ibm getting hammered, warren buffett selling a large chunk of it. everyone has nice things to say about this next guy, neil cavuto. take it away. neil: oh, you're such a nice guy. thank you, charles. crazy day here. let's try to make sense of it here. very interesting exchange with cohn, because i think what he seems to be signaling is that they're going to go full steam ahead with tax cut thing and that is, again, the hope here, that they get that moving sooner rather than later. this jobs report that showed 211,000 more created, better than half a million under president trump's watch, is almost the perfect environment with a 4.4% unemployment rate, the lowest since may 2007, that we might be entering a sweet spot for the economy if this keeps up. tax cuts town the road, health care reform that will safe a lot of -- save a lot of money, they might be able to pull off a lot here. we shall see.

we've got larry glazer and veronica dagger. veronica, to that point that this strong report takes some of the heat off this administration in that ey'll ill get their tax cuts but it wot be entirely p dependent on those tax cuts to goose it, what do you think? >> right. it was a strong report, across the board looks pretty good, numbers look nice. tax reform, though, is, well, the clock is ticking with. this is a big project, bug big thing. and, neil, we don't even have a tax cut yet. i heard the interview morning, gary cohn wants to get this done. however, we don't have a bill, we have a divided house. we have no idea what the impact of this tax reform would have, and reals don't know the impact -- we also don't know the impact and how the deficit hawks in congress will react to a bill once we do get it. so there's a lot of unknowns

still. neil: indeed. we'll be talking to steve scalise about this, one of the gop leadership. but on that issue, larry, and maybe just a couple of variables i'd like to throw at you and give me your sense of what you think the market will do. and one has it that we will see tax cuts the latter part of the year but not retroactive to the beginning of the year. would that matter to you if you still get 'em, they won't be retro active, but you get 'em? >> you know, it does matter, neil. it's interesting when you look at this important piece of economic data coming in better than expected, it may seem that the stocks and bonds had limited to no reaction, it may seem more people are concerned about cinco de mayo or the kentucky derby, but the reality is we're waiting on health care, and then we need to get to tax reform. we don't have a date, but we do know that the probability of the fed raising rates in june went up dramatically today. and we ao know that investors are increasingly concerned.

there is a counter-argument to be made here, it's contrarian that potentially lower unemployment rate doesn't necessarily help the president's cause, because we really need economic growth. we don't need lower unemployment rate right now, and that may confuse the conversation because washington may say, hey, unemployment's so low, why to we need stimulus? we don't want this to miss the economic growth that's been the key to this equation. neil: you know, i'm wondering then what is the fallout of a tightening federal reserve and a fiscal loosening donald trump; that is, tax cuts versus interest rate hikes? i mean, are they going to wash each other out or what? >> it's hard to quantify, right, because we don't know the extent of the tax cuts. he wants to focus on infrastructure, we don't know how much that's going to cost. we don't have the bill for any of the actual physical bill and also the costs associated with any of these ideas if they're going to happen at all.

now, gary cohn will argue that long term the tax cuts will pay for themselves, it's not going to increase or balloon the deficit, but we don't know. we don't know the numbers associated. so it's very difficult to assess the impact on the economy in light of the fed reserve and also the potential tax cuts and also the impact on individuals. a lot of individuals are saying, you know, what do i do in this environment. and a lot of advisers i speak to say, you know what? just hold the course. there's nothing to do at this moment because we don't know. neil: yeah, we don't. guysing thank you both very much. have a good weekend. well, that tax plan is in the works, and gary cohn who runs the national economic council was saying as much with charles payne just a few minutes ago. take a look. >> we're just starting down the path of taxes. and unlike health care, we are out talking to all the groups that are going to be interested in our tax plan. we're holding listening sessions literally the day after secretary mnuchin and i announced our tax plan, we

started holding listening groups. we met with some of the conservative thought leaders, we have met with the freedom caucus, we're continuously going out and meeting with groups. neil: there are a lot of lo logistics, typically the house ways and meanmeans committee starts that process. but there are concurrent plans not only being draed ithe house, but with the freedom caucus coming up with its own package irrespective of what is being done by house ways and means. duplicative, could waste a lot of time. to congressman mark sanford. do you guys check on the progress of your plan versus their plan versus other plans? what do you do? >> i think there's a story that's sort of gotten ahead of itself in that there is no freedom caucus plan at this point. i think that the group in the wake of the health care debate is going to come together and debate some principles.

i think that, you know, there's going to be engagement on this front. i think what the group's ultimately about is trying to constructively engage at the front end of the debate as opposed to stopping things as we did on the health care debate so that we then sort of reorganized things and infused some -- neil: are you saying, sir, just to be very -- i'm sorry, congressman, but to be clear, you're not separately drafting a plan, that you might then look at whatever house ways and means has come up with or the details on the blueprint out of the white house comes up with before you start tinkering or focusing on certain things that you like and don't like? >> correct. you know, the freedom caucus really doesn't have the capacity that the ways and means committee would have in actually going into the legislative text and creating a real bill. neil: but you could reject what they come up with as a group just as you as a group rejected the initial health care plan that the republican leadership was looking at, you're free to do that, obviously. >> correct. and that's why the group is

wanting to constructively engage at the front end -- neil: understood. >> have a conversation about territorial versus global tax, about full expensing, about the border adjustment -- neil: well, on the full expensing, do you, are you in that camp, congressman, that says these have to be paid for by -- revenue neutrality is one thing, but you want to make sure they're revenue neutral right away and that you don't have deeper deficits before, you know, you get the revenue from these tax cuts? >> i'm in no way speaking for the group, but my personal opinion would be that. and that is, you know, a deficit is simply a delayed tax. it's simply handing off the tax to our kids or to our grandkids. and i think it's important that we do what kevin brady and the speaker have tried to push for, which is a degree of revenue neutrality with regard to the tax plan overall. neil: all right. a degree of revenue neutrality. almost everyone seems to think using dynamic accounting -- i

don't want to get boring here, i do that quite easily on my own every day. but the argument is it's going to create a lot of revenues down the road, but it's going to take away a lot of revenues at the beginning of the road. you seem to be saying, congressman, you don't like that latter possibility. >> that's correct. because i think that the age-old adage of washington is let's pay for it now, and we'll worry about, you know, the expenses late and i think that that's a model that's gotten us into real trouble whether on the, from the standpoint of regular day expenses or really from the standpoint of tax expenses. so i say relatively neutral in that you could use dynamic scoring versus traditional scoring. look at some of the benefit that would come with a tax cut. but within that context, i think it's important to go for neutrality, otherwise you really are betting on the come that may or may not come in full force.

neil: a border tax, how do you feel about that? >> i personally am against it. i've heard, you know, i represent the port in charleston. we have a lot of product that goes in and out of this place and, you know, you think about a border awe justment -- adjustment tax and how it would impact a whole host of businesses in the state or the southeast or, frankly, the country as a whole. i think that a border adjustment tax is in many ways a hidden value-added tax, and i think it opens up a whole new revenue source in the federal government's ability to collect money from its citizenry. so i'm going to be one of those folks that's going to be in the pushing in the right or wrong -- depending on one's perspective -- against the border tax. neil: if this is a late fall development, which increasingly looks like the case, i don't want to pin it to that, but there's a lot of back and forth be on the health care thing, and the senate has to come up with its own plan, apparently it's a separate plan from the house plan.

let's say it's a full development on taxes. do you think that those tax cuts should be retroactive to the beginning of the year? >> my exrien has been, yes. the reason is if not, youreeze up a lot of investment with people saying i'll wait until after the tax cut passes before i'm going to do x, y or and z. i think ideally, you make it retroactive to beginning of year, that way in the year in question you do not freeze up business activity. neil: all right, interesting. congressman, good catching up with you. >> yes, sir, as well. neil: all right. in the meantime, you've heard about this back and forth when it goes to the senate about the health care bill. rand paul was among those who says, you know, we have our own ideas. the closest any senator has come at least on our air to say that idea out of the house, i'm against it. but whatever those ideas are, if they're totally different from what the house has come up with, can you imagine when they try to reconcile all of that?

