Faced. We will defeat the virus, and emerge stronger than ever before. Reporter hear from the people who were there. I was in the early meetings in the oval office. Reporter in the rooms, where it happened. Why does he seem to like putin . This is a cnn special report. Fight for the white house, Donald Trumps presidency. Together, we will crush the virus. Reporter against the backdrop of a global pandemic, President Trump was making his case for a second term. And, from the looks of it, no real concerns about an extremely contagious and deadly virus. What the white house was trying to do was say, look, we believe that covids gone, and we want you to believe that, too. You saw donald trump try to sort of put lipstick on a pig last night with regard to the Trump Administrations response to covid. We will defeat the virus and the pandemic, and emerge stronger than ever before. I have witnessed him make some of the most difficult decisions of his life. Reporter but there might have been an accidental clue that this was not the whole story. Thanks to advances, we have pioneered the fatality rate. Reporter pioneered the fatality rate . In fact, President Trump and his administration have been pioneers of a mishandled response and flawed leadership, from the very beginning. New details on the deadly coronavirus outbreak in china, and spreading across the globe. Reporter as early as january, President Trump was warned, during more than a dozen daily classifiedintelligence briefings, about the novel coronavirus, according to the washington post. Publichealth officials were, also, briefing the president. Washington post White House Reporter and cnn contributor, josh dawsey. Alex azar called the president and they talked about it briefly. And the president , soon, moved the conversation to vaping. And azar said to others that he was quite frustrated. I was in the early meetings in the oval office. Kellyanne conway, however, tells a different story. He banned travel from china in january. Nobody thought we should do it. Zero cases. Zero deaths. Reporter it was not a full ban on travel from china. Tens of thousands of people were allowed to travel to the u. S. , even after it was ordered. Perhaps, more importantly, President Trump was publicly dismissing the threat. With cdc efforts to come up with a test, botched. And no comprehensive effort to isolate the virus, nationwide. Still, the president would continue to point to partial travel bans, to argue that he was on the case. Cnns white house correspondent, kaitlan collins. If you talk to experts, by the time that the president put those in place, the virus was already circulating inside the United States. Reporter all of this was accompanied by a nearlydaily barrage of president ial lies. We have it totally under control. Its one person, coming in from china. We think we have it, very well, under control. The consensus among the his own Health Experts was that we needed to shift to a strategy of trying to limit the number of illnesses and deaths, instead of just trying to block it from entering the United States. According to New York Times investigative reporter, eric lipton, february was a lost month. Trump was unwilling to accept that advice. It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away. Reporter a message at odds with Health Experts. Cases kept increasing and increasing. A coronavirus death toll that jumped, again, today. Reporter finally, on march 11th, the day tom hafrpnks and wife rita wilson became the first highprofile americans to announce they tested positive, and the nba shut down its season. Trump set out to reassure a very nervous nation. My fellow americans. The president was uncomfortable heading into it. New York Times White House correspondent and cnn political analyst, maggie haberman. The president looked unfamiliar with the material, as he was reading it. It contained at least three errors. That speech was probably the singlemost important moment in the u. S. Response to the coronavirus. But for all the wrong reasons. Reporter cnns abby phillip. It really highlighted that the administration was not prepared to deal with the crisis. Reporter it was an historic day on wall street. Reporter the next day, the New York Stock Exchange halted trading for 15 minutes, after the s p 500 fell 7 on its way to a 10 loss, in one day. The white house scrambled to try to fix the errors. Correcting the omission, that the ban trump announced on anything coming from europe, actually, did not apply to american citizens or legal residents. And would not apply to goods. Also, he was forced to clarify that Insurance Companies would waive copayments for coronavirus testing, only, not treatments, as he had said. The next day. Today, i am officially declaring a national emergency. Reporter the country had lost two months, really, to ramp up testing and production of key supplies, such as ppe or ventilators. He had that at his fingertips. Reporter President Trump says president ial historian tim neftali could have nationalized the response and invoked the defenseproduction act to immediately force companies to manufacture what was needed. He had an opportunity, with covid19, to use the enormous power of the presidency, in a moment of national crisis. Reporter governors were left to fend for their states. It was just mass pandemonium. Reporter maryland republican governor, larry hogan. It was a 50state strategy. Some states, doing better than others. And really, a mad scramble to try to find these things. Reporter hogan secretly sourced half a million tests for his state from south korea. I asked the president about that at a briefing we had. Couldve saved a lot of money but thats okay. Go to south korea for this . No, i dont think he needed to go to south korea. I think he needed to get a little