for the union and its attempt to unionize amazon. that's why the stock is up.5%. well, it's been an eventful day. lots of news breaking, and we're going to cover more of it with neil cavuto, and it's exactly 12 noon. neil, it's yours. neil: thank you, stuart, for that very, very much. all right. they're calling it a skinny budget today. i'm fine with that because if you're looking at $1.5 trillion being a skinny budget, then i can call myself svelte. it's a partial spending measure, the rest comes later this spring, the full budget, which will be another $3.5 trillion on so much that, most likely. if you're keeping track of things, we spent $1.9 trillion on the virus, stimulus plan, whatever you want to call it, we're looking to spend $2.25 trillion on infrastructure. there could be a follow $1.5-2

trillion infrastructure/human needs plan after that. so if you put all of them together, all of them together -- people like to put things in different columns -- you are talking close to $10 trillion. but, again, that's not counting -- again, it's a skinny budget we're talking about here, this initial measure that is meant to keep defense spending kind of where it is and nondiscretionary, nondefense spending at an uptick of anywhere from 8-9%. is so that counts as skinny. [laughter] and all this time i've been trying to lose weight. [laughter] stupid. all right. griff jenkins at the white house on all of this. griff? nothing skinny about this. >> reporter: not at all, neil. it's a skinny budget, perhaps hey big spending should be the song playing in the background. they've been waiting for weeks at the white house, we usually

see these things at the end of february, beginning of march. we're in april now. but let's go right to the numbers because the priorities are glaring. nondefense discretionary spending is up 16% from last year, and $753 billion for national defense programs, a mere 1.7% increase. but what everyone was watching, of course, was the pentagon. that got roughly the same amount as last year, $715 billion. now, republicans wanted more, democrats wanted cuts. now, in some other places you had big increases, and that is a 41% increase you see in education there and 23.5% for hhs. the only area at the bottom that stayed flat, dhs at 52 billion, roughly the same as 2021 levels. so what got out? well, you might have guessed it, the border wall. not a single penny in additional spending for the border wall. it also is proposing the cancellation of prior year balances unobligated at the end of this year.

there is some discretionary spending for infrastructure associated with the border, but that's mostly for the modernization of land ports of entry. now, treasury secretary janet yellen giving the president high marks saying, quote: the president's funding request injects capital into communities where capital is usually hard to come by. it will mean paying taxes a more seamless process for millions of americans, and it makes sure that corporations actually pay what they owe. so what about those unity promises? well, if it's any indication from republican senator john hoeven, it doesn't look promising. watch. >> we need just the reverse. we need to support our military, and we should not be increasing taxes on our job creators. that's what makes our economy grow. >> reporter: legislators have until october 1st to make a compromise happen. in about a half hour, treasury secretary pete buttigieg will be

taking questions, presumably, at the white house about the infrastructure bill that's out there. we'll see what he has to say as well. neil? neil: all right, griff, thank you very much. my friend griff jenkins at the white house. we should, you know, posit here that this spending is part of the two-tiered project. you've got the skinny budget, largely discretionary projects, nothing to do with defense for the most part, and then the grand enchilada, if you will, down the road when we get the rest of the budget. but we're talking some eye-popping numbers. bob i cusack, editor-in-chief of the hill. not surprising each administration has its own priorities. these ones are the exact opposite priorities of his predecessor, but this is fairly sweeping. what do you make of it? >> oh, this is going to be a very difficult task because on the infrastructure democrats are leaning into green jobs and climate change, and that scares off a lot of republicans. and then, of course, the tax

component. when you're raising taxes almost in any way, you're going to scare off republicans. so you're going to have to unite democrats to get this massive, sweeping bill done this summer at some point. that's going to be difficult. everyone talks, neil, about the senate being 50-50. the house is basically 50-50. nancy pelosi can only lose 2 democrats, and there are a fair amount of democrats in trump districts who are nervous about what's going to be in this bill. neil: and they are the, especially those in the more conservative, moderate districts are worried. i think -- and you know these numbers far better than i -- they can only afford, that is democrats, to lose 4 votes on any of this, you know, and that's a razor thin the margin, to put it mildly. already we're hearing from a number of democrats on just the infrastructure plan, that if it doesn't include eliminating the s.a.l.t. part of it, the limitation on state and local taxes, they tonight want it. they're not -- they don't want it. they're to not going to vote for

it. so there's trouble afoot. >> there's trouble afoot because if you have five democratic members and they want with manager like the s.a.l.t., the state and local tax that was changed in the trump tax law, or they want anything else, i mean, those five people are extremely powerful. so there are going to be factions of the housing asking for a lot. the biden white house does not favor putting the s.a.l.t. in this bill, but unlike the covid bill, this bill's going to go through a lot of different changes, and there are going to be some things the biden white house now opposes -- and i think the s.a.l.t. is one of them -- they're going to embrace it. neil: one thing this week that didn't get as much play, but i think it deserves watching is the president opened a compromise on that corporate tax hike. maybe it was motivated by joe manchin saying 28% was too high for him, maybe 25%, but that he might show some flexibility there. then the issue becomes where else do you get the money, or do they just drop it, all right,

well, let's just call it a day, we can't pay for this thing, so why are we pretending? [laughter] >> your last point, neil, i think is dead on. and senator chris coons, democrat from delaware and kind of speaks for the white house at times, he has floated maybe not paying for this because they know how hard it's going to be. they're no way they're going to get to 28 on the corporate tax rate just because they don't have joe manchin's vote. he's not going to back down on that. he has set that line. at most it's going to be 25 and that, i think, is going to be enormously difficult. i think they're going to have to abandon eventually paying for this bill and just say, well, we need to get it done. or maybe pay for a little bit, but not the whole thing. no way. neil: thank you very much, my friend. bob cusack, editor-in-chief of the hill. at the corner of wall and broad here, want to draw your attention to the spending that's going on here, if the markets are afraid, they are not showing it. the dow advancing into record

territory, nasdaq putting in a heck of a show. again, technology stocks, certainly led by amazon with this lopsided union vote in alabama going against unions and overwhelmingly for those who didn't want anything to do with them at least there. but again, they'll fight another day here. but the fact of the matter is for the markets you could argue that they see all of this spending as stimulus or they don't see a lot of the stimulus coming to pass. for that that matter, the taxes associated to pay for all of that. steve moore, the former trump economic adviser, is with us as well as lenore hawkins who follows this very, very closely. lenore, let's get your take first on what the markets are telling us right now. are they ignoring the budget priorities here or focusing more on the good news on vaccinations and improvements in this country

whether it's for americans already vaccinated, in other words, they've gotten at least one dose? what is it? >> well, i think what we've actually seen over the past week or two is the markets have been slowly stalling out. they've been making new highs barely, and volume is unbelievably low, the lowest all year. and we haven't seen the big jumps that you would have expected to see on positive economic news. i think that means that an awful lot of good news is already priced in, and we're also waiting for earnings season to start next week. that really launches. and investors are going to be looking to see if all of this rosy goodness actually comes to fruition. neil: do you think -- i know this president, steve, doesn't focus as the last president did on the markets. he rarely refers to them, if ever. but are you surprised that the markets are doing what they're doing? >> yeah, i am.

