for 90 days, plus get up to an $800 cash bonus when you open and fund a new account. ♪ the amazing amazon the most exciting company in the whole world. yes it is good morning everyone. there are now 100 million prime members 100 million worldwide each pay 99 bucks year. think about this. amazon is under attack. but those 100 million people form a very powerful lobbying group. do they want the company reigned in or broken up? oh, probably not. that 100 million number is clearly helping amazon stock you know we're not heard it before. that stock is going to straight up premarket i believe we're up about 28, 30 dollars per share on amazon.

that is premarket. okay, that's the close yesterday. right there we don't have premarket. okay the story for all stocks continues to be stellar profits. so far companies are are making roughly 20% more than they made in the same periods last year. that's very strong. profits are the bed rock for stock prices the main reason for the market recent surge although the market will open down about 100 points on the dow today. a lot of that extra profit cool from tax cuts. your money look at okay this morning. a warning from president trump he'll meet north korean leader but prepared to walk out if kim jong-un walks away from getting it, no retreat for this president. roll your eyes at this one. senatorren that will senator, democratic will vote no, why? because pompeo he says doesn't give priority to diplomacy.

note to senator blumenthal pomple owe has just returned from a historic diplomatic mission toking arrange a mission with kim jong-un and president trump and perhaps wants to return to good old days retreat and venged or oh sarcasm is low form i couldn't resist. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ >> all right new developments to the southwest airlines engine disaster. liz tell me about inspections. >> yes, southwest has been in a fight with joint venture between ge and french company they made blade and engine parts for this -- for airplanes worldwide. this joint saying southwest, you're proving this is too costly you want to take too long looking at this engine.

now, these types of parts now the faa is saying wait a second it is going to step in and do ultrasonic testing of this engine linked to a disastrous plight and a failure in 2016 from new orleans to florida. so the deadly flight where passenger died they're now checking into the engine for fan blade failure and engine failure. >> could they do sonic tests and what's the name again? >> ultrasonic test on all these engines worldwide? >> well that's the big tall order stuart because this engine is viewed in majority of air single aisle one aisle airport so it is a standard engine so now faa is stepping in saying wait a second there's fatigue in fan blades we have to test -- >> that's a threat. jeff reveals that amazon has 100 million prime members at 99 bucks a pop that's 9.9 billion annually. i call that a money machine

brian brenburg is with us this morning. you know, if you're a prime member, they've got your credit card material all of that jazz. you just roll it over. don't you? you coop on paying you don't even notice it . you don't think about withdrawing from prime. >> you spend a heck of a lot more money if you have prime. let me say i'm less interesting in number than the fact that amazon released it. they've never released this number before. they chose to do so now. the question is why are they doing that? i think the answer is because they're a little bit nervous about what's going on with president trump. so i actually think this is a lil story. look there's no analyst out there who wasn't with close on this number everybody knew it was between 90 and 100 million that's not the surprise. the surprise is that we got the number. i think amazon is feeling pressure here. >> i said at the top of the show 100 million people that's a powerful lobby group. they don't want change. >> they're going to investors saying if you're nervous about

the president just know we have 100 million prime that's a lot of money. don't sell the stock . i think this is interesting that they're doing this right now. >> very interesting and you're right. now what about this? the amazon, the median annual salary is 28,000. okay so half some make less than 28,000 a year. now, facebook the median income is 240,000 a year. [laughter] facebook doesn't run warehouse they don't make as much as engineers in silicon valley i'm not a big fan of talking about this wage disparity and i like when companies create jobs but it is clearly case that you have warehouse workers at amazon and making less compared median on facebook. >> i don't think there's a prayer -- i don't think they're going to be reigned in and i don't think their business model is going to be upset and yowpght to take me on. >> not at the all and they have new partnerships with best buy. i mean, they're moving out in the market doing things that

people like. >> i agree with you. >> they have small businesses on platform. third party salaries you can make the case to reign them in but it won't happen. we'll see thanks very much. more on this look at this futures -- 24 minutes from now. we will open down about about 90 points on the dow industrials. got it. they came in with a positive outlook well that works wonders up 3.5% on it. $61 a share. american express nice climb for the profit margin not the margin and profits there went with up. we're spending more on american express cards. let's see 3% right there. different story proct e and gamble weak sales growth fashion challenges in its gillette shavings business, how about netflix is just announced it is going to spend a billion dollars to produce original content for

europe. holding at 333 down only a buck in premarket trade. now, let's go to that bold statement on north korea from -- president trump. roll tape. >> i think it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful we're not going to go. if the meeting when i'm there is not fruitful i will respectfully leave the meeting and will continue what we're doing or whatever it is that we'll continue. but something will happen. joining us now charles and fox news contradict tore aen ma with a smile. now, you know, president trump he's holding that very hard line. there's no retreat here at all is there? >> no. there really isn't and you know first president in history -- who agree to sit down with leader of north korea it is -- you know, it is a bold move. there's absolutely some risk here. but seen over the past year and before in the campaign is not

afraid of -- it he's not afraid of high stake gamble. >> but it seems to amazing to me that may actually be thinking about getting rid of north e korea nukes that he may actually do this i find this astonishing. >> it is astonishing and i think the president has been clear about this and his advisorring are clear that we have to be careful trust anything that comes out of any of these people's mouths in terms of north korea committing to thinking. and any sort of agreement would have to be -- followed up with serious, serious verifications as -- ronald reagan said trust but very or if i we would have to verify it every step of the way. >> got it democrat senator richard blumenthal says to vote no on mix pompeo as secretary of state. there's the smile. okay let me just proceed for a mommy. here's a statement america needs a top diplomat who values diplomacy and knows how it's

done. mike pompeo record of overconstruction engagement show he's not right for the job. how about it charles? >> let's get this straight we have the first agreeing to sit down with leader of north korea. you have -- mike pompeo already involved in -- it in actually meeting himself with kim jong-un to set up this meeting and you have a democrat complaining that -- he's too -- too inclined towards military and not willing to engage. it's absurd. these people -- people like richard blumenthal opposed to mike pompeo because they hate donald trump. it has nothing to do with mike pompeo and nothing to do with -- trying to actually reach a peaceful agreement in -- in the korean peninsula but everything with politically despising the president. and i think that democrats -- on that committee are going to -- run a very serious risk of looking like absolute fools in a -- amitd all of the serious issues going on right now. by playing politics over a guy

that got through senate easily when he was nominated to cia and under any other circumstances. would -- would glide into the secretary of state job. >> both fired up about with one. thanks very much for joining us. we appreciate it. check this out please just one day after that deadly southwest engine failure. a delta plane forced to make an emergency landing in after one with of its engines caught fire. now, crews put it out -- no injuries. but that did happen. and that would have been frightening if you're onboard. big changes coming in cuba. castro era coming down and steps down as president todays and tell you about the new guy who is taking over and isis may be fading away in syria but a new islamist extremist group wants to concur damascus and imroazed rule against the country. what is this? whatwhack mole in syria and a sa

asking for advice to avoid getting slapped with allegations here at hole. we're coming back immediately with all of that. ♪ with expedia you could book a flight, hotel, car and activity all in one place. ♪

>> well, well look at this price of oil is closing in on $70 a barrel you know what that means gas prices going up. they've already gone up 19 cents gallon in the past month. look like they're going up some more after that. 69 dollars on oil. pier one discontinues its diffed end expects to lose money down nearly 20%. it is a retail or. to cuba, where where the castro era comes to an end who is taking the place former engineering professor he's basically going to take raul castro's place but -- castro is still run aring communist party this is largely symbolic. the communist party is not going to let a private sector elite group come up to challenge it.

so it has a growing youth population who are discontented with lack of economic growth there. so you know, there's a change over. by the way this is happening this changeover, handover to diaz canal is happening on anniversary of the pigs -- >> how cute. so that's what's going on. bottom be line liz is absolutely no change in cuba. period -- that's the way it is, brian business professor no change. >> but devastating young people in cuba who want change or absolutely right but they have to work a little bit harder they're going to get it. >> you chimed in again -- [laughter] >> i was intrigued at this story. facebook want thes to help with conservative groups. to comp with ideas on how to avoid burdensome regulars. here, in america, come on in congressman shawn duffy republican from wisconsin . bit late isn't it? they want the help of conservatives to fix their problem. what do you say? >> stewart are these same conservatives that facebook was

trying to silence? isn't that registered facebook wants voice of conservativetism to take off their platform on the privacy issue? that being aside not being snarky, i think this is a broad american conversation we should have. listen i'm all about americans privacy, and you know when you're forced to go on and sign up for facebook an you have 30 pages of fine precinct that you have to read that gives away every right to every picture and everything you post, and every page you visit, i don't like that. if we're going to ask americans to give up their privacy right it is it should be very clear -- what they're giving up and how that information is going to be used. and so i think that default is privacy if you have to opt out in clear opt out let american have free choice in that mart. >> financial side of this is we don't want to mess up facebook's business model which is truly revolutionary. highly profitable and created an extraordinary company we don't want to mess up up the business model but at the same time we want some protection about

privacy and the trick is beginning to be how do you get both simultaneously don't mess with the business model. don't destroy the company. but give me some privacy. >> but stuart this this is a bif wild west we're at the fore front of what information are americans giving up and how is that thftion used. this is the private sector big brother in a way. and we don't know how it is beginning to impact the society. we've had a greater conversation about what role can facebook have in elections in turning out votes and driving voters they're successful with barack obama but now outraged that some of the information used to elect donald trump so -- again, i think we have to have a full conversation. but full knowledge on what and i don't know what information they have on me and how they use it. how they're a toibl take, you know, our likes an our page visits and how do they put together a profile on stuart varney. you don't know that either and i think we have better insight it would help us figure out how we yes cope a business model that's been successful but also you've

been concerned about the privacy -- and protections to the the american citizens again that's something that we have to find a balance to. >> dew point to see jeff run ares amazon do you want to see him before a house panel to ask questions or google guy and hold them before congress because this is you're with right. this is the wild west. we've got to tame it in some way but it is going to take an awfully long time to do it and we better hear from the principles. >> progressive guy of jeff runs great company. i'm more concerned on google side and how they also are used our information to sell ads to the rest of -- american product talkers. and so yeah i do think as facebook so too should emulge answer questionses and also have broader or conversation about how our information is being used it is one thing stuart if we all know how our information is being what information and we content to it. it is free country you should

have that right but i think that was the big shocker people didn't know how their information was being to use and the power of their information and profit that is being made off of it. and so once you empower americans to say hey, great you can take it facebook. i want to know everything about about me or look i'm a family that wants a little more privacy. that choice -- and on the new platforms of -- profit off of advertising we should take a second look at it. and have a greater american conversation about how we want -- do i want to go to europe model not so sure about that. but it is a starting point of a conversation that should be addressed. >> it is. shawn you're all right. thanks for joining us, sir, good stuff. check that futures market please. we're going to go down on opening bell don't worry about interest rates. the year on the tenure treasury reached 2.9% turned off by that and down 90 points. this may make you mad and made me furious a college professor, california, blasting barbara

bush after she died calling her a racist who raised a war criminal bragging that she can't get fired for her comments because she has tenure wow. more varney after this. hi, i'm bob harper, and i recently had a heart attack. it changed my life. but i'm a survivor. after my heart attack, my doctor prescribed brilinta. it's for people who have been hospitalized for a heart attack. brilinta is taken with a low-dose aspirin. no more than 100 milligrams as it affects how well brilinta works. brilinta helps keep platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. in a clinical study, brilinta worked better than plavix.

