but knowing what jonathan swan knew was not enough. plenty of reporters know everything there is to know about a subject, but they still fail when questioning donald trump about that subject because they become victims of his tricks, his dodges, his evasions, his changing of the subject, his incoherent ramblings. but he doesn't fall for any of that in this interview. he keeps his eye on the ball and nothing that donald trump does can get him to take his eye off the ball. now, i have never done a donald trump interview. he would never agree to do an interview with me. he's never done an interview with rachel. and when i watch donald trump interviews i always think that i could have done a better job. not now. not this time. so put down the popcorn, turn up the volume and fasten your seat belt for the amazing three minutes, 41 seconds of donald trump versus jonathan swan. >> it's been widely reported the u.s. has intelligence indicating that russia paid bounties or offered to pay bounties to taliban fighters. you had a phone call with vl

and just in the nick of time, joining the conversation, two good friends, axios reporter jonathan swan that conducted that interview with the president and frank if i gluz ee, assistant director for counter intelligence and nbc national security analyst. jonathan, i will say congratulations and move on to a question. you did get the president to acknowledge that he doesn't accept his truth, the contents of the pbb. >> thank you both, i appreciate it. to me there are a few things that stood out in that exchange and i hope people can watch the full exchange and full interview on monday on hbo, but the thing that struck me was it would be reasonable and also defensible for the president to say look, this intelligence was in my original brief, there's some dissent within the intelligence community about it, we need to do due diligence but it is worrisome, which is the message that's come out of the pentagon. what was striking, he dismissed it on its face. he was incurious about the intelligence. he said it was fake news. nobody at the pentagon level is saying anything close to that. that w

jonathan swan, great job. so many different ways there. the president seemed extremely uncomfortable and didn't have an answer for you. also, russia was supplying weapons. we did that, too. we did that, too. where have we heard that before? i can tell you where we've heard that before, during the campaign. it was december 18th, 2015, when joe said to donald trump on an interview on "morning joe," but president putin, he kills journalists, donald. and donald responds, "well, we kill people, too." we'll show that to you later. but the bottom line is, this is his go-to answer when he is cornered. tell us more about the interview. >> well, i mean, you saw it there. and i think it's important. i'm glad you playedcontext, bec ways, the most shocking part of that clip is actually not the first part where he admits for the first time on the record that he hasn't raised the issue of the bounties with vladimir putin. that's the least shocking part of that call, because actually, frankly, you know, you could have a debat

joining me now with a look at axios a.m., national political reporter for axios, jonathan swan. m axios on hbo, featuring your sit-down with the president about a phone call that he recently had with russian president vladimir putin. i want to take a listen to that, and then we'll talk. >> it's been widely reported that the u.s. has intelligence indicating that russia paid bounties, or offered to pay bounties to taliban fighters to kill american soldiers. >> right, right. >> you had a phone call with vladimir putin on july 23rd. did you bring up this issue? >> no. that was a phone call to discuss other things. and frankly, that's an issue that many people said was fake news. >> who said it was fake news? >> i think a lot of people. if you look at some of the wonderful folks from the bush administration, some of them, not any friends of mine, were saying that it's a fake issue. but a lot of people said it's a fake issue. we had a call talking about nuke lure proliferation, which is a very big subject where they would lake to do something and so would i. we never discussed that, no

andon jonathan swan, na political reporter for axios.yesha, i just t got off phone a minute ago with a trump campaign adviser who told m this speech tonight at mowrt, mount rushmore, he's going to go cancel culture.wing mob is this part of a pattern we've seen all week with the president stoking racialnd cultural tension? ayesha: yes. this i clearly where the president feels most comfortable, basically touking white grievances, talking about the culture war, monuments, things of that nature, the radical left. that'shere he wants to be and that's what he wants to be talking about because he doesn't want to be talking abo all that other stuff you menoned like the russian bounties and he definitely doesn't want to be estalking about the c that are surging and the reopening that is not going the way that he said it would be going so he's leaning back on those things that worked for him in 2016 and hoping that they'll work for him now. robert: are they working for him, weijia, when you talko white house officials and trump advisers? what are

