robert: president trump purges his ranks and exerts his power. president trump: we're draining the swamp. i just never knew how deep the swamp was. robert: the intelligence community is rocked ashe president installs lalists. andti the jusce department faces newressure as pardons are issued. president trump: i'm actually the chief law enforcement officer of the country. robert: and looms -- president trump: roger has a very goo chance of exoneration. obe: and in las vegas, the gloves comes as mayor bloomberg tes the sta and senator sanders rises. >> the b known socialist in the country happens to be ae millionaith three houses.

robert: next. ♪ announcer: ts is "washington week." funding is provided by -- >> befk re we tout your investments -- >> what's new? >> well, atirey's exp. >> twins. >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside fo them. so change in plans. ♪ adjust. , let's see what we >> we'd be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell thes >> let me guess change in plans? >> at fidelity, a change in plans is always part o a plan. aughter] ♪ announcer: additional funding is provided by -- the estate of arnold adams, and koo and

patricia yuen through the yuen i foundation, ced to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station fromiewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator, rober costa. robert: good evening. we begin tonight with this week's evexplo developments as president trump overhauls his national security team and clashes with his own officials. the "new york times" reported on weeks after acquittal in thejust senate remains furious and still intelligence community "assessment of russia's 2016 interference is the work of a deem state conspiracy, intent on ndermining the validity of his election." and when mr. trump heard that intelligence officials heard that russia was interfering in

the 2020 campaign to try get him re-elected, heos beredh mcguire the outgoing telligence officer for allowing the meeting to take place andumed that the democrats would use it ainst him. the presidentes ar is the driving force between a flurry of moves that up eed this administration including tapping a loyalist richard grenell to replace mr. mcguire. this all comes amid other pressions of executive power from the president urging the ttorney general to clean hou to his issuing of a number of pardons. and joining us tonight, is elisabeth bumiller, assistant bureau chief for the "new york times." shannon pettypiece, senior white house reporter for nbc news digital, jonathan swa national politil reporter for axios. and joining us from new york is michael schmidt, washington correspondent for the "new york times." michael, we'll begin with you. this purge inside the

intelligence apparatus and the administration based on your reportg, what is going on? and what's next? michae well, the president is obviously very upset about anything that ties the upcoming election and russia's help to him. t this is a story that we've seen before, a story that date back to 2016. some reporting in this area that i'veeen d i'veeard myself is that trying to get their hands around election meddling and preventing tha is extmely difficult. and what it usually requires is he person at the top, the president and his national security aisor to use their power to make sure things are enrking across the gover to make sure that foreign countries know that they're paying cloon atten to this issue. and what folks in the government see when this happens, when the president does things likehis is they worry that they will not be prepared for what may beng coecause there's no one at

the top of the government who is using every power that they have to stop this. and it's a complex oblem. it's something that can involve hacking. it can involve sial media. it can involve context. and we're starting to see the beginnings of it. obviously, with the wiefings thk, the briefing on capitol hill and learning that the sanders campaign received. robert: what was that? that bernie sanders was briefed that the russians were interfering to help him? michael: correct. ananders having a very forcibly coming out to say that this is not something that he wants help from. and all should be done to try and prevent it. a very different posture than the president who still would not even acknowledge that in 2016 the russians helped to get him elected. robert: elisabeth, this is happening inside the department of national intelligence.

at the same time there's an upheaval across this administration. what can you share about what the "new york times" has learned about what's happening at the pentagon and other agencies? elisabeth: basically trump is going after what he perceives are his enemies in the deepat across the national security apparatus. for example, the number three at thas pentagon let go this week, a very important position policy planning. ere's an uproar at the state department, a -- the numberwo the state department who was sent in as a cssic gardet varepublican from an earlier era. the question is whether he can quell a similar revolt at the state department. there's an uproar about trump's tweets and whether or not barr department of justice or whether he's protectingru. at the director of national intel chens where g ricknell just started yesterday, the number two has been fired there and let go. o i'm o agencies. let's see.

