robert: terrory mail in fear on the campaign trail. i'm robert costa. president trump's sharp words are under scrutiny as the mid terms near tonight on "washington week." >> this is a different definition of terrorism.s this i political terrorism. >> suspected mail bomb sent to political figures, cnn and others. >> this is a multiple investigation involving multiple people cst to coast. president trump: i'm here to inform you that lawnforcement has apprehended the suspect and taken him into custody. these terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country. robert: but a president also critical of the press. president trump: the media also has r aponsibility to set a

civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant gative and oftentimes false attacks and stories. robert: a country on ed, next. ♪ announcer: this is "."shington we funding is provided by -- >> kevin. >> kevin. >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well planned. learn more atja raymos.com. >> funding is pro fided by newman's own foundation donating all profits to charity and nourishing the common good. ku and patricia ewing committed to bridging cultural differences

in our communities. the ethics in journalism foundation. by public education and fromco ributions from viewers like you. thank yo announcer: once again from washington, moderator robert costa. bert: good evening. just 10 days until the midterm elections and a newime of violence in america. many of the tngets have bee outspoken critics of president trump. the f.b.i. director gave an update. >> eac device consisted of roughly six incs of. v.c. pipe, a small clock, a attery, some wiring. though, we're still analyzing our devices in our laboratory, these are not hoax devices. robert: federal authorities on friday arrested a suspect cesar

sayok jr. who has a longcr inal history and lives in miami. jeff sessions said mr. sayok appears to be partisan. the president's 2016 rival, former secretary of ste hillary clinton who was sent a package expressed concern about the nation's heated political culture. i butis a troubling time, isn't it? and it's a time of deep divisions, a we have to do everything we can to bring our country together. robert: later, friday, president trump headed back out on the t campaignil. president trump: i think we're running a great campaign. people love what we're doing. they love what we're saying. the republicans had tremendous momentum and then, of course, this happened where all that you people talk about was that. and rightfully so it was a big thing. rightfully so. but now we have to start the

momentum again -- robert: joining us tonight to discuss these issues and more. lisa lerer national reporter for the "new york times." segeoff bennett, white hou correspondent for nbc news. ashley parker, white house reporter for "e washington st," and joshua green, national correspondent for bloomberg businessweek. geoff, you were at the white house all day friday. how did the president and his top advisors handle this moment? >> we saw what was a ritual. en it requires to hue to this traditions, the conventions of the aricanresidency like this past week has, he does it up to a point. and s f todaym his scripted remarks he said we should never allo political violence to take root in our political discourse. but as his mind and his eyes went away from the teleprompter, he painted himself as the victim of the political hostilities.

he asked the crowd. who's got it worst than me? he t suggestt the coverage of this week long saga has taken awayrom hisown political message. we saw him speak to that on the south lawn. we'veeen this before certainly after crlottesville. he's focused more on the political impact and less than the human impact. robert: what are you picking up, ashley, about the president not abiding by thems n >> this is a president who has never abided by the norms andou y so. when you watch him, he would stand before crowds ae h would claim it's so easy to be presidential but that would be so boring. in way that's what you're seeing this week and today. it's a president that sort o today he will pay the token lip service and read off the teleprompter, but in these moments where you have the role of the presidency offer moral leadership and unify the country he rejects that. he would attack the media, make

it about himself and d the obligatory calls for unity that are not mated by his actions or words. robert: josh, you've been covering the right for years. there's been a lot of talk about this being a false flag y.eration, a conspir you had the f.b.i. director say that is not the case. this isn't a hoax. explain what's happening in the political culture that leads to theethese kind of political theories oginally? >> there's ary chall which is to say thatre any -- t is a ritual which is to say any events like those of today must automatically be a profidious plot to set up the president. you have people up to and fairly prominent political figures like rush limbaugh saying this couldn't be a deranged trump

supporter and coming up creative reasons why that isn't so. we've become accustomed when these things happen on sial media on websites like 4chan ank face and conservative talk radio you see these thingste emerge immly. and so the story becomes polarized from the get-go. robert: lisa, you've been where the suspect is from. such a charged year this year in florida with the hot gube natory race, a senate race. did you pick up in yr conversations with voters something beyond president trump out there that'shi fueling national division? lisa: i think it honestly is president trump. i have yet to meet the voter.e and i traveled to many place who is have no opinion on presiden trump. you ask them what do you think about president trump? and they say don't really know. their view for the president is like a rorschach test.

