matt whitaker.may be the justice department has cleared it and the ethics people think it's okay for him not to recuse himself. but given the statements he's made and the rejudgment that it sounds like he's engaged in, i think you have cause for great concern that he is not going to view that investigation in the way he might otherwise. and making those statements, by the way, before knowing anything at all about what the special counsel was considering. >> let's talk about matt whitaker for a second. he's going to serve as the acting attorney general. he will now be overseeing the russia investigation, not deputy attorney general rosenstein. and he does seem, as you note, to align with the president's view of the mueller investigation. he wrote in a cnn op-ed last week, quote, it does not take a lawyer or even a former federal prosecutor like myself to conclude that investigating donald trump's finances or his family's finances falls completely outside of the realm of his 2016 campaign and allegati

he said, they arrested matt and nick. and i said, matt and nick who?said, our cousin matt and nick sampson. >> reporter: it was true. matt livers had confessed to the murders of his aunt and uncle. >> put the gun to her face and blew her away. >> reporter: and he'd named an accomplice. 22-year-old nick sampson. a cousin of matt's on another branch of the family tree. >> my husband had given me the phone. i was sitting up in bed. and i said, andy, should i be shaking? he said, that's normal, the shock. >> reporter: but matt livers had been with them at easter dinner just a few hours before. now he said that he and nick had returned to kill his aunt and uncle. >> our first reaction was somebody needs to tell our grandma. she had just lost her only son and her grandson is being arrested for this. and just like us, she's like, i don't understand. and i said, grandma, none of us understand any of this. >> reporter: did it give you any sense of at least somebody has been found responsible? did it make you feel any better? >> i think police will move on to th

>> i don't know matt whitaker. i didn't know matt whitaker. i didn't speak to matt whitaker.on't know matt whitaker. matt whitaker, who again i didn't know, okay? >> the president not being on the top of his game, repeating himself and contradicting himself, that is of interest to us as americans on a daily basis because he is the president. but it is perhaps of more interest to us right now because of what he's about to do. that's next. here we go. discover. i like your card, but i'm absolutely not paying an annual fee. discover has no annual fees. really? yeah. we just don't believe in them. oh nice. you would not believe how long i've been rehearsing that. no annual fee on any card. only from discover. on your wild west vacation... guarantee you'll find gold but we can guarantee the best price on that thar rental cabin or any hotel, home, boat, yurt, whatever. ♪ just don't get carried away with the wild west thing. hey guys. get the best price on homes, hotels and so much more. booking.com, booking.yeah the full value of your new car? you'd be better off throwing your mone

attorneys with resumes like matt whitaker's. quote, this was an extraordinarily weak and unusual background for a u.s. attorney. but he had connections and he got the job. and then matt whitaker tried for some other political posts. he ran for state treasurer, and he lost. he ran for u.s. senate. he lost that too. he got just over 7% of the vote. so he's been -- he's been kind of a small-time iowa businessman, a main street lawyer, but a guy with some political connections and tons of political ambitions. and there is nothing wrong with that. but now, all of the sudden, with that resume, he is the acting attorney general of the united states. and it's got to feel good, right? this is a heck of a promotion. it's like you just got promoted from car wash to champion nascar driver, all in one fell swoop. you just got promoted from sweeping up in the lobby to living in the penthouse and collecting everybody else's rent. i mean, this is a promotion like being shot out of a cannon. and so for his first trip since he was named acting at

i mean i know matt whitaker. >> i mean i know matt whitaker. >> i don't know matt whitaker. >> i meani know matt whitaker. >> 18 attorneys general called on whitaker to recuse himself. massachusetts attorney general laura healey. so what is the case that you lay out in the letter, why write this letter to the attorney general? >> chris, i just think its really important that as prosecutors we step forward and state what i think is evident to the american public and that is, we need a justice department that the public can trust and can rely on. this isn't a partisan issue, this isn't a matter of democracy and the rule of law and if matthew whitaker was installed to interfere or impede the mueller investigation, that's illegal and it sure sounds like obstruction of justice. and they're basic -- beyond that, chris, there are basic rules around the ethics that govern prosecutorial conduct and he is way over the line and absolutely should not only be recusing himself, but i think based on what we've learned today, you know, the deputy ag should be appointed again in charge and there shoul

