Transcripts For CSPAN2 Books About The Trump Administration 20240713

But for donald trump he could do no right. What sense of what is driving this in the extreme media that you are a part of . First of all there is a bias against republicans in general and to be portrayed as dangerous and like donald trump he is stupid and dangerous according to the media. We just cannot break out of that. They feel if they did they would be ostracized by their colleagues within the white house correspondents cobol feel among themselves they laugh at him, they mocked him , that is the overriding theme. Many people just inherently cant think independently and in fact thats one reason like a few other people i dont want to be told what to read i want to go firsthand with what actually happened i dont have blinders on and to penetrate secrets and thats what i have done. Host excellent it is a fun read so explain what happened with writes previous and paul ryan and Chris Christie during the access holloway it on hollywood for the campaign. What did they do and are there any repercussions for what they did later . Keep in mind he went to the debate and still supported trump through the rnc he did not withdraw his support. What did he say . You can i reading that from your book. But he made chief of staff. At the same time he never forgave him for saying that which is unfortunate because Reince Priebus presided over so many of his successes but the ceos to realize they can expand and have more workers and they are not restricted or constricted. And a lot of other achievements are declared under Reince Priebus but at one point on the access Hollywood Tape hillary says it shows that trump was broader but what he says in the tape women are after him all the time and he takes advantage of that they want you to do that. Its not nonconsensual activity. It is consensual activity that he describes. Host it wasnt anything that has happened in politics in my lifetime. So we saw something that doesnt happen normally its a deathknell of a president ial campaign and the speaker seems to act that way. What is it that they did not understand whether Reince Priebus or paul ryan about the trump voter and base . And these things about donald trump . I think Reince Priebus did understand but it is very hard for people in certain circles from the east and west to understand the way the average voter thinks. My contractor, a workingclass person said to me i dont care what trump says i just care about what he does. And that sums up the way the people in the working class think. They have to be judged by results. And then its crooked you may be fired and then to be held accountable. And thats what you see and then and that you write behind the hedges and there were scams and murders snubs and intrigue and jealousy and pretense and the occasional generosity to make those look like nursery tales. Coming into maralago and how that resulted today but this is typical and chambermaids or secret Service Agents and then has a wide canvas of people and as well as his 12 friends but that is the way he works when i was at maralago recently asking what i thought about israeli settlements and then so i gave my opinion and then to turn into the idea of his lawyer to say and the other clubs dont do that. And then serve those but marla his second wife was against turning into a club. She wanted it just for herself but he went ahead with it. The one thing she did contribute is she said you should have a spa so he created trumps fall at maralago. But it was the closest thing to paradise you will ever get to. It is simply unbelievable and overlooks both sides of the island which is only half a mile wide at the widest point. So this culture is unique but it has these traditions and the time with charities with these balls and then to produce that much money and then married to a very real estate guy from italy and eventually he died and left 300 million. She stored his body at a local funeral home for four days under i. C. E. Because she said i wanted to enjoy the season. Thats what they call it. I was faithful to him. And now i want to enjoy it and go to parties and party on the yacht. She said she will do the same thing to her second husband if he dies as well. Wow. [laughter] i dont think many spouses would go for that. But maybe in palm beach. It is incredible. And with those people down there. There is a huge flag and they said its again zoning regulations and said it was a free speech issue. And then to find money every day but eventually they settled and he would move the flagpole further a way to reduce the length of the flagpole but guess what . He erected it on a mound that they created so in the end it was just as as high as it was before. This is typical donald trump. So as he says, he always wins. Not quite, but he usually does. And the way he fanatic goals to get the club approved is how he operates. On the one hand his lawyer sent copies of the gentlemens agreement and another similar to the Town Council Members preventing from turning this into a club. And thats why they were against approval and then to sue the town and he invited these councilmembers to say we will have the glamorous girls and to play golf with them and play tennis with them. And eventually it worked with almost 40 million per year. Everybody wants to go there now. That just sums up how trump operates everyone has seen a enormous amount of attention what struck me the most is that i thought that you drew conclusions in a way you may not have been previous books that are critical how comey handles his interactions with the president when he briefs them on the dossier. The biggest conclusion. You are two weeks away from becoming president and the fbi director comes in and there is no way the ghost of J Edgar Hoover is not far behind. By the way to have that secret dossier to be with prostitutes in moscow three years earlier how would you feel . How should have comey handled it . [laughter] not that way. And trump has legitimate beef and to be the prisoner of too much history and in the case of bill clinton when he came in 1993, his white House Counsel that said yes it is the first but clinton had some baggage to and there were all kinds of things the fbi god about clinton Extracurricular Activities instead of with clinton it was a nussbaum House Counsel and to per on put it in the burn bag. I wish you called me so the idea of the fbi director getting in the face of somebody like trump and after this briefing to say the could never find out about this it was two days later she did. And you draw the conclusion the administration is in a very dangerous spot. Is that the furthest you have ever gone and why did you go so far . Evelyn duffy who is my assistant. Are you here . Raise your hand. Stand up. [cheers and applause] University Washington graduate. [applause] and