would have. i was so stunned by the conversation that i just took it in. lordy, i hope there are tapes. i remember saying, i agree he's a good guy as saying i'm not agreeing with what you just asked me to do. >> that, of course, former fbi director james comey in the d dramatic testimony on capitol hill this morning. welcome in this morning. >> i'm in for kel ly evans. the dow hit a record intrao-day but now we are down 22 points on the trading session. we'll look at what's behind the reversal. >> looking ahead as well to the u.k. elections, polls there close in just under two hours, and the house back here is set to vote on its plan to roll back parts of the dodd-frank financial reform law. that vote is expected sometime this afternoon, probably within the next couple hours. we'll go live to capitol hill as soon as it begins, so, yes, still a very busy day here. >> absolutely. plus, a high profile departure over a jpmorgan. the man often seen as the heir parent to ceo jamie dimon is leaving. we have the details. >> i don't know how we'll fit it all in. >> i don't either. >> starting with eamon on the testimony and reaction from the white house, and elsewhere, eamon? >> reporter: that's right, bill. a lot of astonishing moments in today's testimony as you played some of them. one of the most astonishingfuls comey's essentially unprompted admission that he had leaked a version of his memo he made about his conversation with the president through a professor at colombia university to the "new york times" in order not to leave his prints on it. this is that whole interaction. >> president tweeted on friday after i got fired that i better hope there's not tapes. i woke up in the middle of the night monday night because it did not dawn on me originally, there might be corroboration for the conversation, a tape, my judgment was, i needed to get that out into the public scare. i asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. i did not do it myself for a variety reasons, but asked to because i thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. >> comey not only admitting he leaked the memo he previously described as unclassified, but that he did it hoping it would lead to the appointment of a special counsel as ultimately it did, but mark, the president's private attorney, took bridge at the fact that the fbi admitted to being a leaker. this is what he said. >> mr. comey admitted he is one of the these leakers. today, mr. comey admitted that he unilaterally and smade disclosures to the press about communications with the president. >> notice what he did there in the remarks at the press club, calling it privileged communications. remember, comey said his memo was unclassified. he deliberately made it nonclassified when he wrote it because he said it might have -- he might later have a need to get it out there. the attorney, though, calls it privileged communications. is was this is privileged communication at the time it was made and at the time that comey leaked it to the "new york times"? all that still to come. there's a lot of wrestling over the details. we'll see more over the next coming days. >> we will. thank you so much. >> reporter: you bet. >> a lot of reaction to the testimony, ylan is in the actual hearing room where the comey testimony took place. she has reaction from the members of congress for us. ylan? >> reporter: that's right. this is where that open hearing took place, comey was sitting right here testifying before lawmakers, and then he headed over into a room next door for the closed door portion of the testimony. i watched him as he left that portion of the meeting. he stared straight ahead the entire time. he did not answer any questions, but the committee chairman did talk to reporters briefly. he said that he hoped that this testimony helped clear up some of the facts surrounding the russian investigation in comey's role in it. he also said that he hoped that the committee could continue to conduct a bipartisan investigation. now, some of the defense that you're starting to hear from gop lawmakers is that, perhaps, the president simply was unfamiliar with the protocols of his office. senator marco rubio addressed that question to the reporters. >> is this a concerted orchestrated effort to impede justice or nonconventional politician who never worked in government who doesn't understand or not interested in convention and how it could protect him from hearings like today? >> reporter: meanwhile, here is a reaction from one democratic lawmaker, harris, member of the committee, saying she was stunned by the allegations that comey said he was worried that the president might lie about his conversations and that's why he kept such meticulous records of the conversations. moe mentous day here clearly on capitol hill. >> thank you very much. there's what happened. let's try to make sense of it. let's bring in nick from dorsey and whitney, assistant special prosecutor in the watergate scandal going back in the day, and joining us along is robert ray of thompson and knight, independent counsel for the white water investigation. you guys both have experience in these things, and, as a matter of fact, both of you at various times were assistant u.s. attorneys here in the southern district of lower manhattan, but you both come to opposite conclusions about whether the president, president trump in this case, attempted to obstruct justice. nick, you think he did. bob, you don't think he did. nick, make your case. >> yeah. there's no question trump was involved in an obstruction of justice. the comey testimony today makes that crystal clear. he told trump, basically, to back off of flynn, to get out of the investigation, and trump admitted that to lester holt saying he had the russian thing in the back of the mind firing comey. he admitted to the russian ambassador. that's what he did. you got two other national security people that didn't testify yesterday, but when they wheth will, it's pretty obvious they were going to say they were called by the president who asked them to try to stop this criminal investigation that was being conducted by the fbi. >> okay. >> but what everybody is missing here is the motive behind what trump is doing. the idea that he's a naive wake who doesn't understand how washington works or the criminal system is absurd. he was dealing -- >> okay. >> he was dealing with general flynn, who was dealing with a russian ambassador about sanctions on russia relating to ukraine and the interference in the election. i don't believe for -- >> we have to -- >> i don't believe for a minute he did that on his own without trump knowing it, and bottom line is, the president is worried that mike flynn is going to turn into the next james mccord, the watergate burglar who wound up getting a heavy sentence and then fingering the people in the white house. >> okay. >> that's concerning. >> bob, there's a lot in that statement. let's have you parse it a little from your opinion. you do not think that the president obstructed justice, but what do you make of the kme comments of senator rubio and house speaker paul ryan saying it was an unconventional president who doesn't do things the regular way and naive how government works. >> you don't have to go there. whatever the president's hopes and intimations were, he didn't issue a directive or an order to the fbi director investigation, and furthermore, the fact anybody argues replacing the fbi director amounts to obstruction of justice does not give the president credit which his office is due which is, how can you make a personnel decision in obstruction of justice? that's a ridiculous notion. no prosecutor would ever bring such a case, ever. >> rob, i'm curious, then, your thoughts on what you think the president's intent was when he said to jim comey in there, one of the meetings, he hoped he'd back away from the flynn, from michael flynn. what was the intent in saying that? >> i think he was testing the director's loyalty. i think by his own admission, that's in some in substance what he was trying to do. again, while you think and others conclude and everyone has the right to conclude whether or not this was stunning or inappropriate or a whole bunch of other adjectives, the thoughts it was obstruction of justice is farfetched. it's not just me saying that, but legal scholars talk about the president's prerogative with regard to decisions about what to do with personnel. even if it's true that the president stepped in and actually ordered the fbi director to halt an investigation, that's not obstruction of justice. the president is entitled to do that. you may not like it. the congress might decide that that's grounds for impeachable offense, but it is not obstruction of justice. >> all right. nick, one of the most stunning things that was said in the testimony by mr. comey today was the fact that he decided he had to write down the notes of the particular meeting because he was worried at some point that if the president talked about it, he was worried the president was going to lie. that, i think, was one of the most stunning things to hear mr. comey say today. what's reactions to that? >> well, i think that was totally appropriate. i mean, i think it was his own feeling in talking to the president at the time that this person was asking him to do something that was illegal, that was obstruction of the fbi investigation, i mean, he had a better sense of what the president's intent was than anybody. obstruction of justice 12 an intent crime. if his intent was to impede, interfere, or obstruct investigation, that's obstruction. you can do innocent things like a lawyer was convicted in the southern district of new york for advising a client to assert the 5th amendment privilege, a legal thing, like the fbi director can be fired by the president, but if the intent is to end that investigation and you put into that the motive to keep flynn quiet, to keep him from cooperating and being convicted, so he doesn't finger the president, all adds up to one big obstruction of justice. >> okay. >> all right. >> good luck trying to prove that corrupted intent. >> i have no problem being the prosecutor in that case. >> no. >> we got to -- >> welcome the opportunity. >> we have prosecutors here with two different opinions. >> see you in court. >> thank you, both. >> nick akerman, bob ray, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> fascinating to see how it goes. a news alert from a high profile departure at jpmorgan. we have the story, though, this is your