(upbeat music)
- School, it's how America's Tik Tok stars
spend their mornings.
As the new school year approaches,
COVID-19 has made things more complicated
than your math teacher's comb over,
because the big question is,
even if the virus isn't a
major threat to children,
can they become adorable, super spreaders
who infect teachers stuff
and their families back home?
Well, now we might be
getting some answers.
- [Presenter] As many school
systems weigh their options
and evaluate data,
a large and systematic new study
out of South Korea suggests
kids younger than 10
spread the disease less,
about half as much as adults,
but children above the age
of 10 can spread the virus
at the same rate as adults.
- Older kids, those teenagers
get infected more frequent
than younger kids,
and that it's something we
do have to be mindful of
as we bring kids back to school.
- Oh man, this is really not good.
Scientists now say teenagers
can spread the virus
just as easily as adults,
and you know, some parents
are gonna try brag about this.
"You know, little Timmy is only 13,
"but apparently he spreads
COVID at a college level."
And I don't think any of this
should be surprising to anyone,
like I'm not a scientist,
but of course teenagers can
spread Coronavirus everywhere.
Just look at how well they spread rumors.
"For the last time guys,
"I did not pee my pants
in math class, okay?
"I peed them in English in first period."
So look, this isn't great news,
and the only silver lining is that
it might at least help stop bullying.
"I'd show you in a locker right now,
"but my Nana has a
compromised immune system."
So clearly, if kids go back to school,
there's a good chance the virus
is gonna spread even more,
which means Americans have two choices.
Immediately devote massive resources
to helping schools
implement safety regime,
so that kids can be protected,
tested, and monitored,
or two, don't do that.
- [Reporter] Missouri
governor, Mike Parson
is pushing for kids in his
state to go back to school
even if they get sick.
- [Parson] These kids have
got to get back to school.
They're the lowest risk possible,
and if they do get
COVID-19, which they will,
and they will when they go to school,
they're not going to the hospitals,
they're not going to have
to sit in doctor's office,
they're gonna go home,
and they're gonna get over it.
- Okay. Now here's the thing.
Governor Parson is not wrong, right?
Kids are the least
susceptible to COVID-19,
and if they do get sick,
they usually don't need
to go to the hospital,
they can stay home,
but what he seems to be forgetting is that
unless all of these
kids live in Neverland,
they go home to adults,
which is not good.
Because you see Corona
virus is like baby shock.
It can't hurt kids, but it
will destroy adults lives.
So basically if you don't
get Corona under control,
the schools can turn into
an Amazon fulfillment center
for coronavirus.
It starts in a centralized location,
and within a couple of days,
it's personally delivered
to everyone's house,
or maybe one day with prime.
The only way this isn't
gonna get adults infected
is if parents and their
kids have no contact.
I mean, no communication,
no affection whatsoever,
no touching.
Basically Trump's relationship with Eric.
And parents aren't the
only ones in danger here.
Unsurprisingly, teachers
all across America
are not enthused that the idea
of having to put their lives at risk,
so that little Aiden can
build a baking soda volcano.
In fact, in a historic move,
Florida's largest teacher's union
is now suing Florida's governor
for ordering schools to
fully open in a few weeks.
And look, until these issues are resolved,
most parents in America
are stuck between a rock and a hard place,
because what do you do?
Do you keep your kids at home,
teaching them yourself and
eventually blow your brains out?
Or do you take the risks,
send them to school and gamble
with your family's health?
Well, many rich families have decided
they're going with option C.
- Parents worried about sending
their kids back to school
are coming together to create smaller
so-called pandemic pods.
- [Presenter] Pandemic pods,
a 2020 version of the
one room school house.
The small groups of students
are getting together
and paying for a private teacher.
The pods are seen as a
way to mitigate risks
and give kids a chance to
socialize and learn together
during in-person teaching.
The cost for private instructors
can run anywhere between
25 and $80 per hour,
adding to concerns that
the coronavirus pandemic
is exacerbating the inequities
in the education system.
- Yes, rich people are
getting private instructors
because one, they can afford it,
and two, because they aren't allowed
to just bribe colleges anymore.
And here we have yet another way
the education gap in America
is going to become even wider.
Because after this pandemic,
you're going to have kids
who are supposed to be at a
fifth grade reading level,
only reading at a second
or third grade level.
And if this generation comes out of school
not being able to read,
I mean, what jobs are
gonna be available to them?
