i told you before the break i was making john harwood stick around. nt said they thought they were getting a deal with china three months ago. now here they are. steve mnuchin, back from china. no deal done. what is your thought here? and the markets are down. >> reporter: markets down a couple hundred points since those tweets. what we know about president trump is he says a lot of words and a very large percentage of those words don't mean very much. he's talked about making a deal. doesn't happen. he then talks about china is going to buy stuff. he lays it all out himself in the tweet. he said they're going to buy agricultural products. they say what is he talking about? they don't do it. so he is sort of lurching from one position to the other. doesn't really have a clear end game. i think the best the markets have been hoping for is that we simply get a cease fire and kick the can. but he has trouble getting to that modulated position and so it looks embarrassing when he doesn't have a deal. he has to strike back. and then my guess is the next thi

john harwood." make sense of what is going on today. not the president's tweet, but about what happened that has caused the biggest percentage drop on the market this entire year. >> well, i think investors are coming to the conclusion that recession risks are uncomfortably high and rising. and the principle reason for that is the president's tariff war, trade war. it's doing a lot of damage to the economy. business investment has flat lined since the trade war got going about a year ago. exports are falling. what we learned yesterday is the global economy is now very close to recession. the german economy contracted last quarter. the british economy contracted last quarter. and china is also struggling. so the entire global economy including the united states is closer to recession. and i think investors are very panicked by it. >> mark, in fairness, we've had a long time since the last recession. it's been more than ten years. that's longer, much longer than the average. it's almost double the ave

that adds a different and more volatile element to this contest. >> john harwood in detroit. ohn. >>> b hore we go,e is another look at the day's final numbers from wall street. the dow dropped 333 points. it had been down more than 450. the nasdaq slid 98 and 500 was off by 32. the major averages were all higher however in july. >> welcome to august. >> yes. >> that is "nightlrtbusiness re for tonight. i'm sue herera. thanks for joining us. >> i'm bill griffeth. have great evening. see you tomorrow. ♪ ♪ woman: this is "bbc world news america." is made possible by... the freeman fountion; by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs; and byibutions to this pbs station thank you.

let's turn to john harwood in washington. see you. >> reporter: hey, su >> given the week we just had, a lot of people are wondering how strong the u.s. economy is and hasedt chang the 2020 campaign for the president? >> reporter: i think it has begun to change it, sue. that was an unusual statement from the president after a week of stock market vcaatility to himself as the protector of people's 401(k)s. but, really, the campaign so far has been mostly fought out on cultural grounds, who is an american, the whole questions of identity, immigration, white voters feeling a apprehensiv immigrants feeling under siege. now this is sfting to more toward an economic terrain because all of a sudden for the first time in a long time people are feeling a little bit more vulnerable. that's gsng to change t dialogue going forward. >> and does it -- will the president's campaign be able to adjust to that? >> reporter: well, they're going to have to. the president has been more comfortable discussing cultuesl isnd trying to rouse his thos

. >> joining us now cnbc editor at large john harwood and "l.a. times" white house reporter eli stoke els. john to you first. larry kudlow in the past specifically 2011 was highly critical of the payroll tax, saying it didn't work. whether it is the payroll tax or any other tax cut why should we believe it? the president was out there just before the midterm saying get ready for a middle class tax cut. we never saw it. why do we think we'll actually see one now? >> we don't. we have a trillion dollar deficit. the administration has very little credibility in terms of its economic prescriptions given where we are now. the administration wanted to do something to stimulate the economy, if you talk to economists they'd say the first thing he can do is absolutely nothing. like do nothing to inflame the trade war further. if he wants to do something really aggressive he can roll back his tariffs, which are functionally a tax on americans. that's a way to cut taxes without having to expand the deficit because that's not on the books of the federal budget

. >> joining us is jimmy p ymy pethokoukis and john harwood the last two nights there's been a lot of about programs paid for by the same "wall street and rich person dollar. has the idea of any kind of fiscal management been completely tossed out the window in these debates >> that's certainly where the democratic party and probably republican party is right now. there's no talk about the debt and deficit. the general feeling, interest rates are low. they'll stay low we've probably been too titlght already we need to spend more. making the argument that we can't pay for programs may work in a general election but it won't work with democratic primary voters >> john, joe scarborough tweeted last night this is stupid. why are they going after each other? even obama's policies and not trump. did you see it that way? too much in-fighting >> i did i think it was a good debate for donald trump and the republican party. you had serious attacks going back and forth last time we had joe biden being attacked on whether he was too in league with segregationists kamala harris was attacked by tul

