congressman mark green and k.t. k.t. -- mcfarland. thanks for joining us. good lauren: here are your market movers at 5:00 a.m. president trump heads to ohio today where he'll push to bring manufacturing jobs back to the buckeye state. will he again turn up the heat on general motors to reopen its lordstown plant? u.s. trade talks with china reportedly in the final stages. key negotiators are expected back in beijing next week. can we get a deal with china that we can trust? the f aa in the spotlight, more questions over its relationship with boeing as we're learning about the frantic scene inside the cockpit of the deadly lion air crash last year. and the teases keep coming from joe biden. how he's now asking rich backers for big bucks so he can go head to head with beto and person

east it ibernie.it is wednesdayf march. "fbn: a.m." starts right now. cheryl: here is how your money is moving today at 5:00 a.m. eastern tile. the china chill affecting tuesday's early rally. this morning, seeing optimism on the u.s.-china meeting. the s&p is up 5, nasdaq up 14. over to europe, looks like theresa may is going to write to the e.u. president with a plan to delay brexit beyond march 29th. right now th ftse is slightly higher. now to asia, investors there in wait and see mode overnight as mixed signals on trade talks. they are waiting on the u.s. federal reserve statement that is going to be this afternoon. lauren: we welcome you to "fbn: a.m.." good morning. i'm lauren simonetti. cheryl: good morning, everybody.

i'm cheryl casone. it is the first day of spring, lauren. lauren: happy spring. it doesn't feel like it. cheryl: it doesn't. lauren: president trump is going to ohio today with just under two years from re-election, the president is touting job growth in the manufacturing sector, particularly in swing states like ohio. he's expected to visit a tank production factory that's in danger of closing, highlighting the benefits of his defense spending increases but upsetting that message is general motors. trump has been putting pressure on the car company to reopen its lordstown plant and bring back thousands of u.s. jobs. the president is then headed to canton where he will hold a fundraiser for his re-election campaign, his first visit to ohio since the mid-term elections last year shough now cheryl: trade talks between the u.s. and china set to resume next week, a high level u.s. delegation led by steven mnuchin and robert lighthizer is heading

to beijing hoping to close a deal by the end of april. a deal appeared to be at hand late in february but that unraveled after chinese negotiators saw red flags in the failed summit between the u.s. and north korea. lauren: president trump is touting strong ties between the u.s. and brazil as the country's leader visited washington. >> reporter: president trump says he wants to elevate brazil to a major non-nato ally and he and president boldesaro want to create a closer trade relationship. >> we look forward to a deeper partnership and working together. in our meetings we also discussed the strong economic ties between our nations, grounded in the principles of fairness and reciprocity, my favorite word, reciprocity. >> reporter: the two presidents also expressed support for venezuela and the true president of venezuela, juan guaido.

president trump saying that all options are on the table to get maduro out of power. this is a wide-ranging press conference the president had yesterday where president trump also talked about wanting to have social media companies remove the bias from there. he says there's clear bias in the media companies and something should be done. >> get the vaccine, back office statements made by executives of the various companies and you see the level of in many cases hatred they have for a certain group of people. something's happening with those groups of folks that are running facebook and google and twitter and i do think we have to get to the bottom of it. >> reporter: the two presidents announced a technology safeguards agreement which would open up a launch pad inside brazil for u.s. companies, specifically private space flight companies, this administration has been all about space commerce and he would like to see that happen there. so again, that agreement coming

into place. also, there are other agreements saying that the president would be able to import $750,000 of wheat from the united states into brazil, tariff-free. the brazilians would be allowed to import beef from brazil into the u.s. they will start a process to check the beef, make sure they follow fda standards. cheryl.cheryl: steve dickson hn nominated to head the faa. it has been run by an acting chief for more than a year. it is facing mounting pressure over the certification of the boeing 737 max after two deadly crashes within five months. lauren: the faa is certainly under the microscope. we have new information about last year's crash in indonesia. an off-duty pilot reportedly saved the same 737 max from a crash a day prior. the pilot happened to be in the

