if we are ever going to get any kind of denuclearization. >> we will see where that meeting happens. looks like a deal is probably going to happen. great to see you all. have a great day. thank you so much for joining us. seize the day, everybody. "varney & company" begins right now. stuart, take it away. stuart: i'm seizing. good morning, maria. good morning, everyone. right as you have been reporting, no deal. kim jong-un wanted all sanctions removed first, then he would denuke partially. president trump is not buying it. he walked. later, at a news conference, he said no deal is better than a bad deal. he said he's never afraid to walk away, even from china. clearly, the president doesn't do deals just to look good. he doesn't do deals just for political gain. as of now, he's on air force one coming home and kim jong-un is on his train. the summit is over. big news on the economy. in the last three months of 2018, a very solid performance.

the economists were again mistaken. annual rate of growth, 2.6%, much better than all those expectations. 2018 was a very good year. the markets digesting the no deal and gdp news. the dow is going to open down just a few points, the nasdaq down maybe a quarter of 1%. no impact from the cohen testimony. my takeaway from that is this. the president has no impeachment liability. the democrats used a proven liar to trash the president's representation precisely at the time he was on the world stage trying to remove a serious nuclear threat. we are going to have it here for you. in a few minutes you will see the full potential of 5g. a surgeon operates from miles away. "varney & company" is about to begin. we had some options but at

this time we decided not to do any of the options and we'll see where that goes, but it was a very interesting two days and i think actually, it was a very productive two days, but sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times. speaking of china, we're very well on our way to doing something special but we'll see. i mean, i am always prepared to walk. i'm never afraid to walk from a deal. and i would do that with china, too, if it didn't work. stuart: there you have it. president trump there commenting on negotiations with north korea, no deal as we said. james freeman is with us. he's with the journal editorial page. i think he sent a pretty clear message about china, didn't he? >> he absolutely did. i think there's obviously a lot of commentary to the effect that the president wants a win, he wants to be able to boast on twitter, he's desperate for something he can call a victory, and kudos to him for walking away. i'm sure a lot of our allies in asia and especially japan are relieved that we're not doing a deal with any price with north korea. i think that message to china as

you just stated is -- ashley: but this is good news for china? because the president wants a win. now looking at those trade talks, is he more likely to bend because he couldn't get anything done with north korea? stuart: that's one way of putting it. one way of looking at it. >> i suppose you could. i think overall, though, it's suggesting, and these negotiations may be related at the end, that he can walk away. i don't see a problem for him saying to the chinese that you haven't met the thresholds, but certainly the signal's there and we have been maybe misled leading up to north korea but the signals are they have the enforcement regime -- stuart: and the threat of 25% tariffs were taken off the table yesterday. that's got to be a positive. then the president's statement overnight in hanoi, i read this as positive. i think he's taken a strong stand and it's directed against china and they're listening. that's my position. >> yeah.

stuart: not yours, ashley. >> the crux of the deal, he's saying that agreeing to shut down one particular nuclear site while not getting rid of your nuclear program, your missile programs in general, really wouldn't amount to much. i think on the substance, we have been talking about sort of his need or desire to get a headline deal. on the substance, his position makes eminent sense. if you want to be welcomed into the community of nations, you got to reform. stuart: right again, freeman. right again. i've got more for you. hold on. take a look at stock futures. we will be down 20, maybe 30 points. i want to bring in market watcher joel shulman. what is the market reacting to? is it the noko no deal, the gdp 2.6% annual growth, or the cohen hearings from yesterday? which is it? >> i don't think it's the cohen hearings. i think it's the anticipation what's going to happen in china. i think north korea, remember there is very little trade going on with this country. so long as the nuclear threat

isn't increased i think it's a nonstarter. there's no real information there. it would have been nice to have a deal but it doesn't move the markets. there's no economic consequence. however, to the extent that we can see through, look through to china, that's the big mover. we had nine, ten weeks of positive news in the markets. the markets have gotten back almost all the gains of 2018, so i'm concerned about any little hiccup that can send them down a little bit. we have gone quite a bit off, the markets are up since christmas and in our case, over 28% on entrepreneurial stocks quite a bit. but the markets across the board, everything is up except india. the market's gone way up, people are looking -- the bears are always looking for something. we have to look forward to china, see whether or not they back out of the deal. stuart: what about gdp? 2.6%. >> it's nice. liz: it's 2.9% annual. stuart: that's right. i call that pretty good.

>> the markets are great, profits are up, everything is doing great. so if we can keep the china deal on track, we see something through, i think this is -- 2019 will continue to be a great year. stuart: i don't have to sell wholesale the stocks i have in my 401(k)? >> well, you aren't going to sell those anyway, i hope. i am a little nervous, though, that any disruption here in china can cause a shakeup. we had a big gain and people are looking for opportunity. stuart: you're not sweating, are you? you're not really tense here. >> i'm not sweating but if we get bad news or something that is anticipated bad news in china, we could see a 10% move in a week. stuart: 10% in a week. >> yes. the markets went -- the markets went down before, you know, maybe one week, two weeks. the markets can react pretty strongly if they anticipate that there's going to be negative news. stuart: i'm sweating now. thank you. >> thank you. stuart: back to james freeman.

he's got an op-ed in the "journal" about the green new deal. there are several presidential candidates in the senate. are they going to have to vote on the green new deal? >> yeah. this is the question. i think maybe they thought they were going to get a free virtue signal to the party's left wing by endorsing, co-sponsoring the green new deal plan. these are all the democratic senators who are running for president. cory booker, kamala harris, elizabeth warren, amy klobuchar, kirsten gillibrand, bernie sanders, of course. now, what they didn't expect is mitch mcconnell seems likely to put this on the floor so now the emerging democratic strategy, backed by the outside advocates who had been demanding a green new deal, is to allow democrats to vote present. stuart: yes. exactly. exactly. liz: the push is to get them to vote prechsent. what a cop-out. stuart: could they do that? kamala harris, especially,

bernie sanders, especially, mr. booker. will they do that? liz: joe manchin will. >> can they get away with it, where they can say to the green new dealers, to the ocasio-cortez wing of the party, look, i co-sponsored the green new deal, i share your aspiration to spend tens of trillions of dollars reorganizing the u.s. economy. liz: but how dare you put it to a vote. how dare you. >> the industrial midwest, blue collar workers, don't worry, i didn't vote for it, i didn't mean it even though i co-sponsored it. stuart: it's not the ocasio-cortez wing of the party. it is the ocasio-cortez party. can we get that clear. >> i think that is why the president probably gets reelected. even if his polls don't rise that much, because they are making their candidate unacceptable to many people in the country. stuart: you got it all out there. listen to this. priceless stuff. here we go. martha stewart partnering with a marijuana grower, canopy growth. what? >> yep, she will be an adviser

to this canadian pot company. stuart: adviser to what? >> she will help them develop human and animal health products infused with cbd which is not the part that gets you high, that's thc. this is the calming effect. yeah. she says look, i'm delighted to establish this partnership, she says, and share with them the knowledge i have gained over years of quote, doing it all. let's not forget, she did have a cooking show with snoop dogg and actually made pot brownies on that show. liz: and spent time in prison. when did she get knowledge of this product? >> kind of a marketing case study here. this preppy mainstream brand but kind of edgy, too. stuart: joel has never had so much fun. check futures, please. we won't be down that much, maybe 20 odd points. down 23, i think it is. former trump attorney cohen will be back on capitol hill today after that marathon

hearing. look, in my opinion, the president's in no danger of impeachment but could be facing some political jeopardy. newt gingrich comments on that later. hundreds of members of venezuela's military reportedly defected in the last several days. could this be the crack that brings down the maduro regime? we're on it. plus facebook getting ready to roll out a tool that will let you eliminate your entire history with one click. good news for users. bad news for advertisers. we're just getting started. hopes you drive safely. but allstate actually helps you drive safely... with drivewise. it lets you know when you go too fast... ...and brake too hard. with feedback to help you drive safer. giving you the power to actually lower your cost. unfortunately, it can't do anything about that. now that you know the truth...

are you in good hands?

what do you look for i want free access to research. yep, td ameritrade's got that. free access to every platform. yeah, that too. i don't want any trade minimums. yeah, i totally agree, they don't have any of those. i want to know what i'm paying upfront. yes, absolutely. do you just say yes to everything? hm. well i say no to kale. mm. yeah, they say if you blanch it it's better, but that seems like a lot of work. no hidden fees. no platform fees. no trade minimums. and yes, it's all at one low price. td ameritrade. ♪

stuart: have we got a gee whiz story for you. a team of doctors in barcelona removed a cancerous tumor from a patient's colon. the surgeon overseeing the procedure was miles away. joining us now, dr. mark siegel. doctor, this is all about 5g. tell me how this thing worked. >> you already hit on the key point because 5g is 100 times faster than 4g and the problem with telesurgery before this was the delay. can you imagine a surgeon that's many miles away that's overlooking a surgical field but there's a delay and so you can't react. now it's almost instantaneous. we have 143 million surgeries in the world a year, 143 million that are not done because the right surgeon isn't in place. i'm very excited about this because i may be able to get a

surgeon now who is really qualified to do a surgery let's say in the middle of alabama where they don't have the right facility, or somewhere way out in a rural area where you can't get the right surgeon you need for a very complex procedure. you dial them in and they are overseeing the procedure. stuart: let me get this right. the operation, the surgeon, the surgery that was performed in barcelona, was it successful? >> yes. it was a colon surgery. it was very successful. in this case, the surgeon didn't actually do the surgery. he advised. the resident, surgical resident that was there on site said look, that information was very helpful but stuart, we also have robotic surgery where literally, you have robot arms performing and you are a few feet away. now with this speed, you may be able to be thousands of miles away. that's where we're headed. stuart: let me get this right. i could be in new york city and i need an operation, i need surgery, but the best surgeon is in hong kong and he could, he or

she, could do that surgery using robotic arms actually on me in new york using 5g? that's possible? >> yes, provided that we are talking robotics here. i like that idea. and two, provided that there's somebody on site that also knows what they're doing. you may be dialing in the best in the world but i don't really want to suggest to our viewers here that there's not going to be anyone in the area, because you are going to have to have a combination of a team. but yes, this 5g makes possible somebody literally operating from a big distance away. very, very big advance because again, we don't always get to the patient. we don't always have the right doctor for the right patient. this will totally change it and it fits into telemedicine which is really a wave of the future. stuart: roughly speaking, how many years away are we from this becoming commonplace? >> i would say now. i would say within the next year or two, given 5g, you could start with supervisions. this event in barcelona is

game-changing. stuart: one more thing, quickly. you are the conservative political action, cpac kicking off in maryland. you will be speaking to it. what is a doctor doing speaking to a conservative audience, about what? >> good question, stuart. it's because there's a collision of culture going on right now. you have the democrats, many of them promoting medicare for all which is a huge government expansion, and as you know, will lead to rationing, very expensive transition, trillions and trillions of dollars and maybe we won't be able to access the innovation we need. on the other side, you have the trump administration talking about more price transparency, lower prices, more choice, more competition, more generics and maybe that will actually be the direction we are going in, where without the individual mandate on obamacare, you are going to get more and more health insurance options. i'm more on that side. i'm showing the difference and i'm showing why i believe in the private solutions. stuart: dr. siegel, report to us later, please. dr. marc siegel joining us

today. >> thanks for having me. stuart: we are going to be down at the opening bell but not much. maybe 30 points for the dow, 20 points for the nasdaq. more after this. this is the all-new chevy silverado. it's beautiful. beefy and mean looking. it's the strongest, most advanced silverado ever. the cab is bigger than the last generation. it's the first truck i've seen make you look small. but that's not all... whoo! oh my... whoa! the silverado has more cargo volume than any competitor. very impressive. now, during the chevy presidents day sales event,

get 0% financing for 72 months on this all-new silverado. drive yours away this presidents day.

