08/16/21 08/16/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new rk, this is democracy now! >>e congratulate the victory, especially to the people of kabul. he reached the position which we never expected. amy: the taliban has seized control of afghanistan, taking over the presidential paulos and a couple after despicable after the president -- kabul after the

president fled. u.s. military takes control of the international airport where thousands of afghans and foreign nationals are desperately trying to flee. this all comes just aonth after president biden dismissed the possibility of a taliban takeover. pres. biden: likelihood there's going to be a taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely. amy: we will go to kabul for the latest and then to haiti with the dental has reached 1300 people. 5000 injured following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. >> we have declared a state of emergency in the west, south, and we have a medical emergency. the health ministry started distribution of medicines in the hospitals.

amy: we will go close to the epicenter in haiti. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the taliban has seized control of afghanistan. on sunday, taliban forces captured the capital facing almost no resistance as the government collapsed and president ashraf ghani fled the country. the u.s. and other foreign governments rushed to evacuate personnel with the pentagon sending back in 6000 troops to assist in the effort. the taliban takeover of the country came at a dizzying speed, causing panic and uncertainty after 20 years of u.s. occupation and war. chaotic scenes are unfolding at the airport as afghans desperately try to flee. some afghans were able to evacuate in recent days landed

in nearby countries, including india. >> i can't believe the world abandoned afghanistan. our friends are going to get killed. our women will not have any more rights. amy: the u.n. and other aid groups are warning of a humanitarian crisis as more people attempt to leave the country and are urging neighboring countries to keep their borders open. the the u.n. the security council is holding an emergency meeting today. meanwhile, rights groups said the biden administration needs to move much faster to evacuate afghans who worked for the u.s. military and could face reprisals from the taliban. we will have the latest on situation and afghanistan after headlines. in haiti, the death toll from saturday's 7.2 magnitude earthquake has reached nearly

1300 with at least 6000 injured as search and rescue operations continue. hundreds of homes were flattened and hospitals were overwhelmed with trauma patients, with much of the damage in and around the southwestern city of les cayes. haiti's prime minister ariel henry declared a one-month state of emergency saturday. henry also called for international aid to be controlled by haiti, not foreign actors. >> in this crisis, we want more appropriate responses than those we received after the 2010 earthquake. all aid that will come from outside the country must go through civil protection. amy: saturday's quake came a month after haiti was plunged further into political turmoil following the assassination of president jovenel moise and as many haitians are still recovering from 2010's devastating earthquake. meanwhile, tropical storm grace is hurtling towards haiti, threatening to bring more

destruction with flooding and mudslides. we will go to the epicenter of the earthquake in haiti for more later in the broadcast. the director of the national institutes of health has warned the united states could soon see 200,000 covid 19 cases per day again. the current daily average of nearly 130,000 cases is already 700% higher than the beginning of july. this comes as new data confirm younger people are being hit worse than ever before, with hospitalizations of children and adults under 50 at record highs. the vast majority of hospitalizations are of unvaccinated people. in texas, the dallas independent school district says it is keeping the mask mandate in place even after the texas supreme court ordered dallas and another county to put a brake on such requirements, ruling in

favor of republican governor greg abbott who is seeking to ban mask mandate statewide. in new york, incoming governor kathy hochul said she supports a mask mandate in schools when classes resume in september. in los angeles, a fight broke out at a right-wing, anti-vaccine rally sunday, resulting in a man being stabbed and an attack on a reporter for kpcc radio while he was conducting an interview. meanwhile, the homeland security department warned friday domestic terrorists may be planning attacks motivated by the imposition of new covid restrictions. the canadian prime minister justin trudeau has called snap elections for next month and the hopes of securing a parliamentary majority for his liberal party. trudeau said the government is seeking a mandate from canadians on how to handle the pandemic and eventual recovery. >> this is a moment where we

will be taking decisions that will last not just for the coming months but the coming decades. canadians deserve their say. amy: the early election comes as canada's top public health officer recently declared the country is now in its fourth delta-fueled covid wave. in malaysia, prime minister muhyiddin yassin and his cabinet have resigned after just 17 months in power. he announced he would be stepping down after losing his majority in parliament. this government has been accused of mishandling cover 19 infections. malaysia is also facing an economic crisis triggered by the pandemic. in pakistan, at least 12 people -- 12 people, including four children, are dead after a grenade attack saturday night in karachi. at least eight others were wounded.

