behind it. stuart: there is a whole line up across the atlantic. thursday in the carolinas. >> thursday and friday morning. stuart: that is the current status. that is the cone of uncertainty. of, you have to the that connell mcshane sitting in for neil? >> i love having ashley dot weather. terrific show. busy couple hours for us on "cavuto: coast to coast," i'm connell mcshane filling in for neil today. president telling apple it can avoid higher prices if it makes the products in u.s. instead of china. ben kissell is here. michelle mckinnon is also here. terrific panel to start off on a

monday. welcome all. bill, do you want to get us going on this idea. one of the president's tweets over the weekend about apple and this whole idea if you're in a zero tariff world, right, apple can make its iphone here in the united states, the analysis i've seen, no matter what the tariff is, it will still cost more if it is made in the usa. >> there are two donald trumps on trade. the one i like with europe, the one that says we put zero tariffs on your products and your cars and you put zero tariffs on our cars. the one we've nafta, china, said we'll create the incentives or force the incentives to build at home, will be more expensive. i have three you are daughters and a wife who love their iphone. i'm looking at a heavy if i increase. the whole premise of trade you can capitalize people doing some things cheaper than you can. labor is not the only component. connell: no. >> the wealth of an apple or

iphone is a complicated supply chain of parts. it all comes together into what's an iphone. when i was in asia, the big scandal was in nike shoe. connell: right. >> pretty much the same process. shoelaces from germany, rubber from malaysia. it is the process -- connell: i am glad you brought up low cost labor is not only issue. interesting to hear tim cook talk about this in an interview not that long ago, the workers in china and their skills and the scalability of those skills, they have so many people who know how to do what they do, you can't get that here in the united states either. a lot of people don't get that part of it. >> first and foremost apple has fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders to find the best way to make money. i don't think apple will be swayed by a couple tweets or a couple of one-off decisions in terms of what trump's rhetoric is on the day. however, honestly, connell, i don't see this escalating much further because i know there had

been news of the eu, japan, united states coming together, forming a coalition against china. connell: when you say this, the quote-unquote trade war overall? >> yes, yes. if we loop in mexico as well as canada, that is almost 40% of china's exports. i think that is a lot of leverage. but i think china will come back to the table and sign a deal. trying to be optimistic. connell: i don't know if i heard that or not. middle of the day. >> there is a dying horse over there on the table. >> obviously when it comes to china, the reason it is so cheap because multifaceted. on average their employees make 100 bucks a week, much less than our employees would have to make here. when it comes to actually, you were talking about what actually goes into the iphone, to make it an iphone, the camera sensor, the oled screen, all of those are products created in china. so we would have to have those shipped over here as well.

connell: to michelle's point, this is the market discussion, argument internally and externally, for all of this, maybe at the end of the day it doesn't amount to that much. it all gets wrapped up, a negotiate tactic that kind of thing? >> absolutely. this is traditional trump practices. this is what he practices and i think ultimately we'll get a better deal acres better deal. >> i hope it works out this way. one of the downside people don't talk about, say the iphones are built here and cost money that puts apple at other disadvantage between phones made by samsung or is that really the answer? i'm very much worried about managed trade and people should want to come here because we offer low tax, low regulatory environment that is very attractive for capital. when you try to tell companies where they should have their supply chain i'm a little doubtful. connell: apple on bask their

iphones for years, written something, maybe we want it this way, designed in california, made in china. all of that is done for a reason. here is topic ben will jump at i'm sure if we broaden things out, there have been many tweets, this morning and over the weekend but the president firing back at some of the critics coming out with the woodward book release, saying his white house is a smooth-running machine. you want to take that up? >> donald trump saying his white house is smooth-running machine. to me from the outside looks like the train from snow piercer a little bit bumpy. anytime your vice president vows to take a lie detector text to prove he is not a leaker, it is never great. there is without a doubt chaos going on within the administration. connell: in an economy that is strong, a lot of things pointed to that coulding gob well externally, how much does the

external chaos matter? >> i'm not sure it matters. it is a giant distraction. i worked in a west wing. there are always rivalries. the bush administration was a little more disciplined than most, not donald trump's. we're focusing on this, not a 4% economy we were told not possible and many other achievements i like. getting out of the paris climate agreement, all sorts of things. connell: michelle? >> absolutely. we're missing part of deregulation. just last year trump and his administration put in 67 new tactics to deregulate. that is adding a businesses ability at a cost of over $500 million per year from the deregulations. we're missing the picture. i agree. connell: ben, real quick. >> when it comes to the distraction we're only talking about it because donald trump is tweeting about it. he is the one creating the distraction. seems like this may have come -- connell: the book, op-ed -- >> op-ed may have been written in someone with the national security wing. a lot of americans are more

concerned about national security than they are with the -- connell: what i would say before that i don't know so much the midterms, but definitely the 2020 election seems to me. voters will have to make the decision about how much can they tolerate and what do they value? >> if i were president, i would be making a tour around the country talking only about the economy and are you better off than you were three or four years ago. that is not how this president argues. i would argue somewhat differently. i don't think we're only talking about this because of the president's tweets. the president has been under siege since he entered office. the anonymous article i think is part of this. and, he obviously responds in kind but, look, people talk about, you know, we just had a big lecture on civility during the mccain funeral. week after we have the kavanaugh hearings. i know brett kavanaugh, i worked with him. he is a december man. it's a clown show. connell: he will be confirmed.

that is where the numbers, you and i talked about it a number of times. the president doesn't necessarily help himself all the time and one example i would if i have from today, bill brought it up how strong the economy has been and where the growth has been, he put the tweet out, gdp rate, 4.2%, is higher than the unemployment rate first time in over 100 years. even our research department looking into that said, well, you know, actually since 1948 when we have the statistics to back that up, there have been 63 quarters with a gdp growth rate higher than the unemployment rate. there is no real reason to put that tweet out inaccurately just you have inaccurate information someone gave you, the news is good as it is. why exaggerate that? >> i think that is definitely a concern. i agree with you, they need to work on their message because potentially it will be different come november. people trying to, voters like myself or millenials, we care about that. we don't necessarily like a lot of that rhetoric. it will be interesting to see --

connell: so what are your priorities in yourself, your own personal life that you look at? that was the point i was trying to get at earlier, will people focus on those things, the economy and external factors, president's behavior. >> totally depends on the situation. myself i want a strong economy. a lot of people feel like that. there is a group of people who care about other viewpoints and other concerns. we'll have to wait and see. connell: you do, ben. how do you come back to people hey, listen for all of the issues he has, all of the tweets -- >> right. >> the economy is strzok, the growth rate is above 4% or was this recent quarter. that might be exaggeration in the tweet. that was inaccurate. we are in a strong economy. what do you say? >> there is great potential for trump fatigue. he is talked about ad nauseum. the reason he gets a lot of his facts wrong, he uses his phone to tweet. he could google or use bing, because i know he hates google

or ask jeeves, which i think is still jeeves. connell: that is still around? >> i'm pretty sure. there is that feeling of just exhaustion from the drama surrounding this white house. again, when it comes to 2020, who knows what happens with the economy in 2019. connell: on that tweet, bill, no reason to be san rating? >> look. i think he has a good story. i think midterms will test the question whether at the margins the people who like his policy just feel wearied by his tweets and so forth and drama turn out for him and for his candidates or not. connell: does trade hurt him in the midterms? >> i don't know. i'm not really on board with his trade policy but i will say i'm not necessarily sure it will hurt him because a lot of people say we're sticking it to china or sticking it to mexico. connell: i agree. >> if he has a deal, if he gets any kind of deal that doesn't tear it up, even though it is a little more cost, a lot of it goes away. connell: yeah, i would tend to agree with that and the voters

especially trump supporters are giving him a lot of leeway on this issue on trade. >> i think you will see a deal before the midterms or something happen. connell: some deal, not with china? >> i don't think china will be that easy. i think some type of deal whether the eu, trump likes to do deals. midterm elections are coming up. that is what you will start to see. >> xi xinping will be around a long time in china. there is no motivation -- >> he is not a rush. >> no rush whatsoever. connell: yeah, that is part of the theory that the chinese wait for midterms, hope president trump is weakened. we'll see how it plays out. >> economy is main thing they're running on, obviously trump is, if that starts to go downhill, like the cleveland cavaliers and lebron james, they have one superstar and if that goes away they're not making the playoffs. connell: we have to switch to the other big story of the day is the weather this hurricane florence is no joke.

