Least 8. 6 billion for the border wall. Trumps top economic adviser larry kudlow talked about the request this morning. So theres going to be another budget fight over the wall . Well, i suppose there will be. I would just say that the whole issue of the wall and Border Security is of paramount importance. We have a crisis down there. I think the president has made that case very effectively. Its a crisis of economics, its a crisis of crime and drugs, its a cries of humanity. We have to be much tougher and have more constructive immigration policy, which we will be developing over a period of time. So yes, hes going to stay with his wall and hes going to stay with the Border Security theme. I think its essential. Lets start with that Budget Proposal and cnns correspondent Boris Sanchez live in west palm bea beach, florida where the president plans to leave and head back to washington. Tell us about this request. Reporter the president is asking for 6 billion in wall spending. As you know, hes specifically asking congress for 8. 6 billion to fund his ball along the southern border with mexico. This is the first time the Trump Administration is asking congress or, rather, asking for funding for the border wall from different sources. Hes asking for 5 billion from customs and Border Protection and another 3. 6 billion from military Construction Funds at the pentagon. Separately mr. Trump is also asking for an additional 3. 6 billion in military Construction Funds from the pentagon to reimburse money he is spending through his National Emergency declaration. To make that simpler, the president is asking congress to reimburse him for money that he went around them to get to then spend on his promised border wall with mexico. Democrats are not happy about this. Congressional leadership including House Speaker nancy pelosi and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer put out a statement writing this part, quote, President Trump hurt millions of americans and caused widespread chaos when he recklessly shut down the government to try to get his expensive and ineffective wall which he promised would be paid for by mexico. Congress refused to fund his wall and he was forced to admit ill repeat itself if he tries this again. We hope he has learned his lesson. So fred, both sides gearing up for what will likely be a slug fest and republicans begging the president to get money for his wall again. They are already revoking the idea of a potential Government Shutdown. Boris sanchez, thank you. Were in austin, texas where the three town halls will be taking place in a matter of hours. Lets talk about that first off. What can we expect . Reporter were going to hear from three people right now that are very well known where theyre from, fred, but theyre not known nationally. Its critical tonight that theyre able to break through to democratic voters not only here in texas but all across the country. John delaney, a very successful businessman from maryland. When he was a member of congress he was the sixth member that served in the house. Moving on, you have Tulsi Gabbard. She will follow him. She is somebody who went and served in the military overseas. She is also somebody who has really been embraced by the left part of the party. And then we have mayor pete buttigieg. He is from south bend. He crosses a lot of boxes that democrats are looking for, somebody who can reach across not only lines because he himself is gay, but hes also served in the military. Very, very bright fellow. So tonight youre going to hear from these three individuals who are all trying to convince democrats that they are the ones that should at least be looked at right now in this very crowded field, fred. Yeah, very crowded, but if you look at the most recent polling on iowa, i mean, there is a zeroing in on really the top two, and look at what a huge dip, you know, after sanders, you know, coming in at number 2 with 25 , the rest of the pack with just single digits. Reporter just single digits, and if you look at that poll you see joe biden and Bernie Sanders, as you said, at the top. A steep drop after that. But we shouldnt be too surprised right now. You have a lot of candidates that are all getting into the race, talking about getting in the race. A lot of these candidates share very similar policy views. People are trying to figure out who they want to support. I spent some time in New Hampshire and iowa so far this year, and just talking to candidates out there, fred, rather voters out there, they want to hear from the candidates. They absolutely want to hear from the candidates, but here is when were just looking at this is an interesting divide in the Democratic Party. Lets look at biden and sanders quickly. If you look at this, it shows the divide going on. Joe biden with iowa voters right now, he does better with voters that are more centris and are older. Bernie sanders who happens to be older does better with Younger Voters who tend to be liberal. A lot on the line tonight. These three democrats were going to hear from are trying to get voters to back them, fred. All fascinating. Mark preston, thank you so much in austin, texas. Lets talk further about this. With me is charlie dent, former republican of pennsylvania, and Andrew Guillen and cnn historian. Thank you so much. These new polling numbers out of iowa showing joe biden, Bernie Sanders at the top, even though biden has not officially made