>> as numbers of central american migrants try to get into the u.s. fight, the president threatens to shut down the entire border next week, unless mexico stems the flow. leland: big crowds in el paso as 2020 democratic hopeful beto o'rourke officially launches what he calls his grass roots campaign in el paso, texas, one of the cities that would be hardest hit by a border shutdown. kristin: plus, fallout from the mueller report. president trump's attorney rudy guiliani speaks out to fox news today. >> democrats are making absolute fools out of themselves. the report is as clear as it can be, exoneration. ♪

>> welcome to america's news headquarters from washington. i'm kristin fisher and it is a beautiful day here in d.c. leland: i know. kristin: the start of the cherry blossoms. leland: the start of the cherry blossoms are here and feels like spring. we'll check what's happening in el paso. good of you to be here from home, i'm leland vittert. the president is threatening to shut down the u.s.-mexico border over illegal immigration, saying he would begin to close the border as soon as next week. he has made these threats before and did not follow through. our ellison barber in west palm beach with the latest as the president is there for the weekend. hi, ellison. >> hey, leland. the u.s. department of commerce says if the border shut down, it would be a debacle. the president says he'll do it if mexico doesn't stop the migrants coming across the border illegally.

this is a threat he's made in the past and did nothing. this time president trump is adamant, he's not playing game. >> oil trade, mexico is making absolutely a fortune with the united states. we have right now two big caravans coming up from guatemala, massive caravans, walking right through mexico. so mexico's tough, they can stop them, but they chose not to. now they're going to stop them and if they don't stop them, we're closing the border. they'll close it and we will keep it closed for a long time. i'm not playing games. >> the president said it could be closed to all trade. and a border crossing for five hours it happened in november, the local chamber of commerce said in that short period of time their economy lost revenues of $5.3 million. the u.s. chamber of commerce says closing the u.s.-mexico border would produce an economic calamity, writing in part, quote, many of the 5 million american jobs that depend on

trade with mexico would be put in jeopardy through closures of our southern border. closing our doors to 1.7 billion in daily goods trade with mexico would be an unforced error that would inflict lasting damage on u.s. markets, and economic growth. the u.s. borders top officials says that our immigration system is at a breaking point. at a press conference, customs and border protection says the month of march is on track to have the highest amounts of apprehensions and encounters with migrants in more than a decade. he said that most of the people crossing the southern border are central american families and unaccompanied children. the dhs secretary says when it comes to the idea of closing the u.s.-mexico border, that's an option that is on the table. leland. leland: all right, the president has a round table later and we'll see if he let the press in for that. ellison, thank you. a little more context when it comes to numbers. the custom and border protection agency says it's now experiencing the most migrant apprehensions in over a decade.

cbp says there are more man 13,400 migrants in custody, which the agency calls more than double what they say is the crisis level. at least 6600 families and more than 1200 unaccompanied children are among those in custody. the agency says that unaccompanied minors and more from border and customs protection, majority of these minors came to the country of guatemala. kristin: for more insight let's turn to illinois congressman ad adam hencinger. president trump threatened to close down the border before. he says this time he's not kidding around. if he does, would you support it? >> i may be serious. i think it would be a bad move.

you know, one of the reasons we're concerned about illegal immigration is the impact on the economy. i want an immigration system that works, that's generous, but is controlled. shutting down the border with our third largest trading partner would have a pretty massive impact, not just in actual trade, but in the psychological damage it will do, but i think there's a lot of other ways that we can handle this and if the president needs to and trying to, mexico has to step up. securing our border will actually give mexico the impetus, the motivation to actually stop the migrants situation at their border with central america because they're not going to be able to get in our country. this is a real emergency. jeh johnson said it yesterday. obama's former homeland security. we've seen it, it's got to be done. we have to take care of this problem. kristin: you think it's a real emergency, but you would not support president trump closing the border entirely. secretary nielsen suggested

perhaps not closing all of the border, but perhaps some ports of entry. what do you think about that? >> i think that's possible. the devil is in the details on this, but i think there has got to be a cost to mexico. right now, mexico initially said they were going to cut a deal with us to allow people seeking asylum to actually stay in mexico until their court date. that hasn't come to fruition. they started out with a good relationship between the new president and president trump only to see the president of mexico back away. so there's got to be punishment for mexico, i agree. i don't know if shutting down the entire border is actually going to have the kind of impact we see versus the impact on our economy. if we can do targeted and it works, i'm in. i'm in. whatever needs to happen because this is a big problem. kristin: i know a lot of folks on capitol hill were surprised when president trump, after the barr summary of the mueller report came out and taking a first victory lap on capitol hill said we're now focused on health care and surprised a lot of folks. do you think that that's what

the republican party should be focused on right now? >> no, i think it's time for us, it's not going to happen probably by this next election, but all of us need to take a deep breath and republicans and democrats try to find a way to fix elk hhealth care. it's been a decade it's been democrats or republicans trying to fix the health care system. neither has been successful. let's find a way to get to that. this has taken, frankly, the democrats, given them the ability to now go on offense where they were having to defend against ridiculous things like medicare for all that didn't make any financial sense, and so, i think it's pretty much unfortunate. that said, i'd love to see this health care system replaced with something better. we had our opportunity. i think it's now for us to come together and fix what we can. kristin: it appears as though president trump is not going to let this go. so, what do republicans like you do? i mean, do you come up with a plan? or do you try to convince the president to let this one go? >> well, the president can, you know -- from the executive

branch, making those decisions, they can obviously do what they want. we're not responsible for everything the executive branch does simply because we're in the same party. we put forward what i thought was a good plan two years ago, as we know, the rand paul types in the senate tried to change it to a very different plan and it ultimately failed. i'd love to see that happen, but knowing what's happened in the past, i think it would be pretty difficult. kristin: congressman one more question for you. i know that jussie smollett is from your home state and the chicago police are calling for a federal investigation into what happened there. do you think that's necessary now? would you support that? >> absolutely. this is a-- for jussie smollett to use, make america great again, to say it was a trump supporter, that they were screaming maga and using nooses has a whole different impact than somebody faking a crime. this actually could have made legitimate trump supporters, people who care about this country, a target. this was wrong. i cannot believe kim fox dropped these charges and the chicago police have a right to be upset. i think the feeds need to come

in and charge him with mail fraud and anything with a federal nexus. kristin: a lot of people surprised the charges were dropped. congressman, thank you so much. >> anytime. kristin: leland. leland: we'll get back to health care with the freshman democratic congressman also from the state of illinois, members of the house financial committee. appreciate it. we'll get to jussie smollett in a minute. what the congressman was talking about health care. has the president given democrats a gift here by now talking about health care and going back to that, rather than focusing on making democrats answer for medicare for all? >> look, i wish we could talk about this from a policy perspective. the democrats, in my experience are not advocating medicare for all, it's a talking point. leland: there's a lot of senators who signed onto the bill, sir. >> i can tell you what matters to me. leland: okay. >> i've spent 20 years as a chemical engineer and entrepreneur and ceo and provided health care for all of my employees. every single country that has universal health care spends less per capita on health care than we do. the aca took--