the -- robert: there's a story on -1, and a-7. elisabeth: interestingly enough, trump who denounced this information thathe russians getting him help in 2 0, he sees this as enemies everywhere. he feels from his point of view that the mueller report is over. impeachment isver. and he thought he had put to rest this idea that the russians had helped him get him elected in 2016. but now, it's coming back again. robert: jonathan, yo painted a portrait of the president havins fingerprint on this including installing johnny mcatee. who is he anoewhy this matter? a jonathan: he former college quarterback w workedn the trump campaign, was his body man.

and was fired by the former chief of staff john kelly for -- it's unclear exactly what. but security clearance problems. was brought back in. jared kushnerayed a role in that trump put him back in. he's elvated to run the presidential he's given johnny a pretty clear brief. hhe wanted to get rid of the quote/unquote bad people. he's fed up with it. and he wants it done quickly. so on thursday evening, this week thursday afternoon, johnny macantee summoned white house ns leian he sat them down. it was an introductory meeting. he said, we need k tow who the never trumpers are. them. oing to stop pro we're going to stop letting them move across agents sis.

heoreshadowed sweeping changes across the government. some might have to wait until after the election. but the clear message is we need to know who these people are. we need lists of names and we need to deal with this pblem. robert: as this purge unfolds, shannon, is the president or any of his top advisors gettingba push from democrats or republicans? shannon: his allies are encouraging him. he's getting a resounding applause. where this began with the firing of lieutenant colonel vindman. a lot of people's jaw dropped to see a key witness of the investigation escorted outside the white house. but his advisors are applaudg him. there's a feeling that his -- these people will pull back the curtain on thehi decent w this administration and that now that impeachment has past them

like within 24 hours of impeachment bei past them, it was time to stamp out the snakes, to go after the deep state. and really the paranoia that we saw in the fst year about decenting force being around him, his still here three years later. that's what seems to be amazihi about it's like we're back in year one. jonathan: to be clear, these are people trump hired. johnny macantee has no way to appoint these. her appointed oe objections of people at the p.p.o. but trum is convinced that these agencies are populated by people that he hired who are deep state. a robert: mik thoughts on what you just heard from the table about what your notebook has on theresident's motivations and his next steps? michael: i guess i'm struck by the fact that it's a news story but it's not really news stor it's the same things that he's

been complaining about since before hntcame office. it's these sam accusations that the governments time-out get him. now, he's at the o topf the government and still claiming that people within it are trying to hurt him. what i wonder is how this will translate into his re-election. he did a verye effectb in 2016 in running against washington. and could he awge, again, after four years as president of running against washington again and running against the executive branch a the people it who he says he needs to continue to get rid of? i don't know. but it seems like a familiar theme. >> it's a little different this time. this seems like a vendetta. this is getting his emies. it different. it's not justunning against the bureaucracyhat's t big and bloated. this is running against people who are just loyal. it's something we actually haven't seen in a long, long

time. robert: this week, president trump flexed his power over the justice department, issuing pardons to white collar criminals, former governor rod blagojevich. and other pardon looms for roger stone the president's long-time political advisor. stone was convicts convict of lying to congress and witness tanering. and oy, stone was ntenced to just over three years in prison, much lighter than the seven to nine years originally are posed. the judge in the case, amy berplan jackson said "stone was not prosecuted for standing up for the president. he was procuted for covering up for the president." and she went on to say "the uth still exists and the truth still matters." jonathan, based on your reporting, where is william barr in terms of his relationship to president trump? is he on his way out the door or

not? o nathan: i spokemeone who knows him very well. and they do not get the sense he's on w the out the door. but perhaps the half life has shrunken a little bit. it got pretty tenuous this week. i don't think that was total spin, you know, the idea that he was considering resigning. ti do believe t he was really questioning based on my repoing and the people i spoke to inside the white house and inside the agency. but basically, hs in a situation where he's under so much pressure because trump wants results. and in trump's mind, results is really getting some of these people indicted. i mean, trump was really irritated that andrew mccabe,th former f.b.i. deputy was not, you know, locked up. trump is now putting a whole lot of pressur on the durham report which is the investigation of the origins of the russian. investigat if that report turns out to not be a blockbuster, there's going