cockpit. he told the lion air crew how to disable a malfunctioning flight control system. the next day, under command of a different crew, the same plan crashed into the sea, killing all 189 people on board. according to reuters, the black boxes show it was a frantic scene the day the jet crashed. pilots tried desperately to fix the problem by flipping the pages of a handbook. cheryl: boeing remains under the microscope. doug mcelway is in washington with the latest. >> reporter: teams from the u.s. and around the world hard at work in ethiopia, trying to get more information about the deadly crash last week but back here in washington the justice and transportation departments are putting increased pressure on boeing. it is believed a faulty anti-stall system led to the crash, prompting the groundings of boeing 737 max planes around the world. now a federal grand jury is looking into how the plane was developed and manufactured, seeking e-mails, messages and

other communications from boeing, in addition to a second probe into the faa approval process for the 737 max 8. >> we're united with our airline customers, regulators and government authorities in our efforts to support the most recent investigation. understand the facts of what happened, and help prevent future tragedies. >> reporter: the news comes as investigators in france continue examining the plane's black boxes. preliminary data showing strong parallels between the ethiopia 737 crash and one last year in indonesia. >> there are indications that there are clear similarities, especially with the number of minutes they spent after takeoff. >> reporter: it's not yet clear what impact the groundings will have on boeing's bottom line but some travel experts say it could create a big passenger backlog, especially overseas. >> entering the peak season, the fleet will face great pressure and it will leave some impacts. >> reporter: boeing said they're working with the faa on a fix to the anti-stall software, it

should be ready by april. back to you. cheryl: doug, thank you. and then the miracle on the hudson pilot, captain sully sullenberger has written an op ed. he says without effective leadership and support from leaders and the administration, the faa does not have sufficient independence to be able to do its job, which is to keep air travelers and crews safe. he's reacting to reports that boeing had a representative that represented the faa. there was no full certification. lauren: almost like boeing was regulating itself. cheryl: pretty much. lauren: that's the problem. cheryl: now to this. middle class joe biden has his handout for big bucks. the former vice president told rich backers he is running in 2020 and he needs help lining up more donor as soon as he makes it official. the 76-year-old worried he's not going to be able to match the 24 hour fund raising efforts of beto o'rourke and bernie sanders.

biden hasn't publicly announced a run. lauren: disney is now the of official owner of 21st century fox. the deal closed overnight. it's taking over fox's movie and tv studios and the rights to properties like the simpsons. it takes over the fx and national geographic channels and controlling stake in hulu. meanwhile, murdoch's slimmed down tv company is officially known as fox corp., began trading on nasdaq. fox corp. is the parent of the fox business network. cheryl: big news here. now to this. lyft's initial public offering reportedly is over-subscribed, meaning it could exceed the valuation it's seeking. lyft executives and banks are predicting demand will exceed the number of available shares, as a result investors will likely have to pay a premium to get a piece of it. they are expected to price their shares on march 28th and be

listed on the nasdaq the next day. lauren: let's take a look at fed ex shares many we got negative news from the company. fed ex lowering its outlook for the second straight quarter, after the shipper saw a decline in revenue in its express unit. its ground unit saw a lower profit because of a higher cost of operating six days a week. shares are tradeing to the downside by 5%. cheryl: big drop there. here are other headlines making news this morning. a jury in san francisco finding that exposure to round-up weed killer is responsible for a man he developing cancer, this comes after they lost a $300 million suit in august, alleging that the weed killers caused cancer in another man. the jury now will decide whether or not monsanto will be held responsible in this new case. new leadership at warner brothers, the studio installed three executives to take the place of the former ceo. the wb chief recently resigned

after an investigation into this relationship with an actress. the appointments are only temporary while they rethink their corporate structure. facebook is banning targeted ads for housing, credit and employment as part of a settlement with the american civil liberties union and other civil rights organizations. the social media giant accused of violateing the fair housing act by allowing advertisers to avoid certain consumers based on legally protected categories including age and sex. well, forget the console, google unveiling a new service that allows you to stream video games without downloads or any hardware. this is big. shares of sony, maker of the playstation video console, fell more than 1% on that news. and you may want to pick up a powerball ticket today. tonight's jackpot is more than half a billion dollars, the eighth largest prize in the game's history. if you take the lump sum payout you're looking at $335 million