it has been up to a category 4 hurricane as it barrels towards the east coast. the latest on the preparation is next. ♪ why bother mastering something? why test a hybrid engine for over six million miles? why hand-tune an audio system? why include the most advanced active safety system

in its class, standard? because when you want to create an entirely new feeling, the difference between excellence and mastery, is all the difference in the world. introducing the all-new lexus es. every curve. every innovation. every feeling. a product of mastery. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

a product of mastery. each day our planet awakens but with opportunity comes risk. and to manage this risk, the world turns to cme group. we help farmers lock in future prices, banks manage interest rate changes and airlines hedge fuel costs. all so they can manage their risks and move forward. it's simply a matter of following the signs. they all lead here. cme group - how the world advances. designed to save you money. wireless network even when you've got serious binging to do. wherever your phone takes you, your wireless bill is about to cost a whole lot less.

use less data with a network that has the most wifi hotspots where you need them and the best 4g lte everywhere else. saving you hundreds of dollars a year. and ask how you get xfinity mobile included with your internet. plus, get $300 back when you buy a new smartphone. xfinity mobile. it's simple. easy. awesome. click, call or visit a store today. i'm 85 years old in a job where. i have to wear a giant hot dog suit. what? where's that coming from? i don't know. i started my 401k early, i diversified... i'm not a big spender. sounds like you're doing a lot. but i still feel like i'm not gonna have enough for retirement. like there's something else i should be doing. with the right conversation, you might find you're doing okay. so, no hot dog suit? not unless you want to. no. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today with td ameritrade®. connell: now the big corporate story of the day, cbs, another casualty to the sexual

harrassment claims at cbs. les moonves is out. charlie gasparino is all over the story. he broke a lot of news. did so this past weekend. joins me in the studio knife to do my trump administration. the greatest economy in a kajillion years. forget about 100. connell: thank you. >> unemployment is lower than gdp for the first time in a can can -- kajillion years. he will accept your tweets. come on. what is going on here? >> they just made the filing with the securities & exchange commission commission. it gives out details. it is very interesting. all dependent as we reported yesterday, on fox news that it is all dependent on the outcome of the sexual harrassment of investigation. if they find that he's, didn't do any of this stuff they're investigating or they found whatever he did was in the past -- connell: he gets his 100 mill. >> 120 really?

>> 120 plus perks, office, driver, blah, blah. if they find he did some stuff, it could go down dramatically. it could go down to zero. it is dependent on the investigation. it is very easy to find it. on sec website you can get everything. there is two stories here obviously. one story involves les moonves and his he separation agreement. but again, going into that filing, you will see the other story which we were reporting last week. connell: right. >> which essentially what is going on with cbs post les moonves? we know they hired as we reported first, they hired, i think two weeks ago, they hired an executive search firm to find a permanent replacement. as we reported last week. there is, if you look into the documents a two-year stand still agreement between shari redstones the controlling shareholder and cbs. connell: right. >> what does that mean? for two years she cannot force that viacom merger on cbs that

she was initially proposed that les moonves and his team were against, which is why they're in court right now. that court case obviously has been settled with all of this. so they have two years essentially to shop themselves. connell: okay. >> the question is, do they find a suitor? a lot of people say, well, let's think about it. at&t is out, because they're busy with time warner, likely out. comcast is likely out, federal government, justice department, hates them, doesn't want them to get bigger, don't think they could buy cbs to pass muster. technology firms, netscape, netflix -- connell: netscape -- >> i'm really dating myself with that if netflix doesn't want to buy them, if amazon doesn't want to buy them, if apple doesn't want to buy them what is cbs left to do in the next two years? because be obviously they will shop themselves. connell: is that what the next leader is about to do, clean up

or not clean up -- >> sell it or he may be forced to merge with viacom as rich greenfield -- connell: two years down the line. >> if he can't find a suitor. i spoke with rich about this he had a good read. he was one of the few analysts not sucking up to cbs the analysts on this company were pathetic. that last analyst call where they didn't even ask about succession. that is one of the biggest things. connell: i remember,. >> it was horrible. connell: you reported on the time. >> rich wasn't there. he has a good call. he doesn't think there is much appetite from tech for content like cbs. connell: really? some stories written about that everybody is speculating -- doesn't make sense? >> speculating. he believes the tech ship has sailed. these major tech firms. you can look what they're doing. they're creating their own content. connell: yeah. >> they don't want to buy old line content. really the right move would be cbs and viacom to team up to find some synergies. maybe that would be a more attractive package for someone

else down the road. connell: something moonves was saying no way. >> that is what he says. rich has a good read on it here. there are two stories. there is the les moonves story. we'll find out what the internal investigation says about the allegations. a lot of them were in the new yorker over the last couple months. then we'll find out, there is the corporate story about cbs we should look at the stock today? it was up last week when we reported about the stand still agreement. the shares spiked about two bucks. connell: down 2 1/2% today. so you had, i believe it was a tweet earlier, but you mentioned same run lift, rich had been talking about a moment ago. >> rich greenfield. connell: the illusion of financial strength at cbs. people were saying moonves was really running a successful company here. this is the highest rated networks. all the rest of it. what does ma mean the illusion of -- >> here is the thing. when you speak to a lot of people are involved in modern media technology and what is going on with cord cutting, they were saying les moonves, what made him a great ceo, ven

svengali act he put on analysts. he couldn't do what less did, paper over the immense problems that cbs faces. it is an old line media company. it will be affected by cord cutting. writing is on the wall. connell: everybody is. >> they will have to renegotiate the nfl contracts because the nfl is affected by cord cutting. this is not the earnings machine. it is about to hit the wall at some point. you talk to rich, talk to some other people that are really smart, that understand new media, what is going on with the cable business and content and distribution. connell: right. >> cbs is in for some problems. connell: tougher job than you think? >> viacom happened first. they had weaker properties. this one will happen next. so now, into that sort of headwind you have to sell the company and that becomance

issue. connell: right. >> can you sell it into that headwind? is apple, for example, one of the bidders, potential bidders? is apple, netflix, amazon, are they going to say why do we want -- should we buy this -- they will say should we buy this old line media company which will be affected by cord cutting, much cheaper we can create our own content? connell: which they are. most, if not all of them, especially netflix and amazon, apple are doing already. >> be clear, cbs has a huge cachet. its news division is one of the premier news divisions. "60 minutes." it shill has good entertainment shows. i don't watch them but i read somewhere. connell: other broadcast networks have done verywell. >> they're being hit by this. connell: everybody in this business is being hit. now it is for real. thanks, charlie. >> we have more on tesla and -- the air force. connell: somebody save that clip by the way. i don't know what for. we'll need it for something i have a feeling.

the great charlie gasparino. we will get to hurricane florence. i mentioned a few minutes ago, it has been upgraded to a cat-4, max tum sustained wins are up to 130 miles-an-hour. how the red cross is betting ready next.

♪ connell: this hurricane florence is a serious storm. it is now a category 4, hurricane in three states, north carolina, south carolina and virginia have all ahead of it declared states of emergency. let's get to meteorologist adam klotz in the fox weather center. what is the latest, adam? >> hey there, connell. it is a massively rapidly intensifying storm. was at cat-3 but now up to cat-4. you can see a nice defined eyewall. this is long way from the coast. the track is going to bring it closer, and closer, by the end of the week we'll talk about a landfall. it is staying at category 4 the

entire way. off the coast of the carolinas, but thursday morning our current track has it just off the coast. winds still strong enough to keep it at a category 4. when will it make landfall? our current guidance suggest thursday afternoon into the overnight hours. this is still a long ways off. it is time to speed up or slow down. it is going over warm water. that will fuel some very strong winds. likely staying category 4 means which are winds anywhere from 130 to 160 mile-an-hour. this will be a major wind event for people along the coast when it makes its way alongshore. that is one of our concerns. our forecast models are spaghetti plots bringing in a tight line. anywhere from portions of myrtle beach, south carolina, up to the outer banks of north carolina where eventually this could make landfall. once we get to this point, aways off the coast still. will it hover to bring lots of

