stuart: when we first went on the air, we had a nice rally, up 150 points. look at it now. my time is up. neil. it is yours. neil: thanks a lot. we are following a rally here. looks like we'll see a positive month nevertheless. let's see where we stand going into trading. concluding trading right now we're seeing about 1% gains for the major averages, the dow, s&p 500, not so much nasdaq. half-point gain of any sort on the month would be first of three lost months or turn things around or perception of turning things around as we kick off with the second quarter here. still two months for that. keeping an eye on that. keeping an eye on fallout from merger deal of likes of t-mobile and sprint, 26 billion bucks.

some folks are not sure it will come to pass, americans -- hence the selloff. we're waiting to hear from the president of the united states. he is hosting the nigerian president today. nigeria is battleing a boko haram. the nigerian president says i need more money to fight these guys. there is criticism that forces in his own party including him are going after christians. much attention is being paid to a meeting still two weeks off, between president trump and north korean leader kim jong un. the president seems to prefer a location between the demilitarized zone between the north and south. we posited the over the weekend the catskills and poconos would be ideal location. we were nixed on both counts

they are looking at mongolia and china. there are beautiful places in the catskills and poconos but the white house response was move on so we're moving on. to a former deputy state department spokesman why the venue matters. ambassador, the president seems to want it in the demilitarized zone. other visited the zone in the past without discussions to the north korean leader. where do you think ultimately it will be? >> your guess is as good as mine, quite frankly. i'm shocked we're even having discussions after first year. calling him "rocket man" and testing ballistic missiles and

hawaii went on a missile alert. look where we've come in a short period of time. i have to say i think the president proved the skeptics wrong in this. with respect to the location itself, look, historically, when you have sort of these summits between rival powers you like to choose neutral territory. i'm thinking the president reagan and mikhail gorbachev meeting in iceland the, the reykjavik summit. neil: sure, sure. >> the demilitarized zone is a neutral territory but in the middle of a war zone. that would show the president going to the belly of the beast and looking presidential, however, you know, it is a little, it's a little close for comfort with all those, with all those loaded guns pointed at each other in that very spot. my guess it will not be in the demille at that rised zone.

it will be a neutral territory. not china. mongolia kind of makes sense. it is not that easy for the north korean leader to get around. i don't think he will want to go too far from home given the kind of regime that he runs. mongolia makes sense but look, the venue is important but what strikes me is also worth talking about, or considering is, i am stunned that the north koreans have floated a proposal before the meeting. i mean they have -- neil: actually several proposals, ambassador. >> yes. neil: they already talked about stopping missile tests, dismantling the entire nuclear program. one thing they asked in return in one of the original discussions was that we, agree not to attack them. and i'm wondering almost seems like too much after lay up what do you make of that?

>> they are proving, surprisingly subtle and tactful and aggressive. they're driving the agenda. they're putting forward their negotiating positions which we have to respond. neil: this is 180 from where they were six months ago. you would like to see this knew about face as welcome, whatever, i worry. i don't mean to be cynical or jaded here, i worry they're being a little too forthcoming, a little too agreeable, but i don't know what to make of it. >> mr. cavuto you could say the same thing about the president united states. neil: you are absolutely right. you are absolutely right no this is great story to watch and a difficult one to predict. neil: no, you're absolutely right about that we've come a long way from "rocket man." ambassador, thank you very, very

much. >> yes. neil: the south korean president says whatever happens in this, by the way the nigerian leader arrived at the white house. buhari has been fighting a war we should stress with isis elements and boko haram. in the northeast of the country, it is so bad that boko haram is actually in control of that portion of the country. a fifth of the country. people there pay taxes to boko haram. he desperately wants financial, military aid, a lot of weaponry from the president. no indication whether he will get that. it has been an aggressive back and forth. other groups came forward, this nigerian guy is not exactly a saint. his forces have been going after christians in the country. so don't give him a dime. back and forth we go. we'll keep a close eye on it. they are making a joint statement in little more than an hour 1/2. back to what is going on in north korea, back and forth there, the south korean leader

said you sir, deserve a nobel peace prize. he said no, it should go to donald trump if it ever comes to pass. he deserves it. he got us talking. he got us going. but the way you watch a lot of media portray it, we can rifle through some of these headlines, the feeling seems to be the president really isn't helping matters any. trumps incoherence on north korea and iran or the two core rewas as trump's bargaining chips slip away. one in the "new york times," the bargaining chip he wanted put on the table by south korean leader. the south korean leader said the bargaining chips were there because the president offered them. you don't know who to believe. i do know even if he were to get a peace agreement, i wonder even get, i don't know, a 4-h fair prize for this. "washington examiner" emily

jashinsky and ryan march a. emily, not unusual for the media to take critical view of trade deals or other deals might be in the making or not. this one in particular seems to recognize the befuddlement of the media, all the tough talk with north korea, calling him "rocket man," everything else might actually be paying off and might actually be working. what do you make of that? >> right. i think that will be a tough pill to swallow as things progress for a lot of the president's enemies in the press. it is too early to give full credit and i also think it is too early to take full credit away. there are a lot of things at play. we saw what china did when it pursued sanctions against north korea. that had a huge effect of course. there is a lot of stuff to disentangle and a lot of credit to be given but as we see things progress and things play out, that is headed towards a tough pill to swallow as some in the press thought up donald trump would be ineffective in the negotiations. neil: turns upside down how you

try diplomacy, how you look at democratic and republican presidents. it would be a kick if it did, right? i mean we might rethink our diplomatic strategy going forward on everything? >> i think that the twitter diplomacy is really being effective. people were panicking saying president trump would cause a nuclear war. it intimidated the trump regime. focused on the human rights, that is especially effective. when you have pompeo and bolton, says we openly support the korean opposition that wants to bring freedom in the world so few place where it happened, i think that scared the living daylights out of kim jong-un. you're already having success here. this dramatic change in tone, talking about getting rid of nuclear weapons and broader

disarmament, that alone is a success regardless whether it actually happens. neil: you know the president has said, emily, he will up and walk away from the table if it doesn't look like they're going anywhere. i don't know the time frame he was using or what would be, you know, such a severe development that it would mean he would walk away. i assumed no guarranty on the part of the north koreans we could check them on whatever nuclear promises they're making. what did you make of that? >> that gets to something really interesting how donald trump handled the situation. to a lot of world leaders and north korea he is completely unpredictable. which is scary in of itself. they don't know what to expect from donald trump. he talks really strong. you can put this together whether military moves or sanctions or his rhetoric. most experts agree he is applying unprecedented amount of pressure and being very strong in his position towards north korea. the rhetoric lends to the idea he is unpredictable.

you don't know what to expect from donald trump that certainly i think plays a role here. neil: ryan, i'm remembering the north korean leader six months ago he was very bellicose, looking for the destruction of america. i am going into this with ice wide open as the president and others in this country. these are developments far more seen in the past. he is pretty wiley. his father was wiley. hoodwink ad lot of peep. his grandfather the same. woe want to check verify what he commits to here. i don't know who the real kim jong un is, the crazy guy launching missiles three months ago or the guy trying could come off as win ton churchhill. >> i don't think kim jong-un knows who the real kim jong un is. i think he is that divorced from reality. he understands one thing, he wants to live and live well. apparently he feels that is

threatened. you can't underestimate how important the tone of the north korean regime has changed. for decades that was the surviving ingredient of the north korean regime. they may change tone in a little bit, but they always say death to america, we'll nuke you. that suddenly is all stop. don't forget about the connection to iran, assad, most importantly, hezbollah. if we smart sharing information with the north korean regime we might get a window into the dark activities of the iranians we never had before. neil: we'll watch closely. thank you very much. meantime back to another crisis, one close to home here, this caravan, hundreds awaiting to have their asylum cases to be heard. we already told them there are too many cases to be heard at least in the time frame you want and that is not going down well. in fact it is not going down

well at all, after this. ♪

the sun is shining so why binge in here, when you can do it out there. with this clever little app called audible. you can listen to the stories you love

while doing the things you love, outside. everyone's doing it she's binging... they're binging... and... so is he. so put on your headphones, turn on audible and binge better. with dell small businessout your technology advisors you get the one-on-one partnership you need to grow your business. the dell vostro 15 laptop. contact a dell advisor today. we use our phones the same way these days. so why do we pay to have a phone connected when we're already paying for internet? shouldn't it all just be one thing? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet.

