this morning, a white house seemingly in chaos. there's new reporting that those closest to president trump is worried about his well being. and what bob mueller wants. a witness subpoena for documents involving president trump and several of his closest advisers. plus -- >> and the oscar goes to -- "the shape of water." >> they got it right this time. the spotlight on diversity during the oscars this year. we're taking a look at the big winners from last night's annual

academy awards. good morning, everybody. it is monday, march 5th. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside lou louis burgdorf. according to "the washington post," there is a grave sense among donald trump's advisers. trump's friends are increasingly concerned about his well being, worried the president's obsession with cable commentary and perceived slides is taking a toll on the 71-year-old. pure madness, said one exasperated ally. the president's announcement of new steel and aluminum tariffs emerged from anger un like any they had seen before. conduct by ag jeff sessions and

the treatment of jared kushner by chief of staff john kelly. on wednesday evening, the president became unglued. trump, the two officials said, was angry and gunning for a fight and he actually chose a trade war. continuing this weekend with a tweet saturday about trade with the euu, threatening to apply a new tax. and writing last night, quote, our friends and enemies have taken advantage of the u.s. for many years. all right. the fallout over president trump's impromptu announcement of tariffs on aluminum and steel continue to mount. this is from trump aes own party, worried the moves may back fire on them. kelly, good morning. >> good morning, yasmin. as a candidate, donald trump pitched himself as someone who would fight for the american worker and bring back manufacturing. now, as president, one of his ideas is drawing a lot of controversy from friends and allies around the world.

from a trump-style campaign message -- >> we are going to put american steel and aluminum back into the backbone of our company. >> to trump-style decision making. >> dow going down with a decline of moren than 4/30 points. >> heard from a fire alarm among markets, a allies and even the president's own party. >> heard american consumers and their allies, please reconsider their solution. >> but in places like west virginia where trump's trade positions have traction, enthusiasm can be found from a democrat. we've talked about fair trade. free trade hasn't worked well for west virginia. we've lost thousands of jobs. >> the trump plan would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum coming into the u.s., intending to make u.s. steel and alumni providers more competitive. >> i think it's going to hurt us

in the long run. our sly and demand now is going to be hard because almost all our stainless steel is made overseas. >> with days to go until the president says he will sign the tariff plan, commerce secretary wilbur ross said other nations want a chance to influence the terms. >> a lot of countries have been talking with the president, we've been talking with me, they've been talking with others. we'll see. the president makes the decisions. >>s ross dismissed concerns that threats of trade retaliation against american-made goods would hurt consumers. >> retaliation isn't going to change the price of a can of beer. it isn't going to change the price of a car. it's just not going to. >> secretary ross acknowledges there is a device in the president's circle over whether these tariffs are good policy. but despite those differences, he says so far he hasn't seen any indication the president would back away from this idea

or carve out specific exceptions for certain countries. but he cautioned, that is up to the president and a decision could come this week. yasmin. >> thanks to kelly o'donnell for that report. trump administration officials are continue to go try and mitigate the gaj from the president's free wheeling meeting with congressional leaders last week in which he embraced overhauling gun laws. according to the "new york times," the president's staff have been telling ally toes stop focussing on the president's comments from the wednesday meeting. the two say white house counselor kellyanne conway was reminding people president trump has an a plus rating from the nra because he understands adding nobody is making legislative policy in the cabinet room. conway said no one should expect the president and the nra to be in lock step on every issue, but that they remain generally in

synch. leaders are counting on trump to change his mind or so lose interest in the ambitious proposals he endorsed last week. but joe manchin is hoping the president can play a major role in getting his bill to approve background checks approved. >> if president trump would have been president in 2013, that bill would have passed. >> he you think he's giving the kind of leadership now that will allow your bill to pass? >> i'm very hopeful. president trump has said, background checks are needed. this bill of ours should be the base he works off of. but this makes gun sense. it makes common sense. so i think that we can, with the president. president trump coming forth to something like this and putting his support behind will give remembers enough cover to support this, in a most