brilinta reduced the chance of having another heart attack... ...or dying from one. don't stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor, since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. don't take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. slow heart rhythm has been reported. tell your doctor about bleeding new or unexpected shortness of breath any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. if you recently had a heart attack, ask your doctor if brilinta is right for you. my heart is worth brilinta. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

ythen you turn 40 ande everything goes. tell me about it.

you know, it's made me think, i'm closer to my retirement days than i am my college days. hm. i'm thinking... will i have enough? should i change something? well, you're asking the right questions. i just want to know, am i gonna be okay? i know people who specialize in "am i going to be okay." i like that. you may need glasses though. yeah. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today with td ameritrade. >> you know this is a problem for the stock market the yield

on the tenure treasury 2.9% higher than it has been for a couple of months that's hurting stocks which are down about 90 odd points on the dow industrialses in just about five and a half minutes time. now this a colleges professor -- bashes former first lady barbara bush on the day she died here's the tweet barbara bush was a generous and smart and amazing racist. who along with her husband raised a war criminal. brian brenburg still with with us now, lady went on to brag she can't get fired because she has tenure. >> better read negligence, inproduct conduct those things get you fired even if you're tenured she's overstating her claim here. i don't think she will be necessarily because we're talking about california here. and i'm not confident you're going get the california system doing the right thing. but she should read that contract more closely. >> that is a slam on california. lizzy what did the college, president -- >> president state said she made

comments as a private citizen not as a representative of the safety. also added we share deep concern expressed by others maded by this professor. >> well i'm not going to feet fired up whether she's fired up or not but fired up that anybody in authority would say anything so heinous and reprehensible as that. when anybody passes away. good heavens. >> she's not only one around country and every week we get a story from a professor doing something bone headed don't send your kids there and taxpayers ask questions before you send your money to these states. because i get lumped in with this. i'm a professor too. i should never call you a professor. we're down at the open bell roughly 100 points. okay, down about 99 to be precise and 39 on the nasdaq and take you to wall street after this.

>> all right 30 seconds ago open trading this thursday morning. now let me remind you that yesterday the dow closed at 24,748 almost 24750 bit of a

pull back and open lower this morning jurpgd pressure from rising oil prices rising gas prices, and yes, rising interest rates. not good for this market. let's see how we go in bang it is out 30 we're up, we're running where are we going? down 36, down 44 we're down 47 down 45 not a catastrophic loss in the early going. but then again not all 30 the dow stocks are open at this point. but we're down 39 down 36. that is a very modest loss. how about the s&p do we have the sail story there yes we do. lost about a quarter of one percent at 2700. nasdaq down a bit more. thats sol losses in the technology sector down a half percent on the nasdaq. now let's get to interest rates. 2.91% that is the yield on the tenure treasury and invest tores don't like it when that yield goes up that is a negative for stocks this morning. the price of oil i think that's

another negative. because it implies that inflation is coming we're at 69 a barrel. the higher price of gas that is certainly coming now amazon could that be the stock of the day again well that it look pretty good but not as good as 10 minutes ago up 14 dollars at 1541 they have 100 million prime members. american express now there's a stock for you. that profit that profit there climbing card holders are are spending more on their carries stock is up 5% at that. alcoa looks to the future and like what is it sees raised full year outlooking that's up nearly 3%. but proctor and gamble reported weak sales growth. down 2.8%. who's with me on a day like this -- elizabeth macdonald brian and john leifielding and start with amazon prime that hits 100 million members. john, leifield that is nothing

but good news, right? >> it is very good news i think jeff bezos proved best ceo in the world and i don't think 11 million prime members is such big news we know they were at about that level and much bigger news i think the only negative for amazon right now is the personal animosity between the president and jeff bezos and does that manifest in government intervention. >> now earlier professor was saying that that -- that maybe amazon is releasing this hundred million prime news because they want to counter the hostility from president trump. >> you have to ask a question they've never girch the this number before. one month after bezos was fighting with the president all of a sudden he's very forth coming with this. i think this is pr. [laughter] protection from being broken up or whatever. >> guys don't sell the stock we have great thing going. let me tell you about. 100 million people lobbyists for whatever they go.

let's get to oil. it's above 69 dollars per barrel first time we've seen that in three years the background here is tension in the middle east, of course, that's almost a permanent called a fracking bottleneck we have the oil. we just doapght have infrastructure and 273 national average for gasoline is gone up up nine days in a row and up 19 cents in the past month. john leifield i call that -- the initial signs of inflation. what say you? >> i agree. i think we've seen inflation for some time inflation to me has been a biggest worry in the market in next 18 to 24 month the i think this gets worked the in west texas west texas had same problem with their windmill. wind farm they have a bottleneck when they first start ised building these. they got that fixed and get this fixed as well. >> john i'm sorry brian do you think that at some point oil

prices back away from 70 dollar level. >> tax is too big here and solve infrastructure problems they need people that's one of their biggest constraints when wages rise people go down to get their jobs i'm not concerned about that. j that's not kind of supply and demand on world with basis that's a nasty little problem that we have in america getting oil to market. >> you need sangd, water, people, pipeline and trains that's going it happen if prices are high enough. >> i think oil stocks are going to do good on 60 a barrel. now facebook they're building team design their own semi conductor to make their own chips got that. professor brenburg, obviously, that's bad news and not good news for intel and they need semiconductorses to do that. >> they're going to do what google and apple has done to it make it themselves.

you get rid are of the friction in the relationship and move for the. >> if i put every red cent i own on the table and liz i bet you everything i own that facebook will note make chip in california. would you take the bet? >> no i would not because you're right. they would make them overseas and not in california who makes anything in california -- >> tesla get to that. give them a call and get to that in a second. now we're five minutes into the session, it is thursday morning we're down 90 points on the dow industrials. okay, 24,655 is where we are. more individual stocks look at netflix please. they're going to spend one billion dollars develop original content for europe double what they spent in europe last year. stock down a fraction down about a half percent. pier one discontinuing its diffed end they expect to lose money it is down 17%. better profits at new steel maker high price increase

shipments and, though, that doesn't work for the stock down 3%. marlboro tobacco company here sales fell short. down, 13 almost 13 dollars share, that is 12.5%. that's been a long time since i saw a tobacco stock fall look that so usually impervious but down today. morgan stanley downgrade skill low listing people that's because zillow has said they're going to go out to buy homes and spruce them up and sell them what's going on with zillow, john? >> look you have a very high margin business and what desyl is low has right now with a real estate media company and they're getting into a lower margin and much riskier business by buying and selling homes that is the problem all about evaluation. >> they get their money from real estate agents buying advertising on their site if they buy and sell those dongt want to do that anymore so that

can actually hurt high margin business that's what invests like. >> oh, nasty another headache for tesla here we're going to get to that. facing probe of work with place conditions at its factory in california. lizzy this is the union going after tesla. >> that's what tesla is saying it's a nonprofit that is backed by the uaw. has been filing these complaints and putting out articles about unsafe work conditions at the free factory. they're firing back he says the injuries are lower than when toyota and gm ran this leap month factory. this is a extremist organization backed by the uaw to unionize this factory. this is make or or break moment for tesla they're trying to pump out 6,000 model 3 sedans week by the end of the year so he's literally at the factory. said he's taken the most painful spot in the factory he's saying this uaw push is false.

>> i repeat the question to professor brenburg would you make actually make anything tangible in california. >> only thing they make efficiently in california is more government. and i don't think that's how it is trying to make, i get the heck out of there. i would get the heck out of there. >> option now offering discounts to it local customers on everything from costco membership to luxury clothes to disney tickets. is that a winning strategy? >> what they have to do look their biggest competitor in the future is amazon who has stuff and delivers it if ups only delivers things they're out of that game. they've got to get in the business of offering something to customers besides simply a package at their door. that's what they're trying to do. >> john leifield what do you think about ups here? >> professor is spot on right here. ups has done a lot of trouble with amazon with the competition they're starting to offer outside third party delivery of packageings and they're going to continue that. u.s. post office is also in trouble with that. the post office needs amazon a lot more than they need them that's one thing that's been

wrong about that in politics. i think ups is fighting for survival in the future right now they're fine but they see the future is coming and future is amazon. >> things change so rapidly in that line of business that's for sure really. we have a new study that suggest that apple's do not disturb while driving tool -- it's on the iphone. that's cut into phone usage while driving by 8%. i would call that a step in the right direction, with john. seems like this thing works. >> i have a much bigger problem with my wife saying turn right back there. that's -- problem i have with a card, you can't fix stiewpgd people shouldn't be on their phone but that whats in the world. >> it's kind of cool and it doesn't vibrate or light up when you get a text and to not disturb that's what happens when you have your phone in your car. >> you don't at all. i do but i put down the phone and i won't look at it. [laughter] >> you're honest. we kind of like that. it's that time. ladies and gentlemen, comes so fast i have to say good-bye to

brian and john -- many thanks gentleman all good stuff today. thanks a lot. now where are we? we are ten minutes into the trading session we're down 60 points that's it. that's a quarter of one percent. bad news for bed bath and beyond. oh, yeah, really just had a credit rating downgraded to near junk status this is another brix and mortar reare tailer feeling the hit from online shopping look at it go down. not that much actually but it is down .3%. isis may be on the run in syria yes they are. but a dangerous new islamist group is plans to cease damascus to impose law. while in paris, next on that. hi, i'm bob harper,

and i recently had a heart attack. it changed my life. but i'm a survivor. after my heart attack, my doctor prescribed brilinta. it's for people who have been hospitalized for a heart attack. brilinta is taken with a low-dose aspirin. no more than 100 milligrams as it affects how well brilinta works. brilinta helps keep platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. in a clinical study, brilinta worked better than plavix. brilinta reduced the chance of having another heart attack... ...or dying from one. don't stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor, since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. don't take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. slow heart rhythm has been reported. tell your doctor about bleeding new or unexpected shortness of breath any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. if you recently had a heart attack,

