institute for econom andas spent time working with the danish defense ministry and he joins us now from washingtononob, just give us your view what actually could be accomplished if bush are all us al assad remains in power. jacob: it basically means you can't and the civil war. it will basically turned from being a normal civil war but front lines in which he will have ongoing guerrilla warfare. certainly a continuing continuation of human misery and a lot of people continuing to be killed. kevin: when i think back to the campaign version of then candidate donald trump, frequently we would hear him criticizing german chancellor angela merkel. now it seems that he has since lined himself with germany. how is this new realignment, or if you see one, going to impact the strategy with syria? think, it is quite remarkable with the u-turn by the trump administration in just days.er of a few it was last week when sean spicer was out saying, look, we should just accept the political reality days. that assad is in power and we have the secretary of state saying we need to get assad out of power and russia

. >> joining us from washington, white house press secretary sean spicer.ormer press secretary, current press secretary in the no spin zone. sean, will president trump be able to support something like bill was describing, nato can get involved and combat isis and solve this problem in syria? >> there's a lot of great discussion around. that you saw the secretary general discuss his commitment to further rooting out terrorism and isis through the region a lot of commitment that he talked about how there are five countries currently living up to their 2% gdp, what they're supposed to be committing to, to be part of nato. that number is going to rise to 8. we'll see a financial commitment as well as an overall strategic commitment from nato to make sure that we combat isis. >> unusual, president trump doesn't always admit that he changed his position. today he was blunt and he said, to the sam ras and the audience that he used to think it was obsolete and no longer thinks that. do you have any more insight? >> it's not so much what necessarily he's done, it's

deduction.this he joins us from washington. grover, great to speak with you. imagine you are on the side of wanting this thing to disappear? any nuance you like to add on that? it go goal isn't to make away. the goal is to make the tax , andm fairer and a simpler to reduce the tax breaks for all individuals and american businesses. the rates come down dramatically for individuals, small businesses, corporations, and, in order to get those rates down as low as possible for all americans and all businesses, it eliminates deductions and credits that advantage of you. this is a very targeted tax credit that you're are getting rid of for a benefit for everybody. says, we tax the middle class so high, heavily in new york that giving rid of this would be a problem, i got news for the governor, cuts of the taxes you have on upper and you won't have the problem. this puts the pressure on big-city political machines that have been subsidized for a hundred years. they tax, spend, look you and i and the say the mind of the property taxes and other taxes, just deduct them

he joins us from washington. thank you for joining us. we are getting word a young protester has died after being shot in the head, potentially by security forces maduro has placed in the streets for this protest. are the opposition right to say that this looks like the behavior of an authoritarian , is not stretching it to perhaps a would-be dictator? >> i think there is little question that the regime has become increasingly authoritarian in many respects. obviously, when thousands of people are marching on the , things can get a little out of control. unfortunately, there have been of adeaths and one today student who was killed, but there's no question that the regime is tightening its grip. the situation has deteriorated dramatically, and that is what has provoked, prompted people took amount -- people to come out to the street, a sense of desperation. it has barred any contenders for the presidency from running. those are characteristics of an authoritarian government, and that is the background for these protests. are these about m

they are back tonight and joining us from washington. aaron erin, let's start with you. id you think the biggest story was going to be? >> well, i predicted that it would be the investigation from the house and senate intelligence committees and i think i was right about that. everything that happened with devin nunes. [[applause] >> you are clapping, thank you. i can't even keep straight what happened last week with what happened this week at this point. so much is happening every single day, i think mike flynn obviously last night that report that from the "wall street journal" that he was going to seek immunity to testify was going to overtake announce. who know what is is going to take up next week that took up so much of the oxygen this week every single day at the white house briefing and really topped all the newscasts. >> jesse: i'm surprised trump didn't tweet something out that was totally off the reservation and throw everybody off that story line. bob, what did you predict? were you right or not? >> surprisingly i'm going to say i was right. i predicted there

plan before he marks the major milestone in office on saturday, jen anyway -- jennay joins us from washington. >> reporter: 53% of americans disprove of the job president trump has done so far. five days out from his 100th day in office, president trump has fallen short of most of the standards he set during the campaign. >> what follows is my 100 day action plan to make america great again. >> reporter: in october he offered a contract to the american voter promising major legislation on ten campaign promises in the first 100 days. the plan to replace obama care has not passed. they are touting less important bills as other measures of trump's success. >> we signed more legislation into law in the first 100 days than any other administration. >> no administration has accomplished more in the first 09 days. >> reporter: the president has been busy on his rallying cry of immigration. calling for triple ice officers and adding thousands of border patrol agents an order lg -- ordering construction on the border wall that could create a costly hurdle in the coming days, house and senate have unti

