we're not there at the record. 21,965. even if you don't own apple, you have to watch david and melissa for apple earnings. [closing bell rings] kevin said it may give us 22,000 if apple does well. david, melissa. melissa: nice plug, liz, we love it. the hits keep coming. dow closing at north new record. we were shy of that 22,000. you can see the closing 29. i'm melissa francis. david: i'm david asman. this is "after the bell." glad you could join us. more on big market movers. here is what else we have for you in very busy hour. apple on deck. news on health of the world's largest publicly-traded company out this hour. wall street, anybody with a iphone are waiting to hear if the next iphone is set for launch this fall. everything you need to know as

soon as it comes out. small but mighty. president trump focusing on plight of small businesses this afternoon. what he is pledging now to help this driving force of our economy. among our guests this hour, former white house press secretary ari fleischer, south carolina congressman mark sanford, lieutenant colonel oliver north is with us. melissa: back to the markets. the dow closing at new record high for the fifth straight day, inching closer to hitting 22,000 for the first time ever. it has been 109 days since we saw a milestone on the dow. connell mcshane on floor of new york stock exchange. connell, so we didn't get 22-k but we're getting darn close. >> no. we'll take it. another record close for the dow jones industrial average. we'll take it on day in, day out basis, as you say, that is pretty much, melissa, what we've been getting. this is the 31st record close for the dow so far this year. got within 10 points give or take as magic round number such

as it is 22,000 earlier in the day. there is a lot of anticipation for apple. we'll talk about that in a second. good trading day for insel. chevron one of the dow stocks that led this advance. verizon and jpmorgan, all with good days today. all in the green. now from this point forward, now that we have heard the closing bell ring, it is all about anticipation and build-up, what will apple have to say about the most recent quarter. we're expecting a 11% jump in earnings. that is what analysts are looking for. much more importantly, melissa, as you know, anything at all about the iphone 8 and the next quarter. we'll be on watch when the numbers come out but now back to you. melissa: thank you, connell. see you then. david? david: the dow marching closer to 22,000, president trump is taking notice. take a listen. >> stock market reachedded all-time high today, all-time high today, think of it. nobody ever talks about it.

they don't talk about it. [applause] david: let's bring in today's panel, jonathan hoenig from capitalist peg hedge fund and gary kaltbaum, kaltbaum capital management. both fox news contributors. it is not only the dow, gary but companies are making more money than ever. this is the biggest profit groth in six years. "the wall street journal" took notice of that today. too consecutive quarters of double-digit growth. how long will it continue? >> if earnings drives markets in the long run it is nothing but good news. let's hope we don't get into peak of earnings. i think it is a combination of a few things that are going on here. the trump factor, maybe he gets some things done. you still have interest rates around the globe negative as well as ton of printing of money, now you add in earnings front and we're getting good stuff here. let's hope it continues, jonathan, the president has gotten stuff done on his own

through executive orders through regular races. all the regulations obama administration put on are coming off or about to come off. that is making companies more profitable. that is what is driving the market, right? >> in some case, ironically, david, energy regulations haven't helped energy sector which is lagging most free parts of the economy. as mentioned technology, that has been a big winner. i suspect we continue to see that. deregulation is good but tax cuts president trump promised could be very beneficial. as long as we continue not just to have but see the next ubers, next apples, next facebooks, i think 22,000 could ultimately look cheap for the dow. david: jonathan, gary, see you later in the hour. thank you very much. melissa. melissa: president inviting small business owners to the white house, touting the administration effort to boost the economy and boost entrepreneurial jobs. adam shapiro live at white house. what can you tell us? reporter: this was also an

opportunity for small business owners, 100 of them from all over the country, to ask questions not only of ivanka trump an entrepreneur of her own right but linda mcmahon, of the small business administration celebrating 65 years in business. there are a lot of questions about regulations keeping small businesses from growing. burdensome taxes keeping businesses from expanding. listen what the president said where we stand as they get ready to roll back the regulations and reform the tax code. >> america is on the verge of a golden age for small business. we're ending job-killing regulation. we're eliminating the tremendous the massive restrictions on american energy. numbers will be released next week that will be earth shattering what we're doing with energy and amounts of energy we're producing far greater than ever before and pursuing bold

