual experience. stuart: tell me what you were going to say in california but you were blocked from saying it. >> i was going to say there is no epdemmic of racially-biased police shootings. the "black lives matter"

narrative is completely false. there are thousands of law-abiding residents of minority communities who are desperate for more police protection and support the police 100%. stuart: this was at claremont mckenna college in southern california? >> outside of the los angeles. stuart: so you got into the room, you were ready to speak, what happened? >> no, i barely got into the room. 300 people, students from claremont and neighboring colleges blocked access to the hall so students couldn't get in. i had to enter through a sect entrance and spoke to a empty hall. they live streamed it. as i was speaking, students were pounding on the glass windows, shouting. the police shut it down eventually because they were so worried about the potential for violence. stuart: were there any arrests? >> of course not. stuart: no arrests? >> no, today, the police are completely emasculated. of course on college campuses, we have now a consumerist ethos. nobody wants to upset the little

darlings paying $60,000 a year in tuition. so there is a high bar before you arrest anybody. of course if you're falsely accused campus rape that is a different matter. for everything else, blocking, it is one thing to silence me, and again i was able to deliver my speech live streamed, but they, these campus thugs prevented their fellow students from engaging with an unorthodox viewpoint. stuart: i just get the impression that things are getting worse. that the whole idea of free speech on a college campus is dead and gone and buried, if you have an opinion that is disliked by the left. am i right? >> you're absolutely right. this he grows out of a very specific ideology of victimhood. the colleges today are basically in the business of creating angry victims with chips on their shoulder, whether females, minorities, gender, trans people, and as a result of that

victim ideology they have been taught to believe that speech is violence against them. stuart: taught to believe. are you blaming faculty for part of this problem? >> absolutely. this is a pure academic ideology that starts in k through 12 but refs up steam. and, yes, there is no question that you read these student editorials after i was, you know, after the mob had he prevented my interaction with, they were justifying shutting down of the speech and basically parroted the academic ideology of implicit bias and systemic racism. stuart: what are we going do about this? i think it is just terrible, quite frankly. but i don't know what to do? >> it is betrayal of our highest ideals, not only the ideals of civic education and constitutionalism, but human necessaritic education. these kids are being prevented studying greatest works of mankind. parents are unfortunately so

desperate to credentialize their children, they don't care if a harvard education is vapid, as long as it gives them a credential. unless parents are willing to homeschool their kids in college, or there has been proposals. to create internet colleges but everybody wants the status. these baby boomer parent who were on ashrams in the '60s, don't care about material wealth, they are desperate for their kids to get a ba and an mba in harvard to go to goldman sachs to make a lot of money. stuart: my generation's fault. i'm a baby boomer. >> i'm sort of a baby boomer too. stuart: it is our fault. we staff these universities. >> that's right. stuart: these people are staffers in universities now. they were students in the 1960s. they grew up in that ethos and continuing that now. >> it is revolt against bourgeois culture, law and order, self-possession, personal responsibility, and the real problem is, these colleges are

graduating perpetual victims and they are going to be a scourge on american society. stuart: heather mcdonald, that is your last word. >> it is. probably last. stuart: welcome on this program anytime you look. we operate free speech for you. >> thank you. stuart: we'll be back.

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stuart: many of you writing in, remarkable video of the day, that's the united passenger being dragged off the flight. here are some of your comments. this first of all from rick. if you pay for a seat, the seat should be yours. it is not food policy to force people to move to accommodate others. i'm surprised by united airlines. theresa says, quit overbooking. they know how many seats are available.ask for the crew, unid have made other plans for them. last one from trey. this could have been handled better by all, but the fact that united did this to make sure for their own employees is disgusting. strong word, trey. what do you think,. liz? liz: stunning number. 430,000 people are overbooked annually. that is lot of people to offer, this $1000 for another trip. it is called fly the unfriendly skies right now. i understand they're over booking they have to fill seats, right, they have to make money,

wow, the way this was handled was so bad for ual. ashley: this happened to me, christmas eve, 2009, american airlines flying from london to nashville. on the plane with my wife. pulling away from the gate to go to chicago to nashville. came back into the gate. called out our names, tooks us off, family showed up last minute, husband and wife child. we were last two on. flew international. took us off. i refused to leave. they said we're going to call the marshals. good then they can arrest you for double booking my seat. it was a bit of a standoff, my wife talked me off the plane. christmas eve. my kids waiting for me. it was dreadful. double selling seats is a disgraceful. stuart: i think you're right. but the plane, in your case had left the gate, pulled on to the tarmac. ashley: yep. here is the kicker. they sent our baggage on to nashville, no clothes next day, put us up in the hotel for a day. christmas day. stuart: christmas day.

american, with pub list for that story. ashley: all come back now. i have to calm down. stuart: we got it all out there. did we not? we'll have more in a moment. i mean wish i had time to take care of my portfolio, but..

