robert: tonight, trade, immigration and the nation's abortion debate. i'm robert costa. welcome to "washington week." the u.s. strikes a deal with canada and mexico to lift steel and aluminum tariffs. a coul trade deal with china be next? president trump: our proposal is promecan, pro immigrant and pro worker. it's just mmon sense. robert: president trump rolls out a i newmmigration plan, seeking to prioritize migrants with high skills. but the reception on both sides of the aisles cool. plus -- inside the latest push to restrict abortion, next. announcer: this is "washington

week." funding is provided by -- >> for projects arou the house, home adviser helps find local pros to do the work. you c check ratings, read customer reviews and book appointments with pros online. at homeadviser online. home adviser is proud to support "washington week." >> kevin. >> kevin. >> kevin. advice for life. life well planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> babbel, a language program that teaches rl life conversations in a new language such as spanish, french, german, italian and more. babbel's 10 to 15-minute lessons are available as an app or online. more information on babbel.com. announcer: additional fundin--is provided b

>> kaiser permanentee. koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committ bridging cultural differences pu our communities. the corporation foic broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator robert costa. robert:the trump administration has struck a deal with canada and mexico to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum being shipped to the u.s. president trump imposed the tariffs a year ago citing national security concerns. the tariffs were a response to what theresident called a ood of excess chinesect pro in global markets. the agreement removed a key obstacle to passing a new trade deal known as the usmca. could jolt negotiations with

china. joining me tonight, amna nawaz of "pbs newshour," philip rucker whington bureau chief for "the washington post." susan davis, congressional correspondent for, n and hans nichols, correspondent for nbc news. you have allg the sides com together on this, trying to get a deal. does this grease the skids for the usmca on capitol hill? >> it was a very good week on capitol hill for the president in the trade agenda, part of that because he came up to the hill to met with democrats, including nancy pelosi. i think there was skepticism going into the meeting and democratse ct of the meeting thinking the message to democrats was wt do i need to do to get you on board. they know they need ntocy pelosi ring this to the floor and i think they recognize that and i would sayn the ebb and flow of what can this congress do with this period, at the end of this

week, i talkedrao more dem who thought trade was much more of a possibility than some of the other things. robert: when could a vote happen? >> anyone who says anything that ly in happen substanti this congress has to happen this year. next year the chances aresl mer. nancy pelosi said she's not in any rush so i can't imagine it happens any time b soon if you'll see movement on it, fall is probably a time. robert: this wasn't the only sovement, hans. on trade t week we had the president saying we'll have a six-month plays for the european union and japan on auto tariffs. hans: the president doesn't want to fight a multi-front war. today heaid six-month delay and with canada and mexico, he said suing for peace, we'll have an agreement. it's unclear to me what changed in the substance from when the president decided to put the tariffs in against mexico andca da what what happened now. did we extract anything. but the president gets to focus all of h energy on china and

when you talk to administration officials, it's so car that what they really want to do is fundamentally alter the relaonship with china. it's salted throughout the president's speeches, in his rhetoric pretty much every time he addresses it. he seems more comfortable without a deal with china than with it. he can live in a world with tariffs for some time and even if he can't, he wants to send the message that he can and we saw that this week clearly. robert: you say the deals may not hav changed but maybe the markets changed. did that influence the white house? philip: i think it hassi the pnt more cautious delaying auto tariffs with europe and japan, lifting tariffs with mexico and canada. he's a little bit spooked, i think, by the markets and this goes to the 2020 re-election plan. re-elected he's the economy is strong and humming and right now we're seeing agitation and nerves on wall street and a sense that maybe all of these trade wars

coming together at the same time without a lot of certainty and clear forward agenda could rattle markets and have a hurtful economic impact. robert: you just got back from reporting in iowa. another farmers and chuck grassley unhappy with the tariffs on canada and musico be the mexican government with retaliation. now that this is coming to a peace agreement trade, what does that mean for farmers and the midwest? amna: it's important to point out that tho inhe agricultural field felt the effects of the tariffs early. it's also true that some tariffs have lag time before r theych the consumer and this week we saw some of those major c.e.o.s of places like wal-mart and macy's on their earnings call

