WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.380 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: I'm Pete Williams, in for Robert Costa. And this is the Washington Week 00:04.380 --> 00:08.770 align:start Extra, where we pick up online where we left off on the broadcast. 00:08.770 --> 00:13.920 align:start The - former FBI Director James Comey's upcoming memoir isn't out for a month, but it's 00:13.920 --> 00:17.520 align:start already a number-one bestseller on Amazon. 00:17.520 --> 00:22.650 align:start A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership hits the shelves April 17th. 00:22.650 --> 00:27.410 align:start The publisher is being very careful to avoid any leaks from Comey's account of his 00:27.410 --> 00:32.690 align:start relationship with President Trump. But I want to ask you, Jonathan, Axios is reporting 00:32.690 --> 00:36.510 align:start that Comey plans to set the record straight. So what else do we know? 00:36.510 --> 00:40.170 align:start JONATHAN SWAN: Well, one of the most - well, firstly, I should say we know nothing. 00:40.170 --> 00:42.240 align:start (Laughter.) So that's the - 00:42.240 --> 00:44.260 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: But that's never stopped us. (Laughter.) 00:44.260 --> 00:47.160 align:start JONATHAN SWAN: That's the bedrock. But, you know, I'm on TV, so let me tell you. 00:47.160 --> 00:51.200 align:start (Laughter.) So one of the most interesting things about James Comey is he was a 00:51.200 --> 00:55.330 align:start prolific note-taker. He wrote lots of memos. And we're not just talking about the famous 00:55.330 --> 00:59.010 align:start memo - which was the discussion of his private dinner with Donald Trump, which became 00:59.010 --> 01:03.150 align:start big news. He's taken - our understanding is, and we've been told this by people 01:03.150 --> 01:07.790 align:start familiar with the book, is he has written similar memos throughout his career. 01:07.790 --> 01:14.360 align:start And if you read his memos, they have this cinematic sort of eye for detail, and you know, 01:14.360 --> 01:17.960 align:start a good memo writer makes for an interesting book writer. 01:17.960 --> 01:23.000 align:start So I think we're going to see a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes details from a guy 01:23.000 --> 01:27.180 align:start who seems to have a sort of novelist's eye for detail. 01:27.180 --> 01:32.470 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Is the Trump White House sort of ready for trouble when this book comes out? 01:32.470 --> 01:35.890 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: Well, you know, look at how Fire and Fury did, right? 01:35.890 --> 01:40.730 align:start And that was certainly not somebody who had the same vantage point that James Comey did. 01:40.730 --> 01:45.930 align:start I think it's going to be a major event. Now, the difference is that Comey has already 01:45.930 --> 01:51.300 align:start testified publicly about this. And certainly the contours, at least, of his major 01:51.300 --> 01:55.960 align:start interactions with President Trump have been known because they are the subject of news 01:55.960 --> 02:00.280 align:start and investigations. But, you know, I'm looking forward to reading it. (Laughter.) 02:00.280 --> 02:02.950 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: I'm sure we all will. 02:02.950 --> 02:06.860 align:start ABBY PHILLIP: I think it'll be a big media firestorm. But I also, to Susan's point, 02:06.860 --> 02:11.580 align:start wonder how much of it is actually going to be new and sort of revelatory, especially 02:11.580 --> 02:15.760 align:start considering some of it is probably classified or the subject of an ongoing 02:15.760 --> 02:19.690 align:start investigation. There's a lot that he probably can't say in addition to what he will say. 02:19.690 --> 02:21.320 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Although - 02:21.320 --> 02:24.480 align:start PETER BAKER: Right, he'd get in trouble, in fact, if he did, right, because people would 02:24.480 --> 02:27.360 align:start then say, well, how come you didn't tell Congress this when we asked you about it. 02:27.360 --> 02:30.000 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Although I'm told that he hasn't really talked to Bob Mueller much about 02:30.000 --> 02:33.420 align:start what's going to be in the book. Well, the other notable thing that happened was 02:33.420 --> 02:37.940 align:start Tuesday Democrat Conor Lamb won a special election for Pennsylvania's 18th 02:37.940 --> 02:41.710 align:start Congressional District. That's a suburb outside Pittsburgh. 02:41.710 --> 02:47.390 align:start While Lamb won the race by a razor-thin margin, the slim victory in a solidly Republican 02:47.390 --> 02:52.940 align:start district that President Trump won by nearly 20 points has upended the political landscape 02:52.940 --> 02:57.910 align:start ahead of November's midterm elections. So, Peter, let me ask you this. Some Republican 02:57.910 --> 03:02.360 align:start strategists are blaming the choice on the Republican candidate. Is that fair? 03:02.360 --> 03:06.180 align:start PETER BAKER: Well, look, every race is going to have a candidate who is strong or weak 03:06.180 --> 03:09.240 align:start or what have you. This is a district that no Republican should have had to struggle 03:09.240 --> 03:12.590 align:start for, strong or weak. There hadn't been a Democratic candidate there for - 03:12.590 --> 03:14.640 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: He wasn't that bad. 03:14.640 --> 03:17.280 align:start PETER BAKER: He wasn't that bad, and the district is that strong. 