08/13/21 08/13/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> this is not abandonment. this is not an evacuation. this is not the whole so withdraw. what this is is a reduction in the size of our civilian footprint. amy: the u.s. is sending 3000 troops back into afghanistan to help evacuate u.s. embassy staff in kabul as the taliban seizes

kandahar. will go to kabul the latest. the to mexico or a drug cartel has the right to murder a prominent news anchor. it has not stopped her from speaking out. >> i have joined the federal system of protection in the government. our work will continue to be based on the truth and with the intention of providing information on the reality of a country like ours. amy: plus bestie speak to the health care activist ady barkan about fighting for medicare for all after als left him paralyzed and without use ady of his voice. ady's story is told in the new documentary "not going quietly" premiering this weekend. >> i was diagnosed with als. the knowledge i was dying was terrible but dealing with my

insurance company was even worse. i wanted to spend everyoment i had left with rachel and carl but then congress came after our health care. i could not stay quiet any longer. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in afghanistan, the taliban has seized control of kandahar and herat, the country's second- and third-largest cities. taliban forces have also overrun lashkargah, the provincial capital of helmand province in the south. it's one of 17 provincial capitals now under taliban control. the taliban accelerated its sweeping offensive last week as the united states was pulling out its troops after nearly 20 years in afghanistan. on thursday, the biden administration announced it is sending 3000 extra troops to kabul to help evacuate embassy

staff. britain and canada are also sending in new troops. state department spokesperson ned price spoke on thursday. >> we expect to draw down to a diplomatic presence in afghanistan in the coming weeks. in order to facilitate this, the department of defense will temporarily deploy additional forces. amy: aid groups are warning of a humanitarian crisis in afghanistan as tens of thousands flee their homes to escape the taliban. anwhile, the afghan government has reportedly offered a power-sharing proposal with the taliban. after headlines, we'll go to kabul, afghanistan, for the latest. china indefinitely closed a terminal at the world's third-busiest container port thursday after a single worker tested positive for coronavirus. the shutdown came as china struggles to maintain its covid-zero policy after it detected its first delta variant infection last month.

australia's capital canberra has begun a one-week hard lockdown after officials confirmed the first locally-transmitted covid-19 case in over a year. almost half of australia is in lockdownmid the nation's largest covid outbreak in a year. russia recorded a record-high 808 covid-19 deaths on thursday. it was russia's fifth record-high daily toll this month and came one year after the highly effective sputnik-v vaccine was approved. fewer than 1-in-5 russians are fully vaccinated even though shots are widely available. here in the united states, the drug administration -- the food and drug administration has granted emergency use authorization for a third shot of the pfizer or moderna vaccine to certain immunocompromised people. centers for disease control director rochelle walensky said thursday the shots will be made

available to cancer patients, organ transplant recipients, and others who are less able to mount an effective immune response to vaccines. >> to be clear, this is a very small population. we estimated to be less than 3% of adults. amy: new orleans and san francisco said thursday all patrons to bars, restaurants, gyms, and other indoor spaces will be required to show proof of vaccination. new york city is adopting a similar requirement next week. on thursday, the u.s. supreme court ruled indiana university may keep the requirement students be vaccinated against covid 19 just as amy coney barrett turned down a challenge to the requirement without comment and without referring it to the full court. in florida, brevard county's fire chief is pleading with residents to cut back on 9-1-1 calls as a surge of covid-19 cases is overwhelming hospitals and leading to a shortage of

ambulances. in broward, teachers union president anna fusco said in four broward county school teachers died of covid-19 in one week. and she said students are getting sick and dying across florida, too. >> we had a studt passed away in two counties. you're in broward county, a 15-year-old high school student no less th five miles from our union hall is fighting for her life on a respirator. amy: over 800 florida physicians have signed an open letter to republican governor ron desantis calling on him to repeal his executive order punishing school districts and officials who order mask mandates and other public health measures. desantis has threatened to stop

paying the salaries of school administrators who support mask mandates. in texas, houston school board officials have voted to require all staff, students, and visitors to wear masks on school property. the order defies a ban on mask mandates by texas republican governor greg abbott. the u.s. supreme court has blocked part of a new york state eviction moratorium that housing advocates say could lead to thousands losing their homes. the moratorium, which was set to expire at the end of the month, barred landlords from evicting tenants who filled out a form claiming economic hardship instead of going through a court hearing. this comes as new data from the national low income housing coalition shows that nearly half of u.s. workers cannot afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment. israel announced it will resume settlement building in the occupied west bank after an almost year-long break. the settlements arconsidered illegal under international law

