president trump unleashed on his own. his inner circle shrinking. jared kushner under fire. >> i think he's been treated unfairly. >> privately trump is questioning kushner's role. did he mix his family work with foreign business. was hi he vulnerable to foreign blackmail? is all the chaos crippling the presidency? questions for reince priebus and the ally he chose to run his transition, chris christie. plus -- >> take the guns first. go through due process second. >> the president surprises democrats by backing their calls for sweeping gun legislation before backing down. then he defies his top economic advisers with a surprise announcement on trade. >> what's been allowed to go on for decades is disgraceful.

it's disgraceful. >> was that the first strike in trade war? will you pay the price? is the president's am bif lens burying gun control again? we cover it all with wilbur ross, democrat senator chris murphy and the power house roundtable. we'll break down the politics, smoke out the spin. the facts that matter this week. break down the politics, smoke out the spin. the facts that matter this good morning. hope you had a good week. in case you lost track, here are a few things that happened at the white house. the president's closest personal aid resigned one day after she told the house intelligence committee that working for the president required her to tell lies. hope hicks was the fourth communications director, the 25th top official to leave since inauguration day. the president's son-in-law stripped of his top secret security clearance amid reports about his cell -- vulnerability

to foreign relationships and reports his family business received half a billion dollars worth of loans from people he met in the white house. an unprecedented public war. jeff sessions fought back defying and enraging trump by vowing to run the justice department with quote integrity and and honor. after the u.s. intelligence agencies reached the unanimous verdict that russia interfered. any other time with any other white house, any one of these stories would trigger nonstop coverage, full scale scandal watch. i didn't even include guns and trade. it almost makes you feel sorry for chief of staff john kelly. >> the last thing i wanted to do was walk away from one of the

great honors of my life being secretary of homeland security. i did something wrong and god punished me. >> let's bring in reince priebus and chris christie. reince, let me begin with you. pure madness is the quote. some of the quotes in the piece dark days inn side the white house as trump shocks and rages. moral is the worst it's ever been. do you think john kelly knew what he was getting into and how does he fix things now? >> well, i think he did. i also think that people understand that you can't look at the distractions. i think what the staff has to do is focus in on the results. i think what the president does -- he writes about it in his own books. he puts rivals around him intellectually like wilbur ross

and gary cohn. he puts those two guys in front of him and says, okay, he said fight out tariffs in front of me. they fight it out. the media covers the fight. then the decision is made. look at the president's decisions which i try and have the people focus on. look at the economy. like at isis. look at the courts. the things president trump has done have put him on a great course. if you're a republican, you couldn't be happier. the drama is there. that's how the president makes decisions. that process, while different, has gotten to good results. that's what people need to do. >> chris christie is the drama taking over? >> from the beginning staff failures to the president have exacerbated the problem. the president, the tweeting and other things he does makes him popular.

it made him win, but also created some down sides. the rob porter situation was not a situation the president created. that has led to all the things we've seen this month. >> security clearances taken away. >> yeah. the fact that was not handled correctly from the beginning, the fact you had all these people on interim clearances created a lot of these problems. it's nice to say the president creates drama and we have to look away from that. i agree with reince on the issues of the courts and the tax cut. the problem is the president has been ill served by staff over the period of the last 15 months where they create the distractions through their infighting and leaking. >> the leaking has continued. reince, the security clearances, you were chief of staff. we're learning this week, not only jared kushner, but 30 white house officials losing their security clearance. how did this go on for so long and how did it get by you? >> well, first of all, george, when the first group comes in,

it takes time to get the security clearances through. by an example, i was the first package to go through to the fbi and the doj. i got my temporary clearance at the end of the december. i didn't get my clearance until the end of april. i haven't missed a mortgage payment. i've had one wife for 19 years. these things take time. by the time i left, which was the end of july, it hadn't yet risen to the level it has today. >> you knew there were problems with rob porter's security clearance? >> none, none at all. as i understand there's some kind of agreement between the white house and doj as to how and when staff is informed of particular issues that particular employees are being faced with. that is something that by the time i left hadn't reached me from the white house security or the white house counsel's office.

look, obviously it was known at some point in january and how it's handled is something that i agree with chris on. how it's handled can reflect poorly on the president. i certainly am not happy at times when i was at the white house that things reflected poorly on the president. certainly leaking against each other is something that's terrible. it's distracting and embarrassing. certainly now i think, you know, when you have leaking against the president, it's something that's fireable. i think he deserves better coverage for the things he's getting done and i just always try to focus people on the results as opposed to the distractions. i do think he's doing a great job. >> this is following most heavily on jared kushner. what a week he had. loses his top secret clearance. series of stories about the meetings with bankers.

