proudly look up at a portrait of you." >> great stuff. so cute. >> it is. thanks for joining us. i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. beto o'rourke and ted cruz i like conflict. i like different points of view. >> the fact that gary cohn is departing is the fact that it has real consequences. >> it has tremendous energy. >> i don't think chaos is too strong a word. >> the headline reads porn star sues president and nobody seemed to blink. >> we will have to continue to respond to it in a court of law. >> for the second time in a week, a powerful nor'easter

threatening 50 million people. >> there's a lot of snow. there will be a lot more. we'll keep you up to date with that all morning. as we say, welcome to you our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is your "new day". it is wednesday, march 7th, 6:00 in new york. here's our starting line. they do not like chaos in the white house. markets down sharply on news that president trump's top economic adviser is resigning. his name is gary cohn. he's just the latest in a series of high-profile departurinesdep. cohn clashing with the president on steel and aluminum.

>> president trump denying the obvious, reports that there is chaos in the west wing. but admitting that he likes conflict. cnn has learned that the president has done nothing to stop some of the public attacks on his embattled chief of staff. and porn star stormy daniels suing over her affair and hush agreement. the nondisclosure is void because donald trump never signed it. did this payment from donald trump's lawyer break campaign laws? and a storm of a different kind. a powerful nor'easter slamming the u.s. east coast from philadelphia to maine are in the storm's path with more than a foot of snow expected in some plates. so we have all of this news covered for you. let's begin with cnn's abby phillip live at the white house. what's the latest there, abby? good morning, alisyn. chaos? what chaos? former goldman sachs head gary

cohn is leaving. and he announced that decision after markets closed yesterday. we can see why. dow futures are down on news of his departure. the business community and his allies inside and outside the white house are now worried that economic nationalists could be on the rise. >> reporter: president trump top economic adviser gary cohn becoming the latest in a string of white house advisers to abandon ship after butting heads with the president over imposing stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum. news of his departure coming hours after the president insisted there is no chaos in his administration. >> gee, maybe people don't want to work for trump. believe me, even wants to work in the white house. they all want a piece of the oval office, the west wing. i can take any position in the white house and i'll have the ten top people having to do with that position. >> reporter: the president

reiterating that on twitter. sources say the president is consider tapping trade adviser peter novarro. and considering larry kudlow, who has been a vocal critic of the tariffs. >> i think it is a turn for the worse. i'm sad he is leaving. >> reporter: sources say his feud with the president over taxes was the last value. he considered resigning of the president equated ne-onazis in charlottesville. speculation continues about national security adviser h.r. mcmaster and chief of staff john kelly. cnn has learned president trump has emboldened anthony scaramucci, who was fired after 11 days on the job.

to continue attacking kelly publicly. >> this fear, culture of fear, culture of intimidation, people are afraid to talk to each other. >> coming from the president? >> no. i think it's the chief of staff. >> reporter: president trump saying this tuesday. >> i like conflict. i like having two people with different points of view. and i certainly have that. and then i make a decision. >> reporter: well, while president trump is mulling over his decision about who to replace gary cohn with, he will be speaking at a latino legislative leaders conference today. interestingly enough, his son-in-law, jared kushner, is going to be headed to mexico to talk tariffs with the mexican president. the tariffs and the nafta issue is a big one for this white house. these talks are coming at a crucial time as the world is waiting to see what president trump will decide and who to carve out of his tariff decision. joining us is david gregory

and john avlon. brother david, let's do a little so what, now what. this story about gary cohn, why does it matter? what does it mean going forward? >> i'm really disturbed by it. it is either a sign that the president is moving in a sign of economic nationalism, counter to the conservative principles of the republican party, concerning to the path of economic growth, or it's just another example of an erratic white house that may be moving in a direction until it doesn't move in that direction anymore. so the lack of predictability that we are seeing in the futures here is troubling. it's not to put everything on the markets. but the president pays such close attention to the movement of the markets that he reportedly felt vindicated because there was a rebound on monday. so he will try to ride the wave.

