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 sometimes you have to walk and

this bass just one of those times. neil: there is dispute whether the president walked or kim jong-un walked or whether they both walked but they both didn't do is sign anything at all. they even skipped out on lunch. can you imagine that? chefs preparing just fantastic food. what do you mean they're not coming? they're out of there now, it is all history. what happens now? was if this indeed the president was right if he opted to pull away from the table, was it his reagan moment when ronald reagan did that with mikhail gorbachev? they did come back to secure a deal but it was dicey for a while. we have bruce clinger. >> thank you. neil: we don't know, we're getting mixed reads who walked away from whom. i guess it doesn't really matter because there is no deal. what do you think? >> i think the president did the right thing. there were a lot of concerns that he would accept what would be a flawed deal. in the run-up to the summit

there were statements by various trump administration officials which seemed to be the suggesting that the u.s. would lower the bar for north korean compliance with u.n. resolutions. there was reporting parameters after deal, a peace declaration would be a bad idea. north korea offering on yongbyon for the fifth time, that it would be a bad deal and i think it was right for the president to walk away. neil: assuming that happened, some saying on the north korean side saying their leader would not take any american guff, be that propraganda. be that as it may, i don't see a rush to a shared summit. you play it out for me. what happens now? >> the president said said there is no third summit scheduled. i think that is more than logistics. the ball is in the north korean court. the indications the president

would accept a deal. they only offered yongbyon, one of the nuclear facilities and looking for all nuclear sanctions to be removed. that is really bad deal, worse than we thought what it might be. the president seems to indicate in the meeting intelligence information we have pointing to other covert facilities would have to be included in a total denuclearization deal. so i think kim jong-un likely was surprised. whoever walked away first, it is a better thing because the deal would have been a bad one. neil: all right, now the question is, what are we getting out of the north koreans to date? you think about this whole process starting around singapore last summer. they stopped for the time-being any missile tests but they still have the stuff. we don't even know where all the stuff is. so are we back to the drawing board? could they sort of, you know, sort of say per rattle here and resume testing? >> well, president trump said kim jong-un promised not to but of course he is required not to

under 11 u.n. resolutions. i don't think we're in for near term increase in tensions but certainly the situation, the status quo is not good. north korea is producing perhaps seven nuclear weapons every year. since singapore there is no denuclearization whatsoever. in fact the north koreans continue to nuclearize expand and the production facility for nuclear weapons as well as missiles and missile launchers. so the status quo was not a good one. we need to maintain pressure. the u.s. is not fully implementing its own laws. we're not fully maximizing pressure. that may come into play if stalemate in negotiations con ins for a long period of time. neil: bruce, thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. neil: as he said there is possibility the chinese might get a message from these talks as well, this is president who can decide at last second to cancel everything. speaking of president.

>> speaking of china we're on the way to do something special, but we'll see. i'm never afraid to walk from a deal. i would do that with china too if it didn't work out. neil: let's get the read from "forbes" publisher rich karlgaard. what do you think, rich? is that the latest reason why the markets might be under a little bit, i stress a little bit of selling pressure? maybe this is a sign the promising progress we were seeing, reportedly seeing with china, we're getting ahead of ourselves? >> yeah, that is possible. i do believe the market has already priced in a trade deal with china. when you looked at the collapse of confidence in the market in the fourth quarter of 2018, a lot of it had to do with orreries over trade -- worries over trade. ceos get to deploy capital for expansion and growth, all the things the market likes, kind of put the brakes on that so we'll see. i think trump is playing his cards pretty well though and i

do believe at the end of the day, i said many times on your show, he is not a trade ideologue even though he has trade ideologues in his administration. he is guy that wants to win. he wants to win re-election in 2020. he knows his prospects are greatly enhanced if the economy and markets are doing well. neil: so if the markets sense this could take longer than thought, forget about north korea, talk about china, they have been running up in anticipation of a deal that would be sooner rather than later, what if it is not? >> well, if it is not i don't think you see any collapse in the market. there is just too much momentum, there is too much, the companies that form the public markets and thus the indexes are doing well. they still have earnings growth even if the earnings growth rate is slowed a little bit. so after a, hot start to the market this year, if the market takes a pause i don't think that is any big deal at all. neil: so let's step back and get

your read about the markets in general. most of the earnings are out for the fourth quarter. they beat top line, bottom line. now the question is, the first quarter is it your sense that you know, this momentum that has slowed from the second to the third, to the fourth, now it continues into the first, for some reason we're thinking of seeing contraction in earnings what do you think? >> we might. i think we'll see a pretty disappointing gdp number. between the lousy weather hitting all parts of the united states and the government shutdown i wouldn't be surprised to see 1% growth number for the first quarter. neil: really? that is pretty low. >> i think last three quarters of the year we'll do 3%. we'll come in 2.4, 2.5 around the year with momentum garretting during the pace of the year. neil: he was on with stuart varney and said we achieved 3.1% growth when you look at fourth quarter the very yee

versus last year's fourth quarter. typically not the way we measure things. we're splitting hairs t was up 2.9%, within that range, but how is it traditionally scored for a year? >> i don't know. i'm not a technical expert on that but i can tell you 3% is really a hinge point at which everybody feels good. jobs are being created, companies are expanding. and when you fall below three, which by the way our historic rate of growth on average from end of world war ii through the present. we only think 3% is a great year, coming out of the 2018, 2009 recession we had such crappy growth for some years but 3% is very possible if we have the right policy and i think this administration has given us, you know, a lot of good policy hinge points that make 3% growth consistently possible. neil: all right. thank you very much, my friend. good catching up, rich karlgaard the forbes publisher out of

stanford, california. we'll look inside of those gdp numbers because there is lot of data within the data inchewedding what is happening with housing. there is a key housing component that worried some, it might continue this slower not slow but sloyer sort of read from the real estate market. we'll explain right after this. ♪ ♪ i can do more to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. and i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release it, like it's supposed to. trulicity is not insulin.

