conservative. this is the most hated rally in history. sentiment is not accepted. [closing bell rings] powell taking cue from yellen, policy we think will remain dovish. liz: happy thanksgiving, phil orlando, good friend of this network. markets are closing higher today. david: thanksgiving week pop starting out the shortened holiday week. hi, everybody, i'm david asman. melissa: i'm melissa francis. this is "after the bell." we have more on the big market movers. here is what is we're covering this very busy hour. the white house wrapping up the last press briefing before thanksgiving. sarah huckabee sanders hit with a barrage of questions what kellyanne conway said in regard to roy moore on sunday. this as another woman is speaking out against al franken accusing him of sexual misconduct while he was in

office. president meeting meeting with y of state rex tillerson and after announcing plans to put north korea on the terror list. what that means and why the white house says this is critical move. david: getting back to stocks climbing today. they were driven by shares of cisco, verizon and home depot. nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. i want to start with janet yellen's resignation. happened 2:00 p.m. eastern time. no movement in the market there was a time anything that the fed said, particularly janet yellen said over the past seven years would move the market. seems like that power is gone completely. >> very interesting that you say that. i guess the expectation she would be stepping down shortly as fed chair. we know we have a new fed chair powell in line to take over that was a little bit of unexpected news but truth of the matter is, you're absolutely right, we've been higher throughout the day. the dow finishing up 72 points. not really reacting to fed news

at this time. we had thin volume. it's a holiday week. everybody is still very keen on tax reform. we have the big news of department of justice now looking at this deal between at&t and also time warner, and the question is, now, whether or not they will be stepping in here and filing a lawsuit to block this big deal. at&t is up about .3%. time warner sells off 1%. very volatile. we saw at&t jump up. about 25 cents. time warner jump ad buck a. volatile for all the media stocks. there has been a lot of talk and interest in parts of fox, twenty-first century fox, parent of the fox business network, which fox said very clearly no comment at this time. we know there has been interest reported. you can see some other movers here. disney sold off. fox dropped a little bit as well. big picture, the shortened week. watching for any news out of washington as well. but you're right, janet yellen i

guess we'll expect the fed to continue gradual hikes in december and in the new year. we'll see. david: thank you. when the business of america is stronger than the fed. nicole, thank you very much. melissa. melissa: yellen preparing to step down but you can go ahead and prepare yourself for more winning next year. 2018 will be another strong year for the global economy, that is according to an analyst at goldman sachs. let's bring in today's panel. scott martin, kingsview asset management and fox news contributor and liz peek from the "fiscal times." thanks so both of you for joining us. liz, they said 2017 shaping up first year of expansion where growth surprises to the upside. what do you think? >> high time, too. eight years, every single year the second half came in below expectations. finally we have sentiment and the economy moving in the right direction. by the way, not just goldman sachs seeing good numbers. the industrial production index scored a big gain in october.

leading indicators are up strongly in the last month which is good precursor for the next 12 to 18 months. all signals are green right now, including by the way, this indom minutable stock market, which gives people good feel of increased wealth. it is good for holiday spending. it isn't surprising. melissa: scott says, scott, they say, you probably agree the global economy will grow at 4% for next year for bunch of different reasons. do you think it will be that robust? >> i do agree. i think knows numbers are in the cards, melissa. what is funny, things liz was saying, these are almost times i run in the other direction. when you look back in history the last few years the economy was supposed to be stinky, market not so good? what happened? the economy has been great and market pretty good. you have to.

so i think you have to kind of take a slice of what do we want here here? do you want really good economy and really good market yes? does that typically happen? i take this with a grain of salt. looks so obvious, sports fans, usually isn't. i pack a little bit of patience at the door. melissa: you're not the first person to say that that is smart. david? david: growing concerns over the senate tax plan. >> when this comes to the floor of the senate and debate for a vote, david. let's take a look. we have a baseball card who is on the fence. ron johnson, who originally said no. he is walking back his no a little bit. we're told from sources on the hill, they expect him to become a yes. john mccain also said that he would not be stopped by the repeal of the individual mandate. could still possibly vote for this. bob corker, debt hawk. lisa murkowski expressed

