southern district of florida, the investigations ceased and they had the opportunity to proceed civilly. that does not mean that the investigation had to cease nationwide and as we see today, as we saw in new york, investigations could certainly and obviously have proceeded in other districts. reporter: how can you be trusted to enforce human trafficking laws as secretary of labor given your history with this case? >> so i have been -- i started one of the first human trafficking task forces at the department of justice. i have been aggressive prosecuting human trafficking. we stood -- we stepped in in this case and we stopped a bad state so i understand from today's perspective that people scratch their heads and they say why. here's the question to ask. how many other times have you seen a u.s. attorney's office

intervene in a state matter and say stop the state plea because it is insufficient. reporter: i want to ask you a question about the office of professional responsibility. earlier this year, it was disclosed that they are doing a review into how you and other prosecutors in your office handled this matter. what is the status of that, what exactly are they looking at, will you submit to an interview even though you're no longer with the justice department and if they find any misconduct, will you resign? >> first, i don't know what the status of that is. i would refer that to the office of professional responsibility. i don't speak for them. i will clearly submit for an interview even though i don't have to. i think what they do is important. the office of professional responsibility will have access to the full record. they will have access to all the facts. they will have access to the fbi reports. they'll have access to the victim interviews. they can look at this matter in

its totality. and so i think it is important that they proceed. i will gladly be part of it. and i think what they will find is that the office acted appropriately. reporter: as labor secretary, have you tried repeatedly to cut a program that deals with human trafficking in the labor department by up to 80%, going before congress, advocating for that. why should people trust you to focus on human trafficking and protecting victims if you've done that? and i would like a follow-up question. >> so you're referring to grants that go to foreign countries for foreign country labor-related work, as part of the budget every year, those grants have been removed, as have other grants for foreign countries. let me just add, as part of the budget every year, those grants are put right back in by congress. this is what happens in

washington. i fully suspect that those grants will remain in this year. your follow-up? reporter: my follow-up question is, the president encouraged you to hold this press conference. can you speak a little bit about what the president told you ahead of this press conference and whether you are here to give a message to the president, are you fighting for your job or are you trying to send a message to victims, and if so, what is the message to victims who say they don't trust you anymore? >> first, i'm not about to talk about conversations with the president. and i'm not here to send any signal to the president. i think it's important. a lot of questions were raised and this has reached the point that i think it's important to have a public hearing. i think it's important these questions be asked and answered. and as to the message to victims, the message is you need to come forward. i heard this morning that another victim came forward and made horrendous, horrendous allegations, allegations that

should never happen to any woman, much less a young girl, and as victims come forward, these cases can be brought and they can be brought by the federal government, they can be brought by state attorneys, and they will be brought. we have seen in the last few years cases brought against individuals that got away with things for well over a decade, and it's important to realize that people are getting away with these, people were not going to jail at all. we're aware of those high profile cases and we have seen, as victims come forward, how the justice system deals with them. so the message to victims is come forward. let me take a few more. reporter: hi, mr. secretary. you just said victims need to come forward -- >> i'm sorry, richard? reporter: richard maddew with cctv company. you said victims should come forward but you still haven't offered an apology to them.

why is that? >> so the victims should come forward because the justice system needs to hear from them, and what the victims went through is horrific. what the victims continue to go through is horrific. i have seen these videos. i have seen the interviews -- i'm sorry, i have seen the interviews on television of these victims and their stories, and so it's hard, but i also think it's important that we understand that the men and women of my office, going back to 2006 and 2007 and 2008, have spent their career prosecuting these types of cases, and in their hearts, in our heart, we were trying to do the right thing for these victims. so this is horrific, this is awful. each one of these cases is just devastating and saddening. but i also think it's important to realize that the prosecutors