you can get up to 5 lines of talk and text included at no extra cost. so all you pay for is data. see how you could save $400 or more a year. and get $200 back when you sign up for xfinity mobile and add a new line of unlimited. xfinity mobile. it's a new kind of network designed to save you money. click, call or visit an xfinity store today. neil: how many times you heard about this caravan right now in tijuana, mexico, right on the

california, mexico border, just south of san diego and the united states. they want entrance into the united states. they want their paperwork checked so they can claim their asylum status but the message from jeff sessions and others is, you're going to have to wait in line. there is long line already of existing facilities are already crowded and whose demands we're taking on case-by-case basis. hillary vaughn is at the border with more on how that is all going to go. how is it going? reporter: hey, neil. it is taking a while. hundreds of people showed up in the caravan are camped out on the other side of the border in mexico waiting to be processed but it could be weeks before that happened. they can only process 300 people at the facility. they are not the first ones to arrive seeking entry into the u.s. because it will take a while. u.s customs & border patrol officials say they just don't have the room. some camped out overnight, but others decided to ditch the

caravan, climbed border fence trying to enter the u.s. illegally. u.s customs & border protection chief rodney scott, said over past 24 hours, several groups of people associated with the central american caravan, entered the united states without immigration document, sending children as young as four years old, incruding a pregnant woman over the border fence over the san ysidro border check point. they arrived with lawyers offering counsel to the group. agent scott said, some are getting advice, warning immigrants will be prosecuted if they enter the u.s. illegally or make false statements to officials to receive asylum. but immigration advocates say it is the u.s. and their immigration policies that are actually forcing these immigrants to break the law. >> the message for customs and border protection, stop rejecting asylum-seekers who try to present themselves at the port of entry.

you know what you're doing. you know you turn people away. you complain that they are breaking the law by entering illegally. you are breaking the law and you are forcing them to break the law. that is why we have caravans. reporter: neil, this is going to get increasingly heated. i my graduation advocates acutioning the u.s. not sending additional resources to process the caravan they knew they had been coming. again the u.s. said from the beginning when this caravan headed towards the u.s., we don't have the room to process these hundreds of people that are going to show up, urging them to seek asylum in mexico where they are right now. those camped out at the border don't want to. they want to come here to the u.s. they will have to wait for it. neil? neil: hillary vaughn, thank you very, very much. to echo something hillary mentioned and this is view that jeff sessions the attorney general, he described this caravan activity as a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system, by

claiming asylum status, you make it incumbent upon yourself to prove it or not. and a lot of people can't prove it. hence this idea is just a ruse to which to enter the united states. republican congressman jodey arrington on all of this. congressman, good to have you. >> good to be with you, neil. neil: if you had to guess, neil, how many of let's say the few hundred, whatever the number is are legitimate asylum-seekers, have a legitimate grief, i believe the vast majority come from honduras, for example, what would you say? how many have a real security beef? >> well, it is going to be, it is hard for me to tell. i wouldn't speculate. i would say that too many people have taken advantage of our current legal framework and our policy framework. let me give you an example. right now the threshold to be given credible, sort of fear of

persecution that gets you into the system, actually gets you released into the interior of our country and a court date that should occur, you know, two years on average. that standard is a possibility of a fear of persecution, as opposed to a probability. that is just one example of how lax our asylum laws are. then on top of that. once they are released because of the backlog in the court cases, they will spend over two years in the interior of our country. after 180 days, the current policy is, that they're authorized to get a work permit. so this is, the incentives only encourage people to take advantage of this. to claim asylum fraudulently to become permanent residents of this country, and it is one of the many broken parts of our immigration system that have to be fixed and fixed soon. neil: congressman, we have been saying that as our security

officials have been saying many will have to wait in mexico our customs and border patrol people are overwhelmed. looks like many are not receiving receiving that news very well. i wonder what mexico is doing here? to hear some tell it, dare van, whatever you want to call it, 1500 strong, coming from likes of honduras, further south, has been given a green light by mexico to get where it is now. i don't know how much of that is true, but as mexico offered or done anything to deal with this? the white house says they have not. in fact they have worsened it. >> i don't believe they have. all accounts suggest they haven't lifted a finger. in fact i would suggest they're aiding and abetting by not having folks, if there is legitimacy to their seeking asylum, that they should stay as secretary nielsen said, in the first safe country that would be mexico. but, no, it seems like they're

being facilitated through the interior of mexico to our border, for us to deal with. if we're going to continue to have these free-trade agreements, in partnership with our neighbor mexico, those guys will have to take seriously the threats we feel as a nation to our border security and to the safety and security of the american people because we're not vetting these folks. we're just taking their word. like i said the threshold is low. they get in. they are released for two years. most don't even show up for the hearing. we need stiffer penalties for fraud. we need to give more resources to the trump administration for deenat thatting folks. look the law today is, if you do get a credibility determination for asylum, and you do get, and your court date is about two years plus, then you are supposed to be detained until such time as you get a court hearing. today we have about 35,000 beds. we don't have the capacity. so there is a lot of pieces to

this, including making sure the infrastructure there is for this administration to do its job. neil: congressman, thank you very, very much. we'll keep an eye on it. >> thank you, neil. neil: some of the typical definitions for asylum status, threatened via government overthrow in country of origin, you your family or sect or religion or group in general, could be economic commonality is threatened that could be the asylum status could be granted to you, absent it gets dicey to prove, absent that it gets longer to prove, and absent that it gets messier. we'll have more after this. transparency in the way we're compensated. our philosophy is one of service, not sales...

that's why i'm independent. charles schwab is proud to support more independent financial advisors and their clients than anyone else. visit findyourindependentadvisor.com metastatic breast cancer is relentless, but i'm relentless too. mbc doesn't take a day off, and neither will i. and i treat my mbc with new everyday verzenio- the only one of its kind that can be taken every day. in fact, verzenio is a cdk4 & 6 inhibitor for postmenopausal women with hr+, her2- mbc, approved, with hormonal therapy, as an everyday treatment for a relentless disease. verzenio + an ai is proven to help women have significantly more time without disease progression,

and more than half of women saw their tumors shrink vs an ai. diarrhea is common, may be severe, and may cause dehydration or infection. before taking verzenio, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection. verzenio may cause low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infection that can lead to death. serious liver problems can occur. symptoms may include tiredness, loss of appetite, stomach pain, and bleeding or bruising more easily than normal. blood clots that can lead to death have also occurred. talk to your doctor right away if you notice pain or swelling in your arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain or rapid breathing or heart rate. tell your doctor if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. common side effects include nausea, infections, low red and white blood cells and platelets, decreased appetite, headache, abdominal pain, tiredness, vomiting, and hair thinning or loss. i'm relentless. and my doctor and i choose to treat my mbc with verzenio. be relentless. ask your doctor about everyday verzenio. be relentless. ♪

most people come to la with big dreams. ♪ we came with big appetites. with expedia, you could book a flight, hotel, car, and activity all in one place. ♪

your company is and the decisions you make have far reaching implications. the right relationship with a corporate bank who understands your industry and your world can help you make well informed choices and stay ahead of opportunities. pnc brings you the resources of one of the nation's largest banks, and a local approach with a focus on customized insights. so you and your company are ready for today. neil: how many times have t-mobile and sprint tried to get together? the last go round when barack obama was still president and atmosphere was such, signal was such, this ain't going to work guys. we want four big wireless

players. we don't want to bring it down to three. things have changed or have they? charlie gasparino live at the milken conference going on in california. what are you hearing, buddy? >> neil, this is a great place to be if you want to talk about this merger for couple reasons. tons of deal-makers here. head of the antitrust division, the doj antitrust division is wandering around. he is the guy that will make the antitrust call on this thing. i tried to find mr. delrim. he ran the other way for obvious reasons. the bankers have not been running away and they're optimistic. they believe the trump administration from antitrust standpoint, media, telecom and distribution is more worried about big vertical and lots of content, i.e., at&t, time warner, comcast and various content plays than sort of horizontal mergers.

