oil is moving lower. that certainly hit the energy sector. casting a cloud more than anything else. oil is down almost 3%. the question how low can it go? we're waitings to hear from the manufacturing summit in washington, d.c. mike pence and house speaker paul ryan will be coming up. neil cavuto. take it away. neil: ashley, thank you very much. we have snippets what the house speaker will be discussing when it comes to tax reform. he will tell manufacturers don't give up the fight. we haven't give up the fight. tax reform is still on the agenda. what is most interesting, an item buried in early releases what we're getting of mr. ryan's planned remarks, talking about tax reform. he says these reforms, these tax cuts, theyeed to be permanent. every expert agree temporary reforms will have only negligible impact on wages and economic growth. also negligible. businesses need to have confidence that we will not pull

the rug out from under them that isn't really too shocking coming from speakinger ryan. simple majority votes in the house before taxes go to the senate. to make them permanent in the senate you need 60 votes or more. this would not be done if he had his druthers if he had budget being sill ages. is he sending a signal in order for lasting impact and value, and if he truly wants them to be permanent, then going the budget reconciliation route, will only require simple majority in the united states will not be enough. you will have to go to get a 60-vote win, a 6-vote margin allows permanent tax reform. aa to president bush's tax cuts. they sunsetted after about 10 years. now the question is, is he sending a signal both to the administration and to his colleagues in the senate, we can

not afford to do that. tax cuts are one thing, we have to welcome them, but we have to go for something much bigger that would involve going past budget reconciliation to something getting 60 votes in the senate. he is not saying that. the fact he is talking about something more than piecemeal, seems to signal that the battle royale is on for the speaker. how he addresses it is anyone's guest. we'll hear from the vice president and hear from speaker ryan. how much was bounced off the white house. i have no idea. we're seeing a crucial contest going on in the state of georgia, one many argue will set the tone for 2018. both parties are looking at record amount spent on congressional race north of $50 million. the democratic candidate in in largely republican district, safely so, since the late 1970s, has gotten more than $23 million for his evidents.

just tnk of that, jon osso republicans claim isn't even living in the district, stands to get that broad based support,s if alley, coming from -- financially, coming from well outside the 6th congressional distribute. the republican in race for her life, it would be the first time if she loses since a democrat took the seat in 1976. the time jimmy carter was elected to president of the united states, former georgia governor. to the "atlanta journal-constitution" reporter. there is ways to interpret early voting not least of which 140,000 plus already voted. 36,000 we're told, you know didn't vote in the april primary. what are we to glean from those two events? >> well the turnout here is unbelievably high. the race is unbelievably close. the last poll came out yesterday, showed the two candidates just .1 of 1% apart.

so both candidates say it all comes down to turnout. no surprise there. both are trying to play to their bases, very different bases but trying to play to their bases here in the final stretch because it is razor thin. neil: one of the things i hear about ossoff, he has been branded by republicans, he is nancy pelosi liberal. he is actually been campaigning as more of a moderate, would be in favor of curtailing government spending. he eschewed a lot of big powerful liberals coming into the district on his behalf, what do we read on that. >> he has two different audiences. at beginning of campaign he talked about making trump furious. he talked about stands up to the president. but he can't win this district without at least appealing to chunk of moderates, independents who usually vote for t republican party. to them he is talking about how both parties are complicit in wasteful spending. he is he is willing to work across the aisle. he has a two-tone strategy.

karen handel focuses on republicans because they outnumber democrats in the district. neil: what are we to glean from the recent shootings, whether that galvanized republican voters, i'm just curious? >> yeah. it certainly made the race a lot tenser. right after that shooting karen handel and several of her neighbors got suspicious packages white powder later deemed by the fbi non-hazardous. that ratcheted up you security around his campaign. jon ossoff said he gotten threats and hire a security detail. tensed up the race. whether it has impact, some republicans think it could help galvanize a few more of their supporters to the polls. in this race being so close, every edge counts. the w sb poll came out yesterday more than half of the election day voters, those voting today, who haven't already voted said it was not going to be a factor in their decision at all. neil: fair to say both sides are galvanized enough to get-out-the-vote, right?

>> yeah. this is one of those races where every poll showed even early in the race, very few undecided voters. we've been pummeled with $50 million worth of spending. 40 million plus worth of ads. everyone has picked sides already. neil: you seem a little numb speaking to me, greg. you have a late night for yourself. we appreciate you taking the time. thank you, again. >> thanks for having me. neil: meantime president trump is tweeting his support for karen handel of course the republican candidate while slamming democrat jon ossoff. georgia democratic party john watson, at ts means to him. a lot made of the fact this is seen sort of a verdict on donald trump. and that this is what is going on here. do you see it that way? >> first of all, good afternoon, neil. honor to be on your show. while i certainly would want to do nothing to hurt your ratings i do have to first say if you are a person living in georgia's

6th congressional district, you have not voted please turn off the tv now and do so for karen handel. neil: by the way, there is a way, to keep the tv on while they're voting. >> forgive me -- neil: you're busy on bigger things than just ratings. i appreciate the magnitude of what you're talking about. do you get a sense of republican turnout is very, very heavy? democrats say their turnout is very heavy. suffice it will break turnout records i'm told. do you agree with that? >> i do, neil. look, we've got rain forecast in georgia. i can tell you right now it is raining republicans in the 6th congressional district. reports from the polls have facts we're seeing exactly the kind of turnout we expect and need. karen's going to win tonight. she is going to win because she is a superior candidate who most closely reflects values of a red district in a red state. karen's for balanced budgets. karen's for tax reform.

karen's for patient-centered health care, continued war on terrorism. other guy neil, very candidly we don't know what he is for. neil: karen is in the still in the race of her life. this is problematic district t was for donald trump that is. that he beat hillary clinton less than two points i guess. this is the same district mittomney carrby morthan 20 points. i think president trump also in the georgia primary lost this distribute to marco rubio. i'm wondering whether president trump ends up being the drag on miss handel. what is your sense? >> i don't think so at all, neil. here is the reality. the president has been great. his team has been great. we know that the president has our back in d.c. we've got the president's back here in georgia in the 6th district. this is team effort. we'll finish the drill. neil: i'm sorry, sir. do you know why the president didn't come out to the distribute? i know he tweeted and expressed support? cabinet officials has gone out there.

paul ryan has been out there. vice president pence, kevin mccarthy, sonny perdue former governor, agriculture secretary. they were campaigning on her behalf not the president himself. did she not want him to or he not want to do it himself, what? >> well, president was here, neil. actually i was proud to be in the room with the president and karen when he came in as a part of his effort to support and applaud the nra. so look, at the base element, neil, this remains -- neil: that was an nra event, right? >> well, then afterwards, it was a karen handel event. that is where i was and proudly attended. at end of the day, neil, this is local election. we've got trump republicans. we have moderate republicans. we have conservative republicans from the entire spectrum coming out today for karen. she will secure victory. for those tax cuts you talked about, speaker ryan wants to make permanent, if you're for

that, vote for karen handel. ife for the countr continuing momentum, lk at the dow today. a vote for karen is type of person that supports the agenda keeps the dow, keeps business going, keeps job creation going. neil: we'll watch very, very closely, sir. john watson, gop party chairman, who almost threw away our entire audience but found middle ground on those who have not voted to keep your tvs on, so you can count as viewers. you have a duty to us and a duty to uncle sam. paul ryan expected to deliver a major speech on the tax plan he says should be made permanent. we're told he is particularly concerned about this agenda that could be slipping away. he will refer to this being a once in a generation opportunity to forever change the tax outlook and create jobs and make businesses more confident in hiring, versus planning something that lasts 10 years or so. georgia republican congressman drew ferguson. congressman, this is issue for

your state, an issue coming up in this race. do you feel the same way as the speaker, whatever you guys come up with, be permanent, not a 10-year thing, that budget reconciliation would require. >> good afternoon, neil. yes i do. i think america needs permanent tax reform. we don't simply need lowering of rates. we need a comprehensive plan to make this the greatest nation in the world to do business. puts us in competitive position possible to put our people back to work. neil: what do you make of the race going on near you? of course 6th district is not emblematic of the rest of the nation. democrats lost other prior races montana an kansas. they could lose in south carolina today as ll. this georg race taken sort of disproportionate share of atntion. democrats are salivating at it, saying a verdict on donald trump and republican agenda that seems stalled. what do you say? >> you know, i think this race

is a little bit surreal. when you have over $20 million of california money flowing into georgia 6 to try to determine a race i don't think it's a real accurate reflection how most of americans feel. this is become something that's really out of the norm. i believe that karen handel is the absolute best person to represent georgia 6. she knows that district. these are her friends. these are her family members. these are the people she has done business with. quite candidly these are people led in local government. she is by far the best candidate to represent georgia 6. neil: when the issues come out in polls, you remind me often times not worth the paper they're printed on, we learned that from the last election, sir, one thing coming up going on in the 6th distribute, frustration among some, not all, we'll see how it weighs out today, that the republican agenda, it is getting delayed. that there are problems with the health care fix. there are problems with tax cuts. why speaker ryan is addressing folks today.

