and john harwood is absolutely right. trade with china is a much more legitimate issue than a phony trade war with canada or europe. and when the president has a phony trade war and has phony national security reasons for a trade war with our closest allies, democrats should stand up to that. i think what's also really important is you know, we have to ensure that we at some point get some investigatory power because at this point we have a president who has a trade policy that hurts americans and helps his own pocketbook. and that -- we have at least reasons to ask questions about that. and because the republicans won't do any investigations, americans don't really know at the end of the day whether the zte deal or other things trump is doing is actually helping himself at the expense of voters. >> jared bernstein, the american government has done very well in the world trade organization when it comes to trade disputes. it wins almost all of them. and it's always prosecuting these trade disputes against countries that a

steve scalise said he would have voted for it, john harwood. paul ryan said he wouldn't. kevin mccarthy didn't say a word about it. what do you have to do if you want to be the leader of the house republicans? >> well, look at that caucus. steve scalise knows where the sweet spot is. paul ryan has known where the sweet spot is. he's leaving and he's trying to preserve some patina of statesmanship here while he's doing it. but steve scalise is looking for votes. this is not going to happen. it's not going anywhere. but it does tell you something about that competition. >> yes. yes, it does. i thought that was an interesting tell from scalise today. i'm tabling this with you three. matt miller, i'll let you go, thank you very much, sir. >>> up ahead, is it possible that anything in president trump's tweets can and will be used as evidence against him? that's next. friends, colleagues, gathered here are the world's finest insurance experts. rodney -- mastermind of discounts like safe driver, paperless. the list goes on. how about a discount for long lists? gold. mara, you sa

cnbc editor at large john harwood. riock, and alexi mccammond. thank you all for being here tonight. i want to start by looking at 51 republicans in arizona. with john mccain at home battling brain cancer, the fate of the supreme court nominee rests in the hands of about a half dozen critical senators. on the democratic side, heidi heitkamp, and joe manchin up for reelection and they voted for neil gorsuch. they also all paid visits to the white house this week. i caught up with senator manchin on capitol hill ahead of his meeting with the president. >> do you think voters in west virginia want to see you vote for president trump's nominee? >> you know, i think they want me to do my job. i would hope so, kasie. my job is to make sure the person with the best qualifications gets that position. >> so, john harwood, let me start with you on just the incredible pressure that susan collins and lisa murkowski are going to be under under this dynamic. clearly the white house is aware of that as they kind of go through their li

john harwood, eugene scott, good to hear you both.hank you. >>> so many legal questions remain about the michael cohen tapes. is it really inconceivable that an attorney would record a conversation with a client? some answers, next. alright guys let's go! let's do this. (♪) okay you gotta be kidding me. hold on, don't worry, there's another way. directions to the greek theater. (beep) ♪can i get a connection? ♪can i get can i get a connection?♪ ♪ohhh can i get a connection? ♪trying find the old me if his denture can cope with... a steak. luckily for him, he uses super poligrip. it helps give him 65% more chewing power. leaving brad to dig in and enjoy. super poligrip. >>> new reaction this morning to the bomb schem of a secret recording between the president and his former attorney michael cohen. the president tweeting last hour, inconceivable the government would break into a lawyer's office, almost unheard of. even more inconceivable a lawyer would tape a client totally unheard of and perhaps illegal. msnbc confirmed the statements

cnbc editor at large john harwood joins me now.n, in your piece you hearken back to that january 2017 weird press conference, one of them that were going to be very weird, the president talked about that one there we're showing on the screen, there were a bunch of files, we didn't know what were in the files. he tried to hood wink everybody into thinking giving his kids control of the company was akin to a blind trust. it's not. he said what sean spicer later said, the president can't have any conflicts. the world's view of conflicts is different than the trump white house's view of conflicts. >> well, no question about it. i believe, ali, those those folders were filled with blank paper. i don't think there was real paper in them. he had an attorney come out and say he had placed some distance between himself and the businesses, but it was all an elaborate way of saying, my boys are in charge, but i know what the businesses are and i still have access profits of the businesses and it didn't do much. >> fundamentally, it is profita