beat. tell us about it, will? >> reporter: it is, indeed, bill. yes, indeed, so matt, the coo of jp morgan chase and favorite to take over from jamie dimon in the long term, groomed for the role, has left the firm. spoken to a couple sources, one put it like this, it is as good a separation as can possibly be imagined. that's the tone coming from both statements. i also learned from sources that the next role present has not been decided yet, though, there's many, many officers. he's looking to run his own shop, likely to move to a smaller outfit which also suggests he won't be moving -- excuse me -- to a rival large bank. interesting in the next couple days to see financial filings towards options if he's keeping all of the options, then we can be pretty sure he won't be ending up at a rival, which clearly jpmorgan would not allow in separation terms. now, i want to give color on terms of how important he was to jp. he earned jamie's respect after the london wale issue stepping forward and put the hat in the ring to do the multiyear administrative tedious complicated roles of sorting out operations. after that, he was a favorite of dimon he was not just coo. he reason treasury business, and very much groom as a long term successor, not, perhaps, if something changed tomorrow, and with that, i say this is a very, very big surprise, this departure, nods to release it on a news day like today. one senior hedge fund mechanic described it as a huge, huge loss to the company, and with that, you raise the question, particularly, as well with the recent changes at goldman sachs, whether a ten-year plus tenure for a ceo leads to the likelihood that the next best level of talent stops to leave. stock is not reacting significantly. guys? >> i wish we could talk about the new heir, but we can't. see you later, will. >> thank you. dow down 19 points right now. >> major averages, though, hitting record highs. we'll look at how the u.k. elections impact the market coming up next. also ahead, getting the trump agenda back on track with the comey agenda done. bringing tax reform ideas for us among other things. we'll get to that coming up. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. the power of a low volatility investing approach. the power of smart beta. power your client's portfolio with powershares. before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. call 800-983-0903 for the prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. distributed by invesco distributors inc. parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long. as james comey took to capitol hill today, investors took note of two other events with global implications. we mentioned them. the european central bank left interest rates unchanged, and in the u.k. with polls open for a little bit less than two more hours, voters there are determining who will rule parliament. joining our exchange today to talk about what this means for the market, we have mark, chief investment strategist at downy montgomery scott, fred, the president and ceo of atlantic cou counsel, and steve and rick. welcome, all, lots to talk about. you know, steve, i'm going to start with you. you just said you got to love the market, picks itself up. >> dusts itself off again. deals with whatever is right in front of it and seems becoming calloused to whatever you throw at it. we've seen north korea headlines, impeachment headlines. that was the only one i thought had a lasting effect, and then the market just spit it out once they saw how long the process would take and unlikely it would be with the republican-run congress for that to even take bite or take hold, but i think today, you looked at the market. it wanted to absorb. we got the release testimony yesterday, and there was nobody that really cross examined mr. comey and unearth anything we didn't very see yesterday. >> markets shrugged it off again. >> fred, we have the u.k. election. i mean, do you see the market -- i mean, i'm thinking back to brexit, convinced they were not going to be voting in favor of that, and then, of course, we know what happened. we're convinced of how this result is going to come out today. what if it doesn't? what do you think happens here? >> well, the nightmare scenario for the markets would be a labour election, and more and more the polls are showing that's a long shot, really very unlikely, what is a little bit more likely is theresa may could win her gamble. if she increases margin in the parliament, she, then, could next week -- there would be a relief rally, so markets go up, the pound strengthens -- but you could have an offer in next week to the e.u. of a big and generous offer on e.u. citizen rights. that means residency, that means work, that means health care for the 2.9 million european union citizens who live in the u.k. if that happens, you could then have, you know, brexit would be costly, but may negotiates this in the single market, and so this could be a very good week and good period of time for europe following the macron election in france, and may here. again, we got two more hours to find that out. >> looks like that's where things are going now. fred, apologies, i mispronounced your last anytime. i owe you one. leading off on europe, and draghi left interest rates unchanged. what's next? >> you know, with mario draghi or janet yellen, i don't think anybody really knows what's next. with regards to rates or the negative rate in europe, no real new information. we don't know if they're ever-- we know in some point in the year they purchase less, but we don't know for how long and if they ramp up from that level, should they not like the reception the market gives them when they taper, although nobody li likes that word. nothing's decided. markets are smarter than us. whether it's the hearing today, the stock market popped a little bit, it's not mattering the level. it popped in a certain point in time. the same is said for what happened with regard to europe, seeing the euro, they acted as though it was a dovish statement. i agree with fred, by the way, i think the whole issue with this election is the time line to brexit. brexit is the glue that holds everything together right now in my mind in the voters' minds in the u.k., and whether they think may is margaret thatcher or not, they know that if her majority increases, most likely, it makes brexit a little bit more timely, and it certainly seems as though that's the big threat for 2016-17, getting brexit on the move. >> okay, mark, i'll ask you the high altitude question, then. this seems to have been -- the market is a teflon market. nothing bothers it right now. are we misreading it? anybody holding breath about what is still to come as far as, you know, political monetary policy or whatever it may be here? >> the market exhaled on the testimony today, but, bill, you're right about it being teflon, although, the market would focus ultimately on economics rather than politics or geopolitics, and at the end of the day, a mlot of machinations of things that have little long standing economic imprint regardless of which way they cut. brexit's largely localized to the u.k., has really little implications on the global basis, worries there concern me more as it relates to china, and national party congress meeting in the fall, whether they maintain the social foot or not or north korea or the italian elections that have been pulled forward into the fall of this year from the first quarter of the next. in the meantime, the market sees it as distant in the future or not yet black swans, and, therefore, advances on sturdy economic news and reasonably strong corporate profit growth. >> yeah. >> all right, guys, we have to go at this point. time marches later on as it's been, we like it say. thank you for the thoughts on today's market action. >> thank you. 36 minutes left in the trading action now. heading to the close, dow down just six points, nordstrom shares, though, turnisurging. >> nothing to do with my shopping. financials rising ahead of a house vote to undue significant dodd-frank regulations, and we're going to talk about that, and what's at stake, specifically when we come back. what if we pull customer insights from the data in real time? wait, our data center and our clouds can't connect? michael, can we get this data to...? look at me...look at me... look at me... you used to be the "yes" guy. what happened to that guy? legacy technology can handcuff any company. but "yes" is here. so, you're saying we can cut delivery time? yeah. with help from hpe, we can finally work the way we want to. with the right mix of hybrid it, everything computes. usaa gives me the and the security just like the marines did. the process through usaa is so effortless, that you feel like you're a part of the family. i love that i can pass the membership to my children. we're the williams family, and we're usaa members for life. at crowne plaza we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. 