>> dean: oh, my gosh. pete: it's a little warm. >> you'll be a strong boy. >> dean: we'll be with him after this. >> lisa: well join us tomorrow from if-10 a.m. pete: go vikings! >> lisa: bye. neil: one week after the world was on edge, a week ago, it was the u.s. wondering what was coming its way. now, it's iran, frantically just trying to get out of its own way , admitting it did indeed shoot down that you crane commercial jet and that is a big deal for iran to admit a mistake , of course damming video like this showing that jet getting hit, find of forced the hand. will sanctions coming iran's way force it even more? the president sure thinks so insisting it all worked out. we'll ask our ambassador to germany what might be coming next, because democrats still insist the president went too

far, and took him down a peg or two at the house and why republican senator john kennedy thinks reigning in the president 's war powers aren't going anywhere in the senate and speaking of the senate, mitch mcconnell & company only days away from getting the articles of impeachment from the house, better late than never, so look, the trial begins but you better pay attention it could be quick, very quick. good morning, everyone i'm neil cavuto, and you're watching cavuto live and happy saturday. what a different saturday than the one last saturday. remember that one? only seven days ago, we were talking war with iran. now, everyone is focusing on a big old mei culpa and we are getting the latest on a country that has admitted to stating the obvious. greg p palcot has more from ukraine. greg? reporter: yes, hello, neil the folks here in kiev in fact around the world are taking in the mind-blowing flip flop by

iran on this ukraine international airlines crash in fact around me, you can see me local residents here in kiev, iranian citizens who came to this makeshift memorial to lay flowers and hold pictures of the victims so this is hitting home very very strongly here. remember for the past 72 hours, the iranian regime had claimed that the tragedy was not at fault, that a mechanical error forced a plain down just after take off from tehran. now, literally, overnight, they are admitting they did it, but a junior officer shot down what he thought was a cruise missile, right out of the sky, killing all 176 people on board. iran admits that it's a disastrous mistake, they apologize for it and they are calling for prosecution but the iranian government here wants more, and the president demanding full accountability, and compensation, his investigators have been on the ground in iran the past couple of days, and they claim the

iranians were hiding and scrap ping the debris from the plane, to try to cover up, try to hide the signs of the shoot down, and eventually it was their opinion that the iranian thought it was finally up. here at this memorial for the ukraine crew members who died, there is shock and sadness. remember, none of the bodies of the victims from this terrible tragedy had been recovered and returned yet. take a listen to a few people we spoke with. what should be done to iran. they are admitting they took a missile against the plane. >> i can not comment that it's just a tragedy for families, we're so sorry. >> it's so scary. its killed so many people. we don't learn anything from history. >> neil, foreign minister iranian foreign minister is getting in last licks into the tweet today.

he blames the united states for creating a war-like condition which led to the takedown, but i've just got to say again, when this crash happened, neil, iran itself was saying as many as 140 iranians were on board. that could be iranian citizens, or those holding dual nationalities. they have a huge problem on their hands and i've just got to tell you in the last 20 minutes, this silence, this protest that swarmed around us, the locals, iranian nationals, we can see it on their faces, we can tell it in their demeanor that this is a very very serious situation for iran. back to you neil. neil: as you indicated serious enough for them to admit we botched this. we are learning more meanwhile about the imminent threat that was cited in the killing of qassem soleimani. the president telling fox news that the iranian general was actually targeting four sucks embassies a lot of back and fourth on this, to benjamin hall in jordan with the latest. benjamin? reporter: yeah, hi, neil and i also need to bring you some

breaking news ahead of that story. that is two u.s. service members have been killed in afghanistan, two injured as well by a roadside bomb in kandarar province there as part of nato's support mission. we have no more details at the moment but we'll bring that to you when we can. back to iraq and iran more details as you point out about the strike that killed qassem soleimani. the u.s. saying it was not only a revenge attack that it was also to prevent an imminent attack. that strike which was carried out just after soleimani had left the baghdad airport came after iranian-backed malitia also stormed the u.s. embassy. now we are learning from president trump that the future targets were other embassies and the administration is saying it can't release more details about those, for intelligence reasons. >> they have large scale attacks planned for other

embassyies and if those were planned why can't we redevelop that to the american people. president trump: i can reveal that i believe it would have been four embassyies. >> we are also learning more about the strike that killed him u.s. special forces were actually on the ground, in iraq, when it was struck by the drone. the soldiers were about half a mile behind the convoy when it was hit following it and on the scene within a minute or two and performed a so-called bomb damage assessment and they had to confirm the right car was hit and identified the body and took those pictures you've just seen so that is a new development in that story as well, neil? neil: thank you my friend very very much, benjamin hall. in the meantime the president is calling for nato countries to do more in the middle east and in the meantime, he's slapping new sanctions on iran a lot going on our u.s. ambassador to germany joins us right now and ambassador happy new year to you thank you for joining us. >> you too, neil thanks for having me. neil: very different week than

it was last week. a lot of concerns that this would erupt into full scale war. it didn't. do you think it still could or things calmed down enough to make you and others in the administration feel we can move on? >> well first of all we have to say that diplomacy is ongoing. we have a surge in diplomacy. there's lots of talks going on. i met with some iranians here in berlin on friday. iranians that live in germany but also live throughout europe and clearly, they are extremely supportive of what the u.s. has done but they are also fearful for what comes next. it's very difficult to know what comes next because they fear this regime. so we've got a lot of diplomatic action that has to be done. i'm comforted by the fact that the german government has been very clear that the iranians are the ones who escalated it. the iranians are the ones who the regime are the ones who really hold responsibility and

just yesterday we saw here in germany, the second general for the party of chancellor merkel, a fellow named paul z imiack came out and said that the germans and the europeans should now move forward with sanctions on iran. that is a real switch where we had been talking about the europeans going around the situation, now the europeans are talking about whether or not they should even be continuing in the jcpoa, because what they seem from the iranian regime so i think that we're in a fundamentally different place and a better place. neil: that is to your point surprising coming from the germans because their exports to iran have already been cut in half. they economically felt that as well so that does continue a theme that other european countries will stress as well, their willingness to swallow with that and deal with that, but you did mention these

sanctions and it looks like they could spread some more to a variety of other industries even indirectly effect china, and a lot of transactions. it does with iran. is everyone on board with them? >> well i'm not sure what you mean by everyone, but certainly china. u.s. sanctions. so you may be referring to whether or not we could get sanctions through at the u.n. level, and i'm not sure about that, but you have to remember that u.s. sanctions are behemeth they effect obviously all of the banking systems and because our economy is so far-reaching that it does have a big effect but there's no question that we want others to join in the sanctions regime. remember, this is diplomacy. this is trying to figure out ways to have diplomacy with muscle. if you want to avoid war then diplomats have to be able to be very direct, they have to be very tough and they have to be very creative and so what we're trying to do right now is do a

