Thứ Bảy, 28 tháng 4, 2018

News on Youtube Apr 28 2018

ROBERT COSTA: Hello. I'm Robert Costa. And this is the Washington Week Extra,

where we pick up online where we left off on the broadcast.

Joining me around the table, Yamiche Alcindor of the PBS NewsHour, Tara Palmeri of ABC

News, Mark Landler of The New York Times, and Dan Balz of The Washington Post.

During a freewheeling phone interview on Fox and Friends Thursday morning, President

Trump discussed everything from his frustrations with the Justice Department to former

FBI Director James Comey. He also discussed his personal attorney, Michael Cohen,

and his legal issues. It was the first time the president acknowledged Cohen

represented him in a case involving adult entertainer Stormy Daniels.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From recording.) Well, as a percentage of my overall legal

work, a tiny, tiny little fraction, but Michael would represent me and represent me on

some things. He represents me like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal.

He represented me and, you know, from what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong.

ROBERT COSTA: Cohen, who has admitted he paid Daniels $130,000 in the month before the

2016 election, says he will assert his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination

in the civil lawsuit filed against him by Ms. Daniels.

Yamiche, covering this White House, what did they make of that Fox News interview and the

legal thicket the president seemed to wade into on the Cohen front?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, the White House - I mean, everybody that's covering the White

House realizes that there's not a communications director, so the people that I've talked

to say that John Kelly - Chief of Staff John Kelly can't really control Donald Trump.

And he wasn't really controlling him all the way before, but at least you didn't really

see these 30-minute freewheeling conversations. The fact that the Fox News hosts at one

point had to cut him off while he was starting to just talk about all sorts of things

signals that he was kind of off and being able to talk about whatever he wants.

But in terms of the legal aspects, the legal - I talked to a lot of legal experts about

this, more so than White House aides, and they say it was really problematic for him to

be talking about Michael Cohen's case. And the fact that federal prosecutors turned

around and used the president's words against Michael Cohen shows you that he's in

hot water and that the president probably did not do him any favors.

ROBERT COSTA: What's the latest from your reporting on Cohen and how this - how the

White House is dealing with it? You see Cohen asserting his Fifth Amendment rights.

You see the president trying to get involved through an attorney to review some of the

materials seized in that FBI raid.

TARA PALMERI: Well, President Trump certainly hurt his case, like Yamiche said, by

saying that he was only an attorney for him partially. I mean, he was a - he was a

senior player in the Trump administration. That's hard to believe. But I think that

they're worried because this targets - this is his lawyer for almost 15 years.

I mean, they - he has a lot of information on Trump. Discovery could get icky.

Maybe not impeachable, but certainly could get embarrassing for him.

And this is - this could be something that's not going to go away, especially the Stormy

Daniels angle of it. And it's Mueller, and now it's Cohen hanging overhead.

ROBERT COSTA: And there was news Friday that the trial with Stormy Daniels is going to

be delayed about 90 days.

TARA PALMERI: Mmm, so that's 90 more days of coverage until then because we know that

her media-savvy lawyer knows how to turn the -

ROBERT COSTA: He's everywhere - (laughter) - Michael Avenatti.

DAN BALZ: He is everywhere.

TARA PALMERI: He'll be at White House Correspondents Dinner we know.

ROBERT COSTA: Sure. We know that he will. (Laughter.)

MARK LANDLER: There was one other sort of negative development for President Trump on

the Russia front just today with these reports that the Russian who helped broker the

meeting with Don Trump Jr. that Jared attended during the campaign has now more or

less outed herself as not just a(n) interested party, but someone who's working as an

agent of the - of the Russian government. So that then lends credence to those who do

see, against what Trump says, evidence of collusion between the campaign and Russia.

So I think that story, which had been dormant for a while, may sort of revive now.

ROBERT COSTA: So the door is opening on that.

You see she's calling herself an informant, I believe, in an NBC News interview.

MARK LANDLER: Mmm hmm, informant is the right word.

ROBERT COSTA: And then you have the Michael Cohen trial.

But then the door's closing a bit on Capitol Hill on this - on this issue because

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee announced the results of their

investigation, a Republican investigation - led by Republicans - into whether the Trump

campaign was involved with Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The report said they

had found no evidence of collusion, a finding the president was quick to point out in a

tweet this morning. He typed: "Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released.

