when you consider some of the atrocities happening today a photo opportunity makes wonder about the mental health of the person that did it. ashley: that is shot. well usaid, melania trump. stuart: well-said indeed. neil: you have to wonder the thinking process through the whole thing. this went through a number of groups. someone didn't raise their hand, this is not a food idea? stuart: she is a comedienne. where the joke or humor? neil: i don't know. stuart: what will cnn do with her? neil: once a year with the new year's thing. an -- anderson cooper tweeted criticizing her. bizarre. veterans affairs secretary david shulkin trying to outline what continue to be problems for

simple care at the va they're doing this in lieu of formal press briefings. we won't have a sean spicer press briefing today. the va secretary will out line what the plans are to make things right. a lot of critics are out there. we'll hear from a former va whistle-blower, ongoing whistle-blower, who says that the agency is dragging its feet. whether that guy is to blame is anyone's guess. this is coming from dr. shulkin, they are moving rapidly to address these problems. take a look. >> many of these challenges i will talk about today have been decades in building and they have spanned multiple administrations. and this is the time for us to really address these chronic problems that have affected veterans and in many ways harmed veterans and their families not dealing with issues so i will

tackle issues head on. neil: sometimes to add insult to injury, reports of half a million applications for medical help were denied or simply thrown out because of mistakes on the application. this comes courtesy of whistle-blower, frequent guest on this show, cot davis. when scott first started talking to us his career and a whole lot more was on the line, he was a lone shouter in the wilderness talking about abuses. surpringly, scott, they continue here. this latest revelation is a bit jarring. because we thought that kind of thing had ended. tell me exactly what has been happening? >> thank you for having me, neil. what we've seen now although dr. shulkin says the right thing on camera, behind closed doors it is business as usual at va. we have just seen reports come out recently about roaches being in the food of veterans at hospitals at va.

and so, the secretary who is not brand new to this position in the sense that he was over the hospitals under president obama, has to take account of the legacy of his leadership at va, and it is not good enough for him to say nearly two years after he arrived at va, we're now looking at reports. neil: we should explain, he was overseeing the hospitals to your point. now he runs the whole, agency, but, one of the things at that came up, i didn't know about the food issue and cockroaches but i did know about these applications that essentially were thrown out because of often times minor mistakes, but better than 500,000 of them. this stuff happened in the early days, when you were coming on the show to outline during the obama administration some of these abuses. so they continue. i'm wondering how and why? explain first what is going on. >> well the applications, when i first came on your show almost three years ago, that they had half a million plus living

veterans whose applications were just never processed. they kept them in what is referred to as a pending backlog, meaning we'll just keep them in limbo and not give them a decision. a year ago under dr. shulkin and other leaders at va's direction, they decided they would send a letter to these veterans, hey, you guys have a year to respond. if not we're going to get rid of your application. what we discovered is that va and dr. shulkin and other leaders knew half of those letters never went anywhere. about 100,000 of those letters were returned by the post office. neil: why were they returned and why didn't they go anywhere? whose fault was that? >> well the agency, neil, great question, the agency doesn't have accurate records for a great deal of veterans. the agency still has more than a million deceased veterans on its records, and the agency has done nothing to address the 300,000 veterans who were in the backlog who had died before they

processed their health care applications. neil: another thing that came up, scott, and, this is where it sounds like the department of motor vehicles in some states. i want to stress in some, where you need various forms of i.d. totaling x-number about points. if anything falls short or you don't have the proper i.d., they're not boeing, they're not going to help you. they kick you out but it sounds to me that the same kind of thing was going own at the va, for one slight screw-up an application could be rejected or thrown out. and sometimes the veteran filling it out or his spouse, filling it out, or child, had no idea what happens there? >> that's a great point, neil. what we found in our office, because we processed these applications, that va managers told veterans, i want to suppress this, told veterans, don't give us your military records with the application.

then they said, oh, we can'tgive we have no military records with your health care application, and we can't verify you served. when va does that, the delay in the health care provided by va is supposed to be reimbursed by the agency to the veteran. va doesn't acknowledge they made the mistake, nor does va openly disclose to veterans that they owe them financial compensation for any health care costs they would have incurred because of va's mistakes. neil: you know, i owhere was a provision built into the new va budget under president trump, a budget by the way that raised 6%. some subsets of that budget were cut, for injured veterans, et cetera, but bottom line, the voucher went up that amount, but there was supposed to be built-in safeguards and protections for guys like but but the agency seems to be ignoring them, maybe ignoring guys like you. can you explain what is going

on? >> i'm glad you asked that question, neil. since i was on your show last, va has moved towards firing me or reprimanding me and other whistle-blowers to push us out of va so we can't disclose wrong-doing and harms to veterans. as you know the president issued his executive order. in the spirit of cooperation i received an email from people representing the secretary we would like to talk to but the whistle-blower protection office and how we should set it up. i accepted the appointment. the appointment was canceled by them, two days later they started the process of reprimanding me and other whistle-blowers around the country to begin the process pushing us out of the agency. neil: reprimanding you for silly, stupid stuff or what. >> it was ridiculous, neil. i received a document not fit for publishing, it wasn't a state where it could go on the va website. i notedfy management doesn't meet our standards.

it was not compliant and didn't have a approval from the manager to post it publicly. i escalated up to leadership, even the secretary is wear of this. no action was taken to address it. oh, you're just inis a borednant. you're not following our instructions so we'll write you up. by the way, when i responded to the complaint, oh, we can change your job description at will. there is no problem with that because this is a right of management. now these are all things that dr. shulkin is aware of. and what's sad about this, neil, we are spending more time as a government addressing phantom hackers in russia versus addressing critical issues that are facing the men and women who served our country and provide us the very freedom to write articles about russia hackers in the first place. neil: you're right about that scott, don't take this the wrong way, but i hope you continue being a pain in the ass, if more people were we would get to the

bottom of this, very genteel, nice people are sloughing off these concerns. you need the be the ovbial bull in the china shop whereou have no trouble being. scott davis, va whistle-blower, takes a lot of abuse from colleagues and. president trump is close to formally nixing the paris climate deal orchestrated under president obama with 200 other nations this was in 2015. daily caller editor in chief, vince colnais. joins us. what does this mean right now? is the feeling now that the way things stand, we, we pull out of this climate accord or is the trump administration leaving some wiggle room, do you know? >> it is probably leaving wiggle

room. this is really a prime test of president trump's america first theory. he is looking at a number of factors that are complicating for the united states in this treaty. for example, as the 22 senators stated in their recent letter to him asking him to withdraw from the treaty, the potential for overregulation is, exists if the u.s. abides by the paris climate accord. add to that, the clean power act reement that president obama put forth a couple of years ago, and then the underlying, the underlying united nations climate agreement. when you look at layers of all of this, the potential for litigation in the united states, the world's most mature and fully-functioning democracy, unlike other nations, it's a

