robert: a standoff over eexecutive power andhe of law. >> i'm not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody.ro bert: the attorney general en asserts his idence following a cris of confidence at the justice department. but the president insists he has aig legal to interne and pursues a vendetta. >> where's comey? where's mccabe? robert: we dig into the showdown. on this critical and the latest in the democratil presidenti race as it heads west and south, next. ♪ announcer: this iswashington week."

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differences in our communities. the corporation for public b broadcasting a contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again from washington, robert: good evening. . senate, a confiden vengefulthe president is testing the limits of executive power. but president trump's efforts to protect his friends and punish his foes has sparked a firestorm at the fire department prompting resignations and forcing the attorney general to answer questions. egan on monday when prosecutors inoghe r stone case recommended that the long-time trump advisor receive a 7 to 9-year prison sentence only charges of obstruction of charges and witness tampering. the next day the president denounced the move. and the d.o.j. announced a

softer recommendation leading four prosecutors to quit the case and one left the governmene en. democrats were outraged and republicans were mostly muted. >> this is an abuse of power that the president is trying to manipulate federal law enforcement to sve his political interest. and the president is what he is. he thinks he's above the law. but where are the republicans to speak out on thi blatant violation on the rule of law? >> the president madeat a g choice when he picked bill barr i think the pre should listen to his advise. robert: attorney general william barr decided to speak to abc news's pierre thomas onsd th. he said he planned to modify the sentencing before the president tweeted. barr then told the president to step off. >> whether it'ss, congr newspaper, editorial board or the president, i'm going to do what i think is right.

i cannodo mjob here at the department with aan con background commentary that undercuts me. robert:y friday, a new develoent has further ndallenged the bond between the attorney general the president, the justice partment will not bring chars againstme forr actin f.b.i. director andrew mccabe for lying to investigators about a media disclosure. joining us tonight, molly ball, national polital correspondent for "time" magazine. josh dawsey, white house reporter for "the washington post." josh lederman, national politica reporter for nbc news, and amna nawaz, senior national correspondt for the pbs newshour. let's begin with the president. josh, you'v been publishing all day about andrew mccabe a the sident. what's the latest? what's the president's response? >> well, theresident has a deep vitriol for andrew mccabe. he believes that h wife worked for hillary clinton and he was

one of the officials out to get him. some of this is disputed. but anyway, the president wanted andrew mccabe to be charged. todhen d.o.j. said that andrew mccabe would not be charged, th president did not get a heads up and his lawyer me in t explain to what was happening. and the president and barr spoke this afternoon. there's been a days between the president and a.g. barr. anee it'sinteresting because barr is his favorite cabinetber. he handled the mueller probe. 's repeated dwhaun t president has wanted. this is the first tangible riff that we'vseen between theseen two robert: you just said that president trump spokeith the attorney gideral today on ay. what do you know about that conversation? >> we're still tryg to figure out all the details. what we know is that attorney general barr has been trying to communicate with the president, please stop tweeting.

please stop making these public comments about d.o.j. probes. these comments are not help to feel you, they're not helpful to me. can you please step down? we know that he wanted mccabe we know he wanted james comey charged. we know there's been a number of disagreements between these two men. and that barr hasried to get some distance from the president. rt: you've been talking to former federal prosecutors all week on the newshour. what does your reporting tell you that how former officials at the d.o.j. are interpreting all that? do they see the attorney generai recl the institution and reclaiming it? >> first of all, it's worth ting how extraordinary it is that a.g. barr had to go on this message that josh was talking about and trying tod deliver ble scenes.

we know they're very, very close. the fact that he had to go to that ext smew where is the relationship is. but we know that there was a fallout. he was always trying to contain. he stepped over the line's prosecutor recommendation on roger stone's senteame. he in and said that's too excessive. we have no idea where that's going land that upset a lot of ople. rank-and-file prosecutors within the d.o.j. even though it's totally legal and within his power and pertrew do so, it is totally unusual. it's very, very rare that that kindf thing happens. and for a lot of line prosecutors that uermines their ability to move forward for similar cases. why wou you stick your neck out there? it sent a huge signool a.g. barr that he had to do somet hng. and h to publicly go out and make that statement. robert: what's your read as a reporter own the attorney general? he is at one level sending these

messages to the president. but it was still reported this week that appointed an outside prosecutor to look into the flynn case, forme national security advisor michael flynn and wther that was done appropriately. and the sentencing with roger stone. where is he with this president? >> he has as josh and amna said, he's had a very strong relationship with the presidente been trying to walk this fine line, tight rope that may noctlly exist between being the president's personal lawyer which is what he wants from his attoeneral, and it leaves maintaining a big leaf of respectbility -- and he is a true believer of executi power. he's given a lot of speeches to this effect. he does think that the president can do almost whatever he wants. an he has justified a lot o actions of the president's on that basis. but he doesn't see himself as a mignon. he doesn't see mississippi himself as doing the president's

