stuart: maria, thank you very much, indeed. a see change in politics. the center takes charge and it is the president who is running that show. good morning, everyone, president trump holds high-level meetings with democrats. the republicans don't have the votes to pass growth agenda. he's moving rapidly to the center putting out the red carpets of moderates of both parties. last night it was democrat leadership, chuck schumer and nancy pelosi, they came over for leader. republican leadership was not invited. this is a political realignment.

look at the tax issue. the president say that the rich may end up paying more. world, that's music to democrat ears but the exact opposite of candidate trump and the republicans. has he given away the store, gone too far just to get something done? fair question. there are many angry republicans. a twitter blitz this morning. no daca deal which schumer and pelosi despite their claim. no packing down on the wall, he tweets it's already under construction. we cover politics and money and there's action on both. you're 401(k) is doing very well. stock at record levels. varney & company is about to begin. ♪ >> i think the wealthy will be pretty much where they are,

pretty much where they are. if we can do that, they like it, if they have to go higher, they will go higher frankly. stuart: whoa, how about that? the rich may actually may end up paying more. how will that work, ash? ashley: they are not getting access to the deductibles on state and local taxes on those federal returns that they were before. who does this hurt? this is interesting, s, the u, it will actually hurt those people who are rich in states like california and new york. those liberal millionaires and billionaires are actually going to take a hit on this because they will not be able to deduct the local taxes whereas states that have low or no taxes, ie, texas and florida are not going to get hit because they don't pay taxes anyway. they are not losing deductibles. liz: republicans haven't won new

yorker and california. ashley: good luck explaining to me rich donors in california and new york. you're the ones that are going to lose out not those in california. stuart: you might get what you wish for. liz: you're taxing my base. stuart: we all would like a great big tax cut that stimulates the economy but the republicans don't have the vote for it. liz: i don't understand why the democrats are always allowed as voice in the room. this is the time for the republicans to stand up and fight for courage of convictions as democrats smashed gdp growth, smash business small formation. oprah winfrey didn't get rich at the expense of the poor, they were all poor at one time. there's income mobility, that's what it's ability. stuart: look, republicans don't do politics well. liz: i just give them to do template to do politics well, that's it, period, they need leadership. the democrats are the loudest

voices in the room. that has got to stop if the republicans care about the american dream. you guys are being defeated, i'm saying fight for it. [laughter] >> i think that paul ryan and mitch mcconnell's leadership is in danger because i think emack is right. who recognizes that, the president. ashley: exactly right. stuart: the republicans don't have the votes. >> you're right. they don't have a leadership. liz: you're being defeatist. defeatist realist. stuart: i'm i'm going to move o. defeated stuart varney. [laughter] stuart: we will be doing just a fraction. down a fraction of 1%. the closing high yesterday was the all-time closing high. we will open 22,158 was close yesterday, record will open pretty close to that this morning. politics, please, give me more

politics. president trump tweeting earlier this morning, quote, no deal was made last night on daca, massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent, would be subject to vote. all right, joining us now congressman drew ferguson, republican from georgia and a member of the house budget committee. sir, let's get big picture here. i smell a deal eventually. the democrats get daca and you get to build the wall, would you object? >> well, i will tell you this, our primary responsibility has got to be passing the conservative budget that we have gotten out of committee. stuart: sir, you don't have the votes. i don't mean to be rude but you don't have the votes. >> let me say, i do think we have the rote ifs we put the bill on the floor. stuart: you won't get it through the senate. >> do i think quite candidly those far right on the party and far heft -- left will have to explain to constituents. stuart: are you okay with a

watered down tax deal to get something done, are you okay with dealing with democrats to bring some of them on board to get a watered-down tax deal? >> stuart, we will continue to fight for the most conservative deal that we can get and -- no. i do think that -- i do think that we can get there. i think that our party can come together. , it will come together and if the president is obviously willing to work with whoever is going to cut the deal, i think it's incumbent upon us to make sure we have the most conservative deal possible that has the lowest rates and puts economy on a trajectory up so we can deal with many of the deficit issues that we have to deal with. i think we will have to get it done and we will get it done. stuart: you have to go to the president with house and the senate with a deal that will get at least 50 votes and 218 votes in the house. i don't think you can do it. >> well, i'm not willing to give up on that. i think it's important -- i think it's important to the future of this nation and to the

conservative moment to keep pushing. i think we can get there. i believe that we will get there and i believe that those that are in our party on the house, as i said before, those particularly on the far right and the moderates are going to have to come together and they are going to come to the middle of our own party and support this budget. the budget is a good budget, conservative product and it is the mechanism that we can use to get tax reform done. i would much further fight for 51 votes than 60. stuart: look, what happened with obamacare? you couldn't come together. the gop could not act as a governing party and we end up with nothing. if you do the same on taxes u we end up with a democrat plan, we all end up paying more. that's the threat that's hanging over the gop at the moment, isn't it? >> stuart, you're exactly right. that's why we cannot give up in the fight. i'm not interested in having a tax plan written by chuck schumer and nancy pelosi. i'm about having a tax plan that's right for america and puts america first on the global

stage in terms of economic development and i believe we can get there. stuart: sir, you are backing our own elizabeth mcdonald. i take it in good spirit. congressman, thank you very much for being with us. big day, very important issue. we appreciate your input. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: mark shkreli, to change subjects entirely, he made threats to hillary clinton indirectly. judge napolitano is here. okay, he was -- he's back in jail because he put a bounty on hillary clinton's head. does the punishment back in jail fit the crime? >> well, i don't think so. he's not in jail because of what he said, he's in jail because what he said violated the terms of his bail. so if you or i had posted, i will give you $5,000 for a stranded hillary clinton's hair, that's protected speech, but you and i are not out on bail with

restrictions on our speech. [laughter] >> here it is. we will go there later. seriously, the statement on its own is absolutely protected because the law is you can encourage even violence, if violence doesn't occur, your speech is protected. stuart: the guy is out on $5 million bail. you can't do that while on bail. >> it's insane to do. stuart: the judge is absolutely right to put him back in jail. >> the second circuit has a tradition of protecting speech to its outer most limits. stuart: if you're out on bail, you could say anything you like, you can threaten people? >> yes, because the conviction is not lawful until sentencing. i know the jury found him guilty on five of eight counts but that is -- it's not valid until the time of sentencing. he is as convicted and free,

well, not free in jail, yesterday he was as free as you and i and not convicted until he is sentenced. stuart: it goes to appeals court? >> yes. stuart: second question, he's out on bail, was out on bail, $5 million is the bail that he posted, does he lose it? >> it's funny you say that, i saw headlines that say bail revoked. right to bail is revoked, not the security for him. no, he doesn't lose the 5 million, he would lose 5 million if he fled the country in order to avoid sentencing. they would seize the 5 million and get him. ashley: you don't put down 5 million. >> i don't know what he put down. ashley: not that i know why. [laughter] liz: why do you know that? ashley: long story. stuart:ly carve 30 seconds out for you. do you agree with me that there are not the votes in the republican party, house or

senate for the kind of tax cutting program that both you and i would like, the votes are not there, do you agree with that? >> i do because of my friend in the house that want reduced spending to compensate for reduced taxes. stuart: the gop is lousy at politics. >> the gop and the congress is leaderless. stuart: lousy in politics? >> pretty much. stuart: he bought air force one and landed in fort myers, visit storm vims in naples, you will see it live as it happens. more tough talk from north korea. they say they will sink japan with their nuclear weapons and reduce the u.s. to ashes and darkness, we are on it.

stuart: well, well, health care

going straight up. they may sell themselves, investors love it. the stock is up nearly 8%. and then there's the amazon story of the day. they are planning a mega warehouse in méxico. details. ashley: 1 million square feet, 20 miles north of méxico city. hope to have this done by next year. they are relatively new to méxico, they only started selling the kindle 2013, the sales, e-commerce, 253 million. that's a good start. it's doubled what it was in 2015 and so they are really ramping up in méxico. they're already the third largest online retailer in méxico. stuart: first they ahoused a new big headquarters in the united states and then big new warehouse in méxico. ashley: keep the white house happy. stuart: exactly. all right. west virginia senator joe manchin said the president with president trump and six other senators was productive. here is what he said about both sides working together.

roll tape. >> i think a perfect scenario can you get 30 republicans and 30 democrats. we are not going to get the far frenches, it's not going to happen. stuart: that's looks like political realignment. consensus in the center. joining us now john kennedy, republican from louisiana. senator, are you okay with working with democrats moving to the center to get something done? >> sure. but i've got to see it to believe it. one of the things i discovered here up, stuart, people talk a lot but you have to watch what they do. [laughter] >> you know, i think chuck schumer, for example, is a very interesting guy. i don't agree with a damn thing he says but he's an interestings guy and it doesn't bother me if he and the president are sitting down and talking and trying to work something out but working something out it's not just saying okay whatever you want, chuck, we are going to do because that's not going to work on my side of the aisle.

stuart: i don't think president trump is looking for the vote of senator schumer. i think she's looking for the vote of those moderate democrats, north dakota, missouri, west virginia who have prepared to move to the center. >> i think that's a wise support. i would love to have their support. it's been my experience so far that many of them are frightened politically to do what i think some of them know it's the right thing to do because they are worried about the far left putting somebody in their primaries against them. now, you'll never hear anybody say that publicly around here. but it's a fact. that's what's going on. look, i welcome all the democratic support we can get on getting in this economy moving again through tax cuts, but once again, i don't believe in just giving away the store to have an agreement. stuart: okay. >> the only thing worse than no agreement is a bad agreement. i'm not saying the president is doing that, i'm just saying

people up here talk a lot and you have to watch what they do, not what they say. stuart: i do need to talk to you about equifax, senator, you want the government to launch an investigation into equifax because three executives sold stock a couple of days after there was the big breach at equifax and a couple of months before the breach was made public. you want an investigation. are you starting it? >> yes, and i just want the facts, stuart. look, i'm very disappointed in equifax, i understand they got hacked, they didn't want to be hacked, it was the mother of all hacks, though. it was about half of america was affected, i've been very disappointed in the way they've dealt with it. before the -- the hack was unannounced, you had some senior executives selling a couple million dollars worth of stock, i'm not saying they did anything wrong but there's certainly an

appearance there that they could have and that's got to be investigated so people oh will have confidence in the stock market. the whole mess with their website and -- and limiting liability, what i'm hoping that equifax will do and the other -- the other credit bureaus as well is to talk straight to the american people and say, look, we are not just going to help you monitor your credit, we are going to help you fix it if something goes wrong because there's been enormous amount of fear and confusion and i think of all those poor folks in texas and florida with everything else they have to worry, now they have to worry about identity being stolen. stuart: well, said, john kennedy, republican from louisiana. thanks for joining us. >> thanks, stuart, always a pleasure. stuart: yes, sir. look at this, two former google guys come up with an idea, giant vending machines in apartment buildings so people can buy basics before run to go corner

store and the internet is outraged. we are on it.

