policy. balance sheets are strong. valuations are very reasonable. ashley: high interest rates will help. [closing bell rings] ernie, thank you very. light the fireworks. record closes for the dow and s&p 500. that is it for the countdown. david asman and melissa francis pick it up. melissa: the dow closing above 23,000 for the first time ever, surging higher, 159 points as we close out. third record close in a row. a new record for s&p as well, but nasdaq, too close to call. i'm melissa francis. david: i'm david asman. glad you could be here. another historic day on "after the bell." more on the new milestone for after the markets. here is what we're covering for you in historic hour. the senate voting on key amendments to the budget bill. this is a major step towards passing tax reform. but do republicans have enough support among them? a live report from capitol hill.

white house defending the president's account after phone call to a soldier's widow, despite a democratic congresswoman sticking to the claim that he was disrespectful. new documents show former fbi director comey exonerating hillary clinton long before the investigation was complete. we have jason chaffetz, third highest ranking senate republican john thune, former new hampshire governor judd gregg and john stossel. >> let's go straight to nicole petallides. what was the scene like. no hats. >> they would be happy to print 24,000, or 25,000. the truth we had four

milestones. the 20,000, 21, 22, 23 this year. for 1000 milestones there year. we were 18,300 during the election. the dow is up 26%, whether you believe it's a big number, psychologically a number, but it shows a jump. we had majority of winners. saying thank you to ibm. which came out with numbers on your show yesterday after the bell, which beat on top and bottom line. the move nearly 9%. that added about 90 dow points going into the close. that was real winner. goldman sachs, intel, travelers, united health. we're waiting on dow component american express shortly here. tomorrow we have more, verizon, travelers, bank of new york mellon, friday, proctor & gamble and ge. big picture it was 54 days from 22 to 23. that was the fourth fastest run. we had plenty of highs today too. back to you. >> nicole, thank you. david: let's bring in today's

panel, steve cortes, spokesman for the hispanic 100 and former member of the trump campaign and jonathan hoenig, capitalist pig hedge fund, both fox news contributors. you can rattle off a lot of stats today, what jumps out, four 1000 point jumps in 12 months that never happened before. shows how much i think this economy and market has been restain strain over many years. >> right. david, you won't know this if you watch the mainstream media, all you hear from them consternation and supposed upheaval in washington, d.c. once you get out of the acela corridor from washington, d.c. to new york, that media corridor, once you get into real america, the economy is accelerating and doing so in significant ways and partly i think it is because of trump and his deregulation. that has been massive. i think it is hard to exaggerate how important that is to american business. also on top of that, not just

policy, it is tangibles of believing we can grow again. if you believe, you buy, hire, invest and becomes self-perpetuating. we're seeing that happen on the ground in this economy and in the stock market. david: jonathan, we have never had, at least in my lifetime, as slow of a recovery from a recession as we did during the obama era. again, i think it's a clear indication those economic policies were not good for the economy. the market was starting from practically zero. that is why it had a run-up during the obama administration. but now we really see the effects of a pro-business president, don't we? no david, no question. this is bull market. 240 new 52-week highs, only 80 new 52-week lows. rally was widespread, especially technology. during the obama years. it is infrastructure now. it is banks as well. 23,000 unto itself it isn't such

an important number but it says a trend which is going better part of two years, all-time highs, without a question, really accelerated since the election as was pointed out, 41000 point milestones. never happened in the market. david: i will let you chime in. >> we're excited as president looks to tackle tax reform, phone call overshadowing agenda. president trump and white house looking to defend his call with the family of a fallen soldier. sergeant ladavid johnson. break berman live at the white house. what can you tell us about this? >> congresswoman frederica wilson, center controversy, said at one point she feels president trump has a brain disorder, needs to be checked out. the white house describing criticisms towards the president as disgraceful and appalling this stems from a tuesday night phone call between the president and the family, the widow of sergeant ledavid johnson as his