were trying to do the right thing. sir? reporter: are you aware of alleged obstruction of justice by mr. epstein? it seems to have been mentioned in a bail memo by new york prosecutors. and did he make efforts to intimidate prosecutors and if he did, or harass witnesses, tamper with witnesses, if he did that, why would he get what's been called a sweetheart deal? >> i can't comment on the new york case. that would not be appropriate. reporter: are you aware -- i'm talking about in florida. did he obstruct justice? >> there is a pending case in new york. i can't comment. sir. reporter: i'm curious, who at main justice reviewed this case or your decision, and did you have any interaction with robert mueller at the time? >> so i shared a letter that i wrote to one of epstein's defense attorneys and i shared that letter in part because it shows much of the timeline. it shows how initially the

meetings that took place were between -- in july between the first assistant, the criminal chief, the palm beach office chief and the line attorney and two fbi agents with epstein's attorneys. you will notice that the initial meeting as outlined in this letter were all career opportunities. how they presented the terms, how epstein's attorneys were dissatisfied and asked for a meeting with me, how i subsequently met with their attorneys along with all the career officials, how at that meeting we then invited the chief of the child exploitation from the department of justice to travel down because you know, one of the things we wanted to make sure of was that we had, going back to the earlier question about the ada rule, that we had sufficient evidence to proceed ethically, and then it details a little bit on how epstein's counsel appealed the

decision to washington. i refer you to the record. one of the really disturbing things about this case is there's a record here. the documents that i shared today, we have shared previously with media, yet i have seen no reference to any of these documents and the perspective of some of these prosecutors. there's a record, all these documents are publicly available and could have been pulled up by anyone in this room. and so, you know, there is a record that will, i wasn't at main justice, i do not have a full list of the individuals that reviewed this matter at main justice. i can tell you the individuals referenced in this letter and i would refer you to the records. this was 12 years ago. i do not have a full list of individuals that reviewed this at main justice. reporter: [ inaudible ]. >> well, as the record makes clear, individuals from main justice were involved fairly

early on and were certainly aware of it, and i think if you look at the record, it will become clear that our decisions were appealed again and again to main justice. sir? reporter: so the deal that you negotiated resulted in two things. one is that the case ended with mr. epstein pleading to state prostitution charges and another thing it did was it immunized his co-conspirators. so two questions. did you consider his victims in that case to be prostitutes and why did you immunize his co-conspirators? >> so the answer to were the victims prostitutes, no. victims, they were victims. end of story. they were victims. the second part of that is the purpose in this case was to bring epstein to jail, to put him behind bars. so there were other individuals that may have been involved that

in any type of conspiracy, there are individuals around someone. the focus really is on the top player, and that's where our focus appropriately was. let me also say something, because a lot has been said about this 13-month. when we proceeded, the expectation was that it would be an 18-month sentence and the expectation was that it would be served in jail. so this work release was complete b.s. i have been on record as far back as 2011 saying that it was not what was bargained for and it was not what we expected, but this was a state court plea and because it was a state court plea, the terms of confinement were under the jurisdiction of the state of florida. so the outrage over that 13 months, you know, getting to leave jail, is entirely

appropria appropriate. when we entered into this, we, i at least, fully thought that he would be spending the time in jail. that's what we mean by someone going to jail. reporter: [ inaudible ] i would really appreciate it. >> tell you what, if you ask me a question in spanish, i will answer in spanish. is that fair? reporter: i was trying to get a brief statement so i can go over what everyone already said. [ speaking in spanish ]

[ speaking in spanish ] [ speaking in spanish ] liz: labor secretary alex acosta in front of the press denying that he ever gave an easy deal to billionaire jeffrey epstein to get a jail-free pass in the 2008 plea deal, saying the financier quote, needed to go to jail. of course, this for the case of

sexually abusing, harassing, these are the allegations, of young underaged women. acosta facing criticism for the deal that allowed this hedge fund manager, epstein, to avoid federal prosecution on charges that he molested teenaged girls. epstein is now facing new charges in new york. he has pleaded not guilty. acosta also said he tried to avoid any deal that allowed the billionaire to walk free. he was a federal prosecutor in florida back during the initial accusations. acosta also saying he has the full confidence of president trump. to blake burman at the white house. blake? reporter: i am told that president trump is the one who encouraged alex acosta, the current labor secretary, to go before the cameras and talk about this now, 11, 12, 13-year-old case like he is doing, and laying out before the american public, because one of the backdrops that you have here in light of the new charges that have been levied against jeffrey epstein in new york is that here in washington, d.c., the top