03:17.280 --> 03:20.270 align:start There hadn't been a Democrat running at all for the past couple cycles and, as you 03:20.270 --> 03:23.550 align:start mentioned, Donald Trump won it by 20 points the last time around. 03:23.550 --> 03:26.830 align:start This shouldn't have been a contest. That's why it's so interesting - not that one 03:26.830 --> 03:30.920 align:start seat matters, not that one race matters, it's the question of trajectory. 03:30.920 --> 03:36.280 align:start Are we seeing increasing evidence that the suburbs in America are in revolt against 03:36.280 --> 03:40.320 align:start Donald Trump? That's what we're looking to see, whether it's sustained in the fall. 03:40.320 --> 03:43.910 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: So one of the things that was notable about this election was the 03:43.910 --> 03:48.170 align:start Democratic candidate criticizing Nancy Pelosi. Are we going to see more of that? 03:48.170 --> 03:51.660 align:start What does that mean for the prospect for the Democrats to take the House? 03:51.660 --> 03:55.510 align:start ABBY PHILLIP: Undoubtedly, I think if Democrats want to win, they need to allow more 03:55.510 --> 03:59.490 align:start Democratic candidates who are willing to criticize Nancy Pelosi. 03:59.490 --> 04:05.820 align:start The path to a Democratic majority in the House now is similar to what it was in the past, 04:05.820 --> 04:11.480 align:start which is that they need to reconstitute a moderate faction within the party. 04:11.480 --> 04:15.830 align:start The party is very liberal at the moment. And Nancy Pelosi is a smart enough 04:15.830 --> 04:19.880 align:start politician to know that this is probably going to happen, and she's OK with it. 04:19.880 --> 04:23.490 align:start I think she understands that some folks are going to need to distance themselves from her 04:23.490 --> 04:28.390 align:start in order to win, and the question remains whether the base - the very liberal, 04:28.390 --> 04:33.130 align:start progressive base - is going to be willing to come out and support more moderate 04:33.130 --> 04:37.270 align:start candidates like Conor Lamb in races like that Pennsylvania race. 04:37.270 --> 04:41.060 align:start It seems that the evidence of the past week is that maybe they will. 04:41.060 --> 04:43.810 align:start If that continues, then it could be a good sign. 04:43.810 --> 04:47.190 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: Look, I mean, first of all, beware of drawing sweeping national trends 04:47.190 --> 04:50.220 align:start from a House special election, right, number one. 04:50.220 --> 04:53.520 align:start Although both parties spent - and the Republicans in particular spent millions and 04:53.520 --> 04:56.820 align:start millions of dollars on this because they were so afraid of the narrative. 04:56.820 --> 05:01.150 align:start They are afraid of people like you saying are - you know, and you saying are Republicans 05:01.150 --> 05:07.630 align:start - (laughter) - are Republicans going to lose, you know, the suburbs, and therefore it's 05:07.630 --> 05:11.320 align:start all about President Trump. You know, they literally wasted millions of dollars. 05:11.320 --> 05:13.760 align:start It's like they lit it on fire in order to do this. 05:13.760 --> 05:15.730 align:start PETER BAKER: Well, for a seat, by the way, that's going away. 05:15.730 --> 05:17.540 align:start JONATHAN SWAN: It was you! It was you! (Laugher.) 05:17.540 --> 05:19.630 align:start PETER BAKER: Yeah, I mean, it was me. I admit it, it was me. 05:19.630 --> 05:21.910 align:start This seat goes away at the end of the year as the redistricting - 05:21.910 --> 05:24.120 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Yeah, so that's the question: Why did they fight so much over this? 05:24.120 --> 05:26.010 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: Well, but also they have done a good job, though, of making all of us - 05:26.010 --> 05:27.650 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Losing control. 05:27.650 --> 05:29.580 align:start PETER BAKER: They didn't want her - because they didn't want her - (laughter) - to say 05:29.580 --> 05:31.390 align:start if they didn't make a play for it they were - 05:31.390 --> 05:33.870 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: Well, but here we're talking about Nancy Pelosi instead of Donald Trump. 05:33.870 --> 05:37.140 align:start Let's be real, there's no evidence really to suggest that, you know, as a major drag on 05:37.140 --> 05:40.690 align:start the national - House districts around the country. It's going to be a very tough 05:40.690 --> 05:45.040 align:start sell to nationalize it around the House speaker versus nationalizing it around 05:45.040 --> 05:49.560 align:start the most unpopular president that we've - that we've had in recent memory. 05:49.560 --> 05:53.220 align:start JONATHAN SWAN: But there's also just a really basic point, which is, OK, sure, he wasn't 05:53.220 --> 05:57.310 align:start the greatest candidate in the world and he personally couldn't raise any money - they had 05:57.310 --> 06:00.480 align:start to - that's why they had to put all this outside money in to help him. 06:00.480 --> 06:06.130 align:start However, it's a 20-point Trump district. It's a 20-point Trump district. That - 06:06.130 --> 06:08.550 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: And the president did campaign there. 