yamiche: i think donald trump has been clear he wants to get this done. can he count on the president? as someone who is so impulsive and wants to get a deal done, if tax reform looks like health care, i can imagine the president will say let's go with the deal we can get done. >> maybe. the tax reform is harder. it hasn't been done. i am skeptical given the other crises, hurricane irma this weekend, might be worse than harvey. there's a lot for this government to deal with. i'm skeptical of tax reform. now there is a new possibility, senator schumer, his new partner. will the republicans rebel on this? 90 republicans in the house voted against this. what if they reach a critical mass against a deal? >> what if republicans missed understanding president trump, michael? that chuck schumer and nancy pallone -- nancy pelosi recognized? michael: he operates in the moment. he will change from day to day based on who he is talking to. he doesn't see a problem with that. that is the way he has been. they came in with a deal, republicans did not have a deal. trum

yamiche maybe right -- may be right. maybe it's just alabama. before we go tonight, we want to take note of a bipartisan moment, quite a moment in congress this week. majority whip steve scalise walked back onto the house floor for the first time since being shot 15 weeks ago. his colleagues, democrats and republicans alike greeted scalise with a standing ovation, hugs, and, of course, many well wishes. as minority leader nancy pelosi put it, everyone in congress and across the country is on team scalise. welcome back, congressman! see you for a story in louisiana seen, i'm sure. our conversation now will continue online on the "washington week extra" where we'll talk about the debate over nfl players taking a knee in protest. many of our viewers shared their thoughts. we'll bring you into the discussion and talk about patriotism. you'll find it after 10:00 p.m. friday night. i'm robert costa. have a great weekend! >> funding for "washington week" is provided by... ♪[music] >> their leadership is instinctive. they understand the challenges of to

yamiche, thank you for being with us. have been reporting on a story this morning in "the times," saying there's been a remarkable lack of progress on this. where does it stand right now? >> well, lawmakers have really tied themselves up in knots trying to figure out how to proceed. the republicans i have talked to have said this issue is on the back burner and they are worried that congress is losing focus as it tries to deal with tax reform and health care. but a meeting just wrapped up, in speaker paul ryan's office just a few feet from where i'm standing now. and lawmakers tell me in the quick interviews i was able to do in the last 30 minutes, that the meeting went great, there was some progress made. but at the end of the day it will come down to democrats not wanting to fund the wall and the republicans wanting to have some sort of border security mto pass the dream act, and, of course, the the dream act is legislation that has been in congress now for 16 years trying to get passed, and so far republicans and democ

yamiche, you were here last week. we are so glad you're back.e're talking about another deal, but it's different. it's not a fiscal deal. it's about daca, about immigration. and there seems to be a lot of uncertainty about this one, among dreamers, the 800,000 here, and also all those lawmakers on capitol hill all week. >> well, this was as chaotic as a week as you can get. on one side, you have republicans playing defense, also very confused about what the president actually agreed to. on the other side, democrats who wanted to kind of wave the flag and say we got another deal out of him but also had rank and file members telling me we're weary of what this deal -- wary of what this deal actually is. the spanish chairman said she actually was interested in having two separate bills, if there is a deal that has to do with border security, because a lot of her members are worried if they have to cast a vote for the d.r.e.a.m. act, they don't want to cast a vote that will hurt the family of the dreamers. what we really see here is a white house th

yamiche, welcome. always good to see you and talk to you. the president flying back on air force one from florida said, "if republicans are unable to stick together, i'm going to have to get a little help from democrats." you've been talking to republicans all day long. how did they respond to that? what does that make them feel? >> that common ground has left republicans on the hill confused and on the defense today. republicans i talked to said that they still support the president and want to see something that has to do with border security, but even a representative from the house freedom caucus told me he still is interested in having a wall built. so really the idea that democrats who don't control the white house, who don't control either house of congress, might be the people that are passing this legislation has a lot of republicans on the hill frustrated in interview after interview. people were telling me that they really don't understand why the president is in some ways going this direction, but i should say that leader mcconne

yamiche, i guess the president will wake up tomorrow morning with a new bedfellow, someone to his rightis essentially a proxy war for what donald trump's base is really going to be about. so there's this idea that president trump kind of awakened the sleeping giant and he has this new brand, but in this regard it could be that he's losing control of that brand and the very people who backed him are wanting someone even more extreme. so if roy moore comes to congress, he could be challenging the president. >> the democrats are going to run against moore. as goes alabama, not goes the nation. this is going to be what the democrats are dying for, a real bad guy they can run against. >> they're going to put his statements up there and put them to every senate candidate, do you agree with roy moore. i think the margin is going to matter tonight as well. i'm hearing it could be double digits. if it's a blowout, that's a big rebuke for the president and a big black eye for him considering he went down there and campaigned. he said i closed it for luther, luther wouldn't even be in the game wit