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Apr 03, 2020
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all prisoners from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Since the implementation of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers from regions like Central America and Africa have been stranded in Mexican border cities waiting for their asylum cases to resolve in U.S. courts. We speak to Laura Molinar, founder and executive director of Sueños Sin Fronteras de Tejas, a Latinx, women of color-led collective providing support to immigrant and asylee women, children and families.
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Apr 03, 2020
Taiwan, despite being just 100 miles from mainland China with regular flights to and from Wuhan, has successfully staved off the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. The country has so far seen five deaths and just under 350 confirmed cases, and most schools and businesses remain open. How did Taiwan do it? "Aggressive action," says Dr. Jason Wang, the former project manager for Taiwan's National Health Insurance Reform Task-force. He is now the director of the Center for Policy, Outcomes and Prevention and associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at Stanford University. He speaks with us about Taiwan's strategy and what the world can learn from it.
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Apr 03, 2020
In the Philippines, authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he's ordered soldiers to shoot to kill residents if they resist a strict lockdown on the island of Luzon. His order came after residents of Manila's Quezon City shanty town staged a protest, saying they've gone hungry without food promised when the lockdown began more than two weeks ago. The Philippines death toll is 136 with more than 3,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. As those numbers grow, nurses and doctors report a drastic lack of personal protective equipment. While the Philippines has seen a surge in cases, Indonesia is now reporting the second most fatalities in Asia after China with 181 dead. Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan have also had success in containing the virus. For more on how countries in the region are responding to coronavirus, we speak with Natashya Gutierrez, editor-in-chief of VICE Asia.
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Apr 03, 2020
Nurses in California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada and Texas are protesting one of the nation's largest hospital chains for a "lack of preparedness" amid the coronavirus pandemic. They're calling on HCA Healthcare to provide optimal personal protective equipment, or PPE, for nurses and other staff. In New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, nurses and doctors at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx protested Thursday over the lack of PPE. Today another protest is underway in front of Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan calling for more PPE, better staffing and COVID-19 testing for frontline staff. Live from the protest, we speak with Tre Kwon, an ICU nurse at Mount Sinai West and a member of the COVID-19 Frontline Workers Task Force at Mount Sinai Hospital. Kwon ended her maternity leave early to help her colleagues address the COVID-19 pandemic, which is overwhelming New York City hospitals. Kwon is also a member of Left Voice.
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Apr 03, 2020
Nearly 1,200 U.S. Residents Die of COVID-19 in Just One Day, "Sheep Going to Slaughter": NYC Medical Workers Protest Lack of Protective Equipment, Trump Mocks States' "Insatiable Appetites" as Medical Supplies Nearly Exhausted, Florida Governor's Social Distancing Order Exempts Religious Gatherings, Coronavirus-Stricken Cruise Ships Allowed to Dock in Florida After Weeks at Sea, More Than 10 Million Americans File Jobless Claims in Just Two Weeks, Amazon Planned Smear Campaign Against Strike Leader Who Demanded Coronavirus Protections, New York City Urges All Residents to Wear Face Coverings in Public, FDA Approves Coronavirus Antibody Blood Test, National Academy of Sciences Warns Coronavirus Might Be Spread by Talking, Breathing, DNC Postpones Convention as Wisconsin Plans Primary Vote Amid Deadly Pandemic, COVID-19 Deaths Rise in Europe, But Italians Hopeful Infections Are Slowing, Civil Liberties at Risk as Authorities Deploy Invasive Technologies to Contain Virus, Joe Biden Joins Bernie Sanders and Other Dem Lawmakers Calling on U.S. to Ease Iran Sanctions, Indigenous Land Defender Zezico Guajajara Assassinated in Brazil, Border Wall Construction Will Spread Coronavirus, Arizona Residents Warn, Nicaragua Resists Social Distancing Measures as COVID-19 Cases Climb, Amid Pandemic, Trump Welcomes Big Oil to White House to Discuss Bailout, Trump Deploys Navy in Waters Near Venezuela, Escalating Campaign Against Nicolás Maduro, Beloved Brooklyn Teacher Sandra Santos-Vizcaino Dies at 54 of COVID-19
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Apr 02, 2020
After devastating China, Europe and the United States, the coronavirus pandemic is now intensifying across the Global South. The United Nations warns the pandemic is poised to destroy fragile economies in poor nations, decimating food security, education and human rights. We speak with Yanis Ben Amor, assistant professor of global health and microbiological sciences at Columbia University and executive director of the Center for Sustainable Development at the Earth Institute.
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Apr 02, 2020
In India, 1.3 billion people have been locked down for more than a week to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The country reports nearly 2,000 cases and at least 50 deaths. Millions living in poverty and migrant workers were stranded far from home when the lockdown was announced, and some have reportedly died making the perilous journey home. More than 80% of India's workforce is informal, with most living off daily wages often less than $2 or $3 a day — wages they cannot earn under the present curfew — and more than 4 million Indians are homeless. We speak with Indian journalist Rana Ayyub, a contributing global opinions writer for The Washington Post. Her recent piece in Foreign Policy is headlined "Social Distancing Is a Privilege."
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Apr 02, 2020
As the United States leads the world in coronavirus cases, the nation's healthcare system is already stretched to capacity and protective gear in short supply. President Trump and his health advisors say more than 100,000 Americans could die from the coronavirus in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, millions of people have lost their jobs, and a record 6.6 million unemployment claims were filed this week, on top of last week's 3.3 million claims. For more on the economic impacts of the coronavirus, and how Trump has responded to the pandemic by rewarding pharmaceutical corporations like Gilead Sciences and indefinitely suspending environmental regulations, we speak with Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen.
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Apr 02, 2020
As Global COVID-19 Cases Approach 1 Million, U.S. Emergency Medical Stockpile Is Depleted, U.S. Shipped Life-Saving Medical Equipment Abroad Even as Coronavirus Spread, New York Governor Warns of "High Death Rate" from COVID-19 Through July, Georgia Governor Claims He Was Surprised to Learn of Asymptomatic Coronavirus Carriers, More Governors Order Residents to Remain at Home as Trump Defies Calls for Nationwide Lockdown, Lawmakers Begin Planning 9/11-Style Commission on Pandemic, CDC Considers Recommending Everyone Wear a Mask in Public, Trump Refuses to Reopen Healthcare Enrollment as Millions Lose Employer-Based Coverage, Coronavirus-Stricken U.S. Aircraft Carrier Evacuated in Guam, New Orleans Jazz Legend Ellis Marsalis Dies of COVID-19, Fountains of Wayne Co-Founder Adam Schlesinger Dies of COVID-19, Top Coronavirus Expert Dr. Anthony Fauci Gets Security Detail After Death Threats, Driver Crashes Train Near Naval Hospital Ship in L.A. Port to Promote Conspiracy Theory, Bodies in Guayaquil, Ecuador Left Rotting in the Streets as COVID-19 Overwhelms Health System, After Hungry Residents Demand Food, Philippines President Orders Soldiers to Shoot Curfew Violators, Italy Trails in Counting COVID-19 Deaths as Vice President Pence Says U.S. Faces Similar Fate, Coronavirus in U.S. Jails a "Public Health Disaster Unfolding Before Our Eyes", Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Husband Shifted Investments to Medical Supplier Ahead of Market Crash, United Nations Postpones COP26 Climate Talks over Coronavirus Fears, Wisconsin Governor Rejects Calls to Delay April 7 Primary Amid Deadly Pandemic, Asian Americans Say Trump Stoking Racist Attacks with "Chinese Virus" Rhetoric
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Apr 01, 2020
Today is April 1, and millions across the country don't have the money to pay rent. But despite eviction moratoriums and relief on mortgage payments in hard-hit states like California, Washington and New York, no rent freeze has been ordered. In response, tenants around the country are calling for immediate rent cancellation. Some are planning to "rent strike." Meanwhile, many workers who lost their income due to the pandemic haven't even been able to file for unemployment in New York state, with the unemployment website continually crashing and phone lines jammed. Seven-point-eight million people called the New York state Labor Department hotline last week, compared to the average 50,000. We get an update from Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All, which is organizing to cancel rent during the coronavirus.
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Apr 01, 2020
New York hospitals cannot force pregnant people to give birth without a chosen support person. That's what an executive order released by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Sunday revealed. The order comes in response to a move by the NewYork-Presbyterian and the Mount Sinai hospital systems to bar partners from labor and delivery rooms, causing widespread outrage. But how are pregnant people coping with new hospital guidelines and uncertain conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic? We speak with freelance journalist Amy Littlefield, who focuses on the intersection of religion and healthcare, about what she is confronting now at the end of her pregnancy. Her piece for Insider is "I'm nine months pregnant, and I'm bringing my baby into a world I no longer understand. I have to remain hopeful anyway."
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Apr 01, 2020
The White House is now estimating 100,000 to a quarter of a million people could die from the coronavirus pandemic. Some of those most concerned about exposure to the highly infectious virus are workers on the frontlines of grocery stores and delivery services. On Monday, Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island walked off the job, and the company fired one of them in response. At least three employees at a large UPS facility near Boston have tested positive, and two dozen more have been quarantined. Details about the infections were shared by the workers' union because they said the company refused to provide the critical information to its employees. We speak with Richard Hooker, secretary-treasurer of the Philadelphia Teamsters Local 623, and David Levin, lead organizer with Teamsters for a Democratic Union and the coordinator of the UPS Teamsters United campaign.