. >> joining us now cnbc's john harwood. let's talk about what the trade wars are doing to corporate america and the market. daughter t during the obama administration, there was a sentiment from corporate america that the regulatory over hang, the fact that they were not living in a very pro-business environment, a lot of companies were not reinvesting. they were sitting in their hands and we don't know what regulations to come so we are not going to invest. enters president trump who says i am going to give you a massive corporate tax cut and deregulate the heck out of everything so the path will be clear so we can reinvest higher and create and flouri flourish. that was a game plan. those companies are paralyzed again. they don't have regulations but they are paralyzed again because of the uncertainty of what the future holds because of the trade wars again they are sitting on their hands. all the goods they got from their corporate tax cut and deregulation is suddenly beingout wbein being out weighed. th >> the certainty

joining me are greg ip for "the wall street journal" and cnbc editor at large john harwood it's greato have you both here john, what kind of measures should we expect in terms of response from the white house now? certainly they probably have seen the trade war reprieve this week a >> the best case for the administration could sump lsimpy be to pull back on the trade war. china overnight, even though the president delayed these tariffs he said in tweets this was going to benefit china more and they're going to reciprocate instead of reciprocating they responded overnight by announcing they're going to retaliate to those tariffs that remain that are going to be implemented by pulling back from the trade war which the administration has not really clarified what its goals are exactly. that's the biggest thing it can do there's already a considerable amount of fiscal stimulus from the combination of tax cuts and spending increases there aren't a lot of proactive steps the administration can take other than jaw boning the fed for more rate cuts not even sure that that is going to be parti

john harwood, thank you so much. we greatly appreciate it and still ahead on "morning joe," as john said there's new scrutiny on joe biden focused on a story he told on the campaign trail. we'll dig into that and what he did and didn't get right. >>> plus the latest on james comey who violated fbi policies according to the doj's own watchdog. what he is saying about the findings and what the president is now of course seizing upon. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. we call it the mother standard of care. it's how we care for our cancer patients- like job. when he was diagnosed with cancer, his team at ctca created a personalized care plan to treat his cancer and side effects. so job could continue to work and stay strong for his family. this is how we inspire hope. this is how we heal. we love you, daddy. good night. i love you guys. cancer treatment centers of america. appointments available now. cancer treatment centers of america. there's brushing and there's oral-b power brushing. oral-b just cl

along with our own john harwood to talk more about this. derek, first to you, what's the practical significance of what president tweeted today? you can't order american companies to leave china, but there are a lot of indirect actions the president could take tariffs of course, he could also invoke the international emergency powers act and put a lot of pressure on tech companies especially to leave china. so the ordering is of shorthand for there is more pressure that could be coming at you to leave china even if i can't make you do it by a presidential decree >> couldn't he just continue to use tariffs as a tool? why do you think he changed his approach today i wonder again how the market reaction, the economic reaction is feeding into all this in terms of next moves. >> right i think the the president was very angry this morning. i don't know whether he expected a rate cut as you said, it wasn't a policy meeting. maybe expected different language from the federal reserve. he gets angry when china retaliates because he thinks the basic s

john harwood, you have spent quite baa bit of time with thes economic issues.he stock market is not open today possibly for the best. what do you make of this? everything that has unfolded over the last three days, the president has been, you know, i can't even keep track of the number of times he reverse himself on this. >> i am not 100% it was a reversal because as i watched him make that statement, i'm not sure there was any content to the statement. i think he was just giving an answer, just saying some things in response to a shallow question. >> he does have second thoughts about things all the time. >> there didn't seem to be any content to what he was saying but i think it's telling that they decided not to just let it ride and let people think that he was having second thoughts combust to come o but to come out aggressively and say he was thinking about higher tariffs. that's why the dow futures market opened down tonight because they're concerned the trade war is escalating. that's a reflection of what we were talking about a moment ago. he likes to b

nbc news, correspondent, kelly o'donell and our chief john harwood. hope you guys got your notebooks out, there were a lot to cover. the media is trying to convince the public to have a recession. the economy is so strong, what numbers if any has the white house offered to support this argument? >> strong retail sales and the idea that consumer spending is a strong position and it is. consumer spending has been doing well and the economy continues to grow. it is not in recession. there is a fundamental contradiction between saying the economy is strong and then ripping the federal reserve and saying you're entertaining ideas to stimulate the economy. what you saw from the president is what he does frequently is stand there and talk and repeat the same phrases and sometimes they don't make any sense and he does not have a lot of credibility. it is true that their economists left and right who thinks he's correct that jay powell and the federal reserve are aired in raising interest rates to rapidly or too aggressively or especially late last year but th