reasonable, responsive way. >> and coming up, jeremy peters will have more on that reporting. new perspective inside special counsel bob mueller's probe this morning as nbc news has reviewed a grand jury subpoena sent to one witness last month seeking communications related to multiple trump campaign advisers. the lift includes president trump, hope hicks, carter page, corey lewandowski, keith shiller, steve bannon, roger stone and rick gays. and president trump's son-in-law and senior adviserer, jared kushner, remains under the shadow of robert mueller's russia probe. it was errored on friday mueller's team has been asking witnesses about kushner's efforts to secure financing for his family's real estate

properties. president trump has been asking people close to him whether they think kushner or his company has done anything wrong. that's according to a senior administration official. two advisers tell the paper that the president repeatedly tells aides that the russia investigation will not ensnare him even as it ensnares others around him and the that he thinks the american people are finally starting to conclude that the democrats opposed to his campaign colluded with the russians. unnamed white house aides say president trump has both jared kushner and wife ivanka that they should keep serving in their roles, even as he has privately asked chief of staff john kelly for his help in moving them out. joining me on set here, dan hoffman. thanks for joining us very early in the morning. so we have new reporting that bob mueller's team has reached out to their turkish

counterparts to get information about jared kushner's ties with that country. what is the likelihood they're going to cooperate with those in turkey? >> it's certainly possible that they will. it's possible, as well, that we'll have other streams of intelligence reporting on what is known about jared kushner's business dealings in turkey. i think what the mueller investigation is doing, what the special counsel is doing, is just trying to cover all the bases and make sure they don't miss anything. >> what's the protocol here to get foreigners to cooperate in investigations like this one? and, really, what's their incentive? >> i think what would normally happen at the embassy is this is a legal matter. they would meet and explain that we have this investigation going on. there is an element of reciprocity here. in other words, when the turks have legal issues in the united states, it's not always so smooth, but they would like for us to help them and vice versa. the key, though, is keeping this secret, all the information that's passed, and that's something we'll have to wait to see. >> is there a precedent for

foreign officials targeting people so high up at the white house, possibly someone like jared kushner, the son-in-law of the president? >> what i can tell you is there's no question that most every country in the world, they do these leadership profiles. they'll look at all the key people in the administration. they'll do a full background on them, understanding where they came from and what their business relationships are and what they are doing is trying to understand how they can berten gauge in them and where vulnerabilities might exist so they can take advantage of them. >> are intelligence agencies dialed in to these vulnerabilities, per se, and what are they doing to combat that? >> that's part of the security clearance, first and foremost. if someone is deemed to have vulnerabilities, then they don't get a security clearance. we've seen that with jared kushner where his security clearance has been downgraded to secret and that's the fbi's

determination that his financial vulnerabilities make him vulnerable. so you think all these people that don't necessarily have security clearance in the white house are now sort of this tamping down from john kelly within the white house because of security clearance or lack thereof was making them more vulnerable? >> there was a point to that risk. it appears that the rob porter scandal was a spark for some action to be taken. >> all right. dan hoffman, i'm going to talk with you again at the bottom of the hour. thanks, dan. and the 90th annual academy awards are in the books. "the shape of water" emerged victor yus, pick up four honors including best director, original score, production design, and best picture. "tlooi three billboards outside ewwing, missouri," earn best actress and sam rockwell an award for best supporting actor. gary oldman won best actor for

his portrayal of winston churchill and alice janning earned her awarder for i, tonya. and 89-year-old james ivory is now the oldest oscar winner after winning adapted screenplay for "call me by your name." >> i saw "i tonya" friday night. it is so good. >> it was a really good show last night. i thought jimmy kimmel did a good job. >> oh, yeah. next, president trump roasts himself and his admin tragz at the dinner. plus, a nor'easter hits the east coast over the weekend leaving millions of americans without power. and another storm could be on the way this week. we'll have a full check on your forecast when we come back.