surge in diplomacy of getting whether it's our allies at the u.n. oral lies in europe, to join us in recognizing what they have articulated for a very long time, which is we share the goal of denying iran a nuclear weapon we don't like the tactics. we see that iran is supporting terrorism, so let's use diplomacy. tough diplomacy through sanctions and through other economic means, to bring the iranians to the table. the one thing that we could be very comforted by is that president trump has been super clear. he will sit down and talk to this regime. this regime that is in place right now, and they are the ones who are saying that they don't want to do that. i've made it perfectly clear throughout germany and europe, the president does not want war. he's willing to protect americans and willing to sit down and talk to this iranian regime right now. neil: you know, ambassador i would wonder what the europeans, more specifically the german reaction has been to the president wanting to withstand

sort of the nato team to the middle east, be it nato, or me, including the middle east what is their reaction to that and the middle eastern countries not only be a part of nato, but also share the funding for nato, he's been very critical of germany for example, what are you hearing? >> well look these are long and difficult conversations whenever we try to do something new. our european partners are very slow in coming around and acting we've seen that for years i saw it for many years while at the u.n., it's one of the reasons i wanted to come to germany was to push the e3 specifically germany to try to be with the west more so these are conversations that take time. we're certainly seeing members of the parliament here in germany that are supportive but when the europeans get together and they talk between the french , the british and the

germans it always takes a long time. neil: you know ambassador when it first started the united states was upping the ante getting in the face of the iranians there was a fear and it was expressed in europe as well that he was risking a world war iii, criticisms in germany as well. those criticisms stop even during a week in which the house tried to reign the president in by limiting his war power, he doesn't appear to be going anywhere from there but what have you heard? >> look, i think everybody who works in diplomacy and who political leaders, they are always concerned to avoid war. i think everybody. president trump made it perfectly clear, that he wants to bring our troops home, that he doesn't want war but there are times that you're going to have to defend americans whether diplomats or military personnel and so i think the germans and the europeans understand that. one thing that is very clear, that the germans have made clear , is that they can't stay in some of these theaters unless

the united states is there. when president trump very bluntly says you know, you're welcome to form an international coalition and replace us, they immediately say well we can't do that. we need the united states. so these are conversations that we have to have to push them for greater participation. the german minister of defense, she has stepped up recently and said you know, i think germany and the europeans should play more of a role in the middle east. now, the media and the political establishment really attacked her hard for it but i think we're making changes, where we're seeing people step up. again, i go back to the leader of the chancellor's party here who has just called for sanctions on iran. now whether or not we get to that point we are beginning to have that conversation and that is a big win for trump diplomacy neil: ambassador thank you very much. good having you on this saturday show, in the meantime if you

think iran is standing down my next guest says think again. he should know, he used to command a navy ship patrolling right in that neck of the woods.

neil: i want to take you to a live event going on in russia. we were just talking to our ambassador to germany rick grene ll. angela merkel is with vladimir putin and we don't know the details on what they are doing of course they have a lot of business deals with which the president has been critical but it comes at a time when the germans themselves started out being tentative supporters of the president's campaign to take out that top general in iran. but bottom line, they have rallied around the president and his war there that was ultimately favored by the europeans, vladimir putin not so much, as the united states has been very trigger-happy and they should cool it. we'll be monitoring this and in the meantime no more retaliation

from iran as of now, my next guest says that won't last. he has history to guide us i'm talking to the former ussco- commander right now, always good to have you, thank you for joining us. you know, there might be something to what you say, sir because we've already heard who has already been indicating in the iraqi parliament that we always have to be aware of other things that could happen, another top iranian minister is saying we're not done. we're not done, so, i'm wondering what would be next. >> well, neil good morning. if past is prolonged that is absolutely going to prove to be true. iran is going to continue to take aggressive but subtle actions throughout the middle east that are going to challenge the u.s. across-the-board. they are going to want to harass them and do low-level cyberattacks. as we get further and further away from this event in the

killing of soleimani, what you may also see is they are going to allow their proxy forces to once again start tagger eling and killing american forces and then the decision has to be made do we go after the proxy forces like we did before the killing or do we actually attribute it straight back to iran and hold them accountable? neil: commander it's interesting i was mentioning the iraqi prime minister who has been saying he wants to set a timetable on u.s. troop withdrawal. i don't know whether that reflects the real sentiment, the president has said when they're not in front of microphones speaking privately that is just the opposite. they don't want that. what do you think would happen if we pulled our troops out? >> well, i think it's his interest in our national defense is somewhat surprising, because we're going to do what is best for our nation, for our security , for our economy, around the world, and that includes in the middle east and with respect to iran. i think at the end of the day we're going to take a look at what troop levels do we need to epidemic koala in the region in

order to safeguard that pipeline of oil going out along with our allies contributing and working with us to do that. we're going to ensure that our forces stay safe, because we want to make sure that where there is stability in the middle east. we're going to continue to work against the continued iranian expansion and aggression in the area and make sure they understand that now, it's very clear, there will be consequences for their actions throughout the world. neil: we were just mentioning a little while ago, commander, that you a angela merkel in russia with vladimir putin and vladimir putin pops up in the middle of this incredible week in syria and i'm wondering what do you think is going on there or what role or strength he could be pulling behind the scenes? >> oh, this was wonderful for vladimir putin that this occurred because quite frankly, al-assad had been relying on the force soleimani and the iranian government to back him and allow him to remain in power, russia

was merely a side player in that in many ways although they were contributing forces and at the end of the day now that the kuds force and soleimani are out they may still be there within influence but quite frankly, putin showed up to say here is my ring, please start kissing it because if you want to stay in power you'll do it thanks to us not the iranians. neil: so real quickly, commander when you have iran supreme leader saying such military options referring to the attack on the american compound in iraq are not enough, what is he hinting at? >> i think he's hinting at that low level aggression that they are going to continue to wage against the united states and our allies and the region. they are going to try and use tactics that don't quite kill americans but are obviously going to create problems for us, let's face it. iran is still influencing throughout that entire circle from lebanon, syria, iraq, down through yemen, so they are going to continue to create issues for us. neil: commander thank you very much and as i always like to remind people for your service

to this country. we are following politics as well today a lot of the capped iodates are rallying around this one from an event going on in san antonio texas, from michael bloomberg whose ads are paying off he's rising in the polls more after this. when you shop with wayfair,

you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one.

for small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. shop everything home at wayfair.com

>> consulting with congress, while we held it in closely, closing though you have a responsibility to consult with congress. now, we held it close, so whoever close means. president trump: we heard where he was, we knew the way he was getting there, and we had to make a decision. we didn't have time to call up

nancy who was not operating with a full deck. neil: i'm going to put him down as a maybe on the speaker of the house. the president ripping nancy pelosi, and taking out soleimani , and the back and fourth on this continues right now, especially word that we were trying to take out another guy on the same day. more on that in just a second, but the upping the back and fourth on this, and whether it was a wise move or a good move in the political fallout, with new york state, republican spokesman joe borelli, and kelly jane torrence, battling the cold to come in on a strategy and democratic strategist david bernstein. so joe, do you on whether we should have done it regardless of what you think of the president, if you knew that you have in the sites someone who was killed a lot of american soldiers, and you passed up the opportunity, wouldn't the critics be ripping the president for not doing something?

