Fleischmann on bipartisan border security meeting: We heard few absolutes, both parties are being flexible

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Fleischmann on bipartisan border security meeting: We heard few absolutes, both parties are being flexible

Tennessee Republican Rep. Chuck Fleischmann says he is optimistic about the future of a bipartisan border security deal.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," January 30, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: It's now colder in parts of the United States than it is on Mars -- Mars -- the polar vortex bring wind chills of minus-60 degrees to Illinois.

Some areas of Minnesota could come close to minus-70 degrees, all of this so out of this world, but it's "Your World," and a frigid world at that.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto.

And, man, oh, man, is it cold outside, across the Midwest and the Northern Plains, even here along the East Coast. Americans are bracing for the bitter cold from this deepest of deep freezes. It is so cold, states of emergency have been declared in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

The Postal Service is holding mail deliveries in parts of 11 states. In Chicago, they're setting fire to train tracks to keep those trains moving. It's so cold there that even hot water is literally freezing over, as our Mike Tobin discovered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE TOBIN, CORRESPONDENT: Aside from the seriousness, let's do that trick where the reporter throws a hot cup of water into the air and see how this works out. There you go, a cup of mist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: Because we thought you should see that.

And in one South Dakota school district, they're using a hot dog -- a hot dog -- to announce school closings because of extreme cold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's way too cold outside. I'm a hot dog. I need some heat. I'm not a cold dog. I'm not a cold dog. I'm a hot dog. You can't have school. It's too cold outside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: And we're all over that cold with WFLD reporter Sally Schulze reporter at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where delays and cancellations are still piling up, Laura Ingle in New York City, where folks are just bundling up, meteorologist Rick Reichmuth on how long it's going to take to finally warm up, and Phil Flynn in a bone-chilling Chicago on how much it is costing just to heat up.

We begin with Sally at O'Hare.

Hey, Sally.

SALLY SCHULZE, WFLD REPORTER: Hello there.

Our normal words like brutal and bitter just do not do justice to the level of cold we're talking about here today. It is dangerously cold. Of course, that's having quite an impact on travel across the country, including right here in the Midwest.

I want to show you the latest numbers of flights being affected by this extreme cold weather. Right now, there are 2,446 delays within, into and out of the United States. The cancellations so far today in the United States, more than 2,600, a bulk of the problem coming from right here in Chicago, where we have seen passengers just grimacing as they check the departures board that is full of cancellations and delays.

At O'Hare Airport right here, more than 1,500 flights have been canceled today. Now, this is the hub for United Airlines, which has canceled about 80 percent of its schedule here. The other main Chicago airport, Midway, has about 330 cancellations at this point.

The city aviation department simply tells me it's due to extreme cold weather. I'm hearing from passengers here at O'Hare that planes are having trouble refueling in this cold. American Airlines is serving chili to employees here, handing out cold weather gear as well.

Down at Midway Airport, Southwest Airlines says it just does not want to expose the employees to these extreme conditions for more than 10 minutes at a time. So, some stranded travelers I have spoken to say they understand they have to be patient during this deep freeze.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS O'BRIEN, STRANDED TRAVELER: If people are outside, they could get frostbite, and so they have got to bring the people in, and so that slows down the equipment. If you think about it, it makes sense. It is negative-54 with windchills.

CONNER O'BRIEN, STRANDED TRAVELER: Not looking like I'm getting out today. And, like he said, it's -- you don't want people out there in this kind of weather. So I'm trying to be patient. Hopefully, we will get on the flight when we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULZE: And it goes beyond the airports, the severe arctic blast even stopping the mail in some areas, including right here across Chicago.

The United States Postal Service announced no mail will be delivered in parts of 11 states today, from North Dakota to Pennsylvania. They're still trying to figure out if there will be deliveries tomorrow. It's not the first time mail carriers haven't been able to do their jobs. But past disruptions have been on a smaller scale.

And we're not done with this arctic air. Tomorrow, we're talking about windshields here again in Chicago negative-40 to negative-45, so the travel at the airports is going to be impacted.

Here in Chicago, even Lou Malnati's Pizza closed down today, worried about the safety of delivery drivers. So when pizza is disrupted here in Chicago, you certainly know it is cold -- back to you, Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, game over there. Sally, thank you very, very much.

So, how long will this deep freeze last?

Let's go to meteorologist Rick Reichmuth at the FOX News Extreme Weather Center with more.

Hey, Rick. What are we looking at?

RICK REICHMUTH, CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's a good question.

Not that long, and that's the good part. Cold -- really cold that lasts a really long time is certainly much worse than really cold that doesn't last a super long time.

Last night, this is what your overnight low temperatures were, minus-28, actual air temperature. These aren't windchills. These are actual air temperature. Minus-23 in Chicago. With these kinds of numbers, none of those places broke their all-time records. Chicago, you're getting closest, and your coldest ever is minus-27.

