5:00 p.m., we are staying right here for champs-elysees overtime on the web and on facebook, facebook.com/outnumberedfnc. remember we are back on tv tomorrow at noon eastern. "happening now" starts right now. >> jenna: we start with a fox news alert, were awaiting the unveiling of the president new tax plan at the white house. >> jon: he claimed it could be the biggest tax cut ever had, what could that mean for your bottom line? were covering all of the news "happening now." the u.s. launches a missile that traveled more than 4,000 miles before splashing down in the pacific ocean. the pentagon calls it a planned exercise, but are they also sending a message to north kore north korea? also, former national security advisor michael flynn in the spotlight after failing to disclose payments from russia and turkey. raising new questions about whether he broke the law. plus... >> we great wall along the southern border. >> jon: what a top mexican official is now saying about

that. it is all "happening now" ." >> jenna: we begin with a fox news alert as we await details from the trump administration on what the white house says may be the biggest tax cut ever. welcome to the second hour of "happening now," everybody, i am jenna lee. >> jon: on jon scott peered minutes from now, treasury secretary steve nugent and gary cohen the leader of the national economic council will unveil a blueprint for the trump vision for tax reform. much of the talk already focusing on lower rates for businesses as well as bigger standard deductions for individuals. chief white house correspondent john roberts joins us now with some details, john? >> good afternoon, just moments away from that briefing, this was the president's big-ticket legislative item, something that he ran on, something he promised the american people would happen should they elect him president. they are to be aspects to this, first as lowering taxes for u.s. businesses and corporations and lowering taxes for individuals.

here's what the president is proposing when it comes to corporations. cutting the tax rate from the current 35% down to 15%. he would also cut rates for so-called pascoe or esco corporations, these are small businesses, some of them larger in fact that tax people at the personal tax income rates in some cases, this could go from s high as 39% down to 15. the treasury secretary steven mnuchin says the president wants to boost the economy with this tax reform, listen here. >> we are committed that small business, owner operators will have the benefit of the business rights. what this will not be is a loophole to let rich people who should be paying higher rates of pay 15%, this is going to be for small businesses that drive the economy. >> that drive the economy because small businesses on average hire more people, provide more employment in the united states and the major corporations do.

as far as individual income tax payers go, the president is proposing to reduce the number of brackets from the current seven down to three. the actual numbers have moved around a lot. initially, the president had proposed 10% or 20%, then he moved that up to 12%, 35%, and if we can have the income tax brackets, the president has finally settled on these numbers. here they are: 10%, 25%, 35%, 35% down from 39%. they decided to give hike income earners less of a tax cut than they initially thought because they want to maximize the bang for middle income and lower income earners. and for those folks, they plan to double the standard tax deduction for taxpayers, $6300 for individuals will increase to $12,600, a family of four will get a tax deduction of about $24,000 a year. here is the press secretary earlier today talking about

that. >> we are making sure that we bring down rates for americans -- america's middle income folks, people who have been too hard hit through the obama years, and we are going to make sure they get some much-needed relief. >> so the president has also promised in his initial tax plan that we believe he's going to follow through on this as well, getting rid of the marriage penalty, get rid of the death tax and also get rid of what is called the dreaded alternative minimum tax. one other piece of business before we leave you here at the white house, fox news has learned that the white house has prepared a draft executive order which would trigger the clock on the united states withdrawal from the nafta free-trade agreement. this was written by the white house trade advisor at peter navarro. it may never be used other than as a leverage over canada and mexico because the president has said he wants to renegotiate nafta. a lot of folks might be saying, wait a minute, how can the present withdraw from a treaty? nafta is not exactly a treaty.

it is a congressional-executive agreement and can be withdrawn from more easily than a treaty. in fact, the relevant section of nafta, 2205 says a party may withdraw from the agreement six months after they provide written notice of withdrawal to the other parties. if the party withdraws, the agreement remains in force for the remaining parties. as i said, likely the united states will never file that, but they use it as a stick to try to get mexico and canada to the negotiating table to negotiate a better agreement for the united states. >> jon: critics say much has not happened at the white house and the first 100 days, i suspect you might disagree. >> it is ho-hum, nothing ever happens. typical day. we sleep most of the day. >> jon: working 18 hour days, john roberts, thank you. >> jenna: probably more at times. fox news alert as we learn more about the president's tax plan, we are also learning more about healthcare in apparently the tuesday group of moderate republicans are meeting right now to discuss the g.o.p.

