Governors not doing enough and how important the National Guard is area and i think he is, hes making a partisan issue where i think in the past seen president s reach out and try to be compassionate and to win people togetherinstead of divide them. So i think thats been something weve seen with the pandemic and with these recent protests. How did your book come about, whats the genesis of it . Ive written a book called the residence and a couple of other books about the white house and ive always been fascinated by what happens behind the scenes on inauguration day. To me thats just a dramatic day in our history when one new family moves in another family moves out the public is looking at this west front of the capital and you know that this swearingin ceremony that we all watch, but really behindthescenes theres controlled chaos at the white house. And theres this last inauguration i was fascinated by the obamas taking off in the helicopter as right after President Trump was sworn in. And he flew over the white house , looked down and how they had risen for eight years as every president and first lady do and start their new as a semiprivate citizens so i wanted to dig into what happens when you suddenly become both from the most powerfulperson in the world to really being on the sidelines. That includes an interview you conducted with the president your account in the book and heres some of the details. Quote, not a man whose been called a carnival barker and a blowhard by hispredecessors was sitting behind looking at me intently. I was surprised that the interview would cometogether at all especially since he seemed unsure of what i was writing about. Youre writing about the first lady referring to a book i had written about the subject and i said no, this is aboutthe former president. Trump was subdued and thoughtful and a glass of diet coke on ice was the only thing on his desk. The room was so bright it felt like there were television lights shooting down from the ceiling which would have been appropriate for the first president to have been a reality tvstar. There were also three us flags and three president ial ones on this planet. Three times as many as each of his predecessors. I think that just speaks a lot to how President Trump views the presidency. He understands the importance of the job but that he is the most powerful person in the world but he is not like his predecessors so i i have to begin to thatin the book. It could just be the story of torch hw bush and their friendship, otherwise you get into that in the book and these remarkable friendships to the former president in order to get over finally. Which has been the case for decades. But i had to look at how donald trump would change the president s club. I think he united former president s together in lots of ways. Coincidence, george w. Bush are closer now than they would have been had donald trump not been elected area they have more in common with each other and they do with President Trump reared so thats what i wanted to look into his where does he fit in this club area and at one point i asked him that and laugh. He was very honest in the interview. He is certainly very honest and he said i dont think im going to fit in very well area what do you think . Hes under no illusions of where he fits in history and how he is a disruptor and i think he viewed that for himself even after. We asked him about that very issue back in july and an interview last summer. Heres the exchange. John kennedy rely dont likeeisenhower, george w. Bush lied on his father. Have you reached out to former president s and if so who and why mark. Not too much. I speak with george bush. I spoke a little bit to the father. But really not too much. Its hard when people were against you. I very much disagree with the war in iraq. So its hard to say im all of a sudden i. Im ina situation where were in the middle east , where we defeated as you know the coffee in syria and i did that because i do that. I wanted to do that and we did 100 percent of the caliphate. When i was at 99 percent of people said you cant pull out, you cant allow. When i took it over it was a mess and anyway i defeated 100 percent of the caliphate. That doesnt mean isis doesnt go around bombing and doing what they do is there so crazy but weve done a great job i disagree very strongly on having gone into the middle east were in there now more than 7 trillion to thousands of lives, millions of lives on both sides because i count both sides. Millions of lives. And they went to a country that did not knock down the World Trade Center. And it was not so bad, we said we have plenty of problems and he was not a good person but he didnt knock down the World Trade Center so we got stuck in this quick said but were extricating ourselves and were getting out. I called them the endless wars. Thats President Trump from july of last year and Kate Anderson brower, does that mirror what he told you . His relationship with george w. Bush which is very same. According to my reporting which i talked to a lot of people, his family and friends say bush used it as being like the civil war. Drums presidency is like the civil war. We can get through a Trump Presidency but the only conversation is that trump had with george w. Bush has been around Brett Kavanaugh who worked for bush and bush called senators to get kavanaugh confirmed during the confidential hearing. It was a long time ago and i know during the pandemic, all president s want to be of service and help but they feel like they cant do anything right now because they are teaming up against him, the story will be donald trump is not part of this so they feel like their hands are tied. There is one story in the book involving jimmy carter, many evenings he will walk down the street in georgia to meet with family and friends and you talk about that in the book, on a quiet saturday evening in april 2019, former president carter was about to serve himself at a buffet table at a friends house and a call came in announcing President Trump wanted to talk to him about china and trade. Mccarter set down his