white house woes. the president's agenda has take an few hits. today, we'll does how he could turn things around. local impact. the surprising ways the reform could impact your wallet. and "this is us" fans, listen us. we're talking to two of the stars that so many people love to watch. nbc "10 @ issue" starts now. >> hi, i'm erin coleman. donald trump is struggling on his first major initiative. his travel ban on hold by the courts. congress failed to etch vote on his plan to repeal and replace obamacare. then there's russia. and questionable comments about

wire wiretapping. how does the president turn things around? with me is charlie giroux. he business, government leaders, and politicians. in addition to his work in crisis management, he was the national campaign chairman for carly fiorina. he worked in the reagan white house. quite the resume there. we appreciate your time. >> great to be with you. >> starting off. you have said for the president to turn things around, he needs to do two things. what are those? >> they boil down to two words. message discipline. this unfortunately, has gotten caught into going off on rabbit trails all too often. the american people are very smart. but they're preoccupied. you need to focus on what directly is in their wheel house, what they understand, what they can comp hepd quirehe quickly. take with them. repeat to other folks.

and you need to have a message that you stay with, and don't divert from. ? what happens if he doesn't have a big win in these first 100 days? is that a big deal? or doesn't it matter much? >> it may be that not having a big win in the first 100 days is an advantage. if you think back to the obama administration, they took over a year to come up with obamacare. they had much bigger majorities than the republicans right now. i think explaining things. communication. it's explaining. how things are going to work. why your plan is going to be better. and how it's directly going to impact people in their everyday lives. >> it wouldn't necessarily mean setting a tone for the rest of his presidency snmgts a win would help. but the tone is really set by the communications from the mt. himself. he's the chief messenger. he sets the tone. not just the words used. it's the tone and what they see. and that's how people form impressions. >> talk about his staff.

in your opinion, does it need a shakeup? >> no, not yet. every administration takes awhile to get their sea legs. these are folks coming together who haven't worked previously with one another. normally, politicians bring a group with them that they have worked with for a long time. my former boss ronald reagan did. the great communicator. the staff has to be, again, focused on message that connects with the american people. and one that they'll stick with and drive hard. there have been a lot of different places so far. it will be much more effective if there's focus and discipline. >> when would it, then, be time to make the shift? >> the shift has to occur now. they have the opportunity now, erin. with the move towards tax reform. again, for ronald reagan, took a long time to accomplish. it's something people can easily understand. they need to talk about economic growth and how the policies that they're going to change with taxes are going to lead to

economic growth for everybody and more prosperity for all americans and how it will affect each of us where we live and work. how it will benefit our families. if they can do that, they can get a win. >> talk about working so closely with family members. his son-in-law, his daughter, we haven't seen that in recent years. >> we haven't. and, there's both good and bad to that. as you can well understand. you hear folks with great praise. a lot of other folks expressing a lot of skepticism and concern over the fact that you have family members there. nepotism laws that may come into play here. may not. nevertheless, the optics, how it looks, i think, is what concerns a lot of folks. i think there's an added burden on the administration to prove it's working for the country and working for individual americans. >> what about expanding his base? you know, some people say, okay, these are the folks that energize him. keep him going. others say, no, he needs to expand.

what do you think? what does the president need to do? >> politics, erin, is always about addition and multiplication and not subtraction and division. when you're appealing only to your base, you're very, very limited. you have to -- and this is a shortcoming thuts far, they is have too often appealed only to their base. they have to expand that. even within the republican party. xhae comments out of the white house that are divisive among republicans. they have to unite the base and expand it. the way you do that is by telling folks why the policies we're putting forward help them. because they do. >> his relationship with the press. strained to say the least. what, if anything, would you change about this? we're kind of in unchartered territory. >> we are. the media, look, there's no question that there's media bias. you don't fuel that, in my judgment. a lot of it goes to message

discipline. if you have a strong story, you're telling it every day, you're not deviating, you're in a stronger position. people are preoccupied. kids have to go the school, the dog has to go to the vet, the mortgage needs to be paid, the dinner needs to be made. they're not paying as close attention as those of us within the industry are. you have to have a simple, clear, well-defined message that you stick with. when you're moving in didn't directions, it often doesn't work for you. >> were his supporters naive in thinking that an outsider, that's what he campaigned on, the washington outsider -- could come in and get things done so quickly? >> that's been a real problem. expectations have been so high for this administration. and the president still says, health care is going to be easy. really? i mean, it never was for anybody else. and to tell folks it's going to be easy sets an expectation that will be incredibly difficult if

