start doing for us critics are praising phil rucker and carol leonnig new book tomorrow. and apparently detachment from reality is a running theme with the last president is concerned. we'll ask the authors about the many revelations within. and later, unvaccinated americans once again filling hospital beds, battling covid, fighting to breathe, one of our leading physician standing by to take our questions tonight. all of it as the 11th hour is just getting underway on this monday night of the new week. night of the new week show me the olympics. ♪ "bugler's dream" begins playing ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ nobody knows the system better than me. [applause] which is why i alone can fix it. >> those words, now the title of the revealing tell all book documenting the final year of the administration of donald trump, two months after biden was sworn into office. pulitzer prize-winning reporters philip rucker and carol leonnig sat down for an hours long interview with the 45th president at his understated mar-a-lago club in florida. among several alarming admissions in thei

newly released audio that comes to us from pulitzer prizewinning germism duo carol leonnig and phil rucker of "the washington post," they interviewed trump at mar-a-lago back in march for their book "i alone can fix it."

who, according to a new book by "washington post" reporters, carol leonnig, and philip rucker, was called out by a potential committee colleague. congresswoman liz cheney of wyoming as the guy who did this. the guy responsible for the january-6th attack on the capitol. and now, that guy is going to

and it came from a key figure cited often by phil rucker and carol leonnig in their new book. general mark milly, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff today was asked about comments attributed to him in the book expressing fears trump would attempt some sort of coup to stay in power after the 2020 election. >> i'm not going to comment on what's in any of those books. let me just say this, though. i always personally provided the best military professional advice to president trump previously, to president biden or any other president. i always provide the best advice to the secretary of defense whomever is the secretary of defense. and i do that for the national security council as well. i want america to know the united states military is an apolitical institution. our oath is to the constitution, not to any individual at all. and the military did not and will not and should not ever get involved ipdomestic politics. we don't ever arbitrate elections. that's the job of the judiciary and the legislature and the american people. >> with that let's bring in our lead off guests

here's how it lays out in the new book by carol leonnig and philip rucker. it's not a long thing i'm going to read you but fair warning, even though it is a short excerpt, there's a whole bunch of swears here. i am not allowed to swear on tv and i am disinclined to swear on tv so i'll try to slalom around those cuss words as deftly as i can while trying to convey to you the forcefulness of the conversation that they report here. with that caveat, here it is. trump had made the nation's leaders choose. not just whether to stay or go, but whether to preserve democracy or devolve toward authoritarian rule, whether the truth mattered or not, whether the end justifies the means. tensions were running high. congresswoman liz cheney, the number three ranking house republican, who had close ties to several military and national security leaders, called chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general mark milley on january 7th. she called him to check in. milley asked her, quote, how are you doing? she replied, quote, that f'ing guy jim jordan. that son of a -- word th

trump's catastrophic final year," carol len -- carol leonnig and fill rucker said some of the pentagon brass thought he might take action. milley and the joint chiefs began informally planning how they could block a presidential order to use the military in a way they considered illegal or ill advised. they concluded they might rather serially resign than execute the order. it was a kind of saturday night massacre, but in reverse. i'm joined now by the book's co-authors, carol leonnig, national investigative reporter for "the washington post" and phil rucker, "washington post" senior washington correspondent and they are also my colleagues. welcome to "the reidout" and thank you for being here. carol, i'll start with you. even though general milley didn't directly comment on what's in your book, he did validate what you have in your book, didn't he? >> that was definitely my read or readout, so to speak, of the event today at the press conference. milley was there for one reason but of course he was going to be asked a lot about this set of chapters that phil and i excavated about that

finally, we'll get an eyeopening look at the chaotic last year of the trump presidency with carol leonnig and philip rucker. it is all ahead on "face the nation." ♪ >> dickerson: good morning and welcome to "face the nation." the highly contagious delta variant is driving the country into a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic. infections continue to surge, and with less than half the country fully vaccinated, public officials are urgently trying to convince the hesitant so that the spike doesn't drag on into the fall. we begin with mark strassmann in atlantic. unvaccinated america is playing covid roulette with a mix of reluctance and defiance. and in places like new orleans, the dominant delta variant has pounced. >> it is more aggressive. it is deadlier, and it is in our community. >> reporter: nationally, new covid cases have spiked almost 50%. rises in all 50 states, and 90% of u.s. jurisdictions. >> if you can, please get vaccinated. >> reporter: ominously, week to week covid hospitalizations and deaths both jumped again. >> we're in trouble. >> reporter: trouble because of des