plate and picked up the phone, trump spoke for most of the call but carter asked about the status of north korea and he advised the president to be flexible with the north Korean Leader. Drums then National Security advisor john bolton, a strong supporter of the war in iraq to which the president replied, i call the shots according to a person in the room, the call left president carter unmoved and after they hung up, he went back to the table piled with platters of food and quietly filled his plate as if nothing happened. Thats classic jimmy carter. I dont know if you have the opportunity to go but theres of incredible sunday service he does and they live in a ranch style home that i went to visit with my friend and we went down there and it was incredible because hes so very modest and different from trump but trump views carter is an outsider from the president s club. Over the years, carter has done things including criticizing george w. Bush about the war in iraq, criticizing bushs handling of Hurricane Katrina and being outspoken, he went to north korea and hes been all over the world on behalf of this country but in the process, hes delivering messages in behalf of president clinton, he went to haiti but he brought cnn crew with him and did an interview before he went to clinton about what happened so he does things his own way and i think trump has a kinship for jimmy carter and it has changed recently. Jimmy carter and whether trump was a legitimate president but when i interviewed trump, he indicated carter was the only former president he felt he had that poor because he is a fellow outsider. One photograph that captured the former president s after barack obama was elected president during the transition period, you can see george w. Bush, his father, george h. W. Bush, president elect of the time, barack obama, former president clinton and carter. Bob is first up from illinois. Good morning. Good morning. Ive been voting straight democrat since 1972. South side of chicago, hometown, i got a photograph of my late wife when he ran against bobby at a fundraiser. Im a little discouraged from what im reading in the news, i hope it doesnt come back to the president. I agree there are some bad actors, im just hoping it doesnt come back to president obama but if it does, is there anything after who will write a book about obama and even when trump is out, write a book about trump unbiased . Theres so much bias in the news today, he spent his terrific. We all love cspan but im afraid history will bend a little bit in Different Directions from different president s. Thank you. Kate brower. There are stories to look at the Trump Presidency fairly. I think there is certainly a degree of liberal bias but i do think sometimes when you are just saying things that are known, i think trump is, my interview with the president , i asked if he would go to president obamas president ial Library Opening which is something every president has done in modern history but celebrating the legacy of the president who came before him and he said no. He didnt even invite me. You know hes not going to invite the unveiling of the white house, its away from traditions that i dont think bias in marking that and i think these are questions, doesnt matter . Do these traditions matter . She wanted bearing trump to finish in new york, that was something the first lady had done but i think it was an interesting move because why should you not be able to make those decisions for yourself and your family . In some ways, they are different but its questioning the tradition. The caller mentioned former president obama, his comments earlier this year, the graduating class of historically black colleges and universities, he did not mention President Trump but clearly he was on his mind. More than anything, the pandemic touring back the curtain and they know what theyre doing. A lot of them arent even pretending to be in charge. If the world is going to get better, its going to be up to you. With everything suddenly feeling like its up for grabs. This is your time. Nobody can tell you anymore that you should be waiting your turn, nobody can tell you anymore this is how its always been done. More than ever, this is your moment. Your generations world to shape. When you heard that, what was your reaction . I was surprised because president obama has really been quiet on the sidelines, hes been criticized for that and i have a part in the book about how he feels, somewhat like hes in a bind. If he does, and criticized President Trump, he immediately provides a way to galvanize trump voters because i treat think trump wants an enemies. We encourage and talk about this obama Conspiracy Theory that he has that unproven. I was surprised, it shows the pandemic has pushed president obama and president bush into speaking. They feel like this is a bridge too far. Its not been handled well and i talked to one trump official who said look, it is ironic the president feels more comfortable calling strongman autocrat like putin than he does picking up the phone to talk about obama or bush. Is there a problem with that . Would be helpful for us, they love them or not, a lot of people disagree with the war in iraq, rightfully so. A lot of people have problems with clinton and bush and obama but they carry a certain moral story, certainly jimmy carter does and people would like to see that, especially during a time of an unprecedented pandemic in modern history and whats going on around the country, to see president s come together. Dorothy is next from north carolina. Good morning. I would like to address a couple things but thats not the question, i want to make a couple of statements, number one, there is no obama gate. The reason why the fbi was investigating Trumps Campaign members was because the fbi was listening to russia, they listen to the russian calls coming into the u. S. Thats not how they got involved because of that. The trump campaign, they had 150 contracts. Who knows what he said. The thing i want to share about the president , trump has been divisive, obama said something and he didnt say