before taxes. lauren: that's it? cheryl: it's a big loss, right? is it worth playing? i don't know. lauren: these jackpots are always getting bigger. investors are weighing trade versus the fed today and futures in the green right now. you can see dow futures gaining 34, nasdaq up 10. well. >>, coming up, trade talkswith e final stages but there are fears that china can walk back certain concessions. can we get a deal done with beijing, a deal that we can trust? first, there were dirty jeans and taped shoes. now there's a new filthy fashion item that's going to cost you a pretty penny. you're watching "fbn: a.m.." ♪ after months of wearing only a tiger costume,

we're finally going on the trip i've been promising.

because with expedia, i saved when i added a hotel to our flight. ♪ so even when she outgrows her costume, we'll never outgrow the memory of our adventure together. unlock savings when you add select hotels to your existing trip. only when you book with expedia. dear tech, let's talk. you blaze trails... but you have the power to do so much more. let's not just develop apps, let's develop apps that help save lives. let's make open source software the standard. let's create new plastics that are highly recyclable. it's going to take input from everyone. so let's do it all, together. ♪ ♪ let's expect more from technology. let's put smart to work.

rather than worry about how to pay for long-term care. brighthouse smartcare℠ is a hybrid life insurance and long-term care product. it protects your family while providing long-term care coverage, should you need it. so you can explore all the amazing things ahead. talk to your advisor about brighthouse smartcare. brighthouse financial. build for what's ahead℠ lauren: a new round of

u.s.-china trade talks gents underway next week. top u.s. officials are traveling to beijing, hoping to finalize a deal, eyeing an april summit between president trump and chinese president xi-jinping in r florida. negotiations have been on hold because of several pretty stubborn issues. let's bring in riley walters with the heritage foundation. riley, thanks for joining us. >> good morning. lauren: what really stands in the way of getting a done deal next month? >> there's two outstanding issues. one is -- the biggest is enforcement. usdr or the u.s. negotiators aren't sure how to necessarily enforce a deal, make sure that china is living up to its agreement. the second is the actual meeting itself between the two presidents. president trump, it's been rumored that he wants to actually continue negotiations with president xi himself. president xi on the other hand doesn't want to. he wants -- if he's going to show up at all, he wants to do it to sign the deal. lauren: there's also an issue that beijing wants tariffs

removed and we're not so eager or willing to do that. >> yeah, that's definitely one of -- part of the enforcement issues. there's a a lot of debate of whether the u.s. wants to ratchet down these tariff as part of the agreement, so every time china hits a benchmark in the agreement that the u.s. will lower tariffs. the other argument is what's called the snapback argument, this is the usdr completely removes the tariffs now and when it finds that china is violating the terms of the agreement they will bring back the tariffs. i'm thinking that they're leaning more toward the snapback, given that the recent comments by robert lighthizer in a couple of the hill testimonies he's given about this idea of numerous meetings with the chinese side and if u.s. businesses want to complain, that's how they would enforce the agreement. lauren: we're getting a report from bloomburg that china is looking to exclude the boeing jet, 737 max from the list of

american exports to their country. do you think that that's a way that china will have negotiating power with us, saying look, this jet is controversial, we're not going to buy it to get a concession from us. >> yeah, it's a little bit hard to say there. i mean, there's definitely a lot of concessions going around, obviously. a lot of these purchasing agreements. but the heart of this agreement is -- have you to remember, it's all about tech transfer. it's about joint venture requirements and i.p. theft. boeing, while i'm sure it will be discussed in these trade talks next week, i don't necessarily see it as a sticking point. lauren: we're looking at a full screen, riley. the cost of this trade war, this comes from the national bureau of economic research, the economic hit thus far is $7.8 billion to the u.s. economy. do you think that's money we get back if we do get a deal? a deal with teeth? >> you know, that's one thing that the administration has been suggesting, that the u.s. will