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stuart: just bni at the white house, another ceo meeting. the ident has met with business leaders on an almost daily basis. those meetings have helped bring jobs and money to america. now a lot more is required. we need an agreement on tax reform. that is what those executives now in the white house will be discussing. granted, they have their likes and dislikes, but now is the time for a decision on cutting taxes. president trump has positioned himself as the man who would get america moving again. he would do that with tax cuts and deregulation. but tax reform plans keep getting pushed back. by easter? didn't happen. by august? highly unlikely. the fall? maybe.

not good enough. now's the time for the president to bring the republicans together, bring business together, bring democrats in he can and present a plan. now, this is a financial program, and we've covered the stock market rally which has been based on the promise of tax cuts. that rally is now on pause. every commentator on this program has said that if we don't get tax cuts, the trump rally will disappear. so when those executives emerge from their white house meeting, let's hope they and/or the president have something to say about a tax cut plan that is coming and coming soon. the third hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ stuart: well, as the president meets with business leaders, we have a triple-digit selloff on the dow instrials, now down 117 points.

we had been down 130 just moments ago. the markets, since the election, have gone straight up. now the trump rally is on pause, and we're down well over 100 points. who's going to give us some real commentary on what's going on on wall street? why not the man who wrote this book, "american mojo: lost and found," former goldman sachs guy, peter kernan, is with us now. good morning to you. >> good morning to you. stuart: i saw the 116-point drop that we've got now, i think it's the result of this delay and confusion on tax reform, but you disagree with me. >> i do. i don't think tax reform has fully blossomed into the problem it's going to become, and it's going to become a problem. i do think there is a lot of faux geopolitical risk, you're seeing the fear factor go up in terms of volatility in the united states. stuart: you think it's confrontation with russia, maybe with north korea, you think that's what's doing it to this market, not taxes.

>> i think when tillerson landed in russia, the stock market traded off. as it relates to korea, i like to look elsewhere for corroborating evidence, and if you look a the nikkei in japan, that was off about a quarter of a percent, south korea was down less than half a percent. so they don't seem terribly worried, and they're in the range of the icbms. this may be one of those opportunities where i think there's an overreaction here. stuart: this is a buying opportunity? >> i think right now this geopolitical risk is exaggerated. >> you said that at brexit. stuart: he did. was the man who got it right then. >> i i think peter's absolutely right. i think there's this fear, whether it's faux or not, of what's going on with russia and possibly north korea, and look at the amount of money going into gold, the safe haven, up nearly $20 today. the market's going side wyomings -- sideways, but with all this tension, i think that's some of the selloff today. >> here's the role that taxes

are going to play. what this market is dying for is a spark. where's the energizer bunny to push this market to the next level. stuart: yeah. >> i think taxes can do that if they can settle on a plan. stuart: come on, we've been saying this for months. they haven't got a plan. the republican party is divided, and they keep on pushing back the deadline for when we get the plan. >> i think what's happening is border adjustment tax, people are starting to realize that's a bad idea disguised as a good idea. he's got to figure out a way to make some money. i think revenue neutrality is, excuse me, on the table. stuart: i think you're running out of time, but we disagree. >> we do agree on running out of time. i do think it is not going to be a 2017 occurrence. stuart: what? you're going to send the market down some more. if we don't get a deal this year -- >> if you get a deal in october, it's going to be very hard to reach all the way back to january 1st. stuart: president trump is meeting, i think it's about 20 of the nation's top ceos. two headlines just in.

he says we're going to be pleasantly surprised on nafta and that his administration is working on dodd-frank, that's the financial reform measure of five or six years ago, and he plans to eliminate it completeliment now, since that headline came out, the dow has gone from a -130 to a -104. had he tked out tax cuts, i think the market would have gone up. >> yes. i think the catalyst you're seeking is going to be tax reform. but think about it. when was the time, can you imagine when, i can't recall when president obama was photographed standing next to one chief executive. this president has met with more chief executives in the first 100 days than obama did in eight years. i think he's working very hard to extend an olive branch to business and try to build back on infrastructure and regulation. that will be good for the market. stuart: okay. you wrote the book on china, american trade with china. consider this, please. the financial times says that

president trump and china's leader have averted a trade war. this is the headline, i think it was yesterday this came out. china offers concessions to avert a trade war with the u.s. that was very conciliatory stuff from the financial times. >> if you understand china at all, you will see they are trying to play ball. no country on earth has spent more money defending its currency than china has last year. they also extended two olive branches. one, we'll be a little easier on u.s. beef. they have not let us have that on any kind of rational basis this. and secondly, really interestingly, they're saying we're going to allow foreign investment with a little more flexibility than we have before. these are big olive branches. stuart: okay. >> it's a start. stuart: we'll see what happens. >> i believe xi and trump can work together. trump has a guy he will understand in president xi. stuart: all right. keep watching the dow

industrials, we're back from a 34 to a -97. president trump has released some headlines from his meeting wi ceos. we are, he says we are going to be pleasantly surprised with nafta, and he wants to get rid of dodd-frank, that was the financial reform maneuver a couple years ago, he wants to get rid of that completely. that's had a minor impact on the market, we're still down almost triple digits. one more subject for you, peter. tesla, the market value of that company -- almost said a car company instead of technology company -- is now greater than general motors and the ford motor company. i find that extraordinary. >> i do too. and i have to say the only way that makes any sense is if you look at tesla as a technology company. if they're lucky, they will sell 50,000 cars in the first half of this year. ford motor sold 6.5 million last year. people are look at that as a different kind of company. it's going to be a battery technology company, a solar technology company, and that's why people are buying. stuart these big technology

