06/24/20 06/24/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> eliot engel, and i will say his name once, used to say he was the thorn in the side of donald trump. but you know what donald trump is more afraid of anyone, anything else? a black man with power. amy: and what could turn out to be a major political upset, jamaal bowman, a black middle school teacher from the bronx, takes a strong lead over eliot

engel, chair of the house committee on foreign affairs. we will air part of bowman's spspeech last night. then we speak to palestinian-american legal scholar noura erakat about israel''s plan to anannex the wt bank and the d death of her r cn who was shot to death tuesday by israeli forces at a west bank checkpoint. we will also talk to former nba center etan thomas about how the black lives matter protests are changing professional sports and we will look at how coronavirus is rapidly spreading through california's overcrowded prisons includuding san quentin state prison. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goododman. top infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci told congress parts of the united states are tuesday facing a disisturbing surge in coronavirus infections, warning the virus is not yet

under control. fauci was testifying to the house energy and commerce cocommittee. >> right now the next couple of weeks are going to b be critical in our ability to address those surgings we're seeing in florida, t texas, arizona, andnd other states. the bottom line, mr. chairman, it is a mixed bag. some good, and some now we have a problem m with. amy: dr. faucici's remamarks cas the official u.s. ath h to from c covid-19 topppped more tn 121,000, t though he ackcknowled the official figure i is likelya significant undercount. his testimony came as president trump contradicted claims by the -- his press secretary that he was kidding whenen he said at a that he urged slowing of the testing. cooks mr. president, at that rally when you said yoyou asked hereople to s slow down testing, were you just kidding or do you

have a plan to slow down testing? pres. trump: i don't kid. let me make it clear. amy: in fact, the white house is thatat you and federal suppoporr coronavirus testing at the end of the month. in texas, lawmakers are wanting a catastrophic cascading consequences if trump follows through on his plan which would in diagnostic t testing at seven sites that screen hundreds of people i day.. global confirmed cororonavirus cases hahave topped 9.2 million with nearly half a million deaths of covid-19. in latin america, the region's death toll officially surpassed 100,000 tuesday. this comes as mexican health officials announced a daily record of over 4,500 new coronavirus infections tuesday. in brazil, a judge has ordered far-right president jair bolsonaro to wear a mask in public or he'll face a fine of nearly $400 per violations. this comes as bolsonaro continues to attend massive political rallies across brazil, which recorded nearly 40,000 new cases tuesday. the worst infection rate in the

world. this comes as medical health officials announced a daily record of over 4500 new coronavirus i infections. that was in mexico. the europeanannion is prpreparig to reopen its borders to travelers from dozens of countries except f for people traveling g from thehe united states, who may be barred. in middle east, saudi a arabia willll bar travelers frorom abrd who o are attending to attend te haj this year amid the pandemic, marking the first time in modern history muslims from around the world will not be allowed to makeke the annual pilgrimamage o memea. votersrs went to the polls tuesy in new york, kentucky, virgigina and other states for primary electitions marred by lolong lis and fears over the coronavirus. in kentucky, officials slashed the number of polling places from 3700 to just 170, a 95% reduction. in louisville, which has kentucky's largest african

american population, just one polling place was open -- the kentucky exposition center. at 6:00 p.m., officials locked the building, even as up to 200 voters were stuck in traffic waiting to find parking spots. in a dramatic scene, scores of people banged on doors and windows demanding the right to vote. they were allowed inside just before 6:30 after a judge ordered a half-hour reprieve. sena m majory leaderitchch mcconnl l easi won the republican party'nonominaon i in kekentky. hidemocratic challgeger wi be either progressive state representative charles booker or former marine fighter pilot amy mcgrath. mcgrath has an eight-point lead over booker with about half of

precincts reporting, though a large number of absentee ballots remain to be counted, and final results aren't expected until at least june 30. here in new york, former middle school principal jamaal bowman has taken a large lead over the democratic party's nomination for the 16th congressional district in westchester county and the bronx. over 16-term congressmember eliot engel, the powerful chair of the house foreign affairs committee. bowman is running on a green new deal, medicare for all platform and recently joined protests demanding an end to racism and police brutality. in new york's 14th congressional district, democratic socialist alexandria ocasio-cortez fended off a challenge by former cnbc michelle caruso-cabrera, winning the democratic party's nomination in a landslide. president travel to arizona where he toured a section of tuesday nenewly built border wa, claiming the concrete and metal structure had "stopped covid."