carol leonnig and philip rucker are the authors of "i, alone, can fix it". carol, your first book ended after the firs first...impeachment, and the second book has another impeachment. is there a line between the two impeachments? >> absolutely, john. what is striking about that timeframe, the president learned during the first impeachment that he is untouchable, there is no consequence for his behavior, no consequence for tretching a law, bending it, breaking it. in a criminal situation, if he weren't president, a lot of people would argue he violated the law the first time around and as well the second time around. so as he becomes more emboldened, he rejects the advice of experts. he is the expert now. he rejects the suggestions of his closest advisors if it is not what he wants. unfortunately, in 2020, it is no longer a p.r. spin game. it is actually a crisis that puts all of us at risk, and american lives are lost as a result. >> dickerson: we learned exactly the wrong lesson before the pandemic? >> absolutely. >> dickerson: fill, you both covered this,

joining us now is carol leonnig, washington post investigative reporter as well as philip rucker, a washington post correspondent. they are the co-authors of this new book "i alone can fix it: donald date -- donald j. trump's catastrophic final year." the title from the book comes from a line in donald trump's acceptance speech. [video clip] >> i have joined the political arena so the powerful can no longer beat up on people who can no longer defend themselves. nobody knows the system better than me. which is why i alone can fix it. [applause] host: carol, what about him saying that led you to title the book this way? guest: it was an interesting challenge to summarize 20/20, what a painful and lethal year. when we looked back over the many ways, trump -- the many ways donald trump governor that year, he professed that he was such a great governor, that he would be such a leader and defender and he could fix everything because he knew best. philip and i in our reporting tried to put former president trump's statements to the test. almost every person who served him concluded with us he did not

carol lenny began report -- carol leonnig began reporting on the secret service for the washington post in 2012. she started her coverage on hooker gate, the scandal in which agents brought prostitutes to hotel rooms while making arrangements for president obama to visit columbia. we talked with her about her in-depth look in her new book subtitled "the rise and fall of the secret service." carol leonnig, listen on c-span.org/podcast or wherever you get your podcast. ♪ ♪ >> weekends on c-span two are an intellectual feast. every saturday you will find events and people that explore our nation's past on american history tv. on sundays, book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. it's television for serious readers. learn, discover, explore. weekends on c-span two. >> follow american history tv on facebook, fwirt and youtube. to learn about what happened this day in history watch videos and learn more about the people and events that have shaped the american story. find us at c-span history.

that's according to the new book, i alone can fix it by our first guest tonight carol leonnig and philip rucker. because chaos was always a future of the trump white house, most of us were tired of it then, we're still tired of it now that he's out of office, but something has changed in the last few days for the people who never grew tired for the die hard trump lovers and conservatives. it seems like they're trying to realize the danger of embracing the chaos and jumping off the cliff with trump. case in point, here is one line from a wild, unhinged statement that trump sent out yesterday quote, people are refusing to take the vaccine because they don't trust the biden administration. they don't trust the election results. and quote. there was more, but that is all we will say right now, we're only repeating that part because it's part of a broader point that i'm trying to make here. donald trump, the most influential person in the republican party, by far, it is still lying about the election, but now he's encouraging people to doubt the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccine at the same

i mean, john, you know, last night, when we -- we first heard these recordings from -- from carol leonnig and philip rucker's interview with the former president. i mean, again, the longer one goes on and on. we played, like, five minutes of it or so last night. i mean, my immediate reaction was the first time i heard it was it reminds me of some of those tapes of nixon drunk rambling in his final days in the white house. i assume he was drunk. obviously, the former president says he doesn't drink. but it is just as rambling, and -- and lying, in a way. maybe, perhaps, that nixon wasn't even lying. as someone who was part of the administration, how does -- what do you hear when you hear the former president? >> well, it's baffled me for a long time about trump. and i've gone between thinking the man's crazy to the man's crazy like a fox. where i really -- i've read about everything you can read about him. i've watched him as we all have, closely, for four years. where i think he is, anderson, this is just another con. and he is just not going to let up on it. he's focused on it. as stepha

and while that incident was n never reported before carol leonnig and phil rucker put it in their new best-selling book, it is now reported. it is now on the record. excerpts including that one from the book have been circulating in recent days. because of that, we probably should have seen today's news coming. when the house of representatives decided they would do an investigation of the attack on the capitol on januaro 6th and what caused it, they first negotiated a true legit, bipartisan/nonpartisan expert commission, a blue ribbon commission that would have equal representation from republicans and democrats. it would be scrupulously ic nonpartisan, or at least evenly divided. democrats and the leadership of the house negotiated that with the republicans who had been delegated by their leadership to come up with this sort of thing. both sides came to an agreement. they worked out in detail how this bipartisan/non-partisan blue ribbon commission would work. they put it up for a vote, and the republicans voted against it anyway. even though they had negotiated what it should be and

