( APPLAUSE )
EVERYBODY.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY GUESTS TONIGHT ARE A TWO-TIME PULITZER
PRIZE WINNER AND A NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER FOR "THE
WASHINGTON POST" WHO'VE WRITTEN A NEW BOOK CALLED "PERIL."
PLEASE WELCOME BOB WOODWARD AND ROBERT COSTA!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ).
♪ ♪ ♪ HEY, BOB, WELCOME BACK.
THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
HEY, ROBERT.
HEY, FELLAS.
THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
BOB, ALWAYS GOOD TO HAVE YOU ON.
>> THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
>> Stephen: ROBERT, NICE TO MEET YOU, HAVING YOU ON FOR THE
FIRST TIME.
I WANT TO SAY, AS I HAVE CONFESSED ALREADY, I AM NOT
FULLY FINISHED WITH THIS BOOK.
AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE IT'S NOT A GOOD READ.
IT IS REALLY COMPELLING.
IT'S JUST THAT I HAVE TO CLOSE IT EVERY SO OFTEN TO QUIETLY
WEEP.
( LAUGHTER )
AND I MEAN THAT SOMEWHAT SINCERELY, BECAUSE WHAT REALLY
IS UPSETTING ABOUT THIS IS NOT EVEN SO MUCH WHAT YOU'RE
REPORTING IN HERE.
BECAUSE HAVING READ "FEAR" AND "RAGE," NOTHING IN HERE IS
SURPRISING.
WHILE SHOCKING AND UPSETTING, THE PATH WAS LAID FOR THE
BEHAVIOR THAT IS IN THIS BOOK.
BUT IT IS-- IT IS-- IT IS UPSETTING TO READ.
AND I WAS WONDERING, WAS IT UPSETTING TO WRITE?
>> YES.
WE WERE-- LOOK, THE THEME HERE-- AND IT WAS A DISCOVERY FOR US,
THAT THIS WAS A NATIONAL SECURITY CRISIS.
WE'VE KIND OF THOUGHT ALL OF TRUMP WAS A DOMESTIC PROBLEM
POLITICALLY.
BUT IN CHINA, RUSSIA, AND IRAN, THEY SAID, "MY GOD, WHAT'S
HAPPENING HERE?" SO THEY WENT ON MILITARY ALERT.
AND IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THE THREE CALAMITIES THAT CAN BEFALL
THE UNITED STATES.
FIRST, A WAR WITH A MAJOR POWER, LIKE CHINA.
SECOND IS THE USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
AND THE THIRD WOULD BE A QUESTION ABOUT THE LEGITIMACY OF
THE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESIDENCY.
AND WE FOUND ALL OF THOSE.
AND SO IT WAS-- IT WAS A SURPRISE, AND IT WAS ONE OF--
THE PROBLEM OF TRUMP EXTENDED GLOBALLY.
AND IF YOU GET INTO WHAT THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS,
GENERAL MILLEY, DID, HE SAW THIS, AND HE'S GETTING
INTELLIGENCE THAT THE CHINESE THINK WE ARE GOING TO ATTACK
THEM.
AND IF YOU ARE IN THE MILITARY, THAT'S A NIGHTMARE.
THAT IS THE KIND OF HAIR-TRIGGER ENVIRONMENT WHERE THERE CAN BE A
MISTAKE, WHERE, AS MILLEY TOLD HIS STAFF, YOU WILL HAVE WHAT'S
CALLED A FIRST MOVE, PEARL HARBOR.
AND SO, BOTTOM LINE, WE WERE GOING THROUGH A SECRET NATIONAL
SECURITY CRISIS THAT THE PUBLIC DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT, WE DIDN'T
KNOW ABOUT, AS REPORTERS, AND WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FIND OUT THOSE
THINGS AS THEY HAPPEN.
AND THE WORLD DIDN'T KNOW.
>> Stephen: YOU KNOW, THE-- THE OATH THAT FEDERAL
POLITICIANS TAKE IS TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION.