i think that investors are not taking into account the impact that some of these massive tax increases would have. not just on the overall economy, but as you and i have talked about, neil, a lot of these taxes are direct assaults against investors. so, you know, you mentioned the corporate income tax increase. and i agree with you, i think it'll probably end up being somewhere in the 25, 26% range, but that's still a pretty big increase from where we are at 2% that was prevailed under trump. but don't forget on top of that, neil, you have the capital gains tax increase which could go as high as 40%. you have the dividend tax increase. neil: right. >> those, when you take the those together because they're just double taxes on top of the corporate tax the, you're talking about a much bigger tax bite out of investment returns, and you would think that that would lower stock values. but it may be that wall street just doesn't think these tax

increases will pass. i'm not so sure about that. neil: interesting. you know, lenore, i know you're in italy right now. so i envy you, but italy's been having a lot of problems with the virus, right? and, i mean, they had some restrictions in effect recommending a lot of folks not attend easter sunday services last week. i know they're beginning to loosen up a little bit, but the reason why i mention it in the context of seeing the virus, i think that is deciding market direction, for the time being. this other stuff notwithstanding. and the better news we hear out of that and news out of britain that it could have herd immunity by early next week, improvements we're making in this country, i think that is dictating things. but italy is a reminder to us that it could be a bumpy ride, right? >> oh, definitely i think the markets are also looking at the u.s. and saying, huh, while the u.s. maybe wasn't having such a good time controlling it, doing an incredible job with rolling out the vaccine whereas over in

europe it is just an embarrassment. it's ridiculous. in the u.s. you've got about 34% of the population has received at least one shot whereas over in italy it's 6.1%. and in the e.u. overall, it's 5.8%. and we're still very much in some pretty restrictive lockdowns. for example, right now i'm near milan, i can't get my haircut, i can't go to a restaurant, and every retail shop is closed except for the essentials like food. it's not exactly a fun time. neil: by the way, lenore, stop. you're in the italy enduring all of this. [laughter] so let's put that in perspective. i know you can't get your -- come on, you are in italy. [laughter] >> that's true. [laughter] neil: okay. all right. i just wanted to point that out, because steve moore and i are not, for the time being. steve, let me ask you a little bit about that. the virus and the improvement that you're seeing on that front, you know, in our country

in particular, and italy is through the worst of it, i should say. i think lenore would agree with me, or they hope they are. but that could decide not only where our economy goes, but those economies. improvement is something that's going to be crucial for all markets, right? >> yeah, absolutely. and when you ask what would be the thing that could really just topple this market, it would be something that i think is highly unlikely, that one of these variants could get around the vaccine and really cause another epidemic. the ed is not point -- the evidence is not pointing in that direction, by the way. but if that happened, then all bets are off about where this u.s. and global economy is going. but, look, i've said this for weeks on your show, as we get more people vaccinated and we get people out, right now i'm in florida, i've got to tell you here in florida things are pretty much back to normal

except people do wear masks. there's a little bit of social distancing. but the economy is roaring here. that may not be true in new york city where you are, but in a lot of areas it is. and ultimately, you can't have a functioning economy if you don't have businesses open, you don't have people going to stores. and as that opens up, it's going to override all of the things that that are happening in washington. and one other quick thing, you know, i heard your previous discussion about the idea of putting the s.a.l.t. deduction back in the tax code. i've got to tell your listeners, that would be the greatest act of hypocrisy by democrats maybe in the list will have of america -- history of america because 60% of the benefits go to millionaires and billionaires living in new york and california. i thought they wanted to get more taxes out of the rich. i think they're going to have a hard time selling that to the american people. neil: well, they're trying. at least -- [laughter]

democratic congressmen are going to try. [laughter] right, right. we'll see. you know, you don't have to be a millionaire or billionaire, obviously, to hit that cap with real estate related taxes so high in their respective districts, but we shall see. steve, lenore, we're going to get you back a little later this hour, so thank you. in the meantime, we're also focusing on the tragic death of prince philip, dead at age 99. now, britain still technically, despite that it's on the verge of having this herd immunity, is still battling with restrictions concerning the virus, so how to plan a funeral when the prince himself has said he didn't want to make a big deal of it. they want to make a big deal of it, but can they in -- can they? after this.

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♪ neil: all right, now to the arrangementsing being made following the death of prince philip, 99 years young. now, of course, they're trying to sort that out with a country that is still dealing with a variety of covid restrictions even though britain has rounded the bend on the more worrisome aspects of the virus. still, how to plan something with all the family squabbles and everything, you've been hearing a great deal about it. greg palkot in london with more.

greg. >> reporter: hi, neil. we are outside of buckingham palace at the london residence of the royals where, yes, people all day have been carefully but steadily coming to pay their respects to the passing of this man, duke of edinborough, the his of queen ii. passed away, according to the queen, peacefully if, thankfully according to the people here. he was 99, he'd be 100 in june. he was married to the queen for 73 years, the longest serving spouse in history. he was in the hospital for about a month earlier this year, came out about a month ago. he has, neil, officiated literally tens of thousands of events, supported young people, sports, conservation, but everybody says his most important job, supporting the queen. here is what u.k. prime minister boris johnson had to say. >> he was the longest serving

consort in history, one of the last surviving people in this country to have served in the second world war. he shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people. we remember the duke for all of this and, above all, for his steadfast support for her majesty, the queen. >> reporter: very heartfelt. neil, about the attitude, the feelings we're hearing from people, thed mood again, somber, respectful. this guy was very well liked. he got the royals through a lot of difficult issues but, yes, covid is here. he wanted a small funeral, he's going to get it because with covid restrictions, he is remaining at windsor castle, his remains there. and he will be buried in about one week's time. one more note, neil, this guy, prince philip in, he had a wonderful sense of humor. a little bit unpolitically correct. we ran into a retired diplomat who had a chance to meet him several times, and he confided to us that prince philip told

just the right kind of jokes. [laughter] maybe he's having a smile now. back to you. neil: yeah. it would seem a lot of the exchanges he had with so many presidents he met, i loved the exchange with ronald reagan. you don't look like a cowboy to me. [laughter] very cute, sort of encapsulated his entire personality. greg, thank you very much for that. nile gardiner joins us right now, form foreign policy -- former foreign policy adviser under maggie thatcher, so much more. excellent student of history as well. nile, thank you so much for joining us. i do wonder, when you plan for a funeral -- private, small or otherwise -- there are other elements to consider. we'd be remiss if we didn't mention, of course, prince harry, meghan markle interview with oprah winfrey, and we were told at the time prince philip was a aghast at that exchange, and now there's the added