'No evidence' that the Trump Campaign 'colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.'

Clinton Campaign," he asserted, "paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow!

A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!" Must end now, wonder what he's talking about.

Is that the Mueller probe? Rod Rosenstein's job? Not clear. Democrats, however, put

out their own document accusing Republicans of prematurely closing this investigation

on Capitol Hill. Congressional Republicans, when you look at, Dan, Mark Meadows, the

Republican from North Carolina, Jim Jordan from Ohio, Devin Nunes in the House

Intelligence Committee, they're ratcheting up the pressure with this report they're

releasing, with their conversations with Rosenstein to end the federal probe.

DAN BALZ: Well, they are. I think that the reality is that the House Intelligence

Committee investigation kind of disqualified itself a year ago, when it broke up in

partisan wrangling. And so everything that's come out since is seen through a partisan

lens. But they have an agenda. And that agenda is pretty clear. They are trying to

put that pressure on the FBI and/or the attorney general to do something about this.

You know, the president every time he's asked about it says: I've been accused that I'm

going to do this, and they're still standing. But I think that if you're Rod Rosenstein,

you have to wake up every day and wonder: How many more days am I going to have in

this job? And what happens if that happens?

ROBERT COSTA: What about Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor? He met with Mueller

on Tuesday in Southwest Washington. And they're trying to negotiate a presidential

interview. Is the president going to sit down or not?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: I think that's the key question that everyone is Washington is asking.

I know at PBS NewsHour, we've talked to a lot of lawyers who don't want to represent this

president, which is on its face is pretty remarkable, that we have a sitting U.S.

president who's having trouble finding kind of a lawyer that's a top-tier lawyer.

Rudy Giuliani is really a political choice in my mind, and a political choice in a lot of

the experts I've talked to's minds, because he's someone who can talk for him on TV, he's

someone who can make the case. In terms of actually putting him in front of Robert

Mueller's team and letting him be deposed, most people say - most of the lawyers that

I talk to say: Donald Trump is not the kind of client that you want to be under oath,

who you don't want him to at all be in fear of lying to the FBI, because this is

someone who objectively has said things that are not true.

So it's really, I think, a problematic thing.

And I think that most of my sources say that he likely will not be sitting down for those

reasons, the fact that if he does sit down he could get himself into a real problem.

ROBERT COSTA: Because if Mueller's searching for intent, and he needs the president to

figure out the president's intent and these decisions, it's very likely, as Yamiche was

saying, he's going to sit down.

MARK LANDLER: Well, and also Donald Trump has a proven record of admitting things when

he talks to people. I mean, there's the famous Lester Holt interview that probably was

more important in laying the predicate for obstruction of justice than any other single

development. So if you're one of his lawyers, you're rightly concerned that whether

wittingly or unwittingly he's going to blurt something out, as he did on Fox and

Friends about Michael Cohen, that is going to just land him in more trouble.

So I sort of continue to believe, notwithstanding Rudy Giuliani's latest efforts, that in

the end it just doesn't happen.

ROBERT COSTA: And that Lester Holt interview's from 2017, when the president fires Comey.

MARK LANDLER: That's right.

ROBERT COSTA: And he says, in part, because of the Russia probe, or the Russia investigation.

MARK LANDLER: Because of the Russian investigation. That's right.

ROBERT COSTA: And when you think about, Tara, Giuliani, you've covered New York

politics. Any insight into the relationship between him and the president?

TARA PALMERI: Well, he was passed over for the AG job. I mean, that was something

that he really wanted. Obviously, Rudy's not up to that much, except maybe a third

divorce I think I read recently. (Laughs.) So he was happy to step into the spotlight.

This is a big role for him. And, you know, he's a believer in the agenda, at least.

But, yeah, it seemed that they needed a heavy hitter in there to just move the - to

hopefully close the investigation. But, yeah, I mean, he needs to remind the president -

who is very prone to hyperbole, to the point where sometimes aides say he just says

things that aren't true - and they have to remind him, no, no, no, sir, that's not

actually accurate. And put - doing that as, you know, before a special counsel,

that could be some history repeating itself in some ways.