host: carol leonnig? guest: i think it is important to address your question and i will tell you one of the president's most ardent supporters, attorney general bill barr supported everything trump wanted to accomplish and what to see him reelected had an entire team of prosecutors he launched across the country, including in the states you mentioned to investigate whether any of these claims would have moved the needle. he had a very tense conversation with ethan president donald trump to tell him they had run this ground, including the script table you mentioned any flood in the precinct place. the attorney general told the president not it was true and it was a lot of misunderstandings and fabrications. none of it would have moved the needle for any of the votes. i would turn you to bill barr. host: philip rucker, anything to add? guest: this is something the department of justice investigated so you don't have to take our word for it. federal law officers in this country who look for election fraud an

phil rucker and carol leonnig report in their new book. quote, mesonnier's warning of intending disruptions to everyday life quickly became banner headlines on television news. aides watching from the west wing were gobsmacked and believed she was alarmist. at the same time trump was fuming about her becoming obsessed with a cdc scientist he had never met. trump called azar from the plane. what the hell is this woman doing, he said, what are these statements? the market has collapsed. the president added, she is scaring people, this is killing me. azar said her only failing was getting out in front of the president in explaining it to the public. we're back with carol and phil. i said this to you wednesday night, the reporting on covid is groundbreaking in terms of the crisis we are now facing with a third surge rooted in adherence to disinformation and politically aligned with donald trump, all the more urgently important for people to understand. i want to first ask you about that excerpt i read, and i remember when rachel maddow did tho

carol leonnig, phil rucker, thanks for spending some time with us. their new book is out today. >>> up next, joe biden has been president for six months. we'll look at the republican forces that are working against him and what can be done about it. an be done a bout it not everybody wants the same thing. that's why i go with liberty mutual — they customize my car insurance so i only pay for what i need. 'cause i do things a bit differently. wet teddy bears! wet teddy bears here! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ omega-3 from fish oil is an important nutrient for heart health. qunol's ultra purified omega-3, is sourced only from wild caught ocean fish, not farm raised and comes in an easy to swallow mini pill. the brand i trust is qunol. i became a sofi member because i needed to consolidate my credit card debt. i needed just one simple way to pay it all off. it was an easy decision to apply with sofi loans, just based on the interest rate and how much i would be saving. there was only one that stood out and on

let's talk about this new book by carol leonnig and phillip rucker, writing about how general milley viewed trump as the classic authoritarian leader with nothing to lose, and trump's false claims of election fraud. here's an excerpt. this is an reichstag moment, milley told aides, according to the book, "the gospel of the fuhrer." making it clear, this is mark milley's assessment, not mine or ruth's assessment. but do you agree with what he said? >> yes, trump is an authoritarian leader. and just because he couldn't wreck our democracy yet doesn't mean he didn't check all the boxes. my book was the first to put him in historical perspective. not saying he is hitler, because today things work differently. you don't have to close down elections. you keep them going but you declare them fraudulent, right? but the leader cult, and now we have the creation of martyrs like ashli babbitt. he draws a lot of things from fascism, both italian fascism and of course naziism. january 6, i was shuddering like so many americans. with the added thing, it was like a leader rescue operation. he calle

. >>> i want to turn now to "washington post" investigative reporter carol leonnig. so happy to have her here. she's the co-author of the explosive new book "i alone can fix it: donald j. trump's catastrophic final year." again, so good to see you again. thank you so much, carol. listen, there are so many details from your book that we need to discuss. but i want to start with today's news. trump's ally, tom barrack, arrested and charged with illegal foreign lobbying on behalf of the uae. you have interviewed barrack multiple times. are you surprised by these charges? >> i think in a way i am because it's so unusual for the government to bring these kinds of cases. they're serious cases, don. make no mistake, when federal prosecutors subpoena your records, as they did with tom barrack more than a year and a half ago, it's a big deal. but the government is usually shy of bringing this kind of case, charging someone with essentially illegally lobbying. but, you know, what's interesting about tom barrack's charges and the arrest is that he's accused of basically trying

it is a new recording from former president trump as part of the reporting from carol leonnig and phil rucker for their new book coming out, in which the president offers this description of what happened on january 6th. let's play it. >> there was a lot of love. i have heard that from everybody. many, many people have told me that was a loving crowd. and, you know, it was -- it was too bad, it was too bad that, you know, that they got -- you know, that they did -- >> there were just some -- >> but my statement, my statement -- >> mr. president, i apologize. what we're trying to understand is not blame, not castigate. >> no, i understand. >> we want to understand what did you want when you said go up there, what would you have dreamed for them to do? >> i would have said that you will show -- not to go in, although they were ushered in by the police. i mean in all fairness, the capitol police were ushering people in. the capitol police were very friendly. you know, they were hugging and kissing. you don't see that, but there's plenty of tape on that too, you know, because the capitol p

