rachel: well, thanks for having me, both of you. will: great having you today, rachel. pete, i'm sure you've got it all worked out. we'll see you all again here tomorrow. pete: thank you, guys. see you at cpac. ♪ ♪ neil: all right, help on the way in the form of a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan that a passed in the house yesterday but by, man, oh, man, the narrowest of margins, 219-212. two democrats voted against it, not a single republican for it. it does include a provision that would hike the minimum wage. here's the problem, that is a no-go in the united states senate. so what does this portend going forward? we're going to look into that. also give you the latest of what's going on at cpac as the republicans get ready for the former president of the united states to address the crowd and

maybe give a hint where he is going to go and99 where the party is going to go in the next couple of years and in the next presidential election. let's first, though, get the fallout from that stimulus getting passed in the house. we should stress here the senate has a whole bunch of different rules, and the timeline here could be a little murky. david spunt with more in wilmington, delaware. hey, dave. >> reporter: good morning. ing making it match the house will and the senate bill always a channel. president biden will be making his way to his second home here in wilmington later this afternoon. before he leaves for wilmington, he'll speak from the white house, the roosevelt room, in about an hour. white house officials are pleased that this passed the u.s. house of representatives, although you mentioned that narrow margin, 219-212, all republicans in the house voted against the package. two democrats voted against the package. let me go through some of the highlights of this nearly $2 trillion covid stimulus relief. we're talking about increased

testing, increased ppe, school funding, food assistance, rental assistance, childcare assistance, also those stimulus checks, $1400, because if you add the $600 when president trump was president, that equals the $2,000 that president biden promised. the two democrats voting against the plan, kurt schrader from oregon and jared golden from maine. now, golden put out this statement in part: unfortunately, the path congressional leaders have chosen goes far beyond these key provisions to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. after supporting $4 trillion in emergency covid relief in 2020, i won't support trillions more in funding that is poorly targeted or in many cases not necessary at this moment in time. while this bill covers just about everything democrats wanted, it does not allow that $15 minimum wage proposal, as you mentioned, because the senate parliamentarian said, listen, this cannot happen in the senate when it makes its way over here.

house speaker nancy pelosi addressed the minimum wage issue on the floor. listen. >> the $7.25 the minimum wage that exists now is in many instances, in many instances an exploitation of the american worker. and it is a cost to taxpayers because the minimum wage workers need food and housing assistance. and many are on medicaid. this is corporate welfare. >> reporter: okay. so $a 15 minimum wage is the ultimate goal. president biden says he is for that, now is just not the right time. meanwhile, you look at a company like costco, the ceo just announced they're going to make make -- to hike their minimum wage from $15 to $16 an hour. neil? neil: david, thank you very much. pride. en will be speaking from the roosevelt room, it's going to be the an uphill ballot because of

those parliamentarian rules where on reconciliation you just can't ram through a wage hike. senator mike rounds joins us from south dakota. senator, good to have you. as things stand now, are you a no on this stimulus measure? >> as things stand right now, i am a no. and i think the vast majority of the republicans, if not all of the republicans, will be a no. this is a $1.9 trillion increase in our national debt. republicans had offered a reasonable expectation saying we've already got a trillion dollars which has not been spent yet from our december proposal. let's talk a little bit about what's in the 1.9. you just heard some of the items that are in there. this is not a pandemic relief effort, this is a giveaway to a lot of left-wing causes. neil: so they're going to try by hook or crook, it sounds like, senator, to find a way that they can build this hike in the minimum wage to $15 by

presumably making it a tax issue, a way for corporations that are of a significant size to pay at least $15. therein makes it passable in a reconciliation measure. you get a little into the weeds, i apologize, but how likely is that to happen, to be included in this package when it gets to the senate? >> i think it will be a real challenge for them to include it because of two things. first of all, under the all rules that that we have it does have to be basically a tax or an expenditure type of direction through a committee. but the second piece is we already know that not all of the democrats are onboard either. so in a 50-50 divided senate to begin with, they can't lose any votes at all and pass it under reconciliation. they've got their work cut out for them. look, they're going to get something done, they're going to find a way to get their democrats all together to pass it. it's one of the reasons why we talk about every single vote in the united states senate being

critical. when you start talking about what we offered, we wanted it to be targeted and specific. this specific proposal is not targeted, it is not specific. neil: you know, you're one of the more prominent republicans not at cpac. why not? >> look, i'm from south dakota. when i get a chance to come home, i come home. i try to get back home every single week. i'm sure there's going to be a lot of entertaining speakers down there. i think the united states senate is going to be very well represented, a lot by people looking to move to a different office. i said i came here to represent my people here in south dakota. i'm going to stay here and do my best to work in the united states senate. neil: you know, senator, a lot of the speakers that were bashing fellow republicans, liz cheney's name has come up, mitch mcconnell, mitt romney. apparently, they've abandoned ronald reagan's 11th commandment, thou shalt not

speak ill of any republicans. on any level does that worry you? >> i think whatever civil war people have tried to create within the republican party, i think it's time to end it if it was there to begin with. you know, the principles that bind us together, the principles abraham lincoln talked about, that ronald reagan talked about, when we start the talking about lower taxes, about having a competitive economy, about keeping our unemployment low, about having conservative judges, those are things that bind us together along with the vast majority of the american public. that's what will bind us together in the 2022 election cycle, and as long as we focus on those things in that keep us together, we're going to be fine. we'll bring this party together. if we want to beat up on each other, we've got problems. i don't think it does anybody any good to be speaking ill of other republicans. neil: senator rounds, thank you again. in the meantime, we are monitoring cpac and what's

coming up there, of course, ahead of donald trump addressing the group tomorrow. we're also following the fast and swift reaction we're getting out of the middle east right now concerning the release of this report that pretty unequivocally links mohamed bin salman with the killing of jamal khashoggi. the united arab emirates the latest to say we believe the saudis. that that's a problem. after this.

neil: the president did have a phone call, you know, with the royal family. i'm just concerned that is in any push on our part you've got to do something because this is not palatable? >> again, i think we all share the concerns over what happened to jamal khashoggi and for his family. and as we've made clear, the relationship, the bilateral relationship with saudi arabia

will have to be different. it's going to have to change going forward. the question is exactly how do you balance those concerns over, from our perspective at the pentagon, you know, security commitments that we have in the region. neil: all right. that was from my chat with john kirby, pentagon spokesman, right after we learned, of course, that the the u.s. will not go much further than, you know, going after the visas from 76 saudis around the administration of mohamed bin salman in the death of jamal khashoggi. the intelligence report that the administration released seems to figure the saudi -- finger the saudi leader unequivocally and only leading this effort to kill khashoggi. the oddity this week was that president biden did talk to king salman, the prince's father, but right now as things stand

mohamed bin salman will be the next ruler after his father passes away of all of saudi arabia. a lot of people are looking at that, what has really changed here. lucas tomlinson has more from washington. lucas. >> reporter: good morning, neil, that's right. it's the first time the u.s. government has publicly blamed the saudi's crown prince for approving the killing of u.s.-based saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. president biden released the report but stopped short of taking any action against bin salman better known by his initials, b.s. >> the rules are changing, and we're going to be announcing significant changes today and on monday. we are going to hold them accountable. >> reporter: the intelligence report says the crown prince viewed khashoggi as a threat to the kingdom and broadly supported using violent measures to silence him. secretary of state tony blinken also weighed in. >> we've taken action pursuant