rain? will it move inland quickly? that is something we wait to see. the winds will be there. this is awe powerful storm. this is driven by very warm water. you need 80-degree temperatures to support a hurricane this is running over temperatures of 85 degrees. so it is bath water. that allows it to get bigger and stronger, carry a lot of moisture. this is one of the forecast models. it is still early. spots, of rain getting as much to two feet of total precipitation depending where it essentially hovers. this will be one of the big issues, connell. winds will be there, possibly a whole lot of rain. this event happens thursday, perhaps into friday morning. we'll be paying close attention. connell: if it hovers, adam, the rain i suspect will become a really big story. if it moves quickly inland which is the other option, might it do so as what it is now a category 4 storm? that is possible, right? >> it looks like landfall at

category 4. the winds will quickly weaken as it heads inland farther and farther. connell: adam klotz. we'll watch it. we're one year out now from hurricane irma when it made landfall in the keys, in the florida keys. bring in from the american red cross spokesperson jonathan mcthat mara, if residents and officials are prepared for what adam talked about, hurricane florence. are we ready best we can be? >> absolutely. we're working with partners at local, state and federal levels to identify resources. we're moving supplies and volunteers into virginia, another carl line, south carolina and mobilizing the entire red cross network so we can respond to a variety of scenarios. we're urging preparation for the viewers. storm surge could be a sig

issue. make sure you're listening to warnings to alert local officials. if you evacuate heed the warnings. we saw last year people that don't do that can get stranded in their homes. that is very dramatic visual for rescue workers to rescue people. we want to avoid that. we're working with our partners across the network to identify shelter locations so people have a safe place to go when the storm hits. connell: sometimes we see over the years people wait too long. if you're waiting on the local authorities that is one thing. if you have somewhere to go, if you're not reliant on going to a shelter, would you recommend people leave even earlier than is necessary? i would assume if nothing else that would free up the roads, make it easier for people later in the week, right? >> depends on your personal family situation. if your family has the means to take steps to put it in a safer environment we encourage you to do so. we don't want you to be in a situation where it is too late, stuck in a situation unsafe.

i encourage our viewers to download the red cross app. that will have watches and warnings in your particular community. it will have watches and warnings to get ahead of the storm. one benefit of hurricanes you get a couple days notice to make preparations and personal emergency plans. connell: how about your own deployment of resources? you talked about, i mentioned three states, north and south carolina, and virginia have states of emergency in effect. that track can be unpredictable in the end. do you have to be ready to move resources from one state to another and prepared to do so if need be? >> absolutely. that is what the red cross network allows us to do. we have chapters up and down the east coast and across the country. we're mobilizing to move in place for have ride of scenarios. we have strong base of red cross chapters in potentially impacted states mobilizing, moving volunteers, getting agreements in place with partners this is what we practice around the year to make these types of responses. i can assure you the red cross

will be ready. collaborative partners who are doing amazing work. connell: all the best with your work, jonathan. thank you for calling? >> my pleasure. thank you for what you're doing. connell: jonathan mcmara with the red cross. bob woodward is standing by his own reporting with the book and how the white house is responding after the break. diet, and exercise. slide 'em up or slide 'em down. so let's see. for most of you, it's lower a1c. but only a few of you are thinking about your heart. fact is, even though it helps to manage a1c, type 2 diabetes still increases your risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke. jardiance is the only type 2 diabetes pill with a lifesaving cardiovascular benefit for adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease,

significantly reducing the risk of dying from a cardiovascular event and lowering a1c, along with diet and exercise. this really changes things. jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration. this may cause you to feel dizzy, faint, or lightheaded, or weak upon standing. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. symptoms include nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, and trouble breathing. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis or an allergic reaction. symptoms of an allergic reaction include rash, swelling, and difficulty breathing or swallowing. do not take jardiance if you are on dialysis or have severe kidney problems. other side effects are sudden kidney problems, genital yeast infections, increased bad cholesterol, and urinary tract infections, which may be serious. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you have any medical conditions. man: ask your doctor about jardiance and get to the heart of what matters.

♪ connell: all right, a few minutes on politics now as we have a scramble over a shutdown again. this is like one of those groundhog day stories. we have reports republicans are worried that president trump could demand a border wall in the upcoming funding battle and move to a government shut down. we have eliza collins from "usa today" that joins us. the president alluded to himself might be good politics to push the government shutdown. i believe he was most recently asked about it, by bloomberg

after the election. are republicans you're speaking to worried about this as a midterm issue and how it would play with them? >> the republicans are absolutely worried about it. if the government shuts down a month before the midterm election, but in the house, and the senate they have a good map but can't shut down the government. president trump has been so vocal actually saying good politics, the president and in tern sort of the majorities which are republicans in both chambers of congress will be to blame. so they're really worried about this they're urging him not to do it and they come out and they say i think he is not going to do it. i think it would be good politics. connell: it is kind of an interesting political point. i have seen a number of republicans quoted, congressional republicans, hey, whatever you think about this republicans always get blamed. no matter whose fault it is we'll get the blame for it which you can't do, the point you're

making. the president's argument i believe this issue, immigration especially, the border wall is so big for his base, is he is able to make it a midterm issue it would increase turnout. nobody believes him on that. >> it might turn out the base. we're seeing still build the wall chants at his rallies. we don't know if the base is enough to save republicans and republicans who are going, who are in trouble basically are not republicans in plus 30 republican districts. they're the republicans in districts hillary clinton won or trump won by one or two points. yes, the base needs to show up absolutely but they need sort of independent voters, moderate republicans. it is not clear if that group will be persuaded by a government shutdown, especially over the wall that president trump promised mexico would pay for. connell: yeah, that was then. this is now i suppose. but after, midterm discussion where do we go then because hypothetically if the projections are right and forget

about the senate for a moment if the democrats at least take control of the house, what type of discussion are we having about funding a border wall with a democratic house? >> pretty much none i would imagine. connell: won't come up. >> there will be lots of more investigations and possible impeachment if democrats take the house. but, you don't know. republicans say if we don't shut down the government before the midterms we have bert chance of keeping the house, therefore we'll be in power and be able to talk about this later. they seem bullish still although many privately say they think democrats will win. bullish, they will be able to keep the house. connell: really? >> at least publicly. privately they express more concern. i think in their conversations with the president they're saying they will keep the house. yeah, i think so. as far as what i'm hearing. connell: no, no. that is interesting. because the senate, they have a favorable map but you know, maybe, a few months ago i could see it people were talking about it. seems like you read, everybody

is almost counting on a democratic house, to the point in the democrats don't take it, the story will be they disappointed on election night, the big disappointment, democrats. almost like they have to take the house expectationswise at least. >> absolutely. most polling, most analysts say it favors democrats. i don't think it is far and away 90%. some say 50 to 60% in democrats favor. to be clear i don't think republicans are saying we absolutely have it, our chances are far better than if we don't shut down the government. they're trying to do tax cuts 2.0, to try to bolster their chances. connell: eliza, good to see you as always. >> good to be here. connell: move on to the woodward's book, the president's defense over bob woodward's new book. he says the white house is a smooth-running machine he mentioned earlier. he talks about the big deals he is making proof that is the case. let's bring in fred barnes from the "weekly standard" where he

is second live editor. we'll talk here, good to see you, fred, about whether or not the president really, bill mcgurn brought this up earlier, touting economic success and bring up nothing else but that, and leave this book for other people. it's a tough book, whatever it is, but i have this economy running. but he keeps responding to it. what do you make of the strategy? >> look. i keep disagreeing with him. anybody at the white house who thinks this book is going to help. what will help, i agree with bill mcgurn, talking about the economy will help a hospital the economy is great. i don't remember it being so great since reagan was president, anyway. there is a issue always arouses the trump base and that's immigration. talk about it. connell: right. >> but to have -- when you have had so many of these shutdowns over the years and, they have all hurt republicans, to think

that this one won't i think is bad thinking. connell: now on the book itself, and you know, we'll get a chance to read the book as opposed to excerpts as week goes on, maybe some of what is reported will change but i doubt it. bob woodward was interviewed a few times today, talk about a president detached from reality. talk about the fact general dieses national security because of that -- jeopardizes national security because of that so-called detachment. what do you think the impact of just this book on the president? >> a year ago it would have had a big impact, maybe six months ago. there are some of these horror stories in the book. that we've already heard before. they have been reported. not all of them. but a good number of them. i think, you know, the public and, not the press but the public anyway is enured to the stories. they have heard them some times.