Tonight, we have one more shot to get at that. Here's the windchill, though, minus-40 up in Baker Lake. That's way north towards the Arctic Circle here in Canada. And it's minus-41 windchill in Chicago.

Cold air settles down here across the part -- across parts of the South. But it doesn't go real deep down across areas of Florida. And this colder air mass is going to slowly retreat up towards the north. So, obviously, it's still really cold here, especially across the Ohio Valley, around areas of the Great Lakes.

When it goes in towards the temperature -- you can see temperatures minus- 15 in Chicago, and with the wind, feels like minus-41. That's kind of the repeated story. When you go towards the all-time lows, though, the only one here that we stand a chance of breaking, that's that minus-27 in Chicago, likely tonight, right around minus-24, minus-25.

I think all the rest of the cities, we're not going to break those records. Here's your forecast windchill. Watch how this plays out throughout the next number of hours.

By tonight, colder. In fact, there's a snow squall moving through New York City down towards Philadelphia. Behind that is where the cold area is. And you will see it's going to feel below zero by this evening across parts of the Eastern Seaboard, tomorrow morning, still very cold back across parts of the Great Lakes, and then goes out through the day on Thursday.

And by the time we get towards Friday, the really, really cold air is gone. That said, we're still at 3 in Chicago, so not getting that much better right away.

But, Neil, this is the point. Today, we might get to, say, minus-14 in Chicago. Watch what happens here by the weekend, Saturday 40, Sunday 48. You're going to be outside in short sleeve shirts by Sunday in Chicago. So cold doesn't last all that long.

CAVUTO: All right, Rick, thank you very, very much, Rick Reichmuth.

Let's go to New York City now, where folks are bracing for single-digit temperatures tonight and maybe worse.

Laura Ingle on how it is not just impacting people, but a lot of businesses as well.

Hey, Laura.

LAURA INGLE, CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

You can feel it coming ,just like you can feel the cold in the air, phone calls being made right now as we speak for services during this cold snap. We're talking about plumbers and heating services, online services, but not every business is so lucky, if you want to call it that.

The plumbers are certainly very busy right now. They're juggling calls. One I spoke with today here in the city say that had they had 18 broken pipe calls just last week. More are coming in today, he said, adding they also get a lot of calls when the temperature goes back up, when an icy pipe melts and a leak then reveals itself.

There is such high demand for heat, U.S. trucking regulators suspended work restrictions for truck drivers hauling heating oil, propane and other fuel across 23 states through the end of the week. Auto shops, you better believe they're busy. They're seeing an increase in business, dead batteries leading the charge of complaints.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's awful. It's really awful. That's over 10 years old, so I'm worried it won't start.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the top thing you can do, is just stay off the roads. This is great for business. It's not so good for cars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGLE: Right.

Well, others benefiting from this bone-chilling cold, restaurant deliveries. Bite Squad in Wisconsin said food with the word hot in it is up 21 percent. How can you blame them? But anything with the word cold is down 42 percent.

It's all about the soup. And according to Planalytics, other categories which will see spikes this week compared to the same week last year, snow removal up 50 percent, sales of blankets up 45 percent, heaters up 41, firewood up 35 percent, and jackets up 30 percent.

Businesses that are seeing or expected to see declines, sit-down restaurants, malls, basically anything you got to get in your car and go out and see yourself, and ice cream shops too.

And, Neil, surprisingly, beer and alcohol sales are on the list of expected losses. So chances are most people went and supplied themselves with that, as well as the food they need during this bitter cold snap -- back to you.

CAVUTO: You can only imagine. Laura, thank you very, very much.

Meanwhile, natural gas prices are rising as the mercury drops. That is not surprising. What happens now and where these prices go is anyone's guess.

Let's go to energy watcher Phil Flynn in Chicago, where last time we checked it was minus-11 degrees outside.

How's it going there now?

PHIL FLYNN, PRICE FUTURES GROUP: It's feeling beautiful. I mean, this looks like Mars. I think I saw a couple of green people walking across the river.

Sure. It is cold out here, Neil. I'm telling you, I don't think I have ever experienced anything quite like it. But I will tell you, when you're from Chicago, you get used to it, but you're not going to get used to your heating bills when you open up that bill this month.

We're going to see a substantial price spike, because these type of temperatures mean you're going to be using a lot more energy to keep your house heated with natural gas or heating oil, you name it.

But that doesn't matter to a lot of people in Chicago. They would be just happy to have heat and electricity in the first place. They'd be happy to pay anything right now, with these kind of temperatures.

But we're hearing a lot of power outages in Chicago, a lot of places where they haven't had heat. There was even one report that they lost power on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group for a short period of time. They went to emergency generators, but the report was the heat was off.

But thank God that traders can keep warm by moving around a lot, because they were able to continue trading today.

But, seriously, we're very hopeful that if we see a warmup in the temperatures next week, which is -- which is predicted, that the bills in February hopefully will not be that bad. We have seen a switch in the weather forecast for February, which may ease our year-over-year heating bill pain.