trump's claim cacame as arizona confirmed 3600 new coronavirus infections on tuesday, a daily record. hospitalizations topped 2000, also a record, with intensive care units now at 85% capacity. trump later held his second campaign event since the start tothe pandemic, speaking 3000 students packed into a megachurch in phoenix. few of the students wore masks, caps,f them woremaga many -- none of them practiced social distancing, raising fears the trump rally could be another coronavirus s "super spreader" event. during his remarks, president trump drew cheers when he mocked covid-19 and repeated a racist nickname for the disease. ," come -- kung flu.p:

amy: on tuesday, twitter flagged another trump tweet for violating its policy prohibiting abusive or violent language, after trump wrote -- "there will never be an autonomous zone in washington, d.c., as long as i'm your president. if they try they will be met with serious force!" protests against police brutality and anti-black racism are continuing across the country. in washington, d.c., police in riot gear violently cleared a small protest encampment near the white house on tuesday. in richmond, virginia, 12 people were arrested as they attempted to set up a protest encampment outside richmond city hall. officers used tear gas, pepper spray, and flash bangs to break up the protest. meanwhile, in oakland, dozens of students rallied on tuesday to push the school district to remove police officers from the city's schools. this is jessica black, director of the black organizing project. >> children don't need to be criminalized for being children. schools were supupposed to be a place where chchildren could len social skills. schools and communities. what we're pushing is w we're

pushing the institutions of policing out and saying bring community inin. amy: in kentucky, the e louisvie metro police department said tuesday it has fired brett hankison more than three months after he shot breonna taylor to death inside her own apartment. officer brett hankison will have 10 days to appeal his termination. none of the officersrs involvedn breonna taylylor's killing have been charged witith a crimime. the center for constitutional rights and a coalition of other civil rights organizations are calling on federal prosecutors to release on bail two newew yok attotorneys who are accucused of throwing molotovov cocktails ino an e empty newew york police car during protetests in brooklyon may 30. ththe lawyers, colin mattis and urooj rahman, are facing a minimum of 45 years in prison if convicted on the federal charges. the two were initially released on bail but then the government challenged the bail conditions, sending them back to pre-trial detention -- a move that shocked many in the legal community since neither mattis or rahman have a criminal history. a group of over 50 former

federal prosecutors have also signed a letter opposing the government's handling of the case. a warnrning to ourur viewers, ts story contains graphic footage. in the occupied west bank, israeli i officers shot ankikild a papalestinian man tuesday at a checkpoint east of jerusalem as he was on his way to pick up his sister, who was set to be married last night. disturbing video from the scene shows 27-year-old ahmed erekat bleeding but still alive on the street where he was shot. he is the nephew of senior palestinian official saeb erekat, who says israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was responsible for the death. later in the broadcast, we will speak with palestinian human rights attorney and legal scholar noura ererakat, who isis ahmed's coususin. in news from egypt, , plainclots security forces abducteded 26-year-old activist sanaa seif on tuesday.. the abduction occurred outside the public prosecutor's office in cairo. seif was attempting to file a complaint about being violently assaulted along with her sister

and mother on monday outside the tora prison complex where her brother, the political prisoner alaa abdel fattah, i is being jailed. in mexico, a 7.4 earthquake hit the southern state of oaxaca tuesday, killing at least five people and triggering a tsunami warning in the region and several central american countries. at least two hospitals treating covid-19 patients were among those reporting damages. the powerful earthquake was felt in several other states, including in mexico city, where residents were forced onto the streets as buildings and power lis rattled d and seismic alarms wewent off. smsmaller trorors were f felt as guatemala, honduras, and el salvador. in health news, johnson & johnson has been ordered to pay $2.1 b billion to a group of won who dedeveloped ovararian cancer after using talcum products contaminated with asbestos. in its ruling, the eastern district missouri court of appeals said johnson & johnson had "engaged in conduct that was outrageous because of evil motive or reckless indifference."

but the appeals court did reduce the verdict amount which had been $4.7 billion. johnson & johnson recently stopped selling its brand of talcum powder in the united states andnd canada,a, but it is continuing t tsell the p producs overseas. in election news, , democratic presesidential candidate j joe n and d former preresident b barak obama raisised over $11 millionn tuesday in theiririrstst fundraiser t together since obaa endorsed his former running mate for presidident in april. in charleston, sououth carolina comeme the city has begun removg a statue of former vice president john calhoun who was a staunch advocate of slavery and a slaveholder himself. the charleston city council voted unanimously to remove the monument on tuesday night after the 115-foot high statue was repeatedly targeted by protesters. the monument is located in marion square, just a block from the mother emanuel ame church where nine african-american worshipers and their pastor were