trumps name, hes doing it so when history is written, we got video, there is no hearsay. Were going to see it. I think this is a divisiveness of him dividing the citizens. One more thing, then you can tell me if thats the reason, we know we are going to have another emergency. Trump is not a president who can deal with that, he might not be a strategic thinker. Trump may still be in office and its going to be handled terrib terribly. From intelligence of congress and another, republican and democrat they say is not enough being done and thats going to be the next emergency. Thank you for the call from north carolina. Im reminded when former president bush released a video praising the front line worker during the pandemic, President Trumps response was, where was he during impeachment . That was remarkable to me and i do wonder if theres something behind that because it doesnt make a lot of sense because most president s would see bushes video and say this is wonderful, lets come together. You use it to divide but in 2016, we are going into an election so i think thats cynical thinking there but he honestly has fears of the president s who came before him. He thinks the war in iraq in u. S. History, its something, like him or not, if he stuck by these conditions hes had for years, and look at what he said, Everyone Needs to pay their own fair share, when he is not changed and i think the presidency anything, caused him to become more of who he is, he dug in. I think he wants to be accepted by the former president s, i really do but he feels like hes an outsider. Good morning from birmingham, alabama. Thank you for accepting my call. I have a thought about the five president s and president obama just recently stated, basically towards this future generation. Heres something i think speaking with hundreds of peop people, the president , if they were to come together and truly want the hand, with the federal congressional staffers we have, right now that 20 to 30 years, we havent worked for the peop people, bringing their payroll and insurance into the same system the state have and if you think about it, its the same thing we live under as a people, systems within our state, yet they have their own system. We understand with corporate and companies there are ways of incentivizing peoples payrolls will create some kind of productivity. Our congress staffers could do the same and they would produce if there payrolls and insurance were back home. Thank you for the call. I do think to a larger. , ive always been instructed by these former president s cashing in and how it becomes a situation where the obama becomes the first billionaire, former president and first lady, shes incredibly power in her own way. Look at jimmy carter as someone who did not profit from the presidency and then harry truman, someone whos so worried about looking like he was endorsing companies he wouldnt even sign memoirs a brand name on it because he was concerned it would look like he was endorsing that out of the tent so i think weve seen the presidency on these men an enormous amount of money so theres a sense of propping up the presidency that i think is unseemly and i talk about that in the book but at the same time, they have given lots of money to charity and the obamas and bushes and clintons have been a lot in as well but theres something, 500,000 for an hour long speech that seems ridiculous. Kate anderson bauer, her latest book is team of five, the president book in the age of trump. Also the author of bestsellers, the resident, a look at the white house, contributed to the new york times, vanity fair, washington post, business week and ill is joining us from florida. Good morning. Good morning. In regard to your book cover, five politicians and you are right, the politicians and donald trump is not a politician as we all know. The one thing you said right earlier when you are interviewing him and he answered ten your questions straight out, no lie, straightforward and that speaks to me and thats the way i would rather have a president act and to the woman who called earlier and said hes the most divisive, no, to me, president barack obama was the most divisive president weve ever had. Reaction to his comment. I think he is right, the thing President Trump, he does tell it like it is. He says what he thinks and he speaks openly and plainly you feel like theres intimacy there and i was impressed when i went into the firm, he was leaning in and looking intently at me as though this was the focus of that time, is interested in these questions and he wanted to get into where he fits and he was very honest that he doesnt fit at all with any of the former living president so yes, that is what it feels to trump voters. One thing about the cover and body language, you can see president s bush, bush, obama and clinton literally close together in a bit of a distance, former president jimmy carter. What does that tell you . Its funny you mentioned that because it took me a while to get that version of the photograph. Many of them had jimmy carter further away, hes not part of this group in a way that i think he would like to be maybe before theres a sense that when he was called the obama white house, calling president obama, he would get a call back from tom donelan who was obamas National Security advisor and he would have been an intern in the carter white house. The sitting president and a return call from someone who worked for you, they would be called back by the president. His ascent carter feels like he didnt give him the proper respect. Ruth from illinois. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Sorry how this country is going but i want to ask the lady two questions. When the riots happened when president obama was in office, will was his comment on the rioting . I know the comments, they were the same as President Trumps. These people keep calling about separating children at the border, putting them in cages. Who built the cages . There was a very good reason president obama built the cages to separate families. That was to find out what kids belong to what fa