matt pottinger is a former reporter who knows china well. he says to the president that china is not being honest, that this is all very serious. woodward really paints, in the prologue of the book, andrea, a president who is highly aware of the seriousness of the threat of the pandemic. he understood that this was airborne, that this was much worse than the seasonal flu. what woodward does through the course of his reporting is show the president's private comments to woodward that were on the record but private comments at the time, how much the president knew about the virus even while he continued publicly to say it's not much of a threat, that it will maybe go away, it could disappear. >> and in one of the quotes, i believe woodward quotes the president saying, "you just breathe the air and that's how it's passed," so there's deep reporting here which obviously can then be contrasted, and i'm sure woodward does in his book, with what the president is saying publicly. we should point out contemporaneously he was trying to salvage the chi

and his deputy, matt pottinger, laid out information that pottinger had from doctors in china. and i did not know about that meeting until may. and what's interesting about journalism, obviously, reporters like you, sir, we live our lives in chronological order. but you don't report in chronological order. and if i had known what i learned in may, i obviously would have gone and published a story. but i did not know where that was coming from. in the context of my discussion with president trump it's china. when i learned, ah, he's talking what about he was presented on january 28th. and i've learned that by asking in may, president trump, do you remember that january 28th meeting? and president trump said, no, he didn't. but then he said, twice, he said, i'm sure it was said. i am sure it was said. by the -- that he got that warning from o'brien and pottinger. so, by may, even by march, the virus was out of control. everyone knew it was deadly. my god, in march, all of a sudden, it just came to this country in a way exactly that the president was told. but came to this country

president, this virus will be the biggest threat, the biggest yournal security threat to his deputy, matt pottinger steps in. journal reporter in china for et seven years. compiled a very good record. new cnese doctors covered the 2003 sars endemic and knew that the chinese leeled lied. ttinger had sources inside china. we know as jrnalists, having a key, informed source can make had a key source and laid it out. when i read a this in may, i realized that he was not tellina the ame people about the truth about this. as he told me, he was playing i, do playing it down. it is a tragedy for the country, for trump personally, for the republican party. robert: bob, let's pause there because you used a word that's so critical. truth. rgaret, you interviewed national security advisor robert o'brien in that same period. he told the nation not to panic on your program. how is truth going toatter in the coming weeks as there's a culture war in the supreme court d a pandemic that continues to ravage america? marg that truth and facts still do matter. robert o'brien on february 2nd o did come and say really, n

but woodward says deputy national security adviser matt pottinger, who had been a reporter in china,p his unofficial chinese contacts had raised a grave warning. >> pottinger said his contacts in china told him this is going to be like the 1918 spanish flu pandemic. that killed 675,000 people in this country. it was a stunning moment in the trump presidency and i think in american history because he then went on to publicly dismiss the virus and he knew that this was a pandemic coming. >> and this is january 28th. >> yes. >> reporter: the next day the white house announced a coronavirus task force. this was mr. trump january 30th, two days after the warning. >> we think we have it very well under control. we have very little problem in this country at this moment, five, and those people are all recuperating successfully. but we're working very closely with china and other countries and we think it's going to have a very good ending for us, so that i can assure you. >> reporter: chinese

monumental, catastrophic leadership failure >> let me ask you along those lines, and i want to get to matt pottingerhe actually, as you described in the book, he actually liked pottinger, trusted him he was a china hawk. and so, donald trump is getting this news not just from his fourth or fifth national security national security adviser, but from an aide that he trusted, whose instincts he trusted. so he knew him well. but i'm curious, you talked about it being one of the most historic moments in the white house in history i'm curious whether you agree with your former writing partner, carl bernstein, that these tapes, these trump tapes, will be remembered historically as more significant than even the nixon tapes? >> well, it's hard to compare them i trust carl's wisdom in this. he always is forward-leaning back when we were doing the nixon reporting, he saw where this was going a year before, quite frankly, i did so you know, we're going to see about this but one of the first things, when i started talking to trump -- now, this is december 5th, last year i went into the oval office and plunged m

is going to be the biggest national security threat to your presidency, and then the deputy, matt pottingere "wall street journal" gives specifics about how dangerous this is, how easy it is to be transmitted, and it's extraordinary that, at that moment, the man we elected to-- i once asked him what's the job of the president, and he said the job is to protect the people. i agree. i think most people in this country would-- and he failed to protect the people, he failed to find a way to tell the truth. >> stephen: bob, we have to take a quick break. but stick around, everybody. we'll be right back with more with the author of "rage," mr. bob woodward. ♪ ♪ ing to me. yeah? so what do you see? i see an unbelievable opportunity. i see best-in-class platforms and education. i see award-winning service, and a trade desk full of experts, available to answer your toughest questions. and i see it with zero commissions on online trades. i like what you're seeing. it's beautiful, isn't it? yeah. td ameritrade now offers zero commissions on online trades. ♪ step up. prep up. up. prep up. to help keep