plan to repeal obamacare that included some changes. our next guest has some news on that process, i am joined by dave sherman, senior writer for reince priebus and co-author of the reince priebus playbook, must read for sure. what are you reading about what is happening? >> the house freedom caucus, the conservative caucus that has been a thorn in the side of leadership for a few years is now in favor of the healthcare bill with an amendment drafted by house freedom caucus chair mark meadows and with tom macarthur, a moderate congressman from new jersey. this is pretty critical because 20 or so depending on who you ask freedom members opposed the bill's last time which is part of the reason, not the whole reason but part of the reason it got pulled from consideration from the floor. so this is a big step if you talk to conservatives on the hill, they will say this is as close as the house has ever gotten to repealing obamacare, and now moderates and the rest of the house republican congress needs to come along. >> jenna: money out to everyone, tom macarthur come you can put that back up.

everyone has heard about congressman meadows at this point because of the freedom caucus, but this individual, congressman macarthur from new jersey has come forward as a voice sometimes alone, quite frankly, to try to negotiate with the freedom caucus. what do you know about that process, and what have you heard about how other moderate republicans feel about the plan? >> what you said was exactly right. he might be alone, we don't know that yet. that is the critical point here. it's not clear if he is representing himself or if he is representing moderate kind of writ large in the house of representatives. my colleagues at "politico" and i have scoured the capital and talk to moderates from across the house republican conference, and it does not seem to be any movement right now. i want to be cautious in what i say because they could come around and could support this legislation at some point. but right now, moderates are now not jumping around to say this is what we need. that could be a problem because if they do not come along, this bill is not going to pass. we don't expect a vote this

week, next week might not even happen, but in the coming weeks, we do expect a vote on this legislation if moderates come along. >> jenna: i am seeing from our program, great, famous on capitol hill, chad is the best putting out some news that one new year's -- new york powers and instead he does not back it, he's a republican, he does not back the revamped plan and says they need a democrat by end, that is interesting what that means. let's talk about the legislation, what do you know about this compromise, what do you know about what the freedom caucus is willing to accept? >> they've allowed some states to opt out of what they call title i provisions of the healthcare bill, these are provisions that conservative republicans say some states cannot afford, these are provisions to ensure that people with pre-existing conditions get care, some maternity policies, these are policies that are overall pretty popular, but conservatives say some people

cannot afford it and makes the whole process, the whole health care system more expensive. what chad is reporting, and you're right, chad is great, people like dan donovan and other republicans, moderate republicans are not for this, this is just a numbers game. if you cannot get half the house to vote for this, you will not be able to pass it. there are no democrats that are going to vote for this, period some of the end. i think we need to dispel that idea that democrats are going to all to all of a sudden support repealing obamacare. >> jenna: that is it, they're never going to come over to the other side. we will see. i'm curious, again for our viewers who want to know, maybe these guys in washington have an agreement but how does that affect me? and the overall, overarching theme we are going to repeal and replace obamacare, that being what that trump admitted trajan has talked about, what republicans have talked about. is this what you have seen, the little bit of the plan, a repeal and replace of obamacare or is it more of a repeal and fix? >> it is not a repeal or

replace, is just fixing what republicans would say is fixing obamacare, democrats would say the opposite. i think we need to keep something in mind here. this legislation as it is written is very unlikely to pass the senate. therefore, it will not get to the president's desk. i think we need to keep that in mind. i'm not underestimating mitch mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate who is very good at legislating and can get a lot of things done. as it is written right now, from republican insiders we have talked to, it would have a very steep hill to climb to pass the senate. just let that be known before we get to it. >> jenna: that is a great reminder because what you are telling us is this is the beginning of a longer journey, what we see right now is the press speaking room, a lot of news yet to come. i want you ask right now, we have the tax proposal from the white house, we have heard this back and forth about whether the president needs healthcare repealing and replace before tax reform or vice versa. how do you see these two big items coming together?

speak of a tax reform plan the president is announcing now is just a framework and nothing more. if tax reform passes congress, it will look nothing like what the president is talking about now. he's laying out a marker, and it is still up for debate whether healthcare is going first or taxes. at this point, frankly, i think taxes, even though taxes in its infancy is probably in better shape than healthcare. i think these are both very long prophecy, the white house has put out fake markers they want to get these things done by the summer. they backed off those in our getting a little more realistic about what washington is going to get done in donald trump's white house. >> jenna: big issues, healthcare, taxes, a lot to talk about today. great to have you as always, thank you so much. >> jon: there is new fallout over president trump's border wall. mexican authorities are now floating the idea of charging americans a fee for entering the country. a move seen as retaliation.