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in fact, not at all. take a look. >> this would be the first time that republicans have affirmatively put their stamp of approval on a program where federal money, taxpayer money is paid to insurance companies. and i really, frankly, am not too excited about, you know, subsidizing the profit of insurance companies. neil: sounds like you'd be a no vote. [laughter] >> it's going to take a little bit of work to get me to a yes vote, but i do have an open mind. there's not been a louder voice up here for repealing obamacare. i really want to repeal it, i just don't want to replace it with obamacare lite or another federal program. the programs they put in place will be there forever, so the refundable tax credit -- which is a subsidy by another name -- will be there forever. neil: all right, did you catch what he's saying? right out the gate, he doesn't like what he's seeing. yes, republicans have trimmed the program down, there's no way to quantify that for sure, but he's saying maybe we come up with our own plan compared to

their plan, and we sort out the details and the differences. there's very little wiggle room in the united states senate. two votes and all of a sudden you're talking a tie breaker involving possibly the vice president, three votes, it doesn't matter. to politico playbook co-author, anna palmer, on if it's possible we don't even see a health care deal, certainly this summer. what do you think, anna? >> i think this was just the first step. i think the whole kind of victory lap by president trump was certainly a win that he needed to get under his belt, but as you heard rand paul start to say there, this is going to be an issue that each senator has to make a decision for themselves. there were a opportunity of them yesterday that were -- a ton of them yesterday that were throwing cold water on the fact that just because this deal passed the house tha going to be taking up the same legislation. i don't think anyone thinks that's going to happen. many senators said they expect to do their own bill, which will take a lot of time. neil: what's sticking in the craw of a lot of conservatives, particularly those that are leery of the government, is that

this is still the government, maybe not as big as the original obamacare act or the affordable care act, but significant and potentially getting bigger. and that worries guys like rand paul. now, all you need are a couple who feel the same way and it go klooey, which is why they're starting from scratch, but doesn't that mean whatever they come up with gets picked apart and maybe rejected in the house? >> a lot of the same dynamics are going to be on display in the senate in terms of the conservative members wanting to not have those kind of credits that rand paul was talking about. he's not alone in that. but you're also going to have moderates x there are a significant number that are very powerful that are going to want to make sure that pre-existing coverage is maintained. they're going to want to have probably more funding for things like opioids and things like that. so you're going to have the similar dynamic of this kind of horse trading and getting to the end of the line with what the senate comes up with is

definitely, you know, potentially a reconciliation's going to have to happen which basically means the senate and the house are going to have to come together to try and find some agreement there. neil: do you think they're going to get this resolved by the summer, to the earlier point, and that they'll make progress on tax cuts presumably in the fall and have that done by the fall? because then now both are looking like aggressive timetables. >> i think both are very aggressive timetables. washington rarely can walk and chew gum at the same time, so the concept of doing a major health care package and trying to get a tax reform package at the same time is really difficult. i think you also have to look at the fact that congress is out in august for several weeks, and so you don't have that time where they're going to be here in town to actually try to hash out a lot of the details on either of those packages. neil: do you hear, anna, as well -- i know i've been fixated this, but just curious on the timing of the tax cuts, whenever they come up with it, that they

would be retroactive? >> i think the fall is a very aggressive -- i think even, frankly, the trump white house has stepped off the gas on that kind of thing, august is when we're going to try to have this plan done, tax reform. or even if it is a smaller tax cut package, it's very complicated. i don't think they've laid out those kind of markers yet. they're talking about potential repatriation holiday or something like that, and so you're starting to see some of the contours, but as far as an actual timeline, it is very, i think, hard at this point to see that come to any be kind of fruition in the fall. i would assume, you know, a lot of people are looking into the next year. neil: wow. the markets, for what they're worth, are counting on it this year. they might be pleasantly shocked or unpleasantly shocked. anna pmer, thank you. in the meantims u might have heard, the french election is on sunday. they have an extended holiday, i think a three-day weekend coming up. in the middle of this back and

forth, and it's getting nasty here, it kind of makes the trump/clinton battle seem tame by comparison. there are a lot of serious charges going back and forth. fox business' ashley webster with the latest in paris. [laughter] >> reporter: bonjour! well, this is the last day of campaigning, neil. as you say, it's been a very, very nasty campaign. but today is the last day because of french rules, election rules. they're not allowed to campaign the day before the actual vote is cast. the voters, according to the opinion polls, show a 52% -- 62, i should say, percent in favor of macron, 38% for le pen. so, clearly, he is the favorite. but you know what? there's a lot of comparison still being made between marine le pen and donald trump. they are both extremely nationalistic, both calling for a control of immigration, both very anti-establishment. however, let's be honest, marine

le pen has been around politics for some 30 years, hardly, you know, you could argue she is establishment. but no doubt the feelings in this country that propelled marine le pen to this position are the very same ones that got donald trump where he was, appealing to those low-paid workers living out in the rural areas outside of the elite cities that feel that they've been ignored, that they are fed up with the status quo. the question is and the challenge for le pen is her party is still considered extreme, extreme far right. she's done as much as she can to try and water down that image, but let's face it, donald trump, he was representing the gop be, a mainstream party in america. another big issue, neil, complacency. we saw what happened, you could argue the complacency perhaps one of the reasons behind hillary clinton's loss. people didn't turn out. they thought she had it in the bag. emmanuel macron is very concerned about that very issue. he's taken to facebook, to

twitter, he's told all his sporters, remember -- supporters, remember what happened in america. do not let it happen here. get out and vote, your vote does count. also bottom line is le pen has a much bigger polling gap to overcome than donald trump ever had to do in his fight with hillary clinton. but the same populist message, neil, in the united states certainly being felt here in france. and let's be honest, elsewhere in the region. neil: are you getting a sense, ashley, that le pen's supporters are more rabid, they would go out under any conditions and vote for her, and ma rock even less so, and -- macron's even less so. which is why he pulled out president obama to endorse him? >> reporter: yes, you're absolutely right, neil. le pen supporters are rabid, they're extremely loyal, and they will get out there and vote, which is fine, but can she attract voters from other parties?

the far left, those people who would support francois hollande who is, by the way, one of the most unpopular politicians in french politics history, they're not going to come out for le pen. she's going to have to find support from somewhere, the question is, where? protests today, more expected earnly tomorrow and on monday. -- certainly tomorrow and on monday. and those protests are against both candidates. people are protesting because they don't like either choice. so i guess that must -- it's kind of french, isn't it? have a protest to hate everybody. and, yes, you're right, it's a long weekend, so just another weekend in france. neil: thank you, great coverage as always, my friend. you can catch him monitoring the french pulse collectively on this and whether it's going to be le crisis. [laughter] we don't know. all right. beur guest -no. [laughter] i'm done. i'm done.

my scottish accent, a little better. all right, meanwhile, you've heard the dust-up over stephen colbert and the pretty nasty things he had to say about president trump. so did the fcc chair. but what's interesting from the reprimand is, you know, there's not a lot he can do. or seems to be interested in doing. he'll explain, after this. look closely.

