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Quest Means Business
Trump Signs Trade Tariffs into Law; Interview with Joanne Lipman; Interview with Gloria Allred, Lawyer and Star of New Netflix Series. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired March 08, 2018 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir.
TRUMP: Get up here, Mike. Let's take a picture in the Oval Office, okay?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Have a great day. Have a great day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: We're going to stop the transshipping or we're going to let it happen, but they got to pay. So trend shipping frankly is a big deal.
China says it's at 2 percent, but it sends much more. We've got a great relationship up with China, but we have to do something. We're losing with
China $500 billion a year, we have to do something. And then they transship. And we're going to accept their products, but it's going to
cost a lot of money from the standpoint of the transshipment.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: And good evening, everyone. President Trump has made good on his tariff threat, defying trade partners and
members of his own party. Moments ago, the president announced measures that he says are designed to bring fairness to trade and spur American
industry. They included 25 percent tariff on steel import and 10 percent on aluminum. They come into effect in 15 days' time. Canada and Mexico
are exempt as NAFTA negotiations continue.
The White House says that's on national security grounds. Other nations may also get exemptions or modifications. Leaders in China and Europe
promised to retaliate with tariffs of their own even before President Trump made his formal announcement.
The president says today's actions are a result of a nine-month study, but the real impetus came years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The workers who poured themselves into building this great nation were betrayed, but that betrayal is now over. I'm delivering on a promise
I made during the campaign and I've been making it for a good part of my life. If I ever did this, I never really thought I would. I said, "Let's
run for president," and look what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: And let's go live to the White House where CNN's Kaitlan Collins is standing by. Kaitlan, good to see. So, the president is
following through on his promise to implement tariffs with some caveats though and exemptions. Walk us through what we just witnessed.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN JOURNALIST: Yes, certainly, that's right. After a lot of uproar over that, US allies are upset, the president's chief
economist quite over this decision, but yet the president moved forward with his decision to formally announce those tariffs on steel and aluminum
imports here just minutes ago at the White House.
But it's a little bit different than what he had initially announced last week during that hastily arranged meeting when he took some of his own
advisors by surprise by saying he was going announce these tariffs here this week. And we know the president was pushing to get this out even
though the details weren't ready even as of late as this morning, but here, he just signed it.
But he did make a few important comments there. Canada and Mexico will be exempt from these tariffs as they continue to renegotiate NAFTA, certainly
something that caused a lot of concern when the president initially announced this. And his trade advisor Peter Navarro, went on television to
say there would be no exemptions, that the White House is drawing a firm line in the sand here. But the president did say Mexico and Canada will be
exempt and that other allies can petition to be exempt from this as well. So, it does sound like these tariffs will not be as stiff if you would say
as when the president's initial announced them, so, certainly a little bit different there.
But he did bill this as him defending the national security while also following through on one of his campaign promises, which is true. This is
something the president has been talking about for dozens of years long before he ran for office, these kinds of measures, these trade measures and
he followed through on that today against the advice of his advisors here in the White House, many of them and against the advice as well of
Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. But the president was determined to get this tariff signed, and here he did that just now at the White House.
GOLODRYGA: And they're expected to go into effect in 15 days' time. A lot of questions as to why the president is doing that and defying his advisors
and even leaders of his own party, how much does Tuesday's special election in Pennsylvania weight in on the president's decision?
COLLINS: Well, that's what it certainly raised a lot of eyebrows because the president will be travelling to Pennsylvania on Saturday. So some
critics saw it as he was just getting that done before that special election on Tuesday, but the president has maintained this is something
he's long wanted to do.
But it's very fascinating to see how this has unfolded in the West Wing. We've seen Gary Cohn, the president's Chief Economic Advisor
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step down from his high-ranking position here in the West Wing over this decision, while those, like Peter Navarro, someone who was actually once
marginalized in the West Wing win out by convincing the president to go forward with the decision like this. So, it goes to show just how
important to see who is up and who is down in the White House, because that really determines what policy decision the president is going to announce
that week.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, the president holding his cabinet meeting today, the final one for Gary Cohn whom he said he appreciated his service and thought maybe
he would even come back. So we shall all see. Kaitlan Collins, thank you so much for joining us.
And with this move, President Trump has just raised the stakes on NAFTA negotiations. Canada and Mexico are exempt for the new tariffs while trade
talks are ongoing. The President's senior advisor, Jared Kushner, is in Mexico now to discuss security and trade. At the same time, the remaining
signatories in the Trans-Pacific Partnership are moving on without the United States. Eleven nations including Canada and Mexico signed a revised
version of TPP. Chile's foreign minister said that sends a powerful message against protectionism and trade threats.