knowledge would have been helpful. He assured me that testing was amazing in the United States. And the question was, well, if thats true, then, why is the governor of maryland having to go to another country . Reporter testing was lagging far behind, despite the president s spin. Anybody that wants a test, can get a test. Thats what the bottom line is. Reporter that was a lie. Experts agree one of the singular reasons that we still have so many cases and so many deaths is because the u. S. Lagged in its ability to identify the virus, through testing, and isolate it. I said, earlier today, that i hope we can do this by easter. Reporter trump, then, tried to pressure governors to open up their states and economies. I really do believe a lot of the governors should be opening up states. What mistakes do you think have been made by the president . Allowing some of the governors to make decisions and mayors to make decisions about whether and when to lock down and how to lock down. Also, made this more fraught. It was not a health strategy. It was a political strategy. Allowing the white house to blame the governors, no matter what, and accept zero responsibility. This, while the president , also, sought to undermine the nations leading Infectious Disease expert, dr. Anthony fauci, for telling the truth. Including, acknowledging the fact that the president s delay in action cost lives. Obviously, you could logically say that, if you had a process that was ongoing, and you started mitigation earlier, you couldve saved lives. Obviously, no one is going to deny that. Reporter the president tried to control the message. Something that led to serious communication failures, such as minimizing the risk. Young people are almost immune to this disease. Reporter pushing unproven, potentially dangerous, drugs to treat covid19, such as high o hydroxychloroquine. What do you have to lose . Say it again. What do you have to lose . Take it. Or this jawdropping moment. I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do Something Like that, by injection inside or or almost a cleaning . Reporter the president s briefings ended for a while, and he let the experts take the lead. He pushed guidelines on social distancing and wearing a mask. And he finally wore a mask, himself. The Trump Administration did, eventually, invoke the dpa for key supplies, such as testing swabs. Progress has been made, when it comes to treatments. And the Trump Administration is optimistic about developing a vaccine. Dr. Frances collins who spent decades at nih alongside anthony fauci. Jake has said hes never seen therapeutics come together, so quickly, in the way that they are. Reporter but the facts sadly speak for themselves. The u. S. , with less than 5 of the worlds population, has a much higher case count and death count than the rest of the western world. The worst response, of any western, wealthy nation, according to this data. And its not even close. And recently, the president seems to be back to undermining efforts to save lives. Whether its Holding Events with seemingly no social distancing or required mask wearing, or even mocking joe biden for wearing a mask, again. Did you ever see a man that likes a mask as much as him . Reporter we wanted to ask President Trump about all of this, and more. But he turned down repeated requests for an interview. He views this virus as standing in the way of him being reelected. Covid19 was not of his making but covid19 was his opportunity to be a great president. He looked at covid19, and backed away, not wanting to take a chance. Reporter the quality donald trump values, perhaps, the most. That, when we come back. Start your day with secret. Secret stops sweat 3x more than ordinary antiperspirants. With secret, youre unstoppable. No sweat try it and love it or get your money back. He used to have gum problems. Now, he uses therabreath healthy gums oral rinse with clinicallyproven ingredients and his gum problems have vanished. crowd applauding therabreath, its a better mouthwash. At walmart, target and other fine stores. At morgan stanley, a global collective of thought leaders offers investors a broader view. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. We see a bright future, still hungry for the ingenuity of those ready for the next challenge. Today, we are translating decades of experience into strategies for the road ahead. We are morgan stanley. People have like a 10 loyalty. Meaning, if they sneeze in the wrong direction, theyre gone. Loyalty. Good morning, welcome to your new day. It is monday, december 19th. Texas electors sealing the deal for donald trump. To make Donald Trumps victory official, today. Reporter it was the day trumps win was officially certified by the electoral college. The president elect was reportedly celebrating with top aides at his private club in palm beach, florida. The conversation turned to whom he should hire. They focused on Campaign Advisers and supporters, who had been loyal to him during the 2016 campaign. At a time when most republicans were trying to distance themselves from him. That dinners certainly been consistent with everything we have seen from this president. He has been obsessed. Reporter obsessed with loyalty. He always has been. Here he is, in 1980. I learned that they were some great, loyal people. And i learned that there were some people that could have been more loyal, and those people, i have discarded totally. Reporter and once donald trump became president , he didnt just look for it, he demanded it. Its a tradition that president s bring a little clique with them. Whether its the georgia mafia, jimmy carter. Loyalty is not new in the white house. Reporter but trumps brand of loyalty was new. The trump people said, essentially, if we can ever find that you publicly posted