tax cuts so our companies can thrive, compete and grow? >> as you heard the president say, golden age of small business but on capitol hill not so golden. steve mnuchin, secretary of treasury, he was meeting with the leader of majority mitch mcconnell, along with chuck schumer minority leader of democrats, trying to get consensus going forward with raising the debt ceiling. the leader, mr. mock connell is saying that probably will stretch out in september. treasury secretary says this needs to be done before the 29th. they want a clean bill. they don't want legislation attached to it, spending cuts or increases. that will be a tough ticket to sell. melissa: thank you, adam. david: president trump not giving up fight to repeal and replace obamacare. the president is keeping pressure on republican lawmakers to come up with a new plan for health care. fox news's mike emanuel on capitol hill with the latest. mike?

>> good afternoon, david, republican senators say passing a health care bill, they have a simple math problem. 49 votes is not enough. >> we can't finish health care until we have 50 votes for something. hopefully we will at some point. when we do we'll come back to it. at least for now we're moving to other things on the agenda we think are good for jobs and economy. reporter: lamar alexander chairman of the senate health committee. he announced hearings the week of september 4th, looking at actions congress should take to stablize and strengthen individual health care market so americans buy insurance at affordable prices next year. south carolina senator lindsey graham selling his own plan, sending health care money back to the states for state officials to administer. orin hatch says there is too much animosity, and we're too divided on health care. ohio senator rob portman talked today about next steps. >> we had a tough go at it the last, you know several weeks but

we can't give up. we have to continue to work at it. this committee, the finance committee, and health committee committed to hold hearings, bipartisan hearings that is a good thing. reporter: president trump threatened to stop payments by the government to insurance companies to push senators to pass a health care bill. it is $8 billion in cost sharing reduction subsidies to help low income americans. the democratic senate leader criticized the president on that eshoo today. >> the ball is in the president's court. he can make the payments as the law requires and needs, or he can sabotage our health care system and impose a trump premium tax of 20% higher premiums on the american people next year by not extending the cost-sharing program. reporter: of course there are plenty other issues on the agenda. the budget, debt ceiling, and eventually tax reform.

they have been on the backburner because of health care. some republicans are saying let's put health care on the backburner and get working on some of these other issues. david: you heard melissa and i going at it when the sound bites were on. we'll talk about that mike emanuel. thank you very much. what kills me, schumer talking about the trump premium. what about the obamacare premium? we've seen our premiums go up. seen our deductibles go up sometimesor $12,000 for a family. you can't afford insurance. melissa: the next person says cost sharing reduction payment get as wedgie. that is washington bs. that means tax dollars to ininsurance companies. that makes me so mad. tech giant apple crushed wall street earnings estimates seven out of the past eight times. not so for revenue. what will we see today? the numbers that will move the markets tomorrow as soon as they are out. david: south of the border chaos continues in venezuela with opposition leaders dragged from

their homes literally in custody. how does the united states respond beyond latest sanctions? lieutenant colonel oliver north tells us. melissa: there is new sheriff in town. it is me. no it is not. general john kelly in charge at the west wing. how will things shape up at white house. he will not say cost sharing payments or he will get a wedgie. >> he is getting team to know everyone in the building, setting the tone, for a white house under his leadership will be very focused on the president's agenda. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ rethink your allergy pills. flonase sensimist allergy relief helps block 6 key inflammatory substances with a gentle mist. most allergy pills only block one. and 6 is greater than one. flonase sensimist. ♪

i ...prilosec otc 7 years ago,my doctor recommended... 5 years ago, last week. just 1 pill each morning, 24 hours and zero heartburn. it's been the number 1 doctor recommended brand for 10... ...straight years, and it's still recommended today. use as directed. you're searching for something. whoooo. like the perfect deal... ...on the perfect hotel. so wouldn't it be perfect if... ....there was a single site... ...where you could find the...

