♪ robert: storm watch.ta i'm robert cos, welcome to "washington week." hurricane dorian heads toward florida and p psidet mp reassures residents his administration is ready. sresident trump: our highest priority i the safety and security of t people in the path of the hurricane. tical storms hover. uncertainty other his trade war edge. hina keeps investors on his fight with former.b.i. director james comey is back on. followg a watchdog report.wa and democrats face storms too. as the iowa caucuses a a suddenly challged. next. >> this ishi "washington week." funding is provided by --

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costa. spend the weekend at camp p vid to watch information about hurricane dorian. vice psident pence will go to poland instead. he's still dealing with criticism other his handling of hurricane maria whi devastating puerto rico in 2017. here's what president trump said today. president trump: i like the word acting. as far as i'm concerned, acting, to me is good. and if ie the people, i make them permanent. acting gives you great flexibility you don't have with permanent. rort: joining me tonight to discuss these issues and me, shawna thomas, washington bureau chieie for vice news. john harris, founding editor of politico.

vivian salama, editor for the "wall street journal," and michael schear, of "the new yo times." presidents are often tested by storms. what kind of test is hurricane rian for president trump? shawna: i think really what people will be looking for kind over the course of the weekend? what does he encourage people to do? he the person who says everyone actually listen to the florida governor, listen to fema, do what they say if you need to get out, get out?e is reiterating that message or is he getting distracted by other things? i think you do want to see in time liblings this some level of consistency from the president. if it i a cegory 4 and it is direct hit on florida that can be major devastationon e are parts of florida, it's not the sam parts, that are still recovering from l'st ye storms. i think what you want to see is fema and everyone else has the resources they need and are dina what's what we're hoping for. robert: that's what people are looking for.

what about inside the administration where you have many acting officials? will the president pay a political cost for havavg so many? >> i would think not unless a catast tphe happens and government is seen as failing to respond. as far as the atmosphere, it shows how much trump has changed the way we percethe presidency. in coprentional times you would expect a president of either party to be seen as a unifying force, a reassuring force. highly engaged. this is not a conventional presidency. in se sense, as far as the atmospherics, who cares a asas the substance if we have a catastrophe and w might well have one, we'r going to expect the gth to respond. >> i do think it's worth noting, we spent some time last year with fema while florence was hitting. w they he peop have been there for years. they know how to deal with this. there are people who h plan for these things too.e robert: but this raises more than estions about

esidential leadership. it also shines a bright light on the trump administration' use offederal money for fema and their move to redirect millions to the borderer that democrats have targeted the administration's efforts to transfer more resources tohe border, decrying the move as a shift of more than $15 million from fema disaster relief in order to pay for immigraonigra courts. house spker pesi called the decision reckless stealin for an inhumane agenda, her words. but president trump remains undaunted. he is so eager to complete his border fence he's directed aides to fast track billi dollars in construction contracts, seize private land, ignore trirmente environmental for those who run afoul of the law. president trump later deniedns ering pardons. michael, you're writing a book about immigration and president trum he's going around congress. executive order afteriv exec

action. what's next on this front? is he going to build the wall through executive pow her michael: he's going to try. the wall has, from before he became preaident and cenl oncee took office, has been sort of the totem of this presency. it is the, you know, the thing that symbolizes so much of how mp won the presidency and what he wants to acco with it. you know, but he's beenib incr frustrated because it's been theone big promiseat he has had so much trouble advancing any real success with. he's certainly pretended thathe h success. he talks a lot about how much of the wall has be built when in hat has st 100% of beenbuilt is essentially old wall that's been essentially built and repaired. he has made very little progress on e further across the border. and he sees,nd he ramps, frequently, to his kindalf inte advisors, the people in

the white house about how frustrated he is that this is making him look foolish, undedeining his authority, that it is costing him politically wi his bas and so you know, part of what we've seen over the lt 2 1/2 years is him trying as you said, to do anything he could, executiv authority, push the -- one of the reasons that people are gone from the -- from his administration in these roles that have to do with immigration are because they stood up to him and said mr. president, we can't do the things you're saying ths you wanto do. it's against the law or it's not practical. he's become so infuriated by that that he's pushed them out. elbe: what about now? to mic point, thall money is being redirected from fema disaster relief to border projects, is there pushback this moment or from republicans? shawna: the's a lot,es cially with regard to taking away money from fema. the timing is everything.