ask your doctor if brilinta is right for you. my heart is worth brilinta. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. >> treasury secretary mnuchin talking to fox business right

now -- here's what he said about that item vito roll tape financial >> having the president having some mechanism that the president isn't just handed a giant take it or leave it deal is important. and we've talked about the line item vito it doesn't work in its own construct. but there are other way of making it work where the president can withhold certain spending become to congress for up or down vote that has a similar impact that would be constitutional. >> well he also addressed the mixup about nicky haley and mixup over russia sanction it is called it a constant and fluid situation and that ambassador haley was not twisting in the wind he's speaking to liz claman with more hells from that interview in our next hour. the big board show it is that 8points on dow industrial it is now look at bed, bath and beyond feeling heat from scron line

retailers big time. what's beginning on nicole? >> look at the stock you see it is down 2% but the story is -- two weeks it is down 54%. and it's just less than a buck away with from lows that we haven't seen since 2000. we're seeing a downgrade s&p downgrading company with an outlooking of negative because they say in the next 12 to 24 months they could further downgrade the company. why, well you can start request with online competition. that their competitive edge erode that's word they use and they're particularly vulnerable to online retailer and there's -- the price transparency is just too evident. you know when you go into the wonderful bed path and beyond take your cart arranged by the time you get to cashier it is a lot of money and starting to get smarter with their shonning. wnch that 20% discount that coupon that everybody gets. got it nicole thank you very much indeed go to syria another

a new militant group as isis fades away. come in fox news what is this whack mole of extremist groups in syria. serious question here is this group without any clout at all? >> absolutely this is a serious group that is now emerging linked to a card but also militia linked to muslim brotherhood they're one spreading in the fight against the regime which explains why many in the united states and europe are very concerned about us weakening the assad regime but they do it not tell us that other five is terrorist so the problem began when in the beginning of the revolution instead of us in our arab ally supporting, we somehow found ourselves supporting slammist that's as a result today. >> it is like whack mole one group goes down another pops up and you have to bash them really kind of ridiculous isn't it? >> it is complicated and you

said it is a salad if you want to use the -- cuisine description but basically we also immediate to tack to the regional backers. the saudis have supported one small fraction now that fraction is dissipate saudi arabia is changing policy but then we have our allies qatar and turkey without going into the variety of name and that's a complicated situation. these are our ally backing those who are going to become and are jihadist so we need to have talks with our allies. >> i know you're a middle east guy that's what you specialize in but you know you've been in the room when presidents and senior officials have been working with hostile nations. i want you to take us to north korea. i thought i have a very hard time believing that kim jong-un would actually give up the nuclear weapon withs and the rockets which that country has spent a generation at least

organizing and developing. i find that very hard to believe. what say you? >> your instincts are very strategic that's correct without seeing a -- life figure in north korea, a glass -- i doubt that the long-term goal of north korea is to let go of their weapons but few let's be very modest in analyzing here we have a goal what? basically to make sure that these missiles are not directed at us. make sure is that the north is not sinking anymore about invading south or attacking the south. now the bigger question is what does north korea want? leadership including what he wants basically is his ym is safe. that we're not going to do anything to jeopardize his regime these are two bases for next negotiations but those next negotiations are just about two points and that does not get into the future completely. >> you think -- if you just made sure that man it was say was and his regime was safe, that's a big enough

enticement to get rid of nukes and missiles? >> what -- cuba for example communist country just ensured that ym is safe. no american action against him and decided to open up and traitd. vietnam did that. but what we have in north korea as much more dangerous it is nuclear power. i would say at this point and time he's not ready to be let go of his weapon but ready and saying i'm not going so shoot against you that's what he's ready -- >> i don't know if he knows what to make of donald trump and that's a fact. that is very real. thanks as ever thanks for joining us. where are we up 18 minutes into trading sings a lot of red on your screen that means down stocks for dow industrials and we're up 100 points. surprising poll from the university of california -- berkeley -- it finds that the majority of californians support deporting undocumented immigrants. we have the numbers for or you, next.

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>> the number one is california is releasing two-thirds of the 142 gang members that were released over period between 2016 and 2017 and stuart what's really striking california keeps saying it is sanctuary policies that's why gang members by the way are being released. sanctuary policies are about public safety because people will be more apt to cooperate with law enforcement. you know what i mean? so you're releasing gang members. >> yeah. >> so these guy have been arrested for murder, manslaughter, assault and rape, kidnapping, child sex crimes and more. so there are 89 of them have been released into california. 142 over 13 states. california is the worst. >> okay. thank you very much indeed, liz. some numbers for you again this is california. but a surprise here. new poll -- 59% of californians support deportation. who knew? 49% of californians support the ban on people traveling here from majority had muslim

countries. who knew? joining us now former south carolina sthart jim demint i was surprised at those numbers since they come from a poll by berkeley although poll was done in december of last year. what do you make of all of this? >> i've read some of the questions stewart, and it's clear they were trying to slant the answers away from common sense. but even with that, it's clear that people of california are getting sick and tired of what's going on. this is a state, i mean, stuart, california has become america's crazy uncle. i mean, they want to put warnings on coffee but they flood their cities with violent illegal immigrants with gangs, and they've got one of the worst quality of life, a quality of living in the country. and so it's amazing to watch. but it's good to see so many cities now in california pushing back and joining the federal government attorney general sessions and suing california

about its sanctuary city policies. >> look like there is internal revolt. it's a lot of californians are really opposed to the sanctuary state policy, and really opposed to this -- the release of these criminals. do you think the revolt can actually go far enough to elect statewide a republican? >> well they've done it before. but it has been a while. i'm not sure they're ready but i'm in california a lot working with conservatives. and there's a backlash against the state. but so much their election is controlled by their government unions it's a very tough nut to crack out there. and we'll keep working it and i think it's going to happen soon or or later because 1% of california are resident pay over half of the taxes now. and that's just not sustainable in their laws are making the state more dangerous. and the citizens know it it. so something has to give this california. >> am i right in saying that

california has the highest policy rate in the nation? something like 20% of the people are in poufty poverty and highest taxings. >> amendment homelessness doubled in last few years. there are problems in the streets are just -- i mean, they're really catastrophic and stuart this is not just california problem. california is a gateway for illegal drugs, human trafficking, illegal workers for the whole country. and their policies are devaluing citizens and citizenship if you can vote, if you can get driver's licenses, if you can work without coming to the country legally that devalue citizenship in america. so we've got to get california on the same page and hopefully their citizens will step up and help us. >> jim demint a pleasure to have you back on the show don't be a stranger sir come back soon. via director mike pompeo goes to

north korea talks face-to-face with kim jong-un that is diplomacy in action but some democrats in the senate say they're voting against his nomination for secretary of state. we will have something to say about that. in a moment. . . . introducing the 2018 c-class sedan, coupe and cabriolet. the thrills keep getting better. lease the c300 sedan for $419 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. at crowne plaza, we know business travel isn't just business.

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stuart: president trump is negotiating a deal with north korea. his point man is mike pompeo. he is the man who the president wants as his next secretary of state. this team is making real progress. imagine that. for the first time kim jong-un is going to meet our president and getting rid of his inunction, -- nukes, that is on the table. get this from senator richard blumenthal, democrat connecticut. he does not want mike pompeo to be secretary of state. he will vote against him. quote, mike pompeo's record prioritizes military might over constructive engagement and negotiation. he will vote no. what does senator blumenthal

make of pompeo's meeting with kim jong-un? they discussed the upcoming summit. if that is not engagement. i don't know what is. senator menendez finds the man deeply troubling. he didn't tell me about his trip to north korea. he is supposed to tell senator menendez all about it, potentially wreck an historic summit meeting. oh, please. the president is entitled to pick his cabinet team. unless the nominees are guilty of some kind of egregious behavior. clearly pompeo is on outstanding up standing nominee. so why are the democrats intent opposing him. because they are resisting president trump on everything. that is troubling. we have a historic development and democrats are trying to undermined the whole thing

taking out the president's choice for secretary of state. democrats should be reminded of the miserable record of the last democratic administration. it was on obama's watch kim jong-un developed his nukes and his missiles. obama caved. do we really want to go back to this dithering and dangerous retreat? this opposition to pompeo by democrats and couple of republican outlie isn't resistance to president trump. it's surrender to kim jong-un. disgraceful. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ stuart: it's thursday, 10:00 eastern, mortgage rate time. where are we? liz: 4.47%. it is pushing on 4 1/2%. it is the highest in four years. it is the biggest jump in four years. it is the biggest jump so far this year. here is what is going on. shrinking housing inventory

means that the prices go up and also that 2.9% 10-year yield you talked about, is going to continue to go up. that is the fear as the fed continues to raise interest rates. stuart: that that is a bit of a negative, liz. 4.47%, 30-year fixed, got it. headlines from treasury secretary steve mnuchin. here is what he said moments ago about the mix-up whether the president would impose more sanctions against russia. >> she was not left twisting in the wind. the situation changed. nikki is a terrific spokesperson for the administration. situations change. you shouldn't read too much into this. stuart: the treasury secretary addressed the post office and jeff bezos. list claim will have that with us later this hour. big tech names, where are they this morning? apple is down nearly 2%. apple is a dow stock. that drop in the stock is a big significance for the

dow industrials. proctor & gamble, that's another dow stock that is also lower. it reported weak sales. if you combine apple and proctor & gamble that accounts for much of the dow's decline this morning. the price of oil is a factor today. we're just shy of $69 a barrel. you know what that means, higher gas prices down the road. book to my editorial at the top of the hour, the left fighting mike pompeo's nomination as secretary of state. jack keane with us, fox news strategic analyst. general, i think it is disgraceful to oppose a man who i think pulled off a diplomatic coup. with do you say? >> exactly. you expect politicians to act like politicians, in my personal view an all-time low. here we have the director of the central intelligence agency aspiring to be the secretary of state on the cusp of possibly and it is only possibly the

greatest diplomatic achievement of our lifetime. and he will be a principle player one way or the other, even if he is not secretary of state, he is a principle player. and, why? they would not see value in him being secretary of state as the country's chief diplomat. the idea that he is war-like or would be a war hawk, he will be in charge of diplomacy for the united states and he is already executing quite significantly here representing the president of the united states dealing with north korea. stuart: yes, sir. i want to talk about president trump. he says he will walk away from talks with kim jong-un if the discussion is not quote, fruitful. what do you make of that? >> well, first of all it is absolutely the right thing. most presidents would normally foreclose something like that before they go into it, this is trump, this is the way he really is. here is what i believe is going on here. i talked to director pompeo a few weeks before he left for his visit.

