pete: i'm going to do it one more time. ed: give me your mic. pete: here we go. ed: come back tomorrow for father's day. pete: have a good saturday, everyone. neil: well, it's a tale of two crisis one in hong kong where it appears the chinese government is blinking, but in the mid east where we could be on the brink, iran is denying u.s. accusations that it was and is behind the latest oil tank era tacks. the worry is that what will happen from this. it's leading to full-blown conflicts and fears of escalation on both fronts welcome, everybody happy weekend i'm neil cavuto and you're watching cavuto live. we'll take it to hong kong, first to national security correspondent jennifer griffin with what the u.s. is doing right now regarding iran. reporter: good morning, neil. u.s. defense officials tell me there are no execute orders as

of now for u.s. naval vessels to escort commercial ships through the straight. we learned late yesterday that iran tried to shoot down an american drone on two separate occasions in recent days, using surface-to-air missiles. in fact u.s. central command released this photo officials say the unexploded mine removed from one of the tankers is the same type of mine used to attack four oil tankers last month, in the same area. the you arab emirate presented evidence to the u.n. security council that the attacks were state sponsored. oil prices increased by about 4% following thursday's tank era tacks, but remained lower than where they were two months ago. g20 ministers meeting in in japan vowed to stabilize the oil market and the u.s. granted a waiver to iraq to import iranian gas for the next three months but encouraged baghdad to find an alternative. in fact this video released by the u.s. military claims to show proof of iran's involvement in

thursday's attacks. officials say this iranian islamic revolutionary guard were the ones to remove that un exploded mine from the hull. iran denies it played any role in the attacks the british government issued a statement late yesterday backing the u.s. con inclusion that iran is to blame. the u.s. navy rescued 21 sailors from the second oil tanker, guarded by the uss pain bridge and those sailors have been treated and released back to their ship which is japanese- owned. u.s. officials tell me four tugboats contracted the pull the norwegian-owned tanker were prevented from doing so by iranian gun boats that surround ed the tanker. neil? neil: jennifer have the iranians addressed this video that the whole world is seeing now or are they just ignoring it? reporter: well they have basically denied any involvement saying there's nothing in that video that suggests that it's them, but in essence, they are saying that this is part of the

pressure campaign that the trump adminitration is trying to squeeze them after having pulled out of the nuclear deal. squeeze them back to the negotiating table. neil: thank you jennifer very much, meanwhile to hong kong where officials are reversing course on that controversial extradition law that led to these violent and massive protests, all across the region. fox business networks connell mc shane is in nearby china. how are things going there now? connell: well, you know, it's interesting neil. we were there on wednesday when those protests broke out and today's announcement came out earlier in the day from the chief executive was quite a surprise because when we were there it looked like she pushed forward with that cooperate rosenstein verse quality extradition bill so to see her change course no doubt was a win there was supposed to have been a large-scale march planned for tomorrow, for sunday afternoon in hong kong but again, a surprise move to a lot of people here, in moving back and it

seemed from talking to people about this as if they obviously responding to what the protester s had donald said and also, wanted to keep the peace in the streets of hong kong. we just drove in from there to here in mainland china earlier in the day today we're doing reporting over the course of the next week on basically the trade tensions, neil between the united states and china. this is as you said not very far from hong kong at all. you can drive in about an hour and a half. neil: the trade is the interesting back drop to all of this. you'll get a rare opportunity to see the huawei facilities right? and huawei of course was the force of a big sell-off in broadcom that led to a big sell-off in technology stocks when they hinted that not doing business with them is going to have a reverberating effect, right? connell: well you know what's interesting about it neil is that huawei wants to tell their story and we've gone back and fourth with the company a number of times before our trip here to the area, and we've been invited into your point to their facility, to their headquarters on monday we'll sit down with

one of the huawei executives to talk about the trade war with the united states, the accusations against the company, but if they invited us in they certainly have a story to tell, and it's interesting to get two sides to this trade dispute, as an example, first thing we did when we arrived earlier today, and by the way just as a background to people don't know the city officially the silicon valley of china so not only huawei but zte, tencent a lot of huawei technology companies are headquartered here but before dealing with the companies we drove down to one of the local universities and started talking to young people with a lot of thoughtful answers about the trade war. you can get in the span of five minutes just about every side of it covered. it's complicated people have different opinions but the one thing that struck me is just about every person we spoke to saw it as more than just a short-term trade dispute. they think this is going to last , you know, speaking of young people maybe for their entire life. i'll just give you a short

sampling of what we found today here it is. >> it rosenstein foundly effect s our generation. >> maybe we're from different countries but we still have a lot in common. the only reason that we have conflict is because of each other. >> i use iphone now but the next phone i will use huawei phone. connell: so the next phone that he will use is a huawei phone and he uses an iphone now but what's funny about that neil is speaking to many other people they love their iphones, and they were going to keep using them so it's just there's not, it's not a simple situation, which to me, kind of may maybe underscores why this is taking so long back and forth between the united states and even talking to the people you find a lot of different opinions but thoughtful ones from the student s that we ran into earlier today. neil: fascinating stuff connell thank you very very much. connell mcshane in china following all these developments in that very important region of the world.

now, to senator ben carden, democratic of maryland, his read on all of these cross-currents senator thank you very much for joining us. >> neil it's good to be with you, thank you. neil: same here. you know, senator, the president is indicated when it comes to huawei when it comes to these ongoing chinese trade talks that he is open to including huawei in those talks, maybe to sort of propel them along. how do you feel about that? >> i think we have to be extremely careful of the chinese desire to infiltrate on technology. we know that they steal technology from us. we also know there are national security issues. clearly we need to do trade, we need to do international trade including china but we got to be careful and recognize that china has a long record of stealing intellectual property from america, and potentially compromising our national security. neil: senator were you surprised but interpreted as the chinese linking on hong kong, but getting rid of this

controversial extradition bill for the time being, to ease tensions, that is something if you think about it they would not have entertained 30 years ago around the time, what did you make of that? >> well senator rubio and i introduced legislation that requires the administration to certify on a regular basis that china is complying with their requirements in regards to hong kong's democracy. they have been backsliding for the last decade, and this most recent extradition act would have, i think, been the final straw, as to whether we should continue to give them preferential trade treatment, so it's a serious issue, i'm glad to see that they backed off but they need to move forward wanda lou full participation of the people of hong kong in their government, which was a commitment given during its end of british control. neil: you know i was talking to one analyst yesterday, and this was before we got this news on the extradition reversal that at

its core and we will be showing some of the protests this past week in hong kong, china remains a thug, that they will do anything and everything to clamp down on descent and this might just be sort of a bone they're throwing to some of those protesters, maybe more for business interest in the region but do not think for a moment that they're still not at their core thugs. what do you think of that? >> i think there's some truth in that. the way the chinese government treats its own people and human rights it's lack of respect for people with different religions. the lack of respect for people having mobility, for economic reasons. there's a lot of reason to be concerned about where china's heading in regards to human rights, protection of the rights of its own people, and fairness in international trade. we know they are trying to dominate the international trade forums by their one belt one road initiative requiring countries to comply with their

trade rules, which would be against our interest. we got to be very concerned about the strategic plans that china has to try to dominate. neil: senator, a lot of people harken back with the protests, similarly back then, there was a call to protesters, you can continue doing this but you have to kind of wrap it up, the protesters obviously didn't wrap it up. what if in hong kong the protesters still hang out on the streets, they still continue to push for other reforms and the like, then what? >> well china, the government right now has a very low tolerance for protesters, to let them protest a little bit but if they get too organized too large of a group, too long in their protesting, they're going to end up in jail, so i think we need to continue to put international pressure on china to adhere to basic international human rights , and there has to be a