element, anxiety, drama around who goes, whether they go to the funeral, how, you know, fraught this could be for the family. what are you hearing? >> well, neil, thank you very much for having me on the show and, of course, extreme sad news from london this morning. but at the same time, of course, celebrating the life of a truly distinguished figure, prince philip, a great war hero, someone who was dedicated his entire life to serving the british people, a role model of duty, service and dedication. and truly an inspiration. and as you mentioned, the funeral will be next week. it's going to be in st. george's chapel, windsor castle. it's not going to be a state funeral at the request of prince philip. and there is a big question with regard to, you know, whether meghan markle will be coming over. certainly, of course, i think prince harry will be are, will be there. it remains to be seen, i think, if meghan also travels across

the atlantic considering the huge fallout from the her disastrous interview a few weeks ago which was a direct attack, of course, on the royal family and which caused great unhappiness not only among the royals, but also among the british people and the british public were overwhelmingly against meghan's, you know, attacks on the royalty which came, of course, just a few weeks before the passing today of prince philip at the age of 99. certainly, a lot of, you know, controversy in the background here. but certainly i'd expect that prince harry will be in london next week for the funeral. neil: how are brits reacting to all of this? he really was a beloved figure in the greater royal family, certainly a loyal spouse, loyal to britain's traditions which might explain, you know, his reaction -- that we're told -- was not favorable to that interview with prince harry and

meghan markle. but having said all of that, how are they, average brits, you know, responding to this passing of the torch? >> well, prince phil inwas hugely popular -- philip was hugely popular. he was a very outspoken figure at times, and the british public really took to him. they admired him, they liked him. he liked to joke a lot, actually, and he was certainly the antithesis of the kind of politically correctration that you -- generation that you see today on both sides of the atlantic. and in many respects, i mean, his life of service and duty was the antithesis of the approach taken by, you know, meghan markle and the sort of me too generation today. and the fact is the british public if greatly loved prince philip. they admired him. and i think there'll be a real sense of tremendous loss today among the british people with regard to the passing of a

greatly beloved figure. and he really embodied the british warrior spirit. he was a warrior prince, a hero of world war ii. he was second in command, actually, of a royal navy ship, fought in numerous battles, and he represented that wartime generation, that sacrificed and gave so much to keep the free world free. and prince harry -- sorry, prince philip really embodied, i think, in every respect the greatness of the wartime heroes who fought against nazi tyranny and also imperial japan as well. neil: yeah. to your point, i mean, people forget about his military heroics, i mean, and the fact that so many at the time that we can shield you from all of this, it's good that you're here, but you really don't have to do anything. and he famously would answer, well, i'm here now, and that is not an option op. people forget about that part of his service and how gallant he

was in harm's way once three times, one almost death-defying. people forget that part, don't they? >> absolutely. extremely brave and gallant individual. so as someone who, you know, was at the side of the queen for 73 years following their wedding at westminster abbey in 1947, and in many respects he was a steadfast rock, the heart of the royal family. he was also dedicated to hundreds and hundreds of charities, i think 800 in total. set up the duke of edinburgh award scheme which has benefited the lives of people around the world, someone who served the british people, the monarchy and, of course, hugely loyal to the queen. and so today is an immensely sad day especially for her majesty, queen ii.

and we all remember prince philip as someone who was a shining light of patriotism, of service and really with a heart of gold as well. of an extremely kind man who really, you know, lived his life for the british people. neil: yeah, beautifully put, nile. you're quite right judging from the reaction globally. i think a lot of people would agree with that characterization. nile gardiner, thank you very, very much. i am not nearly as familiar with prince philip, certainly, as nile, but i've enjoyed -- as you probably have -- these recollections and looking back at his life. i did not realize, for example, that prince philip already was royalty when he married queen elizabeth. but as he characterized it at the time, royal, but this is a very different type of royalty. this is big deal royalty. it was. he was. we'll have more after this.

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♪ neil: it wasn't even close, amazon staving off a union push at an alabama warehouse by better than 2 to 1 margin. in other words, by a 2 to 1 margin, workers opted to keep things as they are and not go union. gerri willis has been following these developments and what happens now. >> reporter: well, neil, that's right. so, let me just tell you, we got words moments ago the union already saying it's filing unfair labor practice charges against amazon. i'll get to the details of that in just a moment. but as you say, the vote count is in. 71% of amazon workers have voted no on the union. they do not want to unionize the 5800-person work force at the facility in bess with mercer

alabama. -- bessamer, alabama. and this is the considered a victory for alabama and a major failure for unionizers who could have used the win to roll up more amazon facilities and other high-tech employers. now, i mentioned the union filing unfair labor charges. i want to read to you the language they're using here. they say am created, quote -- amazon created, quote: an atmosphere of fear, confusion and/or fear of reprisals. they want a hearing with the nlb. the nlrb, national labor relations board, was on hand to review names and signatures. those votes now, you should understand, were mailed in, mailed in in february and march. this is the first large scale amazon facility work force to vote. a smaller group of warehouse technicians back in 2014 in delaware, they also voted, but

that effort failed as well. we mentioned before this was a win for amazon, but the vote comes in at a time that the company is under major scrutiny by regulators and by legislators. so there could be more ramifications to this, neil. neil: all right. gerri, thank you very much for that. a couple of things we're monitoring right now, pete buttigieg, transportation secretary, is addressing reporters right now in the white house briefing room. of course, he is one of the point people on deciding exactly how much effort will go into that $2.th25thth trillionio io asuctu pture ptun.n. he ju the t a ltl ltle biing about w w t w toay it i includingding milge t on carau so manynylect erilec one waye r the t oth oer. fso w ie, i'd like to dipo the transportatnsionatn cretary aar aarar b b see whath' on thisront f. by by the way,,,heame dayhe biden administratiniotriniotr is annong aci skinnykikikiget t tht t doesn't addresnfrastructure,

e, butouch on tiestihatit are n bigigign e but but b veryigigig on dom dc nose sse sin sg. right noght peteete but btigiug >> -- -d - thedy t areotot asku r around the edges. we've risen to this challenge before as a country. in fact, building bold infrastructure has always been central to america's story. we built the erie canal, we connected east to west through the transcontinental railroad, and we developed the interstate highway system. in each of those prompts was awe -- projects was audacious, was transformative, and partly because it challenged the american people to expand our concept of infrastructure. but in doing so, these projects transformed our nation for the better and fueled the u.s. economy and way of life for the long run. so now it's our turn. the american jobs plan will again transform america's roads and bridges, rail and transit, ports and airports for the better. it's going to help modernize our