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which is why comcast business delivers consistent network performance and speed across all your locations. fast connections everywhere. that's how you outmaneuver. stuart: two former google guys have an idea, they want to give competition to mom and pop bodega stores replacing them or putting in place what they call the bodega, a little basket of goodies in a apartment

buildings, you can run down and get it from the -- like that thing right there. all right, the twitter -- what are they saying? liz: defenders of bodega upset about it. my bodega guy list in my building. i would love to see your dumb machine bring you egg sami. these are heinous vending machines. they should be called -- the hispanic chamber of conference said it's a hispanic word. stuart: brian brendberg is burying his head in the sand. >> i don't have any bodega bringing me sandwiches at 11:00. i'm not concerned. maybe it's the mid westerner in me. but those do not appeal to me. by the way, this is not bodega's

biggest problem. amazon's whole foods. stuart: it's a good idea. >> it's not going to sink bodegas. ashley: you're taking community center where people hang out. it's a neighborhood thing. you can't replace neighborhood spirit with a machine. >> i think that's totally overrated. i do not see community happening at bodegas happening in new york city. stuart: threatened by the internet and direct selling. >> makes consumers' lives better. stuart: i love it. [laughter] stuart: we have about 4 minutes to go, it is thursday morning, we are going to go down just a fraction. that's what we are indicating now. let's see what happens when we actually ring that bell. we will be back

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♪ stare with me into the abyss ( ♪ ) stuart: well, you know, we've got about 35 seconds to go, we will hope this market on a thursday morning on -- there you go. we do have a shot from the new york stock exchange and will open for business in approximately 25 seconds. looks like we are going to be down a fraction in the very early going. i don't know where we go from there, but i tell you we closed

at a new high yesterday, 22,158, i think it was. we go up from there, you are in unchartered territory all over again. we have a deal, that may help. we are up, look at -- now we are down 13. [laughter] ashley: we are looking. liz: that was really funny. stuart: we bring the fun. now we are down 13 points. that's not much, ladies and gentlemen. we are at 22,142, s&p down a fraction, 4 points only. nasdaq, where are we, we are down a fraction. a third of 1%, that's not a huge hit but downside move. 20 points lower. look at amazon, it was real close to a 1,000 bucks a share, still is. okay, down 2 bucks, 996. the olive garden chain, they are bringing back the never-ending pasta, i never understand this, why it's so popular, we will discuss later. the stock is down.

[laughter] stuart: joining ashley webster, elizabeth mcdonald and brian brendberg and scott martin. i think the deal is coming together, there's certainly progress on it, is that good for the market? >> it's great for the market, stuart. you look at the markets languishing in the last few months and that's because of lack therefore, if you see some sort of bipartisan agreement, i think you have another say 200 points in s&p to the upside because of the fact that we are long overdue for this and looks like trump is going get it. stuart: okay, you're an economist, you're not a market watcher, but i suspect that the two tax cut deal in the upping is good for the market. brian: it's good for the market, i don't think it's that good for the economy. long-term economy not as big of a tale. stuart: if you get 15% corporate tax rate, 15%, that's good for the economy? >> yeah, i like that, but i don't like the tone that tax cuts for the rich are no good

for the country. democrats are winning the war of ideas here. liz: why democrats are the loudest voices in the room, they smashed gdp growth, oprah winfrey was poor and now she's rich. so was steve jobs, so was larry ellison, the rich and to prosperous don't do that at the, -- because of ruining the poor, they get up, income mobility, you need to pay to pay for bernie sanders government spending. stuart: tax cuts will be really good and not listen to demagoguery from the left. wall street journal, editorial board. americans get richer. this article talks about how this year real median income, household percent 2% rose out of poverty, good news. >> great news, 5 years too late and we have nothing going

forward that's going to meaning fully going to pick anything up. i don't see what's going to be driving wages specially with talk of small tax cut. stuart: what do you say scott martin, looks like that's a pretty good story to me, not exactly prosperity but things are looking up. >> yeah, better late than never. you have to start somewhere. if we get any tax cuts, that will push wages higher. a deal on taxation is a great deal for wages specially going to 2018. ashley: we need to go back to small businesses. they have been expanding and hiring and now rapidly expanding on capital expenditures. liz: went upside down under op i'm. that's my point. stuart: the market did just turn around. back down again just a fraction. flat, up a quarter point. we will take it. amazon, let's look at that. it was close to a $1,000 a share. it's planning a big warehouse in méxico.

all right, scott, would you buy amazon right here, 995? >> all day long, stuart. i tell you those that missed amazon say about a thousand 30 or so is the high, you have a chance to get sub 1,000 which i believe is a great value for the company going forward. provided that you have a couple year time rise because of the growth they've got coming down the pike, amazon is valued at a 1,000. stuart: you're nudging your head, brian. >> you buy them right here. stuart: we are down 6. four minutes in, pretty plat i would say, down 6, down 8, 22,150. come on. [laughter] ashley: come on. we are with you. stuart: minus 7, so what, 22,158. who would have thought? really, who would have thought? liz: he doesn't have his agenda

enacted, look at that. stuart: 18,100, did you ever dream it would be a 22,100. i have the producer in my ear saying that he saw it all coming. [laughter] stuart: i'm done with checking the big board. i want to go with delta. you can borrow delta miles on your american express card, interesting, here is how it works, if you only have say 50,000 miles and your trip is going to cost you a 100,000 miles, you can borrow the 50,000 that you don't have on your american express card and you pay it back over period of time by using the american express card. i like the sound of that. american express up, delta down. [laughter] stuart: at&t offering a free iphone with purchase of another for customers who also subscribe to its direct satellite service. apple 158, no change at&t, now equifax, big story, much in the news, down big this month after

that massive data breach. this morning, down another 3%. nearly 4%. you're back at 95. it was way over 100. i can't remember exactly where. liz: they lost 30% of the market. stuart: that's a hit. we have tenant health care, they may sell themselvessings, investors like it, stock up nearly 4% at 16. i have it. okay. i have to talk olive garden. know it's not a big deal financially, i'm told this is a cultural culinary story. [laughter] stuart: gardens olive garden is bringing back the never-ending pasta pass. you pay 100 bucks, you can have as much pasta you want. that, ladies and gentlemen, believe it or not is popular.

[laughter] brian: my understanding is that this sells out in one second. stuart: one second. you would buy it? liz: yes. stuart: why? >> because i love it. [laughter] stuart: the only way it makes sense if you go frequently and order a doggy bag, so you take bag home your vast -- liz: right up your alley. [laughter] >> you have to go twice a day to make up for the cost, how much is that fasta, for reel -- real. stuart: quiet, please, the producer told me that there's no such thing of a doggy bag. you can't pile it into a doggy bag. you can't do it. liz: i'm not buying it. [laughter] stuart: let's get serious. the former chief of citi says

30%, one-third of all banking jobs will be wiped out in five years. i can get with that. have you been into a local bank branch. there's nobody there. brian: younger generations, particularly nobody is there. the world is changing ways for consumers and bankers have to adapt. liz: instead of loan officers, compliance officers. i think that's good. it's getting productive assets back to work again. stuart: trouble is these banks, they're all left with all of these branches, real estate and nobody is going. ashley: that's right. >> that'll be good for bodegas. [laughter] stuart: back to that. any opinion on banks dropping 30% of their jobs? >> it's good for financials. we own financials. this will help cut bottom line down. if you go into a bank these

days, you're right, a couple of people working there. the tellers are gone and overhead is less. stuart: let's not forget we hit all-time highs yesterday on two big indicators, dow jones included. any gain today if it's there, yet another record high. i don't know how many it is. 20 or 30 or something. ashley: 4,000. stuart: extraordinary. [laughter] stuart: table companies, 22% increase in cord cutting this year. scott, i know that you have been on this before, you're not surprised, are you? >> no, cord cutting has been going on for quite a while. you have to watch for cable providers, look at content providers like netflix if you're looking to take advantage of this. stuart: nfl ratings down again.

i'm linking this to insistence of putting politics in sports. i think that's what's at stake here, is it? ashley: yes, i hear it from a lot of people. it's entertainment. they don't want to be hit with politics and the focus on the players taking a -- kneeling down or sitting down during national anthem. terrible pr for the nfl. stuart: storm coverage, harvey and irma in particular -- ashley: last year was the election. brian: you'll see a new excuse. liz: i think it did hit it. brian: it's not the main driver. liz: but you're talking trends. 81 million people are going to be cord cutters in four years, that's a lot of people. brian: not in four years. >> 60 million now. 80 million not doing cable at all. cord cutters. there are cord nerves out there.

2021. stuart: who's estate is that? liz: one company. in the storyline that you guys didn't read. stuart: i find this fascinating. ashley: big number. stuart: thank you very much, indeed, to you brian brendberg and scott martin, good stuff today. we appreciate it. thank you very much. where are we, 11 minutes in, down 6. north korea threatening to use its nukes to sink and that's their word sink japan. they say japan is no longer needed to exist near us. stone harsh words but no impact on the market. we are calling it a political realignment. president trump working with democrats on taxes and border security. here is the question, is he about to give away too much? kevin, meet your father.