a family was reportedly leaving a wedding reception when their vehicle was hit with a grenade. no one has taken responsibility for the attack. in lebanon, massive fuel tank explosion. residents in the area reportedly gathered to obtain castling that was been distributed by the army after he sees the tank to prevent it from being smuggled were sold on the black market. lebanon's catastrophic economic crisis has left most of the country without power as the government struggles to import enough you will. in nicaragua, police raided the offices of the national newspaper la prensa, arresting its top editor. the government of president daniel ortega accused the publication and its editor of fraud, money laundering, and defamation. ortega has ordered a wave of arrests targeting his critics and political challengers ahead of november elections. this is a reporter from la prensa speaking after the raid. >> the objective is to silence

us. silence independent journalism and close media that has so much history. amy: in the occupied west bank, at least four palestinians were shot dead today after israeli soldiers raided the jenin refugee camp. two of the bodies were reportedly taken by israeli authorities and two other palestinians were arrested, including one who was taken from home by israeli authorities. the ivory coast has recorded its first case of ebola in a quarter of a century. officials are tracking recent contacts of the patient, an 18-year-old woman from neighboring guinea, who is being treated in intensive care. in june, guinea declared the end of a four-month ebola outbreak that killed 12 people. this comes as west africa is experiencing a car jacoby 19 cases and just days after they confirmed its first recorded cases of marburg virus -- a highly infectious disease similar to ebola. in zambia, longtime opposition

leader has been declared the winner of last roots presidential election with the support of younger voters giving him a decisive edge over the incumbent president. the incumbent president was accused of strong-armed tactics but failed to overme widespread dissatisfaction over zambia's high inflation rate, rising food prices, and mass unemployment. he also faced allegations of human rights abuses and corruption. in southern nigeria, royal dutch shell has agreed to pay $111 million to communities whose nd was raved by oil spills over half century ago. shelves payment caps decades of legal wrangling indicates that was first brought in 1991 over a pipeline that ruptured a 1970. the $111 million penalty is just a small fraction of shells annual profit which totaled $16.5 billion in 2019.

in climate news, thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes in utah over the weekend as scorching heat wave helped fuel a fast-growing wildfire near the mountain town of park city. in northern california, the dixie fire grew to more than 550,000 acres. it is now the largest single fire ever observed in u.s. history, surpassing the bootleg fire in oregon, which has burned over 410,000 acres since it began in july. in northern turkey, at least 70 people are dead after torrential rains set off massive floods in the black sea region. nearly four dozen others are still missing. survivors described a wall of water tossing cars down streets, washing away bridges, buildings, and roads. >> several dead bodies were washed away in front of my eyes. there was a dog with her puppies.

i cannot get the screams of her out of my head. it was awful. it was really awful. right now i cannot be grateful that i am alive. amy: was the hottest month ever july recorded in nearly a century-and-a-half of record-keeping. land-surface temperatures in the northern hemisphere last month averaged nearly 2.8 degrees fahrenheit above historical averages. the biden administration has approved the largest increase in supplemental nutrition assistance program, known as snap, in the program's history. under the plan, monthly food assistance benefits will rise from $121 per person to $157, a 25% increase. the boost will improve people's diets and will greatly reduce child hunger. about one in eight u.s. residents relies on food assistance. and the new york assembly

announced it will suspend its impeachment investigation into disgraced governor andrew cuomo once he leaves office next week. both republican and democratic lawmakers condemned the decision. cuomo is being investigated for sexual harassment of at least 11 women, covering up nursing home deaths, and misusing state resources to write his book on the pandemic. new york state assemblymember ron kim said he will continue to push for impeachment as he highlighted the flawed reasoning behind the assembly's move. >> if you stalk someone in your about to be indicted, you can't avoid the indictme simply by retarding with the stall once -- that is what is happening with andrew cuomo. amy: meanwhile, "the new york times" reported that cuomo confided in 2018 to a labor lobbyist his reason for supporting republican control of the new york senate was because