AND AGAINST ALL THREATS, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC.
AND IN A WAY, THAT GREATEST DOMESTIC THREAT WAS THE
PRESIDENT HIMSELF BECAUSE HE WAS THE LOCUS OF THE LIE THAT
ACTUALLY LED TO THE CRISIS ON JANUARY 6.
AND, ROBERT, I WAS WONDERING, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE BEEN COVERING
WASHINGTON FOR YEARS.
WHAT WAS THE MOST SHOCKING THING THAT YOU UNCOVERED IN YOUR
RESEARCH FOR THIS BOOK, IN YOUR REPORTING?
>> WELL, BOB MENTIONED HIS THIRD POINT ABOUT THE PRESIDENCY, AND
JUST HOW CLOSE THIS COUNTRY CAME.
WE SPENT NINE MONTHS DOING NOTHING EXCEPT DIGGING INTO
THIS-- HOW CLOSE THE PRESIDENCY CAME TO MAYBE BEING THROWN TO
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
ON JANUARY 5, THE NIGHT BEFORE THE INSURRECTION, PRESIDENT
TRUMP HAS VICE PRESIDENT PENCE IN THE OVAL OFFICE.
AND AS YOU SAID, HE OPENS THE DOOR LATER THAT NIGHT.
HE'S LISTENING TO HIS SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE, AND HE'S TELLING THE
VICE PRESIDENT THAT EVENING, "WOULDN'T IT BE COOL TO HAVE THE
POWER TO NOT CERTIFY AN ELECTION?
WOULDN'T YOU WANT TO DO THAT?" IT WAS THE ULTIMATE TEMPTATION
OF POWER.
YOU SAY THIS IS A SYSTEM BASED ON THE CONSTITUTION.
IT IS.
BUT THE POWER THAT WAS IN PRESIDENT TRUMP'S HANDS, IN THE
EXECUTIVE BRANCH WAS USED AND ALMOST WEAPONIZED, ACCORDING TO
OUR REPORTING, AND THE WAY PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ADVISERS SAW
THE SITUATION.
>> Stephen: I BROKE DOWN IN THE MONOLOGUE WHAT WAS IN THE
EASTMAN MEMO, ESSENTIALLY, THE STEPSES THAT HAD BEEN LAID OUT
FOR VICE PRESIDENT PENCE.
THE EXISTENCE OF THAT NEMO, WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU ABOUT HOW
SERIOUS OF A THREAT THIS WAS?
>> WELL, IT'S VERY SERIOUS, BECAUSE TRUMP-- I MEAN, STILL TO
THIS DAY, IS SAYING THE ELECTION WAS STOLEN.
AND THAT MEMO, THE EASTMAN MEMO, SAYS, HEY, LOOK, WE HAVE THIS
POWER, AND PENCE AS VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE, CAN JUST GET UP THERE AND SAY, "OH, I'M CONFUSED," OR
"I'M NOT GOING TO CERTIFY BIDEN," AND THROW THIS COUNTRY
INTO A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS.
>> THIS MEMO WAS PRESENTED TO THE VICE PRESIDENT'S TEAM.
VICE PRESIDENT PENCE IS BEING PRESSURED TO READ THIS MEMO.
ON JANUARY 4, PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS EASTMAN IN THE OVAL OFFICE
AND SAYS-- EASTMAN AND TRUMP STANDING THERE TALKING TO PENCE
"LISTEN TO EASTMAN.
FOLLOW EASTMAN'S ADVICE."
THIS IS NOT SOME "LAW REVIEW" ARTICLE BEING PASSED AMONG
AIDESES.
THIS IS DIRECTLY PRESIDENT TO V.P.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A QUICK BREAK.
DON'T GO ANYWHERE, BECAUSE WHEN WE COME BACK, I WANT TO ASK BOB
AND ROBERT ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PEOPLE WHO PERPETRATED THIS LIE?
STICK AROUND.