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neil: but for a lot of colbert critics right now, that might not be enough. a lot of them are agitated that he simply went too far in criticizing the president and that this was on broadcast tv when a lot of folks were watching, shouldn't have done it. when i caught up with the man who runs the fcc, ajit pai, he was saying there is only so much he can do. take a look. i know you've been busy on this net neutrality thing and weighing all these potential mergers, i understand that. but you heard a little bit about what he said. as head of the fcc, you couldn't not. were you offended? >> well, again, i haven't viewed the clip, and so i don't want to prejudge. neil: really? that strikes me as odd. >> i'm a pretty busy guy, believe it or not, and chasing after two kids at home also keeps me busy. [laughter] neil: all right, i hear you. but it is unlikely any punishment is about to be meted outside to stephen colbert, outside those who want to protest his show, they're free to do that, but there's no action on the part of the fcc.

>> well, if we do get complaints, we'll evaluate the facts and make the appropriate decision. neil: all right. i don't think anything's going to get done. anyway, maybe that's just find. the backlash against colbert not fading, there are a number of folks sae should get the guy fire that might be a little bit extreme, but radio talk show host says it was a joke, charlie, your point is had this been flipped around and been said of barack obama, it would have been very, very different. >> absolutely. and, first, let me say since colbert's taken us south of the border, happy cinco de mayo from texas. i think anytime you look at how they're going to poke fun at someone with, you have to ask is this truly satire, does this actually have a place in the public discourse? and beyond that i have to wonder who thought it was a good idea to hire a masochist to do a

satirist's job. neil: all right, you don't seem too keen on it. ben, this went through a lot of, you know, a lot of people before it eventually made air. and we accept with comedians, especially edgy comedians -- i would certainly put colbert in that -- you know what his political viewpoints are and whether he just overdid it, especially with the one comment. i'm not going to repeat it here. that's crossing the line, that's the proverbial jumping the shark moment. what do you think? >> well, it's not cross thing the line -- crossing the line, and this joke may have been been made about barack obama if the russians helped get him elected in 2010 -- >> oh. >> this proves we've already known that trump supporters are is the snowflakes they proclaim to hate so much. this is simply a joke -- neil: wait a minute >> no, i disagree. i think it's hypocritical the -- [inaudible conversations] neil: i just want to be clear

that if this was said about barack obama, you would be perfectly fine with it? >> i have no problem with making fun of barack obama. i have no problem with making fun of sitting presidents. they're the president of the united states, and they should be able to handle it. neil: i have no problem with it either. where i join and question is whether -- and he's as clever and fast on his feet as they get, colbert isn't too bad himself. but my point is did he go too far in the language he used? >> the language he used? neil: no, no, no, this is for charlie. go ahead. >> listen, absolutely. i mean, there are were the ways of -- better ways of making the president the butt of your jokes. neil: so the stuff before that was okay with you? because that was pretty rat at the at the, boom, boom, boom, so you drew the line at the one offensive word. >> anytime you reduce yourself to sophomoric phallic jokes, i think you have crossed the line. i think there are far better ways -- neil: ben, what do you think of that? >> have we not heard the

president of the united states give a stump speech? that, to me, was just on the exact level as colbert's stand-up comedy routine. >> he lowered -- colbert lowered himself to that level. he sunk to that level. >> donald trump was proclaiming barack obama wasn't an american-born citizen. he had one of the number one shows on the ftion with "the apprentice." rush limbaugh has made a career of demonizing peop othe left whether it be chelsea clinton when she was 13 years old or the magic essence of barack obama with his parody songs. everyone needs to stop being so sensitive, and if you're against political correctness, hey -- neil: all right. the one thing that has come up with this is where do you or should you draw a line when you're on broadcast television versus cable or the internet. do either of you think there should be a different standard for that? and i don't care whether it's on the right or the left, please. >> i think we're missing another

point in that anytime you make fun of someone at the expense of others, at a group of people who are innocent bystanders and you insult those people, you lower yourself to the level of the people that you're accusing of misogyny -- neil: that's not what i asked. charlie, i just want to be clear. do you draw a different line because this is on broadcast tv, albeit late at night? >> my answer would be no. neil: charlie first, go ahead. >> i think that there are certain standards of obscenity, rulingsing and laws and appropriateness. neil: okay. at that hour on broadcast. ben, you say no. >> well, i also want to point out what charlie was saying that colbert was lowering himself to the standard of the presidency of the united states. donald trump needs to recognize he is potus, he is the most powerful man in the world, and he should have a little bit more confidence in his position and let these things roll off his back. and keep in mind the only reason this conversation even came about, this joke came about is

because donald trump had amture approach tmr. dickson of cbs. neil: yes, but it's interesting, i've heard trump say far worse and do things that were far, far, far more offensive. so what's surprising in colbert's response -- >> i agree. neil: -- and the fact that this went to a number of people was why not respond in kind to things that are just as offensive to things the president said, and we all know what they are? it did seem a fairly innocuous comment where he more or less kicked the guy out of of the ovl office and then sat down, and i thought that was weird too. but not the scale that would warrant the response that it got from colbert. >> when the president of the united states turns his back on the first amendment -- neil: no, no, no, you're conflating things. this incident with dickerson, this moment where he said, i'm done, would that warrant the cursing comment he got? finish. >> oh, i think that along with many other -- neil: no, no. leave the along out of it. that alone.

that's what prompted this response. >> well, these things don't happen in a vacuum. neil: you're not answering. >> yes, it does. neil: all right. guys, thank you both very much. >> thank you so much. neil: meanwhile, the president is celebrating with house majority steve scalise right now. scalise is next on what they have to really work on celebrating next. and that's going to be some heavy lifting, after this. (microphe edback) listen up, heart disease. you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest

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the failures of obamacare. like i said, we've got a lot of work to do, but one thing is now clear: republicans are committed to keeping our promise. neil: only a few people were allowed to speak at that big event, and steve scalise was one of them. he's the house majority whip, he is a very important player in all of this and bridges the sometimes rants he gets from the united states and his own speaker, party leadership and the rebellious members of his party. but that's the kind of guy he is, he can bridge that gap. the white house majority whip with us right now. congressman, thank you for coming. >> great to be back with you, neil. neil: all right. now the heavy lifting in the senate. i talked to rand paul, congressman, who was saying that while he commends the work you and your colleagues did, he's not keen on what you finally did, and that it is still something that emboldens insurance companies and as a former doctor himself, still a doctor, he doesn't like that. what do you say to the rand pauls and others who might share that i view?

>> well, the good news is now he gets his chance to go and write his perfect bill, and i think what anybody will find out, just like we did on the house republican side, that a lot of people have their own ideas, but it takes, in our case, 216 votes to pass a bill. over in the senate they're going to have to -- you know, senator paul has a great idea, he's going to have to find 50 other people that agree with that great idea. neil: trust. >> what's -- true. >> what's most important is following through on our promise and lowering premiums to put patients back in charge of their health care decisions. our bill does that while protecting people with pre-existing conditions, and it's a really good bill. if the senate wants to make it even better, i encourage them to do that. neil: do you worry when the senate more or less makes it clear, congressman, they're going to start from scratch? they're not even taking your effort, they're going to go from scratch? i don't know how it typically wos in washington, but isn't that weird? >> neil, we heard a lot of this two years ago when we were moving a bill out of the house

to put on barack obama's list to gut obamacare. they said it's ted on arrival, we'll never -- dead on arrival, we'll never vote for it. guess what? it got on the president's testing. donald trump wants to rescue people from this failed law, so ultimately, they've got to put together their coalition and pass a bill that achieves those goals just like we did. and i wish them well. neil: by the way, congressman, because of weather-related issues in the new york metropolitan area, your feed to us sometimes goes in and out. so i hope that stays strong and we don't have to just say good-bye to you. in the meantime, i wanted your take, congressman, on what will be the next step here because after this and assuming the senate comes up with something and assuming you guys can work it out in conference, the differences, that then tax cuts would be next, but it might be more like a fall event. is it your hope, whether you stick to that timetable or can, that those tax cuts be retroactive? >> absolutely.

