Transcripts For FBC Countdown To The Closing Bell With Liz C

Moments ago, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer playing coy with President Trump tomorrow on tax reform saying only hes got a great plan for you to see and that the president plans to do everything he can to make america more competitive. Capitol hill in the last 15 minutes, were Hearing Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell sounded optimistic about reaching an agreement on funding the government to avoid a shutdown saying hopefully well have something in the next couple of days. Folks, its midnight on friday night, so, yeah. Three days left. While minority leader senator Chuck Schumer is saying americans should breathe a huge sigh of rief now that the wall does off the table. President trump leading with his brandnew secretary of agriculture, sunny purdue at this hour, and hes bringing along farmers to the white house. First time farmers have been invited inside the oval office in the white house since ronald reagan. A breadbasket lake a trade deal with canada. Were going to bring all of it to you live. Our fox News Reporters are stationed in all key locations and House Budget Committee member congressman jim here live to give us the inside scoop on the deliberations to avoid a shutdown and trumps tax plan. Were less than an hour to the closing bell. Lets start the countdown. Liz breaking news. We may very well see multiple alltime highs in this hour. First to the nasdaq. Its towering to and then a milestone 46 years in the making. Look at this. The index crossing a marker after a twoday run adding well over 100 points to the index, right now the nasdaq is up 46 points. By contrast to give you a little context here, it took the dow more than a century to hit 6,000. 115 nasdaqlisted Companies Hitting new highs today as we see the index stay 30 points above 6,000 right now. To the russell 2,000, the small but mighty index is also trading at a alltime high here its up 16 points at the moment. It just basically shows that theres this clear indication that small and midcaps are very much part of the breath and depth of this rally, not just the big stocks. So to the dow, the dow reclaiming that 21,000 mark once again, on pace for their first backtoback gains of more than 1 since election day. We do have the s p 500 up about twothirds of a percent or 15 points rht now. Im going to keep watching the dow here, eight points above 21,000. Now, lets start at the white house where President Donald Trump just wrapped up his meeting with treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin in the oval office a short while ago. This was a private meeting taking place on the eve of the major tax plan roll out. However, mnuchin might be pulling an allnighter ahead of this rollout. The treasury secretary reportedly expected to also meet with the nec director, National Economic chair here gary cone, speaker paul ryan, Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell and other key players on tax legislation. Now, specific details of President Trumps tax plan, they are still unknown. But heres what we know so far. The president wants to cut taxes. We knew that. Here are the better things. Simplifying the tax code, possibly to post guard sized returns. Nothing no more 38 pages, and he wants to slash Corporate Tax rates from 35 to 15 . That came out yesterday. But let us get to fox business adam shapiro just out of sean spicers White House Press Briefing Room adding any further details on what to expect . No. A lot of this has been what we heard from the president on the campaign trail, his desire for a Corporate Tax rate for small and big business of 15 and a middle class tax cut. But the big roll out tomorrow of the broad principles that will be used to formulate the legislation, were going to have to wait. But what we keep hearing from the treasury secretary whos been working since day one of this administration along with members of congress about a tax plan. What we keep hearing is that this will be an opportunity, the first wevhad in 30 years to rm thtax code. But the treasury secretary keeps saying when people get concerned on capitol hill about potential deficits from the tax breaks that are being proposed, keep saying that growth will close that gap. But taxpayers for common sense put out a statement saying and im going to read you the statement. Hog wash. Growth is the magic pixie dust. Policy makers grow a plan to make them appear fiscally sound, they arent. So when we asked sean spicer about that and whether growth is going to be enough to appease the concerns of republicans on capitol hill who dont want a greater deficit or debt from the country, heres what mr. Spicer said. Wait until tomorrow. You can see the plan. But i think obviously, weve got to do everything we can to get Economic Growth going and job creation going. s made tremendous hoed way on the regulatory front, and hes going to do everything he can on the tax front. Weve talked about this before. If you look at the corporate side in particular, we have become largely uncompetitive because of our rates, and i think the more we can do to make our country, our businesses, our manufacturers in particular more competitive, thats good for american workers, its good for our country, its good for Economic Growth. Liz, you mentioned a big meeting thats taking place on capitol hill with secretary mnuchin and gary cohn, as