The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Foreign and Domestic Threats Loom Over the 2020 Election | Bob Woodward

Episode Date: September 24, 2020

The U.S. presidential election faces threats at home and from abroad, Dulce Sloan makes an economic case against police brutality, and Bob Woodward discusses his book "Rage." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show. I'm Trevor Noah. Today is Wednesday, the 23rd of September. And here's your quarantine tip of the day. If you're having trouble finding a babysitter who's willing to come to your house in the middle of a pandemic, don't stress.

Just put a scarecrow on top of a rumba. Yeah, that way you have someone to watch your kids, and you'll finally get rid of those damn crows in your house. Lazy-ass, crows, you haven't paid rent in three months. Anyway, on tonight's show, Dead Storms are coming back to life. Donald Trump has a plan to win the election, even if he doesn't, and Dulce-Sloan tells us why police brutality is coming out of your paycheck. So let's do this, people.

Welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show. From Trevor's Couch in New York City to your couch somewhere in the world. This is the Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noa. Let's kick things off with the weather report. Spoiler alerts, you might want to lock yourself inside again. As if 2020 wasn't enough, we now have zombie tropical storms. This is video from when Hurricane Pollett hit Bermuda earlier this month. It was downgraded to a post-tropical low pressure system,

but Pollitt regained strength and became a tropical storm again on Monday. It's now about 300 miles off the coast of the Azores Islands. Oh, zombie storms? Man, the weather has truly figured out how to mess with us now. Storms used to hit us and then be gone but now it's like, all right I'm done. I'm done, I'm done. I'm back. Gotcha, bitch. It feels like Mother Nature realizes that America isn't taking coronavirus seriously. So she just keeps coming up with new ideas to keep people in their homes. You know, giant wildfires, storms that don't die. Pretty soon, when we open the front door, there just going to be a tree who kicks us back in in in in in in in in in. their. their. their. their. their. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the's, thea. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, t. t t t t t t t t t t t t tooooooo. toge. tog. tog. toge. toge. toge. togu. t togu. t door, there's just going to be a tree who kicks us back in the house. Put your ass back in there. At the same time, though, can we acknowledge that a zombie storm is just a storm that lost pressure and then regained

it. It's only exciting because the weather people try to jump on the 2020-Sucks bandwagon and give it a scary name. But I mean, you can make anything sound scary that way. Oh, it's not morning due. It's zombie condensation. Moving on to New York City, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of. Oh, that's weird. Why am I getting a call from Alicia Keys' lawyer? The pride of New York City has always been its mass transportation system. The city has one of the world's oldest, largest, and greatest subway and bus systems.

But it turns out, there's always room for improvements. Today, the MTA will vote on a new rule that really should have been an old one. It will ban defecating on the city's subways and buses and inside transit facilities. Right now rules mandate $100 fines for creating a nuisance or unsanitary conditions on public transit, but the MTA feels we need to be more specific about what is and is not a toilet. Wait, pooping on the subway is only getting banned now.

That's insane. Here I was, getting all angry when people used to do that. Turns out, they were just obeying the rules. And look, I don't want to make broad generalizations here, but I'm willing to bet that if you're taking a shit on the subway, you don't have $100. Like, do they really think that giving out fines is how they're going to solve this problem? Because I mean I'm not a genius but I'm pretty sure nobody who has a toilet at home and who isn't mentally ill is taking a dump in the subway. It's not like Wall Street bankers on their Bluetooth like, I'm telling you Barry, I crush that trade but hold on, hold on, hold on. I got to jump on the train real quick and pinch off a loaf. All I'm saying is I don't think the main the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thrape is people people people people people people people the the throwne is people thee is people thee is people thee throwne the the thee thee thee the is people people the is people the is people the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th is th is people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people the the the thin people thin thin thin the thin the the the the theanananananananananananananan theanananan thee theanananananananananan the the the fact, if anything, finding people for pooping on the subway could backfire. The people are going to start shitting on the subway just to flex how rich they are.

People are just going to be like, yeah, that's right, baby. I got that subway poop money. Bam. But let's change the subject to the continuing statues of Confederate leaders toppled, and problematic syrup poured out. And now, another outdated brand is getting a makeover. New this morning, Uncle Ben's Rice products are getting a new name, Ben's Original. The logo depicting a Chicago head waiter is also being dropped.

