>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. hello to viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm john king in washington. thank you for sharing a busy news day with us. we begin the hour with stunning, breaking news. president trump in his own words making clear he knew about the

dire threat of the coronavirus very early on at a time he repeatedly told the american penal they were safe. china was on top of it and it would all soon pass. the president again in his own words making clear he deliberately withheld information from the american people repeatedly concealed details about the gravity of this threat, because in this words, he didn't want to create a panic. these are among the many e eye-popping revelations. you see the new "washington post" journal and author bob woodward. the book contains new scathing takes from several of the president's closest advisers including former defense secretary james mattis, former director of intelligence dan coats, president's son-in-law jared kushner and dr. anthony fauci. most stunning to read and hear the president acknowledging he was told early on in early february that the virus was a big problem in china. airborne transmission was happening and was far more serious than any flu.

what he told woodward about the coronavirus threat and what he was telling the american people in that same period of time are night and day. the gravity of what he was being told compared to the limited actions he took in those early days raise new and profound questions about this president's pandemic mismanagement. cnn obtain and early copy of "rage" and audio recordering woodward made in his 18 conversations with the president. jamie gangel is breaking the news now and here to walk us through the most significant piece of information. jammi jamie, start with early february. little reason to worry, but -- >> remember those from watergate, howard baker. what did the president know and when did he know it? that's what bob woodward lays out in this book. what we know is from woodward's dh

account on january 28th security adviser robert o'brien tells him in a tough secret briefing this is going to be the greatest threat of your presidency. at the same time, the president is, as you said, playing it down. but what woodward did with the president's permission was, he recorded all of these interviews. there are 18 wide-ranging interviews. and what we're going to play you first is the president in his own words, february 7th, telling woodward in striking detail just how much he understands about how deadly and dangerous the virus is. >> and so what was president xi saying yesterday? >> we were talking mostly about the -- the virus, and i think he's going to have it in good shape, but you know, it's a very

tricky situation. it goes through air, bob. that's always tougher than the touch. you know? the touch you don't have to touch things. right? but the air, you just breathe the air. that's how it's -- passed. and so that's a very tricky one. that's a very delicate one. it's also more deadly than your, you know, your, even your streb sten uous flus. people don't realize we lose 20,000, 30,000 people a year here moop would think that. >> i know. >> pretty amazing. i say the same thing. this is more deadly. this is five per, you know, 5% versus 1% and less than 1%. you know? so this is deadly stuff. >> john, i just want all of us to remember, we are used to the virus now, as used to it as you can be, but if you go back to the beginning of february, american public thought it was a problem in china. the notion of it being airborne,

5% more deadly, these are very specific details that the president had in the very same time period that he is saying, it's all going to go away. >> that's february 7th. just played that conversation. he talks how deadly it is and said two weeks later 20 days later in india, a problem that's going to go away. within a couple of days going to be down to zero. the president kelling woodward one thing and telling the wold something very different. interesting, the president makes no bones about it, doing it on purpose. decided las a strategy not to co-va the seriousness because he didn't want to incite" a panic." >> correct. woodward does another interview march 19th. we have the audio of that. again, the president in his own words. just to set this up, remember, he has been publicly minimizing the threat to young people. not a problem for young people.

he still minimizes the threat to young people. so he addresses that, and then you'll hear he admits that he's not sharing everything he knows. >> now it's turning out it's not just old people, bob. today and yesterday, some startling facts came out. it's not just old, older people. >> yeah. exactly. >> putting young people -- so what's going on. >> so give me a moment of talking to somebody, going through this with fauci or somebody who kind of, it caused a pivot in your mind? because it's clear just from what's on the public record that you went through a pivot on this to, oh, my god. the gravity is almost inexplicable and unexplainable? >> i think, bob, really, to be

honest with you. >> sure. i want you to be. >> i wanted to -- i wanted to always play it down. i still like playing it down. >> yes. >> because i don't want to create a panic. >> you know, but, john, this wasn't just about panic. the white house, we know, is very concerned about the economy. the president is very concerned about getting re-elected, and what i think you have to just remind people is, we've put together some of what the president is saying at the same time publicly in stark contrast. >> the virus -- they're working hard. looks like by april, you know in here toy when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. hope that's true. but we're doing great in our country. china, i spoke with president