e president is also -- mid terms is a referendum on the president's term. but because president trump has such a large presence on the nation's life, the traditions for all these presidentia moments that people are used to seeing, he is the thing that people are voting on. obert: so president trump, geoff, is the story for the mid terms. is political violence also the story? you think about steve scalise one of the house g.o.p. leaders assassination attempt in recent years. political violencegainst kathy gifford? a it's out the the time. it's almost numbing in a way. >> well before this florida man had been apprehended. sarah sanders was telegraphing what the strategy would be. she said that donald trump is no mos responsible for t kind of violence than is berniesa ers. it was an avod bernie sanders

supporter that took aim at that baseball game which struck steve scalise. was striking that they said that even before we knew who was part of this incident. robert: it's not just political violence. it's about fea one of those fraught debates beyond what happened this week beyond the pipe bombs is the issue of immigraon. and ashley wrote this week that the president's approach in many ways seeks to recreate the 2016 playbook that lifted mr. trump to the presidency in which cultural flash points like the ector of mass illegal immigration helped trump supporters. the president has voiced alarms of a group of 7,000 migrants traveling from central america to the u.s. border. : president tru you're going to find ms-13, middle easterns. and we're not allowing them in

our country. robert: mr. trumpas not produced evidence of these claims. yet, the administration continues to back him up ahehe ofid terms. >> after a number of people did act their own credibility on the line andd him up, he told reporters, you're right, i have no p tof. bure could be proof. and that's because the president has f realized thar mongering and these scare tactics do work. one notable difference is thatn unlike 2016 when his own e ty the republicans w conflicted whether this was a good strategy or not you have ab lot more rcans falling in line in part because the president won in 2th6. 's one kiedis tinks. the second thing it's not justnt the presi language because he is the president and he has the federal bureaucracy at his disposal. he can do things like we're going to see him do likely next week which is ae ounce that is barring central americans from being able to enter the

country and stopping those asylum claims that have echos of those travel ban. a he can talkut this and make it true to give himself an en bigger wedge issue to fan. >> the president believes that this kara vanish shoe -- it's a slow moving human tragedy. he believes this crystallized among his supporters this pitch issue. how are you so certain that by g ploying a by the 2016 playbook is going to work again in just1 days or so? and the response from this official who is close -- close to the president but has a hand in his thinking. it worked for us before, he said and we're pretty certain it's going to work again. he president goes for a rally or makes one of these statements, it dem creates. you see this outpouring democrats. and that pushes politicians.

youwed that clip of hillary clinton in ventura close to caught. suspect was and, you know, it's snoteable. she said,es, -- it's notable. she said we need to calm things down. democrats' response isot to sort of tone things up but really to ratchet things up. d that's part of how weened up where we are. when you haveke so many threats it's not surprising that something would become real. robert: republicans being rallied by president trump. there's an undercuent of real issues. josh, btevenon has beenrt reg on tough border policy this week mr. trump publicly signaled his solidarity with hose forces. >> a globalist is a person that wants the globe to do well.

frankly not caring about our country so much. and, you know, what, we can't yohave that. know, they have a word. it sort of became ol fashion. it's called a nationali. i sai really. we're not supposed to use that word. you knowt i am? i'm a nationalist. robert: they want to ban asylum seekers. there's the policy here. but also a major thin for president to state at political rally -- thing for the president to state at a political rally, saying i'm a nationalist. >> he's trying to seize control of the mid terms elections and seize the issues that he's comfortable with. he's doing a reviving on the pillars of trumpism. there's the aggressive stance towards china ahe protectionist policies the tariffs. and the anti-immigrant policies