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stuart: flat, flat, look at boeing. they are getting a 600 million-dollar contract to make the new air force one, nicole, what's this all about, details, please? nicole: well, the winner is boeing, at least they will start with initial design, 600 million-dollar contract to buy -- by the department of defense. 748 aircraft. this is a big deal because they start the initial design here for two air force ones and then the air force takes over to modification. big picture, don't forget donald trump originally said way back in december, it was out of control, was his quote for 4 billion-dollar price tag to build a a new one. the one currently flown is back to 1990. they are due for a new one. here is the catch, i mean,

stuart, it's 2024 when the jets will be ready. if trump wins a second term and in last year, on his last day in office will he go on new plane, i don't know, 2024. stuart: you're right over your skis, let me tell you. boeing is the best performing stock of the year. totally different subject. north korea they are threatening to sink japan. ashley: latest reaction to u.s. sanctions. north korea saying that the u.s. should be beaten to death like a rabid dog. threatening to sink japan. all of this because of the new sanctions which, of course, they put a ban on textile import, restrictions on oil import and so on and so on. it was a lot less than the u.s. had asked, total boil ban but

pyongyang in usual style, not an understatement saying what it will do, sink japan -- stuart: i'm trying to wonder what general mattis would say when an enemy says they will beat us like a mad dog. [laughter] stuart: president trump, i say the man has gone bipartisan. he wants support for the tax plan and he's going where ever he can get the support. come on in jason chaffetz, former republican from utah and fox news contributor. i think there's a huge political realignment going on here. a move to the center. what do you say? >> i think you're right because what the president has successfully done is he's tri triangulat de and broke the deal, he demonstrated, hey, he wants to get the job done and nod beholding to big special

interest and he wants deals done. stuart: does he bring the base with him if he waters down the tax cut and does a deal on immigration with the democrats? >> i think they'll be a lot of latitude if he actually gets something done. i think he saw the first seven months of his administration looking to republicans, we couldn't get republicans to vote republican. so, you know, he has to go get the votes somewhere, he's a realist and push the best he can but on the big issues like the immigration, tax reform, i think he can actually get some stuff done by the end of the year. stuart: get it done and keep his base. that's interesting. how about this for a possible deal with the democrats' leadership, we as in mr. trump, you'll get -- you'll get daca, you'll get the dreamers what they want but we will build the wall, a deal, what do you say? >> i think it's right. what people don't understand you don't need legislation in order to build the wall, you need appropriations. that's entirely on the hands of the united states congress and they should be able to put billions of dollars to build the

wall. on daca you need legislation, i think he has enough republicans who want to see that get done. plus, you have schumer and pelosi that can deliver votes. mccon or and ryan, maybe not so much. they don't necessarily follow like they do on the democratic side of the aisle. stuart: what chance that mcconnell and ryan are really out? >> i don't see them necessarily going anywhere. i think they are beholding to their caucus, i think what you see a lot of independent thinking on the full political spectrum. the reason republicans were able to take control of the house is we've got a big broad tent and not everybody is conservatives to say i am or jim jordan or mark meadows, some of the other people, we have more centrists in there that will vote on those sides of the aisle. stuart: until a few months ago you were a leading republican congressman. you were, you were a star and then suddenly you said, i'm leaving. are you glad you left because you saw this mess coming? >> well, i left for a variety of reasons, my family, but, you know, it wasn't because i was

tired of winning, i can tell you that. [laughter] stuart: you saw it coming, didn't you? >> it's frustrate to go not get stuff done. you can see that in february or march. when they said get ready because we will have bill ready on the day it was sworn in, did that happen? it wasn't close. tax reform was supposed to be done in the spring. stuart: you were frustrated with the republican party and the machinery of congress, that's what did it for you? >> we will need another hour or two but i'm happy to explain it all day. stuart: we have two hours but we have other stuff as well. >> i understand. stuart: you're all right, jason, congressman. >> no, you can call me jason. stuart: thanks for being with us. check the dow. we just turned around but i'm still calling it a flat market this thursday morning. 1.44, we will take it. espn anchor jamil hill said she's sorry for calling the

president a white supremacists but she's not apologizing for the president. she feels her comments painted espn in an unfair light. more varney after this

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stuart: you could call the highlight of first hour on the air. senator talking about president working with democrats. ash, liz, i think there's political realignment taking up and i'm going to keep repeating it. liz: i think he's shaking the swamp. if he gets state and local tax deduction knocked out for rich but lowers corporate rate to 20's or whatever it is, wow. president trump is standing outside. she's shaking up the swamp. stuart: definitely. the right doesn't have the vote, the left doesn't have the vote, the center does have the vote, bring them together. ashley: somewhere in the middle generally has the answer. i don't like the extreme of anything left or right. the answer is in the middle. they only have themselves to blame. they need to look in the mirror. stuart: they really do. the gop has failed this president, that would be my

opinion. liz: now is the time to fight. it's about the courage of your convictions, they need to fight. [laughter] stuart: i agree with you in many ways but you don't have the votes and just by fighting won't give you the vote. liz: if you fought and stood up, they might come behind you. stuart: hurricanes are payback from mother nature. ashley: looking at the devastation again, talking about harvey and irma, it's obvious nature is sending us a message and the message is don't throw your vote away on jill stein. jill stein was the green party candidate who ran up against hillary and bernie and said there was a wasted vote. that's what you get for wasting your vote. liz: he said socialism sounds good when standing in toxic

blood water. tell that to people in venezuela eating toxic water and garbage. stuart: moments ago we hit all-time high. i'm not going to get mixed up whether it's closing high or -- the big second hour of varney & company is coming your way in a couple minutes.

the stuart: warning to democrats. watch out. you may get what you wish for. tax the rich. be careful. the president's middle-class tax cut could become a tax package that his rich democrats. here's how it could work out.

california, new york, illinois. three classic examples of democratic states which impose high taxes of their own. they tax high income earners to the max. at the moment, the state taxes are deductible on the federal return. the rich and those democrat states are cushion. they are not quite so bad because they get it right at the federal level. what happened to state and local taxes are no longer deductible. that's reportedly part of the middle-class tax-cut plan. ouch, suddenly the big tax break disappears and you get to the most? high tax states, democrats dates. nancy pelosi, california, chuck schumer new york. they are in a bind. they want to tax the rich. but their own supporter, that's a nightmare. it gets worse? high tax states is a big plus

for low tax or no tax states, which are overwhelmingly republican. texas and florida have no state income taxes. ending the deduction is no big deal for them. in just a few weeks am in the president has put tax reform front and center and set himself up for a big jury without the republicans. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ returned a little bit high to the market. 22,171. >> coming in a three-point 70%. that's it exactly the same as last year. very low year ago 3.5%, the low rates but at one point we did creep above 4% if you remember. now we are down at 327%.

stuart: very low. how many times on this program have we said when i got my first house in california, 1225%. liz: you should've waited. stuart: thank you, lives. 13 points, the big tech stocks were up 22,170. how about for all the money's been pouring all this time. facebook, out the back, apple, not much, but all of them. this is not affected the market. the price of oil at $50 a barrel, back at 5005 as we speak. we are seeing a political realignment in washington. president trump trying to make deals with democrats their former senator jim demand. sarah, the gop cannot be happy

with this realignment. you are a conservative. you cannot be happy with that, are you? >> i'm not happy, but i certainly don't blame the president because they have had a long time this year to get their act together in the president is intent on keeping his promises and getting something done. he doesn't know the democrats as well as the rest of us do when it's going to be kind of like lucy pulling the football out from charlie brown because schumer and nancy pelosi would not give him a centrist solution. that is certainly what we worry about right now. i'm hopeful in the next few weeks republicans will do something on the health care situation and get a pack scare up to get their rates down. they need to stop arguing and let's get something done that would get the economy a little better. >> the votes are just not there for that kind of tax dealer

health care deal that you want. they are just not there. >> they are there. they just need to work a little harder. conservatives did everything they could they all voted for it in the senate. they will do the same thing on tax-cut. some of the leadership on the republican side wanting to budget neutrality that they need to come out with the buildup will get the economy going. we know whatever they do, democrats will say it is for the rich because the folks at the higher income level are paying taxes now. you can't cut taxes without it affecting those at the higher income. >> it is surely a tax package together that will guarantee to get 52 votes on the republicans in the senate in 218 votes in the house. if you can do that, you've got a tax cut deal that you like.

i don't think you can do it. i know i've said this before and i know you've answered it before. last word to you on this subject. >> well, the republicans can do it, but the leadership needs to come out and get the team working together. if they were just a couple short in the senate on health care and i know those voters well in the senate and i think senator mcconnell could've certainly done more to get the bill passed and hopefully they will take another swing at it. i think it is going to be difficult to get democrats support for anything we could consider good for the economy or even good for border security. i certainly don't blame the president for trying. but he needs to be careful what he's getting into. stuart: real fast, sir. i know you're a low tax guy, low government guy and i'm with you there. how do you like the idea for deduction of state and local taxes, which would hit high tax

states? >> i like it. it would benefit the people in those high tax state because of it downward pressure on the taxing at the state level. i think it's a good idea. right now the federal deduction creates an incentive for states to raise taxes. i am all for it because it would allow us to reduce federal taxes even more. stuart: i just don't see senator schumer going for a tax increase for his own constituents. but they are peered >> it would be good to force them to vote on that. stuart: far too much fun, jim demand that is a fact. thanks for joining us. we appreciate it. stuart: i've got to get to the nfl football, sunday afternoon ratings for week one were down compared to last year. come on in, jason whitlock, host of speak for yourself on fox sports one. why do you think we've got a ratings decline?

