Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas News HQ 20180505

And hello from cleveland noon eastern. We expect the president to take the stage at about 1 20. Those remarks live as they happen on this special edition of americas news headquarters. Im leland vittert. Liz, it occurs to me that were a couple of hundreds yards from where you were in november and ive got to tell you, its a little bit warmer, but no less divided here. Elizabeth thats right, im Elizabeth Prann. Thank you for joining us. We remember that President Trump won ohio in november by eight points. That being said, its no indication what well see on tuesday and youre getting a preview for us. Leland definitely, a preview, both from the democratic side, the republican side, as well. Some of the issues here, the primaries here in ohio are the first statewide election since the Buckeye State went for President Trump in 2016. It was key on his road to the white house, but there are Big Questions now about just how big his coat tails are. As we speak the president is here at a Campaign Event for his pick. First though to the hot ly contested race to replace john kasich. There were four republican candidates and there are now two, one of them current lt. Governor mary taylor to joins us now. Nice to see you, maam. Appreciate it. Beautiful day to be in cleveland. Welcome to cleveland. Leland its great to be here, well start with this, on the senate side, both candidates are wrapping themselves in who is more trump than the other one. Is that true in the governors race . So what we see in ohio and it might be different here than anyplace else. President trump enjoys unbelievable support from republican primary voters. Every poll ive seen the events over 170 events theres extraordinary support for our president today in this state, as much if not more than in november of 2016. Leland is that true only of primary voters or is that true statewide . So, right now were really looking mostly or obviously three days. Its three days out. So, its important to support the president. Thats what, you know, we have learned in this state for the last year and a half and its important to support his policies. Leland what policies, is it specific to policies or is it specific to his view of the world . Its important to support his policies. Leland what policies . So you think about what hes going to talk about today, the tax reform, the tax cuts, trump tax cuts and talking to Small Businesses and understanding. This is having a really good positive impact. I talked to Small Businesses who said the economy looks great for them. And thats great news. Its putting ohioans back to work and in ohio we support and i support President Trump, build the wall, secure our borders. Shut down sanctuary cities in the state of ohio and across our country. Keep our people safe, keep the promises you made. Thats in fact what the president is doing. Leland you have been lt. Governor for longer than the president has been president. Valerie jarrett saying a lot of Economic Growth were seeing in ohio and states in the midwest, yeah, perhaps President Trump had something to do with it, but the economic boom of 2010 through 2016 also contributed to it. Is that fair . What can you trace directly to President Trump . So if you think about where we could have been today, were at the end of that tenyear cycle where the economy would have if you look back in history would have curved down and in fact, it hasnt done that because trump policies are working. Although weve made progress in ohio and i think you said or i heard earlier, lowest unemployment weve seen in how long. Leland 3. 9 . Its extraordinary, but when i talk to Business Owners today, they say the economy is better than they expected and their outlook for the future is better than they expected and President Trumps been in office for a year and a half, and a lot of thats attributed to the policies that hes put in place and the other things hes doing to improve the lives of americans. Leland one key part of President Trumps message has been this, im an outsider, im not a politician and i promised i would not use the word outsider during this entire show because ive heard it too much on television in the ads. But its this idea of a different type of politician. The attack on you is a little different. I want to show you an ad thats running in ohio and get your reaction. Take a listen. Is mary taylor ready to be governor . Taylor cant keep her staff, raising questions about her leadership and oversight. She was busted using the states airplane for personal use and taylor is dogged by rumor that she skips out on work, a slacker whose work schedule is almost untraceable. Mary taylor, unfit and unqualifi unqualified. Leland implicit in that is this idea that youre just another politician, is that a tougher reputation to shake in this current climate . So, this is what i havent seen this one, just my opponent lying about me on tv because he cant defend his own liberal record. In fact, its not true. I spent 16 years working in the private sector as a c. P. A. I understand what it means to create a job in the private sector. My opponent has been on the public dole for 42 years and has had no private sector experience. So, its unfortunate we are in that silly season as we call it in politics. What were trying to do is focus on what i bring to the table, not only my private sector experience, but policies we push to mako makoo make ohio a better state to work and live. Leland and you said President Trump won by eight. And we have a tossup come the general election. Win or lose come and talk to us about it. Eappreciate you being here. Thank you. Leland liz. Elizabeth great interview. Two controversial fbi employees who worked closely with former embattled employee james comey has left the bureau. Both of the individuals played roles in the controversy surrounding the fbi. Jame baker was one of the top lawyers and one of jim comeys aides. And he was on suspicion of leaking classified information about a reporter about the socalled trump dossier. That led him to being released reassigned rather late last year. The other is a name that will be familiar to a lot of our viewers. Lisa page has been in the crosshairs for months now. We as a part of specially counsel Robert Muellers team unless Text Messages were discovered between her and another critical of then candidate donald trump. Theyre facing blowback from a federal judge. On friday in a hearing for charges against paul manafort, the judge elliott suggested that muellers team lied about the scope of their investigation and seeking unfettered power to bring down the presidency. Saying you dont care about mr. Manaforts bank fraud. Youre interested in information to get you to mr. Trump towards impeachment or prosecution. Now, the president picked up those and once again blasted the investigation as a witch hunt. None of that information has to do with information related to the russian government coordination and the campaign of donald trump. It doesnt have anything to do. Its from years before. And muellers team argued it has Broad Authority to investigate here because Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein not only authorized them to investigate russian interference and collusion, but any matters that come up in the course of their work. Liz. Elizabeth thank you so much, appreciate it. Leland well, President Trump is here in cleveland. He is at a Campaign Event for one of the Republican Senate candidates right now. And then hes going to talk at a Small Business round table. Talking about tax cuts and the effects on the economy here in ohio and thats what the president and the white house want to be talking about. The white house though still doing damage control and the president still facing questions about what his new attorney, Rudy Guiliani, had to say about payments made to none other than Stormy Daniels. Back at the white house is our alison barber. President trump is not here anymore. He left for cleveland a little earlier this morning. Voters in ohio are set to go to the polls on tuesday and President Trump recently endorsed Republican Senate candidate congressman. He expects tax cuts at the round table, but surely that will come up as well. And the president left the white house around 10 00 this morning as he headed to marine one. Reporters slouted questions at him. Questions about ohio, and prisoners in north korea and about 0 Stormy Daniels. He didnt answer questions, he mouthed thank you and then headed to marine one. Todays trip is overshadowed by the 130,000 payment daniels received from long time attorney. President s newest attorney Rudy Guiliani told sean hannity that trump reimbursed cohen. They funneled through a law firm and President Trump paid it. And that seemed to contradict statements and the president disputes that. Rudy is a great guy. Hes learning the subject matter. Why did you change your story on Stormy Daniels. Were not changing any stories. Here is what President Trump said on air force one in april. Did you know about the 130,000 payment . Now, guiliani released a statement clarifying his remarks. He said that the payment was not a violation of Campaign Finance laws. He said the payment would have happened whether or not President Trump was a candidate and running for office. He also said, quote, my references to timing were not describing my understanding for of the president s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters. President trump says that he paid cohen a retainer and the reimbursement was done through that. Leland. Leland just about an hour away from the president s remarks, well see if he addresses any of this. Ellison barber at the white house. Thank you and liz has got more. Elizabeth here with more White House Reporter for the washington examiner, gabby, thank you for joining us. Thanks for having me. Elizabeth i want to start with the Stormy Daniels news and i dont want to harp on it. I want to get your take, the job rates is lowest level, 3. 