concerns over the repeal of the individual mandate. she is going to get drilling in anwar. she is expected to be a yes. then of course you have got sues can collins, and -- susan collins and jeff flake. let's talk about susan collins. >> i think the reduction in the business tax rate is too steep. we could go to 22%, and then use that money, which is about $200 billion, to restore the tax deduction for state and local property taxes. reporter: david, the wheeling and dealing even though they're not here right now, the wheeling and dealing is underway as they write the legislation they will debate on. mick mulvaney over the weekend actually said that the administration would be open to

giving up repeal of obamacare individual mandate if it meant passage of tax reform. here is what he said. >> if we can repeal part of obamacare as part of a tax bill and have a tax bill, a good tax bill that can pass. that is great. if it becomes impediment to getting the best tax bill we can, we're okay with taking it out. reporter: so david, when we talk about the wheeling, dealing underway, like a used car lot. this will be a much different bill after the senate votes on it and the house then comes into conference committee. the question i guess, if we're going to use the car lot analogy, are you getting a cadillacs or pinto. david: is not negotiable, but would a 22% rate kill you?

>> it wouldn't kill me. there is legitimate issue in this bill, that it favors corporations at the expense of individuals. i think you've seen that manifest itself a lot of different ways. actually oddly, susan collins was talking about the "salt," the state and local tax deduction being what she was not in favor of because most people would i think she would be concerned about the obamacare repeal. but i think if there is a little bit of juggling here, a little more for an individual, a little bit less for the corporate tax rate, 22% is still a pretty good competitive rate. that would not kill me. david: scott, more than the rate, a lot of people are concerned about the timing of it. the senate plan delays it for a full year. art laffer, on this show, said that if you do that, you risk a recession, because all of these businesses will put off business decisions until the rate comes down. >> david, we have all learned the fancy things that happen within a year. any given year in today's environment, my goodness, that could change everything.

david: sure. >> art laffer has a good point. something that liz said bothers me a little bit, david, if you treat businesses better in this country, because they have been treat sod poorly with last eight to 12 years, with respect to taxes and regulation that will help the individual, small businessman and woman with respect to spending and wage growth. david: i don't think liz would disagree you on that? >> i clearly don't. i'm sort of in ron john son camp, all businesses should be treated more fairly. that is what all businesses would like to see, including individuals. david: finish your point. >> we start with repeal bringing down the tax rates, whether it is 20 or 22, liz is right, it is this and that. reality it has to be cut. it can't be cut at end of 2018. it has to be cut in january. david: it started with deregulation policies. that is why the market went up 5000 points since the election. we need something to keep this

rally going. scott, liz, thank you very much. appreciate it. melissa: roy moore continues to fight despite more calls from republicans to step down of the at least one congressman saying there is a strong possibility a new gop candidate can win alabama, but with just three weeks to go, how likely is that scenario? david: then there is al franken. yet another woman speaking out against him. the first woman accusing him of sexual misconduct while he has been in office. melissa: north korea back on terror list. what that means. why the president said this is a critical move. >> the president's position is this. the north korean regime must be lawful. it must end its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile development and cease all support for international terrorism. ♪ [lance] monica, it is absolute chaos out here!

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david: thanksgiving week the white house not taking a full week off. sara sanders with an eventful briefing. she had important news and she had a visitor there, blake. reporter: news of the day was north korea. the president announcing that his full cabinet by his said he would designate the rogue nation on the state sponsor of terror. taken off in 2008. coming off his trip to the indo-pacific region, that north korea is going back on the list to open up additional sanctions. the treasury department will announce a quote, very large sanction as he put it. you mentioned the guest visitor, that was secretary of state rex tillerson who joined us in the briefing room a little while ago. the secretary of state conceded that the new designation for the

north some ways is symbolic disignition that north korea for many months and many years has been hit with a steady stream of sanctions. here was tillerson a while ago. >> i don't want to tell you that the designation will put a whole new layer of sanctions on them. we already have north korea so heavily sanctioned in some ways with the u.n. resolutions that have been undertaken but this will close a few additional loopholes off. reporter: so as we wait for that very large sing shun from the treasury department tomorrow, some big news from the federal reserve as janet yellen earlier today, sent her letter of resignation here to president trump at the white house. yellen, the fed chair at least for the moment, saying she will resign from the fed board of governors once jay powell is sworn to in to take her post. yellen said the follow, as i'm prepared to leave the board i'm gratified that the financial

