according to cohn's friend, the president was not in favor of gary cohn leaving. first you have got gary cohn, day one member of this administration, and the president pop his resignation released a statement saying gary has been my chief economic advisor and has done a great job driving our agenda. he's a rare talent and i thank him for his dedicated service to the american people. gary cohn's office released a statement saying it has been an honor to serve my country and enact pro-growth economic policies. i'm grateful to the president for giving me this opportunity and wish him and the administration great success in the future. since last summer when the white nationalists and the nazis marched in carolina in charlott. people and friend at goldman sachs have been counseling him and telling him he should leave the administration, especially since president trump announced the tariffs he intends to impose. 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum. an official close to gary cohn was asked the question is he going to resign and we were told absolutely not. gary cohn makin

gary cohn was supposed to attend the conference. there is a place card for gary cohn and the seat he was supposed to take at the news conference. he did not show up. white house press secretary sarah sanders sat in his place instead. although gary cohn notified the president within the last 24 hours about his departure, the president went on to say during the news conference here that there is no chaos inside the white house and that everybody in the world wants to work for him. listen to what he had to say about that. >> the white house has tremendous energy. it has tremendous spirit. it is a great place to be working. many, many people want every single job. i read maybe people don't want to work for donald trump. believe me, everybody wants to work in the white house. they all want a piece of that oval office. they want a piece of the west wing. not only in terms of it looks great on the remasume. it is a great place. it is tough. i like conflict. i like two people with two different points of yview. i like watching it. i like se

. >>> gary cohn out. president trump's top economic adviser resigning from the white house as a trade war brews the fallout from washington to wall street straight ahead. >>> president trump threatening a new round of tariffs this time aimed at the eu. the full details ahead. >>> sounding off, the biggest leaders in corporate america weighing in on the president's trade plan on cnbc we have full reaction coming your way it's wednesday, march 7, 2018. "worldwide exchange" begins now. ♪ >>> good morning a very warm welcome to "worldwide exchange" on cnbc i'm wilfred frost. >> i'm seema mody in for sara today. it will be an interesting day for markets. >> let's look at them, moving lower after that bombshell announcement that gary cohn is leaving the white house. we are down 349 points on the dow. let's get straight to eamon javers live in washington with the latest good morning >> good morning. another week, another major white house departure. this time gary cohn, the president's top economic adviser. it

gary cohn's deputy left back in december. so it's not your typical white house where you have two or three people who are lined up, ready to go, ready to take this spot. it's going to be a real challenge them to fill the void. >> in turbulent times you need sober, reasonable voices. these are the types of voices that are leaving. we'll have much more on the cohn breaking news and more tonight, including a new cooperating witness for robert mueller. this could be big. because of the secret meetings he attended between trump associates and the united arab emirates, the same uae that according to the "washington post" talked about ways jared kushner could be compromised. each year sarah climbs 58,007 steps. that's the height of mount everest. because each day she chooses to take the stairs. at work, at home... even on the escalator. that can be hard on her lower body, so now she does it with dr. scholl's orthotics. clinically proven to relieve and prevent foot, knee or lower back pain, by reducing the shock and stress that trave

gary cohn, top executive at goldman. someone who reassured the establishment this administration was moving the economy in the right direction as far as stocks were concerned. >> that's a really good observation. we have sustain stock market respond very negatively. at least initially. that the president seems to be doubling down on the tariffs. we just don't know. you're right. and he assured a lot of folks in the financial community and industry that things were proceeding along. it was reassuring to a lot of folks. >> and we'll see overnight what the foreign we will see what happens in the foreign markets. they will not respond favor bring to the news. we talk about hope hicks being the moderating factor for trump. that is how we viewed gary cohn. putting aside his politics. they may not have meshed with the people on the hill. he was a moderating factor on the hill for the people in the white house. >> it is not just disagreeing with the president on the steel and aluminum. the secretary of state gets the ramificatio

or does gary cohn go somewhere else? reporter: i am not sure gary cohn goes back to goldman, although there is quite the revolving door. dena powell of course leaving the white house and going back to goldman. he could have another bigger job in the ministration. that has been -- in the administration. that has been floating around. it is more likely that if he comes back to wall street he could end up at a big private equity firm or potentially a hedge fund, or he could end up hanging out his own shingle. the boutique investment bank route is a pretty tried-and-true one over the past decade or so. we will see if he comes back to new york or hangs around lawsuit can -- around washington a while longer. unlikely he goes back to go mad at this point. alix: next up we are looking to hudson yards, suing unions for corrupt behavior. to me the story is hudson yards again, another headline. reporter: hudson yards draws so many headlines here, in part because of all the superlatives. it is the largest private real estate develop

