Civilians these pictures as said to be the city of step on a hot weather been a regular explosions ben smith was there earlier hes now moved into armenia and sent this update from gold us this has been a very difficult day for the people to panic at the main city and they go on a tower about air raid sirens wailing throughout sunday morning the afternoon whilst we were there was a power of incoming missiles the targets seems to be mainly infrastructure in stop. And electricity substation that we were near to was one of the targets was hit or temps were made to hit it early in the morning. France has deployed the military to search for at least 8 people missing after devastating floods almost a years worth of rain fell in 12 hours around the city of nice cars in the villages washing away roads and houses 2 of those missing are firefighters whose vehicle was carried away by water when the road collapsed to during the rescue operation rescuers are also looking for a number of people in neighboring northwestern italy. Polls have closed in kurdistans parliamentary election which has been soured by widespread allegations of vote buying competitive democratic elections are rare in the region which is mostly made up of authoritarian states but stand as constitutional protections meaning no one party can take more than 65 of the 120 seats under the government protests have broken out again in the belorussian Capitol Police used water cannon to disperse the crowds in minsk there demanding the release of political protesters the president s resignation and new elections those are the headlines coming up next on aljazeera its the listening post good buy. With every. New york times report alleging that the president has done. This in 10 of the past 15 years just 750. 00 taxes 26. 00 traffic actually. Its just weeks before an election one of the most important stories of the past 5 years. Hello im Richard Gilbert and youre watching the listening post working from home here are some of the media stories were covering this week were taking an extended look at the u. S. President ial election where Investigative Journalism has done a number on President Trump according to the New York Times the emperor has no clothes and pays very little in taxes i think. The fact republicans and the attack ads theyre putting out the target their own candidate its so 2020 and life accordion to trumps. Medley of melodious sound bites. Donald trump has survived one bombshell news report after another leaks revelations and scandals that would have sunk any other president last week the New York Times dropped a story that may prove to be the last straw 2 days before the 1st televised debate of this years president ial campaign the times revealed it had acquired years worth of trumps tax returns which the president had tried to hide from public view the returns show i his story of tax avoidance and have led times reporters to other stories that collectively undermined the image trump has crafted primarily through the media of a successful business mogul and big. Of huge debts that will soon come due the documents show the u. S. President could even be vulnerable to blackmail Donald Trumps denials and his on hand just chaotic performance at this weeks debate did nothing to suggest that this story is going away anytime soon our starting point this week is the website of the New York Times. This was a news story and old School Blockbuster that was 6 years in the making thats how long american journalists have been chasing dong trumps tax returns and the stories those documents would reveal the New York Times was as meticulous in timing the storys release as it was in its preparation dropping it on a slow news sunday just 48 hours before the 1st t. V. Debate of the 2020 president ial Election Campaign you were a senator and the worst president in america has ever had let me just say probably the biggest political story of the year and you will see some people speculating that this of course is why donald trump. I cant imagine what a transcription of that they were look like but you sure as a resident who isnt just. In atlanta you know last tar to get any word in with this clown mr brightside every single one of them knows this is not about president. Lets continue one. In a debate that lasted 90 minutes just 3 minutes were spent on Donald Trumps taxes as laid bare by the New York Times the times reporting team could have led with the fact that the president s core businesses such as his hotels and golf courses lose millions if not tens of millions of dollars year after year the trump is being investigated over a 72000000. 00 tax refund he claimed and that losing that case could cost him 100000000. 00 the trump also has hundreds of millions of dollars in loans that will come due in the next few years during a possible 2nd term but instead of starting with those big money angles the times chose to lead with 2 paragraphs focusing on a much smaller figure 750. 00 the amount according to the paper that trump paid in federal income taxes in 2016. 70. So beginning with that 750 dollar number was very very relatable really strikes to the heart not just working people who are groaning under the burden of all kinds of taxes so this is trumps dates they care about taxes and that really is at the heart of journalism isnt telling stories to allow citizens to understand extremely complex things the times lead with a 750. 