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tv   After the Bell  FOX Business  March 1, 2018 4:00pm-5:00pm EST

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the lows of the session. [closing bell rings] the dow turns negative for the year. still settling 93 points on the nasdaq. here is "after the bell." david: it ain't over, folks. stocks getting slammed after the president announcing he would be putting tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. the dow ending down 433 points. it was down a lot more, to 586 points a little earlier this afternoon. it has recovered a little bit but who knows what will happen tomorrow and through this hour. futures, all three major averages ending down a lot more than one% today. hi, everybody, i'm david asman. melissa: i'm melissa francis this is "after the bell." take a look at the 30 stocks in the dow there. only just pairly a handful, looks like four in the green. the biggest laggard is boeing. let's take a look, take you straight to the floors.
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phil flynn watching action from the cme. first bo to nicole petallides at new york stock exchange with big selloff the dow now negative for the year, nicole. >> that's right. we're seeing a selloff for the third day in a row. we're down 1100 points in three trading days. traders used to this ping-pong type of action because prior to that we had three big days in a row. prior to that, three big selloff days. now we see what is behind it. inflation, tariffs, worries about trade wars. these are types of things and rising rates. look at dow jones industrial average, down 4 at that points. we still may squeeze out a gain for the year. for the week, the intel only name with dow jones industrial average with up arrow. we talk about steel stocks, aluminum stocks that is where
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the selling began as we heard more about import tariffs, something we heard president trump would put into place. we saw steel stocks surging. some hit new all-time highs or new highs that is worth noting, such as u.s. steel. that is the big picture here, steel stocks are doing well. concerns that boeing and caterpillar and others would have to pay more for raw materials and have a trade war. back to you. back to you. david: nicole, thank you very much. phil, how are they reacting at cme? >> we've seen a lot of action, dave, not only commodities pits. we talk about the industrial metals, when this was announced they absolutely got slammed. palladium was weak due to weak car sales is now even weaker because of fears that cars will be more expensive. we're going to be using less platinum, less palladium. they are going to go down. what is interesting enough, david, look at oil market,
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initially oil was una lot of pressure because the stock market was selling off. oil traders said wait a second, tariffs are bullish for oil. the reason it will cost more to produce oil. it will cost more to drill for oil. u.s. producers are going to be paying more money. so that is going to be passed on to consumers, ultimately less production means higher prices for oil. gold futures as well. they didn't know how to take this. at first they were looking at the industrial metals. they are going down. they take a step back, hey, wait a second, tariffs are normally a tax on the consumer. everything will cost more. that is inflationary. that will drive prices up. so really kind of weird on the commodities and a big day for them. david: don't sell your gold yet anyway. phil, thank you very. melissa, back to you. >> everything out there is going to cost more. let's go to blake burman at the white house to make all this down for us. wow. blake. reporter: melissa, the white house says this should have been no surprised.
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president trump campaigned on this. make no doubt about it the sudden announcement earlier today was just that. in a gathering of executives of steel and aluminum companies, a meeting that wasn't even on the official white house schedule the president announcing that he will soon be slapping tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. keep in mind that these numbers, 25% for steel, 10% for aluminum, both higher than recommendations from his commerce department. the president saying the language is being written right now and will be made official next week. >> we'll probably see you sometime next week. we'll be signing it in. and you will have protection for the first time in a long while and you're going to regrow your industries. that is all i'm asking, you have to regrow your industries. reporter: so we have the top line numbers there that sent the stock market into a downward tumble. even as that was happening, the white house was completely silent on any sort of details. not even saying if there would
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be exemptions for certain countries or even for our allies. here is part of my exchange earlier today with white house press secretary sarah sanders. listen. you won't get into details at this point. so if there are details to get into, should we read into it there will be exemptions for certain countries? >> again i'm not going to get ahead of the final details that will be put out next week. at this point there is no additional information to share. this is all being finalized. reporter: the steel and aluminum executives who met with president trump here at the white house earlier today praised this decision. however even republicans, all across this city are urging this president to take a second look at this. for example, look at this statement here that was put out by the house speaker paul ryan's spokesperson, quote, the speaker is hoping the president will consider the unintended consequences of this idea, and look at any, look at other approaches, rather, before moving forward. david, medical -- melissa.
