join me with melissa francis on "after the bell," every day at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. thanks for joining us. good night from new york. kennedy: it's been one year today since the mueller probe began. happy birthday, baby. it has cost taxpayers millions of dollars. but what has it gotten us so far? president trump, well he's not happy about it. this morning he tweeted, congratulations, america. we are into the second year the of the greatest witch hunt in the u.s. history. still no collusion and no obstruction. now we learned that mueller's

team told the president's lawyers they don't plan to indict the president. a new report that donald trump, jr. made several phone calls before and after his infamous trump tower meeting. why? because he called a blocked number. seriously. what does that prove? nothing. the president's long-time personal attorney, michael cohen, appears to have shady financial deals. it looks like a freelance operation and doesn't prove anything about collusion. paul manafort could be in trouble with the feds, but that doesn't involve the president. so why after a full year are we still on this merry-go-round.

joining us, corey lewandowski. he recently joined vice president mike pence's great america pac. let's talk about the state of the mueller probe. there are so many eager people on the left, apparently someone from robert mueller's team told rudy giuliani that there would be no indictment along with doj guidelines. >> i think the american people are tired of this long investigation into nothing. i believe the mueller team found there was no collusion between the trump campaign and the russians. there was no coordination. there was nothing there that impacted the election other than hillary clinton taking $5 million and giving it to an

m.i.6 spy. and aloud a dossier to be used in a fisa application. that's the only collusion that took place in the campaign. it took place from the losing campaign. clint on campaign. they admitted they spent the $5 million but there is no investigation into that. kennedy: what would you do differently now, knowing what you know about presidential politics. what would have you done differently on the campaign? >> on the campaign i broth would have brought paul manafort on board. he's a big part of the problem we are dealing with because of his overseas dealing from 10 or 12 years ago. he's not in trouble for anything in the campaign.

but he gets dragged into the campaign for work he did overseas in 2005 and 2006. he and his colleague rick gates were indicted on that. if i could go back i would make sure rick and paul weren't part of the campaign. kennedy: there have not been a ton of leaks. there has been a lot of speculation and drips in the "new york times" and "washington post" occasionally. the mueller team said don't believe the so-called leaks you read about in the media. i asked bret baier this. if the report is vague, it could be interpreted different lid by a republican controlled house versus a democratic-volumed house. >> i think we have to worry

about when the timing of the report may be made public. from what we understand and what drudge is reporting, maybe day should be the end, that's what's being reported. if that's the case, when does the report get made to the department of justice and when do the american people get to see what we already know, there that there is no collusion. my concern is it gets written in such a vague manner and it comes out in such a vague manner that it impacts the outcome the election for the mid-terms. that would be very disappoint together american people. but there was no collusion. i think it should come out as soon as possible and the american people should have access to it. kennedy: it is vague. it can be interpreted to anyone's political whim. and that further divides the country. but i want you to hang on. there is a new report that

claims the inspector general, michael horowitz, he found evidence of potential criminal conduct and prosecutions could follow. this from a tweet with conservative commentator, paul sperry. do you know anything more about this tweet and the implication there could be criminal proceedings and a criminal bent to inspector horowitz' report? >> i don't have more information than what you are reporting. but the i.g. issued multiple reports. whether it's been andrew mccabe or other members of the fbi. if this case has been referred to the u.s. attorney in utah for criminal investigation it's a step in the right direction.

there is no question in my mind, federal laws were broken as it relates to the investigation. jim comey and andrew mccabe are at war with each other pointing the finger. one of those people if not both of them, will be criminally prosecuted for the work they did on that. kennedy: we'll have to wait and see if that is in fact true and how the doj and fbi could have been compromised during that investigation. did you join the vice president's political action committee to make your former boss jealous? >> i joined at the president's request. he said corey, go over there and help the very much so we can government candidates supporting the trump-pence agenda.

