Vossoughian. Morning joe starts right now. Now we knew. We know donald trump knew the virus was deadly and airborne. And we know he knew millions would get sick and die. He knew it wasnt just older people who would be killed by the virus. He knew early on this would be the greatest crisis america had faced in decades. Members of Donald Trumps staff knew in january a plague was coming to infect america. That half a million americans could die. That millions more would likely lose their job. That the economy would be ravaged and that those Staff Members, those Staff Members had responsibility to warn him and they did. But donald trump chose instead to lie to you. And to lie to your family. And to lie to over 300 million americans about the storm that was coming to lay upon this planned. Land. And even as he lied month after month, his staff remained sil t silent. You see, staying in Good Standing with donald trump ended up being more important to them than saving your life. Now, six months into this lie, nearly 200,000 american souls are dead. Countless, countless remain ravaged by the aftermath of this horrific disease. Millions still out of work. And too many working class americans have had their lives destroyed. While wall street traders and donald trump and his family get richer by the day. But donald trump says he didnt want americans to panic. No, he just wanted to sit by and watch them die. Hoping the Dow Jones Industrial and the s p would stay healthy enough to get him reelected. But americans got sicker by the day. You watched your parents die. Some of you that watched this show had to bury your moms. I know, you told me about it. How horrible it was to be there in the hospital but not being able to be with your mom holding her hand while she passed on. Your fathers died. Ive heard those sad, heartbreaking stories, too. Your husbands, your wives, and yes, your children. They died as well. And while that was happening, we listened to a man who swore an oath to protect you, to protect your family, to protect all of us. And we watched him lie through his teeth every afternoon around 5 00, when all we really needed from him, and all we asked from him, from the beginning, was the truth. Thats what we needed. And that truth would have long ago set us free from what is now an ongoing and seemingly endless nightmare. And thats where we are. Good morning, and welcome to morning joe. Joe, willie and i have been looking through these tapes and these reports through the night. Lets get right into them. Excerpts of the president s interview with legendary bob woodward which the president leads the public on the true threat of the virus. Contained within the 18 interviews, reportedly totaling nine hours was this. So give me a moment of talking to somebody, going through this with fauci or somebody who kind of, it caused a pivot in your mind because its clear, just from whats on the Public Record, that you went through a pivot on this to, oh my god, the gravity is almost inexplicable and unexplainable . I think bob to be honest with you. Sure, i want you to. I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down because i dont want to create a panic. That was march 19th. Now to some of the ways the president carried out his plan to play it down. One concerns the comparisons he made to the flu. That he knew were false. Heres what he said to woodward on february 7th about how deadly the coronavirus can be on february 7th. President trump to woodward. It goes through the air, bob, thats always tougher than the touch. You know the touch, you dont have to touch things. But the air, you breathe the air and thats how its passed. So thats a very tricky one, thats a delicate one. Its almost more deadly than, you know, even your strenuous flus. Then weeks later trump said this at a Campaign Rally in South Carolina. So a number that nobody heard of that i heard of recently and i was shocked to hear it, 35,000 people on average die each year from the flu. 35,000. Thats a lot of people. I can go to 100,000, it can be 27,000. They say usually a minimum of 27,000. Goes up to 100,000 a year people die. So far we have lost nobody to coronavirus in the United States. The death toll is now more than 190,000 people. The president also intentionally misled the public on the effects of the virus on young people. Heres what he told woodward in march followed by his remarks on fox news last month. President trump says this, now its turning out, its not just old people bob. Today and yesterday some startling facts came out. Its not just older people, as if they dont matter its not just older, older people. Its plenty of young people. But early last month trump said, if you look at children, children are almost and i would also say definitely but almost immune from this disease. They just dont have a problem. According to excerpts from woodwards new book, National Security adviser Robert Obrien warned the president on january 28th, quote, this will be the biggest National Security threat you face in your presidency. This is going to be the roughest thing you face. By the way, just for perspective, that was january the 28th. Willie, about at the same time it may have been, in fact, the exact day that joe biden wrote his oped in in the usa today where joe biden said, we are not ready for the coming pandemic. Mr. President , please listen to your scientists, please listen to your doctors. And, of course, donald trump didnt do that. He just chose to lie. Yeah. I mean, the reason joe biden was able to write that oped and say those things is because anyone near Public Health knew that was the way it had to be handled. Knew how serious it was. Im glad you went to the people affected by this, thats what i was thinking