system is much better than a deck cading a, much able to with stand future bouts of instability and and and continuesupporting the economic aspirations of american families and businesses there. were comments about what kellyanne conway speaking on fox news, speaking alabama senate race that doug jones is for higher taxes and not for the tax reform bill and suggested in a way that alabama republicans should vote for roy moore. the white house has not really gone that far just yet. conway was pressed about whether or not the white house position has changed and sarah sanders tried to clarify it a bit, at this point the position is, what happens in alabama is to up the voters of alabama. in a concerns david, sarah sanders walked back those comments from kellyanne conway. david: blake, thank you very much. melissa has more on this. melissa: here is hadley heath

manning independent women forum senior policy analyst and brad blakeman, former senior staffer under george w. bush. brad, how do you read into that back and forth? >> i think again it is up to the voters of alabama to decide who the representation is going to be but i will tell you this, the days in washington he may be a bum but he is our bum are over. i'm glad that my party is standing on principle, not accepting judge moore on a national level. it is really up to the people to make their own decision. melissa: hadley, what does that really mean? when sarah sanders was pressed a whole bunch of times, she said the president has said, you know, it is up to alabama. he didn't go down there to campaign and support him. if he is elected, then what? >> that is the question. i believe the white house is making a wise political move by not being overly involved in the race at this point, leaving it to voters. let's face it, voters have to decide whom to believe in the

world of politics all the time. that is certainly going to be the case with the race in alabama. if accusations are true, certainly judge moore doesn't belong in the u.s. senate that will be left to the stakeholders, decisionmakers, first voters, our other elected representatives. melissa: meanwhile, brad, tim scott from south carolina has another idea. listen to this. >> the allegations are stronger than the denial and roy moore should find something else to do, which is my way of suggesting that he should not be in the race. >> so you think he should step down at this point? >> i certainly think there is a strong possibility with a new candidate and new republican candidate, a proven conservative, that we can win that race in alabama. melissa: brad, has that shipped sailed? >> that ship is long gone. the senator didn't tell us who that person would be in less than three weeks to step up and be able to be competitive. there really is nobody else, other than senator sessions who is now our attorney general to come back.

even he, i don't think would be able to pull it off. it would be herculean effort on part of sessions. should he do it? he is not interested. i think for him to pull out would be wrong. it is up to the people of alabama to have the choice. melissa: hadley, i almost think his personal brand, roy moore's personal brand is throw the bastards out. d.c. is terrible. i'm outside. everybody hates me. almost seems like if ire e either the president or mitch mcconnell stood up and said get out of the race right now that would help him at this point? >> exactly right. he has a trumpian style about i am. of course he was an outsider, that is why people supported him over more establishment luther strange candidate in the primary. people are fed up with what they perceive to be lack of integrity to public officials yet this challenge comes to his integrity as individual and person that will be conflict. melissa: brad, how ironic is that.

she really summed it up. they're fed up with integrity in washington and they're backing someone whose integrity is? >> that speaks volumes about our state for both republicans and democrats. melissa: we'll leave it there. kind of depressing. david? david: absent as you might have noticed from the press pool at today's white house briefing was this guy, "new york times" correspondent glenn thrush, formerly of "politico." the paper suspended him following a report from vox, chronicling multiple allegations of unwanted sexual advances and kissing groping. thrush issued an apology and blamed alcoholism for his misconduct. he will soon begin treatment, and has been sober since june when the last incident took place. i was reading some of his old columns, when the "access hollywood" tape came out about trump and everything, he was among the forefront condemning those with any bad sexual

behavior. melissa: interesting. your money paying their settlements. how lawmakers accused of sexual harrassment are protected under the law. plus a border patrol agent brutalry killed in the line of duty, renewing calls for one of president trump's biggest campaign promises. next, former sheriff paul babeu sounds off on the president's demand for justice. >> drugs pouring through the border. people are seeing it. you know what? we're going to build the wall and we're going to stop it! going to end. ♪

