The United States. To contain flooding from rain flow. But this isnt just rainwater, its a toxic mix of raw sewage from neighboring tijuana, draining into Southern California on lower ground, eventually emptying into the pacific ocean. So it, effectively, its like a toilet flushing straight into this river valley. ticking you may think you know Joaquin Phoenix from the parts hes played dark, complicated, sometimes disturbed characters, like the deranged clown in joker. Thats not what we found at all. One person we talked to, who who knows you, says that youre a wonderful actor and a terrible movie star. Is that who is this person . I im but im not going to say. laughter ticking im lesley stahl. Im bill whitaker. Im anderson cooper. Im scott pelley. Those stories, tonight, on 60 minutes. ticking r me i thought i was managing. My moderate to severe Crohns Disease. Me. You ok, sis . My symptoms kept me from being there for my sisters. Flight boarding for flight 2007 to chicago. 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Its about getting more than Health Insurance and a partner who listens and acts. Humana calls it human care. Its talking to a doctor from your couch, or helping you find a cheaper prescription before you ask. Its helping you fix the rugs so you dont fall, d keepinyou social, or helping you find a cheaper prescrionline or off. Ou ask. Its getting to know you, so you can be your healthiest. Thats our superpower. Thats human care. From humana. Pelley tonight, new reporting from the Washington Posts bob woodward says that President Trump was bluntly warned in january about the threat of coronavirus, bdan public. Woodwards new book, rage, is his latest work in a 50year career investigating american president s. His first investigation, reported with carl bernstein, led to the resignation of richard nixon. For rage, mr. Trump agreed to 18 recorded interviews. Many, which youre about to hear, started with the words of the white house operator, mr. Woodward . The president. Mr. Trump called, sometimes late at night, to talk about black lives matter, the threat of nuclear war, and about the dire warning he received during an intelligence briefing this past january. Bob woodward on january 28th of this year, before the virus was on anyones radar, the National Security advisor, robert obrien, 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 Trumps 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 a pandemic coming. Pelley and this is january 28 . Woodward yes. Pley he next day, the white house announced a Coronavirus Task force. This was mr. Trump, january 30, two days after the warning. President trump we think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment. Five. And those people are all recuperating successfully. But were working very closely with china and other countries, and we think its going to have a very good ending for us. So, that i can assure you. Pelley chinese officialswerw alex azar foreign nationals. Pelley on january 31, the president restricted tfrom china. The next week, in a phone call, mr. Trump told woodward what hed been learning about the virus. This was february 7 trump it goes through air, bob. Thats always tougher than the touch. You know, the touch, you dont have to touch things, right . But the air, you just breathe the air and thats how its passed. And so thats a very tricky one. Thats a very delicate one. Its also more deadly than your, you know, your even your strenuous flus. This is deadly stuff. Pelley three weeks after that call, the president said this to the public. Trump its a little like the regular flu, that we have flu shots for. And well essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner. Yeah, go ahead. Pelley in that february 7 interview, its clear that the president knows what the stakes are. But hes not sharing that with the public at that time. Woodward yes. This is the tragedy. The president of the United States has a duty to warn. The public will understand that. But if they get the feeling that theyre not getting the truth, then youre going down the path of deceit and coverup. Pelley did the president ever disclose to you why he wasnt telling the public what the stakes were with the coronavirus . Woodward so, in march, i asked exactly that question. You know, whats going on . And the president said trump well, i think, bob, really, to be honest with you. Woodward sure, i want you to be. Trump i wanted to i wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down. Woodward yes, i trump because i dont want to create a panic. Woodward i think he did not understand the american public. And he said, well, i dont want to create a panic. We know, from history, when the public is told the truth, they organize. We have a problem. Were going to step up. And trump thought, oh, well, theyll panic. When theres a crisis when the president , particularly, knows something, its time to tell the public in some form. He failed. Pelley you write in the book that, the president s handling of the virus