jonathan swan, you saw the president earlier today.d world leader to visit the white house since the coronavirus crisis hit. amlo's first venture outside the country. the relationship between mexico and the united states is important. they signed the new usmca agreement this afternoon. your thoughts as we watch the president with president obrad president obrador. >> politically it's help for for trump. he gets to talk one of the signature accomplishments. coming up with the u.s. and mexico. also fond memories from the 2016 campaign trail where the president traveled to mexico, had that surprise appearance there and when i talk to people who are on that campaign, it was one of those moments that they saw as a turning point in the campaign, gave him a real gust of momentum as he came back to america. there are echoes of it now where he's in a tough spot in 2020. looking for something to reignite his election campaign. >> john: so the two leaders will continue to talk there in the cross hall. if they take questions, we will come back to

jonathan swan repeatedly pointed out to donald trump that it was in his president's daily brief. but you didn't get that kind of questioning today because donald trump's diversionary tactic of the day worked. reporters wasted their questions to donald trump by asking him about delaying the presidential election, and they wasted those questions even after mitch mcconnell said this. >> never in the history of the country, through wars, depressions and the civil war have we ever not had a federally scheduled election on time, and we'll find a way to do that again this november 3rd. >> and that is the last word that you have to hear about delaying the presidential election. it's not going to happen. this is your day, too. that's what barack obama said to john lewis on barack obama's inauguration day, too, because with john lewis' fight for voting rights, barack obama would never have become the 44th president of the united states without that fight. and what donald trump should have been asked about in terms of the election today is why is he and the republican party attacking the vo

jonathan swan confronted president trump about whether or not he confronted putin about the bounty onmerican troops' heads and president trump said no, he did not confront vladimir putin because that information never reached his desk he said. jonathan swan pointed out it was in his daily briefing book, but president trump said it never reached his desk. what's your response to that? >> well, we know two things. number one, that donald trump doesn't read briefing books that's been reported over and over again. secondly, we also know that donald trump has done everything he can to undermine our intelligence services. and he has done that consistently going back to, you know, when he first became president. that's what he's doing again. he has a cozy relationship with russia. he has not allowed sanctions to take place when when they're bipartisan and passed by both chambers. he has continued to cozy up to vladimir putin and it's inconceivable to me he didn't know this. he made a decision to do nothing about american soldiers who had bounties on their head from russian because his person

. >>> joining me now with a look at axios, national political reporter jonathan swan. than. what is axios' one big thing this morning? >> it's a piece by my colleague sam baker. i think it's useful to help understand supreme court chief justice john roberts. obviously he's been in the news very prominently lately with controversial and big decisions that could have consequences for years to come. obviously there's a bit of a trope on the right that roberts is a traitor to the cause. sam, i think, convincingly goes through roberts' long record and lays out an argument that when you look at his record in the cold light of day. almost every time that he sides with the majority, the law either stays put or it moves to the right. so he, far from being someone who's this closet liberal, he is consistently conservative just not as aggressively as some of the activists want him to be. baker interviewed the conservative legal expert jonathan add leladler, i though came up with a useful term to describe roberts he said he's guided by, quote, an anti-disruption principle. that's a

>>al we had this interview with jonathan swan hearing the president saying he never raised the issueussia's taliban bounties with vladimir putin in his conversation with him. since this -- since this intelligence possibly hit the president's desk in the presidential daily briefing back in february, i believe, he's had eight conversations with vladimir putin between then and now and the entire time not raising this issue. what reaction are you hearing from this? >> well, certainly democrats on capitol hill are very worried about this. they've been pressing trump to be much more aggressive with putin for years now. what's interesting, though, we're starting to hear pushback from either republicans, the senate, the house arms services committee, ore others who are saying, why is this not coming up. what did the president know about this when he was briefed, when he was not briefed. so the more the pressure comes from trump's own side, the republican aisle, the more it may affect things. there's no reason to believe he's going to raise it with putin. for whatever reason, it just doesn't

jonathan swan from of the executive order of the president signing for hispanic-americans that really goes to the economic needs of that part of the population. it's called the white house hispanic prosperity initiative. and we begin now. >> president trump: but i do want to thank you all for being here as we probably launch the white house. hispanic prosperity initiative. we are excited. very excited. [applause] thank you. with this very exciting new effort, we will deliver a future of greater promise, opportunity and freedom for our nations really it is a treasure. you are a treasure. they hispanic-americans and the hispanic-american community is a treasure. thank you. [applause] we are thrilled to be joined today by secretary of education, betsy devos, thank you, betsy, thank you. [applause] secretary of commerce, wilbur, thank you, wilbur. secretary of housing and urban development ben carson, thank you, ben. small business administrator, thank you, jovita. very popular. and representative mike garcia. thank you. [applause] thank you. congratulations, mike. that was a big win. the