xi, they're working very, very hard. when you have 15 people, and 15 in a couple of days will be down close to zero. that's a pretty good job we've done. >> it's going to disappear. one day it's like a miracle. it will disappear. >> and from our shores, it would get worse before it gets better. could maybe go away. we'll see whamt happens. nobody really knows. >> stay calm. you know it is going i way and will go away and we're going to have a great victory. >> just to sort of give you a big picture of the book and you can see right there the contrast. woodward paints a picture in this book of failed leadership, a betrayal of trust of the american people. we see february as a lost month. where something could have been done. he knew, and he just have to wonder when you read this book if the president had not played it down, and if he had shared

with the public these details, if he had shut down the country, if he had said, wear a mask. he knew it was airborne. wash your hands, socially distance. we have lost almost 190,000 americans. you just have to wonder how many of those lives may have been saved? >> urgency protesting back then. ramp up ppe production. even if you don't shut down the economy. tell people to socially distance, protect yourself. we'll get you the masks as opposed to we'll be down to zero in a few days. it's stunning. he's night and day. he gets it, but he's not communicating it to the people who need to know it. meaning, his own citizens. another theme throughout the book is to all of these senior officials. people of stature, defense secretary, director of national intelligence. dr. anthony fauci, who just come away after working closely with this president with the impression, the belief, that he's just not up to the job. >> that is correct.

and what i want to say is, we talk a lot about anonymous sources who are very good, but bob woodward has these people on the record. there were names and they were being quoted, and just to go through a couple, former defense secretary james mattis says about the president, he is "dangerous, unfit and has no moral compass." former director of national intelligence dan coats says, "trump doesn't know the difference between the truth and a lie," and from dr. anthony fauci, who we've all gotten to know, one of the most respected scientists and member of the coronavirus task force says that "trump the attention span is like a minus number" and that "his sole purpose is to get re-elected." >> again, three men of stature there in the case of senator coates, respected conservative

republican senator. general mattis, defense secretary, dr. fauci, been at this 40 years. people of stature with damns opinions of the president. another thing that's in the book, relates to something else that's in the news right now. a lot of tension. the president lashing out at a report he called american war dead losers and suckers airing grievances with the generals in washington suggesting that the top people at the pentagon are out to get him in some way and just love wars. this is something woodward explored. the relationship with the generals. >> correct. woodward describes in his book that one of then defense secretary mattis' top aides who is named and quoted, not anonymous, was in a meeting in the oval office with president trump. it was a meeting about trade, and he heard president trump say and then he told defense secretary mattis, and i think we have a full veen screen up here.

trump said my f-ing generals are a bunch of -- and you can read the word right there. what's interesting when the aide came and told mat is mattis aro, whose been around. send me an email. knowing bob woodward i'm getting he just may have a copy of that document, which was done in realtime. >> we talk friblequently, sadly about the reality tv president. maybe talk about it how the president's son-in-law, trusted adviser jared kushner views his boss the president. >> this is one of the most unusual parts of the book, because woodward says there's no question that jared kushner is a cheerleader for his father, but

when he explains in the book, and he's quoted, about the best way to understand donald trump, he quotes four texts, one is "alice in wonderful" paraphrases the kecheshire cat, if you don' know where you're going, any path will get you there. then woodward goes on to write it was clear that kushner wasn't meaning to criticize his father-in-law, but woodward writes, when combined kushner's foretext painted president trump as stubborn and manipulative. i could hardly believe anyone would recommend these ta as ways to understand their father-in-law much less the president they believed in and served. >> the book shelves next week. >> next week. september 15th. and i just want to remind

people, president trump did not participate in bob woodward's first book on him, "fear." this time, he gave him 18 interviews, and there are audiotapes. even for president trump, it's going to be a little hard to say he didn't say what he said. >> i'm guessing now that people at the white house are learning about this. i going to bet most don't understand the extent to which he talked to bob booedward. >> many calls late at night. president trump would call woodward unexpectedly. the white house normally records a president's conversations with journalists. i don't think we know whether all of these interviews were recorded. >> i think we soon will. jamie gangel, breathtaking reporting. thanks for sharing. appreciate it. perspective, chief medical corners cnn's dr. sanjay gupta. dr. gupta, we can't rewind the tape. we can't go back to the

