california was a sam nunberg city. ashley: those that can't stand it have already left california so those that just don't like mr. trump are left behind but we'll see. >>stuart: kneel it's yours. neil stuart thank you very very much. 25, 032, we should stress here, while we are trying to get back into those old high territory we're still about 6% away from them but we're following a couple of developments that have really propelled a lot of this and that has to do the chinese maybe blinking on trade and offering to buy $70 billion worth of agriculture items in the united states, this as the same time though the mexicans are clamping down and promising they're going to slap about $3 billion in tariffs on a lot of u.s. goods which include pork legs, which i had no idea are in so many pork dark related

products that i love but if i knew, well i might have become a vegetarian but i didn't as you can see. in the meantime we're waiting for larry kudlow to give a briefing at 1:00 p.m. the president will sign that va fix deal, the va mission about so we'll be taking to the white house a couple of times during this broadcast so let's get the read on all of this because this is a rally that seems to be focused on financial issues benefiting from a tic up in interest rates, and a lot of those issues that would be vulnerable to a trade war, boeing comes to mind, caterpillar comes t mind so they're holding their own. deirdre bolton is here, new york gop strategic advisor and john burn" he is such a great guy was stuck in traffic got out of the car some avenues from here and literally ran. >> [laughter] neil: i would never do that. but we've already told him not a single tough question, as a result. i wish i could say kaitlyn, we're so fortunate she is not, however it's good to have you all with us and again thank you

my friend for putting up with all of that. deirdre, spell out now whatever hope people have that the chinese are trying to de escalate this, the mexicans and other countries not so inclined, the mexico thing first. >> okay mexico thing first about $3 billion worth of tariff s against u.s. goods coming south, pork products of note. neil: pork legs. >> you're like be specific deirdre, all sorts of fruits, nuts, bourbon, cheese, so it's the 3 billion from mexico, coming in in july, 3 billion from the eu, roughly the same kind of products if you add in harley-davidsons as well so that's 6 billion and i feel like a lot of investors are saying okay 6 billion but if china buys 70 million worth of farm equipment i don't know maybe we can live with that and it seems like the financials are actually pretty strong right now. neil: yeah it's interesting the back and forth and how it plays, trade, frictional that is it your sense when you talk to a lot of your colleagues and friends they hope it goes away

because already they're raising about this fellow republicans are about the president getting tough on trade, has to clear that with congress first. where is this going? >> well we can't hope it goes away we have to negotiate it away. the thing is my father always said either you pay now or you pay later right? if we've seen the fact that we've gone into deficit after trade deficit year after year we've seen the effects of it right? now we're seeing policies we're seeing a rebound now we have to actually tighten this trade so that way we don't have a enormous trade deficit with all these countries year after year, because if that continues, neil, we're going to see a catastrophic effect long after the trump presidency. neil: you know, kaitlyn what's remarkable is that the chinese are bending a little bit here 70 billion and 70 billion, and the devil is in the details exactly what they intended by but without the president's pressure this wouldn't be happening at all so you could make that argument but you could also say well is this just deemed as sort of a gesture?

>> sure it remains to be seen and remember the back drop of north korea could have a lot to do with this in terms of our relationship with china. i mean, i'm looking at we're heading into a mid-term election year right now, right? we're already in it, republicans are voicing concern on capitol hill because first of all this issue of trade has been the key issue that they have disagreed with policy-wise with this particular president on and also , they're facing the prospect of having some of these retaliatory measures imposed perhaps by canada and mexico hit their home states and donald trump's core constituents. neil: see a lot of them, there might be a method to what the president is doing and it'll never come to that but obviously they fear it will. >> they fear it will enough to raise the concern in terms of actual legislation. now that legislation really has no way of getting signed by this president right? it doesn't have the prospect i don't think of having a veto- proof majority support for it but the fact that they are

raising that concern is significant given their particular -- >> they did say that played a role right in california we were talking about that tenth congressional district, just that one district export something like more than $2.5 billion worth of agricultural products and california by itself would be the world's sixth largest economy and they export north of $16 billion worth of agricultural products so i think in california that did play a role. >> absolutely and it's a key point too because the economy is doing so well right because republicans have been campaign ing. neil: it'll takeaway a lot of sins right so even the trade deficit in the latest month. but there is this concern of course it'll negate that. >> but they should have had the concern a long time ago when the national debt was far below 20 trillion. the trade deficit actually help ed boost that up so it's good to have concern now but they should had concern all along, just like donald trump, president trump told us this like 20-30 years ago that we have to fix trade. why? because it will balloon into a

huge national debt and become a global crisis. neil: you worry though because republicans are known as this free market type party, right? and what's being advocated here is correcting the abuses of our trading partners by throwing abuses back at them. >> right. if global trade organizations are not going to actually promote free and fair trade, then the leader of the free world has to do it and that's what donald trump is trying to do. neil: do you think just reminding americans about how the chinese rigged the system how the european union rigged certain trade deals, that education alone has opened people's eyes? >> right if we can't fix it with trade then we have to actually curtail the amount of aid that we give to foreign countries otherwise. neil: so you take the tony sopra no route? you can make life very difficult >> but we have to cut it somewhere. neil: i agree. >> the underlying fundamentals for example, the world bank came

out and said this year the global economy will grow 3.1% exactly what happened last year in 2017 that would be the strongest year that was the strongest year on record since 2011. neil: and our trade gap fell to a seven-month low, now it's erratic and actually increased with china, but you know, a ris ing economic tide -- >> it covers a lot a good coat of paint. neil: indeed. well there is that. you guys worry though that something could go wrong very easily you kind of touched on it here that and if the solution is tariffs and threatening tariffs back at countries that we argue to your point do the same, that's going to be kind of like a weird strategy going forward for future presidents right? we'll fight fire with fire. >> well the interesting thing is yes, donald trump has been talking about this stuff for 30 years, right? but he also talked about the need for these bilateral trade agreements right and we just haven't seen that come to fruition, so it's one thing to say hey -- neil: he likes one on one deals.

>> but he is yet to actually make them, right? so he slaps these tariffs and these countries come back with their own proposals as well and we haven't really -- >> in south korea he works out some things but also what happened in that region. neil: that was kind of weak. >> it was weak. but then the rest of the tpp was like that's okay, u.s. , we'll just you know -- neil: you're talking about the trans pacific -- >> right. neil: guys could i get a sense though if the markets are worried that all right despite china making overtures but you mentioned the mexico thing and mentioned the eu is expected to make an announcement of widespread tariffs that will take effect in july the canadian s are planning their own list, why are the markets up? why today, do they just think this won't happen? >> well i think they're looking at the unemployment numbers. record lows in terms of 18-year low, the black unemployment rate in fact the first time in quite a while, where we actually have

equal jobs compared to the equal unemployment. in fact, if growth continues this way, we'll actually reach a steady benchmark of 3% growth rate and if we have unemployment rate of 3.8% that's almost at par. neil: and the atlanta fed to keep that up not that they they've been in the past but they see it substantially above 4%. >> construction is up, wage is up. neil: so i think you're right about that. i think that the markets are focused on is the good economic news and ignoring the potential for this being bad but trade wars if they get to that are generally bad for markets. >> if they get to that and that's why you hear a lot of republican warning the president you don't want to get into a trade war. neil: i don't think he envisions one. i think he thinks it's a threat and it won't get further than that. but the idea that they're sending this message shows that they don't want to mess with it. >> you need to stop being soft. look this is not a trade war, right? neil: of course in this interview you've used the word