to the khashoggi ban to impose visa restrictions on 76 saudi individuals believed to have been gauged in threatening overseas including but not limited to the khashoggi killing because this -- [inaudible] whether it's by saudi arabia or anyone else is totally unacceptable, and we now have a few tool to push back against that. >> reporter: days after khashoggi was killed inside the saudi consulate in 2018, bret baier asked saudi arabia's then-foreign minister about it. and, excuse me, the foreign minister at the time said that his guys had nothing to do with it, that the saudi crown prince was totally innocent. and in a statement the saudi government said that his government rejects the report which it finds negative, false and unacceptable, neil. neil: thank you,ing my friend, very, very much. we are getting reads, and lucas couched on this, from -- touched

on this, from other countries in the middle east. the united arab emirates among the first to say we believe the saudis will -- we'll continue to do business with the saudis, we move on from this. william cohen joins us, former defense secretary under president clinton. secretary, your thoughts on this. i understand it's a delicate dance, but we've essentially said beyond punishing or, you know, maybe going after the visas of 70-some-odd, you know, princes and others around the crown prince, we're going to leave it at that. because that does not include right now the prince himself. what do you make of it? >> well, in a way it does. first, president biden has seemingly pointed out mbs as being responsible for the gruesome murder, putting that in public and putting the blame squarely on his shoulders, i

think, is a big difference. secondly, there's an expression we used to use in the senate, i have a minimum high regard for my colleague, and i think that's what president biden is now doing with mbs saying he has a minimum of high regard for him and for the way in which he's conducted himself and moving up to eventually replace the king in the future. i think in addition by putting the sanctions on, the visa sanctions at least on 76 people, another signal. and also by raising human rights as a top priority for his administration going forward in the future. i think these things have sent the signal to the entire region, not just to saudi arabia, but to the entire region that the biden administration is going to continue to put human rights on his foreign policy agenda which is not so under his predecessor. so i think it's a tough thing, a tough balance you have to do because we're not going to sever relations. that would jeopardize saudi

arabia and put all of the other countries in the region would then be subject to the aggression of the iranians. it's one of those power type balances looking at how do you preserve a very important country if not to the united states, but to the rest of the world in terms of energy supply. we've got the big -- neil: there's no doubt about that, secretary, and i understand that. but, you know, donald trump got a heap of controversy when he maintained those relations and said that they were more important longer term. joe biden takes the position, essentially the same position. he might be talking about human rights, but he's not really done anything more than this visa, you know, restriction on some of these around the prince. i know he has talked to mo if happened binning salman -- mohamed bin salman, or king salman, i should say, mohamed bin salman's father. but the fact of the matter is, mohamed bin salman is going to

be the next ruler of saudi arabia, and we've done nothing to punish him for the murder of a journalist. >> well, there's very little the united states could do without jeopardizing our own interests. we could -- neil: no, i understand that, but that is what donald trump said, right? secretary, i'm not forgiving one versus the other, but fair and balanced here, there was this the pile-on on president trump when he took this position earlier. why isn't there a pile-on on joe biden taking the exact same position? >> i think there was a pile-on on donald trump for a variety of reasons in addition to saudi arabia. don't forget we had the meeting in helsinki in which the intelligence community had said very clearly that vladimir putin had interfered with the 2016 election. the president said publicly at that time, he said i believe him. so he didn't believe the intelligence community. we know for a fact that he -- neil: well, i know, but if we could just stick to this issue,

secretary the, i'm just wondering where we go from here. if the saudis now know that this is the extent of the punishment under a biden administration despite raising human rights, does that -- they're free to do pretty much whatever the heck they want. >> well, i don't think they're free to do whatever they want. i think the biden administration is reserving the right to impose additional sanctions depending upon what activities they see mohamed by salman taking -- neil: do you think we'll to that, secretary? do you think we'll really do that? >> i think, yes. if that continues, if we have a repetition of that, if we see him arresting journalists, locking them up, i think that will change the nature of the relationship. we do know that the, we saw significant weaponry -- we sell significant weaponry to the saudis. now, we could cut much of that off but not to our benefit because the chinese and the russians are standing on the sidelines just waiting to replace the united states as the

guarantor of security in the renal. so we have to take that into account. i think the problem is that anytime you have a presidential contest, the candidates tend to make promises and pledges that they really aren't going to be able to keep. in this particular case, saying we're going to name them as a pariah state, well, we're not. we are treating mbs with a minimum of high regard. we're treating him not as a future king, not elevating him, having a separate channel to the crown prince and saying, hey, we're with you all the way. biden is saying, no, we're not with you all the way. we're with you all the way to this point because we recognize that we need you along with uae, bahrain and qatar in order to put a circle around the ambitions of the iranians. so it's a matter of practicality at this point. president trump faced it and said maybe he did, maybe he didn't. biden is saying, no, he did, and

we're not going to treat you the same way you have been treated in the past. so i think there's a significant difference in saying someone actually is responsible rather than saying, well, we don't know, the intelligence is unclear. no, the intelligence has been clear for some time, and i think the president just said unknown. this is known now as far as our intelligence community, as far as the president's concerned. neil: all right. you and i have different versions of what is different here. we're acknowledging that he was behind the murder, but we don't seem to be doing too much about it, save the warning that we know you did it. we'll see how it all sorts out. william cohen, thank you very, very much. by the way, we are going to be hearing from the president of the united states on this. now, ostensibly when joe biden speaks to the country in a little less than 40 minutes or so, he's going to address that $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. this issue might come up though. we'll see. you are watching fox news. ♪

hey, guys! they have customized solutions to help our family's special needs... giving us confidence in our future ...and in kevin's. voya. well planned. well invested. well protected. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. if you have one hundred thousand dollars or more of life insurance you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit conventrydirect.com to find out if you policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance.

♪ ♪ neil: all right, the markets had a rough week last week. this could temper things down a little bit here. warren buffett is out with his famous letter, one of the richest folks on the planet, certainly the rushest investor on -- richest investor on the planet gives an upbeat view of america in this letter just coming out a little while ago in which buffett says, among other things: despite some severe interruptions, our country's economic progress has been breathtaking. it goes on to say never bet against america, putting his money where his mouth is. he's been buying billions of dollars worth of his own company's stock which represents sort of a cross-section of american businesses and those that deal with them. he plans to do a lot more of

that in the future, likes what he's seeing and said that miracles do occur and that middle america is proof of that. he did not address the stimulus measure that passed the house just last night and goes to the senate, but he's very optimistic about the country's fortune. so why should you listen to the guy? because he has an uncanny track record and because he often zigs when others zag. so when everyone was pan if inning this week -- pan inning this week, he was accepting out a message longer term, a-okay. we've got b ann berry and adam lashinsky, last but not least. adam, what do you make of what he's sayingsome? >> well, i was thinking while you were talking the reason we pay attention to warren buffett is because berkshire hathaway is a reflection of the american economy. it's also an actively managed index fund because he owns -- what he owns is so representative of the economy.

