expanded medicaid under obamacare, so i think that's a big part of the answer if they want to -- maria: like north dakota? >> much more in south dakota. dagen: amen. maria: varney&company begins right now. stuart: this is the day when the president does what congress could not do with obamacare. he has a pen. two hours from now president signs executive order that brings changes to health insurance, limited coverage instead across the board mandate that we live now. that will be cheaper, should be cheaper. new rules allow small businesses and individuals to ban together to organize coverage that suits them. congress could not do this. today the president will. here is something else that seems new. a one-time ultra-low rate on taxes, it's called a tax

holiday. the president bushed hard for it last night and middle-class tax cut that would put $4,000 into the pockets of middle-class families. one more for you. the justice department is confronting 7 sanctuary cities, obey federal law or lose federal funds. last chance. with all these policy statements, what's going on with your money? stocks will open slightly lower. let's not forget after hitting the 56th record on wednesday the dow is just 127 points away from 23,000. we say it every day, could you believe this? varney & company is about to begin. ♪ ♪ stuart: the news from northern california is grim, the fire

still rage through wine country. 23 now dead. 3,500 homes and businesses damaged and the fire has burned, now 170,000 acres, it's a very human tragedy. the fires concentrated around the vineyards. ashley, do we have any handle of the wine industry? >> extremely difficult to figure out what damage has been done to wineries. two things, there's the wineries and vineyards, five win ris, the buildings have been lost completely. but does that mean that the vineyard itself has been lost completely? it's really unknown because wineries can be rebuilt relatively quickly but vineyards, if they have to be replanted, it takes several years for grapes to mature, huge hit. some are reporting partial damage, others just don't know. five wineries have been lost, nine have suffered significant damage but i think the final picture would be a lot worse. stuart: the owners can't get back in at this point? that's the problem, you don't

know exactly. ashley: significant, let's put it that way. stuart: president trump is going to start unwinding obamacare today. he's going to use an executive order. congressman lou gohmert republican from texas is with us. he had to use the pen, the republican party, your party couldn't get it done. i'm not blaming you, but i'm asking you -- you're not doing the same with tax cuts, please? >> we still have to get it done. we heard rumor that they might do capital gain cuts and let it go with that. there's been so many in the senate who got elected promising to repeal obamacare, to have massive tax reform. god bless donald trump, he's doing everything he can despite dealing with dishonest senator that is got fraudulently elected. stuart: the writing is on the

lou. the writing is on the wall. you couldn't get it done with obamacare, now we have a limited amount of time, 13 legislative days to do tax cuts. >> stuart, one of the things i love about donald trump, if you heard him yesterday talking to sean hannity, he says, i love this, we are not giving up, we are not giving up. that's my guy. we are not giving up on health care. we can't give up. there are too many people that are paying too much in premiums, premiums are spiking, deductibles are spiking. some are saying what president trump is proposing is junk insurance, no, i tell you what's junk insurance, like a guy told me this week, paying $20,000 for insurance and has 12,000 deductible and can't do either one and if he doesn't do it, he pays penalty to the irs. that is junk. stuart: today when the president is taking action, he's going to get rid of to some degree mandates on what has to be covered so you have a skinny policy available which should be

cheaper, do you agree? >> he's doing something president obama did in eliminating the mandate, the difference is obama eliminated the mandate for supporters and trump is going to eliminate the mandate for everybody it may hurt. so there's a little difference there. it's not a partisan effort to help. stuart: okay. lou, thank you for joining us, we will see you real soon. >> thank you. stuart: yes, sir. staying on the executive order comes in two hour's time, judge napolitano is with us. louie gohmert referred to it right there. are you comfortable with the president doing with a pen and a phone exactly what president obama did and you didn't like it then? >> yes and no, if i may. there are areas of the affordable care act, obamacare that give the president the ability, suspend this, change that, modify that. so he has the authority under the statute to do it.

but there are other areas of the affordable care act which if he attempts to tamper with them, he'll be violating oath to uphold the law. i will give you an example. the president signs an executive order, which allows me in new jersey to buy a policy in montana, nancy and chuck already thought about a republican president enforcing the statute. guess what the statute says, you can buy it but same cadillac statute that you would buy in new jersey. the idea of a skinny policy, one tailored to individual needs which the free market is begging for, is not permissible under the affordable care act. stuart: wait. part of the executive order is that you can buy a policy for just 364 days, one day short of a year, under the terms of the obamacare act, you can do that, you can change what you have to cover if the policy is for less than a year.

>> an insurance company would ball -- bulk at a policy because it's not enough of a commitment from the premium payer to justify the risks that they're covering. stuart: not if it's renewed at 365. >> much tampering with the insurance market as obamacare. he wants to get rid of the whole thing and start over. to attack piece mail, it's going to make it worse. stuart: he has no choice. >> he has no choice. he has no political choice. he could start negotiating with republican senators. stuart: how long is that going to take? >> if the president signs executive order -- stuart: the president has no judge. >> that's going to make matters worse. stuart: we will see. >> okay. i know you love when i say this, i hope i'm wrong. [laughter] stuart: this is just breaking, judge, the justice department is

giving sanctuary cities, seven of them, i believe, a last chance to follow the law. if you don't follow the law, no money. right in the middle is chicago. a federal judge in chicago has ruled that the federal government cannot do this. they can't change the law retroactively. they can put in the new budget, you want money from us, you will cooperate with ice but they can't add as requirement. stuart: can they get around this? >> not only can they get around this but a federal judge told them they can't get around it and they know that. stuart: we have obamacare which is a chronic mess, sanctuary cities interfering with our rights as citizens, for heaven's sake? >> federal fiscal year began october 1st, that's 10-12 days ago, no budget. had there been a budget, had the

president and republicans agreed on a budget, for every nickel that goes to the cities, they have to sign a statement that they will cooperate with ice, can they do that going forward, yes, can they change that retroactively, no. stuart: okay, judge, my head is exploding. i want some change. i want the swamp to get out of the way because i'm fed up with it. >> you're challenging the frustration that a lot of people feel. challenge it to the republicans in the senate, will you? stuart: before i explode but you will come back to the 11:00 o'clock hour. >> if you'll have me. [laughter] stuart: where are we going? modest loss at opening bell, but we said that many times, we often end up with record high. thursday october 12th, yes, the profit reporting season has begun. big banks kicking ill off. jpmorgan chase, no big surprise, little change for the stock before the opening bell.

same story at citi, more money coming in, very little change in the premarket price of the stock. president trump calling for one-time tax holiday for corporations to bring money back from overseas. roll that tape. >> we will totally eliminate the penalty on returning future earnings back to the united states and we will impose a one-time low tax on money currently parked overseas so it can be brought back home to america where it belongs and where it can do its job. stuart: that's new to me. which companies have companies overseas? >> apple, alphabet and oracle and goldman sachs says it matters because it's a big chunk of market value. it's 25% of their market value, that's the same for most of the other companies. stuart: are we talking half

trillion dollars? >> 2.6 trillion. stuart: you give them a tax holiday, no tax, you don't pay any tax, that should bring back some money. liz: one final point, they will say the companies layed off workers, they fail today recognized it when bush did it in 2004. it was under weakness, that's why there were layoffs. stuart: much more on the president's tax plan. gary cohn, he's going to join news 10:00 o'clock hour this morning. very big day at the white house as we told you, president trump will sign executive order on health reform, 11:15 eastern. we will take you live when it happens. cyber attack, hackers stealing data on u.s. weapon's system from australian defense system. they roamed the contractor's computer systems for four months before they were detected and the fallout from harvey

weinstein continues, nbc is now in hot water for ailgedly burying -- allegedly burying the story. why the delay? more varney after this ent? then we found out how many years that money would last them. how long do you think we'll keep -- oooooohhh! you stopped! you're gonna leave me back here at year 9? how did this happen? it turned out, a lot of people fell short, of even the average length of retirement. we have to think about not when we expect to live to, but when we could live to. let's plan for income that lasts all our years in retirement. prudential. bring your challenges.

stuart: we are concentrating heavily on general electric. look at the stock. four-year low, really taking it on the chin lately, it used to be owned by everybody. morgan stanley very bearish on the stock. one investment bank says it's going down to 20. harvey weinstein, nbc news being questioned for killing an expose that it had. you're not surprise bid this, are you? by the way, i read report and it was absolutely disgusting and if

they sat on that, i want to know why. >> it's just -- it really is disgusting. and, no, i'm not surprised at all. you think the swamp is bad around here, and it is, it's nothing like the relationship between some of the media and hollywood, this is the same network that had all the time put resources into figuring out, finding out who called whom a moron inside the west wing but when they get confronted with a real story, harvey weinstein, being a serial assaulter, abusing women, they turn a blind eye. stuart: do you remember when governor romney joined the election campaign, spoke candidly of binders of women, i think the late night so-called comedy shows spent a couple of

weeks on that one having a field day? >> it was game on with that. remember, when he said that, he was talking about empowering women in real genuine way. he said it some stupid way, whatever, but he was talking about empowering women, respecting women, how women can contribute to his administration and to the companies that he had, harvey weinstein, is a disgusting pig and he has been for a long time and a lot of powerful people have known it and i understand that -- that part of the problem with this kind of behavior is that, of course, the women who are victims of it can't come forward but at some point after you won like ten golden globes or whatever the things are called, statutes, at some point you become powerful enough that you can blow the whistle. ashley judd, huge rock star, why was she not powerful enough to blow the whistle on this guy sooner? i don't get that.

stuart: the fallout for a long time. i don't want to hear a moral lecture on the next oscars. >> that's the only result of this, it would have been a positive revelation. stuart: i might watch. president trump is taking on the media, media licenses, i should say. [laughter] stuart: here is the tweet. network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and if if appropriate revoked, not fair to public. now, does this have teeth or is it bluster? >> i think it's bluster. i think it's donald trump, as the kids say trolling the media because he knew that i was with reporters when the tweet came out and, of course, they freaked out, it's just -- it's an assault on the first amendment and it's -- i think he's just trying -- he's needling them, he's having fun with them and quite frankly i think he enjoys, you know, the whole spat over moron. stuart: you enjoy commenting on

president trump who enjoys -- >> they need to be tweet. they don't realize all of failings and so here you have this guy who is unafraid of all of them, he's willing to get into any fight with anyone of them and it's about dang time that we had somebody that was willing to do that. stuart: well said, charles, no wonder we like you so much. you come and see us any time. thank you very much. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: more bad press for nfl, owners have been making a lot of money on cashing in on tax break, the president is not happy about it, what's he going to do about it? we will be back.

