i'm the sacrificial lamb, if you will.ting at is, just, asking for a little bit of help. steve: there's been a disconnect between you and i, for sure, right? austin: it's the layer in between us. steve: so, first thing monday morning, it's obviously something we should talk about. lemonis: first of all, i love the fact that you're having an open dialogue. and you've been a great listener, and you've been a great communicator. the guy gives you 100%. you have to hold onto them. they have to feel protected, and your job is to protect them. steve: yeah. austin, you don't have to worry. lemonis: layers in the cake are creating a problem for the business. in most cases, it would be easy for me to make the decision for steve, but i really want steve to show leadership, that he will make sure that he addresses the issue himself. the reason people will go to battle for each other is, if he knows you'll have his back. austin: shoulder to shoulder. arms in arm. i'm -- you -- steve: okay. austin: yes. lemonis: let's roll. ♪ i think i

he is still playing sacrificial lamb. maybe this scandal may not be enough.re are other scandals lined up. think it is becoming more likely that prime minister think it is becoming more likely that prime minister abe will have to resign before the end of the year. >> china conference kim jong-un did indeed travel to beijing this week, and president xi, four day stop of a pretty four day stop of a pretty secretive trip. what do we know? >> kim jong-un and his wife spent four days in beijing, including travel days, so about two days. it is a slow train crossing from north korea into china. this is what chinese media normally does. they do not reveal the details of such a trip until after kim has returned to pyongyang. at least, that is the protocol they used with his father. kim jong-un had never been to beijing, at least since he was the leader of north korea, so this is a significant one, because it also gives china a chance to consult with kim jong-un ahead of what is likely to be a summit with president trump sometime in late may. >> we had confirmation fro

. >> today he seems to be playing very well and still playing a sacrificial lamb.aybe this scandal may not be enough to put -- topple prime minister abe. i do see there are other scandals lined up. i think overall i think it's now becoming more likely that the prime minister will have to resign before the end of the year. abigail: kim jong-un did travel to beijing and met the president during a four day stopover. a pretty secretive trip. what do we know? >> we do know that kim jong-un and his wife spent four days in beijing. including the travel day. probably about two days. of course it's a very slow train that crossed from north korea into china. it's interesting because this is what the chinese media normally does. they do not reveal data -- details of such a trip until after kim has returned to pea pyongyang. that's the protocol they used with his father. kim jong-un had never been it beijing since he was the leader of north korea. this is a significant one because it also gives china a chance to kind of consult with kim jong-un ahead of what is likely to be a

. >> today he seems to be playing very well and playing the sacrificial lamb.his scandal may not be enough to put -- to topple prime minister oabe, but there are other scandals lined up. i think it is more likely the prime minister will have to resign before the end of the year. jong-un did indeed travel to beijing this week and that president xi during a stopover. a pretty secretive trip. what do we know? >> kim jong-un and his wife spent four days in beijing, including the travel days. probably about two days. it's a very slow train that crosses from north korea and china. it's interesting because this is what the chinese media normally does. they do not reveal data for the details of such a trip until after kim has returned to pyongyang, at least that is the protocol used with his father. kim jong-un had never been to beijing, at least since he was the leader of north korea. this is a significant one because it gives china a chance to consult with kim jong-un ahead of what is likely to be a summit with president trump sometime perhaps in late may. >> we have

he is being painted as the sacrificial lamb because he was put in front of lawmakers, and he played thefor the fifth inding many accounts, or the equivalent to the fifth, saying he did not want to incriminate himself. the key takeaway was that shinzo abe, the finance minister his former boss, and shinzo abe's wife were not involved in this controversy a land sale, and did not authorize the doctoring of documents, which the finance ministry has already admitted half wait incriminate for them because their names were on these documents that were removed. it is an interesting saga that has international ramifications because the key takeaway is this is undermining shinzo abe, and he could be taken out of office, or at the least, his finance minister who has been a key. scandalow much has this weakened prime minister abe? he is moving down the pecking order. yes, it is a possibility. officed be taken out of over this scandal. if not this scandal, perhaps other scandals that are in the wings. the opposition has several cronyism allegations against the ldp and his cabinet. if the latest numbe