his vulnerability to foreign bank bankers. >> this report about one month after his father met with the finance minister of qatar was refused financing jared kushner imposing diplomatic sanctions against qatar. does he have to go? is he still well serving the president? >> the president has to make the decision. it's difficult because it's a family member. this is why -- >> that's part of the problem. >> of course it is. the tich wags is made much worse by the fact when you have family members in the house. there are many of us that counselled the president, not just about jared, not because they weren't competent or qualified. when circumstances come up that the president couldn't have been aware of, in a normal situation you would terminate a staff member. it's more difficult when you're sitting at thanksgiving dinner with that person. for jared and ivanka and the

other family members, i think everyone has to focus on what's best for the president. when i was working on getting him elected, my focus was what's the best thing for the candidate and president elect. everybody on the staff has to get back to that, from general kelly right on down. what's best for the president and the country? i think unfortunately because of all the infighting and leaking they're ill serving this president. people talk about the drama he creates, i would suggest he only creates half the drama that goes on in the white house. the other half is caused by staff killing each other. i've seen stories attacking kellyanne conway who seems to be the only person hanging in with the president and putting his message out there. this is the stuff that's unacceptable. >> how does jared kushner do his job, supposed to be the point person on middle east peace and relations with mexico, yes he

does not having access to top secret briefings? >> i'm not sure, george. there's not a whole lot i disagree with what the governor said. it makes it more complicated with family. everything he said is true. i think jared and ivanka over the course to the last six to eight months have found a place for them that fits in nicely with their portfolio. initially it was more complicated. everyone kind of had access and there was a little bit less of lines of authorities in place. over time they've found a much better place. there's no doubt about it, -- >> george, let me say this. >> it makes it harder to get those things done. >> that may, in fact, be true they've found a better place. we're now talking about things that happened a year and a half ago. this is the problem. it's not what's been happening in the last few months. i think ivanka did a fabulous job on the child care tax credit.

that was part of the tax reform discussions. that's not the point. the point is we're talking about stuff that happened 14, 16, 18 months ago. this happens all the time in administrations. what makes it more complicated is that it involves family. i feel bad for the president. now you're sitting across from have to have hard conversations. it's never easy. >> it sounds like at this point he's telling people he wishes jared would find a way to leave. >> i emphasized i think what the staff has to do is what hope hicks did. i think hope hicks saw between the rob porter situation and other things going on that she was become ago distraction for the president and less of an asset in her mind. she did the noble thing in my view. if i'm not 100% an asset for the president, i'm going to back away. i think she deserves credit and i don't think she's getting a lot of it.

in this kind of scandal driven stuff that's going on. she deserves credit saying this is about the president and country. >> one person not going anywhere is the attorney general jeff sessions. extraordinary back and forth with the president. followed up by the dinner with his top two deputies. you've been involved in the middle of this since last year white house chief of staff. i want to look at an excerpt from the gate keepers where you tried to keep jeff sessions from resigning and the president said don't try to slow me down. get the resignation from jeff sessions. preibus stalled trump. he told the president if i get this resignature nation you're in for a spiral of calamity. what would it mean if jeff sessions resigned right now? >> i agree with that interpretation. i think it is a problem.

i don't think that it would be good for the president, for attorney general sessions to leave. i also think the president made up his mind in regard to how he feels about the recusal. he feels that was the first sin, the original sin. he feels slighted by it. he doesn't like it. he's not going to let it go. when he feels frustrated about the russia probe and all the things he watches on television and he reads about in the paper, he feels slighted. he's a person who doesn't really pull a punch. he said that when he was campaigning. he told the american people what they were going to get. he doesn't pull a punch. for better or worse, that's what you have. >> that's the question now. >> i go back to the results. >> let me stop you there. >> that's what the american people knew and they voted for

him and he's doing a great job. >> he said for better or worse. we've never seen anything like this with a president and attorney general in public. we also now know that special counsel robert mueller is looking at these action. >> the public nature is a bit different. you know in the past there have been frosty relations -- >> they keep it private. >> right. then it leaks out. whether it was between janet reno and president clinton or president nixon and his attorneys general. some of which became public and some didn't. >> caused him a heap of trouble. >> of course. >> we have to look at is the work of the justice department going? is it still happening? i think you see with robert mueller's investigation it's proceeding. he's working hard and producing results. i think you see chris wray making real differences at the fbi and seemingly unmoved by this stuff.