something negative about the president , you are very unlikely to get a position. I have never heard of that kind of vetting of people, for negative comments about the president in their past lives. Reporter his early hires were loyalists, throughout the campaign and in the early months of the presidency. He did hire a few onetime opponents, who had been loyal since. Thank you, mr. President. Including, secretary of housing and urban development, ben carson. Our president , donald j. Trump, he makes promises and he keeps them. Reporter and secretary of energy, former governor, rick perry. Mr. President , i know there are people that say you said you were the chosen one. And you were. Reporter but it would not take long for President Trump to learn others loyalty was fleeting. Very, very good idea who the leakers are. Who the senior leakers are in the white house. Reporter former White House Communications director, anthony scaramucci, was hired six months into trumps presidency, to weed out disloyal leakers. There were three or four people that were probably the biggest leakers, and he wanted them gone. So the loyalty goes one way towards him. Reporter this demand for loyalty could be a problem, when it seemed to supersede ethics. Loyalty means you do what i need you to do, even if its unethical. You work for me. That may be a good strategy, if you run a small, private business. But its absolutely unacceptable for a constitutional officer in a republic. He immediately tests you to see if you were going to be on his side or if you were going to be his enemy. Reporter it was an unfamiliar situation for someone such as andy mccabe, thenacting director of the fbi. He had served four administrations at the fbi, for both republican and democratic president s. As career government servants, dedicated, first and foremost, to the constitution and to the rule of law. Those folks are not going to, simply, exceed to the president s will. Does working for President Trump, ultimately, mean you have to agree with him, all the time, if you want to keep your job . Yeah, i think thats the case. Theyre going to do what they think is their job. And that is a very tough decision for people to make. And its one that will, likely, bring you great, personal pain and sacrifice. And so, if you are committed to doing that work, youre likely going to run, headlong, into a conflict with President Trump. I have now decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matter relating, in any way, to the campaign for president of the United States. Reporter for instance, jeff sessions, an incredibly loyal guy. But, made one decision, you know, complying with ethics suggestions from doj and thats it. Hes dead to President Trump. He could run you over with a steamroller, at any time. I need you to do things, and i need you to be willing to take the blame for me when things go poorly. Reporter perhaps, contributing to unprecedented turnover. 89 of his senior staff, trumps ateam, have left. Thats more turnover than all of the past five president s had in their entire first terms. And one more number. Trump has had 40 of his top positions replaced, more than once. Former White House Press secretary, sean spicer. There were some people that werent qualified but they had been loyal to the president. Reporter and when people have left, several formers found themselves eventually speaking out against President Trump. It was challenging for me to go to work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesnt read briefing reports. The only person in the military that mr. Trump doesnt think is overrated is colonel sanders. Reporter the ultimate betrayal for trump, who resorted to name calling. Former National Security adviser, john bolton, a wacko. Jim mattis, the worlds most overrated general. Rex tillerson, dumb as a rock. He had turn on them, in a really aggressive way. In a way, that ive never seen or heard of president s doing, before. I think, you know, turnover is natural in any white house. Former trump adviser, david urban. I think this Administration May be more high pressure, more issues that are are pressing. Reporter a demand for loyalty that trump relied on for what he hoped to be his first big policy win. Repealing and replacing obamacare. We have so many unbelievable alternatives. Much less expensive. I think donald trump believed that his iron grip on Republican Voters would get him all republican votes. Reporter two months after the trump inauguration, the republicans had a bill that would begin the dismantling of obamacare. And while the bill did make it through the house, the senate posed some issues. I think the bill would have to be fundamentally changed. Reporter the senate bill was known as skinny repeal, going into that vote in july 2017. Trumps hopes for success rested with Arizona Republican senator, john mccain. Whom trump had attacked, for years. Hes not a war hero. Hes a war hero. He is a war hero. He is a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. Senator mccain was sick, and he was heading out to arizona. I made the suggestion, maybe, we should go out there and see him on one of these trips that we were making. And president did not want to do that. Reporter in the early hours of july 28th, 2017, mccain arrived to vote. A singular motion, that left the Senate Chamber aghast and the white house reeling. It was incredibly personal. President trump holds on to grudges, and like he wants loyalty, he probably will never let that moment go. Reporter for the rest of mccains life, and long after his death, trump would attack him. I was never a fan of john mccain, and i never will be. Reporter something that trump would do to any republican that turned against him. Well, jeb bush is a puppet to his donors. Reporter he has effectively chased many of