remains were flown back to florida. he was killed earlier this month in niger. wilson said she heard the call between the president's beyond son's widow and claims, president trump said johnson said quote, knew what he signed up for. earlier president trump disputed that. >> i did not say what she said. i would like her to make the statement again because i did not say what she said. i had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife, who is, sounded like a lovely woman. did not say what the congresswoman said. reporter: wilson followed up on twitter saying following quote, i still stand by my account with the call, neisha johnson, that is her name, mr. trump, not the woman or the wife. of family members say they thought the call was insensitive. sanders described the call as completely appropriate. this controversy, melissa, was

unfolding as the president was meeting with the senate finance committee to talk about the future ever taxes and tax reform. the biggest news on tax reform front wasn't made today, rather by the president or any members of congress. rather instead by the man who leads the building behind me, that being treasury secretary steve mnuchin. he said in an interview published today, the following, quote, when you're cutting taxes across the board it is very hard not to give tax cuts to the wealthy with tax to the middle class. the math, given how much you're collecting is hard to do. there is back and forth whether or not the wealthiest of americans would receive a tax cut with the republican proposal. sarah sanders today acknowledged the possibility. >> there may be some people that receive tax cuts that are also in the wealthy bracket? yes. but the fact is, that the priority again remains that middle-class americans are the ones most impacted. that is where the priority and focus lies. reporter: in that same interview

published today, david and melissa, mnuchin said if tax reform does not happen, the stock market gains we reported for months, he warned those could reverse? melissa: aren't all tax cuts good? oh, blake, thank you. reporter: you got it. >> american express reporting third quarter results. go back to nicole with the numbers. >> beat on top and bottom line and boosting view for earnings per share going forward. but those three things together you see the stock is higher up of a hours, up about 1/3 of 1%. off the earlier highs but certainly beating the street, and 1.50, is now a gain of 25% for earnings per share. good news there and good for the dow tomorrow. melissa: conservatives clashing of the senate is desperately pushing to pass a budget to accomplish goal of overhauling the tax code but one senator in particular might end up sabotaging the entire plan.

>> budget vote to me is a symbol and a guidepost as to what we are as a party and what we stand for and the people, like mccain and graham, who parade as conservatives, that are not really conservative, they need to be called out because they are bankrupting our country. melissa: all right. senator lindsey graham firing back at senator rand paul, tweeting quote, don't screw up tax reform now! you already saved obamacare by trashing graham cassidy heller johnson. you like the inflection? i tried to do it with feeling. republican senator john thune from south dakota. he is on the senate finance committee. oh, my goodness, whose side are you on? >> oh, i'm for just getting some bills passed, melissa. melissa: right. >> i think that is what ultimately we need to be focused on. you know there are these little intrafamily discussions and disputes which i would frankly rather be kept in the family and not spill out into the public but -- melissa: on twitter. >> on twitter. nevertheless, we, i think that

most republicans right now are focused on getting this budget passed. because the budget set table for tax reform. if we don't pass a budget, we don't get tax reform. melissa: so that end, senator paul could hold up the whole thing. he has not said he is a no on the budget but you know him well. you've been through these situations with him. what is your sense of what he is going to do? >> you know, it is always hard to predict. he voted to proceed to the budget yesterday. it is procedural vote. but the actual budget vote will occur at end of week. i hope that rand finds his way to society for this. we need to function as team. these are big things we're trying to do for the country and economy. if we get tax reform across the finish line. we'll create greater economic growth, better-paying jobs. higher wages. that is something he ought to be for. melissa: he was a loud voice in favor of tax reform. we were sew excited about that. there was a but on the other end of it attached to the budget. do you think there is something in particular he wants or could