bidding. so when the president is outn public doing things like these tweets, it undermines not onl you know, barr's credibility in say, you know, i'm acting on the basis of the law. i'mot acting on the president's whims. it makes it much harder for him to have credibility when he says that. when he does this -- sends tblh signal that's an extreme step to take when the private signals weren't being heeded. but for these line prosecutor who aretu ded by the president's behavior, it's simply a rtorical move. he hasn't done anything to contain trump. and he didn't do anything with regard to thisase when the prosecutor's resigned it to. white house on the mueller the investigation and you see the esident frustrated about the mabe decision. post acquittal? this president is he still going to go in an avengeful way from his foes from

the president bush yeah probe? is he going ask for action? >> all indications are yes, becauseook,his isn taking place in a vacuum. this has been part of a flurry of activities since the president's acquittal tt has suggested he's out for he dismissed vindman and sondland. the president seems to be emboldened by the fact that there weren't any real repercussions to the act tns that hk in ukraine. and one of the challenges for his critics is there's not a lot of remedy left. there's very little appetite among democrats in congress to re-impeach him. there's a concernra that dem are out to get the president as opposed to pursuing things that really nd be looked at. and barring that what, are democrats supposed to do? >> josh, you heard no probably frustrations from republicans. i talked to senator kramer who said he agreed with all these

he thought the president was right to tweet about roger stone.o talkedeople close to mitch mcconnell. he has no desire to get involved. mccarthy has no desire to get involved. he has a republican party that he has a 90%n approval o and has a total grip across the country. there are few people that are trying to harness them in. and what are democrats going to do outside the election and eycampaigning? e tried for the impeachment and the mueller report. they're handsre a bit tied too. it's a spot where the first three, three and a half yeas of presidency, in some ways he's in the strongest positn yet to do as h wants, to run the white house as he wants. this year we saw he brought back hopecks and fired a whole number of people in there. i mean, he now is running this in some ways like trump tower. all the peoplwho >> trying to rein him in aren't

there anymore. >> he's getting the band back together. that's clear. for the last final months of his term that's clear. you have to remember how absolutely vid he was when jeff ions recused himself from that investigation, and special interference because he feels that grew from that. th led to flynn's indictment and stone's indictment and to the impeachment trial. all of this has been building for the president up until point. robert: he's always asked, where's my roy cone? and at this point, do you see theey attoreneral maybe being forced at some point to resign or step away? is it a breaking point or not? because at some level you see the dur investigation of how the c.i.a. a the russia investigation and other issues still working its way through partment of justice.

>> there are few categories of people who publicly disagree with the president on the republican side. demoats yes, they're political partisans. but you people have left the administration and feel comfortable speaking out once they're out ohis per viewnd out of his power and there are some people who are out of his president relies on them that they can publicly disagree with him on the -- a few things. william barr is in that category of people. there are certain things that ht believ be true about the rule of law. we don't ne where that's going to go. robert: molly, you're writing a biraphy of speaker pelosi. it's a great looking book. she's been through the impeachment process. she is going bring up attorney geral barr to the house judiciary committee. t he willtify. but what now for the house democrats? >> pelosi resisted impeachment

in part for this reas it was clear f had thoroughly -d that impeachment was n going to bear anygi te result and, indeed, might only embolden this president. and that is exactly what has happened. and i think to someone like speaker pelosi who is an institutionalist, who cares very deeply aboutit the conion is that not only is this a problem for holding this particular president accountable because it's been proven that any remede is too. but it's a challenge to the constitution and the rule of law its as he sees it because thent only accility measure in the constitution now just doesn't work if thesa par doesn't line up. wlibe about roger stone's cashe now demanding a new trial because of concerns about the jury. >> there are several people are close to the president who are all under some type of legal situation where the president seems to want attorney general barr to intervene.

again, we have these developments with roger stone at the exact time that we've got these developments with michael flynn. a realss eagery attorney general barr to take ay- hended approach to how those cases play out. as long as it doesn seem like the president wasn't ordering -- robert: before or after the election? >> i think he will see advantages until after the election. >> the president has repeatedly criticized these cases against michael flynn, roger stone and he hasn't done anything about it. a lot of his, kind of -- >> he's tweeted about it. >> but not done anything about it. if you're paul manafort and you're in solitary confinement -- >> a pardon is on the table? >> well, the president has made a lot of talk about the cases

but he hasn't done much legally for the cases. after thelecti the dynamic has changed politically. there will be a lot of people who say do not pardon these guys. it could nobbling your pol numbers. -- knock your poll numbers. once the election is over things change entirely. >> all that is playing out as thera demc presidential race enters a new race. pete buttigieg finished close blind him followed by klobachar and elizabeth warren and joe biden >> this victory here is the beginning of the endor donald trump. >> vulnerable americans do not have they luxur of pursuing ideological purity. >> hello, america, i amy klobachar, and i wl beat donald trump. we have beaten the odds ethry step o way.

