Lockstep with his boss, President Trump. Both men are, again, pushing claims today that unauthorized spying may have taken place on the trump campaign. In a tweet, President Trump said, my campaign for president was conclusively spied on. This was treason. And this is what his attorney general told fox news. I think theres a misconception out there we know a lot about what happened. The fact of the matter is bob mueller did not look at the governments activities. Ive been trying to get answers to questions and i found a lot of the answers have been inadequate and i also found that some of the explanations ive gotten dont hang together, so in a sense, i have more questions today than i did when i first started. If were worried about foreign influence, for the very same reason, we should be worried about whether government officials abuse their power and put their thumb on the scale. And so im not saying that happened, but im saying that we have to look at that. All of the attention being paid to claims of spying is happening while there are new revelations that someones in the president s orbit actually tried to influence a. Co cooperating witness in the mu t mueller investigation. An unsealed court file in the case of Michael Flynn, flynn telling investigators people linked to the Trump Administration and congress, yes, congress, reached out to him in an effort to interfere in the russia probe and his cooperation. It is believed to be the first public acknowledgement that someone connected to capitol hill was suspected of trying to impede muellers work. And flynn reportedly provided proof in the form of a voicemail reco recording. So the big question were asking today is, why is the attorney general so focused on claims about spying when he was quick to dismiss accusations of obstruction . Joining me now to break this down, Nbc News National Security and justice reporter julia ainsle ainsley politico Senior Writer jake sherman. Former federal prosecutor, doug burns. Thanks to all of you for being here. Julia, i want to start with you and the president s tweets, he said there is conclusive evidence that his campaign was spied on and he also says that some people actually committed treason. Lets do a little Fact Checking here. He doesnt name any names. Whats he talking about . Eight. He right. Hes obviously going very far but going this far because his attorney general set him up. He used the word, spying, in his congressional testimony. We understand theres investigation into whether there was unauthorized surveillance. Surveillance is very often authorized. You get Court Approval to do that. Many people have signed off on repeated fisa applications. Its not something that lasts forever. And so the president is using that. Something his attorney general teed him up to do in going very far. He also likes to use treason, treason would be if you worked with someone whos a foreign adversary. Not at all the case here. We can definitively rule that out. But really, barrs talking of that and then of course, his appointment of john durham, the u. S. Attorney in connecticut, we got news of this week but apparently happened several weeks ago, that appointment, thats a third investigation into the onli origins of this investigation, what became the mueller probe, continues to add ammunition for the president and sort of allow him to circulate the conspiracy theory. Jake, pick up on that point. As julia points out, there are already two other investigations going on. Where do those stand . Why is this third one necessary . My understanding is actually the scope is much broader, right . I will say, something that will please a lot of House Republicans and capitol hill republicans is bill barr is almost picking up on this this thread that jim jordan and mark meadows started for the last two years and really didnt get anywhere on it and reporters found it hard to follow. Bill barr is picking up exactly where House Republicans want them to be and its its a stunning revelation. A lot of people on capitol hill, republicans texting me this morning on another issue were saying the president s tweets are just, its getting to a point where people are just ignoring them. They dont have the same pop that they used to. But, again, this is as you said, taking it to a much higher level. And doug, this all comes, right, as there has been so much scrutiny on the word, spying. And on that point, we know that the attorney general has really broken with the fbi director. So i want to play what weve heard from those officials and get your reaction. Youre not suggesting, no, that spying occurred. I dont well i guess you could i think spying did occur, yes. I think spying did occur. When fbi agents conduct investigations against alleged mobsters, suspected terrorists, other criminals, do you believe theyre engaging in spying when theyre following fbi investigative policies and procedures . Well, thats not the term i would use. Is aand at this time, do youe any evidence that any illegal surveillance into the campaigns or individuals associated with the campaigns by the fbi occurred . I dont think i personally have any evidence of that sort. Doug, pretty dark disparity there. What do you make of it . Help us understand why the word, spying, has become a flashpoint. Its so interesting, kirsten. These are complicated legal terms and cant just throw them around in either direction. The point is, surveillance, if its authorized, signed off by top officials, presented to a court, signed by a judge, then its fine and theres nothing wrong with it. Spying has this negative, pejorative connotation to it which implies legally that it wasnt, but whats interesting is the argument is a little more nuanced. Nobody can dispute that these were viable applications presented to a court. Okay . But what they say is the information presented to the court was no good. Again, its highly toxic, highly political when you compare it to straight legal analysis, but it is what it is. And the significance of the fact that you have that disparity at such a high level, doug, i mean, how is the American Public supposed to break down where this stands right no . It really is remarkable and a great point you make, seriously. That is, i said earlier today in a discussion, you know, not