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Apr 01, 2020
No Longer Downplaying Virus, Trump Says Up to 240,000 Will Die in U.S. from COVID-19, FEMA Sends 85 Refrigerated Trucks to NYC as Makeshift Morgues as COVID-19 Deaths Grow, As Confirmed U.S. Cases Top 188,000, Unhoused People Forced to Sleep in Las Vegas Parking Lot, Chicago COVID-19 Nurse Quits over Critical Lack of Personal Protective Equipment, Fed Economists: U.S. Unemployment Could Reach Record 32% in June, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Demands Release of All Jailed Immigrants Amid Pandemic, Captain Calls for Evacuation of Infected U.S. Aircraft Carrier: "Sailors Do Not Need to Die", Governor Won't Allow Sickened Cruise Ship Passengers to Be "Dumped" in Florida, Italy Holds Moment of Silence as COVID-19 Deaths Reach 12,000, Spain Records Highest COVID-19 Death Toll Yet, as Medical Workers Warn of "Inferno", Asylum Seeker Gets COVID-19 in Greece; Brazilians Continue to Protest from Home, Nigerians Fear Starvation as Africa's Largest City Enters Lockdown, Ugandan Police Arrest Homeless LGBTQ Youth for Alleged Quarantine Violation, Indonesian Drones Spray Clouds of Disinfectant, Raising Fears of Poisonings, CNN's Chris Cuomo Tests Positive for COVID-19 as Fox News Fears Lawsuits over Coverage, Federal Appeals Court Will Allow Texas Abortion Ban to Remain in Effect for Now, Trump Finalizes Rollback of Mileage Standards, Gutting Efforts to Stem Climate Crisis, U.S. Shifts Policy on Venezuela, Suggesting "Power Sharing" Interim Government
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Mar 31, 2020
In an exclusive Democracy Now! TV/radio broadcast, we speak with Tara Reade, the former staffer in Joe Biden's Senate office who has come forward with allegations that Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993. Last week, The Intercept reported that the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, set up to help survivors of rape and sexual assault, refused to fund a #MeToo investigation into allegations against Biden. Reade told journalist Katie Halper in an interview published Tuesday that Biden repeatedly touched her without her consent and sexually assaulted her. Reade approached the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund in January looking for assistance, but was reportedly told the fund could not help her because Biden is a candidate for federal office, and pursuing a case could jeopardize the fund's nonprofit status. Reade says she learned from The Intercept report that the public relations firm representing Time's Up Legal Defense Fund is SKDKnickerbocker, whose managing director, Anita Dunn, is top adviser to Biden's presidential campaign.
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Mar 31, 2020
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying condition: our epidemic of insecurity."
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Mar 31, 2020
U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 3,100 as Three-Quarters of the Population Are Told to Stay Home
, Trump Alleges Lack of COVID-19 Tests No Longer an Issue as Governors Denounce Shortage of Medical Supplies, NJ Nursing Home on Lockdown After a COVID-19 Outbreak Killed 8 People
, NYC Transit Passengers Call Out Dangerously Crowded Subways, Buses
, NY Rep. Velázquez Diagnosed with Presumed Coronavirus Infection
, Amazon Fires Organizer of Staten Island Strike Action
, Beloved NYC Transgender Advocate Lorena Borjas Dies After Contracting COVID-19
, Renowned Neurosurgeon Dr. James Goodrich Dies of COVID-19 Complications
, Protesters in Philadelphia, New Jersey Demand Release of Nonviolent & Immigrant Prisoners ,
GE and Ford to Produce 50,000 Ventilators as GE Workers in MA Demand Company Rehire Fired Workers
, Florida Pastor Arrested for Violating Public Gathering Rules
, Judges Strike Down Abortion Bans in Texas and Ohio
, Fired Peace Corps Volunteers Face Unemployment, Confusion Around Benefits , U.S. Military Reports First COVID-19 Death
, DOJ Investigates Lawmaker Stock Transaction Before Market Crash, Scientists and Medical Experts Develop New Theories About Spread of Coronavirus
, Spain Reports 800 New COVID-19 Deaths; Anti-Fascist Activist José María Galante Dies, Hungary Passes New Law Granting Sweeping Power to Authoritarian PM Viktor Orbán, Italy Reports Lowest Daily Coronavirus Case Count in 2 Weeks as Death Toll Tops 11,000
, Israel PM Netanyahu Enters Quarantine After Aide Tests Positive for COVID-19
, Afghanistan Releases Hundreds of Prisoners to Limit Coronavirus Outbreaks
, 1000s Gather in San Salvador to Demand Coronavirus Aid
, Indian Health Workers Hose Migrant Workers with Disinfectant
, China, Hong Kong, Singapore Impose Travel Restrictions to Prevent 2nd Outbreak of COVID-19, South African Police Officer Arrested for Allegedly Killing Man Who Violated Nat'l Lockdown, Despite Coronavirus Pandemic, Biden Continues to Reject Single-Payer Healthcare,
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Mar 30, 2020
We look at the crisis of homelessness during the coronavirus pandemic in California, where the number of cases has passed 6,000 with 132 deaths. The entire state has been ordered to shelter in place, leaving the state's massive unhoused population extremely vulnerable. As the state braces for a surge in cases, tens of thousands of people are living on the streets. A recent study estimates that nearly 2,600 unhoused people will need to be hospitalized for the virus in Los Angeles alone — and nearly 1,000 will need intensive care. We speak with Martha Escudero, a member of a group of unhoused mothers, elders and families who have moved into vacant houses, and Carroll Fife, director of the Oakland office for Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE).
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Mar 30, 2020
More than 100 million people across the United States have been ordered to stay home to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but what about people who are homeless? Tens of thousands of homeless people in New York City shelters and on the streets have been left with no way to safely shelter in place. We hear from people who are homeless, and speak with Kiana Davis, advocate and policy analyst with the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center.
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Mar 30, 2020
It's been described as the public health failure of the century. As the United States leads the world in coronavirus infections, a record number of Americans file for unemployment. Gasping for air, gasping for care; what does global health justice look like? We speak with two Yale professors who say decades of neoliberal austerity make it harder to fight the pandemic. They propose a New Deal for public health. Gregg Gonsalves is assistant professor in epidemiology of microbial diseases at Yale School of Public Health; Amy Kapczynski is professor of law at Yale Law School and co-founder of the Law and Political Economy blog. They are co-directors of the Global Health Justice Partnership.
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Mar 30, 2020
Trump Extends Social Distancing, Says U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Could Reach 100,000
, States Mandate Quarantines, Set Up Checkpoints to Limit Cross-State COVID-19 Infections , ER Doctor Who Blasted Lack of Worker & Patient Protections at WA Hospital Removed from Post, Coronavirus Cases Mount in Prisons and Among Law Enforcement Workers
, 9-Month-Old Is First Known Infant to Die from the Coronavirus in U.S.
, Cigna and Humana to Waive Copays for Coronavirus Treatment
, CBS News Executive and Cancer Survivor Maria Mercader Dies from Coronavirus
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New York Scrambles to Build Hospitals, Imposes Fines for Violating Social Distancing Rules
, NYC Nurses Protest Lack of Critical Equipment, New York Bars Hospitals from Banning Support People During Labor and Delivery, CA Gov. Newsom Says State Received 170 Broken Ventilators from Nat'l Stockpile
, President Trump Signs $2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Package , Millions of Undocumented Workers Left Out of Coronavirus Stimulus Plan; Dozens of Immigrants on Hunger Strike at Northwest Detention Center , Staten Island Amazon Employees to Walk Out as Workers for Grocery Delivery App Instacart Go on Strike, Death Toll Nearing 11,000 in Italy as Nations Hardest Hit by Coronavirus Pandemic Demand Aid from EU, Popular Japanese Comedian Ken Shimura Dies of COVID-19
, Police in Philippines Reportedly Are Locking People Who Violate Nat'l Lockdown in Dog Cages , First COVID-19 Death Reported in Syria as Libya Announces It'll Free 450 Prisoners to Stem Spread of Coronavirus,
Brazilian Govs. to Promote Social Distancing; Guatemalan Man Deported from U.S. Tests Positive for COVID-19
, Coronavirus Cases Mount in Africa as Governments Turn to Repressive Measures, U.S. Pulls Out of Third Iraqi Base, Civil Rights Icon Rev. Joseph E. Lowery Dies at 98
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Mar 27, 2020
As schools shut, public spaces close, and all but essential workers are ordered to stay indoors under shelter-in-place orders across the U.S. and globe, domestic violence services are scrambling to help vulnerable people navigate home lives that they say are increasingly unsafe during the pandemic. What happens when you're trapped at home with your abuser? "This is really a dire situation for a lot of victims across the country," says Katie Ray-Jones, chief executive officer of the National Domestic Violence Hotline and loveisrespect.
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Mar 27, 2020
We continue our look at the massive $2 trillion coronavirus relief package — the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history — with author Matt Stoller, who argues the country will be unrecognizable after this pandemic if big corporations walk away with trillions of dollars and no strings attached. Stoller is research director at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of the book "Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy." His recent column for The Guardian is headlined "The coronavirus relief bill could turn into a corporate coup if we aren't careful."
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Mar 27, 2020
As much of the United States is under lockdown, the House votes today on a $2 trillion emergency relief package to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. It will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations, and the vote comes as a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. We speak with Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress, about the bill, Trump's response to the pandemic, how she has joined calls for student debt relief and to release immigrants and prisoners facing infection, and the challenges African countries face in responding to the coronavirus.