cause for the chinese participation globally if they continue to oppress their people neil: senator, finally some breaking news this coming as the president tweets i don't want to hit you with this but the president tweeting that the trump economy is setting records has a long way up to go; however , if anyone but me takes over in 2020, he knows the competition very well, there will be a market crash, the likes of which has not been seen before. keep america great. your thoughts? >> you know, if it weren't so serious, to find the president's tweets amusing, the language he uses is just off the charts. no one president is responsible for what happens in the long term economic growth of america. we see cycles and we see that it takes time. my own personal view that many of the policies that mr. trump has aspoused is going to hurt our economic growth particularly

the amount of debt we've gone into in order to have tax cuts. we'll have to pay a price for that. neil: but we're not paying that price now. that's what he's saying, sir is that wall street likes this, obviously, the record low unemployment rates across all key demographics reflect this, and that if a democrat comes in i don't want to put words into his mouth is all that ends. you say? >> well obviously i disagree with president trump, it's not the first time i've disagreed with him. i could tell you this. president obama and the congress deserves credit for planting the seeds for the growth in our economy. the bottom line is no one president, no one administration is responsible for what happens to our economy, and yeah, i find that president trump takes credit for anything that he says is going well, and has never made a mistake in his life. i find that regrettable. neil: but the fact that this has

continued under him after barack obama, are you surprised at that >> well, no. i think our economy, the basis of our economy is strong. we have some major concerns. to me, we have the deficit. we have the fairness in our economy, we have our trade problems that have the strategy the president is using is causing anxiety globally on trade, particularly using national security waiver against our closest allies to impose tariffs, so i think that we have we're the strongest economy in the world. we all want to do everything we can to strengthen our economy. i think congress and the administration takes steps to do that, but mr. president, don't continue to take credit for things that really aren't your responsibility, your record. neil: all right, so senator i'll put you down as a maybe on the president for now. >> [laughter] neil: very good seeing you sir have a good weekend, good father's day. >> thank you, neil. neil: senator ben cardin.

so a crash if something goes awry and the president doesn't get elected we're talking to, majority" experts later on this hour about that, sean spicer on that after this. during our father's day sale! like savings of 50% on hobbs creek vented back shirts. and save $80 on leupold mckenzie 10x42 binoculars.

neil: the idea of the president 's latest tweet is to ignite the response of democrats and he's already getting it you heard from senator ben cardin responding to president trump that if he is not re-elected that is the president a market crash is going to happenment we've got the senior, born with the senior advisor to the president now spokesman for americas first action sean spicer on that much more shawn good to see you. >> good morning, neil. neil: you know when the president tweets out something especially something like that that hits a cord certainly with democrats that there is a crash if he isn't re-elected is that by design, do we anticipate the furious response he's going to get? >> well i think more than that he understands people like you are going to ask that you just did with senator cardin, and so

every time he tweets out something or says something it ends up having a media ripple, so it's not just the people who actually saw the message you sent out in a particular platform in this case twitter. it's members of the media and guests and members of the political pundits that react then amplifying that message. neil: so when he talks about the economy and the markets and what's been happening, you know, the predictable answer is yes, this is all great, mr. president , but you know, the path was laid before you came into office, and all of that. how does he really feel about that and how much what he has done on cutting regulations and taxes to pro tell that? >> that's an excellent question , neil because i think if we go back and look what happened right before the election, when they talked about the fact if trump was elected the economy was going to go to hell in a hand basket everything was going to go wrong we would take this backwards tragically when he passed the tax cuts all sorts of bad things were going to happen and in fact in both cases very good things have happened.

so whether it's the pundits or the democrats, they can't have it both ways. first it was trump got elected then it was if trump implemented his policies everything goes wrong but when they go right they can't say well that's the coat tails of obama. we have seen month after month these predictions about whether it's wages, growth, or unemployment are going in the wrong direction and we continue to exceed market expectations month after month. sure it's not perfect, but if you actually look at all of the prognosticators and predictors they've been continuously wrong and trump has outperformed them every single time, so at some point, you've got to understand the president's frustration, whether it goes back to the election or being told he could never win, whether it was the primary or then the general or specific states, and then he wasn't going to be able to govern effectively and et cetera et cetera et cetera everything is always why he's not going to do it and time after time he jumps over those hurdles and gets it donald generally speaking it has a positive reaction. neil: you know, sean, maybe you

could put all rumors to rest here. are you coming back to the white house? >> no, i'm not. i was honored to serve as white house press secretary. i will never be able to express the gratitude but i'm much more comfortable spending my saturday mornings with you talking about all of the work that america first is doing to reelect this president. i feel better, i look better, i've spent a lot more time with my family and it's a much more comfortable place to be. neil: and a beautiful family at that. you know, sean the timing of sarah sanders departure is interesting. some feel it was only a day after this controversial abc interview in which the president was put in an odd position to answer a hypothetical about getting dirt on an opponent and whether we would accept it from the government. do you think that had anything to do with it? >> absolutely not. sarah served two years, and it's a long tenure for a job that in any administration is extremely intense and this administration

i think that's multiplied by a massive factor, and i think that she has decided that she served her time, she served this president, she wants to get back to arkansas. she wants to spend time with her family. there was never going to be a good time and as you know in the way these news cycles go, to kind of time it is never going to work. she picked her date and stuck to it and i think the president respected her service, and the sendoff she's been given is appropriate for the loyalty that she has given this president and this administration. neil: so you're not going back to the white house at least not yet that's our newsmaker here. sean -- is that one you'll put in a maybe too? neil: maybe i'll do an alert though just in case because sometimes we need an alert on something you say. sean always good seeing you have a great father's day. >> thank you have a great weekend. neil: we know of at least one 2020 presidential candidate expected to join protesters as they are pushing nationwide things today the impeachment of the president of the united states. after this.

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do you like my work? secure your home with x1 voice control. and have professional monitoring backing you up with xfinity home. demo at an xfinity store, call or go online today. neil: all right, new york senator kirsten gillibrand in new london, new hampshire campaigning across the country as they all are a good chunk of them was just telling me will be in south carolina today but again it's a crowded field. they are sorting it out and this is a national protest day, around the country, where a number of protesters are being planned for the impeachment of donald trump. get to that in a second republican strategist here, and jessica tarlov and trump 2020 campaign advisory board member. madison to you then, on this impeach donald trump.

the nationwide protest planned today, what do you think? >> i think it's a waste of time i don't think they are going to ultimately impeach the president if they do i don't think they will be successful and they will lose a lot of support very similar to what we saw with the kavanaugh hearings. people were very irritated in many sides of the aisle about what happened and how they were handled and we would see this being very similar in terms of being a complete mess on top of the fact are there actual grounds for impeachment. going back to the russian collusion we heard that for two years, so i think people are very frustrated with this continued political divide, causing people to push for fake information, to be put out there to the american people. neil: jessica, when you hear the democratic and all of these candidates running and they might have had a couple of weeks with a big debate is impeachment an issue that galvanizes the left? >> i think a certain section of the left. neil: how about for you? >> for me, no i'm not too it. i'm into winning an election on healthcare. neil: you think this will be a mistake to pursue this?