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neil: all right. we told you that in the latest quarter, the one completed, the fourth quarter, we were growing at a 2.6% rate. that is little better than thought. you have to sort of get under the hood to get the read of the year, if you look at the year collectively, 2018 produced 2.9% breath. if you're people like

white house looking fourth quarter to fourth quarter, you look at growth of 3.1%, be that as it may it is still respectable growth. we have deirdre bolton, how she is crunching through with the traders all these numbers. >> hey, neil. businesses spent more than expected. so did consumers. i spoke with one trader on the floor from meridian, here is the direct quote, another day of mixed messages, go. dstronger than expected. weak china manufacturing data. from one traders perspective, neil a good gdp print will not be enough to let's say compensate for some of these other concerns. so if you take a look how trade is right now, we've really been along this unchanged line and i was looking at the push and pull forces that we have right now in the markets so the weakest areas, the ones really keeping the markets from breaking out and breaking higher are materials and energy and consumer discretionary. now on the flipside the ones that if we see the markets shake

off the red and go into the green this afternoon, the ones lifting the market up are real estate, consumer staples, and utilities so pretty defensive plays. as of at the moment that is what the market snapshot looks like. there are bigger ones especially tech sector moves to the downside. we're concerned about hewlett-packard, that is bellwether for a lot of cap-ex spending or spending that big port fun 500 companies -- fortune 500 companies. the company missed revenue numbers are to the quarter and said guidance would be lower than expected. some pressure there. that is what is keeping tech lower. neil? neil: thank you very much, deirdre. do we look at a slowing economy? if it is inevitable that the first quarter, with everything coming through on the economy will be weak the question is how much weaker? let's go to point bridge capital founder hal lambert, "real clear politics" editor, john tamny. the first quarter will be a

problematic one, john, given all the things thrown at the economy, not at least the weather and the shutdown. i'm curious, what do you think see? >> oh, i wouldn't put too much stock into the gdp number. let's remember the gdp is so backwards rise when government spend more, government controlling more of the economy. the gdp falls more imports flow into the country, most bullish sign of the show. if you like gdp you love jimmy carter years, it soared throughout the presidency even though on the ground reality the economy was not very good. what is important if policy is not good or non-intrusive, don't worry about the other stuff. the natural state of the american people is to grow. keep government out of the way you won't have a problem with growth. neil: last half of the carter presidency was another story. i'm curious you look at markets right now, we've gotten back ortizing old highs going back to

last fall and we all know what happened in december. it looks like it is an affordable market by historical standards. do you agree with that? >> sure. you're looking at the markets and the economy, the markets are one thing, the economy is the other. i think the markets right now are pretty fairly priced at about 16 times earnings. it's a little higher than the 10-year average but a little lower than the five-year average but i think gdp does matter, the reason it matterses fed is looking at it and the fed making policy decisions. i think last year's selloff was caused by the fed and this year's pickup in the markets is caused by the fed as well. the fed was put into the penalty box by myself and others for some of their comments. they said look, we'll not raise rates and they will control what they're doing on the balance sheet that caused the markets to rally back up towards fair value. we have to say what is the economy doing? what is not to like about the

economy now? it looks great. we came in just about 3% gdp growth. i think you will start hearing the term goldilocks again. from people like larry kudlow, goldilocks. a lot of smart people said we would go into recession late 2019, early 2020. i think that is off the table. i don't think you will hear people say that anymore. going forward you will look at earnings growth that is better than expected because the economy is doing better than what people are expecting. neil: well-put. let me switch gears, guys, a bit of historical moment. a retailer, good proxy on appetite of the consumer as well as home depot wits separate problems, but in walmart's case they're getting rid of greeters at the stores. by end of april they won't have greeters anymore. that is like an iconic moment that will pass. i did not want to let it pass without talking to smart folks what they make of that. what do you think? >> i think it's a sign of progress. in a market economy you're

always trying to do more with less. if we ever get to the stage the nature of work is the same today as it was 10, 15, 20 years ago, you know that we're in big trouble. rich, booming economies are constant, the work is constantly changing. the fact walmart is changing is a very bullish sign. neil: all right, so the iconic part, stuff that pulls on your heartstrings, hal, you look at the bottom line, for walmart, it might be better but i don't know, there was something i sort of liked about that. some older person -- >> i'm a little more sentimental than john on that. the walmart greeters were also typically retired people, you know, been in other companies and retired. they're in their 60s and 70s. it was kind of nice to see them there. neil: i always looked at it as career option. things don't go well here, that is out, i don't know. >> yeah. neil: you both are pretty shaken up by it.

thank you, just wanted to get your thoughts on that, very good read on stuff. one of the lawmakers declaring debt is now such a big worry it should be a national security threat after this.

neil: there is a good reason why retailers get the scrutiny they do, they speak about us and our appetite to buy things. jcpenney reflecting a lot of people are not shopping at the stores, it will be closing 18 of them across the country after especially some weak holiday numbers. it's a mixed read though. home depot came out with very disappointing top-line growth. so hurt on the revenue side. that stock tanked 15%, weighed on the market. other strength out of the likes

of amazon.com. that is jump ball on that how we're doing. meanwhile there is our consumer debt to worry about and public debt to worry about. lawmakers are looking to brand our debt as a national security threat. it is $22 trillion. the one of these days it will mean something. republican congressman andy biggs is leading that effort. >> thanks for having me, neil. neil: what do you make of this deeming a national security threat. what does that give you, your arsenal, if it is approached that way? >> if it is approached that way, what we'll get doing, continuing resolutions, short term spending bills we do, we'll actually pass a balanced budget, not only pass a balanced budget we haven't done since 1997, we get on a plan puts it on trajectory to put long term balanced budget which we're nowhere near right now. we'll kick the can down the road.

we'll quit using it with these stopgap measures. that is adding to the problem all along. neil: so what would republicans rein in, to get that under control? >> well the first thing that we would have to do, we could get discretionary spending which is a third of the budget. we could start reducing spending on the discretionary side and that will help. we'll have to sooner or later to to promised benefits side, not change, you can do this without taking away benefits or, folding on your promises. every day that we wait, we lose options to correct our problems long term. neil: when you talk about addressing that, it is small part of the overall budget pie, you have to address entitlements. like people say you have to address the military but i don't know if there is willing necessary or courage to either party. if you do claim the debt is

national security issue, if you do, how do you make good on it? you have to put fear of god in politicians there is greater hell for not addressing it than kicking the can down the road? >> that is exactly right. i think what we're trying to do. we're trying to elevate the discourse because right now, politicians, elected officials are afraid to even mention we have this massive problem. but i will tell you within six, eight, 10 years, we aren't going to have any options. they will be imposed upon us and that is a really untenable option for us. and that is what we have to elevate. we have to bring the discourse up. we have to make the american public aware, i think people talking about it is the only way to make them aware. right now nobody even wants to talk about these things. they're afraid to talk about these things. which is why i'm trying to put this forward. neil: do you have any support from democrats and how many republicans? >> well, we had over 50 republicans in the house.