'a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly. looking from a fresh perspective can make all the difference. it can provide what we call an unlock: a realization that often reveals a better path forward. at wells fargo, it's our expertise in finding this kind of insight that has lead us to become one of the largest investment and wealth management firms in the country. discover how we can help find your unlock. nordstrom is a standout stock today. the stock up about almost 9% now on news that it is exploring a deal to go private. the department store chain say some members of the nordstrom family are considering a bid to acquire 100% of nordstrom's outstanding common stock. right now, that stock owns 31 partnersh31.2% of the company shares. no formal proposal yet made. nordstrom's board formed a special committee of independent directors to weigh on the matter, and, i mean, it's clear. you get the family here, very frustrated. >> very invested too. >> caught up in the problems facing department stores right now. two years ago, this was a $75 stock. look now. >> that's right. and, you know, give them increased flexibility because, as you've mentioned so many times, bill, you know, retail is being disrupted in so many different ways. nordstrom, although online business does well, they have to monetize stores in a better way. stores are dropping off. >> they just want to pick up and go home. >> they don't want to play with the stock market anymore. >> i can't blame them. >> all right, time for a cnbc news update. hi, contessa. >> reporter: tackling the senate testimony today and justified the president's interaction with the former fbi director. >> of course, there needs to be a degree of independence between us. a line of communication needs to be established. the president's new at this, new to government, and so he probably was not steeped in the long running protocols that establish the relationships between doj, fbi, and white house. >> the u.s. ambassador to the united nations toured israel's gaza border, a region hit hard by rockets over the years. planning to make emergency braking standards on new cars, saying it puts safety features on seven of 18 u.s. models in the 2018 year. this makes the system standard on 90% of the models standard in two years. that's the update at this hour. back to you, bill. >> all right, contessa, thank you very much. see you next hour. here on the floor of the new york stock exchange, 30 minutes left in the trading session. i had to pull you away. >> looking for advice. >> sure. so we're up a point after all this. i mean, i guess we could have figured this out. there was no smoking gunning. didn't seem to be any real news coming out of this. there was interesting tidbits, but markets take it all in stride. >> totally, it has been, all in stride, whether it's multiple terrorist attacks, awful as they are, nothing derailed this buy the dip mentality that prevails, and resis tapt ting news. >> why isn't that complacency? >> this is the time of year when you start to see the things thin out a little bit, bill. there's a couple big days, expirations, the russell, busiest day of the year, but going into the close last half hour today, you're not seeing the energy that you're normally seeing late in the day. >> we are awaiting results in the u.k. election. that's the next shoe, right? >> no surprises there. italian election coming later in few months or later in the summer, not going to see anything significant, china, through the fall either, so nothing on the domestic front. not surprised by the fed. only thing you have to be cognizant or aware are are the big stocks, major stocks driving market, maybe some of those dipped urn attack, and if you start to see momentum pulling out of those, that that may be an indicator that we're getting top heavy, but until them, you know, all lights are green. >> so far, so good. thanks, get back to larry there, hurry, he's walking away. >> sue? >> thank you so much, guys. 30 minutes before the closing bell, now the dow is down five points, s&p down a little bit less than one point. financials, though, boosting ahead of a house vote to roll back dodd-frank regulations. we go live to capitol hill for a report on how that vote can play out. back in a minute. the power of 100 of the world's top companies. the power of an etf. the power of qqq. the thinking we put in, clients get out. power your client's portfolio at powershares.com/qqq. before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. call 800-983-0903 for the prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. distributed by invesco distributors inc containing this information. read it carefully. what?pony neighing] hey gary. oh. what's with the dog-sized horse? i'm crazy stressed trying to figure out this complex trade so i brought in my comfort pony, warren, to help me deal. isn't that right warren? well, you could get support from thinkorswim's in-app chat. it lets you chat and share your screen directly with a live person right from the app, so you don't need a comfort pony. oh, so what about my motivational meerkat? in-app chat on thinkorswim. only at td ameritrade. what's critical thinking like? a basketball costs $14. what's team spirit worth? (cheers) what's it worth to talk to your mom? what's the value of a walk in the woods? the value of capital is to create, not just wealth, but things that matter. morgan stanley [ eerie music playing ] it takes a monster... she did something to me. ...to defeat a monster. the essesee of evil calls to you now. the mummy. rated pg-13. as you know, james comey testified on capitol hill today with senators asking about his firing. russian interference in the u.s. elections, and his conversations with president trump. so as the investigations continue, what impact might this all have on president trump's agenda? the president gave his thoughts of it earlier today. >> we're going to get health care done. we're going to get the tax cuts done. we have the biggest tack cut, and great tax reform. we're going to get it done, but, sadly, we have to do it as republicans because we won't get democrat votes. that's a very, very sad, sad thing. >> joining us to talk about the agenda, there they are, larry kudlow, and james jimmy, economic policy analyst at the american enterprise institute and a cnbc contributor. you know, guys, paul ryan is the guy who said -- he coined the term -- well didn't coin it, but brought it up, that, you know, congress can still walk and chew gum, that they won't be distracted by this. you have to admit, jimmy, that's a big wad of gum they are chewing on now facing the economic issues they want on the agenda here, right? >> yeah. but i think congress, the republicans, and the house and senate have already come to conclusion that their are not going to get a lot of leadership and help from the white house. they have to do their thing, proceed on the bills and see what they come up with. no one's waiting around for a fully, you know, detailed tax plan. i think at this point, expectations are modest, modest expectations, but a modest happenstance. that's where the president is wrong, he'll get a tax cut, but not the megalarge tax cut he's talking about. >> larry, they're not going to get help from the white house? >> well, no, i don't agree with jimmy on that, but, i mean, i can tell you right now, we're mixing the two and notes that don't mix the two, but let's mix the two. you're a lot closer on health care than people think. groups are meeting. the house has a bill. senate has its own bill. it may come sooner than you think. >> mitch mcconnell suggested as much. >> shifted his own view now, saying, we don't have 50 votes. may be closer to that. they have medicaid formulas for the states, good thing, the rest is done. >> i don't want to get deep in the weeds, but if they nod moderates, they lose conservativ conservatives, and back to where we were, right? >> no. it doesn't work that way. i mean, it seems like it, but it's less ied logical th ideolo think. it's partly ideological. there's a lot up for re-election. i understand that. there's a lot of factors here. there's much more agreement than disagreement. i would just -- i want to bring up the three pieces theory in a second, but health care, jimmy, they are closer. i think when the senate agrees, which comes soon, i think they'll get through a house conference pretty fast. i just add one more thing, let my pal, jimmy, come in, but i thought what mark meadows said yesterday, head of the freedom caucus, we had lunch tuesday, it's great. they should not have an august vacation. that's all. they should stay in. are you working in august? >> yes. >> are you working? august? >> yes. >> jimmy and i work. >> we're not working on health care. >> we work in august. he has a radio show. >> we're a united team. seems there's a lot of divisions -- >> jimmy might take a week off, but that's all. they should not take a week off until it's done. freedom caucus is right. >> jimmy? >> this is larry giving you time now. >> one oing out on taxes, before i walked up, agot a note from jp morgan saying their expectations are still going to get a tax cut, maybe half as big as what they thought. not a lot of impact on growth. i think that's really the expectation. i'm hearing, you know, similar things. yes, tax cuts, not so big, and don't expect a boom as a result of it. i think a modest expectation for a modest tax cut. surprised if we get nothing, but i think it's going to happen, just not going to be, you know, the mother of all tax cuts. >> i have to point out, you are coming back next hour. we are giving you more time next hour as well. >> i have to run this through, though. >> yes, go ahead. >> i agree with jimmy that they're not going to get the whole shabang. >> because of the calendar? >> it's a big enemy, so, real fast, they don't -- >> they don't want to pay for it. >> the idea we presented to all the senior people in the west wing tuesday, they did not agree with, but presented it, just go for the business tax cuts. okay? real simple. three easy pieces. cut the corporate rate. mediate expenses. repatriation. everyone can understand it. the world's in favor of it. >> doesn't play to the base. >> hang on -- >> they were promised middle class tax cuts. isn't that against what the president -- >> no, it's placed to the strength. >> just corporate tax cuts? >> the new chairman, our pal, jimmy knows him, i do, kevin has it, did the work ten years ago. the biggest beneficiaries of a business tax cut, large and small companies, is the middle class wage earning. they get 70% at least of the benefits through capital formation investment productivity and corporate profit. they win. it's a middle class tax cut, and president trump has to sell it that way, but here's the colleger. three pieces can be aa tattache the bill coming up for health care. they don't have to wait. this one. it's legal. you can do it. it's feasible. >> okay. >> that had the west wing guys taking notes. doesn't mean they agree. just means they were taking notes. taking notes is better than nothing. >> all right. asking you both to take notes, write things down -- >> which one, jimmy? >> mcconnell taking notes? >> hang on. we'll bring you back next hour. >> you know, this is a wall street has been focused on this like a laser beam. we'll see you next hour. >> give jimmy his due. >> he'll be back. >> he's a regular on my radio show on saturdays. you forgot to promote that. >> i'm aware. >> hopefully we'll plug it next time. 15 minutes before the closing bell. too bad he's not passionate. the dow jones industrial average is up four points on the trading session, and s&p still slightly negative. all eyes on capitol hill for the sena senate, but the house is prepared to move on the financial choice act. what it means for the banking sector next. >> still to come here, snapchat fell by 22%, but there is a bigger number that has snap investors concerned. we'll share that with you coming up. say carl, we have a question about your brokerage fees. fees? what did you have in mind? i don't know. $4.95 per