this is directly at the request of the president of the united states. i was at his super pac, now i have moved over to the vice president's pac to get more candidates elected. kennedy: very good. corey lewandowski, thanks so much. the white house communications office canceled the morning conference because of a leak. >> hundreds and hundreds of people work on this complex. a lot of people have access to sensitive information. kennedy: she said she is expecting a staff shake-up in the wake of the leaks. who is riding off to that big dancing with the stars episode

in the sky. it's ladies night. conservative columnist and author how do i tax thee, and marie harf. and brook goldstein is back. marie, you have worked as a spokesperson. you had to interface with the press and had to protect the state department and the president, and try to keep freedom leaking sensitive information. why are they having such a hard time doing this in the white house? >> because there are competing power bases. kennedy: what about in the obama administration. >> it never got personal in terms of leak. it seems like they are competing with power with him. and they are leaking to hurt

other staff members. it has been widely reported that the president called reporters he likes and leaked. kellyanne conway i'm sure does the same thing. so i think what's so striking about this. it feels like staffers are trying to hurt other staffers personally. that's why sarah sanders meeting with leaks immediately got leaked. >> i agree. this is very personal. and it's scary. leak is a serious crime. depending on the leaks it can violate numerous provisions of the criminal code. and there is a hierarchy of leaks. i'm not justifying it. some we can understand because they expose civil rights

violations. but this is personal attacks meant to undermine the office of the president of the united states. but it's making him look like a victim of corruption and a victim of the swamp. the key is how this will be spun by the media. the trump administration can't trust doj to investigate who is doing the leak. so the house is going to investigate and the media will spin it and say it's political retaliation. kennedy: here we are talking about the leaks as opposed to the joke that kelly sadler made at senator mccain's expense. >> the joke was tasteless. but these leaks are infuriating. the white house needs smaller, tighter meetings.

it just takes one person in the room to leak confidential personal information. if i were trump i would downsize my white house staff. i think the leakers are probably obama holdovers. >> there are no more obama holdovers left at these meetings. kennedy: when kellyanne conway talks about senior officials, she has someone in mind. >> there are no obama holdovers left in important meetings at the white house. we are talk about leaks. the fact that a white house staffer felt comfortable making a tasteless joke, and another white house staffer felt it was appropriate to put that joke out

there. >> the person leaking wants us to talk about jokes about mccain. so it's a divergent. kennedy: the mccain joke is pretty tasteless. when the taxpayers are paying your salary and there is more than one person there, you don't have an expectation of privacy. that shows someone has a really dark sense of humor. north korea is threatening to back out of the june summit between the president and kim jong-un. but the president didn't seem too concerned. president trump: nothing has changed on north korea that we know of. if it does, fine. if it doesn't, i think we'll have a successful meeting.

we have not been told anything. we are just reading stories like you are. we have heard certain things from south korea. if the meeting happens, it happens. if it doesn't, we go on after the next step. kennedy: kim jong-un apparently got upset after secretary of state john bolton compared north korea with libya where the dictator was overthrown and murdered. kristen, i will make a bold prediction. i think it will pan out. >> trump's critics think he's being cavalier about this meeting? >> i disagree. he literally wrote a best-selling book "the art of the deal."

if he does meet with kim jong-un he won't have all his go hands met. but -- won't have all his demands met. it's the beginning of a much longer process. kennedy: this is the area of obsession that i think is not always appropriate. i think that there does have to be a certain level of preparation. when you goin something where world peace might hinge upon this meeting. that's not exactly what you want to hear. you want to know if he's going toib this negotiation and he'll master the deal, then he'll have a -- a command of that. >> we are talk about nuclear weapons and nuclear war. i don't think the president is

in danger of overpreparing for anything. donald trump and john bolton are concerned about the public image and the optics of this meeting. the optics got them into trouble this week. so i think everyone needs to take a breath and start to plan for this meeting. not in the press. because that won't help our position. this is diplomacy through entertainment. kennedy: john kerry was the master of. >> optics are everything. i think we have a good cop-bad cop situation going on. and you have a position where trump can go to the north koreans and say bolton doesn't want me to do this deal.