...right hotel for you at the best price? there is. because tripadvisor now compares... ...prices from over 200 booking... ...sites ...to save you up to 30%... ...on the hotel you want. trust this bird's words. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices. your insurance on time. tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance. melissa: general john kellyp stepping into the white house, looking to help president trump

get the administration on track, tick through their packed agenda. here is ari fleischer, former white house press secretary under george w. bush. he is also a fox news contributor. ari, i thought it was telling how the day went yesterday. general kelly was sworn in. it was very calm. ceremony. wasn't a lot of buzz around it necessarily. then hours later that the news about mooch broke. they were able to at least control that timeline for the day. does that tell you something about, you know, how things are going to go from here or am i reading too much into it? >> well, we'll find out. i think no matter what industry you're in, new boss comes in you're attentive. if it starts giving somebody a firm kick in the pants it captures your attention. melissa, there are two levels to this. the first is staff behavior and second presidential behavior. clearly there is possibility to slow down some of the leaks, to create a sense of team work and discipline which would be

welcome and helpful to the president. the second is level of presidential action. you have to separate the two. i think the general can be very much more effective on the staff level. the president is the president. i do not see him changing. melissa: well, he might be more thoughtful though. if you think that, i bet it took a lot to convince the general to come over to take this job from the job that he had. and it seems like from various reports he was able to maybe tick off some of his conditions for coming over and doing that they might have been, you need to actually listen to the advice i'm giving you, because he doesn't want to come over to join something that doesn't have a high potential for success. what do you think? >> well, i think that is the optimistic read as we know and president trump says he is the best general he knows. he is the best strategist. so the president has a very strong sense developed over a successful business career what to do and how to do it and you know, i hope there is somebody who can encourage him, yes, you should tweet.

it is a great way to go around the press corps, but be mindful what you tweet. some of the biggest mistakes are his tweets that went too far. do twitter you about do it wisely. will he accept that? so far the lessons are unclear. he behaved in last couple months on it. but he has had some whoppers. melissa: if you were in the general's shoes, how would you phrase it to the president for making the best case what he should do right now? >> the interesting thing i learned about watching generals, they're very good giving orders below and giving orders above. that is why they become a general. general kelly, the new chief of staff, he is wear the staff reports to him and reports to the p. he needs to develop comradery with the president, which he already has and make it deeper and becomes the president's trusted advisor, before he does anything, get john in here, let me hear what he has to say.

that is measure of success for chief of staff. melissa: he gives him credit for smoothing out the homeland security situation. he was able to execute and call the whole situation down. maybe he will listen to him. we love having you on. thank you for coming on, we appreciate it. >> thank you. david: remember all the take news trump and kelly hated each other. melissa: hard to keep track. david: shows you there is so much misinformation out there. because now we find out they really do get along. melissa: of course. david: airlines are shrinking their seats size. melissa: again? david: just about any chance they get, yes again but is your safety at risk because of all this. details coming up. the trump administration and most republicans, most, looking to cut taxes even though some republicans are slow to get on board but can reluctant republicans be shamed into cutting taxes? congressman mark sanford will give us his take after the break. ♪ urt,

but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, we'll replace the full value of your car. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

david: senator lindsey graham issuing a dire warning about taxes if health care reform is not completed. take a listen. >> need to keep trying on health care. if we fail on health care we're going to fail on taxes. david: to weigh in on all of this republican congressman from south carolina, freedom caucus member, mark sanford. do you get what lindsey graham is saying because i don't, unless you're a believer in this pay-for system where, before you have a tax cut you have to somehow pay for it, which i don't buy into, do you? >> well i don't buy it into but the problem is the way reconciliation works it has to be budget neutral. so i suspect what the senator is getting at is again since reconciliation is the vehicle here for tax reform, and given that it requires budget neutrality, one of the things that was built in with health care is in essence over a trillion dollars pay-for.