>> and almost every single country that spends less per capita and health care as terrible results. that he's been-- >> i've experienced that in the united kingdom, the health care results are terrible. >> that's simply not true. leland: okay. >> if you look at mortality amenable to health care, countries with single payer systems what you described, have slightly better outcomes, i don't i don't add for cat-- >> they have huge waiting lines and infections rates and-- >> like switzerland and germany they still have universal health care, a competitive discipline in their system that keeps it honest. i'm an entrepreneur, i like competition. you can have universal health care with multiple players, those country without exception are cheaper than our system, slightly more expensive than nhs model and have better outcomes than any other country in the world. aca was the beginning of a move

in that direction, it wasn't complete. we should be protecting it, expanding it to make it truly universal health care for competition in the system and unfortunately we're playing defense-- >> when you say we, democrats or the united states? >> we the united states because we're in a point where the executive branch is not defending the laws of the united states. and that has fallen to congress to defend those laws. leland: so you're taking the issue that because the obama -- the trump administration is not defending obamacare, therefore obamacare is going to fail, therefore it's going to be who's fault? >> well, i don't care about fault. i care about people having access to quality health care. we had in the aca 20 million more people that had access to health insurance. i can tell you as an employer who was paying for health insurance, i saw that cost curve begin to bend. it wasn't before, but i saw it begin to bend. what we are now doing is allowing the aca to be whittled away at the end and the justice department is not defending the

laws. united states. this is a first in our history, the justice department is not supposed to be partisan, they are supposed to be defending the laws of the united states whether they-- >> and the justice department is part of the executive branch, they can defend the laws as the president sees fit to direct them. >> true, but we have co-equal branches, the laws are written by all three of us together. leland: let's get to this issue of immigration and now the president threatening to shut down the border. he's been warned about the economic implications of it. obviously, this is something that democrats and republicans both see as a polarizing issue and a good political issue. you're from a swing district. you came in as a freshman democrat here in in blue wave. do you worry that your fellow democrats are moving too far to the left for your district on this? >> no, i don't. but i wish we would use a little more precise language. my colleague, mr. kensinger used word illegal immigration to talk about the crisis. what we have right now at the border is a surge in asylum

seekers, they're trying to enter the country legally as asylum surgers. leland: and there is a surge of people coming across illegally and asking for asylum. >> no, we don't. it's impossible to come across illegally and ask for asylum. you're not entering illegally. leland: if you're crossed the border, you've commit add crime. am i corrects. >> you're incorrect. if you come seeking asylum. leland: even if you don't use a port of entry. >> if you come across and say i'm seeking asylum, you are not a documented resident of the united states until your claim is processed you have a period you're undocumented, but not violating any laws. leland: equal time. for mr. kensinger and you, as well. the gentleman from illinois. thank you for your time. >> thank you. leland: enjoy the cherry blossoms. kristin: beto o'rourke is officially kicking off his grass roots campaign today in his

hometown of el paso. it's one of three texas cities that the 2020 contender will visit today and claude cowan is in el paso. >> hi, kristin, this rally is just getting started. i hear the local high school band start to go play and this is actually kicking off a very busy day for the candidate. after el paso, beto o'rourke will head to campaign events in houston and austin, as you said he's using this texas swing to officially launch his bid for president. though since announcing his campaign two weeks ago, o'rourke has chris-crossed the country visiting early voting states, most recently in nevada. enthusiastic crowds have gathered and met him at each event. hundreds are here attending this rally today. and more are taking part in watch parties across the country. >> his biggest plus is his energy, his enthusiasm, his dynamism. people are drawn to him.

he hasn't stumbled badly yet. if he doesn't i think he'll be one of the top five. >> recent polls show him in third place behind joe biden and bernie sanders. but critics i is a that o'rourke is light on the term of details of policies he supports. one big issue we have been talking about this, the growing crisis at the border. el paso and the rest of the texas border have seen record numbers of families seeking asylum. a few miles from here, illegal immigrants are held at a makeshift camp under a bridge. o'rourke sweetsed this picture and he visited to see this firsthand and tweeted, quote, we'll continue to push for answers so we can put an end to this. before becoming a presidential candidate he said he would want the existing metal fence here in el paso taken down. quit note, supporters of president trump are also holding a rally here in el paso today. in fact, just a few blocks away

from where we are, trump won texas in 2016 only by about 9 percentage points and that's given beto o'rourke and his supporters reason to think that texas could be in play. kristin, back to you. kristin: clauda cowan live in el paso with a full marching band which ended at the exact time as the live shot. thank you. leland. leland: attorney general bill barr now saying a redacted version of the report could be released by mid april or sooner. david spunt is here. we won't know much more, but everybody is speculating. >> everybody is speculating about it. and barr said he would come before congress to speak in early may. both sides, democrats and republicans want to know what is in this report. now, he wrote a letter to congress letting them know that his team is working to get this report out as soon as possible, but nearly 400 pages, leland and there will certainly be some redactions for sensitive information.

attorney general barr says it will be by mid ape, but democrats say april 2nd. jerry nadler stood firm on april 2nd. as i informed the attorney general, congress requires the full and complete mueller report without redactions as well as access to the underlying evidence by april 2nd, that deadline still stands. notice he says without redaction and the attorney general and his team made it almost certain there will be some sort of redactions and president trump says he wants the report out as soon as possible, too. here he is yesterday in palm beach. >> i have great confidence in the attorney general and if that's what he'd like to do, well, i have nothing to hide. this was a hoax. this was a witch hunt. i have absolutely nothing to hide and i think a lot of things are coming out with respect to the other side, but i have a lot of confidence in the attorney general. >> barr says he would like to

testify the first few days of may as i mentioned before the house and senate answered questions. concerns about the report. democrats have said they'll take that date under advisement. meanwhile, robert mueller who actually wrote the report he's staying quiet at least publicly, but that could change if he's asked or told to come before congress to talk about this report. after the mueller report is released, which it will be at some point in the next few weeks, the next fight likely between members of congress will be, and many said they want the full unfiltered report and everyone at home to be watching, leland. leland: the fight is already on. >> already on. leland: thank you very much. a lot to break down on on fox news sunday. chris wallace talking to kellyanne conway counsel to the president. i wonder if there will be questions brought up about her husband and these matters. >> you're going to go there? >> i'm not going there, i wonder if chris wallace will. >> i'm sure he will. >> and you don't want to miss

the interview, donald trump, jr. tomorrow, 11 a.m. eastern on media buzz. kristin: but first, coming up, 2020 democratic presidential candidates head for the heartland today, reaching out to farming communities hard-hit by the flooding. plus, the battle over brexit, thousands of protesters both for and against leaving the european units take to the streets as parliament seems to be paralyzed on making a decision. and protests in gaza turned deadly today as thousands gather at the border with israel to mark one year of weekly demonstrations. our own trey yates is it in gaza city. >> two people are dead and hundreds injured after clashes erupted along the israel-gaza border today. i'll have the details on that coming up.