i didn't know matt whitaker. i didn't speak to matt whitaker about it. i don't know matt whitaker. in all fairness to matt whitaker, who again i didn't know. >> okay, of course the president knows matt whitaker. it stands to reason that the president knowing whitaker spoke out against the russia investigation. our senior investigative correspondent drew griffon has been doing, last night he reported on whitaker's ties to a company the federal trade commissioner has shutdown because of a scam. >> when fired attorney general jeff sessions walked out of the department of justice and shook hands with the man who would take over at least temporarily, this iowa state senator was aghast. >> well, i initially thought i couldn't think of a more ill qualified person to assume that role based on my history with him. >> it is not a good one. in 2007 mccoy was a young gay rising star in iowa's democratic party. matt whitaker was the young conservative republican u.s. attorney for the southern district of iowa. >> at the time you were indicted you were openly gay, the only openly gay legislator

i know matt whitaker. >> i don't know matt whitaker. matt whitaker worked for jeff sessions and was always extremely highly thought of and still is. but i didn't know matt whitaker. >> i'm very confused. i'm very confused. >> i don't know. i don't know. i don't know why he does that. but i think amanda is right. he knew enough about him, right? he may not know him intimately, but he knew enough about him to know the only thing he cares about. and the only thing he cares about is the mueller investigation and what he thought about that and the fact that he thinks that it's a witch hunt. and that he's -- and he's somebody who is clearly very loyal to trump and is probably going to do what trump wants him to do. unlike session, who was loyal to trump but his own person. he was going to take positions -- >> more loyal to the constitution. which is why he made the decision to step away. he did the right thing. and for those who didn't like jeff sessions, you can have your quibbles with him, but he was doing a great job for the president and

anna and matt. matt: thank you for that.e will speak with the ceo of after the world's largest container shipping company raise the lower end of its profit forecast. we will see if trade is not affecting shipping. this is bloomberg. ♪ anna: welcome back to the market open. we are 18 minutes until the start of cash equities trade. let's get an update on the brexit story. this is the party in northern ireland that props up theresa may's government amount theresa may has done a brexit deal with brussels, but can she get domestic support? no, not from the dup, the dup said we will not vote for the brexit humiliation. this follows on from donaldson saying another dup lawmaker saying that the proposed act up deal means trade barriers may be created in the u.k. let's get a bloomberg business flash. >> all-time remains comfortable [inaudible] from thebjections european commission. the french manufacturer expects the agreement to bring together the biggest european makers to close in the first half of 2019. they reported earnings up

i know matt whitaker. >> why did the president change his story? >> he's saying he didn't know him -- >> he said i don't know twice. >> he called me from paris saying he's got 100% confidence in matt whitaker. mr. rosenstein has been overseeing the mueller investigation. he's in place at the number two in justice. what the president means is he's not slotting in somebody who's an old friend or somebody he discussed the mueller investigation with. there's no evidence to me that mr. whitaker knows anything about the ongoing investigation. he's been the chief of staff to the recused attorney general for 13 months. the president wanted to have a continuum and elevate someone who was already there. in this case it was the chief of staff who has been there for 13 months. >> but, you know, there have been reports pre-dating the choice of matt whitaker that he met with the president several times in the oval office. maybe a dozen times. "the new york times" said they had great chemistry. that's one of the things the president liked about him. he clearly kn

. >> well, matt whitaker, i don't know matt whitaker. he worked for jeff sessions and was always extremely highly thought of and still is. but i didn't know matt whitaker. he worked for attorney general sessions. he was very, very highly thought of and still is highly thought of. i didn't speak to matt whitaker about it. i don't know matt whitaker. matt whitaker has a great reputation and that's what i wanted. i also wanted to do something which, frankly, i could have brought somebody very easily from the outside. i didn't want to do that. when sessions left, what i did very simply is take a man who worked for sessions. >> you heard the president say several times the president doesn't know matt whitaker. so how does he explain this clip from a month ago? >> i never talk about that but i can tell you matt whitaker's a great guy. i know matt whitaker. but i never talk about conversations that i had. >> let's go to kaitlan collins. she is in paris where the president is expected to arrive shortly. kaitlan, you report several senior officia

matt: x-ray much.s hosting heads of state from the g20 nations for off tomorrow.cks we will be watching for bilateral meetings between as wellt trump and xi as between vladimir putin and mbs. for newse watching about brexit and the future of the european union. as illustrated, obviously. bloomberg's international economics and policy correspondent joins us area what are analysts saying about the possibility of a trade deal ?etween the u.s. and china i guess that's the most closely watched issue. michael: it is indeed. it is a question of hopes for new eternal but no real evidence that it's going to pay off. the president of united states in several interviews this week said he didn't see the possibility of a deal but he would wait until he got into the room to decide. the u.s. administration sending some tough signals against the chinese earlier this week. the trade representative saying china does nothing to try to ease trade tensions. yesterday, general motors decision to close a plant called additio