they have tended to come to grips with whether president trump -- connell: even if it is true, it is what it is. we support his policies or we don't. >> yeah. connell: that is the read you think people have on this? >> yeah. many, millions and a lot of them voted for him. didn't think much of him personally but thought he was better than hillary clinton and they liked what he was saying about trade and some other things. connell: what do you think will happen more as we get into the midterms of the 20 to election? people will look especially people that didn't voight for the president last time around? i do like his policies. i will vote for him next time because of those policies? or do you think there will be more people who will say, you know what, policies are great, but we got what we get out of the president already. i can't stand his personal behavior, whatever it is, which side wins out from your view in terms of your observations? >> i think the side wins out,

looks to me, a lot of other people, these folks who were, who voted for him last time, were a little, you know, hard to take that vote, didn't like him, there is going to be a turnout problem with them. they won't show up a lot of them. connell: talking specifically about the midterms or about his re-election? >> yeah, the midterms. connell: he is not on the ballot, right. >> just like obama, when he was on the ballot, fantastic for democrats. when he wasn't there, terrible for democrats. connell: that will be an interesting point. you're assuming then republicans probably lose the house and hang on to the senate or it is real close at this point you look at it? >> it is close but they ought to be able to hold it. senate races are just different. we're all waiting for the next presidential race. that is going to be, i think the 2016 race will look mild compared to what we see in 2020. obama will be loaded for bear.

connell: getting back out there. >> i'm going to retire sometime, but not before 2020. connell: that's right. at least one more, right? why not? >> indeed. connell: that is just, jeez for political reporters it is a dream. i don't know what about everybody else. fred, good to see you. >> thank you. connell: fred barnes. did u.s. officials actually meet up with people in venezuela who were planning a coup in that country? we'll talk about that, the ramifications of that, as we continue here. "cavuto: coast to coast" coming right back.

♪ connell: all right, we've been talking about hurricane florence throughout the program today. a piece of news just come into us in the last few minutes the trump campaign has canceled the president's rally that was supposed to take place friday night in jackson, mississippi. that is because of the hurricane which as we've been reporting to you, is now category 4 storm taking aim at the east coast of the united states. don't really think the location of this rally would have mattered. this is a white house that, you think would be prepared now by late this week to be dealing with a disaster, potentially on the east coast of the united states and the response to that.

so the president will knot hold a rally outside of washington in jackson, mississippi as was scheduled. another story getting attention. you guys know jack ma, from alibaba. planning an exit from the company. the stock is down 4% as they will get new leadership there. susan li with the story. >> connell, jack ma staying on for at least another year. he will stay on the alibaba board until 2020. what can i say about jack ma people don't already know. he is iconic in china. everybody knows jack ma. richest man in the country. sheave personality. the stock returned over 65% through this record breaking 2014 new york ipo. who will be stepping in and filling those big shoes? meet daniel jeong handling day-to-day operations at alibaba past few years. he in a few years time will be ceo and chairman. he is highly respected in the

organization. credited with huge success of alibaba single day sales, which brings more than $13 billion sales in one day. that is a sales phenomenon. i can tell you jack ma, he may be handing over title of executive chairman but with 6% of the shares, staying in the alibaba partnership group, that is top 30 original employees make big decisions for company, ma, will have a big, huge, influential say in the company. what is ma going on to do? he wants to focus on philanthropy and education. this starts off from his humble begins, starting off as english teacher, becoming china's richest man with fortune of $36 billion. i got a chance to cover jack ma, hosting alibaba and hosted the first woman's conference, title or no title, alibaba is synonymous with jack ma, ubiquitous. shares are might be selling off.

they are sensitive to news flow that creates smallest hint of uncertainty. it will not change the day-to-day operations at alibaba. jack ma will have a still a big say in the company. connell, back to you. connell: this is a big deal, like bill gates, jeff bezos type thing for china? that is who jack ma is. >> absolutely. you're right, connell. connell: thank you, susan li on the jack ma story. we'll move on to venezuela for a moment. emerging market looking at reports that venezuela may have met with military officers planning a coup against nicolas maduro there. vanessa neumann joins us where this all may be headed. vanessa, what did you make of the story what you heard about it? >> it made my laugh quite frankly. connell: really? >> because the yn times -- ny

times, is so fueled by deep trait he had of trump it was blinded by everything else. the headline should have been, no surprise americans are speaking to dissident groups and even dissident military in venezuela. the story was, they were rebuffed, and americans did not lend support because they couldn't trust these guys, they didn't know what the agenda was, not sure what the outcome would be. also the other thing is, you have a country that basically has a number of crises that has been begging for intervention is right. >> today you have political opposition at u.n. security council. this is elected political opposition leaders, exiled, begging the u.s. security council for multilateral intervention because they're dying. so -- connell: are you saying if a coup was, i don't know if this is the right way to say it, if a

coup was properly organized, if the people going forward for this coup had their act together, to your earlier point something the united states would and should support, do you think? >> i don't know. there are some people within venezuela who very much want the u.s. to support them. don't forget, the latin american relations are split between pro-u.s. and anti-u.s. there are still many people in the region, who look upon the u.s. as a leader and as beacon for freedom they're looking for that. not only u.s. allies like brazil and colombia, pleading with u.s. embassies in their country, we have a massive refugee crisis, where you're having lynching and firebombing of refugee camps. there is a lot of pressure for a international coalition to solve this they have given up on the idea of a democratic transition. it is obvious to everyone that is not going to happen.

obvious bleeding of refugees and starvation won't stop if they're in power. connell: have necessary is a, thank you very much for coming on. >> thank you very much. connell: have necessary is a newman. the other thing coming up in the next hour, president haste warning to apple, about tariffs and where you make your iphone and about, you know, maybe moving the production of the iphones back here to the united states. well well apple has a idea on that, on trade when "cavuto: coast to coast" comes right back. i get it all the time.

"have you lost weight?" of course i have- ever since i started renting from national. because national lets me lose the wait at the counter... ...and choose any car in the aisle. and i don't wait when i return, thanks to drop & go. at national, i can lose the wait...and keep it off. looking good, patrick. i know. (vo) go national. go like a pro.

>> welcome back to "cavuto coast to coast," hour number two, i'm connell mcshane filling in for neil today. another busy hour we have ahead for you as these trade talks continue. things may be really coming to a held. the united states and the european union with their respective trade chiefs meeting in brussels and also on the chinese side, china a avowing to take countermeasures against the u.s. let's put it all together. edward lawrence at the white house. hey, edward. >> reporter: a lot to talk about on the trade front. yeah, the u.s. could any day now put 25% tariffs on $200 billion worth of chinese goods, the chinese already saying they would quote -- and this is a quote from a spokesman from the

foreign ministry -- the chinese side will surely take countermeasures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests. the president pointed out the chinese have not changed their ways to protect american intellectual property or reduce tariffs on their front. the chinese announced last august they are prepared to put tariffs on basically everything the u.s. imports into china. now, the chinese retaliation tariffs that are already in place at this moment are meant to target the president's political base, farmers. >> he believes our farmers, our workers can compete against anybody around the globe. the problem is we've got to have those tariffs come down, and the president's going to fight for the american workers and american businesses to make sure that happens. >> reporter: and the president also, again, floating the idea of now basically tariffing everything that the chinese import into the united states. now, the threats of tariff have moved things forward for the european union. the european commission spoke with u.s. trade representative

robert lighthizer for the first time since the european union saw has offered to have zero tariffs on automobiles. he reiterated the president's position that those zero tariffs need to be not just on autos, but also agriculture and other industries and other sectors. now on nafta moving forward, the canadians are expected to be back in the u.s. sometime this week. we're hoping to have a trilateral deal with the canadians and mexicans but, again, those talks are ongoing. they're, again, very, very close. connell? connell: edward lawrence at the white house for us. some of the companies that would be considered to be iphone suppliers have been trading lower, apple itself is also down as president trump has been pressuring apple to make more iphones here in the united states. nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. hey, nicole. >> reporter: good afternoon. so as you noted, apple itself is trading down nearly 2%. this as president trump has been encouraging apple to make everything right here in the united states. but look what's going on with

suppliers, and we can see something like lumentum is down 1% p. it's going to be more costly in order to make it at home. president trump said apple's prices may increase making this at home, but they wouldn't have the tariffs, they would have zero taxes here. but in the meantime, bank of america looked at the breakdown saying to have a 100% made iphone here at home would be 20% costlier and says it could hurt the mar jibs going forward. we can see the suppliers down 2.1% on the group overall. so when you look at the laser makers, the chip makers, everything for 3-d, they are suffering as well with this prospect. back to you. connell: all right, nicole. we've talked about the president's warning to apple, essentially. apple's fired back with sort of a warning of its own saying the proposed tariffs on chinese goods will end up raising prices for some of its products.

