doc, start us off. >> nvidia. i think it will move higher over the short term. >> seller of snap. i would even be somebody with short snap. direction right now is just going to be down. >> vgk, cheapest way to get into europe. >> erin, thanks for being here. that's it for us. have a great weekend. "power" starts now. looking live at the east room of the white house where president trump will hold a joint news conference with german chancellor angela merkel. lots from trade to russia to the economy. we'll bring you that conference live when it begins. i'm melissa lee along with michelle, tyler and brian. >> we have the best team in the business standing by, as we await the president. cnbc's seema mody digging in. live in germany with reaction from the ground there. let us kick things off with cnbc's kayla tausche in

washington. kayla? >> some observed interaction between the two world leaders. handshake under the portico of the west wing. not in the oval office. they had a brief photo-op. questions taken by the press pool ahead of this press conference this afternoon. it is the chancellor's first visit to the white nohouse in about two years. she met with the vice president as well as secretary mattis and secretary kelley last month. senior administration understand the trade between germany and u.s. is an eu issue, not something that merkel herself can address unilaterally. i'm told the conversation will discuss how to move forward on the refugee crisis, strengthening political defenses across isis and that he is expected to express his desire

2% of gdp. last year germany was at 1.2%. the u.s., comparatively, was at three times that. of course, the backdrop of this is nato secretary general releasing an annual report showing that funds from nonu.s. nato members rising 3.8% in 2016. of course, this is weeks after the president in his joint address saying the money from u.s. members, as he said, is already pouring in. the president is not expected to address a view on chancellor meshlg's forthcoming election this year. i'm told by the senior administration officials that deliverables, so to speak, guys, are not the goal of this meeting. but it will be important to see the tenor of the way they address each other and exactly how they feel the meeting went. tyler? >> kayla, thank you very much. now let's get the view from germany about this meeting between the two heads of state. cnbc's annetta weisbach.

>> reporter: thank you very much for that. so much at stake for the german economy, clearly stressed by angela merkel bringing a bunch of high-level ceos with her to that meeting in order to facilitate relationships between the german business community and the american business community. let's take a step back. the german press speculating about whether they could actually be a good match, both personalities because angela merkel is seen as a very pragmatic politician and she likes to, as she says, think through from the end to the beginning and she likes to take decisions. that is something which could be -- that she actually is having in common with donald trump. at the same time also when she started her political career, she was also outsider to the political system, another match

with donald trump. and last, but not least, she is not seen as being resentful personality. so, all the almost belligerent rhetoric, which came out from the white house towards germany, this could actually not mean that the relationships between both leaders need to be bad. as she is saying all the time, she likes to speak with each other instead of speaking about each other. and that's the opportunity now happening in washington. with that, back to you. >> optimistic. thank you very much. wendy sherman served under secretary of state for political affairs during the obama administration, lead negotiator on the iran nuclear deal and now senior counselor at albright stonebridge. >> good to be with you all. >> despite what we heard from annette, when donald trump was running for president, he said

very harsh things about angela merkel. we'll play some of those and stet the stage for what might be happening behind closed door. >> hillary clinton wants to be america's angela merkel. true. and you know what a disaster this massive immigration has been to germany and the people of germany. and the german people are going to riot. they're going to end up overthrowing this woman. i don't know what the hell she's thinking. >> ambassador sherman, two more diametrically opposed leaders in the world i can't think of at this morning. >> i thought your reporter's comments were quite hopeful and optimistic and i hope that something good comes out of this meeting. quite frankly, chancellor merkel is the leader of europe. europe is critical to the united states, critical to our trading relationship, critical to the development of jobs that donald trump is looking for. in the past, in history, when germany is integrated, part of

europe, we do well. there is peace and stability. when germany is not integrated it has, in the past, led to world wars. having a whole and free europe is critical. and germany's role is critical. >> i know that's what you think. i'm not convinced the president thinks that. he is very skeptical about the european integration project and is very frustrated that they haven't spent enough money on their self-defense and nato while we are, essentially, footing their defense bill. >> well, i understand that's what he thinks, as the secretary general of nato pointed out, putting in its fair share of nato, all the countries hope to get there by 2024. germany will head up the g20, finance ministers are meeting now in berlin. trade is very much on the agenda and whether we believe in trade or become protectionists, these things matter for the united

states economy and germany's economy, which is the largest in europe. >> i know president trump is unconventional when it comes to foreign policy. but you basically just admitted that european countries are now saying, yes, okay, finally, we are going to spend more money on our self-defense. has his foreign policy worked? >> well, i think germany and all the other countries were always going to spend more on defense. >> but they haven't. you know that. >> no, no, that's not true n 2016, the contributions have gone up, as the secretary general said, by 3.8%. is it by the pace we all want? flo. do we want it to be faster, yes. >> why have they been allowed to get away with not paying? >> it's not about getting away with or being allowed. national security adviser mcmaster has said that money matters less than capability and we want to make sure that all of these countries increase their capability and interoperatability with the united states. that is his focus more than money. i think that europe is very much

trying to do that. nato is very much trying to do it. it is the most successful security alliance that the world has ever seen. it has kept europe at peace. it is held outside that theater as well. yes, we should keep pushing everybody to keep going. we should keep pushing them to build their capabilities but as president trump tries to increase the defense budget, we have to make sure that it works with nato and not against nato because it is in our interest to work together. >> i can't think, ambassador, of one other nation with which we have such a good working and business alliance and military alliance, by the way, with many large air force and army bases in germany, many large car manufacturers from germany, based in the united states, employing tens of thousands of people. if there were one thing that you could change in the business or trade relationship between our two nations, what would it be? >> well, certainly we want to get down that $65 billion trade deficit. it's not the be all, end all.

of course, we would like to get germany to buy more of american products. it is true, as angela merkel said, when she spoke at the munich security conference where i was, that germany has created something like 600 to 750,000 jobs in the united states directly and if you add the follow on to the supply chain it's probably 1 or 2 million jobs. that's really important but we want the german electorate, the german citizens to buy more american. >> peter navarro doesn't like trade deficits. i've argued that trade deficits don't matter because the dollar value is not the same as the profit value. >> i agree with you. >> thank you. somebody does. shouldn't we always have a trade deficit with germany, only because they are sending $60,000 mercedes, audis and bmws this way and for the most part we're sending $30,000 chevy cruzes

that way. there's a deficit on every automobile transaction that doesn't really appear harmful because the profit may be about the same. >> profit matters and, of course, the value matters. but so does the bottom line. and so all the i agree with you that the trade deficit is the not the be all and end all, it is of some concern. and, of course, we want everyone all over the world to buy more american products wherever that is possible. but we cannot neglect the reality that germany has created thousands of jobs in america. >> are you hopeful about the future of the european union? >> i'm more hopeful than i was after the election that took place in the netherlands where prime minister continued on and wilders was set aside. his party got five more seats in the parliament. we're all having our eyes focused on the french election. i was in paris recently. >> can i push back on the netherlands? >> sure. >> when i look at that, i hear

everybody should breathe a sigh of relief. >> only somewhat. >> establishment parties got blown to smithereens, barely exist anymore. far right party is the second most powerful. imagine if we said donald trump ran for president in california, massachusetts combined and got 40% of the vote. we would think, wow, that's a real statement. right? to me the netherlands, okay, the conservatives are still in power but they're barely hold iing on. there's still a rise of anti-establishment in europe. >> there is no question, there is a rise of anti-establishment all over the world because people are concerned about the pace of technological change, the pace of social change. everywhere. including in our country. but i think it is good that wilders did not get more of a hold. and so where centrist leaders are aware of the populist sentiment and take into account

that sentiment, they do well. i think the same thing will happen in france. i am more hopeful than i once was that, in this case, probably macron is a likely winner. centrist, outside of politics but it's very concerning because if marine le pen wins the european project is over. >> i would agree with you on that. ambassador, don't move. we're waiting for this live event. we have to do our normal business stuff of the day, including all kinds of business news alerts. >> including one right now. in our weekly brief counts. jackie d, how did they come in? >> for the week we added 14 more oil rigs according to baker hughes, the ninth week in a row we're seeing the rig count rise, up 244 oil rigs from a year ago. oil prices are slightly lower, been bouncing around the flat line today. looks like we'll close under $49 a barrel for the week, up about half a percent. back to you.

