a fourth inspector general fired by trump. this time, for investigating the secretary of state. now congress is investigating whether this was an act of retaliation. a new $3 trillion economic relief bill passes the house, including another relief check for all taxpayers. but chances are you won't see one. and more than 14,000 workers in one single industry may have coronavirus. trump says they're essential, but he may have just made america's most dangerous job even more dangerous. velshi starts now. good morning. it is sunday, may 17th, i'm ali velshi. we begin with former president barack obama barack obama, for the second time in a little more than a week, calling out the administration officials for a lack of leadership during the coronavirus outbreak. >> more than anything, this pandemic is fully, finally torn

back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing. a lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge. if the world's going to get better, it's going to be up to you. >> his comments are part of a national ceremony honoring high school graduates from the class of 2020. we're going to have much more on that story in just a bit, but first, we've got new details about yet another federal watchdog, fired amid the pandemic by the trump administration. top democrats including house foreign affairs committee chairman eliot engel and senator bob menendez are launching an investigation. it comes after friday's late-night ouster of state department inspector general steve lenick, this man. according to a white house official, secretary of state mike pompeo recommended the move and trump agreed. engle releasing a statement calling lenick's removal an outrageous act. here's the thing, engle claims

the inspector general was fired because he launched a probe into mike pompeo. sources confirm the position will be filled by ambassador steven acard, an ally of vice president mike pence. as for the reason why lenick was removed from his post, he, quote, no longer has the fullest confidence of the president. in other words, he was no longer suited for the role because hep didn't fall in line with the administration's expectations. he wasn't a trump loyalist. lenick is the fourth independent watchdog has been let go by trump in the last six weeks. most were obama administration appointees, except for michael atkinson, the intelligence community inspector general. all of this happening as the country reopens and folks everywhere are excited, even downright jubilant about getting back outside again. let's listen. >> i'm pretty excited to get out of the house after two months. for the first time in 12 years, i haven't had a grandkid to go to baseball games, because

they've canceled them all. >> we are very excited to be up here today. it's a gorgeous day. >> it's nice. it's very nice. >> all right. i share their excitement, but a note of caution. remember, remain vigilant. we are very much still in the thick of this pandemic. here are the facts. as most parts of the country continue the process of reopening, the confirmed number of covid-19 cases in the united states has increased to more than 1,476,000. the number of fatalities stands at 89,647. joining me now, jennifer ruben, msnbc contributor and opinion writer with "the washington post." and deane obeidallah, host of sirius xm's the dean obeidallah show and a columnist with the daily beast. welcome to both of you. thank you for joining us. jennifer ruben, inspectors general. they are not people we know much about. we don't think about most americans. i think 12 out of 10 couldn't name an inspector general, unless they've been fired by

trump. but they are there to make sure the swamp stays less swampy, if you will. they're the internal people who keep the government honest. what's going on with the continued firing of these people by donald trump? >> i think this is the result of frankly the impeachment, that's now a few months in the rearview mirror. this president feels unbowed. he is unconstrained. and anyone who is going to report wrongdoing in this administration, whether it's mike pompeo, whether it's anyone else within the hhs, for example, that has mishandled the coronavirus, that whistle-blower is now, i think, in career jeopardy by this administration. and you're right, ali, this is the very person, the very people who are there within the executive branch, who are considered to be somewhat independent, who have a longer-term vision, many of them are career people who have been in, if not that post, other

posts in the past. and they're there to prevent corruption. they're there to prevent wrongdoing. and frankly, the next one that i'm very nervous about is mr. horowitz, who is over in the justice department. he clearly may be next, because he has not exactly toed the line. >> steve linik, dean, has no recourse, really, because these people serve at the pleasure of the president. all that has to happen is the president has to report to congress that he's firing them, and he did, and all the reasoning is that he's lost the confidence of the president. but when you do stuff like this, you stir up a hornet's nest. if it's true, we'll find out. if he was investigating the secretary of state, mike pompeo, for any form of wrongdoing, that will obviously come out. >> we hope so. and i think this is part of donald trump's make dictatorships great again, because donald trump doesn't like the rule of law.

