sure he'll be welcomed back to new york as if he spent his junior year abroad and going back to campus except he spent the year in "game of thrones." so he is lucky to have escaped with his life. >> and you don't think he pays the price for not leaving after charlottesville at which was a low point. >> he will pay a price and he pays a price in my esteem for not leaving for nazis but tariffs is where i draw the line. but i think they will take him back in new york. thank you so much. that does it for our hour. ike nicolle wallace, "mtp daily" starts right now. >> hi, nicolle. tell eugene that his game of thrones got a chuckle out of our starting line. well did, mr. robinson. if it is thursday, steel yourself for what is to come -- >> tonight protectionism and promises of new jobs. the global ripple effect of the new tariffs on steel and

aluminum. >> by contrast we will not place any new tax on product made in the usa. >> we'll talk exclusively to the head of the united steel workers of america. and a trump associate and russi russian banker and a secret island meeting. there is a back channel to the president. and celebrity in politics. could actress cynthia nixon take on a real-life role as new york governor. this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. ♪ ♪ >> good evening and welcome to "mtp daily." i'm chuck todd here in washington. one thing we can say for certain about this white house, everything is uncertain. and we mean everything. president trump just wrapped up a signing ceremony imposing 25% tariffs on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum. the build-up toward today's

event began last week after an off the cuff announcement from the president that surprised everyone. republicans and u.s. allies and even many in the west wing staff. folks, we said it before and we'll say it again sometime soon, do you take this president seriously, literally in, neither? and his word is increasingly meaningless. and will he or wouldn't he announcement is a con -- constant state of confusion. they don't know what the president will say and when he will say it and when he will completely change his position all over again. look at his position on trade just in the last week. >> it will be 25% for steel, and it will be 10% for aluminum. and it will be for a long period of time. >> we're not backing down. mexico is -- we've had a very bad deal with mexico and with canada. it is called nafta. and one of the points we'll

negotiate are tariffs on steel for canada and mexico. >> if we are able to make a deal with canada and mexico in nafta, then there will be no reason to do the tariffs with canada and mexico. >> if we reach a deal, it is most likely that we won't be charging those two countries the tariffs. >> we'll be doing something with other countries, we're going to be very flexible. >> and uncertainty like this leads to paralysis because we have a president that speaks in absolutes and governors on the fly. republicans don't know if they should implement or wait for his position to change and fight it when it contradicts party orthodoxy. and on daca, i'll sign whatever the people in this room comes up with and then the bipartisan senate plan is a catastrophe and by the way, we are suing california over sanction laws and stricter gun laws and on first it is time to pass a bipartisan bill and then great meeting with the nra and the upcoming calendar doesn't include any upcoming gun bill. i'm replacing obama.

first repeal and replace and then the health care overhaul never passed ant hhs just changed access to short-term insurance. so to bory from lindsey graham, is tariff trump or the same as tuesday trump or thursday trump or does it matter. joining me now, leo girard from the president of the united steel workers of america and something that is very happy with today's announcement. thank you, and welcome back to the show. >> thank you. gr glad to be on you -- with you. >> why do you believe the steel tariffs are needed and why do you think they're going to work? >> let me put things in perspective. this is a long-term problem. go back to president clinton when he was leaving office, he wrote a letter to the commerce department that said the commerce department should take action because the steel industry had been under attack for 30 years. so for at least the 30 years since then we've been pushing hard for some responsible response to what is going on in the economy.

our members aren't looking for something special. i want to make that clear. our members are looking for a level playing field and what president trump has done is he's given us a signal that he will level the playing field. we've tried to get democratic administrations, republican administrations to do this. and let me make another point about canada. canada has a trade deficit with the united states. the united states has sent more steel to canada than canada sent to the u.s. but next year canada might send more and it will go the other way because we have an integrated market so i'm looking forward to the next steps and making sure that this will translate into jobs. >> now you want to make an exception for canada but you just made a case for how difficult it is to impose tariffs because canada and the united states, it is an intergrated market in the steel industry -- >> but chuck -- >> but there is manufacturing that uses still imports to make things here in america and it is

