that wraps up this hour of "msnbc live." i'm phillip mena. it is time for "weekends with alex witt." there she is. >> a very good morning. thanks for getting us started off, phillip. have a good sunday. good morning to all of you here from msnbc world headquarters in new york. 7:00 in the east, 4:00 a.m. out west, but welcome to "weekends with alex witt." 2020 pulse. a new iow not even announced. budget proposal. the president about to unveil it. what he wants to cut, where he wants to spend, and how much daughter ivanka is getting for a project close to her heart. plus, the president and his links to 17 investigations. a member of the house oversight committee explains what probes will take priority. but we begin this hour with the 2020 run for the white house. the new insight into how the democratic race for president is shaping up in iowa, the state

that, of course, kicks off the presidential nominating process. joe biden is leading a new poll ahead of the iowa caucus. the former vice president has not officially announced, but he now leads bernie sanders by two percentage points. that is, though, within the margin of error. in third place, senator elizabeth warren, followed by senator kamala harris and former representative beto o'rourke, who is still teasing a possible 2020 run. senators cory booker and amy klobuchar coming in at 3% a piece there. today, democratic presidential hopefuls are returning to the campaign trail, and here are some highlights from 2020 democrats speaking at south by southwest yesterday. nbc news asked beto o'rourke when would he announce, and he said he's on a, quote, timeline that works for my family and for the country. then, senator warren was asked how she's ideologically different from bernie sanders. >> bernie has to speak to what democratic socialism is. >> you are not one?

>> i am not. and the centrists have to speak to whatever they are doing. what i can speak to is what i'm doing. markets have to have rules. they have to have a cop on the beat. markets without rules are theft. >> meanwhile, senator amy klobuchar was asked whether sexism is behind the criticism of her management skills. >> you know, i'm not going to go there, and i imagine that other candidates are going to be asked the same thing at some point, and there will be stories. i was kind of right out with my candidacy. i thought that was really important. if you haven't noticed, i have a little less name i.d. than a few of the other candidates, and maybe that was why i was right out there right away. but whatever it is, i just can't waste my time analyzing it, because these stakes are too high, and i care too much. >> and former starbucks ceo howard schultz, who are considering running as an independent, took on the democratic progressive tilt.

>> bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, and others are proposing to try and defeat donald trump with a far extreme proposal. if donald trump runs against one of those types of candidates, it's my belief that donald trump will be re-elected. >> now looking ahead, crucial developments this week with the president proposing his budget to congress tomorrow. there are also court hearings for four of his former aides. then a senate deadline on friday to vote to condemn the president's emergency declaration on the border. let's go to the white house first on this sunday morning and nbc's mike viqueira. a very good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, alex. >> notice the time change. let me just say, it's still dark behind you, so extra thanks for getting up early. look, the president, as you know, set to announce his budget tomorrow morning. it includes huge cuts to a variety of government programs, so what should we expect? >> reporter: well, the old saying goes that the president proposes and congress disposes, and that's exactly what congress is going to do with this.

it's going to go right in the round file. it's become almost cliche to say budgets are dead on arrival, or doa, when they get to capitol hill, but really, they're an indication of the governing philosophy of an administration, sort of how they approach things and what their priorities are. and here are some of the priorities as stated through the budget from president trump. first, he wants big spending cuts for antipoverty programs. he wants strict, new work requirements for what he calls able-bodied americans, large increases for the pentagon budget. already about $750 billion. and $100 million for a global women's fund led by daughter ivanka trump, to be administered through usaid. of course, democrats, as we are well aware, now hold the gavels. they are in the majority in the house of representatives. these proposals are likely to go nowhere. so alex, maybe we can start that shutdown countdown clock here in the corner of the screen. set it for nine months for the end of this fiscal year, alex.