But winter is not over yet, Neil. It's going to be very expensive this month. Let's hope it warms up for next month, so we don't have to empty our wallets.

CAVUTO: All right. Thank you, my friend, very, very much, Phil Flynn in Chicago.

As he pointed out, this is a dangerous time, at least five deaths being blamed on this weather. How can you protect yourself from the brutal cold?

Let's bring in Dr. Janette Nesheiwat.

Doctor, very good to have you.

DR. JANETTE NESHEIWAT, FAMILY AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE: Good to be here.

CAVUTO: There are some practical things we have to be aware of.

NESHEIWAT: Right.

CAVUTO: Obviously, not to be out in this too long, sometimes, the lower the temperature, not to be out at all, right?

NESHEIWAT: Correct.

It takes, Neil, as little as five to 10 minutes to develop frostbite, hypothermia. Frostbite, that occurs when the tissues, your fingers, your toes, becomes almost frozen cold. Sometimes, it's reversible, and sometimes it's not.

And hypothermia can set in. That's when your body temperature, if it drops as low as just to 95 degrees, you can start having symptoms. Hypothermia, even if it becomes more significant, your -- you can have heart arrhythmias, you can go into cardiac arrest, muscle breakdown, tissue breakdown.

So it's very important to stay indoors when the weather's -- when the temperature is so extremely low. But if you do it have to...

CAVUTO: It's hard to do, though. In places with a windchill factor of 50, 60, 70 degrees below zero, what do you advise then to do?

NESHEIWAT: So, if you have to go outside, keep it short. Keep it minimal. Obviously, dress in layers, loose clothing, hats, scarves, cover your nose, cover your mouth, because I am seeing a lot of lung injury, upper respiratory tract infections, pneumonia.

CAVUTO: It's hard to breathe, right?

NESHEIWAT: Absolutely.

What happens is, when you breathe in this cold air, it can be actually inflammatory and cause inflammation and swelling in your lungs. And it can cause wheezing and coughing and fluid buildup in your lungs, where you end up in respiratory distress.

And it's even more of a problem if you have underlying asthma or COPD. So that's why it's important stay indoors, stay hydrated, keep your inhaler on you, and make sure you're taking your medications.

CAVUTO: We go from minus-40 degrees with windchill, let's say, in these parts, and all of a sudden by this weekend, it's going to be 40 degrees above zero.

So what do you advise people who could obviously get sick just with that swing?

NESHEIWAT: Sure.

Get your flu shot. That's very important, because viruses thrive in these cold weathers.

CAVUTO: It's never too late for that, right?

NESHEIWAT: No, it's not. It's not too -- right now, it's not too late.

To get it in the middle of the summer, it may not be much of a benefit to you, but it's very important, stay hydrated. That helps with circulation and tissue function. Get plenty of rest. And be sure to get a well- balanced diet and try not to consume too much alcohol, because that can also interfere with body mechanisms of keeping warm, such as shivering.

CAVUTO: You're a big believer in this balanced diet thing, aren't you, Doctor?

NESHEIWAT: Yes, it's really important.

CAVUTO: Funny how you just remind me of that all the time.

NESHEIWAT: No, it's not you. It's everyone.

CAVUTO: Right. Right.

NESHEIWAT: I know we had the bacon issue yesterday, but...

CAVUTO: Yes. I hear bacon is good at this -- for dealing the cold.

NESHEIWAT: It's good, yes, definitely therapeutic in these -- in these cold weather times, with some hot cocoa, right?

CAVUTO: Yes, not a bad combo.

NESHEIWAT: It can definitely...

CAVUTO: But use common sense.

NESHEIWAT: Yes, you got it, common sense.

CAVUTO: Doctor, thank you very, very much.

NESHEIWAT: It's my pleasure.

CAVUTO: Just to put this cold weather in perspective, we told you how it's colder in many of these parts than it is on Mars. We also told you earlier on FOX Business it's colder than it was in Antarctica.

And someone reminded me, yes, Neil, but it's summer in Antarctica. Nevertheless, Antarctica temperatures average during the so-called summer about 20 to 25 degrees. So it's colder than Antarctica. So, I still stand by that, to dramatically bring home the point, it's cold! Be careful!

We will have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: We were up 434 points today.

You can credit obviously some better economic expected news that came out and also the Federal Reserve sort of mapping out a strategy that says something like this: We're not going to be hiking interest rates for a while. Furthermore, we don't see any reason to for a while.

To former Dallas Federal Reserve adviser Danielle DiMartino Booth.

Do you agree with that point of view?

DANIELLE DIMARTINO BOOTH, FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE ADVISER: Well, I don't necessarily disagree that the time is right for the Fed to pause.

But I think that the communications strategy at the Fed has completely broken down. The Powell pivot is finished at this point. And according to my Twitter feed, he's lost all credibility.

So I would have preferred to have seen more consistency, Neil, in the messaging over the past few months.