The new branding will have the same blue font and orange packaging and will hit the shelves in 2021. The changes come amid a broader movement about racial equality. In June, the companies that make Uncle Ben's and Jemima Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth said they would retire or rebrand their products. Ben's original? Who the hell is Ben? I don't want to get rice from some strange, I don't know. I only trusted the other guy because he was my uncle. Like, I get that they wanted to change the name because some people didn't like the connotations. But surely they could have replaced uncle with another family title, you know, to make us comfortable.

Could have been nephew Ben or your mom's special friend Ben, who she wrestles with while you play with your toysysys of the toys the toys the toys the toys the toys toy the toys the toys the toys the toys the toys toy the toys the toys the toys the toys the toys the toys toy their their toy their thoys. I thoys. I'm thoys. I'm tho th. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm th. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I's. I's. I's. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. thin. th th th th tr tr tr tr tr true. tr true. true. th th th th th th th th th th the the thrace. the wrestles with while you play with your toys in the other room. Yeah, I know he's making sex with my mom, but his rice is dope. Now, personally, I think it's a good thing that brands are re-examining their mascots. And while we're at it, can we please rename Chester Chita. Yeah, because that's an African animal, okay? I've then I've never known a cheetah named Chester in my life. So Cheetos, it's time to change it. To batan do a cheetah.

That sounds more real to me. But while it's great that some products are changing their packaging to be less offensive, let's not pretend that this is the worst manifestation of racism in America. I mean, what's really holding black people back is stuff like this. in June. Mr. Sharf has reportedly promised to double the number of African-American employees in key positions by 2025, already adding two people. Mr. Sharf isn't the only one facing criticism. The post is reporting that five recent executives hired by JPMorgan Chase, CEO Jimmy Diamond, they were all white. Okay, okay. This is an interesting dilemma. Wells Fargo say that they want to hire more black talent, but they also say there's just

not enough black talent in finance to hire from. Which is weird, because every day thousands of black graduates are trying to get into finance. Maybe they're missing each other on the train. If you're not hiring black people, it's because you don't give a shit. Don't be like, it's because you can't find them. How hard are you actually trying? Hey guys, do you see any black people to hire? Yeah, neither do I.

All right, we're going to go with Chad. And you know, one of the things that gets me about the story is them, right? But whenever Wells Fargo is searching for black people to exploit, oh, then they never seem to come up short. They've been sued for charging black and brown people higher interest rates in Sacramento and Philadelphia and Miami and Baltimore, they found black people to exploit. Just have them look for black people to hire because, I mean, clearly they know where the black people are at. And Wells Fargo might be be in the news but they're not the only ones making this excuse. You hear it all the time. Companies want to hire black talent, they just can't find it. But the truth is it's all about your hiring practices. Tons of companies rely on their

employees to recommend to recommend, which is natural, which is natural, right? But the problem is, if your company is already predominantly white, there's a good chance that the people your employees recommend are also going to be other white people, because, you know, the only people they know are going to be white. I mean, look at the office, right? Yeah, the show, the office. Think about it, if Michael Scott asked his employees for referrals on a new hire. How many of these people are going to have a black friend to recommend? You think Toby does? Angela?

Dwight? You think Dwight has a black friend? You guys are playing games? Dwight doesn't even have human friends. These people don't have any black friends. The only black friend they have is Stanley, and he already works there. Look, here's the truth of the matter. If companies want to hire black people,

they will find a way to make it happen. They can start apprenticeship programs, they can start getting people trained into the positions that they want to hire them for. They can give them a shot, the same way they gave many white guys a shot. This is the same argument that companies had that that that that that that that that that that that that that that tha tha tha the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they will will will will will will will will will the they will will will will will will they will will will they will will they will will will will they will the the they will will will will the they will the the they will the the day. Oh, but women are just not qualified. Where do you find a woman? They're all in the kitchen. If you want to make it happen, you can make it happen. And don't tell me it's because black people aren't in finance. Black people love finance. And I'm just talking about like graduates. I'm just talking about black people in general. You ever watch the rapped? You ever watched a rap. Those people counting more money. T, th. Those people. Those people. Those people. Those people. Those people. Those people. Those people. Those people. Those people. Those people. Those people. Those people. T. T. T. T, their. T, their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the to to to the to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the. the. the. the. the. makes you qualified to work in this bank? I got my mind on my money and my money on my mind.