who we are as people and making everybody feel welcome. ordering custom ink t-shirts has been a really smart decision for our business. - [narrator] custom ink has hundreds of products and free shipping. upload your logo or start your design today at customink.com. stuart: all right. we are going to get to the

michael cohen hearing. listen to what the president said about his former attorney. roll tape. >> it was very interesting because he didn't lie about one thing. he said no collusion with the russian hoax. and i said i wonder why he didn't just lie about that, too, like he did about everything else. he lied about so many different things. i was actually impressed that he didn't say well, i think there was collusion for this reason or that. he didn't say that. he said no collusion. stuart: come on in, newt gingrich. he does have a new podcast out called newt's world. we will talk about that in a second. first of all, my opinion, no impeachable offense coming out of the cohen hearings but i think it will hurt the president politically going forward. what say you? >> look, i think the people who were not aware that donald trump was a businessman who did a lot of things that public politicians don't do, hat gos to be a pretty small number now.

people who hate trump, hate trump. people who think he's doing an important job think he's doing an important job. it won't move the numbers more than one or two points either way. he's unbeatable in the republican party. he will be the nominee in 2020 and the economy, this is typical of the current news media. the economy had a better than expected growth last quarter, created more jobs, gave more people to have a chance to have a pay raise. of course, that doesn't count because we have to listen to some convicted liar who has sitting right behind him one of hillary clinton's closest friends who happened to be his lawyer. so this entire sort of vomiting on the public which is what cohen did yesterday was orchestrated by hillary clinton's closest friend and we are supposed to take a convicted liar seriously while the press doesn't understand what's going on in india, they don't understand what's going on in hanoi, they don't understand what's going on in venezuela, they don't understand what's going on with the economy. i think the average american looks at all that and says shame

on the media and just go on with their lives. stuart: before we leave the subject, i think we are going to get a leakfest late this afternoon because cohen's going to appear behind closed doors before the house intelligence committee, chaired by adam schiff. they will be leaking everything before the sun sets today. i'm pretty sure i'm right about that. >> look, one thing nobody pointed out yesterday, i think cohen made over $5 million from donald trump. i would like to know year by year how much was trump paying him including expenses, et cetera. here's a guy who for 11 years thought donald trump is so great, give me another check, i love the money. then all of a sudden, about the time the fbi raids his office, he suddenly discovers his conscience. anybody who can listen to somebody like that and take them seriously, i would love to talk to them some about some really bad stock i've got i have been looking to move. stuart: let's wrap that up and talk about the new podcast, newt's world. tell me all about it, please.

>> well, look, i'm interested in many things that are positive, that are exciting. we have started with george washington on his birthday. then we interviewed an investigative reporter who spent two years on an amazing scandal in the u.s. house which is being covered up. then we did a very interesting podcast with two doctors who had discovered a way of doing gene therapy so that children who were going to go blind now can see. really a miracle. these are little kids who would be blind their whole life, now they can see. next sunday we will release a podcast in which i have a conversation with patrick kennedy about his challenges with addiction and with alcoholism, with mental health, his family's experiences and his belief about public policy. it's a remarkable podcast i think patrick kennedy comes across in a very compelling and believable way. stuart: watch out there, newt. we will get into that podcast.

newt's world. newt, thanks very much for being with us. always appreciate it. >> thank you. stuart: quick check of the markets this thursday morning. how are we going to open? lots going on in the news. we will be down about 20 points. that's it. back in a moment. my experience with usaa has been excellent. they really appreciate the military family and it really shows. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else? we know their rates are good, we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. it was funny because when we would call another insurance company, hey would say "oh we can't beat usaa" we're the webber family. we're the tenney's we're the hayles, and we're usaa members for life. ♪ get your usaa auto insurance quote today.

stuart: here we go. 15 seconds and we'll be off and running on wall street. lots of news in the background, no deal with north korea, gdp up 2.9% last year, very solid gain and we've got more cohen hearings behind closed doors today. look at this. we are off and running and down. not that much, we're down, look at that, down 14 points in the very, very early going. not all the dow stocks are open but right now we just got a minor league's loss with a very packed news background behind it. down 19 as we speak. we are just a little shy of 26,000. okay. how about the s&p. a narrow loss, but -- well, we are down .19% so a broader indicator shows a slightly bigger loss. the nasdaq composite, home of the technology companies, where is that right now, it is down a quarter percent. i'm taking from that that tech stocks not doing great this morning.

michelle mckinnen is here, scott martin, elizabeth macdonald, ashley webster, of course. i will start with gdp numbers. 2.9% growth for all of last year, 2018. 2.9, was it? ashley: for the year. liz: full year. stuart: thank you. now, michelle, the economists got it wrong again. >> they got it wrong again. what is so interesting is economists time and time again underestimate the growth. i think that's really what you are going to see even this year. there's going to be surprises on the upside, not the downside. stuart: on the upside. >> yes. on the upside. not the downside. stuart: you have always been bullish. >> i have. stuart: next case. no deal with north korea. the president said he just had to walk away. better to have no deal than a bad deal. scott, come on in, please. i think this sends a message to china that the president is prepared to walk if he doesn't get a deal that he wants. what say you? >> yeah. i think to your point earlier on the show, i think it should make

china very nervous because it shows that this president is not just going to lay down for a cosmetic deal as we have seen previous administrations do all the way back to date myself, when paul o'neill, treasury secretary, would talk tough in america, go overseas and let china continue to manipulate currency. given that north korea and china are bffs, the fact they are major trading partners shows china we are serious about our business and they better come to the table with a deal that's fair. stuart: okay. next case. elon musk has changed his name to elon tusk on twitter, and he's teasing that he will be announcing something big this afternoon. now, the stock went up big-time yesterday on that news. it's up another two bucks today, $317. michelle? teflon. >> it's teflon. i really think this is entirely too high. when you look at other auto companies, it's crazy. it has a crazy price. stuart: is tomorrow the deadline

when he's got to get the stock to $357, if he doesn't, what happens? >> he has to pay out cash. tesla has a $920 million convertible bond and here's the thing. that's a quarter of the cash on the balance sheet. they have a debt problem there. tesla is rolling forward solar city debt problem, too. stuart: state of play, tesla stock is $318 a share. it's got to get to $357 tomorrow. if it doesn't, he's got to shell out $900 million cash? liz: stay on this for a second. this is why the s&p has been going after elon musk. because he's cheerleading the stock higher with tweets and that's why we think he's been -- the s.e.c. has been cracking down on the tweets because tesla is known to be a momentum play on wall street. he's touting and cheering it higher maybe to hit that mark so he doesn't have to pay out the cash. stuart: got a few hours left. check the big board, it's a go nowhere day despite a jam-packed news background. we are down, what, .75. 25,984. individual stocks, here we go.

weak sales at l brands, the parent company of victoria's secret, weak sales, down it goes, 8%. not so rosy forecast from fitbit, the wearables people. down 15% there. back to $5 a share. hp, much bigger company, obviously. their sales target fell short or they fell short of their sales target. the stock is down 15%. let's talk retail. jc penney, better sales over the holidays. the stock is up 18%. that is all of 23 cents. sea world's revenue fell short. let's see what happens. their stock is up 11%. i have to sort that one out for you. two items on amazon, getting replaced by costco as the new leader for customer satisfaction in internet retail. that's a surprise. ashley: it is a surprise. they have been number one since 2010. stuart: costco executes better than amazon. and amazon is starting to let

brand owners delete listings on the website for products that they deem to be fake. ashley: counterfeit products on amazon is a huge problem. a lot of these big brands have been getting more and more upset with amazon for not doing enough to counteract it. normally what happens is you complain, it goes to an outside monitor who then looks into it. amazon getting much more aggressive, taking the unusual step of allowing brands to eliminate what they believe are counterfeits selling on that platform. amazon says it's going to keep a very close eye on it because obviously you don't want these brands to eliminate legit businesses. what they do is say nike, they look at this site and go we're not sure this is legit, i think this is counterfeit, so they buy the product, then test it and see whether indeed it is their product. this is one way of attacking what is a huge problem of fake counterfeit products on amazon. stuart: they're trying. i have always been interested in marshall's. i like the store, i like the product line, i like the prices. they are getting ready to launch

online shopping. marshall's. they are known for bricks and mortar. they have quite a following. i will get to you in a second, michelle. how about you, scott? i like this. i like marshall's. what do you say? >> i'm kind of surprised. i mean, i guess i don't know what's more surprising about this story, the fact that they are doing this or that marshall's is still in business. no offense. obviously tjx has a conglomerate -- stuart: what are you talking about? >> i don't shop there so i don't know. it's kind of funny how they are following the amazon model. you guys talked about it in the previous segment about how online retail is the way to go. the world is big enough, my friends, for other companies to come in and challenge amazon. whether they succeed or not is maybe not as much of a big deal as the fact that that online pie is getting bigger and bigger and that's the piece they want a part of. ashley: the only thing you can't get online is the experience of actually being in the store. listen, let me finish, the joy of going into a marshalls, i'm sure stuart will back me up, it's like a great big treasure

hunt. you go through all those racks of clothes, all of a sudden you find a gem and it's $10. it's kind of exciting. stuart: what have you got? >> absolutely, i agree, ashley. even my experience going into those stores, you find really great brands and it's like a treasure hunt. you find them for like 50% to 70% off. it's a great idea. i love the fact they are going online. liz: tj maxx has $36 billion in annual sales. women and men like to shop there. the stores are always packed. watch what the ceos are saying. they are finding with their website, tj maxx, which owns marshalls, more shoppers went in after they went online. it's increasing sales. stuart: i'll take it. i don't know what scott martin is on about. facebook says it's deleting history button will be ready this year. let's get this clear. one click deletes everything you have ever done on facebook. now, i love it. scott, i love it.

but i don't think it's very good for advertisers, right? >> no, it's not good for advertisers. it's a great concept. love the concept, love the idea of facebook after they stole so much data, maybe it goes to show they have so much data they have stolen, i know google does, they don't know what to do with it so maybe they can afford to delete it all but do we trust them? is there really such thing as hey, we will delete this and forget about everything you told us? not so sure. stuart: okay. got to move on. i know you all want to comment on this. i got this from martha stewart, partnering with canopy growth. tell me more. ashley: this is the canadian giant cannabis company. they are delighted to have martha stewart on board who will help them develop products for humans and animals that contain cbd, the calming aspect of marijuana. she will not only help develop products but how to merchandise and how to sell them. she's good at that. stuart: it doesn't get you high. ashley: no. liz: relaxing. stuart: doesn't get you high. okay.

