robert: fallout over foreign intelligence. i'm robert costa. welcome to "washington week." tensions between the united states and i ran, following explosions on two oil tankers. >> i rand shoulet displomesi not with terror and extoion. robert: backtrack. president trump now says he would alert the f.b.i. if a political power offered him political dirt, one day after he scoffed at the idea. while pelosi holds the line on impeachment.o > you have t handle it with great care. robert: we cover it all next. ♪ announcer: this is

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the corporation for pubbrlic dcasting and from contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. oncegain fro washington, moderator robert costa.be : president trump insisted on friday that iran was responsible for the recently explosions on two tankers, bringing the united states and iental closer to a confrontation. on thursday, two tankers were crippled in the gulf of oman. u.s. military leaders released photos a thisideo when they -- which they claim show oinchian special forces removing an unexploded mine. secretary of state mike pompeo called it a crisis moment. >> these attacks present a clear threat to international peace d ecurity and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by iran. robert: but iran has denied

n volvement and accused the trump administrat stoking talk of war. joining me tonight are four of the sharpers reporters who cover this president. peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." , yamiche alcindite house correspondent for the pbs newshour. ashley parker, white house he reporter for wow post and eamon javers, washington correspoent for cnbc. peter, when you look at all of the facts and all of the different cues from this administration, is president trump leaning toward mility intervention? peter: that's a greatuestion he was very straightforward today in saying that iran was responsible. didn't hedge it. he said it's got iran written all ovd it t if you listen to what he feels saying he was not threatening he wasn't using bombastic terminology and even said he was still open to tal if the iranians want to have it. i think he was trying to be more

measured. more programs than his more hawk irk advisors. mike pompey -- hawkish advisors. mike pompeo a jn bolton. he's not eager to get into a war overseas. robert: is t president sill a noninterventionist at heart but he's rounded by hawks like john bolton? >> he is until hell on the whole he is an anti-int conventionalist. there are a up with cup -- -- couple of core values he holds and that is o of them. he was preforward, not always but against the iraq war. it's the same regionndhe same concerns. there's some talk thato ne has provided the evidence and there would be some hesitancey o to get war in that region with no evidence. but thent presi is also someone who can be provoked.

erything is about him and his ego and he doesn't like to be diminished so if there's a tweet that provokes him or goes too far or statement, he could chan a his position o dime esd then change back again. robert: it all cown to this video we saw from secretary of statee pompeo. apanese shipping company involved has contested the u.s.'s conclusion that it was definitely oriental. is the u.s. going to stand by this video? >> it seems as though they will. i in some ways share ashley's idea that people can change their mind, including the w presiden is the key person who obviouy is always changing his mind. some close to whi hse advisors have been stressing that iran is a corrupt nation in e u.s.'s eyes. they've corrupted the national banks and is a bnd actor i that region. in some ways i think the president has been clear about the fact he thinks this is iran

because of those background ideas. that being said, who knows where in goals because i think the president, as both peter andai ashley he got into this race understanding that war was not whats his supporter wanted and i recognize talking to this woman in pennsylvania who was very concerned about the iran nuclear deal so these are peopls thometimes are talked about as working class people interested in the economy and other things. i was taken aback that she was really focused on the iran nuclear deal,etotng into more wars. robert: but people are focused on the economy. when you'rat cnbc and talking to investors, what do they think this standoff means for the economy? >> pompeo esms is that there's going to to be a diplomatic andn ic response. he was emphasizing diplomacy and economic response so i think that sends a signal to the market that this is a government

in thenited states that doesn't want to get into a shooting war in the gulf and will d what it can to keep out of that i think that sent a message of reassurance to global markets. robert: could that affect gas price this is summer? eamon: absolutely it could. the lf of mexico is such a tiny space and some of the world's oil goes tough there and there are so many hostile countrieht and forces r there, it's a real bottleneck. robert: what kind of tests this for president trump? he's faced a lot but this is ap icular bringing him close to the brink. peter: it's a test on two levels. one on his handlingof iran. how do you exercise touch policy, which is what he wants shorts of getting into a shooting wr. through sanctions, by plomesi, hat have you. right ns trying to convince the europeans that he's right about the tankers. is is not a president whose