let's bring in catherine harris joining us from washington.oesn't seem to be any chinese reaction in the sense that sometimes after a meeting, a day and a half meeting, there is a joint statement, that we didn't get any joint statements. putin postures behind the scenes. is there any serious, serious reaction tonight? >> i wouldn't say serious reaction, but i would say the leading edge of this investigation right now is into whether russia had some kind ofi role, bill, in this chemical attack earlier this week, and whether a second strike on that town in syria was really an effort to destroy evidence and be part of a larger cover-up of that crime. and that is really where a military intelligence is focused tonight. >> bill: they had a drone, i understand?ll >> correct. >> bill: russian drone over the area where the chemicals dropped and killed children. and a russian bomber bombed the hospital where civilians weremi taken. is that what we are talking about tonight?re >> that's right. there was a drone immediately over the site where the sarin

scarlet: director of the imf fiscal affairs department, joining us from washington, d.c. we will be hearing from mick mulvaney, he will tell us what is driving the discussion on tax reform and where the white house stands on the border adjusted tax. from new york, this is bloomberg. ♪ scarlet: whadid you miss? the man that oversees the country's budget plans to give the president $1 trillion worth of work on the ground. in an interview with david westin, mick mulvaney says president trump's infrastructure plan would be ready in the fall. one way to fund it is the border adjusted tax. david asked if the white house has taken a position on that tax. >> not yet. it is at the center of our discussions for the past several weeks. over ary mnuchin treasury, gary cohn has been leading the team on tax reform and the border adjustment tax. forms of the tax proposal have been part of our discussion. it is fair to say we have not settled yet but my guess is you will know by next week. david: that would be great, to get the plan. can, a real supporter of president trump. he was on yes

tracie potts joins us from washington with the story. >>> good morning. bout a couple of things happening in congress. first, the fact that they are about to use that nuclear option, because it looks like enough democrats have lined up in order to prevent this vote from happening. so, they're going to have to lower the threshold. also on capitol hill, something we have not talked about in about a week and a half, healthcare. >> reporter: revived? after flat lining less than two weeks ago, the republican health plan may be coming back to life. >> good to see everybody. >> reporter: vice president pence led a late-night trip to capitol hill last night to pitch skeptical conservatives a compromise that allows states to opt out of obamacare mandates like covering maternity, mental health and emergencies and allow insurers to charge sick people more. >> we're encouraged by at least the idea, intrigued by the idea but need more information. >> reporter: the details expected today with a possible vote this week. covering pre-existing conditions and young adults o

could get some developments on that in the next couple odays as th david: kevin cirilli joining us from washingtonon correspondent. there is a joint press conference tomorrow at the white house and the 1:00 hour. we will it live on bloomberg television. this is bloomberg. ♪ scarlett: it is 7:00 p.m., i'm scarlet fu. oliver: i oliver renick. welcome to "bloomberg markets." ♪ scarlet: we're live in bloomberg world headquarters in new york, covering stories at los angeles, washington, and paris. here are the top stories we are covering on the bloomberg and around the world. jpmorgan ceo jamie dimon releases his annual letter to shareholders. high the highlights, the u.s. corporate tax rate has caused considerable damage. he also explains why brexit is a key concern. we have details ahead. lackericfreys, jef announces his immediate resignation with the departure of a hawkish member of the fed, we look at what big changes, if anything, the federal bank. big winners in last night ncaa finals, north carolina and cbs. "the ratings winner for the network. we look at the numbers and what it means for broadc

we just heard from white house press secretary sean spicer and joining us now for a reaction to that from boston james sim dell, and from washingtonthe lovely aaron mick five, white house correspondent for the independent journal review. james, big day. sometimes we can't figure out. what's the headline? i don't know you as well. you might qualify for lovely after this interview if you contend with the headline of today is. >> was a great masterstroke for donald trump and to have and the white house the very moment he has rex tillerson in moscow. i'm not sure anyone is quite positive what exactly our relationship is with russia at this point, and you are both from russia and from trump that this relationship has very much soured and it's in a very bad place. dobby secretes opportunities and lowered expectations make a deal, and one thing he was clearly doing today was bolstering the american position when they try to negotiate and make a better deal when it comes to russia, when it comes particularly to syria. after these bombings on thursday night, were wondering what comes next and we thought donald trump would answer that quest