and routinely dispossess palestinians of their homes and land. some 2000 new units for jewish settlers are expected to be approved next week, as well as 1000 units for palestinians living under israeli military control. at least 45 prominent jewish american leaders are calling on aipac, the american israel public affairs committee, is -- apologize to congress women of color, accusing the lobby group of putting their lives at risk with repeated islamic phobic attack ads. if the ads link the congressmember to terrorism and mirror language used in death threats she has received. omar and tlaib of the first two vocal critics of israel's violations of palestinian human rights and its killing of palestinians. the number of asylum-seekers apprehended at the u.s.-mexico

border has reached an unprecedented level with more than 212,000 people apprehended in july, including at least 19,000 unaccompanied children. this comes as people in central america, the caribbean, and other regions continue to flee worsening poverty, violence, and the impacts of the climate emergency. and a news conference in brownsville, texas, yesterday, homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas once again warned asylum seekers not to come to the u.s., saying they wi be turned away. this comes as biden official still have not located the parents of over 300 children separated from their families at the u.s.-mexico border by the trump administration. the republican-led texas senatee passed a sweeping voter suppression bill thursday following a 15 hour overnight filibuster by democrat carol alvarado. under senate rules, alvarado could not take bathroom breaks or drink water and was not

allowed to sit or lean against her desk. wearing sneakers and a back brace for support, she concluded her marathon filibuster thursday morning. >> voter suppression anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere. thank you. gratefully thank you, mr. president, and members. amy: the bill now heads to the texas house, where democrats have successfully been delaying its passage by not showing up to vote, thus denying the chamber a quorum. earlier this week, the house speaker signed 52 arrest warrants to compel the democrats to return to the capitol. the wife of kentucky senator rand paul bought stock in gilead sciences, a drug company which produces the covid-19 treatment remdesivir, in the early days of the pandemic. senator paul made the disclosure just this week, more than 16

months after he was legally required to do so. as a member of the senate health committee, paul was briefed on the emerging pandemic a month before the shares were purchased in february 2020. an aide for the senator claimed the disclosure was prepared last year and rand paul believed it had been submitted. meanwhile, youtube suspended senator paul on tuesday for one week for spreading misinformation after he claimed in a video that masks are ineffective at protecting against covid-19. the 2020 u.s. census data shows the asian and latinx populations have boomed in the past decade, as the number of white people in the united states has fallen to under 60% for the first time on record. census bureau officials say the u.s. population is much more racially and ethnically diverse than ever before. over 9000 anti-asian incidents have been reported across the united states since the beginning of the pandemic

according to the group stop aapi hate. women and older people are particularly at risk for the hate crimes. rights groups have attributed the rise in violence to misinformation about the pandemic and the use of anti-asian language by political officials, including former president trump. aunt in minnesota, climate activist jessica reznicek self-reported to the waseca federal correctional facility thursday to begin serving an eight-year prison sentence for damaging parts of the dakota access pipeline in 2016 and 2017. in 2016, reznicek and fellow activist ruby montoya set fire to five pieces of heavy machinery being used to construct the pipeline. the two women then moved up and down the pipeline's length, destroying valves and delaying construction for weeks. her imprisonment came the same week the u.n.'s inteovernmental panel on climate change warned the earth

could face runaway climate catastrophe unless drastic efforts are made to reduce greenhouse gases. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin in afghanistan, where the taliban is now claiming to have seized 17 provincial capitals, including kandahar and herat, the country's second and third largest cities. the taliban now has almost full control of the south, west, and north of afghanistan. earlier today, they seized the capital of logar province -- the city of pul-e alam -- which is about 50 miles from kabul. the taliban launched its sweeping offensive as the united states is pulling out its troops after nearly 20 years in afghanistan, the longest war in history. on thursday, the biden

administration announced the u.s. is sending 3000 extra troops to afghanistan to help evacuate embassy staff in kabul. britain and canada are also sending in new troops. state department spokesperson ned price spoke on thursday. >> this is not abandonment. this is not an evacuation. this is not the wholesale withdrawal. what this is is a reduction in the size of our civilian footprint. this is a drawdown of civilian americans who will in many cases be able to perform their important functions elsewhere, whether that is in the united states or elsewhere in the region. so the message should -- the implications should not be outsized. amy: aid groups are warning of a humanitarian crisis in afanistan as tens of thousands flee their homes to escape the taliban.