I mean, president, for
sure, but what else?
So that's where America is right now.
And the time when students
need help more than ever,
the government is going from,
no child left behind to,
yo, you kids are on your own.
(upbeat music)
When the coronavirus pandemic
hits, scientists said,
it could be a year to 18
months before we got a vaccine,
but just like high school
seniors on prom nights,
things are moving faster than expected.
- Encouraging news as several companies
rush to develop a vaccine
against the Corona virus.
There are promising
results in early trials
of at least three potential vaccine.
One is being developed by
the University of Oxford
in AstraZeneca.
Results suggest that vaccine is safe
and has produced an immune
response in patients.
Another vaccine back in Siena Biologics
was shown to produce antibodies
a month after vaccination.
Meanwhile, promising results
from Pfizer in BioNTech
on another vaccine.
The results are similar to
some of the 23 other vaccines
that are already on human trials.
- Oh man, this is exciting.
Not one, not two, but three vaccines.
And isn't this the story of life?
One moment you have too little,
and the next moment you're
overwhelmed with options.
I mean, three vaccines,
which one do I choose?
I mean, do I want the Chinese one?
And then there's the Oxford one.
You know, this is so hard.
I'll be like, can I get a scoop of each?
Yeah, just give me a scoop of each.
Part of me also likes the
fact that these vaccines
aren't being made in America,
because let's be honest.
America is the one country
where people are gonna
let politics stop them
from getting the vaccine.
"I don't want that Trump
vaccine, I'm resisting."
"A Biden vaccine is a liberal trap.
"You think it's a
coincidence that Corona virus
"has the letters A, O and C in it?"
Now, as hopeful as this is,
please remember that
there are a lot of steps
between now and the full vaccine.
I mean, they need to finish the trials,
they need to ramp up vaccine production,
plus, they need to produce
over a billion lollipops.
Because I don't care if
it is the COVID vaccine,
if you're giving me a shot,
you best believe I'm leaving
there with a lollipop.
And the US desperately needs
this vaccine sooner than later,
because Corona virus is
still hitting America hard,
including in ways no one
would have thought of.
- Well, first it was toilet
paper and hand sanitizer,
but now the coronavirus
pandemic is causing Americans
to see a shortage of coins.
The federal reserve is rationing
the distribution of coins to banks.
Those banks in turn are supplying
fewer coins to businesses.
Some retail stores are
even telling customers
to use exact change or pay
by credit or debit card.
- [Reporter] A bank in
Wisconsin is now paying people
to bring in their spare change
to help local businesses.
The community state bank has launched
a coin buyback program.
People who turn in $100 worth of change
will get a $5 bonus.
The bank says hundreds of people
have already dropped
off their spare change.
Some have even brought in coins
without asking for anything back.
- Yes, there are so few coins right now,
that banks are paying people
to bring in their loose change.
And right now, I bet
people all over the country
are in line at those gift shops
with flattened pennies
standing around like,
"Yo, you better throw
that machine in reverse,
"I'm trying to get paid."
And here's what I wanna know.
Where are all the magicians
when we actually need them?
Because now is a good time
to pull a quarter from behind my ear,
not at my grandfather's funeral
when you are trying to cheer me up.
I know you killed him.
Also, wouldn't it be amazing
if this becomes the next chapter
of massive wealth generation in America?
You know, like the oil boom
gave birth to the Rockefeller dynasty.
The dot com boom made fortunes
for people like Jeff Bezos
and Mark Zuckerberg,
and now you'll have the
corn shortage of 2020
making your grandmother the
richest person in the world
because she insisted on keeping
those jars full of pennies.
Yeah, now she's gonna be
the one surfing in Hawaii
with too much sunblock on her face.
You made it Nana.
(upbeat music)
President Trump, the rectangle in chief.
In the 47 years that he's been president,
we've gotten to know the man quite a bit.
We know that he doesn't fear the sun.
We know that he likes to go vroom, vroom
in a big cool truck,
and we know that kids love him.
One of the big thing
we've learned about him
is how Trump handles a crisis, right?
Because whenever Trump is
dealing with a problem,
he's got a certain set of
moves that he always tries.
Something like a video
game character, you know.
First he pretends the
problem doesn't exist,
then he pretends he's
already solved the problem,
and if that doesn't work,
he blames the media and the Democrats
for the problem he probably created.
Now, unfortunately,
none of those moves have
worked with coronavirus,
no matter what he tries,
it just keeps on spreading.