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Mar 27, 2020
U.S. Leads World in Reported COVID-19 Cases as Hospitalizations Surge, Trump Doubts New York City's Need for 30,000 Life-Saving Ventilators, Politico: President Trump Failed to Follow Pandemic Playbook, Squandering Precious Time, Detroit and Chicago Join New Orleans as U.S. Coronavirus Hot Spots, House to Vote on Record-Shattering $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package, Three Unaccompanied Migrant Children Test Positive for COVID-19, Jailed Asylum Seekers Stage Hunger Strike, Demanding Release During Pandemic, Activists Demand Release of Aging Prisoners as Coronavirus Spreads, Hospitals in Spain and Italy on the Brink of Collapse as COVID-19 Deaths Mount, British PM Boris Johnson Sickened with COVID-19; Ireland to Nationalize Hospitals, Tokyo Streets Remain Crowded as Japanese PM Resists Calls for Lockdown, Health Official Fears 100,000 Deaths If Coronavirus Hits Camps for Displaced Syrians, Ethiopia to Release Prisoners over COVID-19 Fears, as South Africa Locks Down, Brazil's President Exempts Churches from Lockdown as COVID-19 Surges, EPA Indefinitely Suspends Enforcement of Environmental Laws, Climate Change Pushes Australia's Great Barrier Reef to the Brink, Supreme Court Raises Bar to Prove Racial Discrimination in Lawsuits, U.S. Indicts Venezuelan President, Alleging Plot to "Flood the United States with Cocaine", Liyna Anwar, Whose Battle with Cancer Inspired Bone Marrow Donors, Dies Aged 30
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Mar 26, 2020
As the coronavirus pandemic spreads around the world, we look at India, which is now under the largest lockdown in human history, with 1.3 billion people ordered to shelter in place. As the country's economy and daily life come to an abrupt halt, hundreds of millions of Indians who live hand to mouth have been left without the means to support their families. We speak with Amitav Ghosh, whose books include "Gun Island" and "The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable."
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Mar 26, 2020
The Senate unanimously approved a historic $2.2 trillion emergency relief package late Wednesday night to battle the unprecedented economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. ??The House will consider the bill Friday before it goes to President Trump's desk to be signed into law. ??The bill would massively expand unemployment benefits, providing laid-off workers up to 100% of their salary and health insurance benefits for four months. Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders successfully fought to strengthen the bill's assistance to laid-off workers, and voted "yes" even as he warned about the bill's corporate bailout fund. "We do not need, at this moment in history, to provide a massive amount of corporate welfare to large profitable corporations," Sanders said in a video explaining his vote.
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Mar 26, 2020
As New York hospitals see a surge in coronavirus cases, medical workers report growing shortages of protective gear, and a nurse who tested positive after treating patients with the highly contagious disease has died. "It's pretty dire inside New York City hospitals right now," says New York City emergency room doctor Craig Spencer. "We have a growing number of patients coming in every day with coronavirus. We have people young and old, with complications, without complications, who get put on mechanical ventilators, who get put on life support to help their breathing, who have cardiac arrest. It's a daily reality for many of my colleagues on the frontline." Spencer is also a survivor of Ebola, which he contracted while fighting its outbreak in Africa.
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Mar 26, 2020
Senate Approves Historic $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package, Republican Sen. John Thune Misses Vote on Coronavirus Bailout Due to Illness, New York City Hospitals Set Up Makeshift Morgues as COVID-19 Deaths Multiply, U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 1,000 as Louisiana Cases Soar, Pittsburgh Sanitation Workers Hold Wildcat Strike, Demanding Safety Gear, COVID-19 Claims Playwright Terrence McNally, Chef Floyd Cardoz and Fashionista Jenny Polanco, World Health Organization Urges Dramatic Action as Global Coronavirus Cases Near 500,000, Italy's COVID-19 Infection Rate Slows as Spain's Death Toll Surpasses China's, Indian Police Beat Curfew Violators on First Day of Lockdown for 1.3 Billion People, Kosovo Prime Minister Ousted over Coronavirus Response as Santiago, Chile Locks Down, New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern: Act Like You Have COVID-19 and Stay Home, Joe Biden Dismisses Bernie Sanders Challenge for April Presidential Debate, The Intercept: Time's Up Legal Defense Fund Refused to Support #MeToo Sex Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden, Trump Repeats Call to Reopen U.S. Economy on Easter Sunday Despite Dire Warnings from Health Officials, Federal Judge Orders Environmental Review of Dakota Access Pipeline
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Mar 25, 2020
Calls are growing for Republican Senator Richard Burr to resign after he reportedly sold up to $1.7 million worth of stocks after receiving privileged briefings about the coronavirus's threat to the global economy. ProPublica reports Burr, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, unloaded his holdings on February 13 in 33 separate transactions. At the time, he had access to classified information about the coronavirus and was receiving daily intelligence briefings. The stock market began plummeting a week after Burr's sales and has since lost about 30% of its value. We speak with Derek Willis of ProPublica, one of the reporters who broke the story.
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Mar 25, 2020
Puerto Rico announced a record $787 million financial package to fight the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic Monday, as the island's death toll hits two with 39 cases reported. The pandemic follows a series of devastating earthquakes in Puerto Rico earlier this year and comes as the island continues to deal with fallout from Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico's infrastructure and killed at least 3,000. "One of the things that I think is evident, with the Trump administration and FEMA, we have to continue to remind them time and time again that we are people and that we deserve to be treated with the same sense of justice, urgency and dignity as anybody else," says our guest, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.
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Mar 25, 2020
We go to Madrid, Spain, one of the epicenters of the pandemic in Europe, where health workers account for nearly 14% of the country's infections. Many face limited availability of protective equipment. So many people have died that Madrid's municipal funeral home has stopped collecting bodies. A large ice rink is now being used as a makeshift morgue, and the government plans to extend the state of emergency by another 15 days in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. "If Madrid was a country, it would actually be fifth in terms of death rate in the entire world," says María Carrión, journalist and former Democracy Now! news producer.
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Mar 25, 2020
As the New York metro area has 60% of all the new coronavirus cases in the United States and is responsible for half the cases all over the country, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the number of hospitalizations is expected to peak in the next 40 days as hospitals are already encountering shortages of equipment needed to protect medical workers and to keep patients alive when the city's COVID-19 cases peak in the coming weeks. We're joined by two people on the frontlines of the pandemic: Sean Petty, a registered nurse in the pediatric emergency room of a public hospital in the Bronx and member of the New York State Nurses Association board of directors, and Kelley Cabrera, an emergency room nurse at a public hospital in the Bronx.
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Mar 25, 2020
Senate and White House Reach Agreement on $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill, NY Governor Blasts Trump's Coronavirus Response, Asking "Where Are the Ventilators?", Two Georgia Medical Workers Die of COVID-19 Amid Critical Shortage of Protective Gear, California Seeks to Add 50,000 Hospital Beds Ahead of COVID-19 Peak, Washington to Inspect Nursing Homes After 37 Die of Coronavirus at Life Care Center, Minnesota Lt. Gov.'s Brother Dies of COVID-19; Sen. Klobuchar's Husband Hospitalized, Defying Medical Advice, Trump Calls for Return to Normal and "Packed Churches" on Easter Sunday, U.S. Immigration Agencies Quarantine Asylum Seekers, Rikers Island Jail to Release 300 Nonviolent Prisoners Amid COVID-19 Outbreak, U.S. Becoming Global Epicenter of Pandemic, as India Orders Lockdown for 1.3 Billion People, COVID-19 Deaths Accelerating Across Europe as Prince Charles Tests Positive, Brazilian President Bolsonaro Blasts Coronavirus "Hysteria" as Sao Paulo Locks Down, Locust Swarms in South Sudan Further Threaten Food Supply as COVID-19 Fears Mount
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Mar 24, 2020
As COVID-19 begins to spread in the U.S. prison system, calls are growing in the New York City epicenter of the pandemic to release people from Rikers Island, the second-largest jail system in the country. At least 39 prisoners and 21 staff at Rikers Island have tested positive. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday the city had released 75 people, but advocates are calling for the release of thousands more. We speak with Dr. Homer Venters, former chief medical officer for New York City's Correctional Health Services and author of "Life and Death in Rikers Island." His piece for The Hill is headlined "Coronavirus behind bars: 4 priorities to save the lives of prisoners."
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Mar 24, 2020
As Italy's death toll soars past 6,000, Cuba has sent medical brigades to combat COVID-19. Cuba has also deployed doctors to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Suriname and Grenada. "The arrival of a medical brigade from Cuba to Italy is pretty historic. You have a leading European nation accepting support in the form of a medical team from a small Caribbean island," says our guest, Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive at George Washington University. "It just goes to the history of Cuba's deep and long-lasting commitment to humanitarian solidarity with other countries." Kornbluh covers Cuba for The Nation magazine.
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Mar 24, 2020
As #NotDying4WallStreet trends on Twitter, President Trump defies his top scientists and soaring infection rate, saying he will ease restrictions soon to jumpstart the economy. We speak with economist Jeffrey Sachs about the stimulus package that failed to pass again Monday, as Democrats called the measure a slush fund for corporations. Sachs also led the WHO's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health from 2000 to 2001 and played a key role in conceiving and establishing the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which helped distribute new medicines to fight infectious diseases.
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Mar 24, 2020
U.N. Calls for Global Ceasefire So Countries Can Unite in Fight Against Coronavirus Pandemic, Italy's COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 6,000 as Spain Officials Say Nearly 4,000 Health Workers Are Infected
, Trump Says Country Will Be "Open for Business Very Soon" Despite Skyrocketing COVID-19 Infections
, 16 U.S. States Enforce Stay-at-Home Orders Amid Coronavirus Pandemic Affecting Over 40% of Population, Texas Orders Abortion Providers to Stop Performing Procedures, Texas Lt. Gov.: Elderly Should "Sacrifice" for U.S. Economy Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Man in AZ Dies, Wife in Critical Condition, After Couple Took Chloroquine to Prevent Coronavirus Infection, ORR Refuses to Free Migrant Kids from NY Facilities Where 3 Staff Tested Positive for COVID-19, NJ Plans to Release Some 1,000 Prisoners from County Jails to Limit Spread of Coronavirus, New York Now Accounts for Around 5% of All COVID-19 Cases in the World, Puerto Rico Passes $787 Million Financial Package as Coronavirus Pandemic Further Cripples Economy, U.S. Senate, Treasury Sec. Could Soon Agree to a $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package
, Federal Reserve Says It'll Buy Unlimited Amount of Bonds as U.S. Unemployment Skyrockets, Coronavirus Death Toll in Iran Approaches 2,000 with Almost 25,000 Confirmed Cases, Pakistan's COVID-19 Cases Top 900, Prompting Gov't Ban on All Int'l Flights; Saudi Arabia Imposes Curfew, South Africa Enacts Nat'l Lockdown; Prominent Zimbabwe Journalist Zororo Makamba Dies of COVID-19, Tokyo Olympics to Be Postponed Until 2021, Indonesia Reports Over 100 COVID-19 Cases as China to Lift Lockdown on Wuhan
, U.S. Cuts $1 Billion for Afghanistan After Political Stalemate Stalls Peace Deal
, Mexican Man Is the 10th Death in ICE Custody Since October
, PG&E Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter for 2018 Camp Fire That Killed 85 People, Colorado Abolishes Death Penalty
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Mar 23, 2020
As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. rises to more than 35,000, doctors are facing a desperate lack of supplies, and tests continue to lag. We speak with Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University. She previously served as Baltimore's health commissioner and the president of Planned Parenthood. She says healthcare workers are "putting their lives on the line every day" as they work in hazardous conditions with inadequate supplies, including N95 respirator masks. "First we're going to run out of masks, and then we're going to run out of doctors and nurses, because they'll become sick," Dr. Wen warns.