that you guys are getting worried as are voters you will not be able to deliver the goods this year. one of the things that the markets have been building on is this notion that you would. what do you think? >> neil, i would say i'm very confident we'll get big agenda items completed. senate is working on health care. i feel confident they will get a product back to the house, we'll conference on it. i firmly believe we get tax reform this year. i think it will be once in a generation type of reform that america really needs. the problem is that these are huge agenda items. these are things that are important to america. on tax reform, undoing 30 plus years of bad tax policy doesn't happen overnight. while we have been working on it as republicans for a number of years, actually getting it across the finish line is tough. that is what we were sent here to do and i'm confident we can get it done. neil: all right, sir. thank you, very, very much. georgia republican congressman

drew ferguson joining us from washington, d.c. we want to let you know about the race and what implications are, should republicans lose, far from a gimme, tight as a tick, fear seams to be, maybe expand on in the markets later tonight with late trading, futures trading, tomorrow, their agenda doesn't look good, or could look dicey. a lot of members heretofore have been he reluctant to take on the president, to argue with the president or even remotely criticized president would be more inclined to do so if it means their heinies are going to be served up in next year's midterm election. that is one of the views here. all of sudden that is a fear. whether it materializes is anyone's guess. we'll have more on the race at 4:00 p.m. on "your world," when we pick apart what is at stake, who is at stake. so much hinges on one contest in one congressional district where a lot is really about perception. one race does not a trend or

change two dozen seats in the house of representatives, which you would have to get for control. between that and what is going on in south carolina and prevailing view that republicans are getting nervous, it cascades and builds on itself. whether it is justified, sometimes the markets really don't distinguish. what the markets are distinguishing right now is that oil is not a good investment. oil has been slip-sliding away here. it is now in bear market territory, what that means with today's slide, it has fallen 20% from its highs and then some. now the flip side of that it means that you are going to be looking at cheaper gas, maybe a lot cheaper gas this driving season. stick around, you're watching fox.

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>> total disgrace what happened to at toe. that should never ever be allowed to happen. frankly if he were brought home sooner, i think the result would have been a lot sooner.

he should have been brought home that same day. neil: otto warmbier's death igniting calls for new sanctions and even worse for north korea. china and u.s. officials meeting tomorrow on this and other subjects. former u.n. spokesperson ric grenell with us right now. ric, one of the things that has come up not only how this young man died whether it is a more of a catalyst for action than any missile launch we've seen out of the north koreans. what do you think of that? >> i think it is absolutely true. we've had 10 missile tests in 2017 alone from the north koreans. think about that, 10 since 2017 but nothing has unite ad public conversation and diplomatic action, at least talk of diplomatic action like otto's death. our heart are very heavy. this never should have happened. there is bipartisan agreement on capitol hill that the north koans arresponsible for otto's death. i think we will see action

quickly. i know that the state department and the nsc and others are talking about what type of sanctions there should be. neil: now, they still have three americans they're holding, north korean government, as well as a canadian. bill richardson, former ambassador is indicating now is the ideal time to release them. north koreans are not indicating they will. do you think they're going to try to use this, north koreans will try to use this as negotiating tactic on missile controversy? >> this is slippery slope of having u.s. personnel and having americans overseas held against their will. you have not seen u.s. policies according to any one individual as sad as that is. but the reason why is, if you somehow negotiate for hostages as official position of the u.s. government, then we get

situations like we had in the obama administration where exchanging cash or five taliban members for one american. that's, that's a policy that we should state and practice, say that we do not negotiate for hostages. i do think though that family members, warmbier family, should be allowed to do whatever they have to do to get their loved ones back. i have worked on cases inside iran and during the obama administration the the state department under obama tried to pressure us to be quiet and let them negotiate. i think that is a terrible idea. you should have the state department and diplomats quietly working but allow the family to do any media they want, any pressure they think, have two different tracks. let people holding hostages understand that the family is working completely independently and will do anything and everything they can to get their loved one back.

the state department has to have a different tact. neil: now john mccain is on the wires, rices, saying the north koreans murdered this young man. americans would be foolish to even entertain visiting there. further more, they're on their own if they do. what do you think of that? >> i think that is very true. they shouldn't be on their own. we should do everything we can to help but i do think it is too dangerous for americans to go there. neil, we need to focus on what we do next. as i said we have had 10 missile tests. the north koreans are the abouting close. they have the three parts. they have been testing a missile. they have been testing how to launch it and testing how to explode something inside of that missile. we know they put a rocket into space. that certainly is problematic. so i think we have to take them have he seriously about signals that they're sending. time to do something with china is serious.

the two sanctions are biggies for diplomats like me, are oil and banking sanctions. usually diplomats are hesitant to do that but i think we need diplomacy with muscle right now. i would suggest the state department look at implementing banking sanctions on china unless they take action. we know that they can play a bigger role here and they are not doing it. the other thing -- neil: they're toothless without it, right? if we don't get the chinese to dial back whatever assistance they're offering whatever we do is a moot point. >> correct. we have foreign aid going to african countries, u.s. foreign aid, u.s. tax dollars going to african countries who are doing trade with north korea. that is outrageous. we should clamp down on that immediately. neil: ric grenell, former u.n. spokesperson, good to see you again even under these circumstances. >> thank you, neil.

neil: pro-isis groups online allegedly using the attack in london to recruit and recruit again. to european parliament member, daniel hannan. i don't know how much your countrymen can take but this is a non-stop drama playing out. what do you make of sort of using what happened in your country to galvanize more malcontents, more so-called lone wolves? >> of course very shocking, neil. britain is a country that likes to think of itself being an orderlan civilized place and civil place. george orwell said gentleness was defining characteristic of english civilization. idea of ours of all countries sliding into a spiral of copycat terrorist atrocities is very, very hard to take. neil: george soros just today, you might have heard him saying he thinks given all the recent developments and crosscurrents, anxieties the last thing the brits want to do is leave the

european community here and that may be, maybe they will change their mind. maybe go back in and maybe president macron of france who is saying it is never too late, what did you make of all of that? >> i mean the idea that we would crawl back, apologizing for our mistake is based on the most colossal misreading of our character and of our history. i mean for the record, public opinion has hardened against membership in the year since the vote. only 22% of people now think we should stay. neil: is that right? >> in the european union, yeah, most remain voters are decent democrats, they accept the outcome. neil: there is a change here, maybe given the recent election that was embarassment to theresa may it's a slower approach to breaking off with the european community, it will take longer than thought? >> well, that's a different question. neil: absolutely. >> idea that there might be a

transitional arrangement or bridging arrangement, that i think is very sensible. this is a negotiation where the grownups are in charge both sides i hope recognize they have interest in having prosperous neighbors. prosperous neighbors make the best customers. we want a phased, orderly withdrawal that is cordial and does no damage to our european allies. i think early signs are we are talking about how to maximize mutual advantage. the fact of "brexit" is really not in doubt. the reason that public opinion has hardened in favor of it is that all of the predictions of economic catastrophe that were given during the campaign what would happen immediately afterwards have been shown to be utter nonsense. with he were told unemployment would rise. it escrow lapsing. we were told the stock exchanges would collapse. actually our stock exchange is best performing in europe. outlook is up. employment is up.

investment is up. exports are up. manufacturing is up, and on every metric we've had a good year. despite predictions there would be recession in 2016 if we voted to leave. the issue whether "brexit" will happen, it is how we make this a mutually beneficial process that is in you our interests and safeguards interests of our european friends. that is what is happening. neil: put you down as maybe on soros' comments, dan. very good seeing you. >> thank you. neil: daniel hannan. all right, we're awaiting now speak are paul ryan. he will be addressing manufacturers. they're having a big summit in washington right now. he will spell out the need for once in a generation opportunity to change our tax code, not just for 10 years, the last go round we did, president bush was 10 years. actually pushed to 12 years, because president obama kept those tax cuts in place a little longer than was expected. in order to make something really long-lasting you have to

make for significant tax reform that businesses can look forward to on a permanent basis. now permanent is in the eye of the beholder. easy for a house speaker to he say that when the burden would fall on the senate to garner 60 votes to do that because they have this thing called budget reconciliation, time being only requires simple majority of senators to support whatever ideas on tax reform are coming up. permanent tax reform something that substantial, that would require 60 votes in the senate. now speaker will outline exactly how he envisions that. he is not giving up the fight. nor have republicans, after this. o] when it comes to invest, looking from a fresh perspective can make all the difference. it can provide what we call an unlock: a realization that often reveals a better path forward. at wells fargo, it's our expertise in finding this kind of insight that has lead us to become one of the largest investment and wealth management firms in the country.