recoup some of these costs after a deal is made. there are some long-term effects that certainly farmers are going to see for a while, loss of market share in china. other reports share this agreement and they say it is a permanent loss right now, that the united states has lost billions of dollars because of this. even if you include the revenue that the united states government collects off of tariffs, it's still a net loss for the united states. lauren: all right. riley walters, thank you so much for getting up with us today. cheryl: big effect on the automakers. we'll talk about that in a little bit. coming up, the latest in the college cheating scandal as actress lori loughlin hires an attorney who pro prosecuted the enron ceos and at the time touted that money shouldn't buy justice. and the deadly flooding continues in the midwest, 74 cities in nebraska alone have declared states of emergency. the latest on rescue efforts when we return on "fbn: a.m.."

so, you're open all day, that's what 24/7 means, sugar. kind of like how you get 24/7 access to licensed agents with geico. hmm? yeah, you just go online, or give them a call anytime. you don't say. yep. now what will it take to get 24/7 access to that lemon meringue pie? pie! pie's coming! that's what it takes, baby. geico®. great service from licensed agents, 24/7. to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it's best to make you everybody else... ♪ ♪ means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight and never stop. does this sound dismal?

it isn't. ♪ ♪ it's the most wonderful life on earth. ♪ ♪

it's the most wonderfall of you.earth. 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.

cheryl: the deadly flooding in the midwest continues. in nebraska, 74 cities and 65 counties have declared states of emergency. so far, three deaths have been blamed on the flooding. the farm and ranch losses could reach $1 billion in that state. vice president mike pence surveyed damage in nebraska yesterday, promising federal resources will be available quickly. for more on this, n nebraska's governor will be on stewart van pistuartvarney later today. adam clots is liv is in the wear with the forecast. >> doesn't feel like spring as

of just yet. talking about spring, you think of spring showers. there's rain moving through some of the flooded areas, places where they don't need the rain, moving across the mississippi. this is system nothing like what originally caused the flooding. still in an area where you don't want it. we have watches around warnings throughout the entire region, eastern nebraska, across the missouri and mississippi river, continuing to see flooding. as the rain moves out of the region, i think flooding will continue to be maybe an issue because of all the snow we have in the upper midwest. this is the current snow depth. you see the pinks across areas of minnesota, northern wisconsin, across the dakotas, up to two feet of snow laying in some of these locations and as the temperatures continue to rise, you'll see the snow melt. that will work its way downstream and the flooding is going to be continuing. we're looking at these beginning to bump up over the course of the next couple days.

you see it with the national forecast, not horribly warm today but the middle of the country in the a 50s r, getting warmer on thursday and friday. it is spring, guys, with it we're beginning to see a little bit warmer temperatures. lauren: ad adam, thank you vey much. cheryl: taking a look at u.s. futures on this wednesday morning. right now you've got the dow up 35 in the premarket, s&p up 3 and-a-half, nasdaq up 10 and-a-half. coming up next, president trump heading to ohio today. will his visit have any effect on gm's decision to close its lordstown plant? it may be the first day of spring today, but winter is coming to -- >> when you play the game of thrones, you win, or you die. cheryl: the new game of thrones challenge that has fans treasure hunting across the globe. details next on "fbn: a.m.." ♪ i got the eye of the tiger.

♪ a fighter. ♪ dancing through the fire. ♪ because i am a champion. ♪ and you're going to hear me roar. ♪ (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.

