robert: bob woodward, i want to come back to a word you used in your first answer, hurricane. and the titles of your book, "rage." i was sitting with you in march of 2016 when then - candidate rage out, i always have.ing the you've documented in your book the ravenlg inside this presidency, that'sn the country. you've studied american democracy and reported on it.at oes it mean now for american democracy on top of a pandemic to now have this threat of a supreme cot vacancy being pulled just 45 days before the election? bob: first you're going to have to look at voting blo and there's been much discussion and i think legitimate discussion that evangelicals particularly, pro-life republicans, angelicals were kind of waivering on trump. -- waverg on trump. abortion is such a key issue with lots of peoplon both sides but particularly that voting blo and so now trump is going to be able to come out and say, look, i canng cthe court, i can change history. can, you know, perhaps, as we know, roe v. wade could be overturned, so it -- i think with that group and with people who have be

then this moment came another surprise us journalist robert woodward's latest book rage hit the book shelves the book said trump new coke in 1000 was deadlier than the flu in february i'm saying it goes through air 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 yet so that's a very tricky one that's a very delicate one. the message was a perfect point to tuck for by. your step presidential election takes place in early november over $100.00 out of comp ain appearance in michigan biden summed up his views. black's verge saying that if you'd acted just just one week suitor 36000 people would have been say it reacted 2 weeks suter back in march 54000 lives would have been spared march and april alone. and so do us a remains the country with the highest number of infections in the world the number of unemployed after months of lockdown in many states remains high. let's take a closer look at just how disproportionately the pandemic has hit american communities. these numbers are from

then this moment came another surprise us journalist robert woodward's latest book rage hit the bookshelves the books that trump new covert 1000 was deadlier than the flu in february i. think it goes through air that's always tougher than the touch another touch you don't have to touch things right but the air you just breathe the air that's you know it's cast yet so that's a very tricky one that's a very delicate one. the message was a perfect point of attack for by. your own presidential election takes place in early november over $100.00 out of comp ain appearance in michigan biden summed up his views. but experts say that if you'd acted just just one week suitor 36000 people would have been say if we acted 2 weeks souter back in march 54000 lives would have been spared march and april alone. and so the usa remains the country with the highest number of infections in the world the number of unemployed after months of lockdown in many states remains high. let's take a closer look at just how disproportionately the pandemic has hit american communities . these numbers are from the midweste

then this moment came another surprise us journalist robert woodward's latest book rage hit the bookshelves the book said trump newco 1000 was deadlier than the flu in february. it goes through air but that's always tougher than a touch another touch you don't have to touch things right but the air you just breathe the air that's how it's passed yet so that's a very tricky one that's a very delicate one. the message was a perfect point to tuck for by. yourself a presidential election takes place in early november over $100.00 out of comping appearance in michigan biden summed up his views. verge saying that if you'd acted just just one week souter 36000 people would have been say it reacted 2 weeks sooner back in march 54000 lives would have been spared march and april alone. and so do us a remains the country with the highest number of infections in the world the number of unemployed after months of lockdown in many states remains high. let's take a closer look at just how disproportionately the pandemic has hit american communities. these numbers are from the midwestern state of wisconsin

then this moment came another surprise us journalist robert woodward's latest book rage hit the book shelves the books that trump new coke at 19 was deadlier than the flu in february i mean you name it goes through air that's always tougher than the touch another touch you don't have to touch things right but the air you just breathe the air that's how it's passed yet so that's a very tricky one that's a very delicate one. the message was a perfect point to tuck for by. your own presidential election takes place in early november over $109.00 out of comp ain appearance in michigan biden summed up his views. but experts say that if you'd acted just just one week suitor 36000 people would have been say it reacted 2 weeks sooner back in march 54000 lives would have been spared march and april alone. and so do us a remains the country with the highest number of infections in the world the number of unemployed after months of lockdown in many states remains high. let's take a closer look at just how disproportionately the pandemic has hit american communities. these numbers are from the m