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back to you. >> price of car went up, the price of a fridge went up, the price of a toaster went up, the price after washing machine went up. across the board. new homing construction, building construction, everything the price went up, blake. reporter: in theory, details. yes. details from the white house, none. melissa: let's hope. david. david: by the way on other side of this we do have ceo of a steel companying coming up in just a moment. let's bring in today's panel, kevinly from benchmark investments. and dan mitchell, center of freedom and prosperity. dan, start with you. put up stats about steel. it is true that steel imports increased quite a bit, 15% in 2017. they went up to 27 million tons from 22 1/2 million metric tons, 25% tariff, i did the math. that will cost americans $40 billion but that is assuming that there is no trade war, any retaliation or anything.
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so at the very least, there is going to be $40 billion taken out of the private sector from these tariffs. >> and that is just the start of it. i think the most important statistic is that there is what, 150,000 or so steel workers in america? there are 5.4 million workers in steen-consuming industries. even before we get to the potential for a tit-for-tat trade war like herbert hoover unleashed in the 1930s, we have to think about the fact that we'll get bad news for all, not just consumers. it is workers that produce things with steel. not to mention some companies will move their production outside of america to get access to lower cost steel. we did this during george w. bush. we lost 200,000 jobs. david: dan, quickly, stick with you on politics for a second, you're inside the beltway, you know how these people work. a lot of pushback from conservatives on this. is the president going to change his mind? can he change his mind on this? >> i think he is too stubborn
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around doesn't understand economics. he unified everybody, right-wing economists and left-wing economists we all agree he is shooting america in the foot. david: paul, the market is shooting him in the foot today. the market down 420. down well over 500 earlier in the day. they're not only worried about the cost to consumers, they're worried about the fed might do, this increases cost, fed worried about inflation, more likely to raise rates now. >> i think that's right. not only do you have earlier as you said good ads services becoming expensive as as a result of tariffs, increasing oil prices contributing to cost of goods and services. you have labor, we're approaching full employment in the united states which is going to hopefully contribute to wage growth. also the weakening dollar. so everything is pointing to increased inflation and therefore increased interest rates. david: kevin, the market as we know, it usually overshoots to the upside or today to the
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downside. do you think it has got enout of its system or is this beginning? >> no, it has not gotten out of its system. so many details we don't know, come out next week on the plan and next week we get the february jobs number. that will give inflation is ticked up by wages. that is the issue. next week is telling week, whether inflation is at the forefront of investors mind. melissa: get more perspective from another angle. joining me on the phone. bill darcy is the ceo of national kitchen and bath association. bill, i was talking to some of your members recently. your members include people like the ceo of kohler, all the stuff that goes inside of the new house you're building, whether the cabinets, the counters, the appliances, the dishwashers, i asked them what do you see as one of the biggest headwinds going forward when they see the economy expanding, they're seeing the price of raw materials go up like steel.
