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Financial Campaign Chairman; Trump Getting Heat for Saying He Will Increase
Taxes on Rich; Russia Delivers Air Defense System to Iran; James Rosen Says
White House Lied About Talks Between US and Iran; Facebook Criticized for
Censoring Conservative News; IRS Phone Scams Examined - Part 2>
Christopher Bedford, Deneen Borelli, Taylor Rosenthal, Gerri Willis>
Communications; Business; Election; Politics; Economy; Insurance; Medicare;
Taxes; Donald Trump>
BOLTON: And people feel that he has not done enough to secure the U.S.' position and protect our citizens either at home or abroad. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis, I thank you as always for being here. Thanks for your insights.
MAGINNIS: Thank you.
BOLTON: Iran's defense minister Tuesday announcing that Russia delivered an S-300 air defense missile system to Iran. So, the delivery is part of this $800 million contract signed in 2007, under which Russia was to provide Iran with five modern S-300 systems.
Defense stocks, if you look today, closing lower, so can you see on your screens, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman and Boeing all down more than 1 percent. No movement after hours. Raytheon you can see down less than 1 percent.
The State Department responding to the moment that went missing, if you like, from a 2013 press briefing video. It essentially admitted to lying to our own reporter James Rosen about these talks with Iran. We are going to fill you in in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: James, I have no new information for you today on the timing of when there were any discussions with any Iranian officials.
JAMES ROSEN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Let me try it one last way, Jen.
PSAKI: OK.
ROSEN: And I appreciate your indulgence.
PSAKI: Sure.
ROSEN: Is it the policy of the State Department where the preservation of the secrecy of secret negotiation is concerned to lie in order to achieve that goal?
PSAKI: James, I think there are times when diplomacy needs privacy in order to progress. This is a good example of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLTON: That is an exchange between a Fox News reporter and a State Department official. So, our colleague, Fox News James Rosen says the White House lied about possible talks between the U.S. and Iran in that 2013 State Department briefing that you just watched. Now the State Department's response is that it was a glitch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH TRUDEAU, STATE DEPARTMENT PRESS OFFICE DIRECTOR: There was a glitch in the State Department video. When Fox flagged it for us, we actually replaced it with a video from David (ph) which is the military repository where a lot of the news media gets its video. The whole video was there. And we also annotated it on our YouTube channel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLTON: With me now editor-in-chief of the Daily Caller News Foundation, Christopher Bedford. Chris, thanks for being here. Do you think this was a glitch?
CHRISTOPHER BEDFORD, THE DAILY CALLER ASSOCIATE EDITOR: No, I don't think it was a glitch, and it fits into a broader theme with this administration like we saw when the leader of France said Islamist -- Islamic terrorism and that was bleeped out of some audio.
And like we saw on even more dangerous level when all the hard drives had evidence of Lois Lerner and the IRS targeting conservatives were seemingly destroyed. It's the equivalent of looking at the entire American public and saying 'the dog ate my homework.'
I don't think this is something that comes down from the White House. I don't think President Obama calls up and says, hey, guys, hey, Steve, delete this footage, it makes me look bad. But a code of a culture.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLTON: Well, it's coincidental. Right? In two cases, the one that we just played for everybody, and then the second one that you referenced, when the French president was in D.C. in March and he used the term 'Islamic terrorism' and he has -- his mic dropped. And again, the White House said that it was a glitch and they did re-release the entirety, that is to say, with the statement in on and also in written comments.
BEDFORD: They did. And as part of a larger culture I think were they get this. Because these mistakes that we're seeing a lot of them, the video of James Rosen asking these questions was available, and that was part of their defense.
The transcript for the President Hollande were -- Prime Minister Hollande was available, and that was part of their defense. These mistakes are really clumsy and they're really stupid. And I think it's part of a broader culture of trying to erase history and things that offend them.
Whether it's changing the money or pulling down the monument. They're getting these cues from the top that you can do this whether it's on the Iran deal. So, then the lower guys, the guys who aren't quite as smart as the folks at the top. They make this clumsy errors, they get caught red handed and they blame the computer.
BOLTON: Chris, I like the 'dog ate my homework.' I like it. Christopher Bedford with me there, editor-in-chief at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Quick look at oil prices today, up following a surprise drop in inventories. Oil futures closing up around 3.5 percent, $46 a barrel. And can you see from that chart is the highest level in six months.