i look at the way chris wray does his job with all this going on. he doesn't even look like he's affected by any of it. that's the leadership we need -- >> you would counsel jeff sessions to stay. >> i would counsel him to stay as long as he thought he was serving the president, the justice department and the country in the best way. as a former chief executive, the president has the right to do what he wants to do. if the president has no confidence in the attorney general, the president has to act. not just criticize, but act. he has the right to do that. as a former chief executive, i wouldn't deprive him of that right. in terms of jeff sessions' decision, he has to decide if i'm effective and am i serving the country well and the people of the department of justice well because it matters. >> chris christie, reince priebus, thank you. we'll dig into the debate on guns. you saw the president seeming to

back democratic proposals. take a look. >> 97% of americans want universal background checks, yet we can't get it done. there's nothing else like that. it works. people want it and we can't do it. >> you have a different president now. you went through a lot of presidents. you didn't get it done. i think you have a different attitude too. people want to get it done. >> we're joined by chris murphy of connecticut. senator murphy, thank you for joining us. it seemed the president was backing you. met with the nra and they came out tweeting no more gun control. your reaction? >> the president has the potential to move mountains. the gun lobby has had veto power over legislation. 97% of americans support background checks. if the president wants to do this, he needs about 10 or 15 republican senators to the

table. i think the president is trying to have it both ways. i think the president knows the mood of the country have shifted that he and his party are going to page a huge price if they don't support universal background checks. the nra was one of his earliest supporters when he was moving towards the nomination in 2016. he's trying to keep them happy as well. his instincts in that meeting were not wrong. if he and the republicans don't start showing movement, there won't be as many republicans available to him in 2019. for his entire agenda and political salvation, that's not good news for him. >> don't you need the president to take the lead? >> he said you guys work it out. work the universal background checks in. as i told him, that can't happen if he's not willing to lead. republicans have been so tied to

the nra unless he tells them they have to move, nothing is going to happen. it's sort of like immigration. there's a meeting where he said he's willing to do a he walks away from the table. from what i can hasn't had any meetings with republicans to push them to an agreement. >> do you have any hope he's going to come back to your point of view on guns? >> i have a feeling he'll continue to bob and weave. what i take confidence in is that the movement he showed in that meeting is reflective of what are at his foundation not terrible instincts. maybe his performance in that meeting is a signal to republicans, if they don't deal on the issue with background checki checks, they'll pay a price. >> let me pick up on this conversation with jared kushner with you. i mentioned with chris christie and reince priebus his story about how his father met with

the qatar finance minister. trying to get financing for their sky scraper in manhattan. did not get the financing. a month later i want to read you this. it was followed by a diplomatic row in which jared kushner led support to qatar's neighbors, a group of middle eastern country with kushner's backingto a dipl qatar. shnefforts of secretary of state rex tillerso what do you make of that report? >> if it's true, jared kushner hato go. we couldn't understand why the trump administration were taking the saudi's side because of the

united states' interests in qatar. at the top of the list are thousands u troops stationed in a base there. to so firmly take the side of the saudis and resulting of a downward spiral of the qatar. economy put thousands of americans at risk. if the reason for this was to n evence you need to make some bi >> let me tell you we'll have wilbur ross coming later. you saw the president's g the formal of steel tariffs a. korea tment this week.re's a t to recognize none t actionslac. i can support some targeted ss e

sanctions against china. at a moment when you've need the chinese to be the heavies on north korea to disabuse them of their nuclear ambitions you're jeopardizing national security interest. the president willing to start a trade war with europe, this is also a gift to russia that loves it when the split. edse targeted sanctions are necessary. you have to do it at the right moment. none of it takes place in a vacuum. >> thanks for your time. >> you bet. >> this year a record number of women are running. how will they change the voting mentality in the age of trump? we're on the ground in texas. the voting mentality in the ageon the gas. it can detect a threat using ai, and respond 60 times faster. it lets you know where your data lives, it keeps your insights from prying eyes, so they're used by no one else but you. it is... the cloud.

the ibm cloud. the cloud that's designed for your data. ai ready. secure to the core. the ibm cloud is the cloud for smarter business. secure to the core. ...what are you doing?? i don't need all this. mucinex fast-max can handle most of my symptoms. name one. how about nine? even... yea - i can read. we're done here. mucinex fast-max cold, flu & sore throat fights 9 symptoms. let's end this.