i think this is troubling to lose somebody and to have an economic adviser like gary cohn. >> correct me if i'm wrong, he was never planning to be a lifer in the white house. wasn't he part of the crop that was the not eye dee logically aligned with donald trump at the beginning who said i will give it a year. there was a crop of people who said i will serve my country, try this and see how it goes. >> yeah. bannon referred to them as the new york democrats. in the context of the oval office, west wing, they were adults trying to contain the president's worst instincts. the deepest divisions, some of those folks were trying to have a kocontinuity. party navarro, the nationalists,

they seem to have won the day. it is trying to are litigate the tariff issue by bringing people into the oval on. that apparently is done. cohn has threatened to leave before. now he's out. >> there is a theory of the case that his advisers has, that he has about tariffs. it is deeply unpopular in the republican party that has decided to wake up from its silence to fight like hell on had issue, up like other issues. they have a line in the sand on this they fear does jeopardize economic gains. so they're going in this direction. and may be incredibly ill-advised. >> see, that's the problem. it's true, you're right, david. this has been something that the president has been banging on since he got into the race. however, the means of trying to enact what he is trying to do, which is change the trade balance, change the dynamics,

the tariffs is what's bothering him. we want to find other ways to do it, we will find ways to do it. don't do it this way. he doesn't understand what the impact of the tariffs are. it sounds good. sounds like he is delivering on a promise. that's what made gary cohn leave. he said he only wanted to be in a year at some point in the past. >> but the way, i think most of the important thing we can talk about this white house this morning is the question of core competence. do they know what they are doing? that is what is raised by, you know, chaos in the white house is about core competence. >> according to brookings, 43% in this white house. the closest before that was ronald reagan at 17%. >> not the kind of winning he wanted to do, winning that record. >> no. here's the list. generally people -- you know, when the president says everybody wants to work in the

white house. i have the pick of the litter. people do want to work in the white house, for sure. but everyone knows it is an occupational hazard going into the white house. >> there is turnover. the typical tenure is just over two years. this is stunning. the president saying i love chaos. i got the quick of tpick of theu said, some people just want to say they have worked in the white house. by saying, look, i love conflict. i love watching conflict, that is not a good environment to work in. >> it's not true they have people falling over themselves to get in the white house. they're having trouble finding people that are of high quality, somebody like gary cohn. the reality is he's running it like the reality show. this worked for trump on television. we will have this go at it. you didn't make the cut. that whole thing. that doesn't work when you

actually need sustainable competence over time and people who can manage situations that last months and years. >> it is also very difficult -- president obama said it was difficult to move the ship of state because it moves very slowly. a lot of people say they're going to come into government and run it in a certain way, only to be stymied. that doesn't speak well of government. i think he's, you know,there's truth to that. they probably think it is true in some areas. what i worry about, it's not that he has to know everything. but the caliber of the people around him is what is starting to suffer. you look at the national security establishment. if he does push out h.r. mcmaster, because look at the judgment he was going to have michael flynn for a start. that's the problem. now in the economic realm to

lose somebody the caliber of gary cohn, people should be worried. >> and john bolton has been auditioning for the job on cable tv for months, that is not a sign of a stable white house. this isn't fdr some have liked two advisers against each other. this i more endemic. >> apparently anthony scaramucci, according to our reporting, has been not dissuaded from having a public spat with general john kelly. scaramucci was on our air and he said the morale is terrible. the reason is because general kelly operates this culture of fear and intimidation. and the word is, according to our reporting, that the president doesn't mind that, this public spat between his chief of staff and ousted

director. >> i'm not one who pulls in a lot of stock in scaramucci being a public figure. he is a slash and burn guy. i don't think he's a very serious person in this regard. but it is is painfully clear, whether he leaks himself, has other people leaks, has no problem trashing anyone and everyone around him. because that's how he thinks it's a about idea to leave. >> it comes from the top. >> gentlemen, thank you both very much. now this breaking news. a nor'easter is slamming the east coast for the second time in a week. more than 50 million people are under a storm warning or watch. chad myers is live in lower manhattan with more. what's it look like, chad? >> it has now changed to snow. very light snow. all morning it was raining. that means it's getting colder. that is spinning up. the snow is going to begin here