obviously, we've got to work through obamacare. we've done our part in the house now, the senate's gotta -- [audio difficulty] neil: it actually happened. congressman, if you can still hear me, it went out. are you still with us, sir? >> i sure am. and we've got to move on tax reform. neil: barack obama has not taken over our feed here. [laughter] >> that's a good sign. neil: the former president's people have said you've gone ahead and assured many will die. and you've heard extremes like that, and that millions are going to be left without coverage and that you guys shouldn't have been high-fiving it. what do you say to that? >> they've been the party of broken promises from obamacare's promises that were all broken if you like what you have, you can keep it, prices will be lower. people are paying double-digit increases. iowa just lost their entire health care marketplace. so if you're in obamacare, you literally will have nowhere to go to get hrps, and we're sea concern health insurance, and we're seeing that in other states.

oh, by the way, when they say pre-existing condition people will be hung out to dry, in our bill we have multiple layers of protection for people with pre-existing condition who don't have those protections in obamacare. so if you want premiums to go down, you like our bill. if you want obamacare and the double-digit increases every year and $12,000 deductibles, then, obviously, you wouldn't like our bill. but at the end of day, we have a mandate to follow this, and president trump has been very clear from the beginning he wants to lower premiums for families. our bill does that. neil: let me ask you a little bit about expectations now. back to the tax cut thing. just to be clear, sir, you have to have all this settled, i mean, you can work on it will the leadership or the various committees, house freedom caucus is apparently tinkering around with its own ideas for a tax cut, but none of that can begin in earnest until this health care thing is approved, right? >> right. we approached this repeal and replace bill through the budget

reconciliationrocess -- neil: right. >> that allows you to move a bill through the senate with 51 votes. we want to do the same thing with tax reform, and you can only have one of those bills moving at a time. we moved to obamacare first, then move to tax reform. let's make our country competitive and lower our overall rates. that's going to jump-start the economy like nothing we've seen in decades. neil: real quickly on the pre-existing condition thing, what's to stop if i move from a state where everything is covered into a state where because it's pre-existing it's covered at a higher rate may not pay a much higher rate in that given state? >> the first layer of protection is what's called continuous coverage, meaning if you have insurance today, as long as you keep insurance even if you go from one plan to another, if you lose your job and you go to medicaid and then you go back into the work force, all of that means you're continuous toly covered. you will never be rated differently than you are today.

neil: but what if i start out not having coverage? i'm a young person, i of do have a pre-existing condition, and all of a sudden do i start from the get go depending on the state paying a much higher rate because of that? >> no. if you're in a state that would request a waiver under our plan, one of the extra protections we put in, and this was one of the final amendments to come in, the upton/billy long amendment, adds $8 billion of extra money just for those states that would want to waive that protection. and, by the way, you can't waive the protection of pre-existing conditions. but if you were not insured at all, we put $8 billion in place so you can actually come back into the marketplace at competitive rates, and then you're covered. and be you're continuously covered as long as you maintain it. neil: i said it would be the last, and i lied to you, congressman. president trump, when he invited all of you to the white house, he did not invite the 20 republicans who voted against this. there's nothing unusual in that, but is that a message you think he's sending, i'll remember those who work with me, i'll

also remember those who do not? >> no. what he wanted to do was focus on the fact that we passed a really good bill that lowers premiums, that actually gives people freedom to pick whatever health care plan they want and protects people with pre-existing conditions. of course, if somebody didn't vote for the bill, they might not have wanted to go and help celebrate that. nancy pelosi surely wasn't there, but she still wants obamacare. she wants government controlling your health decisions. we're done with that. those days are over. this is the first step the. there's a lot of work that needs to be done, but at least we got this process moving yesterday. neil: all right. mr. house majority whip, steve scalise, very good seeing you again. thank you. >> good being back with you, neil. neil: all right. apple, you know, is quietly and very quietly moving toward a $1 trillion market cap. the s&p 500 technology index, that's at about $5 trillion. to put this in some perspective, just a few years ago it was south of $1 trillion.

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big deal, you know, apple, your earnings kind of disappointed a little bit, we were expecting much more, we were expecting you to sell like a billion iphones, and so the fact they sold only 50 some odd million, there was this disappointment, collective yawn. not so today, apple hitting another all-time high. its total market cap approaching rapidly $1 trillion. that's a big deal, my friends, and it's a big reason why the s&p 500 technology index along with a couple of other big players like alphabet and amazon is rapidly closing in on a $5 trillion mark. to market watcher joe on what he makes of. this first on apple, what to you make of that? there was this brief window where a lot of people were saying, boy, they only sold, you know, tens of millions of iphones, you know? what did you make of that? >> yeah. i think even though they missed, slightly missed revenues, i think the market brushed it off because they're really anticipating the iphone 8

cycle that's coming out this fall. apple has continued to defy all probabilities. when you think of to 95% of small businesses never make it to a million in revenue -- neil: i know. >> -- and they made it to over 50 billion in one quarter, it's amazing. they're an amazing marketing machine, and i think they deserve to be trading where they are right now. neil: you know, maybe that will live up to the hype, you know, expectations here. but the one thing that surprised me, joe, is that this notion that just a few years ago apple was, you know, on its back, against the wall, and it took years to recoup and come back. it did. but, you know, there are a lot of people saying at the time when that was just starting they'll move on. what do you think? >> i like to look at the technicals, and it's a good point that you make, you know? maybe the iphone 6, 7 wasn't a big upgrade signing, but keep in mind where it came from, there

about' 09 to '14 or so. stocks need big moves, they need to digest. i'm making the point if two years apple was trading around 133 or 135, i think there's more upside to this. neil: how much more upside? what are you looking at? >> i wouldn't be surprised if it's the first trillion market cap company, especially as we accelerate with anticipation -- neil: so that would bring it up to around the 180 level. could even be 200, right? >> yeah, no, it's possible. i think the biggest point here is the global boom we've seen. people say we'll never see a trillion market cap company. i think we're going to see a few of these over the next few years. we're no longer a domestic economy. a lot of the sales are coming from overseas and countries that used to be emerging markets are now very developed countries. so we're seeing a lot of the growth coming from overseaings.

neil: all right. joe, thank you very much. >> thanks for having me, neil. neil: in the meantime, tax refollow plans are in the dub reform plans are in the works, but did you hear what i said? tax reform plans, plural. that's the problem. after this. ♪ ♪ things are headed. because as we live longer... and markets continue to rise and fall... predictable is one thing you need in retirement to help protect what you've earned and ensure it lasts. introducing brighthouse financial. a new company established by metlife to specialize in annuities & life insurance. talk to your advisor about a brighter financial future. . .