00 figure because thats whats going to grab people because they figured that was going to be the one that cable news had the internet and twitter would jump on and they were right its by far and away not the most important part of the story the most important part of the story are a its National Security implications for the United States from being in hock to who knows who and b. The enormous amount of. Potential criminal activity committed by the president wasnt crazy long like it was really pretty readable for a story about taxes and then there was immediately an analytic speech that said you know this these are the takeaway so you can really understand what it is and that was really really well done and then the next day they had another piece about it the branding and how really trump has only ever made money when he sold. Which i thought was smart. The times is reporting contests and may have demolished the narrative that helped donald trump get to the white house in the 1st place the one that presented him as a savvy new york businessman who just dabbled in reality t. V. On the side and made it all fashion way in real estate and i met a lot of money doing everything i did i made a lot of money with the apprentice i made a lot of money in real estate i made a lot of money everything i did ive had great success. The times reports trumps tax returns show that from 2004 to 2015 the period he front of the apprentice on n. B. C. The program was trumps primary source of income and helped keep his other struggling businesses afloat. Its been great and you know became the number one show on television as the paper put it mr trumps genius it turned out wasnt running a company it was making himself famous trump scale famous and monetizing that fame but by 2011 the shows ratings were in decline and trumps earnings nosedived he finally left the apprentice in 2015 when he ran for president helped along the way by media execs of different stripes and backgrounds ladies and gentleman he basically lost the fortune his father gave him regained it when jeff zucker and then of n. B. C. Hired a. Reality and then lost it again. Created his caliban show with mark burnett on n. B. C. And thats what saved him financially according to the New York Times report hes lost as much money as anyone has ever heard of there are 2 people responsible for the rise of donald mark burnett who is the guy who created the apprentice who convinced the world that down trump was a brilliant business and then theres. Who made donald trump president right and kept. Him from being removed when he was impeached and terrified all the republicans and kept them in line if you had those 2 people there would be no down and his pitch particularly 4 years ago was that he was going to use this feels and ingenuity he had learned on the streets of new york to change the country obviously now is that he has no no skills that is so hes been able to obscure by keeping the after 47. 00 and now thats out in the open for the 1st time. But many trump voters who have seen this president repeatedly play the fake news card total fake news no actually paid tax but simply wont buy what the New York Times is selling the media bubble they have happened to features the likes of fox news one American News and newsmax where the pushback on this story has been strangely muted even those outlets with their legions of trump backing pundits can see when investigative reporters have got the goods whats extraordinary about New York Times story is it actually goes back to a really kind of Old School Journalism that is more and more remarkable in again age when the line between punditry and journalism has collapsed we see this as extreme on Something Like class news but its also true that imus and b. C. Its also true of c. N. N. And that news has become a form of entertainment partly dovetails with trumps reconfiguration of the presidency as a form of entertainment i love this guy right here and so by telling encrypting story about president ial corruption in a way people can understand it is real reporting its not entertainment Investigative Journalism is very expensive and it doesnt pay the bills and if journalism is looked at surely as a profitable. Business then. You get rid of. The glory of american journalism has been upheld the Investigative Journalism was about to present and the shame of it has been with the white house for the people who just retreat the tweets and talk about the lions without pointing out their lies and just treat that story as if its a broadway show those are the people who are normally control and devaluing truth itself i think the White House Press corps and possible situation right and it comes back to this idea like how does a free press exist and you know tom stay right these are people who went to Columbia Journalism School theyre used to interviewing more moola members of normal administrations right dont ask really has china that question ok so i dont know that its fair to say they werent able to adapt quickly i dont know how you adapt so quickly to Something Like that right its like from going from cricket to progress or. Whatever the game is these days and whether or not this story makes a difference with the president s supporters even they would have to admit this about the New York Times its coverage of his tax returns for fake news its pretty good. Were stepping away from the us media story briefly with johanna who is to look at the flare up in nagornokarabakh an area that armenia and azerbaijan have been contesting for decades so lets start with some of the on the ground realities affecting the News Coverage whats the lay of the land there well richard number no car but is a very isolated mountainous region in the south caucasus which technically lies within azerbaijan but has been run by Ethnic Armenians who are the majority there and who are backed by the armenian government since 1904 now the remote location in addition to depend demick makes that. Its really difficult for news organizations to get crews on the ground which is why during this have come to rely on of grey need drone footage or information released by officials on both sides for their reporting and what have they been able to conclude from that well the narratives have been conflicting azerbaijan has long accused its neighbor of occupying the area where is armenia says that azerbaijan is trying to escalate the conflict by involving its regional ally turkey now there is another key player here russia boys. And armenia are former soviet republics and they know that moscows backing could make all the difference which is why this past week armenian Prime Minister unequal plushy nian and azerbaijani president ilham aliyev both dialed into one which is russias state owned channel to pitch their case to the russian people and the kremlin. To