hit or miss, be sure to tweet it to us on fnc. that's it for this week's show. thanks to my panel. thanks to you for watching. we hope to see you right here next week. we begin this hour with a fox news alert. president trump is homeward bound as he wraps up his second trip overseas as commander-in-chief. the g-20 summit in hamburg germany closing with a jam-packed session with world leaders discussing everything from trade to the great or the growing threat rather from north korea's nuclear and missile programs. hello everyone welcome to america's news headquarters. i'm kelly wright. >> i'm julie banderas. even with a full agenda, this is the story still taking center stage, president trump's historic meeting yesterday with his russian counterpart putin. and of all the topics they discussed, it is no surprise moscow's meddling in the u.s.

election is getting the lion's share of attention. chief white house correspondent john roberts is live in hamburg, germany, with the story. hi, john. >> julie, good afternoon to you. three top white house officials, the president's chief economic advisor, mcmaster the national security advisor and treasury secretary mnuchin just briefed the press pool aboard air force one on the president's time at the g 20. gave an upbeat assessment. treasury secretary said that the president in the bilateral meeting he held was quote absolutely brilliant. there were eight of those meetings in total here at the g 20, another two in poland, described as very very substantial discussions not just relationship builders before he hit the atlantic ocean the president tweeted, quote, leaving hamburg and washington, d.c. and the white house. just left china's president where we had an excellent meeting on trade north korea. -- trade and north korea.

that bilateral meeting which was the last one at the g 20 went 90 minutes. we're told it could have gone longer but because of their schedules it had to be cut off. it was a direct discussion about north korea we're told by white house officials. the president has been growing frustrated with what he sees as a lack of effort on the part of china to rein in pyongyang. the president himself is thinking about more sanctions against chinese entities and chinese individuals. there were some sanctions that were slapped on last week which didn't particularly make china -- the president was saying there might be more of that in the works if china doesn't come to the table to a greater degree on reining in north korea. the president was optimist ik about the potential -- optimistic about the potential outcome going into the meeting. listen to what he said. >> i appreciate the things you have done relative to the very substantial problem we all face in north korea, a problem that something has to be done about, trade as you know is very very big issue with the united states

now. over a long period of time. many things have happened that have led to trade imbalances, and we're going to turn that around. and i know that with china in particular which is a great trading partner we will be able to do something that will equitable and reciprocal. >> and in that briefing, aboard air force one, american officials refused to definitively shoot down an assertion by the russian foreign minister lavrov that the president accepted president putin's assertion that he and russia had nothing to do with meddling in the u.s. election. we did hear from vladimir putin about that this afternoon. listen to what he said about what president trump took to be his protesting of innocence in regard to meddling in the elections. listen here. >> translator: he asked questions. he was genuinely interested in a number of details. as far as i could, i answered

him in detail. he asked me questions. i answered. i clarified. and i think that he was satisfied with my answers. >> and there was a little bit of flattery from president putin when it came to his assessment of president trump and their first ever face-to-face sit-down meeting, saying that the trump that he saw in that bilateral meeting was quite different from the trump that he sees on tv. so it looks like there might be, you know, slight thaw in the ice here, julie, that's been marking the u.s. russia relationship. we will see where it goes from here. there's progress on syria. but still a lot of thorny issues to work out between the two superpowers. julie? julie: thank you. kelly: for more on this let's bring in the director of margaret thatcher center for freedom at the heritage foundation. good of you join us today. hope you are doing well. john roberts just reported could

this be a thaw in relation between russia and the united states more specifically putin and president trump? what say you? >> i don't think you are going to see warmer relations between washington and moscow as long as putin is the leader of russia. you are not going to see a constructive partnership between the united states and russia because the russian regime is fundamentally different interests than those of the united states, great britain and other u.s. allies. and as president trump pointed out, in his speech in warsaw on thursday, the russians have been hugely problematic on many fronts, including in ukraine, in syria, across the middle east, and so the russians frankly are an adversary of the united states. they are deeply unconstructive when it comes to international affairs. and i think that in warsaw, president trump sent the right message to moscow, which is that they need to change their behavior. kelly: do you think he did

