i'm robert costa. thanks for joining us. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org.] announcer: funding for "washington week" is provided by --'s newmwn foundation, donating all profits from newman's own's food products tot chand nourishing the common good. the ethics and excellencsmin journaoundation. koo and patricia yuen throughyu th foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. (lively theme) ♪ or(female #1) the vin home was a place of sanctuary from the outside world, especially in the citise where dirt and disung in the air and danger stalked the streets. ♪ and thanks to advances in science, a whole host of products and es were promising to make life but they were also making life much more dangerous. for under the guise of family-friendly products, massonsumption was bringing killers in

i'm grateful forri your reporti. >>> robert costa, any reaction to senator collins' statement? she seems to put everything on having both professor ford and judge kavanaugh testify under oath. >> this is really inside story right now as much as there's all this news and commotion on the outside. it's a senate story. senate judiciary committee members, moderate republicans like senator collins really thinking through where are they going to go here? are there the necessary votes to get through this nominee? we're being told at "the post" members of the senate judiciary committee may hear from kavanaugh later today as he's been making these calls to people on friday and today to senator hatch of utah. this is really a numbers game at this point. nothing else matters. >> it seems it's a numbers game until it isn't. i understand from talking to sources close to kavanaugh that there is concern about how public testimony might reshuffle the deck here. that if the public at large sees both, it will come down to a credibility contest, melissa. >> i think he will have a real problem whe

i'm robert costa, welcome to "washington enek." prestrump: to see what's going to is just very, very sad. t ll the f.b.i. 3years ago?y robert: presidump questions the credibility of the allegations against supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh, firing off t a tweet about accuser and her parents. mr. trump wrote, in part ," i have no doubt that if the attack had been as bad as she says, charges would have beendi imely filed. vanaugh denies the allegations and says he is ready to testify. in the senate judiciary committee led by repubcans, considers its options. the political tight rope ahead, ju weeks before the midterm atections. demo stands by dr. ford. >> i believe her because she's telling the truth. someone who is lying does not ask the f.b.i. to investigate their claims. robert: key republican senators are in t spotlight. plus, did deputy attorney general rod rosenein who heads the russia probe suggest secretly recording the president? we cover it all next. announcer: this is "washington week." funding is provided by -- newman'

robert costa will join us from the road. welcome to "washington week." president trump: the so-called resistance is angry because their horrible ideas have been merejected by the acan people and it's driving them crazy. pete: but the resistance is oirmenting from inside the trump administration according to a blistering op-ed said to be from a senior official. they said the root of problem is the p aresidentrality. president obama warned that a resistance inside white house, even with good intentions, should concern all americans. president obama: the claim that everything will turn out ok because there are people inside the white house who secretly aren following the president's orders, that is not a check. i'm being serious here.as pete: the president urges "the new york times" to each the writer, the white house braces for similar revelations in journalist bob woodward's new tell-all book "fear." it quotes senior statue and cabinet officials tng about what he describes as a nervous breakdown of the executive we cover it all, next. >> this is "washingt

i'm robert costa, welcome to "washington week." president trump: our justice department and our f.b.i. have to start doing their job and doing it right and doing it now. robert: president trumpacing mounting legal changes rallies his supporters and says he is frustrated with his attorney general and the head of the f.b.i. president trump: i want them to do their job. il get in there if i have to. robert: in rapid fire tweets and interviews, the president lashed ou at other targets this week, ahead of a potentially stormy season in his presidency. he called the russia probe illegal. railed against google, social media and books about him, calling them all fake. h ande downplayed the coming departure of the white house counsel. president trump: don mcgah is a really good guy. he's donen excellent job. robert: we make sense of the week. plus -- remembering senator john mccain, his heroism, love of country and h legacy. [singing "amazing grace"] announcer: this is "washington week corporate funding is provided by wman's own foundation,