william la jeunesse joins us live from los angeles. what kind of money are they talking about charging? >> that is a little premature right now, but when it comes to the wall, there is a lot of posturing on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the border. yesterday, the mexican foreign secretary called the wall "a hostile act" and threatened to impose a fee on americans visiting mexico. financially, doesn't make make sense for america due back mexico to discourage americans from visiting by charging? is the third largest source of foreign income for mexico. in what if americans slap a retaliatory fee on that mexicans who on average make less than $10,000 who visit in work in the u.s. every day? is a grandstanding or real? the answer is like 8 likely light years away. a built in california would prohibit companies from contracting with the state if they helped build the wall, design or construction. last night, the san diego school board endorsed the bill which passed out of committee on a party line vote. >> history has been very clear that walls do not work.

to speak over not only going to not support this hate, were not going to support companies who support this hate. >> as for funding the wall, that appears dead for the fiscal year, but there is something of a game of semantics going on here that has to be explained. what is the difference between a fence, it wall, and a barrier? some say they serve the same purpose but politically one is toxic and the other acceptable appeared 100 democrats butted for 700 miles of border barrier in 2006. they only got half that because it ran out of money, and today, many vowed not to spend 1 penny on a wall that might actually accomplish what they already voted for. the president wants a big, beautiful wall. now that he has spoken to the expert, he knows with the border patrol really wants is not a wall or a wild vacancy through which is really a fence, but he will not say that, so the bottom line is the president has backed off his insistence that congress provide $1.4 billion for the wall, money he will ask for next year. that does not mean, however, that crews will not be out there

building the barrier or wall or fence or whatever you want to call it. >> jon: things change every day along the border. william la jeunesse, thank you. >> jenna: native element on the growing threat from north korea with the u.s. making more military moves including test firing intercontinental ballistic missiles. we are alive at the pentagon with details on this spirit also, we are awaiting the presence new tax proposal, scheduled to be unveiled and about 15 minutes. we are going to take you there live at the white house as soon as it happens. ♪"all you need is love" plays my friends know me so well.

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>> jon: a fox news alert, again we are less than 15 minutes away, we believe, from a briefing in the brady briefing room not by sean spicer but by the secretary of the treasury steven mnuchin and the chairman of the national council of economic advisors, gary cohen. they are going to be telling us what kind of tax reform president trump wants to see. the president calls it perhaps the biggest tax cut ever, what is in it for you? you will want to stick with us

and watch that briefing when it comes out. scheduled at 1:30 eastern time, less than 15 minutes from now. >> jenna: fox news alert on the ongoing controversy at uc berkeley, conservative commentator ann coulter is now saying that she may go to the campus but will not be making a speech, but this is changing moment by moment, chief correspondent has the latest from los angeles. >> ann coulter has repeatedly accused uc berkeley officials of failing to protect her right to free speech. now she is accusing her former backers of also caving to the pressure. in an email to fox news within the last hour, ann coulter says she has no choice but to cancel tomorrow's speech after the young americans foundation, a conservative student group, pulled out of back in the event, citing security concerns. she writes in her email to us " "nothing more i can do, i

looked over my shoulder, and my allies had joined the other team. i think i'm still going to berkeley, but there will speech." liberal protesters were now claimed victory just as they did in february when they fought the last minute cancellation of a speech by controversial conservative milo, university officials feared that same kind of violence this thursday, so they asked her to move her speech to may 2nd, so the university and police would have more time to prepare. coulter refused and the berkeley student said "this is a university, not a battlefield. we must make every effort to hold events that are time and location that maximizes the chance of first amendment rights can be successfully exercised and that community members can be protected." so the breaking news here, there will be no speech from ann coulter tomorrow. she says that herself, but she

may still turn up on campus if she plans to do that, it is likely protesters will still turn up, not entirely trusting her promise not to maka speech. if that happens, whether it likes it or not, uc berkeley campus may yet become a battlefield between liberals and conservatives. >> jenna: we will see where it goes from here, thank you. >> jon: there is no trouble for the president's former national security advisor with word michael flynn might have broken the law by not disclosing his business dealings with russia when he was trying to get white house security clearance, and that is not all. the accusations against him and the fallout. also remember images like these of iranian boats harassing the u.s. navy and the persian gulf? it just happened again. with the u.s. did in response. and we are awaiting president trump's new tax proposals. they are scheduled to be unveiled about 10 minutes from now. we will take each of the

white house life when it begins.

