04/09/20 04/09/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york city, the epicenter of the pandemic in the united states, this is democracy now! >> what we are winning the ideological battltle and winning the support of 7 70 young people and working people throughout the country, i haveve concluded that this battle for the democratic nomination will notot be successful. and so today i am announcing the

suspension of my campaign. amy: bernie sanders suspend his campaign for the democratic presidential nomination. making former vice president joe biden the presumptive nominee to face donald trump in november. sanders says he will stay on the ballot and remain in primary races and continue to assemble delegates. we will play highlights of sanders' speech and with naomi sanders' historic presidential campaigign and coronavirus capitalism. president trump's response to the pandemic. >> this administration is uniquely illll-equipped to deal with this crisis because they are not treating it as a health crisis but a pr crisis. amy: we look at the disproportionate toll the coronavirus is taking on african-americans. >> we aree talking abobout it me now w as we are beginnining as a community, the african-american community, people are talking more about it now because

everyone seemsms to know someone who this has touched already.. seems to know someone whose life has been lost because of the virus. amy: we will speak with family physician, epidemiologist dr. camara phyllis jones, past president of the american health association, who says coronavirus disease discriminates. our health care doesn't have to. 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 pandemic in the united states, new york city. the coronavirus pandemic could 600 milliontional people into poverty unless urgent action is taken to bail out poor countries. that's thfinding of the british charity oxfam, which is calling on worldld leaders to fd a $2.5.5 trillion rescue package to prerevent global l economic

collapse. the e proposal wouould cancel $1 trillion of popoor countries'' debts to free up cash for fofood and medicicine. oxoxfam warns that witithout mae intervention, half of all jobs in africa could be lost to the pandemic. worldwide, the coronavirus continues to spread exponentially, with over 1.5 million documented cases and nearly 90,000 deaths, though the true rate of infection is certain to be far higher due to a critical lack of testing. in europe, there are signs that social distancing measures are flattening the curve of new infections, , with spain, italy, and france all recording fewer deaths over the past 24 hours. here in new york, governor andrew cuomo said wednesday the city has not yet reached its peak rate of deaths from covid-19. actuallyd news is terrible.

highest single day deaths toll yet, 779 people. when you look at the numbers on the death toll, it has been going steadily up and it reached a new height yesterday. amy: governor cuomo acknowledged the true death toll is certain to be higher because hundreds of people who've died of covid-19 in their homes have not been counted. this comes as "the new york times" reports governor cuomo and new york city mayor bill de blasio failed to trace the contacts of the first people known to be infected with coronavirus in early march, allowing the virus to spread undetected. "the times" reports a failed federal response, combined with unheeded warnings, delayed decisions, and political infighting at the state and local level to accelerate the spread of the virurus across new york.. the trump administration said wednesday it will pay general motors nearly half a billion

dollars to manufacture 30,000 ventilators amid a critical shortage of the life-saving devices. the e white housuse says g.m.m.l deliver about 6000 ventilators by the end of may, with the rest delivered through the summer to the end of august. many models for vid-19 iththe unitedtatates edicict e needed for veililatorwillll pk thisis month fore taping off through e month may. in kansa republin lawmaks have revsed an oer limitg the ze of chch servis, raisinfears ofommunity spreadt congretions cebrating ster serces. in ccago, thcook couy jail has erged ashe large-known source ocoronavis infectns in the uted stat, with a let 353 cod-19 cas linked to theail. in l angeles, yor eric gaetti on dnesday ordered l customs and esntiall works to wear facial c coverings in public.

>> employers over quired to provide these face protections or reimburse employees for their cost. this applies to grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants, hotels, taxis, and w write your vehicles and construction sites. amy: in california, hundreds of workers at 30 fast food restaurants are on strike today to demand personal protective equipment and paid sick leave. this is irving gaza, a mcdonald's worker in san jose joining a strike earlier this week. >> i am the guy in the drive-through. i am in very close contact with people. mcdonald's doesn't want to pay any of us hazard pay. we get no masks or anything like that. nothing. amy: meanwhile, the united food & commercial workers union is calling on the trump administration to issue mandatory safety policies to protect grocery store workers. the union wants to ensure all shoppers to wear masks, with limits on the number of people

allowed into a store at any given time, enforced social distancing, disinfecting and sanitizing procedures, and personal protective equipment for all workers. at the white house wednesday, president trump continued to promote hydroxychloroquine as a covid-19 curative, even though no clinical trials have shown the drug to be effective at treating the virus. a medical journal which published a single french study suggesting a therapeutic use for the drug in treating coronavirus has since that the study does not expected medical standards and retracted it. cardiologists warn hydroxychloroquine has serious side effects and can cause sudden cardiac arrest in some patients. meanwhile, president trump promoted another chemical to his list of untested trereatments. pres. trump: zinc. they say you should add zinc.