. ♪ judy: today the washington post published excerpts from a new book by reporters carol leonnig and phil rucker describing how -- that contain the shauna hsing -- astonishing details of how the military were about former president trump's actions in the final days of his administration. to join -- to talk about that i'm joined by nick schiffrin and yamiche alcindor. some blockbuster material in this book. let's start with what we were just discussing. and a lot of it has to do with the fears on the part of the joint chiefs chair mark milley. what were they? nick schifrin: yes. so, milley and other military's fears about what president trump was capable of, about the lack of confidence in his decision-making really accelerated when trump fired secretary of defense mark esper. that was in early november, when trump was threatening to fire other senior officials, including cia director gina haspel, and when he installed loyalists to run the pentagon. current and former officials i talk to say those loyalists pursued policy changes, traveled the world without any deliberation with other

in their new book called "i alone can fix it" reporters carol leonnig and philip rucker right about barr's realization that trump was squandering his chances for re-election. they write it this way, quote, i feel you are going to lose the election, barr said, i feel you are actually losing touch with your own base. the only reason you won last time, mr. president, is because of the grab them by the expletive comment, barr said according to an account he shared with others. it actually scared you enough to listen to kellyanne and for the last several weeks you behaved yourself and you won by a hair. this time it's different. you cannot wait until the end. it's about you and you're turning off enough people to lose this election. trump was silent, the authors write, not interrupting or trying to regain the floor as he usually did, as barr's talk came to the end, trump said he appreciated the advice. today trump released a response that said, quote, bill barr never once told me he thought i was going to lose the election. in fact, it was quite the opposite, he told me that i should win. with

from "washington post's" carol leonnig and phillip rucker. describing how general milley and the other joint chiefs discussed a plan to resign. one by one, they were going to do it. one by one. they were going to do that, rather than carry out the orders they consider to be illegal, they considered to be dangerous, they consider to be ill advised. like i said, it is stunning. so, listen. you may want to dial out and not tune into this. and this is our jobs to cover it. we are trying to inform you, in the meantime, between elections. you need to pay attention to this because this is what was happening in our government. you see what that led to. an insurrection. a big lie. and who knows what, next? so, sit and pay -- pay attention to this. because for the first time in modern-american history, the nation's top-military officer was prepared for a showdown with the commander in chief, because he feared a coup attempt. i can't believe i'm even saying that. after november election. in the united states. a coup attempt. the book is called "i alone

the authors are carol leonnig and philip rucker. it comes out next week. cnn has obtained a series of experts each really more alarming than the next. in this one general mark milly, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is reassuring his deputies about preventing a coup attempt. quoting now from the book. they may try but they can't effing effing succeed, he told them. we're the guys with the guns. jamey doing the reporting for us, she joins us now. i mean it's fascinating to hear how far general milly and what exactly how he saw this. there are parallels according to the book about what the former president said about the election being stolen and adolph hitler's rhetoric. >> absolutely. milly was so shaken by trump's behavior that what he did was he got together with the other chiefs, the navy, the air force, the marines and they planned. they believed there really could be a coup attempt by trump. and lenning and rucker write milly views quote, trump as the classic authoritarian leader with nothing to lose. and quoted as saying this is a rife style

carol leonnig and phil rucker join us in a few minutes with that. welcome back to "morning joe," it is tuesday, july 20th. joe has the morning off. with willy and me we have jonathan lemire and eugene robinson. we start with the pandemic and the debate on mask wearing. it's heating up again, with a call for all children over the age of 2 to wear them as the delta variant pushes up cases in every state, only about two thirds of those eligible are partially vaccinated. miguel almaguer has the latest. >> reporter: with children nationwide soon returning to the classroom, the american academy of pediatrics says all students older than two and staff should wear a mask at school. an added layer of protection for the 48 million kids under 12 who still don't qualify for vaccination. the former surgeon general and others suggesting whether americans are vaccinated or not, universal mask wearing is needed again. >> it's not like we're asking people to go to the trenches with shooting war. we're just asking you, if it looks like it's going to help, put the mas

