07/08/20 07/08/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new w york, this is democracy now! >> yesterdrday, the firstst thig ththat happened d as soon as ths was announced, i was crcrying. only putting more lives at risk. amy: more than n million. that i ithe number of internrnatnal studen enrled in u.s. universities. they could benced

deported or denied visas back into the u.s. if their schools switch to online only courses in the fall. we will get response. then we go to texas to speak with pulitzer prize winning journalist dr. sheri fink who has been reporting inside houston's hardit hospitals. >> we are he at houston methodist hospital, which is e largest spspitaln houston. right at this moment, the number of coronavirus cases is really rising dramatically in the city. amy: and we will speak to emergency physician dr. uche blackstock, founder of advancing health equity y which works to fight racismsm and bias inin heh services. >> living in this country has essentially made black americans sick. and over thehe last three e mon, we have e witnessed a crisis layered upon a crisis asas black communities across this country burdenrne the greatest

on the corononavirus. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the trump administration has begun the process of officially withdrawing from the world health organization in a move condemned by public health officials s across the world. the move came on the same day that the who warned that the global peak of the pandemic has still not been reached. the american medical association, american academy of pediatrics, american academy of family physicians and american college of physicians condemned president trump's decision, saying it "puts the health of our countrtry at grave risk." former vice president joe bidenn has vowed to reverse trump''s decision on his first day in office if he wins the novemberer election. in brazil, the nation's far-right president jairir bolsonaro has tested positive for the coronavirus after months of downplaying the severity of the pandemic.

bolsonaro recently developed a high fever and a cough. brazil is the second hardest-hit nation i in the world after the ununited states, with momore thn 65,000 deaths and 1.6 million confirirmed cases. bolsonaro said tuesday that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, eveven though it has been prpron ineffective against covid-19 and sometimes dangerous. my third dose of hydroxychloroquine. i am feeling v very well. i was feelingg a little ill o on sunday. i was that on monday. today, tuesday, feel better than on saturday. in all certainty, it is working. amy: brazil-based journalist glenn greenwald noted that bolsonaro's announcement comes as brazil is on day 53 of having no health minister. the last two were fired or resigned within 30 days of each other for endorsing science. the grandmother of brazil's first lady michelle bolsonaro is also suffering from covid-19. she was recently transferred to

an icu unit and is reportedly intubated.d. here in the united states, more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases were reported tuesday,y, a new w record, shatattering the previous high. nearly 3 million peoplple have w tested positive for the virus. the u.s.s. death toll l has topd 131,000. on tuesday, presidenent trump ad education secretary betsy devos urged elementary and secondary schoolols to resume in-person classes in the fall. pres. trump: s so we arare veryh going to put preressure on governors and everybody else to open the schchools, to get them open. it is very important. it is very important for our country, for the well-being of the student and the parents. amy: the main teacher unions have warned that reopening schools without a comprehensive safety plan would be "putting students, their families and educators in danger." this comes as health facilities across florida, texas, arizona,

and california are grappling with a surge in coronavirus patients as hospitals run out of icu beds and run low on protective gear for medical workers. on tuesday, texas reported more than 10,000 cases in a day for the first time. meanwhile, the republican party in texas is planning to go ahead with holding an in-person state convention in houston next week despite opposition from the hohouston mayor sysylvesteter tr who appeared o on cnn on tuesda. >> bringnging 6000 peoeople togr indoors o over two to three day, that is not good on any level. not in the midst of the pandemic. amy: meanwhile, a number of prominent rerepublican lawmakers have announced they will skip the party's national convention in jacksonville next month. the list includes senators chuck grassley, lamar alexander, mitt romney, lisa murkowski, and susan collins. grassley, who is 86, said, "i'm not going to go because of the virus situation."

in serbia, demonstrators stormed the parliament building in belgrade on tuesday to protest the government's plan to re-impose a lockdown as covid-19 cases spike. inin medical news, a report in e lancet raises new doubts about whetether areas can develop "hed immunityty" to covovid-19. a large ststudy in spainin found just 5% of the population had developed anti-bodies to the virus, even as more than a quarter million people teststed positive with the disease over 28,000 deaths. mexican president anandres manul lopez obrador is meeeeting president trump at the white house today to mark the beginning of the u.s.-mexico-canada agreement, or usmca, which went into effect last week. canadian prime minister justin trudeau says he's skipping the meeting with trump and lopez obrador, citing scheduling conflicts and health concerns. upon his arrival to washington yesterday, president lopez obrador was reportedly wearing a face mask -- a prototection he's