reflects his instincts, habits, and style. What are those . Woodward denial. Making up his own facts. Pelley at age 77, bob woodward has factchecked nine president s. Rage is his 20th book. Its published by simon and schuster, part of viacomcbs. Woodward the title, rage, comes from him. He said he brings out rage in people. And he doesnt know whether thats a positive or a negative, or a good thing or a bad thing. And also, it describes a condition in the country now. Theres a lot of rage out there. Pelley his interviews for rage started in the oval office, then continued for months in phone calls, many out oftheblue from mr. Trump. Woodward yes. I mean, you have an audiotape of this, where they come on. Mr. Woodward, the president. White house operator mr. Woodward, the president. Trump hi bob. Woodward President Trump, how are you . Trump hi. How are you . Woodward im turning my recorder on, here, as i always do. Trump okay. Woodward it started in december 2019, before the virus was on anyones radar. So, we were talking a lot about north korea. Pelley in mr. Trumps first year, north korea tested its first intercontinental missile. Woodward says the president gave defense secretary james mattis authority to shoot down any north Korean Missile aimed at the u. S. North korea dominated their earliest interviews. Woodward i think the public did not realize, and trump told me, repeatedly, he said, you dont know how close we were to war. Pelley instead, north korean dictator kim jongun offered to meet. They did, three times. Woodward has more than two dozen letters exchanged in their diplomatic courtship. Woodward kim says to trump, our meetings, our relationship, is out of a fantasy film. He says, there is a magical force between us. Even now, i cannot forget that moment of history, when i firmly held your excellencys hand as the whole world watched. Pelley did the c. I. A. Have a look at kims letters . Woodward yes. Pelley and what did they make of them . Woodward they never figured out who was writing them. But the analysts concluded that theyre masterpieces. Because they are appealing to trumps sense of grandiosity. Pelley woodwards interviews took a sharp turn may 25, after george floyd was killed by Minneapolis Police officers. The black lives Matter Movement reignited. Black lives matter trump i got it. Woodward do you think there is systematic or institutional racism in this country . Trump well, i think there is everywhere. I think probably less here than most places, or less here than many places. Woodward okay, but is it here, in a way that it has an impact on peoples lives . Trump i think it is, and its unfortunate. But i think it is. Pelley woodward asked mr. Trump if a privileged life left him out of touch. Woodward and do you have any sense that that privilege has isolated and put you in a cave, to a certain extent as it put me, and i think lots of white, privileged people, in a cave and that we have to work our way out of it to understand the anger and the pain, particularly, black people feel in this country . Do you see . Trump no. You you really drank the kool aid, didnt you . Just listen to you. Wow. No, i dont feel that at all. Woodward he was ridiculing me for reflecting what the whole movement, after george floyd, is. Pelley by the time of their final interviews in august, mr. Trump had become the leader of the one nation suffering the most from the virus. The president came to this conclusion. Woodward you and i trump nothing more could have been done. Nothing more could have been done. Woodward nothing more could have been done. Does he remember what he told me, back in february, about its more deadly than the flu . I mean, it almost took my breath away, that there was such certainty, when he was absolutely wrong about the issue that defines the position of this country right now. Pelley this past week, the Washington Post published woodwards calls with the president , and woodward was criticized for not reporting, back in february, what mr. Trump had said about the virus being deadly. Woodward says he didnt know at the time whether mr. Trump was right. In our interview, we asked about another controversy, contained in the last line of the book. It might disappoint some of your fans that you reach an editorial conclusion at the end of this book, something that reporters are not supposed to do. Woodward yes. I say the president is the wrong man for the job. Pelley but youre known as the reporter who doesnt put his thumb on the scale. And yet, at the end of this book, you do just that. Woodward its a conclusion based on evidence overwhelming evidence that he could not rise to the occasion with the virus and tell the truth. And one of the things that President Trump told me, in the presidency, theres always dynamite behind the door. The real dynamite is President Trump. He is the dynamite. Pelley the president s final call came too late. He asked woodward to include the august Peace Agreement between israel and the united arab emirates. But rage was already off