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neil: all right. the scene in washington, d.c., waiting for speaker paul he ryan. he is going to address that crowd. no rush to sit down. i don't know whether rush is delayed. you would think they sit down for what the speaker had to say. that will take time. everyone please sit down.

we're about to serve chicken. he hasn't even come up there yet. they're spelling out, what they're looking forward to the speaker's outline an aggressive timetable to get tax cuts down, to seize on what he calls a once in a generation opportunity, for tax reform that will lead to a whole lot of jobs that would go beyond the 10-year window, which would go beyond something like budget reconciliation which only requires majority of senators voting in favor. if we are to read the speaker face value, some prepared remarks, he wants to go bigger, broader, more long-lasting than that, so that employers, businesses like them in that room, can be more inclined to make decisions based on something that would be permanent in nature, however permanent tax cuts of any sort can be. in this country lately, if they last a decade, that is millenial. that is the hope anyway, that he will outline the importance of getting that done, sooner rather than later. an issue coming up, and is a very important matter back and

forth in these political races that 6th district race going on in georgia. similar one going in south carolina where tax cuts and republican agenda very much topics one and two in these debates. we're hearing reports of a shake-up in the white house involving the communications staff with sean spicer getting a promotion but maybe today's planned briefing potentially his last. adam shapiro, live from the white house with all of that. hey, adam, what is going on here? reporter: neil, yesterday we had a briefing that was on record but no recording, no audio, no cameras, no video. today, sean spicer after the announcement of his promotion will actually be conducting the on camera, on record briefing. i want to read to you the statement that was put out by the white house yesterday afternoon because some people were saying sean spicer is out. others were saying this was a promotion. here is what the white house was saying, we sought input from

many people as we look to expand our communications operation as he did in the beginning, sean spicer is managing both the communications and press office. now he is going to be in charge essentially, kind of in a, what might be a deputy advisor role to the president. white house communications director role, that means somebody has to do the press briefings, especially ones that will be on record. a lot of speculation who that could be, one person who everyone is familiar with in the fox family, laura ingraham, fox news contributor addressed issue she has been talking with the administration perhaps about taking on this role. here is what she had to say. >> yeah. i have always said i, if it is something that i think i could do well and it would really advance the agenda of this administration at a time where i think ere is so much at stake for the country and for the future, i would think about it. i'm not sure if that is the role i would pick for myself but you

know, i have a legal background, strategic, political communications, planning. >> you can do a lot of stuff. >> i'm not sure the press secretary thing is something i'm dying to do. reporter: so the issue at least for today, zan spicer will be back at the podium as people come to expect. going forward you can expect to see sarah huckabee sanders filling in that role. perhaps someone new comes into the administration. guaranteed today's questioning will be what you're covering with tax reform and paul ryan, health care. because the senate is expected to vote next week if they do it before the recess, those will be some of the questions. back to you. neil: thank you, adam, very much. kelly torrence, "weekly standard" deputy managing editor. kelly, what we know about when they are talking about briefings in the media, they want more briefings, that this administration doesn't have enough of them.

would that change with a difficult cast of characters potentially coming in. >> i would not sure that would change. it is not sean spicer as press secretary deciding when and where how many briefings to hold. mainstream media, i have to say, was the apex of their anger with this white house's communications department. the fact that sean spicer held what they called a gaggle, and didn't allow any audio or video made them so angry, that some of them were actually saying they threatened not to cover any of themnymore. which, you know i have to wonder is that, would that make the white house happy? i don't think that the white house has been very happy with the mainstream media coverage of the briefings. so you sort of wonder what reporters are thinking with their threats. neil: you know, speaking to kelly jane torrence of "the weekly standard" it, deputy managing editor. one thing interesting reaction to one, how apoplectic they were.

this is fairly recent phenomena daily briefings go on as long as they do. some criticize they don't go on long enough but there are other ways the administration can communicate. if they make good on their threat not to go, what would change? other news organizations would come to the fore right, or take their place, how would that go. >> certainly no shortage of people would love to cover the white house. there are only a few people that get to ask questions at every briefing. there are far more reporters that get to ask questions. look, as you say, this is relatively new thing. the fact that the media is acting like this is some sort of a shocking white house with, that is trying to keep things from the media, this has been the way the game played ever since those briefings started being televised under bill clinton. you know, josh earnest, was once asked about the fact that turned out the obama administration was droning people including

american citizens without due process, without trial. he just changed the subject. so this is not the first time that a press secretary has you know, fielded questions and not answered them to the liking of the media. that is just how the political game is played and it is always played that y. neil: i don't don't see that relationship changing mightily. those who dislike the president or the president bemoaning fake news, they never liked him from the beginning. i imagine they like him even less now. feeling seems to be mutual. so does anything change based on frequency of planned press events or not? >> well, that is an excellent question. president trump has repeatedly said on twitter, that he thinks that that's the best way he has of reaching the american people because it's a direct and uninterrupted. he can say what he wants without having media cure rate it, make comment on it -- curate it. i have to say it is a little concerning having few are

briefings, having less, having less chance for the media to ask tough questions, it's a little worrisome but at the same time, are the questions being asked that tough? i looked at the transscript for yesterday's briefing, there was a transcript published by the white house. it wasn't audio or video allowed. there was a transcript. not like they're hiding it. the questions are pretty obvious questions. what do you think about russia's plan in syria. neil: right. >> those are sort of basic questions, a lot of them are actually answered sometimes by trump just in his twitter feed because he is responding to what he is seeing on news channels like fox, like fox business. neil: it is wild. we'll watch closely. kelly jane torrence, "weekly standard." >> thank you. neil: we're waiting to hear from speaker paul ryan, addressing this crowd, manufacturing crowd in washington, d.c. outlining an agenda still on the docket still doable this year. that agenda first and foremost

on tax cuts, very big tax cuts. manufacturers want them, business types want them, average americans want them. they see them getting delayed and that stalled gypped today potentially producing a democratic up is the in georgia's 6th district, or maybe not. after this.

neil: all right. moments away from hearing from speaker paul ryan about an aggressive timetable to get tax reform done, maybe a border adjustment tax. the devil in the details. there is aspect he wants sweeping in tax reform seems to beg the issue. by that it can't be alwed to expire in 10 years. he wants something with lasting effect, change busess behavior, hire more people, get people more jobs, get something lasting however last something in washington, d.c. fox business senior

correspondent charlie gasparino on that. seas the timetable is on. once in a generation opportunity to do this. we know that but they haven't done it yet. >> i know and this border adjustment tax is the seems like the wart loo for this -- waterloo for this bill if the house is adamant on this tom cotton, influential senator -- neil: going nowhere. >> or any senator from texas is going to agree to that because they do a lot of cross-border business. that affects them and they have retail that's do that stuff. neil: yeah. >> if you have any type of, you know, cross-border business, you're going to have some issues. neil: would raise a lot of revenue. it did seem intriguing for a while. then it was shot down. i don't know if he is going to aggressively raise it here but he is talking about making this tax reformulassing, not like the bush tax cuts that had to last 10 years.

couple more because obama company the taxes in effect a couple years longer, but how doable is this? >> i don't know why they get hung up by the 10 years stuff. 10 years is like a lifetime, right? >>bsolutely. >> if he wants to do sweeping changes that is whole another story. i don't think they should worry about the 10 years. if he wants to close a lot of loopholes, do stuff like that, that is what he should be doing. he knows where the loopholes are. one thing about paul ryan, he is not a big fan of many conservatives. they think he is kind of a rhin rhi -- rin, republican in name only he is fiscally conservative and knows ins and outs. i would want to hear rationale for the bored are adjustment tax. the paul ryan i know is not someone wanted to support taxes. neil: he and pence are conservative renegades. >> i like to hear his rationale. i think it is good thing if he does.

neil: do you think the white house told him you even mention the border tax we'll go nuts. >> i don't think they said that to him. i think this is, this is just, my guess is, he is just going to play this pretty safe, know what i'm saying? he has to get momentum to get people talking about it. neil: they need to get a vote on the health care thing, tax thing, get a vote going this year, you think. >> i would think. neil: one of the issues come up in the congressional race in georgia, that seems stymied. >> the president is not helping matters with being, not being focused on these issues. maybe he will get focused. maybe this is what paul ryan's trying to do. neil: we're told all those ceos met with him yesterday, that was the big issue came up, tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts. >> even tech guys, liberalec gu. they want corporate tax cuts. i don't know about the other tax cuts. here is the thing. paul ryan and the congressional leadership know, they are trying to focus donald trump right now.