white house officials did come out and say there is a ton of preparation going on. so when trump says, or appears to be cavalier about it, he's doing exactly what he's good at. he brought north korea to the table. the fact that they are now in a summit is historically unprecedented in the recent past and they just released three american hostages. let's judge him on what happens and not the attitude he's project together media. kennedy: overconfidence and hugh hilt. we want the president to find the sweet spot. israel using deadly force to protect its border. now they are carrying out

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ken report situation in israel took potentially a dangerous

turn. the israeli militaried a hitting it launched strikes against hamas. so how will hamas retall aate. we are told a gunman sprayed bullets at an israeli home. the violence exploded the day the u.s. embassy was officially opened in jerusalem. welcome back to the show. let's talk about this. you have a very economically depressed area where hamas has been in control for quite some time. and they embed their militant islamists with women and children and innocents. so when israel retaliates there

are civilian casualties. so is hamas responsible for some of those deaths we heard about monday? >> absolutely. and israel has a responsibility to protect its border. here you happen to have an element that will not rest until israel is wiped off the map with regards to hamas. you have a situation where several tens of thousands of people were trying to storm the border. just on the other side of the border you had villages where israeli women and children and men are living. if you do not deal with that situation on the border, you will have close combat with israeli civilians. there is no choice but for israel to defend its border. hamas is in charge of ruining gaza and the quality of life for the people who live there. kennedy: why can't they get rid

of them? >> as far as hamas' ranges inside gaza. it's densely populated. you don't have military occupations and operations to actually take over gaza. so short of that you start doing proportionality analysis. while the united states and israel and other countries may look at whether the force used -- the military advantage outweighs the collateral damage. we do that test. others don't. obviously hamas doesn't. israel isn't going to just wipe gaza off the map. if anyone thinks the palestinian authority and mahmoud abbas has control over gaza. this is hamas' doing and all their trouble with electricity and water and education.

kennedy: it's a rough place to live. it's not surprising this brand of terror pro live rates there. the president said he have much wants to see peace between israelis and palestinians. does moving the american embassy to jerusalem put a roadblock in the peace process? >> absolutely not. jerusalem is the capital of israel. it's just the right thing. it is the capital of israel. i have spoken with him and met with him. he wants to be as helpful as possible. it needs to be negotiated on the ground. one of the challenges you face, it's not just two parties. because if the palestinian authority were to sign a document in good faith and agree, the reality is their

ranges are filled with the likes of hamas. so who is israel negotiating with? kennedy: does that mean we'll never see sneas. >> i think it's difficult for it to happen right now. it doesn't mean at some point in the future -- look at north korea where this time last year, if we predicted we would be in this place, you would have trouble saying that with a straight face. but the stars were aligned. >> i think we have not figured out a way to combat philosophically islamism. i think the free market breathes opportunity into every other dark corner of the globe. but we have not solved this rubik's cube. i'm optimistic we can find some

answers, somehow. it sounds like they are dismantling the building. coming up. michael avenatti loves the camera unless it's owned by fox news. talking all about that fame hungry showboat in my monologue. it's coming up after the break. stay right here. so no matter what you trade, or where you trade, you'll only pay $4.95. fidelity. open an account today.

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kennedy: who is michael

avenatti? he's stormy daniels' lawyer. he makes her strip club appearances look like amish garden parties. he made a staggering 174 media appearances the last four weeks. 74 of them on cnn alone. on a comfortable period they only interviewed donald trump four times and bernie sanders, 18. they delight in the per rossity at which he goes after the president and they hope he somehow yields an impeachment. he maintains he has legal authority to disseminate michael cohen's illegally obtained bank records. but grow -- but grouss when it's

reported that he ran a coffee company into the ground. this avenatti moment is a painful passing one we'll look back on and make fun of. he's an inconsequential boob whose car wreck chicanery. he and the mooch apparently have a tv show they are pitching.

