>> president trump confronts new memos from former f.b.i. director james ceey. and brings a trusted ally onto his legal team. i'm robert costa. inside the latest on the russia probe. plus the looming challenges and opportunities in north korea. tonight on "washington week." >> there was no collusion and that's been so found, as you know, by the house intelligence tmmittee. >> presidentmp expresses confidence that special counsel robert mueller's investigation into rusan meddling in the 2016 election will not find collusion by the trump campaign. in a news conference with japanese prime minister shinzo abe, trump contests reports that mueller and deputy attorney general rod rosenstein's jobs >> they've been say'm going to get rid of them for the last three months. four months. five months. and they're stillere.

>> the justice departmen releases redacted memos from fired f.b.i. director james comey, whilew former rk city mayor rudy giuliani and two othern attorneys jpresident trump's personal legal team. >> you will see that russian w sanctionl be coming down. secretary mnuchin will be announci those on monday. >> u.s. ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley, said sanctions would be coming. buthehite house walked back that assertion. e she got ahe of the curb. there might hen some momentary confusion about that. >> and the country says goodbye toir former lady, barbara bush. we discuss it all with nancy cordes of cbsews, josh dawsey of the washington post, mara liasson o npr, and vivian salama of nbc news. >> thi i"washington week." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by... ♪[music]

>> their leadership is instinctive. ey understand the challenges of today andes rrch the technologies of tomorrow. some callan them vet we call them part of our team. >> on a cruise with american cruise lines, you can experience historic destinations ang t mississippi river, the columbia river, and across the unid states. american cise lines' fleet of small ships. exploremerican landmarks, local cultures and calmwa rways. american cruise lines. proud sponsor of "washington week."

>> additional funding is provided by newman's o foundation. donating all profits from newman's own food products to charity and nourishing the comm good. the yuen foundation. committed to bridgin cultural differences in our communities.c the eand excellence in journalism foundation. the corporationor public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like. y thank you! once again, from washington, moderator robert costa. >> goo evening. what a rush of news! just in the past 24 hours, the justice department released memos written by former f.b.i. director james comey. former new york city mayor rudy giuliani joined president trump's legal team. and the democraticco national ittee filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the russian government, wikileaks and the trumpampaign, alleging a conspiracy to support trump's

2016 bid. and earlier this week, lawyers for the president and hison persal attorney, michael cohen, argued against releasing seized thisat were month in a raid by the f.b.i. trump allies on capitol hill, like congressman mark meadows of north carolina, have been threatening impeachment or contempt of congress for deputy attorney general rod rosenstein unless he handed over those comey memos. but let's begin with breaking news. josh, welcome to "washington week." that attorneyght general jeff sessions has warned the white house that heou step down if rod rosenstein, who oversees the mueller pro, t special counsel investigation, is fired. it really brings up this bigger theme. it's not just about the comey memos this week. it's reall about the tensions between the white house and the mueller investigation, republicans and the mueller investigation. >> right. and that's the fundamental issue of it.

warident trump ha has been at some degree with the top lerdleaders of the f.b.i. who he not bid to his will. he has mused about firing rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, jeff sessions, who frustrates him to no end,s we have reportedly seen over and over. and what happened this time is that the president, again last week, frustrated with the raid on his personal lawyers' apartment, his office, hotel room, says, you know, i might want to fire rod rosenstein. it's what he's said for months. jeff sessions, the attory neral, stepped in and said, hey, if you do this, i may goto that would create a whole domino effect that would be kind of unparalleled in our govownment. >>lose are we, mara, to that dominoffect, watchin the coverage of michael cohen and the f.b.i. raid? t is trump administration on the brink of havg some kind of -- >> constitution crisis? i think that we're in the midst

of a stress test on docratic institutions, maybe not a full-fledged constitutional crisis but what's amazing about this is usually you've got the legislative branch versus the effective brah. this time it's donald trump at war with people he appointed. he's got allies in coness to put pressure on his own branch of government. of.'s unheard >> nancy, you've been on capitol hill all week. this is really not -- the comey memos aren't part of the comey book tour. it's about congress fighting d.o.j. over document production. where does that whole drama stand at this moment? >> well, the problem, if you're a trumplly, is tha at this point, you've learned over and over again you really can'to anything to shrink this investigation or stop it. the onl thing y can try to do is discredit the investigation. so you demand document afterdo ment from d.o.j., hoping that there's something in those documents that indicates some kind of political motivation to starting this probe or at least

something in there that you can spin that way. that's what they were hoping for from tosse comey m they didn't get it. that's why they're still pushing for other docents from the start of the special counsel probe. >> what's your read, nancy, on congress? is more influential at this moment, the capitol hill leaders like mitch mccondoll, who n't want to move on legislation to protect the mueller probe, or is it people ke meadows, the freedom kazakhstakaukswho are pushing to act? hink it's less about power and more about everyone having their rules to play. you've got t leadership. very consistently saying, you know, we're not going to involved. we want to let the investigation play oru. president should do the same. that's what they see as the line that they should consistently take. but then you've got some of these rabble-rousers, the mark meadows and the jim jordans and the devin nuñezes, saying, nou we'r there, we need to fight. we think this entire investigation ha metastasized.