President Trump withdrew the US from TPP on his first full day in office. And let's get the reaction from Canada and Mexico, CNN's Paula Newton is in
Ottawa, Patrick Oppmann is in Mexico City. Paula, let me begin with you, what is the reaction from Canada? Is there a sigh of relief or is there
still a lot of confusion as to the long-term effects of the president's decision today?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I would say a little bit of both. But I mean, you could imagine Bianna, at this point in time, they didn't think
any of this was fair in the first place. They now feel as if those NAFTA negotiations will go on with a gun to the country's head and that's not,
what they say is a good way to really have a negotiation at all on trade.
Having said that, of course, there is a measure of relief, Canada will keep its powder dry, they have lots of options in order to retaliate. They hope
it doesn't come to that. What it does do is really motivate all parties and focuses the mind on getting NAFTA rolled out there. One thing though
that Canada is well aware of is that Donald Trump, even if it doesn't apply to Canada, has turned the trading world on its head and I think that's
another place where you're going to see Canada try and move things forward. You know, it's not a coincidence that Justin Trudeau was on the phone with
the French President today. Canada is hosting G7 here in June.
You know, it's been a long complaint, Bianna. I mean how long have you and I been covering this, the complaint about Chinese and other dumping, on
things like steel and aluminum for decades literally. At G7 meetings and G20 meetings, they do nothing about it. Perhaps, it might work its way
into the agenda there and they can all get to a point where perhaps Donald Trump can win those political victories, but still hit home that liberal
and open trade is still the way to go for all countries.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, there's no question that the president for years has been discussing trade and the unfairness he believes that we saw in the
relationship with China. I think a lot of people never expected a US president to turn so quickly against US allies and strategic trading
partners.
Patrick, as we mentioned, Jared Kushner is in Mexico right now, something that made headlines because our own US ambassador to Mexico was not there
for the meetings. Talk about how different of a situation that is, how unusual, especially given what we heard today about tariffs for now being
put on hold, Mexico given an exemption since the negotiations are continuing with regards to NAFTA?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna I'm sure people here took note to President Trump's saying that it's a temporary hold. So as
Paula was saying, this is a really a case of carrot and stick, they are in the middle of these NAFTA negotiations and the pressure is up, particularly
for Mexico because President Trump likes to bring a discussion of a wall and of course his notion that Mexico is going to pay for this multi-billion
dollar wall and, you know, NAFTA really can't go forward until Mexico agrees to that.
So Jared Kushner was here yesterday on a lightning tour. He met with Mexico's foreign minister and Mexico's president. Many Mexicans felt that
was strange because he's not a high ranking official at the White House. Usually a presidential meeting would be reserved for a president of course
or a secretary of state for the US, but obviously Jared Kushner came here yesterday with a message and probably with some of the details that were
announced, today we saw Jared Kushner at the White House. He's no longer in Mexico just moments ago with Ivanka Trump, so he is doing some shuttle
diplomacy and it is badly needed because talks to bring Henrique Pena Nieto the Mexican President to Washington broke down over discussion of who was
going to pay for the wall.
So, he and President Trump, as far as we know have not talked since this very heated call they had last month, but it is becoming a political issue
here in Mexico. It's also an election year here and Mexicans are wondering how this is going to affect their economy. The US is Mexico's largest
trading partner, so were there to be tariffs, were there to be something of a trade war, that would be disastrous for the Mexican economy, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Specifically, as you mentioned given the election is just months away in July. Thank you, Patrick Oppmann and Paula Newton for
joining us, thank you.
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Well, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi says Donald Trump's decision on tariffs risks hurting the global economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIO DRAGHI, EUROPEN CENTRAL BANK PRESIDENT: We are convinced that disputes should be discussed and resolved in a multilateral framework.
That unilateral decisions are dangerous. And also there is a certain -- there is a certain, say, worry or concern about the state of international
relations, because if you put tariffs to against what are your allies, one wonders who the enemies are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Meanwhile, speaking to CNN, the Siemens CEO, Joe Kaeser warned against creating any uncertainty about free trade.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE KAESER, SIEMENS CEO: The fact that we look into the United States, into Europe, into Southeast Asia, all the countries grow, so the last thing
you want to do is how to create uncertainty and some sort of disturbing messages about free and global trade. That could actually hamper global
growth and global economy and that's not good for jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Stocks in Europe finished higher, markets closed before the White House provided any clarity on what new US tariffs would look like.
And as Washington teased its tariffs, Wall Street couldn't make up its mind for most of the day. Things got volatile for the Dow in about 3:25 PM in
New York, just as the cameras at the White House went live.
Paul La Monica is here with more. You've been following the markets, we all have. We've, for years, been talking about how the markets hate
uncertainty. You can't imagine a more uncertain time and yet we've seen the markets actually come back at the end of the day. Why?