>> we lost a border patrol officer just yesterday and another one was brutally beaten and badly, badly hurt. looks like he will make it, but very, very badly hurt. and, we talk about the wall. we're going to have the wall. it is part of what we're doing.

we need it. that is rough territory. david: president trump earlier today referring to 36-year-old, rogelio martinez, he was attacked and killed while on patrol in culberson county, texas, that makes 39 customs and border patrol agents that died in the line of duty in the last 14 years. so what needs to be done? we have former pinal county sheriff paul babeu. >> good to see you, david. david: as awful as the death was, it gets even worse. it looks like he was stoned to death, literally stoned to death, agent martinez was. it was just recently that agents were getting an earful about using quote, unreasonable force against these illegal immigrants, stoning them. now seems that this guy was actually stoned to death. i'm wondering, if all this shouting about unreasonable force led to the death of agent

martinez? >> law enforcement around the country are put under the microscope and they be a describe superhero traits to those of us who wore the uniform. we see in this case here, yes, in fact not only agent martinez, he was brutally, grew some, beaten to death with rocks in the head -- gruesome. and agent responding in the area was badly injured. brutally beaten, taken to the hospital. this is outrageous. we've seen under kurlokowski, who used to be the lead under obama, he would go after the border patrol agents and prosecuting them and. david: right. >> putting this all on the agents like, don't respond to these rock-throwers. david: sheriff, we've seen this all around the country. the restrain, that police now exhibit, that could in fact, cost them their lives. and i'm wondering if that

restraint was a part of the reason that agent martinez was killed? >> very well can be and could be, and the investigation will have to bear that out but i can tell you that cops all across the country have paused before taking taking action, not only because it's a litigious society, but the fact law enforcement will be branded and we shouldn't use this amount of force. david: right. >> a rock in this case can kill somebody very easily. david: can be deadly force, no question about it. >> terrible. david: we mentioned the number of deaths, since president trump took office, there has been dramatic increase in the assaults against border patrol agents 67% increase since the president was elected. >> yes. david: is this the consequence of tightening the border? >> it is. and i can tell you, you not only mentioned 67%, rapid increase, this off the charts, but at same

time, terrific, almost 80% decrease in illegal entries across the border. so how can these numbers be so inverse? because they're far more desperate. a lost criminal elements who continue -- a lot of criminal elements come across the unsecured border, we do not have a wall. most of the border is unsecured. does not have the barriers. we do not have the manpower to fight back and secure that border. so this is ever more dangerous as evidenced in this brutal murder of this hero, agent martinez. our hearts go out to not only him but his family and to the other agent who sun known at this time. david: absolutely. >> and main he recover. david: very quickly, sheriff, they're giving me a wrap but i have to ask, the president says now more than ever we need a wall. this death is a sign of that. are the agents on the ground, you worked with these guys, very closely with these guys, do they believe that a wall could prevent these assaults and even deaths? >> yes, many of them.

this is where, they can visually see the agents in multiples and run back across the bored. this congress needs to support president trump, largely elected because of this issue. they need to do their job fund fund border construction immediately. david: former sheriff paul babeu. great to see you. >> thank you, david. melissa: breaking news, at&t, time warner announcing a press conference at 5:30 p.m. tonight following a report that the justice department is filing a lawsuit against the proposed deal. charlie gasparino will be joining us soon with more details on this one. david: meanwhile, things are kind of up in the air on tax reform. there was good news on friday. so of it so news over the weekend. dan henninger is coming after the break to discuss it all. melissa: this is the latest

action that the white house is taking to put north korea on knots. >> they kidnapped otto. they tortured him. they intentionally injured him. they are not victims. they're terrorists. we owe it to the world to list north korea as a state sponsor of terror. how'd that go? he kept spelling my name with an 'i' but it's bryan with a 'y.' yeah, since birth. that drives me crazy. yes. it's on all your email. yes. they should know this? yeah. the guy was my brother-in-law. that's ridiculous. well, i happen to know some people. do they listen? what? they're amazing listeners. nice. guidance from professionals who take their time to get to know you. type 2 diabetes.here to test people's knowledge about so you have type 2 diabetes? yes i do. true or false... type 2 diabetes more than doubles your chance of dying from a cardiovascular event, like a heart attack or a stroke. that can't be true, can it?