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fir time we had a chance to see first full day of trading after the, if you look for immediate action in the senate to mirror what you saw from the house, what if i told you they're starting from scratch, and what if i told you they don't like, they don't like what their colleagues, republican colleagues came up with in the use? listen to rand paul. unds to me at this point that you would be a no unless some of these changes are addressed? i don't want to put words in your mouth -- >> the bill has to get better. i'm open-minded. i spoke to the president today. i want to be supportive. i want to repeal obamacare but i don't want to have to vote for a federal program, a new one, that will be hundreds of billions of dollars paid to insurance companies. i'm all for capitalism but i'm not a big fan of crony capitalism. neil: do you ever regret though, that the way this has been done,

all democrats last go round, all republican this is go round, that it will probably the same way in the united states senate? i can not imagine you voted for what the house just did. i could be surprised but what do you think of that? >> health care has problems. there is issues. there are folks that can't afford health care on current system. we ought to fix that without throwing away preexisting conditions and lifetime caps. >> we should have a conversation especially on exchanges. lacking medicaid by 800 billion, providing $900 billion in tax cuts, that is -- neil: quibbling on the numbers but -- neil: bottom line, you had three u.s. senators, two of them democrats, the two democrats you can see not keen on any republican plan on this open to some changes as long as they don't repeal obamacare. that is not going to happen if republicans ntinuing to control things. yet even one of those

republicans say it is not going to happen to him. he is not keen what the house has done. rand paul echoing view of number of other numbers crunchers, sub sub senators. that doesn't mean that changes they're advocating can be passed and in conference they could settle their differences. let's iron this out with "the daily caller" and independent women forum. gail, whether those gaps can be overcome. i was surprised they were significant as they were among republicans and dramatically so between republican senators and republican representatives. what do you think? >> right. well, the republicans are split on this. there are all these solutions to try to unleash innovation and free market when it comes to health care, so that patients can have more choice. it can be a more doctor centered medical experience and unfortunately there are different approaches of how to

do this, but what the house has passed is an important first step. now we'll have to see if the senate takes the ball and runs with it. or if we have this crushing misinformation campaign coming from opponents of trying to reform, repeal, replace obamacare. neil: the role of the president in this, what do you think? obviously he was much more intimately involved this second go round on this health care rework than was in the first and he knew the names of those who were on the fence. in fact, if you believe some of the congressman speaking yesterday at the white house he would spell them out, this is some one you should call. would it work the same in the senate? >> i think so. trump took a very active role on this. the word is, everyone i talked to says this is true, paul ryan, a lot of house leadership was really kind of pushed out of the last deal they passed. mike pence took the lead. he helped with the amendments. helped get it across. some people commented rose

garden was a bit of a premature celebration. more than that it was pressure to the president trump and republicans in senate. this bill will not die in your house. you have to pass this the republicans in the senate have slightly easier job than the house. they can move it around but they don't have republican senators from new york. they don't have them from illinois, california. they don't have constituencies, just toomey in pennsylvania. they can put something together. you will see changes but larger contours of the house bill will probably make it through. neil: that is interesting. they have the liberty of adding stuff up like a christmas tree here. so that could complicate their efforts. but, chris mentioned something interesting how this was portrayed. did the administration overplay it. that is the read when i got off the air yesterday on "fox news watching" reaction to this, media collectively, whooping it up getting approval out of one chamber. but the same media wasoing after the president failing in

thatame chamber to even get a bill introduced for a vote. so he can't win but what do you make of that? that he did this deliberately, as much to put pressure on republican senators, to remind the media, 40 days ago you said i was a failure, i helped deliver the goods this go-round? >> that is exactly right. the mainstream media is trying to treat this heads i win, tails you lose. president trump is having none of that they are the opposition party. he is reminding them he can get victories, he can get stuff passed through the house. it is very exciting for conservatives and republicans to see there is some motion in the congress you now. it might not be the perfect be all, end all solution to our health care problems but it's a first step that would not have happened without president trump in the oval office. neil: that a sign, of a guess, chris, we'll see a lot more of him in future efforts. he will say because he got intimately involved here, and he

did, that is what he is going to do? >> he sold himself as deal maker in chief. he brought a lot of ideas he had working in real estate in the white house. he found some of those didn't work. he found competing in real estate, your enemy will not burn you to the ground to the same level a lot of political opponents will. yes might have been the first time a lot of major newspapers, actions by donald trump would actually kill americans. in his book, "art of the deal," he talks about not really loving to do business with the japanese because it is never one-on-one deal. the business groups were in big groups. he has much bigger group than six japanese businessmen. he has the whole u.s. congress. senate with smaller numbers is something he is happier to deal with. he will die in. neil: you're right. you will never hear developers say you will kill people if you get this project. chris, thank you very, very much. gail, same thing. appreciate it. >> thanks, neil. neil: there are a lot of tax

plans in the works, but that is next. just in the house, just in the house. take a look. congressman, do you twiccheck on the progress of your plan versus their plan versus other plans? what do you do? >> i think this is a story that sort of gotten ahead of itself there is no freedom caucus plan at this point. neil: none of that can begin in earnest until this health care thing is approved, right? >> so we need to move through obamacare first. then we move to tax reform. and let's make our country competitive and lower our overall rates. that is something i think you see jump-start the economy like nothing you've seen in decades. >> we got the continuing resolution done. we got the government funded through september. we got the health care done, moving through the senate. we got a great jobs report as you said. we continue to work on tax policy. we continue it work on regulatory reform. we got new head of the sec in this week. we have a really good week.

neil: i love charles payne's face, not! it could still happen and this administration and republicans after being given up for dead did deliver the goods, certainly on health care shifted over to the senate but on tax cuts they're kind of risking doing the same thing they did last go round where there are multiple plans being debated concurrently. nothing wrong with coming up with multiple plans but at the same time where one committee doesn't know what someone else is doing, the freedom caucus is doing versus house ways and means doing, versus the blueprint the administration and gary cohn are providing, enter che gaarino. what he makes of all of this. good to see you. how was l.a. >> wonderful. i came back to the wonderful weather. neil: can you believe it? >> i walked back from first avenue. neil: the milken conference ended thursday but you made it a week. >> i made it in my contract to stay. neil: grat reporting out there i'm worried about seeing a lot of cooks in the kitchen. what say you?

>> the legislative process is about cooks and there will be people weighing in. remember, donald trump had a framework basically, not really a plan. he had a thing based on a cardboard, a little cardboard cutout, index card, and he said here's my guiding principles. now, the hard part comes and that is going through the motions and figuring out exactly what deductions stay in and stay out. people will be weighing in like crazy. so i think, listen, i think this is, if you're a free market capitalist, and you want lower taxes, you want less government, what happened yesterday is a food thing because we've taken the first step to reforming what is morass, which is health care. i can't believe i'm reading in the paper like how, bernie sanders says -- neil: killing people. >> people are going to die. listen, obamacare is blowing up. premiums are going up. these are reasons why there is a political will that changed this thing, okay? so that's a good thing.

if you get health care done, and there is savings, that tax plan, i don't care how many people weigh in, weigh out, that tax plan wbe py ose to what donalump wants, 20% corporate tax rate, around that area, 15, 20, 25, around that area and reductions of marginal rate. the fight is on deductions. can they scale back the state and local deduction. neil: that is interesting. >> why get in an argument with your own gop members from new york and california? neil: let me ask you something. there was a liberal, i forget his name, being interviewed on maria bartiromo saying this jobs report came out earlier maybe negates the need, i'm really overparaphrasing to make the point, he didn't think it was necessary to go crazy on tax cuts because the economy is doing just fine. >> i would disagree with that. during the obama years, we covered the economic side of the obama years pretty closely, all

the jobs report. how many times were we head faked gdp would grow at 3% and it didn't? how many -- neil: 4% unemployment rate, you don't need to do anything like ronald reagan because at time, he was saying at the time that was call for because we were knee deep in stagflation. >> the unemployment rate is not the best measure. neil: i believe that. >> doesn't take in people under employed. neil: do you think there is still cause for big tax cut? >> look at gdpprint just came out, .05. neil: 0.7. >> this is a head fake. by the way, why should we settle for underemployment we have now and low wages? only wrato get a boost in wages somehow increase productivity, increase the amount of better-paying jobs out there. neil: what would happen on wall street if we scale it back? >> if you scale back the corporate tax cut, wall street will go down. we're down 10.