she's noticing a real difference in her joint comfort... karen: "she's single." ...and high levels of humiliation in her daughter. in just 7 days, your joint comfort can be your kid's discomfort. osteo bi-flex. made to move. whilnothing comparested modeto the real thing.d... experience the command performance sales event for yourself, now through april 2. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. it takes a lot of work to run this business. but i really love it. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i don't eat the way i should. so, i drink boost to get the nutrition i'm missing. boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d. all with a great taste. boost gives me everything i need... to be up for doing what i love.

boost high protein be up for it you know what's not awesome? gig-speed internet. when only certain people can get it. let's fix that. let's give this guy gig- really? and these kids, and these guys, him, ah. oh hello. that lady, these houses! yes, yes and yes. and don't forget about them. uh huh, sure. still yes! xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone.

now you can get it, too. welcome to the party. are you concerned about the president's state of mind? >> his state of mind is fine. if you went to the gridiron last night, he was very relaxed, he was self-deprecating. i don't see any problem with his behavior at all. >> welcome back, everybody. that was commerce secretary wilber ross dismissing reports that the president is engaged in erratic decision making, as he mentioned. president trump took his routine to the gridiron dinner this past weekend, roasting himself and members of his administration in front of an audience full of journalists and lawmakers. at one point, his staff said they were concerned he could fought pull off self-deprecating

humor. at one point, he told them, quote, i want to the apologize for running a little late as jared could not get through security. he also hit attorney general jeff sessions over the russia probe, quote, i offered him a ride over and he recused had himself. and on the vp trump jokes, i have to tell you, he's showing a particularly keen interest in the news these days. he starts out each morning asking everybody has he been impeached yet and on north korea, i won't rule out direct talks with skim k kim jong un. as far as the risk of dealing with a mad man is concerned, that's his problem, not mine. that's pretty good. white house chief of staff john kelly is acknowledging missteps in his handling of the rob porter scandal, but said he did nothing to warrant a resignation. kelly took questions from a small group of reporters in his office saying he with did not cover ourselves in glory.

on the issue of a large number of staffers, working with only interim security clearances, kelly said he became of the that last september and that it was, quote, more people than i was comfortable with. that culminated with staffers working with interim top secret clearances being downgraded last week, a move that affected the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, jared kushner. let's get a check on your weather now with bill karins. you're tracking some snow in the plains that were heading our ways. i thought you said spring was on the way. >> that was a distance memory. winter is holding on and in a big way. obviously some people are cleaning up from the huge nor'easter that we had and the in coastal areas, even massachusetts and new england. we're dealing with coastal flooding. especially areas of eastern massachusetts and maine, especially just incredible

amount of water. and then all the downed trees and still all the people at one point, over a million people didn't have power and there are thousands that are still in the dark. here we go again. a new winter storm. this one is in the northern plains. blizzard warnings are up. today is a very difficult travel day from the dakotas and into minnesota. so the blizzard warning goes just outside of sioux city. minneapolis, you couldn't buy snow in the mirnt middle of the winter and now you're getting one snowstorm after another. green bay, milwaukee, chicago, minor event there. it's mostly rain, a little bit of snow on the tail end. so the snowfall forecast, minneapolis, 6 inches for you and areas of wisconsin, around 2 to 4 inches. central portions of michigan, only about 1 to 3. so then that storm on tuesday spins through the great lakes as it weak.ens, but a new storm on wednesday forms off the east coast and heads in a

northeasterly direction. we're going to call this one another nor'easter. the this one has colder air to work with than the last one. so even some of the cities could get more snow and accumulating plowable snow out of this including new york, hartford, and boston. this is the early call. we're still 48 hours away from the first snowflake. but from philly southward, fought much. and then we may have another one on sunday right after this. it's painful. >> wow. it's.been fantastic talking to you this morning. still ahead, collecting five nba titles and having two jersey numbers retired clearly it was not enough. how one laker legend added to his trophy case last night. details next in sports. of your homeland, but you could never be broken. you walked together. you built your home again.