you may not have realized the battery people, energizer, make a line of smartphones? yeah, they do. the latest boasts a battery that lets you make up to 90 hours of calls, listen to 100 hours of music, and watch around two days of video on a single charge. liz: wow. stuart: the point is, the thing looks like a brick. liz: you know what's so irritating is having to recharge your smartphone every other hour. >> absolutely. i think it's getting worse. stuart: but you're going to put a brick in your pocket? did you know energizer has a smartphone? liz: it's a great brand, right? >> we're talking about it. stuart: what do you say, scott? >> apple has all this cash. we talk about the improvements they made to their ecosystem. i agree with the panel. the iphone battery, mine goes from 20% to 15% to 1% when i'm on the phone. it drops right there and messes with me. apple should buy energizer,

spend that cash, get the batteries fixed, make people happy again. stuart: don't ever call this a panel show again. >> my friends. i'm sorry. stuart: let's move on. all right, scott. your time's up. it's 9 -- seriously, thank you very much. michelle, we do appreciate it. it's 9:40. look at this. go nowhere day on the market this thursday morning. we are down ten points, a fraction of 1%. next case. uber and lyft, two of the most highly anticipated ipos of the year, and some of that drivers might be able to get in on the action. companies are giving them money to buy stock. details on that coming up, next hour. president trump walking away from a deal with north korea. they wouldn't give up all their nukes. next, one of our experts on north korea and i want to know how much we know about kim jong-un's nuclear facilities. what do we know about them? millions of people in high tax states getting killed by salt, the state and local tax

deduction which you can't get anymore. coming up at 11:00, congressman kevin brady helped write the tax bill. salt is his fault. i will take him on. your daily dashboard from fidelity. a visual snapshot of your investments. key portfolio events. all in one place. because when it's decision time... you need decision tech. only from fidelity.

stuart: we just turned positive, not by much, but five points higher at 25,990. that's where we are right now. president trump walked away from a deal with north korea. the sticking point being a serious commitment to denuke. listen to this. roll tape. >> basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that. they were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted but we couldn't give up all of the sanctions for that.

stuart: joining us, van hibb with american defense international. welcome back to the program. >> good to be with you. stuart: did we surprise kim jong-un with how much we know about what he's got in nuclear facilities? >> i think we did. and i said last week on this show that this president was surrounded by the a-team with mike pompeo and john bolton, that they would ensure that this president was prepared and he would not be hoodwinked by the north koreans. i think we did surprise them. i think we disclosed to them some of their previously undisclosed sites. one in particular, about 200 kilometers north of the dmz that we believe may be a missile site with a first launch capability. i think we surprised them and i think we surprised them, too, when this president walked away, amicably, but look at what secretary pompeo just said. i'm sorry, go ahead. stuart: so they came in, they were prepared to bluff as if we didn't know they've got all these sites, they didn't know

that we knew and they were surprised and their bluff failed. that is an accurate reading? >> it is. and that this president was prepared and unlike some of those who have thought this president wasn't prepared, that he would give away too much, look, this kind of reminds me of reagan and gorbachev, the first time in reykjavik back in '86, gorbachev wanted to do away with all ballistic missiles but didn't want us to move forward with a strategic defense initiative. thank god ronald reagan did what he did because that gave us the capability we have right now to deal with threats like north korea. stuart: have to move on to venezuela. 300 members of the elite there, the military there, have reportedly defected. if maduro, if he loses the military, he's finished. so is this the first significant crack in his military support? >> absolutely. there is a crack and we need to do everything we can to exacerbate the situation. of those defectors, about 100 in just the last week, almost to a

man they have said over half of the military in venezuela supports juan guaido. here's a big point. we are now learning through open source intelligence that china, china is now trying to hedge its bets and negotiate the venezuelan debt with juan guaido. we need to make sure that kind of information gets back to the venezuelan military to help that exodus of moving them faster. and maduro knows this. notice every time he tries to do a media event with the military to show the support, it's always prerecorded and the russians have actually taken special for force, elite special forces and put them in some of maduro's elite units to try to stop the defections. stuart: you always come to us with important information and you did it again today. we appreciate that. you're all right. >> great to be with you. stuart: thank you, sir. boeing working on an autonomous fighter jet. all right. tell me more. ashley: designed to mitigate

human risk. this is actually an australian-made plane in conjunction with boeing. they expect it to be in the skies next year. what is this designed to do? to fly beside human piloted fighter jets during combat. it provides early warning tests, intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance. it can fly for longer periods. it can withstand greater g-force and process more information at any given time. the ultimate wing man, if you like, in the form of a pilot. it can make -- obviously give a pilot a greater heads up as danger approaches. stuart: you said it was australian. very unusual. ashley: the first combat aircraft developed in australia in decades. obviously maybe they had the personnel down there that were developing the software and boeing went in on that. stuart: how about that. crikey. that was a surprise. they're not known for jet fighters.

now you know. all right. check the dow industrials. oh, look at this, ladies and gentlemen. back above, moving up a bit. about half the dow in the green, half red. the dow industrials up 37 points, 26,023. democrat lawmakers unveiling their medicare for all bill. there are some who put the cost at around $36 trillion. ashley: is that all? stuart: that's all. up next, one of the bill's co-sponsors, debbie dingell. she joins us next. as the one who is always trapped beneath the duvet i'm begging you... take gas-x. your tossing and turning isn't restlessness, it's gas! gas-x relieves pressure, bloating and discomfort... fast!

so we can all sleep easier tonight. this is the all-new it's beautiful.. beefy and mean looking. it's the strongest, most advanced silverado ever. the cab is bigger than the last generation. it's the first truck i've seen make you look small. but that's not all... whoo! oh my... whoa! the silverado has more cargo volume than any competitor. very impressive. now, during the chevy presidents day sales event, get 0% financing for 72 months on this all-new silverado. drive yours away this presidents day. hey! you still thinking about opening your own shop? every day. i think there are some ways to help keep you on track. and closer to home. edward jones grew to a trillion dollars in assets under care,

by thinking about your goals as much as you do. comcast business built the nation's largest gig-speed network. then went beyond. beyond chasing down network problems. to knowing when and where there's an issue. beyond network complexity. to a zero-touch, one-box world. optimizing performance and budget. beyond having questions. to getting answers. "activecore, how's my network?" "all sites are green." all of which helps you do more than your customers thought possible. comcast business. beyond fast.

in honor of my dad, who was alzheimer's. i decided to make shirts for the walk with custom ink, and they just came out perfect. - [announcer] check out our huge selection of custom apparel for every occasion. you'll even get free shipping. get started today at customink.com.

stuart: house democrats have a plan to ensure all americans through medicare. join us now is congresswoman debbie dingell, democrat from michigan. you support this medicare for all, but there's a price tag here of, what, nearly -- over $30 trillion. can we afford it? >> well, first of all, i do support it. i'm co-chair of the medicare for all caucus. but we are the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn't have access to affordable quality health care for every one of its citizens. we are competing in a global marketplace where other countries don't have to worry about health care costs. stuart: where are you getting the money from?

it's an enormous number. >> yes, it is. but do you know what an enormous amount of money we are spending without having a single payer system, how much money is spent on paperwork, how much -- how many people the doctors have to hire just to manage it and process it and are not allowed to focus on the patient? stuart: that doesn't add up to $30 trillion, ma'am. >> first of all, we haven't gotten what this bill will cost. we have to get that scored. but the second thing is that i have met with the severitiexpero believe by going to a single payer system which is what other countries have, we can afford to pay for it. if germany and england, canada and australia and japan and china can all do this, why can't we? stuart: in europe, they do have somewhat similar systems. britain has a similar system. but they don't have much of a military. all their government spending goes on health care and it's never enough. ever. >> well, can i ask you this question? do you think that every american's got a right, do you think you have a right to

affordable quality health care? you think that somebody should have to worry about whether they can afford to go to the doctor or if they are diabetic, take their insulin? we have to figure this out. stuart: 150 million americans get their health care from their private employer. your system would wipe that out. those 150 million americans are pretty happy with what they've got. they might not be happy with government care in its place. >> okay. so i'm going to have a very frank talk with you. i am out there talking to a lot of those people who you say are so happy with their health care system. the premiums are going up, their deductibles are going up, the amount of money they are having to pay for their medicine and co-pays, it's a competitive issue for these companies, it significantly contributed to the bankruptcy of the auto companies in the late 2000s. so it isn't a perfect world with all of this out there, and i'm not -- we have to write a good bill. we introduced it yesterday. i want every stake holder at the table. i talked to everybody.

that includes the drug companies and insurance companies, but we've got to do something. because our system is broke here in this country. stuart: which taxes would go up and by how much? >> well, i'm hoping that just by going to a single payer system, we are going to significantly pay for this program. we look at, you know, we look at -- i have had people say germany -- stuart: would no taxes have to go up? >> i don't know that right now because i don't know what the bill would cost and what we are going to save from just going to single payer system. a lot of other issues. we are going into a study -- stuart: the former director of the congressional budget office puts the cost at $36 trillion over ten years. >> and that is somebody who is out there trying to scare people and he doesn't tell you how much we are putting right now into how much everybody is paying to pay the bills because of all this bureaucracy and multiple insurance companies and multiple fines, et cetera. instead of just being negative, why don't we figure out a way we

can design a system that will make sure that everybody's got health care? other countries are doing it. you say you care about the economy, it's a competitive issue for businesses in this country. stuart: i'm sorry we don't have more time. i did want to get to chrysler fiat's investment in michigan. i'm sorry -- >> which is a good thing. stuart: i'm sorry i didn't get to it. congresswoman, i really want to thank you very much for coming on the show. come on back. we've got to talk more about this. >> i will. we will talk about all of it. thank you. take care. stuart: more after this. on. i've done all sorts of research, read earnings reports, looked at chart patterns. i've even built my own historic trading model. and you're still not sure if you want to make the trade? exactly. sounds like a case of analysis paralysis. is there a cure? td ameritrade's trade desk. they can help gut check your strategies and answer all your toughest questions. sounds perfect. . .

