ro bert: president trump's declaration of grievance. pres. trump: it look. looked like the lone ranger. robert: as coronavirus cases hit record highs, the president stands alone and fights a his approach as republicans on edge and there is alarm inh b parties about reports of russian bounties on american troops. >> g out of the way so others can lead, mr. president. robert: next. announcer: this is "washington week." corporate funding is provided by -- >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. w with fidelitlth management,

dedicated adviser can tailor advice a recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. ♪ announcer: additnal funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thanyou. once again, from washington, robert:good evening.. president trump will speak tonightt mount rushmore ahead of independence day. the visit captures the president

at this moment turning to symbols from the past andis rallying base as his campaign faces mounting challenges. native american leaders are outred. they a worried that the event, where face cerings areot required, could spread the coronavis and that it violates their claim to the land. meanwhile, jobs numbers have improved but the economic crisis continues. p dotests over racial injustice and many states are now pulling back on reopening as case numbe soar. joining us tonight areour aces who cover the white house. weijia jiang, white house correspondent for cbs news. ayesha rascoe, white house reporter for national public radio. peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the "new yor times." andon jonathan swan, na political reporter for axios. ayesha, i just t got off phone a minute ago with a trump campaign adviser who told m

this speech tonight at mowrt, mount rushmore, he's going to go cancel culture.wing mob is this part of a pattern we've seen all week with the president stoking racialnd cultural tension? ayesha: yes. this i clearly where the president feels most comfortable, basically touking white grievances, talking about the culture war, monuments, things of that nature, the radical left. that'shere he wants to be and that's what he wants to be talking about because he doesn't want to be talking abo all that other stuff you menoned like the russian bounties and he definitely doesn't want to be estalking about the c that are surging and the reopening that is not going the way that he said it would be going so he's leaning back on those things that worked for him in 2016 and hoping that they'll work for him now. robert: are they working for him, weijia, when you talko white house officials and trump advisers?

what are they telling you? he's been att matter all week? weijia: if you look at what's happed this week, it's been a really challenging one for president trump becausery of ths atter. he started the week retweeting hipporters shouting power" and the white house had to clean that up and say he didn't hearud the in the video. then he was tweeting about black lives matter and criticizing the mayor of new york for his plan to paint if along fifth avenue saying it d wouldigrate the luxury avenue and calling it a symbol of hate, which required even more cleanup, having to say that the presidentas referring to the organization blaclives matter and not the words. of course, he did not make that distinction in his tweet. and i think what you're seein is the president, again, being happening througho the's country, as americans grapple and how to expel racism having these really tough conversations that he is only making worse.

so i think when youk to white house officials, they acknowledge that he's not doing himself f anyors. when you talk to campaign yes, the predent, is, as ayesha said,is talking to base. but if they're focused on the battleground states where he's trying to get moderates, it doesn't seem like this is a good plan.jo robertthan, are they shaking up this campaign as they look at the poll numbers? jonathan: there's been a minor shakeup th week. jared kushner appointed a friend of his to b the chief operating officer and sidelined michael rassner who wasning the rallies in the wake of the debacle at tulsa where the crowd was not what was anticipated. amthe other d at play is jared kushner has been belittling brad pascal, the

campaign manager, in meetings, in fronte. of other peo there's been a lot of finger pointing and blame shifting to go around both inside the white house and the campaign. that's often what happens when numbers are what we are right now. he's fallen out of his usual polling range. he'sufring -- he's softened a little bit even among republicans. but certainly the bottom has fallen out with independents. there's a horrific gender gap which has been consistent. and the other problem they've got which you talk to people on the campaign, they don't really know the answer to, there just isn't the visatrald for joe biden among the public that there was for hilla clinton. there's about a 20 percentage point gap in the very unfavorable rating that joe biden has versus what hillary clinton had this time last cycle. they're trying to figure out ways toen demonize joe b and they don't have much time. robert: jonathan, you said the president isja heari frod kushner who is now souring on brad pascal, the campaign

manager. is thesident souring on his criminal justice reform? jonathan: president trump has ic severaversations over the last week told people he regretted following jared kuner's advice in going for criminal justice reform and he's made very clear that he's not going to do any more of this -- police reform, for example. trump flirted with that recently. yore not going to s any more of that flirtation. he is going hard-line, unequivocally siding with law enforcement. you're not going to see any more actions thancould be s as sympathetic to the protest movement, full stop. he is going full trump, full base, entirely gut instincts from here to november. rocart: peter, as repub watch this, you're writing a book about james ber, one of e leaders of the republican establishment, with your wife, susan glaser.

