press. 2017 was a year that saw the truth. more battered and abused thank at any time in the history of our country at the hands of the most powe powerful figure in our government. so, in twg2018 must be the year which the truth takes a stand against power that would weaken it. but will it? really? let me ask two other questions. the on this anniversary weekend, how has president trump changed the media in the past year? and how has the media changed him? joining me now is douglas brinkley back with me actually. joining me now olivia, washington correspondent for new york magazine. olivia you get the first word. do you think the president has been fundamentally changed by this president? well i think that donald trump has revealed issues that
book, it really just confirms what we ve known all along. i beg to differ with that. yes, there is a lot it confirms, but i had never understood that people in the white house were actually as concerned as they are about the mental health of the president. that they watched him his capacity, you know, when they first came in, he was telling the same story three times over the course of 30 minutes. perhaps not remembering he had already told it before. that s now down to ten minutes. that was very disturbing. and i think the second thing that came out was that he claims, wolff claims, may be wrong, but he claims that 100% of the inner circle believe the president is not fit for the office. that was very disturbing. professor brinkley, what about you? i agree with what david said. you know, i ve never seen a book like what michael wolff s produced here. we ve had people from inside the white house get fired or leave and write a disgruntled memoir. david remembers well donald reagan
major repercussions overseas. when people woke up today in germany and the most conservative, respected newspaper in europe, the major headline was is trump still sane? the times of london, a murdoch paper, raises questions on the front page about the president s mental health. you find increasingly a number of countries openly talking about some of our best allies, can they still trust the president? so i think these are damaging. even as the economy does very well, and you have to give him some credit for that, there is such a disconnect. at some point i worry that the economy is going to be affected by our politics, too. professor brinkley, it is extraordinary how much access the author, michael wolff, was given to the west wing, to the inner workings of the white house, including access to the president himself. michael wolff has said he s not sure what the president thought was happening when they met, but the two spent about three hours cumulatively over the course of
our country may be benefitting from it. we may be able to see now that perhaps the president isn t mentally stable. wow. all right. professor douglas brinkley and david gergen, always a pleasure to talk to you. republican senators recommending charges publicly for the first time in the russia investigation, but who are they going after? next. nobody knows pot pies better than banquet. with tender cuts of meat, sweet veggies, and rich, savory gravy, banquet makes everyone at the table feel like family. good to have you. banquet pot pies. made for the moments that matter most.
welcome back to the lead. i want to reminder everybody that today, friday, is only the fifth day of january, 2018. although the avalanche of news out of the white house this week might have you thinking that another year had passed this week. joining me to talk about this week and the state of the trump administration, two experts in the american presidency, david gergen and douglas brinkley. thank you so much for joining us. david gergen, let me start with you. what do you make of the news out of the white house this past week? astonishing. a complete disconnect between a rising stock market and a falling presidency. it s quite astonishing to watch. look, i the supporters for donald trump will tell you as the wall street journal editorialized today that there is nothing here new in the wolff