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think giving a little bit more clarity even though much of the news from President Trump regarding the
tariffs was expected, I think people are probably looking ahead. As big as this news, we've got the jobs reports coming tomorrow and that's something
that investors are going to be paying very close attention. Because remember, the market volatility we've had this year really started with
last month's jobs report being much better than expected, sparking inflation for years and concerns that the Fed is going to have to raise
rates more aggressively.
GOLODRYGA: So earlier in the weeks which seems like decades ago now, when we first heard that Gary Cohn would be stepping down, we saw this was after
the markets closed, we saw that futures dropped drastically and the markets opened lower the next morning as well. But that was it. We've seen much
larger sell offs just this year alone.
Why was there such a tepid into put into perspective market reaction to this news?
LA MONICA: Yeah. Things have stabilized. I think some people are surprised because Gary Cohn was seen as one of the last of the pragmatists
if you will that might be able to convince President Trump to do things that could be in the best interest of the stock market and even the economy
and American workers.
But I think maybe investors are just coming to grips with the fact that President Trump is unpredictable inherently by his nature, so can you
really be surprised that this is happening? And, you know, there have been rumors about Cohn not really being in tune with the president for some time
now going back to Charlottesville, so I don't think it's a huge shock that Gary Cohn decided he's had enough.
GOLODRYGA: He was reportedly, had already written his resignation letter then right after Charlottesville. So you're saying, at least temporarily,
in the short term, investors are more focused on the jobs report tomorrow than this announcement?
LA MONICA: Yeah, I think earnings have been very, very strong as well. That's so to speak Trump's trump and then the jobs report. If we wind up
having a good jobs report, but maybe the wage growth number comes down a little bit and you don't have inflation worries and concerns that, you
know, new Fed Chair Powell is going to have to raise rates four times this year, that could make investors pretty happy.
GOLODRYGA: Well I'm glad you're here to break it all down for us because it certainly is confusing.
LA MONICA: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: We're great to have you on. Thank you. Well, President Trump linked tariffs and national security. He called out specific countries who
he says are not paying their dues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:16:03]
GOLODRYGA: As President Trump prepared to impose tariffs, he once again linked trade policy with military policy. The president warned countries
that don't meet NATO funding targets won't be exempt from tariffs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have some friends and some enemies where we have been tremendously taken advantage of over the years on trade and our military.
If you look at the NATO, where Germany pays 1 percent and we're paying 4.2 percent of a much bigger GDP, it's not fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Most NATO members spend less than 2 percent of their economic output on defense. That's the NATO target. Only the countries in blue put
in more -- Estonia, Greece, Poland, Romania, and the U.S. and the U.K. That's based on the latest figures from NATO.
Our next guest is an author and the first-ever Chief Content Officer at Gannett, the publishing giant behind national newspapers like USA Today.
My friend Joanne Lipman joins me now. Happy International Women's Day.
JOANNE LIPMAN, AUTHOR, CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER OF GANNETT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF USA TODAY NETWORK: And to you too.
GOLODRYGA: We couldn't imagine a better day to talk about your book, That's What She Said, right? And you and I have discussed this book before
in depth and I want to tell our viewers here internationally more about this book, because you point out the significance of bringing men into the
conversation, stating that men, in fact, were some of your biggest mentors throughout your career.
LIPMAN: That's right. That's right. And the reason I wrote That's What She Said which right away in the U.K. goes under the title Win Win. But
the reason that I wrote the book in the first place is because women talk amongst ourselves all the time about the issues that we face at work.
Things like being marginalized, being interrupted, being overlooked, not paid as much, not respected as much. There's really a respect gap. But we
talk amongst ourselves, but what we haven't done is talk to men.
And my feeling is that women amongst talking each other is half a conversation that leads at best to half a solution.
GOLODRYGA: And this is an issue that affects women across the boardrooms around the world, right? I mean you hear about the president saying that we
are being treated unfairly as a country. Women have been saying that for years obviously in corporate America. I am curious to get your take on the
president's decision with regards to tariffs.
There has been a lot of concern or uncertainty about whether or not he would or wouldn't do it. What is the long-term impact in your view?
LIPMAN: Well, we have yet to see what the long-term impact is. I mean I think that we've seen him change his mind frequently. And I also think,
look, being International Women's Day, I think a lot of his -- we have to look at the leadership of our country and where women stand in the country
and also in the White House.
I mean, that's something that actually I have been looking at recently. The most recent figure is something like two-thirds of the staffers in the
Trump White House are men. And that has an impact on decision-making.
The leadership, when you have an overwhelmingly male leadership, you make different decisions than you do when you have mixed leadership. And
frankly, all of the research shows us that when you have a more diverse leadership, you have more success economically.
GOLODRYGA: And the president really is able to hone in and I think successfully put in sort of an understandable bumper sticker type format in
saying things like we've been treated unfairly. You are somebody who wrote a book about women who for years have been saying we're treated
unfairly.