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Mar 23, 2020
Alarm is growing about the safety of more than 37,000 people held in immigrant detention centers and private jails that contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, where it is nearly impossible for them to avoid close contact to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Nearly half of those detained by ICE are accused of no crime other than civil immigration violations. Immigrants at three jails in New Jersey are now on hunger strikes over unsanitary conditions that put them at high risk during the pandemic.?? We hear from a detained person on hunger strike and speak with John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE during the Obama administration, who is calling for ICE to release thousands from detention, and Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, or CHIRLA, which just led a national effort to stop immigration enforcement actions.
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Mar 23, 2020
Global COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 15,000 as Italy Drafts Military to Enforce Lockdown, Angela Merkel to Self-Quarantine After Her Doctor Tests Positive for COVID-19, First COVID-19 Cases Reported in Occupied Gaza, War-Stricken Syria and Afghanistan
, Coronavirus Cases Mount Across Africa, Two Nigerians Overdose Self-Medicating with Chloroquine After Trump Praised Anti-Malaria Drug as Possible COVID-19 Treatment, Coronavirus Leads to Lockdowns, Travel Bans in Latin America, as a Colombian Prison Riot Turns Deadly
, Fate of Tokyo Olympics Still Unknown as Canada, Australia Refuse to Send Athletes
, India Locks Down Major Cities In Effort to Contain Coronavirus Spread
, 1 in 3 People in U.S. Under Lockdown as Cases Soar and Critical Supplies Dwindle
, New York Hospital Network Network Bans All Visitors During Birth, Including Partners, Harvey Weinstein Reportedly Tests Positive for COVID-19 in Jail, Coronavirus Cases Grow Across U.S., Trump Activates Nat'l Guard as Lawmakers Fail to Pass Coronavirus Stimulus Package
, New Evidence of Trump's Botched Response to Coronavirus
, Mike Pompeo in Afghanistan in Attempt to Revive Flailing U.S.-Taliban Deal
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Mar 20, 2020
As lockdowns and layoffs sweep the U.S., mutual aid groups are forming to protect and provide for the vulnerable, including the elderly, incarcerated, undocumented and unhoused. We look at the incredible community networks across the country that are coming together to protect their neighbors during the coronavirus pandemic — and how you can get involved. From Washington state to the Bay Area, Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota and New York City, thousands of mutual aid efforts are aimed at building solidarity, not charity. We speak with two longtime mutual aid organizers and activists in two hot spots of the pandemic. In New York City, Mariame Kaba is a longtime organizer, abolitionist, education and the founder of the grassroots organization Project NIA, which works to end the incarceration of children and young adults. She has raised tens of thousands of dollars and redistributed it to groups across the country in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and she just did a public conference call with Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on mutual aid. In Seattle, Washington, Dean Spade is an associate professor at Seattle University School of Law and founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. He is the creator of mutual aid resource website "Big Door Brigade":http://bigdoorbrigade.com/.
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Mar 20, 2020
As the worldwide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has topped 10,000, with over 250,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, we speak with Stanford University's global health expert Dr. Michele Barry, an infectious disease doctor. Italy has surpassed China in coronavirus deaths, and cases are rising in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, as the governor of California has ordered all 40 million residents to shelter in place.
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Mar 20, 2020
Worldwide COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 10,000 as Italian Nurses "Stop Counting the Dead", Refugee Groups Warn of COVID-19 "Carnage" in Camps Housing Millions of Refugees, Coronavirus Multiplies Across Australia, Latin America, Africa and Middle East, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Issues Statewide "Stay at Home" Order for 40 Million, New York Mayor Calls on Trump to Mobilize Military to Aid Overwhelmed Hospitals, Georgia State Legislators Urged to Self-Quarantine; Spring Break Revelers Party On in Florida, Demands Grow to Empty ICE Jails as NJ Detention Center Worker Tests Positive, Trump Blasts "Corrupt" Media at Rambling Coronavirus Press Conference, At Least Five U.S. Senators, Briefed on Coronavirus, Sold Stocks Before Market Crash, Unemployment Skyrockets as Estimated 2.5 million U.S. Workers Apply for Benefits in One Week
, New York City Workers Revolt over Lack of Coronavirus Safety Protections, India Hangs Four Men Convicted of Brutal 2012 Gang Rape in Delhi, Greenland Lost Record 600 Billion Tons of Ice in 2019, Indigenous People Left Homeless by Flooding in Ecuador's Amazon Region Blame Climate Change, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Drops 2020 Presidential Bid, Endorses Joe Biden
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Mar 19, 2020
"I would like to begin by announcing some important developments in our war against the Chinese virus. I will be invoking the Defense Production Act just in case we need it." That was the opening line of President Trump's news conference Wednesday afternoon. Later in the news conference, Trump was questioned by ABC News reporter Cecilia Vega on continuously referring to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus." A member of the administration also reportedly referred to the coronavirus as the "kung-flu." Meanwhile, racist incidents and threats of hate crimes against Asian Americans have emerged across the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. We get response from Elizabeth OuYang, the former president of OCA-New York, a civil rights organization where she advocated for victims of hate crimes and fair media representation of Asian Americans. She is a civil rights attorney and community advocate who teaches at Columbia and New York University.
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Mar 19, 2020
The coronavirus relief package signed by President Trump Wednesday provides unemployment benefits and free coronavirus testing to millions of Americans suddenly out of a job, but guarantees paid sick leave to less than 20% of American workers. Earlier this month, Trump signed into law an $8 billion coronavirus response package and has laid out the first details of a third, $1 trillion economic package and invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to allow the government to direct industrial production. For more on those bailouts and who benefits, we speak with Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor and chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute. He served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton and as chief economist of the World Bank. His latest book is "People, Power and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent."
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Mar 19, 2020
Author, activist and journalist Naomi Klein says the coronavirus crisis, like earlier ones, could be a catalyst to shower aid on the wealthiest interests in society, including those most responsible for our current vulnerabilities, while offering next to nothing to most workers and small businesses. In 2007, Klein wrote "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism." Now she argues President Trump's plan is a pandemic shock doctrine. In a new video for The Intercept, where she is a senior correspondent, Klein argues it's vital for people to fight for the kind of transformative change that can not only curb the worst effects of the current crisis but also set society on a more just path.
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Mar 19, 2020
Italy Records Record 475 Coronavirus Deaths as Infections Continue Climbing, British PM Boris Johnson Closes Schools After Reversing Lax Virus Containment Plan, Millions of Brazilians Protest from Windows and Balconies Demanding President's Ouster, World Health Organization Warns Critical Lack of Testing Is Costing Lives, Egypt Arrests Protesters Calling for Release of Prisoners at Risk of COVID-19, Yemen, Already Wracked by U.S.-Supported, Saudi-Led War, Braces for Coronavirus, Trump Admin Tightens Sanctions That Have Devastated Iran's Public Health System, Trump Signs Coronavirus Relief Bill Providing Paid Leave to Small Fraction of U.S. Workers, 150,000 Auto Workers Idled as Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler Halt Production, White House Invokes Defense Production Act to Order Manufacture of Life-Saving Equipment, Two U.S. Congressmembers Test Positive for COVID-19, White House Warns Millennials at Substantial Risk of Illness and Death from COVID-19, Hospital Workers Produce DIY Masks as Medical Supplies Dwindle, Celebrities Get Coronavirus Tests as Critically Ill Patients Struggle to Learn Status, Trump Doubles Down on Racist "Chinese Virus" Label, Air Pollution Plummeted as Coronavirus Crisis Idled Much of China's Economy, U.S.-Canada Border Partially Closed as ICE Says It Will Suspend Most Immigraton Raids, Georgia Department of Driver Services Shared Data with ICE, Asked About Campaign Plans, Bernie Sanders Says "I'm Dealing with a F--- Global Crisis"
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Mar 18, 2020
Mass shutdowns and layoffs due to the spread of COVID-19 are affecting millions of restaurant workers across the U.S., with bars and restaurants closing for the foreseeable future. Servers, bartenders, kitchen staff and more have been left in the lurch, many without paid sick leave, paid time off or benefits. One study estimated 4 million restaurant workers in the U.S. are at risk of losing their jobs in a matter of weeks. For more on the impacts on service workers, we speak with Saru Jayaraman, the co-founder of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and president of One Fair Wage, which has launched an emergency fund to support workers during this time. We also speak with Damani Varnado, a restaurant worker who has worked in catering, fine dining and cocktailing for the past 20 years in New York City. He was working at the restaurant Tiny's & The Bar Upstairs when the whole staff was let go during the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak is a "devastating" blow to an industry that had "severe structural inequality problems that existed long before this crisis," Saru Jayaraman says.