senator elizabeth warren applauding the eu for the recent fine on google in an interview with john harwoodore on the interview which yielded quite a bit. hey, john. >> elizabeth warren says she's a capitalist, one that believes in appropriate regulation she believes antitrust regulation is an important part of that. take a listen to her reaction to the google eu fine >> european union fined google $5 billion you like that? >> look, they made their case and make a strong case what bothers me -- >> the president criticized it, said that shows europe is going after american companies. >> no, what it shows is that europe is serious about antitrust laws, europe is serious about anti-competition laws and the united states is lagging. we were once the leaders in the world on this. and no more. >> so europe is serious about antitrust laws if elizabeth warren should become president of the united states and she's considered a leading democratic candidate or prospect for 2020 once she wins her re-election this year, you could expect that the united states will have a different attitude towards anti-

cnbc's editor at large john harwood joins us now. i want to pick up where you left off there. emoluments clause, there have been lawsuits saying this can't be right, that governments, and you named a lot of them, are trying to buy favor and influence by supporting trump causes or businesses. when the prime minister of japan was here a couple of trips ago, it was kind of remarkable, that press conference was live while i was on tv, he kept carrying on about mar-a-lago and what a terrific club it was. at some point is there any traction to these lawsuits? >> well, we're going to find out. judges have kept them alive. they've declined attempts to dismiss or freeze them. so we will see whether or not there is an appetite. this has never been litigated before. the framers intended for presidents not to be able to be bought off by either states or foreign governments. but nobody has ever tested it. >> stephanie and you and i always talk about this. for people who are constitutionalists, who want to see roe v. wade overturned, who think that gun control people are going to take away

chief correspondent for cnbc, john harwood. and contributor raul reyes.aul, i want to start with you. these abolish i.c.e. cries really that are sweeping through the 2020 democratic establishment, what's your take on how that unrolls going forward? is it akin to republicans who have said abolish the irs, kind of knowing that ultimately taxes were never going to stop being collected? or is it something that speaks to a potential reality down the road? >> no, my take on this is that this growing movement which is increasingly as the clips show becoming mainstream, it reflects like such profound disenchantment with the role of this agency. some people see the calls to abolish i.c.e. as really a flat out call to end the agency. others see it -- other progressives see it as more of a starting point for a broader discussion about the role of the agency. here are the facts. it is a fact that i.c.e. has unleashed tremendous harm among latino and immigrant communities. i.c.e. also sweeps up hundreds of u.s. citizens who cannot prove with papers on them that they a

john harwood is this enough to walk it back is it effective. >> no.sort of waveled around this issue a long time. he has had the appropriate intelligence for the entirety of his presidency at various points when it's advantageous to him he will question it in the course of an answer sometimes he says maybe it's russia probably it's russia the acid test was when he was standing alongside vladimir putin and had a chance in front of the dictator of russia to make a firm statement about what he actually believed he instead made the statement that he has made on multiple occasions before, that cast doubt on the work of the u.s. intelligence community now, his aides told him to say something different. but it doesn't really tell you anything about a change in his actual view or a change in the emphasis of his administration now, it's true that in some ways the administration runs separately from the president. so dan coates for example, who warned the -- the director of national intelligence warned before the summit that the red lights were blinking, russia

president trump making comments on tariffs and john harwood has details. ssa, the president is flying out to a political event in montana, and he just spoke on air force one a few minutes ago with some words that will rattle the markets because instead of dialing back his talk of trade conflict with china, he's dialing it up. the president said $34 billion of pending tariffs will go into effect tonight another $16 billion in two weeks. that's 50 total, and he said that eventually he has got ready $500 billion worth of tariffs after that in two chunks of 200 and $300 billion and that on top of the conflict with the european union, with canada, with mexico makes for a very unsettled trade and commerce situation for businesses that would export and import and we will see whether he follows through with those words, but those were the words he just had on air force one. >> if he follows through is there any question at this point, john, that come the stroke of midnight we will see the first round of tariffs in place? >> no. no question on those that's tonight a