african-american democratic senator andrea stewart-cousins would "give free breakfast to all black people." and those are some of the headlines this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. thousands of afghans have fled to the couple after -- kabul airport. on sunday, taliban fighters entered the gates of kabul and quickly took control of the presidential power just hours after afghan president ashraf ghani fled afghanistan, flying saying he left to "prevent a flood of bloodshed." justghani, al jazeera aired video of the presidential security guard shaking hands with the taliban commander inside the presidential power. -- presidential palace.

amy: one of the taliban fighters inside the palace that he was a former prisoner at guantánamo. kabul villa day after the key northern city was seized. over the past 10 days, the taliban has captured 26 of afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals. some fell without a fight as the taliban reach deals with local warlords. the taliban offensive came as the united states is withdrawing troops from afghanistan after nearly two decadesf war and occupation. the dead men is now rushing to send an additional 1000 troops to afghanistan to help evacuate u.s. citizens and allies. the total size of the u.s. force will soon be 6000 u.s. troops have taken control of the international airport in kabul while thousands of afghan

civilians are hoping to flee taliban role. the u.s. has canceled all commercial flights. video went viral this morning of hundreds of afghans running alongside and trying to grab onto a u.s. air force jet as it attempted to take off. at least three people died after falling to their death while clinging on to u.s. airplane. another died on the tarmac. over 60 nations, including the united states come have joined together to urge the talan to protect foreign nationals and afghans who want to leave afghanistan out of fear the taliban will again brutally control the country like india between 1996 and 2001 before the u.s. invasion. we go now to afghanistan where we are joined by a freelance journalist based in kabul and also the award-winning journalist on a drew she'd. --ahmed rashid.

ali latifi, let's begin with you. describe the state of the capital which has fallen without the taliban firing -- well, it is unknown but hardly a bullet. >> right now it is pretty calm and quiet. just down the streets are starting to pick up. a few more people are going out. a few more stores and restaurants and the like are starting to open back up. it is slowly going back to normal. as you said, right now things are -- not a bullet has been fired. it is pretty calm. it is the exact opposite of the airport. the airport is chaotic and just looks li a scene out of a movie where as the city of kabul itself is calm and quiet and

just people going about their business stop -- business. taliban posing with pictures with people. talking to people. you know, not anything like people were fearing yet. it seems in some ways similar to the stories of 1996, the first few days. but the other difference is slowly like women are coming out, most are dressing with long scarves and loosefitting clothing. some are wearing what the west called the burqa. generally, it is pretty normal. amy: can you talk about the significance of kabul falling, the place where the u.s. has said would be the most resistance, 4 million population

-- of course, the heart of the afghan government, of ghani who fled. i would like you to talk about that. but what does it mean they hardly fired a shot? is it indicating some support or enormous fear? over the weekend as we called guests to be on the show, one after another had not had trouble reaching in the past, we reach them but they were absolutely terrified to ce on. they refused. >> i think because over the ekend, we had no idea what was going to happen. even yesterday early in the day, everybody was terrified. everybody was scared. we did not know if that would come storming in, committing massacres, pulling people over, pulling them out of their houses, if there would be chaos. there was a lot of fear of that. what sort of eased it was when the taliban put out a statement

saying we have no intention of storming the city of kabul, we will only send our people in when some kind of settlement is made, and even then we are sending them to sort of act as basically a security force because most of -- actually, all of the police as far as i have seen, are not on the streets anymore. that and also there were all of these rumors of what a potential political structure would look like and included famous political figures from the last 20 years and the last 40 years. some even left over from the kingdom times. that kind of eased people's minds making if that comes true, these other people can sort of hopefully counterbalance the taliban so they don't end up acting like they did in 1996 so that some of the changes that have come to society, some

things that have been gained over the last 20 years, that they don't go away just because -- amy: you keep referring to 1996. holly, explain what was happening in afghanistan at that time, 25 years ago. five years before the u.s. occupied and invaded. >> with the taliban first came to power in 1996, afghanistan was in the throes of the civil war, especially the city of kabul. kabul was full of commands left over from the jihad, soviet occupation when once they defeated the sovts and tugged down the communist government, essentially turn their guns on themselves because they could not agree to something like unity government were each one would be given -- they all essentially two different sides, different commanders allied with others. one commander would fire rockets at the other. that would end up essentially leveling the entire city of bul.