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stuart: breaking news of great importance coming out of washington. house speaker paul ryan says he will keep the house in session all the way through crusm if need be to get tax reform done. paul ryan making the comments during q&a in heritage foundation. ashley: whatever it takes, good. liz: they did take august recess

stuart: all right, let's get to the nfl, team owners have made millions off obscure tax break. ashley: break that was put in 2004 allows owners to write off all purchase price of teams against profits over 15 years, and that is a huge brake estimated at about 5%, 5% to team value or 122 million. stuart: is the president going after that? ashley: why is the nfl getting massive tax breaking while at the same time disrespecting flag, anthem and country, change tax laws. by the way, the anthem and the flag issue. liz: media mocked them, the nfl gave up nonprofit status in 2015. entirely different tax break that the president is referring to. stuart: the president is exerting pressure, financial

pressure on sanctuary cities, california the sanctuary state, the nfl -- liz: obamacare. stuart: financial pressure, tax laws, the president has the pen and he's got the power, he's exerting financial pressure. brendberg is here, what do you say about that? >> i love what he's doing with the nfl in particular. for year economists have been talking about how little sense it makes to subsidize stadiums, the president is saying, yeah, let's change that, let's change at federal level and state and localities, you change it right, years too late. stuart: nfl football down and college football up, love it. the opening bell. [laughter] stuart: across the board a minor loss tat opening bell, we will take you the wall street when the bell rings. you can see for yourself. how do we do, how is your money doing? stay there.

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stuart: we have about 30 seconds before we begin trading this thursday morning. let me give you the backdrop. yesterday we hit the 56th record high for the dow jones industrial average this calendar year. 56 records, the last one was yesterday afternoon.

$5.1 trillion added to the value of all stowks since the election of donald trump on november the eighth last year. this has been an extraordinary rally. i believe it's the best rally in certainly decades for an incoming president. we are off, we are running, here we go. right from the get-go we are up 40 points. no, that was yesterday. now we are down 19 points. i think we have that clear. 21 points, 22 points, about what we expected, 20,-25 points down. loss of .1% in the early going. s&p 500 on the downside not by much. jpmorgan and citi both reported profits before the opening bell this morning. both had a little bit more money coming in. no major change in the stock price so far. a load of headlines on facebook this morning which we will get to. let me show you the facebook stock has opened virtually

unchanged at 172. ashley webster, elizabeth mcdonald, scott martin and brian brendberg all with us this morning. president trump called for a tax holiday, brian, i thought that was a big deal, temporary ultra-low tax rate so you bring back profits from overseas, do i have that right? >> parked overseas because of bad tax policy and the president wants to fix that. that is good news for our economy. stuart: it sounded to me like no tax, i mean, a real tax holiday for a very short period of time. >> either way that's good because the money is parked there because we have a problem with tax code. liz: you look at the companies that have most of the cash, they have the biggest cash piles and those companies, percentage of market cap too, a big chunk of market value, jamie dimon of jpmorgan said, eight of ten ceo's will increase jobs if they

bring the cash back. stuart: jpmorgan, the chief, top banker in american, jay my diamond, he's backing the president's tax plan. he says it has all the key ingredients and time to get it done. thank you, brian, do you agree with jamie dimon? >> that's exactly what the economy needs to get wages up. this is exactly what we want the president to do. he's right on and keep exerting pressure so congress can get on the ball here and get it done before christmas time. stuart: scott martin, i have to bring you into this, paul ryan saying this morning that the house will stay in session all the way through christmas if necessary to get the tax deal done, i bet you like the sound of that? >> i do, as long as they are going to hold to the promise finally, stuart, we thought that was going to be done according to steve mnuchin in august, checking the calendar, that's a bit off by now. yes, listen, i think congress realizes that they've got to get this done this year so hopefully they'll do whatever it takes. i tell you, back to that

repatriation tax holiday, let's say, it's a great idea, guys. jamie dimon mentioned and investment of infrastructures, capital spending that have been no where to be found in the economy in the last years. the money coming back as brendberg says, he's right, that money is going to go right back into the s&p 500 earnings. stuart: okay, one more thing on the tax plan. i'm sure everybody heard, the tax plan they would like to have it so you can file your return on the postcard, yea big, president trump say that is h&r block is going to like the plan. do we will end up filing taxes on a postcard? >> no, but this is a way to drain the swamp. the tax swamp of the universe of lobbyists and tax lawyers and accountants. i think reduced it if you simplify it. ashley: i wish they should. stuart: i don't see it.

>> that's not going to happen but if you can simplify the code and h&r takes a hit, that's great. liz: you have to drain -- stuart: there's h&r block. not exactly suffering from the president's comments u but 25 on h&r. check that big board, we are four minutes in and we are down 25, 26 points. look at the level, 22,848. time to take a look at apple. okay. in the next hour we are going to talk to top tech analyst who says you might have to wait a while to get your hands on the iphone 10. that's important news, but the stock is up 30 cents, 156 on apple right now. all right, here is the facebook stories. cheryl sandburg to meet with investigators, meets with them again, second story. mark zuckerberg apologizes for the virtual reality tour of puerto rico. it was criticized for being tone-deaf and insensitive.

number three, facebook's announced 199-dollar self-contained virtual reality head set. it will start shipping next year. the stocks 72. scott martin, are you buying facebook at 172? >> i am. here is what i'm doing. i'm going to be acquiring more facebook ahead of earnings report which is early november. it's kind of towards the end the whole tech run that we will have in the next weeks. if you're looking to accumulate facebook, i will do it before earnings report. on the oculus thing, you're nonbeliever on vr-ar stuff, as they continue to improve on oculus device, not having to hook up to phone in this case, that's going to spur demand. one thing that facebook is going to promote in near future and good for the stock. stuart: the only reason i'm skeptical i get seasick, motion

sickness, you put the googles on, i'm all over the place. [laughter] >> wait till you see cartoon avatar, you will be in. stuart: i can wait, brendberg, i can wait. really that was bad. let's get serious. banks reporting profits, two big ones, at least, jpmorgan and citi both reporting today. scat martin, are you a buyer of financial stocks now? >> yes u we -- we own financials, we have since early spring and i will tell you why, there's two things, loan demand is up and doing very well and the trading side of some of the firms is not doing that great but loan demand is up and consumer credit and consumer is getting better with strength of the economy. secondarily, the interest rate curve is starting to move in favor of the banks, they borrow short from the fed and lend long to folks like you and me. that spread is getting wider,

more profits for them going forward. that's net interest margins, boys and girls. liz: if i said all of that, i would have been buzzard. >> there you go. thank you. stuart: i would have been buzzard. no, buzzed. [laughter] stuart: morgan stanley. the story that fascinates me more than many others. general electric, tall way back to the 22-dollar share level, morgan stanley is saying going to go all the way down to 20. look at the chart, it keeps on falling. scott, back to you, would you buy ge at 22 bucks a share? >> gosh, i'm really nervous about ge and not so much, as a company ge is going to be okay, there's reorganization to do. there's worry about the dividend being cut because they may not be able to finance it. something interesting, here is the thing about ge, sentiment has turned on ge, if you're looking to ge, wait to sentiment

really bottoms out before take a stake here but i'm staying away. liz: morgan stanley gave a comment, they didn't know what the break-up value of ge is. they can't put asset value. stuart: if you buy stock you yield 4% dividend, but that's not safe according to analysts. that's why the stock keeps going down. president trump is going to use executive order to start unwinding obamacare, that takes place in less than two hours from now, brian broken bigger, -- brendberg, what do you think would be the reaction of health insurance? >> might get pulled back into the market with lower cost -- more limited plans that are going to be offered,ic -- i think this could actually be good. this is probably going to accelerate the decline.

liz: is trump tanking with this, is he? >> yes, he is. he absolutely is with this plan. stuart: you think it could tank the insurance? >> yes. stuart: nafta is bad for america. he wants to weaken influence. i'm hearing talk this morning. i don't know why you're laughing, i'm hearing talk that we will have separate deals, one with méxico and one with canada and then with each other. ashley: that's okay. brian: no, i want the economy to grow in coming years, tax reform can help that, but if we mess with nafta the way we are talking about it, that's going to counteract tax reform and we are going to muddle along. let's get focused here on real progrowth things, tax reform is the biggest tax progrowth. nafta is not. liz: beef and dairy prices are going to go up. stuart: we will see how that

transpires w. right now we have to sigh -- say good-bye to scott and brian. chicago vote to go repeal its pen any and ounce soda tax just two months after it went into effect. that didn't take long. president trump tells sean hannity he think that is if the nfl had suspended colin kaepernick after the first time he kneeled, kaepernick would have never done it again. big guest to respond that that one, dana white, the guy who run it is ufc, he's the big supporter of our president and he is next.

stuart: where are we now? 12 minutes into the session, down 36 points. credit swiss downgrades the retailer william sanoma, that's

had an effect, downgrade and down it goes 4 and a half percent. that's a big drop. amazon makes a water proof kindle. come on in, nicole, what's that all about? nicole: now there's something new, waterproof and, in fact, it was tested in over 6 feet of water in all different types of water, bubble bath, also pools, hot tubs, so different types of water, this is very interesting. the price also has gone up instead of about 80 to 200, this would be a 250-dollar item and available at the end of october in time for the holidays. stuart: can you tell anybody who woishes to read under water? [laughter] nicole: well, maybe if you're in your hot tub trying to relax you can -- it touches the water you can read a nice book. stuart: if you drop the thing in the swimming pool. nicole: while you're reaching for a glass of whatever. stuart: amazon story of the day and we are done.

roll that tape. >> i watched colin kaepernick and i thought it was terrible and then it got bigger and bigger and frankly the nfl should have suspended him for one game and he would have never done it again. they could have then suspended him for two days and they could have suspended him if he did it a third time for the season and you would never have had a trouble but i will tell you, you cannot disrespect our country, our flag, our anthem, you cannot do that. stuart: dana white is with us, the president of the ultimate fighting championship and he is with me in new york. you don't have an anthem problem, you run sports but you don't have anthem problem. >> we don't do anthem. stuart: you run a sport, how do you feel about the way the nfl is being run? >> listen, the nfl -- it's not

easy to run an entire sport plus the difference with the nfl is they have all these different teams with different owners. it's way more complex than the ufc and even my guys, my guys, they're not employees, they are subcontractors, completely different than the nfl. stuart: have you killed boxing yet? >> no. stuart: why not? >> i love boxing. i'm a boxing fan. if it wasn't for the sport of boxing i wouldn't be here today. every time they say boxing is dead they pop up with another big fight and stick around. i'm not trying to kill boxing, no. stuart: your business has gone crazy. you're doing very well if i'm not mistaken, i've read your books but you're doing well. >> yes. stuart: gross revenue on the up and up? >> everything is good. we are looking at record year this year. stuart: okay. i want to talk to you about november 4th, big event at the madison square garden here in, - new york city, who is fighting?

>> george, the return of george versus michael, 185 championship. stuart: you sell a lot of tickets in madison square garden and pay per view, is that correct? >> yes, we have done well in new york. new york has been good to us and good to be back at the garden and, yes, pay per view does well. stuart: are you going to tell me how many in pay per view? >> we are expecting a big number. stuart: give me a number? >> a million buys, we will do a million buys. stuart: how much do each pay for that? >> 50 bucks. stuart: 50 million-dollar revenue from pay per view for that one fight? >> just in the united states. stuart: are you happy with that? >> i am. i'm really happy with that. stuart: you will get me to try to get you more? >> please. stuart: what about security, madison square garden, a couple of weeks after las vegas, security. >> yeah, we are tight on security. we do events all over the world. we are doing events in london,

we do events all over the world, so security is a very big part of our, what we do. stuart: do you search people on the way? >> yes, we search people. we have dogs, we have lots of police there. stuart: okay. how many events will you put on the -- not on the air but how many events will you stage this calendar year 2017? >> we will do 40-something, 42 and 44. stuart: each one of them has pay per view element? >> not all of them. we do 12 pay per views a year. stuart: you see what i'm trying to do? >> i do. we are in the midst of getting a new tv deal. we have been with fox for a long time and now we are getting a new deal. stuart: with fox? >> i hope so. stuart: you come on my show to negotiate a new deal with fox when you're on the fox business network, that's what's going on here? >> yes, sir. stuart: well, dana white, the interview is over. i wish you the best of luck on november 4th, you run a great

sport and great job wit. as an entrepreneur creating a business. >> i appreciate it. thank you very much. stuart: see you soon. yes, sir. what are we checking, the dow 30, that's right. only a third of them, maybe 10 stocks up, 20 stocks down, and overall dow industrials are down 34 points. coming up, big guest u gary cohn, the president's point man on tax reform. i'm going to ask him about this one-time corporate tax holiday that the president seem today propose last night. that could be a very big deal. that's in our next hour, we will be back is this a phone?