ROBERT COSTA: At one level, Giuliani's a former U.S. attorney, he's a former

Justice Department official. But we also heard this week that he was pressing

Mueller in the conversation about Jim Comey and whether Jim Comey's credible.

And so you see that confrontational style that Giuliani has, the president has.

That's combined on this legal team for the moment. We'll leave it there.

That's it for this edition of the Washington Week Extra.

While you're online, check out this week's Notebook, where I report on the president's

inner circle and three people to watch. I'm Robert Costa. See you next time.

For more infomation >> Recapping President Trump's "Fox & Friends" interview - Duration: 9:20.

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Korean leaders talk at demilitarized zone, more turmoil in President Trump's cabinet - Duration: 23:55.

ROBERT COSTA: A handshake and history, and a long way to go. I'm Robert Costa.

Inside the promise and peril of a breakthrough in the seemingly never-ending Korean War,

tonight on Washington Week. Korean leaders from the North and South make history,

agreeing to end decades of tensions and turn a 1953 truce into a peace treaty.

SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN: (From video, through interpreter.) There will not be

any more war on the Korean Peninsula.

KIM JONG-UN (supreme leader, North Korea): (From video, through interpreter.) We are of

the same people that should live in unity.

ROBERT COSTA: How this stunning summit is a preview of the planned sit-down between

President Trump and the North Korean leader.

EPA ADMINISTRATOR SCOTT PRUITT: (From video.) Much of what has been targeted towards me

and my team has been half-truths or at best stories that have been so twisted they do not

resemble reality.

ROBERT COSTA: Embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is fighting back against

allegations of ethics violations and questions over his spending habits.

EPA ADMINISTRATOR SCOTT PRUITT: (From video.) Those who attacked the EPA and attacked me

are doing so because they want to attack and derail the president's agenda and undermine

this administration's priorities.

ROBERT COSTA: The president's pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs withdraws

from the nomination process following reports of professional misconduct. And Mr. Trump

hosted the leaders of France and Germany this week, who urged the president to

preserve the Iran nuclear deal.

FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: (From video.) We should not abandon it without having

something substantial and more substantial instead.

ROBERT COSTA: We cover it all with Tara Palmeri of ABC News, Yamiche Alcindor of the PBS

NewsHour, Mark Landler of The New York Times, and Dan Balz of The Washington Post.

ANNOUNCER: This is Washington Week. Once again, from Washington, moderator Robert Costa.

ROBERT COSTA: Good evening. The images this week of statecraft and stagecraft were

groundbreaking even as negotiations continue. But North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and

South Korean leader Moon Jae-in came together, shaking hands and smiling, as they agreed

to remove all nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula. And they announced they will

work with the United States and China to officially end the war, a war that began in

1950. At the summit, the first between Korean leaders in more than a decade, Moon and Kim

pledged to establish a permanent and solid treaty.

That declaration included promises to pursue a phased reduction of military arms,

transforming the border there into a peace zone, and reorganizing families, bringing them

together that were divided by the long war. In the Oval Office on Friday, President

Trump said for now that he believes the North Korean leader is working in good faith.

Quote: "I don't think he's playing," Trump said, adding that he will not be played.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) Yeah, I agree, the United States has been played

beautifully, like a fiddle, because you had a different kind of a leader. We're not

going to be played, OK? We're going to hopefully make a deal. If we don't, that's fine.

ROBERT COSTA: Mark, welcome to Washington Week. What are the next steps for

President Trump here as he watches from afar President Moon and Kim Jong-un get together?

MARK LANDLER: Well, this summit sort of amounted to a drumroll for the summit that he's

going to have at the end of May or early June. And so I think that they were watching

very closely in the White House to see what Kim - how Kim behaved, how he handled

himself. And I think that probably the judgement is he's a pretty adroit player.

There was a moment, you recall, when the two leaders first met across the line of

demarcation. And Moon maneuvered Kim for a picture.

And before they retreated into the peace house to have their meeting, Kim took Moon by

the arm, brought him back across the line of demarcation into North Korea.

That struck me as the moment where it was clear, they're dealing with a sophisticated

guy. He understands stagecraft. He understands imagery. And I think, for

Donald Trump, a president who understands stagecraft and imagery, it had to be an

interesting moment to take the measure of this man he's going to be dealing with.