at least according to deal-makers i talked to, the doj believes that inovation is such that it doesn't really matter anymore whether there is four or three. we have 5g in the future. doj antitrust and all the levers of government in the trump administration is really worried about china and them stealing our information and the ability for them to steal our information through these mergers. that is really where the focus is. you can tell, essentially through some of the questions that cfius that government agency that has to review every deal, they are real hard on ownership, foreign ownership of companies, whether china can get into our technology through this foreign ownership. so this type of deal, despite the fact that it seems to lessen the amount of people, lessen the competition out there, right, we to from four to three carriers, they're not as worried about this they see competition

picking up the slack. it is the cfius stuff, the chinese stuff. if you're going to gameplan, look what happens with, it's a very small deal, it's skybridge. fund to funds owned by anthony scaramucci. that deal is before cfius this week. let's see if they approve that deal. neil: let's see. the president knew you were talking. so he is talking right now. >> many things we do together as you know. probably, especially on terrorism and terrorism-related. we also have a very big trade deal we're working on for military equipment, helicopters and the like. we have met before. we have developed a great relationship and we look forward to our discussion today. very important, but again especially as it relates to terrorism. and that's terrorism here and terrorism all over the world. it is a hotbed and we're going to be stopping that. also we had very serious problems with christians who

have been murdered, killed in nigeria. we're going to be working on that problem and working on that problem very, very hard. because we can't allow that to happen. mr. president, thank you very much for being here. >> thank you. [inaudible] >> i thank the president very much for inviting me and for -- [inaudible] -- moving towards a physical presence of the united states administration that would -- in nigeria and -- [inaudible]

the united states get rid of terrorism and -- we have very great support. the problem of the technical and hardest -- very long [inaudible] the mutual concerns that the nigeriaians have -- never more than a stick to cut don't foalage to get to their enemies. i don't think people should underrate -- [inaudible]

remind that they move to the country and our regions and they [inaudible] to make sure we have struck a cross-border and so on. and to get [inaudible] but it is going to take time and action by the united states in trying to see an end to violence because the boko haram in nigeria -- [inaudible]

now that [inaudible] to the institutions in nigeria. >> thank you very much. isis, much has taken place over the last 12 months but boko haram has been terrible and how did you do with the young woman that were kidnapped? how is that going? >> [inaudible] only a number of them -- 160 were kidnapped. 100 have come back.

united nations organizations -- [inaudible] we haven't given up. we're trying to bring everybody back. >> a terrible problem. mr. president, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> let's go. make your way out, please. make your way out, let's go. neil: all right. that is one way of stopping the tape, stopping the tape. all right. this is the first official visit from a subafrican head of state in the case of the nigerian muhammadu buhari visiting here, democratically elected to head the country but he is having a devil of a time dealing with islamist extremist elements including boko haram, that literally has taken over the northeast corner of the country. in fact it has gotten so bad

according to intelligence sources you talk to, that folks in that part of the country are paying taxes to boko haram, ransom they call it. the president is telling our president, i need some help. there was talk providing 600 million bucks of military aircraft used to target the boko haram strongholds. don't know the status of that, that it was disrupted by many in the united states that the president was not doing enough to counter separate attacks by the felani group, targeting christians and killing scores of them. until they had proof of that he had done something about that he wouldn't help them with boko haram. it's a mess. and he will talk with president of the united states and business groups who he will be chatting while he is here. we'll have more after this. as a control enthusiast,

i'm all-business when i travel... even when i travel... for leisure. so i go national, where i can choose any available upgrade in the aisle - without starting any conversations- -or paying any upcharges. what can i say? control suits me. go national. go like a pro.

neil: all right. we have a local charlie brady runs all things stock, the guy is a genius. if we're up this month, neil, it would be after three down months. sure enough he is right. in order to sustain that, we'll have to sustain something here. we're in positive territory, not by much. so, wild swings we could lose this here. it would be a good start to the second quarter if we finish april up. right now that is looking the case, for the time-being. but, there are concerns, like reports out of "the wall street journal" today and others that a lot of foreigners are losing interest in our debt. they're still involved. they're just not as involved. seeing as we seem to be accumulating debt at a pretty record rate that could be a worry. is it to my next guest? market watchers, gary kaltbaum and trevor hanger. trevor, to you, right now, is it a worry? >> well, i think for the

time-being it is something that you have to keep an eye on. i wouldn't say we're in a place right now that is going to cause a whole lot of panic. something to keep an eye on. second quarter, third quarter, for the trump administration will be a big one in terms of impact on the marketplace. certainly if the looming trade wars kick up in high gear it will be something that investors will not take kindly too. neil: since we're accumulating debt at a rapid rate, even if they were to remain frozen in place right now, catherine, that would mean less foreign participation technically. would that worry you? >> neil, what worries me, we have to face facts the debt is unsustainable and deficits are growing. we talked about this before. tax reform is great. we're bringing down taxes. revenue is lower, that's fine. but can produce more revenues from stronger economic growth but what we feed to do reform the entitlement programs. those are the biggest drains on

the fiscal accounts. over 10 years time we'll have social security completely bankrupt, medicare, medicaid, interest payments consuming 100% of our revenues. this is something we need to face. in the times of paul ryan we were facing this, but the republican party has not focused what is important here. neil: these are issues that with slight adjustments even today, gary, could solve a lot of problems. but we don't show the willingness. i fault both parties for that. what do you think? >> of course. when you thought ryan and mcconnell who promised they were going to do something, decided to spend an extra 300 billion a year, i don't blame foreigners. first off, they're not getting a lot for their money. and number two, we're not doing nothing about it. to simplify it, today we added $3 billion to our debt, every day going forward. today, one billion of our tax dollars went to pay the interest on the debt and all the numbers will skyrocket the next few years. that is not including if

interest rates spike higher f that happens, look out. neil: the flip to that, if we see growth move up to 3%, a little bit north of that, that can solve a lot of problems. are you in the camp that it will? >> i think a move north of 3% would make a big difference. it is important right now for people to believe the u.s. economy is clicking along at the right pace. you know, the commentary on this, this panel about where we're headed from a spending perspective is real, it's a problem and then you can't look to washington to reform entitlements at any point in the near term or even the medium term. neil: i think you're right. >> i that is not going to happen. paul ryan's decision not to seek re-election is the tightest point there. so it is important for the signs of growth to be there because if they start to go, it could be a problem for the republican party. neil: but so far so good on tax money, coming in at revenue.

republicans like to say, that is their secret weapon, despite your concerns catherine, it's working. you say what? >> undoubtedly, neil, and i think the 1.4 trillion we're talking about next 10 years for tax cuts, the cost will be funded by economic growth. it is strong for economic growth. it looks good. my concern going forward next 10 years, unsustainability of deficits and lack of government incentive to tackle deficits. at this point, i will add one thing. china will not be selling our debt there. is no market as deep, as liquid as u.s. treasurys. china has massive trillion dollar surpluses in their trade accounts, in their reserves. there is nowhere they can park their money rather than than in u.s. treasurys. i don't think -- neil: unless we get into a trade war, gary, where spite overcomes wisdom, right. >> i don't think they will cut their nose off to spite their face. >> right. >> if things go the wrong way they get hurt also.