>> i can't believe you said that. just like, no! >> reporter: sorry. i know. >> no! okay. not even funny. thank you very much. come up with a new joke for noon. see you then. thank you, mike viqueira. julia manchester is reporter for "the hill" and dave levinthal, senior political reporter at the center for public integrity. with a good morning to you both! dave, let's look at the headline from the "associated press" this morning, and it goes like this -- "as budget deficit balloons, few in washington seem to care." what is the tenor of things? does that sum it up accurately? >> in a way, it does, alex. and hey, you know, if you rewound the clock -- i know we're on daylight saving time here, but go back five, six years, okay? even seven, eight years. you'd have republicans talking such a different game than they're talking right now. the president isn't concerned, or at least he's not putting forth major proposals that are talking about slashing and burning in a way that is going to reduce the deficit, reduce the national debt. i mean, this proposal is getting toward that, but it's still not a priority. and in congress, too, that's not

a priority either. so we're going to have a very different budget discussion these days than we would have, you know, again, a few years ago. but what i was struck by with the president's budget -- and yes, this is going to be dead on arrival -- i was struck by the fact that medicaid, medicare, social security, these are things that are not being talked about for slash-and-burn cuts in the president's budget. so, those are programs that obviously affect older americans. that's very much a large part of donald trump's base. and you know, oftentimes you have to look at what is not being affected in addition to what is being affected. >> yeah. i'm just looking right now to see the level to which the concept of the budget and the budget deficit came in on the iowa poll. not much. what do you make of the president setting aside, what is it, $100 million for his daughter's global women's fund? i mean, how's that going to go over? >> well, we'll really have to see. i think in terms of setting -- i think the trump administration is essentially with this move of setting aside that much money for the global women's fund is trying to, i guess, put out a

feeling or a showing of really trying to appeal to women. i think the trump administration has gotten quite a bit of blowback for the president's past comments on women and hiring minorities within the white house. and we do know that ivanka trump has really championed women, especially women in entrepreneurship. so, i think this is the president kind of supporting his daughter, if you will, while at the same time trying to push this message forward of supporting women, because we know that has been a bit of a weak spot in terms of the trump administration. >> yeah, but do you think the ivanka component will make a big deal or people will look beyond that to just the female component here? >> no, i think the ivanka component absolutely plays a role in this. you know, ivanka trump is already under fire along with her husband, jared kushner, for getting essentially special treatment, perhaps, in terms of her security clearance and her husband's security clearance, so i think that definitely plays

into that, and potential nepotism, if you will, within the trump administration. >> okay. so, i was looking at the iowa poll after your first comments there. dave, let's get to it now, specifically relative to joe biden. of course, not yet officially in the race, though look at that, taking the lead in iowa. he has fallen pretty close to there by bernie sanders. give me your take on these numbers, dave. what do you see in them? >> almost pay no attention to poll numbers at this stage of the game. if you believed poll numbers in 2016 when the republican primary was taking place and donald trump had yet to get into the race, then we'd be talking about, apparently, a president jeb bush right now, okay? so, look at bernie sanders, look at joe biden as the known commodities, the security blankets. use whatever metaphor you want to. these people are on top of any poll because people know who they are. people don't know -- >> so you're saying this is name identity. that's the only reason you think these two stand at the top? >> absolutely, in addition to the fact that they have a long track record in politics and people know who they are versus

a abaaoud jej or klobuchar. these are people in the race that people don't know who they are, what they stand for, and they're going to have an opportunity over the next few months to find themselves. they'll have an opportunity over the next many months to get on a debate stage and go toe to toe with a joe biden or beto o'rourke or bernie sanders and so on. so, really at this early stage in the game, you just can't read too much into a poll like this simply because it is so early and the candidates just haven't had an opportunity to go at it. >> look, granted, it is early. there is no denying that, julia. but what is your read? does it tell you anything, name identity or otherwise, particularly with these top two candidates? >> yeah, i really couldn't agree with dave more. at this point, we are at the point of name identity in terms of polling, and joe biden and bernie sanders are two people who have been in politics for a very long time and have recently been very much in the political spotlight, whether it was in the obama administration or the 2016