Oh, you're hired. All right, we're going to take a quick break. But when we come back, we'll talk about why November 3rd might just be the start of this year's election. Stick around. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling? But that's all about to change.

Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17. Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show. There are now just 41 days until election day, which means there are now just 42 days until everyone starts fighting over who won. So let's take a look at the post-election cluster-fix that awaits us in our new segment, VoteGasm 2020, Ballot Royale. On a normal election night, the story is predictable.

The votes are counted, cable news paints the states, reddow blue, a winner is declared, and a loser calls the fireworks company to cease they can get a refund. But this year, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, more people than ever will be voting by mail. And because those mail-in ballots will take days or even weeks to count, it means that it might be a while until we know who actually won the election, which according to the FBI means, we better buckle up. A new warning from the FBI.

Just 41 days before election day, the Bureau says, foreign actors and cyber criminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce election results by disseminating disinformation that includes reports of voter suppression, cyber attacks, targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot fraud, and other problems intended to convince the public of the election's illegitimacy. The announcement also alerts that, the increased use of mail-in ballots due to COVID-19 protocols,

could leave officials with incomplete results on election night, adding that foreign actors and cyber criminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce the elections results. The Bureau encourages voters to be patient with slow results. It says Americans should verify information through multiple reliable sources and think twice before sharing unverified material on social media. Really FBI? That's your advice? Be patient and don't share unverified information on social media. Do you know us? We're not going to do any of that shit. The day after the

election, the most viral post on Facebook will be that George Soros paid Jeffrey Fstein's ghost to vote for Joe Biden. But yes, the FBI says that foreign enemies will try to spread disinformation to undermine the election while the votes are being counted. Though if they really want to mess with the vote counting, I hope they don't do that thing of just shouting out random numbers. That's going to throw America off. 61 million for Biden. 641 million for Biden. 24. 61 million and 1 for Biden.

1,143, 3,0874. Oh, gotta start again. One for Biden, two for Biden. So yes, there is a real threat that America's foreign adversaries will latch on to the fact that many votes won't come in until after election day. And then what they'll try and do is use that to convince voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters voters that that that that that that that that that that that the voters that that the voters that many votes won't come in until after election day. And then what they'll try and do is use that to convince voters that the election results aren't valid. But while the FBI is warning America about foreign adversaries spreading disinformation after the election, there's already a pretty major domestic adversary who's been doing it for weeks.

I'm very worried about mail-in voting because I think it's subject to tremendous fraud and being rigged. I want to see the results of the election on November 3rd. And by the way, if it's anything like these other events, it could go on forever. And they're allowed to count votes until seven days after the election. Are we going to wait a week after November 3rd if it comes down to Nevada, which it could very well, I don't think so. I don't think it's appropriate. It's going to be the greatest fraud in the history of elections. The only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged, remember that.

Yes, we don't need to wait for Russia to undermine America's election because America's president is already doing it himself. I guess he is bringing back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back. I guess he is bringing back foreign jobs to the US after all. I mean, if Trump isn't working with Russia on this, then the Russians must be really confused. Dimitri, did you tell Trump to say that? Me? No. I thought maybe you told him. Why would he undermine his own democracy?

Maybe he's just really strange guy. And as for the idea that Americans can't wait one week to find out who's going to be in charge of the country, I'm sorry guys, I don't agree with that at all. America's used to waiting a long time to get results. I mean, we've been doing it for coronavirus test for months now. You know, it's actually funny how, when it comes to election results, Trump is like, Americans can't wait this long for important information. But then when you ask about his tax returns, it's like, we can't rush this delicate process. We gotta be accurate. But it's been four years.

That's because it's hard to count to a gillian. Now here's the thing. Because this is 2020 and everything is a thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thee. thean. thean. to thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean, the thing, because this is 2020 and everything is a nightmare, it turns out that Trump doesn't even need to prove that mail-in ballots are invalid in order for him to snatch the election away. Yeah, all he needs to do is prolong the fight over it. According to a terrifying new report in the Atlantic, the Trump campaign is discussing plans to drag out the final vote count in swing states for 35 days. And the reason they want to do that is because that's the point at which the states are constitutionally required to certify electors.