my dna showed that i'm native american, and connected me to cousins who taught me about our tribe. my name is joseph reece, and this is my ancestrydna story. now with 10 million new family connections made every day. order your kit at ancestrydna.com a heart transplant... that's a whole different ballgame. i was in shock. i am very proud of the development of drugs that can prevent the rejection and prevent the recurrence of the original disease. i never felt i was going to die. we know so much about transplantation. and we're living longer. you cannot help but be inspired by the opportunities that a transplant would offer. my donor's mom says "you were meant to carry his story". why is dark magic so spell-bindingly good? it's a bold blend of coffee with rich flavors of uganda, sumatra, colombia and other parts of south america. like these mountains, each amazing on their own. but together? magical. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee.

green mountain coffee roasters. don't we need that cable box to watch tv? nope. don't we need to run? nope. it just explodes in a high pitched 'yeahhh.' yeahhh! try directv now for $10 a month for 3 months. no satellite needed. it's 6 am. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, more than a thousand workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation.

today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette. gillette - the best a man can get. welcome back. time you now for sports with number 15 michigan squaring off against number 8 purdue. the big ten tournament title. although purdue's center scored 23 points, it wasn't enough to stop michigan efficient offense. john tessky adding 14 off the bench. late in the second half, the wolverines held on, winning 75-66 to clench their second consecutive big ten title. congratulations to them.

meanwhile, cincinnati and wichita state duked it out playing for one seed in the american athletic conference tournament. evans had 19 points and helped put the bear cats over the shockers winning 62-61 becoming conference champions. the tournament starts this thursday march 8 in oral. we're switching gears to golf where phil mickelson has finally won once again defeating justin thomas in a sudden death playoff in the wgc mexico championship. the five-time major champion won the tournament at the age of 47 as he is poised to compete for the masters in augusta in early april. there is phil. now to the red carpet where kobe bryant won an oscar for his most animated short film "dear basketball." the film is based on a film he

wrote before his retirement. he added he was glad he could do a little bit more than just, quote, shut up and dribble." finally, some sad news over the weekend as the world lost sir roger banister. he was 88 years old. may 6th, 1954 on the track, banister did something no athlete had ever done before. he broke the four-minute mark in the mile, clocking in at 3:59.4. later that same year, however, banister retired from competitive running and went on to pursue a long and distinguished medical career becoming knighted in 1975. he died peacefully in england. even though the four-minute mile mark has been surpassed plenty of times, it isn't as sweet as the first time. banister said the run became a symbol of attempting a challenge in the physical world adding he would like to see it as a met

for, not only for sport, but for life in seeking challenges. what an incredible legacy for him. >> that's what i was going to say. breaking that four-minute mile mark, how incredible is that. and kobe bryant, man, you can't stop the guy. lots of talent there. still ahead, russian president putin responds to the indictment of several russian nationals. what he has to say about the kremlin's role in the 2016 election interference. plus, president trump praising china to end presidential term limits and jokes that the u.s. should do the same. we'll be right back. nature's bounty lutein blue helps protect eyes from damaging blue light, filtering it out to help you continue enjoying your screens. or... you could just put your phones down and talk to each other. [laughing] nature's bounty lutein blue. because you're better off healthy. we all want restful sleep. that's why nature's bounty melatonin is made to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

so you'll be ready for whatever tomorrow brings. because mom's love is unconditional. even at 6am. nature's bounty melatonin. we're all better off healthy. here's the story of green mountain coffee roasters sumatra reserve. let's go to sumatra. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. which helps provide for win's family. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters. pepsoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. and keeps on working. now? they see me. see me.