largely ignored back home after he, like trump, initially downplayed the cororonavirus pandememic. congressmembers rashida tlaib and ayanna pressley have introduced new federal legislation that would radically revamp the nation's criminal justice system in what organizers are calling a modern-day civil rights act. it would slash pentagon spending, divest federal resources from prisons and police departments, end mandatory minimum prison sentencing and life sentences, abolish the drug enforcement administration and immigration and customs enforcement, and more. this is black lives matter movevent co-foununder patrisse cullors. >> right now the streets are swelling with demands for a new future and new policy mandate. the movement for black lives has responded with a vision that reflects these demands on the federal level. our movement is strong and we are inviting our nation's leaders to join us in making this vision a reality. amy: in arizona, t the phoenix union high school district said tuesday it will no longer assign

police officers to school campuses following weeks of stududent-led protests and petitions.s. this follows a similar decision by authorities in columbus, ohio, on monday to end the use of school resource officers. here in new york, tenant rights advocates rallied outside housing courts in the bronx and brooklyn on tuesday calling for a broader moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus pandemic. one recent study estimated up to 28 million renters across the country are at risk of eviction as the country faces its worst economic crisis since the great depression. meanwhile, black lives matter protesters continue to face -- come under attack at demonstrations. a warning to viewers, this next story contains graphic footage. on tuesday evening, an suv driver sped through a peaceful protest march in times square, narrowly missing several people. in bloomington, indiana, two peopople were ininjured mondndan a drdriver rammemed a peaceful

dedemonstration calling for justicice for a black activistso surviveded an atattempted d lyn. and in long g island, new yoyor, police arrested a man monday after he allegegedly plowed d hs susuv into a crowdwd of black ls matter protesters, injuring two people. researchers at the university of chicago haveve documented over 0 such attacks since protests erupted in may, warning right-wing extremists are turning vehicles into weapons. new jersey wrapped up primary elections tuesday, with incumbent democratic senator cory booker easily defeating progressive primary challenger and civil rights activist lawrence hamm. in new jersey's 5th congressional district, progressive challenger arati kreibich failed to unseat incumbent josh gottheimer. kreibich was endorsed by senator bernie sanders, gottheimer, who's backed by house speaker nancy pelosi, was judged the second-most conservative democrat in the house by the website govtrack.us.

elsewhere, 12-term democratic congressmember albio sires fended off progressive challenger hector oseguera, a supporter of the green new deal, medicare for all, and black lives matter. in climate news, a new study by european scientists shows arctic wildfires in june e dump more greenhousese gasses into the atmosphere than any other month in 18 years of data collection. temperatures in parts of siberia above the arctic circle recently topped 100 d degrees fahrenheit for the first titi in recordeded history. this comes as new data for the 12-month period ending in june show global surface temperatures effectively tied with the hottest year on n record. united nations human rights investigators said tuesday that all warring factions in syria's conflict committed war crimes during the recent russian-backed syrian government offensive on idlib. the report found syrians experienced unfathomable suffering during the campaign to retake syria's last rebel-held region, which lasted from late

2019 until a ceasefire in march. this is paulo pinheiro, chair of the u.u.n. commission n of inquy on syria. >> all sides likely committed war crimes. at school.re shelled parents were shelled at the market. patients were shelled at the hospital. entire families were imparted. -- were bombarded. amy: international aid groups are warning of unprecedented levels of hunger in syria after nearly a decade of war, with millions of pepeople acutely vulnerable to covid-19. in mexico, there is a major development in the c case of the 43 ayotzinapa students who were kidnapped and disappeared nearly six years ago in the town of iguala, guerrero. a bobone fragmgment founund in e nearby town of cocula has been determined to be from one of the students, 21-year-old christian alfonso rodriguez telumbre. the mexican government has long claimed the bodies of the students were burnt and disposed

of in a garbage dump in cocula or in a nearby river. but the bone fragments were found in a different location, casting new doubts about the government's official account of what happened d to the students. in nairobi, kenya, on tuesday police fired tear gas to clear crowds of demonstrators demanding an end to police brutality amid a mounting number of police killings during the coronavirus lockdown. amnesty international reports kenyanan police have killed at least 100 people so far this year. this is activist wanjuri samons. close we are tired of police brutality. tired -- we just want justice to be done for the many lives that have been lost by traditional killllings. amy: back in the united states, civil rights leaders who've organized an advertising boycott against facebook blasted the company tuesday after a conference call with ceo mark