i'm not breaking news here. he doesn't like checks and balances. he doesn't like democratic norms. but i want you to take a step back. the inspector general act was passed in 1978, after watergate, after a runaway, lawless president in an effort to contain that, by having a quasi-independent igs, who would look at fraud and corruption, things that trump does not want anyone to stop. and in the case of mike pompeo, as opposed to obamagate, which is a work in progress by trump to distract america from 90,000 americans dead and the worst economy since the depression, pompeogate, as people called it on twitter, is pretty clear. it's straightforward. if it's true, mike pompeo and his wife, susan pompeo, were using our tax dollars to run personal errands, to get their dog from the groomer, to pick up their son at the train station, go get food for them. and mike pompeo's wife, souvenir, hsouveni susan, has her own personal security detail. they're investigating why. steven linnik, before this, he

served for ten years as a federal prosecutor, and in the doj after that studying, working on fraud cases. to trump, this is like robert mueller all over again. so trump gets rid of him and sadly, the inspector general act allows that. i don't know why congress in '78 gave the power to the president, when they were trying to reign in his powers to do that. that's another thing we've learned about during this whole trump presidency, using air quotes, that we have to address this when donald trump was gone, there's democratic members of congress to make it harder to get rid of their referees, and that's what trump is doing. >> well, you two are both lawyers, and i'm not, but i would assume that linnik is employed by the executive branch, and that's probably why the president has that right, but maybe that should be changed. in lots of industries, jennifer, this kind of human exists, right? in some newspapers, we have an ombudsman, in wall street, there are compliance officers. in the police, there are

internal air force. there a affairs. there are people there who are there to say, is the department running correctly, is everyone in the department complying with the law. donald trump did run on this basis of draining the swamp. this has got to be dangerous for him in an election when you point out -- we can keep on pointing it out on screen. i'll ask my producers to put it up again. four inspector generals in the last two months have been fired for donald trump, none of whom were fired for what most humans would think of as cause. >> you know, it's very interesting. all of the individuals who just named, ali, are people who would normally report either to the chairman of the board of their organization or to the ceo. there's a problem when you're chairman of the board or your ceo, himself, is the problem, is the source of the corruption. and so, you're exactly right, as an executive branch employee, he ultimately has to be able to be fired by the president. that's the way our

constitutional system works. but this is where we see how everything has kind of broken down. if the president is the person who is fundamentally dishonest, who is the person who is flaunting the law, who is engaged in the corruption, and is willing to allow and encourage the corruption of his subordinates, then there really is no check. really, it's congress here. and congress has to have the nerve to have hearings and it has to have the nerve to be able to subpoena witnesses. we have a whistle-blower who has just stepped forward, who testified before congress, to the facts and the mishandling of our pandemic. and they need to do the same here, to get the facts out, so people know what wrongdoing is going on. and that there can at least be political accountability at the ballot box in november. >> so, dean, you and jennifer are both columnists and you write about these things. you're often -- the two of you are often right at the front end

of things. i sometimes see your columns before i even know the underlying news you're writing about this. but between the two of you, is there more that can be done. we know robert engle and melendez are convening a bipartisan investigation into this. but the you look at the last three and a half years, the president was impeached by congress and it still fundamentally doesn't seem to have an effect on his ability to garner support from his base. zblf >> >> i will tell you, there is a check. it's 170 days. that's november 3rd, that's election day. and if this upsets people, seeing donald trump being lawless, getting rid of the referees, who would guard our taxpayer dollars from fraud and corruption from the administration, good. i hope you get angry. stay angry. exit polls show the number one emotion when people come out in wave elections, it's not love, it's not open, it's anger! because it's personal. so in the case of donald trump, you want to be a check, because congress can't do more,

unfortunately? you have bill barr, the doj protecting donald trump. we, the people are the ultimate check. and in 170 days, i hope people stay angry every day, because that means it is personal. you want to remove this guy because he's wronged us individually as a nation and collectively as a country. >> thanks to both of you for starting us off this morning. jennifer ruben is an opinion writer if the "washington post." dean obeidallah is the host of sirius xm's "dean obeidallah show" and a columnist with the daily beast. turning to state and local governments continuing the painstaking process of safely or at least trying to safely reopen. the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, slammed the $3 trillion hero legislation that was just passed by the house on friday, calling the proposal, which provides nearly 1 trillion in aid, a wish list of democratic priorities that he says are unrelated to the current crisis. here's new york's governor, andrew cuomo's response to that.