transportation infrastructure so we can compete in the 21st century and connect communities, it will create millions of good jobs in communities across the country. i want to point out again that this is the biggest investment in american jobs since world war ii. but i think it's important to demystify the kinds of jobs that this plan is going to create. these are good jobs. they are not mysterious or overly futuristic or inaccessible. we are going to need workers who are good with steel to make the cars and trucks of the future. we're talking about building retrofits that are going to require union carpenters and insulators, painters and glazers. we're going to need electrical workers more than ever. we're not going to be able to build the roads we need to build without construction workers, operating engineers, laborers. plumbers and pipe fitters are going to be a huge part of the story. so this is a jobs plan that is building america's economy from the middle class out. coming at just the right time. it's meeting the challenges that

we face today, and it is fully paid for by making corporations pay their fair share. we think it's unacceptable that there are major profitable corporations in this country paying less in taxes than a teacher or a firefighter not in terms of a percentage, but in terms of dollars. specifically, in many cases, paying zero. and there's been a lot of talk at this moment, as you know, about what infrastructure is and isn't. i would argue that infrastructure is the foundation that makes it possible for people to live and work well. and you can't live or work or thrive without things like roads, clean water, electricity, broadband. yes, that's infrastructure. and investing in a full vision of infrastructure is how we build a safer and more prosperous america. and, ultimately, i believe critical to the american dream. so that's why i'm thrilled to be in this role, delighted by the american jobs plan announcement,

spending time every day speaking to stakeholders about how to make sure we get it through. >> all right. peter, go ahead. >> president biden says he wants $80 billion for rail, and the other day he was talking about having trains that could go across country as fast as a plane. i'm curious, as the transportation secretary, do you see a big demand for that, for a high-speed, cross-country train? >> there's definitely a lot of excitement around america about insuring that the american people can enjoy a high standard of passenger rail service. like the president, i don't think americans should settle for less than citizens in other countries enjoy as a matter of course. now the truth is we have a backlog to deal with in addition to making sure that we can create new routes and new capacity, and what's great about the scale of the american jobs plan is it's going to support both of those things; maintenance and if a chance to build new routes and expand what americans can access. >> about how long a ways are we from something like a high-speed, cross-country train?

>> well, again, we need to add a lot, first of all, to what we've already got. but we can build new routes with the resources that are here. it's not the end of the story, but it's a fantastic beginning for a new chapter in american rail. >> [inaudible] >> thanks for doing this. as you know, there's been some criticism about the corporate tax hike. some people have said that user fees should fund infrastructure. and i was curious, because user fees often cover the cost of maintenance and repairs. does this administration have a plan to cover maintenance and repairs for all the infrastructure that's being built? >> so as you know, the jobs plan envisions this being covered through corporate taxes, and the president believes very strongly that this is not something that should burden ordinary american families at a time when we've got so many corporations that have paid literally zero. i also would argue that there's ample evidence that american corporations can be competitive at a tax rate like 28 for the simple reason that they were extremely competitive at a tax rate like 35.

if they could handle 35, surely they could handle 28 which was lower, of course, is lower, would be lower than it's been for most of my lifetime. we've heard a lot of different ideas on what the pay-fors should be. i think it's a good time to take those onboard, but for my dime, it's hard to beat the vision the president put forward. >> does there need to be a dedicated revenue stream? >> look, keep talking with congress -- we'll keep talking with congress about this, but there are a lot of different ways to do this. the best way i've seen, especially for these kind of capital improvements, is exactly what's in the president's plan. >> mike? >> thank you, secretary. having covered local, state and local government for almost 20 years before coming here, aye seen the divisions that can -- i've seen the divisions that can corrupt within a state, between regions of the state as they fight over limited pots of money to build these kinds of infrastructure projects. how, how involved do you think the federal government, the department of transportation,

congress, the white house should be in making the inevitable choices that are going to have to be made in terms of which bridge gets fixed first, which road gets widened, you know? there's not enough money to fix everything and to do everything. so how much of a role do you envision playing, or is it up to the states to kind of wage the wars they normally wage? >> well, i think there's always been a push-pull here, right? because communities often know what is most needed for them. and we welcome that, and i think our program design recognizes that. i view our role as laying out the broad policy strokes. even in the existing discretionary grant programs, you've seen this. we made sure that the first wave of calls for applications clarified that we're looking for great projects that also bear on things like equity and climate that are important to this administration. and you'll continue to see that in the program design. of course, there's always going to be competition for limited

funds, but the other thing i would say is that competition is most ferocious when the funds are most limited. and so part of what we're trying to do here is make sure there's an ample set of resources to go around so that some communities may be the most successful in rounds of competition, but that it doesn't feel like other communities are being left behind. we've got to make sure there's enough to raise the bar in the country as a whole. >> one quick follow-up on that. to the extent that a lot of that decision making gets pushed to the local level because that's where they know, or you know, about the need, how does the federal government retain oversight over what is an enormous amount of money both in terms of, you know, just sort of waste, fraud and abuse but also in terms of making sure, you know, that it adheres to those kind of broader equity, you know, issues that you guys talk so much about? >> yeah, that's a big responsibility for a department like mine that'll be charged with carrying this out. the president has already made clear his very high expectations

for us in the rescue plan dollars,, right? that's about $40 billion we've got to manage well. he also rightly takes pride in the remarkably low rate of waste, fraud and abuse in the recovery act that he led in the obama administration. i think now's the moment to make sure we double down on those principles to make sure that the dollars are well spent and, yes, that they actually meet the public policy goals that are motivating us to do this in the first place. >> ed? >> secretary, thanks for doing this. i'm having an alternative universe, other times and other places. [laughter] since you're transportation secretary, travel, obviously, a big part of what you have to worry about. to americans eager to get back overseas whether it's by plane or by cruise ship, you know there have been questions about the cruise industry especially and the cdc's guidance, there's

been concern perhaps there haven't been enough specifics or specific benchmarks. have you been in touch with the cdc about the concerns, and could industry leaders who say they should be treated more like airlines, what would you say? >> the bottom line is safety. i'm the secretary of transportation. i can't wait for us all to be on the move as much as possible in a safe and responsible way. but it's got to be safe and responsible. and airlines have -- airplanes have one safety profile, cruise ships have another, vehicles have another, and each one needs to be treated based on what's safe for that sector. i'll tell you, i certainly care a lot about seeing the cruise sector thrive, and i know that cdc is hopeful that a lot of these operators will be in a position to be sailing by mid summer. and laying out the specific kind of gates that they need to get through is a very important step toward that. >> industry leaders who say mid summer is too late, governments

who say it hurts their economies, you would say what? >> we want to do this as soon as we responsibly can, but we also have to make sure that it's safe. >> stevesome. >> once you get the money from -- [inaudible] is there a process for -- the projects, getting construction started? because there's always delays in permitting, so forth. >> yeah, this is another thing that i was glad to see specifically discussed in the jobs plan, the importance of efficiently delivering these dollars. we see a lot of cups that have very rigorous standards around environmental concerns also have found ways to make sure is delivery is efficient. provided it does not entail cutting any corners on things that are fundamental policy goals and legal requirements like, you know, environmental standards, provided we can do it without cutting corners, i think we can find ways to make sure that the process is more efficient, to look for duplication and try to root that out. and that's going to be an important part of making sure these dollars do the most good