zuckerberg and other top executives failed to meet their demands. leaders of color o of change, fe press, the naacp, and the anti-defamation league say the social media giant is cocontinug to allow hate speech and misinformation to proliferate on its platform. nearly 1000 companies join thee facebook advertisingng boycott. and in sports news, the women's national baskeketball associatin is dedicating g its 2020 seasono addressing the country's "long history of inequality, implicit bias, and racism" disproportionately affecting black and brown communities. wnba players will highlight the black lives matter and say her name movements, some wearing a special uniform honoring breonna taylor, a 26-year-old black woman and aspiring nurse who was shot to death by police inside her own apartment in march. republican georgia senator kelly loeffler, a white woman and supporter of president trump who is co-owner of the wnba's franchise the atlanta dream, slammed the initiative saying any alignment with the black lives matter movement sends a

message of exclusion. and d those are e some of the headlines. ththis is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine reportrt. i am amy goodman in new york city, joined by my cohost juan gonzalez from his home in newew jersey. juan: welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: as the u.s. reported an alarming surge of 60,000 new coronavirus cases s tuesday, shattering the record of the e y before, president trump continued to pressure state governors to open schools in the fall. this comes as ice, immigrations d d customenfoforcemt, anannounced ndnday thathousands internatial students enrolled in universities across ththe country could faface denied visas back into the u.s. if their schools switch t to online-only courursn the fall due to the pandemic.

more than a million international students were issued visas to study in the united states last year. they account for as much as a third of the undergraduate student body at many colleges and universities, and are often the majority of graduate students. this is olufemi olurin, an eastern kentucky university studenent from the bahamas, reacting to the decision. >> i did come here legally. i check in with the government. i pay my taxes. i do everything they tell me to do. if i move, i check in withinin 0 days. i know the law. i did everything ththey told meo do, and it is still le, oh, we're going to take that out from under you. when you plan your life in the 20's and you get to that age where you're trying to set up a five-year plan, a tenure plan, deportation isn't something you want to put in that plan. is definitely -- it has definitely taken me by surprise. amy: ice released its new

guidance just hours after harvard university announced that all of its classes will be online this fall. on tuesday, trump calleded harvard's plan ridiculous. pres. trump: i see where h harvd announced their closing for r te season or r for the year. i think it is ridiculous. i think it is an easy way out. i think they should be ashamed of themselves. i noticed that today. and probably others are doing that. that is called the easy way out. amy: this s comes as the trump administration announced last to cancel the visas of f thousandsf chchinese graduate students who have ties to universities affifiliated with china's military. chinese students are the largest single foreign population in the united states. well, for more, are joined by two guests. in chicago, fiona mcentee e is n immigration attorney and a former international stude herself, from irireland, now a naturalized u.s. citizen. and in union city,y, new jersey, jian ren is s an interernational student whwho is originally from

china, pursuing a phd in latin american history at rutgers university. where are cohost juan gonzalez is a professor. welcome you both to democracy now! , can you explain what ice has just announced? there's something like 1.1 million international students in universities and graduate schools across the country. they could be deported or denied entry back into the u.s. if they went home? if there university, like harvard, for example, does not offer in person classes? ice saying, can transfer if you have to? >> that is exactly what has happened. earlier on this week, we saw an announcement by ice that essentially says if foreign students were attending universities that were going to be online only or participating in online only courses, then

they would not be able to maintain their student visa status. which leaves them with pretty grim options. one of which was deportation. , but ththis iscentee obviously no fault of the students if a particular university d doesn't offer r one courses. how does the adminisistration justify this? >> that is a good question. i have yet to see a justification for this. historically, there were limimis on the amount of online courses international students could take. in nonpandemice times. however, when covid it and flexibility was made to allow foreign students to remain here and maintain their student status and study online. i think a lot of stakeholders in this were expecting those

allowances to continue, given we are still in the middle of the pandemic. however, that was not the case. i think it came as a shock to us all. you're right, it is not the students fault. to be honest, they're one of the most valuable asset this country has. so it doesn't make any sense to me, and i've yet to see clarificatioion for t this. -- a justitification for this. juan: i wouould ask you aboutute reactionon from intoto immigratn groups like nunumbers s usa, the right wining reststriction is gp that welcome this policy. it not only fits into president trump's efforts to pressure bolstersities, it alsoo his aid to immigrate base asas well, , doesn't it? >> it definitely does. you can look at immigration in a number of ways. you can look at the cultural aspects of the university, but also look at it economically. foreign students contribute