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i can customize each line for soeach family member?e yup. and since it comes with your internet, you can switch wireless carriers, and save hundreds of dollars a year. are you pullin' my leg? nope. you sure you're not pullin' my leg? i think it's your dog. oh it's him. good call. get the data options you need, and still save hundreds of dollars. do you guys sell other dogs? now that's simple, easy, awesome. customize each line by paying for data by the gig or get unlimited. and now get $250 back when you buy a new samsung galaxy. click, call, or visit a store today. >> israel and hamas have appeared to pull back from the brink of war as a day of planned violence and protests on the gaza border ended without escalation. tens of thousands of protesters gathered to mark one year since the start of weekly demonstrations on the border, and there was recent rocket fire on tel aviv. trey yingst, yeoman's work recording from gaza city where it's already saturday night.

hi, trey. >> hi, leland. more than 40,000 palestinians gathered to protest the israeli blockade on the gaza strip and additionally marking the one year anniversary of the demonstrations according to the palestinian health ministry, hundreds were injured. they said that hamas used restraint in the demonstrations saying they were actually to keep the violence at a lower level, this as egyptian negotiators continued to remain in gaza city working with top officials here to broker some sort of cease-fire agreement after rocket fire and air strikes last week really consumed the region. now, today we did attend the funeral of one of the demonstrators killed this morning. he was shot in the head by an israeli sniper. we spoke there with the friends and family of this demonstrators, and saw what it was like in gaza city when the funerals take place. take a look. hundreds of palestinians are marching through the streets of

gaza city with the body of 20 year old mohammed, shot by an israeli sniper along the border and killed. they're taking him right now, you can see the gunfire inside gaza city, as thousands prepare for demonstrations today along the israel-gaza border. and it does, indeed, appear that there was preparation for these demonstrations today. again, hamas was able to keep the violence at a lower level, that this will ultimately keep the cease-fire talks continuing. we did spoke at the border with gaza with senior official said they were happy with how they went today and we understand that the leader is meeting with the egyptian delegation and hamas telling fox news that the egyptian delegation will leave if things remain peaceful and head back to the israeli side that hammer out details of the cease-fire agreement. leland: we've seen those come together and fall apart at the

last minute. trey yingst there for us in gaza city. thanks. kristin: joining us now the former u.s. ambassador to saudi arabia and the author of "desert diplomate", robert jordan ambassadors. thanks for being on the show to provide your expertise. and it sounds based on trey's report, the protests weren't as violent as many feared they would be. these two sides were firing off rockets at one another a few days ago. what does it say to you about where the cease-fire negotiations stand today? >> well, as richard haas of the council on foreign relations has said several times, things can get worse before they get worse. so, i think it's hard to be too optimistic by the relative lack of violence that we've seen today. hamas clearly has an interest in looking responsible right now. they have failed to control the violence in the past, and so the hundreds of marshals they had

for these demonstrations, that's a good sign, but there's a big question as to whether that will hold. leland: in terms of where hamas is at, ambassador, you think about it, just in the past week or two, there have been mass protests against hamas inside the gaza strip. they were put down by repressive violence by hamas thugs, free speech or expression in the gaza strip does not exist. how ten uous is their hold on power, the united states or israelis or egyptians for that matter to try and do something to try and change hamas' direction here and pull them out of iranian or turkish influence? >> i think there's a big opportunity here and the egyptians have the ability to lead the way on this. they've done a good job of keeping these demonstrations under control, making it clear to hamas that their own credibility is at stake here. part of the problem though is hamas has done a terrible job of

governing gaza. they are divided. fatah, the party in control under mahmoud abbas does not get along with hamas, so all of the palestinian leadership is divided right now. they can't agree what side of the street to walk on. so it's a very great challenge for us, for the egyptians and others trying to mediate all of this to bring even the palestinian side together. kristin: the israeli elections are just a few days away, april 9th. >> yeah. kristin: help us understand the tightrope that prime minister benjamin netanyahu is trying to walk right now as he heads into these elections and tries to win reelection. >> yeah, they have a parliamentary system which means just like in great britain, it's the party who wins the majority who can then elect the prime minister, but in the case of israel they have so many splinter parties, it's very difficult for one party to capture a majority so they operate by coalitions and

netanyahu has been grasping at other parties' support, trying to gain a majority so that he can actually form a government. now, this is a big question this time as to whether his party and their coalition partners will gain enough votes for him to remain as prime minister. so, there's a lot teetering on the edge right now. leland: one of the smartest observers of israeli politics i've known in a while said the last thing bebe wants right now is a war with hamas. and perhaps why we've seen the restraint. ambassador, appreciate your time very much. live pictures of the white house right now, a former republican senator endorsing in his words, any democrat in the presidential race. we'll tell you who wants to see president trump vacate the white house, even if it means electing a democrat. see if you can guess. and the president making a promise about health care that come congressional republicans are now not so sure about.

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>> president trump's decision to revive the obamacare debate is creating divisions among republicans ahead of 2020. our ray bogan is live with details and caught a lot of republicans on capitol hill by surprise. >> exactly, kristin, good afternoon. it was a big week for president trump's health care policy, first in the courts. federal judges ruled against the administration in multiple suits, that includes striking down medicaid work requirements. the administration announce they would no longer defend the affordable care act in could are the that they're agreeing with the texas court that it's unconstitutional. and senator susan collins says she's vehemently against the administration's actions.

>> if the administration is supposed to be a -- and clearly there are provisions of the law that need to be fixed, the answer is for the administration to work with congress. >> now the president wants to develop new legislation. >> and we're going to have preexisting conditions and we'll have a much lower deductible. so, and i've been saying it, the republicans are going to end up being the party of health care. >> house speaker nancy pelosi and the democrats are working on their own health care bill. while pushing back against the trump administration. >> we will fight that. we'll fight that in the congress, we'll fight it in the court and fight it in the court of public opinion as i'm found of saying. >> speaker pelosi is going to force republicans to get on the record. she announced a vote for next week on a resolution condemning what she calls the trump administration's legal assault on health care. the speaker said the american people deserve to see exactly where their representatives stand.

kristin. kristin: so, we'll keep on watching and see what happens next week. see what republicans decide to do. ray, thanks. leland. leland: all right. so how does this all play into 2020? we bring in radio host leland conway from colorado springs. normally heard on the radio in louisville, kentucky. good to see you as always, my friend. >> how are you? good to see you. leland: i'm doing well. i guess the question, how well are republicans going to be in 2020 if health care becomes the debate and the focal point. it didn't work out so well in 2018. >> well, the problem they have. they don't have anybody that's actually leading the way on putting together a plan. that's to me unfathomable, the president bringing this up because he's talked about it since he was campaigning for 2016, and it's almost like the republicans took this big sigh of relief when it sort of went off the table last year, and there's nobody talking about putting together a plan that's an alternative.