you can't control where a rocket hits. there forces were also accused of all kinds of abuses, accused of land grabs and rapes and objections and thefts and physical violence -- all kinds of things. the taliban pretrade themselves as a counter to that same we will deliver y from these warlords and from the civil war. amy: in a moment we will talk more with ahmed rashid about the situation but i want to go back to president biden, july 8, talking about the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. >> is the taliban takeover inevitable of afghanistan? pres. biden: the afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped as any army in the world in an air

force get something like 70,000 -- 75,000 taliban. it is not inevitable. but the likelihood they will be the taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely. amy: good highly unlikely," but exactly what happened. ahmed rashid, your speaking to us from spain, author of many books including "taliban: militant islam, oil and fundamentalism in central asia." you have covered the telematics insulin. talk about the prediction of biden and again what impact is happening with the taliban. the media describing the scenes at the airport, the thousands of troops moved in. it sounds like to protect the people from the taliban but apparently this is done with taliban cooperation, ahmed

rashid. >> i think president was suffering from over extensive briefings from the intelligence and other parts of the government which were wrong. i think the u.s. military got it right when they battled with biden to leave more troops in for a longer period of time. the crux of the issues there was no preparation for this withdrawal. the military and cia and intelligence people plan for contingencies. what happens at this goes wrong, if this doesn't work out? where is plan b and plan c? there was none of this this time around. you are extracting these american troops expecting the afghan government -- there was no plan b.

one of the horrors go down as a really big mistake on u.s. policy not just in the region, but in the world. i think that is the first thing. the other thing, the u.s. was not supposed withdrawal without some kind of political settlement or at least movement toward a political settlement between kabul, the kabul government and taliban. the u.s. was pulling out when there was no such settlement. kabul and the taliban had barely spoken to each other of any plan for an interim government, coalition government. there was complete chaos. there was no understanding of what could happen and what did happen. amy: before we got a break, i want to go back to ali and ask

about this agreement between the u.s. and taliban at the airport and the significance of this massive rush to the airport of americans, of afghans who worked with the was occupation like the thousands of interpreters and their families, but also those who worked with the afghan government and also was the fleeing of the afghan president who said he did this to avoid bloodshed a shock to most people? >> it was an absolute shock. he was completely unexpected. if you look at the way ashraf ghani has presented himself throughout his presidency, it has always been as a fighter, as someone bold. during his inauguration in 2019, there were rockets that were fired into the palace grounds and he famously sort of lifted open his vest to show he had no

bullet-proof vest or anything underneath. he became sort of a rallying cry for weeks. it went viral. there were car details of it. it seemed like the exact opposite of the way ashraf ghani was billing himself but importantly the way that things were going in the last few weeks, it seemed to set that narrative at the last two or three weeks when provinces kept falling and districts kept falling and the government was largely silent -- not so much on the district, but the provinces over the last, what, nine or 10 days they were completely silent. they never confirmed a single province falling. so in that case, in the short term, very much allied with everything going on at the time. but in the long term, it seemed to be the exact opposite of everything ashraf ghani had billed himself as. amy: we're going to go to break.

ali latifi, freelance journalist, speaking to us from kabul, and ahmed rashid, award-winning journalist. we will be back with them in a moment. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "rose without thorns" by veronica doubleday and john baily. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continue to look at the taliban seizing control of afghanistan as thousands of afghans and foreign nationals are trying to flee afghanistan from the international airport in kabul. earlier today, the taliban released a video from one of the founders of the taliban. >> we congratulate the great victy to the whole afghan nation, especially tthe people of kabul and was a dean.