ROBERT COSTA: So inside of the White House, Yamiche, are they thinking about the

stagecraft for themselves, the theater of a big deal with Kim Jong-un?

Or are they really thinking about the preconditions they want to set before that meeting?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: I mean, I think it's both. I think at the White House they're very

into, as you just said, imagery. President Trump very much knows what his - that he

wants to look strong, that he wants to look like he's in control.

I was kind of surprised by the fact that he didn't go on a complete, I would say, maybe

two or three Twitters - or send two or three tweets today, just basically taking credit

for the fact that they were talking about the war being over, because you kind of felt

that President Trump was trying to say: I'm having a very big deal in this area.

But instead, he kind of was smarter than that. He said, you know what, I'm looking

forward to meeting with him. We've kind of gotten - we've gotten two locations and

we're down to this and we're getting close. But he was really careful not to just

say, you know, I'm going to sit there and I'm going to stick it to him. He basically

said: We have these goals of denuclearization. But I don't think he was taking the

tough-man stance that he was taking when he was calling him "little rocket man."

ROBERT COSTA: Tara, welcome to Washington Week. Are there any tensions inside of the Cabinet,

the administration about how to move forward? To take a hardline or to look for that deal?

TARA PALMERI: I mean, you're going to see the tensions between the new national security

advisor, Bolton, and then also Mattis, secretary of defense. You know, they're hardliners.

They're hawks. They're not - they're going to be very suspicious. They've been

around the block in terms of foreign policy. And they've seen this game before, where

North Korea plays nice enough just to get the sanctions lifted, and then, you know,

reneges on the deal. So I think that Trump is going to have to - they're probably

tempering his expectations. That's why you're seeing these tweets that aren't necessarily

victory laps. But you can see - I felt shades of Trump trying to paint this as his legacy.

I'm sure he loved that Congressman Luke Messer said that he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize.

Those are the kind of things that Trump loves to hear. But, you know, he's going to

have to temper his expectations. I think that's what they're going to be doing.

ROBERT COSTA: So there's veteran skeptics inside of the administration.

And, Dan, as a veteran reporter, you've seen presidents raise expectations before, and

sometimes be challenged to meet those expectations.

DAN BALZ: Yes. And I think in this case that's particularly the challenge for the

president. You know, obviously something significant has happened.

I mean, the fact that we are where we are today as opposed to where we were six months

ago is quite remarkable. And the imagery that happened in Korea over the last 24 hours

is also remarkable. But at best, the first meeting between our president and Kim - at

best, all it can do is begin a process that might lead to something concrete.

And I think that that's part of the effort that they're going to have to undertake.

How do they set those expectations? What conditions are they putting on the table?

To what extent are they prepared to yield on some things?

And how patient - and I think this is really important - how patient is President Trump,

who we don't think is terribly patient in most other areas.

ROBERT COSTA: And it's not just -

TARA PALMERI: Yeah, it just seems like he just wants to sign a deal and move on, just like he

does in real estate. And this is something you have to nurture over a long period of time.

ROBERT COSTA: And he's not the only player. President Xi Jinping of China was praised

by President Trump today for trying to - with his hardline sanctions - bringing Kim

perhaps to the table. China's going to have a role to play as well.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: China is going to have a role to play.

But I think when I think about how other countries are also painting this I was really

surprised by the fact that Angela Merkel said that, you know, this is some great American

leadership. There's times where we see people kind of flattering Trump in this kind

of way that's pretty obvious. But in this way, she was trying to say, look, we can see

you as a leader on this issue. We see you as someone who can bring in other countries.

And I think that that's important, that he's - that he's not just hearing, you know, this

is a nice tie, or, you know, you can rub some dandruff off me. But he's saying: We expect

this from you. And it was really important that he said: I feel like this is my responsibility.

He started kind of trashing the people that came before him, both President Trump but

also President Bush, saying: I don't - I shouldn't have had to take care of this, but I'm

going to take care of this. So I think there's this idea that he's scared to raise

expectations, in that he doesn't want people to feel like I'm going to - I'm going

to solve this. But he was really - it was really important to hear him kind of say

that he wanted to take this leadership.