economically. although i would point out this is not the same kind of stimulus pattern we were talking about in 2009. we're looking for shovel-ready projects but also shovel-worthy projects that are still in that pipeline. >> [inaudible] >> the pivot -- [inaudible] there's been problems discovered with the 737 max, dozens of them have been found grounded, and this was months after the faa said they were safe to fly again. i'm curious if you still have confidence in the faa's decision to lift the grounding of the jets. >> my understanding, and we're just looking at this, but my understanding is this is different from any of those other issues and that, obviously, we need to make sure that they are, there's full confidence before these specific aircraft return to the air, and that's what the faa will be closely monitoring. >> [inaudible] >> thank you. mr. secretary, many administration officials including secretary -- [inaudible] yesterday frame infrastructure in the context of competition

with china. so my question is why do that? why design and frame a policy in the context of what an adversary's doing? >> i think because it's really important to understand that american competitiveness happens in a context. and when you see other countries, our allies, also our strategic competitors, doing more than we are, it challenges that fundamental idea that american life is what it is partly because america is in first place in so many of these aspects of our national life. only america's not in first place in infrastructure. like i said, we're in 13th. so when you have a strategic competitor like china, investing sometimes multiples of what we are in forms of transportation, we have to make a decision about whether we're content to be left behind or whether we actually want to remain number one. and for my dime, there's no good reason why we should settle for less and why we should be content. it's nothing against chinese citizens, but i'm not content

that a chinese citizen can't count on a dramatically better standard of, let's say, train travel than a u.s. citizen. i think america should always have the best. i think that's the tone the president sets every day. >> to follow up, is it partly also a messaging strategy to gain republican support? >> well, i'll say i've heard a lot of voices from across the aisle also expressing concerns about whether america's falling behind in any number of strategic and economic dimensions. and, again, a lot of that depends on what we're investing. and this is nothing new, right? part of what made the interstate highway system so important was an understanding that our national security in the eisenhower era was well served by making sure that we had a more connected economy and country. we're not in the cold war, this is not the eisenhower era, but that principle of national security at stake applies especially when you consider today one of the biggest threats to our national security is the

global security threat posed by climate change. >> [inaudible] >> have you personally spoken with senator manchin about this proposal? >> i'm looking forward to speaking with him soon. >> so next week or -- >> i don't remember the date, but i think we've got a conversation in the works. >> [inaudible] the corporate tax rate going to 28%, his counterproposal has been 25%. could this plan be successful with a 25% corporate tax a rate in. >> well, as you know, maybe the flagship piece that people are talking about most is the rate, but there's a lot of other things alongside that in terms of what's going on with the loopholes, the offshoring incentives, and i haven't had a chance to get a sense of how he views those things adding up, whether he envisions another element that makes up for the gap between 25 and 28. those are the kinds of things i want to take up with him and have a conversation on. i think for anyone who is onboard -- and, by the way, i have yet to talk to anybody who, i think including in conversations with republicans, who is against the idea of a big

investment in infrastructure, right? to most of the dialogue we're having is around how we pay for it, and we're really eager to hear the alternative suggestions. >> and have republicans given you so far alternative suggestions that you believe are viable? >> not in any detail. >> [inaudible] >> [inaudible] actually asked my question. [laughter] you would be, so you would be -- neil: all right. we're going to keep monitoring this. this is pete buttigieg, secretary transportation, one of five cabinet secretaries who were sort of leading this 2.2 infrastructure -- $2.2 trillion infrastructure or sell campaign, if you will. he just end ed there saying something interesting about joe manchin and the fact that the west virginia democratic senator has already said a 28% corporate tax rate is a little too high for his wishes, that he'd prefer that to be lower to pay for all of this. and, again, one of the things

that mr. buttigieg was saying was that companies have thrived in environments where the tax rate was much higher. it had been as high as 35%. the administration wants to take it to 28%, higher prior to that, but he thinks they could absorb this. hearing not only from the west virginia democrat, but republicans who he said are interested in coming up with infrastructure spending of their own. while they all agree on that, they don't agree on the price tag. i think republicans are in the camp that says we can do all this, focus on infrastructure for about a third of the price you're looking at. kate greaves joins us right now, mississippi republican governor. governor, thank you very much. it seems like he is echoing a theme we're hearing out of the white house of late, governor, that there's some flexibility on at least the means by which we pay for all of this.

but you're not a fan of the size of the package itself, right? the 2.2 plus trillion, right? >> well, i'm not, neil, and the reason i'm not because, you know, they call it the american jobs plan because they want to pull the wool over the eyes of the more than people and try to convince them -- the american people and try to convince them this is going to create jobs when, in fact, it's going to cost america jobs. and they talk about infrastructure. i'll tell you, when we look at infrastructure in our state the, roads and bridges are critically important. i think there are a lot of republicans in mississippi and a lot of republicans around the country that would want to work with democrats to get a real infrastructure plan. but this plan has $110 billion out of the over $2 trillion, $110 billion for roads and bridges, and it has $140 billion for public transit and amtrak combined. it has approximately 100 billion in the plan for clean water, certainly something that we could support in mississippi and it's badly needed, it's a core function of government, and we

need those investments all across america including in our state, but it has $100 billion for clean water and $155 billion in subsidies for electric vehicles. unfortunately, this is not an infrastructure plan, it's a $2 trillion tax increase on the american people to pay for many of the political statements that the biden administration wants to pay for. neil: you know, governor, are you open to, as some republicans seem to be -- i've talked to a number of late -- obviously, a smaller infrastructure package focused only on infrastructure. i get that, but other ways to pay for it including user fees, gas taxes and the like. republicans seem open to that. how about you? >> well, you know, i think that when you look at the plan that the democrats have put forth, they're talking about significant increases in corporate income taxes. and the reason they're claiming they only want to raise taxes on corporations is because there is

no, there are no voters that necessarily in their own mind are paying directly corporate income taxes. so let's be honest with the american people. when you look at corporate income taxes, there are three groups of people that actually pay. it's not the big wigs in the corner offices that are writing the checks for this. there are three groups of people that pay corporate income taxes. number one, a very small share might be paid by the shareholders. number two, the actual consumers pay for about a quarter of all corporate income taxes because in those is industries where there is actually pricing power, they can raise prices to pay for those. but, number three, the vast majority of corporate income taxes are actually paid by the employees of those companies, by american workers. they are paid less, and they have fewer benefits as corporate income tax is going up. so this is really a huge tax increase on on the american people, the people who are actually working, again, to pay for a with wish list of democrat