it's getting too close to the president and we're gonna fight. that's their role. that's something that, you know, dally wouldn't work if leadership tried t it. >> vivian, you're back from mar-a-lago, bk in florida, covering president trump all week. you spotted rudy giuliani there, just before he joined the president's legalea what does his addition meanth at time? >> obviously he's a very competent attorney, very highly respected attorney, back in new york. he also has a longtime relationship with people likll bob m. he knew comey, back from being mayor of new york and they were over in d.o.j. and so he believes that he's coming in sort of bringingn the rapport of an attorney but also someone who can sit withk these men, lhem face to face and say this is the way it's going to be. let's wrap this upightow. he really believes and he's been out there in the last two days, since this news emerged, really saying i'm gonna wrap this up. i'm gons get t thing under control and we're gonna just finish it. >> the fundamental question for rudy giuliani, though, will be,

what is his approach? the legal team has been besieged by infighting, lots of different strategies. the preside's lawyer departed amid some squabbles internally.t so w does he do differently? they td the president listen, this will be over by thanksgiving. then by christmas. by new year's. new it's april and we have rudy giuliani coming in and saying, , we're going to wrap this up soon. what are the president's expectations? can he do anything differently avth bob mueller than any of the other lawyers done? >> one of the key questions, mara, is will the presideal ac sit for an interview with mueller?i rudy giuliouldn't give employee a clear answer. >> there are tons of people sang, don't do it, mr. president, it's just a trap. if you look at historiesf how the president behaves when he's deposed,e can perjure himself pretty easily. so he's got all sorts of people saying don't do it.

on the other hand, maybe he thinks rudy giuliani can sgoehow ate terms for an interview that will protect him. which is better, to try to shut down the mueller probe, by firing rod rosenstein or something else, or just keep on discrediting mueller, edermining his credibility? so in the, no matter what he comes up with, you can tell your base, just tt dismiss as fake news. >> i think that's absolutely 100% the strategy. the problem is that historically republicans have had a lot of really great things to s about robert mueller, who himself is a and that's why these arguments -- you know, they may work with the bas but, you know, as the investigation moves closer and closer to the president himself, he has now lawyer. his personal it becomes more and more difficult for republicans to make that argument. >> and the personal lawyer isal an important development. i mean, it's now a two-pronged investigation. you have the southern district of new york, probing his

personal lawyer's finances, listening to hisdi recs. i mean, they're really exceeding donald trump's entire lifelond a of it before he became president. what we reported was the president wasd inclio do an interview before this raid of his house, even with his lawyers saying to him, mr. president, don't do it. exactly as you said, mara, the president wanted to do it. they came in, they seized michael cohen, raided all of his property. the president is furious about it. now he is less likely to do it. that's a big difference there. >> and it's not just the president being furious. the prt's attorneys and michael cohen's attorneys are challenging in courtth w a federal investigation will be able to access to those materials they seized, including audio recordings. >> sure. absolutely. and all of this is very unsettling for the that's why he brings in rudy giuliani, who he goz way back with -- goes way back with. it's a comfort level for him. remember, this is a president who very much relied in his life, in his previous life, on

nondisclosure agreements. now so many elements are cing out to the public. icit's been very unsettling for him. certainly out there with jim comey talking about his book, that's been something that's been really unsettling for him i bu was really last week, the raid of cohen's office and home, where all of a sudden he's got this whole rant about the eitorney-client privilege violated, because ultimately that means he's exposed, vulnerable. >> you have this incredible conversation among all these trump assongates specula on whether or not michael cohen will flip. >> wille flip? >> a lot of reporting out there, which means the assumption is that he h something to tell prosecutors. >> there's a fascinating story in the new york times tonight that michael cohen has had a tough relationship with president. >> treated badly. >> he said he would take a bullet. but he's also be up and down with the president over t last 10 years. >> there are many people who profess their loyalty to trump,t who aren treated really bad.