enough in that meeting, and we weren't there, the news media wasn't privy to that meeting, and the exchange these two world leaders had, do you think the president was forceful enough in saying you meddled with our elections, should he have gone on to say in so many words cut it out, knock it off, don't ever let it happen again, or this will be the consequence of that? >> well, i hope that's the message that the president conveyed to putin. we don't know the full extent of all the discussions over the 2 1/2 hour meeting overall. there was some insight into the discussion. mr. tillerson did point out that president trump pressed putin several times on the issue of the u.s. intervention -- or the russian intervention in the u.s. election. and the russians really do need to be held to account. i think the united states needs a strong robust overarching strategy in terms of dealing with the russian threat on several different fronts. >> i want you to hold that

thought because you are going somewhere that i want to bring in u.n. ambassador nikki haley who is speaking to cbs face the nation. here's what she said. we have a clip of that. let's listen to it. >> president trump still knows that they meddled. president putin knows that they meddled but he is never going to admit to it. >> given that the president as you said knows that the russians meddled, what consequences will they face as a result of that action? >> i think you are going to have to ask the president. i think that's one of the things first is confronting them, letting them know we know this happened. letting them know it can't happen again. kelly: getting back to what she said, and getting to your point about consequences, and what should be done, in terms of russia -- or at least making sure that russia is not doing this in the future, what should be done in your opinion? >> well, ambassador haley is right. there should be consequences for the russians. they can stretch from further economic sanctions, targeting of any russian individuals involved

in intervening in the u.s. presidential election. we could consider various measures on the economic front as well, including excluding russia from the swift banking system which would frankly i think bring the russian economy to its knees. already the russians being hit hard by u.s. and european sanctions. we should also be strengthening our support for the people of the ukraine. i was just in ukraine a couple weeks ago. the united states should be sending defensive weapons to the ukrainians to help them defend themselves, 10,000 russian troops fighting in eastern ukraine alongside separatists there. it is a brutal war. the ukrainian people do need our help at this time. kelly: you heard me say yes there. i did it with some spontaneity. i just spoke with two people from ukraine, two young people who are here in america visiting, and the one thing they told me now is all they want is peace. it is going to be hard to find peace when you have someone like vladimir putin at the helm of russia who is bent on making sure that russia becomes what he

refers to as a former soviet empire. >> yeah, absolutely. vladimir putin is feeding off ukraine with very very aggressive intentions towards eastern and central europe. he's directly threatening the baltic states, poland and my other countries in -- and many other countries in europe. he's a dangerous and skrup lus individual and the united states -- scrupulous individual and the united states and its allies need to be strong in the face of any kind of russian intimidation. and the message must be sent loud and clear, that any threat to nato member states in europe will be met with military force by the u.s. and its allies. kelly: nile gardener, very sobering thoughts and always appreciate your perspective. >> my pleasure, thank you. julie: now to the battle over healthcare. senate g.o.p. leaders planning to make a final push to pass their healthcare bill when lawmakers return to washington from the july 4th recess next week. this as democrats continue to criticize the republicans plan

to repeal and replace obama care. >> the republicans are determined to take us in a direction that says there's just one message here, america works for those at the top. julie: ellison barber has more from washington. >> the republican road to healthcare reform has been covered in potholes and it's far from a smooth ride today. according to ability sis from the roper center -- analysis from the roper center, this is the most unpopular major piece of legislation in the past 30 years. senate majority leader mcconnell says it is complicated. >> big discussion among ourselves, that is senate republicans, about the way forward and i don't have the answer to that yet. i think every republican is in favor of health plans, the problem is whether it can be included the parliamentary point of view and what we're trying to do is a very complicated procedure. >> senate republicans initially said they expected to pass

