03/11/20 03/11/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! ofjust over a week ago, many the pundits declared this candidacy was dead. now we are very much alive. 2, former tuesday vice president joe biden scores decisive primary victories, including the key state of michigan, with bernie sanders slightly ahead, though

too close to call come in washington and north dakota. we will get response from naomi .lein and alicia garza then, , as the coronavirus pandemic grows, nurses on the frontlines are holding a national day of action to protest lack of basic protections for nurses and their patients. >> when something doubles every day, gets to very large number very quickly. so if there are 1000 people infected today, in seven or eight weeks, there can be 64,000 people infected in the state o f washington if we don't somehow slow down this epidemic. amy: we'll speak with the president of national nurses united jean ross. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

new york governor andrew cuomo has deployed the national guard to new rochelle, a suburb of new york city, ordering a one-mile containment zone around a synagogue whose congregation is at the center of the nation's biggest single largest coronavirus outbreak. national guard members were ordered to disinfect schools, to set up a coronavirus testing facility, and to deliver food to people on quarantine, including thousands of students forced to remain at home. this is governor cuomo speaking tuesday. >> it is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster in the country. and this is literally a matter of life anand death. that is not an overly rhetorical statement. amy: in washington state, governor jay inslee ordered a ban on community gatherings of morere than 250 people as a nursing home in king county

reported two more deaths tuesday, raising washington's death toll to 25. ththis comes as "the new york times" reports the coronavirus spread undetected in washington for weeks after state and federal officials rejected a seattle infectious disease exexpert's pleaeas to repurpopoa flu study to monitor for coronanavirus. by the time the researcher unilaterally decided to begin testing, two people had died and scores had become infected. in massachusetts, governor charlie baker has declared a state of emergency as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases hit 92. of the cases are linked to a 70 conference heldld by the biotech firm biogen in boston last month. in ohio, the campaigns of both bernie sanders and joe biden abandoned planans for r competig rarallies tuesday night in cleveland after governor mike dewine ordered all m major indor events canceled.

in contrast, president trump announced his next rally for march 19 in milwaukee, wisconsin, even though his own coronavirus task force encouraged people not to go to large public gatherings. across the united states, about 60 colleges and universities have canceled in-person classes and asked students to attend online. a number of public schools closed, affecting tens of thousands of students. the ncaa is planning to hold some march madness college basketball games in front of empty sports arenas. google told all of its 120,000 full-time employees in north america to work from home. coachella has been delayed. meanwhile, the federal government is deveveloping a pln to havave hundreds of thousandsf employees telecommute. at the white house, vice president mike pence said tuesday private insurance

companies would join medicare and medicaid in waiving copayments for coronavirus testing. coronavirus task force member dr. anthony fauci warned people to take steps to slow the spread of the disease, like social distancing and avoiding handshakes, washing hands, and staying home when feeling ill. . the country toe realize that as a nation, we can't be doing the kinds of things we were doing a few months ago. that it doesn't matterer if you are in a state that has no cases or one case, you have to start taking seriously what you can do now that if and when the infections will come -- and they will come, sorry to say, sad to say, they will. amy: the number of u.s. corovirus cases has toppeded 1000, with at least 3232 deaths. worldwide, there are nearly

121,000 confirmed cases -- the majority of them in china, where over 3100 people have died. in iran, there have been 291 deaths and about 8000 confirmed cases. iran's chief justice on monday ordered the temporary release of 70,000 prisoners to slow the spread of the virus. the united nations special rapporteur on human rights in iran respondeded by calling on auauthorities to r release polol prisoners still being held, including thousands arrested during a bloody crackdown on anti-government t protests last november. in europe, cases of covid-19 have now been confirmed in every country in the european union. hardest hit is italy, where authorities have placed travel restrictions on the entire population of 60 million people. in britain, junior health minister nadine dorries was diagnosed tuesday with coronavirus. her illness has sparked fears in the british parliament, which she recently visited, and at 10 downing street, the prime