oscar mayer deli fresh ham has no added nitrates, nitrites or artificial preservatives. now deli fresh flavor is for everyone. like those who like... sweet. those who prefer heat. and those who just love meat. oscar mayer deli fresh. a fresh way to deli. oscar mayer deli fresh. my gums are irritated. i don't have to worry about that, do i? actually, you do. harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line, and if you're not taking care of your gums, you're not taking care of your mouth. so now i use this. crest gum detoxify. introducing new crest gum detoxify... it works below the gum line and is clinically proven to neutralize harmful plaque bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. new gum detoxify, from crest. gums are good. so is my check up! crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. not all fish oil supplements provide the same omega-3 power. megared advanced triple absorption is absorbed three times better. so one softgel has more omega-3 power than three standard fish oil pills. megared advanced triple absorption.

how much money do you think you'll need in retirement? then we found out how many years that money would last them. how long do you think we'll keep -- oooooohhh! you stopped! you're gonna leave me back here at year 9? how did this happen? it turned out, a lot of people of even the average length of retirement. we have to think about not when we expect to live to, but when we could live to. let's plan prential.e that las yo you wouldn't accept from your allergy pills? e rinnasal congestion, your worst symptoms which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one.

flonase. not all fish oil supplements provide the same omega-3 power. megared advanced triple absorption is absorbed three times better. so one softgel has more omega-3 power than three staard fish oil pills. megared advanced triple absorption.

>> the midterm elections officially kick off this week when primary voters in texas head to the polls. this year a record number of women running for office. in texas more than 50 are running for congress. our senior congressional correspondent mary bruce travelled to southwest texas. to meet three of the women challenging the incumbent. >> reporter: in the land of longhorns, cowboy hats and seemingly endless pasture a women's movement is on the rise. judy kanalis is running for congress in texas. >> vote judy. >> reporter: across the country women running in record numbers. more than 400 congressional candidates. that's double the number in 2016. >> i cannot believe our country went into this direction. so we've got to do something

better. >> reporter: she could be the first latina to ever represent texas in washington. she tells us the president's words about mexican americans and immigrants are too painful to ignore. >> how dare he talk about my heritage and my community in that way. >> reporter: she recalls the moment a friend helped her realize it's her time. >> they said to me you said you always wanted to run. i said i did. i thought this is it. i thought i think this is it. i'm going to go for it. i'm going to go for it. here i am. sorry about this. >> it's okay. >> reporter: this district is a political see saw. it's being represented by a republican. in the presidential election it was run by hillary clinton. this is a state the democrats have to win. have to win if they hope to turn texas blue.

>> reporter: a year again gina jones was working for president trump's administration. now she's running against trump's agenda. >> it became hard to be part of an administration that was erasing opportunities. >> erasing the opportunities? >> yes. it can't be surprising the number of women running, the people of color, the people who have the most to lose are running. >> reporter: while democrats hoping a wave of women candidates will create a blue wave come november, there are plenty of republican women running to support president trump. ♪ >> reporter: her beloved longhorns come when called. >> come on, bubba.

>> reporter: she keeps a gun tucked behind every door and her colorful cowboy hat collection on proud display. she feels republicans in congress have not done enough to back the president which is why she's challenging the republican incumbent. >> you get enough people with the passion in their heart, yes, we can shake-up washington. >> do you think it will take more women? >> conservative women yes. >> reporter: these people agree on one thing. the issues range of immigration, education to gun rights. they agree on one thing. do you think washington understands the concerns of voters like you? >> no. >> probably not. >> no. >> without hesitation? >> yes. >> reporter: for "this week" mary bruce abc news. >> power house round table up next and the president's commerce secretary on a brewing trade war.

acronyms are fun. lol laugh out loud, btw by the way, and of course, wbyceiydbo we'll buy your car even if you don't buy ours hey, what if i wanted to sell my car? wbyceiydbo! wbyceiydbo? we'll buy your car even if you don't buy ours wbyceiydbo wbyceiydbo!! wbyceiydbo wbyceiydbo!! wbyceiydbo! wbyceiydbo!!! wbyceiydbo!!! no, no, we're cool. i got you. ok. it's the right thing to do. ♪ carmax music sting this is charlie not coughing because he took delsym. this is charlie not coughing while not to waking zeus. and this is charlie not coughing while getting really into nana's party. nothing lasts longer than delsym for powerful cough relief. ♪ traders -- they're always looking for advantages. the smart ones look to fidelity to find them. we give you research and data-visualization tools to help identify potential opportunities.