economist wanted, gary cohn leaving the staff. and preparing for war, president trump says a trade war would be bad for the united states even as his vulcan allies urge them to look -- his republican allies urge them to take a look at tariffs. the senate is looking at a bipartisan bill while regulators move forward on their own path of making things simpler and easier for financial institutions. ♪ shery: president trump's proposed tariffs have put him against his own party allies and administration and this chief economic advisor, gary cohn, resigned yesterday. leaving the white house without now weerating and welcome republican of kansas and member of the commerce committee. senator, thank you for your time, but first i want to ask about the impact of gary cohn's resignation. >> i think gary cohn has been a voice that has reached out to members of congress and united states senate. has been a way for us to have an additional entry into the trump administration and in that regard the communication could be diminished. i assume t

cohn walking away. >> do you think there is a gary cohn premium in the market? >> absolutely. to the extent that gary cohn represented some form of stability, and that was the market's interpretation of it, but i think we have to break this thing down. we have to understand that 2017 was about tax reform. gary cohn was absolutely the right guy, very instrumental in doing that. 2018 is about trade and tariffs. gary cohn might not have been the right guy for that because he disagrees with the president on that. having someone like gary cohn who was market family, pro-business, pro-bank, pro-globalization, free trade was something that the market was on the same page with. with him removed, the question is who is going to fill that role? who will not just take his title, but who will be that centrist voice on economic policy and trade policy and the white house? we do not really have that right now. >> the ecb holding rates steady changing some key language , today. here is mario draghi in his own words. >> what we need was to remove the exclusive reference to the

gary cohn's deputy left back in december. not your typical white house where you have two or three people line up ready to take this spot. >> in turbulent times you need sober reasonable voices and these are the voices that are leaving. much more on the cohn breaking news and other breaking news including this, a new cooperating witness for mueller. this could be big because of the secret meetings he attended between the associates and the uae talking about ways jared kushner could be compromised. ♪ ♪ wake up early, o. ♪ slap on some cologne ♪ i'm 85 and i wanna go home ♪ ♪ just got a job ♪ as a lifeguard in savannah ♪ ♪ i'm 85 and i wanna go home ♪ ♪ dropping sick beats, they call me dj nana ♪ ♪ 85 and i wanna go don't get mad. get e*trade, kiddo. allergies with sinus you won't find relief here. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d... while the leading allergy spray only relieves six symptoms, claritin-d relieves eight, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more.

the fact is donald trump ran against gary cohn or people like gary cohn in the election. he ran that ad against goldman sachs. there were anti-semitic tones in the ad and other things that were controversial. he made crystal clear he was running against this wall street free market, globalist mentality. >> yeah, absolutely. you have to step back and take a look at what trump has done outside of the palace intrigue. this is important reporting, but you have to step back and take a look at this through the eyes of a voter. so he has -- for his base, if you look at evangelical, he has satisfied what they wanted from him with gorsuch, and if you look at rotary republicans, wall street republicans, he has satisfied them with tax reform. on the tariffs, it's satisfying those blue collar voters in the rust belt on trade. when economists say this is terrible, this is bad for the economy, they say, look, economists, you told us nafta was going to be great for us. see how that worked out? so you have to look at how the voters, the people that put him into office and the promises th

gary cohn out as national economic director. back to you. >> all right, hampton pierson out of washington for us thank you. for more on this, let's bring in eamon javers and the resignation comes as we seem to be on precipice of a brewing trade war. >> yeah, that's right. there were a couple of things that hampton says today that this was likely to happen. one was that gary cohn who had been a relatively religious attendee of the news conferences did not show up. there's an empty chair in front of where i was sitting for someone on the white house staff, we're not clear if it was gary or not. he's usually in the room for those things, he was not i was told repeatedly today by white house officials that if gary resigned, it's not going to be because of tariffs, it's going to be because of an accumulation of things that is that gary, they suggested to me, is too mature to simply not get his way on tariffs and resign on principle on that issue alone but it would be because of a number of things, white house officials were not pushi

he didn't name gary cohn, but he had gary cohn in the room fighting it out on tarrifs in the last couple of weeks with will the commerce secretary. ross and others carried the day. i am reminded of something his first chief of said. everybody gets excited this president is doing things differently. who cares. he is entitled to do it how he wants. don't look at the process; look at the results. that's the point. this president is getting a lot done. getting to those results it's pretty messy. >> thank you, sir. obviously, trade was one of the big reasons for the cohn resignation. republicans and congress have been pushing back hard. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel has that story. >> congress doesn't have power to stop president trump's new tarrifs proposal so the focus is on asking him to fine-tune it. >> make it more targeted. >> speaker ryan's comments about president trump tarrifs on aluminum and steel and a possibly trade war. >> we want abusers held to account especially china and we want to make sure we don't correct any unintended consequences. >> republicans are wor