presidential campaign. however, i'd also like to look at fact that this poll was taken in iowa. and the fact is, iowa is not the most diverse of the states in the u.s. so, i would think more voters might be veering towards joe biden or bernie sanders. however, i'd like to pay attention to polls as we get closer to primary season in states such as south carolina, georgia, florida, ohio, that are a bit more diverse in terms of voters and see how candidates like kamala harris, women, or racial -- cory booker, african-american voters -- how they are voting in these polls essentially. >> okay. all right, julia manchester, dave levinthal, you guys, thank you so much for getting up early with me on a sunday morning. we'll see you again soon. meantime, i want to share with all of you a bit of breaking news here about the crash of an ethiopian airlines plane that was carrying 157 people. now, ethiopia's state broadcaster is saying that

aboard that airline, no one has survived. it apparently happened about six minutes or so after taking off this morning. it went down about 30 miles from the airport. that's in ethiopia's capital city of addis ababa. it was a boeing 737 heading for nairobi, kenya. families of passengers are gathering at the airport to get word. pretty tragic news there. we'll stay on top of that for you. meantime, the 17 investigations the president's facing later on. how democrats are deciding which probes matter most. w democrats h prob mesatter most -guys, i want you to meet someone.

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new this morning, the president taking aim at his former attorney's pardon claims, revealing in a friday tweet that michael cohen "directly asked me for a pardon. i said no." the president's current attorney backing his client's claim revealed to the "associated press" that he now remembers trump told him 11 months ago that cohen had asked for a pardon. well, the contradictions come as the two struggle with credibility concerns, bringing forward the question, who can you trust in this cohen/trump saga? joining me now, msnbc legal analyst katie phang and criminal defense attorney ashleigh merchant. ladies, with a good sunday morning to you. >> good morning. >> ashleigh, to you first here. does the question of who dangled the pardon first, does it actually matter? i mean, can the president, anything he's saying there, can anything be considered as possibly obstructing justice? >> you know, it doesn't really

matter who brought up the pardon first. what matters is that they're both lying at this point, and we can't really trust what's coming out of anybody's mouth. it's very hard to figure out which parts of cohen's testimony, which parts of what he's saying are lies, what he is forgetting, whether or not he's remembering that he actually asked for this pardon, whether or not the president was going to give the pardon. and what i really think is telling is that the president has had these conversations with almost all of these folks that have been lined up in the mueller investigation, and i think that is their sort of fallback position. they are hoping that once they're prosecuted that the president will actually pardon them and that they will all be back together, not in prison. and i think that's what's really important to the american people to pay attention to here. >> so ashleigh, before i jump to katie, you're believing the president's had conversations with all these people. so when the president says i'm not really thinking about whether or not i'm going to pardon paul manafort, who has been sentenced to time. we await further sentencing this week. can you believe him? >> no! i think he's had conversations with all of these folks. whether they've directly asked for a pardon or not, or they've

sort of beaten around the bush, i think they've all talked about pardons, and i think that is sort of the fallback position of all of these different individuals, especially the ones that are supporting the president, especially the ones that have not struck a deal, haven't gone the michael cohen route, haven't actually been affirmative saying i'm going to go and testify against the president. the ones that are actually supporting him, those are the ones that are counting on this pardon. >> well, what's interesting here, katie, last year, "the new york times" reported that the president's lawyers discussed pardons for both michael flynn and paul manafort, and these pardon conversations are being investigated not only by mueller, but also the sdny as well as house intel now. so, all this alleged pardon dangling what does it tell you? >> well, specifically when it has to do with the cohen/trump angle, there are two key important points to note. number one, the only person who's actually put his hand up and sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth has been michael cohen. whether you believe him or not. i haven't seen donald trump do that, have you?

point number two, all of this pardon conversation happened during a joint defense agreement, so the timing of it is important. but fundamentally, if trump is having conversations or through his intermediaries, having conversations with people like michael flynn and paul manafort, then that needs to be known. the american public needs to know that there are conversations being had when you're incentivizing somebody to obstruct justice. so your question is completely ringing true -- is donald trump obstructing justice when he dangles pardons to people to incentivize them to basically lie and not tell the truth to federal investigators? and i would tell you that's exactly what he's doing. >> when we go back to cohen, though, and his testimony before the house committee wednesday, almost two weeks ago now, when he said that i've never asked donald trump for a pardon, lanny davis is saying that is since, basically, i came on board, that prior to that, maybe he did. i mean, that's a really fine line to walk in terms of credibility for michael cohen now, right? i mean, might he really have