when he is getting at if you don't have trillion dollars there, where do you get it? david: that whole revenue neutrality stuff is bunk. there is no bill exactly revenue neutral. it doesn't happen. you know that very well. maybe somewhere in somebody's head in harvard university or something, but in reality nothing is revenue neutral. it makes more money or less money. but never exactly the same. get rid of that myth? >> i'm with you there but there are a lot of myths out there that have longevity. david: this is what president trump was elected to do, to get rid of those myths that the people inside of the about the way live and die for which aren't true which are hurting americans. >> yeah, but, in other words i don't think this falls under the category of myth. this falls under the category of quasi-false advertising. i think most people think about tax cut, they think about taxes being cut. what is actually talked about, if if you look at the fine

print, not a cut in taxes overall but reshuffling of the cards with tax reform, so some people get maybe lower, little less in the way of taxes and some people pay a little bit more. david: congressman, i make it very simple. i've been through this since the reagan years, and i know you have too. it is very simple, we're talking about cutting tax rates. in the end some people may end up paying more because in fact they get all these deductions they wouldn't get anymore but the bottom line is, you have to go in there to cut the rates. until you do that the economy will go along in a sluggish way. the market may be popping because companies will make more money but middle level, and small level businesses are not going to gain until you start really getting serious about cutting rates. >> you are precisely right. it was interesting that the economists, i think it was martin feldstein years ago said the thing that you could do to most impact economic activity in this country or any country is to lower marginal rates. so i think that is ultimately what the republican plan is

based on. i think it is something that will begin activity and work come september. david: by the way, final word on this attempt by president trump to get some kind of discipline on health care reform. he wants to force people inside of congress and their staff to pony up and live under the obamacare rules as they were supposed to do back in 2010 when they agreed to apply to themselves the same rules that they were applying to everybody else. then president obama came in, gave them special 74% subsidy of all their health care bills. do you think the president you should do that to force people's hands? >> yeah. i mean ron desantis had the very amendment back years ago when this debate took place. i supported it. number of others supported it. largely congress lives on the exchange just as there is with any other employer-sponsored plan, there are corporate subsidies.

i'm not justifying that. i agree with it. but we should -- david: you have to apply the law to yourself. congressman, we have apple earnings right now. i'm so sorry to cut you short. we have to get to a break to get into the apple earnings. thanks so much for coming on, appreciate it. >> pleasure. melissa: offering no alternative. while michael moore is pointing finger at democratic party for president trump's growing support we'll talk to townhall.com political editor guy benson coming up. david: plus apple is on deck any moment. could excitement over the tech giant's 10th anniversary iphone hurt sales for this quarter? the numbers you need to know, they're coming out right after a short break. ♪ potsch: then i have a real treat for you today. michael: awesome. potsch: i'm going to show you a next generation pickup. michael: let's do this. potsch: this new truck now has a cornerstep built right into the bumper. gary: super cool. potsch: the bed is made of high-strength steel, which is less susceptible to punctures than aluminum. jim: aluminum is great for a lot of things, but maybe not the bed of a truck.

potsch: and best of all, this new truck is actually- gary: (all laughing) oh my... potsch: the current chevy silverado. gary: i'm speechless. gary: this puts my ford truck to shame. james: i'll tell you, i might be a chevy guy now. (laughing)

melissa: breaking news. apple is expected to report third quarter results any minute now. so what can we expect from the tech giant? here is fox business's connell mcshane. we have jonathan hoenig and gary kaltbaum back with us and a hot hardware editor-in-chief. dave, let me start with you. what is the number one thing to look for here? >> the number one thing to look for with apple, obviously in terms of earnings, it is an interesting thing. we're talking about a situation here where we're probably going into a traditional apple cycle where customers are holding off buying iphones right now. so numbers will come in a little bit soft to flat, and they're

anticipating the next generation iphone. that is the next big thing we're looking at for the sent-october time frame. melissa: jonathan, what is the number one thing you're looking for? is it unit sales in terms of handsets? is it revenue earnings? what are you looking for? forecasts? >> it is certainly whether they beat the forecasts and also as other guest alluded to, what does the forecast look for iphone 8. melissa: let me stop you there. numbers are coming in. hold that thought. let's go to connell. what do you see? >> reporter: seeing better than expected figures right off the bat, for apple. that in the most recent quarter means earnings on adjusted basis of 167 a share. that is 10 cents better than what wall street was looking for. so that is a good figure. on the revenue side of the equation they're better than expected 45.1 billion. wall street was looking for under 45. that is q3, their third quarter.