minister's residence, where she attended a reception last week. other high-level european officials have also tested positive for coronavirus. that includes the president of the european parliament, the leader of an italian political party, the culture minister of france, and the secretary-y-general of the box partrty in spain.. back in the united states, t the head of f the centers for diseae control and prevention tolold lawmakers tuesday that president trump's expanded wall on the u.s.-mexico border would do nothing to mitigate the spread of covid-19, as president trump has claimed. cdc director robert redfield also agreed with a democratic lawmaker that it was wrong for republicans to refer to covid-19 as the "chinese coronavirus" or "wuhan virus." this week, china's foreign ministry condemned the rhetoric as a despicable campaign to stigmatize china. president trump and lawmakers opened talks tuesday on a

massive emergency relief package aimed at blunting the impact of coronavirus on the u.s. economy. trump floated the idea of a payroll tax cut that would eliminate nearly $700 billion in revenue from social security by the end of the year. the proposed payroll tax cut was attacked by economists who noted it would deliver most help to households least in need. and the advocacy group social security works tweeted -- "this is a trojan horse attack on our social security system, which will do nothing to meaningfully address the #covid19 crisis." meanwhile, "the washington post" reports the white house is strongly considering pushing federal assistance for oil and natural gas producers hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak and a price war between russia and saudi arabia. former vice president joe biden scored decisive primary victories tuesday night in michigan, missouri, mississippi and idaho. meanwhile, bernie sanders is

leading in washington state and north dakota, where votes are still being counted. he is not can with biden. while biden is less than halfway to the delegates he would need to secure the democratic nomination, he declared victory during a speech in philadelphia. >> i want to think bernie sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion. we share a c common goal and together we will defeat donald trump. we will defeat him together. amy: joe biden was speaking in philadelphia. he had canceled his rally in ohio, as did senator bernie sanders who returned to his home in vermont tuesday night and did not make a public statement. earlier tuesday, sanders stressed the dififferences betwn his campaign and biden's during a campaign stop in detroit, michigan. >> we are in michigan where trade agreements have been so devastated and the loss of over

100,000 good paying jobs, joe .iden voted for nafta i helped lead the opposition. statexit polls in every voting tuesday showed strong sanders'or bernie medicare for all program -- even in mississippi, where it has the backing of nearly two-thirds of democratic voters. but speaking on msnbc on monday, joe biden indicated that if elected president, he would veto medicare for all legislation should congress send it to his desk.

>> i think we will be at a point where it will be the prohibitive nominee of the party and i think the dnc come the democratic national committee, should then step in, make an assessment, and determine whether or not they will have any more debates. amy: on the campaign trail, former vice president biden on tuesday told a union autoworker in detroit he was "full of [bleep]" and threatened to fight him. biden made the threat during a photo-op at detroit's first new auto assembly plant to be built in decades. the exchange began when the autoworker accused biden of actively trying to end the second amendment. after cursing at the man, biden repeatedly told a female aide to "shush!" before touting his

ownership of shot guns and saying he supports the second amendment. biden threatened to slap the man in the face and threatened to take him outside for a fight. during the exchange, biden also mistakenly referred to the ar-15 semiautomatic assault rifle as an "ar-14." there were reports of irregularities at many polling sites during tuesday's primaries. in missouri, some would-be voters in st. louis county left long lines at dozens of precincts without casting a ballot after the county's electronic poll books failed. in kansas city, mayor quinton lucas was turned away from the polls tuesday morning and told he wasn't in the system, even though he's voted in the same precinct since 2009. mayor lucas had just posted a video to social media stressing the importance of voting. in michigan, disabled voters reported problems voting in detroit and dearborn. and college students in ann arbor and east lansing reported long lines with wait times of up to two hours. in a statement, senator bernie

sanders called the voting problems an outrage, writing -- "at a time when democrats correctly attack republicans for voter suppression, it is disappointing to see people standing in long lines for hours today waiting to vote in michigan and around the country. people should not have to miss a day of work to exercise their right to vote." bernie sanders said in a statement. we'll have the latest on the dedecratic preresidential race after headlines with journalist and activist naomi klein and alicia garza, co-founder of the black lives matter global network. in saudi arabia, reports have emerged of a new crackdown on senior royal members and top officials as crown prince mohammed bin salman appears to be renewing efforts to consolidate power in the kingdom. at least four prominent members of the royal family have reportedly been detained. in russia, president vladimir putin has endorsed a plan that would allow him to remain in power until 2036. the legislation was approved by the lower house of russia's