gunnnned down in 2015 by white supremacist dylan roof. in mississippipi, college footbl star running back kylin hill said monday he'll refuse to play next season unless mississippi abandons its state flag, which features the confederate battle flag as part of its design. hill tweeted -- "either change the flag or i won't be representing this state anymore & i meant that. i'm tired." in atlanta, rayshard brooks was laid to rest tuesday, 1111 days after he wasas shot twice in the back and killed by an atlanta police officer outside a wendy's restaurant. his killing sparked an uprising against racism and police brutality that cululminated in e arrest of officer garrett rolfe on felony murder charges. brooks was honored by friends and family who gathered at the historic ebenezer baptist church for his funeneral. reverend bernice k king delilivd the eulogy. daddy, martin luther king jr., who taught us that true peace is notot merely the absene

theension, but it is presence of justice. therefore, there can be no peace in atlanta nor anywhere in our nation where there is no justice. no justice, no peace. amy: immediately after the funeral wrapped up, atlanta police announced the arrest of natalie white,e, a 29-year-o-olo was s reportedly c close to rayd brooks. she faces charges of first-degree a arson for allegey helping to set a fire that consumed the wendydy's restaurat wherere brooks wasas shot dead n june 12. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy y goodman. we begin today's show here in new york whehere jamaal bowmanan african-american former middle school princalal, appearars seto pupull off one of the biggest political upsets of the year. though the race has not yet been called, bowmen is leading by 25 percentage points over 16-term congressmember eliot engel, the powerful chair of the house foreign affairs committee in the democratic primary for 16th

congressional district in westchester county and the bronx. the associated press reports 92% of precincts have reported results but it is not clear how many absentee ballot still need to be counted. jamaal bowman ran on a green new deal, medicare for all platform and joined recent protests demanding an end to racism and police brutality. he spoke at a campaign party latete tuesday. >>, black man in america. raised by a single mom, spent some time in the housing project, lived in rich stabilized projects, went to public schools my entire life, grew up during the crack cocaine epidemic -- which hurt and ravaged many parts of my family as well as my friends families as well. my best friend who is here tonight, i will never forget the night you call me when i was out partying at a club and told him his brother was shot and killed. at a very young age as a black man in america, you get to learn about death and homicide and

suicide and how it impacts not just you individually, but your community and the rest of the country. it was these experiences that led me to be an educator in the first place. i served in that role as an educator with pride and passion and dignity and tried my best to do everything i could to uplift the lives of every child that i taught in every child that i serve. and to do everything i could to make sure families had with a needed and that they understood and leveraged the power of their voices. unfortunately, as we all know, we live in a country where despite our financial wealth, we have tens of millions of children still living in poverty . as an educator working for the department of educator for 20 years, i've seen the impact of poverty on the lives of our kids each and every day. poverty is not the result of children and families who don't work hard. our children and families work as hard as anyone else. poverty is by political design.

it is rooted in system that has been fractured and corrupt and rotten from its core, from the inception of america. especially over the last several decades. so poverty and the impact of poverty on our children and dealing with issues of institutional racism and sexism and classism and xenophobia and everything that keeps the majority of us oppressed is what we designed this campaign to fight against. so tonight as we celebrate, we don't just celebrate me as an individual. we celebrate this movement. a movement designed to push back against a system that is literally killing us. -- likelling bracken and brown bodies disproportionately. elite eagle, and i'll say stan wants, is to say he was the thorn in the side of donald trump.

you know what donald trump is more afraid of than anyone -- anything else? a black man with power. trump ishat donald afraid of. so if the results continue to bear out as they are bearing out this evening and we get to congress, it will be our jobob o hold donald trump accountable and to hold every elected official accountable that continues to be beholden to corporate interestss, that continues to be beholden to the wealthy, and is now fighting for the poor and is now fighting for the working class in our country. america, if we are truly powerful, we should use that power to create peace all over the world. to become a humanitarian leader on this planet, and to make sure we have housing and jobs and fully funded schools and infrastructure and health care that is exemplary and humane immigration reform and a humane

restorative justice system that reinvests in communinities that have been historicically neglected. amy:y: jamaal bowman speaking lt night, like middle school principal from the bronx who has taken a strong lead come over 16 term congressmember eliot engel, chair of the house committee on foreign affairs and the democratic primary for the 16th congressional district in westchesteter county and the brbronx. to see our interview with jamaal bowman, go to democracynow.org. this is democracy now! en we comeme back, a palestinian man is gunned down by the israel i military in the west bank. wewe willl spepeak to his cousie ll-known s scholar noura erakat. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynynow.org, the quarante report. i am amy goodman in new york. juan gonzalez joins s us from nw