to be huge pressure on barr. robert: what's driving the pardons? >> well, in thisch latest b of pardons, iis the recommendations of president trump's friends and allies who have been asking trump to pardon a lot of these individuals. if you thely look at the pardon announcement this week, ron they're all white collar criminals. they a have thatn common. the white house listed people who are gone to the president recommending asking the president to pardon these people. and in a lot of cases those people who askedor the recommendations are trump's biggest donors. sheldon adelson was one of ose. rudy giuliani had advocated for some of these people. you know, president trump ss he has this ability to put his finger on the scale ofce jus as he is frustrated in other areas where he cannot carry out, indictmee does have this ability with the power of the pardon.

robert: mike, y cered judge berman jackson throughout the russia investigation. yo heard her statements. wat's the view inside d.o.j. a the president personally intervenes? michael: well, i think that folks, obviously, asn we've s are very concerned. but there are signs to others that things are not completely out of control. we had the announcement this week that there will not be a prosecution of andrew mccabe, someone the president as jonathan w pointing out desperately wants, you know, to be thrown bind bars for a slew of different things. and th is a line that a lot of folks have looked towards. what happens in terms of precutions, the real enemies. now, we know that some of these folks have been investigated because th president wanted them looked at. but will it ever go beyond that po this week, we didn't see that. but as we've seen before, there are other investittions tha are slooking at leaks and such. and these things, p thesident is counting on and does think

would be a good way at striking back at his enemies. but h baras not crossed that line yet. and i can't believe trump is happy with that. robert: elisabeth will you step back as editor in washing the "new york times," how do you pull these threats together and what doe it all tell you about w the president i testing the presidency? elisabeth: he's gone farther every than any other president in our lifetime in pursuit of, you know, executive power and he's gone overhe line a number of times. but ctainly about pardons, one of the reasons he likes pardons is he can be like a king. conth stop him. the courts can't stop him. -- congress can't stop him. the courts can't stop him that's unfettered power. as shannon says, he calls up his friends and business associates and geltz ideas and does it -- geas and does it within a matter of hours.

what he's doing every day is expanding presideial power to e point where i predict that the next president who is not trump there will be a legislation tryingo curtail executive power the next time around. i don't know how far itill go. but i think he' gone beyond anything i've seen. robert: the the house. control but after impeachment, what are their real options for oversight? elisabeth: well, there will be hearings on the hill. you raise a good questn. and lot -- certainly if trump is reelected. and it's a still a republican senate, i don't -- you know, i think it's more of the same. robert: michael schmidt up in new york. thanks for joining us from the "new york times." i appreciate it. thank you. michael: thanks for having me. robert: let's turn now to 2020 because democrats nationally are grappling with t unsettled presidential fields.

and saturday's caucus could provide som clarity days after michael bloomberg made his debut on the debate stag. in las vegas, bloomberg was under attack from the start. >> the may has to stand on his record. he's gotten a number of wims t sign nondisclosure agreements both for sasexual hent and for gender discrimination in the workplace. so mr. mayor, are you willing to release all of those women from those nondisclosure agreements so we can hear their sides of the story? >> we have a gro test k and immoral distribution of wealth and income. mike bloomberg owns more wealth than the bottom 125 million americans. that's wrong. that's immoral. >> he shouldn't have to choose between one candidate who wants to burn this party down and another candidate who wants to buy this party out. >> i can't think of a ways to make it easier for donald trump

to get reelected than listening to this conversation. j robert:ning us from las vegas where she's been reporting all week is laura barron-lopez national political reporter for politico. thanks for being here. doing other uld be things on a friday night in las vegas. so w appreciate it. what does it tell you thatom michael brg has decided to release women w have disclosure agreements with him to speak up if they do so. >> it shows thats t pressure that started mounting before the debate because warren had asked him t release them slightly from the debate slightly telecasting that she may bring a that up she indeed did speatedly standinge by side with him on that debate stage. added that pressure. joe biden

