>> many thanks to heather, mitch and ryan. it was terrific spending the morning with you. i'm going to make you to eat what you said about the president rallies about these campaign style rally is. tweet that out on twitter. right now, stuart varney. stuart: i will take it. the features that are the showdown in september. it is trump versus the congress. good morning, everyone. the president has laid down the law. pass my agenda appeared he was speaking forcefully right at congress. he is using the presidential holy pulpit in the political class on political class unnoticed. two weeks from now, congress returns in the firestorm begins. they have 12 days to authorize more government are going to pass a budget. then, tax cuts, infrastructure plus something about the collapsing of obamacare. if you think it's hot now, just

wait. the pressing issue today for tens of millions of americans as hurricane rv. it's not the wind that is struggling, it's the rain. over texas and louisiana dumping 20 inches or more. serious flooding predict it. there's one winner winner. $759 million. the winning ticket bought in massachusetts. if he or she takes a lump-sum payment, it will be around 450 million. then, it will be taxed by massachusetts. the actual payout, $250 million. the feds and everybody else get the half a million. what a deal. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪

stuart: i thought i recognize that. "varney & company" in the background. that's pretty cool. congress comes back in september with the scant 12 days to get a budget and a debt ceiling done. with that as the backdrop, where are we going to open this market today? s. come on the upside. maybe the two sides are beginning to get together. we'll be up 60 points in the opening bell. we've got a date, september 12th. apple inching up in the head of that revelation. seniors who used to play the oregon music here. up about 7%. sales continue to slide. they are going to close an additional 28 kmart stores, but they lost less money than wall

street. ashley: i guess that's a good thing. stuart: $9 a share. let's get serious now. a hurricane warning in effect for the gulf coast of texas. tropical storm harvey approaching and is expected to bring a lot of rain. that is the tory. fox news meteorologist janice dean is with us. how much rain are we talking about? >> a concerning amount of rain into louisiana. tropical storm right now i expect within the next six to 12 hours we will be dealing with the hurricane as we are seeing rapid intensification, waters in the gulf of mexico, very warm. nothing deter the storm apart. the storm is forecast to stall off the coast. the friends across texas, operates rain, forecast models are actually showing the storm

stalling, but making perhaps a second landfall next week. this is a store and that need to pay attention to. local officials planning right now i'm possibly making evacuation plan along the coast. you need to heed the warnings. this is a big deal regardless of classification. you see some of these forecast models here offshore is to get into the weekend. this is a big storm, a big problem, big flooding event. stuart: you are so right, janice. very important subject. >> two feet. >> what about the storm surge. let's go to politics. the women's slowdown in september, trump versus congress. i think the president is winning politically.

congress looks weak. >> i completely agree with you. what you saw in the spring was nothing compared to what we see in the fall. the president had the failure by congress to pass and a very strong message. you've got to make sure the border while funding is in their and he would push for a government shutdown. it is well deserved quite frankly. >> what you make of these noncompetitive tweaked, but competitive statement that president trump is sort of plane crew by yacht and saying we have shared goals. mitch mcconnell saying something very similar, shared goals that they are trying to patch over the big disruption a few weeks ago.

what do you make of that? >> they need each other to succeed. if it does not pass through, if it's border while funding does not pass, you are talking about political trouble in 2018. for the president and republicans, losing eight in the midterm election, which we know is that oracle trend, where the party in charge of losing seats is vital republicans are able to show that they can govern and they have failed to do so so far appeared no wonder they've gotten so frustrated with mitch mcconnell. train to the states are as high as this. the next session of congress between september and the end of that session. i think that makes or breaks the gop. it makes or breaks the term presidency and makes or breaks the party and republicans

especially in 2018. it is that big. >> i do believe so. your analysis is straight on. this is the opportunity. this is where the president has most logical capital. this is something the president clearly understands, knows how to talk about. he is very strong individuals in place who are helping to shepherd the process in congress. they do have shared goals. so now it is a matter of acting. now it is that at least part of the legislation not sure if they can do the whole thing gets passed. that is going to be the biggest challenge we will see this fall. in addition to a jampacked schedule where you have the budget, which as we know. >> i've got to run. i've got a market to deal with. >> i've got the president and

congress over here. we are going to go up the opening bell. let's get to the economy because for the first time in a decade, the world's major economies outgrowing insync at the same time. brian brandenberg is here, professor at the king's college in new york city. i would've thought that was good news for us. >> it is. it is what got stock markets growing. we should've seen this years and years ago. true to cheer up, brenberg. >> we are starting on a decade day. >> three points i presented the global economy is really not great. they have such high standards here. >> europe is growing. >> japan is growing. >> the problem is we are saying i can't remember -- that's how bad it was. >> is a plus.

3.5%. prosperity is more than 4% across the globe. europe's unemployment rate is near 2%, though. stuart: it's been 10% per generation. >> let's all celebrate. you are on the show because i was delivering good news. i thought you might follow through on it. do you think that this worldwide growth has got something to do with the dow going up 60 points? >> of course. >> stayed there and i will maybe come back to you. all of this serious stuff. north korea, kim jong sub one continues to ramp up, stepping up production of rocket engines and warhead tips. more on that coming up. the new galaxy a poll released yesterday. there it is.

should you go out and buy one of these things right now or wait for the new iphone to come out september 12th? we'll ask a question today and get an answer, too. we have to show you this. you will love this. a mother and her two children do an interview on british tv news. they were supposed to be talking about milk allergies but the segment quickly went off the rails. watch it and weep. >> joining me now, you're feeling pretty safe. you are looking pretty fair. now on the desk. >> thank you for a much indeed for coming in. now, foot tall just a few moments we will have a more peaceful time is 6:30. from all of us come a very good afternoon to you. hi, bye. flonase outperforms the #1 non-drowsy allergy pill. when we breathe in allergens,

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true to the korea, kim jong un

with intercontinental ballistic missile part. photos i believe suggested a new missile design. >> debut. he's visiting mr. kim jong un, the academy of defense for. how about that? you can see in the background picture of what they believe to be a pk three or polaris missile to be the latest in the arsenal of north korea. guess we understand they're ordering your rockets for the icbms and all of its kind ruling in the week after they again start to put out all rhetoric against the united states and south korea who we look at military exercises saying we will retaliate him and so on. it is a situation where he thought it was dying down just a little bit, but never. it appears they are. train to if and when they launch. thanks very much. our next guest talking retail

ice age here. there will be two, three big retail losers. they are jcpenney, sears and kmart. former chief of wal-mart u.s.a. you say that these three companies are just going out. >> is going to be tough for them. they've got a lot of work to do. >> are you saying they are gone? they are going to fade away, go out of business, disappeared that bad? >> companies that are differentiated today, that are not famous for something, stuck in the middle will find it really difficult to move forward. they are not the cheapest. they're not the trendiest. they are not the hippest. they don't have the most distribution points. they are losing their reason to reestablish the to continue on

for the long run. >> i read your stuff and are saying online sales will eventually reach of all sales to, all retail sales will be conducted online. >> it seems like a very small number to me. >> basso people would like you to think. virtually everything will be influenced at online. they go pick it up. get it at the corner of the drugstore. so there will be a lot of transactions that are enabled by technology and technology is critical going forward. they are going to go away, kind of like the dinosaur. just not going to happen. stuart: is wal-mart emerging as the winner of the bricks and

mortar stores, they are the ones emerging as the winners with amazon? >> well, they had done very well. they reinvent themselves with acquisitions and strategy. keep in mind, they peaked in operating income of 29 billion last year it was under 23 billion. they've invested a substantial amount of money and as long as they are bored and investors give them permission to do that, they will be very aggressive. others haven't done that and found a way to respond. >> they've done a good job. bill simon. another retailer with tattoo williams-sonoma, better profit. of 7% as we speak. abercrombie lost $15 million. when you lose less in your stock

goes up 13% in this case. look at some of them old ladies. all over this story. he shares a name with a confederate general. here's the latest on that. espn has released a new statement, blaming everything on that amount. we will be back. out type 2 diab. you have type 2 diabetes, right? yes. so let me ask you this... how does diabetes affect your heart? it doesn't, does it? actually, it does. type 2 diabetes can make you twice as likely to die from a cardiovascular event, like a heart attack or stroke. and with heart disease, your risk is even higher. you didn't know that. no. yeah. but, wait, there's good news for adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

jardiance is the only type 2 diabetes pill with a lifesaving cardiovascular benefit. jardiance is proven to both significantly reduce the chance of dying from a cardiovascular event in adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease and lower your a1c. jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration. this may cause you to feel dizzy, faint, or lightheaded, or weak upon standing. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. symptoms include nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, and trouble breathing. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis or an allergic reaction. symptoms of an allergic reaction include rash, swelling, and difficulty breathing or swallowing. do not take jardiance if you are on dialysis or have severe kidney problems. other side effects are sudden kidney problems, genital yeast infections, increased bad cholesterol, and urinary tract infections, which may be serious. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you have any medical conditions. so now that you know all that, what do you think? that it's time to think about jardiance. ask your doctor about jardiance.

and get to the heart of what matters.

stuart: breaking news. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell speaking this morning in kentucky since tax reform will get dead this congress. that means this year. >> i think we'll be able to produce a much better tax code. it will make a huge difference to our country and it will be done during this congress. stuart: he said i think we will be able to do that. different from pounding the table. no question about it. that is not yet factored into the futures market. earlier we had the dow up 60 points. now we're at 56. they be bad news for mcconnell he think we'll get it done. maybe that helps.

stuart: it's like saying i hope. how many times are they going to move the goalposts here? just get it over the finish line, will you? >> just do it. >> that is different from my thing. i stand corrected i guess. stuart: are you going to give me the sad trombone? maybe i've made a slight error. espn issuing a statement on robert lee controversy. there was a question as to whether in this divisive times robert's assignment will create

a distraction or even worse to hectoring. since robert was the primary concern he expressed some personal trepidation about the assignment. ashley: this is a this is the younger of his bosses come to them and says hey look, maybe this may not be such a good idea. what is he going to do? i better do something else. >> they are putting the blame. i see taking responsibility. >> what is that the pc panic? >> that's another online. >> it doesn't study that much. i am kidding. it remains with us. >> @espn wanted to protect him

from espn trolling. you will get more attention than if they would've just let into the program. it will backfire exactly the way they wanted. stuart: i've got more news, more organizations, companies reporting their profits. this is for now. they gave a weak outlook and so the stock is down 7%. that is a very big draw. lest we forget. do you happen to know? hawaii. profit hit by lower coffee sales. remember, they make folders. 112 down six bucks, 5% lower. still holding onto a 6% gain. that is how the data will open in four-point five minutes. s&p upcoming nasdaq up nicely

too. we are going up for point i've minutes now.