us and that is a result that you. See for yourself. Azerbaijan. Sure over a new bus that is in that city. Presumably president putin was tuning in so thats the messaging for the outside world but what about domestic audiences how was the story being reported back home well there have been a lot of the tricks on the airwaves on armenian state t. V. Anchors were very tearful. Of course not. All the time going over september. I mean thats about the present. Moment. Whereas on the azerbaijani side news readers have been doing a lot of gloating beza toward. The north so if you are looking for a sober analysis of this crisis it is probably better to look elsewhere ok thanks joe. Back to the us now where the airwaves are growing 50 with political ads all kinds of them high pads whole pads along with angry ads and scare ads and not all of them have been approved by donald trump or joe biden among the 3rd parties involved this year are 2 breakaway republican groups blitzing online spaces with commercials aimed at defeating the republican candidate donald trump the people behind the Lincoln Project and Republican Voters against trump have come to the conclusion one that other republicans still resist that another 4 years of President Trump would be bad for america and theyve produced some ads aimed at swing voters that cut through the clutter and rack up the views the listening posts flow phillips now on some not so friendly fire on the republican side of this election and the impact it may have come november. This is predictability time for me to the american political and i know the history in the heart of this country theres not a single. Weve never failed to do when we decided to do it together the music the constant stop storylines designed to tug at the heart the refused to serve in the 2020 president ial elections trump says biden some political ads had departed from the format with from. The ad produces a take a little bit and. Then later on we thought ok lifelong republican at least i was told from came a picture its been that some of the most talked about anti trump approach biden just 58 hit with the Biden Campaign only from the democrats to buy a toy. There so the 2 groups the Lincoln Project and Republican Voters against trump their start. By a group of people who are very heated and and have gotten a lot of republicans elected over the years we will throw you on your failed cronies out of office the choice murder. Trial this is one of the most organized efforts of people from one party trying to oust a president of their own party that weve really seen in the ads dont really hold very many punches we know its different now youre tired its hard to keep your reading this up so the messaging weve seen is a lot more aggressive than what we heard coming from the campaign and you used to get applause now get ready to hear. Your side to really kind of pushing a boundary of mainstream political discourse and i think that excites a lot of democrats and of. The Lincoln Project bust on to the american political scene last december on the eve of this election founded by a group of prominent republicans and has quoted in utah the group has made its Mission Clear to quote defeat trump and trump is not by trying to shake trump support to this the by persuading enough dissolutions republicans and undecided voters to back joe by. The Lincoln Project has a dedicated aami of staff and volunteers churning out. Some of them quite ruthless like this one on Donald Trumps health were not doctors were not blind its time we talk about this trial is not. And then there was this playing on trumps paranoia about disloyal members of his own administration because he got a loyalty problem proctoring your campaign or. Your white house right now asking congress to pass even your own family the family but there that really caught the attention of trump himself was this one and under the leadership of the. Donald trump our countrys weaker and sicker and. If we have another 4 years like this will there even be. Trump went on a midnight twitter rant attacking the links and projects we are not people who are posh we are not people who who get up in the morning think oh i wonder if im going to offend someone so we dont hear there is a policy objective to trolling donald trump little horseshit campaign to change their advertising to change their message to change their strategy were able to get as donald trump obsessed youve talked about every day tweeted about us over and over no matter what our disagreements with your biden might be policy matters we do donald trump as a much greater risk factor for the future of this nation and use a lot of terror tactics dramatic music frightening in the journey and they tell a story of trying not just to someone they disagree with but as somebody who is so incompetent and so dangerous that theres almost a moral imperative to remove him from office and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to 0 close to 0 close to 0 and an intimate hell of an age 3rd of that audience because burdened unscientific study that showed a conservative respond to your anxiety or that liberal and he absolutely got that they got burns tens of thousands dying for his incompetence while Lincoln Project did in scans and sell cats one republican voted against trump takes a different approach relying on voices from inside the trumpet ministration i have been a republican for my entire life i am voting for joe biden because at this point its country over party these are people with real conservative credentials either and long time Republican Voters or sometimes former Administration Official and if theyre a fair thing look im a conservative and i cant vote the trunk this time it might give a conservative you are permission to do the same thing. To save them i devoted to trying because i was willing to set aside rhetoric and go with the policies that i thought im the kind of some note this time im doing Something Different weve had enough already forgotten trot its going to be monumental mistake ill take anybody over im very critical find that theyre focused in on a very fine a group of voters and even changing a few of them could really have a transformative effect you know we saw in 2016 you see redistribute about 75000 votes throughout a few states and Hillary Clinton would have been president the same thing could be true this time so the ambition of groups like this is not we need to change a 1000000 votes or 5000000 votes its we need to change a few 1000 here and there and that may be enough. B. S. From the Lincoln Project and Republican Voters against trump have racked up countless music. And by the by can campaign has spent. 