this -- >> both ways. >> it will complicate it, right? >> chuck, both ways. canada is -- has got a real exception because of the integration of our economy. and an auto part might start off in hamilton making steel and to detroit and back to windsor and some other place in the u.s. and into an automobile. so it is a really integrated market that we've got. but let me say this. the president has made it really clear that he's going to tackle the trade deficits. it is unacceptable that america would have an $800 billion trade deficit but when you subtract services, roughly $600 billion annual trade deficit. that is a wealth transfer and you can't argue that those trade deficits are creating good jobs. those trade deficits are taking good jobs away. and i heard someone speak on it -- >> mr. girard. some people argue that the power of trade, particularly in the united states, is that yes there are some countries where there is trade deficits but there is also a national security

component. >> yeah. >> we're exporting values. exporting democracy and exporting an ability to have a financial ally. >> i don't understand your point. but i'll tell you this, china doesn't own dump steel in our market, it dumps unemployment into our market. and so we know who the cheerts are. >> you think this should be targeted just at china. >> no, i think we should look at all of the cheaters and look at those countries that don't cheat -- >> who is cheating -- >> that play by the rules. >> who else is cheating on steel -- >> china. south korea. india, vietnam. russia. not only on steel but on aluminum. and let's put things in real perspective. in 15 years ago america made about 130 million tons of steel. now we make 85 million tons of steel. but you know, we're the most productive steel industry in the world. our members can make steel in less than one hour per ton up to

a man hour per half and a ton of steel from america has one-third the carbon emissions from china and south korea and from vietnam and india and egypt and from brazil. those countries all cheat. all we're asking for is a level playing field and with the president has done is send a signal that he's going to help us get a level playing field and we gave the republicans and democrats -- every government since before clinton hope that they would do something. and wilbur ross and peter navarro and bob lighthizer deserve to be complimented for recognizing that if the next 20 years are like the last 20 years, we have a national security problem. and we need to make sure that our friends are with us and not against us. >> and mr. girard, george w. bush tried this and he pulled them back after about a year. why didn't those steel tariffs have the impact that i think you're hoping these will? why do you think it is different this time? >> well first of all, they did have an impact. we had pushed for a three-year

resolution and we got 18 months. and in that 18 months, steel industry put in hundreds of millions of dollars of investment into their plants and made those plants the most competitive in the world. to just pick u.s. steel, they put $100 million into the pipe mill in lorraine, ohio. that pipe mill is killed by south korean dumping into our market. south korea built a tubular mill and they don't drill one inch. not chuck or one inch in their own country and they made that tube -- with steel from china that was undersanctions from america. so we need to make sure we're watching for transshipment and people are playing by the rules and south korea doesn't drill in their own country. their decision is to target america and they've now got almost 80% in the market in that $100 million that u.s. steel put into lorraine might as well had a barbecue with it. >> let me ask you this, a political question. >> yes, sir. >> traditionally unions have been more supportive of

democratic candidates or the democratic party. donald trump's obviously made a different type of campaign, was truly trying to win over some of your rank and file. how popular is donald trump in the steel workers union? >> let me say this. that donald trump was able to see the steel worker agenda, what he did is what we've been fighting for for more than 30 years. and i think what happened is that he's going to have a major impact on our members. it will make it very hard for our members to ignore what he just did and what makes me sad is we've been trying to get democrats to this for more than 30 years. >> is it going to translate to republicans fighting you on this? most of the capital republicans are against you on this? >> yeah, well look we'll see what happens and we won't be one trick pony or make our decision of who we recommend based on one issue. there is a lot of issues that our members care about. we care about our health care program, we care what happens to the environment, we care about what happens to real job creation and we care about what happens to the job training and we have a lot of issues that we

care about. this will certainly be one of them. and i think as i said, wilbur ross in particular deserves a lot of credit for recognizing that the next 20 years, if they look like the last 20 years, we'll be in serious trouble. >> all right. >> and for those that don't recognize it -- one last point, we're the most productive u.s. steel in the u.s. and canada. >> thank you for coming on. appreciate it. >> thank you. look forward to more. let's bring in tonight assist panel. michael steel is a former senior adviser to jeb bush and a for john boehner and john gainer from the washington post and went do college in western pennsylvania, i hear there are steel workers. and howard fineman and grew up in pittsburgh. so there you go. a steelers fan. >> all steel -- >> it is an all steel panel and i will give you blue steel. and let me start with -- on this, what did the white house announce today and how real are these tariffs?