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(con artists...) they'll try anything to get your medicare card number.

so they can steal your identity, commit medicare fraud. what can you do? guard your card? guard your card? just like your credit card. nobody gets my number, unless i know they should have it. to protect your identity, new medicare cards without social security numbers will be mailed next year. visit medicare.gov/fraud stay sharp people! stuart: coming up to the opening bell this thursday morning. the dow closed yesterday at 21,800 almost precisely 300

points away from its all-time record high. so you think we been up and down recently. probably down that much, still 300 from 22 in change. we are about to open this morning come expecting a gain of 40, 50, 60 points. stuart: a momentary blip or a bear pit of 35 points. 35, 36. we open higher in here on the left-hand side, how about the s&p 500 about the same mao. and the nasdaq with a bigger gain higher there. we've opened up, good morning all across the board. we are. sales down and it's more kmart stores but because it lost less money than expected.

>> they've got to know that if their market value. thank you. i love being does. >> it is a technical term. stuart: let's have a look at apple. expect they are going to reveal the new iphone on september 12th. we are walking up to the big reveal. often in these cases, apple stock goes up as you approach the new iphone. we have this, too. the good senator from nevada, the republican member of the senate finance committee faced an overhaul of the tax code will pass this year on christmas eve to be precise. early this morning, mitch mcconnell said he believes, he says tax reform will happen in

this congress. stuart: what were they talking about? >> ashley is here, loses here. keith fitzgerald from bermuda. a full screen. let me ask you this. do investors believe that we will get a tax cut this year. f. >> they don't believe the great pumpkin will show up either. ge has $30 billion of unfunded pension liability, $90 million. investors lied about it every other day. i don't know why this is different. trained to do investors believe we will get a tax cut this year? >> after mcconnell and heller

stephen big-time tax cut to christmas eve. that is a last-ditch language that tells people it's not going to happen. stuart: you know what -- ashley: it's not going to happen. >> the way things look based on what. >> i agree. >> it really does look like it's running out. we are in for an extraordinary performance in congress and in the white house in september, october. >> they go back to their home districts of zero. >> i'm looking at retailers as some of the big-name supporting their numbers this morning.

tiffany, sears, williams-sonoma. they are on the screen. all of them up along with series, they are all love. the ones on the screen, would you buy any of them at these prices? >> these guys have against amazon. these guys are headed for the tar pit. i wouldn't bet on any company. stuart: dramatic stuff. >> i take it one step further. anything they are doing is a hail mary pass and they are trying to give it to amazon. >> works in mortar is dead. do you think that? >> bid 60% increase in online sales. ashley: brick and mortar is bad. i think they need to change their stores.

it is still brick-and-mortar. stuart: what do you say? >> so what, if you buy it online and you're going to pick it up from you still initiated online. if you're going to pick it up and look at it online, you are still online. you still have to go there, but it is coming with even three quarters of sales within five years. >> at the revolution in retailing. five and a half minutes into the trading sector. up 52 points, 21,865. the margins will pc as in computers, not politically correct. hurting the margin at hewlett-packard up a fraction, 1%. strong numbers that dollar tree. there's another retailer doing well. 8% bear, $6 gain. poor malice wayside is this spam people. they are down 8%.

smucker cut their profit. their margins were cut because of poppies sales and higher marketing costs. smokers down 6%. big moves today. blue apron not doing well, and $5 per share. but, snap, and other recent ipo of 25% since hitting an all-time low august the 11th and they've come back 15 bucks a share as of this morning. do you like either of them? snapple, grew a brain? >> neither of them. i hate to be such a curmudgeon, that amazon in whole foods are trying to be everything to everybody. at the end of the day, that's the end of it. >> do you go back to the five big tech stocks? that is what everybody keeps talking about. the fabulous run out.

that is what everybody is coming back to. facebook did not win nfl streaming rights, but it will stream 15 college football games this fall. facebook at 169. >> he was a great news, but we are talking about nine conference u.s.a. games, so you really want to catch that was the state utah game you are in luck on facebook. i am just pointing out that unless you had to do schools, it's probably not a high draw college football game. nevertheless, getting into live sports streaming, this is a start. >> the names of those teams will be different. this is just a toe in the water, but they are not going back. liz: nba baseball and softball. >> you guys are absolutely on

point at the start of something big at every company were small and including microsoft, google, facebook and for them to get into this, anybody that thinks espn, for example as they concern relating to pay attention to news like this because this is how it starts. pretty soon the door opens and here they come. ashley: one last point, they are seen elsewhere as well. in this case it is unique to facebook. they actually got their exclusive right. >> here's a story about the concentration of wealth. the richest people in technology, 100 of them are worth a trillion dollars. we see this all the time. this is technology, which is a massive wealth creator but doesn't create a whole bunch of jobs. they concentrate wealth. >> you don't need a lot of people to create snap. you don't need a lot of people to create instagram. it's a big win for you. >> the 100 richest technology

people are worth a trillion dollars. a thousand billion dollars. that's a lot of money. powerball, single winning ticket. $758.7 million sold in massachusetts. i want to go around the block. how would you advise the winner to invest the money? >> first thing you want to do is not lose it. second thing is change up your tactic so it's not in one basket. the third thing starts with a balance, so you've got your safety cover. then go after the stocks because the growth of normal. >> it's as boring as it gets. >> i'm starting to get us over the vote. i am a little worried here. i think all majors to me are what is big. i think chevron is great. the oecd going at one time for the first time since 2007.

stuart: what you say, brian? >> someone who says no every time you spend the money. you've got to know -- the truth is most people don't take the money all at once. >> you are saying don't take the cash payout, spread it over 20 years. you do realize, do you know what happens if you died? >> i know. the irs is your taxes do all of our future do now. >> the problem is how many people go bankrupt within 10 years avoiding this anyway, 15 years of winning anyway. you may as well spend money over a longer term. >> that is my point. you take the cash. >> in the 10% consulting fee. it is you making no more land.

liz: you know what i do? i would buy the capitol hill building and turn it in the quickest way to shut down. i know you did. >> the show has a friday. even though it's thursday. i want to thank john, keith, brian. all good stuff, got it. where are we? holding onto a very modest gain, 30 points higher, 21 and 45. paypal briefly blocking the account of the anti-islamic website, jihad watch. this has the leftist groups complained that the website showed extreme hostility towards muslims. we are going to talk to the man who runs jihad watching the 11:00 hour this morning. oregon's plan to give free college tuition, community college tuition backfired. the state is running out of money to pay for it. we are on it after this. ♪

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stuart: this is a very modest gain. 27 points higher, but we do have jewelers, a very big winner, 20% higher. gerri willis at the new york exchange with ice. >> this is a big winner as you say, what are they doing right online. today in earnings announcement, with bricks and mortar retailers to online. the company that sells online also bps higher dollar 33 cents a share that beat expectations. they boosted their guidance and why? i thought, e-commerce sales are up 18%.

in a retail environment, what's going on with cigna jewelers? they are finding ways to sell jewels online and they are very successful with it. train to gerri willis, thank you indeed. strong words from the president on the border wall. roll that tape. >> now the obstructionist democrats would like us not to do it, but believe me we have to close down our government. we are building the wall. trade to david williams is with us. he said the taxpayer protection alliance. if you had to choose as a member of the taxpayer alliance that your organization, which would you have? the wall or tax cuts? >> is the president of the taxpayer protection alliance and also as the also as the city's income is someone who 15, i want tax reform. tax reform will have an impact in the economy and everyday lives than a border wall.

individual tax reform, 4 million words a 587,000 words. we need to get rid of the tax code or pare it down a lot. we had the highest corporate tax rate. cameron has 35, the 41 year advanced state taxes. stuart: you think this pledge to build the wall or shut down the government, will that be in the way of tax cuts later? not because of the time it takes, but because of the animosity they will have talking about shutting down the government. tax reform is something democrats and republicans should want because this is going to help us economically, help give us more time if we have to fill out a all these forms. he doesn't like mitch mcconnell and this is going to be a really good way.

i want to shut down the government to do what i want to do. it's misguided and not going to help the economy. we do it for one or two weeks and there is no savings. we don't get any savings are shutting down the government. i think it's misguided. between jewish and not get in the way. now this. the state of oregon cutting back on their pledge to free community college. here is what they are saying. due to high turnout for the program and limited funding to meet projected cost, new applicants will see changes for eligibility requirements. in other words, if you make too much money, it ain't going to be free. you've got to pay. there's absolutely nothing under the sun that is free. they are down the road. that is my statement. what is yours? >> is no such thing as a free lunch or free education.

it has to come from somewhere. this comes from oregon taxpayers. raising the eligibility requirements is great. this program should be in place to begin with. there's enough money for people to get an education. you know this. education distorts the market. this has been happening for 30, 40 years for the more the federal government gets involved in something, the higher the cost fire. there's a lot of parallels here. oregon is raising eligibility requirements. if that's your only thing to do. how about get rid of the program? you can save a lot of money. >> i am going to quote p.j. o'rourke. you know what is coming. if you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it is free. we should all remember that the next time anybody gives a something for free. thanks for joining us. appreciate it. check the dow 30, holding onto a

gain of a mere 20 points. 21,833. the new iphone will debut next month. samsung's latest smartphones is already on sale. that is what is sitting right there live on our sets. here's a question. and since i'm about to give apple a run for its money? got you outnumbered.