>> interesting legal and political development today. the democratic national committee, nancy, decides to sue the trump campaign, sue wikileaks, about an conspiracy regarding the 2016 election. for so long, you've been chronicling the democadts running af the midterms. they haven't really been talking about the russia probe. are they now starting to take on that issue and put it front and center? >> well, the d.n. is, because the d.n.c., first of all, believes that it lost a lot of money, a lot ofrebility as a result of its e-mails being hacked by the russians and shared. i mean, just think back to that time and how embarrassing it wah toe all of their e-mails about bernie sanders, about hillar clinton, made public right before the convention. ky first couple of days, a lot of bad feeling thatinred among bernie sanders' supporters. they're still tryino come back from that. so this was the head of the d.n.c. saying, you know what? this cost us.

we really had serious damage to our reputation, to our eration. so we're seeking damages. but also, the d.n.c. that russia really hasn't paid a price for what it did to meddle in thelection. and it believes, you know, yes, the special counsel is investigating. but when you look at the, you know, a civil case, we thinkh there's eno there to make the case that the trump campaign, at the very least, if it wasn't colluding with the russians, it was egging them on. it was benefiting. it was encouraging this operation. there's a lot of communication that we kno of by now. and that's what they're gonna try to prove in civil court. >> but w i think the rightly some reticence from democrats to talk about this too much. it's apl cated story line. it has figures in foreign countries, money transfers. what does the average person even define as collusion? who is bob mueller? to an average american, i'm not sure how much some of the intricacies of the story really

resonate. what does resonate, think, for the president's benefit here, is that the economy is doing well. .unemployment is l he's made some inroads on foreign policy, particularly th north korea, it seems. what they see and feel is not you can make these arguments, we've done this reporting. other people have. there's a lot to see here. but how muchf o it delves down and is a voting issue for people? m not sur >> i don't think it is. i think if you look at successful democrats who run ins thescial elections, they're not talking about russia. they know when you look at the list of issues that voters care about, russia is way down at the ndttom. >>hat's the reason some democrats did not like this idea of this lawsuit. they said, hey, wait minut we should really be focused on the special counsel investigation and this lawsuit only politicizes it. only creates more political overtones. that's the lt thing that democrats need right now. >> we're going to have to turn to breaking news. so much breaking news. breaking news every hour, it seems, these days.ew but breaking tonight not only with josh's story and

rosenstein and the trump administration bth out of n korea. state media there announced plans to suspend nuclear missile tests and close a test site. this happened just days aumer president confirmed that c.i.a. director and secretary of state nominee mike pompeo recently huddled with north korean leader kim jong-un for a secret meeting, ahead of the anned talks between the president and kim. >> io think mike pom will go down as one of the great secretaries of state. by the way, hus left north korea. had a great meeting with kim jo-un. and he got along with him really well, really great. >> vivian, when you think about pompeo right now, he's going meet with kim. but what does he accomplish in that conversation, thatan ex, that maybe led to, i kim taking these steps tonight? was it because of the pompeo meeting, based on our knowledge

and reporting, or it because of different actions china has taken or others in theegion ha taken? >> there's definitely a number of factors. the south koreans have been working the process with the north koreans f the last couple of months. they were the ones to really push thice p forward, at a time when things were very precarious with the united states, after the death of the american who was brought out of north korea in a coma. president trump firing all kinds jong-un,tions at kim calling him little rocket man, saying he would respond to their testing with fire and fury. for the united state things have been going forward in baby steps. there's cautious optimism. i spoke t a couple of folks since this story broke. everybody sees this as going in the right direction, ahead of the planned summit with president trumpun and kim jon in a month or so. sowever, north korea has promised these thi before and have reneged on their promises so a lot of people are saying, well, pompeo is going the right direction, but everyone, just play it cool. >> and what are they promising?

to suspend their tests for how long? until they can meet with president trump? north korea just got something it reall wanted. a side-by-side meeting with theo powerful person on the planet, as two equals. so that's something they got. this at least is something that president trump can say he got in advance. they're going t f suspend now, their tests. they don't really need to domo tests. they just know that they have a long-range missile. they accomplished their goal. now they're ready to sit down. >> wha is the strategy here inside the white house? >> the president made a telling jo of the gridiron dinner. he said dealing with a crazy problem. crazy, that's his problem, not mine. inside the white hse, what you sense is this is an unorthodox president on foreign policy. he says, of c mrse i'llt with president jig kindergarten. ths a lot of people saying this could go poorly, and it stl might. but so far, you've seen north korea say they're goinge to g other missiles.