as they watch this president go to mount rushmore, play to his base what, do they see? and aread they to break with him in any way? peter: i think they see a president who is self destructive and doesn't seem to be doing the things they think needs to do to get back ontrac. he's behind double digitsltn le polls. he can say they're fake but most republicans believe the polls e accurate. you haven't seen an incumbent president since 1948 who was this far behind in july come back and win. this not a strong position for an incumbent to be in and is not a strong incbent who is busy playing to his base this late in the cycle, rather than trying to reach out. i this a president who's not reaching out, not trying to expand the support he had c when e to office. he's trying to consolidate those people who wer with him four years ago to be with him again. that worked four years ago. he pulled it inside straight, won the ectoral college vote

without the popular vote but the chances of doing that again this year especially if the popular votes is aistant as it looks at the moment, are pretty grim. having said that, thi is a president who has defied the odds before. fourears ago at this time, republicans wrote him off and thought he was a losers and would bring him downnd they worried about the house and the seoute soe seeing the similarities now where every person for himselfa an attitude but he has a way of surprising people and 120 days in trump world is an eternity. robert: an hour is an eternity in trump world, as we all know. weijia,e saw images from south dakota, from that event at mount rushmore, did not loo like social distancing was going on as a band played. what's the white house's view as the coronavirus cases spike nationwide and statesull back on the reopening? weijia: i think we are seeing a departure from many top

officials, especially doctors, from president trump and the meaging he wants to send out which is on full display tonight in south dakota because the republican governor there says social distancing will not be required, masks will be optional. and here he is addressing a crowdf about 7500 people. i think wanting to show people that here we are on fourth of greatlet's have a celebration and a good time. never mind the factt tis week we are seeing records set again in this country for the number of cases. so i think i is iorta to note, though, for example, dr. fauci, admiral jiroix, in charge of testing, this week, have publicly said things that i imagine make thent presi angry. dr. fauci saying h expects the numbers to go up more, 100,000 a day, whilehe president is saying he thinks the virus will disappear.

the presidentt insists the only reason cases are going up is because there's more testing. that's only partly true because the number of positive cases are going up,oo. and finally you have vice president mike pence who is embracing wearing masks in public and finally urging the public to do so, as well. so even though for all this time the president has tried very hard to be t messenger in chief, we are seeing others arnd him saying something differently because you just not haveol of this.rothat we do rt: ayesha, to build off the point from weijia, you listen to vice president biden's speech this week and you hear a candidate, a contender talking about the coronavirus, putting it front and center, and raising questions about leadership with president trump. when you openndour notebook look back at this week f biden, what do you think this week revealed?

ayesha: this wee revealed a candidate who was able to lean in and is tryg to hammer away on president trump's weaknesses. all those things that we have been talking about, what the biden campaign sees is an opportunit for biden to present himself as thele respons leader, willing to tell you the truth, even though it'sot fun. yes, you still need to wear your masks. you need to social distance. we're not through with this yet. and really taking it seriously. and when you look at polls, that seems to be more where the puic is than where president trump is. the public supports wearingsk the public supports putting health and safety first over reopening the economy. so iteeems l that's where the people are but for reason president trump is fusing to do that and especially when you look at older voters who president trump

absolutely needs but he's now having troubles with. they don't want to necessarily take these risks, especially with their o health. but president trump is asking them to come o without masks and celebrate him so i think what you see over and over ain is biden drawing that differentiation from him and president trump and trump still struggli to define biden. robert: ayesha, you got me thinking, maybe we need some "washington week" face coverings at some point. jonathan, i want you to jump in -- we' consult with you on that, ayesha. jonathan, i was looking at the jobs numbers this week. there's some recovery but the economy is still in crisis. do the numbersean the white hoe could be more open at this point to a second stimulus? jonathan: that's ay good question. i don't think it's -- i actually don't think it's the right quition, though. think the real question is,