abc's correspondent joins us from washington. arlette, what does the president hope to achieve with the order? >> president donald trump is hoping to chip away at campaign promise, calling for review of a visa program he said is bad for american workers. today in wisconsin, the president will sign an executive erican.alled buy american, hire the order specifically targets the h1b, visa program, asking for departments to suggest reforms to ensure that the right people are accessing these types of visas. now the administration argues that this program currently takes high paying, highly technical and high specialty jobs away from american workers, and allows companies to hire foreigners willing to work for less. >> arlette, while the president is in wisconsin he will be closely watching a race down in georgia today. to try to fill former congressman tom price's seat. what can we expect in the race? >> this is really a big test for democrats. could be a barometer for whether democrats can retake the house in 2018. democrats poured s

laura blanchard joins us from washington see what the latest on the situation and paris. >>> french investigators say the 39-year-old french national who pledged his allegiance to isis was acting alone when he shot to death a police officer along the boulevard. >> as thursday evening fell on the popular boulevard in the heart of paris the shooter identified as killing one officer and wounding to and injuring a german tourist when he left out of his car and opened fire. american tourists were among the witnesses to what french authorities are calling a terror attack. >> it rain out about 10 shots. at that time my wife yelled run. >> police returned fire killing the suspect but not before the 37-year-old officer lay dead just a few weeks shy of his birthday. the shooting coming less than 72 hours before france's presidential election and it occurred just as a debate between the three candidates was underway. >> there is stepped up security of polling stations as isis is taking responsibility for the attacks. marine the pen whose message has helped arise in the polls says all islamic mosques in fran

john harwood joins us from washington. what are the obstacles to the new blueprint? >> the obstacles are the same ones that faced it before. it has some elements of obamacare, but it also would result in a lot of people losing their insurance, and the preexisting condition protections might be preserved in name only, not in fact, because insurers would have the ability to charge a lot more for people with preexisting conditions. so kayla mentioned the expectations have gone into overdrive as a result of the talk about this compromise. i think they've been revved up way into overdrive and everyone ought to temper those expectations. >> we also have a coming budget deadline and a possible government shutdown looming. >> that's right. now, i think the shutdown is less likely. even though there's negotiations and disagreement going on, three sides, democrats, republicans in the congress, as well as the white house think the likelihood is that if we get to the end of next week and that deadline arrives, that congress is likely to punt at least for a short period of time,

global affairs correspondent elise labott is joining us from washington. they say about the ongoing fight against isis? >> reporter: you know, 16 years in, you know, the taliban are really controlling more territory than they have since 2001 when the war began. this morning on abc news general h.r. mcmaster, the national security adviser, really spoke about the fight that the u.s. is facing not just against the taliban and al qaeda but also about isis. take a listen. >> what's clear here in afghanistan is the stakes are high. i mean this is -- this is really the modern-day frontier between barbarism and civilization, and so with those high stakes in mind, recognizing that the taliban groups that we're fighting here, that the isis groups that we alongside really the afghan forces are really fighting, and we're just enabling them in the eastern part of the country, are a threat to all civilized peoples. and so the president has asked for a range of options and we'll give him those options. >> so the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan, general nichollson

nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington. how is it that the democrats are not blocking the budget and what can you tell us about the republicans? >> reporter: democrats have already once blocked the effort to extend spending for about another week while they try to work it out. their big concern here is health care. they don't want a repeal vote on obamacare wrapped up in the emergency spending bill. now it looks like they might be able to go forward because republican leaders have said we will not see a health care vote this week. they will deal with these two issues separately. the timeline, we'll see a vote or are expecting to see a vote late morning into mid afternoon, no later than 3:00 we're told, to extend government funding and prevent this shutdown at midnight. while that's happening, the white house also responding to what the pont gone is saying. the pentagon's inspector general is launching an investigation into fired former national security adviser mike flynn who failed to disclose tens of thousands of dollars i

our north america editorjon sopel joins us from washington — what does this tell us about the president'sone tapping and wiretaps and russia, this is the major strategic, national security issue, at least as far as this white house is concerned. what to do about north korea and their growing ability, it seems, to launch a nuclear missile that could hit the west coast of america. eight years ago barack obama, he launched a very similar attempt to try to get the chinese on board. he said and a mystery in secret to beijing to speak to the chinese leadership. donald trump is doing the same thing but rather more loudly. it's worth reading what he had to say. he said china has great influence over north korea and china will decide to help us or they won't. if they do it will be very good, and if they don't it will be very bad for everyone. what donald trump hasn't spelled—out is what that might be, but a military option has not been taken off the table and i think that is an attempt to say to the chinese, you could have military action with all the instability that would bring, or you could hel

