10/06/20 10/06/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from m new york, this i is democracy now! pres. trp:p: i learned so ch out coronavirus. and one thing that is for ceain, don't let it dininate you. dodon't t be afraid of it. amy: "don't be a afraid of it." ththose were the wordsds of presidenent trump minimizing the risk of covid-19 as he returned to the white house after being hospitalized for three nights.

in a surreal displplay that alarmed public health experts, trump removed d his mask before enteriring the white house potentially infecting the dish anyone inside. we will get the latest. then we e speak to kristin urquiziza, whose father died frm covid 19. >> my dad was a healthy 55-year-old. his only pre-existing condition was trusting donald trump. and for that, he paid with his life. week, kristin urquiza attended the presidential debate sitting just feet away from president trump. she is now in self-quarantine. plus we will speak to a college student in vermont who is doing what the white house doesn't want the cdc to do -- trace the contacts of people who may have infected or been infected by president trump. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

democrcracynow.o.org, the quarae repoport. i'm amy goodman. presidident trumump returneded e white e house momonday aftfter g hospitalizized since friday for covid-19. he will contntinue trereatment t the white house. on monday night, trump walked out of the golden front doors of the walter reed medical center and then walked to the presidential helicopter. it was the beginning of a bizarre sequence of events thatt alarmed d public health expertr. at the white house, trump removed his mask as he posed for pictures. he then saluted and gave a thumbs up. at times, trump appeared to be short of breath and panting. he then walked into the white house unmamasked, potentiaially exposing the household staff -- many of whom arere older and peopoplef color. at least two housekeepining staf have recentltly tested posositi. trumalalso releasesed a videdeo ere hehe minimized t the risk of covid-1919. es. trum learned so much

about coronavirus. and one thinththat ifor certain, don't leitit domate u. don't be afraid of it. amy: trump's medical team has refused to answer key questions, including when trump last tested negative for covid-19 and details about his lung scans. and whether he has pneumonia. meanwhile, more close associates of trump have tested positive for the virus, including white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany and two aides. we'll have more on president trump after headlines. in othther corononavirus news, e new york timimes" is reportingnp white hohouse officials are blocking n new food and drug administraration guidelines that would likely delay the approval of any c coronavirus v vaccine l after nonovember 3. electition day. ththe fda wantnts to monitoror e health of trl vovolunteersrs for two momonths to makeke sure thee are no long-term side effects but the white housuse opposesese plan.

in other medical news, the cdc has acknowledged covid-19 can be spread by airborne transmission in indoor settings. the cdc had made a similar statemement in september but t n removed the information from its website. in international news, the world health organization now says as much as 10% of the world's population may have had covid-19 -- a far higher number than previously thought. india has become the third country to pass 100,000 reported covid-19 deaths after the u.s. and brazil. meanwhile, in iran, the government reported 235 deaths monday, the highest daily toll since the start of the pandemic. much of tehran has been shut down again and hospitals are at capacity. a number of european countries have announced new records in daily cases in recent days as britain, france, germany, italy, and spain have all imposed or announced stricter containment

measures.. as early in-peperson voting kicd off in south carolina monday, the u.s. suprereme court sided with south carolina republicans byby reinstating a lawaw that requires a witness signature for mail-in ballots. democrats argued the requirement puts people at risk during the pandemic and decreases voting. the ruling will not apply to ballots that have already been mailed. early voting is now open in california, iowa, illinois, maine, michigan, minnesota, montana, nebraska, south carolina, south dakota, virginia, vermont, and wyomimin. meanwhile, in florida, the statate's voter registstration website crashed and stayed down for several hours monday, the deadline to register for the november election. kristen clarke of the lawyers' committee for civil rights under law called on florida officials to extend the deadline, adding "or we will explore other

options to prorotect the rigighf those seeking to register to vote." in iowa, a judge has blocked a republican directive barring counties from sending out absentee ballot applications with pre-filled voter i.d. information. the republican effort to require all ballot requests be blank when sent to voters resulted in tens of thousands of ballot requests being invalidated. election officials are now determining whether they can still get ballots to those residents whose applications were invalidated. and in arizona, a federal judge issued an order extending the voter registration deadline until october 23 due to the pandememic. in other election news, , senatr kamala harris and vice presidedt mike pence are expected to hold their debate separated by wednesday plexiglas. pence's team mocked the news. spokesperson katie miller, who herself tested positive in may, said -- "if senator harris wants to use

