robert: indictments in the russia probe and par alsills in r shington on control. i'm robert costa. 17 americans gunned down in florida. another week where leaders face the question, what now? tonight on "washington week." president trump: today i speak nation in grief. robert: in the wake of another mass shooting, an emotionally charged debate. >> can you tell us when the house may muster the courage to take up the issue of gun violence? robert democrats demand action. some republicans say tougher laws would not have prevented the massacre. >> the struggle up tohis point has been that most of the proflingse enthusiasti offered would not have prevented not just yesterday's tragedy b any

of those in recent history. robert from colbine to sandy hook, to parkland, florida. >> president trump, please do something! robert: is washington any closer to addressing gun violence? plus,reaking news. the justice department charges 13 russians with interfering in the u.s. election, and turmoil once again in the west bing -- wing. mr. bannon, do you plan to answer questions today? robert: as steve bannon is questionn the russian probe and rob porter resigns under allegations of domestic violence. we discuss its all with dan balz of thewashington post." kimberly atkins to have bosto harold. jeanne cummings of the "wall street journal" and carl hulse of the "new york times." >> this is "washington week." funding isde proviby -- >> their leadersp is

instinctive. they understand the chall tenge oday. and research the technologies of tomorrow. some call them veterans. we call them part of our team. >> on a cruise with american cruisenes, travelers experience the maritime heritagn culture of new england. our athlete -- fleet of small cruise ships explores american land scasmse, seaside villages d co han riis where you can experience loam customs and cuisine. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of "washington week." >> additional funding is provided by -- newman's own

foundation, donating all profits from newman's own food products ourishing the common good. the ethics and excellence in journalism foundation. ugkoo and patricia yuen th the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural difference in our communities. the corp race for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, modeertor rcosta. robert: good evening. once again, another school shooting. anher heart wrenching tragedy. a massacre that has rattled the country. it haseignited the paurnl debate over the second amendment. big questions keep lingers each time these nights mayors flash. should dong -- congress and president trump take action and role s the government' in protecting citizens in gun

violence? nikolas cruz is charged with 17 countsf premeditated murder. one for each of the people he is accused of gung down inside his former florida high school. in his remarks to the nation, president trump stressed the need to address mental healt issues but steered clear of any discussion of gun policy. president t administration is working closely witieh local author to investigate the shooting and learn everything we can. we areo committedorking with state and local leaders to help secure our schools and tackle mental icult issue of health. robert: investigators say cruz fired nearly 150 shots from his assault style ar-15ifle, a weapon he purchased legal little. gun policy sharply divideses this country, as you know. when it comes to gun control. 18% of republicans support the tsea.

78% of democ do. according to a pew research pew from a gun poll last june. where we stand, carl, is we have in issue of gun control that comes up after every massshooti who's going to drive w ha t comes next? will it be president trump or will will it be republicans in congress? carl: the question is will anything comes next? after o every onthese events, i ask is this going to be the c one thanges the issue? i just don't see it. the republicans have the majority and the votes. the n.r.a. ha a stranglehold in some respects on that party. th don't want to move away from that. h election to cycle coming up. i think they'll be some planse that c up but it didn't get through after newtown. i do think there are a couple of differences. democrats for years were staying away from this issue entirely.

they didn't even bring it up and now they see this as something they do want to talk about. i think it's going be an election issue. eons ago, i wasr repor in brow ward county where this occurred and tept broward county enacted one of the toughest gun control in the country for backgrou checks. it was later overturned by some state policy but that's an area that hasd embra gun carom and gun safety. i think that's one of the reasons you're t hearinghis outcry from there for people that wantomething done. robert: the powerful statements from the parents, the people ee this the people in brourmed county certainly asking preside tmp for gun control. there was breaking news that senator feinstein, of california, wants to approaches legislation to raise the age of purchasing a firearm to1. nikolas cruz, of course, was 19. could the midterms ands conce on a suburban voters prompt some

action on somet tng liket? >> no, it won't. the n.r.a. is just too gd. we have a very familiar cycle that we're going thrgh. we hav initial outrage, sadness and demands for action. then we have a few things proposed and then they put the brakes on i and then two weeks from now or two days from sow,e other big story is going to break, people are going to forget about it and the fever will go down and the bill wile ncome up. i mean, if they couldn't do the bump stocks after vegas, that has nothing to do with whether you can own a gun or t. but to say an 18-year-old or 19-year-old can't buy a gun is going to be -- that's a much biggertep for them to take than to ban buffalo stocks and they couldn't even do that. >> i generally agree with everything that you said.