i'm confused because he does keep -- it does feel as if he now wants to create exemptions for everybody. >> they are going to slap tariffs on somebody -- maybe. and if -- >> you don't know who yet. it will be china. >> well what they did was start a free for all to get an exception and exempt shun. >> so every lobbyist is ecstatic because they have something to do. >> they have an argument to make. here is why my country should not be part of this. here is why my industry in the united states shouldn't -- this is why you shouldn't anxious country x. because my country -- my company here, my industry here in the united states gets product from that company and it would be -- and more expensive. this is -- it is a giant free for all. >> i started with you because it is interesting, you two, you take two different aspects and h

howard, leo girard will say they will remember what trump did and the people -- in western pennsylvania are very happy today. your friends on capitol hill and the republican side of the aisle are -- yesterday felt like a wake. >> yeah. >> so and yet these are voters that helped elect some of these guys. so i'll start with you. >> during the nixon administration, john mitchell would say watch what we do and not what we say. and with president trump it is the same rule be means it the opposite. he said what he wants to do and what actually happens is often far less than the announcement made it seem. so the needle i think they're trying to thread here is make an announcement and noise and show the people in trump country and western pennsylvania that you are fighting for them and at the same time not interrupting the economic recovery they depend on in the midterms with a trade war. >> that sounds about right. i love leo girard because he is a labor leader. >> he is authentic. >> there are not many of them left. >> and i interviewed him -- and

donald trump would say central casting. >> i interviewed him in the headquarters and the first thing he did is slide a cookie toward you and said have a bite. and he body and soul represents the steel workers. and yes, they will all be happy. the steel workers, don't forget there is a special election in the pittsburgh area that involves a lot of steel people, pa 18 happening next week. let me also say that as chaotic as this white house may seem, this is been in the works for a long time. when when i interviewed leo girard a few months back he made it clear that he and wilbur ross were like this. because he had done some work to bail out some steel companies back in the day. >> a trust -- >> there is a trust factor. and then donald trump said not long ago, wilbur ross may have lost a step. the reason he said that is because trump was impatient to get this thing out there and he

wanted ross to jump through the hoops of designating this as a national security matt earp. the other important thing that is happened here is not just the swiss cheese nature of the announcement but basing it on national security of the trade law never used for this purpose before. trump has wanted to do this, they've been working it for months. bob lighthizer the u.s. trade rep is a very significant and substantive player. this is one -- this is the few areas in trump world where all of the noise notwithstanding, they're doing what he -- the president set out to do when he took office. >> they just didn't line up -- i still don't understand how the president wasn't flanked by the red state democrats and turned it into a bipartisan victory that would have been good for trump but not for the republican party, that is the problem with this presidency. you can't do the coordination and the discipline necessary to line up the red state democrats and the republicans. >> sherrod brown would be there

at the white house with him. >> big things are hard and that takes lead time and planning and coordination and they don't have the ability to do that right now. for a variety of reasons. >> they could have had bob kasie of pennsylvania and sherrod brown, they could have had the democratic candidate in the special election come to the white house. >> at 9:00 this morning, we couldn't get a firm answer on what was going to happen. they couldn't -- they couldn't have been lining them up over the last couple of days, as of this morning, we didn't know what they were going to do. >> michael steel, and i had kevin brady on yesterday and a strongly worded letter for the president, but i said is this supposed to be sending a signal that you if got over 100 republicans to sign off, if the president doesn't listen, that they'll get more antagonistic. and he said nope. >> there is no chance that there is affective congressional action on this. >> they are just throwing up their arms. there is a majority criticism, bipartisan majority that leans

republican -- >> probably. >> but majority criticism on this and they don't want to do anything. >> prad is n-- trade is not a popular issue. i could show you how good it is for the economy or average american but it is never popular. i think republicans will shape this and encourage the president to look at as many exemptions as possible and not start a trade war and the european union was looking at republican leaders when they announced retaliatory sanctions on cheese and harley davidsons and kentucky bourbon. >> they picked kentucky and wis. that was deliberate. and so i think they'll tone it down and the president having gotten his show and gotten to be surrounded by guys in hard hats, signing a piece of paper, he will move on to the next thing. >> pennsylvania '18, does this have an impact? >> no, not that much. because both candidates -- >> they both love it. >> they're supporting it. so it is a wash. and i will also say that in downtown pittsburgh, in the core