perjured himself on that one? >> alex, the word never is really what everybody's hanging their hat on. >> right. >> but i would point out, you know, the fact that the pardon conversation has happened -- mine, ashleigh's like, okay, yeah, so the timing of it, whatever, et cetera, and i agree. but you know what, why are people not asking questions of donald trump like the checks he was writing in the oval office to pay off stormy daniels to keep her mouth shut? those are the important questions that should be asked, not the timing of these pardon conversations. and ultimately, what do we know? michael cohen hasn't received a pardon. paul manafort, on the other hand, is about to be sentenced by judge amy berman jackson. he may get an additional ten years. will donald trump, you know, woe is me for paul manafort? donald trump has said he feels so badly for him. so, will paul manafort get a pardon? >> here's another thing to pivot to here, ashleigh starting with this. the "daily beast" is reporting that the doj revealed a letter from then attorney general jeff sessions in 2013 directing a review of how the department handled the clinton foundation and the uranium 1 issues.

that's proof that sessions caved to the president's calls for an investigation into his biggest political opponent. nbc news, we should say, has not independently confirmed this. but how dangerous could this be, if the president and the u.s. attorney general filed to open an investigation into a u.s. citizen? >> well, i think at first blush, what is the most offensive about this is the fact that they all lied, that they all said this document did not exist and that jeff sessions did not actually direct the united states attorney to open this investigation. and what happened was we had to have a lawsuit, a federal freedom of information act lawsuit, to actually find these documents because they repeatedly said they don't exist. jeff sessions said he didn't author these. the doj said they don't exist, we don't have this letter. and now, all of a sudden, we found this letter. so, you wonder, if they're hiding this letter, what is their motivation in hiding this letter, and why did they go to such great lengths to continue to lie and say that this didn't actually happen and that this proof doesn't actually exist? and we had to resort to legal process to actually find this. >> so, katie, to take it

further, does this now mean sessions was not recused from investigations into clinton? >> clearly not. if you had jeff sessions directly ordering the u.s. attorney in utah, john huber, to investigate hillary clinton, the clinton foundation, the uranium 1 issue, and you have that delivered courtesy of matt whitaker, who was the chief of staff for jeff sessions at the time, how is jeff sessions removing himself from anything of this? he's not. and you know, the fact that whitaker was about to lead the doj and they mirek mouaculously this letter two days before his departure speaks volumes of the veracity of our doj right now. the reality is there was a sworn filing that was done in this litigation in federal court where the doj swore under oath that the documents didn't exist. they did it in support of a filing to basically get rid of that litigation, and now we know that they lied. and that is a really alarming aspect of what happened under jeff sessions and our doj. >> all right, ladies, katie, ashleigh, thank you very much for the conversation. got to get to breaking news now.

this is regarding a plane crash that happened over ethiopia. ethiopian airlines has confirmed its flight et-302, it was heading to kenya, it has gone down carrying 157 passengers and crew. it happened about six minutes or so after departing from addis ababa. the airline and ethiopian state media are saying that everyone on board was killed. relatives waiting for their loved ones are gathered at the airport in nairobi, and one relative says that he got news of the plane crash on facebook. >> we were sure it was going to come out. after a few minutes, we see some news on facebook that ethiopian airline crash. and we looked at the time. it was the same time it was expected to leave ethiopia. >> wow. nbc's sarah harman is joining us live from london with more on this. i just got chills listening to him talk about that. can you imagine hearing this news on facebook, moments

afterwards putting it together? it's horrific. what can you tell us about this crash? >> reporter: alex, this is such a sad story, and people are going to be asking, why did this happen? because this was a brand-new boeing 737, less than six months old. it lost contact with radar just six minutes after taking off. it crashed about 30 miles from the airport. and when you look at the model here, a boeing 737 max 8, this is the same aircraft model that was involved in another crash in indonesia back in october, that lion air crash. that plane also crashed 12 minutes after takeoff. 189 people on board were killed. so a lot of questions for boeing this morning. they have tweeted they are aware of reports of this accident. meanwhile, the prime minister has tweeted out his condolences. now, the airline says there are casualties, but they also tweeted that there was a search-and-rescue operation ongoing. so it's unclear just exactly what's happened. we heard from that man earlier, finding out on facebook, an