>> kaepernick discussion, the issue roger could tell how does it relate to violence, so much of the conversation around the nfl is negative. i think it starting to turn people off. i do want to pump breaks a little bit. hurricane irma played a role in week one. i am concerned. a lot of the conversation around the nfl is way too negative and has nothing to do with football. it has become way too political in its turn people off. stuart: i think it has. jason, and jamele hill apologized on espn for calling donald trump are racist. to address the elephant in the rim, my comments on twitter express my personal beliefs. my regret is that my comments in the public way i made painted espn in an unfair light. my respect for the company and my colleagues remains unconditional.

she did not apologize to the president who she called a white supremacist. when you make of that? >> i don't think she's going to apologize to the president. what i think she believes what she said. two and more importantly, this is your exit strategy. we are looking for someone who doesn't say it at espn would prefer to be off the hard-core sports talk circuits and want to do a show like to view or a known show where can dabble in sports. i think this move of attacking president trump has worked to build their brand and make her a more viable television personality outside of espn. this to me looks like megyn kelly all over again. megyn went after president trump. for then candidate trump, built her brandon moved on. jamele hill, building her brand so she could move on from espn. i think this is an exit strategy

for jamele hill. stuart: i've not seen the broadcast. i understand it's the principle broadcast every weekday i believe. i'm told that she was really good. she knows sports big-time. really good commentary. >> i'm going to push back a little bit. that show has been taking in the ratings and this is a nice way to remove yourself from that. stuart: why is it tanking in the ratings? >> excuse me? stuart: why was it tanking in the ratings? >> it's not the right fit for the timeslot in espn. espn and hard-core sports fans whether they like it or not. it's not a hard-core sports show they are doing. they try to bring in pop-culture and movie and things that have to do with sports. jamele hill is a television talent. she's not a good fit for sports television. she's a better fit outside of sports tv where she can dabble in sports and talk to casual sports fans.

this is a brilliant exit strategy by her, representative cummings analyst in espn. it gets them out from underneath a show that doesn't work. stuart: you are an original thinker. let me throw this at you. i spoke yesterday afternoon posting soccer. playing a german club. no politics at all. fabulous game. the spurs won. when it should come over to our side and watch real football. >> real football is played in helmets and pads. that is a nice little appetizer. real football includes people and pads getting hurt. stuart: i will come back on this. real football is called rugby. same shape all. come on over to god. >> i don't think i could handle

it. jason whitlock, you are all right. appreciate it. i've got to get back to the question here. i think we are doing too much of this. bringing back the never-ending pastor pass. the producer just said there's more of it coming. 22,000 new things went on sale at 2:00 p.m. for $100 a pop. you have to act fast. they'll be gone in a second. verdi did go, didn't i.? 2:00 p.m. today. they will go really, really fast. melissa francis wants to go beyond. she can't believe it. she's going to take me on in a few minutes. i can read it. she can't believe why i don't think the possible is a big deal. by the way, president trump

turning to democrats because the gop can't get the votes together. guess who's going to answer this in a moment? louie gohmert. he cannot be happy about this. he's not going to be happy with me. we will be back in a second. ben shapiro speaking of berkeley tonight. one member says violence is necessary. we are all over it. you are watching the second hour of "varney & company." ♪

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stuart: still pretty much a flat market with a slight upside of about 10 at 22,169. an even split, winners and losers for the dow 30 about half and half red and green. martin shkreli back in jail after a judge revoked his bail yesterday.

why did the judge do that? ashley: he put on facebook or work for $5000 for an unedited strand of hillary clinton's hair. as strange as that may sound, he said look, i'm protected by the first amendment. you can't throw me in jail could the judge says that the solicitation of assault in exchange for money. that is not protect it. by the first amendment. he was out on $5 million bail after being found guilty of three counts of securities fraud. now is back in jail because you can't be making threats. >> when you're out on bell, the candidate threat. stuart: the judge did say earlier he will appeal it and he'll be out. i know by tomorrow morning. we will see. this judge says you're not

protected. it will really work for you. president trump, okay, we've got -- okay, i am waiting for louie gohmert to appear, getting together to come to her camera on capitol hill. i want to talk about this ongoing political realignment, which i see. he is with us now. that makes lameness. by big theme on the show this morning is we do have a political realignment going on. the president is encouraging bringing together the center to get something done. my position is go for it, mr. president. your position has to be this is all wrong. it is. you don't like this because you are not going to get the health care reform and certainly not the tax cuts you want. my position is you don't have the vote.

>> you are making an argument that i'm not making comments to her. first of all, if the president hasn't used this new alignment you are talking about to get the debt ceiling, to get the short-term cr, we would be haggling about the debt ceiling for the next two or three weeks in september at 30th is a very hard day. beyond september 30th, takes 60 votes unless mitch were to push it back. right now until september 30, 51 votes passes in a bomb if you repeal, whatever we do. one of the reasons i voted for it and was very smart of the president. he cleared the deck where we still have a shot to do a repeal, reform, something to get people help on obamacare. if the president doesn't do that new alignment, he's a smart negotiator.

he knew what needed to be done. it cleared the deck. we've still got a shot on obamacare. some of us have been continuing to put the pressure on paul ryan tells me we've got them working behind the scenes to put as much pressure. i said we've got to go in front of the scenes and put the pressure with two weeks we've got to get that done. if the president doesn't do this deal, we don't have a shot. tax reform, that is still in the works. stuart: you don't have the votes. look, i don't know. no one now. we've got to do that. stuart: do you have the votes in the house and senate? does congress, the gop produced the vote for an across-the-board tax cut that would really stimulate this economy? >> we've got to get on the actual deal. we have the vote. we've got to get the nuts and bolts in the bill so we can get it passed.

yes, we do. stuart: you couldn't do it on obamacare. >> don't give up on that. i have not been the president has not and that's been very helpful. stuart: do you think you could get senator susan collins to agree to the immediate repeal of obamacare? >> markowski has got to know how important is that she get on board for the sake of the party or she will be a minority party within two years. we are not done yet and it's due to the president's ability as the best dealmaker in town. i'm not giving up. we've got a shot. we've got to get people help and on tax reform. yes, we got the votes in the house and we've got to put the squeeze on to get the votes in.

stuart: that is what the president is saying, isn't it. gop, come to me with a deal you can pass in the house and senate and i'm all for it. if you can't do that, i'm going to the democrats to get the support wherever i can. at this moment, i don't think you got the votes for the tax cut you want. >> you're not going to get them from the democrats because they are not for tax cut. stuart: someone be in favor of a lower corporate tax rate and a big deduction cut for wealthy people. they love that. >> yeah, as long as you are raising taxes somewhere, they will agree to a lower tax somewhere else. we are talking about what you said across-the-board tax that tax that really gets this economy going. laffer said you know what kind of growth we have, like 80% in 1984 after the 30% kicked in. we can still do amazing things, but it will end up with republicans having to do it and we can do this.

but we couldn't do it if we didn't have an incredible negotiator dealmaker, big picture guy like the white house. stuart: it is always a pleasure, even if we vigorously disagree. we are not done yet. stuart: louie gohmert, everyone. we appreciate it. melissa francis is with us on espn. she saw her segment about the unlimited deal. she can understand why i don't get a big deal. really? get in the studio and we will talk. i'm val. the orange money retirement squirrel from voya. i represent the money you save for the future. who's he? he's the green money you can spend now. what's up? gonna pay some bills, maybe buy a new tennis racket.

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stuart: olive garden's never-ending pasta passed his

back. quiet, please. i don't think this is a very big deal, but our friend melissa krantz disagrees. she treated this. she is horrified that i don't think it's a big deal. we've got 90 seconds. i would give you the first 30. >> first of all, you can even say it right. it is so un-american you don't love this. all of garden is phenomenal, delicious. one hundred dollars all-you-can-eat forever. this time the error in describing it with your name so you can't resell it. there's a $200 version that includes a trip to italy. this is so fun. great pr for the company, and next is that you don't like mcdonald's french fries. stuart: my last name ends in a vowel sound. >> you're seeing pasta or something crazy.

lord help us, please. on the right side of other issue coming around the wrong side. let's go to olive garden together. >> i don't care for pasta. >> you are un-american. it is delicious. what about bread start, but fragile. >> my grandkids can eat like horses. look, it is not such a big deal. and yet come in the public it like a big deal. >> what a phenomenal business. >> you can't take a doggy bag. you can't take the excess away with you. >> you're american. what's wrong with that. stuart: hoist on your own side. >> you're hoisting on yours. stuart: you are sounding rather

strident. >> i'm very passionate about the olive garden. i am a cheap date. but make donald. my death row millwood eat in and out, maybe mcdonald's. you know, i love the fast food. stuart: i might come with you to olive garden if you come with me for a chicken vindaloo. >> i don't even know what that is. ashley: indian food. stuart: exactly. the hottest of hot spices. we torture each other with food. there is something magical happening here. you are a pain. stuart: all bets are off. >> you know i love you, stuart varney. stuart: that is the last word. you get it on this program can you really do. president trump admitting while dimasi a higher tax bill. how about that.

art laffer has the story. hold on, he will be back.

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stuart: you know, i would listen to this 50 years ago. i was living in east africa and i remember when this record came out. penny lane. i did not. i heard it on a local radio. to the big word, we are up but not much. nine points higher. 22,000, 168. big tech names not in favor this morning. not much in percentage terms. you don't often see the big five down. senator schumer said it's the worst corporate scandal since

enron. down another 4%. the party lost about 30% in the last week. aqua faxes in trouble. the ftc says it is investigating. we are in for some good news. the latest "wall street journal" editorial reads, look at it, americans get richer. the article says household income up about 3%. art laffer joins us now. that is accurate. here we come. >> i think so far it's been pretty good. we've been talking about this quite a while and we are in the beginning stages of asset values going up. 22,000 plus in the employment is doing alright. wait until the tax cut takes effect and then you'll see a rocket launch. your friend louie gohmert was right. and 83 and 84 for that year and a half. on january 1st through june 30, 84, if you take just appeared, we grew 12% in real gdp or 8% annual rate.

louis had it just right in that sells all sorts of problems. >> i want to talk about what president trump said yesterday that wealthy people may end up with a higher tax bill. the way i understand it. in high tax states, if you remove the tax deduction for this high state and local income taxes, take that deduction away. they end up paying more, even though they get a smaller rate cut. they will have higher taxes the incomes were the same. i support that all the way. all it does is subsidize the tax base and have other states pay for it. i'm from tennessee where we have no income tax, low property tax and i sure as heck don't want to pay for new yorkers taxes are california's taxes are at end of

story. i would love you did that. stuart: this is very favorable to republican administrations. on our screen, high-tech states, california, new york and illinois. they are all democrats stayed. at the republican states with no income tax. >> we have to see what is fair. these people should not be allowed to steal our money and they shouldn't have these things we do is wonder why this dates are awful. they should be like us. we have the lowest tax states in the nation. aaa rated one of three states triple rated by the biggest improvement in the improvement of education and public service of any state in the nation. what more do you want? drink your real fast, if we get the corporate tax rate down to 20%. >> and when have you stay with 15. >> 15% we marginally covering

come at individual rates for everybody else in the callback that deduction. so wealthy people may end up with a bigger tax bill if we do all of that, do we get 4% growth next year? >> yes, we look it over the decade, gdp will be about six by six percentage points higher than it currently is. over the whole decade. the growth will be once byrd, but then it stays higher for the whole rest of the decade and it will pay for both many times over. my estimates on my model, the one louis got me to do was we would raise about $1.6 trillion over his tenure. if we reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. we stop the change of the business forum. businesses would come back to america. state and local tax revenues would rise like mad, as would other taxes, all as a result of the corporate rate coming down. whatever trump has to do to get the corporate rate down 15%, he should do.