companies, they dominate other industries. it's not just computers, it's the car industry, for example, it's music, it's all kinds of things. >> if you look at the curve of technology, what's really happened it used to be a product attribute, and now it is fully woven into the fabric whether it's financial service, cars, tvs or otherwise. stuart: all right. you're watching tesla, general motors and ford. let me show you only more individual -- some more individual stocks that are moving today. actually, let me start with the price of oil. i think we're around $51, $52 a barrel, almost $53, down a fraction, but that's up there. and gold, there's the number. this is a new five month high, $1,273 per ounce, that is up nearly $20. and look at this, please. this is the yield on the ten-year treasury dropping below 2.3%. that tells me that investors believe we're not going to get quite the amount of growth in the future in the economy that we were hoping for. you with me on this? >> i'm totally with you on that, and i think that signals a real

fight coming with the fed because the fed wants to be less accommodating, and what's going to happen here is rates are going down. it wants to raise rates, and that's going to be, i think, a real tussle between trump and yellen. i think there's -- stuart: nah, you're wrong. it's tax cuts. [laughter] if we don't get tax cuts this year, we don't get growth. that's why the yield on the treasury comes down. that's my opinion -- >> and you're sticking with it. stuart: i'll give you five seconds -- [laughter] well, it is the live action presidency in full effect today. the president's making headlines as we speak. next up, we have the ceo of apple metro, seine tankel. question to him, are all these meetings really helping us get closer to a tax cut deal or what? and we're got to ask zane about the dragging at united airlines. what's he going to say about that? we'll be back. ♪

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stuart: i don't care what you read, i don't care where you look, you can't get away from this video. it's viral, as they say. united airlines removed a passenger against his will to make room for cabin crew on an overbooked flight. seine tank el joins us now. why are we talking to zane about united airlines, the dragging incident? it's very simple, you run, what is it, 42, 43 -- >> about, right. stuart: -- applebee's. you're in the service industry. this is a nightmare for any service provider. >> i tho was a good thing just to create controversy -- [laughter] i got you for a second. stuart: you had me worried. >> yeah, your face. stuart: it's a disaster. >> it's a total disaster. not just pr, you know, the reality is they had to make a choice, but i think that was offloaded to the chicago police department, and you do get

police officers that when they get a green light, get out of jail free card -- stuart: aviation security officer -- >> oh, sorry, sorry. stuart: it wasn't then. >> but it was offloaded, so they didn't know what this guy was going to do when he did it -- stuart: the ceo didn't help when he talked about the behavior of the passenger. >> i believe united's market cap went down $800 million so far today, so they could have chartered a couple jets, 747s, in fact -- stuart: absolutely. >> -- and sent him over there with his wife and family. stuart: you're laughing. there is some humor in this situation. i can understand that, but you run a service business. >> yeah, yeah. stuart: and everybody's got a camera these days. so there's an altercation in the service business, that can go all over the world. >> we have them, literally, in our restaurants because we're in some really tough neighborhoods, and we do have altercations. but -- and we are on video.

but you've got to handle it in a propitious kind of way, and it's a delicate situation. obviously, they haven't been through that before. it's a nightmare. there's nothing one can say ability it. stuart: you think united handled this badly? >> i think the whole chain of command was handled badly. it won't happen again. unfortunately, you have to have something like this to occur to figure out how to do it right the next time. stuart: i would not wish to be in a business which deals with the general public on ab to asian -- an occasionally contentious -- >> it is not an easy situation on a daily basis. that's my single biggest fear all the time, is what kind of confrontation happens in our restaurant and do our people get away from it into personal situation like in the street. stuart: now, what you're really on the program for today is not the dragging incident at united -- >> i thought you had that happen just so we could talk about it. [laughter] stuart: no, not me. no.

there's constant meetings in the white house, another one today, 20 top-level ceos. >> yes. stuart: you're a ceo. >> yes. stuart: some of us are getting frustrated about the endless talking and the never any concrete news about tax cuts. do you share that frustration? >> i do. but i think you get a bunch of smart people in the room, get some collaborative thinking -- it has to be done right, stuart, obviously, if it's going to go. we saw what happened with obamacare. and i think tolstoy said all happy people are the same, unhappy people are all different. they share that unhappiness in different ways. some cry, some jump up and down. i think you've got to get all happy people when they leave that room. because happy people all -- stuart: i don't think it's the president and the ceos. i think it's the republican party. they're the ones who are constantly -- >> but here's what ceos have to deal with, they have to deal with policy, selling the policy.

are we going to raise the price, what's the competitive set. all the kinds of things that politicians traditionally have not looked at in trying to sell a program. they line up their people on their team, they line up the people on the other team, and they deal. ceos have to, on aaily basis, figure out policy, procedure, should i raise my price, should i reduce my price, what's my roi, how do can i get that recovery on investment, and i think you're going to get some smart ideas coming out of that room. stuart: you are frustrated and worried, i think, because you didn't get obamacare repealed, and that's very important in your industry. >> it is. stuart: we haven't got the corporate tax rate cut yet. we haven't got individual rate cuts. you've got to be worried about this. >> i'm -- worried, no, because it's too important to the trump administration. concerned, yes. i don't think it's if, it's going to be when. the only thing that's going to drive this economy is going to be a tax cut, both individual and corporate.