beginning. but we now hear the president in his own words in early february at a time he was telling you and me and the american people and anybody watching around the world, no big deal. china's got it. we're good. soon down to zero. nothing to worry about. i got this. china's got this. he was telling bob woodward, this is incredibly deadly, way worse than any flu you have ever seen. again, we candidate rewind the tape. if that had been communicated publicly, the president put that urgency into his people back then, those sad numbers that are most often on the right sort of our television screen would without a doubt be lower. would they not? >> no doubt, john. i mean, we know some of the most basic public health measures, the earlier you do them, they have an exponential larger impact in the long run. whether it is the, you know, the mask ordinances, whether the sort of stay-at-home order, slowing down of the spread orders that went out middle of march. remember, that was middle of

march, john, when that happened. i think i was really struck beginning of jamie's report just by what you said. this idea that at first i was -- you know, in the briefing room with the president when he talked about this. at first he said, i'm sort of very surprised that flu actually kills so many every year. 37,000 people as it turns out in the year prior. what he was sort of really fixated on. when i asked him specifically about the comparisons between coronavirus and flu, on february 27th, again, 20 days after he told bob woodward he knew it was far more dangerous than the flu, live to what he said. >> the flu, in comparison to the coronavirus. flu that a fatalities ratio 0.1%. this is fatality 2% and 3%. >> we don't know exactly and the flu is higher.

much higher than that. >> just the flu, more than the flu, spreading, going to spread within communities. >> it may -- it may. >> that's the expectation. >> that seems to be what worries the american people? >> no. we're ready for it. it is what it is. we're ready for it. we're really prepared. as i said we have the greatest people in the world and are very ready for it. we hope it doesn't spread. ness a chance it won't spread, too, and a chance it will and a question at what level. so far we've done a great job. you have 15 people with this whole world coming into the united states and the 15 people are either better or close to being better, that's pretty good. >> so, again, february 27th. and now we know on february 7th he knew that this was, he said, five times deadlier than the flu. he knew this close to three weeks earlier, john. that's quite striking. then show you why. to your point earlier, if we had acted even a week earlier, put in some of these social distances mechanisms even a week earlier according to a study out of columbia, by may we know it

would have prevented at least 36,000 deaths. just acting one week earlier. john, two weeks earlier could have prevented 84% of deaths by that point in may. so, yeah. it make as difference and makes a bigger difference if you enact these things early. >> and this may be somewhat unfair question, but as a medical professional yourself, as someone who has to sometimes decide what do i tell my patients? i have really tough news to deliver. how much do you tell? how transparent are you? how optimistic? in terms of getting people to change their behavior, to deal with a serious risk, they need the information. do they not? the president here deliberately withholding and says it in his own words, this is not the fake news. this is not cnn, in his own words, a strategy, he said i'd do it and continue do dot it to keep information from people, information they could have used, whether john king or dr. sanjay gupta or a republican governor reluctant to impose a

mask mandate or social distancing, after average citizen could have changed behavior in february or march, not july or august, right? >> yeah. absolutely. and you know, the thing about, that you're asking about. talking to a patient. you're right, john. what you're alluding to i think is, there's always an inflection point bean being hopeful and honest. honesty absolutely has to lead the way, full and transparent. you have to keep in mind the entire world was going through this same time. wasn't like talking about an isolated event in the united states. minimize the united states so we don't look like we're dealing with this alone in some way. the whole world was going through this. we saw that if you implemented some public health measures, the idea of staying at home for a few weeks at the beginning to get the viral spread under control it could have had a huge difference. tens of how ththousands could h

been alive. we don't know. these are models and they'll be a huge discussion after this is all over in terms what differences these thing wos hul have made. it's clear acting earlier would have made a big difference. >> pretty clear, a president hon effort are and transparent with his people might have changed behavior a lot earlier. those not listening to the scientist r science might have lived to him. the woodward book says the president was briefed in early february and he knew depths of the coronavirus criesis. what he told you was very different. more of our exclusive reporting in a few minutes. so you're ready for the day with a clean shave and a clean face.