about $41 1 billion every year o the u.s. economy. just by being here, they created 450 paying jobs. that is food services, health care. i have been contacted by landlords who have been s sayin, what am i going to do? foreign students are my tenants and now they're going to be deported? sense from ane economic point of view. right now with the situation, needsonomy is, like, it ththe boost. i don't understand why now we would decide to expel foreign students when they contribute so much to the u.s. amy: fiona mcentee, just to understand, how does ice enforce this? it means they have to cooperate -- universities and colleges across the country who are now absolutely outraged by this very late not to mention just what the content of the guidance is, they have to cooperate with ice, right? they have to let them know if

international students are only taking online courses, for example, places like juan's university and our next guest at rutgers, they're going to offer a mix of online and in person. you would have to find out if this particular international student is taking only online courses. so will there be more cooperation? will i ice demanand information about t the students? how will they enforce this? >> there is a certification process built into this. so the universities are to report to ice about whether or not programs will be administered fully online or not. i think it is pretty jarring that in this statement, they did mention deportation. and for forereign students, who you heard the lady earlier, they come here and pay so much tuition, contribute so much while e they are here, and statistics show how manyny start

ups they create, how many jobs. they don't have a negative impact on u.s. wages. quite the contrary. it is very puzzling you would force international students into in person studies when there's a global health crisis in this coununy. jujuan: i would like e to bringn jian ren, a grad ststudent heret rutgers university and ask you about your reaction w when you heard the e news off this? >> it is shocking. impacts on language me a lot. with t the research naturee of y degree as a phd student, , i should raiain in the u united states for acacademic pupurpose. do -- in new jersey locally. graduate courses next semester.

i find it impossible to do i itn china, a country without free aternet foror online courses 3:00 a.m. in the mororning. but the instrucuction by the ice only defines a student's s right to remain in the united states like cououes. soso if i don't tatake onlinine courses, i i cannot fulll other research obligations by my degree. i was also shocked by the lack of knowledgege by whoever draftd donon'tnstruction for they choose to understand the nature of academia in the n estateses, how university o operates. because different international ststudents have taken different -- and, diffeferent university t to keep it t opera. ,my: i want to go to the tweet

your tweet, jian ren, right after ice made their announcement, shohocking universities and colleges across the country, not to mention a million students. he wrote -- "three common misperceptions was one, international students don't pay taxes. two, international students can apply for a green card after graduation, and three, internrnational students have freedom of each wh t they are in ththe united statates. explain thehese three points. start with taxes. >> a as a phd studentnt, who i d students who come to the united states have to teachh classes. they are responsnsible for undergraduate education, and they are paid by t the universry so thehey have to pay fefederal tataxes in the e united states. higher rate is half --

because we don't have deductions in tax returns. we have some, but they are not substantial deductions like americans have. so that is number one provision provided that we also pay taxes toto the u.s. secondly, there is n no direct channel for us from a phd degree, undergraduate degree, or other kind of degree to immigration. the visa for internanational students is not an immigrant visa. it is our privilege to stay in the ununited s states, for not a right. i fully understand this. not going to be e american citizensns in a few yearars. it is simply impossible by law and by the current system.

the freedom of speech part is a complicated issue. for me, i'm here to participate in the program. in the next visa applplication, have to renew the visa in three yearss. the this government will ask me about my social network information and scrutinize my opinion. implementedirement three years ago. so that is what i call -- there is no equal definition of freedom of speech for international students in the u.s. compared with americans. , most americaca are not aware of the important role t that foreigign students y in maintaining american universities.

written to, neneyork uniniversi, 20,000 students are e foreign students and many public universities, it is the foreign stududents who pay fulull t tui, momost of the or many of them, you'rere able to maintntain th finances of these public universisities as well. roleoyou talk about this that foreign stutudents play hee as well?l? > yes. in most state universities, pupublic instititutions,s, foren students pay a higher tutuition than amemerican citizens in t te u.u.s. they actually boosted the economy around the campmpus, especially in college towns like nenew brunswick, new jersesey. the car dedealers cocome the landndlords, the restaururants,e supepermarkets r rely on foreign stutudents to survive. amy: what does it mean if you

were t to go back to china? china's reaction to this -- and this is significant because of the 1.1 million foreign students, looks like more than one third of them are chinese students. now, president trump must attempted this two years ago. his senior advisor come the fears anti-immigrant stephen miller, apparently tried to just get chinese students band. i guess president trump has now come to understand that courts don't like targeted paintings. do you think this is a veiled way to go after chinese students and attack china right now, jian ren? >> we have to check thehe realiy of u.s.-china tetensions right now. with the pandemimic and the aututritarian u.s.-chinaa moment,ons in the current there is v virtually -- between