in media, but the point is in the day to day typical case, no matter what type of case, narcotics, financial crime, organized crime, you know, the wheels move in certain ways. But what happens when you get in these highly charged political cases, lets face it, theres so much attention. Theres so much sbrefinterest. Theres so much daytoday dissemination of information about whats going on in an ongoing criminal investigation which is very, very rare, it takes on. The way you put it, very bizarre characterist characteristics. Here you have the highest level officials. Christopher wray, director of the fbi, the attorney general of the United States, and theyre throwing around, for lack of a better way to put it, you know, these loaded terms of, you know, spying versus authorized surveillance. Unauthorized surveillance. The point is, im a lawyer and im a purist. So yeah. You take a look at it and you determine whether its authorized or unauthorized. Well, and a lot of democrats have noted that the attorney general at times has sounded a lot like President Trump. And the attorney general was pressed on that on fox news. Lets take a look. I didnt know him before. I had only met with him really substantive discussion with him at the time he decided to ma make apont pontappoint me a general. I think we have a good, candid relationship. One more question on that. You met with him in the oval office . I met with him in the residence. Reason i ask you that, democrats would say youre the president s attorney now. They dont know what theyre talking about. Jake, democrats going to step up their criticism after this . Yeah, but i dont know how else theyre going to step it up. That r a going to jail him . Probably not. Fine him 25,000 for not participating, they dont like what he does. At the end of the day, hes been confirmed. Not going to resign. The democratic criticism of him is probably emboldening the president. Oh, yeah. He had, by the way, bipartisan praise. Remember that. We should note he was asked whether mueller should testify, he said, look, thats being worked out. Made very clear hes not standing in the way of that. Julie, this other development weve been monitoring overnight, these new Court Documents which show a filing by Robert Muellers team reveals the former National Security adviser Michael Flynn told investigators that figures linked to the Trump Administration and Congress Reached out to him to interfere in the russia investigation. We asked the president s attorneys. No response from them. But whats the impact of this . I mean, it goes to show that not we did not get everything in the mueller report. Right . Theres more information that they have. They were able to put this in this document. They went out publicly. Its a question of why we didnt see this before especially because it seems to lead to the obstruction question. It does not change the fact Robert Mueller did not make a decision on obstruction. He knew this before he made that decision and then it, of course, allowed the attorney general to make the decision he did. But i think the question we all have is who is this person in Congress Really . And doug, very quickly, to you, a lot of people were doing a double take at the word, congress. There was a member of congress engaged in this. Oh, no. No question about that because, you know, the lawyers are in what you call a joint defense, real quick, so they can share information, but it would be improper to contact the person, general flynn, directly, but to your point, congress, oh, my god, absolutely. That has to be drilled into. Undoubtedly, the calls are going to grow louder for mueller to testify and soon. Doug burns, thank you. Julia ainsley, jake sherman. Great conversation. Really appreciate it. We have some breaking news to tell you about now right out of missouri where the state house of representatives passed a bill to ban abortions after eight weeks becoming the eighth state to narrow the window for abortion this year, alone. The bill is now headed to missouris governor. Joining me now to discuss this, nbc news correspondent Stephanie Gosk and author of the Washington Post power up newslett newsletter, jacqueline alamany. Thank you do we know about the that was just passed . This was not a close vote. 1104 h in the house of representatives. 24 2410 in the senate. Gives you an idea how much support, imagine the representatives are voting as their public wants them to vote, how much the support the measure has in the state of missouri. Let me go through it a little bit so you understand the specifics of it. No one is allowed to have an abortion now, it will be illegal, actually, it wont be enacted just yet, but the law says you cannot have an abortion after eight weeks. There no exceptions for either incest or rape ea. En in a en i classify it as a felony b, doctor serving a prison sentence if found guilty up to 15 years. To put it in a bit of context, its one of the strictest in the nation. Not as strict as what we saw come out of alabama which effectively outlawed abortion from what, as they describe it, the moment that the mother realizes she is pregnant and also they classify it as a felony a which would have a doctor potentially serving up to a life sentence in prison. But, kristen, as you know, this is just the latest in a wave of states passing these very restrictive abortion laws. Their supporters saying this is a move to get it to the Supreme Court where they think they have a simpympathetic ear in a court mast more conservative than in a generation. Stephanie, the governor is expected to sign this, right . Yes, absolutely. This week he said, in his words, were going to make missouri, again, his words, the most prolife state in the country, so theres very little doubt that he will sign it. And, jackie, we obviously started this week tracking the developments in alabama which stephanie just laid out. A bill that has been seen as even more restrictive because even in cases of rape and inc t incest, abortion is outlawed. Kevin mccarthy, top republican, was asked if he would support h this type of legislation. I want to listen to what he had to say and get your reaction on the other side. Do you think that law goes too far . It goes further than i believe, yes. In my whole political