so john harwood, let me start with you.dent and the trade war? >> well, we had an interesting development overnight, willie, which was yesterday as the markets were crashing, the president sent a series of tweets where he adopted a kind of strong stance and said, well, this is mostly going to help china rather than us. we're in a good position either way. then he tweeted with hong kong and had this appeal to xi jinping for a personal meeting with a question mark after it. overnight, however, what china did was not signal that they appreciated these gestures from the president. they said no, the tariffs that remain, we're going to have a retaliation and that sent futures into the negative. and so the president seems to have been -- have exposed himself, his own weakness in this negotiation and we have a situation where our economy is weakening, the global economy is weakening, investors are becoming concerned about it, and the president is sitting there pulling levers, but not having them really be connected to anything and

. >> john harwood and others. thank you so much. we have more to talk about. later this hour, seth moulton is joining me live for why he is calling it quits. >>> and i'll talk to montana governor steve bullock over his decision to stay in. >>> and polling versus popularity. joe biden is the clear frontrunner on paper. what is not clear is whether that is translating to excitement for his candidacy. wayfair's got your perfect mattress. whether you're looking for a top-brand at a great price. ready to upgrade. moving in. moving on up. or making big moves. deliveries ship free and come with a 100-night free trial. no matter your budget. or your sleep style. we have quality options for everyone. so search and shop. save and snooze. and rest easy, knowing that we've got your back. literally. that's what you get, when you've got wayfair. so shop now. that could allow hackers devices into your home.ys and like all doors, they're safer when locked. that's why you need xfinity xfi. with the xfi gateway, devices connected to your homes wifi are protected. which helps ke

. >> we'll keep a close eye on it with you, john harwood. markets not closing for a while actually, but 2.92% lower. >> right now eman mohyeldin picks up coverage. >> some might want the markets to be closing right now. >> no. go back up. if they close right now some would welcome that. thank you very much. >>> good afternoon, everyone. i'm in for katy tur. it is 11:00 out west, 2:00 p.m. in washington, where president trump addressed the nation for the first time since at least 31 people were killed in back-to-back mass shootings in texas and ohio. he condemned white supremacy, advocated strengthening mental health policy, but proposed no new legislation, called for the death penalty for mass murderers and blamed the internet and video games for inspiring violence. ce >> in one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy. hate has no place in america. we must recognize that internet has provided a dangerous avenue to radicalized disturbed minds and perform demented acts. we must seek real bipartisan solutions. we have

john harwood, thank you. he is cnbc's editor-at-large. >>> all right. up next, 2020 presidential candidate senator bernie sanders rolls out his $16.3 trillion plan to fight climate change packed with policies aimed at helping the u.s. transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030 and achieve full decarb nization by 2050. we will dive into the details after the break. ter the break.s. worry free. boom! ha.ha. boom! now save $249 on this lenovo ideapad, plus total tech solution at office depot officemax or officedepot.com. doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. ...depend® silhouette™ briefs feature maximum absorbency, with trusted protection for all out confidence... beautiful colors and an improved fit for a sleek design and personal style. life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. going back to the doctor just for a shot. with neulasta onpro... ...patients get their day back... ...to be with... ... f

. >> we'll keep a close eye on it with you, john harwood. a while actually, but 2.92% lower. >> right now eman mohyeldin picks up coverage. >> some might want the markets to be closing right now. >> no. go back up. if they close right now some would welcome that. thank you very much. >>> good afternoon, everyone. i'm in for katy tur. it is 11:00 out west, 2:00 p.m. in washington, where president trump addressed the nation for the first time since at least 31 people were killed in back-to-back mass shootings in texas and ohio. he condemned white supremacy, advocated strengtheningta

. >> john harwood, cnbc editor at large. john, that tweet offering praise but caution as well.do you make of that and do you expect a tell-all book? >> no, i wouldn't. i think that as the president said, the whole thing was unfortunate. you had an assistant that wasn't being discreet with reporters and somehow that got back to white house officialofficials. i don't know if it was tiffany westerhout herself or reporters blabbing a little bit. the sad thing is what the content of those communications supposedly were, and the fact the president seems motivated to affirm his love for his daughter. that's pretty sad. >> yeah, that's pretty sad. would it not be cool if a reporter were the one that leaked it at an off-the-record dinner, john? >> well, the staffer at the off-the-record dinner is the one who disseminated the information. reporters should not take information they receive off the record and report it. they should not share it with other people. but we don't know that that's what happened. ms. westerhout could have recounted what happened at the dinner and others decided