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>> jenna: fox news alert, and we are awaiting big news today, more details on the presidents the tax reform proposal. we expect the treasury secretary steven mnuchin as well as one of the president's top economic advisors gary cohn to step to the microphone and just a few moments. we expect them around 1:30 eastern time to tell us about what is the proposal from this administration as far as trying to fix whatever is broken and the tax system, so it will be interesting to watch as we get those details, a lot to talk about, but very few specifics. we will bring you there live when it happens. >> jon: this fox news alert now on the fallout from the michael flynn controversy after the white house -- i'm sorry,

the house oversight committee leaders said the president's former national security advisor might have violated federal law by failing to disclose his business dealings with russia when he was trying to get security clearance to work in the white house. talking about it now with fox news national security and foreign affairs analyst, he also was a foreign policy advisor to president trump during the campaign. you did not take a position in the administration of once he was elected, we should note. michael flynn did. he's been out of the administration for ten weeks. and yet, his actions or failures during his time continue to dog the administration. what do you make of the michael flynn story? >> as you know, over the past weeks and months, i did not and was not applying on ongoing judicial or legal processes of the time, but there are three important points that have to do with the public. we need to ask lane to the

public what the real issues are. you have level number one, there is a legal investigation. we just introduced what it is about, it is about breaching or not certain regulations with regard to being a paid -- having received aid from a foreign country. second, we have the political back and forth between the initiation and opposition, that is happening in congress. third, i think the most obscure part to me, at least from a geopolitical perspective, is what is the nature of the current u.s.-russian relationship? they have gone through very much unstable ways, innocence that the russians are flying planes very close to our borders. on the other hand, we have accusations we know about the meddling or alleged meddling in our election, at the same time we are dealing with the russians, dealing with them in syria, and we have our agencies here, not just private companies going to moscow and working with the russians, so what the public is not very clear about is what

is the type of relationship we are having right now, is it a fellow, full foe, actor in international relations and we are having troubles. >> jon: standby because we want your thoughts on some breaking news right now. >> jenna: that is right, we are going to take you to the pentagon shortly. u.s. test firing intercontinental listing missiles 40 miles into the pacific amidst a growing threat from north korea. this comes as the entire senate heads to the white house for a rare classified briefing on north korea, with members also getting brief today in the house. chief national security correspondent jennifer griffin is going to provide some context for us about all of this in joints as now. >> early this morning, the u.s. air force testfired an intercontinental ballistic missile off the coast of california. the missile traveled over 4,000 miles before splashing down in the south pacific early wednesday from vandenberg airbase in california. the nuclear capable missile was unarmed according to an

airfreight -- air force spokesman but the timing is important for congress meant meeting at the white house for a briefing. in the head of u.s. pacific command issued a warning to pyongyang not to test the u.s. navy during testimony today on capitol hill. >> north korea does not have a ballistic missile anti-shift weapon that would for [boos] threatened the curtain strike group. the weapons that north korea would put against the strike group are easily defended by the capabilities resident in that strike group. if it flies, it will die. if it is flying against the carl vinson group. >> he announced that the nt missile defense system would be operational in korea in the coming days. they have bid protest against that deployment in south korea today, north koreans and china also have protested the u.s. sending it which could shoot

down a short and medium-range ballistic missiles. the u.s. pacific commander apologized for his role and miss communicating about the location of the uss carl vinson's strike group earlier this month. adding that it is now well positioned. >> today, it is in the philippine sea, just east of okinawa in striking range, and power projection range of north korea. if called upon to do that. then in a few days, i expect it will continue to move north. >> admiral harris but the blame for north korea's current regime squarely on china adding that 80% of north korea's economy is based on china. >> jenna: thank you. >> jon: let's bring back the doctor on this. president trump received generally high marks for that missile strike on syria, for the use of the mla be in afghanistan. this ballistic missile launch and the general direction of north korea, do you think that is the same kind of message?