saying we think we have no choice but to raise prices so i think that contributed to pressure on this white house to say maybe we need to ease up because when tariffs trickle down to the average consumer, that's where it blows back on them. rort: can there be arade deal on capitol hill if you have a white house this week'raying not going to cooperate with congress, with white house uncil -- counsel blocking any request, the treasury secretary not handing or tax returns so you have an all-out fightn the mueller report, does that hover over everything on trade? philip: absolutely. it changes the posture between the administration and congress because you have the white house basicallying all oversight investigations from the hill and so pelosi, you said, sue, will take their timeol this trade deal. she's no hurry and that might be because she wants to use that

as leverage and see what she can get out of the administration and the white house to break t log jam. susan: trade is an issue where the ideological curve bends between trump and a lot of democrats. he has natural allies here. he has natural alliesk in ch schumer, the minority leader in the senate, as well, who has always beeough on china and one of those issuewhere the president could find willing partners in democrats. i think republicans in the senate have to realize that this will be arade deal that needs nancy pelosi's vote and i think the republicans have shown if the president's on byrd, t get on line. robert: the president hammering the issue on tut not the only signature issue for him. with the 2020,lection ahe he returned to immigration this week. his new plan, outlid in the rose garden, would revamp legal immigration, prioritize edgecade and high-killed migrants and

favor immigrants who speak english. roposal does not address the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrant currently in the country or have protection for so-called "dreamers," those brought to the country as children. is this immigration plan from president trump on legal immigration dead on arrival on capitol hill? >> that is the phrase we'vear a lot. having tracked the president's comments and rhetoric and previoussals on immigration, what was actually put forth in the goseden was pretty muted. robert: why was it muted? is jared kushner who wants it to be muted? >> perhaps. we know kushner was on the hill briefing republicans about this. maybe there was feedback in terms ofhamight be pushed through. the old adage, if everyone is angry, maybe something's wrong. people on the far right of the spectrum saying we want low immigration were very unhappy with it.

on the far end, people unhappy on the left because it didn't orress daca or "dreamers" undocumented population. on the whole, the president called it a sweeping overhaul of the immigration system, it would be, if went anywhere, which don't think it will. >> i think it was weird. it was a weird -- if the goal was to get compromise, there was nothing in there to get democrats on board so you're not trying l toislate and if it is just a politically messaging tool, make it something guys on capitol hill getxcited about. get it to be a bill you think will excite your base and align with the ideology that has been the driving fce of your administration and it came off as maybe he was trying to soften his l viewstle bit. robert: are they worried about swing voters in certain districtsy lost in 2018? >> i think they are but you can't pick and choose on this issue. a lot of suburban swing voters, the thing that offended them was family separation at the border and if you're going to offer immigration proposal that doesn't address that, it doesn't

solve the concern of the voters that are motivated on this issue to begin with. philip: and immigration is such l powerrt of the president's agenda and the inord he'll be running on 2020 and it's family separation and it's the border wall, the two things voters in the country think about when they think of trump's immigration plan. ley won'tk at the details -- due respect to jared kushner -- they're not going to study that plan but they'll look at the presidentee rhetoric and what he's doing with the wall, sending troops to the border, separating children. robert: report in "the post" that the president is personally involv. philip: he's having meetings with department of homeland security officials to decide what the border wall would look like, the architectural details would be. he wants it painted black so it's hot to hurt if immigrants climb and he wants spears on the top to injure them. >> if you were someoneho has

looked at previous immigration patterns and been unhappy about the fact that majority of immigrants come from asia and latin america, the president's plan would have addressed that. changing it to merit-based, they wouldn't bro coming those countries and it would change the facing of. our count robert: behind closed doors, the president facing another possible crisis -- iran. lawmakers in both parties are alarmed. the "wall street journal" reports thatge.s. intele shows tehran and washington may have misread each other and that promptedran to prepare a possible counter strike. hans, you've covered the pentagon for years.yo re covering the white house. there's a lot of confusion out gothere about what'g on with iran. what do we know based on your reportinut a the evidence? ides: the evidence from a variety of reporting is that they have aerial pictures showing missiles loaded in a

unique way into small boats that could be filtered throughout the middle east that could pose a threat to troops and u.s. interests. more interestingly, the rhetoric from john in a lot of ways what we saw last week from the president, moving a carrier striketh group- 's routine. they accelerated this by about two weeks. what mattered is bolton making a big deal of it. it's clear he wants a rhetorical, strategic effect on the battlefield. robert: you don't read t tea leaves as preparing for war, removing nonessential personnel and family members from iraq, sending the aircraft carrier intoed persian gulf? yans: it's all messaging. you can class that as messaging. when you listen to the prestoent's rc, it almost seems like he's a regulator on bolton's bellicose throttle. he'll b reading a speech and they that's actually true what i just said.

