. ♪ >> "amanpour" on pbs was made possible by the generous support of rosaland p. walter>>> good evening, everyone. welcome to the program. i'm christiane amanpour in london. president trump's aggressive move on tariffs are gathering speed and sparking fears of a damaging trade war and of a backlash against the very american workers that he has vowed to protect. today he says he's 100% not backing down. the tariff move already sparked the biggest backlash yet by his fellow republican leads and important members of his cabinet, many of whom are publicly coming out against the plan to impose 25% tariffs on imported steel and 10% on aluminum. the usually supportive "wall street journal" calls it, quote, the biggest blunder of his presidency. senator orrin hatch says the tariffs are a "tax hike the american people cannot afford." and the house speaker, paul ryan, is urging the white house not to advance with this plan. so why is the president so keen? my guest today, lawrence summers, knows a lot about the economics of all of this and, of course, the presidential decision mak

. ♪ >>> "amanpour" on pbs was made possible by the generous support of rosaland p. walter>>> good evening. i'm christiane amanpour in london. president vladimir putin is embarking on his fourth term as president along with a stint as prime minister, his years in power stretch from 2000 to 2024. the kremlin barred his most viable opponent alexei navalny from running in the election. independent observers say there was a lack of genuine competition. all of this comes as tensions rise dramatically with both america and europe. the british government is in a standoff with the kremlin over a poisoning of a russian double agent and his daughter. the kremlin denies it, but the british prime minister says there is no alternative conclusion but that the russian state is responsible for the attack with a military grade nerve agent. this is what the nato secretary general said today. >> the attacks in salisbury was the first use of a nerve agent on alliance territory. russia's response has demonstrated a clear disregard for international peace and security. we continue to call on rus