Fighters in afghanistan, but just like last weeks missile strike on syria, it may be more symbolic than strategic. Neither strike will have a Lasting Impact on those conflicts, but both may reverberate much farther. Will north korea pay a lot of attention to this . And this is as north korea is just a few potentially hours away from a new forbidden nuclear test. It is its confrontational dictator listening . I dont know if this sends a message. It doesnt make any difference if it does or not. North korea is a problem. The problem will be taken care of. I will say this i think china has really been working very hard. Our Barbara Starr begins for us this morning at the pentagon with more. A very significant development, barbara. What can you tell us . Reporter good morning to both of you. As you say, poppy, always worth remembering that military action can only go so far in a world crisis, but this very extraordinary video that were showing of this bomb, this 21,000poundplus bomb being dropped yesterday in a Mountain Valley in afghanistan. This underscores the u. S. Military effort to go after isis in that country. They say the target was an isis complex of tunnels and caves, that they were trying to go after. The top u. S. Commander in afghanistan held a press conference a short time ago, and he underscored the point, it was about his military objectives and not something else. We had persistent surveillance over the area before, during and after the operation, and now we have afghan and u. S. Forces on the site and see no evidence of civilian casualties nor have been theren in any reports of civilian casualties. General mickelson going on, no outside events influencing his thinking. Somewhat pushing back against the notion in his view it was sending a message to north korea. To him it was all about afghanistan. President trump asked yesterday as this unfolded whether he authorized the afghan mission. Listen to what he had to say. Did you authorize it, sir . Everybody knows exactly what happened. So and what i do is i authorize my military. We have the greatest military in the world, and theyve done a job, as usual. So we have given them total authorization, and thats what theyre doing, and frankly, thats why theyve been so successful lately. If you look 59 whats happat wh over the last eight weeks compared to the last eight years, youll see theres a tremendous difference. Reporter hes authorized military commanders. The question hes not answering, of course, whether or not he knew about this mission. Military commanders tend to like to make sure the president of the United States knows whats going on. Back to you. Especially with the mother of all bombs. Barbara starr, thank you with that and our military panel ahead. Joining us with more perspective, afghanistans ambassador to the United States. Ambassador, very nice to have you here, and the commander, general mickelson of u. S. Forces in afghanistan spoke at a press conference in kabul earlier today saying, this was the right weapon against the right target. Tel what youre hearing on the ground in afghanistan in terms of how this is being received and the message that it is sending. The important thing in afghanistan is that there were no civilian casualties. And thats what everyone had been watching out for, and the concern that we, the concerns we had been receiving. The elders, Community Leaders from the area spoke, and and reported that there were none of those casualties, and that daesh complex has been targeted. You know that in the last year, daesh had intensified its attacks against the Afghan People. Attacking a hospital and quite recently, just this week, another sued attack that killed five afghan civilians. I want to ask you, mr. Ambassador, about mohammed karzai, former president who tweet add threepart tweet storm, if you will, that this is brutal and inhumane. He criticized the u. S. For using afghanistan as a testing ground for weaponry. Maybe he has a bone to pick with your current president , but whats your reaction to that criticism . Well, this is not a nuclear or a chemical bomb. The target was a cave complex. And the important thing was to get rid of that cave complex so that daesh has no safe haven in that area. And for us to be able to clear, not just the district where they were currently present, but to make sure that there are no, theyre incapable of launching attacks against afghans anywhere, everywhere. All right. Seems like no comment from you on the criticism from the former president , hamid karzai. Let me get your take on this. General mickelson who led this and all u. S. Forces in afghanistan said this morning as well we will not relent in our mission to fight alongside our afghan comrades in 2017. Do you believe the American People and Afghan People should expect an increase of military action and influence in your country this year . Well, were committed to making sure that we eliminate daesh from afghanistan this year. Did you need the u. S. To do more, to make that half . Im sorry . Do you need the u. S. To do more to make that happen . Should they expect more u. S. Action like this . Well, in operations like this, we do we to do joint operations with the United States military. So, yes. Okay. You do expect more. So does this significantly deter isis in afghanistan . Or is it more of a signal that theyve sent . Well, this cave complex is what had been, what were were fighting against, in the last week. There was an, a joint operation to clear that area from daesh and what had happened in this cave complex was they had mined it quite heavily with ieds, and the important part was to not just eliminate those those ieds and the terrorists but to