healthcare legislation by july 4th. instead they received opposition of the plan from democrats and members of their own party. at one point, president trump said if senate republicans can't pass something, they should repeal now and replace later. but there is a new proposal from senator ted cruz that would allow insurers to sell stripped-down cheaper plans. >> i'm very very active inening lead the effort for republicans to honor -- in helping lead the effort for republicans to honor our promise, repeal obama care and pass reforms. >> the senator is supporting the plan and the white house seems open to it as well. >> we support senator cruz and lee's efforts. this is similar to efforts that transpired in the house. we think it is perfectly appropriate, his moment, we hope it is part of the process in bringing everybody together. >> democratic senator chuck schumer however causes cruz's amendment a hoax saying quote it makes healthcare more expensive because deductibles and co payments would be so onerous

that many americans would pay much more out of their pockets than they pay today. it could be a difficult sell to moderate republicans as well. in an interview posted on-line, senator chuck grassley told iowa public radio he's concerned the proposal could annihilate the preexisting condition requirement in the existing bill. julie? julie: ellison barber, thanks very much. kelly? kelly: iraqi forces reportedly closing in on the last isis fighters in mosul with military officials there saying they expect to take full control of the city in just hours. but isis militants not giving up so easily, after they managed to launch a counterattack on iraqi troops. we are live from our london bureau with more details. >> hi, kelly. it is not exactly sure how much longer this military operation might take, but the end is certainly near. on the other hand, you have isis militants vowing to fight to the death. now, iraqi military commanders

say they could take full control of mosul at any time now. they claim the last of the isis lines of defense are collapsing fast. it's now just a question of pushing those few hundred militants out of the last pockets of the city. now, through its official news agency, isis claims to be holding on, using snipers and suicide bombers, but iraqi state tv says dozens of militants were killed today and many more are trying to escape. now, what we saw today is some iraqi soldiers celebrating victory already. here they're seen dancing, firing their weapons into the air, placing the iraqi flag on rooftops. so certainly a jubilant mood. don't forget, isis seized mosul three years ago declaring it a caliphate and if this battle is really over, then it's a hugely significant blow for the insurgen insurgents. but it has taken nearly eight months now for iraqi forces to drive isis out.

this has been a hard-fought battle which has cost many many lives. but despite that military operation, apparently drawing to a close, life is still tough for people living there in mosul. many are still living in camps, outside of the city and with their homes in ruins, returning is not going to be all that easy. and kelly, there are still reports of explosives and gunfire in mosul. so though the end is near, the fighting is not quite over yet. kelly? kelly: yeah. reporting from london about mosul. thank you. julie: the head of the office of government ethics delivering some parting remarks after announcing he is stepping down before the end of his term. what he is saying about president trump and his business ties. plus an update on several daring americans gored by bulls in spain. daring? that's one way of putting it. tens of thousands of protesters marching peacefully a mile away from the site of the

g-20 summit in hamburg germany just hours after masked riders clashed with police, and we are live on the ground, next. recommended dulcolax. use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. suppositories for relief in minutes. and dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools. dulcolax. designed for dependable relief. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪

about to see progressive's new home quote explorer. where you can compare multiple quote options online and choose what's right for you. woah.

flo and jamie here to see hqx. flo and jamie request entry. slovakia. triceratops. >> tapioca. racquetball. staccato. me llamo jamie. pumpernickel. pudding. employee: hey, guys! home quote explorer. it's home insurance made easy. password was "hey guys." but prevagen helps your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember.

kelly: here's some headlines we are following this hour.

officials in oakland, california, trying to take down a giant construction crane from a burned building. this comes after a massive fire erupted in the seven story building early yesterday morning. it's unclear what caused the fire. no injuries have been reported but officials say it could be sunday before nearly a thousand people displaced by this fire are allowed to return home. in italy recovering teams pulling the eighth victim from the rubble of a building near naples. no word of the cause. but prosecutors say they are considering possible charges. in spain one of the two americans gored during today's running of the bulls saying he will run again before the festival is over. huh? the 35-year-old rider from chicago is in stable condition. but the other injured american is in serious condition. julie: so the head of the office of government ethics stepping down amid a series of clashes with president trump.