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Mar 18, 2020
Tuesday night's primary election for the Democratic presidential nomination was marred by chaos, confusion and fears over the spread of coronavirus at polling places as former Vice President Joe Biden consolidated his lead as he won Florida and Illinois by a wide margin and scored a victory in Arizona. We are joined by Vanita Gupta, former head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in the Obama administration, now president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights coalition. They issued a call with 100 voting rights groups for states to proceed with elections while protecting public health. We are also joined by Ro Khanna, Democratic congressmember from California and co-chair of Senator Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign.
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Mar 18, 2020
Amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus at polling places, many Americans stayed home. Nearly one in five households have already experienced a layoff or a reduction in work due to the pandemic. Trump wants to inject more than $1 trillion into the economy and send a $1,000 check to everyone. This comes as the Senate is set to consider a multibillion-dollar package bill passed by the Democrat-led House Monday night that includes significantly weakened paid sick leave measures. We get response from California Congressmember Ro Khanna, who has also co-sponsored a bill for an emergency Earned Income Tax Credit that would give up to $6,000 to everyone who made less than $130,000 last year. His Bay Area district has been hit hard by the coronavirus, and about 7 million residents there have been told to stay home for all but the most crucial outings until April 7.
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Mar 18, 2020
Global COVID-19 Cases Top 200,000 Worldwide with Over 8,000 Dead, Researchers: Left Unchecked, Coronavirus Could Kill 2.2 Million in U.S. , New Yorkers Prepare to Shelter in Place as Hospitals Face Severe Shortages, Coronavirus Fears Grow for Prisoners and Migrants in ICE Jails, Trump Admin Pushes Economic Stimulus Package Worth Over $1 Trillion, WHO Considers Airborne Precautions for Medical Workers After Coronavirus Found in Aerosols, Rewriting History, Trump Says "I've Always Known" About Pandemic, Internet Providers Drop Data Caps as Calls for Net Neutrality Grow, Biden Wins 3 States as Coronavirus Fears Cause Election Chaos, Sen. Bernie Sanders Outlines $2 Trillion Coronavirus Emergency Plan, Illinois Progressive Marie Newman Defeats Anti-Abortion Incumbent Dan Lipinski, China to Expel U.S. Journalists in Retaliation for Trump-Imposed Restrictions
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Mar 17, 2020
A teenager's website tracking coronavirus has become one of the most vital resources for people seeking accurate and updated numbers on the pandemic. The URL is nCoV2019.live. We speak with 17-year-old Avi Schiffmann, a high school junior from Mercer Island outside Seattle, who started the site in late December, when coronavirus had not yet been detected outside of China. Now the site has been visited by tens of millions, from every country on Earth. It tracks deaths, numbers of cases locally and globally, and provides an interactive map, information on the disease, and a Twitter feed. The resource updates every minute or so, and pulls information from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and elsewhere.
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Mar 17, 2020
As San Francisco takes the most severe measures in the country in response to COVID-19, telling 7 million people to shelter in place, we go inside the Bay Area's San Quentin State Prison, where two prison blocks are under partial quarantine, to speak with incarcerated journalist Juan Moreno Haines. We look at how the coronavirus pandemic is a growing threat to the 2.3 million people locked up in U.S. prisons and jails, as prisons across the country have been shut down in response to the spreading virus and calls grow for mass prison releases around the United States.
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Mar 17, 2020
Europe is the epicenter of coronavirus, and Spain now has the second most cases in Europe, with more than 2,000 new cases in 24 hours and the number of deaths doubled. We'll go to Madrid for an update, where more than half of the country's cases have been reported. This comes as the Spanish government announced it is nationalizing hospitals and private healthcare companies to better manage the pandemic. We are joined by María Carrión, a freelance journalist and former Democracy Now! producer who is also executive director of FiSahara and co-founder of Nomads HRC, which focus on human rights in Western Sahara.
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Mar 17, 2020
More Countries Enact Travel Bans, Isolation Measures, as Coronavirus Cases Top 183,000 , U.S. Braces for Spread of Coronavirus as Trump Lauds Gov't Response Despite Severe Lack of Testing, Stock Market Plummets as Trump Acknowledges Economy "May" Be Headed Toward Recession , Fire Kills Young Girl at Refugee Camp in Lesbos, Netanyahu Rival Benny Gantz Asked to Form New Government , U.S. to Pull Out of Several Iraqi Bases After Recent Attacks
, Mitch McConnell Urging Conservative Judges to Retire While GOP Still Holds Senate & Presidency, Gunman Kills 5 People at Missouri Gas Station
, Maryland Senate Passes Bill to Provide $580 Million to HBCUs
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Mar 16, 2020
Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders faced off in their first one-on-one debate Sunday night in the midst of an unprecedented national crisis, with 3,600 reported COVID-19 cases, 61 deaths so far, 33 states closing schools and mass shutdowns in major cities. The rivals clashed on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, Medicare for All, the climate crisis, Joe Biden's record and whether or not the U.S. needs a revolution. We play highlights from the debate and get responses from scholars Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Michael Eric Dyson. Taylor is assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton who has endorsed Sanders, and Dyson is a Georgetown University professor, political analyst and author who has endorsed Biden.
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Mar 16, 2020
Coronavirus Pandemic Death Toll Tops 6,500 Deaths Worldwide, About 170,000 Confirmed Cases, U.S. Coronavirus Cases Reach 3,600 as True Number of Infections Continues to be Unknown, Trump Tests Negative for Coronavirus After Being in Contact with Brazilian Official Infected with COVID-19, States Across U.S. Ramp Up Measures to Control Spread of Coronavirus, Including Massive School, Business Closures, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Rule That Would Have Thrown 700,000 People Off Food Stamps, AOC Confronts ICE Agent at LaGuardia Airport as 6 Migrant Children Detained in Texas Were Relocated to New York, Sanders, Biden Faced Off in First One-on-One Debate Sunday as Louisiana & Georgia Postpone Tuesday Primaries, Rockets Strike U.S. Military Base in Iraq Following U.S. Airstrikes on Iranian-Backed Militia Groups Last Week, 2 Men Accused of Assassinating Brazilian Councilmember & Activist Marielle Franco to Face Jury Trial, Commemoration for 1st Anniversary of Christchurch Mosque Massacre in New Zealand Canceled Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
, Trump Says He's Considering Pardoning Former Nat'l Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Unhoused Mothers in L.A. Take Over Vacant House, Demand Local Gov't Use Vacant Properties to House People Immediately
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Mar 13, 2020
It has been seven weeks since the first case of the new coronavirus was reported in the United States. President Trump is claiming, "Anybody that needs a test gets a test," but this is simply untrue. There have been just 11,000 tests so far throughout the United States since the coronavirus outbreak began, compared to nearly 20,000 tests for coronavirus every day in South Korea alone. We spend the hour looking at how the Trump administration has failed to account for what may be thousands of infections because of ongoing problems with access to testing, and how other countries have responded. We also discuss measures people must take to limit their exposure and protect their communities. We speak with Justin Lessler, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is the senior author on a new study that suggests the median incubation period for the new coronavirus is about five days. We are also joined by Dr. Steven Goodman, associate dean at Stanford Medical School, where he is professor of epidemiology and population health and medicine. He is also Amy Goodman's brother. Both schools are now holding classes online over concerns about the outbreak.
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Mar 13, 2020
Coronavirus Infections Around the Globe Reach 135,000 People, Nearly 5,000 Dead, U.S. Coronavirus Infections Quadruple to 1,650 as Actual Number Believed to Be Higher
, Dow Jones Plummets 10% in Biggest Drop Since 1987
, Trump Administration Faces Backlash for Handling of Coronavirus Outbreak, Testing
, Press Secretary of Brazilian President Bolsonaro Tests Positive for COVID-19 Days After Meeting Trump
, Philippines President Duterte Orders Lockdown in Manila Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
, Advocates Afraid of Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak in Immigration Jails Plagued by Medical Neglect, Democratic Presidential Debate Relocated from Arizona to D.C. over Coronavirus Outbreak, U.S. Launches Air Raids in Iraq Targeting Iran-Backed Militia in Retaliation for Rocket Attack on U.S., British Troops, Judge Orders Immediate Release of U.S. Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning After 1 Year in Jail, Trump Supporter Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison for Threatening to Assault & Murder Rep. Ilhan Omar, U.N. Warns Polar Ice Caps Melting Six Times Faster Than They Were in the 1990s
, Outdated Anti-LGBTQ Law in South Carolina Declared Unconstitutional
, Colorado Replaces Columbus Day with Holiday Honoring Patron Saint of Immigrants
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Mar 12, 2020
We get an update from Italy, where 60 million people are under an unprecedented nationwide lockdown and the death toll has increased to at least 827, rising by 31% in just 24 hours. Authorities ordered all shops closed except food markets and pharmacies. Italy's economy has all but ground to a halt, with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte describing the outbreak as the country's "darkest hour." Italian journalist Antonella Serrecchia joins us from Milan, where she is a reporter for the online magazine The Vision.
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Mar 12, 2020
As the number of coronavirus cases in the United States passes 1,300 cases with 38 deaths, more than 30 million workers lack access to paid sick leave. President Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night, saying he will expand sick leave as part of emergency response to the virus. But the same day, Republican senators blocked an attempt by Senate Democrats to quickly pass legislation requiring employers to grant paid sick leave. Meanwhile, Democrats in the House of Representatives will debate a package of bills Thursday to give workers 14 days of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave. Labor Department data says that one in four workers have no access to paid sick leave, including two-thirds of lowest earners. The U.S. is one of the only wealthy countries that does not require employers to offer its workers paid sick leave. We speak with Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute; Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union; and economist Robert Pollin, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
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Mar 12, 2020
After downplaying the threat of coronavirus for days, President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday from the Oval Office, calling COVID-19 a "foreign virus" and announcing an unprecedented travel ban from most of Europe to the U.S. He also said he will expand sick leave. This comes as Senate Republicans blocked paid sick leave legislation. Robert Pollin, distinguished university professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, says the lack of universal healthcare in the U.S. is exacerbating the coronavirus crisis due to "the absurdity that people cannot feel confident that they are going to get medical treatment" when they need it most. In 2018, Pollin co-authored a paper titled "Economic Analysis of Medicare for All." His forthcoming book, co-authored with Noam Chomsky, is "The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet."