try like down 2,000. neil: everyone i talked to on the show so far, said, let's be flexible on the timetables. not only corporate things, the health care thing but i keep hearing fall event. that might not matter to people. but later you get into the fall on either. enacting them, certainly will not be retroactive if you're getting almost to the end of the year, you will not do that. >> neil you have to like the fact trump pushed it now the health care thing. he came back -- neil: you're absolutely right. >> remember, this is what we're talk with obamacare for a while ryan told us. but we're not. neil: you know, give trump some credit -- bless you. >> it is the truth. neil: he did force this issue. >> yeah. neil: and it might not work in the end but looking more like it will. >> the president did a great job. we have to get him credit. he pushed it through the house. you have to get it through the senate. there will be negotiations. neil: he did it great because he

got emersed in it. >> think of dual tracks, tax cuts, health care reform. neil: what did you think, i wanted to get your thoughts on media, same ones saying he is killing people and all that, but they are the ones say why whoop it up getting one chamber's vote? the same people, the same people who went wall-to-wall when he had to pull a vote in the me chamber a little over month ago? >> it is pathetic. you and i will criticize trump when he needs to. neil: that is unfair. >> remember when joe biden said when they signed obamacare with no republican votes. neil: right. >> in completely not bipartisan way. neil: virtuous and earnest. >> joe biden said this is big f-ing deal. neil: that is another, colbert thing. fcc head telling me he claimed he didn't see it, but sounded very much like he wouldn't do anything about it, the colbert thing you were traveling of course. >> right.

neil: one particular comment, to you think action should be taken? >> we're free speech guys here. and -- neil: your free speech is freer and foul-er than most. >> i focuser words and i even speak italian curse words. neil: i enjoy them. i know them. >> hand gestures. here is the thing -- hand gestures can get you in trouble too. neil: tell me about it. >> there is something called the fairness doctrine. i think it is about time that, somebody call up les moonves, some of these chiefs of these -- neil: don't count on it. >> chiefs of networks you have a fairness doctrine. all comedians are liberals. they're all lefty. they hate trump. neil: when it jump the shark or go to the level, i'm not for policing everyone's speech but, you know, think of it in reverse. if it is done about barack obama, forget about it. >> "saturday night live" should

do some stuff on nancy pelosi and barney -- not barney. bernie sanders. neil: i know what you mean. >> bernie sanders came out and said people would drop dead because of obamacare being cut out. that's insane. what has happened to this country? neil: i don't know. i'm flabbergasted. leave me speechless. >> why are you laughing? neil: because i wanted to do hand gestures but i can't. we'll have more after this. are allergies holding you back? break through your allergies. try new flonase sensimist instead of allergy pills. it's more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist you may not even notice. using unique mistpro technology, new flonase sensimist delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. most allergy pills only block one. and six is greater than one. break through your allergies. new flonase sensimist

neil: all right. it could be the biggest public debt crisis we have ever seen and puerto rico is front and center. adam shapiro with some breaking news on that. hey, adam. reporter: hey, neil. it will play out in a federal courtroom in new york city. chief justice john roberts has appointed federal district court judge, the honorable laura taylor swain to be the judge who will hear this case regarding puerto rico. now it's like bankruptcy but it's not bankruptcy. it's title 3 of what is called the puerto rico oversight management and stability act. it was passed last year by congress. justice swain will have to hear the arguments why puerto rico should be allowed to make its creditors take a few cents on the dollar as opposed to getting

100 cents on the dollar. a little bit about her real quick. harvard law, 1982. she has served on eastern district the of court bankruptcy court from 1996 to 2000. when then president clinton appointorred her to the southern district of new york. she has been on the bench well over 16 years. she could be a the largest bankruptcy-like case in u.s. history. anywhere 73 billion, to 123 billion, if you include restructuring of puerto rico's pension obligations. it is in one word, a mess. neil: detroit, that was like 18 billion, right? reporter: pensions, 18 billion. neil: incredible. adam, thank you very, very much. meanwhile the french election with a three-day weekend as ashley webster told you earlier about. president obama already weighed into this. he will be backing the centrist candidate emanuel macron but when it comes to picking candidates let's just say the

former president is not really always 100% accurate. take a look. >> our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc of the european union to get a trade agreement done and uk is going to be in the back of the queue. i continueo believe mr. trump will not be president. and the reas is becausi have a the love faith in the americ people. neil: all right. what do you think of that president weighing into the election, could he make it 0-3 an complete strikeout here or things what do you think? >> he doesn't have a very good track record. i don't think this is going to help macron at all. probably hurt him a little bit. what's interesting actually about this endorsement is that he is actually picking the more conservative candidate. when you compare le pen and

macron on economic policy, she is way to the left. and what it really shows is, i think all divides of left and right in politics are increasingly redundant. what you see with obama endorsing macron, elites sticking together, insiders sticking together. the real divide is between elites and populists. that is what this shows. the old left-right thing doesn't apply to the election. neil: steve, do you think there is any truth to the argument made in european press, i don't believe all of it, maybe donald trump's rocky start, for example the last 50 days have been a lot better than the first 50 days, having said that, the bumpy start and his low poll numbers so far that could change, have actually hurt the populist case and maybe helped macron in that cas what do you think? >> i think there is something to that. of course you have to understand just as here most of the media

in europe want to see populism fail. they wanted to report the rocky start and so, all of the negative things were magnified just as here. and the successes not telegraphed at all. i think there is definitely an element of that. i think in the end, these elections we've seen in the netherlands and now in france, they have all got particular characteristics. i think the interesting thing, frankly is that marine le pen is doing so well at all. that there is something really deep going on in all of these countries that is giving rise to these populist movements. even if they don't break thr everywhere, in this cycle, i just think this movement is not going away because the underlying reasons for it, the economic failure, of the last few decades that have left so many people struggling to find a job, to pay the bills, to it, afford the basics of a decent life. all of those factors are still there. neil: do you think, steve, that most europeans, because -- we

don't want to say good-bye to the european union. we like concepts of it, we just don't think it is implemented well, that is what they're wrestling with? a lot of things they like, travel back and forth between countries, maybe same currency, i don't know what some are thinking do we really want to give all of this up? what's the deal? >> look, the i was very much for "brexit." i went back, i live hoare in america now as you know. i i went back to the uk to campaign for "brexit." neil: right. >> i would be the first to say the starting point for the eu, which is idea of a single market to make it trade and travel, that's a good thing, but the problem is the eu itself as an institution kept demanding more and more power. leaders of the eu, particularly in the power, their vision is of one country, no borders, no sovereignty at the national level.

that is really what they believe. so when you hear someone like macron who is saying in his campaign, look we know there are problems with the e.u. it is too bureaucratic, it is too centralized we'll reform the eu, but we'll stay in it. that is message people would like to see happen. people have been saying that for decades and it never happened. when i first got into the politics back in the early '90s, working at the conservative headquarters, that was the message from the conservative government margaret thatcher, we'll get rid of e.u., get rid of democracy stuff and free trading. that is totally vision of the eu. neil: one of my producers angry, i'm curious, when you were with cameron was there any hint at all "brexit" could go down to defeat? some polls had it fairly close. it was a seesaw. i got the feeling obviously the ole european comas shocked.

but what had been missed? reason why i'm asking, i'm saying are we missing something now in france? >> i think that, absolutely didn't believe that it would ever happen. and he believed that actually he had gone and negotiated a deal to reform the uk's relationship with the e.u. neil: right. >> that deal was a good deal. he could project it to something that would mean it is okay to stay in because they will get rid of some of the bad things, that wasn't really true. he was overconfident in his ability to negotiate a good deal. he didn't. he was stuck with the decision that he made. he would never imagine it would lead to this. neil: interesting stuff. enjoy having you on. steve hilton, thank you very much. >> thank you, neil. neil: former strategy director to david cameron. very good read on all these developments. we'll see what happens this weekend. sara huckabee sanders will fill sean spicer role in the white house press briefing. we'll see how that goes. we're minutes away. you're watching fox business.