but i have to mention something here. i don't think 3% does the trick because because of the trajectory which way the debt is going. people of this country is doing a great job. washington is fighting against us with how much debt and deficits out there unfortunately. neil: aren't you a cheerful person? guys, thank you very, very much. did any see the white house correspondents dinner. i did not. that morning i had joe piscopo on my weekend show. after the dust-up with comics and overreacting that every one has to calm down. then came the dinner. not a single person listened to joe. he is back. i want to tell you, you don't want to get joe upset. he is here next. 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 can focus on new things like exotic snacks. talk with your advisor about shield annuities from brighthouse financial- established by metlife. and i recently had hi, ia 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. there's nothing more important than your health. so if you're on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b here's why. medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. you might want to consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like any medicare supplement insurance plan, these help pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay.

and, these plans let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. you could stay with the doctor or specialist you trust... or go with someone new. you're not stuck in a network... because there aren't any. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide and find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. there's a range to choose from, depending on your needs and your budget. rates are competitive. and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. like any of these types of plans, they let you apply whenever you want. there's no enrollment window... no waiting to apply. so call now. remember, medicare supplement plans

help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. you'll be able to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. whether you're on medicare now or turning 65 soon, it's a good time to get your ducks in a row. duck: quack! call to request your free decision guide now. because the time to think about tomorrow is today. >> if a tree falls in the woods how do we get kellyanne under that tree? [laughter]. we all have our kinks. i actually really like sarah. i think she is very resourceful. like she burns fat and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. maybe she is born with it. maybe it's lies. neil: when i was talking to my buddy joe piscopo on live

saturday show, he almost telegraphed to a t. white house correspondents dinner, how we police comedy, how it can go too far, every one can get embarrassed, lo and behold he must have written the jokes, michelle wolf, depending who you talked to she bombed. others in the comic community are supporting her. joe, your point, we were talking about how everything is sort of fed off this anger that people have. we were talking as well about what is happening on "snl," former cast members say they're too liberal, too mean, that nazi. your thoughts. >> this was like the improvization nightclub back in the late '70s at 2:30 in the morning with seven drunk people in the audience, where you went- neil: that was your core audience. >> that was it. you know who my buddy was, gilbert gotfried. neil: no way. >> larry david was there. robin would come in. we could say anything and we were rude and we were vicious.

but this is the white house correspondents dinner. i thought i was in a club 1979 again. inexcusable. neil: decorum should be used. >> sorry, inexcusable. don't do abortion jokes, please, especially with catholics. don't go after sarah huckabee. don't go after kellyanne conway. they are nice people. do you need a white house correspondents dinner. every day is a white house correspondent dinner. neil: i think the whole thing is stupid. it raises money for good causes don't get me wrong but you're sucking up to them. >> the material is there. you have donald trump in the hall. this odd couple, that's a great material. all i waited for donald trump, waiting for the noogie after the dandruff thing with macron. come here, macron. neil: another one's jibe is another one's fierce attack and

unfair. you were talking about rob schneider, formerly of "snl," criticizing the portrayal of donald trump is too mean. the whole cast has gone too left. it is not even funny. your thoughts. >> i think "saturday night live" can do whatever they want. i will stand you up, the place that gave me my career, for better or worse. neil: you want to keep getting invited to the party. >> they never invite me -- neil: big anniversary you were there. stop. >> it's true. it's true. i have to stick up it to the place i came up with. i want to be loyal. neil: did it lean left? >> it always leaned left. neil: i told "the daily news." you would assume they would lean more left and liberal. now the cat is out of the bag. they're completely against trump i think makes it less interesting, because you know the direction they're going. >> you would like to see them pick on the left a little more but, when i was there, told you i used to satire ronald reagan. i was a little more than a

little left. fact of the matter -- neil: but reagan thought you were funny. >> he invited me to the white house. diffused everything. neil: he had you audited for eight years. >> you by said it is "saturday night live," iconic "saturday night live," the brilliance of all the people on the show. they have credibility to make fun of someone. if you're an upcoming comic. you start picking on some really nice people in washington, that -- neil: that is changing definition. like many comics come to her defense, comedienne's defense, michelle wolf, come dawn. she calm down. i don't know what she -- do you think there is certain license for comedians to push the edge? >> nowadays you can do anything. neil: they countered, president people who supported him, said far worse about the media, if that justifies anything but your thoughts? >> they always go, i always thought the mean people were old

republicans, the old angry white guys republicans. when the left get mean, i'm a former democrat, when the left gets mean they get mean, neil. this was too far. i thought it was too far. neil: you like fair and balanced criticism. johnny carson, jay leno. >> it was classy. they didn't go after abortion jokes or personally attack somebody. angela merkel and macron is embracing the kids. angela, you touch me i will hit you with the back of my hand donald trump. i never liked you. the material is there. neil: it is there. >> i smack you. i smack you. neil: i know nothing. that will do it. censors are calling and the lawyers. more after this.

neil: all right, we want to bring you up-to-date not on on the markets, so far positive for the month here, but the address that benjamin netanyahu has a vital address, wanted to make personally to the nation as he put it, concerning iran. we don't know what he's planning to say, we don't know the detail of his remarks, but the world is watching fairly closely, as you might imagine given these times. let's get the latest, other developments going on at the white house as well. the president with the leader of nigeria, all of these

cross-currents on the upcoming north korea talks. blake is on it. >> reporter: president trump at the white house with his nigerian counterpart, they're talking terrorism and trade. we are going to get a joint news conference with the two of them within the next half hour or so, a host of questions that could be lobbed to the president on this day including potentially for him to dive into what exactly he meant earlier or this morning with this tweet right here in which he wrote of his upcoming north korea summit with kim jong un. quote: numerous cups are being considered -- countries are being considered, but would peace house on the border of north and south korea be a more representative, important and lasting site than a third-party country? just asking. the president floating the possibility that maybe he could do what moon jay-in just did -- moon jae-in just did. on the international front as well, the president also has a big decision to make today as it relates to steel and aluminum

tariffs. the countries of the european union, canada, mexico, a handful of companies that have been exempt, he has to decide by tonight if those exemptions will continue and by next week, may 12th, the president has to decide if he will stay in the iran nuclear deal or not. and we await, much of the world awaits right now the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, who is set to address his people in israel with news regarding iran. potentially, neil, this news conference, this statement rather from benjamin net an yahoo! hue -- netanyahu may be setting the desperate for president trump to pull out of that deal. neil? neil: thank you very much, blake burman. we are getting more word on what the israeli prime minister's going say about iran, apparently citing dramatic intelligence about that nuke deal and how the iranians are cheating. he is expected to reveal evidence of how it is not come

plying -- that is, iran not complying -- with that nuclear deal it signed on to back in 2015. that was an effort led by barack obama and the european community. he is set to deliver this address, it's being pushed back a little bit. but, again, as they gather the details and we hear the details, we'll pass them along. aa want to -- i want to first get the read on this with the former undersecretary of defense. maybe you'll indulge me here. he apparently is going to refer to intelligence that proves what the president, this president has long claimed, that the iranians are cheating. do you think he's right? >> i think he's right. i think it's pretty much certain because the iranians have admitted as much insofar as saying that, well, if you cancel the deal, we're going to restart our nuclear uranium enrichment within four days. well, they're supposed to have destroyed or mothballed the centrifuges that would allow them to do that. so they're obviously cheating in some way, i suspect strongly that netanyahu will confirm that