trade? uhhh. and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee? guarantee? where we can get our fees and commissions back if we're not happy. so can you offer me what schwab is offering? what's with all the questions? ask your broker if they're offering $4.95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab. welcome back, the senate intelligence committee likely had millions watching the testimony of fired fbi director james comey on tv today, but away from the cameras, the house of representatives is poised to make significant news impacting banks. we are at the white house with the story for us, hi, kayla. >> reporter: sue, there's one of us, myself, watching the vote unfolding on the house floor right now. we are nearing a vote on the financial choice act, a vote more than a year in the making. the chair of the house financial services committee, and despite the fact that the text of the bill will now be debated and taken up by the senate, the overarching principle that the market seems to be betting on today is that there will be some tail winds coming to the regional banks, to the community banks, and that some of the onerous regulations in place by dodd-frank will be taken away in the future. speaker paul ryan said on the floor of the house as much earlier today. >> our community banks are in trouble. they are being crushed by the costly rules imposed on them by the dodd-frank act. this law may have had good intentions, but its consequences dire for main street. >> reporter: that being said, this is a first draft of a dodd-frank replacement, and it's far from the final draft. he's changes that senators, moderate republican, as well as democrats, which will need some votes, you need 60 votes to get a financial reform bill passed in the senate, will be looking to make when they actually take up financial reform at some point in the future. first of all, you're going to see some of the big bank, not necessarily getting the more lax treatment this smaller banks are treated with. the larger the bank, the more scrutiny is stepped up on that. second of all, the senate does not want the wholesale changes to the consumer financial protection bureau that the house currently espouses. the senate does not want to e eliminate stress tests, but could potentially modify them, and, timely, the current draft of the house bill calls for repeal of the house of labors few di fiduciary rule. that being said, really, what they are waiting for is the treasury department to come out with recommendations. they want to have the white house and the treasury's buy-in on whatever they propose, so we're a long way from finished, but this is a very significant development. guys? >> slowly the wheels continue to turn. somehow. kayla, thanks very much. see you later. heading into the close, dow up 13 points now. >> away from washington, there was other news. whether the markets break higher or, perhaps, not right after this. y to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced. our senses awake. our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say...if you love something set it free. see you around, giulia thithis is the new new york.e? think again. we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment. new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov i'm ricardo, a sales and service consultant here at the xfinity store in bellevue, washington. here at the store, we offer internet, tv, phone, customer service, home security. every situation is a little different. it could be about billing, simple questions like changing the phone number. sometimes, they want to upgrade, downgrade, but at the end of the day, you want to take care of the customer. one of the great things about comcast, there's always room to move up. of course, it depends on you, how hard you work. ♪ with all that's going on, stocks hitting a new high. opportunities to get into the market now, and joining us, bill smead from smead capital management, the bull in the discussion, and joe duran, who is cautious on stocks. good to see you both. you, bill, you are watching the faangs, worried that if they go, then the rest of the market could too, right? >> well, it looks more a lot like '99, and if you remember back in '99, the tech dominants were so heavy that the market break in '00 and '01 was a blessing to the stocks neglected. we're nervous, but at the same, it's likely to go on as long as interest rates stay this low. >> joe, you're invested in the u.s. market, but you are cautious. you broadened out your portfolio. yet the market, despite all the things going on on capitol hill and elsewhere, continues to push generally higher. >> yeah. well, i think we should see what's happening, what's happening is interest rates are are going down. it's forcing people to take more risk with their portfolio, going into real estate, going into equities. but we're also seeing, though, as interest rates go down, i think, generally, the data is not supporting the optimism that people feel, so all of the soft data, like optimism measurements, business sentiment, all very, very strong, but the data, itself, is not good. i think that we're trending closer to the 1.8 to 2% growth rather than 3%. >> i like to pick up -- >> seeing good offshoots of optimism in the international markets. >> hang on, guys -- >> love small caps, but not doing great. >> let's make it meaningful to investors. what are you buying and selling? one's a bull, the other a bear. bill, what are you buying as you fear that the, you know, the faang stocks leave the market, what are you looking at to buy? >> great question. you have to buy misery in here. the market is putting very, very high prices on the things they have confidence in. what you need to do is look at health care. you need to look at media. you need to look at the consumer. we like walgreens with the consumer. scripts network, you know, a mountain of women between 30-35 having babies and buy homes, and they watch hgtv and food network, and that's owned by scipps. we own amgen, rarely get to buy a superior company like this at a 14 multiple. that's this year's earnings, not next year. bill is right, with people indexing so much, they put almost all money in a certain group of names, but neglects people who are losers from the politics or amazon or the tech bubble. >> okay. >> you know, joe, i got a little less than a minute left. where do you put money to work now? >> well, first start with larger companies then smaller companies. trump's agenda slows down, has been by the russian distraction, it takes longer. stay with large companies, they benefit from a weakening dollar, another consequence. second, invest internationally. large companies have that. if not, invest directly in europe. third, speculative money, emerging markets are a very interesting place to be. those three areas wayi ining is i i look at investing, and ensure allocation is appropriate for the risk profile. a lot of people, portfolios drifted out of the core allocation. >> indeed. good to see you guys, thank you. bill, joe, always enjoy having you on the show. thanks. >> thank you. up next, coming back with the closing count doup. >> we are. after the bell, more on jameis comey's testimony on capitol hill and impact it could have on the president's academic agenda in the second hour. with e*trade's powerful trading tools, right at your fingertips, you have access to in-depth analysis, level 2 data, and a team of experienced traders ready to help you if you need it. ♪ ♪ it's like having the power of a trading floor, wherever you are. it's your trade. ♪ ♪ e*trade. ♪ ♪ start trading today at etrade.com two and a half minutes left. i'll show you the dow here. i defy you. i can't tell you the number of theories and thoughts today on the impact the comey hearings may or may not have today. do you see in there anywhere, did it go up as he talked, and when he finished, it went down? you tell me. we're up ten points. no big deal. the markets we watch with great interest, wti and crude, a huge selloff yesterday. you might imagined there's a bounce, we didn't. down. we when it was said and down. $45 on crude. gold is pulling back from those year highs that we saw earlier in the week. now we're down to 1280. the fire is out there. that's for sure. yields on the temperaturn-year . we heard positive impacts that's had on the banks, but at a time, it was 220, and now 219. >> the key thing in the comey testimony is the vix dropped during the testimony, below ten, whatever you say, the markets were not particularly concerned about the impact of what he was saying. don't sparse that. >> they diffused some of the concerns yesterday by the release of the written testimony a day ahead of time, don't you? >> vix, yes, but we watched exactly what the markets -- down, and second thing is, bond yields moving up was, i think, a major story. we had a lot of volume in etfs associated with treasuries, efts, you see the ief and shy, you see that, they have been undero underowned recently. a multiyear high on citigroup, a lot of talk on that, and no bounce on oil after yesterday, down 5%, 52-week lows in a number of big oil names today including marmarathon. >> awaiting results from the u.k. elections as well. we'll look at that and house vote on pulling back dodd frank and other things in the second hour of the closing bell. ♪ welcome to the closing bell. i'm sue herera for kelly evans. bill is joining me in just a second. wall street, what a day it was. the dow, s&p, and nasdaq all in green. nasdaq at a record high. the dow jones industrial average finishing up fractionally to the plus side off the best levels of the day, the s&p 500 up just a fraction of a percent, but the nasdaq gained better than a third percent, and that puts it at a closing record high. the rustle 2,000 actually, the biggest percentage gainer on the session today, up 1.33%. the big story today, fired fbi director james comey's testimony on capitol hill. >> i was concerned he'd lie about the nature of the meeting, so i thought it important to document it. that combination of things i never experienced before, but led me to believe i have to write it down in a detailed way. >> do you think the president was trying to obstruct justice or just seek for a way for mike flynn to save face? >> it's not for me to say whether the conversation with the president was in effort to obstruct. >> reactions coming up, but joining us, mike santoli, danny hughes, and tony. guys, it's been quite a day, both in washington and here at the new york stock