04/08/20 04/08/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york city, the epicenter of the pandemic, where the death toll tripled yesterday to 800 and one person died every two minutes on average here as people nationwide stay home to stop community spread, voters in wisconsin had to stand in hours long lines to vote in person after republicans refused to delay the p primary and of

proposals to mail a ballot to every registered voter. president trump also attacked the mail and ballot. preses. trump: they're very dangerous to this country because they are cheaters. they want collect them, their fraudulent in many cases. >> and part of the election last month -- pres. trump: sure -- amy: we will look at wisconsin and the issue of voting by mail around the country. then to louisiana, is facing one of the worst outbreaks coronavirus. african-americans account for 70% of all of the states covid-19 deaths and more than 65% of the people in jails and prisons s where the virus is spreading fast. we will get an update from the acaclu and we will spepeak with albert woodfox who served 44 years in louisiana in solitary confinement, the longest time in solitary confinement any prisoner in the united states.

he was in angola prison, where officials are sending affected prisoners now. into ecuador, where e bodies are piling up in the streets of guayaquil.l. keep -- we canan't esescape the snonow coming frore cadavers. aamy: nearly 4000ases and death toll of 220 people. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the epicenter of the panandemic in e united states, new york city. the worldwide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has topped 83,000 with united states now the most impacted country in the world with more than 190900 u.s. f fatalities reported in jt the past here in new york, 24 hours. governor andrew cuomo reported 731 people died of covid-19

since monday -- new york's highest one-day death toll so far. but the true toll is likely far higher with new york city's fire department reporting about 130 people per day are dying in their homes, most of them of suspected covid-19. those deaths remain uncounted in official statistics. this is new york paramedic anthony almojera. >> yesterday i worked 16 hours and i had 13 cardiac arrests. that is a lot ofof deaths. momost of us are pretty good abt handlingng death. it is the e nature of the job. you kind of role with it. but nothing like this for anyone. amy: about 500 new york city fire department have tested positive for covid-19, and about 20% of new york police departrtment officers are currently out sick.

at the white house on tuesday, president trump continued to promote the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a curative for covid-19, even though there are no clinical trials showing the drug is safe or effective in treating coronavirus infections. "the new york times" reports trump could personally profit if drug sales increase because he owns a small financial interest in a french company that makes hydroxychloroquine. trump also lashed out at the world health organization, calling the who "very china-centric" and threatening to cut off u.s. support for the u.n. public health agency. pres. trump: we're going to put a hold on money spent to the who. we will put a very powerful hold on it and we will see. amy: minutes later, during the same news conference, president trump denied he had announced a freeze on u.s. funding to the who. the time to freeze funding to the who during the pandemic? pres. trump: maybe not. i'm not saying i'm going to do it, but we are goioing to look t

it. -- you said >> no, i said we were going to investigate it. amy: stephanie grisham is out as white house press secretary after eight months on the job, during which she held news no news briefings. her replacement is kayleigh mcenany, a frequent guest on fox news and longtime "birther" who's promoted the racist conspiracy theory that barack obama was not born in the united states. this is mcenany speaking on the since-canceled "trish regan" show on fox news in february. >> we will not see diseases like coronavirus come here and we will not see terrorism. isn't that refreshingly contrasting with the awful presidency of president obama? amy: president t trump has oustd acting pentagon inspector general glenn fine who had been tapped to oversee the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package. this comes just days after trump announceced he would ignore a ky oversight provision in the bill that would have increased congressional oversight of how the bailout money is spent.

in related news, the treasury department is seeking an additional $250 billion for small business loans. the original fund approved by congress is already running out of money. in china, an 11-week lockdown has ended in the city of wuhan where the covid-19 pandemic began. for the first time since january, residents have been allowed to leave their homes without special authorization. highways have reopened. flights and trains have resumem. china credits the unprecedented lockdownwn on the metrtropolisf1 millioion people with containing the outbreak. china says 3300 people died in the country from covid-19, but china has faced accusations of covering up the true death toll. european union finance ministers memet for 16 hoursrs tuesday but failed to o reach agreement on what would have been a half-trillioion euro stimulus package to combat the economic free-fall caused by the cocoronavirus.