he never disclosed he was going to north korea. the subject i talked to him about his headquarters, in his office, one-on-one was north korea. no one understands the issues than director pompeo. number two, no one understands kim jong-un wetter than director pompeo because his agency profiles him, studies him, that is what the sell trillion intelligence agency has done. when the president selected him to go over there, he wasn't going there to set up talks with the president, he was going there for one reason, to stress test kim jong-un and determine if there is any authenticity in this guy saying he is willing to give up his nuclear weapons? is there a potential opportunity here to make a deal? he comes back. he debriefs the president. the fact that he is going along with the summit talks given the political liability that this may blow up in his face, tells me pompeo said, look it, boss,

there is opportunity here, no guaranties but it is an opportunity we can pass up. i recommend that we go forward. and that is significant. now listen -- stuart: go ahead. keep going. >> he knows better than us that kim jong-un is a liar, a cheater, he is a thug, he is is a killer he is repressing his society, he is holding three of our guys prisoners over there. he knows all that in spades. he had to tell the president that or the president wouldn't be moving forward and that is very significant. stuart: yes it is. mike pompeo almost sat in for president trump at the meeting g with campus jong un. not exactky a -- >> you can be certain of a couple of things and director pompeo is not telling us, nor should he, kim jong-un put on the table to him, you know what some of his conditions are.

and i think director pompeo told him, he said, listen, if we don't make a deal here, you understand, we're going continue to these sanctions and we'll continue tin them. if you continue to finish your technology we're willing to pull the trigger on the military option. you have to understand that there is a collision coming here if you pursue this course and we can't make a deal. you got to believe he looked him right in the eye and found his own words to say it, told him straight up where the united states is heading if he is not killing to denuclearize. stuart: that is fascinating stuff, general, thank you very much for sharing it with us. that is vital stuff. general jack keane, good stuff indeed. thank you, sir, appreciate it. >> good talking to you, stuart. liz: inside look at it. stuart: the market though, down a little bit, not that much. we're off 90 points for the dow industrials. come on in gary bolt -- kaltbaum, president of caught

obama capital management and fox news contributor. these profits are rolling in and looking pretty good. they are up roughly 20% from a year ago? surely that is a good enough for a modest upside move for the dow further, isn't it? >> ibm in the dow down 12 bucks. talking about 80 some odd dow points. it's a mixed bag in the dow. you have ge there, good news american express really beat the number, overall earnings are pretty good as we move forward and hopefully it stays that way. i can promise you, if earnings continue to be strong over the next few quarters the market will definitely go higher as long as interest rates don't spike higher. stuart: are you worried about 2.91% on the 10-year treasury? >> not 2.9 but if we break three, that would be a technical breakout, probably take you to 3 1/2 and then the markets probably get a little headwind from that, i'm pretty sure about that. stuart: okay. i want to talk about amazon. as you know they announced they

have 100 million prime members. to me that's 100 million lobbyists who want to keep the company as is offering the service it offers as is. in other words, i see 100 million prime members as a defense against any attacks from politicians. what say you? >> professor brian, i really thing got it right. amazon never announces these type of things. i think this was jeff bezos is saying let them know how big we are, how strong we are, and how much we continue to grow. it is not just that. they announced that 300,000 small businesses signed up in just 2017 in just the u.s. and alexa, which i think will be taking over the world, i think 30,000 skills, controls 4,000 home devices. i think amazon is going to run everything and, i think it's a shot across the bow from bezos

to the white house. stuart: gary, would i be crazy or taking a ridiculous gamble if i were to buy amazon stock at $1558 per share now? >> i would wait for earnings which is in the next couple of weeks. you never know what the reaction to earnings is going to be. amazon in the past has put aside profits for a quarter or two in order to move forward and sometimes they pay a penalty. for me wait until after earnings. the stock is already up 150 points over the last week or so. stuart: yes it is, gary. thank you for joining us mr. kaltbaum. see you real soon. >> thank you. stuart: check this out please. the latest spacex launch last night. shooting another 230-foot telescope into space. it is named tes. it will hunt for planets inhabitable for aliens. it will take it 68 days to reach the orbit. it is off and running. change the guard in cuba

first time in nearly six decades. it will no longer have a castro as its leader. president raul castro handing over power to a hand-picked leader. democrats resisting president trump at every turn, this time opposing mike pompeo the pick for secretary of state. he is the man at the center of the talks with north korea. i find it outrageous, reject him in the middle of a historical move? you're watching "varney & company." ♪ jeff and susan are heading into retirement. and market volatility isn't top of mind. that's because they have a shield annuity from brighthouse financial, which allows them to take advantage of growth opportunities in up markets, while maintaining a level of protection in down markets. so they're less concerned with market volatility and can focus more on the things they're passionate about.

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stuart: we were down 100. now we're down 35, 24,000hundred is where we are. general electric, that is one of the biggest gainers on the dow, up nearly 2%, pushing close to $14 a share. potential farmer deal in the

works. the stock price of shy year on the up side after reports that allergan is reports to buy it. shire up nearly 7%. 10-year treasury, a key benchmark for interest rates up this morning to 2.91%. now this. 11 republican congressman sent a letter to the fbi asking it to open criminal investigations of james comey, andrew mccabe, loretta lynch and hillary clinton. congressman louie gohmert, republican texas is with us now. louie, welcome back to the show, but, your name was not on the letter. you didn't sign that letter. why not? >> well, thanks for noticing but i read the letter and considered signing on but, we had sent a previous letter goodlatte had authored and we were asking about most of these same things and attorney general's response

was, these are things that are looked at by the u.s. attorney. they're within hoover's reach and also with, if the inspector general's report comes back with matters needing to be prosecuted, then they will impanel a grand jury and get after it. so the reason i didn't sign on, i'm waiting to see what the inspector general's report says and we will see what happens from there. but now the reason i have been demanding a second special counsel since may of last year is because mueller needs investigating. this is one of the things that didn't, isn't in the letter. mueller needs investigating. rosenstein need investigating. those two investigated the russia effort to illegally obtain 20% of our uranium. there was an investigation. they were in charge and somehow

they quieted that enough in order for hillary and her buddies to approve the sale of u.s. uranium that would end up with russia and they need to be investigated. they don't need to be investigators. stuart: would all love to get to the truth of hillary, mccabe, comey, uranium one, love to get to the truth obviously but i think the public, a lot of people have investigation fatigue. >> i'm afraid of that. stuart: so many of these things going on. we're always getting new investigations. nobody can keep track of who met who where, said what to whom and why. nobody can follow it. >> yeah, it is the best thing and obama and holder have going and lynch, they had so many scandals and investigation people lost track and then they lost interest but this is critical to the ongoing of a rule of law country. if we don't get to the bottom of these, you can forget this ever

being a country where rule of law matters again. it is all political from here on out. stuart: i thought it would become the rule of lawyers. they rule our lives right now. i know you're a former lawyer, a former judge, you foe what i mean. >> i'm recovering. stuart: there is lawyer fatigue, legalism fatigue, investigation fatigue. >> sure. stuart: come on, let's move on. >> well the problem is crimes have been committed and people have been involved in investigating them who were committing crimes. comey has admitted as much. this is got to be cleaned out or, it is like tammany hall never got investigated and never came to a head. you have to have something this big come to a head. heck, over in the ag's office right now, the attorney general still can't get people that he needs there. you have got gahar needs to be fired. she worked with sally yates on the iran deal. she wants to keep the iran deal.

she is the go-between for intelligence with the attorney general and she is keeping information from him. she has to be fired. he has to get people in there he needs. then paying we can get some real justice for a change. but they have also got a problem at the white house. they have got a lady over there who regularly has dinner, meets with the mueller team. it is tough for this president and this attorney general to get things done when you have still got obama lovers in the administration. stuart: louie gohmert, always says what he thinks. feels what he says, and he is a good man. we welcome him back on the show. see you real soon. >> i do agree with my friends. it needs to be investigated. stuart: i hear you, lou will. good stuff. coming up a day after that engine disaster on board the southwest flight a delta jet had to make an emergency landing. smoke was seen pouring out one of its engines. terrifying for passengers. we were down 100.

now we're down 26. more "varney" after this. ♪

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stuart: now the feds, they are going to order engine inspections after this deadly southwest engine blast. kristina partsinevelos is here. ultrasonic investigations of engines plural. that means an expansive investigation. >> it's a certain type of engine, the cfm 256. they will look at 220 over next section months period. that is the exact same engine within the southwest plane.

that is very popular with commercial transportation. stuart: ultrasonic inspects. >> inspections. stuart: 220, because that might have been the problem, a shattering of the blade was the problem? >> it was metal fatigue. metal fatigue was happening on inside of the fan. you can't see that from the outside. that is exactly what happened. the fan split. shrapnel went in. there was a case that was supposed to protect it. that didn't. the shrapnel hit the window. the window cracked, you had depressurization in the cab anyone. the passenger half her body was pulled out the plane. the passengers pull her out of the plane. jennifer riordan, 43-year-old woman with two children. she passed away because of head trauma two days ago. what we know so far, the pilot, the pilot of the plane, she is actually, she spoke very, very calmly. listen to the clip that we have. >> we have a part of the

aircraft missing. we'll need to slow down a bit. could have you medical meet us on runway as well. we've got injured passengers. >> injured passengers. okay. is your airplane physically on fire? >> part of it is missing. and there is a hole and someone went out. >> tammie jo shults, one of first female pilots in the u.s. navy. see how calm she was. it was traumatic experience. took it down safely. seven injuriess one death. this is an engine in 8,000 planes around the globe. focusing specifically in the united states. you have got about 185 that are with delta. 300 with american airlines. united, often a lot of these have same engines. stuart: we're broadening investigation. >> exactly. over the next six months. stuart: christina. thank you very much indeed. president trump says he will sit down with north korea's leader kim jong-un.

denuclearization topic number one. david bossie, he has been in the room with trump during tough discussions like this. he will tell us what it is going to be like.