the only thing that gets us off the ground on our import/exports is to reduce the corporate tax rates, but there's a lot of ways it can happen really quickly, stuart. stuart: there are? >> sure. repatriation, i don't think anybody knows how many trillions of dollars there are overseas and not brought back here. that's relatively simplistic. stick that one in, give no taxes on it. they're talking about how much to tax it. right now how much tax do we get on all the money that's around the world? zero. stuart: that's true. >> so if we brought it back for zero, we get it churning and burning in our economy -- stuart: yeah, but now you're talking about a limited tax reform. why don't you just cut corporate taxes to bring that money back? >> correct. so you've got to prioritize. where do you start. what's the first thing that you do. stuart: if we end up with that, we're all going to be disappointed. that ain't good enough. >> that's a leap. i didn't say that's all we get. i said you start making some headway and traction.

in these meetings trump is having, the president is having in the white house now you say, okay, that's a start, that gets us going, what's next. and you prioritize. are we going to get everything? no. but i think if we -- it's like i said about obamacare, how do you eat an elephant? a little bit at a time. stuart: okay. we're going to get tape momentarily from mr. trump in the white house. bear in mind the dow is now down 106 points. we're about to roll that tape. roll it, let's listen. >> very incredible group of world class business leaders, that's what you are. also joining us are secretary betsy devos, secretary wilbur ross, secretary elaine chao, epa add moorer -- administrator scott pruitt and my budget director, mick mulvaney. that's an easy job, isn't it? [laughter] easiest job of anybody in the cabinet. right, mick?

at the top of our agenda is the creation of great high-paying jobs for american workers. and we've made a lot of progress. you see what's going on, you see the numbers. we've created over 600,000 jobs already in a very short period of time x it's going to really start catching on now because some of the things that we've done are big league, and they are catching on. already we've created more than almost 600,000 jobs, and yesterday toyota just announced that it will invest more than $1.3 billion, it's probably going to be $3.9 billion into -- 1.9 billion into its georgetown, kentucky, plant, an investment that wouldn't have been made if we didn't win the election. we have a lot to do, our nation's lost a third of its manufacturing jobs, and our business tax is one of the highest in the world. it actually is, of developed countries, the single highest tax in the world. for too long we've punished production in america and

rewarded companies for leaving our country, and we're going to reverse that. we would reward companies, give them incentives to leave. nafta is a disaster, it's been a disaster from the day it was devised, and we're going to have some very pleasant surprises for you on nafta. that, i can tell you. my administration's already taken historic action to unleash job creation. we've signed dozens of bills and executive actions to reduce federal overreach and expand domestic production. on the environment we're, we're going to be very, very careful on the environment. that's very important to me and the administration, but we've allowed a lot of companies to go back to work that were being restricted, their jobs were being restricted. we've unleashed a lot of companies, especially right now in the energy sector. you see what's going on there. it was impossible for people to do what they had to do. and now they can do it. it's all done. we're also working to modernize

our economy and harness the full potential of women in the work force which is crucial to our economic success. economic confidence is sweeping the nation. you saw the new survey that came out, it's at 93 which is the highest it's ever been, 93% of manufacturers are optimistic about the future, a 27% increase over two months ago when it was also high because of the administration. and much higher than it's ever been. 93%, highest it's ever been. this is just the beginning. we're going to reduce taxes, we're going to eliminate wasteful regulations which we've already done probably 25%. take a look at dodd-frank for the bankers in the room, they'll be very happy because we're really doing a major streamlining and perhaps elimination and replacing it with something else. but that'll be the minimum. but we're doing a major elimination of the horrendous

dodd-frank regulations. keeping some, obviously, but getting rid of many. and we're going to put many millions of people back to work. the banks will be able to lend again. so many people come to see me, i see them all the time, small businesses, they're unable to borrow from banks. they never had a problem five, six, seven, ten years ago. they had great bankers, they had great relationships, now they can't borrow. and we're going to let the banks loan them money, and they can build their businesses. so with your help and insights, we will use the private sector innovation to drive job creation and reform government. a lot of reform. we have a computer system in this country that's 40 years old, so when you hear we're hacked and we're this -- we're, like, easy targets. and one of the things we're doing, in fact, we're working with a very, very wonderful woman from ibm and others -- and others. [laughter]

many others. like when i said to lockheed, i like the f-35 fighter jet, but then i said i also like the boeing f-18. [laughter] so i love your computers, but we are also looking at others, all right? but we are, we're going to have a massive program to modernize our equipment. ideally, get brand new equipment. the cost of maintaining our computers is a number that is so high that it's not even a believable number. i've heard anywhere, is this possible, from 39 billion to 89 billion a year. is that even possible? that's for, that's for keeping our computers updated and running. and i think we can buy a whole new system for less money than that, wouldn't you say? i mean, i hope so. we'll give you $10 billion right now. [laughter] i want to thank everybody. most of you, you really are the top. and i want to thank, i want to thank my friend jack welch for being with us. i've known jack so long.