walter shaab jr. announcing his resignation this week and voicing concerns about trump's ties to his businesses as president. listen. >> i really feel like i've achieved all i can achieve under the current circumstances. there's an appearance that the businesses are profiting from his occupying the presidency. >> but at this point it sounds like you are saying you can't be sure? >> you can't be sure. and so it almost doesn't matter whether they are profiting or not. america should have the right to know what the motivations of its leaders are. julie: let's bring in robert driscoll, former justice department official who has also served as deputy assistant attorney general. okay, so let's just try to dissect this resignation. shaab says that unless president trump eliminates all financial ties to his businesses, the american people can never be certain his policy decisions are based on what's best for the country. how should a president who

enters the white house as a successful business owner handle this double-edged sword? >> i think it is a challenge because his broad business holdings are going to present lots of things that could arguably be a conflict, but by the same time, the fact he is so wealthy already, i mean the whole point of conflict of interest law is you want to make sure the president is not making decisions to gain personal wealth. when one has vast personal wealth, i think there's an assumption for what would be relatively small amounts of money for him, he won't be making decisions to hold something at a particular hotel or something like that. >> uh-huh. >> i think it's very difficult for someone in president trump's position who has such vast holdings. just to be clear, the law does not apply to the president in this context, the conflict of interest law. >> right. >> we're talking about kind of custom and practice that's happened over time. julie: let's just talk about past presidents who are wealthy now because let's say, the

clintons and the obamas, very wealthy now, but they were not wealthy when they took office. is there a double-standard? can you not be hugely successful when taking the office of president without criticism? >> well, i think there's probably a little bit of a double-standard, but i think what it really goes to in modern society, what really creates wealth for presidents and former presidents is their fame. i mean, today, people monetize fame. the kardashians make money because they're well known and that may be about it. and so by virtue of being president, you will be better known and you will be able to monetize that fact once you leave office. i mean if you look at the clintons they are worth hundreds of millions of dollars from being flat broke according to hilary clinton when they left office. you look at the obamas, they were talking about paying off student loans while he was running for president and are now worth tens of millions of dollars and that's because at some point, you are able to monetize your fame. >> right. >> i think the ability to monetize fame so dwarfs other what would in the past be significant conflicts of

interest i think that probably benefits president trump in terms of public perception that people aren't as concerned as they might be in other circumstances. julie: there's a lot of talk not only about president trump but his family i mean he has a successful family and the family businesses and how they might be affected and are they profiting from his presidency? that question came up during the cbs interview. he was asked whether he thought the president and his family are using the office to enrich themselves. and here is how he replies. he went on to say there's an appearance that the businesses are profiting from his occupying the presidency, but in fact some of his family businesses have been hurt. i mean, take ivanka for example. her brand has taken hit after hit after hit as you probably know since her father was elected with major department stores dropping her clothing and jewelry lines. you can't necessarily say it is all helping their businesses. in fact, some of them are taking hits. >> yeah. that could be true, but you

bring up a good point about the family members. they do not necessarily especially someone like ivanka who is a government official as well, they don't have the same protection the president has of the conflict of interest not applying >> they don't. >> they have to be careful. i know the white house probably has a skeptical view of the office of government ethics because of, you know, the tweets that came out and things like that, where the office of government ethics looked hostile to the administration, but the family members around president trump have got to make sure that they abide, you know, what their lawyers tell them in terms of staying clear of potential conflicts. julie: ivanka has stepped away from her business because she is devoting her time as one of the advisors to her father. >> there's a question about whether or not the stepping away is sufficient. >> is that enough? >> but yes that's a smart move by her to distance herself as much as reasonably possible because those family members don't have the same kind of blanket protection that you have as president. but i think the bottom line is when you are dealing with very

wealthy people, i think we saw this mayor bloomberg in new york, people are kind of less likely to believe a corruption charge because they think the person is a billionaire anyway they are not going to do something for a couple hundred thousand dollars. >> wrote a book, it gets more attention as the daughter of the president than it would have had she just been the daughter of donald trump the real estate mogul. anyway robert driscoll, thank you very much, we appreciate you coming on. >> thanks for having me. kelly: a change in tactics at the g-20 summit as thousands of protesters take to the streets, but without the violence and mayhem we have seen in recent days. we are live in hamburg germany, next. plus, a cease-fire giving a glimmer of hope for the people of war-torn syria, but will it really take hold and end the bloodshed? that story still ahead.

