Plus, we will ask our sunday panel whether the president will fire his epa chief over ethics violations. And our power player of the week, a member of the obama cabinet goes back to school. There were two themes and the matthews household. What was education and the other was Public Service. Chris on right now on fox news sunday. And hello again from fox news in washington. We began with breaking news. The state department is monitoring reports of a poison gas attack in a rebel held town near serious capital of the masters. Video from syrian activists claims to show victims including children getting hosed down. A Human Rights Group says doesnt have been killed in the attack. We will stay on top of the story. Now to the faceoff over trade between the u. S. And china which has some tension soaring and markets tumbling. In the latest move, President Trump ran to impose tariffs on another 100 billion in chinese exports. Something that nation has bowed to fight. A trade war would have serious consequences for consumers, businesses and investors. Joining me now, President Trumps new top National Economic council, larry kudlow. The Chinese CommerceMinistry Denies there are any talks and says quote, china is fully prepared to hit back forcefully and without hesitation. And here was treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin on friday. We will continue to have discussions but there is the potential of a trade war. Chris now, you are a market guy. The markets dropped 572 points on friday. Clearly, there are a lot of serious investors that think theres a real chance of his trade war. I suppose so. I know they are jitters out there. I dont think theres any trade war inside. We have taken no actions. You understand them. Even the thursday announcement from President Trump, he asked ambassador to consider additional actions. Its a long process. There are several months here, we put out papers. We take Public Comments. We then review the Public Comments and then decisions will be made. So far, no tariffs and no action has been enacted. Point number two, i believe chinas response to the u. S. Actions, which is a complaint against stealing intellectual property against for Technology Transfers and other tariffs. I think thats a legitimate complaint. So does the rest of the world but chinas response was highly unsatisfactory. I think thats unfortunate. We do have constant communication with them to be sure. I hope their side picks up on this. Stonewall is not the answer. Chris and thats what they are doing, stonewalling . Basically. Lots of rhetoric out there. Communist party type stuff. The whole world knows china has been violating trade laws for many years and President Trump is the guy calling them on it and hes right to do so. Chris you say hes calling them on it, is he bluffing or will he impose tariffs if china doesnt change his trade practices . Hes not bluffing. There are a number of tools at his disposal. Just one thing. People think from. This istrump. This is a problem caused by china, not President Trump. If you talk to the present as i have, he regards himself as a free trader. As to eye. But his argument, and its a good one. Youcant have free trade with which is progrowth unless china brings down its barriers. Opens up its market and stop this technology steel. Chris nobody is saying china isnt to blame. The question is the president s response. As you pointed out, you are a free trader. Heres what you said last month when the president announced his first round of tariffs. This was in an announcement, this was real imposition of tariffs on aluminum and steel. Tariff hikes are prosperity killers. They are taxes and the ones who suffer most are the users. Chris so should we believe . That larry kudlow or this one . I thought you might run the. I am opposed to blanket tariffs. Chris but thats what the president is talking about. No, he changed his view. We got a lot of exceptions and carve out. Chris but youre not talking about exceptions for china. With respect to china, ive always been a hardliner. While i dont like tariffs, sometimes theres no substitution for putting tariffs into the discussion. Into the process. That is part of the quiver of arrows the president has. Hes a great negotiator. Yet the whole history of that. In this process, tariffs have to be part of it. Theres no two ways about it. Hopefully there will be discussions and hopefully just the next two months, the chinese will come seriously back to the table. President trump has told me, we were together a long time on thursday and friday. He likes president xi jinping. He respects him as a negotiator but they have got to play by the rules. Technology is everything to this country. Everything. Our entrepreneurship, innovation, growth, productivity. We cut Corporate Tax rates precisely to unlock the spirits around technology. We cannot let china willynilly steal our technology. Chris you said on friday you would announce a trade coalition of the willing today. Other countries that would join us in taking on china. Who are they . I didnt make this announcement. Chris you said on friday between 2448 hours i will announce a trade coalition. Do you have them . They are coming to us. Chris who are they . Japan, europe, canada, australia. Chris but they are not talking about tariffs. Sure they are. Chris no theyre not. They said they would take this to the trade organization and object to chinese practices just as free traders have done for years. If china maintains is third world status as they have in the wto, then other countries are free to take whatever actions they want. Chris has any other country joined us in threatening tariffs if china doesnt clean up its act . I cant answer that. I dont even want to answer that. All i am saying is, my trade coalition of the willing will put the whole world