potentially severe. again, regulation as i mentioned. and, these are issues president trump or donald trump, presidential candidate last year said he would address and he is tried to live up to both to his campaign promise but also tried to figure out how to articulate the america first theory. so i think we're going to see significant happen on the paris accord, that really liens towards his prior commitments and understanding of america's interests in the world. neil: part of those interests to her point, vince, that we have no real interest in this, not only the science behind it which donald trump has questioned. it is all a fake game that he has said, that he can't dial that back, but he wants to leave wiggle room to maybe revisit but

where is this going? and if you have an accord with virtually every other certainly major industrialized nation on earth is adhering to this, does it matter that we are not, we're already implementing clean air standards that go with it whether we accept climate change or not? i think the l surprising thing isald trump bailing the accord if he does when he makes the announcement, mostly for couple reasons. it holds true to the campaign sense he doesn't want to tether himself to international agreements will force the united states into behaviors that aren't of its own making. neil: do you think, vince, he think he thinks this is hoax? perpetrated by china. >> yes. neil: he still thinks that and will do anything to avoid being part of it? >> for sure. if you think something a made-up problem as donald trump clearly does here, why would you be part of an agreement to solve an issue you think doesn't need to be addressed? so it makes common sense that the president would approach this from the perspective of

this is a among the lowest priorities i could possibly have because i don't actually see it as a problem. the united states is, by and large i think has beening a agressive making sure it has clean air and clean water. neil: right. >> which fundamentally, when it comes to president trump's priorities on the environment, those two things are the most important to him. clean air and clean water. this issue of climate change and human involvement in it, the president long ago wrote that off as a hoax and one that could really hamstring american business, and i don't think he wants to do anything that begins to go down that road. neil: guys, thank you very much. we have breaking news here, i want to pass it along to the viewers. mexico's trade minister, there are incentives for the united states and mexico to secure a new nafta renegotiated contract before year-end ahead of elections certainly in the united states. might be optimistic there, because president trump himself has said based on the nafta deal itself they would have to start from scratch. mexico trade minister has been

saying that there are some things there that are salvageable of interest to the united states and mexico. that might be falling on deaf ears in this country. hope springs eternal. mexico's minister is confident a deal could be struck by the end of the year. alright, meanwhile, you've seen this, well, you didn't see it, heard about it, because it happened in space where we were able to strike down one of our own missiles, an important test to show we're capable of doing this. the signal was rfor north korea to see that and know that. what will they do in response to that? after this. think again.

this is the new new york. we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment. new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov

so we need tablets installed... with the menu app ready to roll. in 12 weeks. yeah. ♪ ♪ the world of fast food is being changed by faster networks. ♪ ♪ data, applications, customer experience. ♪ ♪ which is why comcast business delivers consistent network performance and speed across all your locations. fast connections everywhere. that's how you outmaneuver. so new touch screens... and biometrics. in 574 branches. all done by... yesterday. ♪ ♪ banks aren't just undergoing a face lift.

they're undergoing a transformation. a data fueled, security driven shift in applications and customer experience. which is why comcast business delivers consistent network performance and speed across all your locations. hello, mr. deets. every branch running like headquarters. that's how you outmaneuver. ♪ neil: you know i always loved this analogy because it shows you what herculean task it is like shooting down a bell let with a bullet. the u.s. successfully shooting down a mock intercontinental ballistic missile in space no less. this is to remind the north koreans that we have technology and wherewithal to do this kind of stuff. we have a former assistant to donald rumsfeld on the significance of that. obviously we have to do this

every single time, i guess, steve. we proved a lot of doubters wrong on this. i wonder whether we changed the complex of this debate with the north koreans. what do you think? >> well the biggest debate is here in the united states. there are so many people that still don't think this is important, don't think it's a priority and they're wrong. they need to understand this is critical to our national defense, and it is something that needs to be a priority -- neil: specifically what the north koreans are doing or what we're capable of doing in response? >> no. what we're doing in response. the threat from the koreans is very critical. that allowed us the impetus to do this test. fortunately it worked. very, very pleased with that. shows that the ground-based midcourse part of the missile defense system works. shows that we still need a redesigned kill vehicle so we can get it even better because

it is not, it is not 100% yet, neil. this is something that is good but can be and must be better. neil: i, i ask guests whenever i talk about north korea what would be considered globally a provocative act? you can consider almost anything north korea done launching missiles on weekly basis provocative enough but living in a world we do, we get the response that if we shoot one of their missiles down over their land, that would be an act of war. does the same apply to shooting over international waters? what do you say? >> it dependson the trajectory. our missile defense folks watch every missile that they fire to see where it is going. it is going out into open water, we leave it alone, we monitor it, we learn from it. but if they start to shoot one that will go over one of our allies or come towards our terrain we'll take a shot and we should. that is our right of self-defense under international

law. and if north korea doesn't like it, they're going to have to live with it. neil: the real question is, whether china would like it and what, what they would do in response, i mean, what do you think? >> china would would be upset ay would huff and puff. china doesn't want any conflict on the peninsula. they would love dearly that kim jong-un to shot down and shut up. he is not doing that. is almost a problem as big of them as it is for us. neil: obviously we threatened the chinese, they're unfair trader, manipulate currency, that was said during the campaign. we held off on the stuff when the two leaders met with president trump in mar-a-lago. i don't know whether they're dragging their feet or simply incapable of it but at what point do we say, all right, time's up?

>> you know, that's a decision for the man sitting in the oval office. a tough one. they are trying, i believe, but it is tough. they do not own north korea to the extent that they jump like a puppet whenever china says something. they wish they had that kind of control over them as well. neil: all right. steve, thank you very, very much. by the way, before i get to my next guest i want to update you on exxonmobil. shareholders approving a climate impact report business with pretty overwhelming margin, 62.3% of shareholders. that was a win for environmental activists. essentially what it means is that any, any projects that exxonmobil takes on, they have to weigh the environmental impact of that, whether it could affect climate change et cetera, while exxonmobil itself, and certainly under rex tillerson, the former ceo, now the secretary of state never wrapped their arms around the climate change whole issue. this is bowing to activists who

said they should weigh those concerns looking into a new project or undertaking. while the vote was expected, the margin i don't think was. 2/3 of shareholders approving that. a big win for activists have. whether it changes exxonmobil behavior and whether it affects climate, is anyone's guess. this is big victory for environmental activists. oil issues are down today with oil down. investor remain optimistic despite all of these developments here, including those tensions we're talking about regarding north korea. to nicole petallides at new york stock exchange with the breakdown. hey, nicole. reporter: hi, neil. we're wrapping up month of may, investor want to know how they did when they look at 401(k)s. here is a glimpse. the dow holding on to the 21,000 mark. remember the hats? we can still wear those. 65 points since april's close. that is 0.3% gain.

