Made there is a he had a mild cough and some nasal congestion fatigue all of which are now resolving an improving support a note the president s been fever free for over 24 hours we remain cautiously optimistic but hes doing great. Indias spiralling corona Virus Outbreak has now killed more than 100000 people thats nearly 10 percent of global deaths from the disease in syria the 3rd country to record that number after the United States and brazil the virus hit india harder than any other country in september recording the highest daily number of infections and fatalities in the world from his dinner and to modis government has been criticized for its handling of the virus and the effect on the economy which has left millions jobless. Armenia says it will use all necessary means to protect Ethnic Armenians from attack by azerbaijan as both sides continue to battle each other in the disputed region of nagornokarabakh military leaders in the enclave say another 51. 00 of their soldiers have been killed the area is officially part of as about john but has been controlled by Ethnic Armenian forces since 994 israeli protesters have defined coronavirus restrictions to rally against the Prime Minister for the 15th straight week thousands of people staged protests in hundreds of places against Benjamin Netanyahu his handling of the pandemic and corruption charges which he denies they want him to step down while hes on trial on wednesday israel banned outdoor gatherings of meeting 20 people and part of her new lockdown measures to do so restricted people traveling more than one kilometer from their homes to protest. Theres the headlines to stay with us Aaron Rodgers there at the listening post is up next about with more news after that by phone or. New york times reporter alleging that the president had. This intent of the past 15 years just 750. 00 taxes 26. 00. Actually. Comes just weeks before an election one of the most important stories of the past 5 years. Hello im Richard Ginsberg 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 i. Mentally 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 a history of tax avoidance and have led times reporters to other stories that collectively undermine the image trump has crafted primarily through the media of a successful business mogul. Because 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 stories 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 were as high as americas ever had let me just by 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 a transcription of it that they would look like would you show as a leader who isnt just. An agenda you know last hard to get any word in with this clown mr brightside every single one of them knows this is not about as i. 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. 00 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 figure that was going to be the one that cable news and 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 you know 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 and 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 no stock after 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 him. Reality and then lost it again. Created his Television Show with mark burnett on n. B. C. And thats what saved him financially according to the New York Times report so 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 rupert 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 heals 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 and honest and b. C. Its also true for 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 is 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 this to 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 normalized to try 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 moolah members of normal administrations right dont ask me 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 do journalists have come to rely on of grainy 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 both. 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 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 wrong. And it broke out. Over storm. 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. But 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 fic 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 of the listening post 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 constant stop storylines designed to tug at the heart to refuse service in the 2020 president ial elections trump versus biden some political ads have departed from the format would trump. More rich dad produces a take a little bit and be less mature like a lifelong republican lifelong republican at least i was told from people. Its been that some of the most talked about anti trump approach biden on to 58 hit with the Biden Campaign believing the democrats are a tool. 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 republican elected over the years we will throw you on your failed cronies out of office the choice america. Troll 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 your 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 weve heard coming from the campaign and you used to get applause now get ready to hear. Your side really kind of pushing the 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 supported this the by persuading enough dissolutions republicans and undecided voters to back joe biden 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 theyre 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 youve got a loyalty problem to proctor in your campaign or in your campaign your white house right now asking congress. Even your own family but the ad 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 Lincoln Project 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 and killed by the policy matters we did donald trump as a much greater risk factor for the future of