CAVUTO: All right, now, the irony here might be that, as many folks criticized President Trump for jawboning the Federal Reserve about overdoing it on the rate hikes, he all but seems to -- that is Jerome Powell -- to have acknowledged that.

DIMARTINO BOOTH: Yes, he has.

And that is also not good optically. I would remind you that the Federal Reserve is an independent and apolitical institution. And we now have -- Jay Powell is now broadcasting that he is effectively kowtowing to the whims of the White House and to that of the stock market.

And these are -- these are -- these are statements and movements that are a complete antithesis of how he started out, as a much more skeptical, staunch and apolitical Fed chair.

CAVUTO: All right, well, whether he's responding to political pressure or not, the markets liked what he said today...

DIMARTINO BOOTH: Oh, yes.

CAVUTO: ... that he would be patient on future rate hikes here.

And I'm wondering what that means. Does that mean no rate hikes likely at all for the year, or what?

DIMARTINO BOOTH: I think that that's what we have seen the market price in this afternoon, is that we're not going to have any rate hikes.

And then he also brought up the subject...

CAVUTO: But isn't that unrealistic for the whole year to think that they would have to stick to that or would even stick to that? I guess it's possible.

DIMARTINO BOOTH: Well, I think it's realistic, because, Neil, he took the next step. He also said that the balance sheet that the president has also tweeted on is now up for negotiation and that, over the next several meetings, they're going to be discussing what it would take, what thresholds there would be for the Fed to stop its quantitative tightening, which is a second form of tightening.

So I think if he's already speaking about that, he's really moved past rate hikes. And that is what markets celebrated.

CAVUTO: All right, so, real quickly, if earnings are still the call -- and they have been better than expected -- we saw after the bell better than expected news out of Facebook and Microsoft.

That's continuing unabated.

DIMARTINO BOOTH: Right.

CAVUTO: So that's sort of the wind at the market's back, isn't it?

DIMARTINO BOOTH: It is definitely a tailwind.

We have seen quite a few companies come out and disappoint. We still have earnings growth lower than the inflation rate, but, boy, did we hit the ground running this morning, when Boeing came out with a blowout set of earnings.

And we have really kept that momentum alive going into the close today, obviously.

CAVUTO: Absolutely.

All right, Danielle, thank you very, very much.

Then there is the shutdown and whether it could force stocks down if they don't reach a deal in 16 days. That's how much time they have to do it.

Peter Doocy with more on that.

Hey, Peter.

PETER DOOCY, CORRESPONDENT: Neil, at this meeting with lawmakers from both parties and both chambers of Congress, designed to avoid a shutdown in two weeks and two days, there really wasn't any negotiating.

Lawmakers instead just made speeches laying out their positions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our Border Patrol tells us that they need physical barriers to help them do their job, not from coast to coast, but strategically placed where traffic is highest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Both sides today also stressed that they are going to check with the White House along the way to make sure none of the conference committees' proposals go further than President Trump wants, because whatever they come up with, they need him to sign it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN, D-ILL., MINORITY WHIP: Well, I can tell you that the statement by Senator McConnell that he doesn't want to see another Trump shutdown is a good starting point here.

We have an incentive for us to work together to try to solve this problem on a bipartisan basis. And I'm hopeful we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: The magic number is still $5.7 billion. That's how much President Trump still wants for the border wall. But it's not at all clear if anybody got closer to that number today -- Neil.

CAVUTO: And time is a wasting, as you say.

Peter Doocy at the Capitol, thank you very, very much.

Well, it comes down to semantics. Right? You say border, I say barrier. Why Senator Majority Whip John Thune says, let's not call the whole thing off.

He's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, R-CALIF., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: The wall or the barrier does a lot of things to protect our country.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Have I not been clear on a wall?

REP. STENY HOYER, D-MD, MAJORITY LEADER: Physical barriers are a part of the solution.

REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA, HOUSE MINORITY WHIP: Some form of physical barriers.

REP. DOUG COLLINS, R-GA: Not barriers, not security, wall money.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, D-N.Y.: Fencing where it makes sense.

REP. DAN KILDEE, D-MICH.: Fencing and barriers where appropriate.

SEN. JON TESTER, D-MONT.: Fencing is probably going to come up.

REP. MARK MEADOWS, R-N.C.: Strategic fencing and border barriers.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL, D-CALIF.: A contiguous wall is an immoral symbol of America.

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER, R-N.D.: Some version of a barrier.

SEN. BOB CASEY, D-PENN.: Fencing, because that's what the experts tell us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: It's like the only "SNL" skit. It's a floor wax and a dessert topping.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: We're arguing over semantics here, and this could shut down another government?

I don't know.

Republican Senate Majority Whip John Thune joins us right now, way too young to remember that "SNL" skit. Unfortunately, I am not.

SEN. JOHN THUNE, R-S.D.: I remember all those skits.