exchange. danny, your per special circumstan circumstance, bill said earlier, comments made of teflon. there was gyration in the day, but despite what happened, market was plus. >> everybody watched what happened with comey and was there a bomb that was going to be dropped, and just like on the highway and slowing down for an accident because there could be a head in the road, i think that's where everybody's attention was, but nothing happened. you know, volatility continues to continuement there were a lot of things that lent themselves to a quiet market today, which was interesting. >> i believe the line is, what's that in the road ahead. what's that in the road -- >> yeah, that was a tough one. >> a head? >> visual there. >> stop ahead. >> yes. >> so, i mean, the super bowl, we were told? >> right. >> we got interesting tidbit. >> sometimes the game's done when everybody -- >> it seemed like from yesterday afternoon when we got the testimony to today, tluhere wera couple gambits, traders condition to think the big known event days are mostly just to be gotten out of the way so the market does its own thing. there were rally attempts. i think today the big story is it continued, what i call the e m rotation. banks up 1%. you had small caps participating up. one reason we ended up flat opposed to up a little bit was you lost energy after about 1:00 p.m., so it's essentially just money just being shifted around and holding in there because i don't really think the market is extrapolating a lot of implications, policy or otherwise, from what's happening in washington. >> or, tony, could it be with interest rates as joe duran pointed out, as interest rates go down, there's less asset classes in which to put your money? >> that's a theme, too, but what's happening, what mike said, there was a defensive trade put on. there was a risk off trade put on, and for the viewers, i think, when you want to figure out when it's happening, watch what's happening with gold, the yen, bonds, and the vix. the only thing that's not rallied is the vix. the other three, when you put on a systemic macro trade, i watch this stuff. you know that it's already embedded in the market place, and it'll come off, and to mike's point, came off last night. >> we figured out what the election results are going to be. >> oh. >> i mean -- >> talk about a macro event. >> if, in fact, the safety trade, bonds, gold, the vix everything, was in part anticipating what comes out there as well, we remember brexit last year -- >> right. >> and it's interesting, because since brexit, since trump, there's been a large diminishing utility where each election headline that has risk to dislocate the market has a lesser impact each time, so you're -- in truth, your defensive trade is lesser so post-reaction to that is lesser. >> so let's bring in eamon on the story of the day with fireworks on capitol hill. jim comey testifying about the russian investigationinvestigat conversations with the president. we have highlights from the white house. >> reporter: bill, that's right. feeling emotional and defind in the beginning of the remarks in regards to the firing. >> although the law required to reason at all to fire an fbi director, the administration thin chose to defame me and, more importantly, the fbi, by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the work force had lost confidence in its leader. those were lies. you hear that in the catch of the word lies. that is not a word you hear anybody associated with the fsa about the president of the united states. we heard the director say that the president had told him he hoped he could let the flynn investigation go, that is, the fbi director felt he was being directed to let the flynn investigation go, and trump's personal attorney, marc, took strong exception to that at the national press club later this afternoon. >> the president never informed directed or suggested that mr. comey stop investigating anyone including the president never suggested that mr. comey, quote, let flynn go, close quote. >> reporter: he said the president never extracted a loyalty pledge or attempted to from james comey, something he testified to on capitol hill today, and so at the end of the day, we're left with a situation where one of these two parties is simply not telling the truth. either the things happened or they did not happen. comey, today, saying they did. back over to you guys. >> yeah, and marc's response tells me there's no tapes or if there are, they will never see the light of day here, don't you think, mike? >> seems so. there was a misstatement of the sequence in marc's statement as well. who knows what we are to take away from this. i think the markets are taking away that policy is no more or less stalled than before. whatever you thought about it a week ago, it's probably the condition we are are in right now, but, also, that d.c. seems like it's kind of digging in for this process to play out. >> does that matter when you're managing money? how does that impact how you allocate clients' caps? >> matters for two reasons that conflict. i mean, one is that, traditionally on wall street, we like gridlock and nothing happening, we like when there's no new policy introduced. however, this market is reacting to what we hoped would happen, which is tax reform and regulatory reform, and we can't even get to that because of what's happening down unmanageay is introduced. >> we call that the trump trade after the election. is that still in place there? is that premium still in play? >> the trump trade was a trump fade since december. look at the banks, the industrials, the energy, the materials against the anti-trump trade, technology and health care, that has been an awful trade in four to five months. i think this -- as we talked to companies and clients, i think the most important thing to bring to the viewers is the trump trade is none. animal spirits are not about donald trump. the animal spirits are about you know there's no new regulation or higher taxes coming into play here. why is the nfib or small business optimism staying high while at the same time, these things are no, ma't coming to p. you know it's not going to get worse. if it's not going to get worse and raise as much money as you want, it's just as good. now you loosen up the pursestrings. that's a super important -- >> what were you going to say? >> reporter: i was going to ask a question for you guys in the markets. i mean, we talked in the beginning of the year as you pointed out about the trump trade how that was based on assumption we get a couple things including major significant tax cut. we were going to get infrastructure spending, and we were going to get deregulation. strikes me out of the trump agenda, you've gotten a big healthy dose of deregulation, but you have not not the tax cut or infrastructure spending. does the market need to dial back to where it was when it began the assumption that those things were coming? >> it -- i -- we upgraded three weeks ago. we upgraded the trump trade because it was penalized, knowing to deny's point, it's never going to happen. >> the thing, too, the window is open. it's happening constantly. when the window is open and wall street is working and companies are getting funded, all is well. >> capitalism. just to be clear. that's called capitalism. >> right. >> that's true. mike, just because we have not seen tax reform yet, a health care bill, infrastructure spending, larry kudlow pointed out that they may be close on health care. this isexpecting to hear from the president. doesn't mean it's not going to happen. >> close along the fronts. >> expectations too high for washington to work more quickly. >> i think one of the things helping the market stay supported the way it is aside from the corporate bond market, which is, basically, the thing most important tell, that the fact we don't need policy to get us out of a bad situation. right? you're talking about earnings estimates are holding up for the year, world economies in good shape, and markets are participating in the upside. so you don't have to say it's policy or nothing. policy would be a boost, maybe, and, by the way, if we all the sudden got accelerated moves towards tax cuts and whatever else, i think we'd be talking about are we going to overheat at economy at 4.3 unemployment. that's crazy. that's the debate to start after we pass that. >> that's the risk. >> conversation after the fed meets, i'm sure. thank you, always great to see you, tony, long time no see, see you later. michael, you're on the clock. you're coming back here. a little later. so, comey says the president lied about him and defamed the fbi. when we come back, we'll talk about whether all this attention being paid to the testimony and the ongoing russian investigation could throw a wrench into trump's foreign policy and national security agenda. later, how the outcome of the snap british election might impact the currency market, specifically, and your inve investmen investments. you're watching cnbc, we're first in business worldwide. the mummy has returned. what the... [ eerie music ] [ guitar plays ] [ music abruptly ends ] [ alarm beeping ] [ guitar plays again ] [ music abruptly ends ] [ alarm beeping ] [ guitar plays again ] [ drum beats ] [ upbeat music ] she is real. the mummy. rated pg-13. hey you've gotta see this. cno.n. alright, see you down there. mmm, fine. okay, what do we got? okay, watch this. do the thing we talked about. what do we say? it's going to be great. watch. remember what we were just saying? go irish! see that? yes! i'm gonna just go back to doing what i was doing. find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. the russians interfered in our election in the 2016. they did it with purpose. they did it with sophistication. they did it with overwhelming technical effects. it was an active measures campaign driven from the top of the government. there's no fuzz on that. that happened. >> was the russian activity in the 2016 election a one-off proposition, or is this part of a a long-term strategy? >> it's a long-term practice of theirs. it stepped up a notch in a significant way in '16. they'll be back. >> this was very significant, some of the testimony here from former director comey talking before the senate intelligence committee on how pervasive the russian intervention has been tech logical in the election process. how does this affect the administration's foreign policy and national security agenda? >> joining us now, national security attorney, senior