09/10/20 09/10/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new w york, this is democracy now! >> i was wondering what time it was and i looked outside and it looks like doomsday. you could tell something is horribly going wrong. amy: the skies of the bay area and northern california turn a dark orange wednesday as 90 major fires burned in the west from san diego to the canadian border. at least s seven people have already died.

>> i quite literally have no patience for climate change deniers. follows inconsistent that point of view with the reality on the ground, the facts as we are experiencing them. you don't have to bleed them intellectually, but your own eyes, your own experience is a whole different story. amy: we will go to california for the latest. dennis president trump says the coronavirus vaccine could be approved before the election, we will look at how the testing process could be slowed by a failure to recruit many african-american and latinx people for the vaccine trials. we will speak to harriet washington, author of "medical apartheid: the dark history of medical experimentation on black americans from colonial times to the present." signalsls toaly, the manyny people of color that t ey are nonot being treateded equit,

that theheir lives are n not beg coconsidered a avaluable to o oe peopople, and sign for their beg used as sasacrificial lalambs ie prprocess. amy: and we will l look at carrying out clinical trials on vulnerable populations around the world. all of that and more, coming up. welcomome to democracy n now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report.. i'm amy goodman. residents of t the sanan francio babay area and nororthern califa woke up wednesday to dark orange skies as a blanket of smoke from the state's massive climate change-fueled wildfires smothered the region. the thick smoke blotted out so much sunlight, temperatures dropped well below forecasters' predictions with meteorologists comparing the effect to a nuclear winter. many residents described the scene as apocalyptic. the fires have also devastated

oregon, where dozens of blazes have destroyed hundreds of homes and even entire towns. oregon governor kate brown said it could be the greatest disaster in oregon's history. >> i want to be upfront in saying we expect to see a great deal of loss, both in structures and in human lives. this could be the greaeatest los of human lives and property due to wildfire in our state's history. amy: the fires left at least seven people dead across washington, oregon, and california. more fires are raging in montana, colorado, and utah. after headadlines, we will go to california for the latest. meanwhile, new satellite data show fires in brazil's amazon region leaped to a 10-year high in august, with many of the blazes consuming virgin forest rather than already-deforested areas. this comes as a new report finds populations of mammalsls, birds,

amphibians, reptiles, and fish have plummeted worldwide by a staggering 68% since 1970. in its biennial living planet report, the world wildlife fund warns -- "biodiversity is fundamental to human life on earth, and the evidence is unequivocal -- it is being destroyed by us at a rate unprecedented in history." president donald trump acknowledged he publicly wednesday downplayed the threat of covid-19 for weeks as the coronavirus spread across the globe, even after he received briefings early this year about the severity of the looming pandemic. trump was responding to a reporter who asked if he misled the public in order to reduce panic. pres. trump: well, i think if you set in order to reduce panic, perhaps that is so. i am a cheerleader for this country. i love our country. i don't want people to be frightened. i don't want to create panic. amy: trump's admission came hours after "washington post" journalist bob woodward published bombshell excerpts from his forthcoming book about

trump titled "rage," along with taped conversations with the president. in a february 7 phone call, trump told woodward about what he learned about the novel coronavirus from chinese president xi jinping. pres. trump: goes through air, bob. the touch -- you don't have to touch things, but the air, you just breathe the air. that is how it is passed. so that is very tricky one. that is a very delicate one. it is also more deadly than even your strenuous flus. this is more deadly. 1% and lessersus than 1%. this is deadly stop. amy: president trump made those comments on february 7. the white house wouldn't declare a national emergency until march 13.

during the intervening weeks, trump repeatedly and forcefully denied that coronavirus posed a significant threat to the american people. for instance, on march 4, trump dismissed a world health organization finding that the global death rate from covid-19 was 3.4%. trump was speaking on fox news. pres. trump: i think the 3.4% is really a false number. but basedst my hunch, on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that t do thihis - because a lot of people will have this and it is very mild. amy: two weeks after those commmments on march 19, , trump privately admitted in another call with bob woodward that he'd publicly downplayed the severity of the pandemic. pres. trump: i wanted to always play it down. i still like playing a down because i don't want to create a panic. amy: columbia university disease modelers report if states have begun social distancing measures just one week earlier in march, 36,000 fewer people wowould have

died. on wednesday, democratic presidential candidate joe biden seized on reports that trump had deliberately misled the public about the coronavirus. biden was speaking at an outdoor campaign event in michigan. mr. biden: he had the information. he knew how dangerous it was. while this deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job on purpose. it was a life and death betrayal of the american people. amy: meanwhile, bob woodward is under fire for holding back his reporting on trump's deception for months while the pandemic raged across the u.s. "esquire magazine" politics blogger charles pierce tweeted -- "bob woodward knew the truth behind the administration's deadly bungling -- and worse -- and he saved it for his book, which will be released to wild acclaim and huge profits after nearly 200,000 americans have died." in further revelations from his book, bob woodward writes that

