>> "happening now" starts right now. >> bye-bye. >> melissa: president trump swapping trump talk for praise in the midst of an important stop on his trip to asia. the president sitting down with chinese president xi and criticizing beijing's trade deals. welcome to "happening now." i'm melissa francis. >> jon: the chinese think in centuries. i'm jon scott along with high stakes diplomacy there was pomp and pageantry at a lavish state dinner. china playing the gracious host even with tensions over north korea playing out in public. he is urging china to rein down the nuclear program. >> president trump: all nations must join together to stop

financing and trading with the murderous north korean regime. together we have in our power to finally liberate this region. and the world from this very serious nuclear menace. but it will require collective action. collective strength and collective devotion to winning the peace. >> jon: how are those remarks playing out? kevin corke is traveling with the president in beijing. kevin. >> hi there. you're right. plenty of pageantry and promise as the president makes his way through china. stop number three on that five-country asian tour. it's off to vietnam. when he was here we saw a great deal happen. a number of trade deals. we'll get to that in a bit and a bit of an agreement on north korea of sorts. first the pomp and circumstance's pageantry. as the chinese government

rolled out the red carpet during the president's visit here. no surprise it was an important visit for them. to be honest, it was also in stark contrast to the tough talk the president had for the chinese government on trade during the campaign. perhaps a sign of a little on the job pragmatism by the president. still the two sides did agree that a nuclear armed north korea is not only bad for the peninsula, it is bad for the world. >> president trump: today president xi, we discussed our mutual commitment to the complete denuclearization of north korea. we agreed not to replicate failed approaches of the past, and there were many. we agreed on the need to fully implement all u.n. security council resolutions on north korea and to increase economic pressure until north korea abandons its reckless and

dangerous path. >> reckless and dangerous path indeed. a number of deals were announced as well. many of them to be fair began before the president took office but we are talking about a big dollar number here, $250 billion in deals related to aircraft, auto parts, food products. still it wasn't enough to quell the president's frustration over the massive trade debt between our countries. >> president trump: both the united states and china will have a more prosperous future if we can achieve a level economic playing field. right now unfortunately it is a very one-sided and unfair one. but -- but i don't blame china. but in actuality i do blame past administrations. >> blaming past administrations a not so veiled reference to his predecessor. next off to vietnam, a couple

days there. we have a cure en route. i'll see you in manila. >> jon: enjoy your travels with the president coming to us from china. >> melissa: here at home the house ways and means committee expected to finish its mark-up of the gop tax bill soon. with senate republicans preparing to unveil their own tax legislation. meanwhile president trump weighing in referring to the senate plan the "wall street journal" reports he told democrats in a conference call you'll like it a whole lot more. joining me is bob cusick editor and chief of "the hill." what do you think democrats will like more about the senate plan versus the house plan? >> well, i don't think democrats are going to get on board with this bill. it will be different than the house bill and they'll unveil it in the next hour. there will be differences on the state and local tax deduction as well as home mortgage deduction. this will be a different bill. if it passes the house and senate they will have to

reconcile in conference. we've heard a lot already from democrats blasting the house bill and i just think republicans just like on healthcare, they are going to need to unify. they can't count on democratic votes. i don't think they'll get any. there are a lot of democrats in red states up for reelection in states that trump won. this could be used against them. >> melissa: senate sources to our own fox business news to maria bartiromo saying this plan that will come out in the next hour is what she is reporting. it will delay the 20% corporate tax rate for one year. put that delay in place. what do you think about that? what would that mean? >> that would mean it would be less expensive. bob corker has said he doesn't want to add a lot of money to the deficit and he is retiring. he is a vote to watch. the state and local tax deduction change is going to completely eliminate it and remember there are no republicans unlike the house who are serving in blue states. so that's not going to lose any