suspend for now. but it's a concession and a win for the president. and you see a lot of optimism inside the administration that we've got these people at the table. we could do something. i mn, one of the things we had a fundraiser a while back -- we got the audio of it. what president trump said behind closed doors, these people for 25 years, bush, obama, the policies, nothing has ever gotten doni' not gonna be like these people. >> except for clinton did mak a deal with the north koreans and it was a huge thing at the time. >> and it didn't pan out. optimism. does it translate to a confirmation for pompeo on clinical? veryssibly but he got some bad news just friday, which is that he is not going to get a favorablef recommendation out o the senate foreign relations committee. and that is unheard of. >> first time in 70 years. >> exactly. because all of the democrats and one republican, randaul, have all said they are going to vote against him in committee. r thublican leadership has cards it can play, procedural

moves to g his vote to the floor but it's not a good look, especially when you're theking aboutecretary of state. there's this longstanding tradition on capitol hill that senators set their political views aside and they rally around the secretary of state nominee,ecause they want to show a unified front to the world in support of the nation' biggest diplomat. and that's not happening in this case. issues withe north korea, pompeo, brings up bigger questions about u.s. foreign policy. as josh was saying, is this president and thisoi administration on instinct? is there a doctrine at play here?s therother issue. u.s. ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley, said sunday that the u.s. would issue sanctions against russi for their involvement in the chemical attacks on syria. but then, whiteouse economic advisor, larry kudlow, struck a different note,ayg perhaps haley had been confused. ambassador haley fires back with a statement, telling fox news, with all due respect, i don't get confused. l

president truer weighed in from florida. s ctions, as soon as they very much deserve it, that is a question. there's been nobody tougher on russia than president donald trump. yet on capitol hill, lawmakers are unsure about the administration's position. both on syria and russia. where is this admistration right now? you have pompeo about to have hi confirmation process finalized. you have s nationalurity advisor john bolten playing a major role inside of the west wing. how does this affect the president as he makes these decisions? >> i think the fact that he's such a foreign policy novice has led him to be a risk taker, t thinking outsi box. that is something that has appealed to a lot of people who say, you kw what? the old way didn't work. let's see where he goes from here. however, patience will wane when we don't see results. if the north koreans dly't reollow through and abandon their nuclear program,

if the syrian war doesn't come to some resolution and al-assad continues to use chemical weapons. this was there was a lot of pushback when president trump tweeted mission accomplished after striking b syria,ause they felt it was a bit too hasty. he's just jumping on a whim. >> kudlow, rookie trump advisor. if you've been in the white house for a while, you've learned how to spin the president's changes of heart, because you can't say, obviously, well, the president changed hisind. so h pinned it on nikki haley, also a big mistake. one thatlf he him came out and said -- >> is haley's job at risk? >> i don't think haley's job is at risk. no. i thinkti what's so inter to me about that whole episode, rst of all, kudlow apologized, said she was put in a the policy changed and nobody told her. that was an absolutely truthful statement. >> why did it change? >> because president trump decided, as he just said -- hean

didn't any more sanctions on russia. he said we'll put sanctions on them when theyuc very deserve it, meaning they don't deserve it now. he has been reluctant all along to push vladimir putin and he always steps back to that position, even when his administration occasionally will get him to agree to expelom dis or sanction oligarchs. >> that's the entire mental understanding of his presidency. he will change his mind at any moment. one day he says we're pulling out of t.p.p., then he says we're back in it. he's embraced vious health care proposals at different times. he can be swayed really easily. so if someone comes to him and says, we should no longer do these sanctions, russia did not respond to the syria attacks and the president goes, oh, that's interesting, okay, we won't do it. and he, for better and worse -- it cuts in both directions for m -- really can change his position on a dime. >> we've got to leave it there. you're so right. whenever you talk to sources,

they say, if you're in this administration, you have to talk to psident trump, not just talk to staff if you want a clear answer. also this week, former first lady barbara bush passed away. ase 92-year-old matriarch of a political d, the wife and mother of presidents and of a governor. y and michael, of "in principal" interviewed former president george h.w. bush, the day after his mother died. >> she and i used to kind of needle each other in a friendly way. i was kind of teasing her and she was teasing me. then the doctor walked in to thisospital room. and mother said, do you want to know why george w. is the way he is, doctor? and doctor didn't have any choice. and mother said, because i drank and smoke when i was pregnan with him. >> ha ha! >> ha ha! and so i knew she waseeling pretty good. >> grace and wit of mrs. bush. fo more of that interview, watch "in principal" from many

pbs stations. we'll continue this conversation d so manyishes and her -- so many issues and her legacy online and in the washington week extra. i'm robert costa. have a great weekend! >> funding for "washington week" is provided by... ♪[music] >> their leadership is instinctive. they understand the challenges of today and research thees technolof tomorrow.

some call them veterans. we call them part of our team. >> additional funding is provided by american cruise lines. proud sponsor of "washington week." nean's own foundation, donating all profits from newman's own food products to charity and nourishing the common gd. the ethics and excellence in journalism foundatio the yuen foundation. committed to bridging cultural differences inur communities. the corporation for public broadc cting. and btributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you! wa wa >> you'rhing pbs.

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