see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. never give up. see me. see me. clear skin can last. don't hold back... ...ask your dermatologist if cosentyx can help you find clear skin that lasts.

welcome back, everybody. i'm yak minute vossoughiyasmin alongside louis burgdorf. wilber ross and peter navaro have been in favor of imposing new tariffs and the director of nash economic council gary cohn and steve mnuchin oppose tariffs. earlier this year, cohn tried to argue these tariffs would ruin trump's record wiping away benefits of tax reform, but trump kept saying trump was a,

quote, globalist. yesterday reince priebus said these arguments are healthy for the administration. >> i think what the president does, and he writes about it even in his own books, is he puts rivals around him intellectually. you have people like wilbur ross and gary cohn. he says, fight out tariffs in front of me. they fight it out. the media covers the fight, but ultimately, the decision is made. the decisions and things that president trump has done have put him on a great course. if you're a republican, you couldn't be happier. >> and trump administration officials were out defending the president's decision to impose new tariffs after nbc reported a lack of preparation ahead of thursday's announcement in which no one at the state department, tresh ry department or defense department had been told about a new policy or given any advanced opportunity to weigh in. there were no prepared approved remarks for the president to give.

there was no diplomatic strategy for how to alert foreign trade partners, there was no legislative strategy in place for ip forming congress and no one agreed upon the communication's plan beyond an e-mail cobbled together by wilber ross's team at the commerce department late wednesday that had not been approved by the white house. but yesterday, ross and peter navaro said everything is on track. >> when the president ran against those agendas, he beat them. there's no downstream effects here. there's the president, the national security and economic purposes, saving and defending our steel and aluminum industries. >> should we believe this is actually going to happen? >> well, i think you have to take the president at his word. he made campaign promises. he's pretty well proven so far he intends to keep his campaign

promises. >> so this is going to happen this week, for sure, the way he said it, 25%, 10%? >> whatever his final decision is what will happen. >> meaning this isn't a condeal? >> i didn't say a that. i just said what he has said, he has said. if he says something different, it will be something different. i have to reason to think he's going to change. >> and russian president putin is responding to special counsel robert mueller's recent indictment of russian entities. speaking after a state of the nation address last week exclusively with megyn kelly who is in moscow on assignment, putin doesn't database that russia was involved, but that the kremlin played no party. >> those three russian companies, including as you point out some of your close friends were not behind this? this has caused an international

incident. >> translator: i know they do not represent the russian state, the russian authorities. what they did specifically, i have no idea. i do not know what they were guided by. maybe it's just our american colleagues. let them just not talk to the press. let them provide some materials, some specifics and data. we'll be then willing to talk about it. >> that would be great. will you answer to the united states? >> never. never. russia does not extradite its citizens to anyone, just like the united states. >> megyn kelly will have more reporting from russia in the coming days. and former obama white house chief of staff dennis mcdonough blames senate majority leader mitch mcconnell for the obama administration's response to russi russian meddling. take a listen. >> the president asked for four leaders to join him in asking the states to work with us on

this question. it took over three weeks to get that statement worked out. it was dramatically watered down. you can ask harry reid and unanimous nancy pelosi. >> and it was watered down on the insistence of mitch mcconnell? >> yes. >> that spoke to malefactors, but did not specifically mention russia. and a response to mcdonough's comments, they were asked about security, not russia. he called a letter, quote, ultimately successful. joining me on set once again, a former cia station chief who spent five years in

moscow. daniel hoffman. i want to take a bit more listen to dennis mcdonough and then we'll talk. >> one is the sanitity of the vote, that voter role, the individual going into that ballot box and casting a vote and making sure that vote is counted. we stand by our position that the things we fear they may do in that spot, they did not. >> so a couple questions here. what do they fear the russians may have done that they did not and how could they have compromised the sanctity of the vote? >> vladimir putin had us in a tough spot. the intelligence community had obtained information that the russians werer hacking and meddling in our elections. in july, there was an investigation into the trump campaign. so there was concern at that time and issues about what to do about it.