republican votes but that could be a reason why democrats vote against it. so this is going to be a difficult path forward. there are obstacles ahead but if you look at the house side at this point there are a lot more no votes on healthcare than there are on taxes. we count eight republicans who have said no on the tax cut bill. i think it will pass the house by a decent margin. but not easily. >> melissa: some of the changes if maria's sources are correct, some of the changes are things that could end up really royaling folks in the house. removing the state and local income tax, delaying that corporate tax rate for one year. there are a lot of people who believe that cut will provide a real economic boom. delaying it for a year could be a total deal killer. if you look back at the reagan era, they feel it was a huge mistake to delay until 1981. they got killed in 82 in the

election because they hadn't seen the full economic growth package really hit. and that hurt republicans. >> they've already -- remember, the corporate tax rate as you know was initially going to be 15%. then paul ryan and the president said okay, let's move it to 20 because the math was very difficult as far as blowing a hole in the deficit. so they are compromising. i think they have to get it done no matter what. tuesday's results showed that whatever they get through they've got to get something through or they are going to get really hit hard in both primary and the general election next year. >> melissa: to that point. senator king saying we have to get something by, people are saying, peter king saying how can you vote for tax reform if it will increase taxes in your district? great victory. we got the first tax reform in 30 years and your taxes are going up. it's okay, we got it through. he is like people would think you are nuts.

he can't possibly vote for that. that makes sense if you're a republican. >> that's right. the republican leaders are saying listen, we're raising taxes in some areas but overall we're doubling the standard deduction. overall that most people are going to get a big tax cut. but there is a lot of confusion, there has been some analysis from different think tanks and cbo and joint committee on taxation. a lot of questions about what this would do for middle class families and that's where the p.r. battle begins. >> melissa: i don't know what postcard. what we've seen so far is fitting on. it doesn't seem like that's happening yet. there is still time. a lot of debate left. bob cusick, thanks for joining us, appreciate it. >> jon: vice president pence visiting texas to comfort a community in mourning. he participated in a vigil last night honoring the friends and neighbors lost when a gunman opened fire in a church.

26 people dead. casey stiegel is at the scene of the heartbreaking crime. >> it is a scene where we have seen people from the community just trickling by to lay flowers and wreaths, light candles. anything to pay their respects. as you know, this investigation has many moving parts. one of which a key one and it involves the gunman's iphone. it is in possession of the f.b.i. and, in fact, apple has released a statement saying that it has offered technical assistance to the feds. those special agents had not yet reached out to the iphone maker, looking for information on how to crack the security code to unlock the device. as we know, that mobile phone could contain a lot of clues about the shooter, his activities leading up to sunday's crime. just as it did with the suspects in the san bernardino

shooting. 26 people were killed at the first baptist church and they have now all been identified. we understand that it is about half of this small community's congregation. among those who lost their lives eight children including a baby and an unborn child. at last night's prayer vigil attended by vice president mike pence while offering words of comfort, he was also critical of the air force's handling of devin patrick kelley, a man who was discharged from the military, who reportedly escaped from a mental health facility after sneaking guns onto an air force base and threatening his commanders. now the vice president wants to know why these red flags did not prevent the suspect from being able to buy any weapons at all. >> we now know it was a crime that the assailant was ever able to purchase a firearm in the first place.

he lied on his application. had a history of mental illness. and there were bureaucratic failures. i'm informed by secretary heather wilson the air force is moving aggressively to review why this error occurred. >> attorney general jeff sessions was also in attendance, including texas governor greg abbott and back here you see the white crosses just behind me. a volunteer came out here and put these crosses up overnight. one representing each of the lives lost here last sunday. >> jon: so much pain there in sutherland springs, texas, casey, thank you. >> melissa: it is the third full day of jury deliberations in the bribery trial of new jersey senator bob menendez. but why jurors could have to start from scratch next week.

plus bill clinton on conan last night. you want to hear what he had to say about president trump. i'm never gonna be able to sleep with this cold. i'll take a sick day tomorrow. on our daughter's birthday? moms don't take sick days... moms take nyquil severe. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep with a cold, medicine.

did yon the national debt?ssman get elected by talking tough will they stay true to their words? or did they promise you one thing... only to do another? right now, congress is talking about tax cuts that will add trillions to our national debt and hurt our economy. it's time to tell congress...