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that they were worried about something like this happening. i can't imagine what their reaction is today, bill. >> yeah, you know, melissa, exactly. at kba we represents tens of thousands of kitchen profession and manufacturers and 100 billion-dollar kitchen and bath market. i respect what president trump is doing to drive domestic jobs, but like many others have already said unintended consequences need to be thought through. it is too early to tell, don't want to get ahead of details but this certainly concerns us. melissa: major raw material goes into some of the things. 25%, how big of a deal is that? can they just buy u.s. steel? i mean that is the intended consequence, supposed to be? they have to source their materials locally rather than buying from china or anywhere elsewhere they are dumping steel on the market, and you know, it is subsidized by the chinese
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government. they're trying to drive u.s. steel manufacturers or you know, out of business? you know how do you respond to that argument? >> you know, do we know that american production could even match the overseas supply that would be lost? you know, we don't want kitchens and baths to cost more. the market is very healthy right now. we're seeing a lot of activity. again, unintended consequences of an employee of a company that is using metal to produce products, we don't want those folks to lose their job so others can get a job. melissa: another argument could be look, these companies got a huge tax break. they just cut the corporate tax rate. so to raise the price of their raw material, if they still want to buy it from overseas, they could source it locally, they still have the tax break, maybe those things offset or maybe these companies are still in the green, what do you think about that argument? >> yeah. maybe they do. again, i think it is too early to tell. we would like to see details
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what actually happens. that will take time to roll out. as you said about the markets reaction, it will take time to really understand what the impact of this is. you know, again, we are all about driving the market and success for the consumer in the kitchen and bath remodeling reconstruction area. it is healthy right now and it is growing. we're really hopeful, there are not unintended consequences of what president trump is trying to do. melissa: so what are you doing now, you're in charge of this group, you hear something like this, do you immediately call washington, trying to lobby about, trying to get your voice heard? what is the mechanics how all of your members respond to something like this? >> i think there -- i talked to some of them earlier today. they're not prepared to react yet. they want to see what final details look like before they could give us input on we could help them support opposition or whatever that would mean.
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so we don't know yet. again it is real early. obviously markets reacting quickly. however it will take some time for our industry to figure out how this will impact them in the short and long term. melissa: surprised to hear that. i would think reacting like the market would be on the next plane to washington, say, please, mr. president, don't do this, it will hurt our industry. you're right, maybe cooler heads prevail. bill, thanks for coming on. we appreciate your input. >> thank you, melissa. david: here to respond, john fariola nucor corporation president and ceo. nucor is the largest manufacturer of steel in the united states. he was with the president today when he announced the tariffs. mr. fariola, thanks for coming on. you have a very powerful man in your corner. nobody in the world has more power than the president of united states, but a lot of people are lining up against these tariffs. they include a lot of people in the business community. the business roundtable just came out with a statement. i will read it to you, get your
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response if i can, while global overcapacity and unfair trade practices should be addresses business roundtable urges the administration not to use section 232 to restrict steel and aluminum imports. we are very concerned that using this tool will hurt the overall u.s. economy, american companies, workers and consumers. your response? >> well, i think, as i'm sitting here listened to a lot of this gloom and doom today about how this action is going to drive the price of steel to a point where consumers will not be able to buy the products anymore, costing jobs and shutting down factories. allow me to put this a little bit into perspective if i may to give you simple facts. david: sure. >> average automobile probably, one of the largest industry consuming, industries that consume steel, the average automobile in the united states in january of 2018 was $36,000.
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to buy a new one. $36,000. about one ton of steel goes into the automobile. average automobile. the average cost of a ton of steel going into the automobile is about $800. $800. so, should the price of steel spike 20%, which i don't think you will see anything close to that, but should it spike 20%, that is $160 on a 36,000-dollar vehicle, or it will increase the price of that car by less than one-half of one percent. david: we've done, we've done the calculation of how much steel is imported, how much 25% tariff on that steel would cost. it comes to about $40 billion in a economy the size of ours i agree that's a small amount but let me just ask specifically, you point out that steel imports did increase significantly in 2017, up about 15%.
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that's correct but it didn't seem to hurt you. 2017 was actually the best year that you have had, and you're biggest steel company in america, since the recession. your revenue was up 25% despite a 15% increase in steel. why is that? >> well obviously i can not speak specifically to our numbers, in terms of metrics that make our total report up. they're not public. so i will talk in generalities, talking about the industry. clearly one of the key things that indicates the sustainability of an industry is the profit percent an, profit as percentage of sales revenue. i think most people, most economists -- david: your profits were up as well -- >> let me, may i finish my point, please? >> we don't have a lot of time. your profits were up. your ref were up. you did very well despite the increase in steel -- >> may i speak for one second. may i speak for one second. we don't have enough time.