and probably other ways too. don't forget, neil, these guys are in deep cooperation with the north koreans, and they've been jointly, jointly developing both missiles and nuclear weapons. neil: now, the north koreans could be an important wedge here. if we give them what they want or talks prove promising -- that's always in the eye of the beholder, i grant you -- but they might give us some dirt on the iranians, or is that hoping too much? or are you many that cynical camp that says, look, he's lied to us before, don't trust him? >> you know me, neil, i'm always a glass half empty kind of guy. [laughter] this is going to be another case where the north koreans are not going to give us anything they don't get trapped into giving us. in this case, the israelis have probably come up with good, solid intelligence. their intelligence is real darn good, so i suspect we're going to hear something that is going to be startling to a lot of people, especially in europe, macron and merkel who have been here lobbying hard for the nuclear deal that obama signed. neil: you know, what that

community will probably say, secretary, is that, oh, these are are the israelis, of course they're going to say that. this is something that prime minister netanyahu has been saying for years, nothing changes. >> well, that's probably right to some degree. and let's, you know, not forget that netanyahu is a political animal. so he's going to be citing things that he thinks are going to push trump to do what he wants him to do -- neil: and by the way, separately domestically been dealing with a scandal. none of that might be true and all, but it would be, to hear cynics point out -- not that you're in that camp -- but a distraction. >> of course. god knows our president's never used world events to distract from current events. [laughter] i mean, heaven forbid. the point of the matter is this happens all the time. we'll have to look at what netanyahu says tonight, and we're going to have to see what our cia says in response to that, the nsa says, and i think mr. trump will have something to

say about it pretty quickly. it's a very serious matter. this is the most hot thing that's on his plate right now, so trump as to deal with it. on may 12th he's going to one way or the other -- neil: it's pretty clear everyone seems to think he's going to divorce himself from that deal entirely. >> yeah. i don't think there's much choice. he's got great evidence they're cheating, he knows they're not going to be delaying at all in developing nuclear weapons, i don't think he has a choice. neil: i don't think you're cynical can, i think you're cautiously optimistic. [laughter] you're also one of the smartest people i know, but i don't know a lot of smart people. [laughter] kidding. very good having you. meanwhile, treasury secretary steve mnuchin was telling maria bartiromo what to expect from that upcoming trip to china of his. listen. >> i'm cautiously optimistic about the meetings. i don't really want to predict what's going to happen and what's not going to happen. we're going to have or very frank discussions. these are issues that president trump has been focused on for

over the last year, and hopefully we'll make significant progress. we're going there to make progress, that's our objective. neil: you know, this is like an avengers economic team going over there. i mean, not only mnuchin, but we have larry kudlow, virtually his entire team going along, the trade representative going along in a full-court press to let the chinese know what we want, the hear from the chinese what they want. so they're not sending any slouches there. this is a full-court effort now to try to get the chinese to concede with only days to go on all of this. market watcher john layfield, "wall street journal" reporter shelby holliday. that's the a-team, shelby, including the treasury secretary who tells maria he's cautiously optimistic. are you? >> i think cautiously optimistic is the appropriate word. i thought another word that was really important he said is the goal is to make progress. so i don't think anyone expects them to come away with a final deal or anything set in stone. the chinese have also been

laying out some markers ahead of this meeting, and they have said they are not willing to negotiate on two important things. they're willing to talk about decreasing the deficit, but that will not have anything to do with concessions to the made in china 2025 program. that's very important to china. and they've been willing to deal with some of the what we call forced tech transfer that the trump administration says china steals u.s. tech. but they really don't want to budge on some of the most important high-tech aspects of their economy. as we know, china's trying to transition into this industrialized nation, and things like semiconductors and electric cars are really important to them. they don't really want to budge, and they have the leverage. neil: you know, we talk about that leverage, john, about whether they cut back -- that is, the chinese who own a little more than a trillion or dollars of our debt -- slow down purchases of that debt or reverse are it. what do you think? >> yeah, i think china is holding a lot more of the cards than we currently are. i'm not sure why they're going

after them with tariffs. we only import 2.2% of steel from china. the real problem is the intellectual property theft and what they're doing where they're load aring up a lot of companies around the world with too much debt like they did to structure lank ca. surrey lank ca. that's much more of an issue in china right now. the big issue for global trade and what people are watching is what's going on in the e.u. tomorrow they have to decide, the administration has to decide whether to extend these exemptions for the e.u. the e.u. has already lobbied the world trade organization on april 16th, and the bush administration got the largest sanction in wto history, $2 billion back in 2002, for almost the exact same thing. so this is a bigger deal, to me, what's going on with the e.u. tomorrow as far as global trade. neil: you know, i don't want to just throw sudden developments on either of them right now, but benjamin netanyahu will be addressing the israeli people presumely to talk about in -- presume -- presumably to talk

about how iran has been cheating on that nuclear agreement. it will frustrate those who want to keep the deal and see ways to improve it. but, shelby, seeing as iran plays such a close role or has been alleged to with the north koreans, it's another wildward for the markets, isn't it -- wildcard for the arguments. >> yes. and right now you have the chinese watching trump to see what his decisions are with respect to the iran nuclear deal, with respect to north korea. every world leader is sort of looking at how trump follows i through on what he's been saying. he's made a lot of threats and he's said he's willing to pull out of deals, whether they're trade deals or nuclear deals, but i do think that the posturing here is really important. and so as you said, they're big wildcards. nobody knows for sure what will happen, and that's what trump wants. trump never wants to forecast what his moves are going to be. but we heard the chinese say

trump is a dealmaker, he's a businessman, he goes in with, you know, the dream number, the dream formula for what he wants, and he's willing to negotiate down. so i think we could be getting some tea leaves possibly to read not just with respect to the iran nuclear deal, but with trade, with nafta -- neil: yeah. with a lot of things that are on the table. john, we are getting some material coming in from this speech in which the prime minister of israel is detailing where and how and particularly how often iran has cheated on this deal. this is israeli intelligence, we're told, that will prove that this, you know, deal wasn't worth the paper it was printed on, or so that is the israeli view. this president holds the same view. do you think if the president were to formally junk it, as he's very strongly hinted, that would rattle the markets or embolden them? >> not significantly. i don't think it's going to have a huge effect. i thought this was a terrible deal that was made with iran,

but i thought companies were going to rush into iran. that was what all the projections said. these companies did not rush into iran because they were worried about president trump coming and junking this deal like you just mentioned, and i think if that happens, it's not going to have as big an effect as people thought it would have, say, six months ago when you thought these companies -- you could not put these sanctions back on that's been almost four decades from being put on to given with. neil: all right, guys, you handled it flawlessly. we are managing prime minister benjamin netanyahu of israel who is addressing his nation and detailing the graphics and power point or something similar, i guess, to show how often the iranians have been cheating on this and secretly developing a nuclear program that the french say they have not, that the germans insist they have not, and he begs to differ. we'll have more after this.

there's nothing small about your business. with dell small business technology advisors you get the one-on-one partnership you need to grow your business. the dell vostro 15 laptop. contact a dell advisor today.