he's almost commenting on his own speeches and with bolton he says, you think i'm crazy, this guy is really nuts. we've seen him say that. inlt the roose room, he's like, well, you think i'm scary, look at john bolton so the president wants to speak with multiple people. robert: we saw with steve bannon, if you get too out there on your profile, the president doesn't like it. it bolton at risk of being thrown out? philip: he could be at risk. the president doesn't like the weektive in the media in as bolton as a puppeteer, someone manipulating the president's decision making process. what a sea change this is from earlier in the administration when it was general mattis, general kelly, rex tillerson seen as guard rails against the president and nowt's the president who's the guardrail against bolto. robert: is there any appetite on capitol hill engagement with iran? >> no.

there was a lot of upset on capitol hill about this. often when youl have glo threats when you think the u.s. military might be needed, they notify the armed services committee and talk to the gang of eight -- the's a protocol and the administration didn't do that. there is concern of what is happening on the ground. they were hearing it in the media before thedministration. and the overall message was, this does not have -- military action i d irans not have support of congress and democrats would argue if theen pres wanted to do that, they would need a vote. robert: iran feels crippled with h.h.s. - itsconomy because of sanctions. >> much of this interpreting what the pressure is, economicon sanc which thede pre says they're prepared to escalate. it is clear tt any military action against iran would be

devastating and destabilizing for the region in a way the u.s. does not want to take on for a number ofeasons. robert: in alabama, the republican led state legislature passed aew total ban on abortion. the law has no exceptions for rape or incest, only when the rtther's health is at risk. women seeking an would not be punished but the doctor who performed the procedure cou face up to 99 years in prison. abama's just the lates state to pursue new abortion restrictions. eight states have passed laws restricting abortions this year. joining me now from montgomery, alabama, don dailey, news and public affairs director and host of "capitol journal" on alabama public t. television. thanks for joining us. what does this law mean for the women of alabama?

don: well, it's been a divisive issue here in the state this a week you might imagine. those who oppose this abortion ban have sd tha for women it means possible backroom abortions from the daysf yore and severe setbacks to women's reproductive health rights and those on the other side say it'u preserving life and presenting a test case they hope goes to the u.s. supreme court. robert: was that tal strategy all along in alabama? we've heard advocates say it was, thaterhey uand to kick -- they wanted to kick this issue to the highest court in the land. don: indeed. the sponsors of the legislation have said their ultimate goal wa a legal challenge, one they hope goes all the way to the supremeourt and forces a review of the roe versus wade decisionnd they said in keeping the abortion ban as nd asictive as possible you noted, it's heralded this

week as the most restrictive in the country, keeping it restrictive wou help their case, when and if it goes before the nation's highest court. robert: when you're in alabama talking to the leaders in the publican party who have been pushing this, what's their answer to the question ofhy now, why the urgency in going to the brink here onhis issue, why at this moment are they l rsuing it? don: they fe time is right on a number of levels. first of all, last year, alabamansy overwhelmin approved a constitutional amendment declaring alabama to be a pro life state. republicans who supported the abortion ban felt emboldened to take the step, that they felt they had the majority of alabama citizens behind them on this. then there's the issue about the cons supreme court. u.s. they feel the climate is right there, too, now, to take up this allenge if the caseakes it all the way to the u.s. supreme

court so it was a two-pronged approach theyad in initiating this legislation. robert: don dailey from alabama public television, i hope to see you down there soon when i cover jon jones, his re-election in 2020. don: thank you. robert: he mentioned the supreme court, brett kavanaugh recently heconfirmed. is a thought in the republican party that this supreme court has moved to the rightecause of the confirmation of kavanaugh and for that reason thiss thise moment? ntry, we saw missouri today and elsewhere. >> this has been part of a broader conservative strategy since 2012, we've seen legislatures pass laws with the intention to get something to the court to overturn roe v. wade. the fascinating thing about the alabama law is so much of the aborti debate is seen as between right and left but the

alabama measure exposed the divide in the republican party. mccarthy said he thought the law went too far and the ahead of the r.n.c. said the law went too far and others within the party debating whether this was advancing the cause or whether laws like this will be thrown out in the courts and derail the cause, that they're not advancing the policy and are tho politicsivisive that you are turning away the voters you're trying to persuade? robert: is this now one of the key issues for 2020? >> absolutely. we've already seen it come u withome of the presidential candidates on the democratic side. this is thef culmination o several years of chipping away at the constitutional, protected right for women to get an abortion. more than 400, i think, pieces of state legislation have been put into place over the last several years and this is the