career, i also believed in rape, incest or life of the mother. There were exceptions. Thats exactly what republicans had voted on in this house. Thats what our platform says. And i believe thats the point of what you find where we stand. That was our kasie hunt pressing him. Jack jackie, the fact you have these Top Republicans saying, hey, wait a minute, this goes too far, what do you make of that . Yeah, well its really interesting. Clearly what youre seeing here is a lot of these conservative red states, legislators, taking their chances on Brett Kavanaugh who they view to be far more conservative than anthony kennedy, his predecessor and, you know, it has opened up a schism in the republic can part. There are a lot of gop lawmakers who have no fear of the backlash to some of these bans that are far more extreme than, again, weve seen in a generation, but then you have people like congressman mccarthy, leader mccarthy, who say that this goes a little too far but at the end of the day, when it comes to the president s reelect in 2020, it doesnt really matter what constituents in california think. What matters is the voters in alabama, mississippi, kentucky, and ohio, seeing, you know, the fruits of trumps labor. His appointments to the federal courts. Hes, you know, had a record amount of conservative appointments and now youre seeing that play out and also, you know, in the gop, theres no more organized movement than Antiabortion Movement and they have been obviously very successful at executing their agenda here. No doubt, it is going to energize the base. Big question surrounding how some of those women independents will respond to this. Stephanie gosk, jackie alemany, thanks to both of you for helping us break down the breaking news. Still ahead, new polling shows Elizabeth Warren now joins joe biden and Bernie Sanders at the top of the 2020 pack, so whats behind her surge . And the bigger question, can she sustain it . But first, more breaking news on the trade front. The white house expected to officially announce that its lifting steel and aluminum frif tari tariffs on canada and nemexico while the trade war with china claims a big corporate victim. Claims a big corporate victim. Day after day, you need to get it all done. And here to listen and help you through it all is bank of america. With the expertise and knowhow you need to reach that blissful state of doneness. So lets get after it. Everything is all right what would you like the power to do . ® all right what would you like the power to do . ® whats going on . Its the 3pm slump. Should have had a p3. Oh yeah. Should have had a p3. Need energy . Get p3. With a mix of meat, cheese and nuts. And there are two pieces of news on the tariff front at this hour. First, the u. S. Is expected to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on canada and mexico within 48 hours. Second, more proof that the escalating trade war with china may be impacting major american companies. John deere missed quarterly profit estimates today for the fifth straight quarter. And cut its fullyear outlook with shares falling around 6 so far today. The manufacturer expects lower demand for its equipment because farmers simply wont have the money to buy it. Joining me now to discuss all of this, nbc News National political reporter Vaughn Hillyard and Los Angeles TimesWhite House Reporter eli stokols. Thank you, both, for being here. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Eli, i want to start with you, to set the scene, President Trump minutes from now is going to talk at the National Realtors association. Were going to bring some of the remarks live. We expect him to announce this officially that hes going to lift these steel and aluminum tariffs. What could that actually mean for the usmca, this deal that he struck with mexicowants to get through congress. This could up the chances of that, right . It doesnt get all the way there because the democrats in congress who control the house obviously till have other questions. Republicans were very concerned about these tariffs and urged the white house and president to withdraw them and now they have. Trump and trudeau spoke by phone today. The joint statement is out. The tariffs are going away. The countertariffs, retaliatory tariffs in canada are going away. I think in exchange, you know, the president said he would take the tariffs out if he got quotas. Well, there are no quotas so its another instance of the president demanding something, not getting it and relenting after trying to put pressure on a situation, not getting what he wanted, and pulling back. But they reserve the right to put tariffs in place in the future. And, you know, theres some measures in terms of enforcement that they believe will be added that they agree to that are concessions i think from canada. And democrats still have some concerns surrounding the environment. So this is not a done deal yet, right . But it does aleleviate a little bit of pressure on the president when hes fighting this trade war on a number of different fronts including with china as we talked about with the top. Right, one hurdle potentially out of the way, canada, the legislature there, has about a month to ratify the usmca. U. S. Congress obviously still a bit of a question mark whether that happens. But theres a political calculation here for the president trying to run on the economy, when the tariffs have really been hurting a lot of his voters. And as were talking here, we know President Trump as just been announced so were going to take him live any minute now. Hes there sort of greeting the crowd. There he is stepping to the microphone. Lets take a listen to the president. Like home. Realtors. Realtors. Great business. We love that business. I love that business. Every time, this incredible beast. You know what the beast is . The worlds most expensive car. Truly not a car, its an army tank that rides better. I look at the real estate. Im always looking at the real estate. Ill never get it out of my blood. Its in my blood, right . Please sit down. Sit down if you want. You know, i tell you to sit down because otherwise theyll say he got no standing ovation. The fake news. Theyll say the crowd didnt like his performance. They gave him no i had that the other