that is essentially what they're doing. this is it. neil: don't wander anywhere, young man. charlie gasparino with this. we'll lessen to paul ryan. lunch hasn't arrived. lunch has not started they will not get started. they're mulling around. speaker of the house will speak. seems to get pushed back. sean spicer giving briefing later on next hour. it could be if you're buying the latest stuff, his last briefing, even though he is kicked upstairs in poo because communications post. so much going on today, so little time, after this. ♪

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does your bed do that? right now save on sleep number 360 smart beds. plus, it's the lowest prices of the season with savings of $500 on our most popular p5 bed. neil: all right. waiting on two events. speaker paul ryan addressing a crowd of manufacturers gathering in washington, talking about tax cuts still on, maybe big ones at that. hearing from sean spicer some say could be last meeting before the press, presumably kicked upstairs to oversee the entire communications department at white house. don't know how much of that is true or whatever. charlie gasparino follows these developments. what, what would changing press spokespeople, what influence would that have? >> zero. i think trump looks at the ratings and saw that, at spicer was getting these huge

ratings, he was probably a little jealous of that. not only that thinking practically, he is getting beat up an hour a day. every network is on him getting beat up. why do i want to televise this to the world. then you have steve bannon out there. this is the most bizarre thing, i like steve a lot, no offense to steve -- neil: this is his chief strategist. >> he is sitting there sean spicer got taken off because he is too fat. neil: that had to be a joke. >> i don't know. neil: really? >> i could see trump saying, plus he looks like crap, how come -- neil: i don't believe that. >> i can see that. neil: really. >> i could see trump telling bannon, he is getting too heavy. this image. trump thinks like that. neil: not very good impression. >> hey, hey, he is eating a lot. what can i tell you, he's eating. i invited him over. he ate half of my kentucky fried

chicken. neil: incredible. press secretaries will not influence course of events or how you view them. >> sean, thanks to the melissa mccarthy imitation, a star. i think donald is jealous. bannon is jealous than spicer. he is bigger than bannon. more people know bannon than spicer. my wife knows spicer. she calls him spicy. neil: who doesn't. >> he is great guydo you know him? neil: yes. >> he is an excellent flak. neil: he is bigger than that. >> he is cultural icon now. neil: as are you. we're waiting to hear that. grover norquist and his read on tax cuts to be outlined very shortly. stick around. i love getting more for less. that's why this control enthusiast rents from national.

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neil: all right. speaker paul ryan is set very soon to outline his plans for getting taxes done and sooner rather than later. charlie gasparino is here, also grover norquist. grover, it could be running late, and he's pushing this back to late summer, some say could be the fall, maybe not even this year. we're waiting on him, of course, but what do you think of that? >> well, what he's going to say is that we need to do it this year and that it needs to be permanent, not just a temporary tax cut as we had with the two george bush tax cuts -- neil: but permanent means 60-plus votes in the senate. that's an uphill climb. >> no, permanent means you need

50 -- neil: they're not going to do that. they're not going to do the deficit, they can't. >> no, no, no deficit-neutral. there are no democratic votes -- neil: i know. they have got to prove that this is not going to worsen the deficit and, of course, the data would be in the eye of the beholder, and the democrats are going to claim holy you know what, right? >> they can. but as long as the cbo and the senate parliament tapes say we're cool, we're cool. you can take all trillion dollars of the health care taxes, the obamacare taxes out. that's revenue-neutral because there's spending there as well, and a lot of this tax cut is very pro-growth. so there's -- neil: but you think he's going to push for that border tax thing? that would pay for a lot of it. i've got charlie here, and i'll get to him in a second. it's a tough sell. >> he will continue to push for it. they're talking about phasing it in over the a longer period. i think it's --

neil: grover, i'm interrupting you, but the speaker of the house, paul ryan, outlining a plan for aggressive tax reform that he thinks is a once in a generation opportunity to do so now. he might be talking about republicans' fortunes if they don't. after this. >> welcome to d.c. hey, kathleen. thank you. [applause] thank you very much. appreciate it. please. jay and i go back many, many years. thank you so much, jay. i also just want to say what an honor it is to follow my dear friend, our vice president, mike pence. isn't he doing a great job? [applause] you know, together we are working on a bold agenda for the country; regulatory reform, health care reform, tax reform, rebuilding our military. and after years of talking about

these problems, we're finally doing something about them. but i do not view this as sort of a simple checklist for government or just turning the the page on the policies of the recent past. this is much deeper than that. it's much bigger than that. finish it goes back to something i talked about right when i became speaker. it's something that is as relevant today as ever. it is about building a confident america, an america where people are confident that they can get a job that pays well and an economy that's growing. an america where people are confident that their children will grow up with real security and opportunity. and we want an america where people are confident that they can withstand any challenge and emerge even stronger. this, to me, is the greatask that's before us. i've got to tell you, because

these are anxious times. we all feel it. it's not something we often think about in the rush of our daily lives. but we are being tested. our capacity to come together and to always move forward toward a better, stronger nation is being tested. that is what defines us as americans. it's not about our struggles, it is about how we overcome them, how we bounce back. so this is what drives me every day as a policymaker. how do we build up our country's antibodies. you know what i mean when i say that, how do we fill up that well of resilience we can call on when things get tough. i believe i have come to the exact right place to talk about how we get there. how many times in recent years have the so-called experts told us that american manufacturing is never coming back? that its best days were in the

rearview mirror? but right now there are nearly a million more americans working in manufacturing than there were at the beginning of this decade. manufacturing is thriving across the country. now, you know as well as anyone how quickly things can change. and when they do, will we be able to say that we are ready? will our workers be ready to take on the jobs that don't even exist yet? will our economy be ready to handle the disruptions that we can't even fathom yet? that's our test. and that is why, working with president trump, we are delivering on an agenda to create jobs and to grow our economy. to begin fixing a regulatory system, we have repealed obama-era red tape with a legislative tool we call the congressional review act. before this congress this tool had only been used successfully once before. once in the 20 years this tool has been on the books.

you know what? since january 14 congressional review acts have been signed into law. fourteen times we've rolled back oppressive regulations. it is estimated that these actions alone could save families and businesses more than $36 billion, and we are just getting started. and to revitalize main street, earlier this month the house passed the financial choice act. look, you've seen as much as anyone the hit that community banks have taken from countless costly rules coming out of washington. these banks are the very life blood of credit for small businesses across the country. our plan will give relief to those community banks and make it easier for small businesses to get the capital they need to grow and to hire. you know another thing we need to do? we need to make our work force more resilient, and the thing we need to do that is to close the skills gap. how many times have you been talking about this with your

member of congress, at your rotary clubs, with your fellow workers? this is so vitally important. we need to connect people with the skills they need to get good-paying, in-demand jobs. and that is why on this thursday the house will be taking action on critical legislation to expand career and technical education. this has strong support to from both sides of the aisl republicans and democrats, and we need to get it to the president's desk fast. and our work continues to repeal and replace obamacare, because i've got to tell you, this law is clearly collapsing. americans nationwide, they're facing double-digit premium increases, and coverage choices are disappearing by the day. in 30% of the counties throughout america, people have one or no plans to choose from. this month anthem decided to quit the obamacare exchange in ohio leaving 18 counties with

zero coverage options next year. last month blue cross blue shield decided to quit the missouri exchange, leaving 25 counties with zero coverage options. and also last month medica signaled it would quit the iowa exchange which will leave 94 of 99 counties in the state of iowa -- that's 70,000 people -- with zero coverage options. so this is the story across the country. higher premiums, little or no choice, a death spiral. we are engaged in nothing short of a rescue mission to finally bring relief to americans struggling under this law and to give everyone access to the care that they need. so just in five months, in five months we have made real progress in getting government out of your way. and your support has been the big reason why. and i just wanted to come and say thank you for that. [applause]

once in a generation, about once in a generation or so there's an opportunity to do something absolutely transformational, something that will have a truly lasting impact long after you and i are gone. that moment is here, and we are going to meet that moment. ladies and gentlemen, we are going to fix this nation's tax code once and for all. [applause] this has got to get done. [applause] you may recall that the last time we did this was three decades ago, the same year i got my driver's license. [laughter] a lot has changed since then. our economy is more interconnected with the rest of the world than ever before. the internet has transformed the way we do business and go about our daily lives.

