robert: terror by 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.ol this is pical terrorism. >> suspected mail bomb sent to political figures, c and others. >> this is a multiple investigation involving multiple people coast t coast. president trump: i'm here to inform you that law enforcent as apprehended the suspect and taken him into custody. these terrorizing acts are spicable and have no place in our country. robert: but a president also critical of the press. president trump:ia the med also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the

endless hostility and constant negati and oftentimes false attacks and stories. robert: a country on edge, next. ♪ announcer: this is "washington week." funding is provided by -- >> kevin. >> kevin. >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> funding is proyided b newman's own foundation donating all profits to charity and nourishing the common good. ku and patricia ewing committed to bridging cultural in our communities.

the ethics in journalism foundation. by public education and from contributions from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: once again fromin waon, moderator robert costa. robert: good evening. just 10ntays the midterm elections and a new time of violence in america. many of the targets have been outspoken critics of president ump. the f.b.i. director gave an update. >> each device consisted of roughly six inches of. v.c.ma pipe, a sll clock, a battery, some wiring. though, we're still analyzing our devicesur in laboratory, these are not hoax devices. robert: federal authorities on friday arrested a suspect cesar

yok jr. who has a long h criminaltory and lives in miami. jeff sessions said mr. sayok appears to be partisan. the president's 2016 rival, former secretary of state hillary clinton who was sent a package expressed concern about the nation's heated political culture. >> but it a troubling time, isn't it? and it's a time of deep division, and we have to do w everythi can to bring our country together. robert: later, friday, ptrsident p headed back out on the campaign trail. president trump: i think we're nning a great campaign. people love what we're doing. they love what we're saying. the republicans had tremendous mentum and then, of course, this happened where all that you people talk about was that.d rightfully so it was a big thing. rightfully so.e but now 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." geoff bennett, white house correspondent for nbc news. ashley parker, white house reporter for "the washington post," and joshua green, national corresponde 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 w a ritual. when it requires to hue to this aditions, the conventions of the american presidency like this past week has, he does up to a point. and so today from his scripted remarks he said we should never allow political violence to take root in our political discourse. but as his mind and his eyes went ay from the teleprompter, he painted himself as the victim of t pitical hostilities. he asked the crowd.

who's got it worst than me? he suggested that the coverage of this week long saga hasaken away from his own political message. we saw him speak to that on the nouth lawn. we've shis before certainly afterot chasville. he's focused more on the political impact and less thant human impact. robert: what are you picking up, asheey, about president not abiding by the norms? this is a president who has never abided by the norms and proudly so. when you watchim, he would stand before crowds and he would claim it's so easy to be presidential but that would be so borg. in a way that's what you're seeing this week and today. it's a president that st of 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 andnify the country he rejects that. he would attack the media, make it about himself and do the

obligatory calls for unity that are not matched b his actions or words. robert: josh,ou've been covering the right for years. there's been a lot of talk about this being a false flag operation, a conspiracy. you had the f.b.i.irector say that is not the case. this isn't a hoax. explain what' i happeni the political culture that leads to theethese kind of political theoriesna oriy? >> there's ary chall which is to say that a -- there is a ritual which is to say any events like those of today must automatically be a profidious plot to set up the preside. you hav people up to and fairly prominent political figures like rush limbaugh saying this couldn't be aerged trump supporter and coming up creative

reasons why that isn't so. we've becomecctomed when these things happen on social media on websites like 4chan and facebook and conservative talko ra you see these things emerge immediately. 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 your renversations with voters something beyonddent trump out there that's fueling this national division? lisa i think it honestly is president trump. i have yet to meet the voter. and i've traveled to many place who is have no opinion on president trump. you ask them what do you think about president trump? and they say i don't really know. their view for the president is like a rorschach test. the 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 presidential moments that people are used to seeing, he is the thing that people are voting on. robert: so president trump, geoff, is the story for the mid termal is polit violence also the story? you think about steve scalise one of the house.o.p. leaders assassination attemptn recent years. political violence against kathy gifford? it's out there allhe time. it's almost numbing in a way. well before this florida man ad been apprehended. sarah sanders was telegraphing what the strategy would be. she said that donald trump is no more responsible for this kind of violence than is bernie sanders. it was an avowed bernie sanders supporter that took aim at that

baball game which struck steve scalise. it was striking that they said that even before we knew who was ent. of this inc robert: it's not just political violence. it's about fear. one of those fraught debates beyond what happened this week beyond the pipe bombs is the issue of immigration.d shley 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 ther specf mass illegal immigration helped trump supporters. the president hasd voi alarms of a group of 7,000 migrants traving from central ameri to the u.s. border. president trump: you're going to finds-, middle easterns. and we're not allowing them in our country.