in new york city rather quickly. piling up outside the city could be 14 inches deep in pennsylvania, poconos and the northeast. this weather brought to you by green mountain coffee roasters, packed with goodness. here's the storm. this is what the radar looks like. it is not that impressive yet. it's just getting going. this storm at 1:00 this afternoon will be making thundersnow in places. two wfps inches in new jersey, pennsylvania. this is 7-1 not 10-1. one inch of liquid equivalent will make seven inches of snow not ten because it is so close to that 32-degree mark. but there will be snow all day long. it will be piling up upstate. we'll have a lot of snow on the

ground. we are in the traveling vehicle today. we are getting in the car and we're going to show you the snow. >> you'll be getting in the car and going nowhere fast. this city locks down. is that new cnn gear you have on, by the way, that coat? >> and how do we get it? >> you have to be in plus 100 miles per hour to get that. i like that hat. that's fetching. >> i have that already. >> you do? i think it's new. more porn star problems. stormy daniels making an explosive claim about the hush money she was paid. details next. why is dark magic so spell-bindingly good? it's a bold blend of coffee with rich flavors of uganda, sumatra, colombia and other parts of south america.

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all right. the porn star is back. stormy daniels now suing president trump for the first time in public court documents, she says that candidate trump knew all about the hush money she was paid over their alleged affair in an attempt to silence her. sara sidner live in los angeles with more. what is the basis for the suit? >> reporter: we no longer have to worry about what stormy daniels the adult film star and director has to say about the alleged affair with donald trump and the nondisclosure agreement signed before the presidential election because it is all spelled out in this new lawsuit against president trump. porn star stormy daniels suing donald trump seeking to in validate the nondisclosure she signed before the 2016 election, preventing her from talking about the alleged sexual encounter. >> you can't say whether you have a nondisclosure agreement.

but if you didn't have it, you most certainly could say i don't have a nondisclosure agreement, yes? >> you're so smart, jimmy. >> reporter: the lawsuit argues the agreement was null and void because it was not signed by mr. trump, referred in a anymore david denison. so he could publicly disavow any knowledge of the hush agreement or ms. clifford. the relationship began in the summer of 2006 and continued well into 2007. the adult film star and director, whose real name is stephanie clifford, considered sharing her story in 2016 after the "access hollywood" tape surfaced. >> when you're a staff, they'll let you do it. you can do whatever you want. you can do anything. >> reporter: the complaint alleges long-time attorney

michael cohen intervened paying daniels $130,000. cohen admitted but insisted that neither the trump organization nor the trump campaign was party to the transaction with ms. clifford and neither reimbursed me for the payment either directly or indirectly. the lawsuit says cohen has continued to intimidate ms. clifford into silence and shut her up in order to protect mr. trump, even as recently as february 27th when cohen filed a bogus arbitration against daniels without giving her notice of the proceeding and basic due process. in the lawsuit daniels also alleged cohen coerced her into signing this statement in january which states that reports of her relationship with mr. trump were false. now, there are lots of details in this lawsuit, one of which is pretty stark and pretty telling.

it says that if she or he breaks the agreement, that there is a $1 million penalty for each breach of the agreement. that would explain a lot as to why neither person would be talking. now it is all laid out in the lawsuit. and what's important here, i think we need to mention, chris and alisyn, is that if what is in the lawsuit, if the allegations are true, this is definitely a violation of the federal election laws. chris, alisyn. >> okay. we will get to all of that. sara, thank you very much. joining us are david gregory and cnn legal analyst laura coats. before we get to the big question of campaign laws, i'm concerned about the timing of this. stormy daniels knew in september or october before the election that donald trump hadn't signed this agreement. so why now would she be bringing this lawsuit? is it a red herring?

guess what, he didn't sign this nondisclosure agreement, so it's null and void? >> i think it is a red herring. i think what she is trying to do is capitalize on the opportunity and perhaps the limelight here. it may sound odd to people. it is not the absolute definitive that you have to sign before the courts will enforce it. it would all translate into an offer of $130,000. you accept that offer about that. and we go about on our day as if we are abiding by an existing valid is contract. to say now it is null and void, they are confusing two different concepts. outright it was never a good contract or it's voidable based on the conduct of the party. and i think what she's getting at is michael cohen's statements

about the existence made it voidable and now she can speak fearly and probably claim a million dollars or more for each disclosure. >> by file pleadings she put the theory of the case. because i had this affair, this happened. once again she spilled the beans and got around it because all you have to do is look at this public document and you will see she is saying this happened between the two of them. it is kind of over right there. >> she clearly likes the publicity. i think what's striking is this is the last troubling and salacious detail to be facing the white house amidst all of these problems. we are in a different age where this is not an iraq that is going to affect president trump and his political standing. >> isn't that incredible?