a fortress around herself, have at it." pence has so far tested negative for covid-19. in related news, joe biden appeared at a socially-distanced, outdoor nbc news town hall in miami last night. he said president trump bears some responsibility for contracting covid-19. mr. biden: anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying masks don't matter, social distancing doesn''t matter, i i think is responsible for what happens to t them. amy: in n texas, a white policie officecer has been charged w wih murder for t the fatal shootingf 31-year-old jonathan price, a black man who was killed at a gas station on saturday. officer shaun lucas tased and shot price even though he was walking away from him and was nonthreatening according to the

texas rangers who arrested lucas. just prior to his killing, price had reportedly intervened after a man assaulted a woman, but that situation had already been resolved before officer lucas arrived at the scene. jonathan price was a motivational speaker and trainer and formrmer college footballl playayer at hardin-simmons iversityty. in californinia, prosecutors sad monday they are reopenining an investigation into the 2009 killing of oscar grant, a 22-year-old unarmed black man, by a white transit officer in oakland. the officer who shot grant, johannes mehserle, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but another officer present at the scene, anthony pirone, was terminated and never charged even though a report revealed he repeatedly lied to investigators and attacked grant, stating "a cascade of events that ultimately led to the shooting."

oscar grant's family called for the case to be reopened. his mother, reverend wanda johnson, spoke at a monday news conference in frfront of the trn station where her son was killed. >> if it is going to be our judicial system continues to lie and continues to nott honor ther words, then we will continue to be out here and remind the world of how our jududicial system is continuing to faill people e of color. amamy: oscarar grant's mother speakingng at fruiuitvale stati. survivorors of chehemical weapos attacks in syria have fileled a criminalal complaint in germany accusising the syrian government of killing more e than 140400 pe in two separate attacks, one in the damascus s suburb of eastern ghouta in 2013 and another in ththe village of khan sheikhun n 202017. meanwhile, the united d nations, the united states, britain and france blocked the former head of the organization for the

prohibition of chemical weapons, or opcw, from testifying monday. jose bustani was slated to read a statement about a possible internal opcw cover-up of a chemical attack d doumasyriria, in 28. the opcw and therurump administration have blamed the syrian government for the attack but leaked documents show two opcw investigators have questioned the official findndings. the u.s. bombebed syria daysys r the alleleged attack.. after bustani was barred from testifying at the sesecurity council, he e recorded a video readining his preparared remark. >> the opcw is confident in the robustness of its scientific work and d the integrity of the investigation. then it should have little to fear and hearingng o out its inspectors. however, if the claims of

evidence shows excxclusion of ky ininvestigators among other allegagations are unfnfnded, its eveven mor imperative that youu should be dealt witopenly andnd ururgently. amy: in kyrgyzstanan, protests have erupted following a parliamentary election sunday critics say was rigged through vote-buying. demonstrators are demanding pro-russian president sooronbay jeenbekov resign and to hold a new election. on tuesday, protesters seized a government building and freed a jailed former president, almazbek atambayev, an adversary -- was sentencnced on corruption chargeges and is adversary of te sitting g president. in eastern russia, marine biologists a are warnining of an ecological catastrophe after scores of dead seals and other marine animals washed ashore over the weekend in the kamchatka peninsula. several surfers reported the water had a foul odor and ununnatural color and leleft thm wiwith chemical l burns to their eyes.

the cause of the apparent chemical spill has not beenn confirmed but sometime rocket fuel stored in the areas military testing grorounds may have leaked. leakaked internal documents from exxonmobil reveal the oil giant plans to increase annual carbon dioxide emissions by 17% by 2025. bloomberg reports exxon's plans could add the annual carbon emissions of a country like greece to the atmosphere, or the equivalent of 26 coal-fired power plants. exxonmobil's own scientists have known about the threat of climate change for decades but suppressed the information and have not committed to curbing emissions, even as other major oil companies have announced cuts after massive public pressure campaigns. the environmental protection agency has granted oklahoma environmental regulatory control of nearly all tribal lands in oklahoma, rolling back sovereign rights for dozens of tribes.

the move effectively cancels out many rights that would have been gained after a landmark supreme court ruling earlier this year asserted about half of oklahoma remains native american land recognizing a 19th century u.s. treaty with the muscogee creek nation. in a statement to news outlet the young turks, casey camp-hornek of the ponca tribe of oklahoma said -- "after over 500 years of oppression, lies, genocide, ecocide, and broken treaties, we should have expected the epa ruling in favor of racist governor stitt of oklahoma, yet it still stings." in media news, "los angeles times" executive editor norman pearlstine has resigned after only two years in the role. this comes after several investigations into pearlstine, including one published by vice news that alleged he ignored serious concerns from staff about a toxic workplace, lack of diversity in the newsroom, sexism allegations, and other ethical issues.