nasdaq and s&p also gaining. nasdaq best of the butch over 2%. the dow and s&p up two straight months in a row. nasdaq up 7 months in a row. we haven't seen that since may of 2013. nasdaq really killing it. look at percentage gainers. maybe you have particular stocks, mcdonald's and apple and coca-cola and walmart. some financials came under pressure like goldman and jpmorgan, disney, they all came under pressure these are the best performers. mcdonald's 7%, apple 6%. coca-cola 5% plus. these are weighted average and these names helped to lift it. so the finish positive territory, apple, mcdonald's 3m and johnson & johnson. as far as sectors, so many people invest in funds sector related. well if you had a tech sector fund that is where it's at. that is the area that did best. technology really rules. amazon we focused today even

around the 1000-dollar mark up 7 1/2%. alphabet, google, 6.9%. nvidia and apple clear winners. nvidia doing well for the s&p 500 in particular. coach, electronic arts, those are some of best performers. people remain optimistic. we have a pro-growth agenda. it has slowed down some. we're well aware. big picture there is still optimism on wall street. financials and energy stocks certainly did not participate in month. neil? neil: thank you very, very much, nicole petallides on the floor of the big board. you heard the guy who runs starbucks or the founder was out on the wires, a lot of dust-ups he is seeing ignoring them, paying more attention to the ones donald trump inspired, that is the chaos, but is this schultz's way of saying i see nothing? after this. [shouting]

neil: all right. starbucks howard schultz back in february i might point out on donald trump, we have a president who is creating epsodic chaos every single day that is no doubt affecting consumer behavior and consumer sentiment. but for some of the other developments that were occurring around that time and certainly since nothing out of him on the berkeley protest or town hall screamers or comedians who feature a president with his head cut off, all that get as pass, all of that seemingly fine, from schultz, nothing! we have a campus reform, independent women's forum julian melcher? what do you make of that? to be fair mr. shults some other

developments are later, post-february developments but not all the time he made those remarks, business insider picked them up. there had been a lot of demonstrations including on inauguration day and rallies since. that seemed to spread the violent thing around here, but what do you make of it? >> to be fair he was talking about economic chaos, less so about the chaos happening in the streets. neil: i don't know if that is so obvious. >> if you read comment in broader context that is clear what he was talking about, that said still a silly thing to say. if you look at the economic chaos we've endured, that is largely because of obama administration overregulation. i think throughout the election we saw tendency for media to vilify trump supporters, take one case in point examples, this is what all republican voters look like. we're definitely not seeing that standard being applied when people are violent in opposition to trump.

neil: you can hit a point where it gets so bad they can't help but not notice right? in the kathy griffin case, even die-hard liberals this is a little over the top but how do you compare what schultz is saying chaos guy being donald trump and chaos from some antics on the left? >> of course schultz has the right to say whatever he wants to his employees but he is missing how hypocritical and how out of touch the left has become with comments like this? look around america who are the people perpetuating chaos and violence, the left on violence on the street and college level the left uses violence and chaos to keep conservatives from the campus. the left has comedians holding up a severedded head of the united states. using everyone ales using chaos and violence in reality they're the worst perpetrators. comments like this are setting left back because highlighting

hypocrisy of their cost. neil: i remember fellow named jeb bush chaos candidate and would be a chaos president. both sides blamed the president for being a type of individual would rough things up and make a mockery of stuff. i guess what i'm asking you how this is played going forward? knowing what question know now, some of the demonstrations, protests, some turned very violent, that a pox on both parties houses is that safe to say? >> look, yeah, i think that certain to, neil, to remember, remember put this, put this in context. first of all, as sole democrat on this show right now, let me make it clear what kathy griffin did was inappropriate, was not acceptable. she has come out and apologized, and she asked for the photo to taken down. neil: i don't know the apology seemed like hostage tape. >> no one should be defending what she did. neil: fair enough. >> here's the issue, we need to

remember that we need, we, donald trump is creating chaos, right? he is creating chaos and fear among what is going on in our country. what is our standing in the world? what is our, country coming to in dialogue? that is creating, you know, chaos and frustration and fear among americans and look, i am frustrated that we're talking about this today, neil, because what is going on today, we're pulling out of a major paris accord and we're talking about kathy griffin and howard schultz. >> kathy gffinas a gift -- >> we need to talk about the real issues here, neil. neil: they're in the eye of the beholder. you're upset we pull out of the accord and you all, jillian, one of the things, chaos can be in eyes of beholder f you're an investor see market wealth increase $2 trillion, that is

chaos you can like, right? >> at berkeley, that is important one to bring up, particularly tacking about comedians. we've seen a lot of college act at this i system. looking what berkeley's chance lore said, our campus is under siege. talking with local law enforcement about how outsiders are coming on to campus. we've seen the campus controversies evolve around comedians. screening of can we take a joke about offensive comedy? this is great case in point. kathy griffin made an offensive joke, it wasn't funny, it was widely condemned and i would like to see -- neil: it has been widely condemned. >> not lightly condemned. here is the issue, neil. we have to remember, no one is talking about this, when president obama was president, okay, people went around and put hitler moustaches on him. there were signs all around the country in parts get that n word out of the white house. this happens. people are frustrated.

neil: reminding me cases like that, this is the own cottage industry. >> we have a president who gets up every morning and tweets. this is live reality program right here. neil: i would not sort of minimize, minimize some of the antics that have gone on here. >> violence is never okay. violence is never okay. neil: one of the things when i see all these developments is, that the two sidesre othe charts hatg each other. so much so, i often wonder whether it is even possible, i was reading a lot of stuff on centennial of john kennedy. how he would work with the other side, the other side with him. fast forward ronald reagan who tried to imitate a lot of things jfk did in a different sense but work with democrats and awe, i don't see that even remotely possible today in this environment where democrats call the present occupant in the white house illegitimate and republicans have given up even

trying to work with democrats. so, i'm worried about the residual effect of all of this. what do you make of it? >> what has dialogue hats become? your guest people not talking about issues. whenever people talk about the issues, if the left disagrees with them, shout them down, you're racist, hateful, bigot. neil: what do you mean by that? >> i think a lot of republicans and conservative as a whole are afraid to bring up issues they're tired of -- >> we'll have debate on issues. >> look riots in street. there is not debate on issues. there is shuts down on free speech. >> people are allowed to express their opinion because donald trump want to take 23 million off health care, et cetera, et cetera. they're allowed to express their frustration. i condemn the violence. >> what does that expression look like in america today? it is violence. neil: all right. >> when you have a chancellor building escape hatch to get out

because his staff is terrified of protesters at berkeley. that is not climate conducive to free speech. that is something the left needs to take about accountability. what is going on in new york city leading up to the puerto rican day parade, terrorist is honored as their guest of honor. neil: everyone needs to bring it down a notch. >> i would agree with that, neil. neil: all right. guys, want to thank you all very, very much. meanwhile iowa t republican senators first to raise concern over health care repeal. what they see that doesn't look good for that health care rework, and tax cuts that depend on it after this. america's beverage companies have come together to bring you more ways to help reduce calories from sugar. with more great tasting beverages with less sugar

or no sugar at all, smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels, and signs reminding everyone to think balance before choosing their beverages. we know you care about reducing the sugar in your family's diet, and we're working to support your efforts. more beverage choices. smaller portions. less sugar. balanceus.org.