CAVUTO: But, Senator, it does seem so silly that we go back and forth. You call it a wall, I call it a fence. You call it security funding. We call it wall funding, when the two sides are actually closer than it would appear, right?

THUNE: Well, absolutely.

I think that there -- the deal is there. It's just simply, how are we going to define this or what terms are we going to use? But as long as Democrats are willing to come to the table, Neil, and negotiate in good faith on an agreement that would include border security measures and funding, that -- not to exclude, but to include some sort of physical barrier, I think we can get to a deal.

But they have been reluctant, at least so far, to engage in that kind of a discussion, and hopefully that's about to change.

CAVUTO: All right.

Well, I'm telling you, Senator -- and I have talked to a good number of Democrats -- they don't like the word wall.

THUNE: Right.

CAVUTO: So just come up with any other word but wall.

THUNE: OK.

CAVUTO: And they also have a problem with the $5.7 billion that the president wants.

So, on the stuff that you can control, like the $5.7 billion, would you say and would the president say that is a drop-dead, unbreakable figure?

THUNE: Well, ultimately, it's what the president will sign into law.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Do you think he would sign something with less than $5.7 billion for a wall?

THUNE: I can't -- I can't speak for him. He's been very, very wedded to that $5.7 billion number in every meeting I have been in.

CAVUTO: Do you think it would be a mistake for him to make or break this deal if he doesn't get the $5.7 billion?

THUNE: Well, I think, as long as he gets a significant commitment -- this is my view speaking, not the president, because obviously the president...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Understood.

THUNE: But if he could get a significant commitment, resource allocation to a physical barrier, fence, wall, whatever you want to call it, along with some of the other things that Democrats want, some technology, some additional manpower, and a deal that does do what we need to do to secure the border, I would hope he would be open to accepting that, because, to me, at least, there's some room to negotiate perhaps on the number, obviously on the definition of what constitutes a wall.

But once we can sort of resolve those issues, we ought to be able to come together in a bipartisan deal and find something that the president would be willing to sign into law. I think that's the way out of this dilemma that we seem to be currently in.

CAVUTO: You know, what is interesting, Senator? A conference committee has little more than 16 days to settle these issues. Do you honestly think that it could?

THUNE: I -- it's a short amount of time in congressional-speak, in terms of being able to get things done.

But we all know what the issues are. We all know what the levers are. We know how much -- where they can be dialed. And so once these folks sit down at that table, Neil, and are sincerely willing to get a result or to get an outcome, I think it can happen.

And I certainly hope that it does, because, as you mentioned earlier, we don't want to go down that path. Nobody has an appetite for another shutdown. There are a lot of concerns about the president using the declaration of an emergency in order to accomplish this, although that's something ultimately he may be able to do.

But the best way to do this is the old-fashioned way, negotiating it, legislating it. And all it requires on the part of the Democrats is them being willing to come to the table and negotiate in good faith.

My impression has been all along that, for them, this is all about beating the president. And they have developed now this question of the morality of a wall, not something that plagued them when they were building them under Clinton or building them under Obama.

But now all of a sudden they have this newfound opposition to walls. But whether you want to call it a wall or a fence, physical barrier of some sort, let's get some resources allocated to defending America's border and stopping all the gang traffic, the drug trafficking, the human trafficking, the weapons trafficking.

CAVUTO: I hear you.

THUNE: All those things that are a real problem down there.

CAVUTO: So, it can be a floor wax and a dessert topping, is what you're telling me. All right.

THUNE: Of course. It's win-win.

CAVUTO: Absolutely. All right, Senator, thank you very, very much.

THUNE: Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO: Meanwhile, talking politics here, is there such a thing as peaking to earlier or getting too much attention too early?

Why California Democratic Senator Kamala Harris might be asking that question as we speak.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, here's a sign that Kamala Harris is a big deal.

Republicans and Democrats are pouncing equally on her get rid of private insurance altogether -- what she said that proves she is a big deal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: How important is it to your health care plan to get rid of private insurance companies, because there's some confusion about that?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-CALIF., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes. So I'm glad you asked.

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: So the bottom line and the most important is that everyone have access to health care. That is the goal, that is the purpose for me supporting the policy of Medicare for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: What she said as a senator is a lot different than what she says as a presidential candidate. She is saying the same thing, but it's getting a lot more scrutiny because she's a prominent and right now a front, leading Democratic candidate for the presidential nomination.

What she said was eventually to get rid of private health insurance, in favor Medicare for all. She's finessed it somewhat there, talking a little bit about some of these other issues that are getting a lot of attention.

We have the director of public policy, Jenna Ellis, over at Dobson. We also have the FOX News contributor Kat Timpf, progressive commentator Rashad Richey.

Rashad, to you.

How big a deal is this, this distinction she draws, saying, in the quest for Medicare for all or coverage for all, the goal is the same, health coverage for all?

RASHAD RICHEY, PROGRESSIVE COMMENTATOR: I think it is a big deal how you word things in a presidential election.