wha he wasn't saying, and it's a fascinating about 10-day window from -- which woodward recounts in his book from when robert o'brien goes into the ovalof ce and said the coronavirus is going to be the biggest nationalecurity crisis o your presidency to when trump tells bob woodward -- he conveys that he understands the severity. u heerstands that it is deadly. it is tricky. and that it is airborn in that period, he really does you not cvey that grim reality to the american public in words forer sta so they can begin preparing and figure out if they needks and if they have members of their family with co-morbidities and what steps they should bero taking toct themselves, and if you look at how he spends that te, for instance, the night he gets that warning, he hol a rally in wild wood, new jersey that as end he gets on his plane coronavirus task force, airne forcend he flies down you to mar-a-lago where he spends both days of the weekend golfing. that sunday is super bowl sunday. and he hosts super bowl bas at mar-a-lago in west palm beach. and so you really see a president who in both action and words was n

robert: the president tells bob woodward that he knew thena corus was deadly and airborne in february. and sparks a firestorm. >> it's disgusting. >> he's waving a white flag. he didn't do a damn thing. think about it. >> it is the latest explosive book in this cpaign season and comes amid a new whistleblower report. will the president pay the next.ce anno this is "washington week." fundings provided by -- >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind.id withity wealth management a dedicated advor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth investment. nouncer: additional funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yn foundatmmn ted to bridging cultural differences in our communitiespo the ction for public broadcasting and by contributions to yr pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator, robert costa. robert: good evening. th title of bob woodward's new book" rage" comes from an interview woodward and i conduct ed with the then-president donald trump

i recall watching senator mcgovern and robert woodward and i think bob schieffer.t the time of president ford's funeral. they were interviewing senator govern and talking about his friendship with president ford and he said in the end, he had voted for ford. in 1976 and he said he discussed , it with his family afterward and found they had all done that as well. and i about fell off my chair because i'm a strong democrat. i wonder if that has come into the mix of information about senator mcgovern ever. [laughter] greta: scott farris? scott: he did have great affection for gerald ford. i don't know if you voted for him. he had problems with president carter. there were a couple reasons. president carter had not been very supportive of him in 1972. even though president carter basically borrowed the mcgovern strategy to get his nomination in 1976. and also, i think he was also a little hurt that the magnitude of senator mcgovern's loss was meant that he was a bit of a pariah in democratic circles. he was not given a starring role at the next convention. i am sure th

robert: the president tells bob woodward that he knew thena corus was deadly and airborne in february. and sparks a firestorm. >> it's disgusting. >> he's waving a white flag. he didn't do a damn thing. think about it. >> it is the latest explosive book in this cpaign season and comes amid a new whistleblower report. will the president pay the next.ce anno this is "washington week." fundings provided by -- >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind.id withity wealth management a dedicated advor

. > i wanted to always play it robert: the president tells bob woodward that he knew the coronavirus was deadly and airborne in february. and sparks a firestorm. >> it's disgusting. >> he's waving a white flag. he didn't d a damn thing. think about it. >> it is the lates explosive book in this campaign season and comes amid a new whistleblower pay the price? next. announcer: this is "waweington ." funding is provided >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your min with fidelity weah management a dedicated advor

the public and private trump persona, especially with his handling of the coronavirus. >> robert gibbs, bob woodward, i believe, wrote four books about the bush white house in the years after 9/11 they were all pretty unsparing, at least 3 3/4 were. in my experience, i know people talk to him. one thing very clear is that no one around trump likes him or thinks he's fit for the office he holds the trump story is known now, they won't leave him if and when he shoots someone on fifth avenue, if that should come to pass my question to you is the impact of trump in his own voice sounding so callous. what do you think the impact of hearing trump's voice on a tape saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, i knew i downplayed it but i knew i knew the intel >> yeah, i'm struck, because this is a time just in that quick back and forth with the press, this isn't trump battling against some anonymous source. this isn't trump battling against something somebody said a long time ago. this is trump now battling his own voice just a few months ago. it is a story that has been with our lives fully, 100%, for the last seven months.