soft and fat. >> [laughter] neil: i'm letting it go but it's okay. we'll continue that thought. >> [laughter] well the thing is that it's not a trade war, right? we've been letting countries take advantage of us for quite some time. now americas -- neil: do you think canada takes advantage of us? >> i think everyone takes advantage of us. why would they come to the table if they're eating our lunch? they wouldn't, so president trump has to call all these -- neil: but canada rubs runs a deficit with us. >> sorry? neil: canada runs a deficit with us how are they compromising our security? >> i mean look, let's talk about the countries that are really taking advantage of us like mexico and china. neil: why wouldn't you include canada in that mix? >> i wouldn't either but mexico and china are the two leading countries we have to bring to the table and negotiate architecture and negotiate construction inputs and raw materials and things of that nature to get us back on the

right track even footing so that way we can have free and fair trade. neil: and this is the start of that, talk tough so it won't necessarily have to be tough right? >> and i would say the stock market hasn't suffered too much and pointing to your illusion about the fundamentals, right? they're good and i think investors are hoping earnings are going to continue to develop and until we see an all out trade war we can tic along. neil: okay i could say things like fat chance, i won't do that guys thank you all very very much, i appreciate it. right now as they were speaking obviously buyers not deterred, we're up about 224 points as they were speaking i should say, and we've got a lot of people now convinced that this sort of economic continues, technology data is a bit of a different beast we'll get into the details of that this is not hitting all technology issues, but it is hitting a majority of them and that sector is feeling the pinch we're going to follow that. we're going to go to the white house when the president signs this improved care plan for

veterans, that's happening at the white house, we're also going to hear from larry kudlow, the administration sort of chief economic advisor his read on where this trade stuff goes, how much he really details here and what the chinese have offered to counter what the mexicans are doing, it's a wide open playing field, stay with us. your company is constantly evolving.

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neil: you're saying with the exception of the so-called crisis hot line, you wait, and you wait a long time, still. is that true? >> that is correct, and matter of fact the hill did a report on this just in march that va had been caught sending false reports about wait times, we know that veterans are still waiting on average longer for care, and this is something that the president talked about fixing when he was running for office. neil: i certainly don't want to take credit for a lot of what's going on here but we had that whistleblower, scott davis, on our show hitting the agency again on these infamous wait times, and the low and behold they move very fast in congress on this so-called va mission act which is meant to curtail those wait times dramatically reduce them in the case of a crisis hot line just make them go away and if veterans have to wait, they

can go to any nearby hospital with essentially a fast pass, so that they can get to the front of the line there, and now of course the president pushing for that. he will sign that act, turn it into law, and see what happens from here, blake burman at the white house with much more on that. >> hi there, neil and what they're trying to do is reform the va choice act and the trump adminitration couldn't be any better timing for them as to try to explain today why this program needs to be changed. we'll take you all the way back to 2014. you remember story after story extra ordinary wait times of vets trying to get care at the v a. some for months on end. well then the va choice about was put into effect, which let veterans go outside of the va system into the private healthcare sector to see a doctor, to try to cut down on those wait times; however, a report out today or this week rather from the government accountability office showed there are still a lot of problems with veterans just trying to see a doctor in a

matter of a month's time. the target here is to be able to see a doctor within 30 days but that new report from the gao says some are still waiting as long as 70 days, and this is part of what they concluded. "they say without designing appointment scheduling processes that are consistent with this requirement meaning the 30 days, va lacks assurance that veterans will receive choice program care in a timely manner" translation is there is still work to do there, so this new bill that the president is going to sign into law momentarily will reform the va choice act and it consolidates seven programs down into one, expands access for caregivers of veterans and will take a look as well at the current va facility that might be lagging behind. we should note as well that this will take a full year or just about there to implement so when the president signs this into law today, it's not like just with the swipe of a pen, this will go into place, so the current system will still be in place for the next 12 months or so neil and of course this all

comes as there is a little bit of uncertainty with the department of veterans affairs. the former acting secretary robert wilkey, the president said he will nominate him to be the new va head and that nomination has not yet official ly yet been made so there is still a temporary person in charge of the va, as this new program is going to try to fix a whole lot of problems with wait time. neil? neil: blake mu very much we're waiting for the president to arrive almost everyone including the vice president is in place let's get the read from a former army sperm ops commander, what do you make of this? >> well this is a step in the right direction. its been a long time coming. i just medically retired myself in 2017 and i got to live through the nightmare that is the wait process. it hasn't gotten better in some cases its gotten much worse and in some cases its led to tragedy i've got a company with about 200 employees most of which is veterans and veteran spouses and

we lost one a few months ago due to suicide and he was reaching out to the va, and did not get the care he needed. neil: what happens commander when three are wait times or sometimes officers are put on hold or what have you what's wrong? they were supposed to address this years ago and they can't seem to get a handle on it i don't know what would change with this legislation but what's the problem? >> well, we've got to look at making it incrementally better. the va individuals there are amazing they reached out to us several times with this instance and other instances and how to improve but what it really boils down to is you need strong leadership. you need a commander-in-chief that's willing to put someone in place and take off the handcuffs that have been there before, and let them do what needs to get done. neil: i wonder, commander, sometimes it's such a vast bureaucracy right over close to 200,000 workers, employees serving over a million veterans, is it simply would you guys be better off having special care

or passes provided to you to get to the front of the line at traditional hospitals? >> i think giving the organization the opportunity to fix itself, the choice act hits you a choice to see outside providers within that 30 day window when in reality it was twice that and again i can attest to it sometimes much longer than twice that. the only way to really fix this is from that top down and we've put people in the past in charge , when i was at westpoint, what an incredible leader and what an incredible scape goat for when things go bad. if you put someone in place and has the ability to make change but then you don't allow them the authority you can't do anything, so taking off the handcuffs and allowing that individual to make the necessary changes, it will do a lot especially with this new initiative, this new act. neil: you know we can only hope commander. i'm curious when you talk to a

lot of your colleagues and friends and your own experiences , how are you treated when you go in, is it a difference when you're on the phone versus in person? tell me what happened. >> i'll tell you that it's a combination of things. you have an organization that is using very archaic means to track and organize people and we come in a very tech savvy industrial age and you're look ing at some of the processes they're doing and they're setup for failure and then the individuals themselves there has to be a stronger accountability for holding the person at the very bottom responsible for doing their job, because the consequences of not doing their job, like i alluded to before they lead to travesty when an individual comes in after 10 deployments keep in mind this is the longest single-standing war run and managed by the small segment of society so when you're talking about deployments

you're talking about 10, 11, 12 deployments especially our special operations the young ranger that took his life at our company he'd reached out to the va, told them he had plans of killing himself and there's certain measures that were supposed to have been taken and it's just not happening. neil: you know, commander when i had scott davis on the whistleblower at the va, he said there's obviously a visceral negative reaction to those who s nitch, the whistleblowers like himself who will alert people to this problem but he said in one area things have improved on the so-called crisis hot line and presumably those that address the problems your friend had who ended up committing suicide that they're not on the line that long that they're urgently given care and in your friend's case that didn't pan out. >> the hardest thing is the collaboration between state, local, governmental organizations. a lot of it's that breakdown in communication the overlap of services that people just aren't aware of. there's the 22-day hot line,

there's a million different hot lines with wounded warrior projects that people can reach out there and also a va hot line but that isn't necessarily getting out there and the follow threw for when an individual actually calls in and really making sure they're taken care of not the check mark we actually saw them very quickly, it was the substance behind that meeting. did you actually accomplish anything and is there any oversight if you don't do your job, you should probably be removed but we know with governmental employees and i was one for over 11 years, it's very hard to remove individuals, and that's been a systemic issue as well. neil: this act is supposed to change that we shall see. commander thank you very much mostly for your service, incredible service to this country. be well. >> thank you very much. neil: all right we are waiting for the president of the united states, the commander-in-chief to go ahead and sign this legislation into law. that will address some of the grievances he's had and other

veterans had about how prompt the care is they get, and who gets what care and when. it depends really on the region and the va hospital. separately i want to let you know before we take a quick break here that the president has gone ahead and pardoned alice johnson she was a non- violent drug offender whose cause was being championed by kim kardashian you might recall when she visited the white house arguing on alice johnson's be half last week urging that the president pardoned her. he did, more after this. at fidelity, our online u.s. equity trades are just $4.95. so no matter what you trade, or where you trade, you'll only pay $4.95. fidelity. open an account today. with expedia, you can book a flight, hotel, car, and activity... all in one place. ♪ everything you need to go. ♪ expedia®