and i think the obama administration felt the if they had rung lathe alarm bells, the would have done putin's job for him. because of the enormity of the attack, a better action would have been to take more action than what we took. what we did was a pretty watered down response. the president took putin aside and asked him to stop. and then kind of a watered down press conference from the department of homeland security, jay johnson, director of homeland security and the dni. >> so we have putin talking to megyn kelly there basically completely denying any involvement in election medaling. why not take responsibility? wouldn't na make ythat make youd to the russians? >> in russia, that is taking

responsibility. that's your leader with the chesshire cat smile. everyone knows he was trained in the kgb. an official denial where all the facts lead us to the conclusion that russia did meddle, that's exactly what you would with expect. if you polled russia with a poll, they would say, of course, russia meddled. >> and what about the fact that he says he's not going to extradite the 13 russians indicted by bob mueller. i imagine you're not surprised by this. >> no. there's no rule of law in russia about this. of course, vladimir putin would never allow that to happen. >> and a lot of these guys or some of these guys that were indicted by bob mueller are very close to putin. president trump is not only praising china for eliminating

presidential term limits, but hinting he wants the u.s. to follow suit. you may recall that last week china announced it is altering its constitution and will abolish presidential term limits paving the ray for xi jinping to rule for life. during a closed door speech on saturday at mar-a-lago, trump said, quote, he is now president for life. president for life. no, he's great. and look, he was able to do that. i think it's great. maybe we'll have to give what that a shot the some day. trump's comments come as an embattled faes of sorts said that trump supported presidential term limits in america. it's not the first time, though, trump lavished praise on a foreign leader. last year, he praised president

erdogan. let's head to italy where election projections indicate a hung parliament. a right wing coalition formed between former prime minister sylvia berlusconi has enough votes to win a seat, but not form the majority of the government. in a massive setback, the ruling democratic party won less than a fifth of votes. the early results show a surge in support for populist groups. it could set the stage for weeks of negotiations to form a new government. and global stocks are kicking off the week mostly lower over those election results in italy and the the proposed tariffs by the u.s. karen joins us live from london. what are investors saying about those election results and the possible tariffs? >> lewis, for an election that was meant to deliver a hung

parliament to one that has effectively done that, we have a fairley negative market reaction today. stocks have been trading down most of the morning. in contrast to the rest of the europe that's now bunsed to the green. italy was one of the best performing markets in 2018 when the rest of the core european markets are.dropped most of their gains to 2018 in the market sell-off. so we now have a reversal for the stock market, as well. what is selling off the most? it's the italian banks. and don't forget this was near the market that had bounced on the back of momentum training, but in the cleanup on toxic loans on the balance sheet. a number of the banks still have about a fifth of the loans in turning sour. so this is a concern. now, when it comes to market sentiment, we had a market sell-off in february on technicals. the market is concerned we might have fundamental reasons to sell-off around trade tariffs, but increased interest rates. the tariffs on the weekend, many investors are looking for them

to be rolled back. but instead, officials spoke about company exemptions. so this is a concern for many investors this week and concerns around possible tariffs, around finished goods for european cars. now back to you. >> a lot going on on the international market, karen cho live from london. thanks so much. back on the campaign trail, president trump heads to one key swing state ahead of an election there as former vice president joe boyden throws his support behind a candidate in that race.

i grew up in the projects and so home ownership was not an option for us. i am taking the steps to own a home because i want my children to know it's all so that they can have a better life. oh my gosh. this is amazing. we're so much closer to home ownership. this is amazing. ♪ wild thing ♪ applebee's handcrafted burgers. any burger just $7.99. now that's eatin good in the neighborhood. your heart doesn't only belong ♪to you. bye grandpa.