be given that would get him there? >> i think there are things he wants, things if you put in there, would lose half a dozen other senators. you can't fix the issues that he has with this. but you know, to his point, this is a budget that reduces spending over a -- $5 trillion over the course of a decade. it cuts taxes and gross the economy. this is a budget that i hope our members come out to support it. i think it is critically important to the future of country and we get it done and get it done now. melissa: speaking of working together, speaking of health care real quickly, lamar alexander working on possible solution. the president kind of shooting g that down a little bit in a tweet. i'm supportive of lamar as a person and supportive of the process but i can never support bailing out insurance companies who made a fortune from obamacare. if you look at first half of this year, the big five insurance companies made more than 10 1/2 billion dollars in

profits. you have to think a bunch of that came from probably getting out of obamacare, but at the same time, those insurance companies making that profit they don't need your viewers money right now. >> i don't disagree with that and my hope is if we can figure out a way to pass a short term measure that provides market stability, that keeps these markets collapsing any further, they are in freefall, premiums continue to skyrocket. we want to get to a place to repeal and replace obamacare with something better that takes 50 votes. this is near term solution, a bridge solution but needs to be done in a way that doesn't enrich insurance companies. i know the president and senator alexander are having those conversations and hope they come up with a solution. melissa: our money show, tax reform, scale of one to 10 what is likelihood it is going to happen for this year? >> well, i would like to say it's a 10, melissa. i think it's a 10 we get it done

eventually. melissa: oh, no, no. >> i think it's a 10 we get it done this year. right now we're on path, if we stay on schedule, passing budget, ways and means in house, finance committee in senate, mark up bills, put a bill on the president's desk before end of the year. that is the goal. melissa: likelihood of putting a bill on the president's desk on tax reform is a what? >> well, let's say it is still an 8 or 9 in my mind. melissa: okay. all right. it's a 10 in ours, so you know. >> it is going to get done. it is going to get done. melissa: we're focused. senator thune, thanks for joining us today. we appreciate it. >> great to be with you. david: steve, jonathan are back to react. steve, as far as i'm concerned certain issues you can take a stand. no doubt health care is one of them. any kind of bill, that means less money for the government which very often wastes our money and more money for the private sector which puts it

into the real economy as opposed to fake government economy is a good thing. >> right. david: why can't lindsey graham, why can't rand paul understand that? doesn't have to be perfect. it just has to be less tax dollars going to washington? >> right. david, i couldn't agree more. let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good. less money for washington. more money for americans is a great thing. by the way, i believe it is the foundational impetus behind the whole trump movement in 2016. unfortunately a lot of senate republicans don't get that yet. they might have to be shaken awake by being primaried at ballot box but i hope not. i hope it doesn't come to that. let's get this done this year. we need prosperity for americans, middle class earners. david: we may never get it. here is the nairscenario of that. if we don't get a tax cut this year, the economy may slow down significantly next year, which means republican would lose the election, 2018 midterm elections

that would essentially negate any chance of getting a tax cut bill through. >> yeah. see, david not only would the economy slow down, but i think secretary mnuchin is right, the stock market would slow down as well. david: absolutely. >> so many gains last several months have been made on the notion that we're going to get these tax cuts as you said. so as steve pointed out as well, who can't get behind the notion of allowing people to keep more of money they made? melissa: amen. >> republicans running table, if they can't push this through, their name is mud. if not now, when? david: republicans push it to the democrats, does anybody believe dollar spent by government is worth more than the dollar spent by the private sector? >> david, this is the harsh reality t i hate to say this as live long republican, their

actions show us they don't. >> a lot of republicans fit that category. steve, jonathan, thank you very much. appreciate it. melissa: blasting the trump administration and head of the epa. a cnn report claiming that a mining company had been given the go ahead to destroy the alaskan derness. john stossel says is not true. david: the wounded security guard shut during the las vegas massacre had been missing since thursday. you will not believe where he turned up. melissa: nfl commissioner roger goodell wrapping a two-day meeting with league owners and players, holding a press conference this afternoon. how he says the league will move forward dealing with players who kneel for the national anthem.