john harwood points out when it was higher with president obama. can republicans do anything? >> they deserve credit for the reports and gdp numbers. gdp is on track to exceed 3% growth, something that never happened under the obama administration. the issue here is that the president makes it really hard to talk about the economy with, a, so much going on in the news whether it's russia or the cohen developments and, b, he threatened a trade war with the tariffs. they walked away from one with the eu, there's still a lot of concern in the republican, red rural districts that they will be impacted by the tariffs. >> ozzie, how about the democrats here? do you have a sense of what their strategy is? >> if the focus is donald trump and the scandal, russia, the border, democrats are hoping people are so fed up with the controversy, they will choose any other alternatives. they will have to focus on the economy. >> stick around. we have many more headlines to discuss. >>> could a new lawsuit refeel what is hiding in president trump's tax returns? that's up next. (vo) i was born du

the already past the republican tax cuts rolled back and she explained up in an interview with john harwood>> here's how i look atge b and taxes that are a part of this and a lot ofeople think they're just numbers and they're not and they're the expression of our values and the values that the republican party the taxut are giving it away to the richest americans and the biggests corporati that then let everyone else pick uphe crumbs and i don't think that's the right way to think about it. h what's tooh? >> it's not about -- that's what negotiations are all about. >> 50%io oly too much? >> there was a time in a very prosperous america,men aca that was growing a middle class and an america in which working families were doing better generation aft generation after generation where the top marginal re was well above 50%. >> 90%. that'shtxactly r >> but for me, the heart of the question is that you've got to ask, what constitutes a fair nomy. in this e right. >> and look, it depends in part on what the economy is, and it also depends -- >> it doesn't strike you as obviously, no, th90%. 's rid

joining me john harwood. ew deal, it sends a strong signal to the world, two of largest economies joining together for trade, something that donald trump wants in the face of this administration's protectionism and tariffs. this is the hard part to understand. rest of the world is moving forward with freer trade. donald trump is now becoming the world's symbol for protecti protectionism. >> well it seems to be hard to understand for the president of the kbroounited states but it's hard to understand for people who look at economic reality. that is that these trade agreements, assist the u.s. economy, the president has initiated trade conflicts with our allies, as well as with china. he's, as you mentioned, pulled out of the trans-pacific partnership and the rest of the world is not waiting. same thing happening on national security. we saw germany, they say we're going to have to look to our own arraignments to defend ourselves. last night when the president with tucker carlson on fox, called into question the

i mean, and john harwood told us earlier she's a strong contender.now it's super early for 2020 but whether we're going to have an election and debate capitalism and socialism i'm sure she would pitch herself with stricter rules. >> she also came out and said i support what the eu is doing with google and saying they have too much power on that so it wasn't just a debate about tax rates. some specific examples >> really an anti-trump call on deregulation, corporate tax cuts, that sort of thing >> right now cnbc.com. >>> we've got 11 minutes, ten minutes left until the close we've had a dissent session for the most part. the nasdaq now dow the dow and s&p still nicely higher >>> when we come back we're e q.g to take you to the nasda thtech stocks hitting new high are you taking the tissue test? yep, and my teeth are yellow. time for whitestrips. crest glamorous white whitestrips are the only ada-accepted whitening strips proven to be safe and effective. and they whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste. crest. healthy, beautiful smiles fo

its revenue helped by a 5% increase >>> cnbc editor at large john harwood sitting down with elizabethorning john, the big question everybody's asking is, is she running? >> well, she has a standard answer to that so i didn't waste time asking it which is she's focusing on this coming election. the views of elizabeth warren matter because she's a leading senator now and a leading prospect in 2020 she made clear a top priority ought to be rolling back those tax cuts that donald trump and the republican congress just enacted. >> it's not about the number here's how i look at budgets and taxes. a lot of people think they're just numbers they're not. they are the expression of our values the values of the republican party that passed those tack cuts is to give trillions away to the richest and corporations and let everybody else pick up the crumbs and i don't think that's the right way to think about it. >> what's too high for the top personal rate? >> it's not about a number that's what negotiations are all about. it's -- >> is 50% obviously too high >> look, there was a time in a very pr