relationship with the truths has been particularly close. we've seenhisow for three presidents. ever since george w. shnd the iraq war went south with the failure to find w.m.d., the worl at large has been skeptical. this is a president whose own credibility is much more questioned than bush or obama and it's a challenge for him. >> it's also a challenge if you talk about ideally bringing allies and the rest of the globe on board. for the reasons peter stated but al the way the president has behaved. he pulls out of treaties, he ail yates -- rsienates our neigh to the north and south, that is threated to destroy nato. i've been on a lot of trims with the vice president who is always comi in behind him saying that thing the president said, don't worry, it's not guy quipet as

bad as -- quite as bad as you think. so now he is in a position to have to convince allies he's alnated in a lot of ways and it's an uill battle. >> the hawks are a little bit in retreat after the venezuela episode. when the united states was backing a challge to the incumbent government in venn scalea. -- venezuela. it seemed like we were on the verge of potentially changing the governments. that didn't work out. i think the hawks took some of the blame on that internally in the they're a little bit on the back foot right now. peter: -- robert: pushing iran to come to the negotiation table since t administration walked out of the oriental nuclear deal. we'll keep an eye o it. president trump ignited when he told nbc news he did not see anything wrong in receiving

information on a political issue from foreigners. those inongress said it's time to begin the impeachment. congress >> if now isn't the time then i think a lot of folks would l to know when is the time. robert: speaker pelosi facing a lot of that pressuring. we've been talking about the st impeachment qn for weeks. but the president's comments oar foreign intelligence, what message does that send to the intelligence community? >> it says that the president is going to openly criticize you and the president is going to do thatreally with his own political success in the back of his mind so when i think about all this president has said, all the scandals and troverbings, something like this will stand out in time and history.e we have resident essentially saying in 2020 i'm open again to talking to foreign countries about dirt on my political opponents i think

nancy pelosi is in a space where a.c. and other freshmen on capitol hill want some reaction. nancy pelosi this week was very cautious. she said i'm not going to be shed into any one thing going to push me into impeachment proceedings. at the end offn, i she ever does go into proceedings, she wants to say i held off as long as i could. this is now abouttriotism and the country. i think when we see her notg goinnto knee jerk reaction into impeachment talk, that might give her more credibilowt. >> vulnerable is this president? he views the idea of getting foreign intelligence from a foreig power as potential strength for his campaign but the same could happen on the otherde. the chinese could go out and get his tax returns a fromn american computer, still those and put those okick leaks or the next

stormy daniels' set of documents. those are hackable. if the president is sending a signal to foreign intelligence, it's ok for americans to take look at whatever you guys produce, you're going to have a lot ofst e intelligence in the 2020 elections. robert: -- said it is illegal to self a campaign contribution or information from a foreign national. you have to report it to t f.b.i. >> yeah, there's a legal debate as to who onderogatory informa about hillary clinton would constitute a thing of value under the law. we haven't taken that on in a court of law. mueller shied away from that. nobody made a legalon assern that regard. the more interesting thing in some ways is how a president who had basically kind moved on about the russian thing and now the question is about

obstruction of jufrls and impeachment and now he's put russia back on the table. robert: why can't he move on? ter: ashley wrote a good piece on impeachment this week. i think he's obsessed about this. he wants to provegh his r ashley: first, i think what he said that he was open, again, to foreign intelligence, you have to take him at his word. opat's what he said in a public interview but p close to him has said this also comes down to his legitimacy so when he went out there in t t interview and said this part of it was him trying to sai didn't nothing wrong the first time. that whole tng, that witch-hunt, there was nothing wrong with it and therefore i would do it again. they stress it's not so much he would do it again, he was trying to def dd what heid before and frankly, defend his namesake, his son, who did take that

