This is such a "non-story" - it was an initial-type meeting. I can't even count how many "first impressions" I've had that were way off base.....
The thing about these tapes is that they take years to listen to. That's because they took years to make, obviously. And when listening to them, you have to go back again and again in order to transcribe it and make sense out of strange sounds.
This is a very selective exchange they've chosen hear. There are probably other exchanges where he's speaking positively of Reagan, and then negative somewhere else, and then positive, and so on........
This is from 1972, i.e., way past being based on just one initial impression.