john harwood, cnbc, put this in perspective, which will this rank for presidents? fifth under obama, tied for fifth oundz under george w., tied for fifth under herbert walker bush. this would be the 14th best under rannal reagan. doesn't sounds so impressive when you put it in that context. >> sure, that's a great point. i'm be the first to say, we have more work to do. this is just the beginning. i believe. that we can't have one great quarter. we need to have many great quarters and in succession. i believe we will. i think the government is creating the conditions for success in our country and small business is responding. optimism, it's an all time high or multi-decade high, consumer confidence is soaring. i agree, there is more work to do, we have more wood to chop. we won't be satisfied with a single quarter growth. we need many of them. >> how about this one? it's all about the soybeans, buyers seem to have stocked before tariffs. this is actual lay reaction to trade wars. >> right. i think that's an important point. it is possible some of the growth was pu

off on everything from technology to tariffs in an exclusive cnbc interview she sat down with john harwoodins us now from d.c. john >> as you know, elizabeth warren is one of the most prominent democratic senators, a prospect for the 2020 presidential race she describes herself as a capitalist who doesn't like companies abusing their power. so the $5 billion fine that the eu slapped on google for antitrust reasons, president trump criticized it for going after an american company, elizabeth warren doesn't mind that at all. european union just fined google $5 billion you like that? >> they made their case. they make a pretty strong case >> the president criticized it and said that shows europe is going after american companies >> nowhat it shows is that europe is serious about antitrust laws europe is serious about anti-competition laws, and the united states is lagging we were once the leaders in the world at this. and no more. >> now, elizabeth warren is a little less upset with president trump over the trade actions he's initiated with other countries. she has been a critic of trade poli

. >>> joining me right now we have john harwood, cnbc editor at large and john allen national political reporter for nbc news. i see you at least have your tie off so that's more appropriate given the heat. welcome to you both, i'll speak with you, jonathan. what do you make of these expectations or low expectations. the president laid them out going into his meeting with putin suggesting at some point things he hadn't even thought of. maybe i'll throw that out there. are you surprised he's had no stated goal for this meeting? >> well, i think the president has so much in the past raised expectations for what he's going to be able to do as a deal maker and then been incapable of fulfilling those grandiose prethe dictions that lowering expectations before coming into this particular summit where the only true deliverable is the fact that they'll meet. that makes sense. if you look back at the nk negotiations in singapore that the north koreans have gone back on at this point, the g7 last month, if you look at the nato meeting, the president likes to proclaim victory no matter what happen

dom, thank you on harley-davidson >>> our john harwood sitting down with massachusetts senator elizabethid conversation on the president, corporate tax reform, capitalism and a lot more john joins us now from washington john, what were some of the highlights >> sarah, you know elizabeth warren is a leading member of the senate in the democratic caucus, a strong prospect for 2020 on the democratic side and also a big advocate of business regulation she came up with the idea for the consumer finance protection bureau that became part of the u.s. government after the dodd/frank law and i asked her if she realized how polarizing that makes her to business and wall street >> i get that there are a lot of folks who liked having the power and the riches they have they like being able to tweak their little pinky and the united states government does just what they want. they like being able to get regulations rolled back or not enforced i totally get that and i get that -- i push hard against that, that i may be a threat to them on that but my view on that is don't call me the polarizing figure.

and that's why we'll always drive a subaru. >>> john harwood, and here is a bit of that. >> you don'tapitalist are bad people? >> i am a capitalist. come on. i believe in markets. what i don't believe in is theft. what i don't believe in is cheating. we can build a government that works for us. a government that works for people that get out every day and try to build something for themselves and for their families. >> but even before 2020, is 2018 -- is 2018. so, more on the democratic contenders gearing up for a potential blue wave after the break. what?! -welcome. -[ gasps ] a bigger room?! -how many of you use car insurance? -oh. -well, what if i showed you this? -[ laughing ] ho-ho-ho! -wow. -it's a computer. -we compare rates to help you get the price and coverage that's right for you. -that's amazing! the only thing that would make this better is if my mom were here. what?! an unexpected ending! is if my mom were here. let someone else do the heavy lifting. tripadvisor compares prices from over 200 booking sites to find the right hotel for you at the lowest price. so you barely