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stuart: the parade of new highs rolls on. three dow components, caterpillar, mcdonalds, visa all of them hit all-time highs right out of starting gate this morning. all right, to chicago, cook county has repealed its soda tax, it was only in place for two months. tell me, ashley. ashley: penny per ounce charge that was put in place, the board, it hurt sales, no doubt for the merchants who constantly lobby for this, upset it went into effect, went to effect last december, there were so many lawsuits which was allowed to go in effect two months ago. the money, it was mostly about

health. it was all about raising money through taxes and eventually the cook county board said, this isn't working, repeal the whole thing. they were hoping to get 250 million-dollar a year, gave up. stuart: set back for the food police. good. president trump is going to sign an executive order on health reform today chipping away at obamacare. dr. mark seigal is with us, principal component of executive order is it would allow plan to cover less than the broad mandate of what you've got to cover under obamacare, skinny plans will be allowed, what say you? >> exactly right, stuart, that's a huge advantage. that would allow small businesses to group up and make associations and have things that don't get covered by what's called the ten essential benefits of obamacare which cause the high premiums and cause the high deductibles and choke people that aren't getting huge subsidies. guess what, here is the debate

it's occurring, the debate is going to stiffen people and leave people there, only the sick are going to stay there. here is what leafs out, 6.5 million people are taking the tax penalty, they are saying, i don't want that expensive plan, i ain't paying for that crazy plan, i will take the penalty until i get sick. so those 6.5 million i think are the target audience for this. people who don't want insurance at all. now you are going to say to them, look, the trade association or that small business is going to be able to offer you a skinny plan like you say, catastrophic, maybe a little more than catastrophic, it will cater to healthy people instead of only to sick people. stuart: would it push older, sicker people to new category which will be expensive to ensure? >> yes, i say that they are already there, aetna said last year, 55% of the people who sign up for obamacare have

preexisting conditions and chronic conditions. that's why aetna dropped out of most exchanges. at least now people can buy insurance that works for them more. the idea of cost-sharing that a young 28-year-old with no medical conditions has to pay for 10 essential benefit that is he or she is never going to need, that's called socialized medicine. cost-sharing is a factor in insurance. it clearly has to be considered but other things have to be considered too, for example, getting an insurance policy you need. stuart: yeah, okay. >> that you want. this is a way around the mandates. you know, mandating, here is what i have rebelled against and you know this, mandating that you buy overstuffed policy that you will never need and come to the doctors' office and they won't take it or hospital don't take it. stuart: deductible is astronomical the insurance never kicks in. >> no coverage at all then.

you say you can't pay for it. stuart: you as a medical doctor practicing medical doctor, you approve of the idea of allowing plans to cover less than this broad-base obamacare mandate, you approve of this? >> totally approve of this. more choice and more competition and it's going to allow larger groups to negotiate. what happened to the negotiation? one of your favorite words. stuart: i don't know about that. [laughter] >> didn't they teach that in london school of economics? stuart: not that i recall. we taught free speech actually. thanks very much, indeed. we will cover the executive order signing 11:15 this morning. live on this program. how about this one? this hurts me. oxford university, i did not go to oxford, i went to london school of economics, oxford is banning christians from addressing new incoming students, bam, can't talk to them. free speech under attack at one of the most elites schools in the world.

my take on that just three minutes away. . . . .

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(bell mnemonic) stuart: it has come to this one of the world's most prestigious universities has banned christians from addressing incoming students. college oxford issued ban. christianity still used in many places as excuse for homophobia and certain norms of neocolonialism. quote, especially students of clear and other faiths may already feel alienated and vulnerable at oxford, christians, stay quite and keep out. that is astonishing. oxford university is home to free speech. ever heard of the oxford union where great debates are staged? now the left is shutting down intellectual inquiry. incoming students will not be allowed to hear opinions that the left find harmful.

we are therefore delighted to hear that in america the trump administration is doing something about free speech on campuses here. the justice department will intervene on behalf of college students who demand free speech. in court the administration will take their side. better yet, remember the president's tweet, here it is? if you see berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with different points of view, no federal fund. that is guaranteed to get the attention of college administrators. trump will cut off the money. good. the essence of a university education in the judeo-christian world is free intellectual inquiry. that means the free speech exchange, the free exchange of ideas and opinions. that is free speech. if you can't handle it, you don't belong in college. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪

stuart: breaking news on facebook. their coo, sheryl sandberg, on capitol hill for the second day. she spoke with axe ceos, that is a news website. she says she is working with the house intelligence committee releasing those russia-linked ads publicly and who the ads targeted. things that happened on facebook during the election, quote, should not have happened. we'll bring you any updates. let's go to the latest on mortgage rates. what have we got there? liz: 3.91. second straight weeks going up for 30 year. they expect rates continue to go up, fewer homes sold in the fourth quarter. fed may hike rates. stuart: ash and i tell viewers -- ashley: once a week. stuart: once a week. with he started out with a

double-digit mortgage rate. i think we can handle 3.91. liz: i tell you every week you should have waited. stuart: 30 years? i don't think so. tech stocks where are we? we are up, everything single one of them, facebook, microsoft, alphabet, apple at the upside. which dow stocks hit all-time highs? i will tell you now. visa, mcdonald's, caterpillar, all from the opening bell, all-time highs. we have gm, falling, the stocks are undo, after reports that the company plans to temporarily close its detroit assembly plant. gm is only back to what, $44 a share. still not doing bad. president trump pitching his tax reform plan last night in pennsylvania. he promised, i think i'm reading this correctly, a one-time tax holiday to get corporations to return overseas profits, bring it back here. here is a look at companies with the most cash which is parked overseas.

apple leads the way. it has more than a quarter trillion in cash overseas. joining us now, art laffer, former reagan economist. art, if i'm reading the speech correctly, this is a one-time, ultra-low tax rate, ultra-low tax holiday on the money already overseas. will it work? will it bring back a trillion? >> sure it will bring back a lot. i have no idea the exact amount but i also want to tell you, stuart, i just a short while ago did a big debate oxford political union there. you would have been proud of me. i loved your opening statement. just great. stuart: let me digress for a second, art. don't you find it incredible that the very seat of free speech in the western world, oxford university, now proposes to ban christians. i'm astonished by this. >> i am astonished by lots of things, stuart. that's one of them. i had loads of fun there. obviously i was grilled for two hours in front of an audience. i just beat the heck out of the

guy. so you would have been very proud of me defending free market, pro-growth, democratic market capitalism how it leads to prosperity and how it leads to trump tax cuts that will be very good for the economy. how is that for a segue? stuart: i was getting back to that. jpmorgan's, jamie dimon, a well-known banker is fan of tax plan. it has all ingredients to fuel economic expansion. here is the rob. does congress have the time to get it done? >> i think they will. it's a -- real tough period here. dimon gets criticized because it would be in his self-interest. stuart, there is nothing wrong with endorsing legislation that feathers your own nest, as long as it feathers everyone else's nest as well. what is wrong when you endorse legislation that feathers your nest at the expense of other people's nest.

that is not right. these people that know something about the subject, should be taken face value they're trying to do something good for america. i love dimon's comments. i wish people from "the l.a. times" stop sniping that it is in his self-interest, it is in america's interest. he is an american, and he will benefit from it too and i hope trump and everyone else. stuart: if we go to tax holiday to bring money back a short-term tax holiday, to to much lower corporate tax rate thereafter, how much of two 1/2 trillion, parked overseas, how much is parked back here? >> what i would do, if i did the tax holiday, i would not do a tax rate on monies coming back by itself. i would do percentage of the difference between the tax rate abroad, the foreign tax rate and u.s. tax rate. for example, if you would say ireland, had 12 1/2% tax, u.s. is 35%, that is what, is that a

22.5% differential? i would take 20% of that differential to bring it back. i would do that for each country where the actual taxes were paid. and then just take a difference between that and 35, have it done, come back, new slate with a low rate. i think we should take that 20% corporate rate, drop it to 15%. stuart: how much comes back here? >> a lot of it. stuart: do we get 1 1/2 trillion, two trillion, will it come back? >> it will come back. we have a lot of evidence what happens with tax holidays here in the u.s. we had 150 state tax holidays. they are very, very successful. people love to get under the wire, bring their money back. have no more hassles and no more sitting there. stuart: laffer, got to run. later this hour gary cohn joins us. point man for the white house. very important guy. it is his job to get that tax plan through. of the quickly liz. liz: when george w. bush did it

in 2004, 800 companies brought back 31 -- 3 1/2 billion dollars. stuart: that is when george w. bush did it. hackers in north korea targeted power companies in the united states. they used fake emails to infiltrate the electric companies. joining us van hipp, chairman of the american defense international. van, you told us a couple weeks ago that north korea is ahead of everyone in quantum computing. that is what they base their hacking on, is that correct? >> i wouldn't say ahead of everyone but further ahead than we are. they have a quantum encryption device. that is a wake-up call. if you look what they try to do with the grid, we get a glimpse of puerto rico what happens when the grid goes down. same effect of having a geomagnetic storm on face of the sun. stuart, we had one of those in 1859. we survived, we were okay, because at that time the

american farmer could go enough food to feed the american people. you can't do that today. this is very concerning. stuart: what can we do about it? >> well -- stuart: this is a threat. this immediate threat. >> this is real. stuart: i'm not interested in long-term solution where we train lots of people. what are you going to do about it right now? >> fortunately the department of energy has national lab structure, national labs all over america. fortunately there is one national lab who has been out there ahead everyone else. savannah river national laboratory. they have been talking about this for years. what are things we need to do to secure our grid from cyber attacks. looking at simulation models, what works, what doesn't work. they look what if the grid goes down? enabling technology, small transformer technologies to get the grid back up and running. savannah national laboratory is treasure on this issue. they're ahead of everyone else. we need to turn them loose. give them tools they need.

we did the piece, hudson institute, there are a lost inches think tanks in washington, d.c. hudson institute is having symposium in washington, d.c. bringing best technology mind and government from industry, solely focused on this issue. how do we another park or manhattan project to secure the grid. win the quantum computing race. stuart, whoever masters quantum computing will most likely win and dominate cyber warfare. who understands and masters cyber warfare will have upper hand in the next major military conflict. stuart: i think you're right. van hipp, always a pleasure. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. stuart: see you soon. what is coming up next on this program? calls for senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to step down. the calls are coming from conservative groups. we'll hear from the republican national committee on that. about an hour from now, the president signs an executive order on health reform, something congress could not do.