what the guys were alluding to even more important, the future, how are they guiding us to the all-important iphone 8 period? i have to tell you that is looking pretty good. they're giving as you range for fourth quarter revenue, they're saying, apple, that range is going to be between 49 billion and 52 billion. the low end of that range is the estimate. in other words, what wall street is looking for is around 49. that is what we've heard. they are saying they could get up as high as 52. so the read in there, if you were wondering with this iphone, this next iphone everybody keeps mying up, the iphone 8, would it be on time, would it be delayed? if you're reading between the lines, if they're guiding that high, they're most likely running on all cylinders and things are going better than expected. seems across the board, unless i'm missing something, as these numbers come across, melissa, to give you some context revenuewise, this is is the second best revenue quarter,

think about it, the second best revenue quarter in company history and this is usually a light period, this part of the year. so pretty good for apple. looks like the market agrees with that but the stock moving higher right away in after-hours trading. >> that is amazing the revenue number given the anticipation of this anniversary new phone coming out next quarter. you would think no one would be out there buying a phone. that would hurt it. that is pretty amazing. connell, thank you for that. david: okay, jonathan, gary, dave are back with us. gary, the revenue forecast, let me deal with that first. i see, "the wall street journal" says they were expecting 44.8 billion as their suggested revenue forecast for the next quarter. came in 49 to 52. that is a huge jump. they are expecting in my eyes huge sales numbers from their iphone 8, right? >> two things here. the fact that they were able to beat pretty handily in this quarter when people typically are waiting on the next phone is really good news, and the fact

that they're flipping the numbers higher i suspect the market will be pretty happy. i think there are 79 analysts that cover apple. i think they all have smiles on their face and drinking shots of tequila right now. david: i agree. connell has more news on it. go ahead, connell. reporter: david, to add to what we already said and figures that are most important, we talk about iphones, obviously that is the biggest part of their business, apple is doing pretty well in other parts of its business. the ipad business and even mac computers there are strong numbers there as well maybe you wouldn't expect in such a smartphone dominated world. mac sales up 6.7% in the quarter. how about this, for the first time in 14 quarters, ipad shipments went up, rising by 15%. so there is talk maybe people are moving over to just doing all of their work on their phone, not really being interested in using a tablet even if it is an ipad or ipad pro, these numbers would suggest otherwise.

not only does apple guide us higher with the next quarter people look closely because of the iphone 8 but other parts of the business, mac and ipad business look fairly strong, guys. david: let's not bury the lead which is at bottom of your screen there, looking after-hours. this is jump of 4% for apple. considering how widely it is held this is significant for everybody out there that has a 401(k), particularly if you own apple specifically. jonathan is a 4% move going to move the whole market tomorrow? >> david, apple is the whole market. you could easily say as apple goes certainly technology and broader market itself. apple is dominant force in u.s. technology. the pop, the pop after-hours for apple will indicate higher open not just for u.s. shares tomorrow morning but global technology shares overnight in asia as well. melissa: some people are practically glued to their

iphones, but what would it take to get them to switch phones? our producers hit the streets to find out. >> what would it take for you give up your apple iphone? >> off the top of my head? a lot of money. >> other phones would have to be cheaper. >> i'm kind of addicted. it would have to be a lot. >> nothing i could switch. i love my iphones. i really love it. >> i absolutely don't think i would get rid of my iphone. you i don't think there is anything they could possibly do. melissa: dave, what do you think about that? they created a whole echo system, like someone like myself, takinginpictures and social media, there is not tons of things you can't do in a group if you're not on the iphone with everyone else? do they have us captured and cornered? >> they have done a very good job keeping folks in their ecosystem. that is apple's strength. when you think what is coming up with the next generation iphone 8 there are a lost upgrades that could entice