stuart: i am going to stop fighting with louie gohmert. it just not worth it. >> he's a wonderful man. he's just terrific at one time he showed up at my house. i hear a knock on my front door and there he was coming for dinner. i'd forgotten i'd invited in six earlier. but he came in and had a great evening together. stuart: i tell you, you get it all on this program. >> he has a section for me that had all the food discussion. my favorite topic. >> you are all right. we'll see you again, soon. back to the theme on this program. we've had it for some time now and that is local realignment ongoing in washington d.c. the president reaches out to the democrat but he can't get his ideas through with the right or the far left. harlan hill is a testament member of the donald jay trump for president advisory board and here he is here do you approve of this local realignment, the

move to the center. >> absolutely. the only thing that makes this seem weird that makes bipartisanship seem weird is because in context in eight years of barack obama's administration, where he acted as a dictator and if you are willing to pass his agenda, he went to war with you. went to war with congressional republicans. he was never interested in working. finally, we have a president that's going to reach out across party lines and make a deal. get something done. we have a long list. >> would you rather have something than nothing? even if it's really watered down? >> of course. when we talk about high-stakes problems that comprehensive health care reform and high-stakes problems like the regulatory burden that is stifling growth in this country or the high taxes driving businesses abroad are keeping the repatriating process, when we talk about border security

and fighting a system away a big robbins to solve and we need to make problems across the board. >> you come a long way. when i first met you, you are bernie sanders sky. built to billionaires, crush the corporation. >> in my defense, i was in an ideological bernie voter. it was sort of a tantrum because i felt like they turned their back on the american middle class, which i'm a part of. so i supported him, just he basically said had enough of you. it was a protest. >> in interrupting. the left-hand side of your screen, just landed at fort buyers in florida. that is close to naples. naples is not a big airport reagan landed 747. if you go to naples county fire department nurse. he just arrived. he's going to inspect and look at firsthand that the dems of burma because the gulf coast of florida was the worst hit. he's playing right into the middle of it.

he's going to be greeting the terms of burma. i wonder if they'll keep on on saying that the man has no feel, compassion, you can't reach out. what's the word he used? empathy. he can't empathy -- empathize i should say. a mac is out there serving people. what more do you want from this guy? he's being authentic and going above and beyond. ultimately, i don't need a president. i need a president to start showing results and he's done not with both of these so far. stuart: by the way, on the tarmac we are told it's going to be marco rubio. so i guess the personal insults about small hands is forgotten or forgiven. one of the two. pam bondi is going to be there, the attorney general in his state of florida. she's been hard on stopping the looting. she is going to be there.

the president arriving right there at air force one on the ground, meeting and greeting to the guns, showing empathy i guess. sticking it to the media who says they've been sniping at him. i wonder if they'll have any comment on what melania the first lady -- >> of course. >> well, maybe. we are going to houston and high heels. >> budget shows you how padding to protect the media has gotten. if that's all they have is going after the first lady for wearing high heels, and they don't much on the president. stuart: mr. barack is going to be there, the fema guy. the president is going to be down there saying about this, this thinness. and by the way, what do you want. how would you judge his performance with harvey and burma, the president? >> the president of the united states the president of the united states has knocked it out of the park. this is in large part testament to civil service because we have

learned through the other storms and hats off to the law enforcement number but also federal resources, too. >> congressman francis rooney is with us. he represents naples in that area the gulf coast. i believe you're going to see the president today. were you going to ask him for? what do you need? >> i wanted to steal defense of our community, the desperation to get power, to get fame and not it, how people get their houses back under repair and to help our public institutions basically get back in action. stuart: so far have you gotten the right response, the right resources from the fen/phen from governor scott? >> we have had the right words from fremont. now we have to find out if we get the right things to follow the words.

stuart: are you saying you've not gotten what she wanted, what you need? >> we've gotten very encouraging work from the director. it's very comforting to have a person who seems to really know what they are doing in this area. we just have to have the follow through now. stuart: florida power & light told us just the other day that they would not be able to restore full power in your area, the gulf coast of florida intel said timbre of the 22nd, which is some way away. that's a rather distant horizon for getting the juice back, isn't it? >> i talked to eric siegel the ceo yesterday about everything. basically that the end date number. they are putting people in power all the time. they are going down the priority list. hospitals, nursing homes, people most at risk in working down through the priorities. people coming online every few minutes. there will be people that those

writers the 21st and 22nd. stuart: the president has landed at fort myers airport. he's about to emerge from air force one. he will meet and greet senator rubio and attorney general pam bondi and after that meeting, he well i think take marine one down to naples at golf. is that where you're going to meet him? >> yes, i am there at the airport now and i'm going to go in the motorcade at the president, governor and cabinet members that are here. stuart: who will he be seen in naples? >> they haven't told me what is going to go to, but he will meet with victims of the flooding. stuart: he will meet the people suffering still in that area. i am not going to say it's a public relations exercise, but he is clearly trying to counter media hostility which said that

he? empathy. he's going to reverse that image today in your area, congressman. >> well, i thought he showed great empathy and decision-making ability when he went to hurricane harvey. he showed he was in command, that he had been person within, fema people with him. governor abbott was happy with that. i'm hoping we get the same kind of leadership commitment now the president here. stuart: sir, if there's one thing you want, which you don't know how, what is it? >> it would be power. your horrible changes when you don't have power in a hot weather environment. >> it's hot and humid down there. >> temperature and so if we can get one thing, we get the power. there's all kinds of things that have been without power in a tropical environment like disease, people get sick. i was giving out food or three

or 400 people and a lot of them are bleak and old and has firmed. stuart: that sounds like almost a crisis situation. >> in some parts of the district it is. lehigh acres in data springs where there was a lot of flooding. very serious. unfortunately, these disasters always pray hardest on the people who can least afford it. stuart: do you have any estimate of damage and by that i mean structural damage to homes in the naples area? >> i haven't seen too much damage in the naples area per se. there is some in the north town part of the county, call your county with employees that i know they've had been damaged. there's a lot of damage in bonita springs in damage in marco island which took the real brunt of the highest wins and driven c. stuart: you are expecting worse.

>> we were. there was talk of a 15-foot title, like a tsunami inundating the hold southwest part of the coast. we dodge that. stuart: and justine the president and first lady emerging, coming down the runway now, been met by local officials and that would include senator rubio. there is governor rick scott meeting him as we speak. he's just come down there. senator rubio is directly to governor scott wright and will be shaking hands with him momentarily. the lady in the black dress tending to the left at the moment is pam bondi. general of the state of florida. the president is they are, seeing firsthand what happened and not gulf coast area right after burma. ashley: this is a third time he's visited. he treated out he will be meeting with first responders as well as fema and the coast guard.

stuart: okay. pam bondi, greeting her right there in the first lady right behind him. i don't mean to be facetious, but i wonder how on earth the the media will snipe on the first lady wearing these clothes in the situation. >> will find a way. stuart: i don't think they will. having snipe better shoes when she went to houston. i think they learned their lesson. they were trying to find some vain. she is by the way wearing sneakers. why are we talking about this? there is the president of the united states of america with the first lady, visiting to the dems and local officials after a whopping great big hurricane headed. he is standing in good esteem i think. governor scott who is right there wearing the baseball cap and the president, said that locals have got vice president right there as well. they are getting good marks.

very good reports. >> across the board. to put this into context, these are political actors they despise each other just 15 months ago and now they put all of that aside. rick scott, marco rubio are putting all the politics and personal feelings aside to serve the american people in the people of florida. that is testament to how seriously they take their job. hats off. stuart: john fund, national review guys with us watching the scene unfold as the president arrives in florida. jeb in a comment? >> this eager snobs will go out. >> this is a financial program. stuart: we don't stretch quite like that. there is the limiting the president is about to get into. there will be a motorcade i guess. is that going to marine one because he's got a chopper down to naples. you can't and air force one and a very small airport in naples. you've got to landed in fort

myers and then get the president and his entourage. it's not that bad. it's about 45 minutes. liz: they are having a tough time with it. a third of the population without power still? that is really tough in the flooding that went on there. the government did perform very well in both burma and harvey versus katrina and sandy. basically i don't think we are giving enough credit to how the government responded here and also the administration to set up here. stuart: john fund, this comes right in the middle of what i'm calling a political realignment. the president reaches out to democrats, brings to the center in the politics of the day and i think he's making progress. let's say you. you don't like it, do you? >> let's wait until december when the centrifugal forces come together. the debt ceiling.

stuart: hold on, president trump speaking. >> we are working with everybody, republican, democratic. paul ryan, everybody is on board. we are not talking about atmosphere. we are talking about taking care of people. people that were brought here. people that have done a good job and were not brought here of their own volition. very importantly, what we want, we have to have a wall. if the wall is constructed when we need to find it at a later date it will be how much we need. >> promises can't be believed. what you stated senator charles grassley is undercut by talking with pelosi about it. >> we are doing it in conjunction with the republicans. we have a good relationship with a lot of people. a lot of people wanted this to happen. we will see if it happens.

but we will only do it if we get extreme security, and if we get not only surveillance, but everything that goes on with surveillance and ultimately we have to have a wall. if we don't have a wall, we are doing nothing. >> they didn't say that at all. >> republicans are unable to get something in six months. we extended the program on your own? >> we will talk about that. [inaudible] >> at some point they cannot obstruct the wall. the wall to me is vital. if i don't get the wall, we will be coming in. we have to have an understanding of whether it's in the budget or some other vehicle in a short period of time, it will be funded. >> can you clarify what you said yesterday when you said the wealth he asked americans will date the same, maybe pay a

little more. some interpreted that to say you may actually raise rates? >> wealthy americans are not my priority. my priority or people in the middle class and that is where we are giving the big tax reductions. it's about the middle class in jobs and about bringing jobs to the country, bringing the company's back so they can get a reduction. right now we pay the highest tax rate in the world. we want to bring that to around 15%. that would make us competitive with china and other countries. bringing companies back, money back into the country's. we can bring back the taxes. just so you understand, my priority is jobs, very simple. it's jobs in the middle-class taking care of them. >> could you raise rates on the wealthy americans? >> this is to benefit the middle class and to benefit companies

where they are going to be producing jobs. we want to produce jobs in this country. we want factories coming back and are already coming back. but we want factories coming back into our country. right now they are leaving our country. as you know, you look at michigan, ohio, starting to come back. but to really bring it back, we have to reduce our tax rate. we are trying to bring it around to about 15%. [inaudible] >> what is going to happen is the individual rate coming down will be substantial for the middle class. we want to take care of the middle-class. we want to take care jobs. the way we look at jobs that make our companies more compatible. don't forget a lot of these public companies owned by the public, owned by pension funds, owned by vehicle such as bats have a look at a big enough it.

our priority is jobs in the middle-class. okay, let's go see how we are doing. stuart: well, that was quite an impromptu greeting. a press conference if you want to put it like that. he went for a variety of subjects, rapid fire. how different from president obama. the man dealt with daca, the wall in taxing the wealthy and the middle-class tax cuts and jobs, all in the space of about eight minutes i believe. let's start with daca. giving sons security to the dreamers. stuart: he went after steve king because he treated out your deal with nancy pelosi and shimmer, you just fill blew up your them. stuart: now he says we would get daca before six months. the wall is vital. it will be one way or the other.