senator purdue is leading the charge in the senate so he is getting people on over there. so far no democrats. it has to be bipartisan. both sides have to recognize neither side can obtain objective. they want social welfare spending we need a strong military. we want to keep the promises we made but if we don't do something soon, then choices are taken away from us. we can't do something, it will be imposed upon us. china owns a third of our debt for pete's sake. this becomes a bit of a problem as well. neil: always out there, to your point, congressman. thank you. good to see you. >> good to see you, neil. neil: before we get to next story, the he said, he said about north korea and ourselves. the president indicated earlier this morning before he left vietnam he walked away from the table because the north koreans were essentially demanding all sanctions and restrictions be dropped and then they would entertain some of the issues like denuclearization or at least starting that process going forward but now north korea foreign ministry is on the wires indicating not so.

they only wanted partial sanctions relief not complete sanctions relief. obviously different in interpretations. there are separate reports that he walked away from the table. there are signs at least the north koreans at very least walked concurrently, it wasn't a matter of president first, the north koreans second. don't know who to believe. the north koreans have a very, very different take what went down in vietnam. it is not the president's take. meantime we're focusing on venezuela. nicolas maduro might be in charge of the country. a lot of soldiers are peeling off. the question how do you decide who is who better than 300 soldiers who have abandoned government? it really depend the how high up they are. higher-ups, generals retired or otherwise they have been largely loyal to nicolas maduro. the latest from steve harrigan who is in caracas with the latest. hey, steve. reporter: you're right, neil,

while a few hundred soldiers crossed over to the opposition, by and large, this are not large-scale major defections many opponents of nicolas maduro hoped for. on the ground people are caught in the middle. maduro closed off the border to colombia preventing thousand of tons of humanitarian aid coming in while at the same time many venezuelans crossing the bordering going through the river into colombia, carrying what they can in their desperate effort to get out of venezuela. as far as opposition leader juan guaido, he is recognized by u.s. and 50 more countries as president of the venezuela. he has been able to do much, besides lead demonstration marchs and to tweet. he is in brazil. he is meeting with the president of brazil. he might have a tricky time getting back into the country. he could face arrest when he does get back here. he will take over actions of the power of the presidency, really

the military, the police, still firmly in maduro's hands. back to you. neil: when he left the country last saturday, trying to force aid held up in the all the checkpoints around venezuela, i think he went into colombia but he has not been able to get back since? reporter: he went into colombia. he met with vice president pence there. he went on to brazil to meet with the president there as well. he says he is coming back in. keep in mind this government of maduro has banned him from leaving the country. they can accuse him of breaking the law. it might be tricky to bet back in or avoid arrest once he gets back in, neil. neil: none of that aid has gotten either, right? reporter: a very small amount, just one truckload. president trump expressed his confusion really, his disdain. he says we have people starving to debt in venezuela. you have hundreds of tons of aid on the border and this madman is not letting that aid into the

country. some exasperation expressed by president in hanoi earlier today, neil. neil: be safe, steve, my friend. in the middle of all in caracas, venezuela. you know ride-sharing companies are about to go public in an offering to their core, that is, their drivers. they're sharing the bounty. how much of it are they going to share? after this.

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neil: all right. sharing the loot. "wall street journal's" reporting that some uber and lyft drivers will in fact share in the public offering both companies plan to make later this year with some of that stock. we don't know exactly how much, but enough to pique their interest i'm sure. kristina partsinevelos has more. >> that's true. we don't know exactly the amount. i reached out to uber and lyft. both responded saying they won't comment on "the wall street journal report." what we've seen from the report so far, lyft

drivers, if they drive 10,000 rides they could potentially get $1000 cash or the option to get stock in the company at the ipo price, if they ride 20,000 rides. that is a lot. they could potentially get $10,000 or the option to bet stock in the company. they were rewarding potentially drivers been around the longest and criteria also, those that have been the most active when it comes to uber drivers as well. the issue is the sec laws doesn't allow for uber to give shares to employees because they're not actual full-time employees. they're just contractors. so i couldn't get any comment from uber and lyft, i had to go to the source the drivers themselves. i called about a dozen ubers to the fox location, got in back seat, got a few to comment on camera, what they would prefer, cash or stock option. >> i would take the stock because i think uber is a good

company. you know, like everybody uses them, more than lyft. >> i like cash because if i getting cash, because i spend money anyway i want. >> i prefer cash. i want my money. >> dealers, several went on camera, said they would prefer cash over the stock or over receiving any lyft or uber stock. this comes as the company itself, you have uber being valued $120 billion based off the latest round of funding. lyft, anywhere between 20, 25 billion, latest numbers from reuters sources. right is reporting that on march 18th, lyft will head on its road show, meaning it could potentially go public very soon, but you have two companies though, neil. two companies we know haven't turned a profit, have just put losses forward thus far. we know uber is in 64 countries. lyft is only available in the canada and the united states.

the true definition of unicorns, but the companies potentially could be giving back to some of their drivers. neil: that is interesting. at least from the sampling cash seems to be king for them. i think when apple and microsoft, if you just took the cash missed out on the enormous run-up. >> to your point, the first driver continued to comment, hey apple's stock went up why not uber? he believes uber is the next big thing. you're spot on with that. >> kristina, thank you very much. elon musk is teasing some big announcement later today, we asked charlie gasparino what could it be? he is next.

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neil: all right. teslas has been in the news a lot. so it is chairman, i don't know which one he is is, i know he has both roles. coo. charlie gasparino is here. elon musk will make some sort of announcement at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. what are you hearing? >> it is kind of radio silence. we're speculating. we were the first to report in january, tesla, despite a lot of skepticism would be able to make out of cash that 920 million-dollar, i think i said billion in the past but it is million dollars, nearly a billion dollars that convertible

bond due in cash. all contingent whether the stock hits $360 a share, it is not obviously. they will have to pay cash. we were the first to say they could pay cash in january. there is lot of speculation that he will double down, that the cash position is better because that is where the shorts, this is heavily shorted stock. people think it will go down. people think the numbers don't match up. they basically burn through a lot of cash. a lot of people think that is it. they have a new model. i think it is the y. i could be wrong. he may trump out that, push out that. neil: smaller model, more affordable? >> i think a less affordable model. i think the problem with tesla so you know, the affordable model, they can't sell it for less than 35, $38,000. they have to sell it for more. neil: now you don't get the government check. >> cash flow numbers after they make this payment will get very difficult. i think he will probably make

some statement on that. it is fascinating about this, all he has to tweet something out and the stock goes up. i have never seen that before. tweet something marginal. neil: are there reports true he is changing his name? >> he changed his twitter name. neil: now it tusk. i thought it was the fleetwood mac song. you and i only ones got the reference. what was going on with that? >> you're asking me what is going on in the brain cells of elon musk. neil: do you ever change your twitter handle? >> like asking me what is going on inside of trump's head right now. neil: you never changed your twitter account? >> not yet. cgasparino has been for a while. i changed my profile picture. i used to have a very serious picture of me. now i have one of me doing pull-ups. neil: you stole that idea from me. i will -- >> i stole the idea from you and richard sim is -- simmons.

