judged on merits, looking at the facts and circumstances of the case. reporter: the president is refusing to deal with realities of the russia probe, tweeting not that it matters, i never fired james comey because of russia. corrupt mainstream media likes to push that narrative but they know it s not true. that s not what the president said to nbc last year. in fact when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made up story, it is an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. reporter: the president is teeing up the debate over pardons as he announces new tariffs against mexico, canada, and european union. they re talking about imposing tariffs on american products, actions that could drive up costs for american commercnsume. paul ryan came out against the tariffs, although it is unclear what the republican controlled