. >> brian ross with us from washington tonight. brian, president trump has said that president obama wiretapped trump tower. this report does not get to that. >> if the washington post report was correct, this was a very specific operation aimed at one trump adviser who the white house said was never a major player in the campaign, david. >> all right, brian ross has been on this story for some time. >>> in other news, police in sacramento, california, conducting a criminal investigation into the action of one of their own. tackling a man accuse of jaywalking. the incident was captured on camera. abc's kayna whitworth with those images tonight. >> hey! hey! >> reporter: tonight, the arrest video that even the sacramento police department calls disturbing. >> i'm in a fight! >> reporter: newly released dashcam video shows the confrontation. it was just after 5pm and nandi cain had just crossed the street when the unidentified officer attempts to stop him for jaywalking. >> get down on the ground now! >> reporter: they begin to argue.

." >> cecilia with us live tonight from washington. lawmakers getting an eefrl there from constituents during recess. a they're coming back next week. >> david, that's right. tax reform is on the agenda, health care could be back on the agenda. something even bigger on the horizon, avoiding a government shutdown, that could happen next friday if congress doesn't pass a funding bill. >>> next this evening a tornado watch in parts of three states

today, who is with us from washington, which may be good because she went to michigan state and eugene here went to michigan. so we try to keep at least one city between them at all times. heidi, what do you make of the follow-on? tomorrow morning is going to dawn to steve's point, we are going to have a discussion about military matters where north korea is concerned. and areas of joint cooperation between china and the u.s. and there has to be some follow-on on 59 very large objects thrown up into the sky. >> right, brian, because looking at history and our intervention in other parts of the middle east, what happened tonight was the easy part. what happens next, and whether this administration actually has a clear strategy is the hard part. you see the statements that are coming out of congress. there is some split there over whether all members were necessarily supportive of this. but what they are unified in is that this administration now needs to come to congress and to articulate a clear strategy about what happens next. we don't know what syria's next actions are going to be.

he joins us from washington. thank you for your time.arget. it is not so much about steve bannon but more about the new security adviser having more control. yes. this is good news. i have been quite critical of the new donald trump administration and how they have handled national security. when they make a step it is important to give them credit for that. this looks like the new national security advisor, hr mcmaster, asserting control over the national security in the white house, and pushing aside political aides that were put in place in the beginning of the trump administration. and so we see now a more regular national security process that does not have the chief political strategist of the president sitting in national security meetings, and that is a positive step. it was amazing in washington when he was first appointed. he has no foreign policy and national security credentials. he is not sidelined, though, he will still have a say and will be an observer. yes. i think there has been a lot of hyperbole around this move. it i

she joins us from washington. good morning, stephanie. >> reporter: kendis and diane, good morning. we know north korea tends to show off military capabilities during anniversaries. and as you mentioned, just this morning, north korea is said to be firing off the country's largest artillery drill marking the military's birthday. tensions between the united states and the north korean regime are still high and rising. >> north korea is a big world problem. >> reporter: the situation in north korea is said to be the big topic at the white house on wednesday. when all 100 u.s. senators take a trip to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. briefing them are the secretaries of state and defense, director of national security. and the chair of the joint chiefs. usually, it's the other way around. administration officials travel to capitol hill to address congress on foreign policy matters. >> the council must be prepared to enact additional sanctions on north korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs. >> reporter: on monday, president trump called on the united nations security council to do more.