brunswswick, n new jersey. juan: w welcome to all ofof our listeners and viewerers from around the country and around the world. amy: we're going to o begin tody in i israel and the wewest bank. israeli officers o on tuesday st dead a palestinian man at a checkpoint in the occupied west bank as he was on his way to pick up his sister, who was set to be married last night. a warning to our viewers, this video shows graphphic footage. it shows 27-yeyear-old a ahmed erekat bleeding but still alive on the street where hehe was sh. he is the nephew of senior palelestinian ofofficial saeb erekat, secretary general of the palestine liberation organization, who said his nephew was "murdered in cold blood" and wrote in a tweet that israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was respsponsible for the e death. ahmed erekat's family said he was kikilled while on his way ta

beauty salon to pick up his sister and his mother, but israeli authorities claim he tried to run over r an officer t a checkpoint in ththe palestinin village of abu dis, east of jerusalem. his family rejects the allegations and is calling for israeli authorities to release security footage. ahmad himself was also due to be married soon. his killing g mes nearlyly a moh after another palestinian man was killlled in similar circumstances near ramallah, also in the west bank, and as netanyahu plplans to startrt anannexing nearly a thirird of e occupied west bank next month. for more, we are joined by ahmad erekat's cousin, noura erakat, who is a palestinian human rights attorney and legal scholar, assistant professor at rutgers university, author of "justice for some: law and the question of palestine." our condolences to you and your family. this is such a terrible time for

you. we so deeply appreciate you are able to join us. this is just hours after your cousin was killed. can you describe the circumstances under which you understand he died? >> thank you. i've not h had a chance toto spk with parentsts, so i want toto t out by sayining -- we understand the circumstances to be what people know, ahmed was on his way to pick up his sister from a hair salon for h r wedding. heher mom was there e with here. on the w way toto the hair saloe passed throughgh a c checkpoint separating bethlehem through unknown roadway, back roadway, a dangerous one andnd as the e vay

of fire. betweena deep decline this checkpoint on the road. what we understand is ahmed lost control of his carar or was confused while he was in his car. that was all i it took to have a knee-jerk reactition. the car to jerk a little bitit d immediatelely to cause the soldldiers to open fire on himim multiplele timemes. note that these soldiers who are fully armed at this checkpoint are behind barriers, are notot , andlly out in the open for 1.5t ahmed to bleed hours. we also understand his father was there pleading with the israeli soldiers to let him access his son. we also another palestinian red crescent, the eququivalent of te rered cross, was not allowed

accessss. for 1.5 hohours, as you u saw in that inexplicable video, ahmed was left writhing and b bleeding out without the ability to care obviousand whahat is very is that the c callousness witith which this happened, the way it is n normalized compmpletely ans a palestinian, there is a line of cars and the one filming this was praying over ahmed as he is dying should remind us that even those palestinians who are bearing witness toto this arare subject to a s state of forced helplessness. they are not even alloweded to help ahmed in that moment. i want to bring up something to the audience for i adaddress israrael's vicicious dangerous d disgususting allegations thihiss a car r raining and raise three questions for the audience whoo isis paying attention right now. one, why is abu u dis where ahmd

my family isis from so severely underdeveloped that he has to travel outside one of the e big palestiniaian cities in order to get his sister from a hair salon?n? what is the cause of tt underdevelopment? number two, i want to askskhe auaudience to think ababout the biggest palestinian c city and commercial center in abu dis is jerusalem --ababu dis is a subub of jerususalem and has been cut off by the apartheid wall. like couldn't my family get to jerusalem and instead have to travel to bethlehem? number thrhree, and so importantly, why is there chececkpoint between bethlehem d two palestinian citieies, why are there checkpoint anywhere? think about those questions as we enter this broader question of the context that ahmed was killed in.n. juan: n noura, first of all, my deepest condolences to you and your family. but i want -- i want to

precisely ask that question, what a are these cheheckpoints t are withinin palestinianan terry that apparently are not even near any israeli settlements? how many of them are there and what is the justification n for them f from israel'ss perspecti? >> inc. that question. the palestinian -- the checkpoints that divide papalestinians from m one anothr and separate them from their homes are an invention of the peace process. in 1995, the palestinian west bank and gaza were separated into three jurisdictions, a -- a companyd seek b,b, and c. area,rea c is the e largest what is now being marked for annexation and is what came under full israeli cicivil and security control.. the checkpoints that are erected are meant to put -- police palestinians from traveling from

amongst cities and within one another. their place precisely to divide palestinians from one another in ofer to quell any kind national cohesion and uprising. they are also set up because they are policing palestitinians who are not to travel l throughh settlements which are all built on confiscated palestinian land. aretimes these checkpoints built around places where there are no settlements, but there will be. but there will be. all of palestinian territory is marked for israeli settlements and marked for the removal of palestinians. palestinians have steadily been removed from their home. they are demolished. roads are buililt over them for israelis only. settlements s are built on topof them. palestinians are continued too ever smaller areas. the trump administration revealed in january, will become