. >> joining us john john harwood. before the inauguration, president trump said he would donate proceeds to the united states treasury. how closely is this tracking? >> well, i don't know how closely they're tracking it. they sayer they're going to donate the profits in 2017, they did. $150,000. but donald trump, remember, reported $400 million in income. more than $400 million in 2017 and more than $40 million at the trump hotel in washington where he said his profits in foreign business was just $150,000. >> okay. at worst, it's a conflict of interest, best, bad optics, the white house continues to say, well ivanka is not taking salary. great. you can blow your nose with the $130 grand in salary. we haven't even mentioned the clearances they've got, from china, the approvals. para trademarks. ivanka got 13. coincidentally she had dinner 1 sitting next to xi. >> he has a series of income stream that is cos that come in. china's largest bank renting space. so does the pentagon. you've got secret service following him

john harwood in washington, you have some more color >> look, i think eamon javers's point right now about that election offer highlights the point we were discussing before this meeting happened. the president would -- the reason he would be open to that idea is that he would then have the russians assisting the argument that he made while standing side-by-side with vladimir putin about discrediting the fbi this was a case, as we discussed before the press conference of the president being most animated in defending his personal interests rather than tints of the american democracy. he placed vladimir putin's denials on equal footing with the assertions of the american intelligence community, including of his own director of national intelligence dan coates and simply elevateed a bad actor on the world stage and vladimir putin just as dein the north korea summit with kim jong-un. in bolt cases there is no reason to think that there was any benefit for the united states of america in those meetings, and the president benefitted those countries. he elevated kim and he, in effect, ushe

it seems john harwood plies with the gdp reaching it at least five times. departures from the truth really on the part of donald trump, jr. does that at all register with the public? this is to blake. >> sorry about that. >> i don't know how much people know about donald trump in the public eye. but certainly, among, you know, people that follow him like me, he doesn't a lot of credibility. and i don't think he's corrected that tweet. you know, he's not very interested in accuracy. and that's just another example of it. but, you know, it's been a long road from 2008 recession. and maybe mentally, a lot of people think the economy was worse under obama than it actually was. >> but, steph, i'm curious if this isn't a tricky game to play. because if the economic pendulum swings the other way, they've just taken credit for all of it. >> exactly. that is the danger in claiming the successes. obviously, the economy is in a good place, especially looking at midterms. that's a top issue for voters. in one place it's smart for the president to be claiming these as w

with me john harwood. let's walk through this. because at the core, if you talk to people around the country, farmers, for example, even those who will be hurt, they're happy the president is addressing this. but what he's done thus far is created a big old mess. >> of course he has. and if you wanted to give a name or a true headline to this announcement they had yesterday, it would be that president trump said i've agreed to stop hurting the economy. this was something created by him and now he is in the face of a lot of resistance, a lot of upset among his constituents as well as his political adversaries, come out and said i'm going to stop that and we're going to talk. guess what? the talks that they have agreed to have, and you played that clip from wilbur ross, that is precisely what the united states was already doing with the european union in the trade talks that were known as t tip. >> that was -- >> under the obama administration was ongoing. >> when t tip and tpp were on the table, we were working towards getting rid

cnbc john's harwood put today's number in the context of other presidents which shows this quarter wouldfth best under obama, fifth under bush, 13th under clinton, fifth under george h.w. bush and fifth under reagan. trump also made a prediction based on today's numbers. >> these numbers are very, very sustainable. i happen to think we are going to do extraordinarily well in our next report next quarter. i think it is going to be outstanding. >> "the new york times" reports today that economists outside the administration caution the latest acceleration is unsustainable in the long term and could raise the risk that the recovery will flame out in the years ahead. >> trump has to be careful not to overhype this. there are still areas of the country that have not fully come back, and that's trump's constituency. >> today's economic growth numbers, the unemployment rate very low at 4% and the dow above 20,000 indicate that the economy overall is strong and it is where donald trump gets his strongest numbers in the polls. a new poll shows trump's job approval at a dismal 48%. but an nbc news