let's talk about what it means to have someone like gary cohn walk out the door. >> gary cohn isn't just a wall street guy. this is a guy who before he came to the white house had one job his entire adult life. he came to new york city and he was acquired by a company that acquired goldman, he left goldman where he was the president and the coo to join this administration, so it's a big deal to see gary walk away. now many people speculated that once gary got tax reform done, he was most likely going to leave, because he came there for a mission, he got that done, he had never had political aspirations before, but, you can can yourself why now, why today? you know he was very against president trump's comments after charlottesville. as a jewish american he was high high high highly off v of funded. if gary is now getting road blocked, if the president won't even listen to him, and if someone named peter navarro who couldn't get a job at goldman if his life depended on it, if he has the president's ear on trade issues that affect our country, corporate america, every citizen, if peter nav

gary cohn is out as the president's chief economic advisor. move asestors saw the an affirmation that donald trump is pushing forward with tariffs. is romain. not a foregone conclusion the president will go ahead with this? >> no. there were doubts yesterday that donald trump would follow through and the markets closed with gary cohn out and reports seeming to suggest that donald trump was ready to move forward. he was not willing to listen. that is reflected in the market today, asia took it hard and u.s. markets not doing too bad but a little bit of a sector rotation at stocks that would be most affected by the tariffs and stocks that may weather the storm better like small-cap or anything steel and aluminum. shery: we show you what the exchange rates are doing, the most immediate impact is the yen, gaining strength but the canadian dollar is the biggest the -- what with about the uncertainty gary cohn 's resignation brings? >> since donald trump has been in office, he and the administration were on the same page with tax cuts and deregulati

you talked about gary cohn leaving. we have the general jackass. we have the mystery man from seychelles. we have trump's personal lawyer complaining he hasn't been reimbursed for his payment to stormy daniels. we have kellyanne conway who apparently violated the hatch act, which in any other administration would be the scandal of the month. so all of this would be funny if it wasn't so damn depressing, scary, and dangerous, not just to the economic welfare of the country but to the global welfare and safety and the national security of the united states. >> michael, i know you're nodding your head here, but i want to have bakari weigh in if i can either on the -- is this a different level of chaos, or to an extent, at least policy-wise, is this what the president promised? the appropriate always said he was going to do this. >> i think the president's always been misguided on tariffs. i think one of the things when comparing it to china solar panels that michael was not being forthright about is that it's different from having open-ended tariffs a

>> the tariffs were a bridge too far for gary cohn. he did speak out against charlottesville -- >> but racism, white supremacists wasn't. >> he did speak out, he was opposed to pulling out of the paris climate accord. i think gary cohn has done a good job with regard to the tax cuts. i've been at many roundtables at the white house where he was really the chief salesman in that. and clearly he couldn't do it with regard to tariffs. he didn't support it. he realized that it might help the steel industry now, but it's not helping those who need steel down the road. he just couldn't do it and said enough is enough. >> michael, you're nodding your head so much, i promise -- >> i'm shaking my head. >> i guess that's a good point. shaking your head and nodding are two different things. shaking your head in disagreement. you've been wonderful not cutting in. we're going to get to you as soon as we get back from the break. we have a lot more to cover. we're going to talk more about gary cohn's departure and why he chose not to leave over a dis

cohn candidates for the gary cohn job period. >> that is the point. i know for a fact that as the president makes his multiple phone calls and sounded people out, for example, on becoming cheefr chief of staff, there were people who said no who won't go into that. so we'll see who the president will get to replace gary cohn. will he take peter navarro who is already inside the white house and is derided by the so-called globalists on wall street? what will the president do? >> trade. i used to work on cnbc, with peter navarro, he's passionate about his view. there was peter navarro. he wasn't available. so the other day when we said let's do discussion on trade, peter navarro, he works on the white house, no one else to put in there. >> gary cohn was arguing. so now it's peter navarro. and we'll see who else. and hot president can get or does he promote him. so what you have is is a president effectively home alone here with maybe jared and ivanka for a while and don mcgahn white house counsel for a while. but it won't take that long for the president

kevin, gary cohn is out. this is about tariffs, they say, or do you think cohn touted my people on both sides of the aisle as very smart and extremely capable couldn't take the daily chaos anymore? he was just over it? >> well, it's certainly more than just a new york guy going back to new york. i don't think you can underestimate just how much of a stabilizing force that gary cohn was in this administration. this is an administration that doesn't have as deep a bench of experience on economic issues, on policy, so the fact that he was somebody that's respected by folks in the business community as well as having built really strong relationships with many folks up on capitol hill. and, you know, not really known as a rock-ribbed republican, but respected by a lot of the republican allies that the president has up on capitol hill and was critical to helping pass the signature accomplishment so far, which was tax reform. but that i think is the big concern. which is now we have somebody seen as somebody who ca