the year 2007 and made at that time we have done five books, four president s, and she knows all the secrets. [laughter] and she knows how to keep secrets and how to kick me in the ass. [laughter] and for that i salute her and gw. [applause] but evelyn and my wife else very much involved. It is a family affair. And abel said you cannot step away from the obvious conclusions of what you found in the book. There are a group of people very vividly stand up to trump and steal documents office des desk, south korean trade because it is connected to sensitive intelligence operations. Documents on nafta and Climate Change and so forth is a regular procedure, to get it off the resolute desk and he will not remember or think about it. And you have all of the other things for the Russian Investigation can you imagine being trumps lawyer in eight months . [laughter] and with trump and in the white house to overlook the monuments and the playing the lawyer it is a dry run and trump makes things up, loses emotional control and says you cannot testify. If you testify it will be as he puts it, an orange jumpsuit. You dont have to know a lot about Law Enforcement to recognize with that is. Then my conclusion in the book is the white house going through a nervous breakdown. So how could it go wrong . What would a manifestation of that look like . Is it the trade or economic side . Give us an example, what could happen . Just on trade it sounds esoteric but a trade war with china, 99. 9 percent of the economy say tariffs make no sense they hurt consumers, we buy things abroad in this country because they are cheaper and better quality. And trump somehow has in his head that they are taking it from us and stealing it and he will not get that out of his head. One of the conclusions i make is that there is a war on truth and not just what he says but where he gets these ideas. And the experts go in. Gary cohen was the chief Economic Advisor in the affectionate way to say if you would shut the teethree fuck up and listen you will learn something. [laughter] [applause] i think the deep state is a permanent class of state and local workers who feel that they are exempt from public accountability and the Civil Service and union and have the resources to regulate a farmer or sue the coal company they have the means to bankrupt that person. Or a federal prosecutor to bring you in front of a liberal jury and tie you up for years unless you admit to this and this thats what we saw with the mueller case that is the deep state. They tend to be progressive only in the sense the ideology to make a bigger, and giving them more power is democratic and leftist. Thats one of the reasons they hated trump. You mentioned some of the names i feel like im in an altered universe. James clapper went before a Congressional Committee and under oath he swore the United States was not intercepting communications and then he said and john brennan gave before and that we have not had any Collateral Damage and thats a lie. He admitted it he went before another committee and said we at the cia that is a ally. There is no ramifications james call me said two of your Congressional Committees, i dont know. Just reaching out to the iris investigator we would be in jail. And then have a right to overturn and election because they are exempt and powerful when Andrew Mccabe said if they thought trump was not acting right went to Rod Rosenstein the Deputy Attorney general and they discuss if they should tap the president of the United States with a wire. Then those two would decide with those full cabinet officers with the 25th amendment was never designed for that that is what the deep state thought of itself and throughout history on the spanish empire and the byzantine empire and those of supremacy. But you have to speak out. My constituents and bernie sanders. And he says what you say about the deep state and the concentration of wealth and power on the left. Everybody knows this. What can we do . You are really left in the tough find. The major politicians know that if you mess with a deep state, cia and they told trump come i think schumer. I have many of those quotes in the book. And to say with the john brennan tweeted the attack on trump and Samantha Power says thats not a good idea. There is a lot of evidence with a thought of themselves. Brennan and clapper and colby and mccabe thought they were exempt and so far they are right. They have not been exposed to criminal prosecution for any act that if we would have done it but instead we go after the minor characters carter page and papadopoulos and threaten them with years of imprisonment and financial role in one ruin but then there is all this other asymmetrical criminality we dont trot on touch. Part of its our own fault to give undue prestige to people that have alphabet titles after their name or counselor formulation or the Hoover Institute rather than just examining the people thats part of the revolution of the thirties and forties and fifties. We feel there is a professional class because they are providential and work at the right place so that equates wisdom and that is yet another reason people hated donald trump. Because the if you walk into a room with donald trump if you say mr. Trump you cant do that the counsel for relations says its about idea he would say tell me a good idea they had north korea six party agreemen agreement, the framework . It hasnt worked . It hasnt worked in afghanistan. Thats one reason they dont like him. Its interesting when charlottesville came up to say that requires a big state and the exact opposite to have that madisonian logic to be federal state and local with the separation of powers. President trump is fighting this war. Trying to fight the leviathan on. Do you seek any light at the end of the tunnel with the scope of government but it has continually grown. We hear that donald trump has deregulated and thats all good but at the same time the cost of government and the deficit is rising. You want to know if he is a person to in any type of character to see he has the expertise and the help to systematically go through the Administrative State is that person needed or wanted . I am worried about the role of the federal prosecutors and the state prosecutors and the idea that they can decide completely which case to try and then leverage witnesses to extract a confession is scary. It is predicated on the idea that i will convict him and i found something in your past i will try you and it will cost a Million Dollars to defend yourself i have the unlimited budget and i will break you unless you testify against him i dont think jurisprudence was never intended to work that way there is always a risk talking business that at the same time. I have a couple of ideas. The government has a 4 trilliondollar enterprise. Its the biggest in