so it shows that bloomberg is getting more and more scrutiny now that he is considered in the top tier of candidates even though no votes ve bee cast for him simply because he's spding an exorbitant amount of money. and a number of the candidates see him as a threat. bert: you've been doi a lot of reporting. latino voters in that states, the union worker, is senatornd s who is rising in national polls poiseto win there in the caucuses? >> yes. the ground nse o is that sanders is far and away the leading candidate in nevada, and tha he has strong support among latino voter the question is, how many turn out in a caucus because the caucus is far more detailed and taes up a lot mor time than just going to cast your ballot in a typical primary? so it will be important to watch those numbers to see how many

actual turn out and how many turn out for sanders. he has spent -- his campaign says they've spent millions on latino outreach alone in nevada. they're also spending a l in states like california and in the race for second is really the big deal here. who is going to get that slot? and joe biden's campaign is projecting ithat he'll get but i was just talking to a nevada democrat who is well connected who said, not to sleep on pete buttigieg because he appears to be really hitting thi paveme the rural parts of the state. and that could prove potal for him. robert: stay with us, laura. but what aboutat s warren? she took on mayor bloomberg. is it too late for a revival? >> i don't think it's too late for anybody. it will bee too lat in about two weeks. but s certainly could carve out a second lane for herself. but the bernie sanders eco litigation wing, whatever, seems to be really solidifying behind

him. of course, that's so much wherew her support coming from as sanders, they gave warren another look. as we've seen the biden supporters drop off, they've not gone to her. they've gone to bloom berk. i'm not sure -- bloomberg. i'm not sure where she picks up support. i tnk in the last debate, the takeaway i heard from a lot of people that she was more liken attack heat-seeking missile rather than doing any favors for hersf and building herself too but we'll see.ates. anything can happen. he come oomberg, can back from this? >> he's got to have a better rformance in the next debate that's for even his advisors were taken aback of his poor performance. lthough, the money goes a long wa he looks very good in his ads, you know? but there's a difference when he ge on stage.

i think that -- i think he was .etter in the second part of the deba he was more like himself. but when he was askedd shou have made all that money, i think it was a good answer. what was he supposed to say? no, i feel bad about that if you're an ordinary american watching, you think that seems to be the right answer. robert: what's the white house'w f senator sanders? >> they want to run against him. bert: really? >> yeah, they do. some people have the view of b careful what you wish for and i've heard that line in there because it's such a divided country. robert: outsider vs. insider. jonathan: he's got real energy behind him and he can afeel some of the same voters as trump. house, they want to label hite against them as aocialist. joe biden would happen to run, they would call him aci ist. but bernie calls himself a

socialist so it makes it much easier. they want to make it capisit vs. socialism and go to these women in the subyou are bs and go say to that and say you wanto isk it on bernie sanders? house y start to win the on that ticket. >> i thi be careful what you wish for is more so with sanders. like, while they may see his policies as completely toxic and unappealing to most americans, at least that's -- the ump campaign assessmen he ha a likeability factor. he has a loyal base even he has a hearts attack. and those are strthgths. k he is still a little bit of a wild card. he could reshape the map putsing texas in place. robert: fina thoughts, laura?

what's on your to-do list as a reporter? laura: i' be in a caucus sight in the surroundingeaas vegas in henderson. i'm going to be looking forward to see how well this caucus runs. ey're a little bit on edge after iowa. they were planning on using. they're using google forms now on ipads. there have been some concerns about the lack of training on those. nevada democrats have been working around the clock to make sure there are no issues. they have a two-voter verification process. no matter what, they're going to be calculating the vottols t manually. >> laura, we have to leave it there. laura -- can laura hear me? >> to make it more accessible. l ra, we have to leave it there. laura, i really appreciate it. we're going to be following your report. thanks so much for joining us from las vegas. the show goes quick. we will have a special show next

friday, bruary 28th, a super tuesday preview for a full hour. check your local listings. for now, watch our "washington week" extra. thanei to everyone for chre and laura out in las vegas. thank you very m again. i'm robert costa. good night. ♪ announcer: additional funding is provided by -- the estate ofms arnold a and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in oucommunities, the corporation for public broadcasting and by coributions to yur pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> you'ching pbs.

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