the china and the u.u.s.. only two or four per weeeek. and the o one-way economy ticket costs chinese students more than $10,000.0. begins,mass deportatition it is nearly impossible for hundrereds of thousands ofof che students to go homome with the chinese government and u.s. government m manipulating flight tickckets at this moment. if the this s government is goig to implement masss deportations by itself, it would be a heavy tax burden for the average u.s. taxpxpayers. amy: i want to go back to fiona mcentee and read you a tweet that came out soon after ice announced they might support or bar more than a million students from her education in this country, foreign students. it said "fishing for universities to create a one

credit course for international 101 thatcalalled fice meets in person once a month with excused absences. f102 to be taught next spring. they gave the forward. fiona mcentee, what your recommendation is to the war than million international students in this country? you were once one of them. >> i was once one of them. i see h how is why -- much they bring to this country. i think that is an interesting idea for the in-person classese. bubut if they want to stay inine universities they are in and the university or college is going to an online only model, they're not going to be able to do that. so they do need some type of in person class. foreign students are in class with american students.

it is not like there are just all foreigign students in a clas togegeer. they are mixed in. we are now going too read our american students to come into class to avoid r risking deportation of their classmates and their friends. i have yet to see any type off justification for ththis. another option would be to scramble to change schchools whn fall semester is starting in a couple of weeks. universities pushed bacack. i've seeeen an open letter publblished online, and there ae hundreds of signatures from professors, universities, colleges all over the u.s. that have s signed onto this letter o oppose this policy that doesns't make any sense. you might see where pushback from the universities and maybe some modifications with adding some in person classes. but why should they have to do

that? amy: looks like president trump wants to make it look like businesses carrying on as usual in this country. he particularly attacked harvard yesterday that announced new in person classes, calling their decision ridiculous and then ice released its decision right after that announcement. fiona mcentee, thank you for being with us, immigration attorney, former international student from ireland. and jian ren, international student who is originally from rutgers univiversity. china and studies at next up, we speak with dr. sheri fink. 10,000 new coronavirus cases in one day. that is the number for texas alone. 6 60,000 cacases in t the ununited states. stay with usus.

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amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i am amy goodman with juan gonznzalez. more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in the u.s. on tuesday, a rerecord shatterin the previousigh. nearly 3 mlion p pple have now tetested posititive for ththe vs and the deattotoll h topoppe 131,0.0. though that t number is expececd to be e far hihigher. as cases rise, hospitalilizatios are rising. health facilitities acrossss florida, texas, arizizona, and california are runni out of hospital beds. on tuesday, tetexas reported moe than 10,0,000 cases in a sglgle day. despite this, tes s stil plans to holititsn persontate nventionext week mayor sylvester turner went o on cnn n tuesday, pleaded for the repupublicans to reconsideder. >> morore than six that --

bringing 6000 peoplele togetethr indoors s over two to threree d, that is not good on any y level. not in t the midst of ththe pandememic. so i wouould just t hope and pry that t they will takake into act the employeyees w who would havo service e that convention, the employees famamilies of the delegatess themselves, the peope in t the city, and the peoeoplen the cities and the towns and cities t they are cocoming from. i i will continue e to believe t wiser heads will prevail and thatat peoplple will rececognizs is a panandemic c and people are dyingnd people are getting infected, and that t the numbers in the statate are going up and not going down. amy:the new yoyo times" ss en r repting i isizzle really from inside the hard hit houston hospitals. in moment, we will be joined by dr. sheri fink who is featured in ts new vio by "the new york tes." >> we're here at houston methodist hospitalwhwhich thehe largeses hospital in houston.

right at this moment, the number ofororonavus cases is really rising dramatically in t c city. how does it feel similar or different to march? this is a surge. >> altugugh they had momodera peak in apr, now they are mor than double e e peakhatt reacheheat that time and the numbs s lookike e th're going to just keep rising. clk since march, w've h a trice of patntnts. everyone stad at home. peopleerere noreally gting ck.. numbers that would overburden thsysystem ouract, some of us cut ships wnwn because there were t t enou patients to see. since memori d day, hasas been a lot busier. every patient who comes into the hospital now, we are testing for covid. amy: that was "t"the new y york times'" shereri fink. pieiece is headlinedd "as coronavirus slams houston hospitals, it's like new york 'all over again'." dr. . sheri fink, thank you for joining us.