the way we came here was unpected. but with allah,, and nothing like this the history of the world, so we should thank allah. now is the time for trial. we give serenity to the whole nation though go as far as possible for the betterment of their lives. amy: still with this is ahmed rashid, author of several books, including "taliban: militant islam, oil and fundamentalism in central asia." he is speaking to us from madrid, spain. can you comment on what he said and also the fact that kabul fell with really hardly a shot ring fired -- being fired and there's clearly a coordination between the taliban and u.s. right now at the airport, the taliban letting the u.s. control that while it has now moved into the palace because president has

fled the country? >> being saying for several days now people have nothing to fear in kabul. [indiscernible] the problem is nobody believes that. which is why we are seeing these horrendous scenes at the airport, people trying to get out. it is very doubtful they will not take revenge, not carry out revenge killings for officers, people who resisted the taliban. they have to rebuild credibility. just before the takeover, there were months of assassinations taking place in kabul of top officials, government officials,

judges, women, activists looking to eliminate the educated class. that created real fear and panic in the whole country. not just in kabul. so there is this legacy of brutality quite recent which the taliban has to mitigate in some form. the next stage is obviously going to be humanitarian relief. hope there is going to be some help -- donors will bring in food and supplies because there's a chronic shortage of food, water, medicine, and everything in kabul right now. business has stopped. kabul isolated for many days. all of the produce has not been coming in. there is any urgency for humanitarian relief, food, but

also there has to be a way to distribute it. [indiscernible] distribute itself or wi it somebody else? all of these things have to be negotiated very carefully with the taliban. amy: ahmed rashid, what have you been most shocked by these last few days? you who are steeped in history. i started out by asking ali latifi about the history, but if you can go back to the founding of the taliban. we just heard one of the founders of the taliban. and who exactly they are. >> [indiscernible] 1992. and even then they wanted to be

seen as aery pious group. [indiscernible] they had to claims. they said they would disarm the population, highly popular movement that time, and bring peace to ahanistan. they did initial. they conquered without firing much of a shot because people were so fed up with this civil war. later when the taliban went after kabul, try to conquer kabul, they changed their political stance drastically. before that they said "we do not

want power, we will not take por, we will disarm the population and bring peace." that was something quite noble at that time. once they captured kabul, they went back to becoming another warlord. [indiscernible] very strict followers of the pr ophets and originated in india and to pakistan where a lot of taliban learned the religious observance under very strict barriers to these regulations regarding women, etc.

what we had was a very severe form of islamic teaching which the taliban followed whi -- the rest of the country were not interested in becoming -- no interest in this. the taliban impose this religious on everyone else. that is where the real conflict began. that is what is really upsetting people today in afghanistan, because they don't want to see the return of this kind of strict islam when they practice a different islam.

years of getting education, especially the young who have got jobs, education, were able to move around the country freely, go abroad, scholarships. all of that now is coming to an end. amy: so the breaking news alerts keep coming in. tell the beneficial said the group will soon declare the islamic emirate of afghanistan. also the question of relationships with china, he appeared reporting china is ready to deepen "friendly and cooperative relations with afghanistan" at a government spokesperson after the taliban seized control of the country. the relationship afghanistan will have with, for example, china, with iran? and do you think the taliban

might take a more moderate approach now and what they're calling the islamic emirate of afghanistan, particularly say more about the women. >> the whole idea of the islamic emirate is what they established after the conquer kabul in 1996. [indiscernible] anyone in afghanistan or outside of afghanistan. pakistan, saudi arabia, united arab emirates. taliban are kenya and getting international recognition -- are keen now in getting international recognition. the most recent visit they had met the foreign minister of china, the highest level -- official who ever met with t

taliban. he ask them to make sure they did not encourage the uighurs, the muslim uighur population, which has been under tremendous progression in china, not to allow them into -- not to give them training and not turn them into guerrillas. the taliban, despite the islamic zeal and condemnation of non-muslims and all the rest of it, they said, fine, we will do th. we will restrict the activity of uighurs in afghanistan so they do not create any problem for you. it was an amazing declaration of the taliban. whether it was going to be kept -- the uighurs and many other militant groups are all very