lauren: let's get you caught up on global market action overnight. fed ex cutting its outlook on what it sees as slowing global growth. investors are waiting for the federal reserve's take. over in europe, stocks at this hour are trading to the downside. the ftse is down 3 points, dax is down just about 1%, so germany is selling off here to the tune of 106 points. over in asia, u.s. trade negotiators heading back to china next week and reportedly chinese negligence other yatesers -- negotiators coming to the u.s. a week after that. a wave of uncertainty hit u.s. stocks yesterday and the shanghai composite down fractionally today. cheryl: president trump will be

in ohio today, miles from where a general motors plant has closed down. joining us for more on this is writer tiana lowe. good morning. the president has been very vocal about his displeasure with general motors. can the pressure from the president in your mind change the business direction that gm has now taken to frankly do some restructuring? >> the issue is that despite trump's tax cuts, which made gm a lot more globally competitive due to the decrease in the corporate tax rate and deregulation, 88% of manufacturing jobs are being lost to automation, not to trade. with trump threatening new auto tariffs, i think that despite the fact that he's obviously trying to pressure gm to keep this plant open, there's not much he can do and quite frankly it looks petty for the president to be telling a private business how to operate. cheryl: it's interesting too, because mary barra has basically -- she talked about those steel and aluminum tariffs back last fall when they made this

announcement but still that's something that has not changed. steel and aluminum prices, that's cost gm and ford about $1 billion each. do you think that that's something that could be changed, in particular this heated this environment where you've got ohio, the president's going down there and the auto making industry is very important to him and its survival. >> certainly. trump requires the rust belt and keeping the formerly blue wall in order to win re-election. so as long as this trade war keeps on going, the costs will keep going up. one quarter of last year, gm saw a commodities cost increase of $300 million. these are not cheap. each quarter g only profits -- not only, about $2.4 billion a quarter, per quarter, so if these costs are now racking up into the billions of dollars, something's got to give. trump those make a deal. cheryl: he's been really blaming as well local union leadership, david greene, who is the local president there. but at the same time, gm and

this union, they are going to start negotiations but it's not going to be until september, october. do you think that maybe we should start these negotiations earlier or the company should, excuse me, to maybe kind of get this in the rear view mirror and get the auto workers maybe moved to other facilities if possible? >> if it's possible. but i think the issue, again, is that there's -- it's such an unstable environment between the tariffs and between taxes. i think that it's difficult for gm to make long-term planning while we're still on hold with making a deal, primarily with china, which is obviously very significant trading partner. but trump just needs to stop the talks of adding on a 25% auto tariff. it's extremely dangerous to the long-term viability of the auto industry. cheryl: i want you to listen to kevin hassett. he was on with maria bartiromo yesterday. she asked him about this issue. take a listen. >> there's so much business coming back to the u.s. and so much auto business. we're getting news from foreign

automakers about plant expansions and new plants that they're building in the u.s. that if a specific manufacturer is having trouble, i think that's an idiosyncratic thing. cheryl: what do you make of his response? >> trump has had a mixed bag of policy, tax cuts, incredible, making us globally competitive. tariffs, not so good. we're seeing a trend of losing manufacturing jobs that cannot be reversed simply due to automation. to discuss this overwhelming trend as inyow si acid as idis sugar coating it. cheryl: thanks for being on the show. lauren: the trump administration is sticking to the forecast of 3% economic growth this year. that prediction is at odds with many other economists. the white house chief economist, kevin hassett, says the may sayers are underestimating the economic policies. >> we're saying we've got a 3%

year ahead and everyone says it's going to be 2. they said the same thing last year and the year before. so far we've either hit the number or had the number come in above the forecast for the first two years of the white house. we think that's going to happen again this year. lauren: the federal reserve thinks the administration's forecast is too optimistic. craig from vining sparks, what do you say? >> i think 3% is pretty optimistic this year. we're coming off of the second best year of the cycle, we hit 2, 9 for the full year growth, had 4, 2, and 3, 5 in the second quarter and third quarter. very strong growth we saw last year and i think we'll see it slow down this year. it's not a big concern. we'll slow back closer to what's sustainable longer term. lauren: is it a concern for the federal reserve as they meet on interest rates and poll today? >> right now, they recognize that we're running the economy a little bit hotter than what's sustainable.