and national political reporter robert costa. joining joyce and me on set, sam stein, politics editor for the daily beast. ashley, let me start with you. your excellent reporting about the twin crises. twin calamities facing this white house. what'd you make of the president's really uncorked and unplugged comments this morning about kavanaugh's accuser? >> well, a couple people put it to us, the president is someone who's been accused of sexual assault and misbehavior by more than a dozen woman so his natural reaction, he's not someone who's spoesespecially k for his empathy but have visual empathy for other powerful men in the sense he believes how horrible could it be to have your reputation ruined by one accusation. it's something he feels like he's been through. and also the president's natural instinct is to fight and is to double down. and so you've seen the president. his aides had really worked to try to keep him out of this kavanaugh debate. they said weighing in and public comments or tweets would not particularly help

"washington post" reporter robert costa, who will join us in just a moment, reports tonight that republicans are concerned about the political implications of rushing this confirmation. he writes, privately, discussions about the political fallout grip the party with republican lawmakers and strategists unnerved by the charge, gender-infused debates that have upended this campaign season. senator susan collins, republican of maine, appears to be well aware of this. nbc news reports that a source close to her says she had a call with the deputy director of the fbi to get a better understanding about how background investigations are conducted. this morning on a local main radio show, the senator continued to publicly press for a hearing with both ford and kavanaugh. >> i think it's not fair to judge kavanaugh for her not to come forward and testify. both of them need to testify under oath next monday before the judiciary committee. >> meanwhile, friends of christine blasey ford are beginning to speak out describing the college professor's dedication to her her work and her aversion of being i

once again from washington,r moderaobert costa. robert: good evening. an unexpected move by republican senator jeff flake has pumped the brakes on g.o.p. plans to quickly confirm supreme court minee brett kavanaugh. the retiring lawmaker announced friday morning that hld w support kavanaugh's confirmation, but hours later, he said his vote to pass the nomination out of the senate judiciary committee a had caveat. if r hublicans wanted support on a final floor vote, the f.b.i. needed to further probe the sexual assault allegations facing kavanaugh including dr. christine blasey ford's allegation that he assaulted her while they were teenagers in the early 1980's. flake's decision effectively ended senate majority leader mitch mcconnell's plans of moving to a vote in the coming days as other senators signaled their support. and it came afirey thursday between kavanaugh and democratic senators. >> judge kavanaugh will you support an f.b.i. investigation right now? >> i will do whatever the committee wants to -- >> personally, dnk you t that's the best thin

and robert costa, national political reporter for "the washington post." always good to have both of you. robert, let me start with you, sir. how big of an issue is trust right now inside this white house? >> it's a major issue for president trump and his closest confidants. because they're dealing not only with bob woodward's new book but also that "new york times" op-eds piece by an anonymous author. they're questioning each other behind the scenes as much as they're battling their enemies and opponents publicly. >> you tweeted woo eed woodward book has echoes -- one of his first books on nixon, the final days. what did you mean by that? >> what's that faulkner line, the past is never dead, it's not even past? when you look back at his book, the final days, which captures nixon at the end of his presidency, you see striking echoes of that same scene, that sake feeling in a white house, of a presidency under siege in woodward's new book. this is an outsider president totally unconventional, very few friends in washington. has a grip over the republican pa

that's what we're trying to do. >> back with us, robert costa, cynthia alksne, mimi rocha, steve schmidt. robert, not since the heart injection and pulp fiction have i seen someone spring to life the way senator graham did today. it was right after dick durbin, you'll forgive the phrase, drew blood on the subject of the fbi. and let's face something here. it's a town of a lot of whispering and a lot of cynicism and people, as soon as they heard lindsey graham, thought this was an audition for a cabinet position, perhaps justice, perhaps pentagon at some point in the future. >> i'll tell you what it was, brian. someone who was at the capital all day reporting, it was revealing. it was revealing about the republican party. what a split screen. senator graham versus senator flake. senator graham just like judge kavanagh, taking the advice of president trump, following the model of president trump, defiant, fight, total political war in this charged america that we're all living through and covering. and then there's retiring republican jeff flake of arizona, reluctant to embrace that kind o