neil: the idea for the demand of all the companies delayed going public because of the government shutdown, it will get fairly frenetic, if you think both of those companies, per, lyft, a host of others it will be a busy season. what do you expect? >> it should be busy. i say this whenever we look at companies, uber, lyft, going public, you have to look at the cash flow. that is where you really see whether these are unicorns or companies with a decent future. amazon always had decent cash flow. only recently made a profit. it is not a great profit. neil: right. they generate sales. >> yeah. does uber have that? i think they do. does lyft have it? that is where reporters should weigh in. when you talk to a cab driver at lyft, do you want the stock? remember the cash flow is x.

that is where the issue is. neil: normally when people offer these, they are apples and oranges, can differ among them, most take the cash, it's a sure thing. like the lottery, take one up front payment. but you can be hurt with that if you fail to see the great potential. like an apple or microsoft or any of these stocks. >> the real question mark right now is netflix. neil: yeah. >> netflix has got lousy cash flow. i think they have negative cash flow. neil: i hated that from the beginning. >> it's a bubble. neil: you do not like netflix? >> i love it the service, ain't worth what they're charging with the stock price. same thing with tesla. i like the notion but the cash flow is such it is really not worth this price. neil: in tesla's case you never driven a car, always back seat of the car. it's a little elitist. >> i never, by the way, when i pull into the whole foods, i usually just to screw the people with the electric cars, i go into the electric car space. i do that.

neil: i could definitely see you doing that. >> by the way there are not a lot of people vying for those spaces. neil: very interesting. >> telling you, cash flow is where you got to look. neil: thank you, my friend. always good seeing you. charlie gasparino. let's get the read on the big ipo commitment this year from the globe cofounder. warning a lot of these could flop. i don't know whether your view is based on the cash flow lack thereof but why are you so down on it? >> well, i mean look, you know, neil, i don't know if you remember i was on your show a lifetime ago during the days of the global.com. i'm not a huge advocate for companies going public in general. so i'm not really -- i'm more of a believer getting in early on the ground floor and not coming in dead last at the ipo. i'm not monitoring these companies cash flow or anything like that. i tend to look at macro picture what are the long-term prospects

of companies, i like my predictions of facebook, facebook was going public and everyone was freaking out they were maybe overvalued and shortly after their stock came crashing down. my perspective was hang on for the long term, what they're doing, transforming the world of social and we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg. i would say with these upcoming ipos we're seeing the beginning of what an uber and lyft could pull off in terms of business models and becoming a logistical layer to transportation of goods and services. long-term prospects are fascinating. i don't really care about their short-term cash issues. neil: interesting. let me get your take on ones coming, we talk about uber and lyft, all that. the argument of these guys if you buy into an ipo, you're buying into a promise with all the money, they do that to raise money, expand and enrich themselves, that's fine but in a lot of cases it does work. you were right on facebook, that they had a bumpy launch but

saved the latest developments about privacy issues and host of others that developed appreciably above the offering price now, they have come back down. not always the case but do some take that, i'm thinking of the apples an amazons, those that launch from big offerings that were highly doubted to become these juggernauts today? >> yeah, but i mean you know we can all remember that apple went from being one of the hottest companies in the '80s to becoming a 2-dollar stock in the '90s. neil: you're absolutely right. >> until steve jobs came back. so same thing with facebook. did it have, what were my predictions about their ipo? it was going to be bumpy and maybe they were overvalued in the short run but stick around in the long run. in internet speak, five, six years, since the ipo is long run. during that type of time span, you will see stocks, companies stumble and go sideways for. of

time until they fully retool. it took steve jobs years to get root problems apple had, to turn apple from a 2-dollar stock, to the incredible company it became. the iphone, we're starting to see it stumble again. facebook after five six years being public we're seeing it stumble. it takes -- neil: i know it can differ, but that you've got to be patient with these things, i readily agree with you on that. what is the time frame? 10 years or more? you're quite right, apple if you had everything with the run up to the offering and run-down, he loses his job, comes back a conquering hero, you're better than a decade with the company there, what do you do? >> well you have answered it. waiting around for 10 plus years. if you really believe in a team and believe in a long-term vision and working from first principles and you're investing into the fundamental physics what a company is trying to accomplish it takes a long time.

the same thing with something we all understand, real estate. you don't buy in and sell out over two, three, four year time frames. you trust if you wait around on real estate for 10 plus years you will come out ahead. same thing with tesla. believe in the team and concept and fundamental physics, yes. hang in there for 10 years. will mark zuckerberg turn around facebook to get through these stumbles? probably, but it will probably take ten years. the same thing will happen with ubers and lyfts of the world. exciting, potentially overvalued ipos. two or three-year short stumbles followed by long-term success with more stumbles over the long term. it is part of the nature in the game why i don't make bet on public stocks. i only like to get in on the ground floor of a things with a 10 to 20 year potential to become enormous. neil: interesting. you're counter to the prevailing trend but you have been pretty good at it. very good catching up with you. >> you too, thank you. neil: right now we don't have a deal in north korea.

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>> walk away like you get up and walk out. this is very friendly. we shook hands. i hope that stays. i think it will. we are positioned to do something very special. transit we are getting different weeds who bought away from home. they were making much progress to shake hands and fight another day about this, that he left the table so to speak or the north koreans, foreign minister connecting a press conference abroad saying it was not the north koreans who were to blame for this. they did one of the u.s. drop all sanctions and punishments.

the administration argued they wanted the sanctions totally removed before they could move onto denuclearization. i don't know who to believe. just passing along to both sides are claiming it was the other to what was going on and they both essentially walked away from the table which is true. we don't know what we first. do you understand that? i certainly do not. coordinating the 1994 north korea nuclear deal and he is complementing what this president is trying to do. democrat by dna, but that doesn't mean he's at paramount's great. let me ask you first about whether it matters who walked away from home. the north koreans say we were belligerent about this. we didn't try to force the issue dropping a sanctions. i don't know who to believe i'm not but i do know much help about the court or something to sign off on didn't have been.