♪ the new capital one savor card. earn 4% cash back on dining and 4% on entertainment. now when you go out, you cash in. what's in your wallet?

stuart: headline, no deal as president trump said, sometimes you just have to walk. it came down to a last minute demand from kim jong-un that all sanctions be taken off immediately. mr. trump would not do that. the summit ended with lunch and the deal still left on the table. the fact that he was prepared to walk away will not go unnoticed in beijing. he said, quote, no deal is better than a bad deal. and he said, he is never afraid to walk away even from china. the message is he won't do a trade deal just for the sake of looking good. although there is no deal with north korea there is no backsliding either. kim's agreement to end missile tests remains in place. just to emphasize that, our military says we can intercept and destroy missiles much sooner after launch. that was just made public as mr. trump walked. here was our president, on the

world stage, trying to remove a serious nuclear threat. what were they doing in washington? the democrats were busy trashing and tormenting our president because quite obviously they hate him. did you see congresswoman tlaib accusing mark meadows of a racist act because he asked a black woman to the hearing. that cap i had it for me. they could have scheduled a hearing anytime but the democrats insist is it be held on the day of the noko summit. whose interests were served? the democrats for nair own political gain. the bottom line, the president did the right thing. showed strength and resolve in the summit. the democrats did the wrong thing. they showed their contempt not just for the president but for america's standing in the world. awful. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪

stuart: i will calm down a bit. you heard my editorial. charles hurt, general jack keane will be both with me later this hour to discuss what i just said. first though the green new deal. listen to what house speaker nancy pelosi said about it. roll tape. >> so i say to people put your suggestions forth because you have an idea that is a beautiful thing. how we translate into legislation, the law of the land, the difference in the lives of the american people is where we go from here. so i, salute, as i say the enthusiasm but i can't say we'll take that and pass it, because we have to go through our, our checks and balances of it with our committee chairs. stuart: our next guest wrote this headline, green new deal is a raw deal for tennessee. come on in tennessee senator marsha blackburn. good morning, senator.

nice to call you by that title. thank you very much. >> yes, sir. thanks, stuart. stuart: spell it out, please. if we got a green new deal, what does it do to tennessee? >> oh, it would get rid of so many jobs. it would shut down fedex. it would shut down farming. we know this is something that is not going to go anywhere. look, basically what pelosi has done is deliver one of her pelosi pacifiers to these newbies on the hill who are pushing for something as part of the left green new deal. stuart, it is socialism and this is something that we do not want to see happen. it is not going to happen. the american people do not want to get rid of cars and trains and planes. they don't want to get rid of the beef cattle. they don't want to turn over all production to the government. and the technology doesn't even exist to reach the goal that some of those on the left would like to see happen with

government taking control of all of your energy, all of your production. oh, by the way, they want your health care too. they want government-run health care for everybody. stuart: there will be a big problem when mitch mcconnell call as vote on the green new deal in the senate, because you have half a dozen senators on the democrat side who are running for the presidency. what are they going to do? which way are they going to vote? >> it is going to be interesting to see what they do. to see if they're all talk or if they will stand with this leftist type idea. we will see where they're going to go with this. you know they're trying out-left one another and get as far to the left as they possibly can for this democrat primary. but i have to tell you, when i'm in tennessee and out and about in the community people are not buying this. they are offended there would be a push for what they're calling medicare for all, which is nothing but government-run health care. they figured out, when the democrats say single payer, it

is not a bundled payment. that is actually government control. they being the only utilizer of those services. stuart: i do want to ask but the president's declaration of a national emergency on the border. the house has rejected that. maybe the senate will reject it. i really don't know. but if that does happen, the president will veto it. he wants his emergency in place but a poll, several polls find that americans are not that much in favor of it, it is almost 60-40 against the emergency declaration. where do you stand on this? >> i stand with getting this wall built and the border secured. every community in this country has become a border state. every down a border town because drugs, gangs, sex trafficking, drug trafficking and president trump made a promise he is going to fulfill that promise and if congress is not going to do

their job, he is going to find another way to get the resources that are necessary to build that wall. stuart: okay. senator blackburn, thank you very much indeed. >> good to be with you. stuart: thanks very much indeed. good stuff. all right, it is thursday, 10:00 eastern time, you know what that means, mortgage rates. ashley: i live for this day every week. you know that. all kidding aside. freddie mac, 30 year fixed mortgage rate of coming in this week at 4.35%. guess what it was last week? 4.35%. that is what we call unchanged. stuart: you live for this? ashley: this is good news, down from a year ago, not just this year. mortgage applications, here is an encouraging sign, up 5.3%. we saw a rebound in pending home sales. all of this pointing to a better housing market. stuart: i don't care what the price after home is, 4.3% is a freight deal. we hear that the millenials are

not happy with the homes they bought. liz: nearly 2/3 of millenials have regret. they get stuck with the closing costs, we have to pay for the pipes if they to, grout in the bathroom. they realize there is a lot of money spent so that is the issue. they are worried about it. they got student loan debt. stuart: who did this study, survey, whatever it is called? >> that is bank rate monitor. stuart: okay. say no more. liz: there you go. stuart: we know the state of the economy, 2018, strong, growth of 2.9% for the year. gary kaltbaum, kaltbaum capital management, come on in. that was last year, 2.9%. i will call that strong, very significant. what about this year? it will slow down, isn't it? >> yeah. i think we're still in good stead. i think we're the strongest of

everybody, certainly better than europe, japan, china at this point. we came out with the purchasing managers index out of chicago that was ridiculously strong. i think we're okay. what the debt and deficits come back to haunt the economy a well as what is happening globally. we watch it closely. hopefully, again, we are leading the pack. stuart: okay. i just want to move on to tesla. i don't know whether this is favorite stock of yours. a favorite news story of ours. elon musk says, he will make announcement this afternoon. when he said that yesterday, the stock went straight up. it is holding at 313 per share as we speak. i don't know what he is going to say this afternoon. but if he doesn't get the price of tesla to 357 by tomorrow, he has to shell out $900 million in cash because of a previous obligation. what do you make of tesla? >> keep in mind that announcement, that announcement came out after the sec wants to

get him cited for contempt for opening his yapper again when he shouldn't. i don't own the stock, because i can't deal with all the noise out of there but if i did i would want the tesla board to shut him down. he talks too much, very inconsistent and i think he is hurting his own brand at this point in time. their business is not bad. they're doing pretty decently, they're finally making money i think based on what they say. there is a void, put him aside let him run the joint but they need a better spokesman at this point in time. stuart: he is a brilliant entrepreneur. i have to say that. the man is a genius. the cars are good. he is digging these tunnels. he is launching rockets off into space. all of it is working. it is just that he behaves i think the man behaves like a juvenile. >> he needs to go to ceo school. there is a way to go about

things and he just refuses to listen. stuart: you wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole? >> i haven't, and i am not going to. stuart: me either. gary we have so much going on. >> lots. stuart: check the big board. we're down 2points, not much movement today in either direction. big check, got to check it. where is it? most of it is down. apple 173. amazon 1639. facebook 161. alphabet is up 13 cents. microsoft is down a fraction. okay, look at canopy growth, marijuana grower, got it, partnering with martha stewart to be an advisor on a new line of pot-related products, on the medicinal side, not the recreational side. tjx, discount chain marshall's, getting ready to start a online shopping service. not much change to tjx.

president trump walks away from the north korea summit without a deal. i think showed strength and resolve. later this hour i will talk to general jack keane. we will see if he agrees with me on that. facebook says there is clear history feature. one click all the history is gone. sounds great for users. not so sure it is great for advertise es. i will talk to a facebook critic about that. we're all about the gaming revolution. we'll talk to a company that puts on tournaments for big games like "fortnite" and "league of legends". did i mention they went public? you're watching the second hour of "varney & company." ♪

hey, who are you? oh, hey jeff, i'm a car thief... what?! i'm here to steal your car because, well, that's my job. what? what?? what?! (laughing) what?? what?! what?! [crash] what?! haha, it happens. and if you've got cut-rate car insurance, paying for this could feel like getting robbed twice. so get allstate... and be better protected

from mayhem... like me. ♪ stuart: l brands the parent company of victoria secret. sales are very weak. the stock taking it on the chin. l brands down 7%. not a rosy forecast for fitbit, down 12%, $6 even. seaworld revenue fell a bit short of expectations kind of thing but attendance gained for the first time since 2015 and the stock is up on that 11%. president trump, he walked away from the deal with north korea. roll that tape.

>> at this time we had some options and at that time we decided not to do any of the options and we'll see where that goes but it was a very interesting two days and actually i think it was a very productive two days and sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times. stuart: joining us now, charles hurt, fox news contributor, "washington times" opinion editor. charles, i think he did the right thing. i agree with our president, no deal is better than a bad deal. what say you? >> absolutely. i'm reminded of all the times people would get really nervous when president obama would go to offer to meet with our enemies and the problem was not the idea that a empty would meet with our enemies, people's concern was obama would wind up with a bad deal the way he did with iran. that is why president trumps gets a little more leeway meeting with our enemies especially dangerous ones like kim jong-un because he is willing to walk away and that's

a good thing. stuart: that was very good signal for beijing. we're involved in very intense and very important trade negotiations. the president was saying to xi xinping i wan walk away from the deal if the deal is no good. that is a powerful message. >> that is one of the winds at the president's back right now, the fact he is is not just negotiating one deal but negotiating a lot of different deals on a lot of different fronts. all these things work together and play off each other is tremendous advantage. a guy like donald trump has made a career being good at that kind of thing and so it is, it's a breath of fresh air. stuart: i got to tell you, charles, i watched the cohen hearings yesterday afternoon and i was just flat-out appalled. >> yeah. stuart: there you have democrats just deliberately trashing our president, really going after him in the worst possible way, at precisely the time when he is

trying to do a deal on nukes on the other side of the world. i thought that was disgraceful. >> this is the thing i don't get, stuart, they deliberately picked that juxtaposition. them grilling a guy, admitted liar, going to jail for things nothing to do with donald trump. they have have him up there, as trump said i don't know why they swore him in, he is such a liar. they have that just at that -- juxtaposed donald trump statesman all around the world trying to denuclearization the korean peninsula. you want to look at difference between children and adults, serious people, unserious people. the split screen is not more unmistakable. tells you everything you need to know about the next two years and 2020 election. stuart: you will get more it it today. >> you will get more the next two years. stuart: that is true, he is testifying behind closed doors

with adam schiff's intelligence committee, they will be leaking like a sieve, that is my expression, before sunset. i'm sorry i just don't like it. >> however much somebody might have enjoyed all of that yesterday with michael cohen and they love hearing him say bad things about the president, the bottom line is he had nothing new. the value of everything he said was no better than all the times he has now admitted to lying. stuart: as usual, charles hurt, we are in agreement. we both can end with a smile. thank you, sir. >> thank you. stuart: you better check this one too, the job creators network taking aim once again against aoc. they put up a new billboard in times square. this criticizes the green new deal, right in the middle of new york city. you love it? dow down 16 points, a go nowhere day, despite a jam-packed news background. back in a moment.

