Between the lines: Pelosi’s use of the word “imminent” Thursday to describe the USMCA buoyed officials who have been pushing Congress to approve it.

• Pelosi’s comments were her “most definitive signal that the logjam is going to break soon,” per a top trade lawyer. 

What they're saying: Administration officials got an extra boost from an encouraging readout of a Democratic caucus meeting.

• Multiple freshman members spoke up enthusiastically about the USMCA deal in the meeting and urged a vote.
• Several members told their colleagues they won't get re-elected if the trade deal that Trump renegotiated with Mexico and Canada to replace NAFTA doesn't pass, according to three sources familiar with the meeting.

For months, the White House has put pressure on freshman Democrats who won in districts that Trump carried in 2016 and where he remains relatively popular. 

• Vice President Mike Pence “participated in 35 events in the U.S. and Canada calling for USMCA passage,” per his office, and traveled to 15 districts held by Democrats to push the trade agreement.

Yes, but: The logjam on USMCA still hasn't broken and the legislative calendar is tight and clogged with impeachment. It’s still going to be challenging to get USMCA passed before year's end.

• House Ways & Means Chairman Richard Neal told the House caucus that enforcement, especially around labor standards in Mexico, remained the biggest part of the outstanding issues to be resolved, according to one Democratic aide in the room for the meeting.
• The same aide said that Ways & Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer cautioned that while the working group believes there's progress on pharmaceutical provisions and environmental protections, "We have not seen commitments in writing.”

• Erdoğan apparently thought he could sway these senators by forcing them to watch a clunky propaganda film.
• The senators in the meeting took turns pushing back on Erdoğan, while Trump sat back and watched, intervening occasionally to play traffic cop.
• The meeting comes as Erdoğan is trying to avoid sanctions over the purchase of a Russian missile defense system.

Erdoğan's video "was unpersuasive," according to a source who was in the room. It depicted members of the YPG (the U.S.-allied People's Protection Units) and the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which the State Department has designated as a terrorist group).

• After the film concluded, according to the source, Sen. Lindsey Graham asked Erdoğan: "Well, do you want me to go get the Kurds to make one about what you've done?"
• Erdoğan got into a heated back-and-forth with Graham over Turkey's recent invasion of Syria, according to four sources familiar with the meeting. A source in the room said Erdoğan took exception to Graham using the word "invasion" and that Graham also rebutted Erdoğan when he claimed that Turkey had fought ISIS.
• Turkish officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
• In a phone interview last night, Graham confirmed he clashed with Erdoğan in the Oval. "The Turkish narrative that they have done more to destroy ISIS, I rejected forcefully, and I let Turkey know that 10,000 SDF fighters, mostly Kurds, suffered, died or injured, in the fight against ISIS, and America will not forget that and will not abandon them."

Reality check: Trump has said the opposite about the Kurds. He said it's not in America's interests to defend them, and that the U.S. should withdraw from Syria so they can fight it out with the Turks. Trump later reversed course, saying he'd leave some troops in Syria, but only to "keep the oil."

Behind the scenes: A senior administration official said they invited these senators because they have voiced concerns about Turkey's purchase of Russian weapons and invasion of Syria. "It shows Erdoğan that they're serious about sanctions, and Trump doesn't have to be the bad guy," the official said. Another senior official said the president believes "full and frank" engagement with Erdoğan is important.

• Sen. Ted Cruz said in a statement that he "made clear to President Erdoğan that so long as Turkey continues to procure or deploy the S-400 air defense system from Russia, the U.S. will not sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey." All the senators in the room, including Joni Ernst and Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch, were unified on the S-400 point.
• Sen. Rick Scott pressed Erdoğan on "why Turkey should enjoy the protections of NATO when they're cozying up to Russia," according to another source familiar with the meeting.

Go deeper:

• Graham: Trump's abandonment of the is Kurds "dishonorable" and a "sh*tshow"
• Republicans condemn Turkish assault on Kurds in wake of Trump's Syria decision
• Trump on Syria's Kurds: "They're not angels"

• "So the point is as long as this is a step removed, he's in good shape. ... If it's a step removed from the president, he doesn't lose any Republicans in the House."

A top House GOP leadership aide said: "Substance is focus. [The co-leadoff witness, Bill] Taylor says [he had a] 'full understanding.' But from who? Not POTUS. That’s big."

• An uber-connected Republican added: "Rudy will be cut loose because he was rogue."

What the president is thinking: "Trump is frustrated with the slippery slope it creates [by] saying it's bad but not impeachable," the GOP member added.

• "Then it gets to bad but impeachable. I think the real problem becomes the slippery slope. ... It's more just a function that he believes there ought to be a strong defense based on the merits of what happened, not on the process."

A top Democratic aide told Axios the party's goal for the hearings is "Mueller on steroids": "Simpler crime witnessed by credible people. Mueller did exceptional work but nobody read his 400+ page report (except a few of us masochists)."

• A Democratic official who helped shape the strategy told me the narrative will be: "The president abused his power to rig and fix elections in his favor. Our challenge is to keep it that simple: What kind of democracy do we want?"
• Look for Democrats to say Trump would do it again if not held accountable.

P.S. ... Republican senators are "too busy" to watch today, per AP's Alan Fram:

• Millions of Americans will be watching. But of eight Senate Republicans questioned, seven said they wouldn't be watching or that it wasn't a priority.
• "Tomorrow I'm going to be paying attention to what we're doing in the Senate," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

Go deeper:

• What to expect from impeachment
• A viewer's guide to the impeachment hearings