but the world has changed, and as it has changed our tax code has remained stuck in neutral. it has ballooned to 70,000 pages of rules and regulations that few people today actually understand. you know, there's this old line about the tax code. our tax code is about five times as long as the bible but with none of the good news. [laughter] president trump recently introduced a set of principles for tax reform, and right now we -- the house, the senate, the white house -- we're working together to turn them into a transformational tax reform plan. chairman kevin brady and our ways and means committee members are holding open hearings and meeting with stakeholders on this right now. i want to take a few minutes and walk you through what that kind of reform will look like. let's start with families and individuals. at some point along the way, our tax system, it started working for the tax collectors rather than working for the hard

working taxpayers. and look at what happens during tax season. i could describe the complexity of the code all day long, but what really defines our tax code is that sense of dread that you feel. you know what feeling? you have to navigate long, complicated forms to file your returns. you need to wade through a seemingly endless amount of deductions and credits, each with its own rules and eligibility requirements. and then after you tally up all those deductions, you're placed up to seven different tax brackets based on your income level. and at the end of the day, you hope -- i mean, you really hope -- that you don't owe a whole bunch this year. you hope because you really don't know ahead of time. how could you? this whole system is too confusing, and it's just too darn expensive. we have got to stop this madness, don't you agree? [applause]

so let's just start over. first, first we will eliminate harmful, burdensome taxes including the death tax and the alternative minimum tax. [applause] next, we will clear out special interest carveouts and expensive deductions and focus on keeping those that make the most sense. home ownership, charitable giving, retirement savings. we will consolidate the existing seven brackets into three, double the standard deduction and simplify things to the point that you can do your own taxes on the form the size of a postcard. this instead of a 1040 form. won't that be nice? [applause] this is within our reach. [applause] and finally and most importantly, we will use the savings from limiting these loopholes to lower tax rates. let me say that again.

we're going to cut taxes. but if -- [applause] yeah, you heard that right, yes. not up-down. [applause] but if we're going to truly fix our tax code, then we've got to fix all of it, both for individuals and for businesses. you know why we're going to do that? because it's going to create jobs. that's what this is about. that's what this is all about. it's about jobs, jobs, jobs, good paying jobs. as a matter of fact, the nonpartisan tax foundation estimated that our blueprint would create 1.7 million new pull-time jobs. how do we do it? full-time jobs. well, right now we have the worst business tax system in the industrialized world. most people don't really know this, but here in america eight out of ten businesses file their taxes as individuals. in fact, most of our jobs come from these new and small businesses.

and under our crazy system, successful small businesses pay a top marginal tax rate of 44.6%. st crazy. it's crazy. look, you all know this, but manufacturing employs more than 12 million americans and adds more than $2 trillion to our economy every year. and the overwhelming majority of these companies are small businesses. at the same time, our corporate tax rate, the one that taxes the rest of american businesses, it's 35%. let me try to put this in a global perspective. overseas, which where i come from means lake superior -- [laughter] companies in canada, they pay just 15%. heck, the average tax rate on businesses in the industrialized world is 22.5%. yet our corporations pay 35%, and our successful small businesses pay 44.6%.

how can we compete like that? we can't. it actually gets worse than that. you see, the status q encourages companies to move operations overss, to make things abroad and then to sell them back into the united states. this makes no sense. and it is actually costing us a lot of jobs. we're actually very unique in the world in the way we discourage capital from coming back to america and how we incentivize offshoring. this is not the kind of an exceptionalism that we should be aspiring to. today u.s. companies are leaving to become foreign companies when it should be the other way around. we want foreign companies to become u.s. companies. we must think differently so that once again we make things here and export them around the world. there are so many different ways of achieving this. we in the house have our

idea, and that is one of the things that we're discussing with the administration, because we're going to get this right. here's the bottom line. we cannot accept a system that perpetuates the drain of american businesses overseas. [applause] when i look at this once in a lifetime, transformational opportunity, my view is this: we should not just try to play catch-up with the rest of the world, we should not just aim for being in the middle of the pack. let's not accept following any country's wake. let's be the best once again. part of this is moving to what we call a territorial system that reverses trend of corporation inversions and enables businesses to bring back cash stranded overseas without being tad. right now if an erican company makes money overseas, it gets taxed over there. but we also tax it again if that company tries to bring that

money back into the u.s. almost no other country does this. and as a result, it is preventing many companies from bringing that money back home. they just keep it over there. it is literally stranding trillions of dollars that could come back into our economy. we have got to fix this and we will. [applause] you know, of course, real tax reform means slashing our corporate tax rate as low as possible. this means eliminating special carveouts and replacing them with lower tax rates for all businesses. and it means creating a new, lower tax specifically for small businesses so that they, too, can compete on a fair, level playing field. there is one last piece of this puzzle. and it goes back to the idea that all of this is about, looking down the road. it's about planning for the future, leaving a better legacy.

these reforms, these tax cuts, they need to be permanent. every expert -- [applause] every expert agrees they need to be permanent because temporary reforms will only have a negligible impact. businesses need to have confidence that we won't pull the rug out from under them. they need the certainty from permanent tax cuts to hire more workers, to invest in their businesses and to plan for the future. so that's basically an overview of our plan, which we will begin to turn into legislation to put before congress. it is a very ambitious plan, yes. but you know what? it has to be. now, i know that the cynics and the naysayers are going to be out in full force. you will hear or that tax reform is coming along one day. then you will hear that tax reform is dead. then you will hear that it's back on track. then you will hear that it's on life support. sometimes you'll hear in the

same week, sometimes you'll hear this in the same day. heck, sometimes you'll hear this in the same hour. do not be surprised by any of this. i am here to tell you we are going to get this done in 2017. [applause] you know why we're going to get this done in 2017? because we have to get this done in 2017. we cannot let this once-in-a-generation moment slip by. yes, the defenders of the status quo -- and there are many of them -- they're counting on us to lose our nerve, to fall back or put it off altogether. but we will not wait for a path free of obstacles. guess what? it doesn't exist. and we will not cast about for quick fixes and half measures. transformational tax reform can be done, and we are moving ahead full speed ahead.

i promise you that we will give it all that we have. and here's what i'm asking you today. i'm just asking you to do the same. get in this fight. help us get this done. help us make this difference. help us make and build the confident america that our children deserve, that you are building for your families and your communities right now, today. thank you very, very much for having me today. i really appreciate it. thank you. [applause] neil: all right. you've been listening to speaker paul ryan saying when it comes to tax cuts, we will get this done this year, 2017. we have no other choice. he is going to be taking questions from that group here, but as he was speak, gary cohn, the man who runs president trump's national economic council, on the wires saying republicans are aiming to get a tax reform bill to the floor of congress during the first two weeks of september. he goes on to say that though the timetable is aggressive, it is doable. again, quoting mr. cohn,

republicans want this done sooner rather than later. again, let's dip in back to the speaker to see whether that timetable is, indeed, doable. [applause] >> it's going to take some more surgeries, but he's responding, he's breathing on his own, he's talking. he grabbed somebody's phone and started textinging away -- [laughter] so he's doing a lot better. >> that's great. >> thanks for -- please keep him in your ays. >> so we're going to open it up to questions, and you can send those questions to summit@nam.org, and also tweet as hashtag mfg summit. that's summit alt nam.org --@nam.org. mr. speaker, you specifically said you need our help in getting tax reform done. i can tell you, there's a lot of committed out here people to do exactly that. tell us one thing we can do back home in the districts that can actually make a difference. >> you've got to communicate with your employees, show your

employees how big a deal this is for just your business, for their jobs, for competitiveness, for the ability to expand and then make sure that those employees communicate with their member of congress. make sure that we get this conversation going in this country. because this really, i think, is existential for the viability of our economy going forward. so make sure -- i see a lot of wisconsinites right here, by the way, so i know they're doing this. make sure that you're communicating with your employees, and make sure that they communicate with their member of congress. >> so i think it's really important, you saiemployees. obviously, it's great to have folks who are running the companies tell their stories, but it's really good to have the employees explain how it really matters to their jobs, right? >> yeah. just look at the tax differences. it's a big difference, it's a big deal. we've got big manufacturers in wisconsin and small manufacturers in wisconsin. they understand global competition. and of all the things we can do to really give us an edge, it's tax reform. >> absolutely. >> so i think it's really important to communicate with everybody on this. >> cost of doing business is what we hear about every day

when we're talking about manufacturing competitiveness. it's tax reform, it's regulatory reform. on tax reform you mentioned -- and thank you so much for doing so -- that so many manufacturers are small and medium-sized manufacturers. are you confident -- you talked about confidence. are you confident that small manufacturers are not going to be left behind? and that question is from tom rear done who is with -- >> i am confident because, look, in wisconsin 90% of our businees a what we call pass-throughs, l sole proprietors. that's most of american businesses. it's clearly most of american manufacturers. so you can't just lower the rate for corporations which is, in america, 20%. 10% in wisconsin. you've got to lower the rates for everybody across the board. at the very least, level the playing field. but give them the edge they need to be able to compete in the global economy. where we come from, i wasn't really just joking about lake superior. a canadian tool and dye job shop

is going to be taxed at 15 and a successful job shop in wisconsin is over 50% when you throw the state tax on top of it. it puts us at a huge competitive disadvantage. so it's ing to be for all, big and small, both sides of the tax ledger. >> so just a remindeou can submit your questions to summit@nam.org, and i'll get them right here. summit@nam.org. drew greenblatt, who is the chair of our small and medium manufacturers group, asked kind of process question which you also talked a little bit about. he's wondering what the timeline is. so we understand and we get that we're going to hear it's dead, it's a alive, it's dead, it's alive, all that. what do you think is a realistic timeline for getting this done? >> our goal is just to get it done by the end of the calendar year. my personal goal is getting it done by opening day of gun deer season. [laughter] that's the saturday before thanksgiving. i really believe that it's very viable, and senator mcconnell,

steve mnuchin, gary cohn, we've been meeting regularly with the tax writers, that's hatch and brady, to spec out a timeline, and we really think very, very much doable by getting this done by the fall so that come the first of the year we have a new system in place, and everybody knows the rules of the road. >> got another question coming from one of our members in florida who is, first of all, saying thank you for your leadership on tax reform, but then asking what you think will ppen with the estate tax. >> we want to get rid of it. it makes no sense. i mean -- >> and you were a leader on that for so many years. thank you for that. >> just from a moral principle. you pay all these taxes while you're living in your life, sometimes multiple times in the same dollar, and then, what, you die and it gets taxed? this is one of the greatest killers of intergenerational transfer of small businesses from one family to the next. i look at my own cousins who are in the excavating business.