So, let's be clear. Insurance companies are not in the business of making you healthy. They are in the business of making money.

A lot of people are actually in favor of Medicare for all, until they realize that it de facto eliminates private insurance companies. And some studies suggest that within four years a single-payer system would eliminate all known private insurance companies.

But I think she is on a route in her presidential campaign to have a Bernie Sanders-like movement as it relates to health care reform in the United States. And I believe we have room for that conversation.

CAVUTO: Kat, do you think the quest for Medicare for all, which would seem by extension the mean private insurance for none, if that's the route you're going to go, she has to clarify that, or did her distinction today that her goal is to make sure everyone has health coverage enough for the time being?

KATHERINE TIMPF, CONTRIBUTOR: I think that she absolutely needs to clarify that, because it's something that matters to Americans.

Recent polls show that the majority of Americans who do have an employer- sponsored plan are happy with that plan, and Medicare for all means if you like your plan, too bad, you can't keep your plan. And that's what he was alluding to earlier previously, Rashad was alluding to earlier, is that when Americans find out that Medicare for all would eliminate all private insurance companies, only 37 percent of them say they support that.

So there really isn't the kind of support here that she needs in order to get votes. A lot of people are scared of this idea of socialized medicine. It's -- it may be something that plays well in super left circles, and being super left can get you a lot of media coverage, if you look at AOC, if you look at Bernie Sanders.

But when it comes to average Americans, a lot of Americans don't want to hear language like that. And they like the insurance plans that they have already.

CAVUTO: It depends if they're delivering the goods for them.

But, Jenna, I am wondering on -- and this idea that many people thought that Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act was dead. I mean, all of these candidates are saying a variation of coverage for everybody is still alive and well.

The buzz saw that the senator ran into is apparently torpedoing private plans -- initially, that was the perception -- in favor of something government-run to do it, but that -- that is the direction the Democrats are in.

JENNA ELLIS, ATTORNEY: Yes.

And the progressive left is continuing in that direction. And we know that single-payer health care is not economically viable or even constitutionally available.

But I think that there's a more sinister reason why the progressive left is so focused on single-payer health care, and that's for state-sponsored abortion coverage. When you have private companies like Hobby Lobby and you have religious organizations like Little Sisters of the Poor, who have the Supreme Court's backing for religious exemptions to not have to provide coverage for contraceptive use or for state-funded abortions or for private-payer abortions, then you have to have single-payer health care, so that we have state-sponsored abortions.

Then the progressive left will advance their sexual revolution agenda, and they will then run the fallacious argument of separation of church and state and say that, under single-payer health care, government has to sponsor abortions.

And when you look at the laws coming out of New York, coming out of Virginia, and this emphasis on abortion, that's really what this is all about to the progressive left.

CAVUTO: But, Rashad, it's also a money issue, right?

I think it's a good thing that something like this occurred early in the campaign. And what -- I can't believe we're this early into it, where they are already announcing, but that you have to find a way to pay for something you're proposing. And the hard lesson here for the senator, whether it was by accident or design, is people are going to come to back to her and say, the only way you can get Medicare for all is to junk private insurance for all as well.

And she ran into that reality. So, math might be a bigger issue than right to life, right?

RICHEY: Yes.

And that may be true, but I don't think she has the ability right now to calculate how much this would really cost, because the truth is, Neil, nobody actually knows. Nobody knows how much this would really cost.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Rashad, I know it's very early, but what makes her a front-runner? She's drawing huge crowds, big ratings, big attention, Barack Obama-like. Why?

RICHEY: Because she's dynamic.

She has a credible voting history as it relates to those in the Democratic establishment. She actually does have a liberal voting record as a U.S. senator, as short-lived as that has been.

But, Neil, I think her bigger issue is not really to sell this to the general American voter, but really her own party. You have U.S. senators like Tim Kaine and others who are not there get as a relates to eliminating the private -- the private payer system and extending Medicare for all.

So even within her own ranks, you do not have a general consensus yet.

CAVUTO: Well, she is a target, so that might be speaking something to her appeal.

Kat, what do you make of that?

TIMPF: I mean, right, she is a target. She is a likable person, right? She had a huge rally. She had 20,000 people there when she gave that speech. She obviously has some appeal, so she's obviously going to be a target.

But, at the same time, I think that we're going to see the Democratic field be much wider. We're going to have a lot more people still announcing. So I think she just announced at the right time. I think maybe Elizabeth Warren announced a little too early.

But she is able to get people excited. And we can see that that's something that does matter. I mean, if you look back to candidates from Barack Obama, President Trump, these are people that people got excited about. And people definitely are excited about her in terms of likability and those sorts of things.

CAVUTO: OK.

I want to thank you all. Thank you very, very much.

All right, in the meantime, here's the thing when you come out with a book and you start a book tour. Suddenly, it's not about the book. It's about what you're saying on the book tour. Chris Christie is finding out the hard way -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT")

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Would you have been a better president than Trump?