And that means if there's no decision by that time, Trump can just ask the state legislators to set aside the popular vote and choose the winner for themselves. And since the legislators in most swing states are run by Republicans, guess who they're going to pick? So once again, Donald Trump is the black light on America's democracy. Thanks to him, everyone is now seeing how America's system relies on good faith in order to succeed. It's basically the, please only take one Halloween candy of democracy.

Yeah, it works in theory but all you need is one asshole five-year-old to come in. Now, is Trump going to get away with any of this? Well, it's never been tried before so ultimately that's going to be up to the Supreme Court, which is exactly what Donald wants. The president says he needs to move quickly to name her replacement so the full court can hear any cases that come up from the November election. We need nine justices. You need that. With the unsolicited millions of ballots that they're sending, it's a scam.

It's a hoax. Everybody knows that. And the Democrats know it better than anybody else. So you're going to need nine justices up there. It's a very serious problem. And the Democrats know what they're doing is wrong, and all they want to do is go forward with it. So I think you're going to need the nine justices.

The one thing I'll always appreciate about Donald Trump is that he doesn't try and make us work to figure out his evil plan. You know, because other world leaders are coy. You never know what they're thinking. Because Vladimir Putin is like, Crimea. I don't have any plan for Crimea. Maybe Crimea has planned for itself. Meanwhile, Trump is out on the streets like, then I'm going to blow open the door and break open the safe.

Then I'm going to wipe my prince up and I the floor the floor the floor the the the the that's how I plan to steal all the Halloween candy. So look, I'm not going to sugar-coated. This is a dangerous situation that America finds itself in. But there are two flaws in Donald Trump's plan. One is that even the justices that he put on the Supreme Court could end up ruling against him, and based on how many people Trump's hired that end up hating him, that could actually happen. The second floor in Trump's plan is that if people come out to vote against him in high enough numbers, the results will be so clear and resounding that there will be no way he can challenge them. And so basically what I'm saying is, Donald Trump is trying to grab the election by the pussy, and America needs to pull a millennia and slap that tiny hand away.

Okay, we've got to take a quick break, but don't go away, because Bob Woodward is going to be on the show and we're going to ask him what it's like to interview Donald Trump for nine hours. That's right, nine hours. We'll be right back. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling.

But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes-Min minutes, thi minutes, thi minutes, a thi minutes, thi minutes, thi minutes, thi minutes, to to thi minutes, to thi-1 minutes, to thi-1 minutes, thi-1 minutes, thi-1 minutes, thi-1 minutes, that's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News, listened to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17. Welcome back to the Daily Social Distance and Show. As the news today about Brianna Taylor reminds us, police violence seems to be a fact of American life. And as we consider the lack of indictments against most of her killers, it's important to remember that even when police officers don't pay for their own misconduct, all of us

do. Dosey Sloan filed this report. America has finally woken up to the problem of police brutality. Sure, they hit the snooze button for the last few decades, but better late than never. But there is one giant problem. Almost half of white people still think the police are doing an excellent job using the right amount of force. Well, half of white people? It's time to change your mind.

And since you weren't moved by this, or this, or this. I'm going to leave emotions out of it. Because I'm Dulce Sloanone and you can count on it. To all those fiscally responsible Americans who vote with their wallet, it's time to learn some hard truths about how police brutality is affecting your bottom line. Today I've enlisted the help of Maurice BP Weeks from the Action Center on Race and the Economy to find out the real cost of police brutality. I mean the human cost is that there are people who are just long-term traumatized in communities. So...

No, no, no, no, that is f-ed up, but I'm talking about the money, you know, denarro, cheddar, coins, okay? How much does it cost? So, in a city like, Chicago, in a 10-year period, like $700 million worth of settlements. What? And all of that money is saved by taxpayers. I'm then paying to get my ass walked by the cops? Technically, yes. That's like getting hit by a car,

and then you bought them the car, and then you had to pay to get the car fixed. Yeah. Is there like a line item in the police police police police police police police police police police police police police police police police police police police the police the police the police the police the police the police the police the city the city the city thiiiiia's thia's thia thia thia thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi thi thate thate thate thate thate thate thate thate thate thate thate thate thate thate thate thate that. th car and then you had to pay to get the car fixed. Yeah. Is there like a line item in the police budget for settlements? It's in the city's budget. But why isn't it in the police department's budget? I mean, maybe then other officers would step in and be like, a man, listen, we only get five ass weapons allocated to each officer a month, and you're about to go over. The problem is, cities cities cities cities cities cities cities a third rail that they can never, ever cut no matter what.