"the l.a. times" publicly addressed the paper's track record of perpetuating racism both in the newsroom and in their coverage amid the national anti-racist uprising and as staffers fight for more diversity in the newsroom and in management. and ththe nobel prize e for phys has been a awarded to three scientists for their discoveries rerelated to b black holes, whih helped reveal "the darkest secrets s of the universe." roger penrose, reinhard genzel, and andrea gehz received the award. american astronomer ghez is only the fourth woman to ever win the nobel prize in physics. on monday, two american scientists and one british scientist -- harvey alter, charles rice, and michael houghton -- jointly won the 2020 nobel prize for medicine for their work in identifying the hepatitis c virus, which causes cirrhosis and liver cancer. the nobel peace prize will be announced on and those a are soe friday. ofof the headldlines. thisis is democracy nonow!, democracynow.org, the quarantine rereport. i'm amy gogoodman inin new york

city, joined by my co-host juan gonzalez in new brunswick, new jersey. hi juan. juan: hi, amy. welclcome to all of our listenes and viewers from around the country and d around the world. amy: in a shocking show of recklessness, president trump left walter reed national militaryry medicalal center fore white house on monday evening, staging a series of photo ops as he walked out through its golden doors after a 72 hours day and boarded the presidential helicopter back to the white house to continue his treatment for covid-19. it was the beginning of a bizarre sequence of events that alarmed public health experts. at the white house, trump stepped off marine one and then ascended a set of stairs to the first floor balcony where he removed his mask destete having covid come and wavaved farewello

the helicopter in a propaganda style video he soooon posted to twitter accompanied by dramatic music. he enterered the whihite house unmasked, potentialllly exposing more staff after a at least two housekeepiping staff recently tested positive. trump filled the video in front of the -- found ththe video in front of the white e house which has become a covid hotspot due to his the admintration's nenegligce.. pres. . ump: arrested outfron i let. nobo that is a leader would not dohat i d. i know there is a risk, there's a danger, t that is ok. and now i am better andaybe i'm imme. i n't ow. but don't let it dominate your live get out ther be ceful. we havthe best medices i in the world. y: trum's mes to srkeded outre and alarm fropublic health oicials a came ashe u. covid death toll passed 210,000. other video of trump''s

homecoming shows the president appearing shshort of breath. dr. abdudul el-sayed tweeted -- "this is not how a healthy man brbreathes." meanwhile, white house physician dr. sean conley refused monday to answer questions from reporters about the health of trump's lungs. >> busy of pneumonia or any inflammation in his onset all? >> we have done routine imaging. i'm not at liberty to discuss. clubs's you are actively not telling us what the lung scans show? rules andre hippa restrictions that restrict me in sharing certain things for his safety and his own health. amy: dr. conley also refused to disclose the last time the president tested negative for the virus. >> can you tell us please on testing, can you tell us when he

had his last negative test? was it thursday? do you remember when h he had hs last negegative test? >> i don't want to o go backwar. amy: this comes as the number of coronavirus cases emanating from the white house continue to grow. on monday, trump's press secretary kayleigh mcenany said she had tested positive, along with two of her press deputies, bringing the number of people in trump's circle with covid to wewell over a dozen. for more, we're joined by dr.r. dara kass, emergency medicinine physician at columbia univerersy medical center and yahoo news medical contributor. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about what you witnessed last night? trump standing at the white house, returning home saying yet learned real lessons -- he had learned real lessons, removing his mask coming giving a thumbs up, then turning a and walkingng

into the white house were so many staff are under siege, whwhere people are talkingng abt itit as have shut down because f the number of people who are testing positive? >> a couple of things. first of all, myself and anybody that has been touched by this virus, then millions of americans that have hahad it themselves, the hundreds of thousands -- the family members of the hundreds of thousands who have passedway wewere horrified at this display of nononchalants around the virusushat has kikild so manany americans and infected -- affected all l of our lives. anyone watching this video does not think the president is healthy right now. there is no evidence he is over this, immune, better. we know this president has the idea if he thinks positively, positive things will happen. you may be convincing himself he is somehow over this virus, somehow finished the course, but as somebody who has had the virus myself and also taking care of hundreds of patients who have had it over the past six

months, the virus takes time on your body, especially when you have known lung disease. we know the president has lung disease. not just because he was clearly short of breath in that video, gasping air, but also being treated with the medications we get for patients that have lung disease. in that is what is going to have address significant percentage of patients who are in his age brackets, they're going to get lung disease. there's nothing wrong with having side effects of this virus, having effects on your body. there is no indictment of your strength if you are ill from this virus or you pass away. the worst thing for us as doctors, as public health professionals, is the idea that this display of a grand eyes, boisterous bravado will somehow protect him from a virus that has hurt so many americans. that he is somehow better than the rest of us. i had this virus.