>> in this case some of them did. you recall chris murphy's tweet from after the storming of the embassy in baghdad he was saying donald trump, in reality we had an american killed, a guy from sacramento with two kids an american was killed by the iranian proxy with a storming of our embassy and the president acted and i think -- neil: by the way it's outlined at the time, you take out an american, or american interest, this contract in this case, we would respond. that was the red light. this president is one who sets red lines and when they are crossed he responds. i think no one in the democratic party is denying this person is a bad person. no one is denying he was planning something in the future neil: what you're continuing about is whether an attack was imminent now kelly what the president has been saying it's water under the bridge at this point, they could have targeted for embassies we don't know, but we do know now they added information that they were trying to take out additionally the same day. how do you think this is going to fall out in the house? it seems to go nowhere in the

senate but what do you think? >> yeah, i think that it's actually watching the media coverage when it came out they were targeting another argc source guy in yemen. the washington post said well now it's unclear whether this was a larger operation or whether they were trying to protect american lives. well, taking out anybody, the leadership of the force is going to protect american lives, because they were in danger, and you say the contractors got killed, soleimani ordered the siege of the embassy and there's no question he was plotting and reuters had a really good piece on he started back in october having strategy sessions in iraq on how to kill more americans, so this is not, i think, good for the democrats. come this fall, all donald trump has to do is get some family members of some of those 600 some american soldiers who were killed on soleimani's orders, in iraq in 2003. bring those people in and have

them say thank you, president trump, and then show the democrats saying we shouldn't have done this. neil: a lot depends on if there's no follow-through or doesn't get any worse, and deal with the uss co-commander that something else doesn't blow up there's no way of knowing that but for now get in the way of the reaction and things calmed down in iran now, is in a position of having to admit it was behind this plane shooting down, even if accidentally, it's iran that's on defense right now , isn't it? >> well yeah and look, again, no one in the democratic party, certainly not me, are saying that we're not glad soleimani is dead. the questions are really more questions of nuance here, right? neil: do we really have time for nuance? you were president of the united states and got wind of the guy who had been killing hundreds of americans, thousands of iraqis had really been all hell to lose and now refugees in syria was within your scope and you could do something about it, you wouldn't do it? >> well in fact both president

obama and president bush before him, had the same opportunity and they both passed it up. neil: but not the exact same opportunity so what i'm asking is there any consistency to the argument? we're happy he's dead but that's not einto if that he's dead. >> it's about things like we can't just kill people without proper legal ramifications. neil: but that they had no problem with barack obama doing this again and again, with different ideas all the way up from osama bin laden. >> operating under a justification of the aumf, that president bush also operated under. neil: but if you're, not you, but whining about whether the president went too far is it inconsistent for a lot of the democrats to say we look the other way, when barack obama did it. >> well by the way it's not just democrats, it's rand paul, but -- neil: but by and large, it's an exception. >> nancy pelosi was the house leader of the democrats the entire time barack obama was in power, he ordered over 500 drone

strikes that killed thousands of people including a few hundred civilians. >> and democrats were capable of that. >> not a single peep out of them saying how he should are done that. neil: but i will say the republicans are a little hypocritical on this they demanded the president first checked with them and want to expand operations, and the president did just that saying before i go to war and start dealing with this i'll throw it to you and they didn't. >> that's the thing is that each party only remembers that congress has power when the other party has the executive branch. that's when they get concerned about executive power. neil: unless the president over plays this and i don't see that being the case here. is this really much to do about nothing? >> well what i want to say was look at the same argument as it played out in october when the president authorized a radon baghdadi. democrats complained then, that they were left out of the loop and trump maimed it on schiff's leaking et cetera. neil: we've got to move on. i want to update you on an item that just came into our news

room that the queen of england is apparently demanded that prince harry and meghan markle strike a deal, make a decision within 72 hours or forget it! after this. oh, hi, samantha. you look more like a heather. do you ever get that? it's nice to finally meet you in person. you're pete nocchio? oh, the pic? that was actually a professional headshot. i'm sure that's it, yeah. i, uh, i think i've lost a few pounds recently too. i'm actually doing a juice cleanse. wait! you don't... (glass breaking) (gasp) ah! oh...! with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

because the tempur-breeze™makes stransfers heat. away from your body. so you feel cool, night after night. and now tempur-pedic is ranked number one by jd power in customer satisfaction with retail mattresses. that gives me cash back onesome new aeverything.akuten that's ebates. i get cash back on electronics, travel, clothes. you're talking about ebates. i can't stop talking about rakuten. pretty good deal - peter sfx [blender] ebates is now rakuten, sign up today.

neil: all right so maybe no testimony, the president now saying that he may use executive privilege to block white house advisors from testifying to the senate, especially if they're demanded to do so.

this of course, at the very same time that speaker nancy pelosi plans to finally, finally get those impeachment articles over to the senate some time next week, we're told maybe by wednesday, activity can begin over there. garrett tenney has more from washington. hey, garrett. reporter: neil it is possible the senate trial could begin as soon as the end of this next week but there is a lot that would need to happen before then , so tuesday is the soonest we'll see any kind of action that's when house speaker nancy pelosi says she will meet with democrats to layout what comes next, and when the house will vote to formally send the articles of impeachment to the senate. as you mentioned we're told that will probably take place on tuesday, possibly wednesday, at the latest, and the big thing to keep an eye on there, is that measure will name the impeachment managers which is who the democrats have selected to prosecute their case against the president in the senate trial. these are some of the folks whose names were being floated for those spots last month. from there, the senate has to set a date and time to receive the impeachment articles, and vote on what the framework of

the trial will be. majority leader mitch mcconnell has said he plans to use the same framework as the clinton impeachment trial, and not decide on the possibility of additional documents or witnesses, until later on, one of the big names democrats want to hear from is former national security advisor john bolton who said he is willing to testify if subpoenaed but last night president trump told laura ingraham he would likely use executive privilege to block bolton from testifying. president trump: well i think you have to for the sake of the office. i would love everybody to testify, i like mick to testify, mike pompeo to testify, rick perry to testify, i want everybody but there are things you can't do from the standpoint of executive privilege. you have to maintain that, so we'll see where it all goes but especially a national security advisor, you can't have him explaining all of your statements about national

security concerning russia, china, north korea, everything. you just can't do that. reporter: neil going back to when this trial could get underway well the end of next week is possible we're told more likely is another week and a half to two weeks from now. neil? neil: garrett thank you very very much. well forget democratic senators, there are some republican senators who would be open, indeed, eager to force witnesses , and then what? republican senator from louisiana and senate judiciary committee member john kennedy with us right now. senator good to have you thank you for coming in. thank you, neil. neil: do you think there should be witnesses? >> speaker pelosi, swollen with false virtue, and having normalized impeachment as a routine political weapon, says she's going to send us the articles, next week. we will do it differently than she did it in the house.