meeting. it felt almost teachly personal rather than eathe info hey wanted. robert: let's stay with this legitimacy point. if you're asking why doesn't leader mcconnell and the senate move on this legislation about reportogether f.b.i. to get foreign information. is that balls you have republicans waryf o angers -- angering this president knowing he's so concerned about the legihamacy oft happened in 2016? ashley: they've shown a deep unwillingness to cross him on any number of iues. but they are aware of the legitimacy issue, that that is what drove everything. when they talk about the mueller probe, they sort of say athe whole obstruction bucket wouldn't haveappened because of the perspective and what he

felt was an attack on his h legitimacy self-destructed for two years. >> earlier in the year we had e esident sail when it was reveed that kim jong un's hf brother or family member had been a source of administration for the c.i.a., the president said tha wouldn'tppen under my watch. ou're in effect suggesting to the c.i.a. that they shouldn't gather intelligence from hostile governments from eullsle sources. thr heads must be spinning when the president is saying we're going to put a slowdown on spying on the north koreans and we're also sending signals tha the united states he election in 2020 is open for foreign interference. robert: there was a hearing this week on deep fake videos. all the disnformation campaign that are going to be expected in 2020. yamiche: one of the most remarkable things, he's worried about s presidency not seen as legitimate but it's also about

his ego and his idea he can sell to the american people. enveloped in his conveation was this idea that if you look at lawmakers, who wouldn't want this information? what kind of personal calls the f.b.i. it's almost like saying no snisms. this is the president of the united states talking sort of like a mobsternd i think that's part of the president's ego part of his personality. he thinks as a result he can riled this wave and be political limb successfu regardless. eachen because talking about this idea that people could hack and get his r taxurns or information about stormy daniels. helrdy has gone through this i'm invincible, go ahead and try to hack me. robert: ashley? ashley: one thing i think we'll see the democrats struggle with is what i think ofs a asymmetrical warfare, which is

that the same rules of engagement don't apply to the president. so hacki a different candidate's tax returns could b devastating for his democratic rival but for him there's no problem. samehing with lies misstress. you could see him on a detective with someone else who fudges the facts and they pay a tremendous price. robert: peter, the impeachment issue in the house seemst like comes up every week. speaker posi say he -- the president has committed offenses that seem t likey could be impeachable yet they don't move forward. is this because they're polling or hearing from constituents -- constituents that they don't want to see them go it t direction? peter: some of it is. but they're lking over time if they receive enough evidence to

change that. polls say that a majrity doesn't want impeachment. do youvercome a democratic election without a mandate from the public? rested in the house of representativefor a reason. that's a political body. it's not surprising that they would have an e to what's happening politically if they took this risk. eamon: what happens if you impeach in the house and send it nathe ? it and looks like at that point democrats have run thisg f the flag pole then back down ask t ey feel tuld be a political loser. >> and you've expose leds 20, 30 democrats who sits in trump districts who may have just won their seats and you've exposed

them on a vote that might cost them. robert: i spoke to a house democrat this week who was prepared to rly around the impeachment idea then the president flips his statement on fox news in a callin, what's happening with iran. that even if democrats try seize on something and bring to it public attention, there's a new wave of news that make it hardr. presidentp had nothing but praise for outgoing press secretary sarah huckabee sanders who announced she would leave during the end of this month. the president called her "a warrior." and urged her to run for govern of her home state of arkansas. sarah huckabee sanders, press t' secretary, w her legacy? ashley? ashley: i mean, her key legacy is that she effectively ended the white house briefing. i think today is the 95th day ot when we'vead a briefing.

does that mean it won't be instated agai i don't know. it seems less likely under a trump presidency. robert: did that hurt the press's ability to report? hahley: two things. i believe the press briefing is important. there was lots of chatter about ould reporters boycott them? i always think wen up a chance in how up and ask someone power questions there's a lot of importance in nafments i think all the reporting we're proud o and told something happened behind the scenes. robert: what about what she said in may of 2017 that s had all these pieces of information coming in from f.b.i. agents, former employees and then she had to correct thathen interviewed by robert mueller. her legacy on the truth?