that's a remarkable warning there on the way out, jonathan swan. be watching for that closely. everyone, thanks to all of you. it's been a lot to go over here. you've all been very patient. we appreciate you joining us and sharing your wisdom this morning. >>> lawmakers do not, as we said, appear to be close to making a deal on the next coronavirus stimulus package though those unemployment payments are days away from expiring. how the breakdown could be devastating for some of our nation's most vulnerable front line workers. that's next. taking entresto, it may lead to a world of possibilities. entresto helped people stay alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. orsome companies stillm. have hr stuck between employeesentering data.a. changin

jonathan swan works for "axios" on hbo. >> you heard that, right? i mean, it's well known in the intelligence community that they are arming the taliban, russia. >> i don't know. when you say arming, is the taliban paying? >> russia is supplying weapons and money to the taliban. >> i have heard that. but it's never -- again, it's never reached my desk. >> i mean, he said it, on the record. >> russia doesn't want anything to do with afghanistan. let me just tell you about russia. russia used to be a thing called the soviet union. because of afghanistan, they went bankrupt. they became russia, just so you do understand, okay? the last thing russia wants to do is get too much involved with afghanistan. >> russia used to be the soviet union. hmm, not a whole lot of people knew that. and, there you have it, if you heard him. that's what this president cares about. defending russia or the former soviet union. but he can't be bothered to say one word about the 150,000 americans dead fr americans, dead, from the coronavirus. i asked, earlier, where is the o

jiang, white news, ayesha rascohite house reporter for national public radio, peter baker and jonathan swanon the extra, author kate andersen brower wil take her into her new book, "team of five: the president's club in the age of trump," catch it on rour social media o website. we work you only the best as our nation marks indepennce day. stay safe in the pursuit of happiness. i'm robert costa. good night fro washington. national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org.] announcer: corporate funng for "washington week" is provided by -- when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated aiser canailor advice and recommendations to your life. that fidelity wealth management. >> additional funding is noovided by the estate of adams and koo and patricia yuenu through th foundation, mmitted to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the cooration for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> you're watching pbs. [re

in an interview with jonathan swan, donald trump said it out loud. didn't raise it with vladimir putin. not only did he not raise it, not only did he not say the intel was in my pdb and shame on me for not reading it, but he said, so what. >> yeah. i think he has in this one regard dishonored his title as commander in chief. russia has been using asymmetric warfare to endanger our soldiers in afghanistan and potentially in other nations as well. it is the commander in chief's responsibility to protect them. when our soldiers sign on the dotted line to enlist in the military -- i swore that oath more than a decade ago -- we also make a promise to them that we are going to have their back, have their backs with resources but also have their back with strategies. i am dumfounded -- i think the american people are dumfounded as well that this administration, this president continually decides to take the side of russia. again, as i said before, don't look at this in a silo. you have to couple this with takinggermany,footsie with nato inviting them back i

. >> jeremy, no one was surprised today when jonathan swan got the president to say no, in fact he didn't say to putin, are you paying bounties to kill our troops in afghanistan. this is a woman who has spent her professional life studying former kgb putin, fiona hill. >> the u.s. is bogged down. less likely for the u.s. to try to restore a leadership role. >> so jeremy, what might this mean for what's going to be our second straight susceptible russian interference. >> evethere is no great earter s interview where he has not raised the issue with putin. the president failed to rebouk t the russian leader but acquiesced. he says it didn't come to his desk, but that's a flat out lie. it came to his desk. his aides did discuss it with him. he has done precisely nothing to push back on russia and protect those men and women that he himself sent into harm's way to defend our freedom. >> jeremy, while i have you explain to the good people, why it will make putin happy if the u.s. withdraws 12,000 troops from germany. >> germany is a nato ally, and putin wants to disintegrate the nato alliance,