if you could talk first about houston and what you're finding there. you, coming from the epicenter covering what had happened here in new york as t the epicenter switches and shifts to houston? there a are a l lot of similaririties, unfortunatelelyd some dififferences -- we can tak about both. the simililarities s are just te nunumbers. the numbers of n new patients. they are stressing t the hospits here.. the hospspital i have b been embedded with, houstonethodistst hospital,l, which is the largest hohospital inn houston, has just bebeen astonishing. they have been adding unit after unit a after unit jujust to carr coronavirus patitsts. they can do o that. meananwhile, there's a safety nt system. those hospitals who are there e treat people who tend to be disproportionately affected by coronavirus, and they are just completely full and transferring their patients out.

this is very similar to o new yk in that way. in n terms of some of t t differeeses, itouldld seem at least in the early days of thehe pandemic, espececiallyn ththe east coast, there were massive shortages off personal protective equipment, the ability to tespapatients. how haveve those factors p playd out now in this monons later inn places like texexas? >> you would think months later we wouldld have some of the systems inn a better way. certainlnly, personal protectite gear, there seems to be more e f that -- alalthough, there have been some backups in gettingg certain pieceses of thatat protective gear.r. but thee t testing is similarlya prproblem. this is a huge problelem he. i think someme of my colleagues didid a really nicice ece backup ininout this testing. i amam seeing it affect thee

hospitals. . all, it is hard to get a tester. you have to schedule it. maybe sometitime in advancnce. then to get those results back, can take many days. in the hospitals when they get backed up,p, that is a problem because when a a person comemeso the hosospital,l,t this poioint wouldd coronavirus is quitite widespread in the community, they need to know whether that person should go on a coronavirus ward or on n a nonon-coronavirus w ward. or just how to treat t tm. so this is very, very important to get those test results back. there are backups around the country. the labs are backed up. amy: t this is astounding. as president trump puts enormous pressure to open of the economyy around the country, , are seeing this increasing lack of testing. the shortage of testing. we are showing lines of people in texas, cars waiting something like eight to 12 hours in arizona. the lines are something l like

eight to 1010 hours. testing facilities are shuttingg dodown sometimes after five minutes. they run out. if you couould talk, dr. sheri fink, about the importance -- i mean, this lack of testing and the lack of masks or president trump not wearing a mask? the governor of texas just rececently s saying masks must e worn, though it took a a long te for governoror abbbbott to get o thisisoint. bubut why that is so importatant >> in the p2 talked about that ran ovover the weekend, itit explored t the differences andne similarities with new york andd head of the houston metethodist system, medical system, he said one of the things that is ststriking him a a if he couldld have one thing bacack from marg, that awful timime that we had in new york, was the one thing that there was unity in terms of the measasures needed to stop that spread.

you remember there was a national shut down for a while, a pause, at least in the federal and state and local officials on the same page for that brief period of time. the problem now, as you said, is because there has been such a division amongst officials who are giving messages to the public, the public is confused. so there are people getting the coronavirus and the doctors are saying, who can blame them? with such mixed messages, it is very hard d for person in the public to realally know who to trust. maybe you trust thahat officialal that you voted for. yes, n now adjususting there iss focus,s, this importan of thee mask. there is some hope in the medical community t that the universall masking, if e everyby is wearing a mask, that willl start t to d drive down some of these numbers s and maybe is arting to have a l little bit of an affffect. i don't go out much h here, but when i am going baback and forth to the hospitatal, i do see youg

peoplele not masasking. the pupublic health officials he and the medicacal fol are very concerned d about that. because the e other big difffference, youu have a yoyour patient population -- which memeans they generalally are a littlele bit heaealthier, there definitely c critically ilill people. i amam watching some e of theeoe i met ththe first y who were young going through getting sicker, some in t the icu. generally, thehey are healthier. the problelem is, do o those yog people than in fact oldeder peoe who may be more vulnerable or pepeople with underlying conditioions who art doing their best to stay safafe? i met very fewew patieients o we the oneses out partying. it i is thehe ones who cacaughtt from a famy memberr who had ann essesential job. thatat is what i'm saying. werere a small family gaththerig that they thought was s safe tht included somome younger membersf the family. those arare the people were e eg up in the e icu here who by ranm

selection, i i am meeting. amy: you have to go to break that w we will come bacack to y. dr. fink is "new york times" correspondent, philip surprise winner. is producer of the netflix docuseries "pandemic: how to prevent an outbreak." author of the widely acclaimed book on the aftermath of hurricane katrina titled "five days at memorial: life and death in a storm-ravaged hospital." she has s been reporting from hospitals most hard hit by covid-19 from neww york to houston.n. stay witith us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, ththe quarante report. i am amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we are looking at the coronavirus pandemic and the disparities in treatment and death. newly released data shows african-american and latinx people are t three times more likelyly to be infected and twie as likely to die from the virus compared to their white neighbors. "the new yorkk times repororted these figugures after sewing the centers for disease control for