06:08.550 --> 06:12.750 align:start JONATHAN SWAN: Generic cutout Republican should have won, and that is of great concern 06:12.750 --> 06:14.850 align:start to Republican leadership. 06:14.850 --> 06:17.260 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: And they spent millions and millions of dollars. 06:17.260 --> 06:20.210 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: So people are not going to understand what you just said, well, in so 06:20.210 --> 06:22.390 align:start many ways - (laughter) - but especially about the district going away. Explain to this us. 06:22.390 --> 06:23.990 align:start PETER BAKER: Sorry. 06:23.990 --> 06:26.170 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: And does - do the Democrats still get to keep the seat? 06:26.170 --> 06:28.100 align:start It's the district that goes away, not the seat, right? 06:28.100 --> 06:30.880 align:start PETER BAKER: Yeah, so what happens is that Pennsylvania is going to redistrict itself 06:30.880 --> 06:33.280 align:start because it's had the fight in court over whether these districts are too partisan or not. 06:33.280 --> 06:34.910 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Right. 06:34.910 --> 06:37.740 align:start PETER BAKER: And this seat will go away under the new map - this district will go away 06:37.740 --> 06:40.820 align:start under the new map. So this new congressman, Conor Lamb, is going to have to run in a 06:40.820 --> 06:43.230 align:start different district to keep that seat. 06:43.230 --> 06:46.020 align:start We don't know whether that might actually work for him or not. And the point is - 06:46.020 --> 06:47.710 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Run when? 06:47.710 --> 06:50.430 align:start PETER BAKER: In the fall, because this is only a special election that gets you from 06:50.430 --> 06:54.770 align:start March until November. It was a vacant seat, vacated by another congressman who resigned. 06:54.770 --> 06:59.620 align:start So it doesn't really necessarily mean anything, I agree, but it's the trend line that 06:59.620 --> 07:03.940 align:start should be concerning to President Trump and his people because they lost so badly in the 07:03.940 --> 07:07.410 align:start Virginia suburbs in the governor's race last year, they lost this Alabama race. Special 07:07.410 --> 07:11.050 align:start circumstances, doesn't necessarily mean anything, you don't have a(n) accused child 07:11.050 --> 07:15.200 align:start molester in every race, but they had not had a lot of good news on the election front. 07:15.200 --> 07:18.540 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Well, to put it quite simply, Susan, how can this be anything but a 07:18.540 --> 07:21.720 align:start repudiation of President Trump or a rejection of him? 07:21.720 --> 07:24.620 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: I think, you know, is there a question mark at the end of it? 07:24.620 --> 07:28.110 align:start You know, I think we all agree that clearly this is very much a vote that's about 07:28.110 --> 07:32.670 align:start President Trump. And actually, speaking to the national trend line, I saw the other day 07:32.670 --> 07:37.380 align:start after the election somebody went and did the math, there's something close to a hundred 07:37.380 --> 07:43.390 align:start and I think it's nineteen districts held by House Republicans right now where actually 07:43.390 --> 07:47.810 align:start President Trump received less in their district than he received in this district. So 07:47.810 --> 07:52.780 align:start that is definitely a warning sign for House Republicans looking to keep their majority. 07:52.780 --> 07:55.840 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Got to go, but very quick question: What are the odds that the Democrats 07:55.840 --> 07:58.120 align:start will get the House in the fall? 07:58.120 --> 08:03.290 align:start ABBY PHILLIP: A lot of Republicans are telling you 50/50-ish right now, which is a sign that 08:03.290 --> 08:08.080 align:start even Republicans are very pessimistic about them holding onto it because of this wind of change. 08:08.080 --> 08:12.890 align:start JONATHAN SWAN: Better than that, because historically you just - I mean, it is the 08:12.890 --> 08:17.060 align:start aberration when the party that holds the presidency in the first midterms - like, just on 08:17.060 --> 08:20.930 align:start pure history and the generic ballot, I mean - 08:20.930 --> 08:23.740 align:start PETER BAKER: And Republicans are going to be in trouble in some of these blue states 08:23.740 --> 08:27.120 align:start like New York, like California. The few seats they have left are going to be in danger. 08:27.120 --> 08:31.880 align:start This Pennsylvania redraw of the map puts a few more seats into Democratic hands, potentially. 08:31.880 --> 08:35.240 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: All right, thank you all very much. While you're online, take the 08:35.240 --> 08:39.610 align:start Washington Week-ly News Quiz and find out what current prime minister began his 08:39.610 --> 08:44.120 align:start career working as an intern on Capitol Hill. I'm Pete Williams. 08:44.120 --> 08:53.900 align:start Robert Costa is back next week. Enjoy your weekend.