i don't think they're concerned. if we were to see growth slow to 2, 5, i don't think that's a concern for them. i think if it drops off below that, that's when they become more concerned. [ laughter ] it's not -- lauren: . it's not what the fed does today. you do not expect them to hike today but it matters what jay powell, the chairman says. what do you expect him to say about how long the fed can be on pause? >> well, i think they'll try to keep it somewhat vague. the real key i think today will be -- as you said, i don't think they'll hike. i don't think anybody expects they'll hike today. i also don't think they'll cut. not yet. what's going to be key is what the dot plot says. does the dot plot say they're going to project zero hikes this year or just one. remember back in september, they were at three. they dropped that to two in december. and if they were to go all the way to zero, it's a complete 180 from the fed on a policy

standpoint. lauren: how many hikes do you expect for all year then? >> our expectation is that they hike once in the second a half of the year that, the economy starts to look a little better in the second half of the year, once the trade issues are out of the way and once we get through the government shutdown from last year and start to get some of those head winds out of the way. but we're not completely positive. we think they could hike or could stay put all year and we could already have seen the last rate hike of the cycle. lauren: and then any indication that the fed will say when they expect to finish the reduction of their bond portfolio? >> yes, that's one of the key things today also is will they issue some type of statement on the balance sheet and will they decide to end it, third quarter, fourth quarter of this year. i don't think they'll give a specific date. if they do, if they go from three hikes in september to zero hikes today and go from the balance sheet is going to continue in the background in december to the balance sheet is going to end by the end of this

year, then that again is a complete 180 for fed poll civil i think the market is starting to sense that a fed put is back in play. lauren: what do you expect the tone of the statement to be? >> very doveish. it's going to be difficult for them to keep the positive economic assessment that was in the last statement. so i think they'll have to ratchet that language down. it's going to be hard to say that consumer spending has been strong, it's going to be hard to say inflation is near target. i think we'll see a doveish tone. lauren: i wonder if it's not doveish enough, how the market's going to respond. it's kind of like out-doving the dove kind of thing, if you will. >> right. and that's the position they've been in since december, right? and so it's -- i think that it will be difficult to not be doveish enough. i think if they cut those dots to zero, if they have one hike still projected, i think the markets may be a little bit unnerved by that but it will -- i think the market's basically pricing in that there's going to

behalf of a hike this year. lauren: we'll see in a few hours, craig. craig, thank you. >> we will, we will. have a good day. cheryl: well, here are some other headlines making news this morning. the trump administration will stop detaining some migrant families at the mexican border due to overcrowding in detention centers. while the move is not in line with the president's policy to end what he calls the catch and release policy at the border, authorities say there are huge safety concerns with the number of families crossing. less than one week after the horrific mass shooting in new zealand the ceos of facebook, twitter and microsoft are being asked to appear on cal capitol . there are looking for answers of how video of the attack spread through various social media platforms. the executives are expected to a appear next week. the fda approved a new medication yesterday, the first

medicine that specifically targets a disorder that comes with a hefty price tag. without discounts, the medication runs you $34,000 for the full therapy. and fuller house actress lori loughlin is beefing up her defense team in the college admissions scandal. she has hired the man who led the task force against energy giant enron, shawn burkewits. he famously told the jurors that the execs should not be allowed to buy their way out of this. loughlin is accused of paying $500,000 to get her daughters into usc. one of them reportedly did not even full out her own application. lauren: what a story. lori doesn't want to go from full house to the big house. i've been trying to say that for a while. let's take a look at futures. we're waiting on the fed, up but

just modestly. dow is up 22 points, s&p up 2, nasdaq gaining 7. is the economy on a sugar high? that's the next question we're going to ask. the trump administration says no way. it's releasing new numbers to show the economy is really flexing muscle. mlb outfielder mike trout is about to ink the biggest deal in sports history, we have details coming up on "fbn: a.m." ♪ it sounds like woah, oh, oh,. .♪ keep me up all night, one ina million. p or the latest phones. $4.95. no matter what you trade, at fidelity it's just $4.95 per online u.s. equity trade. no matter what you trade, at fidelity (danny) after a long day of hard work... ...you have to do more work? (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. (danny) every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally!