people across the aisle to purchase and that would be a better display. we have heard rumors. an oled display, higher brightness, better saturation, higher contrast display type with thinner bezels. we're expecting that. making better use of the display area. good bells and whistles coming into the iphone 8 even facial recognition. cutting-edge technology coming on line we're sharing rumors as well. melissa: go to connell. he has a little more -- for us -- >> it is interesting. first of all they beat more iphone unit sales -- melissa: something going on is with connell's mic there. we desperately need him. we hope he gets that figured out. jonathan, let me ask you, one of the problems in china right now, they say that huge market for apple but that people are more interested in the apps that they're using. that is what the real driver is, to chat with each other. to chat for free. less about the device there.

that is why they're struggling with market share. there are people here in the u.s. like whatever, i'm looking for what is cheap. i will take a samsung, whatever i'm getting from the mobile phone carrier. is this going to be a bigger problem? >> well certainly a challenge. we talk about the dominance of apple's iphone, keep in mind as we pointed out this is only a product that is 10 years old. now the company has 70% of all of apple's revenue. melissa, that competition will continue to intensify not only in china which is apple's number one growth market but here at home a lot of competition digging at their heels. the stock has outperformed. it is up after-hours once again. this stock dramatically outperformed. it will look forward once again is the iphone 8 really going to deliver all this tremendous anticipation to power the market and apple even higher from these already very lofty levels. david: made in the usa is not something you associate with apple. president trump telling

"wall street journal," that apple ceo tim cook hat questioned, promised to build three big beautiful plants in the u.s. this as the tech giant reportedly spent record $2.2 million on lobbying, influence issues like taxes, surveillance reform. gary, the big question is, tim cook hasn't necessarily responded to what president trump said he said. are we to believe -- that is three big plants. they have only one plant right now. that is in ireland. if they build three big plants in the u.s., that's news. >> the word isn't necessarily, tim cook has not responded in any way, shape or form. but if they do, it is great news. it is simply more johnson. when apple builds something, go look what they just built in california, they pretty much mean business. so that would be fabulous news to this country and typically other tech companies could follow. david: yeah. by the way, jonathan, we still haven't gotten number of, how much cash they have on hand.

that usually goes up every single quarter. >> lots of cash. david: $250 billion in cash. here is the question. 250 billion, if they get a tax deduction, if the president negotiates some deal you bring this money back, you build three plants, we'll give you a huge tax deduction, do you think tim cook would go for it? >> i think many american companies, david, as you pointed out. tens and hundreds of billions of dollars in cash appleand all these very successful high-tech companies parked overseas. david: right. >> if trump can accomplish anything, reducing that tax implication could be a major boon for apple, u.s. companies and for the economy. david: and for jobs. critically for jobs as well of. gentlemen, good stuff. appreciate it. melissa: so dragged from their homes in the middle of the night, the effort to silence opposition leaders in venezuela. plus preparing a response to north korea, how the united states is planning to combat the latest threat from the rogue

regime as officials are warning its missiles could reach most of u.s. next retired lieutenant colonel oliver north responds.

melissa: here is another look at shares of apple. david: wow. there is goes. melissa: up 5% after hours with beat on third quarter earnings and revenues. this is the company's second highest quarter for revenue in its history. apple citing revenue for the next quarter that would be higher than expected. [shouting] david: this is extraordinary footage. what you're hearing and seeing, actual abduction of opposition leaders in venezuela. after sanctions were announced on the country's president nicolas maduro. host of "war stories," oliver north joins now.