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whew! call unitedhealthcare today and ask for this free decision guide. more on the bombshell new book from bob woodward, what wept on in the white house in the early days of the pandemic. the president in his own words concealing the truth and downplaying the disease to the

american people. from the "washington post," with us, and dana bash. thank you for being here on this important day. back and listen to, again, the president in his own words. this is early february. at a time the administration is telling including the president, telling the american people this is not a big deal. china's on top of it. we got this. there's not a lot to worry about. listen how the president describes the threat in ones his 18 conversations with bob woodward. >> and so what was president xi saying yesterday? >> talking mostly about the -- the virus, and i think he's going to have it in good shape, but, you know, it's a very tricky situation. it's -- >> indeed it is. >> it goes through air, bob. always tougher than the touch. you know? the touch you don't have to touch things. right? but the air, you just breathe the air. that's how it's passed. and so that's a very tricky one. that's a very delicate one. it's also more deadly than your, you know, your, even your

strenuous flus. you know, people don't realize. we lose 25,000, 30,000 people a year here. who would ever think that, right? >> i know. >> amazing. and then i say, well, is that the same thing? >> and do for -- >> this is more deadly. this is five per, you know, 5% versus 1% and less than 1%. you know? so this is deadly stuff. >> and that's february 7, 2020. march 13th the president of the united states finally declares a national emergency are and show you the track of cases in the united states. march 16th when they first appeared in the white house briefing room announcing 15 days to slow the spread. if you listen to him talking to bob woodward on february 7th, it's airborne. it's way more serious than any flu. dan, the word inexcusable comes to my mind. in terms of leadership and communicating with the american people of the gravity of the threat, what the president was telling the american people versus what he was telling bob woodward right there literally night and day.

>> john, i mean, bob's reporting is unbelievable in many ways. and as he has reported it in this book, it is a dereliction of duty on the part of the president. if he knew and believed what he was telling bob in february, and did not act on it, and, in fact, deliberately played it down, then we see the consequences that have flowed from that. i mean, he was providing the rosiest of scenarios through that whole period at a time when he believed or was told that that was not the case. >> and, dan, to continue that point, woodward notes and has memos to back it up, january 28th the president given a top secret intelligence briefing by national security adviser o'brien and top deputy on china. jarring warning about the virus telling the president, "the biggest national security threat of his presidency." that's it january 28th. the biggest national security threat of his presidency.

on february 4th, the fred gave a state of the union address to the united states people and barely mentioned the coronavirus. i got this. on top of this. nothing to worry about. dereliction of duty. fine words used by dan a moment ago, just how? how? why? >> well, i don't think any of us has answers to that, but you were mentioned earlier when talking to jamie as she unveiled this incredible reporting based on bob woodward's book that you bet that there are people around the president who didn't really know how extensively he spoke with bob woodward, which is proven, as we have played by audiotapes that woodward has. i just got a text from somebody close to the campaign who says they're shocked that the president not only did that but much more importantly the conte content, and the specific part where the president said that the virus was deadly. this is deadly stuff, is the

quote from the president to bob woodward. but that was not widely disseminated eveningen internally. never mind to the public at large. and we're obviously going to get a lot more information from people around the president about how much they knew that the president spoke to woodward, but i think the key thing to kind of zero in on is what you were saying. that the president knew this, not only did he not tell the american public, he told the american public the opposite. nothing to woe aborry about her. i think it's possible people have outrage fatigue. every day we hear something that is unbelievable that comes from the president or about the president. and this should stand on its own, and separate from that, and people really need to listen and to read what bob woodward has from the president's own words back early in the year. >> right. companies have been wiped off the planet. small businesses have had to close.