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let's talk about that ratio in the steel industry, which is about on average 3%. in general manufacturing that same number is 8%. so although we are doing better as an industry than we did the previous year, we are still incredibly underperforming relative to these other manufacturerring industries crying the blues about this action okay? so, the last point i would like to get in very quickly. david: go ahead. >> jobs lost in downstream businesses. unfortunately the world is such that if our trade laws allow to be violated with steel today, they will be violated in those downstream businesses in the future. case in point is what is happening today with washing machines. okay? that is downstream business that our trade laws were violated on. there was a trade case filed successfully prosecuted. clearly pointing out that countries are moving beyond just
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steel. so if downstream companies do not support strong trade laws, rigorously enforced today on steel, they will be facing the same situation we're in in five, 10, 15 years. david: thank you very quickly, did the president make any guarranties to you that these tariffs would go through? did he indicate it was a done deal or is there any chance for some kind of a tweaking of what he announced today? >> well you heard his statement on tv and in front of the press same as i did. he said that he will be taking action next week. he said that there would be a tariff of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum. david: we heard that. but he made no other assurances to you or other people at the meeting? >> no. someone already made the point, it is accurate, the devil is in the details and when we get more of the details we'll better understand how this will impact the economy and our downstream customers. david: thank you very much for
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coming in, john. i appreciate it. melissa. melissa: all right. bring the panel back in. you heard people on both sides. who was more compelling? paul, start with you, what do you think? >> i still think at this point it is still too early to tell. i don't know why people are surprised about this news. this is one of president trump's campaign promises. he has history of fulfilling those. we should not have fully expected this. the other thing i should say, we are coming off record highs in the public equity markets on back of tax reform and job creation act. so maybe this is the time to act. ultimately the markets will adjust and then we'll settle into what could be the new normal. melissa: no, that is an interesting point. kevin, what do you think? all sides of that argument were pretty compelling. you heard the ceo of nucor saying as we're all overreacting. that the percent of steel that actually goes into these products, margin which is going
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up, so small people will hardly notice it. is that compelling? >> no, it is not compelling the worry isn't about the steel industry. the worries a trade war, what are repercussions of president trump's actions especially comes to other countries. we'll get an indication of that tonight when asian markets open up. we'll see how they are reacting, what their leaders say. the markets are indicating this just isn't about steel. if you think about global revenues of the s&p 500 companies, it is not just a u.s. story. that would be the russell 2000 index. melissa: dan, i would remind everyone at this moment that the president has a history of starting a negotiation with an extreme position and then everyone freaks out, and then they come to the table, and he is able to work back from that position. but he puts something out there that you know has everyone tearing out their hair sort of running to the table to say no, please, don't do that!
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is there a chance that is this. >> i hope so but even if he walks it back to say 15% tariff for steel, that is still going to be bad news. the one thing economics teaches us is things happen at the margin. so even though the cost of a car may only increase by a couple hundred dollars, you multiply across all cars, all washing machines, everything in the economy uses steel. you wind up with a heavy cost. you add on the migration of industries out of america. this in effect sugar program driving candy makers out of the country. these are secondary effects we have to think about. melissa: we've seen this movie is kind of your point. we've seen this movie before. guys, thank you. >> thank you. david: the chairman of the federal reserve on capitol hill. he might not agree with president's proposal. adam shapiro is here with the latest on that. adam.