robert: mr. trump has not produced evidence of these claims. yet, the administration k continues to bim up ahead of the mid terms. >> after a number of people did put their own credibility on the line and backed him up, he told reporters, you're right, i have no proof. but the could be proof. and that's because the president has realized that fea mongering and these scare tactics do work. one notable difference is that unlike in 2016 when his own party the republicans were conflicted whether this was a od strategy or not you have a lot more republicans falling in line in part because the president won in 2016. thatne kiedis tinks. ane second thing it's not just the president'sage because he is the president and he has the federal bureaucracy at his. dispos he can do things like we're going to see him do likely n week which is announce that he is barring central americans fromng b able to enter the country and stopping those

asylum claims tha have echos of those travel ban. he can talk about this and make it true to give himself an even bigger wedge issue to fan. >> the president believes tha this kara vanish shoe -- it's a slowan moving h tragedy. he believes this crystal hzed amon supporters this pitch issue. how are you so certain that by d ploying a page by the 2016 playbook is t goingo work again in just 11 days or so? and the response from this official who is close -- close to the president but has a hand in his thinking. it workedor us before, he said and we're pretty certain it's t goin work again. >> every time the president goes for a rally or makes one of these statements, it infuriates dem creates. you see this outpouring of democrats. and that pushes politicians.

d u shoat clip of hillary linton in ventura close to where the suspect was caught. and, you know, it's she said, yes, -- it's notable. she said we need to calm things down.s democr' response is not to sort of tone things up but really to ratchet things up. an that's part of how weened up where we are. when you have so many fake threats it's not surprising that something would become rl. robert: republicans being rallied by president trump. ere's an undercurrent of real issues. josh, steve bannon has been reporting on tough border policy this week mr. trump publicly signaled his solidarity with those forces. >> a globalist is a person that wants the globe too well. frankly not caring about our

country s much. and, you know, what, we can't have that. you know, they have a word. it sort of became old fashion. it's called a nationalist. i said really. we're not supposed to use that word. u know wha i am? i'm a nationalist. robert: they want to ban asylum seekers. there's t policyere. but also a major thin for the president to state at political rally -- thingor 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 thece aggressive st towards china and the protectionist policies the tariffs. and the anti-immigrant policies

that he's es powsed when he's talking -- espoused when he's lking about the migrant kara van. he tried to build this into a bigou issue. its like he's going to give a big speech on immigration next week. he may rollut this executive order, something along the lines of the travel ban that he did in thes early days to try to center the election around this. but i think trumpooks 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 king the election abo him and hoping he'll get the same response in 2018, republicans ll that he got in 2016. robert: ashley, is this about the president's focus on immigration? failure to complete the border wall he promised his base? >> potentially. it is a issue that animates him. he's noterl particu ideological.

it was an issue before he becamg a l shot politician that he wrote about. it's a natural issue for him. it's one that served him well on the campaign trail. as you point out, it's one that he made deep promises about. and he is aware that he -- they're important to hisas and he needs to keep them. when i go to trump rallies and i hlk to his supporters, there's almost nothing tha will do or say that will shake their faith and confidence ineim. 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 blame mitch mcconnell or paul ryan. t thats something where they would like to see 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're eitr for us or you're against us. we're seeing that with immigration ind can kavanaugh think he did that with great

effect around the kavanaugh issue. >> he's not on the ballot as much as he would like to be. and who isn't on the ballot is the mitch mcconneio congrel people. and the fact is, it's kind of a the ge -- i understand argument behind running on immigration but it's not an areg where ss, the republican-led congress has had any achievements. so it seems like aatural question that voters would ask maybe not the hard cor trump supporters opeople who lean republican. it's like what did you get done on this? robert: it reminds me of an r.n.c. poll that says that t taxes are working for the republicans. >> the big, billboahere were two messages. one was republicans weren't going to turn out to vote t becausy believed donald trump when he said there was going to be a red wave.

