Be here. Hell share why he decided to publish a new column by matt lauer. Lauer went ahead and reinvestigated some of the accusations against him. Lets begin by looking into the future. What will historians say about this moment . How will history books record this time . Well nobody knows for sure, but i think weve already seen heroes emerge and also some villains in the midst of this pandemic. This weekend the New York Times, which likes to think of itself as the first rough draft of history, is trying to fight coronavirus fatigue and pay proper tribute to those we lost. Todays front page is a list of american covid19 victims. It goes on and on for three more pages. Names and brief descriptions of 1,000 lives lost. The total here, the thousand, is just 1 of the nearly 100,000 confirmed dead in america. I think the history books decades from now will grapple with a lot. Theyll grapple with the differing death rates from country to country. The deadly differences between early Safety Measures and delayed responses. The unequal treatment of vulnerable populations like nursing home residents. Historians will look back at late february and early march and say what were they thinking . Who was in charge . They will sift through old tweets and they will see who is in charge. They will see President Trump. They will see President Trump weighed deeper and deeper into d disinformation and distraction. He flouted safety guidelines this week and refused to keep his mask on even at a manufacturing plant where it was required. The only photos of trump modeling a mask were taking by Anonymous Sources and smuggled out to the press. Historians will show the president undermined his own government by downplaying the threat and hyping unproven solutions. They will note the thrill in his voice when he said he was taking hydroxychloroquine, despite mounting evidence it doesnt work against covid19 and could be harmful. The history books will note his obsession with the press, like when he said i was just waiting to see your eyes light up when he said he whe was taking hydroxychloroquine and he didnt want to give the press the pleasure of seeing him with a mask on. Americans were confused by the president s conduct who were distracted by his deep state conspiracy rhetoric. They will note the president had entire Propaganda Networks at his disposal to help change the subject. They will note how sad it was that everything, even doctors and researchers were placed on a pro trump or antitrump spectrum. Historians will also address why so Many Republican leaders sat there silently while the president s conduct went from alarming to appalling and beyond. Maybe this doesnt belong in a history book. Maybe its too pathetic. But President Trump is continuing to accuse Msnbcs Joe Scarborough of being a murderer. This weekend trump is urging people to investigate it. This claim was investigated and debunked 20 years ago. But hes out there sharing it like hes sharing twitter posts mocking Nancy Pelosis face and Stacey Abrams weight and Hillary Clinton. On friday night the president called the New York Times editor one of the dumbest men in journalism. Theres nothing dumb about putting these names it on the front page. Thats pretty smart. Its a nod to history. Because we dont have to wait 20 years, 30 years to read the history. Deep down inside we know the story. So we shouldnt mince words when we talk about it. I think it helps to take a list, to make a list, to take stock of all of the abhorrent behavior that happens daytoday. Because incredible leaders have risen up from this tragedy. Think about the past two to three months of this pandemic and the leaders weve seen emerge. Some have risen while others have sunk to new lows. Historians some day will say everyone had to decide for themselves how low would they go. To what depths would they sink . What about you . If accusing people of murder isnt too low, what is . The balancing act for the press is we have to document leadership failures in the face of a crisis. We have to be very clear about it. But not lower ourselves and fail the audience. On that front you should hold us accountable. With me now is the chairman of the renewed democracy initiative, author and former world chess champion, Garry Kasparov. Garry, this threeyear long situation where the president says something new and outrageous every day. You predicted this. You said there would be a crisis every day. Are there more or fewer crises than you expected . Um, no more no less. Its exactly as i expected. Thats the way for out tro caau deal with the crisis, come up with a new crisis and forget the previous one. Thats why i said crisis almost every week. The problem trump is dealing with now, is that covid19 is too big to distract. Thats why hes getting crazier and crazier. So you think tweets like i think we might have lost that signal. Well try to get garry back. The idea that when the president is tweeting about joe scarborough, accusing him of murder because the anchor criticizes him, thats a reaction to the virus is very interesting. I dont think we have garry back. Well take a quick break, well receipt with ed yong and jennifer senior and many more guests. Well be right back. These days, its anything but business as usual. Thats why working together is more important than ever. At t is committed to keeping you connected. So you can keep your patients cared for. Your customers served. Your students inspired. And your employees closer than ever. Our network is resilient. Our people are strong. Our job is to keep your business connected. Its what weve always done. Its what well always do. Hold on one second. Sure. Okay. Okay safe drivers save 40 guys guys check it out. Safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 thats safe drivers save 40 . It is, thats safe drivers save 40 . Hes right there. Its him hes here. Hes right here. Hi hi. Hey thats totally him. Its him thats totally the guy. Safe