not impossible to meet. that is one of the things where message discipline comes into play. not saying those kinds of things. not pretending there's a magic wand to wave. here's what's happened. the administration is confronted with the fact that they have moved beyond executive actions. donald trump was able to come in and overturn an awful lot of what was done by executive action. he has to work with congress. congress doesn't move that fast. they never have. they're never going to. each one of those men and women have their own agendas and their own constituencies to answer to. this administration has to come up with something four square. audience analysis. their audience right now in large measure is the congress of the united states. >> so not overpromising. >> and not telling everybody it will be easy. and there's not magic wand. >> if you were advising him about russia what would you say?

>> i would say move back a little bit. let the facts come out. don't be constantly putting yourself in the story. >> what is the president doing right in your opinion? >> he's doing a lot of things right. he's keeping his promises. doy doing what he said he was going to do. he needs to expand the base. he's solidified his base. he's taking on policy pro announcements that will help the country with tax reform, with a significant repeal and replacement of obamacare. the thing is collapsing under its own weight. and with taking on a strong position in foreign policy. and additionally with energy policy here in the united states. the keystone pipeline, for example, a huge boom to pennsylvania's economy and those of us that live in the keystone state. >> what about the president's interaction with voters? the campaign-style approach. is it working now that he's in the white house? >> first of all, he loves it. the american people that support him love it.

and ultimately, going directly to the american people will be his strongest suit. it allows him to end run the media, many of the washington power brokers and ultimately be victorious. >> what happens if the president loses on his next big initiative? you talked a little bit about tax reform. >> he needs a win. if they had not led with the obamacare repeal and replacement, i think they would have been in a better position. there were easier issues. not easy. but easier. i would go back to one of the things my boss once said. ronald reagan, that the answers are simple. they're just not easy. the trump administration is finding this out every day. >> charlie gerow, thank you for being with us. next, the president is ready to move forward on tax reform. who wins and who loses? and how tax reform can hit your cash flow in ways you would. expect. >> you want me to go with you? >> of course, yeah.

i can't do this without you. zplnlts then, later, the actors who play kevin and kate on "this is us" dish about their hit season. dear fellow citizen, i know what it's like to worry about student loan debt. i graduated into it. so i couldn't do the things i love, like traveling.

but i knew there had to be a way to manage it. citizens bank education refinance loan. call... an education refinance loan helped me save on payments each month. if you have a question about whether refinancing is right for you, ask me. sincerely, robert kennedy, fellow grad and fellow citizen. call... to refi now. ♪ we buy any car ♪ any make, any model, any age, any price ♪ ♪ from 50 bucks to 100 grand ♪ we buy any car ♪ any, any, any, any at webuyanycar.com, the gimmicks stop with our ads. trading in our selling your car is hassle-free in just three easy steps. one, get your free online valuation. two, drive to your local car buying centre. and three, walk out with your check in as little as 30 minutes. so don't wait. get your free online valuation now. ♪ find out how much your car's worth ♪ ♪ at webuyanycar.com

from what you'll pay at the dproesry store to how your benefits could change, tax reform could make a big impact on your bottom line. the president has promised a sweeping overhaul. >> i would say we'll probably start going strongly for big tax cuts and reform. that will be next. >> with me now, jamie hopkins. jamie is with the american college of financial services. he's the co-director of its retirement income program and an associate professor of taxation. what changes does mr. trump want? what about the other income

levels than the rich? >> we don't have a bill yet. that's the big starting point. we're still listening to what he said during the campaign trail and trying to match that up with what the house is kind of talking about, too. now he's talked about simplifying the tax code. that's the clear message. simplify. you can fill out your taxes on a note card and send it in. >> it would be nice, right? >> almost every american says, i would like that. a simply tax code. most people don't understand what is in there. then it's the devil's in the detail. so we have to wait a little bit and see what happens. trump proposed taking our seven takes rate brackets to three. and so, kind of lowering the top tax bracket down and lowering the other ones down, too. at first dplans it looks like almost everyone will see a lower tax rate. your effective taxes, it's not as clear. we have to see what deduks are removed or added. >> is his plan much different than what most republicans want?