The police commit so many acts of misconduct. They often exceed that budget line item for settlements. In Chicago, for instance, for basically every year from 2010 to 2017, they exceeded the budget line item for settlements. Did you hear that, my fiscally minded friends? In 2018, Chicago spent more than $113 million on settlements, over five times more than the city budget for police lawsuits. That's like paying out a lawsuit every two days.

That's 5,000 Kia Sorrentos. How are we paying for this? The city might choose to pay the settlement using a bond instrument, for instance. A bond? You're telling me cops are beating us up on the railway? Yeah, I mean, yes. I know about savings bonds? I don't know about bail bonds.

Now which of these two bonds do you think I have interacted with? I'm gonna pass on that question because I don't know you very well. Okay, good answer, good answer. Good answer. It was savings. Thank you so much. Yeah, it's a totally different system with these bonds. We call them police brutality bonds. Police brutality bonds. You borrow the money and then you pay back with interest over a longer period of time. So banks are profiting off of police brutality in black and brown neighborhoods? Yes.

Wow. But a couple of cities in particular use these police brutality bonds pretty frequently. Chicago who has, you know, lots of police brutality settlements in general, uses these bonds all of the time. Maurice is right. Between 2010 and 2017, Chicago bought over $700 million in bonds to pay off settlements. But because of interest and fees, that ended up costing taxpayers $1.7 billion. Damn! During that same stretch of time, Chicago closed half of its mental health clinics and 50 public elementary schools. Maurice, what the hell are we going to do about this? Well, what we do want to stop is the police brutality,

and you get there by defunding the police, which is a win-win. But also, I think you'd be surprised what some people in cities would pay to keep the police harassing black people. No, actually. I'm not surprised at all. But if I spoke to white people's wallets in a style they understand, then maybe they'd pay attention. Hey, white people, welcome back to the show. Today we're talking about how police brutality is killing black and brown people, and it's killing your portfolio.

Police brutality is draining your municipal investments over $1.7 billion in the Chicago market alone. Think about all the white people stuff you could spend that on. You could get a peloton for Little Dakota. You can get a boat on top of a boat. You can buy at the Goop Store. Hell, you can buy Gwenith Paltrow. Stick her in your new group first.

So demand accountability for the police. Your ROI depends on it. Tune in next week and we'll see how much money you're losing on climate change, which, according to my calculations, is... Oh damn. Thank you so much, Dulce. All right, we're going to take a quick break, but don't go away, because when we come back, I'll be talking to the legendary Bob Woodward about his blockbuster book on the Trump White House.

Stick around. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17. Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.

So earlier today, I spoke with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward about his latest bestseller, Rage. And we talked about what it's like to interview Donald J. Trump. Check it out. Bob Woodward, welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show. Thank you. You are one of America's most respected journalists, and I would venture to say that you are also one of America's most feared journalists, especially when it comes to American presidents. Your work is part of the reason Richard Nixon did not have the job for as long as he wanted to, and now your work could be the reason that Donald Trump doesn't have

the job as long as he wants to. I to. Your to. Your to. Your to to. Your to. to. to to to to to. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the to the to. to the to tho tho to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to. to be to be the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to. tho. the the the the. thr-s. thr-s. thr-aughe tho. thea toea toea toea toe wants to. I would love to know why do presidents still feel the need to speak to you when it seems like it's a catch-22? Well, Nixon would never speak to Carl Bernstein or myself, but Trump decided to, it's kind of a complicated chronology, but I did a book, I was on your show for fear in 2018 and Trump had not talked to me and he felt that was a mistake and we developed this during the pandemic, this odd telephone relationship where he would call me at 10 o'clock at night. I had to carry a little tape recorder around and make sure I recorded it. And for nine hours and 41 minutes. Right. You dropped the bombshell a few weeks ago. You have Donald Trump on tape explicitly saying that he was downplaying the threat of