i didn't speak to matt whitaker. i don't know matt whitaker.who again i didn't know, okay? >> the president not being on the top of his game, repeating himself insistently and contradicting himself that is of interest to us. as americans on a daily basis because he's the president, but it's perhaps of more interest because of what he's about to do. that's next. take your razor, yup. alright, up and down, never side to side, shaquem. you got it? come on, get back. quem, you a second behind your brother, stay focused. can't nobody beat you, can't nobody beat you. hard work baby, it gonna pay off. you got this. with the one hundred and forty-first pick, the seattle seahawks select. alright, you got it, shaquem. alright, let me see. the full value of your new car? you'd be better off throwing your money right into the harbor. i'm gonna regret that. with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ the new lincoln mkc.mix. connecting the world inside, with the world outside. so

matt: -- leave matt in charge. matt: and we will be going there together.ecap what's going on in italy, the country's assets have been soaring as the government announced it is looking to possibly negotiate and maybe bring a deficit target more in line with what the eu wants to see. that could cool the growing spat between the two over a breach in spending rules. let's bring in kevin costelloe in rome. we heard from salvini first that the deficit could be as low as 2.2%, maybe as high as 2.6% if he felt that's what was necessary. now we're hearing from demaio, maybe 2% to 2.1% is possible. what's the story? kevin: all signs are they will reduce the deficit below the 2.4%. that's the trend this morning. the number has to be fixed and we have to wait and see with whatever month -- number they come up with will satisfy the european union. satisfy, willalso it also be able to satisfy voters? they made a lot of promises, including lowering the retirement age. is that something they're prepared to sacrifice? they'reell, they say not prepared to sacrifice anything

. >> [indiscernible] matt whitaker,: i don't know matt whitaker. he worked for jeff sessions, he was always extremely highly thought of, and he still is, but i didn't know matt whitaker. he worked for attorney general sessions. he was very, very highly thought of and still is very highly thought of. this of a comes up because anybody that works for me, they do a number on them. but matt whitaker is a very veryg man, a respected man in the law enforcement committee, very respected, top-of-the-line. choice -- it still is in some circles, it is a shame that no matter who i put in, they go after. it is very sad, have to say. that he is acting come i think he will do a very good job and we will see what happens. but i will say this -- matt whitaker is a very highly respected man, and you did not have any problem with matt whitaker when he worked for jeff sessions. he is respected by law enforcement. he is a very strong a lot enforcement personality and a person. reporter: [indiscernible] president trump: i did not speak to matt whitaker about it, i don'

matt: absolutely. the castrated, starting in 30 minutes. -- the cashropean trade starting in 30 minutes. on tories are holding gains. governmentsa may's and her brexit deal are on the brink of collapse after sudden resignations, but she vows to hold on. spikes and rbsy stumbled nearly 10% yesterday. watch banks and home builders at the open. trade war on. the u.s. plans 25% tariffs on chinese goods next year. wilbur ross says it is impossible to get a formal deal by january. matt: less than half an hour from the start of european stock trading. are a look at where we seeing futures trade this morning after a mixed trade in asia. euro stocks futures, up .5%, ftse futures, dax futures and cac futures gaining the same. look at the gmm screen this morning. we see a couple of dead, black boxes. ck boxes.a three or more standard deviations away from the score. massive volatility in indexes in ireland, the drop of 4%. you can see also in the kenyan shilling, a gain of 2%. some of these smaller assets, moving

jamie remembers matt matt warins jersey. after graduating high school in 1998, matt attended nebraska wesleyan university where he studied athletic training an criminal justice. he also played on the football team and an avid weight lifter. in 2000, matt joined the u.s. marine corps because he was attracted to the discipline and the direction that it offered. he completed boot camp at marine corps recruit depot in san diego before attending and completing infantry training at camp pendleton. due to a strong interest in the construction field, matt also finished combat engineer school at camp lejeune. after engineer school he was assigned to the first combat engineer's battalion at camp pendleton. on august 1, 2001, matt proposed to jamie on mission beach in san diego just after sunset. they were so excited to finally get married and begin planning it their wedding in nebraska which was scheduled april 12, 2 2003. in january of 2003, matt's unit was informed they would be among the first forces to invade iraq. jamie was force