democrats all across this city, nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, just to name a couple, are saying that the labor secretary needs to resign for his handling of the case and if he does not resign, then the president needs to fire him. one of the outstanding questions in all of this with acosta going before the cameras right now is how this is being received currently inside of the white house, most especially how this is being received with president trump and whether or not he feels that he has to make a decision as it relates to new leadership potentially at the labor department. we should note, of course, yesterday that when the president was asked about all of this, he stood behind acosta saying that he feels quote, very badly for the labor secretary, and feels that acosta has been doing a good job but that he would look into how this was handled about 12 years ago. as for acosta, as he laid out his argument and i was told earlier today, liz, that this would be a forceful defense from acosta and that is exactly what we have seen, acosta basically

saying that this was a state case at the beginning in the state of florida, and that state officials there, state prosecutors there were set to let epstein walk. at that point, that is when his office jumped in and he felt as if it was best to cut the deal that they cut because as he put it, if this went to trial, it would have been a roll of the dice. liz: blake, thank you very much. all right. we have a major market story developing that involves the federal reserve chair, jerome powell. every element of the market appears to be moving. when we come back, you've got to see how this one is really playing out. we will be right back. the dow up 81 but wait until you see what federal funds futures look like right now. ♪ limu emu & doug

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liz: breaking news on capitol hill. wait until you guys see what the odds of a rate cut look like now. federal reserve chief jerome powell sure sounds like he's ready to become, i was thinking about this, edward scissorhands, chopping away, speaking before congress earlier today, powell used two specific words over and over again that signal he and the fed really seem ready to cut interest rates for the first time since the bull run began, as he tees up for day two of his

testimony. listen to this. >> we are in the 11th year of this expansion. that's a first since we began to keep records on this. we're at 3.7% unemployment. that's a 50-year low. 50-year low. we have been there for 15 months and there's no reason why that can't continue. we are committed to using our tools to make sure that it does continue. liz: he used the words uncertainties and risk six different times. so he made news. that news today is sending the markets shooting to new all-time intraday highs. can the s&p 500, which today breached the 3,000 point mark for the first time ever, close there? it's not there just at the moment. we are at 2990 but we still see a gain of about 11 points for the s&p. dow up 73. the nasdaq up 51. nasdaq, by the way, also has a shot at a record close. you've got to stay with us as we

enter this final hour of trade. now, here are the fed funds futures, right. before powell's testimony, the chance of a 50 basis point rate cut was zero. now look on the right part of your screen, after he dropped some major hints during day one of this two-day congressional testimony, the odds have shot up to 29%. now, that is for the odds of a 50 basis point or half a percent cut. so the markets are already figuring in you've got to believe a quarter point cut. that's pretty much baked in at this point. some don't think we really need it, but to the market reaction, fast and furious. besides stock market records, we chipped through the big movers. to u.s. treasuries. investors are flocking to the two-year so while the price of the two-year goes up, the yield is falling sharply. right now that yield on the two-year is at 1.83%. that's only steepening as the yield curve, investors sell the longer dated treasuries and that would mean the ten-year, the ten-year yield stands at 2.06%.

you can see that's well above the two-year. what can you glean, perhaps, from this? well, that concerns about a recession have abated now just a bit because it appears the fed will cut interest rates to stimulate the economy. let's get to the u.s. dollar. the greenback weakening after powell's comments, often lower rates will be dollar negative and gold positive, so all major currencies at the moment are higher against the u.s. dollar. takes $1.25 now to buy a euro. look at gold. we are at session highs at the moment, up $18.40 to $1,419, as a rate cut could potentially lead to higher inflation. that's boosting the precious metal's appeal as an inflation risk. inflation hedge, i should say. shares of rate sensitive financials are retreating. wells fargo, td ameritrade, charles schwab. banks and brokerages tend to benefit in a higher interest rate environment which it appears we won't have.