so, you can do it this way... or get everything you need to help capture investment ideas and make smarter trading decisions with fidelity for just $4.95 per online u.s. equity trade. fidelity. open an account today. ♪ you or joints. something for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. [coughs] that cough doesn't sound so good. take mucinex dm. i'll text you in 4 hours when your cough returns. one pill lasts 12 hours, so... looks like i'm good all night! why take 4-hour coughmedicine? just one mucinex lasts 12 hours. let's end this. are you reluctant to eat in public because of your denture? try super poligrip® it holds for 12 hours to reduce denture movement, helps provide better bite, seals out 74% more food particles, and enhances your denture fit.

try super poligrip®. ...what are you doing?? i don't need all this. mucinex fast-max can handle most of my symptoms. name one. how about nine? even... yea - i can read. we're done here. mucinex fast-max cold, flu & sore throat fights 9 symptoms. let's end this. >> get the abc news app for all

the latest news and alerts. download it on the break.

not all fish oil supplements provide the same omega-3 power. introducing megared advanced triple absorption it supports your heart, joints, brain, and eyes. and is absorbed by your body three times better. so one megared has more omega-3 power than three standard fish oil pills. megared advanced triple absorption. powerful skincare,s now light-as-air a breakthrough moisturizer whipped for instant absorption feel a light-as-air finish in a flash new olay whips ageless hey ron! they're finally taking down that schwab billboard. oh, not so fast, carl. ♪ oh no. schwab, again? index investing for that low? that's three times less than fidelity... ...and four times less than vanguard. what's next, no minimums?

...no minimums. schwab has lowered the cost of investing again. introducing the lowest cost index funds in the industry with no minimums. i bet they're calling about the schwab news. schwab. a modern approach to wealth management. has been a problem for me. mouth i'm also on a lot of medications that dry my mouth. i just drank tons of water all the time. it was never enough. i wasn't sure i was going to be able to continue singing. i saw my dentist. he suggested biotene. it feels refreshing. my mouth felt more lubricated. i use biotene rinse twice a day and then i use the spray throughout the day. it actually saved my career in a way. biotene really did make a difference. [heartbeat] when this bell rings... ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions,

by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected. that's the power of and. >> we have to take steps to harden our schools so that they're less vulnerable to attack. i really believe you don't know until your tested. i really believe even if i didn't have a weapon and i think most of the people would have done that too. >> for a few minutes on monday that was the biggest news of the week from president trump. it turned out to be a tumultuous week. we'll talk about it with our power house round table. matthew dowd, cecilia vega, megan murphy, van jones and meghan mccain. matt, where to begin? you saw reince priebus, yeah, a

lot of chaos. let's focus on results. hard to do that this week. >> i thought march madness was a basketball tournament. it describes what's been going on for the last week and a half one of the things i didn't understand from reince's comments he said judge by everything that's been done and everything is great. that's what he said. everything is going great. i don't know what metric reince is using for that. one, almost every single country has less confidence in our leadership. two, the president's job approval ratings are at all time lows. three, most of the country thinks we're off track. four, most of the economic gains have gone to the top 5% in the country. i don't know what metric he wants to apply here. this president of all of the time we've talked about this is in incredible turmoil at the white house. i don't see a path out of it. in order for it to change -- it's not changing general kelly and hope hicks leaving and jared

and ivanka leaving, it's all those things and fundamentally about the president. and the president will not change. >> cecelia, that's what you're hearing over at the white house and covering it every day. i can see where that will frustrate the president. people are becoming more open about his mood swings. >> from a trump ally this is not going to end well. that's someone inside the white house. he's becoming increasingly isolated. he's increasingly angry. if we're at the point he's angry with his own son-in-law, we've got a problem. i don't know that i've ever seen it this bad in the white house. that says a lot. we talk about chaos, turmoil. we talk about palace intrigue on a daily basis with this administration. it's really bad right now. the reason it matters is because the president has no loyalists left. hope is gone. his bodyguard is gone. the only person outside of his family inside the west wing from the original campaign core is

