robert: off the rails. the president declares a national emergency. i'm robert costa. welcome to "washington week." president trump reluctantl accepts a bipartisan spending deal then declares a national emergency to but the border. president trump: we're talking about an invasionntf our c with drugs, with human traffickers, with all the tes criminals and gangs. robert: democrats and some republicans accuse the president of sidestepping congress. >> it's not an emergency what's happening at the border. it's an humanitarian challenge for us. >> i'm disappointed that the president that is chose on the do be the this resume. >> nomination is confirmed. robert: is a new attorney general is sworn in and a

foreman f.b.i. director speaks out. next. announcer: this is "washington week." funding is priverleded by -- >> i was able to turn the aircraft around and the mission around wnd able to save two men's lives that night. j my fir helped me to grow up pretty quickly. wthat will happenn you're asked to respond to a coup. >> in 2001 i signed upor the air force. two days later, 9/11 happened. >> babel, a language program that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, such as spanish, french, italiaa more. the 15-minute lessons are available as an app or online. >> funding is provided by -- koo and patricia yuen, through the

yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural dnces in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> once again in washington, comoderator robera. robert: good evening. president trump averted another shutdown on friday by unhappily accepting a bipartisan deal to keep the government open butsp ked a legal firestorm by declaring an emergency at therd , despite tom republicans and democrats urgingo him t hold off. it will allow him -- him to divert money from the pentagon, treasury and other dartments. president trump: we have certain funds that are being used as the discreti of the generals, at the discretion of the military.

someem haven't been allocated and some of the generals think this is morrt imt. robert: the move comes after the president fame told get the $5. billion he wanted. joining me tonight julie hirschfeld davis, congressional correspondent for "the new york times." garrett haake, washington correspondent for msnbc. abby phillip, white hse john ondent for cnn and bresnahan, capital bureau chief for politico. we think about tt rose garden performance by the president today, julie. we heard the president making a case for a national emergency at the borr, a crisis. but is there a crisis at the boarder? julie:eahere's no crisis at the border. there are a rot of challenges at the border. illll border crossings are actuallyll down, histori peek intoing. the number of families showing up, though, h gone a lot and that's why there is a humanitarian silence.

up a lot of people showing up asking for asylum, saying their fleeing violence and persecution. aere's obviouslyrug problem. and of course there are human trafficking problemss well, l the things the perspective talks about but there is not now a crisis that didn't exist last year or two years a or ev five years before that there are a lot of challenges at the boarder but there's no invasion in the way that the president likes to talk about it. he even alluded to it in the rose garden saying he didn't have to do this right now. he's doing it to build a wall faster. he said. robert: let's hear the president's case today about what julie just said. president trump:o could d the wall over a longer period of time. i didn't need to do this but i'd ramp do it much faster and i don't have to do it for the election. i've already de a lot of wall for the election, 2020.

robert: does this hurt the president's case if it goes to courts, if he expects it t go? abby: it's a politically maging admission that he didn't have to do it.e he said dialeded to do it because it would allow him to build the wall faster but acknowledgeed that programs court challenges would hold it up. it could be that the courts mikets try to weigh thi issue of a national emergency, does it justify what the president is trying to do or they could look at the separation of pourls. the president is taking the power away from the congress for this instance and admitted today 's doing it just for expediency programs politicl exspeed yensy. i think that's problematic for ndthe president just like with the travel ban years ago of the president making public statements that later on

undermine his administration's strategy. robert:rt the supreme cas looked at presidential executive orders. harry truman and clintons and ruled them invalid but most national emergencies have stood. hearing from speaker pelosi, her lieutenantse the comm chairman? >> they're going to move a joint resolution to invalidate the national emergency and that wi happetty quickly after they return from recess. they're going to recess for a week. they'll move quickly on a straight majority vote. they'll get plenty of democrats toass it. otere may even be some republicans who for it. the question really becomes the senate. this is a resolution that'seg priv, is the term. it has to be taken up within the senate within 18 calendar days ter it passes the house and