the reverse is true at this hour for home builders, as mortgage rates which track the ten-year treasury could potentially go even lower, if the fed cuts. we've got dr horton, lennar and pultegroup up. to our traders. did jerome powell cave to pressure from president trump and wall street oirs r is he conforming to the current economy? >> that's a great question. there are two schools of thought. there are a lot of folks who don't understand why they even want to fiddle with interest rates. why not leave them where they are because all things being equal, the economy is doing fine, corporate profits are fine, unemployment is low. maybe there are ghosts out there on the horizon but quite frankly, most mortals in this business don't really see them at the moment. but clearly, the market wants to

see lower interest rates because that's candy for the equity markets, and the markets are reacting accordingly. liz: okay. and reacting accordingly, they are, as we look at all of the movement here, todd. what is jumping out at you, and please keep in mind there are some market participants who feel powell pretty much caved to pressure from the president because we have a strong economy here. there are very few worries and rate cuts are supposed to be used in emergency situations to stimulate a dramatically falling economy and we don't really have that right now, right? >> no, we don't really have it right now, liz, but that doesn't mean we won't have it. the fed sees things that we don't see on the covers of newspapers and on our screens. i think ultimately, the fed cuts when they have to, yes, and this may be one of those times. i look at gold prices being low for so long, now they are pushing higher. liz: session highs right now. >> the market's been telling you this for quite some time, that there is a disconnect between what's going on in the equity markets and what's going on in

the bond market and what's going on in the economy. i think these rate cuts are more forward-looking and the uncertainties of trade, global growth and he even mentioned brexit, all those things are going to have disruptions in the financial system. they are trying to avoid those. liz: we will be right back. can the s&p close at 3,000? well, that's my job. what? what?? what?! (laughing) what?? what?! what?! [crash] what?! haha, it happens. and if you've got cut-rate car insurance, paying for this could feel like getting robbed twice. so get allstate... and be better protected from mayhem... like me. ♪

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we've launched a bold initiative to lower the cost of prescription drugs. that's a big thing and we're working very hard on it and we have some very big moments coming up, i think over the next week, having to do with that. liz: president trump threatening drug companies again to lower drug prices just as he signed an executive order directing the federal government to make kidney transplants and dialysis care more available to americans who need it. but back to his effort to force pharma to reveal their list prices of drugs, that's been dealt a blow. a federal judge monday shut down the government's plan to reveal drug prices in ads, saying it's

government overreach into private companies. let's bring in fox business in an exclusive interview, an adviser for rx saver, which is a new website that really helps people chop down their prices on drugs, whatever the government is doing. rx saver is a free website and harold ford jr. is here. he's with this company and it's an app-based search engine that platforms and aggregates drug prices around the country and gives patients the lowest price and location of the pharmacy. also former democratic congressman. welcome to the program. i ran into you and you told me about rx saver and i said this is a great bridge already between what pharmaceutical prices, companies are charging, and what the government is trying to do, get them to lower their prices. what do you make of the president's threats today? >> so a couple things. first, thanks for having me on. two, i think what the president is trying to do with kidney dialysis treatment, i don't know the medical efficacy behind all of this but anything that

reduces cost for patients, improves access to care, is an efficient way to deliver health care. so anyone who is serious about this would have to look at this seriously and closely. i think the court decision to limit what the president or the white house or administration can do in terms of forcing drug companies to disclose prices, i will let them sort through it. what i do believe strongly, that transparency across the health care ecosystem is probably the most important thing that can happen for patients and for those of us who are concerned about the costs and efficiency of our health care system. liz: which is exactly what rx saver and your company is doing. folks, i'm going to show you how this works, because it does all the work for you. this is the website. now, i'm going to simply put the drug lipitor in. i guess it can sense where we are, in midtown manhattan, where i'm sure drugs are really expensive. i think it automatically kicks over to the generic, right? >> it does.