>> i do as far as winning absolutely. i think nancy pelosi is spot on about this. she has all of her top lieutenants in line on the people who she needs various factions of the party to agree with her. there are 59 democrats that support this. the rest of the party does not at this point and as we've talked about a number of times in 2018 we elected moderates who won their districts back from republicans. you're not going to be able to get re-elected if you go down the impeachment route here so we can vote them out of office, let fdny take that up and deal with it and go about your business of governing but it's not going to sell and it animates a particular section of the base but certainly not the bulk of it which is what we need to win a general election. listen, right now joe biden is up 30 points with independents. i don't know if he is the nominee if he can maintain that if we are going through an impeachment proceeding. i understand it's important to talk about the charges and it would be on obstruction of justice if we did bring impeachment forward, not on the russia collusion front, but i

don't think it's a top seller. i think a top seller is here is your new health care plan and how i make the economy work for you. >> i think it's going to be about the issues and a mistake would be to focus on the issue that may not effect somebody's pocket books and if you'll remember why trump won it was on immigration on the single issue. >> yes, not the economy. neil: if anything the president might secretly want the democrat s to go the impeachment route. >> well it's good for him to make the case because while they to the impeachment impeachment he can to the the economy and other policy wins that he has had along the way. neil: does he hurt himself by tweeting out something like this moring if the market crashes, if the democrat comes in? >> i think this is why his approval rating is not through the roof is his own tweeting about things that people wish he would stay off twitter, but when it comes down to it in the election, it's going to be are you better off, you to, now than you were? and the answer to a lot of americans are going to be it's going to be yes. now, if you're a democrat your answer is going to be no. the question of it is in the

democratic primary, which guy represents the issues that you care about, and i would think that the president igniting issue is not going to be impeachment of trump. it's going to be this guy has healthcare this guy is for this and this is going to, you know, represent what i stand for. >> when you look at the specific sector of the democratic party that jessica refers to and they are getting a lot of attention because they have a lot of bold things to say but when it look at voters across this country they want to hear about policy and what's going to directly positively impact their lives. that's something president trump has done over the past two years neil: are you troubled by that though that all of a sudden he does have this economy and markets going to win then you can, the argument is do you give the president all the credit but we give him the blame if it's bad so why isn't he doing better in the polls do you think? >> well i think you're always going to have people that oppose the president it's a very politically divided environment right now and a lot of fake news out there something we've talked

about for many yearsnd a you go online, there's websites that the proclaim to be sources that have completely made up information on them it's very very difficult and we're seeing issues. neil: but you're feeling this economic recovery and you should be happy. >> and i think that we're going to see that once you go to the polls in 2020 neil. they vote for the president if they are making more money. >> well there was a poll out that had a lot of interesting information the first head-to-head where president trump was losing to the top six candidates but what i found to be the most interesting result was how many people 71% of people said they were better off but only 40% were giving credit to the president . that's what he has to change and connect his presidency to how you're feeling about your tax cut or whatever it is, the tweeting hurts, the tariffs hurt or the fake tariff war i would go down this path. neil: okay. >> not that i'm wishing him all the best in this i'm just saying that is what i would do. neil: i'm sure you are, but

we'll see in the next hour in the meantime here, the mexicans have put pen to paper and detailed a lot of things they agreed to in the white house on this immigration deal and the deal with it at the border both their border with us and mexico 's border with got so they're putting the pen to paper to say yeah we're delivering on this and this is real. tom homan, the former acting i.c.e. director who knows what else, after this. whoa. travis in it made it. it's amazing. oh is that travis's app? it's pretty cool, isn't it? there's two of them. they're multiplying. no, guys, its me. see, i'm real. i'm real! he thinks he's real. geico. over 75 years of savings and service.

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neil: the deal is real. the mexican government releasing terms of the deal with the u.s. , contrary to some of the critics, it does include requirements for mexico to beef up forces along its southern border particularly with guatemala, and even agreeing to be sort of a third nation, if you will, in light of migrants who make their way there to stop and sort of chill, if you will, in mexico. the former acting i.c.e. director tom homan, with us right now tom good to see you. >> good to see you, neil. neil: now there have been some criticism raised that this deal was not a deal, it was something nothing new and the mexicans were only agreeing to do things that were already in the works anyway. this seems to disa vow folks of that notion, watching the pope, i don't know if the new york times is yet but what do you make of the fact that the mexicans do plan to do all of these things, and will be hoping to see results soon? >> as i said when the deal was

first announced i said it was a historic occasion for this president. this president had got an agreement with mexico that's alluded every other president. i mean look at what mexico is doing. they are going to expand the migrant protection protocol where people waited in mexico for their hearings and they are saying the national guard helped secure the border and to attack the criminal cartels both transportation infrastructure and the financial infrastructure they've agreed to work toward a safe third country agreement where people from, you know, guatemala would have to claim asylum in mexico and people from el salvador and honduras would have to pay asylum in guatemala and this is a great deal and a game changer if implemented correctly and the mexicans follow through on their commitment this is a game chang er so i a slight this president this is a great deal and the american people should be happy with this deal. neil: we're told that you were the president's choice to be his border czar, is that true?

>> you know i think yesterday's announcement the white house made it clear it was kind of premature. look, i've had discussions with the white house. they've approached me. i was first approached bisect nielsen about this job and i declined it because i didn't think the job was structured right and i didn't think it had the proper authority and look, i think a border czar needs to be structured in a way they can coordinate activities from dhs, doj, dod, hhs, they all have a piece of this border issue so think any sort of border czar needs to be a person who coordinates an all-government response to the border so when i first had the discussions that wasn't the way it was setup and i certainly don't want to come back and fail this president. i don't think we should create another policy position as that's not will have an effectiveness on this border so as of right now, i am not accepting the job, but you know, the discussions will continue. neil: have you talked to the president since this?

>> i won't discuss my discussions with the president out of respect. i think any discussion i've never discussed anything i've talked with the president about nor would i, but i can say that i've talked to administration officials about what a border czar should look like based o in my 34 years experience and what i think will be successful but i've not accepted any position at this time, and i'll just leave it at that. neil: i'm not being divided on this but the president when he called into fox & friends did say of you he'll be a border czar, he said that he will be reporting directly to me and probably be working out of the white house but spending a lot of time at the border. he's going to be very much involved with the border, apparently he didn't run that by you. >> well, look, i respect this president greatly, and i'll never say never. look, i came back and wanted to serve this president but do you know what i've had a lot of people reach out to me in the last 24 hours. why would you even think about coming back and serving this president and why would you even

think about taking such a big pay cut. let me answer those critics. again i haven't accepted any position but why would i even have these discussions? because i love my country and because i see what's going on in the southwest border and after 34 years of serving my nation you don't just turn it off so when we have a national crisis on our border, and the president of the united states taps you on his shoulder, you have those discussions, so we'll see where it goes, but for all those naysayers out there, they obviously don't know what it's like to serve their nation and obviously don't understand that this isn't about serving a president. this is about serving the american people and serving the nation. i love my country, and the countries in chaos right now on the southern border so whether it's fox news i try to pull the curtain back and educate the american people like you neil. you are serving your country by trying to educate the american people on what's happening and what needs to happen to protect this country so i don't know what role i'll play but i'll always be involved in it. neil: tom homan, thank you very much.

have a good father's day. you too, neil. neil: all right, so we'll see whether it becomes a czar or not meanwhile the president is tweet ing this morning as you probably heard that you like where this economy is going you can kiss it all goodbye if a democrat gets back in. in fact, the market pros weigh in, after this. is is a commercil about insurance and i know you're thinking. i don't want to hear about insurance. 'cause let's be honest... nobody likes dealing with insurance. right? see, esurance knows it's expensive. i feel like i'm giving my money away. so they're making it affordable. thank you, dennis quaid. you're welcome, guy in kitchen. i named my character walter. that's great. i'd tell you more but i only have thirty seconds so here's a dramatic shot of their tagline so you'll remember it. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless.