was a hoax even though weeks earlier he was telling bob woodward this is really dangerous and he heard from his own national security adviser, robertng to bob woodward's reporting, that this would be the biggest national security challenge of his administration. so the question, of course, is what was the president attempting to do? it opens him up to attacks that he was trying to protect the economy and keep states open instead of protecting american lives. >> yeah. certainly a suggestion that he chose political expediency at the expense of those lives. while he's responding to bob woodward's reporting from his proverbial safe space, fox news, the president is calling the interview he gave 18 individual interviews for a political hit job. >> on the woodward book, on the book itself, he called. he -- i didn't participate in his last one. he does hit jobs with everybody. he even did it on obama, but -- constant hit jobs on bush, i guess they did three books, they were all terrible. i figured, you know, let's give it a big shot. i speak to him. wasn't a big deal. i speak to him. >> with the u.s. now passing 190,000 coronavirus deaths

national political reporter robert costa has new details from veteran correspondent and associate editor bob woodward's latest book entitled "rage." robert, what have you got? >> reporter: well, my colleague phil rucker and i for "the washington post" have read bob woodward's new book, it's called "rage," and it has an enormous amount of information based on more than a dozen interviews bob woodward conducted with president trump from december 2019 through july of 2020. and if you read our article, just posted on washingtonpost.com, we lead with immediately in january of 2020 where robert o'brien, the national security adviser, and matt pottinger, deputy national security adviser, told president trump in late january that the coronavirus threat was the biggest threat, the gravest threat that president trump would ever face in his presidency. and then a few days later, in early february, president trump speaks with bob woodward on the phone, on the record, and to be clear, "the washington post" through woodward has acquired tapes, tapes of president trump speaking about all of this, these interviews wit

roberts, thank you for your time. guest: it was my pleasure. host: next, bob woodwardns us to take your calls and questions about his newest book, "rage." ♪ >> i believe we should be stronger than we now are. we should have a stronger military force. we should increase our strength all over the world. i do not confuse words with strength. when the president of united states is doing something right, for the purpose of defending the security of this country against surprise attack, he can never express regret or apologize to anyone. americanss ago, watched the first televised presidential debate between john f. kennedy and richard nixon. sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern, we will look back at the event with university of with aa's barbara perry discussion on how the debates came to be, the issues, the candidates, and how the debate set the tone for future presidential campaigns. at 9:00tes come alive eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >> sunday night on q&a, 2020 kirkus book prize finalist talks about his book which looks at the history of hurricane destructio

in his book "rage," woodward writes that national security adviser robert o'brien told president trump on january 28th that coronavirus, quote, "will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency." ten days later, woodward interviews the president and they spoke about the virus. >> 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 is also more deadly than your, you know, even your strenuous flus. this is more deadly. this is five per, you know, this is 5% versus, you know, 1% and less than 1%, you know, so -- this is deadly stuff. >> reporter: but just three weeks after that, the president told the american people coronavirus is like the flu. directly contradicting what he told woodward. >> this is a flu. within a couple of days, it's going to be down to close to zero. that's a pretty good job we've done. you may ask about the coronavirus, which is -- you know, very well under control in our country. >> reporter: in another interview in march, the president candidly acknowledged to woodward he wasn't

so according to the experts from woodward's new book, national security adviser robert o'brien warned everyone of this. this will be the biggest national security threat you'll face in your presidency. this will be the roughest thing you'll face. despite that warning, the president continued to mislead the public. here he is just a month later. >> one of my people came up to me and said, mr. president, they tried to beat you on russia, russia, russia. that didn't work out too well. they tried the impeachment hoax, and this is their new hoax. >> so president trump acknowledged yesterday that he did downplay the coronavirus earlier this year, telling reporters that he wanted to reduce panic. he also criticized bob woodward's book as a political hit job, and in an interview last night with fox news, the president accused joe biden of also downplaying the virus. >> did you mislead the public by saying you downplayed the coronavirus and you repeat lid did that in order to reduce panic? did you mislead the public? >> i think when you said in order to reduce panic, i'm a cheerleader for this