ensure that their movement and their hideouts are taken out as well. So you it would have a Significant Impact on their activities, in afghanistan. Because, you know, the number we have so far is that 36 isis fighters were killed. Theres between 600 and 800 isis fighters in afghanistan. You believe despite that number this overpressure bomb that can take out these ieds was effective in this fight against isis . Its their hideout, the main target. Where theyre able to launch attacks from and hide, and now they will have to surface, and easier for the Afghan Security forces to track them. Sounds like it may clear a path for u. S. Forces. Ambassador, thank you. Lets turn now to north korea. Ramping up rhetoric this morning saying hours ago that americas gangsterlike logic is pushing tensions to the brink of thermonuclear war. Cnn alexandra field is live with us. Who is saying this on the part of north korea . Reporter look, this has been the response by north korea directly put out by their state news agency and comes as a result of the movement of the u. S. Warships into the waters off the peninsula, a move pyongyang sees as highly provocative. Theyve responded with that statement and gone on to say this created a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment on the peninsula. Nothing more childish and foolish for the u. S. To bring down the social system in the dpa through cooperation with someone. Those words part of the propaganda pyongyang is putting out this week and released images of their leader, kim jongun commanding training exercises for the special forces. All of this in advance of the most important day on the north korea calendar. The day of the sun. The celebration of the founders birth state. Why is it important to the rest of the world . Typically a day in which he does a shows strength to act around this time and want to send a message to the world. The message would be received as we know that the Vice President of the u. S. Mike pence is going to be traveling to the region. He will be arriving in seoul on sunday. He has a meeting set up with the acting president of south korea and on to tokyo, meeting with Prime Minister shinzo abe. The most important topic of conversation on the agenda, how to combat the north Korean Nuclear threat. They will be talking about all of the options that the white house has been looking at, including the military option. Dave, poppy . Sounds a lot, alex, like south korea and china will play ball a lot more in helping against that. Thank you very much from seoul. Joining us to discuss all this and the trump doctrine overseas as it unfolds, our National Security investigation analyst for reuters and a colonel, former aide to general david petraeus. Nice to have you both here. Colonel, talk about the capability of this bomb. It is huge. It is massive. Choose your adjective. It has never been used in combat before even though president george w. Bush and president obama could have used it. What does it effectively do . It creates an overpressure can had collapse a tunnel complex, tunnel complexes, destroy mine fields, and kill troops and destroy vehicles and so forth. You know, had we had this weapon, say, back in 2001 at tora bora or 2002, bin laden might never have escaped into pakistan. So using it here against isis in a very fortified area, remote area along the afghan pakistan border is really an appropriate use for this particular device. But when its called the mother of all bombs, many expect certainly more than 36 casualties in terms of the isis fighters. Colonel, is that a proportional result, or should we expect more . Well, had you gone into this tunnel complex with infantry you would have taken far more casualties. Its not just the enemy destroyed. Its the Friendly Forces saved. You know, an example here is the palgts for iwo jima in which 7,000 marines were killed crunching their way across the island. You know, rooting japanese out of these tunnel complexes with flame throwers and satchel charges. Wouldnt it have been nicer to use these weapons and do it much more quickly . David, the president talked about, you know, this is a president who ran on america first. Right . And yet has taken a number of Different Military action. We just learned this morning, some u. S. Troops, limited number, sent into somalia to combat terrorism here. Heres how the president explained the dramatic difference and stance hes taken on the global stage. Listen. If you look whats happened over the last eight weeks and compare that really to whats happened over the last eight years youll see theres a tremendous difference. A tremendous difference. So we have incredible leaders in the military and we have incredible military, and we are very proud of them, and this was another very, very successful mission. Has the world changed significantly, david, in eight weeks . No. And frankly, theres a difference in syria. You know, President Trump deserves credit for those who supported the strike and response to the chemical weapons attack. Thats different than president obamas approach. In terms of insurgencies in afghanistan or somalia, its a similar tactic. The key i think, and i agree with the colonel, use of the bomb was appropriate in this situation. Are we going to keep our advisers on the Ground Fighting sidebyside with the afghans . You defeat isis with american advisers on the ground. General nicholson called for several for american advisers in afghanistan. Thats the question. Thats how you can win in these conflicts. David, how about terms of authorization . The president given the military, the trust put in his military officers. Is that a positive step . Its a change, and i think it