i'm robert costa, welcome to "washington week"." >> i think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week to ask the f.b.i. to do that investigation. it would be short and limited in scope. robert: aramatic twist for supreme court nominee brett kavanaich. repu senator jeff flake votes yes to advance the judge's nomination but it comes with a condition that shook washingtonn in a instant. a call to delay the final confirmationote one week to allow the f.b.i. to probe sexual assault nominations against kavanaugh. >> i wil only be comfortable moving on the floor until the f.b.i. has done more investigation than they have already. i understand that some of these witnesses may not want to discuss anything further. but i think we're -- we owe them due diligence. robe: the move comes one day after both kavanaugh and hisis accuser, cne blasey ford testified before the senate judiciary committee. this whole two-week effort has been a polical hit fueled with pent-up anger about president trump and the 2016 election, revenge on behalf of the clintons. to believe

robert costa, national political reporter for the "washington post," moderator of "washington week" on pbs. lisa lehrer, national political reporter with the "new york times." and barrett berger. she's a former assistant u.s. attorney with both the eastern district of new york and for good measure the southern district of new york. we welcome all of them back to the broadcast. robert, we're anxious to get to you. there were serious people tonight in just the past few hours wondering, as you know, whether this nomination would survive the night, whether there would be a hearing tomorrow. what's the latest on your reporting? ? brian, calling around the highest ranks of the senate gop, it's clear tonight that the support for judge kavanaugh is soft. talking to top senators, they say upwards of two dozen republicans are going to be closely watching the hearing tomorrow to see his responses, to see if dr. ford comes across as credible. and their votes could be up for grabs, brian. and i asked bob corker, the senator from tennessee, retiring on the record, where does this stand, and he said

also robert costa, national political reporter for the "washington post." heidi, national political correspondent for nbc news. and mike murphy, a republican strategist of some renown. thank you. congresswoman, i heard orrin hatch. i thought it was 1991, we're doing anita hill here. this woman, whoever she is, is mixed up. prime ma facia, he's saying don't trust the woman. i'm sorry. i know he's about to retire. he maybe should have left a while ago. what do you make of the presumption this woman is mixed up, we don't know who she is, if she has a name, and believing kavanaugh. >> these people are living in the dark ages. i think brett kavanaugh and some of these republicans who are defending him have three things going against them, chris, the first one is her credibility, the second one is his credibility, and the third one is the me too mooufvement. her credibility, this is not a woman who was looking to come forward, it's clear she's been struggling with this. this is not a new issue, from her notes from her therapist going back to 2012. she has been st

for the latest, i'm joined by heidi przybyla, eugene washington, and robert costa. robert, what's the latest on this? the president is supporting this. they're pushing this. mitch mcconnell wants to, as he keeps fragphrasing it, plow it through demanding a vote and yet now we have a second accuser. >> they have been keeping close tabs on senate republicans. as long as senator collins, senator flake and senator murkowski don't break and continue to say they want to hear from dr. ford at thursday's hearing, then this nomination moves forward. it's not going to get pulled. the president in private conversations with senate leaders has been pretty defiant. he sees this as a war against political correctness as much as it is a battle for his own nominee. >> what's the political -- help me here. what's politically correct or incorrect about the charge made by dr. ford here? who said it's okay to behave like this accusation runs? >> of course any sexual assault would be inappropriate and wrong. kavanaugh's nomination has become a totem for many on the right who see this as