fellow at the center for strategic and international studies. welcome, gentlemen, nice to have you here. starting with you, jeff, how does it impact foreign policy, if at all, for the president? >> first of all, there's a clear effect on the administration's policy towards russia, unable to make serious shifts in policy because of investigations. there's one direct impact. i think, also, you know, if you look at the friends and allies, and if you look at adversariead they are trying to figure out if they deliver on commitments it makes it foreign policy, and the more distracted the administration is with domestic political difficulties, the harder it is to deliver on foreign policy commitments. >> mark, if the einvestigation continues, how much russians affected it, and how much they were doing, but once that's complete, do we have, in the united states, have any recourse, anything we can do to get back at the russians, legally? >> sure. there's always things that we can do. from one country to another, obviously, in position of sanctions, dealing with whatever relations we have, and retaliating, if that's the case. i mean, let's not be so naive to think that the u.s. government doesn't do things like this around the world either, at least historically. whether we do it with respect to russia, i don't know. you know, these are activities the country engages is, and if you're caught, what's the repercussion? >> yes. you know, jeff, there's also a credibility issue. as the investigation comets to either progress or uncover something new, does the administration's credibility suffer in the eyes of foreign leaders? and to your point, whether or not they think the administration will be able to execute what it has put out there in terms of its foreign policy goals? >> well, i think that, certainly, the administration's credibility overseas is tied up to the president's domestic position at home, and so as we see this congressional inquiry and various inquiries move forward, i think that can have a significant effect. you know, just to look at one example, you know, last -- two weeks ago, the president was in brussels. his staff prepared him to make certain commitments and ask for return commitments from the nato allies. the president diverged last minute, and left everyone uncertain about where the u.s. stands. >> the old article v omission in the speech there. >> exactly. exactly. you know, the president can decide what to say, but when he veers off course, then it undercuts credibility of his cabinet members, and their ability to work on his behalf. >> yeah. >> mark, what did you make of the response from the white house, and, especially, from mr. trump's own lawyer and they are denying a lot of what jim comey went on in the conversation between the the president and comey with the meetings in the oval office there. >> right. the white house said, of course, that the president doesn't lie, and president trump's personal lawyer called mr. comey a leiar and defamed him by indicating he leaked classified information to his friend at columbia and the media, which is not any interpretation you get out of today's hearing, but i think even in a bipartisan way, the senators today, praised mr. comey repeatedly with respect to his integrity, his expertise, their dealings with him essentially setting up this dichotomy between the two individuals as to who do you trust? think about it from the community intelligence sto standpoint in the trenches now asked to essentially decide who do you believe? your former leader of the fbi or the president of the united states? >> yeah. i guess it's inevitable. it's a he said, she said. somebody has to decide at some point. mark, jeff, thank you for joining us today. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. >> all right. a news alert on retailer hudson's bay. what's going on there? >> hi, bill. yeah, more evidence of weakness in the retail sector. hudson bay, based in canada, but owns so many, says it's laying off 2,000 jobs, announcing first quarter retail sales decreased almost 3%, in fact, lower comp sales, driven by slower traffic, decline in international sales, and a shift in timing of two major promotional events. hudson bay says while the market remains particularly challenging, we are taking steps to adapt,ing beginning with the launch of this transformation plan, which includes a strong emphasis on digital, lastly, hudson bay announcing a leadership change, hudson bay naming a new president, and the former president will continue as the president of just lord and taylor, but that's the update from hudson bay. back to you guys. >> all right, thank you very much. all right, we just talked a little bit about the foreign policy and national security angles of this afternoon's testimony on capitol him. coming up, larry kudlow and jimmy are back to discuss whether health care might take center stage now that mr. comey's testimony is in the rearview mirror. first, the possible heir to jp morgan's ceo jamie dimon is exiting the bank. the big take on the loss for the wall street giant next. excuse me, are you aware of what's happening right now? we're facing 20 billion security events every day. ddos campaigns, ransomware, malware attacks... actually, we just handled all the priority threats. you did that? we did that. really. we analyzed millions of articles and reports. we can identify threats 50% faster. you can do that? we can do that. then do that. can we do that? we can do that. approaching medicare eligibility? can we do that? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind, medicare only covers about eighty percent of part b medical costs. the rest is up to you. that's where aarp medicare supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company come in. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they could help pay some of what medicare doesn't, saving you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you've learned that taking informed steps along the way really makes a difference later. that's what it means to go long™. call now and request this free decision guide. it's full of information on medicare and the range of aarp medicare supplement plans to choose from based on your needs and budget. all plans like these let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients, and there are no network restrictions. unitedhealthcare insurance company has over thirty years experience and the commitment to roll along with you, keeping you on course. so call now and discover how an aarp medicare supplement plan could go long™ for you. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. plus, nine out of ten plan members surveyed say they would recommend their plan to a friend. remember, medicare doesn't cover everything. the rest is up to you. call now, request your free decision guide and start gathering the information you need to help you keep rolling with confidence. go long™. ♪ all right, time for fast take, first up, the nordstrom family is considering a bid to take the retailer private as traditional brick and mortar retailers struggle. stock up 10% today. michael, what do you think. >> you know, it seems, obviously, a move based on desperation. >> yes. >> on the fact you have a family with a large, near controlled steak looking at a stock price going down every day, and a legacy question. you know, it tepn fact, ab acceptability is private equity. every other, neiman marcus is in, j. crew is still in, and i think that's been telling you that the big money's not sure they see value that they can project. if there's a bid, financing coming together, could be representation that maybe it could. >> up next, shorts on snap are piling up as investors bet against the stock. ahead of a lock upexpiration in july. the stock is down more than 20% since the day after its ipo. not all tech stocks tanked, though, when their lockup expires. >> no. >> many do, but not all. >> often a lot of pressure right before that lockup date. obviously, the street anticipates that coming. facebook is a really interesting example. of course, everyone remembers it was down big, almost straight after the ipo for months. in august, lockup happened. stock down that day. a week later, it bottomed for good, and it's where it is today. basically, the lockup was almost a thing that had to get out of the way before the stock recovered. we'll see. snap not necessarily in the same situation. >> yeah. >> i have noticed when stock had a big selloff after turnings, above the ipo price, initial issue price. >> it's an event risk. all right, a potential successor to jp morgan is leaving the bank, chief operating officer, matt zames, leaving after 13 years, i'm struck -- i thought history's repeating itself. jamie left citi. he was sandy's heir parent. it's happening again. >> it's happened multiple times under jamie dimon. go down the list. eight or so years. one running visa, was going to be the successor, frank, now running first data. they were on the operating committee, in the stable. so i think you're seeing at least a little bit of questioning as to whether, you know, dimon wants to stay there. he's 61. but it is interesting you have this dynamic. there could be opportunities elsewhere. >> to new zealand where the world's biggest lamb exporter hopes to reverse decades of declining consumption by breeding fattier sheep because they are cut off by lean cuttings of lamb. >> i love lamb. >> i do too. >> i don't want fatty lamb. >> i know why it's brought up. i made lamb last night. there it is. my wife had a girl's night out, i made it on my own last night. i'm the only one who likes lamb in the family. >> it's delicious. >> you don't find that it suffers for being lean? >> no. i prefer the leaner -- i don't know what they are talking about. people want fattier lamb? >> if the industry there is misattributing why people have stopped eating as much lamb. they are saying, well, we went to the leaner sheep. >> might be sometimes it's a little gamey. not when bill makes it. >> that's my wife's line. >> gamey. >> i don't think so. >> it has a distinctive taste. >> that was politically correct, mike. >> delicious. >> lean lamb. >> we have breaking news. >> what's going on? >> watching stocks sinking in the after hours after the fda just now said it's requested that endo's pain medication that it's requested that be removed from the market. now, they say that's based on concern that the benefits of the drug may no longer outweigh its risks. the agency say it's the first time it's taken steps to remove