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neil: all right, the president is out there in the rose garden now to officially sign into law the so-called va mission act that will help things for veterans waiting for care, sometimes those waits have been very very long, this addresses that and the president is going to keep pounding that, making good on a campaign promise. president trump: choice, we've been looking for choice for a long time, and today's the day, so it's very important, very happy. thank you all for being here, this is truly a historic moment,

historic time for our country, i'll be signing the landmark legislation to provide healthcare choice. what a beautiful word that is, choice, and freedom to our amazing veterans. i want to welcome every veteran we have many veterans here today every caregiver and service member who has joined us on this very momentous occasion, all during the campaign, i go out and say why can't they just go see a doctor instead of standing in line for weeks and weeks and weeks. now, they can go see a doctor. it's going to be great. you fulfilled your duty to our nation with tremendous loyalty and courage and with the signing of this veteran's choice legislation, we take one more crucial step in fulfilling our duty to you. we're pleased to be joined today by our great vice president mike

pence, along with my nominee to lead the va, robert wilkey, wherever robert, stand up, robert. >> [applause] president trump: we're going to do a great job, and working along with robert is acting vaxe secretary peter o' rourke, so peter thank you. >> [applause] president trump: it's a great team. i also want to thank some of our many leaders i call them leaders because in this legislation they are indeed leaders. you know, they said that it would be very slow, it's political season we have an election coming on november 6 so they said it would be very very slow this period of time, and i was just telling mike. you know, mike this hasn't been very slow if you look at the passed dodd-frank, right to try, we just got $700 billion for our military. >> [applause]

president trump: that's a big one. we needed to get that. the military has got to be stronger, bigger, better than it ever was before hopefully we won't have to use it very much but the fact that we have it so strong means we probably won't have to use it as much, and i want to thank all of the great people in the audience that help ed us so much. on december 22, which doesn't quite fit into the january first date but on december 22, we signed the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country. that's a big one. >> [applause] president trump: and we got $1.6 billion we've already started the wall on the southern border, the wall is started $1.6 billion, so important. i also have to recognize some of the people that have worked so hard to make all of this happen and johnny isaacson, boy has

johnny been working. >> [applause] president trump: have you worked with jerry moran and the whole group, you and where is jerry? >> right behind you. >> [applause] president trump: good job. good job. bill cassidy, john bosman, dean heller, tom cotton all here, thom tillis, lindsay graham i see lindsay sitting right up there, hi, lindsay, good job, todd young, todd thank you. jonie ernst, i did you a good favor for the farmers yesterday, right? we love the farmers, right? i'm glad it worked out. john hovan, steve danes all here we have on the house of representatives mike coffman, brian mast, jack bergman, buddy

carter, did i introduce you, what's going on? i hope so. if i didn't introduce you i'm in trouble. >> [laughter] president trump: you know the problem with this there will be four people we didn't introduce and they'll never speak to me for the rest of my life. >> [laughter] president trump: they'll make sure i suffer right? so please i apologize. jennifer gonzalez, peter king, where's peter? oh, stand up, peter you've been so nice to me. >> [applause] president trump: he should he comes from new york. i mean he should, right, peter? jack bergman, our chair phil row e. phil? what a great job. >> [applause] president trump: that was a lot tougher than we thought, right? you would think it would have been easy, it makes sense but you would have thought. kevin kramer, jim banks, andy bar, claudia tenney, martha mc

sally, you're doing very well martha wherever you may be. >> [applause] president trump: i hear martha is doing very well in the great state of arizona, that's what the word is. don bacon, brad wenstrop, jason lewis, kathy mcmorris rogers, whose terrific. >> [applause] president trump: kathy? hi, kathy. >> [applause] president trump: representative neil dunn, representative lee zeldin, ann cutter and julia brown lee and i want to just thank and i assume we have a couple of others out there that anybody i didn't announce do you want to stand and we'll announce you? you deserve it. thank you, all very much, really it's incredible. >> [applause] president trump: and finally, i want to thank the fantastic veteran service organizations

that helped us push today's choice legislation across the finish line. whenever i spoke this was one of the most important things and it was something i got the biggest hand for. people want to take care of our great vets. they are our great people. four years ago our entire nation was shocked and outraged by stories of the va system plagued by neglect, abuse, fraud, and mistreatment of our veterans and there was nothing they could do about it. they couldn't do anything about it. good people that worked there they couldn't take care of the bad people, meaning you're fired , get the hell out of here. with us today are many brave veterans who endured their grave injustice including steve cooper and laura veller. they served their country with honor only to be denied the medical treatment they desperately needed. to steve and laura, no one should serve what you suffered. they suffered gravely. no one who defends our country

in uniform should have to fight for their lives when they come back, when they come to their home. we commend your strength and courage in the face of hardship, and we pledge to act in your name and in the name of every other veteran who has been so badly wronged and neglected and mistreated to those who serve our nation, who risk life and limb for country, we must never be denied care, access, or treatment that they need. that is why we are here today and that is why we are signing this most important bill, makes so much sense. its been so long they've been working on it for years and years and years and it wouldn't happen and accountability is the other one. as a candidate for president, i promise to make reforming the va one of my absolute highest priorities and from the first day of my administration, that

is exactly what we've done. last year, i signed the historic va accountability legislation, meaning you now can immediately get rid of people that don't treat our veterans right, that rob us or cheat us or aren't good to our great vets you can get them out. for 40 years they've been trying to pass this, phil you know that 40 years and they couldn't. made so much sense but it was hard. you have civil service, you have unions, of course they'd never do anything to stop anything, but they had a very great deal of power and in the end they came along, everybody came along because they knew it was right so we passed something that hasn't been that recognized and yet i would put it almost in the class with choice, almost in the class with choice.

va accountability passed and now , if people don't do a great job they can't work with our vets any more. they're gone. >> [applause] president trump: so we're very proud of accountability and the campaign i also promised that we would fight for veterans choice and before i knew that much about it, it just seemed to be common sense. it seemed like if they're waiting in line for nine days and they can't see a doctor, why aren't they going outside to see a doctor and take care of themselves and we pay the bill? it's less expensive for us, it works out much better, and it's immediate care and that's what we're doing so we're allowing our veterans to get access to the best medical kara care available whether it's at the va or a private provider. in a few moments i will keep that promise that i will be making ever since the first day

of my campaign. seems like a long time ago, and i'm going to sign legislation that will make veterans choice permanent and i just can't stress the people here, the people in the audience, senators , congressman, the great people working at the va, and soon to be secretary wilkey, and everybody, the work that they've done to get this through is really inspirational to me. i've learned so much from the standpoint that i actually see how hard these people work and this was very important and phil and mike and everybody, i really appreciate what you've done. its been incredible. this has been for years, for 30- 40 years they've been trying to get this donald they haven't been able to and we got it done. if the va can't meet the needs of a veteran in a timely manner that veteran will have the right

to go, right outside to a private doctor, so simple and yet so complex. this legislation also expands access to the caregiver program for seriously injured veterans, because no matter where you served or when you fought, if you were in uniform at some point if you wore that uniform, then you deserve our absolute best and that's what we're doing >> [applause] president trump: this bill speed s up the claims process, increases the health services, expands access to walk-in clinic s, and fights opioid addiction. these are sweeping historic changes, there's never been anything like this in the history of the va. never been anything close, and we will not rest until the job is fully done.