let's bring in chief economist anthony chen and also deirdre bolton from fox business. hello to both of you. good to see you, anthony, after a long time, and, deirdre -- >> good to see me. connell: every day. one of the ways of phrasing the question is how much would you be willing to pay for an iphone if it was made in a usa? most people agree they would cost more. >> i was thinking there's going to be a luxury premium even more so than there is already if this happens. but one thing i want to be clear about is apple itself -- and i have this list ready to go -- has actually not commented on iphone prices. the president did. apple has only saying, and i'm not saying this was only, but new china tariffs would boost prices on some products. they're talking about the watch, headphones, those little air pods, the mini mac desktop, chargers, adapters, the apple pencil stylus. so it's almost like they're trying to maybe put it in products that aren't the headline products. as we know, apple gets more than

half of its revenue from iphones. and then just as far as press goes, this is probably the not the right week that apple wanted this to come out was their ig -- because their big unveil is wednesday, a bunch of new products including up to four new kinds of phones. connell: so the economic discussion, anthony, is that the president wants, he says, to get to this world we're living in zero tariff universe. that doesn't necessarily mean though that products made in a zero-tariff universe are suddenly going to cost the same if they're made in china or someplace else. >> of course not. there are transportation costs, differentials and labor costs. there's many variables that go into the cost other than just a tariff. but the reality is that most economists will tell you if we go to a no-tariff world, that's a win/win for everyone else. and we certainly are, in fact, trying to negotiate with europe, trying to negotiate with mexico and canada to at least get closer to that. but no economist will quibble

with the notion that a zero-tariff world is a lot. connell: if that's the goal. >> that is the goal. it's been made very clear by washington that's the goal. connell: what about incentives and the idea that sometimes we talk about other industries where you are incentivized, i remember we did the washing machine story a few months back, to make products here in the u.s. versus overseas. is that true in technology with all the component parts? is there ever an incentive for a technology company to actually make product, generally speaking, here in the united states? >> i think the biggest incentive was the recent cut in corporate taxes. if that's not an incentive, i don't know what is. certainly, that has encouraged a lot of companies from moving either their operations to the united states or certainly making them less apt to move their productions overseas because right now it's economically feasible to produce in the united states. now, the only constraint is that the unemployment rate is so low at 3.9% that there is a limit as

to how much we can increase production. but if you increase product productivity, have more capital expenditures, we're making progress even on that front. connell: to that point, deirdre, everybody talks about just apple specifically that the advantage of making phones or anything else in china is lower labor costs which, obviously, is part of it. but tim cook has actually pointed out that the chinese work force, and there's so many workers there with the right skill set that apple needs that they actually move into china for other reasons other than lower labor costs. >> they have the right skills, although a lot of this is manufacturing. the asia market reaction was a lot of these suppliers to apple were the ones who were hurt, and tim cook not surprisingly not afraid to weigh in on bigger picture economic matters saying these tariffs would be tedious. i don't want to misquote him here, but he says our concern

would be the u.s. would be the hardest hit, result in lower u.s. growth. he's willing to swing for the economic fences. and competitiveness and higher prices, of course, to consumers. so he as a business owner is willing to say it's not just going to hurt my company, it's going to hurt the economy. but it sounds like you disagree, right? >> if you have tariffs, ther international monetary fund, they all say if you have tariffs increasing, global economic growth slows down. and the u.s. is part of that. connell: it's going to take a while though, don't you think, anthony, to be fair to people watching? to get to that point especially with china. >> there's no doubt. connell: is it years -- >> well, right now the president has made it very clear he wants to wait maybe a little while, maybe after the midterm elections to negotiate. but i have no doubt that the goal of all the countries including the u.s. is to negotiate a mutually beneficial type of agreement.

connell: do we have any doubt they will actually get there? >> i have no doubt we'll move closer to a situation where tariffs are lore. do i believe they're going to go to zero? that's a little farfetched. but guess what in we move closer towards a lower tariff world, it is a win/win finish. connell: that seems to be, deirdre, what the market is anticipating or counting on almost. even today we don't see much movement. people, to anthony's point, are thinking, you know what? this'll get figured out. after all the noise and back and forth -- >> i think the question is when, right? when and in what form, right? and how long does it take. to your point about labor costs, that was the whole argument against nafta and the auto dealers, particularly because president trump was saying, well, in mexico, you know, you can have cheaper labor. >> right. >> so that is part of the balance. i mean, i think some of this is tariffs, but some of it is also ip, and that seems to affect the tech community more than others. connell: and the question about what we're all going through right now, is all of this going

to be worth it. we have a strong economy that's going, you know, things are going well on the job front, the economic growth numbers have been strong. is this trade war that we're sort of engaging in at whatever level we're engaging in it going to be worth it? are we going to be better off, or will we have wiped out some of the effects of the tax cut that went into effect -- >> well, right now,com, with the economy doing so well, it momentum appear the u.s. has suffered very much -- connell: so if you're going to have a trade war, this is the time. >> consumer confidence is at high levels, business confidence is at high levels, unemployment insurance claims are at the lowest level in 49 years. this is the time when the u.s. economy is at one of the strongest points that we've seen -- connell: and we're not putting that at risk? >> i think at this juncture the third quarter numbers are coming out, we're probably going to see a 4% plus number in the third quarter, very strong following on a similar number in the second quarter. i think that right now the economy's in a sweet spot. connell: good to see you again,

anthony. >> pleasure. connell: we're going to get back to this hurricane in a moment because it's only getting stronger, now a cat four storm barreling its way towards the east coast of the united states, the carolinas look like they may be in for it later in the week. what you should be expecting there. and then we're talking about the economy and how policy sewer acts with it. -- interacts with it. republicans are pushing for another round of tax cuts. can they actually push something through before the midterms? seems to be some doubt. what about after the elections? we'll have an update after after the a quick break. let's take a look at some numbers:

4 out of 5 people who have a stroke, their first symptom... is a stroke. 80 percent of all strokes and heart disease? preventable. and 149 dollars is all it takes to get screened and help take control of your health. we're life line screening... and if you're over 50... call this number, to schedule an appointment... for five painless screenings that go beyond regular check-ups. we use ultrasound technology to literally look inside your arteries... for plaque which builds up as you age- and increases your risk for stroke and cardiovascular disease. and by getting them through this package, you're saving over 50%. so call today and consider these numbers: for just $149 you'll receive five screenings that could reveal what your body isn't telling you. i'm gonna tell you that was the best $150 i ever spent in my life. life line screening. the power of prevention. call now to learn more.

life line screening. the power of prevention. on the go and want to rent a movie? showtime. or buy the hottest shows. even here? we've got you covered. now they are all yours. to take on the go. on any screen. bingo! alright! and watch whatever you buy. wherever you are. head to xfinity.com/stream to start watching. simple to rent, easy to buy, awesome to go. we're all under one roof now. congratulations. thank you. how many kids? my two. his three. along with two dogs and jake, our new parrot. that is quite the family. quite a lot of colleges to pay for though. a lot of colleges. you get any financial advice? yeah, but i'm pretty sure it's the same plan they sold me before. well your situation's totally changed now.