at crowne plaza we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. 'a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly. gave us the power to turn this enemy into an ally? microsoft and its partners are

using smart traps to capture mosquitoes and sequence their dna to fight disease. there are over 100 million pieces of dna in every sample. with the microsoft cloud, we can analyze the data faster than ever before. if we can detect new viruses before they spread, we may someday prevent outbreaks before they begin. ♪ neil: all right. we are just getting word that treasury secretary steve mnuchin is going to be up on capitol hill meeting with house republicans june 8th. that is next thursday i believe. he wants to talk about the debt limit, tax reform discussions

remember the treasury secretary indicated he wants a clean debt limit hike. doesn't want to attach any strings to it because it is about commitments on money already spent but you know how this goes. it can sometimes be a divisive battle and statement among more conservative members don't like willy-nilly raising the debt limit to find a fundamental way to address this. even the mt. said sometimes that might be constructive to push the government to the brink. congressman tom reed on the house ways and means committee, republican from new york. congressman, what do you think of that this report that the treasury secretary wants to talk about the debt limit, have this sing settled earlier rather than later so everyone is not on the brink of the trying to raise this thing in the middle of the

proactive preventative way. that i think is responsible way to govern. neil: when he is saying just a simple debt limit hike, don't attach anything to it, just raise it what you do you say, are you for that? we find oursels in represented in the debt ceiling limit itself. neil: are you afraid that some of your democratic colleagues, for example, they say they have offered republicans an olive branch to go ahead and they would support a debt limit increase so that other things could get done. if this goats to be heated -- gets to be heat the delay, then everything you want done including rework of health care law

not obstruction and division a lot of rhetoric coming out of d.c. neil: if you're open, congressman to attaching something to a vote on raisingil borrow from the next generation to pay for -- neil: congress has already approved. it is not about future spending right?

on the books just is not sustainable. neil: all right. do you envision that there is enough support on, within your e president seemed to intimate last month? >> i worry about default. i worry about a shutdown. i think we can do better for american people than that when i reach out to 20 democrat folks for example in the problem solvers caucus. i see people quantity to engage in reforms. they recognize we have to paycor debts. shutdown or default something not good for the american people we represent in washington. neil: quickly, congressman, senators from iowa say a repeal is unlikely, and getting every republican on board regarding a health care rework is proving

very, very tough. that seems to be their way of telegraphing that this thing in the senate, despite what happened in the house, might not be repeatable. what do you think? >> you know, i have given up what the senate is going to do. they seem to wait until the lasy fast and a body that can move very slow. neil: if they came up with something, congressman does not call for outright repeal right a way, that is a fix that would not be good enough for you? if it came back to you it wouldn't be good enough. >> they would have to deal with the affordable care act. i don't know how you do that without repealing provisions that get us to the point but the point i would stress what are you proposing to help the american people under the crisis under the obamacare affordable care act? if it that is what we're talking about i'm open to a conversation about that. i don't see how you get there without repealing the provisions in the affordable care act that

caused problem in first place. neil: congressman, thank you. >> thank you, neil. neil: it was the story of the summer 2016, not just what was going on at conventions and political battle for the white house but "brexit." remember it was supposed to be so many todaying for markets the world over. turned out not to be. but now that the woman who benefited from that is up for election and, her conservative party with it and looking so bad, why are they so fearful now that, that selloff they feared last year is actually set to come now this year, after this. think again.

this is the new new york. we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment. new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov

your insurance on time. tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $509

on auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance. neil: follow this one. this will be big. ohio is suing five drug firms saying that they have helped fuel the so-called opioid crisis. allergan, purdue pharma, january son pharmaceuticals and cephalon. first time a state attorney general in this case followed up on a specific drug companies as, contributing, i should say to the opioid trend bedeviled so many states. totoo early to say what thlong term market impact especially if other ates opt to follow suit here. meantime we're following something else half a globe

away, what is occurring in britain. theresa may's grip on election seemed like a gimme for her slipping away, losing momentum and maybe her day as prime minister as well. "wall street journal" editorial board member mary kissell what is going on here, sort of the anti-"brexit" "brexit." what is going on? >> theresa may is taking conservative parties back to prethatcherrite days. i think this is classic political mistake. she is not satisfying the right moving away from conservative principles but not satisfying the left either. no one is coming to her. on other side, jeremy corbyn, labor leader. for all the crazy things he believes, socialism -- neil: he is like their bernie sanders. >> in some respects he is worse than bernie sanders. he is at least genuine. you see his base rallying to him. polls say single-digit to low

double-digit lead. neil: it was 20 points. >> we do know the trend for her is down. neil: now, at the very least she risks or conservatives risk not getting an outright majority, so sort of like a hung parliament, right? worst-case scenario that corbin and all his -- corbin and all the liberal friends run the show. what happens to "brexit"? >> that is disaster. britain becomes smaller developed party that had a empire. "brexit" was opportunity to use it to make britain very competitive place to invest and do business. theresa may is not taking advantage of that. she is saying cap energy prices. we may raise taxes. not reform the health service. so a lot of conservatives are turned off by that, but ultimately the loser here, neil, if there is a hung parliament or if corbyn comes to power.

neil: she had goof any ideas. dementia tax, tax people after they're dead. >> dementia tax in brit tape was big deal. all it was introducing means testing in the health care system. in other words, give the health care to people who actually -- neil: because -- >> because theresa may can't explain it. instanting by -- instead of standing by conservative policy reform she backed away, does britain revisit whole "brexit" thing, won by popular vote wept narrowly getting out of the european community. what happens in the event liberals triumph? >> everyone is trying to pin corbyn down on that. he hasn't committed either way. they could revisit. the things that made britain uncompetitive had nothing to do really with the european union. there were things that britons themselves could have done.

work for welfare, lower taxes, rest regulation. david cameron government was inching in that direction. they could have taken advantage of the momentum and moved it further under the next conservative government. theresa may opted no the to do that politically she is starting to pay the price for it. neil: even with the manchester thing thought there would be residual follow up in her numbers. harsh. very well-said. mare, mary, thank you very much. election next week. she has been dropping like a stone. not mary. theresa may. we have a lot of coming up. fallout from the missile test. we did something sort of a "star wars" but now the issue are the north koreans watching?