>> i think this one is an obligated action while in syria, we could have chosen different path, so was the case in afghanistan. in this case, it is by the book, the north korean regime which has threatened u.s. missiles and we have to let them know and north korea that we have now all the possible teasing putting technological and other to respond. i think this is the right move by the administration. the bigger question is going to be as was announced in that discussion, china. china has the key. are they going to use the key to solve the problem? >> jon: will do north koreans get the message here? >> i think the north koreans are getting the message by themselves, the military but also the chinese hence the statements made by them. >> jon: let's talk about iran, want to get your reaction to this encounter in the gulf, the u.s. navy says a guard boat came within 3,000 feet of the uss mahan, forcing the guided missile destroyer to fire a

flare. it is obvious enough the first time we have seen something like this. there were images last year of iranian patrol boats harassing another one of our guided missile destroyers, the u.s. it happens all the time in the persian gulf, what kind of game is around playing? >> all the time is true but we are living at different times. over the last few years, iranians have becoming very, very close to our navy, so close that it could have generated into an incident. what has changed is the new posture of the administration, the trump administration whereby at the very moment an iranian ship or other entity would come close, there will be a reaction. this is also messaging having it in the persian gulf to the iranian regimes at the u.s. navy and assets are very serious about that. >> jon: remember seeing our sailors on their knees after they were grabbed by iran, interesting times. thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> jenna: we are awaiting

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>> jon: fox news alert, and a live look at the white house where any minute now treasury secretary steven mnuchin and the director of the national economic council gary cohn are such a release details of president trump's plans for an overhauled tax system. on top of a big corporate tax cut, the president also wants

tax breaks for middle-class, some of the details appear to be on a collision course with the tax plan that house speaker paul ryan has been working on for the past year. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee going with this headline that ryan is likely to get rolled on tax reform, pointing out that the white house is poised to take the lead from the speaker after witnessing the collapse of healthcare reform last month. marian marsh is a former senior advisor to senator john kerry, a former ted cruz poster and partner at an opinion research firm, let's talk about all of this, chris, to you first, tax plans are supposed to start in the house, why does the white house want to prospectively leave paul ryan out of this when? >> i don't know that it's completely leaving paul ryan out of it. what looks like it happened is that their plans are pretty similar now that paul ryan has looked at what the president is producing and let's face it, but president ran on this, he made a promise to do it so he's keeping that promise.

so he takes it to the house ancestor paul ryan, get on board, this is your plan anyway, let's agree on this and push it through. i think it is overall the right approach for the president to keep promises. >> jon: what democrats get on board? >> no, and you need six of them in the senate to pass this, i think it's impossible to get six evening think those up and some red states - jon: i'm sorry, tht at the white house is getting underway. fox news alert, there is a sean spicer introducing the treasury secretary and economic advisor gary cohn, listed here. >> the president's effort to provide tax relief to both our corporations that will help grow jobs, to middle americans. two people here to explain it, director of our national economic council gary cohn is going to walk through why we're doing what we are doing and then the personal side of the tax. that secretary of treasury steven mnuchin will walk through the business side and corporate side of what work the president

is doing to bring jobs back to this country, make our businesses more competitive can help our economy grow. at the end, be glad to take questions on this. you are being provided a one pager right now that provides the top level aspects of the plan and then both the director and secretary will go into further detail and take your questions. without any further ado, directly gary cohn. >> thank you. good afternoon to everyone, and thank you for being here. this is quite a historic day for us, and one that we have been looking forward to for a very long time and when we are very excited about. we have a once in a generation opportunity to do something really big. president trump has made tax reform a priority, and we have a republican congress that wants to get it done. this is something that, quite honestly, i hope the democrats would support too because it is good for the american people.

the president is going to seize this opportunity by reading the most significant tax reform legislation since 1986, in one of the biggest tax cuts in the american history. we have been working on this for a long time. we have had great meetings, we had great meetings last night with the leadership of the house and senate. we have agreed on many of the important principles of tax reform. we look forward to working together with the house and senate very closely in the weeks ahead. the president has focused on three things since his campaign. job creation, economic growth, and helping the low and middle income families who have been left behind by this economy. he understands there are a lot of people in this country that feel like they work hard and just cannot get ahead. they are sick of turning their paychecks over to washington and having no idea of how those dollars are spent. they are frustrated by a tax code that is so complicated they

cannot even do their own taxes. that is why tax reform is such a big priority to this president. he cares about making the economy work better for all american people. here is a little history. went president kennedy cut taxes in the early 1960s, the top rate on personal income was over 90%, and there was rampant tax avoidance. then, 20 years later, president reagan took rates down to 20% for individuals. since then, rates have been creeping back up and more loopholes and special interest tax breaks have made their way back into the tax code, disadvantaging average americans. and then on the business side, when president reagan left office in 1988, the corporate tax rate was 34%. it has not changed much since. for the last 25 years, other countries have been aggressively cutting their tax rates and moving to a territorial system in order to attract business.