annie, i want you to take a listen to what president trump said to your colleagues, carol leonnig and phil rucker about the january 6th attack. >> i think it was the largest crowd i've ever spoken before. it went from that point, which is almost at the white house, to beyond the washington monument. it was -- and -- and wide. and -- >> but if you could have waved your wand -- >> and it was a loving crowd, too, by the way. there was a lot of love. i have heard that from everybody. many, many people have told me. that was a loving crowd. the capitol police were ushering people in. the capitol police were very friendly. you know, they were hugging and -- you don't see that. >> annie, is there a sense, among democrats, that they can use trump's own words against him during these hearings? >> oh, absolutely. i mean, that's sort of in the playbook for democrats. you know, since 2015, when he came down the elevator. you know, the question is will it work, right? i mean, that -- those are two very damning comments in sort of any kind of traditional-political framework from the president refer

you don't see that. >> man, joining us now to discuss, co-author carol leonnig. great to see you on set. there is so much schoolage in this book. >> oh. >> every chapter has news. but you sat down with him at mar-a-lago and released the tapes as we just heard. one of the things that's stunning is just how deep the delusion seems to go and you distill at really well at one point in the book. one of trump's failures can be explained by a simple truth, he cares more about himself than the country. >> that's right, john. it was a trend we found when we reported the first book. phil and i kept seeing that basically his priorities were his political gain, not american democracy, not american safety, not american lives. it became pretty tragic and with huge consequences in 2020. a year when there was a real crisis. he did not have the tool kit for that because he was thinking about winning the day, winning the news cycle, short-term, my political fortune, re-election. and i think what phil and i found the most shocking, even though we covered this in realtime, the thing

joining me now, i'm so excited to become phillip rucker and carol leonnig "i alone can fix it". where do we begin? so, guys, with a welcome to you both, i'm so glad to see you. this book is just epic. i want to first play part of the audio of the conversation with the president and talk about it on the other side. here is clip number one. >> what did you hope they would do when you said go up there and stop -- >> well, i heard that people wanted to go down. you know, that wasn't my rally, per se. there were a lot of people that spoke. they had rallies the night before. they had speakers all over the city. you had hundreds of thousands of people. i would venture to say, i think it was the largest crowd i've ever spoken before. it went from that point, which is almost at the white house, to beyond the washington monument and wide. >> but if you could have waved your wand -- >> and it was a loving crowd. i've heard that from everybody. many people told me that was a loving crowd. and, you know, it was too bad. it was too bad that they did that. but my statement -- >> mr. president,

and carol leonnig of "the waington post" and philip rucker of "the washington post." carol and phil are authors of the best selling book "i alone can fix it, donald trump's catastrophic final year." i'm so excited to dig into all of the things that happened this this week. yasmeen, some data suggests the u.s. is seeing as many as 1,000 new covid cases every hour. but today i talked to a white house source who underscored to me tha people who are unvaccinated should be the most concerned about the numbers. why are unvaccinated americans so much mor at risk and what are experts most concerned about as the delta variant spreads? yasmeen: i think the evidence of why unvaccinated people are most at risk is in the numbers. the c.d.c. director said more than 97% of hospitalizations are in people who are unvaccinated. more than 99% of deaths are in people who are unvaccinated so although we're hearing reports of people who are fully vaccinated getting so-called breakthrough infections, they tend to be milder, they're at low risk of being hospitalized or from dying. the vaccin

in their new book, "i alone can fix it", "washington post" reporters phil rucker and carol leonnig write that joint chiefs chairman general mark milley was so concerned, he called trump's former national security adviser m.r. mcmaster and asked, "what the bleep am i dealing with?" according to the book, as milley watched donald trump speak on january 6th, he saw echoes of adolf hitler. >> we fight like hell. and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. >> reporter: milley reportedly told aides, "this is a reichstag moment. the gospel of the fuhrer." that was a reference to the burning of the german parliament in 1933, that helped hitler and the nazis seize power. general milley also saw parallels between the nazis and trump and his supporters in the immediate aftermath of the election, after trump refused to acknowledge he lost. >> frankly, we did win this election. >> reporter: after a november 10th briefing on a planned pro-trump protest in washington, milley said he feared "an equivalent of brown shirts in the streets." and after the capitol riot, he v

leonnig. despite these pictures the whole world has seen, capitol hill police officers crushed by the violent crowd of trump supporters, the former president describing the scene like this. >> they were ushered in by the police. i mean, in all fairness, the capitol police were ushering people in. the capitol police were very friendly. you know, they were hugging and kissing. you don't see that. >> reporter: president biden says everyone knows what happened that day. >> democrats and republicans, i don't care if you think i'm satan reincarnated, the fact is you can't look at that television and say nothing happened on the 6th. you can't listen to people who say this was a peaceful march. >> reporter: it comes as house speaker nancy pelosi defends her unprecedented decision to block two republican congressmen from serving on the committee investigating the riot. >> these people are going to act up, cause a problem, and people said to me, put them on and then when they act up, you can take them o