robert o'brien is cited in the bob woodward book. we want to talk about that but also other issues. he joins us tonight from the white house. thank you very much, welcome back to "special report." >> thanks, good to be with you. >> bret: is a quote in this book about the threat, generally 20th in the oval office, your quoted to say to the president "this will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency. this will be the roughest thing you face. it is not true? >> it is true. one of our oval intelligence briefs and it was something we were concerned about. our job is to look around the corner and see threats that may be the ic or other folks aren't seeing, it was a threat we saw and we conveyed it to the president. either way, he took very prompt action. within 48 hours of that warning and at the time there were no deaths in the u.s., very few cases. he banned travel from china within 48 hours of us giving that advice and there were very few people that thought that was a good idea at the time other than the president, so i give him a lot of credit. >> bret: t

. >> you know, it's striking when you say that there has been reporting in bob woodward's book that robert o'brian has a position that you once held with barack obama warned trump in january this would be the biggest national security threat he has faced. what the military does and, you know, 9/11 and attacks and violence visited to us by others that we have to defend militarily when we have lost more people to this than many wars going back. it says something about how we even conceive of that terminational security. >> well, you're right, chris. but it's been a while since we've had traditionalist old school conceptions of national security. certainly in the obama administration, we understood the threat of pandemic disease to be a very serious national security threat. we learned that through the h1n1, before ebola. they had dealt with a major flu global pandemic and, you know, issues like disease, like climate change like proliferation, these challenges that don't respect borders, that may not come in the form of a barrel of a gun pointed at us by a hostile adversary, they're still nat

president's men, the true story of how intrepid washington post reporters bob woodward and carl bernstein, played by robertign from office. besides being exceedingly well crafted, each film delivers the same promise of hope to a different generation of americans reeling from trauma. mr smith goes to washington came at the end of the great depression, a decade of poverty and disillusionment in the american system. while all the president's men was a response to a profound loss of faith in american institutions, following both watergate and the vietnam war. the films succeed because they engage with our darker impulses, but still provide uplifting conclusions. right now, political tensions in the us are boiling over, which makes these films more relevant than ever. political films can motivate the populace. mr smith goes to washington came out in 1939. that inspired a lot of people to go into politics, because at the end of the day, it was seen as idealistic — even though i don't personally think that it really was. but we will put a pin in that. and then all the president's men inspires all these people to

as early as january, president trump was warned about the novel coronavirus according to bob woodward. robert o'brien told president trump, covid-19 would be the biggest national security threat of his presidency. president trump says he does not remember that briefing. there were also briefings with other intelligence and public health officials. josh dossey. >> alex azar called to brief the president. they talked about it briefly and the president moved the question to vaping. he was quite frustrated. >> i was in the early meetings in the oval office. >> kellyanne conway tells a different story. >> he did take it seriously. he banned travel from china in january. >> nobody thought we should do it. zero cases, zero deaths. >> it was not a full ban on travel from china. tens of thousands of people were allowed to travel to the u.s. even after it was ordered. perhaps more importantly, president trump was publicly dismissing the threat, with cdc efforts to come up with a test botched and no comprehensive effort to identify and isolate the virus nationwide still the president would point to part

president's men, the true story of how intrepid washington post reporters bob woodward and carl bernstein, played by robertd nixon becoming the first—ever us president to resign from office. besides being exceedingly well crafted, each film delivers the same promise of hope to a different generation of americans reeling from trauma. mr smith goes to washington came at the end of the great depression, a decade of poverty and disillusionment in the american system. while all the president's men was a response to a profound loss of faith in american institutions, following both watergate and the vietnam war. the films succeed because they engage with our darker impulses, but still provide uplifting conclusions. right now, political tensions in the us are boiling over, which makes these films more relevant than ever. political films can motivate the populace. mr smith goes to washington came out in 1939. that inspired a lot of people to go into politics, because at the end of the day, it was seen as idealistic — even though i don't personally think that it really was. but we will put a pin in that. and all the