the u.s. has done none of that. in 2017, we are still stuck with a 1988 corporate tax. that is why we are now one of the least competitive countries in the developed world when it comes to corporate tax. so tax reform is long overdue. we are going to cut taxes for businesses to make them competitive, and we're going to tuck taxes for the american people, especially low and middle income families. today, i am going to outline the principles we have put in place for personal tax reform and then i'm going to hand it over to secretary mnunchin to talk about the business side. first, there are a few statistics for you on the individual side. in 1935, we had a one-page tax form consisting of 34 lines with two pages of instructions. today, the basic 1040 form has a 79 lines and 211 pages of

instructions. instead of a single form, the irs now has 199 tax forms on the individual side of our tax code. taxpayers spend nearly 7 billion hours complying with these tax codes every year. nearly 90% of tax payers need some help in filing their taxes. we are going to cut taxes and simplify the tax codes by taking the current seven tax brackets we have to date and reducing them to only three brackets. 10% bracket, 25% bracket, 35% bracket. we are going to double the standard deduction. so that a married couple won't pay any taxes on the first $24,000 of income they earn. so in essence, we are creating 80 tax rate. yes, a zero tax rate for the first $24,000 that a couple

earns. the larger standard deduction also leads to simplification because far fewer taxpayers will need to itemize which means they are tax form can go back, yes, to that one page, the one simple page i talked about earlier. families in this country will also benefit from tax relief to help them with child and dependent care expenses. we are going to repeal the alternative minimum tax. the amt creates significant complications and burdens which require tax payers to do their taxes twice to see which is higher. that makes no sense, and we should have one simple tax code. as we all know, job creation and economic growth is the top priority of the administration. nothing drives economic growth like a capital investment. therefore, we are going to return the top capital gains tax rate and dividend rate to 20%, repealing the harmful 3.8%

obamacare tax. on dividends and capital gains. that tax has been a direct hit on investment income and small business owners. we are going to repeal the death tax. the threat of being hit by the death tax leaves small business owners and farmers in this country to waste countless hours and resources on copy [boos] complicated estate planning to make sure their children are not hit with a huge tax when they die. no one wants to see their children have to sell the family business to pay an unfair tax. we are going to eliminate most of the tax breaks that are mainly benefiting high income individuals. home ownership, charitable giving and retirement savings will be protected, but other tax benefits will be eliminated. this is not going to be easy. doing big things never is. we will be attacked from the left and attacked from the right, but one thing is certain. i would never, ever bet against

this president. he will get this done for the american people. with that, i'm going to turn it over to secretary mnunchin to go through the business tax plan and then we will both come back to take some questions. >> thank you, gary. as gary said, we've been working on this plan for a very considerable period of time. our objective is to make u.s. businesses the most competitive in the world. right now, we have a 35% corporate rate on worldwide income and deferral. it is perhaps the most complicated and noncompetitive business rate in the world. not a surprise that companies leave trillions of dollars offshore. under the trump plan, we will have a massive tax cut for businesses and massive tax reform and simplification. as the president said during the campaign, we will lower the business rate to 15%.

we will make it a territorial system. we will have a one-time tax on overseas profits which will bring back trillions of dollars that are offshore to be invested here in the united states to purchase capital and to create jobs. the president is determined to unleash economic growth for businesses. this is not just about large corporations. small and medium-sized businesses will be eligible for the business rate as well. as gary said, we have had very productive meetings with the house and senate, working weekly to get this done. we will continue to do that. we are determined to move this as a fast as we can and get this done this year. i would also just comment that we will hold listening sessions. one thing this president has done very well is listen.

we've had hundreds of business leaders here from all different types of areas, manufacturers, retail, airlines, community banks, big banks. we are listening, and we have been taking feedback. finally, i would just add, the president's objective is creating economic growth, and as we said before, we believe we can get back to 3% or higher gdp that is sustainable in this country. the overall economic plan consists of massive tax cuts and tax reform, regulatory relief, and renegotiating trade deals. and with that, we will unlock the economic growth that has been held back for too long in this country. and with that, we would both be happy to take if you questions. >> reporter: when you talk about the individual tax rate, you're also talking about eliminating some of those tax breaks.