:

. neil: welcome, everybody. i'm neil cavuto. it is not definite but sure looking that way. the president drawback, has expected will pull out of the paris climate deal. almost every industrialized nation, part of an accord which called for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and the stuff they said had been warming the earth. blake burman, the latest from the white house and what tact the administration might take on this. it's either for or against, is there a middle ground they're trying to carve out? >> reporter: there's two possibilities, neil. first that the president, which was his campaign promise that he could withdraw entirely from this paris climate agreement,

and sources are telling fox at this point that the president is expected, that is the key word, to withdraw from this paris climate agreement at some point soon. however, the middle ground could be, according to one person with a firsthand knowledge of the internal deliberations could be a setup for example of the president withdrawing from the green climate fund while trying to stay within the greater framework of the overall paris climate agreement, so maybe sort of precision pinpointing things that the president does not see fit does, not see aligned with the best interests of the united states. this was indeed a campaign promise the president to get rid of the paris climate agreement, and corey lewandowski, first campaign manager reminded us of that when he appeared earlier today on "varney & co.". listen. >> i think this president is looking at this and saying i'm heresa the president of the united states. is that the right thing for our country? if he comes to the decision, which i think he will, that it

is not the right thing. he will remove us from this terrible ia. >> reporter: if the president widraws from the deal, it would flin the face of the changes that the obama administration engaged in over eight years. the head of the dnc put out this statement earlier today in regards to the reports. thomas perez saying we shouldn't have to wait until mar-a-lago is under water for president trump to care about the consequences of climate change and shouldn't be joining syria and nicaragua as the only three countries in the united nations to oppose this historic progress. you talk about, neil, the potential middle ground in all of this. there are competing factions within the white house. on one side have you ivanka trump, jared kushner trying to pitch this deal. on the other hand, you have scott pruitt, at the white house, speaking with the president, and steve bannon and strategists trying to get the president to pull out of the deal. the decision coming soon. neil: soon being like today, right? >> reporter: maybe. maybe this week.

we'll see. neil: but dad, you said we'd be there by now. all right, blake burman. european leaders would be upset with president trump if he goes through on this, that would be the latest of many insults. to bring us the latest is bree peyton. this view that the president almost relishes getting in their face, maybe because so many were snickering at him, but update me on the relationship post first foreign trip and meeting a lot of them. >> i think a lot of this anticipated reaction that european leaders upset if donald trump agrees to tear up the paris agreement, ignore it. a lot of the european leaders acting like the girl who won't pick up the check. he needs to ignore it and focus on what's best for american manufacturers. all throughout his campaign, he made himself a champion of manufacturing companies like my dad's who owns a small manufacturing company in

covina, california, and i think he should continue the rhetoric. ultimately the paris climate agreement is not fair towards american manufacturers. it requires our country to pay out billions in climate reparations to third world dictators who are among the worst polluters on the planet. ultimately, he should continue being the champion of american manufacturers and say this is unfair, puts unfair burden on small businesses and tear it up. neil: you know, he said during the campaign, bre, he thinks the climate change thing is a hoax, perpetrated by china. dialed the china thing back but never did the hoax thing. that was not received well in europe, but if he goes through with this and nickses our part and participation in this, then the main means by which it's paid for, which would be the united states, starting to make good on it, like immediately, while countries like chinand india could dey acng on a

decade out. then what happens to it? >> yeah, i think ultimately the problem with a lot of the rhetoric, and a lot of the terms of this agreement, the paris climate agreement are based on claims that aren't so scientific, right in the way that the temperature increases have been measured isn't very scientific the way they've been doing that. i think it's fair to question the processes and how we've been measuring this. i think that's completely fair, it places unfair burden, the united states would have to pay out millions in reparations. while china, one of the worst polluters on the planet, the only terms they would have to adhere to would think about stop increasing their carbon emissions sometime around 2030, right? i think it's very clear that this deal was placing the brunt of the burden on our country and i think that this is a global problem and we need to be thinking about global solutions and not just flogging the united states.

>> one of the arguments for doing something about it is this was the consensus of the scientific community. 30, 40 years ago, the consensus of the same community that we had a global freeze to look forward to on the cover of "time" magazine and news week and business week, they would show polar bears across a snow covered new york city, what have you. but it got to the point where that was the consensus. th's what we had to look forwar to a frozen tundra, artic-like world. people forget that, but i still have the magazines. whether donald trump goes that way or not, how do you think he should present this pullout? >> yeah, i don't think he needs to necessarily go that way because i think we should be good stewards of our planet. as someone who grew up in california, my parents can tell you they couldn't go outside in the 70s because the air was so bad. right? i think it makes sense to put forward smart solutions that

keep everything cleaner for everyone. neil: no one is pro-dirty air. pro making the world poisonous for our kids. >> it is clear it makes sense to be smart and keep the air clean, and maybe look at the way that if the temperature has been increasing in alarming way, that's fine, we can talk about ways of changing our activity in order to reduce that, but i think flogging the united states, meanwhile, letting the world's worst polluters do whatever they want. it's clear that's where the problem is, and it's clear the solution needs to come from there, and i think it makes sense to say, you know, going forward, let's put something better together that is going to reduce the carbon emissions that are put out, because very clearly ignoring china, which is one of the worst polluters doesn't make sense at all. neil: they do get a pass on this. >>hey alys get a pass everything, right? neil: not fair, bre, not fair. bre peyton, federalist staff

writer. good to see you. >> good seeing you. neil: you heard about the successful launch of u.s. missile defense test, shooting down one of our own test missiles to see if we could do it, we did, and apparently easily. to the guy who knows north korea probably better than anyone, michael malice is joining us, wrote the definitive book on kim jong il, kim jong-un is the present leader of north korea. hour you? >> good, neil. neil: how would unrespond to this? >> engaged in brinksmanship to escalate the rhetoric and the action. they showed their hands, flying more and more missiles, rather than respond publicly with words, okay, you're going to have missiles, we'll shoot down missiles. neither side wants a nuclear war or war of any kind. the question is what is it going to take for one side to change behavior.

and nikki haley said importantly, nothing we've done has gotten north korea to change behavior. when you're engaged in brinksmanship, who blinks first? a subtle shift in behavior changes the trajectory we're on right now. neil: michael, ronald reagan famously got russians to the table and emptied "star wars" defense shield but it did the job, it got gorbachev to start talking to him. i wonder if this has the same effect to north korea. they don't have all their marbles, it seems, and death defying approach to stuff, but they have to know they go too far, they only punish themselves, or do they not think we're going to act on shooting down the next missile that goes up or the missile after that. >> they have all their marbles, they're around and gorbachev's soviet union is gone. neil: very good point. >> one of the great moves you want to do in brinkmannship,

you're crazy, i'm going to hit you, that's when they pull aside. neil: what do they do if we shoot down one of their missiles this way? >> not much of a war-like escalation, they're not suffering property damage, we're not invading sovereign territory. for them, they are attacked every year by the u.n. for human rights violation, their answer is our definition is national sovereignty, you are violating human rights. they are not engaged in honest discourse. however, it's china that's the linchpin in this, china doesn't want to have -- neil: maybe china can't control them. >> china and north korea not as smooth a relationship as people think. in the 70s when north korea put up a six story statue in pyongyang, they said that's not what communism is, they changed it to bronze. but north korea and south korea weren't allowed in the u.n. because north korea's claim this is one country and the south is a rion under u.s.