9 and then a story of trumps denial of hush funds. The juxtaposition is incredible. There have been so many accomplishments for this administration on economics and seeing the way the economy is flourishing right now. Its disappointing for a lot of white house officials to constantly deal with the questions and the legal troubles that the president is facing now with not only his personal attorney and the issues of Stormy Daniels the Mueller Investigation as well. I think that white house aides are frustrated. The president is surely frustrated. He talked about this yesterday during his remarks at n. R. A. Convention how this is just one large distraction. He likes to use the phrase witch hunt, but i do think that it really overshadows the positive things that this administration is doing when you have the constant flow of news surrounding Stormy Daniels. When we look at some of the headlines and look at what came out of the headlines with guiliani this week after his appearance on sean hannity. You cant tell me that that was a surprise. I know that they for a lot of white house officials it was. Was it really . Is that what youre hearing behind the scenes . I spoke with at least two Senior Administration officials who are in the communications sides of things and they didnt know that Rudy Guiliani was going to be appearing. But the president. The president knew. He and Rudy Guiliani consulted beforehand. They are on the same page, but a lot of lower level staffers and Senior Communications officials were completely caught off guard. Elizabeth lets move on. The president is obviously in ohio and hes going to be boasting some of the Economic News you have been talking about and well hear a lot about Small Business tax reduction, that 20 number that we have been talking about, but are people in ohio really benefitting from the tax plan . Are we already starting to see really its effect . It has been incremental, but there are certain things that have taken place since the tax plan passed. He has a lot of material to work with today on the trail. He can say there are several ohio based companies who have begun reinvesting their tax savings, whether theyre offering increased employee wages or creating new jobs. Key corps is one of them, fiat chrysler, juergens, theyve benefitted from the tax plan and reinvested in ohio economy. And middle class families that have benefitted from this. He can talk about expanded Child Tax Credit and how thats offered greater flexibility for working families. I think theyre feeling the impact of this, maybe not as much as republicans hoped, but the president can campaign on that. Elizabeth my next question is, he does very well in front of crowds of this nature. And in ohio in march he was touting plans for an infrastructure bill we havent been talking about at all lately. That being said we know the primary is on tuesday. Is this going to give republicans a boost . Theres no such thing as a coincidence. Hes there for a reason. Yeah, there are competitive house races happening in ohio. The First District is an example of that. Extremely competitive primary for the governorship. Hes there for a reason and he has not endorsed he has endorsed a candidate, but its an important appearance for him to make three days before the primary. Im sure hes going to be talking about not only republican chances in 2018, but the Small Business benefits of the tax plan and other ways. Elizabeth in general, he flourishes in this setting. Absolutely. But ohioans love him. Its a state he won. They feed off of his energy in Campaign Rallies like this. This is President Trumps natural setting. Elizabeth all right. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Of course its a small table, a round table, its not a campaign rally, but that being said it usually draws a crowd. Gabby, appreciate it. Tomorrow on Fox News Sunday Chris Wallace talks to former u. S. Attorney general, attorney jose joseph diogenova and lanny davis. And howie kirtz will have an interview with former white house chief of staff Reince Priebus about Rudy Guilianis comments and how the media covers President Trump. Leland and former president george h. W. Bush. Hes back home after weeks in the hospital. He was in the hospital for an infection following the funeral for his wife barbara. Doctors report that hes doing well and hes happy to return home. Bush is 93 years old and is americas longest living president. Elizabeth hawaii now under a state of emergency as the big island is dealing with a triple threat, an active volcano, toxic gas and the biggest earthquake in more than 40 years. This as more lava from the volcano spews into nearby communities. Adam housley is live with the details. Hi, adam. Hi, elizabeth. First of all, a lot of people call and ask if theyre going to hawaii, mind you, there are a number of islands there, this is the big island of hawaii, whether or not they should go. The governor says even if youre going to kona, the same island as the big island and youre fine there. The big island had its largest earthquake since 1975 and in this remote area where this is taking place on the big island, about 1800 people have been evacuated. And specifically the community, its a rural community. I actually drove through a couple of years ago, called lalani estates. And monday the most recent. Kilauea, one of several big volcanos on the island as been active since 1983. The last outbreak was 2014. This began on monday. There have been a number of small earthquakes before the big one and six vents opened up of the youre looking at video from the u. S. Geological survey coming from yesterday. There have been six vents opened up from this eruption, there has not yet been a specific or a large lava flow. Theyre looking for that as they might imagine, waiting for that to possible happen. There are all goertz of all sorts of geologists out there and watching the volcano as it continues to be active. If theres good news on this, theres no significant lava flows and i think only two homes have been lost, that number is fluctuating a bit. The volcanic hyperactivity has led to some disruptions in this more remote area on the big island. You can see a picture from the distance where the Volcanos National park is located and the park has been closed, closed yesterday afternoon, due to all of this. Evacuated 2600 visitors there as well. And the Hawaii National guard has been deployed to help with the efforts. And including a group from the guards 93 rs weapons of mass destruction civil support team. Theyre there to check the air quality tests. Amazing to see Mother Nature at work, but unfortunately those who live near the Hawaii Volcano national park, its a serious situation there. And if theyre in hilo, theyre okay there. And pretty nerve wracking to see if youre there the volcano is active and flowing in some ways. Elizabeth adam housley with the latest. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. A quick correction during the report. The federal judge is ts elliss. Leland. Leland President Trump now at a private Campaign Event here in cleveland. About an hour away from his remarks. We will have those live as they happen. Before that, we head to Ohio State University. You talk about the future of american politics with the leaders there. And the states largest county, the sheriff there why hes losing the battle against drug cartels. So in a way, youre not just fighting the drug problem in Franklin County. Youre fighting the drug problem across america. Across america and a great amount of this comes from south of the border and right up there. Not having a Good Breakfast can make you feel like your day never started. Get going with carnation breakfast essentials®. It has protein, plus 21 vitamins and Minerals Including calcium and vitamin d, to help your family be their best. Carnation breakfast essentials®. To help your family be their best. I had a very minor fender bender tonight in an unreasonably narrow fast food drive thru lane. But what a powerful life lesson. And dont worry i have everything handled. I already spoke to our allstate agent, and i know that we have accident forgiveness. Which is so smart on your guys part. Like fact that theyll just. Forgive you. Four weeks without the car. Okay, yup. Good night. With accident forgiveness your rates wont go up just because of an accident. Switching to allstate is worth it. Welcome back to cleveland. As you see, one of the huge freighters steaming out into lake erie. A nod still to the manufacturing mecca that is the state of ohio. Obviously, manufacturing and Small Business, a huge part of the conversation as they get ready for their statewide primary. President trump just a couple of hundred yards from where we are right now stumping for one of the Senate Republican candidates. As it is, democrats and republicans cant seem to get along very well in washington, shocking. We assumed that sentiment would be the same when we went south to Ohio State University to speak with the leaders of the both the College Republicans and democrats. What we found surprised us. Might surprise you as well. We started the conversation with how both the rnc and the dnc are looking now to College Campuses as the possible deciding factor in tuesdays primary and beyond. The main tack take away in 2016 College Students need to pay attention, theyre responding and listening and coming to where we are and take our energy and in their campaign. And its been effective. I assume youre seeing the same thing engagement of millennials. And how do you decipher whether its lip service by a group sort of courting what they see as potentially vocal and free labor, versus, hey, theres been a sea change and they really care about the issues that are affecting College Students . There have been several candidates campaigns, clubs, groups that have behind the scenes reached out to us, connected our members to internships, to jobs, volunteer opportunities and you can really tell that at least for a large number of them, they really do value our input now, you know. Obviously were going to be the largest voting block this election and every election Going Forward for decades so i think that part of the cynical side of me sees that as politics, but it really does seem like theyre valuing our input and taking our opinions into account. Leland we obviously hear republicans talking about the tax cuts. We hear the president touting it. Are College Students seeing that effect . Does it matter . To a certain extent, yes. Just because we know when we graduate, most of us are going to have a significant amount of student debt. I know i personally am, a lot of my friends are, and so the next step then is finding a job with enough Financial Security that we can start to pay down that debt and get on with our lives. Theres a little bit of talk, not like were sitting around on friday night and talking about tax reform although i admittedly do that with my friends. Leland are the social issues and sort of the antitrump, antip antipopuli antipopulism, are that talking about that i think that resistance to trump, thats sort of faded and now what can we do to build. And thats most prominent. And you mean student debt. And its hard to see past the big block. Thats the main barrier that we have to being economically comfortable and i think thats sort of a big factor that College Students think as they go into their career fields. How can i repay this loan. How can i get a job to maintain my passions and balance two things in my life. Leland the conversation we had here is remarkably civil compared to cable news, compared to discourse and candidates on the stump. Why is that . Were very fortunate here, at least in ohio state and i know its different at other campuses that we are really largely able to kind of see past the politics. Alexis and i have had lunch together and i would consider her a friend before an adversary. We disagree on virtually every policy issue. Leland whats the secret sauce . Other than the beautiful campus here, why is that . Why can you all get along and interact and Work Together in a way that washington cant . Just seeing each other as people first, and politicos second. Leland alexis, is there hope . Yes, i mean, i would use sort of this analogy. 