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melissa: a rush to secure. republican lawmakers pushing to deliver tax reform by the end of

the year but senate's version of the tax bill is still facing resistance from some gop senators. so can the party get it done? that is the question we're putting to dan henninger, "wall street journal" editorial page deputy editor and a fox news contributor. the numbers change every day. with all these guys it is like horse-trading. they say no but hear in the no little thing they want in order to get to yes. what is your bet? >> my bet is they get it done, melissa. i can't imagine, at least any of these senators on the list, being in question, are going to be the vote to kill tax reform this year. the first big tax reform since 1986. i think ron johnson has some legitimate beefs about the pass-through rate. they will probably work that out through him. susan collins complaints about -- melissa: everything. >> everything. maybe no sense. the idea that they're going to raise the corporate rate to 20% so that they can maintain the state and local deductions, that

is not going to happen. those two are virtually set in concrete. as for senator corker and flake, senator corker did a deal back in september with senator pat toomey to create $1.5 trillion of space for this tax cut. and while the deficit concerns are real enough, those deficit concerns would never be addressed unless we get stronger growth in the economy which indeed will produce more tax revenue. melissa: right. >> so i think ultimately all of these senators are going to come around. melissa: well, i don't know, what about john mccain? he really likes to say no at this point? >> john mccain is a wild card. he is very unpredictable. i suppose they can afford to lose just one senator like john mccain. let's assume you have 46, 45 committed to voting for the bill. mccain, you just don't know. i think part of that, with the health care veto that he essentially executed over the health care reform bill, was personal with president trump.

now you could say with senators flake and corker as well. but you have to ask, melissa, why do these people come to washington? they come to washington to do big things. this tax bill is very big. i do not see any of those senators standing in the way of it. melissa: at the same time, susan collins, might as well be a democrat. feels like it every time she talks about anything. >> yes. melissa: when she said, she thought the business tax cut was too large, that is like going after the one line in the sand that the president has really drawn. so to me saying something like that is like saying well, i'm just not going to give you anything you can work with. i'm not getting on board. here is a million reasons why. most of them i'm sure you can't fix. >> senator collins set herself up as maverick. every time we have big piece of legislation, who trundles for the but senator susan collins of maine with some sort of objections. her objections to this tax bill really do not make any sense. they will talk to her about

those. again they can afford to lose two votes. if she, they do all the counting, headcounting. if they have to lose senator mccain and come lines to get to 50 have vice president mike pence break the tie, they will do that it could be a cliffhanger. i'm really hard-put to see that allowing a republican achievement like this go over the falls close to christmastime. melissa: close to christmas. dan, thank you. we always appreciate it. david: coming up a looming investigation, new allegations against democratic senator al franken. this time, while he was in office. should he be booted out of the senate because of it? gregg jarrett, fox news legal analyst sounding off next. ♪

melissa: breaking news, at&t and time warner are getting ready to hold a news conference with news that the justice department is filing a lawsuit against the

proposed merger. charlie gasparino has been all over the story and he joins us now. charlie? >> yeah, it looks like one of the biggest -- listen, you know a lot of bankers. i know a lot of bankers. right now a lot of bankers are on the phones saying what the f just went down. if you do not allow the doj, the antitrust division, does not allow an at&t-time warner deal, which is vertically integrated, meaning you don't necessarily have divisions when you merge them, competing with each other, not necessarily an antitrust concern, if you don't allow that, then how does mr. murdoch sell his assets to disney, including a studio which, you know, which there is, a studio which then controls, disney would control, if they buy our studios, a big chunk of the box office? how would comcast buy any of our stuff? how would any media deal occur in this environment if this deal can't go through?