if you're approaching 65, now's the time to get your ducks in a row. to learn about medicare, and the options you have. you see, medicare doesn't cover everything - only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so if 65 is around the corner, think about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans,

they help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. so don't wait. call to request your free decision guide. and gather the information now to help you choose a plan later. these types of plans let you pick any doctor or hospital that takes medicare patients. and there's a range of plans to choose from, depending on you needs and your budget. so if you're turning 65 soon, call now and get started. because the time to think about tomorrow...is today. go long. neil: all right, i want to take you live to israel for a little bit to listen in on benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister there, detailing how he says there's incontrovertible evidence that the iranians have been cheating on that deal again and again and again. exposing rampant abuse of that package while they have not been cutting back on nuclear

capabilities. quite the opposite, they have been building on them. let's listen in. >> developing nuclear force. here's a photo showing the testing process and -- [inaudible] from archives. and here's a secret underground facility the iranians were building to produce nuclear cores. we have hundreds of documents for each of these components. third component, building nuclear implosion systems. this is an original uranium photo of a measuring device for explosions, and here's a simulation of a nuclear implosion. fourth, paragraphing nuclear tests -- preparing nuclear tests. here's a map of five potential locations for a nuclear test in eastern iran. one, with two, three, four, five. we have many, many, many more

such documents. and fifth, integrating nuclear weapons on missiles. he's -- here's a desire for nuclear payload -- [inaudible] with the missile from the archives. here's the warhead, here's the bomb. and i don't have to remind you that iran is continuing expanding the range of its ballistic missiles, its nuclear-capable missiles. they started with 1,000 kilometers, they're up to 2,000 roughly. they can reach riyadh, tel aviv, moscow, but they're working on far, far greater ranges. they're planning much longer-range missiles to carry nuclear weapons. so these files conclusively prove that iran is brazenly --

that iran has brazenly rided when it said it never -- lied when it said it never had a nuclear weapons program. the files prove that. but here's what happens next. iran was faced with bombing pressure in 2003. remember that. it was forced to shelf the project. but it didn't shelve its nuclear ambitions. so iran devised a plan to do two things. first, to preserve their nuclear know-how and, second, to further develop its nuclear weapons related capabilities. that plan came directly from iran -- [inaudible] here's another document from the archives. this is following the new directive of iran's minister of defense, today he is the director of the national security council. following the new directive of iran's minister of defense, the world would be split into two

parts, coovert and overt. a key part of the plan was to form new organizations to continue the work. this is how the -- [inaudible] remember that name, so here's his directive right here. and he says the general aim is to announce the closure of the project, but then he adds special activities -- you know what that is -- special activities will be carried out under the title of scientific know-how development. and, in fact, this is exactly what iran proceeded to do. it continued this work in a series of organizations over the years, and today in 2010 -- 2018, this work is carried out by an organization inside iran's defense ministry. and you will not be surprised to

hear that it's led by the same person who led project amad. and also, not coincidentally, many of the key personnel worked on project ahmad. so -- amad. so this clearly shows that iran planned at the highest levels to continue work related to nuclear weapons under different guises and using the same personnel. i'm going to give you another example of iran's nuclear weapons related activities that continue down through project amad. you all remember the facility, the iranian enrichment facility. this was a secret underground enrichment facility that the iranians built under a mountain. you don't put thousands of centrifuges under a mountain to

produce medical isotopes. you put them there for one reason, nuclear weapons. enrichment for nuclear weapons. but the files show that fordow was designed from the get go as part of project amad. here is an original iranian blueprint of fordow, and what happened was that iran continued to build fordow years secretly, years after project amad ended. here's what it looks like. that's the entrance. it goes under a mountain. you also will not be surprised that iran insisted on keeping fordow. and amazingly, the nuclear deal enabled them to do it. it enabled them to do it, but this came with a hitch. iran was require by the iaea to

come clean, by the nuclear deal, to come clean to the international atomic energy agency about its nuclear program. this was an explicit condition for implementing the nuclear deal. iran has to come clean. so in december 2015, the iaea published its final assessment of what it called the -- neil: if you're just tuning in here, on the left of your screen israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is addressing his nation -- a very unusual request he made of the broadcast agencies there to take to the nation's airwaves. it's about 8:23 p.m. israeli time. to the right of your screen, the president of the united states ready for a joint presser with the president of nigeria. but what's causing great concern is proof, the israelis say, of iran not only cheating on that nuclear agreement, but never honoring it in the first place. of course, this comes only a couple of weeks ahead of the president deciding yea or nay on whether he's going to be part of

that nuclear deal. apparently, the prime minister discussed a lot of this intelligence with the president over the weekend. he was briefing europeans on this as recently as this morning just ahead of this speech to say that some of the safeguards that were put in place the iranians have found ways around. their project amad, which was their nuclear program to work around all of this, was being routinely ignored and hidden. that the iranians, according to the israelis and according to mr. netanyahu, have designed and produced and tested warheads with great ease and right under our noses. tom bevin on the significance of this if proven true. obviously, tom, you think about it, and that country's close, you know, relationship, iran with north korea and those upcoming talks, a lot is at play here. >> no, absolutely. and you're right, this is a pretty remarkable thing to watch the prime minister of israel address sort of in prime time. and it isn't any coincidence, i

don't think, neil, that, you know, just after president macron was here, angela merkel was here, both trying to convince trump to stay in the iran deal and to make some additions to it as opposed to scrapping it altogether, that we're now seeing sort of the counterside of that argument. and from what i've seen of what netanyahu has outlined, it looks pretty persuasive, although we'll have to wait and see what else he has. it sounds pretty convincing that iran has, indeed, violated the nuclear pact. neil: and we should stress here this is from a cache of files the prime minister says were obtained from iran and prove that iran continues to run this secret program. now, i thought there were built-in, you know, checks and balances to this though, tom, that we could keep track of what they were doing. if we take the prime minister at face value, the iranians might have found ways around that, and there are might be egg on the face of european leaders who wanted to keep the deal we had in place with iran but just fix

it. the president has long held the view you can't fix something that's not working. this would,, you know, kind of reinforce his argument, right? >> absolutely. absolutely. and even macron and merkel, when they left town, basically conceded that they weren't able to convince trump to waver from his desire to pull out of this pact and to, you know, scrap it and start over. i mean, trump has said from the very beginning during the campaign that this was a terrible deal, should never have been signed, and he believes -- i think the evidence even though he had previously certified to stay in the pact which has to happen, i think, every six months -- neil: right. >> -- that he wanted to get out of it. so i think that's what is going to happen. and then the question is where do we go from there. and we'll see how that goes. but this -- i don't necessarily buy, neil, this linkage that we, you know, if we get out of the iran pact, therefore, we can't do something with north korea or north korea won't trust us.

i think those are being treated in the mind of the administration as separate entities and trying to do the best deals that they can with those respective countries. neil: no, you're probably right. and by the way, i apologize for not introducing you, the real clear politics co-founder. is it your sense, by the way, that the president is going to nix this agreement? you know, it's a couple of weeks away when he has to decide yea or nay, but we are the only ones really leery of it, that is the united states through this president, and this is probably just icing on the quitting cake, right? >> yeah, i don't -- i haven't seen anything coming from any administration officials to suggest anything other than the fact that trump's probably going to scrap it on may 12th which is the next deadline. now, that could change, or obviously. trump is notoriously, you know, tough to read. but this one sounds like, as far as everything sounds right now, that he will scrap it. neil: all right. tom, thank you very, very much.

guys, i do want to go because i know our sponsors are crucial, but this is a big deal here, back to this benjamin netanyahu announcement where he is detailing what he says is undeniable proof that the iranians have cheated. now apparently looking at the beginning part of the speech, he was also saying this was going from the get go, that the deal almost as soon as it was signed was going on uninterrupted. he's going to be taking questions from local media. let's dip into this. >> [speaking in native tongue] neil: all right, we are going to continue monitoring this, he's speaking hebrew right now. to bring you up to speed on what's going on here, a little unnerving in these times as the president's set to address reporters with his counterpart from nigeria. very, very shortly. some alarming news that just broke in israel but, apparently, the president was apprised of it over the weekend. proof, the israelis say, that

the iranians have been cheating on that agreement and have done so and have been doing so from the get go, that on almost every key aspect of designing, producing and testing various warheads that they have come quite far and undeterred and uninterrupted. now, of course, part of that agreement was to make sure that we could check this sort of activity and find out what was going on. i don't know enough about where this activity was sited, how the israelis got this intelligence, but they say it is irrefutable and that these files and extra material are coming from those with impeccable yes ten,s. -- credentials. now, this will no doubt come up as a source of questioning with the president and his counterpart, the president of nigeria. also focusing on the markets, weed had kind of a soft day to begin with. when this news first broke that the israelis were getting ready to hear from their prime minister on the details of this,

the markets quickly sold off, gave up about 70 points from their higher level. and that since dissipated a bit, now we're all up about 5 points here. but again, he has wrapped up that presser there. all i can tell you is that the israelis say that they have the proof that the iranians cheated left and right. and if he is right, did so before the deal was signed, as the deal was signed, after the deal was signed. more reason that many suspect the president of the united states will abandon that deal even though the leader of france and the leader of germany have been urging him to stick with what they had. it might be a bad deal, they argued, but it's better than no deal at all. this might fuel the argument for no less than a very cynical donald trump who's always been leery of it that it ain't worth the time or the attention. start over. we're back after this.