we did deals together, right? trump international, big success, and the other one on park avenue. we did great success together with your real estate group of people. right? >> right. >> terrific. and, john. so i just want to thank you, you've been a special guy, long time. and we'll get down to business. maybe before the media leaves we can go around the room, and we'll just two douse. -- introduc we all know steve -- stuart: now, a lot of talk around that table this morning. i've got two takeaways. first of all, president trump just said he wants to get rid of dodd-frank. that's the onerous regulatory system that sits on top of the banks, sits on top of wall street, and it was the financial reform of six or seven years ago. he says want to get rid of that. if we got rid of dodd-frank, the big banks, the stock thereof, would go up. look at this, the stock price of the big banks right after what the president just had to say,

still down. my conclusion is that the president is talking and talking, but we've got no action. and until we get action, you won't see real movement in the stock market. second takeaway, the president mentioned -- i caught it twice -- mentioned cutting taxes. he said he wanted to reduce taxes. he says we're going to reduce taxes. >> that was it. stuart: that was it. that's all we got. lizzie, quick? >> kellyanne conway on "fox & friends" this morning said individual and corporate tax cuts are coming. stuart: okay, are coming. >> we don't see it yet. stuart: come on, peter. >> i think the only answer is the smorgasbord approach. they're going to have to pick and choose the overarching, all sizes, all kinds of cuts is going to be very unlikely without major -- we're going to have to have a lot of conversation with congress. i think he learned, the president learned in health care that you can't just go in there with the same stuff, because they're not going to approve it. adjustment tax, that won't pass. so he's exrimenting with

things like payroll tax cu and putting out trial balloons, and that's what part of this is. he's socializing the change. he's not going to delegate it to speaker ryan anymore. you'll watch the president take a very leadership-strong position in this tax reform. stuart: yes. but no action thus far. >> it's going to frustrate because he learned from failing the last time -- >> time running out? stuart: yeah, is time running out? very good question. zane tank el's still with us. i'm disappointed. >> i know you are. stuart: i want a plan, and i would like to see -- >> you've been adamant about that before he was president. i think to peter's point, he learned on that obamacare. you know, he is an impulsive guy, he's done things impulsively. he's with peers and, i think, again, you stick a bunch of smart people in a room, you come out with smart ideas. look, none of these are inheriting those ceo jobs, they've all gotten there through different levels. there's a lot of information to

be gained from sitting around and -- stuart: talking. that's what they're doing. >> unfortunately, unfortunately, the problem with donald trump to date is he doesn't sit around and talk and collaboratively come up with ideas. that's been his issue. and i would hope that some of those people, jared kushner and some of the smart guys, jared, who comes out of the business world said, look, pop, president, whatever he wants to call him -- [laughter] donald, you've got to listen to some other folks because there's a lot of good ideas that can come out of these. stuart: all right, zane, we hear you. by the way, the dow jones average is now down 115 points. remember, please, we were down 104 when the president's tape was released, and we heard what he had to say, now we're down 114 points. i think we have peter morici with us, tenured professor of economics. i believe that is the case. yes, there he is, there he is. i want to talk to you about what we just heard from the president. there was talk of tax cutting,

but nothing concrete at all. nothing. you disappointed? >> i'm quite disappointed, but he's painted himself into a box. we have terribly high both personal rates at the margin, the high personal rates and very high corporate tax rates at the margin, yet he's promised a middle class tax cut, and he's constrained. he can't pass anything through reconciliation that lasts more than ten years that unbalances the budget, that creates more deficit. you really can't deal with all of those problems at the same time. you simply can't. if you're going to do something about high corporate rates, you have to have border tax adjustments. that's out. if you're going to do something about high individual rates, you have to increase the deficit. and if you're going to do something about middle class taxes and high, you know, rates at the upper end, it becomes just about impossible. he's basically promised the american people to put a 110-foot cube inside of a 100-foot box. stuart: i think we're running

out of time. if you don't put a plan in place and get something done by the fall, you don't get anything done on taxes at all. do you agree with that? >> i do. and, unfortunately, the people that have his ear -- mnuchin, jared, cohn -- they don't know much about taxes. they pay a lot of taxes, they know how to file a corporate tax return, but they don't know about tax policy. the trouble is already diminished status. the cea has in the past been a member of the cabinet, now he'll have to deal with cohn. he's done a good job of marginalizing anybody that comes along. white house intrigue has a lot to do with mr. trump's inability to come up with a plan. stuart: yeah, and the market doesn't like it. >> no, it doesn't like it at all. it's starting to say the emperor has no clothes. stuart: yeah. you're the china guy, and there was a headline in the financial times that said china offers concessions to avert trade war with the united states.

you know all about this stuff, what do you say? i mean, china offering concessions? seems unlikely to me, what do you say? >> well, they're very smart. they've offered to do something about beef imports, they've done that before. what's more, we need systemic change. we're not going to get that in china, so we need a whole different approach. basically, we need a timetable to wind down the trade deficit. the chinese will have to manage their economy in that direction. they're not inclined to do it because it's destabilizing. unless we take strong and forceful action like we're doing with north korea on trade, we're not going to get there. unfortunately, jared and the others don't want to do that. they represent wall street, new york. those folks don't deal with chinese imports, and they really have developed a theology in the economics profession that says the trade deficit doesn't matter. that's silly. if you think the trade deficit doesn't matter, then it's okay for the united states to owe trillions and trillions of dollars to foreign creditors, because that's what it means.

stuart: you know, a split white house and a split republican party is not a good deal. >> no, it's not. stuart: thanks very much indeed, stir. want to bring in herb london, welcome back. >> pleasure to be with you. stuart: we've just listened to president trump talking about dodd-frank, talking about some tax cuts, but we've seen no action. i think he's running out of time, and you say -- >> i think he's running out of time. i'm a little disappointed. frankly, i thought we'd hear something concrete. we have not. and i think that sends a message to the market. the market really is uncertain about what will happen, and it does appear as though there's a split within the white house and within the republican party that we've already seen. stuart: dow's down 100 points. do you think that's because we don't have a tax cut, we don't have a schedule? >> well, i think there are a variety of factors that account for it including the uncertainty on the world stage, what is going to happen with tillerson's discussions in russia -- stuart: you think we've got a confrontation withussia, at's clear.