♪ as the one who is always trapped beneath the duvet i'm begging you... take gas-x. your tossing and turning isn't restlessness, it's gas! gas-x relieves pressure, bloating and discomfort... fast! so we can all sleep easier tonight. this is the all-new it's beautiful.. beefy and mean looking. it's the strongest, most advanced silverado ever. the cab is bigger than the last generation. it's the first truck i've seen make you look small. but that's not all...

whoo! oh my... whoa! the silverado has more cargo volume than any competitor. very impressive. now, during the chevy presidents day sales event, get 0% financing for 72 months on this all-new silverado. drive yours away this presidents day.

stuart: dr. pepper, sales not great, down it goes. 6%, that is a big loss. higher profits over the holidays for jcpenney. doesn't take much to move that stock. it is up 26 cents, which is the equivalent of 21%. jcpenney up today. this one, real interesting. uber and lyft drivers might get a pete's of the action when the companies go public. kristina partsinevelos i hope you tell me how this thing works? >> the company is expected to go public at different times, report from the "wall street journal" saying that the drivers may get a piece of the company, the action once

it goes public. i reached out to uber and lyft, both responded back saying no comment. what "the wall street journal" is reporting if you're a lyft driver, you have driven at least 10,000 rides, then you can potentially get a 1,000-dollar cash bonus, which will allow you the option to buy ipo-priced shares. shares at the ipo, which is very rare to get in as regular investor. stuart: look at that. >> if you hit 20,000 rides, potentially $10,000, that is the pay structure for lyft uber, we don't know the details just yet. this gives opportunity for the drivers to feel a part of the company and the get in on the big pop when the companies go public. stuart: 10,000 rides? >> 10,000 rides. these drivers have been around for quite some time, but uber, according to the w j.j. through

many reports have been trying very hard to give shares to their employees. the problem is, you have private corporations, lyft and uber, you have contractors. they're not full-time employees, sec rules say, you can't give shares to contractors. that is the major issue. that they're fighting right now. uber is valued $120 billion. lyft, according to reuters because they said that lyft is going public, starting their round of funding on march 18th. they're valued at 20, 2,025,000,000,000. both companies reported losses. stuart: i think it's a wonderful thing but it will take you a long time to get real value in the uber or lyft shares. you have to work forever. good story. thanks, welcome back. >> thank you. glad to be back,. stuart: reports say pakistan returned to an indian pilot that was shot done very recently. someone told us this

india-pakistan conflict could be next cuban missile crisis. that sounds extreme. general cac keen is here. facebook will have a one click history is gone and that is acres i love that. advertisers might be so happy. we'll tackket it in a moment. ♪

♪ stuart: you sing a bit louder, ashley. ashley: no one wants me to do that.

stuart: great bass on that song. can't hear it well on television. we'll move on. dow jones industrial average at 10:29:00 eastern time is down 24 points. we're at 24,960. we have a couple winners. alphabet is up just a fraction. microsoft made it to $112 a share. look at hewlett-packard. shares are down big. they missed on revenue expectations. taken to the cleaners, down 16%, bee row $20 a share on hpq. president trump walked away from the deal with north korea. he couldn't get a firm commit from them to denuclearization. general jack keane, retired general jack keane is with us. fox news senior strategic analyst. i say the president showed resolve and strength and was right. what say you? >> absolutely. this is very critical. kim jong-un played the same card with the president they played

before, that is, give up a nuclear facility, not nuclear weapons, in exchange for sanction relief. previous presidents have bought that deal and we got nothing in return because they promised they would denuclearization once they got sanctions relief and they never fulfilled that promise. president trump saw that, realized what it was. the other thing that is good about this, there has been some thought that maybe president trump really doesn't want total denuclearization. that what he really wants is normalization of a relationship with north korea and let them have their nuclear weapons. well that has been totally cast aside. president trump played his card. we want denuclearization. we're not going to give up sanctions. we're, you're going to have to give up your weapons before we start moving on sanction relief. stuart: did we surprise him, with our knowledge of where his nuclear facilities are? >> sounds like we did. clearly we don't know where everything in north korea is but we know where most things are.

so he gave up the largest enrichment facility they have to dismantle it but they have two others. listen, also, stuart, they likely have all the fuel they need for the weapons that they have, unless they're going to produce more weapons. so they're not giving up all that much in reality. the president and his team saw right through it. stuart: do you really think over the long term, i don't care how many years it takes, that they will in fact completely denuclearization? >> i'm highly skeptical of that. it took them 20 years to build nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. they are a nuclear power. when they look around the world, they look at south korea, they look down their noses at south korea because north korea is a nuclear power, even though they're economically weak. so for them to give that up, means they have to have some guarranty of their security. the reason they have it, is to preserve the regime. now over the course of years as

trust builds up and there is a peace treaty and the armies pull away from each other in the demilitarized zone and they reduce their size, there is more of a normalization, you could see them start to give up these weapons. it's possible but it is also i think unlikely. stuart: it is an uphill struggle, isn't it? >> it sure is. stuart: please talk to me about the india-pakistan fight because it's a fight at this moment. pakistan offered to return the indian pilot who was shot down earlier this week. that is the latest development there but listen to what the direct or for the center of the national interests director, harry kazianis, what he had to say about this pakistan-india dispute. roll tape. >> welcome to the second cuban missile crisis. i think this is actually something that should be leading every newscast around the world. the reason being that india and pakistan have hundreds of nuclear weapons between them. what i would do, send mike

pompeo to the region right now for old-fashioned shuttle diplomacy to see if we could end this because this could escalate quickly. stuart: a second cuban missile crisis? >> i wouldn't go that far but the fact they're shooting each other, in the air as opposed to exchanging artillery rounds as they have in the past i think is significant. pakistan is taking the right move here. send the pilot back. that will begin to defuse the situation. stuart: it could, it could have escalated? >> yes. stuart: very easily. it could have escalated by mistake. somebody fires in the wrong direction and hits somebody they're not supposed to. you know what i mean? >> yes. they have very strong conventional forces in addition to their nuclear capabilities. so obviously it's a dangerous situation when they're pointing weapons at each other, they start to use those conventional weapons. stuart: do we know where all pakistan's nukes are? and with do we know where india's nukes are? are we in the position to

control the use of nukes on either side? are you allowed to tell me? >> the the answer to that is ye. the thing that gives us a lot of concern, we've been down this road with pakistan many times, they have a tendency they move the nukes, there is radical islamists in the country. we have concern about it, these nukes are on the road, there are nukes on the road every month moving around the country. we don't like that, because we think they're quite vulnerable. keep them in multiple locations but defend those locations. if the enemy finds out where the locations are, just make sure you can properly defend it. the enemy being radicals inside of pakistan. stuart: this is fascinating stuff. i wish we could talk longer. come back soon general jack keane. >> you got it. stuart: appreciate it. now to facebook, they will roll out the clear history tool later this year. in other words one click, deletes everything you have ever posted. vivek wadhwa, carnegie mellon distinguished professor, harvard

laogai is with us today. this sounds like real good for users. i would love to clear my history in a single click. i don't think it is good for advertisers though, is it? >> stuart, it is the crown jewel, this is the most value facebook has. what do you think likelihood that zuckerberg will do this? he spent his entire adult life stealing all the information from us, capturing, doing what he had to do, tricking us to give it to him, do you think he will say you can have it all back? i don't believe him. i think this is, he will have a work around, he will keep a backup copy, find every trick in the book not to do it. i don't think it will happen. stuart: he would be caught in a lie, you say one click, clear history, it is not true, that would be the kind of bad pr i don't think he could recover from that? >> he has done it over and over again. he keeps getting in front of congress, i'm sorry, this a new facebook we reformed ourselves, we learned from our mistakes. we will be better next time.

they do it again. this is the company, i used to be a big fan of zuckerberg and facebook. this is why i have become so critical because i heard it over and over again. fool me once, feel me twice, fool me 10 times and we're still having these discussions? it would be a good thing, you're absolutely right if they give it to us it will solve a big problem but will they give it to us? i don't know. stuart: you don't believe him, do you? >> i don't believe it at all. i heard it too many times. i'm sick of non-stop lies from facebook. stuart: wow, you're really opposed to him and facebook? you really have it in for them, haven't you? >> i live four blocks from sheryl sandberg. these used to be my friends. i used to be a big supporter. i exchanged messages with zuckerberg. i advised through emails every now and then, but i seen the dark side of it. they keep lying. they keep deceiving us. they keep gathering more information. keep getting in front of our leaders and giving them complete nonsense. how many times can you keep forgiving these people when they

have sinister motives. they're trying to get our data. they think they own us. they don't own us. we own our own data. we're entitled to our privacy. if they stuck by the rules, gave us things like this, i would trust them again. not that irredeemable thing. these are still my neighbors but i want them to finally give me my privacy back. stuart: going to be very interesting, your neighborhood here on out, vivek, you said pretty strong stuff here. >> right. stuart: yes you are. i'm sorry i'm out of time. vivek, come back to see us soon. you're our guy the critic of facebook. thank you very much, sir. yesterday we gave you the numbers on how people in high-taxed states are getting clobbered by the elimination of salt deductions, 11 million tax returns directly affected. next hour i will pit it to congressman kevin brady. he was the chair of the tax-writing committee when salt was originated. i am going to say, sir, it is

all your fault. there is nothing you can do about it. he is on the show soon. i say we're in the era of mass migration. entire populations are showing up at our border and something has got to be done. i will talk to the former head of i.c.e. about that and he's next. ♪

♪ ashley: newt gingrich joined us in the last hour and he says the media is more interested in michael cohen's testimony than the president's economic accomplishments. roll tape. >> people who hate trump hate trump. the people who think trump is doing an important job think he is doing an important job. my prediction it won't move numbers more than one or two points either way. he is unbeatable in the republican party. he will be the nominee in 2020. and the economy, this is typical of a current news media, the economy had a better than expected growth last quarter, created more jobs, gave more people a chance to have a pay raise. of course that doesn't count because we have to listen to some convicted liar who by the way had sitting right behind him one of hillary clinton's closest

friend who happened to be his lawyer.

stuart: despite a jam-packed news background, we have news on gdp, a no deal with north korea, we have all kind of developments but market is going nowhere. we're down 15 points on the dow industrials, 25,969. i want to get into an opinion of mine which is, i

believe we're in a new era, the era of mass migration. whole populations are moving. frankly arriving on our doorstep and i think something has to be done. come on in, thomas homan, former acting i.c.e. director. first of all, tom, are you with me on this? i don't think it's a few stragglers arriving at the border. not just a few thousand people. a whole populations that want to come here. >> 100% accurate. that is why this is national emergency. we're not talking about the things in the past, we're talking about mass migration. the president is right calling it a invasion. it will continue to until congress takes action. stuart: i go back to what happened in europe, 2015, 2016. a army marched across europe and demanded entry into western europe. angela merkel of germany let them in. they came in, and europe was hopelessly divided. didn't know what to do. still don't know what to do. i want to stop that thing happening in america. i think it is on our doorstep.