it all has to be recommended by doctors, physicians, but they say zinc. amy: there is no medical evidence showing zinc to be an effective treatment for covid-19. president trump appears to be promoting an unproven cocktail of drugs administered by dr. vladimir zelenko, a self-described "simple country doctor" in new york who's been widely promoted on fox news. meanwhile, white house aides are discussing plans to reopen the as may 1,my as early despite warnings from public health officials that an end to social distancing asures c could lead to a new surge of infections and deaths. the head of the world health organization said wednesday he's received death threats and racist insults while leading the international fight against the coronavirus pandemic. dr. tedros adhanom ghebreyesus was responding to a reporter's question about whether criticism from world leaders like president trump made his job more difficult.

>> please don't politicize this virus. the differences you have at the national level. if you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. amy: this week president trump tried to shift blame for his administration's disastrous response to the pandemic onto the world health organization, calling the agency too "china-centric." trump and senior republicans -- including senator lindsey graham and secretary of state mike pompeo -- have said they may withhold u.s. funding for the world health organization. medical researchers say the novel coronavirus likely circulated undetected for weeks in new york beginning in february, long before new york confirmed its first covid-19 case on march 1. two separate teams of researchers say genetic material

taken from thousands of patients shows the main source of early infections came from europe andd not from asia. e finding g undermines president trump's argument that his ban on travavelers from china in latete january delayed the arrival of the cororonavirus s in the u.s. it also underscores how a critical lack of testing laid the seeds for an explosion of covid-19 illnesses and deaths in new york and beyond. meanwhile, the national academy of sciences warns the spread of the coronavirus is unlikely to slow as springtime temperatures return t to the northern hemisphere. senator bernie sanders said wednesday he is suspending his campaign for the democratic presidential nomination, making former vice president joe biden the presumptive nominee to face donald trump in the november election. sanders addressed his supporters in a livestream from his home in burlington, vermont. transformedr we have

american consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become an have taken this country a major step forward in the never ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice, and environmental justice. amy: a after headlines, we'll py extended remarks from senator concession speech and talk to journalist and activist naomi klein about t his historic presidential campaign. in yemen, the u.s.-backed, saudi-led coalition fighting houthi rebels has declared a two-week unilateral ceasefire, as covid-19 spreads across the arabian peninsula. fiveeaears of war r have dedevastated yemenen's hehethcae and sanitation infrastructure, leading to what the united nations calls the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe. over 100,000 people are dead, with millions at risk of famine as well as covid 19 infection. yemen has recorded over 2

million cases of cholera since 2016. last month, the trump administration cut off tens of millions of dollars in medical aid and other r assistance for yeyemen. the yeyemen ceasefire comemes ad reports that as many as 150 members of the saudi royal family have contracted covid-19, including 76-year-old prince faisal bin bandar, the governor of riyadh, who has reportedly been admitted to an intensive care unit. human rights groups are calling on israel to urgently lift its blockade of occupied gaza and the west bank to allow the f flw of medical supplies, equipment, and medical personnel needed to stem the spread of the coronavirus and to treat covid-19 patients. this comes as palestinian health officials say gaza has run out of coronavirus test kits and are pleading with international organizations for more ventilators and bedsds for intensive care units. meanwhile, the pentagon has gifted one million surgical masks to the israel defense

forces as soldiers remain on patrol in occupied palalestinian territories during the outbreak. the israeli government has also holded palestinians to permits to download a smartphone app, giving israel's military access to personal andnd gps location datata and even to cameras. in immigration news, italy has closed its ports to boboats that provovide humaniririan aid to mimigrants attemempting to arrio europe t through thehe mediterrananean. government officials say its ports are no longer safe amid the e coronavirus s outbreak. in greece, f fears a mouountin ovover the uonontrolble spspread of thehe coronavirusus in overcrowded and unsanitary refugee camps. the greek government says it won't be reviewing new asylum claims until after the crisis is over, leaving thousands of pepeople trappeded in camps. in bolivia, hundreds of people are strandeded in a mililitary quarantine camp after they tried to cross the chilean border back into bolivia to avoid chile's 14-day mandatory quarantine.