robert costa, national reporter for "the washington post." also happens to be moderator of "washington week" on pbs'. richard painter, former ethics lawyer for the bush 43 white house. good evening to all of you. ashley, i'd like to begin by highlighting a brief portion of the biline you shared tonight from "the washington post." the phrase, the sleeper cells have awoken circulated on text messages among aides and outside allies. it's like the horror movies when everyone realizes the call is coming from inside the house, said one former white house official in close contact with former co-workers. and then finally this summation sentence, the stark and anonymous warning was a breathtaking event without precedent in modern presidential history. i hesitate to ask, ashley, what else have you learned from inside in just the few hours since you filed that story? >> a number of things. first is that the president is absolutely livid about this. he is, you know, described to us as sort of a volcanic level of anger. he is surmising that it is someone

robert costa of the "washington pok"" and pbs' "washington w has read the yet-to-be-released book and joins me now. so, robert, most of us have not seen the book yet, but you have. what would you say are t most important parts of the story? >> judy, it has so many anecdotes strewn throgh the book, but so many around president trump, like secretary of defense jim mattis, contie to try to rein the president in. you see it on trade policy, gary cohn taking documents off the president's desk in the oval office, according to woodward's account, mattis at times ignoring orders.f: >> woodrs you know, as we know, there have been several books in the last sseral mon to come out about the trump white house, the trump administration. what's different about bob woodward's reporting? >> the white house's response today has been typical about how they've approached books like is. they say it's fabrications. they've contested aspects of the book already, but what makes this book different is woodward's credibility. when you read the book, as a reporter, you recognize so ny details are in the book--

so who better to talk to but their national political correspondent robert costa. also happens to be host of "washington week" on pbs. bob, i know it's a lot. and i know it's a piece of work you've been able to read and s ubu ub s ubs ume, but walk us through the headlines. >> uses the book nervous breakdown, he talks about an administrate coup d'etat. the book is full of vivid scenes about top advisers to president trump plucking papers off of his desk, trade agreements, foreign policy decisions, to try to keep the president away from making decisions they find alarming or unhelpful to u.s. trade policy or foreign policy. you have all these people around the president constantly over the last year or so doing things on their own to try to stop president trump. >> bob, i've read already on social media certain people saying half heartedly to expect a purge at the white house. because part of woodward's method, there are people on the record, there are people putting their name alongside quotes, alongside information that the author gathered. this can't -- this won'

but robert costa is also reporting that privately republicans are crossing all their fingers and toes saying please don't show up, please don't show up. >> yes, stephanie, there's a lot of moving parts here. it's starting to look much more like a negotiation. you saw chuck grassley going out of his way to make public remarks yesterday and to release this letter saying there are all these different ways we can get dr. ford's testimony. but we do want to get it. he put that deadline of tomorrow morning, saying that's how much time it would take to get the committee sort of revved up and ready to go to make sure this can happen monday morning. i suspect that deadline tomorrow is a soft deadline. if they feel like they're still making progress, they're not going to close the door on dr. ford. they want to see her at this table if it's possible on monday. you heard from dr. ford's attorney, a little softening from their side, saying not so much that they need to see this fbi investigation take place but they want to see other witnesses be brought in here as well, potentially to corroborate

i'm robert costa, welcome to "washington week"." >> i think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week to ask the f.b.i. to do that investigation. it would be short and limited in scope. robert: aramatic twist for supreme court nominee brett kavanaich. repu senator jeff flake votes yes to advance the judge's nomination but it comes with a condition that shook washingtonn in a instant. a call to delay the final confirmationote one week to allow the f.b.i. to probe sexual assault nominations against kavanaugh. >> i wil only be comfortable moving on the floor until the

i'm robert costa, welcome to "washington week." president trump: to see what's sad. to is just very, very you say, why didn't someby call the f.b.i. 36 years ago? robert: president trump questions the credibility of the allegations against supremene court nomie brett kavanaugh, firing off a tweet aut the accuser and her parents. mr. trump wrote, in part ," i have no doubt that if the attack had bee asad as she says, charges wod have been immediately filed. kavanaugh denies the allegations and says he is

