Bob Woodward Book: Former DNI Suspected "Putin Had Something on Trump".
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So there was this explosion of news surrounding the White House. Audio recordings of the president admitting to misleading the American people about coronavirus. And it all breaks on the very day that Jake Tapper has an exclusive interview with Democratic nominee, Joe Biden. And Jake joins us now live from Washington. Jake, you went out to Michigan to interview the vice president with no idea this was going to happen. I'm sure you had an hour's worth of questions planned and then the world gets turned upside down.</s>JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Yes, I mean, the pitch was basically Democrats have struggled with blue-collar voters in places like Macomb County, Michigan. Let's talk about those reasons, about trade deals, about China, why Trump has been able to make headway with this group that used to be a vital part of the democratic coalition. And we still talked about that, to a large degree. But as you note, news overtook the interview and the former Vice President Joe Biden had a lot that he wanted to say about these tapes of President Trump in February, and around then, saying that he knew the virus was a lot deadlier than he was acknowledging to the public at the time. Here's what the former vice president had to say.</s>TAPPER: In his upcoming book, Bob Woodward reports that President Trump understood the serious risk posed by the novel coronavirus in early February. Take a listen to what the president told Woodward, February 7th?</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You just breathe the air, that's how it's passed. And so that's a very tricky one, that's a very delicate one. It's also more deadly than your -- you know, even your strenuous flu. This is deadly stuff.</s>TAPPER: As you know, the president spent much of February and even March downplaying the risks of the novel coronavirus, saying it would disappear, saying the heat would make it go away. What's your response to this news about what he was telling Bob Woodward on February 7th?</s>JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's disgusting. We learned this on a day that we turned 190,000 Americans dead and he knew this? My understanding is he had just gotten off the phone, when he did the first interview with Woodward, he'd just gotten off the phone with Xi Jinping, where he's praising Xi Jinping about transparency and this is nothing to worry about, and this is going to go away like a miracle. What in God's name would a man like -- I mean, I don't get it! I truly don't get it. It's like when he's -- the way he talks about our veterans -- I mean, it's just astounding to me.</s>TAPPER: Well, the way that President Trump explains it, and he said this to Woodward on March 19th, if you take a listen.</s>TRUMP: I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down --</s>BOB WOODWARD, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Yes sir --</s>TRUMP: Because I don't want to create a panic.</s>TAPPER: He said something similar this afternoon. He said he didn't want to create a panic, that's why he downplayed it. He said, leadership is about confidence.</s>BIDEN: Yes, and that's why we have no confidence in his leadership. I mean, look, you saw what Columbia Medical School pointed out in March. Had he acted one week earlier, there would be over 31,000 more people alive. That in two weeks earlier, there would have been 50-some thousand still alive. This caused people to die. And what did he do the whole time? He acknowledged that you breathe it, it's in the air, and he won't put on a mask. He's talking about it's ridiculous to put masks, what do you need social distancing for? Why have any of these rules? It was all about making sure the stock market didn't come down, that his wealthy friends didn't lose any money, and that he could say that, in fact, anything that happened had nothing to do with him. He waved the white flag. He walked away. He didn't do a damn thing. Think about it. Think about what he did not do, and it's almost criminal.</s>TAPPER: Woodward also reports that former Defense Secretary James Mattis said that Trump, quote, "has no moral compass", and that even floated collective action with Dan Coats; the director of National Intelligence because Trump is, quote, "unfit". Woodward also says that Coats couldn't shake the suspicion that Putin had something on Trump. What do you make of this from his advisors?</s>BIDEN: Well, look, I know a lot of those folks and I have served a long time with Dan Coats, I know Mattis, he's a fine -- I just -- I think Trump has just stunned everyone around him as to just how corrupt his thinking is. I mean, think about this. Remember, he said under oath -- not under oath, I shouldn't say that -- said to the American public that he didn't get that briefing on how dangerous coronavirus was. He didn't get that from the Intelligence Committee. He never read the reports. He didn't have anything to do with that. He saw the reports! He knew them in detail. At least, we know he can read. I mean, think about it. Think about how misleading it was. And all of those folks, and why did he not -- let's assume that he didn't want to worry people. Why in God's name didn't he move quicker on the Defense Production Act to provide PPP, you know, the protective equipment for doctors and first responders? Why didn't he do that? He -- OK, he says he didn't want to panic people. Well, at least make sure everybody has the equipment they need. Just say this is excess of caution. He didn't even do that.</s>TAPPER: How do you make the connection -- let me tell you something, I have relatives all over the country and all over the political spectrum. How do you make the argument to a relative I have in Texas who says, yes, this virus is horrible, but it's not Trump's fault, it's China's fault?</s>BIDEN: Let's assume -- we'll take both your -- both that roll in those points. It's China's fault. If it's China's fault, why did Trump praise China? Why did he say how transparent, how transparent Xi Jinping and the Chinese are going to be? Why did he insist that the 44 people we had there and while I and others are insisting that they go in and have access to see really what is happening to know the detail. Why did he not insist on that? And the virus is not his fault, but the deaths are his fault, because he could have done something about it, Jake. I say to your uncle, he could have done something about it. But he said nothing. He didn't talk -- he said, there's no need for social distancing, don't bother wearing masks. He actually went so far as to suggest that it was a violation of American freedom to maintain you had to wear a mask. And look what's happened! Again, 190,000 dead and climbing. And what's he doing now? He still has not moved. Look at the schools that are not opening. School -- we talked -- I mean, I know you have young children. Well, guess what? They're starting off school like the end of last year, at home. But think of all the people who don't have the resources to do that. Think of the choice the single mom has to make, am I going to go to my $7 an hour job and lose my -- and -- or stay home with my kid? I can't afford anybody. I can't afford to bring anybody in. I mean, he's doing nothing to help. Nothing to help.</s>BERMAN: And Jake Tapper back with us. Clear from that discussion, Jake, that the Biden campaign primed to talk about coronavirus. We saw it in the convention as well. Any sense that these revelations, this audio has changed how they will move forward in the coming days and weeks?</s>TAPPER: I think that this was always going to be a focus of Joe Biden and his campaign, the government's failure -- and look, obviously, we want to be fair to President Trump, but every health expert that we've interviewed, who is not paid by the Trump administration acknowledges that this was a failure by the federal government. That the president and the Trump administration could have done a lot more to have the personal protective equipment ready, to have a whole -- you know, testing up and going nationwide, so that, John, when your kids go to school or my kids go to school, they can all get tested, et cetera. This has been a failure of the U.S. government. So it would be political malpractice for them not to focus on this. And now, President Trump via Bob Woodward has given them a tremendous gift in the sense that we know now that Trump saying, well, we didn't know how bad it would be is not true. That he knew on February 7th how bad it would be. He knew that it was airborne, in fact, which was something that a lot of people didn't realize or acknowledge until March.</s>BERMAN: If February 7th, to hear him say in such detail about it being airborne and know exactly how much more deadly it was than what he called the strenuous flu. To hear that on tape today, Jake, is something. Look, very excited to see your full, exclusive interview with Joe Biden on "THE LEAD", that's at 4:00 p.m. today. You've heard the parts or some of the parts about coronavirus, but there's much more including what Jake was talking about, how the Biden campaign intends to try to win back some of those voters in the Midwest that defected to the Trump team. All right, so, did Trump appointees water down the intelligence threat from Russia to please the president? Actually, there's a new whistle- blower report with incredible new details from this official who says he was ordered to hide things from the American people.