his anticipated new book, written with carol leonnig, i fix it, is due out on the 20th of july. paul butler, a former federal corruption prosecutor at the department of justice, these days a professor at georgetown law school. good evening. phil, i would like to start with you and your beat currently and former. you covered trump through all manner of controversy. to repeat for those that don't know, something you know well, his company is a small family outfit, at the end of the day. what are they saying about what's coming tomorrow? and what must they be thinking? >> well, brian, as you can imagine, it's a great deal of concern within the trump obit and within the trump family, about the indictments that are expected tomorrow. this can be bruising for the company itself. it can also be bruising for mr. weisselberg, the financial officer there. keep in mind how much his personal family wealth is tied up in this company. if the company were to be charged, there could be financial repercussions, in terms of the loans that become due. weisselberg could begin cooperating with the p

leonnig and philip rucker, your leadership almost led to the accidental invasion of nigeria. and after all that, you boasted that you could beat george washington in an election. it's enough to make you a loving stock, and even your former so-called friends have taken notice. here's what super bowl champion tom brady had to say at the white house tuesday. >> a lot of people, you know, think that we could have won, and, in fact, i think 40% of the people still don't think we could have on. >> i understand that. >> you understand that, mr. president? >> donald, you've always been a bit of a ridiculous figure with your extreme spray tan and exaggerated combover, but now you're a joke. for four years, many of the professional athletes invited to your white house declined, but they're back now, being honored by an actual adult. meanwhile, you're cowering at the golf course as you watch your representation and business collapse like a house of cards built on your name. i would have thought that a real estate man like yourself would have known better than to trust such a weak founda

leonnig. listen to how they described the president's response to the january 6th storming of the capitol. at the white house, trump was back in his private dining room watching everything unfold on television. the president was riveted. his supporters had heeded his call to march on the capitol with, quote, pride and boldness. for trump, there was no more beautiful sight than thousands of energize people waving trump flags, wearing red maga caps and fighting to keep him in power. juanita, when you compared that with how the president behaved during the black lives matter protests during the summer of 2020, what does it tell you? >> it tells me that everything we knew about trump continues to track that he is this type of person who all he wanted was chaos following the election. the election that he continues to argue was stolen. and so to hear this reporting about january 6th, i can't feign surprise, rev. this is fully what i expected him to be doing. while we know members of congress were c

carol leonnig, listen on c-span.org/podcast or wherever you get your podcast. ♪ ♪ >> weekends on c-span two are an intellectual feast. every saturday you will find events and people that explore our nation's past on american history tv. on sundays, book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. it's television for serious readers. learn, discover, explore. weekends on c-span two. >> follow american history tv on facebook, fwirt and youtube. to learn about what happened this day in history watch videos and learn more about the people and events that have shaped the american story. find us at c-span history. >> this is a special program as we talked to an eyewitness to history. our guest speaker will take questions later on in the program. we want to make sure you help us along with keeping him busy with your questions, comments and thoughts. we will use the youtube chat. if you want to get practice now, put your hometown and city and state in there so i can give you a shout out later on in the program. now, i am delighted to introduce our keynote speaker, civil rights att

phil rucker and "the washington post" wonderful carol leonnig joining us now. what was it like to hear him push the lies? it was not a loving crowd. i feel like i have flash backs because it does it with a straight face. >> the inner narrative hardened so much. sitting him with the lobby. the president watching the fans trapse toward the didn'ter on the patio at mar-a-lago, our jaws were hitting the table. we were putting them on our faces but the idea of hugging and kissing and that the capitol police officers were ushering happily warmly welcoming the people in. we know from your station and many others people were getting bike racks thrown at the faces. police officers begging for their lives and having heart attacks. one saying please don't take my gun and shoot me. i have children. this was not what happened. it is the preferred version of reality of donald trump. >> i want to highlight a passage up on screen. he said or you say in the book in a certain -- trump said to you in the book. i had two presidencies trump said. in the first trump argued that he h