liz: as i tick down, you can see cheapest to most expensive. here's kmart. it's got it at $7 for a bottle of 30 tablets. shop-rite. these are all near midtown. then you see the price go from $7 to $13. i will go all the way down, 30 bucks at duane reed. okay, that's eighth avenue. i don't know why it's that sfensisfen expensive. you see the most expensive at $32 in white plains road in the bronx. the further out you get, it goes from $7 to $32. you can just plug in any drug and find out the location and then go there, right? >> right. you have to have a prescription to be able to have it filled for you. but we have relationships with pharmacies all across the country, and the company receives the most up-to-date discounted prices from pharmacy benefit managers, pbms on all fda-approved drugs. you will find that sometimes it's one drugstore versus

another drugstore. the pricing and the way all this happens, rx saver, this company has nothing to do with determining, establishing, setting any prices. we make our money, the company makes its money only when a patient saves by using one of the coupons. there is no additional dollars there. i think the larger point here is congress and drug industry debate will what the consensus should ultimately be about how pricing patterns and practices should be put in place, there are commercially available platforms like this now for customers and patients and consumers to find ways in which to save. when you consider that 40% of americans who have employer-based insurance have a high deductible plan, meaning it takes $1300 for an individual, $2600 for a family for deductible, this is one way in which you can save and one way we can help middle class families put more money back in their pocket. liz: it sure seems so. it's up and running now. rxsaver.com. you've got the app. harold ford jr., good stuff.

thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. liz: targeting iran. with the closing bell ringing in 27 minutes, president trump makes new threats at iran as it keeps centrifuges spinning. israel's minister of finance director general here exclusively on the threat assessment. this is the couple who wanted to get away who used expedia to book the vacation rental which led to the discovery that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. expedia. everything you need to go.

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piece together a de-escalation strategy. iran saying it welcomed france's role in reducing tensions with the united states. whatever happens, the iran crisis will have a profound impact on the region's only democracy and its economy, israel. the director general of israel's ministry of finance is here in a fox business exclusive. here, israel, a small nation, big democracy, is having to deal with running a very vibrant economy with all of this tension. how is that going? >> i think this has been the case for many years now and as you said, as you mentioned before, our prime minister, bibi netanyahu, managed to stop the iran deal. i think our prime minister will be a very, very good connection with your administration, with president trump and i think that's an area which they will be able to solve. liz: when treasury department

here in the u.s. gets ahold of things when it comes to nations like iran or north korea, it's treasury that puts down the sanctions, that hands down the sanctions. >> for sure. we have the same thing. we have a department that deals with the sanction on iran. this has not been changing and we will continue to put the sanctions on iran as it was before. of course, it will need to be enhanced, then our cabinet, security cabinet, will sit down together and give instructions to the finance ministry which sanctions should be enhanced and how to implement it. liz: enhanced is a nice word for increased. president trump is increasing the sanctions on iran. there is the school of thought that this is the way to handle it, that the iranians are nuts, they want to wipe us and israel right off the face of the earth. on the other hand, some say this inflames a situation that may have been calming down. >> so again, this is a thing which the president will need to take up with our prime minister and see what is the policy and make sure it's one policy headed by the united states and by

israel. as an official in the finance ministry, i wouldn't want to go out of my jurisdiction with the prime minister. liz: there's another election. you could run. >> no, i'm a government official. i'm a civil clerk. i'm not the one who's going to be running. liz: my question to you is i have been to israel multiple times. you are there and you see intel has a plant, applied materials has a plant, you've got google there. it is such an interesting and motivated work society there. how does the economy, because inflation is so high and taxes are high. >> so taxes are high, but on the other hand, investment in israel has been growing rapidly, and specifically in the startup sector. we have more startups per capita than any nation in the world and our expenditure, gdp on research and development is one of the highest in the world. many, many high tech companies come to israel, come to see the knowledge, the technologies that we have and a lot of those technologies are being developed from the army and taken from the army into the civil companies

and into the civil private sector. liz: no matter what iran does. >> yeah. that doesn't have any effect on what iran is doing currently. of course, the threat is being cast and the prime minister is very, very good relations with the president of the united states. i think whatever will be done with iran, our cabinet together with the cooperation and collaboration with the united states will probably know how to deal with that. we leave it to them. but the economy is very very very -- so many international companies are heading there, doing their research, doing the development, putting plants in israel and investing in israel. they just did a $15 billion deal in israel and this is what is amazing. liz: to quote warren buffett, israel is a miracle. >> it is. liz: good to see you. he bought an israeli company. he likes israel. thank you so much. >> thank you.