the world. And with those principles how we operate that make sense to me. And you have a bottom line to make sure if you only have so much revenue you dont spend over that revenue. Trump has brought some of those principles to washington which is long overdue. One of the things about barack obama he didnt know nothing about business so how could you possibly know what economic policies will work . Host the biggest difference between president obama and President Trump is that i dont know if its true but it felt like a very antibusiness sentiment under president obama. Under trump i feel that companies are relieved. Look what happened and we have some charts in the book that literally show this is the obama recovery we are experiencing what are they talking about . Under obama the last year he was in office it grew one. 5 percent and sliding down into a recession and look what happened with business confidence, consumer confidence, Investor Confidence literally two days after the election it went through the roof because people say he does know something about business. People always say whats the single most important thing trump has done to unleash the incredible economy . In my opinion it isnt any one thing the business is new if they were successful they would come after them with a baseball bat and hit them over the head so just getting the government out of the way we all want clean air and safe water and financial protections but in ways that will not inhibit our businesses. I am probusiness i am not a crony us but we can have jobs without businesses and the job of the Democratic Party is antibusiness with their outlook. Host with the tax cuts, with you and i have been talking about and then its done. So in 25 years to still be calling the Corporate Tax that depresses me. I dont have to say this anymore. So tell us about the tax cut. In the first meeting with trump he asked us to be economic advisers. So he knew in general the direction i wanted to go with lower rates and businesses to succeed so that the factories are leaving the would come back to the United States so we left some meat on the bones to do a 20 Percent Business Tax rate so we were up here the rest of the world was down here and then as we said to trump, is like a 20 percent tariff on her own goods and Services Every company out of the game at a 20 percent disadvantage. And have the highest Corporate Tax rate. And almost twice as high as the average. When you are higher than the french. [laughter] host so there were two things together with the tax cut that word detrimental to the companies and they were talking about the Corporate Income tax then its not a solution. Every Investment Decision that is dictated by the system and is not conducive to great business decision or great economic outcome. And he got that. And one of my favorite stories in the book is we are recommending to you and with the tax rate. And he said i will not do that. He said im on 15 percent. And it is so interesting so now it was almost exactly one year ago the bill was signed into law we got the notes on the votes that we needed in the Senate Mitch Mcconnell comes into the room to say im so sorry i couldnt get you 15 percent would you take 20 . He said absolutely. I am convinced he is a master negotiator. He understood something that larry and i didnt and the beginning. You start at 15 and then you negotiate up if you get at 20 then it is 25 or 26. The other thing to mention every time we bring this up he says what about the 26. 5 million Small Businesses . I want to make sure every businessman and women in this country get the tax cut. This has been mislabeled theres thing is with a Large Corporation but every Small Business that had a Tax Liability had a tax cut thats where the juice has come and then with the repatriation with those that have money overseas to bring it back at a low rate. With those that with the invested here. So the minimal global tax . There are so many elements with the corporate alternative minimum tax but for businesses it is a very positive thing. We are seeing a lot of movement and taxes for businesses is a middleclass tax cut. Because when you get businesses investing more in this country they will hire more workers pay them more than they like to say if you have a Truck Company now they have 20 negative to hire two more truck drivers. So its to get businesses healthy but you know this today in america with 7 million more jobs than people to fill them. That gives workers a lot of opportunity to bring the wages up. This is worth repeating the Corporate Income tax rate is not just a giveaway to businesses. Economic Research Shows very clearly that it leads to more Capital Investment which leads to more activity and higher wages and more jobs but also the jobs that exist are the highest paid. It is counterintuitive. And. Liberal say it is a tax cut for rich people but thats wrong. We did a study to find the average american the average middleclass worker seeing a 2000 aftertax income and when you have the salaries and we estimate its about 3000 if your family making 50 or 80000 per year with an extra 2500 in your paycheck . Thats a big deal. I dont care if nancy pelosi says it is crumbs. It is not. I was in dallas a couple months ago walking down the street with a latina woman and said did you pass the economics work with trump i said yeah that was me. She said i did not vote for donald trump i dont like him. But i just got a 2000dollar bonus for my employer. For the first time in five years i can take a vacation. Thats the kind of thing that means a lot to the middle class family i think the most consequential people is in the cabinet but the deputies and assistant secretaries under them. A lot of them today the heritage foundation, American Enterprise institute, i know in a negative way they are operatives in the conservative spirit with that incredible power and then to get incredible attention as a guy whos as of noxious from the trump hotel how could that not be in the news . But the name of bill ware or nancy or bill just left he was the assistant administrator in charge of clean air. That was a major official. So they are not known and they make the consequential decision decisions. The fact that trump has a relatively small number of positions in government very few of the schedule c positions and a lot of those are actings maybe theyll get a confirmation hearing and maybe they wont but they all are working in a contingent field where they know the bubble can pop at any moment so a lot of them are out there with no supervision there is no white house function and Nick Mulvaney is a smart guy but hes not drilling down on coal policy hes just not. A lot of these folks are fairly young and ideological and will punch as hard as they can inside the government these are not necessarily trumps policies and that