>> if i don't get the wall, all become the obstructionist. >> tax rate increases for the wealthy. that's not my priority. the middle-class is my priority in jobs. i've got 45 seconds for you to speak, john fund because they know you didn't like this. >> the president is there for disaster relief. this is unusual. once again. >> first of all, last night was a disaster. you don't have to know you don't have dinner at democrats alone and know what the in the room because democrats will come out and say there is a deal, you confuse everything. the president have to understand if he has any friends in washington, it is not nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. cutting deals is fine, but trusting them to keep their word after dinner conversation or no other republicans are present -- and might give me a break. stuart: fairpoint did the president is driving up on his motorcade to naples, florida, 45

minute drive south. we covered a lot and we will cover a whole lot more after this.

stuart: it started on september the sixth in the oval office. the president hosted republican, democrat leaders, mcconnell, ryan, schumer, pelosi. for 45 minutes they argued about the data. right, we will go with a three-month extension to the debt dealing. decision made with the democrats. something got done. that was the start. a new look presidency. a new approach to politics. and then there was harvey and another new look for the presidency. trumping charge, even the "washington post" acknowledged his leadership received bipartisan praise. september the 14th rolls on. he's negotiating immigration reform. that is what he discussed with senator schumer and speaker

pelosi last that is what he discussed with senator schumer, no republican president, they don't have the votes, the president suggested tax plan may take more from rich people. that is a switch. republicans are apoplectic but don't have the votes for the cuts they want. we may not realize it but what we are watching is historic, the president is moving to the center and pulling in centrists from both sides was a coalition, left and right, conservative republicans very angry but the bottom line is if you want to get something done the center has the votes. the president is greeting first responders, the heroes of the day, look at them lined up, big smiles all around, he just arrived in fort myers, motorcade to that meeting with first responders. that is the coast guard.

down the line, very happy to be with him, no one walking away, and the picture taken.ng away, if i was there i would have my picture taken in the first lady wearing sneakers just so the media can't have a go at her shoes. they will find something no doubt but a fine photo op, the president with first responders. the last few minutes we have seen the president told than impromptu press conference, let me go back to what he had to say. he wants to do the dreamers deal, allowing them to stay, he wants a deal done before the next 6 months is up. he says the wall is vital, it will be funded.

he was asked about taxing wealthy people more he said that is not my priority. the middle-class tax cut is what i am about and jobs and getting the corporate tax rate down so the money comes back and we get more jobs. joining us now, lawrence jones, host of the blaze, listening to what is going on with the president. do you approve of what he is saying, yes we will build the wall, we will get a deal on daca, the middle class, that is my priority. you approve? >> if the talk is true. i don't believe as you said in your monologue that he's going to the center, seems he's going to the left. he knows nancy pelosi and chuck schumer but needs to understand though there his old friends when he was a democrat.

he cannot have these conversations without republicans being at the table because democrats don't want more security so before they start tackling daca they need to make sure border security is there. before we start talking daca we need tax reforms. neil: got to listen to the president. >> to think of the incredible power of that storm, it was such a small number thousands of people may have their lives ended and it is a small number which is a great tribute to you and also the fact in the case of fema and coast guard's, saving lives, as an example in harvey in texas we talked -- nobody

would understand that, down here the same thing. i want to thank everybody. i don't want to see you next week. we have seen you enough. i want to thank the first responders, melania really wanted to be with us. it touched her heart what is going on. we have seen the devastation and i have to say where is the governor? rick scott. [applause >> the job he has done is incredible. i have been lucky because you have a great governor in florida. the job rick has done is being talked about all over and i must say florida power & light, we

are there. great job. you got them. i will say they are way ahead of schedule, there are more electrical people in this state than anywhere in the world from all over the country, i have never seen youth energy like this, mobilized all over. i have seen pam bondi do an incredible job stopping certain problems before they start and getting companies to put up a lot of money, the attorney general, i want to thank you. [applause] >> elaine duke, don't lose them. i have to say working with you,

governor, working with pam, working with elaine, working with marco rubio. [applause] >> a team like very few people have seen. you were very helpful and again i have to say that what do i know? i hope this man rick scott runs for the senate. i hope it ends -- who knows what he is going to do? i came home to say hello to you folks and you folks, the first lady, as rick said, we have been very very fast, we had to be. we were signing papers as the storm was coming in, that never happened before.

thank you to everybody. [applause] >> so many cabinet members, i want to thank mike pence. >> thank you, mister president, first lady, honored to be with you today, to stay there is pay a debt of gratitude for the great leadership at the state and local level. the president directed the full resources of the federal government to prepare for, recover and rebuild from hurricane irma. the president's directive was clear, where hurricane irma goes we will be there first and thanks for the great leadership of the governor, your emergency management team and all the

great persons on the ground, that is what florida did. we are with you today, tomorrow and we are going to be with you until florida rebuilds bigger and better than ever before. >> one word on an important subject, power is going on as we speak, way ahead of schedule, weeks ahead of schedule. as we are working hard on that. we are working hard on that. we had a lot of water and food. i would like to ask your governor to say a few words.

he has been outstanding. and what i can tell you is they made quick decisions, surrounded themselves with outstanding people, they were constantly calling me saying what resource do i need, i want to thank the military, the coast guard, the navy. [applause] >> i want to say thank you. they were always calling to say what resources can we bring to the table. our state has been devastated. i have been in the keys, you go to the keys, 9 foot storm surge, their homes just toppled. we don't want to lose a life.

in this part of the state we got a lot of flooding, winds, rain, we are working hard to get power back on. our utilities restored 4 million homes, we are down to 25, everyone wants power back but i thank them for what they have done so far, we have high expectations. i think the federal government for their support. we get our fuel back, we are short of fuel. lines at gas stations, the federal government is a partner to get the reports open and get fuel back in the state, we have done law enforcement, to get back to the gas station, make sure we have fuel. everyone has worked hard, 8000 national guard members, making sure shelters are open, people are comfortable, 600 shelters in record time. it wouldn't have happened but for the red cross, national

guard and national guard of other states. we have a lot of work to do. we are not done today. we will work hard. the federal government will be a partner and local and the state and make sure we are a strong resilient state. i thank everybody's prayers to help us get through this. [applause] >> we are now going to tour the area, see some of the folks and make sure they are happy, we are trying to keep this is happy as we can under the circumstances. in many cases they lost their homes. it is have situation. we will see a lot of folks and i will tell you again i want to thank the military. we will see you later. we appreciate you being understanding and we appreciate your understanding.

this has been a difficult situation, almost all the roads are open, the ports are just about open. what we had to do to get them open people wouldn't believe that we did it so quickly. we are proud of the job everybody around has done. thank you all very much, we will see you later. >> >> and looks like he took half the cabinet with them. they were arraigned in force, and much more to be done. and watching nonetheless, not happy with the president going with the democrats to get taxes done. you must be impressed to see the victims of irma. >> the president excelled on the

road when helping the american people. when he is out there bringing communities together and that is what the president displayed not only in florida but in my home state, texas. that is where the president excelled. my criticism of the president is i don't want him to go back to his own ways, the president used to be a democrat. what i see, the president surrounding himself again with people he once hung out with and that is a recipe for disaster. you need conservatives at the table, that way the president's compass is going the right direction and not sure it is going the right direction. stuart: we hear you, lawrence jones. i'm not necessarily an agreement with you but i do hear you. i keep coming back to it, something is better than nothing and conservatives do not have the votes for the kind of legislation they once. >> i want him to get something

done as it relates to issues like daca. i want him to handle that issue but if it is just daca and not border security we have a problem. the american people will be upset if they get something done and it is not what they were promised or anywhere close to what they were promised and that is the direction we are headed. stuart: that is a fair point. lawrence jones, thanks for being with us. >> the dow just broke through the intraday high and it popped through coming back a little bit. neil: the market went up 10 points as the president was speaking, i won't say the speech was so good we moved the market, that is not the point but we have never been there before i don't think ever before. fortunately scott shellady is on the line from london with tj am investments. you have been consistently skeptical about the stock market and its response to the goings-on politically. you still skeptical when we hit

a brand-new never been there before high? >> i like to see the stock market higher rather than lower. i just want to see it hire for the right reasons. listening to what the president just said, seeing economic indicators creep in slightly better than expected is giving me a better feeling. if he gets through these things he talked about, it would be good for the market and i need to say this. the republicans have only themselves to blame. that was there table for dinner last night, that was supposed to be them around that circle but because they didn't run with the fall when it was given to them the president had to go elsewhere. who could blame him for that and if he get something done we will applaud him for that. republicans only have one person to blame, the person in the mirror and the president is doing the right thing. what we learned next time he has dinner with just the democrats

we need to have a republican chaperone made the. neil: back to something you said, we are beginning to see the economy emerge from the doldrums, the middle class is making a come back, we have new numbers for a couple days, household income rising 3.2%, that surely as part of this market rally which by the way proceed apace, we are up 30 points. >> that is great news. we need to see better news and that would be in the participation rate. those participating are beneficiaries but their participation is a very low, 40 year low level. once we see that get better, it is moving, that is the key to everything. more people in more jobs getting paid more and benefiting from this information. that is the key, that participation rate. stuart: thank you very much, the