defiant amid speculation they're about to test-fire a nuclear weapon and abc's maggie rulli joins us from washington. good morning, maggie. >> reporter: good morning. what a week for president trump. having to deal with one foreign policy test after another. and heading into the weekend, it seems like north korea could jump to the top of his priority list. it's president trump's latest foreign policy threat. deals with the fallout from an expected nuclear weapons test in north korea which could occur as soon as this weekend. >> north korea is a problem. the problem will be taken care of. >> north korea's got to change its behavior. >> the time for action is now. >> reporter: america's top military leaders say north korea's increasing pace of missile tests in the past six months have made the situation urgent. according to monitors the latest satellite images show a north korea nuclear test site primed and ready for a launch expecting it saturday as the nation prepares to celebrate the birth of the nation's founder. the u.s. is countering with a show of military strength. moving an aircraft carrier s

thank you forjoining us, live from washington. roken out in brazil as police clash with anti—austerity protestors. there are reports of police using tear gas to disperse crowds. it happened at the end of the country's first general strike in more than 20 years, where trade unions called for a stoppage to protest against president michel temer‘s pension reforms. from sao paulo, here is daniel gallas. brazil once again in the state of chaos. peaceful anti—austerity demonstrations in rio quickly turned violent. police were called in, and the clashes intensified. the violent erupted at the end of the country's first general strike in more than 20 yea rs, called by first general strike in more than 20 years, called by unions in protest at president michelle temer‘s proposed pension reforms. the government says people must work longer before retiring, in order to fix brazil's deep economic troubles. trade unions that organised the strike say the country's poor are the ones who would pay the price for reform. translation: our struggle is

rajini vaidyanathan joins us from washington.is fairto it is fair to say that xi jinping has not done much diplomacy in an environment like this? if we talk about the diplomacy, we remember some of the things that president trump has said about china, as a candidate he said that china was responsible for taking a number of us drops and he accused china of being a currency minute later. he took a phone call from the leader of taiwan's and that is one of the adversaries of china, so when donald trump says it will be an interesting talk they have, you can bet he is right. some of the things he says he wa nts to right. some of the things he says he wants to do is to riches and he describes as the massive trade deficit us has with china but he needs the help of china on some areas, for example when it comes to helping contain north korea's nuclear ambitions. might they play some golf? i'm not sure. this is an interesting setting. we know president trump likes to play golf when at his club but it is such an interesting setting and effe

." >> sreenivasan: all right, coral davenport of the "new york times" joining us from washington. thanks so much. >> great to be with you. >> sreenivasan: how do scientists reintroduce an animal to the wild once it becomes extinct? watch our interview at the smithsonian's "earth optimism summit" at: facebook.com/newshour. as the newshour reported earlier this week, and as today's marches showed, some scientists are becoming more engaged in the political conversation. some are even considering running for office. currently, only a handful of the 535 elected members of congress have backgrounds in science, engineering or technology. in tonight's signature segment, newshour weekend's megan thompson reports on an effort to improve those numbers, and whether partisan politics could spoil the objectivity that scientists bring to policy debates. >> he's probably going to be in charge of yard signs because she has the biggest garage. >> reporter: on thursday morning, around 80 people filled a hall in washington, d.c., for lessons in campaigning for local school board, state legislature an

and wildlife >> sreenivasan: susan goldberg, editor in chief of "national geographic" joining us from washington today. thanks so much. >> thank you, hari, appreciate it. >> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> sreenivasan: after 111 victories and four national championships in a row, the university of connecticut women's basketball team finally knows how their opponents feel. in one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history, mississippi state beat connecticut in their semi-final game of the n.c.a.a. tournament last night. guard morgan williams sank the winning jumpshot at the buzzer in overtime to beat uconn 66-64. mississippi state will play south carolina for the national championship tomorrow night. francine wilson's 1977 trial for killing her abusive husband changed the way domestic violence is viewed by the public, police and the judicial system. word now from her son that wilson died last week in leighton, alabama. after suffering years of physical abuse, wilson killed her husband by setting fire to their home while he slept. at her murder trial, a jury found her not guilt

he joins us from washington good morning, sir. >> good morning, dave, how are you? >> good. a little confused because when you hear the mother of all bombs will be dropped for the first time, you expect more than 36 casualties. are you surprised by these results? >> i am a bit surprised. i find them a bit shall we say disproportionality to borrow a term from the military because what you try to do in warfare is try to achieve a degree of proportionality is use the amount of force in order to get the job done. having said that, i think the big issue is the kind of structure or kind of terrain we're dealing with and there's few other weapon systems that could actually be used in that kind of environment and achieve the same affects. >> having trouble with the afghan military and special ops teams getting in there. you want the intelligence you can gather from an isis training camp with a tunnel system like that but if you can't get in there and there's loss of life, this is the only option? >> that's one way, of course the other way to avoid loss of life is find all the entran