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alphabet's up and microsoft is pushing 97. no trumpets yet. wait on that. president trump looking forward to his meeting with north korean leader kim jong-un, but, he issued a warning. roll tape. >> if i think that it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we're not going to go. if the meeting when i'm there is not fruitful i will respectfully leave the meeting and we'll continue what we're doing or whatever it is that we'll continue but something will happen. stuart: well let's bring in a man who has been in the room when you have this kind of tough one-on-one negotiations. david bossie is with us, former trump campaign deputy director, he authored that book, "let trump be trump." can you take me inside of the room? kim jong-un, president trump, they're going at it. is to haw it is going to be? >> first of maybe several meetings. i'm not a guy who believes in

one and done. i think this president looks at a negotiation as a process and i go back to what reagan and gorbachev did, whether the first meeting in switzerland nothing came from. but they got to know each other in 1985. in 1986 they have reykjavik which reagan is historically known as walking out of. then they come back together a year later, they make a deal. this is what true leadership is and that is what we're seeing here in my opinion. stuart: can you ever see a day when the north koreans say okay, we're giving up our nukes and our missiles? they spent what, two generations getting this together. are they getting -- giving it up? >> two generations of downhill slide for economy and citizens. stuart: they don't care as long as the kim regime stays in power. >> clearly something happened here recently whether the chinese influence or world influence on them.

something seems to have changed for kim jong-un to want to come together. seems just his agreement too sitting down is a major step. i think this president is, knows who kim jong-un is. he remembers at at -- otto warmbier. he remembers the poor kid that this rogue regime murdered. we have three americans still held hostage in north korea. hopefully what comes from this, maybe those three americans are able to come home. stuart: do you think he will be aggressive, our president, and lay the law down? listen, get rid of them nukes? >> i don't think kim jong-un will leave that summit wondering where the president is on any number of issues. the president wants to denuclearize the peninsula. he wants to get the missile testing under control and i think there's a lot that we can do together if they truly, to your point, want to get rid of their nuclear program. if they are willing to do that, if they need fuel, if they need

coal, gas, whatever, oil, gas, whatever might be, if they need food for their people i think this president will be open to making a great deal for the people of north korea as well as the united states. and the world if we can get rid of the nukes. this is a big, big opportunity for the world. stuart: but to sum it up, you think there might be more than one meeting, a series of meetings? >> i would fully expect it. look, the geniuses over the last 25 years in washington, d.c., absolute professionals, know it ales at foggy bottom have gotten wrong with north korea every single day. we have to take a different tact. that is what this president is doing. stuart: tough stuff. fascinating. i have to sit back like this on the set, i have a feeling you're coming at me. thank you for joining us sir. >> thank you. stuart: now this, our next guest had three different funds, one for companies that support democrats, one for republicans, one for tax benefit kind of companies. his name is ben phillips. guess what? he is amalgamated all three

funds into one. why did he do that? >> we wanted to give investors access to all of our best ideas in one place. i think people are looking at gop and dems, am i voting here or do i have to trade them? we said, we want to offer a product you can buy and hold and put in your portfolio and get the benefit these policy cat lifts, one of these three funds or two not doing very well, so you had to bring them all together? >> the three were outperforming. gop fund was up the most. up more than double the market in six months. really strong performance there. the thought, we don't people to feel like they're making a political statement. we want to give them opportunity to invest. stuart: you don't want people to make political statement with their invests? >> no. i want them to make rational, investment decisions and put their money in smart investment vehicles irk here is a question. would you put money into, would you buy into a company and put it in your fund if that company was being vigorously attacked by

the president of the united states like amazon for example? >> we monitor situations like that. the interesting thing on amazon as you saw a couple of tweets, caused the stock to sell off. it only happened for a few days. it wasn't like a real process. our takeaway, no policy materialized that was actually going to negatively impacted amazon. the stock quickly rebounded. we look at the policy tea leaves if you will. we're looking at senior leadership. stuart: let's do that for a second. >> sure. stuart: they have just announced they have got 100 million prime members. to me that is 100 million lobbyists say we like amazon the way it is. we don't want it reorganized, split up or otherwise reined in. am i right? >> sure. amazon is like a freight train, right? there is no stopping them at this point. we don't have a position either way long or short in them but i think looking at facebook for an example, we're seeing they could have material new regular ages that actually impacts their business model. that is the type of situation we're looking at. is there to be some sort of regulation or some sort of

policy that could negatively impact the industry or operating model. stuart: you're not touching amazon. >> we're not in it right now. stuart: you're not shorting it or betting for or against it? >> we're watching closely how large the market cap is and does drive stock market performance. stuart: would you get in at $1600 a share. >> not at this point, no. stuart: would you get in at $1300 a share. >> it would be a little more interesting. appreciate it. stuart: liz claman nabbing an exclusive interview with treasury secretary steve mnuchin. she joins us now from d.c. what did you get out of it, liz? >> we're here at the imf, international monetary fund spring meetings. this place is crawling with treasury secretaries, central bankers, all kinds of leaders talking about keeping financial stability through the world. when we landed this one-on-one, one of the important things we wanted to talk to him about, aside from tariff situation, trade and debt, was definitely this new task force that he has been put in charge of to

basically pull apart and audit the u.s. postal service. u.s. postal service, stuart, as you know, has been losing billions of dollars, years and years and years but lately the president has been attacking amazon saying amazon has too much of a sweetheart deal with its packaging that the u.s. postal service delivers. so i asked treasury secretary about that, what was really at the heart of it, the battle between the president and jeff bezos, ceo of amazon, who also owns "the washington post" which has been critical of the president. here is what secretary mnuchin had to say. >> this has nothing to do with that issue. let me be clear. >> has nothing to do with it? >> the post office is losing lots of money, okay? the post office as you said is not supposed to be cutting subsidized deals in the packaging business. >> but he will be in charge and he will have recommendations. stuart, i also had a very interesting exchange with the treasury secretary about how who

really basically pressed the pause button on the russian sanctions that were supposed to come down on monday that the ambassador of the u.n., nikki haley had said were definitely coming. you have to stay tuned, 3:00 p.m. eastern to hear about that, hear much more about the widening deficit and what the treasury secretary thinks about that. stuart: we'll be there, liz, 3:00. liz claman. coming up yesterday we spoken with the mayor of los alamitos, california, about his city defying california sanctuary laws. right after the interview the aclu filed a lawsuit. the judge will talk about that in our next hour. but first changing of the guard in cuba for the first time in nearly six decades it will have a leader without the name of castro. president raul castro handing power to a hand-picked successor. we're on that one for you. ♪ baby boomers,

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close to electing a republican governor but california is not quite there yet. >> well they have done it before but it has been a while. i'm not sure they're quite ready but, in california a lot working with conservatives and there is a backlash against the state but so much of their election is controlled by their government unions. it is a very tough nut to crack out there and, but we'll keep working it. i think it is going to happen sooner or later because 1% of california residents pay over half of the taxes now. and that is just not sustainable and their laws are making the state more dangerous. and the citizens know it. so something has to give in california. ♪

stuart: higher profits at nucorp on higher steel prices and apparently increased shipments. however the stock is barely changing, down four cents. marlboro maker, philip morris, tobacco company fell short, sales, that stock is down 15%. you rarely see a tobacco stock down that much. now this. the castro dynasty over in cuba. the parliament elected miguel diaz-canel as the new president. vanessa neumann with us, author of that book, "blood profits." i hear you said yes, you are the author of that book.

this is a shift, a change, but is it really more of the same? >> the answer is both actually. it will be more of the same in the short term because raul castro who was greater idealogical power behind the castros be more a puritan than his brother fidell. so he will remain president of the politburo until 2021. he really holds the reins on power. they're offering this new face of diaz-canel, hope of a mild transition. they have tried this before. i know cuba fairly well. i have actually been there a couple of times and you know, over the last few years there was talk about diaz-canel being the new guy. that was five years ago. he was getting so popular the castros kind of quashed him. now they're bringing him back. make no mistake he will be on a short rein. we'll see what happens in 2021. stuart: no serious change for cuba's economy period, that's it? >> i don't see that happening.

he will try to play a little bit after game trying to give a little bit more money, control inflation, rein, you know, see how it improves people's daily lives but nothing substantive until 2021. stuart: tell me about venezuela. i have to ask you the usual question every time, how comma duro is still there as the country utterly collapses, and oil production just keeps on going down? that is the lifeblood of the country. >> wait, it keeps on going down, not only that, there was secretly signed dill solution of the ol' -- dissolution of oil company. it was signed very quietly i got sent the document last night. ped vase sachs the oil company will actually sees to exist by order. basically means i think that is actually a way to, for them not to pay their bills and to avoid all these lawsuits because of course the lawsuits are mounting. there is basically the end of the country.

and maduro has been indicted by the legitimate government for, you know, for corruption. they want to send him to prison the way they did to lulu in brazil. stuart: come on. you have to get with the endgame here! this guy surely can not last for years to come? >> they have got to pick him up. it has to be the military. they have already called on the military, look, they have issued an arrest warrant. it is your duty to obey that. he is not your legitimate commander. flip and take him out. at least arrest him. it is not happening. stuart: but there is a nasty feeling here this could descend into civil war. >> it could. we're trying to offer, you know, a way out that's bloodless and this sort of arrest warrant and indictment by the internationally recognized national assembly attorney general and supreme court of in exile, all of which the international community has recognized as legitimate is offering on a platter we've done

this. please pick him up. and if they don't, then there will be civil war. stuart: that is a nasty scenario night is. stuart: we're getting close to the splash point. i have that feeling. i have said this before but i have that feeling. >> i think we're done with him in 2018, please. stuart: okay. you're on videotape. we'll check that one out. >> exactly. stuart: vanessa, thank you very much for being with us again. we appreciate it. >> thank you very much. stuart: democrats resisting president trump at every turn. this time opposing mike pompeo, that's the president's pick for secretary of state. he is the man at the center of the talks with north korea. reasonable democrat doug schoen is next. ♪ ♪ what is it? the next big thing in food was once a little paper box.