the camp was built last week to hold bolivians who were not in the country when the coronavirus outbreak began. in colorado, 13-year-old charlotte figi has died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest stemming from a suspected case of covid-19. as a small child, charlotte suffered from relentless epileptic seizures that improved dramatically after her family treated her with oil from a strain of medical marijuana, high in the chemical cbd, that's since been named "charlotte's web." the oil is now widely used to treat certain forms of epilepsy. to read more about charlotte's case, go to democracynow.org. in environmental news, the snow-capped himalayas are visible from cities in northern india for the first time in 30 years as pollution levels across the country have dropped dramatically since the enactment

of a nationwide lockdown. los angeles also saw some of the cleanest air in the world this week as the dark smog anan pollution that usually cloud the city's skyline have dissipated under california strict stay-at-home measures. the trump administration is set to open more than 100 national wildlife refuges to hunting and fishining. the plan would allow fishing for the first time at several wildlife refuges, including the san diego bay and the everglades headwaters in florida. in the american civil liberties union is demanding an investigation into the bordeder patrols abuse of pregngnant migrants in their custody. the complaint filed wewednesday detailils how a guatemalan woman gave birth at the e chula vista border p patrol station near san diego, standing up, holdlding oo a trash can while still wearing her pants. she had pleaded border patrol agents for help but they reportedly told her to sit down and wait to be processed. she had been detained with her husband and two young daughters

in february as they hoped to apply for asylum in the u.s. in related news, the trump administration has quietly shut down the country's asylum system for the first time in decades, using obscure public health law to justify one of the most aggressive u.s.-mexico border crackdowns amid the pandemic. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show with senator bernie sanders' announcement wednesday that he is suspending his campaign for the democratic presidential nomination. vice president joe biden is now the presumptive nominee to face republican president donald trump in the november election. sanders addressed his supporters in a live stream from his home in burlington, vermont. >> togetether we have transformd american consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become and have taken this

country a major step forward in the never ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice, and environmental justice. as many of you will recall, nelson mandela, one of the great freedom fighters in history, famously saiaid "it only seems impossible until it is done." and what he meant by that is the greatest obstacle to r real socl change has everything toto do wh the powower of the corporate and political establishment to limit our vision as to what is possible and what we are entitled to as human beings. if we don't believe that we are entitled to health care as a human rights, we will never achieve universal health care. if we don't believe that we are entitled to decent wages and working condititions, millllionf us will conontinue to live in poverty. if we dodon't believe ththat wee

entitled to all of the eduducatn we week prior to fulfill our dreaeams, many of usus will leae school saddled with huge debt or never get the education we need. if we don't believe that we are entitled to live in a world that has a clean environment and is not ravaged by climate change, we will continue to see more drought, floods, rising sea level, and incncreasingly uninhabitatae planet.t. if we e don't believeve we are entitled to live in a world of justice, democracycy, and fairns without racism, sexexism, homophphobia, xenophobobia, or rereligious bigotry, we willl continue to have massive income and wealth inequalities, prejudice and hatred, mass incarceration, terrified immigrants, and hundreds of thousands of americans sleeping out on the street in the richest country on earth. and focusing on that new v visin

for america is what our campaign has been about and what, in fact, we have accomplished. few would deny over the course of the past fifive yeaears, our movement has won the ideolologil struggle. in so-called red states and blue states and purple states, a majority of the american people now understand that we must raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. that we must guarantee health care as our right to all of our people. that we must transform our energy system away from fossil fuel. and that higher educatition must be availablele to a all regardls of income. it was not long ago that people considered these ideas radical and frenench. today beyond -- they are mainstream ideas and many of them are already being limited in cities and states across the country. that is what we have accomplished together. in terms of health, even before

this horrific pandemic we are now experiencing, more and more americans understood thahawe must move to a m medicare for al singngle payer program. during t the primary elections, exit polls showed in state after state, a strong majority of democratic primary voters supported a single-payer government health insurance program to replace private insurance. that was true even in states where our campaign did not prevail. let me just say that's. in terms of health care, this current horrific crisis that we are now in has exposed for all to see how absbsurd our current employer-based health insurancne system is. the current economic downturn we are expereriencing as not only leadad to a mamassive loss of j, but has also resulted in millions of americans losing their health insurance.

