Dow Tumbles over China Tariffs; Weak March Jobs Report
BLITZER: Traders are hitting the sell button hard this hour in New York after a disappointing March jobs report and threats from President Trump that are stoking fears of a trade war with China. The Dow down 392 points right now. The president, earlier, defending plans to slap China with $100 billion in new tariffs, tweeting, quote, China, which is a great economic power, is considered a developing nation within the World Trade Organization. They therefore get tremendous perks and advantages, especially over the U.S. Does anybody think this is fair? We were badly represented. The World Trade Organization, the WTO, is unfair to U.S. Let's go live to CNN Money editor at large, Richard Quest. He's live on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Richard, if you can, give us a little fact check on the president's tweet, but also tell us what you're seeing and hearing on the floor right now.</s>RICHARD QUEST, CNN MONEY EDITOR AT LARGE: There are so many undercurrents, strands, difficulties concerning this trade story that it beggers (ph) belief. I'll give you just one example, Wolf. You've got that tweet from the president, which was at about 10:30, when the market was trying to rally. That took the market lower. Larry Kudlow, the national economic director, he came out and tried to soothe the markets, saying things -- there would be unlikely to be a trade war and that the negotiations, there was no deadline. And then Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, speaking on another network a few moments ago says, there is a potential of a trade war with China. The U.S. is willing to enter negotiations, doesn't want a trade war, but there's a potential. My point, Wolf, is that, this market, you know very well, they hate uncertainty. And the one thing that has been put on the table yesterday by the president with his $100 billion more and the Chinese saying we'll retaliate, and this morning's tweets is uncertainty. Nobody knows whether this is a negotiating strategy, whether there's a likelihood, a possibility, a remoteness of trade sanction on tariffs.</s>BLITZER: Yes, but it certainly could escalate into a real trade war that could be devastating not just for the U.S. and China but for so many other countries around the world.</s>QUEST: Yes.</s>BLITZER: The global economy could be at risk certainly as well. The March jobs report here in the United States, Richard, also a bit weaker than expected, just over 100,000 new jobs compared to almost 200,000 that were expected. The president's top economic adviser reacting by saying the jobs are, in his words, a little sloppy right now. Walk us through these latest numbers.</s>QUEST: Yes, I'd say ignore them for the moment, 103,000 versus 175,000 expected. When you get that sort of disparity between the expectation and the reality, that usually means some</s>BLITZER: Yes, the unemployment rate remains at 4.1 percent, which is good. Richard Quest, thanks very much for that.</s>QUEST: Thank you.</s>BLITZER: When we come back, standing by his man. The president backs the environmental chief, Scott Pruitt, as he takes even more heat to ties to an influential lobbyist. And sources now telling CNN that senior staff were sidelined or demoed at the EPA after sounding the alarm on Pruitt's pricy travel on the taxpayer's dime.