we all remember bill clinton and now an affair? >> it's a long -- >> i'll tell you what, there are people around the president who aren't happy about this, and not the reasons as the rest of us. >> like the first lady? >> they started out with real estate transactions. we all remember the story. he was messing around with women, plural. when asked about it, he lied. that's the concern, laura coats. yes, we can dismiss this and people pretty much when you look at the poll numbers have set opinions about what the president did and did not do and whether they care or not. but if asked under oath or by mueller's investigators did you know about this deal, did you have an affair and he lies and they're able to prove it, now we have a very different situation. that's not just tabloid fodder. >> absolutely.

it is a hypothetical perjury or hypothetical lie that's being told. you can go even more recently than that, chris. look at one john edwards, who was asked about the idea of getting a type of payment in terms of in-kind campaign contribution. the coverup was alleged in that case. it ended up in a hung jury. >> right. >> but the president has said there is precedent to go after people for lying about a coverup in terms of pillow talk with your wife. but now also having a lie about what you feel to disclose to investigators and also the federal election commission. so he also has that looming in the wind. it is not one to sneeze at. whether this is a morality issue here. it can now be tied to campaign finance. >> and there's a couple of problems for the white house, specifically the president. number one, and it all circles around the conduct of his lawyer. as i have talked to lawyers

about this, a couple questions have come up. if there is a material change in the case, the notion that you don't inform the client or the consent. and ration gnat number two, even though this is untrue, we felt it could be damaging to mr. trump. oh, so is this one was the one that was so damaging? what about all the other ones? >> on the heels of the "access hollywood" take. cohn said he tried to swaurb them. this is the one they said i have to pay it without the president's knowledge. >> they have pictures together. definitely they had an association. he did try to help and advance her. >> but the notion that somehow mr. denison, also known as mr. trump. >> that's a detail we haven't really seized us. >> more details about this are bad for his lawyer. >> but the upshot, laura, very

quickly, how does this not violate campaign laws? mike khouw hen was trying to pay stormy daniels to avoid this ruining donald trump's chances at the white house. is that not an open and shut case? >> remember, it is a $700 limit. you still have to disclose to the sec. number one, this is not even a full sec. it is four people at last count. it has to be everyone in agreement to bring the case against it. and the president discussed about shawn edwards. it was found at least in one it was not a campaign contribution. you know who was the person who said that? don mcgahn. he's now in the office of white house counsel. there is an upshot for the president even in otherwise clear-cut case. >> what cohen said, i did it as a personal favor. you're going to have to prove a link. it is not that easy. >> laura, thank you.

david, thank you. >> democratic voters turning out in droves in the nation's first primary in texas. is this a harbinger of things to come? you can't predict the market, but through good times and bad

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can afford to dream gig. it's hard to get all the daily that's why i love fiber choice. it has the fiber found in many fruits and vegetables, all in a tasty chewable tablet. fiber choice: the smart choice. could the blue enthuse amp in deep red texas be a sign of things to come in the midterms? ed lavandara is live with more. so what happened, ed? >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. rather interesting and depending on which side of the aisle will color this. one writer in texas saying there might be a blue wave of democratic turnout in texas as we have seen so far in the primary voting yesterday. but it is hitting a red wall.

one of the races getting the most attention is the race for u.s. senate where incumbent ted cruz, who is finishing up his first term in congress, is facing this upstart senator from el paso beto o'rourke. he is traveling all over the state, hitting almost all 254 counties in texas. beto won the primary last night with 60% of the vote. ted cruz easily won. he he went on with 85% of the vote in the republican side. what is interesting here is that even though democratic turnout is as high as we have seen in an off-year election since 2002, a million people voted in the texas senate race primary.