>> president trump wants to stop it. every time he takes the step to secure our border and enforce immigration laws he sued. but he hasn't given up. the president is a bulldog. he said he will secure the border, do it the all costs. thank god we look at a president who is serious. stuart: if you look at polls, the emergency and wall is not popular. roughly 60/40 opposing wall and emergency declaration. >> i will say couple five years ago, 2/3 of americans supported a wall. until this president became president, run disinformation campaign. this is total lie. every place they built a border barrier it has worked. that message hasn't work the people that don't support a border wall, walk in my shoes. 1/3 of women raped by cartels. children die.

they are killed without paying smuggling fees. we're bankrolling various organizations that kid women and children, they have killed border patrol agents. if people had my experience they would 100% agree that we need a border barrier. stuart: they say it doesn't work. >> absolutely works. the data is clear. every place they build a border barrier, every place, 100% of the time, illegal immigration went down and drug smuggling went down that is a fact. anybody can look at data on cpb website. however the democrats ignore it. they care less about securing this country. they care less about the truth because they hate this president and they want him to fail. what upsets me is, if this president succeeds securing the border, america succeed. america is safer. so i just can't believe where we're at with this whole political war against this president. stuart: democrats also say the majority of drugs come into this country don't come across the desert, they come through the main entry. >> another misinformation. most drugs are seized at port of

entry, why? because every car is stopped. every person is talked to. of course they seize most weapons at tsa checkpoint. between the ports of entry, if i'm a drug smuggler, i know my vehicle will be stopped at poe, possibly searched, will i put the drugs in the car, or go across between the ports of entry where 12 million people didn't get caught? stuart: i have don't want to get you riled up. >> i'm riled up. stuart: couple days ago, congresswoman, i can't remember her name, she compared i.c.e. to nazis, she actually used that word. i don't want to rile you up. you're an i.c.e. guy. >> that was kamala harris during with the acting director ron vitello. stuart: i don't know whether she used that word. >> i heard i.c.e. compared to nazis. numerous democrats want to abolish i.c.e. the bottom line i.c.e. officers are patriots, they're enforcing laws enacted by congress. for any congresswoman shame on

i.c.e. or call them nazis not to enforce law, that tells me they would rather not do the job, fix immigration, would dismantle law enforcement agency. lost men and will serving this country, lost their lives defending this country, shame on them. stuart: tom homan, we enjoy it when you get riled up to set the record straight, we do indeed. tom homan, you're a good man. >> i appreciate you getting the story out. stuart: we're all about the gaming revolution on this program. we talk about it a lot. i will talk to the head after company that puts on amateur tournaments for all the big games, "fortnite," "league of legends," "minecraft," did i mention the company just went public? we got them on the show. check the big board, we're down 37 points. go nowhere day thus far. back in anticipate mo. ♪ our grandparents checked their smartphones

zero times a day. times change. eyes haven't. that's why there's ocuvite. screen light... sunlight... longer hours... eyes today are stressed. but ocuvite has vital nutrients... ...to help protect them. ocuvite. eye nutrition for today.

this is the all-new it's beautiful.. beefy and mean looking. it's the strongest, most advanced silverado ever. the cab is bigger than the last generation. it's the first truck i've seen make you look small. but that's not all... whoo! oh my... whoa! the silverado has more cargo volume than any competitor. very impressive. now, during the chevy presidents day sales event, get 0% financing for 72 months on this all-new silverado. drive yours away this presidents day. this is moving day with the best in-home wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. and this is moving day with reliable service appointments in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time. show me decorating shows.

this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today.

stuart: we're down now 50 points on the dow. that puts us at 25,933. i want to get to gaming, an industry we cover a lot on this show that has exploded. our next guest is ceo and chair of super league.

that e-sports company that holds amateur tournaments. super league went public. ann hand is with us. welcome to the show. >> thank you, happy to be here. stuart: this is amateurs playing. >> yes. stuart: they don't get paid? >> no, they absolutely don't. if you think about it, just like traditional sports, you have professional level, nba, but you have pickup basketball games through competitive amateur leagues. stuart: you just organize it? >> we are a cloud-based platform givings you tournament rule book. it gives you the partner. what we is partner with brick and more tar retailers. we announced a deal with top golf, they have dedicated e-sports lounges to enable competitive games with gamers. stuart: what kind of people do this? that is pejorative term, what kind of people. what age group? >> i totally understand. we have youth leagues that are six to 14-year-olds. we have young adult leagues with

it is no longer a niche audience. it is pretty mainstream. stuart: like a bowling league. >> little league or minor league. stuart: bring them all in no that's right. stuart: that is a real change in the face of gaming? >> it really is. today 50% of power gamers are married, 30% are female. gamers have higher average household incomes and higher graduation rates than traditional sports fans. it is multigenerational. stuart: if they're all amateurs, where do you get your money from? >> we have great brand sponsorships. the platform is a service. when we partner with retail partners we're giving them a way to bring new foot traffic into the location, so they license the platform to really kind of drive their own food and beverage and other revenue streeps. stuart: the company cannot be that old. i know you went public the other day. two or three years old? >> four years old. stuart: tell me your growth

rate. >> well it is early days. right now we're focused on customer metrics. it is more to get people registered into super league and getting them, get game play hours pushed through. we can push the gamely to physical venues to create a data stream. also on twitch and gaming with other audience as well. stuart: one other question, if i may. why on earth go public? with lawyers and sec, they will kill you. >> it has been quite a experience, we tell you that. we really enjoyed it we're proud to be on nasdaq. stuart: why go public? >> it is nice to be first. stuart: you wanted to cash out? >> no. being first e-sports play in the public markets. people want to participate in e-sports. it's a great opportunity for us. yeah, we're excited. stuart: okay. ann, a pleasure. thank you for coming on the show. >> thank you, guys. stuart: okay. check that big board. we pared the loss.

we're down 38 points. that's it. next hour i will talk to kevin hassett, the white house council of economic advisors guy. i want to talk china. seems like there has been a lot of good news lately on the trade front. trade that lighthizer says progress is being made. those tariffs are not going to 25%. they're staying at 10. i will talk to him about the gdp number. 2.9% growth last year. i call that pretty strong. the third hour of "varney" coming up for you. ♪ -all ground personnel... ...or trips to mars. $4.95. delivery drones or the latest phones. $4.95. no matter what you trade, at fidelity it's just $4.95 per online u.s. equity trade. i'm begging you... take gas-x.ed beneath the duvetelity ..

fast! so we can all sleep easier tonight.

at&t provides edge-to-edge intelligence, covering virtually every part of your healthcare business. so that if she has a heart problem & the staff needs to know, they will & they'll drop everything can you take a look at her vitals? & share the data with other specialists yeah, i'm looking at them now. & they'll drop everything hey. & take care of this baby yeah, that procedure seems right. & that one too. at&t provides edge to edge intelligence. it can do so much for your business, the list goes on and on. that's the power of &. & when your patient's tests come back... (butcher) we both know you're not just looking for pork chops. you're searching for something more... ...red-blooded. right this way. you thirst for adrenaline, you hunger for raw power. well, you've come to the right place. the road is yours, dig in.

stuart: good morning, everyone. politics, money and goings-on overseas or to start with money. in the last three months of 2018, the economy expanded an annual rate of 2.6%, so for the year as a whole we were up to .9%. the market responding to that with a very modest downside move. we're up 40 points as we speak. the day started with president trump walking away from a deal with north korea appeared he said no deal is better than a bad deal and he would walk away even from a china trade deal. kim jong un wanted all sanctions removed and he would denude partially. mr. trump wouldn't buy it. he's now on air force one coming home. kim's on his train. venezuela reports that some 300 soldiers have defect did

undisputed president murderers. today, michael coen will testify behind closed doors at the house intelligence committee chaired i trump hayter adam schiff. leaks are almost guaranteed before the sun goes down. another bake our coming up for you. benjamin netanyahu could be indicted today on corruption charges. what does that do to our israel policy? conservatives for the cpap conference have a deal with the millennial's love affair with socialism. another billboard going up in times square. it goes out for aoc's great new deal right in the middle of that socialist paradise new york city. jampacked hour ahead. the third hour of "varney & company" just getting started. ♪

there's a lot going on this thursday. a large financial programs that were sticking down 47 points on the dow industrials. we've been talking a lot on this program about the cap on state and local tax deductions. salt as it's called. the treasury now says 11 million tax filers are getting hit. thanks to that cap. joining us now, congressman kevin brady, republican from texas. this was your idea. it's your fault and 11 million tax returns are taking a hit. what are you going to say? >> so i will say this is unfortunately -- and thank you are the kind welcome. you're always so cheery, thank you. no actually it is not. new york, new jersey, california rudely taxed their workers and their families and as we now know, and new york has lost 100

alien dollars in wealth over the last 20 years because they are chasing jobs and people out of the state. the sooner all this new tax cut did was pull back the curtains of those high taxes weren't hidden anymore. and so really i think the states are growing, fantastic economy is here they're getting more revenue but unless they lower the taxes, they're going to see more people leave. they're going to see less wealth than their stay. they really do need to address this. stuart: the only way they can address it is by lowering taxes and those dates. they are not going to do that. >> i don't think they have a choice in this country is mobile. young people, millennia else i leaving new york, new jersey, illinois despite strong economic climates because it's just almost unlivable and some of these fantastic cities to live, especially middle-class families as well.

i think the new tax code at the end of the day gets really going to drive taxes over time down in the states because they're such outliers. stuart: i hope you're right because i live in one of them. but let me wrong. the democrats are pushing this medicare for all. they've got their own plan. am i right in saying that plan as currently presented would take away the private health insurance through our employers of 105th 2 million americans. am i right in saying that? >> absolutely wiped out all those private plans and for most americans that's where we get our good health care at work. take that away but it goes further. it takes for the children's health and program, a number of other very good programs. and also jeopardizes medicare for seniors by overloading it and then of course would require doubling all taxes in america. just to get a shot at paying for

it. i don't think it's the health care people deserve. stuart: congresswoman debbie dingell on this program said we've got to do it. she didn't say regardless of cost, though she said we must do something. >> we must do something to lower out-of-pocket costs. i think that's where republicans and democrats in the ways and means committee are working together in lowering drug prices. but this is not the answer. if you think washington can even keep its doors open so you're going to put them in charge of your personal health care? in america without a recourse, without another choice to be had. i think americans will reject it in a big way. stuart: do you think i could move to texas and to the show from there? >> we would love to have you. or new jersey, new york. stuart: it's far more likely that i move -- but that's another story. commerce than kevin brady,

always a pleasure. thank you for being with us. despite the unkind introduction. we are in the second game of cpap. the conservative political action conference. and look who we have on the show now. match lap, chair of the american conservative union, the group in charge of this event. welcome back to the program. you're looking good this morning. how are you going to address at this conference the millennial's love affair with socialism? i think that's what it is. >> well, i think what we will show the entire world and everyone across our country that there are millions of young americans, including half of this audience here is going to be college and high school students who are not falling into this socialism. passing socialism under obama didn't work for them or their parents or grandparents and applies the whole narrative that youth of america have altered hard left. it's not true in cpc is pushing

hard against that. stuart: i understand larry kudlow will be speaking on that topic later on this afternoon. can you give me a preview of his remarks? >> you know, we've all watched larry kudlow on television forever and i think what you'll see is what he always does is in a very commonsense way explain to these young people that socialism doesn't work, that giving people economic freedom to live the life they want to live is what works each and every time he's going to read around the upper scene in venezuela appeared loosing socialism put in place. it's always in every time sales in donald trump is the right leader to push through the economic reforms we need. you see with the regulation and taxes and that's helping people. stuart: i've got to get this off my chest and please excuse made but i was just appalled yesterday to see democrats deliberately tearing down our president and the precise moment

when he was overseas trying to combat a nuclear threat in asia. i was appalled at that and i just have to say it. what do you think? >> we started off the conference this morning with mark meadows and jim jordan. jim jordan was the top republican during that hearing yesterday. those two men stood up for all of us when they said this was a repugnant, political prop to try to do everything they can to harm the president evening -- even when it's acting as our commander-in-chief. stuart: match lap, we appreciate you being with us. now get back to the conference. no deal -- two words come in no deal. president trumphistoric summit ended early after kim jong kayleigh un wanted sanctions lifted early even though he would not agree to fully do nuclear is. president trump, negotiator and she's not worried about heading home. so how will this affect china trade talks? the president not afraid to walk

away from them either. where in the story. also watching their spirit is really prime minister benjamin net yahoo! will importantly being indicted. how will that affect u.s.-israel relations? what also be talking to the white house on this gdp numbers. growth is strong. looks like the government shut down didn't affect the economy, certainly not the end of last year. stay with us. this is the third hour of "varney." ♪