my administration is also taking action to ensure veterans with seamlessly transition their medical records from the department of defense into the v a, and i've heard so many stories, how difficult it is almost impossible. i said how is that possible? it was almost impossible to do, it would take years to do. we'll do it immediately now. we're setup. we have the right systems. after years and years of waiting the two departments will now finally use the same system. they're matching. today we also mark another milestone, the 74th anniversary of d-day, the allied invasion of normandy on june 6, 1944, more than 70,000 brave young americans charged out of landing craft, jumped out of airplanes and stormed into hell. they gave their heart, their

blood, and their very lives on those beaches to drive out the enemy and strike a lasting victory for our country and for freedom. in every generation, there have been heros like them, patriots who answer the call to serve who where whenever we need them to defend america. they put everything on the line for us and when they come home, we must do everything that we can possibly do for them and that's what we're doing. >> [applause] president trump: and they could be very proud of their country, because literally, this week, we have gotten the best financial numbers, the best economic numbers, the best numbers on unemployment and employment that

we've ever had as a country. strongest economy we've ever had it's so good, because we can do so many more things when that happens, including of course jobs. among the best job numbers ever in the history of our country, african american unemployment, the lowest its ever been in history, hispanic unemployment the lowest its ever been in history. women unemployment lowest its been in 21 years and soon to be history. little bit more is going to be history. numbers that nobody has ever seen. we've added $7 trillion since the election. $7 trillion to our country's worth, our country's value, the value. we've added $7 trillion to our country's worth. we've never had anything like this, and i'll tell you what it's going to get better cutting

regulations, cutting taxes, just starting. so it's now migrate honor to sign the va mission act or as we all know it, the choice act and to make veteran's choice the permanent law of our great country and nobody deserves it more than our veterans. thank you all very much. >> [applause] president trump: thank you. thank you. thank you. >> [applause] president trump: thank you very much.

>> [applause] neil: all right you're looking at the rose garden the president has just signed the va mission act also known as the choice act >> [applause] neil: this was approved overwhelming margins in both the house and the senate and in a nutshel it allows veterans to get speedy care and many have

been waiting weeks and months, sometimes to their own detriment some have died as a result of these long waits of the severity their medical ailments were not appreciated by va attendees and also allows even though it's going to be tested here, for unproductive and unresponsive va staff workers to get fired. again a lot easier said than done in the past but again this has strict contingencies here that if the metrics of like wait times and all those are not address, they don't improve, they could be terminated. many government union types have been fearful of this saying that if this spreads to other agencies that this could go too far and that it would be open season on government workers, that's probably a bit of a reach here, but the whole idea is to get these wait times down and to get the quality of care up. this has affected everybody of all political stripes it'sot a dollar saving issue t second largest government agency on the planet, and the fact of

the matter is it has more people under its responsibility, its got close to 200,000 and we're there to take care of actually i misread it before close to 2 million veterans in this country and it has dropped the ball. the president is hoping by this measure today that will stop and it will stop now. this is the second legislative attempt to try to do this. a lot of this is done by whistleblowers including scott davis whether had told us on this very air a little more than three weeks ago the problems continue and that bureaucrats there are stubborn to change and stubborn to improve things. this legislation now law says they have to and if they don't, they are fired. we'll have more after this.

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neil: all right, a long way to stop the wait and the president signing legislation that aims to prevent what has been a consistent and year-long problem for veterans to get care. this will speed them to the front of the line, get them through the process faster, and make sure that there are penalt ies for those in the government or at these va hospitals who block that. that they can get fired. again, a lot easier said than donald a lot of the details are spelled out in this now law that the president signed just a few

minutes ago. the read from retired lt. colonel daniel davis colonel thank you for taking time. someone who served this country with great honor, you and all of your colleagues who are veterans deserve to be treated well and to get expedited care when you need it. that has been a problem, and i'm wondering if you are confident this will end that problem. >> well, as i think your previous guests had said earlier on the same subject, it comes down to leadership and it certainly looks like president trump is putting some firm action behind his claims to want to make this better and if the leaders at the top are interested in really putting forth an effort to make this better, then i have high expectations it can be done because the people who are in the va for the most part are patriotic americans who love their country and love the people who have served and i think they're going to do a good job with this legislation and i

think now they will have a better chance to do that because i think the other part the president did mention is about the accountability part and one of the frustrations i know many of my colleagues have had has been that sometimes people who don't actually seem to carat all and yet they were in no threat of ever losing their jobs and so they were free to continue on that. neil: i do hope it does because if they're in the difference of the needs of our veterans and they work at the va they shouldn't be there in the first place or just mailing it in they certainly shouldn't be there but from that, sir, i'd be remiss if i didn't mention what's going on ahead of the north korean summit and expectations that maybe one of the first issues they will get into is addressing why we still have a state of war to the united states and north korea. is it your sense that ending that after 70 plus years it is potentially very likely? >> it remains to be seen how

likely it is but i certainly think it's a positive idea, a good thing that we should pursue and allegedly all the members all the key parties actually want it because i think that if you accomplish something like that and certainly moon and kim have been very clear about saying that's something they want that lowers the tension ignition that reduces the possibility of this ever turning into a hot war is something we should pursue. neil: you know, it's supposed to be a one and done type of arrangement if i read it correctly colonel that isn't going to go like in iceland when it was gorbachev and ronald regan and you recall when ronald regan left because it wasn't what he wanted and the russians pulled something very fast at the end he didn't like on the star wars defense initiative. long story short this is a one day affair we're told do you think that that puts added pressure to rush something together or to have problems? >> no, actually i don't,

because i've actually heard from some sources that say that there is some contingency planning already going on that this could stretch into a second day if things continue to go well, but president trump is also signaled here just recently that this is the beginning of a process, so i don't think he has any intention that this is either going to be successful or it's going to be a failure. i think this is the beginning of a process which i think has a chance to accomplish something for the country. neil: i knew things are serious, colonel when i saw dennis rodman was going to be in singapore so that showed that somethings in the works. what did you think of that? >> well certainly that was interesting news. i think that's just one of the things that are going on and there's a lot of things going on about this but of course that's not going to have anything to do whatever he may or may not do it's not going to have anything to do with how the negotiations actually go and i think as long as everybody stays focus on the fact that we keep on the diplomatic math as long as we're always focused on what's going

to be good for the united states and lower the possibility of war i think that's where we need to go. neil: you're right about that sir thank you very very much good catching up with you. >> thank you. neil: we're waiting for larry kudlow chief economic advisor for the president, i'm not talking about the one, i'm talking at the one in canada g7 members including the host country canada very upset with the united states on this sudden trade friction. how we plan to handle that, what the president wants to do to make sure there are no problems as he leaves there for a much more, well shall we say, focus trip. that to singapore. more after this.