>> thank you very much, jackie deang list. we are standing by for the first joint news conference between donald trump and angela merkel. both have said a lot from afar. what will they say when they come face to face for the first time? we'll bring that to you live as soon as it happens. hey nicole. hey! i just wanted to thank your support team for walking me through my first options trade. we only do it for everyone gary. well, i feel pretty smart. well, we're all about educating people on options strategies. well, don't worry, i won't let this accomplishment go to my head. i'm still the same old gary. wait, you forgot your french dictionary. oh, mucho gracias. get help on options trading with thinkorswim, only at td ameritrade.

any moment now, president trump and chancellor merkel will hold their first joint news conference. trade has been a sticking point for both leaders. seema mody is joining us now with why it is such a hot topic. >> an important trading partner but the u.s. is a bigger buyer of german goods than they are of ours. the result is this. $64.8 billion deficit. but it's not just with the u.s. germany current carries the highest trade surplus in the world, a record-breaking $270 billion in 2016. these numbers have prompted u.s. trade council head peter navarro to accuse germany of currency exploitation. while angela merkel has argued in the past that the currencies' direction is out of her control, that broader focuses like ecb and monetary policy, think tank

says the under valuation has played a critical role, one of the biggest beneficiaries is autos, as you were discussing. top export accounting for over 10% of germany's gdp. president trump already has threatened in the past to put that 35% tariff on german vehicles that are not built in the u.s. and, of course, these are some of the companies. bmw, mercedes, vw and daimler that would be affected by a tariff like that. >> how will his america first approach play out in his trade policy? let's bring in trade policy analyst with the kay institute. mr. lester, thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> should we be concerned about the dollar amount? how big of a deal is it? >> i don't think that bilateral trade deficits are a big deal. i think that's a mistake in the way that peter navarro and others are thinking about

economics. i do understand that they have expressed this concern and, therefore, it's going to be a topic of discussion. i think that chancellor merkel will respond as indicated in the lead-in that to a largest extent this is monetary policy set by the european central bank. nonetheless this is going to be part of the conversation, i think. >> my notes say that you are saying there will continue to be pushback by the trump administration's misguided view of trade deficits and economics more generally. would you elaborate? >> yeah. >> what, specifically, are you driving at? >> i think generally speaking there's been an exaggerated emphasis on u.s. trade deficit. i don't think that u.s. trade deficit has led to all these lost jobs that people claim. if you look at the last 40 years, we've had a trade deficit for the fourth time and much of that time has had a pretty good u.s. economy. i don't think trade deficits lead to a worse u.s. economy. specifically, bilateral ones. i think just about every

economist out there will tell you that's not really the right place to folk sbus that bilateral trade deficit doesn't tell you anything about whether one country is cheating or whether the economy is doing well. >> but trade deficits do lead to some winners and losers in a country, right? >> i think trade itself is going to lead to some winners and losers. on balance we are all better off. i think it is the case that if we suddenly get new imports that we haven't had before, there will be domestic workers that are affected. i think that's true. >> what do you do? >> there are a number of options. one is just to have generally better policies. in my opinion, more free market, deregulatory policies. you can try things like trade adjustment assistance. i don't think it's been particularly effective. >> that's when we subsidize people who have lost jobs, right? >> that's right. overall, you just need to have overall better economic policies, with better financial policies, better regulatory policies. that will help the economy and lead to more jobs. >> lead into this idea that has

been expressed by mr. navarro that germany has weaponized the euro to its positive effect. and ms. merkel says we don't control the currency. >> i think she's right about that. germany doesn't control european interest rates. >> but it does control the ecb. germany controls of the t the ecb, right? dragi has to be sure he doesn't infuriate them teach or will be in trouble. >> central bankers are politicians like everybody else. nonetheless i think there's a high degree of independence there. it's not like she can sort of send instructions to the ecb to set the rate where she wants it to be. i don't think that's the way it works. >> it wasn't that long ago, by the way, that the euro was 1.35

to the dollar and lately it's been 1.05, 1.07, 1.14 and stable. >> currently fluctuations can have an impact on trade. that's worthy of discussion. the broader trade balance between the u.s. and germany more reflects german savings rates. germans are famous for being thrifty and saving and get criticized for that. i tend to think they're on the right path there and other xhis should look to that and say maybe they have a better answer to how to approach savings and maybe that is the driving force in this trade balance. >> mr. lester, thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> live picture there. you see on the left, any moment now president donald trump and german chancellor angela merkel will hold a joint news conference. will the chancellor play along or play hard ball to appease her domestic audience? we'll discuss here on "power lunch." we'll watch it live, too. you see eamon javers.

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what's critical thinking like? a basketball costs $14. what's team spirit worth? (cheers) what's it worth to talk to your mom? what's the value of a walk in the woods? the value of capital is to create, not just wealth, but things that matter. morgan stanley you are looking now at the east room of the white house where, at any moment, president trump and german chancellor angela merkel will hold their first joint news conference. we will bring it to you when it begins. you don't know what direction the questions might take. let's go to eamon javers, in the room where it happens. >> hi, tyler.

we're running a few minutes behind here in the east room. they're still testing the mike equipment here, making sure they have the german translation and english language mikes all working perfectly here. we saw the president was meeting with some ceos from both germany and the united states. that meeting just broke up a few moments ago. we're told from the reporters in the room at least one reporter attempted to ask the president a question about his previous criticism of angela merkel during the campaign. you remember, he said she was essentially ruining germany by letting so many migrants in. the president apparently did not respond to that question. we'll have to wait and see when we see the tape exactly what was said there. we also learned from the vice president, mike pence, in that meeting that it was angela merkel's suggestion to bring the german ceos and the american ceos here together. we've seen the ceos of bmw, of s seemens here. they're talking about

apprenticeship, job training. looking at the german model of apprenticeship in terms of industrial training for blue collar workers. that's something that they think is a real opportunity here in washington, d.c. so, tyler, we'll see where the questioning goes. as you know, these can be pretty wide open. we'll see what angela merkel's message is to donald trump and his to her, tyler. >> so many issues on the docket pertaining to u.s./german relationship with economic, jobs, trade, importation of drugs, automobiles and so much more. we'll be back, covering the press conference of president trump and german chancellor merkel in a moment. what if we could bring you better value