told by matt pottinger, deputy national security adviser in that briefing, worked in china, a journalist in china, told by sources this is a lot worse than they're letting on, and that that awe preceded january 7th when he told woodward on tape that it's not something to worry about. it was only in may that woodward explained he really understood the full impact of that. >> andrea, stands out to me, this is the only thing maybe in donald trump's adult life that he has not been able to bluster or bluff his way out of. the management of this crisis. there is nobody to call in, bone spurs, so he doesn't have to serve. there is no fake, fake that he can use to fake he's a new york socialite covering himself. this requires leg real leadershd stewardship and a real thablt he lacks. his only strategy is to wish it away. there isn't an option he has other than act like it doesn't exist, speak of it in the past tense and treat it as if it is something that has happened to him as opposed to something that is a challenge for him as our leader. >> i want to also talk about the president's schedule.

the man in your former job, national security adviser robert o'brien, along with his deputy matt pottingered the president back on january 28 about the virus, how deadly it was, that it's a national security threat. in fact the biggest national security threat of his presidency. and he dismissed it, claiming that he didn't want to panic people. it sounds, as you know him, as you know him from the public record, because he's been panicking people every day about the so-called invasion of the suburbs by black people. so he's trying to protect the stock market, his view of the economy. what else is he trying to protect? >> well, i think back in january he was trying to protect his empty trade deal with china and his, you know, loving relationship with xi jinping whom he praised repeatedly through much of the end of march. but what he was really trying to do was protect himself, andrea. and the reality is, and it's tragic, and it's been driven home, you know, emphatically by the president's own words on tape, is that we own words on t. we have a commander in chief who does not give a damn abou

the virus is going to be the biggest national security threat to your presidency, the deputy matt pottingerout why he had contacts in china. he knew they were lying and covering up. and this was going to be like the 1918 spanish flu pandemic. trump knew that, and he did not share that information in any form with the american people. it is -- i've never seen a president who would be so indifferent to his responsibility to take care and to warn us when something dangerous is coming. >> you know, and donald trump has tried to write off your book, even though there are tapes of what he said, for not going forward with the information that you had, which is ridiculous, you're a journalist, your job is to do journalism. but let me ask you a question, because were you tempted as you heard this information, you know, and you're alarmed by hearing, oh, he knows it's airborne, that word sticks in my head. did you think to yourself maybe i just need to write a story about this? forget the book, let me just write a story and put it in "the washington post"? >> no, because i would do this. i have publi

secret national security briefing in which national security adviser robert o'brien and his deputy matt pottingeralarm bet. o'brien said it was going -- the coronavirus was going to be the greatest threat to trump's presidency and pottinger, who is a former "wall street journal" reporter and speaks fluent mandarin and was in chinese during sars recrites chapter and verse he's been talking to sources in china so that's where trump gets a lot of this information, but on february 7th when bob woodward has the phone call with trump, he didn't know any of that, and he lays this out in the book. he's calling trump because he's just been acquitted in the impeachment hearings, and he think that's what they are going to talk bork and he's actually surprised and a little confused about why trump is talking about the virus. at that point, remember, this is very early in february. we're all thinking that's a problem in china. >> right. >> none of this really came together as woodward lays out timeline until the beginning of may. that's when he finds out about the january 28th briefing and then all of a sudde

but, woodward says, deputy national security advisor matt pottinger, who had been a reporter in china, told mr. trump his unofficial chinese contacts had raised a grave warning. >> woodward: pottinger said his contacts in china told him "this is going to be like the 1918 spanish flu pandemic that killed 675,000 people in this country." it was a stunning moment in the trump presidency and, i think, in american history, because he then went on to publicly dismiss the virus. and he knew that this was a pandemic coming. >> pelley: and this is january 28? >> woodward: yes. pley:he next day, the white house announced a coronavirus task force. this was mr. trump, january 30, two days after the warning. >> president trump: we think we have it very well under control. we have very little problem in this country at this moment. five. and those people are all recuperating successfully. but we're working very closely with china and other countries, and we think it's going to have a very good ending for us. so, that i can assure you. >> pelley: chinese officialswerw >> alex azar: foreign nationals