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neil: the president has done a lot of tweeting this morning, i think he's golfing right now but i don't know for sure but anyway , he did say of the economy and the marketing quoting here the trump economy is setting records with a long way up to go; however if anyone but me takes over in 2020 i know the competition very well there will be a market crash the likes of which has not been seen before, keep america great. we want to get in on that right away. we already had a democratic senator say that's not the case and that one shocked me anyway, joining me is cfra research investment strategist lindsay bell, and benchmark investments managing partner kevin kelly and

fox business correspondent jackie deangeles. the crash if not re-elected? >> that might be a little bit extreme but the president has done a lot with this economy he should be proud of and so should the administration. let's just walk through a couple facts here. since january of 2017 the dow jones industrial average is up 30% and he inherited a tired bull market so something to be said for that. unemployment rate 3.6% lowest since 1969, yesterday, there's good reason to believe that the gdp for the second quarter will be 3% again expectations have been for it to be lower so retail sales were good, manufacturing numbers were good. this thing is chugging along. neil: what do you think? >> yeah, looking at that tweet he just laid out the case for the fed not to actually do a cut which actually -- neil: i was actually thinking of that. >> so i was like oh, if it's doing so great mr. president why are you advocating for a fed cut which the market is pricing in so i think actually the market

he could cause volatility in because if the fed actually does not do a cut which is anticipat ing, then it could go down, so you know, one of the issues we're having here is actually, you know, he's advocating for a weaker dollar when his chief economist, larry kudlow is mr. king dollar, right advocating for a rate cut when he says, you know the markets doing really well. you can't have it both ways and he's just adding more to the volatility that we've seen that's picked up since october 1 of last year, the start of the fourth quarter. neil: what's prompted this talk, lindsay about a rate cut is the fact that jerome powell, the federal reserve indicated that we have your back and the economy has slowed down, i think particularly with china at the time, but mexico was still out there at that time but if that doesn't happen then what? >> well the market will definitely go down, because the market is anticipating two to three rate cuts this year. neil: even of we get a china deal? >> even if we get a china deal right now, i think. now i'm not saying i agree with that. but that's what the market is pricing in right now, and i

think we're going to get more on that next week. the fed meets, there's 20% chance of a rate cut i don't think anyone is really expecting any action. neil: at this, over 80%. >> in july, but next week what's going to happen is the market is anticipating that the fed is going to take down their growth expectations and take down their expectations for interest rates for the full year , so they're going to set the tone for the ability to cut rates, but i'm with kevin. i think the economic data and everything that jackie just said shows that the there's no need for a rate cut this year and this is they're calling it an insurance policy and if the fed really is data-dependent, you shouldn't be having an insurance policy. >> it's not just about china if we look at the global economy its been slowing europe is actually contracting when you're looking at their economic number s, so irregardless of whether he gets a deal done with china or he meets with xi-jinping, i don't think that could actually move the needle for the entire market because it's actually predicated on global growth, not just the two of the largest economies, so i

think he's between a rock and hard place when it comes to trying to help manage expectations with this market. neil: jackie when you go down to the floor of the new york stock exchange you talk to these guys, to a man or woman they always say this great environment we're really pleased with what's going on whether they like donald trump personally or not, that's tweeting or not, they don't argue with the success, cutting back regulations, cutting taxes that led to the numbers that you outlined, but to what the president said that if he were not the president, and every democratic candidate running for president right now, that's about 700 of them have all indicated that they would reverse those tax cuts, most of them just wipe them out period, is that where he gets this idea, you do that, it all goes? >> i think it is. look there's a character limit on twitter so you can't exactly write a book and explain your position but i think what a lot of people think is that if the democrat were to take over from this administration, they would

reverse a lot of the policies that the have been implemented and that would be harmful for the stock market. it's not just about the tax cuts , as you mentioned, but it's about changes they would make to healthcare, for example, and other policies that would cost taxpayers more and that would put a chilling effect on the economy. i think what the market wants to see right now is that china deal i think two or three rate cuts is a little bit aggressive and a lot of the traders were saying they're not necessarily expect ing that. they just want to know the fed is there in case a deal -- neil: just in case, right? >> one thing we're not bringing up real quick is regulation risk so we're seeing ftc, the department of justice look at big caltech right? so facebook is in the crosshairs , amazon is in the cross hair, google is in the crosshairs and they are market leadership if you think about a lot of the -- neil: by the way we're the ones putting them in there. it's our government. yes it's our government doing it but it started actually in europe and the states attorney generals going after it looking for leadership from this administration and from congress on how to regulate these

companies and regulation is coming. it's just in what form and facet so i think with 25% of the market being dedicated to technology, that's where the biggest risks are going for. neil: you know, one optimistic note i could take and i'm making this leap that you could dismiss it at will is that this blinking on the part of china regarding hong kong pushing off this extradition thing, after all these protests, very different response than we had to the up rising 30 years ago, it tells me that that could be because of that drop in trade, wanting to protect their economic status, not wanting to kill the baby, and destroy the bathtub, because hong kong is that important, business interests were apparently at play here and a lot of companies and those who do a lot of commerce there we're kind of telling china that all goes if you push this through which maybe is a sign that we get a trade deal. what do you think? >> yeah, i think that along with what you're seeing from huawei they are really feeling pain there, automotive sales

have declined for 10 months in a row, retail sales came out yesterday, very weak, weakest since 2003 so the economic data the manufacturing sector, very weak there and the consumer which had been doing okay is starting to show signs of weakness too, so china is not in a position right now, to really take a strong hold on their stance. i think they have to bend to president trump and come up with a deal and i think that the market really is pricing and that's part of what has been boo ing the market all year long. neil: expectations of it? yeah, listen i don't know why everyone thinks a trade deal will happen soon. neither side has the impetus to get a trade deal done, this administration and president trump doesn't want to get something done 500 days before an election because everyone will forget about it. remember the government shutdown nobody cares about it today right? so even though he's like i'll take the blame no one is mentioning that, so he knows it's a 24 hour news cycle he needs to get it done next year closest to the election when he sees who his opponent is he doesn't need to get it done right now.

neil: guys final word on that particular subject here we're getting more details about the dominican republic and what even authorities there knew and when they knew it, as the growing list of tourists directly effect ed by all of that growth, after this.

neil: we still don't know but we're beginning to know possibly a little bit more investigators may have a lead on what caused those mysterous deaths of u.s. tourists in the dominican republic, and more about the accused shooter of former boston red sox slugger david ortiz. right now we've got steve herrig an with the latest on both hey, steve. reporter: neil, prosecutors are promising to have a full story of who and why about the david ortiz shooting as early as next week and in the meantime, police here in the dominican republic have rounded up 10 suspects.

they're going to hold them in jail for a year at this investigation continues when they move the 10 from prison to prison, they are going to be kept in four separate prisons, they have to put them in armored riot gear and helmets and vests because crowds outside are trying to attack them, such is the fury here over the shooting of the national hero, ortiz. among the 10, two are suspected of carrying out violent crimes in the u.s. , attempted murders and robberies in both pennsylvania and new york. as far as ortiz goes, he is still recovering in boston. reports say he's been able to sit up, take some steps, eat soup, and watch red sox games, so his life no longer threatened as far as the tourist deaths go, we're up to number eight now of mysterous deaths of american tourists, staying in resorts in the dominican republic. the latest, jake herr and his family coming forward now. he arrived here, a 78-year-old

former policeman from ohio with his wife and friends. had dinner and drinks the first night and then got sick, three days later he was dead. now five months later, his family is still seeking answers as to what happened. here is his daughter. >> my dad's death certificate listed four causes of deaths, and one of them was pulmonary edema and that seemed to be popping up in a lot of the other cases, so i was seeing a connection there. reporter: the dominican republic officials are denying that there is any connection between these eight deaths but they're also investigating including the possibility that tainted alcohol might be involved. neil back to you. neil: thank you very very much my friend, by the way as steve was speaking we're getting new details now, developing news here, on this u.s. drone reportedly fired on by iran, before, before those oil tank