is, but, again, i dont think dropping a certain kind of bomb is going to defeat isis. Ive covered afghanistan. I have met taliban, and theyre eager to die. Theyre not intimidated by this very large bomb. They have a very differ mentality. Again, its going to take, i think, authorizing those troop levels that general nicholson asked for. Afghans leading the fight but americans advising them is the critical tool that u. S. Troops need in iraq and syria and in afghanistan. All right. Quickly before we go, senator lindsey graham, who has been a big proponent of more military action across the region, said in a tweet, i hope americas adversaries are watching and now understand theres a new sheriff in town. Colonel, do they . You know, i think hes right. President trump has given much more leeway to his military commanders to strike, and theyre striking. And i think that does send a message around the world that americas back. Thank you both. Certainly a different philosophy. Thank you both. Thank you. Enjoy the weekend. Still to come, the slow drip, drip, drip of russian intel, and now sources telling cnn the british intercepted communications between Trump Associates and russian officials during the campaign. And bannon, who . Another adviser catching the president s ear. Are we seeing a major shift in who holds the power of influence in the west wing . Also is the white house scrambling to get the easter egg roll, rolling . Scrambling . Cant make this stuff up. Wait until you hear this story. Thats next. Featuring egos patented, 56 the 1 rated,volt,power mower. Arc lithium battery technology, it delivers the cuttingtorque of gas. The ego mowers durable construction makes mowing in difficult conditions easy. The selfpropelled model makes it effortless. And it folds flat in seconds for easy storage. The ego power mower. Exclusively at the home depot and ego authorized dealers. No ones surprised tender pieces and crunchy bites ended up together. Thats just what happens when cats call the shots. Friskies tender and crunchy combo. Tasty textures cats gotta have. Friskies. For cats. By cats. Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® bounty is more absorbent,mom per roll so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty, the quicker picker upper new details this morning about the investigation of then candidate donald Trump Associates and russian officials during the 2016 campaign. Cnn was first to report that u. S. Intelligence picked up conversations between the two sides. Now weve learned that british and other european intelligence agencies did as well, and alerted their u. S. Counterparts. Our justice correspondent pamela brown joins us with details. What do we know about sort of how this happened and what information, what intelligence was actually gathered . We can tell you, poppy, that there were these intercepted communications picked up by british and other european intelligence agencies between Trump Associates and russian officials, and other russian individuals, during the campaign. Then the brits along with other European Countries passed on those communications to their u. S. Counterparts. This is ay cording to u. S. And european sources talking to my partner jim sciutto. Captured during routine surveillance between russians and other russians known to u. S. Intelligence. It happened several times throughout the months of the campaign. Emphasizing that gchq in Great Britain and other intelligence agencies in europe were not procedure actively targeting any members of the trump team or donald trump himself, but rather picked up these communications during whats known as incidental collection. That is, monitoring other officials, in this case these russian officials and during that incidental collection it picked um conversations with the Trump Associates according to sources and now the fbi is using this information passed along as part of its counterintel probe of possibly coordination between russians and Trump Associates. Pamela braugher repoown repo us. Cnn breaking that development. Appreciate it. And bring in our panel. Cnn political analyst and Washington Bureau chief fear the daily beast, and senior eder of the atlantic and politics eder at the root also at morgan state university. Jackie, start with you. Certainly smoke is getting thicker regarding possible collusion between the Trump Campaign and russian officials. Is there any fire yet . I think depends who you talk to, but really this, because of how this investigation has been stirred, this lies primarily with the Senate Intelligence committee. Theyve been looking into this. Theyve been relatively quiet about it to avoid blowing up the investigation, much like happened on the house side. And the more you hear about these, about things like pam ra w pamela was talking about the less good for the trump administration. Anytime were talking about his advisers and the russian government, its not a good look for them. Ron brownstein, to you, my friend. Summing up this week, its been a remarkable week when you look at sort of the reversal of course of this administration on a number of economic policies and a number of words they choose to use to describe china and such. But also on this core principle that the president got elected on, and that is the principle of america first. Take a look at this map, because this is going to show all the countries where we have seen u. S. Military action under this president , in 80odd days. Is this america first, Ron Brownstein . Well, look. We are seeing an incredible amount of change at an unbelievable pace on many fronts. But the pace, first of all on many of the policy issues, on particularly on trade and international