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stuart: valery claim wants to ban the president from twitter. how she going to do that? the cia officer whose name was leaked. how she going to get the president of twitter? >> she wants to buy twitter to ben trott. she is singing as she can't raise back, i want a controlling date of $1 billion. she is saying his treats damage the country with the war with north korea. a new galaxy phone. the note eight should be a success. mark spooner is with us.

thomas guide editor in chief. i want to start with a list of bullet points. >> you are getting a huge screen, the biggest sun ever had. dual cameras on the back and they actually outdo the iphone and that means even a true optical zoom. it allows you to take notes when the screen is off. >> there is a built-in. they can do some pretty cool things with it. for example, the life message feature and it turns your scribbles into a little video with your friends in the background they are. so i could send this out on facebook or other ops. the other person will see that on therein. it is totally beyond me.

i would not be buying that phone that you can send. which would you buy? >> based on rumors because it is not out yet, the iphone eight might outdo samsung in terms of innovation because what i hear in terms of outmoded reality. pokémon go and what you can do to capture these things in the wild, what happens when you get on the technology and the apps. receiving developers now. that can be the wow her. a lot of other ways catching up to samsung in terms of the bigger screen with the cameras. samsung has the best camera on the market and this will continue to be the case because of what we have done with this. a better sense of what you can do with the dual screen. i can launch to upset the same time. multitasking they really have to

beyond what you could do with the bigger screen. i do think it's going to be a huge contest this fall between those two heavyweights. stuart: how much for that? >> you will start at $930. we are getting very close to the thousand dollar smartphone. >> thanks for joining us. coming up, hillary clinton in the election last year. she uses the word creep to describe the president during the second debate. we are all over that one. plus, president trump says build the war. if we actually need a war. remember, please. illegal crossings are way down.l our two of "varney & company" coming up. that cause symptoms. pills block one and 6 is greater than 1.

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stuart: you will not read this in "the new york times." democrat party is a mess.

it is leaderless, it is bitterly divided, and now it has to deal with a failed presidential candidate who will not go away. hillary clinton. she was a book come out. what she says in it will not make democrats happy. she blames russia. she blames the fbi's james comey for her stunning defeat. what is making headlines her account of the second presidential debate. this is the encounter where the two candidates could walk around the stage. clinton says trump was looming behind her, breathing down her neck. she says she didn't know what to do, or turn around and say, back off you creep. two quick points, she had prepared for the debate using an aide whose job it was to rattle her. she couldn't see trump coming? she hadn't prepared for his physical presence? regardless whether it was looming or not? that is kind of a metaphor for

her poorly organized campaign. this use of the word looming. that is another metaphor. she couldn't see trump looming in the campaign, steadily gaining ground while she took time off raising money in august for the elites encamped in the hamptons? the gossip from democrats is, please, go away. senator schumer said as much, when he said she blamed everyone but herself. so why is she doing this? i am going to speculate. hillary clinton can't get over losing to a man like donald trump. she can't believe she lost to him. so she scrambles to deflect the blame, and in hindsight calls him names. no wonder democrats walk away, shaking their heads, hoping soon she really will be gone. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪

news is breaking as we speak. existing home numbers, very important for realtors. ashley: down 3.1% month over month. -- 1.%. new home sales were down 9% month to month. uneven in the housing market. not great. stuart: part of the reason might be there are not many homes on the market which can be sold. ashley: no. prices are up 6% because of the weak inventory. stuart: liz, we have the latest mortgage numbers. liz: hit low for the year, 3.86%. to hit your point, mortgage apps are trending flat and refis are down year-over-year. housing prices gone up every quarter last six years. housing inventory going down 25 months straight. stuart: makes houses more affordable when you have a 3.68% 30-year mortgage?

ashley: because rising house prices because people are not selling. kind of offsets each other. stuart: hard to read the market. if i won the lottery i would buy real estate. check this one out, pvh, the parent company of tommy hilfiger, calvin klein, they made a lot of money. that stock is up 4.8%. nice gain for pvh. smucker hit a two-year low. that is the stock price, reported lower profit i should say, it is down 7.9%, taking a big hit, two-year low. tiffany, it got a price target increase from credit suisse. they reported good earnings. they got the upgrade. they are a up a buck 89. that is tiffany. now this. hillary clinton sounding off on president trump in a new clinton memoir, former clinton pollsters, doug sheen says she needs to get over it.

>> we were on a small stage, no matter where i walked he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces. it was incredibly uncomfortable. he was literally breathing down my neck. my skin crawled. >> democrat private opinion, stuart for secretary clinton, is please go away. we don't need more postmortems. we don't need nor rehashing. we don't need her blaming everybody but herself. stuart: whoa. the look who's back, harlan hill, political consultant, a member of "the donald" j trump for president advisory board. you were at one time, when i first met you, you were a bernie sanders supporter. >> i was. stuart: you switched to support president trump. >> it was binary choice. it was hillary clinton a lie liar, see seatful person or bernie who would break down the democrats. stuart: some of us still talk to you. >> yes. stuart: what do they want to do? what do they want to see hillary

do? >> this period could have been hillary clinton's swan song. final great performance she would go into retirement. instead we got a shrill list of excuses why she lost. every single one of them are excuses that do not accurately articulate why she lost. it wasn't because of russia. it wasn't because of comey, racism, sexism, she ran a bad campaign fundamentally. she is not willing to come to the realization. in the process the democratic party is unwilling to heal still to this day. the democrat party still doesn't have any message. stuart: why is hillary divisive for democrats. i don't get that if they want her to go away why is she dividing party? >> there is no clear leadership in the party. even to posture, audition for to 20, no one is there -- clintons worked mercilessly to eliminate

potential for competition in 2016. didn't want to fall for the same mistake they fell for in 2008, letting someone like obama to rise in the ranks to threaten her potential. stuart: that is dramatic stuff. >> absolutely what happened. if you look what we found out between wikileaks, the coordination between the dnc and clinton campaign to suppress bernie sanders as a contender. that happened at scale to eliminate the democratic farm of new talent rising through the ranks. stuart: do you think bernie sanders could become the leader of democrat party? he is talking he is being urged to start his own new party. i question why he needs to do that. seems to me is the defacto leader of the current democrat party. what say you? >> here is the problem. there is a fight for fundamental core of the democratic party at this point whether it moves further along socialism, progressivism, identity politics or tack back to the middle to appeal to the american middle class. these two things are not compatible.

until there is clear leadership, we're not going to get there. unfortunately bernie sanders is just too old and too divisive among core democratic constituents to get that done. stuart: are you still a supporter of president trump and his plan for growth opposed to man himself, the plan for growth? >> absolutely. if, mitch mcconnell, and paul ryan would get to work and start delivering on this make america great again platform they all ran on, they were all the beneficiaries of, we would have a recipe for success in this country. tax reform, we got to secure the borders, we got to cut regulation. we need to get to work. stuart: okay. >> we made promises to the american people. if we don't deliver it, we'll have a problem, my support is tenuous at best. i'm not a republican. i'm a trump voter. i will not elect republican unless they start to deliver. i believe the president should stand up, starting to do this today, if you don't deliver we'll primary republicans. we're willing to fire you. stuart: harlan, i have news

coming in on that precise note. we have a new tweet just coming in from president trump. here it is. only problem i have for mitch mcconnell, after hearing repeal and replace for seven years he failed. that should never have happened. he is taking a renewed tough stance in his faceoff with congress and mitch mcconnell and republicans. he is not backing down at all. here comes the firestorm. can see it a mile off. here is david macintosh, president of club for growth. when you're talking about tax cuts, tax reform here, will you compromise at all to get something done? or are you going to stand on principle? >> look the principle is tax cut proposal the president's talking about, speaker ryan, senator hatch are all very good. so we will fight to support their effort to pass the legislation, get it to the president, get it signed because

it is the most pro-growth initiative that is out there. it will help inleash investment and jobs and wealth creation across this country. stuart: so you will compromise. there is a huge fight coming here. >> right. details can be worked out. as long as the overall effort is a major tax cut bill. i think the real problem here is ability to get things done and the senate has shown it can't get things done and the american people are frustrated with them. that is why donald trump is tweeting -- failure is not an option. stuart: do you think the president is doing the right thing? he is taking a very hard-line. going straight at them, saying get it done. is he right to do that? >> this is what a ceo does to his middle management. if he says you can't get it done i will replace you.

that should be the united states senate. shouldn't waive the voting card and say i can stick it to you your eye. next one up pass major tax cuts. you're happy just cut taxes? you're okay with that? >> absolutely. you look at what president reagan did in the early '80s where they had tax cuts. it unleashed enormous economic growth. stuart: yeah. >> we'll compromise if they want to get rid of deductions, that is good too, we'll sport that. broader, deeper, larger tax cut better for breath in this country. stuart: i like the sound of this. i wasn't hearing this a few months ago. not from you, not singling anybody out, but i didn't hear much talk of compromise a few months ago. now i'm hearing it, you will settle for tax cuts, get something done, right? >> absolutely. we favor tax cuts because that is more pro-growth. we're suggesting to them, use

longer budget period. have a net tax cut. don't worry about needing to raise other taxes to pay for it. we'll compromise on the details because that type of tax cut built into reform or by itself will unleash economic growth and create jobs. all americans will be better off. stuart: we hear it. sir, thanks for joining us this morning. interesting times in which we live. that's a fact. dave macintosh, club for growth. appreciate it. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: coming up, president trump in arizona saying he could shut the government down over the border wall. with border crossings way down, more than 50% down, do we need the wall? border patrol union president brandon judge is with us in a moment. espn putting the blame on announcer robert lee saying he felt uncomfortable. they gave him the option to call another game. all over this continuing story. one person woke up very wealthy this morning in massachusetts.