. >> jeremy, no one was surprised today when jonathan swan got the president to say no, in fact he didn't say to putin, are you paying bounties to kill our troops in afghanistan. that e had no surprise. this is a woman who has spent her professional life studying former kgb putin, fiona hill. >> he wants to have a weaker u.s. president. it doesn't matter who. he'll be lucky to see if that's the case. the more the u.s. is bogged down in internal contradictions the weaker the president is domestically and internationally. less likely for the u.s. to try to restore a leadership role. >> so jeremy, what might this mean for what's going to be our second straight susceptible russian interference. presidential election. >> ever hour the president spends being commander in chief in a culture war. >> there is no greater than this interview where he has not raised the issue with putin. of the potential payments to taliban to target u.s. forces. the president failed to rebouk the russian leader but acquiesced. he is allowing it and dismissing the credible reports the intelligence that did land on hi

here is what he told "axios" reporter jonathan swan. >> frankly, that's an issue that many people said was fake news. >> who said it was fake news? >> we discussed numerous things. we have never discussed it. i have never discussed it with him, no. i would. i have no problem with it. >> it's because you don't believe the intelligence. that's why. >> everything -- you know what's interesting, nobody ever brings up china. they always bring up russia, russia, russia. >> cnn has reported that intelligence on the russian bounty plot was in the president's daily briefing some time this past spring. president trump has spoken to putin at least seven times since march. therefore, has had at least seven opportunities to bring this up. i want to bring in retired republican congressman mike rogers who is the chairman of the house intelligence committee who is now a cnn national security commentator. chairman rogers, thanks for being here. obviously, even if the intelligence is disputed, which it is, this is not a slam dunk as has been said. some people in the intelligence community think this is

but in a new interview with axios' jonathan swan, the president was pressed about the revelation and also pressed about his response. >> you had a phone call with vladimir putin on july 23rd. did you bring up this issue? >> no. that was a phone call to discuss other things. and frankly, that's an issue that many people said was fake news. >> who said it was fake news? >> i think a lot of people. if you look at some of the wonderful folks from the bush administration, some of them not any friends of mine were saying that it's a fake issue. but a lot of people said it's a fake issue. we had a call talking about nuclear proliferation which is a very big subject where they would like to do something and so would i. we discussed numerous things. we did not discuss that, no. >> and you have never discussed it with him? >> i have never discussed it with him, no. >> i want to bring in georgia state representative, vernon jones. he's a democrat but he's supporting president trump's re-election campaign. mr. jones, thanks for your time, sir. >> thank you so much. >> president trump, as you kno

investigations into russian payments to the taliban attack us troops, as he told axios on hbo's jonathan swannumerous things, we did not discuss that,o. >> and you've never discussed it with him? >> i have never discussed it with him, no. i would, i'd have no problem with it. >> but you don't believe -- it's because you don't believe the intelligence, that's why. >> everything--younow, nobody ever brings up china. it's always russia, russia, russia. nick: former intelligence officials tell pbs newshour the taliban received russian military intelligence money to officials debated the target u.s. service me intelligence, and commanders say the bounties did not likely rebulting deaths. it was an increase in russian support to the taliban, as already detailed in 2018 by then top commander gen. john nicholson. we've had weapons brought to this headquarters and given to us by afghan leaders and said, this was given by the russians to the talibanwe know that the ssians are involved.n, >> john nicholormer head of forces in afghanistan, said--and this is when he was working for you--that russia was su

in an interview with jonathan swan, president trump was pressed on whether he confronted vladamir putinbout reports that russia paid the taliban bounties to kill u.s. troops in afghanistan. and here is what he said. >> it's been widely reported that the u.s. has intelligence indicating that russia paid bounties or offered to pay bounties to taliban fighters to kill american soldiers. you had a phone call with vladamir putin on july 23rd. did you bring up this issue? >> no, that was a phone call to discuss other things. and frankly, that's an issue that many people said was fake news, who -- >> who said it was fake news? >> a lot of people. >> you never discussed it with him? >> no. you know -- >> you don't believe the intelligence, that's why? >> you know, it's interesting. nobody ever brings up china. they always bring up russia, russia, russia. >> did you hear that? the president of the united states, who has a constitutional responsibility to protect and defend america's interest at home and abroad is shrugging it off when it comes to vladamir putin. it's been almost five months sinc

let's bring in axios national political reporter jonathan swan. jonathan, his wife is african-american, no surprise perhaps that he is a big supporter of the black lives matter movement. but is this painting thing about that or is that about sticking it to the president? >> i don't think bill de blasio made any pretense about what the message was. he said it was sending a message to donald trump and i think the positioning of this leads no doubt about that. the president for his part told sean hannity he thinks that the mayor is behaving badly. listen. >> i was very nice to mayor de blasio, got him ventilators when he needed them, hospital help when he needed a day, got him everything he needed, spoke to him many times. he couldn't have been nicer and then there was a big black lives matter sign right down in the middle of fifth avenue and all merchants along fifth avenue are furious. >> jon: the merchants may be furious but it sounds like the president is furious as well about having that painted on the street right in front of his building. >> fu