everybody wants to be there. >> gary cohn was a stabilizer. gary cohn respected by wall street. gary cohn was a salve to the stock market. >> do it in a very loving way. it will be a loving, loving way. they'll like us better, and they will respect us much more. >> republican opposition to the tariff plan growing by the day. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell finally breaking his silence tuesday saying he has genuine concerns the new tariffs could spark a trade war. >>> gary cohn's sudden departure is already rattling wall street. dow futures falling as much as 400 points overnight. the s&p 500 futures sliding about 1%. that set the tone for global stocks. the entire global stock market basically fell because of gary cohn. asia slipped lower, while europe opened down an hour ago. why is his resignation shaking the markets? his presence reassured investors. the former goldman sachs executive was pro pr-business, pro-free trade. a moderate globalist voice to president trump's nationalist instincts like trump's plan to slap tariffs on aluminum and steel imports. cohn opposes th

we've been on gary cohn watch since mid summer people were telling me they were getting gary cohn resignation fatigue because it had been going on for so long yesterday they ripped the band aid off. now the question is who is the president going to turn to as his top economic adviser here's what an administration official told me last night in terms of who wins and who loses in all of this this official is saying to me, this is a huge victory for the nationalists peter navarro, the trade adviser, won the trade battle and now gary's given up. it re-establishes the framework. we can let trump be trump. so the implication there is that the nationalist wing of the trump economic team is in the ascendency but president trump said something interesting yesterday in his press conference with the president of sweden how he likes his advisers to argue it out in front of him. >> i like conflict i like having two people with different points of view, and i certainly have that, and then i make a decision, but i like watching it. i like seeing it and i think it's the best way to go i like different points

this is bloomberg. ♪ emily: we continue covering breaking news of gary cohn of gary cohn officially resigning as president trump's top economic advisor. for more from tokyo, this is they'll beews noticed in china, and what is the impact of this, especially considering the issues surviving tariffs? it is big news here -- and it looks like gary cohn, wet opposed many of these threats that the administration was making about imposing tariffs on the aluminum and steel -- is now leaving the administration. it is a sign they are getting serious on these tariffs and trade restrictions and that is a concern for many will have supported more free trade. i think in particular, in the case of technology companies, they shine a light of protectionist measures are allegations of protectionist measures within technology industries. as we see with facebook, twitter, google, many american tech companies cannot operate within the chinese market because of restrictions there. at the same time, companies like tencent come at most trouble company in china, is able to market its services in the u.s.. that is an i

gary cohn just for those that don't remember and we were critical of gary cohn and said he needed to speak out after charlottesville. he did speak out after charlottesville and anybody that knows how the white house works knows that that cost him most likely the fed chairmanship. and so he stated that he fought like good people staying in there and fight like secretary mattis and others, but yeah, just enough is enough. >> we're pretty close to people around this circle and i think his departure is a real sign that even gary cohn, who is trying to stick it out, trying to be there as offensive duty, to try and help out felt he could not do anything anymore to reign in this president. >> obviously a lot of republicans from capitol hill that have been very concerned about donald trump, concerned about the fact that he's a lifetime democrat, that he's a lifetime liberal from queens who actually discovered birtherism, discovered racism as a way to get ahead in the republican primary, they're still concerned about his economic policies and gary cohn always seemed to be a person that calmed

we begin today with gary cohn heading for the exit. the 34th, that's right, 34th member of the trump administration calling it quits. it's a huge win for guys like wilbur ross and peter navarro, a big loss for republicans and free traders. wall street doesn't like it much either. i've got the best team, all women, here to break it down today. first we get to our panel. impleme i want to break down why exactly the departure of trump's economic adviser is such a big deal. guys like gary cohn and rob porter, huge advocates of free trade. they were the guys arguing that america does best when it can buy and sell products all over the world. but this this white house, their views were in direct contradiction to men like commerce secretary wilbur ross and top trade adviser peter navarro that want nationalist policies that favor u.s. corporations over global trade. trump has always leaned toward the nationalist side of things, that's how he ended up with navarro. with porter gone and cohn leaving, there's no one to balance out the argument. i

talk is about gary cohn and trade. the most recent trade deficit numbers today came out, the gap up 5% to $56.6 billion in january, a widening more than forecast, the biggest trade deficit going back to 2008. overall trade deficit last year was $566 billion. we await news on who could requires gary cohn. peter navarro says he is not on the long list of candidates to replace gary cohn. he is one of the more nationalist or protectionist candidates that had been talked about. interesting that he made the comment to bloomberg television. steel and aluminum stocks, strength as gary cohn's departure is seen as cementing the idea the president will go ahead with the tariffs. alco and century aluminum company rise. retail is weak today, especially the dollar stores, discount retailers, dollar tree third quarter's missing estimate, first court forecast missing estimates and comparable sales trailing. onlysts saying buy weakness, guggenheim says that the earnings per share forecast missed but it reflects a greater than expected