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go long. stuart: several democrats in the senate do not want mike pompeo to be secretary of state, among them bob menendez from new jersey, democrat and richard blumenthal, democrat connecticut. they intend to vote no on his nomination for secretary of state. bring in america in the age of trump, the coauthor of that book, his name is doug schoen and he is with us this morning. >> thanks, stuart.

stuart: i find this absolutely disgraceful that the man in charge of the diplomatic move to open up, not open up, but have a go at north korea should be voted down by democrats as secretary of state. >> for that reason, stuart. stuart: for that reason. >> i have to tell you, look, this is about really the fate not only the free world, the world, and you want your top diplomats, you want the head of your cia now, who is in line, likely still to be secretary of state, to be able to negotiate in secret. i say to myself, what comes over my fellow democrats would lead them to make these bad judgments? stuart: you know the answer to the question, they hate trump, they believe resist trump at every single turn will be successful in november. >> that is the the reason. >> that is a good part of it. there is senatorial prerogative if 100 senators should know everything our government is doing, even its most,

closely-held secrets. stuart: bob menendez, democrat new jersey, senator menendez, he complains that mike pompeo didn't tell him about the secret trip to north korea. good lord, the man runs the cia, the keeper of secrets. >> look, i've known bob menendez. i worked for bob menendez, on a lot of issues i agree with him. on this one i think he is flat-out wrong. i wouldn't want to know what mike pompeo is doing. he shouldn't tell me. he shouldn't tell the senate. i thank him for what he has done getting these talks organized. stuart: this is all about resist trump at every single turn. that is ploy a strategy are to the november elections. >> absolutely. stuart: it could be a successful strategy. >> i think it will be successful for the house. i think democrats take the house. senate will be in play, probably republicans hold it, it will be in play. it is not a strategy to beat donald trump in 2020. stuart: but the damage could be

done in november? >> the damage will be done but -- stuart: for america. >> stuart, i believe the great tragedy of our country is that we don't have common ground on foreign policy. north korea, iran, syria. and you know who the big winners are? autocrats, vladmir putin, president xi. we are losing because our country is so divided. stuart: why are you still a democrat any fooled around asking you this question many, many times. thinks are getting worse and worse and worse. >> right. stuart: i don't understand why you're still a democrat? >> i do believe in the tenets democratic party, circa, 1960, 1970, the days of hubert humphrey, scoop jackson. really, stuart, i am a democrat oriented independent who wants what is right for america to come first. i'm not a partisan. stuart: i known you for many years. you never used to say you're a democrat with independent leaning. you used to say you're a

democrat. >> its harder and harder stuart, with stories like this mike pompeo, bob menendez and other democrats. stuart: real quick. >> please. stuart: i'm told former attorney general eric holder is considering a run in 2020. can you confirm that? >> everything i've seen i've been told it will run. based on his appearance at the national action network with al sharpton, that he is going to position himself like obama to approach and court the african-american and progressive vote. he is somebody who had a couple of scandals. the fast and furious, the conservative donors. the left has problems with him because he didn't prosecute anyone coming out of the financial crisis. more candidates, the better it is more donald trump. stuart: doug schoen, throwing up his hands, oh the democrats. >> oh the democrats. joe biden would be as close to the kind of candidate i could back but you know, we have a long way to see where we go and whether a 78-year-old man will

be up to the task. stuart: we're glad you're with us in new york before you moved to florida. thank you, doug schoen. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: i promise you, more "varney" after this. they appear out of nowhere. my secret visitors. hallucinations and delusions. the unknown parts of living with parkinson's. what plots they unfold, but only in my mind. over 50% of people with parkinson's will experience hallucinations or delusions during the course of their disease. if your loved one is experiencing these symptoms,

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smart. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, we'll replace the full value of your car. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. stuart: we are told a blue wave, a democrat wave, will sweep the republicans from power this november. now, i'm not going to forecast how the election will actually turn out, but before the left gets, oh, too gleeful, they should consider just where their party is headed and how voters might respond to it. here's my argument. democrats have gone hard left. i don't think the country is ready for it. if you've watched this program, you've seen what's going on in california. protecting criminal illegals, raising taxes, extreme climate rules. now the democrats there want a single-payer medical system. obamacare on steroids, regardless of the cost. does the country want that?

in the new jersey the new democratic governor wants to raise the sales tax to pay the pensions of retired government workers, and he's passed a motor voter registration law that makes it much easier for illegals to vote. and he wants to pay off the insurance companies in new jersey to keep obamacare. does the country want that? in new york governor cuomo just signed an executive order that allows criminals out on parole to vote. he's being pushed to the left by his primary challenger, actress cynthia nixon. she is gaining ground. nationally, the democrats want to raise taxes, they want to get back into the ruinous paris climate accord and, of course, remove donald trump from office. i ask again, is this what our country wants? the news feed on your facebook page and the nightly news on tv will tell you that it's a done deal. in my opinion, i think they're jumping the gun. a lot of people may not like president trump's style, but when they figure out what the left is really offering, they

may think again about speaker pelosi. the third hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ stuart: well, you just heard what i had to say there. dan henninger, "wall street journal" kind of guy, he'll be joining us on the show later to respond to what i just had to say. our next guest was the congressman who broke the news about the gop tax plan. confirmed every detail for us as they became available on our air live. that man was eric paulson, chair of the joint economic committee, and he joins us now. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: congressman, thank you very much for telling us all those details. our ratings were fantastic, by the way. but that was back in november. five months later, you know, the tax plan is not yet going over well with most americans.

i'm sure you saw "the wall street journal" poll. >> sure. stuart: it's underwater in terms of popularity. do you think you're not selling it right? >> well, stuart, first of all, number one, i don't think anyone wants to go back to where we were last november or before that, because the average person in minnesota or across the country would say i'm better off now than i was 15 months ago. the economy is humming, wages are rising, business optimism is at some of its highest levels ever, and now we have sustainability with new capital investment, with special bonuses. everyone feels pretty good about the economy in general, so this is where we need to continue to go. there's more work to be done, and people are keeping more in their pocket. they're feeling that. but, yeah, we need to communicate that more. i don't think anyone wants to go backwards or raise taxes right now. stuart: okay, obviously to. look, in my opinion the tax cut deal is a big plus for the economy and almost all voters. but there's a negative here, and that is president trump's style which has caused a lot of --

>> yeah. stuart: do you think that maybe it's president trump's style that's getting in the way as opposed to your tax cuts? >> well, look, yeah, i think the style has rubbed some folks the wrong way. but in the end, it's the policies that matter. my job as chairman of the joint economic committee with my team of economists is to study the results, and we're feeling those positive results. ing so despite some of the criticisms of his style -- and i've certainly criticized his style as well, it's not a minnesota way of leading -- we're seeing really good results on the economy. people care about their pocketbook. they don't want to go backwards with higher taxes or see our jobs move overseas again. we're seeing companies reverse decisions, come back to the united states and keep headquarters, innovation and jobs here. our competitors aren't going to stand still. they're going to keep working every day to beat us, and we're in a good position at the forefront. stuart: are you safe in minnesota? safe politically, that is. >> you're never safe in

minnesota. [laughter] stuart: i associate minnesota as a place that leans to the left, and in this day and age i think you might be under some pressure when you go for re-election. >> the other thing to realize is minnesotans appreciate people that are authentic, results-oriented and want to get stuff done. i'm very excited as we have tax day this week, we've got bipartisan reforms moving forward now to redesign, to refocus and to rein in the irs. there was really no objection to that, and nobody likes tax day or tax week as they collect all their data and paperwork. now they're not going to have to worry about that next year. i think the confusion on the tax bill is they thought that might be happening now. they have to wait until next year to see a new, simpler form. stuart: congressman paulsen, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: check your money here, we're down just 43 points, and it's really a dead even split, winners and losers, among the

dow 30. down 41, 24,7. switching gears, i want to talk about privacy issues and social media. joining us, andy cunningham, former apple publicist and author of "get to aha." i think i got that right. [laughter] look, here's what we want with the social media, and i want to tell you if we can get there. i don't think we want to destroy the business model of the facebooks of this world, but at the same time we want to protect our privacy. can we do both? >> i don't think you can have both. stuart: i agree with you. >> it's a bummer, but it's the fact. technology has moved to a point where you can either have access to community and television, that's how we can watch you, television, radio, facebook, google, we have access, but the price we pay is our privacy. now, i think we can get privacy, but then the price we're going to pay for that is we aren't going to have access to google, facebook, and the stu varney show. stuart: if you said to facebook

i want a button, if i press the button you can't do anything with my information, nothing, nothing, it doesn't go anywhere, it stays with me, that's impossible. you can't do that on facebook. >> i think it's impossible. you know, life, liberty and the pursuit of facebook are not our inalienable rights. [laughter] so if you don't want your privacy disrupted, you have to stay off facebook altogether. stuart: but i think that most people given the choice, you want to make a radical change or do you want to leave things as they are with facebook? i -- what do you think? i think 95% of people would say leave it as it is. i don't care. >> absolutely. stuart: is that right? >> privacy doesn't matter as much to the younger generation as it does to our generation, and as time goes on, it's going to continue in that direction. so i think we're, we're stuck with the new generation's idea of privacy, and that is not much of it. [laughter] stuart: another issue is going after the big technology companies. i mean, president trump's really

going after amazon. but amazon's just announced they've got 100 million prime members. >> yeah. stuart: to me, that's 100 million lobbyists who don't want any change at amazon at all. are they untouchable? >> i think they are. and you talked earlier about amazon on your show, and you basically talked about the idea there's no policy that's going to impinge their business in any way. they are a freight train, as you said, and they are going full force. and, by the way, they're trying to become earth's most customer-centric company. it's their new mission, they've got it on their web site, and if they can nail that, there really is no stopping them. stuart: yeah, but people would like to. i don't see how you do stop them actually. >> i don't either. and if they can nail the customer service thing, which they have not yet nailed -- stuart: wait a minute. i thought customer service at amazon was really good. >> it's not that great. have you ever had a package left in the wrong place? that's a big problem, packages being left in the wrong place. stuart: okay. what else is going wrong

customer service wise? >> well, you call 'em up and, you know, sometimes it's a little, it's a little like comcast. [laughter] and a little bit less like nordstrom. stuart: really? >> yeah. stuart: not good. >> not good. i don't think it's terrible, but they've certainly not achieved that level of earth's most customer-centric company. that's what they're shooting for. stuart: i think they're the most exciting and dynamic company in the world. >> they are. and jeff bezos is brilliant, and i think he's doing some wonderful things. but this is -- he knows he has to tweak this. that's why they've stated that as their new vision. they're getting there. stuart: andi cunningham, author of of the book aha -- did i get that right? >> get to aha. [laughter] stuart: we're checking the price of gold this morning, down $4 at 1348 per ounce. how about bitcoin? i always like to know exactly where it is.

it's been going sideways more quite some time, still the same, $8,000 per copy. up $52 as of now. president trump says he will meet north korea's leader, but he also says he's prepared to walk out if the talks with kim jong un are not, quote, fruitful. "special report"'s bret baier with us on this show shortly. the mayor of los alamitos, troy edgar, got off the air with us yesterday and immediately got a phone call saying the aclu would be announcing a lawsuit against the city. the judge on that. we'll also be joined by the man behind the movement to get texas to secede from the union. i say it'll never happen, but we'll let him make his case. stay with us, this is the third hour of "varney & company." ♪ ♪ hi.