market is moving, not a huge rally here, we are not saying it is a result of what the president said in fort myers. we are saying the market hit a new all-time high, never been there before. we are close to 22,200, now we are up 28 points. it has gone up slowly on "the opening bell" again. joining us now is rnc spokesperson kaylee mcinerney. i can't believe the party which you represent is happy with this realignment of politics with the president going toward the democrats. >> i heard majority leader kevin mccarthy say this morning the president needs to work with everyone and for the first time i am hearing nancy pelosi talk about border security, that is a huge victory, democrats moving closer to the president, not the other way around. stuart: do you think -- it seems

to me the president is sending one gigantic message to the republican party, get your act together on taxes, come to me with a plan that has 50 to vote in the senate and 218 votes in the house, or i go with the democrats, putting the gop on the spot. >> he wants action. the president of action, the people's priority, i want to emphasize, is our party's priority, what the people i think i'm a new rasmussen poll says 60% of voters want donald trump to engage partisanship with democrats and 72% of republican voters are enthusiastic at the heart of donald trump working with democrats, not sacrificing principles but getting democrats in a wake-up moment, and republican priorities are priorities of the people. stuart: turn it around, guarantee the republican party will come through with a plan

which could get 50 to vote in the senate and 218 in the house, you are spokesperson for the are in c. can you guarantee they get the message, that they will do it? >> i'm confident they have a plan in the works and will come together, find a middle ground between various factions in our party, the big six are working behind the scenes, very progressive, forward thinking tax plans that will put more money in the american people's pockets. we hope it happens by christmas or sooner, thanksgiving would be great. stuart: you are new at the job. >> learning about the seat of congress. stuart: it is a difficult job you have got because the republican this at this moment are not looking good because they are divided. >> they are divided and we welcome diversity.

at the end of the day we make promises to the american people and voters, hard-working voters that they would have more money in their pockets if they voted republican, obamacare would be repealed and replaced but we are going to make good on the promise, very confident on tax reform, this is a seminal republican principal and seminole american principal. stuart: if you don't get taxes done, you accept that you are toast in the elections next year? >> we have to get tax reform done, no doubt about it, 2018 depends on it, a high priority for the president, he's doing a great job, he is a negotiator. behind-the-scenes he is pushing congress to get on board with this, he has talked to 200 congressional individuals about tax reform and with donald trump in control we are going to get there. stuart: sitting around the table watching the president's performance since he arrived in fort myers we were impressed, we thought that was a good leadership speech pulling things together, getting things done. i am sure you would agree with

that. >> no doubt about it, many family members affected by this horrible hurricane, so encouraging when you have the leader of the free world in your state saying i'm here to work with you, help you and to hear these governors praise the president from governor abbott in texas to rick scott who has done fantastic saying they have never seen federal state coordination like this. stuart: thank you for joining us. let me pay attention to what you have been looking at, you can hear it on the left of the screen, that was donald trump meeting and greeting first responders along with senator marco rubio just off to his right, a magic moment where he greeted senator rubio with whom he has had his disagreements, shaking hands and the president turned to rick scott, the governor of florida, and the republican and said why don't you run for the senate? a slightly ugly moment as of

right there. i want to update you on the power situation in florida. state officials say 2.6 million accounts are still without power. how many people we don't know, 2.6 million accounts, a quarter of customers in the state without power. it is down from 4 million customers who were without power yesterday. you have gone from 4 million out of power, 2.6 million today, in 24 hour they have done 1.4 million households back to power which is desperate in that situation. you have 90 °, that is tough, no power, really tough. donald trump arrived in fort myers a moment ago to check recovery efforts from hurricane irma. mike tobin is in naples where the president is headed next. >> reporter: when the president comes to naples the first thing he will do is get an aerial tour of the damage around hard-hit area, then lands, get on the

ground and go to tour residences and speak with people who have been impacted by the storm, find out their concerns. one of the primary concerns is power and you see a load of power poles. the truckloads of power poles intended to be the replacements for the power lines that snapped during the storm causing so many to come down. you see big cranes propping them up, giant augers the travel, drill a hole in the ground, it actually doesn't take that long for these skills power crews to get the lines hung up and get power restored to a given section on the grid. we followed these groups yesterday and they are working their guts out. a group from the lee county electric cooperative. and engineer covered from head to joe in sweat, they were working such long hours the guy delivering sandwiches and cold

drinks to them said he put in a 16 hour day. these guys are doing all they can but still have 25% of the state without power as we saw in situations like the nursing home in hollywood, florida, that can become lethal when you're dealing with the elderly and the air-conditioning drops out and the heat is sweltering, this is not a good situation for elderly people to be stuck in. the work is desperate to get power restored. that being said, fpl is pessimistic. the west coast can't expect to be fully restored until the 22nd of this month. stuart: they are making remarkable progress in what you describe as a cushy area. you want to take that back? >> reporter: not too cushy at the moment. stuart: mike tobin, thanks, the president is going to arrive in naples shortly.

that is where irma made landfall. on the way he is talking tax reform and daca making deals with democrats and so are we. the dow just off its high of the day but still on the upside, 22173. ♪

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. stuart: it's a modest rally, but i'm sure we'll take it. a few minutes ago, we hit an all-time record high. we've been to territory that wie never been to before. left-hand side of your screen, that was fort myers, florida moments ago as the president emerged from air force one. he subsequently went on to meet first responders and give a pep talk to them all. let's get to politics. bread and butter of "varney & company." politics and money. that's what we do. the political realignment i'm talking about. i think it's underway in washington. joining us now, dan, the wall street journal editorial page deputy editor. dan, welcome to the program. >> good to be with you. stuart: all week long, i'm talking about political alignment. hard left and right out, the

president moves to democrat support moves to the center. do you approve? >> it's true. i would approve. stuart: it's true. >> the hard right, the freedom caucus has isolated themselves just because what they did on the health care bill. they're the reasons the republicans have not been able to do pass anything. the far left, they're far from gone. bernie sanders just introduced health care for all. these people want a tax bill are going to be at the table, and you talked about a 15% corporate rate. they will call that -- excuse me a tax cut for the rich. in other words, it isn't just the top marginal rate on rich people that the left is upset about that the democrats are upset about. they're upset over any tax cuts that benefit the private sector. and that would be -- stuart: surely, moderate democrats from missouri, north dakota, west virginia, they could come onboard -- go

ahead. >> let me give you a strategy. the republicans need to pass that budget by the end of the month or by the middle of october. they need to be able to put taxes inside a reconciliation package that would require only 50 votes in the senate. if you get to that point, then possibly you can get joe don of indiana, heidi, or joe manchin from west virginia to sign onto republican tax bill. but that would require that republicans holding together on the budget. . stuart: okay. it would -- it sounds like president trump is going to sacrifice tax cuts for individuals, perhaps, so he can get a 15% corporate tax rate. that's doable, isn't it? >> yeah. that's doable. but the democrats are going to say what about the state and local tax deduction? . stuart: exactly. but will they be in favor of it? >> they'll be in favor of eliminating it. they'll be in favor of maybe keeping it or retaining most of it in return for that 15%

corporate rate. maybe. stuart: wait a minute. no. no. no. no. you've got to end the deduction of state and local taxes. >> i know. you do. stuart: and that gives you -- >> but they don't want to. stuart: but that gives you the 15% corporate tax rate. >> yeah. stuart: that's the deal. >> and the democrats won't sign onto that deal. stuart: and you will get some democrats who will sign onto that. especially those who do not come from high tax states like schumer and california pelosi. you will get the heidi, joe mansions, you will get them onboard with that. >> if you can go through the reconciliation process, you might be able to do that. none of them is going to be the final vote. the democrats will not allow any of those three people to be the final vote. it has to be a done deal. stuart: so the difference between us is i say that moving to the center is a good thing because it will get something done. you say it's a good thing if they get it done, and you doubt it. >> i think the president somehow is going to have to --

he's already isolated the freedom caucus on the right. stuart: yeah. >> i mean, i think they may have learned their lesson. the question is will the democrats be able to isolate the left? and at the moment, stuart, it's hard for me to see it because they feel they're in control of the democratic party right now. stuart: fascinating. >> it's absolutely. it's going to be a great show stuart: great show. thank you very much. now, let's get back to florida and irma. florida officials are threatening to arrest anyone who abandon their pets when evacuated ahead of the hurricane. judge napolitano is here. what kind of charges can you face? >> well, harming a pet, leaving a pet in harms way is technically a criminal event. and one normally doesn't go to jail for it unless the pet has died. but there are reports that pets being left tied to fences and stakes in yards that were flooded and the pets died. stuart: you approve of this? you approve of the use of the law to make threats like this? >> well, i don't approve of

the u.s. law to make threats, but i prove of the u.s. law to protect animals and force people to behave towards animals in a humane way. you know, in louisiana, i have personal experience with this. in katrina, you were not permitted to take your pet with you when they evacuated you. and thousands of pets were left abandoned. one of which i adopted, and she's still with me. . stuart: all right. >> she was found with her brother fighting other dogs for food. sharing it with the brother and keeping it from the other dogs. i know this because of a description given to me from the time i adopted her. but anyway. stuart: no. no. maybe we learned our lesson from katrina that you should be able to take your pets with you. >> yes. stuart: and that lesson was learned in florida when most people did, but some did didn't. >> in florida, you had the option to take the pet with you. in texas for harvey, you had the option to take the pet with you. it's beyond me anyone who loves an animal would leave the pet behind in harms way.

i just don't understand how anybody loves a pet or cares enough about a pet to have a pet would do that. ashley: yeah,. stuart: quickly, judge, senator lindsey graham says he will issue a subpoena for -- to james comey if he doesn't voluntarily return to capitol hill and testify about the clinton e-mail investigation. so what's with that? >> senator graham is the chair of one of the subcommittees. it's either a sub committee, judiciary, or sub committee of intelligence. i don't remember which. but he has the authority to do this, and he's concerned with what appear to be some public inconsistencies between statements james comey made under oath when he testified last time shortly after he was fired. you remember that. and information that has come out. i honestly think that comey will have a rational and credible explanation for all of it but senator graham wants -- i don't think senator graham is trying to impair jim comey's credibility.