yesterday when the president said on march 19th, i wanted to play it down, i still want to play it down. I thought about those families who lost somebody, the people who lost a job. The doctors and nurses who were in overrun icus and emergency rooms. All the parents home schooling their kids, still doing it today. Parents who maybe had to make a decision to quit their jobs to be home and teach their kids. This stuff had real impact. Now theres nowhere for the president to hide. He cannot say it was an anonymous source, the fake news, the deep state. Its on tape, his voice. He cant say he was misquoted. Its there for the world to see his dereliction that definitely, definitely cost lives. And that dereliction, there are tens of thousands of people who are dead today and that and you ask the scientists and you ask the doctors, that could have been prevented. Other countries have far different numbers than us because they mitigated, put social distancing guidelines in place, wore masks. They didnt have a leader who laughed at, who flouted the simple things that could have been done to save lives and the president did not mobilize the defense production act to get testing going. There are places in this country you still cant get tests unless youre showing big symptoms. States like montana where people are dying. So despite that warning, the president continued to mislead by the way, the warning from his National Security adviser that has to worry about threats from terrorists, he told the president , told the president , this will be the biggest National Security threat you face in your presidency. This is going to be the roughest thing you face. And yet, mika, this is what donald trump said a month after receiving that horrifying warning. One of my people came up to me and said, mr. President , they tried to beat you on russia, russia, russia, that didnt work out too well. They tried the impeachment hoax. And this is their new hoax. This is this is their lets bring in hold on. Willie, he said this was a hoax. A political hoax. A month after his National Security adviser told him, this was the gravest National Security threat he would face in his presidency after Peter Navarro, a month after Peter Navarro wrote a memo to him saying 500,000 americans could die from this. Before that was a month after where hes telling everybody. He has the information of just how grim this is going to be. Of course, hes lied about it all summer, saying he didnt know, he was kept out of the loop. But even after that, he continued a month later saying it was a hoax. Even after that you talked about schools, willie, think about this fact. Yes, donald trump has been pushing people to go back to school this fall. For pushing the economy to reopen. College Football Players to go back and play college football. But think about the fact as he was telling woodward in the spring that this is a deadly virus, that its airborne. That it also impacts younger people and not older people. At the same time he was pressing, pressuring schools to send children back to schools in the spring, at the height of this virus. And he still was saying a month ago, this doesnt affect children, because he sees schools as basically nothing more than a place for workers to put their children before they go work at corporations like the trump organization. Its all very transparent and the consequences have been extraordinarily deadly for americans. We learned from the American Academy of pediatrics this week that half a million children in this country have or have had coronavirus. Its harder for children to transmit it but they get it and can bring it home with them. Remember, as you look at the time line on all these quotes, he wanted to be fully back open on easter, on april 12th he said, lets open our churches, lets get back to work, life will resume. Knowing everything he told bob woodward, he told us lets open the doors and go back. Well get into this. Theres the military, kim jongun, what general mattis said, what dr. Fauci has said. This book is full of indictments of this president. But no greater indictment as you guys are saying than the job of the president to protect the American People, for their security, health, safety. He didnt do it. When people go to vote they have to consider that. But we have on the record, in his words, not a former source, a former adviser he can trash after the fact, his voice on tape saying all these things. You listen to that voice and that is a man who betrayed the greatest generation. Who betrayed korean vets, vietnam vets. People that fought and risked their lives for americans. Now in their 70s, 80s, some in their 90s. Now they are being lied to by the commander in chief, saying that this was all a hoax. And, mika, the impact on his followers, who believe everything that he says, its been devastating. Its also been devastating for our Health Care Workers on the front line. I think of the picture of that arizona nurse wearing a mask while a man is holding an American Flag screaming at her in her face, telling her its a hoax. I think of the stories of over Health Care Workers besieged. The story of the Health Care Workers and the doctors as theyre carting bodies out in montgomery, alabama of dead coronavirus patients, people asking in the parking lot if its a hoax. We see the president still mocking reporters, even this week, for wearing masks. Almost like cult members you have members of the White House Press office and republican senators saying that the president never downplayed the virus, even though his words say thats what he wanted to do. Its his words. You can see that he did this. Or a republican senator that calls this a gotcha book. No. These are his words. If youre going to hold onto that at this point, youre a national disgrace. This is not where you want to be. You have to listen to the president s words. You have to look at his actions. And you have to decide why we have 190,000 americans dead and more are dying when other countries were able to do this in simple mitigation ways. The United States i said it before, we are a country that have the best doctors, we have the best research, universities, the best research hospitals, weve won over 50 of nobel prizes in science since 1950. I believe in american exceptionalism, i always have believed in american exceptionalism, and yet one man in the white house, who knows the truth but will not let you know the truth, is responsible and if not, i would love to hear the counter argument, responsible for a country that has 4. 