robert: president trump's declaration of grievance. pres. trump: it looked ok. loed like the lone ranger. robert: as coronavirus cases hit record highs, theresident stands alone and fights a culture war. his approacub has replicans on edge and there is alarm in both parties about reports of russian bounties on american troops. >> g out of the way so others n 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. withidelity wealthanagement, dedicated adviser can tailor vice a recommendations to

your life. that's fidelity wealth management. ♪ announcer: additional funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yue through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differces in our communities. the corporation for publicas broang and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator robert costa.rt roood evening. president trump will speak tonight at mount rusore ahead of independence day. the visit captures the president at this moment turning t symbols from the past and

campaign faces mountings challenges. native american leaders are outraged. they are worried that the ent, where face cerings are not required, could spread the coronavirus and that i violates their claim to the land. havehile, jobs numbers improved but the economic crisis continues. so dove protests racial justice and many states are now pulling back r onpening as case numbers soar. joining us tonight areour aces who cover the white house weijia jiang, white house correspondent for cbs ns. ayesha rascoe, white house reporter for national public radio. peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the "new yorke " and jonathan lian, national cal reporter for axios. ayesha, i just got off the phone a minute ago with a trump campaign adviser who told me this speech tonight at mowrt after the left wing mob andto go

cancel culture. seen all week with the president stoking racialnd culturaln? tens ayesha: yes. this is clear where the president feels most about white grievances, talking about the culture war, monuments, things of that nature, the radic left. that's where he wants to be and that's what he wants to bin ta about because he doesn't want to be talking about all that other stuff you moned like the russian bounties and he definitely doesn't want to be talking abo the cases 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 andt hopit they'll work for him now. robert: are they working for him, weijia, when you talk to white house officials and trump visers? what are they telling you? he's been attacking black lives matter a week?

weijia: if you look at what's happened this week, it's been a really challenging one for very matter.ump because of this he started the week retweeting supporters shouting "white power" and the white house had to clean that up and say he didn't hear the audio in the video. then he was tweeting about black lives matter and criticizingf e mayorw york for his plan to paint if along fifth avenue saying it would denigrate t luxury avenue and calling it a symbol of hate, which required even more cleanup, having to say that the president was referring to the organization blaclives matter and not the words. of course, he did not make that distinction inis tweet. and i think what you're seeing is the president, again, being out ofit touch what's happening throughout the country, as amerilens gra with how to expel racism and havihese really tough conversations that he is only making worse. so i think when you talk to white house officials, they acknowledge that he's not doing

himself any favors. when you talk to campaign sources, they tell us, look, yes, the president, is, as ayesha said, talking to his base. but if they're focused on t battleground states where he's trying to get moderates, it doesn't seem like this is a good plan. yrobert: jonathan, are t shaking up this campaign as they look at the poll numbers? jonathan: there's been a minor shakeup this week. jared kushner appointed a friend of his to be the chief operating officer and sidelined michael glassner who washe running rallies in the wake of the debacle at tulsa where the crowd was not what was antipated. the other dynamic at play is jared kushner has been belittling brad pascal,an the campaigner, in meetings, in front of other people. there's been a lot of fingerng

poinnd 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. f he'slen out of his usual polling range. he's suffering -- he's softened a little bit even among republicans. but certainly the bottom has fallen out with independents. there's a horrific gender gapee which has consistent. and the other problem they've got which you talk to people on the cpaign, they don'teally know the answer to, there just isn't the visceral hatred for joe biden among the public that there was for hillary 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 they're trying t figure out ways to demonize joe biden and they don't have much time.be : jonathan, you said the president is heari from jared kushner who is now souring on brad pascal, the campaign

manager. is the president souring on his own son-in-law who has phed crimin justice reform? jonathan: president trump has in several conversations over the regretted following jared kushner's advice in going for criminal justice reform andmae's very clear that he's not going to do any more of this -- rpoliceorm, for example. trump flirted with that recently. you're not going toor see any of that flirtation. unequivocally siding with law enforcement. you're not going to see any more actions that could be seen as sympathetic to the protest movement, full stop. base, entirely gut instincts from here to november. robert: peter, aswa republicans h this, you're writing a book about james baker, one of the leaders o the republican establishment, with your wife, susan glaser. as they watch this president go to mount rushmore, play to hiso

base what, they see? and are they ready to break with him in any way? peter: i think they see a president who is self destruct se and doesn'tm to be doing the things they think nee to do to get back ond track egin to win again. multiple polls.ble digits in he can say they're fake but most republicans believe the polls are accurate. you haven't seen an incumbent president since 1948 who was this far behind i july come back and win. for anncumbent to be in and is not a strong incumbent who is busyng to his base this late in the cycle, rather than trying to reach out. this is a president who's not reaching out, not trying to he came t office.t he had when he's trying to consolidate those people who were with him fou years ago to be with him again. that worked four years ago. he pulled it insidetraight, won the electoral college vote without the popular vote but the chances of doing that again this

