Bob Woodward

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? Woodward relives Trump convos

MSNBC's Ari Melber took a stab at a "second draft of history" with a special edition of his 6 p.m. ET show, airing extensive excerpts of Bob Woodward's 20 (!) interviews with then-President Trump.

• The 8+ hours are collected in a book and audio archive, "The Trump Tapes: The Historical Record."

Why it matters: With Trump running again, his botched handling of COVID will be newly scrutinized.

Woodward says it's the first time in 50+ years of reporting that he has disclosed raw interviews.

• We hear Trump blurt "No!" when Woodward asks him — in March 2020 — if there had been a moment in the last two months when he said: "Ah! This is the leadership test of a lifetime."

? Woodward told Melber: "[T]he great lesson of government is not only do you have to listen to people, but you have to take them seriously. You have to understand their advice."

• "I think the independent counsel is going to expand his investigation — he's going to make it more serious," Woodward added. "And so we're going to have a debate about the law and the responsibility. I mean, this is what presidential elections are about: Who is this person? ... There it is."

Trump is suing Woodward over "The Trump Tapes," arguing the author didn't have permission to publish the audio. Woodward disputes that.

• 1-min. sample of "The Trump Tapes" ... 30-sec. MSNBC video ... 42-min. MSNBC video.

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Woodward book reveals Trump’s calls with Putin and Biden’s private remarks on Obama and Netanyahu

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin since leaving office and secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic, Bob Woodward reported in his new book, “War.”

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-biden-putin-war-ukraine-russia-zelenskyy-ce9c59f689d3f438264a64b2bfa0aa39?