trump boasted about a highly classified new type of nuclear weapon. and he quotes top infectious disease scientist dr. anthony fauci saying of president trump -- "his attention span is like a minus number. his sole purpose is to get reelected." this comes as s politico has revealed a trump appointee withinin the deparartment of heh and human serviceses has attempd to prevent dr. fauci from discussing the risks coronavirus poses to children during recent media interviews. in newly disclosed emails the official falsely claims there is zero evidence that children spread the virus to others. on wednesday, national institutes of health director francis collins testified on capitol hill and responded to concerns that the trump administration would rush approval of a vaccine prior to the elelection befe it is fully tested. >> and certainly to try to predict whether it happens on a particular week before or after a particular date in early november, well beyond anything that any scientist right now could tell you and be confident

they know what they're saying. so yes, science and science alone will be the way in which this decision is made. otherwise, i will have no part of it. amy: in education news, the entire student bodies of winona state university in minnesota and bradley university in illinois have been ordered to quarantine for two weeks after coronavirus spread on their campuses, while the university of wisconsin-madison has canceled in-person classes after more than 1000 people tested positive for covid-19 just five days into the fall semester. los angeles county has canceled halloween, barring residents from trick-or-treating or gathering at p parties or hauntd houses. meanwhile, yahoo news reports the trump administration is planning to halt enhanced coronavirus screenings for international trtravelers arrivg atat u.s. airports. the global coronavirusus death tollll has pasassed 900,000. on wednesday, india reported nearly 96,000 new cases, a new daily record. meanwhile in indonesia, jakarta has reinstated a partial

lockdown as a new surge in cases is threatening to overwhelm the jakarta's hospitals. a department of homeland security whiststleblower has accused the agagency's leadershp of instructing analyststs to downplay the violent threat posed by white supremacists and of russia's efforts to interfere in the 2020 election. the explosive allegation comes in a whistleblower complaint filed by brian murphy, the former head of the homeland security department's intelligence branch. murphy says acting dhs secretary chad wolf personally instructed him to stop providing intelligence assessments on the threat of russian interference and instead to focus on actions by china and iran. murphy claims the request originated from trump's national security advisor robert o'brien. in july, murphy said one of his intelligence reports on russia was held because it "made the president look bad." murphy also said he had been ordered to alter the assessments to make the threat of white supremacy "appear less severe."

earlier this year, dhs drafted a document stating "white supremacist extremists will remain the most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland through 2021." but in newer versions of the document, the reference to white supremacists was removed. murphy also claims leaders at dhs pressured analysts to change assessments to match up to comments made by president trump attacking anti-fascist groups. a software engineer at facebook has resigned to protest the company's activities, saying facebook i is "on ththe wrong se of history." in an open letter to cowoworker, ashok chandwaney wrote -- "i'm quitting because i can no longer stomach contributing to an organization that is profiting off hate in the u.s. and globally." he cited facebook's role in fueling genocide in burma and for allowing a far-right militia to use the platform to recruit armed vigilantes to recently come to kenosha, wisconsin, to confront black lives matter protesters. one of the militia's supporters

ththen shot dead two protesters. meanwhile, facebook ceo mark zuckerberg has rejected claims the platform has become a platform for the right. he appeared on "axios on hbo." >> i i don't thinink the servics a right-wing echo chamber, to use your words. voioice and use your can find media that theyrust that refeflects the opinions and the life experiences that they are havingng. amy: vice e president mike pence is scheduled to head to montana next week k for a fundraiser hosted by two supporters of the far-right qanon conspiracy theory. the hosts, michael borland and his wife, have repeatedly promoted qanon on social media. borland has also described black lives matter protesters as terrorists and once threatened to shoot p protesters. in lebanon, , a massive fifire s

broken out at the port of beirut just one month after a catastrophic explosion at the port killed over 200 people, injured over 7000, and left more than a quarter-million residents homeless. officials say thursday's fire began at a warehouse storing oil and tires in the port's duty-freree zone. in mexico, journalist julio valdivia was found murderered ad beheaded wednesday in a remote part of the gulf coast state of veracruz. the 44-year-old specialized in covering mexico's notorious criminal gangs and narcotraffickers. the fifth journalist at least assassinated in mexico this year according to reporters without borders. meanwhile, thousands of farmers stormed a dam in mexico's northern border state of chihuahua tuesday, using firebombs, sticks, and rocks to drive back national guard soldiers who opened fire with tear gas and live ammunition, killing two protesters. the farmers are demanding mexico stop diverting water to the united states from the la boquilla dam, which they say has