ROBERT COSTA: But, Mark, is Kim Jong-un playing with a weak hand right now?

There are reports from China that his nuclear missile test site has been pretty much -

it's not functioning. And he's dealing with crippling sanctions, has poverty

throughout his country. Is he - what's forcing him -

MARK LANDLER: Well, it depends on what your benchmark is. There's no question his

economy has suffered a great deal. Most analysts will tell you, they don't believe

it's suffered enough that he would necessarily buckle.

And there are reports about this nuclear facility being more or less collapsed.

That said, over the past several years they have gone - gotten to within a close

threshold of being able to deliver an ICBM to American territory.

So you could argue that he's actually playing with exactly the right hand at the moment.

When he made the pledge last week to halt testing he said, well, the reason we're

halting testing is we don't need to test anymore. That was also a boast on his part.

He was reaffirming what he said before, which is that we are already effectively a

nuclear weapons state. So I think that there's two ways of looking at it.

Yes, he's under economic pressure, but he's also made a lot of progress on his nuclear

program, and he's playing a strong hand. He knows that we know that.

And he's going to try to extract as much as he can in order to halt that program.

ROBERT COSTA: Tara, you mentioned that the past hovers over all of this, of course.

What about human rights?

What are they saying inside of the White House when you look at Otto Warmbier's family

suing North Korea, raising questions about whether you can really trust Kim Jong-un?

TARA PALMERI: I mean, that is a huge - that was a huge reminder of who we're dealing

with. A lot of the news reports you hear North Korean leader. But let's not forget,

he's a dictator. And, you know, a senior Hill aide that I spoke to said, you know,

this would have never happened in a Clinton administration because she would have

taken so much flak from the foreign policy - the foreign policy just in general for

dealing with a dictator. You're not supposed to deal with them. What about human

rights? But Trump showed us early on that that's not his main priority, you know,

being chummy with Saudi Arabia and just more looking for the deal than the details.

But we still have three Americans being detained in North Korea.

I mean, this is - this is a - we're not playing with an honest broker right now.

ROBERT COSTA: Dan, could the U.S. accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, as long

as they agree to peaceful terms with South Korea and the rest of the world?

DAN BALZ: Not on the basis that the president has established these negotiations.

I mean, if that is rolled back in all kinds of ways, he's going to be judged as having

caved, if that's allowed. I mean, in the same way that we're dealing with Iran, that

issue is front and center. The whole purpose of the end of strategic patience, the whole

purpose of saber rattling was to say: We will not abide by nuclear weapons for North

Korea. So I don't see how he can give in on that. Now, the question is, can they structure

a deal that takes a lot of time and, I mean, you know, Mark knows the details of this, but -

MARK LANDLER: Well, and I think - I think the issue is - I think the challenge for the

president is going to be if the North Koreans string along the process, which they always

have in the past, he's going to come under a lot of pressure from the right, which is

going to begin to question the strategy. And, you know, I think it's also worth

noting - Tara brought up John Bolton. John Bolton gave a very interesting interview

a few days before he was recruited as national security advisor. He was asked about

a Trump-Kim summit. And he said that it's a useful exercise because it will fail

quickly, and by failing it will allow us to move to the next phase of our engagement

with them - by which, he clearly meant military action.

And that's going to be the tension that President Trump's going to face if he tries to

allow this process to play out over a long period of time.

DAN BALZ: But doesn't it have to play out over a long period of time, almost by definition?

I mean, let's say they are seeking the end of nuclear weapons. I mean, the complexities

of an agreement like that, and the conditions in return, that's a couple of years process.

MARK LANDLER: Oh, yeah. And if you look at the one - the previous rounds of

diplomacy during the Clinton years and during the Bush years, they both bogged down

very quickly into these highly technical discussions about U.N. inspectors and where

do you put stockpiles of uranium. And it does get extremely complicated very fast.

And so to your point earlier, does the president have the patience?

I think that's going to be the key question for how this works out.

ROBERT COSTA: Details matter. Theater matters too in politics, at times.

And so many players - Bolton and Pompeo, the president and his tweets, Mattis.

We'll be keeping a close eye on it. But let's turn to another complicated front: Iran.