in france, the death toll has topped 10,000. in spain, the number of reported deaths has risen for a second day, bringing the nation's death toll to nearly 15,000. meanwhile on tuesday, britain announced a new record of 850 four people had died from the outbreak over the previous 24 hours. new study shall britain will likely become the hardest hit nation in europe by the outbreak. this comes as worse johnson spent a second nightht in intensive care from covid complications. in libya, six medical workers were injured monday as anti-government forces loyal to renegade military commmmander khalifa haftar fired missiles into a hospital in tripoli. the u.n.'s humanitarian -- in senegal, former u.s.-backed chadian dictator hissene habre has been granted two months' leave from prison to prevent him from contracting covid-19. habre is serving a life term for

crimes against humanity, after he ordered the deaths of an estimated 40,000 people during his eight years ofofeign in power in the 1980's. the international labour organization predicts the coronavirus pandemic could wipe out the equivalent of 195 million jobs around the world. already, the u.n. agency says 4 out of 5 working people worldwide have been affected by covid-19. back in the uniteded states, two nurseses at the hudson county jl in new jersey have died of the coronavirus with more than 60 otothers at ththe jailesesting popositive.. in san franccoco, presteters encircled e e headarters o u.s. citenenshipnd i immrationon servicesn n theicarsrs, demanding that offiaials expedi t the reasese opeoplele heldn n immiatioion ils. valeria suar of the liliforn immigrant yoh h juste alallice read a letr r fromrisosone at the mesa vdede icerocecessing cent.

>> it is a death sentence. impossibleancing is in this environment. all it tak is for one pers have the virus and wwiwill a be infected in this trtri di. we request and demand that you -- especially during the pandemic. amy: meanwhile, reuters reports the trump administration has rapidly deported nearly 400 migrant children captured at the u.s.-mexico border over the past two weeks. the children are among some 7000 asylum seekers who've been expelled to mexico since march 21 when president trump suspended standard immigration proceedings in order to speed up deportations. in wisconsin, thousands of voters break the statewide remain at-home order and cute in long lines to cast ballots after

the state supreme court locked tony evers to delay the electctn until l june. in milwaukee comee home to wisconsin's largesest african-american community, just five of the cities usual 180 voting sites were open tuesday. videos on social media showed lines of people, most of them six feet apart and wearing masks, lined up for up to 2.5 hours to cast ballots. wisconsin's republican state spokely speaker robin vos to "the milwaukee journal sentinel" where he were a surgical mask, gloves, and hospital gown -- more personal protective equipment than many healthcare workers have access to. >> everybody is here safe. they have minimal exposure. there's less exposure e here thn at the grocery store.

amy: results from tuesday's chaotic wisconsin primary election are not expected until next monday in april 13. democratic presidential frontrunner joe biden told cnn tuesday inin-person voting g ner shouould have happened. >> my gut is that we should not have had the election in the first place. the empress election. it should have been all mail ballots and moved in way that five other states have done it. amy: biden's comment came just five days after he said wisconsin officials should proceed with in-person voting. this is joe biden speaking onn ththursday >> h having people walininto a polling booth witith accurate apart,ng, sixix to 10 feet one at a time going in and having machines scrubbed down. amy: biden previously supported in-person voting during march primaries in illinois, florida, 17 and arizona. we will go to wisconsin for more on what the milwaukee journal

sentinel called the most undemocratic election in the states history after headlines. in florida, hundreds of people queued in long lines tuesday to receive paper applications for unemployment benefits after an online portal crashed and customer service representatives were mostly unreachable by phone. at one site in a miami suburb, tv channel wplg captured chaotic scenes of people packed tightly together, jostling to push to ththe front of the line to recee an application. more than a half million floridians have filed for unemployment benefits since march 15. florida confirmed nearly 1000 new covid-19 casases tuesday, ad reported 13 new deaths from the disease, bringing ththe state''s official death toll to nearly 300. more evidence is coming to light showing african-americans have been particularlrly hard hit byy the covid-19 outbreak in the united states. in chicago, african-americans

are dying at a rate six times greater than white residents. on tuesday, lori lightfoot, chicago's first female african-american mayor, spoke out against the racial disparity. >> we must understand the magnitude of the impact of this virus on all of our communities and it is up to the health care providers who are on the frontlines not to skip over the boxes that provide us with the demographic information that is essential for us to understand the impact on black and brown communitities. you must do this step and we will order it to happen. amy: acting navy secretary thomas modly has resigned over his handling of a coronavirus outbreak on the theodore roosevelt aircraft carrier. last week the ship's captain, brett crozier, wrote a memo pleading for help for his sick crew. secretary modly responded by firing crozier and then mocking the captain saying he was "too naive or too stupid" to command an a aircraft carrier.