>> former new york may you, michael bloomberg loo. and he is making overcares to afamerican voters. >> i think we're going to do very well in the african-american community. they need good economy. they need better schools. and those are the kinds of things that i can bring -- >> josh, you've been on the campaign trail with mayor bloomberg all week. can he get over his stop and frisk policy from new york and win over african-american voters inside south carolina and in super tuesday states early in march? >> was stunno see the number of african-american voters that showed up at hisents thi w week aswere with him andth s tennessee and north carolina. i asked them is this sething that bothers you and they said no, there's an l elemene joe biden where they know mike bloomberg because he's been on the state for so long. they say things like i know where his heart is.

but mike bombe is a double-edged sword. the same elements that make him appealing because it looks like he might be able to people off some of his voters, go get the progressive firebrand to push their cause. in the sameart of him that is sort of a technocrat and statistics inform your policy make him a successfu appealing as a businessman. and mayor, he's said a lot of thgsn his career that are numerically accurate but are f-come lor and rub people the wrong way. >> and mayor bloomberg is not only the only people facing his criticism of his policy. >> iowa and new hampshire are

very different. >> 90% white. >> and for all the support we're seeing nationally -- like, you look at the african-american vote iht particular, r and no democratic nominee has won the nomination withoutg winne majority of that vote. it just doesn't happen. everybody's been looking at joe biden but when your whole ssage is electbility and you come in fourth and fifth, you start to lose ground. and we've seen it. so far in south carolina tomer voters. up some of those >> is he spending a lot of money? >> he's spending the money and pick up on the people have doubts on biden in the samel national pere biden's support has been dropping, bloomberg has been stepping up. so it's still a very fluid race. >> i was down in south carolina running a story about joed iden. s campaign sees it as a fire wall.

has to bring african-american voters out. a lot of folks think he still can. he says if he liked himself today biden wins. but steve benjamin the mayor of lombia, if your heart is collectibility, voters are going to be taking other looks at differenteople. others are women him right now. the question is if they see momentum fading what do they do. >> >> can he stitch together a coalition especially asenator elizabeth warren struggles on the left. >> he won new hampshire and he very nearly won the popular vote in iowa. from his perspective, he ought to be the overwhelming front running.

however, i think you -- there's a loft caveats around that from the so-called democratic establishment. robert: is there a democratic establish anymore? >> absolutely, tre is. absolutely, there is. and they are fearful thatere sanders are not electable. that's why people are flocking to them because they so desperately just want to be trump. they're willing to forgive almost everything else. >> it's true of a lot o the nonbernie supporters and s this faction of the democratic party the ort of mainstream of democratic party is saying, you know, just because he was ablei to in a fractured fweeled 25% of the vote does not show that he can behe standard bearer. it's goi do be his challenge to if he can consolidate this.

>> i remember when you said that pete buttigieg's campaign a year ago -- a narrow second place finish in name. how is heal capzing. as he looks to not only south carolina but super tuesday. er he started to ramp up his operations and oarts of the country. have staff in every state that is competing on super tuesday. rort: what's the message though? >> the message is that hioe's coal builder. someone that can bring people together and that some of these other candidates start to drop off he will start to consolidate some of the support from these otheroderate candidates. but one of the things we heard over and over again as we'reto talkinhem around the country, is that, you know, in washington we talk about the progressive lane and the moderate lane. and they're thinking of it that way. >> my second choice is bute -- buttigieg.

it's difficult torect how that will play out as the field gets smaller and smaller and smaller. robert: you've seen minority candidates struggle. but senator klobachar comes out of nowhere andinhes a strong third in new hampshire can. she capitalize on tt quickly enough to actually make a dement this case and be a contender. >> you know, we've seen her kind of step up to seize the moment. she sees she has momentum. what is that message to people. >> it's that message that this is what makes sense,umerica. on't have to go all the way someone who will speak that have voted for obama and went to trum in 1969. you had a mid weatherness do well. : wl or nartes for four. it's not polling as well as

others. but she's got momentum at her side. and thatat this point in the race that means lot. >> y think about the a loons. you we seene theets between the mayor and him. how d they see bloom werg? >> people around trump are money. of his people are divide on whether -- bloomberg couldbe actuall trump or not. he could be a king maker of sorts in the party. he could shave percent damage points. he could be a realm factor in the race. some folkshe including bloomberg. doe totally. >> but the white house loves watching bernie sanders as a frontrunner. the people that i talked to around trump wouldove to go against bernie sanders. >> they love that matchup. they're clamoring f a convention. if they're very happy with what they're seeing.al >> f thing, molly.

real quick. you used to report from. democratic lat voters in that state. what's the -- >> i think it is absolutely for grabs. this is a state that has follownd seen polls in nevada voting after the first two days. the candidates are on the ground. and it's all up in the air i think. >> they have anti-endorse bernie sanders. they haven't choiceen a candidate. >> we have to leave it there for now, but stay with us for the "washington week" tr we will continue this conversation about the race. you can find it on our seerble media accounts and our website. thank youor spending your valentine's evening with us. nothing more romantic, right? right? anyway. i'm robert costa, have a good night. ♪

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