parliament, the duma, on but must still be approved by tuesday russia's constitutional court and a public referendum to be held in april. putin had already proposed constitutional changes that would allow him to remain in power beyond 2024. in venezuela, security forces tuesday tear-gassed protesters led by venezuelan opposition leader juan guaido to prevent them from marching on the national assembly, which is currently under the control of pro-government lawmakers. this is the first protest triggered by quite a -- gaudio after he led an international tour hoping to win support for the ouster of venezuelan president nicolas maduro. gaudio is reportedly trying to revive these efforts as the country's economic crisis continues to worsen. meanwhile, united nations high commissioner for human rights michelle bachelet warned u.s.-imposed sanctions on venezuela's airline and oil industries are decimating social spending and leading to shortages of food and medicine. bachelet was speaking at the u.n. human rights coununcil in geneva tuesday. >> and economic and social rights, i'm concerned about new

economic sanctions, particularly those that affect airlines and the sanctions on the oil industry and changing the use of government expenditures that are meant to be used for social ends. also importing food, medication, anand hunitatari aid.. amy: in minnesota, tususandsf unn teteacrs andndther schl ststf in the city ofaiaint pl began a rike tuesday aft negotiioions f a n newontracac agreement with the cy'y'schohool district bkeke dow the st. papaulederatioion of educators representatives, which represents some 3600 educators and school staff, are demanding funding for mental health services for students, as well as more multilingual interpreters and special education funding. and a slight correction, south carolina congressmember clyburn said it was the dnc should shut the primary down at this and point. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. former v vice president joe bidn scored decisive primary

victories tuesday night in the key state of michigan along with missouri, mississippi, and idaho. sanders holds leads in north dakota and 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, he declared victory during a speech in philadelphia. >> just over a week ago, many of the pundits declared that this candidacy was dead. now we are very much alive. it looks likike we're going to have another good night. bernie sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion. we share a a common goal.l. and together we will defeat donald trump. we will defeat him together. juan: as biden appealed to the supporters of his rival, senator bernie sanders returned to his

home in vermont tuesday night and did not make a public statement. but one of his most prominent supporters, representative alexandria ocasio-cortez expressed her disappointment on , instagram. >> there is no sugarcoating it, tonight is a tough night. tonight is a tough night for the movement overall. amy: less than two weeks after losing his front-runner status, sanders faces a decision about whether to continue his increasingly uphill fight for the democratic party's 2020 presidential nomination. south carolina congressman jim clyburn, the number three house democrat who earlier helped lead biden to victory in south carolina, told npr if sanders did not win more delegates, then it is time to "shut this primary down." apparently, suggesting the democratic national committee should cancel future debates like t the one scheduled this sunday. >> i think we will be at a point

where joe biden will be the prohibitive nominee of the party . and i think the dnc, the democratic national committee, should then step in, make an assessment, and determine whether or not he will have any more debates. amy: as the primary results came, longtime democratic parary strategist james carville claimed on msnbc that biden's success means it is now time to end d the demomocratic primary. >> this is allll about novememb. across thetst look all people sayaying, we made our decision. this is whwho we are going with. let's shut this pupuppy down and move on and worry aboutut november. this thing is decided. there's no reason to keep it going even a day longer. amy: all o of this comes as bidn and sanders s called off theheir planned campaign rallies in cleveland on tuesday night

because of concerns over the coronavirus, which continues to spread. in contrast, president trump announced his plans last night to launch a "catholics for trump" coalition at a rally on march 19 in milwaukee, where the democratic national convention is set to take place in july. if in fact it does. for more, we're joined by naomi klein, senior correspondent at the intercept and the inaugural gloria steinem chair of media, culture, and feminist studies at rutgers university. which looks like it is going to be online. her new book is titled "on fire: the case for a green new deal." alicia garza is the principal at the black futures lab and a cofounder of the black lives matter global network. she is joining us from berkeley, california. we welcome you both to democracy

now! naomi, let's begin with you. we are spending the hour and in a little while we will be joined by the president of the national nurses united union, and we're going to talk about the primaries, coronavirus, what the pandemic means. at this latest quotes we hearing after super tuesday 2 finished last night, shutting this puppy down, and clyburn, the south carolina congressman calling on the dnc to end the primaries with biden in the lead at this point. your thoughts? >> i think it is part of a reckless pattern of trying to keep joe biden away from voters. ever since there has been this era of inevitability -- it is the short period of time. we are living in dog years now, but it was just more than a week win in south