neil: all right, now we're going to have an opportunity to hear from the president of the united states what he makes of this bombshell report just outlined to the's railly people by no -- to the israeli people that the iranians have been cheating almost from the get go, technically before the get go, on that nuclear agreement back in 2015 that we and much of the world signed on to, now saying that it's pretty clear the president should and will do the right thing according to many netanyahu in reviewing iran's nuclear deal. and that just last week, you might recall, the leader of france, the leader of germany were here pressing for him not to do that, that as problematic as the deal might be, it's better than starting from scratch and doing something new. the president might disagree. he's about to address reporters along with the visiting president of nigeria, the first african leader to visit this president in his 14, 15 months in office. walid phares is here, very quickly, what do you make of this? >> well, neil, since 2015 -- and

we've discussed that many times -- the iranian regime has signed the agreement, told the world that they are abiding by the agreement but actually did everything to continue with what i call the strategic weaponry, meaning developing the missiles on the one hand and making the ability to rebuild the nuclear capacity on the other hand. what we heard today coming from the middle east is actual information that the public obtained and, of course, the american public as well. but i am pretty sure that many intelligence services around the world knew that before. neil: all right. so you believe of this intelligence, i can picture and i haven't seen it yet, i can picture others saying, well, we don't know yet, others have made these charges before, but you think this is pretty unequivocal. >> it is clear once it is raw intelligence material, but for us analysts, you and i have discussed that. why do you develop intercontinental missile program to deliver, what, flowers or pizza? [laughter] you want to develop those for nukes and, obviously, this was the intention when they obtained

the cash to buy anti-missile missiles which they've done from the russians and anti-aircraft missiles so that they're kind of owning the word. neil: you know, you could argue that it isn't quite weird what's going on right now, the visiting dignitary is the president of nigeria who has been dealing with isis elements in his own country, boko haram more to the point, that has now complete control over the northeast portion of his country. many argue that boko haram gets a lot of funding directly and indirectly from iran, so its tentacles are widespread. >> very much widespread, neil. the iranian regime has the actual widest net of pro-iranian jihadists. we've seen it not just with hezbollah, but even amongst sunni extremists. the iranians were able, they're very smart, to mobilize elements as far as africa, just to mention one, indonesia but also in americas. we have u.s. congress reports about the spread of iranian

influence and hezbollah cells across the western hemisphere. very wide. neil: a lot of people say, all right, this might be a temptation to rip up the iranian deal but becareful. -- be careful. what do you think of that? >> i would be very careful meaning i would not just cancel a deal, i would just have a policy on iran. because if you just cancel a deal, your partners are not with you -- that's the europeans -- and then nothing happens in the middle east, yes, that could be risky. but if you cancel the deal based on their behavior and say this is what i'm proposing right now, meet with the arab leaders, meet again with nato and tell nato let's discuss the matter, then we have a comprehensive response to the iranian cheating strategy. neil: but don't you have to get that -- because i'm sure, i haven't seen a statement, i've been looking for it, oh, this is israel, they've always hated us, don't believe a word they're saying, don't believe this so-called intelligence, there's nothing there. how does the world address that? >> that's the standard response by the iranian regime for over

30 years now, we know it. but that is not really what's happening in syria. the fight in syria is not between israel and iran or in iraq or yemen. at this time -- it is time for the international community to tell the truth about what iran is doing in the region. neil: what does the arab world want us to do? we're told behind the scenes they welcome them getting involved. >> not much behind the scenes anymore, neil. look, aside from the arab countries controlled by tehran -- namely, iraq, syria, lebanon, part of yemen -- the rest of the arab world has said it -- neil: all right. i'm jumping on you, i apologize for jumping on you. the president and his counterpart from nigeria. >> thank you. today i'm honored to host president buhari of nigeria at the white house right here in the beautiful rose garden. mr. president, i want to thank you very much for traveling to washington for these important

discussions. it's a true pleasure to welcome you to our nation's capital. nigeria's the largest democracy in africa. as i conveyed to the president in our discussions, the united states deeply values and appreciates nigeria's role as a strong democratic leader in the region. the united states is currently working to expand trade and commercial ties with african nations including nigeria to create jobs and wealth in all of hour countries. all of our countries. we hope to be the economic partner of choice for nations across the continent and all around the world, and you see what's happening with respect to trade and the united states. we are being respected again. i hope all african countries and countries throughout the world that we also will be supporting you and that they will likewise support us in our bid along with

canada and mexico for the 2026 world cup. we will be watching very closely, and any help that they could give us in that bid, we would appreciate. i'm pleased that nigeria's one of our largest trading partners in the region, and we look forward to growing our trade relationship based on the principle of fairness and reciprocity. but we give nigeria well over $1 billion in aid every year, and we have already started talking with the president about taking down the trade barriers. very substantial barriers to the united states trading with nigeria. so we think that we are owed that. president buhari has also taken several steps to fight corruption and improve the nigerian business climate, and most of all to me -- and, again,

ripping down these trade barriers finish these measures will make it easier for the nigerian and united states companies to invest. and we will be investing substantially in nigeria if they can create that level playing field that we have to very much ask for and maybe demand. i especially want to thank president bumari for -- buhari for his partnership in the fight against terrorism. he's been a real leader. nigeria was one of the first african nations to join the coalition to defeat isis, and nigerian ors forces are currently leading regional efforts against isis in west africa and doing very well as we have. nigeria's also leading african nations in the fight against boko haram and other ruthless jihadist terrorist groups. they, you've been reading about them. they kidnapped the young girls and young women, many of whom

never are seen again. it's tough stuff. this summer it was my honor to meet with two brave young women, joy and lydia, who were kidnapped by bow coe haha ram -- boko haram in april of 2014 at the secondary school in nigeria. i was deeply moved by their inspiring stories of courage, resilience and survival. they really were two amazing young women. i told joy and lydia my administration is committed to combating both jihadist terrorism and the scourge of human trafficking and smuggling. in the world today, this is more human trafficking than there has ever been, if you can believe this. they use the internet better than almost anybody is able to use the internet. so think of it, in a modern world, in this world there's more human trafficking.