the permanent reservation where they will be able to practice a -- or derivative sovereignty, but never a form of freedom. they will forever be dominanate. i want to switch really quick becaususe this is the e concernf the family ahmed ahmed come inin the aftermatath of's mururder, israel started a propagandnda he trtriedleging that to ram his c car into the checkpoint. this is s a lie. this is an incredibly hurtful lie, but it is a systematic like that israell tells as it kills palestinians and blames t them r their own deaths. whwhat we know is israel h has e this systematicacally. we know they have used this - -- as people have said, this w was preparared and ready argrgument. we know from m may to octoberr 2018, , israel killed 267 palestiniansns in gaza who were unarmemed that was supported d y

the israelii mililitary establishment and political establishment. it was rubberstamped as a policy toto shoot. we know among those murderered s a 21-year-old paramedicic who hd her hands up, wasas wearing a paramedicest, and was shot in the back. when she wasas killed, the israi military released d a doctored video claiming she said "i'm a human shield." what they failed to play w was e rest of the clip where she said "i am a human shield here o on e line being a protective human shield saving the injured." the israeli literary doctctor te video to say she was human chill for hamas. guess what? askingntire world stopped questions. the momentnt you say hamas, palestinian violence, posting resistance is as it we expect

that to be a carte blanche to kill as many positive needs as possible. .hey did it right t now the family is demanding ahmed's by the be returned. it is being withheld a as a form ofof collective punishment. you're also demanding that the home be protected because israel has a policy of demolishing homemes of palestininians they kind of -- without any trial. we a are demanding t the footage released and apologize and address the systematic violence. examined theu.n. s and that israelel' concluded "israel oftenen used lethal forcece against suspicionians on meme or as a precautionary measure."

israeli soldiers killed palestinians as cautionary measure. and the rest of the world accecepts this because of how ud to the loss of palestinian lives we have become numb top. ththis killiling is normalized. this is the context in which fighting fory is justice in his name and also mourning's live at the sameme time. amy: noura erakat, as you describe ahmed, he was picking up his mom and sisterr -- his sister was going to be merry last time. his sister fainted when she heard what had taken place? and d he himself was going to be married in just a few weeks? >> inindeed. the other part of the story that does not add up -- and frankly, one of the things about this, as you're telling these details come a amy, so most listeners

would think, naturally, why would a young man, 27 years old with his own t-shirt business who is incredibly happy and smiling on the day of his sister's weddingng planning an attack against an israeli checkpoint, whicich is basicalla suicide mission? why y would he do that? normal people will ask that. pathetic people will say, it is impossible. yet because of the dehumanizing and the racism with which our stories are cloaked, there are some who might say, yeah, it is possible. palestinians are driven by hatrtred for jews and basicallyy bornrn in order to kill. people saying palestinians should be killed because they birth snakes? these are the highest people in office, not arena extremist, but representatives -- who represent them to the world, the so-called

only democracy. yes, ahmed was incredibly proud of the home he had prepared for his wife to be insured pictures had soin his home and much to live for and deserved to s justice inerve deserts estimating accountability. this is not about one sad israel i soldier, just as it is not about one bad cop ever. this is anan apartheid system ad a settler colonial system that enshrines jewish israeli supremacy as a matter of law and policy on an international scale. it is one that marks palestiniaians for removal, exie or death. and it is done with thehe full unequivocal diplomatic finanancl military supupport of the united states but with the international community, so it

bears upon us to respond in this moment by supporting the palestinian's call for freedom, by doing a little weekend by engaging in boycott, divestment, for alls for ahmed,, those to oppose the annexation, oppose apartheid to fight for freedom. amy: noura erakat, thank you for being w with us. again, our condolences to your family. noura erakat is a palestinian human rights attorney and legal scholar. colleague of juan's at rutgers company assistant professor at rutgers university. author of "justice for some: law and the question of palestine." ovover 1000 european mps havee writitten a leletter opposing israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied west bank. also, , the final tweet, one of the tweets of noura e erakat k r guest after ahmed died --

--y left him to "they left him to bleed out like this. for 1.5 hours. his name is ahmed. he deserved to live. he deserved to dance tonight w his family to celebrate his sister. he deserved to dance at his wedding, to nurture family. to live. this is not a picture of ahmed but of israel's ugliness." when we come back, look at the fight for racial justice in sportsts with etan thomas, foror nba player, cohost of the podcast "the collision: were sports and politics collide." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democrcracynow.org, ththe quarae report. i'm amy goodmann with juan gonzalez. we tururn now to look k at the t for racial justice in sports. the fbi said tuesday that nascar driver bubba wallace was not the target of a hate crime and that a noose found in his garage had been there since last year. nascar described the item as a "garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose" and says it had

been there for months before the stall was assigned to wallace. nascar launched an investigation after a crew member discovered the noose sunday at the talladega superspeedway. bubba wallace, who is the only african american driver in nascar's elite cup series, tweeted the "act of racism and hatred leaves me incredibly saddened." on tuesday night, he told cnn he stands by what he said. of what i'vemage seen hananging i in my garage it a garage pull. i have been racingng on my lifi. we have raraised out of hundndrs of garages. never hahad garage pulls likike that. so people that want t to call ia knotsts pull upon videos of as her evidence, go ahead. but from t the evidedence we hae and that i have, it is s a straightht u up noose.