carolina where we saw this extremely orchestrated show of unity from the democratic party, convention a mini with amy klobuchar, pete buttigieg, hillary clinton -- it really was like we are united as a party behind this candidate andr he had won one primary lost badly the three previous ones. since that time, there's not been a debate. there's been very controlled media access. and now on the eve of the moment when joe biden -- who absolutely had a very good night last night and as alexandria ocasio-cortez sugarcoating no should h this -- there are real issues they have to address, but deserves this opportunity to put the very different platforms to voters in the midst of a health aisis and an economic crisis,

deepening and spiraling xenophobia crisis. we need to debate issues. and everybody is talking about shutting it down in unity, are talking about protecting the candidate from voters and donald trump is not going to shut any puppies down. he is going to go after joe biden with the gloves off. i know a spy below to say while back that bernie sanders has not been vetted. look, joe biden before that fateful primary day in south carolina, had been written up by many of the pundits who are now saying he is inevitable. so it has been months since we have put real scrutiny on this candidate with the full spotlight of a presidential debate, and we absolutely have to do it. juan: naomi, i agree with you completely that the establishment consolidate behind joe biden at almost lightning speed -- which i think should

have been something expected by the progressive movement because clearly we're not going to get bernie sanders a clear ride to the nomination. i want to ask you about the vote in michigan specifically. from what i can tell, and i'm just doing a, there were at least one point finally people who voted in michigan last night. that is about a 50% increase over the votes from 2016. there is a doozy as in by the electorate to get involved in the political process. the interesting thing to me was from what i can tell, bernie sanders vote increased by 7000 votes. in other words, he basically got the same number about this time that he got last time. amy: and he won last time. juan: but he had a much lower turnout so that is why hillary clinton did up defeating. independents and republican voters as well were included. so there could've been a shift in people who joined last time

to vote against hillary clinton and then this time decided to stay out. but there clearly seems to be an indication that bernie sanders had solid support, but is not growing his support from beyond his previous number. i am wondering what you're thinking about what the campaign needs to do to change its strategy and the remaining primaries? >> well, there is no doubt they have to do much more to reach out to older voters. in particular, older african-american voters. but across the board. bernie sanders' campaign has been a youth-led campaign. it is strong and certain communities and remarkable way. in the latino community, very strong. in nevada -- in michigan, we also saw extraordinary support in the muslim community, which isis a story that i think is que a beautiful story that we have this first jewish presidential candidate who actually has a

chance, and yes this amazing base of support in the muslim community. we should be celebrating that. but that isn't the story we have been reading in the papers and hearing talked about on television. but there is no doubt this is a campaign that needs to do more to reach voters who are feeling really scared and are reaching for something familiar, something that feels solid, and are afraid of taking a risk. the message that sanders is riskier than biden is a message that has gotten through in the press. here's the truth, juan. both candidates carry risk. i say this as someone who strongly supports bernie sanders. there is no doubt there are risks associated with the candidate who has described himself as a democratic-socialist for years. it is also true that we know from 2016 that it is risky to have a candidate who is associated with all of the

neoliberal baggage of the democratic party, a candidate who has lied repeatedly, who is confused repeatedly, who has all of these other risks. that's have a real conversation about risks and make the case to the american public about which candidate offers -- everyone carries risks, but who offers most promise? we have not had that debate yet. amy: they're supposed to be a debate on sunday night, supposed to take place in phoenix, and the biden and sanders campaign were arguing about how it should be carried out, sitting or standing. sanders did not wanted to be a town hall format, which the dnc and cnn were pushing for. the idea of people in the audience asking questions as well. he wanted it had to head. now there will be no audience because of the coronavirus. i wanted to bring alicia garza into this conversation. we will be talking with her not