they had a position on ask they would do it. How did you know what the book was done . This is a story there will be another tweet tonight. How did you figure out your ready to put in on the story to publish the book . The paperback says material i should say i have new material for my just because so much happens every day. One of my editor said you are done. [laughter] we wanted, i asked if i could interview trump i made it clear it would be critical and she made it happen we waited and that was the last thing it was february and the editor said you cannot do anymore. Otherwise it is a magic realism im writing the book every day something new happens and with wilbur ross does something crazy or Stephen Nguyen it would never and. So we had to end with a hard deadline. Host with the trump interview and what they have done with the president rambling answers or how they phrase their questions with a lot of transparency what was your interview like, what kinds of things . Oval office, 27 minutes. I if there is any difference with trump in real life or television. He was charming that i consider myself a new yorker i would think he has that out oh one outer borough charm when you are not from new york i have watched him with crowds from the south i think it works even if theyre not from new york and then to recognize there is something quirky with the new yorkers. He knew we would talk about the cabinet but clearly didnt know anything about his own cabinet. He clearly didnt know who was working for him thats not the way he sees the presidency. It sounds like a big thing but its always a couple of secretaries but i think he looks at the white house and emerson once said that institution is a shadow of a man and that all presidencies but in his own mind such a singular figure and people trying to imitate him always fail because not all of us have a Reality Tv Show for 15 years thats part of Popular Culture but you are right what is on the twitter feed. So inevitably it went into russia and falluja with no collusion, no obstruction. So he didnt want to talk to anyone but himself. That was very clear he kept coming back to himself. He didnt want to think about those complex operations of the federal government the way we can imagine another president doing. I think youre right. I think he has the cognitive landscape to look at super complex problems. He is a man driven by his needs and emotions to say its a policy towards anything is not accurate. I think his instincts are really strong and sometimes they serve him well sometimes they serve him poorly. When it comes to his own image. If you talk to bannon that bannon understands and really well so the reason is that he felt like he was the best exculpate her of trump and will say that he is not that intellectual that has that intelligence thats almost impossible to teach. With self preservation, selfpromotion and desires he will fire comey. To say i will fire comey dont try to talk me out of it. He bring sessions and rosenstein what you think of me firing comey . Sessions is fine with me. And then rosenstein says they did mishandled the Clinton Administration and an trump perks up and says can you write me a memo to that effect . So he goes back and writes a memo critical of comey and has a back to the white house now all of a sudden trump had already decided on his own to fire comey for his reasons completely unrelated to the clinton scraps the memo and says this is the reason he was fired and the wire transport went out and said the Justice Department insisted comey be fired because of the way they handled the clinton investigation. And then to say we want to do a press conference to say insisted he be fired because of clinton thing. And that was in total shock it was completely false. And it was not his idea to fire comey and to his credit he refused. And session says no it is a false narrative and we will not put it out. Days later rosenstein calls Andrew Mccabe to become the acting and i just want to read a brief packet on passage talking about something innocuous i record as follows. Rosenstein shifted toward the closed door to the room somewhere off in the distance his eyes looked glassy and his voice wavering and eyes tear it up and said he could not believe what was happening the white house trying to make it look like it was his idea that was not true the president asked to write the memo only after announcing he was firing Comey Rosenstein was obviously struggling to keep his emotions in check mccabe was shocked he was confiding in him which is calling the president a liar they barely knew each other but they wanted to be compassionate. Are you okay . Know. Are you getting any sleep . Know. Is your family okay . Rosenstein said there were news trucks parked outside his house the wife and family were upset. And rosenstein said there was no one here i can talk to about this and know when i can trust. Rosenstein seem to be struggling to hold emotions in check and said he should appoint a special counsel and he said yes that would be a good idea and rosenstein said he always considered comey a friend and mentor and someone he looked up to. The one person i wish i could talk to is jim comey. Good luck with that this is the guy he just fired. We will see there is a sequence of events and then secretly record the president and the 25th amendment all of this is true but by the end of the Mueller Investigation , he is a new person he has survived there are two occasions when the Justice Department said he would fire him and goes to the white house and comes out and his job is intact him of the new attorney general say that trump has been exonerated that there is no crime or obstruction of justice to be made this is not what the Mueller Report said and wrote a letter to that effect the Mueller Report was far more damning than anything that rosenstein was willing to say. This is a classic example of wellintentioned bureaucrats getting into the trump orbit drawn into the web of falsehoods of irresponsible of not illegal behavior and then asked to protect the president and again because rosenstein wadded up the wire the 20th amendment and determined he could fire him whenever he wants. Address the issue of the deep state. Trump has again just this week accused the whistleblower to be a part of the deep state those that help the whistleblower people at the white house it was happening as part of the deep state i could just read the end of the book to say thing he is already said many times before they are part of the deep state and they are traitors. He hasnt said it explicitly as a has been that should be the Death Penalty i want to say this about the deep state the origins are from the middle east, turkey, egypt and entrenched bureaucratic complex from time to time to step in and overthrow sometimes the elected leader more often the