the united nations says more an a quarter of a million people have been displaced since the militants began their assault in may. over 1000 casualties have been reported in fighting in the past month. on thursday, pakistani forces clashed withundredsf afghan stranded at the border between the two countries after they fled the taliban offensive. >> there are sick people here as well as travelers. the travelers have spent all the money they had. a r street it here, taking refuge under trees or vehicles. amy: aid groups are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe. the united nations says more than one quarter of a million people have been displaced. again, over 1000 casualties have been reported in the last month. we talked about pakistani forces clashing with afghans at the

border. on thursday, after talks in joe holcombe i the united states, china, and other nations -- talks in doha, the united states, china, and other nations issued a call for an immediate peace process and an end to the fighting. the afghan government has reportedly offered a power-sharing proposal with the taliban. meanwhile, the united states is threatening to cut off future aid if the taliban attacks the u.s. embassy in kabul. we go now to kabul where we are joined by lotfullah najafizada, director of tolo news, a 24-hour news channel based in kabul, afghanistan. thank you for joining us with this latest news, the taliban capturing kandahar following herat. can you talk about the significance of these latest events and what is happening overall in afghanistan? >> i think these two major cities falling into taliban

hands and just a few hours is a significant, significant loss for the afghan government. the taliban is making a very bold move in their attempt for a military takeover. i think they're getting closer to kabul. the humanitarian crisis is unfolding. there are thousands of afghans -- it is really alarming. the cloud of uncertainty over afghanistan's ability for what is going to happen in the past 24 hours is not there. i think the afghan people have never seen something like this in the past 20 years. and make of the significance of the u.s. now sending in 3000 more troops, sending back to where you are in kabul, they say

to help evacuate embassy staff and then the canadians and britain's following suit? >> that is very clear that came here to evacuate their staff, there embassy people. i'm not sure that is helping with the situation. i think what we need immediately right now is cease fire, an emergency meeting at the u.n. security council, an understanding what retail countries that there has to be a political compromise as soon as possible, in a few days. compromise on the afghan government side, the taliban side more importantly who are stemming to not be very welcoming, as well as pressure put on countries like pakistan. amy: what does pakistan have to do with it, your understanding? >> i thinkakistan has a lot of

leverage it could use over the past few years, a political solution to the crisis. i think pakistani stash they -- they claim they have done enough, but under no circumstances they can go after the tiban -- if you rule out your most important options of leverage, that means you're not doing enough. i think that opportunity is lost. but i think what can be done is for the afghan government and talibanith the mediation of the u.n. and u.s. to see if they can reach some sort of reduction in violence were cease fire immediately, as you said, so many civilian casualties, so much destruction, so many

afghans leaving. that has to be stopped in order to prevent collapse of the country. it is not just taliban taking over from the afghan government, i think it is about unrolling all of the achievements we have made in the past 20 years. with the taliban over kabul, if that happens, we don't know immediate challenges. all tv stations and radio stations and newspapers have shut down their operations and places that the taliban has taken control, including kandahar and herat. we know what taliban takeover is bringing. amy: have shut down or have been shut down? >> they have been shut down. since yesterday, i think they started seizing their operations

and staff have not shown up at work. amy: in the last weeks, had the bombing outside the defense minister house in kabul, the killing of the spokesperson for the president of afghanistan -- someone you must have been familiar with since you are a journalist and he is the spokesperson. how are you preparing in kabul as you talk about the shutting down of news orgizations and what do you think is the timeline for kabul? the u.s. government was signed one to three months and some are saying under a month. >> well, i hope you're not going to come to that option. that is my hope. i hope we are not forced to stop our operations and journalis should be able to continue the work not just in but the

provinces. i cannot put a time on when kabul will fall, but i think it is there especially after the collapse of kandahar and herat yesterday. amy: on wednesday, internally displaced afghans setp makeshift camps in a kabul park after being forced out of their homes by taliban fighters. this is an afghan woman who fled . >> taliban militants forcibly evicted me at gunpoint, killed my sons, forcibly married my daughters a lot and forcibly took three or four girls from each house and married them. we had to leave. amy: can you talk about the displaced people and also specifically the plight of women and girls? >> i think in one of these camps just north of kabul, you heard