we will be fair. we have not made a decision about witnesses. we will address that. my advice to my colleagues, both democrats and republicans, for what it's worth, is to forget about the opposition, your opponents, however you define your opponents, play against par , and par is fairness. we're going to treat both sides the same. we're going to give both sides equal amount of time to present their cases, we're going to give senators plenty of time, democrats and republicans to ask questions, and then we're going to step back and make a decision about witnesses and additional testimonies. here is what i want. when we finish in the senate, i don't want the american people to say well, we just got run over by the same truck twice. it was unfair in the house and it was unfair in the senate. whether they like the result in the senate or not, i wanted to

be able to say at least the senators were fair. they believe in due process. neil: but do you worry though, senator that as the appearance as many looked at what happened in the house against the president that does seem to be borne out in some polls but the senate would be guilty just the other way, being in the hip pocket with the president and that the appearance is this is being coordinated between the white house and mitch mcconnell 's office to do the least harm. what do you say? >> i don't know, i mean, there may be some but i don't know any senators that are coordinating with the white house. i mean, i know what mitch said. you'll have to talk to mitch about that. neil: but lisa murkowski and mitt romney appeared to be open to witnesses not to impeachment i'm just saying to hear from witnesses and john bolton's name comes up, but the president doesn't want john bolton, for national security, or executive privilege. i get that, i understand that. do you think this could get to

be a problem? >> i think most senators are open to witnesses. now, some have made up their mind, but we're not going to make the decision until we give the prosecution and the defense, the defense never had a chance in the house, to present their cases, and to allow senators to ask questions, and i'm talking about 10 or 15 hours worth of questions. it is going to create an interesting situation. i do expect the president to claim executive privilege, if any of his aids are called. it would be mall fees answer if he didn't, every other president has and would, and we could end up, i can guarantee you, if the president or rather if chuck call his witnesses the president will want to have his witnessese need to be fair to the president as well as the democrats and we could end up with a situation

where l president's witnesses testify and schumer's don't because of executive privilege. neil: senator thank you very very much i appreciate it. thank you, neil. neil: senator john kennedy so, there's no fury like a british public feeling that their queen has been dissed, there's a new poll in the united kingdom that finds the majority think that prince harry and meghan markle should be stripped of their royal titles and be forced to pay back the public the money they used to refurbish their little cottage which is not a cottage. it's the size of a multi-room mansion. more after this. [ suspenseful music ] ♪

i am not for ignoring the first sign of a cold. i am for shortening my cold, with zicam! zicam is completely different. unlike most other cold medicines, zicam is clinically proven to shorten colds. i am a zifan for zicam! oral or nasal. our retirement plan with voya gives us confidence. they help us with achievable steps along the way... so we can spend a bit today, knowing we're prepared for tomorrow. wow dad, do you think you overdid it maybe? i don't think so... what do you think, peanut? nope! honey, do you think we overdid it? overdid what? see? we don't think so, son. technically, grandparents can't overdo it.

it's impossible. well planned, well invested, well protected. voya. be confident to and through retirement.

neil: there's a reason why this went viral. heros welcome american firefighters arriving in australia to help battle those brush fires and the temperatures have been hot, the winds out of control and they made it very difficult for fair fighters to

contain these blazes. officials say at least as of now 27 people have been killed more than 2,000 homes destroyed, and get this. better than 1 billion animals have been lost. back home, meanwhile, severe weather ripping across parts of the mid-south bringing tornadoes and violent storms along, and fox chief meteorologist rick richmuth at the weather center with the very very latest. rick: yeah, we can't get any rain across parts of australia until the next couple of months until we get back in the rainy season, but here across our country we got cold air coming in behind this cold front yesterday, we had severe weather a and snow in the area right now , the colder air moving in you can see a really sharp dividing line between the cold and the warm air and partially what's driving a lot of the severe weather. here is our severe weather threat today the biggest bullseye across parts of the deep south extending across parts of the ohio valley throughout the afternoon. we have three different areas

we're watching of tornado concern, severe thunderstorm watch as you go farther off towards the north but one tornado warning cutting just to the east of jackson across i20 it's now just to the north of i 20, this line of storms is mostly some really strong winds, but embedded within this we get a little bit of rotation and get a tornado or two as well out of this, and that's what we think we'll continue to see throughout the afternoon. you see the very heavy rain to the north around the ohio valley and north of that we have rain across places like michigan, where we would normally be solid ly into snow but the air is so warm, all across the eastern part of the country that we've got rain, you will notice though the snowy side of that and that little peak that's developing there, across parts of michigan, that's one of the spots we're going to be watching for an ice storm that could potentially be really significant, maybe up to about a half inch of ice accumulating on all of the surfaces that would cause a lot of power outages. so here is the future radar how this plays throughout the next number of hours. weakens a little bit but by say

around 6:00 tonight you've got a storm around the atlanta area and we've got the ice in michigan and then by tomorrow morning, the ice all across parts of maine as well, dealing with an ice storm. not snow, hard to believe, these temps, neil are so warm we're at 61 right now here in new york city. neil: yeah, a lot warmer as well rick thank you very much, my friend good seeing you. rick richmuth. you know, a lot of people are surprised this whole iran thing didn't fall out like it did 40 years ago remember that with our embassy and tehran, big difference then and now. the economy different now. i have huge money saving news for veterans. mortgage rates just dropped to near 50-year lows. one call to newday usa can save you $2,000 every year. and once you refinance, the savings are automatic. thanks to your va streamline refi benefit, at newday there's no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. activate your va benefit now. one call can save you $2000 every year.

when youyou spend lessfair, and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. for small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. shop everything home at wayfair.com

neil: all right, it's time for me to play the old man who can't believe how the new world reacts to developments in the middle east. do you remember when oil prices used to skyrocket at the

slightest slightest sign of tension in the middle east? just like for example, during the iran hostage crisis, on 40- plus years ago, and of course i wasn't even born, [laughter] okay i was, but it went crazy. the world went crazy, everyone was thinking that it was going to be a financial armagadeon, and long gas lines which a few months later there were again. i want to take a look now oil prices actually dipping during the week despite the continued conflict with iran that did stabilize so where are we going what does that say about us, energy independence, our strong economy, our strong markets maybe that's the difference? fox business' deirdre bolton here, fox news contributor jonas max ferris and wets management president aaron gibbs. what's the difference of that? >> it really is the independence, being able to have less dependence on saudi arabia oil having these massive reserves which we've had and we talked about that and how much oil we have sitting in reserves for years now, and so we really

