david cay johnston later covered trump at "the new york times." ohnston's new biography of donald trump has just been published. it is called, "the making of donald trump." juan gonzalez and i interviewed david cay johnston last month. we began by asking him what's the main theme he has taken away from his years of studying trump's operations. >> donald doesn't know anything. and if you listen carefully to what he says, it becomes apparent. he was asked by a hugh hewitt during one of the debates, the right-wing radio talk show host, about the nuclear triad. that's the capacity of the u.s. to deliver a nuclear bomb from a submarine missile, a land-based missile, or an airplane. his answer indicated he had no idea. well, it turned out hugh hewitt had asked the same question months earlier on his radio show, and trump didn't learn in between. trump talks as if the president's a dictator. wh he ran casinos, he didn't know the games. he did not know the odds. he didn't know how to handle customers. all he knew how to do was take money out of the organiz

guest has been david cay johnston. find him in the university of syracuse, university of rochester, new york. and if on twitter? david: davidcayj. brian: thank you for joining us. david: thank you, brian. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ announcer: for free transcripts were to give us your comments about this program, visit us at qanda.org. a podcasts are also available at c-span podcast. announcer: if you like this q&a interview with david cay johnston, and here are the others you may enjoy. we had judicial watch president tom fitton who focuses on government scandals that occurred during the obama administration in his book "clean house." there is also washington post reporter robert costa on donald trump's candidacy and how it is similar to the one ross perot ran in 1992. supporter,t clinton mark cuban, talks about his success as an entrepreneur. you can fi

. ♪ announcer: this week on "q&a," author and columnist david cay johnston. mr. e on the 2016 presidential nominee." ♪ brian: david cay johnston, a book called "the making of donald trump" is your latest and you say in the book that in the spring of 2016, you talked to mr. trump on the phone. what was that about? david: i was working on a "politico"

brian: our guest has been david cay johnston. find him in the university of syracuse, university of rochester, new york. and if they want to see you on twitter, what is your handle? david: davidcayj. brian: thank you for joining us. david: thank you, brian. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ announcer: for free transcripts, or to give us your comments about this program, visit us at .org.ate programs are also available as c-span podcasts. announcer: if you liked this othersew, here are some you might enjoy. ar program last week featured judicial watch president focusing on some of the government scandals that occurred during the obama administration in his book "clean house." also robert costa on donald trump's residency. and on the campaign ross perot ran. it marked cuban talks about his success as an entrepreneur. you can find that online at c-span.org. >> the c-span rad

correspondent, paul solman, sat down with a pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist, david cay johnston, who's been reporting on trump since the late eighties. he's also the author of a best- selling book, "the making of donald trump." it's part of our weekly series, "making sense." >> reporter: david cay johnston, welcome. >> thank you, paul. >> reporter: let's begin with secretary clinton's claim that mr. trump pays no federal income taxes, and in the debate his response. >> maybe he doesn't want the american people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he's paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. >> that makes me smart. >> reporter: the media are making a big fuss about that offhand remark of mr. trump's, but isn't he right to say he's smart to pay no taxes? >> well, there are two issues here to separate. and one of them is, because he is a- the owner of a lot of real est

♪ announcer: this week on "q&a," author and columnist david cay johnston. mr. hnson talks about his book "the making of donald trump: a critical take on the 2016 presidential nominee." ♪ brian: david cay johnston, a book called "the making of donald trump" is your latest and you say in the book that in the spring of 2016, you talked to mr. trump on the phone. what was that about? david: i was working on a piece for "politico" magazine about all of his convictions to a major drug trafficker to con artists, swimmers, american mafia, russian mobsters and tunnels that send an e-mail asking if you would like to comment and he called me in essence is is, there are a lot of things i like but if you don't stop what you are going to write i am going to sue you. from working on the city council 50 years ago to today, that is the only politician that has ever threatened to sue me for writing what he didn't like. i said, donald, you are a public figure. that would mean you have to prove that i deliberately lied into it. he said, i know i'm a public figure and i will see you

david johnston and then theresa may. after that, the pentagon 9/11 observance with president obama. ♪ announcer: this week on "q&a," author and columnist david cayton. mr. johnson talks about his book "the making of donald trump: a critical take on the 2016 presidential nominee." ♪ brian: david cay johnston a book called "the making of donald trump" is your latest and you say in the book that in the spring of 2016, you talked to mr. trump on the phone. what was that about? david:

david cay johnston, thank you very much for joining us. and congresswoman edwards, it's an honor to have you on the program. thank you. >> thank you. >>> coming up, melania trump promised she would have a press conference to explain her immigration records. instead she issued a tweet today from her immigration lawyer. that lawyer will join us next as our guest. don't let dust and allergens get between you and life's beautiful moments. flonase gives you more complete allergy relief. most allergy pills only control one inflammatory substance. flonase controls 6. and six is greater than one. flonase changes everything. ♪ war game later in the program tonight. what would happen if donald trump carried out his threat to open fire on any small iranian boats that were gesturing toward our navy destroyers. we're going to go through that coming up in the show. up next, melania trump's immigration lawyer joins us. you owned your car for four years. you named it brad. you loved brad. and then you totaled him. you two had been through everything toget

brian: our guest has been david cay johnston. can find him in the university of syracuse, university of rochester, new york. and if they want to see you on twitter, what is your handle? david: davidcayj. brian: thank you for joining us. david: thank you, brian. national cable satellite corp. 2016] the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: for free transcripts, or to give us your comments about this program, visit us at q&a date.org. programs are also available as c-span podcasts. >> u.s. house returns today at 2:00 p.m. eastern for legislative work. there are 19 bills on the agenda. with votes on those after 6:30 eastern. we will have live coverage of the house here on c-span when they gavel back in. earlier today we spoke with a capitol hill reporter to get a look what's on the agenda in the house in the near future. on the break. joining us on the phone what to expect this week, susan "washington examiner." she's chief congressional correspondent. g

. >>> this sunday night on q&a, author and columnist david cay johnston discuss "the make of donald trumpt him. he speaked barnum. he is selling tickets to the amazing two-headed woman. because he was the dominant force in atlantic city, i started asking about him, and his competitors, including steve wynn and people who worked for and some big gamblers said to me donald doesn't know anything about the casino business. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's q&a. >>> book tv on c-span2 focuses on the latest nonfiction book release through author interviews and book discussion. the signature programs are "in-depth" a live three-hour look at one author's work through phones, e-mails and social media. "in-depth" airs the first sunday every month at noon eastern. after words including the author of a nonfiction and the interviewer, who is either a journalist or a legislator familiar with the topic. and often with an opposing viewpoint. "afterwords" every saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern. and we'll take you across the country visiting fesitvals and book parties where authors talk