but this time, unlike newtown and some other instances you had young people, high school-age students describing and videotaping massacre taking place in their schools and then speaking afterwards about it a the need for change in a very eloquent way that i think is least registering on a local . vel, at the very lea maybe on a state level. you see them calling out people like senatorarco rubio to act, all the way up to the president. so i tnk if that approach, really a systemic community saying look, we want a change here, starting at the local level, gng to the state and then to washington, that could be the beginning of something that's going to change but terms of washington, i think you're right. robert: what about president trump's response? you've observed presidents for decades. he was confronted with another crisis, another tragedy. >> yes, he struggles at moments like this. the statement that he reeled off the teleprompter had certain

notes that were necessary and things that people expect from a president but his unwillingness to talk even a little bit about guns and the gun violence that exists in this country, even hrhetorically says thas not prepared to take up this challenge on that side.d he tal about mental health. there are legitimate and important issues onhe mental health side that need to be dealt with as well. this is nonan either/or situation but he? a sense has cast his lot on one side of that and not the other and i think that that reflects, in a sense, the great cultural divide on this issue. is issue has severely divided this country and as long as we're asived as we are politically and culturally, it's difficult to see ard way for to try to get any action on it. >> one last note in florida in particular, the one person who's in a bad spot -- difficult spot

-- is governor scott. because those are his constituents whoer demanding action and he wants to runen fo thee and he was going to make the decision about running for thena s at the end of the legislative session, so a lot ot importhings are all coming together at the same time for the governor. and that's going to make his every decision he makes have much bigger meaning. robert: scott a key player but what about president trump again? he is in some ays so i would lolling cal on some issues and in other ways not. >> in the past, he had supported an assaults weapons ban.t this is sor of the new york trump history that comes out where he has said that there could be sometop compromise there but i i don't s happening now. he's thrown his lot in with the n.r.a. they became a really important group to him.

ty were one of the earliest endorsors of his candidacy. he is aware ofho was with him early and loyaly. >> they were the only outside group that advertised ois behalf and they spent $31 million. twice as much as they spent on any other presidential campaign. robert: does he lookt that knost that urged him to take action or does he listen to the n.r.a.? we're going to have to turn to some breaking news thatri dominatedy. breaking news in the russia probe j probe. ttice department announced today that he -- it has indicted 13 russian nationals for alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. >> the defendants conductedhat they called information warfare against the united states with ofthe stated goa spreading distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general.de robert: pre trump responded to the indictments with a tweet. he wte,ussia started their

anti-u.s. campaign in 2014,re lg be announced that i would run for president. the results of the election were not impacted. the trump campaign did nothing wrong. no collusion. joining me now with more on the indiets is michael crowley, who covers national securement for politico and a friend of "washington week." michael, the indictment accuses social dants of using media platforms and fake american personas to mdle in th election. specifically to support campaign and 's damage other candidates. what's the instance of thesein ets and of -- significance of these indictments? >> we have known for a while that there was this widespread russian-government directed effort to influence tction and it had a heavily used social media twitter bots and trolls, fake new on facebook as a way of trying to change ver

attitudes, mainly to work against hillary clinton and inr faf donald trump. we've seen prior revelations to this effect over many months. what the mueller indictment shows us is a n level of detail that. number one, gives us a sharper focus into how these operations worked. number two, presents the u.s. government as saying we are so confident aut this, that we can bring criminal charges against specific individuals. previously it had been kind of shadowy internet operators whose names we didn't necessarily know. w there are 13 named defendants and also, i think gl most start and something that should wake midwesterners up to the seriousness of thi the fact that russians actually came into the united states to, according to the indictment to. collect intelligence and essentially recruit what the

indictment calls unwitting u.s. citizens to participate in this scheme to div americans during the election, to support trump and damage hillary clinton. no these russians were helping to arrange campa rallies in favor of donald trump and in c somees paying these unwitting americans. oneexample was a woman was paid to dress up in a prison costume like she was hillary clinton behind bars and the russian paid someone to build a cagto imprison this hillary clinton impersonator. robert: wild. the russians wer here on the ground. but was this a protection effort for the whole russian probe, to otect bob muell as he moves forward? because president trump and others in the administration have call this would whole enterprise at some level a hoax. >> it's hard thao knowt's on

mueller's mind but this would be consistent with th. u heard democrats come out saying this shows how serious this is. russian interference is not fake news or a hoax. it's a dire threat to our democracy and security. you have to take it enormously seriously. you can't dismiss it as prosecute president trump has. and democrats are saying it's more important than ever that bob mueller be allowed toue conto do his job and donald trump back off and not try toge dispa his work as some kind of a women hunt. robert: dan, significance for president trump as he confronts the seriousness of these indictments. >> two thi one, he no longer can describe this investigation a hoax or the allegations of russian a meddli a hoax. he can continue to say there was no collusion on his part. we'll wait to see where special cosel comes down on that.

but on the question of general interference, that has been iped away by the detail in this indictment. but that also puts pressure on him to act to do sometng to prevent this in the newly. one of the other criticisms is thistr adminion under this presidentas done nothing in anymore serious way to head this off for 201 or 2020. it will welcome more difficult for the administration to avoid that. robert: will there be pressure from citol hill to address nssia >> i think the senate report will come out to force that action. lie repns have been very involved. the administration hasn't been acng on undermines the presiden cents and i think people are oeriously worried that the russians will this again. i do think your point on -- i thin this have good job