>> well, that's a good question. is it really matter? in the moment it does. the issue is where do we go from here and whether this will continue as part of a bargaining process or if it's the end of that process. we just don't know that at this moment in time. what i would say is president trump and kim jong dubs your invested in this process. we may see more events along these lines in the future. train to we all remember the famous reagan gorbachev encounter where it looked like they were ready to sign a deal and the president got upset because all of a sudden the russians were trying to force the issue on the defense initiative. that's it, i'm out of here. walked away. >> that's the good case. this is all part of a dance, a kabuki dance where each side is

trying to push the others said they can get a better deal out of it. of course, president trump and kim jong un are the ultimate negotiators or at least they think they are. they are not going to do with the working level people told them to do. same with president reagan in 1985 tiered he thought he could get a better deal. he didn't. it collapsed. but we did continue on and we did get a deal. neil: what is your experience, and the cynical view is we can trust them, can't trust kim jong un, couldn't trust his grandfather. they pull far from that tree, what you say? >> i've had a lot of experience dealing with the north koreans and are not robust, not evil. they are power politicians. they know what's in their national interest.

having said that, i wouldn't trust anyone to implement a deal. i think we need to verify it and that's particularly true with the koreans. neil: they don't take kindly to that. you were closer to this than i would ever be. the only chip they have on the table to remove and so what is in their interest to take that away? >> well, here is the theory of the case. the theory of the cases fewer north korean is we are willing to bargain with our nuclear weapons if the threat goes away and not being threat posed by the united states. that doesn't mean it's a foregone conclusion that will get them out because in their dream of dreams, they would like to have nuclear weapons and that

the united states. we want to give them up and that's what this struggle is really about. neil: they think much more longer-term. it's maybe coincidental that these hearings are going on with michael cohen the president's lawyer. i'm sure the worldwide attention in the exact same day the president is meeting with kim jong un about denuclearization that may be they say will wait this guy out. he may not make it past the first term. >> i tend to doubt that because the north koreans have studied donald trump very closely even from before the administration as he was running they studied him very well. tree into what do you think they've concluded? >> that's a good question and i'm not quite sure. the bottom line seems to be kim

jong un thinks he can strike a deal with donald trump. this process has started before the problem is president trump and its continued up until today. north koreans are serious. they do on a deal and i don't know how a elastic president trump runs into trouble with another president in 2020. sure into it is our posture on this no sanctions or lift it, not even phased out until you've done something to do nuclear rays come in other words allow us to visit for your destroying the stuff and is the posture we should take? >> i think that is the posture we are taking in the negotiations. it is not clear what happened in hanoi, that they were willing to take some steps towards the denuclearization object does and they were hoping there would be some sanctions that good, but not all.

i don't know what happened from that point. that's what the working level people have worked out before the summit. >> the north koreans in the first place like the idea of the united vietnam now under the control with ho chi minh and everything else and that is what the north koreans want that of total control of the korean peninsula, in the south included. do you buy that? >> i don't buy that. the north koreans gave up because they know south koreans more powerfully and we are standing behind this. though i don't buy that at all. neil: okay, next time tell us what she really think. the former u.s. north korea coordinator -- court nader. it's a tough job. the times in which he was

dealing. a lot more coming up here including the trump administration in the message it is sending to china through all of this. the hoover institution fellow michael oz land. good to have you. i do not get a chance to listen to this but the upside being you wouldn't give up hope here, that there will be another day, maybe other talks. maybe the markets are getting out of their skis on the china trade talks. what do you think? >> well, i think these are always interrelated in the minds of those who are dealing with the united states that they work very carefully at how the trump administration approached us. the president's belief of what he can do is not just strike a deal to create a relationship. this is trump's resolution which is good relationship sushi champagne in china and kim jong

sunday. the regular diplomatic perspective, what happened yesterday in hanoi is probably the right name. the president said he would walk away if he didn't like the deal coming together and he showed he would do that. on the other hand they also feel they now have this proof if you look at relationships. you have to go back to the drawing board in the white house on both the china side in the north korean side. neil: do you think right now that the chinese are changing their strategy as a result of north korea or not? apples and diplomatic oranges you know. >> yeah, you think it's a little bit of the apple mouse and diplomatic oranges as he put it because the issues are very, very different. part of what is on the table in hanoi with an end to the korean war which is officially going on don't have an armistice and the true spirit it is to try to get

north korea to give up something that has worked a half-century for. very different from looking at the very deep and complex relationship we have with china and tried in essence to fix what may be the most important part of this which is trade. i think what the chinese have been worried about his trump is the first president to live up to his rhetoric. no other president was willing to do that. he did it. their calculation is trump is willing to live up to his word. they are going to interpret hanoi in one of two ways. trump walked away because he didn't get the deal he wanted to that effect so we think we can get a deal on iran's or you completely misread and what we have to do in the chinese side is continue to rope them in on this relationship deal and see if he will cave into xi jinping. my sense is having watched them very carefully they're going to look at trump walking away and

think you know what, he goes very far in trying to create a good relationship but if the deal doesn't come together he is willing to cut back. you have to start working the low-level slow process of doing it at the diplomatic side. neil: do you read anything to the different interpretations of what happened same we did not demand sanctions be dropped, only some of them. the white house insisting is president trump trump who walked away from the table. i think if i'm reading it correctly, we both walk away at the same time. i don't know. different breeds are said to be expected? >> i think it's the fog of war. the sanctions have already been weakened. there's a lot of trade with china. i do want to say the sanctions are a fig leaf because they are

still there. they have not been the primary tool of pressure. i think what the white house is hoping is the relationship and be the primary tool of pressure, they can would not be willing to walk away from what is. de facto normalization. we are getting to de facto normalization with the rest of the world and kim doesn't want to walk away from that. pyongyang over the next couple weeks come and see what they do. the old way would be to do something very provocative with a military attack that would throw us right back into the old pattern or he might double down on diplomacy with china reef and japan for example. the question does kim jong un want to be part of the world are as solid as a fig leaf to make sure he wakes up in his bed the next morning. >> interesting. we'll see what happens. thank you for taking the time. neil: by night for the fourth quarter gdp numbers have come out. depending on the data a lot

better than pot. two by 6% growth. if you average it out fourth-quarter reply 1% growth year-over-year to .9% if you take the fourth quarter is an average them out. having settled that there was something regarding housing and residential life committee that was worrisome. to some, very worrisome. after this. 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!