>> i think it's a confrontation that the united states will do very well with. stuart: so you approve of it. >> yes, i do. stuart: it's the right thing to do. >> yes, i do. stuart: even though the market's worried about it? >> that's correct. i think the market is worried because there's always the up certainty principle. but one of the reasons why i believe it's so important is that in these negotiations it is possible for the united states to encourage the russians to peel off iran in their alliance. stuart: well, tillerson has said he's going to say to the russians, are you with us? if you're not with us, you're with them as in the iranians and hezbollah. that's a very clear choice. come with us or you go with them. >> and why should the iranians dictate policy to the russians? the russians got what they wanted. they wanted the port, they wanted a trade agreement with egypt and saudi arabia, they wanted to build nuclear facilities in syria. they've got what they wanted. so the united states can avert its gaze to what the russians have gained, but at the same time say, you know what? your relationship with iran is

putting you in a very awkward position with this country and in the region. stuart: okay. we've got an aircraft carrier battle group, if i want to describe it like that, on its way to the korean peninsula. what do you think is the possibility that president trump would order the shooting down of a north korean missile if they launched one soon out into the ocean? and we shoot it down? >> i think it's a possibility. but before we go there, i think -- you don't want to escalate that rapidly. there are steps in between that can be taken. tre pressures on china, obviously, are a factor. stuart: we've done that for 25 years. >> oh, but i think we could do a lot more. and, again, we've done it for 25 years, i think there's a lot more that can be achieved. but the second factor is the role that the japanese can play if you engage them in a conversation about modifying article ix in the japanese constitution which, of course, prohibits the development of nuclear weapons and you said, you know what? why don't you give this matter some consideration.

i assure you, the chinese will jump into a negotiating seat, and they'll say now we have to put some pressure on the north koreans. stuart: let me introduce you to peter kiernan on the left here, not politically, just geographically. [laughter] he says this confrontation -- russia, north korea, china -- that that is unsettling the world -- >> i think it's unsettling the world -- stuart: it won't last, and you think the stock market is a buying opportunity. >> i do. when somebody sends you a letter signed by hezbollah, iran and russia, that's the unholy trinity. i'm not too worried about the three of them carrying the day. all three of the parties in this, syria, russia and iran, everyone has to be sort of angry about the bombing. i agree. i thought it was a measured and appropriate response. stuart: okay. do you ever invest in gold? >> i play a little bit in gold. i think gold is a commodity that gets pulled in a lot of different directions. i think gold right now is reacting to this as sort of a safety haven place to be, but i

think if you look at times like this, like the iraq war when we first went into kuwait, those are opportunities if you wait for it to buy because this will settle out. no one wants world war iii. don't an for the end of the world scenario, becausit's only going to happen once. stuart: herb, i'm very worried about the trump rally. i think it's on pause, and i think this lack of nudes about when we get -- news about when we get a tax reform, what's in it and these confrontations the world over, i think we're on the verge of seeing that trump rally come down. >> well, the failure of obamacare, i think, set the stage for further discussion. after all, if you want a neutral budget, one of the things you have to do is get obamacare or obama repealed as quickly as possible, and, of course, that did not happen. stuart: no, it didn't. >> and now we are engaged in a very different conversation about tax reform. again, i think there are lots of things that you can do, but the trump people, i do not think, have the house in order, and that's worrisome. stuart: okay. herb london, you're all right. [laughter]

that's my expression. >> always a pleasure. stuart: i've got a number for everyone. last year the service employees' union spent more than $61 million on political activity and lobbying. that union represents health care and public sector workers. $61 million on politics. that's a lot of money. >> that's to get hillary clinton elected. and, you know, the seiu union member better wake up and look at what their bosses are wasting their money on. look at these numbers. $34 million on overhead. $31 million on union administration, meaning junkets for union leaders to fly around to hotels. you know? they had to lay off workers in their washington, d.c. headquarters, the union leaders are saying we have to cut our budget by nearly a third due to donald trump? no. there's a lot of fat through the union budget, and the seiu member is getting gouged with even more dues as memberships go down. they blow a lot of money at these unions with little

oversight. stuart: well, you're fired up -- >> i just, you know -- >> they spent $14 million on this fight for 15 effort, organizing groups and funneling money into -- >> for what? >> -- which ultimately ends up with those people they're fighting for spending all this money losing their jobs to technology because the restaurant owners can't afford -- >> does the money go? there's zero accountability for these union members. stuart: $61 million on politics -- >> on getting hillary elected. stuart: 99% of it went to democrats, and they lost. >> yeah. stuart: that's not a good situation. >> no. stuart: do you have any reaction? >> my reaction, if you watch what happens in private sector unions, they've basically crumbled down to almost nothing. it used to be 30-40% of the people who worked in corporations were in the union. the same thing is going to happen because they cannot fight the march of productivity. they cannot fight the march of technology, and they cannot fight what is a trend in this nation -- >> yeah. >> -- and that is the key. they're off market.