[radio alarm] ♪ julie is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor- positive her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ♪ ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. and ibrance plus letrozole

shrunk tumors in over half of these patients. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts... ...infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. julie calls it her "new" normal. because a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't. ask your doctor about ibrance, the number-one-prescribed, fda-approved oral combination treatment for hr+/her2- mbc. julie: tens of thousands of people flooding the streets yet again on the last day of the g

20 summit. protesting for various causes, but the mood was mostly peaceful. a far cry from what we have been seeing in the recent days. that is when the summit kicked off violently as demonstrators clashed with riot police and caused sheer mayhem in the city. fox senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot is live in hamburg with the very latest there. hi, greg. >> hi, julie. the g-20 summit is over. the officials here tonight in hamburg are hoping the bulk of the violence is over too. but there was even some skirmishing earlier this afternoon at the end of a peaceful march. take a look at what we saw. >> -- how tense things are here a peaceful protest in hamburg has turned dangerous and violent. we're looking at police confronting the protesters. there are bottles being thrown. there are water cannons being shot.

and the people here are very angry. it has been violent. people have been taken away. we're hearing the police. we're hearing the protesters. it's going to get uglier now. again, those clashes happened at the end of an overall peaceful march. 50,000 out on the streets. still they did have some angry words about g-20 politics, capitalism, and yes, president trump. overnight, though, saw the worst violence here. 1500 anarchists ransacked a neighborhood, fires were set, stores looted, molotov cocktails thrown. police stormed a building, some 213 police and dozens and protesters were injured. 114 were arrested. despite 20,000 police out on the streets for the last three days, the city was reduced, according to one account, to mob rule. president trump along with

german chancellor praised the security forces here for what they did and what they did with possibly trying to achieve an impossible task. that is securing a global summit with all the controversy that entails in the center of one of germany's biggest cities. back to you. julie: greg palkot. thank you. kelly? kelly: the u.s. and russia announcing a cease-fire agreement in southwest syria after president trump had his first face-to-face meeting with russian president vladimir putin in germany. u.s. ally jordan is also involved in this deal. secretary of state rex tillerson says the cease-fire agreement is designed to reduce violence in an area near jordan's border. >> syria is certainly one that is a very complex situation in terms of how we transition from the conclusion of a successful effort to defeat isis to stabilizing syria so that we can begin what will no doubt be a lengthy process of political

solutions that will lead to the future for syrian and syrian people. >> a former green beret commander and a former counterterrorism advisor to vice president cheney. thank you for your service, michael. >> thank. >> let's get right to the point, it appears this may be a cease-fire fraught with pitfalls particularly when you consider the united states supports syri syrian rebelled -- syrian rebels. the only common ground these two have is they both isis islamic state. given these facts are you confident that this cease-fire can last? >> kelly, we will see. i think the devil is truly in the details here. this could be a small baby step in the right direction, but i'm incredibly skeptical of the russians and of cooperation with the russians and syria. and particularly because we have

to keep in mind here that the russians, iran, hezbollah, and assad are a package deal when it comes to syria. they've massacred hundreds of thousands of people, including gassing their own folks, and importantly this cease-fire is only russia, the united states, and jordan. iran and hezbollah and their local militias are not included. we will see how this plays out. but i think you are going to see iran and hezbollah still pushing hard to gobble up areas as isis falls and to create that shia crescent that iran has wanted from tehran through iraq, through syria to lebanon so it can hit israel from a different angle that they've wanted that since the persian empire. so there's still a lot of missing pieces here. i'm quite skeptical, but, you know, we will see. kelly: michael, you are going to the core of my next question because as you know, having worked with vice president dick cheney and president george w.