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>> many of you heard from my trip to moscow, characterized vladimir putin that the relationship between our nations was the lowest it has been since the cold war. he did not disagree. he shrugged his shoulders and nodded in agreement. i said it is getting worse. neil: the bloom is off that road and people said he would have a boone in his pocket, no pocket, no love lost, it is getting worse if anything. lieutenant colonel allen west,

what do you think? from the president down to the secretary of state, no more. we have a lot of threatening activity on both sides, russian jets are always flying near alaska and the new syria plan with iran and others, no-fly zone for us jets. where we going here? >> vladimir putin has taken advantage of the 8-year head start on the trump administration. when you look at the fact that earlier this week on the 69th anniversy of the modern-day state of israel's independence, supported a resolution against the israel and jerusalem as their capital, supported the palestinians, in -- russia along with turkey and iran has carved up syria and creating safe zones which are no-fly areas for us forces which will hinder operations against isis.

the one of the most important things we need to do is strengthen our economy. we have good jobs number today and saw the unemployment rate go down. russia has a failing economy and they cannot have these extended lines of logistical support you see from russia to the ukraine or the baltic states or syria so that is one of the most important things we can do to solidify a diplomatic solution against them. >> of russia keeps doing what russia keeps doing and getting very provocative it does so in virtually every hemisphere on the planet now. that is very cold war echoing back. no sooner do we look at one regions and we are chasing jets out of alaska. where are they going? >> another case of global whack a mole the same as islamic jihadist because russia is

supporting talent and end other islamic jihadist forces against us in afghanistan the same we did during the soviet afghan war. with a strong foreign-policy, strong economic strengthening you also have to have a deterrent military capacity that can back that up and i believe that is one of the real challenges for the trump administration, will let people know we have this credible force that will back up a strong foreign-policy which will be a great card for rex to listen to play, what can we do if the russians had these new, four different regions to protect syria as they say, but if they are in these quadrants, us jets cannot fly, how do we respond to that? we are going to ignore that but what will happen the first time a fighter jet of ours is over

one of those no-fly zones? >> we need to be clear that we intend to go after isis, we intend to deny them the sanctuary they have their rocket and any obstacle or impediment that presents itself we will disregard, we highly recommend russia does not do that. the most important thing is to try to isolate russia from support in syria because logistically and economically they cannot continue this support in syria, our energy program should be about exporting our energy resources to nations in europe that are defendant on russia so we starve them out from the energy hostagetaking they have done with a lot of european countries. >> white house briefing room,

sarah huckabee, sanders doing the honors. she will be fielding questions from reporters, see how she does after this. ♪ predictable. the mfort in knowing where things are headed. because as we live longer. and markets continue to rise and fall... predictable is one thing you need in retirement to help protect what you've earned and ensure it lasts. introducing brighthouse financial. a new company established by metlife to specialize in annuities & life insurance. talk to your advisor about a brighter financial future. why pause a spontaneous moment? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away

for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. >> huckabee sanders addressing reporters, bringing connell mcshane onset. let's go. >> house republicans about our historic first step to repealing and replacing obamacare. as they said in the rose garden this is not a victory for any one politician or political party but for the american people. democrats always claim they are in favor of choice when it comes to health care which is weird to me because obamacare is the opposite choice.

obamacare impose a 1-size-fits-all will, policy experts in washington dc on state of instead of allowing those closer to the communities to tailor their healthcare system to the unique needs of their people. the american healthcare act returns flexibility and accountability to the state where they can make informed decisions about their own population. we look forward to seeing the senate take up the bill in short order so we can move closer to giving the american people the healthcare system they deserve. a few things going on as usual in the white house and across the administration. the jobs report shows the president's economic agenda, tax reform, slashing burdensome regulation, rebuilding our infrastructure and negotiating fair trade deal is adding jobs across the country. we added 2000 new jobs in april and unemployment fell to a 10 year low. we saw expansion in sectors of the economy, the president has

had a particular focus on construction, manufacturing and mining. we made some important progress over the last 10 days realizing a bold plan for tax reform, moving the healthcare bill through the house and funding the government, the president and his team will continue this laser focus on creating jobs for hard-worng americans and growing the us economy. it is also cinco they mayo and an opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary contributions mexican-americans have made and continue to make in this country. at the president's personal address the vice president joined labor secretary acosta, mexican ambassador to the united states and many others for a celebration reception. the vice president closed his remarks by echoing the president's promised to show heart as we move forward with real and positive immigration reform and sharing the story of his own grandparents who themselves a chance by leaving ireland for the land of

opportunity and freedom. on a much lighter note i wanted to note that everyone at the department of interior is having their first ever bring your dog to work day, the first federal department to go dog friendly, having dogs in the workplace can help reduce stress and if any was up for a field trip later let me know because i'm sure everybody here could use a little stress reliever and with that i will take questions. >> welcome to the podium. on the process -- >> you will be supernice today, right? >> the process of getting the american heahcare act through the senate, may have to go back to the drawing board is you know, and awfully heavy lift getting it to the house, does the president express the process could be more difficult? >> the one thing you can be sure

of is never underestimate this president. he has shown time and again when he is committed to something it will get done, he made no secret he is committed to reforming the health care system. you will see that process take place, we won't get ahead of the legislative process, we expect and changes, we expect the principles and main pillars of the healthcare bill as it exists now. >> sound like there could be wholesale changes. is it possible -- you don't know where this is going but the senate makes substantial changes past the house. >> we are focused on the big principles of the healthcare bill, lowering costs, creating competitive environment, flexibility, giving states the ability to make decisions within the healthcare system. we don't expect those things to change. i feel there will be some

changes, that is part of the process. we anticipate that to play out but we expect a big piece of this, the fact that obamacare is unsustainable. democrats know that. the american people know that, we have to have change and we anticipate that to take place. >> the senate tends to be a more deliberate body. how patient is the president on this healthcare bill. he obviously has other priorities working on tax reform, structure, does he feel there needs to be an artificial deadline on when this bill needs to go to conference by 4 july? >> the president is focused on getting it right, not getting it fast. we saw mistakes democrats made by trying to force and rush this through. we are taking the appropriate steps to make sure the american people get the healthcare system they deserve and that is the president's commitment, not an

official timeline. >> it should be called trump care at this point? >> we are not focused on labels. what this president wants to be remembered for is not the name but the person that got rid of obamacare and put a system in place that works for the american people, that is the legacy he would like to focus on, being the president reformed healthcare to benefit americans, instead of bankrupt them. we are calling it reform and a system that works. >> to follow up on the question of timeline. john cornyn said not under any deadline. in opening remarks, that is in short order. are you on the same page? >> absolutely. we expect them to take up the conversation. we haven't put a timeline or a deadline, weant to gett right, not get it fast.