i didn't speak to matt whitaker about it. i don't know matt whitaker.orked for jeff sessions. now, in all fairness to matt whitaker, who again i didn't know, okay. >> who is this matt you keep talking about? i've never spoken to a matt. i have a doormat. now that i think about it, i don't think i've met a matt ever. i don't know. this is thing the president does. when he says a thing that's not true he doesn't say it once, he likes to say it a lot over and over again. it's one of his tells. the more times he says a thing the less true it tends to be. it's a good way to fact check the president. there's also another way. >> i can tell you matt whitaker is a great guy. i know matt whitaker. >> i know matt whitaker. look at the date on that. the president has admitted he knows the person he picked to lead the joou.s. justice department. but the glass half empty version is what's going on with the president right now. >> i don't know matt whitaker. i didn't speak to matt whitaker. matt whitaker, who again i didn't know, okay? >> the president not being on t

matt krattiger is the new guy.his free time down here; playing. >> matt: i come mining for fun on my days off. >> anthony: okay! >> matt: it's one of those things that just gets in your blood. you got a lot of pride in it. >> anthony: these guys like it under ground and even more they seem to like drilling holes deep into the rock face. ♪ [ drilling ] >> matt: you want to drill? >> anthony: sure. [ drilling ] ♪ >> matt: pull that out. then get the feel for where the weight sets on it. >> anthony: oh yeah! cool. >> matt: do that several hundred times a day. >> anthony: no! [ laughs ] >> matt: just do it. >> anthony: sweet! >> jim keane: the community recognized the miner was at the top of the food chain. when i grew up, he was considered just like a doctor or lawyer because everybody knew that he was the one making everything work. the other thing about mining is that it is so intensive, i mean you need engineers, guys running ventilation, mechanic or carpenter or a pipefitter. it's just such a diverse asset to have

matt: whoo! whoo! jen: but that all changed when we bought a house. matt: voilà!to his dad. matt: mm. that's some good mulch. ♪ i'm awake. but it was pretty nifty when jen showed me how easy it was to protect our home and auto with progressive. [ wrapper crinkling ] get this butterscotch out of here. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents. there's quite a bit of work, 'cause this was all -- this was all stapled. but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. hi, kids! i'm carl and i'm a broker. do you offer $4.95 online equity trades? great question. see, for a full service brokerage like ours, that's tough to do. schwab does it. next question. do you offer a satisfaction guarantee? a what now? a satisfaction guarantee. like schwab does. man: (scoffing) what are you teaching these kids? ask your broker if they offer award-winning full service and low costs, backed by a satisfaction guarantee. if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab. >>> trump watch, friday, november 9th, 2018. what a weekend it's been for the democrats

i am anna edwards alongside matt brett -- matt miller in berlin. matt: asian stocks are hit hard by tech troubles as oil prices fall for the 12 straight session but european futures are pointing to gains. less than halfin an hour. ♪ anna: european equity futures point to a higher open after a -- on wallon washing street. brexit and game. theresa may says talks are in their final stages as negotiators work through the night. could we see a deal this week? extends its record losing streak as trump blasts saudi plans to cut production. matt miller, good morning. matt: good morning, we are less than half an hour away from the start of european trading, take a look at european futures, we are looking at gains across the board. even with the pound rising. future -- ftse futures are up, not huge gains, .1 of 1% for the dax and the act and he will be interesting to see if the automakers are able to hold up in the face of the tariff terror that has spread across the u.s. and china. we do see euro stock -- eur xx futures up. we do see the yield coming down,

i didn't know matt whitaker. i don't know matt whitaker. he has a great reputation. wanted. in all fairness to matt whitaker, who again i didn't know, other than through reputation, he's a highly respected man. i didn't know matt whitaker. >> that was the president on friday talking about matt whitaker. we're joined now by the president's counselor kellyanne conway. welcome back. >> thank you, george. >> we saw what the president said on friday because what the president said earlier this month -- >> i can tell you matt whitaker is a great guy. i know matt whitaker. >> why did the president change his story? >> he's saying he didn't know him -- >> he said i don't know twice. >> he called me from paris saying he's got 100% confidence in matt whitaker. mr. rosenstein has been overseeing the mueller investigation. he's in place at the number two in justice. what the president means is he's not slotting in somebody who's an old friend or somebody he discussed the mueller investigation with. there's no evidence to me that mr. whitaker knows anything about the ongoing inve