leland: you bring up a good point. if you think about the president's big pillars when it came to 2016, repeal and replace obamacare, build the wall, tax cuts. only one of those three has happened. >> yes, and here is the thing, to focus on health care, too, for a second. part of the thing, the wall situation right now, the democrats are standing in the way of that completely. and back to the health care thing, i really don't understand why the machinenations aren't in place. it's not rocket science, why isn't somebody talking no limit on hsa's, being able to purchase plans for health care across state lines? these are simple things that are free market ideas that are way better than the medicare for all approach that the democrats are pushing, but republicans aren't talking about an and are afraid of it. leland: i'll ask you the question, why aren't republicans talking about those ideas? >> it's like the third rail, leland. it's such a big problem that

tackling big problems for politicians of all-- it doesn't matter democrats or republicans, they hate to tackle big problems. they're afraid somebody's going to get hurt or be offended or whatever because they couldn't come up. leland: it's easy for politicians to tell how is to blame for the problems. what the democrats did in 2018. you don't like the health care, it's the republicans' fault. you're going to lose your coverage, it's the republican's fault. it work for them in 2018 and that's one of the reasons that they won the house. health care still polls number one, number two issues for swing voters. how does it work in 2020? >> it polls well for the democrats, there's a vacuum on the republican side, a vacuum of people making the case for free market reform. you don't hear a lot of leaders in the republican party putting forth simple ideas. leland: but leland, the argument from republicans would be, there is. that was what the president was just doing, saying we're going to become the party of health care, it's going to be great, et

cetera. why isn't that enough? >> specifically how? are we talking about being able to perfect policies across state lines, if i can get a better policy in new york than i can get in kentucky or if i can get a better policy on eye care or tennessee than kentucky, why are we not talking about that. why is hsa's are still only tied to high deductible plans? why we would not encourage people to save for their health care and put that money back the course of the their life tax-free. why are we taxing employers to provide health care for people? these are simple solutions that, yeah, i mean, president trump and republicans can say we'll be the party of health care, but unless you're talking about specifics, the people go, hey, wait a minute, that's a good idea. if you're not talking about that, then it's not moving the ball anywhere and the democrats get to take the moral high ground. leland: jeff flake had something to say about the 2020 election. i know he's one of your personal favorites. whether a favorite to praise or beat up on, we'll let the viewers see after the sound bite. take a listen. >> to boil it down, better for a

democrat to win in 2020, if donald trump is the republican nominee, than for donald trump to win. >> yes. leland: reminds me of my time in the middle east with friends like these, who needs enemies. >> my gosh, what an ignorant thing to say. all due respect to former senator jeff flake. what an ignore rapt thing to say. who is going to be the democratic nominee. you're sitting here going i'd rather have kamala harris or cory booker or bernie sanders? who is going to be the democratic nominee and how far out there on the left and how much damage would their policies set back the ideas that hopefully republicans hold for the future of the united states of america? i mean, just who is that person going to be. why would you say something like that before you even know. there's some very radical people right now on the democratic s e side. leland: why he says it, we're going to have to ask him. are there enough republicans who feel the same way or enough people who voted for president trump in the last election who

feel the same way as senator flake to cause concern, you think, for the president's reelection bid? >> i think republicans are pragmatic. you know, here is the way it looks. i'm not an apologist for president trump, i have plenty of disagreements with him. leland: you have? >> plenty of things i think he's wrong on. but look, the economy is roaring right now. the decisions that have been made, the promises that have been kept along the lines of the economy are great and i'm going to look at that and say do i want bernie sanders medicaid for everybody or medicare for everybody and free this and free that or determine my own destiny because the economy is providing opportunity right now? i think most republicans are pragmatic. leland: you say the economy, it was larry kudlow yesterday asking for a half point rate cut. that doesn't happen when you think the economy is booming along. so we'll see from dan palmer how republicans are looking at growth for 2019 and what that means for reelection in a few minutes. leland, always good to see you. to the other leland as well.

all right. kristin: coming up, prime minister theresa may's brexit deal beaten down again. we'll hear. margaret thatcher what it means for britain. it's that time of year ago, hundreds of thousands of tourists are flocking to the nation's capital for a chance to see these trees reach peak bloom. more on when the cherry blossoms of going to be here next. ♪ with my friends to our annual get-together, especially after being diagnosed last year with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. (avo) another tru story with keytruda. (dr. kloecker) i started katy on keytruda and chemotherapy and she's getting results we rarely saw five years ago. (avo) in a clinical trial, significantly more patients lived longer and saw their tumors shrink than on chemotherapy alone.

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>> protesters gathering outside the british parliament this week. this as lawmakers withdrew for from the european union for the third time. foreign policy advisor to the late prime minister margaret

thatcher, you know, nile, people say that american politics are a mess. what a mess the u.k. is in right now. i mean, prime minister mays' deal struck down by the british parliament three times now. i mean, this makes it look increasingly likely that the u.k. is going to exit the union without a deal. >> and the best possible scenario, theresa mays' deal is not a good deal and submitted to their demands and rejected three times in parliament. now i think there's a very, very strong chance that britain will exit april 12th on no deal. which means that britain trades with the rest of the world, and a no-deal scenario is the best case scenario as well for the united states. kristin: wouldn't a no-deal scenario completely mess up the

global markets and just send them into turmoil? >> i think actually the markets have already worked in the possibility ever a no-deal. so, for example, the markets in europe yesterday actually rose with the defeat of theresa mays' deal. so i think the markets are expecting a no-deal scenario. the no-deal allows the united kingdom for free trade across the world including with the united states. and the president trump administration has been 100% in favor of a u.s.-u.k. trade agreement. and i think it's for both sides on the atlanta so there are a lot of positives here and every european country as well is preparing for a no deal scenario. and as is the british government. kristin: president trump has said that he wants the unilateral trade deal with the u.k., but he's been very critical how the prime minister theresa may has handled the

situation. as a one time advisor to margaret thatcher, what do you think that theresa may has done wrong. >> she's handled it the antithesis of how margaret thatcher would have handled it. kristin: mou would she? >> she would have stood up, and would not have given into the bullying from the eu. they're treating this is an a punishment, a warning to other european countries, this is what happens if you dare leave the european club. so margaret thatcher would have stood up to the bullies and interests, and celebrated the idea of britain leaving the european union. and i think that president trump is correct on his criticism. and i think he would of done a job if he were in charge. kristin: and i'm reminded when

woo we were talking about the israeli-palestinian conflict, he said it could get worse before it get worse. could that happen with the u.k. >> and brexit may not happen at all in theresa may caves in again. she needs to stand up. brexit is a great, great for free, and great for america as well. i hope that the brexit process will move forward and that britain can be on april 12th a truly free nation again. kristin: a fascinating few weeks and days. thanks for your expertise. leland. leland: all right, take a look. folks travelling from all over the country to visit the nation's capital. we'll show you when peak blooms for the cherry blossoms is. along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit.