colonel north, you know a thing or go about supporting democracy movements in latin america. you did a lot in that regard in central america back in the '80s. here you do have an organized political opposition that was working within a democracy until last weekend. how do you support it? do you support it in terms of just cash? do you actually get involved in thinking of how to overthrow this dictatorship or what? >> well, look it, maduro's response to the sanctions that have been imposed upon him was to go on the air to say the threats and sanctions of the empire don't intimidate me. he went on, bring on more sanctions, donald trump. so obviously he is not affected by what just transpired. last night's arrest of the two prominent leaders of the democratic opposition, former caracas councilman lopez and former mayor antonio ledezma.

if you're involved in the opposition you could be arrested. there are thousands, including some 160 who have been killed because of their opposition. the oas is toothless. we're paying price for obama's administration benign neglect what is going on in this hemisphere. our options sanctions against maduro alone are meaningless. sanctions against the new constitutional assembly could be effective. before you take down the oil, quite frankly it would drive the price of oil, gasoline up here in the united states, it will make opec happy but bottom line of it, venezuela's economy is already in the toilet. so what you do you go after by name, of all those who just got elected to this totally sham assembly to draw up the new constitution before, you got to remember, before maduro can go ahead start taking americans. there are 25,000 or more

american citizens and dual nationals in venezuela. not a good sign. david: sticky situation. how to stop north korea's nuclear race is becoming more critical. less than a week after its longest traveling intercontinental ballistic missile test was completed. the u.s. air force is announcing it is planning to conduct a long-range missile test of its own tomorrow morning. colonel north is still with us. as for china, which we were sort of relying on somewhat to curb north korea's nuclear ambitions, the president said the following in two sunday tweets. he said i'm very disappointed in china. our foolish past leaders allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade yet they do nothing for us with north korea, just talk. we will no longer allow this to continue. china could easily solve this problem but what stick should we apply to china to force their hand, colonel? >> well, it is very sim is pell. you can't make a light bulb in

north korea but they can build nuclear weapons. you can't make a tire for a truck or a munitions carrier or any of that in north korea but you can in china. so the answer is to be very targeted about what you're going to do. the south african sanctions back in the '70s under carter actually worked t brought about regime change they were trying to do. whether you like it or not they're effective. there needs to be these very targeted sanctions, just like we talked about with venezuela. there are individuals in china who make money providing parts, equipment and all the kinds of things that they need. that is who we have to go. that is for steven mnuchin. david: i have to go. i have to ask you before we do if the sanctions don't work will we have to take a militarily offensive measure to stop them from going the distance and getting icbms with nukes on them? >> look it, you are the dad of a marine and i am a marine. the last option ought to be military force but it ought not

to be taken off the table. david: leave it at that. colonel oliver north. >> you got my answer, buddy. david: thank you very much. melissa: more than just a better deal for americans. new warning for democrats if they want to win back the white house, and it doesn't involve resisting the president. ♪ fy nose? fy nose? can't sleep? take that. a breathe right nasal strip instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than allergy medicine alone. shut your mouth and say goodnight, mouthbreathers. breathe right. wheyou wantve somto protect it.e, at legalzoom, our network of attorneys can help you every step of the way. with an estate plan including wills or a living trust that grows along with you and your family. legalzoom. legal help is here.

what should i watch? show me sports. it's so fluffy! look at that fluffy unicorn! he's so fluffy i'm gonna die! your voice is awesome. the x1 voice remote. xfinity. the future of awesome.

melissa: democrats continuing to blast the republican party but michael moore has harsh reality for those on the left looking to win back majority in congress. >> democrats have yet to offer what alternative is and as we sit here today do you see, even for people we'll take the house back. >> right. >> really? where are all those great candidates for next year? melissa: about the candidates. guy benson, townhall.com political editor, coauthor of

the new book, end of discussion. i was going to say, i was going hold it up. christie setzer, new heights communications president. we got the plug in. we're all good. guy, is it all about the candidate? >> i think it is about the candidate and national mood. i understand why democrats might think they're heading into a great november next year because at the moment the president is not that popular across the board. however, in a lot of these swing districts where democrats would need to win a lot of seats he is more popular than he is nationally. and what do the democrats stand for? there is a poll came out a few weeks ago show the majority of voters believe that the democrats only are against trump. don't have an agenda of their own, and crappy garbage new slogan will not fix that. melissa: you know what will fix it? roll the clip, guys. shows us what will fix it? sound bite. >> i am a master legislator. i know the budget to the innth degree. i feel very confident about the