So yesterday, Trump had no choice,
but to pull out his superpower move,
changing his tone.
- A remarkable change of tune
for President Trump today,
the about face coming to ring
a late afternoon news conference.
- The president changed his tone today,
after months of insisting
that COVID-19 was in retreat.
He said it will get worse
before it gets better.
- [Reporter] After downplaying
the virus for weeks,
the president came before cameras
with a blunt assessment.
- It will probably unfortunately get worse
before it gets better,
something I don't like
saying about things,
but that's the way it is.
I have no problem with the masks.
I view it this way.
Anything that potentially can help
and that certainly can
potentially help is a good thing.
I have no problem.
I carry it. I wear it.
- Oh, no.
It looks like someone finally
got his COVID test back.
"Positive in a negative sense folks."
But yes, President Trump is finally saying
that masks work
and that Corona virus
could get even worse.
So basically, Trump has turned
into that one friend of yours
in the group chat
who insists on posting memes
that were hot months ago.
"Yo, have you guys seen baby Yoda?"
Now, I will say something
that I myself didn't expect.
It is actually a little scary
to hear Trump talk like this,
because like when a scientist says it,
it's because those are the facts,
when Trump says it,
it's because reality is so awful
that it's somehow cut through
the thousands of layers
of paranoid delusion.
Like you know shit is bad when
even Trump breaks character,
you know, this would be like,
if Barney, the dinosaur
took off his head like,
"(cartoon accent),
okay, kids we're (beep).
"We're (beep), it's not looking good."
"Are we going to sing a song, Barney?"
"No, guys we're really (beep), it's over."
"I don't think you're allowed
to say the F word, Barney."
Now, there are many reasons that Trump
may have suddenly shifted
his tone last night, right?
I mean, maybe it's because
he's struggling bigly
in the polls against Joe Biden,
or maybe it's because he
has a new campaign manager,
or maybe it's just because
he got his ass handed to him
in an interview on Fox news.
I mean, it's one thing to get embarrassed
by the liberal media.
He's used to that,
but when Fox news is
calling you out on your BS,
that's got hurt, man,
because now you're getting owned
in front of all your friends.
It's like getting a wedgie
at your own birthday party.
Whatever the reason was, though,
it should be obvious to anyone
with a memory better than a goldfish,
that this change of tone isn't actually
a sincere change of heart,
because let's just say,
we've all been here before.
- President Trump was
completely different in his tone
and in the way that he was
approaching the Corona virus.
- A dramatic shift in tone
from President Trump yesterday,
- [Presenter] President
Trump changing his tone.
- A real change of tone there
to say the least from the president.
A really sobering sense
from the president.
- [Presenter] And President
Trump just moments ago
with a somber tone.
- [Presenter] But again, the overall tone,
a lot more somber,
especially coming from President Trump.
- George, the president did
strike a very somber tone
in his latest briefing.
- Robin, he was as grim as he's been
through this entire crisis.
- Yeah, we've seen this
trick before people.
Trump decides to pretend
he's taking coronavirus seriously again,
and then two days later he's doing what?
He's tweeting that it's all a hoax
and we should just eat
our cereal with bleach.
So if the past is any indication,
Trump's somber new tone
is as real as his skin tone,
because deep down,
no matter how much he wants
to hide it, he's still Trump,
which is why even at a press conference
where he's trying to change things up,
he couldn't help but do this.
- [Presenter] The one moment
the president veered off message
when he was asked about Ghislaine Maxwell,
accused of enabling,
Jeffrey Epstein's exploitation of minors.
- I don't know.
I haven't really been
following it too much.
I just wish her well, frankly.
I've met her numerous
times over the years,
especially since I lived in Palm Beach,
and I guess they lived in Palm Beach,
but I wish her well, whatever it is.
- Okay, so just to recap,
Colin Kaepernick, son of a bitch.
Accused child sex trafficker,
I wish her well.
This is the one time when
nobody would have been upset
if Trump had used one of
his trademark insults.
Low IQ individual, horse
face, Haters and losers,
psycho, locker her up, anything.
Instead, this is the
time that Trump chooses
to suddenly become a feminist.
"She broke the glass
ceiling of sex trafficking,
you gotta respect that."
But look, aside from that one time,
when he wished an alleged
sex trafficker well,
he did manage to reign it
in for one press conference,
and I guess that's the lesson here.