woodward. and by the way, it wasn't just the president who did that. many of the people who work with him did. i spoke with robertho confirmed his quote in bob woodward's book. he said he spoke with bob woodward, as well. so there's -- you know, this is not just the president saying i'll cooperate with this, but this is a number -- a really opening up his administration to allow a bunch of people to cooperate and talk to bob woodward for this book. the problem they is people made decisions based on their lives based on what the president was saying. so he has a past problem during the i'm in february and january and march and he has a future problem. we're still in the middle of a pandemic. he's pushing. he was in north carolina tuesday night pushing for that governor to open the state, get schools back open, send kids to school. and he was asked yesterday, you know, why should people now trust you? a reporting asked him and he said he has no good answer and they don't have a good answer. now we're heading into flu season. it's going to start getting cold. all the experts say it's going to get worse and we have a

and we got at least what we've seen so far in terms of what bob woodward has uncovered from him. >> robert? >> well, for the entire presidency, you have somebody who views the world through prism of either someone who is for me or against me. it is a zero sum game. and that clouds his judgment about everything. its vindictiveness. it is impossible to get a clear line out of this president with regard to what is good for the public, for america, what is good for the united states. it is all about what is good for him. and i think that the ultimate outcome of that, sadly and tragically, is 20,000 lives unnecessarily lost. at least that many. if you look at what happened in the united states, relative to other countries, struggling with the covid, the same virus, but where we're headed by people who understood science and did not desceive their publics. >> i'm curious because you're a policy expert on this, at the intersection of data and being in government which is different than just observing it. you're saying that something that a lot of critics have said. the flip side is, some folks wh

woodward's book. what can you tell us about? >> reporter: well, robert o'brian said today that he told the president on january 28th in the evaloffice that the coronavirus will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency. but president trump would continue to publically down play the dangers. lester? >> thanks. and bob woodward speaks with savannah guthrie. a live exclusive monday on today. >>> let's turn to the wild fire disaster in the west. combined the fires have burned an area the size of connecticut. miguel almaguer is on the front line. >> reporter: burning hotter, faster and now more explosive than ever before, this year's historic and catastrophic fire season turning deadly again. >> it looked like a bomb went off. >> reporter: in oregon, half a dozen towns decimated after a harrowing escape, a devastating return. >> my god, this is our driveway. >> reporter: entire communities are now gone. many could not escape the flames, including 13-year-old wyatt and his grandmother peggy. >> his life was just beginning. i mean, a c

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 uo

. >> so back in february according to the woodward book, the national security adviser, robert o'brien went in with his deputy matt plottinger and said this is the most serious crisis because it's bad. the president seemed to acknowledge that it was bad. then we saw him it's going to magically go away, it's no more serious than the flu. the conversation -- i know there's not a lot you can tell us about the conversations with the task force and the president, but was it your sense that this was very serious, that the public messaging was a little different? >> you know, john, i really am hesitant to comment on that because i don't know in what context we're asking that question. obviously when we would be speaking to the president, we would talk about the cold facts. he would get them. often he would want to, you know, make sure that the country doesn't get down and out about things. i don't recall anything that was any gross distortion in things that i spoke to him about. >> right. so you were comfortable -- >> yeah, i don't think he distorted things that i spoke to him about. >> so yo

bob woodward called "rage" and the tape recordings are from 18 conversations woodward had with trump. phillip rucker and robert costa of the "washington post" standing by and have reviewed a copy of the book on january 28th, robert o'bryan issued a serious warning to the president about the virus saying quote, this will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency. this is going to be the toughest thing you face that was january 28. ten days later after talking to chinese president xi, trump called bob woodward and said this about the virus. >> it goes through air, bob. that's always tougher than the touch. the touch, you don't have to touch things, right? but the air, you just breathe the air and that's how it's passed that's a very tricky one and delicate one it's also more deadly than your strenuous flus people don't realize, we lose 25,000, 30,000 people a year here that's pretty amazing. >> what are you able to do for -- >> this is more deadly this is 5% versus 1% and less than 1%. you know, so this is deadly stuff. >> and then over a month later on march 19th, remember this is afte