now we have to hear exactly what the justice department's rationale is for it. as i've been reporting the rationale is very simple. they take a different view of antitrust. forget about verticals. who are respond call means you're combining various units that may compete with each other, prices can be raised that is not generally allowed by the justice department antitrust division. if you have any significant distribution, guess what? we may not allow to you offer content, because you can squeeze people on the distributor side. that is where we are right now. so that will be one story. the other story is obviously the political story. as we reported earlier in the year, donald trump and his senior advisors one thing they all agreed on, one thing you have reince priebus, the steve bannon, jared kushner and president himself all agreed on, they hated this deal. they did not like cnn being in a more powerful position being merged with at&t, which is

massive distribution, because of cnn's, what they believe cnn es animus to president trump. they all were talking about a off back in january. we were first to report it. -- spin-off. it looks like the justice department is putting its flag in the ground and they're saying enough. here is where we're going with this i'll tell you if at&t goes to court, i still have my doubts they will, because that is a long, drawn-out fight. they say they're confident they are going to win. sounds good, lawsuit sounds good on paper but you know, melissa, you are taking on the government. never an easy thing. the government will have a side here. melissa: no. >> right now there are two things going on. there is political story you will read, that donald trump is taking it out on at&t, time warner, demanding spin-off of some of their assets just to hurt cnn because he hates them. the other thing is the business story. if you can't do this deal, if this deal represents and anti-competitive issue, well then, what deals can you do. melissa: yeah. >> that throws a monkey wretch

in our deal-making. it has to. i know, for example, our bankers, were representing 21st century fox, executives at disney and comcast, reporting earlier watch what happened on this deal to determine what they should do, how they should proceed. doesn't mean they won't roll the dice any way, that at&t will win and be precedent setting, but something everybody is talking about. by the way a lot of banker phone calls. i'm sure san pietro, that is banker dinner spot. a couple of hours. melissa: charlie, right. thank you, good stuff. david? >> another franken accuser, a second woman has now come forward alleging democrat senator al franken groped her while taking a picture with him after he actually had been elected to the senate. is the case mounting to remove him from the senate? to fox news legal analyst gregg jarrett. gregg, you have two pictures, one at least, two pictures and two accusations. >> right. david: the first picture where

he literally got his hand on the woman's breast, the sleeping woman, to me that looks like molestation. that would be easy thing to charge. >> it is. under federal law that picture is incriminating evidence of what is known as abusive sexual conduct, touching a woman on her private parts without consent, and law says, being asleep presumes that she is not consenting. david: it is against the law, one would think it would be definitely unbefitting of the member of u.s. senate? >> absolutely. it is, it is rich reason why the ethics committee should investigate al franken. now the statute of limitations may have run on that particular photograph but now there is a new accusations, that he did essentially the same thing. touching a woman in her private areas over her clothing without her consent. again, it's a violation of federal law, but there is no photograph of it. so it's a he said/she said on

the second ahcaization. david: here is the problem right now kicking him out of senate. the senate process, as we know the ethics committee is toothless beast. you can be convicted of something through the ethics committee and still remain in the senate as happened with bob packwood. >> they voted to expel him and he resigned. david: let's go over what is involved in the sexual harrassment process. the victim has to wait three months before that victim can file a complaint. >> right. david: they have to submit to 30 days of occurrence selling before anything happens. and then they have to wait another 30 days for mediation, and another 30 days to seek a hearing. if there is a settlement, it is paid for by the taxpayer, not by the member of congress. >> and it is kept secret. david: yeah. >> this was designed by congress to protect themselves and make it as difficult as possible legally for accusers to prevail. this law was signed by president

bill clinton who is accused of being a serial predator himself so there is some irony there. this law needs to be abolished. this needs to be brought into the 21st century where we are sensitive to attentive to accusations sexual assault and harrassment. there needs to be transparency. no more protection for members of congress. we ought to make it easier for people to bring their cases in, not in secret. david: but unless or until that law is changed, it is pretty certain, unless this guy is going to resign, he will remain in office through 2020, and that means, i mean you got these pictures, particularly the first one, which is going to look great in political ads over the next few years. >> this is just the beginning. there are two accusers. will there be more? if there are more, maybe the senate ethics committee will grow a backbone and actually take something beyond

admonition, public admonition or censure and expel al franken from the u.s. senate. david: shell will freeze over. melissa, breaking news. melissa: looking a little like christmas in our nation's capitol. first lady melania trump is accepting the christmas tree on the north lawn. the tree is nearly 20 feet tall. there is barron next to her. a state sponsor of terror. president trump sending a strong message to north korea. why secretary of state tillerson says that the rogue regime is running out of fuel literally. that is coming next. i actually called usaa before we called the police.