so i take great comfort knowing that he's optimistic especially given his age. he has more wisdom than, you know, the rest of us combined, i think. and it's great to know because he also has a reputation for saying it like it is. neil: ann, what do you think? >> i think it's interesting too, neil, because he really has made his money with sensible, tangible businesses. he talks about the fact that berkshire hathaway owns $54 billion of property and equipment. that's physical, american-based stuff. and it's interesting because it's not the glamorous pre- revenue sort of edgy and forward leaning where we've seen some of -- [inaudible] a bit of a call to go back to basics and look at some of these

industries underlying the stock prices and their results. neil: you know, francis, as i read more of his letter here, t not completely, you know, everything is roses and there are no thorns. even with the backup in interest rates this week and the fact that, you know, bonds were providing competition for stocks, he said fixed income investors worldwide face a bleak future. he says competitors from both regulatory and credit ratings reasons must focus on bonds, and i tell you, bonds are not the place to be these days. now, that flies in the face of all this worry over the last week where rates are back up. people say i'll park my money in that. what do you think? >> well, he is ever prescient, as we know, and he is foreshadowing the fact that bond yields cannot continue to move higher, and we cannot continue to paper over this debt. so he knows that there's a ton of stimulus in the economy, and the stimulus is going to keep markets going unless

interrupted. and he also knows that that's going to depress bond yields in the foreseeable future. so he just knows the mechanics of markets and how it works, and he also knows that there are going to be problems in the credit market, and he's alluding to that. neil: you know, he's always been worried about this country's propensity to spend a lot of money, adam, and he doesn't really single out republicans or democrats. he faults them all. he refers to it in our debt burdens in this letter, without getting into the details of that, it's still a worry but it's not an immediate worry. that tends to be the prevailing view that people have. clearly, in washington where they keep spending, and even in the markets where they don't seem to be too perturbed by all this. >> well, i think what you're hearing from him and what the conventional wisdom is, as you said, neil, is that the strength, the overall strength of the u.s. economy and really just the overall strength of america is more important than

the spending. that's been true for quite some time now, and i more or less agree that, generally speaking, that's where we're going. and, certainly, in the middle of a crisis which we're in, which we're still in despite all of the good news, the spending right now and making sure that as many people as possible can continue to participate in the economy is more important than worrying about the opposite of it. neil: you know, ann, i could be overreading a lot of things that he's saying, but particularly in the conclusion of his letter where he talks about, you know, in an environment where the chinese are enjoying more investment than we are, the first time we've seen that happen where the u.s. has been eclipsed by another country enticing foreign money, but he says the united states, that we're still the place to be. in the its 232 years of existence, there has been no incubator for unleashing the potential like america. our country's economic progress

has been breathtaking. what do you make of that? >> i think he's a real patriot, and i it really is -- i think it is really don't bet against america. he's saying let's pay attention, let's invest in infrastructure. so i think he's saying we've got huge potential, but it is incumbent upon us to make sure -- [inaudible] optimistic, but i think also a caution that we need to focus on the right thing. neil: real quickly, francis, are you as optimistic? >> i'm optimistic until the second half of 2021, and i'd really like to see how many of those loans successfully come out of forbearance, but, yes, the stimulus is going to carry us through to the reopening as of yet. neil: guys, thank you very much. we're still following cpac, all that stuff going on, still waiting on the president of the united states, how he'll weigh in, maybe on warren buffett's letter, you never know. but in the middle of all of

this, we have mitch mcconnell saying, i don't know, if donald trump is the republican presidential nominee in 2024, i'll support him. now, a lot of republicans are saying, who cares?

[typing sound] i had this hundred thousand dollar student debt. two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars in debt. ah, sofi literally changed my life. it was the easiest application process. sofi made it so there's no tradeoff between my dreams and paying student loans. student loans don't have to take over for the rest of your life. thank you for allowing me to get my money right. ♪ ♪ >> there's a lot that could happen between now and '24. i've got at least four members, i think, are planning on running

for president plus governors and others. there's no incumbent. should be a wide open race and fun for you all to cover. bret: if the president was the party's nominee, would you support him? >> the nominee of the party? absolutely. neil: all right. that surprised a lot of folks given the tension, the bad blood it seemed the republican senate leader had with the former president. the former president, of course, speaks tomorrow at cpac. scott walker wrapped up a very rousing speech yesterday. the former wisconsin governor, presidential candidate, with us right now. governor, did that surprise you, mitch mcconnell saying, look, if donald trump's the nominee, i'm going to support him? >> no, it didn't. i think there's a lot of hype, actually, in many media outlets, but i don't think there's division. i think we're united against the failures of joe biden, and we want someone who can win not just in 2024, we want to win and house and senate back.

so i think that makes a ton of sense, and it just goes to the heart of what i've been saying for weeks now, i think those on the left are having disarray because of the problems with the filibuster and how radical some of the members are. neil: governor, what i've noticed in a lot of prominent republicans' remarks is they're dissing on other republicans whether it's mitch mcconnell, you know, questioning the president's behavior after the january 6th uprising in washington, liz cheney, mitt romney, some of these you expect. but everyone seems to have forgotten ronald reagan's 11 commandment of not speaking ill of fellow republicans. should we care about that? do you care about that? >> well, i still think it's important to stay focused on who the real enemy is, and it's people like joe biden, kamala harris, nancy pelosi, chuck schumer and radicals -- neil: they're not doing that, governor. some are, some are, but they're not all doing that. they spend a good deal of time

attacking within the tent. >> well, you're right about that. i think some of it's not just media, but social media tends to drive personalities over policies. but i do think here at cpac you hear quite a bit not just from me, but others, about cancel culture and the censorship not just from big tech, but something we've been talking about for years, the slippery slope of radicals on campus. not just left-wing professors, but others. and i think that's where the real frustration is for conservatives. they feel they're trying to be marginalized, intimidated, certainly something i know about from a decade ago when they tried to recall me. conservatives feel that not just on campuses anymore, but as cross the board. that's what the real angst is here and why people want to remind other conservatives they're not alone, not on campus, even on the airwaves. neil: i want to hearken to

representative nicki edwards, the former congressman from oklahoma. you might not know, governor, but he had an interview on cnn last night in which he fears for the direction cpac, maybe the party, is going. quoting here: the people of cpac are living in an alternative reality in which facts don't matter, constitution doesn't matter. they have of no principles except whatever their leader says. obviously, talking about donald trump. with what do you think of that? >> well, again, i don't buy that. i don't see that here at cpac, i don't see that out talking to conservatives. i think in the end the reason why there continues to be support for president trump is because actions speak louder than words. i'm a midwesterner, i didn't always say the things the way president trump did, but in the end, we look at tax cuts, regulatory reform, judicial nominees, even putting the embassy in jerusalem, all the

things that conservatives have talked about for decades president trump actually delivered on. he, mike pence and their team delivered on. and, again, we may have slight differences with a tweet here and there, that's just part of life. the bottom line is this guy's delivered on his promises, and we all too often look at washington and see politicians who fail us time and time again. i think it's why a lot of the forgotten men and women of america gravitated toward this president even if they didn't always agree with his rhetoric, they liked the fact that he was willing to stir the pot in our nation's capital. and every conservative running for office should remember that not just when they run, but more importantly, when they govern. neil: do you think though that it's one thing to be gravitated or intimidated, you know, a lot of prominent republicans who are not at the cpac, they include mitch mcconnell, mitt romney, rand paul, liz cheney, the maryland governor k larry hogan,

and massachusetts' governor. some genuine reasons, scheduling conflicts, some just prefer to be in their states, i get that as well with. but i get a feeling, and you're closer to it than i'll ever be, governor, that there is a divide among republicans, those who are very, very loyal to the former president, those who are -- were not. and afraid about the group that is in lockstep with the former president who's a controversial figure. >> well, again, i think people are looking forward. we're in this fight. we understand the battle to try and silence conservatives. it goes across -- neil: but they're not looking, right? the they're actually looking backward, right? they're not looking forward at all. >> well, no, i would disagree. i think we're looking forward. we're making the case if we want to continue to make a case to the american people to govern, we're not just talking about washington, we're talking about conservatives governing in the states where despite all the talk about a blue wave in november, republican legislative