matt pottinger also was comparing it to the 1918 flu at the end of january, so they knew.b woodward's explosive reporting, raising major questions about president trump's handling of coronavirus, why he didn't listen -- well, you know, he did listen to the dire warnings. he did hear the dire warnings. he admitted he heard the dire warnings in february. that's what we know now and he admitted he lied about it for months. back with us, abby phillip, dr. peter hotez, and miles taylor. and beyond that, now we have the president's defense of it all saying the reason he lied for months is because he didn't want to create a panic. really? president trump says he didn't want to create a panic. now, i was going to call him captain panic. alisyn promoted him to president panic. panic is his thing. it's what he does. listen. >> your home will go down in value and crime rates will rapidly rise. the end result is you will totally destroy the beautiful suburbs. suburbia will be no longer. we must never allow mob rule. rioting, looting, arson and violence. there is violence and danger in

i can tell you while i was in the administration, i did work closely with matt pottinger, and ambassadorbolton and others. in trying to push back on the policies of pushing john, and i think that ultimately action has been taken there, as it should. what's going on in that region is appalling. and the u.s. and allies around the world need to stand up against it. the comment i also just wanted to make, on a previous question. was about what we can do to help our companies, i do think in particular, we need to play a robust role at the governmental level. a lot of this conversation has been about how it's terrible that -- we're trying to access china's market, because that gives them more leverage. i might flip it another way, and say that by having that access to china's market, we are getting a lot of money, that our companies kind and pump into research and development. to make sure they are an innovation leader ahead of china. another way to put it is, china is subsidizing our innovation. i think if you look at our semi conductor industry, which you have paid a lot of attention to, the

his deputy, matt sottingerps in. pottinger hadeen a wall street journal reporter in china for seve years. compiled a very good record. new chinese doctors covered the 2003 sars endemic and knew that the chinese leeled lied. pottinger had sources inside china. we know as journalists, having a key, informed source can make all the difference. had a key source and laid it out. when i read i about this may, i realized that he was not telling ute american people ahe truth about this. as he told me, he was playing it down, playing it down. it is a tragedy for the country, for trump personally, for the republican party. robert: bob, let's pause there becaus you used a word that's so critical. truth. margaret, you interviewed national security advisor roberr n in that same period. on february in "face the nation" he toldat then not to panic on your program. how is truth going to matter in culture war in the supreme court and a pandemic that continues to margaret: you have to believe that truth and facts still do matter. robert o'brien

matt pottinger is the deputy national security adviser and by january he was urging mobilization.n february, he is urging the shutdown of flights coming from europe, where the outbreak had already spread from china. so we've -- the trump administration blocks flights from china early on, but allows flights to continue into the united states for weeks from europe after the outbreak is already there. and pottinger's guidance or advise goes ignored for a month or so, in part because his voice is drowned out by those guarding the economy and the stock market, including the chief of staff at the mulvaney. so there were these frictions and battles inside the administration, what do we care about more? preventing this virus from spreading in the united states or preventing the stock market from plunging? >> all right. greg miller, thank you so much for being with us. thank you and your colleagues for great reporting. an important story in yesterday's "washington post". we'll talk to you soon. let's bring in council on foreign relations head and ask you richard haass to give us more of a

no, that's not what you do, when you know there's a once-in' a-century pandemic coming, which matt pottingerd him in january, you need to think of this like the 1918 spanish flu. when his advisers are warning that 500,000 americans could die. donald trump still going out, lying to the saying it's one person come china and it will go away magically. and the lies about the masks, the lies about the social distancing and the truth that he continues to force on the cdc. what does that do? that leads to a lot of his supporters going in tightly p k packed spaces without wearing masks and putting the lives of themselves and their loved ones in danger. here we are, six months later. donald trump still hasn't learned a thing. >> look at that crowd. before i get to covid what stunned me -- and alex, if we show some of the kind of actual live shots of the crowd -- there's not one person of color anywhere. like, usually behind him he puts one kind of token in there, a token person. if you scan this crowd, this is stunning. it is -- if you go not even behind him, but through the thousands and thousands o

pottinger was being extreme and was not really credible on this. and then when the pandemic exploded in march, i quote fauci saying, oh, my god, matt was right.o, this is -- the president sits in this unique position of getting top-secret national security intelligence briefings and briefings from the doctors separately. he's the only person who has the whole picture. it's very clear from what he told me, he understood it. we played the tape of this conversation. and for him to say two months ago that he gets an a or an a-plus. and then now he's saying he gets an a-plus, that is so tragic. that is a failure on his part to exercise the two pillars of responsibility a president has, first to protect the people. he told me, that's the job of the president. number two, to tell the truth to the people. he failed on that. it is one of the most -- it is going to, in history, be one of the moments and episodes where the presidency failed. >> and he goes further. because in your last interview with the president, and he was speaking on the record and you taped those conversations. the last interview you did with him in august, he said, and i'm quoting