day. They just wouldnt sit down. So they said it wasnt one of his better speeches. He got no standing ovations. Because they never sat down. It was one. But we love you people and i know theyre just telling me, john, this record, they have people here, that people in all the ballrooms all over this beautiful hotel, and there are people outside, closed circuit. Somehow you people know real estate so you know you have the best location, right . But im honored to be here with the hardworking men and women who help millions of families live the american dream. And thats so true. The incredible members of the National Association of realt realtors. A name i know very well. I want to thank my friend, hes my friend, my competitor for a while, but he was still my friend, secretary ben carson, for his tremendous leadership. The president is thanking members of the crowd. I want to head out to Vaughn Hillyard in dubuque, iowa, and, vaughn, caution, were going to go right back to the president as soon as he announces the trade deal, so just summarize, if you would, what youve been hearing from farmers out there, and i know some have been impacted by this trade war with china already. Including as it relates to john deere. What are you hearing . Reporter yeah, were here in dubuque just outside of a plant where theres 2,500 workers here at this john deere operation that builds the likes of tractors and combines and dubuque, kristen, is an intersection of where you have manufacturing but also got ag. We were out with a couple farmers yesterday. The concern for john deere is the fact that farmers arent buying major pieces of equipment. Youre talking about combines that cost 600,000. Tractors that the cost several hundred thousand dollars. The farmers we talked to, they told us theyre not buying right now because they dont have enough cash flow. Because of the china trade war that is taking place. Theyre not able to sell their beans and as a result, its places like john deere where just this morning, their ceo, upon announcing their earnings, put out a statement saying in part, ongoing concerns about export market access, nearterm demand for commodities such as soybeans and delayed planting season in much of north america are causing farmers to become much more cautious about making major purchases. John deere announced this morning that in its ag and Turf Products side of the company, theyre going to be cutting, in terms of actual production, because they do not expect their ability over the next year as this trade war looms on, their ability to make those major purchases. We stopped by a couple of suppliers. Places that sell those deeres and said theyre not seeing farmers come in at the same rate. I talked to john greist in prairieburg, iowa, he hasnt bought new equipment since 2015 and has no intentions to until hes able to get the cash flow. The president s announcement on usmca, eliminating tariffs on steel and aluminum from canada and mexico is welcomed news to Companies Like john deere because now that brings down the cost of steel production. Theres still major other concerns as this trade war with china continues. Kristen . Vaughn, stick around as we continue to monitor what the president says. Eli, again, were expecting President Trump to officially announce it. You never know what hes going to do until he actually does it. But vaughn really, i think, puts the human face on this, right . This is a president who ran on getting good trade deals, who ran on helping farmers throughout the midwest in places like iowa. And yet, here you have vaughn whos spoken to people who say theyre being hurt by this trade war. Ive had slaimilar conversations. Talked to a lot of farmers. Farm Bureau Federation conference when President Trump went to speak to them in january in new orleans. A lot of them were right in the middle of not just the tariffs affecting them and getting rid of their market, especially in china for a lot of Agricultural Products but they were also in the middle of a shutdown. They werent able to get loans processed. A lot of the people who were trump voters were rethinking their support of him and a lot of them were still supportive of the president , even as they acknowledged, hey, ive been hurt by these policies, and i think, you know, broadly, you want to widen this out a little bit. The president is looking at 2020 and his team is really confident that if the economy stays good, they can get people on that central question, are you better off now than you were four years ago . But there are democrats who are going to get into that general election mode and start asking that question and point it specifically at a lot of farmers and people in these towns and say, are you really better off . A lot of them may be worse off economically. There are a lot of farmers who have really been set back by these tariffs. And i want to bring in my colleague, Peter Alexander, whos been monitoring the president over from the white house. Peter, you and i have been tracking this trade war on a daily basis. And i asked the president several days ago, are you going to run for reelection on the economy . He said, yes, i am. He clearly feels emboldened by the economy right now, peter. Thats why hes been taking all these risks as it relates to trade. So talk a little bit about the politics of this, the developments today, as it relates to the president and how he sees his prospects in 2020. Reporter yeah, kristen, i think youre right. Think the fact the economys been good with recent strong jobs numbers, the president does, in his mind, have a little bit of political wiggle room here, perhaps, to be a little more aggressive certainly as it relates to china, but whats notable about what we expect the president to announce in his comments today, and what we reported earlier today about the auto tariffs on ya pjapan, eu, president was delaying the imps so of those for another six months, the president wants the focus to be on china. Here inside the white house and out in america, among those people who are the president s core base of supporters, this idea of President Trump standing up to china is one that they think resonates. So he wants to look like a dealmaker. Supports his effort to come out and say, hey, weve come to some agreement