majorities not only were held, but we picked up two seats -- or two bodies in new hampshire, one in alaska, we picked up a net gain of one republican governor in montana -- neil: no doubt -- [inaudible conversations] looking forward versus backward, governor, i just want to be clear, when you see donald trump as a presence looking forward, you might be right. others say that's looking back. >> well, again, i think donald trump tomorrow is not going to talk about things that happened so much in the past, he's going to talk about the future and why it's important to be in this fight, to be engaged, to push back against those who would attempt to censor conservatives, to make the case not just what happened in the past, but rather, to set the platform for what we do going forward in the house, in the senate, in these legislative races. and i think for me most importantly and the young americas foundation, we want to think about young people in colleges and high school and junior high campuses across the nation. we want to get a fair shake to

get our message out because we know it wins just as it won in wisconsin. neil: governor, always a pleasure catching up with you. thank you very much for taking the time. governor scott walker, former wisconsin governor. he had his battles, right? survived all of them. three elections, boom, boom, boom, boom. all of that. meanwhile, do you think there is just rumble on the right? by the way, fair and balanced, democrats have their divisions too, and this latest stimulus bill proves it. after this. of that's great, carl. but we need something better. that's easily adjustable has no penalties or advisory fee. and we can monitor to see that we're on track. like schwab intelligent income. schwab! introducing schwab intelligent income. a simple, modern way to pay yourself from your portfolio. oh, that's cool... i mean, we don't have that. schwab. a modern approach to wealth management.

(vo) ideas exist inside you, electrify you. they grow from our imagination, but they can't be held back. they want to be set free. to make the world more responsible, and even more incredible. ideas start the future, just like that.

♪ ♪ neil: all right. so you think the republicans have their divisions? fair and balanced, we're going to look at the democrats right now especially when it comes to this issue of the minimum wage. some progressives are not accepting a parliamentarian no for an answer, they're still finding every which way they can to push this through. there's a lot more i could tell you about here that proves progressives are at odds with the administration and maybe conventional democrats', you

know, strategy going forward. bob cusack, "the hill" editor-in-chief, very nice human being as well although nice human beings don't count for much these days. but, bob, you do. thank you very much. let me ask you first about this division over the minimum wage. it was more of a, you know, a scab than i thought getting ripped off here. what did you think? >> well, i mean, you have centrists and the progressives, and all democrats basically agree -- and some republicans too -- the minimum wage should be raised, but what's the level? bernie sanders, who's the chair of the budget committee, he wants 15. he's been championing that. but centrists like joe manchin want a lower level. and this is just the beginning of a clash as, neil, you were talking about. democrats have been united for the most part, but after this covid bill they're going to have to decide what's next on the agenda, how are they going to pass it, climate change, immigration, a whole slew of issues, minimum wage. what are they going to do.

and i think you're going to see a lot of division in the democratic party this spring and this summer. neil: you know, bob, it's already sprouting in the administration's release of the jamal khashoggi killing clearly fingering mohamed bin salman for the murder. and there are a lot of people who are glad you brought this to the world's attention, mr. president, but outside of maybe going after a few of the people around the prince, you're not going at the prince, and you're not really changing anything about how we do business with saudi arabia, and they're ticked off. what do you think? >> yeah, no, he's got very thorny issues on foreign policy; saudi arabia, china, you know,s what is he going to do with those tariffs. are we going to see, you know, some major decisions. but that's where the left and basically joe biden, you know, for the most part, he didn't nominate bernie sanders for his cabinet, did not nominate elizabeth warren to be treasury secretary. so he's kind of given them the stiff arm. but progressives like

ocasio-cortez have been a little more vocal about what biden has been doing on immigration. so that's going to be a real test of his leadership. because remember, neil, yeah, he's got a majority in the house and senate, but it's really narrow. and republicans we talk to are like, wait a minute, joe biden has said be bipartisan, and we haven't seen that yet. and if rahm emmanuel wrote an interesting piece in the "wall street journal" recently saying joe biden must in his next few steps, next few months must be more bipartisan because that's what he ran on. neil: all right. bob cusack, "the hill" editor-in-chief. thank you, bob, very good seeing you. >> thanks, neil. neil: good news to pass along on the vaccine front. there could be a third entrant maybe by the end of today. johnson & johnson's one-dose wonder at a time when the vaccine isn't the issue, it's getting into americans' arms. that's the issue. how great is it that we get to tell everybody

how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... oh, sorry... [ laughter ] woops! [ laughter ] good evening! meow! nope. oh... what? i'm an emu! ah ha ha. no, buddy! buddy, it's a filter! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ ♪upbeat music♪ transitions™ light under control. ♪upbeat music♪ transitions™ signature gen 8™ available now, in 4 vibrant style colors. transitions™

if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe.

if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe.

neil: all right, we've hit a milestone on the virus right now. i thought this was worth repeating here. not cases or any of that, but in the number of people who are getting the vaccine. we are now at the point where half of all those americans who are 65 years or older have received at least one vaccine dose. we're getting this news on the same day that johnson & johnson's single-dose vaccine has gained the backing from the fda advisory panel, the full fda usually follows on that, and that could happen later today. so encouraging examples, all. tom frieden joins us now, former cdc director. doctor, very good to have you. what do you make of these developments? >> well, there's really a lot of good news here, neil. we see cases falling, hospitalizations falling, deaths falling and vaccines steadily

rolling out. there are not enough vaccines yet, but with the upcoming approval of j&j and even more the increased production from pfizer and moderna over the next two weeks and months, vaccines are going to become much more available. so there's lots of good news, but it's still not out of the woods yet. we're still not out of the woods. it's very important that people continue to mask up and watch distance because those levels, though they've come way down, are still quite high. and over the last few days, there's been a little bit of a blip. we just need to watch and see what happens with that. neil: there must be something in the dna of former cdc directors like yourself to urge caution. i think that's probably very wise. your predecessor said much the same thing, doctor, let's not get ahead of our syringes here, so to speak. keep wearing your mask, keep distancing, keep doing all of that. is she hearing or warning us about something that could happen? what do you make of that? >> well, first off, cases are

much lower than they were, but they're still really high. 2,000 deaths a day is horrifying. and there's still a lot of the virus circulating. the second thing that has us a little concerned, and we'll just see over the next few days, is there is a little uptick nationally, and cases in new york city where i live really haven't come down as much as we would have liked. the other thing that we're worried about are variants. so i think big picture is good news. there's more vaccine coming, the cases are going down, things are going in the right direction so keep it up. keep your masks up, keep your distance up and keep your perspective up too because we need to recognize that we're not out of the woods yet. but if we do this right, we won't have a fourth surge, and come summer and fall we'll be to a new normal where we can get back doing many or most or even all of the things that we miss doing. neil: director, i hope you're right on all those counts.