bush, it was the bush administration that actually focused on iran calling it a nexus of -- an axis of terror along with hezbollah. here we are in this region trying to broker a peace deal or a cease-fire deal with russia that as you've rightly said is closely associated and affiliated with iran. therefore, hezbollah. now, the cease-fire was announced before all the details had been worked out. what are you concerns that russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov and russian military police will monitor the new truce given the relationship they have with bashar al-assad? >> right. that's already one point -- kind of one disconnect is the russians are saying their military police will be the monitoring force and we and our allies on the ground have already said absolutely not. so the details still have to be worked out. to your point on iran, i could be optimistic if russia is willing to back away from iran, i'm skeptical, again, because

they are selling the -- the russians are selling the iranians billions worth of advanced weapons systems bought for i might add with the funds that we have released as part of the iran deal, but if they are willing to back away from the iranians in syria, and align with kind of a more of a political agreement, and if they're willing to let assad go, then i could, you know, again -- i want to be optimistic here, but i got to tell you, russia backing away from iran is going to come with a price. the russians never give anything away for free. and i'm wondering what that price will be. will it be ukraine? the baltics or balkans? you know, we will see. where does this fit in our overall russia policy and our overall iran policy? i think that remains to be worked out. kelly: i wish we had more time michael because this is a very serious issue obviously looking forward we want to see that syria gets to some semblance of a cease-fire so that the half a million people that can be

killed there and of course the european refugee crisis stemming from what happened there in syria, we want to see it all come to an end peacefully. we have got to go. thank you, michael. again, thank you for your service, sir. >> thank you, kelly. julie: we have new video coming into fox news showing two u.s. air force bombers flying close to the north korean border in a defensive show of force. the bombers conducting a ten-hour mission with south korean and japanese fighter jets. but the maneuver is coming just days after north korea's successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in an effort to reduce tensions, president trump meeting with the chinese president at the g-20 summit today trying to enlist beijing's help, which of course is north korea's largest trading partner. kelly: a terrifying moment when a pick up truck ends up submerged in a pool. check this out. with an elderly woman trapped inside. we will tell you what happened next. plus, it's crunch-time for

senate republicans healthcare bill after last week's delay. will they get it done? that's the question, and what it could mean for their plans on tax reform. we have a panel weighing in next on that and more. >> we are going to get this done in 2017. we will not wait for a path free of obstacles, and we will not pass about the quick fixes and measures. transformational tax reform can be done. this is my pain. but i am stronger. aleve. all day strong. (vo) nutritional needs...og's

all in one. purina one. healthy energy, all in one. strong muscles, all in one. highly digestible, and a taste he loves, all in one. purina one smartblend is expertly blended... with 100% nutrition, 0% fillers, always real meat #1. lifelong smart nutrition. it's all in one. purina one. swhen it comes to molding young minds, nobody does it better. she also builds her own fighting robots. destroy. but when it comes to mortgages, she's less confident. fortunately for sarah, there's rocket mortgage by quicken loans. it's simple, so she can understand the details and be sure she's getting the right mortgage. apply simply. understand fully. mortgage confidently.

looking for a hotel that fits... ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over 200 sites to find you the hotel you want at the lowest price. grazie, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. >> a good samaritan jumping into action taking -- saving an elderly woman in san diego. take a look at this. you can see this pick up truck completely submerged in a backyard swimming pool. police say an elderly man was unloading the truck with his wife still inside yesterday when the vehicle started to roll backwards. a bystander was able to break the window to make the rescue. emergency responders taking the

woman to a nearby hospital. no word on her condition yet. >> we want to make sure that the regulations that the laws that the tax code is well suited so this business can grow and compete and keep adding jobs and growing your business. that is my job is as your congressman to know how your business is affected by what government does. >> we are very committed to get tax reform done this year. it is one of the president's top priorities for economic growth. i think the people of america understand that. that we need economic growth and we're committed to doing that. i expect that healthcare hopefully will get done. but regardless we are committed to getting tax reform done. julie: house speaker paul ryan and treasury secretary steve mnuchin doubling down on their commitment to tax reform following the missed deadline on the senate healthcare bill when several republicans objected to it. now the big question is, will tax reform actually take priority over healthcare?