only about the primaries, but also about this time in which they're taking place, primaries and a time of coronavirus. alicia garza, last night when the statements were coming out of commerce member clyburn -- congress member clyburn and james carville and others, tweeted this is very disturbing, especially because that is not how any of this is supposed to work. i could not agree more. keep the debates, make sure the issues that black people care about are being discussed and also biden needs to work for these votes. now, you have been a supporter of elizabeth warren. naomi is a supporter of bernie sanders. talk about your reaction last night. i should add, by the way, as we are speaking now, north dakota has just been called for bernie sanders. his first victory of super tuesday night, vice president has won four states and they are net in net in washington state,

though people are encouraged not to let their stance because -- it is a male and state and people were encouraged to not lick their envelopes. that lastt agree more and inas a challenging some ways s disappointing eveni. what israel is when we are talking about the democratic national convention, we need to make sure that we are literally ensuringng the integrity of the process and the integrity of the process is not about skipping steps.s. it is about letting voters here from candidate about the issues that are important to us. and the reality is, the last few debates that we had have been full of candidates -- and frankly, i think a lot of voters felt like confused about where people stood on issues that

mattered to them. of course, there were lots of skirmishes happening between candidate as well. one of my favorites was elizabeth warren literally ethering michael bloomberg around his record with women and his record on the economy. beyond that, i think what israel is we are saying, sure, there are a lot of voters turning out to make their presencee heard ad i think we have to be a lot clearer about the message that black voters are sending.. some of this is about trust. some of this is about fear. some of this is about beating donald trump. but i think this is also about a level of familiarity. in t that level of familiarity,i think one of the things that black voters -- and we are not a monolith -- but one of the things that black communities stands to lose by following such a recommendation as the one that representative clyburn made last night is that we don't actually

get to litigate the candidates who are left on the issues that are important to us. i don't know about you, but i'm not totally clear, what is joe biden's policy platform? how does that relate to improving the lives of black community's across the what i live in? that is what these debates are for. that is what this party is for, quite frankly. it is not to skip steps, rushed process. it is to make sure that voters not only feel informed about what these candidates are saying they're going to do to represent but push candidates on issues that have not spoken about and an opportunity to shape the issues that come out of the party itself. we all know what happens at the dnc in july is not just choosing the nominee, it is actually choosing the platform and the program for the party as a whole over the next four years. so i would say we deserve much better than a rushed process that presumes 70 to be the

nominee that, frankly, i think a lot of voters are still questioning what are your policy positions? what is your position? and what are the things you're going to do to represent ass knowing we are not going back to an obama white house, that we are going into hopefully a post from white house?? which is a very different political landscape. i think like vototers in partrticular, especially as they have turned out t and shaved contests across this country, we do deserve to hear more about what you're going to do to advance the issues that i think all of us care about. the issues of health care. the issues of community safety and security. the issue of climate change and what is happening in our environment all around us. the issues of low wages that are keeping families from being able to support themsmselves. and, of course, you're right that we are now moving into a period where we are also fighting a global pandemic.

and we are doing so under an administration that has proven itself to be incredibly incompetent in terms of not only mitigating the challenges, but also projecting a forward division. so as a result, there are more than 1000 cases of people across this country who have fallen ill and we still don't have enough tests, not enough medical equipment, and don't have a net protection for the workers who are taking care of people who are sick. there's a lot at stake in this next season. juan: i wanted to ask you about in situation both last night washington. some of the exit polls from nbc indicate not only was there sharp gender divide in the vote with biden getting substantially more votes from women than men, but also that the late-breaking voters -- many of elizabeth

broke class white women for biden at the end. i am wondering since you are a backer of elizabeth warren, from your perspective, it was the right call for her to not make an endorsement, to sit out this portion of the democratic primaries? and your sense of how that affected her supporters. >> i think the progressive movement missed big opportunity to unite behind both warren and sanders in a front that would have produced -- pushed a progressive nominee into the convention. we also knew that elizabeth warren was the coalition candidate and was able to actually bring together many differenent segments of the democratic party, which is necessary to win. but it is also necessary to win is the movement that bernie sanders and his campaign has built with newer voters and younger voters and more diverse

voters. those factions needed to come together to unite against the status quote candidate and we have not taken advantage of that opportunity. with that being said, i think now voters are choosing where they want to go and choosing between bernie sanders and joe biden. some of elizabeth warren's supporters have broken towards bernie sanders and others have broken towards joe biden. i think the bigger conversation is, what will the progressive movement do moving forward? it is the voters prerogative to decide who they think is the best candidate, and that actually has more to do with the organizing of those campaigns. [no audio]