while americans have been told over and over again how wonderful our employer-based private insurance system is, those claims sound very hollow today as a growing number of unemployed workers struggle e wh how they can afffford to go to e doctoror or not go bankrupt wita huge hospipital bill. we have e always believed that health care mustst be considered as a human right, not an employee benefit. and we are right. please also appreciate that not only are we winning the struggle ideologically, we are also winning it generationally. the future of our country rests with young p people. and state after state, whether we won or lost, the demococratic primary c caucuses, we receiviva significant majority of the votes -- sometimes overwhelming majority -- people not only 30

years of age or under, but 50 years of age or younger. in other words, the future of this country is with our ideas. we are all painfully aware we now face an unprecedented crisis . not only are we dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, which is taking lives of many thousands of our people, we e are also dealing with an economic meltdown that has resesulted in the loss of millionons of jobs. today, f families all acroross r country face financial hardship unimaginable only a few months ago. and because of the un-acceptable levels of income and wealth inequality in our economy, many of our friends and neighbors have little or no savings and are desperately trying to pay their rent o or mortgage or even put food on the e table. this reality makes it clear that thisess must address

unprecedented crisis in an unprecedented way that protects the healalth and economimic well-being o of the workrking powerful not just special interests. as a member of the democratic leadership in the united states senate and as a senator from the state of vermont, this is something that i intend to intenselely be invololved in ovr the next number of months. and that will require an enormous amount of work.k. which takes me to the state of our presidential campaign. i wish i could give y you better news, but i think you know the truth. and that is that we are now some 300 delegates behind vice president biden and the path toward victory is virtually impossible. so why we are winning the ideological battle and while the are wiwinning the support of s o many young p people and working

people thrououghout the countryi have concluded that this battle for the democratic nomination will not be successful. and so today, i am announcing the suspension of my campaign. while this campaign is coming to an end, our movement is not. dr. martin luther king junior reminded us that "the ark of the moral universe is long, but it bends s toward justice." the fight for justice is whwhat our campaign has been about. the fight for justice is what our momovement remains abobout. todaday i congratulalate joe bi, a very decent man, who i will work with to move our progressive ideas forward. on a practical note, let me also say this. i will stay on the ballot in many states and continue together delegates, while vice

presidenent biden will be the nominenee. we must conontinue working to assemble as many delelegates ass possssible at the dedemocratic convention whehere we will be ae to exert sigignificant influence over the party platform and other functions. then together, standing united, we will go forward to defeat donald trump, the most dangerous president in modern american history. and we will fight to elect strong progressives at every level of government from congress to the school board. as i hope all of you know, this race has n never been about me. i rain for the presidency because i believe as a president, i couould acceleratae anand institututionalize the progrereive changes that we are all buildlding together. and if w we keep organizing and fighting, i have no doubt but that is exactly what will happen. while the path may be slower now, we will change this nation. and with like-minded friends

around the globe, change the entire world. and because bernie sanders announcing wednesday that he is suspending his campaign for the democratic presidential nomination, speaking from his home in burlington, vermont. when we come back, we speak with journalist and activist naomi klein, a well-known sander supporter, about sanders' historic presidential campmpaig. and we wilill talk to her about coronavirus capitalism. president trump's response to the pandemic. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: " "something to think abou" by willie nelson. others aprilining 11 for a big farm aid concert to frontline,st essential workers from grocery store clerks to delivery truck drivers coming to health care workers. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the epicenter of the pandemic in the united states, new york city, along with my cohost who is right here in new york city as well -- unfortunately, not next to me where we usually are in the studio, but preventing commununity spread d by broadcag from home. hi, nermemeen. nermeeeen: welcome t to all of r listeners s and viewers from around the couountry and around the world. going to turn right now to bernie sanders. we just played his speech as he withdrew his bid for the 2020 democratic presidential

nomination. joe biden now faces the challenge of winning over his supporters. on wednesday, seven progressive groups made up of young activists including nextgen america, sunrise movement, and justice democrats, issued the biden campaign a series of platform demands, saying -- "the organizations will spend more than $100 million but we need help ensuring our efforts will be backed-up by a campaign that speaks to our generation." we are joined now by naomi klein, senior correspondent at the intercept. she endorsed bernie sanders back in novovember anhas s joined u o talk not only about his historic campaign as it surged and now as it suspended, but also to talk about coronavirus capitalism. naomi is the inaugural gloria steinem chair of media, culture and feminist studies at rutgers university, and author of several books, including "the shock doctrine: the rise of disaster capitalism." her latest book is titled "on fire: the case for a green new deal." naomi, it is great to have you