timing could n have been worse. this president has already been ac repeatedly of neglecting puerto rico. the storm was at prto rico's doorstep when this announcement came out, c,ldn't be worse timing.t the optics mportant to him. this is not just about a campaign promise or evean administration promise. this was a a slogan of his ralls, it was a catchphrase chanted back to him by his supporters. for his base, this ise one of things they carry signs that say build the wall name all repeat that mexico is going to pay for the wall. rallies and now we're going into 2020 and we don't see a wall in the way he promised his people. this is something for the president where, come hell or er high we wants the wall. >>f he economy takes a downturn that'll be the only thing he has to run on to build the wall as a backstop for if the economy isn't what it is right now.

robert: we've heard he's'v considering pardons, he's denied it, saying he igsn't consider pardons but he appears to be personally involved in all the negotiations inside the administration on the border wall, on immigration. is he working with stephen miller? is this a predede who is directing the strategy himself? john: i think this is a president who is directing strategy on any subject he cares about and is going to delegate sne vast majority of other subject he is dt care about. if he does, he's going to be invoed. he's going to everrule or can't rah dicthings that his own scdms says. of course he's involve because he cares. what i would say, it is a huge problem. republicans ran this town. but the congress in the first two years. so it's hard to sa i tt th democrats. robert: he's lashing out about the wall. hela also ing out at somesh former critic, some current critics, and he reignited his ud with former f.b.i. director

james comey this week after the watchdog issued a scathing report documents how comey violated poly, the investigator said comey broke rules and en -- when he gave an unclassified memo to a friend to share with a reporter. the attorney general has decided not to prosecute comey. what is next? shawna: we'll have the president tweeting aames comey, we'll see something that beth the democrats and republicans play u. it becomes somewhat of a campaign issue. basically, what barr decided to do was be like, i'm kind of done with ts. the thing is, this stor can be anad any way youant. people in trump's camp can s look, he they said he breck the rules. did not follow his contract. if you watched fox ne last nigh that's what the y said. you could also see ito based o quotes he gave to the or investigcomey saw himself

as kind of a patriot. if you're on the liberal side, and you're sing he gave this memo over to someone to give to the "new york times" because he thought everyo needed to know whathe president said, then you can take it and run with that too. i don't think this solves an hing or makes anything bhetter or clears anythininup. vivian: he insisted he kept the memos in a personal capacity. we may see them retroactively assifying these documents, something that will be a defining thing for the barr depament of justice in terms of whether they deal with these protocols. : is e-- is e white house keeping an eye on the next report from d.o.j., anve igate by u.s. attorne john durham about the origin of the russiati investi? you see the president knocking comey along with his alls on x news. is that report the one the white house is looking for? eevian: the white house is alwaysngn eye on things. mueller testimony as the big he

one in tms of whether or not the president would be i any wayffted. >> i think one of the side effects of the way trump handle the investigation is the pieces of it, whatever piece you talk about, is vwed through intenselns partisan lenses, so how youiew jim comey, how you view the other pieces of thisthis almost entirely dependent on how you vw trump. robert: by this the trump standard, comey shod be saying i'm exonerated, because there were to no criminal charges. >> i think comey is all along. he's not a democraocc hero. robert: whilthose fights heated up, president trump's trade war cooled down, for now. markets made gains when chinesg officials said they're eager continue face-to-face ugotiations with the u.s. and president trump also expressed optimism. michael schear asked the

president egout hi strat the g-7 in france on sunday. smoip that the strategy, to call president xi an enemy one day and then sayn negotiations are going? president trump: the way i negotiate, it's done well for te othe years and is doing well for the country.hi robert:ash strategy. are we seeing a truce, a thaw? michael: maybe. yt i think the point of question, the revelation in his answer, is that uncerainty the coin of the realm when it comes to trump and theay he handles a lot of stuff in the pr idency but especially the negotiations over trade. so you know,we look to be in a the chinese have indicated they want to c-e back to the - come to the table and work on. this the president indicated the same for hi team. yet i don't think any of us would bet on, you know, wheer be the reality a day from now or a week from now or