>> to have taken the actions they have taken, where they're funding big business, small business, airlines, they're worried about hotels, they're worried about restaurants, and i'm not debating those issues. but then not to help schools and police and firefighters and give people food who are starving and need s.n.a.p.? i mean, how could you ever justify that? >> joining me now, msnbc correspondent, moira barrett in newark, delaware, a state that makes plans for reopening. moira's got the freshest fruits and vegetables and breads of anyone in the country, because this is the time i've seen you at a farmer's market. but delaware is an important place right now, because it's close to major metropolitan centers, washington, d.c., baltimore, and philadelphia. so how this all unfolds on a multi-state level affects everyone who's behind you right

now in delaware. >> reporter: exactly, ali. and delaware is one of those northeastern states, pennsylvania, new york, new jersey, that are in an alliance in order to work together and reopen safely, but delaware has kind of flown under the radar when it comes to coronavirus criticism, even though there's a democratic governor here, he's been very strict in terms of reopening. so while i've been in many farmers markets across the northeast, this is actually the first weekend here in delaware that farmers markets are able to reopen, and that's what's going on behind me, as they set up for the first time this spring. but jut south of philadelphia, delaware only has less than half of the entire cases than the entire city of philadelphia does. when you talk about providing support for small business owners, vendors like the ones behind me, delaware has been doing a lot in terms of local fund bing by way of grants for those first responders, a lot of small businesses that are suffering, and the unemployed. so moving forward, as they're looking to reopen more widely, this weekend, farmers markets, pools and beaches are reopening. and they've actually got a

stronger plan in place when it comes to testing and tracing, which we've talked about so often, being so important in order contain the virus, as states reopen. they plan on testing 80,000 tests a month, if possible. and have a robust plan in terms of hiring hundreds of contact tracers come june 1st. but i want to note this weekend on friday, they saw the single highest death count in one day. so while june 1st is two weeks away, the white house guidance asked them to look at the decline over the next two weeks, so they'll have to focus in over the next two weeks as they look forward that phase i of reopening. >> a lot of the guidance is that you should have a two-week decline in infections or in hospitalizations and the majority of places opening up in the united states have not met even that very low benchmark. there's a much higher benchmark thoo that i've got here put out by the cdc. and virtually nobody who's reopening in the country has met that. there is a danger of increased infection.

moira, stay safe, as always. good to see you. moira barrett live at a market in newark, delaware. who's defending the rule of law, when many say they cannot trust the country's attorney general to do so. coming up next, while william barr's latest move in the michael flynn case has some prosecutors concerned. n the michael flynn case has some prosecutors concerned. pods sport. finally something more powerful than the funk. tide sport removes even week-old sweat odor. it's got to be tide. let's be honest. quitting smoking is hard. like, quitting every monday hard. quitting feels so big. so try making it smaller, and you'll be surprised at how easily starting small can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette. to deliver your mail and packages and the peace of mind of knowing that essentials like prescriptions are on their way. every day, all across america, we deliver for you. and we always will.

but when allergies and congestion strike, take allegra-d... a non-drowsy antihistamine plus a powerful decongestant. so you can always say "yes" to putting your true colors on display. say "yes" to allegra-d. introducing ore-ida potato pay. where ore-ida golden crinkles are your crispy currency to pay for bites of this... ...with this. when kids won't eat dinner, potato pay them to. ore-ida. win at mealtime.

♪we ain't stoppin' believe me♪ ♪go straight till the morning look like we♪ ♪won't wait,♪ ♪we're taking everything we wanted♪ ♪we can do it ♪all strength, no sweat across america, business owners are figuring things out. finding new ways to serve customers... connect employees... and work with partners. comcast business is right there with you. with a network that helps give you speed, reliability and security. and enough bandwidth to handle all your connected devices. voice solutions like remote call forwarding and readable voicemail. and safe, convenient installation. when every connection counts, you can count on us. get the connectivity your business needs. call today. comcast business.