liz: the business world stars shining in sun valley. with the closing bell ringing in 18 minutes, the dow holding on to gains of 71 points. barry diller, yes, james murdoch, brian roberts, shari redstone, all arriving at the annual conference. charlie gasparino, well, wait until we show you in case you missed it, what happened yesterday. didn't take long for him to get kicked out. guess what? he's back and he's about to break it live from sun valley. and it's a fresh new episode for my podcast everyone talks to liz. i'm taking you behind the scenes with imax's ceo, rich gelfond. what a humble upbringing. in fact, his first job, 8 years old, shining shoes. how he went from that and mowing lawns to getting the hottest movies on the world's largest screens. you don't want to miss his unbelievably inspiring story. tune in, apple, google podcasts has it.

download it. fox news podcasts.com. rate and subscribe. oh, by the way, happy birthday, rich. i don't know what's going on. i've done all sorts of research, read earnings reports, looked at chart patterns. i've even built my own historic trading model. and you're still not sure if you want to make the trade? exactly. sounds like a case of analysis paralysis. is there a cure? td ameritrade's trade desk. they can help gut check your strategies and answer all your toughest questions. sounds perfect. see, your stress level was here and i got you down to here,

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i haven't been thrown out yet. i just want to make that clear. that's a fox news alert. liz: there's still time. >> there's still time. this is an interesting crowd. by the way, we have the head of security here. liz: are you being kicked out? k-we walk backwards? >> can you go across the street? >> stay with us. liz: i'm right here. >> you met the head of security here. liz: i just can't.

i mean, it took gasparino literally two and a half minutes to get kicked out of sun valley before any of the major celebs even arrived. guess what? he's back in the thick of things today and joining us now live. charlie, do you have an ankle bracelet on? >> you know, i almost got kicked out like ten minutes ago. here's why. marcel, the chairman of sprint, and the head of softbank, the largest investor of sprint, are here in sun valley. we saw them walk by. my trusted assistant lydia approached both of them in a very reporting way, and the cops came out of nowhere, the security guards. i had a back-and-forth, blah, blah, blah. in any event, they said no comment on the deal negotiations. we are going to get into that in a few minutes on the t-mobile/sprint deal which is progressing in d.c., as stuff is going on here. first i want to hit on

cbs/viacom. shari redstone, the head of national amusements, which is the controlling shareholder of cbs and viacom, she wants a deal. she wants to merge those two together. doesn't really own it outright. remember, separate public companies. but the redstone family led by shari now for the ailing father, controls both companies and she wants a merger between the two. now, from what we understand, as she's here and by the way, she says no comment. she never talks to anybody. i don't know if that's true or not but that's what she told my producer earlier today when we ran into her. but as she's her e no commentin, behind the scenes, bob bakish from viacom and joe ianniello from cbs are commenting as they are trying to put this merger together. i understand management is meeting now, talking about terms, talking about management structure, like how much does the cbs shareholder get of the combined company stock, if this goes through. we always say if, because as you

know, they may try to send it back and it doesn't happen. it's progressing to a possible announcement of some kind, what we hear, possibly within the next month. they are talking, it is moving forward. doesn't mean it doesn't blow up but they are moving forward. another deal that may blow up but is moving forward is the sprint/t-mobile deal which is a complicated negotiation, because it's not just sprint and t-mobile, it's the justice department, the antitrust division has to get comfortable with the deal because you are eliminating a wireless carrier, and one way they are getting comfortable, they are trying to work out some side deal where another fourth carrier emerges where they sell some of their spectrum to that fourth carrier. it looks like that fourth carrier is charlie ergen's dish. from what we understand, no deal announcement today on this. maybe later in the week. the talks are progressing. i hear they are progressing slowly. but you know, again, when you introduce charlie ergen in the mix, right, you got an issue, right. he's a wily negotiator. who knows how much spectrum