As long as Trump sticks to the script,
doesn't tell us what he thinks,
and doesn't act on any
of his own impulses,
I mean, then he makes a
pretty dope president,
but if he's allowed to
actually do what he wants,
well, then America, I wish you well.
(upbeat music)
It's no secret that America is struggling
with the coronavirus, right?
And part of the reason is
that hardly anyone alive
has ever seen a pandemic like this before.
In fact, to find the closest one,
you have to go back over 100 years.
- The nation's top
infectious disease expert,
Dr. Anthony Fauci, says
this current pandemic
may match the horror
of 1918's flu epidemic.
- This is a pandemic of
historic proportions.
I think we can't deny that fact.
It's something that I think
when history looks back on it,
it will be comparable
to what we saw in 1918.
- Yes.
To find something similar to Corona,
you have to go back to 1918.
That's way back,
like back before they
even invented smiling.
"Would you like to try smiling?"
"But this is a picture."
"I know do something crazy."
(grunts)
"No, you're right, it won't work."
But what has America learned
since the 1918 Spanish flu?
Well, it turns out not a lot
as we'll see in another installment of,
"If You Don't Know, Now You Know."
(cinematic whoosh)
(upbeat music)
The Spanish flu of 1918
had a lot in common
with the coronavirus in 2020.
It infected millions around the globe.
It spread easily through the air,
through coughs and sneezes,
and through most of it,
we were wiping our butts
with old newspapers.
But the real similarities
between these two pandemics,
is in how American society responded.
For example, in both eras,
the pandemic spread even further,
thanks to the mismanagement
of the federal government.
- Since the start of the
coronavirus pandemic,
Mr. Trump has downplayed
the severity of the problem
as cases surge around the country.
- [Presenter] Woodrow
Wilson, during world war I,
tried to minimize the
Spanish flu epidemic.
- [Presenter] Woodrow Wilson
pretended it wasn't happening,
did not let people know
how to protect themselves.
- [Presenter] The president
effectively discarding
the existing advice from his government,
his own public health experts.
- [Presenter] Woodrow Wilson,
encouraged public events.
He told mayors and governors
to have military parades.
- [Presenter] Despite public warnings
against mass gatherings,
President Trump is encouraging
thousands of people to gather
for a fireworks display.
- [Man's Voice] You had
national public health leaders
saying such things as,
"This is ordinary
influenza by another name."
- View this the same as the flu.
- [Man's Voice] The Surgeon General said,
"If proper precautions are taken,
"you have no cause for alarm."
- Because there's no
reason to panic at all.
It's going to disappear one day.
It's like a miracle. It will disappear.
- Uh-huh.
Trump is making all the same mistakes
that Woodrow Wilson once made.
And I mean, I know we've said
we want him to be more presidential,
but not that president.
Sometimes it seems like
Trump is a Frankenstein,
but made up of only the worst parts
of all previous presidents.
You know, he's got the
pandemic responsibility
of Woodrow Wilson,
the racism of Andrew Jackson,
the horniness of Bill Clinton,
the vocabulary of George W. Bush,
and it's all stuffed into Taft's body.
Now, in both 1918 and today,
the lack of leadership created a vacuum
that allowed misinformation
and dangerous cures
to be spread as fast as the virus itself.
- [Presenter] As the corona virus
continues to spread worldwide,
the misinformation is spreading too.
- [Presenter] Donald Trump is pushing
the debunked conspiracy
that coronavirus was man made
in a lab in Wuhan, China.
- [Presenter] The
pandemic spread benefited
from misinformation.
- [Presenter] People began
blaming the Germans, (gun fires)
claiming they were spreading
poison clouds or that Bayer,
which was a German owned company
had infected their aspirin.
- [Presenter] The president
offers snake oil treatments
that have the potential
to do more harm than good.
- [Presenter] The president suggested
Americans could inject
themselves with disinfectants
to ward off COVID-19.
- The disinfectant (camera shuttering)
will (mumbles) it out in a minute.
- [Narrator] Snake oil
salesmen had a field day.
Vick's Vaporrub also advertised itself
as a remedy for the flu,
claiming to stimulate the mucus membrane
to throw off the germs.
- [Narrator] There were plenty of ads,
touting medicines, tablets,
and the use of disinfectants.
- People back in the day were so dumb.
They thought you could
spread flu through aspirin.
I mean, everyone knows that
diseases are spread through 5G.