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reporter: he was grilled on all kinds of things, so he was hinted tariffs would be hike. senator heitkamp asked chairman powell about international trade and tariffs, the fed chair responded in most cases trade is a net positive although there are people who suffer some negative consequences referring not specifically but referring to people in the heartland of the united states who have seen jobs disappear over last few decades during globalization. here is specifically what he said about tariffs. >> as chairman bernanke said, you know, sort of tariff approach is not, not the best approach. the best approach to deal directly with the people who are affected rather than falling back on tariffs which, but again these are not measures that are consigned to us. they are really for you and for the administration. reporter: that comment was made before president trump announced he intended to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum next week but this is what the fed chair did
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have to say earlier today. back to you. david: adam, thank you very much we have -- >> 25% for steel. it will be 10% for aluminum. it will be for a long period of time. david: for a long period of time. not very specific there. the shock of the president's steel and aluminum tariffs hitting markets hard today with an open-ended timetable for these tariffs indicating they could become a issue leading into the midterm elections in november. here is kayleigh mcenany, rnc spokesperson. good to see you, kayleigh. >> good to see you too. david: a lot of people lining up against the tariffs saying it will hurt both investors with the market down -- 420, with consumers paying more for tariffs. what say you? >> this is the agenda the
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american people elected. this is one of the most outspoken issues for president trump. a populist element to otherwise very conservative candidate. this is what voters chose, particularly voters in wisconsin, pennsylvania, michigan. i would also point out the national security aspect of this which president trump has cited. when it comes to aluminum we have 23 smelters going back to 1993. we now just have five. of those, one of them produces high purity aluminum needed for u.s. fighter jets. if that were to close, only other countries that produce that are united arab emirates and china. how many of us want to be dependent on those two companies comes to our national defense, our fighter pilots an aircraft. david: kayleigh, you know how markets work. we have a great love here for the free markets, both the trump team and everybody else that in this studio at least. >> sure. david: these things eventually are going to cost. every tariff eventually costs. it is a tax. that is what it is.
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eventually somehow americans end up paying for this tax. if that tax does become noticeable, and what people are buying in november, does that hurt your election chances? >> well i don't think because if it does become noticeable say in your beer can going up a few cents, that is very small price to pay when it comes to factory jobs -- david: kayleigh, i again i don't mean to lecture you, you know as well as i do how free markets work. >> sure. david: there are spillover effects. we talked about the federal reserve more likely to raise rates more often. that means all kind of still over effects to raising tariffs. >> i think it's a apocalyptic these two tariffs will raise havoc on all otherwise strong american economy. david: why did the market go down 420 points today. >> the market reacts quite sporadically. why did the market bounce back a week ago with historically low
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jobless claims, wages going up first time in 10 years to the tune of 2.9%. this is growing economy. markets react sporadically. i think underlying economy is strong. president trump is going to deliver on campaign promises. david: i think the underlying economy is strong as well but could hurt it. a lot of people are saying this. koch brothers are coming out with statements. senator sasse let's be clear, president is proposing massive tax increase on american families. protection system weak, not strong. you would expect a policy this bad from leftist administration but not supposedly republican one. and only people lining up for this tariff among the parties, among the politicians are democrats? >> right, well you know i would go back, i think again, senator sasse, that is rather dramatic statement from someone who was not right about a lot of this election. we go back to your second guest said, i thought quite powerful number when he was talking about how much it would increase the price of automobiles by one-half
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of one percentage. so there is that. but second of all, as sarah sanders said today, there might be carveouts with this. might only apply to certain countries. we'll see what the final tariff shapes out to look like. right now we know the broad stroke policy. not necessarily details. david: kayleigh mack men any, appreciate it. melissa: markets diving the we'll tell you what you need to know before opening bell tomorrow. vladmir putin's comments on nuclear missiles sending shockwaves to the u.s., but how seriously should we be taking this? that is coming up. ♪ hi, i'm bob harper,
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melissa: breaking news for you right now, downing street in london responding to the president's comments on tariffs. a spokesman saying quote, we are engaging with the u.s. what this announcement means in practice. we have been clear we are particularly concerned by any measures would impact the uk
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steel, they say aluminum industries. capacity is global issue and multilateral action is only way to resolve it in all parties interests. aluminium. david: gap surging following a beat on earnings and revenue. citing better than expected same-store sales for the holiday quarter which blew past wall street estimates. shoppers bought more end old navy line of clothing. over all gain store sales grew 9%. up almost 9%. melissa: don't want to depress you, dismal start to the trading month. the dow turning negative for the year. in the last three sessions alone the dow lost more than 1000 points. president trump's announcement on steel and aluminum tariffs exacerbating those losses. let's head back to the floor of new york stock exchange to check
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in with trader keith bliss. he is the senior vice president for goodness, kotne and company. got to get my italian and company. so what was it like down there? was there a lot of screaming? people ripping out their hair? what was it like? >> unfortunately the way our markets trade today with lot of electronics and other various ways to access the market without old paper, pencil and pad, it is pretty controlled like we've always been in gyrations past couple months but certainly a lot more action we saw once the announcement dropped that tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% as you said aluminum would hit the market. our sister trading floor, right behind the booth here of fox business booth is the options floor. they were certainly very active. melissa: they were smoking. >> there was a lot of yelling, screaming over there. certainly equity traders picking up cues from there.