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. neil: you know, there is a summit coming up here that does not have to do with north korea, the g7 in canada. larry kudlow, white house economic adviser is going to detail what's on the line here. you probably have heard more than a few of our g7 colleagues are upset including canada. prime minister trudeau already indicated that his country is treated like an enemy. that's not going to fly well. this, as the administration is getting heat about the tariff powers and the republicans leading an effort to make sure they can check him on this and that it would have to go through congress first. edward lawrence is on top of it all in washington. hey, edward.

reporter: hey, neil, you go to the g7 summit, japan is there, eu members there, germany specifically. a lot the president has to deal with. any minute we're waiting for economic adviser larry kudlow to talk about what he expects to talk about at the g7 summit. tariffs will no doubt be part of the conversation, the prime minister of canada and mexico plan to confront the president face-to-face about removing steel and aluminum tariffs. there may be a showdown between congress and the president. senator bob corker says later on this afternoon he's going to introduce a bill that would limit the president's tariff powers. now that bill would actually require congressional approve to impose or adjust tariffs based on national security concerns. the so-called section 232 tariffs. >> it's abusing authority, which i've been clear about, and since they are using it in this manner, always said it will continue on, but we want to approve the final product.

reporter: this may have bipartisan support in congress. in fact possibly enough to override a possible veto if it does come to that in the senate. senate chuck schumer says there could be democratic support of this, they want to look at the language of the bill, however, it might not work as a stand alone bill. senator mitch mcconnell says it might have to be attached to a greater bill. national defense authorization act is still open he says, so it could be pointed towards that. senator bob corker stresses it's up to congress to manage revenues not the president and that includes tariffs, neil? neil: edward, thank you very, very much. wait it out, larry kudlow. we have charlie gasparino and dan mitchell. first charlie with press the president is getting on this trade? >> yeah, interesting headlines here. jamie dimon of jpmorgan and the business roundtable have been battling with trump over the tariff issues. they hate it. it's very interesting.

a lot of the stuff is done because of relationships. jamie dimon had a very close relationship in the beginning of the trump administration up until about february, i would say. what we understand is that relationship has cooled primarily over trade. they haven't spoken since february. there's essentially a quarrel between the top business leaders in this country represented by dimon, the business roundtable and president trump over this tariff business. now the president may walk away from it and not do these tariffs and carrying a big stick and not going through with it, but i can tell you right now jamie dimon and president trump have not spoken since february. one of the reason why is the relationship has cooled over the trade issue and he's essentially alienating, i would say, a pretty important bloc here for republicans going forward. if you want campaign contributions, this is where the money is, and it's over trade. neil: can you argue, he's one to complain with a tax cut that made him a gazillion dollars.

where is this going, the trade thing? it is supposed to produce the results, you don't need to actually have them. >> exactly right, neil. this is the biggest test ever of trump's negotiating model, "the art of the deal." threw down the gauntlet on iran, withdrew from the iran deal. going to singapore to negotiate with kim jong-un. this is many, many times bigger. essentially donald trump is taking on the whole wide world. every country that's a trading partner, hundreds of countries, tens upon tens of companies, millions of workers, which is to say the global economy, very complicated supply chains, prices being deterned all day long, and he has decided to push against that system by supposing these tariffs. not threatening, they imposed them last week. imposing them on ens. good question because they are

threatening to retaliate specifically targeting states in the united states that supported donald trump. wisconsin cranberry growers, washington apple growers, farmers across the midwest and in california. where incidentally the republicans held their own in the primaries tuesday. neil: dan mitchell, one of the things that's raised here is the president raised with the other dan here, he doesn't think it will come to that and people will come to their senses. but we do know from tradetives that they get nasty. what's your sense? >> we saw that in the 1930s. that's what i'm scared of now. if trump follows through with all the tariffs and we get retaliation from the other countries, with trump's personality, he's likely to double down and do something even worse, and keep in mind, these are not tariffs we're imposing on the japanese or the europeans. these are taxes being imposed upon american consumers. and i don't really care whether the republican party and the

business community have good relations, i care about the danger to the global economy but specifically the american economy of some sort of tit-for-tat, 1930s replay of global protectionism. >> that's what the business community is worried about. let's be real clear. jamie dimon just doesn't spout off and just doesn't dis the president because he got up on the wrong side of the bed today. he's worried about a tit-for-tat trade. it should be modernized and brought up to date, it's old, right? worried about throwing it totally out and getting rid of all the good parts, and i hate to say it, you need a relationship with the business community, it always helps, they employ a lot of people, and to go down with it, it's weird. neil: the markets race ahead, even today, and i wonder dan

henninger, they don't think anyone will come of it, the economy, the jobs and everything is so good, you don't need to worry about this? >> i think the market is thrilled with the underlying economy. they finally got a strong economy. they are reacting. they don't want to believe that the tariffs are going happen, and if they were, if we did get into a trade war and the economy began to pull back a little bit, the sectors in the economy, the market pulled back, that could have an effect on the november elections because the republicans have an unbelievably strong economy to run on. it's just very difficult to find an economy that is like the wind at your back. and if that wind dies down, the entire republican party, which donald trump has been campaigning very hard for in the rallies around the country, could be in trouble. >> the markets react, stocks go up based on corporate earnings, let's not distill it here. this will come to a test.

is wilbur ross right when he shows a can and says it's penny, doesn't have much of an impact and dan henninger and me and say it -- neil: the impact could be many months and people won't appreciate that by election day. that's a cynical view. what do you think of that? >> i guess there's two things, one is what's actually going to happen in terms of higher input prices for businesses, higher consumer prices for those of us going to the cash register, and that might take several, several months. however, when you're looking at the stock market as sort of a predictor of future economic performance, if all of a sudden investors suddenly think, wait, this protectionism stuff, this is serious, you could see some sort of a short run disruption that could actually then wind

up affecting november because people could be pessimistic. neil: all of this is subterfuge that they don't see it happening. some in the markets don't see it coming to a trade war. >> i think there's another big foreign policy issue that's involved. two of the other major initiatives that i mentioned that donald trump's got going withdrew from the iran nuclear deal, that was huge, and now he's going to negotiate kim jong-un's nuclear capability. to do both, he needs the europeans on iran, right? he needs the germans, needs the brits and the french. he does not need to be involved in a trade dispute with them while asking for support on iran. over in asia, he needs the japanese and god knows the south koreans to support him. he's putting this wedge between his trade policy and his foreign policy. neil: he doesn't care. doesn't seem to care. >> he may find out he has to care. >> if the markets start

cratering and corporate profits -- by the way, the time span between policy and how it affects krpt -- corporate profits is a lot thinner the way the global economy is structured. if they target us, i think you're going to feel it pretty immediately, where it will have a bottom line impact. neil: have a bottom line impact on individuals, going to the store, purchasing stuff, that will be immediate? >> the old days, may take six months, now takes three. neil: you agree with that? >> or farmers, farmers have been having a tough time interest rates go up. farmers heading towards recession. >> it is traded in commodities markets. >> we'll see what larry kudlow has to say to it ahead of the summit. >> in the meeting with my high school friends pronunciation is going to get it. basically the key points number

one economic growth, united states now has the fastest growing economy in the world, according to the oecd, or the fastest growing economy among the industrialized nations. second, there will be trade discussions, as you might imagine. third, there will be some important bilateral meetings. president trump will be meeting with prime minister trudeau and president macron, important bilaterals. and finally, i think one of the key points, of course, on the eve of the north korean summit in singapore, one of the key point will be shared security issues among the allies, and if i may just perhaps because it's my favorite subject, the united states economy is growing. we're pushing through 3%. some said it couldn't be done.