year especially if the popular vote is as distant a it looks at the moment, are pretty grim. having said tt, this a president who has defied the odds bore. four years ago at this time, republicans wrote him off and thought he was a losers and would bring him downnd ty rried about the house and the senate so you're seeing the similaritiesre now w republicans are looking at an every pern for himself attitude but he h a way of surprising people and 120 days in tsmp world an eternity. robert: an hour is an eternity in trump world, as we all know. weijia, we saw images fro south dakota, from that event at mount rushmore, did not look like social distancing was going on la a bandd. what's the white house's view as the coronavirus cases spike nationwide and states pull back on the reopening? weijia: i think we are seeing a departure from many top officials, especially doctors, from president trump and the messaging he wants t 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. andere he addressing a crowd of about 7500 people. i think wanwng to s people that here we are on fourth of july, let's have a greatat celen and a good time. never mind the fact that this week we are seeing records set again in this countryor the number of cases. so i think it is important to note, though, forxale, dr. fauci, admiral jiroix, in charge of testing, this week, have publisy said thing that i imagine make the president angry. dr. fauci sing he expects the numbers to go up more, 100,000 a day, whilesi the pnt is saying he thinks the virus will disappear. the president insists that the is bec there's more testing.up

the admiral said under oath that's onl partly true because the number of positive cases are going up, too. and finally youave 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 thisime the president has tried very hard toe b t messenger in chief, we are seeing others around himaying something differently because you just cannot deny the fact that we do not have control of this. robert: ayesha, to build off the point from weiji 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,nd raising questions about leadership with president trump. when you open your nebook and look back at this week for biden, what do you think this week revealed? ayesha: this week revealed a candidate who was able to lean on president's weaknesses. away

all those things tt we have been talking about, what the opportunit for biden to present leader, willing to tell you the truth, even though it's not fun. yes, you still need to wear your masks. you need to social distance. we're not through with this yet. and when you look at polls, that seems to be more where the public ishan where president trump is. the public supports putting health and safety first ove reopening the economy. so it seems like that's where the pele areut for some reason president trump is ousing to do that and especially when look at older voters who president trump solutely needs but he's now having troubles with. they don't want to nec take these risks, especially

with their h ownlth. but president trump is asking them to come out without masks and celebrate him so i think what you see over and over again ro biden drawing that differentiation him and president trump and trump still struggling to define biden. robert: ayesha, you got me thinking, mbe 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 economll is s in crisis. do the numbers mean the white hoe could be more open at this point to a second stimulus? jonathan: at's a really good question. i don't think it's -- i actually don't think it's the right question, though. i think t real question is, will mitch mcconnell be open to

at. donald trumpld have anythat fiscal restraint, if given his own way, he, i think, the sky's the limit as to what he would e ject into thnomy to give him a nice run to november. the real comnge -- challenge is mitch mcconnell a mcconnell set a hard cap at one trillion. the last time i checked in with someone close to mcconnell, they said that still stands. i don't know if that's sustainable. i think they'llmo have to g than that because it looks like a bumpy road to november. we have had some of the mos powerful economic states like texas and califora haveo retreat a little from their reopening. so that surely has to change the calculations. robert: never forget about mitch mcconnell, good advice for all of us reporters because he is a factor, congress is a factor. that reminds me that the

esident this week is also facing incoming on national security. according to the "times," russia offered bounties to the taliban to kill american and coalition troops in afghanistan. "the times" reported that the intelligence was part of the president's daily briefingn document february. the president has lashed out in response calling the suggestion that he ignored russian threats, claiming they were a hoax, sayingffhat someials did not find the statements credible. vice president biden: the idea that somehow he didn't know or isn't beingriefed, it is a dereliction of duty if that's the case a if he was briefed and nothing was done about this, that's a dereliction of duty. robert: peter, what is the latest on this story?

peter: i think you had two things goingn here. one, of course, you've got the question of how this president deals with information he doesn't want to hear, right. he has made very clear to his intelligence briefers over the years that negative information about russia isn welcome and this information was put into his daily brief,he written brief, which apparently he doesn't read often according to former aides, in late february, days before he was about to seal a deal, peace deal with the taliban. that's unwelcome from his point of view because it might have scotched up thatast-minute negotiation. the second question is, what aboutis policy toward russia and what you've heard this last weeks muc more anger about the media than anger about whether the russians might be targeting american soldiers. you hear from the hill, republicans like lizy che and others, w are known conservatives, long-time staunch sceptics of russia, and they

said if this is true,his is mething we can't stand and america has to make clear to russia we cannot threaten our soldiers. those are wor the president did not say this week. he gaven no indicathere was any concern whatsoever about whher or not this is tru it's possible the intelligence isn't complete. intelligence is often a sketchy thing. it's a balance between shards of information, trying to make a best judgment. but presidents have actedn incomplete intelligence before judgement.u have to make that when president trump launched the raid that killed osama bin laden, he was told it was only a 50/50 shot and he took the chance. so the that he didn't take actionau b he disagreed raises question. robertwe saw vice pnsident bialking about the president. this is a campaign issue as well as national security issue. the lincoln group, conservative