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like most selloffs. pretty controlled. machines do a lot of trading. we have it manage our positions effectively, fet ahead of it for clients. melissa: we had move upwards t was a great for lot of investors it, was new record after new record. there wasn't a lot of volatility. for people making money on trading, wasn't necessarily that great. we're seeing a lot of volatility. is that a strategy? is, like to traders truly believe that volatility is in there, you switch to that. >> there is. melissa: or have we seen a top top, we could see a downtrend? what is more likely? what does it feel like? >> i don't think we'll see vaunted 25 or 30% correction that a lot of bears are looking for but we'll have outsized volatility in the 2018 market. we knew it would come. when you have a period of really, i would call it likes paxromana. that will creep in. that is what we're witnessing
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first two months of 2018. melissa: keith, thank you. see you later. >> all right. david: now that hope hicks is out who is going to replace here? former press secretary ari fleischer with his picks or suggestions. ♪
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sometimes, they just drop in. obvious. 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. ♪ jo shake up at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. hope hicks will leave the post as white house communications director in the next few weeks but who will replace her?
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joining me to discuss all this, ari fleischer, former white house press second under president george w. bush and a fox news contributor. were you surprised by this, and do you think she is exhausted and wants to go or is there more to this story? what do you think? >> every job in the white house is burnout job. i think in the trump white house you burnout a whole lot faster. no, not is surprise to me. ultimately will happen to every single person there except two of them, and those two are donald trump and mike pence. they can't leave. melissa: although there were two things recently. the rob portman incident, when they were trying to track how is it possible that nobody knew about this? john kelly said, you know, he didn't get all the details. we never really heard the whole story on that. could this be related to that? >> it might be. you know, it is guesswork. probably informed guesswork, but i think still the fundamental issue everybody there is and should be exhausted.
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they are grueling, difficult, burnout jobs all of them, particularly in the trump white house. ultimately will happen to everybody. is there an event that triggers it, maybes somebody say issue i've been really pondering for months, now i'm ready, now i'm done? everybody has their trigger moment. that might have been it. i don't know. melissa: in terms of replacements, look at makeup of people, she was a trump whisperer. everybody says she was good interpreter what was going on. she was able to understand him, interpret him to other people and also be, seemed like from the outside an influence on him. it seems like women in general have the most luck with him. that is sort of the people that he ends up, you know, having success over time. who do you think it would be a good replacement? a lot of people say mercedes schlapp. very even keeled, reminds me of people that have success with him. what do you think? >> one other thing about hope, she genuinely really believes in
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donald trump, finds him to be wonderful, compassionate man. don't sell that short. that helps a lot in relationship with your boss, in this case the president. there are a number of good names to be the mechanical communications director. i don't think anybody will replace her influence with donald trump, because of their closeness, she could say things to him others couldn't, he would listen to her. the white house needs planned rollouts, integrate with communications. it is not as effective in this white house because of the president's technique, the president's style. we saw that today, where the president just winged it in response to a question and gave the answer steel tariffs was going to be, before anybody in the white house, commerce department, agency, president did it to box everybody in now it is done. that is his style. he drives communications. communications director could be any number of names from inside or outside. i will not pretend to guess who they are, melissa.