it is being done, and we're proud of it, and i think president trump's policies of the lower taxes and major regulatory rollback are a key part of this issue, and i also think his role as a -- probably the strongest trade reformer of the past 20 years. not only protect american interests but to open up avenues of growth for our businesses and workers and frankly to help open up world growth. the world trading system is a mess. it is broken down. and so far as fairness and reciprocity, and ultimately free trade. i think this is contributing to our economic growth and our confidence. key point here on the economy is small business confidence, record high or nearly so,

consumer sentiment. i guess that's in 15 or 20 years at least and, of course the jobs numbers have been superb. recent article in the "new york times" suggested nothing better could be written about the job performance. i loved reading that. and unemployment rates are down across the board. really, we haven't seen such low unemployment in many, many decades for all categories, i might add. so i think policies are working and my great hope is that our friends at the g7 will take notice of these policies, and work with us to extend and expand them, so we can have a prosperous u.s. and world economy. so these will all come up at the charle vois. >> thank you. questions on china if i may, how do you reach the deal to lift the ban as reported, and

if so, what can you tell us about it? >> no decision has been reached by both sides as of now and, of course, i referred you to wilbur ross, secretary of commerce, but as of this moment, no decision has been reached by both sides. reporter: secondly, in terms of the focus on china and tariffs on china, there seems to be a dual focus of this administration on lowering the trade deficit of china but also on structural reform. how do you see the more important of those goals and what are you doing to achieve the structural reform in particular? >> you know, they are absolutely related, integrated thoughts. in other words, the negotiations between the u.s. and china regarding trade will lower the trade deficit, if it works out. there are no deals at the

moment, but the way you do that, this is an important point, i'm not sure folks have picked up on this and i appreciate your question on this. this is not a government to government. this is not the chinese government buying a bunch of natural gas and soybeans from america. this is about reducing tariff rates and nontariff barriers that will permit the increase in u.s. export sales to china. that's the actual mechanism, and i don't think that's been a clear point. it's an economic point. that's how you do it, and that represents structural change, important structural change. as you know there are other issues here regarding technology transfers and theft of ip and so forth, and if you do that, if you lower the tariff rates and if you lower the nontariff barriers, and you permit increased u.s. export sales, we are the most

competitive economy in the world. so we will get that job done. and the trade gap will probably fall. that's how that will work. yes, please? reporter: the meeting, the finance minister's meeting over the weekend, the french finance minister, the g6 plus 1, angela merkel said there could be contentious discussions regarding trade. how is the u.s. planning to respond to the criticisms they concerned? >> look, we're talking everything through. there may be disagreements. i regard this as much like a family quarrel. i'm always the optimist. i believe it can be worked out, but you know, i'm always hopeful on that point. this is a g7 meeting, and the presidents and heads of state will get togeer le me add one thought to that,

though. the president, president trump is very clear with respect to his trade reform efforts, that we will do what is necessary to protect the united states, its businesses and its workforce so that we may have disagreements, we may have tactical disagreements, but he has always said, and i agree, tariffs are a tool in that effort, and people should recognize how serious he is in that respect. reporter: do you expect him to make changes to the tariffs on canada or the eu in this meeting? there's been reports that the secretary will change it with canada? >> i'm going to leave that to the meetings. okay, lots of hands. yes, sir, please. reporter: you mentioned the president will be having a

bilateral with canadian prime minister trudeau. how do you describe relations between the u.s. and canada. are they better than existed in prior administrations or worse than in prior administrations? >> i don't want to make comparisons with prior administrations. reporter: please, please, just for my benefit. [laughter] >> just between us. [laughter] >> get it. appreciate it. look, president trump talks to prime minister trudeau a lot and continues to do so, the bilateral meeting scheduled between the two is a really good thing and i think they'll walk through a lot of these issues. i have no doubt that the united states and canada will remain firm friends and allies, whatever short-term disagreements may occur. so i would say relations are very good, yes? reporter: what are the prospects being negotiated this year? >> we're still talking. communication lines are open.

i don't want to make a prediction, ambassador lighthizer has the play on that. everyone is still talking. yes? reporter: could you talk a little bit about -- i'm sorry, actually the one behind you. but please, feel free. reporter: it's all good. >> go ahead. reporter: all right, thank you. regarding trade deficits, the president often talks about trade deficits as if they're their own problem and other countries aren't buying our goods, and i know that you're stating that issue is tariffs and lowering trade barriers will reduce trade deficits. what happens when the tariffs come down, the barriers come down, and the trade defic doesn't go down? what happens then, sir? >> well, look, you know, supply and demand in global markets subject to macroeconomic factors, that's pretty hard to predict. but i think it is reasonable to assume that if our neighbors

and allies and whoever lower their trade barriers, we'll export significantly more frankly across the board, and i can expand on that thought. united states economy is going through a very positive transformation right now as i said earlier. lower tax rates. rollback of regulations, the war against business is over. the war against success is over. the war against energy is over. we have now freed up the animal spirits. you can see that by the confidence indexes. we're rolling, u.s. economy is rolling. if you give us a chance, foreign countries, don't buy

american cars. germany has luxury car industry that is world renowned, why would they buy our own cars. it's supply and demand right there. sounds that the president's problem is other countries aren't buying our goods, not that we're not able to sell to other countries. >> by and large, i don't agree with that. but let me just back up. here's the president's key thought on this. reciprocity, and one of the problems, one of the reasons for the breakdown of the trading system, the world trading system as i described which the president is trying to fix. the last 20 some odd years, we've seen a lack of discipline, tariff, nontariff barriers have gone up. there's been a lot of protectionism. the united states by the way, we have the largest tariff in the world. if you go down a laundry list of industries, we are much lower. tariff rates are much lower

than our competitors. so his point is we should all have a level playing field. he calls it reciprocity. i think it's a very apt description, and that's the problem. if you bring down the barriers and equalize the -- level the playing field, markets take their course and we'll see. but i think the products we make here have improved enormously and will continue to improve enormously. that's the message of this economic recovery. so we'll wait and see on that, but that's the mechanism, as i said to the other question, you know, the way you lower trade gap, the way you increase exports is lower the barriers, and again, i want to say other presidents in both parties have paid lip service to this issue of the lack of reciprocity and china's particularly bad behavior, but nothing ever comes of it. thisresident has the back bone to take the fight and he

will continue to make the fight because he believes it is in the best interest of the united states and also the rest of the world. reporter: larry? >> yes. reporter: is the united states committed to a framework -- [inaudible]. reporter: is president trump backing away from gaps in the wto? >> no, let me be very clear. important question. don't blame trump. blame the nations that have broken away from those conditions. very important point. all right? i'm not here at the podium to call out countries and individual names and so forth, but you know from our own work. trump's trying to fix this broken system. it was a good system, i agree with you, and it lasted for a bunch of decades, but that system has been broken in the

last 20 years plus. the world trade organization, for example, has become completely ineffectual and when it makes decisions in the rare moments when it makes decisions, important countries don't even abide by them. so you're right about that framework from the mid 1940s on. i think it worked beautifully. i think free world trade is a very good thing indeed, but it is broken, and president trump is trying to fix it, and that's the key point. as i said before, i think he's the strongest trade reformer in many decades. yes? reporter: he said it's possible if the frameworks break down, it could lead to war, he said that. >> i won't comment what the president said. i will say this. each country has a responsibility to re-engage the world trading system. we are making requests. i'd like, the president would

like other countries to deal with our requests. so far they have not in any satisfactory way. that would help solve the problem and hopefully the g7 meeting which will take up trade in considerable form will move this along, yes? reporter: in 2002, we went through the same thing with the bush steel tariffs, and that was a disaster. we ended up getting harmed by the wto and had to pull back the tariffs, 30% not the 25% two years earlier than they were supposed to expire. how is this different from that? reaction from the world was the same. eu, trading partners, same reaction, there was a trade war. >> i don't think there was a trade war. call it what you may. i think what we're engaged with here is trade disputes that need to be solved. i'll come back to my point. no administration in either party has made this case in a