occupation and china was the one holding it out. in 1991, both koreas were entered into the u.n. china showed a willingness to turn their back on korea. they're not in the international scene comfortable with nuclear acting korea and the concentration camps and other things, but they don't want a u.s. ally on the border. neil: understood, michael, how old china respond if we even gave the chinese a heads-up. the next time they launch one of these things, usually on sundays, we're going to shoot it down. might be over water or land, if over international water, they would shoot it down. what do you make of that? how would china respond? >> we don't know. all of this is smoke in mirrors. remember our president -- attacked president obama for having a red line in syria and never doing anything about it. there's a song lyric that says don't show your guns unless you intend to fight. china and the u.s. have a line,

if they cross the line, we are greed this is a time for ashgsz but certainly should make the line public because north korea is going to test the claim. neil: how does kim jong-un compare to father and grandfather? >> when the great leader kim il-sung is the most important of the three. when kim jong il took over in 94, campaign slogan was do not expect change from me. kim jong-un has a hair cut because that's what his grandfather had in the 40s and 50s. reflected glory from back in the day because that's when north korea was thriving as soviet satellite state and getting worse and worse and giving hope the north korean regime won't be around much longer. neil: what do you make of the way donald trump complimented kim jong-un, 22, 23 years old, coalesce power -- i'm paraphrasing -- trying to send a signal to me at least, you're the expert, he respected that right to keeping that power, but more or less sent a signal

do the right thing here, do you ink it registered? >> the signal is let's sit down and talk and won't be waving my fist at you. the time for talking is over, we're going to take action but him make thecuse if we sat down and talk, it would be a friendlyish conversation and wouldn't be anything to fear. neil: other presidents, will this be any different? >> we don't know, but since they're getting poorer and poorer and china had enough stunts shows and shenanigans, that is the first line of power from north korea since the 90s. neil: unless china can't deal with this? >> they have to deal with it to some extent, the question is how do they want to deal with it. neil: do you think china is stringing us along? >> i think north korea is stringing china along. they are defying them and putting pressure, there's only so much you can do. neil: michael malice, the

definitive -- i wouldn't say the definitive of all people crazy, but when you it comes to the guy who created the guy who's running the country right now, there's no one better. thank you very much. >> thank you very much, neil. neil: that's a compliment. >> thank you very much. neil: by the way, jeff bezos only within a couple billion dollars of being richer than bill gates. when you're that high up, 75, $80 billion, do you count, round it out to interest or toaster at the bank? probably not. it is a matter of price,ed and jeff bezos is very close to having that moment. he could say that bill gates, i'm richer than you. after this. think again.

this is the new new york. we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment. new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov

say carl, we have a question about your brokerage fees. fees? what did you have in mind? i don't know. $4.95 per trade? uhhh. and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee? guarantee? where we can get our fees and commissions back if we're not happy. so can you offer me what schwab is offering? what's with all the questions? ask your broker if they're offering $4.95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab. tthat's why at comcast,t to be connected 24/7. we're always working to make our services more reliable. with technology that can update itself. and advanced fiber network infrastructure. new, more reliable equipment for your home. and a new culture built around customer service. it all adds up to our most reliable network ever. one that keeps you connected to what matters most.

. neil: all right, the richest man in the world, look how tight it is right now with bill gates a good deal of attention to armunsio ortega who owns czarro, i had no idea what that was, notwithstanding, look

who's in third place, rocketing up $20 billion away from the start of the year, he is close to overtaking them with amazon reaching $1,000 a share, briefly touched that yesterday. just a matter of time to the bragging rights what they mean, larry glazier, michael murphy and jennifer jolly. jennifer, if we have a change there, it is a significant development in terms of tech would rule the roost here but a very different tech, huh? >> exactly right. you said in your introduction there he is rocketing up, and i thought that was a nice play on words. >> that's the way i roll. >> i know, right? right? the next frontier for him will be space. he is putting about a billion dollars every now and again into exploration in his xt big business which will be the race for space. so that's an incredibly interesting foray into the future as well as he's doubling down on stores that you don't

have to take money or credit cards to. he's the cloud services are just going wild, so it's a really interesting time for the pioneer who seems to have an unrelentless drive to not only find the next new best thing but bring something new to it that no one else is doing or doing as well. neil: you know, the irony michael murphy is microsoft hit an all-time high yesterday giving back a little bit but not running up at the pace, certainly, that amazon has been. so obviously, a different look at that high-tech world, but what do you see changing here? tech has been leading this entire market advance. it's got to take a breather soon, doesn't it? >> i don't think it does, necessarily. neil. tech is going to continue to lead. microsoft has had a huge run and the market cap on microsoft as of today is almost $100 billion greater than that of amazon. when you look at jeff bezos

with amazon's market cap trading under $500 billion, there's a lot more upside. his net worth, i think it's a matter of time until he becomes number one and i don't know where he stops neil. we talk about the first trillion dollar company out there, and apple is the closest one to, it but it would be tough to bet against bezos and amazon right now. >> you know, many in the past, larry glazier, talked about and criticized in the past, jeff bezos for spending so much money before making any money, on expanding his operations and plants and equipment and all of that stuff. now it's paying the dividends. but he is known for continuing to do so and will disappoint wall street analysts who think, all right, he's done with that now, but he'll plow into something else. does that give you pause when it comes to recommending amazon or not? >> look, neil, i'm sure jeff bezos is celebrating somewhere pounding his chest en route to

victory who wants to be the biggest billionaire competition. en route to world domination which is what his goal is, he is a genius in retail and genius in innovator and so many other businesses. warren buffett said he underestimated the sheer genius of jeff bezos. microsoft is so 80s. amazon, he is so genius, he looks like dr. evil. if you really look at him, i think he is dr. evil. the highest percentage we've seen concentrated since the tech bubble in 1999 and 2000. the narrow 50 market that never ends well. we've got broad market, great things in the economy. opportunities, a very narrow, expensive, concentrated leadership, and amazon embodies that en route to billionairish contest. neil: the opinions of larry

glazier when he calls jeff bezos dr. evil are the opinions of larry glazier. it is making a bigger statement about the nonstop frenetic pace of the market advance that's really gone, you know, nonstop as i say, but since donald trump's election, there are other factors for this, but a lot of people say it's priced for perfection when you're talking about the technology issues or a market that is confident despite the troubles president trump is having, still get his tax cuts, still get health care reform. i know that's not a technology play but could affect technology if he doesn't, doesn't it? >> seems good bezos has the mantra that don't obsess over profits. think about market growth, all the different ways that you can get in and expand including that race to outer space over how much money you're making. interesting he's relentless on that focus as well. but yeah, what i see in the silicon valley a lot, is a