80 that you dont agree with, 20 that you do and i think nick and i are in this very, you know, college that is so unique and individual and we can go to that journey together and its sort of like a solidarity you get going through that journey. Elizabeth great conversation there. Still ahead, were just about an hour away from President Trumps business round table in cleveland. These are live pictures as people just begin to gather there. Plus, President Trump says a date has been set for his anticipated meeting with the north korean dictator jkim jong jongun. Whats on the table for the president s meeting for this edition of news headquarters. Stay with us. Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks alright, i brought in new max protein. To give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you dont. Ill take that. [cheers] 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. New ensure max protein. In two great flavors. New ensure max protein. You wouldnt accept from any one else. Why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. Flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. Most pills only block one. Flonase. Welcome back to cleveland. As you look at the skyline of this now booming city screen left. Screen right, folks getting ready for President Trumps Small Business round table discussion here in cleveland. Thats set to begin just about 50 minutes from now. Part of the president s visit here, stumping for one of the candidates vying for the g. O. P. Senate nomination in tuesdays primary. Whoever wins takes on sherrod brown, a democrat here, one of ten democrats defending a senate seat in a state that President Trump won. Mike gibbons on this trail asking for the vote of republicans in ohio in the primary. Thanks for being here. Thanks, leland. Leland when i watched the interview and other candidates in the race and ive read some of your comments, what strikes me is that everyone is trying to wrap themselves in the i am more trump than the next guy, im more of an outsider than the next guy. Why is that message so important in ohio . Ive traveled the 88 counties in this state and the one line that i give that always gets applause is im not a politician. Ive never run for office before. Im tired of the career politicians we have in washington and thats why im running. Leland thats why youre running. How does it why do you think that resonates . I think that everybody else is tired of them, also, and i mean, you know, i think ive got the opinion my own opinion is the opinion of most people in the state of ohio. Leland is the argument on the flip side, in order to sometimes change something that is as profoundly screwed up as washington is and theres pretty much agreement on that fact, you have to know a little bit how it works and in a way, President Trump has learned that himself in 18 months. Hes run month. I think we have to change the roster in the u. S. Senate, have more people who arent trying to keep the system theyre using right now in place. In everybodys pushing to keep power and theyre all working with each other, which is the case in my election here, youre never going to change it. Leland it is noteworthy that the president , who is the nonpolitician politician has endorsed somebody who is a politician in this race, thats congressman renacci, who is with the president right now and here is his interview yesterday with bill hemmer. Mike gibbons and others running in this race want to talk about the outsider and they want to say im the insider, theyre the 0 outsider. Im in business and im still a c. P. A. And pretty much bringing my 30 years of business experience to washington. I know thats what the president likes, and i also know thats what the people like, and i do have now a couple of years in the house to understand how washington is broken to get a head start on it in the senate. Leland all right. So you both agree that people in ohio want somebody who is not a politician. Correct. Leland but i saw you laughing during that clip. Well, he was a lobbyist before he ran for congress. Hes been in four terms in the 16th district, Congressional District from ohio. He is he has run for three offices in the last two years. He started running for governor. And by the way, you know, the narrative is that President Trump chose him. Mitch mcconnell recruited him, contributes to his campaign and arranged for the president to support him. I was Donald Trumps fund raising cochairman in this state, gave him the largest personal donation ive ever given to a candidate. And he offered me a job in the administration. And made 800 calls for him and he think hits agenda is important and i still do. Leland how about the agenda whats important for ohio and his agenda. As the country goes, ohio goes. You know, weve had eight years of a president that made every Small Business man in this country feel unworthy. I mean, you didnt do it on your own. Im a guy who started a business 28 years ago and remember the 20 hour days and i still have them from time to time. He made me feel like i had not accomplished anything, made me feel like what i had done was really just, other people doing it. Donald trump understands what it takes to run a business, to start a business and whether the democrats do you think he and for that matter you understand though what its like to work in those businesses, what its like to work on the factory floors that exist in ohio or the Distribution Centers . I can tell you this, i will be the only senator that can finish a driveway if i get there. My family was a working class family, i have been very blessed one of the reasons im running right now. Had a sun who joined the military, naval aviator. Leland congratulations, we thank him. And i felt i needed to contribute and this is my shot at doing it. Leland and as they say, this is in the yoke who founded this country and good sentiment to give back. And mr. Gibbons, we appreciate it. Well talk again soon. Liz. Elizabeth a live look at ohio where President Trump will be holding his business round table 40 minutes from now. The president is exhibit expected to seek and we wi hes expected to speak and well take you there live. And the meeting with kim jongun, what President Trump says hes expecting at the meeting. Get your groove on with one a day 50 . Get ready for the wild life complete multivitamins with key nutrients that address 6 concerns of aging, including heart health, supported by bvitamins. Your one a day is showing. Leo, i knoh im late. My wallet card lock from capital one. Instantly lock your credit card. In case it goes. Arrivederci. Mona that smile. Technology this convenient. Could make history. Whats in your wallet . President trump says now the date and location have been set for the meeting with north Korean Leader kim jongun, which could take place in the coming weeks. Joining me now for in the author of Nuclear Showdown author gordon chang. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Elizabeth im get it out. And the fact that were learning that three hostages may be coming home. Yes, thats really important. I mean, thats a precondition for talks, but also, we need Something Else from the north koreans. Theres possibly a fourth american there, David Sneddon who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 2004 from china. Many believe hes in north korea. Id like to say the north korean lead tower say whether theyre holding or not holding sneddon. And a, do you expect to hear that news and is the president overplaying his hand when he indicates its the next few days, and when youre trying to deal with this rogue nation. Many people have said and i understand the criticism. But many things are going on that made it wise for the president to say that. Theres going to be a lot of discussions, its not just the u. S. Versus north korea. South korea as well and im sure there are considerations that made it advisable for the president to Start Talking about this, but im sure that were going to have a conversation about the timing of these announcements when the three actually are returned. Elizabeth i want to sort of ask you, what do you anticipate that will take place before their meeting . And how much information will we be getting, especially if the meeting is at the dmz leading up to the meeting and then after . Because President Trump is certainly one to disseminate information on twitter. You see something completely opposite, obviously, from the regime in north korea where theres no media, no twitter and nothing. And so, im curious as to what were going to see when this meeting does take place . Theres another source of information and that is south korea. Because there are a number of people in the south korean government who have their own agenda and theyre going to further that by actually making comments, as they already have been. So, i think that were going to learn a fair amount from seoul as well. And this is going to be important because you know, President Trump goes into that meeting, its absolutely critical, that first discussion with kim jongun, thats going to set the terms for negotiations that could drag on not only for months, but for years. Elizabeth you brought up south korea a couple of times and i do want to bring china in. They want to have a presence here and how are they going to do that . Well, the chinese are left outside these talks, thats a good thing because during the sixparty talks 20032009 they were generally a maligned influence. It was great for President Trump to accept kims offer of direct talks because that puts china outside the room and china is desperately trying to get back in with only limited success. Elizabeth gordon, we hope to have you back and obviously, there will be a lot of news out of south korea in between now and this meeting. We hope to have you back. Thank you very much. Thank you, liz. Elizabeth leland. Leland one of the real crises here in ohio and around the country, the opioid epidemic. How one ohio Sheriffs Office is doing its part to tackle this nationwide crisis. They say theyre losing the battle. As we return here, live to cleveland, ahead of the president s discussion with a round table of Small Businesses, his remarks as they happen. vo lately, ive been selective about what i eat. This new beneful select 10, has 10 amazing ingredients avo with real beef, plus accents of Sunflower Oil and apples, suddenly your dogs a health nut. vo the old me woulda been all over that. avo new beneful select 10. 