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david: nfl meeting continue. day two of the annual conference with social issues front and center. commissioner roger goodell speaking earlier today. here from the site of those meetings, connell mcshane. connell, he didn't say anything new, did he? reporter: no, that is the headline, you're right, david, nothing has changed. the nfl has guideline for gameday procedures in place that already says that players should stand up when the national anthem is being played.

goodell said number of times they should, they should be standing up when the anthem is played but he wouldn't go further than that when he was asked in the news conference if he feels that way, if the league feels that way, why not make it the rule, this is what he said. >> i think one of the things we need to keep a focus on is again, we believe that our players should stand for the national anthem. that is important part of our game and our moment. we believe in that. what we try to do is deal with the underlying issue and understand what it is that they're protesting, try to address that matter. reporter: to that point, the owners and players from what we understand will meet again sometime in the next two weeks to talk about some of those issues that the commissioner was referring to, social justice-related issues that many of the players are concerned about. so they will have that meeting. meantime on the way out of this meeting today, the owner of the new york giants, john mara, acknowledged that the anthem

protest, controversy surrounding them are having impact on the league's business. that is part of the basis for the question i had for commissioner roger goodell at the news conference today, especially new polling out shows the issue is so politicized, fewer republicans identifying as pro football fans these days. listen. >> we believe doing the right thing what you ultimately have to do. i think listening to our players, understanding our players, trying to address those underlying issues and making our communities better is where the real opportunity is. that long term is going to benefit us, and so that is what our focus is. reporter: so i tried, david, to follow up on that with the commissioner. he is saying the league is looking to stay out of politics. david: yeah. didn't really answer the question. the other question he didn't answer what happens in an individual owner decides to discipline a player for taking a knee. reporter: right. david: what is the position of the nfl then? reporter: he said he wouldn't

deal in hypothetical. there was no direct answer to that question at all. of course we her comments from the likes of jerry jones, owner of the cowboys, that is something that could happen but there was no direct answer. david: i would think the mara family would get upset if a giants player did that as well. connell, we appreciate. >> he said this is five or six players there was issue for. i said what? david: i thought there was a lot more than that. melissa: it is interesting. wildfires continue to blaze with thousands of fight -- firefighters continuing to try to put the blazes out. jason chafe fetes -- chaffetz is here after the break. >> the american people want to know why he was fired. >> it is important to understand what role you had in this process, including conversations with the president.

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>> a few weeks before this happened he was testifying on before the congress, ayatollah khomeni my -- mr. comey was, he said he would do the right things and do it again. that is the basis that called for a fresh start at the fbi. melissa: so another spot stealing heat on capitol hill, attorney general jeff sessions facing tough questions about jim comey. this was in front of the senate judiciary committee today, defending president trump's firing of former fbi director comey. that was interesting back and forth. the president said he fired james comey because of what you said. later he told interviewer that wasn't the case. he was always going to fire him. jeff sessions cut through the

nonsense, look he usurped the power, i have never seen, he usurped power of the department of justice by fbi making announcement they believe there is no reason to go forward and they're not going forward. what did you think of that exchange? >> i thought it was good. candid, feedback from the attorney general. it still begs the question, where are the democrats going on this one? i thought it was going to be the most universally accepted move by donald trump. i didn't think there was a single person in the united states senate would vote to reconfirm director comey. but the definitive word on this, is actually i think going to come from the inspector general. nobody is talking about this because there is no leaks there but michael horowitz, with 450 employees as inspector general at the department of justice will look at everything from the tarmac meeting that bill clinton had with attorney general lynch

all the way through the firing of jim comey. that will be out in 2018. >> wow. we also learned this week that james comey was writing a memo back in may. there are drafts we now see, he was writing a memo to exonerate hillary clinton long before he actually went and interviewed her. then under oath he said that repeatedly, you know, that he did not make the decision until after the interview, because he needed to hear what she had to say. and we're finding out in writing that what he said under oath was not accurate. what are the repercussions for something like that? >> well, remember, it is not until the july 4th weekend that the fbi actually interviews the subject of this investigation, hillary clinton herself. but it was may 2nd, a full two months prior that the initial draft of this

