Robert Costa is a national political reporter for the Washington Post, and co-author with Bob Woodward of the new book "Peril." This book has made a lot of news. It is a compelling, authoritative first draft of history that covers the period leading up to the 2020 election, and into this year. The authors write that "the transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stands as one of the most dangerous periods in American history."

The details are chilling. And in this conversation with Costa, we discuss what he would have told himself 10 years ago about covering Trump, how the press should cover Trump now, and politics in general, how he and Woodward reveal the ways that Trump's lies about the election were debunked even by some of his closest allies, and where the GOP and the country are headed in the years ahead. Looming over the entire conversation is the question I ask him at the end: can American democracy survive?

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