a man named earnest scherer iii. there was not the awkward silence that sometimes you have in first date. >> ernie, what he called himself, was good looking, college educated, former eagle scout raised in a mormon household. his occupation was rather unusual. he was a professional poker player. >> kind of surprised me that someone with his background would be a professional poker player. >> you did something kind of odd for a while. >> which is why i had no judgment about it. i found it very interesting and he said he was making good money at it. >> ernie explained how he had mastered the skill of cleverly hiding any tells, clues about the cards he was holding. >> he was good at reading people which is very important in the poker world. he kept an apartment in southern california but spent much of his time in las vegas. >> he gambled enough at the tables. he had high enough status that he got free rooms and free meals, show tickets. >> he seemed to be doing it all rather responsibly saving money for the times when th

michael scherer of "time" magazine. and molly ball of "the atlantic." announcer: celebrating 50 years, this is "washington week." fund something provided by -- >> their leadership is instinctive. they understand the challenges of today. and research the technologies of tomorrow. some call them veterans. we call them part of our team. >> additional fund something provided by dana farber cancer institute. more and discovercarebelieve.org. newman's own foundation. donating all profitses from newman's own food products to charity and nourishing the common good. the ethics and excellence in journalism foundation. the ewe win foundation. committed to bridging cultural differents in our communities. the cormings for -- the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator robert costa. robert: good evening. after weeks and months of speculation, steve bannon has been relievinged of his duties as the president's chief strategist. bannon, the former head of

tony scherer, art cashin and rick santelli. >>> and we're 47 minutes away from the close right now with the dow just hovering above the lows of the session. down about 200 points. we'll take you live to the nasdaq for more on the technology weakness. this is one of the worst days for tech in quite a while. >> but, first, with all the uncertainty in washington, two top former ceos discuss what it will take for the president to regain support from the nation's business leaders when "closing bell" comes back >>> markets holding steady at the lows of the session. dow down 204 points. interestingly the decline on august 14th, which we've been looking back on was also .93% for the dow. >> we've had a couple of sharper down days even as it tries to climb back. >> we're back below 22,000 let get a check on some of the day's market movers. l brands, the worst performing stock in the s&p after a 14% same-store sales decline prompted the retailer to lower its full-year earnings guidance. the sales decline largely due to its decision to stop selling swim wear and other apparel at victoria's secret,