exoneration comes out. it is unclassified document but the department of justice is redacting this. we really need to see what the underlying document says in its totality. there were still foul 24 people yet to interviewed when the initial draft was written. that makes absolutely no sense. melissa: my question, seems like there is the possibility that there is written proof that james comey lied before congress. >> yeah. melissa: seems like it. >> yeah. melissa: we have to see the whole thing like you said. what is the repercussions? is there a penalty? >> john radcliffe a former u.s. attorney was questioning director comey in the house judiciary committee and asked him very directly and very specifically because not only was hillary clinton in that room, but so were some other people. you had cheryl mills for instance, who had immunity. she was a subject witness. she was a fact witness. she was acting as attorney and

allowed to sit in on the meeting. even director comey was testified in that hearing had he ever, ever seen that. which begs the question you already had your decision, made, didn't you, director? he swore that he didn't under oath but there are going to be very big consequences, there should be if it is proven he was drafting this document months before he interviewed the subject of the investigation. melissa: if it is true there should be. we'll see. jason chaffetz thank you so much. david: we have corporate earning news right now. ebay shares are down about 5% after-hours, following release of its third quarter results. revenue exceeding analyst expectations with earnings in line but e-commerce giant is reporting weak guidance going forward in the fourth quarter. melissa: garmin and amazon teaming up. the two tech companies producing garmin speak with amazon alexa. uh-oh. jack of all trades device that lets you stream music,

playlistses, place orders for home delivery and control certain household functions like lights, locking doors, while sitting in your car. that is a recipe for disaster. of course the device can give you great directions using garmin gps. that is either a huge home run or -- what happens if you're giving alexa, you're telling it to do something at your home someone pulls out you scream? david: i rather have you talking to a device than seeing somebody do this. melissa: that's true. david: the missing hero has been found, the secure guard at the las vegas attack making an appearance after reports he disappeared. melissa: pushing forward tax reform. why a former lawmaker says republican leaders are far too timid selling the tax plan. former new hampshire senator judd gregg coming up. >> let's give our country the best christmas present of all.

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david: great news if you you had any stocks, making first close above 23,000. it had a lot to do with ibm. this marks third strayed record

close for do you, s&p, nasdaq. it was across the board, melissa. melissa: republican leaders pressing forward on crucial vote to pass a budget plan a resolution that is necessary paving the way for tax reform. our own adam shapiro is live in d.c. with the latest. where does this stand? reporter: where we stand right now is a very long evening starting tomorrow. on thursday we're expecting the senate to finally move towards the 2018 budget resolution. there will be votes on amendments. that has been going on today, debates over those issues, as well as voting on amendments to the resolution but sometime around midnight, into the wee hours of friday, we expect what they call a vote oram with passage of 2018 budget resolution. rand paul says he will vote against it and john mccain will vote for the resolution, which is first test of process

for tax reform. >> we'll do something called vote orama tomorrow. it is an interesting process, with a bunch of votes that don't mean anything. it is like going to good theater. the only thing that matters is final vote on the budget. that is something every single person in the chamber should support and we need to move on to tax reform. reporter: the budget is important because it outlines reconciliation process which the republicans in the senate hope to pass tax reform with simple majority. in addition there is talk about the lamar alexander and patty murray health care bill seems to have stalled because especially president trump is against it, but speaker paul ryan of the house said this about the proposal that would save obamacare and insurance subsidies for two years. the spoker quote, that doesn't

see anything should change the view on keeping the keep its focus on repeal and replace of obamacare. finally chuck schumer, earlier today, attacked president trump on what first appeared support for the lamar alexander and patty murray bill and then his condemnation of that bill. here is senator schumer. >> he is totally inconsistent. for it one day, consistent the next. you can not govern, mr. president, you can not govern a country, you can not keep america great if you don't know what is in the bills and don't have a consistent policy about them. but he keeps zigging and zagging. our only hope maybe tomorrow he will be for this again. reporter: bottom line we expect voter-rama tonight early morning. back to you. melissa: chuck's best friend,