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stuart we've got to watch the price ofl very carefully because it's creeping back up towards $70 a barrel. 69 right now, to be precise. that is the highest level since december 14th. gas prices are on the rise too. the national average is $2.73, regular has gone up nine days in a row, and it's up 19 cents just in the last month. price is up. jeff flock joins us now at the citgo lamont refinery in lamont, illinois. that refinery gets its oil from venezuela, isn't that the case? >> reporter: that's correct, a subsidiary of the vens wail hand government-owned oil company, and you can see right now maybe that they're cooking pretty good. they make -- let me get my number right -- four million gallons of gasoline a day. they just got a shipment, a tanker came in from venezuela,

but as you reported earlier on your broadcast, stuart, the situation in venezuela is deteriorating by the day. i think they've lost 25,000 oil workers in the industry down in venezuela. people just quitting. it's collapsing. and so if they don't get oil, that just adds to the pressure. you see what oil's doing today, up begun another dollar and a whole storm, of course, of stuff from iran to syria to all of that stuff as well. and then demand in the u.s., and that's all pushing gasoline prices up. take a look at the numbers on the increase in gasoline prices. not only nine consecutive days, as you report, but up 7% in the last month and another 12% over the course of the past year. i tell you, i was at the cme yesterday, those traders are all saying get used to higher gasoline prices, because that's what we're going to see. stuart: you're right, oil production's collapsing in venezuela bigtime. thanks very much indeed, sir.

stuart: that was a truck in the background. [laughter] they knew we were on tv. >> that's right. stuart: our next guest, serious stuff here, he wants texas to secede from the group job. break away. he wrote a book about it, and the book is called "texit," why and how texas will leave the union. daniel miller is the president of the texas nationalist movement. welcome to the program, good to see you with us. >> great. thanks for having me on. stuart: now, look, let's get right at it. number one, why do you want to leave the union? >> well, i'll tell ya, there are a lot of reasons, but if you were to condense it down to what we hear from people on the street every day here in texas, it boils down to this: texans are sick and tired of being governed by 180,000 pages of federal laws, rules and regulations administered by 440 separate agencies and 2.5 million unelected bureaucrats. at the end of the day, texans believe the best people to govern texas are texans.

stuart: okay. i think you're making a political point, and it's well taken. but i don't think you've got a prayer of actually seceding from the union. you need two-thirds majority in the house and the senate to do that, and you've got to get a majority in three-quarters of all state legislators -- legislatures. not gonna happen. >> yeah. that's, well, that's not true. it's, actually, one of the things that i wrote about in the book. there is this misconception out there that somehow any state that's part of the union needs permission from the other states to leave the union, and that's not entirely the case. and i'll give you a great example of what that looks like. it's akin to saying that when the u.k. decided that they wanted to leave the european union, that they had to have the blessing from all the other countries of the european union. there is no constitutional prohibition here in the united states for any state to leave the union. stuart: look, i just got this from judge napolitano, you need

two-thirds, a majority of two-thirds in the house, majority of two-thirds in the senate, and you've got to get three-quarters of all state -- isn't that in the constitution? i mean, he's a constitutional scholar. >> no. and, look, with all due respect, and i do respect judge napolitano, that's just simply not correct. look, the united states is governed by the constitution, and when it comes to the issue of a state leaving the union, the constitution is silent. and in those areas where the constitution is silent under the tenth amendment, those powers are reserved to the states and the people. you know? what you have to do is you have to look at what the law is here in texas. and article i, section two of the texas constitution is very plain, that the right to reform, alter or abolish our form of government exists and resides solely with the people of texas. stuart: okay. we do hear you, daniel. and i'll put this to the judge himself who's going to be on the show shortly. i think you're making a political point, and it's well taken. i think you haven't got a prayer

of actually pulling this off, but i've got to leave it at that, daniel. by all means, come back and argue with me at some point in the future. daniel miller, thanks for joining us, appreciate it. >> sounds great. thank you, stuart. stuart: take a look at home depot. they're going to hire about a thousand technology professionals in atlanta, austin and dallas this year. stock's down 1.4%. starbucks, as you know, they're closing 8,000 stores on may 29th for racial bias training, and that's after two black men were arrested at a starbucks in philadelphia. the stock is virtually unchanged still at $59 a share. now this one. one million californians will owe $12 billion in taxes next year because the new law, or largely because the new law caps a deduction they had been able to take. grover norquist, he'll break it down for us. and governor cuomo of new york

granted paroled felons the right to vote. judge napolitano will weigh in on that one as well. first, though, check this out. there's going to be a robot on your screen. it can assemble furniture. researchers in singapore programmed this robot to piece together most of an ikea chair. this is the video of them failing. [laughter] okay. and this is the video of them successfully putting together the chair. yes, they did eventually. more "varney" after this. ♪ ♪ you know, i used to be good at this.

then you turn 40 and everything goes. tell me about it.

you know, it's made me think, i'm closer to my retirement days than i am my college days. hm. i'm thinking... will i have enough? should i change something? well, you're asking the right questions. i just want to know, am i gonna be okay? i know people who specialize in "am i going to be okay." i like that. you may need glasses though. yeah. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today with td ameritrade. stuart: a team backed by microsoft's co-founder has located the wreckage of the uss helena sunk by japanese torpedoes in 1943. the team identified it by the number 50 on its side. a traffic stop led to the discovery of an suv full of more than 78 pounds of marijuana. >> oh, man. stuart: two men in the car arrested. state police say the trooper spotted the car weaving in and out of traffic. he pulled it over and found the bags of marijuana stack ised to

the ceiling. the mel of that. >> yeah, exactly. stuart: estimated cost -- value, rather, $250,000. and an autistic teenager from iceland built a replica of the titanic, five feet tall, four feet wide, it took 11 months to complete. >> gorgeous. stuart: another item on governor cuomo, he is blasting the anti-american trump administration while questioning the true support of trump voters. of dan henninger on that. and the mayor of los alamitos joined us yesterday. immediately after he got off the air, he got a phone call from the the aclu. they're suing the city. the judge will pass judgment on it. meanwhile, the markets are down a little, not that much. we're off 50 points, about a quarter of 1%. more "varney" after this. ♪

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stuart: not that much movement for stock prices thus far today, it's not one of those days of wild swings. we're down just 40 points two hours into the trading session.

i've got a headline from "the wall street journal" that reads as follows: is the gop the party of trump? the writer of that editorial is dan henninger, "wall street journal" editorial deputy editor. all right, dan, answer the question. is the gop the party of trump? >> well, let's first examine the premise. [laughter] which emerged last week when speaker paul ryan announced he was going to retire from politics. at which point the conventional wisdom said, a lot of press reports said paul ryan's leaving means the republican party is losing its last establishment voice and, therefore, the republicans are now completely the party of trump. and i say, wait a minute, let's look at what we're talking about here. because most people think that ryan represents the establishment, swept out to sea. what is donald trump's greatest accomplishment domestically in his presidency so far? stuart: tax cuts. >> strong economy, booming economy, jobs being created

everywhere because of two things, deregulation in the first year and this incredible tax cut at the end of the year. both those things, stuart, have been republican orthodoxy since 1981. right? so that is the party, that's the establishment policies of the republican party. and as to the party of trump, i think people kind of define it as being skeptical about immigration, skeptical about free trade, and i understand that. but so far trump's immigration policies are bogged down in legal challenges, congress not really going anywhere and the trade initiatives are a work in progress. add to that the fact that republicans control 35 state legislatures -- 32 state legislatures and 35 governorships going back ten years. and most of those republicans out there have been running on traditional republican ideas like entitlement reform, tax cuts and things like that. so the party of trump, as it's

being represented to the national media, is really not discrediting, i don't think, the republican party which is still quite healthy. stuart: original thing. henninger, what are you doing? [laughter] hold on a second. listen to what new york governor andrew cuomo had to say about trump voters. roll it. >> i don't believe anyone ran into the voting booth saying i can't wait to vote for mr. trump. boy, i feel good about this. stuart: okay. he doesn't believe that people ran -- [laughter] i don't feel good about -- i do feel good about this. what do you make of that? >> i make that this is wishful thinking. as far as i know, stuart, donald trump won the 2016 election which must have meant that a lot of people ran into that voting booth to vote for him. and andrew cuomo's specific point, the reason a lot of people voted for donald trump in no small part is that they were sick and tired of eight years of

barack obama. and just what we were talking about, barack obama's weak economy. donald trump unearthed a lot of forgotten voters in places like williams port, pennsylvania, and the rest of it who had been hurt hard by obama's economy. believe me, those people raced into to vote for donald trump. stuart: they couldn't wait to pull the lever. i think you're right, dan. thank you very much, sir. >> good to be with you. stuart: more on governor cuomo. he granted 35,000 paroled felons the right to vote. all rise, judge napolitano is here. where is he? he's not sitting next to me. he must be in d.c. there is the lad. [laughter] so what do you make -- i mean, the governor can do this. it's not unconstitutional, is it? it's a political move, isn't it? >> yeah, here's the situation he's in. he hasn't done it yet. in the state of new york, you obviously cannot vote when you're incarcerated, but you can vote when your probation and your parole is completed. he and his democratic colleagues have discovered that there's

about 35,000 people whom they believe are likely to vote democrat who are on parole, so he has offered to pardon them. the effect of which would be to nullify their parole and, therefore, they would be free to vote. now, he hasn't actually done this yet, stuart. here's the dispute. how many times can he sign his signature? he wants to do it with one executive order, but the last time the courts looked at this -- admittedly in another state involving terry mcauliffe in virginia who tried to do this with 210,000 people -- the court said you've got to sign one order per person. he got to about 22,000, he got tired of signing and he stopped. of. [laughter] you can't make this up. stuart: no, you can't. >> we don't know how this will end up. this is, apparently, some sort of a sobriquet to his leftist base, because some of them are looking at this former actress cynthia nixon.

stuart: got it. on this show we had the mayor of los alamitos describing how they're trying to break away from the california sanctuary city law. as soon as he finished on the program, he gets a phone call from the aclu -- >> wait a minute, the aclu watches "varney & company"? stuart: i don't know about that, judge. let's not get carried away, lad. [laughter] but the aclu is saying, hey, you are wasting taxpayers' money. how's that for a lawsuit? >> hard to believe that they're concerned about wasting taxpayers' money. however, under the law they are correct because the city is a creature of the legislature under the california constitution. and the legislature has decreed, for better or for worse -- i think for worse, but they have the authority to do it -- thou shalt not cooperate with the feds on matters of immigration. i think the city will lose, and the aclu will win. i'm not saying i want this outcome, but that's what i think the outcome will be. stuart: ah, you lawyers. i just want to bring to your

attention, president trump just literally tweeted about san diego. here it is. thank you, san diego county, for defending the rule of law and supporting our lawsuit against california's illegal and unconstitutional sanctuary policies. california's dangerous policies release violent criminals back into our communities, putting all americans at risk. i just wanted to get that in because it just happened. judge -- >> he will either be vindicated or rejected by a federal court very soon. stuart: there you go. we just had the gentleman on the show who wants texas to secede from the union. i cited information that you gave me saying it's extremely difficult to do that. >> right. stuart: he said you are wrong. so just hold on a second, judge, before you explode. listen to this. [laughter] >> there is this misconception out there that somehow any state that's part of the union needs permission from the other states to leave the union, and that's not entirely the case. and i'll give you a great example of what that looks like.