his former golf caddy turned social media manager. that's a problem for someone like trump. he needs alleys and people he can trust. >> no one can reign him in. >> and that's a symptom of the tariff policy. if you're a donald trump voter, this is a smack in the face for you. this is going to make your every day goods cost more. it's going to cost manufacturing. we've got about 150,000 workers in the steel industry. we've got 6.5 million other workers dependent on finished steel. this is going to make it less economic advantageous for them. it's likely people will go elsewhere to buy that steel. he did this policy on the hoof. they haven't been able to defend it with any economic sense so far. this is a president who is isolated and doing things even his closest advisers say is wrong. >> meghan, he alienates the

republican leaders in congress who have been backing him when he needed it. >> this is coming off his discussion about the nra and seeming hedge on the second amendment. you want to talk about loyalists leaving. start screwing with the second amendment, the cost of what your beer will cost with your aluminum cost, that will make his base move. going off no loyalists inside it can't be emphasized to have people that really know you. hope hicks from all reports served an emotional purpose as well. for what reason he is surrounded by people that leave the tenant you can never become the story. the principal should always be the story. you have every figure in the white house becoming tabloid fodder. whoever replaces her has to understand it can only be able president trump and the principal. >> how does jared kushner stay?

>> if president obama had one week like this, he would have been in guantanamo. they would have said this guy lost it. he's driving all over the road like a drunk driver and biden is now president. >> you mentioned -- we'll come back to this. the due processing, if president obama said forget about due pro process, take the guns. >> there would be millions of people in the street. >> starting with me. tucker carlson conceded this as well. it would be like a dictatorship. we would be starting president obama the dictator. i 100% echo republicans have to be honest in how we analyze this. >> the president saying we should copy china's dictatorship. >> jesus take the wheel. >> here's what is amazing. you have president trump veering to the left of sanders' people on trade. he veers to the left of any

democrat i've ever heard on guns. >> for a minute. >> for a minute and nobody responds. why? because nobody believes a word he says anyway. everybody knows in 15 seconds it could be different. that is more dangerous than any of the policy positions. you have a president of the united states who literally can say anything and nobody on planet earth believes him. >> i don't know there's anything new in this. we saw the same thing in the daca meeting. my favorite thing in the gun meeting was diane feinstein's body language. as president trump seemed to be giving away the second amendment. consistency is not something president trump needs to govern. it's not something he has stood by as a principle in the past. the bigger issue is are they going to get anything done. republicans have made it very clear, they are waiting for him to take the wheel on guns. he's not going to. >> let's unpack the due process.

let's not allow the nra to wrap themselves in the only constitutional mantle as if they exists. other countries have implemented programs to take back weapon s that are particularly dangerous that have been used in mass shootings and used to kill children. 97% of the country wants background checks. a substantial majority wants tighter gun control. let's not do as we've done so many times by sing the second amendment due process constitutional rights. this is the time, if there's one thing this week, a week of worry, a week of chaos, but a week where children have stepped forward and say enough is enough. things may finally change. this may be the week we remember fo>> as the gun owning texan an

gun totting texans. they're all saying why can't we get this done. the nra doesn't speak for most americans or gun owners. they've drawn a line that says the supreme has never said that. they say you can have reasonable restrictions on this. it all goes back to a president -- i was thinking about this on oscar night. who does this president most remind me of in a movie? the best is charles foster cain from "citizen cain." the way he acts and how isolated he's become. i was thinking maybe we should go down to mar-a-lago and see if there's a sled with rose bud on it. >> i thought you were going to the emoji movie. >> i think we're too old and people aren't getting the reference to "citizen cain." >> get out. >> and the armitage family. >> meantime, you've might agree with this meghan. if the president decided he's not going to follow through on what he said on guns, on universal background checks, it's not going to happen. >> i disagree with you, matt. the nra does speak for me in a lot of ways. i'm a proud nra member.

i think it's confusing when president trump had such huge support from nra members and spoke at the nra convention, all of us thought he was an upper east side liberal. it's like ben sass. it's whoever has his ear last. the sincerity where he stands has always come into question particularly now when you're talking about the second amendment. i'm sorry unlike australia it's not going to evaporate into air. to happen with his base. it's making a lot of people i know -- >> do you believe in universal background checks? >> i do. >> to the nra doesn't speak for you. do you believe bump stocks should be ban. >> i'm not going to -- >> i'm saying -- >> i was offen was treated at the cnn town hall. it makes people like me very