he might actually be able to give him an opportunity to enhance his credibility by explaining these things. for example, how did you draft a letter or a speech exonerating hillary clinton before you interviewed her? . stuart: there would be a rational answer for that. >> yes. i can tell you the rational for that is but there almost is. we decided at the outset there wasn't enough evidence to indite her. we didn't have to tie every bow on every package before we drafted our statement. stuart: susan rice, former national security adviser. has she now admitted that she revealed the names of people, probably wrongly, people who went to trump tower in advance of the election? >> i'm sighing because this is another story that might touch me personally. so she -- it was revealed yesterday that she revealed in secret testimony to the senate intelligence committee that she did unmask the names of americans who visited trump tower in december of 2016 in an effort to find out what the

leader of the united arab emirates was doing there. but let's not bury the lead here. the real lead is all those conversations in trump tower were then being surveilled, recorded, and were available to her. she knew that, she got them, she unmasked the names of americans. the reason it might touch me is i was there. a public event that i was there. stuart: that was by one administration on a up coming administration. spying. >> absolutely. >> absolutely domestic spying. i don't even think she realizes the can of worms she opened by saying this. the question is what did she do with the unmasked names? because within davis is when the washington post printed a transcript of general flynn's conversation with ambassador kislack, which started all of this. stuart: judge, thank you very

much indeed. i have to get to congressman republican from wisconsin who joins us now. there you are, everyone. i'm sure you've been watching the president arriving in fort myers greeting first responders now on his way to naples. what do you make of his performance as the leader of our nation going to a state which has been through a ro rotten situation. >> going where? i missed misted that. stuart: he arrived in fort myers, on his way to naples, florida. he gave a sterling speech to first responders. what did you think of it? >> he's excellent. first of all, if you're one of the victims of harvey or irma, and you look at the government's response in connection with the private sector, they've done a really brilliant job in their response. donald trump is making our government work to its best ability. and making sure that men and women will not be forgotten and get the help necessary

from the u.s. government. i think that reassures them and lets them see hope in the future for rebuilding. stuart: okay. congressman, i'm sorry we got to you so late. but we appreciate you being with us. thank you very much indeed, sir. now, what do we have for you? momentarily, we will be joined by that lady. the chainsaw-wielding nun helping after hurricane irma. you know, she's been doing more television than i have. which is going to get more exposure shortly because she's back on the show. let's see what have we got the latest on president trump? we're waiting for him to arrive in naples, and we'll take you there when he does. back in a second copd makes it hard to breathe.

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ask your doctor about anoro. ♪go your own way get your first prescription free at anoro.com. >> i'm nicole petallides with your fox business brief. the dow gaining an intraday high, but we're taking a close look at equifax, you can see it down a buck 50, but it has been down about 8% roughly. this now as the fcc says they are investigating equifax's data breach, and we know that the stock has lost about a third of its value since september 7th. we're watching all of the credit-monitoring companies including transunion and experian exactly.

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. stuart: the florida keys really took it on the chin. huge damage there. however, phil is there, and he's right there at the distribution center, so i guess some supplies arrived, phil. >> critical supplies. the three things you need the most. bags of ice, and we'll get to food and follow it up with bottles of water, especially in the scorching heat of key west in mid-september. it is very, very hot, and these people are hungry and thirst and in need. 90% of the island remains without power. no electricity. there's still a recommended boil water operative been issued, and about 60 cars have lined up all the way around the block. we've got the army national guard here, the state of florida helping out, and all of the people here incredibly gracious. very grateful. how important is this for you? >> give me one second.

>> i will talk to you later. you guys are doing great for the people. does it make you proud? >> yes. it does. >> all right. thank you very much. everyone's very proud and thankful for them. the grocery store public over off to the left, this is day four of recovery after category four hurricane irma in the lower keys. key west had about 8,000 people that did not evacuate. they stayed, and then basically they got shut off. about 70 miles of the overseas highway was closed down for a day. much of it still remains closed for mile-marker 74 all the way down to zero, which is key west. so these people, they are literally at the end of the line. the southern most point at the united states, and you have to go through miami down to the overseas highway marathon and then get to key west. so people are very much in need. it's been great that the army national guard with the help of the u.s. navy have really

been providing this and every time we cover a hurricane, this is one of the most popular and needed places for the recovering residents. stuart: you know what, phil? it's great to see a little gratitude, is it not? smiling faces. gratitude. >> great gratitude. stuart: phil keating, everyone, right there in the keys. i'm going to get back to politics now. we've had a healthy dose of politics this morning with the president in fort myers going down to naples. and we also have this on going theme of political realignment in washington. the president looking for help from the democrats and getting it. charles is with us. how do you feel about this realignment? >> well, it's exciting. i can't think of another word for it. but the fact that this comes as a surprise to so many people amazes me. everybody who watched the first six months of the administration watched the two-year election before that had to see this coming.

and the word you use political realignment i think is the perfect word for it. donald trump is not a conservative. voters didn't elect a conservative. they elected somebody to come and disrupt washington, and that's what he's doing. and the fact -- and the first dance he asked for was a dance with republicans. failed to find a way to work with him. they failed to even carry out the things that they had gotten elected promising to do, and so it should come as no surprise if he's going to turn and try to dance with democrats. stuart: the big surprise to me when he said yesterday that the rich may actually end up paying more in taxes in some circumstances. that told me that he really has moved towards the democrats. >> and he really -- all options really are on the table. but the one thing i feel we should have learned from donald trump is that you don't ever really know exactly where he stands on anything, whether he -- what he's saying is something that he believes in

principle or whether what he's saying is a negotiating tactic. and a lot of what he says is a negotiating tactic and when you look back at the hard-core promises that he has made -- you know, that he made to get elected, he's actually stuck pretty close to those promises where he has been in total control. now, when it comes to having to negotiate with congress, that's a whole different deal and people -- their heads are exploding around here because they've never had anyone in the white house in their lifetime who wasn't more devoted to partisanship, who wasn't more devoted to their party than they were something else. and, you know, is it uncomfortable? yeah, and am i nervous that a lot of things that aren't very conservative are going to happen? yeah, i am. but i tell you. you know what? i'm so grateful that somebody is blowing up what has been wrong with this place for so long. and so i'm nervous, about his a lot of hope in it. stuart: left-hand side of your screen, i believe -- tell me

if i'm right here, producer. i believe that was marine one. we think it is. it certainly looked like marine one. a president trump helicopter, of course, just arriving there in naples. took air force one to fort myers. made a brief speech and then helicoptered down to naples. i think he just arrived right there. but back to you, charles. how about this for a possible deal? the president says to the democrats. okay. you get daca. in return, we build the wall. looks like it could be possible, doesn't it? >> absolutely and for conservatives or people who don't want to give amnesty to people, this is the group of people that most -- that people are most sympathetic with. and while they never agree they want absolve people for being here illegally for whatever reason. but the wall that ended the future problem of immigration, which has dogged this country

for 50 years now. if you actually for the first time had politicians of doing the hard work of fixing the problem once and for all, then my gosh, i think a lot of the problem -- again, they're not going to endorse amnesty, but i think they would be delighted to have the problem removed. but the problem is we have politicians now, professional politicians, they don't ever want a problem to go away because if a problem goes away, then they don't have a campaign issue to campaign on. and that's what both sides of the aisle have done for far too long. stuart: for a man in washington, d.c. you make far too much sense, charles. >> i try to get out as much as possible. stuart: come on back up here. charles, everyone. thanks very much. >> thank you. stuart: president trump arriving in naples. you saw that. the news is happening thick and fast this morning on "varney & company." stay right there, please,

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stuart: president trump just arrived marine one, stepping out of the helicopter, in naples florida, on the gulf coast that is part of florida hit hardest by hurricane irma. earlier, he arrived on air force one at fort myers got off the plane, met first responders, we heard a effort to restore power, yesterday in florida, 4 million households have no power. today, it is down to 2.6

million. that means overnight, 24 hours. >> 1.4. stuart: you do the math. >> 1.4 million homes have power restored. >> a heat wave down there, massive, 90% humidity, and very vulnerable to is dangerous. stuart: that of dreadful case. 8 people died. they are making every effort to restore power where they can. i suppose bad news is that there are still 2.6 million homes without power, good news that they are moving quickly, they restored power to 1.4 million homes overnight, there is the president, he is taken down with him that is vice president across mike pence. first lady is there right there on the left-hand side of the screen. >> rick perry should be with them. stuart: secretary there he within down as well.

-- within down as well, republican senator rubio is there, governor scott is there. this the team which is helping florida get through a dreadful hurricane. >> i think he got a flyover, he looked from the air, surveilling from the air. stuart: yes. >> so for nap naples itself, alt 80% of the homes and businesses were without electricity. days after, this is a hard hit area. stuart: they have come back. >> they are coming back. stuart: strongly. don't get seasick by watching that camera move, please. that ithat is a more stable sit, beautiful weather, he is going directly to meet with victims of hurricane irma, if he makes comments you will hear them, i want to see him meet the people who are the victims, he is doing

that right now, remember please, plea of suppose to have no empathy, i see empathy, vice president right there. >> taking selfies. >> yes, president in background with white hat on and first lady with the white hat. various officials from locally based, he is down there. >> this is his third visit to a disaster struck area. stuart: right. >> he is bringing cabinet officials with him as well. so he is said that governor done an amazing job, and power is turning to rapidly. stuart: yes he went overboard saying what a great job first responders have done. nowhere have they done a better job than restoring power. >> phil keating showed an army of electrical crews out there, digging holes and replanting the

poles. >> what is interesting for often content shoes relationship that president had with media, he gave a how the out to media -- shout out on media saying we appreciate your understanding, a testify period of time even for you. stuart: president said that about the media. >> he did. stuart: there is a revolution. >> a generous mood. stuart: he met victims right there on the tarmac. i think he is getting into a motorcade, don't get seasick, a shakey camera. >> trying to keep up with him. stuart: this is live news, this is happening, this is the president of the united states, his third visit to a hurricane disaster area. the media scrambling to keep up, he is very energetic, he is 70 years old, older than i am i don't think i could keep out that pace. i take my hat off to him, a live

action show, all morning long, great news. thank you everyone for being with us. we really appreciate it. neil cavuto, it is yours now. >> i have seen you sprint around you are fast. stuart: not for a while. >> for an older guy. all right. very busy day, we'll monitor the president, he is in naples. this is a visit that is something we look at our commander in chief to do, and to show empathy, sympathy and support, president getting high marks from democrats and republicans on this push to rally help around a state, they are crunching numbers on relief, and how much it will cost for irma and will be residual cost of harvey, both of those storms could eclipse $250 billion, say some saying 300