to the press. Woodward took the opportunity to level with the president. Woodward and i said, its a tough book. There are going to be things that you are not going to like, judgments that i made. And he, at the end, said, well, i didnt get you on this book. Maybe ill get you on the next one. Trump but it looks like i dont have it on this book, but well get you sometime later, i guess. Woodward its tough, sir. Thank you very much. Pelley and after you told the president that it was, in your words, a tough book, what did he do . Woodward an hour and a half later, he tweeted out that the bob woodward book is going to be fake. ticking why did President Trump agree to speak to bob woodward . Go to 60minutesovertime. Com. To fill each tomorrow rey with moments that matter. And a steady stream of protected income can help you secure the life youve planned. For more than 150 years, generations have trusted the strength and stability of pacific life with their tomorrows. Because life isnt about what tomorrow brings. Its what you do with it. Ask a financial professional about pacific life i the po ugar a a1c. Its what you do with it. Because i can still make my own insulin. And trulicity activates my body to release it its not insulin. It starts acting from the first dose. And it lowers risk of heart attack, stroke, or death in people with known Heart Disease or multiple risk factors. 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Our first president george rockington that doesnt even make any sense. Mr. Uhh. Winkle. Geico. Over 75 years of savings and service. Stahl the term crisis on the border typically refers to immigration issues or drugs being smuggled into the country. But it has one more meaning, as we discovered when we traveled to the border in early february. Tens of millions of gallons of raw sewage that spill every year into the Tijuana River on the mexican side and flow across the border right into Southern California, polluting the land, air, and sea. Mexico and the United States each thinks the other should be doing more to clean it up, with no effective solution found on either side of the border for decades. This is where the Tijuana River crosses the border into the United States. This cement structure was built to contain flooding from rainfall. But this isnt just rainwater. Its a toxic mix of raw sewage from neighboring tijuana, draining into Southern California on lower ground, eventually emptying into the pacific ocean. Amber craig so it, effectively, its like a toilet flushing straight into this river valley. Stahl Border Patrol agent amber craig took us on a tour of the sewage infiltration, showing us that what doesnt flush out to sea, washes up on land. Mountains of plastic bottles, s debs and wae, but. Tous because the mosquitoes love to nest in it, so. Stahl its a health concern. An eyesore. And its hindering the Border Patrols main mission. She took us to see president png the border. Just this sixmile stretch cost an estimated 50 million. What we found is that under the wall, theres a network of basins and tunnels built 30 years ago to try to capture the sewage from tijuana. The red dot is me, next to agent amber craig, inside one of those concrete sewage collection basins. Its connected on either end to tunnels from mexico to california that were constructed right under the wall. So, you think of the smugglers and the migrants building tunnels to go under the wall but the u. S. Government built this tunnel that goes under the wall. Craig yes, we built this so that the w into the United States. Stahl it has to flow freely, because four decades ago, the u. S. Signed an agreement with mexico not to cause backup flooding at this area of the border. These metal grates at the ends e keeping the rubbish out. It typically works fine duringer that comes through here comes through like a torrent. It is very, very dangerous. It is a raging river when it rains. Stahl with the tires and the barrels and everything. Craig full of debris and garbage, thats correct. Its very dangerous. Stahl the debris and garbage can hurtle down here with such force that Border Patrol agents have to open the grates to prevent the system from clogging. That means trash flows into california unobstructed. Its also an opening for migrants. The purpose of the wall is being totally defeated by this obligation of yours to lift the grates. Craig you well, yup. It does make it a little more challenging to have to have that open. Of course, we dont want to have it open. Stahl if they go through that tunnel, theyre in the United States. if traha a personnel, an agent, on the other sid, keeping stahl so, as they come out. Craig thats correct. Stahl how do the smugglers know that the grates are lifted . Craig they watch. Stahl they watch . Craig sure. Therere smugglers watching us probably right now. Stahl migrants are routinely caught risking their lives crossing in the sewage. Some need to be rescued and decontaminated. Let me read you a list that we found of stuff that is in this water. Dru