joining us now from washington, capitol hill reporter for "the hill." again, molly. if president trump could find any common ground with democrats, some say it might be infrastructure but yesterday he said he might package that legislation with health care or tax reform. that's certainly something going to alienate some democrats. no? >> that's true, it could alienate democrats but it could also bring along some republicans. here's why. because after earmarks were done away with in the john boehner era, it mate it very difficult for majority party leaders to help give their members sweeteners, one would say, to pass major legislation, especially like the health care reform bill. moving forward, infrastructure has oodles, oodles, oodles, oodles of sweeteners, so to speak. in fact, yesterday, about 45 members of the transportation committee republicans met behind closed doordz with elaine, transportation secretary and she said this could come up as early as may. according to participants, they were talking about the projects that need to be done in their

counter—terrorism analyst and senior fellow at the foundation for defense democracies joins us from washington yet, but it has the hallmarks of a terrorist attack. and ices have provided enough early information that we should be up to have a good sense as to whether they knew ahead of time. i suspect that if they did, it is likely that they have a statement from the attacker himself that they will be off to push out to other media in the next few days. it is bad enough that anybody died, but there were thousands of people in the champs—elysees, of course, as usual. it is pretty clear that this was a deliberate targeting of people in uniform, as at orly airport, with the attack on the soldier.m uniform, as at orly airport, with the attack on the soldier. if the attack had gone on longer, who knows what would have happened? they could have been a transition to more targeting of tourists or the like. and the odyssey went for the security services from the outset. a number of attacks that have been linked back to ices have targeted police services. —— isis. we have the charlie hebdo attack. and o

us after 9/11, giving intelligence. i feel like it such a departure from what trump said on the campaign trail. and in 2013 on his twitter feed. >> greg: joining us with reaction from washingtonstuart holliday, former ambassador for special political affairs at the u.n. and from ♪ city, chris wilson, former advisor to the ted cruz president campaign. you first, it's president trump deleting his base with all of these reversals? >> all you have to do is go to the comments section on breitbart news and you will see how the alienation has become. i've a new dell my good friend who is actually the leader for the sanders movement, they moved over and supported trump. we had a lot of interesting debates about that, i should say. because of his -- the comment earlier to me when you have donald trump taking the same positions as lindsey graham and john mccain, he is alienating those who got him elected. i actually agree with the policy, but i watched in amazement as someone who was against him in the primaries and saw the true illustration of his comments. you can see him on fifth avenue and not lose supporters, he would not lose supporters. but now finally they are starting to see t

host: we'll go to virginia who is joining us from washington. good morning, democrats' line. guest: good morning, virginia. caller: good morning. i think it's horrible the way they're treating people, the way this trump administration just thinks he is like a nazi, just grabbing people. the mexican people have been in fields, hard workers, and i have never seen one of them hurt me and i think it's horrible what they're doing to these poor people and these kids crying. they don't care. i'll tell you, trump is the biggest nazi i ever seen. and i'll tell you, he is going to ruin this country because he wouldn't know what it's like to have to work hard and have no money and hardly have any money to work. some day he's going to pay for what he did. and you know what? he's the criminal. he's the one going around grabbing women and then being an oligarchy and going over to russia. so if anybody is a criminal he is and so is that republican party. that mitch mcconnell needs to step down because he's done nothing but disrupt and make things hard for anybody. and they don't want to giv

thank you for joining us from washington. oliver: let's get a check on the news this afternoon with mark crumpton. the u.s.ction to missile strikes on a syrian air base showed divisions in the international community over the six year civil war. russia and iran, allies of the bashar al-assad government, contemned the attack, which they claim was conducted under foss the tax. israel welcomed the attack. france, which pushed for military action on syria after a chemical suspected attack in 2013, supported the move, so did angela merkel. a more muted response from china, with the countries leader visiting president trump's palm beach resort. china's foreign ministry constant -- cautioned against the escalation of tension with syria. a year-long political battle is now over. the senate today voted to confirm neil gorsuch to the supreme court. -- the vote was 54-45. yesterday, the republican theslators agreed to lower confirmation rate to a simple majority vote. 83-year-old utah republicans the were over -- 83-year-old utah public