. >> in this new book from "the washington post" reporters carol leonnig and philip rucker joining me tomorrow night, they write about an exchange. they write while these maniacs are going through the place i'm standing in the aisle -- this is in the voice of liz cheney -- i'm standing in the aisle and he said, talking about jordan, we need to get the ladies out of the aisle, let me help you. i smacked his hand and told him get away from me, you effing did this. do you think congressmen hold responsibility for what happened? >> first of all it doesn't surprise me at all that's what liz cheney would say. that definitely seems like something liz cheney would say. there's no doubt in that mind about that. i think people that continue to perpetuate the big lie, cast the events of that day and sweep it under the rug continue to bear responsibility. there's no doubt in my mind about that. listen, i've had many conversations with police officers that held the line that day. and there was one conversation that just sticks in my mind that i cannot get out. and it's a young man who i've gotten

let's talk about this new book by carol leonnig and philip rucker. they write about how general mark milley viewed trump as the classic authoritarian leader with nothing to lose. apparently he saw parallels between hitler's rhetoric as a savior and trump's false claims of election fraud. milley told aides according to the book, the gospel of the fuhrer. you study dictators. do you agree -- again, making it clear, this is mark milley's assessment, not my assessment or ruth's assessment. but do you agree with what he said? >> w w wl, yes. trump is an authoritarian leader. just because he couldn't wreck our democracy yet doesn't mean he didn't check all the boxes. my book was the first to put him in historical perspective, not saying that he is hitler because today things work differently. you don't have to, you know, close down elections. you keep them going, but you declare them fraudulent, right? but the leader cult, and now we have the creation of martyrs like ashli babbitt. he draws a lot of things from fascism, both italian fascism and, of course,

. >> carol leonnig on this episode of "book notes plus." listen wherever you get your podcasts. >>> up next, nick if las schmidting on the -- nicholas schmidting. this is hosted by romans bookstore in pasadena if, california. >> hi there, everyone. my name is max, and i'd like to thank you all for tuning in tonight with us. we're luckily to have nicholas schmidting -- schmidle. it does include a q&a portion, so if you'd like to ask a question request at any point, push the ask the question button at the bottom x if you'd like to purchase a book -- [inaudible] i'll go ahead and let them take over. thank you both so much. >> thank you. >> s thanks. >> nick, greetings from whatever this is, the screen. for those who are listening, nick is calling in from london, so it's 2:00 in the morning, is that correct? >> that is, yeah, exactly. [laughter] >> if he doesn't make sense, we will forgive him. i have read this book are from beginning to end, "it's -- test gods." there's so many moves to it. it's a swashbuckling story. it's a story of excitemen

the new book by carol leonnig and phil rucker in "the washington post" about how he delighted in watching the insurrection as it took place. there's some reporting that mike pence was the one who ultimately had to call in the national guard. there's that big gap in time. how much of your investigation will ultimately center on what the president knew and did and when he did it? >> it's certainly part of it. i think liz cheney outlined this very well in her opening statement yesterday, and i think we all agree we need to understand what happened, what was happening in the white house and all that chain of events, why it took so long for the national guard to respond, what the reaction was once this violence started, and the reaction to that. and different people's roles in the day of. we talk a lot about the rally that happened on the ellipse, the call to action that appears to have happened there to encourage people to head towards the capitol plus other activity that happened before that. some of the reporting that i've seen, there were many groups that prestaged themselves closer to the

his new book written with his colleague carol leonnig, "i alone can fix it," has debuted at number 1 on "the new york times" bestseller list. lisa laird for "the new york times" and dr. kavita patel, great to see all of you. lisa, the president is expected to require vaccines or testing for those who won't get vaccinated for federal workers. more than a few folks have made it clear they're already angry about the cdc's new guidance on masks for people who are vaccinated. is this where the white house thought they would be at this point in the summer? how worried are they about this surge? >> certainly not where they want to be, at least not politically or, you know, from a public health standpoint. let's not forget that earlier this month, the white house basically all but declared victory on the virus, they had that big july 4th event at the white house, and they really gave the american public a sense that things were moving forward. and now, i think there's a sense that the country is backsliding. masks are back, there's a lot of talk of mandates although that's a word we will not

it is in a book "i alone can fix it" but carol leonnig and phil rucker. >> the chair of the joint chiefs was shaken by president trump's refusal to concede, he believed trump and his allies might attempt to overthrow the government. according to one excerpt, general milley allegedly told his deputies, quote, they may try, but they're not going to succeed. you can't do this without the military. you can't do this without the cia and the fbi. we are the guys with the guns. >>> our special correspondent jamie gangal joins us now. this is one of so many alarming excerpts. you think of general milley, who chooses every word with intention, a student of history to use the words nazi and reich tag a lot. >> absolutely for context after the election, as you said, general milley was so shaken, an old friend called him. it's anonymous in the book. and they said, they're going to try to overturn the government. and so he got together with other top administration officials, with top military officials, and they put together -- they informally planned, in case there was an attempted coup, they wante

in i alone can fix it by carol leonnig, we learned that mark milley feared that he could urge the armed forced to staig a coup. and frankly we did win this election, the inside story of how trump lost, we learned when news leaked that the president and his family had been taken to the white house underground bunker during the george floyd protests taking place in d.c., he wanted him executed for treason. and trump's staff publicly pleaded with him to disavow the violence, he refused. and his daughter called an optic view. and then hammered bill barr for not prosecuting hunter biden or james comey. and this was before we gleaned any news of what "the washington post's" bob woodward or bob costa may have dug up in their collaboration of "the end of the trump era" that won't be out for another two months but does this news change anything? how concerned are the gop leaders about how the new revelations affected party and midterms. does any of it matter? probably not, as proven by house minority leader kevin mccarthy despite the speculation, making the trip to bedminster this week. joining