absolutely heartbreaking situation. the other thing to mention here is that ethiopian airlines in africa has a good reputation and a strong safety record. they have one of the newest fleets. as we said, this plane just six months old. so there's going to be a lot of questions for the airline and for the planemaker this morning. alex? >> absolutely. sarah harman, thanks for following this breaking news for us in london. investigating ivanka. why congressional democrats are unsure about how far they should go into scrutinizing the first daughter. that's coming up next. tinizing t daughter that's coming up next. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. even rooftop parking. strange forces at work? only if you're referring to gravity-and we covered it. talk to farmers.

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did you tell general kelly or anyone else in the white house to overrule security officials, the career veterans? >> no. i don't think i have the authority to do that. i'm not sure i do. but i wouldn't do it. >> okay. you never -- >> jared's a good -- i was never involved with the security. >> there were anonymous leaks about there being issues, but the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband's clearance. >> well, just last month you saw the president and his daughter,

ivanka, both going on the record denying involvement with security clearances, but last week, axios reported the house oversight committee received documents obtaining information related to both ivanka and jared kushner's clearances, and this comes after "the new york times" reported the president ordered then white house chief of staff john kelly to give kushner clearance. joining me now, democratic congresswoman from illinois robin kelly. she is a member of the oversight committee. a very good morning to you, ma'am. thanks for getting up early with me. >> good morning to you. >> let's get right to what the "washington post" is reporting, which is that house democrats are torn over how much to scrutiny the president's children, but then you have house speaker nancy pelosi, who told the "post," "whomever falls into that net falls into that net. they are advisers to the president. they have security clearances. this is not their children at home." so, are the president's children fair game, or do you think they're untouchable, or how, i guess, carefully must you tread

in their direction? >> i tend to align myself with speaker pelosi on this one. if they're active, they're helping with policy decisions, advising, very active in his administration, i don't want to call them fair game, but i do think it's appropriate to, what we're talking about, they should be questioned. >> so, are there plans for your committee now to call any trump children to the committee there to testify? >> well, we haven't talked about it with our chairperson, elijah cummings, so i'm not going to say that. but i think that if it's appropriate, if we need to ask some questions, i think we should be able to ask some questions. they are uniquely involved where, i guess in my lifetime i haven't seen any president's children involved like they are. >> all right, let's go to the president and his legal team taking aim at michael cohen following his pardon claims made before your committee a week ago

wednesday. so, a new article in the "associated press" is asking the question, who can you trust in the cohen/trump saga, because both have credibility problems? in fact, let's take a listen to their contradictions. here it is. >> michael cohen lied about the pardon. >> i have never asked for, nor would i accept a pardon from president trump. >> it's a stone-cold lie. >> cohen's lying his you know what off all over town. i mean, it's one perjury after another after another. >> he knew all about pardons. his lawyers said that they went to my lawyers and asked for pardons. >> you may have heard my legal analyst, katie phang, making this point, that cohen spoke under oath. the president has yet to do so. were you able to speak to michael cohen directly? do you believe michael cohen was telling the truth? >> well, when he started, he said we don't have to believe him. look at the evidence. but i mean, he's going to jail for lying, so i would say he is a liar, but he did bring

evidence. so, some of what he said i do believe because the president is a liar also. i mean, there's many, many lies that he's told, even on some of your shows. you showed one thing one week and then something contradicting it from what he has said the next week. so, neither one of them is the most trustworthy. >> well, look, to that end, congresswoman, there are 17 investigations into the president right now. that would include collusion between the trump campaign and russia. there's obstruction of justice. there's, of course, his taxes, his organization's finances. what do you believe is the priority right now? i mean, what are the answers that you believe the american public needs to hear first? >> well, i think that the mueller report is what we need to hear. that's the most important thing. that's been going on the longest. >> that's collusion and russia. we're waiting for that one. after that, what comes next to your mind? >> what comes next to my mind? wow, there's so much. i'm interested in the finances