Does that work? I mean, I am lumping together two different issues, but when the president says that, when he is selling new tariffs, does it work
for the average American to hear, they can understand we're not being treated fairly, rightly or wrongly so?
LIPMAN: Yes. You raised a good point about the fairness issue, but as I argue in That's What She Said, frankly the fairness issue only goes so far,
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because what we really need is we need action and we need results.
And we need to show that there's results from fairness. And so, for example, in the workplace or frankly in any organizations, the research
tells us that you will be more successful with diversity.
I interviewed hundreds of people for That's What She Said. I crisscrossed the country and the globe seeking out primarily men who are trying to close
the gender gap. And I've got to tell you that while yes, they talked about fairness as an issue, all of them cited one single reason why they were
championing diversity and it was -- it's a business imperative. It's an economic imperative, right?
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
LIPMAN: These are not men who are necessarily out there marching in the women's marches with pussy hats on.
GOLODRYGA: Right.
LIPMAN: These are men who are saying, "I have a business problem. I need to solve it. And the way we know how to solve it is with diverse
workforces."
GOLODRYGA: Yes. It makes economic sense, hitting a bottom line in our own Clare Sebastian took a look at how employers are finding themselves under
increased scrutiny in the #MeToo era.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA JOHNSON, U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES IN NASSAU: Let me just tell you what we mean by touching.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CORRESPONDENT FOR CNN INTERNATIONAL: After 18 years training corporate employees to avoid sexual harassment, Lisa Johnson has
pretty much heard it all.
JOHNSON: I once had a group, the very first thing that they said was stalking.
SEBASTIAN: Recently though, she felt she needed to add a new slide to her program.
JOHNSON: What do all these people have in common besides staying out of work?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Power.
JOHNSON: Say that again?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have power.
JOHNSON: They are in the position of power.
SEBASTIAN: For OperationsInc, a Connecticut based HR consultancy that specializes in this kind of training --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they're from all over the place.
SEBASTIAN: News stories about harassment always make an impact. The CEO even keeps a file of clippings, but he's never seen demand quite like the
last six months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The volume is just off the charts, we're at probably four times the number of leads we were getting in early 2017. There's a
real sense of urgency. They're asking us how we train. They didn't do that before.
SEBASTIAN: In the wake of high profile sexual harassment allegations experts say workplace behavior has taken on new significant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm hearing from a lot of clients, questions like we have a strong policy already. We have what we believe is a viable
complaint procedure. Are there any changes that you would recommend to make what is strong even stronger? Some don't realize that sexual
harassment is broadly defined.
It doesn't include only conduct of a sexual nature. It include conduct that is demeaning with regards to gender, female or male.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Karen (INAUDIBLE) as she approached him as (INAUDIBLE).
SEBASTIAN: After two and a half hours, this class of middle managers who volunteered to do their training on camera are learning where to draw that
line.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It borders on harassment.
SEBASTIAN: The skeptic would still say you can't change a workplace in two and a half hours or can you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with the skeptic. If you send somebody here for two and a half hours, it's not a magic wand. We need to go ahead and
take a closer look at what's driving that type of behavior.
SEBASTIAN: Well, some of America's biggest companies are also taking a closer look. We asked the top 30 companies on the Fortune 500 if they had
changed or reviewed their sexual harassment policies since the #MeToo movement went viral.
Almost half provided comment. Several including Boeing and General Electric told us they issued companywide emails reminding employees of
their policies on sexual harassment and discrimination.
Ford even told us they now play a video on sexual harassment on a constant loop in their manufacturing plants. And Home Depot has said they are
reviewing their policies on the full spectrum of respect. The company telling me we are not resting on our laurels.
Clare Sebastian, CNN Money, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: So Joanne, you are watching that video with interest. What's your takeaway from what you just saw?
LIPMAN: So the most important thing to understand here, what they were showing was this unconscious bias training. So unconscious bias, for those
who aren't aware of it, is these biases that we all have that are deep inside of us, so deeply buried that we don't even know they exist.
And they do have an outsized impact on the workforce. This is the reason why women, for example, are 15 percent less likely to be promoted at every
level than men are. But here is the core issue. Just unconscious bias training, any sort of training for two and a half hours is not going to fix
the problem. What we need is for the organization, the head of the organization whether we're talking about the chief executive officer in a
corporation and the chief financial officer in a corporation.
They need to own this because if they don't own it and if they don't own it, if it fails, right, they've got to realize this is their responsibility
because if you don't, you'll never change the culture.
And by the way, this goes for the government as well, for our government and for any other government.
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You're not going to change the culture, we're not going to see equality in the workplace or elsewhere unless you have a leadership that embodies that,
that believes it and that owns it.