the fbi has stated it was a noose over and over again. amy: that was bubba wallace. on sunday, a plane circled above the track at the talladega superspeedway towing a confederate flag and a banner reading "defund nascar" to push back against its decision to ban the confederate flag. meanwhile, dustin skinner, the son of former nascar driver mike skinner, apologized tuesday for an earlier facebook attack on -- facebook post saying bubba wallace should be dragged around the pits with the news. well, from nascar to the nfl -- where commissioner roger goodell now says he encourages teams to sign quarterback colin kaepernick -- we are joined by etan thomas, athlete and activist who spent 11 years in the nba and is co-host of the weekly podcast "the collision: where sports and politics collide" with dave zirin.

his latest book is "we matter: athletes and activism." it is great to have you with us. let's start with nascar. absolutely astounding what bubba wallace has accomplished, pushing hard for the confederate flag to be banned from the raceways and nascar finally d dd comply. and to see before the fbi said they discovered that this noose-like rope had been there for months, all of the belelievd car drivers -- bubba wallace is dealing african-americann elite car driver -- walking with him in a black lives matter-like protest. and before that, bubba wallace had unveiled his racing car, which was black with bold white " " and "black lives matter he wore a t-t-shirt that sd d "i c't breaththe." talk about what is happening in nanascar.. > first of all, t thank you r having me on. i think it i is amamazing what s

hahappening in nascacar. i i had a chance to interview bd doherty, a team ownerer in nasc, former nba player, yesterday, for anotother show i have. he told d me about the culture f nascar. i have to admit elite n no, i'm know not,admittedly an avid d watcher of nascar. he talked about how ththe different drdrivers rally a arod bubba wallace and that t show of solidaririty and how hee said in his words that would not have hahappened 20 years ago. the particulars o of the noose d the f fbi - -- they have call ia noose manany times. ththey d n not say it wasn't. they calleitit a noose, just to make it clear,r, no matter whent was placed there and why bubba wawallace was given that particul garagage, don't know. they call it a noose. but the p part that was realllly

impressive to me is, n number o, the way nascar immediately rallied around bubba wallace. ththey did more in 48 hours than the nfl did for con kaepernick for four or five years or however long it has been. the show of solidarity around nascar, around the driver -- which is different than the fans. the fans had one r reaction. he saw a lot of -- i've even seen in the twitter mentions. i posted my support for bubbaba wallace. there's a certain demographic nascar, but the drivers don't match that demographic. atat is one e thing i did not know. i thought they were one in the same. but the show of solidarity is something we're sing across the country. what we saw in nascar with that, right now i this time since george floyd's murdeder, i've sn more white peoeople who have ben protesting, who have been

rallying around as allies, who want to be allies, then i have in my lifetime. we can't worry about where you have been all this time. your l l to the party, ok, ththat's fine. bubut you here n now. now'w's the time for youou tuse your pvilege t to be able to push for things toto actually change. i think ththat is reflectition f where we are in society. those drivers in nascar are pushing for the culture of nasc to changege. , i i would askas about the other sports. major r league baseball isis trg to salvage it season. the nfl is in a q quandary about what to do. the nba now is seeeeking to restart -- to get into t the playoffs but there arere battles between n the plplayers themsel. brooklyn nets star kyrie irving, recently posted on his instagram account --

"it's clear white supremacy and corporations use us native indigenous black folk when it is beneficial for their agenda and pockets, so be aware of the truth in plain sight family. hehe is saying a at least ththe players shouould consider not participating well lebron james isis saying, no, letet' play and make our statement through our playing. i'm wonderinyoyour perspececti on the battle amamong the nba players about the way forward? >> i think there are two differentt approaches to be able to reaeach one comommon goal. goingg bacack to t that olympicn adadd a chan t to interview don carlos and karareem abdul-jabbar will stop. karereem abdul-jabbar did nott o to the e 1968. don carlos went toto the olympis

ended the black popower salute during -- on the podium and that reverbrberated to even today. boboth of them deserve respectc. that is my issue with my approach teeeetering kerryry and lebrbron. whwhen i turn on the newews an'm lookoking at the i inflammatory language that is being u used wn describing carrie and dwdwig howard and others who've said maybe this is ththe best time fr us to be worrying abouout basketbaball, maybe there other things a as movements going on right now that we should be fofocused on, and the wordrds ty chose to use like stupid and dumb and ridiculous -- - i would ask stephphen a smith, would you call kareem a abdul-j-jabbar foh for not going to the 1960 ght olympicscs? there is room for both discscussions. there is room fofor a civil debe anboboth of these approaches.. on one hand, we have presidents.