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>> it is that time of year. visitors in the nation's capital are admiring the cherry blossoms today as the world famous trees are just a couple of days away from the peak bloom at the tidal basin and the national mall. people are flocking to the city and making for terrible traffic i might add. japan's gift to the u.s. more than one hundred years ago. leland: well, it's warming up here in d.c. making it possible

for all of those cherry blossoms to bloom. let' see what it's like in the rest of the country. adam klotz, keeping practice of the extreme weather where it might be. it's going to get cooler here? >> yes, but right now 76 degrees, 75 in philadelphia, but see that cold front just stretching off to the west, eventually that's going to mean colder air and a lot of folks experiencing it. this is a big cold front. look at that, temperatures down to low 40's in chicago, 38 degrees in kansas city, falling down closer to freezing there in denver. all of that cold air, anytime you see warm air and cold air butt up against each other this tight, that means there's a big cold front moving through the region and that means at least in some cases some heavy rain. this is the rain we're tracking currently moving across portions of ohio, into indiana and northern kentucky and that's where the rain is currently falling place along missouri and portions of illinois. back behind it, some of the

temperatures cold enough to see a little bit of a wintery mix moving through the kansas city area, something to pay attention to, not going to be a lot of snow with that one, but, guys, as i said. all of this working to the east coast. it will be cooling off. can't stay 75 forever. it's early in the area for that. >> thanks, adam. kristin. kristin: coming up, as the migrant crisis escalates, president trump is putting a deadline on his threat to shut down the southern border. >> at the southern border --. >> plus, we'll tell you which border town beto o'rourke is visiting today as he kicks off what he calls his grass roots campaign. every veteran, every service member out there,

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♪ ♪ leland: welcome to america's news headquarters from washington, hour two now. you and i were just talking the, it almost feels like there is a little bit of a lull in the news cycle, dare i say, on a spring saturday. kristin: i think that's what happens when special counsel robert mueller ends his investigation. leland: i'm leland vittert. kristin: and i'm kristin fisher. mexico says it won't respond to,

quote, threats as president trump vows to shut down the border next week and the wave of migrants trying to cross into the u.s. leland: speaking of finding a narrative or his voice, live pictures in el paso, texas, as 2020 democratic presidential hopeful beto o'rourke is officially launching, he's launched a few times, but this is what he calls his grassroots campaign back in his hometown. kristin: and we're less than three weeks away from tax day. brand new fox polls are selling us what voters think about the fairness or unfairness of the system. but first, president trump is adding a potential deadline to the his threat to close the u.s./mexico border over illegal immigration, saying that he could take action as soon as next week. our ellison barber is live from west palm beach with the very latest. hi, ellison. >> reporter: yeah, president trump has made this threat in the past. remember, he talked about it as we headed into that government shutdown over the border in november and december. this time, though, is different. as you said, he gave a deadline, and he says he is not playing games. >> all trade.

mexico is making absolutely a fortune with the united states. we have right now two big caravans coming up from guatemala. massive caravans. walking right through mention -- mexico. so mexico's tough, they can stop them, but they chose not to. now they're going to stop them, and if they don't stop them, we're closing the border. we'll close it. and we'll keep it closed for a long time, i'm not playing games. >> reporter: a president shutting down the border is rare but not unprecedented n. 1963 president johnson and the u.s. immigration services, they briefly closed the southern border to restrict people going in and out to try and find president kennedy's killer. a difference back then versus what we're hearing today from mexico is that mexico was onboard with it, they issued an order as well to temporary restrict vehicular and pedestrian traffic across the border. today many are questioning the legality of a full border closure. there are questions about

exactly what it would entail, do things like air travel get included? would american citizens in places like mexico not be allowed to come back into their home country. president trump has not given many details in that regard, neither hases the white house, but border officials say the u.s. immigration system is at a breaking point. president trump says it is an emergency. critics say closing the border will do far more harm than good, democrats say it is bad policy and morally bankrupt. new mexico senator tom udall tweeted, quote, the president is not a dictator, but this to offensive threat shows how out of touch president trump is with our border communities. our border is a bright spot of trade, economic activity and cultural vibrancy. shutting it down would devastate border states like new mexico. the u.s. will lose $1.4 billion worth of trade a day if trump closes the border, and we would lose our priceless value as a

nation. in california last november the san ysidro border crossing temporarily closed for five hours, and in that time the local chamber of commerce says their economy lost roughly $5.3 million in revenue. again, that was just five hours. kristin: yeah. imagine if it was shut down indefinitely. but i guess president trump believes in this case it might be worth it. we'll see. ellison barber, thank you. leland: all right. we bring in gop finance year dan palmer -- financier from the great state of california. the first time the president threatened to shut down the border, that worked out so well for him. smart to go back to the well for a second time? >> you know, either side of the aisle you're on you can't look at the border and say, gee, we've got control of it. this week jeh johnson, who used to work for obama as secretary of homeland security, said, look, any day we're over 1,000 people crossing, we're overwhelmed, and they had a day this week at 4,000 people

crossing. the president's position that the border is a national security issue with a humanitarian element, something's got to be done. leland: but you just made the point, didn't you just make the point though, what -- how do you shut down the border? conceivably, illegal immigration should already be shut down right now. that's why there's troops on the border, why we're spending billions of dollars a year to do it. if you shut down the legal border crossings, isn't that just hurting the very people who are trying to either get back and forth for trade legally, very people who are trying to come across legally, american citizens inside mexico? why does the president insist on giving this argument a way to democrats -- away to democrats when you offer something that seems, on its face, so contrary to american interests? >> same reason you caution the reporters who report in to you from the border, hey, be careful, it's dangerous. talk about vibrancy of trade, you know, the way senator udall is talking about, it's vibrancy of trade for cartels --

leland: dan, dan, dan, reasonable -- dan, reasonable people can agree that if you shut down all trade across the southern united states border, the economy in your state would go into a spiral in a matter of hours. >> oh, that's not true at all, leland. you know, if something's unscheduled, it certainly has greater impact. something that's, you know, spontaneous is very difficult. but if people understand that the border is going to have a different set of rules, a different regime, people will plan for it. the situation on the border is an intolerable one. democrats are going to argue that the president can't do this, but somebody has to do something. it's a complete abdication on the part of congress -- leland: but how does shutting down legal trade new ports of entry, how does shutting that down by closing the u.s. border, how does that somehow, a, make things safer or, b, stop people from crossing illegally which the president says is an emergency? >> closing the border is going

to have multiple effects. trade is one effect. the other effect is the 4,000 or so people who tried to cross into the united states in order to seek asylum are going to be held prior to entering the country. so this is going to have multiple effects for different constituencies. the most important is not the people trying to enter the country, the most important constituency are american citizens adversely affected by the absence of control at the border. and that's what the president's working very hard to try to establish. that's got to be the paramount consideration. leland: all right. move on to the economy. you and i have talked about this before, of president trump running in 2020 on the economy. here is larry kudlow from the administration talking about interest rates and what they want to have happen going into 2019. take a listen. >> in the absence of inflation with some of these global threats, our view is at some point -- i don't know about immediately, that may be a misquote, but at some point i

wouldn't mind seeing if fed drop their target rate. leland: they've been talking about half a point as growth seems to be slowing. in layman's term, it's about giving a 7-year-old three cokes in terms of what hit does to the economy. is this tacit admission by the administration that going into 2019 there's reasons to worry about the economy? >> look, this is a bargaining position. they're talking up a 50-point change. if they get a 25-point change, it's a win. the trump economy is based on growth. he wants both feet on the accelerator because that benefits regular, everyday working joes. wages rise when growth is at a faster clip. obviously, there's worry about inflation, and so you have to, you know, temper that with some rate increases now and then. but jerome powell came to the microphone this last week and said we see a different climate now this first quarter, and he's admitting the the risks of the