ideas that are not really, truly tied to infrastructure. there can be a conversation in the congress. the congress is going to determine how they ultimately pay for this. certainly, should be paid for. so i look forward to those discussions. neil: all right, governor. i wish we had more time, sir, and i know we were going to talk about virus updates and vaccinations and how it's going in your state -- well, i understand, even though a lot of people are leery of getting the vaccine itself. maybe i'll call you back on another time on that. but, governor, thank you very much for your time. speaking of how things are going in various states with vaccines, governor whitmer in michigan has asked people to stop dining indoors and has suspended youth sports for at least two weeks because of the spike in cases in her state. we'll keep you posted on this and what it means for michigan residents after this. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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for all that excitement, only so many people are responding to demand these job position be filled. connell mcshane is looking at this story and sounds like the problem is finding labor. >> reporter: you have good problems, a good problem to have. the economy is great, bouncing back, expecting a huge summer on cape cod. the bounce back is creating a difficult situation for business in some getaway spots. >> waterfront homes on cape cod are always in high demand, it is shaping up to be a summerlike know better. blake decker showed us one home that rents for $11 a week. >> the rental inventory. >> reporter: the story as we

look around the neighborhood. we stop by the red jacket beach resort which was nearly identical. >> we expect a record year. >> that create the chalice for resort executives, red jacket needs to hire 500 seasonal workers. so far only a little halfway there and normally they rely on students coming in from overseas, not this year. >> no guarantees that once it came time to get people here what if there was an outbreak so we decided to go all in, do everything we can to hire as many local people as we can. >> reporter: on main street restaurant manager erica showed us around colombo where she had plenty of positions available. >> looking at 50 more employees. >> beggars can't be choosers. looks like colombo's will hire some inexperienced workers this season because unemployment

benefits have been extended. >> who wouldn't want to stay home and pay your bills? >> reporter: she will end up waiting tables herself unless the hiring picks up. a good chance it won't pickup because these enhanced unemployment benefits don't expire for many people into early september so you might get people who decide they want to take summer off and collect unemployment rather than take a seasonal job so that is creating a big issue and we will see how it goes. neil: can't believe all those rentals are spoken for. they are not cheap. >> it is crazy but you have these people coming in and they want to go out to dinner and restaurants are still closed because they can't staff them. it is a weird situation.

neil: that is a bad thing to have. connell mcshane following that. you heard the report that came out this morning, it was heard by not only energy but spreading like corn that has been soaring of late, jeff flock is taking a close look at what is going on. he is in illinois right now. >> this is jim robin's corn been. and prices at an 8 year high, inside the corn silo and they put up the prices right now, 8 year high for corn. >> it is an offering at $6. >> futures are 585 at the moment.

you mentioned food. the other thing is ethanol. ethanol is a huge piece piece of what corn is used for but ethanol is green. >> it is definitely green, 40% is already used for biofuels, we will increase that, and it is a definite positive for agriculture. >> it is inevitable. the been we are showing you, right now the usda came out with a crop report, an hour or

so ago, there's a lot less corn like this in storage than they thought and there will be a lot more demand because of people back on the roads, more ethanol and gas conception. prices go up i am afraid. neil: thank you very much for that and the impact of what is happening on that front. imagine running a large food company as this gentleman did, i remember we talked when you are running that conglomerate about there are things you can control and things you can't control. price of underlying commodities, agricultural commodities the going to so much, craft by itself is soaring and soaring at a pretty good clip. what do you do? >> reminiscent of 2007-2008 and a little bit of 2011 when crops got away from the food supply.

it is energy, packaging, transportation, ingredients as you just mentioned and the food companies and retailers have a couple answers. one, you will see some pricing go through the system. i saw the ceo of kroger saying he thought it would be one% to 2%, you may see as much is mid-single digit pricing affect the grocery business and the second thing you're going to see is private label replace the branded share. what consumers could do is trade down a little bit on the private label and look for details but buy in bulk or larger sizes which tend to be cheaper, maybe change the places they shop more to the discount stores and more traditional retailer, from a manufacturing standpoint, take pricing as much as you can depending on elasticity of the business but then start cutting costs and it gets painful. >> then your tax rate is going up or likely to go up and that is a double whammy for

corporation. potentially an inflationary tie. >> there are a couple aspects of this. many food companies particularly those headquartered in the us are multinational companies and as a consequence of that they will get a double whammy with the changes being proposed about how you repatriate profits from international markets and the second thing gets past on to consumers, we talk about corporations being entities and it doesn't matter if you tax them but those costs are passed on in 3 or 4 ways, in higher costs to the consumer, they are passed on in terms of lower wages, they are passed on in terms of job reductions and four their past on in terms of lower profitability which affects the markets and affect the ongoing implications of that, none of this is good for the consumer, by the end of

this calendar year once we have the crops in, see how things are going and energy costs ameliorate a bit the with corn being converted to ethanol and pipelines being shutdown that is not likely to happen, it will be an interesting year and in terms of business they have few advocates right now what is going on in congress and other places so business has to fend for themselves on this one. >> you've endured those over the decades, curious what is going on with catch up, the shortages are we running out of catch up? educate me here because it is in short supply? some restaurants are limiting how much catchup they give you if they give it to you? >> it is demand scheduling issue. i am no longer having anything

to do with craft times but nevertheless what is happening is you anticipate growth in the retail segment or traditional bottles and as the consumer shifted last year to pick up and take out from restaurants they tend to give out the little packets, used to call them singleserve packets, not sure what they call them now and those are in short supply because basically didn't schedule the demand because they didn't know, none of us were able to predict last year's demand. we make pasta sauce and our business is up 99% and so it has been very difficult on the food guys to predict where this is going and ultimately how to handle it but catchup will be okay. the one thing i will say, unlike a grocery store you walk in and find your choice of bottles if you're a food-service operator or restaurant operator dependent on heinz ketchup packets only and you begin to turn to other suppliers maybe costs you more and your dependents are

reliant, it is what happened between heinz and mcdonald's 50 or 60 years ago so that is something i am concerned about people sourcing from other areas of they don't get the demand supply situation straightened out quickly. neil: once they go to other areas they might not return. you got through my thick scope. thank you very much. let's go to gary on this. a lot of things i want to get into. you just heard bill johnson saying as prices go up people will speak out, alternative projects, not the premier labels, that is how they will fight this. the weight is bubbling in this

country? >> wholesale inflation, washington is asleep on this issue but the consumer is not, the consumer is aware their food costs are going up, businesses know their cost is going up, grocery bills, gas bills, lumber prices, these things are creeping into the market. the biggest surge of inflation in 9 years. we see more of it next week in the consumer price inflation numbers but for the average consumer this is hurting people, it is a regressive tax. it hurts working people more than wealthy people. that is what washington doesn't understand. they live in an ivory tower, we live in the real world and go to the grocery store and we see what is happening. for manufacturers they will pass that to the sector, it will affect the economy.