10 ingredients. 1 thoughtful recipe lets do an ad of a man eating free waffles at comfort inn. They taste like victory because he always gets the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed, when he books direct at choicehotels. Com. Or just say, badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com welcome back to cleveland, as we await the president and his remarks. Something he has talked a lot about over the past 18 months is the opioid crisis. Roughly 60 of the u. S. Population lies within a 500 mile drive of columbus, ohio. Making it a mecca for retail and wholesale distribution. Its no different for the drug cartels making ohio home to the second highest rate in the country. Inside the drug room in the Franklin County sheriff we had to wear gloves against seized drugs so powerful toughing them could cause an overdose. Its fascinating to think at the top of this were in the drug room. 40 years ago, marijuana, crack cocaine. And even though this is in double plastic bags, were still wearing gloves. Absolutely. Any little minute amount that might escape out of that or get on top of the surface as your handling, you can get an exposure and overdose, quickly and die. Leland youve had officers who had we had deputies this exposure one recently from siu and includes bus had officers a couple weeks ago that had exposure. Leland is that a testament to how potent the drugs are becoming . Absolutely, you cut it with fentanyl, carfentanil and so powerful, they go farther and farther, but extremely dangerous to touch. Right here youve got probably, 100,000 here. Leland 100,000. And to put it in a matter of lives, how many people could this, for lack of a better term, kill. Depends on the purity of the fentanyl. Leland but dozens . Pure, many more than dozens. Many, many, more. Hundreds. We have overdose on the street, as detectives we like to get there immediately within 24 hours and interview that person who overdosed and track at that backwards to the dealer and try to find out who is supplying that way. Well, you know, sometimes its a fatal overdose and in those cases we want to find the dealer and get them charged and get them in jail. We cant get there fast enough. Now there are so many overdoses and we dont have enough people to get there so, the longer the time delay, the less information we get the less effective we are. So if we could get there within six, eight, ten hours, were really successful. If were three days, four days later, they dont want to talk to us. Leland and the dealers know this . Yeah, they know this, its no secret. Leland one of the reason there are so many drugs in this room, as much as ohio is the center for Distribution Centers for shipping companies in the world, the cartels figured out its the center of of distribution for them, too. Middle in the america, were right in the center with highways cross here, middle of the country. Yeah, absolutely. Leland so in a way, youre not just fighting the drug problem in Franklin County. No. Leland youre fighting the drug problem across america. Across america, and a great amount of this comes from south of the border, comes right up here. Leland is building a wall the answer . Well, there are walls and fences and im sure that will help in some capacity, but you know, it will get through no matter what. Leland people are willing to pay for it. They find a way to get it across. Leland theres two schools of thoughts as relates to overdoses. One is, give narcan, the antidote to everyone, allow junkies to pick it up for free so they can give it to their friends. Rights. Leland the other side says if you do that, it encourages more and more dangerous use, more and more trafficking. Right. Leland where do you come down on it. My feeling, you know, we took an oath to protect life and. Leland and that comes above the idea of Law Enforcement . Exactly. My feeling is, if were there and we have narcan, we have the ability to save somebodys life we do it. It doesnt matter if its two times, three times, ten times. We do it, and hopefully, somewhere in that process, the light bulb will click on and maybe that person will take treatment. Leland noteworthy, liz, the sheriff tells me one of his Biggest Challenges for all the meetings and the task forces, the one people they cant get to show up and talk about the issue are addicts themselves. Elizabeth unbelievable. What he said so many overdoses and so hard for them to get information when the people are no longer with us. Leland, great work. Of course, much more ahead in the next hour of americas news headquarters. The president minutes away. Stay with us. Sfx muffled whistle text alert. Im your phone, stuck down here between your seat and your console, playing a little hidenseek. Cold. Warmer. Warmer. Ah boiling. Jackpot. And if youve got cutrate car insurance, you could be picking up these charges yourself. So get allstate, where agents help keep you protected from mayhem. Like me. Mayhem is everywhere. Are you in good hands . Leland President Trump in cleveland right now. We are just minutes away from a round table of Small Business leaders to talk about the benefits of his tax plan as the country enjoys now record low unemployment. Elizabeth hawaii declares a state of emergency after an erupting volcano on the big island causes a major earthquake and serious damage. Leland we are live today in the Buckeye State, just ahead of their tuesday primary and also live in washington where the fight continues for control of capitol hill in the midterm elections. And welcome to cleveland as we are on the shores of lake erie, ahead of the primary. Liz, it may look like da deja vu you were here in november of 2016. Its quite a bit warmer. Whatever news god decided i would be here, im pretty happy with. Elizabeth when i was there, we didnt know donald trump would be our president. We know a lot more now. Im Elizabeth Prann from washington. Leland good to be with you. The primary here in ohio is both for the senate race, weve got republicans running in that, thats one of the reasons that President Trump is here. He is stumping for his favorite candidate, a little bit more on that when the president takes the stage in about 20 minutes. There is also the race for the governors mansion, john kasich, the republican governor is term limb meted. It is a term limited. It is a fierce fight. We talked about the fight for the republican nomination. The frontrunners, Dennis Kucinich who is backed by Barry Sanders and his Democratic Party and Richard Cordray has the endorsement of senator Elizabeth Warren. Nice to see you. We appreciate being with appreciate you being with us. Does this represent the split in the Democratic Party between Barry Sanders and the Elizabeth Warren wing . I dont think it represents a real split i in the party. Bettery sanders has not shall better nissan deers has not Bernie Sanders has not made an endorsement in this case. He said hes not endorsing in ohio this year. Was were doing is were presenting a case to the voters of ohio. In our case, betty sutton and i are running on the Kitchen Table issues that people talk to us about all over the state, things that worry them at night, things that worry them when looking out for their families, including Affordable Health care, better education for their children, and spreading out Economic Opportunity across the state so nobody is left out or left behind. Leland where do you have to be where President Trump won by 8 points to win back the governors mansion. You have an a rating from the ara. At the same time, youre trying in a primary to go after voters who are far left of an a rating from the nra on the issues. What i try to do in a campaign is talk about what i would do in the office and make promises that i can keep and promises that people care about making sure we deliver on. In our case, it is focusing on those Kitchen Table issues and letting people understand leland what are Kitchen Table issues. What can you deliver on that needs change . These are the Economic Issues that dominate peoples lives. Leland people tell me the economy in ohio is booming. You go to columbus where youre from and there is construction everywhere. People are worried about their health care. Theres a circus going on in washington as to whats going on with health care. People are worried about being diagnosed with a condition tomorrow and do they have access to Affordable Health care for themselves and their children. Education and training, everybody understands thats the key to the future. We have an Education System in ohio where a for profit Charter School experiment has devastated many of the schools, taking tons of money putting it into flailing online schools. Leland lets get to the politics of this race. Dennis kucinich, the former mayor of cleveland, is running against you. He has had time inside politics, time outside politics. He was on shannon breams show last night. Take a listen. One of the main criticisms they have of you, is you spent so much time here with us on fox news. Heres Richard Cordray talking about that. He knows the game theyre playing. He goes on to say they were fair and balanced. He took their money and made their choices. House poodle, your response . Arrrr. Leland your response to the response . Look, i think i stated it for what it was. Everybody makes choices in life. When i was standing up for consumers and fighting to see theyre treated fairly, he was a paid commenter on fox news. Leland youre on fox news right now. We appreciate you being here. Is somebody giving their opinion and defending their ideals which he did many times on our show, is that something to knock him for . Im not clear what the