and slavery than at any time in the history of this world. it's hard the believe. to protect americans from these menaces, i have called on congress to close deadly immigration loopholes that are exploited by terrorists, traffickers and criminals. just look at our southern border and our weak and obsolete immigration laws. they are obsolete and they are weak and they are pathetic. and there's no cup in the world that has -- no country in the world that has laws like we do. they've got to change, and they've got to change now for the safety of our country. we're also helping our nigerian partners by facilitating intelligence, cooperation and providing training and military equipment to nigerian forces. for example, we recently sold knew jeer 12829 -- nigeria 829

aircraft in the first-ever sale of american military equipment to nigeria. they will improve nigeria's ability to target terrorists and protect civilians. finally, we're deeply concerned by religious violence in nigeria including the burning of churches and the killing and persecution of christians. it's a horrible story. we encourage nigeria and the federal, state and local leaders to do everything in their power to immediately secure the affected communities and to protect innocent civilians of all faiths including muslims and including christians. mr. president, thank you again for visiting the white house and being with used today. nigeria is a valued partner and a good friend. i look forward to working closely with you to deepen our cooperation and forge an even closer partnership. the united states where is committed to working alongside

nigeria as we seek a future of strength, prosperity and peace for both of our countries. mr. president, thank you very much. thank you. [applause] >> mr. president of the united states of america, ladies and gentlemen of the media, it has been a pleasure and honor to visit washington, d.c. at the kind invitation of president donald trump. nigeria and the united states share a long history of close and cordial relations with encompass political, economic, military, social and cultural cooperation. finish our two countries maintain a strategic partnership for peace and security, conflict

resolution as well as the global fight against terrorism. we also share common features -- [inaudible] similar democratic model of governance and committed to fundamental human rights and freedoms, free enterprise, social justice and the rule of law. president trump and his team and myself and the nigerian team discussed issues related to security, trade, governance, human rights and humanitarian crisis. we congratulated the leaders of the north and south korea on their historic summit, and we applaud them for the positive commitment they have made towards denuclearization of the

korean peninsula. president trump deserves a great deal of credit for his statemanly role in transforming the course of events in that region. we also congratulated the united states government on the important role it played in the defeat of isis. although some of the remnants have found their way to the sahel region. we recognize -- [inaudible] in our fight against terrorism and also appreciated very much the united states agreement to sell 12 war planes and weapons to nigeria to effectively fight terrorism. to contain the state of insurgency in knew jeer, the -- nigeria, the federal government

has adopted an approach -- [inaudible] government agencies to -- [inaudible] while the armed forces of nigeria receive the authority to have provide security and maintain law and order. as part of efforts to address -- [inaudible] in the country, the nigerian military adopted, the nigerian military adopted counterterrorism insurgency approach code named operation safe corridor to deradicallize, rehabilitate and reintegrate boko haram members into the larger society. this program is currently embarking on a number of projects including operation centers and integrated farms

providing poultry and greenhouse farming among others. a number of international partners including the international organization for migration have contributed to the success of operation safe corridor. of we indicated that we would appreciate whatever support we could also get from the united states. we -- [inaudible] to the united states' support in the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the northeast of nigeria as well as humanitarian assistance to the internally-displaced persons through agencies such as the united states agency for international development and other international partners. the united states of america has been to date the biggest contributor to the humanitarian response, and last year --

[inaudible] half a billion united states dollars in cash and in kind contribution from the united nations and other intergovernmental organizations. these are mainly supported protection activities, health, food assistance and shelter. we are doing all we can to secure the release of the -- [inaudible] in this context, we will continue to welcome united states' intelligence gatt orerring, hostage negotiations and information sharing. the government is taking necessary steps to promote the peaceful coexistence of -- rain farmers by focusing on security that guarantee borders and farmers access to --

[inaudible] i extend sincere congratlakes to -- congratulations to president trump and his government on the united states economy under his watch. our aim is to diversify our own economy by focusing on agriculture and food security, power and infrastructure. we have cut the importation of rice by 90%, thereby saving a significant amount of money. we very much welcome increased unite investment in knew nigerin economy, especially the non-oil sector. economic relations between nigeria and the united states are entered on -- [inaudible] trade and investment framework agreement and africa growth and opportunity act. the commission in particular --

labor, political -- [inaudible] is a basic economic framework for engagement between our two countries. nigeria's trade volume with the united states stood at -- [inaudible] according to statistics and comprise $4.76 billion united states also nigerian export toss the united states and 1.894 billion united states dollars exports to nigeria. we urge greater effort to increase these substantially. we thank the united states government very much for cooperation we have received in our effort to recover student funds. our two governments have put the machinery in place for their respective attorney generals to

collaborate and insure that -- [inaudible] of over $500 million united states -- are in banks around the world. and this connection we congratulate the united states government on launching asset recovery which was spearheaded by the united states department of asset forfeiture and money laundering. we hope that we can continue to count on the united states' support in this area. the government of nigeria remains deeply committed to the principles of human rights as well as protection of people's freedom even in the process of fighting terror. we chit to insure -- we commit to insure that all the -- [inaudible] on human rights abuses are

investigated and those responsible for violation hell responsible. i thank you very much for listening. >> well, thank you, mr. president. thank you very much. [applause] thank you, sir. steve miller of the washington times, please. washington times. thank you, steve. >> thank you, mr. president. air got a two-parter on immigration. last week in the supreme court case over your travel ban the lawyers for the opponents said that if you would simply apologize for some of your rhetoric during the campaign, the whole case would go away. and i was wondering -- >> i don't think it would, number one. and there's no reason to apologize. our immigration laws in this country are a total disaster. they're laughed at all over the world. they're laughed at for their stupidity, and we have to have strong immigration laws. so i think if i apologize, it wouldn't make ten cents' worth

of difference to them. there's nothing to apologize for. we have to have strong immigration laws to protect our country. >> and looking to the future, the caravan has arrived at the -- >> we've been watching it. we've been watching it. >> and i'm just wondering in your opinion or your estimation, what percentage of those people do you believe are deserving of asylum in the u.s.? >> well, i won't get into percentages, but we are a nation of laws. we have to have boarders. we don't have borders, we don't have a country. and i've been watching for weeks as the caravan came up. and, you know, the mexican laws are very tough on immigration with, extremely tough. and it started out with way over 1,000 people, i guess now it's down to about 100 going all through mexico. people don't realize what a big country mexico is. but it came down by a lot. and now we're working on the border with the worst laws any country, no matter where you go all over the world, they can't even believe it. and we're doing the best we can

with it. but we have to have changes in congress, and we have to have it quickly. we need a wall, number one. and you see that right now. where they are even though it's not a particularly good wall and even though a small can climb to the -- small percentage can climb to the top, they have to be in extremely good shape, a small percentage can climb that wall. we have a law that's much more difficult can. if you didn't have that, or you'd have thousands of people fouring into our country. we need -- pouring into our country. we need border security. as you know,ing we're sending many, many national guardsmen down to the border. most of them are already there, and that's having a big impact. but we need a change in the law. catch and release is ridiculous. if they touch our property, if they touch our country, essentially you catch them and you release them into our country. that's not acceptable to anybody. so we need a change in the law.

>> mr. president, when you were sitting down in the oval office with president trump who ran on not wanting to be the policeman for the world, what kind of arguments did you make to convince him to continue a military presence for the u.s. in your country, and what arguments did you make the him? how receptive was he? >> i don't know what you mean by united states presence in our country. we have a training team at some to -- some of our training centers. i think this is one of the best things the united states could do for us to stabilize the country. >> i do. very much so. i thank him for it. >> thank you. >> we more and more, because it's a very fair question, we more and more are not wanting to

be the policemen of the world and we're spending tremendous amounts of money for decades on policing the world. that shouldn't be our priority. we want to police ourselves. we want to rebuild our country. and the president understands that. they have come a long way. they're doing a great job. we're contributing to that job but they have done a great job. what we do want to do is open nigeria and other countries up to trade because we have spent over the last decade a number that is so large you wouldn't even believe it and i think we'll be treated in a reciprocal fashion now as of today. so i think that's going to happen and i have great respect for the president, okay? how about jordan fabian. where is jordan? "the hill." >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. president. i want to ask you about iran, israeli prime minister just gave a speech, very critical of their

nuclear program. i want to ask you if you made up your mind to pull out of that deal and if you pull out of that deal that you send the wrong message to north korea with nuclear talks with kim jong-un? >> no. that sends the right message. in seven years that deal expires and iran is free to go ahead and create nuclear weapons. seven years is tomorrow. that is not acceptable. if anything it is proven right what israel has done today with the news conference and prime minister netanyahu just gave -- i don't know if everybody has seen it. i got to see a little bit of it, that is just not an acceptable situation. i've been saying that's happening. they're not sitting back idly. they're setting off missiles which they say are for television purposes. i don't think so. i won't tell you what a they're doing