the federal data. in april, new york city mayor bill deblasio the disparities in cities reporteted death rates. looks information points out that there are clear inequalities, there disparities in how this disease is affecting the people of our city. the dense, because of covid-19 in the city, firstst and foremo, have affected the hispanic deathsty with 34% of the . that community is about 29% of all nenew yorkers in terms of population, but 34% of the deaths. this is per limiter information that will keep adding to. -- this is perimeter information that we will keep adding to. this means human beings, families. we have to look at these disparities we're learning about. so the hispanic community, 34%. the black community, 28% of the debts compared to about 22% of the overall population. the e disparities that have

that are allnation about fundamental inequality are and again causing such pain causing people, innocent people to lose their lives. it is sick. it is troubling. amy: that is mayor de blasio speaking recently. still with us in houston, dr. sheri fink, "new york times" pulitzer prize-winning journalist who recently cowrote a piece headlined "white surviving the virus might come down to which hospital admits you." we're also joined by dr. uche blackstock, emergency medicine phphysician, ceo and founder of advancing health equity, a company that works witith healthcacare organanizationsns o fight racism and bias in services. dr. blackstock, thank you so much for joining us as well. theou can talk about disparitieies, who lives, who dieses, and who gets sick anando

doesn't? >> sure. i think before the pandemic, what the people may not realize isis they wewere pretty sisignit racial health disparities in ththis countntry. i think many peoeople heard abat the e black maternal mortality crisis that had gotten a a lot f press, but what we saw in the pandemic these first few months isis the really y significant tl health inequities being exposed andd even a a ght. we s saw that inhe b black and latinxnx and indigenous community'y's ththat were more likely to bebe infected because they were essentially placed at risk given the types o of jobs they hadad, more likikely to be essential workers and servicee workers. these w we public j jobs. essentially they were exposed. there were more likely too use publicic transportation in urban areas and more likely toto liven overcrowded housing. these are all risk factors for

being infected with ththe disea. andd t then to thinknk about whh communities carry the highest burden of chronic diseases -- diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and asthma are all risk factors for doing very poorly when you are infected with coronavirus. those are some of the factors for why we are saying black, indigenous commmmunities being so dispsproportionately impacted by this pandemic. juan: dr. blackstock, i would ask you spspecifically in termsf figures i'i've s seen, the latio community. for instance, in new jersey, 19% of the population, 3 30% of the covid caseses. in utah, 14% of ththe populatio, 42% of the covidid cases. this whohole issssue -- the lato community, generally speaking, is a mucuch younger comommunitya either the afrfran-americacan or the white community, so you would -- proportion thatat our

eldederly are much smallller. of the momore a function underlrlng conditions that affect t the community, for instance, diabetes and other underlyingng cononditions inin e communitity? or what other factorsrs do you e affectcting the latino rate? >> as i mentioned, when we talk about who is at risk for being infected, it alsoo depends on wo is at risk for being exposed. i think those numbers that you cite point to the fact that latino community members are more likely to be working in jobs where they are at risk for being exposed. of course, this is because of practices and policies that limit certain racial groups to certain types of jobs. i think what we are seeing really are the outcomes of short role racism in this country. you have seen how life

opportunities come including jobs and educational opportunities come has basically limited people and put people at risk to being in situations where they are more likely to be infected with coronavirus. what i found very interesting about "the new york times" piece is we're not just seeing it in urban areas. we are seeing that in rural areas. i think that speaks to the extent, the reach of racism in this c country. amy: y you wrote a piece, , dr.e blackstock headlight " "communiy health wororkers are essential d it is s crisis. we need more of them." in it, suggest community health workers are e essential to addresngng this isissue of systemic racism. explain. >> i think what we'rere seeing s , indigenous, latinx goodies are being mostt disproportionatelyly impacted.

messagingkey part iss and outreach. anand who better to do that t tn people whoho are from those communities, trusted individidus w wtnow the nuances of memessaging g entails. r exexample, when youu are contact tracing somebody in your approaoach that personon yet you have to o ask them, which people have you been in conontact with? for someone who may be undocumemeed, to be e able to ge out that information, you have to t trust the person who is asking youou that. i think community health workers really have a significant role to play in this pandemic, especially in relation to mitigating the impact of this minorityracialized communities. dr. sherint toring finknk back into the conversatin and ask k you a question about e nunumbers we are seeing in teres coronavirusus.rom while the e number of confirird cases is spiraling, the