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all right. again, there is the east room of the white house. we are awaiting the president and the german chancellor. now earlier today, there was a meeting at the white house between the president, angela merkel -- here. let's get playback. there we go. president trump with ibm ceo to

his left. >> such a great honor to get to know you, to be with you. i want to thank all the business leaders who have joined us, to discuss a subject that's very important to me, training our workforce for the 21st century, especially with respect to manufacturing jobs. we're working every day to bring back jobs to our country and thousands and thousands are already coming back. you're seeing it. you're reading about it in the papers every single day. we want to make sure that we have the workforce, the development programs we need to ensure these jobs are being filled by american workers. germany and the united states have incredible opportunity to deepen our partnership as we continue to develop a strong workforce in both of our countries. both germany and the united states are pioneering job training programs. here in the united states, companies have created revolutionary high tech and online courses. and, of course, for decades

germany has been a model for highly successful apprenticeship. that's the name i like. apri apprenti apprentice. apprenticeship programs. germany's youth and unemployment rate is much lower than many of the other countries, especially the eu countries. i welcome collaboration between our two countries and our industry leaders. we have some of our great industry leaders, as you know, chancellor. great people. we must embrace new and effective job training approaches, including online courses, high school curriculums and private sector investment that prepare people for trade, manufacturing, technology and other really well-paying jobs and careers. these kinds of options can be a positive to a four-year degree. some people go to college for four years, they don't like it

or necessarily are good at it. but they're good at other things, fixing engines and other things. i sat back to people who weren't necessarily good students but could take an engine apart blindfolded. companies across the country have a chance to develop vocational training programs that will meet their growing needs and will help us achieve greater prosperity. the german apprenticeship model is one of the proven programs to developing a highly skilled workforce. germany has been amazing at this. and i'm glad that the leaders of so many companies represented today have recently launched successful programs right here in the united states. and we need that because we're training people as the jobs are pouring back in. and they are coming back in big league. i believe that both countries will be strong if we continue to deepen our bilateral cooperation on vocational training as we build off the best ideas, create

the greatest opportunity for growth and improve the lives of so many workers. i want to thank everybody in the room. i want to thank my daughter, ivanka, who is with us today and, mostly and most of all, i want to thank chancellor, i want to thank you very much. it's a great honor to have you in the white how. it's a great honor to have you in the united states. i look forward to spending time with you. thank you. [ speaking german ] >> the producer of "power lunch" is german and she was just translating in our ears kind of angela merkel saying she's shaes pleased to be here and making

swrenl politically positive comments. by the way, we have breaking news here tochlt donald trump's left, your right on the screen, that is the ceo of ibm, ginny rometti. at some point later today she will announce that she will be hiring 2,000 veterans, part of a pledge to hire 25,000 new people by the year 2020, many of which jobs will not require four-year degrees. breaking news, folks, that ibm will be hiring 2,000 u.s. veterans. we expect that announcement from ginny rometti of ibm later today. directly to the right of angela measuring sl ivanka trump. to her right is salesforce ceo mark benihoff. to your right as you're viewing the screen is jared kushner. this is the who's who of business and political leaders in the white house right now. >> we also have joe kaser of

siemens, howard krueger. andrew liverus is in the room, ceo of dow chemical. >> we'll get into a more of a private meeting. ginny? >> i'm ginny rometti of ibm. we're going to knots announce 2,000 veterans we're certifying in cyber security to be employed and the second is public/private partnership. think of it as a six-year high school. but the graduates come out with an associate degree and with a curriculum that business will hire. and we will have 100 schools by the end of the year. and you'll meet one of our recent graduates in a second, janell richards will introduce herself, trained at the intersection of business and technolog technology. >> all right. let's get to eamon javers.

remember, this is playback on tape. let's go live to the east room. we are awaiting the live news conference between president trump and angela merkel. eamon, what have you got? >> that's right, michelle. no word on whether we'll get a two-minute warning or whether the leaders will just walk in here. we'll see how that breaks down. you heard the president in those remarks with angela merkel giving a shout out to his former tv show "apprentice." he likes the word, he said. some flattery there, wrermny being the model for the apprenticeship programming, saying that the united states has a lot to learn from this nation. that goes a long way in diplomatic circles. both leaders in those remarks clearly making an effort to patch over some of the rough spots in their relationship. we'll see whether that continues here on stage as they get what's called a two and two is what we expect here. two questions from the american press and then two questions

from the foreign, in this case, german press. we'll see what's on the mind of the foreign press and the u.s. press as well. that effort -- >> eamon, i want to let you know, peter navarro is sitting at the table. >> that's an interesting one. >> is that interesting, eamon? >> yeah. look, peter navarro told you, right, that he had some problems with germany in the terms of the way they handle currency overall, thinking that germany was sticking it to the united states in terms of currency and trade in particular. and bilateral trade relationships. so, that's an interesting figure to have at the table with the chancellor of germany in the room. we'll see whether his rhetoric is the kind of rhetoric that the president uses here, whether he uses sort of more diplomatic formal language here in the east room. that is an interesting thing. i can't see that tape from here. so, interesting to spot who is in the room. also, ivanka trump's role here is interesting to me. she was in the room earlier when they did roundtable discussions

with ceos. both she and jared kushner played a role in that event. we're trying to figure out exactly what her portfolio is going to be. she is obviously a crucial adviser to her father, the president. which issues she decides to get involved in is also interesting, in terms of the kremlin watching, who is in power and what issues they're take iing o here at the white house. >> thank you very much, eamon javers at the east room in the white house. we'll take a quick break as we await that joint news conference between the president and angela merkel. much more "power lunch."

still awaiting the joint news conference between the president and german chancellor angela merkel. heading down to the new york stock exchange on this st. patrick's day and talk to bob pisani. hey, bob. >> hey, melissa. here's what's going on. the trend is your friend. since wednesday there hasn't been a lot of trend. we're still in an uptrend. all the gains came this week.

just shy of new highs here. this ten-year, i don't like what's going on here, 2.5% on the ten-year, lowest level in nearly two weeks. the bank stocks. again this is not the first day we've had problems with bank stocks. earlier today they were down 1% or more. off their lows here. still a problem. kb, the bank etf. it's been diverging from the s&p 500 for the last three or four weeks here. that's that red line that you see. that's a bit of a problem. lowest levels since early february there for that. another source of concern, small caps. russell 2000 has been dramatically underperforming. red line versus the s&p, white line. you can see the under performance. supposed to have been big beneficiaries from the trump rally. it's been kind of crummy in the past week. that's another concern. they're continuing to correct today. they're also down. same story. they've underperformed dow industrials. that's the red line.

transports again. dow industrials the white line on the top there. that's been happening for more than a month. i know we've been talking about the airlines underperforming, melissa, but the airlines have a hard time, struggling. fedex, unp are the only ones up. uptrends still fine. little bit of divergences getting people concerned. watch the ten-year, number one topic down here guys. back to you. >> thanks, bob. let's go back to eamon javers and the meeting between chancellor merkel and president trump. >> that's right, tyler. i had the opportunity to speak on the sidelines of the east room with a white house official who told me in the session between the president and angela merkel, the president pressed her very hard on nato dues and whether germany is paying enough in terms of its dues to nato. that's an issue overall that the united states has been concerned about, whether european allies

are paying enough into nato. this administration very concerned that is not equitible and want foreign partners to pay their fair share. that is one of the topics that came up here in the meeting between the president and chancellor merkel. tyler? >> thank you very much, eamon. the dow trying to avoid a second day of losses. if it can do it all by itself, we'll see. uncertainty about some of the president's policies, putting the markets on edge. let's bring in brad newman, and eric marshall. thanks for being patient, gentlemen. good to have you here. brad, let's start with the overall view of the market. has it gotten a little ahead of itself? do you think it is still safe to put fresh money in? what are you expecting? >> we're optimistic. the past couple of years, the markets have been driven by pe or valuation expansion without any really earnings. going forward we think it will

be driven by earnings growth and we're optimistic and bullish about earnings. so this past earnings season just wrapped up. it was the first time in about two years that we had back-to-back consecutive -- >> excuse me. pardon me. >> bless you. this quarter we're looking for further acceleration in terms of earnings growth. just this morning, the leading economic index came out at a record high. that portends strong economic growth going forward. the backdrop for earnings is strong. >> are you comfortable as well? >> yeah. you know, at hodges, we would agree with what brian said. really the most important thing is what happens with earnings. we're focusing at hodges on areas of the market where we're seeing pricing power, earnings improvement, financials, into technology noorks some of the material stocks as well as some of the transports as well. >> what do you make of what's going on with the ten-year?