Well, we've been reporting allegations of Facebook blocking conservative stories on its news feed. The manager in charge of that division donated to Hillary Clinton's campaign. We'll tell you how much, after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRYSTAL WRIGHT, CONSERVATIVE BLACK CHICK EDITOR: You have Zuckerberg talking about wanting to build bridges and tear down walls. Just not on his site for conservatives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, FACEBOOK CEO: I hear fearful voices calling for building walls and distancing people they label as others, instead of building walls, we can help people build bridges, and instead of dividing people, we can help bring people together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLTON: Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg not hiding political leanings at a recent conference. Now, Facebook under fire over accusations that it blacklists and censors conservative outlets and news topics.
Reporters are basically looking at the idea that the Facebook executive in charge of those trending topics is a donor to Hillary Clinton.
In fact, if you look at records, it shows that Tom Sake contributed $2,700, that is the maximum by the way, for an individual to her campaign. Now he's not the only Facebook employee. If you take a look, Facebook employees have given more than $114,000, none by the way to Donald Trump or to Senator Cruz.
Conservative review chief political correspondent Deneen Borelli is with me now. Deneen, great to see you.
So, obviously we made the reference to Cruz, it was before he dropped out, I should say, to present the whole case that some Facebook employees did give money to Senator Rubio before he dropped out but net net, a lot less than to Clinton. So, does this prove more than ever there is a bias at Facebook?
DENEEN BORELLI, "BLACKLASH" AUTHOR: There's a huge bias, Deirdre, and this is a perfect example of the fix is in, and this is another reason why Americans are so fed up. Facebook is really a vehicle for propaganda, progressive propaganda.
Thank goodness this story has been exposed, because what they're doing is altering their trend feed of the news to really censor conservative news, and a lot of people get their news from Facebook, and they're not really getting the whole story. And we have no idea how long this has been going on. But thank goodness it has come to the surface.
BOLTON: So, how should conservatives respond to this? Because the idea of freedom of speech is that you have freedom of speech, everybody has it?
BORELLI: Sure, it's a private company. And now that this has been exposed, I would say it's up to the users to determine if they want to continue to use Facebook or not. There is also been talk of government intervention, I don't believe that is the route it should go, especially because as you mentioned freedom of speech and also the fact that it's a private company.
But you have to look at the fact that also there are several CEOs who use their companies to really profess their propaganda views from Bob Iger with Disney with the H1-B visas to Tim Cook of Apple and Lloyd Blankfein from Goldman Sachs, with the North Carolina bathroom bill, they're opposed to that. So, a lot of these CEOs they use their -- the companies that they run to really push that...
(CROSSTALK)
BOLTON: This one is something more direct though. In the sense that it's in a news feed and essentially Facebook has the power to curate what pops up on people's -- a lot of people's home screens.
BORELLI: Right.
BOLTON: Deneen, thank you.
BORELLI: Thank you.
BOLTON: Deneen Borelli with me there.
Shares of Facebook, if you look, down more than half a percent today. You call yesterday, a lifetime high and of course the stock is on a run so far this year.
Speaking of tech stocks. Jeff Bezos may be celebrating tonight. Amazon founder and CEO made more than a billion dollars yesterday when the stock closed at a record high.
So, he personally is now worth close to $60 billion. Among the top five richest people in the world. One reason for enthusiasm for the stock. Amazon account holders can now upload original videos to the new video direct service. So this is a direct shot at Google's YouTube. Amazon's stock if you look, up again more than 1 percent today.
Well, a $30 million buyout offer may seem like a dream for any entrepreneur. One founder turned it down and he's only 14 years old. He's going to tell us why, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLTON: When he isn't in school, he is working on his start-up. A 14-year- old, Taylor Rosenthal has raised more than $100,000 in Angel investments and rejected a much bigger buyout offer.
His company, RecMed makes vending machines that sell for same products. Taylor is with me now. Taylor, great to see you. Thanks for coming in. So, tell me first about your idea, a vending machine that sells first aid products, right? So, how did you think of this?
TAYLOR ROSENTHAL, 14-YEAR-OLD CEO: I started out in a class in eighth grade called the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, which a class that helps you start your own company, and I said one night, go home and think of an idea. And I play baseball for 10 years and every time a kid got hurt, I notice nobody could even find a Band-Aid. So, I kind of wanted to come up with something that would help that.
BOLTON: OK. So, how big could this idea get? Because when I hear you speak, I think I could see this in every public park, I could see it at little league fields, I could see it in big stadiums. A lot of possibilities, right?
ROSENTHAL: It could almost go anywhere.