michael avenatti saying he doesn't want his own show. but he claims two other women have come to him with claims similar to stormy daniels. >> they are not fully vetted. but there are at least two i think are on solid ground. and i think disclosures will be made that my client was not alone as it relates to these payments. kennedy: he made the announcement about the women after saying he hasn't vetted their stories. that's grate a legal work. the party panel is back. brook, you are a lawyer. >> apparently go ahead. allegedly. not vetted hearsay. he wants that show on cnn so badly. but he practically has a show on

cnn. kennedy: they are not paying him, but according to one report he has $175 million worth of earned media coverage. >> hasn't he appeared on cnn160 times? there is something wrong with that. cnn is giving a platform to a guy making a big deal out of nothing. consensual sex between two adults. one of them is the president of the united states. cnn is giving this the most of coverage. kennedy: this brand of obsession doesn't do the world and this country have much good at all. >> michael avenatti is a character. i love him on tv. i think he's trying to play

trump's game and he's doing a good job of it. the public knows donald trump told four or five different stories about the payment to stormy daniels. that isn't ground break but it shows the president doesn't always tell the truth. the american people have a right to know that. kennedy: do they have the right to know that to the point of obsession? does the president abuse power and launder money? is this the venue with which to explore them? >> they all could be related. michael cohen is in the middle of this. the trump team pro lodged the avenatti story by putting out story version 16 about stormy daniels. kennedy: i still don't understand why you would give that person so much air time. when you compare it with president trump and bernie

sanders, it's insane that you give that guy so much oxygen. >> avenatti is making a mockery of his own client by this media circus. this speaks to cnn's priorities. they continue to put this guy on. but i think americans are rolling their eyes. that's why cnn's ratings are in the toilet. this is boring -- stuff seeing this avenatti guy on every day. kennedy: how can we come to peace in the middle east? >> if i were at the royal wedding, what would i wear? >> he raised questions about the president's finances and possible violations of federal elections law. about the president lying to the american public. he's an imperfect venue for

this. kennedy: don't give an imperfect venue so much of the limelight. scaramucci just tweeted the show is not happening. >> i wanted it to. a bought the of wine and that show. a good thursday night. >> the mooch is legit. i like the mooch. kennedy: he's a generous young man and he got me tickets to the inaugural ball. but i think he doomed his own political career. but if i were sitting on a billion dollars, i think i would be okay with it, too. >> avenatti also leaked someone's phoenix information called michael cohen who wasn't michael cohen. kennedy: he obviously has a

vetting issue. he should spend more time legalizing. >> he's beating trump at his own game. kennedy: he's not beating him. there is no avenatti collusion put forth. thank you so much, everybody. coming up, the united states and china back at the bargaining table. why are white house economists screaming at each other over what to do? tim carney has all the economic gossip you crave next. stimulant laxatives forcefully stimulate the nerves in your colon. miralax is different. it works with the water in your body. unblocking your system naturally. miralax. now available in convenient single-serve mix-in pax. stay at la quinta. where we're changing with stylish make-overs.

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kennedy: you think the chinese trade talks are boring. think again. there are reports that they got into such an argument on mnuchin and navarro, they got into a screaming match in china. with his team at war, is the president feeling optimistic about these chinese trade talks? not so much. watch this. >> the reason i doubt it is because china has become very spoiled. the european union has become very spoiled. on the r countries have very

spoiled because they always got 100% of what they wanted from the united states. but we can't allow that to happen any more. kennedy: is the internal fighting a bad sign or a sign of robust health? let's ask tim carney. let's discuss a little bit. you and i are both free free traders and we encourage the president to follow suit. mnuchin and others on his team seem to lean free trade. but others protectionists. >> president trump sees things in a zero sum sort of way. he often thinks of negotiations as who wins and who lose. which in many business deals might be the case. i have never bought and sold condos or manhattan property so

i won't speak on that. but the idea of trade and preenterprise is both sides can win. you read your adam smith, you realize both sides end up with something they want if they engage in free and open competition. and i think that you have trump sort of's queens developer, we have to beat other side mindset is up against this increasing idea he's coming across from larry kudlow and steve mnuchin. kennedy: then you have the peter navarros who have written treatises called "death by china." >> you have wilbur ross who says we should emulate china in its five-year plan which i think is absurd. but the peter navarro mindset is an industrialist mindset.