nancy, says you have to vote to pass the bill before we know what is in it right? david: chuck's best friend is a camera, microphone. melissa: you're right. david: focus on taxes for a minute. one former lawmaker thinks republicans are too timid selling tax reform writing in "the hill," time to develop bright lines, between tax laws, arcane, excessively complex, job killing on one hand and a tax structure that actually does sim islify the law and makes it fairer and greatly enincident -- incentivizes on the other. white house and republican congress need to stop being so darn tentative about tax reform and lowering rates. we have former judd gregg of new hampshire. great piece, governor. there is watering down of the tax proposal since initiated back in april, mr. mnuchin came out with the idea. doesn't that seem like it to you

as well? >> certainly on personal side that is absolutely true. i think the corporate side remains a strong piece of legislation, getting corporate rates down to 20% will have huge, positive impact on america and on creating jobs here and keeping jobs here and bringing jobs in from oversees. move to territorial system is important. the three major that occurred in my political career, reagan rostenkowski. two, was widen coates, top rate was 26% and simpson bowls where top rate was 25%. they all retained progressivity. david: senator, we actually have a full screen. we can put that up and show it. the reagan top rate was 28%. that was '86. then simpson-bowles which was a bipartisan proposal. mr. bowles is a democrat. their top rate was 25%. so 39% rate, virtually unchanged

the top rate according to trump, right? >> which is a huge mistake in my opinion because what you're going to get are people continuing in the top brackets to invest to avoid taxes. not efficiently use capital. the reason you want to get the top tax rate down to something reasonable, without losing progressivity, in other words, 85% of the income taxes are paid by top 20% of the income people, you can maintain that. reagan rostenkowski did it, simpson-bowles did it, getting rates down reducing deductions exemptions. if you maintain high rates they will invest poorly. people invest to get a return rather than to avoid taxes and get -- david: we want growth, make it simple, we want growth. frankly that has to be the key, seems to be replaced by this slavish attraction towards

progressivity. there is question of deduction. >> you can get progressivity. david: let's get to deductions there. is fight whether you can deduct state and local taxes. you have a much better suggestion how to deal with deductions? >> very foolish to get into deduction fights even though i disagree with the salt deduction, new hampshire which is low taxed state, ends up taxes high profligate, high taxed states like new york and california. david: as percentage of income. that seems to cut through all the arguments, right? >> means everybody is in the boat together. also you can scale it. so if the higher income, the less percent of deductions you get. you can choose your deductions, charitable, state and local or real estate taxes. nobody can claim they're being treated unfairly. because their deductions is unfairly impacted. and it works. david: sounds good to me. judd gregg, thank you for being here. i hope you're advising folks inside the beltway.

melissa: breaking news right now. ceo of american express, kenneth chenault is is hing down after 16 years on the job. he will be succeeded by long-time executive stephen sqery. david: devastation in wine country. some wildfire evacuees making their way home, returning to piles of rubble an debris, nothing more. live report from northern california next. two boyfriends, three jobs... you're like nothing can replace brad. then liberty mutual calls... and you break into your happy dance. if you sign up for better car replacement™, we'll pay for a car that's a model year newer with 15,000 fewer miles than your old one. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ can i kick it? ♪ yes you can

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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. melissa: authorities in california say light rain may help wildfires burning for 10 days now throughout northern part of the state. the fires have killed at least 42 people and burned over 245,000-acres. here with the latest from santa rosa, california is fox business's hillary vaughn. hillary? reporter: melissa, when you think about the 10-day stretch, and consider that 20,000 people

are still stranded unable to get back into their homes, it gives you idea what fema and first-responders are dealing with in order to get these people back on their feet, and this community running again. off this road, every neighborhood is blocked by military humvees being guarded, not letting people into their homes. right now a lot of these homes down in this area are safe for now, but the fire burning on the back of this mountain ridge behind me, is slowly making its way through and threatening still at least 21,000 homes and businesses in this area. when it comes to destruction, santa rosa, where we are here, has suffered brunt of the damage. for thousands of families there is no home to return to. president trump taking time today to remind those left behind that they are not alone, tweeting, our hearts are with all affected by the wildfires. our brave first-responders and fema team we support you.