>> it's different in key areas. a lot of areas they agree on. corporate tax rates. bringing them down. they ayi on. we start talking about things like exports/imports, the taxes on there. not as clear that they're on the same page. they talked about health care being a surprise on how challenging it is. well, really, the affordable care act maybe impacts about 100 million americans directly. a lot of people are on their employer plans. taxes, basically impacts all of americans. all of a sudden, at the makes it more complicated in and of its to get on the same page. >> you talked about import fees. how could that change? what does that mean for the average american? we hear import fees. we think, our avocados are going to cost more. >> what president trump has been talking about, a tariff on imports. if it's 20%, the avocados will

go up by 20%. tariffs get passed on to the consumer. it will hit your pocketbook. you're going to spend more money on goods being imported. there's a term that's out there a lot, the border adjustability tax. that's complicated to say the least. it's not exactly a tariff. the idea there is you make imports a little bit more difficult to come in. and that helps support exports. the idea there is you know, maybe some things being imported become more expensive. the u.s. dollar is supposed to grow. our economy is supposed to grow. hopefully, it offsets the costs. it's not the same thing as a tariff. >> so who are the winners and thes l losers of this plan, as as we know right now? >> corporations are big winners. if we go from a 35% tax bracket to something around 15% to 20% is a clear winner. morningstar, who does a lot of

corporate valuations, they say some valuations might wise by 30% to 40%. if you're invested in those stocks, you'll be a winner. one of the scary parts, maybe the sacred cow is the home interest deduction for your mortgage. and charitable deductions. both of those are, i think it will be hard to pass getting rid of those two. they've been discussed. then we see clear losers. schools, churches, hospitals. if we get rid of the charitable deductions, they would be major losers immediately. we would know that off the bat. >> it's tax season. a lot of people are hanging on what you're saying. our tax code hasn't changed much in about 30 xwreers. why? mgts it's difficult. there's a reason we didn't change it for 30 years. at least not a major overall. we've been patching holes for 30 years. last time we changed it, 30 years ago, it was about 30 years before that. we did a major overhaul. it impacts almost everyone in

america. some things, we're not clear what the impact will be when we pass it. let's say we get rid of the charitable deductions. you don't get to deduct gifts to hospitals or schools. a side effect might be that the student debt crisis gets worse because schools are more expensive. people are borrowing more. that's a side effect we may not see for eight years down the road. that makes kind of tax reform very challenging. >> there's a ripple effect. one thing it affects so many others. how long do you thing it will take to see a difference if the bill goes through? is it immediate? in a couple of years? >> they want to have a bill out in the next two months. hopefully, be voting on it this summer. having a lot of the tax laws come into place next year. this year's taxes, they're not going to change. next year's taxes might. and we're talking about next year's taxes being, you know, 2018, so when you're paying them

in 2018. probably the taxes and the income you earn this year is not going to be tremendously impacted. >> all right. a lot to look forward to and see what happens. jamie hopkins, thank you, from the american college of financial services. we appreciate your time. >> thank you for having me. if you're a fan of "this is us" good news. we're going to talk with two of the stars about the show that so many people love to binge-watch. careful joe, they've got you outnumbered.

the dinosaurs' extinction... don't listen to them. not appropriate. now i'm mashing these potatoes with my stick of butter... why don't you sit over here. something for everyone is awesome. find your awesome with the xfinity stream app. more to stream to every screen.

this is nbc "10 @ issue." it's the new hit show on nbc that everybody has been talking about. if you haven't gotten on the "this is us" band wagon yet, now is your chance. you can watch the entire season before it goes away thanks to the xfinity watch-a-on this week coming up. nbc 10's tracy davidson talked

to two of the stars of "this is us." justin hartley and chrissy metz. spoiler alert, if you have never watched the show, some of the storyline is revealed. >> i'm superpumped about the move to new york city. we have time to figure out. i'm superpumped. >> that was real? >> yeah. it's my new jam. do you think you could get that cute theater casting director, the one who looked me. >> kara. >> yes, i loved kara. when you get her on the phone, tell her i'm only interested in heavy drama. i'm not moving to do some lame offbroadway comedy. >> thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having us. >> i'm so psyched to talk to you. i love the show, your characters, i love the relationship. are you surprised by how popular the show has become. >> yes. >> i don't think you can predict something like this. it's been great. i love this subject matter and i