top economic adviser gary cohn is out. the president ignoring cohn's advice on controversial trade tariffs, but don't call it chaos in the west wing. the president says it's just the way he actually likes things to work with a very healthy dose of conflict. let's go to our chief white house correspondent jim acosta. have we heard anything today from the white house? >> reporter: a little bit, yes, wolf. earlier this morning, sarah sanders, the white house press secretary, held a brief gaggle with reporters and essentially said, you know, look at the record of this administration. this is not chaos. of course, she was talking about policy and foreign policy issues, not exactly the staff turmoil that's going on inside the west wing, which we've seen unfold week after week after week. in this week's episode is the departure of gary cohn, the president's top economic adviser. essentially what the white house is trying to do at this point is minimize the magnitude of cohn's departure, even though there are some top republicans

me too >>> gary cohn leaving the white house. kbho is -- who is going to replace him and what impact on the president and the agenda and the markets can't agree to the views but there is a selloff for across the boardch a rebound midday but back lower again. how politics is affecting your money, next on power lunch most etfs only track a benchmark. flexshares etfs are built around the way investors think. with objectives like building capital for the future, managing portfolio risk and liquidity and generating income. that's real etf innovation. flexshares. built by investors, for investors. before investing consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. go to flexshares.com for a prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. when it might be time to buy or sell? with fidelity's real-time analytics, you'll get clear, actionable alerts about potential investment opportunities in real time. fidelity. open an account today. you know what's not awesome? gig-speed internet. when only certain peopl

gary cohn, out. who would you like to see replace him from the proposal to raise tariffs on the steel and aluminum industries? blaine: gary cohn has done a fantastic job. jobas really been on the with his relationships to the leadership to try to promote economic policies. ,e was with the tax cut bill the health care bill we were working on last summer. he has managed trust advisor -- been a trusted advisor. he got an crosshairs with the tariffs, and they parted ways. the man did a good job putting people in places around him, so whoever replaces gary will do a fantastic job. i think the key thing is i have not seen anyone talk about a trade war with china with a long time. how do you solve that problem? they are reversing industries to --ure my best to undermine industries to undermine others. ? w do you solve the problem the president is trying to figure this out. the tariff situation what he is trying to put together, is that the solution? i don't know. he is indicating other options, so we will s

we'll talk much more about gary cohn's resignation. we are continuing to cover breaking news president trump's , top economic advisor gary cohn is stepping down. president trump says in a statement that gary has been my chief economic advisor and did a superb job of driving the agenda and reforms unleashing the market economy once again. he is a rare talent and i thank him for his dedicated service to the american people. we will continue to bring you the details of the story as it happens. this is bloomberg. ♪ emily: a developing story coming out of washington, bloomberg is reporting gary cohn is resigning as president trump's top economic advisor. cohn in a statement issued by the white house says it was an honor to serve, especially with historic tax reform. he says he is grateful to trump for the opportunity and wishes him and the administration success in the future. marty schecter is here in san francisco joining me in the studio with more. we heard this was coming -- we heard this was coming for month that it did not happen. n

could gary cohn be feeling at this moment -- how bad could gary cohn be feeling? matt: i wouldn't suggest he would be, he could take credit in saint that the republican partyparty and the trump administration -- the tax cuts. he did say i had a big part of that if not the most important part. vonnie: he could do anything now, he got very far along that route, and he went and had time in the administration and could take credit for public policy that has been made. and there are plenty of people who have left goldman sachs and haven't gotten to administration and have done else.ine somewhere max: i can't help but think back to that ad that was donald trump's closing else. ad. i'm a big it was donald trump doing the voice over, but there sayingominous voiceover there is corporate criminals robbing your wallet -- and there's this long tradition of lloyd blankfein going to the administration, but if he joins the trump, my mind will be gone. is there any possibility that it is not a coincidence that gary cohn is gone and then you get lloyd blankfein talking about leavi

so the news gary cohn resigning just the latest. president trump himself almost hinted at it in a tweet this morning. in mihindsight when we look at that tweet, talking about people coming and going, he knew he was having another major exit today. we'll have a lot more on this. as soon as we get more information, just developing in the last few minutes, gary cohn, the latest trump advisor to leave the west wing. we'll have more right after this. (avo) if you've been struggling with belly pain and constipation, and you're overwhelmed by everything you've tried-- all those laxatives, daily probiotics, endless fiber-- it could be wearing on you. tell your doctor what you've tried, and how long you've been at it. linzess works differently from laxatives. linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. it can help relieve your belly pain and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements that are easier to pass. do not give linzess to children less than six and it should not be given to children six to