support i have in my caucus. i have never, i have never not been opposed within my caucus. melissa: christie, she is like the queen. this is how the queen, when the queen waves to people, do you think that nancy pelosi in touch with most of america? >> i don't think that people know, kind of what to do with nancy pelosi in terms of whether, i don't mean it like that. whether to think she is terrible or amazing. the truth is, of course under her watch democrats have lost a lot of house seats. at the same time she keeps her party in line. that is something that i think frankly is to be applauded. so, i think it is something to do honestly with women in positionof power. we saw the same thing with hillary clinton. who was neither an amazing candidate or a terrible candidate. she was frankly an average candidate. to listen to most people she was one of the extremes. melissa: so, guy, i think that, kind of what she was saying there, but i may put it in more stark terms, nancy pelosi has a death grip on this party because

she controls so much money. she is able to raise endless amounts money. she knows where all the bodies are buried. they can't get rid of her. she represents 1% really controls the democratic party, uber rich elite liberals. >> like her. melissa: just like her, from california, from hollywood, from silicon valley, from new york, you know, these are the incredibly wealthy people who are totally out of touch with anyone who works for a living. >> nancy pelosi is an extremely -- >> harsh, melissa. >> extremely polarizing figure in the country and i talk to republican stratgifts, people at nrcc elsewhere, they look at data, she is a huge asset to republicans. she is is did liked and motivating among the republican base. she is also disliked and motivating among independents. i think republicans should be rooting for nancy pelosi to remain in her position until kingdom come. may she rein forever and ever. melissa: christie, if the right candidate came out you could

still leave nancy pelosi there raising money, keeping people in line, doing what she does very well, those two things without question. it goes back you need a new messenger to come out to speak to people who work for a living? >> look, yes and no. i think that republicans will demonize anybody who is in the role that she is in. melissa: of course. >> i think, they are. of course. melissa: yeah. >> you know i think when there are ways to effectively use nancy pelosi as a foil, as in the georgia 6 race we saw where it was oh, no, the democratic candidate will be just like nancy pelosi, then i think republicans are going to do that but, i don't think we need a new candidate in her place. i don't think that that she has become too toxic. i think she still has as you said, not a death grip on the party but i think she leads it effectively. melissa: okay. we'll see. stick with that. thanks, guys. >> she does. she gets things done.

david: here is another look at apple, tech giant is up more than 5% after-hours, driven by better than expected third quarter earnings. company's revenue jumping more than 7% from year earlier. best growth in seven years. apple citing increase in iphone, ipad, mac products whole lot of it for the quarter. apple's postmarket gain on track to add 5points to the dow just on open. who knows what will happen by end of the day. we'll be right back. stay with us.

♪

melissa: breaking news for you right now. jeff, the costco cofounder and chairman of the chairman of the board died this morning. our thoughts go out to his family. thoughts and prayers. you can see the stock right there. david: rest in peace. meanwhile, live pictures from capitol hill. the senate is voting right now to confirm christopher ray as the new fbi director. when you think of everything that has happened with regard to the office of the fbi, this

is kind of the topper, of course, lord knows if it will end there. melissa: yeah, very interesting, and we still have a lot of positions empty as well. they got a lot of work to do there. david: they do indeed. melissa: that does it for us. david: risk and reward starts right now. trump: we're going to win so much, you may even get tired of winning and say, please, please, it's too much winning. we can't take it anymore. mr. president, it's too much, and i'll say, no, it isn't. we have to keep winning. we have to win more. . liz: forget the dc swamp, investors are winning. the dow at a new all-time high today as it is within striking distance of an historic 22,000 mark. the bulls are on the march and the bears are on the run as tax cuts talk heat up in washington. and the world's richest company apple reporting profits for the period rose nearly 12% to more than $8.7 billion just after the bell. look at the action in apple up