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neil: throughout this whole iranian crisis, i don't know any reporter has done a better job of tracking what's real and what's not. who is to blame and who is not than our jennifer griffin. she has new details right now that might just give you a different stand on what you are hearing and how this could be accelerating in that region. jennifer? >> neil, we have new details of an incident we first reported last night about the u.s. mq 9 unmanned drone that was fired on by the iranians on thursday. and a second incident in which a u.s. mq 9 drone was shot down over yemen by iranian backed rebels in recent days. according to to a senior u.s. official, on thursday in the gulf minutes after the first distress call went out from the tanker, the u.s. military moved

an unmanned mq 9 drone over it. the drone arrived on station at 6:20 a.m. local time, eight minutes after the first distress call went out at 6:12 a.m. at 6:45 a.m., local time, just minutes later, prior to the second attack on the second tanker, a missile was fired at the u.s. drone over the altair, a norwegian flagged ship. it missed. u.s. officials assessed that the missile was a modified sa-7 surface-to-air missile fired from iran's mainland. it was fired after the u.s. drone arrived on station to assist the norwegian tanker, i'm told. separately, we have learned that a u.s. mq 9 drone was shot down over yemen in recent days by iranian backed rebels. the british government has issued a statement blaming iran's revolutionary guard corps for the tanker attacks that took place on thursday saying quote no other state or nonstate actor

could plausibly have been responsible. i condemn this according to british foreign secretary in a statement -- i condemn yesterday's attacks on two vessels in the gulf of oman, our own assessment leads us to conclude that responsibility for the attacks almost certainly lies with iran. these latest attacks build on a pattern of destabilizing iranian behavior and pose a serious danger to the region. that from the british foreign secretary. neil, i've heard also from u.s. officials that there are open source reports that the iranians are planning to release those 23 sailors that they detained from the altair and they may return to dubai later today, but as of yet, there's no evidence that the iranians have released those detained sailors. neil? neil: just to get me up to speed and get it through my thick skull, jennifer, the iranians as you said at the beginning, they said we're not responsible, we have nothing to do with it.

the brits have come back to say we believe the u.s. others have been a bit more cautious in this and not immediately endorsing that view. i mean, how is that among western powers being digested? >> well, i think it's interesting. it's certainly significant for the british to come forward and make such a -- there were no caveats to that statement. neil: right. >> from the foreign secretary. you also have the united arab emirates taking to the security council what they say was evidence that the mines that attacked the shapes off the uae port on may 12th that they were also -- had iranian signatures and that they had evidence that iran was involved. remember, there's a lot of surveillance of this region with drone and satellite video, so i believe from talking to u.s. officials, they feel very confident in the intelligence that they have, and they've shared it with allies. you also heard at the g-20 meeting in japan that those -- those members of the g 20 are looking at ways to stabilize

energy prices. so there's a lot of concern right now, but very significant that the british have come forward in such a strong way. neil: why would the iranians then put japanese prime minister abe in that sort of predicament? he's there while this is apparently happening. >> let's look at the context of what's happening. the g 20 is going to meet in japan on june 28th. the g 20 is considering further sanctions on iran. iran is suffering from the sanctions that the u.s. has tightened in recent months. and so they are sending -- notice, they didn't sink these tankers. these mines were carefully placed to damage the tankers without actually sinking them. and the fact that a missile was fired from iran mainland when they would know the u.s. can track the heat sensor from that missile, that was a brazen attempt by iran. they are not exactly hiding the

fingerprints. if you see the iranian boat that went up to the side of the second tanker, the japanese vessel they were in broad daylight removing a mine from that tanker. now, it's unclear exactly what time of day that was, but that was don't knowing that there were satellites with also night vision on them -- excuse me, drones with night vision video capability. so the iranians are not exactly hiding their tracks, even though publicly they are forcefully denying any involvement. neil: jennifer griffin, great reporting as usual. i appreciate it. jennifer griffin on this ongoing situation, if you notice a motor boat going close to one of -- a tanker, of course it reminds you of the uss cole attack back in 2000. former uss cole commander is with us right now. commander, you must have been struck by a little deja vu

there. what do you think? >> absolutely. if you look at the sides of the ships where the explosions occurred it's similar to what happened to uss cole. you can see explosive residue on the side. you can see the metal shoved inward indicating it was an external explosion on the ship. the fact the iranians went and removed one of the mines. these are all pieces of the evidence picture that the united states is now building along with the forensics that hopefully we will obtain from the previous four ships attacked hopefully from these two ships to be able to prove with absolute certainty for the international community and the u.n. security councilmembers that iran is behind this. they deserve to have not only additional sanctions but then consideration as to whether military force is going to be warranted at some point, if they continue these attacks within the strait of hormuz itself. neil: to your point on the left of our screen, we can show it again, johnny, the uss cole and on the right we were showing the latest tanker attack.

and a calculated way to go about it. commander, one of the things that jennifer griffin raised was that it was by design if the iranians were behind it, not to sink the vessel but to send a message, but the message seems to me, commander, we've got -- it seems like half our naval fleet in the neighborhood, not a wise strategy. what do you think? >> well, right now, neil, the iranians know that the united states, when you look at it, a squadron of b 52s, one aircraft carrier strike group and a handful of fighters in the region are not going to be able to take on the islamic republic of iran. it will take a lot more because the mullahs know that they are reaching a point where they are going to have to do something that either unifies their people, which is having the great attack them and when they come out, they will come out in full force because they know this could be an all or nothing fight for them. the blunt reality is we are going to have to have a lot more forces in the region. we need to have international forces there with us. it is going to have to be a

unified front and it will need to be coordinated in what we are going to take out and why when it comes to the iranians to prevent this from happening in the future. neil: you know what's different this go around to me at least commander you know the region so well, is that the arab league is almost to a nation pointing the finger at iran and saying it's got to stop. i'm wondering how that changes the equation here. >> well, i think what you are seeing is by having them all there, you will see similar to what happened when iran -- excuse me, iraq invaded kuwait in the early 1990s. you are going to see a unification, and as you get more evidence, more proof, more forensic exactness that is going to show that the iranians are behind this, i think people are going to realize it and slowly but surely, iran is going to find themselves isolated in the international community. they are not going to have anyone standing up behind them principally russia or china, and they in fact are going to be alone. then they and they alone with the supreme leader are going to have to make a choice on whether they continue these actions and

bear the consequences or whether they allow the free flow of oil, come back to the negotiating table and then it will be a larger picture. i think this time it is not just going to be whether they have a nuclear weapons program. it's also going to be as the number one state sponsor of terrorism, as a backer of the rebels, destabilizing forces that are backing in the assad regime in syria, continuing to destabilize the government of iraq, we are going to have to have a larger conversation on how they are behaving and what is going to be required of them in order to allow some of these sanctions in the future to be lowered or done away with. neil: commander, thank you very much. thank you also for your incredible service to this country. hope you have a happy father's day weekend. >> thank you. neil: you can chill for a day. you can just relax. >> absolutely. neil: thank you, commander. the other crisis right now that's eased a lot what's happening in hong kong where some are interpreting it as the chinese blinking, they are not going to push that extradition issue that had brought thousands into the streets, clubbing and

tear gas, you name it. no one knows better than what's going on than charles mcdermott, south china morning post back with us on the phone. good to have you. thank you for taking the time. >> thanks, neil. neil: how are things today? >> today was a big day. today the government backed down, and there's no other way to put it. specifically the chief executive has suspended this bill. it brought hundreds of thousands of people, some say a million people into the streets. you've got 80 wounded, arrests. the city was really paralyzed for a while there. the whole last week has been protests. today they backed down. but let's be clear that they did not withdraw this bill which the protesters wanted. they wanted this thing torpedoed. they wanted it withdrawn. that has not happened at all. this bill is still alive. she said today in a 75 minute press conference that it's been suspended, maybe they won't get to it this year. it is a reversal.