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stuart: we're down just is points. the market turned negative right at top of the hour as president trump released his latest tweet. it was another attack direct attack on mcconnell. didn't go down well with the market. we dropped 20 or 30 points. coming back a little now. we're down just 13. 21,800 where we are. sears losings less money. sales continue to slide.

they will close another 28 kmart stores nonetheless. the stock is up 6%. weaker profits at one 800 flowers. shares touched a one-year low. down to eight bucks a share. illegal border crossings down 53% since last july. border patrol union president brandon judge joins us now. he served as an active agent for 20 years. brandon, welcome back to the program. i know you want to build the wall, but do we need it? >> we do. the wall is one piece in a border security puzzle that we have to put together. i don't know that it is worth shutting the government down over at this point because we are so, we are down, and i want to make this very clear that this president has secured the border more than any president in my history in the border patrol. so we have to look at that and say, what he's doing is working. the rubric is working. now we have to follow through on

the pieces of the puzzle that are going to insure that we continue that success into the future. stuart: you could make the case it will cost many, many billions of dollars to actually build a fuel-scale wall and if you have already got border crossings down 50%, it is hard to justify that kind of expense, especially when you're talking about maybe shutting the government down in order to fund building the wall. remember, we're going to fund this thing initially. it is not mexico. >> well, if you look at people like senator cruz, you have to love what he's done, he's proposed a way that we can in fact use fund from illicit traffic from mexico to pay for this wall. but we also have to project to the future. we have to look that in may the numbers were down by 70%. in june, the numbers were down by 60%. now in july the numbers are down by 50%. so they continue to go up.

the rhetoric has worked. now we have to follow through, it is a piece of the puzzle that we have to put together to secure the border. the numbers continue to go up because we're not putting those pieces together. we haven't separated. now we have to put them together. stuart: do we have more border patrol agents working in the field now? >> we don't. in fact we're down, we're down by 200 agents from what we were just a couple months ago. and the reason is, because we're not doing enough to keep our agents. we look at this, and i love the president trump is giving a lot of credit to other people as far as the border being, the border being more secure than it has ever been before but the fact remains, it is only secure due to his rhetoric. he is the only person that has done enough to secure the border. now we have to have the people, the proper people in place, that are going to allow to us continue to secure the border

into the future, and you know, those people, right now, they just don't exist. stuart: brandon judd we hear you. thank you for joining us. very important subject, especially if we are thinking about closing down the government in order to fund building the wall. brandon, appreciate it. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: how about this for a statement, with age comes wealth, so we're told. six of 25 richest americans are, over 80. liz: six of them. look at them carl icahn, charles koch. you will see here, shelled dan adelson, george soros, warren buffett. the real striking finding -- stuart: i'm laughing because you couldn't read it. liz: because i couldn't see it. i had to look at the prompter. people over 80 maybe up 4% of the population. irs determined they control $1.2 trillion worth of wealth. that is the total number of

people, they control $1.2 trillion worth of wealth. look at people under age 50 or below. they basically control about the same amount. stuart: you couldn't read the screen because you were staring at the sun during the eclipse. liz: i thought i was getting free lasix surgery. i made a mistake. stuart: at my advanced age i don't care glasses and don't care contacts. i still can read fine print on stocks tables. liz: british dna. ashley: i guess. i'm blind as a bat. stuart: this is a very, very serious story. here it is. tropical storm harvey, it is barreling towards the gulf of mexico. it is barreling towards texas. it could bring 20 inches of rain or more to parts of texas and louisiana. janice dean, resident meteorologist says, this is a very dangerous storm. look at that rainfall. that is the danger, rain, not wind.

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feet of rainfall. some forecast models say higher than that in localized regions. the legacy from harvey regardless whether it's a cat one or cat two or where it makes landfall, we'll see widespread flooding not only the storm surge, the wall of water that gets pushed in by the counterclockwise wind but the flooding. there is a threat this storm will stall perhaps with the center of circulation just off the coast, meaning it is still getting its warm feed of the gulf of mexico and that could maintain the storm and that would be the worst case scenario, stuart. if we're dealing with the storm well into the weekend into early next week. you pointed out the big situation here is the flooding rain and texas unfortunately has already gotten their share of rain this summer, upwards of two feet easily along the coast of texas up towards louisiana. i was mentioning this to you earlier. some of the forecast models have the storm making landfall, moving southward back into the

gulf of mexico and perhaps making a second landfall later into the weekend, early next week. i want to show you the sea surface temperatures. these storms need warm water for fuel. there is nothing to really hinder the storm from strengthening. that is what we're seeing actually right now on satellite radar imagery. a rapid intensification. meaning we could easily get a hurricane this afternoon. it could easily strengthen before rainfall, before landfall. tropical models in agreement where we see the potential landfall. you see these models, these squiggly lines? that means potential for it to stall or move back into the gulf of mexico. stuart: what a story. janice, we're very glad to have you with us on top of this storm. >> we'll keep you posted. stuart: thank you, janice. what's coming up? i'll tell you. preorders for the samsung galaxy note 8 smartphone starting today, getting three-week head start on apple. is the new iphone worth waiting around for? we will have a definitive answer

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♪ stuart: oh, a little john mayer, why not? thank you, producer, telling me who that is. i appreciate it. check the big board. we're dead flat. we're one point higher, 21,813. abercrombie we're told losing less money, so is up 13%. ashley: is that good? not as much. stuart: retailer, guess, a rosy outlook, rosy stock price too, up 17%. some of these retailers are really beginning to move.

hewlett-packard, pc cost, personal computer costs hurt their profit margin. profits are better. so the stock is up. i never work out the market. samsung unveiling the new galaxy 8 note phone wednesday. here is what one techie says is good about the galaxy 8. roll tape. >> based on rumors because it is not out yet, that the iphone might outdo samsung in innovation. because of augmented reality. stuart: we got that. gene munster is with us. all right, gene, you've seen the galaxy 8. how do you think it stacks up what we're expecting to see from the new apple iphone? >> it is apples and oranges. that tape you had hit it right on, it is about augmented reality for the iphone. for some sung people, bigger screen and, hold on to your seats here, back to a stylus, a

pen, pushing that hard. that would cause apple to have some serious chagrin. so i think at the end of the day these are going after different markets. there will be some inspiration apple will gain from this product. specifically they're testing what, samsung is testing a bigger form factor. it will be 20% bigger than the iphone. curious to see what that does for some of the galaxy demand. stuart: tell me about this augmented reality, is that right? augmented reality, supposed to be a big feature on the upcoming iphone. tell me, what exactly is that? how does it work, and what would it deliver to me? >> so it is going to superimpose the digital world on top of the real world. use it for everything remembering someone's name. could you work on a sink at home, plumber could be totally remote show you what things you need to change. artist could show you drawings what a building could look like

actually at the site. you could be standing at site. when you talk to apple they say it is hard to predict where this is going. we think this is the next gold rush. when you think about the gold rush of developers around the app store. we think there will be a similar gold rush about the augmented reality. this question is just getting framed in right now. stuart: if you had to choose, i know you say it is apples and oranges, for a guy like you, you're thoroughly emersed in technology, which do you go for. don't say both. you probably have both. which do you prefer? >> no-brainer because of iphone, augmented reality piece because it will differentiate these devices. stuart: we'll take that a clean cut answer. we like that. how about the price? i'm told that the galaxy 8 will be 900 and change and the iphone close to 1000 bucks. is that accurate? >> yep, that's accurate. that is the higher-end iphone

you're talking about that will be a thousand dollars plus, very similar to the note 8. and the reality is that only about 30% of the market will be willing to pay for this. but for that 30%, who wants latest and greatest, extra couple hundred dollars for two years of a device thaw use more than any other device in your life, it is worth it. stuart: out of interest, do they gift phones to you because you're so emersed in technology? >> i wish they would. we have to stand in line like everybody else but we definitely are the first to be standing in line. stuart: real fast on test last, they're taking on uber with something called the tesla fleet. this allows an owner's vehicle to be rented when they're not using that vehicle. maybe they're at work. somebody else could rent this vehicle while they are at work. that is the gist of it i think. is this a big deal for tesla? >> autonomy is a huge deal for tesla and i think this fleet

approach, it is going to have some marginal adoption because i think a lot of tesla owners, even regular people, don't want their car turned over to the fleet during the day. i think what is more important really what will happen around autonomy and impact on ride-sharing. stuart: gene, thanks very much indeed. you make technology understandable to the rest of us. for that we're deeply grateful. thank you, gene. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: now i'm going to do sports. that is an alert by the way. watch out. espn is under fire after yanking a commentator named robert lee. espn is now issuing a statement taking him off the game. among our charlotte production staff there was a question whether, in these divisive times, robert's assignment might create a distraction or even worse, expose him to social hectoring and trolling, in other words, he decided he would get off the game. it wasn't according to espn. who is with us on this? i'll tell you.