behind the United States actions against china. This will have a big effect on china. China does not want to lose face. It does not want to be regarded as the enemy in trade for the entire world. The wto is one of the processes. Ambassador has this in his releases so we will work there. We will work directly with the chinese. President trump is a great negotiator but tariffs, which none of us particularly want, may, i say may have to be part of this discussion and argument. Chris ever since i first met you. We go back a ways. Ever since i first met you in the reagan white house, you have been an apostle of growth. You say growth cures income inequality. Budget deficits. But if china and the u. S. Slapped tariffs on each other, even President Trump said that could hurt the economy. Here he is. We may take a hit. You know what, ultimately, we will be much stronger for it but its something we have to do. Chris heres a lunch from an article. Trump should examine the historical record on tariffs because they have almost never worked as intended and almost always deliver an unhappy ending. Larry, i assume you agree with that because you wrote it. I do. I agree with it. It is still my position. The president knows that. But around this action, i will stay with this, the path to free trade has to include china acting in concert with first world nations. Chris even if we end up in a trade war . We are not going to end up in a trade war. Chris they arent backing off. We havent enacted anything. We got several months here. Chris you say the president is a blessing. Towers have to be part of the discussion. If they dont back off we will see. The u. S. Economy is doing very well. You learned your lessons well we first spoke. Chris i listened. Im proud of you. Having said all that, were growing at a three percent annual rate. Business spending, jobs are rising. Consumer confidence is high. Small Business Confidence is high. All i am saying is, forget trade wars. Look at the progress of the american economy. Chris thats the concern people have is that this will put a break on that. It cant possibly. The sums here are too small. But the principles are very strong. You see what i am saying . Chris as you well know, trade wars sometimes escalate. I havent seen a trade war since in the 1930s. Chris one of the other tracks on the market right now is the concern that washington is going to regulate big tech. Mark zuckerberg is going to testify before congress this week. Does the president want to see washington regulate how facebook uses its users data and also how it screens ads . I think the president right now will be intently watching the congressional hearings. I think thats step number one. I think he has his doubts. Whether facebook has violated protocols, i dont know. We will see. I wish mr. Zuckerberg, i hope he comes to Congress Wearing a nice business to ensure antiso hell be taken more seriously. Chris not a tshirt. Im tired of that tshirt and hoodie stuff. He was one of the biggest organizations in the world for goodness sakes. We are waiting on Congress Point lets see what comes out of that before the Administration Takes action. Chris amazon, the president keeps hitting the country for failing to pay taxes for its deal with the post office but here he was on air force one. Amazon is not an even Playing Field. They have a tremendous lobbying effort in addition to having the Washington Post which as far as im concerned, another lobbyist. Chris in fact, the post office make money off amazon and amazon collects taxes and all 45 states. Is this just talk or is the president seriously considering taking action against amazon . The president is asking that amazon and all the internet retailers have a level playing the with respect to tax. Chris but amazon is one of the companies that does have a level Playing Field. In recent years they have done better however, they dont always collect local sales taxes. Weve had too much protection in this area. They are not a fledgling industry anymore. What the president is sayingis raising this issue for discussion. I dont think its aimed at anybody. We just need a level Playing Field and you have a Court Decision very soon that will make this more explicit. Chris ive got a minute left. There is talk to someone that the president may ask congress to undo part of the 1. 3 trillion spending bill to cut back some of the expenditures made. Is that true and how far along are you on that . There is planning underway. Mick mulvaney, he and i. I am an x omb guy. Were looking at a package. I think the Republican Party on the hill has finally figured out its not a bad idea to trim some spending. Because after all, spending can lead to deficits. Spending interviews with the economy. President trump is a deregulated and a tax cutter. We want much more modest government rule. Chris larry, thank you. Thanks for your time. I keep listening and learning. Youve been great. Absolutely wonderful. That person throughout the years. [laughter] chris thank you larry. Always a pleasure. Up next, reaction from one of the Top Democrats in the house, congressman joe crowley on his partys message for the 2018 midterms and talk he might replace nancy pelosi as the so youre looking for male customers, ages 2554, who live within five miles of your business . Like these two. And that guy. Or maybe you want to reach women, ages 18 to 34, who are interested in fitness. Namaste. Whichever audience youre looking for, well find them were the finders. We work here at comcast spotlight, and we have the best tools for getting your advertising message out there. Anywhere, any way your audience watches. Consider them found. And you, watchingots, bad this commercial the biggest week in tv is back Xfinity Watchathon week. So tap out of your daily life and get to your living room, castle or cave