he is taking this seriously. he didn't waste any time. seconds after the polls closed, he released this radio ad about o'rourke. ♪ all of these numbers will translate to the election come november. hard to say at this point. everyone will be opining on that today, alisyn. we will speak to both of them coming up. stick around for that. the big theme is this nonstop revolving door in the west wing. it matters because of

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so the president is saying that any report of chaos in the white house is untrue. look at your screen at the talent that have bled out of that white house since he took office. does this mean there is enough stability there? we have former trump campaign senior adviser michael caputo. >> good morning, chris. >> so i don't think time is well spent arguing about whether or not there's too much turnover and chaos. it's going on. what does it mean for stewardship and following through for the american people.

what is your concern about this? >> i'm truly not that concerned. we have the first businessman elected president of the united states. didn't come with a deep bench of political hangers looking for jobs. up until the campaign, people didn't think he was ever going to win. he couldn't charge his chief of staff of people who aren't supporting him all that much. they were putting in people who didn't support him all that much. i don't expect he would have that many people lined up for jobs. second of all, a lot of people weren't really trump people. >> 43% turnover in 14 months. when you compare it to 12 months, because we don't have a metric for 14 months. but the rate is not even close. it's not just the number. it is is the quality. that becomes the concern. why is it so hard for them to put out policies? how hard it is to liaise.

this is a big reason why. >> it is. >> we know people who want to get in can't get in. they don't recognize anybody on the phone list. so i think what the white house could do, one of the things they could do is start bringing in more people who were supportive from the very beginning. and be careful about the people they bring in. make sure, for example, gary cohn, someone close to the president, did not buy into the president's agenda on tariffs. we all knew he was on it, he was going to leave. he had been talking about it for weeks. when the tariffs came up, something he agreed with the president on. >> there is a deeper read also.

this adage that it is really about the last person in the room is true. that's not the way to manage at that level. >> to say you can change the president's mind on something he fundamentally believed since the 1980s is not a good way to go about things. the president on tariffs and trade has been america first believer for a long, long time. >> on trade. he didn't always say i'll put on tariffs. it's the means they are upset with right now. you want to change the trade deals, go ahead. >> i've heard him talking about tariffs.

>> he says one thing in a televised extravaganza. then he meets with the nra, he pulls back on something else. >> it's the battle of ideas. >> what about stuff he believes? gun issues are not new. doesn't he have his own idea? something deeply seeded in him? >> true. i remember when we were trying to recruit for governor of new york state, one of the issues was the s.a.f.e. act. the president would sit down and listen. that big square table at trump tower. and he would listen to one side and then the other. it was an issue that was really important to him. i haven't seen it in the white house. i know it has to be intense there as well.

and the president likes that idea. some call it chaos. we call it the battle of ideas. >> it is not unusual in politics. >> it's not unusual. kent was a big proposal of that. so are a lot of democrats. that's not unusual. people running out of the house on because of the problems, that didn't happen with kent or any other people. one other issue. stormy daniels could be dismissed as tabloid fodder. whether it happened or didn't happen, in her pleadings she is saying they had an illicit affair -- she didn't call it illicit. when we look at the poll numbers, did he have an affair? probably. has he had other ones? probably. do i care? not so much. but when he sits across from somebody like me, except they work for the federal government, and they start asking him questions about this. >> i wouldn't want the president sitting across from mueller under any circumstances.

i think state senator jesus h. christ could be caught in a lie in front of mueller. >> i don't. if he has nothing to hide, wife wouldn't he sit down? >> i think he will. he says he has nothing to hide. it makes me nervous. i don't want the president, whether trump or clinton, stepping in the trap. we have a woman who has sex for money wanting more money. and i think there's a lot more to this than meets the eye. >> i know. the question, did it happen? did you know about the deal? her morality, the morality of the whole situation comes down to truth and falsity could be an issue. >> i get that. >> michael caputo, thank you for being on the he show. the president vows to stop russian meddling in the midterms. what's the plan? we discuss that next.