of the metropolitan area, this cuts both ways. it is an international tech city. they are trying to get the google headquarters there. do you think -- >> amazon too. >> excuse me. amazon. they have google and amazon and they are building big buildings. do you think they want the price of steel to get jacked up by artificial tariffs? no. >> donald trump could be a fascinating political science experiment if he would ever actually follow through on what he says. because there could be new political coalitions and they didn't even try. >> he has the -- the ability -- the theoretical ability to completely remake red state, blue state, traditional models of politics that have become pretty hard and fast over the last 40 years. he has policies that cut across all of that. and i think this is an example of where if he wants to, he

could make it a real third way. he could actually really make a -- a coalesce, political constituency around an idea if he could stick with it. >> and the united steel workers endorsed the president for 2020. and sticking around. steel city and steel college. the next governor of new york state could be nixon. no, no. not that nixon. that nixon. the sex and the city star may take on cuomo for the democratic nod.

so lionel, what does being able to trade 24/5 mean to you? well, it means i can trade after the market closes. it's true. so all... evening long. ooh, so close. ♪

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talking with former strategist of the long-term and very public rival new york city mayor bill de blasio. the governor was asked by reporters yesterday if he thought de blasio was behind nixon's possible run. his response, quote, i think it was probably either the mayor of new york or vladimir putin. actual response. we don't know how nixon could do against cuomo but we could be sure that a primary like this would, a., animate the tabloid crowd and, b., highlight cuomo's troubles among the liberal base in new york, and c., be jam packed with excellent richard nixon throw-back jokes like should the slogan be nixon the one. or nixon now more than ever. and new york has one of the very last primaries in the year in mid-september so if nixon dives in this is a race heated all throughout the summer. this could shape up to be personally one of my favorite primaries to cover all year. more on this potential new york slug fest later in the show.

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and we have some breaking news for you. i know shocking, every hour it seems these days in the trump white house. the president suspect said that south korea will be making, quote, a major statement at 7:00 p.m. our time. my colleague kelly o'donnell joins me now from the white house with more and, kelly, it seemed to be hinting and i know i think we're just getting her wired up and this is about to come. but the way the president seemed to brief white house reporters on this was an indication that it is positive news of some sort on all things having to do with the korean peninsula and the issue of the nuclearization of the korean peninsula. kelly o'connell is still trying to get wired up here. i know we have a -- a little bit of technical difficulty. we'll get that fixed and come back right after this.

are defined by the things we share. and the ones we love. who never stop wondering what we'll do or where we'll go next. we the people who are better together than we are alone... are unstoppable. welcome to the entirely new expedition.

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neighbors helping neighbors and strangers alike. - this is what america's about. - sometimes it's nice to see all the good that's out there. bringing folks out, we have seen it in community after community. as we were reporting before the break, we have some breaking news that south korea is going to be announcing having to do with the korea issue itself and north korea, we were trying to get kellio connell wired up. we had a technical problem. kelly, what can you tell us, the president himself came in the briefing room but didn't want to go on camera. i know that. he said a big announcement is coming in south korea on a big issue. we know what he means when he

said the double big but what have you learned. >> sarah sanders need time to get organized which leads me to believe the president sort of called an audible as we've seen him doing, popping his head into the briefing room. viewers have seen the blue door that is behind the lecturn and he opened it up with the personal aide and stuck his head in and said the north korean issue has been a subject that south korea is dealing with and we've seen that there have been officials working at the e.u. next door and there would be an announcement tonight. so the president playing his own communications director and teasing this, if you will, for a major announcement after he's been saying that there have been negotiations going on in recent weeks leaning toward an openness that even the united states would be willing to talk to north korea. what is startling about this was there was no head's up and so it was the president wanting to push this out. we have gone back and i stood outside of the necessary doors trying to get answers and they're saying they need a little time to get organized. so the president playing sort of

the piper -- pied piper in the briefing room. we don't believe he's ever been in the briefing room when -- journalists were in the room. >> and he just got off a phone call with the south korea president. >> and not likely that he'll pop back in but that will be welcome from a journalist point of view. >> of course. >> but at this point, remember also south korea is a part of the tariffs conversation that is dominated the news today. they're a big trading partner. >> yes, it is. and leo girard named south korea as one of the people that he thinks are a big vi-- violator. kelly o'connell, thank you very much. another new report that was out earlier today suggested a special counsel robert mueller investigation is uncovering more ties between trump world and russia. robert mueller has evident that a secret preinauguration meeting in the seychelles between erik prince and a russian official was anef tort to extend a back