lindsey ford is a director at the asian society and joins us from washington. is amazing, the significance of that relationship. i am going to the bloomberg terminal, looking at a graph u.s. total trade in china, 17 percent of all world trade is coming from china. this is crucial. why is it worrying that trump is so tough on trade? lindsey: what is interesting, you heard very tougher rhetoric coming out around trade during the campaign but there does appear to be two different camps within the trump administration. certain folks within the administration, his son-in-law jared kushner, perhaps secretary of state rex tillerson, who come from a business background and have a much more pragmatic and business-oriented approach. in,e they are interested how can we create jobs, how can we build the economy? they recognize that involves doing trade in business with china. there is a different camp. what you saw on the campaign trail, folks like peter navarro that have been clear that fair -- trade with china is not fair for america. see.ll be interesting to is the trum

now joining us from washington, charles. am i overstating things, doctor? >> yes. i'm sure there's an element of trump hatred for just about everything the democrats do on capitol hill but there's nothing like the level of vitriol in the board hearings in the thomas clarence hearings when george h.w. bush was president. >> bill: but those men were much more conservative than judge gorsuch is. >> i don't think you can say that about clarence thomas. add the fact he was head of the eeoc. that was a political hit job of the first order and it was all -- >> bill: do you think do you think the hatred of ronald reagan was at the same level of donald trump? >> i don't. that's why i don't think it's a bad hatred of the president. i think it has to do with the democrats deciding and there's no doubt it decided is the hearings they decided 200 years of tradition which was you should generally approve a judge that is somehow educated, intelligence, experienced -- scalia was approved 98-2. to the difference ideologically between scalia was nothing. they decided however, the co

that was commerce secretary wilbur ross speaking with us from washington. i was the to him -- i will be speaking to them next week. for more information, you can go to bloomberg.com. fantastic. you can see david and about 50 minutes. coming up, i will talk to one wells fargo investor who is voting against 12 of the 15 directors. his outlook for the bank next. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ vonnie: this is "bloomberg markets." let's get a check on markets straight away with abigail doolittle. abigail: we are looking at a big rally the second day in a row for u.s. stocks. 1%,dow is up well more than topping yesterday's rally. on pace for its best day since march 1. the dow is on pace for its best weekly performance on the year. a lot of strength for u.s. stocks. the nasdaq is above 6000 for the first time. bullish. not to leave the s&p 500 out of the mix, the banks have really reallcaught the s&p 500. yields up for a fifth day in a row. that helps the banks. we are looking at a rally for the banks. we are looking at them being positive on the air again. we look at th

jessica schneider is joining us from washington. rosa fluoresce rosa flores is joining us from chicago. his comments were defined by paul ryan as textbook racism and now they're back in the spotlight. up date us on the latest. >> wolf, you said it. the controversy and the backlash over then candidate trump's remark were wide ranging at the height of the campaign. it was speaker ryan, mitch mack k mcconnell, even newt gingrich -- let me break it down for you. he first began his rant in may, 2016, calling judge curiel biased, hostile and then made the leap to say that judge curiel was being unfair because he was mexican, even though judge curiel was actually born in indiana. candidate trump reasoned that since he wanted to build a wall with mexico if he became president which of course he did, judge curiel would be biassed a biassed and couldn't do his job. when asked by jake tapper isn't the definition of racism saying someone can't do their job because of their race he said no. the judge was presiding over the trump university fraud

ariane de vogue is joining us from washington. we heard from neil gorsuch for some 20 hours just weeks ago. now he'll go to a committee and then full vote. the nuclear option, i think no question it will be used, correct? >> it sounds like that's the way they're going. this committee is going to meet at 10:00. he won't be present, but the members here will deliver remarks. we expect gorsuch to advance out of here at the end of the day, only because, really, there are more republicans than democrats. but the debate today could get a little bit fiery. the republicans, they're going to defend and praise gorsuch, but the democrats have these concerns. first of all, they're still furious about merrick garland never getting a vote. they call this a stolen seat. they also think that gorsuch was really evasive in some of his answers during his testimony on things like gay marriage, corporate issues, campaign finance. and then we'll also hear from that ranking member, dianne feinstein, and she's going to target women's health issues. rememb