GOLODRYGA: We can't just be relied -- upon the HR Department. Right.
LIPMAN: And it cannot be just checking the box. It cannot be outsourced.
GOLODRYGA: Even a video looping throughout a factory.
LIPMAN: No, you've got -- it really got to come from the leadership.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Joanne, thank you so much for coming on. It's a great book. I encourage everyone to read it. Bye.
Thank you.
LIPMAN: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
GOLODRYGA: While Donald Trump says he is fulfilling a campaign promise of new tariffs, Robert Reich says he is more likely to harm workers who depend
on aluminum and steel. The former U.S. Labor Secretary joins me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYG: Hello, I'm Bianna Golodryga. Coming up in the next half hour of Quest Means Business, the legendary attorney Gloria Allred joins me live
from life from Los Angeles as the world marks International Women's Day. And as Donald Trump confirms sweeping tariffs, I'll speak to the short
seller who says 'It's high time that the world cracked down on China." But first, these are the top headlines on CNN this hour.
Just moments ago, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was defending America's national security as he formally announced new tariffs on steel
and aluminum imports. Mr. Trump said the action was aimed at protecting the slumping industries in the U.S. But he said, he is exempting Canadian
and Mexican metals at least for now.
The trial has begun for a Danish inventor accused in the grisly killing of a Swedish journalist who was interviewing him. Prosecutors say Peter Madsen
murdered Kim Wall aboard his submarine, dismembering her body and dumped her remains in the sea. Madsen pleaded not guilty and claimed Wall died
accidentally.
The British homr secretary says the U.K. will act without hesitation once the facts are clear about the poisoning of a former Russian spy. Police
say 21 people have now been treated for exposure to a nerve agent including Sergei Skripal and his daughter. Skripal and his daughter are still in the
hospital along with one other officer.
Prince Harry and fiancee Meghan Markle celebrated International Women's Day by encouraging female students. They attended an event in Birmingham
hosted by the Stemettes. They work to inspire women to pursue carriers in science, technology, engineering and math.
Well, a few moments ago, in response to Donald Trump's new tariffs, Republican
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House Speaker Paul Ryan says he disagrees with the move and fears its unintended consequences. Robert Reich is a former U.S. Labor Secretary
serving under Bill Clinton. He joins us from Berkeley, California.
Mr. Reich, thank you so much for joining us. Let me get your reaction. You heard what Paul Ryan said. You juxtapose that with what President
Trump has been saying, that this will get the U.S. back to winning. Can we win with these new tariffs?
ROBERT REICH, FORMER U.S. LABOR SECRETARY: No, we can't, Bianna. These new tariffs not only run a very high risk of creating a trade war as other
nations whom we trade with retaliate by putting tariffs on our exports, but also they're going to make every industry in the United States that depends
on aluminum and steel less competitive because they have to pay more for the aluminum and steel they use than their international competitors have
to pay for the aluminum and steel they use. And so, it has a multiplier effect that does not help, in fact, in many respects hurts American
workers.
GOLODRYGA: And so, make sense of this for us if you can because if the president is justifying these tariffs as a form of national security, how
can he possibly exempt certain nations then, in particular Mexico and Canada and maybe even some countries in Europe?
REICH: Well, I don't know what it means in terms of national security in his head, because our European allies that export to us some metal and a
little bit of aluminum, they are not national security threats to us. And until today when he decided to exempt Canada, Canada is the number one
trading partner to the United States. It actually exports to us more steel and aluminum than any other country and Canada is hardly a national
security threat to the United States.
So, I'm not even sure what the president means. And taken to its logical extreme, if you look at all of the potential products, goods and even
services that our military depends on, many of which come from abroad, you could under the national security rationale, I suppose, decide that huge
amounts of goods and services were not going to be permitted to come into the United States or that they were going to just be slapped with a 25
percent tariff. This is a slippery slope. It's a very dangerous slippery slope.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. It's interesting that the president says this is for national security reasons yet now we know his own Defense Secretary had
been against this move as well. But the larger theme keeps coming back to China, and the president for years, even today he said long before he was a
politician he kept calling out on China for taking advantage of the U.S. What if any impact will these tariffs have on China?
REICH: I don't think they'll have much of an impact certainly on the issues that the United States has a legitimate reason for worrying about
with regard to China and that has to do with dumping in the United States goods less than their cost of production. And also, copyright
infringements, that is, stealing American copyrights in China.
Those two issues are legitimate sources of concern. There may be a little bit of concern still with regard of manipulation of currency, not much, but
these are specific issues, they have nothing whatever to do with steel and aluminum imports or tariffs on steel and aluminum. They don't even deal
indirectly with the core issues that we have with China.