>> we had some options at this time we decided not to do any of the options and we'll see where that goes, but it was a very interesting two days. i think actually was a very productive two days. sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times. speaking of china, we are very well on our way to doing something -- zero, but see. i'm always prepared to walk. i'm never afraid to walk from the deal and i would do that with china to if it didn't work. >> never afraid to walk from the deal. president trump explaining why he wiped from the deal with north korea. steve hilton is with us, host of the next revolution. steve, i say the president

showed strength and resolve and did the right thing. what's your take? >> absolutely right. this is what a negotiating process is like. each site test the other. it's not always a smooth path of the setbacks and move forward. of the not great news is certainly better than the alternative which is to do a bad deal and in many ways this is what i said before the summit and i say the same thing afterwards. the process here is the most important thing of all that they are talking, the relationship that stronger. as long as those channels of communication are ripping you heard him say that he still going to be sticking with the moratorium on testing and so on. this is what it like you do takes time. you can expect it to happen overnight and i agree with you that it shows strength to be able to get up and walk away and it's exactly the opposite of what the president's critics were saying. he's so desperate for a deal. he so desperate to get the nobel prize or whatever that he'll

sign up for anything. he totally proves them wrong. stuart: what about when the president said i'd even walk away from china. what does that do for the trade talks which are now ongoing? >> well, i think it's a reminder to the chinese side that they can't take anything for granted with this president. the other signals we've been getting about the trade deal are extremely positive. larry kudlow has been saying that it's looking great in particular progress on the question of intellectual property theft through the vehicle of these forrester joint ventures that require american companies to operate only in partnership with chinese companies and that's the mechanism through which you get the technology and apparently they're making good progress on now. if anything i think it helps the chinese situation because it shows them you can't mess around with president trump. stuart: when you are working with the british prime minister, just a few short years ago, were you ever involved in talks of

that kind of high level the way the president was over the vietnam talking to north korea? >> not really to be honest with you. i focused on economic policy, domestic policy, reform and so on. i thought his relationships with foreign leaders and i saw that he put a great amount of emphasis on having a strong relationship, but that alone doesn't guarantee results. i'll give you one really important example. prime minister cameron had a strong relationship with angela merkel and they got along very well together. because of that, he thought when he put i.t. on the table and said we're going to have a referendum on leaving the e.u. but will renegotiate a relationship and give the british people a better deal so they can vote yes to being in the e.u. the relationship with angela merkel didn't turn into the reforms he was looking for and you see the end result, bragg said. stuart: no relationship between president trump an angela

merkel. that is a fact, steve. >> that's exactly right. by the way, catch the next revolution sundays 9:00 p.m. eastern on the fox news channel. it's very much. let's get to some ridesharing news. uber and lifted both bracing for the respect they have ipos. they're going public this year and is part of their plan they are giving their most active drivers a cash reward that they can either pocket or used to take shares at the ipo price. that's an interesting innovation there. "star wars" fans, the long wait is almost over. the "star wars" set to open this year in california and florida. we will have more on that in a moment. energizer, the bunny, they've announced a new smartphone. they are claiming long battery power. that's the attraction of their phone. we'll discuss that one for you. the strong economy is paying off taxpayers and some southern

dates. next, we will tell you which of them are working to give some of you your money back. i love the sound of that. ♪ you.

all of you. how you live,

what you love. that's what inspired us to create america's most advanced internet. internet that puts you in charge. that protects what's important. it handles everything, and reaches everywhere. this is beyond wifi, this is xfi. simple. easy. awesome. xfinity, the future of awesome.

stuart: music to art her ears. states giving the residents some of their money back. "the wall street journal" says arkansas has cut the state income tax rate by a full point. south carolina proposes income tax rebates for residents who fire returns. they've got a billion dollar surplus over the last couple of years in henry mcmaster wants to refund $200 million of it to the taxpayers, the exact amount people receive depends on how many tax returns are filed. florida's governor wants to lower property and sales taxes. he could call that cash back. we've got a couple of "star wars" stories. those of you awaiting the opening of disney "star wars" name parks have to wait a few more months to experience what the company calls galaxy's edge. no concrete date yet. disneyland, can visit the part this summer in florida, disney world. you have to wait until the fall. no firm date yet.

if the "star wars" videos games are more your preference, we've got some news there. the highly anticipated "star wars" jedi fallout order from electronic arts entertainment reportedly will be revealed at the "star wars" celebration in chicago on april the 30th great heavy bottle of that? ea staff is down. "star wars" disney looking to buy up at&t's stake in who lou. i'll pay a billion dollars. they're also close to getting 21st century fox dirty% fake as well. if all of this goes through, disney comes up to 70% of who lou, just as they are preparing their room streaming service called disney plus. i guess you could say watch out, netflix. how about awaiting. the new autonomous fighter jet, that means no pilot required will reportedly be in the skies next year. developed noster elia.

said to be old to stand site times in combat situations. boeing is also just landed a big contract with 17 triple sevens to replace the 747 fleet neared an option to buy 24 more. worth $18 billion is up on the news today. congresswoman ocasio-cortez and four other democrats skipped a hearing with fed chair powell said they can spend all day at the cohen cohen hearing. strong numbers on the economy. two by 9% growth last year. to the white house for reaction. we will do that after this.

trying to have got to say to go nowhere day despite jampacked news. the whole day. right now down 26 points. that essay. even even split, winners and losers in the dow 30. lots of guns on yesterday on capitol hill.

trump lawyer michael cohen and fed chair powell both testified before separate committees. which one do you think several far left democrat skipped out on? the five on your screen skipped out on jay powell's hearing entirely. they wanted to go to the michael cohen hearing. aoc, william clay and stephen lynch. dan hemminger is with us. when you make of that? >> i would make up the commentary on politics. they're something you might understand. if you're going to go to jerome powell hearing, the economy of the united states or go to michael cohen's hearing where you're going to get a lot more face time. where do you think ocasio-cortez is going to go? she's going to cover the cameras are because that is what she's about. it's all about publicity and face time in getting your message out, which she sat

reading from a "washington post" story about trump and cohen and is asking if he agreed and he said yes. that was her contribution. now the question is, is this what all their constituents want? this is what i've been wondering lately. "the new york times" had an interesting article monday. it was about moderate freshmen democrats from places like utah, pennsylvania and virginia. people who had defeated republican members of congress. their constituents are saying, says that the democratic party is all about now? people like aoc, free health care, free tuition, anti-semitism were we about something serious weird interesting. these are constituents asking them now. you have to wonder whether the democratic party and the leadership say nancy pelosi is entirely happy with this kind of behavior. stuart: i don't think nancy

pelosi is happy. >> she didn't watch the hearing. she is unsure whether so that the greener deal up for a vote in the house. i think they would like to walk away from this but they can't detest the newcomers, the far left newcomers and have significant power, the power of the camera being on them all the time and then becoming the stars of the democratic party. >> in creating pressure from the activist left on the leadership to do those sorts of things. the medicare for all legislation introduced 107 cosigners to that piece of legislation. that is not nothing here that's not going to get past the you can see them pressuring as well for a vote on something like that. stuart: look at the direction the medicare for all, the actual plan does away with. private insurance of 150 million people. you've got 107 democrats signing on. that's crazy stuff. >> whenever an opinion poll asks people the majority say yes and

when they say it would mean you'd lose your private insurance comes to port drops to 30%. this is something nancy pelosi is acutely aware of and she doesn't want publicized in a vote on the floor of the house. these people are present in a problem for the democratic leadership. stuart: forgive me, there's something about to get off my chest. i'm not going to get violent. but i was watching the cohen hearing the other afternoon. here we have the democrats chasing down the president come it be fair to trash him. his personality, persona, his history. at the same time, the president is overseas trained to negotiate a nuclear deal. i was angry out there. >> i think you're onto something there in the sense that democrats in the house are trying to tee up the president for impeachment. they're determined to impeach him and the american people they

personally feel as though the impeachment thing has become kind of beside the point. they have no real basis. the mullah report will produce something. but the president of the united states goes about his does this everyday. goes over and tries to negotiate with north korea, arguing about walt. you can agree or disagree trying to negotiate with trade deal, with the chinese. and yet the democrats are fixated on the idea that impeachment and trying to indict donald trump. you've got to wonder whether the american people eventually just lose patience with this storyline. stuart: especially if it goes on another couple years. thank you very much indeed. we are watching this story overseas. fox news reporting israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has been indicted on bribery charges. he will be giving a statement at 1:00 p.m. eastern today. i want to bring in our israeli watcher, david rubin.

he is the author of the book trump and the jews. i'm going to ask one simple question right from the get go. how might this affect trump's israel policy? >> okay, i must say this first, stuart. he has not been indicted. the attorney general has stated his intent to indict prime minister benjamin netanyahu subject to a hearing which has not been held to and probably will be held possibly before the election, possibly not. we don't know yet 100% that is going to be indicted. it is likely that he will be indicted, yes. sure into what about the relationship which is very, very strong between president trump and mr. benjamin met yahoo! and what about the american relationship with israel.

while those relationships be upset, offended in any way by this possible indictment coming down the pike? >> well, the only way it could be affect those would be if something happens to the actual relationship. it's a very strong relationship with trump and netanyahu, but the relationship between israel and the united states is a biltong trump and netanyahu. it's built on the israeli prime minister and the president of the united dates, whoever those two individuals may be. the values that bind our nations together go back a lot further than that. i think it's important to look at the elections in israel that are coming up on april 9th. the left has been working fast and furiously to bring down netanyahu as a way of getting the major left-wing party into power, which is run now and

again and use the prime minister. i have my doubts about whether this is going to affect the election. in israel, a prime minister who's indicted or he's going to be indicted does not have to resign. there's no legal requirements that he has to resign. the charges against him may be serious charges. there is this question about bribery and whether there was bribery, whether he was bribed to perform political favors for the telecommunications company. i am not wish washing the charges. but i must say this, that the electorate is divided between the last and right in the right happens to be stronger than the left in israel.