the carrier was docked on guam. modly went to guam to address the thousands of sailors on board. "the los angeles times" reports the trump administration is quietly seizing hospitals' orders of masks, thermometers, and other medical equipment crucial to treating covid-19 patients. the federal emergency management agency, fema, is not publicly disclosing what supplies it's seizing or where it's planning to reroute them. one medical official asked "the los angeles times" -- "are they stockpiling this stuff? are they distributing it? we don't know. and are we going to ever get any of it back if we need supplies? it would be nice to know these things." back in the united states, one of america's greatest songwriters, john prine, died tuesday at a nashville hospital of covid-19. for five decades, the grammy-winning, folk singer centered the lives and struggles of ordinary people in his music as he chronicled the stories of

working-class people from vietnam vet to residents of his parents' hometown of paradise, kentucky, a town ravished by strip mining. john prine was 73 years old. the celebrated music producer however has died after experiencing symptoms consistent with covid 19. he was 64-year-old. jersey city councilman michael yun has also died of covid-19. in 2013, yun became the first korean-born person elected to the jersey city council. texas will continue to ban abortions during the coronavirus pandemic, following a ruling tuesday by the 5th circuit court of appeals. texas republicans say the ban on all abortions except those for patients whose pregnancies threaten their lives or health is essential to preserving hospital resources. reproductive rights advocates are suing to overturn the ban, calling it unconstititutional ad political opportunism as most

abortions do not take place in hospitals. and in climate news, tropical cycyclone harold tore throroughi wednesday,y, tearing o off roof, deststroying houses, f flooding streets across t the south pacic archipelago. before the c category 5 cyclon's arrival l in fiji, dozozens of pepeople were kikilled when the storm lashed the solomon islands and vanuatu. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the united states. my co-host juan gonzalez is in number two which is for the coronavirus in the u.s.. he is joining as from his home in order to help stop community spread. it is great to have you with us, juan. juan: welcome to all of our listenerers and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: lines stretching city blocks, hours-long waits and polling officials in hazmat

suits. that's the scene voters in wisconsin reported as they headed to the polls tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic. despite growing outcry about the risks to public health and safety that in-person voting would pose, on monday the state supreme court blocked democratic governor tony evers's ruling to delay the election until june. this came after the republican state legislature refused to consider delaying the election or sending all voters mail-in ballots. the u.s. supreme court sided aboutrepublicans and and extending the absentee ballot until next week. the result is what wisconsin's largest newspaper called "the most undemocratic election in the state's history." this is wisconsin's republican state assembly speaker robin vos at a polling place in burlington, wisconsin. you have to envision this.

he is wearing a surgical mask, gloves, and hospital gown -- more personal prprotective equipment than many healthcare workers have been given access to. >> everybody is here safe. they have minimal exposure. actutually, there is less expose here that if you want to the grocery store, walmart, or any of the many things we have to do to live in the state of wisconsin. amy: at least 92 people in wisconsin have died from covid-19. in milwaukee, the e most d divee city in wisconsin, the number of polling stations wenent from 180 two five. many of the poll workers are elderly and were not able to open those locations. wisconsin lt. gov. mandela barnes said -- "people died fighting for the right to vote, and now people might die if they vote. today's election in wisconsin is far from free and fair -- politicians are silencing the voices of black and brown people or putting us in harm's way for their own partisan gain."

barnes and other critics say republicans forced the election due to a critical state supreme court race between conservative incumbent daniel kelly and a liberal challenger, jill karofsky. president trump has endorsed kelly. this comes as other states consider whether or not to move upcoming elections to be entirely vote by mail. president trump himself requested an absentee ballot to vote and floored his march primary but he attacked mail-in voting when questioned by a reporter on tuesday. pres. trurump: mail ballots are very dangerous because they are cheaters. they go and collect them. they are fraudulent in many cases. >> in florida's election last month? pres. trump:p: sure, i can votey mail. amy: for more on wisconsin and national efforts to shift towawd a vote by mamail system, we're joined by jesse wegman, l longte journalist and member of "the new york times" editorial board, where he writes about legal developments and the supreme court. his new book is titled "let the people pick the president: the