bob highlighted that for the week. surprisingly the etf that tracks bond market is up more than 1%, which is a surprising move, given the events of the week. what's going on here? because it's hitting the financials right now. >> i think a lot of it was really already priced into the market. everyone had anticipated the rate increase for some time. so i think initially you had a little bit of a relief rally. now you'll see some consolidation. i think you can still have a ten-year treasury at 3% and not hurt multiples of stocks here when you consider a 20 multiple on the s&p 500. >> she's asking the opposite, right? why aren't interest rates rising? >> anticipated it, you know, and they ran up ahead of the rate increase. >> brad -- sorry, go ahead. >> what interest rate gets you concerned about valuations if 3% is not the number, what is the number? >> we've done some work on this historically. you can go back in time and look at what level interest rate

start weighing on pes. if we went to 4% tomorrow that would be a big problem. but i'm talking about -- >> pace. >> gradual. >> we'll check in with the press conference in a moment. what do you think about europe? you like it don't like it? >> we do like it. big pick, the economy is improving. inflation is getting better. real growth is getting better. from a valuation perspective, it trades at about 16% discount on a pe basis relative to the u.s. >> would you rather put money there than in the u.s. right now? >> we like them both. in europe you obviously have a political risk coming up. i don't want to discount that. we think there's significant upside. if le pen loses, which is probably our base case. >> eric, on this sant patrick's day it's all about germany. but i want to pivot to mexico. global show. >> sort of. >> you bought kansas city southern, railway, american rail company doing a huge amount of business in mexico which tavenged after the election and a mexican airline. how come?

and what is your concern there, or lackof? >> we like to look for opportunities where there is a disconnect between the fundamentals and the market's perception of those fundamentals. kansas city southern, about 60% of what they ship cross border between the u.s. and mexico are goods going into mexico. only 40% is actually things coming -- finished goods out of mexico. >> the market sold the stock because the basic idea that trump is going to hammer mexico, redo nafta, make less stuff in mexico to ship here and kansas city southern will lose a lot of revenue because the freight cars coming back will be empty. >> right. we think that's a misconception. and essentially created an opportunity right now to buy kansas city southern at a discount to the other class one railroads. >> in general, are you worried about disruptions in trade because of what we've heard from peter navarro, who worked in the

white house and who we see sitting at the table with germany? >> it's certainly a risk but not our base case where something like the border adjustment tax will pass. if it did, that would be a negative. we don't think it will. >> so a lot of noise to look through? you both seem to think that. >> we think so, generally. there are some areas, like the steel industry, that we think will actually do better, which is a more level playing field out there, given the regulatory environment that we're in right now. >> very quick thought. semi conductor is one of your picks, up 80% over the past year. whenever i see something like that as an investor, i go, oh, man, i missed it. >> this is a $23 stock that we think in the next couple of years could probably trade in the 40s. what they do is they operate foundries for semi conductors. what we see going on right now with analog, the internet of things, there being a big opportunity for them to ratchet up their utilization at these fabs and there's a lot of

earnings improvement that we think is going to -- >> fabulous. >> right. semiconductors have become intellectual property companies. they don't actually make their own chips. what tower does, they actually operate fabs to make silicon wipers. >> thanks, guys. appreciate your time. really do. all right. we have a market flash, i think. let's get to seema mody. >> hi, melissa. i want to point your attention to emerging market stocks posting their biggest weekly gain since july of last year. this follows a fed rate hike this week, which typically is a negative for the emerging world. it makes their dollar dominated debt more expensive. some strategists now say brazil, russia, india, china are now better positioned to handle a u.s. rate hike. and the equity team just yesterday upgrading emerging

markets to overweight, following a bullish note from blackrock and jp morgan and this renewed confidence in china despite its concern over credit/debt challenges if you will. s&p upgraded russia's outlook to positive, citing the rebound in oil prices. michelle? >> good rundown there. thank you, seema. we are standing by, waiting for the first joint news conference between president trump and german chancellor angela merkel. part of the entourage is streaming into the room right now. don't go anywhere. we'll be right back.

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best thing to start with the difference in the size in economy. the german economy is 3.8

trillion. >> we're bigger? >> we're bigger. excellent. i like when my graphics are effective. exports as a percent of that economy. what you'll find that germany has a lot of exports. 49% of their exports. exports are 49% of their total gdp. in u.s., 13% but a much bigger economy here to sell in compared to germany. german exports, a lot. what about when it comes to manufacturing? germany is bigger, 18% compared to 12% foru. does it add up for more wealth for germany versus the u.s., what do you think? >> i don't think so. >> no. you're the international correspondent. that's not fair. here it is. german per capita gdp, 56,000 for the united states and 41,000 for germany. i will tell you, though, they do have a very active, as the president suggested, apprenticeship program. we have been over there, done stories there. also in charlotte, concentration

of german companies working with local community colleges to create apprentices. i don't know if you have this apprenticeship chart we created but there is 1.3 -- i think it's 48% of their employees are in apprenticeships. industry and trade, 59%, crafts 27%, liberal professions, 8%. >> do you know who foots the bill for that? >> the company. >> and worker gets a salary still? >> they do. my neighbors are german, where i live. their friends and relatives, we've been over, talked about it. the way a lot of kids go to college there -- you went to harvard and harvard would sponsor you to go to harvard as long as you were also working, say, at siemens or whatever it might be. they do a split college -- >> i was down there, talked to an 18-year-old woman who had been in college and then went to an apprenticeship program, had a guaranteed job after she finished, very high-tech training for manufacturing. >> what is so crucial about this, we talk about how there should be retraining here in this country but we always think

it's the federal government that should be doing it. they're very bad at it. they're very ineffective at t the german version is the company that needs to hire people is involved in training people for what they need them to do. >> and decide what they need. >> exactly. >> train don't complain. >> my experience as a business reporter, what i think has happened is we've decrcreated a pavlovian response where the companies look to the local governments, state and federal governments for the training of their workers. local governments are very competitive in trying to lure industry and say come on down. and, by the way, it often is down. down to the south. and we'll retrain your workers, something that's been engrained in the american economic system. >> one thing about the german companies, they're basically run by boards. some of our boards are feeble. we know that, right? boards actually run it and it is, in effect, heavily unionized within themselves. >> different set of issues. >> i think we have to wrap but germany did better in the

financial crisis because of how they handle unemployment. maybe we can talk about that later. >> we may be able to. because we are still standing by for the first joint news conference between president donald trump and german chancellor angela merkel. don't go anywhere. power lunch will be right back. opportunities aren't always obvious. sometimes they just drop in. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. we enable you to reach global markets and drive forward with broader possibilities. cme group: how the world advances.

