07/25/22 07/25/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i have decided to global monkeypox obreak represents an emergency of international concern. amy: as thousands of monkeypox infections spread to 75 countries, the world health organization declares a global emergency. meanwhile, the u.s. waits to

declare a public health emergency as cases are reported in 44 states with major outbreaks in new york, california, illinois, florida, do you and georgia. and not enough vaccines. we will speak with joe osmundson , professor of microbiology at new york university, whose efforts to help infected friend are featured in "the agony of an early case of monkeypox." his new book, "virology: essays for the living, the dead, and the small things in between." en with the ovturning of ro the battleground for abortion access shifts to the state even if u.s. faces the worst res of mateal mortaty amongll rich nions with bck mernal mortality three to four times higher than the national average. now a new film examines ts cris to th famies of t

young blackom who died after giving birth to stop it is called "aftershock." >> my ughte's ory is ld, lorf, artful she was awa, are. an yet s still dd. >>fter s gave birth,hamony was complaining of sharp chest pains. >> the amulets came. am telling thethe sympms. ishe on drs? y: we ll spe with codirects paula seit andt. finally, we speak with rochon about his efforts to address the ongoing infant formula crisis impacting concussed families and parents of color. he is calling on the stopping of price gouging. we will also speak to him about the january 6 insurrection and

more. all that it more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as the war in ukraine enters its sixth month, russia and ukraine signed deals on friday to reopen ukrainian ports on the black sea in an effort to increase grain exports. the deals were brokered by the united nations and turkey. u.n. secretary general antonio guterres praised the development. >> and let there be no doubt, this is an agreement for the world. it will bring relief for developing countries on the edge of bankruptcy and the most vulnerable people on the edge of famine. amy: on saturday, just a day after the deal was reached, russia attacked the black sea port of odesa. ukraine said the missile attack damaged infrastructure, including a grain warehouse. russia said the missiles were

targeting ukrainian military assets, including a docked warship and a warehouse housing u.s. supplied anti-ship missiles. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy decried the attack on odesa as "barbarism" and said it "destroyed the very possibility" of dialogue with russia. in related news, some u.s. lawmakers are calling on the pentagon to send military advisers to ukraine. republican michael waltz of florida and democrat mikie sherrill of new jersey made the call after meeting with zelenskyy in kyiv on saturday. "the new york times" recently reported the cia already has personnel inside ukraine. burma's military junta has executed four men who had been jailed for opposing last year's military coup. these are believed to be the first executions in burma over 30 years. one of the prisoners was the prominent pro-democracy activist known as ko jimmy. he was a student leader in the

1988 uprising and has spent many years in jail. another one of the prisoners executed was phyo zeya thaw, a former rapper who became a lawmaker in aung san suu kyi's party. pope francis has arrived in western canada for what he has called a pilgrimage of penance. the pope is embarking on a six-day visit of canada to apologize for the abuse of indigenous children who were removed from their homes and sent to church-run residential schools where they faced psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. canada's truth and reconciliation commission has described the practice as a form of cultural genocide. the commission has determined more than 4000 indigenous children died from neglect or abuse in the residential schools. this is tony alexis, chief of the alexis nakota sioux nation. >> as a leader of the roman catholic church, the popes apology is the acknowledgment of

the church's role in the harm and pain caused to indigenous peoples living in canada. for some, our people, pope francis apology will not be enough. healing is not linear. this apology will be fundamental -- a fundamental step toward forgiveness, closure, healing, and reconciliation for many others. the healing abilities, it is fitting the pope's visit will bring healing to so many people. amy: the world health organization has declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. who director-general tedros adhanom ghebreyesus made the announcement saturday morning. >> there are now more than 16,000 reported cases from 75 countries and territories and five deaths. the assessment is the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally

and in all regions except in the european region where weather risk is high. amy: monkeypox isn't fatal but can cause fever, rashes, and extremely painful lesions. it's most often spread through close intimate physical contact. we will have more on the who's decision and the u.s. decision not to call it a public health emergency after headlines. a federal jury has convicted former donald trump adviser steve bannon on two counts of contempt of congress for refusing to cooperate with the house select committee to investigate the january 6 attack on the united states capitol. after trump lost the 2020 race, bannon helped devise ways to overturn the election and keep trump in the white house. and is expected to appeal. he is scheduled to be sentenced in october. he faces up to one to two years

in prison. this comes as liz cheney says the january 6 committee my subpoena ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas, if she refuses to answer questions about her role in the effort to overturn the election. in related news, the editorial pages of "the wall street journal" and "new york post," which are both owned by rupert murdoch, have slammed donald trump for refusing to call off his supporters as they attacked the capitol on january 6. its editorial"the new york post" wrote -- "it's up to the justice department to decide if this is a crime. but as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country's chief executive again." china has reportedly issued stark warnings to the biden administration over a planned trip by house speaker nancy pelosi to taiwan. china has publicly thrtened to take "strong measures" if pelosi