that he's es powsed when he's talking -- espoused when he's talking about the migrant kara van. he tried to build this into a big issue. sounds like he's going to give a big speech on immigration next week. he may roll out this executive order, something along the lines of the travel ban that he did in these early days to try to center the election arounds. but i think trump looks at the race. it was clear that republican votes weren't energized by the tax cut and many of them weren't planning to come out and vote. i think this is trump's way of making the electionut him and hoping he'll get the same response in 2018, republicans will that he got in 2016. robert: ashley, is this about the president's focus on immigration? the failure to complete the border wall h promised his base? >> potentially. a it isn issue that animates

him. he's noteti plarly ideological. it was an issue before he became a long shot politician that he wrote about it's a natural issue for him. it's one that served him well on the campaign as you point out, it's one that he made deep promises about. and he is awa that he -- they're important to his base and he needs to keep them. when i go to trump rallies and i talk to his supporters, there'st almost nothit he will do or say that will shake their faith and confidence in him. one area where they come just the slightest bit close to criticizing him is they wish or they really hope that he builds that border wall. they will blameitch mcconnell or paul ryan. but that is something where they would like s to tangible action. >> the other thing the president does that's fairly effective is he sets everything like a binary choice. it's tribal im. you' either for us or you're against us. we're seeing that with immigration and can kavanaugh, i think he did that with great

effect around the kavanaugh issue. >> he's not on the ballot as be. as he would like to and who isn't on the ballot is the mitch mngonnell ssional people. and the fact is, it's kind of a strange -- i understan t argument behind running on immigration but it's not an area where congress, the republican-led coness has had any achievements. so it seems like a natural would ask t voters maybe not the hard core trump supporters or people who lean republican. it's like what did you get done this? robert: it reminds me of an r.n.c. poll that says that the taxes are working for the republicans. >> the big billboard, there were two messages. one was republicans weren't going to turn out to vote because they believed dold trump when he said there was

going to be a red wave. sent republican strategists into paroxisms of anxiety. but he stopped sayin that. but the other big message is the republican tax cut which is supposed to be theppealing achievement wasn't exciting anybody even within the b republice, and therefore, trump and republicans have decided that they need to i foc igration. >> the other big issue out there and it's not on the front page ery day, bt's health care. it's one of the biggest issue for most voters. it's at the center of many of the tight contests across the country. in an abc news poll out this mont% of votes say that health care is one of the most important issues rp there with the economy. vors trust democrats over republicans over the issue. scott walker in his race against tony eaversni are r in support of safeguarding insurance coverage with those with preexisting conditions.

what an about turn for the republican party yearsag of runninnst obama's health care law but now they have some traction on the preexisting conditions and they're trying to counter running on loweringpr cription drug prices, running on an opioid policy. >> it's strikin because it turns out the argument that presidents obama and his aids is that onceou give people something it's hard to take it away is true. but i think this is an issue that has become a little difficult for democrats. democrats have really put everything on health care. it is the issue that have been running on. and they felt they couldn't mention president trump because it's so out there tt they can focus on health care. and now you have all these republicans promising to protect pri existing conditions and even republicans makes it really complicated for voters. i bhink you have toe a fairly educated voter to understand the nuances of this. and, you know,, you have these

republicans out there saying they will protect health care. and you could see if you were predisposed to vote republican that might sway you. robert: is the white house a little nervous on the white house's emphasis on this issue? >> a lbit. but the white house thinks this all comes back to president trump. they think it is a referendum on him as hese h as said. i'm not on the ballot but pretend ire am,nd you're voting for me. he's been telling his political advisors whether you i liket or not, you have to own this president. they're generally worriedo t answer your broader question about the house not the senate, of course,ut this is a white house that has not concernedth selves with political party prescriptions. >> and it's provided on health care a little biel i some people want medicare for all, they want expansion of the federal health care system. some are saying let's just focus on t preexisting conditions.