This week, President Trump met with the leaders of France and Germany and discussed the

Iran nuclear deal that's set to expire on May 12th. The week kicked off with a

festive state visit in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The warm relationship between the two leaders was certainly on full display, but

differences remain on trade and other issues.

And in his address to a joint session of Congress, Macron called for an expanded deal

that would include containment of Tehran's destabilizing activities in the region.

On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel received a lower-profile welcome at the White

House for a working meeting with the president.

Merkel pressed the president to stay with the Iran deal.

But during his first official trip as secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, who we've been

talking about, said no decision has been made on whether the U.S. will pull out.

SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO: (From video.) Absent a substantial fix, absent overcoming

the shortcomings, the flaws of the deal, he is unlikely to stay in that deal past this May.

ROBERT COSTA: Tara, you're at ABC News now but you spent a lot of time in Europe as a

correspondent in Brussels. With Merkel and Macron back-to-back meetings with the president,

what's Europe's agenda here in trying to keep President Trump with this Iran deal?

TARA PALMERI: Well, I spoke to a senior French official who said that Macron did leave

disappointed. I mean, this is a hallmark of the EU. This actually validates the

EU, which is dealing with a bit of an identity crisis since Brexit.

This, you know, involved their top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, working very closely

with John Kerry, with the support of Merkel and at the time Francois Hollande in France.

And so, you know, they want this to stay together, and they're considering adding an

agreement on top of the agreement because just having that agreement is so symbolic for

them. And, you know, they're - he left acknowledging that they are going to have

to expand that sunset clause for a lifetime rather than I think it was 10 years.

And, you know, it was just - it's really difficult for them to leave this.

I mean, the thing is that Trump is doing what he said he was going to do.

He said he was going to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, and he did.

He said he was going to pull out of the Iran deal, and he seems like he would.

He created this self-imposed deadline of May 12th. But, at the same time, with the

Paris climate agreement they didn't really give him another option, whereas I think

this time they're heading home and two weeks in European diplomacy time is like a

minute, and they're going to have to come up with something if they want him to stay.

ROBERT COSTA: Dan, does this have a cost for the nuclear talks with North Korea? If the

U.S. is seen as getting out of the Iran deal, does that send a message to Kim Jong-un?

DAN BALZ: One would think that it would. And I think that part of the difficulty

is we don't know how Kim thinks. So normally you would say if you're starting a

negotiation with somebody and you are reneging on another negotiation or another

treaty, that person is going to be deeply skeptical of you and your negotiating stance.

MARK LANDLER: I've heard analysts make another case, which is that Kim is such a

hermetic guy and so preoccupied with his own world that he actually won't put that much

stock in what happens with a deal in a country that's thousands of miles away that he

barely understands. But I think Dan's point is the right one: We truly don't know.

The amount of things we don't know about Kim's psyche are huge. I mean, I think

with President Trump the difficult thing on the Iran deal is that the Europeans

have come a long way toward him. They're actually moved, I think, to a remarkable

degree from a deal they thought was absolutely well-negotiated.

And keep in mind it's extremely popular with European publics. There's actually

a domestic cost for Merkel and Macron to even talk about walking away from this deal.

So I think the fact that they have made this many steps toward the president and it

doesn't seem to be enough almost forecloses the possibility of a - of a happy outcome.

ROBERT COSTA: Speaking of domestic costs, when you look at Macron, he's balancing a lot

of balls in the air this week, trying to become chummy with President Trump but also in

his speech to Congress signal back home that he's going to be against nationalism and

against isolationism.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: It was a - it was a remarkable bromance until it ended.

There was the whole - I mean, that dandruff scene, where the president was touching him.

As a reporter, you sit back and you think: Did that really just happen?

But then you listen to the president of France talk to Congress and it was - it sounded

like he was talking directly to President Trump.

He was saying, look, we understand "America first" is something that got you elected, but

we really don't want this to be an isolationist, we don't want this to be about

nationalism. You can't just pull out of the world; the world is going to go on.

So he was speaking in this poetic way, reminding America that France and America have

been joined at the hip and really connected for centuries.

So there's this idea that he was really trying to send this message that, look, France

really wants to be your friend. And to be our friend, to be - to continue to be

close to us, we need to have these deals together. We need to make these agreements.

