robert: off the rails. the president declares a national emergency. i'm robert costa. welcome to "washington week." president trump reluctantly accepts a bipartisan spending deal theneclares a national emergency to build at the border. president trump: we're talking about an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, with all the times of criminals and gangs. robert: democrats and some republicans accuse the president of sidestepping congrs. >> 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 and was able to save two men's lives that night. >> my first job helped me to ow up pretty quickly. that will happen when you're asked to respond to a coup. >> in 2001 i signed up for the r force. two days later, 9/11 happened. ea babel, a language program that tes real-life conversations in a new language, such as spanish, french, italian and 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 differences in

our commities. the corporation for public broadcasting and bybu contons to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> once again in washington, moderator robert costa. robert: good evening. president trump averted another shutdown on friday by unhappily accepting a bipartisan deal to keep the government open but spked a leg firestorm by declaring an emergency at the border, despite tom rublicans and democrats urging him to hold off. it will allow him -- him to divert money from the pentagon, treasury and other departments. president trump: we ve certain nds that are being used as the discretion of the generals, at the discretion of the military. some of avem't been allocated and some of the

generals think this is more important. robert: the move comes after thn pres fame told get the $5. billion he wted. joining me tonight, julie hirschfeld davis, congressional correst for "the new york times." garrett haake, washington correspondent for msnbc. bby phillip, white house correspondent for cnn and john bresnahan, capital bureau chief for politico. we think about thate ros garden performance by the president today, julie. we heard theg president mak case for a national emergency at the border, a but is there a crisis at the boarder? julie: there's no rea crisis a the border. there are a rot of challenges at the border. ill hell border crossings are actually down, historically peek intoing. the number of families showing up, though, has gone up a lot and that's why there a humanitarian silence. up a lot of people showing up asking for asylum, saying their

fleeingnd violence persecution. there's obviously arug problem. and of course there are human trafficking problems as well, all the things the perspective lks about but there is not now a crisis that didn't exist last year two years ago or even llve years before that there are a lot of cges at the boarder but there's no invasion in the wayre that thedent 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 ait to build wall faster. he said. robert: let's hear the president's case today about what julie jus said. president trump: i could do 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' have to do it for the election. i've already done a lot of wall for the election, 2020. robert: does this hurt the

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

strategy. robert: the supreme court has looked at predential executive orders. harry truman and clintons and ruled them invalid but most national emergencies have stood. but what are we hearing from speaker pelosi, her lieutenants, the committee chairman? >> they're going to move a joint resolution to invalidate the e nationrgency and that will happen pretty 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. there may even be some republicans who vote for it. the question really becomes the senate. this is a resolution that's privileged, is the term. it has to be taken up within the senate within 18 calendar days ster it pashe house and then that becomes a challenge

for senator majority leader mitch mccollum and the white house. will they vote with the democrats to say you've ne too far on this one? it's going to be really close. if it passes the senate, they get a majority, 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: t pushback fr courts . pushback from the democrats. you have to wonder if there's going to be pushback from the people. the spending little -- bill includes funding for 55 mills -- miles ofew barriers. democrats made sure those barriers will not massive concrete walls. it also 3r50eu6eds provisions for more secity. uch as money for humane tanche

aide. the trump administration is also eyeing billions i elsewherethe federal budgets for border barriers, such $600 billion for dealing with seized drugs and more than $3 billion from other military construction projects. garrett, will there be any counter insidest the admition about the use of these funds? whetherit from committee chairmen or cabinet secretaries? garrett: this was a day i think the senate really missed having john mccane around. i can imagine him screaming in the hallways about this. the white house has two problems. first of all they're going to 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?

the are meant o committee members who would like to find thoses gener and make them at all talk about it. this will makede the pre's job much more difficult when he goes for a new budget next yeara the last appropriateors want to hear is that their money went elsewhere. there'll be pushback publicly on th front end and quietly i think in the next round of appropriations so make sure the 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 main areas is in the border of texas. democrats pushed republicans in hae process of the conference committee here t an evidence-based approach to in

and this is where they agreed it was but even in that bill, democrat made clear it has to be the existing types of fencing that already exists,ot n a concrete wall and they specifically listed off pieces of border inexas where a wall cannot go so if the president tries build in any of those places, he introduces a new host of problems in texas, you have a republican attorney general and aca repub governor so less likely to have a state suit than youould in california. robert: unthe t.s. elott the hollow man poem, there is the way the world end, not with a shout but with a wmper. this is what mitch mcconnell said. s>> i would as all my colleagues have indicat , he's prepared to sign the bill. he will also be issuing an