case for abolishing the electoral college." jesse, welcome to democracy now! as you join us from your home in massachusetts where you are staying safe with your family. this calamitybout that took place in wisconsin? >> sure. this is really just the culmination of what we have seen ovover the l last several yearsd several d decades coming frfrome republican party, which is an ontntot to win a and holdd power by any y means nenecessar. i really thihink -- i have often asked myself h how far would thy go to do this? i don't think i would have come up with h the answer letting people die in order to hang onto power, but that is literally what we'e're seeing happen right now in wisconsin. juan: jesse e wegman, in terms f ththe sheer number of polling places eliminated in milwaukee,

what about people who don't have longand have e to travevel distances s across the c city jt to be abable to vote? how did ththis pass legal musts? >> this isis purely in the hands of thehe legislature. they havave the power to p put s on hold. i think there was a debate a few days ago when governor eve or's tried to stop allll in-person voting andnd he invoked both wisconsin law andnd wisconsin state constitutional provision. obviously, that wawas overturn e state supreme court. i am not f familiar enough with wiscononsin law to know who had the upper hand on that one, but bear r somernor eversrs respsponsibili f for not much earlier makingng the call for aa delayed election. wiscsconsin is the o only statet had an election scheduleded thee ekeks right t now that insisistn holding it o on s schedule. all of the other states have

postpoponed and/o/or shifted to l baballoting. the e fact ththat wisconsin refd to do t that and rereally gave o excusese for it -- - the explanatations thaththe laakeres gave, that republicans gave were essentntially, we can do t this. it is not a bibig deal. wewe need to hold elecections a. hold elections as planned. amy: i want to go to a boater in wisconsin standing in one of these incredibly long lines outside a polling p place. you can see her wearingng a mask and gloves. >> it is so wrong. this election shouldld have been called offff. they are telling us to stay in the house, stay six feet from each other. but one of the most important times, they're forcing us to come out here in a group. that is playing politics with our lives. that is what i am feeling. amy: this is an astounding story

as juan was asking you about ththis massively disproportionae death toll of african-americans in one of the blackest and brown is darius of wisconsin, milwaukee, five of 180 polling places alone. so you have these incredibly long lines. there is one picture of a person holding a sign in one of these lines wearing a mask and gloves, which says "this is ridiculous." yet you have the speaker of the house assembly in full hospital rope,that lou long plastic gloves, the mask and telling voters it is perfectly safe to vote here. ,ell us what is the inspiration jesse? what was the motivation, the state supreme court justice who was running forr r reelection, y they w wanted this race toto go forwrward? reason that state supreme

--rt seat is so imporortant is the state supupreme court has acted as a backstop for a lot of the republican policies ththat wisconsin has instituted d in te last decade. it has a conservative majajority so i it looks l like they are s. in fact, if f this justice wereo lose -- andnd you very popossiby could l lose if you hd d a fair and pre-elelection -- it would e a 43 split and t then within t e next couple of years, , that cod flip and democratic c ally juststices couould take control. republican lawawmakers don't wat cost.o happepen at anyny one of the most immediatete reasons isis the upcomoming casn a voter pururge, which was s ord by a w wisconsin judge last decemberer. they purgeged more t than 200,00 wiwisconsinites from the roles.

that is now w being challengeden court. wisconsin is one of t the battlegrground states that may e statedevice of -- decisive in the presidentl l electionon. who comes o out to vote is extremely important. presidenent trump wonon in 2010. that many people being struck by the roles could alteter the outcome in wiscsconsin and possiblyly in the naon.. republicans are well aware of hohow important t this is an dod trump is, too, which isis why he weighed in o on this race. i i just inc. -- i agree it iss ridiculous, as a boater said, very much ununderstating it post ofof amy: in the lowower the voe count, the more chahance he woud wiwin? >> n no question about that. we already see that in the votes coming in for ththe absentee ballotss -- both requested by ad coming in from parts of the state that are wealthierer, whiter, more conseservative. thatat is enentered. that is common praractice. pepeople with more money andnd e