we'll see. tom frieden, former cdc director. we'll be hearing from the president of the united states. he might address what's happening on the vaccine and the virus front, but more likely just responding to the house voting by the closest of margins for a $1.9 9 trillion stimulus plan -- 1.9 trillion stimulus plan. we're on that after this. keeping your oysters business growing has you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. ... ost your first job at indeed.com/promo

we made usaa insurance for members like kate. a former army medic, made of the flexibility to handle whatever monday has in store and tackle four things at once. so when her car got hit,

she didn't worry. she simply filed a claim on her usaa app and said... i got this. usaa insurance is made the way kate needs it - easy. she can even pick her payment plan so it's easy on her budget and her life. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa. >> all right. we just got the two minute warning a minute ago that president joe biden is going to address the nation on the house passing that $1.9 trillion stimulus. and not a single republican voted for it. two democrats opted not to vote for it, but it did get through. it does include a feature to raise the minimum wage. now the president. >> made it clear that they support my american rescue

plan. the house of representatives took the first step toward making it a reality and i want to thank and i called her just a few moments ago, nancy pelosi, for extraordinary-- speaker pelosi for extraordinary leadership and all those who supported our plan and with their vote we're one step closer to vaccinating the nation. we're one step closer to putting $1,400 in the pockets of americans. we're one step closer to extending unemployment benefits for millions of americans who are shortly going to lose them. one step closer to helping millions of americans feed their families and keep a roof over their head. one step closer to getting our kids safely back in school. we're one step closer to getting state and local governments the money they need to prevent massive layoffs for essential workers. now, now the bill moves to the united states senate where i hope it will receive quick action. we have no time to waste. if we act now, decisively, quickly and boldly we can finally get ahead of this

virus, we can finally get our economy moving again and the people in this country have suffered far too much for too long. we need to relieve that suffering. the american rescue plan does just that, it relieves the suffering and it's time to act. thank you all for being here. >>, [reporters asking questions] >> it's time to act, the president with the narrowed in the house to pass the $1.9 trillion package. there's a one with that because the senate ruled on what can be in the reconciliation package. a wage hike cannot. i want to gauge reaction to this. we have mark meredith, he's at cpac going on in orlando. many republicans are gathering there and the problem the price tag with all of this on top of $1 trillion of money yet to be spent so i'm sure as this filters through it's going to

get a lot more reaction. what are you hearing? >> neil, good morning to you. that's right, the people on the stage behind me are not fans of the american rescue plan. they've been making that clear all weekend long since this coverage began and now with the vote happening overnight in the house we've been hearing more about what they're concerned about not only with the price tag like you've been talking about, but with some of the priorities included into it. i thought it was interesting the president there wasn't speaking for a long time. mentioning he spoke with the speaker about this and there's a battle as they try to get it through the senate. not a done deal yet, but the threshold they had to get passed as they wanted this legislation through. let's talk about what's in this package. we're talking stimulus checks worth $1400 depending on income level. there were discussions what kind of money would be included and the $1400 amount there. they're extending the enhanced unemployment benefits and they were set to expire next month and now until august. they will spend more money for state and local governments.

the president made it clear in his comments moments ago that he sees this is an ongoing issue and that this is not over yet and it's crucial to what the country is going to need to get out of the pandemic. when you speak to republicans, they are not fans of this at all whatsoever and that's what we've been hearing from so many of the speakers at cpac. later on we'll hear from the house minority leader kevin mccarthy, someone who spoke out against this bill. we'll hear from other names, former secretary of state mike pompeo, as well as former hud secretary dr. ben carson. of course, neil, the big focus what's coming tomorrow. former president trump is expected to address the cpac crowd tomorrow afternoon, his first former address he'll have held since leaving the white house. he's done interviews on fox, but this is the first time at length. he's not expected to announce candidacy for 2024, not his big moment to announce his next step, but what he's going to make clear, he's still going to

be involved in politics and he still wants to shape the message for republicans. when you speak to the folks at this conference they've made it clear they see him as his -- as the leader of the party, but it's notable, neil, who is not here. you don't have former vice-president mike pence, former u.n. ambassador nikki haley, there are some republicans not stopping by the conference. of course they're not abandoning conservative ideology at all they see it going a different direction than maybe the folks on the stage right now. neil. neil: yeah, i think i heard the line some didn't want to go, some weren't invited to come. mark meredith. thank you very much, my friend. lori, we told you and mark outlined unanimous opposition to this stimulus measure. all a no vote to this. and from the security committee ranking member, congressman, thank you for taking the time. you were no on this, why? >> well, it was absolutely no

bipartisan enput whatsoever and it was a little disconcerting to hear the president come out in his press conference and talk about he was-- how he congratulated nancy pelosi on this bill. every covid relief package we've done has been done with bipartisan input and this one was completely the opposite. what's troubling me is it's beginning to look like a trend with this administration. his rhetoric on inauguration day is not matching his actions since then. he's talked about unity, he's talked about working together and doing everything, but that since then and we want to work together. we want to have input on these bills and we should have a give and take and there's been none. that's what's disconcerting about this package, there's a lot of opposition on this-- >> it's nothing new, congressman, the trump tax cuts didn't get a single democratic vote and the obamacare didn't get a single republican vote.

are you looking at this standard procedure? >> i grew up between ronald reagan and tip o'neill. ronald reagan was a conservative president, but he cut deals with tip o'neill and developed relationships. it's incumbent for both parties where it's not a zero sum game. i think it would be awesome if we could get together and work like we did in the old days. it's too stratified in congress for sure. neil: where are we going with this package though? assuming that the senate can get in approved, even with every republican likely voting against it, if they can maybe twist joe manchin's arm and it goes through? what is your fear? what was your colleague's biggest fear? what? the deficit is one thing, it's been out of control forever, but the biggest fear was what? >> i think the biggest fear was the $15 minimum wage. how can you vote for a bill at

a time in an economic crisis where everybody acknowledged it would cost job loss of 1.4 million people and definitely have a deleterious effect most significantly on small businesses and restaurants. my sister and brother-in-law own a restaurant. the last thing they need right now when they're trying to survive is a $15 minimum wage and the last thing people see jobs going down the drain because of that. when it comes back without that, it may look different and everybody will take a second look. there are a lot of good things in the big to help the economy, but the biggest roadblock is the $15. it may shake loose more republicans if that's not coming back. neil: congressman, with the cpac, busy, i'm wondering what you want to hear from donald trump when he speaks tomorrow. >> i want to hear about unity and principles in the party not personality. how we're going to move forward

together unified and stop going after each other and stop some of this that is going on in the party right now. it's kind of a microcosm what's going on between the democrats and republicans, their' extras phied. there are stratifications in our own party and realize the common goals. we're the party of lower taxes and a strong foreign policy, a strong military and i think a lot of the trade deals that we did are helping our economy and i think we've got to get back to that. i'm very concerned about the specter of the taxes raised by this committee. and i think we can dispense of personalities and start talking about principles. i think that's far more important. neil: congressman katko, be healthy and well as they say. stay safe . debbie dingell will be joining us, the michigan democrat, the

push with or without a $15 minimum wage. we'll see. it's velveeta versus the other guys. clearly, nothing melts like velveeta. ♪♪♪ ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪ ♪let's make lots of money♪ ♪you've got the brawn♪ ♪i've got the brains♪ ♪let's make lots of♪ ♪uh uh uh♪ ♪oohhh there's a lot of opportunities♪ with allstate, drivers who switched saved over $700.

saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate click or call to switch today.