active in afghanistan. people don't see at the moment how the taliban is going to get rid of them, even if they want to. these groups include al qae, of course, much depleted and reduced but still very much a factor in afghanistan. a lot of these militants have been fighting alongside the taliban. it is not that the taliban can just dump these people or shoot them. many settle down, got married, have afghanives. these militants are speaking the local langues. these militants have become very well integrated into afghan society and taliban's society. so how they're going to deal with this will be the main preoccupation of the west, i think, especially the united states. because right now ithere are

any militant groups around and the u.s. wants to bomb them, kill them, capture them, whatever, it is going to be -- american forces are much behind the governnt. possibly turkey, which is a long way away from afghanistan. the role simply is -- we have to wait and see. [indiscernible] what i've heard is women will be allowed to study until grade 12 but they will not be able to go to university and other centers of higher learning. that may or may not be true. a declaration will be made implemented by some of the

militants in the provinces or it will be implemented in full by the taliban who control the cities and come into contact with men and women who are well-educated every day. the main issue right now is what -- are they going to form? will it include non-taliban or is it just going to be an exclusive taliban government? that is what they really want, and exclusive taliban government, no interference from wannab politicians. of course that would not be a representative government. [indiscernible]

making sure they do not rise up in revolt down the road. amy: we have to leave it there but we hope to have you back soon as these developments are fast unfolding. ahmed rashid is a writer and award-winning journalist. author of several books including, "taliban: militant islam, oil and fundamentalism in central asia." and also thank you to ali latifi , journalist joining us from kabul. we will continue to cover this in the days to come. coming up, we go to haiti where the death toll has reached 1300 following a magnitude 7.2 earthquake. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "the sun" by emerante de pradines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to haiti, where the government has declared a state of emergency after a major 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the country's southwestern peninsula saturday. haitian officials say at least 1300 people have died and more -- close to 6000 are injured. rescue workers are scrambling to find survivors as tropical storm grace is expected to bring heavy rains to the island. tens of thousands of people in devastated areas are now sleeping on the streets due to unstable buildings that could still collapse amid aftershocks. this comes a month after haiti was plunged into further into political turmoil following the assassination of president jovenel moïse. on sunday, prime minister henry

had declared a month-long state of emergency and some of haiti's provinces. >> we have declared a state of emergency and the west, the south, and we have a medical emergency, the health ministry started distribution of medicines in the hospitals. amy: prime minister henry also appealed to international donors to do a better job helping haiti than they did after the devastating 2010 earthquake. that earthquake left more than 300,000 people dead. >> under this crisis, we want more appropriate responses than those we received after the 2010 earthquake. all aid that will come from outside the country must go through civil protection. i do not want aid to arrive in a disorderly manner, where everyone decides what they want. amy: for more, we are joined by two guests near the epicenter of

the earthquake. in jérémie, nadesha mijoba is the country director for haitian health foundation. nadesha mijoba, you are right there. jeremie has been devastated. can you describe the scene? >> a lot of destruction. the best way for me to describe it, people are traumatized, terribly scared. people are sleeping outside in the streets. many are homeless. many are homeless but there many, many people have decided to sleep on the streets out of

fear because of the many aftershocks that have been felt. and more destruction and that houses will come down on them. [indiscernible] members of the community sleeping on the grass of the compound yard. amy: i remember this so well from just after the earthquake in 2010 when everyone was sleeping outside. nadesha mijoba, can you describe the moment of the earthquake and where you were and what people did at that moment? >> fortunate was early in the morning when people were outside their homes, thankful at many

go to church, many go to the market, etc. so that is supposed is helpful and a sense that we don't have a lot more devastation that is i ready in existence. the issue of the earthquake, it has to be said, like one more item and a very, very long list of traumatic events the people of haiti -- there was a lot of shaking of the ground. a lot of things flying. people were screaming. it was a horrifying scene to see. amy: the mayor of les cayes

among many others was also killed in the earthquake, is that right? and is right for people who are not familiar with haiti, the southern peninsula, how connected it is to the rest of the country. >> jémie is about -- about an hour by plane about an hour and a half connected to cayes, which is the next largest city to us in jérémie and it is about three hours from the city of cayes to port-au-prince. it is connected by a main highway.