wiwith us. you are one of ourur last guestn studio here and now you're speaking to us from your home in new jersey. can you talk about how you and your family have fared during this pandemic? >> welell, it is v very gooood e sort of with you, amy, an industry that going on your show is the last t thing i did in person before this lockdown. thank you forr asking. we are all doing well and healthy at the moment, though we weren't a couple of weeks ago ss we are very relieved to be. i just want to express my gratitude to you andnd the whole democracy now! team m to contine to broadcast and bring as so many crucial voices in this period. amy: naomi, youu and your famimy were e exposed to covid-d-19, is that rightht? >> yeah, we believe we were because a colleagague and friend

house andayed atat our we spent time together -- actually, the night before i saw you,u, amy, which is why youou w about this becauause we cocontad everyone we came in contactt wih . anand that friend went bacack to canada, got sick, and because they lived somewhere where there is morore testing, was able to t tested and did test positive.. when we started showing symptoms, my husband andnd i, we wondered about that.t. but we are fine. and you appear to o be fine, to, amy, so we arere the least o of people's worries right now. we are allll good. and d our colleague has recover. and is doing welll as well. amy: that is an absolutely critical issue, the severe lack , whatever to this day the president asserts, in new

york city, the epicenter, and all over the country. but naomi, before we talk about that, bernie sanders has suspended his campaign. sayingecently, you were he should continueue, especially during this pandemic, to run for president. can you talk about your response to his addreress and his decisi? think, thing i i want to s say this morning is just i would like t to express my huge , toitude to bernie sananders his entirere family, to the many people who worked for the tirelessly and open upup the winindow of what was possibible politically in this country. it was incredibly tough cacampaign. i trust that bernie is making the right decision in this moment as the leleader of that campaign and also as u.s.

senator. i know he isis not going to just go relax come as he said in his address, he intends to figight r people as he has always done in this criticacal moment in termsf what kind of relief r rescue and reimagagining that we do in the midst of this pandemic. he is staying g on the ballot. hehe is still building powewer n ororder to pressure the democrac party anand joe biden to run the most progressive campaign that they can. i feel so much gratitude for senator sanders. more than anything else, i think ust the campaign did is help find each other. and by "us", not huge as of the "not me" campaign. he did this not just in this campaign, but in 2016 where he really broke the spell of the

reagan era. that spell that has lasted for four decades that told people who believed that the system that was funneling so much wealth upwards and spreading insecurities, precariousness, poverty, and pollution for everybody else -- everybody who saw that system and thought there was something deeply wrong with it -- what the new -- neoliberal era told us is that we were the ones who were crazy. we were a tiny minority of fringe people and that we should just accept it. what the sanders campaign did in 2016 is tell us we had been lied to. that in fact, there were so many millions of us who saw this world was fundamentally upside down. and all of the incredible organizing, including digital

organizing but also in person organizing, wove this amazing web and we were able to find each other and find that we were many and they were few. thankt think we can ever bernie sanders and the campaign enough for that. and being part of the campaign as a volunteer, but i did go to four state for the campaign, was some of the -- provided some of the greatest moments of my political life. ands in nevada when we won got to be part of ththat incredibly joyful moment. and just got to meet so many other like-minded people. sanders'nk in senator address we just heard, i think he was so correct in zeroing in on the conspiracy of lowered expectations, right? he very

directly addressed the american public and said, if you don't believe that you deserve universal health care, you're not going to get it. if you don't believe that you deserve a safe planet, you're not going to get it. and i think that is really at the heart of why he lost. we h have heard again and agaga, bernie has won the battle of ideas. but the truth is, there's a difference between winning a battle of ideas, winning an intellectual battle about what kind of policies are right and just and will keep us safe, and believing you can win. you can simultaneously whenever i live ideas and still believe that you will never actually win, that you are still a weak minority, that you will still be destroyed by the forces of establishment power and money.