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simple. easy. awesome. xfinity, the future of awesome. with who we are as people and making everybody feel welcome. ordering custom ink t-shirts has been a really smart decision for our business. i love the custom ink design lab because it's really easy to use. they have customer service that you can reach anytime. t-shirts help us immediately get a sense of who we are as a group. from the moment clients walk in, they're able to feel like part of the family. - [spokesman] custom ink has hundreds of products for your business and free shipping. upload your logo or start your design today neil: all right, you are looking at benjamin at yahoo!. i believe the israeli people on the live television feed out of jerusalem responding to charges that he's already been indicted

on corruption charges, one count of bribery, three counts of breach of trust. we are monitoring very closely. obviously it can make it he would be out of office, that he seen these are trump charges not to be paid attention to. if we get anything more i'm not including a better than expected rate on the economy's growth coming in a 2.6%. there is something also must report that it concerns him and that is the slowdown in housing act dignity. housing residential investment. at about a 3.5 pace in those final three months. we're getting similar data --

that shows slower growth, not necessarily reverse growth because some of the numbers, housing permits, new construction has been not to say robust, but stronger. we've also got caldwell banker matthew cooney. your take on housing. now we get so much data, but at least in the last three months of last year there was this contraction in investment activity. what was going on? >> there was definitely a lot going on in the world at that time. the government shut down you look at interest rates, house crept up to 5% level and that took a lot of buyers and brought them to the sidelines. 4.5% according to freddie mac.

interest rates are low because inventory is still tight, and there's only four months of inventory right now. a balanced market is five to six months of inventory. overall the economy is strong. the job market is strong. people tend to buy houses when they feel secure in their jobs that pays more money. >> from your vantage point, you know, housing hiccups and could it be like what happened during the meltdown. what you think? >> hi, neil. i think it's fine. i'm certainly not worried. you and your best laid it out pretty well, which is we have a slowing. at the end of 2018 was a very rational market. home price appreciation that was going kind of unrestricted up 7% from 8% a year.

interest rate spiked in the affordability crash so far took a poll back. you saw inventories rise. you saw values come down. perfectly rational. you are starting to see pure fundamentals are that's all i can look at and predict. you get affordability, which is what it takes to the median income divide. then you've got the demand-side. you've got the money allows that are adding 10, 20 million new households over the next five or six years. unemployment is low, income start going. other than that concerned that some people have that may be millennial or adult are somehow never going to want to own a home again i think would be just fine. neil: it's interesting about millennialist because maybe the student loan data recover but they're not in line in the

prospect of buying a home, owning a home and maybe their experience from seeing their parents a lot of them lose their homes or feel the duress of the meltdown. they don't want that for them. i don't know how much of a factor that is, but how does that play into your thinking. >> millennial buyer is a big part of the buying pool right now. there's just not enough product for them to buy. it tends to be the older inventory. no one else don't want that. they want turnkey, homes that they can move right into and are not looking for the bigger homes. what you're finding is the crunch is not across the whole market as well. each individual market and you look across town, the homes are sitting there and has to do with that there is the macro kind of

things you mentioned a very low unemployment. and if that would've turned it would be a different scenario. i could be missing something. it is pretty much like they are worth every key factor people have jobs. what do you think? >> i think you're right. maybe you have the housing run-up that led to the housing crisis was now speculation.

i don't have any issue with taking a breather. as we're waiting for these millennial to get to that 32 comments dirty 4-year-old range. fewer still of the longest economic expansion. i don't see anything to worry about. until you see interest rates pop back up about 5% and you start seeing inventory levels get to six, seven months, then i take a pause and reevaluate. >> final word. i want to thank you is very much. good seeing you. the push is on right now for more governments. that pretty much sums up a lot of the 2020 democratic presidential candidates. it depends how much the price tag should be. after this.

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neil: how do you make good on it? you got a post it? you've got to put fear in god of the politicians that there's greater help for not addressing

that than kicking down the road. >> bats were trying to do, trying to elevate -- they are afraid to even mention we have this massive problem. i'm going to tell you within six or eight, 10 years we are going to have any options. they're going to be imposed upon us. neil: so, declared that to be a national security threat. it's one thing to say that. a quite different thing to do something about it. judging from the appetite for fiscal restraint on either parties, especially the new 2020 democratic residential candidates everything from medicare for all to agree new deal to maybe college for rall. it is not panning out. real clear politics cofounder tom bevan not aware of this dance. it will be a battle about who wants more government and how much more government. but who has the edge there? >> well, it depends on how u.s.

the question. it's easy to save medicare for all. everybody wants free stuff. how is that when you pay for, who's going to pay for, what does that mean in practical terms. it's not nearly as popular enough that democrats will be fighting. universal childcare, corey booker and others talking about race-based reparations. certainly going to be a campaign based on more government intervention, more spending versus what trumps going to be able to put out there in terms of his record on the economy, on the environment, health care, better at. >> it's one thing to say it's a national security threat and i worry about this sort of stuff. we've been so used to it that people's eyes glaze over when they hear about it. what may come to ways of dealing with it, no one's bragging about

how they're going to imagine, but if you explain the situation, what that's say, what could go if we don't, i think they're pretty smart. what do you think? >> it does not seem to be -- a few years ago this is an issue of great concern to the republican party and fiscal hawks in the party. not so much anymore. that is sort of dropped off. at one point paul raines entitlement reform not seen any of that. the top issues on the minds of voters in 2018 heading into 2020 was health care. democrats used that to good effect and they will in 2020. single payer whatever you have. the economy's number two. this is probably trumps strongest suit is to say i've grown the economy and to make the argument growth actually does a lot for the debt and the deficit. we can grow our way out of these problems but you have to have the growth.

i'll go back to the green new deal because this is one that they are pushing hard on. some estimate the cost of $93 trillion. that's an issue that also does not resonate with voters. way down the list of priorities of most voters including independents. but them out there pushing mac, it going to be a fairly tough sell for them on some levels. neil: if you think about it, and we've done is great and ambitious government undertakings, but usually in the middle of the crisis. fdr, the new deal after the depression. you think about what we did with some of the initiatives that democrats talk with social spending in the midst of racial violence and the rest. but it's usually predicated by some huge initiatives, even civil war but the truth of civil war with abraham lincoln. do we have that kind of environment now that would

command that sort of guess we've got to do it. >> no. to add a couple to your list. the manhattan project, these were all crises that precipitated great mobilization, great action on the part of the populace in our government. neil: would've never been able to talk about getting a man on the moon except for the fact the soviets might beat us to it. >> was simply don't have that right now. we are in the greatest peacetime prosperity, economy, job growth. while certainly concerns are up or come nothing up to magnitude will mobilize folks to do with the democrats are proposing which is retrofit every building in the country and curtail our economic prosperity to solve this problem. democrats certainly think it's an existential threat. 12 years the plan is going to die if we don't solve the problem. that's not where most voters are it will be litigated in 2020.