matt whitaker works for jeff sessions. i didn't know matt whitaker., in all fairness to matt whitaker, who, again, i didn't know. matt whitaker is a highly respected man, but i didn't know matt whitaker. >> he sure knows his name. anyway, the problem for trump is that less than a month ago he specifically said he did know matt whitaker. >> i can tell you, matt whitaker's a great guy. i mean, i know matt whitaker. >> let's watch that again, trump today followed by trump last month. >> i don't know matt whitaker. >> but i can tell you matt whitaker is a great guy. i mean, i know matt whitaker. >> oh, those damn tapes. trump's attempt to cover up his relationship with whitaker was further undercut but by a new report breaking tonight. vox is reporting that during whitaker's time as chief of staff to sessions he privately provided advice to the president last year on how the white house might be able to pressure the justice department to investigate the president's political adversaries, and one story says whitaker committed to extract as much as he could

matt whitaker is a highly respected man, but i did not know matt whitaker. but he is a highly respected man. reporter: matt whitaker has not gone through the senate process. president trump: but neither has mueller. excuse me. you talk about the senate process, mueller is doing a report. he hasn't gone through the senate process. you are saying whitaker has -- you're saying whitaker hasn't, but he has, with a minute -- he was a really distinguished u.s. attorney in iowa and he was approved by everybody, because to be the u.s. attorney, that top-of-the-line. he was a highly respected -- in fact, i'll tell you, the ambassador to china, who used to be the governor of iowa, he told me what a great choice i had me what a great choice i had made. he is one of the most respected people in all of iowa, and that was coming from terry branstad, who was the governor. look, mueller, the complaint people have, mueller was not senate-confirmed. so he is doing a report. he wasn't senate-confirmed. whitaker was senate-confirmed. he does not need this, but he was senate-conf

i don't know matt whitaker. matt whitaker worked for jeff sessions and he was always extremely highly thought of and still is. but i didn't know matt whitaker. he worked for attorney general sessions. he was very, very highly thought of. >> there are a lot of lessons from world war i. one was don't fight on multiple fronts. you just heard a president take on so many different perceived enemies opening up new lines of attack on robert mueller, the new line of attack is that mueller apparently -- we know he's not senate confirmed but now that's disqualifying for president trump. mueller should have been senate confirmed. even though he was senate confirmed as the fbi director. you also heard him unleash a broadside against president obama. accusing him of hollowing out the military. let's be clear. president trump has continued obama's policies with some minor tweaks, but basically the same policy in afghanistan and in the fight against isis. you heard some broadsides against florida election officials down in bro

matt? matt: if you are traveling to work, you can always tune in to us on bloomberg radio. you can get its live on your mobile device. london, you can listen on dab digital and in new york, tune into sirius xm. this is bloomberg. ♪ anna: welcome back, everybody. this is "bloomberg markets: the european open." we are 17 minutes from the start of cash equity trading. things to watch out for this wednesday. in the united states, house democrats will have a closed-door meeting. so far, no challenger to nancy pelosi has come forward. xi jinping is meeting with king the g -- g20d of at the end of the week. at 4:30 england time, the financial stability report, the results of the bank stress test and the assessment of the brexit withdrawal agreement. that will be the focus after markets close. the governmentom with various scenarios and the economic impact of those on the u.k. economy. let's get the bloomberg business class with -- flash with desley humphrey. continuing to back its rhetoric by investing more in its massive u.s. plant that is as the german carmaker shows off to suv'

>> well, matt whitaker, i don't know matt whitaker. matt whitaker worked for jeff sessions.nd he was always extremely highly thought of, and he still is, but i didn't know matt whitaker. >> reporter: but listen to what the president said just last month. >> i can tell you, matt whitaker's a great guy. i mean, i know matt whitaker. >> reporter: but again, today, the opposite. >> did you talk with matt whitaker at all about the mueller probe? >> i didn't speak to matt whitaker about it. i don't know matt whitaker. >> reporter: in fact, the president has spent quite a bit of time with whitaker, who was jeff sessions' chief of staff. several sources say they've developed something of a bond. now, whitaker is under fire on multiple fronts. from his association with a florida company shut down by the government for allegedly scamming consumers out of millions of dollars, to his strong criticism of the mueller investigation he now oversees. >> the truth is, there was no collusion with the russians and the trump campaign. >> reporter: meanwhile, mueller is working on his final repor

i don't know matt whitaker. he worked for jeff sessions and he was always highly thought of and still is. but i didn't know matt whitaker. he works for a chimney general sessions. ofwas very highly thought and still is highly thought of but this only comes up because anybody that works for me they do a number on them. matt whitaker is a very smart man, a very respected man in the law enforcement immunity. at the top of the line. greetede the choice was -- greeted with raves. matter whoe that no i put in they go after him. it's very sad. will do aacting, he very good job and we will see what happens. whitakeraker -- matter is a very high respected man. they didn't have any problems or 10 when he worked for jeff sessions verity is respected by lot smith -- by law enforcement. i did not speak to matter whitaker, matt whitaker has a great reputation. i wanted it to be something could havely i brought somebody in from the outside. i did not want to do that. when jeff sessions left is i took the man who worked beside