aaalliance, away from populist, americafirst themes he ran on towards a more conventions republican outlook on americas look at the world. A pull from away from distinctive notes and back into the fold. Immigration is a big exception. Under attorney general jeff sessions, still motoring what he said on the campaign. I think youre seeing impact of lack of an instfrastructure in e Republican Party. Not much there in congress or think tanks or Interest Groups that want to push in this direction. Its in the other direction, where youve seen the president move. He said during the campaign he was not going to get involved on the ground. He is not going to try to reshape societies but would try to strike from afar from those he viewed, those we view at americas enemies. That is the pattern we are seeing, but the overall tenor is more activist, i agree, than we felt during the campaign. Youre right. Ground troops we have not seen. Said in multiple interviews this week were not going on the ground. The Washington Post writes, editorial board, trump the recent flipflops are something to cautiously celebrate, his evolutions or flipflops moving in a direction that should be applauded . No. No. Look, look, there are lots of attitudes and believes that President Trump has that may or may not be healthy for america. But the way in which he consistently changes his opinions. Sometimes within 24 hours. Whos our enemy. Who isnt. What newspapers are fake, what arent. It makes it a dangerous and volatile world for our enemies. No one knows whether you can trust him for allies or for the Republican Party and congress. They dont know whats coming out of his mouth. Nothing wrong with a president changing his mind but there is without logic and failing to explain it to the people hes got to work with. So the question becomes, who is tipping the balance . Who is influencing . If anyone. It could just be the president. But if it is someone, whos tipping the president this way . There is so much reporting, a fascinating piece on the Washington Post gary cohn, former Goldman Sachs president , by the way donated a lot of money to democrats and republicans. Right . He says in meetings im not a democrat, not a republican. I like to get things done. Jackie, to you. Is this the gary cohn, the rise of gary cohn . In fairness, so did President Trump donate to democrats and republicans before he ran as a republican. Oh, yeah. But you do see the rise of this more moderate traditional republican and democrat stances on everything from chinese currency manipulations this week. He said he would keep the exim bank. He said that on the campaign trail that could be done away with. He said janet yellen would likely stay on. So you are seeing this rise of the jared kushner, gary cohn ideology. Really starting to take hold and become real policy, and at the same time youre seeing steve bannon and the folks around him go under the radar. I had a former trump staffer say to me once that you want to get close to the sun but not fly too close to the sun. And seems like bannon got a little too close. Another contrast emerged yesterday regarding wuk ining its founder, and the new cia chief talked about that. Listen to what mike pompeo said yesterday, swinging for the fences against wikileaks. Now this just came out. This just came out. Wikileaks. I love wikileaks. By the way, did you see another one . Another one came in today. This wikileaks is like a trevor trove. Its time to call out wikileaks for what it really is. A nonstate Hostile Intelligence Service often embedded with state actors like russia. So certainly in stark contrast there, ron. Does this does this contradict what the president said or more again the education of a president . No. I think it simply contradicts what the president said, and unequivocally and directly. The entire arc of this story from the very first wikileaks releases through where we are now with these continuing reports of investigation of possible collusion between the Trump Campaign and the russian sources that were involved in the leaks reminds me so much of what we saw where i live in los angeles. What we saw in the north korean hack of sony. Initially everyone was just, you know, kind of salivating over the salacious details of what wa rees vealed in the internal workings and gradually came to realize the real story was how they got that in the public view in the first place. The magnitude of the threat, leaving aside a question of the immediate political impact on President Trump, the idea that the russian government felt that it could, in fact, penetrate and disrupt the american electoral system because of nothing else, they have spread enormous doubt and clouds over this election, they have similar efforts underway in europe with their elections. This is a genuine new threat that we simply were not prepared for and if you go back to your first story, the British Intelligence are complaining the cia and fbi were very slow to act on the information they provided them. This is a real issue and we saw the president during the campaign kind of welcome it, when, in fact, it should have been a moment of concern for all americans regardless who gained a Tactical Advantage over it. Thank you guys very much. Have a great weekend. Still to come, the United States military might be on full display, but what Lasting Impact will that massive bomb have on afghanistan and the war or terror largely . Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® weve done well in life, with help from our advisor, we made it through many market swings. Sure we could travel, take it easy. But weve never been the type to just sit back. Not when weve got so much more to give when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. Ameriprise man when people ask me for whiter teeth, i always tell them, the thicker the enamel, the more white youre going to have. I would definitely recommend the new pronamel strong and bright to my patients. Pronamel strong and bright toothpaste helps to actually strengthen the enamel. Its going to keep that enamel strong. Its going to keep it white. Patients get what theyre asking for. They want whiter teeth. Theyre going to get it with this. Not only what dentists are looking for in a product, but also what patients are looking for in a product. Not only what dentists are looking for in a product, im ricardo, a sales and Service Consultant here at the xfinity store in bellevue, washington. Here at the store, we offer internet, tv, phone, customer service, home security. Every situation is a little different. It could be about billing, simple questions like changing the phone number. Sometimes, they want to upgrade, downgrade, but at the end of the day, you want to take care of the customer. One of the great things about comcast, theres always room to move up. Of course, it depends on you, how hard you work. This morning, new video of the socalled mother of all bombs slamming into northeastern afghanistan yesterday. The ten ton behemoth is the largest nonnuclear bomb the u. S. Has ever deployed in combat. Afghan Officials Say it killed some 36 isis fighters entrenched in a series of caves and tunnels, and importantly, knocked down a key hiding ground for those terrorists. Cnn Nick Paton Walsh spent a great deal of time in afghanistan and joins us from erbil, iraq. Knowing the enemy and terrain there, the dropping of the largest nonnuclear bomb, will it be effective in deterring isis in afghanistan . Reporter i think it sends a strong message that fire power is certainly used in ways as never before and may show the u. S. Resolve. 16 million is what one of these costs. That is staggering. Lost the cost at 400,000 each to the u. S. Taxpayer. Shows financial resolve, but there have been air strikes, drones, through the past years certainly targeting isis camps. Trying to degrade theyre capabilities there. The question with this bomb, successful destroying the Tunnel Network . The highprofile isis leaders were in that particular area . And take enough of them out potentially to thwart their planning . Very remote, very rugged, aplace frankly the u. S. Struggled to maintain and secure bases over the period of time they were in that part of afghanistan. Isis moved in. Some saying coming across the border from pakistan. Got a foothold in society. Kicked a lot out. That area may not have the had many civilians in it at that stage and lost ground when the afghan army pushed in, but theyve recovered and in kabul, key defense a defense ministries across from the u. S. Embassy. A potent source and thriving with the taliban many fighters feel and to the young, the fact they are sort of a cooler, newer ideology to hang their coat on, but sort of a different kind of isis there. A lot of these, longer term fighter just changing their shirt, basically. Back to you. Nick paton walsh live for us in iraq. Thank you. We have breaking flus. Authorities in wisconsin say they have arrested the man suspected of stealing an arsenal of weapons after mailing a manifesto of grievances to President Trump. According to the county sheriff office, Joseph Jakubowski was taken into custody shortly there 6 00 a. M. At a campsite. Returned to the county for further investigation and charges. Well bring you more updates as they come in. Still to come, the battle for the president s ear. A wall street insider may have the inside track in the west wing. Are we already seeing the results . deep breath phone ringing theyll call back. No one knows your ford better than ford and ford service. Right now, during the big tire event, get a 140 rebate by mail, on four select tires. It delivers a whole mouth clean with a less intense taste. Zero alcohol™. So it has the bad breath germkilling power of this. [rock music] with the lighter feel. Of this. [classical music] for a whole mouth clean with a less intense taste. Ahhh. Try listerine® zero alcohol™. Also try listerine® pocketpaks for fresh breath on the go. Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol®. One of many pieces in my life. So when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my longterm control medicine. I talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. Oncedaily breo prevents asthma symptoms. Breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Breo wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Breo is specifically designed to open up airways to improve breathing for a full 24 hours. Breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. Breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Do not take breo more than prescribed. See your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. Ask your doctor if 24hour breo could be a missing piece for you. Learn more about better breathing at mybreo. Com. The president facing some major tests the past few weeks, and add this one to the list. The White House Easter Egg Roll. Sounds trivial, yes, but this is considered the biggest social event held at 1600 pennsylvania avenue pap tradition for more than 100 years. Heres the problem ishs as of earlier this week many key vendors and schools havent heard a peep about it. Back in midfebruary, the company that manufactures the events eggs tweeted to the first family, fyi, manufacturing deadlines for the easter eggs are near. Please reach out. With this whole event, will it flop . And what does it say about this