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i don't know. the only people that do know make hiring decisions. we'll see who it is. melissa: let me ask you a question about that. you did mention he threw out the stool tax thing. he hadn't talked to anybody about it. no one expected it, something that came through. i had thought a long time ago during the campaign that these ideas of a trade war, threats after tariff were trying to pressure trump to do something about north korea. now the olympics are over, trying to get north korea under control in so many different ways and pushing china to do it for us hasn't really worked. could this be about that do you think? is there any chance? >> to a minor degree. this is donald trump trying to help blue-collar workers in america. whether or not it helps him will be another issue. that is what donald trump looks at different point of view. economists hate the idea.
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experts hate the idea. many people inside the administration hate it. but there is a school of thought you have to put blue-collar working class americans first. that is what donald trump has been about, what he tried to do. so i think it has a lot more to do with the domestic economy and whose side he is on when he says america first. he thinks of old-fashioned steel mill jobs. so i think that is what drove it, melissa. melissa: okay. >> frustration with china certainly could be a part of it but it is secondary. melissa: that could be a cherry on top of the decision. ari fleischer, you're always so smart. we appreciate you coming on great analysis. david: georgia state senate approving a sweeping tax bill, that punishes the airline because they cut their ties with the nra the gnat voting 44-10 to cut delta's jet fuel tax break with only democrats opposed to measure. statehouse and senate need to agree on a final version of the bill before it is sent to the governor to become law. delta is one of georgia's
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largest employers. ouch. melissa: more than a dozen house republicans are demanding the investigation into the justice department and the fbi handling of the clinton email probe. bob cusack, "the hill" editor-in-chief up next. ♪ so he got home safe. yeah, my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. what?! you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.
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david: calling for a second special counsel, 13 republican lawmakers signing a letter asking attorney general jeff sessions to appoint a second special counsel to investigate the fbi and doj over their handling of clinton email probe and investigation into russia's election meddling, specifically with regard to the trump dossier. here is the hill editor-in-chief bob cusack. bob, good to see you. thank you for being here. let me just ask, the president clearly is not satisfied with just the inspector general alone investigating this whole subject
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of whether or not the doj and fbi was involved in some kind of a collusion itself with the makers of the trump dossier. >> right. david: then on the other side there is this call for a second special counsel which carry as with it a whole another group of risks. is there something between the ig report or second special counsel? >> not at the administration level. congress can launch investigations an republicans have subpoena power but at the same time conservatives on capitol hill is not pleased with sessions. jeff sessions is not the guy he thought. he didn't go after lois lerner for ears scandal. now he kicked it over to the inspector general. the lawmakers signed this letter include jim jordan, mark meadows, north carolina, leaders of the freedom caucus. those guys talk to trump all the time. they probably expressed frustration with sessions. trump tweets at sessions he is disappointed in him. they're trying to exert pressure both internally and probably
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privately to get sessions to do more. david: meanwhile, as you mentioned, there are a lot of investigations. there is one in the senate. senator grassley is investigating the whole issue around the trump dossier, whether the fbi was promoting it, despite russian influence in it. there is a one russian, friend of the kremlin who couldn't get into the u.s. because of his connections with bad folks over in russia. suddenly he end up after he was mentioned mentioned in some communique with mr. steele who invented the trump dossier, he was mentioned, he ends up with a diplomatic passport in the u.s. grassily wants to know why. that is interesting question. >> grassley is very independent investigator this guy has very shady past. this is valid question what changed, why did you change your mind? when grassley sinks his teeth into investigation he doesn't let go. david: no he doesn't. he is doggish about that. trade tariffs, very quickly the
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president came out surprised a lot of people with the announcement. is there any chance that he could moderate or tweak his opinion based on the blowblack that he is getting? >> yes, i think so. he is getting blowback from republicans. it is pretty intense. there is a chance he could moderate but there will have to be a lot of lobbying on that. david: bob cusack from "the hill." great to see you. thanks very much. >> thanks, david. melissa: touts an invincible arsenal? the bombshell announcement from vladmir putin and what it means for the rest of the world. hello. - hi. how's it going? - alright, how ya doing? - welcome! so, this is the all-new chevy traverse. what do ya think? this looks better than 99% of the suvs out there.