took it on the chin. but this thing is still alive. the protesters want more. they want an apology, a lot of cause for her resignation. neil: you are talking about the chief executive who instituted this. these rallies that were planned particularly to pick up tomorrow, are they still on? >> the rallies are still on, and there's also talk of a strike, a general strike on monday. so i think what we have to watch tomorrow is the tenor of these protests. i don't think there's any doubt there will be hundreds of thousands of people in the streets. that's a sure thing, but what will they be saying? what will they want now? will that want an apology, the resignation? that's what we will have to learn tomorrow. neil: historically there's a limit to the chinese patience. i go back to the tiananmen square 30 years ago, a few weeks before what ended being the crackdown, saying they strongly

urge you to clear out now, and finally they did what they did. if these crowds still come for the protests and rallies and whatever, and they don't go away, the next step would be i'm sure for hong kong authorities, chinese authorities to say all right, break it up, i would assume. but they are not going to break up. so what happens? >> there will be a march tomorrow. so i mean, that is the central question. that's what we're going to have to see. are they getting greedy? i mean, maybe with the bill suspended, maybe they should take a different tone. i mean, maybe they are asking for too much. who knows. you know, that's what we're going to find out on the streets tomorrow. but i like what you said because this is really -- is it really about this bill or the bill before, or is it about being a part of main land china and being absorbed by that? they use a term here they say, one country, two systems. but people in hong kong really don't believe that. they think they are losing their autonomy bit by bit and they see this bill as a big step towards that. that's really what the issue is. neil: interesting. charles, be safe yourself.

thank you pete -- thank you again for joining us. he's with the south china morning post. these rallies, these protests, whatever you want to call them, they are still on. the significance of that and the ongoing trade talks, after this. this is the couple who wanted to get away who used expedia to book the vacation rental that led to the ride ♪ which took them to the place where they discovered that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. ♪ flights, hotels, cars, activities, vacation rentals. expedia. everything you need to go.

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distinction which we should all be aware that they punted. they didn't necessarily cancel. what do you make of that? >> yeah, i think this is important distinction. you know, the hong kong chief executive has decided to pause and probably that was at the instigation of beijing. there were these meetings between hong kong and mainland chinese officials in a city just across the border a day ago. right now i think beijing wants to see if they want to diffuse the crisis. but it is not giving up. there's going to be a long period of friction between the people of hong kong and carrie lam. by the way she may not survive. this is going to be a difficult position for beijing. >> she's the chief executive of hong kong, but clearly chinese authorities. gordon, we're told the protests will -- or the rallies will still go on. now, i know it was very different 30 years ago with tiananmen square when we had similar rallies in tiananmen square, the chinese authorities

at the time that urged those protests just to leave for a few weeks they were patient and then the crackdown. now there are going to be thousands swarming in hong kong doing much the same. very different then. china wasn't near the economic powerhouse it is today, which might explain their holding back now. you've always argued at their core, they are what they are, capitalists to they may seem, they're essentially a communist giant at their core. >> yes, and the other thing that's common between now and 1989 is the perception of fragility in beijing about their system. you know, right now they do feel a little bit better than they did 30 years ago, but nonetheless, i think xi jinping is much more interested in control than in preserving hong kong. if he feels the protests could spill over into mainland china itself, we could see some pretty

drastic actions on the part of beijing. they are already rumors -- there are rumors that the chinese soldiers who are garrisoned in hong kong have been given hong kong uniforms. that's what people are saying. if that's true, then we need to be concerned. neil: they would be cutting off their nose despite their face. they have a lot on the line. it is a juggernaut, a separate but equal society that's been working for them since the brits handed it over to china 20 some odd years ago. they would be risking all of that and risking as well trade relations with the world, notably us in the middle of these talks. why would they do that? >> they would do it only as a last resort. obviously they want hong kong to remain prosperous. they want u.s. exemptions on chinese sanctions that apply to hong kong remain in place, for export restrictions visas all the rest of it and those are now at risk of course. ultimately they maintain that

they have got to keep their power, and if they feel threatened, they will do anything to hong kong or any other city for that matter in order to make sure that they remain in power. neil: could i flip it around, gordon, do you think in the backdrop of this, what i was raising with the guest earlier, that you might be encouraged by this, this move on the extradition thing because they do want a trade deal, and that was why they did what they did, do you agree with that. >> well, i think that the two are related only because xi jinping is going to be held responsible for mistakes in both areas because he is really the author of these hard-line policies in hong kong. and he's the one who is considered to have quote unquote lost america, as they say in beijing. so, you know, xi jinping has to make sure that he's not blamed for either of these mistakes, which pushes him i think to the more extreme positions, which is the reason why we're seeing some disturbing signs on the trade front from china as well as of course as, you know, what we

have seen in hong kong. neil: "the coming collapse of china" author. he was writing and talking about all this before anyone knew about it. gordon chang, thank you very much. >> thank you, neil. neil: all right, bernie sanders is reaching democratic socialism. the president raising capitalism. guess who is leading in the polls? for now? and i recently had hi, ia heart attack. it changed my life. but i'm a survivor. after my heart attack, my doctor prescribed brilinta.

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[ slurps ] gwho's a good boy? it's me. me, me, me. hey guys! you're gonna want to get in on this. i know how to those guys in here. let's pause the internet on their devices. wohhh? huhhhh? [ grumbling ] all: sausages! mmm, mmmm. bon appetite. make time for what matters. pause your wifi with xfinity xfi and see the secret life of pets 2 in theaters. neil: busy day for all the democratic candidates right now. presidential candidate sanders campaigning in michigan. remember that was a state that the president unexpectedly won, sealed his electoral vote victory over hilary clinton. the thing that's interesting about senator sanders whether you like the guy or not, whether he talks about socialism or not, he's leading the president. everyone focuses on the fact that joe biden has a double

digit lead over the president in national polls. they are fleeting. they can come and go, but so does bernie sanders. back with me know is lindsay bell, jessica tarlow. you know, it is interesting, jess, when i look at numbers that with all the economic activity going on, the vote before the time being capitalism and espousing its virtues represented by the president or sanders espousing socialism and its virtues. so far sanders has the edge. >> what i think you are really seeing here is what happened in 2016. noel mentioned this on the earlier panel. the president won on the issue of immigration. he didn't actually win on the economy. people don't usually vote to say thank you. right? they don't show up to say that's

what happened in 2018, people were feeling decent about the economy but showed up and voted for democrats. neil: more in re-electing a president then you would be in electing someone who wants to be a successor. >> bernie sanders is winning in the head to heads but so is harris and buttigieg. neil: not as much. >> not as much of course but he is the front-runner of -- the second front-runner, elizabeth warren in some of these polls. he's going to have a difficult road with that because everyone else has found a smart term to use for democratic socialism, like just capitalism or democratic capitalism, and if you are hammering the word socialism, with what's going on in venezuela and the way that the media can spin those conversations, if they were going to end up like venezuela versus like a denmark, which is what the goal in all of this is, you're going to end up in a lot more trouble. >> i think the issue we have here is that it's actually not capitalism we're talking about.