don't borrow more money from china. and leave more debt to our kids. keep your word. tax cuts shouldn't add to the national debt. >> melissa: jurors are in their third full day of deliberations in the corruption trial of senator robert menendez. the new jersey democrat charged with accepting lavish trips and gifts in exchange for political favors. menendez appeared confident as he arrived at the newark courthouse this morning. >> are you nervous? >> listen, the jury has families, children, jobs. i get after nine weeks, 60 witnesses, hundreds of pages they're doing their page and they also have challenges at home. so you know, i'm happy to wait for the jury to come to a just verdict. >> melissa: if a verdict is not reached by tonight the judge says one juror will be excused

for vacation and replaced by an alternate. the panel would have to start deliberations all over again. how fun. >> jon: could come today. breaking developments. democrats making big gains in virginia on tuesday winning the governor's race and flipping 10 state house seats in a victory widely viewed in the media as a repudiation of president trump. is it? fox news media analyst howard kurtz is also host of media buzz airing sundays on fox news channel. headline in the "new york times" on wednesday called it a big rebuke of trump, howie. is it? >> that certainly is the media narrative. there is no question that donald trump was a significant factor in the virginia race, jon. but what many pundits are simply forgetting is that virginia is basically becoming a blue state. won by hillary clinton and won twice by barack obama and

overinterpreting into the democrats have a good chance to take over the house when, in fact, they have to pick up 24 seats and many of those are in red states, less friendly territory than virginia. >> jon: nobody wanted to predict that ralph northam would win that race ahead of the actual voting. >> the polls were tight and, you know, a lot of people thought ed gillespie because he is a former chairman of the rnc who distanced himself from donald trump, he might pull it off. the press was basically wrong or overcautious on that. when we project what will happen a year from now it's crazy. the trump presidency may look different a year from now than the current situation. >> jon: after the loss the president tweeted out his observation that he didn't feel that ed gillespie was enough of a trump supporter, that he didn't embrace the president enough. >> no question about that.

gillespie is the classic washington establishment lobbyist, former bush white house aide. he barely mentioned donald trump's name even though he tried to run on hot button issues as immigration and confederate statues. he didn't have the trump supporters and may have alienated more traditional publics. >> you write america is not new jersey or virginia. the implications you think are being stretched. >> we do this every four years. the new jersey and virginia gubernatorial elections were in another year when there were lots of other elections they would get lost in the shuffle. now it's all they have. they love the read the tea leaves. it was a big day for the democrats. no question about that. it might be lending itself to a little bit of overinterpretation. >> jon: in case people weren't

watching conan last night former president bill clinton took a swipe at president trump. >> the dictators club in the world and there is a bunch of them, you know, they want two things. they want nuclear weapons because they feel like they can never be dislodged no matter how much people hate them if they have nuclear power and they want to abolish the line between fact and fiction and truth and lie. look at the effort here to disenfranchise voters. >> that seemed to be a pretty direct swipe at the current president of the united states. what do you make of that, howard? >> classic bill clinton. he never actually comes out and says i'm talking about donald trump. he starts talking about dictators around the world and conan looks at him and there are a couple of laughs. the light touch that bill clinton excels at and his wife didn't have. conan won't follow up with the tough question about what do you mean about surpressing

voters. clinton takes his shot but no line that says he went too far. >> jon: curious that it came a year after president trump defeated his wife in that unexpected election result from 2016. >> yeah. i don't think bill clinton has forgotten that and we haven't heard much from him lately. so much attention has been on hillary as she continues her endless book tour. she continues to take shots at president trump. some democrats have said after the whole donna brazile they wish hillary clinton would get off the stage and let the democrats focus on the next generation of leaders who might win some seats next year. >> jon: let's talk big media picture for a moment. at&t wants to buy time warner and merge those two companies together. time warner owns cnn and at&t

owns direct tv. now there are concerns the justice department could block it unless they spin off cnn and the turner media group. president trump has had his issues with fake news. how big a story is this? >> you know, there is a bit of a perception problem for the administration because of the president's repeated tweets on cnn as fake news and justice officials say you either have to get rid of turner broadcasting or cnn that's a classic antitrust concern when you have two big companies on the verge of merging. i don't think there is any evidence the justice department is improperly pressuring at&t. i think that's being a little over interpreted. by the way, even if cnn does get spun off it's not going anywhere. somebody will continue it. people who don't like the deal are using the cnn angle as a way of trashing it. no firm evidence. the white house says president trump has never discussed this

with the justice department. >> jon: howard kurtz, we'll see you on sunday on media buzz. >> melissa: president trump leaving china and heading to vietnam tonight. will he or won't he meet there with vladimir putin? plus why one well-known organization is calling our national anthem racist.