the stagflation we saw think about the jimmy carter era but without 3 mile island, that is what we are headed for. neil: i hope that doesn't happen but just to refresh people, this is the level where it reaches the consumer for the latest month of march. the backdrop for all of this, you have an interesting vantage point in orlando, vacation usa, from disney world reopening and allowing more people to come to their parks, some of these other amusement parks. the demand and capacity to spend, what are you seeing from the orlando front. >> most importantly the numbers in 2019, they visited central

florida, the economic impact that went to a stall. they got going, the good news is it is starting to kick in gear even though there is lower capacity at the theme parks. disney was sold out, universal just about the same -- neil: smaller capacity levels. >> when you go to their shopping areas and restaurant areas they are packed the right now and they handle it very well with the mask and social distancing and i travel around central florida to see what is going on, the malls, the outlet malls it is path and this is without international visitors. people are coming in droves. it is good to see and the

economic impact, 500,000 jobs, in the tourism industry. every day getting away from the virus and the vaccines picking up for a very good day and there's a reason why desantis just sued the cdc to get cruise lines going, that accounts for 60% of all cruises from the united states, very important stuff too. >> they were all saying the cruise operator, we have to find a way for you to get past this resistance, we will change our port of departure and it won't be by you. we will see if it pans out. we can see you running around with a big old turkey.

everything is on the up and up. thank you. are you going to say something? >> turkey used to go for $7 and now $15. neil: worth every penny. >> go to disney world, don't make me go. i will pay you any amount of money not to make my family go. neil: the elitist in you live. thank you very much. america is reopening and we see in michigan, they are planted down hoping to ease up on those types. we will get the read on all of that from richard bester after this.

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to go, a person who is infected doesn't spread to anyone else. that is the basic concept was one of the challenges in reaching herd immunity with this virus is right now there is no vaccines for kids so i question whether or not we will see herd immunity in children and it is not an on or off thing. the more people vaccinated less likely someone who is infected will spread it and the uk has done a good job in vaccination, the us is doing a good job and increasingly better job vaccinating people. what we will start to see is infected people spread it to fewer and fewer people. neil: doesn't mean you can't get it. >> it doesn't mean. if you are not vaccinated and you come in contact with someone who is infected you have a high chance of getting this infection. what it is saying is the virus

is much less likely to spread rampantly through a community because so many people have had it or so many people vaccinated and that is the goal. we like to accomplish that for widespread vaccination. we do that every year when we vaccinate them against measles, whooping cough, and don't have anywhere for the virus to go. neil: in michigan, governor gretchen witmer is asking people to voluntarily suspend youth sports, stop dining indoors, to handle what she hopes will be a temporary surge in covid cases in that state. >> what we are seeing across the country is rising number of cases and what that is attributed to is spread of a variant that was first identified in the uk, spreads more easily and add a more

serious impact in terms of health. why michigan is seeing so much more than other states isn't clear but states that aren't seeing that rise should not feel comfortable that they have avoided that issue. as variance develop there is the opportunity for them to spread and that is why it is important we not only vaccinate people but reduce the chances the virus will spread in the community because every time the virus goes from one person to another is a chance for a new mutation in that virus to develop into a new variant. we've been lucky so far in that the variance traveling run the country are all covered by the current vaccines but that doesn't mean that will be the case in the future. neil: one of these variants is the same one in brazil that cause a lot of problems. are we protected from that? a lot of these variants popping up. >> it is the reason it is so critically important to us in

america to do all we can to control this not just in the us but around the globe because the variant that springs up anywhere around the globe is a risk to everyone around the globe. it is an economic list, health risk, and it is truly in our self-interest to do all we can to make sure every country is controlling this. neil: you've always been a voice of reason, thank you very much. steady as she goes but because this. doctor richard bester of the robert woods foundation, president and ceo, a lot more after this including more on this major league baseball fallout and especially how it is impacting not only that stadium in atlanta, georgia but other stadiums across the country. is it having the opposite effect on major league baseball might want it?

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the more on the major-league baseball fallout from opting out of the atlanta all-star game in july and bringing it to colorado. charlie has more on this developing story. what is the latest? >> it is a big business story, major league ball is a multibillion-dollar business. bob mansfield worried about player boycotts if he didn't change venues out of atlanta because of the georgia voting law and charges by some

activists including the president who called it racist, jim crow on steroids, he worried about some player boycotts if he moved it out. now that he is moving out, it appears -- getting this from major-league sources, the team in the league is inundated with complaints over the decision to move out of georgia. for subscriptions, to have baseball on their cable packages. bob mansfield's political move to endorse critics of the voting rights law. it is unclear how big this will

do, i guess there is a lesson for woke ceos. if you go that route you stand a good chance of annoying, having the public not buy your products. we should point out that 71 million people voted for donald trump, almost half the country. that is a lot of people to boycott major league baseball and we should point out baseball fans generally trended republican and conservative. bob manfred has a problem on his hands. neil: kim blackwell is with us, former secretary of state of ohio, former transition team member, cincinnati mayor. i would love to talk to you in the capacity of a cincinnati red minority owner. i'm curious to see if there has

been an impact on the part of fans on this move in your neck of the woods. >> my family has deep roots with major league baseball. my uncle hubbard was the founder of the cincinnati tigers and the american negro baseball league. we had a special relationship with the cincinnati reds, i am a shareholder of the reds. what has happened here is major league baseball had history of leading by example like our military. the baseball commissioner got over his fees on this. he in fact condemned common sense reforms that were pretty commonplace for about other cities that house our homes to major league baseball teams and he bought into the narrative that these reforms were

suppressive and repressive and starting to realize he didn't do his homework and he led baseball down $100 million catastrophe, spending and hurting people that he claimed he was advocating on their behalf. i've never been a big believer in organized boycotts but there will be an economic price to pay for this hypocrisy. that was unfortunate. and there were those of us, the field for a long time.

and there is easy access to the ballot box. it is easy to vote. and that is pretty common sense. now to call, to move the all-star game. and to imply baseball fans, and the kind of punishment. and complicit, that is just stupid and can't see that. >> it could lead to a lot of people opting out of going to games, let alone washing them on tv. any evidence of that? >> i can tell you the principal

ownership of the cincinnati reds has been engaged in this community and been on the forefront of making sure, and i think our community responsibility, people will see this is an overshoot by the baseball commissioner and they will judge us on how we interact in this community. i have gotten some blowback from fans saying how could you let this happen. we will work through it but i have been shining a light on the hypocrisy myself. i don't needs to boycott. what i do need is to be a light in this corner of darkness of major league baseball.

it was an overshoot. my uncle was the first black american to win an olympic gold medal, he won in the 1924 games and when he came back, when he came back to cincinnati, he expanded baseball into the black communities of the city and started the cincinnati tigers and so we are all in, i know the history of major league baseball, making sure by example that they show americans the idea of americanism and that is equality for all and equal opportunity. neil: i could not have said it better. enjoy your summer and i don't flip over the reds but had a good time because you are with

them. ken blackburn on that. in the meantime, i am not talking about what is happening above ground, i am talking about what is going on underground with edward lawrence. edward. >> exactly. elon musk has companies would go up like space x and we will talk about his companies that go down, the boring companies, you will see the first commercial boring company project, stay with us. you can spend your life in boxing or any other business, but one day, you're gonna take a hit you didn't see coming. and it won't matter what hit you. what matters is you're down. and there's nothing down there with you but the choice that will define you. do you stay down? or.