with canada, as hes expected to announce here, would roll back a 25 tariff on steel and 10 tariff on aluminum but can really zero in on the issue thats going to be critical for him which is this idea of china. Weve heard him on twitter and say it, frankly, publicly, he says, hey, he thinks will be one of the decisionmaking elements for americans as we head into the 2020 campaign saying do you want me to be fighting china or do you want joe biden to be the one fighting it . Its obvious this is sort of a fight the president thinks benefits him. Absolutely right. Peter alexander, thanks for rushing to the camera. Really appreciate it. Vaughn hillyard. Eli stoke bs. Stay with us. Were going to continue to monitor the president s comments and we will, again bring them to you if, in fact, he does make that expected announcement on trade that hes rolling back steel and aluminum tariffs on canada and mexico. Shifting gearin ining ins n. The rose garden may be as far as the immigration plan gets. That could be the point. Politico noting today a grand compromise wasnt necessarily the goal, instead of trying to push it through congress, trump is already treating the plan less like a legislative blueprint, and more as a campaign document. As he readies for his tough 2020 reelection fight. With 2020 on his mind, hes still trying to achieve his 2016 Signature Campaign promise. Not only achieve, but apparently, micromanage a little bit as well. The woeWashington Post report today President Trump is personally demanding certain aesthetics for his border wall down to black paint and even spikes. Joining me now, Politico White House correspondent and associate editor, anita kumar. Washington post National Security reporter, nick. Thank you both for being here. Really appreciate it. Anita, i want to start with you and your reporting. Look, on its face, i was in the rose garden yesterday, the president unveiled this big immigration plan and there was nothing for democrats in it. And so everyone was scratching their head saying, hey, how is this even going to get to the front door of congress . Is this really more of a political document for 2020 . I think he kind of told us that yesterday. I mean, he mentioned democrats several times yesterday in his remarks. Heres the difference between republicans and democrats. And remember that line where he said, hey, if democrats dont want to pass it now, ill just come back and do it when i take back when republicans take back the house and senate. So i think hes treating it as one. His campaign is treating it as one. Its really telling they didnt even really speak to democrats beforehand. Yeah, even the republicans they spoke to werent too pleased. Right. We didnt hear a lot from republicans yesterday. We didnt hear a lot of people saying how much they loved it. Yeah. It is a very traditional republican standpoint. Changed to meritbased immigration. He didnt do the thing he said he would do which is change immigration numbers in this country. So lets listen to what lawmakers actually were saying. This was nancy pelosi and then im going to read a little bit from what mcconnell said on the other side. I want to just Say Something about the word that they used, merit. It is really a condescending word. Theyre saying family is without merit, are they saying most of the people who have ever come to the United States in the history of our country are without merit because they dont have an engineering degree . Certainly, we want to attract the best to our country, and that includes many people from many parts of society. Okay. So that was House Speaker eer pelosi. Not a big surprise she was opposed to it. This is what leader mcconnell had to say in the Washington Post, we are a nation of immigrants and we must preserve that rich part of who we are, but we are a nation of laws, adding i look forward to reviewing the president s proposing. Reviewing, nick . Hes the leader. The president didnt have the leader onboard before he unveiled this . Apparently, not. Yeah, i mean, you know, this type of reaction shows a real lack of enthusiasm for this type of this type of proposal, particularly right now were in many the middle of a border crisis. I think people are looking for more, you know, immediate Bipartisan Solutions to what were seeing in south texas. And just to be very clear, what it didnt address, anita, were the dreamers. Daca recipients. The 11 Million People living here who are undocumented. And one of the criticisms, just to delve into this a little bit more deeply, that republicans had, is the fact they didnt feel as though when they were briefed by Top White House officials including Jared Kushner that they had the type of paperwork they wanted and reading a little bit more from politico, theres a lot of griping on capitol hill that when the president announced his immigration plan, republicans did not have any paper whatsoever to explain what he was proposing. Months of work by Jared Kushner and there was no fact sheet to accompany the muchballyhooed announcement. Take us inside a little bit how unusual is it for a white house to unveil what theyre calling a major proposal and not have those materials . Yeah. Back to last year, remember when they put out the first immigration plan, this is scaled back from that, there was no legislation, there was nothing. There were briefings and things but wasnt actual language. This time around they thought theyd do it better, brief senators and have more of instead of just an idea real specifics. But, again, they didnt go to them with the language, proposed legislation, anything about that. Were hearing that in the next couple weeks they might have the language. But if you want to unveil something and say you got republican support, they need it the republican support to come out when the plan came out. So theres a show of force. Nick, you have fantastic reporting along with your colleagues about how how engaged on the granular level President Trump is in terms of looking at, thinking about, what his border wall is going to look like, the prototypes. You write, the bollards or slacks should be painted dark black, a hue that would absorb heat in the summer, making it too hot to scale. The president describes in graphic terms the potential injuries that