And I was sitting in that press conference, and they both physically were looking - I

think physically the body language between them when you see them in the room is them

feeling chummy, is them feeling warm. I think both of them are trying to feel as

though they were having a connection. But then, when you listen to his address to

Congress, you kind of think, mmm, is he - is he telling Trump, hey don't do that?

TARA PALMERI: The thing that Trump needs to remember, too, when he's talking to Macron,

when he's talking to Merkel, he's not just talking to the leaders of France and Germany;

he's speaking to the leaders of the EU, and they are and Macron is there defending the

interests of the EU. And he needs to realize that when he talks about trade with Germany,

he's talking about trade with Slovenia as well, even though it's a smaller country.

And he keeps talking about bilaterals and he's - and he needs to understand the political

dimensions in Europe when he's doing this, and I think he's sort of maybe missing that point a bit.

ROBERT COSTA: Those tariffs on steel and aluminum, that's another reason that we see all

these overtures between the European leaders in their meetings with President Trump.

But there was more news this week, because President Trump saw one Cabinet member under a

hot spotlight on Capitol Hill this week and his pick to lead the Veterans Affairs

Administration bowed out following reports of inappropriate work behavior.

White House Doctor and Real Admiral Ronny Jackson withdrew as nominee for secretary of

veterans affairs after current and former colleagues accused him of professional

misconduct while serving as the president's personal physician. In his statement Dr.

Jackson responded to those allegations, saying if they had any merit I would not have

been selected, promoted, and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role.

On the same day embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt faced two congressional

hearings about his management of the agency and spending habits.

Lawmakers questioned the EPA administrator for five hours about a $43,000 phone booth,

his first-class travel, and a condo rental from the wife of a lobbyist. Pruitt

downplayed his role in spending decisions and often blamed his staff. Tough situation

for Dr. Jackson, all these allegations, but also not a lot of vetting by this White House.

DAN BALZ: No, I mean, this was - this whole nomination turned into a train wreck

starting with the decision, I think, to nominate him without any serious vetting, and to

nominate somebody who did not have the kind of experience that one would expect you need

to run a bureaucracy that's as troubled and as big as the Veterans Administration.

And then it went to Capitol Hill and, you know, it was like all of these allegations

started flowing in. And interestingly, and in some ways disturbingly, this got pushed

out by Senator Tester without much backup information.

I mean, there was one allegation in particular which the White House says tonight is not

true, which is that he crashed a vehicle after he got drunk at a Secret Service event.

He denied it. The Congress folks did not have any backup evidence of it.

So, you know, it starts with bad personnel operations at the - at the White House and

then it just spiraled out of control.

MARK LANDLER: You know, what was interesting about it to me was the fact that you had

almost universal declarations and statements of support for Ronny Jackson from Obama

administration officials, Trump administration officials, Ivanka Trump tweeting, and yet

from the people who worked with Dr. Jackson and who privately went to the Senate

committee there was evidence that he was at the very least a pretty bad boss.

And I guess it just sort of shows the isolation that the White House Medical Office is in

within the White House that the political side either turned a blind eye to this or was

unaware of the way he ran his operation.

TARA PALMERI: I just - I'm just wondering, where was the pushback from the White House?

Why did they not find these people that worked in the Obama administration, in George

Bush's administration, and fact-check and get them out there talking about Ronny Jackson,

defending him? No one talked to him. It's a day after he withdrew his name, and now we

know that that allegation is not true, or at least the White House is saying that it's not true.

All of this stuff should have happened in real time, and I think it's just also a lesson

that the - that the Trump administration is really learning how to nominate. (Laughs.)

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, I'll say this, I talked to a lot of White House aides who echoed

that. People in the White House were telling me they were very frustrated with the fact

that they were not really having a rapid response to all the things that were coming at

Dr. Jackson. And while they were handing out - I think it was Thursday the White House

was kind of handing out to any reporter who would listen all these - all these

promotion requests from Barack Obama, the president himself that same day was not

talking about Barack Obama's promotion requests.

He was saying, look, if I was Ronny Jackson, I'd probably take the way out.

ROBERT COSTA: And Scott Pruitt, he hangs on because in part, my sources tell me, he has

support from conservatives in Congress, conservative donors like him.

But his future could be in the balance here.