think it says something about our -- us. as a culture. that stuff that has, like a show with this subject matter is this popular and touches so many people on a perm level. i'm proud. >> you can relate to any through-line, any thread, any character in some way, shape, or form. it's incredible art to be a part of that. >> we keep saying this is a perfect show to binge-watch. cow play a brother and sister on this show. does that sibling relationship continue offscreen for you two? >> i adore her. we literally, all we do is laugh and hang out. so we -- when i get a chance to do this for the show, i love it. and then when i find out that you're coming along and we're doing it together, it makes it so much better for me and more fun. i adore this woman. >> there's a real, true, relationship and connection and love for each other. i think that was before we

started to shoot. when we started to get to know each other. this is when you know the universe is working on your behalf. they put us together. it's wonderful. >> everyone is anxious about season two. open wants the know how jack dice. i thought i had it figured out. until the last episode. i think everybody thought they had it figured out. >> what was your theory? >> i thought he was going to die in the car. on the way. different everybody? >> isn't that incredible writing. i think a lot of people did. everybody has theories. the writer take you one way, and then -- >> they're brilliant. >> when do we get the answer? >> i don't know when exactly. i know that the intention is not to draw it out. the intention is to tell the story in a certain way that when finally when you do find out, it's a massive payoff. >> the integrity. >> there's a lot of story to show. >> so much story to tell. it's not so focused on how he passed away but how he lived his

life. >> but we know how it happens. >> yeah, we do. >> a relationship. >> and how, jack's character impacted so many of our lives. >> does it hurt? your leg? you broke the hell out of that leg. >> did i? >> you know you did. >> i know i did. >> i knew that it was good when i read the pilot. i knew it was something i had to do everything i could to be a part of it. when i saw the finished product, i knew it was special. that doesn't trance late into eyeballs times. you don't know if people are going to like it. if it's critically acclaimed. you can't predict that. i've been part of some doozies. >> people are watching it 100%. i'll binge-watch it again. >> justin and chrissy, we appreciate it. >> we did it. >> we're going deep. >> okay. yeah. okay. >> all right.

um -- you know, you never really talk about your dad's death. >> that's not true. >> i know that you have told me the basics of how your dad died. the couple of times i have brought it up, you have shut me down. i wondered if you could tell me what happened. you know, exactly. >> okay. all right. >> a remirnd, the xfinity watch-a-on this is happening april 3rd through the 9th.

dear fellow citizen, i know what it's like to worry about student loan debt. i graduated into it. it was keeping me from doing the things i love, like traveling to see my nephews. but i knew there had to be a way to manage it. citizens bank education refinance loan. call... or visit citizensbank.com/refi to find out how much you could save in less than two minutes. i refinanced more than 6 federal and private loans. even if you've already consolidated, you can still refinance your undergrad and grad loans. now that i'm saving, i can visit my nephews. and i can help you with your student debt, so you can do whatever's important to you. if you have a question about whether refinancing is right for you, ask me. sincerely, robert kennedy, fellow grad and fellow citizen. citizens bank education refinance loan. call...

to see how much you could save now. this is nbc "10 @ issue." >> that's it for this edition of nbc "10 @ issue." follow us on twitter. thank you for joining us. and have a great sunday. hi

hey i'll take one of those new fast play games. oh, you ready for a rush? uh, sure! ♪ i'm pretty excited for you right now. ♪ fast play is the new way to play fast and win instantly from the pennsylvania lottery. pick a game, get your ticket and see if you've won. i won! fast play, please! fast play. play fast. win instantly.

the dinosaurs' extinction... got you outnumbered. don't listen to them. not appropriate. now i'm mashing these potatoes with my stick of butter... why don't you sit over here. something for everyone is awesome. find your awesome with the xfinity stream app. more to stream to every screen.

on the ice, sunday is for the stars. with a week to go in the regular season, three-time selke trophy winner patrice bergeron has boston pushing for the playoffs. today he's in chicago with a meeting against the best of the west, first place chicago blackhawks. ♪ welcome t