right, right. how 'bout a plan that works for 5 kids, 2 dogs and jake over here? that would be great. that would be great. that okay with you, jake? get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change from td ameritrade investment management. ♪ ♪ connell: so is it really now or never for tax cuts 2.0? house republicans have been pushing for a vote before the midterm elections in case maybe they lose the majority in the house, but some at risk republicans are reported to be pushing back on that vote. they don't want to go forward with it. national taxpayers union executive vice president brandon arnold now joins us. think republicans should be maybe more than they are, brandon, embracing this idea of at least pushing -- whether they pass or not, at least pushing for tax cuts more aggressively? >> oh, 100%. this ought to be the top priority for house republicans, for senate republicans as well. the economy is humming along very nicely. we've seen fantastic numbers coming out in the jobs report,

unemployment below 4%, and a lot of this is fueled by tax relief and tax reform. it's time to lock in the individual tax reform, time to lock in the small business tax reform that we passed just last year and continue the momentum that has been built. connell: one of the dynamics i've always found fascinating ever since the first round passed is when you get out, especially on a campaign trail and watch republicans making their case for, say, re-election no -- to the house as we're watching now, you don't hear as much as you would think about the tax cuts even though almost every independent economist we speak to that one of the reasons the economy's doing so well is because of the tax cuts. anthony chen was just on, others, they say the tax cuts really helped. but politically, they don't seem to be as popular as you would think. why do you think that's the case? >> i think the tax cuts are very much tied to the president, and as the president's popularity numbers change, so too do the popularity numbers of this tax cut. but it doesn't matter whether you like him, dislike him or

somewhere in between, there's no question that we've seen job growth. 650,000 manufacturing and blue collar jobs created just last year. hourly wages increased by about 3% last year. these are major increases that are taking place. the economy is humming along, as i just said. and it's time the republicans did a better job of taking credit for that. connell: yeah, they don't talk about it as much as you would think that they would. now, i saw stephen moore quoted, who advised the president on tax policy i know during the campaign and maybe even during this first round of tax cuts is saying, you know what? it's not the most urgent situation because these first tax cuts, it's not like they're expiring tomorrow. there'll be another chance. but i guess the flipside, right, is if you lose power in the congress, it's going to be much tougher after the midterms. >> yeah, there's no doubt. we have no idea how the political fallout or the political circumstances are going to take effect over the coming years. if there's an opportunity to make them permanent no, you

should do -- now, you should do so not just because of the political benefit. a lot of these tax leaf provisions cater to small businesses, and they need certainty going forward. you don't want to wait until the last moment to affect their tax rates, to affect the way they operate their businesses because that's going to to have a negative impact on their actions and on the economy at large. connell: and if there was any criticism last time, depending on what side of the political spectrum you come down on, even among conservatives say, well, they didn't do enough for individuals in some case. particularly what are called the high tax states which get into a debate about federal taxes versus state taxes, but anything that could be done on those particular issues in new york, new jersey, on and on. >> yeah, i think there's a big controversy about the state and local tax deduction. a lot of left-leaning states are up in arms about that. we've seen governor cuomo, a lot of politicians from california, new jersey, new york, my home state of maryland are concerned

about that. i get it, but democrats are a little upset that we might have raised taxes on a few rich people, and that's their territory. i understand they don't like us stepping on their territory, but we're trying to make a tax code that's better, simpler, fairer, and we're no longer in the business of subsidizing taxpayers in high tax states and allowing politicians in big-spending, high-tax states to go about their wiz and -- their business and push those burdens onto federal taxpayers. connell: this is an academic discussion, do you think, or are you more optimistic? >> i think there's a fighting chance to get it through the senate. we'll see what happens in november with the timeline and everything. there are a lot more concerns in the senate about deficit implications, just the margin of error is very, very small -- connell: someone has to think about it at some point, right? the deficit implications. >> yeah, absolutely. the deficit is absolutely a concern. the hit for the economy here -- i'm sorry, the hit for the federal government here is about $110 billion a year, so we're

not talking about chump change. there's real money. i would like to see those revenue concerns, those deficit concerns addressed more on the outlay side rather than on the tax side. connell: right. >> but those are legitimate conversations to take place. connell: brandon arnold, good to see you. hurricane florence is up to a cat four, taking aim at the east coast and the very latest on this storm as we get set for later in the week is coming up next. ♪ ♪

i can do more to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release its own insulin, like it's supposed to. trulicity is not insulin. it works 24/7. it comes in an easy-to-use pen. and i may even lose a little weight. trulicity is an injection to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. don't use it as the first medicine to treat diabetes, or if you have type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take trulicity if you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, you're allergic to trulicity, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of a serious allergic reaction,

a lump or swelling in your neck or severe stomach pain. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your low blood sugar risk. common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite. these can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. to help lower my a1c i choose trulicity to activate my within. ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. you shouldn't be rushed into booking a hotel. with expedia's add-on advantage, booking a flight unlocks discounts on select hotels until the day you leave for your trip. add-on advantage. only when you book with expedia.

♪ ♪ connell: we are now seeing evacuations starting to get underway on the north carolina coast for this hurricane florence. category four storm as things stand, and it comes as florida in part still reeling to some degree from hurricane irma. hurricane irma was one year ago. phil keating with fox news in big pine key with or -- with

more on this. >> reporter: as you mentioned, today marks the one-year anniversary of the last category four hurricane to slam the mainland, that was irma. it wiped out one out of every four homes in the island chain, and here in the keys where we are, 5-7% of available housing either blew or was flooded away. looking back for irma residents, they say the experience remains extremely emotional. >> my daughterred had just moved into her house. >> reporter: what a draining year it's been for charter boat captain scott leopold and the many months of lost income on his boat. some of the worst of hurricane irma's rath raked isla mirada in the keys. >> a number of captains sold their boats or just moved on to private jobs elsewhere. >> reporter: we last met clay correct as he walk -- crockett as he walked into his house to

see what was left. >> last time we couldn't even walk in. >> reporter: the hurricane cost him a few hundred thousand dollars including orders for his hot sauces he couldn't fill, and he still has a hole in his roof. >> i'd rather just keep trying to move forward, you know? the last year's been a very tough year. >> reporter: much of the challenge for the tourist-dependent businesses was the loss of thousands of hotel rooms. just last week the iconic hawks k resort finally reopened with nearly 500 rooms, and for irma's victims, resiliency did survive. >> you may not notice the improvements, but you'll see how good it looks. they really put the whole town back together. >> reporter: and the first of the cottages, the first four, are now about to go on line. this is one of them up here. and the list of people hoping to move into these is very long. also one industry that's really benefited and profited and booming right now after irma, the construction business. people say there's not enough

construction laborers out there, and if you need a contractor, hopefully they can get to you in the next three years. connell: that's always the way after these horrible storms. phil, thanks, phil keating. going to shift gears now to the backlash from venezuela. the government there holding a march tomorrow after accusing the united states of plotting a coup, at least help anything the plotting of a coup against the president, nicolas maduro. peter brooks joins us now on whether the u.s. should, indeed, be getting involved. we had this new york times report, peter, that there are at least were meetings held about that? what do you make of it? >> it's one report. the administration has not confirmed or denied this. they've talked about having communications with dissident groups and other groups in venezuela, and there's reason for us to be concerned about venezuela. major oil producer, significant economic challenges there, humanitarian, i would say probably disaster may describe it when you look at the

inflation, the shortages of medicine and food, you know, things along this line and, of course, the government which is repressive and corrupt. this is right in our neighborhood. this is, you know, in the western hemisphere, and we have reasons to be concerned about it. so i'm not sure we were involved in any coup plotting or if they approached us and we were just in a listening mode, but this is only one report. yes, venezuela is something we should be concerned about. connell: all right, so you identified what the american interest is there, and a lot of people talk about oil. as you say, it goes even deeper than that. you know are, the geography's important, i get it. if, indeed, we should be concerned, what's the proper approach and/or response to what's happening there? because it's been a mess. >> well, we'd like to see a change in government or a change in behavior. connell: right. >> as you probably know as somebody who's an expert in business and economics, a lot of this situation, the economic situation in venezuela on the people there is self-imposed. imposed by the social government.