. >> let's bring in john harwood who covers washington. thank you for being here. let's take a step back at the remarkable day we witnessed. dow closed down 600 points. president trump talking tough on tariffs. on the other hand, john, he is sending out tweets mocking and making fun of the market downturn. what is the impact of this uncertainty? >> it is fueling doubts about the course of the global economy. it is not rational. yesterday, after jay powell gave his speech, markets reacted calmly. markets did not react to china imposing the tit-for-tat tariffs on the united states. the president impulsively lashing out on twitter against powell and against china with that unusual statement that he claimed the power to order american companies to act. that was destabilizing and sent the market down 600 points for the day. the additional tariffs he put on late in the day are likely to drive markets down over the weekend when they open on monday. this is not good for the u.s. economy. it is not good for the president's chances of winning re-election in 2020. >> john, le

dalla, john harwood of cnbc. ve the disadvantage of not being here and hanging out with us. the silence is deafening. we know we're on recess, so it's not like republicans are in capitol hill where you can catch them. is it as interesting to you as it is to me that they haven't said anything. he said he's the king of israel, the second coming of god. he looked up in the sky and sid he's the chosen one. nothing. >> joy, in for a dime, in for a dollar, this has been the posture of republicans for quite some time. they try to ignore, minimize, say they haven't read or aren't familiar with the president's statements because they're afraid of criticizing him for fear of alienating his base. maybe some people, a segment of the republican party likes what he said, but i think many of them don't. many of them are disturbed, but they're also ambitious politicians right-hand a scared. i talked yesterday with former congressman carlos curbelo, one of the people who, because of donald trump's popularity, lost his re-election

joining me john harwood. welcome to the two of you. of the message from the white house in. >> they are on defense for a reason which is that business executives are increasingly nervous. they are with holding investment. the tax cut is not stimulated. the business investment and manufacturing in the way that the white house claimed it was going as mike just indicated, the rest of the world is slowing down. we have a u.s. economy that's not in recession. it's continuing to grow and that's a good thing. it's growing now at the same rates it was growing when barack obama was president that republicans used to complain was pathetically weak. we had a brief surge of growth in 2018 because the deficit increased and that spurred demand. we have an economy that's now returned to its previous trend. the expansion is almost ten years old. expansions don't go on for ever. we will have a recession. we don't know when. they think there's a decent chance that it happens beginning in 2020. that's going to be bad for the president but for now they ar

. >> joining me now shannon, and john harwood. shannon when you heard the president say he had second thoughts about the trade war with china, how did you take it? >> reporter: well, we can all listen to this video and interpret it in different ways. i think a lot of us at that time sort of took it as a flippant remark he was making. because everything else he said still seemed to indicate that he had a tough tone on china and continued tough rhetoric on china. it seemed he was making a flippant, offhand remark to it. it speaks to a level of confusion that we covering the white house have repeatedly with this president. earlier this week there was a back and forth over the payroll tax and whether he was considering it, the white house said he wasn't. then he said he was thinking about it. then he said it was off the table. it's just sort of a perpetual cycle where the response to the question is very clear, but then we have the white house backwalking and the president and sometimes his own advisers trying to backwalk what he just

laura bassett, brittany shepherd, john harwood, good to see you guys. thank you. >> thank you. >>> we'll see if the tide is indeed turning on impeachment, and later, making sense for medicare for all and the best way to reach 100% coverage for americans. a health care expert will join us. a health care expert will jon us what's up with your... partner? not again. limu that's your reflection. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ (pirate girl) ahoy!!!!! gotcha! (girl) nooooooooooooo! (man) nooooo! (vo) quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty picks up messes quicker, and is two times more absorbent. bounty, the quicker picker upper. mno kidding.rd. but moving your internet and tv? that's easy. easy?! easy? easy. because now xfinity lets you transfer your service online in just about a minute with a few simple steps. really? really. that was easy. yup. plus, with two-hour appointment windows, it's all on your schedule. awesome. now all you have to do is move...that thing. [ sigh ] introducing an easier way to move with xfinity.