my friend robert costa, a national political reporter for the "washington post," and moderator of my favorite friday night show "washington week" on pbs, robert bianke, noelle mapour. robert costa, to you first, what do you think is going to happen monday? if we continue to hear the requests to delay things, we do get mired in politics because while it is very complicated, we also know that democrats, whether christine ford's situation exists or not, we know they want to do everything possible, and it makes sense, to delay this thing past the midterms. so this request does get mired in really sticky politics. >> it really does. and if you saw last night, senator corker, who's retiring, senator flake, who republicans, they came out with statements after the dr. ford came out with her request through her lawyers, and they said they would urge her to still testify on monday. we still have to hear from senator lisa murkowski from alaska and senator susan collins from maine. they will decide whether this monday hearing gets postponed or not because they are crucial to this nomination getti

this from the washington post's robert costa. >> on trade, on foreignli , you see mattis, the secretary of defense, gary cohn the former top economicadvisor, trying to even pull documents off of the president's desk s he forgets about them and moves on. >> reporter: and new from the russia investigation, which according to the book, has this white nearly paralyzed, the russia investigator robert mueller willing to take some written responses now ft m presidump instead of a sit-down interview. back to you. p >> tracis live for us in washington this morning. tracie, thank you. >> a primary night stunner in the state of massachusetts. progressive ayanna pressley upset ten term representative michael capuano. th long-time congressman conceded overnight and voiced his support for she is now set to become the first black woman to represent the state in congress. her surprise win is thees l blow for the democratic establishment. s essley's path to d.c. cleared. there is no republican on the ballot for the state's 7th which wasnal district once represented by john f. kennedy. >> the contentious

joining me now is robert costa. jennifer rubin. robert, tell me about this book. and you are a trump whisperer, you know this guy. what did you make of what woodward was able to get about trump. this idea of a nervous breakdown? >> working with my colleague, we went page by page throughout this book and you see so many advisors around this president pulling him back on different decisions on trade, national security, foreign policy, expressing alarm to each other if not publicly, but privately on how they think the president is going in the wrong direction. >> crazy stuff. the common sense notion that a seven second warning rather than a 15-minute warning, the idea that we want to know immediately. this guy not seeming to understand the acute importance of time. >> there are jarring scenes in the beginning of the book where the president is arguing against the south korea trade agreements and then paging later, secretary of defense mattis warning if you disrupt the relationship, you could risk world war iii. if you try to unwrap some of those alliances that have b

robert costa will join us from the road. welcome to "washington week." president trump: the so-called resistance is angry because their horrible ideas have been merejected by the acan people and it's driving them crazy. pete: but the resistance is oirmenting from inside the trump administration according to a blistering op-ed said to be from a senior official. they said the root of problem is the p aresidentrality. president obama warned that a resistance inside white house, even with good intentions, should concern all americans.

i'm robert costa, welcome to "washington week." trump: our justice department and our f.b.i. have to start doing their job and doing it right and doing it now. robert: president trumpacing mounting legal changes rallies his supporters and says he is frustrated with his attorney general and the head of the f.b.i. president trump: i want them to do their job. il get in there if i have to. robert: in rapid fire tweets and interviews, the president lashed ou at other targets this week, ahead of a potentially stormy season in his presidency. he called the russia probe

i'm robert costa. tonight, we welcome bob woodward to "washington week."ew book by pulitzer prize winning reporter, bob woodward, depicts chaos ie the white house. why are so many officesls tioning president trump's decisis on trade, national security, and then showdow with the speal counsel. is the trump administration on the brink of a nervous breakdown? we discuss the stakes for the president and the country, next. announcer: this is "washington week." funding is provided by -- newman's own foundation, donating all profits from newman's own food products to