time are going to be more liliky , vote absbsentee if they need to. many of the last request they came in fofor absentee ballots were comining frorom the less llll-off areasas of ththe statee milwaukee. h here, the legegal fight, going to the wisconsin court rightt now, is a about this pur. the purge off the roles. a sort off formal e election p e ofof 200,00000 voter we a are watching righght now a purge of wisconsisin voters. they got thehere purge yesterdry by keeping so many voters comem, forcing othehers to show up now may enend up getetting sicick ad dying -- lititerally. theyey knew exactly that is what was going to happenen. they are happy for that to happen. they won't say it out loud, but they come very close. m the jesse wegman implications of this for the upcoming november elections because no one expects the

coronavirus crisisis to be overy then, althougugh, hopefully, it will be abated to some degegree, but certainly y people'ss actios and day-to-day activities will be changed considerably into the future.. whwhat is yourur sense of ththet on the november elelections as e move into thahat period?d? >> it alall depends on how prepared states arere going to e and how much mononey they have r those preparations to hohold an elelection that looks nothing le whwhat wisconsin did jusust yesterdaday. and that meaeans basically g gig all registered voters ththe oppoportunity to vote absentee,o vote by mamail. it has been c clear now for wees that was going to be nececessar. it s still is going toto be nececessary. the brennan n center for justice has estimated rououly $2 billion woululd be r required in funding from thehe federal government in order to allowow all of the stas toto ramp u up their preparatato provide e mail ballolots to allf

ththe registered voterers. that is a drop in ththe bucket. it is essentially nothing. the lastst cororonavirusus stins package w was honestt to $20. -- a almost $2 trillion. it is hardrd to imagine howow tt woululd not be spent illegagallo safeguard american democracy. $400 million was allocated t to electionon protection and electn prepeparation measures in the lt package. that was 1/5/5 of whatat was ne. if they dodon't provovide the ea money,y, i think we e are much e likely to seeee what happen in wiwisconsin yesterday play ououn many states around the country where e lawmakers e either don't hahave the funds or refused to implement the obvious needed protections in order to let people vote and stay safe and healthy at the same time. havingnd the impact t of the presenent already on record saying he is opposed to mail-in ballots?

l look, tururning to donald t p or anything related toto prototecting a america d democrs not going g to get us anywhere. the only thihing that -- the ony way hehe can plalay a r role riw is i if congress willl pass a nw stimulusus measure that includes adeqequate fundiding. he a absolutely neneeds to sign. if b both houses pass it and he refufuses to sign it, thehen wen have a conversation and wewe knw exactly whwhat he is refusing to do. beyond that, states are going to haveve to do what they can andd igignore the president of the united states. i hate to say it, but that is legally thing they could do at this point. amy: the most progressive idea on voting right now to increase voter participation, mitch mcconnell calling to make election day a holiday, which is the case in so many different states were on a weekend, a power grab by democrats. what are the ways to increase

voting that could be put in place by november mail in andtion to mamail-in voting those arare doing it with early success? clubs eaearly voting is probably the b biggest.. yoyou would d need at least a ce of weeks e everywhwhere. the raraces that d do it demonse much higheher turnout, people ae happy with it,t, gives people me flexibibility.y. atat the eararly voting is e evn betterer than a holiday because even if you made e election daya hoholiday,y, a lot o of peopleld not cocome to the polls. a lot of peoeople like to work n holidays. wide voting givives peoeople a range of optptions to shshow upt the polls whenen they y are ablo and castst a ballot. ,bviously, the absenteee ballolt mailing them out t to my makingg sure voters get t them, making sure t their return,n, making pe -- makingg sure peoples who sisignatures don't match have a chance to go in and correct that if cacast a provisional ballot

necessary. all of those things have to be done. expanding registrations. making registration easier, online registration, same-day registration. these are not pie-in-the-sky ideas. states are doing these right now. let's talk about mail balloting. five states to all or virtually all of their voting by mail post of its voting by mail posted 25% of americans voted by mail in 2016. donaldld trump vote by mail. this is a very sensible way of conducting an election, especially in the middle of a pandemic. amy: we want to thank you, jesse for joining us longtime journalist and member of "the , new york times" editorial board. his new book is titled "let the people pick the president: the case for abolishing the electoral college." right now when we come back, we go to louisiana, which is facing one of the worst outbreaks of coronavirus. african-americans account for 70% of the covid deaths, where

the 65% in jails and prisons. we will be speaking with the man who has spenent more time in solitary confinement than anyone in the united states. albert woodfox will be our guest. inspent more than 44 years solitary. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "please don't bury me" by john prinene. ofn prine died tuesday covid-19 in a national hospital. he was 73 years old. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i am amy goodman broadcasting from the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the united states, new york city, with one gonzales who is a new jersey, the second-most