former nfl super bowl champ and author of liberalism, great guy, burgess owens. welcome back to the program. good to see you, sir. >> stuart, looking forward to chat with you for sure. stuart: you want to talk about kaepernick and the knee, but address espn. seems like they're throwing this guy under the bus. what say you? >> more importantly kind of a sign of the times we are. the name of the book i came out with, "liberalism, how to turn good men into whiners and wimps." when i look on generations of the past, great men and women got our country where it is, we've turned into a society of whiners, weanies and wimps. everybody is cared about their feelings being hurt. if i can say it real quickly, stuart, i this it is relevant to our conversations. i have a very proud history. i have a great, great grandfather, silas burn guess came to the country in belly

after slave ship in 188. he was orphaned. escaped through the underground railroad by mexicans and americans, died successful entrepreneur, owner 100-acres of property, paid off in two years. founder of first black church and elementary school in that area of texas and a proud american. i will say one thing about him and everyone else in my ancestry, we were not concerned about what other people thought. we were not so sensitive that, that we would do flips over the fact of being, being, addressed in a negative way. we have to get back to our basics be proud of who we are, proud of our history. to say the least we're talking about our flag. but our flag says a lot about who we are and our basic principles and what we need to do. stuart: brings us to the colin kaepernick situation. supporters were all over the nfl offices wednesday calling for a

boycott of the nfl until such time kaepernick is hired by somebody to play. what do you make of all this furor about kneeling, taking the knee during the anthem? >> i really appreciate the opportunity to talk about this because this is in essence what makes our country what it is. there is a spirit connection we have as americans, people probably don't realize it, 9/11, flags were everywhere. we have a connection with a flag, that spiritually gives us a commitment to our god, our family and our country. at the end of the day what it says to me, what is going on right now, this is a second chance. our country is all about second chances. for november 8th, what gave black americans a chance to get back into our community to do what is not done. seeing young men kneeling not appreciate the fact they're millionaires, opportunity to great things because we have not done our job. the left has focused on us for decade. it is now time for black

conservatives particularly to look at these young men, help them, they have great hearts but they don't, have lousy education. they're not talking about god. they have no family. dads are no longer around. we need to get back in that community to teach our kid how great our country is, opportunity. they have a second chance like we all do. that makes our country great. stuart: to digress for a second, are you as a black conservative, are you ostracized? are you insulted in any way? are you trolled on the internet? >> well you know, it is, it is price you pay, guess what? you know, my dad taught me one great lesson, you don't worry about being liked. be worried being respected f we have more americans feel strongly about our family, our god, our country, who cares what other people think and say. at end of the day we're here to make a difference for those that truly want to experience the american way and our black community needs to experience

the dream like they did when i was going back. take it back from the left and start to go to work, be proud of who we are. be proud of the flag that flies every day we see it, hopeful for another great day and future and better tomorrow. stuart: before we close, burgess, repeat the title of your book. i know it, i like it, i want our audience to hear it. go. >> liberalism, how to turn good men into whineys, weenies and wimps. it is great story of how we have done this together. that is what americans are all about, you're all right, burgess owens, you really are. thanks for joining us. >> stuart, appreciate it. stuart: good man. to the markets, many retailers reporting all of them on the upside today. this is a minor league rebound for the hard, beaten-down retail sector on the upside, a little, today. in our next hour, jihadi watch back on paypal after being kicked off because left-leaning

groups called it a hate site. jihadi watch chief robert spencer will tell us exactly what happened. first senator dean hellers saying it will be a very merry christmas because he says we'll see a tax overhaul on christmas eve. all over that one for sure. ♪

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net ♪ ashley: president trump threatening to shut down the government if honey not set aside to build a border wall. money. david williams, taxpayers alliance says the president is misguided. here's why. roll tape. >> tax reform is something that democrats and republicans should want because this will help us economically, it will help us, give us more time back if we don't have to fill out all the forms. trump is playing to his base here. it is obvious he is playing to his base. he doesn't like mitch mcconnell. he thinks this will be a play to say, see, washington is awful, dysfunctional. i want to shut down the government to do what i want to do but i think it is misguided and it will really not help the economy. listen every time we shut down

the government, do it for one or two weeks. there is no savings. we don't get any savings shutting down the government. i think it is misguided. i think it is misguided. ♪rd guy. the ation 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)

>> i think things are on the agenda to be talked about are very important for our economy so i hope they have some success in coming to agreement on a way forrd. stuart: she is talking tax cuts and growth plan.

that was fed president esther george talking about the growth agenda to our own adam shapiro. listen what mitch mcconnell said this morning about tax reform and getting it done. roll it. >> i think we'll be able to produce a much better tax code. it will make a huge difference for our country, and it will be done during this congress. stuart: it will be done during this congress. come on in, adam shapiro, joining us from jackson hole, wyoming. adam, this congress doesn't mean this year or does it? >> reporter: well, we asked mitch mcconnell's office to clarify tax reform this year or this congress, if there is a difference? and we were told not to jump to conclusions, to quote the leader, specifically as we just did during this congress. stuart, on monday, when he was speaking in louisville the leader said this congress for tax reform. of a pointing out that the two big pieces of legislation during barack obama's administration

were passed in the second year of the administration. so, this year is what everyone tied to tax reform says. the president, steve mnuchin newspaper, treasury secretary, even mr. brady, kevin brady, chairman of house ways and means says on track this year. mr. mcconnell, the senator, the leader in the senate, says this congress. this congress has until the end of 2018. stuart. stuart: thank you. i'm glad you pointed that out because that is a very subtle difference. very important difference. adam shapiro right there among the grand tetons. thanks for joining us. is that the right pronunciation? ashley: that's right. stuart: thank you. look at this tweet, talking about the battle between the president and mitch mcconnell, this came in from the president just about an hour ago. the only problem i have with mitch mcconnell is that after hearing repeal and replace for seven years, he failed! that should never have happened. chris stirewalt is with us.

i'm saying that there is a battle royale coming on here. the president versus congress. they made nice a little bit yesterday, but now the president has gone back on the attack, according to this a failure of mitch mcconnell. you know this is one extraordinary battle coming up, isn't it? >> well it is but it depend essentially on the ability of republicans in congress to ignore the president and now it becomes urgent for them to ignore him because if they go into his space, jeff sessions, their former colleague, had a lesson for them, which is, just ignore it. the president acts out. he loses control or, or maybe he is playing a game with his base, trying to fire up base voters. stuart: i don't honestly, chris, i don't think congress can ignore the president. >> they have to. stuart: he is out there pounding on them all the time. and he knows, they have got to go back home to their constituents. if they have done nothing, they're out. they -- >> no, no. to do something they will have to ignore him.

because what they will want to do is be angry, in return to the president. they will want to fight with him. and they will want to go into his head space and their own fits and their own resentments and their own acting out. i think at this point the president is substantially irrelevant when it comes to whipping votes in congress. they demonstrated already they will defy him. and there are not consequences so far for those who defy him. what they will have to do is figure out what can get, in the case of some legislation, 60 votes, but for the main, 51 votes. what has got 51 votes in the united states? they need to figure out what that is. they need to jam the president at the end, this is what we do on spending, this is what we can do on taxes, this is what we can do on obamacare next year, this is what you get. put the president in position to sign it or not sign it. trump being a good showman at the end says, great, i just wanted something, thanks for passing this. now i will sign it. stuart: i hate to come back to

the same old, the same old question, but it is the same old question. handicap it for us, chris, what do you think by the end of this year, not end of congress, this year we get a tax cut of some sort? >> i think of some sort chances are good. now how big and how much, how significant, is it corporate, is it payroll, is it individual? what is the nature of this? we don't know because now what congress has to do in order to protect themselves from the president, they have to hide the ball until the very end because their objective will be to jam the president, leave him without choices. we'll not get kind of tea leaves we see, but when secretary mnuchin goes to kentucky to talk to mitch mcconnell, i get a strong sense there are real discussions taking place behind the scenes. stuart: excellent. here is that hard break coming at me like a freight train. we'll be back in a second.

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♪ stuart: perhaps our greatest freedom is the freedom to speak freely. it is being taken off us. can't let that happen. all right, that was me yesterday, talking about the left. i think they're trying to silence conservative opinion among americans. you had a lot to say about that. first of all from andre, mick no mistake about it, america, the left with their liberal ideology is totally unhinged and we are in a political civil war.

i would agree with that. and linda says, the dems lost. this hatefulness is so divisive and sad, i feel for our grandchildren. so do i have nine so far. ash, liz. ashley: i thought this would damp down a little bit. little did i know. we joked at the time this was happening the extreme anger and explosiveness from the left on victory of donald trump. it has ruined a lot of things. it ruined free speech at moment we say support donald trump, his policies we get branded as bigot and race i've. what is wrong with you. you're anti-american. it ruined friendships. it ruined dinner parties. people in my circle i will not see because i know it will dissolve into the big argument over donald trump's policies. stuart: did they leave you or did you leave them? ashley: i left them. stuart: did you. ashley: yeah. stuart: a man of principle. ashley: i don't want to hear it. i don't agree with them. they will never give any ground. anything donald trump does is wrong and evil. stuart: all right.

ashley: i'm sick of it. stuart: i knew i liked you. liz: listen, people do find some of the things he said objectionable, we can say that for sure. that is a fact. you can debate what he has said . rampant across the country. >> free expression of conservative opinion, is being imprisoned. being cut back. if you support donald trump, you are now known as a hater, and you should be banished. ashley: support white supremacy. stuart: i don't accept that this is absolute nonsense. really annoying you're hit with the charges because you speak freely. liz: cheap shots. not take on smart debates, instead call somebody a racist

even when you're talking about tax cuts. doesn't square. stuart: well-said. it is heating up but we will be back. parodontax, the toothpaste that helps prevent bleeding gums. if you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. help stop the journey of gum disease. try parodontax toothpaste. ♪