left them unable to irrigate their crops amid a searing drought. this is abel alvarado, one of the protesters. >> it is a reaction from citizens who are defending their homeland. water is everyone's heritage. water doesn't belong to anyone. water is for everyone, for all mexicans. amy: under terms of a 1944 treaty, mexico owes the united states nearly a half-billion cubic meters of wateter to be pd by october 24. and d those are some of f the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracacynow.org, the quarante report. i am amy y goodmaman with my cot nenermeen shshaikh. nermeen: god momorning. welcome e to all of our listenes and viewers frfrom around ththe cocountry and around t the worl. begin today's show in california, where peoplele in te bay area and across northern californrnia woke up wednesdayao dark orange skies as a blanket of smoke from the state's

massive climate change-fueled wildfires smothered the region. the thick smoke blotted out so much sunlight, temperatures dropped well below forecasters' predictions with meteorologists comparing the effect to a nuclear winter. the unprecedented conditions came as the west coast faces a fire season that has killed at least seven people, forced major evacuations, and already burned 2.5 million acres in california alone. that's 20 times the land burned last year, and there are months left in california's ever-growing fire season. winds from some of california's more than 20 massive fires and from blazes as far away as oregon and washington blew into the bay area to create the conditions which some described as apocalyptic. this is oakland resident carljuan anderson. >> i was wondering what time it was. then i looked outside and it looked like doomsday.

you could tell something is horribly going wrong. as far as going to work and reading in all this pollution, it is deafly n not healthy for s in the betting area. amy: the fires have devastated oregon where dozens of wildfires have destroyed hundreds of homes andd even n entire towns. oregon governor kate brown said it could be the greatest loss of lives and property from fire in the ststate's history. this is a video posted on twitter by reporter christine pitawanich with oregon's kgw news. it shows downtown stayton, about an hour soututh of portland, jut after noon on tuesday. the sky is blood-reded. downtown.ght heree is you can se theheed-orange e glow in thehe sky. there is ash that t is fallingng visibly.y. when we werere driving hererin front t of the headligights of e

car, the downtown,n, basicalall, emempty. the smell of smoke is heavy. amy: meanwhile, wildfires in washington have burned nearly 600,000 acres. the fires devastating the west come as a record-shattering heat wave, mass blackouts, and the coronavirus pandememic roil the west. the scientists are unflinching in their analysis -- the climate crisis is here. and it's impactining farm workes still forced to work the fields, incarcrcerated firefighthters, d other vulnerable communities first and hardest. this is california governor gavin newsom speaking tuesday. >> but i quite literally have no climate -- patience for deniers. it simply follows completely inconsistent that point of view. the facts as we are experiencing. we may not believe it intellectually, butt your own

ey, , your own e experience [indiscecernible] amy: for more, we're joined by leah stokes, an assistant professor of political science at the university of california, santa barbara, and a researcher on climate and energy policy. she is the author of "short circuiting policy: interest groups and the battle over clean energy and climate policy in the american states." can you describe what we are seeing from california to oregon to washington? the media talks about it as bizarre and crazy. still, there is not a lot of use of the word "climate change." >> it is quite sad thahat your program and one newscasaster at cbs news are pretty much the only tv news stations that are willing to use the word climate change. last month during august when the fires had already startrted, there were over 100 tv news segments on this on abc, nbc, and cbs.

this i is accordrding to media matters.s. and d of those morore than 100 segments -- i'm talking about five full segments, that's it, that even mention the word climate change. and three of those five were done by one person, a wonderful meteorologist who actually cares about talking about climate chanange. the factct i i tv news is completelybdicating itits responsibibility when it comomeo tellg the truth of whwhat the westst is dealing wiwith right , which i i of course, not justt these fires,s, but m massive unprececedented heat waves. e fireseshat got really bad erer the weekend were f fueled n largrge part by precedente heat in counties likiklos angeleles countyty, which set heat wave records of 120 one degrees fahrenheit, ventura county, santa barbara county. the temperatures were just unseen before in modern human history. so this is climate change.

it is not rocket science. and when will the media start calling at that? couldldn: p professor stokes, you alsoso talk about what has been poiointed out becauause something the reason that ththe people conclude this is an effefective changnge is thatt rs are kept wewere previouously thy weren't. bubut in fact in calilifornia, e 1932, fire records s have been keptpt in the e worst fires have occurred -- the 10 worst fires have occurred between the year 2000 and the present. >> yes. unfortunately, that statisticics probabably going outut of datete speaeak. asas you mentioned at the top of the hohour, we a are talalking t 2.5 millllioncres that have already burned. and that is 20 times what has burned at this time last year. we know becauause of reresearcht the fire season across the

western united states has lengthened by 2.5 months. so we're not really in fire seasons anymore, we're in fire season year-round. this isn't a question of modern record-keeping. it is a question of burning fossil fuels, which is what we have been doing which has been heating up the plalanet. and it has increased fire risk by 500%. that is the kind of increase we are seeing as resesult of c clie change. amy: i was talking with family last night -- last night in new york, which was afternoon there, and they took me outside on skype and it was dark. professor stokes, can you explain the colors that are being experienced from pumpkin orange to purple to complete darkness? what exactly is causing this? how do you think the g governors dealing withth it and then t tak abouout presesident trumump.