. ♪ anna: gary cohn resigns. president trump's top economic -- economic adviser quits the white house. the yen and treasuries gain. clamping down on china. washington will impose restrictions on chinese imports. how will beijing respond? testing the saudi crown prince. he gets the red carpet treatment as he visits london. will he prove a reliable new partner for brexit england? we are less than a half hour away from european trading. take a look at futures. we gave up all of our gains in yesterday's session, much of our gains in yesterday's session. we have futures down across the board. futures are often 0.6%. dax futures are also off. take a look at treasuries in the resignation.cohn's you can see that the yield dropped into the end of the session yesterday and this morning as investors bought bonds, seeking the sake haven of government debt, also buying the yen. you see a lot of risk off trade going into effect. what do you see on the g mn? anna: the risk off trade, and departure seems to be the main theme. we

gary cohn was good at getting that piece of legislation. the only piece of legislation, major piece of legislation they've gotten, the other stuff was all, you know, were all executive actions. and i think when most people look back on the trump administration, those aren't the things they'll remember. they'll remember the discord, chaos, confusion of the era. you know, left, right, or center, i think everybody would agree that that is sort of the way this white house makes you feel. >> they might remember something called the stormy daniels story. honestly -- which is a sidebar story almost, the woman suing the president over the nondisclosure agreement saying it's not signed by david dennison, aka donald j. trump. any other white house would be surchg -- sunk by this. i wonder if the chaos makes storm-gate less significant. >> yeah. i think people aren't that surprised by it. if you look at the polling, i think people believe that probably is true. and honestly, they kind of knew this thing about donald trump coming into the white house.

chief economic adviser gary cohn quits today. yeah. so i think at this point the white house staff is just john kelly and a fax machine that jared isn't allowed to use. >>> another white house shakeup, president trump's top economic adviser gary cohn announcing plans to leave and the news is already having an impact on wall street this morning. xwloo pl >>> plus could there be a breakthrough with north korea? president trump weighs in. >>> and the east coast is bracing itself this morning. a second nor'easter is on track to hit the region with another round of heavy snow. good morning, everybody. it is wednesday march 7, i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside louis burgdorf. president trump spoke favorably about a trade war yesterday, but its first casualty appears to be one of his top advisers. gary cohn, chief economic adviser to the president, has resigned. cohn's decision was in reaction to the abrupt rollout of tariffs. a source says that he feels president trump circumvented the staff process. cohn had reportedly considered resigning i

i don't know jimmy, joe or mary but i know gary. gary cohn is a process guy. in january after tax reform got done, he went to the president and he went to general kelly and said, i'm only working at 20% capacity. i need something to do here. i can do more. he said to the president, i'm ready for a cabinet level position. i want to do something bigger. could be something in the state department or the cia. the president said why don't you focus on infrastructure ab-gary was the one who drove infrastructure and has been waiting to work on that and hasn't been able to. things got sigh lined with daca, things got sidelined after the shooting. ideally sidelines because the president doesn't pay attention. he said i'm willing to leave and come back if a bigger role comes up down account line. remember what happened last wednesday. they have tariff tuesday every week talking about it for months. you know the president's views for over a year. but things getting completely out of hand with wilbur ross and peter that var row who gary cohn has zero respect for and peter

a lot of them liked gary cohn. >> they did like gary cohn. that was their link to the administration, that i they felt had economic good common sense. with that said, there's two things going on that i think are very interesting. i've talked to 12 of my donors. they're divided. this has been strange. >> there's six of them that think that, you know, the tariffs, the market is going to spin out of control, this is absolutely one of the worst things they have seen. the retaliation from countries because of these tariffs are going to be for rick, the ramifications that we'll face for this. you have the other side that is basically, this puts steel workers, creates jobs, this is fabulous because it makes trump make good on one of his promises, which he says make america great, by making the steel stray great. and how about china? >> trish: yeah, it will help republicans mid-terms. they may not realize that. art, is our friend larry kudlow going to take the job? >> i hope so. isn't he the best ever? i know how much you like him, trish. and he's on

let's start with gary cohn. how important do you think he was for influencing economic policy at the white house, and how concerned are you by his decision to leave? senator shelby: gary cohn was very influential. he was a heavyweight in the economic area. when he came to the white house, he had good success in the private sector, well-respected. i hate to see him go. i worked with him on other things dealing with the regulation in the financial system. worry that the white house lacks experienced policymakers and managers who can oversee process is now the gary cohn has left? senator shelby: i think gary cohn will be missed. i think you need a balance. there are others that can fill the void but i hope the president will find somebody that will help balance a lot of views at the white house. basicow, gary is a free trader. i am a free trader but i wanted to be fair. i see where the president is coming from but you have to realize trade is a double-edged sword, and you have to be careful how you implement it. we