defenders s of president trump say,y, the deathth rate has been going down. it is still basis, relatitively high inin the hund, but certainly not at the level itit was earlierer this yearar t was in the thousands. betweween of this shift the confirmecacases versus the deaths? >> t tt is a pitive thining, certainly. we are cigna hpitals veryy overstretched here in houston. i asked that question abouout te death. of course, nobody knows s r sure. some of the factorors t that mae cocontributed to the deaths beig lower, number one, the younger patient population with this -- i don't want to say wave, it is considered thehe same way, butt this surge of patitients is generally younger. they have better outcomes. number two, therere are ththings that -- doctors haveeeeen araring knowledge, science has been advancing, so there are some treatments t that seem to e

efeffective. the phyhysicians, n nurses, feel they are able toto care e for te patients betetter. that m maybe conibibuting t to e better outcomes. the concern is that if the people who are younger are then going to pass the virus ototo the older patient a the old populaon, tn we mayay see som of this shift. the other ththing is that from infection to getting sick to getttting hospital sick if you'e gogoing to and then getting critically ill, there is a lag titime of weeds in between thos. so even as we hohopefully starto e some mbers ofew infectionso down o flatten, it can be many weeks later before you know the tr d death totoll. ththe good news is there are it iss, does look like wer. amy: she fink, iant to gto this is yowrote "w survivi the virus might come down to which hospital admits you." this was a piece about new york

city, about public hospitals and private hospitals. the door you g go through, which hospitalal, c can determine wher yolilive or die.e. explain. >> a number of d doctors gotot a hold of us repoporters and t thy work in mumultiple campuses, differenent hospitals. somemetimes theyey rotate in pre sysystem and a public system. they were concerned because they felt there were differences. and some of them gotot data, raw data, mortality. so the percentage of deaths, to put it simply. there were vast differences that one campus versus another. differencesere were in care, two. nursing ratios were much worse as some hospitals that others. that is very important. so the number of patients that a nurse has when a nurse is the one who is really monitoring that patient and able to s see f they sududdenly take a turn for the worse -- which happens with

this disease -- those ratios were incredibly large, the number of patients partners as at some hospitals. there are also modalities of treatment. for example, i spent a lot of time at the brooklyn hospital center, this wonderful community no o parentt has company, no largerer system. so they are nimble and small, bubut they also don't do things that some of the bigggger hospil systems do. chmo, fory sort of e example, this heart-lung machine if you're really, really y sick, they don't do a form of dialysi sometimemes used in n critical e patients. it is all to say that their fferences in the care.e. as dr. blackstock s said, these are pre-existing dififferences n our health care system, which is very unequal in new york city and likely across the country.y.

so because people were goingng o their nearest hospital, that was sort of, like,e, magnify or amplify -- there is a quote in the story this pandemic hits on top of an n epidemic of thesese inequalities a and racisism. i want to sayay an important caveatat, which is that the patient populationsns are different. that these hospipitals serve. this is very, verery important because if you are a a hospital right t near a nursing home, whh sosome of the hohospitals with e worst outcomes had, that patient popopulation was more likely t die. they w were having those underlying cononditions. and d the highgher age, thatat o along with deaeath. so it is just an important signal. journalism is the f first draftf histstory. many pplple who focucus on heall equity like dr. blackstock and other researchers are saying, we have to look more intnto this. we have to adjust those figurur.

early signs s are even when n yu adjust for t things like age coe how ill a patient is, that in fact there are imporortant differences between hospitals that may have to do with these differenceces in what they can provide. juan: i w would like to as drdr. blackstock, your sensnse of the shift of the epinter off thihis pandemic in the uniteded statete from the northeastst and the midwest now to the south in the southwest?t? haveve you evever seen a p publc health crisis so politicizized d so d depdent on the decisions of polilitical leaders rather than public health officials? what the impact is on the black and brown communities? clubs i have not. just like you, i am alarmed and appalled. we're at the early stages of this pandemic, believe it or not, and there arere many more deaths that can actually happen. i think we have an opportunity here, an inflelection where we n

really press on state and local officials to put interventions in place, targeted testing, contact tracing, messaging and outreach to black and black communities -- like and brown communities to prevent further devastation to communities that have already been so hard hit. amy: we want to thank you for being with us dr. uche , blackstock, emergency medicine physician, ceo of advancing health equity. dr. sheri fink is a "new york times" correspondent and award-winning journalist and writer. we will lead to your p pieces fm houston and new york city. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

♪ hello. welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. japan is bracing for more torrential downpours through friday as a lingering seasonal rain front threatens the western and eastern parts of the country. the rain has already left flooding and landslides along japan's archipelago in its wake. the meteorological a