i agree with all of the people saying she does not owe anything to bernie sanders. i do believe as an elected politician who ran on the form of medicare for all of a green up forl, of standing migrant rights and standing up against racism and standing up

for women's rights, that she owes it to those issues because she has spent her political whatr attacking so much of joe biden stands for. if her critique of bernie sanders is that he needs to get things done as well as she does, would have loved for her to say, ok, now i'm going to help you get things done. i know our movement would have welcomed her with open arms. i really reject the idea that it is some kind of antifeminist issue say to elizabeth warren, we need you to stand with us because it is not about bernie. people in this movement are not fighting for bernie sanders. they're fighting for medicare for all, fighting for a green new deal, fighting for the issues they need to survive. amy: we are going to come back to this discussion and so much more, especially as we conduct this broadcast in the midst of this time of the coronavirus pandemic. we are also going to be joined by the president of national nurses united.

naomi klein is with us, senior correspondent at the intercept. she is professor of media, culture, and feminist studies at rutgers university. juan is the university yet online and the school itself closed? stop no, classes will tomorrow and after sprpring bre, will be going online. plus, all of the studedents are urged to leave the dormitories as well. amy: fascinatingly, here in new york, it looks like most of the private colleges that have gone online close like columbia and barnard and nyu. cuny, there's a massive edition online sign, why haven't you also let us go online? we will see what happens today. .licia garza is also our guest black futures lab and black lives matter global network.

back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we continue to look at the 20 presidential race as it is unfolding in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. tuesday night, joe biden scored decisive primary victories in four states including the key state of michigan. his rival senator bernie sanders won in north dakota and votes are still being counted in washington state. biden is still less than halfway to the delegate count he would need to secure the democratic nomination. amy: while campaigning in michigan ahead of the primary, senator sanders touted his trade policy credentials and attacked rival joe biden for supporting international trade deals like the north american free trade agreement. >> today i think as we are down to a two-person race, that the people of michigan understand there are very substance of -- substantive differences between

joe biden and myself. in michigan where trade agreements have been so overtated and the loss of 100,000 good paying jobs, joe biden voted for nafta. i helped lead the opposition. in terms of foreign policy judgment, joe biden voted for the war in iraq, the worst foreign policy blunder in the modern history of this country. we led the opposition against it. in terms of looking to the future, i happen to believe and i have believed for years that health care is a human right for all, not just the privilege. amy: for more, we continue with naomi klein, professor at rutgers university, and alicia of black livesr matter global network. naomi, let's begin with you on this issue of trade.

right now we are in a time when the dow has tanked with the oil wars taken place between saudi arabia and russia, people are talking about disaster capitalism. seeing, well, we are that. we are seeing this very predictable issue that we see in the midst of every economic crisis, which is extreme corporate opportunism. dusting off whatever the wish list is, whwhether it i is privatizing social security, whether it is handouts for the fossil -- more handouts for the fossil fuel industry, and so inn crisise of this economic , market crisis, the crash of the price of oil in the health crisis, the trump administration is not solving the crisis. they are talking to lobbyist and asking them, what do you want? bailouts for the airline industry, bailouts for the

cruise industry, the hotel industry, trump's own industry. it underlines this issue that we have had throughout this administration, which is we have a sitting president who is not divested from his corporate empire and has continued to profit from the presidency but now we are seeing a bailout for his own sector. he is in an absolute direct comput of interest. now we are seeing with the saudi orchestrated very dramatic drop in the price of oil, this basically makes domestic oil, the overwhelming production in north america, uneconomic. so much of it is the water drilling, pipe oil, fracking, tar sands oil in canada -- all of this is predicated on higher prices. so these -- this sector was already in crisis, the fracking industry was already dealing with a debt crisis because it --

the price of oil was already too low. now that it is around $30 a barrel, it is completely uneconomic. now we hearing talks directly of bailing out the fossil fuel sector. what i think is worth noting about this is these are the companies at the heart of the climate crisis. one of the things that is happening, and this is why we so desperately need the debate, while it is true that a bunch of losing candidates in the dedemocratic primary have endord joe biden, reality keeps endorsing bernie sanders. that is true for medicare for all and we will be hearing from alicia garza more on that, because it is the care sector -- nurses and home care workers that are on the front line of seeingisis, and we are the living argument for why we need everybody to have health insurance, everyone have paid sick leave. but instead of that, we have the trump administration talking