happening, of course more controversy over the president and vladimir putin, yamiche, because in jonathan swan's interview with president trump on axios and hbo, he asked him about talking with vladimir putin a few days ago without discussing the intelligence reports that the russians -- the russian military had paid bounties to target american soldiers in afghanistan. let's listen. >> it's been widely reported that the u.s. has intelligence indicating russia paid bounties or offered to pay bounties to taliban fighters to kill american soldiers. you had a phone call with vladimir putin on july 23. did you bring up this issue? >> no, that was a phone call to discuss other things. frankly that's issue that, uh, many people said was fake news -- >> who said it was fake news? >> i think a lot of people. if you look at some of the wonderful folks from the bush administration, some of them, not any friends of mine, were saying that it's a fake issue. >> he says it was fake news, the point is they were also saying, those who even were not sure about the intelligence, that it should be raised as a warni

. >> anna palmer, let me show you jonathan swan trying to get some straight questions and straight answersting. >> you know, there are those that say you can test too much. you do know that. >> who says that? >> oh, just read manuals. read the books. >> manuals? what manuals? >> read the books. >> what books? >> let me explain. >> what manuals? what books? does anybody think that the president has read, and he doesn't listen to fauci. we think he's off reading manuals and books about pandemics? >> yeah, i don't think anybody has found what books or manuals he was talking about, but i do think this issue of wearing masks is something that is not only playing out in high schools, but even playing out still on capitol hill. we've been reporting all week on the number of staffers and employees on the capitol complex that are very concerned because they might work for a republican who doesn't believe in the efficacy of masks and so they are pressured not to wear them. you're seeing that whether there was louie gohmert of texas who just by happenstance was tested because he was going to fly with

also with us jonathan swan, political creporter at axios. ve read the book. >> yes, we have. >> we talked around these issues. not one of these can diagnose trump or try to figure out why he can't show empathy to the 130,000 people who have died, why he doesn't seem remorseful about mistakes in managing the pandemic. does this theory offered by his niece offer an explanation? >> she diagnoses from afar and she says that he fits all of the traits of the nasc. one thing she portrayed in the book, the cruelty at the heart of this comes from the relationship he had with his father growing up, that his father was relentless and brutal, and basically berated all of them. you know, he had this complicated relationship with his older brother who died of alcoholism. she goes through and tries to explain it. you know, i talked to president trump about this book a few weeks ago and he was clearly appeared to me to be blindsided by it. you've got to remember, he's now accustomed after 3 1/2 years of being in office of senior aides leaking about him anony

. >> sandra: jonathan swan at axios is reporting this morning that the president lost confidence in brad parscale after that tulsa debacle. the numbers of people that did not eventually show up, the president wasn't happy with that. are the two connected? >> i'm not aware if they are, but i can tell you that tulsa while the media tries to align the view itself, and people get in a safe manner, we provide safety when people show up to our events, whether it be the hand sanitizer or temperature checks or providing mass to people. so we are looking forward to getting back to the real issues that matter and whether that be in rallies or online events, we will be successful either way. >> sandra: who is bill stepping in and why did president trump choose him to manage his campaign? >> bill has been a friend of mine for quite some time, very politically savvy and knows the landscape from coast-to-coast. it's very exciting this time in the campaign. both men are great as i mentioned, bill is moving in as the campaign manager and that's a good move. no slight on brad to come is wonderful as well

jonathan swan a former colleague of mine axios he called it a pretty gentle session.nk that pretty much wraps it up. at one point mr. biden said the soft part out loud. he seemed to be going off of a list that -- of reporters that he was told to call on, quote: they gave me a list, he said at one point. another point he said i'm sorry, who was i supposed to call on next? who is he speaking to there? exactly. the questions that weren't asked are just incredible. nothing but evoking the logan act as it pertained to michael flynn. this was a revelation that was just made a couple days ago in the news. pretty relevant, right? no questions about the former chaz now known as chop. what would you do there if a police station was taken over and 8 city blocks were taken over in a major city. no question about $1 billion being cut from the new york city police department despite the fact that now we have 42% rise in homicides in this city. so, a lot of questions could have been asked here and they weren't, steve. steve: they were not indeed. just something that i kept thinking