it must be said the road betweencayes and jérémie right faced a lot of destruction. the bridge to enter jérémie has been damaged, which means at this time jérémie is disconnected from the rest of the country. so aid has to come in airplane or c. -- osea. it also must be said of the situation, a lot more severe in cayes than that of jérémie. amy: we are talking to nadesha mijoba country director for

, haitian health foundation. go ahead. let me ask you one other question. corporate media and the united states, delete focused on does people immediately started eluding. i think it would be very differently described in the u.s. when people are desperate after there was an earthquake going for necessary supplies. how would you describe it? >> well, that is my biggest concern right now, the humanitarian disaster there is about to unfold. the situation was fragile to begin with. over the last year, the number of minority children has grown

to about 61% given the social political situation the country has experienced over the last year. gang violence taking place has made it very difficult for supply trucks to come into jérémie or even the southern peninsula of haiti. so the markets here were fragile to begin with access to some guys, access to food items, not to mention the cost of those food items because everything when it does come in has to come in under a lot of security which is an additional cost of the vendors. the situation is quite critical at this time. now with the storms coming, and petrified what that is going to do to the health of the community. the amount o strain.

i can envision a lot of hungry, non-urged people -- non-nourished people. conditions of the hygiene situation. yes, it is not something you envision going to a market anywhere else or rather the little markets are quite fragile right now. unfortunately, there is some violence that is unfolding as well in some of the little towns and in the area. i think the critical nature of the response team is going to have an impact on both the next few days. amy: i went to go to ann lee,

who is in port-au-prince right now. talk about the state of the hospitals right now, both at the epicenter and around it -- i mean, you have a country that is so hard-hit, this storm barreling down on haiti right now, this massive earthquake and the country devastated by covid. >> what we're seeing is in uncovering of the long-term disaster, which is the lack of systems and the investment in existing systems. the hospitals right now are overrun. the shortages of basic materials -- bandages, alcohol, medical professionals. what we ask for right now as people see this unfold from the comfort of their homes is to understand haiti has been over so many decades struggling with

these external shot in the last thing we need are short-term responses. we need to invest in these systems was the groups like hhs, partners and how. the long-term health networks are what we need to invest in any supporting them through materials, through additional surge capacity of medical professionals. we have to work to these systems and not in parallel. that is what i hope folks are watching this unfold can understand that all the help and assistance we need has to be long-term and to continue to support what is down there. the systems that are down there. amy: talk specifically, for example, about the hospitals. those who have -- well, they're still looking for bodies, but also for survivors. the airport is being used as hospitals. >> there are a number of locations where we have our

medical mobile units. essentially, there creating many fields, triage centers. they don't ha the capacity to take on very, very hurt individuals but are able to triage. but this is happening on the lawns of existing hospitals or even in a any green space they can find. right now materials, getting down to the south is very difficult. the supply chain as hhs has well stated has been cut not just because of landslides and the broken bridges, but alsoith the insecurity. to be able to cross through cities, also frustrated for not getting support,reating road blockages. again, supply lines are being cut. so theeed to get the supplies to the hospitals are so critically important. air support, sea support, all

those things are critically needed from external supporters. amy: finally, there was a cholera outbreak after the earthquake and ended up it was from u.n. workers who were there and it led ta complete devastation of haiti. your concerns right now? we just have 30 seconds. >> we need to learn from 2010. we need to lea that we have to essentially do no harm and think about building the systems and working within existing networks that are already on the ground. and not try to jump in and essentially do more harm than good. amy: we will continue to cover what is unfolding cover this catastrophe in haiti. ann lee, ceo and co-founder of core, or community organized relief effort. and thanks to nadesha mijoba, speaking to us from jérémie.

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