robert: the contenders make their case. president trump: we're learning to live with it. we have no choice. >> learning to live with it, come on. we're ingith it. robert: a final showdown as case numbers spike nationwide. >> donald trump isn't suddenly going to protect all of us. he can't even take the basic steps toct proimself. robert: and president obama rallies in philadelphia with turnout in pennsylvania a new battlegrounds critical. >> we will be voting to confirm justice barrett next monday. robert: and senate republicans move ahead with their majority on the line. next. announcer: this is "washington week." corporate funding isvi pd by --

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announcer: consumer cellular. additional fding is provided by -- the estate of arnold adams and koo and pricia yuen through the en foundation committed t bridging cultural differences in our communities. the cooration for public broadcasting and by contributions to yourbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator robert costa. bert: good evening and welcome. where does this race stand? en well, in r mowers, i pressed my sources to be ndid. veteran democrats told me they remain confident. they believe the early voting surge is aign of enthusiasm on their side. they believe vice president biden is steady enough and amida a dedly pandemic with case numbers spiking to record

levels nationwide, theyrgue that steady and centrist will be what wins in the suburbs. and in the sttes, th're trying to turn blue. but top republicans told me not resident trump from 2016 with raes, grievances, and brutal attacks. they also see an uptick in g.o.p. registration in some states and theynsist that in the final days trump can paint biden as a progressive and connect with americans who are restless andsrustrated by t pandemic. joining me tonight are three first rate political reporters. wels towels, toluse orunnipa, joining us from nashville. susan page washington bureau chief for "usa toda and asma khalid, political correspondent for national public radio and co-host of the n.p.r. politics podcast. let's begin with that debate in

this exchange on the pandemic.t presidump: it will go away and as i say, we'e rounding the turn, we're ng the corner. >> 220,000 americans dead. anyone who's responsible for that many deaths should not re in as president of the united states of america. robert: toluse, you wrote in the paper today that the esident's aides private urged him to try to make up ound in this debate by interruptions. but inside the campaign, and the house, tonight, do they believe it was enough to alter the fundamental dynamics? tose: no one who watched last night really saw it as a game-changing debate. they saw it as sort of the status quo. the president did better than he did in the first debate in terms of his mood and not seeming -- not coming across angry, not coming across as a bully. he did not interpt as much. a lot of his aides said allow there to be a contrast of the

different ideas on the stage. and that happened. we heard from joe biden. we heard fpresident trump. and they did have very different views and visions for where they want to take the country. now, a lot of the thgs thid president hen it came to the coronavirus pandemic left him on the defensive. g was saying we're round the turn. everything is going to be ok. everything is going to be fine. and 24 hourr we hit a new cord, more than 80,000 cases 24 hours. so it's clear that the president is really heels when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. he wants it to be in the rear-view mirror. but as we're getting close tore election day it is the number one issue on the minds of lots of americans and it's no tting better in many cases, in many parts of the country it's getting worse. robert: asma, on health care, not just about the handling. pand the future of the affordable care act which faces a rkoning in the courts. inside the biden campaign do they believe his attack on the president's health care position, the administration's act, is breaking through with e

key voters? asma: democrats feel extraordinary confident on issues of heal care. i' been hearing that actually for weeks. and this has been a central argument for them ashey've en trying to push back against the nomination of judge amy coy barrett. you know, i think to sort of echo toluse there, really what i've beenring from voters, and for months especially as we've seen covid cases continue to ris in someey battleground states like michigan and wisconsin, is ttrs frion by the president's mishandling of the pdemic. you know, i really cannot overstate that. i hung around outside of a ballot drop box in personal stories. someone who lost a cousin in andemic. problems. and this is where democrats el that they have an and to underscore that, a day after the debate, joe biden was back homin delaware delivering a speech y again on how he would handle the coronavirus pandemic. and this is a point te has been trying to emphasize for months.