(vo) you earned it, we're here to make sure you get it. quickbooks. backing you.

lauren: the white house is expecting strong growth to continue this year. it released its annual economic report. there's a new cnn poll that says that 71% of respondents think the economy is in good shape, the highest since february of 2001. cheryl: deirdre bolton has details. >> reporter: some wonder if president trump can rely on a strong economy when 2020 nears. most people make decisions at the polls whether they feel they are fairly paid and whether or not they feel they have future prospects. on tuesday, the administration's annual 2019 economic report was a boone for the administration. it showed economic strength. among other things, it stated

investments, manufacturing, employment, worker comp and new startups have risen sharply in the two years since the 2016 election. these are not accidental but rather reflect the trump administration's deliberate measures. the white house accounts tweeted that for the second consecutive year, the u.s. economy outperformed expectations and broke from recent trends by a substantial margin. some economists have expressed concern about the future but here's what the chairman of the council of economic advisors told us. >> there was a lot of uncertainty in december. the first quarter is looking like we'll have another 1% quarter. but we keep having 1% first quarters and 3% second quarters. that's what we expect is going to be the sort of start of this year. >> reporter: kevin hassett said that the 3% growth is not a sugar high and that the administration's lower corporate taxes have boosted business investment and productivity, that will keep the u.s. economy humming. he dismissed worries that a recession could hit next year. we will get the fed's read on

the economy later today with its rate decision and statement. in the meantime, back to you in the studio. cheryl: all right. let's take a look at futures before we head to break. right now we do have a positive start. we're pointing to a positive start for your markets. dow up 27 in the premarket, s&p up 2 and-a-half, nasdaq up 8 and-a-half in the premarket. coming up next, patriots owner robert kraft is offered a deal that would drop charges in the prostitution case against him. but what does he have to do to get that deal? and where is the chicken? mcdonald's is testing a new type of nugget. will it fly? you're watching "fbn: a.m.." ♪ because i'm in too deep. ♪ and i'm trying to keep off the flood in my head. ♪ instead of going under. ♪ because i'm in too deep. want more from your entertainment experience?

just say teach me more. into your xfinity voice remote to discover all sorts of tips and tricks in x1. can i find my wifi password? just ask. [ ding ] show me my wifi password. hey now! [ ding ] you can even troubleshoot, learn new voice commands and much more. clean my daughter's room. [ ding ] oh, it won't do that. welp, someone should. just say "teach me more" into your voice remote and see how you can have an even better x1 experience. simple. easy. awesome.

cheryl: welcome back. the bank has been broken in major league baseball. lauren: we have never seen a contract like this one before. jared max has details. good morning. jared: good morning. mike trout might be buying breakfast for everyone in america today. he might be able to afford it. no player has ever gotten a deal like this. mike trout, he has spent his entire career with the los angeles angels. reportedly will sign a 12 year contract in the ballpark of $430 million. this would be $100 million more than bryce harper just got from thphillies in an unprecedented deal. the salary would be the highest ever in baseball. he will be 39 when he enters the final year of this contract. by the way, the astros' alex bregman gets an extension, $100 million. the baseball season is underway in tokyo between the mariners

and the a's. robert kraft can avoid criminal charges for solicitation if he admits that he indeed would have been proven guilty at trial. this plea deal from palm beach county, florida for kraft and 24 hours, they would also have to complete 100 hours community service, pay fines for each count and go for screening for diseases and complete a course about prostitution. no word which direction kraft will choose. first time offenders. one of the greatest comebacks happened in sacramento. the brooklyn nets trailed the kings by 25 at the start of the fourth quarter. the nets came all the way back and they beat the kings 123-121. look at that, a layup with under a second to go and brooklyn who entered the final quarter down 25, wins it. teams like this in nba history had a record of 3-3,000 plus losing. ncaa last night, congratulations

to fairly dickinson and belmont, won their first ever ncaa games. fdu advances to face gonzaga. become an annual contest by warren buffet to employees at berkshire hathaaway to pick the winning bracket gets $1 million for life. cheryl: pretty good. thank you very much. jared: all for the employees. cheryl: love it. thank you very much. jared max. catch sports reports on fox news headlines 24/7, sirius xm channel 11. lauren: don't go anywhere. if you hate breaking in a pair of new shoes, gre gucci is doine dirty work for you. get it? it's going to cost you a pretty penny. keep it here. ♪ for get about the price tag.