it's also imposed by their socialist economic policies and the corruption. so we need to see a change, we need to see a change in behavior or a change in government. i would certainly like the see democracy return to venezuela which has a very long tradition of democracy prior to some of the recent governments. connell: there's a couple things on syria that i wanted to get your take on, although venezuela's very, very important, but i want to get your take on syria. number one, reports they could be planning another chemical attack. and then we get into the question of, you know, how would the u.s. respond to that this time if there's a chemical attack led by bashar al assad who we're looking at now? john bolton, the president's national security adviser, has been making a speech over the last hour or so in washington, and moments ago he said that if the united states, britain and france got all three of those countries have agreed another use of chemical weapons by syria would result -- and this is bolton's term -- in a much stronger response. your take? >> well, we've seen that before. just earlier this year the

french, the british and the americans struck at chemical weapons production facilities in syria, and the previous year the united states went against airfields that were used to perpetrate chemical attacks. we have a significant humanitarian situation and a strategic situation in this province. it's one of the last remaining strongholds of the opposition to president basharal a -- al assad of syria. there may be three million people there. many of them are refugees from other parts of the country, as i just mentioned. they could flow over into turkey. of course, we don't want to see chemical weapons used against civilians, and this is something that they could use. the bombing campaign has started supported by the iranians and russians. connell: what do you think bolton is referring to there compared to what we've seen in the past? >> well, this is just speculation, of course, but certainly if you move beyond economics, there's economic sanctions, there's diplomatic

efforts, but if you're talking about military response, you could go after the leadership of syria, say the intelligence agencies, the ministry of defense, you could go further than that. that's just speculation, that's just a possibility. you have to think about the consequences of those actions. connell: yes. >> remember, considering the other major players there which are iran, russia and, of course, turkey is an important player -- connell: so what are the consequences? that came up in the woodward book, right? that there was this conversation that supposedly took place between the president and the defense secretary, jim mattis, where the president is alleged to have said, you know, let's kill him, are referring to bashar al assad, let's kill the lot of them. and then mattis, as the story goes in the book at least, hung up the phone and came up with different plans that didn't include an assassination attempt on assad. if you go after the leadership in syria, there are consequences to that action. what would you be worried about? >> well, of course, you know, yes, exactly, what's the fallout to that. i mean, i have long-term

concerns about bashar al assad staying in power. i'm not calling for an assassination or decapitation attempt as some people would call it, but if he's able to survive, what happens to syria, what happens to the region afterwards? remember, it wasn't too long ago that the israelis struck a nuclear facility in syria, back in 2007. now it's 11 years ago, seems like a long time ago, but what if they decide to pursue weapons of mass destruction beyond chemical weapons again? you have to think about the consequence withs of any strike, successful or unsuccessful, and there's pros and cons on both sides. there's legalities and illegalities involved, and this is the policy discussion that goes on. and, of course, that's based on the interest intelligence we have that you and i don't have access to. so what do we know -- what replaces bashar al assad is the other question. if you were to move in that direction. i'm not advocating that, but if you do, what replaces it?

connell: sometimes you've got to be careful what you wish for, as we've found out in the past. peter brooks, thanks for coming on today. it was ten years ago this week that lehman brothers collapsed. question today is are we ready for the next crisis? >> ♪ ♪ ♪ as moms, we send our kids out into the world, full of hope. and we don't want something like meningitis b getting in their way. meningococcal group b disease, or meningitis b, is real.

bexsero is a vaccine to help prevent meningitis b in 10-25 year olds. even if meningitis b is uncommon, that's not a chance we're willing to take. meningitis b is different from the meningitis most teens were probably vaccinated against when younger. we're getting the word out against meningitis b. our teens are getting bexsero. bexsero should not be given if you had a severe allergic reaction after a previous dose. most common side effects are pain, redness or hardness at the injection site; muscle pain; fatigue; headache; nausea; and joint pain. bexsero may not protect all individuals. tell your healthcare professional if you're pregnant or if you have received any other meningitis b vaccines. ask your healthcare professional about the risks and benefits of bexsero and if vaccination with bexsero is right for your teen. moms, we can't wait. ♪

they won't hike your ratest foover one mistake. see, liberty mutual doesn't hold grudges. for drivers with accident forgiveness liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty ♪ connell: well, sometimes seems like yesterday, but it was ten years ago this week that lehman brothers collapsed, and the financial crisis followed with the u.s. economy tanking. despite a strong jobs market and stock prices that are at record highs, some are wondering if we're ready for the next crisis. we have tim road with us today -- tim rood with us, d.r. barton and elizabeth macdonald also joining us from the newsroom. not that you guys aren't among the all-time greats, but just that e. mac was a first ballot hall of fammer --

[laughter] tim, we do these segments all the time, but now it's this round number of ten years that we've removed ourselves from lehman brothers collapsing. have we fixed a lot about the system? >> yeah, it's certainly a lot different. if you think back to 2007, the crisis, you had a copful to things -- copping of things going on. you had banks that were overleveraged. you had a lot of private capital come anything and replacing the government in terms of the takeout for mortgage-backed securities. you had a lot of creative, that's a euphemism for mortgage products, no documentation, subprime mortgages, and you had companies like fannie mae and freddie mac that had historically backstopped the u.s. housing market taking a backseat the private capital. yet they were still reasonably well capitalized. fast forward to today, fannie mae and freddie mac, you know,

have been in conservatorship for ten years. they went from 50 to 1 leverage to now about 700 to 1. if we had a longer show, i'd take a long pause. that's a big diego. the big banks have actually grown two to three times since that time. you're seeing privateal has step -- capital has stepped back, and you're seeing banks step aside and letting independent mortgage companies take their place. so now these new counterparties are not the big depositories but independent -- last but not least, mortgage products have actually been legislated out of existence. connell: the creative ones. where does that leave us, liz? is would you be confident in telling someone at a party or something happens this weekend, they say could this ever happen again, would you be confident in telling them no? >> i wouldn't be confident. yes, the u.s. regulated banking system and europe and overseas, they have cleaned up their acts, we know that. but it's an important point

that's made that, you know, companies like blackrock, the non-banks, are $6 trillion in assets or so and, i mean, how -- what's government oversight there? i'm not asking for government oversight, i'm just saying risks are still out there. junk bond debt has easily doubled since the crisis. we know big problems overseas, countries like turkey and argentina who continue to basically not have their economic growth and continue to borrow u.s. dollars as u.s. dollars strengthen. so there's always that fear of a debt crisis, of course. i think that, you know, the other problem that we still have is this thinking in governments that the way to fix income inequality is to give everybody a home and to relax standards. connell: right. >> that type of attitude, even though that has changed, that type of attitude that the government can fix things like that and is step in and make things worse, i fear it's still out there as i just was pointing out about countries like turkey and argentina not right-sizing their economies. connell: d.r., put that all

together. if what both tim and liz said is correct, is there a next type of crisis that maybe doesn't resemble or, you know, is an exact replica of the last one that you're worried about? >> well, i think you're right there, connell, that it's not going to to be an exact replica. and tim and liz both made great points about a lot of the things that we've cleaned up. and i think tim used one word, that was leverage, that's really important right now. if we look at the growth that the markets have had and we look at the margin debt which is at very high levels on an absolute basis but on a capitalization basis based on where we are with the market, we had much, much higher leverage back in 2006, 7 and 8 than we have now. we're not as leveraged. i think the places that we're going to have to look for any signs of crisis are liz's points that she made. and i'll say even one more

specific, and that's china's debt. connell: right. >> their debt ratios have continued to go up, and that's where probably the straw that breaks the camel's back. >> oh, yeah. connell: that's actually not a bad point at all, especially with all the talk about trade and how much pressure's being put on the chinese economy as a result of that. final point, i'm not sure if we get into -- we talk about all the football instruments that may or -- financial instruments that may or may not have led us down that road, it had an effect on the politics and culture and the way people don't trust wall street or elites in general? what impact do you think '08 had on all of that? >> you know, it's a great point and a great question you pose there. to my mind, it started earlier with the idea that long-term capital management, a big hedge fund would get bailed out by the federal reserve in 1998. that set the stage for this

attitude of bailouts. and, you know, the first responders in the crisis was the federal reserve and central banks around the world. i'm not sure that attitude has changed. in other words, will we let companies collapse? we know that europe and the u.s. have these systemic, you know, risky financial institution structures where the governments say they're going to step in and, you know, stop a bank from imploding, but, you know, i'm not sure -- connell: i don't think it has. i doubt it has. i mean, we have to go now, but don't you think, tim, that's true? we would still bail people out? >> yeah, one quick point on that to liz's point, from these credit bubbles, asset bubbles, there's only three ways out; you can grow your way out, you can default your way out which the economy or the government hasn't really shown that it's got an appetite for that, or you inflate your way out, and we're darn excited about inflating our way out. connell: all right. we do really have to go, d.r., tim, liz, good to see you all. when we come back, we're going to talk about some politics and this op-ed writer and the search

is on in the white house for the so-called mole. how about lie detector or tests and whether or not they should be conducted? we'll take that up here when we come back to "cavuto coast to coast."