it's a point where heas campaigned and broadly democrats feel they have an advantage. robert: susan, what about ion?gr the p this issue. but he attackevice president biden's record with president obama. how is this issueoing to play out in states like arizona and across the sunbelt? susan: well, immigration of course is the issue that animat donald trump's campaign from its earliest days five years ago. but the takeaway, i think, from was not te last nigh border. it was about 540 children who ere taken from their parents they're now in the care of the united states or in the care of other relatives. i tha pretty heart breaking situation. and one that the president didn't really show empathon. it's really a lot like the coronavirus. where the president has strong views, he goes on the attack. bu bit's joeen who is

expressing empathy about the situation that is actually affecting people in this country. robert: toluse, what is the strategy here from president trump? does he actually believe he can cast vicesi pnt biden as a liberal in the closing days? you saw him seize on vic presiden biden's answer on transitioning out of an oil industry economy at the end of the debate. is that where we're going to hear more of in the next few days? toluok: yeah. i to a few campaign officials today. and they said that pdere's closing argument against joe biden is two-fold. one, they want to paint minimuma saz a re of washington. someone who spent almost half a century in washington without much accomplishments. sort of getting into the mode of washington, following the gtways of wash and president trump is an outsider. he is a businessman. he's someone who even though he's an incumbent president, he's runn ting as insurgent. they said that he was able to do that by his constant repetition last night of why didn't you get it done, joe

biden? why didn't you do it during your eight years as vice president and why not y terms in the senate? that was something he pressed repeatedly and the campaign expects in aontinue. they also felt that joe biden gave them a gift by what is now ort of being seen as sort of a he wanted to transiti away from oil and gas within just a few years. and move to netzero emissions. that is something that president trump pounced on. he sd that is a major thin that you're saying. you're essentially saying you're going to get rid of an us entire iy maybe even get rid of millions of jobs in places like texaand also, you know, tying it to fracking and natural gas in places like pennsylvania. the campaign wants to really highlight those comments by joe bin energy while also painting him as a creature of wa ington, someone who spent 47 years in the city and they're going to chalenge his record as to whether or not he was able to get enough done during that time. robert: let's stic with pennsylvania. because former president barack

obama campaigned in philly this week. part of the biden campaign's push to turn out his core voters. his message concentrated on ar ter. >> i never thought donald trump would embrace m vision sore continue my policiei but ihope for the sake of the country that he might show some interest in taking the job seriously. but itasn't happened. the thing is this is not a reality show. this is reality. robert: asma, it's about philadelphia and turning out ban voters, turning out suburban voters. it's also about that in detroiwe yo in michigan this week talking to voters. what does it mean to have foker president obama b on we trail? asma: you know, struck and actually out with him on that trip to pennsylvania earlier this week. and you sort of multiple different audiences of democratic core base voters he was trying to reach. certainly the activists within the party.

tituency of y cons seems like he was specifically spking to is wha i wld call disillusioned democrats of 2016. these are people, largely young, black and brown voters, who perhaps did not vote in 2016 or maybe voted and left the top of the ticket blank. you knowld he he drive-in car rally, president obama, where a lot of activists were there. but prior to that, he actlduall pretty small roundtable with a select group of african-american men a. dozen or so people there and one e of nsistent themes of questions that came up from people was how do you get folkst who are - you know, dis affected and disillusioned with this peecess and don't like voting makes a difference, how do you get them to actually participate this year? and president obama's m msage there was his his view progress can be slow. progress cannot necessarily happen as quickly as folks may want and acknowledged that under his o they were not able to really combat systemic racism or policeeform in ways that maybe he even would have hoped.

but that it's better than in siout the process entirely. and i will say, you kn, bob, is is a theme that i heard a lot when i was out in detroit as well. detroit's a place where you could make the argument the elecon was so close in 2016 that had you had, you know, a ft more sort african-american turnout in wayne county or even arab american turnout from dearborn, you might have seen a different election result. and those ole the that i was really interested in speaking with. i think therio is a recogn among many of them that the stakes are different this time regardless of how they feel personally about joe biden. robert: susan, can you build on that a little bit? because what we're seeing from president trump, and to some trump campaign officials earlier today, is of course they're trying to stoke the base in western pennsylvania, in western michigan, cenennsylvania, but they're also trying to going after vice president biden on the 194 crime bill anda goiner vice president biden on immigration and the obama record. how es that calculus play out

in all of these states?ma susan: yes. and we moved within last 11 days of the campaign persuade undecided voters if there are any of them left in trying to turn out the voto ers e already for you. and that's why we see president eaking to there please go to the polls. it is possibleo depress depressed in some places in 2016. and i actually think that's the bi problem with president -- with vice president biden's commen aon transitioniy from fossil fuels and on fracking in the debate last night. a state like pennsylvania to be -- raise some questions about maybe the personal economic consequences of electing biden. not that those vo go out and vote for trump but maybe they won't go out and bother to vote. this is a problem that vice president biden is goi have if he wins. the pressure between progressives who are very happy about fracking. had to say and transitioning away from