then that becomes a challge for senator majority leader mitch mccollum and the white house. will they vote with the democrats to say you've gone too far on this one?'s going to be really close. if it passes the senate, they get mority, the president can vote it. there's no way they're going to override the president but enough members of his own party will have brother-in-law with him and it will be a big political issue for him. robert: pushback from the courts . pushback from the democrats.ha yo to wonder if there's going to be pushback from the pele. the spending little -- bill includes funding for 55 mills -- miles of new barriers.at demo made sure those barriers will not be massive concrete walls. ito a 3r50eu6eds provisions for meceity. such as money for humane tanche

aide. the trump administration is also eyeing billions elsewhere in the federal budgets fororder barriers, such $600 billion for dealing with seized dru a more than $3 billion from other military construction projects. garrett, will there be any counter inside the administration about the use of these funds? whether it's from committee chairmen or cabinet secretaries? garrett: this was a day i think he senate really missed having john mccane around. i can imagine him screamingn the hallways about this. the white house has two problems. going to ll they're have to spend this money. they said don't worry about it, we'd much ramp this money two to the wall, he said of generals.

really? there are meant of committee mehoersould like to find those generals and make themt all tal about it. this will make the president's job much more difficult when he goes for a new budget next year. the last thank appropriateors want to hears that their money went elsewhere. there'll be pushback publicly on the front end and quietlyk i thn the next round of appropriations so me surehe president understands these kind of moves have longer term cons sequences. robert: i read governor newsome already planning a law suit. where's in funding going? >> one of the mainre is in the border of texas. democrats pushed republicansn the process of the conference

committee here to have an evidence-basedpproach to and this is where they agreed it was but even in that bill,at demo made clear it has to be the existing types of fencing that already exists, not a concrete wall and they teecifically l off pieces of border in texas where a wall cannot go so if the president tries to build in anyf those places, he introduces a whole new host of problems in texas, you have a republican attorney general and a republican governor so less likely to have a state suit thanouould in california. nt robert: t.s. elliott theow hoan poem, there is the way the world end, not with a hout but with a whimper. this is what mitch mcconnell said. >> i would say as all my colleagues haveat ind, he's prepared to sign the bill.

he will also be issuing an emergency declaration at the same time and i've t indicat him that i'm going to support the emergency declaration. robert: that dry statement from senator mcconnell. some power in washington but little enthusiasm for the way this played out. what was his role here in coming around to support the national emergency? >> absolutely zero enthusiasm and it masked hours of drama when it came to president trump getting him on board with this bill. the president, even though he's not one for details, decided to dig into this bill around mid day on thursday and just how weres before mcconnell had expected to have a vote on this. he had to get on the phone with president trump multiple times, the "washington post" reporte and cnn also had reported that mcconnell had told his aides, i don't want to sign this them. mcconnell is opening himself up

to forcing his members basically to take a painful vote, as john just mentioned. this relution o disapproval is not going to be a great thing for a lot of republican senators who are going to be forced to basically cast a vote saying i disagree wh the president's decision decision and mcconnell had to do that in order to g a signature on this bill. it just goes to show that no one wanted a shutsdown and no one wanted a shutdown more than mitchell mcconnell. -> white house cheechoo of state mulling mulvaney was talking to mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy, calling people on thursday saying we need a c.r., we need to slow this down. robert: a bill thatoun't appropriate across the government. >> rights, to avoid the shutdown and mccarthy and mcconnell were going no, we're doing this now. the reality is trump boxed hi ielf

and i've kept saying this. he lost this wall fight in congress on capitol hill. he lost it on election day and itn a slow-motion death. he's lost this for ifons. as everybody has mentioned, he couldn't get it through congress, now he did a national gency in a maye way, though, he got congress out of this jam. we have been stuck on this for two and a half months now. there was actually some sighs of relief. yeah, we hate this but at least we can start talking about something else for a while. >> hearing that from mcconnell, he delivered it so dryly but he also called a vote i think 25 minutes later. we're voting right now before anybody has a cnce to change their mind. >> he had to interrupt another republican senator to d he did not want to give one extra second for trump to change his mind, which h has repeatedly done in this back and forth really since7 when he