the way the books were run, buena park was essentially the sacrificial lamb.mebody had to make that decision, and so who would do that ultimately? paul: i would, but updating mike on a monthly basis of what was going on. lemonis: well, technically you're the cfo. paul: yeah. lemonis: so the checks that got released, who made that decision? paul: yeah, me. it was me. lemonis: the bills that got paid, who made that decision? paul: it was me. lemonis: why? paul: there are other shareholders involved that have been with us for a long time... lemonis: yes. paul: ...that i wanted to protect. mike: yes. you wanted to keep it together for the sake of parlour and parlour shareholders, but it was evident to me that we were on so opposite sides of the fence on this thing. that's why i resigned. i'm not going to stand around and be part of something when the decisions that were being pushed i was totally in disagreement with. paul: so why not pose those questions and have us make those decisions? why just step out? mike: because it had more to do about the direction of th

wasan is saying saga the sacrificial lamb.more are calling for the finance minister's head, for him to resign. is that likely? >> i think from a japanese perspective, putting the blame solely on the -- it doesn't look pretty. i do think there are people who claim political responsibility d i think that will mean our finance minister's head. >> what does it tell you that in years past, perhaps, and especially if abe had higher approval ratings, like he did when he had the snap election, when he had 50% approval, it's now down to 30%, what does it tell you that they have not been able to bury the scandal, that his power base and support base is eroding. >> i think it's important to understand that there was a scoop by outside newspaper but that came from a leak and the leak probably came from inside the government. so what it says is they are a segment within the government and shows among the media who are increasingly concerned about the way prime minister abe is leading japan. so not just the scandal but then this kind of cha

. >> are you prepared though, is the administration prepared for for there to be so-called sacrificial lambs to get the trade deficit down if china decides we're not going buy as much soy beans, or sorgum, you are you willing to say that is too bad? will you say to boeing that is too bad? if apple and intel because they have manufacturing if a sirlts in china get slaped on the wrist, do you say sorry guys how much are you willing to endure >> well, i think that it is going to be a little bit different situation from that. clearly there is a high probability that they will take in sort of action. the question is what will it be. what will be the magnitude what will be the overall impact and what will then be our reaction as you know what the president is seeking, there is 100 billion very near term reduction in the trade with china that is one of the major targets. the other major target is intellectual property rights because that is our future things like steal ael and alumi deal mainly with the president intellectual property rights deals with the future. and there is no accident that late

put forward in the parliament building, i guess youksd call him the sacrificial lamb oversaw this transactionon. it involves shinzo abe's wife and the former finance minister. tom: steven, thank you so much from soakio. geoffrey of u.b.s. thank you so much in london. coming up, william butler and catherine maun of citigroup. will talk trade and the deficit. stay with us. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ tom: markets are still range bound, but at the very edge of the range, the volatility of march continues, down near 1200 points and now up 700 points. are the fiscal deficits sustainable in this hour? in this hour, catherine mann and willem buiter. --n cryan perhaps is want has worn out his welcome. this is "bloomberg surveillance" live from our world headquarters in new york. i am tom keene. in london back from berlin, francine lacqua. back in london, everybody is looking at the wall and roy to bank. this is in "the times" of london. has there been any further understanding of what the management committee is doing? francine: first of all, this doesn't really come as a surprise because we have also bee

be able to defend lives of the children under their care during that time period and not just sacrificial lambu for your answer. phyllis, happy birthday. keep on keeping it on. send it back to new york city. great job, bowling green. give yourselves a round of applause. steve: let people eat full plates of food. that looked good. >> almost 30 minutes after the top of the hour. president trump is working with both sides of the aisle to come up with a gun safety measure. nra spokeswoman dana loesch weighs in when she joins us live. steve: remember the college course about removing president trump from office? this morning a big update. ♪ bp's natural gas teams use smart app technology to share data from any well instantly. so they can analyze trends and stop potential problems in their tracks. because safety is never being satisfied and always working to be better. ♪ >> this meeting was not about gun control. this meeting, let's not forget, is about school safety. with that as the backdrop the president is saying stronger background checks. the president called for raising the age as dick's spor