>> jon: right now isis suffers another major setback, syrian government forces capturing another city, the group's last stronghold in that country. isis fighters are retreating. it's near the border with iraq. the syrian military says it killed a large number of isis militants. >> melissa: another development

in the star-spangled banner controversy. the naacp in california wants congress to get rid of the national anthem all together. members of the organization are calling it, quote, racist and anti-black. we are joined live with more on this. you'll have to explain it to us, william. >> well, melissa, the nfl kneeling controversy prompted the naacp to look at the anthem which contains a rarely sung third verse which talks about slaves. the group claims those lyrics are racist, divisive, anti-black and disqualifies "the star spangled banner" as the national anthem. francis scott key wrote those words in 1814 as he watched british warships bomb fort mchenry in baltimore. it became the national anthem in 1916 and affirmed by congress in 31. here are the lyrics the naacp finds offensive. no refuge could save the

hireling and slave from terror of flight or the gloom of the grave. >> it's racist. it is anti-black people. the real intention got overlooked and become something that the dividing us. i'm looking for a way to bring us back together. >> however, historians strongly disagree about the lyrics' meaning. hireling and slave refer to black slaves liberated by the british. some fighting against america. it doesn't mean the song celebrates slavery. the british manipulated blacks with the promise of freedom and elsewhere lyrics in the song refer to blacks and whites alike as fighting for america as free men. >> is it offensive to you? >> not to me personally. i look at certain things as historic. and just the story of our history. something to learn from.

>> right now the naacp is looking for a member of congress to sponsor the bill to kill or change "the star spangled banner" as the national anthem. back to you. >> melissa: wow, thank you, william. >> jon: president trump is trying to make good on a campaign promise to cut the u.s. trade deficit with china. why our next guest says this is more of a symbolic measure. plus the next stop on the president's tour of asia takes him to vietnam and the world will be watching to see whether he meets with one particular leader there.

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>> melissa: we have been waiting for the house speaker paul ryan talking about the tax plan on capitol hill. let's listen in. >> i think when you take a look at tax reform you have to take a look at the bill if totality and the fact we're doubling the standard -- i lost my postcard, i feel naked without my postcard in my pocket. doubling the standard deduction, i was going to see if i had an assist. no postcard? do you guys have a postcard on you? you don't have one? okay. christina by doubling the standard exemption right there

90% of americans will fill out their taxes on a form the size of a postcard. number two, when you actually say for your first $24,000 instead of $12,000 tax free. a $1600 per children tax credit. what the analysis shows us whether it's analysis from jct, the tax foundation or even tpc that the average household at every income level see a tax cut. i think when you take a look at the fact this produces faster take home pages and faster wages and economic growth and bigger paychecks it will be a good thing for everybody no matter what state you come from. as you see we also allow a $10,000 property tax deduction. in conjunction with the discussions we've been having with our members in these states, hundreds of billions have been added to the bill to

accommodate legitimate concerns so people are benefiting. >> [inaudible question] >> first of all i think it's a very interesting analog but i would say the crime bill of 93, obamacare, those were unpopular bills. this is not unpopular. we're actually letting people keep more of their own money and cleaning up the tax system. we'll have faster economic growth, bigger paychecks and less taxes. by the way, this is something we ran on. we didn't -- we didn't do like