are you talking about limiting tax deductions, which when are you talking about eliminating, which are you keeping? >> correct, we are going to eliminate on the personal side all tax deductions other than mortgage interest and charitable deductions. we think that will be sweeping reform. >> reporter: think you paid when you talk about lowering dividends and capital gains taxes, how does that mesh with what you said this morning about protecting the middle class from the very, very wealthy who might be able to take advantage -- and i know a better word than loophole, but that would give them a lower tax rate. >> again, what we have said is the business rate is going to be available for small and medium-sized businesses as well as corporations. however, we will make sure that there are rules in place so that wealthy people can't create pass-throughs and use that as a mechanism to avoid paying the tax rates that they should be on the personal side. i would just say on the dividend

rates, we believe that restoring the 20% capital gains rate is critical to investment in this country. >> reporter: similar question about the pass-throughs. the initial plan that the president as a candidate outlined also include contract workers at 15%, what is your rate on repatriation funds overseas and gary cohn, what about the marriage penalty that the president promised to eliminate? >> first i comment on that rate of repeat repatriation, rubric and with the house and senate on that, but it will be a very competitive rate that will bring back trillions of dollars. and as it relates to the definition of contractors and things along those lines. again, this will be the details we will be working with congress on as we turn this into a bill that will get signed by the president. >> as a secretary mnunchin said, we are working very diligently with the house and senate by coming up with final details of a bill.

you're going into very micro details -- >> reporter: very important. >> we agree, very important. our basic premise is december 5 tax system, lower rates and make it even. we do not want to penalize people, we want to make the system very fair. that is one of the things on our list we are going to work on just as the secretary mnunchin said. we will get back to you with definitive answers on all these details. >> reporter: on the 1025, 10:30 five, do you have income brackets established? >> again, we are in constant dialogue with the house and senate, as the secretary said, we are holding a bunch of glistening groups right now. we have outlines, we have a broadbrush view of where we're going to be, we are running an enormous amount of data on the proposals right now. we will be back to you with very firm details. we are confident where they're going to be, we just wanted to get them out and give you a

broadbrush overview where we are. the president very much believes in taking input, as the secretary said, over the next month, we have a lot of different discussions with different groups. >> reporter: does it also means state and local income can't taxes, that deduction being illuminated? how about healthcare? >> yes. >> reporter: mr. secretary, thank you, aunt mr. cohn, when you talk about repealing the 3.8% obamacare tax for a small business investment income, is this your first attempt, official first attempt, which it is, to start may be pulling back on obamacare? also, what do you say to your fellow republicans who say that this tax reform package is more about corporations versus cutting the deficit? >> this tax reform package is about growing the economy, creating jobs. it is about the economy. as i started, president trump comes in every day and talks to the two of us about economic

growth, economic prosperity and jobs and what are we doing to stimulate economic growth. that is how we are looking at this plan. the 3.8% tax on capital gains, dividends, and interest, the president looks at that very seriously as being a tax on capital being spent to stimulate economic growth, people putting investment capital to work and being taxed on their personal businesses. so we are trying to get rid of that to be able to have that capital go back into the economy to create more jobs. >> reporter: i'm sorry, or businesses taxed not obamacare? >> it is to stimulate business investment here we are trying to stimulate business investment. >> reporter: first, does this pay for itself? is this revenue neutral? secondly, wet and here is nonnegotiable when this goes over to congress, they come back with the 20% corporate tax rate or something, will the president refused to sign? >> let me first say that the

core principles of this, we've been meeting with the house and senate and they agree 100%. the core business is make business rates competitive, bring back trillions of dollars to create jobs, simplify personal taxes, create a middle income tax cut. those core principles are nonnegotiable, and that is something that we all feel strongly about. as a relates to will it pay for itself, again, i think as we have said, we are working on lots of details as to this. we have over 100 people and the treasury that have been working on tax and scoring lots of different scenarios. this will pay for itself with growth and with reduced reduction of different deductions and with closing loopholes. >> reporter: if it turns out that it will not actually be paid for by growth, it will not keep the deficit in check, is the president comfortable with