attack is. He said one thing on fox news and said Different Things in the campaign. Leland what specifically what did he say either on fox news or other place thats you have issues with that you feel hes been disingenuous about now. He praised President Trumps inaugural speech and scrubbed his twitter feed. He gave speeches to cpacs conference. Hes trying to on lit rat object rate his obliterate his past. People dont like it when people say one thing in one setting and another thing in another setting. I think its not a good thing. Leland there was a time where hi hip consider sigh was n as a hip pock cr hipocracy ad thing. Elizabeth twjames comeys tp advisors are leaving on the fbi. We have details on what that will mean for the russia investigation. Both of these individuals were involved in the events surrounding the russia investigation, as well as other controversies at the fbi. Lisa page has become the poster child among republican lawmakers for their argument that top fbi officials allowed personal politics to impact their work on investigations. Page was a legal add a vicar to james comey and andrew mccabe. She was also a member of Robert Muellers team until Justice Department investigators uncovered Text Messages between her and top fbi agent peter strzok which were highly against donald trump. Baker was one of jim comeys closest aids and was the fbis top lawyer. He was reassigned last year after the Justice Department investigated him for allegedly leaking classified information to a reporter about the socalled trump dossier. Special council Robert Muellers team is under fire for charges against paul manafort. At a hearing in virginia friday, the judge questioned the special Councils Authority in the case, given that some of the charges against manafort date back to 2000 a 5. They suggested investigators were on a mission to bring down donald trump, telling them you dont care about mr. Manaforts bank fraud. You care about what information mr. Manafort can give you to lead to mr. Trump and an impeachment or prosecution. He argued some of the information mueller is using came from a previous doj investigation and not their own. This morning ala they said it fs them to show how these charges fall underneath the allegation. This raises serious questions. Its not enough to throw out the indictment. It will depend on what the special prosecutor can produce. It really is a stretch to go back to 2005, talk about conspiracy theories. These guys must have been planning this for the last 18 years and they would get money from the bank in order to its such a stretch. Muellers team said they were given Broad Authority to investigate any matters that come up in their work, even if its unrelated to russian interference or collusion. Elizabeth lets bring in robert degrees cou degrees drise insight. With your experience, the congress created the fbi back in 1935, the whole point was to be an say political entity, under the doj. I want to ask you if that still applies today. I think we both know the answer. The timing of these two individuals, why now . I think on the broader the damage the fbi is really i think at the top levels are viewed as more political, which is unfortunate. I think these political corruption cases, i think the vast majority of lying agents in the fbi are say political doing classic bank fraud, antiterrorism, dont have a political angle to them. These political cases and public corruption cases, the public has the view that things arent on the up and up and i think thats unfortunate. I think theyre going to have to do a lot of work the next time one of these comes around on the reputation. Elizabeth theres unbelievable individuals there who are hard working. The morale behind the cant be at an alltime high. Its improving some now with director wray. Hes keeping out of the news. Hes trying to fill that say political role and not be seeing as taking sides and being seen as defending the agency and the work of the agents. I think thats what needs to happen. I think the less said the better as the director of the fbi in order to maintain the confidence. Elizabeth the resignation that we learned of this morning of not only baker but also page, im curious as to why now. This could have happened last week, two weeks ago. I mean, were talking maybe the i. G. Report is coming up. Its speculation. They were demoted i think to other places so it may not have been the most fulfilling career they were pursuing right now. I suspect it has to do with the i. G. Report coming out because as happened with mccabe, the i. G. Report, the speculation is that its going to be pretty tough on a lot of different people involved in the clinton investigation, including them. If theyre not employees of the department of justice, the i. G. Has no jurisdiction over them and wont be able to punish them or fire them or anything like that. There could be a a referral toe d. O. J. The i. G. Report is coming close, i believe. Elizabeth the story of the russia investigation is you have critics, you have those who support it. The fact of the matter is, its still ongoing. Im curious about a number here, a cost. I mean, not only with just time and employees, but its sort of dragging on. Yeah, as far as these things go elizabeth they take time, right . Its not been unusually long. I have clients that have been caught up in this thing and theres some significant legal bills for individuals that really had nothing to do with anything from anyones perspective and never mind what the governments legal bills are for this thing. I dont think the cost is the most important thing. I think its the certainty or the uncertainty thats happening now that people really want to get this resolved and hopefully if the special councils at the point where hes getting ready to consider interviewing the president , that should be a signal that hes towards the end. Elizabeth if that is sort of the final straw, of course im not asking you to give me some type of time line, but obviously perhaps buttoning up the investigation, is that what were thinking . Thats the hope. The problem is there was a legal dispute over the ability to compel testimony from the president or a grand jury, thats another 12 to 18 months because there would be various levels of appeal up to the supreme court. The other alternative the special council could just write the report, talking to the president , and could say heres what i found, heres what other people said and the president declined the opportunity to confront what other people said. Mueller would have a decision if the president didnt testify. The president would have a decision whether to fight all the way up. Because even to get a ruling from the supreme court, do you want this hanging over his head for another 12 to 18 months . Elizabeth never a dull moment. Thank you so much for joining us. I know well have you back because its not going anywhere any time soon. Thank you so much. Leland . Leland not going anywhere at all. The president at some of these events, like the one hes about to have in a few minutes, has spoken about the Mueller Investigation. We know what he thinks about it. Hes called it a witch hunt many times. Were waiting for the president here in cleveland, about six minutes away from the scheduled start, although it could push back a little bit. His remarks live. One thing he hasnt talked much about, although he did distance himself from his comments that were made by his attorney, rudy guliani, specifically the president about those payments that were made to Stormy Daniels by one of his other attorneys. Hell soellison barber is at the house where theyre still in damage control mode this weekend. Reporter President Trump left the white house about 10 0. A group of reporters gathered and we shouted questions at the president as we typically do. I tried to ask if hes excited about his trip to ohio. Others asked about the status of the american prisoners in north creekorea. There were a few questions about the payment to Stormy Daniels. President trump did not answer any of the questions. He mouthed thank you and headed to marine one. Todays trip to ohio is somewhat overshadowed by questions about the 130,000 payment daniels received from Michael Cohen in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement. Questions spurred because trumps newest attorney told sean hannity the president reimbursed cohen. They funneled it through the law firm. Funneled through the law firm and the president repaid it. Reporter gulianis remarks seemed to contradict previous statements made by cohen and the president. President trump disputes that. Rudy is a great guy but he just started a day ago. Hes learning the subject matter. Why did you change your story on Stormy Daniels . Were not changing any stories. Reporter heres what President Trump said on air force one in april. Did you know about the 130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels . No. Reporter guliani released a statement, quote, clarifying some of his remarks. He said, quote, there is no campaign violation. The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the president s family. It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not. He says my reference to timing, my references to timing were not describing my understanding of the president s knowledge but instead my understanding of these matters. President trump says that he paid his attorney Michael Cohen a retainer and the reimbursement was made through that retainer. Leland. Leland Allison Barber live at the white house as we await the president here in cleveland. Liz has more. Leland george h. W. Bushies back Elizabeth George h. W. Bushies back home today. They sent out a statement saying he was discharged from the hospital after a treatment for infection. His doctors report he is doing well and is happy to return home. He was admitted last month for an infection following the funeral for his wife, barbara. Bushies 93 years old and bush is 93 years old and is americas longest living president. Leland an active volcano in hey which which hahawaii has pae under a emergency. At the same time the island was rocked by the biggest earthquake in more than 40 years. They have got the volcano. Now a lot of questions about tourism as folks head to hawaii for their vacations. Adam housely is following it from our west coast newsroom. Reporter in regards to tourism, again, there are a number of islands that people go to when you go out there for vacation. Theres the big island, oahu. For the big island, were told youll be just fine unless youre going to the Hawaii Volcano national monument, youre fine. That location has been shut down. It began with a number of earthquakes that gradually got larger to a big one less than 24 hours ago. There are six vents that have opened up in the ground as kilauea continues to erupt. Take a look at the video that came in last night, showing this splatter into the air of the lava from these vents. Again, six of them now opened were told, at least six. The positive news is that its not threatening any major developments. This is a more remote area. 1800 people have been evacuated and theres no massive lava la w as weve seen lava flow as weve seen in recent years. The volcano has been active ongoing since 1983. The eruption is in progress. Its called the lower east rift zone. The earthquakes began before this. The seismic activity has increased over the last several years with the largest magnitude being at 6. 