well as speaker of the house and finance committee chairman. This is a key meeting because while theyre unified on some areas, they are not on others. But one area they are unified and people kind of chuckled but kevin brady, the house weighs and Means Committee chair, who was on a program recently that saidyes, we are going for a simplified tax code that most americans could do on something the size of a postcard. So there are some areas of unity. But where theres going to be areas of contention, its over deficits and debt and spending. Back to you. Liz three brackets is i think a little more plausible i think for america. It sure would be nice to get things at least cut down to that, adam. Yeah. Well, theyre trying for that, and its what the president promised, and this is a president who likes to remind people that he intends to keep his promises, so thats what were waiting to see. Liz well, especially as we come up on the 100 days, well be watching. Adam shapiro, after months of waiting to officially from the secretary of u. S. Position, former georgia secretary was sworn in this morning. This as President Trump meets with 15 farmers from around the country at the white house at this hour. Now, were going to see this because the president is set to sign the executive order promoting agricultural and rural prosperity in america. Thats what its official name is. But lets get through the gobbledegook and find out exactly what that means for farmers. Connell mcshane has the details. Connell, i saw zippy was going to be there as well. Hes a big player when it comes to usd a and farm workers. Right. A lot of different issues coming together to make this executive order. The basically idea to cut through the gobbledegook, as you put it to help outhe agricultural business and give 180 days to report on the factors that are holding back farming, generally speaking in the United States. We have been told the goal will be to look at policy changes that might lead to things like Economic Development and job growth, infrastructure improvement, things like that. Also, it gets rid of a white house rural counsel that was put together in the obama administration, which was supposed to be coordinating role policy. So that is out. This is in. Now, big picture, what issues may be holding back farming . What might then talking about . Well, after what weve been watching here in washington today, certainly one has to be trade; right . Theres more food grown in this country than we can eat, so exporting that food to other countries is a big time Economic Opportunity for these farmers and that issue. It came up just last hour Briefing Room and theyre talking specifically about capitalism. Theyre prohibiting u. S. Diary from selling products in canada and the practical matter, and were looking into whether there are measures we can do to try to correct that. All right. So thats one part of it with trade, certainly i would think with mexico as well thats an issue for these farmers. And immigration policy is another issue that you would think would be talked about as well that works its way into farming. But the bottom line in terms of today, whats actually happening today at this very hour at the white house, task force, give them 180 days, come back with a plan to help the farmers. Well see what they come up with. Liz, back to you. Li ill tell you something. I love our farmers, but im just playing devils advocate here because ive heard people say this. That we must stop or at least slow down on funding or giving incentives to last millenniums industries. But we all have to eat. The argument of coal same issue with a different industry. Liz connell, thank you very much. Monday was france, today, its the u. S. American made is driving the markets today. Let me get to the New York Stock Exchange where lori rothman is standing by and really, were talking about a sense of americana pervading the floor down at the stock exchange. We do. And ill show them to you in just a moment. But as you know, the market just jumped up 20, 30 points just in the last couple of minutes. Somebody walked by our post and said this market is too emotional, this is short covering, people have been wishy washy, mostly to the upside and now that the Economic Policy is getting contraction with the tax plan about to be announced, a lot of these shorts are getting a little bit nervous here, so thats likely what is to account for the last couple of points dow added on 253, 21,017. But the quote from peter, the rally has got americana written all over it. Solid earnings from mcdonalds, caterpillar, dupont giving extra weight, given that they are hardcore american industry. These earnings in particular justifying the post election trump rally and recent weeks and today incled. Thats for sure, according to my oth sources here on the floor. So the dow and the s p 50day moving average yesterday, of course building on that first backtoback 1 gains since after election, two trading days after election. And basically, this is important because moving averages gives traders and investors a general sense of the direction, the trends of the benchmark averages. Well, now as you can see from these charts, were seeing a distinctly different path for the market. So the bulls are really setting in. Back to you. Liz thank you, lori. And, again, dupont up 3. 