they are fighting against crony capitalism. that's been the biggest issue that we have seen. we have a complicated tax code which is over 74,000 pages. any time you see a bill trying to be pushed through congress, there's a litany of lobbyists trying to protect their special interests, their special tax breaks. i mean from the 2017 tax code, we now -- rich 1 percenters can write off their private jets; right? if you are a young -- neil: good for you. >> exactly. i have been saving a lot. with inflation i can't afford it. neil: i hear you. >> the problem is that people are seeing that the system is broken and it is because it is crony capitalism. we need to get back to more merit-based system, right? free market system. that just hasn't happened. so where the democrats are getting a lot of their gains is because of that tax code, right? they went out and they said even though nancy pelosi wasn't good talking about it, they did hit home, you can't get it. corporate america got it. i think that's where a lot of the traction is being gained in

the polls. neil: lindsay, what do you think? >> i think there's no common definition really of socialism. so i think it is a word that's just thrown out there to catch headlines and catch the media and it's a good talking point. and i think that the younger generation is latching themselves to that because they've had a hard time in the economic environment. they've had a harder time getting jobs. neil: doesn't everyone have this, you know, dichotomy issue to deal with in every presidential election, every midterm election, haves and have-nots, they have more than i have, i'm at the shorter end of the stick? >> right, but the problem is that the millennials are making up 37% of the electorate in 2020 so it is something that you do have to address. and i think that -- neil: how do republicans address it? the president says you can't argue with my success. look around. >> i think they do need to tout the economic data points that they have, that wages are going up, they are going up especially for the lower income cohort of individuals in america. so those are the people that are actually going to be out there

spending, and they are feeling better. they need to really think about what they are -- where they are at in their economic life and what they want for the future, and free handouts aren't going to get you -- aren't going to get you there. neil: what about the president talking about the markets? but a lot of people hear that and say i don't care how wall street is doing. >> that's true. the problem is that fed even says there's no inflation, but we have seen inflation go up. that's why you see every democratic candidate go out and talk about wealth inequality. the wealth has happened because those people that own assets have seen them go up, and people that can't afford those assets haven't seen that -- >> the baby boomers. >> the younger generation where they are like listen, i mortgaged my future because education is so expensive. social security is going to be bankrupt and broken by the time i expect to get it. what am i getting? neil: by the time you get there. for me it's fine. >> yeah, exactly. i'm happy to contribute to your

retirement. >> my parents are loving their medicare. donald trump campaigned with the same rhetoric as bernie sanders in 2016. he was talking about the regular folks. also republicans want to talk about the economy, they can't just run on that. they need a climate change plan. they need something about student debt alleviation. they need a full platform. you're not going to swing a liberal leaning group of 18 to 35-year-olds with just saying oh take a look at the stock market. >> well, yeah, nobody wanted another bush. nobody wanted another clinton. that's what donald trump -- neil: they can't be democrat light; right? >> they can't be what? neil: be democrat light; right? >> i don't know. let me give that thought. neil: like to think about things. this guy became a rock star at the white house this week. he was there being praised by the president for becoming a very successful business owner after getting out of prison. he's here with his incredible story, after this.

>> when i was in the cell, i never thought i would be standing here at this podium. i'm going to take this moment in, standing here. [cheers] when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless. if you have a garden you know, weeds are lowdown little scoundrels. don't stoop to their level. draw the line with the roundup sure shot wand. it extends with a protective shield and targets weeds more precisely. it lets you kill what's bad right down to the root while guarding the good.

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sent me pictures every day for the remaining six years of my prison sentence until i came home so that she could show me the window to the world. and this is why i'm so grateful for what happens around the

country and the first step act and what we're doing now with second chances because even once i came home, it was still very challenging for me to get a job. neil: that was then. look at him now. that was marcus bullock in what had to be the feel good story of the week. he's the ceo of something called flick shop. he's someone who knows the importance of the president's first step act which helps promote the hiring of former prisoners. he's one himself. marcus bullock joins us right now. very good to have you. >> thank you so much for having me. i'm excited to be able to be here. neil: the president said it, a lot of people were watching it, we were covering it live, not only the inspirational story you told but the fact this was a bipartisan event that we felt warranted the live coverage we gave it that democrats and republicans united on a reform that gave prisoners another chance. so along you come to remind what that means. what does it mean? >> yeah.

i mean, you know, i wouldn't be able to be here today leading the company that i'm leading, you know, building the family that i have without the love and the support of the people that were around me while i was in prison. it was so important. my mom, she was there to write me letters and send me pictures, allowed me to be able to see the window of the world before i came home, unlike most people that are in those cells. and i wanted to be able to help give some of that back. we built the technology to make that happen. neil: you have a good sense of humor too, marcus. the president joked the guy should run for office. now i'm hearing you just might. [laughter] >> no, man, you know, i'm staying out of the political game. i'm enjoying working and helping connect these families. i'm excited about it. but it was a great compliment from the president. i'm grateful. neil: if you do announce it, announce with me first. the one thing that struck me with your pay it forward remarks about doing some good and helping others who were in your

shoes, what did you encounter first coming out that you hope changes? >> you know, interestingly enough, with all of the support that i did have, coming home from prison, it was, you know, with my mom, a great place to be able to live, and even opportunity and access to possible jobs, you know, when i first came home, but applying for them and even getting -- first just getting through the application process with a felony was challenging. there's been some legislation around that. i'm excited about some of that's sweeping our country. once i got through the application phase and looking for sustainable employment, when i went to the interview, when people find out you are a convicted felon, i don't care how articulate you are, it doesn't matter what you bring to the table, there's a fear there. it's one of the reasons why i speak boldly about the success path that i have created mostly because i want to help change the narrative for what it looks

like for people that are coming home from prison. there's tons of brilliance in those cells, and while there's tons of brilliance and talent, the access to opportunity, that window is not as big. neil: you know what's interesting too, you might have brought it up, i don't recall, marcus, but when you hire those who were once incarcerated, they stay. they don't go. the firing or -- >> absolutely. neil: the firing or dismissal rate is dramatically lower than it is for the general population. people don't know that. >> you know, it's interesting research is starting to show this now. we're really excited about it. this is what happens when 20 years of reform efforts are starting to now begin to peak themselves and you're starting to see changes happen around the country. but, you know, these kinds of research reports that show that people that are going to these -- [inaudible]. not only are they loyal to you

as an employer, not only are they are loyal to you as an employer, but also able to bring things inside your company, bringing diversity that otherwise you wouldn't have had. so many employers are missing out on this. neil: you are very inspiring, the stories about your mom, how she stuck by you and wouldn't give up on you, look at her son now. marcus, thanks very much. >> i'm very grateful. thank you. neil: the back and forth right now over what is happening especially now with our economy and our nation when it comes to the fights on capitol hill to come. talk about divisive, all over impeachment that's being echoed in protests across this nation as we speak. after this. it's not just easy. it's having-a-walrus-in-goal easy!