drivers do save 40 . Click or call for a quote today. However, there is one thing you can be certain of. The men and women of the United States postal service. Were here to deliver cards and packages from loved ones and also deliver the peace of mind of knowing that essentials like prescriptions are on their way. Every day, all across america, we deliver for you. And we always will. I have moderate to severe pnow, theres skyrizi. Things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free to bare my skin yeah thats all me. Nothing and me go hand in hand nothing on my skin thats my new plan. Nothing is everything. Keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months. Of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. And skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. I see nothing in a different way and its my moment so i just gotta say nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. Nothing is everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. Were back on reliable sources after a little technical gremlin before the break. And Garry Kasparov is back with me. We were talking about the president s strategies in the face of this ongoing pandemic. Garry you wrote on twitter this week that the president is lowering the moral bar for all, for everyone. Can you tell me more about that . Yeah again, its typical. Im bad but everybody is bad. Were all bad. So why did all of a sudden is this corruption in ukraine to cover trumps corruption. The obama is incompetent to cover trumps incompetence. Its all about destruction, l e lowering moral bars, its been working for a while, but now hes dealing with a virus that wont go away. He cannot block the virus. Thats why i think things could get worse because if crazy tweets do not work, crazy action also follow. His warnings about the election, about mailin ballots being rigged, all of this nonsense that runs counter to the facts. It will be a very long six months between now and november if hes going to try to delegitimatize the election ahead of time. I predict he will. If the numbers are not looking good for him, so far its not working the way he expected, he will be getting crazier and crazier. Thats why i think this election will be very unorthodox. So we should expect the worse, dealing with people like trump you should prepare for the worse. If it can happen, work as if it has happened. Let me ask you about his treatment of pro trump media. He seemed to give up the game a few days ago tweeting out to the world about fox news saying contrary to what you think, fox news is not helping me win reelection and then criticized some of the democratic guests and anchors on fox. He is always name calling. But this idea hes saying, hey, i think fox news is in my camp, theyre just not doing a good enough job. Its saying the quiet part out loud, isnt it . Yes, but hes getting more and more desperate. His typical tactic is no longer working. He couldnt block the virus [ no audio ] doing a good job. Its all about its all about, you know, having all the power and no responsibility. Garry, thank you very much for being here. Great to see you. Apologize for the technical challenges in between. Follow garry on twitter. I want to show you one more thing from the White House Press briefing that took place the other day. This was absolutely sinful. This was White House Press secretary, keyleigh mcenany, trying to deflect reporters questions about safety by suggesting reporters dont care about religion. They dont want to go to church. They dont care about worshipping. Thats why they were questioning or challenging the president s comments about opening up the churches. Lets watch what she said. Boy, its interesting to be in a room that desperately wants to seem to see these churches and houses of worship closed. I object to that. I go to church. Im dying to go back to church. The question that were asking you and would like to have asked the president and dr. Birx is, is it safe . Thank you, jeff mason for saying what so many were thinking in that moment. As for keyleigh mcenany, if shes going to stay in this job and have any respect from the press corps she cant question faith of the people she works with. Lets turn to some front pages and Television News segments now about memorial day weekend and about this pandemic. Some front pages are featuring beachgoers, while at the same time others are carrying warnings like this one. A hospital official saying the covid19 crisis is far from over. These are the tensions and contradictions of this memorial day weekend. You have fda commissioner steven hahn tweeting a reminder that the virus is not yet contained. He says social distancing, hand washing and Wearing Masks protects us all. He says that on twitter but his president does what his boss does, President Trump, doesnt match that covering. Do the boardwalk scenes and beach scenes represent whats really happening or are these outliers . Theres a lot to be praised about how people adapted to this crisis. We see 2k3wgatherings in cars, socially distanced graduation ceremonies. Drivein cinemas opening up instead of regular theaters. Americans and people around the world are proving to be adaptable in the midst of this pandemic. Lets make sure the camera is on that as well. Lets discuss this with staff writer from the Atlantic Ed Yong out about a big story on the patchwork pandemic, and New York Times columnist jennifer senior is here as well. Ed, you said this is a patchwork pandemic. Can you describe what that means . Different parts of the u. S. Are experiencing this pandemic in many different ways. In some places like new york famously the visrus struck hard and it is waning, but in other places the virus is just taking off. So people are getting are differing experience. Some people are staying home, others are flocking to the outdoors again. We need to be mindful of that when we think about the coverage of the virus. Americans