there has been speculation that gary cohn could resign. but now more attention might turn to the u.s. taking action against chinese imports, which could include consumer apple and lenovo could be caught in the crossfire. stocks in taiwan using some gains earlier. markets are mixed with australia leading declines, the aussie dollar falling after a softer than expected gdp rent. sang straight is not immune to global influences. out downi 225 closing .2%. electronics makers and defense stocks rising. that stronger yen is adding to the drag here it the dollar-yen heading towards 105, and the korean won leading gains and could test the three year high against the backdrop of august on talks with north korea. , slidingnadian loonie along with the mexican peso, given concerns tariff threats loom. rishaad: with all this noise we are not hearing about these positive moves diplomatically. let's get to paul allen for the first word news headlines. president trump again signaled he is open to talks with north korea after the south said kim jong-un is

why did gary cohn go? he's said to be unhappy about the president's proposed steel and aluminium tariffs and the consequences for the american economy — jobs and the threat of a trade war. kim gittleson is in new york. gary cohn has long said he opposed the trump administration tariffs which trump has defended this past week. he is known to support free trade. he worked at goldman sachs, he isa trade. he worked at goldman sachs, he is a democrat and supports pro—business policy and has clashed with president trump on a host of issues. the thing they agreed on was tax reform. beyond that not much. the president once more believed he wa nted the president once more believed he wanted these steel and aluminium ta riffs wanted these steel and aluminium tariffs to be instituted and it seemed a done deal that he would have to resign. so what is the latest on the transatlantic tit—for—tat over trade. well today the european commission meets to discuss its retaliatory plan after president trump said tariff

the white house top economic advisor, gary cohn, has announced his resignation. mr cohn was said to have been unhappy with the president's threat to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. the us state department has confirmed that north korea used the nerve agent, vx, to kill the half—brother of kimjong—un in malaysia last year. and this video is trending on bbc.com. remember this photo of a little girl staring up in awe at a new portrait of michelle obama 7 well now the former first lady has met little parker curry and posted this clip saying, "parker, keep on dreaming big for yourself...and maybe one day i'll proudly look up at a portrait of you!" that's all from me now. and the top story here in the uk. military experts in britain are testing the substance thought to have made a former russian spy and his daughter critically ill. now on bbc news all the latest business news live from singapore. asian markets react to the news that the white house's top economic adviser steps down just hours after president trumps stands firm on steel and aluminium

the news out of about the gary cohn and him resigning. peter coy.ring in this is by far one of the biggest departures i would say in the white house. it is checks and balances her since trump took office was by far the strongest, the leader of the globalists gone, s come. you have these indications where wilbur ross rosen profile on the terrorist front. replacingy could be cohn in this chair? >> trump does not want to put someone like him in their. he is tired of having someone stole him at every front. you can even imagine peter tomorrow hitting the job -- peter navarro getting the job. out on the nationalist front but crazier things have happened in the white house. >> he is kind of running out of people. [laughter] >> people want to walk into a situation like that. >> what are the implications, not just for tariffs year, which looks like are going ahead, but other economic policies from the white house? have not just tariffs, but there is a very important move coming up in the next few weeks, section 301 which is a against china. answe

perhaps a replace for gary cohn sooner than some expected? >> i can't weigh in because i don't have my ear to the grindstone the way many have with regard to d.c., but i can say i think larry would be a wonderful choice, but let's keep in mind with that means. in my opinion, it shouldn't be about stock prices it should about the long-term health of the u.s. economy the second issue is this isn't about peter navarro. so if larry gets appointed and like i said, i would vote for hand downs, peter isn't going mir i don't think he wants the job and i think this issue has been oversimplified. if larry is picked, the president will most likely set up u a good cop bad cop scenario because in my opinion, to try to understand this president, you need to understand he is very opinionuated i think just because we have advisers you interact is doesn't mean their job is to their his mind i don't think his mind is going to be changed. how he ends up, i think larry would be the perfect choice. >> one of thothose voices he's listening in mnuchin. here's what

gary cohn is out. president trump's top economic advisor has resigned after losing the battle over tariffs. president trump doubled down on his stance on trade. >> the united states has been taken advantage of by other countries, both friendly and not so friendly, for many, many decades. when we're behind on every single country, trade wars aren't so bad. >> maria: gary cohn's d's depare is taking a toll on markets. the s&p 500 and the nasdaq are down 3/4 of 1% on the news of cohn's resignation. some investors are worried the administration will take a tougher position on trade after markets edged higher yesterday. the s&p 500 and nasdaq posted gains for a third session in a row. take a look at global action this morning. in europe the markets are hovering near the flat line. the dax index just turned positive, up just a fraction. in asia overnight, declines across the board, worse t performers, hang seng index down better than 1%. the justic just justice departmg the immigration fight to california. a