emergency declaration at the same time and i've indicated to support i'm going to the emergency declaration. robert: thatry statement from senator mcconnell. some power in washington but little enthusiasm for the w this played out. comings his role here in ound 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 psident, evenhough he's not one for details, decided to dig into this bl around mid day on thursday and that was just how weres before mcconnellp hadted to have a vote on this. he had to get on the phone wh president trump multiple times, the "washington post" reported and cnn also had reported that mcconnell had told his aides, i don' to sign this them. mcconnell is opening himself up to forcing his members basically

to take a painful vote, as john justmentioned. this resolution of disapproval is not going to beat a g thing for a lot of republican senators who are going to be forced tosi lly cast a vote saying i disagree wh the president decision decision and mcconnell had to do that in order to get 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 cheecho of state mulling -- mulvaney was talking mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy, calling thursday saying we need a c.r., we need to slow this down. robert: a bill that wouldn'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 imself i and i've kept saying this. he lost this wall fight in

congress on capitol hill. he lost it on election day and it's been a slow-motion death. he's lost this for if months. as everybody has mentioned, couldn't get it through congress, now he did a national em wgency in a maye, 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 talkime about ing 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 votin right now before anybody has a chance to change their mind. >> he had tntorupt another republican senator to do that. he did not want to give one extra second for trump to change his mind, which he has repeatedly done in this back and forth really since 27 whe he first came in. the first time he threatened to

veto that omnibus bill that ey didn't have m for the border wall and republicans again had to rush down to the white house and try to talk him out of it. the fact he had been pushed so far into the corr. they realized they had to strike while the iron was hot. buster: appropriations chairman richard shelby in the senate. nita lowy from new york. house democrat. they cut this deal. >> they absolutely did. in the beginning when trump was sponsor sworn in that is how they were doing these aapproach weighses bills. he was stayi at arm's length and they were cutting their aals and bringing them to the president repeatedly they did not have money for the border wall and he swallowed it and finally he tried to exert himself, tried to figure out a way to reclaim this power florida in the struggle over w

money and thel and in the end he had to give them the powerhe back socould cut the deep. robert: he was in texas, 2020 campaign. there was a big banner there, finish the ball. is that the new message out of this white house and the core of the re-elect? >> absolutely. it's possie that it matters less to this president whether he does this than whether he can continue to run on it. it was such a good iss for him in 2016. the 2020 message can be look at how far i fought for this and look at these activist courts and obstructionist democrats that keep getting in the way oh, by the way, keep voting for republicans so we can continue to get this done. el paso, texas, is really a pretty dat -- democratic city. atsnhis point it d appear that he's convincing that many people but in another presidential election, i think we'll hear this over and over

again. eed to one very much -- run on the wall. if you look back at the mid terms, the perspective pivoted caravan. the he had to pivot strongly in his view, to the sort of bedrock issues that he ran on to help the few republicans candidates like florida and elsewhere. you hear hi administration talking a lock -- lot about nting to run on the economy. but they're running on the wall and immigration. when was the last time you heard anybody talk about the tax cut? robert: so the president is rousing his corps voters, the right he's fighting for the wall. but what about republicans on capitol hill. when -- capitol hill when you're up there, john, do they seem exhausted by all this? >> the shutdown was a disaster for republicans. it was a disaster fornd trump the whole party. i think they really kind of -- like iaid they hated the

emergency but they were like thank god this is over, at rast now. let's let the courts decide this i think they want to move on. robert: to what prescriptionug infrastructure? >> in the senate they're going to move to abortionecause they want to talk about the virginia abortion bill and that was a disaster. and they want to slam the green deal and alexandria ocasio cortez and all these radical new democrats that are going to destroy captain little. they wanted to talk about something else. for now in gets them out of the box. >>artly w you had lind a-- lindsey graham over the last few weeks daring the president to take this step so they could just move on. there was no wil to fight over this especially among senat republicans. >> right, the interesting thing is the wall is n 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 againstt,ost republicans would say they're for it, they think it'st p the solution but there are very, very few republicans onhi capit who see this as the be all-end all. ev dealing with illegal immigration. if they had their drutherswr to e a bill, the wall wouldn't be anywhere near the top of their priority lis robert: especially the moderate l.publicans on the h they want to move on so fast from the wall and immigrationth want to talk about the tax cut and other things. the aversion o another shutdown wasn't the only story in washington this week. amount heaine was the confirmation of william barr to be the 85th attorney general. he susmse leadership of a justice department handling multiple criminal investigations