and that, i think, is the real generational divide that bernie was also speaking to in that address. i don't think that bernie lost because of a battltle between leftist and centrist -- of course, that battle is still raging -- but we had a progressive majority on the issues. but where the generational divide comes in, , and bertie spoke to this, is among voterers -- not just under 30, but in many cases under 45, underer 50- were starting g to believe they could actually win. and i think particularly among that majority of y yng voters that alwlways backed b bernie, y understood that thehe intellectl project of neoliberalism was bankrupt. that it has lost its power of persuasion. likehese words

"democratic-socialist" were not as scary anymore. in fact, they have become appealing. but i think for that older generation that has particularly -- particularly the older generation that has a living vioiolence ofstate the 1960's that waged litereral war on revolutionary movement leaders that s sentiment exile, that sent them into their graves , that surveilled them, blacklisted them -- when bernie's opponents r raised the specter ofof the red scare thatt would be used against him, that terrifyining.ly prprogressive voteters whoho agd with bernie could not believe ththat he could win. where younger voters to believe he could win. and i think that was the most important generational divide.

nermeen: naomi, a lot of people believed progressives, but also others, that since this cororonavirus emergency has exposed so many failures of the u.s. system -- health care as well as the absence of a social safety net -- that this would enhance support for sanders and his policies. your response to that? and also, whether you think his supporters will actually back biden? i mean, sandnders did not say yesterday -- he did not explicitly endorse bidenen. thahat he implied that after the batattles over te it wouldm were won, then all be about coming together and defeating trump. that is not the way i heard it. i think therere is no doubt that

the way the pandemic is playing out is openening -- further opopening up that window of what is politically possible, indeed, what is necessary f for peoe's arrival.l. yes, support for medicare for all is surging as well ass susupport for other kinds off programs l like housing fofor al ththat were always at the cecenr of thehe sanders c campaignn. in your headlines just now, wee heard news about the air clearing aroround the world. we are seeing it is possible to clean the air. a lot of people like that as one of the silver linings of this crisisis. at t this is not how we want to clclean the air. wewe don't want to cleann the ar by crash, by b brutal l trash. we want to clean the air by craft. we want to designn policicy that cares fofor workers, protects workers, that re-trains workers.

but allow us to live in a way that doesn't poisison p people's lungs -- which, by the way, is part of what is making black and brown communitities more vulnerable to the coronavirus because those arare the communities that have the most polluting industries in their backyards. that is one of the factors. so people are seeing this and being radicalized by this and demanding policies that were at the center of the sanders campaign. during times of crisis, people verse --risk-our risk-averse. the timing is as such and the inability to continue campaigning in person, with people reaching for something that looks and felt safe, i don't think it was possible to in opennessat shift to these kinds of policies with a huge electoral swing from biden toward bernie. although, i was really hoping

for it up until bernie's announcement last night. but while hoping for it, i was keenly aware the polls were not reflecting it, that it wasn't happening and that people are not up for that kind of political seesaw in this moment of tumult. what we have to be focused on, the movement the sanders campaign represents but also all of the social movements that were part of that campaign, independent social movements, and also movements that never join the campaign -- what we need to be focused on right now is winning those policies for kind of people bailout in this moment of profound crisis. and we need to be focused o on beating donald trump in november, ababsolutely. amy: how exactly do you see that happening? this is our last clip for you then we will play a clip of noam chomsky talking about bernie sanders. naomi, how do you see this

happening, when people have to be isolated -- it is not clear what is going to happen in the coming months. clearly in the white house right now, t they're talking about opening as fast as possible t te country despite the dire warnings of scientists ththat ananother surge could happen if trump does this. ps removed the inspector general in charge of the $500 billion cocorporatee fund that corporats will be bailed out by, despite the fact that democrats put that into the bill to ensure that there would be some kind of oversight. but clearly, did not put it in strongly enough because he is able to just fire the person. we're going to talk in a moment about the disparities of who is affected by this. this is certainly not a great leveler, the coronavirus. those on the front lines are the most hard-hit and who are on the frontlines of inequality in the country are the most hard-hit. but your whole assessment of corona capititalism, coronavirus

capitalism right now, where it stands right now and what has to happen in ththese nenext months? -- our r phones still work, our internet still works, so we're still able toto makeke ourselves heard in sendig a very clear message to pepeople in c congress who are goi to have too be running for reelelection -- you u are runnig for reelection, that people are enraged by this bailout and the fact that t these meager strings thatat were attached to the corporate bailout were immediately snipped by the trump administrationon in terms of oversight -- congrgressional oversight and theieir own watchdogogs, in terms of giving steve mnuchin thehe ability to overriride that oversight. i i think the battle, franklyly, when it comemes to disasterer capitalism -- a corporatee free-for-all we're seeing rightt