Border Crossers might receive. So were kind of getting a glimpse at President Trump as the builder, right . But how are the officials actually have to implement this responding to these proposals . I think its very confusing for the folks at the army corps of engineers and department of Homeland Security when the president reawches out to them repeatedly, often every few weeks with shifting requests and, you know, telling them that he would like it painted, that he would like, you know, a different finish on the top that would be sharper. He has also complained about the blueprints having too many gates. That he would like fewer gates in the wall and he thinks that they should be smaller. So, you know, he is taking an intense interest on some of the minutia of the project and, you know, it makes it more difficult for the folks who have to who have to actually carry out these projects. And, anita, again, i mean, his rallying cry in 2016 was build the wall. Now its going to be finish the wall. And these are the types of im e images even though as nicks reporting, theres a lot of confusion about how to implement it, theres this is going to be his rallying cry. Right . The fact that he can say, yeah, oo im talking about this black wall. Weve been hearing about the wall for, what, more than a couple years. This is the thing he said he would do and when he really starts campaigning, hes going to say, here is my record, reelect me on my record. If his record isnt there, accomplishments arent there, hes going to have a problem which is why youre hearing him say we need to have an immigration plan because he wants to say im trying so hard to do this. Right. Sometimes the democrats are standing in my way but ive been trying to do it for you. Right. Only way to get it done is reelect me. That will be his argument. Anita kumar, thank you, nick miroff, fantastic reporting all around. Really fascinating. Appreciate it. Back to the breaking news. The president just officially announcing the u. S. Will lift aluminum tariffs on canada and mexico within 48 hours. I want to go back to Peter Alexander whos at the white house. Peter, what did he say . Reporter the president following up on an official statement put out from the United States on canada, within the last few minutes anounounci they made a deal, theyll roll back tariffs on aluminum or steel. Canada will roll back and removal toremove retaliatory tariffs. Heres the president moments ago. Take a listen. Im pleased to announce that weve just reached an agreement with canada and mexico and well be selling our product into those countries without the imps so imposition of tariffs or major tariffs. Big difference. Reporter the president is framing it as a big win both for the United States but also canada. The retaliatory tariffs that impacted a variety of Industries Including the agriculture industry in the u. S. , he says that will make it easier for farmers here to be able to sell their goods now to canada and after that sound bite he went on to focus on the usmca, this deal he negotiated, that the administration negotiated with mexico and with canada. The one that still needs to be ratified by congress. The president , kristen, trying to use this moment to build some momentum to say we did our work, now we need you, those on capitol hill, to get this done the rest of the way. Still not clear that congress is going to ratify it. All right. Peter alexander, thank you so much for bringing us that breaking news. Really appreciate it. New polling showing joe biden leading Elizabeth Warren surging and fewer voters feeling the bern. The challenges facing Bernie Sanders. Thats next. Sanders. Thats next. I never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. So i talked to my doctor about humira. 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The massachusetts senator is now sitting third in the crowded democratic primary field. Trailing former Vice President joe biden and senator Bernie Sanders, but shes trending in the right direction. Over the past two months, warren has closed the gap between herself and sanders, gaining five points while sanders has dropped by six points. Joining me now to take a look at these numbers, msnbc correspondent Garrett Haake whos on the road following the Sanders Campaign in North Carolina. Hes on the move. Former dnc Senior Adviser during the 2016 campaign, doug thornell. Republican analyst, msnbc political analyst, susan delpercio. Thanks for being here. I think we still have garrett. His signal is a little shaky. Garrett, i want to start with you. Bernie sanders out there campaigning in North Carolina. Why is he out there and what do you make of this drop in the polls that were seeing . Reporter well, North Carolina is a supertuesday state which means its important for any of these candidates who have the means to start repairing to go the long haul here. And Bernie Sanders does. He was in asheville this morning. Thats an area that came out big for him in 2016. Rallying to his base there. The next stop tonight in charlotte will be a little l more interesting because the reason Bernie Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton here in 2016 was that he couldnt equal her support among africanamerican voters. Continues to be an issue that the Sanders Campaign is trying to address. And theyll do so over the next couple days. Were in charlotte tonight. Then going to a couple spots in South Carolina that are heavily africanamerican turnout areas in that state. You know, when youre Bernie Sanders, part of your message is your consistency, youve been saying the same thing for 30 or 40 years and the party is moving toward you, which means you cant change your message that much. You do have to change how you deliver it and thats what were seeing a little bit is sanders going out and actively seeking out these voters. Now, on a second goaround, when he has that 100 name recognition, a little bit more well known among these folks in the democratic primary electorate. Garrett, what an important point. Garrett makes the point you might not be able to change your message, but you might need to change how youre getting it out there. People know Bernie Sanders and they have long thought of him as really sort of having the progressive branch