dictator with their own powers and privileges. In the United States the deep state concept has been more recently used in another variation of the militaryindustrial complex the deep state is considered to be primarily people on wall street, big banks, Goldman Sachs and the washington, the Large Corporations, Big Technology companies that yield enormous influence. But trump has now weaponize that to apply it to the federal bureaucracy and specifically the fbi and Justice Department and intelligence communities. I never thought i would see the day where a republican president turned on the Law Enforcement community to look at them as enemies of the people but that is what has happened. Comey said something very important and profound which i quote in the book. He never heard the phrase deep state until trump started to use it but the men and women of the fbi Justice Department who devote their lives to serve the American People take the oath of allegiance to uphold the constitution and do not work for the president of the United States and specifically this president then thank god we have the deep state these are important checks on the powers of the executive branch we are a nation of checks and balances in one of those are of your cat on bureaucrats and career Civil Servants it doesnt matter of republicans or democrats everyone has a political view but to support the constitution to serve the people of the United States when you have a whistleblower coming forward and the james comey standing up to the president telling him you cannot do something then you have the essence of what they call upon them to do. In this context it would be easier to be in place. And with that surge to find a fascinating story to make a difference. And those that favor the surge than that would show up later in the story but then to go into the oval office and then have a surge and with the strategy. But i think thats one of the reasons we have the surge of the counterinsurgency. But similar with this. And to go with this context december 2018 and that surprised everybody in its own cabinet. And then to know that trump is a visual learner and then to pull out a map. And with the National Security council. And then on the index card. And then how i ran and then to say he will listen if you give him new information if its the same stuff he will tune you out. So to say then lets pull out. And then three months later that this consistent inconsistency may be helpful but it is less helpful if you are conducting Foreign Policy of the United States. Because trump has been very lucky every president since fdr of course he had a major foreignpolicy crisis with the iron curtain going down. And with that financial crisis with the embassies blowing up and then killing the failure on sailors but the interesting is how with a react . So i would say he wouldnt know as much to be an accurate predictor but with the use of American Power but you havent had a major foreignpolicy crisis. So to be the consistent inconsistency to be to the allies. And to know that to be with them. But they cannot count on that. By god advice from my publicist. [laughter] so when Angela Merkel comes for the first time and then to understand that gdp. And that every country should spend 3 percent. By 2024. And then to get to Angela Merkel for 600 million to say and then to misunderstand this is a great theme of his. And then to say the japanese are ripping us off and then to pay down the federal debt but it is and obsession with him. And our enemies need to be embraced. So if you look at hr mcmaster speech to say that we just invited them in 2018 and with that election of 2016, and that the russians have done this. And with the Reagan Library in california to resign with that contrast. With a view of the world that trump does not share. And then this would be in the tank if the pentagon loses its way. So the most highly classified discussions. Peter why do we have a hundred 90000 troops, what are trade agreements, and what are our aircraft carriers and how many do we have. His slow down of this and they have presented the trade agreements. They were basically presented in an effort to dissuade from International Borders of the United States. And largely they worked in our favor since world war ii. In both republicans and democrats agreed and it made sense. In the troughs chief strategist had a different goal. This International Order process. And this is so called globalist, and trump, instead of shouting and tweeting, and the lights really mean something. Why do we continue to do this. And he was sitting there and was widely regarded and it goes back to the white house the jerry kershner, stopped. By that, he meant that there was a comparison. The lincoln, during the civil war, what it was funded. He was trying to make this marker, about what its going to be about and then we went back to the white house. And some of this, i mean, i told people the security counsel, what trump is like these meetings and basically he asked questions are very consistent. Why are we doing this, what is this me to the American People, like in afghanistan, and what we hear 17 years later, he just asked couple of questions. Of course, we sometimes dont consider the consensus amongst the republicans and democrats and security are. The battlegrounds present the fact is not bad, but your answer is not always to where it makes it, what one thing i do think is that trump is kind of deflated and theres a big difference. Look at our recent books on President Trump continues. A very stable genius was released in january. And in san francisco, they talked about how President Trump argued for the firing of james comey. The turnover rate of white house staffers. We were really careful in how we wrote about different sources and how people reacted in the ribs just because we understand how somebody reacted and was thinking about the way the president was bullying them and was treating them. It does not mean that they were necessarily direct resources for this book. We talked to a lot of people who were briefed at the time who were familiar with how some of the principles fought and carolyn i, one of the most important things in reporting this book, west protect the people who were talking to us. They took great risks to tell us what really happened between the scene and it tells with the president said. An issue is how it was so much worse than we knew in real time. They did so because the new interested is the would protect them. We tried to do that with the book. And that is why we are being a little vague. Host obviously trump is not a fan of the book. He called us third rate reporters which is better than forthright reporters. But he also caught a so called losers. And stone called losers. Peter if you guys wanted suggest any kind of music. He can be the stone cold music. Maybe