children were dying becau they had no access to powdered milk. in one of the parks which is closer to where i am right now, you see thousands of people living in very, very miserable condition. i think that can also -- i mean, that fate of the city i have not seen for many, many years. it is really, really striking to see the number of idp's growing. these are people coming from afar provinces. there is going to be more coming from the districts around kabul so the city will definitely become a large of for internally displaced people. amy: you have on wednesday the pakistani prime minister imran khan saying that taliban told

him that the taliban will refuse to negotiate as long as ashraf ghani remains president. the taliban saying it wants to be recognized as a legitimate leadership of afghanistan. let me go to this clip. >> the taliban senior lucia came and we tried to come to some sort of political settlement. the only thing that would stop afghanistan from sending into anarchy is a political settlement. unfortunately, the taliban when they were here, they felt -- they refused to talk to ashraf ghani. their condition is as long as

he is there, they're not going to talk to the government. amy: the significance of what he is saying? >> i hope -- i hope that is really the statement. just a precondition for talking. that is not good enough. if that is the precondition for peace, for cease fire, for guaranteeing a political settlement, then i think the afghan leadership should seriously think about that. i don't want to defend continuation of president ashraf ghani's term because the government is becoming very limited, and i think should ask one question, if ghani leaves, what are we going to get in return? i meeting or peace? amy: we have spoken to you a few

times, was after member of your staff and you have had a few that have been killed, if you could comment further on how you are preparing right now living and working and covering kabul, afghanistan, and the entire country? >> i have spent a lot of time talking to my colleagues every day, including today, which is friday, a day off. on what we should do to continue our work. what are our options. to hear their concerns, concerns of the family members. i think that is a common story of every afghan right now. i think what we should do is to make sure and try our best to keep press freedom, free media part of the afghan society because this is really, as you said, a very hard won game.

we have come here with so much sacrifice over the years, including 11 colleagues of mine who had been killed just in the past five years. amy: lotfullah najafizada, thank you for being with usdirector of tolo news, a 24-hour news channel based in kabul, afghanistan. stay safe. coming up, we go to mexico where a drug cartel has threatened to murder are prominent news anchor. it has not stopped her from speaking up. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

patti smith will be performing at a massive "we love new york city" homecoming concert with bruce springsteen and many others on august 21 in central park. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. now we go to mexico, where prominent news anchor azucena uresti took to the airwaves to stand up to one of the country's most powerful drug cartels. earlier this week, the jalisco

new generation cartel posted a video online in which they directly threatened uresti, an anchor for the outlet milenio tv and a radio broadcaster for radio fórmula, who regularly reports on cartel violence and organized crime in mexico. in the video, a man who claimed -- a man told uresti -- "i assure you that wherever you are i will find you and i will make you eat youwords en if they accuse me of femicide." the blurry video, which was posted on twitter by an anonymous user, shows masked men carrying automatic rifles and other firearms. uresti addressed the threats during her broadcast monday night. >> i have joined the federal system of protection from the government. our work will continue to be based on the truth and with the intention of providing information on the reality of a country like ours. and also as has happened on other occasions, i my solidarity and support to hundreds of

colleagues were still threatened or who have had to leave their areas i keep on showing the value of information and our love for this profession. amy: mexican president andrés manuel lópez obrar vowed to protect uresti. >> i completely reject these threats. we don't accept a sort of behavior. we will protect azucena, protect all mexicans. it is our responsibility. amy: according to the committee to protect journalists, mexico is the most dangerous countr for journalists in the western hemisphere. some 120 journalists have been killed in mexico since 2000, with at least four murdered this year alone. well, for more, we go to mexico city where we're joined by jan-albert hootsen, dutch journalist and mexico correspondent at the committee to protect journalists. thank you so much for joining us. why don't you start off by talking about this situation of uresti, remarkably bright, after

this death threat comes in, for her to go on here and challenge the cartel -- not only in her name, but in the name of all mexican journalists trying to do their work on the ground. >> absolutely. we believe the threat originated in an interview she did on radio fórmula with the member citizen militia where the cartel is partly does currently in gang rfare over territory, traditionally very violent area in mexico. i think it is been a clear message from the cartel that they want to manipulate and influence public opinion. it is sort of a low intensity conflict. it is work for them, were against other criminal groups and against the state in mexico and with that comes information warfare. they were clearly not happy with