bunch of companies, who's the better facebook, who's going to outfacebook, facebook, and outapple, apple. the alexa device, one of the best consumer gadgets over the past year, past few years, they're looking at what's the next big thing. between the cloud computing and this blue origin commercial and tourist venture into outer space, they are onto something. not who's going to build the best next self-driving car, they've gotten out of the silicon valley bubble and innovating. bezos is really innovating in a kind of brilliant madness. neil: you are right about that. michael murphy, amazon at these levels right now, would you buy? >> tough to buy after the run-up recently, neil. i'd like to expand upon, though they're going into other tech-like rockets, and going backwards, too. they started off as a book seller online. neil: you're right. >> and bricks and mortar stores

to sell books and opening locations in seattle where can you order your groceries online at amazon and they have pickup locations. rather than wait for tomorrow to be delivered, you can pick it up. they want to go after the supermarkets. they only have 1% of the supermarket business, there's nobody out there that's safe from amazon's reach. there's a lot more upside here but hard to argue that it's not expensive at these levels. >> neil, it's interesting, aspirational aspect to this. more than two-thirds of the forbes billionaires are self-made. they've built the organizations and they're self-made billionaires, and i think it really sends a message to washington that despite whatever happens in washington, despite the stalemates in poli, despe what may not come to pass, the companies still thrive and still grow, and i think that's the american spirit embodied in the way the company is succeeding today. neil: thank you all very much. before i get to the next guest.

you heard about kathy griffin and the apology she had for carrying the head, an art statement of donald trump. cnn is terminating agreement with her to appear on new year's eve project, so she won't be doing that. that one shot, shot all of that. in the meantime, a new "wall street journal" report out in case you haven't heard that women ceos are no longer paid less than men. at least not in some spheres, they are paid more. in some cases much more. tracy has all the details. >> the gender pay gap reverses at the top of the ladder as female ceos outearn their male counterparts. last year 21 female ceos received a meeting compensation package of 13.8 million dollars compared with the 11.6 million dollars for 382 ceos, according to "wall street journal"

analysis of s&p 500 leaders. there are more male ceos but female ceos made more money than men in six of the past seven years. strong performances of businesses run by women, one factor for the higher pay. s&p 500 businesses run by women generate a meeting shareholder return of 18.4%. in 2016 compared with 15.7% for those run by men. also with the importance of pay equality, boards are consciencious about not short changing female ceos, some of the top earners in 2016, jenny rometti from ibm with 33.2 million dollars. marissa mayer from yahoo! and 25.2 million dollars. the analysis also says many female ceos advanced into company roles rather than being recruited. good to see this, neil. neil: thank you very much.

we're hearing the russia probe with former fbi director robert mueller is speeding along quickly. the equivalent of the chief prosecutor in all of this, and he's moving fast. the question is how fast, and what's the impact for terrorism and his economic agenda? at angie'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.

. .

♪ neil: we have getting word that robert mueller, former fbi director, chief cosel in this entire russian pro mess. he is moving quite fast,o fast, some say this whole investigation could be wrapped up in a matter of months, forget years. hard to say what's right. i know this lady has a pretty good idea. "usa today" congressional reporter eliza collins. say hypothetically mueller is moving quickly, does get this wrapped up by the end of the year. what would be the implications

of that? depends what he comes up with. how is speed going to make a difference here? >> totally depends what he comes up with. even if he is superfast, finishes at end of the year, that means that is this cloud, russian investigation cloud through the rest of the year. that is hard for members about congress. republicans are frustrated that is what reporters want to ask about on the hill. they want to talk about their agenda. hypothetically finishes up that quickly, gives them years to move forward. we don't know how quick it is going to move. he is ramping up requests for information and reaching out to people. neil: does that information come ahead of the senate and house committees looking and pursuing the same thing? he is also suggested that now is not the time for them to get a

hand on those leaked memos t would have to be him first. he already set a little bit of a dividing line. he is first. they're next, right? >> that is exactly right. you said the dividing line and that was a big concern when lawmakers first found out. he is pretty widely respected on both sides which is good thing for whatever ends up happening. if there is no wrongdoing, democrats have to accept and kind of vice versa and lawmakers on these committees, they want the power. they're frustrated if it feels like it will be taken away. we definitely saw that with the intelligence commieewhich are kind of ki lead. we don't know what the is going on right now. cnn reported that james comey will testify in front of the intelligence committee but he had to speak to mueller first to figure out what he could say in public. they will have their own meeting. sort of this weird, murky area right now. neil: you know what i wonder about too?

forget about democrats but republicans, if they sense that donald trump is in a weakened political position because of this on going investigation they could bolt from him on the tax cut thing, health care thing the already we're seeing a number of republican senators, including two republicans from iowa who had serious doubts about the health care measure in the senate, saying that a repeal effort could face an up hill battle. kind of coming to the chase here f they're doing that before this investigation is full throttle, what happens if it gets really heated? >> i don't know what happens? that is a real frustration you have from lawmakers. some republican lawmakers told me they were relieved that mueller got appointed privately off the record. it took some heat off. i'm hypothetically in the senate, i'm asking them about health care because they're not involved in the investigation anymore.

that is the off to the fbi. if they're not on relevant committees they really don't have any say whereas before do you think there should be special counsel things like that. presently there is a little bit of relief he is there. if this starts pulling up stuff, regardless there is all of these reports people being called in, it raises questions which takes away from what they want to be doing which is health care and tax reform. oh, by the way we have to deal with funding the government. neil: all right. well-put. thank you very much. eliza collins, "usa today" congressional reporter. good seeing you. >> thank you. neil: cnn officially ended kathy griffin's new year's eve contract. that is all she did, saying you're out of here but that head thing didn't help.

neil: you know i don't know what

is worse that the fact that accountingal kathy griffin was fired or cnn tweeted it out that they terminated her new year's eve agreement. kennedy on the growing fallout. i can't say we're shocked. but good to have you here. >> nice to be here, neil. kathy does what she always does, pushing boundaries to get attention. she went on social media begging for forgiveness, she realized she cross ad line, went too far. with screen grabs and captured images you can't put it back in the barn. neil: we were talking through one of the breaks. this went through a lot of sets of ice, all sides. >> yeah. neil: liberal, conservative. someone along the line didn't say maybe not a great idea? >> i'm sure they did, but may have given her more encouragement. if i get push back from team of

people that love me, facilitate my whims, perhaps this goes viral, this will be a great opportunity to get a book deal or sell linens at macy's. neil: do you think she will be okay after this. she is comedienne, and will say everyone overreacted? >> right now there is so much pile-on, it is rare to have political agreement on anything but kathy griffin holding a severed head seems to have done it. i think teams from both sides of the aisle will be looking at this to figure out how exactly to cultivate that sort of mass feeling. neil: this is connected i want to get your thoughts, starbucks ceo, back in february, only getting light of this from business insider, addressed workers saying president trump is creating chaos. obviously -- >> can we get breaking news sounder? this just in. neil: what is interesting about

