REPORTS OF WHAT WE WOULD COME TO
KNOW AT HIV AND AIDS.
BUT I ALSO SAY IT BECAUSE
REPUBLICANS AND THE FORMER
PRESIDENT AND PARTICULARLY
CONSERVATIVE MEDIA, THEY HAVE
APPARENTLY DECIDED AGAIN THAT
THEY HAVE SOME GREAT TARGET IN
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI.
I THINK THAT IS A BAD CHOICE, IN
PART BECAUSE IM NOT SURE
ANYBODY CAN FOLLOW EXACTLY WHAT
IT IS THEY THINK HES DONE SO
WRONG.
ANYBODY OUTSIDE THEIR ECHO
CHAMBER, CERTAINLY.
BUT ALSO BECAUSE HE KNOWS HOW TO
HANDLE HIMSELF.
I WILL ALSO POINT OUT, THOUGH,
THAT ASIDE FROM HIM, THIS IS A
WEIRD EVOLUTION FOR US.
THIS IS A WEIRD EVOLUTION FOR
OUR COUNTRY OVER THESE 40 YEARS.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI MADE HIS BONES
AND GREW HIS THICK SKIN BEING
SCREAMED AT AND PROTESTED AND
DENOUNCED AND BURNED IN EFFIGY
AND THREATENED TO HIS FACE BY
PEOPLE WHO WERE DOING THAT
BECAUSE THEY WERE SICK AND
AFRAID OF DYING AND TRYING
DESPERATELY TO GET A CURE.
AND IN HIM, NO MATTER HOW MUCH
THEY ATTACKED HIM, WHAT THEY
ENDED UP WITH WAS AN ALLY AND A
DEVOTED, EXCELLENT RESEARCHER
AND SCIENTIST WHO KEPT HELPING,
WHO IN FACT INVITED THEM IN, WHO
KEPT WORKING AT IT, WHO DIDNT
GET THEM A CURE BUT GOT THEM
DAMN CLOSE.
IN CONTRAST, THE BRICK BATS HE
IS ENDURING TODAY, THE PEOPLE
ATTACKING HIM NOW APPEAR TO BE
MAD AT HIM FOR THE FACT THAT
THERES AN EPIDEMIC AT ALL,
APPEAR TO BE MAD AT HIM FOR
HAVING TRUSTED EXPERTISE.
THEY APPEAR TO BE MAD AND
DESPERATE TO UNDERMINE THE FACT
THAT AMERICANS TRUST HIM TO TELL
THE TRUTH AND TO DO THE WORK OF
STOPPING EPIDEMICS.
AND FINDING CURES.
HES STILL THE SAME SCIENTIST.
WATER ONES WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH
A VERY WEIRD EVOLUTION HERE.
JOINING US NOW FOR THE INTERVIEW
IS DR. ANTHONY FAUCI.
SINCE 1984, HE HAS LED THE
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY
AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT THE
NIH.
DR. FAUCI, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR
BEING HERE.
>> GOOD TO BE WITH YOU, RACHEL,
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR HAVING
ME.
>> FIRST OF ALL, LET ME JUST ASK
IF IM BEING FAIR.
AM I BUILDING YOU UP TO BE
THICKER SKINNED ABOUT THIS THAN
YOU ARE?
ARE YOU ACTUALLY WORRIED ABOUT
THIS NEW SORT OF RE-UPPING OF
ATTACKS ON YOU?
>> WELL, IM CONCERNED ABOUT
THAT MORE BECAUSE ITS REALLY
VERY MUCH AN ATTACK ON SCIENCE,
I THINK, RACHEL.
YOU KNOW, YOU SPOKE, AND I THINK
ACCURATELY DEPICTED, THE GROWING
EXTRAORDINARILY PRODUCTIVE
RELATIONSHIP THAT I HAD WITH THE
ACTIVISTS WHEN THEY CAME TO ME
WITH LEGITIMATE CONCERNS THAT
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THE
SCIENTISTS, THE REGULATORY
ENTERPRISE, DIDNT FULLY
APPRECIATE THAT YOU NEEDED TO
INVOLVE THEM IN EVERYTHING YOU
DO, BECAUSE IT WAS THEIR LIVES
THAT WERE AT STAKE.
SO I DID REACH OUT TO THEM AND
IT TURNED OUT TO BE AN EXTREMELY PRODUCTIVE RELATIONSHIP.
PRODUCTIVE RELATIONSHIP.
THEY GOT MY ATTENTION IN A VERY
ICONOCLASTIC WAY.
THEY WERE FUNDAMENTALLY GOOD
PEOPLE.
THEY WERE NOT ANTISCIENCE.
THE THREAD GOING THROUGH WHATS
HAPPENING NOW IS VERY MUCH AN
ANTISCIENCE APPROACH.
THATS A BIG, BIG DIFFERENCE.
I MEAN, IT IS WHAT IT IS.
IM A PUBLIC FIGURE.
IM GOING TO TAKE THE ARROWS AND
THE SLINGS.
BUT THEYRE JUST -- THEYRE
FABRICATED, THATS JUST WHAT IT
IS.
BUT WELL JUST HAVE TO DO OUR
JOBS, RACHEL.
MY JOB WAS TO MAKE A VACCINE AND
USE MY INSTITUTED AND THE
TALENTED SCIENTISTS WE HAVE
THERE AND THAT WE FUND IN THE
VARIOUS UNIVERSITIES TO GET A
VACCINE THAT WAS HIGHLY SAFE AND
HIGHLY EFFECTIVE AND WE
SUCCEEDED.
THATS WHAT I DO.
ALL THE OTHER STUFF IS JUST A