people are now debating about whether it's safe to send their children back to school. corporations are deeptdi idebat bring people back to work? listen to the president, deliberate. not either/or, not i'm waiting for more information. you hear the president in his own words, a., say more things contrary to what he told the public. and, b., concealing the information. my word here, misleading the american people on purpose. part of a strategy. listen. >> now it's turning out it's not just old people, bob. just today and yesterday some startling facts came out. it's not just old, older. >> yeah. >> plenty of young people. >> give me a -- a moment of talking to somebody, going through this with fauci or somebody who kind of, it caused a pivot in your mind? because it's clear just from what's on the public record that you went through a pivot on this

to, oh, my god. the gravity is almost inexplicable and unexplainable? >> i think, bob, really, to be honest with you. >> sure. i want you to be. >> i wanted to -- i wanted to always play it down. i still like playing it down. >> yes. >> because i don't want to create a panic. >> i don't want to create a panic. now we should understand and should want our public officials with urgent, dire information to process it carefully and communicate it carefully so not to cause a panic. there's a difference between not causing a panic and not sharing information to the american people that might change their behavior to keep themselves safe, to keep their business up and running, start ordering ppe or a hobble or small business. the ceo of a publicly traded corporation and withheld vital information from the shareholders, you would be fired. >> no question about it.

what we don't know is when he said, we don't want to create a panic what kind of panic he was talking about. because we have our own reporting from the time that what the president was telling his friends is that his biggest concern was the economy. the stock market. and he didn't want the panic to be created in that realm so that the economy tanked, the stock market tanked and it would hurt his prospects for re-election. my sense is given that reporting, that that was probably what he was referring to, regardless, you're exactly right. if he felt that, knew that if that was the information he was getting, why wasn't the preparation done inside the government at a more robust pace? >> and, look, dana, it's inevitable. we are in a re-election year. again, you can understand any politician, whether this president, democrat, republican president, trying to shade things as favorably as possible. but also he has a job as president of the united states and when you hear, and bob woodward rights in the book, he wasn't aware of this in some

conversations with the president wasn't aware until later the president was told january 28th by his national security adviser and the top nsc deputy about problems in china, airborne transmission, the biggest national security crisis of your presidency. the president never conveyed that to the american people he viewed it that way. not in the state of the union address, not since. he never conveyed to the american people that he had been told this is way more deadly than any flu. >> john, there's an old saying in politics that good policy is good politics. which is to say, if you are confronted with something like this, the first order of business is to deal with it and deal with it as effectively as possible. on the assumption if you do that, the political benefit will flow from it. the degree to which he was worried about a panic, and i think dana is exactly right, that the concern was about the economy, but nonetheless, it's the virus that was threatening

everything. and his inability to see his way through that and to understand both the policy implications, the public health implications, and, therefore, the politics of it is remarkable. and now, know, this is not something based on anonymous sources. this is the president of the united states on the record, on tape with bob creating a record that he will have an enormously difficult time refuting. >> and, dana, you made a key point. a lot of outrage over the laugh three-plus years of the presidency and go back into 20915 and 2016 campaigns. the president in his own voice for example on the "access hollywood" tape in a campaign and still the president of united states. we don't know how this will play out, out there in america. we know it he's the incumbent president and look at polling handling of coronavirus is already under water. track it out approve/disapprove on the coronavirus. interesting in the book, point

it out, heard some before. da dana's point, use of documents quotation to back them up in woodward reporting not just ash the coronavirus. men of good reputation who come to work for this president coming away with arn incredibly bitter taste in their mouth. former defense secretary, military hero general jim mattis, dangerous, unfit. no moral compass. dan coats, republican senator bake director of national intelligence. trump doesn't know the difference between the truth and a lie. dr. fauci, attention span like a minus number. his sole purpose to get reelected. read the book, dan coats, director of national intelligence, also reporting in the book that he just could not shake the idea that he believed the president must somehow be under leverage of russia, could find no other way to explain the president's behavior when it came to vladimir putin. also director coates couldn't prove it but suspected it because he could not explain the president's behavior. three men, we live in a polarized world i know. three men with solid rep tapgss.