>> all right. fair and balanced, it's time to hear from the democratic congressman on this measure that passed the house narrowly last night. the covid relief packaging totalling more than $1.9 trillion. debbie dingell is her name, congresswoman, thank you for joining us. >> neil, it's always good to be with you. neil: all right. let's get right in. i appreciate that, by the way, to some of the differences that republicans had and at least two of your democratic colleague, but there's a lot in this and way too much money for this and a lot of pork that hasn't been examined closely. do you agree with them? >> this is what i'm going to tell you. we need to get stimulus into our economy. we need to do fourth things as far as i'm concerned and this bill does it. a lot of people say, oh, most

of it's not covid related. well, everything i'm about to tell you is covid related. we need to get shots in the arms of people that means we need more money for production, we need to be investing in more r & d so we're getting ready for these mutations that we're seeing and we need to get the distribution and the clinics set up across the country. we need to get money into the pockets of americans that have lost their jobs, that are hurting, that are scared that they could be evicted or can't put food on the table. that is covid related. i'm worried about the small businesses and the restaurants in my district because one of my restaurants i've gone to for 20 years day before yesterday, they're closing. they can't make it. and that everybody knows about hanging on by their fingernails. we need to get some aid. all of us want to see the schools reopen and this has

money to reopen schools, keep them open, do it safely and take care of our teachers and our students. i think that's covid related. i think it's time to get it done and i voted for the bill. neil: all right. now, $130 billion is appropriated to reopen schools, but we spent over 100 billion in prior stimulus efforts to do just that and most of them are closed and teachers unions and others are keeping them closed and i'm wondering if this is good money after bad, what do you think? >> it's good money not after bad money. we've all been -- you've seen the increase in covid over the last few months. we want the numbers to go down. we've had to get the teachers vaccinated. has anybody thought about what it's like to reopen these schools, the requirements for ppe equipment. if you have a bus, you can't load the way you used to. you've got extra personnel, what you have to do in the bathrooms, what you have to do

to keep the school clean? increased cost to these schools. i have sat down-- >> but i'm thinking, congresswoman, of the other businesses and sanitation workers and police and firemen are dealing with a lot more grief and you know, they're on their jobs. they're doing their jobs and i'm wondering-- >> well. neil: is this money, do you think now that this money is going to change that and get schools opened sooner? >> i think that when this money goes into the system, we're gog to start to-- and we get the teachers vaccinated and doing things we're going to see the school open. another thing in this bill is aid to state and local governments. a lot have had to lay off prior police and critical-- >> that $350 billion in aid to state and local governments and no delineation there's no way

to test if this is covid related. couldn't they take advantage of that and a lot of them lousy at keeping their books before this are now going to benefit from this? >> so, i have weekly calls with my mayors and my state reps every week. i know what's happening in these cities. everybody wants to always point a finger and say things are poorly organized or managed. i want to say that they are our frontline heroes. they're out there every single day trying to keep communities safe. by the way it's republican mayors, i can show you the letter, you've seen it, that are as anxious and begging for aid as any other place. so we do have a need. neil: no, i get-- i'm sorry it wasn't clear, congresswoman, it wasn't clear. we're already getting news out of some states we thought were hard-hit and they have surprise of revenues, new jersey comes to mind and connecticut, minnesota comes to mind. some states badly hit, i'm not saying they're out of the woods, but better than we

thought and lo and behold we come up with 350 billion to give to them which is way, way more than they need. >> it's done by formula. i know too many cities people are working their hearts and souls out and people struck by covid in sicknesses and deaths and what the impact has been on the revenue into the schools or into helping fire-- we haven't given fire and police hazard pay in most cities and townships and they put their life on the line every day since covid started, neil. i just, i'm-- covid has turned this world upsidedown that we live in and we need to get help to people. they want it, the american people want it. if you look at the numbers you see it there. neil: no, no, you're right, the american people want this overwhelmingly, but i don't know if they know the details. i know you can't come up with

the perfect prescription at anytime especially in the middle of a crisis, but half of this dough is next year and the year after, i mean, so if there was an immediate and pressing need for it, why not all of it right now, and get it to spend right now? that's on top of the trillion dollars still unspent from prior stimulus efforts. >>, but people are trying to make sure the money isn't wasted. there have been some strings attached to some of them. we've got state legislature and governors fighting. there's a myriad of complicated problems and you can't always break down, but you want to make sure that that money is spent in a responsible way. that's why some of the timing is there. covid is not going away today or tomorrow. covid is here for a while and we want our world normal as quickly as we can, we are going to pay the consequences and economists say this bill the american recovery plan can help get our economy back to where

it was in a year by doing this. the chair of the federal reserve said we need to and this money will take three years to get us where we were. i'm comfortable and i think it's necessary. do i agree with every nitpick in it? no, but i want to help the american people and i want shots in the arms and protect small businesses. i want schools reopened. i want people to have jobs. and this is the bill we've got to vote on and i'm going to fight to do that for every person. neil: congresswoman dingell, thank you very very much for taking the time. have a wonderful weekend. >> thanks, you, too, neil. neil: in the meantime, all of this in an environment where the economy is looking up. that's the good news. here is the problem. interest rates are backing up. that's the bad news because of the good news, after this. introducing schwab stock slices. for as little as $5,

now anyone can own companies in the s&p 500, even if their shares cost more. at $5 a slice, you could own ten companies for $50 instead of paying thousands. all commission free online. schwab stock slices: an easy way to start investing or to give the gift of stock ownership. schwab. own your tomorrow. ♪upbeat music♪ transitions™ light under control. ♪upbeat music♪ transitions™ signature gen 8™ available now, in 4 vibrant style colors. transitions™

>> all right. we're getting a lot of e-mail reaction to my chat with debbie dingell, the michigan democrat, who is among all the democrats in the house except two who voted for this $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, that it will give the economy a boost even though there are some controversial provisions in there, including a backdrop 0 of states that are seeing a surprising burst in revenue. do they need the 350 billion allocated in this measure? that's one feature to francis, and stacy, we've got adam with us. and can i reiterate to you, the congresswoman was saying although this isn't perfect and there are things in here delayed, but it's the best we've got and we don't want to

take any chances. what do you make of that argument? >> i think it's a lot more nuanced than that and i think what's going to come out in this today in going forward, is to really see if there is merit to the call for the bipartisan approach and that is if in compromise can be reached. there's things in here, the amount going to the states. what we'll see is a sunset provision, a clear sort of timeline to see some of these programs begin to go away and in order to make sure there is auditing of some of this. that there needs to be some system in place that makes sure that some of this spending is reined in as the recovery continues. and i think that's is going to be important for some of the, it's not perfect, but highly effective, the best we can do rhetoric to be credible.