musical. The next hamilton. So the book is very different trump. If you like a matter of fact about his shortcomings you guys frame it as you guys are just the journalists. But you also dont throw any punches to calling things as you see them in terms of what you witnessed as washington reporters prior to this. One example of many, is talking about a speech Deputy Attorney general was giving to the dea and you guys right spoke with reference to the role of law. Accountability, transparency and basic fairness which trump is undermining daily. Talk about like how the calculation of that pretty thing, blunt statements in terms of the umbrella of objectivity because i think theres often a misunderstanding that objectivity is just letting each side have their say and not making the call. Carol really delighted that you are at moment up. No one has single them out. That moment in the scene in which the Deputy Attorney general and the Justice Department is personally, his reputation for three decades hangs in the balance. He has written a memo is being cited by the president is the reason to fire jim comey and he does not believe that he actually relates to the people that eat that we spoke to, he does not believe he argued any does not believe the memo. It still being served up as a huge justification for this. People think he is a tool of the present in their questioning whether their old friend, prosecutor is a kiss up essentially. So in this moment where he is giving the speech, its a really vulnerable time for him. Hes really emotional and the reason we chose those words was because donald trump has by this point, called the Justice Department called it the truck Justice Department. He had threatened sessions, the attorney general, multiple times. He argued that he should and recuse himself which would be like ethically impossible. You can see that i have a conflict and as a, is what, i dont. Of these ways in which he was breaking the storm. Two things come together. Like oh my gosh know i care about the rule of law and with the and the president , very much not much caring about that. Marisa carol asked me my impressions. Methods to top lines, one just how much trump mood swings seem to really sort of encompass not just the Later White House operates but really the way our government has been operating under him. And then undermining of the intelligence specialist. When we get into the first part which is hes incredibly abusive as utility was staff and even people are longterm allies who are very close with him. It seems like the kids, they seem to be, the only people who have escaped that. The only ones. [laughter]. Philip pretty much. This is not a New Discovery about donald trump. We known for some time hes abusive. Thats a loyalty it only goes one way. He expected from the people who work for him but does not give in return. But what carolyn i found this reporting is that the abusive manners was so much worse than when you in real time. He would call his secretary of Homeland Security at five in the morning to bark orders at her. He would call her later tonight after watching fox news to say that great idea for the border. Go do it. And culver at 5 00 a. M. The next morning wonder why it has not been done engine time sir, people are asleep. Like the staff and Security Department they are all sleeping right now. He would be handle the secretary of state, at the appian 24 him. And this was to clean up the relationship of market african countries because trump et al. Him names printed theres just a lot of these episodes in the book the paint a portrait is what he is like his manager and leading government. And saw a being part of him of him are taking aside, we are just telling you what happened even scenes in order raters, certainly draw conclusions about that. Marisa how did you manage to be so bad. [laughter]. But its true, i do think a lot of people who might disagree with the policies of this administration, will feel some theory of the four even some of the most hard line sessions. A right one point that nielsen is standing as the executive order to try to end the separation of children at the bar. And at the same time, his administration was circulating a completely different here than what was being cited. Executive order. Like white. Believing do that. Carol really good point to come to mind from your question about two good questions and what you just said. I find it really interesting about this presidency, it is something that fellow i learned an eyeopening way like even we who have been there from the day one, were sort of taken aback by this but these grownups in the room so to speak at the beginning, you may not agree with them politically and philosophically, you may think that their personality style is also great. But many parts of the state department, for wanting to cut the bureaucracy there and reorganize. Not being very approachable but, hey and john kelly, the secretary of Homeland Security and then chief of staff, defense secretary jim bettis, these are people who kept telling the president , you dont want to do this and let me tell you why. And heres National Security applications if you do this. And the president , and it abusive management style, highlight drove those people out of the room and the result was now he was increasingly surrounded by people who view the mission as time the president , here we are. And in the impeachment stage of his administration, nobody people is here is lizzie did. Many people were asking, how the world to these people serve donald trump. They have a conservative ideology, philosophy county hope to serve this agenda they helped it would guide the normal trump and with the kind of this they just got a lion roar in the face everyday and many of them either were driven out left. Were looking at books they were written about the Trump Administration since 2016. Details are time and the Trump Administrations National Security council. In the statement, shocked about what drives the president. At the beginning of the Trump Administration, one of the things i did was National Security advisor was to take a review huff american for pulsing the first couple of weeks. Where we know what is the status report. So one of the things, was that the russians had been cheating. They have been doing it for years on this class of weaponry called in a military weapons principles authority clear that the chinese were developing the. So my advice was, lets get to where we need to get to in this call is made up his fate. If we cheat, every reportable same here cheating. If the elections are cheated, no one calls them out so i think it was the right thing to do. Ronald ragan and i relearned with trump is that you got have chips to play the game. You have to have leverage. Where is it if you dont even have that. Reagan was able to go and say