the two big challenges they're facing is finding temporary housing for those 20,000 people and also debris removal but, melissa, they can't start removing the debris until the evacuation orders are lifted and a lot of those are still in place today. melissa: what a tragedy. hillary, thank you for that report. david: a hit piece on the trump administration. john stossel is here. he is exposing the latest smear campaign from the mainstream media. he joins us in studio with a true story you don't want to miss. if you're on medicare, remember,

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cnn recently released a report that the trump administration colluded with a mining company to come in and destroy one of alaska's most reserve ecosystem. >> epa staffers were shocked to receive email he received exclusively cnn. we were directed to withdraw those restrictions. of the protections of the pristine area was being removed. david: fox business network john stossel has evidence that tell as very different story, joining me to explain, john stossel is. great to see you, john. we had a black and white situation set up by anderson cooper on his show, two-part series. you have this beautiful, pristine lakes with salmon running wild and then of course the evil, dirty mining company. it is not quite that simple, right? >> well, i would have believed it, that this mining company was going to kill all these beautiful salmon on bristol bay,

but, i happen to have reported on this before so i knew a little bit about the bay. first of all, the proposed mine is 100 miles away. cnn never mentioned that. david: nowhere near the salmon fishermen? >> that's right. david: okay. >> secondly, all that pruitt did, had a quick meeting -- david: scott pruitt. ahead of epa. >> was undoing something amazing obama epa had done. you want to build a mine, submit environmental impact statement. they kill it, approve it, change it. david: they set it up like it was collusion between the scott pruitt between the mining company. >> collusion happened earlier because the obama epa colluded with the nrdc, reach environmental groups, that is one of them, they don't want any mines anywhere. don't believe that, see my interview with the guy who i say, are there any you would approve? we'll get back to you. they never did. david: so you're suggesting that the collusion, the real collusion, if any took place here was between the epa under

the obama administration, and the environmental groups but some people would say, well, don't you want environmental groups to be guiding the epa? >> you want them to have some input but in this case, house committee on oversight, said their employees had inappropriate contact with outside groups. and secret meetings and they failed to conduct them impartial review. the main thing is, that they didn't even let the guy submit a proposal. now all pruitt is saying, let him submit a proposal. and he spins this like, they're going to kill all these fish. david: the fish are nowhere near the mine is anyway. this is gold mine by the way being proposed. >> and a copper mine. we need copper for solar panels and all the stuff they like. david: this whole idea that you can have environmental protest, and industry in the sail world. >> today's mines are not the mines of old. they're pretty clean. david: john stossel, great to see you, my friend. thank you for the work. melissa. melissa: the first person to

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>> melissa: breaking his silence , the security guard at the center of the las vegas attack showing up on the ellen did show describing how he was called to check on an open door near the shooter's suite and how he was struck by gunfire moments before stephen paddock began firing on the crowd down below. >> i felt a burning sensation, i went to go lift my pantleg up and i saw the blood and that's when i called it in on my radio that shots have been fired. i'm doing better each day. slowly but surely, just feeling physically and mentally. >> david: jesus campos skipped

out on interviews last week before vanishing for several days and you have to wonder if it was in best interest of the country that cared so much about that story for him to kind of skip out on everything except ellen. >> melissa: i still have a lot more questions here is risk risk & rewards starts now. >> president trump: this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. this is something that will be really unique, the timing is right. i have had people on both sides, a lot of people are liking this very much. not only will these be massive tax cuts but these will be a big simplification. we're going to restore america's competitive edge, rebuild america's middle class, and renew the promise of the american dream with such an important weapon to get our country really moving. >> liz: the dow is above the 23,000 mark for the first time in a historic day that is its 51st record close for the year, and as the full court press