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melissa: new arms race. russian president vladmir putin announcing advancements to his country's nuclear arsenal of weapons undetectable by american
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defenses. sounds great, right. this announcement coming as u.s. plans to upgrades to its own nuclear stockpile. we have rebecca heinrich, senior fellow in the hudson institute specializing in nuclear deterrents. rebecca, what do you make of the announcement. do you believe it? >> absolutely. the russians have been steadily working on improving the nuclear arsenal. this might be news to some people who haven't been really paying close attention but the russians have been focusing on nuclear arsenal and entire military during the obama administration. they were flying nuclear capability aircraft into nato airspace, threatening nato allies, telling astronauts they didn't want us to build defenses to put them in eastern europe. this is something the russians continue to do. this is not the fault of president trump. even though you say trump critics that now the trump administration is being tough towards russia, this is russia acting out in response. that is simply not the case. this is years and years of
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russians focusing more on their nuclear asnal, to target specifically american targets. melissa: they're working on it at all. you're saying this is something doesn't happen it overnight. they are working a long time during the smiles, during the reset button. then when president obama caught in hot mic saying i will have a lot more flexibility to be nicer to you when i get reelected, this is when this was going on? >> this is the great irony the trump russia collusion narrative that the trump administration is far tougher with russia than the obama administration ever was. the russians will exploit american weaknesses. that is exactly what they did during the obama era. the trump administration is now correcting that. in the military documents of the trump administration just released, national security strategy, the defense strategy, nuclear posture review the focus is shifting towards campus peteing with countries like russia and china. not because we want an arms race. not because we want ad very cheryl relationship with the two countries, but russia and china
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are steadily working to hold american targets at risk. they have been doing it as the united states has tried to say, oh, no, if we don't build defenses maybe russians and chinese won't build offenses. in fact the opposite happened. while we have not been building defense is the target, to intercept russian missiles, the russians are exploiting that vulnerability. melissa: i don't mean to throw this at you, we didn't tell you we would ask you this, how does that play into north korea and what do you make of that situation? now there was all the kumbayah during the olympics. the olympics are over. we're back where? >> not trump administration has to be tough with north korea, continue the pressure campaign, have to steel the resolve off the south koreans. it does really connect with russia because missiles are a major problem. they're a problem with north korea. as we build defenses against north korean missiles, we need to build defenses against any threat from wherever they exist. if they exist in russia, they exist in north korea, they exist in china, it no longer makes sense to have a limited missile
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defense that only defend against certain kinds of threats. we have to go to space. we have to have sensors in space to see the missiles wherever they exist. melissa: that is terrifying. appreciate your time. david: another rough day for the markets, closing down more than 400 points. 420 to be exact. what you need to know before trading resumes tomorrow? that's next. ♪ ... york state, visit esd.ny.gov.
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david: take another look at the bad news today, unfortunately the dow was down 420 points and major sell-off and has triggered of course by donald trump's comments on tariffs that was unannounced we didn't know he was going to come out with that announcement on the tariffs he may moderate that somewhat but the dow was down 420 today. melissa: yes blue chips falling more than a thousand points in the past three days and with that, the dow is negative for the year. the nasdac though up 4% so you've got that at least. i don't know we've seen all this
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volatility, it's here to stay. david: charles payne says it's a great buying opportunity. melissa: okay well that does it for us. it was an exciting hour risk & rewards starts right now. president trump: we'll be proposing tariffs on steel imparts and tariffs on aluminum imports and see a lot of good things happen and see expansions of the companies, 25 for steel and 10 for aluminum. liz: the threat of a trade war rocking stock market the dow dropping as much as 586 points at its low the s&p broke the low its 100 day moving average as president trump announces steep new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports coming next week. the president saying this is about protecting american jobs. it's about fair trade. the dow is in the red for the year on fears of a trade war with china and other countries. we've got the d

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