a cat scraper these days costs, what, almost half a million dollars. so what are you going to do, cut your business in half and sell off a bunch of your assets to pay the tax and stay in business to hand it on from one family to the next? it is a killer of businesses being transferred down the line from one family to the next, especially people who are asset wealthy, you know, who are farmers and ranchers or small business people, manufacturers. just think of the tool and dye and the c and c machines and all the kinds of expensive capital investment people make. you will, you will compromise that business with the estate tax. that's why we just get rid of the whole thing. >> that's great news and, of course -- yes. [applause] and, of course, that same mindset is something we should also think about when we're talking about repatriation. there's a lot of assets overseas that are not liquid. so i know our manufacturers care about that as well. so when we're talking about the cost of, when we're talking about the cost of doing business, another driver is the

regulatory regime which we've been under not just for eight years, although that's been pretty bad -- >> yeah. >> -- but for 20, 30 years, regulations have been piling up. they're imposed on manufacturers at a cost of about $35,000 per-employee, per-year for these small manufacturers. first, thank you for the work on cra. that was phenomenal. i don't know that anybody expected it to be so, so successful. but thank you for that. do you see a path forward for a legislative regulatory relief effort in the future in. >> yeah, i do. first, on your earlier reference, we do believe that we should distinguish between liquid and illiquid money -- >> didn't give you a chance to answer that. >> no, i could tell where you were going on that one. laugh second, we see this as waves of reform. the first wave was use this cra tool which is time-limited, get at recent regulations that we

could rescind and get those done. those are now in law. second wave is the administration, now that they're getting populated -- we have cabinet secretaries and we're getting deputies and assistants -- they have to take the ball from there and clean up the regulations coming out of their agencies. i think department of labor is a good example. then we have other legislative reforms that will be more challenging to pass, but we think we have a very good case for. things like the reins act. we really believe that the elected officials in congress, they're the ones who should be writing the laws, not these unelected bureaucrats. and so that's what the reins act does, it says any big, major rule that has the full force of law, major regulation, before that goes into effect, it has to come back to congress for a final vote, approval or amendment before it goes into effect. more than half the state legislatures already do this. we want to do that at the federal level. so so that becomes kind of a check on making sure we don't have this regulatory fiat by unelected bureaucrats who don't

understand our way of life, our economy and just micromanage things. if we're going to live under a law, then the person we voted for should be the one writing that law, not some unelected bureaucrat. the other reform we think is important is a regulatory budget. let's seriously do cost benefit analysis. does the cost of this proposed regulation truly outweigh the benefit or not. and if it does, then don't do it. if it doesn't, then it's probably the right thing to go forward with. that's the kind of regulatory discipline we want to have, and that's going to require some further legislation. >> well, and that regulatory budget was part of the president's executive order, which was phenomenal, and his one in, two out was very welcome to manufacturers. so i know you had a voice in that as well, so thank you. one of your mentors, i know, was jack kemp. and here's very much a kempian question. as a young american -- this is from our livcast -- as a young american, i want the ability to ve and invest for my future. how willax refm adess the ability to save and invest for financial security?

>> well, that's why you probably saw on one of my points i made there are certain things that we do want to prioritize and emphasize. charitable giving, buying a house and saving for retirement. so we want to have a tax code, right now what i would argue the tax code is biased against saving and investment. we want to remove that bias so that people can save for the future. but the best possible thing for that young person is not an economy growing at 1-2%, but an economy growing at 3-4% -- >> hear, hear. >> that's why i also talked about the skills gap. we've got to close the skills gap and just get our economy wired so that it's ahead of the curve so that the disruptions that are happening are continuously goodies resumptions and that our education system is on track with it and that our tax system buzz not penalize saving for the future, but rewards saving for the future. i think that's really what's critical for young people today. we are the marvel of the world,

america is. we have been for the 20th century. there's absolutely no reason why we can't be for the 21st century. look at the enormous energy policy we have, the energy potential we have. look at our education system. it's got a lot of room for improvement, but it's a good one. look at our intellectual property, look at our rule of law, look at our entire system. you fix this junker, killer of a tax code, you get the regulatory system in a good place, and there's no stopping this country. this is the best country to love, to work, to raise kids, to have a future in. and that's what we think is necessary to rebuild what i call a confident america. and then no matter what comes, no matter what happens, we can handle it because we have got ourselves into a good place. and that's why i think just the crown jewel of rebuilding the confidence of this country, clean up the regulations, reform the tax code. there's no stopping us.

[applause] >> i'll put another plug in for infrastructure investment. we can talk about that another day. >> all right. that's on the list too. >> also from the live cast, does government have a role in helping workers find dignity in their work, and how can it accomplish that? >> yeah, i think it does. in many ways, i think government can undignify work in that it can penalize work. this is one of the things that we're going to be tackling through the course of this year and next year. i call it the poverty trap. right now if you take a look at our war on poverty, which is 31 years into it, the poverty rates we have are about the same as they were when we started this war on poverty 31 years ago. and you take a look at all of these benefits, well-intended as they are, and they produce a big tax on work. they disincentivize work. they tell people that it pays

not to go to work, and we have to remove these work disincentives and switch them with a welfare reform that actually makes work pay. the top tax rate payer in america isn't that successful small business paying 44.6%. the top effective tax rate payer is a single mom, two kids getting $24,000 in benefits who will lose 80 cents on the dollar if she goes and takes a job. you know, so we don't want to have a poverty trap that discourages people taking that step forward in life, and we want to make work always pay. and that is why we think we're due for a new round of welfare reforms focused on getting people the skills they need, customizing benefits and then tapering this benefit cut ah -- cutoff in such a way that it always pays to work. that's why i think the dignity of work is so important, partly because we've got boomers leaving and we need more people. we have these labor force participation rates among young people that are really not where they need to be.

they're back to 1978 levels. so we've got to do absolutely everything or we can to push, prod be, pull, carrot, stick, whatever you want to call it, to get people to get the skills they need so they have the dignified life that they have the potential for. and i would argue our federal policies are holding them back, and we've got to clean that up. >> best picture i have, actually, with you that i have in my office is you and i are at snapon tools, and behind us is a banner, the dignity of work. >> yeah. >> and we were talking that day, you were talking especially to manufacturing workers. there's so much dignity in the manufacturing work force, and there's so much potential, and we're really pleased that you've supported us for so many years. i'm going to ask you a final question because we have to wrap up. there's been a lot of strife in washington. what's one thing that we can do as cizens to help you and your colleagues rise, rise to to occasion and be the best that everyone can be? >> i think let's not talk about

why we can't do something, and let's talk about how fantastic things will be if we get this done. let's, let's not talk about this little tax benefit or that little tax benefit, let's talk about the big picture. what i try to tell people in congress is let's raise our gaze to the horizon that we can clearly achieve as a country. and so help, help us see this better way. help us see this better day that if you are put on a level playing field as a manufacturer with the rest of the world, how much better you can do, how many more wage increases you can have, how many more jobs you can fill, how much better this country can be. so i think we need to look a little more aspirationally at the horizons that is clearly there for us to get and not so worry about the day-to-day and the acrimony. that's the other thing i tell people is just there's a lot of acrimony. maybe it's because of the internet, maybe it's because of politics these days. whatever the reason, try and put it aside. let's all be happy warriors and

be optimists and talk about this beautiful picture we can create for ourselves if we work together as a country to get that done. [applause] >> and that is exactly why we love working with you. you have such a great outlook for this country, and we're so proud of you, and we're so pleased to be working -- neil: all right, you've been listening to speaker paul ryan address a u.s. manufacturers gathering in washington for an annual summit. a couple of news development here that do seem to be tightly codited with the white house, the first time we've seen signs of that. because at the same time, the speaker was indicating he'd like to get tax reform done this year, a 2017 event as he put it, so is gary cohn who is saying that this should come to a vote in the house without debate, a final package that would be sort of put out there for members to vote on, again, sometime in the

first half of september. now, what they left out here is what would that be? it would not involve, apparently, an import tax, a border adjustment tax as it's been known, something that speaker ryan was a very big fan of until he ran into a buzz saw of criticism from fellow party members and even the white house who wasn't too keen on the idea. that seems top shelfed here. that might be the two noteworthy developments in his remarks before this group today. but, again, the timeline being to get it done this year. now, of course, people can get into that, wade into it about what is tax reform, what is something lasting more than ten years, do you need budget reconciliation to do that. if it's longer than ten years and it balances the budget, do you have to worry about that, or do you need 60 votes? suffice it to say that speaker paul ryan is saying that it's time to go big. gary cohn is saying it's time to do this, this year with. no indications as to whatever they come up with would be retroactive at the beginning of the year.