coronavirus because he didn't want people to panic. Do you think Donald Trump was saying it in a malicious way, or can you see his reasoning for why he was saying the things he was saying? Well, I can see from his point of view, and he said, I downplayed it. I always downplayed it. I didn't want people to panic. Early on in January 28th, which is the key moment, that's when I begin

my book. This was all laid out for him in the kind of detail that when I found out about it, I thought, oh my God, the whole case is there. His National Security Advisor, Robert O'Brien, saying to him, with passion, this virus is going to be the biggest national security threat to your presidency. And the deputy Matt Pottinger had been a Wall Street Journal reporter in China for seven years. He had deep throats in China who said, this is what's going on, and what's going on is, this this is going to be like the 20,

I'm sorry, like the 1918 pandemic, Spanish flu, that killed 675,000 people in this country. So Trump knew this was a top-secret meeting the doctors did not know because they were not in this meeting. There are two major channels of information for the president at this time. They only came together to him and he failed to do his duty to protect the people. He failed to do his duty to tell the truth. You caught a lot of flag from people who said, Bob Woodward, you sat on this for seven months and you didn't tell us that Trump knew how bad this was.

You saw him in the news at rallying saying that coronavirus is a hoax and people shouldn't worry and it's going to disappear, but you knew that he knew how severe it was. Why did you come out and say something? It's a fair question. When he told me about this on February 7th, I knew and thought for sure he was talking about China, because everything was China in January, in February. And if it had dawned on me that he was talking about the United States, of course I would

have gone to the Washington Post and said, we've got to run this story. But it was May when I learned that what Trump was talking about was this critical, January 28th meeting when it was laid out to him. When I finally figured it out, frankly, the world knew that the virus was a pandemic. The world and the people in this country knew it was airborne. They knew that it was deadly. They knew if you had some sort of, if you didn't have symptoms, you could still spread it. So this is what Trump knew, and we knew we could put the book out before the election.

That's the demarcation line, so people can either accept it or reject it. That's fine. But I feel totally comfortable, and if you read through the book and understand the timeline, you can see, I believe, exactly how I responded. You know, you've been privy to conversations that nobody else would. You've seen how presidents think, you've seen how their advisors interact with them. You've seen how, you know, how the source, the secret source is made. Is there a difference in how President Trump, as a president of thrain, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, thi, thi, you, you, thi, you, you, you, thi, thi, you, you, thi, you, thi, thi, thi, you, you, thi, th, you're, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, you know, how the source, the secret source is made. Is there a difference in how President Trump,

as a president works, or have you seen dysfunction like this in other White Houses, and they just do a better job of insulating the story from coming out? Important question. Certainly Nixon, the first president I worked on was criminal. And the Republican Party revolted then in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, the first president I worked on, was criminal. And the Republican Party revolted then in 1974 and went to him and said, you don't have support when Barry Goldwater said, I've counted in there four votes you have if this becomes a Senate trial, and the next night, Nixon announced his resignation.

Some of the other presidents clearly had made mistakes, but as best I can tell, it's always a good faith effort, sometimes misguided, but it's a good faith effort. January 28th should have been the moment the Trump presidency changed. He gave his State of the Union address, maybe a week after that critical January 28th meeting. And that's the address to Congress. 40 million people watched it. And Trump devoted 15 seconds to the virus and he said we're doing everything we could. Now if he had taken this time said look that my

experts have rung the bell there's some things you can do like wash your hands like keep social distance of six feet don't get in a room with lots of people and wear a mass. Instead he goes on merrily, playing it down, not understanding the country that he leads. It is a tragedy beyond Shakespeare, quite frankly. Bob Woodward, thank you so much for joining us on the show. Thank you, enjoy a day. Well, that's our show for tonight, but before we go, if you would like to honor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

and her legacy, well, you might consider donating to the ACLU Women's Rights Project. The organization was co-founded by RBG in 1972, and since then, it has led the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight the fight for legal reform through the courts for women's equality and economic rights. Until tomorrow, stay safe out there, wear a mask, and remember, if you need to poop, please hold it until you get off the subway. The Daily Show with Covranoa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11th, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show.

to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News.

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