the way certain news outlets, certain national news alice were covering the conflict. they are trying to manipulate that. trying to change it, trying to strike terror in the heart of mexican reporters. that is sort of the goal of the video. they obviously knew it was going to go viral. they obviously knew mexican outlets were going to reproduce the video and make the message spread across the country like wildfire. and that is what happened, ultimately. amy: so she has said in her statement on the air that she is under federal protection. what does that mean and what about the significance of amlo, the mexican president speaking out? >> when she says she is under fedel protection, it essentially means she has been incorporated into an agency of

the federal government called the federal mechanism for the protection of human rights defenders and journalists. it is aagency that coordinates protective measures organized by the federal government anywhere in the country and it might range from hitting a panic button to getting a bullet-proof vest, insulation at her home, etc. there is a catal of otective measures the government is able to provide. some are more effective and some are less. it means she will probably have to limit her movements a little, she will havto check in with the federal authorities every once in a while, and also means the government will need to see what they can do further to investigate the threat. ultimately, if the threat stems from theenter mexico, they will have to investigate and see what they can do about that.

because obviously, protective measures can only go so far. amy: can you tell us what azucena uresti was investigating as the threat came in? and then put it in the context overall. in june, one of the murders of mexican journalist javier valdez was sentenced to 32 years. he was murdered in 2017. his colleague was assassinated just two months before him. i want to play a clip of valdes speaking at the international press freedom award from your organization the committee to protect terminal lists in 2011 new york and then you can tell as each of their stories. >> i been a journalist the past 21 years and never before have i suffered or enjoyed with so many dangers. the state of send a lua, mexico,

it is dangerous to be alive. this is a war. one controlled by the narco's. we the citizens are providing the deaths. [indiscernible] amy: that is mexico journalist javier valdez before he was martyred. one of the murderers, sentenced to 32 years in prison, but how rare is that to even find someone who has killed a journalist? give us the numbers. >> circling back to your first question, broadly speaking, the dio show radio formula, there

were covering a conflict in a specific area in the center of mexico were a numberf organized crime groups have united to fight back against an incursion of the jalisco new generation cartel. specifically what may have set this threat off was an interview she did with a member of one of the self-declared defense groups in the area where the person who she was speaking with was using relatively strong language and a reference to the leader of the jalisco new generation cartel. there may have been sent ego involved but it appears to be the one issue that set this off. in the broader context, mexico is the most dangerous country for journalists in the western hemisphere. it has been so for a very long time. more than 120 journalists have been murdered since see pj started taking numbers, gathering statistics on violence

against the press 1992. more than 95% of these martyrs -- it is rare for mexican authorities stephen arrest someone in crimes against the press -- to even arrest someone in crimes against the press. it was rare and really only happened because the mexican state, relatively large resourcebecause it was a pr problem for them. both were correspondence for the newspaper, a progressive one based in mexico city. have your valdes was the cofounder of the weekly magazine in the northern state of s inaloa.

what it is like for people to live in the shadow of drug trafficking groups. widely known for investigating the ties between local criminal groups in two who and political groups -- chihuahua and political groups. both were killed because they angered specific criminal groups. in the case ofvaldez, the jalisco new generation cartel and for the other journalist, a cartel involved in chihuahua. to give you another idea of what the situation is like, after their murders in 2017, between 30 and 40 reporters were killed in mexico, most of them have -- most have never been solved. amy: how can a best be protected? >> very good question. the best way is like a

two-pronged solution. one is the mexican government should vastly expand the existing mechanisms they have. they should better train people focused on human rights and the government. that in itself is quite a task between otest because the mexican government has not done so adequately. they should fight impunity. the best way is preventing these things from ever happening in the best way for preventing these things is by finding back, resting people, by letting these criminals know if they do killed a journalist, th're going to get caught and go to jail because impunity is what keeps incentivizing this but unfortunately neither those things is done sufficiently by the mexican government. amy: jan-albert hootsen, dutch journalist and mexico correspondent at the committee to protect journalists.

coming up, we speak to health care activist ady barkan about fighting for medicare for all after als left him paralyzed without use of his voice. a new documentary about his life is permitting this weekend called "not going quietly." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman.