. >> with us now are "washington post" journalists phil rucker and carol leonnig. what stood out to you? what resonated with you after listening to today's committee hearing? >> well, it's so compelling, isn't it, to hear the officers describe what they actually went through on january 6th. phil and i were in mar-a-lago in late march listening to donald trump describe a loving crowd who were ushered in by the capitol police warmly and who were hugging and kissing. the officers we've heard from today in this hearing, including most poignantly officer gonell describing a medieval battle, deciding he probably was going to die that day, listening to his fellow officers beg for their lives and beg for their own breath. he described how he was squealing himself in pain, not sure if he was going to get enough oxygen because of the crowds. the difference between these two split screens couldn't be more stark. former president trump continues to tell people all around the country and his base that this was not violent, that this was a picnic, to quote your previous esteemed

when we left you last night, we just brought two excerpts from carol leonnig's new book might trying to launchar inspire a crew. it took 44 presidents of all strifes, good and bad, until this president today became the first former president ever to deny such a thing, to deny planning to launch a coup. even as he issued that unprecedented denial, even as book after book with page off page with chilling revelations come out, top republicans today showing they still cannot quit him. house minority leader kevin mccarthy called on him at his new jersey golf club, this kevin mccarthy. >> he should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. >> that was a week after the insurrection. days later, of course, he walked it back and flying down to mar-a-lago to show his loyalty not to the truth, but instead to the man who incited a mob that sent him fleeing for his leitch and begging that same man that day to call off the rioters. quoting from a newly released excerpt from the books, quote, kevin mccarthy, who had been trying to reach trump at the white house, finally suc

carol leonnig and phil rucker. thank you so much for coming back to "the sunday show." >> thank you for having us. >>> coming up, the mounting pressure on president biden to do something about voting rights. we'll discuss next. ething about rights we'll discuss next there's an america we build and one we explore. one that's been paved and one that's forever wild. but freedom means you don't have to choose just one adventure. you get both. introducing the wildly civilized all-new 3-row jeep grand cherokee l are your hr processes weighing down your employees? on to quarterly projections! introducing the wildly civilized expense report! if you're using multiple systems, re-entering data over and over time sheet! using email and spreadsheets to manage information and approvals, then your hr systems are a drag on productive time. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in a single, easy-to-use software. visit paycom dot com and schedule your demo today. do they know this door is locked [swords clashing

in a brand-new "vanity fair" piece by phil rucker and carol leonnig, they reveal the former guys, quote, over the years, trump has rarely expressed misgivings, but he regrets his response last year to protests. i think if i had to do it again i would have brought in the military immediately, the former president said. that comment, one of many, shocking but really not surprising details of the trump presidency, revealed in a two-and-a-half hour interview leonnig and rucker had with the former president in march for their new book, "i alone can fix it." their interview reveals while trump regretted not unleashing the military on protesters fighting for black rights and justice, he seems to have no qualms about the insurrection he himself incited that left five people dead and democracy on the brink of collapse. i would venture to say that i think it was the largest crowd i had ever spoken to before, trump said. it was a loving crowd, too. by the way, there was a lot of love. i don't see what love has to do with it. pressed again, trump said he hoped his supporters would show up outside t

carol leonnig, phillip rucker, they write about this. that the chairman of the joint chiefs mark milley, and i quote, "they may try but they're not going to f-ing succeed, he told them. you can't do this without the military. you can't do this without the cia and the fbi. we are the guys with the guns." now, we knew it was chaotic. but according to this, trump would stop at nothing, nothing to stay in power. should we be surprised? i don't know. but this just seems like it was beyond. >> i think we should be surprised because this is objectively shocking. there is nothing like this in all of american history, to see top generals actively concerned that the president of the united states, their commander in chief would try to execute a military coup by stoking unrest and then invoking the insurrection act. that shows you how close we came as a democracy to the dismantling of our democracy. and it shows that while the guardrails held all those enablers in addition to trump supporters weekend ahead of january 6th this was going on. so it's