an announcement. But older white men with substantial leads over the most diverse democratic field ever . What do you make of this . I think its first important to point out that it is early and you are talking about the former Vice President of the United States and senator sanders who just came off of a president ial run himself. So arguably they are probably two of the most popular democrats. What i did find interesting from this poll is that we saw that second choice among Bernie Sanders supporters that chose biden. And then 40 , almost 37 of biden supporters chose sanders as their supporters. For those candidates that are lesser down the field, i would tell them about two years ago i entered the race for governor of florida, a relative unknown across my state, skpeand ended winning the primary. So we have a lot of time and room for movement in these polls. So words of encouragement, dont be discouraged. Charlie, how do you see these poll results . Is it based on name recognition or who democrats think will have the best shot at beating donald trump . Again, fred, its early. The popularity of joe biden and Bernie Sanders, i think, is largely a function of very high name identification. Theyre fully known. I still think one of these candidates of the younger, newer generation, a fresher face, i believe somebody is going to break through. It seems to me the progressive wing of the Democratic Party wants a new face. I think someone l orourke, may cory booker, but somebody i think is going to emerge. I would not be overly confident if i was the Vice President with those numbers. It just seems to me he has one way to go and thats down. I just think you have to watch this carefully. Its early. Somebody is going to break through that pack and establish their own link. Doug, the caucus and the primaries, theyre really just a few months away, the beginning of the year. It really is not too early for a lot of these candidates to be introducing themselves to the electorate. But when you do hear many of these Democratic Candidates say theyre avoiding the name donald trump, what is it about that strategy, to ignore the incumbent who is the sitting president . I think its just a temporary strategy right now. There is kind of a trump fatigue syndrome going on in the Democratic Party. People have to show why theyre an optimistic candidate, how youre going to make somebodys life better if youre just harping on donald trump. Elizabeth warren has done that quite a bit and you dont see her flying high in the polls. Joe biden is the big figure. I mean, the idea that there is somewhere to go besides down for joe biden, thats up, winning the democratic nomination is becoming president. Iowa is a perfect state for him. He runs also we keep talking about the white male in the 70s. Hes also catholic, and a lot of those cities along the mississippi river, dubuque and davenport have heavy kacatholic populations and biden has cultivated iowa friendships for decades. So hell be a force of nature in iowa and beyond, but there is a third lane for Kamala Harris or beto orourke against biden and sanders, but i dont think those two names, biden and sanders, will be dissipated this year. People have decided they like both of them. One demonstrates the center of the Democratic Party, the other the left. Theyre not going to, in my mind, shrink too low. And andreandrew, do you see Democratic Party officially divided after representative omar, e omar, Elizabeth Warren talking about breaking up giants facebook and amazon, and saying while amazon is head quartered in washington state, its a real attribute. Take listen to all of this. I think when you do antitrust law, you should set up the antitrust laws for the whole economy, not for one company. Im not sure the best route of determining antitrust law should be rifle shots at one company you decide you dont like. Im not sure thats the best way for us to do business. But i do believe its appropriate to have some review of our antitrust laws given the changing economy. Andrew, do you see that these kinds of topics are breaking up or causing a real wedge within the Democratic Party . No, i think this is doing exactly what its supposed to do. We are in a primary with a lot of candidates who represent, you know, the spectrum of ideas. Thats exactly what you want in a primary. You want to hear where candidates stand on these issues. I think senator warren with her proposal was tapping into something that is important. Everyday people do have economic insecurities. They feel like the system does seem to be stacked against them. I think, though, its a bit challenging because amazon, google, facebook, shes running up the road on the street that many people live, and it feels very personal. So shell have the challenge of explaining to people how her proposals will save them money, will help Small Businesses grow and to prosper, which are the heartbeat of our economy, and shell have to do that in a way that helps everyday people understand how theyre going to do better in that. But thats what we want, an exchange of ideas. And today, charlie, were learning President Trump now, changing the topic a little bit, plans on asking for more money about this wall. 8 billion, you know, to help fund his border wall. Democrats in charge of the house have made it very clear that there is no chance he is getting any more money. And the president knows that. Hes heard the message loud and clear. So what is behind this strategy . Whats he really getting at here . Well, first, fred, the president proposes, the congress disposes. This is the same every year. Congress will end up writing the proposal bills. Of that 8. 