scott: the virus spik and the president's poll numbers sink. >> we've been hit badly.d we've now over 120,000 deaths and we've had 2.5 million infections. robert: across the country statrt repoecord highs in coronavirus cases. but the president remains defiant. pushing top ren the economy and rallying his base. president trump: lock them up, yeah. lock them up. a robert as the nation wrestles with its past, the road to police reform remains uncertain. >> the senate wl have a choice to honor george floyd's life or too nothing. >> if you don't allow amendments in the house bill, then you won't accept amendments on the senate bill,

how do we take you serious? robert: next. announcer: this is "wwehington ." coorate funding isrovided by -- >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management a dedicated advisor ainr advice and recommendationso your life. that's fidelity wealth management. ♪ announcer: kser permanente. additional funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation. committed to bridging cultural

differencess. in our communit the corporation for public broadcasting and by contri ytions tor pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again from washington, moderator robert costa. robert: good evening. at week's end,mp president t is confronting a grim reality. the coronavirus pandemic is spreading like wildfire in many states with more than 40,000 new cases on thursdaylo. and spikes in florida, texas, and california. here is what dr. anthony fauci said this week. >> what we're dealing with right now is community spread ubstantial ext of a s proportion of the people who are getting infected. do not know they're infected. they're not symptomat. this is part of a process that we can be either part of the

solution or part of the oblem. if we don't extinguish the outbreak, soone or later, even ones that are doing well are nerable to the spread. robert: but as governors reel from these alarming new numbers, the trump administration has asked the supreme court to strike down president obama's hea care law and it considered ending direct federalunding for 13 testing sites in five states by the end of the month. then on friday, it said it would actually extend funding in texas after an outcry. the president has blamed the rise in cases on expanded testing as he didhursday with sean hannity on fox news. president trump: we cave more s because we do the greatest testing. if we didn't do testing we would have no cases. other countries, they don't test millions. so up tolmo 30 million tests. robert: joining us tonight are r

four repoready to open their notebooks. abby phillip, political corresndent for cnn. kasie hunt, capitol hill correspondent for nbc news and host ofkasie dc" on msnbc. dan balz, the chief corresponde washington post. and jonathan lemire, white house reporter for the associated press. good friday evening to all of you. appreciate you being here. abby, let's start with you. you look at these governors, many of them republican, facing a crisis in their states as these case numbers soar, what's the significance of these trump allies now having problems? >> well, these are the very same people who just a fewhs mogo were so eager to open their states back up that ey were among the first to do it. and now they're realizing that there are real consequences

doing it too quickly ando t doing it not in conjunction with clear public health messagg about what people should do. so when you see it places like florida starting to realize that they have a potentially uncontrollable outbreak on their hands, that is a real warning sign. because these were the folweks wh the most ardent backers of the administration pushing for reopening they are suddenly in texas in particular starting to close their states up again. this does no bode well for this administration that seems to want to pretend like these outbreaks are not happening and that they're not significant. real.re and even the president's allies e starting to realize it and having to respd to it. robert: jonathan, can you build on abby's repheortingre? the task force that met on friday, dr. fauci sounding the alarm and vice president pence touting the administration's response, what's the story inside the west wing? >> well, this was the first coronavirus briefing they' had in a number of weeks.

vice president pence in front of the cameras asked americans three times to pray. americans to don masks which of course health experts believe is so crucial to stopping the slowing and stopping the spread of this virus. behindbo the scenes, this is a president who wants to forge forward and talking about the virus en in the past tense. touting success of the testing program, exaggerating the success of the testing program and so eager to restart thena on's economy believing that's his really only best chance to win re-election this november. he's forging forward, even plunging into the hotspots. i was with him on tuesday when he went to arizona. he touted the -- visited the border wall and touting the accomplishment as a signal to consertive base. but then also held a rally, a rally of sorts and a packed megachurch in texas that event, no social dist:cing. robeight. >> no temperature checks. and it's one while the

president fed off that crowd, there are some around him that worry, arizona a. state wherire theus is surging, that could have even been a super spreader event in itself. robert: kasie, when you're up on capitol hill you cer dr. fauci's testimony this week. are there republican cracks? we saw senatorre corand senator cruz of texas push back against the administration's position onting. what else are you hearing? >> wel, bob, i do think that this is a scenario where th politics of the senate aren't necessarily the same as they have been on so many issues over the past several years because so many members of conreess seeing flair constituents suffering. they are seeg hospitals, health care providers in their states, in their home districts grappling with the intensity of this crisis. and that's the first foremost and most important reality that