>> is that the case? is he willing to wait that long? >> we want to get it right, not a put an artificial deadline. the administration has not laid out a time frame on when we want this to happen. we want to get it done correctly. >> criticism of the aarp, amounts to an age tax, other medical organizations have expressed concerns those conditions will be there premium. can you guarantee americans with preexisting conditions, seniors, they won't see hikes? >> one of the biggest priorities of this health care plan and this health care bill particularly for the president was insuring people with preexisting conditions were protected. the final bill added $8 billion to go a step further to provide another layer of protection. >> not enough money? >> not the only piece that has coverage for preexisting

conditions. whether people with preexisting conditions or the unborn, focused on protecting the most vulnerable. >> can those with preexisting conditions be guaranteed that they won't see hik? >> the whole point is to lower costs across the board, not just those with preexisting conditions but to create competition so you have lower premiums, get state flexibility, the it entire purpose of reforming the system to have lower cost so yes, that is the goal and certainly. >> interesting and a surprising story in politico, there is a plan to get the national drug control policy and i am wondering can you tell us is that report correct? no one cares about the opioid

addiction problem. what would be the reason for getting fat as we move it around? i will wave that. >> my first piece of advice would never be to use politico for a source of your story but in terms of the opioid epidemic i think the president has been extremely clear this is a top priority for him. i wouldn't get ahead of conversations about the budget. we haven't had a final document, a draft version of something at this point. >> contemplating substantial cuts in that office as a move that works outside the office. >> not going to comment on ongoing discussions. there is not a final document. we would be happy to discuss that. the bigger point is the president has made very clear the opioid epidemic in this country is a huge priority for

him, something he is focused on tackling and something ignored by the previous administration that won't go ignored in this one. >> you know president obama -- does donald trump have a dog in the fight -- the prediction on who will take it? >> i haven't had the opportunity to have a conversation about whether he supports any particular candidate but i can tell you the president will work with whoever the people of france decide to elect. that is a decision by the president's committee across the globe to combat a host of issues and do that with whoever the people elect. >> two questions. the president yesterday, does he think australia's government runs better than ours? >> he was being complementary of

the prime minister and -- >> prosecutors dropped the rate charges to documented teens in view of attacking classmates, this white house, a big part of e reason we made illegal immigration, is this jumping to conclusion in this case? >> we are always looking to protect the american people, sean was speaking about what he knew at the time and haven't had a chance to dive into the latest on that but we will get back to you. >> do you want to retract anything? >> i won't retract anything without further information. >> does sean have any regrets what he said? >> i have not talked to sean. he is on navy duty.

bartok to him every day but haven't yet today. >> is there a general danger that the white house through its rhetoric is animating too many people to jump to conclusions against immigrants and in the process diminishing the entire immigrant community whether they are law-abiding or not? >> not at all. the president has been incredibly outspoken against crime in any form, fashion, certainly from his joined address to his speech last week on holocaust remembrance day. this is a law and order president. is focused on restoring law and order, we have seen a spike in crime and rate starting in 2015 across the board, not jt in any particular sector. that is why he campaigned and talked so much about needing to restore law and order in this country, he focused on securing the border, stopping drug

trafficking, human trafficking, those things have been a priority, the reason is because he places such high value on that. his rhetoric, to be anything other than someone who has condemned hate and violence in all of its forms is simply a complete misrepresentation not who the president is but of what he said. >> back to health care, there are changes in the senate, you said the white house is open to that as long as the principles remain the same. can we get more specificity on specifically what principles and how they are represented in the house. to waive essential health benefits and does that have to stay in the bill for the president to support it? >> i think the biggest piece of

that is to allow states that flexibility, people closest to the people getting care are the ones helping make that decision. i am not going to litigate the details from here but that is part of the legislative process and ongoing discussion but i know it is a priority for the president to protect people with preexisting conditions. >> a lot of the rhetoric about repealing the affordable care act, job creation and those jobs numbers at the beginning, with straight job growth, we are hearing less talking points, does the president stand by this with a job killer and that is the reason to repeal it? or has he moved on from that argument? >> i think he stand by that comment. >> what about consistent growth? >> other things have taken place. because one thing may be killing jobs doesn't mean you can't have

job growth in other sectors, primarily places, and to have job growth when there are job killing regulations. >> the president meets the australian prime minister. he did meet what he was saying when he said they have a better healthcare system. >> the president was completing a foreign leader on the operations of their healthcare system but didn't mean anything more. >> he doesn't believe they have a better healthcare system? >> they have a good healthcare system for australia. that is one of the biggest things wrong with obamacare, tried to be a 1-size-fits-all office of the plan we are putting in place now allows state flexibility. what works in australia may not work in the united states again, he was complementing prime minister and we are focused on putting healthcare plan in place that works here.

>> take some time to comment on that. >> the president has been briefed on fat, he speaks with general mc master, obviously we first and foremost want to express our deepest condolences and deepest appreciation for all of the men and women in the military and the ultimate sacrifice they paid particularly this soldier and all of the others. the president has made it a major priority to protect the men and women who protect us. that is one of the reasons he put so much emphasis on rebuilding the military and that was a priority for him in the budget. again our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to all the men and women in uniform, particularly the family.

from the president i don't know at this time, he doesn't want to get ahead of the notification process and that is taking place at this point. >> by working on the weekend in new york city, more money in the white house. wh is he making that? >> this is the president's first time to be back in the new york metro area, staying at his private residence in new jersey, had he stayed in manhattan the disruption would be far greater than being in new jersey. the president is the president no matter where he goes and he doesn't get to control the level of cost and security that may come along with that. >> why doesn't he work for the

white house? may be -- >> we work too much around here and you were too tired and we don't work enough? again, this is the president's first time to go back home to the new york metro area and he is trying to save the taxpayers money the best way you can buy taking his team and being in new jersey instead of new york where it would cause greater disruption and greater cost to taxpayers. >> >> the tax plan, create that is creating jobs in the month of april. >> what we saw from the beginning the minute the president was elected he is before he took office, you can see consumer confidence go up. meetings with countless ceos, people involveinob creation

come in and tell us they are much more confident going out and hiring people, building their businesses and growing the economy because they have a president that cares about it and is focused on it like this one is so i certainly think the environment he is creating is much more friendly not just for the tax reform system but by laying out those priorities, they know what is coming down the line, they have confidence in this president likely didn't in the previous one. not just getting rid of all the job killing regulations we have seen through executive orders and a focus on rhetoric of creating jobs and that added to that. >> apple creating $1 billion fund for manufacturing job growth, tell what communications before or after the announcement if any. >> i will have to check.

>> that is the president intends to sign the spending bill today? >> i believe he signed it in the last hour. >> would he consider, president obama for example got criticism over the years for adding statements to legislation to indicates where he disagreed, president bush did the same thing on a number of occasions. does this president plan to review that option? >> i'm not aware. i would have to check and get back to you. >> you were talking about state flexibility. do you know which state seeks a waiver on preexisting conditions? >> not yet. that was something hhs would have a better handle on. >> before the summer travel season kicks off, more airline incidents, delta apologizing for what happened with united, the senate and house on the hill,

does the president want the ot or faa to have worked more closely with the airlines better establishing what passengers can expect, when kicked off a flight or what rules should be or the government clarified the motion? >> i haven't had that conversation, that is something we would have to look at but i could tell you i don't think anyone in the administration thinks the handling of these passengers is a good thing so we want all people across the board to be treated with the utmost respect whether that is in an airline or anywhere else. i don't know that is a government regulation that should weigh in to do that, hopefully that is just common decency but worth taking a look at. >> they are likely to take up tax reform. does the administration have a position whether the legislation that ultimately emerges from the house ways and means committee should be deficit neutral?

>> that is something we have to look at and i'm not ready to comment right now. >> the healthcare reform legislation, the senate takes up, will the administration play a part in what that is? essentially be hands-off unless the senate does. >> we made clear we will be hands-on in this process. it is a prrity to fix a broken system, obamacare is a disaster and this is a president who does things hands-off. he is fully engaged on the house side. i expect him to be engaged on the senate side and make sure we get the bill the american people deserve. >> i have two questions for you. about the de-escalation they are talking about establishing, the administration said there is reason to be cautious about those. can you elaborate and explain what the recommendations are? and also how that plays into

what the president has done? >> the president has expressed a desire to achieve peace in syria. that is the broader mission and we are looking at always to achieve that and we haven't laid out any specifics. >> the other question. there was a report today that said there is an effort to start with the senior staff meeting, down from 15, down from 15 to 8 and wondering first if there is any truth to that and who is in the staff meeting these days? more than eight being left out. >> you have big groups and small groups, many vary from day-to-day around here. i won't comment on the hundreds of meetings to take place in the white house. >> any effort to keep them down in smaller groups, certain people out of the wings at this point. >> ridiculous to think we are trying to keep certain people