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stuart: thursday, august the 24th already. the summer is almost done. many of us who live in the northeast are not looking forward to winter. the progressives are sticking it to us. thanks to what "the wall street journal" calls a gas blockade, we face an energy crisis, and here is the story. new york's governor, andrew cuomo, has banned fracking. that's the drilling technology that releases natural gas from shale buried deep underground. there is a vast supply in new york, and it's very cheap. but you are not allowed to go get it. and governor cuomo is blocking pipelines that would deliver natural gas to the rest of new england. ah, witness the power of the greens and the governor's presidential ambitions.

even though natural gas emits much less carbon, environmentalists hate it. it is, after all, just another wicked fossil fuel. governor cuomo thought green would play big in national politics. so here we are, a month from a chilly fall, coal-fired power plants are shutting, the nuclear plant at indian point is scheduled to close, energy costs in the northeast are way above neighboring regions. and we are not allowed to go get the cheap natural gas that lies in abundance under our own feet. and we're not allowed to pipe it in from elsewhere. that is, indeed, an energy blockade. governor cuomo thinks he can rise to the presidency on the back of long-suffering energy consumers. perhaps he needs to recalculate. winter is coming, and new englanders have very little patience with politicians who make life expensive because they think they are saving the planet. the third hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪

[laughter] stuart: wait a minute, that sounds like a totally different song. that is by the bangles -- >> it was originally by simon and garfunkel. stuart: thank you, liz. 21,832, even split red and green, up and down on the big board this morning. want to get back to to the editorial top of the hour. joining us now, scott shellady with tjm investments and sandra smith, can-host on fox news' "outnumbered." both of them are recovering traders. [laughter] >> hi, scott.

stuart: greet each other warmly, please. scott, you first. i don't get this. i don't get how new england can sort of walk away from fracking, walk away from a massive natural gas supply that's under our own feet. what say you? >> i've got so much to say on this, and i've just about had it. the intellectual elite on the left knows better about everything than i do. remember, stuart, before you are a racist or a bigot in voting for donald trump, you were uneducated, remember? it's moved on to now being a racist and a bigot. now, why don't we fight fire with fire? if we would have come up with this idea, the left would have gone out there and found every little old lady that's living on a pension and calculate how many old people they're going to kill this winter by not allowing fracking. that's how we should fight it, with the way that they would fight it. stuart: i love your spirit even though you are in old england at the moment, you've got the fire. that's excellent.

sandra smith with me. you and i both own property in new york state, and we sit right on top of the marcellus shale. we can't go get what's ours. what do you say about it? >> and how many towns do you know of in those surrounding areas, upstate new york, that could use a shot in the arm, that could use an economic boost, stuart? stuart: i know people whose farms are in danger of being lost because they can't drill on their company. >> it is unbelievable. there's that aspect, and then there's the consumer cost aspect to this. i looked up the numbers to back up your heed-in here -- lead-in here, stuart. energy costs in the northeast are already the highest in the nation outside of only alaska and hawaii. northeast residents pay 29% more for natural gas and 44% more more electricity than the u.s. average. >> wow. >> that's what happens when the government intervenes in the free market like this. it's unbelievable. stuart: and shuts it down.

>> and the closing down of that nuclear plant that you cited as well, that's affecting westchester county. as you know, those are the big suburbs that feed into new york, people who come in to work in new york city. stuart: i'm glad you've got the fire just like our london correspondent there, scotty. [laughter] all right, i want to the move on to the retail industry. sears, they're going to close another 28 kmart stores as sales continue to fall. this is what we call the retail ice age. okay, so sears' stock is up a little bit today, but it's been plunging for a long time. earlier on the program today the former u.s. ceo of walmart usa, he told us that total online sales will only reach 20% of overall sales. just a but years from now. only 20%. i'm not buying that number, scott. are you? i think it should be much, much more. >> oh, i think that, yeah, that's going to be geometric growth, number one. number two, institute, look how

bad things are, and it's only 10% now. so we're going to double that to 20%. how bad are things going to be when it's 20%? yes, it's an absolute problem with the retail ice age and what amazon has done to everybody. i read a very interesting article with the fact that we've had low wage jobs, wages aren't going up, very small wage inflation, so we've got low paying jobs, the consumer doesn't have the power anymore to start buying. so that's the problem. we're not having this big consumer increase in buying all these things these people are selling. number one, these things going online is killing bricks and mortar and, number two, we just don't have the spending power we used to. this is making the ice age colder and quicker, and i think it's going to happen faster, i agree with you. stuart: what do you say, sandra. >> >> how many times has sears tried to reinvent itself, the softer side of sears, they went hard core into hardware, and they were the place to go for your tools. they have tried many times to reinvent themselves.

they're too late to the game, it's too little, too late. what do you associate when you think of sears? stuart: a hammer. >> portrait studios? [laughter] >> a hammer. stoort stuart which i'm not allowed to pick up in my household. [laughter] but the bottom line is i think we all agree, we all believe that online sales are going to take a much higher proportion of overall sales than a mere 20%. >> and when you know you can get better prices and get it faster by going online, the department stores, the malls can't compete. stuart: all right. agreement on money. let's turn to politics. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell kind of hedging when it comes to getting tax reform done. roll that tape, please. >> i think we'll be able to produce a much better tax code that will make a huge difference for our country, and it will be done during this congress. stuart: that's important, done during this congress. that's not this year. the congress stretches on into 2018. so there's the hedge.

scott, do investors believe we will get a tax cut done? >> no, i don't think so, stuart. i think that, you know, we come on this show and try to impart our 30 years of experience. you know, most of the time we get it right, every now and again we get it wrong. but if we got it wrong as often as congress has this year, stuart, it's august 24th, and we were talking about all these things in april. nothing has happened. so shame on us be we start to believe them again. and i've said it before, i'm starting to have, i'm starting to believe my captors. stockholm syndrome has taken me over. shame on me. it's not happening. stuart: okay. dramatic stuff from our man in london. scott, thanks for joining us. [laughter] relax, son, relax are. it's mid afternoon -- >> you know what? senator heller says the best case scenario is that this gets done by christmas eve. >> yeah. we'll be playing christmas music. >> you imagine that up until

christmas day? >> i won't bring up the russell 2000. where's the buzzersome. >> please don't. stuart: while sandra is with us -- >> oh! i miss that. >> sunday effects. stuart: excerpts from hillary clinton's new book have been released. in them she says she thought president trump was a creep -- [laughter] that's how she described him, used the word "creep" for standing so close to her during the debate. you've seen all of this. you've read these -- >> oh, yes. we covered this on "outnumbered" yesterday, and i think we were all in agreement. she's got to put something out there to sell this book. is calling the president a creep the thing to do? as you know, i moderated two of those gop presidential debates. these guys come to play. she had to know she was coming to play. she has to know he was practicing tactics. you know when you enter a competition, stuart, there is an intimidation factor that is at play there.

so if she's acting truly shocked by these type of antics, i don't know who prepared her, but they did not prepare -- >> imagine what north korea would do to her. [laughter] if she gets so spooked out. stuart: sandra, i know you've got to go because you're anchoring -- >> i have to go up and see your buddy kill immediate first. stuart: jam packed hour ahead. a hurricane warning is in effect in the gulf coast of texas. tropical storm harvey approaching. it could drop at least 20 inches of rain on parts of texas and louisiana. janice dean will come back to us with a late report. jihad watch back on paypal after being kicked off because heft-wing groups called it a hate site. robert spencer will tell us his story. but first though, i'm calling it the september showdown. president trump versus congress. he's going right after mitch

mcconnell, he did it again today. bret baier on the, in the thick of things with us after this. ♪ ♪

stuart: president trump tweeted this earlier today: the only problem i have with mitch mechanic connell is that after hearing repeal and replace for seven years, he failed. that should never have happened. bret baier is with us now, "special report" host. this fight seems to be heating up rather than cooling down. >> no, that's right. some of these tweets clearly don't suggest they match up with the statements put out by senator mcconnell's office and the white house yesterday, that they're all singing from the same sheet of music. it is interesting, unique that

this is so public, this back and fort. obviously, this president is different than others this how he interacts with capitol hill. that said, they are going to have to get on the same page for big items like the debt ceiling, like the budget if they want to move tax reform. and it is in both of their interests to eventually have a w, especially on the things that have to get done because they end up on fiscal cliffs. as you know, we've been there many times before. stuart: it's a september showdown can coming up, and it'll be a firestorm and a half, i think. >> oh, i agree. and, you know, with the markets watching it very closely, i think it's a huge thing. especially for a president that has put, who has put so much emphasis on emphasizing how well the markets have done under his presidency. you have a volatile situation that is at the hands of politicians -- stuart: they need -- [inaudible] they need each other here, and that's a fact.

there's no way around it. they need each other, i'll leave it at that. i want to talk to you about democrat senator bob menendez. yesterday a judge orders he must be present during the trial. surely, that could have implications for key senate votes occurring this fall, right? >> a huge deal. now, let's just take off the table that it ends up in a conviction and all the questions about what democrats would do there, because it would be a republican governor replacing menendez at that point. but let's just take that off the table. just this judge's order, that he has to physically be present, means potentially he misses, stuart, some of these huge votes on the debt ceiling, on the budget, on tax reform. and when it comes to the senate, as we know, one vote matters. just look to john mccain on health care. republicans could bring up health care again, repeal and replace, if menendez is suck this some courtroom -- stuck in some courtroom, and the math changes in the senate. now, i do think there will be a

constitutional challenge to this judge's order because it is a separation of powers issue if the judiciary is somehow jailing him, if you will, in that courtroom, and he is missing votes in the senate. i think we're not done with this story, but it's a huge deal. stuart: it is. who would have thought? all right. leaked e-mails from the editor-in-chief of "the wall street journal" show he criticized his staff over their coverage of president trump's rally in phoenix. i'll quote this for our viewers. sorry, this is commentary dressed up as news reporting. could we please just stick to reporting what he said rather than packaging it in selective criticism? i would say that about "the new york times" and "the washington post." i'm not so sure i agree with him about the "wall street journal," but this is a big issue, being a pundit at the same time you're supposed to be a journalist. big deal. >> exactly. [laughter] and, in fact, an editor sending something to his newsroom about how to be straight and just do

the facts and don't package it with any feelings or opinion, then that gets leaked to "the new york times" is quite something about our environment now that we're in. and i think that, you know, some commentary that is news wrapped in commentary has gone over the edge. i mean, they've gone over their skis in some of this, looking at some of these events. and at points you wonder where are you going to go from there, because you're already at the cul-de-sac, if you will. stuart: i make no bones about it, "varney & company" is an opinion show. i've got an opinion on everything, and i express it. you, however, you run the best political show on television because you are straight down the middle. you don't let your -- i don't even know what your opinions are. [laughter] >> we try. fair and balanced, there you go. stuart: yes, sir. bret, we'll see you tonight. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: check that big board. it's pretty much dead flat, right around the 31,800 -- 21,800 level.