this, it occurred at time, february, just had inauguration and protests everything else. we had one college demonstration, not the berkeley one. but we since had quite a few. >> yeah. neil: and now of course with kathy griffin different case but i think there is ample amount of chaos on all sides. >> yeah. i think both sides are certainly fanning the flames in their own direction. the funnest ing has to be right w, being mbeof the collegrepublans on any liberal campus. that is the ultimate rabble-rouser, ultimate rebellion being one of those people. but also the mayor in portland, oregon, trying to shut down a free speech rally, using his elected position to essentially censor speech he disagrees with because he he is concerned people will peddle hatred. someone like a liberal mayor town like portland a great city i grew up in, anyone that

supports trump implicitly filled with that hatred. anyone that would demonstrate peaceably is a hate-filled soul. neil: if you imagine if donald trump would be left doing this? first of all that donald trump would win but left would react like donald trump and his people would react if they had lost? >> that is what statism is. this is the natural end of leftism or socialism. look what is happening in veeps venz. we talked about what is happening on on your show. the left will use government as tool of oppression unfortunately and that is when we lose sight of freedom. neil: mueller talking about rapidly going thugh this investigation and uld wrap up in fronts, not years. what if comey thing with original hillary findings, nothing there that was

indictable, how is that going to go down? in other words if mueller were to exonerate the president, there was no real collusion going on? it's a hypothetical i grant you, how would that be received? >> that is interesting. i don't think it would tamp down either side. it would embolden trump supporters, you guys were going on witch-hunt. you unfairly persecuted us. the left would say, no, no. now you have the government using its weight to oppress real facts. neil: the left would be pointing at mueller, they would be furious at mueller. the right would say you wasted time, effort and money. he can't come out ahead on this. he has impeccable reputation. then again -- >> great reputation but also doesn't care because he is at end of his career. i always go back to that jerry brown quote when he ran for government the last time in california. he said this job has to go with someone with no political

future. you have to make the kind of choices that end your political career. neil: he might not have ended his political career. there is talk he is 112 years old. >> jerry brown. actually 114. neil: that he could still run for president, right? >> my gosh, again. he really could and you know what? neil: '76 he ran against jimmy carter. >> yes. neil: he kept running. >> in climate with the octenarians want to ascend to the the presidency, jerry brown, still young on emotional side, not without the possibility. he could sound like rational bernie sanders and millenials like the connerly communist. neil: connerly communist. i ke that. >> use that as hashtag. neil: tweet it out now. kennedy, very good to see you. what do you have on the show. >> interview senator mike lee

from utah about his book. he and his brother perspective supreme court nominees. talk about that the filibuster -- neil: that's right the brothers both are bandied about. i wonder if they dish dirt each other to he prevent other from getting it? >> what kind of dirt do you have -- neil: my brother, you -- leave it at that. kennedy thank you you very, very much. you heard about us carrying out a successful missile defense test. now if you're thinking this was some sort of ominous warning to the north koreans, they're laughing at us. that is what they're doing. alan west says, stop laughing. think again. this is the new new york. we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment.

new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov

your insurance on time. tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, libey mual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $509 on auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance.

neil: all right. u.s. missile defense test succeed more than they thought it would. it really was, that analogy you often hear like hitting a bullet with a bullet. essentially thousands of miles off to do it and they did it. the signal was let north koreans know, kim jong-un know we have the capability. will they budge on that? retired colonel allen west, are the north koreans getting a the message and more to the point

chinese getting the message? what do you think, colonel, good to have you. >> neil, chinese need to get the message, they are the ones that can control kim jong-un and north korea. that is their client state. everyone realized you need credible military deterrent to back up foreign policy efforts and military deterrents. president trump reaping out to another partner, vietnam, and there is centuries old angst against the chinese and vietnamese to have liverage over the chinese as well. neil: kim jong-un proven he will ignore such entreaties even one sanction after another perhaps believing chinese will always be there. what if they're not. what if the chinese finally

enough is enough they can't control this guy, even though some people have doubts they can control this guy but then what? >> i don't think the chinese are willing to control him right now. they don't see any negative consequences to them not controlling him. and as well, the chinese -- neil: colonel, isn't the understanding that you know donald trump held off on economic pressure, having rigged currency, rigged trade deal, rigged economy as he often said if they helped on the north korea thing? they have to be a little cautious there, right? >> well i haven't seen anything that says china is serious about reining in north korea. neil: you're right. >> like i said, you haven't seen china withdraw from their own military expansion system with the islands they have built there, the man-made islands with airstrips and military airstrips and surface-to-ship missile systems they're placing there. there is reason why they're putting that there, because of our pacific fleet. but i think the real linchpin what does the new south korean

president feel about having this belligerence to his north with kim jong-un. we heard him saying not supportive of the thad systems we want to deploy. we needwork with him and prime minister abe in japan. neil: real quickly, wish we had more time, your race, allen, congressional race, ended up being the most expensive in the country's history. it will be bested by what is going on in the northern atlanta, georgia race where they're spending close to $70 million as of now between the candidates, most of that out side money. if republicans were to lose that seat, how big of a deal would that be? >> i think it would be a really big deal. interestingly enough, because i grew up in atlanta georgia, i know the district very well, north atlanta, buckhead area, what it shows consider last november tom price won the

district by 21 percentage points, the fact they're struggling, reflects lack of enthusiasm on republican side and maybe people are somewhat turned off potentially president trump to this point in time. we'll see what ends up happening. it is going to without a doubt top our race. nancy pelosi and george did not want me on capitol hill. but i still can hang out with you. neil: there you go. things could be a lot worse, allen. we love chatting. >> thank you, neil. neil: thank you for your service to this incredible country. colonel allen west. former congressman. we'll look at markets and who will be richest man on earth. it is narrowing. well have more.

:

. >> all right, i don't know how the president feels about this, tesla ceo elon musk tweeting out they don't know which way paris will go, i've done all i can to advise directly to potus through the white house and others that we'll remain. no choice but to depart the council in that event. in other words, what he's saying if the president does as expected get out of the paris accord where all member countries agree to cut down on greenhouse emissions, that sort of thing, he cannot serve on that council. whether that would influence the president or not, it doesn't appear to be. elon musk is saying i am out of here. if that's the case.

he better prepare to pack his bags, it's his account, you just pack and go. donald trump is expected to say i'm not part of that paris accord, so sacre bleu as it were. trish regan. trish: big news, the beige book, straight to adam shapiro and get the intel. >> reporter: trish, districts reporting slower economic growth despite labor markets continuing to tighten. districts report economic growth at modest or moderate pace but boston and chicago report growth has slowed to a modest pace and in new york indicate economic activity has flattened, consumer spending softened with little to no change in nonauto retail sales, moderate growth in manufacturing, new home construction and nonresal