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Mar 12, 2020
After a disappointing showing in Tuesday night's Democratic presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he will stay in the race. In his address from Burlington, Vermont, Sanders challenged his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, to address key issues like economic inequality, healthcare access and the climate crisis. Sanders is set to debate Biden this Sunday in Arizona. "It is not just the ideological debate that our progressive movement is winning. We are winning the generational debate," Sanders said. "While Joe Biden continues to do very well with older Americans, especially those people over 65, our campaign continues to win the vast majority of the votes of younger people. … Today, I say to the Democratic establishment, in order to win in the future, you need to win the voters who represent the future of our country, and you must speak to the issues of concern to them."
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Mar 12, 2020
World Health Organization Declares Coronavirus Pandemic, Top Italian Health Official Among 827 Coronavirus Dead as Italy Faces "Darkest Hour", Iran Condemns U.S. Sanctions as "Medical Terrorism" as Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 429, President Trump Announces Europe Travel Ban in Error-Laden Oval Office Speech, U.S. Labs Face Shortage of Supplies Needed to Test for Coronavirus, Sen. Lamar Alexander Blocks Quick Passage of Paid Sick Leave Bill, School Closures from Coronavirus Affecting Over 1 Million K-12 Students Nationwide, Bernie Sanders Promises to Question Biden Over Progressive Policies at Next Debate, Joe Biden's Brother Faces Fraud Allegations over For-Profit Hospital Ties, Harvey Weinstein Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for Rape, Sexual Assault, 1 British Medic and 2 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Rocket Attack on Base Near Baghdad, Supreme Court Allows Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy to Stay in Place, Jailed U.S. Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Hospitalized After Suicide Attempt
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Mar 11, 2020
The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has passed 1,000 Tuesday, with the rate of infections likely increasing. Despite this, the U.S. continues to lag on testing, and healthcare workers say they lack adequate protection and protocols to allow them to safely care for infected patients. They also say the country's hospitals are woefully unprepared to handle the crisis. Nurses in the hot zones of California and Washington had already reported having to beg for face masks and lacking guidance on how to address the virus. We are joined by Jean Ross, president of National Nurses United, the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States, which says Centers for Disease Control actually weakened its guidelines on responding to the pandemic by rolling back requirements for protective gear, not requiring infected patients to be in negative pressure isolation rooms at all times, and decreasing healthcare worker protections. In response, nurses with the NNU are holding a national day of action today to demand better protections for healthcare workers and the public. We are also joined by Alicia Garza with the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Black Futures Lab, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, and Naomi Klein, senior correspondent at The Intercept and the inaugural Gloria Steinem chair of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University.
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Mar 11, 2020
Former Vice President Joe Biden scored decisive primary victories Tuesday night in the key state of Michigan, along with Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho. Sanders won North Dakota and holds a lead in Washington state, but votes are still being counted, and the races are still too close to call. While Biden is less than halfway to the delegates he would need to secure the Democratic nomination, Sanders faces a decision about whether to continue his increasingly uphill fight for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination. This comes as Biden and Sanders called off their planned campaign rallies in Cleveland on Tuesday because of concerns over the coronavirus, which continues to spread, and Trump announced a new rally. We speak with Naomi Klein, senior correspondent at The Intercept and the inaugural Gloria Steinem chair of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University, and Alicia Garza, strategy and partnerships director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, principal at the Black Futures Lab and a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network.
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Mar 11, 2020
National Guard Deployed to Coronavirus "Containment Area" Outside New York City, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Bans Public Gatherings of 250 , Classes and Sporting Events Canceled as Coronavirus Spreads Across U.S., Top U.S. Health Official: Start Taking Coronavirus Seriously, Worldwide Coronavirus Cases Top 121,000, Trump Floats $700 Billion Payroll Tax Cut Decried as Stealth Attack on Social Security , Joe Biden Wins Four States Including Michigan, Building Primary Lead Over Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden Threatens Detroit Autoworker, Calls Him "Full of Sh**" in Argument over Guns, Bernie Sanders Calls Long Lines at Michigan Polling Places an "Outrage", Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Intensifies Crackdown on Royal Family, Russian President Vladimir Putin Moves to Remain in Power Until 2036 , U.N. Rights Chief Says U.S. Sanctions Causing Shortages in Venezuela, Saint Paul, MN Teachers Strike for Mental Health Funding and Multilingual Interpreters
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Mar 10, 2020
As the world responds to the COVID-19 outbreak, we look at how the Trump administration's immigration policies may put everyone at risk. We go to Seattle, Washington, not far from the Life Care Center in the suburb of Kirkland, which was the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. In nearby Tacoma, Washington, our guest says she saw posters in English only when she went to visit immigrants held in the Northwest Detention Center, which is run by private prison company GEO Group. We speak with Maru Mora Villalpando, an activist and undocumented immigrant with the groups La Resistencia and Mijente, who issued a call for public health inspections of the Northwest Detention Center, due to the danger of coronavirus within the facility, along with other demands for how ICE should respond to the epidemic.
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Mar 10, 2020
As Italy went on lockdown, nearly 30 prisons across the country broke into riots Sunday and Monday after visitation rights were suspended in response to the outbreak. In a prison in southern Italy, a riot left at least six incarcerated people dead and caused 50 people to escape. Prisoners have reportedly lit fires, charged guards and even escaped at multiple facilities. This comes as the United Nations confirmed that coronavirus had reached Iran's prisons, as the number of cases there continues to soar. Iran has temporarily freed some 70,000 prisoners in response to the coronavirus. And concerns are growing about the health of the at least 1 million Uyghur Muslims jailed in prison camps in western China, where at least 13 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the region of Xinjiang. In the U.S., New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing backlash after announcing Monday that New York state would respond to the growing coronavirus outbreak here by producing its own hand sanitizer made by prisoners for less than a dollar an hour. Not only will prisoners be making the 75% alcohol hand sanitizer for an average of 65 cents an hour, it's unclear if they will even be allowed to use it to protect themselves from infection. Items with alcohol are typically considered prisoner contraband. From Houston, we speak to Keri Blakinger, a reporter with The Marshall Project.
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Mar 10, 2020
The entire country of Italy has been placed on lockdown in an attempt to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, impacting 60 million people. People in the nationwide Red Zone will only be allowed to travel for work, medical reasons or emergencies until early next month. All schools and universities will also remain closed, major sporting events are suspended, and airline passengers now have to justify their reasons for traveling. We go to Italy to speak with Romy Kool, an international student at Bocconi University in Milan, where courses are now being taught online amid the coronavirus outbreak. We are also joined by epidemiologists Thomas Bollyky with the Council on Foreign Relations and Alfredo Morabia, professor of epidemiology at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, City University of New York, and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Public Health.
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Mar 10, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 113,000 people worldwide, and killed more than 4,000. We are joined by two epidemiologists to examine the response so far around the world and in the United States. Thomas Bollyky is director of the global health program, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the book "Plagues and the Paradox of Progress: Why the World Is Getting Healthier in Worrisome Ways." We're also joined by Alfredo Morabia, professor of epidemiology at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, City University of New York, and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Public Health.
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Mar 10, 2020
Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 4,000 with Over 113,000 Confirmed Infections as Italy Goes into Nationwide Lockdown, Six States Head to Polls as Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden Battle for 352 Delegates , Women Strike in Mexico, Take to Streets in Chile and Argentina to Demand Equality and an End to Violence, U.S. Begins Afghan Troop Withdrawal Amid Political Leadership Crisis
, New Reports Find Boeing at Fault for Fatal Crashes of Boeing 737 MAX Jets, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Puerto Rican Revolutionary, Dies at 89
, 2020 Izzy Awards Honor Journalist Matt Taibbi, News Inside and The Center for Investigative Journalism
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Mar 09, 2020
Erik Prince, the founder of the mercenary firm Blackwater and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, helped recruit former spies to infiltrate and gather intelligence about Democratic campaigns and labor organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers, according to an explosive report by The New York Times. The story exposes previously unreported details about the ties between Prince and Project Veritas, a right-wing group that often sets up sting operations targeting the media and journalists by recording covert videos. According to documents and interviews, one former spy recruited by Erik Prince helped run an operation to secretly tape leaders in the Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers in 2017. In another instance, in 2018, the same undercover operative who gathered information about the AFT infiltrated the congressional campaign of former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger, who was running for Congress representing Virginia as a Democrat. We are joined by The Intercept's investigative reporter Matthew Cole, who first broke the story of Erik Prince's ties to the Trump administration last year.
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Mar 09, 2020
Washington Post reporter Craig Whitlock has just won a George Polk Award for Military Reporting for his in-depth investigation called "The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War." He joins us to describe how, after getting a tip, he fought for three years to get the federal government to release a trove of confidential interviews it conducted with people directly involved in the nearly two-decade-long war. He ultimately obtained more than 2,000 documents that revealed how presidents, generals and diplomats across three administrations had intentionally misled the American public about the longest war in U.S. history.
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Mar 09, 2020
Since last month's U.S.-Taliban peace plan, there have been nearly 80 attacks in Afghanistan. The violence could derail the deal that calls for U.S. troops to withdraw over the next 14 months. This comes as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and top political leader Abdullah Abdullah both claimed that they won the presidential election at dual inauguration ceremonies today in Kabul, and members of the Taliban and the Afghan government were set to start direct negotiations on Tuesday. We speak with Washington Post reporter Craig Whitlock, who recently won the George Polk Award for Military Reporting for his in-depth investigation called "The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War."