let's bring in the president of district media group and heritage foundation fellow and don calloway former missouri state representative and founder of pine street strategies. thank you guys for talking to us. let me just ask you, first, don, any chance that tax reform is going to happen in this year? >> no. that's the very short answer, but tax reform is a very complicated process. the last time it happened was 1986, and that started with ideas and bills that were filed as far back as 1979, which by the way was a very good year. i have been around a few years now. i have seen drafts coming out of the house ways and means committee and we have seen some good ideas coming from those tax reform drafts but have not seen a substantial ideas that contain within those so we can pass a bill in the last five months of the legislative calendar year. what we will probably see a series of tax cuts for individuals, high net worth individuals and corporations that will probably be stuck into some of the necessary bills for

government to remain funding and the debt ceiling and such through the end of the calendar year. we will not see comprehensive tax reform this calendar year. julie: beverly, speaker ryan is a lot more optimistic than don is regarding this done. he says he hopes a final version of the healthcare bill, that plan will be approved this summer, so congress can turn its attention to tax reform many the fall -- in the fall. the question is, does the delay on healthcare jeopardize tax reform? ryan says no. what say you? >> i think it makes it difficult because one of the reasons why healthcare reform was even discussed before tax reform was because of the obama care taxes that republicans wanted to repeal. so that does affect the tax reform plan that was built on that. here's the thing, is that republicans not only do care about tax reform. they also need a legislative victory in 2017. if they go throughout this whole year having the house, having the senate, having the white house and aren't able to have major reforms on healthcare and

tax reform, that could be disastrous for them in 2018. julie: if a healthcare bill doesn't happen, don, then i mean, is it unrealistic for the g.o.p. to think that they can accomplish -- successfully accomplish one without the other? i mean, in other words if you keep obama care taxes as is, since most of them are healthcare based taxes, then can you really reform taxes? i mean, do you need one before the other? >> right. you don't need to do obama care before you do tax reform. remember that the republican majority had to make a very authentic choice at the beginning of this year and for political reasons i suggest they decided to go with obama care first. you don't need to do one with the other. however, tax reform, there's personal side and corporate side which combined to have comprehensive tax reform. so many consequences when you do one on the personal side, that can affect the corporate side.

there's virtually no way. i think both sides agree we need this to happen in order for america to remain competitive on the global scale but there's virtually no way we have literally the clock in this calendar year to complete it. julie: you know, beverly many republicans have said that a tax overhaul would be more difficult if congress doesn't move on healthcare changes first. but republicans healthcare bill would actually bring nearly 1 trillion dollars in tax cuts, which the g.o.p. is counting on to make tax code changes that would bring in less money. how do they go about doing that? >> well, as speaker ryan said that when it comes to healthcare and it comes to tax reform, it is about revenue. so they need to figure out how that is going to be. another part that hits on this revenue side is not just obama care taxes, but it is something known as the border adjustment tax. this is about imports and taxing imports for those who like donald trump it seems like they may not like this side of it too much. what you are really seeing is that republicans, even senator

cotton said he would not vote for tax reform that had this element in it. but others are pushing for it. here's the thing, once again if republicans don't move forward with something i think it will be bad for them in 2018. julie: what does this do to the future elections? because, you know, these midterms are riding on a lot of these congressmen and congresswomen out there. their constituents are furious. they want to see something done. moving forward, don, i mean, how do you vote on something like this, knowing that basically your seat in office rides on it? >> it will be very difficult and it will be a true test of partisan values. if you remember in 09, many borderline moderate democratic members of congress had to take a very difficult vote that they knew would probably cost them their seats. i don't think that a tax reform vote costs a member of congress his or her seat, but i do think that perhaps a healthcare reform

vote, if we are able to get to that in this calendar year would. bev is right, if we are not able to complete obama care repeal and replace, and not able to complete tax reform and go next year which is a do nothing year because it is a midterm year without a major legislative victory that could be devastating to republican changes of keeping the majority. julie: that's all the time we have. beverly and don, appreciate you coming on. >> thanks. kelly: alligators are a known hazard in florida at many golf courses. what happened to a driver -- a diver, i should say, who was hired to collect golf balls from a pond. plus texas senator ted cruz holding a town hall event to discuss major issues impacting our veterans. a live report coming up from houston just ahead. but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car?