happens with these giantt wiwildfires is really unprecedented weather that we've nevever seen b before. therere is a wonderful climate scientists named daniel swain. what is been talking about is how overwhelmed he is by even trying to track the amount of fires that are going on right now. and these fires are creatingg their own weweather. they are creing clouds condititions.o-like that i is like e a volcano erti. it is pushing pararticulate matr way up into the stratosphere, way y gher than even airplananes fly. a volcanic eruptionon. what we're dealing with is particulate mamatter blocking ot the sun. for example, people posted their solar panels and show there were , noing zero solar radiation energy being produced because the sun was not making its way to the ground. this has happened in the past when w we have had huge volcanic

eruptions. it is really a disturbing efeffect. i can undersrstand why peoplplee so freaked out. in terms of the governrnor of california, it is great to see him stepping up and using the words "climate change" very actively. others have pointed out, however, he has approved fracking permits in the recent months during the pandemic, and there are questions as to why california is not turning away more aggressively from oil and gas extraction. and then when it comes to our climate denier in chief donald trump, he doesn't even believe in climate change. he does not listen to scientistss, whether that is the coronavirus pandemic and lying about it and playing down the death toll or it is climate change. we have zero leadership for this emergency from washington, d.c. it is well past time we have a president who can use the words "climate change" and can trust

and believe in science. nermeen: professor stokes, you mentionedd earli fossil fuel, which is onene of the leadading causes o of accelerated d climae change. in a articlele in "thehe atlant" you write -- dylan "in an ereroc twist, burning fossil fuels will become less reliable in our hotter world." can yoyou explain? >> sure. soso these he waves that we have bebeen dealing witith really all susummer, they are. ththat is b because scientists d us we have 500% more risk for he waits across the western united states given the amount of climate change that we have already cause. we have warmed the planet i one degrees celsius. in certain parts of california, such as hanna-barbera, the warming is higher. it is two degrs fahrenheit -- sorry, two degrees celsius.

certain parts of our planet are really more vulnerable to climate change and they warm up faster. and that certainly parts of california. what has been happening, the west, whether it is arizona, nevada, california, they have been baked in a regional heat with the lasast few weeks. that creates a big stress on o o electricity system because people in phoenix need to turn on air-conditioning, people in los angeles need to turn that on -- all across the region. that means we don't have as much electricity resources than we would have otherwise. so there have been regional shortages particularly in california, for electricity. a few weeks ago, the grid went into rolling blackouts. even this past week, there have been shortages and some shutoffs in some areas. what happened a couple of weeks ago is still being understood that one of the factors is that several gas plants -- these are

fossil gas plans that operate in california -- t they went o offe unexpectedly. what people pointed out is that when theheemperaturere gets rery high, justst like if you have er been in an airport when the temperature is high and airplanes cannot take off -- when the air temperature gets really high, fossil plants cannot produce the same amount of electricity. they cannot operate. as we deal with more and more heatat waves, our e electricity system is going to become a lot less reliable. amy: and president trump's connection to the fossil fuel companies and the people who are fighting these fires -- we have been dealing with this extensively on democracy now! for example, the incarcerated firefighters themselves dealing with covid. and then the farmworkers who are out in the fields being told they still have to be therere. >> yes.. there are 70 tragic parts of this storyry and sumummit of the other oneses you tououched on ae top of the hour. thesese are very d dark days wee living in. unfortunately, what

many people don't know is the cares act, the coronavirus to list bill that mitch mcconnell help to steward through congress a few months ago, that was in large part a fossil fuel bailout. we do not even know how much of our money as people living in the united states has gone towardossil fuel companies because the federal government refuses to tell us. but we do know thanks to really dogged r reporting of a fefew wn that a lot of money - -- we're talking billions of dollars -- is going to fossil fuel companies. just reported the federal reserve literally but corporate bonds, corporatete debt of the number of fossil fuel companini. so you and i now o corporate debt for exxon mobil, chevron, bp, marathon petroleum, and electric utility company southern company. these are terrible corporations that have been denying climate change for decades and are not