mike covers the white house for bloomberg news and joins us from washington.means that this seems to be aimed squarely at some of the outsourcing companies. >> indeed, one of the administration officials who specifically this named three outsourcing companies he thought would be hardest hit by this. the whole idea is to shift the h-1b visas away from the lower toll less well-paid jobs, jobs that really are high skill and that you couldn't find an american worker. caroline: it seems the white house is asking for the help from certain agencies for their ideas of how they can make this more targeted. reporter: yes. this executive order really doesn't order them to do anything. all it does is start a process that any large organization we have thisch is, goal, what are good ways to achieve this? this will probably take months, probably not until next year before you see any impact on this. caroline: what about the h-1b in terms of how much the executive can drive forward changes, or how much still we are seeing the white house held to account by congress? they are

kurt volker is the former us ambassador to nato and joins us from washington. nt change in the relationship between the government of the us and the military? have they unleashed the military to do what they will? i would phrase that differently. there is a change, but the change is to give the military a clearer and more ambitious mission and to then give them the authorisation to carry that out, not to act without any constraint of law, not to act in ways that would have the us committing war crimes, but to say the mission is to destroy isis. the mission is to stabilise afghanistan. go and do that. what we had previously was a lot of micromanagement of decisions. what ordnance will we use? how much free reign with the military have? the mission for isis was to degrade rather than destroy it? this is giving the military a clear mission and giving them authority to carry that out. do you welcome that? i certainly do. it is important not only for the military to be effective, it is an important signal to adversaries, whether it is isis or the taliban, that they w

us. we want to get more insight from greg stohr, bloomberg's supreme court reporter who is with us from washington. greg, you have covered the supreme court for a long time. has this changed the process to , point judges in the future because there may be another one or two or maybe more appointments in the next four or eight years? have some people think and been arguing that this will lead to more extreme nominees. now the president and the senate or controlled by the same party. they don't need any buy-in at all from the minority party. it may give the president a little more leeway, and it is possible we will see over the more veryr of years conservative justices. vonnie: in a way, that was the case anyway, right, greg? it was very difficult to actually block a president's nominee unless he did not actually have hearings at all, which is what happened with merrick garland, the last year president obama's term. greg: of course, merrick garland was a different situation because you had the house and senate controlled by different parties at that point. it is not as if the president had been cons

maria joins us from washington now.ense that that deadline is in trouble and cuts are in general? >> well, he would not give a specific deadline, neil. what i'm hearing from lots of sources, they have moved beyond that august deadline. you won't see tax reform by august. however having said that, the president is clear that he's working on healthcare and he will get healthcare and tax reform done this year. he said he's committed to it, committed to making sure taxes go lower and committed to make sure to incentivize companies to bring $5 trillion from overseas back to the united states with attractive tax rates, with also three brackets. so in terms of making it a simpler plan. so he's committed to tax reform. i have no doubt. even if they can't get a broad tax reform plan out there, they're going to cut taxes. i do think they will get a tax reform package out there because of the way he spoke about it. the healthcare package is continuing to be worked on. he said that look, it's a tough process, that healthcare is inc

senior political editor mark murray joins us from washington. thank you for your time. some reports point to the power struggle that led to the oust or say it's more or less procedural. what are you hearing about this development? >> i don't think it's fair to say it's a power struggle right now, but it's a a growing influence by the national security adviser. they have put more influence with the generals than the national security advisers and away from political folks. it's worth remembering. essentially what karl rove was it's important to note that neither in serving on the principles committee that's why it was so controversial when bannon was moved up there. i think it's a a e reflection of the trump white house now with some of the political folks so close to national security council. >> the president called theed chemical attack a a front to humanity saying he's changed his mind on the leadership there. is trump leaving the door open to new action in syria? >> yeah, we have to wait and see on b what kind of moves and efforts the trump administration and the wh

the white house correspondent kristin welker joins us from washington. this is about them an obama era practice. at least partially challenge it. where they used the voluntarily release the list of visitors. >> that's right. they will no longer voluntarily release the list. the argument is that it is a matter of national security. let me read you the statement from the white house and then get you this on the other side. this is according to the spokesperson who says by instituting historic restrictions on lobbying to close the revofing door, expanding and elevating ethics within the white house counsel's office, the trump administration has broken new ground in ensuringing on you are government is both ethical and accessible to the american people. give the grey national security risks and privacy concerns, it is a position the obama white house successfully defend in the federal court. one senior official telling me, even after president obama, there were some exceptions. which is true. the obama white house, for example, wouldn't release logs of people