here's what's coming up for you. seattle is now america's biggest company town thanks to amazon. that company has as much office space as the next 40 biggest employers combined, and it's still growing. we'll tell you how big it is eventually going to get. first, though, check this out. a mother and her two kids doing an interview on a british news program, but the segment goes off the rails when the little girl starts climbing on the desk. it's an anchor's nightmare. watch it. don't let dust and allergens get between you and life's beautiful moments. flonase outperforms the #1 non-drowsy allergy pill. it helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause symptoms. pills block one and 6 is greater than 1. flonase changes everything. approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your

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♪ ♪ >> well, joining me now, mom lucy and her children, and you're feeling pretty fit, you're looking pretty fit. what's she like, who's now on the desk? you're all right, just carry on there. thank you very much, indeed, all of to you, for coming in. now, football -- [laughter] just a few moments, i think we'll have a more peaceful time at 6:30, but from all of us, a very good afternoon to you. bye-bye. [laughter] stuart: one day that might be me. [laughter] i hope i'd handle it as well as he did. >> crawling across the desk. stuart: you can't do that, ash. by the way, they're on the set to discuss milk. [laughter] all right, next case, here we go. "star wars" fans, if there's any out there, listen up. disney and lucasfilm have

announced a new augmented reality app, it's called find the force. fans will take part in a virtual treasure hunt, take part in battles. it will be released september 1st, by the way, which disney's calling force friday ii, it's part of the promotion for the next "star wars" film, the last jedi. having got all that in, bottom line, they're milking the franchise! it's a well known trick. ferrari unveiling its newest sports car called the portafino grand tura, top speed nearly 200 miles an hour. they've not said how much it's going to cost, but it will be the most -- listen to this -- it will be the most affordable vehicle yet. [laughter] i'll take one. harley davidson is making changes to its lineup, it's unveiled eight redesigned cruiser vehicles -- motorcycles for next year. harley will celebrate its 115th anniversary next year.

however, got to tell you, it's seen a decline in sales in america over the last few years. now the amazon story of the day, there's always one. seattle is now the country's biggest company town thanks to amazon. explain. >> amazon so dominates seattle, it has as much office a space in the city's downtown area than the next 40 biggest employers combined, eight million square feet of office space is set aside for amazon in seattle. that's expected to grow to 12 million square feet over the next five years. at one point boeing used to be dominant, of course, in seattle. they called it jet city. but then they went through a downturn. it was devastating to the city. in this case, amazon is just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. stuart: and the stock, by the way, down to 944. update on the powerball drawing, there was one winner. $759 million, the prize. it's the biggest win in the

history of north american lotto. next, the battle over seattle's tax the rich. here's side story you haven't heard. one of the reasons seattle is taxing the wealthy is the pay pensions for city workers. more on that in a moment. parodontax, the toothpaste that helps prevent bleeding gums. if you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. help stop the journey of gum disease. try parodontax toothpaste. ♪

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♪ ♪ stuart: no clue. >> fleetwood mac. >> oh, of course. stuart: fleetwood mac -- >> the chain. stuart: who? >> the chain. stuart: okay, let's move on. i think that's pretty clean cut. okay, got it. move on. michael's arts and crafts retailer, okay? record second quarter sales. up goes the stock 13%. a lot of good news coming out of the retailers today, as a matter of fact. here's a number for you. pew research says only 37% of americans believe today's children will grow up to be better off than they are. come on, i want an economist. i've got one. brian wesbury, chief economist -- [laughter] all right, brian. look, this is a real change. when i first came to america, i came because i wanted to make my kids better off than i am. i wanted them to climb the food chain. why are people so pessimistic

about the future for their children. >> >> it's a good question, stuart. when i graduated from college back in the early 1980s, people felt the same way, and it was because the economy had done so poorly in the 1970s, it had grown slowly, and that's the same thing that's happened over the last seven, eight, nine years, ever since the crisis. and then people look at that slow growth, and they go it's such a grind, it's so hard to get ahead. but here's the similarity between those two times. back in the 1970s we raised regulation, we raised government spending, we were lifting tax rates. that's exactly what we did over this last eight years. and whenever we do that, it's harder for the economy to grow, it's harder for young people to get ahead. stuart: so would it turn around, brian, would it turn around if we got tax cuts and infrastructure and deregulation? if we got all of that and we got

4% growth say, would that change the pessimistic outlook for the youngsters of future? >> yep. shul. and that -- absolutely. and that's exactly what happened in the early 1980s. we cut tax rates, we held back spending, we deregulated, and that's what allowed people to get wealthier, that's what allowed incomes to rise. and, in fact, during the '80s and '90s that's where we created all these billionaires, mark zuckerberg and bill gate ands the google guys. -- and the google guys. that's where all of that came from, because we got a freer system with lower tax rates and less government involvement. stuart: oh, i love an optimistic economist. there aren't many around, but you're one of them. brian, you're all right. next case, new numbers show people over the age of 80 control a larger share of the nation's money than people under 50 and, of course, there are a whole lot more under 50 than there are over 80. these five characters, they collectively -- they're the,

they're six of the twenty-five richest americans, and all of those guys on the screen are over 80. what does an economist make of this wealth accumulation in late, late age? >> first of all, the number one thing that causes this 40 to happen -- this to happen is the law of compound interest. you know, and that is if you start with a little and let it build and let it grow and let it earn, over time it grows into a hot. and the only way to keep that going is to spend less than you earn. all right? we have to save and invest. so every one of these billionaires, you know, warren buffett, for example, 87 years old. that means he was born in 1930, and if you go back then, there were really rich families in the united states in the '20s and '30s. the numbers were probably similar. people over -- back then it was probably over 65 or 70 because we live longer now.

but warren buffett was still able to the create massive wealth even though there were a lot of families in the u.s. that controlled a massive amount of wealth when he was born. and the secret is to save and invest and count on the power of compound interest. stuart: brian -- >> yeah. stuart: -- i want you to come and talk to one of my young daughters who has not yet joined the 401(k) plan at her corporation. and that's just throwing money away, failing to save over long term. >> exactly. stuart: last word to you. >> yeah. well, this -- you know, every older generation always gets pessimistic about the younger ones -- stuart: yes. >> and i think today, i don't know, now i'm part of the older generation, but i also get pessimistic because one of the problems i see is they're going the school, they're taking out loans to go to school, and then they're learning things that have nothing to do with business

or engineering or to math. they're learning social justice. and what happens there is that then they do fall behind because they aren't really trying to save and invest and build for the future. stuart: spoken like a true -- >> what i would hope is that we have a -- [laughter] exactly. we need a smaller government, we need freedom. and when you have freedom, you can grow your wealth. stuart: don't be such a stranger to this program, all right, wesbury? thank, appreciate it. >> glad to be with you. stuart: how about this one? this is a story we're covering. there's a fight, and it's brewing in seattle over a controversial income tax on the well hawaii. we've got a -- wealthy. we've got a guest on this, and he says the dispute actually says something significant about the pension crisis. he says that's what it's all about. welcome back senior fellow at the manhattan institute, stephen malanga. welcome back. finish. >> how you doing?

stuart: in seattle they do propose a tax on the wealthy. it's supposed to pay for education, isn't it? >> affordable housing, carbon -- you know, de-carbon his oohing the environment, a whole bunch of -- stuart: but the money if they actually impose the tax and the courts allow it, it's not going to be used for that. >> here's the thing, it might initially, but the point is the reason they need a tax increase, this is a city whose budget has been i growing pretty rapidly because as you just said, seattle is a fairly thriving city. but what happened is they have one of the worst pension systems in any city in america. their pension costs have ballooned. as a result of that, if you look at just -- they owe more than a billion dollars in the pensions, some critics say they owe actually $3 billion. if you look at the money that they have to dedicate to the pension system over the next ten years, it's almost equal to what they're going to collect in this tax over the next ten years. the point is if they did not have this pension crisis, essentially, they would be able to do all those things they want to do without raising taxes. and we are seeing this around

america. cities and states are raising taxes because the pension systems are draining other revenues from -- stuart: you are on this program so frequently a couple of years ago about the pension crisis. now, i assumed that with this bull market that would have really boosted all of these pension funds so some of them moved out of trouble s. that true? >> no, that's actually not -- the exact op to sit is i true. -- opposite is i true. for years the people in the pensionmarket have said once the market rebounds, it's going to be fine. pension debt in america today, these systems were like 88 or 90% funded in 2007. today after nine years of a bull market they're only 73% funded. how is it that they have not recovered? and all around america cities and states are putting more money into their pension funds. and as a result, not having as much money for tax cuts or for expanding programs. stuart: is that also true of

oregon where they have this free community college idea paid for by taxpayers, thousand they've got to restrict it because it's very, very expensive? i guess the bottom line there is nothing is for free. >> first of all, oregon has a $22 billion unfunded liability in its pension system, yes, and they're look at ways -- right. [laughter] they did not address that. okay, in the session this which they passed, the the legislature passed this free college for everybody, they didn't bother to do anything about the pension system. so here's, this is one of the reasons we have this pension crisis in america. you can do things like expand government programs if you don't address the problems with your pension system, if you don't put more money into the pension system. but what you then wind up with is pension systems in america that are below 60, 70 funded that have, we now have, i don't know, $1.5 trillion by conservative standards of pension debt in our states and localities. this is a bottom line issue for every state and city. stuart: i'm waiting for the explosion. hasn't come yet.