some of the democratic majorities of the pastrana something on an unsuspecting country. we ran on doing this tax reform. the president ran on doing this tax cut and tax reform. this is about fulfilling our promises to the american people and improving people's lives and making a positive difference. i fundamentally believe when we do this, make good on our word, make good on our promise and make people's lives better we'll be just fine politically. i don't do the yell-out thing. >> a lot of viewers are concerned about the child tax credit being not included in the house bill. is that something you would like to see in the final bill? have there been efforts to preserves it? >> direct you to the mark-up today. that is among the things the ways and means committee is

considering. casey. >> you are talking about repealing individual mandates. >> those conversations are ongoing. of course i want to get rid of the individual mandate. i want to get rid of the individual mandate any way i can. i think the individual mandate is doing great damage to people in this country. we are making people buy something they can't afford and don't want. it is not good policy for our country and it is wrecking our healthcare system. whether or not it goes into any piece of legislation we'll have those conversations along with other issues with our members ongoing. >> the senate bill might be different than what you did. they will repeal salt even thoef you talked about the importance of that compromise. is that going to be problematic for resolving and also

democratic aide overheard you joking going to conference. >> put the political hack aside we're going to conference. we're going to conference. that wasn't a joke. the person i don't know which hack did that. but if you were there we're going to conference. why? we're doing this the right way and regular order. the senate bill will be different than the house bill. that's the legislative process. what's encouraging in all of this is just as we discussed at the front end of this process, we have a framework that we established with the white house and the senate and these bills are being written with inside that framework. the house will pass its bill. the senate will pass its bill and then we'll get together and reconcile the differences which is the legislative process and how this process will continue. >> you talked a lot about how this will affect individuals and families.

if they earn 50 to 150,000 a year. where democrats think they can make some headway is with the upscale suburbs that have long been a part of the republican coalition that will look at this. they own very expensive homes, they make more money than a lot of what you've been talking about. >> ironic, isn't it? >> in their view they think they aren't starving but they stop working all their money goes away and the democrats will say the republicans are passing a tax plan that is not helping you. maybe your taxes are going up a little or maybe not going down at all. rearranging the deck chairs and you still need your accountant. is there a problem for you for republicans essentially with an important part of your coalition that helped you win in 2016 if the tax plan does help a lot of people but doesn't help people that have been voting republican for a long time? >> we're doing this to help

improve people's lives, not for political benefit. we're trying to get the country back on track. we're doing this to get economic growth. look, we haven't had a 3% economy in about a decade. do you know what happens to a country that grows so slowly? wages are flat, living standards get flat. economic anxiety and insecurity goes up. that's what is happening in this country today. you wonder why we have a lot of anxiety and polarization in america. i would argue when people are worried about whether they can put food on the table or pay the energy bill next week or month that's a problem in america. the purpose of this legislation is folk utioned on not giving the highest income earners the biggest tax breaks. the purpose is giving middle income tax families a break. and you have to remember, half the country is living paycheck to paycheck. i just saw a survey that says a third of americans feel they are $400 away from a financial crisis in their family.

that's who needs relief in this country. by the way, when you get our tax rates down on businesses as deeply as we're dropping them in the bill we are proposing that's good for everybody. jobs, wages, economic growth. this isn't an appropriations bill. it is an economic growth bill. this is a middle income fairness bill. a fairness bill. if you have an accountant and can navigate the deductions and loopholes, you can get a good deal. but why do we want to have a tax code that is so rigged? don't we want to have a tax code that is simple and easy and fair? that's what we're trying to accomplish. i would say look at the analysis, no matter who it is, the average families in all income groups see a tax cut. >> following up on that. in the out years these

families, more of these families will see a tax increase. that is primarily -- the sunset. can you talk about why you have chosen to do the sunsets when so many things on the corporate and business side are permanent, why not make some of those things sunset? >> that's a good question. you see both. you see the extension provision sunset. business provisions sunset and individual provisions sunset. in our bill the primary, the big provisions the rates and child tax credit are made permanent. why? certainty is really important for economic growth and that's why we believe if you sunset the wrong provisions you'll do damage to economic growth and forward planning. what we also learned from the economic standpoint the things that are sunset are done in a way they won't damage economic growth but encourage it and to be conforming with the rules. we have budget rules we have to