now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, we'll replace the full value of your car. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

julie: a terrifying scene at a golf course in florida. take a look at this. officials say a 50-year-old man was bitten on the arm by an alligator after diving for golf balls. there is an actual device that does that. you don't have to go in actually. but he managed to break free thank goodness but suffered a significant injury. the professional diver was hired to collect golf balls from the ponds. trappers pulled the 10 foot

gator out of the water after the attack. i say buy new golf balls. forget the golf balls. kelly: exactly, forget about it. texas senator ted cruz joining forces today with the advocacy group concerned veterans for america holding a town hall meeting in houston. the event is designed to discuss key issues impacting veterans and their families. we are live in houston with more. casey? >> among some of the issues we heard talked about today, long wait times at the va, patients falling through the cracks of the system, a lot of things discussed, but texas senator ted cruz hosted this event in houston today, along with the group as you said concerned veterans for america. you know, this was the final texas stop. cruz holding similar events this past week up in the dallas area, in austin, and down in mechanicalen near the border. -- mccallen near the border. these have been open to veterans and their family members to talk

about experiences they have had and how to better improve the system. the senator speaking a lot about accountability and introducing more competition to the marketplace giving veterans more options to address their needs. >> the biggest advantage of that is the impact of that is to improve the delivery of service and the quality of care within the va so that every veteran can get quality healthcare, which you have earned and you deserve. >> each of the events have brought out protesters, about 50 or so showed up here in houston today. they were here to have their voices heard about the repeal of obama care, not so much veterans issues, but they saw this as a moment to reach their senator and urge him to, quote, do the right thing. listen. >> please don't pass your version of healthcare legislation. please pull that off the table, go back to the drawing board and come up with something that is a strong solution for all americans. >> cruz says one of the most

common grievances he's heard as he has traveled the state and he's heard from his constituents is that healthcare insurance premiums are too expensive. they are too high. a lot of people can't afford them. and the senator, julie -- i'm sorry, arthel and kelly tell us that the -- that's why he is pressing senate republicans to get the costs of healthcare down all together. back to you. julie: casey, thank you very much. it is julie. >> i was right the first time. julie: it is julie and kelly. but i was off the last couple weekends. kelly: casey, we love you man. julie: i love you, casey. kelly: that does it for us. the news continues at the top of the hour with eric shawn and arthel neville is up next. julie: arthel is up next. kelly: back at 7:00. watch. [laughter] at me...look at me... look at me... you used to be the "yes" guy. what happened to that guy? legacy technology can handcuff any company.

but "yes" is here. so, you're saying we can cut delivery time? yeah. with help from hpe, we can finally work the way we want to. with the right mix of hybrid it, everything computes.

we're not professional athletes. but that doesn't mean we're giving up. i'm in this for me. for me. along with diet and exercise, farxiga helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. lowering a1c by up to 1.2 points. do not take if allergic to farxiga. if you experience symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking and seek medical help right away. do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems, are on dialysis, or have bladder cancer. tell your doctor right away if you have blood or red color in your urine or pain while you urinate. farxiga can cause serious side effects including dehydration, genital yeast infections in women and men, serious urinary tract infections, low blood sugar, and kidney problems. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have signs of ketoacidosis,

which is serious and may lead to death. i'm in this for my family. i'm in this for me. ask your doctor about farxiga and learn how you can get it for free. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. eric: hello and welcome i'm eric shawn. a brand new hour of "america's news head quarters". arthel: hello eric. nice to be back with you. i'm arthel neville. the highly anticipated meeting between president trump and vladimir putin is in the record books but there's some confusion about the outcome. eric: a show of defiance along the nextn border, the u.s. -- north korean border, the u.s. air force sending out b-1 bombers to show kim jong un we won't be intimidated as tensions rise.