they are not able to deliver because they don't have a service. >> and they're a fat cat -- there are fat cat union bosses living large. [laughter] they are. stuart: you just, your passion for this particular subject -- >> because i had teachers and firemen in my family, and they are members of unions, and they are abused by their union leaders all the time. stuart: all right. here's what we have for you, everyone. tomorrow morning president trump will join maria bartiromo. tune into her show, that will be 6 a.m. eastern time, "mornings with maria," the president on that show tomorrow morning. california looking to become the first sanctuary state. our voice of reason from california, otherwise known as larry elder, he's next. he says the president should withhold federal funding. ♪ ♪ few it's great to finally meet you. your parents have been talking about you for years. they're all about me saving for a house,

or starting a college fund for my son. actually, i want to know what you're thinking. knowing that the most important goals are yours. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. buttrust angie's list to help., [ barks ] visit angieslist.com today.

♪ ♪ >> i'm lauren simonetti on the floor of the new york stock exchange. geopolitical risks are taking down stocks. the dow was down triple digits, now down just 98. tech stocks are dragging on the dow, you can see that apple and intel are among the worst performers. caterpillar and dupont added to that as well, investors seeking safety. they're buying gold which is up $20, and many of the gold stocks

are rallying, as you can see. taking a look at two social media companies as facebook/instagram continues to do the disappearing thing that snapchat does so well. both stocks down, another 2% hit for snap. catch me ery morning on fbn a.m. more varney and co. after this.

>> we're going to reduce taxes, we're going to eliminate wasteful regulations which we've already done probably 25% if you take a look at dodd-frank, for the bankers in the room, they'll be very happy because we're doing a major streamlining and perhaps elimination and placing it with sothing else. but that'll be the minimum. we're doing a major elimination of the horrendous dodd-frank regulations. keeping some, obviously, but getting rid of many. stuart: well, the concrete thing that we heard right this was that he was going to eliminate dodd-frank, get rid of as much as possible. the market is not taking this terribly well. bank stocks are still down. the repeal of dodd-frank would surely place them up. they are down. so the market's saying the president's out with a lot of talk. same thing with tax cuts. he mentioned tax cuts, working towards tax cuts, but we still have no plan.

and the dow is still down almost 100 points. next case, california looking to become the first sanctuary state. our next guest is mad as hell about that. larry elder is with us, salem radio nationally syndicated talk show host. you say the president should withhold federal funds? it's as simple as that? >> that's certainly one thing he could do. california, very likely when that happens, will file a a lawsuit. they've already hired eric holder to be the lawyer for california, so this is going to be tied up in court for a long period of time. but you look at the politics of this, stuart, i still don't understand it. even if i'm a left-wing guy who believes there ought not even be a border between california and mexico, i ought to be worried about violent criminal illegal aliens who are preying on people in the state here legally. i would be concerned about the threat illegal aliens pose to jobs, especially for those unskilled, many of who happen to

be people of color. the politics should compel lawmakers to do something about the fact that california is a sanctuary state. and one more factor. california spent $25 billion every year mostly for the education of illegal aliens and their children, and california by becoming a sanctuary state, i would think, would invite a flood of illegal aliens to that state, making california taxpayers spend even more money than they're already spending on illegal aliens. stuart: you say you can't understand it, and i don't want to be cynica but what about the hispanic vote? they will not go for strict restrictions on who comes into the state whether you're a sanctuary state orbit. it's the hispanic vote that's very large in california that's the game-changer here, isn't it? >> that is true. but even with respect to the california vote, remember cesar chavez, the man who founded the united farm workers? he was not a civil rights leader, he was a union leader,

and he hated illegal immigration and cooperated with the federal authorities because he knew it posed downward pressure on the wages of his union members. stuart: do californians want a federal income tax rate cut? >> i don't think so. i think most californians believe that taxes on rich people, frankly, are too low and would be happy to see them raised. it's foolish, it's idiotic, but that's how a lot of people in california really do feel. the rich are not sufficiently taxed. if you ask the average californian what is the top rate paid by -- how much of the federal income taxes are paid by the top 1%, these are people making about 350 or more, they would have no blooming idea. as you know, the top 1% in this country pay about 40% of all the federal income taxes, and most people in california believe that's too low. stuart: if it's so bad, larry elder, why don't you move? [laughter] >> believe me, i have been tempted. i have been offered.