be mindful of. when we pass a bill out of the house it adheres to the senate rules so we can use the reconciliation we can use to pass tax reform. the sunsets are making sure this bill conforms to the rules. we don't personally like in the house but we need to follow to make sure it's privileged. >> there is an expectation that congress will act later to extend those. >> i believe that as well. >> doesn't -- >> as you know, we are concerned that the dynamic scoring would not be allowed in the senate again because of the rules. but we are convinced based upon lots of research, lots of economic modeling that you will see faster economic growth result from this bill. you will see higher wages, more jobs, bigger paychecks, bigger gdp and if you see a bigger economy you get more revenue. we're confident. two things you need to do to get the fiscal house in order.

get people working and paying taxes and do more with entitlement spending. the house has passed bills over and over again. it doesn't mean you stop working to growing the economy. this is our signature issue, the most important thing we can do to get a bigger economic pie that is important for our fiscal future. >> jon: -- >> there are a dozen house republicans for daca to have a fix by the end of the year. do you think it's important that daca have a fix by the end of the year and would you be willing to consider it as part of the -- >> it should be considered separately on its own merits. we have until march with the deadline for the president. i don't think there is any need to have artificial deadlines within the one we already have. our members are having lots of conversations. we have oh working group on this issue and that working

group will start talking to the broader conference. i also met with members of the senate who are also forming their own working group. so active discussions are underway with members about how the daca solution should occur. but i don't think we should put artificial deadlines in front of the one we have and i think it should be considered separately. thank you, everybody. >> melissa: that was house speaker paul ryan taking questions on the tax reform bill trying to make the point that no matter which think-tank you look at they're saying the average taxpayer in all income groups will see a cut. he faced questions about the out years when the things sunset. overall he was trying to make the point the economic pie is going to grow. we'll see. jon. >> jon: let's get some political discuss about that underway. joining us now isaac wright the form executive director of correct the record super pac, a pro-clinton super pac that was up and running in 2016. also brad blakeman former

deputy assistant to president george w. bush. isaac wright, you don't like the speaker's math. we have to grow this economy, a decade since we've seen 3% growth and the tax cut plan is the way to do it. what don't you like about it? >> the priorities are wrong for our country. the tax cut democrats on the record we're for tax cuts and reform for the middle class and working families. the problem is the outset of the tax cut we're talking about 50% of the benefit goes exclusively to the wealthiest 1%. at the end of 10 years bipartisan analysis it jumps up to 80%. middle class families making $50 to 90,000 a year will get 8% of the benefit of this tax cut. at the same time they'll give up deductions for things like student loans, for medical care, for all these things that middle class families have relied on in order to fund tax

cuts for the wealthy so they can buy their third home in the alps. that's not our priority as a country. >> jon: brad, i suspect you see it differently. >> we don't take into account the growth opportunity we have. we're doing well on wall street. it is how well main street is doing. the fairness of this tax plan in the house is something that will revolutionize the way americans report their taxes but the amount of money they are able to keep. rate reductions. repatriating money coming back to america. that's important. businesses are going to grow and buy equipment and hire more people. wages will rise. so democrats don't ever like to talk about growth because it's growth in the private sector. they rather have us send our money to the government for them to spend for us. no, those days are over. we'll make the american people the stewards of their own money. >> let's check the math for a second because democrats are for jobs and growth.

the problem is that's the opposite of this tax plan. when you lower the foreign profits tax to zero% you're incentivizing business to say if you outsource american jobs overseas you can pay 0% of the profits. they're giving motivation to outsource jobs to other countries. another problem in the math there is a trillion dollar budget hole here that nobody on the republican side has acknowledged. we'll be borrowing money from our grandkids to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest 1%. a moral problem with that. we're borrowing against future generations to pay for tax cuts for the most wealthy 1% that will incentivize outsourcing jobs. >> common sense. democrats don't get it.

