Joe Biden is calling for
a full investigation into
the origins of the Coronavirus.
And he is of course,
referring to some plausibility
regarding the lab leak theory.
Now this story's been developing,
I've been holding off
because there are all sorts of
questionable actors at play.
However, it does appear that there
is some indication that a lab leak
in Wuhan, China is the origin of
the Coronavirus pandemic.
Now, let me be clear, it has not
been proven yet, but the previous
thought of it being literally
impossible was inaccurate.
Now, of course people also felt
that it was nothing more than
a conspiracy theory based on who it
was coming from.
Someone like Donald Trump who
most people, I think,
do feel a little sceptical about.
However, a report on the origins of
the COVID-19 virus by the US
government and
its national laboratory concluded
that the hypothesis claiming that
the virus leaked from a Chinese lab
in Wuhan Is in fact plausible and
deserves further investigation.
Which is why Biden is calling for
a full investigation into that.
Now the study was prepared in May
of 2020 by the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory in California.
And was drawn by
the State Department when
it conducted an inquiry into the
pandemic's origins during the final
months of the Trump administration.
So what makes this study important
is that it was done by a reputable
organization.
And so that's part of the reason
why Biden's taking it seriously.
That's the reason why the State
Department's taking it seriously.
And so I'm uncertain about whether
or not we're actually going to get
to the bottom of it.
But it is important to keep in mind
that this theory is plausible, and
if it is proven to be true, I think
that there are some pretty serious
consequences for our institutions
which are already dealing with,
honestly, a lack of trust among
voters and Americans in general.
>> Yeah, so
I'm really disturbed by this story.
So when Coronavirus first broke,
we found out there was a virus lab
in Wuhan.
The first thing I thought is well,
that's an awfully strange
coincidence.
So, virus naturally broke out
right next to a virus lab.
It could happen, but
probably the odds are against it.
But you know what,
I trust the scientists.
And so that is why I'm really
discouraged by a letter that Lancet
put out and
that's a very respected journal.
And I relied on that letter.
And look guys, there's fog of war,
not just war, but in many things
that happen quickly, where we
haven't gotten all the facts yet.
So sometimes there's an active
shooter, and people say,
he's a Christian terrorist,
he's a Muslim terrorist, he's this,
he's that, it's personal,
it's not personal.
And there's all sorts of
wild theories going out there
in the first 24, 48 hours, right?
I can give a 1,000 examples, etc.
And in this case, the science was
unsettled for so long because it
was a novel Coronavirus, right,
it's a novel virus.
And so we counseled you all
throughout, be careful with
the information that's coming out.
Let's listen to the scientists,
the collection of scientists.
But some things in science are very
well settled,
like climate change and gravity,
those are settled, right?
Now, there's the people who want to
manufacture doubt about them,
usually working at the oil
companies and
the people that fund that, right?
But there are things that are not
settled, where did Coronavirus come
from, etc.
So when Lancet put out a letter
from a collection of doctors saying
it is pretty much definitely
not man-made, I believe that.
That is why the erosion of trust in
these institutions is deeply
problematic.
It leads people to wild conspiracy
theories, when you find out
that some of the best
journals didn't do it right.
And so they should do a deep
investigation as
to who signed on to the idea that
it was definitely not man-made.
because now, we find out,
no- >> There's a possibility >> And
guys understand that
it's not settled today, right?
There's a lot more work to be done
on it, so we don't know for sure.
But now they've opened
up the possibility of oops,
it might be man-made.
That's a very large oops.
>> And the central issue here is
the type of research that some of
these scientists do in these labs.
It's known as gain of function.
And so I think that the scientists
who signed on to this Lancet letter
condemning anyone who called into
question whether this was
a lab leak was really fueled and
motivated by potentially their self
interest and a fear that the way
gain of function is funded,
that research is funded,
could become an issue, right?
So I do want to read you a few
excerpts from the letter that
the The Lancet had published on its
website early on in the pandemic,
again condemning anyone who
says that it was a lab leak.
And now it
turns out that there is some
possibility that it was a lab leak.
Again, it hasn't been proven,
I want to be clear about that.