security for bob mueller to geth out and show -- it would make it really hard now to push him out. robert: and mueller keeps moving this week we saw that rick gates, the former advisor to paul manafort, the foreman ha campaignman, looks like he's obliging to mueller. a absolutely. they've done fabulous job of keeping everything under wraps. largely because they know they' be the first dead body if they said something and mueller found out. we have. we've gone from ukraine to lobbying to lying and now we're getting to the heart of the rush -- arb -- russia probe itself. it is an spansive investigation. back to carl's point. we had every head of an intelligence agency on the hill this week saying russia is trying to influence our

election. they're doing the same things again. now this report does add substance to it. e senate report will add more momentum to it. a tension between statethe is and federal election officials because these are state events, not federal events butl there ae kinds of things congress could do. they could give them grants so they could upgrade their machines. give them grants to they could hire cybersecurity people. robert: steve bannon also talking to robert mueller's team this week, the former white house strategist and went to capitol hill but had a little bit of an altercation with the intelligence committee. >> yes, he's stileexerting s form of executive privilege, which no lawyer i've talked to believes that actually exists. but he's talking to robert mueller and i think that's

most important thing. and we've seen from everything that robert mueller has done, how meticulous and careful they're being. to have him before those investigators has to be something thats unnerving for the frump who you. tnohey don't what he's going to say and probably aren't until mueller is. i also think these 1 charges against 13ussians, in order to get- u have to convince them this is a. probl >> it also puts a lot of pressure on facebook and twitter. >> yes. robert: are they publishers? where's their responsibility? >> exactly. >> they've been slow walking waver -- whatever they were going to f so after the

complapets from the intelligence committee, this should light a fire unde them to do something. robert: more intrigue in theho white. they're scramble over rob porter, the former statue secretary who faced accusations of abuse. general john kell illinois said they're trying to change up the whole security process. it's still pretty hazy on that issue. >> it is. there were rumors flying that john kelly might be gone by tend of the week. now well the release of this memo, which you obtain earlier today outliningha the changes they're going to make to the security clearance process, which has clearly been a problem. i took that as a sign that they knew they had to get out aheado some of theis things. that if that salt there for a week or two, they would be under tremendous pressure to guy -- try to do something.

robert: let's turn to the stalemate overmmigration because that was another big story this week. this week, theat s failed to advance four immigration bills, cluding one backed by president and asa bipar approach. the trump-endorsed bill spann sponsored bill republica senator chuck grassley of iowa checked the boxes of the president's four pillar. building the wall, a and e lott program and extended mass migration. mr. trump had teatened to veto any legislation that did not include those four components but last month republicans ensured democrats that there would be a good faith debate on immigravoon to another government shutdown. carl, ump up on capitol hill,

what happened? >> gdlock. this was supposed to be this big, old-fashioned debe and it never really materialized. immigration is sort of like gun control in som represents. they just can't corner it. i think for the program now is what happened in the court?kn k as -- congress has pretty much thrown up. it han kimberly: so -- robert: so what happens to the dreamers? >> i think they're in the supreme court.ap whatns in the court could eventual little decide it. >> there could be some kind of daca fix that could do by ruself. t by do have the courts kays that are movroing h. the dreerms can't be deported media -- immediately or by march 5 is when h trump said he wanted them to get action on this tmp has said he might

move march 5 and he can dohat. so we could just see that deep dates keep moving deeper and deeper into the cheared world. >> i'm not sure that's going to happen.in i when reports say he's not interested in moveling that march 35 day. i'm incally ined to believe him becauserump is intent to harp of foreman issues. i don't thinke'd back a clean daca bill. >> just moved the dat-- >> i understand that. i also don't think he'd sign a bill that have daca or wall funding. without a move on legal immigration, i think that's going to be dead the in the ware at the white hous >> talking with both side today, both sides believe that if and

when the supreme court does something that opunish reopens this, the removes t currents protection from the teamers that there will then be narrow. the question is how narrow is that movement? to what? exte nothing tort dreamers and something for border security in will the president and the white house command somethi will, i'm not sure they will. jeanne: even then, it could be months before this ever gets to the supreme court. the administration has skipped over appellate courts and take taken it straight to the supreme court. robert: we'll keep an eye on immigrion. corps issue for a lot of people. thanks, everybody, for being here. our conversation will continuen online the "washington week." we'll talk about two more trump

cabinet members face scrutiny over their l.a.ish -- lavish. also, a pay out from president trump'ye lto a pornography star. i'm robert costa. thanks for watching. >> funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> their leadership is instinctive. they understand the challenges ofay tod. and research the technrrogies of to. someall them veterans.

wecall them part of our team. >> american cruise lines, proud sponsor of "washington week." >> additional funding is provided by -- newman's own foundation, donating all profits from newman's own food products to charity and nourishing the common good. the ethics a excellence in journalism foundation. koo and patricia yuen through the you -- yuen foundation, commit told bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by ntributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. thank you. >> you're watching pbs.r four affirmations.

and so, i'd like the guys, y'all know what to do. number number two. number three. and number four. alri the time has come for us to stop looking r for other outside mmunity to rebuild those communities. we m at raise up superm women to take back our communities and provide them with direction and vision. no one's gonna do it for us, we've got do it. we've got to do it. (rock music) (police sirens) kansas city, missouri police busy tonight.