it is not americans sending government money for them to spend. it is having americans change money between themselves. the velocity of money. every time a dollar changes hands in the private sector it builds the private sector. the government hasn't created a private sector job. the private sector creating their own. the pass through that will give individuals who operate as corporations a lesser rate. it is repatriating trillions of dollars which democrats kept overseas. if the democrats would have repatriated that money we would have seen a recovery a lot quicker and more robust after the recession. democrats don't get it. they don't like the fact that government is releasing their hold on america's pocket books. it is americans who have to be incentivized to create their own destiny in america. >> i do want to correct the point democrats believe if you put money back into the economy with tax cuts for working

people it helps. giving 80% of that to the 1% of the wealthiest. >> not many second homes in the alps from this country. we have to go, gentlemen. isaac and brad. thank you both. back in a moment. freedom. one nation in all of human history was built on that bedrock, ours. freedom has made america exceptional, but it can only last if you and i choose to act as people of character. forging character has been the pursuit of hillsdale college since 1844. ♪

>> melissa: president trump is talking trade in china. he emerged from meetings with president xi. >> president trump: it is a very one-sided and unfair one, but -- but i don't blame china. [applause] after all, who can blame a

country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? i give china great credit. >> melissa: the senate's top democrat chuck schumer firing back saying the president may not blame china but i do and so do millions of americans who voted for him and others who have lost their jobs at the hand of china's trade policies. joining me now is a professor of security studies at georgetown university and scholar at the american enterprise institute. if i were to interpret what he said it was similar to what he says about tax policy. you can't blame people who use the loopholes, who do all the things that are in the code because it's legal. you blame the people who wrote the code and made it ridiculous and he is saying you can't blame china for taking advantage of deals that other people let them have. what do you think? >> i think that there is

nothing really surprising with what president trump did while he was in china. i had thought he would focus on the economic issues largely because his campaign promises had to do with the fact he promised better trade deals for the united states. the problem is the trade deficit with china is due to many things including the fact that china doesn't play fair. they don't have an open market. u.s. companies don't have the same types of opportunities there as chinese companies have here. what we really needed was structural economic reform but i'm not surprised the president didn't actually get there. instead he tried to pursue symbolic wins for the united states. >> melissa: how do we know what went on? they have all these conversations behind closed doors. they make deals and do things. we only know what we're reading from reporters there and what he is saying publicly. what counts is what goes on behind closed doors. >> i will tell you from looking

at what xi ping has said most recently. the leader of china said that his philosophy is that the party will have complete control over every aspect of society, politics and the economy. most economists in china said at that meeting any hope of china pursuing market reforms were dead. after they signed the economic agreements all of those agreements being non-binding, by the way, they were just understandings. he said china would pursue market reform at the pace of china. what it tells us china wanted to give symbolic wins for the united states but no plans of opening up their economy to the degree they hope they will. >> melissa: "the new york times" disagrees saying yesterday they think that the president -- there is an unspoken quid pro quo. he is holding back on economic punishment in exchange for help

with north korea. that it's never really about punishing china over trade practices and the carrot and the stick. that's the stick we'll beat you to death on trade unless you help us with north korea. what do you think about that? >> i do think the tone that the president struck while in china was a positive one. instead of criticizing china for its policies on north korea he was relatively cooperative in his tone. while we should criticize china for many policies no need to be unnecessarily provocative. anyone who negotiates with china knows that that quid pro quo doesn't work. china pursues win/win agreements and anyone who knows china knows it means china wins first and then again. i think he might be disappointed. >> melissa: thank you for your time today. we'll be right back. >> thank you for having me. yea, so, mom's got this cold

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>> yes. taxes huge. huge for your wallet and the economy. we'll be focused all day. >> thank you for joining us. "outnumbered" starts right now. >> fox news alert. it's a big day on capitol hill. we're awaiting new information on the republican plans for tax reform. moments ago, the senate finance committee revealing their version of the tax bill to republicans behind closed doors. details are leaking out. this as the house ways and means committee is expecting to put out their version today. we'll tell you where everything stands as we get it. this is "outnumbered." this is sandra smith. we have kennedy and lisa boost. former deputy spokesperson for the state department, maria harf. and we have fox news legal analyst, bob massey is here. glad to have you. you are outnumbered. slip of the tongue er