17000000. 00 are we going to be a digital outs these republican projects are being played out on t. V. News for free they are doing her sit down strong i mean Democratic Group here is tom my latest effort. Theres a reason for this kind of Media Attention and success and it has to do with a behind these outfits Republican Voters against trumps founding director is bill kristol who worked for both the reagan and george w. Bush administrations the Lincoln Project is the brainchild of g. O. P. Insiders and spin doctors including Steve Schmidt who worked for the rabble rousing Vice President ial candidate sarah palin in 2008 and rick wilson a 30 Year Campaign veteran the cofounders have a combined 200 year is helping elect republicans i think that what some of these figures are trying to accomplish is a kind of absolution i think of the. There are deep roots for what were seeing in the trump president say. Within republican politics and frankly people who are involved willing to project and involved republican voted against there are some culpability for that take what happened in 2008 for instance you had the rise of sarah palin who really represented in the 1st figures this past decade represent this kind of know nothing populism shes a pioneer of this kind of discourse and one of the people most responsible for her rise is obviously Steve Schmidt now one of the cofounders of the winter project i think the iraq war was a big predecessor for trampas and one of the people you know it was a supporter of the iraq war is bill kristol whos one of the lead figures in Republican Voters going strong were not here to rehash ideology were going to rehash the past what i did already gave whether or not the iraq war was right wrong or indifferent or whether or not we disagree or agree on any particular policy thing every minute there wasting time going to getting about what the Republican Party is or was or could have been or what our role in any given part of it was my question is what the hell are you doing going to work go well itll be donald trump. My brother but the campaign heading into the homestretch the. Only intensifying he put to use a member of congress is notable for its exotic the rich the trump is typically a ruddy orange color not based on the president of the alliance that has democrats and some of the publicans working towards the same goal churning out b. S. Like a true fleeting because politics as they say makes strange bedfellows relationships dont last but if joe biden wins the presidency input or some other congress is considered endangered this november this on like the coalition may prove memorable. And finally back to donald trump we need to talk about his hands not the size issue its the way he uses them. When he speaks body language specialists say the trumps use of gestures is one part emphasis and one part distraction from the facts given the circus that is the Trump Presidency and australian videographer named Hugh Parkinson thought it would be appropriate to take some of trumps soundbites and then add a Musical Instrument to the mix to make the point that viewers can see that they too are being played with apologies for the title life accordion to trump well see you next time here at the listening post you fight so hard to see you fight. And now only 2 years thank short period of time you start campaigning here and now look youve got to go and fight. For this one im fighting very hard for Border Security so forth and ive already started building a wall weve built large sections and were fixing up a lot of other sectors that are a mess the radical left can never control our borders i was limited because of that you know i can. See there. Security were talking about were talking about games but you ever see id like to put. A team is holy team sport they cant work. They cant do anything. Now i really want to. Thank god it just. Please thank you mr president going back to the russia investigation. Corruption. Invisible behind a wall of silence. Corruption is not something people be told that there. Is a. Country his. Lets destroy this wall. In 2020 the free space encourages the heroes who are fighting against corruption. Communities to save the resources that we need in order to address the burning problems that affect us all. Shine a light on your Anti Corruption hero. Nominate now. Frank assessments if American Public opinion is betrayed by social media. Would be this because if you believe that there are corrosive to our democracy one obvious solution is to break them up informed opinion. Anyway the protesters arent going anywhere either its a revolution. Indepth analysis of the days global headlines who is it thats really out there on the street inside story on aljazeera. Soon as the sun goes down. Russia is a very challenging place to work. Even though the authorities here say you cant do it its not allowed to build always. Proud of this conflict must always wonder love people are being taken for peacefully my dear put the kids in fact we are traveling the extra mile we oughta media go we go there and we give them a chance to tell their story. This is aljazeera. Hello there im nick lalich this is the news hour live from coming up in the next 60 minutes were going to be his coronavirus or whatever you want to call it and were going to beat it soundly a critical few days ahead for u. S. President donald trump amid conflicting information about his fight against cave 19. Cities under fire media and azerbaijan accuse each other of targeting civilians in the fight from the going to clarify. Polls have closed