of the party locked down. Yet, here comes senator warren. Shes really coming back. Shes now in third place. What do you make of that . Is it because she has been effective, frankly, at rolling out policies, getting into the weeds, getting into the details . Are voters responding to that . Well, i think she has the most coherent, sharpest message of Anyone Running right now and shes also been leading the field in policy. I checked my email today. I think over this week, shes put out four different, or five major policies and her team has been really good at inserting her into the media. This week, she got in that back and forth on fox, right . She also has second most cash on hand. And theyve been investing that early on in early primary sta states. So shes done a really good job of, you know, getting past the bumpy start that she had and now she seems to be eating a little bit into bernies support, particularly with young voters. You think she can keep it going, though . Still very early, doug. Still very early. I think for the people who are worried about, you know, who are bernie supporters, hes still in a solid second place. Hes got the most money in the race right now. Thats an important point. Absolutely. 500,000 donors in the first quarter. So hes still hes a solid second place. Elizabeth warren for a long time, she was in fifth, sixth, second place. Shes eclipsed ckamala harris. The Harris Campaign has something to worry about as well here. She can keep it going. I think shes laying a foundation for a for a for the debates where she can really go, you know, toe to toe with everyone in the field. Susan, when you think about senator sanders, this performance in 2016, he was giving Hillary Clinton a run for her money in a number of these states in the primary. And he had such strong support among those younger voters. Now, hes struggling to crack 20 support. Where are his supporters going, whats happening here . I think when Bernie Sanders announced, he had a builtin constituency, those people from 2016, but with so many people out there right now, were up to, i think, 23 candidates on the democratic side, theres room to shop around, and frankly, i think part of Bernie Sanders problem is hes always been snarky in d. C. Some of that edge that he has that was welcomed in 2016 because it made him look authentic is really not working because there were other candidates like Elizabeth Warren who do have good progressive messages who deliver them better. So i think that Bernie Sanders is suffering in part of having that builtin lead when he announced and other people looking, and then you have candidates like senator harris and senator warren who just keep plugging along as they should because this is a marathon. The elections not in two month. You dont spend all the money you have. You start its a very long race. So i think that theyre doing really good job introducing themselves to voters. And of those young people, lets not forget youre talking about two women candidates here who can be very appealing to younger people, especially women. Its a great point. You say its a marathon, not a sprint. Doug, we havent even had the first debate yet. What do you make of this moment . Well, i think Bernie Sanders, hes struggling with people of color. He has struggled with them in 2016 and i think what youre seeing from why is he still sort of struggling to connect with them . I know hes been very focused on it and trying to figure out how to do it. He has. He has. He has a very diverse staff. Not saying they havent tried to fix this. Yeah. Its just not resonating. Elizabeth warren has had several very good performances before the National Action network, before a number of audiences with people of color, but look, i think joe biden has really demonstrated that he is putting together this very broad coalition, that hes got 47 support in some in one poll of africanamerican women. And when youre talking about South Carolina, when youre talking about the super tuesday states, thats really, really helpful to him. It certainly is. Garrett, how concerned, i know youre talking to all of these campaigns, is the Sanders Campaign when they look at joe biden who as doug is talking about sort of exceeded expectations. A lot of people thought, hes going to be seen as the establishment person in this build field where, clearly, it is historically diverse. Historically progressive. And yet, he is having a very strong showing so far. Reporter so much of this race and about politics is about expectati expectations, right . You talk about elizabeth war. En as somebody who benefited from maybe lower expectations when she got into the race. Shes been impressing a lot of people. Bernie sanders has the opposite side of that coin. He came in second place last time. The fact that he is in what is right now still a very strong second place is somehow seen in a lot of ways as a negative for him. Only joe biden is beating him right now. There are 20 other candidates who would like to be Bernie Sanders. Ing to folks at his events, theyre absolutely not going to be joe biden voters. They will be dragged kicking and screaming, many of them, to support joe biden even if he is the nominee. I think the joe biden phenomenon is dangerous to a lot of other candidates, especially candidates in the second tier who are really trying to get attention. Trying to get noticed. Trying to get on the debate stage. I dont see Bernie Sanders losing a lot of the support he has based on joe bidens candidacy. I think those two candidates are both eyeing each other for a long haul. And susan, not that were counting, but were still nine months and about eight debates away from the very first primary. So, how many times do you expect these top three slots to shift around over that period . Nine months. Thats how long it takes, 262 days. So, 262 times. But whats interesting is that debate stage because as garret was talking about, you have that number one and number two in biden and sanders kind of locked up. Then theyre going to be on a stage with up to eight other people or nine other people depending if theyre on the same stage or not. Its picked in a random order in that june 26 and 27 debates. So, it will be interesting to see what the secondtier candidates how they break