responsible corporate actors, yet what has the trumpet administration done? it has given them a lifeline and a handout at a time they were not doing well financially. not because of covid, but because of their own bad decisions. so really what we are living through right now is s a massive fossil fuel bailout. with the federal governmenent is doing is not helping e everyday americicans stay employed, paid their rent, papay their electricity bills. there helping also fuel companies. that is wrong. you also mentioned the prison labor problem when it comes to firefighting in california. in that issue has been really compounded by the covid crisis. in santa barbara county where i live, there is one prison where pretty much 100% of the people, about 1000 people in the prison, have had covid. in the early parts of the pandemic, this was one of the worst outbreaks in the e entire country. prisons across the couountry and across california have been on

the e frontlines of covid. one ththing governor newsom has done in part to help people out in prisons is early releases. unfortunately,y, that means thee fifirefighters who we rely on through prayers and -- prison labor, we don't have a as many f them as a result. so we don't have the same amount of firefighters and we also have a terrible lessie in california that after people have been released from prison, they're not allowed to work as firefighters for an actual living wage. the system that we have set out for fighting fires is really unethical. not just exploding people when they are in prison but after we train them and give them skills, not letting them use those skills for pay. and finally, the farmworkers. you are right, many undocumented hispanic people living in this countrtry are on the frontlinenf covivid, on the frontlines of te climate crisis. they areretill out working in the fields during a pandemic and duringng this absolututely horrendous air quality. when you breathe in the bad air,

it also makes s it more likelyly thatat you will die of covovid. amy: the future, leaeah stokes, what needs to happen n now? > we need to elect a new president. joe biden, for all his flaws, hahas come out wiwith an absoluy unprecedented climate changee plan and t targeting 100% clean energy by 2020 five. if we could elecect him as presidident and take back the senatete for the democrats, we would have a chance to tackle the climate crisis. amy: leah stokes, thank you for being with us, assistant professor of political science at the university of california, santa barbara, researcher on climate and energy policy. we will into her piece in "the atlantic -- we will link to your piece in "the atlantic." other of "short t circuiting policy: interest groups and d te battle over clean energy and climate policy in the amererican states." new ad campaign targets african-american and latinx to

join in the vaccine trials. what are many y sitations?s? we look back at mededical exterminatioion in thehe unitedd dates. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "summer madness" by kool and the gang. the baband's co-founder, singer, composer roronald bell, has passed away at the age 6 68. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, ththe quarante report. i'm amy ododman. president t nald trumpmp acknowledged he publiclyly wednesday downplayed the threat of the coronavirus even as he received briefings in early february about the severity of the looming pandemic. trump was responding to a reporter who asked if he misled the public in order to reduce panic. pres. trump: well, i think if you sit in order to reduce panic, perhaps that is so. i'm a cheerleader for this country. i love our country. i don't want people to be

frightened. i don't want to create panic. amy: trump's admission came hours after "washington post" journalist bob woodward published bombshell excerpts from his forthcoming book about trump titled "rage," along with taped conversations with the president. in a february 7 phone call, trump told woodward about what he learned about the novel coronavirus from chinese president xi jinping. pres. trump: it goes through air, bob. that is always tougher than the touch. the touch -- you don't have to touch things, but the air, just breathe the air. that is how it is passed. that is a very tricky one. that is a very delicate one. it is also more deadly than your -- even your strenuous flus. this is more deadly. lessis 5% versus 1% and then 1%. so this is deadly stuff. amy: that was president trump on february 7. but the white house would not declare a national emergency on covid-19 until march 13. as u.s.lations come

from covid19 reached 190,000 on wednesday. this comes as trump's push to release a vaccine before the november election -- operation warp speed -- could be slowed by a lack of participation in vaccine trials by african-american and latinx people, many of whom mistrust the healthcare system. a national institutes of health report attributed part of this mistrust to "the historical legacy of mistreatment at the hands of the medical profession" themost notorious abuse was tuskegee syphilis experiment. 400 african-american men were recruited to study the disease progression were purposefully left untreated. they were given placebos and tracked over decades as her symptoms worsened, even though

penicillin was identified as a reliable treatment in 1940 five. syphilis can disfigure, cause dimension, blindness, extreme chronic pain a debt. concerns were ignored until the whistleblowers account of the experiment to the press in 1972 shut it down. on tuesday, the nih helped overcome the legacy and help launch a series of tv commercials on the bet network, the oprah winfrey network, telemundo, and univision like this ad, which features a series of black people. >> we know that someone somewhere e isulull of hopope ad strength a and wants to take action, and d who will take a sp forward to hugug the grandndds. walking the walk and d rolling p their sleeves to go b back to nonormal sooner. volunteer to find thehe covid19 vaccine. amy: we're joined now by harriet washington, medical ethicist and author of "medical apartheid:

the dark history of medical experimentation on black americans from colonial times to the present." her latest book is "a terrible thing to waste: environmental racism and its assault on the american mind." welcome back to democracy now! we are going to talk on global issues in a moment, but for people who are not familiar, for example, with the tuskegee exexperiment, and what that expeririment means, would you ly out so well in your book " medical apartheid" how this can possibly happen. i wanted to go to a 1993 documentary about the tuskegee experiment called "deadly deception," which addresses how black men n were lured i into te tuskegee experiment with assurances they were a actually receiving medical care. this clip includes interviews with hermann shaw. folks this letter sent to each man bebefore his spinal tap

clclaimed it was a a very spepel free trereatment. >> some e time ago y your givenf examination and since ththat ti, we hope you've gototten a greatt dealal o trereatment for bad bl. you willll now be giveven your t dance to get t a cond examination. this examinatition is a a very special one. after it is fininished, wiwill e given a special - -- >> if it is believed you are in a condition to stand it. remember, this is your last chance for special freree treatment. t that thewerere told spinal t taps were a treatmemen. that shows you some of thehe deception and dececeit invnvoldn the study. anand these arare physisicians g thisis so it has a certainin por and authority. >> on each subjeject, t they performed physysicals and blood test. the doctctors give them an placebos, vitamins from aspirins

-- useless against syphilis. >> there are threeee different types o of medicinine. there's arouound pill dd sometimes a capsulule and then they w would give e us aittle vl of liquid medidicine. >> these men were not gogoing to question the s system. who wewere not goioing to questn the government doctors. who were notot going to be ouout there picketing and p protesting about it. in alalabama. who isis going to speak for the? amy: that clip from a 1993 documentary about t the tuskegee experiment called deadly deception. ththis experimenent went on for0 years? >> yes, it did. it is the longest instancnce of unethicaledical fermentatn in westetern histo. howeveve it t one stu. my book docents cenenries of

studies, manany, if not most of whicich, were far worse than tuskegee. amy: can you go through some of them with us? a kind of short journey with us -- i mean, it is hard to talk about this. the e eerimentation onn africacan-americans in ts country. >> of cour. it is 500 pages and fourr centnturies, so i n'n't posossiy summize it, but t they range frfrom thingss like pouring b bg wateter on thehe backs o slaveso treat them for typhoho to removinglaves arms and legs simply to showow medalal s studs how the ococedur o of amputation were done. literally aomen cacage, alll laboratory, on n te prproperty o of dr. sims and thn subjectiting them to repductctiv surgereries that t were eerimenl overer the couee of five y yeart

least. remomong the jawbone oa a slave despite his prorotest. esting in procedur and appropriating the bodiesff slaves in order r test momodalities, in order to use tm for varariousxperiments and also after r death for -- - medical traingng materl, postmtmortem racism. these things were so prevalent that most northern medical schools had contras s with southern medicicalchools t to gt the bodieses of dead black peope because theyey did not want to e dead whites in this manner because it was considered disrespectful. the history gogoes on for a long time. frankly, it has not ended. when it comes to vaccines, i find more troubling, far more troubling than tuskegee -- which is not a good parallel for this problem -- more recent problems

vaccines. vaccine experiments have b been unethical and exploitativive and otother procedures, especially n the e developing world that have called to the attention of african-americanans and others. even the recent history of vaccine abuse has been very troubling and c caused lolot of reticencnce. nermeen: harriet, could yoyou tk ababout how widespreadad the knowleledge is of the older medical experiments that yoyou were speaking of and what role you think that h history as oppoposed toto the treatment of latinx and african-americans in the medical world today, to what extent is knowledge of thahat adical h history kind of disincentive for people to enroll in the vaccine trials n w as opposed to ththe continunuing discriminationon against latinx and black communities now? out for those things

in opposition to each othther. they both contribute. but it is important to realize the written history of medicine, the canon, has been carefully belieie the expense of african-americans. you simply would not find this histstory detailed in otherer history medidicine books until "medical apartheid was published, it was ignored. it was documented in the past in jojournals and medical doctors n research reports, but no one had collected it. so you find in academia, verery little knowledge of that. however, admit african-american communities, there is a great extensive knowledge of it because there is been a rich worlrld tradition passed o on. many people had their families who were sububjected to experimt interviews and this knowledge was prevalent and passed on. we had the unusual situation where african-americans were

quite conversant with a history. they may not have known probably could not have known the details i got from reading medical journals because they were not allowed access to medical journals, but they knew these things were occurring. in terms of history y medicine canon, they were routinely ignored and there is a lot of reluctance until "medical apartheid" was published and scholars can see how carefully i had documented the things i had dedescribed, only then was there in a mission these things actually happen within academia. amy: dr. fauci, the infectiousus diseasase spepecialist,t, says f you look at the trials thahat ae taking place in the ununited states today, moderna has 60% latinx participaonon -- 60% latinx participation, pfizer has 11%. our dharna has only 10% black partrticipation and pfizer only 8%. algae recommends 37% latinx