are actually strangely united in their attitudes and their behaviors. Opinion polls and other surveys have shown that upwards of 70 of people support measures like distancing, mask wearing, you cant get 17 of americans to agree on anything but a lot of them are agreeing on this. That stands in stark contrast to the views of people to breaking Public Health advice, going out and being incautious. That is contributing to a different view of a different understanding of the pandemic. It seems like my neighbors are going to the beach. Maybe i should go to the beach. Youre saying these scenes on television this weekend are the exception, not the rule. I think that they are its obvious why theyre being covered. Its much more compelling to show someone flocking out in a public space than to show me sitting at home and following guidelines. Yet the latter is probably more reflective of what most americaamerican s are doing. That discrepancy of what is the majority and what is more telegenic is a problem. Ill do this for 15 seconds. Ill be part of the problem. Heres a viral social media video from the ozarks, from missouri. All of these partygoers, playing in the pool. I seen this spreading on twitter this weekend with the differing reactions to these scenes. Obviously theyre not abiding by what Health Officials are saying. But these videos will circulate, ed. I guess its incumbent on everyone on twitter and social media and tv newsrooms to keep it in perspective, not overreact to it . Is that fair . Yeah, thats right. I think providing the context thats necessary to interpret all of this breaking stuff will be crucially important, not just now but as we go on to further months of this pandemic. This problem is not just going to be over by memorial day. It will be with us for much of the rest of the year. And i think we need to adapt our practices to dealing with the crisis that is persistent and lingering and patchworked. Jennifer senior, youve been writing about the president and his handling of this patchwork pandemic. I wonder what you make of maskgate, these sorts of moments where he runs contrary to Public Health officials recommendations. What do i make of it . I mean, i think on some level its a its a sign of the fact that trump this compromises the kind of image he wants to project. He wants to show strength. He sees this on some level it seems to be slightly emasculating to wear a mask, he likes how he looks resolute at his desk. Theres a strange part of trump that doesnt quite believe things he cant see. His whole attitude towards this has been one since the beginning has been slightly p z puzzling to me. He will say, well, if it becomes a problem well deal with it. The second something visibly becomes a problem its too late to deal with it. So any prophylactic measure to him doesnt compute in a weird way. Interesting. Really interesting. Yeah. And i think that generally this is a larger obstacle when we look at the media coverage. Ed was just talking about exactly this idea. Weve been hammered from the beginning by what we can see and cant see in general in this pandemic. Its easy to cover a group of people protesting outside a state house or partying on the beach, its until jenuntelegenih me making pancakes to s ts for and not going out. In hospitals youre using valuable ppe because youre running afoul of privacy laws, so youre not getting the measure of how dire it is, and what the death and scale of suffering looks like, which is happening inside homes that you cant see. Trump is sort of walking out naked it all seems part of this strange cognitive inability of ours to go with what we can see rather than what we cant. The harms are not registering. A month ago, you were in praise of pessimism. Are you still pessimistic today . Yeah. I was youre use, because i want to ask ed the same question. Ed as a science writer, youre studying this every day, where are you on the optimism pessimism scale . I think the facts of the matter force us to be pessimistic. I think thats a matter of political will. Its a question of whether our leaders can rise to the challenge. As i wrote in the patchwork pandemic, a lot of local leaders are doing their best and doing a good job. Thats not evenly distributed. It requires federal coordination. Im not optimistic well get it. But like if you want me to Say Something optimistic about this, this is not some really super weird impossible to deal with disease. Weve seen measures that work in different places. They are the standard Public Health repertoire that people have been dealing with for over a century. Testing, tracing, isolating. Its not rocket science. And social interventions that can do a lot of good. Paid sick leave. Hazard pay. All of these things can make a huge difference to our ability to fight the virus. We just need to get our act together and ramp these things up. The end game shouldnt be impossible. Pessimism stems from fake and whether our political system can rise to the challenge adequately. Ed yong, jennifer senior, thank you both very much. Quick plug for our nightly news letter. You can find their work and so much more if you sign up at cnn. It reliable. Coming up next on reliable sources, why the old adage about crossing your ts and dotting your is is so important. And why New York Times media columnist ben smith is questioning ronan farrows reporting. Here from ben smith in a moment. [ engines revving ] its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. If you have a garden you know, weeds are low down little scoundrels. With roundup sure shot wand you dont need to stoop to their level. Draw the line. The sure shot wand extends with a protective shield to pinpoint those pesky bedfellows. It lets you kill whats bad right down to the root, while comfortably guarding the good. Draw the line with the roundup sure shot wand. Roundup brand. Trusted for over 40 years. 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