makes the trip in august. but according to the financial times china is privately warning the biden administration that it may respond militarily. pelosi's trip has also faced opposition from within the biden administration. national security advisor jake sullivan reportedly opposes the trip out of a concern it could escalate tension in the region. if the trip goes ahead, pelosi would become the most senior u.s. official to visit taiwan in 25 years. at least 17 haitians, including an infant, have died after a boat capsized near the bahamas. the boat was carrying dozens of people who were trying to seek refuge in the united states. 25 people were rescued. bahamian officials said they have arrested two individuals from the bahamas on suspicion of human smuggling. this comes as haiti faces a dire economic crisis amid increasing violence between rival armed groups. in port-au-prince, more than 300

people, including many children, have taken refuge in a high school to escape the violence. according to the united nations, more than 934 people have been killed in port-au-prince so far this year. the u.n. has also documented nearly 700 kidnappings. more than 1100 people have been rescued in recent days as they attempt to cross the mediterranean on boats to seek refuge in europe. the german group sea watch says it carried out five rescue operations over a 24-hour period and saved over 440 people. meanwhile, the italian coast guard said it rescued nearly 700 who were packed on a fishing boat off the coast of libya. five deaths were reported. in tunisia, early turnout was light today as voters went to the polls to decide on whether to accept a new constitution put forward by president kais saied that would give his office sweeping new powers. many opposition groups are boycotting today's vote, which comes exactly one year after

he ousted the prime minister and suspended parliament in a move decried by critics as a coup. in california, some 2000 firefighters are battling a large wildfire near yosemite national park that exploded in size over the weekend. the oak fire has burned nearly 16,000 acres and is 0% contained. in new mexico, two people were killed and a third is missing after flash flooding struck an area that recently burned in the state's largest wildfire on record. elsewhere in new mexico, a stretch of the rio grande river outside of albuquerque has run dry for the first time in four decades. this follows three consecutive years of extreme drought in the region. this comes as a heatwave continues across much of the united states. more than 80 59 people were under a heat warning or advisory sunday. in new jersey, the city of newark hit an all-time recd

high of 102 degrees on sunday, capping newark's first-ever streak of five consecutive days of tripldigit he. here in w york cy, activts clared friday a imate emergency day as they observed the famous climate clock in union square ticking down from seven years toix years the clock marks the estimated time left to keep global heating under 1.5 degrees celsius. speaking with abc's "this week," former vice president al gore said osunday tt extre weather ents wilget even woe withouimmediataction on climate. >> if we don't stop using our atmosphere as an open sewer and if we don't sto these heat trapping emissions, things are going to get a lot worse. more people will be killed. the survival of elsa vote bashar civilization is at stake. amy: a warning to our audience, this next story contains graphic footage and accounts of police violence. the tennessee bureau of

investigation has opened an investigation into police officers in the city of oakland after they were filmed chasing a black man to his family's home and kicking in the front door before beating, tasing, and violently arresting him. 25-year-old brandon calloway suffered multiple injuries to his arm, head, and left eye in the assault, which left him needing eight stitches. calloway's father says the beating left his son with severe psychological trauma. the violent arrest was captured on video by calloway's girlfriend, who was screaming for the police to stop attacking her boyfriend. the video went viral on social media. the attack began after officers alleged calloway drove 32 miles an hour and a 20 mile-per-hour zone and rolled through a stop sign. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

there have not been more than 17,000 cases of monkeypox infections in at least 75 countries, including the united states. it is not fatal but it can cause fever, rashes, and extremely painful lesions. it is most often spread through close intimate physical contact. on saturday, for the second time in two years, the world health organization declared a global emergency to address the spread. the last time it was for covid-19. this time, monkeypox. this is who director general dr. tedros adhanom ghebreyesus. >> the assessment at the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the european region where we assess the risk is high. there is also a clear risk of further international spread. although the risk with

international traffic remains low for the moment. so in short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which makes the criteria in international health regulations. for all of these reasons, i have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public hlth emergen of international concern. stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus. in addition to our recommendations to countries, i'm also calling on societal organizations, including those with experience in working wit people livinwith hiv, to work with us on fighting stigma and discrimination. but with the tools we have right now, we can stop transmission

and bring this outbreak under control. amy: here in the united states, the cdc has reported more than 2800 cases of monkeypox so far across 44 states, with the largest outbreaks in new york, california, illinois, florida, d.c., and georgia. the white house has not declared a public health emergency could bolster the u.s. response to the monkeypox outbreak. what has covid response coordinator said "it is an ongoing but a very active conversation at hhs." that is the department of health and human services. for more, we're joined by joe osmundson, professor of microbiology at new york university. scientist, activist, and author of the new book "virology: essays for the living, the dead, and the small things in between." he is featured in a new piece in "the new yorker" headlined "the

agony of an early case of monkeypox." it begins "on the evening before juneteenth, joseph osmundson, when my best friends and a microbiologist at nyu, texted me, we think andy has monkeypox. two nights earlier, our friend andy had spent hours hunched over in an emergency room with excruciating rectal pain only to be refused testing. it was his third try in five days. requires the appearance of lesions on the skin. he needed help. well, that is the opening paragraph of the he's in "the new yorker." tell us where you went from there and in the process, explain what monkeypox is. >> actually, i will start with the second part. monkeypox is not a new virus. this is sort of why our community has been so frustrated by the lack of urgency to get us