have achieved some fuel independence. neil: deirdre you've got to think what it portends then if all of a sudden the middle east doesn't have quite the lock on our financial market that it used to, that's all for the good >> yeah, if you speak with oil traders the question is really oversupply to erin's point we're the largest producer of petroleum so we have to import so much less and also manufacturing i think we can make the argument in our country is a lot more efficient so i would say we're not actually burning through fuels in the same way that we did 40 or 50 years ago and we find of shimmie d as well to more of a services-based economy so i think our economy has changed, plus we're energy-independent. neil: and the world as well, because brent, it ultimately went back down. you know, jonas there's another side of this as good as we're doing iran is doing just the opposite its economy could attract about 10%, so it was in

bad enough shape going from back 40 years ago but it's in even worse shape now, so play that out. >> well it's a combination of things. the oil prices aren't that high relative to the global economy, when oil was over $100, these areas were swimming in the money , and those sanctions are working, there have been sanctions in effect that keeps this regime broke. it's that guy right there who has all of the money. i think he's worth $200 billion or a ridiculous amount of money so he's the one who gets hit by the sanctions. neil: the leadership and the thousands the president targeted by the way, there's still more sanctions. >> now back in the 70s even though oil was cheap initially they controlled so much of it, and now with russia is claiming independence to the south america, us, they don't have the control they used to have, there's more sanctions in place, but ideally, we'd have 20-$30 oil going up because i do think the oil price actually came down , because it doesn't look like anything is going to blow up over there. i still think we would get 20 or

$30 higher if there was a serious contract. neil: yeah, interesting too, but the fallback for us has been a good economy that gave us an edge going into these chinese talk, right? and indirectly in the middle east. i'm wondering whether that repeats an obvious theme here. it's good to come from a position of strength, right? >> yeah and we've seen this time and time again that when you look at us versus pretty much any either developed or emerging markets, the u.s. is just in such an advanced position of strength compared to just about any other economy, and so yeah, using that as leverage for resolving these long term conflicts is definitely an opportunity. neil: and you know the middle east is always going to be in conflict. the president has said this past week, deirdre, that he wants to see if we expand nato to include middle eastern countries maybe indirectly saying they could help foot the bill a lot of members are not but the dynamics could change there.

>> the dynamics could change and to jonas's point we have put the most punishing sanctions ever on iran. you made the point about gdp being the slowest since i don't know, something like 1983-1984 from iran so i do that theywhat extent we have have so i would think from the common person's point of view, the common person might feel actually a bit desperate, which i don't know how that suits or how that changes what people are willing to do, but i do know it involves china, which has long been iran's largest trading partner. so i don't know if it's always about the u.s. versus the middle east. neil: well there are concerns that this latest will effect china quickly and if that happens jonas your worry? >> there's a downside for being this economy because you become the target of north korea or iran because theoretically the british should be the biggest enemy. truman was not against the british war, but they target us

because we're successful and they're not and they can blame us for that. neil: and they are, all right, doing us that. meanwhile, the royals are blaming each other now over this mess. this i'll tell you after this. af doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - ..

"america's nightly scoreboard" neil: a great tragedy and unforgivable mistake. the president of iran apologized for his country downing that ukrainian jetliner killing 176 people on board. it is unprecedented here this out of anyone in iran little on the leader. greg how -- has the latest. >> we are getting strong reminders how absolutely

damaging a turn in the ukraine international airline story could be for the iranian regime. for the past 72 hours iran had claimed adamantly the tragedy was not its fault, that mechanical error forced the plane down after the take off from tehran. now they are admitting they did it. a junior officer shot the plane out of the sky on his own killing 176 on. . iran admitting a disastrous mistake, apologizing for it, allegedly calling for prosecution but the ukrainian government, s a linsky -- vladimir zelinski is demanding a lot more and they are saying iranian's were hiding and scrapping degree, trying to move all the incriminating evidence away and according to people on the ground in iran they realized

the jig was up and have to come clean. a memorial for ukrainian members who died, and the minister said a spontaneous gathering of local iranian's, most did not want to speak before the camera but all were emotional especially about the fact that their government shutdown this plane. listen to a few of the people. >> when i read the news it was a shock for me. >> i am sorry for them. all of them. >> it is terrible. >> the people who gather here had something to say and a message to bring. the best way for me to show you what they are feeling and thinking about would be for me to step aside and ask my camera man to show you the scene of

this memorial all across the floor. there are various pictures of the victims. at the very beginning iran said 140 of the victims were iranian citizens or dual national iranian citizens and the government is saying it shot down a plane with its own people in it. the feeling here was strong, the feeling against the government will be strong as well. that is what we are seeing today and that is what it means for the regime. neil: meanwhile in afghanistan, hitting an ied killing two americans, injured two others. benjamin hall has the latest. >> reporter: this is just breaking in the last hour. we don't have many details. they were in kandahar.

it is a reminder us troops are in harmony's way day in and day out in afghanistan as the 18 year war drags on. in iraq there is a discussion of future of us troops. five days ago the iraqi parliament voted to expel us troops from the country. we are hearing the prime minister pushing on the us to abide by that and in a call with mike pompeo he called on the us to, delegation to iraq to formulate the us withdrawal but in a statement the state department pushed back, declined to talk about the future of us troop saying any delegation would only be there to discuss how to recommit to the partnership and not the removal of troops, donald trump says iraqi leaders behind-the-scenes want the us to stay. >> the iraqi prime minister notified mike pompeo about potential plans for us troop withdrawal from iraq. iran on pulling out of the middle east, why not use this

opportunity to say we are done? >> i'm okay with it. >> that is what they are saying publicly. they don't say that privately. >> new us sanctions on iran have been announced following the strike against the us-based last week. sanctions are placed on eight senior iranian leaders and new entities in the middle industry including steel and iron. mike pompeo saying they will consider the maximum pressure campaign until iran stops its destabilizing activities. neil: thank you very much. neil: the significance of anyone in iran little the supreme leader saying we did this, how significant is that? that is what bob mcginnis, i don't remember a time they admitted to anything like it let alone something as big as this. what is the importance of that? >> they are known to lie about

everything but for the president, the grand ayatollah to admit a mistake given that 1500 of their own citizens have died this fall and domestic disturbances, the regime is under the pressure, the economics are very dire, the president has imposed new ones. that regime, i am not going to predict it will topple but they will have very significant issues. neil: going against the great satan of america, a great distraction in the past, with the wounding of our hostages, kept people's minds off of an awful economy at the time but with the downing of a plane even accidentally the iranians are furious over that, an economy that seems to be contracting faster than our economy is growing. the leadership is worried.