♪ ♪ >> do you think you know who anonymous is? >> i don't.

i don't know. but i do know that they should resign and leave this administration. >> should all top officials take a lie detector test, and would you agree to take one? >> i would agree to take it in a heartbeat and would submit to any review of the administration. connell: that was the vice president, mike pence, talking to chris wallace over the weekend saying he'd take a lie detector test and maybe some others should as well as this search continues for the white house mole or white house lyric, the op-ed writer. we have former bush 43 speech writer annika green with us right now. all right, annika, it's kind of amazing when you just stop for a second and say, yes, that's the vice president of the united states on fox news sunday talking about lie detector tests. i guess that's what we are. how do you think this whole thing plays out? >> i think that probably trump is going to continue focusing on the identity of this person even as reports have let us know that others of his senior staff like john kelly have been trying to

say let's let it die, don't throw gasoline on the fire, and that's good advice. connell: just let it go. >> of course. and particularly someone like vice president pence, we know that he feels very strongly that he's in that role. it's not just a personal mission for him, he feels like it's a divine role for him as part of his evangelical faith that god has him in that role, so to be suspected of something like that is going to hit him in a much more personal way than maybe somebody else. coming at the same time as this book by bob woodward that is telling stories of disorganization and a lot of the disa array that has been a consistent part of the narrative coming out of the media, it's going to be frustrating. so he gets asked, will you take a lie detector? is well, yes, whatever it takes. connell: is it important for this person to be found out so that -- especially if, and we've had all these discussions however long it's been since the op-ed came out, what is a senior official. if this person is not someone who the general public would

recognize on, you know, if they hear the name they'd say who's that, is it important to find out especially be it's that type of person? >> i don't think it's important regardless. connell: okay. >> i took this op-ed with a grain of salt having worked in a white house, having worked in an office of the administration. i worked at hhs. there were actually always people who are going to be working to frustrate particular parts of a president's agenda. a lot of people don't realize that. now, it is heightened in the trump era -- connell: what do you mean by that, frustrating -- because some people watching or listening might be saying, wait a second, if you're working in an administration, you're there to promote the agenda, not to, quote-unquote, frustrate it. what do you mean by that? >> there are political appointees, and those people's jobs end when a new administration begins . you were an obama political appointee, you don't have a job when the new president comes in unless you're reappointed. then there's career appointees. those people go across administrations. often times, and i personally

encountered this, a career appointee who maybe came into the administration under a priest president, they have their own deal going. connell: no, i understand that, but have you seen that with someone who the president appointed it? >> i've seen it -- connell: isn't that a little strange? or no, maybe not. >> it's strange that it would come to this level and that someone would send an op-ed into "the new york times" through an intermediary. that's definitely strange. and what that looks like, to me, is this person wants insurance for when they leave the administration that they can get a job despite having the trump administration on there, and that is craven. connell: so there's not some sort of a stench associated with their position in the administration among establishment republican, right? so that's the idea -- >> well, not just establishment republicans. this person could be a democrat, we don't know. we really have no idea. i have my own theories. some of my former speech-writing colleagues have been circulating e-mails speculating -- connell: everybody has. >> we think it's somebody in the

national security establishment, but a mole hunt is not really a good idea for this white house or president because it plays into that narrative that he's paranoid and thin-skinned, and this is an opportunity to show that's not true. connell: it'll be up to the president to keep in this in the news via tweet and the like or to let it fade away and maybe move on to the next thing. >> and this person will reveal themselves with time. connell: you think so? >> i do think so. if you take a step that bold, you're not going to be covering your tracks, and you're going to let something slip. connell: deep throat denied it for a number of years. annika, thank you. we have to move on. thanks for coming on, we appreciate it. we're going to talk about tesla again and tesla's stock today has actually gone up. we had the whole story with the pot smoking and everything else that was out at the end of last week, and the stock went down, also the executives leaving the company which is a big part of it. but today tesla's up by about 6%. gasparino's back in a moment.

. . ♪ ♪ our new, hot, fresh breakfast will get you the readiest. (buzzer sound) holiday inn express. be the readiest. aarp auto insurance program from the hartford? let's hear what actual customers are saying. - the hartford's integrity is something that's very important to us folks over 50. we like talking to real people and getting the straight answers when we ask questions, and they've done a wonderful job doing that. - [matt] in fact, the hartford's been named one of the world's most ethical companies ten times. - i get the highest levels of coverage,

i get the highest levels of service, low premiums, but when it comes time to deliver the hartford's been there and that's what value's about for me. - [matt] only the hartford offers lifetime renewability. it's their promise not to drop you, even if you're in an accident. - it's a great feeling to know that the hartford will not drop me because of an accident. and i don't have to worry, because a company that's been in business for 200 years must be doing something right. - [announcer] to find out more about the aarp auto insurance program from the hartford, call the hartford at... or go to.... you could save hundreds of dollars when you switch. - [matt] did you know that the hartford is the only national car insurance program endorsed by aarp? in fact, they've been working together for over 30 years. not an aarp member? the hartford can help you join in minutes. - you have a lot of companies that just try to be a mill, to get a whole of business. but to have somebody that still has that personal touch,

that takes time out to talk to you, i think that's really important. - [matt] see for yourself why customers rate the hartford 4.8 out of five stars for their claims experience. - [announcer] to learn more about the aarp auto insurance program from the hartford, call the hartford at... for a free quote, that's... or go to... connell: stocks getting a bump higher after we saw what happened friday, up 6%. bring back by popular demand, charlie gasparino. >> everything is great. connell: is that trump. >> well-oiled machine. kentucky fried chicken gets to

delivered to me at 5:00 p.m., before "the five." connell: you're able to do that when you came on, three or four minutes on serious topic and then -- >> want to show you what one of my tesla troll friends said. look at this right here. connell: hyper. >> funding secured. some troll. connell: give news. 2 1/2 -- >> half the trolls hate me. the shorts think i'm pro-tesla. the longs think i'm short. i have a short position. i caused a fire storm on friday. connell: that is unlike you. >> here is what happened. after we caught him, the podcast, joe rogan podcast where he was doing this, right? i was told by someone, you should check with the air force, one of the short sellers, you should check with the air force, if that violates security clearance. connell: because of spacex? >> because of spacex. our brain room did research. one of the barred substances

having a security clearance is marijuana. connell: uh-oh. what happened actually. >> i called the air force, a person there. we were speaking on background, listen, he basically said i'm going to talk to people about it. we'll look into it. he conceded marijuana is a banned substance. he also said he would talk to the general counsel about it. so i tweet out, you know, after i, after, fox business, i called air force. people there said, they will look into it. and just so you know, you know marijuana is banned substance for security clearance of contractors. the thing goes viral. reuters does one of the dumbest stories, mike scott, he must have fell off the applecart. connell: terrific pitcher for astros. >> i remember him. connell: mets couldn't touch him. anyway we have a minute. >> mike scott couldn't find his rear earned with both hands. he said, we're investigating a security clearance.

we never said that because we called, they're looking into it. connell: for time, let me shorten you, what is actually happening now? >> well, i don't know. they may like into it. may investigate it, may not. it is in the air force's hands. i want everybody to know. i called. that is what they told me. the dopes at reuters thought could core an easy one on fox business, they can't. score. cnbc confirmed our reporting. my friends over there. connell: very good friend. >> i have one or two left. next thing with tesla, so you know, pot smoking is nonsense. whatever. connell: right but the executive leading the company and all this. >> do they make their numbers. connell: right. >> if you listen to the short seller stuff, their numbers don't make -- connell: right. >> if he came out said amazing quarter, predict things like amazing quarters, he doesn't come through this time -- connell: he will have real trouble. the podcast. there you go. >> i smoke post better than elon

musk. what does that say? i better get a security clearance. connell: unfortunately it is a real shame we're out of time. sorry about that neil. trish regan takes you through the next hour. >> i will see charlie later on this hour. thanks, guys. breaking today, everyone, president trump blasting the liberal media and democrats sore what he says lying, lying about our successful booming economy. we are adding jobs. stock market at record levels. guess what? people have more money in their wallets but that is not what the left is telling you. we'll talk about that. and we may hear more about the booming economy when we hear from white house press press -- secretary sarah sanders short while from now. s&p 500 up better than a quarter of percent. nasdaq up a quarter of a percent. i'm trish regan.