to enjoy free access to tvs hottest shows from netflix, hbo, showtime, starz and more. Were gonna give em a show. I mean who doesnt want to wear sweats and eat takeout for 7 days straight . I will be there waiting. Get ready to binge with xfinity on demand or the Xfinity Stream app. Xfinity watchathon week starts april 16th. Blossoms on the tidal basin in dc which is that peak bloomthis weekend we areare just beautifu. Washington always has its eye on the next election and as we get to the 2018 midterms, many are predicting a blue wave with democrats taking back the house and possibly the senate. Joining me right now, new york congressman joe crowley, and the subject of growing chatter of democrats as a replacement for nancy pelosi. He will not like me saying that. Welcome to fox news sunday. Good to be with you. Chris you just heard larry kudlow, what you think of his arguments of potentially using tariffs against china and if not that, how do you propose we stop the unfair trading practices. I do recognize theres a role for tariffs in our economy. But i think its creating a great deal more chaos. People dont know what the president s plan or what Larry Kudlows plan is as it relates to china. And the trade war that has now begun. At least the initial start of that has begun. I think thats left a lot of americans with uncertainty. Chris what should they do . If youre not going to use tariffs, how do stop the unfair practices of intellectual property . When it comes to the issue of china, i did not vote for normal trade with china. I believe they were not economically or politically mature enough. Having said that, i think its hand out to be true. I think with the do this in a much more calculated way. With more of a plan. Lets have an understanding of what the ultimate goal is here. Is the goal to raise the price of products in the United States or to lower the price of Agricultural Products in the United States . What is the overall goal because thats what the effect very well maybe if china retaliates. Where is ultimately going to mark that we dont understand about this. Chris donald trump won the presidency because he convinced a lot of voters including democratic voters in the industrial heartland that he had a better idea for how to build the economy. How to get them jobs than Hillary Clinton did. Now democrats are going into the 2018 midterms with what they call, a better deal. Here is nancy pelosi on that. Democrats are offering a better deal. Better jobs. Better wages. A better future. A better deal is founded on strong values. That we share. Strong values fueled by fresh ideas. Chris forgive me congressman, but that sounds like standard democratic boilerplate. Give me one fresh idea that democrats are offering voters in november . First of all, donald trump did not win by a lot of democratic votesit was fractions of a vote. But what i think one great fresh idea is a great structure package for the American People. With the present has offered, a 2080 plan. 20 percent for the government, 80 percent for local government is not going to work. What democrats are proposing is an 80 20 plan where the federal government comes up with the resources. 80 . Works with local governments put americans back to work and invest in infrastructure and invest in america. Thats jobs. A bridge to the new economy. Giving people an opportunity to put their kids through college, to afford healthcare with a real job. Thats the message democrats are talking about. Chris lets look at the trump record on the economy which you agree is a key issue in november. Employers are adding an average of 22,000 jobs a month this year. The Unemployment Rate has been 4. 1 percent for six straight months. The lowest level in 17 years. Wages are up 2. 7 , the highest rate in almost two years. A solid majority of americans according to the polls feel good about the trump economy. Show me how any of those statistics different from any month president obama was president of the United States. Chris the 4. 1 percent is the lowest level. It has been moving on a downward trend. Where was that when president bush left office. When president obama became president right. Democrats really moved us toward this job growth. For this sustained economy. Chris are you saying the president deserves no i am asking. I didnt say them. I believe what this is based on is a false premise. The notion this tax cut is going to somehow help the American People i think is a scam. I think what theyve done in a desperate need to pass anything by the end of the year, they ran through a bill without fully understanding what was in the bill. It was done in a highly partisan way and i think in the end, its the average worker. The middle class will suffer as a result of that taxcut. Chris lets turn to another subject. Immigration, the president has ordered the deployment of 4000 members of the National Guard to the southern border. The fact is more people are attending to cross the board easily, just take a look at these statistics. In march 2017, 16,000 people were caught at the border. That number tripled last month to more than 50,000 dont we need to stop the surge . I think that we need comprehensive immigration reform. Weve been talking about this for decades and we havent seen that happen since 1986. What i think is interesting if you go back to 1986, with a comprehensive immigration and tax reform done in a bipartisan way. It was longlasting. If we have a very partisan approach to this. The president talks about building a wall that mexico is going to pay for. Now hes putting troops down at the border. A very provocative move. At the same time, its not really solving the problem. Chris barack obama put 1800 troops at the border. Not in the same breath that this president has done. Its a boring to me quite frankly. Not representative of