neil: they see it as an investment. it depends how you frame it. always good deed to my friend. thank you very much. real clear politics cofounder. i'm the only one making such a big deal. i think at the moment in our history. wal-mart will eventually choose all of the greeter is that it stores. and i don't think it's something very iconic, very american, very decent. very, very decent going away. they are going away. after this.

neil: already come the president on his way home. off to stretch his legs and greet those in alaska on his way home from the summit that didn't pan out the way many had hope. he set a block away from the table and he realized they weren't making much progress.

the north koreans are as they were the ones who walked away from the table. there's no deal. nothing to sign off on enough the way it went. he's not bitter or angry about it. comments to reporters said it was not meant to be, but he still has high praise for the north korean leader kim jong un is also back from vietnam in either on router just about in north korea. it is about a two-hour train ride. the president made a big trip here. it is not done. stopping off in alaska and later tonight. in the meantime, an iconic development in my eyes here. wal-mart is going to say goodbye to all of those greeters come and a very kind souls who would help you find something in the store anyway they could. they are going by way of the dodo bird here because reinvestment in other areas, and difficult on the passing of history.

reporter: mail, the greeters in the blue vast, we all know them as a familiar sight. thousands across the country but the job description is changing and a more physically demanding customer host role is going to be required as of april. those people will be able to -- they have to be able to have 25-pound packages, climb ladders, stand for long periods of time. one issue with the changes the new role is going to exclude disabled workers. it will also exclude elderly workers. many of those say they really enjoy the job. they enjoy being part of their communities and they appreciated the ability to make money. wal-mart is facing many official and unofficial complaints. there are at least three of them a usb or employment opportunity commission. some consumer groups have started facebook campaigns calling on wal-mart to keep its commitment to be an inclusive. we've reached out to wal-mart

for a specific comments. it did not get back to us i'm not. wal-mart is the private employers for a lot of people are paying attention to this decision that makes the retailer seen a disturbing tube placed the greeters and other jobs within the company by people of done firsthand reporting they they have been discouraged in certain cases from applying to specific other positions. if you look at the stock up around 11% slightly edging out amazon which is up around 10% of the same time. wal-mart and other retailers competing head-on with amazon is amazon uses more robotics. in some instances it can vast need for humans. >> thank you very much. in the meantime, the president

in alaska right now. back from and away vietnam with the north korean leader kim jong un. think saw an opportunity to do so in the very near future. so we'll see. as they read from the former u.s. ambassador after this. ♪

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neil: already come in gdp in the latest fourth quarter of last year, the final stamp on it here. i don't think this would be the final number, but coming in a little bit stronger than dead. 2.6% versus 2.3% year-over-year, fourth quarter of 3.1% and averages out to .9%, still pretty heavy growth. like berman at how the white house is responding. >> you know these numbers a lot better than me. the white house is making an argument today that maybe the 2018 number isn't necessarily to .9%. if you look at the calendar for 2018 comments at 2.9%. the white house is trying to make the case today that the

best way to look at this metric they say you get two three-point 1%. why is that significant? the higher number is all the better story, et cetera. it also come at the white house had been seen in 2018 they would get to 3% growth in the way they read it if you go q4 then you get two three-point 1% growth. that is how they try to look at the number. kevin hassett when i spoke to them this morning said because of that they feel that their models are working and because the bag you should have a rosy outlook for 2019. here he was speaking to stuart varney earlier today. >> there is this thing that basically the adjustment process has been messed up for about a decade in every key 11% below which you expect to have for the year. we are very confident we'll have a 3% year for 2019. neil: whichever way you want to look at the 2182% growth or 2.9,

three by one. the white house said one of the reasons behind a good year as capital spending. capital spending by 17% of gdp intended double that at 36% of gdp. as far as the fourth-quarter reading goes, the government shut down ticket down .1%. neil: amazing. you can get two different numbers doing it that way. whatever works. thank you very much, blake burman. let's get an update quickly on the president. he has said alaska right now at 200 troops or so. thank them for their service and everything they're doing to keep us safe. of course this is a pit stop after the long-term from hanoi, vietnam was not able to score a deal with the north koreans but they need to meet another day. we don't know what will happen. the bottom line is the chinese

are watching all of this quite closely wondering the trepidation that were shown at those talks could boomerang on the talks going on with china. getting ready to meet with the soldiers in alaska are the latest from edward lorenz on this. trading very interesting happenings. the chinese on their calendar, the entire last week of march as well as march 20 through march 277 block off for chinese president xi jinping to go specifically to mar-a-lago. the white house has not announced official meeting or the chinese president showing his coming sometime during the last 10 days in march. always there and what happens next between the u.s. and china over trade. a picture of trade talks in the u.s. trade representative robert lighthizer say there's a long way to go but any deal will include specific enforcement. the treasury secretary and white house economic adviser more optimistic saying we are on the

way to do with china. treasury secretary stephen mnuchin says it is 150 pages. 27 of those deals solely with protecting intellectual property. for the u.s. trade representative that is the most important issue for the future success of u.s. business. no final deal yet and the president donald trump showing his ready to walk away from high-stakes talks to matter how far along they are. >> speaking of china we are well on our way to doing something special but we'll 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 out. trade to the president walking away from north korea talks see no deal is better than a bad deal. that could be a message to beijing watching how all this plays out. the chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said they are encouraged that the dialogue will continue. pushing for the meeting with the chinese president for trade at

the end of march. the administration officially suspending the tariff increase until further notice. >> edward lorenz come in thank you very. our former ambassador to china. of course talking about washington state governor as well. very good to have you. >> good to see you. >> should we worry now? >> i don't think we should be worried. i think that we've had a great deal of difficulty convincing the north koreans for quite some time that they have to fully commit to de-nuclear rising in dismantling their nuclear arsenal and that has to be verifiable and sanctions will remain in place until we have concrete steps. the president authority indicated he is willing to back off on the timetable that cannot be done overnight. that was good news. more realistic view about how they'll approach north koreans.