channel between the incoming administration and the kremlin. that is not what they told about the meeting last year. they said the meeting was purely coincidental and he was working with the uae and they were on the seychelles and they ran into this guy. and a kremlin connection out of england where scotland yard said someone tried to murder a former russian spy with a nerve agent. russia is the prime suspect. the man was jailed by russia for secretly assisting british intelligence and sent to the u.k. in a spy swap. they deny it but a former agent tells nbc news that case has the hallmarks of putin's involvement. so joining me now, nbc news global correspondent bill neely and michael mcfaul, former ambassador to russia and a international affairs analyst. bill, let me start with you. this is not the first time a russian ex pat of sorts has been

mysteriously killed in the u.k. and there is a lot of russian ex pats in the u.k. what is going on here and what is the latest? >> yeah, you're right. in 2006, alexander litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive pole o polonium and if you like russia house form and the working assumption of the british police and the security service pds and it would appear the british government this was a state assassination attempt by russia, prime minister teresa may mentioning that possibility today very openly by talking about what she would do if it's proved that this is state sponsored. there is an if there. but it is also not clear that a very rare nerve agent was used to try to kill him. that information also came from the british government and it is possibly not vx or sarin, or

something even rarer. and that means it is unlikely that a criminal mafia or criminals were behind this. they just don't have the ready supplies of those chemical weapons. so the classic criminal questions are the usual ones. who had the motive and the means and the opportunity, the determination. the expertise and a rare nerve agent to do this. and fingers clearly are pointing at russia. >> i have to ask you this, it is -- christopher steel another former mi 6 agent these days very well known, due to thein famous steel dossier, any factual connection yet? >> nothing -- nothing that is proved. there is a possibility that there is one person that they have in common, but to be quite frank, chuck, in the london world, and in the world where you've got russians both former

intelligence agent and business people, oleic arcs coming in and out of the city, i would have to say that is not unusual. the biggest evidence at the moment is -- it is the poison. and in the litvinenko case, the detectives followed the radioactive trail from a teapot to london's streets and to a plane back to moscow and identified the two likely killers. so at the moment, the poison is the thing. >> mike mcfall, former ambassador to russia. this fits a pattern of what -- it seems as if russians -- the russian government takes -- uses a special way to kill ex pats, don't they? >> well, again, we don't know the full details. i want to underscore that. we're just speculating. but if you do -- let's do a ven diagram and in the first circle put all of the people that might have a motive to kill a 66-year-old pensioner originally from russia who then served as a u.k. spy and then in the other

circle, let's put the means. who has nerve agent and when you put those two circles together, there is a pretty small group left in your diagram. that is probably the russian government. >> who is sergei skripal. >> i was involved in his spy swap when i worked at the white house. he was a allegedly -- i should be careful to not reveal any state secrets. but allegedly was spying for the british government. he was arrested in jail. in russia and then in 2010 when we discovered those sleeper cells, remember there is about a dozen russian agents here undercover working as americans. so subsequently a tv show based after that. and we swapped them for four individuals, including mr. skripal. >> so putin had a history where it seems if people that have opposed them, a lot of them --

when they turn up dead, it is an unusual way that they die. this is been a -- is there just a fascination inside of the kgb or fsb with using nerve agents? >> well i would say two things. one, there has been multiple ways that people have died tragically. remember, boris nemtsov was assassinated in a convention way outside of the kremlin walls. and i want to keep underscoring we don't know who was behind that. that is still an unsolved assassination. but number two, when somebody is killed with nerve agents or plutonium or these kind of things, the russian government is not bending over backward to say this is such a tragic loss and we hope we get to the bottom of it. they're saying, oh, by the way, he was a british spy. that is what the u.k. embassy tweeted today. they didn't say anything about

condolences. and it is a kind of in your face thing. like daring the western community and daring the u.k. authorities to do something about it. >> what would be -- i want to go to the seychelles story a minute. what would be a plausible explanation to you of why the trump administration would want to have a back channel with the kremlin via the uae? >> plausible -- >> is there a plausible -- >> now you are really pressing my imagination, chuck. >> so you are giving the answer. does that whole thing just look suspicious to you? >> well, the first thing it just -- it seems incompetence to me. like people that don't know how diplomacy works. i know the gentleman that allegedly was at the that meeting, kirill dmitriev, he runned a russian fund and owned and controlled by the russian government. he knows putin. but that is not the way to do diplomacy but from other

stories, including what jared kushner tried to do so set up his own back channel, those around the trump administration and during the transition have -- shall we say unusual ideas about how to do diplomacy. >> all right. mike mcfall, bill neeliment i have to lea-- and i have to lea there. if there were a crime thriller it would be interesting to follow. but this is real life. thank you, both. up next, what is shaping up to become one of my favorite primary fights of the 2018 midterms. your brain changes as you get older.