all right. just a reminder for the, i don't know, 15th time, we are indeed waiting for the first joint news conference between president trump and swrermen chancellor angela merkel. with us now, however, ambassador nicholas burns, former u.s. ambassador to nato. professor at the kennedy school at harvard, among other things. thank you very much for joining us. do you believe that at the end of the day, at the end of all the conversation of the dying dye log, that president trump will end up backing nato? >> i think he has to. it's in the interest of the united states. his secretaries of state and defense want him to do that, the entire congress and entire western alliance. he has to do that. this is the most important person he has had with a foreign lead

leader. establishing some measure of familiarity and trust, i think it's the most important thing to come out of this meeting. >> what do you think the conversations are? based on what each has said before, what do you think about the meeting? >> president trump who has never met with putin will want to meet with the leader who has dealt with him the most, angela merkel, and effectively. she's stood up to him on countless occasions, been in power almost 12 years. the white house has been saying he wanted to seek her opinion on how best to work with putin, both try to cooperate with him but also hold him off and contain him on ukraine. the germans will be look for the president to commit to keep the sanctions on russia and commit to support nato. and there's a suspicion in jemplny that some in the trump administration, most notably

steve bannon, want the european union to disintegrate. germany is the heart of the european union. on the other hand, president trump, he's right about this, should ask angela merkel to spend more on national defense. 1.3% of their gdp defense. that's far too low. >> already from the initial flash flashes we're getting, it does appear that the president has stuck to that script. this particular headline says awhite house official says trump pressed merkel, quote, unquote, hard. how do you think that went over with angela merkel? >> she's in an election year, very strong social democratic party to her left, major competitor. i don't think we'll hear any iron clad promises to raise the german defense budget. what the germans have been till teleing people -- i heard this on a trip to berlin last year -- was that after the election, they would move over time to hit 2% of gdp, which is the nato

floor for all defense spending. where germany goes, other countries in the eu will follow. >> the other big story of the day is what's going on with north korea and secretary of state rex tillerson. listen to what he said earlier today. >> let me be very clear. the policy of strategic has ended. we're exploring economic measures, all options are on the table. certainly we do not want to -- for things to get to a military conflict. we're quite clear on that in our communications. if north korea takes actions that threatens the south korean forces or our own forces, then that will be met with an appropriate response. >> all actions are on the table and actions by north korea will be met with an appropriate response. is that an escalation? >> i don't see it as an

escalation. you saw what secretary tillerson said, if north korea threatened south korean or u.s. military sources we would respond appropriate lichlt that's longstanding u.s. policy. what he did do today was really to move the needle and say the policies of the last several administrations, three, in fact, obama, bush and clinton, have not succeeded, both republicans and democrats. he cease xi gjinping. >> era of strategic patience, that was his term, i believe, that that era is over whachlt does that mean? >> it doesn't mean we've lost patience. it means that the policy of trying to work sanctions and hoping for negotiations and hoping china will use their influence. strategic patience is a name for

that. he is signaling and quite appropriately, we need to think anew here to you to bring china in to use their enormous economic leverage over north korea. it will be very difficult but i think the trump administration is right to try. >> they haven't used as much power as some have wanted them to. we're seeing more and more people stream into the room here, sir. at some point we may have to interrupt you. >> understand. >> historically, wall street has ignored the situation. there's ginny romero, and clearly this will happen soon. peter navarro, so strident about our trading partners, including germany. wall streeters look at north korea and they understand leverage, right? the only leverage north korea has is the having of the nuclear weapons, not the using of the nuclear weapons. >> right. >> the minute they use them, they're over. they don't take that threat seriously because they know the minute they shot a missile they lose. they don't think things will happen. do you think they're thinking about it correctly?

>> no american official has mutt kim jong-un, the north korean leader. they're our adversary. we have to talk to them. the administration is right not to leap into negotiations. talk a tough game. increase the sanctions. be very closely aligned with south korea and japan and try to tell the chinese and signal them that our relationship with china will depend, in part, on what china does to contain north korea. that's what secretary tillerson, i think, will say tomorrow. and that's what president trump should say at mar-a-lago. eventually we have to sit down to talks but not before we built up the leverage on our side. >> pace of preparations, again, seems to be quickening here. so if we have to interrupt you,

please forgive. >> understood. >> one of the points of the president at the time the candidate trump was critical of ms. merkel and germany was their posture on immigration from the middle east. how big of an issue do you think that is in today's talks, or is it something that becomes a sideline in light of the other things that are far, maybe, more important right now? >> it was very unfair for president trump chastising angela merkel for taking in these refugees. it was an act of humanitarianism at the time of urgency. it hurt her politically at home. it wasn't welcomed by the germans. i don't think you'll see a repeat of that today. >> didn't it threaten the entire european project? don't you think they see a

foreign leader that they did not elect making a unilateral decision that affected all of the them. >> germany took in a great number of those refugees along with the dutch, swedes and fins. >> and they tried to -- >> it's the right thing to do. greatest humanitarian crisis since 1945, you can't shut doors all over europe. people would have died on the high seas in the mediterranean. i think chancellor merkel took an incredibly courageous and humanitarian basis. >> vice president pence walking in the room right now, reince priebus, followed by steve bannon and wilbur ross. we haven't gotten the official two-minute warning at this point. do you think president trump believes in the european project? >> that's the question on everyone's minds. he has not acted like it. steve bannon has said the eu is

a competitor. he doesn't see why they should stick together. president trump has openly rooted for brexit. having been in london a couple of days ago, that's concerned the british government. i'm looking at this press conference. will he say something positive about the european union, which is clearly in the interest of the united states to see the eu prosper? >> steve bannon, kellyanne conway in the room, ivanka trump as well. wilbur ross. >> quick check on the markets here euro, dollar pretty much at session highs, up a tenth of a percent as we await the first joint news conference here. interesting week, certainly the s&p is up by half a percent on the week. we'll see if there are any market gyrations particularly in currency. >> as we look at that live picture, we wonder who has the

most influence. his closest advisers -- who is in his ear the most? mr. ambassador, thank you. here come the two leaders. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. cho chancellor merkel, it is a great honor to welcome you to the people's house, the white house. our two nations share much in common, including our desire for security, prosperity and peace. we just concluded a productive meeting with german and american companies to discuss vocational training. germany has done an incredible

job training the employees and future employees and employing its manufacturing and industrial workforce. it's crucial that we provide our american workers with a really great employment outlook. and that includes making sure that we harness the full potential of women in our economy. my administration is in the process of rebuilding the american industrial base. a stronger america is in the interest, believe me, of the world as a whole. i reiterated my strong support for nato as well as the need for our nato allies to pay their fair share for the cost of defense. many nations owe vast sums of

money from past years and it is very unfair to the united states. these nations must pay what they owe. i thanked chancellor merkel for the german government's commitment that increase defense spending and work toward contributing at least 2% of gdp. i want to thank the chancellor for her leadership and efforts of supporting afghanistan. this has come at significant costs, including the lives of over 50 german soldiers, whose sacrifice we greatly honor. i also appreciate chancellor merkel's leadership along with the french president, to resolve the conflict in ukraine. where we ideally seek a peaceful

solution. most importantly, our two countries must continue to work together to protect our people from radical islamic terrorism and to defeat isis. i applaud chancellor merkel. we also recognize immigration security is national security. we must protect our citizens from those who seek to spread terrorism, extremism and violence inside our borders. immigration is a privilege, not a right. the safety of our citizens must always come first, without question. over lunch, the chons lore and i will talk about our economic partnership.

we must work together toward fair and reciprocal trade deficits that benefit both our peoples. many hardworking u.s. citizens have been left behind by international commerce and together we can shape a future where all of our citizens have a path to financial security. the united states will respect historic institutions and will recognize the right of the people to. the relationship is built on our shared values. we cherish individual rights. we uphold the rule of law. and we seek peace among nations. our alliance is a symbol of strength and cooperation to the world. it is the foundation of a very,

very hopeful future. thank you. [ speaking german ] >> translator: it is a pleasure to be here today in the white house. first personal one-on-one meeting and exchange of views. i've always said it's much, much better to talk to one another and not about one another and i think our conversation proved this. we talked about the international situation. we talked about also apprenticeship programs when we met with ceos and apprentices around the roundtable in regards to the shared interests that we have, let me look back into the past. we, the germans, owe a lot to the united states of america, it cannily as regards the economic

rise of germany. we were also able to regain german unity after decades of the united states standing up for this, together with other allies and standing by our side during the period of the cold war. and we are very gratified to know that today we can live in peace and freedom as a unified country due to that. i was gratified to know that the president underlined how important he thinks nato is. it's of prime importance to us and it was not without very good reason that we said during our summit meeting in wales that also germany needs to increase expenditure. we committed to this 2% goal until 2024. last year we increased our defense spending by 8% and we're going to work together again and

again on this. and we said that, obviously, defense and security has a lot of different assets and facets to it. on the one hand it's supporting missions in africa, for example. it's also promoting development assistance, but it's also helping missions in africa, for example, in trying to stand up for their own safety and security. we continue to be in conversation. what was important for us today was that we were able to talk about afghanistan, talk about, as the president said, our joint effort in afghanistan. the united states is continuing to commit to the afghanistan mission as well. today we fight against islamist terrorism. germany will step up its work in afghanistan and in syria. we're going to monitor the situation there very closely. we're going to work on political solutions in syria. but also in libya. what we talked about.