tribal over our guns and the second amendment and things like that. when we're talking about situations where you're saying the no due process -- >> that's the president. >> it makes people like me paranoid. >> no democrat has said that. >> ever. >> yeah, but we have a president doing it who is a republican. that's even worse. >> that's what i'm saying. >> you mentioned our town hall. i want to say those young people are just extraordinary. you've had a year adults acting like children. now the children are acting like adults. they're trying to get something done. you may not like everything they say, but the fact you have young people willing to stand up and call it like it is. i went to high school. the worst thing that happened to me in high school was late homework and bullies. i never had to hide under my desk and drill so i didn't get my brains blown out in my classroom. that's happening in every classroom in america. you have a generation of young people, the police and young

people who are on the frontlines, are saying the same thing. >> they're demonizing legal gun owner. >> mary bruce's piece were accurate. there are two groups highly activated. young people and women. women have filed numbers than they ever filed before. every piece of information we've seen from virginia to new jersey to alabama to all of the special elections, the most enthusiastic motivated people are all against the president and against the gop. we just saw in texas -- we had early voting. for the first time democrats turned out in the democratic primary in higher numbers in texas than the republicans showed up in the republican primary. we are about to face -- it's going to be a wave, the only question is the size of it. the president's ability to accomplish anything is contingent on that and the gop

is putting themselves in a position they're out of step with where the country is. >> it's coming up in november, ahead of november is the mueller investigation. we've seen it intensify. more focus to the question i asked van a while ago, jared kushner. his position in the white house facing all these questions from mueller, how solid is it? how long is he expected to stay? >> the people i've been talking to -- let me back up. there are two camps in the trump administration. there are kushner loyalists and those throwing knives at his back. both sides are calling him a distraction in this white house. a lot of people expect jared kushner to hang on politically for a couple months and find a soft landing a leave. perhaps ivanka will stay.

that's speculation. i don't think anyone knows. president trump is not someone despite his favorite catch phrase you're fired, fires anybody, let alone his own family. i think it's up to jared kushner. >> more explanation that robert mueller is widening his net of foreign money flow into the trump campaign. >> jared kushner the noose is tightening now. we're not just talking about russia in this probe. we're looking at uae. we're looking at saudi arabia. bloomberg has been reporting on this for months. it's difficult to see if they can find him a soft landing. there's every indication the family business, the ties, money laundering, things we know he's been looking at with paul manafort and gates as well. this is going tosh to be number one to watch. looks like jared kushner is front and center. >> jeff sessions still attorney

general by the midterms? >> i'm out of the guessing game. as reince said, i think it would be cataclysmic if he fired him. >> i think he'll stay. what i was really impressed with he actually started sticking up to yourself. you have to work hard to get van jones to feel sympathy for jeff sessions. that's how badly he's been treated by donald trump. >> thank you very much. great round table. the commerce secretary on this trade fight. we're back in 30 seconds. >> people have no idea how badly the commerce secretary on

>> people have no idea how badly our country has been treated by other countries, by people representing us that didn't have a clue. we'll be imposing steel imports and tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. 25% for steel, 10% for aluminum. >> president trump signaling his intention to impose tariffs. formal announcement expected this week. we're joined by commerce secretary wilbur ross. thank you for joining us this morning. >> good to see you. >> will we still see the formal announcement of tariffs this week? >> i believe so. the lawyers are still working

away. sometime this week. >> you've got a lot of allies lobbying for modification. will the president consider exempting any allies like canada, mexico and germy? will this be a blanket i am position of tariffs? >> i know he's had conversations with a number of world leaders. the decision is his. as of the moment, as far as i know, he's talking about a fairly broad brush. >> no exemptions? >> as i say, i have not heard him describe particular exemptions just yet. >> what is the national security threat posed by steel imports from our allies like canada, mexico, south korea, japan? >> under 232 which is the legislation provision under which we're imposing these tariffs national security is very broadly defined. it isn't just military defense. that part is a small percentage of steel. it also includes the impact on the economy over all. it specifically includes the

impact on jobs, includes the impact on infrastructure, all kinds of things that you wouldn't necessarily think are national security. the truth is economic security is national security. >> as you know, europeans vowed to retaliate against harley davidson, bourbon and blue jeans. president trump responded if the eu wants to further increase their massive tariffs, we'll apply a tax on their cars which freely flow into the u.s. they make it impossible to sell our cars. big trade imbalance. it sounds like we're already in a trade war. >> well, think about it. we have unilaterally given away all kinds of concessions since the end of world war ii. in the beginning it was good policy to rebuild europe and rebuild asia after the ravages

of the war. the mistake that our trade negotiators made way back then and continued to make was not time limiting. concessions that were reasonable to make to germany in 1945 or china in 1945 don't make sense any more. those are now very mature, big, strong economies. there's a lot of history that needs undone. >> that sounds like we're in for some more escalation. the president said in a tweet earlier this week the trade wars are good and easy to win. do you believe that? are trade wars good and easy to win? >> i think what the president had in mind was that unlike the holly days in the 1930s, back then the u.s. had a trade surplus and the world was in a depression. now we have a big trade deficit. if we have big trade deficit with our other partners, they have a lot more to lose than we do.