and if you have heart failure, entrusting your heart to entresto may help. entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital compared to a leading heart failure medicine. don't take entresto if pregnant. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. and help make more tomorrows possible. ♪ why is dark magic so spell-bindingly good? it's a bold blend of coffee with rich flavors of uganda, sumatra, colombia and other parts of south america.

like these mountains, each amazing on their own. but together? magical. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters. on your medicare part d looking toprescriptions?e money at walgreens, we'll help you save more with zero dollar copays on select plans and reward points on prescriptions. so no matter where you're going or who you are, it's worth the trip. we'll help you find low cost prescriptions including zero dollar copays on select medicare part d plans. walgreens. trusted since 1901. welcome back, everybody. president trump is set to return to the campaign trail later this week ahead of a highly contested election in the swing state pennsylvania. the president will visit the pittsburgh area on saturday just three days before voters there

head to the polls in the state's 18th congressional district. the statement announcing his visit did not mention the race or the republican candidate for that matter. instead, there is speculation that trump would use the event to roll out his recently announced tariffs on imported steel and aluminum which could be popular in that part of the country. former vice president joe bidenen will visit the region for the democratic candidate in that reason. biden, generally pop w lar with unions will vote the area hopes of boosting the democratic turnout at the polls. the dallas morning news reports that according to the secretary of state's website, tracking the 15 counts with the registered voters, early voting among in democrats is up 98% compared to last year. republicans in the same counties

have seen a 16% increase since 2014. this comes as a record number of democrats have decided to run in this year's midterms. according to "the washington post," by the end of last year, 1,218 democrats had filed to run for congress compared to 807 republicans. this is the most candidates at this stage of the election season since the fec started keeping records back in 1977. let's switch gears here and get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, you say winter isn't over there. we want some spring weather. but you say the snow is on the way. >> it's still winter, yeah. i wliek to consider march a spring month, but often it's a cruel month. we're starting with a winter storm in the northern plains. we're going to get snow in minneapolis later on tonight. soaking rain in the middle of the country.

we're fine on the western seaboard. fast forward into wednesday. coastal storm, yes, another one redevelops. it will not be as severe as the wind, so we shouldn't have the power outage problems. with that, the winds being strong and costal tides won't be as bad. but the snow footprint will be bigger than the last one. the rest of the country is kind of quiet. thursday and friday, that storm is gone and much of the nation looks okay. so as far as the nation goes, winter with storm watches from northern portions of new england through central new england, 33 million people from tuesday evening extended to thursday morning. it goes down to just about central new jersey. trenton and philadelphia not included. again, this is the early first call on snowfall amounts. this would have a tract just off the new england coast. a little bit of mixing boston, long island. coastal winds in new jersey.

jackpot in maine, new hampshire, interior sections near worchester and central new jersey. >> jackpot is usually a good thing. >> oh, you don't like lots of snow? >> no, i don't. still ahead, world leaders not mincing words when it comes to president trump's thoughts on tariffs. we'll look at how others around the world are reacting to his plan. ♪ it takes a lot of work to run this business. but i really love it. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i don't eat the way i should. so, i drink boost to get the nutrition i'm missing. boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d.

all with a great taste. boost gives me everything i need... to be up for doing what i love. boost high protein be up for it

welcome, everybody. the international community is responding to president trump's desired tariffs on steel and aluminum imports including the head of the eu vowing retaliatory measures. good to talk to you this morning. thanks so much for joining us. i have to imagine that the reaction overseas has been quite harsh to this. >> good morning. it has been harsh indeed, both from allies and adversaries of america. the proposal has baffled folks. france and germany expressed grave concerns. warning they won't sit by idly if import taxes are enacted.