latest acceleration and it's clear there has beence ration since justice kavanaugh took his seat, more restrictive laws have gone into ple. some of the more aggressive restrictive measures are probab less likely to be the ones the supreme court takes up according some. robert: missouri passed its own laws on abortion. amna: they're coming in all forms. some of theix- to eight-week bans are back-door bans. if you're sixeeks pregnant, you're two weeks late on your latest period so a lotf these measures are hidden behind language and have been in placea for years years but it's clear. anti-abortion activists think this is their moment in time. 30-plus years in t making, if ever was a chance to getde roe . reconsidered, it's now. robert: one of those long-time activists is vice president of

e united states, mike pence. how is this white house reacting? we heard from sue that top republican leaders in congress are distancing tmselves. the white house? philip: it's interesting. for now, president trump and the white house have n fully embraced this alabama law. they've said very little. they've tried to avoid taking a n.ear posit although vice president pence a pro life administration and he's an interesting figure because he's the connection between trump and the religious right, evangelical christians. for pence, it's aco personal iction and for trump, political convenience. president trump was pro choice before getting into the political race. hans: you get the sense t esident doesn't have a good feel for the abortion issue.e thre not many topics that

he won't weigh i on but he's very silent on abortion. this week the silence from the whiteee house has deafening. there was one short statement on wednesday on these the president likes to talk about what a good feel he has for t electorate and the economy -- he doesn't have that feel on abortion and t see be avoiding the issue. robert: maybe on statements he doesn't have the feel but o action he's filled the federal judiciary with many conservative judges. the fingerprints of this administration on this issue are everywhere. >> that's absolutely right. for people he's messaging politically, that's what they want to see and my trump supporters i've spoken to point exactly to that. m they not like the way he carries himself or conducts himself but we gotur supreme court justices and that's what we were here for.rt royou mentioned the 2020 race. we saw senator warren come out with her own plan.

is this the galvanizing issue, for some democrats in the presidential race, does this move up past the green new deal and other things out let out th? is this about protecting abortion rights? >> i tngnk one t to know is that one of the most driving issues in the 2018 midrms were women voters and the issue of healthcare and for many women voters, abortions a healthcar question so i think they look at it through that spectrum. i think democrats see this also as a way -- women voters haveal ady been very excited in our tolitical climate but this is something t will continue to galvanize them. i think it's important thatno is just about women. if you look at polling data on the country's attitudes on abortion, men andck women t similarly. a majority of men and majority of women think there should be some legal access to abortion, roughly the same numbers. the's not a gender divide. there's a political divide on the issue and so i do think

republicans also risk turning off a lot of men who share the views of women and independent men who do not -- may believe ir sotrictions but the kind of laws like alabama are something that really turnhem off to the party as a whole because it's not something they want to associate themselves with. robert: we'll leave ire. thanks for being here tonight. appreciate it on a friday night. up nex sti with us, we'll have the "washington week extra." we'll t ak moreut 2020, watch it on our website, facebook or youtube.i' robert costa have, a great weekend. announcer: corporate funding is provided by -- >> babbel, a language program that teaches real life

conversations in a new language such as spanish, french, german, italian and more. babbel's 10 to 15-minuteessons are available as an app or online. more information on babbel.com. announcer:ho adviser. kaiser permanente. financial services firm, raymond james. additional funding is provided by -- koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural dnces in our communities. the corporation for publ broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning ute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org.] >> you're watching pbs.

hey. hello, you. come this wa this is good, this is very good. we have got 12 oven-fresh bakers raring to get into t tent with, oh, just a mere 30 challenges between them and the title. mel: thousands of people applied. it's been qu a while coming, and now, today, it starts. mel: just 12 have made it through, and over the next 10 weeks... i'm just the most excited about being in the tent. to walk in there, have your station, see your ingredits, see your recipe. mel: their baking will be scrutinized, whatever their experience... woman: i've been baking for years. i suppose i'm having my chance at last, aren't i? man: the thing that worries me the most is probably opening the oven and realizing i've burnt everything. mel: judges mary and paul... i don't know how she's going to recover that. ra have prepared 30 bnd-new challenges. man: been aware of mary berry for a long time, so quite looking forward to having her taste myares, if you like.