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Mar 09, 2020
Coronavirus Cases Surge Worldwide, But True Numbers in U.S. Unknown Due to Lack of Testing, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders Rack Up Endorsements, Appeal to Voters Ahead of New Wave of Voting, NYT: Erik Prince Recruited Spies to Infiltrate Democratic Campaign and Teachers' Union, Tensions High in Lesbos as Asylum Center Burns Down, Greek Authorities Attack Refugees, Millions Take to Streets Around the World for International Women's Day, Guatemalan Woman Dies in ICE Custody, Trump Taps Rep. Mark Meadows as New Chief of Staff, House Dems Ask Court to Reconsider Enforcing Subpoena for Don McGahn, Bernie Sanders Releases Reproductive Justice Plan, Hachette Drops Woody Allen Memoir After Backlash from Staff, Ronan Farrow
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Mar 06, 2020
The makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court has come under intense criticism in recent years after two Trump-nominated justices joined the bench. Senate Republicans confirmed Neil Gorsuch in 2017 after having refused to consider President Barack Obama's nominee in his final year in office, and they confirmed Brett Kavanaugh a year later despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the judge. During the 2020 Democratic presidential contest, several candidates floated the idea of "packing the court" — appointing more than nine justices — in order to counter the court's rightward drift. But while the current Supreme Court often earns the ire of progressive lawmakers and activists, our guest Adam Cohen says it has actually been a force for injustice for the last 50 years, despite what Americans are taught about the court's role in protecting the rights of marginalized people. "The Supreme Court — which is an institution that we think of as the bastion of fairness, the advocate for the underdog — has actually been a major driver of inequality," says Cohen. His new book is "Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court's Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America."
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Mar 06, 2020
Senator Elizabeth Warren suspended her bid for the presidency Thursday, leaving the 2020 Democratic presidential race down to two older white men: former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. Warren's decision to end her campaign comes after she failed to perform as well as she had hoped in early primary states and on Super Tuesday, including placing third in her home state of Massachusetts. Warren gave no indication whether she will endorse either of her former rivals. Supporters of Sanders say they hope she will throw her support behind their candidate in order to form a united "progressive front" and take on powerful corporate forces now lined up behind Biden. Six more states are set to hold presidential primaries and caucuses on March 10, including delegate-rich states of Michigan, Washington and Missouri. We get response from Raquel Willis, a journalist and activist and former executive editor of Out magazine who had endorsed Elizabeth Warren for president. We are also joined by Norman Solomon, co-founder and national coordinator of RootsAction.org, which is supporting Bernie Sanders,
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Mar 06, 2020
3,500 Cruise Ship Passengers Quarantined Off California Coast over Coronavirus Fears, Seattle Area Residents Urged to Work from Home as Coronavirus Spreads Across U.S., World Health Organization's Coronavirus Warning: "This Is Not a Drill", Stocks Tumble as Coronavirus Rattles Global Economy, Sen. Elizabeth Warren Suspends 2020 Presidential Bid, Bernie Sanders Campaign Rally Disrupted by Protester with Nazi Flag, Russia and Turkey Agree to a Ceasefire in Syria's War-Torn Idlib, Israel Accused of Collective Punishment After Demolishing Palestinian Homes, Israeli Opposition Parties Bidding to Unseat Netanyahu After Inconclusive Elections, Secretary of State Pompeo Condemns Probe of U.S. War Crimes in Afghanistan, Cameroonian Asylum Seekers Transferred After Protesting Conditions in ICE Custody, Alabama Executes Prisoner Who Professed Innocence, After Supreme Court Denies Stay
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Mar 05, 2020
Long wait times plagued polling places in Texas throughout Super Tuesday, especially in districts with high numbers of black and Latinx voters and college students. Many voters reported waiting in line for more than three hours to cast a ballot. At least 750 Texas polling sites have been shuttered since 2013, when the Supreme Court slashed federal oversight of Texas and other Southern states under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. There were long lines, too, in Los Angeles, where many polling places reported problems with a brand-new $300 million voting system. The Sanders campaign sued to keep polling places open an extra two hours, saying voters were denied their constitutional right. The county registrar denied that request. For more, we speak with Ari Berman, senior writer at Mother Jones magazine and author of "Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America."
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Mar 05, 2020
On Wednesday, House lawmakers passed an $8.3 billion emergency spending package for combating coronavirus, as the death toll from coronavirus has reached 11 in the United States. California recorded its first coronavirus death yesterday. The virus has also spread to New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a directive requiring health insurers to waive cost sharing for coronavirus tests. We go to two ground zeroes of the COVID-19 outbreak — New York and Seattle — and host a roundtable on whether coronavirus presents a clear argument for healthcare for all. We are joined by Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a primary care physician and the co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program; New York state Senator Alessandra Biaggi, who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester, where four people have been diagnosed with coronavirus; Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York and co-founder of the Health Care for All New York campaign; and Kshama Sawant, socialist city councilmember in Seattle, where a ninth person has died from the virus.
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Mar 05, 2020
Coronavirus Cases Near 100,000 Worldwide as U.S. Death Toll Reaches 11, President Trump Contradicts WHO's Warning over Coronavirus Death Rate, Billionaire Mike Bloomberg Ends Presidential Bid, Endorses Joe Biden, Bernie Bashes Biden's Billionaire Backers as Healthcare Stocks Surge Post-Super Tuesday, International Criminal Court to Investigate Taliban, Afghan and U.S. Troops for War Crimes, 15 Civilians Killed in Latest Syrian Airstrikes in Idlib, Turkey Accuses Greece of Killing Migrant as Greek Riot Police Fire Tear Gas at Border, EU Ministers Support Greek Crackdown on Asylum Seekers Despite Protests, Federal Court Lengthens Stay on Its Ruling Against Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy, Tropical Rainforests on Pace to Become Net Carbon Emitters, Brazilian Officials Blame Climate Change as Landslides Kill at Least 29, Alabama Set to Execute Nathaniel Woods, Despite Evidence of Innocence, SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments in Challenge to Louisiana Anti-Choice Law
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Mar 04, 2020
Following his Super Tuesday wins, we look closely at the record of former Vice President Joe Biden, from his central role in supporting the Iraq War to expanding the so-called war on drugs. We speak with Branko Marcetic, the author of "Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden." Biden's approach to politics is based on "appeasing the right" and "taking the platform of his Republican opponent and trying to make it his own," Marcetic says.
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Mar 04, 2020
On Super Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden swept the South and Midwest, winning Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas, propelled by a huge majority of African-American votes in several states. We host a roundtable discussion on the results with Barbara Ransby, historian, author and activist adviser to the Movement for Black Lives; Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and president of Repairers of the Breach; and Elie Mystal, the justice correspondent for The Nation.
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Mar 04, 2020
The biggest voting day of the Democratic presidential primary has ended in a two-person race between former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. With more than a third of delegates at stake, Biden swept the Midwest and the South, winning Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Sanders saw victories in Colorado, Utah, his home state of Vermont, and the grand prize of the night, California, where Latinx voters account for nearly 40% of the population. His campaign had 23 field offices in the state. Latinx voters could also play a key role in upcoming primaries in Arizona and Florida. We are joined by Chuck Rocha, a senior adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign who has been called the architect of Sanders's campaign strategy to mobilize Latinx voters.
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Mar 04, 2020
Bernie Sanders Wins California as Joe Biden Sweeps the South on Super Tuesday, GOP's Jeff Sessions Faces Runoff in Bid to Reclaim Alabama Senate Seat, Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar Narrowly Beats Progressive Challenger Jessica Cisneros, San Diego Progressive Georgette Gómez to Face Billionaire Heiress Sara Jacobs for CA House Seat, Health Officials Warn Coronavirus Is Far Deadlier Than the Flu, Syrian Forces Recapture Strategic City as Turkey Shoots Down Syrian Warplane, Iranian Security Forces Killed 23 Children During November Protests, At Least 24 Killed as Tornadoes Lash Central Tennessee, Wells Fargo Says It Won't Invest in Arctic Oil and Gas Drilling, Clearview AI Probed for Selling Facial Recognition Software to Repressive Regimes, White House to Require Trump Loyalty Test for Political Appointees, Virginia Becomes 20th State to Ban LGBTQ "Conversion Therapy", Ronan Farrow Blasts Hachette for Publishing Woody Allen's Memoir, Mexican Feminists Planning National Strike Against Femicide
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Mar 03, 2020
Millions of voters in 14 states are heading to the polls today for Super Tuesday, as Democratic centrists coalesce around former Vice President Joe Biden as their best shot to defeat front-runner Bernie Sanders. Just ahead of the most decisive day of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar suspended her campaign and endorsed Biden on Monday. Her endorsement came one day after former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race. Both joined Biden on the campaign trail in Texas on Sunday. This comes as former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg — who has also presented himself as an alternative to Sanders — will be on the ballot for the first time, after passing half a billion dollars in campaign ad spending last week. Super Tuesday could also prove decisive for Elizabeth Warren, whose home state of Massachusetts heads to the polls today. We speak with Ryan Grim, D.C. bureau chief for The Intercept. His recent book is titled "We've Got People: From Jesse Jackson to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement."
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Mar 03, 2020
Today people in 14 states and American Somoa go to the polls for Super Tuesday. About a third of the delegates needed to secure the Democratic presidential nomination are at stake. This comes after former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race on Sunday and Monday and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden. As the race heats up, billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed to stay in the race. This will be the first time he is on the ballot, and while he has not won a single race, he does lead his challengers in one key sense: he leads in campaign spending by a wide margin. He recently crossed the $500 million mark in ad spending alone — more than 10 times that of any of his Democratic rivals. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders remains the front-runner. We host a debate on Sanders versus Bloomberg with Cornel West, professor of the practice of public philosophy at Harvard University, who has endorsed Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary and is his surrogate, and Congressmember Bobby Rush of Illinois, who is national co-chair for the Mike Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign. Rush has served in office for more than two decades — since 1992. He got his start as a civil rights activist in the 1960s. His background includes being both a co-founder of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers and the only member of the Democratic Party to have defeated Barack Obama in an election, in the 2000 Democratic congressional primary.