GOLODRYGA: I feel like I'm having you on to explain a lot for us, so apologies in advance. But you hear the president now offering exemptions
to certain countries, just a few days ago his top advisor on the issue, Peter Navarro, said that this can only be implemented properly without any
exemptions. So, going forward, are you more concerned with the exemptions or are you more concerned that there's more uncertainty now?
REICH: Well, I'd be relieved if the exemptions covered every nation in the world, so that effectively there would be no tariff. But by picking and
choosing, I'm worried that the president runs the risk of not only antagonizing our allies, creating, therefore, a national security problem
for us larger than we have already, but also looking as if there is no due process, there is no consideration. It is all kind of at the whim of the
president.
This is a nation of laws, not people, not presidents. Presidents are not supposed to be making laws up simply out of arbitrary concerns. There are
so many conflicts of interest,
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financial interest in this White House that I worry that the American public and publics in other countries can't be entirely sure what criteria
the president is using with regard to these exemptions, and indeed whether he might be using criteria that have more to do with his own financial
interests than with the interest of the United States.
GOLODRYGA: You mentioned laws, this will no doubt go up before the WTO and have them weigh in obviously could an uncharted territory if the
administration chooses to ignore what we hear from them as well.
So, again, thank you for helping us trying to unpack a lot here, Bob Reich, we appreciate it.
REICH: Thank you, Bianna.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, Tesla founder, Elon Musk, hasn't exactly seen eye to eye with Donald Trump on many issues, but it seems he stands behind
the president's crusade to address the trade imbalance with China. Musk complained about the high import tariffs his cars face in the Chinese
market, tweeting I am against import duties in general but the current rules make things very difficult. It's like competing in an Olympic race
wearing lead shoes. My next guest says he has proof that China has been gaming the global trade system.
Carson Block is the founder of Muddy Waters research and he's joining us live.
Carson, thank you so much for joining us. So, tell us what if anything these new tariffs will do to help rectify the imbalance you see with the
U.S. and China.
CARSON BLOCK, FOUNDER, MUDDY WATERS RESEARCH: Well, I'm not here to defend the tariffs. There certainly can be a number of unintended consequences
that flow from these. There is a point though, and that is Chinas has been massively cheating the multilateral trading system.
And thus far, our allies even others in the U.S. besides the president, haven't been that vocal about this. What I've seen up close, my firm, we
did some research in 2015 and we saw that there were billions of dollars in loans made by state-owned Chinese banks to shell companies that were used
to purchase aluminum that largely made its way near or into our borders and this appeared to be a scheme to dump that aluminum in the U.S.
But the interesting thing there is the state-owned banking system that was basically camouflaging these subsidies through purportedly private entities
or private companies. I've also seen being in the capital markets and observing Chinese companies up close that literally in the past decade or
so, hundreds of companies from China listed in the U.S. raised collectively tens of billions of dollars, brought that money back to China and these
companies were complete frauds and effectively almost nobody has gone to prison from China as a result of this. China fostered those conditions.
So, when you look at just these two little snippets and then obviously some of the technology or the copyright issues are well-known, China is
systematically cheating the world in terms of trade.
GOLODRYGA: Well, it reminds me when you mention that, because you look at TPP, right, which was a U.S.-led agreement between 11 other countries
specifically meant to direct that issue, right, and address that issue. The president has taken us out of TPP. Was that a mistake when it comes to
addressing some of the concerns that you've just laid out?
BLOCK: Well, I think when I look at the WTO and I'm less familiar with TPP, the problem is the dispute resolution mechanism in WTO doesn't really
allow for the presentation of the kind of evidence that can be gleaned here if you -- I guess, let me rephrase this.
The problem is that when you have China which controls its banking system and has so many state-owned enterprises in the economy, it's very easy for
China to camouflage these subsidies. And the WTO and I suspect TPP, weren't really set up to deal with an economy like that. It was set up to
deal with much more transparent economies where it's easier to prove this.
So, look, I am definitely not for junking the TPP or the WTO, but I think that we have to recognize that there is a serious flaw in the multilateral
trading system here and that it's not prepared to deal with China with its state-owned enterprises and state-owned banking system. And that's
something that really needs to be addressed.
GOLODRYGA: Especially now with the news that President Xi has modified the country's constitution which would in theory make him or allow him to be
president for life, for many more years if not decades to come.
Carson, we will have you back on to discuss this very important issue. Thank you.
BLOCK: Great. Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: And when we return on International Women's Day, we hear from the fearless attorney Gloria Allred. She has already taken on some of the
biggest names in politics and business and now we'll see her work in a Netflix series
[16:40:13]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Thousands of women are (INAUDIBLE), boycotting domestic tasks and marching on the street. They've been taking part in a global strike on
International Women's Day. It's been happening in several European countries, but mainly Spain. That's where the gender pay gap is nearly a
fifth in the private sector and reports of violence against women are rising.