>> that's right. one of the wedges they try to ayive is to so and so democratic candidate he wants medicare for all which in the republican telling will ruin medicare as it exists today. it's not clear those attacks are being very effective, but what wasng interesn that republican poll we were talking about a minute ago was it was clear their electoral vulnerability was the impression that republicans were going to cut health care, medicare and social security. and the pollster said in no uncertain terms the republicans needed to protect that. saying they will protect thein preexi conditions in an effort to avoid beingmplicated in voters' minds in some effort to take a benefit that's there and they want to keep. >> that'sat g point. we've seen him say he supports electing his -- pexisting

conditions. they argued that obamacare was unconstitutional. not just obamacare but all the provisio which includes preexisting conditions. robert: you think of the mid terms. a lot is stilln the air. the white house is feeling better about the house. they think they may lose the house, keephe senate. bob menendez now a toss-up according to cook political report. but phil brettis could win in tennessee. what's their strategy? >> nobody knows. strategists may tell you they know because they're in fact paid to doha we've never seen a midterm like this. there's been no midterm with this level o history. the traditional rules don't seem to apply. so i am very weary of anyone who is making veryirm predictions. i think what we can say is this is a bifurcated map. the house better for democrats

and the senate for republicans. >> the preside s haspped talking about the red wave. and everyone on his side is glad about that bec they were worried it was depressing voter enthusiasm and turnout. but it's wor noting that privatelyil he says that. he thinks the polls are wrong. why wouldn't heelieve it? this is someone where a the polls showed him losing. when all the wise men in washinon say he couldn't s this. he couldn't do that. this would end h him,e won. he does actually still believe that he may hold the house as well. although that's not the strategy or the view shared by h top advisors. robert: and republicans appear to believe that. they're hugng president trump political at every turn. >> well, most of them are. but some of them aren't. and if you look at districts, the suburban districts which will decideor places likeern virginia, the suburbs of chicago, minneapolis, places likehat, you see republican candidate there is looking for some distance with president

to me, the most vivid example of this was theac senate in florida where rick scott the governor is running for senator made a point at not appearing at trump rally. it got bacru to. and low and behold he's about to appear at trump rally. it's tough to draw that distance.ub but a few rcans are trying to. robert: what are you picking up at trump rallys? still at these hocke arenas in red states? >> yeah, still doing fairly well. if you think a democrat can win in texas, tennessee or nevada, then maybe democrats have a chance to pick up the senate because they would have to flip one of those states. the other side is that president trump's approval rating is at 45%hich is where lot of strategists want him to be. that's a good story for the president because they think he's on firm political standine they m not be as inclined to going intois a rescueon. >> it just depends who shows up. we saw this where president obama was -- where his

popularity was not transferable. i do think that we can say that is is a test of whether trumpism and trump's person popularity is transferable to a party that he spent years reall den grading. it's going to be -- denigrating. it's going to be an interesting outcome. robert: we're going to have to pause there and continue next week. before we go, our friends at the pbs news hour have been busy producing a report. here's a look. >> campaigning is almost done. >> stop sanctuary cities. >> can the democrats take the house? >> i am pro union. i was a member of a union. >> will republicans hold the seete? >> somf the policys that he has eablished have been very good. >> issues on a collision course one state. >> but at the end of the day, real change is brought from voting. >> a speal edition of "the pbs news hour: battleground

florida." monday october 29th only on pbs. robert: you can watch the "pbs news hour"on special reporty night, check your local listings. our conversation here will o continuethe "washington week" podcast which you can find fridays after our broadcast on our website pbs.org/washington week. i'm robert costa, thanks for joining us. g [captionrformed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.visit ncicap.org] ♪

>> funding is provided by -- financial services firm, raymond james. newman's own foundation, donati all profi from newman's own food products to charity and nourishing t common good, the ethics in excellence in journalism foundation. ku and patricia ewing through the ewing foundation, committed to bridging cultural difference in our communities. the corporation forublic broadcasting and by contributions to youratbs n from viewers like you. thank you.

crew: ok, turning over, please. action! julian felloi enjoy writing, m and i suppose i'vee my living out of writing about fictional country houses ic that are occupied byonal characters. we're to be turned out of downton? cut, thank you. fellowes: but britain's great houses are real and inhabited by real people. "charlie, i have very wicked "with lord cole, sir frederick johnstone, the prince of wales, and others." what i'm trying to find, is the real lord grantham, the real lady mary. that's. i love jewels, aually. presumably, that's not the countess. (lg) the real bates, the real anna. my eyes absolutely fill the thought of this really. oh, look at that. do you