deutsche telecom, the owner of t-mobile, really wants to give up to create this fourth carrier. i think that's where the sort of negotiations are getting bogged down. we should point out why sun and clare are here, the ceo of t-mobile is in d.c. working to try to get that done. that's where we are. both deals are progressing. we will see what happens later in the week. it may happen tomorrow. i will be right here to report what's going on from sun valley. back to you. liz: unless you're in the clink. >> i know. listen, this time it wasn't my fault. i want everybody to know that. lydia was the aggressive one, not me. i was the aggressive one last time. liz: of course. >> when i got thrown out. i'm the one that takes the blame all the time. liz: it's just never your fault. charlie, thanks very much. see you tomorrow live from sun valley.

good stuff. closing bell ringing in eight minutes. the u.s. women's soccer team honored honored today. our "countdown" closer has champion stock picks that might make your portfolio worthy of a ticker tape parade. "countdown" is coming right back. carvana is six years old this year and is the fastest growing place to buy a car in the nation. it's because we have thousands of people working hard to make our customers' experiences the best. it's because we have tens of thousands of cars ready to be delivered to your doorstep. and it's why hundreds of thousands of happy customers have ditched the dealership and bought their car online, earning us an average 4.7 stars in the process. so if you didn't know about us before, you do now. we're carvana, and we want to give you the car buying experience you deserve.

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liz: need you to stop what you're doing right now. get over here to the monitor. the closing bell ringing in four minutes. the nasdaq is closing in on a brand new all-time record close. look at the s&p. it is just under the 2998 level it needs to hit a new record. it crossed 3,000 intraday. we're eight point away from s&p 3,000. we're watching it closely. the dow not close to a record.

live to gerri willis on floor of the new york stock exchange. got a lot of excitement. reporter: liz, check it out. s&p three how you like that, my friend? liz: i like that. reporter: we're not there right at this moment. we popped through it earlier. so that was good news. traders loved what the federal research chairman had to say. now they're demanding. not just 25 basis points. now they want have a point. they're demanding it. the more the federal reserve chairman gets on their page. the more they move further out, the more they want more and more. seeing new highs in bunch stocks, microsoft, walmart, visa, travelers, amex a long list of companies setting new highs on very positive day in the markets. liz? liz: a lot of fun. a lot of excitement. i want the hat. reporter: yes, ma'am.

get you one. liz: a special day in new york city, the soccer champions got the tickertape parade down the canyon of heroes. thousands of patriotic fans lined the it to get a glimpse of the word cup champions. today's "countdown" closer is not a world champion but he has stocks you should own. barry james, how are you? what a day, right? >> it's a wonderful day in the neighborhood. wall street as well. liz: indeed, great day. talk about the champion names you feel are ones that should be in peoples portfolios. >> yeah. these are all stocks we own in our golden rainbow fund. i would keep buying them today. the first is macy's, talk about

cheap? trading five times earnings, 7% yield to stick around. one of the largest internet companies in terms of sales. i bought a recliner from them. the value of real estate is worth two or three times the value of the company. that is one we like. we like aaron's, a rent to own place. big ticket items. it has done right pricing, rightsizing. getting boy backs. the last one is steel dynamics. >> liz: jump in quickly. federal reserve hinted they will cut rates. we're off the highs of session. does this pump markets higher? >> i think the market is running based on couple things. one is fed cuts. two is resolution to china. that we'll not to into recession. if all of those hold on, we're in good shape.

liz: we're in good shape today if you're a bull. we love our bears too. [closing bell rings] eight points away from 3,000 which s&p touched intraday. never-before-seen there. a record for the nasdaq, 8200. that will do it for closing countdown. connell: comments from fed chairman jerome powell. dow closing up 70 point, thereabouts, hitting all-time high earlier in the day but failing to end at a record close. nasdaq gets the record. it is sixth record close for the year at 8200 plus. s&p 500 in positive territory as well. very close to a record into the close. it fall as little bit short. good to be with you back in new york, i'm connell mcshane. melissa: i'm melissa francis. this is "after the bell." first here is what is new this