i, donald john trump, do solemnly swear -- >> that i will faithfully

execute -- >> that i will faithfully execute -- >> the office of president of the united states. >> the office of president of the united states. >> and will to the best of my ability -- >> and will to the best of my ability -- >> preserve, protect, and defend -- >> preserve, protect, and defend -- >> the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states. >> donald trump's broken that oath more times than i can count, but we knew who trump was when he was elected. what we didn't know was how important of an asset bill barr would become in donald trump's efforts to damage the rule of law. now, think back to this one. in 2018, barr sent an unsolicited 20-page letter to the department of justice explaining why a president cannot be charged with obstruction. a year later, barr, who had then gotten the job, misstated the mueller report's findings three weeks ahead of its release,

saying the evidence was not sufficient to establish an obstruction charge. mueller in a letter to the department right after objected to barr's conclusion description, but the efforts to rewrite history and criticize criminal justice continue, despite the criticism. barr set a new precedent after hiring a u.s. attorney to look into the origins of the russia probe and when he reversed the decisions of his own prosecutors in the roger stone case, because the president tweeted that his sentencing was unfair, roger stone's. all prosecutors on the case withdrew, one of them quit the department of justice. and now the department of justice has changed its position again, as it talks about michael flynn. "the washington post" writes, trump's goal from the start has been to dismantle as much as mueller's work as he can, and he finally found his roy cohn in william barr. barr's actions have brought two separate calls by more than

2,000 former department officials for his resignation, just this year. both of my guests have signed those letters and one writes that the department, quote, has harmed not only its own reputation for integrity, but also public confidence that the law applies equally to everyone, including the president's friends. joining me now is the former federal prosecutor, who signed both letters, calling for barr to resign, renato mariotti. he's also the host of the on topic podcast. also, former u.s. attorney, bashr mcquaid. she's a professor at the university of michigan law school and an msnbc legal analyst. welcome to both of you. renato, this is remarkable on several levels. and i guess it's not remarkable on other levels, because we know that william barr auditioned for his job by carrying donald trump's water and continued that through the mueller report, through the roger stone conviction, and now into michael flynn. but you are arguing that this

really does ignore the law. the idea that michael flynn, that department of justice is pulling back on michael flynn's prosecution, after he twice pleaded guilty is contrary to the law. >> well, it's certainly different than the justice departments view the law in other cases. and that's really what bothers me the most. the justice department in similar cases has consistently taken the view that the barr is very low when it comes to, for example, materiality, which is the issue that it's raising in the michael flynn case. and they're literally arguing the opposite position that they usually argue, taking the opposite view on the law than they usually do for michael flynn. and it makes you wonder, what is so special about michael flynn, other than the fact that he's one of the president's friends, that he has potentially information about the president? >> barbara, there's something that we didn't really understand, we non-lawyers don't understand. and that is that michael flynn

pled guilty. this case was before the courts, and then the department of justice decided to change course on this whole thing. there's both a legal argument problem with it, and there's a legal standing problem with it, in that right now, this is a matter for the judge. and the judge in the case has taken exception to this, having hired another former judge to argue against the government. >> that's right. under the separation of powers concepts in our constitution, it is the prosecutor who has the discretion to decide when to bring a case. and they get a lot of deference to that authority. but once the court becomes involved, through a guilty plea that has been accepted, as it has been in this case, the ball is really in the judge's court. even a motion to dismiss requires what's known as leave of court, permission from the court. so the judge here, judge sullivan has said, i'm not just going to take your word for it, department of justice, that this is in the best interest of justice. michael flynn stood in open court and told me he's guilty.

and to now see some sort of convoluted, twisted legal argument to suggest that there is some technical reason this case must be dismissed, i'm not satisfied. and now that michael flynn says, in fact, he's not guilty, that means that he told me the truth on one occasion and a lie on another. so he has appointed a judge, a former federal prosecutor to come in and help argue the other side of the case here, to make some sense of it. one of the things that judge gleason, who's been appointed to help judge sullivan in this case, has said is the court should not be a party to corruption. and i think that is what judge sullivan is seeking to avoid by getting to the bottom of this. >> this is a liars versus truth tellers thing, because you can't tell, if i lied about the lie that i told you, am i telling the truth now? renato, judge emmett sullivan is in a weird position now because the defense, michael flynn's team, wants the case dismissed, and the government, bill barr's team wants the case dismissed. and the judge, as barbara just