headwinds of trade and the recession, de facto resession in europe. these are all factors that are slowing the global environment and affecting the united states economy. the markets react on sentiment, and the sentiment is based on the direction. and if the direction has been upward, sentiment is more risk-off. the president wants risk-on, so signaling a rate cut is more appropriate whether it's 50 points or 25 basis points is the right signal. we want a growing economy that grows wages. wages are the most important thing going on here. we need everyday people to be making more money for the hard work they do. leland: certainly for the president's re-election wages going up would be a helpful thing. dan palmer in california, dan, thanks so much. we'll talk to you soon. >> thank you, leland. leland: all right. kristin. kristin: you're looking live at el paso, texas, where former congressman and 2020 democratic hopeful beto o'rourke is kicking off what he calls his grassroots

campaign for the presidency. this is the first of three rallies that o'rourke will be holding in the lone star state today. let's listen in to what he's saying. >> but also because they were called to contribute to our shared success and to this country's greatness, and they have. [cheers and applause] el paso has been home to leaders in the struggles of civil rights and workers' rights, the mexican-americans who led the chicano movement -- [cheers and applause] the women in this town who organized the -- [inaudible] strike and black el a el pasoans who assured we would desegregate

our public places and integrate our education. [cheers and applause] with sue dad juarez, we form the largest binational community in this hemisphere. [cheers and applause] and for 20 years running, we've been one of the safest cities in the united states of america. [cheers and applause] not despite the fact that we are a city of immigrants and asylum seekers. we are safe because we are a city of immigrants and asylum seekers. [cheers and applause] we have learned, we have learned not to fear our differences, but to respect and embrace them. we see the languages spoken in this community, the traditions, the cultures as a strength for el paso. we understand, we understand that we are, in the words of

dr. king, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. tied in a single garment of destiny. [cheers and applause] this community has offered me my inspiration in life and every single opportunity that i've had. to the world class public schoolteachers at america acita elementary -- [cheers and applause] who believed in me and sought to bring out the very best in me, to the small business community who allowed me to work for them as we were start our own small business here in this community. and those who joined that business creating high-skill, high-wage, high-value jobs in a community that had so much talent but was just looking for a way to express itself. and to those community leaders, border network for human rights, enunciation house, the women's

march -- [cheers and applause] you have shown me what leadership is. you elected me in 2005 to serve this community on the city council not as a democrat, not as a republican, but as an el el pasoan, working with our fellow members to turn around our mass transit system, to invest in neighborhoods and people, to protect our public spaces and to never shy away from the fights in front of us like extending health care benefits to the same-sex partners of city employees -- [cheers and applause] regardless of the consequences, regardless of the recall elections that would follow. and in 2012 we won a race against the odds and against the establishment to represent el paso in the united states congress. [cheers and applause]

we ran by talking and listening to you about tough issues like the veteran suicides that followed the fact that we had the longest wait times for mental health access at a v.a. in the country. we talked about -- [audio difficulty] to become a war on people. and thanks to you, once in office, we were able to deliver. we helped to turn around the v.a. in el paso, expand mental health care for veterans nationally -- [cheers and applause] expand our protected public spaces, improve our security and our connections with mexico by investing in our ports of entry and having the backs of every single service member and their families stationed at fort bliss or deployed around the world. [cheers and applause] you found or helped me to find

those republican colleagues with whom i could walk across the aisle or drive across the country to get the job done for el paso and for the united states, and we did! [cheers and applause] kristin: that is beto o'rourke officially kicking off his presidential campaign in his hometown of el paso, and right out of the gate he takes a swipe at president trump because, of course, president trump once said that el paso was one of the least safe countries in the united states before building a wall. but beto o'rourke said back then and said again just now that he believes his hometown was always one of the safest cities in the united states, so this is going to be quite a battle. leland: president trump has not been far from beto o'rourke's punching bag, he has gone through iowa and south carolina as well. i believe he stopped in new hampshire ahead of coming back to el paso. we may be able to leave up the live picture. you look at the stages there and compare it to the other announcements made by other 2020

contenders, this is a very different look than what we saw, say, from amy klobuchar in the snow or what we saw from elizabeth warren and others in terms of the energy, in terms -- kristin: a lot of energy, a lot of people. and clearly, the campaign is really trying to get across its message that it's a grassroots campaign. let's bring in our democratic panel, rashad ritchie and joanna, a former democratic strategist. some of the criticism of him has been he's been light on specifics. are you hoping that he will actually dig into some more concrete policy proposals today? >> yeah. look, i was in iowa 12 years ago at the beginning of the obama campaign, and it's early. right now we've got a lot of energy for democratic candidates, and that's exciting. i mean, beto is a great candidate. he came within 200,000 votes of defeating senator cruz who was, obviously, a candidate for

president last time around. and and so i think that people should be really watching this momentum that's behind him, because he obviously helped us win some congressional districts, and i think bringing this energy to the democratic party and our primary process is going to be awesome for the democrats' future. kristin: rashad, what are you hoping to hear from beto o'rourke today? >> well, i think he will be able to clarify, more define some of his policies moving tbrld, but let's be very clear, this is early in a presidential cycle. no one is giving you specifics. as a matter of fact, republicans during this time last presidential cycle had very few specifics to offer the american people. so i think we're jumping the gun on the specifics argument. we haven't even had a -- leland: come on, rashad, leland here. elizabeth warren's got specifics on almost everything that she's laid out. she goes on tweet rants with exactly how she's going to a pay for childcare proposals and childcare for all. she talks at length about medicare for all, about consumer

financial protection. there's a lot of specifics from the elizabeth warren camp, among others. >> yeah. the reason why you highlighted senator elizabeth warren is because she's the only one doing it. as i said before, traditionally you don't have any presidential candidates at this point in the election cycle actually giving you specifics on all of their policy platforms. leland: fair enough. you were with president obama in iowa in the beginning as we continue to look at beto o'rourke's rally. people continue to draw parallels on a lot of obama's original fundraising crew have begun to coalesce around beto o'rourke. they feel there's the same energy, a lot of synergy in terms of the obama coalition that he brought together and what o'rourke did in texas against cruz and what he can do for the country. give us a compare and contrast, if you would. >> yeah. so, you know, i think there's a lot of candidates that are bringing similar energy from different parts of the country.

we're really lucky to have so many different people from so many different backgrounds running for office this time around. so i don't think it's just beto. but i actually think rashad is right. you know, a lot of the early attention is really exciting, and then what happens in houses and living rooms in iowa is that that people start looking at the candidate's character, and they start making an assessment of whether that person showers a similar background as them -- shares a similar background as them and whether they, when faced with all the different information that they would have as president, would make the best decision. in their interest. and i think's what we're going to see, is people really connect this those early states. and think this right now, if i had to go back in time and remember where we were at 12 years ago, we were not connecting. we did not have, you know, everything or together, and is we needed that test. the number of candidates in this election is a good thing for democrats. kristin: right now, according to

the latest polls, to roarke polling at about third just behind joe biden and bernie sanders. so i know it's early, but he seems to be definitely far towards front-runner status right now. thank you so much for coming up on, rashad and joanna. >> thank you. >> thank you. kristin: and coming up, we'll get the latest report card from coal country and whether miners there are finding more jobs and health care. plus, details coming out of the information into crashes involving boeing 737 max gents with a focus on -- jets, we'll take a closer look. and we'll go live to the israeli/gaza border where demonstrations turned deadly today. ♪ ♪ ne purchases". think about all the double miles you could be earning... (loud) holy moley that's a lot of miles!!!

