Bob Woodward on revelations from "The Trump Tapes"

journalist Bob Woodward has become the  author of record about the modern American   presidency now Woodward's releasing an  audio book allowing us to listen in on   former president Donald Trump in his own words  Woodward tells our John Dickerson all about it for nine months back in 2020 when the  phone rang at Bob Woodward's home on   this leafy Georgetown Street there was a good  chance it was a call he didn't want to miss   the Woodward the president hi Bob president  Trump how are you sometimes Woodward's wife   journalist Elsa Walsh answered the calls which  came day or night so we joke and I sort of say   there's like Princess Diana that there were three  people in this marriage Bob me and Donald Trump   and it was sort of never-ending the phone would  ring is it a robo call or is it Trump Mr President   you are connected hi Bob sir how are you Woodward  scattered tape recorders around the house to be   ready for the surprise calls I'm turning my  recorder on here as I always do and Donald   Trump would talk I respect Putin I think Putin  likes me I think I like him and talk I said to   the king king you gotta pay us for protection on  the pandemic North Korea Russia race relations   just about anything I bring rage out I do break  I always have I don't know if that's an acid or   a liability but whatever it is I do there were 16  phone calls 20 interviews all told eight hours of   conversations which Woodward has compiled into an  audiobook the Trump tapes out this week published   by Simon & Schuster part of our parent company  Paramount Global in many ways it's the missing   piece of the Trump story we've heard a lot of  trump he said a lot but what did he do in the   presidency and having the time I could go back  and ask questions again and again Woodward has   written about the calls but hearing Trump  in his own voice he believes is enlightening   I reported on this in the book I did rage but  I then went back and listened to these tapes   and said my God there is a whole new Trump that  emerges we got along great we've always got along   great his tone of voice offers insight into why  Trump may have kept totems from his presidency at   Mar-A-Lago like the letters from North Korea's Kim  Jong-un it's clearly a relationship he cherishes   you meet somebody and you have a good  chemistry and there is a lot of truth to it   you meet a woman in one second you know  whether or not it's all going to happen   okay we had a very good chemistry together  the topics Veer from the humorous I said did   you ever hear of the song Rocket Man he said  no no did you ever hear of Elton John no no   I said I did you a great favor I called you  Rocket Man yes you called me Little Rocket Man   to the deadly serious if you've given Kim too  much power no because if he stepped by him if he   shoots one of those that doesn't let me tell you  whether I gave it to him or not if he shoots he   shoots and if he shoots he shoots he says about  the North Korean leader if he shoots he shoots   how did you react to that I really froze  because Trump said it in a way of if he   shoots him you know kind of cavalier and  of course it would be Unthinkable one theme   runs throughout all eight hours of tape Trump  thought the presidency was a one-man show I get   people. They come up with ideas. But the ideas  are mine, Bob. The ideas are mine. Want to know   something? Everything is mine but a presidency  based on personality was overmatched by COVID 19.   one of the most stunning moments I've had 50 years  in reporting Woodward learned that on January 28   2020 just days after the first COVID-19 case was  confirmed in the United States Trump's National   Security adviser Robert O'Brien had given  him a grave warning I hope the exact phrase   I used was this will be the biggest national  security threat you face in your presidency   I was pretty passionate about it yet at  a rally two weeks later Trump said this   looks like by April you know in theory when it  gets a little warmer and miraculously goes away   oh that's true when Woodward learned about  that disconnect between what the president   knew and what he said he asked Trump why  he didn't sound the alarm I wanted to where you said to yourself ah this  is the leadership test of a lifetime   no when you hear this voice and the way he  assesses situations in himself he's drowning   in himself and at one point we're interviewing him  and I just offered the commentary I feel like I'm   talking to a drowning man when he's talking about  the virus and he says we've got it under control   taken as a whole the recordings paint a revealing  self-portrait is it that he thinks of the   presidency as a possession yes I think he does  I think it's as it's a trophy and he has got it   and he is going to hold it which leads to one of  Woodward's biggest regrets the question he didn't   ask there was one point where I asked him I said  I hear that if you lose you're not going to leave   the White House everyone says Trump is going to  stay in the white house if it's contested have   you well I'm not I don't even comment on that sir  I don't want to comment at this time hey Bob I got   I'll talk to you later on tonight it's the only  time he had no comment and this of course was   months before his loss and kind of slapped  myself a little bit why didn't I follow up   on that a little bit more at the end of the book  rage you said that Donald Trump was singularly   unfit to be president and now listening to  these tapes you draw a more grave conclusion   what is that conclusion Trump was the wrong  man for the job I realize now two years later   all of the January 6th Insurrection leads  me to the conclusion that he's not just the   wrong man for the job but he's dangerous and  he is a threat to democracy and he's a threat   to the presidency because he doesn't understand  the core obligations that come with that office

Channel: CBS Sunday Morning

Views: 992,757

Keywords: CBS Sunday Morning, CBS News, news, bob woodward, the trump tapes, donald trump, washington post, audiobook, john dickerson, presidency, trophy, kim jong un

Id: rN3_Bb3lzZg

Length: 7min 20sec (440 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 23 2022