described says, hold on, someone has lied somewhere in here, and i'm not sure this is worthy of dismissal. you two have probably seen the idea that a judge hires another judge to take a different position in the case than the two parties involved. >> it's unusual, because the whole system that we have works was you have two different sides who are both arguing fervently for their own view. usually, the way cases work, whether it's criminal or civil cases, you have both sides going at each other, and the judge, through that process, can get at the truth by hearing both sides vigorously and zealously present their arguments. and the issue here, of course, is that the doj motion reads like a defense brief. it reads like the sort of thing i might file on behalf of a client that would be unsuccessful. so really the judge had to do something like this, because otherwise he would not get the

viewpoint, as barr pointed out, judge gleason will be providing. >> barbara, one of the things that -- back to the legal case, the legal argument that the department of justice and barr is making is that flynn's lies, again, to which he admitted, are not material, because the case was not properly predicated. you're saying that that sort of ignores the counterintelligence work that the fbi actually does. >> yes, they rely solely on prosecution under the logan act, which is a charge that is admittedly not brought very often and hasn't been brought in decades. but, it ignores the very purpose of collegunterintelligence, whis to determine if there's a threat to national security. once you had michael flynn talking to the ambassador secretly and lying about it, he became a national security threat himself and they had a duty to investigate it. >> thank you to the both of you, renato mariotti a legal affairs columnist for politico.

former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade is a professor at the university of michigan law school and an msnbc legal analyst. conspiracy theories and online misinformation are spreading, just as fast as the coronavirus itself. and the danger is real. coming up next, what's true and what is plain bogus? , what's tr wh iats plain bogus? around here, nobody ever does it. i didn't do it. so when i heard they added ultra oxi to the cleaning power of tide, it was just what we needed. dad? i didn't do it. #1 stain and odor fighter, #1 trusted. it's got to be tide.

home is playground,gym, and concert hall. and cvs health is helping, with free home prescription delivery, telehealth from aetna, and support for caregivers. we're doing all we can to help you stay well, as you stay in. because now more than ever, home is where the heart is. cvs health.

the story where the chances are low, and the cost is high. the sacrifice is real. it's all around us. but this isn't a story about how tougher times beat us. this is our comeback story. the time when we rally and come from behind. the time when we defy the odds and get back to work while the whole world watches. yeah, this is your comeback story. and when it's time to come back, we'll be ready. unlike ordinaryyour wmemory supplementsr? neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try neuriva for 30 days and see the difference.

growing fears about the coronavirus are giving false and misleading information new life online, drawing millions of views across major tech platforms. most concerning is the way these disinformation campaigns aim to undermine trust in public figures associated with the pandemic. billionaire philanthropist, bill gates, and dr. anthony fauci are top targets for recent conspiracies. an analysis from "the new york times" shows gates being falsely linked to coronavirus' origin theories more than 1.2 million

times on television or social media between the months of february and april. facebook, twitter, and google have all taken steps to delete these conspiracy videos for violating rules or to include additional context around misleading information. but in the midst of a pandemic, people are constantly searching for good, truthful information. and with that comes an unprecedented volume of news that is less and less based on real reporting. here with me, nbc news reporter, brandy and rodney, an early investor in facebook. he's the author of "zucked: weigh up to the facebook catastrophe." thank you both for being here and coordinating brick wall backgrounds for this report. i want to report a conversation that we've heard so many times and if people hear it they'll get sick of it. the deliberate spreading of

disinformation is at its root profitable. it makes a lot of money and that is still why youtube and facebook and twitter can't get a handle on this stuff. >> ali, the problem, very simply put, is that facebook and instagram and youtube are competing for our attention. they're competing against any other form of media. in order to do that, they need to use every trick they have. and they have lots. they know so much about us that they know what kinds of things animate us emotionally, and for most people, that's going to be things that trigger fear or outrage. and the best stuff for doing that is hate speech, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. so those wind up being the jet fuel for the business model of these internet platforms. and every time they take something down, it is not because they're trying to eliminate hate speech or disinformation from the plm platform. it's because they're trying to make a political problem go away, by eliminating an

individual piece of information or an individual poster, as opposed to going after the core issue, which is their business model, which promotes this stuff and really distorts public health and democracy at the same time. it's incredibly dangerous. >> brandny, one of the problems that you and i have a lot is what do we tell the public about these conspiracy theories? because you don't want to give them more oxygen than they deserve. but, in fact, people need to be warned. there is a "new york times" best seller list written by a conspiracy theorist who's been taking aim at people like anthony fauci. >> yeah. i mean, in terms of not giving them oxygen, i think we've lost this fight. i mean, we all watched the pandemic video sort of bubble and we sort of hoped we didn't have to cover it. but soon, i was getting people like aunts and people from back home in florida calling me.