they hav tanswer to. d while as jonathan lemire pointed outou the white has sensedsome serious mixed what you're hearfrom at's not members of the republican senate. marco rubio was very direct in saying everyone should put on a mask aeady. and you're seeing them do it themselves for the most part in the halls of congress. so this is somethi that i think republicans are really feeling the pressure on. and it going to contribute to how they feel about their own re-election chances coming up in the fall as people are grappling with this pandemic, every person engaged in the election or not is having to deal with this in their own personal lives. and if they're not happy with how people in power and right now republics hold thehite house and the republican senate, are doing and grappling with this crisis, tgy're goin to be unhappy and potentially te for change. and i think you're real seeing an across-the-board reaction to that in a way you

have not seenepublicans react to other issues over the past years of the trump administration. robert: yet, dan, when you look at the republicans, they're still standing by hm in the polls. and they seem to applaud when he goes after the affordable care act. aresident obama's health law. when you look at the trump demicks taking tkit move, that move this week, do you see a white house, an adminiration trying hold republicans together? what's the political explanation for that fight? >> i think the only poliextical anation, bob, is that it does play to the robert -- republican base. getting rid of the affordable care act has been an article of faith among republicans evers since ssed by the obama administration. and i think they would dearly like to do that. but the politics of it, the timing of it probably couldn't be worse. know that the affordable care act was unpopular for a number of years.he that's notase today. people have a much higher opinion of it than they once did. and at this moment, in the

middle of a pandemic, the idea of completely upending the health care system by getti is something that will make many, many americans nervous. so i think both in terms of the pure politics of and the timing it, it seems terkwribly d on the administration's part to do this. robert but abby, you look at b vice presideen and the presumptive democratic nominee, he's itching to have this fiong ealth care. so speaker pelosi, let's dig a little bit deep noor this campaign issue and the latest polls because they do hover over everything. the president is looking at tough numbers. cording to a "new york times" siena college poll former vice president joe biden is leading in six battleground states that president trump won in 2016. another times siena poll showed den ahead of the president by 14 points nationally and showed trump losing ground with his base of white voters. the president's response is pretty much been going back to his 20 playbook from touting the border wall alongside em

jonathane in arizona this week, two accusing former esident obama of treason. abby, back to biden. how does his campaign see all this? these polling numbers about the race? are they looking at a landslide? >> well, you know, i don't think you can find a democrat in the country that would sit here and look at polls in jun and say this is going to be -- o it's goine easy for the nominee come november. democrats are so beyond nervous, the biden campaign is no exception. but they do undstand that the polls are showing something very real which is that the president is not increasing his support at all. in fact, his support is dropping a likeock in response to dual crises, the coronavirusem pand and his handling of racial tensions. it's why you'veeen the president go back to his base message, that's why you see him and his mpaign putti out new ads aimed at trying to

depress support for joe biden, especially among black voters. den , i mean, the bi campaign is keenly aware this is not going to be easy. this is an incumbent president. but they ao understand that president trump, they believe, is his own worst enemy. many of these wounds the president is experiencing are of his own making. so that's why you don't see joe biden trying to go out of his way to create moments that don't necessarily need to be there. they're giving their speeches. but they are avoiding press conferences and they are being very, very careful here. because ey understand that what's going on here is president trump is himself creati a hole that might be very, very difficult for him to get out of come november. robert: jonathan, what is the white house's plan to restopond these polling numbers? i was reading "the wall street journal" editorial page. and they tooka him on ty saying, quote, as of now, mr. trump has noer secondagenda or even a message beyond four more years of himself.

i know the president is notin to new jersey this weekend. he may meet with aides to talk about his campaign. what's next domain zph >> i believe the editorial said if president trump was looking for a nickname for joe biden it shouldn't be sleepy joe but to continue this way. my colleagues in the associated press addressed this topic today with ourews story with the president's campaign for a theory of the case. they recognize right now that there aren many votrs undecided about president trump and may not that many they can persuade and win back. they believe and we can take exceptions with it but they believe about 40% of the president.ill likethe ey think his approval number has been relatively stable throughout his 3 1/2 years. their goal to turn out that 40% as high as possible. even though -- and believe that the 60% that supports joe biden may not turn out as high. because they think that the portion at supports the president, even though it's a smaller number, is more enthusiastic about it. they're diehards and come out