Around the world, more women have been on the march coming forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior in the workplace, much of that
inspired by the #MeToo movement. Here's how we covered some of the developments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, HOST OF QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Fox is to pay $20 million to settle a sexual harassment suit in a case that brought down the former
chairman of Fox, Roger Ailes. In the last hour, Bill O'Reilly, the number one rated cable news anchor on the Fox news channel, has been fired. The
ousting following years of sexual harassment allegations, that comes two weeks after it was revealed Ian Fox settled complaints brought by several
women who were reportedly paid a total $13 million.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a mother and as a woman, to see the seismic shift in corporate culture for a company to put women's rights ahead of the
bottom line, this is enormous.
QUEST: In the past weeks of just rallying cry #MeToo against sexual harassment has gone viral and it is just simply those two words.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE). Talking about it, I'm thrilled. Legal actions need to be put in place to protect people on film sets.
QUEST: Weinstein's conduct has sparked a global conversation on harassment that affects every industry in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've all worked at offices. We all know what's going on. People, generally speaking, are not so convinced this is so terrible.
We all know it is individually, but the snickering, the jokes, the victim- shaming.
QUEST: U.S. TV anchor Matt Lauer was fired by NBC News late last night after a complaint about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Matt Lauer was the face of The Today Show for 20 years. The show was not thinking about how to replace him, his deal wasn't up for
another year and I think.
QUEST: How much does it cost?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tens of millions of dollars because the show makes hundreds of millions of dollars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Finally, finally through some conglomeration of social media, more women around, finally it is being taken seriously and
not a wink-wink nod-nod.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Gloria Allred is one of the best known women's rights attorneys in the business. She now stars in a documentary on Netflix "Seeing
Allred." And she's joining me now from Los Angeles.
[16:45:00]
Gloria, great to have you back on in your Allred red jacket. On this International Women's Day, let me ask you. Given your span in your career
covering and defending women and their rights, are you more optimistic today than you were let's say 5, 10 years ago or not?
GLORIA ALLRED, LAWYER: I am, Bianna, but I am also cautiously optimistic. I do call this the year of empowerment of women and I hope that it will be
the age of empowerment of women, because women are shedding their fear, they are refusing to be silenced about the injustices that have been
inflicted on them and they are standing up, they are speaking out, they are reaching out, wanting to know what are my legal rights, can I do something,
what can I do. And I'm informing them of the benefits and the risks of the many choices that they have and I'm just very proud of their courage.
GOLODRYGA: And just as we're hearing about the impact of the Me Too movement across boardrooms, across Hollywood, throughout all landscapes
across the country, you've defended women against some of the most powerful accusers or accused, I should say, in the country in all aspects, now,
however, you're dealing with people at the very top of government. You've defended women who've accused the president of the United States. You've
defended women who've accused those like Roy Moore, who's running for office. Talk about that experience from a legal standpoint, addressing
politicians.
ALLRED: Yes, I have represented women who alleged that they're victims of the rich, the powerful, the famous in the entertainment world, the
political world, the business world, the sports world, the education world, religious world and on and on.
I do have a lawsuit right now pending against President Trump on behalf of Summer Zervos, who is one of the women who bravely spoke out during the
election and alleged sexually inappropriate conduct by then-Donald Trump. He called her and others who had publicly spoken out liars. He said he
would sue them after the election, he didn't. But then we also called on him to retract and acknowledge that what Summer said was true, he did not,
so we filed a lawsuit against him.
We're the only lawsuit against the president that alleges that he defamed one of the women that spoke out. We are awaiting the court's decision at
this time. The president has made a motion to dismiss our case, we've opposed it, and any day now or maybe next month the court can decide
whether we will be permitted to proceed. We think this lawsuit should be decided in a court of law, not by a tweet in the middle of the night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me get your legal opinion on, of course, the scandal of the week, of the past few weeks and that's of a porn star,
Stormy Daniels, suing the president of the United States. We've been hearing rather conflicting responses from the administration in regards to
this payment, in regards to arbitration, lawsuits, what have you. How do you think this resolves or works out?
ALLRED: Well, I have represented literally thousands of women and have done confidential settlements for thousands of women who alleged they are
victims. I, of course, don't represent Ms. Daniels. This case presents many, many interesting legal issues. She, of course, alleges that because
the president didn't sign the agreement that it's not enforceable and she's filed a lawsuit on that.
But, of course, the defense, in other words, whoever is going to be for the defense whether it's President Trump or the corporation with whom she also
entered an agreement, is going to allege that she cannot disavow it at this point because she's received the benefit of the agreement, that is 100,000
was paid to her. But it'll be up to a court to decide whether it's going to be enforceable, voidable, or void at this point.