full-throated comprehensive way as president trump is now doing. i think that's the difference. yes? yes? yes, sir, i owe you. yes, please. reporter: since a lot of countries are coming out with retaliatory tariffs and taking cases to the wto, will this administration respect the decisions that come out of wto? >> you know, united states, the president said this many times, we're bound by the national interests here more than anything else. we're always interested in the world trade organization. ambassador lighthizer filed complaints in the wto with respect to chinese practices and the practices of other nations, so we're working through the wto, but international multilateral organizations are not going to determine american policy. i think the president's made that very clear. >> yes. reporter: can you describe, you talked about the summit that there could be a lot of

conversations, bilateral and otherwise in the summit, is there expectation of the administration of an actual outcome? is there some issue -- do you expect some kind of decision either on some of these tariff issues on pushing nafta in order on some of communique that would push either trade war on iran or any other issues? >> we'll see what comes of it. we'll see. we're going to have all the discussions. it's early. reporter: it's not early, we're a couple days from the summit. >> these kind of decisions, let them meet first. let them meet, let them discuss and see what happens. reporter: treasury secretary steven mnuchin recommended to the president this week that the president extend an exemption on steel and aluminum tariffs to the canadians. >> the report was incorrect. reporter: he did not recommend

exemptions to the canadians? >> he did not. reporter: did anybody in the administration recommend it? >> there were articles written about the meeting we had. i was in the meeting. i talked to the treasury secretary earlier today, funny, neither of us said a word in that meeting. that story is patently false. patently false. reporter: one thing to talk about increased tariffs with mexico or canada whose economies are much more dependent on u.s. trade than say a more nefarious actor like china. how is it in china's interest to have a meeting of the minds or come to some sort of agreement to level the playing field considering the massive amount of trade that happens between the two countries? >> you mean u.s. and china? reporter: yes. >> look, of course it's in their interest. they do a lot of business here.

reporter: we've been handling things already. why would they want to change it? >> i don't know, from the u.s. standpoint it's a very unbalanced picture, and the president would like to remedy that. that's a key point. secondly, as we have said on a number of occasions, china has engaged in unfair and frequently wto illegal trading practices. what's more, regarding ip theft, technology, forced technology transfers and other matters, china has not behaved well. now this could be remedied if the two countries reach agreements in certain areas. thus far we have not. but china sells a lot of goods here, don't forget that. that's the source of our trade deficit, and president trump would like to balance that out and bring down barriers and make new arrangements and see if china will play by the rules. that's an important point.

>> yes, yes. reporter: talked about china's bad behavior and acknowledged the other countries at the g7 summit. are you concerned that attention is going to affect your own negotiations with china? because it seems like you could use these allies and instead of presenting a western front against china, the u.s. is pretty isolated? and my second question is we've heard a lot from president trump about his summit with kim jong-un and spoken very little about the g7. is he going to be too distracted by his trip to singapore? >> no. reporter: we hav heard of a proactive agenda for the g7. >> we're in the process of the g7 discussions. as i said at the top, growth, trade, important bilateral talks and shared security talk. let me go to the first part of your question.

the whole world agrees with us regarding china's trade practices. the whole world. and, in fact, many parts of that world have filed their own complaints on exactly the same grounds. either with the government of china or with the world trade organization. so make no mistake about that. our president has taken action, strong decisive action, as i said. i continue to refer to him as a trade reformer, and by the way, i'll elaborate once more. he regards himself as a free trader, but until we can deal with the unfair practices and so forth, we will not have fair trade. until we can have reciprocal relationships, we will not have free trade, we'll not have fair trade. i think the cause is just and i think the rest of the world agrees with him. always has from day one. reporter: what is the president's mind-set going into, this knowing he will

likely encounter awkward conversations, does the president want to go on this trip? >> of course he wants to go on the trip. the president is at ease on the tough issues, proven himself a world leader on the stage. and achieved great successes in regards to foreign policy. i don't think there's any issue there at all. yes? reporter: to your point on the president's mind-set, the allies including british prime minister theresa may called tariffs unjustified and disappointing. counterpart justin trudeau called the national security rationale something. >> there are disagreements, he's sticking to his guns and he's going to talk to them, communication, the lining are open, the negotiations are ongoing, not at the presidential level but the trade level with ambassador lighthizer and commerce secretary wilbur ross and treasury secretary steve mnuchin. talk's the best remedy here.

we have different points of view in some cases. some cases they're tactical questions. my view, we can get through this. we have in the past. reporter: the tensions with stalwart allies have not given him pause? >> there's always tensions about something, always tensions about something. last one, yes. reporter: help us understand how to read the president's words, tweeted the best economy and jobs, gdp growth is not at an all-time high. how should we read the president's words, hyperbole? not take him literally? >> it's spectral. 3.8% unemployment rate is among the lowest on record. >> among, correct, 2.5 in 1983. is it hyperbole? >> he's stating the facts, the facts stand on their own. i'm not going to quibble on

such things. regarding 3% growth, every economist on the other side of the aisle and friends of mine, many are good friends of mine said 3% growth couldn't be achieved. we couldn't do better than 1 to 2. you heard it, i heard it, we argued and debated it. we are moving in the 3% zone. that is a huge achievement. the president's policies, pro-growth policies, lower taxes, lower regulations, taking the handcuffs off business. telling people to be as entrepreneurial risk take as they properly can. providing confidence. these things have added up to a tremendous confirmation of the economy which in my judgment is only just beginning, so to me it's a factual statement. let me just say thank you to all of you. reporter: sign the joint communique? >> what about the tariffs on

canada, you can explain that, sir? . neil: that was larry kudlow, the white house economic adviser outlining preparations ahead of the big summit. not talking about the one in singapore, the g7 meeting, the seven richest countries including the u.s. canada is hosting it and prime minister is hosting it and none too pleased on the actions labeling canada a cheater on trade. one on one tal with the leaders of two crucial critics of that plan on the part of the president to go after some of our allies, our friends that like to remind us on trade issues, including canadian prime minister justin trudeau, the host of the g7 summit and president emmanuel macron of france, a big critic saying that the president, president trump, turned his back on his friends and those who certainly do not represent security threats. we talked specifically about canada and moves on steel and saying that compromises our

national security, the canadian prime minister heard that and said that is laughable. the french had a different view of things but i don't know french but i think they were curse words. again. that was hearing from larry kudlow who outlined a plan to say we'll get through this. friends bicker, but we'll get through this. the fallout from all of this from axios congressional reporter caitlyn owens and vin vince. it's one thing to go after china, mr. kudlow, these are our friends and these are the people we need? >> you know, i think there's a lot of things going on. but i think one thing to know that axios reported is the president is taking deadlines seriously. follow through on things that were said, look at the iran deal, and when he's talking about nafta and bilateral agreements, china and france,

we should take this seriously. it worries our countries, other countries that are part of group deals and it's interesting this is happening at a time when republicans in congress are getting worried. we've got a bill going on right now to require congressional approval for new tariffs. neil: right. >> i think there's a lot of stress around this but should taken very seriously. kudlow was dead right on this aspect that the world has been complaining about china's trading practices, not so much about its own trading practices but always concerned that china rigs and cheats and rigs currency, rigs markets and this president called the chinese out on it, and they do admit that the chinese, voiced unduly harsh terms on tariffs in china. the difference is whether our response or respond in kind is

the answer. very few disagree that the chinese are a problem. i think what's surprising them, vince, is the administration is describing this agita to them, to friendly countries? >> if he's willing to be this tough when it comes to tariffs and trade deficits with friends, man, he must be serious talking about a place like china. the chinese see that. we've seen the reports they've offered $70 billion in offers to get the united states to back off of tariffs for china. no indication whether or not the u.s. is truly going to do. that but right now i think the president is conveying across the board he's serious about correcting imbalances in trade and been consistent since the campaign that he hates the multilateral deals. that's why he backed out of the trans-pacific partnership. he wants unique deals with each of the countries and feel he's