for him. hence a the base plays this week about the border, about co ederate monuments, about obamacare. the support for joe biden, though, seems wider, seems a little more tepid. the enthusiasm numbers aren't quite as high. but what the campaign is now worried about are they seeing some of those enthusasm numbor joe biden start to pick up? amid the protests of the last week? amid further worries about the president's handling of the coronavirus pandemic? which is why you're seeing the president's team try so desperately to drive biden's negatifs down. parthy they won in 2016 of course is because hillary negatives, too. high just like trump d biden's aren't nearly as high which is why the president and his team are trying to drag biden down. they don't think they can bring much. mp's number all that robert: dan, you study these polls. any time the post has a storyt ab poll and usually on the front page writing about it. what are you learning whenou study these latest numbers when you see h having soft support, with evangelicals and

white voters? >> bob, i think -- you know, as we know, you can't predict the outcomeis of lection at this smoment. but if you look at these polls, thpresident is in a terrible position. over the last couple of days about these polls. one a republican, and one a democrat. anboth of them used the same expreson, unprompted, which is trump fatigue. one of them said to me if you look at these poll numbers, his ballot number, the number of -- the percentage of people who say ty're ready toote for him is actually below his approval ratinai and i well, you would assume in normal times the president will get at least his approval rating in terms of the vote in november. and this person said i am not convinced of that. think that te are a lot of voters who have just kind of had it with the trump era. this was a republican who said that to me. and a democrat had a similar view. now, you know, there will come

a time or the summer when vice president biden will be as the expression goes in the barrel. he will face some adversit you don't go through campaigns ke this without having to do that. but right now, i think the biden campaign feels that the attacks thahe president has leveled against him and that the campaign has is leveling against himre not having that much effect. and they look at the defection among groups that have suppted not j president trump but other republicans in the past, and they s that that puts biden in a stronger position at this point than llary clinton w four years ago. so i think that this is a long, slowoad back for the president. this is not something that he can do by simply flipping a atitch and that the elect will begin to turn around. he's going to have to do something thats difcult for him which is to have a consistent and discipline message and campaign operation. robert: kasie, i know ar republican uneasy when

they look at these numbers. i was talking to a republican senator the other day. and what's your strategy? anhe said avoid kasie hunt in the hallway so she doesn't ask me a tough president trump. but kasie, what about the democrats? e coming back to whatre talking about with abby they had big primaries this week. eliot engel could be to track ose in a new york democratic house primary, a committee chairman,oreign affairs committee in the house. a tight senate race on the e democratic s in kentucky. in your notebook wh are the lessons learned from this week's primaries? >> bob, i think that the top so line l here for any politician in power, and we saw the republicans go through this a little bit more recently and democrats have been grappling with a difrent version of it in recent years, is that complacency is absolutely a killer if you are in power. and rht now, we are seeing frankly our government and the blame for this is falling at

president trump's feet for obvious reasons. but also any elected officialo seen as disconnected from either their voters directly or from the times or from the issues that people care about rit now is at risk. and for democrats, you have seen more progressive candidates take strides here in these primary ele yctions. an've flick seen some candides who perhaps had establishmen backing. were part of the establishnt who many thought would easily cruise to victory. d that assumption by itself is proving to be damaging in ti thess. and i think in particular, you've seen candidatesf color in a couple of important instances really rise on the moment that we are experiencing as a nation. people are saying yes, i want someone who isut in th streets, who is protesting with me, who understand the pn that i a feeling and is willing to demonstrate that.

so i think tha rslly an portant force. and anybody who is running for re-election nt this poi underestimates it at their own peril. robert: that included the president's -- >> bob -- robert: do you want to jump in, abby? >> yeah. just quickly. i think that -- that's exactly and we've also seen in right. this past week, fueled by thee protests, actually, that have been out in the streets, is voter registratiois up. people are voting in realhily numbers, historic numbers for some of these primaries. that's a trend that iexpect to oming november. and it's one of the reasons that the president himself is extremely nervous. he thinks that all of these gople vot by mail are a threat to him. repuicans, i speak to, say this is a battlefield that repuicans could be mpetitive in. but because the president is so opposed to vote by mail, they are putting themselves at a disadvantage. i think it's going to be a huge factor as we go forwar there is a lot of energy in the democratic base that is being harnessed not just by restration but by people having more means to vote.