the north koreans made a statement good leader made a statement he would not be in vietnam unless he was fully committed to denuclearization. the hangup is on how to do that and what degrees i'm a what that in what way might the united states reward such behavior. until they firmly commit and take identifiable verifiable steps to dismantle nuclear weapons, we in the last in the united states will not let up on sanctions. neil: if you're in china and your back there now talking to them about this development, do you think here we got ahead of ourselves in making that a deal was imminent. it might not be. if you're in china you're thinking wait a minute, we think were closed, but this guy just bolted from talks with the north koreans left early so we might do the same to us. >> now, the chinese are very

realistic and we have sophisticated teams of negotiators on both sides. remember once before the president's negotiating team had reached an agreement with the chinese announced in the president repudiated that. they know that no deal is final until the president agrees. i'm sure he's being kept very apprised of the negotiations in making comments in saying what's acceptable. neil: are we sure about? obviously, the two presidents in this particular case and no deal was scored or the president hopes to meet with xi jinping in the early part of march, later part of march. what do you think of that if even without we don't get a deal? >> well, i don't think the chinese have actually come if there is not a deal or at least 99% of the deal. oftentimes the face-to-face meeting parts of either try to get an additional concessions

for additional points from both sides using the power of the personal relationship to really cement and go over perhaps some of the outstanding really touch sensitive issues. but they're not going to meet unless they have 95%, 90% of the deal in which both sides have been briefed about the details. they're not going to go ahead. neil: i apologize. the president at the air force base in alaska. let's listen. >> gorée said how good are they out there? somebody looked at me and said they're the best. you're supposed to be the best, right? so let's go. but on that side. put on the shirt. but i wanted to be with you. it's an honor to be with you. joint base, nor fractured then, right now let's have a little fun, right?

listen to you. i want to tank general tom the ca for the introduction and really great job, highly respect that man. i know the ones that are highly respect they been usually when you get to general you'll read up there. he's done a fantastic job in general. thank you very much. appreciate it very much. for the introduction and also i want to thank all of the folks with the norad, when we tap norad, were talking about stuff i learned so much about so many years ago studying different ratings. i love this world and actually over here, my grandfather was up in alaska for a long time. he was looking for gold. he was searching for gold. he didn't find it, but he started opening up little hotels for those looking for gold and a worked out.

and maybe that's why i've always had a special place in my heart for alaska. when election time came along, somehow the people of alaska knew that and they voted very very -- it wasn't even a little bit close. so i just really appreciated that always. it's a very special place. and i don't know some of the folks, the military folks care about this, but the people of alaska really care about it. the just approved recently almost one of my earlier acts in office, and wire, which is one of the largest deposits anywhere in the world and for many years they been trying to get approved since before ronald reagan and they couldn't get it done. he is doing a very special job. he said we really appreciate that you got that done and we've got some other things done for alaska, too. when you look at that, if you're

in the oil industry you know a lot about one of the most important finds anywhere. they just couldn't do anything about it but now we can so that's going to be great. also i mentioned mike, i just want to say, he's been an incredible warrior. he ran an incredible campaign. he won easily. he's not only one of the best governors in the united states. he is definitely the largest congratulations. thank you for being here. he heard i was going to stop and he got on a plane and he was able to get here. when you endorse somebody, it's always nice when they want to be there when you make a speech. he's always there. he's an incredible job for alaska. i will tell you in front of all these great troops i will say anytime you have a problem you

call me. you know that. we'll take care of it for alaska. as you know, i'm on my way back from vietnam. i wanted to stop here to share my gratitude to every brave soldier, sailor, airman -- airman, marine, national guardsmen who served in the land of the midnight sun. what a beautiful term. it's what it is, too. it's great to be standing in the center with an f-22 raptor, the mighty sound of american freedom. that's pretty good stuff i'll tell you. even the fire engine looks pretty good. well, the fact is we've increased your budget for not too much to $710 i won't tell you this year's surprise but generals will be very happy when they hear because it is going up yet again. because we have no choice.

i'm a cost cutter, but we have no choice. without a military, what do we have? we have to have a great military. you notice your equipment is getting better and better, newer and newer. when i got here you were having jet fighters so old, you know the story grandfather flew some of the planes the grandfather, then the son, then the grandchild is here with us now, i don't like that. i don't like that. so we ordered massive numbers of new planes and new everything. it is just an honor to come by the joint base and be with you. we say j.b. ar, right? that is what we want to do. our wonderful first lady visited

jbair. she has been a fantastic first lady. they are our true national treasure, with all the people, you brave men and women your life would be a lot pour difficult, we wouldn't be the same. you all know that. maybe we should give them a round of applause. come on. [applause] there are many incredible patriots recognize here today, beginning with outstanding airmen of the 11th air force. give yourselves a hand. [applause] the airmen of the third wing, air commander bob davis. thank you, bob, great. [applause] is he doing a great job? yes. they're all saying yes. the 673rd airbase wing and your base commander, colonel patricia chank. thank you, patricia.

thank you very much. [applause] soldiers from u.s. army alaska and their commander, major general mark o'neill. mark. thank you mark. [applause] and the paratroopers of the 425 airborne brigade combat team, the spartan brigade and their commander, colonel jason jones. colonel, thank you. [cheers and applause] thank you, jason. thank you as well to every warrior. that is what you are, you're warriors. navy, marines, coast guard, finally i want to thank all the members of the alaska national guard who defend our nation bense missile attack and their adjutant general, brigadier general torrence sachs. thank you, thank you. [applause] thank you, general. as well as brigadier general darren slayton. darren, thank you, darren.

[applause] commander of the 176th wing alaska air national guard, great job. the men and women who serve at jbair share one vital mission, to serve in our country's last frontier as america's first line of defense. since the second world war our intrepid servicemembers in alaska have proudly stood at the top cover for north america. you are a powerful warning to the world to never strike american soil. you are a warning that everybody knows about and nobody wants to play with. here with us today are paratroopers of the spartan brigade who wear the maroon beret. [shouting] where are they? [applause] they look pretty good. should i wear one of those next time? good when it is windy out, i tell you it's good. they recently returned from the

brigade's third deployment to afghanistan and. they have seen a lot. i actually spoken to a couple. i know how they feel. been going on for 19 years. kept taking over, 92%, caliphate in syria. we took over 100% of the caliphate. that means the area of the land. we have 100%. did that much shorter period of time than it was supposed to take. i won't tell you what a certain general told me but i went and met a couple other generals. i said hue long do you think it could take, general? one week? i heard two years. one week, sir. do it the way we want to do