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Mar 03, 2020
Super Tuesday Kicks Off as Moderate Dems Coalesce in Support of Joe Biden, 6 Dead in Washington from Coronavirus, as Criticism Mounts over CDC Handling of Outbreak, U.S to Start Troop Withdrawal as Taliban Vows to Resume Attacks and Afghan Gov't Rejects Prisoner Swap, Migrant Child Drowns Off Greek Coast, Refugees Attacked as Asylum Crisis Deepens, Iraqi Power Vacuum as Caretaker PM and Designated Successor Both Walk Away from Post, Benjamin Netanyahu Holds Lead Over Rival Benny Gantz But Falls Short of Outright Majority, Report: 80,000 Uyghur Muslims Forced into Factory Labor for Nike, Apple, Revolutionary Nicaraguan Priest and Poet Ernesto Cardenal Dies at 95, SCOTUS to Hear Case That Could Determine Fate of Obamacare, SCOTUS to Decide First Major Abortion Case Since Trump's Conservative Justices Joined Bench, Argentina Set to Become Largest Latin American Country to Legalize Abortion, Chris Matthews Resigns After String of Controversies, Accusations of Sexist Behavior, ICE Transfers Cameroonian Migrant Prisoners in Retaliation for Protest, Interior Dept. Official Peppers Reports with Lies About Climate Change, Husband of Los Angeles DA Threatens, Points Gun at Black Lives Matter Activists
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Mar 02, 2020
The official coronavirus death toll in Iran, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, has risen to at least 54 — the highest number of fatalities outside of China, where the outbreak began. Experts say the real number of people who died from the disease may be as high as 200. This comes after Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, posted a video on social media last week acknowledging he contracted coronavirus. Just one day before, he seemed ill at a press conference, where he downplayed the spread of coronavirus in the city of Qom and said mass quarantines were unnecessary. Iranian authorities announced new efforts to combat the coronavirus on Sunday, calling on people not to use public transportation, and closing schools, universities and cultural centers. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak an international health emergency. We speak with Dr. Kamiar Alaei, Iranian global health policy expert and co-founder and co-president of the Institute for International Health and Education. He is a visiting professor at the University of Oxford.
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Mar 02, 2020
A wave of young progressives are campaigning in races across the U.S., following in the footsteps of Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who unseated a 10-term incumbent Democrat in New York City two years ago. A key candidate to watch is 26-year-old Jessica Cisneros, who is running in a South Texas Democratic primary to replace Rep. Henry Cuellar, one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress. The 64-year-old centrist is backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Cisneros has branded him "Trump's favorite Democrat" because he voted with Donald Trump nearly 70% of the time. Much of the outside support pouring into the contentious race has been for Cuellar, who received at least $40,000 from the conservative Koch brothers' political action committee and has major support from pharmaceutical companies. In contrast, Cisneros supports Medicare for All, the Green New Deal and "creating a humane border and immigration policy." She has also been endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. We speak with Jessica Cisneros, an immigration attorney who is running for Congress along the border in South Texas. We also invited Cuellar to join us, but he declined.
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Mar 02, 2020
British Judge Vanessa Baraitser has suspended the extradition hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange until mid-May. This comes after four days of intense deliberations last week between Assange's legal team and attorneys representing the United States government. Assange faces 18 charges of attempted hacking and breaches of the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. He could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. Assange has been held in London's Belmarsh prison since last April, when he was removed from the embassy by British police. We speak with Jennifer Robinson, a human rights attorney who has been advising Julian Assange and WikiLeaks since 2010.
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Mar 02, 2020
The U.S. has signed a deal with the Taliban aimed at drawing down its military presence and ending its 18-year war in Afghanistan. The long-anticipated deal comes after a year and a half of negotiations and following a week-long partial truce. Officials hope the accord will set the stage for a more detailed peace plan that creates a power-sharing arrangement and lasting ceasefire, but the deal did not include a key player: the U.S.-backed Afghanistan government. The Taliban has long refused to speak to the government, calling it a "puppet regime." Under the deal, nearly 5,000 of the 12,000 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan will leave the country in 135 days. The rest of the troops will withdraw 14 months later, if the Taliban comply with the terms of the agreement. We discuss details of the deal with Azmat Khan, award-winning investigative reporter, a New York Times Magazine contributing writer and a Future of War fellow at New America.
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Mar 02, 2020
The U.S. has signed a deal with the Taliban aimed at drawing down its military presence and ending its 18-year war in Afghanistan. The long-anticipated deal comes after a year and a half of negotiations and following a week-long partial truce. Officials hope the accord will set the stage for a more detailed peace plan that creates a power-sharing arrangement and lasting ceasefire, but the deal did not include a key player: the U.S.-backed Afghanistan government. The Taliban has long refused to speak to the government, calling it a "puppet regime." Under the deal, nearly 5,000 of the 12,000 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan will leave the country in 135 days. The rest of the troops will withdraw 14 months later, if the Taliban comply with the terms of the agreement. We discuss details of the deal with Azmat Khan, award-winning investigative reporter, a New York Times Magazine contributing writer and a Future of War fellow at New America.
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Mar 02, 2020
U.S. Sees First 2 Coronavirus Deaths in Washington as Cases Worldwide Mount, U.S. and Taliban Sign Deal Aimed at Ending 18-Year War, Joe Biden Claims Decisive South Carolina Victory, Buttigieg & Steyer Drop Out Ahead of Super Tuesday, North Korea Fires Projectiles as It Carries Out Military Drill, Study Reveals No Fraud in 2019 Bolivian Election That Ousted Evo Morales, Voters in Israel Go to Polls for 3rd Time in Under a Year, Greece Attacks Refugees After Turkey Loosens Restrictions on Border, Assange Extradition Hearings Suspended Until May, Wet'suwet'en Chiefs in Talks with Canadian Ministers as Fight Against Pipeline Continues, Cayuga Nation Condemns Destruction of School and Other Structures on Indigenous Land, Trump to Nominate Rep. Ratcliffe for DNI After Lawmakers Found He Was Underqualified in 2019, Court Rules Trump Appointment of USCIS Head Ken Cuccinelli Unlawful, Court Rules Against Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy, Then Stays Decision, Climate Activists Win Landmark Victory in Oregon After Presenting Necessity Defense, Over 80 Student Workers at UC Santa Cruz Fired for Striking for Living Stipend
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Feb 28, 2020
In New Jersey, hundreds rallied at the New Brunswick Board of Education meeting Tuesday night against plans to demolish a public school to make way for Robert Wood Johnson Hospital and Rutgers University to build a new cancer center. Protesters included families and more than 30 children, who held signs reading "Save our School!" and "Stop Gentrification." If approved, 760 third-through-eighth-graders at Lincoln Annex School would be moved to a former warehouse building on the outskirts of town as they await construction of a replacement school. Even worse, the proposed new school site is located on a "brownfield site" with possible contamination from hazardous chemicals. We speak with Democracy Now! co-host and Rutgers professor Juan González, who has been following the fight closely.
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Feb 28, 2020
In New Jersey, hundreds rallied at the New Brunswick Board of Education meeting Tuesday night against plans to demolish a public school to make way for Robert Wood Johnson Hospital and Rutgers University to build a new cancer center. Protesters included families and more than 30 children, who held signs reading "Save our School!" and "Stop Gentrification." If approved, 760 third-through-eighth-graders at Lincoln Annex School would be moved to a former warehouse building on the outskirts of town as they await construction of a replacement school. Even worse, the proposed new school site is located on a "brownfield site" with possible contamination from hazardous chemicals. We speak with Democracy Now! co-host and Rutgers professor Juan González, who has been following the fight closely.
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Feb 28, 2020
Thousands in the Dominican Republic took to the streets of the capital Santo Domingo Thursday to protest the abrupt suspension of local elections earlier this month and to commemorate the country's Independence Day. Protests have been ongoing since February 16, after the government suspended the municipal elections four hours after voting began, alleging there were "technical glitches" in the electronic ballot machines used. The machines were previously used in October 2019, and they cost the Dominican government $19 million. The Dominican people believe the alleged technical glitch is just an attempt by the ruling party, the Dominican Liberation Party, to hold onto power as they've lost support. Protesters are now demanding an independent investigation into what happened in the local elections, as well as for the resignation of Dominican election board officials. Dozens of solidarity protests have emerged around the world, from Spain and France to New Jersey and here in New York City. We get an update from Amanda Alcántara, Dominican-American journalist and digital media editor at "Latino USA."
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Feb 28, 2020
A new report by Médecins Sans Frontières — or Doctors Without Borders USA — shows how migration policies imposed by the United States and Mexico have trapped thousands of Central American migrants in dangerous conditions. Called "No Way Out," it is based on nearly 500 interviews with Central American migrants and asylum seekers, most of whom say they were victims of extreme violence prior to leaving their home country or along the migration route through Mexico. Because of the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols, which serve to deter immigration, asylum seekers are often forced to remain in Mexico, where they are often targeted by criminal groups.
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Feb 28, 2020
Across the U.S., officials report a severe shortage of test kits for coronavirus. New York officials say they're preparing their own kits, after kits distributed by the Centers for Disease Control failed validation tests. Meanwhile, new cases of coronavirus continue to spring up worldwide, with Nigeria reporting its first case and one of Iran's vice presidents testing positive. We discuss how MSF USA, or Doctors Without Borders USA, is responding to coronavirus, with the organization's executive director, Avril Benoît.
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