gary cohn is leaving the white house. his departure comes as the president plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. take a listen to what cohn told us in november >> it is my plan to stay and work as long as i help the president drive his economic agenda a year ago today i didn't think i would be here. for me to tell you where i am going to be four years from now -- i have no idea. >> last summer when we talked to him, he called it a dream job. >> i don't care for long time. he got the president's tax form through and he did a fantastic job. this is obviously an issue of china or something that our country is divided on. do you want a lot of business done with china. well, the quick info. is you got to accept the fact that they targeted certain industries and that's the way the bull bounces. that's been the policy i say unfortunately because it is good to have the discussion of what the policy really is we sacrifice some in order for us to do well. i think gary cohn did not want to sacrifice the broader trad

and gary cohn, there's not nearly as much of him going forward. his resignation as white house chief economic adviser a reason that stocks on the skids today, down 188 points. that's in the u.s. they've been down around the world as well. as for chaos, well, how's the fact that an adult film actress filed a lawsuit against the president and conflict. sources tell cnn the president is okay with his staff kelly being trashed in public. no complaint from the president. abby phillip at the white house this morning. let's talk with the -- start with the most recent departure cohn on the way out. >> reporter: that's right the stock market is nervous and business community is also nervous over gary cohn's depart. one of the reasons is because of the policy reasons behind it. gary cohn and president trump clashed over this issue of tariffs. the steel and aluminum teariffs he opposed it, the president supported it. ultimately that was the last straw sources tell us. but cohn's departure is one of many white house advisers who left the building in the last

and steve, our secretary mnuchin and gary cohn put together, and the president signed got through the congress, is going to lead to an acceleration of growth and prosperity for the u.s i think you've got to step back and look at the macros here of the economic dashboard hasn't looked this good in a decade i think the market should take a pause here, reflect on what i'm seeing, on what a macro analysis would be in this situation and i predict you know, further growth ahead >> let me ask you, anthony, what you think the it's like inside t the white house as we speak amid some reports and people use the words, chaos, which yesterday, the president shot back against. but he did say and i quote, i like conflict. i like having two people with two points of view i like watchingit. i like seeing it i'm wondering if you think some of that is getting in the way of the president's process? >> well, again, you have to look at the result. so you know, i mean, the just step back. whatever some people don't like about the style or some people don't like about some of the rougher edges of the convers

gary cohn or not, president trump will do what he wants. almost doesn't matter who replaces cohn. >> i think it matters a bit. i would rather see a good, strong person there, someone with sound views that could coordinate, but yeah i think in any white house it doesn't matter a massive amount because the president makes the decision in this white house it may matter even less because it is the president who makes decisions impulsively. he pulled ut out of the transatlantic partnership which was a great deal he restricted immigration which is just about the worst thing you can do for economic growth, and then this. there's a consistent pattern of hurting economic growth in the name of nationalism and it has gone back to his first week in office. >> stocks would not ratify that notion, jason. at least what stocks have done since withdrawal of tpp. >> u.s. stock market has gone up less than global stock market has. we have seen a global rebound. not saying any of this will destroy the economy and cut our growth rate in half and plunge us into

any word on who replaces gary cohn or, for that matter, hope hicks? >> those are the big questions here now. there is a small list of potential people for the next economic adviser. most are from the economic world. most names are not household or familiar names. the big question or concern, brooke, is how many top level executives, how many sort of grade a talent, if you will, are going to want to come and work in this white house? we heard anecdotal references. gary cohn was a democrat. a lot of reasons people inside were not happy with him. steve bannon for one. you heard the number two republican in the senate praising him because gary cohn was one of the top people who essentially was a bridge here at the white house to capitol hill be it tax reform and other matters. it is something that is being -- the question is who wants to come in and work on this? senator chuck schumer, the top democrat in the senate, had this to say about the staffing holes, if you will, here at the white house. let's watch. >> one of the problems here is the white house

that's what made gary cohn leave. he said he only wanted to be in a year at some point in the past. >> but the way, i think most of the important thing we can talk about this white house this morning is the question of core competence. do they know what they are doing? that is what is raised by, you know, chaos in the white house is about core competence. >> according to brookings, 43% in this white house. the closest before that was ronald reagan at 17%. >> not the kind of winning he wanted to do, winning that record. >> no. here's the list. generally people -- you know, when the president says everybody wants to work in the white house. i have the pick of the litter. people do want to work in the white house, for sure. but everyone knows it is an occupational hazard going into the white house. >> there is turnover. the typical tenure is just over two years. this is stunning. the president saying i love chaos. i got the quick of tpick of theu said, some people just want to say they have worked in the white house. by