[Harlow:] Today could be another record-breaking day for U.S. markets.
[Sciutto:] This, after Chinese officials announced that Washington and Beijing have discussed rolling back tariffs, part of this ongoing trade war. CNN's Cristina Alesci, here with more. There had been some talk for a time about the president not imposing new tariffs. But this would be more significant because it would roll back existing tariffs.
[Cristina Alesci, Cnn Business And Politics Correspondent:] That's right. And that's why the market is so happy about this news, because it is a significant, if true, de-escalation of the trade war. A couple things I have to say about this. One is, this is contingent on phase one of the trade deal actually being signed, so there's a lot of euphoria this morning around this news. But the reality is that there's a major contingency around this rollback of existing tariffs. The other thing that's a really big story here is the Chinese clearly feel emboldened because Trump is politically weak right now. We have the impeachment hearings that are about to burst into public view, you know, the Republicans just lost in Virginia significantly
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Alesci:] the House and the Senate. And the Kentucky elections look poised to go to, you know, a Democratic governor. So all of that, the Chinese are watching. And they're seeing. And they're potentially trying to put pressure on the administration to go bigger and give them a bigger concession here.
[Harlow:] Can you it's a very fundamental question, sorry if it sounds like a dumb question.
[Alesci:] Never a dumb question
[Harlow:] What does phase one
[Alesci:] from you.
[Harlow:] sometimes. What does phase one of this trade deal actually accomplish?
[Alesci:] I I am so happy that you brought that up.
[Harlow:] Do we know?
[Alesci:] Because it makes me cringe, just saying that word. Because no one really understands fundamentally what that means. What it means is, the administration is trying to message that things are going in the right direction. It is more of, like, a political P.R. kind of, you know, designation more than a substantive one. I think what is important here is that Trump seems to be realizing that what is a no-brainer ahead of the election is easing the tariffs on consumer goods
[Harlow:] Sure.
[Alesci:] and giving the farmers some more relief in terms of purchases from China.
[Sciutto:] Purchases, right.
[Alesci:] He needs to do that before the election, so
[Sciutto:] And the point about this is that those were all created problems, right?
[Harlow:] I was just going to say that.
[Sciutto:] So if you're rolling back tariffs and restarting purchases that already happened, it's not really phase one of anything.
[Harlow:] That's a great point. Thanks, appreciate it.
[Sciutto:] Cristina Alesci, thanks very much. There is a lot going on today. Here's "What to Watch."
[Text:] What to Watch... 11:00 a.m. Eastern, House hearing on ICE workplace raids; 2:15 p.m. Eastern, Trump speaks at meeting on victims of communism; 6:00 p.m. Eastern, Trump presents Presidential Citizens Medal.