congressman jim jordan is with us. you are watching the second hour of "varney & company." ♪ "volatile markets." something we all think about as we head into retirement. it's why brighthouse financial is committed to help protect what you've earned and ensure it lasts. introducing shield annuities, a line of products that allow you to take advantage of growth opportunities. while maintaining a level of protection in down markets. so you can head into retirement with confidence. talk with your advisor about shield annuities from brighthouse financial established by metlife.

stuart: seen this movie before. dow industrials open lower. they come back a bit. that is happening now. we open 30, pa. we're only down 15, 45 minutes into the session. target teaming up with google, offering a voice activated shopping feature, tying them together. how does it work? liz first time in target, basically talk into the phone or google echo, i want to use my target credit card not just at target but 40 other retailers on google express. stuart: hold on i got the google

gizmo. i talk into it like this. i want to use my target credit card to buy three packs of tide and delivered tomorrow morning and they will do it? liz: they will do it. target, walmart, costco -- ashley: buying three packets of tide. liz: yeah. taking on amazon. stuart: another voice activated shopping system, isn't it? tie in with a retailer. love it? why are the people laughing? it is me, huh? ashley: it is you. stuart: next hour president trump signs executive order on health care after president trump failed to repeal and replace obamacare. jim jordan, come on in, congressman from ohio. >> i am smiling be. stuart: you couldn't get it done in congress. >> wait. the senate couldn't get it done. stuart: the republican party in congress could not get it done. now the president has to use the pen because the republican party

couldn't come up with the votes. what do you say about that? >> what he is using pen for good things, things we support, things that will bring down the cost of premiums, allowing associations to coming to, having purchasing power to bring down costs of health insurance and allowing shopping across state lines, interstate, shopping increasing competition. we all know those kind of market concepts work. this is a good thing. stuart: you approve of all that? this is a good thing? >> yes. moves it in the right direction. things we should do ourselves. unfortunately the united states can't seem to pass anything. we have to get back to work. if we get tax reform done, we have to get back on health care. something we told voters we would do. that is what we should be focused on. stuart: speaker ryan said this morning he will keep the house in session all the way through christmas if need be to get tax reform done. >> yeah. stuart: writing is on the wall, isn't it? you republicans have got to do it. you just got to do it. >> we should.

we shouldn't be leaving today. we were supposed to be in session tomorrow. letting us about home tomorrow which makes no sense. it makes sense speaker said let's do that we shouldn't have taken a six-week break in august. maybe it is sinking in we need to be here and do what voters sent us to do. stuart: may i suggest a quick question, what the president did last night, limited time frame tax holiday for companies to bring back a couple trillion dollars they have parked overseas. i assume you like that part of the tax plan? >> the whole repatriation issue is huge. money overseas. paid taxes on it. pay high american corporate rate right now. that rate will go down. it will go down even further. or as the president suggested some kind of a holiday. that president can come back and earning, churning, helping our economy grow more than it is. stuart: what do you make of getting rid of a deduction for state and local taxes. >> should happen. >> you want that? >> look. there are some basic principles should be in the tax, the tax

reform package. it is why we in the freedom caucus supported moving forward with the budget last week, we said will it actually cut taxes, will it simplify the code and will it implement economic growth? the framework we have given we believe will do that. rates laid out, 20, 25, on corporate and small business. 12, 20, on personal side. all those things are good. get rid of stand and local tax deduction. it is a big issue for some states but shouldn't be there. stuart: but if you're clawing back from money from upper income earners in big high-taxed states, you will not stem late economy much as some would like? >> economists say biggest thing is lower rates. that is what the plan is designed to do. we think that will promote job creation and be conducive to economic growth. that is what we're focused on. we also think letting moms and dads and families keep more of

their money is about freedom. we think the plan is moving in that direction. that is why we support it. we have to focus on big principles and simplify overall code. stuart: will jim jordan with smile on his face, tell viewers there will be a tax cut signed in place signed by the president in calendar year 2017. >> you know that is what i want. confident it will get out of the house. night senate, six republican senators voted against same health care thing they voted before 20 months before. same exact legislation. i hope it will get through the senate. i'm real cost it will get through the house. we'll wait and see. keep putting pressure hon united states senate. stuart: i will see what i can do for the republican party. don't quote me. jim jordan, appreciate it. sieve you very soon. here is what is coming up

here. very serious situation developing. 300 dead, almost 300 -- 23 dead, almost 300 missing as a result of the california wildfires. we'll take you there next.

stuart: on the way down, not by much. doing again heim, investment firm -- going rising cost at disney competing with netflix. latest on the california wildfires. at least 23 people died. 3500 homes or businesses damaged or destroyed. robert gray with us from napa county. robert, our latest information is the winds may be picking up

again. that is real bad news. spell it out for us, please. reporter: absolutely right, stuart. you can see some of the devastation here in napa. we're outside the city of napa, in napa county. look at this home behind me. multimillion dollars home overlooking a golf course. we understand the folks only had a few minutes to gather themselves and belongings to get out. cars burned in the homes itself. what is really interesting. there is really no pattern. the winds send it down. look the next door neighbor's house thus far has been untouched by fire. all the way down the street is completely gutted out. so the devastation is almost at random. i'm following the wind patterns. this was headline today in the local newspaper there. they're really feeling it there, whim of the winds. this harley-davidson besides me, hardly anything left. as it blows and gusts through.

that is what they're worried about. sonoma county, fire jumping six lanes of traffic. roads are closed. residents tell me they are concerned about a bottleneck. so few ways to get out of this area. some are sending their family down the mountain, getting to flatter ground away from mountains and hills and fires as well, stuart. we should keep in mind. at least is wineries here -- 13 wineries, the big business. have been damaged or destroyed. we're continue to follow it. back to you in the studio. stuart: thank you, robert gray. serious and bad developing story right there. coming up, free speech under attack. i told you how oxford university of all places is trying to silence christians. but i have to tell you also the trump administration is trying to protect free speech on campuses here. we are pursuing the free speech story. time running out for end of the year deadline on tax reform,

get it done. gary cohn with us later this hour. he is the man tasked with get the president's tax plan passed and he is on this program today. ♪ at fidelity, trades are now just $4.95. we cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. and at $4.95, you can trade with a clear advantage. fidelity, where smarter investors will always be.

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22,856. microsoft, that is almost retirement territory. i have a little bit of that stock. liz: what are you trying to tell us? stuart: what am i trying to tell you? williams sonoma, talk about a retail ice age, downgraded by one investment firm to underperform rating, down 3%. 49 bucks a share. i want to get back to my take, editorial, at top of the hour, talking about the american part of this. justice department announced it will intervene on free speech cases on college campuses. our next guest wrote an article about this, the article is called the free speech wars. dan heninger, "wall street journal" deputy editorial page editor joins us now. are we winning, beginning to win, are we taking first steps towards winning free speech in america? >> well i think we are finally not completely losing in this

war. stuart: nice way of putting it. >> you know what, stuart? actually i'm going to argue it took the administration of donald j. trump to start pushing back effectively against the assaults on free speech on campus. took the form recently after speech by attorney general jeff sessions at georgetown university law school, which he denounced the attacks on free speech on campuses but then said that the justice department would be filing what are called statements of interest. basically an amicus brief, on the side of plaintiffs who filed lawsuits against colleges for suppressions or inhub bush shuns prohibitions against free speech. not just one but there would be more. stuart: go file on the side of plaintiffs looking for free speech and then what? >> universities beginning to react and admit and acknowledge, some administrators acknowledge

they have a big problem. recently berkeley spent $800,000 to protect one free speech event out there, i think these administrators have seen something has gone off the rails. they are talking about trying to clarify the situation about the ability to speak freely on their campuses. i have my doubts whether they will to through with it. stuart: really? administrators don't want -- i mean -- >> they want to accommodate, look, they want to accommodate views of both side, the other side but let's be clear about this i think virtually every conservative i know, including conservative students would be happy to have left-wing students stand up and say whatever they want gender and inequality and whatever they want. left wants to stop hate speech, directed am women, directed at gays and directed at people of color. the problem is you know where the idea of hate speech comes

from, stuart? stuart: tell me. >> the soviet union. it was their idea to categorize things as hate speech so they could control speech inside of the country. clearly what the left on campuses has been trying to do, is control what people can say. very totalitarian movement. finally justice department will push back. stuart: what about the idea president will go after colleges to take federal fund away from that? he tweeted that. >> he tweeted if berkeley didn't do something to protect people, he raised question, no federal funding. bear in mind this is exactly what the obama administration did to title ix tribunals, they threatened ex-is italy to withdraw funds from universities. that is the only thing they understand. stuart: it is leverage. >> it is leverage. i say the trump administration has not formally suggested they would withdraw federal funding, but just raising it got their

attention. the battle is joined on free speech on campus. we may see a few victories. stuart: incredible. 20 seconds what do you think about oxford university not allowing christians to address incoming students? >> you know saying about hate speech in the soviet union. it is the left in the uk. you understand, you guys understand where the british left is coming from or where it came from. it comes from the roots in the soviet union and they're back. stuart: blows me away. absolutely blows -- baylor college oxford. if you study economics, oxford there is place for you in next conservative cabinet. 500 years of history. now christians can't speak. >> onward christian soldiers? >> i will sing it myself. delete the word, christian.

we're down seven points. if you hold on a little while. we might turn positive. let's see. we're down six at the moment. all right down seven. we'll take it. president trump in pennsylvania last night, promoting his tax reform plan. joining us now, the chair of the republican party of pennsylvania. now, i want to talk to you about, about this tax holiday. he outlined it last night. much lower tax or no tax at all, on money that corporations repatriate coming back to america. i had not heard of this before as being part of the plan until i heard it in the president's speech last night. you were there. >> i was there. stuart: he said it. >> he told me send greetings to you. thank you for being so fair and upbeat he said. i told him i would be there. president told me to give his regards. he watches you. ashley: high praise. >> there are $3 trillion some are offshore. talk about it all the time. get that money back into

america. the president is dedicated to doing that. that is part of his plan. stuart: he said middle class focused tax cut. what about the deduction for state and local taxes? when we've got that deduction now, i think he proposes to get rid of it, which would mean that upper income people, the people who pay the tax in the first place, they don't get a tax cut. >> especially ones in liberal states, california, new york, they can't stop spending they're addicted to it. they will have to go to the local legislators to get discipline there. that tax deduction may be going away. stuart: you think so? >> it is being proposed. in congress those states will fight it. we'll see. stuart: republicans in high-taxed states, they're going to oppose that. they don't want that? >> we'll see. we'll push for it. stuart: you are? >> let's push for that. why should the rest of the country whose governments are being run, whose states are being run conservatively texas and other states have to subsidize california and new york and crazy spending that

goes on and new jersey. stuart: if you get rid of that deduction, you will take awful lot of money out of peoples pockets paying tax already. that doesn't stimulate the economy. >> you're lowering rates. dramatic reduction in rates. going down to three tax brackets. that will make a big difference. stuart: isn't that a wash? if you giv breaks, so, upper income people get some money back, but you claw it away by taking away their deduction for state and local taxes, ends up as a wash, you don't stimulate economy. >> maker upper tax bracket. we'll focus on businesses. go from the highest corporate income tax in the world. we'll bring that down to 20%. even for small businesses 25% for small businesses where job creation is happening. increase, double standard deduction for individuals from, and for couples to 12 and $24,000. that is how you direct tax cuts to the middle class. stuart: you liked the speech obviously. >> yes. stuart: you were there. you were watching. i saw it. the crowd was very happy with

the president's performance. >> they were. stuart: what about the rest of pennsylvania? >> the president's numbers, asked me how are we doing in pennsylvania? his numbers were about where they were when he was elected. we haven't elected a a republican in pennsylvania since 1988. we're a red state. legislature solidly red. donald trump is about where he was in the election. we'll expand that in south part of state. we'll do great things for pennsylvania. stuart: thank you for joining us. >> yes, sir. stuart: now this, we have been reporting that apple has been having some production issues with iphone x. our next guest has some information on that, which is very important to the stock price. gene munster with us, managing partner at loop ventures. okay, is the iphone x going to be delayed? if so, for how long? >> it will be available. mark calendars for all those looking for it.