>> they should be. your listeners need to appreciate the real winner is israel. the president started off wednesday morning, what did he say? iran will not get a nuclear weapon. we saw their technology on display, the rockets, they missed when they fired at al-assad and they have no command and control, poor training when they shot down an airliner outside their own major city of tehran. that is good news because the israelis have been threatened as have we, left and right so this is good news as well as as you indicated in the last hour vladimir putin was saying iran is on the outs, you need to listen to me and leverage what is here.

there are a lot of dynamics in this in and out relationship with the middle east that are fascinating. neil: the president says be careful what you are getting out of iraq, and publicly it is different from what they say privately? >> absolutely agree. it was a 163 she a in parliament, the sunnis were not heard from. where did the missile plant this week? they landed in the sunni kurdish area. we understand politics prevails even in downtown baghdad. neil: good seeing you again. the 2020 race, the antiwar stance, no matter the successes in iran this week. a lot of the candidates are

paying attention to bernie sanders whose campaign is apparently catching on, not the least of which because of his tough stance on foreign intervention but there is more to it in that. more polls are shifting quickly. >> reporter: we have michael bloomberg coming out, the day when campaign launch event. he is not competing in the february contests, the rest of the candidates considered in the top-tier. bernie sanders is. he is not technically a democrat because he considers himself independent, he is in first place in a new des moines register and cnn poll of likely caucus goers. he was before and and pete buttigieg and joe biden, the sanders campaign seems like it could be on shaky ground. when we had a heart attack in the fall, he is as strong as ever. we might not see much more of him or warren before the caucus depending on how long an

impeachment trial drags out. at two%, he spending his time and money like south carolina in second place behind biden and in third place, sanders, his strategy flooding the airwaves with ads with some success, something michael bloomberg has been trying ahead of today, one of the best-known tv personalities in the world, judge judy. >> i once asked the judge if she was considering serving on the supreme court. supreme court justices - she said no, i can't. she says i don't work collaboratively. >> bloomberg tried to reassure supporters the only reason he is not participating in the debate is he is trying to self fund his

campaign, doesn't want donations from anybody. neil: it is hard to hear me over there but obviously the billionaires in this race, the two on the democratic side, are seen a little bit of a pay off in key states. they see that bearing fruit. >> reporter: definitely. style does not have traditional rallies like most candidates. the ideas towards the top in two of the contests, south carolina and nevada and michael bloomberg has not been having an event until today when members of the public are invited, focusing more on roundtable discussions but 100 people at a restaurant first thing saturday morning in texas which is cortical to a strategy to let a bunch of chaos

unfolding february, the first tuesday of march, supertuesday, rack up a much of delegates here. neil: thank you very much. will it take a billionaire to beat a billionaire already in the white house? the billionaire keeps spending after this. hi. uh, can you tell me how to get to i-70, please? sorry, i'm working. right. could you just use your sign to point me in the direction? i wish i could. it's not that kind of sign. you know what? thanks. thank you. thanks so much. switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. you know, like the sign says.

..

♪ ♪ ♪ well i'm standing here, looking at you, what do i see? ♪ there's a booking for every resolution . book yours at booking.com neil: before the break we told you about tom's tire, michael bloomberg, a billionaire emerged as the nominee of the democratic party. that depends on what happens in the voting process. it appears michael bloomberg is looking at the distinct mathematical possibility that no one gets in of delegates on the first ballot, there are hundreds of superdelegates on the second

ballot and you have a party. back with us is joe borelli, david is our democratic party expert. do you think it will be a brokered convention? >> i know it is the dream of the media and you have done the math. i don't think it will get to that place if it is a real split delegate situation they will work it out before the convention under some basis among the people who are the top vote getters but what was interesting is the likelihood that this will be a five person racehorse express and race longer than anyone expects or seen is getting higher and higher. buttigieg, warren and sanders and stier and bloomberg have the ability to stay in.

neil: we changed, 15%, you share the vote of the delegates. it could be very tough to have the delegates on the first ballot. >> a brokered convention is music the republican party's ears. neil: democrats had that about republicans in 1860. i covered that. >> let's talk about to cruise. neil: a benefit to the opposition party. >> not having a clear person to go against donald trump is a fundamental flaw in a party that since 2016 has been working to unseat donald trump. you see a rise from michael bloomberg and tom stier, people who through hail marys more than any other candidate spent in any

other state combined except bloomberg, a slight bump in the polls. not a lot of money. >> i think it is pretty good. bloomberg, 15% anywhere. i give him some credit. neil: he's rising in national polls. >> do you think the money, 5 or 6 candidates. they could delay a winner. >> i find this ironic since tom stier said his top two priorities are climate change and getting money out of politics. he is putting a lot of money into politics. money is helping him but michael bloomberg, i have to point out donald trump spent half of what

hillary clinton did, and tom stier not on the debate stage, the money is helping him get his name out. >> the elephant in the room, the idea of billionaires shouldn't even exist - neil: raising a lot of money. >> i can't see any of the 30% of so people supporting sanders or warren coalescing around michael bloomberg. >> that the question about a brokered convention between sanders, warren and buttigieg if they could work out their differences. neil: democrats changed their procedure because of what happened in the last contest. he won more votes. so in a way what was meant to

address that nightmare created a new one. >> i would not say it created a nightmare because no matter who democrats support they are united in trying to defeat donald trump. neil: it comes around, you don't think it will happen, superdelegates, they flinch and decide who the nominee is. >> i don't think that will happen. the candidates themselves are more likely to say i throw my weight behind this person. maybe it is of ep presidential ticket, that is what we used to do a long time ago, the person who got the second most votes. >> in 2016 it took bernie sanders a long time to finally endorse hillary clinton. i'm not sure bernie will be amenable to the let's work it out among the candidates. he only became a democrat because the party changed its

rules, to run for president you have to be a registered member of the party. >> to me the longer it goes on with a group of candidates the longer the american people see how split the democrat party among moderates like biden, supporter of government run healthcare and bernie sanders, elizabeth warren. >> aoc made sense. me and joe biden would not be in the same political party, that underscores how deep the divide is with the moderates who might think they have a better chance taking on the president. >> everyone pretty quickly as is the voting is over will get behind the candidate. neil: like they did with trump. >> remember how much a debate there was about that. neil: don't get me started on 1860. tensions with iran have cooled a little bit, russia is creating some waves.

we just saw vladimir putin meeting with angela merkel but this, these passenger ships would have collided. they came that close. ♪ ♪ everything your trip needs for everyone you love. expedia.

for everyone you love. looking to get your business off to a fast start in the new year? it's go time! switch to comcast business and get fast internet on the nation's largest gig-speed network. plus, complete reliability with 4g lte backup. and, cloud-based security to help protect the devices on your network. greenlight your business in 2020 with fast internet and voice for $64.90 per month. switch now and get a $100 prepaid card when you add comcast business securityedge. call today. comcast business. beyond fast.