and that's when i really know, it's racking up millions of people. so by the time we actually get in there and say, let's try to debunk this so people can have the facts. because this one video many particular was really, really egregious. this woman who's been a big figure in the anti-vaccination community for years and now has a book to sell was making claims that wearing a mask would make you sick and beach sand could cure you of the coronavirus. so by the time we actually got in there and we could write something, it had already been viewed, you know, 8 million times across many different platforms. and so the idea that we can really combat this with the way that the platforms are currently doing, which is see something, journalists will write about it, then they'll say, okay, we'll take it down, it's not working. >> roger, whether it's anti-vaxers or climate deniers, white supremacists, these are all minorities who are evaluated by the algorithms that you've written in such detail about,

that instagram use and facebook and youtube, because they are optimized to get attention. they are optimized to create, as dean obeidallah was saying earlier, the -- fear, really. the responses that make you take action. >> so, ali, the thing that we're going to struggle with forever is that our tendency is to want to believe that facebook and youtube are sincere when they say they want to get rid of the disinformation relative to the pandemic or relative to politics. and the sad truth is that, no, i don't think they do. and every time that they propose something, as facebook has, with its oversight board, they have attempted to put forward a bright, shining object that would distract us long enough to get past whatever political problem they were facing. and the thing is, they understand manipulating attention better than anybody on earth. so it's like a magician. they constantly show us things on the left hand while they're doing something sneaky in the

right hand. and as businesses, i guess this is their right. but as americans, we should insist on something much, much better than this. and the algorithmic amplification that is the way that their business works, that is the heart of the problem. and until we stop algorithmic amplification, we're going to have too much political power in the hand of anti-vaxers and white supremacists and climate change deniers and the people who deny the pandemic. >> well, i encourage my viewers to follow you both on social media, because you are trusted voices and you do let us know about the things that we need to be careful of. roger mcnamee is moon alice on twitter and bradny zadrozny is brandy zadrozny. all right, this pandemic has made the most dangerous job in america even more hazardous. oh, and these workers have been ordered to keep working. and let me tell you, the risk

simply doesn't match the reward. i'll explain when we come back. . i'll explain when we come back . we're automatically refunding our customers a portion of their personal auto premiums. learn more at libertymutual.com/covid-19. [ piano playing ] no uh uh, no way come on, no no n-n-n-no-no only discover has no annual fee on any card.

"show me what you're made of." so we showed it our people, sourcing and distributing more fresh food than anyone...

we showed it our drivers helping grocers restock their shelves. we showed it how we're donating millions of meals to those in need. we showed it how we helped thousands of restaurants convert to takeout and pop up markets. and how we're encouraging all americans to take out to give back. adversity came to town. so we looked it right in the eye. and it won't be us... ...that blinks first. introducing ore-ida potato pay. where ore-ida golden crinkles are your crispy currency to pay for bites of this... ...with this. when kids won't eat dinner, potato pay them to. ore-ida. win at mealtime.

it's been well over 100 years since upton sinclair wrote "the jungle," his seminole piece on the horror of the meat packing industry. his work sparked changes. unfortunately, many of them remain the same and the job of

the american meatpacker is not still dangerous, it is, according to the department of labor, the most dangerous job in the country. being a meatpacker is low paying, thankless work, and much like during sinclair's time, it's done by some of the poorest americans and immigrants. on april 28th, president trump signed an executive order compelling meat processors to stay open to avert food shortages. these are plants that require workers to stand close to each other and has more days lost to injury than any other industry in america. are meat packers essential? well, that's unclear, although the average american consumes nearly 218 pounds of meat a year. the defense production act is supposed to maintain industries in times of crisis to help provide essential items. another thing that it does is it shields employers from certain liability for forcing workers to operate in increasingly hazardous conditions. nearly 40,000 meat packers are