-- thatder of papandemic that battle was lost when the rescue for people was bundled together with the corporate bailout. the demand that we need to make on lawmakers right now is that they need to keep those things separate so that they are not held hostage. when we look at the fact that there was -- that people voted for that bailout who should not have voted for it, it was because they could not be seen or they felt they could not be seen to be voting for what alexandria ocasio-cortez called "crimes for our families." because those crimes are not nothing when people are starving. the battle really, the political battle was lost in those two things were bundled together, when the people's rescue was bundled together with the corporate rescue. people need to send that message very, very strongly. the fact is there is power right now and there is power from the working people who are holding the world together -- this country, but the world together.

the health-care workers, the janitors, the delivery workers, the caretakers, the peoplple who are picking our food undnder vey unsafe conditions. and we arere sing a wave of job workers w whohese ununderstand themselves to b beo essential despite decades of having their labor belittled by those in power. that is one of the great -- it is one o of the great strengthsf the sanders campaign was that he always recogninized the power of those essentntial workers. it is why he was supported overwhelmingly by amazon workers , by grocery store workers, and of course, by nurses and teachers. so this is a time for us to be organizing and t taking leadersp from those workers. i have to say that one of my great regrets from having been involved in this campaign is watching my friends in the progressive movement who did not support sanders inn part because

they were not able to take leadership from those working people who recognized sanders as their champion from the very beginning, and they felt those workers did not understand their own best interest, so they wanted them to support somebody else. this is a moment where if we say that we have so much gratitude for these frontline workers, let's trust them politically, too come and do everything we can to augment their political power. let's domain that are trade unions. let's demand that ourselves. let's support them tangibly, but let's also take leadership from them, which is something that bernie sanders always did and one of the things that i love most about him. amy: naomi klein, thank you for being with us, senior correspondent at the intercept and professor at rutgers university. teach-in.e's dodoing a we will link to it on our website. on wednesday just before bernie

sanders announced by the digital bike he was about to pull out of the presidential race, i asked political dissident ling west and other noam chomsky about his assessment of the bernie sanders campaign in this time of the coronavirus pandemic. trump is reelected, it is indescribable disaster. it means the policies of the past four yearsrswhich haveve bn extremely destructive to the american population, to the world, will be continued and what thisccelerated is going to meanan for health is bad enough. i i just mentioned it.t. it will get worse. what this means for the envivironment or the threat of nuclear war, which n no one is

talklking about, was extremely serious,s, is indescribable. , suppose if biden is selected i would antnticipate it wououlde essentially a continuation of obama. nothing very great, but at least not totally destructive. and opportunities for an organized public to changnge wht is being done, to impose pressures. itits common to say n now the sandnders campaign failed. i think that is a mistake. i think it was an extraordinary shifted thepletely arena of dedebate and discussio. issues that wewere unthinkable a couple of years ago are now right in the m middle of attention.

the worst crime he committed in the eyes of the establishmentnts not policies proposing, it is the fact he was able to inspire popopular movements -- which had already been developing in occupy, black lives matter,r, ad many others - -- turn t them inn activist movement, which doesn't just show up every couple of yeyears to p push a leader and n gogo home, but applies conststat pressure, constant activism, and so on. aat could affffect biden precious administration. amy: that is activists, world-renowned linguist,t, noam chomsky. wewe will spend the e hour withm on friday on democracy now! this is democracy now! when we come back on the racial disparities. o is dying in this pandemic? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "it's up to you" by steinski. with the this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the epicenter of the pandemic in new york city. nermeen shaikh. we turn to the devastating toll the coronavirus is taking on

black americans, who are disproportionately dying from ththe virus across the c countr. in michigan and illinois, african americans make up 14%-15% of the population and 41% of the covid-19 deaths. in chicago alone, african-americans account for 70% of the city's death yet just 30% of the population. in louisiana, african americans comprise about one third of the population but 70% of the covid-19 deaths. andrew cuomo -- who once called the virus the "great equalizer" -- said wednesday that black people make up 18% of the deaths in the state despite being just 9% of the population. the latinx community makes up 29% of new york ty but 34% of the ataths. many of themn n quee. whh is the most diverse communy y in t natatio the actual number of deaths due to covid-19 llll liky nenevebe know a as pele, , ofn thee uncumentednd thosen the margins ofococietyare e dying at