9 earthquake, the largest since 197 15. 1975. We know geologists are out there. They brought in the National Guard to help monitor the air quality and help assisting in the evacuations of the folks that live in the remote area. Theres 70 members of the Hawaii National guard there at this hour. Theres concerns about sulfur dioxide in the area where people live. Theyre telling people to comply. Its about two things, one, the safety and security of those who live there and also the amazing pictures that come in that show kilauea, this active volcano thats been erupting above sea level for 100,000 years, showing some amazing video coming in. Back to you. Leland it is incredible indeed. All the better if you can stay safe watching it. Adam, thank you. Liz. Elizabeth arrests all across russia as demonstrators take to the streets. Why theyre marching against vladimir putin. And President Trump will meet with an asian leader ahead of his meeting with kim jong un, how that could impact his summit with kim. We are minutes away from President Trumps remarks at this business round table. When he takes the podium, we will take you there, live. Woman i stay active by staying in rhythm. And to keep up this pace, i drink boost optimum. Boost optimum with 5 in 1 advanced nutrition helps support muscle, energy, bone, normal immune function, and vision. Boost optimum. Be up for life. Even when nothing else is. Keep her receipts tidy, boost optimum. Brand vo snap and sort your expenses with quickbooks and find, on average, 4,340 in tax savings. Quickbooks. Backing you. Elizabeth ahead of President Trumps anticipated summit with kim jong un, mr. Trump will meet with his southern counterpart, president moon jaein. Jillian turner joins us with details of their meeting. President trump will host president moon on may 22nd in advance of his anticipated summit with kim jong un of north hkorea. Weve actually worked out a time and a place which will be announced shortly. Where . Very soon. The negotiating team has settled on a location for the summit but theyre not quite ready to disclose their choice just yet, likely in keeping with the president s stated goal of never Broadcasting National security plans in advance. Thats not keeping the president from teasing the event. Were having very substantive talks with north korea and a lot of things have already happened with respect to the hostages. Also in play is the status of three korean american hostages being held illegally in the north, one since 2015 and the other two since 2017. Theyve reportedly been relocated from a labor camp to a private hotel near pyongyang. Experts say its a sign that indicates they may be released in advance of the trump kim summit. Were having very substantive talks with north korea and a lot of things have already happened with respect to the hostages. Kim jong un has long been detaining american citizens to use as bargaining chips in his dealings with the international community. Its nearly one year since the death of otto warmbier, who was tortured to death over the course of 17 months. They used him as a political pawn for as long as they could and when they could no longer when he was of no value to them, they essentially sent him home to our family in a body bag. The ideal scenario for the trump team is to complete the release and transfer of the hostages before the start of the summit. Administration sources say they want the two leaders to focus exclusively on the Nuclear Issue during their facetoface meeting. In a gesture of goodwill intended to speed up the korean reunification process, the north moved its clock forward by 30 minutes to sync with the south, a small step in the right direction, according to efforts. Elizabeth its probably really symbolic. I think its the first step in a series of hundreds of steps that will be taken. Elizabeth thank you so much. Appreciate it. Leland and a fox news alert as youre looking live at a Small Business roundtable here in cleveland, ohio. President trump just left an rnc fundraiser that he was here, among those at the fundraiser his pick for the Republican Senate primary, that primary on tuesday here in ohio. He was there at the fundraiser, raised somewhere in the mil mils of dollars and now he heads to this roundtable discussion with Small Business leaders to talk about the effects of his tax cuts here in the Buckeye State. We have been talking for the past hour andahalf or so about the Political Climate here in ohio. It is as divided as it has ever been, but there is a lot of optimism about the economy itself here in ohio, things almost universally people tell us are getting better. The president is going to tout his tax reforms and his probusiness message as a catalyst for the success here in ohio. With that, bring in White House Correspondent kevin cork across from the president s venue there in cleveland as we are on the shores of lake erie. Kevin, weve been here for about 8 hours in the 48 hours in the Buckeye State. You get the feeling that there is an optimism about the economy, whether you say its because of president obamas policies that have carried through and continue to lift the economy here or whether it is because of President Trump or a combination of both. Its hard for anybody, even as we had somebody who was a democrat running for governor, to say things are that bad here. Well, listen, i think you hit the nail on the head, my friend. Lets be honest about it. If you live in the cleveland area, do you care who gets the credit . You frankly dont. You just want jobs. You want people frankly to be able to take care of themselves. Leland im going to interrupt you for one second. Im able to see the president walking in here and shaking hands at this Business Roundtable. We expect the president to speak. Unclear how many others are going to speak and introduce themselves as he goes around this group. 1 20 eastern, the president is 10 minutes late after coming from a fundraiser as he gives a thumbs up and sits down to begin his roundtable on tax cuts. Im very honored to be here. Thank you. So many of those beautiful hats. Do we love those hats. Remember, you have to win the great state of ohio and did we win the great state of ohio. [ cheering and applause ] and i always sayi sols say thisalwayssay this, how are we w compared to the election and the answer is always better. We just had a couple meetings with some of the folks. We have great, great people in this state. This is a very, very special place. This is a little bit of a Business Roundtable today. Were going to be talking with secretariasecretarysecretariase. Ive known jim for a long time and he agrees with what were doing and he agrees, you look at the steel plants and steel mills are starting to open again. I just left the president of United States steel, and he said its incredible whats happening. We did a thing called tariffs and we did it on steel and aluminum. Were doing a lot of other things. My group just got back from china. Were going to have to rework trade with china. Thats been a oneway street for decades. We just cant have it happen. So well do that and we have a lot of respect for president xi and we have a lot of respect for china but it cant go on that way. That will all work on. Were doing very well on as you know, north cree cree y well se what north korea. Well see what happened. We have the location set up. We have the date. So i think that will be something very special. If you remember, we were into that, others from the administration were saying thats going to be the toughest problem and certainly its a problem but there are many problems that well get solved. We broke 4 yesterday. You saw that, first time in you know there are two ways of saying it, you could say first time in 20 years or first time in this century. [clapping] and we really were doing great from that standpoint and we want to get our workers back. We want to get our we want to make our product here. We want to make our everything here. This is a America First now, folks. This is now America First. Its enough. What weve been doing for the last long period of time, long period of time [ cheering and applaus. [ cheering and applause ] we have make America Great again, we have America First, you can choose whatever you want or you can choose both. I want to choose both. The choice is America First. Other countries, they put themselves first. Weve had where we talked about america, well, the fact is, we want to be first. Water going to make our country great. And you know what . People from other countries, theyre going to do what they have to do but were going to bring it to a level playing field. You look at our trade deficits with every country, virtually i dont have to ask how are we doing with this country or that country. For the most part almost every time were doing badly. We have deficits with everybody. Dont let anybody tell you that trade deficits are okay. Theyre not okay. We have massive trade deficits with china. We have massive trade deficits with mexico, who would think, 100 billion trade deficit with mexico. Who would think that . And that doesnt include lots of other problems. You see that on the border. I thought they would be much tougher and better to us on the caravan. Didnt quite work out but thats okay. Thats okay. Its going to end up working out. Our borders and our laws are a mess. Our immigration laws are a disgrace. And mexico has some of the toughest immigration laws in the world. Cant just go into mexico. But they a how these people to come up through mexico and come into our country. And they know that our laws are so weak that once they get up there, its the most ridiculous thing ive ever seen. Youve seen catch and release. You catch them and then you release them. Okay . Thats what it is. Catch this is a democrat rule, sherrod brown. You catch them and release them. Just to show how ridiculous, we have judges, we have thousands of judges do you think other countries have judges . We give them trials. Thats the good news. The bad news is they never show up for the trial. They release them and they have a trial and its supposed to take place in a year. A year. Not the following day. But thats okay. Theres only one problem. Nobody ever shows up. Theyre in the country. Welcome to the United States. And these are the laws that were suffering with. This is why youll see and the wall we have to build, how about the wall where everyone scales the wall . [ cheering and applause ] now, we are fixing and building walls now but we need much more money. Were doing the job right. Were going to do the job. We may have to close up the country to get this right. We either have a country or we dont. You cant allow people to pour into the country the way theyre doing. You take a look at the mess thats on television right now. This is a total catastrophe. These are laws passed by democrats so we have open borders. They want open borders. We have to have borders. If you dont have borders, you dont have a country. So were going to have it. [ cheering and applause ] so step by step. Weve made a lot of progress and were going to be making a lot of progress on that too and we have actuallyits very interesting. In san diego, they wanted a wall built. We have the money to build a wall. We have 1. 