about cutting the payroll tax, which is a backdoor way of cutting social security and privatizing social security, so it is extremely relevant that joe biden come a decade-long track record of trying to cut social security in a bipartisan way. ase importantly or just importantly, the green new deal is an economic stimulus.s. if we need an economic stimulus, let's have one. but instead of bailing out the companies at the heart of the climate crisis, why wouldn't we stimulate the parts of our economy that will bring us to real safety? this is why we need to talk about what is real risk. this is the moment to talk about all of these core issues at the heart of the progressive platform, whether it was sanders or warren, medicare for all, green new deal, attacking economic per carry -- all of it, rights of workers, the right to unionize, which is also a big art of why workers are going to

work sick and spreading the virus and so on. juan: you mentioned the proposed payroll tax cut, but that would be a way of selling this to the american public in general as a temporary tax cut -- which obviously drives up even more the trillion dollar deficit, but at the same time, providing these bailouts that will last long beyond the temporary tax cut. >> exactly. if we are worried about people's abilities to pay their bill, there are much more direct ways to offer relelief. in italy, they suspended mortgage payments in the midst of the outbreak. there are more direct ways of helping people than this very goingbackdoor way of after social security because if you deplete the financing of the program, then a few months from now more a year from now, that becomes the excuse, "sorry,y, we created a crisis. we have no choice. we have to cut it."" that i is why we have to look

carefully at the candidates. professor naomi klein. when we come back, we will be joined by alicia garza a and by the president of the national nurses united jean ross. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to look at how healthcare workers are being put at risk as the coronavirus pandemic continueses to spread. the number of cases in the u.s. passed 1000 tuesday, with the rate of infections likely increasing. 32 people in the country have died. 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 facemasks and decried a lack of guidance guidance on how to address the virus. but tuesday, national nurses united said the centers for disease control actually weakened its guidelines to responding to the pandemic. amy: in response, nurses with the national nurses united and the california nurses association/national nurses organizing committee are holding a national day of action today to demand better protections for healthcare workers and the public. this all comes as coronavirus has also rallied nurses around the fight for medicare for all. on tuesday, vice president mike pence spoke about health insurance for people who contract coronavirus. >> today president trump assembled a top health insurance executives in america. and as we announced earlier today, all of our major health insurance companies have now joined with medicare and medicaid and agreed to waive all co-pays, cover the cost of all treatment for those who contract the coronavirus. they have committed, to no

surprise, bililling. and d they have committed to encourage telemedicine. and because executive director of national nurses united tweeted earlier this week -- "#covid19 lays bare truths #nurses know all too well: our health care system is cruel, inhumane, & inefficient. it is our duty to protect public health. we must rise to the challenge. any vaccine or treatment developed with taxpayer dollars must be provided free of charge." for more, we go to minneapolis, where we are joined by national united nurses president jean ross. still with us, the intercept young decline, and alicia garza. jean ross, thank you for joining us. talk about today's day of action , what you're calling for come and where medicare for all fits into t this storyry and this tif coronavirurus. >> basically, we cliling for protection for registetered nurs and d other health care workers who are the people that are going to be caring for the covid-19 affected patienents. right now we did d a survey at e

endd of februarary. what we found was only 29% of our nurses and other nurses that were surveyed said they are having a plan in place of what to do. 2%2% said ththey did not evevenw if there wasas a plan. only 63% said they had enough n95 respiratorsrs. 23% sasaid they y had whatat wel pappers. respiratators. only 30% said they couould comep with we e call ppe, personal protective eququipment, should there e be a sur in n covid-1919 patients. some said that playing did not know. we h happen calling for thiss protection for health care workers, not just for many months nonow, but also if you recacall, the ebola crisis hit r shores.