will mitch mcconnell be open to that. i don't have any sense that fiscal restraint,f given his own way, he, i think, the sky's the limit as to what he would ject into the economy to give the real comnge -- challenge is mitch mcconnell a mcconnell set a hard cap one trillion. the last time i checked in with someone close to mcconnell, they said that still stands. i dot know if that's sustainable. i think they'll have to go more than that because it looks like a bumpy road to november. we have had some of the most powerful economic states like texas and calora have to retreat a little from their reopening. so that surely has to change the calculations. robert: never forget about mitcd mcconnell, gdvice for all of us reporters because he is a

factor, congresss a factor. that reminds me that the facing incoming on national security. according to the "times," russia offered bounties to the taliban to kill ameri cn andlition troops in afghanistan. "the times" reported that the intelligence was part of the president's dai document in february. the president has lashed out in that he ignored russian, threats claiming they were a hoax, saying that some officials did not find the statements credible. vice president biden: the idea that somehow d hen't know or isn't being briefed, it is ali deion of duty if that's the case and if he was briefed and nothingas done about this, that's a deliction of duty.

robert: peter, what is the latest o this story? peter: i think you had two things going on her one, of course, you've got the question of how this presint deals with information he doesn't want to hear, right. he has made very clear to his intelligence briefers over the yearhat negative information about russia isn't welcome and this information wasut into his daily brief, the written brief, which apparently he former aides, in late february, days before he was about to seal a dl, peace deal with the taliban. that's unwelcomerom his point of view because ite might h scotched up that last-minute negotiation. the second questio is, what about his policy towd russia an what you've heard this last week is much more anger about whether russians might bet targeting american soldiers. you hear from the hill, republans like liz cheney and others, who are known conservatives, long-time staunch

sceptics of t russia, andy said if this is true, this is something we can't stand and america has to make clear to russia we cannot threaten our soldiers. did not say this week. he gave no indication there was any concern whatsoever aboutot whether orhis is true. it's possible the intelligence isn't complete. intelligence is often a sketchy thing. 's a balance between shards of information, trying to make a best judgment. but presidents hav acted on incomplete intelligence before because you have to make that judgemen when president trump launched the raid that killed osama bin laden, he w told it was only a 50/50 shot and took the chance. so the idea that he didn't take action because he disagreed raises question. robert: we saw ve president biden talking about the president. this is a campaign issue as well

as national security issue. the lincoln group, conservative group, is going after the president on this matter. insidehe white house do they see traditional republicans peeling away because of thisis e or not? weijia: i think republicans have made really clet that they w answers and they want to know what the president knew and when he knew it. i think that's one outstanding answer that we do not have because even though thehohite e says the president does person on planet earth, what we don't know is why he didn't read this particular information because we have sources, too, that confirmed, it was i his daily briefing. he's damnednd if he did damned if he didn't. because if he did read it, why didn't heo something with that information? if he didn't read it, why not as we heard from biden, he read the brief every single daynd so i think there's concerns there about how the president is

handling this information, whether you are republican or democrat. and it goes, again, to the heart of what has really troubled president trump from the beginning whi is his reluctance to be tough on russia despite his claim that nobody's been tougher. i also thinkt's important, bob, to point out, we don't know what he mea when heays the russia bounty story is a hoax, because his ownse national rity adviser, robert o'brian, said they were so worried about this information that they shared i with u.s. forces and allies. questions to answer and to your point, two -- to republicao who want know. robert: how are we going to get answers to those questions? we've seen the gang of eight on capitol hill. we've seen o'brian make some statements. is thehite house thinking of

declassifying some of this information to help the public get a better sense of what t infoation is and what was part of the briefing? jonathan: i've heard differe conversations in there about classifying parts ofhis to try and give a fuller picture. but what i'm not clear on is the way in which -- i do think they are going to have to reveal more information. more than anything to appease some of the republicans ollthe hat you were talking about earlier. they're going to do that because if it's done in the sort of cloak and dagger, selective leaks favored reporters or favored outlets, it's not going be credible and it's not going to be believable and particularly if the selective the president's side of the story. i think the only way to clear this up is through open testimony, really putting it out there in a public fashion on the record. i think that's the only way that