and robert, cosko costa, what ae strategy and coming off of the hill?ll, here at the capital, you have the senate republicans continuing to stand by judge kavanaugh, and some of them are questioning the credibility and the account of the dr. ford. i spoke with john cornyn, the second republican on the hill from texas, and he said that he does not have details. and so there is quite a showdown next week, and critical question, and asking the sharp questions about the accuser. >> and ben rhodes, as we have seen politically, this could be di dynamite for republicans going into the midterm elections if they go after this woman, if she is testifying the way that anita hill is challenged. it was not an election year, but this is going right into the midterm election. >> absolutely, andrea, and they can't seem to decide whether they are attack iing the accuses credibility or saying that the because this happened a long time ago it does not matter. the actions seem to demonstrate that all they care about is getting him on the court, and it is all men on the rep

. >> robert costa and sheryl stolberg, thank you. >>> are you involved in the negotiations happening right now about the contours of testimony next week? >> all of us committee members are involved, at least indirectly. and the simple fact is that the republicans leading that committee have imposed a completely arbitrary and irrational deadline. they should be insisting, in fact, that the fbi reopen its investigation. they should be insisting that there be other witnesses in the interest of uncovering the truth, and basic fairness they should be insisting that dr. blasey be given an opportunity to set the terms of her coming forward. that's a basic foundational principle in dealing with all victims and survivors of sexual assault. but they are taking just the opposite tact. >> what do you think senator hassen about the idea of the republicans on that committee, it's all men, 11 men, bringing in a female attorney, a woman, to do the questioning? >> well, you know, this should be about getting to the truth, not political optics. but let's take a step back here. we know that women who c

robert costa wrote about the book "the washington pt." >> the book is full of vivid scenes of top advisersucking pers off of his desk, trade agreements, foreign policy decisions to try to keep the president away from making decisions they find alarming. >> reporter: in the book white house chief of staff johnelly quoted as calling the president an idiot and that he's gone off theto rails. y kelly denies making the comment. also in the book, defense secretary james mattis is said to describe the president as having the understandingf a fifth or sixth grader. >> you have the president telling mattis and other defense officials go after assad in syria, kill him, an assassination order in a sense and mattis saying we're not going to do that. >> reporter: in a recorded call with woodward after the book's manuscript was finished president trump denies being aware that wdward requested a interview. >> i never got a call. message. a who did you ask about speaking to me? >> well, about six people. >> well, t don't tell me. >> the coming days, brian, will be very reveali h about this administration

robert costa reports that president trump told several people on friday that he is not going to fire the deputy attorney general. there's also reporting out there eric that this story is not particularly high on president trump's mind because he's so focused on everything going on with kavanaugh and trying to get that nomination through. eric? eric: ellison, thank you very much. there is some new reaction to tell you about from president trump walking back his initial call to immediately declassify the secret documents related to the ongoing russia investigation. late last week, the president tweeted this, saying, quote, i met with the doj concerning the declassification of various unredacted documents. they agreed to release them but stated that doing so may have a perceived negative impact on the russia probe. also key allies called to ask not to release. therefore, the inspector general has been asked to review these documents on an expedited basis. i believe we'll move quickly on this and hopefully other things which he is looking at. in the end, i can always declassify if it pro

we are joined now by phone by robert costa, national political reporter for the washington post and anontributor. >>> robert, what can you tell us about republican reaction in the senate about what happens next? >> it's a fragile political moment right now for the republican party. they're holding the line. they're taking their cues. i was at the capital today. they're taking their cues from leader mcconnell and chairman grassley. they believe they can plow forward. but you can be sure they're monitoring public opinion. they know the public may be averse to this kind of fast move. >> bob, there were early reports that one of the candidates who mitch mcconnell told the white house would be the most difficult to get through the senate was brett kavanagh. there were early reports before brett kavanagh was named indicating that senator mcconnell didn't want the difficulty of getting brett kavanagh through the senate. >> that's spot on, lawrence. i can confirm that. you know in the senate time is of the essence. mcconnell was look ing at the calendar and the senator said we've got to get th