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welcome back. as we mentioned earlier in the show, we're fired up about the possibility of a pretty interesting primary race in new york city. and all of new york between cuomo and former "sex and the city" star sin shia nixon, cuomo poked fun while speaking to reports this week, saying, quote, normally name recognition is relevant when it has some connection to the endeavor but if it is just about name

recognition i'm hoping brad pitt and angelina jolie get into it because that is just a problem. we can't dismiss celebrities turned politicians from new york too quickly. so joining me now is our national political correspondent and someone who knows the ins and outs of new york politics. particularly in new york city politics. mr. kornacki. how are you? >> doing pretty good. very, very excited for the possibility of a nixon race in new york. >> there is a couple of things going on here. obviously this is -- andrew cuomo sees the cynthia nixon as being all about bill de blasio finding a candidate to challenge him in a primary. is he right? >> yeah. i mean, look cynthia nixon is known to most people as a actress but a political activist and a supporter of bill de blasio for his campaign when he ran for mayor in 2013. more to the point, there is reports that she's now in

contact with and having discussions about this potential candidacy with two former campaign aides to de blasio so that is the surest sign and when he is asking about this he is saying nothing and doing nothing to discourage the possibility of nixon. you just have this very, very deep-seated antipathy between de blasio and cuomo and you add this to it, it surely looks like an extension of that. >> this goes beyond the normal tug between a mayor and governor in new york. yes, there is some. sometimes governors hate to be o outshooined by the mayor -- outshined by the mayor and because they are two parties, what is the extra special souse. >> there are two different wings of the democratic party. de blasio is representing this insurgent force coming of age during the obama administration and really i think during this sort of resistance to the trump

administration. it is defiantly progressive. defiantly liberal. and very invested in liberal cultural economic politics. and andrew cuomo, it is interesting because one of the things people don't necessarily understand about him is you think of the cuomo name and his father, mario cuomo who was a big liberal here in the '80s and '90s. >> he was the liberal to bill clinton. >> that is going to the bill liberal alternative to clinton. >> and the day in 1991 when mario cuomo leaves the plane and not get in the race and bill clinton becomes president. the post-script relevant in new york is that cuomo leaves his father in albany when clinton gets president and works for the administration in 1990 and politically andrew cuomo is very much a product of the clinton administration and the politics of the '90s and that is centralism and the democrats have a relationship with wall street and business and not going too far on the cultural issues and that is the tension between the cuomo wing and

albany and de blasio in brooklyn. >> steve -- why do i think this is going to be an extraordinary close primary. why does it feel like that cuomo has a hard ceiling, it is probably over 50, he can get there, but this isn't going to be easy. >> don't forget this, in 2014 he runs for re-election and he lost a couple dozen counties in the democratic primary in 2014 to a progressive activist, very little money and very little support. that challenge could have gotten a lot worse for him, but de blasio stepped in and bailed out cuomo at a key convention in new york. de blasio is saying he won't do it again so if they could get 35% and if this gets real in terms of money and her interest, this could get more serious tor cuomo. >> and there is a lot of democratic energy and in new york they don't have a lot of republicans to focus their energy on. cuomo may realize he is who they focus energy on.

steve kornacki, it is quite a race for us to follow in our backyard. thank you very much. up ahead, a second chance to look back on the lives that truly mattered.

welcome back. tonight i'm obsessed with obituaries. not just any, but those of the new york times has written or more to the point, the obituaries that the new york times hasn't written. today on international women's day they conceded what is obvious to many over the years.