yamiche: she had n pretty much credibility by the end of her job. bhate to say that because she's a nice womant most of the information that she shared with reporters had to be ccked and rechecked because we knew she was someone who was not going to be always telling us the trufmentse. i thinkhether or not you're judging her on the president's,h the waywould view her. she was definitely a good spokesperson for him and set out her agenda b as a reporter i was displayed by her frankly not tellinus the truth a lot of times. peter: she had the tie of press secretary but not the job of it that. job happens to be fled by donald j. trump and because of that, there was no briefing. she was afraid or that she was not suppose toleds get out in front of the president. that's a mistake in that a press secretary can take arrow ifs or president that he or she might not want to take.

on the other hand this p allows us, reporters, to ask us questions in a wayis predecessors did not. get much more access to him directly than we did under president obama and under esident bush as well. eamon: true, but we get scrums on the south launch. everyone asking a question -- some of these people are vicious. >> if there are topics the president or sarah sanders nt doesn't o talk about -- immigration. the fact he was named in the new zealand shooters imanfesto. these were thing that -- the president and sarah sanders could just dodge. >> he can pick the questions he doesn't want to answer. >> mr. president, you said this on this date onhi on date, the pentagon said this can't document. >> it's like word association. you shout out a name and let him

go. >> president obama, weeks went by without any opportunities for reporters to ask him questions. whole troverbs came and went and we never asked him once about it. >> i was in sarah sanders' office yesterdhe just after announcement was made public and she was talking to a few of us. on human level she seemed really choked up and oemotional as she was talking to us about her tenure. she was asked if she regretted holding more press briefings? she said no, for that rean, she said the president speaks r themselves. >> a lot of reporters said that behind the scenes often s could be professional, polite, courteous and frankly, helpful moments so there was that side of her that was not as public facing. >> a lot of the st see from the white house aides we see on camera is for show. bluster and posturing and very

much for show and behind the scenes those same people are not that way all the tim >> she was certainly personable. robert: there's that and then the administration and how it handles the thorny questions it faces. >> the disciplinef having the white house briefing is that the administration itself has to check its fts. be aware of the information themselves. it forces that daily dills palestinian every day of knowing what you're going to beiz crit for or questions about and knowing you have your facts straying. peter: representative of the most powerful person on the plan day in and day out has to take questions whether they want to or not. they can choose to answer or not ut it's there on camera. robert: her father is mike huckabee, the former governor of arkansas, populist questioner acunve. does she for governor in

2020? >> the job is not open.>> she's definitely going to run. i was sitting right there when asked if she was going to run. she did not say no. robert: sounds like a politician already. did not say no, being coy. thankseverybody. up next on the "washington week" extra, we'll discuss the race for the mocratic nomination and who is breaking out of the pack. c i'm robeta. have a great weekend. announcer: corporate funding for "washingtoweek" is approvaled by -- -- provided by --

>> w -- babbel, a language program that teaches real-life conferri a new language such as spanish, french,n, germa italian and more. more information on babbel.com. otsuka. kaiser systems permente.s raymond jainancial services firm. additional funding provided by koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation. committed to bridging cultural diffingsifferences in our communities. the corporation for broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

it's week 4 of baking mayhem. we've had bread, we've had cakes, ui we've had bi. that tent is seriously hotting up. i think it's the friction from mary's satin bomber jacket. narrator: last time, th bakers took! martha: oh, it's so stretchy. the remaining 9 bakers... whoo! had something to prove. iain: my last chance to rise to the challenge. nancy: perfect. pure alchemy. is narrator: lu' inventive creations won him the tle of star baker... [applause] thank you. paul: nice idea, but unfortunately it's not been executed at well. and jordan became the third baker to leave the tent. now the remaining bakers face tu the sauciest signa challenge yet... kate: oh, no, it's all bubbling! mary: now, that's what i call a sauce pudding. naerator: a technical whprecision is paramount... do diana: t make a mess.