and his taxes and how that's influencing decisions that he's making. >> okay. what about your take on paul manafort's 47-month sentence? this is a decision, as you will know -- i'm sure you've heard the outcry not only from everyday americans, but legal experts as well. do you think americans have the right to be upset over this? should they be upset over this? >> i'm upset over it. i think that it's so short in compared to what other people have done. they're in jail longer if it's something around marijuana, and he's in jail 47 months. i think it's very unfair. it shows the imbalance, if you have money, if you have great lawyers, if you're well connected, then you definitely have an easier time. >> mm-hmm. an interesting topic, impeachment. it is an extraordinary -- i mean, it riles up people in many different ways. in fact, there are democrats who are torn on the concept of impeachment. there is a recent article, and

it was published in "politico" magazine, which argues that democrats will, quote, totally impeach the president. jerry nadler last week said it is clear that the president obstructed justice. and then let's take a listen to what senator macy hirano had to said about trump's rhetoric. >> he's a liar. he lies every single day. he's a misogynist, an admitted sexual predator and he attacks everybody who doesn't agree with him, and the only thing that's going to prevent him from doing that and save us is his resignation. >> look, and you've just echoed her sentiments there regarding the president's ability to lie. so, why won't house democrats begin impeachment proceedings? where do democrats draw the line, do you think? >> i think, again, we're waiting for the mueller report. we want to give him a chance to complete his report and hear what he has to say, and then we'll see after that what's the best course of action. >> what about the budget? i know that that set to be revealed, the federal budget, at least a blueprint for it on monday. the big proposal suggests

spending cuts, and while lawmakers have funded the government through september, there's another shutdown that could occur if another spending deal is not reached by then. do you think americans, a, could handle another shutdown? and how likely is it that the budget even becomes law? i mean, is there enough bipartisan resistance here? what do you think will happen with this budget? >> i don't think lawmakers want to see another shutdown. i mean, what just happened was ridiculous, and i think that we will pull together as much as we can to ensure that there's not another shutdown. >> okay. nine months to get that done. >> i know. >> looking to september. but we're counting on you, ma'am. thank you very much, representative robin kelly from illinois. >> thank you. why last night might be the last time you have to set your clock ahead. the last time you have to seyot ur clock ahead. since i'm a truck driver, sometimes i'm gone for, like, three weeks at a time. even if i'm 3,000 miles away, i'm connected with my boys. just pull on over, see my son's game, and i'm having a ball. (vo) there when it matters. buy the new galaxy s10 and get a galaxy s10e on us.

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in power, politics, and paychecks, as you probably already know, daylight saving time began overnight. it could possibly be, though, the last time you have to change your clocks, and that is because florida senator marco rubio has introduced a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. so, what are the advantages of that? nbc's kerry sanders explains. >> reporter: the idea that extra sunlight in the evening could improve public health, allowing more time for outdoor activities, reduce robberies, and benefit the economy and tourism. one argument for keeping the clocks ahead, road safety. more daylight commuting hours

means less accidents. not everyone thinks it's time for permanent change, though. in the winter, it could mean very dark mornings. >> many cities will have sunrise at 8:30. many others will have sunrise at 9:00 a.m. and some places in the country will have sunrise as late as 9:30 or later. >> i love that kerry sanders drive-through there. anyway, the new bill would not apply to any state that does not already observe daylight saving time. well, as you know, we're just getting started on this sunday morning. at the top of the hour, you've got a roundtable discussion on "up with david gura." david's here and he's going to tell us what they're talking about. what's up on "up"? >> yeah, you've been talking a bit about this this morning, the fact that several democrats have been in austin, texas, for south by southwest. senator amy klobuchar and senator warren were there as well. what's interesting to me is how those two in particular, alex, were walking into the lion's den of sorts. south by southwest is this focus on tech, and in recent days we've gotten new proposals from