friday, october 27th, 3:01 a.m. eastern time. i just mention that because it will become available for preorders at that time. actually become available in the stores on friday november 3rd. the reason i want to go over all this stuff because that is on track. that is only part of the story. there are production issues around the 3d laser, a vixel array, maps your face and open up the phone and also the new display. what all of this means, you will have to wait, if you're asleep at 3:00 in the morning, happen to get up 8:00 a.m. for example and place the order on the 27th, my guess that phone will be delivered somewhere in the middle of the month of december. so, you got to be ready on the trigger. stuart: so, a slight delay for some of the functions on the iphone x but you can preorder on october the 27th, you get it in the stores on november the

3rd, is that about right? >> right there at 3:01, on the trigger, on the mark to get that on november 3rd. the lead times, the times you wait to get the phone, are quickly going to extend. that is this idea, probably end up being for most people, 4 to 6 week delay getting phone. even though it ships on time, there is delay actually getting it to consumers. stuart: that doesn't go down well with investors. >> it doesn't. stuart: you know, it doesn't. apple is hanging around $156 per share. i tend to believe that if there was absolutely no problem with supply and delivery on time, the stock would be higher, would you agree with that? >> it would be higher. investors are generally aware that apple struggles with this, almost every cycle. this will be a little bit more acute, given more advanced

technology in the phone. i will put perspective what will happen with the analysts estimates. there will be a about five million units, because of the production constraints will get pushed into march. but i think the real takeaway here is if this phone is successful as we think, it will be an $80 billion franchise, annual franchise. that should provide some upside to the street estimates over next year. i think that is more important than four to six-week delay. stuart: fair point. last point, you really like iphone x, don't you? >> i do. i think best upgrade in the last three years. i think, a lot of more people will buy this than the 1000-dollar price point would suggest. stuart: we always come to you, because you know what you're talking about. gene munster, you're all right. we will see you again. >> thank you. stuart: coming up, conservative groups asking senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to step aside. the rnc responds to that next.

♪ ashley: house speaker paul ryan says the house will stay in session through christmas if need be to get a tax deal done. scott martin says congress is finally getting the message. roll tape. >> we thought this would be done, according to steve mnuchin

by august? checking the calendar that is a little bit off by now. but yes, listen, i think congress realizes they have got to get this done this year. hopefully they will do whatever it takes. i tell you, back it that repatriation tax holiday, it's a great idea, guys. jamie dimon did mention job creation that will happen. how about research and development, investments in infrastructure, capital spending that have been nowhere to be found in this economy the last several years. that money coming back from overseas as brenburg says, i hate to like to agree with him here, he is right, that money will go back right into the s&p 500 earnings.

stuart: president trump signs executive order on health care next hour. comes in part because senate majority leader mitch mcconnell could not get obamacare repeal through the senate. so the president has to use his pen. doesn't have the votes. joining me, kaley mcnerney, rnc spokesperson. some conservative groups are calling, very loudly for mitch mcconnell to step down. what do you say about this. >> well i understand the frustration towards the senate. i completely get that, but the frustration i think should be and blame should really be placed with the republican senators who didn't cast the needed vote and moderate democrats who didn't step up, all democrats who didn't come to the negotiating table. that is the where the blame should be placed.

majority leader mcconnell spent hours trying to get last vote, but we didn't get it. i would remind people, leader mcconnell stalled and got gorsuch and paved the way for installing that lifetime appointment. stuart: conservatives what are they supposed to stay about republican senators who may not get a tax cut? what are we supposed to do about this? >> i think this is going to happen. i know this is going to happen because this is a binding principle of our party, this idea of putting more money in the pockets of the american people. but i encourage constituents, pick up your phones. call your senators. tell them this has to get done of the american people are badly pinched because of obamacare, rising premiums, tax relief is a necessary remedy, to fixing that. stuart: seems to be working. speaker ryan this morning said, you work all the way through christmas if you have to get this thing done. >> that is the kind of attitude we need.

i know president trump is actively put pressure on congress to get this done. we need leaders in congress to step up to the plate, all of our leaders. stand behind the president's agenda. his agenda got elected on november 8th. only one who won a national election. time for the party to line up behind him. stuart: you have a tough job, caylee. i know you stepped into it. you have a divided republican party you have to represent. do a very good job. well-done. >> thank you, stuart. that is so kind. don't you appreciate the diversity of vices in our party? frustrating at times. we have a lot of interesting and thoughts. stuart: i love diversity, i'm all for it, make sure you come together to get me a tax cut and obamacare done. always a pleasure. we'll see you again real soon. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: guess who's next? the man in charge of getting that tax cut through the congress. his name is gary cohn. he is the point man in the white house, sits right next to the president in the white house. we'll be back with gary cohn after this.

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where it can do its job. stuart: you heard it right there. that is president trump last night in pennsylvania calling for a one-time, i will call it a tax holiday. joining us now, gary cohn, national economic council director. so welcome back to the show. always good to see you, gary. >> great to be here, stuart, thanks for having me. stuart: have i got it right, tax holiday, one-time low tax rate just on money already overseas? what kind of tax rate are we talking about? >> stuart, you just played the clip from the president's speech in harrisburg yesterday where we delivered that. look, where we transition from a worldwide system to territorial system we have to catch up for the money that hasn't been brought back. so what the president was talking about last night, which is something very important, a catch-up for money still offshore. so the president is going to force companies to bring that money back to the united states so it can be spent and invested in the united states. that is very important to our tax plan. stuart: absolutely it is. because you're talking about a very short window, and a very,

very low tax rate. what would that tax rate be, 5%, 10%, or zero percent? >> as you know, we have given tax writers a lot of latitude determining the absolute number there. there will probably be two different rates, one for liquid assets or cash and one rate for investments, bricks and mortar. it will be a rate enticing to bring it back. it brings in a lot of money for american citizens. stuart: after that it's a 20% corporate tax rate, correct? >> correct. stuart: and how much of the 2 1/2 trillion that we have parked overseas now, how much of that realistically think can come back here? >> stuart, it is all coming back, because we'll deem it. in rules that we're writing, we'll force you to pay tax whether you bring it back or not. we'll deem you brought it back. stuart: whoa, that is strong-arm tactics isn't it, mr. cohn? >> we're leveling the playing field. we're going from worldwide

system, to territorial system. we have to level the playing field. you only get one chance to do it. we talk to a lot of the business community. they think it's a fair alternative. stuart: i have to talk to you about paying for itself. you will cut tax, got it, but you don't want to raise the deficit. got it. and you say, that you can pay for itself, you will grow so much that you will bring in extra revenue to the treasury. i caught treasury secretary steve mnuchin this morning saying if you raise your economic growth rate, just .3, or .4% than everything is paid for. that is a bit of a stretch, is it? that is very optimistic. >> stuart, look, the secretary and i spent enormous amount of time talking through this, reality. we know what 1% growth for gdp. we know that is $3 trillion. if people are scoring this as trillion 1/2 dollar deficit, a half a percent will pay for it, anything more than half a percent will more than pay for it, but then you're not talking about the additional job growth

and jobs will come into the system and wage growth and all of the other ancillary benefits. i think the secretary is exactly right. we get a little bit of economic growth here. this tax system will more than pay for itself. stuart: the president said last night this plan would put extra $4,000 into the pockets of middle-class families. where does that come from? >> so, stuart, when you lower the corporate tax rate, and you lower business tax rate on the pass-throughs, businesses have more earnings. where does that earnings go? we have done enormous amount of work. council economic advisors has done a lot of work. labor gets 10% of that earning. money not sent to the government, you give it to employees that ends up being $4,000 per worker in the united states. stuart: will you guarranty by end of the year you have 50 votes in the senate and 218 votes in the house for tax-cut package. >> we're committed to being here

seven days a week, 24 hours a day to get this done. stuart: gary cone. pleasure. >> thanks for having me. stuart: yes, sir. president trump will sign executive order in 20 minutes. we'll take to you the white house for the signing. back in a second.

. stuart: you're about to see the beginning of the great unwinding. obamacare is being picked apart. good. it's been a disaster. health care costs more. health insurance cost more. deductibles have gone through the roof. and the republican party could not fix it. that's why minutes from now in the roosevelt room in the white house president trump will pick up his pen and sign an executive order. that the ease the burden somewhat. we don't want to get lost in the weeds on this. but the bottom line is this: the government will allow the sale of less comprehensive health plans. now, obamacare insisted that all kinds of conditions be covered, whether you want the

coverage or not. this executive order cuts into that and should keep those spiraling premiums in check. there's a lot more to it than that. but you're about to see the beginning of the end of obamacare as we know it. and remember, please. it is donald trump that is doing this. not the republican party. the third hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ . stuart: all right. let's go straight to the white house moments from now, signed the executive order. come on in, blake burman. this is a very big deal. it's in the roosevelt room, and i think the president has his cabinet all around him. is that right? >> yeah. this is going to be live on camera. we're going to hear from the president about 15 minutes or so, stuart. keep in mind here speaking with white house be officials, they still reiterate that the president wants a repeal and replace of obamacare. but you know the political

mess that wolff into, so the president also wants to act. and three main points, which orders agencies across washington, d.c. first off, association health plans, that allows small businesses and possibly individuals to come together and form plans. secondly, consider short-term plans. and third, consider health reimbursement, which allows employees to be reimbursed for certain out of pocket costs. this is the consideration of regulation. so while the president is going to sign this order momentarily, still going to take time for the regulatory process. you're looking at this fully enacted very months down the road. stuart: very good point. the president signs the executive order, and then you don't see the effects of it until later. has to wind down the agencies. >> not a day thing. not a week thing here,

stuart. this is probably coming in months down the line. thanks so much, blake burman. now let's talk about the impact this expect order could have on health insurers. and their stock prices. joining us now is john with the lay field report of whichest ceo. now, bearing in mind that this now allows what i'm going to call some skinny policies. what i've seen so far is that health insurer stocks have gone down. is that the outcome you've expected? >> yes, it is. >> i don't think a lot has changed. we're not dealing with the core issue of health care and health care reform. we're talking about repealing obamacare but not talking about replacing it with anything at all right now. we've got a problem in our health care system of transparency. why a procedure costs $5,000 at one hospital and $30,000 at another. arguing over who pays does not fix the health care system,

and that's what we're arguing over right now. stuart: okay. i'm going to branch away from the health care issue. we'll cover it, of course, in a moment from now. but i want to talk to you about cbs. you don't like the stock, do you? >> no. and i own it. that's a terrible predibbing manhattan for me to be in. i own those because no matter what happens with obamacare. repeal, replace, whatever, it should benefit the drugstore chains because 70% of the profits come from prescriptions. and the problem now is amazon looks like they're getting into the prescription business, and i don't want to buy any company that has to compete with walmart. . stuart: you're an honest man. saying this and this, i don't like them, and i own both of them. that's an honest man. i appreciate that. you're talking about walmart. we've covered it extensively on this program. i know you like it. but the stock has already gone up significantly. i'm looking at it around 84,