those hundreds of billions of dollars are in their pockets now, not ours. that's what i believe he meant. >> sounds like the president's political allies believe this will hurt their voters. paul ryan warning about unintended consequences. you're seeing electro luks in tennessee put on hold a $250 million investment. we're also seeing reports of it hurting the economy. >> let me give you some actual numbers. the slogans don't mean much until you put them into numbers. on an average car it's $175 worth of steel increase is the maximum that would come from a 25% tariff increase. that's not much. >> that's assuming no more retaliation from the europeans.

>> no. let me continue. similarly all the other products, the total amount of tariffs we're putting on is about $9 billion in a year. that's a fraction of 1% of the economy. the notion that it would destroy a lot of jobs, raise prices, disrupt things is wrong. as to the idea of retaliation, sure, they may well be some sort of retaliation. the amounts that they're talking about are also pretty trivial. some 3 billion odd dollars of goods that this europeans have threatened to put something on. in our size economy, that's a tiny, tiny fraction of 1%. while it might affect an individual producer for a little while, over all it won't be much more than a rounding error. >> sounds like the president is going to go forward and you're committed to going forward. any concern if the president

goes forward his top economic adviser in the white house gary cohn will resign? >> gary cohn has been a pig participant in the enter agency process that came to this conclusion. the president likes to hear every side of every argument. that way he's sure he's gotten all points of view. we've had lively discussion. gary cohn as far as i know is certainly not going to walk out. >> mr. secretary, thanks for your time this morning. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back after ♪ we buy any car ♪ any make, any model, any age, any price ♪ ♪ from 50 bucks to 100 grand ♪ we buy any car ♪ any, any, any, any at webuyanycar.com, the gimmicks stop with our ads. trading in our selling your car is hassle-free with just three easy steps. one, get your free online valuation. two, drive to your local car buying centre. and three, walk out with your check in as little as 30 minutes. so don't wait. get your free online valuation now.

♪ find out how much your car's worth ♪ ♪ at webuyanycar.com >> now we honor our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. in the month of february, one service member died in iraq. ♪ that is all for us today. thanks for sharing your sunday with us. our oscar coverage starts today on abc. jimmy kimmel kicks off the oscars tonight at 8:00 eastern. we'll have a full wrap up tomorrow on "gma."

the best internet comes with the best shows. with the fastest internet available you'll enjoy virtually seamless streaming for only $79.99 per month with a two year agreement, and get one year of netflix on us. and with fios gigabit connection on the 100% fiber-optic network, you can stream on up to 100 devices at once. so get the fastest internet available, plus netflix, plus up to 200 tv channels, plus phone, plus a two-year price guarantee. and it's all yours for just $79.99 per month for two years with a two-year agreement. already have netflix? we'll pay for it. so get one year of netflix on us. and here are 5 more reasons to switch. fios by verizon has won the jd power award for highest ranked by customers for residential internet service in the east, 5 years in a row. so experience netflix on the 100% fiber optic network made for streaming. switch to fios and get one year of netflix on us with a two year agreement.

go to getfios.com to switch today. >> i'm monica malpass. philadelphia's mayor proposes raising property taxes 6%, and the shock waves are immediate. let's get the inside story. ♪ good morning. welcome to "inside story." i'm monica malpass. and let's meet our insiders this week. they are ajay raju, attorney. o have you again, sir. ed turzanski, foreign policy analyst. always nice to see you, ed. david dix, governmental affairs. good morning to you, sir. thank you for joining us. and we welcome a new panelist, liz preate havey. she's an attorney and gop party chair, and welcome. we're so glad to have you as well, liz. >> thanks for having me. >> absolutely. let's talk about mayor kenney's proposal. literally, city council had an immediate reaction. so did pretty much everybody who was listening in a good way or a bad. but his idea was raise taxes --

possibly property taxes -- 6% to dig out the $1 billion school deficit that the school remains