we end today's show with one of the most remarkable health care activists in the country. his name is ady barkan. he is a 37-year-old lawyer and father who is dying of terminal als. sinchis diagnosis in 2016, ady has dedicated his life to pushing for medicare for all. he has continued to speak out even after losing his voice. he now uses a computerized system that tracks his eye movements and turns them into spoken wor. ady's story is told in the new documentary "not going quietly." this is the trailer to the film. >> i want to have a chance to tell the story about my friend ady barkan. >> activist and organizer all of his life. >> i cannot do history justice. i will let him tell that. looks after carl was born, we got like we have reached the mountain top. then out of the clear blue sky, we were struck by lightning. i was diagnosed with als today.

the knowledge i was dying was terrible. but dealing with my insurance company was even worse. i wanted to spend every moment i had left witrachel and carl, but then congress came after our health care. i could not stay quiet any longer. >> my next guest made headlis when he confronted republan senator on the airplane. >> this is your moment to be an american hero. we decided to start a movement. paul ryan come gointo knock on your door. >> did you just get out of jail? >> i am willing to give my last breath to save our democracy.

what are you willing to give? am having trouble breathing. >> i think we have to stop. >> our time on this earth is the most precious resource we have. amy: the trailer to the new documentary "not going quietly." it premiered last night in los angeles and tonight in new york.

on thursday, i had a chance to speak over zoom with ady barkan, who was at his home in santa barbara, california. wanted to start off by saying this is one of the great honors ofy life, to be talking to you. thank you so much for making this time right before the documentary is airing about your life. let me start o by aski you about the enormous business on health care --mphasis health care his country right now, even in the corporate media because the pandemic. yet there is very littl talk about medicare for all, an issue yohave dedicatedour life to. can you talk about why you have dedicated yourself to this issue? >> thank you for your career of

leadership. only a truly radical departure from our exploitative for-profit model to one that guarantees health care is a right for all jewish we no longer live in a nation where people go bankrupt on account of their medical bills. take this last your is a prime example. disproportionately. death rates of black, indigenous, latinx were twice of the white counterpart. millions lost their jobs. as a result, their health insurance. hospitals that primarily serve medicaid patients shut down my prioritizing profits over people. meanwhile, private insurers saw their profits doubled because americans delete much-needed care, a system that profits often and people for going medical care is a system beyond repa. we need medicare for all.

amy: what gives you the sength to be the relentless activist that you are? >> building a progressive movement means having a heartbroken all the time. this comes with the territory. we organize for a better world not in spite of our own pain, but because of it. we push forward because we are faced with one other option but to struggle for our freedom. these last five years have been really tough, both personally and collectively as a society. but take a breath and look around. you will find evidence of the profound beauty our society has forged from the depths of pain, especially this past year. of course there is a lot of work to be done, but placed in this context, it means there's more community, more creation, and more hling thais bound to emerge from our labor. amy: what gives you hope? >> i have learned it is not a

lottery ticket we plan to put a hammer we use in an emergency to break the glass, sound the alarm, and spring into action. i am asked this question a lot. i want to be clear. i don't believe in blatant hope, hope as i have come to know it is the result of hard work. it is action in the face of despair. it is born of our insistence that a better world is possible and coming together in collective action to realize a better imaginati. amy: i will say once again, what an incrediblhonor it is to be able to speak with you and to just say what an enormous differce you have made not only in this country, but around the wor as the persistent, mpassionate, brilliant, and extremely funny activist that

you are about an issue of life and death that you face every day. so thank you so much. >> thank you. i am grateful for your solidarity. amy: that is health care activist ady barkan speaking from his home on thursday in santa barbara just before the premiere of the new documentary "not going quietly." in a moment, we will speak with the film's director. but first, let's turn to an excerpt of the film where ady testifies before congress in april 2019. >> members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today. i am 35 years old and live in santa barbar california, with my brilliant wife rachel and her beautiful toddler carl. every month since my diagnosis, i motoneurons have died out, my muscles have disintegrated,

and i have become increasingly paralyzed. i am speaking to you through this computer because my diaphragm and tom are not up to the task. although my story is tragic, it is not unique. in many ways, it is not so rare. every family is eventually confronted with serious illness or accident. on the day we are born in the day we die and on so many days in between, all of us need medical care. yet in this country, the wealthiest in the human civilizaon, we do not have an effective or fair or rational system for delivering that care. our time on this earth is the most precious resource we have. medicare for all system will leave more time for quality care and for patients and families, it means more time between the things we love together. and so my closing message is not

for the members of this committee, it is for the american people. join us in the struggle. be a hero for your family, your communities, your country. give your passion and energy and your precious time to this movement. it is a battle worth winning. for my son carl, for your children come and for our children's children, this is our congress. this is our democracy. and this is our future for the making. amy: ady barkan testifying before congress in 2019. he has since had a second baby willow. that clip is featured in the new documentary "not going quietly." we are joined by the film's director ady barkan, joining us from los angeles where the film open last night. congratulations on this magnificent work about a magnificent man and movement.