$85 a share at this point. because we feel it's taking on amazon better than any of the other brick and mortar stores. is that why you like walmart? >> absolutely. and i've been bullish on walmart for some time. i bought it somewhere in the 50s and because the online component of walmart. not just the stores. these already have distribution centers in almost every community in the united states and north america. the acquisition of jet.com and specifically mark lore, the ceo that came there, that is what the rejuvenation is of walmart. i think walmart has a real chance of taking on amazon. i'm not sure i would be a buyer here at $84. but i think long-term, walmart is the one company that can fight walmart. they're both retail killers. this is bad for retail sector but great for walmart. stuart: by the way, walmart is at 86. and just a second ago, we had amazon crossing the $1,000 per

share mark again. but before you go, john, i have to ask you about ge. in my generation, everybody had a little piece of general electric. but now, it's all the way down to $23 a share, and we have some people saying it's going down to 20. what's your take on ge? >> well, to your point about the older generation, which i'm certainly a part of, ge as goes ge as goes the economy. and that's been the case for many years. ge right now has been killed in the stock market. i think it's pretty cheap right now. i bought it at 23 and the reason i bought it you have $30 billion in unfunded pension liabilities in ge. 35billion parked overseas right now. if you get repatriation of any kind of amount of 15 or 20% tax, the balance sheet changes completely for ge, and it becomes a completely different company. i think that's a huge upside to ge. >> you own it, and you're betting on repatriation for ge at 23 right now. thank you very much indeed,

sir. good stuff. now we're joined by jim. he's the author of the book the road to ruin. he's the chief global strategist is that how you pronounce it? >> it is. stuart: you're a super bear, aren't you? >> i am a super bear. 2017 you had double-digit year over year. but that's because 2016 was such a weak year. we have disinflation, that's one thing. stuart: wait, wait, wait, jim. wait a second here. i know your wife's listening to this on live radio. what's her name, by the way? >> anne. stuart: anne. look, the man's all right. here. but, you know, on the stock market, i've got some problems here. now, you say profits are not going to be as good as expected, therefore the stock market is going to go down.

>> boone basis, sure. stuart: how much will it go down? >> by the way, we've had two in the last years. august 2015, january 2015. i'm not talking about the end of the world or an apocalypse. >> i was putting you in that camp. and you're not in that camp. >> well, i'm also in that camp. one is normal business cycle correction. that's in a cause. beyond that, we're talking about system i can risk. that could happen tomorrow or three years from now or four years from now. . stuart: so would your advice right now on viewers be lighten up on stocks. sell half your holdings is that what would say? >> sure. increase your cash allocation. by the way, your prior guest with all due respect, this whole business of this wave of offshore earnings coming back and helping the come he is complete nonsense. if you're an irish subsidy of apple, you can invest on a

portfolio basis. you can buy treasury note stocks, et cetera, to your heart's content. that's not doing business in the u.s. the money's already here. you think it's in $100 in dublin? no. if apple wanted us to build a factory in the u.s. you don't think they could finance it for ten years at 2%? . stuart: they did. >> right. that's the point. the tradition of building factories is in repatriation. and in repatriation, the money's already here. so this will do nothing for the u.s. economy. it's very good for corporations because if i accrue taxes with 35%, and you tell me it's 20 or whatever, i can reverse the accrual. stuart: repatriation would be good for the stock price, though. your point on the economy. >> good for the wealthy, good for the rich, good for stock prices, not good for the economy. it does nothing for the economy. stuart: anne, if you listen, he might come back. he's the author of the book road to ruin, he may be back. we'll see. >> thank you.

stuart: seriously. all right. we are monitoring the wildfires in california's wine country. here's the latest. at least 23 people have died. more than 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed or severely damaged. 170,000 acres have been burned. firefighters are struggling to put out the flames. high winds, there's no humidity. they make the situation even worse. and without it the high winds, they're kicking up again, which makes the whole thing move faster with a great deal more danger. obviously, we're monitoring it. we'll bring you updates when we can. any moment now, the president will sign an executive order on health insurance. the great obamacare unwinding is underway. that's the way i put it. back in a second

. stuart: at the white house, they're signing the executive order, beginning the great unwinding, as i put it, of obamacare. this is a big deal. the author of beating obamacare betsy mccoy is here with me now. betsy, let me run through some of the points here very quickly, and you tell me how this is going to work. we understand that this plan, this executive order will allow short-term plans. just for 364 days. less than a year. limited coverage. big deal? >> the key is people will have the choice of buying coverage with fewer benefits. for example, no maternity care. no prescription drug coverage. no pediatric dental care. and, look, this is what people want. stuart: okay. so they can buy what they want within reason. will they be able to buy what they want quickly with these short-term plans? >> the short-term plans will probably be available on a

364-day basis. >> when can i buy one? >> i would say in three months or so. stuart: okay. so have to wait a few months. all right. >> i just want to point out obamacare was the only car you could buy fully loaded sedan. some people want a hatchback, two seater. it's the same with insurance. they want low cost cho choice c. stuart: i got it. what about associations? as i understand it, small businesses of the same type or individuals, buying together and organize their own plan. liz: across state lines. >> and that would allow them also. stuart: can they get across state lines? >> yes. and that would allow them also to have a bigger range of benefits, some with small -- fewer benefits, some with more benefits. and let me make it clear also that people will be getting a price break because these insurance plans can underwrite. they can discriminate based on your health status. so people who are very sick will stay in obamacare.

younger, healthier people will flock to these plans. this is urgently needed relief for about 8.8 million people currently in the obamacare plans who don't get any subsidies. so they've been overpaying, and they want to be able to buy the stock. stuart: so this is their exit. those people who don't like this, but they're in it, they can opt out to a short-term plan. or get into an association. >> that's right. stuart: now, if i opt for a short-term skinny plan, does my cost of insurance go down? >> way down. they're going to be paying maybe half what they currently are being -- >> are you sure of this? >> i am absolutely sure. >> because i have not heard that any place else. >> too bad, stuart, i know between the underwriting rules, it will be half. those two rules requiring no underwriting accounts for 64% of the increase in premiums since obamacare went.

ashley: is this the beginning of the end? will it become so stable, it's a divide? >> stable is the wrong word. it will be a high risk pool. people who are attracted to obamacare plans are sicker people who need the broad range of coverage. if they are fully subsidized. so they're not going to be hurt by this. stuart: okay. we're waiting for this monumental announcement. and the way you're saying, it is. lizzie, what do you have? >> well, this is set to take effect on the insurance plan level, on the insurers level in 2019 because the insurers have already put through their 2018 rates. stuart: hold on a second. i'm sorry to interrupt you. but, look, if i've got an obamacare policy, i'm in it. i'm in it now. i'm going to keep on paying higher premiums because this plan as it relates to insurance companies doesn't come in until 2019. liz: across the board insurance companies have finalized most of their offerings for 2018. so what we're talking about will take effect 2019.

stuart: but to opt out for one of these skinny plans or an association plan before then. i can do that; right? >> well, the short-term plans will likely be available in a few months because they're already being offered. stuart: okay. but the -- >> the association plans may not be in the marketplace for a year or two. stuart: okay. but within a few months. say, three months, my daughter, for example, who's paying an arm and a leg for obamacare, she can opt out, go for a skinny, short-term, 364-day plan and save the bundle. liz: we're not talking about what happens to the really sick people and the elderly who are in the obama exchanges. ashley: they will stay in the obamacare exchanges. and those people who are likely -- yes. most of these people. liz: but up double digits. >> but they're asked -- their out of pocket cost will not increase because the subsidies rise as the premiums rise. that is not theoretical. that is -- liz: their costs are going up now. >> not if they're eligible for

a full subsidy. that is not true. those people having been paying more. the people who have been clobbered are the 17% of people in the obamacare exchange who get no subsidy. they've seen their premiums and deductibles sore, and it's all coming out of their own budget. stuart: and those people can opt out. >> right. liz: you're talking about the tax credit. >> to go with or without insurance parked. stuart: talking about here is a way out for several million people who were facing ever escalating health insurance premium who may opt out for a couple of months towards a skinny system, a skinny health insurance where they pay half the premium they used to pay. >> when obamacare was first enacted, some of these options existed. and when people started to flee obamacare, president obama saw them escaping and slammed the doors shut with regulation. and the president is now unrolling the regulations to

trap people in the system. bottom line is, this is the beginning of the end. >> free at last. that's what 8.8 million people stuck in that system are going to say. free at last. i can buy something else. stuart: now, the president is doing this with a stroke of a pen because he hasn't got the votes from the republican party to do it. ashley: he's had to do it himself. stuart: he's got to do it himself. >> he is only changing regulations. he is not usurping congress' powers. stuart: we've got a whole bunch of people assembling there for what i'm saying is a very big deal. do you know who's there? at this distance, i can't identify people. liz: senator rand paul will be there, which is key. a number of congressman will be there. external executives from the medical sector also guy who runs ihop, the small business guys, it's roofing company ceos. really interesting the crowd

he has assembled. owner of taco bell, kfc. ashley: all of those business owners. liz: who have have a stake in all of this. stuart: i want to know what the left is going to say about this. >> i'll tell you what they're already saying. stuart: go ahead. >> they're saying, oh, this is sabotaging the system. and every time they say that, i say to myself. oh, the system is supposed to be more important than the individual? while allowing's individual's choice and they're talking about the system rather than helping the poor middle class families who are stuck with premiums they can't afford. ashley: it's about deductibles. 5, 6- $7,000. stuart: murderous. now, i thought obamacare was a step towards socialized medicine. government care. and it is. that step down that socialized medicine road will today in a couple of minutes time be interrupted. >> slightly. although, the big part of obamacare of socialized medicine is the huge expansion of medicaid. now 74 million people system

does not touch that. stuart: nothing to do with block grants to the state. >> absolutely not. stuart: nothing to do with that. not at all. >> obamacare is really two laws glued together. an expansion of medicaid and a federal take overof insurance. we're only affecting this side of it. the federal takeover of insurance today. stuart: okay. >> rolling back those regulations. stuart: now, i just want to break away. we're waiting for the president. it could be a few more minutes. let me break away from the discussion of health care for a second. i want to go back to the markets because we're now down just seven points. i don't think that this health care announcement is going to make that much difference to the overall markets. the overall market is far more inclined to respond to tax cut news of which there is some. speaker ryan this morning said that. he would hold the house in session all the way through christmas if need be to get the tax cut done. we also heard from gary cohn on this program, literally,