i was in bed for over a week while taking naps, hydrating myself. i moved my children out of my hohouse. and i never left my bedroom without t an n95 masks on my fa. because i was petrified of giving it to my frieiends and family. so the idedea the presidident wd pose for phototo op unmasked and expose even one person to his virus i ththink says a lot about how h he feels about the people around him. ju:: i wononring if you can talk about the t treatmement the president has received, n not oy the experimental antibody made by regeneron the antiviral drug remdesivir and also dexame thazone, commonly used for critically ill patntnts and yet we werere toldld initially, and ththere hasn't been anything to casases largelyis

mild? >> going on the couourse of what we heard f fm the whitite house about his treatment, thehe isenen n antibody cocktail supposed to give your body a head start on the antibody response. if your body has not made its ownn antibodies, they give you the antibodies. we think it is interesting he got the regegeneron cocktail as opposed to the plasma, which is fda rushed in emererncies authorization for -- they fufunctionally do the sameme th. honestly, his physicians made the chohoice to go this experimt on medication, which i think says a lot about the potential for this medication. that helps your body fight the virus. and ideally, would decrease the viral load in your body. so the other effects on your body would not happen. the lung disease, kidney disease, blood clots, difficulty breathing. eventually, the heart disease and other system problems we are seeing. after that, we don't he moved to the hospital.

that is not to say that did not work, it is just as i he was sick. he went into the hospital and got remdisiver. that is an antiviral that i showed to shorten the course of hospitalization. so it is recommended in hospitalized patients to make them come out of the hospital faster. but it has not been known to change whether or not somebody dies. it is given to patients who have moderate illness. inconsistent with what we are telling. afterwards, we find out maybe his oxygen levels were low for short period of time. remembering those low oxygen levels reflect lung damage and not likely there was transient lung damage, more that he was able to compensate and then not able to compensate on and off. last medication received we know about is dexamethazone. that happens after these multiple levels of hypoxia, low oxygen, and we know this medication, which is the oldest medication -- it is been around forever -- is given to patients

who have oxygen needs. they're getting supplemental oxygen. serious, moderate, even critically ill patients. this has been shown to save lives in that subset of patients. group ofnow that that three medications has not been given to one patient before because of the fact this is a new and experimental medication, the first one, only being given in compassionate use -- meaning the risk to the patient are lower than the benefit of him living because we don't know much about the medication. so it is a very aggressive cocktail of medications. we don't know how they interact -- we don't think they would have side effects interacting with each other. they all act early on the body. the most concerning thing, and i think the disconnect here, it is not that he is sick or got medications -- that will happen to somebody in his age bracket with hisis risk factors -- it is somehow he is able to override his physicians in minimizing that effect on his body, or m me

portanantly, the risk he poses to other p people. ththe president is the p presidt of the uniteted states,s, increy important patient and we want to make sure he gets the best treatment, but he also is an infected patient putting other people's lives at risk. most importatantly, an example r the rest of america. how many patients who find out they are exposed to this virus will now not quarantine because the people in his orbit are not quarantining? hahave any patients won't isoloe themselves in theirir house and exexpose their partner, , their children, elderly grandmother to the virus because he walked into the white house without a mask? how many people -- juan: you mentioned him trying to override his physicians. coululd you talk a litittle bit about how the physicians, especially dr. sean conley and others, how they had been transmitting information to the public on this issue? >> i would say their press conferences have been a lolot me like a press briefing thenen a

medical briefing. what i mean is they are leleadig with what the president w wantso hear, nonot what we need t to k. as americans, we deserve to know about the condition of the president and our commander in chief in a transparent and driven -- open way. none of us need to be the president's doctor. he has an excellent medical team. what we need to know is what his health means for our country and how is that virus transmitted to other people in the white house. the simple fact of them not telling us when he was testing negative versus when he tested positive, while for months they're telling us he is getting negative tests all the time or they're not transparent him when his exigent levels d dropped. it is not because we want to manage his mededical care, it is because that represents not the severe d disease b but pototenty impaired decision-making capacity. it i is incumbmbent on them as americanans and service provides to this country to be true and to be honest with the american people.