It's also going to be an interesting issue is who gets to decide. Is it going to be decided in arbitration, in confidential arbitration or is it
going to be decided in Los Angeles County superior court, because the agreement does call for everything to be decided in arbitration. But it
may be that the court will also decide it. If, in fact, there may in fact be in the future a motion to compel arbitration, that is filed in the court
or as a response to her lawsuit. We'll have to see.
GOLODRYGA: Let's end.
ALLRED: So there are issues upon issues in this case.
GOLODRYGA: OK. And let's end quickly on a lighter note because you've influenced so many women in the world with your work.
[16:50:00]
One who's marrying into royalty, Meghan Markle, wrote you a letter when she was 11 years old. She is someone who has been a forward-thinking feminist.
You responded to her letter. Tell us about that exchange.
ALLRED: Right. And then she talked about it at the United Nations when she was a complete surprise to me and actually very thrilling.
She grew up in Southern California, Megan Markle as an 11-year-old apparently she was very upset with a commercial that she saw on television
which appeared to suggest that women should be fighting the grease in pots and pans. And that's of course sexist. What about men fighting the
grease? And by the way, is that the most important battle that we should be fighting as women when we're denied so many other rights?
But in any event she got upset by that especially because apparently some boys in her class said that a woman's place is in the kitchen as a result
of seeing that ad. So she asked her dad and according to reports her dad said, well, write to some powerful women and see if they can help/
So apparently she wrote to Hilary Rodham Clinton and she wrote to me. And I did respond. And she then went on to be able to get that changed and to
get that commercial changed.
GOLODRYGA: Fantastic, Gloria.
ALLRED: So, little girls, if you're watching you are empowered and you can help to win change too just like Megan Markle did.
GOLODRYGA: And I promise you my six-year-old son will never say that his fellow female classmates should be in the kitchen washing dishes all day.
I can tell you that.
ALLRED: Great. And your six-year-old son could fight for women's rights worldwide too.
GOLODRYGA: Exactly, exactly, they're humans right. Gloria, thank you for much for joining us.
Well, President Trump said the workers who built America were betrayed and his tariffs aim to set things straight. It's a preview of the message that
he'll take to the campaign trail this weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Donald Trump's demand for tariffs has spooked markets and caused a rift in his own party, but it will please his base when he visits
Pennsylvania for a campaign rally this weekend.
Dana Bash, CNN's chief political correspondent is here. I'm so thrilled for sitting here on set with us.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's cool to be here with you as well.
GOLODRYGA: I want to say dream come true.
BASH: Me too.
GOLODRYGA: Let me get your response though to the tariffs that the president rolled out today. He was getting a lot of pushback from
Republicans in his own party, many thought up into the last minute he could change his mind. It doesn't seem like he did.
BASH: He didn't. I mean it seems as though he backed down temporarily a little bit on Canada and Mexico. And what is so interesting to me, Bianna,
is that I was talking to somebody who knows him very well today, who reminded me that this not necessarily the subject matter which we can talk
about in a second but just in terms of the approach and the process, the strategy, this is the way he operates.
He goes big, he scares everybody, he asks for what he wants, plus, plus, plus, plus, and then usually sort of
[16:55:00]
works his way back. But he gets people in a position where they think I have to deal with him. And that is his goal here, particularly when it
comes to Canada and Mexico. And I was told it's not an accident that Jared Kushner was in Mexico this week talking to him about trade issues. It's,
you know, kind of hand in glove, making this big deal out of wanting to punish other countries on the issue of trade while Jared is down there
talking to the Mexicans.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, surprisingly without the US Ambassador to Mexico.
BASH: That's a separate issue.
GOLODRYGA: But you see even Paul Ryan playing to your point who of course had been against these tariffs. But up until the past few days has been
saying things like, well, there is an issue we need to address. The president is right to talk about being treated unfairly and maybe we should
just be more strategic, right, about how we address it as opposed to levying tariffs on everybody, all of our trading partners.
Is that a smart play do you think?
BASH: Yes, I mean, look, he understands. I have heard Paul Ryan say that he went to his very first Donald Trump rally which he didn't do until after
he was elected, because they didn't exactly get along. In Wisconsin he didn't recognize anybody there.
He was like I know every Republican in Wisconsin. So he understands the pull of this message even in his own backyard on this message of it's not
fair to us. Having said that, he also has a point that traditionally with something this big a president who does have a lot of power on his own
without Congress reaches out to all of the people who are involved in this. All of the -- the special interests without using it in a pejorative way,
the industry, the Republicans who disagree and tries to maneuver. That's just not how this guy operates.
GOLODRYGA: No.
BASH: He operates with kind of shock and awe.
GOLODRYGA: And losing his top economic advisor over this issue as well.
BASH: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Dana, great to see.
BASH: You to, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Have a wonderful day thank you.
And at Quest Means Business, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