dan coats, solid conserve tivg republican. dr. fauci at this 40 years. general mattis served with distinction and came out of retirement to serve this president. not the first time. see it starked estacked up nex other, come away essentially needing to take a shower it is striking. >> when you put up the quotes as you did, particularly in dan coats a longtime senator, there twice and before he became the president's director of national intelligence, i mean, he is the guy with the most access to the intelligence, that the united states is getting. the fact that he says that about the president for whom he is working is like a really bad movie. really is. having said all of that, given what we have seen from, you know, so many people writing books, on the record, things on background kind of describing the president in those terms, obviously not of the stature just put up there for the most

part, it is probably baked in when it comes to the president's political prospects. seems to me, this is new. we'll see how it plays out and penetrates with voters, is the coronavirus part. there is nothing that people can relate to more across the country, across the board than the coronavirus. if you are a suburban parent staying at home watching this right now while giving your kids lunch because they have to go back to virtual learning and have to do that because the united states government did not take this virus seriously enough, didn't prepare enough and you're hearing from back in february the president saying that it was deadly stuff. i can't imagine that not having an impact how people vote. >> right. to that point, dana, again, we live in a polarized environment but this is poerersonal to peop. you can't tweet away biology and dana pointed out, so personal to

people. a parent with children in schools. anybody in a work environment and the like. just the bake numbers. again, i want to put up total confirmed cases of coronavirus here in the united states of america with key dates. you heard the president of united states on february 7th talking to bob woodward how serious this is. not until march 16th the white house announced 15 days to slow the spread. the white house guidelines expire there, you see after that. then you just see projection of cases. 1.7 million on memorial day. 2.4 million july fourth. 6 poirn 6.3 million now and counting. painful, number of deaths. february 29th, fir death. the president complaexplaining woodward, how serious. we have not had the first death in the united states. i'm not a scientist. neither of are you. the lostmonth. the president member 7th talking to woodward how serious it was then didn't really do anything.

yes, banned some travel from china. limited steps. don't say the president did anything to but did not ramp up testing in february or ppe production in february and look what happened from march through this horrific summer. this president able to talk himself out of a lot of crises, dan. how do you's talk yourself out of that? >> i don't know how you do that, john. we'll see. i mine, we all await a presidential response to this and not sirchly simply a white house statement from the press secretary or a spokesperson. this will have to come from the president of the united states. and i -- as i'm sure you -- look forward to finding out how he explains this. the idea that when he new this and knew how serious it was he did not put the federal government on alert and begin to put the country on alert is the question he's going to have to answer now. >> right. and he syd in his own voice, he did not want to cause a panic. he deliberately withheld information concealed information from the public, in

his words, not to cause a panic, the numbers speak for themselves. thank you both the important reporting and insights and we cover the news. when we come back, we're awaiting reaction from the trump white house. i'm making sandwiches!

on king's hawaiian bread! yum! king's hawaiian.

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we'll essentially have acflu shot for thislp in a fairly qui manner. view thisw3 same at the flu. thisfp)j shrike a flu. >> like you have the flu youw3 f recouperate, get better. >> with the flu, on average we lose from 26,000 to 78,000 people a year even more than that. >> look at number on the right of your screen. we haven't lost anyone yet, the president said then.q e

need to go backciçiuju)hp'd school. talki talking taking shutdowns in march toying with 15 days to slow the spread. thiz like that. it will cast a different lightç on basicallyñi every decision t made has made. the way they defended what he said then compared to now ij[ @c like saying we learnedjf more, know more about it now andc making better informed decisions now. actually we're seeing what the president did knowçó back then. it raises questions about the level of testing and why they were so slow to get that off th] ground. why such a struggle at the cdc? mask wearing,q something the president showed up last night in north carolina. still not fully onboard with, still not fully encouraging )úga1 hosting events where a lot of people are notc wearin masks. there were some people at that rally wearing them. just goingjf to cast basically every single decision the president has made ak leading the country through thislpq pandemic or not leading country through thislp pandemic into af different light and i think that

is actually goin'p to be a wor what they have been trying to dr on the campaign trail, john, turn voters focus away from the pandemic know voters don't like the way the president respond brd they saw the quotes he made privately and trying to changek the subject essentially on to something else. makei] is au referendum about different and now this will make doing that much more difficult for them. ñi >> much more difficult.ñi kaitlan, about misleading the american people what he knew about the scope and credibility of this virus. i wanted to always play it down  those are the wotws of the president of the united i]state( misleading the american people in a pandemic. kaitlan collins, thank you from the white house. and when we come back, thei president's campaign in these final weeks. e1çóok when we started carvana, they told us