still figuring out who matt whitaker is. matt whitaker is someone not inclined to approve a subpoena from robert mueller for this president. >> it's fairly remarkable that he has already apparently reached that conclusion before being briefed on the case. he's reached the cornclusion he's not going to recuse himself before he's consulted with ethics officials about whether that would be appropriate. it looks like the president has put matt whitaker in this job precisely for the reason obvious to everyone. he expects him to come in and either slow down or curtail or shut down the investigation. one of the cliches that i think is misused most often in washington is the idea the cover-up is worse than the crime. oftentimes people like the president -- like i believe the president is doing right now execute cover-ups because the underlying crime is terrible and they know they're going to get caught. to see the president do something that is so transparent and so obvious and so ham-handed it just makes me wonder what he thinks or

but that's not necessarily the case with matt whitaker.e can take over the reins of the russia probe and basically do whatever he want at this point. >> pamela brown at the white house, thank you so much. >>> this just in. senator mark warner, ranking democrat on the senate select committee on intelligence, just reacted to this news. he said in a statement, quote, no one is above the law, and any effort to interfere with the special counsel's investigation would be a gross abuse of power by the president. while the president may have the authority to replace the attorney general, this must not be the first step in an attempt to impede, obstruct or end the mueller investigation. joining me on the phone right now is democratic congressman, ted lew of california. congressman, your reaction to the news jeff sessions has essentially been fired. >> thank you, jake, for your question. look, attorney general jeff sessions' hard line ideology was completely in sync with donald trump. except on the russia investigation. so it seemed like the only re

don't know matt whitaker, but i didn't know matt whitaker. >> matt whitaker, who again, i didn't fellow. okay? >> i don't know matt whitaker. >> so if you're counting at home, that was four denials which makes the following more interesting. >> he was very, very highly thought of and still is highly thought of, but this only comes up because anybody that works for me, they do a number on them. but matt whitaker is a very smart man. he is a very respected man in the law enforcement community, very respected at the top of the line. >> and further, hearing the president say today i don't know matt whitaker makes this even more interesting. >> but i can tell you, matt whitaker is a great guy. i mean, i know matt whitaker. >> today the white house tried to clarify matters on this front saying trump, quote, had met whitaker but didn't know him well. the new acting attorney general also received high praise from deputy attorney general rod rosenstein who was in line for that job. >> i worked with matt whitaker. i think he's a superb choice for attorney general. he certainly understands the wor

matt whitaker is a highly respected man but i didn't know matt whisker but he's a highly -- matt whisker, but he's a highly respected man. >> he's the greatest guy, the most wonderful, most amazing guy, but i barely know the guy, i've never heard of him. that sudden trumpian skittishness comes amid an outcry from trump's critics over whitaker's past comments on the mueller probe including a cascade of newly surfaced audio that demonstrates his vehement opposition to that probe suggesting whitaker long ago decided that there was no collusion, no obstruction and that whitaker is resolved to limit the investigation. >> there is no case for obstruction of justice because the president had all the power of the executive and delegates that to people like the fbi director and the attorney general. this hyperventalation of, you know, what we see here is, i just don't think it's sustainable based on these facts. >> the truth is, there was no collusion with the russians and the trump campaign. there was interference by the russians into the election, but that is not the collusion with the campaign

alongside matt miller in berlin. matt: we are looking at asian markets rebounding although futures are down, the cash trade is less than 30 minutes away. ♪ anna: upping the ante, president trump threatens more china tariffs ahead of the g20 summit and i funds could be in the crosshairs, apple shares take a hit after hours. theresa may asks business to help sell her brexit deal to the u.k. public but trump says the deal struck by the prime minister could hurt plans for transatlantic trade accords. stalemate in rome. italy's popular leaders fail to reach a new deficit target for their 2019 budget. yields fall on hopes that a clash with the eu could be avoided. good morning. matt: good morning. we are less than half an hour away from the start of european trading. take a look at what we see in futures. we are, it looks like we turned around a little bit, we still , s&p futures,res and dow futures as well as nasdaq futures down but european futures are starting to climb. the has been a big move in the dollar is well, the