6 billion hes now requesting, 3. 6 billion of it would be to backfill the military Construction Funds hes siphoning off through his emergency declaration. I cant imagine congress is going to backfill that money. The president said that he didnt think those projects were that important. Now hes coming back asking congress for that money again. That money is going to be tied up for some time in court, so i think this is a mess. We are going to have a very messy appropriations and budget cycle. They need a budget agreement. Its expired. So i dont know what is going to happen here. I think get ready for an appropriations cycle that could lead to yet another shutdown. Good news is the president , at least he put in his budget request, money for his border wall. He first asked for 5 billion and now he says he wants 7 billion. So doug, not only is this a fight between the president and the democrats, but potentially its really a fight between republicans as well . How can he afford this . Exactly. And people are worried about the national debt. Many republicans are still fiscal conservatives, and they see things spiraling out of control with the trump presidency. Whats clear why this is news to me is donald trump is doubling down on the border wall as his Campaign Issue for 2020. You hear commentators on cnn and elsewhere talk about the border issues kind of run out of gas for donald trump. Well, it hasnt. Its going to become once again its going to be, lets finish the wall is going to be the mantra, and hes going to make immigration the number one, i think, argument that hes going to take to the American People in 2020. So by september we may be in a Government Shutdown again in the fall because donald trump is willing to do anything to just reinforce that, if i accomplish anything as president , there will be a border fence or increased Border Security. Its the issue he just wont let go of. And charlie, the president loves picking a fight. Now hes picking a fight with ann coulter, and, you know, he had her support for a little bit and then he said some complimentary things about her, and now in a tweet calling her, you know, a wacky nut job. Why . Look, ann coulter has said the president is too squishy on immigration. Hes too soft on the border. I mean, she is playing out on the far, far fringe. Apparently shes gone even too far for donald trump. Look, shes an ally of his at times. I suspect she gets a lot of views and clicks and eyeballs when she does these things. She likes being in the middle fortunate controverof the controversy. Shes saying donald trump is too soft on the border, and shes about the only person saying that. I think her last book was entitled in trump we trust. So clearly no permanent friends and no permanent enemies. Well leave it there for now, andrew gillum, charlie dent and douglas brinkley, thank you. Still ahead in the newsroom, its an allout battle of very serious stuff with isis happening right now, and cnn is the only use network on the front lines. Were live from the battlefield, next. Plus a flight carrying more than 150 people crashes, killing everyone on the plane and now were learning new details about the americans on board. Oh oh o its taking over theres no escape you better get moving ready or not its about to go down here it comes now get ready oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh get ready moving ready or not get ready oh oh oh oh oh hey but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. 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Order ancestrydna, and find the surprises in you. Just 59 through march 18th. Get your kit today. Come hok. , babe. Nasty nightime heartburn . Try alkaseltzer pm gummies. The only fast, powerful heartburn relief, plus melatonin so you can fall asleep quickly. Oh, what a relief it is my dream car. It turns out, they want me to start next month. She can stay with you to finish her senior year. Things will be tight but, we can make this work. Now. Grandpa, what about your dream car . This is my dream now. Principal we can help you plan for that. Sto. Welcome back. We have breaking news from the borders of syria. Dramatic pictures as isis fighters try to keep control of one of their last strongholds and cnn is the only u. S. Network to witness what could be the final assault. Cnns ben wedeman is in Eastern Syria for us right now. Ben . Reporter yes, fredricka. That operation began three hours ago with heavy bombardment. There was airstrikes as well as mortar rounds crashing into this small, last sliver of land held by the state that called itself islamic. Its just about half a square mile. We have seen outgoing fire as well. In fact, we were right next to the camp just an hour before the operation began, and there was an Intense Exchange of gunfire then. We had sniper fire coming in our direction, so we know there is still stiff resistance inside. Its important to keep in mind that the isis fighters are some of the most battle hardened and combat experienced they have. This is the third time the u. S. Backed Syrian Democratic forces have launched operations to try to take back this piece of land. Each time in the past they found that there was still thousands, tens of