afflicted state. but we're turning out to louisiana, which is facing one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus. new data shows african-americans account for 70% of all louisiana's coronavirus deaths, even as they are just 32% of the state's population. louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the united states. more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are black. at least 28 people are infected and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. state correction officials are sendnding infectcted prisoners o the e louisiana a state penitentiaiary, known as angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the united states, holding them in camp j, a notorious papart of the e prison that was shut down in 2018 because of inhumane treatment of the men held there. officials have confirmed that there arare no ventilators at tp j.j. the acaclu of louisiana sued to stop the statewide transfer of covid-19 patients to angola

prison, but the judge denied the request last thursday. this comes as a federal prison in the state called fci oakdale has already had five coronavirus-s-related deathshs,e than any other f federal priso the aclu of louisiana has also sued release people held there who face an elevated risk of covid 19 infection. their petition to the court begins -- "you are likely reading this petition from self-isolation in your home. now imagine if someone sick with covid-19 came into your home and sealed the doors and windows behind them. that is what the oakdale federal detention centers have done to the over human beings currently detained there." by alanahwe're joined odoms hebert, executive director of the aclu of louisiana. and with us by phone also is albert woodfox, who served the longest time in solitary confinement of any prisoner in the unitited states.

44 years. known as one of the angola three, along with robert king and herman wallace, woodfox was held in isolation for nearly 44 years in angola prison. convicted of killing a always maintained his innocence, garden prison, but always maintained his innocence, and says he was targeted for co-founding the first black panther chapter in angola. he was released in 2016 and is now 73 yeaears old. his memoir is a 2019 national book award finalist "solitary: , unbroken by four decades in solitary confinement, my story of transformation and hope." we welcome you both to democracy now! albert woodfox, your response to the situation right now in louisiana's prisons with infected prisoners being sent to this area in angola that was called the dungeon, known for its inhumanity? -- louisiana state

penitentiary known as angola consists of what is called out camps. camp j is an out camp and was known -- it is a punishment program. kristen went there and they were basically denied human rights -- a prisoner went there and were basically denied human rights. the camp itself was a horrible place to be. i myself did nine months there. it was one of f the most diffict and the 44 years o of solitary confinement. it w was one of the most diffict times of my life. heard thatou infected prisoners were going to be sent there with no access to ventilators, your response? >> [laughter]

well, it didn't surprise me. i stay in contact with prisoners in angola. we call and they try to keep me abreast of what is going on. of course, i'm not allowed to of the 44 years of solitary confinement and my activities organizing against the corruption and brutality in angola. my conversation with some of the guys i talked with, the prisoners are scared to death. as is the case in most prisons, the medical care is almost nonexistent. they are realizing the danger of .his coronavavirus pandemic theyey are afraid this virus may

take hold in prison. and the damage it could do, the death that could cause. had a conversation with somebody yesterday and they are prisonerse infected at the living quarters at camp j. my undererstanding from my conversation, none of the staff that normally work at angola is unit.ed in this that i is their concern. a lot feel like the complete picture is n not being told. civilian workers have been affected than is being

.eported it is statewide, the fact that 70% of the deaths are nationalmerican is a and international disgrace. juan: want to ask alanah odoms hebert about the issue of the 70% of the more than 500 residents of louisisiana who hae didied who arere african-americ. here o on the east coast, we d't have yetet precise figures,, systematic figurures. we do know in new york city, the epicenter, a borough lilike the bronx, for instance, whihich is the most black andnd brown b boh of the five boroughs of new york, 9 95% black andnd latino s the bronx, and they are e alreay over 900 deaths inin the bronx - more than twice the number of manhattan, the wealthiest borough of the five boroughs of the e city. i am wondering your sensnse in louisiana, what can you gauge is

the reason for this? think what we're looking at here is a systematic issue of disparity that we have known has persisted in the african-american community for centuries. i think what you're saying in new york and also other urban centers around the country is that the folks who are able to get out of this city, to move to places that are much less populated where they can have access to fresh air, they can do social distancing more effectively, they can protect themselves and their families -- they have done that. and the people who were not able to leave our stec in confined situations come oftentimes in a room or a home no greater than 200 or 300 square feet with multiple family members and are not able to do that. we saw the same thing with hurricane katrina. the people who were able to