i am very gratified to know that the administration and the president himself have committed himself. we have to come to a solution. there has to be a safe solution for the security of ukraine. and the relationship with russia has to be improved as well once the situation on the ground is clarified. we haven't made the headway we want to but are going to work together with our experts on the next few months. i am also here in my capacity as g20 president. we will be hosting the g20 visit -- summit, i'm sorry, this year and very pleased that the president is committed to attending this summit. we'll talk at some length over lunch about the issues. we say this has -- trade has to be rendered fairer. there has to be a win/win

situation. we can talk about the details of that. we've seen today when we had an exchange with our ceos and also with our apprentices what sort of potential we can tap and what kind of potential our two economies have. it's very moving to see, particularly meeting with these young people, what sort of work toward the future is being done by our companies. particularly in this period where we're transitioning from traditional manufacturing to an industry for capacity building skills are so important. incidentally, not only for young people but also for those who maybe have lost their jobs and need to be reskilled in order to find a job again. and that is an issue, i know, is very important for you here in the united states. but it's also important for news germany. so i can say there are a number of issues where we will continue to cooperate very closely on the level of experts. but also on our level. we had a very good first exchange of views and i'm very much looking forward to the talks we will have over lunch.

thank you. >> thank you very much. we'll do a couple of questions. mark halpersn? >> thank you. [ inaudible question ] >> the gentleman needs to use a microphon microphone. >> different style than past presidents. wondering what you think about that style, if you think it's good for the world or -- [ inaudible ] >> thank you, mark. we just have a really wonderful group of people meeting later. we met with 12 pretty much no's in congress. they went from all nos to all

yess. we're going to have great health care. it's going to be passed, i believe. i think substantially pretty quickly. it's coming together beautifully. you have the conservative groups, other groups. everybody wants certain things. in the end we're going to have a great health care plan. now i have to tell you that obamacare is a disaster. it's failing. i was in tennessee. we had a tremendous crowd the other night. and they have half of the state is uncovered. the insurance companies have left. and the other half has one insurance company. that will probably be bailing out pretty soon also. they have nobody. many states where they have one and you have a lot of places now where they'll have none. obamacare will fail. it will fold. it will close-up very, very soon if something isn't done. i've often said politically the best thing i can do is absolutely nothing. wait one year and then even the democrats will come say, please, please, you've got to help us.

but it's not the right thing to do for the people. we have a great plan. we have a plan that's getting more and more popular with the republican base, with the conservative base and with people generally. the press has covered it very inaccurately. people are truly covered well and i think it will be something that is going to be a model to be looked upon. [ inaudible question ] >> i'll tell you after we're finishe finished. >> well, i'm here as chancellor of the german republic. i speak here with the president of the united states he who stands up, as is his right, for the american people. gracious hospitality with which i've been received here. we held a conversation where we

were trying to address also those areas where we disagree but try to bring people together. try to show what is our vantage point, what is the american vantage point and try to find a compromise which is good for both sides because we need to be fair with each other. each and every one is expecting for his or her leader that something goodwill come out of it for their people. for germany, i can say people are different. people have different abilities, different traits of character, different origins, have found their way into politics along different pathways, which -- well, that is diversity, which is good. sometimes it's difficult to find compromises, but that's what we've been elected for. if everything just went like that without problem, we wouldn't need politicians to do these jobs. >> translator: chancellor, giving the experience, you are always saying you are so

confident that walls can fall. how danger oous do you think th isolationist policy is what with the import tarrive ivtarriffs t plans, that he doesn't deal with the eu in a respectful way and, mr. president, america first, don't you think this will weaken the european union? why are you so scared of diversity in the news and in the media that you speak so often of fake news and that things, after all, in the end can't be proven. the fact that you have been wiretapped by mr. obama. >> nice, friendly reporter. first of all, i don't believe in isolationist policy. but i also believe a policy of trade should be a fair policy. and the united states has been treated very, very unfairly by many countries over the years. and that's going to stop. but i'm not an isolationist. i am a free trader. but i'm also a fair trader. and our free trade has led to a

lot of bad things happening. you look at the deficits that we have. and you look at all of the accumulation of debt. we're a very powerful country. we're very strong, very strong country. we will soon be at a level that we, perhaps, have never been before. our military is going to be strengthened. it's been depleted. but i am a trader. i am a fair trader. i am a trader that wants to see good for everybody worldwide. but i am not an isolationist by any stretch of the imagination. so, i don't know what newspaper you're reading. but i guess that would be another example of, as you say, fake news. >> translator: well, allow me, if i may, to put it in the following terms. we haven't yet had time to talk at a great length about economic issues. but i would say that the success

of germany in the economic area but also on security and peace that the success of germans has always been one where the german success is one side of the coin and the other side of the coin has been european unity and european integration, something of which i'm deep lly convinced. i'm not only saying this back home, but i'm saying this here in the united states and here in washington in my talks with the president. secondly, i believe that globalization ought to be shaped in an open-minded way but also in a very fairway. freedom of movement within the european union, for example, is a very important element of economic progress, of peace. has been for many, many decades. the european countries for many, many sentaries, waged wars against each other. we have to protect our external borders and there we have to work on the basis of mutual

interest with our neighbors. migration, immigration, integration has to be worked on, obviously. traffickers have to be stopped. this has to be done by looking at the refugees as well. giving them opportunities to shape their own lives where they are. help countries who, right now, are not in an ability to do so. sometimes because they have civil war. i think that's the right way of going about it. and this is, obviously, what we have an exchange of views about. but my position is the one that i've just set out for you. >> i might add that we have many plants and factories coming back into the united states. many jobs are coming back to michigan, to ohio, to pennsylvania, to a lot of places where they were losing jobs. and we will have a different policy. but it's going to be a great policy for not only the united states but a great policy worldwide. and i look very much forward to

it. kevin cerulli? [ inaudible question ] >> kevin, i think we have a very unified republican party. we have the presidency, the house, the senate and we're getting along very well, i will tell you. if you were at the meeting that i just attended where we took 12 nos or semi nos, no yeses and

within a short period of time everybody was very much on board. and a commitment to vote yes. i think we have a very unified party. i think actually more unified than even the election. you see when they talk about me, i seem to be very popular, at least this week, within the party. because we have our highest numbers. highest numbers that i've ever had in the party. i think there's a great unification. health care is a very difficult, complex subject. and it's a subject that goes both ways. you do something for one side and the other side doesn't like it. but it's really something that's come together very well. and i think it's going to be very, very popular. extremely popular. on trade with germany, i think we're going to do fantastically well. right now, i would say that the negotiators for germany have done a far better job than the negotiators for the united states. but hopefully, we can even it out. we don't want victory. we want fairness.