--have the wnba who did g go theyey went as an entire leaguea few w yes a ago and i was able o intervieiew some in my book. amy: t the women sleep. >> what's ththat? >> t the womomen's league. >> yes, , the wnba. they y as and was entire league made a statement. so every single game what they did was theyey had an a aual mea blackout.. they wouould answer to q questis from the g game and then after that, every y question would be dedealing with whwhat the t tops right then, which was pololice brbrutality and police accountatability and what ththey could do to changege things. they had the entire league -- they had white plalayers, forein players s not even from your, dd not even k know what w was goio, but to educated them on itit and they saw t their sisisters thate hurting and they didid it together. amy: i want to get your comment

on the nba commissioner adam silver speaking about the league's responsibility in addressing racial inequality. almost an can have unparalleled voice in this conversation because of what we stand for, because we represent, frankly -- when you think about our players, some of the best known black people in the entire world are part of the nba and now part of the wnba. we know we can have a very important voice. returningngure with thatat's s the bulk omy b broadr message a about sociaially qual, racicial issues are not somehow lolost in the discussion. amy: that is adam silver. i was wondering what you think has to happen right now. he was talking alongside magic johnson in a a virtual conversasation, then we e will e on to o the nfl very quickly. >> that is a reflection of w who he is.s. he is veryry different than his predecessor.

predecessor, david stern. he is veryry different.. i interviewed him for my book as well.. hahave another interview of f am silver a as well. i asked him, , would you punish someone who t took a stand for sosomething u u disagreeee with? he said no.. somebody who has said over and over again that he appreciates the athlete's voice. roger goodell is different. we can go right to roger goodell because before he said one thing and now he is trying to slowly turn over a new leaf. he first made -- now he wants to embrace nfl players protesting and using their voices, but he left out: kaepernick's name, which you cannot do aboutut whih of one person you white ball from the league. but then he tried to come back and say he wants to encoururage teams.

i don't t know if it i is a lite too late for all that -- - too little, , too late type of thin, but agaiain, we can't woworry at when peoplple get there. if he is finally noticing itit, finally y woken up and said, oki was wrong and i want to change my ways, ok. now let's see you put action to that. it is ok to say -- use the words in statement, but now you have to put action by it. i have to see actionable policy change in the way he conducts. at first it has to be with bringing back colin kaepernick. he is the symbol of youou trying to squash the athletes voice. it is t just o one person. amy: etan thomas, thank you for being with us s and end with the wowords of kareem ababdul-jabbao wrote in the los angeles times -- "racacism in americaca is like t in the air. it seems invisible -- even if you're choking on it -- until you let the sun in.

then you see it's everywhere. as long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. but we have to stay vigilant, because it's always still in the air." those are the words of kareem abdul-jabbar, the basasketball legend. etan thomas, thank you so o much for being wiwith us. ise podcast that you started -- the pacifica station in washington, d.c. we go nowow to california, the place where covid19 is rapidly spreading through the states overcrowded prisons. more than 400 people i tested positive at than quit state prison where the virus reportedly has bright red number of cell blocks and even death row. the spread began when the california department of corrections and rehabilitation transferred nearly 200

incarcerated people from a prison in chino with a massive covid outbreak to san quentin and another prison. outbreaks soon began at each prison where people had been transferred. at least 19 incarcerated people in california have died from covid19. advocates and incarcerated people one conditions make it nearly impossible to stop the virus once it enters the prison. on friday, a u.s. district judge in oakland wiped tears from his face, calling the san quentin outbreak a "significant failure of pololicy and planning." for more, we go to los angeles to speak with adnan khan, executive director of re:store. adnan khan is formerly incarcerated, served 16 years and spent four years at san quentin ststate prison. we welcome you to democracy now! i got to see e you at san quentn a few years ago when the democracy now! team went there. if you can talk about what has