fossil fuels. but at odds with some of these more centrist, more moderate voters from energy states like pennsylvania who are concerned about that policy. bert: in all of this, is playing out as senate republicans are worried about a blue wave sweeping through swing states and now even red states. such as texas, and georgia. here is how some senate republicans are handling that rising tide. i was the first republican to speak outgainst repeal of the affordable ce act. >> i am proud to be the only u.s. senator with a 100% vong record with president trump. >> president trump complicating your race? >> no. i would say i'm running my own race. robert: toluse, inside the g.o.p., here's a lot of unease. but very different approaches to the challges facing all of hoem. how is the white going to play it in the final few days what the president says?o and

toluse: yeah. it seems the white house is really focus squarely on president trump's re-election now. they would love t if t side benefit to that is that all these senate republicans ao getlected. but they are really focused on the electoral map trying to make sure president trump gets to 27 l they arentening to any senate republicans. they want to keep him away or at arm's lenge . theying where president trump needs to go to try to win. some of these senate reblicans do want to keep the president at arm's length. people like sus collins, e not embracing the president. they are trying to show their distangh from him as they for their political survival. but a lot of these senate republicans need prident trump's voters. people like lindsey graham in south carolina. he needs president trump's voters to see him a an ally of the president, as someone who is on the president's team, as he faces a surprising carolina against jaime harrison. he realizes that if president tr p supporters vote for president trump and leave his name blank or vote for a third

party cand or cross parties to vote for his opponent because maybe they don't think he's a strong enou supporter of president trump, he could lose as a result. so even as some of these republicans are trying to put some distance between th,selves and the preside because they realize that his retty -- atings are and not doing very well with the suburban and moderate voters they needno win i their specific states, they realize that they do need the president's base to come out and to i come outhigh numbers. so you're not going to see as much separation asou yight with the president who is struggling so much in the polls. robert: senator collins, fascinating, our friend nathan martin at the "new york times" posted a story today saying senator collins onced onsideen running as an independent in 2020 to make sure she could up there in maine. but asma, as we look at this map, we're seeing the biden campaign which is flush with cash starting to look at georgia. texas, senator cornyn is on edge there, too. he's skiddishbout his re-election. how realistic is it to have this blue wave become a blue tsunami that goes across places

like georgia, maybe even is mippi, alabama, democrats were talking about that today as well? asma: sure. bob, i think to me that's perhaps one of the most interestingions this cycle. but it's also the question that i think when you pe it to democratic strategists, quite candidly they're very anxious about even discuing that question given the results of what happened in 2016. there was a point during the 2016 cycle where hilly clinton's campaign was ambitiously talking about arizona. that was the same day that the comey letter came out andhe race dramatically shifted shortly after that. so i do think that there this anxiety. you could argue maybe it's rooted in reality or not among some democrats about being overly optimistiabout the map. that being said, you know, you look at ad spending and i beeve the biden campaign according to ad analytics is -- advertising loca about 19 states. i mean, that's a really ambitious map and certainly they have the mon to do that. kamala harris herself was

campaigning todayn georgia. and we all know that where both the cadidate and his running mate go, that scompretches a certain level of intensity of where they feel the state means. and to me i was struck by the fact that they chose to send her to georgia. i'm still -- myself a little skeptical about this idea that unless -- take a ste like georgia. unless that state actually goes at the top of the ticket, whereo biden or donald trump, i just don't see the senate flipping. we're in ation where research has shown people don't split their tickets as much they used to. there's not a lot of nuance there. and so i'm really skeptical of the sense that we're going to see theresident win a state say like texas but we're going to see someone like john cornyn lose his seat. robert: susan, you're writing a biography of speakerelosi. sheaches attacked by president trump -- she was attacked by president trump at the debate - who sai maybe republicans could even gain the house majority back. and heenas refng his ongoing stalled stimulus

negotiation. could the lack of a stimulus hurt president trump and house democrats, how do you see that? susan: well, some house democrats especially isom moderateicts have been very concerned about the failure to get together on even aalf a loaf deal to get some mo relief out there for the costs across the country of the pandemic. bu complicated. and i think there was also a democrats by some a deal for aid, was liky to lp resident trump toive him talking points and bragging rights about delivering more aid to people who need it. so i think you have seen those talks get slow walked by nancy pelosi. i think she wants to have a ed.l pass maybe she doesn't want to have a bill passed just for -- you know, jt quit yet. maybe we'll see that happen in the lame duck session. that now seems more li:ly. robeoluse, judge amy coney barrett is headed to a likely