through or if they break through. Very good point, a lot of people say this doesnt really start until the candidates take the stage for the first time on those debates. Great conversation, garret, and susan, thank you to all of you. And turning back to the white house now. President trump is looking to defuse tensions with iran. He reportedly told acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan that he doesnt want to go to war with the country. As the president looks to ratchet down tensions, the question remains, how that is impacting his relationship with one of the more hawks members of his administration, National Security adviser john bolton. Joining me from the pentagon military reporter courtney kuby. Thank you. I know you have been all over this story. So, what are you hearing about those tensions within the administration between the president , between john bolton and what hes told his defense secretary. So, you know, we also have that supports President Trump in the situation room on wednesday morning that he did tell acting secretary of defense, now his nominee to be secretary of defense, that he doesnt want war with iran. Look, thats not very surprising. The president has been very open about the fact that hes not looking for a conflict. He campaigned for America First and talked repeatedly about pulling troops from syria and afghanistan. So, its not surprising hes not looking to dedicate a large footprint of u. S. Military to Something Like iran. You know, then the big question becomes, you know, what does that mean for the u. S. Military . They continue here to plan. Theyve moved these large assets in. Carrier strike group, Bomber Task Force and now patriot battery moving towards the region. Some of the elements are already in. Its all meant to be a deterrent. The u. S. Military, weve been hearing repeatedly from people here at the pentagon and forward in the region that they also are not looking for a war with iran. That all this movement of military might is really about deterring iran from doing something preemptively. To pick up on that point, courtney. We all woke up to this report in the wall street journal that perhaps these latest tensions started over a miscommunication. What are you hearing about that . So, i mean, theres no question that this has really been a big game of chicken on both sides. But the military officials who im talking to, you know, they have no, they do not question the fact that there was a very credible stream of threats emanating from iran and from proxies in the region that led to all of this movement over the last nearly two weeks now, kristen. And what is the administration doing right now to try to ratchet down some of these tensions . Because the president yesterday and i thought this was just sort of a remarkable moment was asked if were going to go to war with iran. He said, i hope not. He actually answered that question. What do you make of that and how hes trying to sort of step back at this point. Now hes talking about potentially talking to iran. So, i mean, this has really escalated up. Like i said, i cant underscore. Sending a carrier into the region, you know, we, the United States, had a carrier presence in the persian gulf and often what they called a 2. 0 presence. Two Carrier Strike groups in the gulf and into the gulf of omen for years and that was a deterrent to iran at times when tensions were high. 2009, 2012. Other times when there were the concerns about some potential miscalculation. The carrier, they sent it in as a deterrent value. The sense that im getting is that neither side wants a war at this point, but both sides are willing to continue to posture should there be something that happens that insights some kind of a conflict, kristen. Nbc courtney kube, thank you for your reporting on that. New analysis is revealing the key voices that are not having a say across the state passing abortion bans. One more thing is next. When will your oral laxative work . In bed . Try fleet liquid glycerin instead. Relief in minutes, not hours. Every time on your time. Now 1 off with sundays paper. Guaranteed relief or your money back. You get the freedom of what a 7day return policy. This isnt some dealership test drive around the block. Its better. This is seven days to put your carvana car to the test and see if it fits your life. Load it up with a weeks worth of groceries. Take the kiddos out for ice cream. Check that it has enough wiggle room in your garage. You get the time to make sure you love it. 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As this new data shows while alabama has a female governor, only four female state senators and that puts alabama in 47th place. Women represent just 15 of alabamas legislature. But alabama isnt alone. Two other states that recently passed restrictive abortion laws ranked in the bottom ten. Women control 13 of Mississippi State house and just 22 of kentuckys legislature. Georgia, which passed a heart beat bill earlier this month women representing 30 of state lawmakers. Despite men controlling the labors of legislation across the board, the associate director of this study says one thing is clear, quote, women on both sides of the aisle are particularly passionate and they feel that they as women are best suited to speak to it because of its correct affect on women. And that does wrap up things for this hour. Im Kristen Welker in washington. Ali velshi picks things up. I think its necessary after following the abortion decisions weve seen in the last few days to bring it altogether and let our viewers understand. Its important to keep that in mind. Thank you. And have yourself a great afternoon, kristen. We begin with a break through on trade. President trump making this announcement just moments ago. We just reached an agreement. Selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs. The deal between the United States and canada calls for the 25 tariff on steel imports and 10 tariff on aluminum imports to be removed within 24 hours. In return, canada will drop retaliatory tariffs on all products. News came hours after President Trump issued a procloimation delaying a decision on whether to impose tariffs on car and auto imports for up to six months. Lets see how this is all playing on wall s