first came in. the first time he threatened tt that omnibus bill that didn't have money for the border wall and republicans again had to rush down to the white house and try to talkut himf it. the fact he had been pushed so far into torr. they realized they had to strike while the iron was hot. buster: appropriations chairman richard slby in the senate. nita lowy fromusew york. democrat. they cut this deal. >> they absolutely did. in the beginning when trump was sponsor -- sworn in that is h they were doing these aapproach weighses bills. he was staying at arm's length and they were cutting their hem to the inging president and repeatedly they did not have money for the border wall and he swallowed it and finally he tried to exert himself, tried toigure out a way to reclaim this power

florida in the struggle over hney and the wall and in the end he to give them the power back so they could cut the deep. robert: he was in texas, 2020 campaign. there was a big banner there, finish t ball. is that the new message out of this white house and the core th re-elect? >> absolutely. it's possible that it matters less to thi preside whether he does this than whether he can coinue to run on it. it was such a good issue for him in 2016. the 2020 message can be look at how far i fought for this and look at these activistourts and obstructionist democrats that keep getting in the way and oh, by the way, keep voting for republican so we can continue to get this done. el paso, texas, is really a pretty dat -- democratic city.at his point it doesn't appear that he's convincing that many people but in another presidential election, i think

we'll hear this over andver again. >> he also very much need to one -- run on the wall.k if you l back at the mid terms, the perspective pivoted heavily on the caravan. he had to pivot strongly in his view, to the sort of bedrock ises that he ran on to help the few republicansda cans like florida and elsewhere. you hear histr adminion talking a lock -- lot about wanting to run on the eco tmy. buty're running on the wall and immigration. >> when was theast time y heard anybody talk about the tax cut? robert: so the president is rousing his corps right wings he's fighting for the wall. but what abourepublicans on capitol hill. when -- capitol hill when you're up there, john, do they seem exhausted by all this? >> the shutdown wasas a dr for republicans. it was a disaster for trump and the whole party.

i think they really kind of -- like i said they hated the emergency but they were like thank god this is over, at least for now. let's let the courts decide this i think they want to move on. robert: to what prescription drugs, inf >> in the senate they're going to move to abortion because they wanto talk about the virginia abortion bill and that was a disaster. and they w slam the green deal and alexandria ocasioll cortez and these radical new democrats that are going to destroyaptain little. they wanted to talk about something else. for now in gets them out of the box. >>artly why you had lind a-- lindsey graham over the last few weeks daring the president to takehis step so they could just move on. there was no will to fight over this especially among senate republicans. >> right, the interesting thing

is the wall is not a huge priority for prumple anyone other than president trump. certainly not many republicans in congress. sure, if you ask them are you for or against it, most republicans would say they'r it, they think it's part of the solution but there are very, very few republicans on capitol hill who see this as the be all-endev all. dealing with illegal immigration. if they had their druther to write a bill, the wall wouldn't be anywhere nearop thef their priority list. robert: especially the moderate republicans on the hill. they want to move on so fast from the wall and immigration. they want to talk about the tax cut and other things. the o aversion another shutdown wasn't the only story in washington this weak. amountine was the confirmation of william barr to be the 85t attorney general. he susmse leadership of a justice dartment handling

multiple criminal investigations that have shadowed president trump's administration. barr husband concerned zpwilet concern about how he planned to oversee special counsel robert probe.'s some democrats broke away for that reason. did they getny clarity during the confirmation process? >> they kno nobody is going to do a mueller. only three of them voted for him so i think they're hopeful that he -- here is 134b who has a long history with the justice department, worked th mueller. has a close rhythm with mueller so has enormous respect for mueller, at leret eed it publicly, and the justice department. but you saw trump today. he was talking about barr as the -- has the tghest job in washington. ybert: didn't he say to barr enjoyr life? quite a message from the president of the united states. >> so i think they're hoping -- but they didn't get any

commitment from barr that they would release the mueller report like that. i think they're hoping barr does the right thing but there's -- ey have to seep this is a guy who clearly debate support how far mueller has gon there was the memo that he cents saying t whole obstruction of justice charge wasn't going anywhere. robert: another big part of barr is whether he's going to change theulture at the department of justice. this week former f.b.i. acting director adrew mccabe made whleds he told cbs new that he opened an obstruction case against the president the after comey was fired. he also discussed about invoking e 25th amendment to remove the president from oice. does barr change this -- change this acrimonious rhyth between d.o.j. and president trump? >> everybody on capitol hill homes so. the barr is an institutionalist.