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, R-N.J.: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

COLBERT: I like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: The dangers of a book tour, it's not what is said in the book. It's what said, well, on the tour.

Former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove on that.

Karl, it is both a curse and a blessing to be able to get a book out. And you have done so a number of times and all. But you got to be careful what you're saying. I mean, Donald Trump hears that, he's going to go nuts, isn't he?

KARL ROVE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes, but you can say this about Chris Christie, never doubting in self-confidence.

And I suspect he doesn't really care what other people think of what he says. He just wants to shoot straight and say what he believes.

CAVUTO: But in the book -- and I read the book -- he doesn't really blast the president. He blasts those around the president, a lot of the so- called amateurs, particularly Jared Kushner, around the president.

ROVE: Right.

CAVUTO: But says good things of the president.

Do you think that that's just the risk when you go on a tour, questions and issues are going to come up responding to the news of the day that only complicate the president and his efforts to try to get over this sort of stuff?

ROVE: No. Yes, absolutely.

And, look, if you're an interviewer, do you really want to ask a question that you know the answer to, or do you want to have something that's new and different? So, that's a disadvantage of going on the book tour. It's also an advantage, in that probably it's going to generate more book sales.

But the interesting thing about President Trump is, is that, unlike previous presidents, the spate of books that are unfavorable by people who are inside his administration are more numerous, and they started earlier.

This -- Chris Christie's book is just the latest. We also have a book from a former communications aide named Cliff Sims that is very negative on the president and very negative on Mr. Sims' former White House colleagues.

CAVUTO: Right.

ROVE: And, eventually, somebody always writes a negative book. But what's interesting is, it's happened within basically the first couple of years, and we have seen several of these.

CAVUTO: Yes, this is unprecedented.

I just wonder too. Sometimes, it doesn't even matter what the book is about. And your last book, "The Triumph of William McKinley, for example, you could argue -- and it was praised by the right and the left and looking back at the importance of that presidency and what have you.

But I'm sure on the book tour itself, they would pepper you with questions about the political environment...

ROVE: Oh, sure.

CAVUTO: ... and what you knew about Iraq and when you knew it, et cetera.

ROVE: Oh, sure.

CAVUTO: So you have to be prepared for that as an author to stay on message, to quote the book, to relate in your case President McKinley and whatever.

But what advice would you give these authors who come out, some of whom espouse the fact they're not out to get the president, even though the interviewers are very much out to get the president?

ROVE: Well, you got -- you got to have a -- you're going to get those kind of questions.

So better that you have a clarity of what it is -- what's the tone you want to adopt, what's the impression you want to leave, and what are the specific issues that you're likely to be asked a question about, and what do you think about them?

And to the best extent possible, you need to be well-prepared for those moments. Of course, what comes out of left field, you can't necessarily always be prepared for.

But, look, if you're going to do a book tour, and you're writing a book about politics, and you're in a high political moment, count on the book tour being more interested in the things of the moment than necessarily the things in your book.

CAVUTO: But, obviously it's going to help Christie's book sales, right? That's a given? They do, right?

ROVE: Yes. Oh, sure. Absolutely.

Look, every time you go on television, or every time you go on radio, or every time you give a speech, there are people who are potential book buyers.

And, in fact, I was just helping a friend of mine, Andrew Roberts, organize a trip tour -- a tour of Texas. He's going to do 14 cities to promote his Churchill book, Winston Churchill, who died 60-some-odd years ago.

And at every one of the events that we have had thus far, there's been somebody who says, well, what would Winston Churchill think about Brexit, which is an issue of currency that's happening today, not something that happened in his time.

So an author has to be prepared for those kind of moments. The things that are going on are going to be thrown up at people who've written books about history or politics. People are going to want to know, what do you think the guy you wrote about would think, or what do you think about this moment?

CAVUTO: Yes, you got to be prepared for everything, and be careful going overboard.

Karl Rove, thank you very much, my friend.

ROVE: You bet. Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, meanwhile, where would you rather be today, outside in Chicago, or inside with these guys?

You know, I really don't know.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, think quick. Which is icier, Milwaukee right now, where it's minus-8 degrees, which is like minus-35 degrees with the windchill factor, or in this conference room in Washington, D.C., at the White House?

You have the key players in the China-U.S. trade talks. What if I told you, in that room -- I have no idea -- but that's what we call a metaphor, as it were.

Blake Burman at the White House with more.

Blake, what's it looking like?

BLAKE BURMAN, CORRESPONDENT: Neither do we, because this has been so secretive, Neil, for the most part.

It's been going on for the better portion or at least close to eight hours now, these talks between the United States and China here on day one, the senior most levels from both countries. This is the senior most meeting since President Trump and President Xi of China met about two months ago down at the G20 in Buenos Aires.

The U.S. team sitting down with their counterparts.

The treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, saying in advance of this that he does think that significant progress will be made, but if the Chinese come to some sort of compromise on the key issues, that would also have to be met with enforcement measures.