trump threatened 25% tariff on cars if they try to retaliate. that would be a huge blow. the zus their most lucrative export market. as you mentioned, threats are coming in from brussels too. the they were prepared to respond forcefully by targeting imports of iconic u.s. brands like harley davidson motorbikes, bourbon whiskey. also difficult moment for the united kingdom. the u.s. is a big market for uk steel industry and britain is negotiating its way out of the eu and in a hope to capitalize on its special relationship with america and bolster trade after brexit. after a phone call to president trump yesterday, prime minister's may said she raised deep concerns over the president's plans. china, canada, brazil, mexico, japan have all said they would consider retaliatory steps if the president presses ahead with

his tariffs. >> definitely seems like it would be headed towards a trade war that is for sure. thank you so much. the white house is responding to the syrian government's on going assault on the rebel-held city of eastern ghouta. a statement released yesterday the white house takes direct aim at assad ally russia saying in part, quote, after repeatedly delaying the passage of united nations security council resolution 2401, which demanded a 30-day cessation of hostilities across syria, russia has went on to kill syrian civilians. this is the same combination of lies and indiscriminate force that russia and the syrian regime used to isolate and destroy aleppo in 2016 where thousands of civilians were killed. the civilized world must not tolerate the assad regime's

continued use of chemical weapons. at least 630 people had been killed, including 151 children and 93 women since the syrian government began a massive air and land bombardment of eastern ghouta back on february 18th. just a terrible situation there, yasmine. doesn't seem like there's any end. >> the images and video coming out of syria always so heart breaking. still ahead, everybody, "morning joe" is live in washington after another chaotic week at the white house. "the washington post" phillip drieps, quote, pure madness and dark days as trump shocks and rages. phillip is here with his latest reporting and jeremy peters on why the president is unlikely to buck the nra as he claims he would. new developments in the russia investigation as bob mueller's team digs into jared kushner's efforts to secure financing for his family's real

estate properties. another jam-packed edition of "morning joe" just moments away. she's noticing a real difference in her joint comfort... karen: "she's single." ...and high levels of humiliation in her daughter. in just 7 days, your joint comfort can be your kid's discomfort. osteo bi-flex. made to move. the roasted core wrap.belly fat. 3, 2, 1... not cool. freezing away fat cells with coolsculpting? now that's cool!

coolsculpting safely freezes and removes fat cells with little or no downtime. and no surgery. results and patient experience may vary. some rare side effects include temporary numbness, discomfort and swelling. ask your doctor if coolsculpting is right for you and visit coolsculpting.com today... for your chance to win a free treatment. whilnothing comparesnary modeto the real thing.d... experience the command performance sales event for yourself, now through april 2. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. it's 6 am. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, more than a thousand workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette.

gillette - the best a man can get. welcome back, everybody.

before we toss it over to "morning joe." let's check on the stories to watch in the day ahead. president trump is set to welcome israeli prime minister netanyahu to the white house today. the two men are not scheduled to make any public comments during his netanyahu's visit. it comes amid the leader's legal troubles in several far-reaching bribery scandals. bill cosby is expected to appear in a pennsylvania courtroom today ahead of his upcoming sexual abuse retrial. today's proceeding will determine whether the evidence presented to jurors at his second trial on sexual assault charges will differ from that in his first. that ended in a mistrial last june. that will include whether the judge will allow any more of cosby's accusers to testify than he allowed during the last proceeding. >> that does it for us on this monday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. this is a can of campbell's

soup. in the can of campbell's soup, there's about 2.6 cents, 2.6 pennies worth of steel. here is a can of coca-cola. coca-cola has 3 cents worth of aluminum in it. it doesn't mean anything. so, all this hysteria is a lot to do about nothing. >> let them eat soup. what happened? >> well, they -- >> commerce secretary wilbur ross, one of the wealthiest people in america who built part of his fortune from steel interests. >> also one of the most articulate obviously. >> shrugs off concerns about the potential economic fallout from an increased tariff on steel. it's a policy reportedly launched by an unglued president deflecting his anger in unchecked ways. >> whoa. >> and happy good monday morning to you. >> it was wild. seriously, that was an