that have shadowed president trump's administration. barr husband ced zpwilet concern about how he planned to oversee special counsel robert tseller's probe. some democ broke away for that reason. did they get any clarity during the confirmation process? >> they know 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 w long histoh the justice department, worked with mueller. has a close rhythm withueller so has enormous respect for mueller, at least expreed it publicly, and the justice department. but you saw trump today. he was talking about barr as the -- has the toughest job in washington. 't robert: die say to barr enjoy your life? quite a message from the prident of the united states. >> so i think they're hoping -- but they didn't get anynt commitrom barr that they would release the mueller report

or anything like that. i think they're hoping barr does the right thing but there's -- they have to seep this is a guy who clearly debate support how far mueller has gone. there was the memo that he cents saying the whole obstruction of justict charge was going anywhere. robert: another big part of barr is whether he's going to change the culture at the department of justice. this ek former f.b.i. acting director aew mccabe made whleds he told cbs news that he opened an obstruction case against the president the day after comey was fired. he also discussed about invoking the 25th amendment to remove the president from office. does barr change this -- change this acrimonious rhythm between d.o.j. and president trump? >> everybody on capitol hill homes so. the barr is an institutionalist. democrats weren't satisfied with his analysis at the confirmation

hearing but at least he's a traditionalist mndht be able to improve that rhythm but wablet wasn't crimp rape supposed to do that with the reb.i.? thedent having his own person there hasn't really made a difference. the president is essentially running against individuals in the departments. robert: when you think about mccabe -- i want to note that the department of justice iued a statement about mccabe's interview with 60 minutes saying rob rosen semifinal rejects his statements as incorrect. the d.o.j.'s inspector general found mr. mccabe did not tell the 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 this book, challenging the president,ith 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 s thisry. rosen stein pushed back when he as well. t then but after the president fires comey. mccabe is worried, not just about, i think, his own career t that this investigation is going to be somehow wash ised -- quabquared, that the president is going to be taking actions to stop the russia investigation. so he takes these steps and in his telling about potentiallyre ving the president. the thing so interesting to me about this, it shows ow -- how trump's paranoia and suspicious about the deep state and all the elements in government tryg to push back against him essentially created the element he was afraid of so you have

mccabe at the f.b.i. saying the president is shattering all of these enormous, we have to protect the institution and you have the president sitting in the white house saying the government trying to undermine me and undercut me. they're sort of right and the book reanimates that discussion. >> it does highlight the central problem that maybe ties together bill and andrew mccabe is president trump. blem for the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, the head of the d.o.j., whoeveha it is is the president wants to have his hands in a lot of things he probably shouldn't have his hands in and that's a real collage for people who work under him.of onhe things that caused mccabe to have a lot of consternation was president trump calling him out of the blue ando wanting talk to him about investigations. he says in the book that presidents are not supposed to have those times of conversations. this is a constants theme that

pretty much everyone who has worked in those jobs haveat reit 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 pple from theresident is also going to be a secondary challenge to that cbert: scooped today that sarah huckabee sanders, the white house press secretary, met with robert buller -- mull early. it shows there's mor and more turns with this mueller turn. >> definitely and that happened quite a while ago and we only a hearut it this week. there are clearly a lot of people who have talked to mueller and we don't know anything about it. more to come on that. robert: our conveation will continue on the "washington week" extra and starting next friday, we will stream the extra on ourwe bsite, youtube and facebook every friday nightng star at 8:30 p.m. eastern. i'm robert costa.

have a great president's day weekend. >> corporate funding is provided by -- 1 >> i was able turn the aircraft around and the mission around and was able to save two mens' lives that night. >> my first job helped me to grow up pretty quickly. n when you're asked to respond to a coup. >> 2001 i signed up for the air force. two days later, 9/11 happened.

>> babell, a language program that teaches real life conversations in a new language, such as spanish, french, german, italian and more. the 10 to 1 minutes are nvailable as an app or online. more information babell.com. >> funding is provided by -- koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs ation from viewers like you. thank you. >> you're watching p

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.ov andrew the next hour, variety studio invites you to go behind the scenes with today's top acting talent. d ssica biel: i read it ani thought, "i have to do this." andrew: with benedict cumberbatch and claire foy, angela bassett and laura dern, darren criss and mandy moore, jason bateman and bill hader, jessica biel and alison brie. ♪ andrew: welcome to variety studio, "actors on actors." i'm andrew walnstein. in this episode we'll showcase some of the most exciting television performances of the year. first up, benedict cumberbatch and claire foy tap into their british roots to play