all i want is fairness. germany has done very well in its trade deals with the united states and i give them credit for it. but -- and i can speak to many other countries. when you look at china, you look at virtually any country that we do business with. it's not exactly what you call good for our workers. you look at the horrible nafta transaction. nafta has been a disaster for the united states. it's been a disaster for companies and, in particular, it's been a disaster for the workers. a lot of companies just moved. but the workers -- maybe number one. that, and maybe the military. building up our military, which we will do and we will be stronger than ever before. and hopefully not have to use it. but we will be stronger and perhaps far stronger than ever before. but it's probably the reason i'm here is when you talk about trade. so i think that we are going to be a very different country.

i think we're going to be -- we're going to have great values. but in terms of our military, it's going to be much stronger and our trade deals are going to be good, solid deals. not deals that lead to closing plants and tremendous unemployment. okay? thank you. >> translator: when we speak about trade agreements and the european union is negotiating those agreements for all of the member states of the european union but obviously there's also input by the member states. they bring to the table what's important to them. we have underline d as the business community and made the experience that any kind of agreement that we have concluded at the very latest and with south korea brought us more jobs actually. people were very much concerned about losing jobs, automotive

industry. in the end, particularly with regard to south korea, it turned out that both sides benefited and i think that's only fair. that's the purpose of concluding agreements that both sides win. and that is the sort of spirit, i think, in which we ought to be guided in negotiating any agreement between the united states of america and the eu. i hope that we can resume the agreement that we started. we have now just concluded an agreement with canada. i hope we will come back to the table and talk about the agreement between the eu and the u.s. again. >> translator: madam chancellor, question addressed to you today, we're talking about trade. the president, in the past, always said that he doesn't like multilateral trade agreements but prefers bilateral trade agreements. do you think from the eu's point of view it is a bilateral

agreement with washington and the eu on the other side? europeans have a basically different understanding of what the eu is all about. that's my question addressed to you. mr. president, my question addressed to you, if i may -- >> white house claims of wiretapping on you, on trump tower, on trump organization, on members of your campaign british intelligence was either responsible for it or involved in it. after these claims are rejected, what is your take on that? are there other suspects or do you think it was a mistake to blame british intelligence for this? and, by the way, my second question, therefore, from time to time tweets that you regret? >> very seldom. >> very seldom?

so you would never wish -- >> probably wouldn't be here right now but very seldom. we have a tremendous group of people that listen and i can get around the media when the media doesn't tell the truth. so i like that. as far as wiretapping, i guess, by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps. and just to finish your question, we said nothing. all we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind, who was the one responsible for saying that on television. i didn't make an opinion on it. that was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on fox. and so you shouldn't be talking to me. you should be talking to fox. okay? >> thank you.

>> translator: well, i believe that the president has clearly set out his philosophy as to what trade agreements have to bring about for the american side as well. i personally don't think that germany needs to negotiate and not the european union. we devolved our confidence to the european union so the european union or rather the commission negotiates on behalf of us. this would then be -- qualify as a bilateral agreement between the eu and the united states if we had it. but the question is, will it be of benefit to both countries or not, and let me be very honest, very candid. free trade agreement with the united states of america has not always been all that popular in germany either. there have been less demonstrations against this free trade agreement in the united states than in europe. and also in germany. so, i am very glad to note that

apparently the sort of perspective on that has changed a little bit at least in germany, too. >> thank you very much. great honor. thank you. thank you. >> president trump and german chancellor angela merkel are wrapping up a joint news conference, the first between the two nations. some of the comments the president made, reiterating strong support for nato that many countries needed to, quote, pay their fair share for defense, adding they must pay what they owe. we must work toward fair and reciprocal trade negotiations. as an answer to that last question, donald trump reiterated claims of being wiretapped and basically looked at merkel and said we have something in common, the reference to the claim that merkel's phone was wiretapped by u.s. officials in 2010. in fact, you could see sort of

the eyebrows raidsed on the german chancellor. >> we learned that from the snowden leaks. that was a moment that got a laugh. but basically he stood by the original accusation. and then tried to divert it to, it wasn't me who said it. it was somebody else who said it. >> having to do with british intelligence's involvement. >> right. >> aiding that surveillance, i suppose. >> he was also asked by a member of the german press whether he ever regrets a tweet that he sends and he says very seldom does he regret any tweet that he sends. that's very fascinating, too. eamon javers was there. eamon? >> reporter: sean spicer, white house press secretary is behind me. we're sitting right next to some of the president's top staff. when you heard that line from the president about wiretapping saying hey, at least we have something in common to angela merkel, i saw kellyanne conway reach up and tap steve bannon on the shoulder.

i wonder if you can read into the body language any sense of where that line came from. the president was prepared to deliver it and did deliver it. on trade it's interesting to note what the president said. he said first of all i don't believe in an isolationist policy. the policy of trade should be fair. the u.s. has been treated unfairly and that's going to stop is what the president said. clearly, the president was prepared to talk about trade as well and wanted to make that point in front of angela merkel. we're also told separately that just before this meeting, while they were together in private, the president pressed angela merkel on this issue of united nations nato dues, saying that germany and the broader american community needs to pay their fair share. we'll wait for more reporting to hear what the german side pressed the united states on, michelle. >> we will be watching for that, eamon. >> you bet. ambassador nicholas burns and former ambassador of nato

was with us before the news conference started and is still with us now. your initial observations on what you heard from the two leaders from their respective countries? >> i thought it was largely a very positive press conference. they're together on apprenticeship programs for workers, together on afghanistan and lots of issues, including nato. president trump, i thought, was largely positive. he said what he had to say on nato dues. if you were listening for u.s. support for the eu, you didn't hear it from president trump. >> nope. >> europeans are worried about that. if you're listening for a tough line on russia, the president didn't do that and did not say that he would keep u.s. sanctions. and, frankly, i must say this. his continuation of alleging that president trump wire tapped him is dishonest. it's not true. i think it's a low point of his presidency so far. and i think he ruined the press conference with that very unfortunate insinuation at the end. >> he has had a lot of moments like that, mr. ambassador, yet he still comes back every time and still seems to have a lot of

support. what struck me about the news conference -- >> i don't think he has much support for the wiretap claim. the entire republican leadership -- >> no, that's not what i was trying to suggest. you look at his popularity levels, compared to the rest of congress. he time-outed those popularity levels. >> it's as low as any president at this point. >> that's a good point. at the same time, still much higher than the rest of congress. it struck me that they both acknowledged that they have a lot of disagreements. i don't think you hear that very often when you hear two heads of state do a news conference like that. >> we were looking -- remember, we talked before the press conference. you're really looking for these two leaders, the two most important in the democratic world to get to know each other, trust each other. i thought the conversation was good between them. they were frank about where they agree d and where they didn't. that's an honest place to begin. i think chancellor merkel would have liked a stronger response from the you sats on the european union.