happened. we had a show just a few months ago at the beginning of the pandemic where this was predicted, any outbreak at san quenentin. explain how this happened. >> they moved corrections staff moved a bunch of people from one of the deaiestst outbreaks -- 16 of the 19 deataths and californa prisons are recorded in ththe chino prison. 120 pepeople were transferred fm that prison n into san quentnti, which two weweeks ago had zero cases. and today in about a week and haha later, wewe are over 400 cases. when we say about preventabablei cannot s say that covid19 could not have been preventeted in san quentin, but i do want to say immediely y after ththat transfr from the mosost deadliest prison outbreak that we have had in california -- a huge outbreak occurred in our prison system specifically in n san quenentin. juan:: many other pririsoners in

liferersntin are elderers, with life sentenences mo they're particularly a at risk. coululd you talk aboutut the san quentin populatation compar t to other prisons in the calififorna system and with governor newsom, who is in the news a lot about whatat h he's doing for the e rf califofornia, doing a about the present situation? >> first of all, governor newsom has been raradio silent. he comes on and talks a lot california and evereryone in calilifornia wille tested. he talks a lot about california, but refuses to talk about the prison sysystem as if therere ae not 120 - -- actuallyly, 200,000 plus calififornians incarcerarad in the state. it seems like governor newsom has s been radioio silent on ths paparticular issue. when it comemes to the demograpc inin san queuentin, there are at of people who are considered lifers, sentenced to life in prison, and people who o have bn there for a very, very long time

organ in prison for r a very log time. wewe get this deseserving anand undeservining commotion onlyly release nononviolent, low-levell offenders. i don't like using that term but in terms of context. we c continue to push awaway pee who are the safest population to relelease, people who have been deemed "violent in for r e rest of their life and people haveve been imprisoned d since they wee teenagers. i was sentencnced 25 years to le as an 18-year-old a and consided by law a violent person, actions prproved otherwise. many people in our prisonn system, particularlyy san quentin, that have an elderlyy population, who have been in prison for decades.. as we keep talking about -- when we do talk about reducing the prison population, really focus on the front door of prisons. we never focus on the e back dor of p prisons where therere are people who a are jampackeded.

as we talked about mass incarceration, it is an important topic to discuss static incarceration, where people are stuck in prison, not just the volume e of p people committed people stuck in prison who don't have a relelee date. we need to reorganize that and look at that again in ourr systemem. jujuan: i want to ask about t te people who do tetest positive in san quentin, as i understand it, there moved to the place called the adjustment center were typically thatat was used for solitaryry confinement? explain momore about this adjustment center. >> the adjustment center has always been a place where it is solitaryry for those in solitar. for exaxample, ifif someone on from m a sinkw witness dylalan place that houos people t there s sentenced to ll injejection. if somebody has aa disciplplinan action on n condemned row, the adjustment center is thehe solitary confinemement for them.

a as flareupspenedd iss in san quentin that had f filled the adadjustme cenenter with cod patients. however, they only have about 100 0 bed spaces and thehey have dashed there are ready 300 thees over -- people over amamount taken holold in t the adjustmement center. s and otherg told gym lolocations s are being used as covid patient overflow. within a matter ofof weeks, we n hahave in san quentin, lies in e middle of the bay area, the flare e is at 4 400 within a we. we can expxpect flare u uto be even higigher cing days.. feel of people inin society like what happens s in our prisn system will not afaffect them ot in the reaeal world. that is the biggest mistake we cocontinue to make. if we have in california close

to 200 plus thousand people incarcererated in california and over 67,000 staff that cocome in and out of these facilities, essentially come every eight hours, it is very difficult for us to believe covid19 and coronavirus will safely cocontan ititself within prison walls. amy: you tweeted earlier this week -- " "adjustment center in san quentin is where revolutionary george jackson's historic incident took place. he was murdered right outside of the ac. now, that is where 200+ #covid19 outbreak cases are being sent. the ac is solitary within solitary confinement." can you commement on this, the significance of this? >> the adjustment center hasas always been -- prprisons in general haveve always been seens a pununishment on society, , une and brown peoplele, on people wo have already been criminanalized based on the color ofof their

skin. when yououring thatt into priso, which we are talking about systemic oppression -- i want everyone to know there is a time to what is happening out here in the world with the u uprising ad the connection to the p present system. quicickly, i want to say there e literally millions of people in prisonon based on "credible testimony" and written reports of the very police we a are seeg brutalizize protestersrs, brurue and shoot t at media and nurses during these peaceful protests and we are the sameme officerss responsible for minors of people like rayshshard brooks and breoa taylor them anymore. there e are people in n prison d on that. as we are having these uprisings out here, what happened in uprising thethe civil rights movement, revolutionary -- it is hard to descscribe in a f few seconds, t the incident took place in the very adjustment center now using -- house people.

amy: we have to leave it there. adnan khan, thank you for being with us, executive director of re:store recently released from san quentin. that doesn't it for our broadcast. happy birthday, karen ranucci! [captioning made possible by democracy now!]