♪ neil: by the way, it is not just iran, there is also growing tension with russia. u.s. officials say a russian ship, out of nowhere, rapidly approached within a u.s. destroyer in the arabian sea. again, out of the blue. lucas tomlinson has the details from washington. what do we know? >> reporter: we now know that russian spy ship nearly collided with an american destroyer in the north arabian sea. you can hear five short blasts, the international danger signal on the high seas. the uss farragut was on routine patrol when the russian spy ship

made this dangerous approach in the middle of the american ocean. it's part of the uss harry s. truman strike group and was ready to launch tomahawk cruise missiles this week. the following statement, quote: while the russian ship took action, the initial delay complying with international rules while it was making an aggressive approach increased the risk of collision. at the same time, hundreds of miles away russian president vladimir putin was observing these large scale naval exercises involving over 30 warships and 40 jet aircraft. many at the pentagon don't think this was a coincidence. the close call comes days after russia, china and iran held joint naval exercises for the first time. on the campaign trail last night, democratic candidate joe biden commented on the recent exercises. >> we're in a situation where we're isolated, where you have

iranian, russian and chinese vessels patrolling the gulf. what in god's name is going on here? >> reporter: and last month the u.s. coast guard in charleston issued another warning about another russian spy ship operating offshore near a u.s. navy ballistic missile submarine base in georgia, neil. neil: lucas, thank you very much. back to iran right now, and the country out of the blue acknowledging it was behind the downing of that jet, if even accidentally, that is something you don't hear out of iran often. we have an iranian journalist who knows well what the backdrop is in her home country, what's going on there. good to have you. >> thank you so much for having me. neil: i'm shocked, because i've never heard of that, higher-ups in iran acknowledging any mistake for anything, but they did. >> let me tell you, this is not a mistake. this is a crime. because the first question right now iranian people are asking is very simple, deny that they were

having a military operation. why they didn't cancel the flight? that is actually showing you that it is not a mistake. and let me tell you another thing -- neil: are you saying they deliberately shot this down or that it was just -- >> even if it's mismanagement -- neil: right. >> -- that shows that they don't care about their own people. they admitted that because they were, like, nine iranians, canadians, justin trudeau has spokennen up, the ukrainian government. that is why. they didn't have any other options except to admit that. but i want to tell you something, why i'm claiming that this is not a mistake because they don't care about the lives of iranian people. i want to say that less than two months the government of iran killed two, almost 2,000 people. first in iran protest two months ago. 1500 people got killed according to reuters.

then they had a funeral, it was totally organized by the government. and people got killed -- neil: at soleimani's funeral. you think that was a staged event. >> yes. neil: okay. >> so 56 people got killed. and another -- neil: trampled, righting? >> exactly. so that actually shows you that this is not a mistake, and the supreme leader of iran, the revolutionary guard in iran are responsible of killing -- neil: are they worried, is the leadership worried now that this revolt among the people -- and it's a horrible economy as you were telling me during the break -- is just too much, they're not going to stop? >> look, people are very worried right now because the narrative has been changed outside iran. some of the western media are i trying to make qassem soleimani like a hero, but he is not. you know, although people are getting killed by revolutionary guard, getting arrestedded by revolutionary guard, right now that i'm talking to you 7,000

people are in prison just because of taking to the streets. and we keep hearing from some of the western media saying that soleimani was a hero. he was a criminal. he was in charge of killing the children of, you know, syria, syrian children to, you know, people in iraq and its own people. neil: so when you hear the president criticized by fellow americans, democrats largely have said he overstepped his bounds, that he shouldn't have taken this guy out -- >> you know, my dream was to see soleimani as a war criminal in the court, but he brought, you know, the casualty and death to himself by killing other people, by being a warmonger, by welcoming war. neil: do real iranians think what you just said? >> they are in the streets right now -- neil: are real iranians glad that guy's dead? >> right now, without any propaganda from iranian state television, without the government, right now they are

in the street. students are chanting -- right now today the security forces use tear gas. i want to say to the rest of the world, all the media, especially american government, american media, do not lose human rights in your own battles. care about human rights and ask a simple question that why the government of iran right now using tear gas, attacking people who are taking to the streets to mourn these people who got killed in the airplane. why? why people are not allowed to take to the streets when they got, you know, being -- the family of those people who got killed in among the straights, they are right now in prison. they are not allowed to go and have a public service. that breaks my heart. what i want the rest of the world, justin trudeau, the european parliament, the e.u., the american government to care about, it's human rights. this is the 21st century, and people don't want the

dictatorship. that simple. neil: i don't think i can top that or add any more to that. very gutsy, very brave. and she's had a career doing just that. more after this. here a problem ? here a problem ? you're in a no parking zone. oh, i... i didn't know. you didn't see the sign? that... that wasn't there when i was here earlier. (whimper) really? you know, in italy, they let you park anywhere. have a good day, sir. with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. (glass shattering) (frustrated yell) (car horn blast) (yelp)

neil: all right. i want to take you to paris, france, right now. these are protests going on amid a government pension reform that's been, these people think, forced on them. a lot of them are very upset.

the government plans to push back retirement ages and have workers put more into those retirement packages whether they work for the public or private sector, particularly public sector workers not too keen on it. france cannot get out of its own way with some of these reform issues, because they simply cannot afford it, the argument of emmanuel macron. right now they're out in the streets protesting. we'll keep an eye on it. in the meantime, back in this country there's this: >> infrastructure approvals will further expand america's unprecedented economic boom. that's what we have. we have an economic boom. we've created seven million jobs including over 700,000 construction jobs. unemployment has reached the lowest rate in over 51 years. neil: all right. part of this effort on getting rid of a lot of rules and regulations or at least the time it takes them to be completed is

something that hearkens back to the early attacks on this president when he first became president. the boom with for the economy started with the immediate impact certainly for companies with rules and regulations that were suddenly lifted off their shoulders and books. and it got the boom going. the president wanting to do that right now again. environment where at least additional tax cuts for the time being look unlikely. my next guest was at that white house event are. jerry howard is the ceo of the national association of home builders. you and i have talked about this before, but if you think about it, the economic boom really picked up steam before the president got his tax cuts. it started with a lot of the rules and regulations that he was paring down and at a dramatic pace. and that was instant money to companies that had the savings and immediately committed them. is this sort of part two of that? >> oh, absolutely, neil. when the president came in and

started talking about easing the regulatory burden, it really resonated with home builders across the world. and i'll tell you, our industry is the most regulated industry in the world, more than nuclear power, more than the airline industry when you take into account federal, state and local regulations. so this administration easing the federal regulatory burden has done wonders for builders' confidence which means they're investing in their business, creating jobs and building housing that americans can afford. neil: someone was pell -- telling me that the average time it takes to propose and ultimately complete let's say a bridge can be upwards of a bridge. i don't know if that's true or not, but it was startling. one of the things i wanted to raise is the criticism some democrats have had of in that the president is forgoing his attention to the environment, that it isn't important to him, that a lot of these rules and regulations are protecting the environment, and he's just squashing it. what do you think? >> they do protect the

environment, and the president made it very clear at that event and several other times that i've heard him speak on in that he wants clean water, he wants clean air. what he wants is decisions made quickly, he wants analysis done in a time that doesn't increase the cost burden to people who are creating important infrastructure and much-needed -- neil: how do you balance that? in other words, as i've heard from critics -- a lot of environmentalists who were telling me on my fox business show that they think this is running roughshod over that, very little is given to the environment or how we can protect our air and water and letting these guys get whatever they want. >> quite the contrary, neil. we have seen over time bureaucrats with their own agenda or overzealous advocates become expert at forcing delay after delay in getting decisions on these environmental regulations. in fact, the supreme court recently ruled that if decisions aren't made quickly, landowners and people who want to create jobs can go directly to federal