a currently marketed pain medication from sale due to the public health consequences of abuse here. endo is down 14% here. this coming from a quote really high up in the press release from the new fda commissioner who pledged to take a lot of firm action on the epidemic in the country. this drug is not a huge moneymaker for endo anymore. you're seeing stock react strongly there. we reached out company, have not heard back, but we'll bring you any news on this. back to you. >> thank you very much. all right, time now for a cnbc news update. >> here is what's happening. while comey testified, trump spoke at the faith and freedom coalition annual conference today. he did not discuss comey by criticized democrats for being obstructionists. >> if we had a plan to give you the greatest health care ever in history, you wouldn't get one vote because they are obstructionists, they are bad right now for the country. they've gone so far left that i don't know if they can ever come back. house republican steering committee said he be chairman of the house to succeed chaffetz. >> hyundai recalls 600,000 vehicles in the u.s. in two separate recalls. it covers more than 437,000 santa fe and santa fe sport suvs from 2013-17. that's the news update now. back to you, bill, sue. >> i feel up to date. >> indeed, thank you. >> thank you. the testimony of former fbi director james comey leading all the headlines, of course, today, and now that it's over, does it pave the way for the white house and congress to move forward on replacing obamacare, for example? that's coming up. and yahoo! share shoulders proving the sale of the operating business to verizon. why remaining assets could give the best clues on outlook for tax reform. our daily treat. ♪ go ahead, spoil yourself. the es and es hybrid. experience amazing. the power of a low volatility investing approach. the power of smart beta. power your client's portfolio with powershares. before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. call 800-983-0903 for the prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. distributed by invesco distributors inc. this is a story about mailion. read it carefully. and packages. and it's also a story about people. people who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams they're handing us more than mail they're handing us their business and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪ looking from a fresh perspective can make all the difference. it can provide what we call an unlock: a realization that often reveals a better path forward. at wells fargo, it's our expertise in finding this kind of insight that has lead us to become one of the largest investment and wealth management firms in the country. discover how we can help find your unlock. welcome back to "closing be bell," a look at the house floor right now, the financial choice act up for vote, 221 votes and counting, a vote more than a year in the making before this administration, before the 115th congress, republicans have been eyeing replacement for dodd-frank, and this is at the least, a first draft, has the votes to pass, now off to the senate, and the senate comes up with version of a bill, the two sides meet, and then come up with a new bell. remains to be seen whether that is a process that will actually result in something that both sides agree on, but for now, significant development, bill and sue, for a long time coming for republicans on capitol hill. >> yes. presumably, jeff is out of the fetal position now, as a result. >> yes. >> thank you. >> we think so. >> all right. thank you. well, ochf course, watching that story and the story today that former fbi director comey testified to congress about why he documented his conversations with president trump. >> i was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of the meeting, and so i thought it really important to adopt it. that combination of things i never experienced before, by i was led to believe to write it down in a detailed way. >> just moments ago at the white house, president trump was asked about mr. comey's testimony. >> mr. president, any reaction to comey's testimony? any reaction at all? do you think he told the truth to the senate? >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> that was no response. >> basically no response. >> okay, all right. >> that was good. >> deflected the question. >> that was really good. >> sure the attorney told him to not say anything. >> yeah. white house supporters said comey confirm what president trump said all along, and attention should shift to tax reform and health care. you know larry's waiting in the wings. >> you heard that. larry kudlow is back with us, cnbc seep your contributor, does that make jimmy jr. contributor? analyst at the aei. >> baiting you, jimmy. >> i'm in a class by middle east. >> yes, you are. >> touche. >> by the way have we become so immune that when we have a former fbi director calling the president of the united states a liar, potentially a liar, i mean, i think that's bad. >> that's crazy. i think that's bad. >> i'm not going one way or the other -- >> right. it's bad. >> this testimony, and we're just moving on. right? >> i will grant the people were tough on him, whether he deserved it or not, you can debate that until king come come, but i don't think a distinguished public servant wants to go out like that calling the president a liar. >> unless he's steamed. >> look, i'm not a lawyer, and robert mueller, doing a great job in the investigation. >> his baby now. >> i don't understand the club you played. comey has every right, in fact, it's good practice, to write a me memo, but what i don't understand is why he didn't send that immediately to the justice department which, by law, he's obligated to do under any conflict of interest threat. >> well, he talked about it. >> i know he wanted health care, but he talked about that, getting number two and three together, the leadership of the fbi direct, just keep it in a box. >> why? i don't understand that. >> i don't know. >> if you're saying, if you're saying you're blocking an investigation, look, he's subject to a criminal charge. it's a felony. i've never understood that part. >> well, what do you think? yeah. >> about this? about health care? >> both. >> start with this first. >> listen, i think calling the president is liar is serious. i think if you're the president of the united states, lying is also serious. american people decide who is telling the truth. who was i going to send it to, sessions? he rescued himself from the investigation for reasons may be not what the attorney general said. he found it to be a very weird situation and awkward situation as he said in the testimony. >> yeah. all right. well spoken. on to health care. let's do this. let's do this. can they get it done? we talked about it last hour. mitch mcconnell saying potentially they've got something coming together there, but not convinced they have 50 votes in the senate here. >> they can't. they may no. kudlow prediction, take it for what it's worth. i play optimistically. i hear optimistic things about the meetings. i was there tuesday. the senators in particular, the lamar alexander, ted cruz group in the beginning, adding the committee chairman, mcconnell blesses their work, and i hear they are getting closer and closer, i feel like playing t optimistic side. >> jimmy, what do you think? they were miles apart in the first rendition. has that much changed that to larry's point, they will be able to come together and get if done? >> it might. i think there's a 50/50 chance, maybe a bit better that they pass something. reminding everyone, a lot of house effort, this thing -- they push it through fast, and there's not going to be a lot of conversation about it. it's going to have to get -- >> they won't wait for a cbo score, i guess? >> they are going to have to get a cbo score. i think they have to get a score. that aside, it's coming fast. whether or not it will be enough to match up with the house version or conservativeconserv d moderates come together, but it will look, in one way, like the house bill, but for some, looks too much like obamacare, and there's a tension, which has not been resolved. >> do you think that a bill can get through both the house and the senate, pass the reconciliation portion, if the cbo rules that it's going to mean maybe 20 million people losing insurance? >> you know, at this point, the cbo, it's not personal, i know them, they are so discredited. >> come on, larry, it's to be nonpartisan. that's why they are there. >> i understand that. that's the point. >> when they disagree, you say they are discredited? >> yes. i'm saying it's -- look, bill, i'm not questioning the motives. they are nice family, freegod fearing people, but they are not telling us what the models are consistenting of. the prior models were off 100%. it's a cliche at the cbo. i'll add jimmy is more on t optimist optimistic, but i want to come back to the point that congress should not take an august recess. i'm dead serious about ling abo. they should not leave. no vacation until they get the darn work done. that's all. >> also the debt ceiling. >> and stick on the three easy pieces in the business tax cuts, get it all done. >> no doubt the democrats gain the cbo for obamacare. that said, the cbo is a fine organization and directionally exactly right. a lot of people lose welcome. this is a massive tax cut for the wealthy. you can argue about the decimal points, but that directionally, they nailed it. >> i don't. he snuck them in there in the end. a great man, but i'm just saying no. it's middle income wage earners tax cut, and choice will make more. >> we have to go. >> everyone's yelling at me to wrap. that's all. >> there you go. >> it's done. >> also when they yell at you, them you go? >> every's in the ear. eardrums. whatever. >> thank you, both. >> now this coming up, citizens in the u.k. making a choice as we speak to determine who rules parliament and the country. we'll go live for the latest. take a look at what the election's outcome could mean for the british pound and impact on the currency markets. stay tuned. when this bell rings... ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected. that's the power of and. to be a nightmare! does nobody like the future? c'mon, the future. he obviously doesn't know intel is helping power autonomous cars and the 5g network they connect to. with this, won't happen in the future. thanks, jim. there's some napkins in the glovebox. okay, but why would i need a napkin? you could have just told me a bump was coming. we know the future. because we're building it. thithis is the new new york.e? think again. we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment. new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov the power of a low volatility investing approach. the power of smart beta. power your client's portfolio with powershares. before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. call 800-983-0903 for the prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. distributed by invesco distributors inc. containing this information. read it carefully. ♪ contato err is human.mation. read it carefully. to anticipate is lexus. experience the lexus rx with advanced safety standard. experience amazing. welcome back. we are less than 15 minutes away from the first closing -- polls closing in the u.k. we'll send it back out to the latest on the crucial vote, will? >> reporter: very exciting, sue, as you say. 13 minutes to go until polls close, bang on 5:00 p.m. eastern time exit poll, and with it, first indication britain's prime minister. we are looking at 650 seats in total at stake in parliament. you need 326 for the majority. question one, do conservatives retain current majority, and with it return to may to 10th downing street as prime minister. question two, how big is the majority? the biggest numbers is that they expect a 70 majority, a total of 360 for the conservatives. now, markets and the pound will likely react to whether theresa may does better or worse. look at the pound over the last week. it's risen in line with may's stopping the rot of the last couple of days. her poll numbers improved. that tallies with most forecasts that if she does better than expected, the pound rises, a look at big ben, less than 12 minutes to go. >> wait for the striking of big ben to know when the polls close and get a first look there. thank you, see you later. >> what impact does that have on the pound-sterling? there's a disagreement. i mean, if theresa may returns, a hard brexit, lower pound, but could be a better economy, so a higher pound. which way do you go? >> knee-jerk reaction, if may wins, holds on the majority, that's the key question. we could see sterling test at 13055 area, idea is that that is a key level going back to the brexit decision almost a year ago. we've stalled below that. push through there and get profit taking. a knee-jerk reaction, sterling goes up by may majority, but off later with profit taking. if she gets the majority, is she a weakened leader? faux pas in the election, but it was her to lose, and she's doing her best job. >> what do you think? >> polls narrowing. >> i guess the question is in that context, who knows if she's weakened or not, but what it means in terms of defining what hard brexit is from here on out, so wince election results are iin maintaining a majority, what do you look for? >> out of the u.k.'s hands now. once the u.k., like, triggers article 50, now the eu has the initiative. so i think that it's hard to imagine a soft brexit, hard to imagine how the u.k. has both control over the borders, immigration, and free unfettered access to the common market. it's hard to imagine the u.k. having both too, and i think overtime, the economy's weaker, and if so, the consumer pulls back as wages are not really keeping pace with high inflation. >> it is a hung parliament, there's speculation that would open a door to a second scotland referendum on independence. one, do you agree with that, mark, and, two, what would the implications be for the currency? >> good question. it's -- many of the free pushing the referendum, but don't have the numbers. >> right. >> best sense is something like this, if they have a hung parliament, a funny term, in most countries, it's a coalition government, but here it's a hung parol left. who is in a coalition? not enough in the majority if they lose, and so maybe it's the scottish tories in a state whery could lose, if scottish nationalists, they could rule from the uk side. i wonder if they can have a referendum under these terms. >> we'll know in ten minutes wolford frost was so excited. >> he's been waiting three days. >> back on after 5:00. >> thank you, good to see you. all right, coming up next, we will take a look at the house passage of the financial choicing a and what it means specifically for the banks. >> later, financials that did rally today. >> that has one technician looking at three bank stocks you want to buy. he'll tell you what they are tonight on "fast money". stay tuned. there's nothing traditional about my small business. i count on my dell small business advisor for tech advice. with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs, and i get back to business. ♪ we cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. and at $4.95, you can trade with a clear advantage. fidelity, where smarter investors will always be. . just moments ago, the house passed the financial choice act. that bill now heads to the senate and the financials were moving higher today mike santelli in response to that and perhaps that is anticipation of it. >> i think definitely anticipation of the general move towards easing regulation, sure, financials were up. >> that will help the banks, much like health care, whatever passes through the house like everyone says doesn't have a big chance of getting through the senate, directionally, that's where things are probably headed. definitely, i don't know if the cfb will go away or severely weakened. i think it's a gesture that says this is where we're headed even if not in this extreme form. >> well, this is one of the tent polls that the industry has been waiting for at this point. a lot about tax reform, reforming dodd-frank has been a big part of this. >> reforming, fought dismantling, the rules of the road are we like for them to be easier, more transparent in terms of what you are looking for. even jamie dimon who referred to it as dodd franken stein he is in favor of keeping some parts, they need to have it for some regulation. >> the financial system is sound. that's one of the things it does, there is a lot of research that says a lot of the biggest companies in the industry are beneficiaries of some regulation in some form. >> it started in 1994 as jerry and david's guide to the world wide web. today that website known as yahoo held its final shareholder meeting. we have a live report coming up. , with help from our advisor, we made it through many market swings. sure we could travel, take it easy... but we've never been the type to just sit back... not when we've got so much more to give when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. ameriprise we're drowning in information. where, in all of this, is the stuff that matters? the stakes are so high, your finances, your future. how do you solve this? you don't. you partner with a firm that advises governments and the fortune 500, and, can deliver insight person to person, on what matters to you. morgan stanley. but we should be seeing more range of motion.k good, i'm fine. okay, well let's see you get up from the couch. i'm sorry, what? grandpa come. at cognizant, we're uniting doctors, insurers and patients on a collaborative care platform, making it easier to do what's best for everyone's health, every step of the way. you may need more physical therapy. ugh... am i covered for that? yep. look. grandpa catch! grandpa duck! woah! ha! there you go grandpa. keep doing that. get ready, because we're helping leading companies lead with digital. ♪ ♪ welcome to holiday inn! ♪ ♪ thank you! ♪ ♪ wait, i have something for you! ♪ ♪ making every stay a special stay. holiday inn, smiles ahead. whether for big meetings or little getaways, member always save more at holidayinn.com yahoo trading higher today as shareholders approved the sale of the company's operating bes to verizon. deidre has the bittersweet details for us. >> reporter: hi, that's right. now first bell also, as a result of that sale 2,100 jobs will be cut next week. that would represent 15% of the new combined aol-yahoo company. now yahoo declined to comment when an aol spokesperson says consistent with what we have said since the deal was announced, we will be announcing our strategy. earlier they were at a special and final meeting. yahoo giving at this time green light to that $4.5 billion sale to verizon. they extended a tender offer to buy back up to $'billion of shares to june 16ing. yahoo shareholders will be left with a new firm which will hold 60 billion in yahoo andally baba if japan. guys. >> all right, thank you very much. altava? you will pay a lot of money for that. >> this is an investment company. it will insist of cash and ali baba. it will make yahoo a good tail for tack cuts. there is an embedded liability. these steaks stakes down at a low cost. >> it's got to be phosphating to see how that plays out. >> you will often have to strak the spread. >> and the volatility in the stock depending on what they end up doing or not doing. >> i was getting kicked out. they are buying back the stock to soak up that supply. >> a lot of financial engineering going on. >> have a good evening. >> thank you, pleasure. >> yes, we we heard all the tweets yes like it's 1989 all over again back towing again. we'll be on "nightly business report" tonight as well. >> that does it for closing bell. "fast money" begins right now. >> "fast money" starts right now with breaking news. we are all over the two big stories at this moment t. polls closing for the uk election just now and former fbi director james comey with explosive testimony on capitol hill earlier today. eamon javers has the latest on that. wonderful bur ross is in london with the very first poll results. >> reporter: wow, this is getting the numbers in, 314 for conservatives. that is a very poor result for the conservatives. they missed the majority t. pound has fallen to 128.

Related Keywords

New York , United States , Canada , Japan , Washington , China , Whitehouse , District Of Columbia , New Zealand , Russia , United Kingdom , Togo , Gaza , Israel General , Israel , North Korea , Capitol Hill , Hudson Bay , Saskatchewan , France , Italy , Italian , America , British , Russian , Russians , American , Theresa May , Marco Rubio , Larry Kudlow , Joe Duran , James Jimmy , Mike Flynn , James Comey , Dodd Franken Stein , Jamie Dimon , Nick Akerman , Janet Yellen , Kelly Evans , Mitch Mcconnell , Hill Jim Comey , Bob Ray , Ted Cruz , Paul Ryan , Jim Comey , Jimmy Jr ,