DAN BALZ: Although it's - I think it's a little less clear what direction it's going in

or a little less clear that he's on a slope out after the hearings. He got probably

more support from Republicans on the committees than might have been expected. He got

very tough questioning from Democrats and a couple of Republicans, but not widespread.

ROBERT COSTA: Is the White House going to walk away? Is the White House going to walk away from Pruitt?

TARA PALMERI: I mean, they don't have that many options. They need to get a head of

the VA through. I mean, this is - Trump likes Pruitt. I've been told that actually

other Cabinet members are a little bit jealous of his relationship with Scott Pruitt.

He likes how he's rolling back all of President Trump's agenda and regulations, and he

has a truly conservative agenda on the environment. So -

ROBERT COSTA: Rolling back the Obama agenda.

TARA PALMERI: Yeah, exactly, rolling back the Obama agenda. And so Trump, at the

end of the day, finds him as a loyal messenger. Obviously, this is a distraction and

a sideshow, and the question is when will it become too much.

ROBERT COSTA: Well, we've got to go. Got to leave it there. I always love hearing

the story from my sources about how Pruitt goes to the White House mess to eat lunch.

We can talk about later. (Laughter.) Thanks, everybody.

Coming up next on In Principle, co-host Amy Holmes chats with Microsoft founder Bill

Gates, who shares his optimistic big-picture view of the future.

That's tonight on In Principle on most PBS stations. Check your local listings.

And our conversation continues online on the Washington Week Extra, where we'll talk

about President Trump's legal challenges and the new House report on the Russia probe.

You can find that later tonight at PBS.org/WashingtonWeek.

I'm Robert Costa. See you next time.

For more infomation >> Korean leaders talk at demilitarized zone, more turmoil in President Trump's cabinet - Duration: 23:55.

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Notable Quotables: Trump-Macron bromance in Washington - Duration: 1:40.

For more infomation >> Notable Quotables: Trump-Macron bromance in Washington - Duration: 1:40.

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Korean peace talks are a win. But for whom? - Duration: 1:57.

Donald Trump convinced North Korea and China.

He was serious about bringing about change.

We're not there yet. But if this happens,

President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

North Korea and South can some day live in harmony,

prosperity, and peace.

And it looks like it could happen.

When I began, people were saying that was an impossibility.

They said there were two alternatives.

two

alternatives.

For more infomation >> Korean peace talks are a win. But for whom? - Duration: 1:57.

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VLOG 2 Drive in Design Washington - Duration: 2:33.

For more infomation >> VLOG 2 Drive in Design Washington - Duration: 2:33.

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Trump Stopped Washington In Its Tracks With One Comment About Firing Mueller - Duration: 13:25.

Trump Stopped Washington In Its Tracks With One Comment About Firing Mueller

The media has constantly hyped up the speculation that Donald Trump will fire Robert Mueller.

Pundits believe this will lead to his impeachment.

So when Trump stepped up to a microphone, he stopped Washington in its tracks with one

comment about firing Mueller.

Trump was holding a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when

he was questioned about firing Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

The President swatted away this baseless speculation by noting that the media has claimed for months

he is one the verge of cleaning house and yet nothing has happened.

The media would love for Trump to fire Mueller and Rosenstein.

Their main objective is destroying his Presidency and exercising a veto over the results of

the election.

So they constantly try to bait the President into sacking Mueller and/or Rosenstein so

they can then gin up a Constitutional crisis.

The press knows this is the one scenario that will cause Congress to impeach the President.

So of course they make every day a countdown to Mueller getting canned.

Trump has wisely refused to take the bait.

He knows Congressional Republicans are not known for their spine in the face of a media

onslaught.

And he also realizes that most Congressional Republicans are members of the establishment

in good standing.

That means their loyalty is to the swamp and not to the President or their voters.

Trump is not going to step on a rake for the benefit of his enemies.

So his answer in the press conference showed a bit of exasperation with the question.

If Trump wanted to fire Mueller and Rosenstein, they would be gone.

But Trump hasn't fired them.

And any speculation about him possibly taking this action isn't journalism.

It's the media entering the political arena as active participants – and not unbiased

observers – so they can shape the course of events and achieve their ultimate goal:

The impeachment of Donald Trump.

We will keep you up to date on any new developments

in

this story.

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