every american president since harry truman has supported euro european unity. this administration apparently is not. i think the germans will take that away from the press conference. >> i don't think that you can say every president going back to truman -- we didn't have the european union in its current form. isn't there a difference between, quote, supporting europe and then supporting the european union or european monetary union in the form in which it exists today? they are different things. >> i disagree. harry truman supported the steel and coal community, eisenhower, the treaty of rome. every president the common market. european unity means peace in europe between france and germany. the germans and europeans are afraid, especially the steve bannon faction wants the european union to disintegrate and fail. thus their support for brexit and private comments that are critical of the eu. first american president since

truman to be so negative about the project of building european unity. that's a problem. >> why do you think mr. bannon and perhaps the president want the eu to fail? because they think it's too robust a competitor or they don't like having to do multilateral trade agreements with the sort of untidiness of having to negotiate with different capitals as opposed to one on one? >> they're in the minority in the republican party. president trump and bannon. it stems from the fact that they tend to see the world through economic nationalist lenses. germany is a competitor because of the trade imbalance. there is that problem. but germany is also our strongest ally in the world. and the strongest country standing up to vladimir putin. and that ought to count for the united states. i just think they're looking at it the wrong way and sending terribly divisive signals to europe. i was struck by how worried the

europeans are about u.s. support for this project. that's a change over seven decades. >> mr. ambassador, thank you so much. >> thank you. ambassador burns, we'll move on to form erambassador to russia, from 2012 to 2014, michael mcphal. welcome to "power lunch." >> thanks for having me. >> i want to pick up exactly where we left off and ask the same question that tyler just did, about why it is that appears that steve bannon, adviser to the president himself, are not supportive of the existence of european union. i'm not sure that the republican party is monolithic on this i think a lot of them think that the eu is anti-democratic, there are a lot of bureaucrats in brussels who rule over people, they were never elected and that would kind of craw at somebody like steve bannon. >> that's the view of their ideological allies in the european union. i agree with ambassador burns

and the idea of economic nationalism and anti-multilateralism. and anti-international institutions in general. remember, mr. bannon, people around him and their allies in europe don't like other international institutions like the united nations. i'm not sure it matters that much, whether the united states supports the eu or not. you know, we're not a member of the european union. they don't really need our blessing and advice for what they're doing. i do think there is a difference of opinion about the utility of these kinds of multilateral international -- >> let me tip it to your area of particular expertise, russia. what does russia want in europe most especially with respect to the united states relationship with europe? what do they want? >> ironically, they want the same thing. they don't want international institutions to be strong either. either the eu but especially

nato. they believe -- and i think they're right about this, by the way. mr. president putin is right about this, that it's in russia's national interest to deal with each country in a bilateral way rather than as a multilateral unified force. so when they hear this talk of weakening nato, that's what they would like to see as well. >> mr. ambassador, thank you so much. sorry to keep it short. good to have you here. >> sure. thanks for having me. yep. bye-bye. snap chat down another 3% today. how about that for a transition? inside ipo price. facebook had similar moves when it went public and then the stock took off anyway big way. will snap chat do the same? we will debate that and more on "power." guys, what's happening here? hey nicole, this is my new alert system for whenever anything happens in the market. kid's a natural. but thinkorswim already lets you create custom alerts for all the things that are important to you. shhh.

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bringing american's more choices, more freedom, and entertainment everywhere. no company is more invested in america's future than at&t. >> all right. shares of snap, parent company of snap chat, falling today, 20% down from their opening price, from the close of the first day. facebook shares also, remember, plunged. and then, of course, took off for the number of years. could snap do the same, fall and

then rise? let's ask the trading nation team. so good there's one of him today, you're the bull and the bear on this i'm kidding. facebook took a dive. i won't criticize the ipo. it took off for a number of years. do you believe that snap could do the same? >> it's possible. i'm one of the few people that did criticize the $38 price target it went down and now, of course, over 100. i do think it's a good company and has a bright future. half the millennial community is checking in 14, 15 times a day. they're asking for enterprise value 20 time next year's revenue. all this is a return flight back to reality here. anyone who had their valuation set in the 14, 15 milk and honey days of web 2.0 start-ups will have probably a little bit of trouble just getting used to the realities of being a public company. like the company, it's still a little expensive here, but not anywhere near as expensive as it was the end of the first day.

that's for sure. >> what about the compliance structure? you have no voting rights. here is the thing. i've talked to people, i'm sure we all have, who have said, i don't want to own the stock. i don't have a vote, a. b, i don't have the floor of activist coming in. there's nothing anybody can do, that automatic activist coming in. there's not that automatic price where someone might come in or shake things up or try to buy them on a hostile bidikuindil, going to be possible. >> the things they did wrong on the ipo, they hyped it, went for too much money. they didn't sell that much of the money. they also sold more than had been anticipated with some insider selling into the ipo and they also stripped the voting rights. they sort of wanted a better for them type of structure and a premium discount against that. that's what i mean about the realities of the web 2.0. still like the company. all those problems are real but the big problem is they're asking people to pay too much and it's still an experiment and

there's no positive flow yet. >> use the cap max, that's 20 billion right there. max wolff, 55 capital, thank you very much. for more trading nation, go to tradingnation.cnbc.com. when a successful trial not successful enough? the answer is pushing amgen shares down. we will explain when "power lunch" returns.

jared kushner are sponsoring it. the six of us plus in the manufacturing industry our lead, this is one of the key work streams. already talking about s.t.e.m. in high schools and vocational training especially with the appearance of the apprentices. today it was phenomenal to see them and speak with passion about their opportunities. the german chancellor and the president listened to us. i talked about apprenticeships as it relates to community colleges. i talked about how to do training for early veterans but displaced workers especially in parts of the country that not only elected the president that we're in that need this extra training to be reskilled for as the old economy goes to the new economy. new collar workers is what the country needs. we need to skill them. there's so much of a skills gap. we have to fix the skills gap. the president and the chancellor

both support collaboration between the two countries. now to my colleague. >> thank you. it's been a great day for the united states and german industrialship. we have to help the apprenticeship and bring manufacturing jobs back to this country. second part is skill people. manufacturing but also prepare them, pre-skill them for the industrial revolution and the third is we are tired of employing hundreds of thousands of people, we want to employ millions of people and we share our skills and competencies with the communities. give $2 billion for community services for apprenticeship and training stot commune to the

community of this country. i'll turn it over to my colleague marc. >> thank you. hello, i'm marc benioff, the ceo of sales force.com. we should take a moon shot for apprenticeships to go to 5 million apprenticeships. all of the ceos here and all over the country have independent work force development programs and we're all doing things independently. you add into that the ngos, k-12 institutions, community colleg s colleges. we create this amaze 5g million apprenticeship dream. we have the opportunity to talk about gender equality and the ability to bring women into the work force and pay women the same as men. thank you very much. >> ladies and gentlemen, my name is klaus rosenfeld. we have an important part of our manufacturing base here in the united states. we have eight plans and three r&d centers. skilg workers is part of our

family culture. we have invested since 35 years into dual vocational training according to the german principles. we're happy to continue with this, in particular when it comes to the digital age and the needs of workers at the intersection of mechanics, electronics and i.t. we look forward to the joint opportunity to work together with our u.s. colleagues and we thank the president and the chancellor very much for the opportunity to be here today. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> so those are all the ceos that were in the meeting today with president trump and the united states and german chancellor angela merkel talking about the apprenticeship program. we had a long conversation with steve liesman about how they train workers in germany. one thing steve brought up to us in the break, it's an innovative program but it can add to the gild program. >> there's 5.7 million open jobs

in this country. i think the issue is companies say, you know, they come on cnbc day after day, we can't find people. we've got to go to break? what? i was making a great thought now i can't remember what it was. >> it happens. >> train don't complain. companies pick up -- if you can't find somebody -- >> your check please when we return. >> if that's it. >> we're back. with e*trade's powerful trading tools, right at your fingertips, you have access to in-depth analysis, level 2 data, and a team of experienced traders ready to help you if you need it. ♪ ♪ it's like having the power of a trading floor, wherever you are. it's your trade. ♪ ♪ e*trade. ♪ ♪ start trading today at etrade.com ♪ ♪ i did active duty 11 years.my in july of '98.

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you're watching the president and angela merkel. nasdaq at an all time record high. big move for the nasdaq. >> nasdaq 6,000, not that far off. >> thanks for watching "power lunch." >> if the nasdaq holds in record territory on the "closing bell" right now. hi, everybody. welcome to the closing bell on saint pat trick's day friday. i'm kelly evans. >> and i'm will fred frost in for bill griffeth. cholesterol drugs getting clobbered. >> a rare interview with brave warrior glenn greenberg. the biggest investment mistake of his career. >> pus ken sloane since news of the sales scandal broke. >> we made some