court. that's how bad it's gotten. there can be environmental sensitivity, environmental protection, safety protection with a rapid turn around. we have the technology to get these things done. and you said it takes nine years to get a bridge built? in some parts of this country it takes over ten years from the time you and i decide to build a house to get the permits before the first shovel goes in the ground, and people wonder why there's homelessness and we have a housing supply shortage. neil: all good points. thank you very much, jerry howard. great seeing you again. >> good being with you, sir. neil: if people have the wherewithal to send a little more -- spend a little more, it

when you shop for your home at wayfair,

you get more than free shipping. you get everything you need for your home at a great price, the way it works best for you, i'll take that. wait honey, no. when you want it. you get a delivery experience you can always count on. you get your perfect find at a price to match, on your own schedule. you get fast and free shipping on the things that make your home feel like you. that's what you get when you've got wayfair. so shop now!

trying to hike pay to keep workers there, find some workers. for managers, upwards of $100,000, maybe more. you heard me right. this as a lot of other places are paying their workers more. i guess in-n-out burger has managers in excess of $60,000. does this prove you don't have to get a costly college degree? with me is aaron gibbs, deirdre bolton. deirdre, what do you think? >> i wouldn't necessarily make the leap to not getting a college education. but this is impressive. but i think it speaks to, you referenced this 50-year low for unemployment, it's just hard for these restaurants to get workers at any level, but particularly managerial level to just keep the wheel spinning. neil: what do you think? >> i think this is really

interesting because it's owned by yum brand, right? kfc, pizza hut and taco bell. and taco bell is seeing growth of about 4% which, for a fast food chain for same-store sales, is really high. we're seeing them take a new pilot program, they're obviously in a good place financially, to try something to really even spur that growth further -- neil: and turnover costs. whatever you're saving at the salary, you're losing -- >> yes. keeping your hired people in these areas. so it's interesting that for companies that are doing well, you're able to directly translate that to higher salaries. >> to your point about the growth, they're really international. neil: jonas is our fast food expert here. [laughter] you can weigh in. >> okay. i don't want to -- this is good news in some ways because the economy is so strong that they have to do this to get workers. but there's a problem here that other, people in other jobs will

use this news as a rationale to ask for more money. well, the guys at taco bell are making 100 grand, i'm only making 70 -- neil: i tried that here. just go to taco bell. >> we just had a jobs report figure that didn't show wages going up speck tack alreadily. spectacularly. it's perfectly good but not too high. you don't want everybody to think they deserve more than the taco bell worker -- neil: but then the chief gets the i can do that -- >> very hoe unemployment rate. workers kind of have that power. they all start asking for raises, then the brand price has to go from $3.29 to $3.89. neil: apparently, these guys have absorbed it. we've got a booming jobs economy. >> yeah, but i do think there is a tipping point, and the more we

talk about automation especially in food service, i mean, there are a lot of places you put in your order and a little robot arm gives it to

>> stock prices go up and then it falls down to workers who are good -- neil: this might seem like apples and oranges, a live shot coming in to us from paris about protests that people are upset that the government might want to scale back their pension.

if we allow the private sector to more richly reward its workers, you wouldn't see this kind of stuff. >> this high unemployment rate, they don't have the situation where wages go up because unemployment's so low like we do. neil: i guess what i'm saying is if you have successful capitalism doing what capitalism does, it shouldn't -- the government is beginning to scale back a little bit on benefits. >> yeah. you know, i think france is in a different -- neil: absolutely. >> and a lot of people are used to that sort of cradle to grave the government will take care of me at this price -- neil: these are hardly leaps that the government can sustain. this is curtailing benefits, younger workers and all of that -- >> it's actually very

reasonable. neil: very reasonable. ing. >> but, and, again, it's not any sort of change or scaling back. that's all you have, and that's much more of a patrimonial type of state, and here it's on i need to do better and get more rewarded. >> and the taco bell thing, this is in the midwest and the northeast in the sense that, you know, the northeast real estate costs more, more expensive --

for a cold sore,

i don't use some waxy cover up. i use herpecín l, it penetrates deep to treat. it soothes moisturizes and creates a spf 30 barrier

to protect against flare ups caused by the sun. herpecín l. it does more for a cold sore. ♪ ♪ neil: the u.k. up in arms over megix, a majority of brits saying prince harry and meghan markle should pay the public back for housing, for everything. queen elizabeth has reportedly given the couple a 72-hour deadline of working the scene out. dominic green, help me with this. is it, is it causing that much, you know, pain and angst in england? what's the latest? >> oh, i think this is the biggest problem, neil, since henry the viii and wallace simpson palled up with hitler. the queen has geffen them 72 hours, but they're committed to

this whole new life. neil: all right. i'm just trying to understand what they're coming from. they can make a lot more money divorcing themselves from the royal family, right? >> oh, they can. but should they then still be calling themselves the duke or the duchess, having all the security details, all the free flights, all the favors that the royals get which are or the -- what are sort of off the books. neil: i was reading a lot of the british press, and they seem to be blaming meghan for this. not harry what's the real truth? >> i think meghan is being who she is. he's an american actress, and she should be allowed to pursue that. harry, on the other hand, is looking for a total change of identity. he was born into the mob, and it's very hard to leave the mob. he wants to become a celebrity as opposed to a royal, and the question is can he do it. neil: can he be a celebrity if he isn't a royal? >> that's the other thing, on

what basis would he become a celebrity? if it wasn't for his talent to be a duke? [laughter] neil: are the brits annoyed or they still love their royal family, they have high regards for the queen. some of them are not really keen on the way she's been treated. where does that stand? >> well, yes, they are. they have extremely high regard for the queen. she's 99 3 years old, and so -- 93 years old, and so the future of the monarchy is very much on everyone's mind including prince charles. the word is one of the reasons harry and meghan have decided to go out on their own is that brains charles' plans don't really include a place for them in the family firm. neil: is this all oprah's fault? [laughter] >> oh, everything is. no, i think this sets up the fusion for the two biggest entertainment powers in the world, the royal family cutting a deal, as meghan and harry have done, with the disney

corporation. neil: all right. i see a future animated film coming from this. thank you, my friend. you're the best at this, sorting it out. we'll see how it goes. everyone calm down, it'll be okay. fox continues.

♪ ♪ >> iran is now taking responsibility for the downed ukrainian international airlines flight saying it accidentally shot the passenger plane down because of human error. after saying they had nothing to do with it, now iran finally admitting. welcome to america's news headquarters in washington, i'm kristin fisher. leland: this news broke late last night, early morning in tehran. i'm leland vittert. as you noted, kristin, the iranians had been steadfast in their denial and suddenly changed course. a lot of questions as to why and