administration . Joining me to discuss, julie hershfeldt davis. Good morning. Good morning. Was it actually that tweet that reminded the white house theyd forgotten about an event that has gone on more than 100 years . Well, apparently they had been planning and somewhat aware of this event but didnt have a lot of staff in place to actually execute on what is really sort of a beast of an organization, a challenge to get 35,000 people in and out of the white house and doing a lot of different activities and so they had been underway in terms of discussions about the event but hadnt reached out to key vendors like that company that manufacturers those eggs. Like talent that has been there in the past. Costumed characters from sesame street and the like. Toy companies they wanted to work with. They were very late on the uptake in terms of actually setting the goals they needed to achieve before they could actually put this thing on. Many School Districts that genuinely expect tickets hadnt yet heard from the white house as well. This is supposed to be a funhearted event. What does it say if they do in fact, struggle with the event . Like a lot of things with this white house weve seen a lack of staffing, a lack of organization. A lack of understanding of sort of the magnitude of the task. And once they got going, i mean, i think they have ordered the eggs, are going to put on the event. Half as big as it was in previous years. Theres not going to be anywhere near the amount of talent. Theres no alist talent theyre planning to have, but what it shows you is, you know, this is a group that has not done this before. They were very, very slow to get key people in place in the west wing, much less the east wing which is still very understaffed. So, you know, it just shows you what happens when you come in to a challenge like this without any sort of understanding of what its going to take to pull it off, and weve seen that on the policy side. Obviously were seeing it on a a little more of a lighthearted side with the egg roll. Largely a reflection of the staffing. You hear about that with Foreign Policy crises as well, but last we have to ask you about White House Press secretary sean spicer, who dressed up as the easter bunny back in 2008 when working for the bush administration. Considering the week or weeks hes had, might he reprise that role for the White House Easter Egg Roll . Well, it is not clear. He was asked about it at the White House Briefing earlier in the week and did not say. I have to say given everything thats going on with sean right now, i would be surprised if he showed up in an easter bunny suit, but its always a possibility and like i said, there are many fewer people working on this event than in years past and so they could use a volunteer. Right, right. It might be a fitting punishment from President Trump. Get back in your bunny suit, mr. Spicer. Julie hirsch felfeld davis from new york times. Thank you. Coming up on the program, one of the president s top advisers. A registered democrat . Are we already seeing how much pull he has . Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® so, the millionaire advising the billionaire. Some of his shifts in Economic Policy are stunning his core supporters and now many people are pointing to former Goldman Sachs president gary kohn as the man who may be behind the president s increasing move to the middle. He heads the president s economic advisers and some potentially see him as next in line for chief of staff. With us, stephen moore, cnn senior economics analyst and also former Trump Campaign senior adviser, and austan gooslbee, chairman of the council of economic advisers under president obama. All right, guys, lets start with the gossip about gary kohn. You both know the man, big name, huge name on wall street, former president of Goldman Sachs. Stephen moore, because you know the president s Economic Policy so well, you advised him on it during the campaign, this is a breathtaking shift. Is this the rise of gary kohn, a man who has given to democrats and republicans, just like the president did, but also who even in meetings now, according to the Washington Post, says you know, im not a democrat, im not a republican, im a guy that likes to get things done. Is this his influence . Well, he certainly has kind of risen as the alpha male in this white house, theres no question about it. Hes become maybe the most influential person, certainly when it comes to economics. By the way, poppy, you said hes somebody i know. I think austan probably knows him better than i do, because hes had a run with the democrats as much as he has for republicans. Ive never actually met the man, but all my sources in the white house say he has really become the key voice on economics. In some ways, i like that. I think hes moderated some of Donald Trumps more harsh positions on trade, but on other issues like taxes, you know, he wants to rewrite the whole tax policy that larry kudlow and others, and i and others, put together for him, so im a little queasy about that. Its driving kudlow nuts. You can tell from his quotes. Austan, how do you see it, because in new quotes dropped from that wall street journal interview with the president , when he was asked about changing staff because, of course, the question is, does cohn come in at the expense of bannon the president said i dont intend to, but added from day to day, i dont know. Yeah, and he said steve bannon is a guy i know who works for me, you know, or just some disparaging thing like that. I think, look, there could be ways if gary cohn is having an influence on the president and is tempering his impulse control problems, that would be