both senators about approaching big tech. you have senator warren with her call to look at some of the mergers and acquisitions that we've seen and to change how the online commerce marketplace works. senator klobuchar, on the other hand, saying she thinks we need to focus much more on antitrust going forward. so we're going to dig into their pro proposals and also look at the role technology has played and is going to play in this campaign leading up to the election. of course, a number of other candidates, including kamala harris, who's from california, and senator cory booker, they both relied on silicon valley for fund-raising. they've been quieter on this issue. >> i know you're going to dig into that and look at why they may be quieter. i think we can figure that out. david, thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up, fear factor. "the new york times" says moderate democrats worry that progressives could cost the party the presidency by careening over a liberal cliff. is that a legitimate concern? but now, in today's number ones, the u.s. government ranking dead last in the axios harris corporate reputation survey. and of course, the government's not even a corporation, but it

ranked just below tobacco giant philip morris. and rounding out the bottom three, the trump organization. enough said on that. on the flip side, the outdoor clothing maker and retailer patagonia scored the third highest reputation. amazon came in at number two. and the best reputation belongs to wegmans, a supermarket chain in new england and the mid-atlantic, for those of you out west. and it is that time again, the annual springtime rise in gas prices. the national average $2.47 a gallon. you're going to find the highest pump price of $3.33 in hawaii. but the state with the cheapest average, that's missouri at about $2.20 a gallon, followed by mississippi and texas. those are your number ones. yours this is your invitation to a higher standard of luxury. this is the invitation to lexus sales event. lease the 2019 es 350 for $379 a month for 36 months. now thru march 31st. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

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- the tech industry is supposed in invention and progress. but only 11% of its executives are women, and the quit rate is twice as high for them. here's a hack: make sure there's bandwidth for everyone. the more you know. new this morning, joe biden is leading democrats in iowa. that's according to a poll from "the des moines register." biden comes in at 27% there, despite no decision on whether or not he's running yet. bernie sanders close behind with 25%. you have elizabeth warren coming in third with just 9%. let's bring in republican strategist brian darling, founder and president of liberty government affairs, and democratic strategist bishop garrison, interim executive director of the truman project.

hi, guys! good to see you on a sunday morning. >> good morning to you. >> so, bishop, you first. what do you make of the fact that joe biden is leading in iowa? he has not even announced yet. >> good morning, alex. i think it's fantastic for the potential biden campaign, but let's be honest here, we're talking about a poll that was only of about 401 potential democratic voters in march of 2019. the iowa caucuses aren't until february 3rd of next year. there's a lot of time right now between now and then to see some changes. and again, we're talking only 400 voters. iowa has a great breadth and depth of individuals that are really excited about the democratic party, but it is not as diverse as we would like to see in these types of towns right now, so i think we don't want to put too much stock into this this early, but it is a good indication for the vice president. >> are you thinking, basically, it's a thing of name identity,

recognition? is that what it is? >> i think so. at the end of the day, you have the two that led the way were bernie sanders and joe biden. everyone knows who they are. they've had a very long lead time to get to know voters. i think you're going to see a lot more opportunity for the kamala harrises, for the elizabeth warrens, for the secretary castros of the world to come forth and show the american people generally what they're all about. >> brian, there is an article in "the new york times" titled "bernie sanders-style poll ricks are defining the 2020 race, unnerving moderates." this refers to moderate democrats who are increasingly fearing the party could fritter away its chances of beating president trump in 2020 by careening over a liberal cliff. do you think that's what republicans are counting on? i mean, is it possible the republicans are underestimating the popular appeal of more liberal democrats in 2020? >> you know, i do think that's a potential. i think that donald trump's greatest ally right now are the

fact that democrats are being very reactionary and they've gone overboard on so many issues. you look at elizabeth warren pushing to go after the biggest and most successful companies in our nation for no good reason, just to break them up, just to be populist. her push for higher taxes, the push for medicare for all, the green new deal. i don't know if there are any moderates left in the democratic party leadership, because all i hear are these ideas that are pushing the party to the left. and i think one of the things that is interesting is you do see joe biden leading in these polls it. he's not even a declared candidate. so, i think some of these issues may be hurting. i think that some of the candidates have gone a little bit too far, and it seems like democrats have a long way to go before they settle on a couple of candidates that they want to see get to the finish line. >> but brian, are you at all concerned that republicans may underestimate where this is? let's keep on. this is 2020. we're not looking back. things seem to be looking forward within the democratic party. >> well, i don't think so.