Tariffs still very much in play here. In fact, the Fed chair, Jay Powell, weighed in on that today, saying that he doesn't think at least up until this point that the tariff battle between the United States and China has impacted growth. But he warned that the longer that these talks go on between these two sides, that it could impact the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: The concern is more a longer, drawn -- for me, a longer, drawn-out set of negotiations back and forth, which could -- which could result in sapping business confidence.

Uncertainty is not the friend of business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURMAN: We do believe, tomorrow, Neil, that President Trump will sit down and meet with the vice premier of China, Liu He, which would be a significant development in both of these talks. He is the top negotiator for China.

I should mention, my colleague Edward Lawrence just posted a note saying that the talks are progressing, according to his sources, and that they should go into the early evening.

So if you're trying to figure out which is colder, Neil, I guess they should probably keep the thermostat turned up in there, because they could be in there for a while -- Neil.

CAVUTO: When they say progressing, like, we're all progressing.

BURMAN: Right.

CAVUTO: We're a little older than we were, like, 10 seconds ago.

BURMAN: It's been progressing, I guess, for two months now, right?

CAVUTO: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: I see what you did there.

BURMAN: Is it like progressing like this, or is it...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: All right. Yes, got you.

BURMAN: Yes.

CAVUTO: All right, Blake Burman, thank you very, very much.

BURMAN: See you.

CAVUTO: Meanwhile, there is a bipartisan, bicameral meeting for the first time today to begin sorting out these border security questions, not what to call them, but how to solve them, and do so in 16 days.

Republican Congressman Chuck Fleischmann was there. He's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: You're looking live in Tannersville, Pennsylvania. This is the Poconos in Pennsylvania, where it's minus-15 degrees with the windchill factor.

That almost feels balmy, according to those who are staying in Chicago and other parts, where it's feeling like 60 degrees below zero. It's practically like summertime there. But, again, this is the effect across the Midwest and the East Coast. And it is going to get colder before it gets better. But we're told it will get better, it will get warmer.

As to whether that's a metaphor for what I'm talking about going on in Washington, chilly talks over whether we can get this whole thing resolved with a government shutdown that could be repeated again in 16 days, to avoid that.

Republican Congressman Chuck Fleischmann is a member of the so-called bipartisan conference committee, a number of Democrats and Republicans on board, with negotiating border security.

Congressman, good to have you.

What was it like in there? What's the mood and how are people feeling?

REP. CHUCK FLEISCHMANN, R-TENN.: Neil, I was encouraged. I came into this meeting full of optimism, full of hope. And I left the meeting with that same sense of optimism.

It was sincere, it was candid. And our friends in the Senate and on both sides were very cordial. So, I think we're going to make some progress. Metaphorically, as you say, perhaps it's warming up here in Washington.

CAVUTO: So, do you think a deal could be struck that would be so comprehensive that it would include coverage for DACA kids here, as well as the president's funding for a wall, whatever that ultimately is?

FLEISCHMANN: Well, I think, ultimately, we're going to have to have funding for the president's wall, for America's wall.

I think the American people want that. We're going to have to have funding for...

CAVUTO: Well, the president wants $5.7 billion.

FLEISCHMANN: Sure.

CAVUTO: Do you think he's going to get that?

FLEISCHMANN: Well, I don't want to say for sure what we're going to get.

I have voted for 5.7. But we're all reasonable people. And we have to have a deal that the Senate, the House and the White House can all agree on.

CAVUTO: Well, is there a drop-dead figure in the back of your own mind, Congressman?

FLEISCHMANN: I'm going to keep an open mind. I want to make sure that we have a good, strong down payment on a physical barrier where it is needed, in addition to other technologies.

But let's face it. Today, we heard in that room very few absolutes, and I think that's a good thing. I think all the parties were saying, this is what we need, this is what we don't want. But it was very good. It was very flexible.

And it was a great start.

CAVUTO: Well, Republicans aren't even calling it or referring to it as a wall. I understand that Democrats are refusing to name figures.

So you're both doing sort of like the good general overview thing so far, right?

FLEISCHMANN: Well, yes.

And there's a lot of issues behind -- beyond the parochial issue of a physical barrier. We have got the entire Homeland bill. We have other appropriation bills where there are genuine, not only bipartisan, but bicameral differences.

There's differences between House and Senate appropriators on some of the other bills that we have yet to conference.

CAVUTO: All right.

FLEISCHMANN: So, as part of a grand deal, a grand compromise, I think we can get it done.

CAVUTO: OK.

FLEISCHMANN: What I was, Neil, really pleased about was the fact that the tone in that room today was far better.

A few weeks ago, we weren't talking. Today, we were talking. It was very cordial.

CAVUTO: That's very good to hear.

I know you have your work cut out for you, sir. Thank you for taking a few minutes to talk to us.

FLEISCHMANN: Thank you, Neil.

CAVUTO: Congressman Fleischmann.

All right, here comes "The Five."

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