like matt whitaker, mueller. i know this because i did it when matt whitaker was named acting attorney general. it will produce comments he's made to you, kate, he's written an op-ed for cnn. he talked a fair amount about this, and fiy, he had a twitter feed, too. in any other administration, i would say, oh, they're sort of playing possum here. of course they knew and they're just saying you guys are exaggerati exaggerating. we didn't think it was a big deal, but in this administration, i can't really say i'm that surprised. i don't think this is a strategy. we have seen donald trump seek to elevate other people, ronny jackson being one, with seemingly very little of the even bare bones background opposition research that would go into these sort of high-profile picks. so i'm not surprised they were surprised, which in and of itself is somewhat surprising. >> the wordsmith, chris cillizza. shimon, president trump, one of the things he also hit on over and over again as he was heading to marine one was that matt

matt: thanks very much.d, reporting in buenos aire argentina --buenos aires, argentina. president trump decided to cancel a meeting with vladimir putin over the capture of ukrainian ships and sailors over crimea. the formerfrom kiev, minister of economic development and trade. thanks very much for your time this morning. in do things stand right now your dispute with russia? >> kiev is sunny but cold, -10 degrees and the whole country is on theg the situation sea, where ships have been , which ledr months to this provocation on the russian side. we have three ships kidnapped by russia along with 23 soldiers and this is the first time we have seen where russian troops have been directly involved in shooting at ukrainian troops, so men,re polite little green it is open provocation, open war , therefore the president and parliament announced martial law , putting the army on high alert. strengthening the borders. anna: good morning. is the ukraine getting enough support from international allies on this? we hea

lemonis: hey, charlotte and matt, come on back. very frustrated skyler and charlotte, wanting to meet immediately to discuss one thing -- the lack of progress. skyler: honestly, it's a little frustrating 'cause it kind of feels like we're avoiding getting the work done. lemonis: are you upset with matt? skyler: a little bit, definitely. lemonis: so, this is just, like, we shouldn't, like... let's just -- right to the point. like, you weren't gonna be here today, right? matthew: no. i had a 2-day training on scheduling. lemonis: on scheduling? matthew: yes. lemonis: what does that mean? matthew: so, it's a program that is used for people who have, like, incredibly busy lives in order to, like, live in empowering context through rescheduling. so, but really, at the end of the day, it allows you to get more done in less time and be specific with what you can get done, which is a good thing. charlotte: yeah, but you do a lot of bull[bleep] trainings and courses. lemonis: how much is it? matthew: $700, 675. lemonis: and who pays for tha

well, listen. >> well, matt whitaker, i don't know matt whitaker. matt whitaker worked for jeff sessions. i didn't know matt whitaker. he worked for attorney general sessions. i didn't speak to matt whitaker about it. i don't know matt whitaker. now, in all fairness to matt whitaker, who, again, i didn't know, matt whitaker is a highly respected man but i didn't know matt whitaker. >> do you get the sense he doesn't know the guy or at least he doesn't want to? there's only a slight problem there. he does know matt whitaker. he said so himself just last month. >> i can tell you, matt whitaker's a great guy. i mean, i know matt whitaker. >> so now that that is settled, there's also this. cnn and the "new york times" reporting that whitaker has served as the president's ears and eyes, eyes and ears inside the justice department since he took the job as sessions' chief of staff. he is a loyalist. does the president really think that people would believe that he didn't know whitaker? i don't have the answer to that. but we have seen and heard this before

>> reporter: wolf, we have a new acting attorney general, his name is matt whitaker. he has been a cnn legal contributor in the past. but has also been the chief of staff to the outgoing attorney general, jeff sessions. wolf, we have a letter of resignation we could put up on screen from the attorney general. obviously, this was a forced letter of resignation, or a firing from the president. and as you can see at the top of that letter, it says, at your request, i am submitting my resignation. it doesn't get more i guess obvious than that that this was a forced resignation on the part of the attorney general, jeff sessions. it was also something that was widely expected to happen after this midterm election that we had last night, wolf. we were hearing from our sources inside and outside the white house for months that the president has been stewing over jeff sessions and how he recused himself on the russia investigation last year. that has been a source of frustration for this president for some time now. but now matt whitaker will be the acting attorney general unt