about a half hour ago talking about the tax holiday for corporations to bring back their money from overseas. he says we're going to get it all back. over $2 trillion. that will be quite a stimulus for the u.s. economy. the market is reacting to all of those factors. we're down six points. we're at 22,866. by the way, the health insurers, their stock price is largely down this morning. it's not a huge selloff at this point. can we get them up on the screen, maybe? the health insurers. this is a key time for them, obviously. we've got cigna up a bit, humanna is up, and we've got united and aetna down. and i'm not sure how to interpret that. i guess the jury's out on this move that the president is about to make will actually affect those stocks. united and aetna down, sigma and humanna up, and the dow industrials down about 9

points. liz: the most interesting part of this is finally trying to move towards a national market for insurance and been studying what's going on now since 2010, can the president on a federal level change with a stroke of the pen how insurance is regulated at the state level? because insurers do have a lock on state capital. so how is that going to work with what he's doing today? >> no they can't. and the fact is obamacare, federal took over the state regulation of health insurance and imposed very rigid national rule. he's unrolling some of those. liz: no, i'm talking about how the state -- excuse me the insurance lobby is saying we get to regulate it at the state level. they're pushing back on him trying to create a national market selling insurance across state lines. >> well, those are the association plans, and we'll see how those evolve. liz: president trump is clearly taking the lead because the republicans in congress could not get it done. our next guest says the gop needs a new approach. he talks about it in the wall street journal piece titled the health reform that has

been tried. called atlas. senior fellow. scott, can you hear me okay? >> yes, i can. good morning. stuart: real fast. the main points in the executive order that the president's about to sign. the main point is that it will allow short-term, 364-day coverage where the -- you don't have to have everything covered the way you do now in obamacare. do you approve of that? >> absolutely. i think this is one very good but still rather makeup step in getting some of the harmful regulations that obamacare imposed. stuart: but it's the beginning of the end, maybe? >> well, it's the beginning of the -- yes. it's the beginning of the end, but it's the beginning of the recognition that the regulations that were imposed by obamacare really doubled down on the wrong incentives about forcing people to buy insurances bloated with mandates, bloated with coverage that's expensive that they don't want and really also obscures the price of

medical care. when you have this kind of deregulation, you're subjecting people to the idea that, hey, some of the medical care is not covered, and there may be even higher deductibles allowed, and that allows people to consider a price when they're shopping for care. and this is the key pathway to getting the price of medical care down and therefore more valuable medical care. stuart: scott, would you stay there for a second. i have to take a commercial break. we'll rejoin you and the president from the white house after this. i accept i don't bike as far as i used to.

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. stuart: the president will appear very, very shortly but doug, registered democrat still with -- oh, i'm sorry. doug, you didn't get your moment of glory there. the president is about to enter the roosevelt room there. he's going to approach the podium, he'll make short remarks, senator rand paul there. vice president pence is right behind him. i think he's going to be introduced. so that will give me a chance to ask doug a question. doug, you're a democrat. >> yes. stuart: democrats hate what what is about to take place. >> they do not want any peace mail reforms. they want to fix obamacare. so, yes, stuart, this is not at the top of their break.

. stuart: what in particular do they dislike about the executive order that's about to be signed? >> because it is a small bore fix to a large bore problem. as betsy put it, you know, we're talking about protecting medicaid as democrats, and we're talking about trying to rain in premiums and coverage. and make sure it's protected. stuart: do you agree with me that this is the beginning of the unwinding? >> no, i don't. i believe that this is the beginning of the peace mail fix. . stuart: rand paul just approached the microphone. >> president trump is doing what i believe is the biggest free market reform to health care in a generation. this reform, if it works and goes as planned will allow millions of people to get insurance across state lines at an inexpensive price. 28million people were left behind by obamacare. do not have insurance today. this specifically targets and will help people who don't

have insurance or people or for whom insurance is too expensive. i'm very glad to be part of this, and i really want to commend the president for having the boldness and the leadership and the foresight to get this done, and i would like to introduce the vice president of the united states. >> good morning. secretary acosta, senator paul, secretary mnuchin, director mulvaney, administrator mcmann, senator paul, thank you for this thoughtful remarks and to congressman gregg walden and other distinguished members of congress and job creators. it's an honor to share this moment with you today. president trump will take a critical step to lower critical insurance for americans. since day one, president trump has made it a top priority to rescue people from the

disastrous failure of obamacare. every day, obamacare survivors is another day the american people struggle. and all the job creators gathered here today at the white house have witnessed failures of obamacare firsthand. premiums have more than doubled since obamacare went in a effect. and next year, premiums are set to increase even more. while costs have been skyrocketing, choices are plummeting. next year, nearly half of america's counties will have only one choice of provider, which means they essentially have no choice at all. as the president and i have traveled the country, we've heard stories from small business owners like those gathered here today who are struggling under the weight of obamacare. today, president trump will take decisive action to provide the american people with flexibility and freedom from the burdens of obamacare and expand the nov affordable health care options for working americans. and mr. president, i can say i speak for everyone here and for millions of americans when i say how grateful we are for your determination to repeal

and replace obamacare and your commitment demonstrated today by this action to provide the american people with more choices for more affordable health care in the 21st century. and with that, ladies and gentlemen, it's my privilege to introduce the president of the united states of america. [applause] trump: thank you, everybody. thank you very much to vice president pence for that wonderful introduction and for the great job you do, and i want to thank secretary acosta, secretary mnuchin, acting secretary, and administrator mcmann for joining us today. we're all gathered together for something that i believe is going to be very, very powerful for our nation and very good for a lot of

people. but before i begin, i have a important update. yesterday, the united states government working with the government of pakistan secured the release of caitlyn coleman, joshua boyle, and their three children from captivity from the terrorist organization with ties to the taliban. the pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring america's wish that will do more to provide security in the region, and i want to thank the pakistani government. i want to thank pakistan. they worked very hard on this, and i believe they're starting to respect the united states again. it's very important. i think a lot -- right now, a lot of countries are starting to respect the united states

of america once again. we hope to see this type of cooperation and team work in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations. so with that, i want to begin by saying it's my pleasure to welcome so many great small business and association leaders to the white house as we prepare to make this truly historic announcement, and that's exactly what it is. we've been hearing about the disaster of obamacare for so long. in my case, many years. most of it outside in civilian life and for a long period of time since i've started running. and since i became president of the united states. i just keep hearing repeal, replace. well, we're starting that process, and we're starting it in a very positive manner. and i have to say when you get

rand paul on your side, it has to be positive. that, i can tell you. [laughter] [applause] trump: i was just saying as he's getting up saying all of those things that we're announcing, i was thinking that's very unusual. i'm impressed. but seven years ago, congressional democrats broke the american health care system by forcing the obamacare nightmare onto the american people. it has been a nightmare. you look at what's happening with the premiums and increases 100%, 120%, and even one case in alaska, over 200%. and now every congressional democrat has blocked the effort to save americans from obamacare. along with a very small, frankly handful of republicans. three. and we're going to take care of that also because i believe we have the votes to do block

grants at a little bit later time, and we'll be able to do that. premiums have gone skyrocketing. but today, one third of all of the counties in america have only a single insurer selling coverage on a exchange. and next year, it looks like nearly half of all counties in our country -- think of that. all of the counties, one half will have only one insurer. and many will have none. many will have absolutely created roadblocks for people to have any form of the insurance we're talking about. this is why in a few moments, i will sign an executive order taking the first steps to providing millions of americans with obamacare relief. it directs the department of health and human services, the treasury, and the department of labor to take action to increase competition, increase

choice, and increase access to lower priced high-quality health care options, and they will have so many options. this will cost the united states government virtually nothing. and people will have great, great health care. and when i say people, i mean by the millions and millions. first, we aim to allow more small businesses to form associations to buy affordable and competitive health insurance. this would open up additional options for employers to purchase the health plans their workers want. i'm also directing secretary acosta to consider ways to expand these associations and these health care plans all across state lines. this will create tremendous

competition and transformative in so many ways change, aimed at creating more and lower prices for millions of americans. but the competition will be staggering. companies will be fighting to get everybody signed up. and you hopefully will be negotiating, negotiating, negotiating, and you'll get such low prices for such great care. should have been done a long time ago, and it could have been done a long time ago. this will allow thousands of small business employers to have the same purchasing power as large employers to get more affordable and generous insurance options for their workers. rich and leslie, where are they? are we you? nice to see you. come on. good to see you, leslie. they're here today from louisiana. great state.

just left. had a little hurricane damage. they get hit. lake charles. but we took good care it of; right? they're great people. they're small business owners, and they know personally the benefits of association health plans. one of which used to provide health insurance for their employees. but after obamacare, they were unable to afford their association plan. so they had a great thing, hire employers were happy, and then it ended like so many. this is something i hear. gregg, you know exactly what i'm talking about. gregg has been so incredible on this subject. and people had plans that worked. and then all of a sudden they were just totally cut off and happened to your company also. rich and leslie have said that they would like to once again use association health plan and there are many americans who want more affordable options just like them. and now with this executive

order, americans will likely soon have those options. we will be very happy to provide them to you, and you will be very happy, rich. i think you're going to be extremely pleased. if you're not, you can tell them right now. okay? [laughter] thank you, leslie. >> thank you. trump: great to see you. thank you very much. in addition, my administration will explore how we can expand short-term limited duration insurance. these health insurance policies are not subject to any very expansive and expensive obamacare coverage, mandates, and rules. the cost of the obamacare has been so outrageous, it is absolutely destroying everything in its wake. they were so attractive that just last year, the previous administration crippled the market to keep people from fleeing the obamacare plan. in fact, they prevented these

plans from lasting more than three months. they will take action to fix that and to make these affordable, flexible plans much more widely available. so we're going to have a very widely-available plan that's going to cost much less. and from the standpoint of the united states government, we will be very happy. won't we, virginia? so they'll get better, and it will cost us nothing. that's not too bad; right? we need some more answers like that. finally, today's executive order instructs secretary is acosta, mnuchin, to explore how they can let more businesses tax-free health businesses or hras to compensate their employees for their health care expenses. currently, only about one third of small business employees receive coverage at work, forcing millions of workers to enroll in the

exchanges or remain uninsured and to pay the individual mandate penalty. not good. not good. that is one of the most unpopular things i've ever seen in government, i can tell you. this order takes first steps to make it easier for businesses to help their workers afford high quality and more flexible health care through reimbursement accounts. with these actions, we are moving toward lower costs and more options in the health care market and taking crucial steps towards saving the american people from the nightmare of obamacare. today is only the beginning. in the coming months, we plan to take new measures to provide our people with even more relief and more freedom. and, by the way, on another subject, that will include massive tax cuts.