6 billion for fixing and building. In san diego, california, where we have a lot of problems, we have a governor that is not cooperative, wants to have between sanctuary cities and letting people come in with open borders and everything else, its not easy for the Border Patrol people, its not easy for ourize people. How about the our i. C. E. People. The mayor of oakland notifies people that i. C. E. Will be coming. Everybody splits up. All of that work and all of that everything to do what they had to do turned out to be a big bust. Its very, very sad. And let me tell you, thats called obstruction of justice. You want to know, thats called total obstruction of justice. So were getting it straightened out. It will be straightened out soon. We passed the biggest tax if you look, you take a look at the tax i call it the tax cut plan. They wanted to go with the tax reform plan. I said how come since reagan nothing has passed having to do with tax cuts . And being a nonpolitics, i say how is it possible not to be able to pass tax cuts . They said well, it hasnt happened since Ronald Reagan he anywhere near what were doing. But essentially tax cuts, even at a small level. I said i dont understand. Youre going to reduce taxes for people and you cant get votes . They say no, sir. I say i cant figure it out. Then i found out, they dont call it tax cuts. They called it tax reform. Well, tax reform might mean your taxes go way up. It could mean a lot of bad things. So i said heres what well do. Were going to call this tax plan the tax cut plan. Tax cut, cut. Tax cut. Were going to cut taxes. Were not going to reform. Were going to reform too but were not going to reform, were going to cut taxes. [ cheering and applause ] so i couldnt believe it. I couldnt believe it. Because i looked i studied like four or five attempts and they failed miss ray bring. Miserably. I wanted this to be called they didnt want to do it, they thought et was hokey. I wanted it to be called the tax cut, cut, cut, cut plan. I actually did. I would have put it in. I would have put it in. You know that, charlie . And they said thats a little in front of the United States, i said okay well call it the tax cut and jobs plan and we did that and got it passed and its the first time, the biggest in our history. [ cheering and applause ] and the stock market since the election, the stock market is up almost 35 , think of that, almost 35 . [ cheering and applause ] and honestly, and companies are doing even better than that. Companies are doing better. They are ready to just do numbers that youve never seen before. And we do need people coming into our country. At 3. 9 unemployment, we need people coming in but i will tell you this. We want people to come in to our country on the basis of merit, not picked out of a [ cheering and applause ] so were working on merit systems because we need people to help. We have up in wisconsin, we have fox con coming in, thats a friend of mine, they make many of the apple iphones and apple equipment and i said to tim cook, who is now investing 350 billion, apple, and theyre bringing much of it in from foreign lands, from overseas. Theyre bringing it in because of the new tax plan, because it gave them the incentive to bring money. The Big Companies are bringing the money back and theyre investing it in the United States. Tim cookies bringing 230 billion back from overseas, money you would have never seen, and apples spending 350 billion on new plants and a campus, so its great. Its great. So we have a lot of things happening and in ohio you know whats going on, the Auto Companies are starting to come back, theyre starting to expand. I was greeted at the airport by great people and some of them were coal miners. And one of them said theyre dressed in beautiful, actually a black shirt, i said give me one of those, ill wear it if i play golf. It was beautiful. They greeted me off the airplane. There were a lot of people waiting at the airplane. I went over. They said sir, were coal miners and since the day you got elected, weve been pulling filling up the trains. I asked what do you do . They said we load trains. That says it all. They said we load trains and from the day you got elected weve been loading trains. I asked before that, how was it . They said not good. He said i havent had a day off since the day you got elected. And thats happening and it will be happening even more so. [ cheering and applause ] so when its all together and when everything is really set and its really going well, its going much better than people even understand, our military weve got 700 billion. I didnt like having to do this last budget because theres a lot of things the democrats put in that i hate. But i had to get money for our military. Our military was depleted. We werent getting the new equipment. Youve seen the same stories that i do and we needed help and i got 700 billion and then i got 716 billion and, remember, that equipment is all made here. Its made in the United States. We make the greatest missile systems, the greatest planes, the greatest military equipment and a lot of other equipment, including commercial planes. We make the greatest military equipment in the world. Youve got to see that recently when you saw what we did in syria where they said oh, we shot down 40 missiles. I dont think so. I called up. I said how many were shut down . None, none. Stealth ha missiles. Its called stealth missiles and every single one [ cheering and applause ] we shot at 109 and we had 109 hit their target. France and the u. K. Was great. They helped us. They were with us all the way and we appreciate that. We make the greatest equipment in the world. But we had to fix our military l. We also wanted something that has a tremendous impact on ohio is the opioid disaster, drugs generally but the opioid, we got 6 billion for opioid prevention and work and rehab and we need help. We need help. And were very, very tough. One of the reasons we want the Strong Border is a lot of this stuff comes in from different places, but it comes in from mexico, it comes along the southern border and were stopping it. Were making it much tougher but we cant do that unless Congress Gives us the tools that we need. We have to get rid of catch and release. We need strong, strong tools. We dont want the lottery system. We want a merit system. Can you imagine a lottery system . Can you imagine it . We take people based out of a lottery, a lottery. You think the countrys putting their finest in the lottery . I dont think so. I dont think so. All right. Think about that. [ cheering and applause ] and you know the problem is that these beliefs are so deepseated in the democrats, like a sherrod brown, i mean, have you to we need the votes. Jim will be fantastic. Youre not a big lottery system man, are you . Okay, good. Otherwise id have to take away my endorsement. No, we want a merit system where they come in based on merit. Were going to get a lot of things done. We have a lot of great people running. I think were going to do very well in the midterms. The poll numb ters numbers are y good. The question is whether or not they actually say im popular. Can you believe it . Of course the fake news doesnt think so. Fake news. [ cheering and applause ] no, its been weve been doing very well. We had a poll, 51 or 52, which came out very nicely and then i turn on like one of the networks and i see donald trump who is not very popular, and i say what are you talking about. You saw the poll came out that im above obama, above obama. [ cheering and applause ] and then you turn to the fake news and they go donald trump, who is not very popular, and im saying to myself how do they get away with it. Its going good. Were doing well. It actually amazes me, when you can be a 51 or 52 on a poll that was it was very accurate for the election one of the more accurate polls for the election and youre in that category and i get nothing but bad publicity. I say how is it possible that i can do that. Its fake publicity. I have to tell you, theres some great professionals too in that world. I dont want to make it like everybody. The amazing thing is the people are smart. They get it. You see the jobs. Now you have choice too. Just like we have the veterans choice, well get that very soon, by the way, youre going to have choice of jobs, of jobs. [ cheering and applause ] people would have one job and they were afraid to leave that job. They didnt want to leave that job because they didnt think you know, they were working youve got to love what you do. Now you can have a choice. There are a lot of jobs. Theres a lot of job openings and people that werent hiring for years and years and years, all of a sudden we have jobs. One of the folks my people were so impressed with is on my left is charlene and id like to ask some of the people up here to just talk a little bit about what the tax cuts have meant because the tax cuts have helped so many people in such a big way and charlene, do you think i could start by maybe asking you to say a few words . Sure. Thank you. Thank you. Go ahead. Mr. President its a privilege