confirmation on the senate floor next week. is this going to be a galvanizing event for republicans or has it actually faded into the bd ackgro bit? toluse: surprisily the historic addition of a new supreme court justice in the final days befo re an electi is now sort of a footnote. it's not even something that is being raefl talked about by democratsr republicans even though it's historic move and a move that breaks with a lot of precedent. and it does galvanize a lot of democrats who are saying, you know, for this reason, i'm going to turn out and show dissatisfaction with the republicans moving forward to fill this seat in the fal days of the election. even though they held open a seat when president obama made it his nination me than nine months before the 2016 election. so there ia lot of question about whether or not this will impact the race when it comes to turout on the republican side. it does remind a large number of republicans why they for president trump even though

they don't like his personality. they don't le the way he handles himself in office. they do like a lot of his policies. they do lik the fact that he appoints conservative justices and willing to push through this justice and make sure that he leaned on republicans to make sure that thishoice was added before the election and not allow this to be held over until after. robert: so we have a few minutes left here. i'll call this a lightning round. asma, when you talk to the biden campaign, and they know al these attacks on hunter biden are coming, they were coming at the debate as well, is he going toe conti hold back to be restrained in response? asma: you know, my sense is they don't take that as a le serious tion. they have been discussing and telling us that this is part ofi information, misinformation campaign and given what we saw happen during the 201ayelection, i would they're very hesitant to engage in that topic. robert: susan glasser, the early voting numbers are huge. but how do you interpret all of that information?

is it actually a boon for the democrats or hard to say? susan: they'reotes in the bank so that's a boon for the democrats, right? we don't know whether it i cannibalizing voters who would go on election day or get new voters in. there are signs t extraordinary numbers reflect new voters and reflects democratic enthusiasm about this ele robert: toluse, where is vice president pence going to be headed in the fin d fews of this campaign? what's his role? toluse: he's going to be doing mething similar to what president trump is doing. which is traveling multiple ralls a day. going to a number of these swing states, trying to convince republican voters tft evenou don't like the president's personality, look at what we've done. he's been much more on message than president trump. distracted and does not go down all of these rabbit holes of scandal.m so i do expect be delivering a very clear and direct message about the conservative point of view that he and president trump have been putting forward over the past fou and trying to convince moderate voters, trying to convince

republican voters who may be onh fence to stick with the trump-pence ticket and not go for joe biden and kamala harris. so i do expect him to be a much more disciplined campaigner than president trump and als to be quite asager and active as president trump on the campaign trail.be : asma, you were in michigan. so many senate republicans are nervous.ts but are democervous about senator peters up there? asma: you know, i will say democrats to me in michigan, i cameack and told my editor this, i feel like michigan when you speak to democrats is one of the most optimistic states for themt and i say t for a multitude of reasons. one is if you look at018, democrats did phenomenally well up and down the -- you know, when you look at the gubernatorial race and senate seats. they're veryptimistic and we hear the president routinely calling out to different demographigroups like suburban women, suburban women were key in michigan. they remain key demographic group. and by and large from the conversations i've bee having,

they seem to be rather disillusioned with president trump's handling of a variety of issues. robert: final question, real s quican. does speaker pelosi and president trump cut a deal for the before the election? susan: think it's hard to do that before the election. but i think it is more -- election in the duck.ter the am robert: lame duck deal. we'll keep an eye out on all of that. that's it, tho for tonight. another big week in washington comes to a close. many thanks to our reporters, toluse olorunnipa, susan glasser, and asma khalid v thank yoy much for joining us. and thank you all for joining us. we'll keep taking you as to the news as we can. next week, we'll pre sent a special report taking you insi a keyeg batund state. to understand this election, you must understand pennsylvania. >> no one did anything until president trump -- robert: with revealing conversations with voters -- >> i've seen a lot of

nastiness. robertwill the keystone ate predict again where in election is headed? >> the working man is getting nothing. robert: i'm robert costa. join us for a "washington week" special report. i'm robt costa. good night from washington. [captioning perforald by the natiaptioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and ac. visit ncicap.org] announcer: corporate funding for "washington week" is proved by -- >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidnaity wealth ment, a dedicated advisor can taylor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth

management. >> for 25 years consumer cellular has been offering no contract wiress plans designedo help people do more of what they like. our s.s.-based customevice team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. robert: announcer: babbel. boeing. additional funding is provide by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, commitd to bridging culture -- cultural fferences in our communities, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contribution to your pbs thank you.om viewers like you.

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