seriously injured every year, just doing their job. the food and environmental reporting network estimates that more than 14,000 meat packers have tested positive for covid-19, and 59 have died. according to the bureau of labor statistics, the average meatpacker earns $13.68 an hour. that's just over $28,000 a year. so, for an industry that osha notes has serious safety and health hazards, having the president order you to stay open is not only convenient, it is remarkably profitable. the coronavirus has made america's most dangerous job more dangerous. we are now, by presidential edict, putting hundreds and thousands of people at risk in factories that have already been hot beds for the spread of the virus. some owners are taking steps to stop the spread by requiring masks and taking temperatures of workers, but with a shortage of protective equipment, equipment that could have actually been made using the defense

production act, more meat packers will get sick and more meat packers will die. look, i eat meat. i'm not here to tell you what to eat. but as we prioritize things, let's make sure if we're going to allow our government to make decisions on our behalf during this crisis, it is to save lives and make the safety of essential workers the priority. workers thy

there are so many toothpastes out there, which one should i use? try crest pro/active defense. it neutralizes bacteria for a healthier mouth than even the leading multi-benefit toothpaste. crest. yoo-hoo, progressive shoppers. we laughed with you. sprinkles are for winners. we surprised you. on occasion, we've probably even annoyed you. we've done this all with one thing in mind. to help protect the things you love. and if we can't offer you the best price we'll help you find a better one. it's not always the lowest! even if it's not with us. that's how we've done it for the past 80 years. not just today, or this month, but always. right now, there are over a million walmart associates doing their best to keep our nation going. because despite everything that's changed,

one thing hasn't and that's our devotion to you and our communities. our priority will always be to keep you and our associates safe, while making sure you can still get the essentials you need. ♪

in fact, what nancy pelosi and the house's bill does, which i think is really important, is actually put hazard pay there, so these so-called essential workers, it's not just a great pat on the back that we're giving them, but actually supporting them with extra pay in their paychecks. >> despite senator cory booker's support, the house just passed the heroes act, and it faces a dead end future due to intense opposition from both senate republicans and president trump. one of the major provisions of

this latest relief act is another round of payments directly to americans, which continues to be desperately needed. 36.5 million americans have filed for unemployment benefits since the pandemic began, with the weekly increases continuing to be in the multi-millions. even worse, continuing claims rose by 456,000 to a record 22.83 million. meaning more and more people are not being brought back on, yet. joining me now, economist and associate chair of the paris school of economics, thomas picketty. his new book is "capital and ideology," a follow-up to his book, "capital in the 20th century," which is the basis for a new documentary, weaving a story that bridges the past and the future. >> essential what's happening, is that the gig economy, which is more and more productive, but where the gains of those productivity increases are going into the hands of a very small

number of people. >> in a word, when picketty says that the future for capitalism is this highly illegal, highly social immobile future, it's alreadyhappening. >> economist thomas picketty joins me now. thomas, good to see you. thank you for being with us. we have an opportunity right now to do something you wrote about several years ago. in that capitalism has been laid bare as being flawed. but not something we need to throw away. something we need to fix. the capitalism in the last 40 years has been the gret of inequality. now that we look at it so deeply, what should we doing? as we spend the money and doing the difficult things we're doing, what should we be fixing about capitalism? >> well, you know, when this crisis first of all is larger

social inequalities especially in america and people without access to health care, a first thing to fix and i hope that the u.s. as a country and the politicians in this country will finally accept the idea that, you know, it is possible with a universal health care program to have at the same time a more efficient system to spend less. when you compare european and american health care system it is that clear in the u.s. it cost a lot. makes many people very rich in the pharmaceutical industry. sometimes in hospitals but by and large the life expectancy and access to health care for population is not satisfactory and more generally what i show in my new book is that, you know, the prosperity of the u.s. economy historically came from the fact that the u.s. was an industrial leader in the world. it was actually a more equal

country than european countries and part of the advance of the u.s. during most of the 20th century came from the fact that there was very broad investment in education, like the middle of the 20th century you had 90% of a generation going to high school at a time when it was 20% or 30% in western europe and japan and i think it is important to remember that history, prosperity comes from education, access of health and from equality. and the idea that the pursuit of more and more enequality and more and more concentration of wealth and economic power in a few hands is what you need to have prosperity, you know, it is a narrative that was proposed in the 1980s particularly in the u.s. and ronald reagan but, you know, 30 years later what you see is that, in fact, growth rate is divided between 1990 and