BOLTON: So, what kind of companies are you speaking with?
ROSENTHAL: We're speaking with several different national amusement park groups about ordering machines.
BOLTON: OK, and what about stadiums? What about teams?
ROSENTHAL: We've actually talked to a university about buying first aid vending machines, our first aid vending machines.
BOLTON: And you're pretty organized, even though you're 14. You were talking to me about revenue stream. So, what ways, how is this company making money?
ROSENTHAL: We actually have three revenue streams. One, being the wholesale on the machine, two, being advertising on the machine, and three, the restocking of the machine.
BOLTON: How did you think of all this? Do you get up and read the Wall Street Journal every day?
ROSENTHAL: I do not.
BOLTON: No, you don't. OK. That's pretty good. I mean, you got a $30 million buyout offer, and you said no. Why is that?
ROSENTHAL: We felt like the time wasn't right. We kind of wanted to grow and develop the company a little bit more from what it had been and maybe in the long run it would worth a little bit more.
BOLTON: OK, so I'm sure you're being courted, though you probably have to screen your phone calls a lot, right? And it was a big pharma company that wanted to buy you?
ROSENTHAL: It was a big medical.
BOLTON: OK. All right. Well, we wish you the very best of luck. It's very inspirational. We're glad you drop. Congratulations. Taylor Rosenthal with me there.
Well, a new phone scam alert, does the IRS ever call taxpayers? Gerri Willis knows the answer. It may surprise you. She's with me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLTON: Gold futures closed higher rebounding from a nearly two-week low. The U.S. dollar fell in that boosted gold appeal.
Well, speaking of gold and dollars, IRS phone scams have been around for years. Imposters call taxpayers telling them they owe money to the government and some victims are billed out of sometimes thousands of dollars.
So, as a safeguard the IRS has always assured taxpayers they will never contact them over the phone without having sent a letter first. There are reports, though, that the IRS does actually call the taxpayers over the phone.
Gerri Willis is with us, and she has more on that. Because it is tax, I mean, most people have met that April 15th deadline or have filed for an extension. But this is the season where they are getting the refund.
GERRI WILLIS, FOX BUSINESS REPORTER: Absolutely. Well, you know, I guess you have to say never say never. You know, even John Koskinen, the head of the IRS, the chief commissioner has said, we're never going to call, don't worry.
You'll never going to have a phone. And the main reason he has done that is what you described because there is a scam out there where the bad guys call people, innocent people and try to bill can them out of money.
But guess what? There are agents out there in the country who are calling people on the telephone largely because they are initiating an audit. So, this is the reason they would be calling. And let me tell you, the tax...
(CROSSTALK)
BOLTON: So, don't ever send a check just from a phone prompt. I mean, if you're getting a call to be told that you will be audited, that's the difference.
WILLIS: Well, so, even if you get a call and told -- tell -- being told that you are being audited, I would still check it out. I am not sending anybody a check.
BOLTON: Right.
WILLIS: Until I know who I'm talking to. The way we found out about this Nina Olsen, who is a taxpayer advocate, she is a great person. She works for the IRS but does not report to the IRS. And she's been traveling the country talking to taxpayers.
And in Iowa, she found out that some of these revenuers which we are actually calling taxpayers. Now I just want to read to something it's on the IRS web site. They say, this is new now. "The IRS doesn't initiate contacts with the taxpayers to request personal or financial information."
There is this stuff right there. "This includes any type of electronic communication such as text messages and social media channels. The IRS does not call with threats of lawsuits or arrests."
So, they are trying to say, you know, we are not the bad guys, we are not going to do what they do. But to tell you the truth if you get one of these phone calls I would contact the IRS local office directly myself and make sure that these people are on the up and up. You got to do it to protect yourselves. Because not only do these bad guys steal your money, they also steal your identity.
BOLTON: That even worse, right? I mean, it's bad to lose a few hundred, but certainly losing identity, especially for older people, it's a mess.
WILLIS: Right. Yes.
BOLTON: Gerri Willis looking out for us. Thank you as always.
WILLIS: Thank you.
BOLTON: Gerri Willis with me there. We want to show you a quick snap shot of what happened in the market today. You will see red on your screen so they almost wipe out yesterday's gain.
You had Macy's taking a big hit. The company is saying that its forecast will be a much less than what it had anticipated. And that sent a lot of retail stocks and a lot of consumer discretionary stocks lower.
Thank you for joining us here on Risk & Reward. My colleague Charles Payne is here. Making Money starts now.
END
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