>> well, because politicians don't want to confront the issue because confronting the issue means cutting other spending or raising taxes. they don't want to do those things. stuart: or cutting the pension -- >> sometimes they can't do that, yes. stuart: steven, welcome back. it was great to see you. come again soon. >> sure. stuart: some stocks, discounter dollar tree, making money. another retailer on the upside to the tune of nearly 8%. signet jewelers gets a sales boost from mother's day spending. that's what they're saying. that's not the only reason. they've bought an online jeweler. >> yes. stuart: that's why they're going up, 21% higher. a weak outlook for hormel, they're the spam guys. i was brought up on the stuff. [laughter] americans sent it over to the brits to feed them after the war, and i ate a lot of it. didn't do me any harm. hormel is down 6%. smuckers profit hit by coffee sales, higher marketing costs.

they produce folgers coffee. they're down 7%. what's next? jihadi watch back on paypal after being kicked off because left-wing groups call them a hate site. the director of jihad watch is with us. his name is robert spencer. he tells us the full story next. ♪ ♪ ♪ adults are just kids with much, much better toys. the c-class sedan, coupe and cabriolet. the thrills keep getting better. lease the c300 sedan for $399 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing.

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stuart: jihad watch, that's a web site that tracks the activities of radical's lam. paypal kicked jihad watch out. why? because leftist groups said jihad watch showed, quote, extreme hostility to muslims. they equated conservative opinion with hate. that was a clip from me yesterday, my editorial at the

top -- i think it was the 10:00 hour yesterday. got a lot of play on the internet. paypal, by the way, has since been restored -- i'm sorry, jihad watch has been restored. it's back on paypal. joining us now, the director of jihad watch, robert spencer. sir, welcome to the program. of it's great to have you with us. >> thank you. great to be here. stuart: before we go any further, what does jihad watch do? >> jihad watch is a news and commentary organization dedicated to explaining what is the motivating ideology behind jihad terror, what the jihadis are all about, what they think, what motivates them, what they want to accomplish. that's it, that's all we do. stuart: and you were kicked off paypal originally because you'd shown, i think the quote was you'd shown extreme hostility to muslims. would you contest that? >> oh, absolutely, yes. the thing about it is paypal, just like the other leftist groups that were behind this -- notably, the southern poverty law center -- they don't allow any appeal.

they don't allow you to dissent, to discuss, to debate, to explain. i don't have any hostility toward anyone. i'm tracking jihad activity which everyone should oppose including muslims who pro fess to reject it and abhor it. so there's no reason for the charge except that there are groups that have for years now equates all opposition the jihad terror with hatred, bigotry and islamophobia, and they were the groups paypal was listening to. stuart: that was the point i was making, that conservative opinion is now banned because it is called hate speech. that's absolutely wrong, but that's what happened in your case, i think. you were branded as a hate monger and, therefore, suitable for being kicked off. you have no redress, do you? i know you're back on paypal, but i think this is going on the all over the place in america. am i right? >> oh, yeah, there's no doubt about it. this is a concerted and organized effort. i have heard about other groups

that track entry had activity that have likewise been cut off, and they have not been restore. just today i heard from a gentleman who had a youtube playlist of my videos, videos like my appearances on various shows or lectures at various universities, and they flagged the playlist as inappropriate and removed it. and this is the same kind of thing that's happening all over. there is a concerted effort to deny a platform to anyone and everyone who does not espouse the hard-left agenda. stuart: on that subject, i want to to bring up the case of google and the fired google employee, james demore. he sent that diversity memo, as you know. it was leaked. his lawyer says other employees are claiming google discriminated against them too after challenging google's liberal politics. i think this fits the pattern of conservative opinion being suppressed and banned. am i right? >> oh, there's no doubt about it whatsoever. as a matter of fact, google

recently did the same thing. they, there was an imam from texas, omar suleiman, who contacted google and complained that when you googled things like islam and jihad, you got material about terrorism which is entirely reasonable since the terrorists constantly point to islamic texts and teachings the justify what they do and make recruits among peaceful muslims. but they listened to omar suleiman, and now google has changed the way it works its search engines so when you google things like joy had, islam -- jihad, islam, sharia, you only get material about how islam is a religion of peace and nothing about how terrorists use it to justify what they're doing. stuart: we just can't let freedom of speech be impinged upon the way it is now. you're part of the solution, robert, and we're proud to have you on the show. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. stuart: he'll be back. all right, coming up, tropical storm harvey barreling towards the gulf of mexico, could bring -- wait for it --

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stuart: track this, tropical storm harvey is heading towards the texas gulf coast. it is gaining strength.

come on in, janice dean, fox news meteorologist. i think the story is rain. are we looking at two feet of rain, janice? >> stuart, the story has changed. we've got the latest advisory from the national hurricane center so, yes, the flooding is going to be a concern, but now the national hurricane center is saying we are going to have a major hurricane, a category three, make landfall along the texas coast this weekend, on saturday. and we have not had a major hurricane hit the u.s. since wilma in 2005. so this is a big deal. not only the flooding, but potentially catastrophic storm surge as well. that's that wall of water that gets push by the counterclockwise winds, that that ocean water, freshwater that comes inland along with these tropical systems. and then it's going to stall for days. and we're seeing that rapid intensification because the temperatures are so warm across the gulf of mexico, and there's nothing to steer this.

so it's going to sit and linger and, stuart, potentially catastrophic. i know local officials are now, you know, getting their ducks in a row and saying, okay, we immediate to start evacuating people -- we need to start evacuating people. people need to be completing plans within the next 12-24 hours. the flooding rainfall is a big deal, but this is going to be a major hurricane potentially making landfall on saturday morning. not a lot of time. storm surge, 6-10 feet. that wall of water that moves inland across the coast, and houston, texas, they can't even take a couple of inches of rain. this is going to be potentially life-threatening, a life-threatening situation. so hurricane warnings are up for coastal texas. the watches vetching in towards louisiana -- stretching in towards louisiana, and if this storm lingers, then we're going to see watches extending in towards louisiana. there's saturday as we think it's going to potentially make landfall as a major hurricane

and then watch, stuart. monday, tuesday, wednesday still along the coast. if this center of circulation remains offshore in the gulf of mexico, we could still be dealing with a hurricane through wednesday. stuart: whoa, whoa -- >> big deal. stuart: can i interrupt for a second, janice? >> yes. stuart: i don't see on your map new orleans, but whenever i hear of storm surge, i think of new orleans, katrina. it's not on your map. is there a possibility that new orleans takes a lot of water as well? >> yes, there is a possibility of that. but i think what we have to do in the next 24 hours is watch what the computer models do. this is -- the european model, one of our most reliable forecast models, the problem is, stuart, there's nothing to steer this storm. usually you see these tropical systems, they make landfall, and they scoot northward because they get picked up by a trough or a cold front. there is nothing to steer this. we've got high pressure here across florida, high pressure

across the rockies, and all this does is -- it's a blocking pattern. so there is nothing to pick this storm up and push it northward. it is just going to linger. the waters are so warm here, so my concern is it stalls offshore, it remains a hurricane, and it brings all of those threats -- the flooding rainfall, the hurricane-force winds and the flooding -- all along the gulf coast. i mean, we haven't had a major hurricane in over a day-to-day. i'm -- in over a decade. i'm concerned people are complacent, and we're going to start to hear officials one by one in texas and louisiana telling people to get out while they can. stuart: and you've got a job 24 hours a day for at least the next five days. >> it's important work though, stuart. stuart: it is. >> yep. stuart: you and i were joking the other day about the good advice business; bring an um principle a la, it's going to rain, don't look at the sun during an eclipse. forget about that. this is serious stuff. >> listen, i hope i'm wrong. i hope people get mad at me, but right now the national hurricane

center is saying this could be catastrophic. stuart: janice dean, everyone. i'm sure we'll be checking in first thing tomorrow morning. >> i'll be here. stuart: okay. we'll have more "varney" after y this. it helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause symptoms. pills block one and 6 is greater than 1. flonase changes everything.

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stuart: this is developing as story of the day whether financial or the news, it is with about the weather. this hurricane is upgraded to category 3 heading for texas coast. >> there is nothing to push the storm in any direction. it will linger. category 3. wind from 111 to 129 miles per hour. devastating damage. that is the listing for a cat-3. liz: u.s. refining capacity is in this region. the heart of the u.s. oil and gas refining industry sits there.

stuart: here cain is approaching, categoryis approaching. it stays there, hovers over land,. >> 25 inches of rain. stuart: unimaginable. we're on it and we'll cover it. my time is up. neil, sir, it is yours. neil: we're following the hurricane as well, stuart. this is category 3 storm, we'll keep track of it on this channel and fox news updated live "cost of freedom," when all this will hit the fan apparently all at once, 10 through noon eastern time. special live "cost of freedom" because of veriments from mother nature. this political storm continues to brew between the president and senator mitch mcconnell. we thought a lot of this was being put to bed when mitch mcconnell was coming out with