woodward's book claims the national security adviser robert o'brien, that he warned president trump onry 28th that the coronavirus would be the greatest national security threat of his presidency. now, listen to it the president's reaction and listen to what o'brien said publicly about the virus just days later. have a listen. >> so i understand -- >> it was too early. >> your new national security adviser o'brien said to you on january 28th, mr. president, this is going -- this virus is going to be the biggest national security threat to your presidency. do you remember that? >> no, no. >> you don't. >> no, i don't, no, i don't. i'm sure he said it. nice guy. >> right now there's no reason for americans to panic. this is something that is a low risk we think in the u.s., but president trump from the day he took office made protecting americans and keeping them safe, whether it's from terrorists or criminal organizations or from viruses like the new novel coronavirus, that it's top priority. >> sean turner, we've seen this. we've seen this -- he's the commander in [ cheers and applause

jason m roberts, political science professor at the university of north carolina chapel hill discusses this year's presidential campaign in north carolina. then bob woodward talks about watchw book, "rage "washington journal." watch sunday morning as we look back at the first ever televised presidential debates in the fall of 1960 between richard nixon and john f. kennedy. here is a look at our live coverage thursday. on c-span, the houses is back at 9 p.m. a.m. eastern followed by legislative business at 11:00. members are considering nearly 100 amendments to a bill that establishes new clean energy initiatives. returnsn 2 the senate to debate and vote on the nomination of roderick young to be a u.s. district judge for eastern virginia. on c-span 3, treasury secretary steven mnuchin and federal reserve chair jerome powell appear on capitol hill for the second time this week to testify on the economic impact of the coronavirus. that hearing gets underway at 10:00 a.m. eastern. on "q&a," eric j dolan talks about his book, "a furious sky," which looks at the history of hurricane destruction in the u.s. >> this massive category four hurricane was barreling i

woodward or anybody else. it's just another political hit job. >> trace: john roberts is live for us on the north lawn. good morning to you. the woodward book made waves at the white house yesterday. what is the president saying? >> more like a tsunami than a wave. get to what the president is saying today and last night about this. i think karl rove really put it well yesterday when he said that every president does a woodward book that he later comes to regret. rove should know. president bush did a book and came to regret it. the president called it a political hit job. revelations that the president in recorded conversations said he knew the coronavirus was very serious but intentionally played it down. here is one of those recorded conversations. >> president trump: i think, bob, really, to be honest with you, i wanted to always play it down. i still like playing it down. i don't want to create a panic. >> the president insisted he did what he thought was right and that was that on one level he was reacting very strongly to what was going on with the virus but at the same time trying to reassure th

said about the global pandemic here is the president speaking to woodward on february 7th, ten days after his national security adviser, robert o'brien, told him, according to the book, that this will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency. this is going to be the roughest thing you face >> it goes through air, bob, that's always tougher ethan the tough, the touch, you don't have to tough things. the air, you just breathe the air and 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, even your strenuous flus >> it's more deadly than your strenuous flu, but later that same month, the president was telling the public this -- >> you know, in many cases when you catch this, it's very light. you don't even know there's a problem. sometimes they just get the sniffles sometimes they just get something where they're not feeling quite right. and sometimes they feel really bad. but that's a little bit like the flu. it's a little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for and we'll essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly

but if bob woodward thinks, robert gibbs, that the presidency is being assassinated, the debate lastht was fire-bombed by donald trump. and here's the thing -- it could have been prevented. there were many options that the moderator could have taken. he could have stopped the debate. he could have made the men walk off stage and come back. he could have asked audio -- he could have turned around and said, i'd like to know who's running audio. i need you to turn off donald trump's mic, because i would like to hear joe biden speak for two minutes uninterrupted. he did none of that. what are the issues at stake for the debate commission, if there's going to be a second debate? because if i were team biden, i would not do another debate after this debacle. >> well, mika, i think you hit the nail on the head. i think we need to hear this morning from the presidential commission on debates as to what they're going to do to get this format and to get this debate process back on track. i would suggest first looking at the format. i don't think you can have freeform discussion without some ba