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neil: all right. we interrupt that feel good story about prison reform that drew bipartisan support back to

impeachment rallies planned across the country today. we are in new york city where one of those rallies is about to begin. hey, jackie. >> hey, neil, yeah, this is one of at least seven impeach trump rallies happening across the country. the group behind it says as many as 140 cities have something similar today happening in solidarity. there isn't anybody there yet. however, there is a podium set up so we do expect for people to show up. the group which consists of several smaller groups, like black lives matter and the new york immigrant coalition calls the event a national day of local action. their website points to the mueller report as conclusive evidence that the president obstructed justice and told his subordinates to do the same. they organized the rally to pressure democratic leadership to begin the impeachment inquiry. the issue of obstruction made headlines again after the president's interview with abc's stephanopoulos. the president calling the news anchor a little wise guy after he pressed him on whether he instructed the former white house counsel mcgahn to fire

mueller and also discussed his position on taking dirt on an opponent. meantime, a recent poll showed that 61% of people were opposed to impeachment. 33% in favor. that being said, the same poll was nearly split on a question as to whether congress should investigate to determine whether or not to impeach. 48% in favor. 49% against. we expect this to get underway here neil in about half hour. neil: thank you jackie, very very much. meanwhile this back and forth, whether the president should be impeached might seem like a leap right now. obviously you have to have hearings first and get into all of that. they actual include\of kicked off this week -- they actually kind of kicked off this week. john dean, an opening witness, harkens back, was he the right guy to use right now? former assistant special watergate prosecutor on that. good to have you. >> thanks, neil.

neil: he represented another controversy, another issue, another impeachment, but a very different one, and i'm just wondering whether democrats choosing to have him as their opening star witness was a wise idea. what do you think? >> well, i think it was more of a circus than a flop. i was part of the watergate prosecutors office, and even though i was 10 years old, i remember it distinctly. [laughter] >> john dean added a new word to our vocabulary back them, riveted. people were riveted to the tv sets when he testified before the committee. but he then pled guilty and was sentenced for his own obstruction of justice. i remember like it was yesterday. my colleague jim neil said what's your name john deen. what's your employment status? where do you reside? he said i reside in such an such institution serving a sentence of obstruction of justice.

the fact he obstructed justice himself, no relevance whatsoever to today. in his opening statement, john dean right away he made what i view as a serious mistake shows his lack of any expertise. he said that the mueller report is to president trump like the watergate road map was to president nixon. totally erroneous. the mueller report as we all know 400 some odd pages, legal analysis, conclusions, credibility findings, the watergate road map was anything but that. it was bare bones. it was simply 53 pages and a two page letter but each of the 53 pages had two sentences on it and it said fact, and it cited a tape or a transcript and no accusations, no analysis, no explanation. so couldn't be more different. and it was transmitted to the judiciary committee by court order and the biggest surprise, neil, believe it or not, if you know washington, it was under seal for 45 years and there were no leaks, believe it or not.

neil: wow. where do you think all this goes, jon? >> today's rallies are anything but spontaneous. i mean i think they are going to be small. i think they're organized by groups like move on. and they're not like the incredible spontaneous after the saturday night massacre. i remember that, i amongst others were fired. nobody serious talks about impeachment before the saturday night massacre. after that, it all of a sudden became a serious matter. there's no episode now. there's nothing that's going to change. the people, the president's distractors will keep calling for impeachment. his supporters are not. i think it is going to go nowhere. the issue will be decided at the ballot box in 2020. neil: we shall see. jon sale, thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. neil: jon sale. when we come back, valerie jarrett, we had a chance to talk to her and we got into a discussion about joe biden and whether he is the leader of the

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for eight long years, the full years of the obama administration. no other advisor served that long in that capacity with any president. anyway, what she was saying there is that joe biden friendship with former president is real. the former president of course being a former president and with all the democratic candidates running has not taken sides. but is that a sign as well that he's hedging his bets on joe biden, republican strategist, democratic strategist jessica tarlow, trump 2020 campaign advisor, board member. madison, was that a little bit of hedging? >> if i were joe biden i don't think i would ever ask the president don't weigh in on this, don't say you like me, don't say you don't want me to win. i think that president obama maybe said i'm not going to weigh in right now. neil: he can't be expected to. >> exactly. if i was his vice president, i would expect him to. let's say he can't be expected to, as joe biden that's an easy

way to say oh well i told him don't do this so he's doing what i said. i'm sure they are good friends. neil: long history, jimmy carter didn't say when mondale eventually ran that he was going to back him. sort of the process. >> absolutely, the obamas both of them came out months before biden threw his hat into the ring saying they weren't going to get involved. neil: even the president came out saying -- >> he won't endorse mike pence for 2024. >> there could be others in the race. >> i'm not sure what the background conversation was. i'm sure there were people talking about what went on in 2016, that could have been biden's chance jumped in there and president obama might have been partial to him over hilary clinton if that had been the head-to-head. neil: but it's president obama who ultimately said this is not a good idea. >> because of the grieving process, having lost his son, it would be too intense for the whole family. it makes sense even though hillary was obviously president

obama's secretary of state for four years that joe biden is the rightful owner of the obama legacy, obama biden legacy. >> obama and biden had a better relationship than obama clinton. >> they ended up being huge fans of each other. you could see that on the 2016 -- neil: maybe it is a sign barack obama pretty savvy politician in his own right, we're told his people or people used to work with him, maybe they are concerned that biden maybe lately with what's going on with some of the flip-flops isn't the guy. >> i think that no one really expected former president obama to get involved in a 20 something primary. everybody knows when you've got that many legislators and business people and whatnot that are involved in a race, it's really not the best thing to single out even though that was the vice president, everybody knows i mean there's enough photos of them together, he was the vice president that they have a relationship. so you know, that's okay, and i

think joe biden is using that to his advantage to make reference to obama -- neil: there are others who are going to run, ronald reagan, bob dole, we're not going to make this process controversial. i'm just wondering for joe biden. if you are joe biden, you are looking at this, i mentioned system flip-flops on federal funding for abortions, he was for it at the time, against it now. he was saying that china wasn't a competitor to us just a couple of weeks ago and now it is. is that a concern, do you think? >> i think there's an overwhelming pressure on joe biden right now to go farther left than i think he wanted to go on a lot of issues because of the fact that we're seeing this far left faction of the democratic party gaining so much attention in this primary for 2020. i think it is going to put him in a difficult position if he ultimately were to gain the win in the primary going into the general election because i think a lot of democrats want to see

him as more center moderate candidate that they don't see the others reflecting. neil: we can make a lot of the polls. the one who is surging right now is elizabeth warren. >> absolutely, warren is the story of the last two weeks, even when owe saw the debate stage how it's all playing out, warren is essentially by herself on night one in the first night. and then in the second night you have biden and bernie. neil: was that just arbitrary the way they did it? >> i believe there was an interview yesterday where they were talking about, i don't think it was completely arbitrary but they were trying to shake things up. neil: all the better for her. >> she was the first one whose e-mail hit my inbox. i have spoken to people in the biden camp, warren camp, the kamala camp, the happiest person is warren about all of this. i think amy klobuchar will be a great centrist candidate talking policy, klobuchar is wonderful. at the end of the day, you have top four on the second day. neil: we have a long way to go. you all remind me.

>> we will be here many a saturday. neil: exactly. you are acting like it's a chore. >> this is my favorite part of my saturday. neil: i bet it is. ladies thank you very much. we should be getting more updates as the day goes on on iran and some of latest stuff. it is a little anxious. we will see next week.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> tensions rising between the united states and iran as new details emerge about iran targeting a u.s. drone while responding to a distress call issued by an oil tanker in the gulf of oman. welcome to america's news headquarters, i'm gillian turner. leland: good to be with you at home. noon eastern right now, 8 p.m. in the gulf. i'm leland vittert. u.s. warships still standing guard over one of those tankers. national security correspondent jennifer griffin broke the story about what was a surface to air missile fired at an american drone by the iranians, joins us noh