we are going to get massive tack cuts, and i believe even senator rand paul, and i know virginia, gregg, you're with us. but the whole country is looking for these massive tax cuts, and we will get them. and we are going to also pressure congress very strongly to finish the repeal and the replace of obamacare once and for all. we will have great health care in our country. thank you, all, very much. appreciate it. [applause] thank you. thank you very much. [applause] . stuart: now, we're going to watch what happens here. i think the president is going to sign the executive order, and we'll follow through with that. actually, i think he's going to sign now. but i just want to go around the table here because it seems to me that the most important thing that the president just announced is

the possibility that we'll be able to form associations, organize our own health care plan, and reach across state lines. good thing? >> look, it's a step in the right direction. absolutely. hopefully, a plan to begin fixing obamacare. stuart: he's a democrat. that's extraordinary. >> with the democrats. stuart: listen to the president, please. trump: so congratulations to everybody. [applause] [applause] trump: thank you. thank you, everybody. . stuart: scott is with us.

again, i want to make the same point. it seems to me that the most important -- or one of the most important things we just heard is the ability now to organize in associations and get health care across state lines. scott, is that the beginnings of a national market? >> yes, it is. and more importantly to me than across state lines is the idea that the association health plans will be able to circumvent the regulations on the loaded up mandates of coverage and other regulations that obamacare instituted, which were the actual direct cause of high insurance premiums. . stuart: eye got to get around the block. stay there, please, for a second. betsy mccoy, he also said that millions of americans will get obamacare relief. there will be lower-priced options, which cost the u.s. government nothing. big deal. >> absolutely nothing. 8.8million people currently trapped in obamacare and probably about 12 million

people were going without insurance because they can't afford obamacare. but will be receptive to buying these plans. ashley: overarching message here. increases competition, increases choice, and increases the number of health care options we have access to, all the while costing the government virtually nothing. that's what he said. stuart: democrat doug, he likes the cross state line deal. what do you like -- surely, you like the idea of millions of people being able to get lower cost, lower premium health insurance that costs the government nothing. >> i do. and what betsy said is really where i go. you've got lots of young people who can't afford premiums. they pay the penalties. why shouldn't they have catastrophic care? liz: and the ones left behind will get subsidies from the government. but this is the overarching thing that's happening. the president is saying to the republican party. look, you've got to stop acting like the dogs that caught the ambulance or the car. you don't know what to do with it when you did catch it. he's saying i am taking action. i'm going to fix it. get in line behind me.

here's the rector to push back on democrats are saying what the republicans want to do. will kill people. he's saying wait a second. i have small business people around me. they're telling you, the world that obamacare was hurting us and damaging us. and so he's saying what's destroying lives, it was a nightmare. so this is the rhetoric, the branding that the president is giving the gop to say to elizabeth warrens and the bernie sanders of the world we're not killing people. people will not die because the government is there to help. and he's just changing the landscape for it. stuart: i have to bring in doug. i mean, you know, liz's point is pretty solid there. >> yeah. and here's the key. stuart: you lefties can't say we're killing people. >> i don't say that ever. stuart: not you. >> i speak for modern consensus democrats first. stuart: there's none left. >> well, yes, there are. i stand up for myself.

stuart: well, one. okay. >> here's the point. as long as we're not talking about medicare and killing medicare in six, seven, eight years. >> medicaid. >> medicaid. i'm sorry. if we're not talking about killing medicaid, we can have constructive conversations, and that's where the republican plan has broken down this here. liz: messaging has. >> messaging and the plan. because you know what? i don't want to get rid of medicaid. liz: nobody does. >> the recipes don't want to get rid -- >> i know but they'll phase out the specifics in eight to ten years. that's the problem. stuart: doug, thank you very much. i want to go straight back to scott atlas, hoover institution. the president says americans will have low-priced options. lots of low-priced options where premiums will go down from where they are now. you know this from the inside. is that going to happen? >> i think absolutely will. but you have to realize that the two components that determine insurance premiums are the regulatory environment. but the bigger components is the cost of medical care. and what this does -- and i can't emphasize that enough --

is it allows people to buy insurance where they have to consider the price of the care because it may not be covered. that's a very good thing. the way to get people to have cheaper insurance is secondary to reducing the price of medical care itself by empowering people and increasing the supply and other deregulatory mechanisms so that they actually care what the price of the medical care is. stuart: senator rand paul spoke right before the president. he said that this was a market idea returning to free markets. do you agree with that? is the market back in the health care system? >> well, i think the insurance market certainly will be deregulated, and there will be choices. and this is very important. but i think we need to do way more. and this is where the republicans have really failed. not just to do more but to articulate the reasons why these changes are important. they really have failed in educating the public.

. stuart: okay. the president promised us such low prices for such great care that everybody's going to love it. low prices for great care, even though what's covered will be reduced. is that a legitimate claim for the president to make? >> absolutely because most people don't need what was covered under obamacare. they would rather buy a health plan that suits their family's needs and then be able to pay a mortgage or buy a car. stuart: okay. herb london is with us. herb, i know you've been watching this -- the proceedings here. what do you make of them? progress in the right direction? >> i think it's progress in the right direction. i think any time you engage in deregulation and create an environment for choice and for pricing and for an environment where people can make decisions on their own is desirable. and i think the president understands that. there's a lot more that has to be done. and i very much agree with a fellow from heritage who made the point we've got to articulate the arguments more effectively. one of the reasons why betsy does such an extraordinary job in writing about this business of obamacare is because she is

one of the few who knows how to articulate the issue. stuart: i think it's the hoover institution rather. >> hoover. excuse me. i'm sorry. stuart: but i'm sure scott wouldn't mind on the grounds that they're somewhat similar, i think. one's in california, one's not. >> the idea is discount. stuart: yes. >> sorry about the labeling. stuart: i want to point something out here. the moment that the president took the microphone, went to the podium, at that precise moment, the dow jones average hit another all-time high. >> yep. stuart: and it has turned around from a minus 37. now we're up eight, nine points. is there any relationship between what the president said on obamacare and the stock market? i don't think so. but -- >> i don't think so. and, again, it would be a stretch. one of the things that happens is, look, the market is very incessance to a variety of conditions. but if you tell me that corporate profits have gone up very significantly, that's a factor. this five-minute speech by the president, a very limited speech i don't think has enough -- liz: we've got five dow stocks

at all-time highs. stuart: yes. scott atlas, last one, back to you for a second. what do you want to see next? within the realms of possibility. because we're not going to get legislation out of congress. but what can the president do with an executive order next to enhance what he has already started? >> i think he can do more with deregulation, getting rid of some of the regulations on health savings accounts. he alluded to this with his health reimbursement accounts. larger and less-regulated health savings accounts are something that are really critical to people caring about the price of care and being able to make value-based decisions. stuart: betsy, will you tell us more about will you already get health insurance from your employer, doesn't this executive order allow you to put more money in or use it in different ways? explain what -- >> there will be more flexibility in terms of employers saying to their employee "you pick a health plan, and i'll pay for it"

amazingly, the obama administration made that illegal because they wanted employees to be forced into the obamacare exchanges, rather than getting coverage at work. under obamacare, employer-provided coverage declined by 8 million people. stuart: 8 million? liz: why break something that is working; right? why break something that is -- ashley: i think the other important thing is the ability of small businesses under this executive order to also come together, create their own health associations. but also have the same purchasing power as the big companies. that's very important. >> absolutely. for example, pancake houses all across the country getting together and saying we want to buy health plans, health plans the way ge does. liz: fair and balanced. hillary care and obamacare allow for across state line purchases. . stuart: okay. but -- >> the most important thing is that individuals will soon have the freedom to make their own decisions, rather than being forced to buy the one-size-fits-all washington-designed product.

>> that's why -- sorry. stuart: i'm sorry. one second. left-hand side of your screen. the nasdaq composite index. another all-time record high. before that was on your screen, we were looking at hospital stocks and all of them are down. i don't know why -- can anybody explain that, betsy? can anybody? >> no, i cannot. stuart: we're all shaking our heads. herb, i know you're still with us. why are hospital stocks down? >> i'll leave the guessing to your own panelists. stuart: we're going to walk away from this one. are you happy with what you're seeing so far, herb london? >> well, i am happy. but i think there's a very important point here, and that is individual choice. one of the reasons i'm y i'm euro favor of health savings accounts is if you're young, put some money in, and you look at the compounding effect. most young people do not need a lot of health care. by the time they're 65, obviously, the world has changed for them. they'll need more health care. but if you rely on the compounding effect of money, there will be a lot of money that's available. and so we need a cumulative health savings accounts that's more far elastic.

far more -- larger. much larger than what we have at the moment. stuart: to me, the big problem -- i don't want to raise problems on a day like this. but i think there is a problem here. and that's the future of medicaid. >> oh, yes,. stuart: we're not slowing down the rate of growth. in fact, it's still going up and up and up, and it is not sustainable. betsy. >> that's right. 74million people currently enrolled in medicaid. that's over 20 million more than in had he had care. medicaid is the big entitlement crisis facing this country and obamacare made it much worse because it said to the states, enroll as many people as you can, and we will pick up the tab. stuart: scott, doesn't see any way around this. this is a gigantic entitlement program. medicaid growing and growing and growing. can't do much about that in the short-term, can we? >> well, we can fix what medicaid is. it's not so much that there's a program. the program is misguided. you're buying insurance for people that isn't even accepted by most doctors. it's sort of unconscionable to label this as a big

achievement expanding insurance that isn't even accepted. the better answer is to change medicaid to a bridge to private insurance, take that same money, and allow people to buy private insurance, even high deductibles, even seed money for hsa, health savings accounts. and with that and medicaid, the vulnerable people in society actually get access to the same medical care that you and everyone in congress uses. stuart: i think he was addressing your point, herb. >> well, i think it's exactly right. one of the things that you want to do is encourage individual choice. this kind of transition from the public sector to the private sector is exactly the way to go. that's the way to reform medicaid. stuart: i'm very interested in the idea of reversing course. for the last eight years, we've been on the steady path towards more and more government care. socialized medicine. i got the feeling that that announcement from the president just a few minutes ago was a reversal of course. a reversal of direction. i want to go around the table here. don't have much time left.

scott atlas, am i right? a reversal of direction? >> absolutely. and it's critical not only to reverse the direction from this idea of socialized medicine but for people to understand that socialized medicine has failed the world over and, in fact, the solution in all the countries with decades of experience is to take taxpayer money and use it for private medical care. this is the unknown myth here of socialized medicine. it has really been a failure. stuart: betsy, reverse of direction? it is? >> absolutely and you can count on the fact that president trump after the new year will have much more momentum to actually go back to congress and achieve what he cannot do by regulation alone, which is to roll back the vast expansion of medicaid and macit more of a private system. stuart: it was, i thought, a monumental occasion that we've witnessed here today. and you saw it live on our program. i want to thank scott atlas, hoover institution, betsy mccoy, beating obamacare, herb

london also. liz, ashley, you're the last ones. got ten stuart: a reversal direction. a long trend towards socialized medicine i believe was just halted. neil, it is yours. neil: i wonder though given what hospital stocks, hospitals are where sick people go. you're putting healthy patients or those who are healthy right now, and allowing them to look at options that are alternative to what they're forced into now, leaving sick people need hospital in their own pool, could be more expensive pool. who will foot that bill? stuart: that a good question, neil. a lot of unanswered questions. i think you agree with me, this is a reversal of direction. instead of down that socialized medicine road, we called a halt, we're inching down from that. do you agree? neil: no i don't agree.