two weeks from now. think that uncertainty is what is making everybody concerned. robert: you covered capitol hill, shawna. what about the sumbings mca, will speaker pe pelosi bring that up for a vote this fall in shaw: speaker pelosi will have some kind of conference call with o ther democrats. people want to move e rward with the usmca or newtaafwhatever way theetters go, there are majors -- major issues to work through and the democrats don't seemo be budging. the uncertainty, we've tald to a lot of iowa farmers over the last month. the thing they point out even though they are not willing to ababdon president trump, the are conservatives -- robert: not yet. shawna: a couple saidy're tired of the tweets but they are eaked outecause of the level of uncertainty. one thing one said to us was if chinade dereally to fully pull out of the american soybean

market, go to brazil fully and totally, that kind of thing, they're worried they'll never come back. vivian: that uncertainty comes back to the oval office, i had a story about trump's own closest advisors, including lighthizer and everybody in the white house staff, tell thoipping shift focuso e usmca anda pan trade because they felt china wa't goi to deliver before 2020 and the worried it would have a negative impact on the economy and he wouldn't getis win. even they feel that's where they should put the eggs now. robert: if he doesn't g te usmca, doesn't get a chinaeal,ng still tro work on all these fronts what about a u. deal? we saw boris johnsonuspend parliament. uthbolede of these leaders lo to that ki of deal? john: they might. there's a kinship between the two of them. they've spoken favorably of each

other. this larger question of ast tainty though, there tegy to trump's trade policy which, i bieve i can inflictai more on you, a lot more, than you can inflict on me. that's n bad strategy except when it turnut to be obviousl untrue. if all the uncertainty in all these areas, trade,, chi the negotiated nafta, if those start to cause a rcession -- to cause recession fears an we're on the erge verge of that his strategy no longer works. rip robert: how much pain can republicans take? can they pressure the white house? ollapsehey can't take a in the stock market and can't take a collapse in agricultural states. so not much more pain is the answer. robert: we'll keep an eye on what happens on capitovehill whenone is back. for noin the summer, all eyes on the democratic race for president. th week 10 democrats foalified

the deba in houston, texas. it'll be the fir time vice president bin will share the stageagith senator warren. 10 others willry to stay in the hunt the spite not making the stage. new rk senator crirsen jill brand dropped out of the hice, all comes as the political map is redrawn with georgia looking more and me like a possible battleground. it's now home to two senate races in 2020, following the announcement th week by g.o.p. senator johnny isakson that year due to his health. we wish him the best. when you think abouthe iowa caucuses, there was big news on friday. you have the democratic nation committee saying, we dent want to have virtual caucuses. caucuses by. pho people should be showing up. they were concerned about the security of that whole process. will iowa stil stay first?

iowa is going to do a caucus, , still going to be the first caucus. b everyone is rd with iowa being first and being a caucus. how do they deal withac the that d.n.c. asked iowa how to make the thing more clusive. they came back with a pan plan, che d.n.c. doesn't think it's secure enough w makes sense after 2016, but there's a real there, if you have to work is the iowa caucus process representative? are they going to be able ton is sort of short amount of time left, figure out a way to ke it secure engh so people can figure out other ways to participate? they sayhey're committed to looking into that but i'm not sure there's enough time to figure it out. >> the time is the problem. presidential campaigns e built around strategies of turnout and especially at a caucus, how do you -- each candidate will have so of -- try toetermine for themselves what is their best,

you know, path to winning by turning out certain groups, certain amounts of people, baback obama, when he was there, tried to vastly expand the number of people who actually turned out to the caucus. but you know, to the extend that the processd is scramblefor a long period of time so the campaigns don't really know what'she universef people that they're likely to be working with, that's goi to make it difficult for all the campaigns to figure out. >> if thure standard is iowa, inclusive, we can ansesr the on, no, it's not anymore than new hampshire. is if you start havi ts discussion you can't go very far down it. there's no justification for unrepresentative small states t have theirutsized roleexcept that they're very intimate, except that an effort by a particular candidacy that otherwise wouldn't get noticed can somehow penetrate in small statt. i thinkes puts the whole logic mind these states in a harsh light. robert: inside the white house, when they look at vice president

biden struggling a bit this week as he respeined to "waon post" report about how hoe he told a war story in ihi encounter .th d ferent military personnel they see senator warren rise, what's on their radar? vivian: it's all on their radar elizabeth warren and bernie sanders are on their radar, a couple of othp up but for the most part they're not too worried about them. wh the house bieves it's too early. but they're watching and collecting a.m. moe with every gapee that h an every internal dispute thatut happens between the demrats. robert: vice sat down with senator sanders. what about senror sans? is he in the race? shawna: he is in this race. we were in kentucker and we in pennsylvania, he had a big crowd in chi he got his first union endsement in pennsylvania and pittsburgh.