ultimately there is a mistake there. but argument that our economic policy should look out for the whole country. kennedy: let's talk about becoming rich. i encourage everyone to find their path to prosperity. and nothing shines the light on freedom like an expensive flashlight you buy with your own money. how can we profit off of this time of chaos? how can we ultimately profit with china? >> i think one of the main things will be convincing the chinese to take down their own statism. one of the biggest problems with china is they are playing the game will burp ross talks about. when they do that, they hurt themselves mostly and they hurt us secondarily. >> when they convince the president to help them prop up a

chinese communications giant like zte, does that hurt the process? >> i think it hurts both sides. but what i don't think is a proper response. when they prop up our industry, they should prop up theirs in return. we should not go along with china's statism and we shouldn't answer their statism with statists. kennedy: there is a lot of money to be made here and a lot of americans who be benefit from free trade. we have to convince them to free up the trade even more. is chiensa spoiled? >> i don't think china is spoiled. they just emerged from massive

poverty so they had massive economic growth year over year. but wages are rising. a lot of the manufacturing is coming back to the west. i don't think chain today is winning the deals. i think we'll see the balance of power shift back to us. kennedy: let's embrace the power. tim carney, thank you so much. "topical storm" is next. stay right here.

kennedy: on this day in 1989, the longest cab ride in history, 14,000 miles. never tell a new york city cab driver you are from out of the town. hide that minnesota accent, brian brenberg. this is the "topical storm." one dog's future is so bright, he has to wear shades. brody, you are so cute. judge by how calm he is, i would

say he likes to eat his owner's pot stash. any other dog would go crazy for a ball. brody's owner also has a yellow lab called yanny. but every time he calls his name, he hears laurel. people who hear laurel [inaudible] here is a fun fact you may not have known. sheep have a relative called taken which are called goat antelopes. but when most of people hear taken they think of a badly a.m. neeson movie. the run didn't last long. the guard said i have a

particular set of skills i acquired over a long career that make me a nightmare for hurley. zookeepers aren't letting their guard down because takens always plan a sequel. the academy awards is 10 months away, but an arizona grandmother is already up for a reward. look at all these wrinkles. you have got to be kidding me. this is suppose to be a smart phone it's not so smart. i want my flip phone back.

kennedy: the it has been viral on facebook. i'm trying to post on facebook, but it won't work. i have a shuffleboard match to get to because democrats are the party of youth. topic number four. president trump says the mueller probe is a witch hunt. the bureau released a list of investigations. the hillary clinton investigation was called a sham. according to the list, tim panda was code for a street gang in virginia. and once chris christie got involved they changed old bridge to closed bridge.

they also had a probe called lemonade. and they had codes for politicians like nancy pelosi who was nicknamed selfie because of her tech skills. that's the most of coherent i have ever seen nancy pelosi. we reached that time of week where you try to share your critiques and i try to look like i care. this is viewer mail. randy starts us off with, viewer mail is worth the price of admission alone. kennedy: randy, noise price, it's free to watch. rehearsal tweeted, blink twice if you are in danger.

bill posted. the 1% will not alight. the oligarchy. we'll be right back. stay here. and while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. ♪ with expedia you could book a flight, hotel, car and activity all in one place. ♪ proven to protect street skaters and freestylers.

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kennedy: thank you so much for watching the best however your day. i'm going to go to the subway and bus can using just the mouth mouth trumpet. you are so welcome.

follow me on twitter and instagram. email kennedyfbn@foxbusiness.com. i will see you for the royal wedding. i'll be in my jammies as well. >> he's got the big top, the sideshow, the menagerie. >> and you can almost smell the popcorn and sawdust. >> made by a master whittler. >> he never used a jigsaw. he never used a lathe. it was always a pocketknife. >> boy, this knife has some mileage on it. >> but it comes with a jumbo-sized burden. >> he would usually cry and he'd say, "barbara, i don't know what to do."i didn't know what to do either. >> and now the big reveal. >> are you ready? okay, here we go. >> wow. ♪