2020, the national income per capita in the u.s. increased 1.1% every year. so i think it's high time and this crisis could be an opportunity to come to a different narrative and to realize that we actually need more equality, also to get more prosperity. >> the problem, thomas, when i make this argument to others is they say left to the own devices capitalism will find the lowest cost per capita for production wherever it is in the world and ultimately what leads to that concentration of wealth, capitalism itself is the thing that leads to this inequality. i don't hold that view and i don't believe you hold that view either. we believe owe can have a capitalism that causes everybody to go to school and gate good education, a capitalism that covers health care, leads to longer life span that we have in

the united states. but it does seem that we -- different people think of capitalism differently f. you don't like the capitalism we have right now then you must be a socialist. >> well, you know, i think what has been successful in the past, in the 20th century to regulate strongly capitalism through progressive taxation. progressive taxation of income and inherited wealth contributed in the 20th century to make america more equal and in the end same time, you know, more prosperity, more equality. you should remember that, you know, between 1930 and 1980 as a top income tax rate playing to the very highest level of income in the u.s. was 82% on average. it's been reduced to 28% in 1986 and under ragan and between 30% and 40% since then and the division by two of the top

income growth rate supposed to bring more innovation, more growth and the incomes and wages of americans were supposed to grow like we have never seen except that in fact what we have seen is the growth rate of the u.s. economy is devalued, as well. i'm not saying because of tax income rate is divided by two but the key factor is more stagnation of education, investment. i think that's really critical and i also think that,able, the experience of the 20th century is of course you don't want complete equality. you want some innovators, act wait more wealth than the average population but not too much inequality but concentration of wealth in order to get the economy going. it is just wrong historically at least that's what i'm trying to show in the book, in my work when i first show a lot of

historical evidence comparing different time period and time periods and i think your conclusion is pretty clear. >> economist thomas picketty, thank you for joaning us. still ahead, in the next hour, democrats are weighing options far summer convention. tom perez joins me next. versus the other guys. ♪ clearly, velveeta melts creamier.

let's be honest. quitting smoking is hard. like, quitting every monday hard. quitting feels so big. so try making it smaller, and you'll be surprised at how easily starting small can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette. but when allergies and congestion strike, take allegra-d... a non-drowsy antihistamine plus a powerful decongestant. so you can always say "yes" to putting your true colors on display. say "yes" to allegra-d. and its mission is to give you truly transformative sleep. so, no more tossing and turning... or trouble falling asleep. because only tempur-pedic uses proprietary tempur® material... that continuously adapts and responds to your body, to relieve pressure... so you get deep, uninterrupted sleep.

all night. every night. the tempur-pedic summer of sleep starts now, with all tempur-pedic mattresses on sale, and savings up to $500 on adjustable sets. it means being there for each other. that's why state farm is announcing the good neighbor relief program we know our customers are driving less, which means fewer accidents. so state farm is returning $2 billion dollars to auto policyholders for the period ending may 31st. and we'll continue making real time decisions to best serve you - our customers. because now, more than ever, being a good neighbor means everything. like a good neighbor, state farm is there. being a good neighbor means everything. alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice. and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! there are times when our need to connect really matters. to keep customers and employees in the know.

to keep business moving. comcast business is prepared for times like these. powered by the nation's largest gig-speed network. to help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. and a team of experts - here for you 24/7. we've always believed in the power of working together. that's why, when every connection counts... you can count on us.

welcome back. i'm ali velshi. after years of relative silence president obama is speaking out about the current administration. during a virtual commencement address he delivered yesterday to graduates at his tore click black clnlgs and universities without naming names obama took aim at the white house. >> more than anything, this pandemic has fully finally torn back the curtain on the idea of folks in charge know what they're doing. a lot of them aren't even pretepiding to be in charge. if the world is getting better, it is up to you. >> those comments come on the heels of some leaked remarks obama made to former aides in a call to support joe biden that the trump administration's pandemic response is a chaotic disaster. in a