sort of joe biden's scrann backyard. but the interesting thing is elizabeth landers, our correspondent, pushed him on the idea of how do y dhaou dim yourself from elizabeth w wren. he refused to really, o, go after elizabeth warren which i kind of understand, butea ry give us a clear answer of how he's different. at a certain point he t tned it baba on our correspiddent and ey, that's a media question. no one is asking that eople have asked him that, people in public have asked him that, other than theedia. we'll see if next week's debate that point, at se point he'll have to say why his plans are different than hers andha can he articulate that makes him better than her. it may be a all eyes are on what he does between elizabeth warren and bernie sanders but at some point who are you in comparison. aboutetimes it's not just what you do as a candidate but taw the map changes.

georgia, a real for 20. stacey abrams, the former state minority leader,heayson't n forenate but georgia, the atlanta suburbs, perhapsa competitive battleground. >> i think part of that is rereflection of the knoll low-on effects of the 2016 campaign whic scrambled the map in a lot of ways. upended the traditional thinking about that. but it's also a changing demographics in the country. when i started as a young repfot the virginia, for example, 20, 25 years ago, soit was a dly -- a solidly red constituent where democrats didn't think ofomting. used to call it a purple s ste, i think maybe it's solidly blue in some ways, depending onme th think these things do change. one of the tests for both politicalarties is whether they can adapt by finding candidates to run. stacey abms a big that she isn't goi run.emocrara can you find the candidates to

run? can yol mount success campaigns in a state you don't have a lot of experience? shawna the trump campaign is keeping an eye on thd beefing up their game in states that are purrtple. ro which states are they looking at? shawna:at wisconsin is a big on you guys help me out. robert: aan congres from wisconsin is retiring. shawna: te trump campaign is pouring money and resources into those states. robert: what about senator gillibrand's exit from the case? is this just the first as it becomes harder and harder to makeh te debate stage?eb john: sure. the good news is we only havde onte.te michael: it's welcome in terms of coverage for reporters. john: certainlyor us. ere's grbling aumut te d.n.c. rules that are somewhat arbitrary. ultimately, voters can't decide

among 20 people the race has to narrow. so i welcome it. but it is gng to -- one debate, it's going to be or three hours. it'll be like watching the jerry lewis telethon. we're finalal seeing so fluidity. look bacac we haven't seen that much fluidity. a lot has happened, but not a lot has changed as summero turns fall, the structure of the race is changing. shawna: think ime ways the idea that the debate rule were not explained well enough, ey're not fair, the thing is, there had toe some kind of rules. there were lot of candidates. ome d.n.c., i remember interviewing sne at the d.n.c. earlier this year,he said they were trying to be transparent. i ask who their list o of candidates was that were running and theyouldn't give me that because they didn't want to seem like they were putting a thumb on the scales. if you can't get 2% and can't

get a certain amount of donors -- you're not competing. john: the magic thing about democracy in thi country, you can't plan it out. set up a process that they hope will come forward with a certain number of candidate. you end up with steve bulck off, arewang on and that's the way democracy works. robert: that's the way democracy works and that's allan for tonight. thanks everybody for being here on a friy night. on the "washgton week" extra, weal discuss climate chan and the implications for the amazon. watch it on the website, facebook, or youtube. have a eat labor day weekend. ♪

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-so the wait is over and the weight is very much about to go on. put yournies on, grease those tins, put on your comfortable baking mules in honor of a batch of brand-new home bakers. -mary berry's been sharpening her knives and paul hollywood has very mus been sharpening ir quiff with the aid of some cow gum and whale grease, and they're about to bunleashe. -this year, over 10,000 people applied, hoping to reach the tent. ak -it's a bit like wing up on christmas day, sort of excitement, and then coupled with, inpotentially, that i was to have to do an exam. -and now 13 of the best home bakers from across the country have finally made it. -i hope i just don't get too fazed by things and remember that this is something -over thxt 10 weeks, all of their baking skills will be put to the test. -i don't want to be the guy that everyone