warren apluding the european union for the fine on google she said this during the interview with john harwoods live with more applauding a foreign body finding an american company, john. >> tyler, elizabeth warren has made her name as advocate of tough business regulation. she is the person coming up with the idea of the consumer financial protection bureau under dodd-frank and anti-trust has no complaints with the eu fine on google >> european union fined google $5 billion. >> yup. >> you like that. >> look they made their case and they make a pretty strong case what's -- what bothers me. >> the president criticized it and said that shows that europe is going after american companies. >> no. what it shows is that europe is serious about and i trust laws, europe is serious about anti-competition laws. and the united states is lagging. we were once the leaders in the world on this. and no more. >> so certainly if elizabeth warren manages to get herself elected president in 2020 -- and she is considered a likely democratic candidate, anti-trust is one of the things that would change another thi

. >> john harwood also joining the conversation you covered the obama administration which also triedn one with president putin, reset relations there. what went wrong, what are the similarities and differences between trump and obama on this? >> well, i think the similarity is both presidents initiated a reset. it didn't work because russia's behavior proved to be endure ijable they invaded georgia at that time i think the biggest difference is there's every reason to think president trump is more interested in his personal interests than in the interests of the united states he's consistently bucked traditional conceptions within his party and the other party of what van what advances american interests, at the same time his campaign manager is sitting in jail for crimes related to money-laundering from pro-russia interests, where his former national security adviser pled guilty to a felony about lying with conversations about russia, and robert mueller has shown that specific russian intelligence agents were in contact with, among others, roger stone, who was a long time trump advi

thank you very much john harwood. hey, jimmy, what do you think?r one big reason is that scott pruitt has yet to really accomplish very much listen, environmental rules they're highly bureaucratic. you can't just repeal a rule without a lot of public comment. but the environmental regulations today aren't really any different than during barack obama's final year that may change as time goes on and your new epa chief who i would imagine would be like a clone of scott pruitt. listen, if you're a republican president it's very easy to find somebody for that spot who wants to repeal regulation but they'll find somebody. >> jimmy, in terms of the agenda list as we approach mid-terms is this a chore for him to have to address or not really? >> i don't think so. pruitt has been very, very popular among republicans because they hear about the press releases, that they're repealing, you know, obama's limits on power plants, emissions from power plants or they're changing our renewable energy or auto emission. but all that stuff takes a while, so it really

ordinary hard working americans >> the other day director mufflyny at the capital kpj event my friend john harwood you an interesting question that provided insight how the white house works. and he pointed out basically before you came in the administration you were known as a hard deficit hawk. we have bigger deficit right now. you were known as a frohhed trader and known as the kind of person who didn't support aid to agriculture. three critical issues on the table right now. and your answer to his question is sort of how do you square your personal preferences and economic philosophy with policies you see the administration taking? and your answer was very interesting and revealing. would you replay it. >> sure. here is the brief version of it. which is that i'm absolutely 100% confident -- because i'm sitting in the room with the president of the united states, that he is seeing all sides of all the issues you mentioned all sides of the spending and deficit issue. all sides offed trade. all sides of the various policies that we go through. the president is getting a variety of opinions. larry

tara, business lady, the economy was terrible when it was under -- this is four, john harwood treating.1% growth touted by trump on fixing the economy, it ranks fifth to what happened under obama. >> trump, magic magician, sourc sourcerer. once again, lying. we're laughing, u be in fairness to the seriousness of what he's doing, it is again gaslight iin. we cannot let that go. what trump understands is the value of the headline. he knows there's a large portion of the population that's very busy that's only going to see the headline and they're not going to read below the headline which is why it's so important that democrats strategically push back. trump inherited a good economy. president obama inherited an economy losing 800,000 jobs a month. he's basically riding the natural tra jekt arjectortrajecp is riding of obama's economy. >> what's interesting, michelle, you have this sort of thinking that the economy would magically fixed the day donald trump was inaugurated, even though the economy is substantially the same, but the things that an mate the republican party don't anymore.