5 right now. All of these companies, its really fascinating to see the dow charging ahead like this, and we are just ten points off session highs for the dow jones industrials. The number to hit, 260 and right now were at 21,014 points with a 250point gain. Closing bell, we are ringing in 48 minutes. She was one of the most powerful Business Leaders in silicon valley. But then more recently, marisa meyer was on fortunes most disappointing leaders list. But the ceo is probably anything but disappointed today with the cash pile she will walk away with after selling off the one time tech heavy weight. Well tell you how much. And President Trumps backing away from the wall for now. And at least temporarily. Will his flexibility help avoid a government shut down at the end of t week. Help Budget Committee member jim tells us that were close to a deal and what he sees ahead of the president s tax reform announcement. Countdown coming right back. Dow is up 258 [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare . Thats a good thing, but it doesnt cover everything. Only about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. So consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, they could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call today to request a free decision guide. With these types of plans, youll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. Plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. 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I completely oppose any sort of border wall. Its a waste of money and ineffective. Especially at the same time were cutting valuable programs like meals on wheels and the eta. I cant imagine one democratic voter, as much as we want to keep the government or one democratic member as much as we want to keep the government funded, were not going to suddenly compromise our principles just because were being held hostage. Liz i would say thats a no on the border wall. A definite no. Democratic house budget member of pennsylvania made it very clear on countdown yesterday that funding a border wall is a nonstarter with his party and the president appears to be listening. Ohio republican jim sits on the House Budget Committee as well, representative, welcome to the show. Thank you for being here. Good afternoon, liz, how are you . Liz very well. You and congressman boil have strikingly similar backgrounds. You both hail from working class families, youre both from pennsylvania, you both were the first in your family to graduate from college, both at ivy league. Im guessing youre for the wall but would you fight to fund it now even if it means a government shut down this weekend . Well, look, first off, we have to remember that the wall was approved in a 2006 republican and democrat border. So that has already been approved. Its something we have to fund at some point. And i think what we really need to do is work with the president to make sure because there are many people back home in my district in ohio that are now saying theyre concerned about the security, and they want to see that border fence. Of course, nobody wants to pay for it, which is always the problem, and i think we need to be able to Work Together to get this done, and we have to work with the president to eventually get this done. This was one of his signature priorities. Liz well, to the president , its obvious the border wall awas a poison hill for democrats but did it surprise you that last night President Trump signaled to get a budget deal done before the government shuts down saturday, he would drop the border wall funding for now . Well, look, President Trumps a businessman like i am. Hes going to compromise and get things done and move things forward, so i understand why hes saying that. In the end, hes going to want to get this done. But i think hes willing to work with congress to get things accomplished. But i think that means eventually getting some of his priorities done as well, which thisorder fence is important to him. Liz but does his comment last night lower the odds today that well see a government shut down saturday . Yeah, i do believe that hes making that suggestion. He does not want to see a shutdown. Nobody wants to see a shutdown. I think the president wants to see us move forward, which means well have a shortterm funding, which, again, is a little ridiculous for me because ive been here now six years. We do too many of these shortterm funding situations. But at som at some point in time, we have to stop. Liz yeah, American People would love that too, representative. Let me get to tax reform. They would really like to see that as well. The president would like to get some points on the board before the 100day marker, which is saturday. Do you feel pressure to get something out there . I know Steve Mnuchin and gary cohn are working on it at this hour. But from your standpoint, are you feeling any push and shove to at least get anything out there . Or recollect real support. Well, look, ive seen pressure on lowering rates for the last couple of years, thats why i spent almost a year building my own tax model and building my own tax plan. Liz have they asked you for your opinion and your plan and your model . The administration has talked to me about my model, so that was good. Theyre looking at everything, which is important. And i think in the end, we have to lower rates, we have to make the United States very competitive. We should make the United States the most competitive place to do business,