ho uncount. fo more turno camara phyllijones. she is aamily phician an epidemiologist past president of , the american public health association. her recent piece for newsweek magazine is titled "coronavirus disease discriminates. our health care doesn't have to." why don't you elaborate on that, dr. jones? this issue and why you see this disparate effect on the african-american population. >> covid-19 is exposing u.s. racism in a stark n new way because the blacack and brorown bodies arare piling up so fast that thehey can't -- these debts can be normalized or ignored. in the array that racism is operating in this pandemic -- and this pandemic is two different fronts. it is increasing exposure to the increasedit has

vulnerability to the virus. so increasing exposure to the virus because the way that racism that structures opportunity and assigns value has structured our educational opportunities and job opportunities. facing carloront income, undederappreciated jobs where e we are part of the essential workforce that really isn't getting its full attention and certainly not getting the full protection that we need. racism has increased the vulnerability of us to this virus because living in racially segregated communities that a ae resource segregated without adequate access to food and environmental racism hazard segregated has made us carry in our bodies all of those same diseases -- diabetes, high blood pressure, renal disease, asthma -- that are making people who

get infected to the virus sicker and die fastster from it. , eveven before -- we mentioned the statistics everywhere but in chicago, even there the pandemic began, life expectancy of african-americicans was nine yes , slightly less than nine years livethan white people who in chicagogo. could d you say, dr. jones, , wt you feel should be done? what steps should be takenen to compensate for the disproroportionate vulnerability of african-americans, latinx communitieies in light of this emergencncy, health emergency? >> i am so glad you asked me ththat question because we can't just look at these statistics and then shrug and say, "oh, well, we expected that." we have to act the way we act is

on both fronts. become how do we actually recognize we have chronically bebeen sicker and dying sooner? what that means is if we already recognize that, we e have to moe all of the health resources to those areas where we can already expect higher deaths. we should not have black people alreready burdened with these diseases living in communities where they cannot get adequate testing, number one, but adequate access to ventilators and health resesources and the knot. we need to provide resources acaccording to need. and we can already predict that needed. on that vulnerabilit side, the other thing i really need to say is you will be singing out in the news lots of different ways of people trying to say, "if we have too ratation ventilatotors, well, maybe we e should discount people if f they have diabetes r whatever." we canannot allow that to happe. first of all, we should not be

working under a scenanario of scscarcity because there is no reason we have to have scarcity. we should reject that but certainly if we do have onone ventilator and three patients, there should never be any counting i in of this person as diabetes or heart disease in ththat allocation. i actually think that if it comes down to that, we need to have a randodom allocation of those resources. we neeeed to valalue all indivis and popupulations equally. that is one of three core prininciples for achieviving heh equity. , letcamara phyllis jones me ask you one last question and then we will do part two and post it on democracynow.org. the critical lack ofof testing that has completely comompromisd ththe public health respsponse n ththis country -- you have talkd about the fact that that discriminanates against afrirican-americans well, where people can even get tests. >> yes, that is true.

where peop can get tests. the kind ofo say haphazard way that we have approached teststing is affectig all of us. itit is affecting g our abilityo alter the course of the epidemic. the way we are using testing in this country right now is to confirm diagnosis in a very narrow one person n by o person kind of c clinical in the medal space y. amy: we just have 20 seconds. >> what we really need to do is find out everybody who has the disease and we need to do a public hlth testining step test those with symptoms. those who don't have symptomoms so wewe can just read our resourcrces so that we can identify and isolate people who have the disease before they are symptomatic while they are spreadining it andnd also do cot racing. that will be for the good of all of us. that way we don't documement the epidemic, we actually can change the course of it. amy: camara phyllis jones, thank

you for being with us. we will do part two and posted on democracynow.org. family physician and epidemiologist, currently the evelyn green davis fellow at the radcliffe institute for advanced study at harvard university, and a past president of the american public health association.

narrator: on this episode of "earth focus," the illegal lumber trade is a multi-million-dollar business spanning the globe. in the northwest united states, scientists are using innovative methods to stop lumber from enentering ththe country, w whin brazil, violent clashes have erupted at the source, where indigenous groups are trying to stop poachers from decimating their forest.