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to the best shows and movies from hbo, showtime, epix and more. what! whether it's more jaw droppers, standing o's upon standing o's or tv's biggest show stoppers. get more into what you're into. get ready to watch with xfinity x1 or the xfinity stream app. xfinity watchathon week. free starting april 8th. boop! kristin: tenses of thousands of palestins gathering along the israel/gaza border to mark one year since the beginning of weekly protests. jonathan hunt is there on the ground with the latest. >> reporter: 8:25 p.m. on a saturday evening here on the israeli/gaza border, and to mark the one-year anniversary of these protests against the israeli blockade of gaza, the hamas leadership there had called for a huge protest.

that had prompted fears of widespread violence, but today those fears proved unfounded. according to both the israeli army and the hamas leadership, tens of thousands did, indeed, turn out. but today none of the large groups, at least where we watched on, rushed the border fences. they have done in the past. the few that did, again as we watched, were turned back by rounds of tear gas fired every few minutes, in some cases israeli snipers used live fire. two palestinians were killed today, another was shot and culled near the border -- killed near the border overnight. that young man's funeral took place in gaza city today ahead of the protests, and tensions, obviously, remained high for hours after that. as the israeli army told the us, they were worried about what they called an approaching tipping point, but that tipping point did not come at least

today. now egyptian mediators will continue their work looking for a deal between the two sides, shuttle back and forth between the israel and gaza, trying to find some sort of deal that can produce a lasting calm between israel and hamas. now the relationship, frankly, kristin, remains fragile, it remains fraught. there is, as always, a whole lot of volatility. but the bottom line today is that it turned out to be better than anyone dared hope for. kristin? kristin: well, that's good news. jonathan hunt, stay safe out there. thank you. leland? leland: new details with how boeing is responding to criticism after the ethiopian airlines crash and the grounding of their 737 maxes. ♪ leland: and thousands of coal miners living in some of the

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muck finish♪ ♪ kristin: boeing is responding to the grounding of its 737 max planes as a backlog of canceled flights continues to grow. now the company is working to address the criticism that it's face ifed about training procedures. for more on this, jackie heinrich in new york. >> reporter: boeing is expected to roll out a training package to pilots as early as this week as part of the effort to lift the ban on the 737 max planes. boeing also doubled down saying no simulator training is necessary. but aviation experts say pilots absolutely need simulator time. the problem is no airlines in the united states own a 737

maxim later. the -- max simulator. it was designed to be similar enough that pilots wouldn't need education. today none of the airlines in the u.s. own a 737 max simulator. if boeing were to call for training, it could cause huge problems. aviation experts are raising an eyebrow over the training package. >> i think it's imperative that pilots sit in a simulator, sit in the seat, see the different screens in the cockpit setup, how it works whether it be in a flight training device, or ideally it would be in a full motion simulator. >> reporter: even before the ethiopian crash, pilots had been complaining about insufficient training and being unfamiliar with the controls. one pilot wrote in a federal database back in november: this was the first flight on a max for both pilots. unfamiliarity with the flight

deck diss led to confusion. the flight manual does not address at least one enunciation. i've spent literally days looking for an explanation, and that's why i wrote in the report. it shouldn't be this hard to figure out what i'm looking at. >> working with pilots and industry officials, we have 200 of them today in our facility, and we'll be spending time with them today to explain the updates that we're making to the 737 max, to get their input and to earn their trust the. >> reporter: boeing said the update will tweak the anti-stall system. investigators are considering that as a factor in both the ethiopian and lion air crashes. boeing says they're still finalizing that training package and working with pilots. pilots previously complained they weren't informed about the issues. kristin? kristin: thank you. leland? leland: and with that, we bring

in former ntsb investigator, alan diehl, good to see you, sir. the more we learn, the more this seems worse for boeing. >> yes. in many ways, they did drop the ball both in the design and the training, and the faa didn't catch it which is reminiscent of previous problems with automated aircraft. by the way, it's not just a boeing problem. we've seen the same thing with the airbuses. leland: what do you make of this idea that boeing continues to downplay it? they said initially we stand by our planes, they're safe. now all of a sudden it's, whoa, whoa, whoa, we need to make some updates on the software, but they're safe. then it's, whoa, whoa, whoa, there needs to be some training on an ipad, but they're safe. there doesn't even seem to be this from boeing no matter what, safety comes first, and we're going to really grab the bull by the horns on this.

they keep having to be prodded into each one of these admissions and decisions. >> well, leland, boeing makes a great aircraft, but in this case they may have been a little too eager to market it. as we say, sometimes the marketeers overrule the engineers, and the faa is underresourced to regulate and inspect this -- leland: right. but i guess the question is why not at some point come back and admit that? if what you say happened, that the marketeers got a little ahead of the engineers, why not admit that and say, hey, we need to take a step back here rather than continuing over and over to double down? this. >> i think they should. and, clearly, the faa needs to look very carefully at these proif posed training and covet ware -- proposed training and software fixes. but i implore the faa to go to their counterparts in europe and china and so on to make sure there's a collective decision that now this aircraft is safe to return to the skies. and i agree, pilots need to be

trained on what automation is aboard their aircraft, how it works and, most importantly, how to shut it off. we all remember the movie 2001 where they had to shut down the computer hal to avoid killing them, and the pilots just really weren't told how to do that in this case. leland: still a lot of questions in terms of even why the system was allowed to activate in the way that it was. speaking of the faa, this is senator blumenthal speaking not to boeing's issues, but to the faa's issues. take a listen. >> the fact is that the faa decided to do safety on the cheap, which is neither cheap nor safe, and put the fox in charge of the henhouse. that was true of the 737 max 8. leland: so it beg withs the question, does the faa have the ability right now to really critically examine what boeing

proproposes, or have they -- proposes, or have they sort of given up that ability and that expertise that that they're not going to be able to get back in the couple of weeks that boeing wants this certification done in? >> i think in this case now that the world is focused on their shortcomings, faa shortcomings and boeing's problems, they'll put enough resources now. but long term they don't have adequate resources. congress never did give them the tools they needed to do this, and they are dependent, very dependent on the boeing engineers who, of course, are the real experts on this system. so i think they'll work it out, but i sure hope they bring in other faa-type agencies in europe and china and so on before they -- [inaudible] leland: a lot of questions in termses of some of the decisions those boeing engineers made in the design of this to begin with. we appreciate your time, sir. thanks so much. hopefully, won't have to have you back to talk about this too many more times. >> hope any. thanks, leland.

leland: yes, sir. kristin? kristin: coming up, the trump administration says it wants to return to the moon within the next five years. we'll tell you how the u.s. is looking to get ahead in the new space race. and coal miners are working to save their benefits and their jobs. we'll tell you how congress and the trump administration is handling the challenge. >> as president, we are putting our coal miners back to work. we've ended the war on beautiful clean coal. ♪ ♪ ♪ carla 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.