satisfied with't his analysis at the confirmation hearing but at least he's a traditionalist and might be able to improve that rhythm but wablet wasn't crimp rape supposed to do that with the f.b.i.? the president having his own person there hasn'teally made a big difference. the president is essentially running against individuath in e departments. robert: when you think about mccabe -- i want to note that the department of justice issued a statement about mccabe's interview with 60 minutes sayin rob rosen semifinal rejects his statements as incorrect. the d.o.j.'s inspector general found mr. mccabe did not tell th truth to federal authorities on multiple occasions. so he has a debatable reputation inside of political circles. what's the instance -- significance of him coming out with thisook, challenging the

president, with ideas of the 25th amendment? >> i think it shows the degree which the government, trump's own government was fearful on -- about what the new president might do. he tells this story. rosen stein pushed back when he reported it then as well. but after the president fire comey. mccabe is worried, not just about, i think,is ownareer but that this investigation is going to be somehow wash ised -r quabed, that the president is going to be taking actions to stop the russia investigation. so he takes these steps and in his telling about potentially removing the president. the thing so interesting to me about this, it shows ow -- how trump's paranoia and suspiciousp about the d state and all the elements in government trying to push back against him

essentially created the elementd he was afr of so you have mccabe at the f.b.i. saying the president is shattering all of these enormous, we have to protect the institutio and you have the president sitting in the white house saying the government is trying toun rmine me and undercut me. they're both sort of right and e book reanimates that discussion. >> it does henhlight theal problem that maybe ties together bill barr and andrew mccabe is pres pent trump. thblem for the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, the head of the d.o.j.e wh it is is that the president wants to have his hands in a lot of things he robably shouldn't have his hands in and that's a real collage for people who work under him. one of the thingst t caused mccabe to have a lot of consternation was president trump calling him out of the blue and wanting to talk to him about investigations. he says in the book that supposed to not have those times of

conversations. this is a constants theme pretty much everyone who has worked in those jobs have reiterated repeatedly. i suspect that bill barr is going to find out quickly that managing that is going to be his biggest collage and protecting his people from the president is also going to a secondary challenge to that robert: cnncooped today that sarah huckabee sanders, the white house press secretary, met with robert buller -- mull early. it shows thereor and more turns with this mueller turn. >> definitely and that happened quite a while ago and we only hearned about it this week. there are clearly a lot of people whoave talked to mueller and we don't know anything about it. more to come on that. robert: our conversation will continue on the "washington week" extra and starting next friday, we will stream the extra our website, youtube and facebook every friday night starting at 8:30 p.mastern.

i'm robert costa. have a great president's day weekend.te >> corpo funding is provided by -- 1 >> i wase a turn the aircraft around and the mission around and was able to save two mens' liv that night. >> my first job helped me to y grow up pre quickly. that will happen when you're asked to respond to a coup. >> 2001 i signed up for the air force. two days later, 9/11 happened.

program , a language that teaches real life conversations in a new language, such as spanish, french, german, italian and mor the 10 to 15 minutes are available as an app or online. more information onm. babell. >> funding is provided by -- koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, cmitted to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> you're watching pbs.

andrew wallenstein: in today's golden age of television, hollywood's best and brightest have their pick of compelling projects across a medium where story and character are king. laura dern: it was shocking. andrew: over the next hour, variety studio invites yound to go behihe scenes with today's top acting talent. jessica biel: i read it and i thought, "i have to do this." andrew: with benedict cumberbatchai and foy, angela bassett and laura dern, darren criss and mandy moore, jason bateman and bill hader, jessica biel and alison ie. ♪ andrew: welcome to variety studio, "actors on actors."al i'm andrewnstein. in this episode we'll showcase some of the most exciting television performances of the year. first up, benedict cumberbatch television performances of the year. and claire foy tap into their british roots to play