instead, it seems like they're serving at the pleasure of the president. in a lot of ways in this ---icular case, the patient amy: on monday, ro khanna from california tweeted -- "there are now more recorded cases of covid-19 in the white house than in new zealand, taiwan, and vietnam combined, and they have 124 million people. let that sink in." your thoughts? >> my thoughts are if justin arden was in charge of the white house, he would be shut down. amy: you have so many different issues. dexamethazone has a side effect of grandiose delusions, hard to seseparate that from president trump on a regular day without the steroid. what that means in terms off decision-making and taking off

that mask and walking inside where the majority of the nonpolitical staff, the household staff, are older people of color and we know that is the most vulnerable group when it comes to covid-19.9. if you can just talk about what this means that he went back to the white house and after saying he had learned something -- not textbook-wise he saiaid, but he lived the learning -- and tookok off f his mask? >> it is a front to the service of this country. as has their lives don't matter to him. another r to the famililies liv. remembering all of this people who work at the white house have chchildren and spouses. yes no idea if they are immune compromised, no idea about their children trying to stay in school, about their ownwn persol circumstances. we know from a memo in the whihe house they are not doing c contt tracing to do at the rose

garden, not offering testing to anybody not well-known to the american public. in a world where the president was supposed to be getting daily testing, there telling people who work at the white house they should go to the primary care provider if they are concerned. any employer that puts their ploys at risk to this level should be mandated to take care of their patients which adam neumann on includes paying for the quarantine and making sure their testing and supporting -- supported if they get sick from their employment. amy: two household staff have tested positive.e. itit is going to be very hard to know, both in trump's family and the staff of the white house,, who has tested positive or hohow many peoplple have tested posite right before the precipitate kayleigh mcenany tested positive , she told reporters on sunday she would no longer be reporting the number or the people in the white house -- it would go dark. how are we going to find out this information now because

this ghosted issue of contact tracing. something the white house says it is also not going to do for the large rose garden ceremony, more significantly, the receptions that were held indoors last weekend the supreme court justice amy coney barrett. nominatedehe woman he as a supreme c court justice. >> it is a real national security issue because we don't know how many people are exposed or even how their offices will be exposed. what if we find out t this has gotten into the pentntagon? what if this has gotten into other areas of the white house? remembering by not contact tracing come to quote dr. conley "we're not going to look back," contact tracing is looking back. the idea that somehow they're not going to report out how many people are positive minimizes the risk to all of americans. the idea when it gets into your workplace, you need to be responsible to share that information. how many americans are going to not get tested now?

like they don't have a positive test, they don't have to tell anyone they're positive? this will perpetuate the spread of this virus through this country. i spoke at a ceremony on sunday in front of the white house commemorating the 200,000 americans that have passed away from the virus. remembering they represent a fraction of millions of americans that have been affected by this virus. likes like -- almost jarring in a way that it is almost surreal to speak in front of the white house commemorating 200,000 americans dying and asking america to help u us not deaths next 200,000 more away and literally watch thehe president take a joyride currently infectiouous aroround walter reed, exposing a a secret seservice members to this virus. we need to -- we don't have to haveve the next 20200,000 die. we can do this even if our president is not going to lead us. juan: dr. kass,s, i would a asku about report that their

blocking strictt repororts by te fda for an approval of a vaccine. the white house supposedly is objecting to roll l that would make the authoritition of aa vaccine before the election alalmost impmpossible.e. could you talk about that t and also your sense of whwhere the vaccine trtrials stand r right ? close the vaccine trials are encouraging. operation warp speed has invevested a significant amountf money a multiplple vaccines. these candidateses and to be -- these vaccines seem to be producing antibodies. it is encouraging. unfortunately, we've seen the whitite house politicize i is te procesess of approval, like i said, , we saw this with hydrochloric when and convalescecent plasma. we were wowoied they were going to do this to the vaccine. basically dumping in -- nothing in before phase three trials were complete and sign this o oe is good enough or us. we will say now have a vaccine. here's our miracle cure e and we

will startrt giving it to americans and we will start with vulnerable ameriricans -- remembering there is a historyry vaccines ind around vulnerable populations because of them being used as guinea pigs, in all fairness. we need to understand community trust around this vaccine is critically important. going to the proper channels to the fda and approval is going to be critical to actually getting the vaccine -- the fda put forward rules that really was built to get public trust around ththe vaccine. it did not do much for the approval process. the most rigid thing they said was they were going to wait two months after the last dose of vaccine to make sure the safety profile was robust, that nobody had any side effects of the vaccine. in debt and debt people were protected from the vaccine, then -- in enough people were protected from the vaccine. we knew there was a good chance the white house e was going to t theieir finger on the scale and try to undo that and we heard from the president himself when

asked about this, well, we will see. remember who is really in chararge. haveefda and the cdc about hahad to walk back recommendatis they have gigiven or change processes because of directt intervention frorom this white house on the medication and the apprproval off educations and therapeutics and vaccines -- not vaccines yet, but you know what i mean -- for this coronavirus in addition t to rerecommendatis on things that quarantine and isolation. this is not surprising. i am hoping the vaccine makers and the fda really stand up against this presidentnt and s , nono, the scieience must come f. amy: dr. dara kass, the vicice prpresidenent's role debate is taking place tomorrow night in person at this point. do you think vice president mike pence, who is clearly in and out of the right house and was right there at this ceremony, thehe supreme cocourt ceremony, should be self-quarantining at thihis