it's akin to saying that when the u.k. decided that they wanted to leaf -- leave the european union, they had to have the blessing from all the other countries of the european union. stuart: judge, have at it. >> i wish he were right. ideologically and historically, i agree with him. the legislation joining the union is just a piece of legislation, the legislature can rescind it. however, the last time the supreme court looked at this it said leaving the union is akin to amending the constitution, and it would require the agreement of two-thirds of both houses of congress and three-quarters of the legislatures of the remaining states. as you say, a near impossibility. stuart: game, set and match, judge. i think you won that one. [laughter] all right. we'll see you tonight on "special report," i think that's what you're doing down there. >> thank you. stuart: now this, the entire island of puerto rico was hit by a blackout. everything blacked out. this is, of course, months after the island was devastated by hurricane maria. joining us now on the phone --

excuse me -- harry dent. he's the author of "zero hour," and he's the executive editor of economy and markets newsletter. harry, i want to use you as a reporter on the blackout situation in puerto rico. are you still without power? >> you know, we are not. we're 90% back. about seven months after i moved here, they had a power outage that took 6-7 weeks to repair, and that was before the hurricane. and it took six months for a lot of people to get power out of here. the infrastructures here are not ideal, but i'm telling you, stuart, the living here, the cost of real estate, the tax advantages are off the charts. [laughter] i'm still happy to be here. but the infrastructure is, you know, they have more potholes than baltimore i tell people here. stuart: real fast, what was the original problem? why was the whole island blacked out? what happenedsome. >> well, you know, they have an aging power system that's underfunded, and the municipal

bonds have defaulted on the power, electric power system, so they're in trouble. and they can't really afford to update what they need to do here. so that's a problem. but it's not -- where i am on the beach area is where most people from the u.s. would move or vacation it's never as bad as it is in the hinterlands here. we got power back faster. my condo, i lost power for one minute before the generator in the condo -- and i was going to send you guys a picture last night of how blacked out it was except it wasn't that blacked out because since the hurricane everybody's got some sort of generator. people have adapted. stuart: harry, i've got to go, but i'm glad most people got the juice back. they deserve it. harry dent joining us as or reporter. eight of the country's most polluted cities are in california. the american lung association said los angeles and long beach, those two areas, took the spot

as the most -- as the nation's most ozone-polluted city. the report also says about 133 million americans live with unhealthful levels of air pollution. >> a third of the population. god. stuart: big number. here's another one, more from california. one million california taxpayers will owe $12 billion in tax next year all -- not all because, largely because of the new tax law that caps the deduction that they have been able to take. grover norquist will break it all down for us. and president trump's laying down the law for his meeting with north korea's leader. he'll walk out if kim goes back on his word about getting rid of his nukes. "special report"'s bret baier next. ♪ ♪ [ phone rings ] hi, tom.

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>> i'm nicole petallides with yourx business brief. take a look at bed bath and beyond. the company under pressure today after a downgrade from s&p. it is down 3.5% at 17.55. well, we know bed bath and beyond and many retailers have been under pressure when you have online retailers such as amazon. take a look at a comparative chart over the last ten years. the one shooting higher, that's amazon. that's up 70%, but bed bath and

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stuart: i think you're going to be very surprised at the results of a poll released by uc-berkeley. nearly half of californians say they support president trump's travel ban. the poll also found 59% of californians support deportations of illegals. the poll conducted in december of last year, but it was by berkeley. now this, the franchise tax board in california says one million californians will owe $12 billion more in taxes next year. grover norquist, americans for tax reform president, you've got to break this down for me. is that an extra $12 billion paid by those one million californians because of the new tax law? is that a -- or is it a total $12 billion from one million californians? >> they're talking about, actually, those folks paying higher taxes. the study claims it's $12 billion in higher taxes, that'd be about $10,000 for each of the

million. that's not ill possible. the good news -- impossible. the good news is most californians, like most americans, have already seen their pay increase, their taxes go down so that they're take-home pay is increased. across the country it's 90% of americans, but there are some states who have such high state and local taxes -- california, new york, chicago -- stuart: okay, so hold on a second. they're saying that because of the new tax law and because california is a high tax state and you can't deduct state and local taxes any longer, you can't do that, therefore, californians will pay an extra $12 billion next year compared to what they're paying this year. is that accurate? >> well, i don't know if it's accurate, but that would be a million paying $12,000 more in taxes -- stuart: no, an extra $12 billion in taxes will come out of california because of the new tax law. that's astonishing. >> well, california had been

subsidized by the rest of the country for the last 60 years because they've had higher taxes, but they've told their rich people in california don't move, we -- this is 50% off. like you go to a store and they advertise 50% off sale, it's deductible. our tax increase on you is deductible, so you shouldn't mind. at the end of the day, now, the first $10,000 for average people, that's tax deductible, the $10,000 of state and local taxes. but if you have a very expensive house and a very high income, that's a state with high property taxes and high income taxes, california could solve that problem tomorrow by cutting their income be tax. stuart: and they won't. >> their state income tax. stuart: stuart they will not do that. i've got to move on for a second. the "wall street journal," i'm sure you saw this poll, 27% surveyed think the tax plan's a good idea, 36% say it's a badded idea. you know, we've spoken often on

the benefits of this tax deal. it doesn't seem like the message is getting through, grover. >> well, first of all, the president and the house and senate need to stay on message and talk about taxes every day and not talk about three things because then the establishment press can decide to talk about something other than the tax bill and the growth that's taken place. 9 we've gone from below 2% a year growth, to in the last 12 months, 3% a year growth. that is a huge jump. we saw in february alone 800,000 people come into the job market who had been discouraged workers, 300,000 of those got jobs the first month they were in. so there's tremendous progress on higher take-home pay -- stuart: yeah. it's working, i get it. you explain to me why it's not more popular. >> well, if you watch cnn, if you watch a number of the establishment shows, you would just hear criticism from democrats.

nancy pelosi is saying that this is a tax increase on middle income people. here's how she figured that. it's a significant tax cut on middle income people, but ten year ares from now if the democrats are in charge, they won't extend it. therefore, it would snap back to obama levels of taxes, and that is a high tax increase on middle income people. because right now we have a significant tax cut on middle income americans. but she jumps ahead ten years and says this is a tax increase ten years from now was the democrat -- because the democrats don't plan to extend it because they intend to raise taxes on middle income people and ignores the next ten years of lower taxes which i believe will clearly be made permanent before the end of the day. but the press takes that quotation as if it wasn't completely cherry picked and upside down. stuart: it's very hard to fight the media when they're monolithically to opposed to anything trump. grover, i'm out of time. thanks for joining us. >> you got it.

look at your paycheck every two weeks. stuart: believe me, i do. every week, by the way, at fox. president trump getting tough on north korea. he says he'll walk out of the meeting with kim jong un if kim goes back on his word about getting rid of nukes. "special report"'s bret baier coming up on that. the castro era ending, raul castro steps down as president of cuba today. the parliament picked his right-hand man as the candidate to succeed him ending the family's long rule, but really nothing changed. more "varney" after this. ♪ ♪ copd makes it hard to breathe. so to breathe better, i go with anoro. ♪go your own way copd tries to say, "go this way." i say, "i'll go my own way" with anoro.

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stuart: president trump made a bold stan the upcoming talks with north korea's leader. brett9 baer is with us from "special report." bret, the president said, look, he walks if these talks are not fruitful. strong stuff, i think. >> yeah. and i think he's laying the groundwork for that meeting. that's what that pompeo meeting with kim jong un really did, was to test the waters to see if this is real. and we've been around the block

with north korea numerous times, even in six-party talks where they've said one thing and really haven't delivered. the seasons that pom poi -- the sense that pompeo delivered back to the president, we're told, is he is serious. stuart: that's what general jack keane told us 20-odd minutes ago. he'd spoken to pompeo right before he went to north korea. they didn't discuss that meeting, but it was quite clear from what general keane had to say that pompeo went to pyongyang and laid down the law and said, look, do we have the reasonable grounds for a meeting. and he went back to president trump and said, yes, a deal could be done. big deal. >> that's significant. and, i mean, the fact that the president is saying if it doesn't live up to everything he thinks, he's going to walk away from the table, you know, lays the parameters there. what do we need to happen? one, there are three americans that are being held by north korea. i would venture a guess they'll

be released. two, some type of commitment or long-term plan for denuclearization, and that's hard to believe by some, but that's where it seems it's headed. stuart: i'm disappointed at some senate democrats who propose to vote against pompeo for secretary of state on the grounds he doesn't stressty proposal my sufficient -- diplomacy enough. >> yeah. it's pure partisan, you know, not supporting the president's nominee. stuart: i've got to -- bret, i think it's irresponsible. i'm sorry, but i do, and i think it's really outrageous to do that. at this moment in time, to reject a man for those reasons, i'm sorry, unconscionable. >> not only that, but they've approved him before. you know, they approved him for cia director. and some of those same votes are flipping. i think more concerning for the administration are the republicans who say they have a problem, and i think they're going to work them pretty hard. stuart: well, we'll be watching "special report" tonight to see new developments, and i'm sure

there'll be many of them. >> always are. stuart: thank you very much, indeed. there will be more "varney" after this. ♪ ♪ you're trying to lower your very high triglycerides with a healthy diet... and exercise. and maybe even, unproven fish oil supplements. not all omega-3s are clinically proven or the same. discover prescription omega-3 vascepa. the one that's this pure... and fda approved. look. vascepa looks different... because it is different. it's pure epa. vascepa, along with diet, is clinically proven to lower very high triglycerides by 33% in adults, without raising bad cholesterol. that's pure power. proven to work. vascepa is not right for everyone. do not take vascepa if you are allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. tell your doctor if you are allergic to fish, have liver problems...

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stuart: this tweet just in from the president about california. governor jerry brown announced he will deploy 400 national guard troops to do nothing. the crime rate in california is high enough. we need border, security, action, not words. the important point there the federal government will not be paying, understanding that they would be paying. liz: jerry brown would pay, federal taxpayer would pay for the national guard. this is on my terms. president saying no. it is on my terms. stuart: governor brown will not put those national guard troops on the border. he will put them on the coastline and interior. he thinks the federal government

is going to pay. president trump says, no, we're not going to pay because you're not putting them on the border. liz: what a fight. stuart: here we go for a fight. good stuff. thank you, lizze. my time is up. neil cavuto, it is yours. neil: thank you very much, stuart. a couple of things we're keeping on top of the president is getting ready for key west, florida, event. you might want to make note what is happening to the economy. sign that is it is percolating. that would normally be good news but in this upside down world where american express comes out and never seen the consumer this strong in years. that is quickly interpreted that the federal reserve would have to be poised to start hiking rates more aggressively than earlier thought. 10-year note which is benchmark for some lending instruments, mortgages and the like, car loans and the like, 2.93%. this is itching to g