matt: when they bring it back to berlin. a lever you were able to pull to help us economy grow in a sustainable way, what would your top choices be? tax policy? digitalization? migration? what are the main things the government needs to work on? volker: one big thing is the demographic challenge of the country. immigrationssive but it's not likely to continue. we have to prepare germany for this demographic change and that means have a more sensible retirement system and pension system. matt: a lot more old people and not as many young people. more people going into retirement. there's a bit of a break but 2025, he was see the people working versus the people that ratio will get worse and worse. , suche to adjust for that as work longer and adjust the retirement age to life expectancy. definitely a tax reduction should be on the table. the government has been pushing in a wrong direction. acceptng more ready to advantage is we can get. the new opportunities. there's a lot of readiness and effectiveness in industry in terms o

so held get the briefings from matt whitaker. he's very familiar with matt whitaker. he's trying to distance himself in case there's coerce. >> whitaker has been cleared into the white house dozens of times. a lot of people noted the president just didn't look right today, that he looked angry, he looked tired, that it's been a heck of a week. on that note, he goes over to represent the united states in france. what was it like? what's it been like talking to people on the inside? >> this has been a week where tuesday night it looked like a pretty decent night or not the most terrible night ever for the president. he was able to put a positive spin on it, on the midterm election as the week has gone on and on and on it has looked more and more like the blueaway wavt didn't come. that has to be weighing on him among other things. the questions do keep coming. history battling with the press as per usual and he's headed over to this event to mark the armistice, but where he's going to be with a bunch of different world leaders. he's not a particularly happy traveler eit

matt whitaker is in this job for one reason only. that's to prevent this investigation from getting too close to donald trump. i don't think that means he'll reach in and fire bob mueller or dismiss indictments. on the close calls and subpoenaing a president can be a close call, he's going to side with the president. that's why he's there and what the president expects and maybe he'll do the right thing. but i don't have any confidence in that. and i'll say, i don't think it's a coincidence the president stalled on answering these questions for 11 months. he dragged the process out and now finally, the week after he puts someone in place whose only real known qualification for the job say publicly stated hostility toward the investigation, who it's been reported is skeptical of an investigation. i think what that means, on many questions where he has the most legal jeopardy and can't do what john heilemann said, answer the question, he'll decline to answer those knowing or expecting and hoping that the leverage that mueller has has p

watch this. >> well, matt whittaker -- i don't know matt whittaker.jeff sessions and he was always extremely highly thought of and he still is. but i didn't know matt whittaker. >> very adamant there. i don't know matt whittaker. >> the president reiterated his claim of not knowing matt whittaker again on friday in a series of tweets while also praising him. it was similar to the praise the president gave him last month during an interview that challenges his own claim of not knowing matt whittaker. >> i can tell you matt whittaker is a great guy. i mean, i know matt whittaker. >>> the lawmaker expectsays he to call matt whittaker as that panel's first witness, saying he would grill the acting attorney general over protecting robert mueller's russia probe. >> the very first thing, obviously, is to protect the mueller investigation. the president's dismissal of attorney general sessions and his appointment of whittaker, who's a complete political lackey is a real threat to the integrity of that investigation. that investigation is of utmost importance

matt whitaker might do this and might do that.edge, he hasn't done any of those things and i just think we ought to give the man a chance, give him a chance to find the men's room, at least, before we start saying he's doing a lousy job. but that's just my opinion. >> what's given people pause is that he's been a vocal critic of the mueller investigation and the scope of the mueller investigation. it's not like people are making it up. he's on the record saying he's a critic of the mueller investigation. does that give you pause about him? >> well, certainly words matter. but i have, again, not to repeat myself, i have learned in washington, d.c. people talk a lot. what counts is what they do. and i know he's been critical. he made some comments. he, meaning matt whitaker, made some comments that i don't agree with. i try to watch what people do before i take affirmative action. and honestly, i haven't seen anything done by anybody in this administration to try to impede mr. mueller. i have seen the president and others be critica

to be distancing himself. >> well, matt whitaker, i don't know matt whitaker. he worked for jeff sessions, and he was always extremely highly thought of and he still is, but i didn't know matt whitaker. he worked for attorney general sessions. he was very, very highly thought of. now in all fairness to matt whitaker, who again, i didn't know, okay, other than through reputation. matt whitaker is a highly respected man but i didn't know matt whisker but he's a highly respected man. >> he's the greatest guy, the most wonderful, most amazing guy, but i barely know the guy, i've never heard of him. that sudden trumpian skittishness comes amid an outcry from trump's critics over whitaker's past comments on the mueller probe including a cascade of newly surfaced audio that demonstrates his vehement opposition to that probe suggesting whitaker long ago decided that there was no collusion, no obstruction and that whitaker is resolved to limit the investigation. >> there is no case for obstruction of justice because the president had all the power of the executive and d