lets cancel this. We had a lot of leverage, economic leverage and when the threat of the defense in a Defense Missile system. They knew they couldnt build and they thought we might be able to so i knew trump pencil in the right place. K. T. would you have them and you negotiate them. Speech of moving on to north korea. We have a cycle need to explain beautifully about, the cyclist criminal and noncommittal and promises in north korea and list since the early 90s. And they were Building Nuclear Weapon Program spread what interviews on solving this problem. Are we just have this with you do that north korea will have Nuclear Weapons printed. K. T. i would say the priority is china. Honeydew generally. We have republicans and democrats and everybodys tribal. League patristic and then, you have sanctions the problem spot said in the North Koreans come to the negotiating tables was a great, will let up on the pressure. Like a two yearold. I think that trump is in that i think in the review again, we a review of american Foreign Policy at the beginning of the administrations situation room and i called and the deputies of all of the agencies of government, treasuries stated defense, intelligence, military and i said okay will we do about north korea. They basically have the same policy. That was basically doing nothing. I said come back to me in a weeks time and when here all your ideas. Thank way outside of the box. On one hand, and actually the tv style, us on this and i want you to accepting the North Koreans is a nuclear weapon. On the other hand what you did talk about the regime change what we might do militarily. Lets think about covert things we can do. The tobacconist shake the street again. We need a reassessment of north korea position. Lets come back. So they didnt about a week later i spent the time in between and relearning a lot of things about. Early in my career had done then papers on south korea. Slick aback in the have ideas but no clear ideas. You do covert stuff. If you put them altogether, you have instead of thinking of a dial its either a switch on or off, you can have a dial in the start turning up the dial of pressure in all these ways so that you can affect the chinese. In the inner part of it was understanding the world china how it plays in north korea. 75 percent of the feud feel and transportation, that comes a certificate from china. Because you the chinese to help you. We other things going on chinese. They never helped us. Trumpet said that pretty he said well we tried, maybe they couldnt do it. But the other thing is, hes done this all on his own. So all those experts, the didnt understand as a negotiator, that with trump, and with him, it was always secret stuff. He doesnt care about is people not even his generals. Hell let them starve and feed them to the dogs really cares only about him and his ego maybe he cares a little bit about being a greater leader than his father. Its a trump i think has found a third way, carrot stick go. I think is played to kims ego. He said lets go meet at singapore, and very carefully chosen. Absalom from the administration by then. Singapore is most modern setting the world. So that is a demonstration to kim, the next meeting they had was in the United States, vietnam war. And we are mortal enemies so the other example was taken. This is the them. We were at war with each other. If a look at how close we are now. So those were carefully calibrated to show kim that these are the possibilities. So the only thing that trump did which i thought was actually brilliant. But he did this trail like a movie trailer, when people thought it was not done well but i thought brilliant. Like the small video. Host i saw that. K. T. knows. Honeydew with north korea but how do you solve a problem like north korea. I think that was the right thing to do. But i think if you have a different relationship with china, north korea might be in a different position to. Host everything is interconnected. Your politics domestic politics, both domestically and international. You said about the president , watch what he does. Not what he says. Im interested in your thoughts about how that is came out. I also like to ask you about the border walls. With what he does what he says. K. T. try to figure out, what drives trump. Most president s have an analysis. What makes you tick. Some more than others. Theres things that you help what made them tick. They trust have a whole library. He wants to when did case from the new York Real Estate world where is he made money that your boys lost. Its also the tv world. He created the whole genre of reality television. He had good writings about ratings. Everybody claims different things. Something for him, it was all about winning. To get there, i get the good writings, how to make money when you sell the building. Its just getting to where you can win. So i think the trump started the negotiating positions, i think he looks as though something you have to do to get to the part where you win. Just a tactic. Every time he sort of proposes a negotiation with somebody, lets take on tariffs with the chinese. The political establishment does not spring trump probably thinks its observed to, is not where he expects to single. I think to a certain extent, he says a lot of strange things. So for example, when make a sort of trash talk him on twitter. Like my missiles are bigger than your missiles. Next week he says, heat their sending each of the love letters printed trump, doesnt matter. He does not care who he and kim leads, sometimes even himself. He doesnt worry about 2000 same place. Or overruling himself. He just wants to win. Its been pretty effective for him. And we conclude our look on the topic ministration with turning point usa convert and his new book, the maggot doctrine we didnt know what he calls the new conservative agenda. Heres a portion of his talk from the nixon president ial library. Ive been so blown away from the truck residency innocent reported to recount those and focusing on how hes been able to succeed. But then also and equally anxious because i dont want to see the Republican Party go back to Big Government management and appeasement of our enemies and wars overseas. And so the immigration policy, valley ghana china. I think that President Trump has positively recalibrated the Republican Party for generations. I think its important to learn from it but our generation, continues his success with the Trump Administration for the better and so first and foremost, i wrote this book partly because i was watching cable news knobs reading newspapers and equipment coming across the left wing pundits, telling me what present trump bully. And i say, you hate him for you hate us going hate all of us. Im not going to listen to you. President trump is doing this because he was to enrich his businesses