bob woodward called "rage" and the tape recordings are from 18 conversations woodward had with trump. phillip rucker and robertiewed a copy of the book on january 28th, robert o'bryan issued a serious warning to the president about the virus saying quote, this will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency. this is going to be the toughest thing you face

this book from his national security adviser, something he later told bob woodward he doesn't quite recall getting from robert o'brien. so there are many questions facing the president. he only took a few there as he was revealing his list of supreme court judges. but of course the biggest question is what is the president's defense going to be? because these aren't just quotes that he gave in an interview. these just aren't quotes that other people gave to bob woodward. this is the president documenting in his own words documenting how he saw this pandemic starting in january when these interviews with bob woodward began until july of 2020. >> well, and he also said that millions more would have died if his administration had not taken what action they took. what is he basing that on? >> reporter: this is something we've heard from the president time and time again. basically the argument that he is making is nothing that no health experts have suggested. but he is saying if they did nothing. if nothing was shut down, if no one wore a mask, if they had not produced more ventilators, really done absolutely ba

. >> bob woodward: on january 28th of this year, before the virus was on anyone's radar, the national security advisor, robert o'brien, told the president, "this virus will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency." >> pelley: what was the president's reaction? >> woodward: his head popped up, and he asked questions. >> pelley: president trump's questions in the january 28 meeting exposed a difference of opinion. beth sanner, from the office of the director of national intelligence, said the virus might be no worse than sars in 2003, when there were only eight known infections in the u.s. 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

interviews with "washington post" journalist bob woodward according to "the washington post" reporting, trump was warned on january 28th by national security adviser robert'brien, quote, this will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency. and ten days later trump called bob woodward on february 7th and admitted it. >> it's a very tricky situation. it's -- >> indeed it is. >> it goes through air, bob. that's always tougher than the touch. you know, the touch you don't have to touch thing, 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 this is deadly stuff >> oh, really? well, and then over the next several weeks trump argued exactly the opposite, that coronavirus wasn't worse than the flu. oh, no way all that risk talk was just another democrat hoax. he minimized how dangerous this global pandemic would be in america. >> but we have it so well under control, i mean, we really have done a very good job it's a little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for, and we'll essenti

woodward. >> on 28th of this year, before the virus was on anyone's radar, the national security adviser robertthe president this virus will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency. >> what was the president's reaction? >> his head popped up and he asked questions. >> reporter: president trump's questions in the january 28th meeting exposed a difference of opinion. beth saner from the office of the director of national intelligence said the virus might be no worse than sars in 2003 when there were only eight known infections in the u.s. but woodward says deputy national security adviser matt pottinger, who had been a reporter in china, told mr. trump 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

do you see some of that in woodward's book, specifically around coronavirus? are there people -- robert comes to mind in that january conversation where he says this is the worst challenge you will face in office take it seriously, do you see people there in woodward's book trying to push back? >> i don't think we see it the same level we did in the first two years. the john kelly's and don mcghan's of the world i don't think should be completely absolved of the first two years because there's a lot of things that went on that didn't turn out great. but it does seem like they were able to stop the president, to contain the president in ways that the president -- that don't exist as much today. you know, would the president have made the call to the ukrainian president if john kelly and don mcghan were standing there? i think the president would have had more of a fight on his hands in that case. so you you sort of see how over the past four years the president hollowed out those people. he has gotten rid of them and he is now more emboldened to try and do the things that he wants to do.