leave the city in advance of the hurricane did exactly that. they were able to drive, fly, protect themselves. this epidemic, pandemic has laid bare the issues of disparity that have been so embedded in our country since its founding. black and brown communities do not have the protection they need. they do not have the resources they need to protect themselves from this crisis. and mororeover, their lack of access to quality health care and the fact that underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to this condition really cause the perfect storm of situations that really cause dramatic lossss-of-life. juan: as far as the prisons in louisiana or the jail systems, you have done studies of the situation? there arare as many as 1 15,000 people in louisiana who are just being jailed a awaiting trial. has there been any success in trying to get the courts to

address the coronavirus situation by releasing some people who are just awaiting trial? >> yes. so we have done a landmark study looking at thousands of jail records. the study took us on this two years to do. we determined there are 15,000 people awaiting charge or trial in louisiana. of those individuals, almost 57% of those people are charged with a l low-level of a. we have reasonably the only reason why they are still in jail is because they cannot afford to make bond or bail. the average male for a -- bail her case was $24,000 and the average income of those incarcerated people is $27,000. we know money is the primary factor holding people incarcerated in louisiana's jails and we also know arecan-american people vastly overrepresented in the

incarcerated jail population. african-american people are serving twice as long as there white male counterparts. we are also seen between the age groups for dean and 24, african-americans -- 15 and 24 come african-american young men are five times as likely to be gel prior to trial. this is an extremely problematic situatation. incarceration population is 10% higher and we again lead the world in pretrial incarceration. there's no place in the country pretrials more people behind bars in louisiana. we need to see this effort happened immediately. we've seen amazing leadership from chief justice johnson directing law enforcement to stop making nonessential arrests and asking a criminal district court judges around the state to people safely as best they can with release on their own recognizance. and if not, with a very nominal

bail amount. we have seen some district judge is he that warning and a directive and we have seen others that have seen others that i felt to do so. we have seen places where they're not having bail hearings for up to five days or longer. that is unacceptable and violates our state statues and violates the constitution and speedy trial laws. we're calling on not just the supreme court -- which we think has done a fantastic jojob -- bt also the governor to start using his executive authority to start releasing people at the jail level and also the prison level, which we know the pandemic is really hitting the hardest. amy: that is alanah odoms hebert of the louisiana aclu. we went in back with albert woodfox. albert, right now people are being told to remain in isolation whether they are sick or healthy unless they get so sick they should go to a hospital. what is no comparison to you endured.

you served more time in solitary confinement than any prisoner in the united states, close to 44 years. but can you talk about how you kept your sanity when you were behind bars in solitary? know, robert king and hermann wallace, the other two who make up the angola three, our situation was extraordinary. but the fact that we e had becoe members s of the black pananther ,arty, we have been politicizizd our political level of consciousness raised so we kind of understood the purpose of solitary, what it was meant to do.

we consciously together and individually developed programs to combat -- exercicise program, study programs, in which we devoted so many hours a day to sit inadiding and not just a cell for 23 hours out of 24 hour. the pririsonsumed byy culture where the otheher distractions that was given to sosolitary over decades sucuch v and radio's and cd players and stuff like that. and the fact that we were looked in the prisons , demanding of us that we prepare ourselves butut

educatating ouelelves andnowing subject matter that is brought to our attenention that we would adequately infnformed enough to address i it. solitary --w, is s a game.itary it is still a mystery why men and wowomen, in some case children, react to the same conditions differently. robert and i were talking the -- robert has assigned when someone stole your lemon, you made lemonade. we have beenen talking. we k knew at some point in time this will pass. one of the questions yoyou are asked the most we go around the

country and outside the country is, what is it like to be hd in solitary? refererence other than our own experience, but this coronavirus pandemimic now people have a small w window ino what i it is like to be [indiscernible] amy: we have to go but i want to thank you so much for being with us. i want to encourage people to go to our website at democracynow.org. we had you in studio for an hour talking about your experience just after you got out of prison. that book is truly remarkable, national book award finalist "solitary: unbroken by four , decades in solitary confinement, my story of transformation and hope." albert woodfox speaking to us from new orleans. he served the longest time in

solitary confinement i've any prisoner in the united states. this is democracy now! when we come back, we are heading south to ecuador to talk about the coronavirus there. stay with us.