point? close yes. objectively, there's no reason he should be quarantined. unfortunately, he is not. carol harris is going to protect yourself especially needs to -- family harris is going to protect yourself as best she needs to.. amy: and they mocker for standing behind a partition. vice president biden. you think you should be courting? we do not know when president trump last tested negative. it was clear he did not test on tuesday because he so-called came too late to the debate to be tested. not so fafar away from him. >> lena of the president would be honest about his testing, it would be easier for the e vice president to make that decisisi. we know with the information the vice president has b being over0 fefeet away from t the presidend currently wewearing a mask everywhere he goes, he is

following the cdc guidelines are president trump's administration. right now the information the vice president has i think is he does not neeeed to quarantine. it would be important there was missing information from the states inin u united his office to o share that. amy: dr. darara kass, emergency memedicine physician at columbia university medical center. yahoo news medical contributor. when we cocome back, we will be joined by kristin urquiza after her father, a trump s supporter, died from covid-19. she attttended the debate. now in self-quarantine. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "he's back" by alice cooper. this is democracy now!w!, democracacynow.org, the quararae report. i'm amy goodman wiwith juann gogonzalez. covid-19 has infecteted about 75 million people in the united states and killed more than

210,000 people. that is over 20% of the deaths reported worldwide. even though the u.s. has less than 5% of the worlds popution. but monday,he highesprofile coronaviss patient in theorld retnened to thwhwhite use whilstilll infectious, downayaying e verity othe viruin tweet and video. pres. trump: don't be afrd of it. y'reoing to atat it. we have e bt medical equipment and d the best medicis all developed recently. you're going to be it. amy: president trump's comments outraged many emergency room doctors, public health experts, survivors of the disease and those who have lost loved ones, especially as ininfections are n the rise i in manyny areas of te countrtry. for more, we are joined by someone who lost her father to covid-19 in june. kristin urquiza says her dad, mark anthony urquiza, was a supporter of donald trump who died after believing the president's assurances that the coronavirus was under control.

kristin spoke about the loss of her fathther at the dedemocratac national convention. >> my dad was a healthy 65-year-old. his only pre-existing condition was trusting donald trump. and for that, he paid with his life. amy: kristin urquiza attended the first presidential debate last week in cleveland. after trump's covid diagnosis on friday, she wrote a piece for "the washington post" headlined "i sat in the front row at the debate. did trump infect me with the coronavirus?" she is joining us now from san francisco, california. kristin, welcome to democracy now! we played your speech in full at the democratic national convention. and our condolences to you on the death of your beloved father. what was your response when you saw president trump walkout of walter reed and then walk into the white house after taking off his mask, turning around and

walking in the door? >> i was appalled. i know i am not alone. every single person out t there who has lost a loved one to covid, who is he up clclose andd do,onal with this virus c can felt the same waway. i honestly felt like i was watching a sci-fi horror show. sadly, it is rely. jujuan: i'm m wondering ifouou n go back to but we could go to the first presidential debate.. you are a gueuest of vivice presidident jojoe biden, sittitg righght up front. can you talk about what t you we told abobout the covid status of the candidates and also how that trump family that was not too far from youou was dealing with the isissu of f wearing masks?

were they offered masks? can you talk about what you saw? >> heavy too. first and foremost, every single person in that audience was told the people inside of that debate hall would have had a covid negative test t that day. so we all got there early, went to the process of getting tested on site, doing self-isolation between that and our test results before being able to enter into the debate hall. once i got into the debate hall and we found our way to our seats, there were a couple of things that stood out. first and foremost, on one side of the hall was full of people wearing masks. and on the others, us, be one or two -- which was fairly alarming to me because we had all alalso been told mask wearing was going to be enforced insiside the debe hall itself. i did not have really time to raise my concerns because the

program was getting started. anand as the program was about o get started, the trump family enentered. they were wearing masks at first, and then they sat down and defiantly took their masks off. i saw somebody from, i assume it was cleveland clinic or the presidential counselel, , offerm masks, which they rerefused. they stood there or sat there in masked and it's we were sitting there for you can call it a debate, the debate. i was appalled. but honestly, i did -- i took a deep breath and was like, at least everyone has been tested. i had no idea that that was not the c case. just a microcosm of

what we have been seeing over the course of not just this pandemic, but this entire administration were president trump himself and the people in his inner circle run a government where there is a totall d dregard foror law and order. and it is due as i say and not as i do. amamy: we have been looking at pictures of presesident trump ad ththe first lady melania trump t the debate who is not sitting yards from you, kristin, and we knowow not only presidentt trump but the first lady have tested positive for coronavirus. it is not cleaear if we will evn be told about the rest of the family. but i wanted to ask you about your dad. i wanted to ask you about mark anthony urquiza who died of coronavirus. tell us who he was most of your twitter bio says trump lied and my dad died. you blame president trump and