they would most likely go to the right of the net and yahoo!. he will be prime minister in april 10th. stuart: david rubin, thank you for joining us. appreciate it. corporate stories i have for you. elon musk changed his name on twitter to elon task. stephen got an energy with the vague announcement. some tesla news thursday 2:00 p.m. california. that is 5:00 p.m. eastern. ashley: i'm on the edge of my seat. the stock is up 317. you better check energizer. battery people, right? they've announced a new

smartphone. it was announced earlier this week at a tech conference in spain. it will be called the energizer powermax kate ate teen, a name almost as large as the sun itself. here's the kicker. energizer best that you can make a 90 hour phone call on one charge. the iphone acts max call time 21 hours. energizer stock is down. there is a new billboard slamming congresswoman ocasio-cortez appeared right here in new york city just around the corner from us. it is actually in times square. you can see on your screen coming out here we are talking to the man responsible for the billboard. first, talking about the economy, to .9% growth. and we are talking to the white house about that. kevin hassett joins us next. ♪

unlock savings when you add select hotels to your existing trip. only when you book with expedia.

you can earn $100 off your deductiblee, for every year of safe driving? sing that. ♪ vanishing deductible, you can... ♪ ♪ earn $100... ♪ earn $100 off... ♪ off your deductible. ♪ deductible. ♪ for every year of safe driving. ♪ ♪ for every-- for every-- ♪ ♪ for every year of safe driving. ♪ what are you-- what key are you in? "e." no, no, go to "g." "g" will be too high. not for me. ♪ vanishing deductible. oh, gosh. sweet, sweet. stuart: i've got to say i find this rather hard to explain. that go nowhere day. they've got gdp economy very strong. the report came in first thing this morning in 2018. no deal with the no code. jampacked background. tranter were treading water

because i don't think north korea changes anything. the u.s.-china trade talks still hanging out there like this big cloud of mist on no clarity. transfer the president saying he'd walk away from the china trade deal. even a cut in the s&p 500 expected earnings for this year down to around 4%. it's not hitting the market. business spending number in gdp numbers to produce solid report. stuart: yes, it was a solid reporter. kevin hassett on the economy next.

stuart: never thought i would say this. martha stewart is teaming up with a canadian pop company. she would advise them on a line of animal health products that would include cbd. that's not the stuff that gets you high. that's for medicinal purposes. canopy growth stock is up 4.5% on the news. now this. the first read on economic growth for the fourth quarter of last year up to point it% annual growth in for the whole year we grew to .9%. pretty strong inside. let's bring in kevin hassett amateur of the white house economic advisers. welcome back to the program. always good to see you. i characterize last year is strong. that's good stuff. what about when you move forward to the first quarter of this

year? they're estimating it's only going to be 1.8, when .9%. that's not great. >> it wasn't to .9 last year. his three-point one but we don't have to get into the weeds. it's almost interesting about the news coverage because there's two different ways to measure the year in what is year-over-year and won his quarter for after quarter for never one to stick in the lower number because they don't want to give the president three-point one. you guess the number right and for now on talk about it as three-point one. going into q1, there is this thing that the adjustment process has been messed up for about a decade in every key one is 1% below what you expect to have for the year. we still are very confident we'll have a 3% year for 2019. what that means is you should expect q1 to be about two. if you're thinking are we going to maintain the 3% growth we have mastered this year, with the gdp is that tell us about that time you should be looking for that to be around where it

is. stuart: if you're looking for another 3% year, 2019, 3% growth or the full year, we've got to pick up a lot of steam in the spring and summer. where would that steam come from? >> just like we did last year. the reason is we've still got the tax cuts. we are still deregulating my crazy. lots of positive momentum on the trade deals as you've seen. a lot of uncertainty last year is going to be resolved this year. a 3% growth last year even with the uncertainties about how good it will be. >> let me pick up on that. did you use the word progress in the trade talks? to find out. tommy what progress you got here. >> i think larry kudlow has spoken about that today, too. the fact is that they're going to make a mount rushmore trade representatives among the biggest head there would be bob leite hiser because it's amazing

how he and the chinese of negotiations and secretary have threaded the needle and come up with sketches of an agreement on intellectual property theft and ambassador lighthizer mention the enforcement yesterday. it makes it so you can see ahead now to a deal that makes sense for both parties. i do want to get ahead of the final part of the negotiation likely to happen in mar-a-lago with the president and president xi jinping. look at the paperwork with god, the line by line items people have agreed to an sketched out that it's about as favorable as you can hope for. stuart: the president did say he would walk away from a deal, even at china trade deal that is not a good deal. that is a very firm, strong stand. i've not seen the market take it that way at the moment. still down. >> i'm not sure i agree with that. if you look at what the market has done over the last couple of months, it is really headed north and a lot of that has to do both with continued momentum economy come in the state and

our economic policies, but also positive news about the u.s. mca in the china deal. stuart: we will leave it there with your own videotapes and 2019 will grow another 3%. >> played a tape for me last year and compare it to what happens. stuart: mr. hassett, you're all right. see you again soon. check this out. we've got the video for you. new billboard takes direct aim at aoc agreed new deal. it's in times square. were talking to the guy who put this thing up next. ♪ our grandparents checked their smartphones

zero times a day. times change. eyes haven't. that's why there's ocuvite. screen light... sunlight... longer hours... eyes today are stressed. but ocuvite has vital nutrients... ...to help protect them. ocuvite. eye nutrition for today. ♪ ♪ dear tech... let's talk. we have a pretty good relationship. you've done a lot of good for the world. but i feel like you have the potential to do so much more. can we build ai without bias? how can we bake security into everything we do? we need tech that helps people understand each other. that understands my business. we've got some work to do... and we need your help. we need your support. let's expect more from technology. let's put smart to work. ♪ ♪ this is the all-new it's beautiful.. beefy and mean looking. it's the strongest, most advanced silverado ever. the cab is bigger than the last generation. it's the first truck i've seen make you look small. but that's not all... whoo! oh my...

whoa! the silverado has more cargo volume than any competitor. very impressive. now, during the chevy presidents day sales event, get 0% financing for 72 months on this all-new silverado. drive yours away this presidents day. i can customize each line for each family member? yup. and since it comes with your internet, you can switch wireless carriers and save hundreds of dollars a year. are you pullin' my leg? nope. you sure you're not pullin' my leg? i think it's your dog. oh it's him. good call. get the data options you need and still save hundreds of dollars. do you guys sell, other dogs? now that's simple, easy, awesome. customize each line by paying for data by the gig or get unlimited. get $250 back when you pre-order a new samsung galaxy. click, call, or visit a store today.

and our shirts from custom ink help bring us together. we just upload our logo, and if we have any questions, customer service is there to help. - [male] custom ink has hundreds of products to help you look and feel like a team. get started today at customink.com.

stuart: let's get to the billboard. it criticizes congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez. it's appeared on her home turf right around the corner from here times square, new york city under screen right now. it takes aim at the green new deal. come on in, the man responsible for the billboard, alfredo ortiz has been on this program before. now year with the conservatives down there.

i take you're doing this, the billboard series. you really want to put pressure on the socialist or that's what this is all about. >> well, we really want to highlight the idea that socialism takes in capitalism creates in the green new deal for markers that distinct and that's why we call it the green raw deal because that's what america's going to get. a raw deal at this they never went forward. stuart: who is paying for this? >> our organization is comprised of donors from small, medium to large donors. people who believe in the american dream and free enterprise and the need to protect it. stuart: is a political -- he run a political organization that takes donations? >> the job creators network is found by one of our great american tories. i'm not sure if many people nobody was fired from his job had an american dream story. was broke at 50 to restart at home depot with two stores in

atlanta and today employs 400,000 people. we are funded by very successful people who believe in the american dream and really helping small business owner overall. they employed 60 million people not overly advocating for. we are concerned to grow inside of socialism can really hurt the free enterprise system and the american dream story for so many people. stuart: are we going to see a series of billboards? you put up four or five so far. more to come? >> you know what, there probably is because it's kind of like the gift that keeps on giving. they keep coming up with these crazy whack ideas in the words at aoc for example. that really just look at how they break apart the entire economy. three by 1% kevin hassett just talked about that. we unleashed the american economy and belief in the american dream through less

regulation and less taxes. we'll keep on fighting. they would love for us to go away. they've been attacking me personally, but i've got a common fact that we are not going to go away. we'll keep on fighting harder. the stuart: the billboards are all way off the ground. 30, 40, 50 feet up in the air. i know what you did that. you don't want new yorkers to oppose watchers say. you don't want them defacing the billboards, do you? >> you know what, we're getting a lot of a lot of support from new yorkers right there in times square, folks that live in that area. stuart: how do you know? >> because i'm getting e-mails are linked in from people this has further from and they say how can i help? how can i support you and do more of is that you're doing. i'm getting us from seattle, portland, california, philadelphia, connecticut.

it's interesting the most conversation is from these lives date that are basically stating take on someone actually speaking up against these radical ideas. stuart: is a bringing in a lot of money? this is a fundraiser, isn't it? >> it actually wasn't intended to be, but we are getting support from single dollar bills are driven not and were happy for any kind of support. were happy with people that can carry this idea and expanded out to their cities and their state because this is the conversation we believe has to take place. i applaud the president because the state of the union drew that line in the sand that we will not be a socialist country and i can apply more for making that statement. stuart: thank you very much for joining us. see you again soon. >> thanks, stuart, appreciated. stuart: more "varney" after this. ♪ i wanted more from my copd medicine...

...that's why i've got the power of 1-2-3 medicines with trelegy. the only fda-approved 3-in-1 copd treatment. ♪ trelegy. the power of 1-2-3 ♪ trelegy 1-2-3 trelegy with trelegy and the power of 1-2-3, i'm breathing better. trelegy works 3 ways to... ...open airways,... ...keep them open... ...and reduce inflammation... ...for 24 hours of better breathing. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. trelegy is not for asthma. . . s urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. think your copd medicine is doing enough? maybe you should think again. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy and the power of 1-2-3.

♪ trelegy 1-2-3 save at trelegy.com.

stuart: breaking news of real importance to facebook. regulators in new york investigating facebook and their app developers. they have sent a letter requesting documents on apps that share user data with facebook. liz? liz: this felt really bad when the story broke, that facebook was getting sensitive head

information from apps eastern if they were not facebook users and not on facebook. the sensitive details about women's ovulation cycles. >> absolutely right, lizzie, this will snowball. what makes me so mad what is going on until we don't know about until someone like "wall street journal" uncovers it? i think this is another mea culpa and. stuart: you can see the stock boeing -- going down on your screens. just before the news was announced, literally moments before it, facebook was 162, 163. the news was announced. we're down a buck 30. >> resistant to almost all the stories coming out on a daily basis, at what point do you say enough is enough. liz: ash is right.

another apology tour from zuckerberg may not occur this. stuart: you're right. if other state attorneys general want to take it up, an investigation, want money, it snowballs, you have a gigantic legal problem. that is the way i see it. my time is up. neil, it is yours. neil: thank you, very much, stuart. the markets are looking finishing the month of february regardless what happens today. they could still tank today, but barring something like that we'll be looking at a third straight month of gains for most of the major markets. three out of the four last of them gains. we could be looking at a week with the 10th straight week advance for the dow jones industrials, possibly the s&p 500. too early to confirm one way or the other. we do know this movement is occurring despite the fact that the president and the north koreans walking away respectively from a deal that looked imminent. take a look. >> actually, it was a very productive two days but some