that, will he still sign something? >> let me say again, when we look at the deficit. the deficit has gone from ten up to $20 trillion in the last administration, that is a problem, and the president is concerned about that. this plan is going to lower the debt to gdp, the economic plan under trump will grow the economy and will create massive amounts of revenues, trillions of dollars and additional revenue. let's go in the back. >> reporter: if you do not replace some of the revenue from the border adjustment tax, how will you make up for the deficit caused by the reduction in the corporate tax rate? >> again, we are putting out the core principles which include rates because we think that is a very important part of the plan. we will be working very closely as i said with the house and senate to turn this into a bill that can be passed and the president can sign, and there is

lots and lots of details that will go into how that will pay for itself. >> reporter: the territorial tax system, is that a border adjustment tax, what is it? >> a territorial tax system means that u.s. companies will pay income on income related to the u.s. so it is territorial, u.s. companies will not be subject to worldwide income which has made them uncompetitive. >> reporter: is there a reason to be concerned that perhaps the republicans might not go along with thi like they did not go along with the obamacare replacement? >> again, i think there is a lot of desire from everybody to pass tax reform. as gary said, we are at a historic moment, and republicans and democrats want to create jobs and want to help the american people, and as i said, the core principles that we have agreement on and we will work

for on the details. let's go in the back. >> reporter: thank you, mr. second. quick question. you bring up repeal of the death tax, the state tax, this is an issue that's been going on for . it used to be they were always talking about phasing out the death tax over a period of years. groups such as jim martin's 60 plus seniors association said they would not accept it and wanted immediate killing of the death tax. is that what this is going to be or is it going to be a phase out to measure? >> right now, our initial proposal is to immediately phase out, when this proposal becomes effective, to phase it out immediately. with the limitation of the new tax, the death tax would disappear. >> reporter: two questions. this is obvious that a statement of core principles, it is just

one page could obviously, tax reform is much more complicated. when will we see the details, the actual plan? >> we are moving as quickly as we can. we are working with the house and senate on all of the details, and everybody has an agreement we are going to move this as fast as we can. when we have an agreement, we will release the details and go through it. >> reporter: will the president release his tax returns so that -- speak of the president has no intention, he has released plenty of information. i think he has given more financial disclosure than anybody else, i think the american population has plenty of information. right there. excuse me. other people would like to ask questions. >> reporter: my question is to either you, mr. second, or mr. cohn. you mentioned middle-class tax cuts. middle-class families watching this tonight on the news, a

family of four, median income, $60,000, what does it mean for them? >> it's going to be a tax cut. >> reporter: how much? >> is going to be a tax cut. you're asking the same question we got over here. we will let you know that specific details at the appropriate moment. we are in very robust discussions with the senate and house leadership. they are progressing very quickly. we will continue to give you more details as we have them. >> we are going to take two more, right here in the back row. >> reporter: exactly a year ago, then candidate trump was asked if he believed in raising taxes on the wealthy. he said, i do, including myself, i do. my question is why isn't he doing that? and while the president and up paying more or less taxes as a result of this plan? >> i cannot comment on the president's tax situation since i do not have access to that. but i would comment that our

objective, okay, is the reduction in taxes will be offset by significant reduction of deductions and other items so that the effective tax rate, okay, is what we are focused on. we will take one more question right here. reporter mike thank you, you may not have seen that president tax returns but according to our estimations and the 2005 returns, getting rid of the alternative minimum tax would save him -- he would only have to pay $5.3 million in federal income taxes, so your response to those critics who say a lot of what you present here today could save the president or benefit his own businesses. >> again, let me just comment. >> this is about creating jobs and economic growth. that's what massive tax cuts and massive tax reform and simplifying the system is what we're going to do. the ant is just another example of a third complicated set of rules. anyway, thank you, everybody. appreciate you guys being here.

[ talking at the same time ] >> melissa: all right. that was the white house briefing wrapping up with an appearance by the treasury secretary and the national economic director. that was a lot of news there. hello, everyone. i am melissa francis. president trump's top two economic advisers, you just saw them there. steve mnuchin and gary cohn. they were unveiling the blue print for what the administration is calling true tax reform. there was a lot in there if you were listening. it was a lot of math. but it means a tax cut for basically everyone. we are looking at three instead of seven brackets, 10, 25, 35%. that's taking that top rate down basically all of them. they are putting in a child care tax credit, but they're also protecting that credit for saving in your