5 of the worlds population having a death toll thats approximately 25 of the worlds death toll. That is a direct consequence of the lying that was laid bare yesterday in Donald Trumps own words. Lets bring in theres more. Lets bring in White House Reporter for the Associated PressJonathan Lemire. Correspondent carol lee live at the white house this morning. Jonathan lemire describe the day, if you could, at the white house yesterday, and i suspect a state of shock has settled in over white house Staff Members who actually, as we saw, have been warning the president about this since january, the president chose instead to ignore them and continue lying to the American People. Thats right, joe. Those in the white house describe the mood as certainly a state of shock, very somber because they know, and they heard what the president himself said in his own words. There is no real attempt here to suggest this was fake news or Anonymous Sources who cant be believed. The president last night in an interview described it as a police hit job. These are the president s own words and his staff knows that. Wait this is a political hit job. Its on tape. How are his words on tape a political hit job. And like a journalist would accept that as an answer. Even cult members of Donald Trumps cult now hear his voice. How is that a political hit job . The journalist who heard that answer was sean hannity on fox news last night. That perhaps is an answer to your question. Theres flailing from the white house, no good defense. We heard the play from Kayleigh Mcenany and the president himself, this was an attempt to provide calm, didnt want to stoke panic. But there is a difference between trying to calm people and being dishonest with the American Public. Woodward himself says what did he know and when did he know it . We know in the president s own words he knew in january, february, march, he knew how bad the virus was, how bad it could get, the ramifications it could have on the American Public. The audio from february 7th, discussing how dangerous this virus was. He went on to hold several indoor political rallies in the days and weeks ahead, exposing his own supporters potentially to the virus himself. Why did he talk to bob woodward is what people are asking. This is woodwards second book about thiS White House, he wrote another in 2018 at the time the white house was reeling after a couple tellall books. They decided it was best if the president did not cooperate with bob woodward for that book. Kellyanne conway is on record saying she advised against it. When the book came out and painted an unflattering picture of donald trump, he was ensensed. And vowed at that moment if woodward were to write another book he wanted to be part of it because he believed he could shape a far more positive portrayal. He believed that the solution to any problem is more trump. He wanted to insert himself in the process. So he gave woodward extraordinary access, over a dozen interviews, hours of interviews, many without white house aides knowing about it. This is what was revealed, pulled back the curtain and what he knew back then. Were in a moment now where every time theres a crisis or political scandal involving President Trump there is a sense, the meme, nothing matters. This should matter. The president of the United States knew the dangers of the coronavirus in january, february, and march, and he was not honest with the American People. The president tweeted last night, this was a hit job by the, quote, rapidly fading bob woodward. Bob woodward got the president of the United States to pick up the phone 18 times and to speak on the record on tape over the course of about nine hours. There is the theory and always has been the theory that donald trump put forth himself in the campaign that he could shoot somebody on fifth avenue and get away with it. Do they still subscribe to that theory this morning given the fact his voice is on tape . Do you believe they can push past this, survive it the way they did the access Hollywood Tape even though the gravity is greater. Theres a core group of the president s supporters who are never going to leave the president. However, thats not enough for the president. Thats not enough for him to win a second term. Theres real panic around people around the president. There was mpanic three weeks ag when the press release for Bob Woodwards book came out. There was already finger pointing and who thought it was a good idea for the president to sit down and spend that time with bob woodward. It wasnt just the president. Many of the people who spoke with him did. I spoke with the security adviser last night who confirmed the quote in the book, saying he spoke with bob woodward as well. This is not just the president saying ill cooperate with this, but this is a number of really opening up his administration to allow a bunch of people to cooperate and talk to bob woodward for this book.