and honor to be here today. Thank you. My name is charlene thornton. Im originally from mai maine. The reason im here is because i wrote a letter to you. I didnt really think it was going to be read but it was. Theyre listening. So the subject of my letter was to let you know that this tax cut and jobs plan was affecting us positively. We also wanted to let you know that we were here supporting you. Thank you. My husband kevin was he worked in a steel mill and it closed down in 2012 due to the Company Going bankrupt. So he was then there were a lot of people that lost their jobs at that time. Our whole area was saturated with unemployed and then he spent the next one andahalf years retraining and at the same time searching for a job. Fortunately, i was employed for one of those years, the first year of it. I then became legally blind and could no longer work, couldnt drive and we have no transportation public in our area. Also, so essentially what happened was we fell on such hard times that we had to surrender our car was repossessed. We almost lost our home. We struggled every day to make ends meet. We basically lived off of my credit cards and both of our unemployment which wasnt enough to cover things. Finally he found a job, january of 2014. He is still with them. But because of the tax cuts and the job plan, theyre taking out a lot less taxes than what they had been prior to. We have actually seen in several checks 200 to 300 less taxes than what they did before the plan. [ cheering and applause ] and those are real numbers. I actually went back and looked at his income and the taxes before and after and i was amazed. So it really is working. So i do want to thank you, mr. President , for making our lives a lot less more enjoyable. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. [ cheering and applause ] thank you. This is my husband, kevin. Kevin, would you like to Say Something . Yes. Thank you. First of all, thank you, mr. President , for inviting us, giving us the opportunity to tell you our story. Ive been a lifelong resident of hubbard, a small city northeast of youngstown. In 2000, i started working for what would be known as r. G. Steel and stayed there until its closing in june of 2012. They told us all to go home. The mill had gone into bankruptcy. 50 days later the mill was sold for scrap. All of us that worked there, we loved that place, we really did and we were all deeply impacted. There was 700 of them. We all lost our jobs. I was out of work as she had said for a year andahalf and there was a brief period in time where we went with no income at all, no paycheck, nothing coming into the house. But thankfully, thankfully in january of 2014 i found employment with the Current Company im working with and its a Great Company too with great people and room for us to expand and grow. I had to drive an hour andahalf to one of their facilities. And i did that for three years until i was recently i was able to relocate to a facility closer to home. And that took off a burden for me. The company im employed with has been seeing huge amounts of demand for their product. They have this tax cut that were having, its enabling them to purchase new machinery, open up buildings they previously had closed and to hire more people. And i didnt think that i would ever be able to say this in my life, but i think i can now. At this rate, i think ill be able to be gainfully employed until my retirement. Good, good. [ cheering and applause ] thank you. Ive been hearing that from Steel Companies and in particular from u. S. Steel where i was with the president as i said and he theyre just talking about opening plants now and so many things have changed and thats because of our stance and also on the tariffs, the 25 tariff on steel, 10 on aluminum, plus it gives us the right now other countries want to negotiate with us because of it. Youre seeing things happening now. Again, were going to take care of our people. Weve been taking care of a lot of the world and they never appreciated it, a lot of this world never appreciated what we do. We fight wars for them and we fight all sorts of things and then they take advantage of us on trade, on top of everything else. So were going to keep a lot of friends but theyre going to respect us again and they started to respect us again and that makes me feel very good, so thank you, kevin. [ cheering and applause ] thank you, mr. President. For having us here today and im truly honored. Im sheri sealy, coo of sealys furniture and appliance. Weve been in business for 66 years. Were family owned and operated. We have 148 awesome employees, several are here today. We do an annual sales volume of 34 million. Its because of the dedication and hard work of our employees that we earned the number one independent furniture retailer of america award a few years ago. [ cheering and applause ] thank you. Id like to recognize my husband, dale sealy, sitting in the front row. He is our president. It was his father who started the company in 1952 with a pickup truck and a hot water heater. I mean, sealys furniture i believe is truly the American Dream success story. And i have to say that immediately upon your election, which dale and i were more relieved than you can even imagine thank you. We chose to move forward with an addition to our showroom. We contemplated that for seven or agent years. We didnt feel it was the right time. We felt with your strong leadership, now was the time to invest in our company. In the next two weeks were going to be opening our new Bargain Bonus Center and everybody at the store is very excited. That great. So thats great. So thank you very much for that. [ cheering and applause ] and then we were more excited when your tax cut bill passed in december and at that time dale and i wanted to reward all of our employees. We decided to wait a few months so it would be a surprise. So in march of this year we awarded all of our fulltime employees a 1,000 bonus and we gave all of our parttime employees good. [ cheering and applause ] we gave all of our parttime employees a 500 bonus and i must say, mr. President , they were so excited. It was totally unexpected. We had several employees who got so emotional, they cried. Just thursday one of our delivery drivers came into my office and said sharey, i have to tell you. I thank you again for my 1,000 bonus. I was going to use it to do repairs this summer but i chose to do something different. And he said i just put 1,000 down payment on a vacation im taking my family on this summer. Thats great. So that means a lot to dale and i. Thank you, sheri. Thats beautiful. Thank you. Say hello to that gentleman. Thank you. [ cheering and applause ] good job. I do want to thank you for everything youre doing for this country. I want to encourage you to stay the course and if you ever have any time of any kind of discouragement, i want you to realize that there is millions of americans across this country like my husband and i who pray for you, your family, your [ cheering and applause ] and your success. [ cheering and applause ] thank you, sheri. Thank you. Thank you for making furniture great again and thank you for making America Great again. Thank you very much. Thank you. [ cheering and applause ] thank you, sheri. Id like you to hear from one of our employees. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, so nice. Mr. President , m my name is shantell. Ive been with sealys for 22 years as a furniture Sales Associate and designer. Im a proud daughter of a coal miner. My husband, mark and i live in pennsylvania, an hour north of pittsburgh. We have two amazing children. Our daughter britney is 23. Shes a nurses aid at a local nursing home and one of your biggest fans, our 17yearold son, dylan, who graduates this year. When sheri asked if i wanted to come, she knew how much dylan respected you and so she did invite him also so hes very excited to be here. Our Health Insurance comes through my husbands employer and before obamacare, we had no premiums. We had no deductibles. Once obamacare came into effect, my husbands employer, which is a small company, was unable to cover the premiums any longer. So we now have very high premiums and also higher deductibles. Last year, we had two medical situations involving my son and then later on in the year my husband that required several days in the hospital. And my husband actually has more surgeries coming. And with the bonus that you made possible, we were able to pay down some of our medical bills. So i just really want to thank you, mr. President , and the sealys for making that possible for our family. Thank you. Thank you. Thats very nice. Thank you. [ cheering and applause ] thank you very much. Thats great. You mentioned obamacare, its been a disaster. We actually had it beaten except for one vote, you remember that beautiful night. It was defeated by one vote. They changed. But one of those things, but weve actually done a great job because in the tax cut plan we got rid of the individual mandate. [ cheering and applause ] which is the most unpopular part. And now were going to be doing other things like association Health Insurance and we have our great secretary of labor who is in charge of that and i guess over the next few weeks were going to have a very, very big announcement on health care. We have a few of them because alex az a ar will be making a big statement. By the time we do these various plans that were doing and theyre fantastic for people, and they cost the government relatively little and maybe i could ask alex acost. Arthel a few words about. The story you shared with us is a story we heard from so many americans. There are 11 million americans and their families that work for Small Businesses that can no longer afford health care. And thats a big, big problem. And so one of the things that folks dont know is that obamacare puts a greater burden on Small Businesses than on corporations. And so the president s vision is there a way that Small Businesses can band together so they can just get the same access to health care as the big corporations. So were working on a proposal to do just that and the president s very focused on this and thats something that the department of labor is hoping to announce in the very, very near future many thats going to be transformative. 11 million americans and Small Businesses that dont have access to health care that could have that access under Association Health care plans. [applause] and let me just add one final word, the president touched on the tax cut and jobs act, and i just we wanted to say that the president has