the arizona governor ducey. tell us why. >> my dad, first and foremost, was great and did not deserve to die alone in a hospital with justst a nurse holding his hand. he was also a lifelong republican w who was politicicay aware. he w watched television news programming fairly regularly, read the newspaper, and engaged me as agaiain kit in politics -- which is kind of where i got my interest in the world around me from. he was a trump supporter andnd himd for trump and believed and what he had to say. so as the coronavirus came to the united states, me and my dad engagaged in daily conversations about the information that we were all receiving. my dad, first and foremost, believed it was real.

believed we should take some safety precautions such as wearing masks and social distancing. he, like soo many of us come, tens of sacrifices over the firsrst of march and april in order to help flatten the curve, which seems like such an old saying now. but whenever the president started to ram this idea down our throats that we had to pick public health or economic health, my dad tuned into that. when my dad heard the president say we're on the other side of this pandemic, if you don't have an underlying health condition you arare safe, this is no worse dad listened to that and make decisions based upon that information. as the state of arizona reopeped and the gogovernor of arizozona reinforced those messages,

inualally going on the radio late may saying there is nothing to worry about, my dad listened. and as a result, two weeks later, he woke up with a fever and the 19 days after that, passed away. kristin, we need here, for instance, president trtrump tweeting on mononday, "i will be leaving the great w walter reed today,y, feeling really good, don't be afraid of covid, don't let it dominate your life, w we have deveveloped under the trump administration some really great drugs and knowledge, i feel ,"tter that i did d 20 years ago what is your r reaction? about thes me think two or even three americas that we live in. there's donald trump's america and then everybody else is. and while i agree that the

presesident of the united states holds a very important office and whose medical attention should get very high heaealth ce coverage, when i think about my own situation, my dad had similarly, nearly y similar symptoms as the president, at least what we know. my dad had a low-grade fever. he had a call. he had low energy. he got his after test, the day after he woke up the symptoms, he was told to go home and quarantine. and only return if he could not breathe. my dad w waited sixx days on doctor's orders before he returned to the e hospital. and that was underneath the conditions of him hardly being able to walk to the door because he wasas so out of breath.

the president of the united states was able to get not only the best medical attention in the world and every single drug known n and unknown to treat ths virus, he also got the privilege of a an abundadance of caution n his care. and i can tetell you this. from ever single family that i have spoken to over the course of the l last severall monthss ththrough my organization that i have launched, no one has received the same cautionary care. and that i is what ultimately boils my blood. we should all have that opportrtity. and by the president flaunting it in our faface j just ramps dn the f fact of our brokeken, and equitablble health care system that is causing so much pain and sufferering right now. amy: kristin, before we go, i wantnt to ask you about your day

job. you started "marked by covid," but you also work for mighty is -- focuses on the amazon rain forest. can you talk about how y you bebelieve that forced preservato couldd prevent future pandemics? >> absolutely. of of the largest drivers potential pandemics is what is called the zoo not a transfer of disease -- zoonotic transfer of disease. basically a term that means animals and human beings coming into closer contact and germs jumping from one species to another. where hiv andt isis aids comes from. we also have evidence that this particular strain of coronavirus also came from zoonotic transfer of disease in indonesia. one of the best angst that we can do according to research and science is to actually work to

in order to forests .revent even before i i became an activt for public health on covid, i was already thinking about pandemics on the side of prevention. in ring force protection also is a wonderful way in which to protect indigenous peoples rights as well as to fight climate change. as we looook at the recovery a and resiliencyy pieces of covid, there needs to productsct ban on entering into the united states, such as cattle, soy, , and other consumer products that are linked to deforestation. amy: kristin arcades, thank you for being with us, cofounder of "marked by covid." after her dad died of covid, she

wrote an obituary in "the arizona republic" that went viral. kristin spoke at the dndnc in auaugust and attended e fifirst presidential democratic debate as a guestst of joe biden. she also is the deputy director of mighty earth, which works to protect t tropicalal rainforores around thehe world. she is mexicican-american. her dadad as well. and africanan immigrant populatitions, the hardest hit y covid. come back, we will speak with a college student in vermont who's doing what the whwhite housuse doesn't want ths easy to do, contact tracing of president trump. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "just dropped in" perfoford by kenny rogers s & the first ededition. this is s democracy now!, democracacynowrgrg, the quararae report.. i'm m amy goodman wiwith juan gonzalez. as the n number of people in president trumump's orbit t whot posititive for covid-19 continis to grow, we're joined now by a student journalist who helped -- who is doing with the white house does not want the cdc to do. tracing the context of people may have been a affected by president trump. benjy renton, a middlebury college senior, developed a tool . he is the digital director for middlebury college's school