i think that democrats are overplaying their hand. look at what happened in the house with 81 requests for documents, and we're going to see subpoenas at some point. so, democrats may be overplaying their hand, trying to push an early be overplaying their hand, pushing ideas aren't in the mainstream. i don't think the american people are in agreement with all of these ideas that will cost our country so much money that we can't afford. >> i got to say of those surveyed, you make a point it's 400 and change but 90% supported the green new deal, 8 4% backing medicare for all, 81% taxing others of wealth. >> if you poll breaking up amazon and facebook the poll is probably pretty high. when you look at the long-term results it's destructive. the green new deal americans

think it's a good idea until they see how much it is going to cost them. socialism is not free. we pay for it in the back end. >> we have to look at the policies and process of something like the green new deal will be. we haven't had that discussion yet. they want people to bring up climate change as an issue that the country addresses. >> climate change is huge. the second highest rating there, 81% surveyed said they were interested in health care, 80% in climate change. what does that say to you, bishop? >> i think the right are trying to peg a lot of these ideas as being socialist or being so dramatic that the american people aren't going to want anything to do with it. we're seeing them poll high. americans do want to us to do

something about health care, they want us to find a path to medicaid for all, to clean energies, they are fighting to find these answers. to simply say it's going to cost too much doesn't make sense. >> i'm curious, both of you guys used the word "socialist" and there's a negative connotation to that, that permeates the vast portion of society. how is that word going to maybe be weaponized, do you think? i want you both to respond to that. brian, is that something that has been thought about by republicans thinking this is how we're going to label and push socialism as being the moniker representing the full democratic party. >> yes, rightfully so. it should be weaponized democrats because they're embracing. the socialist agenda is front

and center and being pushed by the left and that's a problem. i don't think that's going to be popular in the long-term >> what do you think there, bishop? do you think like the "new york times" article, democrats may be moving in a socialist direction, is that a problem? >> i don't think this is a problem. we just took the house back in this last election and we did so with the help of a lot of centralist democrats in red districts. we wouldn't have been able to make the moves and take the gavel back the way we did, if we didn't have individuals looking for smart policies that affect all americans central to what americans care about. i think trying to peg a lot to try to use the connotation we're somehow socialists because we believe in some of the stronger policies that affect all people is just absoluteliry absolutely.

>> joe biden gets 70% as being about right for where he stands in terms of views, too liberal, about right or conservative. bernie sanders gets 48% in terms of his views being about right and he is to the left of joe biden. >> it doesn't concern me. we look at the vice president, he's had a tremendous track record over the entirety much the obama administration for leading with his heart, for doing everything he could to be supportive of president obama and very strong policies again that support and affect all americans. i think senator sanders has a lot of room to make up in terms of what he stands for and some of the different policies he's trying to push and additionally what his outreach looks like to people of color and women. what is it he's going to do for

the communities that are going to ultimately support them and help to continue to lift them up. >> bishop, a headline from the hill, says "warren struggles to gain traction amid sanders surge"? is sanders going to crowd her out? >> i think she's a tremendous talent and there's room for her to improve and resonate with the american people. it's a question how they'll go about with their strategy. >> she resonates with me. i would love to see her get the nomination. >> i bet she resonates with you, brian. >> brian, politico's article "advisers urge trump to defer 2020 rallies" saying they believe in early re-election strategy built around as well as chief executive dignified settings. what are your thoughts b ten seconds to answer that one. >> i don't think he's going to

listen to his advisers. i guarantee we'll see him on the campaign trail more because they're telling him not to do it. >> good to see you both, thank you so much, see you next sunday. a complaint against alexandria ocass know cortez and why she calls it misinformation.

that's going to do it for me. i'll see you at soon eastern.

it's time for "up." >> this is "up." i'm david gura. how easy is it to get access to president trump? stories converging this morning as "mother jones" and "the miami herald" report the owner of a chain of massage parlors has been selling access to mar-a-lago and looking more like joe biden and beto o'rourke will run in 2020. is the big tech conference south by southwest? >> it's a little like baseball. you can't be an impumpire and o one of the teams in the game. >> paul manafort led an otherwise blameless