participation and 27% blalack participation. when we come back, we're going to go global with you, harriet washington. harriet washington is a medical ethicist and author of "medical apartheid: the dark history of medical experimentation on black americans from colonial times to the present." she mentioned a pfizer test in nigeria and d we will l talk abt that, look at south afafca, india, and beyond. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report.. i'm amy goodman. at medical to look it's fermenentation a and how covid-19 vaccine trials are unfolding internationally. on wednesday, india reporteted nearly 9 96,000 new coronavirus cases new daily record, just two , a days after it surpassed brazil as the country second hardest hit by the virusus, after the united states. this comes as the e indian compy enlisted to manufacture a

million doses of astrazeneca's experiment of vaccine is pushing ahead with its own clinical trial even as safety concerns led the british drugmaker to hahalt its tests this week. for r more, , we are a also joiy kaushik sunder rajan, professor of anthropology at the chicago, author of the book "pharmocracy: value, politics and knowledge in global biomedicine." and we're still joined by harriet washington, medical ethicist, author of "medical apartheid: the dark history of medical experimentation on black americans from colonial times to the present." before we are talking to professor kaushik sunder rajan, harriet washington, you mention pfizer and nigeria. drug a notorioious 1996 experiment that pfizer conducted on sick children in nigeria when researchers selected 200 children at an epidemic hospital for an experiment or trial. about 100 of the kids were given an untested oral version of the

antibiotic trovan. researchers did not obtain signed consent forms, and medical personnel said pfizer did not tell their parents their children were getting the experimental drug. 11 children died. others suffered disabling injuries, including deafness, muteness, paralysis, brain damage, loss of sight, slurred speech. after an 11 year legal battle, pfizer paid compensation to four families. about 10 years ago, we spoke to musikilu mojeed, a nigerian journalist who worked on this story for the next newspaper in lagos. he described what pfizer did in his country. .> things were so bad

amy: he worked on this issue. , global, guessid you could say. tell us what you think this is such a critical experiment for us to understand today. >> it is one of manany. research is supposed to be governed by the same laws as the u.s. researchers are supposed to adhehere to the u.s. law. the problem is, there is little or no oversight.t. we only take researcrs word that they are conforming and making sure there is s informed consent.

abuses such as happppened in nigeria show us that sometimes people live. a doctor admitted having deceitfullyy claimeded there had been certification required. they forged the form after t the research was already conducted. abound because there's very little oversight and because there's a different attitudede toward people in the developing world. i think the best illustration of that in regard d to coronavirus9 is what happened in april went to french doctors suggested quite openly that trials were ethically trouble because they were placebo trials falling out of favor in the west, be brought to africa instead where there were an abundance of subjects who had no medical care and would grasp it whatever straw was offered them and you could be conducted on people like prostitutes. so this kind of -- there's a lot of outrage over the statements but what they were sayingng is something i h have seen stated n medical journals repeatedly.

more to the point, there didn't -- they're not the on the one doing it. -- reresearch conducted sometimes researchers are not honest about what they have done. p professor kaushik sunder rajan, if you could comment on what harriet has just sat and talked about some of your concerns w with clinicical trias being heleld among vulnerable populations, not just here in the u.s. but around the world, includining indiaia where you he studiedd thehem. >> sure.e. thank you for having g me on. it is a pleasure to be on the show. it is ironic nine years ago most exacactly to the day, youou may recall that there wasas a tirade agaiainst the h hpv vaccccine. shabbat was -- michchelle

highligighted a s scandal corrupting around some experiment demonstration studies with the hpv vaccine in india. so this highlighted the fact that they're good reasons to be concernened about clinical trirs in vaccines but not michelle bachmann's reasons.. i want to o start by saying here that t the critical issue is not whether vaccines arare good o or bad, but as you've already talked about, some of the ethical issues surrounding t the productioion of distribution, ad rollout -- but even more, i woululd suggesest what is at ste is the democratic public health. like think aboutut something ththe hpv vaccine studies in ina , the key questionon was a about accountability. who is heldd accountablele by wm andd how. demonstrations were

studies on the vaccine being conducteted prior to the r rollt of the vacaccine as part of india'a's national immunizationn program. in t the process, seseven grgroo belonged to indigenous populatitions who were on thee study died. it was nevever eststablished tht the girls dieied because of the vaccine or b because of the stududies, and it is quite possible there was no correlation. however, commissions of inquiry showed substantial procedural viololations had occurred, including g failure to obtbtain adequate consent f from the parents of the girlsls. there were multiple institutional entities involvevd in the studies, both h indian state e instititutions but also. not-t-for-profit''s, including e gates foundatioion funded progrm for appropriate technology and health. for me the critical issue here is there were ethical lapses, that is serious, but also no one was held accountable in spite of