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david: breaking news. it is latest eight woman told "washington post," long time tv host, charlie rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lou phone calls, walking around naked and grabbing their breasts or buttocks. they were women employees or aspired to work at the charlie rose show, from the late 1990s, as recently as 12 ven. stay tuned. >> the united states is designating north korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. should have happened a long time ago. should have happened years ago. melissa: president trump saying it is about time u.s. recognize north korea as state sponsor of terror again. rex tillerson telling the white house press corps this afternoon, it has been almost 10 years since president george w. bush took north korea off the list to try to negotiate a nuclear deal. let's bring in former cia

officer mike baker. took them off the list. boy, that worked a like a charm, didn't it? >> yeah. that is the thing. there is a lot of people are surprised thinking wait a minute, isn't north korea already on the short list of state sponsors of terrorism? the answer is yes they were, as you pointed out. then about nine, 10 years ago the bush administration removed them for that very reason in an effort to try to denuclearize the peninsula. just like every other effort we had over the years, they were all ineffective. melissa: yeah. >> we are at this point because all those previous actions were ineffective and north koreans continued this march to perfect their weapons and ballistic missile capabilities. >> as far as being on the list or off the list, what is significant about that, it dictates what type of sanctions they're getting at the time. getting last few shreds we have left to put a nail in the coffin?

>> that is exactly right. some people will argue that, you know, this, given how we ratcheted up the sanctions effort recently, some people will argue, look, this just inflames the situation without you know, realistically adding additional sanctions because we layered on so much. that is a strained logic train. there is no reason not to clamp down severely as possible, in terms of adding as many sanctions as we can, that is what it does. layers on some more ability to do this, particularly financial transactions so there is no reason not to do it. the idea that somehow the trump administration just threw this out there, they have been on this trip through asia. i can guaranty you, as members of the administration have been populating this idea of the state sponsor of terrorism label with the chinese authorities, with japanese authorities, with south korean authorities as they're on this trip. that is how this works. so anybody who is complaining about this, i think frankly they

probably fall in the camp that says anything this administration does, no matter what it relates to is wrong and they're just hoping -- melissa: there is interesting distinction during the press availability today, where rex tillerson said, i call this operation peaceful pressure and president trump calls it maximum pressure but make no mistake, we're talking about the same thing. i mean that is kind of funny they would liable it and see it so differently. what's your take? >> yeah, i call it extreme pressure. melissa: yeah. >> so i have got even a different name for it. it doesn't matter what the labeling is. what really matters whether we are able to, to actually enact the sanctions, right? past sanctions, the problem we have had, the reason we're at this point with north korea and development of weapons and missiles is because, previous sanctions efforts were halfhearted. in particular the russians, klein niece -- chinese were able

to circumvent them. what we've done recently, the reason i think there is some hope here because we have seen some change in the chinese mind-set. there appears to be an understanding with the chinese, to some degree the russians that now is the time. they actually have to come through and follow through with these sanctions. melissa: got to go. >> if they do that this could have the desired impact. melissa: excellent. thank you so much. appreciate your time. >> take care. david: i could listen to mike baker for hours. i love that guy. the lucky few, how do the nation's luckiest turkeys enjoy the thigh life? forgive us. ♪ so you can head into retirement with confidence. brighthouse financial established by metlife.

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melissa: the gravy train to freedom, two turkeys to be pardon the by president trump are enjoying some fancy digs. david: wish bone and truck stick

are -- drumstick are staying at hotel in washington, d.c. that cost between $2,000 to $6,000 a night. melissa: why a hotel? here is "risk & reward." >> breaking news, justice department getting in between a big $85 billion deal, doj to sue to block at&t's proposed ac act acquisition of time warner. a deal that both white house we'd in on with -- wad wade in h trump critical of convention, welcome to "risk & reward. at&t and time warner to hold a pros conference this hour, we'll bring it to you could. but first we have charlie gasparino with the latest. >> there is two stories, a story of financialar