But they wrote at The Lancet that,
the rapid open and transparent
sharing of data on this outbreak is
now being threatened by rumors and
misinformation around its origins.
We stand together to strongly
condemn conspiracy
theories suggesting that, COVID-19
does not have a natural origin.
And when they talk about natural
origin what they're referring to is
humans getting it from animals,
like eating bats, for instance.
That was one of the things that was
pretty prominent in the beginning
of the pandemic.
Now conspiracy theories,
they continue to write,
do nothing but create fear, rumors,
and prejudice that jeopardize our
global collaboration in the fight
against the virus.
We support the call from
the Director-General of the World
Health Organization to promote
scientific evidence and unity over
misinformation and conjecture.
One thing that I should note is
that a World Health Organization
Advisory Board Member,
his name is Jamie Metzl,
was disgusted by that statement by
the Lancet because he felt like
there was politics at play.
He explains that in a little more
detail in this clip.
Yes, it's on Fox News, but I think
what he says here is important.
Take a look.
>> The question is going forward,
what was the motivation?
Because apparently
that Lancet statement was organized
by Peter Daszak, the President of
EcoHealth that funneled the money
from the NIH to the lab and
he didn't want the gain of function
narrative getting legs.
>> Yeah, so there's a lot there.
Certainly many people, the small
number of people actually,
who were raising this issue in
early last year were labeled
conspiracy theorists.
>> Right.
>> I know because I was one
of them.
And yes, there were some people who
were called right-wing nuts, but
I'm not a right wing nut.
I'm actually a progressive
Democrat.
And so for me the question isn't,
is this a right wing or
left wing thing?
It's just let's look at the data.
>> Exactly.
>> And just be honest.
And you're absolutely right, that
Lancet letter published in February
of last year was an outrage.
Because without sufficient data,
the authors of that letter declare
that it's very, very likely
A natural origin and called anybody
like me who was raising possible
alternatives a conspiracy theorist.
And one of the reasons why
I've called for Richard Horton,
the editor in chief of the Lancet
to step down,
is because I feel that letter,
it was not data driven science.
It was scientific propaganda and
thuggery.
And Peter Daszak, you correctly
point out, manipulated that process
behind the scenes hiding the fact
that a number of the signatories
were on his payroll, and
in many other ways.
So that's why we need
data-driven science.
>> Yeah.
>> So I think he's he's right
there.
And look, this is the problem.
It's not just the right wingers who
don't trust our institutions.
People in general in America right
now don't trust our institutions.
They don't trust the CDC.
They don't trust our
corporate media.
They don't trust our politicians.
That's part of the reason why when
someone like Donald Trump utters
that it was a lab leak,
people like me, to be quite honest
with you, dismiss it.
Because he said all sorts of insane
things including injecting
disinfectant in order to fight
the virus if you contract it.
So this is the issue,
this problem is only going to be
exacerbated by this story.
Even if it's proven that it wasn't
a lab leak, I don't even think it
matters at this point.
The institutions in this country
have failed the American people.
I don't know what to believe.
When the story first broke Jake I
was like,
I don't know do I trust Biden?
Because Biden has all sorts of
warmongering rhetoric in regard to
China, is this part of that, right?
So it's hard to know who to
trust and who to believe, and
that's an issue in this country.
>> Yeah, look, in this case,
I'm glad Biden called for
an investigation.
I would not go any further
than that.
We are not in favor of necessarily
of sanctions or war or
any insanity, right?
No, no, no, please for God's sake,
everybody, do nuance, right?
So let's talk through it in this
particular case.
Fox News' 101 is to use so
called progressives to
attack progressives,
this is not one of those cases.
People that they use like that they
don't often refer to right wing
nuts on Fox News.
And I don't know if you could tell
but when he said that he was trying
to get him off of that,
tried to interrupt when he said
right wing nuts twice, right?
So this is a real scientist who was
right.
It appears was right
from the get go, right?
And he's so
right about Lancet and Peter Daszak
who wrote the letter and and
got others to sign on to it.
Because actually calling legitimate
things like this scientist
was saying as a possibility
to investigate, calling those
conspiracy theories, nothing helps
conspiracy theories more than that.