woodward did not realize until may what trump was talking about. because in may he discovers that on january 28th, there was a top secret briefing with trump's national security adviser robert o'brien in which o'brien and his deputy warned the president that this was the threat of his presidency. and we have some of that audio from may when woodward confront trump about that january 28th meeting. >> so i understand -- >> it was too early. >> your new national security adviser o'brien said to you january 28th, mr. president, this is going -- this virus is going to be the biggest national security threat to your presidency. do you remember that? >> no. no. >> you don't? >> no, i don't. i'm sure if he said it -- i'm sure he said it. nice guy. >> wolf, a classic trump pushback. i also just checked with woodward on two things that have come out of the white house today. it is clear they are scrambling to push back on the president's own words and we heard just earlier the president say that woodward didn't think it was bad and he actually said that. he said that. i just checked with woodward and he knows that. he has the audiotapes. second thing we've been hearing from the white

woodward months ago he liked to do. he did it yesterday by contradicting robert redfield, his cdc director, including on the issue of wearing masks, suggesting that they are not necessary. he sees masks as a sort of wedge issue for him politically, even though it would save american lives. and there are so many people who are looking at this has a ticket out of this question. >> if you're asking me when will be generally available to the american public so that we can begin with the vaccination? >> we think we can start in october and we can bit of duet 100 million dose by the end of 2020. i think he made a mistake when he said that. >> of course, roberts redfield didn't make a mistake. he was repeating the consensus of public health experts. everyone wants a vaccine. we appear to be making good progress and could actually get approval in a matter of weeks. the question is how quickly can it be generally available? health care workers, vulnerable people first, but what the president is trying to do is give hope to ordinary americans as they are judging his response to the coronavirus that it would be more widely available f

what he told bob woodward in conversations recorded for the veteran journalist's new book "rage" heard in audio excerpts obtained by cnn. just days after national security adviser robertrien ominously warned the president that the virus, quote, will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency, the president sounded the alarm in a february 7th phone call with woodward. >> it goes through air, bob. that's always tougher than the touch. you know, the touch, you don't have to tough things, right? but the air, you just breathe air and 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, even your strenuous flus. this is more deadly. this is 5 per -- you know, this is 5% versus 1% and less than 1%, so this is deadly stuff. >> reporter: deadly stuff in that call, but not long after that the president was telling americans the virus was no worse than the flu. >> you may ask about the coronavirus, which is, you know, very well under control in our country. >> this is a flu. this is like a flu. within a couple of days it's going to be down to close to zero. that's a pretty good jo

security adviser robert o'brien that the coronavirus posed a serious threat to his presidency and the country according to recording obtained by cnn of journalists speaking to bob woodwardal security adviser o'brien said you on january 28th, mr. president, this is going -- this virus is going to be the biggest national security threat to your presidency. do you remember that? >> no, no. >> you don't? >> no, i don't. no, i don't. i'm sure if he said it, you know, i'm sure he said it. nice guy. >> sort of giving up there, i'm sure he said it, nice guy. o'brien told cnn in a spring interview -- again these time stamps are really important because with bob woodward he's talking back in january 28 is when he warns about this being the biggest threat. but then in the spring, o'brien tells cnn, quote, initially no one understood the magnitude of the crisis. everyone is back with me. so, dana, o'brien tells trump, you know, something about the virus, right? saying this is going to be the biggest national security threat to your presidency according to bob woodward. that's on january 28th. in the spring, months later, tells cnn, no one understood the magnitude of the crisis. it

this is bob woodward talking to the president about his reporting and what he learned about that same robert o'brien. >> so now -- >> because it was too early. >> your new national adviser o'brien said january 28th, mr. president, this is going -- this virus is going to be the biggest national security threat to your presidency. do you remember that? >> no. no. >> you don't? >> no, i don't. no, i don't. i'm sure if he said -- i'm sure he said it. nice guy. >> there's a bigger question about if someone told that to the president how could he say he didn't remember but robert o'brien, january 28th, this is going to be the biggest national security threat to your presidency. may 2 nnd to you, initially no e understood the magnitude of this crisis. >> there's a discrepancy. versus what he allegedly told the president in that initial briefing in january. and one of the things that we really pressed o'brien on in our interview at the time was why did they -- why the inaction? why did it take so long to address the problems when there was clearly a sign that the u.s. was extremely vulnerable? keep