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leland: and a fox news alert as beto o'rourke is still going strong in el paso, texas. the former congressman, now 2020 democratic hopeful, has been speaking to his supporters after a tour through some of the early battleground states. listen in for a second. >> some part of your life towards the success of this great country.

together, together we can make sure that america fulfills its promise for ourselves, for each other and for every generation that succeeds us. thank you, el paso! thank you, everyone! god bless you and god bless america! thank you! [cheers and applause] leland: beto o'rourke wrapping up the launch of his campaign back home in el paso, texas, to a huge crowd to there. it seems as though they've shut down part of downtown, the town which he was the mayor of as he gave his stump speech. typically dressed in his blue shirt, open collar with beto signs adoring from his fans. 2020 candidates also on the road throughout this weekend, and we'll check in on their travels in the coming hours. ♪ ♪ kristin: thousands of coal miles

per hours and their families are at risk of losing their health care and pensions if congress doesn't pass one of three proposed bipartisan bills. so here to talk more about what's at stake is the director of government affairs with the united mine workers of america, phil smith. phil, thank you for coming on the show. >> thank you for having me, kristin. kristin: i'd like to start with something that senator joe manchin said on twitter recently, if we can just pop that up. he said, quote: our coal mine pers shouldn't pay the price when our coal companies go bankrupt, but once genre tired coal minors are having their health care and pensions ripped away from them. it's past time congress kept their promises and pass the american miners act. so what would happen to these miners in those acts are not passed? >> right now we've got about 86,000 retired coal miners and widows whose pensions are at risk, and there are another 20,000 who have qualified for their pensions but are not yet

taking it. the ripple effect, when you just think about those people, it's pretty bad. these are some of the communities that are in the worst economic depression they've been in in a long time. the impact on the communities would be severe, and these are already communities that are in trouble to start with now. kristin: well, in addition to all of that, about 25,000 retired coal miners depend on what's called the black lung disability trust fund, and right now it's in trouble because after after the government shutdown, a tax on that, a tax on coal that helps pay for it was never restored after the shutdown. so what sort of -- i mean, how -- are they in immediate trouble, these 25,000 coal miners that depend on it, or is it going to take a little while for them to feel the pip. >> it will take a little while, but here's the problem. the coal companies have been paying a tax rate of just a little over a dollar per ton of coal that's been mined. for the last -- since 1981, for a long time, to help fund the

black lung disability trust fund. that tax was cut by a little more than half when the it was not renewed at the end of last year. black lung is caused by coal companies that don't follow current existing laws and regulations. there's too much coal dust in the air in the mines where these coal companies operate. not all of them operate that way, but many do. so it seems like if miners are going to get black lung because they're going to work and a place is not following the law and existing regulations, those companies should be responsible for making sure they get the benefits that they earn. it's an always fatal disease that can only be contracted by too much coal dust in the air. kristin: president trump promised to revitalize the coal industry, and he's done a lot to try to keep that promise. he's rolled back environmental regulations, installed a former coal lobby withist as head of the epa, he's tweeted about it, and yet it doesn't seem to be moving the numbers all that much or making much of a difference because listen to this stat that

was in "the washington post" recently. more coal plant capacity disappeared during trump's first two years in office than during former president obama's entire first term. so what -- how is president trump received right now by coal miners? >> oh, i think -- kristin: [inaudible] >> i think people in the coal fields certainly appreciate what he's talked about so far. i think it's important to remember that many of the regulations that he stopped from happening had not actually taken effect yet, so nobody has really lost their job prior to that for a lot of these regulations. we have seen an uptuck in coal employment -- uptick in coal employment since he became president primarily in the area of metallurgical coal mining which is used to make steel. thermal coal has stayed flat or even begun to decline a little more -- kristin: phil? >> yes. kristin: i was just saying, i'm running out of time.

i'm afraid that's all the time we have for now. thank you so much for coming on. >> okay, thank you. kristin: thanks, phil. leland? leland: tax day looming. new fox polling showing voters are feeling about a variety of tax-related issues. 34% of voters say they think the rich are not paying enough taxes, that is a 6% increase from 2014 when just 28% of voters said the same thing. voters also sounding off on president trump's tax policy. president trump's tax approval rating comes in at 42%, down 6 points compared to last year's polling. finally, as the 2020 election cycle approaches, should candidates be required to release their taxes, and there's a congressional discussion about this as well. a large majority saying yes, 74% saying the president should release their taxes, 76% saying congressional candidates should release their taxes, 72% saying presidential candidates should release their taxes. governor inslee out in washington state already

releasing his tax returns, beto o'rourke, who was announcing his candidacy just now -- we'll wait to see if he releases his tax return. he was a congressman, so certain financial disclosures are public. quick note on beto o'rourke, he was on the el paso city council. i said he was the mayor. >> kristin: something tells me that president trump is not going to -- [laughter] leland: you think? kristin: he's made it this far, why would he? leland: although there is talk now in congress about trying to see if they can use their oversight rules to get his tax returns. you would imagine that is something he would be willing to fight on. kristin: i absolutely think he fight that one pretty hard. coming up, as we near the 50th anniversary of the apollo 31 moon landing, a new space race is on the horizon. which country the u.s. is up against this time around.

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♪ ♪ >> that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

kristin: this july will be the 50th anniversary of apollo 11. now the trump administration wants to the send american astronauts back to the moon in just five years. that's at least four, if not five years ahead of schedule. but the vice president says that accelerated timeline is necessary in order to insure u.s. dominance in space. >> make no mistake about it, we're in a space race today. just as we were in the 1960s. and the stakes are even higher. kristin: and this new space race to the moon is with china, not russia. china also wants to put astronauts on the moon in the early 2020s, and this time both countries want to leave behind more than just flags and footprints. you know, leland, a lot of people in the space community were pretty surprised by the vice president's announcement this week that he wanted astronauts on the moon in five years, but it's risky, right? a lot of these spaceships aren't ready yet, they need a lot more money, and if president and vice

president promise this and they aren't able to deliver, it could really jeopardize the u.s. space program in the world standings. leland: you can imagine that, what was it, 2011 that the space shuttle program was retired and yet we still do not have a replacement? kristin: yes, we don't -- leland: and now we're going -- forget that, let's just go to the moon. come on. kristin: the united states has to deal with changing administrations and changing priorities. each president that comes in wants to do his own thing with nasa. i spoke with an expert on the chinese space program this week and he says what really worries him is not what the chinese are doing, it's how they're doing it. they're able to set a goal 20 years in the future and actually stick it to whereas we keep changing the goalpost. leland: conceivably, if president trump wins the next election, we go back to this timeline before he would end his second term. we put men on the moon, and

during a decade you can't come up with a fix for a space shuttle replacement? we're certainly no closer to getting people to mars -- kristin: i think we're closer -- leland: how does it take us at least phi years to return to the moon when it only took us nine years to get there the first time? c kris money and national priorities. leland: there is no greater defender -- kristin: the chinese are really giving them that incentive. leland: you know, someday someone will defend me like you defend the space program. it is admiral. [laughter] something that's really nice is the cherry blossoms. they're out on the national mall. just watch the next four seconds of our program. mike emmanuel's in new york -- with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. ensure, for strength and energy. look for savings in your weekly paper. but i never had the time and then i tried babbel. er

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