gerri willis, how doable is any of that? >> well, it's a great question. i believe if i understood this right, paul ryan wants tax reform bthbeginninof deer hunting season, and that would be the saturday before thanksgiving where he lives. it's a long way to go. and keep in mind, it's not the only thing that congress is having to deal with right now. we're also talking about health care. but just to break down a little bit of what he said about reform, i think you mentioned a big headline here, border tax may be out the window. didn't come up today. but he did go over some of the details we've heard before. so death tax, out. alternative minimum tax, out. again, we we take seven brackets, we move them to three brackets. i'm talking about the individual tax side. he also talked about corporate taxes, but in the text of his comments i didn't want see him go -- i didn't see him go at the level of taxation. so they have in the past, he didn't do it today. maybe it was an omission, maybe this is something they're going to negotiate out.

but you've got to think that if you get rid of the border tax, highly controversial, retailers hate it, president doesn't particularly like it. if you get rid of that, there's a big question about how you pay for tax reform. neil: yeah. >> so maybe there's changes to come that, you know, we don't know about quite yet. neil: yeah. you're quite right. i mean, it was significant in this was, obviously, bounced off the white house, and the white house bounced back with gary cohn indicating, as you kind of touched on, this idea of an aggressive timetable. by fall, we say i depressive now because in -- aggressive now because in many people's eyes, that's the best we can hope for. that import tax was something near and dear to paul ryan who said it would be a moneymaker to pay for a variety of things. that does not seem to be an agenda item here, and that seemed to be bounced off the white house. gerri willis, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. neil: all right. elsewhere we are waiting for the sean spicer briefing, and the white house could address north

korea and, more to the point, what the north koreans really did to otto warmbier, the 22-year-old who passed away after being confined for better than 18 months in north korea. whether he was abused by the north koreans, but a young, vibrant man is dead as a result. to former governor bill richardson, of course, whose foundation was involved in trying to release otto warmbier. of course, many, many times has worked with the north koreans, even now to try to g them to release the three americans still held hostage there and one canadian, i believe. governor, good to have you. thanks for taking the time. >> thank you, neil. nice to be with you. neil: same here. governor, what is your sense about whether this is a catalyst for change, that all these missile tests we've seen out of the north koreans has not been? >> well, i mean, it shows that north korea is getting worse, that this treatment of this young man in a coma without disclosing to his family, to the

united states government show us there's a crisis of leadership in north korea. we don't know what makes this guy, kim jong un, tick. in the past we could make a deal with the father to get prisoners out -- neil: right. >> -- and use them as bargaining chips. they'd want high-level visits or humanitarian aid. i mean, in this case this young man could have been violateed, he could have been abused, he could have been tortured, we just don't know. the excuse they gave was so prelim city, botch -- botulism and then a sleeping pill? this is a crime against humanity. neil: you know what's weird too about it is why they released him in the first place. he was sick, obviously. they could have let him die in prison here. what do you think got into them saying, my gosh, we've got to get him out of here or he's going to die on our watch? what happened? >> well, precisely that, neil,

that maybe he was showing symptoms of decaying after this coma, with this coma. and i think they realized that they'd made a huge mistake. they notified the u.s. government, the state department -- and i give credit to the state department and the trump administration for aggressively going to north korea, sending a plane, demanding that he be treated in japan, brought home. but it was too late. and my foundation tried 20 meetings with the north koreans. they never told us about this. i sent a delegation there to try to get him out in exchange for private humanitarian aid. you know, i've been dealing with the north koreans for years. i've been there eight times. seen -- i've ever seen, the worsing they ever did to one american human being, one american boy and a great american family that is heart broken right now. and i think the nation is heart broken over what happened to otto warmbier. >> you know, secretary, governor, one of the things that

came up today was john mccain responding to this saying that that young man was murdered and it would be craze i for americans to even -- crazy for americans to even entertain going to north korea. i guess 5,000 a year do go there. i don't know what plurality are americans. would you agree with his sentiment that it's not a wise thing to do and that they shouldn't expect backup or support from the united states if something bad does happen? >> well, i, i don't think anyone should travel to north korea. you can travel there, there's no restriction. neil: right. >> i think i the state department should consider putting a restriction on. i do think that if you're detained, you deserve to be helped by your government. we've got three americans there and one korean that are detained. if the north koreans were smart, they'd release them all to atone for what they did with otto as a sign of contrition, a human rights gesture. but they probably won't do it. you know, they use these as bargaining chips.

but at the very least, they should disclose what happened, see if we can get a u.n. investigation in there, human rights. i doubt if they'd let 'em in. but, you know, this should not go without some kind of punishment of some kind. now, i'm not advocating military strikes or anything -- neil: right. >> i think the whole area's a tinderbox, and we've got soldiers there. i think you resolve this thing with china's hp. and china -- neil: but cha, the criticism -- yeah, you just toucd on it, governor, and that is frustration that the chinese have not been able to get this guy off the ledge with the missile tests, to say nothing of this latest tragedy. maybe they're not trying hard enough. in other words, if people talk about building up sanctions on north korea, should we expect the chinese to do more, and if they don't, to get economically tough with the chinese? what do you think of that? >> well, you know, the chinese like us to have problems in the korean peninsula. they like this turmoil because

then they can make their moves geopolitically, militarily, trade wise. neil: well, then do you think they're stringing the trump administration along on this promise we're going to resolve this, if you go slow on calling us a currency manipulator, all the other stuff -- even when the two leaders met in florida? >> well, i thought that was a good strategy of the president's, to try to get them included, involved in the solution. i think the chinese have done a little bit. a little bit more than they have in the past. but not enough. in the end, they have vetoed some resolutions that the u.n -- at the u.n. for more sanctions. they're the ones that need to step -- to realize that the turmoil in the region, refugees from north korea going into china, the missile tests are something that's against the best interests of china that geopolitically wants stability in the korean peninsula. but, no, they haven't done enough. we need to lean on them more.

but i wouldn't be terribly optimistic. i've always said north korea's a land of a lot of bad options to make things better, unfortunately. neil: governor, we're moments away from a white house briefing, but i did want to get your thoughts as our former energy secretary what you make of the collapse in oil prices. they're now into what they call in the markets bear market territory, 20% or more off their highs, and there does seem to be a feeling here that that could continue. what do you make of that, the effect for americans would be cheaper gas, so many welcome it. others say it could go quite severe here. and sort of the linchpin that has kept a lot of nations sort of in sync with this could also unravel. what do you think? >> well, i think, fortunately, u.s. shale, our production is good. we're going to survive this. but, you know, i worry about jobs in the oil sector. i think the key players to watch are saudi arabia and russia.

they're geopolitical rivals, but possibly them wanting a table price is going to mean them leaving the market alone and not cutting production as they have. neil: but the fact that they failed to do that, sir, i mean, they all agreed or most of them to try to curtail production for a while. it looked like it was sticking. like i said, that was 20% ago, and it's slip-sliding away. there are a lot of factors as you accurately point out, you know, fracking and other areas, but this seems to have sort of like a freefall to it. what do you think's going on? >> well, i think there's, you know, it's boom and bust. neil: yeah. >> i don't think it's going to be a freefall. i think there'll be some stability in the days ahead. and i think the opec countries, the responsible ones -- and i would consider the saudis part of that, although they try to hurt our gas producers -- will stabilize.