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the blockbuster book by bob woodward out early next week. the bombshell. the president in his own words recorded by the journalist and legendary author bob woodward saying february 7th how dangerous the coronavirus was, way worse than any flu. deadly stuff. at the time saying something quite differ to the american people. the president in another recorded conversation with woodward saying it was deliberate. down playing the threat on purpose to the american people. the question how will it play out in a campaign very much about the pandemic. former vice president joe biden speaks next hour in michigan.

there in warren, michigan, as we wait our reporter. the president wants to talk about jobs and the economy but the book tees up a constant theme by joe biden that this president hasn't been leadi ini during this pandemic he has been failing. >> reporter: right. joe biden hammered away at president trump over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. biden and his advisers view the pandemic and economy essential issues heading into november's election. biden arrived here in michigan a short while ago. he is making his way over to warren right now. he, reporters shouted questions at him when he got off the plane about the woodward interview, but he did not immediately respond. while the speech was supposed to focus on american manufacturing, we're going to keep an eye on whether biden responds to those explosive comments in that woodward interview. john? >> and help us go through the

idea the vice president has to try to find a sweet spot. wants to talk about the pandemic, connect all dots. economy in trouble because of the pandemic schools in trouble because of the pandemic and same time needs to carve out his own positive message. is the book likely to knock them off their plan a little bit? >> reporter: you'll hear him continue to try to hammer away at the coronavirus pandemic and also trying to make in-roads when it comes to the economy. we've seen joe biden over the course of the past few days kind of really push hard against the president after those comments in the "atlantic." year suing the biden campaign drawing on some comments from the president. i think it will be likely they will really focus in on what he had to say related to the coronavirus as they have tried to show that there is this stark leadership contrast between the two of them. biden is here in michigan. a state that has very strict rules when it comes to the coronavirus. he's going to hold a

smaller-style event. not a large rally as you saw the president hold in north carolina. always eager to try to make these differences with the president when it comes to covid-19 and how the former vice president believes he would handle it compared to the current white house. >> signsen 0 the ground in warren, michigan. noting we're awaiting a white house briefing to take place and see if the press secretary kayleigh mcenany will deal with this book. the big highlights the new book raised by bob woodward. a february 7th conversation with bob woodward in which the president talks he knows the virus is transmitted through the air. he knows it is way more dangerous and deadly than even the most strenuous flu. then later in a march conversation with bob woodward the president of the united states, he says that he always wanted to play it down. i still like playing it down, because i don't want to create a panic. again, waiting for reaction from the white house for these startling words. the president in his own words

describing his pandemic leadership. many would say misleadership. brianna keilar picks up our coverage right now. thank you. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. i'm brianna keilar and we are beginning with breaking news. stunning new details of president trump admitting just how dangerous and deadly the coronavirus was way back in early february even as he continued to downplay the virus publicly to the american people. cnn obtain and early copy of author and legendary journalist bob woodward's new book about trump titled "rage" revealing explosive new information mp the president's handling of the coronavirus. plus cnn obtained audio recorders of interviews woodward did with trump for the book. cnn's special correspondent jamie gangel read the book and is here to talk about it. share the details, jamie. >> so it is full -- fasten your seat belts -- full of stunning

revelations about president trump. a very harsh, brute many words from his inner circle, but the headline is about his handling of the coronavirus. and woodward addresses a question you may remember going back to watergate, what did the president know and when did he know it? according to woodward's reporting, trump withheld critical details about coronavirus from the american public, and as you mentioned in addition to the book, we have obtained some of the audiotapes from the woodward/trump interviews just to give it context. bob woodward did 18 wide-ranging interviews with the president. they were all recorded with his permission. so what i want to do is start with a piece of audio we have so you can hear the president in his own words. this goes back to february, early in february, the first week, and