there President Trump is going up because the joe biden philosophy in the un guided missile. I said to myself, first of all, ive actually spent time with him in the first family. I have seen what hes been able to deliver for our country. Why is no one actually articulating with the doctrine of the truck presidency is. You just dont stop accidentally into the largest ever tax cut in history, or most black unemployment and energy independence, dont just stumble into that. Marilyn deal was canceled, all of these things has happened and finally be been able to put our enemies on the fence. Its just not an accident. [laughter]. You dont just stumble into that because it was, every the president and the parties wouldve had a track record. Russ traveling the country, a common thing that i would get his one of these people when doing for the last 20 years. Because it looks like this guy is just running them around circles in the conventional wisdom. So thats why were there with book, i wanted to interview for the book, i did talk to the president and partly in the book but also onto rally after rally people would wait out hundreds of hours just for a chance to see the president of the United States speak for 30 minutes. Which a kickoff rally in florida people spent hours outside and tsunami like conditions i went to minnesota where people waited outside negative 10 degrees weather they said, im sure all of you appreciate this, is not normal. There is no hand, not bon jovi not beyonce went no comedian sometimes theres a comedian with the present but i think is on this. Its a much funnier in the latenight comedians ever will be. Do you ever notice seriously. , give her notice that latenight combinations and applauding in the audience and theyre not laughing. Because no funny. Like a political talk show at 11 00 oclock at night. Anyway, is in myself asked myself, what is it that drives people toys along with these rallies to take days off of work and to feel as if theyre part of something and then it hit me. He goes back to something that was talked about in the papers by our founding fathers. Which is citizen government. For the first time in many decades, people finally believe that there is a vessel that listens to them. And that delivers for them. In the great irony of the whole thing, as you would not have been able to write this in a novel and have the believe it. It takes a billionaire businessman who supposed to be disconnected is anyone, from youtube actually represent you in the kingdom of washington dc. So from the moment he came down the escalator, he changed american politics fundamentally for good because when you go to these rallies and you talk to these people, heres the consensus. I felt like i was with my country like both parties were participating in it and i felt like the Republican Party politics was gain and did nothing to fix it. And it was so sick and tired all tics as usual. I wanted somebody with a sledgehammer, a brooklyn to go blow it all up. In this kind of special. [applause]. Any actives kind of poetic. And people stable, idyllics tweets and im going to address this one time and one time only. Heres the best way that i can address it is america was drowning in the middle of the ocean and the management decline in both Political Parties for the last 20 years. In both parties that contributed to this pretty Big Government management and adventurous about arrive in our country was crumbling and finally in the middle of the night over this gasping for air, rescue helicopter brings us back up to breathe again in the first thing you say the person that rescues us is, i dont like you treat history. We are breathing again. Its completely and totally irrelevant. Its like the heart surgeon this is okay finally, thank you for the triple bypass surgery. By the way i hate your tweets but in bloodwork breathing again. As not to mention and i can make an argument that as a public northstar, for every single person, to understand what the president is trying to accomplish. His traditionally need to hold a press conference, and the media one oh is covered. Now at the realtime standard and accountability measure, exactly to hit see what he is thinking. I think he is hilarious. I actually like a politician with a consensus washington dc. I dont care feet offense people. I like the fact that he punches back twice as hard because i feel like our policies people have not been fighting. So in a this time and time again is okay, heres the big picture. First and foremost, when you go into the doctor and you say give me the bed dispersed bring to me everything that is going on the bed. And present trump said he was pretty brittle he said losing, our borders are wide open, our trade deals are stupid, chinas laughing at us, our economy is in a week. The course are compromised, the state is correct and this was in like the first 30 seconds. It was the first honest assessment i think country ever seen in a very long time. Thus the first time of his philosophy. Im not going to sugarcoat it, not going to tell you one thing when its actually the other. The second thing is what has or actually rooted in the renewal of the nation. An understanding this historical significance of what present trump is done and what is trying to do and what is in position to do is trying to revitalize and resuscitated country that was in that line. All these programs are available to watch in their entirety in our website. A booktv. Org. Just type trump and book in the search box at the top of the page. The president from public affairs, available now in paperback and ebook. Biographies of every president , organized by the rankings, i noted historians from best to worst. And features perspectives into the lives work nations chief executives and leadership styles. This website cspan. Org presence, to know more about each residence and historian features in order your copy today. Wherever books and ebooks are sold. This weekend on book tv, sunday 9 00 p. M. Eastern on afterwards, former fbi director Andrew Mccabes book, the threat. How the fbi protects america in the air of to her and trump. And then the intelligence just came right through. And we spoke for about an hour or half an hour and she told me her life like a cliche of everything going wrong that could happen to somebody. Eventually asked her what is how do you want me to describe you in one sentence . She shot back what i am a prostitute, mother of six and a child of god appearing on book tv more than 60 times all the programs you are about to see can be viewed in their entirety by visiting our website book tv. Org. First in 1982 on cspan book notes, David Mccullough discusses his biography of president harry truman it was are awarded the Pulitzer Prize for biography instrumental to change attitudes about the truman presidency. Here is a portion of the