got something good for the american consumer. neil: caitlyn, i use the market as a proxy as what the americans should worry about. that's risky because markets change on a dime. having said, that markets have been increasing during the acrimonious trade tiffs that some say are on the verge of trade wars. do they not see them coming or if they do they'll be settled fast, what do you think? . >> i think the part of it -- i think it's twofold. something kudlow talked about is the economy is doing well. so separate from the trade wars, gdp is rising. we're seeing a lowering the unemployment numbers, so i think obviously that has a big impact on the market. the other thing is as we're talking around, i think we're trying to think through how this ends up and goes, there's an issue of uncertainty, right? i think what we've learned here from president trump, he's going to do what he's going to

do. there's a little -- you know some ways he's predictable and he has said he hates the trade deficits, he wants to turn to bilateral agreements. tariffs shift and who's exempt and who's not? it is hedging bets and not doing anything too drastic until we see how this shakes out. neil: vince, i don't think he sees it happening. the threat is going to be enough to secure a deal or trade pact with any one of these countries. what do you think? >> that's right. the reason is we've seen the president do it over and over and over again. comes out domestically, internationally, come out with strongest potential offer and often meet in the middle. he'll settle. he'll come up with the end deal. maybe he's holding that in reserve. and some cases like the iran deal, he'll straight up rip it up. so i think signals like that where he's willing to go to the extreme, rip up the iran deal,

for instance, is indication for people around the world including china, he's serious and maybe should come to the table or else they won't be back. neil: sorry for the tight time here. to remind you the administration is getting ready for two big summits, the one on g7 on trade matters. the next one right after that in singapore with the north korean leader, that could be historic. both are more connected than you think. you have advantages over us that i don't like. you got to do something about it. arranging bilateral meetings with france and canada to ease tensions, more will likely follow because everyone is getting ticked off at him but the markets don't seem to be worried, convinced that all of that would be enough to extract the deal, which is why all the big issues that dominate the dow. the most hurt by potential trade war are doing just fine. thank you. more after this. my mom's pain from

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. neil: all right, looking at

facebook, shares down 1.5%, which is a little less than you would think. and we're getting reports that a lot of that compromised data and information was getting in the hands not only of device makers, but the chinese and the number of chinese firms at that. here to keep us up on all of this in facebook land and what could happen down the road is kristina partsinevelos and, of course, susan li. what's going on here? >> investors are yawning at this. neil: really? >> yeah. this isn't the first time that cambridge analytica stock dropped a bit. you are seeing positive reaction from the street. analysts saying forget. this users aren't deleting facebook. look at the long-term potentials of the company. they're investing in a.i. >> artificial intelligence. >> exactly. artificial intelligence, so much long-term potential when you look at fundamentals, relatively cheap stock, and analysts that are positive. neil: maybe people don't make a

big deal of it. >> i think when you're down in an up market on a day when the dow crosses 25,000, there is inherent regulatory reputation priced into the stock. we had hedge funds and analysts predicting the stock to hit $200 each, you have to think when does regulation come in, when do we get more congressional hearings, when does facebook get broken up. neil: you never heard back on capitol hill. >> that's the biggest concern, the trust factor with you and i, i still have facebook, i didn't delete it. and the second thing is trust on capitol hill, whether they're going to be light on regulation going forward. facebook wants that but given this additional event that happened, that's riskier. >> i don't know if you opened your facebook today. when i opened facebook, it had a list, do you want to continue sharing data?

do you want friends' information to continue to be shared. they want you to remind you, you can opt out of the privacy settings on the app itself. neil: give you an option to optout altogether. >> apparently. neil: and a large number haven't been doing that. >> if you opt-out, the story reminds us if you are opted out, data is being shared by the hardware device makers like apple and samsung. neil: wasn't tim cook making a big deal of that when he was ripping facebook that they don't do that stuff, but apparently the firm keeps a lot of it. >> they did. and they claim, this is facebook's statement today, the information was stored on the devices, the smartphones and the tablets, not on the server. we have to trust facebook's word that none of our information was shared with the companies to use. neil: do you guys mind that? is it a risk? is it a benefit of the technologies outweighed? >> i think there should be clarity in terms of what we're talking about.

we talk about data sharing with the hardware device makers, it's because you opt-in to make the use of facebook easier on iphone, on android devices. neil: i don't think your generation cares. you like the ease of the technology. >> i want to give you an example quickly. there is a company called key me, i was willing to scan my fingerprint so if i lose my keys they could pop out of a machine, at bed bath & beyond, and i lost my keys last week, and it scanned my fingerprint and out came house keys. i realize i'm giving up my fingerprint, facebook, why? for ease. neil: the old twilight zone cookbook episode, ladies. when we come back, a lot more to cover, dow up 222 points. if the markets are worried, they have a funny way of

showing it here. we are on top of another development concerning mortgages. a lot more people and lot of cities and a lot more are underwater. what does that mean? after this. embrace the chance of 100% clear skin with taltz. up to 90% of those with moderate to severe psoriasis had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. most people were still clearer after one year. with taltz, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. don't use if you're allergic to taltz. before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection, symptoms, or received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz, including worsening of symptoms. serious allergic reactions can occur. ready for a chance at 100% clear skin? ask your doctor about taltz. but as it grew bigger and bigger,ness. it took a whole lot more. that's why i switched to the spark cash card

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. neil: this sounds like a real estate riddle wrapped in a

conundrum. if the economy is doing so well, how is it people are underwater on their mortgage. particularly in chicago, leading the country in such matters. jeff flock has the latest from there. hey, jeff? reporter: nationally, neil, it's improved. in places like chicago, not so much. i stand in front of one of the quarter million homes in the chicago and chicago metro area underwater. take a look how chicago stacks up with other cities of similar size. l.a. only 74,000 compared to chicagos 254,000. san francisco 20,000. new york less than chicago with a whole lot more population, and if you look nationally, the percentage of homes underwater, 15% of chicago's homes are now underwater compared to new york about 9% and some areas of the country doing well like san jose, only 2% underwater. and, you know, the areas that were hardest hit by the housing

crisis like las vegas and miami, they have come back. las vegas less than 10% now underwater. miami less than 10%. chicago, as we said, about 15%. why is this, neil? in chicago area, there's a lot of reasons like unfunded pensions, taxes, crime apparently, home prices are not appreciating. compare chicago with miami and los angeles, as i speak, the rain has begun to fall on us in chicago. nice house, 295, a short sale. the folks have gotten the banks to approve them to actually charge you less than the house is worth. neil? neil: is that pegged to the economy there or just unique? reporter: it's unique, more unique. home prices are appreciating but not fast enough to get people out from underwater. neil: jeff, thank you very much. jeff flock. president is going to get

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♪ neil: all right. ahead of the, or after i should say the g7 conference there will that be big powwow with the nor korean leader and we are all over it. we will have a special, sort of

all night, 24-hour marathon with this development in singapore. not only with this show, but virtually every single powerful person, at fox business. we're there to cover every step of the way for 24 hours. like jerry lewis at the end of the telethon. as trish regan. hey, trish. trish: moments ago, top economic advisor larry kudlow briefing the media ahead of g7 summit. the mr. kudlow blasting the wto, claiming that the current trade system is broken. allies to level the playing field. zero tariffs for everyone. that's fair. i'm trish regan. welcome, everyone, to "the intelligence report." big rally on our hands up 221. nec d