group, is going after thet presid on this matter. inside the white house do they see traditional republicans peeling away because of this issue or not? weijia: i think republicans have made really clear that theyer wt an and they want to know what the president knew and when he knew it. i think that' one outstanding answer that we do not have because even though the white house says the president does read and he is the most informe person on planet earth, what w don't know is why he didn't read this particular information because we have sources, too, that confirmed, it w in his daily briefing. he's damned if he did and damne if he didn't. because if he did read it, why didn't he do something with that information? if he didn't read it, why not as we heard from biden, he read the brief every single day and so i think there's concerns there about how the president is handling this information, ether you are republican or

democrat. and it goes, aga t, the heart of what has really troubled president trump from the beginning which is his reluctance to be tough on russia deite his claim that nobody's been tougher. i also think it's important, what he mea when he says the russia bounty story is a hoax,us be his own national security adviser, robert o'brian, said they were so worried about this information that they sred it wit u.s. forces and allies. questions to answer and to your point, two -- to republicans who want to know. robert: how are we going to get answers to those questions? we've seen the gang of eight on capitol hill. we've see'brian make some statements. is the white house thinking of declassifying some of this information to help the public get a better sense of what information is and what was part

of the briefing? jonathan: i've heard different conversations in there about declassifying parts of this to try and give a fuller pture. but what i'm not clear ons i the way in which -- i do think they are going to have to reveal more information. more than anything to appease hill that you were talking about earlier. but i don't know in what formng they're goo that because if it's done in the sort of cloak and dagger, selective leakso favored reporters or ovoredlets, it's not going to be credible and it's not ing to be believable and particularly if the selective information is advantageres to thedent'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 pubonc fasn the record. i think that's the only way that you're going to appease someone like a liz cheney.

robert: peter, what's thent t in terms of geopolitics? you have putin this week workinh to exten power in russia. you also have president trump still talking about possibly bringing russia back into the g7, expanding it into the g8. is that still on the table? peter: that's one ofathe things akes this so curious. it's in between the te the white house had this information and the time it was disclosed in the press, the president called and talked to vladimir putin five, six times. washington to join the g7 and rejoin, in effect, theomnity of nations, after its incursion into ukrai when it was thrown out in 2014. and the idea that the president would either, a, not be told about this relevant information prior to having these conversations with vladimir putin and making this outreach to him or, b, that he would be told about it and still make this r outreach,ses questions about his relationship with putin. now, when they say that this

ministration has been tough on russia, they can point to a number of things. there have been sanctions put on and weapons provided to ukraine, other policy decisions made that have been standing up to russia in aggression, if you will. but what you haven't heard is the president of the united states aiculate that. when he says i'm tough on russia, he doesn't sng one t that's challenging to vladimir putin personally or anything that would seem to upset the russian leadership so for of its own politicalthe 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 ihee course of last number of decades. robert: ayesha, i want to come back to the campaign, because it's really o's everybo mind inside the white house on this beat. what's next for thirump

campaign as they faced a troubled rally in tulsa, now this event at mount rushmore for nesident trump, the slide the polls. what are you hearing as summer heats up? ayesha: it seems l what stands out to me is what i'm not hearing and that's not really any type of being nimble on their ft and trying changing and austing to what seems to be a shifting landscape in america when it comes to race d when it comes to these issues. instead -- or into the surging coronavirus cases.wh you're hearing is kind of the same rhetoric that we have been hearing all alongen ou listen to some of these campaign calls, they're still talking about unemployment numbers from before the coronavirus that are no longer relevant. and s it dsn't seem like they're really adjusting and they wereeally banking on this idea that they were going to have this vhaped recovery.

donald trump is still saying b that tod that hasn't happened and they're still talking about this idea that, ll, they still have time to define biden. people know of biden but they don't know who he is the way the caaign wants them to. my question is, if you haven't defined him n, when are you going to define h? what are you waitingn? robert: weijia? weijia: i think also physically it's hard for the campaign right now because they did see what happened after tulsa and they followed when he went to phoenix a couple of days later. i mean, there were several members o his own advance team who tested positive for covid and now you have herman cain, testing positive. and there are no campaign rallies on the schedule. i think it's interesting to see when they'll have another one. robert: we have to wrap up our conversation right here. yocan start enjoying the holiday weekend. thank you very much to our

reporters, weijia jiang, white news, ayesha rascohite house reporter for national public radio, peter baker and jonathan swan. on the extra, author kate andersen brower wil take her into her new book, "team of five: the president's club in the age of trump," catch it on rour social media o website. we work you only the best as our nation marks indepennce day. stay safe in the pursuit of happiness. i'm robert costa. good night fro washington. national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org.] announcer: corporate funng for "washington week" is provided by --

when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated aiser canailor advice and recommendations to your life. that fidelity wealth management. >> additional funding is noovided by the estate of adams and koo and patricia yuenu through th foundation, mmitted to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the cooration for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> you're watching pbs.

[representative john lewis] i just happen to believe that in every personalit there's something good, there's something decentsa there's somethincred. and we don't have a right to go around damaging another personality. nv so i believe in lence 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 violencio the way of divisn. ay we c down this heavy burden. hate is too heavy 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 and the impact on this country, so therefore they listen.