and sad to say, we are still very lacking. juan: could you talk about them most vulnerable communities, including undocumented immigrants and those with no health insurance whatsoever? what prevents them to go to a hospital to seek care if they get sick? >> if we had a national healthcare system like some other countries do, we wouldd be in a far betteter position. for examplple, if f you look ata country like canadada who had to undergo the sars crisis. they were able to do i it in lae partrt because of ththat system. we have such a patchwork here profit coment on are homelessss communities, our immigrants a as you mentioned, those lower ecoconomic status ae hardest be the ones hit. they're not going to want to come in because they don't have the money to pay. they may or mamay not have hehed about what the vice preresident just said.

bubut that is still insurance companies or for-profit companies decidingng what thth'e going to do and not our government, our society deciding what they will do for people who need care. amy: exit polls in every state voting super tuesday 2 showed strong support for medicare for all, including a mississippi where it has the backing of nearly two thirds of the democratic voters. but speaking on msnbc monday, joe biden indicated if elected president, he would veto medicare for all legislation should congress send it to his desk. sandersdent berniee still active in the senate. he manages to get medicare for all to the senatate and some compromised version, the elizabeth warren version or other version, and nancy pelosi gets a version of it to the house of representatives, it comes to your desk. do you veto it? >> i would veto anything that security a andg

certainty of health care being available now. if they got that through by some miracle and there is an epiphany that occurred and some miracle occurred and said, ok, this p assed, then yeyet a look at the cocost. i want to know how they found a $35 5 trillion. it will significantly raise taxes on the middle class. what is going to happen? mymy opposition is into o the principle. health care should be aright in america. my opposition relates to whether, a, it is doable, two, the cost of it is, and with the consequences to the rest of the budget are? its get yoursss response and then n alicia garza and naomi klein. >> it is not that health c care should be a human riright, just plain is. wewe see now the american n pele agree with that. as far as costst. i believe he knows exactly what

it is costing now, and we cannnt afford what we're doing. so any cost that would be incurred with putting it in place would bebe far outweighedy sustaiaining what we have afterwarards. i'm afraid untilil we keep insisisting that those for-proft insurance companies are part of the system, we will never achieve what we need to guarantee care for everyone as a human right. amy: let's go to alicia garza, who among the hats she wears come is with the natitional domestic workers alliance. mean, if nothing else, we can see here that joe biden is not obama. and, frankly, i would agree what isis at stake here are millionsf workers, many of whom are immigrant workers and workers of color and women and people who are trying to put food on their tables while also caring for other people and doing so in the

midst, as i said earlier, of a global pandemic. i work with domestic workers who are people who work inside of people's homes. for us, a home is a workplace. frankly, domestic workers are locked out of most federal labor protections that should protect all workers, that would give workers sick days and paid time off. and we are seeing in the midst of this pandemic, the real kind of underpinnings of the abuses that workers are facing in this economy are coming to broad daylight. domestic workers already don't have access to p paid time off, paid sick days, etc., and are carrying for some of the -- caring for some of the most vulnerable in ouour society y ad helping families make ends meet. one of the things that we are really concerned about i is makg sure that at the very least, accesss an expansion of to the things that people need. particularly in this type of

crisis, that in general and overall -- people need access to affordable and quality health care. in this very moment, people also need to be able to take time off, take care of their families, and take sick days or else this global pandemic continue to spread. anand under this current administration, i don't think there's any reason for us to think they have it under control. in fact, that could have happened months ago. and now we're in a situation where, as we understand it, containment is not possible. what we can do in moment is make sure, particularly that the people who are caring for folk who have been affected by this crisis, including nurses and domemestic workers, are well tan care of in this moment. a way to do that is to make sure protections are strong. another way is to make sure we are holding this administration accountable for keeping insurance companies in check. juan: i want to cut you off or second because we just had about

30 seconds. i want to get naomi's final words. isthis administraration ill-equipped to deal w with this crisis because they are treating it as a pr crisis and not a health crisis. they have shown when they don't like reality, they just try to bury it. the same way t they don't want o talk about what our satellites are measuring in terms of climate change, and the samee whwhen they susuppressed a numbf people who died d after hurricae maria in puerto rico. now they think by not testing, this crisis will go away. we need leadership that actually is guided by objective reality and science that puts people first. amy: we have to leave it there but we continue with you tomorrow we will focus on the issue of paid sick leave and so much more, bringing you updates from new rochelle, the epicenter of the country and other places around the world. , and klein, alicia garza

of national nurses , president of national nurses united. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.or