neil: you know, francis, i tried to keep the politics out of this stuff and just look at the numbers, the geek that i am, and i'm looking at the backdrop not the red or blue, the green, the numbers. the fact is that the economy is picking up steam. and the jobless claims, i know they're volatile. durable goods orders key signs of growth, six month high and home sales, what's been happening on the housing start front. very, very strong. copper and all of these other things that sort of are pegged to an economic turnaround ar soaring, retail sales are expected to doing so, costs in the middle of-- costco in the middle of this hiking wage to $16 and this is to goose something that might not need to be goose, what do you think? >> it's true, but better to err on the larger side, the

trillions and trillions we have already put into circulation are also going to service a regard amount of debt in almost every sector of the economy and that's going to naturally drain the liquidity out of the system. while we're overflowing with liquidity at the moment, the fed is anticipating, which is why they're calling for fiscal stimulus, the fact that the debt service takes the money back out of circulation, so it's better to overshoot and, you know, cause some inflation, which does hurt the lower end, than undershoot and have, you know, deflationary pressures of debt service, not kind of coming through. so that's-- >> you're a genius, frances. but if you can just speak english here for souls like mine. what you're saying when you have bills to pay and a lot of that money goes to the bills to pay, that's the issue here. so, the more money you can get to pay the bills and then some, the better off you are, essentially, right? >> that's what i'm saying, yes. thank you for the translation. neil: got it. no, no, no, you're just--

you're the person i cheated off by sitting behind you in school. used to do that with adam. adam, one thing that happened that i don't think has enough attention. you and i addressed this yesterday, the yield on the 10-year note, i'm boring myself as i'm saying this. if you can bear with me. that now is more than the yield you get investing in an aggregate at the s & p 500, almost had no place to go in the past. stock versus 0% interest rates. and now stocks, if not a tad lower than treasuries. i'm wondering if that's been lost on people here? what do you think? >> well, i think that people in the markets are very concerned about it, neil and as you pointed out, you and i discussed earlier in the week that some of us remember the threat to the economy of very high interest rates. i would just say we should keep

that threat in mind and not being overly concerned about it right now because interest rates are not very high they're merely rising. and i actually think what happened in the market last week was incredibly healthy. you saw the pressure come off the market and in particular with overinflated tech stocks and that hurts people who are invested in them at a high level in particular speculators and momentum traders, but any injection of reality i believe is a good thing for the stock market and that's what happened last week. neil: ann, the stock market is betwixt and between stimulus. they're all for it, the bigger the better. you know as congresswoman dingell said, she's right on this, jerome powell wants this, and folks of all persuasion wants it. i'm wondering, be careful what you wish for. what do you think? >> i think that-- i'm with adam on this. which i think that the market too much and too little at this

point in time that comes back that something that jay powell said earlier this week. it does take time for inflation to come through. so, if you can have the balance of the goldilocks movement-- and i agree with adam, a correction makes sense and healthy to see treasuries go up and an outcome for recovery, but the market is betwixt and between, but recognize a stimulus today and making sure that the fed is responding as the inflation begins to pick up down the line is a pretty good outcome to this market. neil: all right, stimulus being stimulus and you touched on it here, might be more money than we need, but for the time being no one is quibbling over that, but we know other measures planned, whether they come through, the infrastructure,

economic ailments, on immigration, and i'm wondering about the growth factor here. could the growth that congresswoman dingell was saying and others, the stimulus mean more money for washington? in other words, will it trigger a boom in revenue and that this will not be an issue? >> well, that's the best case scenario for sure. we've added a lot of debt so now we need the gdp to come in and again, just be dorky and you can translate, you know, it's important-- that's an important ratio. but i think on the market front, you know, i think the market-- i think the treasury market was testing jay powell because last year he said if yields get too high too fast which threatens debt service and affects the lower echelon of the economy because they have rougher terms, as we know, if that gets too high too fast, they'll discuss yield curve control which just means depressing those yields at different parts

of the maturity lines. and he did say that they would discuss it. so everyone was expecting him to at least allude to it during his testimony and the fact that he said absolutely nothing is what caused treasuries to just go out last week. neil: you know, adam, i'm also wondering if this was the week we learned that jerome powell can't control interest rates. now, he can only control them in the short-term, i get that, but buying back treasury notes and bonds, that has kept rates at or near zero for all of these years. now, he said that he's going to keep doing that. he says nothing changes and yet, things did change and i'm wondering if there's a revolt going on in the bond market here that all americans should pay attention to, that maybe it's the way investors are saying the emperor has no clothes and this is something that we should want? >> i think it's a useful reminder that the fed has relatively little control in

the short-term or you know, very difficult to -- very difficult to have an impact on day-to-day trading, but there are plenty of levers at the fed's disposal. if he changed his mind, my takeaway from all of this and from our conversation, neil, that we on this panel have a consensus what the right way forward is and i think the country has a consensus, too. there's broad support where things are going right now. every reason to believe that the gdp will come roaring back, but that the country needs stimulus now and that's the pressing concern. i think that's what you're hearing from powell as well. neil: all right, we'll see what happens. guys, thank you very, very much. i know we got into the weed and i was bad, actually worse than any of my fine guests. for the three viewers that are with us, stay with us. we'll update you on what's happening with tiger woods. some good news to share. stay with us.

how great is it that we get to tell everybody how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... oh, sorry... [ laughter ] woops! [ laughter ] good evening! meow! nope. oh... what? i'm an emu! ah ha ha. no, buddy! buddy, it's a filter! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪

>> all right. we need a little good news on this, right? lady gaga singing a happy tune this morning after the brutal video showing her two french bulldogs being kidnapped and her dog walker shot in the chest on wednesday night and now the los angeles police department says the dogs have been returned safely. a woman reportedly found them and handed them over to lady gaga's staff at a police station in los angeles late last night. and investigators don't think the woman who found them had

anything to do with them. and the dog walker's condition is expected to be okay. lady gaga for her part was in rome filming a movie when this went down and still is. she is offered half a million dollar reward for the pup's safe return. no word yet on whether that woman has gotten the dough. i'm sure that's good news on all counts. good news concerning tiger woods as well. he's been transferred to cedar sinai center in los angeles. and his treatment and hospitalization continues. more surgeries could be in the works, but again, these are all promising developments for tiger. dan murphy, bridgestone golf president and ceo with us right now. dan, i'm sure just as someone who is iconic figure yourself in the golf world, has to welcome this news, whether he returns to golf or not, that he's coming along? >> absolutely, i mean, it was a wild ride of a week on top of a wild year, of course.

we started the week normal and tuesday was the shocker and as things started to become more clear. i can say there's a real sense of relief here he's on the road to recovery. neil: you know, i always remember, dan, in prior bouts that he's had, whether dealing with his back or whatever, when he's not at an event, let's say the masters, ratings are a fraction of what they would be. any event he's in gets much more interest than without him. we're looking at a minimum of probably at least a year before he could conceivably get back to golf if ever. i'm wondering how you guys prepare for that, adjust to that? >> well, you know, when we-- we're really focused on his health and for the well-being of his family. we're so relieved that, frankly, we haven't really gotten too concerned about that

yet. we've relied on tiger and we've really enjoyed having him on our team for so many reasons. i mean, he's a great spokesman for our brand. he's great with our r & d team, he gives us a lot of exposure and validation. yeah, it's a concern, but we don't see this as anything other than a bump in the road and he'll be back and we believe in tiger. he's overcome so much. he's a fighter and never gives up and we see him coming back and playing the game again. and in the meantime, his endorsement and his ambassador level credentials, i think, will benefit us tremendously. neil: and you do have your priorities right, that he gets back and healthy whether he golfs again in the future or not. one of the things i noticed and reading maybe one of the l.a. papers talking about the interest in golf picks up just on hearing what's going on with him on a lot of people who are

saying, oh, yeah, that it's had sort of the reverse effect here, that while you might think it would hurt golf, as far as the people that he drew in to golf when he first became a sensation a couple of decades ago, they're coming back. how much do you think of that? >> well, yeah, i mean, golf is enjoyed-- our heart goes out to a lot of folks that have struggled during covid and the pandemic. golf actually benefitted from it, as work from home became prevalent and social distancing was very important. golf fit into that, it was a safe haven. so golf actually has enjoyed a pretty good surge in activity and of course, for our brand and for golf in general, tiger is a big part of that, but it's bigger than tiger and we see it beginning into 2021 and you know, what we saw way back when tiger came on the scene was a tiger surge. he brought about five million