(clock ticking) (bell ringing) it's time. time for a new kind of cloud. the ibm cloud. the cloud that proactively protects your business from threats, instead of just reacting to them. that lets you modernize and move more of your apps without re-writing. that unlocks insights from all your data and puts it to work with ai. get a faster, more secure journey to the cloud. the ibm cloud. the cloud for smarter business. ♪ ♪

(bird chirping) lots to do, hope you fuelled up. sure did. that storm sure ripped through. yep, we gotta fix that fence and herd the cattle back in. let's get at it. (whistle) (dog barking) (♪) . .

lauren: vegan and happy meal really don't go together but now vegans can join in with new edition at mcdonalds. cheryl: todd, good morning. >> for those vegans who need their mcdonalds, great news, vegan mcnuggets could soon be on their way, yeah, i said that, instead of chicken, nobody knows, filled with chick-peas, oinons carrots and corn. i like those things separately. now available in norway, unclear if they're coming to the u.s., you guys are a business channel, stay on brand, i don't know if you go to mcdonalds hoping for a

healthy meal. cheryl: barely burger has become successful and all the new offerings out there because people are going plant-base, i think there's a market out there. lauren: there's a market for it especially for moms. >> all right. i substantiate corrected. cheryl: muddy jeans, now what's next in fashion, you've got it? >> amazing movie that the producers alluded to with sound music coming on the way out of commercial, remember when it was a joke, dara leak, a fashion, inspired by the very homeless, fragrance that make this city so unique. >> i knew it was important to continue watching zoolander. dirty sneakers from gucci with

whopping 900-dollar price tag, the kicks are inspired by the vintage sports style of the 70's, this is the best line i think i've written in a week, gucci provides pretty specific cleaning instructions for the dirty shoes because that makes sense. lauren: the shoes don't look that dirty. >> 2008 new balance shoes that are filthy, cheryl just gave me a look. lauren: i could smell them from here, todd. >> you know how old the brand is? people are into weird things, who is buying this? lauren: what was the price tag for gucci? >> 900 and ladies up to a grand.

cheryl: is it long-term business plan? >> wouldn't it be nice to have that kind of silly money where you see that and see i'm going to get it just because, you know. must be nice to be -- lauren: a lot of people buying the golden goose sneakers, hot new trend, sometimes they look dirty, hoes in your jeans, dirt in sneakers, sign of success, you spend money on those things. cheryl: todd, i want to thank you for the story, i'm going to get onto ebay. >> it's awesome. lauren: todd piro, thank you. cheryl: mornings with maria starts now. maria: check out the new balances, cheryl, thank you, good morning, everyone, happy wednesday, thanks for joining us, i'm maria bartiromo, it is wednesday march 20th, top stories right now just before 6:00 a.m. on the east coast.

manufacturing in america, president trump is headed to the heartland today, he will be in ohio this afternoon following the general motors plant cloture there and it is not the only struggling automaker, tesla layoff to begin today, closer look at the industry coming up. stunning development in the lion air crash, off duty pilot saved the exact jet the day before flight. investors waiting on federal reserve and china trade, another round level of high-level talks and federal chairman jay powell, details of the central bank's plans to wind, markets ahead of it, joe biden reportedly telling supporters he's planning a bid for the white house, mornings with maria begins right now.

♪ maria: futures are higher this morning, take a look, wednesday morning, firmer tone to the markets ahead of pretty important events, dow industrials up 16 points, s&p 500 fractionally better by 1 and three quarters points and nasdaq up 6, investors are waiting on a deal between the u.s. and china, the trade negotiations are resuming next week and the federal reserve, of course, a big component this morning, this as president trump will travel to ohio later today after criticizing general motors for closing down the factory in the state. joining me is truck country chairman steve, steve, good to have you on the program this morning, thanks so much for being here. >> nice to see you. maria: so, you know, here we are in an environment where we are seeing pretty good job growth, pretty good economic growth in general and