and that's something that could benefit top and bottom of the ticket come november. robe: jonathan, house democrats passed sweeping policing legislation on thursday. att the whole thing is stalled in the sen is there any chance of a bipartisan breugakth this summer? >> there dsn't seem to be this moment one. you know, i'll defer to kase e and thoo cover the hill who have a better read on this. but there does seem to be some momentum from the republicans. aswe know that somethingd the senate but seems to be a bit of a gap to bridge here. what's interesti ither -- how much the president wants to perhaps put his thumb on the scale. wenow that he signed an executive order of course on i some p reform that was his campaign was very pleased with. they thought they sort f - managed to have it both ways and sent a signal that he of course cared about the issue. but yet it didn't go too r. he did't want to alienate law enforcement, police unions and so on who support he's banking

on this fall and contuing to with the rc of law and order. we're hearing from that, from r him nearly eday in a tweet. where he still wants to be aligned with the sort of the toughness of keeping the streets safe as heutst, even after the blowback he received for when he used federalaw enforcement to clear lafayette square nearly a month ago. and in fact when he decided not to go to bedminster, new jersey this weend that was the reason he cited was to oversee and make surehere weren't more protests in washington, d.c. at least for now there seems to be reluctance for the president to go any further on this issue. robert: dan, you've been studying the polls and the post did a poll of v blaers nationwide. there's such momentum for action in washington. what is the lack of action tell you about this political moment? >> well, bob, we're c in a moment in which there is -- there is ferment and change in the racial polics of this country. and i think that the problem li for the repn party right now which is as we know a

wlargely ate political party, is that on public opinion, the republicans in eis country ar on the wrong side of the majority. they are in the minor public opinion. so -- and at the same time, white democrats have moved sharply on many of these racial issu and now theiattitudes are much more similar to black democrats than they were four or five years ago. so thisutpressure on democrats, not to compromise because they have to think about their own base and their own coalition. so they're not going to look for half measures. theepublican -- the republicans in the senate clearly recognize that they d need to respo this. but the president keeps trampling on the message wite nds of things that he has done and said not just in thi o moment br a long period of time. and so his credibility on these issues is very compromised. robert: abby, i spoke to speaker pelosi this week and

did an interview with her and she said she's not moving on her position. she's sticking with the house position ofederal ban on chokeholds. a national database on police misconduct. does that mean democrats are waiting for vice president biden to win the elec would he pursue the house bill first thing january 2021 if he won? >> i think y probably could expect joe ben to pursue something close to the house bill or the bill if he were to win. and actually for thateason, probably disincenvizes many house democrats to try to move forward th some kind of compromise. but you know, i do wonder there ar individuals outside -- outside of sort ofancy pesi in the rank and file of the democratic party in the house, in the rank and file of the republican party inhe house, and in the senate, who might be able to come to some kind of compromise. but the question is, will it? ership allow them to move

you know, nancy pelosi doesn't have any incentive to take half measures for all the reasons we discussed. and mitch mcconnell has absotitely no inc really to actually move forward with this bill. they have already madepo the t that they're willg to act on something. i don't think mcconnell sees a lot of political advantage in so it could be that leadership impediment here to progress. not necessarily the rank and file which might -- if they were sort o leftp to their own devices be able to come to of these issues.eement on some robert: kasie ht, 30 seconds left in the show. where does this all go on capitol hill? >> bob, i actually do think thatmp there is someus to try to get this done. as abby was saying. he but i think challenges at the end of the day, they have to come up with a bill that presidt trump would sign. and i don't think democrats have anyth fait president trump would ever sign anything on racial justice tha they could actually stomach. and if they did pass something

th he was willing to sign, it would actually end up looking bad for them. it seems as though the bet is being made that the momtentum o s will continue. they will be able to pass something in a more -- in a friendlier political atmosphere rtnext year. ro that is it for this week. the time flies. thank you ry much to our reporters, abby phillip, kasie nt, dan balz, an jonathan lemire, really appreciate your time on a friday night. a lot nk fun. and tou all for joining us. we will keep taking you as close to the news as we can. make sure to check out on the extra, our social media and website will have a discussion about the attorney general e who's under fnd what it all means for d.o.j. i'mobert costa. good night from washington. announcer: corporate funding

for "washington week" is provided by -- >> when the world gets your m.ated, a lot goes through with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. announcer: kaiser permanente. additional fundi is provided by -- the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen rough the yuen foundation. committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. broadcasting and by public contributions to your pbs station from viewerikyou. thank you.

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