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well, the russians had no

impact on our votes whatsoever. but certainly there was meddling and probably there was meddling from other countries and maybe other individuals. and i think you have to be really watching very closely. you don't want your system to be co compromised in any way. >> president trump saying it might not be only russia trying to influence u.s. elections. and he said the u.s. is ready to fight any meddling attempts. cnn has learned the trump administration could impose new sanctions on russian entities as soon as next week. joining us to talk about all of this, david gregory and john avlon. okay. so that was a bit of different language the president has used. he said there was certainly meddling. he had called it a hoax, a witch-hunt. so something shifted. and new sanctions against russia. what's happening? >> i don't know. it's too early to pin him down

on this. from the guy in the basement doing this, to the chinese. instead of zeroing in on what our intelligence agencies actually know, what the threat is and working specifically the threat, he seems to not take it very seriously. even speaking off the cuff, he diminishes its seriousness. please tell me your system here and your strategy is more than we're going to have paper backups here. any sign of taking it more seriously i think is a hopeful one. i just don't see the evidence that they are doing something. >> that's the problem. give a gentle pat on the back that he is in the outright lying about what happened during the election anymore. and he got away from conflating and their efforts in the election. that's been his problem. however, the new problem is they're not doing anything bit. >> no. >> we have all of these top

intel guys saying he has orders to do it. no, we don't have a plan in place. even his suggestion is, well, if that happens during the election. well, that's too late. >> it is definitionally late. you're talking tough but the administration not doing anything is totally in sufficient. we know from the intel community's testimony on capitol hill, no orders have been given by the white house. nothing has been done. we know "new york times" reported that tillerson secretary of state department has $120 million to get tough. they spent zero. when has government ever had a problem spending money? it's because there has been a lack of focus from the executive. unless there's follow through, it's meaningless. >> they are saying they are doing things, just so everybody knows, but they haven't gotten a directive to do so. >> that's a meaningful distinction. there are always cyber wars

going on. some say they are an aggressor as well as a defender. that's fine. that's the state of play. but on this specifically and how you are hardening your systems for this next election, they don't have a plan. they don't have a strategy. they don't have direction from the white house. that matters. >> a big problem as we move forward, the notion of what we consider to be truth as being suspect that we can no longer trust something as being truthful, obviously journalists have a big role to play in covering elections and calling out things on social media and other places that are not accurate. that is an important function of the press. the government has a role to play in this as well. this is where it gets complicated when you have a white house of one party that will be advocating for a particular candidate. they cannot play that role of saying, by the way, this is wrong. a lot of what russia did is pushing an open door of cynicism, skepticism and they have a role to play in

counteracting that. and it is something that has to be public. a lot that can be done and should be done privately that the public doesn't know a lot about that can be effective. the government has an opportunity to say, hey, this was wrong. russia is doing it. we're going to call it out. that is part of what makes it effective if you call it out as it happens. something else to get to. the department of justice is suing california over its sanctuary laws saying it is unconstitutional. so what do we think is going to happen? >> look, you know, free trade, now federalism. they see the opposite of everything donald trump believes in. this is a finger in the wound on the debates in this country. the administration is not backing down. a real fight between the ag and the president. >> a final nod to david gregory

plays into exactly the point he just made. how can the white house make an adjustment on what's real and fake and get away from identity politi politics. >> thank you very much. thanks to our international viewers for watching. cnn "newsroom" is next. u.s. stock futures are down sharply. wall street is bracing for an ugly selloff. all of that next. ♪

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this is a president who manages and governs by chaos. >> people don't want to work for trump. believe me, everyone wants to work in the white house. >> gary cohn has a constructive force. that's a very big loss. >> perhaps at a moment when he

said i'm not going to win this fight. >> we're going to straighten it out in a loving, loving way. >> stormy daniels is now suing the president. >> i don't think the american people care about that. they care about jobs and the economy. >> there is nothing to hush. >> march either comes in like a lamb or a lion. it is coming in like a pride of lions apparently. >> winter isn't over just yet. >> bracing for another nor'easter. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to your "new day". so u.s. stock futures are down sharply on the sudden resignation of the top economic adviser. gary cohn is the latest in serious high-profile departures. exiting after the president imposes tariffs on aluminum and steel imports. who will the president turn to to fill that critical post? mean