the advocacy y and media atattention. some of this is because thesee clinical studidies are s so extensively brokerered with 70 different kinds of publblic and privivate entitities i in sourcd ououtsourcing both h the sciencd the ethics, that respoponsibiliy becocomes almost a a kind of shl game. it is very hard unless there gross intentional fraud to say this into t -- it is this i into defafault. the e study erected d in scanda. they had defense and western public health journals in the colleagues here, but civil society y and communitiess held advovotes in indndia never got e answers they were demanding. and that more ththan anything ee has bebeen lingering ground for anger, which is that t you can have a genuinely public health without genuine public accountability. nermeen: : profesessor, if you d also talk ababout ththe russianf access -- the question of

access. the people who participapate for these vaccines arare not necessarilyy those who firstst t the vaccine once one is approved. >> y yes, ii thihink that is potentially true. i think if we are thinking about covid, for instance,e, questiois of manufacturing s scale up, distribubutive justice, supply chain -- all of these are going to be nightmare slick complicated logistical questions. but i think you're raising a morere fundadamental point, whis disease,ndemic or a respsponse to a disease, vaccin, is never just a biological problem. it is always inherently a social problem. in the vaccine solves the biological part of that problem, but unless it is allied to democratically socially inclusive mechanisms of

distribution and access, they're always going to be problems. upon what speculate that might mean in relation to covid, but what i want to suggest is of course there is a critical issue of anan essential artifact being produced that needs to be made equitably accessible. but i think the question here might be even broader than that, right? situation at this optimistice really estimations for how long a covid vaccine would take suggested 18 montnths to two years, and even that would have been remarkable. but there h has been n such an'e presented amount of research being done glolobally on covid that i is both therarapeutic and

vaccine development, i have biologist friends were telling me i it is notot unreasonable to expect s successful vaccine by e end of the year. of then there is a question whether and how that would be made equitably accessible. but i think there is also a question beyond that of social infrastructures. becaususe what we are dealing wh his -- youu mentioned vulnerable populations. i would prefer to say underserved populations. vulnerable suggests weakness. underserved suggests populations have been failed. the southside of chicago is not vulnerable, it is underserved. so the question of what kinds of social infrastructure required to ensure access to underserved populations i think is an essential one. amy: harriet washington, what can and still public trust at this point? and the issue of patents.

been put into these vaccines. who gets the patent? and that means whoho gets the prophet?hould thisis be made available free to all? >> the patent system i is what separaras the peopople of develoloping world from m the medications ththat thehey ha proved to be safe and efficacious. we were lie upupon tm tapasas u test our medications. a good proportioion of r resears now done in the developing world by u.s. reresearchers and u.s. companies anand yet when the drs are developoped, people do notot haveve access to them because ty are price to be ability toto pa. companies can do that becauause thee u.s. patentnt law. i i argued i in my book "deadlyy monopolies" u.s. patent laws need to be changed. it should not govern the distribution of medicaon. it is responsible for the high prices and lack of availability to people who need it most. i want to say something i i thik

that is imimportant in terms of domestic issssues. we are framing t this conversatn ererroneouously. we are talking abobout the n neo cruit momore andnd more people f color. 27%figures by dr. fauci, african-americans r represent 13.3% ofof the country a a at te country so fauci i is suggggestg twice our r population shohoulde in thehe vaccine tririals. why?y? unfortunately, thihis is a subte form of blamaming the victims by hangnging the succccess of vacce desi on n african-americicans ad hihispanic p people. wewere imparting responsibilityy that is nonot there. in reaeality, their fear, , ther reticence to engngage in vaccine design is not t the problem.m. the problem is an ustworthininess of the u u.s. health care e system. we have to address both.. we cannonotalk aboutut african-amererican and h hips pc behavior -- this panic behavior

and talk about health care system that is creating situation where logical people have irrational fear. amy: we have to leave it there. i want to thank you harriet washington for joining us, author of "medical apartheid" and kaushik sunder rajan,

gigirl: my name is alexaxandria villaseñor. boy: my nameme is adiglia bra. boboy: i'm cararl smith. boy: my name is david ackley. [g[girl speakiking native e lan] girl: : my name is ayakha melithafa. boy: m my name is raj tanagigi. girl: mymy name is yur kapadaea. boy: my nameme is litokne kabua. girl: : my name is greta.. we a are actlllly sayi that t yu are violating ilildren'sightss whilyoyou ha----you have rectctifiethe un convevention of thgh