amy: singing "at dawn." age of 76 onthe saturday. he was best known for his anti-fascist songs during spain's position from dictatorship to democracy, longtime supporter of palestinian causes. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. goodman in nenew york, the epicenter of the pandemic in the united states. juan gonzalez is in new jersey, number two in the united states for coronavirus. we're going to turn now to ecuador, where the coronavirus pandemic is exhausting ecuador's medical resources with nearly 4000 cases, death toll of 220 people. ecuadoran president moreno has

admitted the numbers are likely higher. ecuador is among the top three countries hardest hit by covid 19 and latin america. the city of guayaquil, ecuador's most populous region, is the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in ecuador. body slept on the streets for days as families desperately try to bury l loved oneses. residents have b blamed strict quarantinene and goverernment neglglect for the e disaster. local hospitalsls and mortuaries are overwrwhelmed. tempmporary morgueue's haveve bn inststalled througughout guayaql this rununning provinceses. governrnment officials distribe cardboard cocoffins to lococal residents. this is s nurse workrking in guayaquil. , nurse. i have my dadad at home becauseo hospital i is able to trtreat hr anyone. people ardydying.

there i ino medicalal perersonn, nono nurses. therere is no woododworking. ththere are like thehe people. trust me, i hadad been inside.. the e situation isis precarious. there is no gloveve no masks, nothing.g. all of ecuador is a country of nothing. there is no government. there is no president. amy: the prison of health resigned citing the mismanagement of the pandemic. for r more, we go to quito, ecuador, where we're joined by denisse herrera, the ecuador correspondent for telesur. welcome to democracy now! denise, can you start off by talking about the situation in ecuador, one of the hardest hit countries inin latin a america? >> t thank you for the intervie. as was said before, we saw on social mediaia the epicenter of ththe pandemic is the province f guayaquil.

people are really facing difficult moments as we saw. people are denouncing they have received any help. i think that is important to say here what happened with the health system in ecuador. we hear also the x minister of health that she did not receive .nany economic help we hear bebefore that the governmement are saying they're taking all oththe measurures to prevent ththe corononavirus situation. guayaquill is facing a really difficult moment. saying thehereis -- againsnst then gogovernment, but former presidt rrea. they are trying to say andnd of

thee historyry that we h hear, t wwe saw, that we know is true is a lie. people a are dng in n the stree. people a are dying in their homs because e they did not receive y health assisistance. they did not receiveve any helel h history.eal but now we don't know if the government will dodo something o stop t the situation. the government are saying they're taking g all ofof the ---urures in guayayaquil announced she wiwill begin with ththe constrtruction of two cememeteries in guayaquil but we don't know. people are dying. ththey want to give their relaves a dignified bururial, but the government is not accepting what is reallyly happening. , i wouldisse herrera

ask about the i impact of the austerity y measures imposed by the biglast year after $4.2 billion imf loan under president marino. onnhas that h had an impact the basic government servicices, esespecially healtlth care? was one o of the main points here bececause when moreo dedecided to get clolose to sigg make cutsment -- to in the public c sector. the main areas affectete by this agreemt was education and health care.e. -- mamainly from ecuadoror, are saying this s a proboblem needse the government doctors and nurses t the past yr

so now they y have to hire docts and nurses to save t this crisi. but they don't hahave the experiencece to face this s cri. as we saw last year in october, were rejecting these economic measures. they rejecteted the authority -- austerity program that came from the imf. this i is an opportunity to brig them more than into the country but until now, we don't knonow f the governrnment will have thiss money. recently, the economy -- one of -- needs tos announcehehe paymentss of we cal it the bond 2020. the minister of ececonomy paid $ $325 million.

he s said this will bringg much money to the country, but wee don'tt know if this decision wil really help the public. amy: before we go, can i quickly ask about the conviction of former president rafael correa tuesday on c cruption chaharges? he is in belgium. he says this is ridiculous, that the current government is manipupulating justice to o gett they could notot get in the balt box, the snificancnce of this? before, theid government is trying t to say therere facining a communication against their actction. so yesesterday -- five secononds. >> the former president correa and foformer vice president were guilty of the crime of bribery. awayare using this to take

the sentience of what really happened -- amy: denisse herrera, thank you for being with us, ecuador correspondent for telesur. democracy now! is working with as few people onsite as possible.