great. That would be great for the United States and for the world. Im a little dubious, i segesgu for the only reason that if you look at why steve bannon is on the outs, its not because of some ideological decision, its not because he advocated something that failed and made the president look bad. Its because bannon was getting press, and evidently, the president is very jealous of the fact that Steve Bannons face was on the cover of time magazine. Okay, if thats true, then gary cohns time in the sun is going to be highly limited, and the fact that youre doing a segment about him is likely to endanger his future. With that big full screen. Let me Say Something about this with his whole face. Are you talking about the one where bannon had the horns coming out of his head . Ill say this, you can disagree or agree with some of the things cohn has done or some of the decisions hes made, but so far, so good on the economy. And i always go back to this, poppy, that you know, for all the stories about all of these other things going on, i know how important that Easter Egg Hunt is on that white house lawn, but you know, there is a clear pickup in the economy. The stock markets done well, although its faltered a little bit in the last few weeks, and thats where i think the rubber really hits the road, and cohn as the chief economic architect of this, you know, hes going to be judged on whether the economys performing or not. Its an important point. Jobs report last month not so great, but i digress. I will say, whats really interesting about gary cohn, guys, this is sort of the, you know, emblematic of the guy the president spoke to in the campaign. This is a very middle class guy. You know, he came out of school, he went to work for a Steel Company in ohio. He comes to new york, convinces a wall street guy to share a cab with him from the airport, you know, sort of fakes that he knows finance, and thats how he gets into the wall street gig. I mean, this is a bootstrapping kind of guy. Wait, wait, wait a minute, poppy, are you youre making the argument that him hiring the coo of Goldman Sachs was a populist move . Thats not what im arguing. What im arguing no, do not misquote me. What im arguing here is that the roots of gary cohn, the roots of gary cohn and where he came from and the Economic Policy that he is leading here, thats what im talking about, austan gooslbee. Well, i think his roots maybe they could get his roots and put them into place for designing Economic Policy. I think your characterization you dont think perhaps of what hes actually advocating now are not maybe necessarily the populist roots that he grew up in. I hear you. I hear you. Look, fair argument. Let me read you this from gene sterling, who was praising gary cohn, who ran the nec, the same, you know, job that gary cohn has, under president obama with you guys. He wrote, was quoted in the post saying while others seemed engaged in an ideological house of cards like staff warfare in the white house, he, gary cohn, quietly and quickly focused on the first rule of governing. He hired some competent, professional staff at the nec, and it has paid off for him. What do you think of that, austan . I agree with that. And i have met gary cohn a few times and i think hes obviously a smart guy and is doing a reasonable job of hiring people around him that are competent. I do think he does not have a whole lot of policy experience, so when it comes to, say, writing the tax plan, the fact that theyre saying theyre going to take steves tax plan and rip it up and start a whole new one. I dont know that gary cohn is capable of doing a job like that, so were going to have to see where they go. Yeah, i agree with austan on that. Stephen moore, final word. I agree with austan. Look, i think he certainly has the business and finance experience to do this job, but austan is right. On policy, you know, hes new to the game. And austan, hes also kind of new to the politics games in terms of understanding what conservatives want out of this president and some of the things that he said maybe we should have a valueadded tax or a carbon tax those are things that dont go over very well with conservatives like me. So well see whether he can grow into this, but he is certainly right now i think the most influential person in the white house, other than donald trump and mike pence. The alpha male, ays you put t right here on the record, stephen moore. Thank you very much. Nice to have you, stephen moore, austan gooslbee. Have a great weekend. Have a good easter. Kind of funny, though, that austan suggested cohn could now be in trouble because of the attention focused on him. Not putting the fullscreens up and if hes on the cover of time magazine, whats going to happen . Still ahead, from a critic to one of his biggest defenders, nikki haley sits down with jamie gangel to talk about her rising role in this administration and why President Trump doesnt stop her from speaking her mind. Hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec® its starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. But weve got the get tdigital tools to help. Now with xfinitys my account, you can figure things out easily, so you wont even have to call us. Change your wifi password to something you can actually remember, instantly. Add that premium channel, and watch the show everyones talking about, tonight. And the bill you need to pay . Do it in seconds. Because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. Go to xfinity. Com myaccount captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com good morning. Im dave briggs in for john berman on this good friday. Im poppy harlow. Happy friday to all