>> Exactly, 100%.
>> Because then you go, wait a
minute, but Gulf of Tonkin, we know
that America was lying about that.
Look, I would argue the JFK
killings is a preposterous
government explanation.
But everyone in mainstream media
goes conspiracy theory,
conspiracy theory, right?
On the other hand, there's tons
of actual conspiracy theories
that are nowhere near true,
including one we're going to cover
later in the show today about how
if you take the vaccine metal
sticks to you, right?
But then the conspiracy theorists
like Alex Jones' of the world and
now some the left, get to go, well,
you see that you can't believe
anything so it must be the aliens.
Or everybody's a crisis actor,
etc, etc.
So that's why I'm so mad at Lancet
for ruining the credibility of
some of the institutions that we
used to trust.
because the government is one
thing, you always take what
the government says with a grain of
salt if you're actually a real
reporter or actually follow
the news carefully, right?
That doesn't mean the government's
lying about everything.
And it also doesn't mean
the government's telling the truth
about everything,
because conspiracy theorists say
government lies 100% of the time.
Mainstream media says
the government tells the truth
100% of the time.
That's preposterous, right?
But scientists actually
generally do tell the truth, right?
And so do doctors, etc.
That's why this one hurts so much.
>> But also, let me just note that,
yes, when we think of
the government, I think oftentimes,
we think about elected politicians,
Democrats, Republicans or
what have you.
But the government also includes
organizations, like the CDC, right?
And when the CDC and
Anthony Fauci start the pandemic
communication and messaging off
with don't wear masks,
it's actually counterproductive.
Intentionally lying to the American
people because they know there's
a mask shortage and they don't want
ordinary Americans to go out and
buy masks so nurses and
doctors have access to them.
That leads to people losing trust
in these institutions,
it's a problem.
It would have been far better for
Anthony Fauci to come out and
just simply say,
listen, we have a broken system
where we rely on an exploit cheap
labor in other countries.
And since we can't rely on that
supply chain right now, we have
a shortage of masks, and we not we
need to make sure the doctors and
nurses have access to them.
Please don't buy the masks.
Stay home, shelter in Place,
you'll be safe.
He didn't do that though.
They lied and said that masks
are counterproductive.
And that kind of messaging
again leads to this environment and
climate of distrust.
>> Yeah, and look both on Fauci and
Trump.
Let's do nuance there.
First, when the heart of what Fauci
said throughout the crisis,
which is wear the masks,
get tested, and we need the PPE,
and then of course get vaccinated,
were all true, right?
But we called them out immediately
on the thing that wasn't true,
that you didn't need mass in the
beginning, as Ana just pointed out.
It's possible to say Fauci got one
thing wrong and other things right.
You don't have to fall into a camp
of either I despise Fauci and
he should be arrested or Fauci's a
saint and never did anything wrong.
And I'll call him out again.
The day he just said yesterday
basically if you're
criticizing Anthony Fauci, and he
uses his name in the third person,
you're criticizing science.
No, no, that's not true.
You're not infallible.
>> Right.
>> You're not only
scientist in the world.
So you can see where
Fauci is right and
you can see where Fauci is wrong.
Use your own judgment.
And on Trump last thing.
He didn't get it right.
He didn't go and
talk to that scientist he didn't go
talk to the other scientists.
He didn't talk to any
scientist, right?
He's just like,
I don't know, I think it might have
come from China.
A broken
clock is right twice a day, right?
And so if he showed that he had
actually consulted the scientists
then I would say well, okay,
no problem.
Even though I don't like Trump,
I've given him
credit on other things, right?
You think scientists told him to
inject bleach into your lungs?
Okay, [LAUGH] no, and
he wasn't right on 90% of what
he said about Coronavirus, come on.
>> Exactly, which is why it was so
easy to dismiss the lab leak story.
But now,
luckily Biden is calling for
an investigation.
We'll see if we get down to the
bottom of what the origin of the
virus is and we'll go from there.
But I think at the end of the day,
the key takeaway from the story and
this whole debacle is the very
institutions that have already
lost trust among the American
people are not making the situation
better for themselves.
We're continuing to lose trust, so.