Hello, it's why you turn on airplane mode.
I'll be honest.
I actually admire conspiracy
theorists back then,
because they didn't have
YouTube to spread their ideas,
which means to get people
to believe this stuff,
they had to go door to door.
(door knocks) Good day, ma'am.
The Rockefellers are
inventing a flu vaccine
that'll record your thoughts.
To hear more, please like, and subscribe.
I'll return here and again in a few days,
and if you like what I have to say,
well, I recommend my friend
who's gonna tell you why
the earth is really flat.
By the way, I'm willing to bet money
that that Vick's conspiracy
was actually started by an African dad
because then they try and
fix everything with Vick's.
"Daddy, I'm sad,
"can I get to hug?"
"You don't need a hug from me,
"you know what you need?
"You need to put some
Vick's on your chest, huh?
"It will warm up your heart. Okay?
(laughs) "Now go away."
And here's the thing.
What we saw in 1918 and
we're seeing again today
is that the lack of trust in leadership,
doesn't just cause the
wrong treatments to spread,
It also makes it much harder
for the right treatments to spread.
- [Presenter] Cities
recommended face masks,
though many residents didn't
take that suggestion seriously.
- [Presenter] Despite the alarming spike,
many people still refuse to wear masks.
- [Presenter] A mask mandate followed,
but not everyone complied.
- [Presenter] Masks are mandated here,
not everyone likes the rule.
- You guys are violating federal law,
do yo get that?
- [Presenter] One woman
declared the ordinance quote,
"Absolutely Unconstitutional."
- They say that it interferes
with their personal Liberty,
and it's unconstitutional.
- [Presenter] The anti mass
sentiment actually coalesced
into something organized.
Thousands protested
mandatory masking measures.
- [Man's Voice] Are you
gonna allow the government
to tell you you have to wear mask?
- [Crowd] No.
- You know, it's bad enough
that people today don't wanna wear masks,
but why wouldn't people
in 1918 wear masks?
I mean, the past smelled
like shit all the time.
Forget the flu.
I would have worn a mask,
just not to smell the horse crap
and the pre running water BO.
I also wish that I could tell
all the anti mask people today
that masks actually helped
bring an end to the Spanish flu.
Yeah, but knowing some of these haters,
they'd be like,
"Oh yeah, but if masks works so well,
"then how come everyone who
lived through that period
"is dead now?"
I will say it is depressing
that it has been 100 years
and masks are still our best invention
for stopping a pandemic.
Because I mean, if someone traveled
in a time machine from 1918,
they'd get here like,
"I've traveled into the future,
"pray do tell tell what
ways can you stop a virus.
"Do you have nose lasers?"
"No, we've got a mask."
"It's still a mask?"
"Yes, but now it's blue."
So the sad truth is so far,
America has repeated all
the mistakes with Corona
that it made during the Spanish flu.
And if Americans don't do
the very un-American thing
of learning from history,
then 2020 will be bound to
repeat the worst of 1918.
The second wave.
- [Presenter] Backlash
from business owners,
pressured cities to reopen.
As cities eased guidelines,
some were hit with the
second wave of the flu.
St. Louis, Birmingham and
Omaha saw an increase in cases
after lifting closures.
- [Presenter] Denver
reopens on November 10th.
With all restrictions
on distancing lifted,
thousands flocked to the streets
for an Armistice Day celebration.
No more than 10 days later,
signs that the city opened
back up too soon became clear
as the death toll rises again.
- [Presenter] In San Francisco,
when the cases went almost down to zero,
the city said,
let's open up the city.
Let's have a great big parade.
We'll all take off our masks together.
Because of that event,
two months later,
the great influenza came back roaring.
- Yeah, that's something we
all have to keep in mind.
The lesson of 1918,
is that bringing crowds back too soon,
will bring the virus back too.
So as much as I hate to say it,
we actually need to get Trump re-elected.
Yeah, because if there's anyone who knows
how to keep a crowd size down, it's him.
So that's where we are.
It's clear that nothing has
really changed since 1918,
except for the fact that now
our clothing shows off our butts.
And just like with the Spanish flu,
America has ignored the spread of COVID-19
until it was too late.
And even now,
America isn't taking the steps
needed to flatten the curve,
but remember it's not too
late to learn from history.
So America, put on a mask,
socially distance
because the way things
are going right now,
by the time 2120 comes around,
there won't be anyone left
to learn from our mistakes.
(upbeat music)