newspaper. we welcome you to democracy now! your website shows 277 contacts with 25 positive cases and a list off peoplple you know to he come in contact with donald trump and others through him. can you explain who is on the list, how you were able to come up with this g group o of peopl? > thank you so much for havig me. we have been able to essentially track the e contacts of anyone o is come in conontact with the president or hope hicks or any of the individuals who have tested positive. we have had 277 contacts we have been able to track so far. 25 of f those are positive, including billl stepien, white house press secretary kenny mcmcerney -- kayleigh mcenany, melania trump, john jenkins. we're still trying to understand the scope of the spread of this outbreak and sort of what events really led to the viral

transmission. we have determined the spread is particularly alarming in and around the w white house. your you have included in ntact tracking m map a variety of eventnts -- the rose garden event where trump susupreme cout nominee wawas officiaially annod on sataturday, september 26. the presidential debatate last tuesesday. the president's rally in duluth, minnesota on wedednesday, and hs fundraiser at his golflf club in bedminster, new jerseythursdayay evening. talk about the map, how you put it together, and h how you're getting this infnformation. >> so we were able to essentially use public reports, pictures, flight manifests, as well as wewe have her own tip le where individuals can fill out any sort of tips they want us to investigate. we look essentially at any events or settings the president may have come in contact with, and that goes, as you said, to

the supreme court nominee event in the rose garden which there was also an indoor event just before the ceremony which viralially contributed to spread. it was smaller scale but indoors with a a larger pacace of transmission. on tuesday, the debate prep bebeforehand. fundraiser.ota we are adding a couple of individuals at the restaurant helping prepare the fooood for e fundraiser who are not renting. it is truly -- you are now quarantined. we're trying to reach of the american public have access and have the transparency they deserve. amy: which also shows us how important public information is. yet michael scheer of "the new york t times" who is covid-positive, one of reporters, who have tested positive since last weekend. he has not been contacted by the

white house he says. anyhe real russian of contact tracing being done and why is this contact tracing so important when people find out they have been near any of the people? chris christie now come the former governor of new jersey, who did debate prep and was at the supreme court ceremonony, he is hospitalized with covid. >> y yeah. as you said, michael scheer and a couple of individuals, including chris christie himself really only found out they were in contact with someonone whoo testeded positive for covid-19 a the media or any sort of news reports they consumed because there was no official contact tracing effort that we know of at the white house and we received notification yesterday and "the new york times" report the event -- the nomination event will not be contact tracer. while this is none official investigation, we are not conducting a medical investigatioio we believe and we

helpthihi tracker can people understand the scope as expose thoseully are contacted with the president or in contact with the president -- those are positive the quarantine and prevent further spread of this virus as we've seen second order context, sickly people not at the event the president attended or not at the white house event but were in contact with some deals and more positive. it is a ripple effect only talk about the threat. juan: can you talalk about somef the people you've identified as possssible sececond-level conta? conway, the daughter of former counsel to o the president kellyanne conway,y, posted on tiktok she had tested positive for covid-1-19. shshe was done at anyny of the ininitial evevents or anyththin. she had contact with her mother, obviously.

we know that covid-19 spreads oftentimes in home settings or family s settings becausee of te areas where families aree in close contactct without masks. that is s one of them. we have started to really draw baback the scope of this and mae even go earlier than that saturday's serervant court even. -- supreme court event. we learned two white house resident stataff have tested positive. we write a cnn report a couple of days ago that showed even as far back as two weeks or so ago there was a a white house staffr that tested positive. we want to reiteterate we want o protect the individual's privacy so this is publicly available information and that often means we need to name sosomeone a as e housuse s staff or journalist or journalilist two or three. but we reallyy want to get as accurate and timely a data s set as possible without sacririficig privacy for accuracy. amy: and if people want this information? >> they can go to whcovidt

rcker.com -- whcovidtracker.com. benjy, i can see your time is well spent. benjy renton, senior at middlebury college majoring in ññwçñçñwññññ 8aiog

-[narrator] coming up on america reframed, carmen castillo is a hotel housekeeper and a first-term city councilwoman in providence, rhode island. i'm here today not only to represent the city council. i'm here today representiting my community. - [narrator] she's in the middle of twtwo tough campaign, winning re-election and fighting to raise the minimum wage. - this is really a vote aboutt do the workers in the city have power? - we need 1200 signatures to pass ordinance in the city hall to incrcrease the minimum wage.