you know, the problem is also venezuela. that's about to fall apart, and they're major producers. united arab emirates, you know, the qataris fighting the saudis. all of that turmoil, all those rivalries is not helping. neil: finally your thoughts on what's going on from the former administration. we're told there's the possibility that it could be sean spicer's last briefing as he's moved upstairs and heads the communication department. you've seen these staff, you know, shake-ups yourself in other administrations. is this, you know, traumatic development when we see these sort of things? just a sign of the times? fine tuning? how do you describe it? >> well, it's a sign of the times. you know, i've been through several presidents in my career, and, you know, when things go wrong -- [laughter] you've got to make a change. it seems that the messaging of the trump administration needs a lot more discipline, but i think the problem is the president himself. you know, who changes news

cycles every three hours. so, yeah, i think there probably will be a change. you know, when you make somebody head of communications and not the bless briefer -- press briefer, it means they've been demoted but elevated at the same time. i think the president needs a more consistent message -- neil: would you tell him to stop tweeting, governor? >> i would tell him to stop tweeting, but he doesn't listen to me. you know, i'm a democrat. he should start talking to more democrats -- actually, to one democrat. i've yet to see him reach out to one poor democrat. but anyway, i'm not seeking that, i'm just being facetious with you because you're my good friend. neil: let me ask you a little bit about the administration timetable that paul ryan just elaborated on, and you might have heard gary cohn at the white house, economic council, that he wants to get tax cuts done in the fall, presumably wrapped up by year end. don't know whether they'll be retroactive. how do you feel about all of that, and 40 i do bl -- how doable?

obviously, much of the republican agenda things on that. what -- hedges on that. what do you think? >> well, i was many congress for 15 years, and i've heard leaders of my party, the other party predict timetables. it never happens, neil. i think they've got to deal with health care. you know, the health care bill's in real trouble. it's being drafted in secrecy. on tax reform, you know, the congress can't do more than one thing at a time. and -- or. neil: under any administration. all right, governor, thank you very much. i apologize for jumping on you here. an spiceis addreing reporters. >> repeal and replace of obamacare. the end of the day, both the vice president and the speaker of the house will have both delivered remarks at the national association of manufacturers about why it's so critical that we come together and quickly deliver significant tax reform to the american people. simplifying and updating our overly complicated tax system is one of the most impactful ways that we can create jobs and

strengthen our economy. and i think that's something that everyone in this town can probably agree upon. there's also major agreement between the trump administration and republicans in congress on what any significant tax reform package must include. and, frankly, i i saw some of the democrats earlier today, and i think there are some that share or those general philosophies as well. we want to make it easier for companies to sell american goods abroad and turn that success into jobs here at home. i think we all will recognize that what, i think, every american also agrees with which is that we need to simplify our tax code. depending on the estimates, taxpayers and businesses spend anywhere between $6 billion -- 6 billion to almost 9 billion hours complying with the irs' requirements. those are, frankly, billions of hours they're not building things, buying other goods and services from other businesses, spending time with their families, pursuing a personal hobby, and we must reduce that unnecessary burden. perhaps most importantly, we

also agree we need to get this done sooner rather than later. that's why working hand in hand with house and senate leadership and hosting regular listening sessions with outside stakeholders like the one that's being conducted currently in the roosevelt room here at the white house with trade associations from the tech industry to iron out details and get their input on what needs to happen. we're also committed to seeing the repeal and replace of obamacare through congress. obviously, the senate is the, is where the action is right now. this week is the deadline for insurers to commit to selling plans on the obamacare exchange. during the upcoming enrollment period, unfortunately, we're continuing to see signs of its complete failure as data from more and more states comes in. last friday the new mexico health connections, one of only five remaining of the 23 co-ops nationwide that was created by obamacare, proposed hiking its rates by nearly 80%. and just today in iowa where the president will be traveling tomorrow the only insurer left in the obamacare exchange

proposed a 43% rate hike for next year. with almost every day that passes, another insurer either leaves the market or raises its rates by double digits. the american people can't afford to front the bill for this failed law any single day longer. it's time to repeal and replace obamacare as republicans have promised for a while. looking ahead this week, tech week, as i mentioned at the front, continuing following on a very set productive set of meetings and working groups with some of the country's biggest ceos yesterday. the president will visit cedar rapids, iowa, tomorrow where he'll see the power of technological innovations at kirkwood community college. a national leader and widely recognized as a center for innovation in the ag sector. and on thursday we're bringing two emerging technologies to the white house that have the potential to revolutionize our economy, groan drones and --

drones and broadband. the president will see how the government can insure that safe adoption leads to the best possible outcomes for the american worker and businesses. with that, we'll have some questions. katie. >> thanks sean. does the administration have anything to say to china about the death of otto warmbier? >> well, i think the president has spoken very clearly about how he, the first lady and our country feels about the loss of this american. and, obviously, when you look at how he was handled, it's something that we will continue to apply economic and political pressure and try to continue to work with our allies. we've had, i think, positive movement on china over the past five months with this administration. and we'll continue to work with them and others to put the appropriate pressure on north korea to change this behavior and this regime.

steve. >> sean, just following up on the president's meeting with ukraine's president, would the president like to see russia get out of eastern ukraine, and does he see moscow as the aggressor in this conflict? >> i think we've been clear that, yeah. i mean, obviously, that's part of the reason that there are sanctions, is because until they are out of eastern ukraine, we're going to continue to have sanctions on russia, and we believe that that is ukraine's, part of ukraine and so, therefore, until those -- those sanctions will remain. it obviously came up in discussion with the president today. we'll continue to advocate for that. >> and does the president support the nate sanctions that are now going to move to the hous >> i think we're going to wait and see what happens in the house before we weigh in on that package. it's not just the package, i think there's some other areas of that package that we need to work with the house and senate on depending on how it's handled in the house that we have to address.

but as is usually the case, we won't have a at the same time of administrative policy until it advances through the house. jessica? >> thank you, sean -- [inaudible] you talked about what the u.s. is willing to do in retaliation for otto warmbier's death -- [inaudible] sanctions with the united nations, and secondly, the u.s./china security and defense dialogue beginning tomorrow. it's already been stated that the north korea issue's going to be at the top of the agenda. do you anticipate walking away with any -- [inaudible] on north korea? >> we have been very forceful in our political and economic pressure that has been applied in north korea. i think we will continue to apply that. and as i mentioned earlier, obviously, china can play, has played and can continue to play a greater role in helping to resolve this situation. and we will continue to, hopefully, build on the relationship and the dialogue that we've had with china. i think there's been some positive tens they've taken both at the u.n. and economically to

help strengthen the case against north korea, but i'm not going to get ahead of where we may or may not go. and, obviously, we hope those discussions with china are productive and continue to move forward. gabby? >> thanks, sean. there were some reports that president trump told members of that tech meeting yesterday that the senate -- [inaudible] needed to have more heart. can you shed some lit on what it is he's not pleased with in the legislation that's being drafted, and you also tell us why he would feel that way after holding a press conference in the rose garden supporting the house's version of the health care bill? >> i mean, the president clearly wants a bill that has heart in it. he believes that health care is something that is near and dear to so many families and individuals. he made it clear from the beginning that those, that was one of his priorities, and as the senate works its way through this bill, as the house did, any ideas are welcome to strengthen it, to make it more affordable, more successful and deliver the care that it needs. but this is an area that the president believes passionately

about. he cares, he understands the role that health care plays in so many people's lives and their families, and he wants to make sure we do everything we can to provide the best option as obamacare continues to fail. >> is there a specific part of this bill, though, that leads him to believe that the senate is doing something -- >> there's, again, this is an ongoing discussion with senate leaders and individual senators that he's had, you know, that we've brought a lot of those individuals to the white house. and there's been staff-level meetings as well, secretary price and others. so i'm not going to get into the private discussions that have occurred. but i will just say that the more that we can do to produce a bill as it works its way through the process that achieves the president's goals, i think that's something we can all agree on. john? >> thanks, sean. two. first one, domestic. there's a special election occurring today in georgia. is this election, from the white house's point of view, a referendum on the president in any way? >> look, i've said before i'm not going to comment on the political nature of an ongoing race. that being said, i think if you

look historically, special elections generally don't foretell the outcome of races multiple years down the road. this is a race that th this is district president be won by one point. obviously going to be competitive. but we'll have to see tonight. obviously up to the people of georgia 6th district. >> on north korea, i think the president once said he is open meeting with kim jong-un. given what happened with otto warmbier over the course of the past 24 hours, is he still open to that? >> well i believe that the context which he said that was if the right conditions presented themselves. we're moving further away, not closer to those positions. i would not suggest we're moving any closer. obviously this is an issue the president commented earlier at the beginning of the meeting with president poroshenko, it troubles him deep whether i.

we're pleased to get get otto back to the united states to be with his family. if we were able to secure it earlier, potentially medical help could be rendered earlier. we don't know the answer to that the president worked hard to secure the release of him. it is shame. he was very clear when he spoke to members of the media earlier today. >> two questions the also on otto, he think it is terrible to what happened to otto. do you have anymore details on the specifically what the he endured there? >> i do not. we would not share them at this point. i think -- >> second he question. >> yeah. >> there are reports that your role is changing here at white house. if you can address those reports, tr or not. and tell us what is in store? >> right here. keep takeç