the obituaries have honored men, mostly white men. so they put it in a piece called overlooked. they chronicle the lives of the inventor of the stove top stuffing and the namer of slinky. yet women who made a real contribution were not seen as news fit to print until today. today for the fir time the "times" published obituaries of people like ida b. wells, a journalist in the late 19th century who wrote somebody must show that the afro american race is more sinned against than sinning and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so. and how about women like diane arbis, the photographer of people living on the edges of society and the mentally disables and transvestites or circle performers and the wife of the poet of ted hughes whose work was ignored by male editors and whose brilliance was only recognized after her suicide. by the way, the "times" is welcoming readers to nominate other candidates for over-looked

obits. and we are benefiting. it is a great treat to read more history in a more complete record of everything. we'll be right back. the scotts turf builder program. it's the best way to get the yard you want all year long, guaranteed. all it takes is 4 feedings, with a scotts solution for every season. and with a customized plan from the scotts my lawn app, your yard can look like pete's. it's that easy. this is a scotts yard. download the scotts my lawn app for your personalized plan. i'm trying to manage my a1c, and then i learn type 2 diabetes puts me at greater risk for heart attack or stroke. can one medicine help treat both blood sugar and cardiovascular risk? i asked my doctor. he told me about non-insulin victoza®. victoza® is not only proven to lower a1c and blood sugar,

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side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. change the course of your treatment. ask your doctor about victoza®. time for "the lid." the panel is back. i want to get to the potential north korea news in a second. but very quickly. i have been saying what tallahassee can pass on guns is probably what washington can pass. michael steel, let me ask you now that question. here's what florida passed, a state that the nra has had a lot of success pushing a lot of legislation that they wanted. they lost this fight. this bill will raise the age to buy rifles to 21. bans the sales of gun stobump

stocks, and allows some teachers to carry guns in class. is this bill something that paul ryan and mitch mcconnell will be comfortable putting on the floor? >> probably not yet. but let's look at it this way, this is way our system is supposed to work, if washington's gridlocked, then the states act and enough states act, then the -- is this time truly different? i think this is our first real solid clue that it is. >> for florida to do this is a big deal. >> it's a huge nra state, a six-pack of freedom. this is a very pro gun state. >> many may not know before you did the white house, you did state department for quite a bit and traveled around the world too much for your family's sake. south korea is going to be making an announcement, we know

this. it has to do with a message that's being brought back from the north koreans to the united states. it looks like now south korea is now the mediator between the united states and north korea. >> this is unusual. it is the role that south korea has been playing since moon was elected really, so the relatively new president in south korea who is very pro negotiation has been pushing for this from the start. the south korean delegation was at the white house this afternoon briefing white house officials on the result of talks that they, the south koreans just completed in north korea, the result of which was to recommend talks among the united states, south korea and north korea. that presumably is where this announcement tonight is going, that south korea says we are offering to actually do this thing, that, you know, they are

recommending is a good idea to do. >> howard, if this is what it is, he's getting talks with north korea, is this victory for donald trump diplomacy? >> yeah, in a way. because any talk is good at this point. so he'll be able to -- he'll be able to take some credit, if, as we expect, the south korean national security advisor is going to be coming into the briefing room to brief. and if he says, you know, there are going to be some talks, that would have to be viewed as a positive thing. it was different than in the past because china's not part of the mix here at least initially. >> what do you make of that? >> from what i hear, or others not how much china's motivation is, how much they want to really see a deal, how much they really want peace in the peninsula, and trump who is skeptical of china,

even though he praises the leader of china at every minute. >> it wouthe china thing makes head scratch? >> it feels like it's headed toward the movie we have seen a number of times in the past couple of decades, where there's a concession, the north koreans say they're going to be nice and then they get food and fuel. the point of having china involved is that they have economic leverage over south korea. >> several things could be working here, donald trump has done two things on north korea which are interesting, his rhetoric has been far tougher than anyone else, to the point that the entire world's head was exploding, oh, my god, we're going to have nuclear war, and he has applied tougher sanction than have been applied

previously, while saying the previous strategy of talk, talk, talk hasn't worked and tough talk and sanctions would work. if tough talk and sanctions don't work, it's better than war, but that's no better than that the talk, talk, talk that he said didn't work.

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that's all we have for

tonight, we'll be back tomorrow with a lot more mtp daily. and we're an hour away from what could be some interesting news on the north korea issue. ari, one of those days where you have to deal with breaking news in your hour, perhaps. >> perhaps. our top story tonight, bob mueller seems to be everywhere and donald trump's efforts to spin him are clearly backfiring. take a look at virginia, this is where mueller's team was this morning and they added another ankle monitor to the former donald trump aid. mueller also probing this apparent plot to hatch a trump-russia back channel in the s sa saychelles. so consider what all these stories amount