Trump's Watches at least Four Hours of TV
CAMEROTA: A "New York Times" report gives fascinating insights into President Trump's TV viewing habits. The paper says the president watches at least four hours of television a day and drinks 12 cans of Diet Coke a day. Here to discuss all of this is CNN contributor and Donald Trump biographer, Michael D'Antonio. Michael, great to have you. And just -- I know you're standing by. We have breaking news, so I may have to cut away from you. But while we get our sources in place and while we get more information --</s>MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Sure.</s>CAMEROTA: You and I will chat. So you, of course, are a Trumpologist. You wrote a biography about him. Did you know about his voracious viewing habits?</s>D'ANTONIO: Oh, sure. I think people who have been around the president for any real period of time know that he is a television addict. He's probably watching us right now because as "The Times" reported, he tunes to CNN when there's breaking news. CNN is the strongest network in hard news and so, as much as he might berate the network at other moments, he tunes in when he needs the facts.</s>CAMEROTA: Here's a tidbit from Maggie Haberman's reporting, along with some of her colleagues. People close to the president estimate that Mr. Trump spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television, sometimes with the volume muted, marinating in the no-holds-barred wars of cable news and eager to fire back. Here's another interesting thing, Michael, that I know that you can speak to, it's just how much President Trump still enjoys being -- hearing his name on TV. Though, of course, he's now the most, you know, famous, talked-about person in the world, their reporting says, to an extent that would stun outsiders, Mr. Trump, the most talked about human on the planet, is still delighted when he sees his name in the headlines and he is on a perpetual quest to see it there. One former top adviser said Mr. Trump grew uncomfortable after two or three days of peace and could not handle watching the news without seeing himself on it. Your thoughts?</s>D'ANTONIO: Well, that strikes me as consistent with who he's always been. The president, as a boy, 14, 15 years old, saw his name in the paper because he got a hit that won a baseball game. And I think that started this cascade of headlines that featured the name trump and made him really happy. And, you know, I've written about the fact that he is a man of his time. And a lot of us, I think, seek to have ourselves writ large, whether it's on FaceBook or Twitter or, in the president's case, on the news. And it gives us a sense that we're alive and that we matter. And it's remarkable that he could be president and still crave this, but it is consistent with who he's always been.</s>CAMEROTA: The article also gives interesting tidbits about the other kinds of consumption of the president, including his eating habits. This is about his Diet Coke habit. Let me read it to you. Watching cable he shares thoughts with anyone in the room, even the household staff he summons via a button for lunch or for one of the dozen Diet Cokes he consumes each day. If you add this, Michael, to what his former -- Corey Lewandowski, I mean, his campaign manager, has a new book out about some of these very things. Corey's book is called "Let Trump Be Trump." Here's what he writes in that. On Trump force one, there were four major food groups, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza, and Diet Coke. What are your thoughts? I mean, listen, when I -- when I read this, I think, this is not, OK, what doctors would recommend. This is not the healthiest diet. However, obviously, President Trump seems to have boundless energy. So what does your reporting suggest?</s>D'ANTONIO: Well, some of that energy is obviously caffeine. And, you know, we see him go up and down during the course of a day and during the course of a week. And it may sometimes depend on the supply of Diet Coke. The other -- the thing that would concern me more is this consistent consumption of fats and sugars and all sorts of stuff that's bad for you. We can get to 65 or 70, the president's now, I guess, 71, and look healthy on the outside, and he does have a lot of energy, but any physician will tell you that that's a recipe for problems. And we need a president who's healthy, who's not going to have an episode that puts him in the hospital. I would look forward to the physical that he's going to have in January for the country to be reassured or for the president maybe to be put on a different path, as President Clinton got on a different path. And you look at him now and he's quite slim and healthy.</s>CAMEROTA: After heart surgery. I mean, let's remember how far down that path President Clinton went.</s>D'ANTONIO: Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: But, you're right, he is getting his first official medical, which will be publicly disclosed and will, of course, be fascinating to everyone because he's our president and you want to know what kind of health he's in. What did you think, Michael, about that episode recently where he slurred his speech? Did you know that to be true of him in the past?</s>D'ANTONIO: No. I hadn't seen that before. And I don't think the public record has much in it that would suggest a speech problem or, you know, a mental processing problem. But there have been observations made by neurologists and psychiatrists about the decline of his vocabulary over the years. When you analyze how he spoke and his public performances in the '80s and '90s --</s>CAMEROTA: Has it declined?</s>D'ANTONIO: He did have a much broader vocabulary.</s>CAMEROTA: I want to ask you about that.</s>D'ANTONIO: Yes. Yes. I mean he -- he spoke in --</s>CAMEROTA: So when you interviewed him, you noticed a difference?</s>D'ANTONIO: Well, I did notice a difference between the Trump I saw in 2014 and 2015 and the man who was publicly with us in the '80s and '90s. He is a little slower. And he falls back on these habitual phrases, things like, "nobody would believe" or, "it's the greatest you ever saw." And those are ways for him to catch his breath and let his mind grasp the next thought that he's going for. In the past, he was much quicker and could go right to the point he wanted to make. So I've seen it. I think this is something that he should have checked out. You know, all of us lose words as we get older and we speak with more deliberation. There's nothing inherently wrong in that. But I think we need to be reassured that he's OK.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, Michael D'Antonio, always great to get your perspective on all of this stuff. Thank you very much for being here. Chris.</s>CUOMO: All right, we are following breaking news. Information keeps coming in about what happened in New York's Port Authority during rush hour this morning. We are told one person is in custody. There was an explosive device. We have the latest, next.