you'reoing t appease someone like a liz cheney. robertpeter, what's the context in terms of geopolitics you have putin this week working to extend his power in russia. you also have president trump t stillking about possibly bringing russia back into the g7, expanding it into the g8. is that still on the table? peter: that's one of the things that makes this so curious. it's in between the time the white house had this information and e time it was disclosed in the press, the president called and talked to vladimir putin five, six times. he talked about briing himo washington to join the g7 and rejoin, in effect, t community of nations, after its incursion in w ukraine when thrown out in 2014. and the idea that the president would either, a, not be told about this relevant information prior to having theseti convers with vladimir putin and making this outreach to him, or, b, that he would be ld aboutt and still make this outreach, raises questions

about his relationship with putin. now, when they says that t administration has been tough on russia, they can point to a number of things. there have been sanctions put on and weapons provided to uaine, other policy decisions made that have beentanding up to russia in aggression, if you will. but what you haven't heard the preside of the united states articulate that. when he says i'm tough on russia, he doesn't say one thing that's challenging to vladimir putin personally or anything that would seem to upset the russian leadership so for russia, which is m in thedle of its own political consolidation of power, vladimir putin authorized to stay into power into the 2030's. ey're looking at a situation where they are able to get away with things without the challenge in the leader of the united states they've been used to in theourse of the last number of decades. robert: ayesha, i want back to the campaign, because it's really on everybody's mind

inside the white house on this beat. what's next for this trump campaign as they faced a troubled rally i tulsa, now this event at mount rushmore for presidenp, the slide in the polls. what are you hearing as summer heats up? ayesha: it seems like what stands out to me is what i'm not hearing and that's not really any type of being nimble on thei feet and trying changing ad adjusting to what seems to be shifting landscape in america when it comes to race i and whet comes to these issues. instead -- or into the surging coronavirus cases. what you're hearing is kind of the sam rtoric that we have been hearing all along. when you listen to some of these campaignalls, they're still talking about unemployment numbers frome the coronavirus that are no longer relevant. and it doesn't seem like they're really adjusting and

th b were reallyking on this idea that they were going to recovery.v-shape donald trump is still saying that today but that hasn't a happen they're still talking about this idea that, well, they still have time to define biden. people know of biden but they tsn't know who he is the way the campaign whem to. my question is, if you haven't defined him now, when are you going to define him? what are you waiting on? robert: weijia? weijia: i think also physically it's hard forhe campaign right now because they did see what happened after tulsahe and saw all the criticism that followed when he went to phoeniy a couple of later. i mean, there were several members of his own advance team who tested posive for covid and now you have herman cain, testing positive. and there are no campaign rallies on the schedule. i think it'seresting to see when they'll have another one. robertwe have to wrapp our conversation right here.

you can start enjoying the holiday weekend. thank you very much to our reporters, weijia jiang, white house correspondent for cbs news, ayesha rascoe, white house reporter for national public dio, peter baker and jonathan swan. on theho extra, a kate andersen brower wil take her into h new book, "team of five: the president's club in the age of trump," catch it on our social media or website. we work you b only thet as our nation marks independence day. stay safe in the pursuit of happiness. i'm robert costa. good night from washington. [ctioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org.]

announr: corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. th fidelity wealth management, a dedicated adviser can tailor advice and recommendations to your life.el that fidy wealth management. >> additional funding isy providede estate of arnold through the yuen foundation,uen committed to bridging culturalce differin our communities. the corporation for publicti broadc and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> y're watching pbs.

[representative john lewis] i just happen to believe that in every personality there's something good, there's thmething decent, ere's something sacred. and we don't have a right to go around damaging another personality. i so believe in nonviolence as a way of life, as a way of living. dr. martin luther king, jr. assassinated memphis, tennessee, april 4th, 1968. [lewis] tell the story. tell the story. and tell it over and over again. we must free ourselves, the way of violence, y of division. we can lay down this heavy burden. he hate is toy a burden to bear. with most people, they just don't see john lewis giving a speech, they feel john lewis in terms of what he's done