sent republican strategists into paroxisms of anxiety. but he stopped saying that. but the other big message is the republican tax cut which supposed to be the appealing achievement wasn't anybody even within the republican base, and therefore, trump and republicansave decided that they need to focus on immigration. >> the other big issue out there and it's not on the front page everys day, but i health care. it's one of the biggest issue for most voters. it's at center of many of the tight contests across the country. in an abc news poll out this month. 82% of votes say that health re is one of the most important issues right up there with theconomy. voters trust democrats over republicans over the issue. scott walker in his race against tony eavers are running in support of safeguarding insurance coverage with those withreexisting conditions.bo what an a turn for thebl

rean party years of running against obama'sre healt aw but now they have some traction on the preexisting trying to and they're counter running on lowering prescription drug prices, running on an opioid policy. it's striking because it turns out the argument that presidents obama and his aids is that once y 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 r lly put everything on health care. it is the issue that have running on. and they felt they couldn't mention president trumpau b it's so out there that they can focus on health care. and now you have all thepu icans promising to protect pri existing conditions and even republicans makes it really complicated for voters. i think you have to be a fairly educated to understand the nuances of this. and, you know,, you have tsse republicut 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? t. a little but the white house thinks this all comes back to president trump. they thinkt is a referendum on him as he himself as said. i'm not on the ballot but pretend i am, pretend you're voting for me. he's been telling his political advisors whether you like i or not, you have to own this president. they're generally worried to answer your broader question about the house not the senate, of course, but this is a white house that has not concerned themselves with political party prescriptions. >> and pt'svided on health care a little bit itself. some people want medicare forhe all, want expansion of the federal health care system. some are saying let's just focus on the preexisting conditions. >> that's right. one of the wedges they try to

drives to say so and so democratic candidate he wants medicare for all which in the republican telling will ruin medicare as it e today. it's not clear those attacks are being very, effecti but what was interesting in 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 t pollster said in no epublicans erms the needed to protect that. saying they will protect the preexisting conditions in an effort to avoid being implited in voters' minds in some effort to take a benit that's there and they want to keep. >> that's a great point. we've seen him say supports electing his -- preexisting

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

talking about the red wave. ann everyone o his side is glad about that because they were worried it was v depressinger enthusiasm and turnout. but it's worth noting that privately s he stills that. he thinks the polls are wrong. why wouldn't he belie it? this is someone where a the polls showed him losing. when ahe wise men in washington say he couldn't say this. he couldn't do that. this would end him, he won. he does actlly still believe that he may hold the house as well. although that's not s theategy or the view shared by his top advisors. robert: and republicans appear to believe that. they're huggingresident trump political at every turn. >> well, most of them are. but some of them aren't. and if you look at districts, the suburtrn dts which will decide places like northern virginia, the suburbs of chicago, minneapolis, places like that, you see republican candate there is looki for some distance with president trump. to me, the most vivid example of

this was the senate race in florida where rick scott the governor is running for senator de a point at not appearing at trump rally. it got back t trump and low and behold he's about to appear at trump rally 's tough to draw that distance. but a few republicans are trying to. robert: what are you pickiat up rump rallys? still at these hockey arenas in red states? >> yea still doing fairly well. if you think a democrat can win in texas, tennessee or nevada, then mayberats have a chance to pick up the senate because they would have to flip states.hose the other side is that president trump's approval rating is at 45% which is where a lot of strategists want him to be. that's a good story for the president because they think he's on firm political standing they mite not be asne inc to going into a rescue mission. >> it just depends who shows up. we saw this whereresident obama was -where his

popularity was not transferable. i do thinkt we can say that this is a test of whether trumpismnd trump's person popularity is transferable to a party that hepe years really 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 p union. i was a member of a union. >> will republicans hold the senate? t >> some of policys that he hassh establi have been very good. >> issues on a collision course in oneuttate. >>t the end of the day, real change is brought from voting. >> a special edition of "the pbs newsat hour:eground florida." monday october 29th only on pbs.

robert: you can watch the "pbs news hour" speal report monda night, check your local listings. our conversation here will continue on "washington week" podcast which you can find fridays after our badcast on our website pbs.org/washington week. i'm robert costa, thanks for joining us. or [captioning ped by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.visit ncicap.org] ♪

>> fundi is provided by -- financials servi firm, raymond james. newman's own foundation, donating all profits from newman's own food products to charity and nourishing the 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 for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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