i'm in 300 markets, stuart, and i can do my show from anywhere in the country. i could easily go to a place like texas that doesn't have the kind of tax structure -- i've given it some thought. stuart: yes. well, what's stopping you? >> i like it here. i'm born and raised here, my family's here, my brother's here, my relatives are here, my friends are here. that's what's keeping most people in the state here who complain about the taxes. even bill maher had complained about how high the taxes are, but he hasn't left. stuart: okay. i'm going to leave it at that, but i i really think you should consider texas. great state of texas. or nevada. >> you got it. [laughter] stuart: what's wrong with nevada? it's just across the border there. what's wrong with nevada? >> well, i'd be tempted to spend a little too much time in las vegas, for me. [laughter] stuart: all right, larry. i'll let you off the hook this time. larry elder, thank you very much, sir. now this, the rio grande valley, unusually quiet. illegal border crossings dropped

to the lowest point in, what is it, 17 years, ash? >> yeah, down 64% year other year, less than 12,000 people caught in the month of march. why? well, certainly, the administration's policy of cracking down, media coverage of immigration raids, and there is some heightened security on the border. all of that giving the message of don't come. the border patrol says, you know, it's interesting, would you risk a 1,000-mile journey on average -- dangerous journey, at that -- pay a smuggler $8,000 to get across the border where you really believe you may not be able to stay because of the way immigration's being handled now? bottom line is the president is just enforcing laws already on the books, there's nothing unusual here. he's actually enforcing the law, and the message is getting through. stuart: does peter kernan have anything to say about this? >> yeah, i glee with ash, i -- agree with ash, i think this is a reflection of the media saying this is going to be a new -- i would say it's a theoretical

wall right now even if there's not a wall. people come here if they know they're going to be able to stay and get jobs, it is an awful i've been down to the border to check this out when i was researching my book. it's a terrible place. you'd only go through it if you had a high possibility of likelihood at the end. stuart: all right, peter. i'm going to get back to the dragging incident at united airlines. under fire after forcibly removing that passenger from the overbooked plane. stock's down about 3% and more. judge napolitano returns for renewed questioning on dragging. ♪ think your large cap equity fund has exposure to energy infrastructure mlps? think again. it's time to shake up your lineup. the alerian mlp etf can diversify your equity portfolio and add potential income. bring amlp into the game. before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. read the prospectus carefully at alpsfunds.com/amlp

>> no! oh, my god -- >> oh, my god. >> oh, my god. no! >> hey, hey, hey -- >> my god, what are you doing? no, this is wrong, oh, my god. look at what you're doing to him. stuart: that is possibly the worst pr that one can possibly imagine, and they're taking it out on united continental stock which is down 3% plus, $2.37 lower. judge napolitano returns for one more appearance on the dragging incident. >> yeah. have we heard from this guy at all? this doctor that was --

stuart: don't even know his name. now, tom sullivan, airline pilot and former air marshal -- >> our colleague -- stuart: sitting there half an hour ago said the airline has the perfect right to take the man off the plane. it's their plane, their seat, they sold him the ticket, he's out of here. you say otherwise. >> not under the common carrier obligation when you sell someone a ticket and they've complied with your regulations; they've paid for it, they are who they claim to be, in this case they've gone through the tsa and they're in the seat. they have the right to stay there. he was not committing a crime, so there's no justification for the use of force, and there's no justification to remove him. for what? for convenience? stuart: wait a second, i've not read the contract, but as i understand it, the fine print says the airline has the right to deny you a seat on that plane if they're overbooked or security -- >> not because of some algorithm which picks this person in this

seat, but because of some mechanical problem that the plane isn't working or some fault on your part. absolutely not. this guy's got an enormous case against the airlines and against the cops who were so brutal. stuart: are you saying flat out it was illegal to take that man off the plane? >> absolutely. absolutely illegal. this is for convenience of management. he was chosen by a computer. [laughter] he wasn't chosen because of some fault on his part. >> completely random. stuart: so to you, it comes down to the reason for taking him out, not the absolute legality of whether you can take him out or not. >> no. the law says there could be a reason for taking him t, but that reason has to have its genesis in h fault, not in his presence. his presence is absolutely lawful. i'm assuming he paid for the ticket, i'm assuming there was no fraud, i'm assuming he was who he claimed to be and he didn't bolt through tsa, he went

through normally. stuart: you know what happened? he was dragged off, they got him off, and then he got free and ran back onto the plane. >> he did. stuart: did you know that? >> i did not. then what did they do? dragged him off again? stuart: they persuaded him to leave. >> this is crazy. is he a physician as he claims to be? stuart: i don't know. i don't know his name. do you wish to change your opinion? >> no, i don't change at all. stuart: if you were representing him, how much would you claim? >> it would depend on where you're going to sue and what harm he suffered. i'm not exactly on the plaintiff's side any more than you are, but this is an innocent, injured person brutalized by unnecessary and unlawful government force. stuart: i think you've just -- you're his lawyer, babe bay. [laughter] out of time. hard break, we'll be back. thereby

. . stuart: i've got 27 seconds to thank all the people with me throughout that problem. elizabeth, ashley, peter kernen.

i want you to thank you profusely dealing with the united dragging incident. ladies and gentlemen, i do not know neil cavuto will repeat the dragging incident. will he lead with that or lead with something less important? i don't know, but neil, it's yours. neil: let me ask you something. when is the last time you flew commercial? stuart: i have in my time. neil: all right. i was just curious. peter, who i greatly respect, he still leaves me hopeful, to your point, that maybe, maybe, they can get a deal going. he has been right every step of the way. this should worry you, i agree with you. i don't like what i'm hearing, goal of a tax cut, keeps getting pushed back more and more. i'm telling you. stuart: i was with you saturday morning neil. we had the same discussion. neil: not happening. stuart: i'm more towards your position than i was two days ago.