Trump Snaps at Asian American Reporter, Storms Out of Briefing | NowThis

NowThis News

May 12, 2020
‘Don’t ask me, ask China’ — Trump snapped at an Asian American reporter before storming out of a press conference.
In US news and current events today, President Trump stormed out of this coronavirus press conference after a reporter asked about his claims that the ‘U.S. is doing better than other countries.’ Watch the exchange between Trump and the press here.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, explained

Vox

May 12, 2020

Where Dr. Fauci came from — and the crisis that shaped his career.

Correction: At 4:28, a previous version of this video read “Federal Drug Administration.” It should read “Food and Drug Administration.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci has become one of the most recognizable faces of the United States’ coronavirus response, as a member of the Coronavirus Task Force and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But it was an earlier crisis that shaped his career — and that’s crucial to understand his position today.

As the above video shows, Dr. Fauci’s involvement in the AIDS crisis, from the virus’s discovery to the present day, has affected the course of his career and the way the disease is treated around the world. That history, in turn, informs how we learn about and treat the coronavirus today.

In addition to scientific progress, AIDS also necessitated bureaucratic changes in the government response to the disease. By negotiating these challenges, Dr. Fauci secured his place in the public health system and changed how AIDS was treated.

Further Reading:

ACT UP’s historical archive (https://actupny.org/documents/nyplPR….) or one of Dr. Fauci’s early lectures on AIDs https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catal….

However, these books provide particularly useful context on a complex story.
Against the Odds: The Story of of AIDS Drug Development, Politics, and Profits by Peter Arno and Karyn Feiden https://archive.org/details/againstod…

This book provides an exhaustive tour of the AIDS crisis from a drug research perspective, with extensive coverage of the NIH and FDA. Big Shot: Passion, Politics, and the Struggle for an AIDS Vaccine by Patricia Thomas https://archive.org/details/bigshotpa…

This book extends beyond the 1980s period covered in this video to explore the long search for an AIDS vaccine.
It’s highly useful as a history of pharmaceutical and government efforts. How to Survive a Plague by David France https://www.google.com/books/edition/…

This book, and the documentary of the same name, describe the activist history of the crisis with plenty of research into the government response. AIDS at 30: A History by Victoria Harden and Anthony A. Fauci https://www.google.com/books/edition/…

Written by a former NIH history director and Dr. Fauci, this is something like an “official” history of the AIDs crisis, from the beginning to the book’s 2012 publication date.

Billion Oyster Project Aims to Restore NY Harbor Reefs | NowThis

NowThis News

May 12, 2020

Meet the conservationists fighting to restore the oyster reefs in New York’s harbor.

In US news and current events today, conservationists are restoring oyster reefs in New York Harbor in hopes of bringing New Yorkers closer to nature. Billion Oyster Project is an initiative to bring back the oysters that once thrived in large numbers in NY Harbor. Like many organizations the project had to shift to remote work due to stay-at-home orders but we were still able to speak to the project’s co-founder about how long the organization has engaged thousands of students and volunteers to rebuild a lost habitat within an important natural resource.

Trump lawyer argues for ‘temporary immunity’. Will it work?

CNN

May 12, 2020

President Donald Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow made the case for “temporary presidential immunity” before the Supreme Court justices as the Trump administration tries to prevent the president’s financial records from being subpoened. CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin and Elie Honig give their predictions on how the case might turn out.

Los New Yorkers: Essential, Underprotected Undocumented Immigrants Struggle to Survive in Epicenter

Democracy Now!

May 12, 2020

As the coronavirus continues to devastate New York City communities, we hear the voices of undocumented New Yorkers about how they are surviving the pandemic. Their stories are told in a new ProPublica story headlined “Los New Yorkers: Essential and Underprotected in the Pandemic’s Epicenter.” We speak with one of the story’s reporters, Adriana Gallardo.

The Community-led Movement for Forests, Climate and Justice in the Southern US

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
May 12, 2020

Holly Paar Across the South in the United States, frontline communities facing the devastation wrought by industrial logging are leading a movement calling for the protection of forests. Hit hardest by the effects of increasingly intense storms and flooding as well as facing threats of pollution, communities along the coastal plains of the Carolinas, as well as the Gulf states are uniting in a call for climate justice and economic solutions. They are challenging the status quo of what equates to a century of landscape-level industrial extraction of one of the South’s most important resources and means of climate protection: its forests.

Fauci warns of more virus outbreaks if states reopen too quickly

CBS News

May 12, 2020

Four of the Trump administration’s top medical experts testified about the U.S. response to the coronavirus before the Senate HELP committee Tuesday. CBS News political correspondent Ed O’Keefe and Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason join CBSN’s Elaine Quijano to recap the hearing.