people into golf and sort of the combination of tiger's comeback after he won the masters in 2019, that there was a surge in golf again and now that surge was kind of compounded by the covid activity and golf being a safe haven. so, at the moment, golf is kind of in a good spot. neil: you know, dan, talking to you, that we got news out of manchester united, the big soccer team owner that the sock has been soaring on indication in britain they're going to allow the fans back in the stands to watch soccer games and the like. i think it's going to be 10,000. some of these stadiums can seat 70,000, but it's a start. we're getting word that major league baseball reporting later will experience more people in the stands. i know it's a little different with golf as you've said, but again, there are crowds that gather at the big tournaments, the masters and what have you. can you see them back to the

old crowd sizes within the next year? >> probably not this year. i think the pga tour has done a very good job. jay monahan and his crew at ponte vedra have done a great job managing the pandemic and getting golf back on tv before any sports were, and managing the spectator part of that. and, yeah, i think that what's appropriate to do is what they're doing which is little by little, letting some in in a very controlled environment, a very safe environment. eventually we'll get back to it. everybody wants to hear the sunday roar of augusta. i know, i do. it's one of my favorite things in the world. we want a big crowd down there. we'll get back, but maybe not this year. neil: all right. dan murphy, bridgestone golf president and ceo, be well. thank you for joining us again. good news on tiger woods that he is doing well. his parents are okay. he's transferred to the cedar

sinai in l.a. and dan touched on this, it's a long process, but it's a process of getting well. golf can come later. we'll have more after this. ♪ ♪ ♪ when it comes to your financial health, just a few small steps can make a real difference. ♪ ♪ ♪ learn, save and spend with guidance from chase. confidence feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. t-mobile is the leader in 5g. we also believe in putting people first by treating them right. so we're upping the benefits without upping the price. introducing magenta max. now with unlimited premium data that can't slow down based on how much smartphone data you use. plus get netflix on us, and taxes and fees included! you won't find this with the other guys.

in fact, you'll pay more and get less. right now, pay zero costs to switch! and bring your phone -- we'll pay it off! only at t-mobile.

>> all right. some news as we keep track of some of the scandals, you know, that have been developing around governor andrew cuomo in new york. this concerns the nursing home issue and how many needlessly might have died. the ceo's of five major new york city hospitals have apparently come to the governor's defense by issuing a statement in support of that directive for nursing homes to accept covid-19 patients. the new york post, among others, reporting that a senior care insider said that nursing homes weren't consulted before the march 25th mandate that was issued and it obviously came from the hospitals. who else would come up with that other than the hospitals? the president leading age new

york, representing nursing homes and other residential facilities for seniors said no one talked to me before the state health department issued the directive. so there's confusion who knew what and when, but some of the hospitals are saying that this directive to accept covid-19 patients was something that went beyond governor cuomo's office. we'll get you more, but alex hogan following the fast and furious developments on this and a host of other issues bee bedevilling the governor of new york. >> the woman tweeted in part saying when we show up and support victims, we make it easier for others to come forward, only by shining a light on this kind of abuse will we be able to end it. new york governor's former top

aide lindsey boylan claimed that years ago her former boss kissed her without her consent and asked her to play strip poker. cuomo says this is not true. this is when big name leaders chuck schumer and congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez and senator kristen gillibrand are calling for a deeper dive into the allegations. >> everyone has the right to be able to come forward and speak their truth and be heard and that's true for her and it's also true for governor cuomo. >> all the way, cuomo still faces another scandal. his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic. state attorney general found that the nursing home deaths were undercounted by as much as 50% and more than 15,000 new yorkers died in long-term care facilities. this past week new york state commissioner howard zucker defended the state's action and says the administration should have released the numbers of

deaths sooner, but it's time to move on. >> cuomo usually holds a press briefing on friday. however, yesterday he did not hold one to address all of these allegations, neil. neil: all right. alex, thank you very, very much. getting an update on that in this 800 word statement from the hospital ceo's that said, governor cuomo's nursing home order was in the end a prudent and safe option, so they say, only a few. stay with us.

>> all right. so play ball. not exactly. right now major league baseball opening spring training camps in the height of all of these covid-19 precautions. what are we looking for this season?

sweeney joins us wfan yankee beat reporter and so much more. how is it looking this year versus last year at this time? >> yeah, last year, it was a rush for everybody when they got a chance to get together in july. they've had more time to prepare for this. a lot of people talked about having gone through even just a 60-game season last year they're a little more prepared. the protocols aren't new and they've had more time to adjust to it and they're looking forward to a full spring training with exhibition this weekend and regular season is only a little more than a month away. neil: maybe you can catch me up, sweeney. last year regular season was an irregular 60 games. what are they looking for. >> a schedule for 162 games and chances along the way where there will have to be games postponed for weather related reasons and also covid-related reasons, but they feel there's

enough time to make it happen. everybody seems to be more optimistic right now. and last year there was a question whether they could get 60 games in. this year they feel more confident. neil: what about the stadiums themselves? depends where they are. what the are the plans for how many people you can sit? we are slowly getting details from and you're right it's based on the states, cities, what the capacity is going to be and what they're allowed to sell now. and fans they expect to have now might not be the same in june, july or september. this will be an evolving thing, but most of the teams feel they'll be able to sell some percentage of capacity at least at the start of the season. neil: how does it go during the spring training season with the number of crowd allowed to watch. it's not a formal affair. do they limit whether you're in arizona, in florida?

how do they do it? >> right now, in the first couple of weeks before the exhibition games start. it's a great time to be a baseball fan normally. you get to watch and there are restrictions where people go and they can get up close looks at players working out. that's obviously not the case and the exhibition crowds will be limited. the spring training feel, that fans romanticize about, getting up close and seeing their stars practice and maybe get some autographs and upclose look, those aren't happening this year. neil: one thing i note, football, as ever weird it got with the very few people in the stands and even college football, somehow it get through, both sports got through the college level and professional level. how about baseball? >> baseball's a little different sport than the others because it's played every single day. you're talking about 162 games. the most of any of the sports. football 16 game nfl schedule. the nhl, nba are about half of

what baseball is and other off days built in. any sort of cancellations or outbreaks do cause a little bit of a concern for baseball, but again, the hope is that there's enough time built into the schedule to make up for that, but its different. baseball has to be played every single day and that makes it a little bit more challenging than the other sports to get off the ground. >> so, who wins it all this year? >> i get asked that all the time. i never like to predict because i'm lucky if i get it right. i covered the yankees every day for 21 years and the dodgers-- the champs are the champs until one dethrones them. neil: sweeny is covering the yankees. a walking encyclopedia. we'll keep an eye on the cpac

and when donald trump speaks to attendees there and the battle back and forth for the republican party. they're getting ready for that big one as is this network. stay with us, we'll have that and much, much more throughout the day.

we made usaa insurance for members like kate. a former army medic, made of the flexibility to handle whatever monday has in store and tackle four things at once. so when her car got hit, she didn't worry. she simply filed a claim on her usaa app and said...

i got this. usaa insurance is made the way kate needs it - easy. she can even pick her payment plan so it's easy on her budget and her life. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa. >> a busy weekend in politics with high profile guests are getting ready to address the crowd at cpac in orlando. while back in washington, president biden speaking out minutes ago about his $1.9 trillion covid relief bill heading to the senate after passing the house very late in the early hours. welcome to america's news headquarters. i'm molly line. griff: great to join you and we have the conservativ