talk about why you took this on. >> i met ady in early 2018 to make a short from to launch the "to be a hero" campaign and within a few minutes i meeting him, i saw a little of the spark of what i think we all now see in ady. i pitched him that first day i making a feature documentary. that is not normally the way this goes. normally spend years or months buildingccess and trust. we did not have that time when ady because when i met him, he had already been diagnosed for a year and only had about six months left to speak so we needed to get him to say everything he would say with a natural voice really quickly. i think ady intuitively understood having just confronted the power of the seven-story. a year prior to that, he had been in a lot of despair reckoning with what had happened to have and the implications for

his family but that confrontion was -- how it put him on the national spotlight and changed so many people's lives, i think gave him and his wife rachel the understanding stories have power. what transpired from there is we went on the road with ady -- joint amy: i want to interrupt you qukly. i want to go to a clip from "not going quietly" where ady barkan leads a protest in washington in an effort to pressure jeff flake. >> we are here in washington, d.c., trying to stop this bill. why? i vels, which is causing me to become paralyzed quickly. as a result, i'm using a wheelchair, my voice is longer as melodious as it used to be.

senator jeff flake, you don't have to do this this way. i understand you want a tax cut and you are conservative and i'm not anthat is ok. but you can get a tax cut without ripping health care away from tens of millions of people. my name is ady. i ask this bill will destabilize the entire national health insurance. >> [indiscernible] >> let me tell him this. we are human beings. we have dreams and hopes and love and rationsps just like he does and just like you do. if he votes for th bill, he will lose his job in 10 months.

that is his choice. amy: that was ady at the offices. nicholas, are talking about when he met him on the plane. explain most of was that just after this? close yes, just after he met jeff flake. ady had gone to ducey to protest the tax bill and he essentially struck out. his voice was not heard. he did not feel recognized and you just experienced this massive loss. on the airplane back, the woman next to him on the points out that jeff flake himself is sitting up front. they go and confront him and film it and that video goes viral before the plane even lands. that moment of serendipity becomes the launch of the "to be a hero" movement where they go across the country telling stories to congresspeople and confronting them in their offices. amy: we are seeing him speaking with his own voice and that is

not the case now as we saw in my interview as his eyes now trigger what he says. it is just phenomenal with this computer voice, the technology and the power of his expression. >> the film tracked this incredible parallel between the loss of his voice and physical body and is growing of this huge national platform. ady says als has given him this newfound power, become a weapon he has used a five or health care and fight for his children. that power is what the film is about. amy: where do we stand now with medicare f all and the "be a hero" campaign? explain the concept of ady's organization. >> it is still active today. the film charts and incredible chapter in "yeah hero open i believe ady's best work is ahead

of him. they capture the stories of people impacted by our health care system and tell those stories to our representatives, confront them, find them wherever they can, capture on cellphone video, and really shame them into seeing the impacts of their policy. this movement started from that encounter on the airplane. it has been impact will. we saw it in the film and ady single-handedly on the 2018 elections, the 2020 elections in organizing the progressive base. interview joe biden directly. now we see because of the efforts like ady that is 69% of americans support medicare for all. even in the republican party, there's a huge support expanding . amy: nicholas, i want to end with another clip from your phenomenal film "not going quietly" where ady reflects on his own fertility due tals.

>> get going. go, go, go. >> i was at 70. my homebody is going paralyzed -- my whole body is going paralyzed. losing my voice is far more consequential for me than losing my body -- ability to walk. i have a lot to say and not a lot of time left to say it in. >> whoa!

>> i'm not sure i have many more months left to speak where i can be understood, but i plan to spend every one of those months doing everything i can. as my life is coming to the end, i want to make my son proud. rachel knows that this may be one of the last times i can speak at a rally. she is sacrificing so we can do this. i admire her and appreciate her so much. amy: ady barkan speaking in the clip from the new documentary "not going quietly" premiering this week and in l.a. and new york and beyond. we want to thank the film's director nicholas bruckman. that does it for today show. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for our

video production fellowship and our digital fellowship here in new york city studios. the deadline is this weekend. you can learn more and apply today at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or