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neil: the vegas loop that is elon musk's dream coming true as we speak. edward lawrence is there with more. what is going on? >> reporter: this could be the future of public transportation on the west end of the las vegas convention center, more than a mile to the other side.

the cars that are coming in and out of these tunnels take them 2 minutes to do that. and -- the 62 tesla cars. and possibly 35,000 people, as much as people as the subway does. >> the traditional types of transportation primarily because it is an express system. you don't have to stop at every station along the way, where you are to where you want to go without stopping without having traffic, without having a stoplight in the way so it is really quick which has capacity very high.

>> to go up and down las vegas boulevard as well is the raiders football stadium. they have this expansion. in fact the boring company is going to make the title for free, just up to each site to build their own station and pitching miami as the next system for them to use. neil: thank you very much. lydia is in jackson, new jersey, 6 flags across the country, hiring a bunch of folks. they deal with the pent-up demand once the season ensues. what is the latest? >> 6 flags in jackson, new jersey has been open with all

the familiar sights and sounds, of the funnel cake, delicious but there is some difference now. social distancing is expected. also a capacity limit of 50%. to keep that in check the park is using an online reservation system, tickets can no longer be purchased at the front, they are using anonymous process to control the crowds but even with the cages hear people talking to today say they are delighted to be at the park. listen. >> is it different than before the pandemic with the mask wearing and everything? is a different experience? >> yes it is. >> reporter: does it affect your enjoyment or not make a difference? >> they are doing a pretty good job especially on the south side and vaccine distribution. it is a lot safer. >> reopenings happening across the country.

new york amusement parks reopening at 33% capacity is another issue was about the employment, took a major hit last year. it took 41% across the country but is expected to slowly make their way back as we are seeing the returns. and seasonally adjusted and welcoming people back to the park now. back to you. neil: a lot of activity behind you. in the meantime, enormous influence and fortunes beginning with what is coming up with a quick way to make notes. he has an interesting take how to go back, when you have been hearing from others. ♪♪

understand why. (money manager) because our way works great for us! (judith) but not for your clients. that's why we're a fiduciary, obligated to put clients first. (money manager) so, what do you provide? cookie cutter portfolios? (judith) nope, we tailor portfolios to our client's needs. (money manager) but you do sell investments that earn you high commissions, right? (judith) we don't have those. (money manager) so what's in it for you? (judith) our fees are structured so we do better when our clients do better. at fisher investments we're clearly different. we started with computers. we didn't stop at computers. we didn't stop at storage or cloud. we kept going. working with our customers to enable the kind of technology that can guide an astronaut back to safety. and help make a hospital come to you, instead of you going to it.

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neil: jamie dimon talking about

bringing workers back to the office but my next guest is not going to be doing that at all. going into arkansas, his offices are still close for good. you probably know him, iconic figure and influence her, best known for notetaking, collecting that so easy. he has done many things since. >> thanks. neil: i am a fan of making things easier. you looked at the situation and this was prior to your experience with the pandemic. nobody in my company will waste

2 hours a day sitting in traffic. it is unproductive anyway. you don't want him coming in at all. >> we decided to be fully distributed which means people that have a chance to be distributed, not everyone can but those that are lucky enough to do it, people should work where they have the best job and should live where they have the best life and for the first time in the history of the universe those things don't have to be connected which is a relief, an amazing and exciting change. nobody in my companies are coming back to an office because i want to hire the people all over the country and all over the world and want them to have a great life and not waste time in traffic. these are superpowers you get. neil: don't you need to meet occasionally with group

meetings with people, a physical location to do that? >> occasionally you do and the philosophy we have is we spent the past year because we have to be because of the pandemic and now very soon we are going to do in a distributed way on video all the stuff that is better on video and we will do in person the stuff that is better in person. it turns out for almost all productive things, knowledge sharing and transfer, we are more productive in a distributed way but we will get together once or twice a year, company trips together for the purposes of bonding, we won't do any work when we are together because the rare times of being together are too important to waste on work, we should do the work distributed. neil: but you need structure of some sort. obviously the company is different and for brick and

mortar type concern, maybe what jamie dimon wants to do it his investment firm is one thing so this doesn't lend itself to everybody. >> of course not but right now all of a sudden there are probably 40 or 50 million workers in the us that have the opportunity to decouple where they work and where they live. my whole life where i live has been where the job is and for the first time ever i am thinking i should check out arkansas or colorado. neil: why arkansas? the ozarks? what do you say? >> a fan of chicken wings. i have some friends here who said it was a nice place to hide out so i came to northwest arkansas to rogers and it is lovely but the point is where people can live for the first time ever for many tens of millions in the us and hundreds

of millions in the world isn't connected to where the job is and don't have to worry about trade offs, to save up and wait for them to retire to afford a nice house, they can do it now and not worry about setting their career back as long as they work for a company that is fully distributed. some companies -- neil: how do you keep track of them? make sure some people are not sloughing off. workers in less extensive locales, you don't have to pay them as much, how do you handle those? >> we are not a prison, we are not a school, we are not keeping track of how many hours people spend paying attention. we are creative workforce, what people contribute is obvious in their work output. most communications for years even before the pandemic we

were doing on email. measuring people's performance, if you are relying on having to physically see people to police people to make sure they are performing well that is a different kind of company cannot the kind of company we want to work at. neil: i won't even talk about how things are in my business, that is another discussion. thank you very much. very very intriguing. that is why he is an influencer. more after this. into this chip i invested in invesco qqq a fund that invests in the innovators of the nasdaq 100 like you become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: like you try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette (vo) ideas exist inside you, electrify you. they grow from our imagination,

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>> i am looking again at this

budget. there's nothing skinny about it but just to let you know it will increase nondefense spending by about 8 percent in education will get 41 percent to 23 percent. that's a lot of money. i just wonder how will they take that. i guess charles knows and he is next printed. charles: nobody else is wondering, just write the check. [laughter] good afternoon. and at this point, i am charles payne and this is turning printed it is the little engine that keeps ending higher. but when will it become a locomotive again to jerome powell promises the federal provide the fuel. see more investors are starting to believe him but there obviously challenges and meanwhile, wall street is upset because individual investors are extremely emotional nice i get over it because the individual investor has been right predict wall street and danny is with