the tools we need to care for ourselves and each other and to prevent this virus. monkeypox was discovered in 1958 in animals and was shown in 1970 to exist in humans. it is a virus that is related to smallpox. you mentioned earlier it is not deadly. it is not very often deadly, but in this outbreak so far this year, there have been five deaths -- all of them in the endemic region between congo and nigeria. it is a virus that is similar to smallpox but less dangerous. but it causes pock marks all over the body, high fever. the lesions can be in the throat or on the mouth, inside the anus and rectum. they are excruciatingly painful. the infection can last two to four weeks. during this ti, the patients are asked to fully isolate.

again, it is a pretty miserable virus, although it is not very often deadly. the frustration has been because it is so closely related to smallpox, we actually prior to this sort of explosion of monkeypox outside of the endemic region, we have fda-approved test, fda-approved medications that are likely to help these suffering, and most importantly, we have vaccinations that can prevent infection. so we have all of the tools and yet all of these tools have been exceedingly difficult to access even for someone like andy who has a phd, has friends who are working on the response. i mean, it took rec phone calls to contact in the new york city department of health and in the federal government to get him tested and then once he was tested and presumed positive, it

took another few days to get him access to an fda-approved medication that we thought would help. once he did get the medication, he went 24 hours from being in the most pain of his life to the pain using. and within five or six days, all of his lesions had healed and he was cleared to leave isolation. so the good news is we have the tools vote to prevent infection and ease suffering. the immense frustration and our community has been watching hundreds of people get sick not because they're having sex, not because of their queer identity, but because they wanted to get vaccinated and those vaccines have not been available. amy: we are here in chelsea, new york, and this is where people lined up around the block to get vaccines but there simply were not enough. >> that's right.

the rollout in new york has gotten a lot of criticism. the new york city department of health, they just wanted to get shots into arms prior to pride we can. they have been listening to us about how they did not go well and are trying to do better. they're reaching out to more community-based organizations, trying to have more vaccine equity in nonwhite, less affluent community's than the chelsea community. but they are incredibly limited. you cannot have equity when vaccine is so scarce. amy: i want to turn to the protest that occurred last thursday here in new york. act up new york organized an emergency march against monkeypox and government failure in new york city. this is cecilia gentili, founder of transgender equity consulting, speaking at the rally. >> workers are again being forced to do the impossible situation of choosing between

prioritizing or having enough money to survive. sounds familiar. [beep] happened months ago with covid. what did the government do? honest nothing. what is the government doing now? almost nothing. i'm so tired of getting almost nothing from the federal government. amy: professorj, if you can say what needs to happen? this week and you have congressman adam schiff demanding that more be done. you have the doctors on the wii canoe shows, haven't decided whether to make -- call this a national emergency in the u.s. and if it were called an emergency, what would that unleash? >> it would increase the amount of funding and tools available.

there are a couple of things going on here. one is the scientific response, biomedical response, that is absolutely lacking. there is no urgency. this should have been an easy virus to contain. unlike covid, unlike many other emerging threats, we have the tools. they are in a stockpile. the point of that stockpile is it is meant to be there to respond to an emergency. we have an emergency on the stockpile has not been activated. we found out vaccines and the stockpile is such a way it cannot actually get into people's bodies. vaccine in a freezer is useless. we need resources to mobilize the national stockpile that we have to help us keep us safe, to treat us when we are ill. look, covid is -- a lot of his by now have done covid isolation. 10 days, even five days. it is incredibly difficult. it is costly.

sometimes you miss out on work, sometimes you have to get isolated. it is difficult. here we have isolation on monkeypox that is two to six weeks. that is incredibly disruptive for people's lives. we have been having to crowd find to get people the money they need to take time off work. we need emergency funds and hotel rooms so people can properly isolate to prevent the spread. and none of those funds and resources have been coming from any level of government. in addition, there are essential scientific questions come is the virus present in se,em? can we devel new test that do not require a skin lesion? can we test saliva during the early on like illness? these are obvious questions and without the proper funding, it will take too long to answer them. the ideal is we get the

scientific questions answered as rapidly as possible instead of skin lesion tests, we have saliva tests. if you think of monkeypox, you can go and get a saliva test and your flulike illness, get the medication immediately. maybe you don't even get an outbreak of skin lesions or if you do, suffer much less and you're much less likely to spread the virus. he vaccine is the most ridiculous thing. there are people who wanted to get vaccines and now instead of getting vaccine, they have monkeypox. amy: professor, this whole controversy over whether to call this sexually transmitted disease. you can also get a just and eight close breathing can't -- in close breathing contact? >> there are sti's that do not require sex to transmit them like herpes. i'm worried we are already seeing this pushback of oh, if monkeypox is an sti, why are we seeing it in children or doing

the groomer thing, implying people having sex with children. it is incredibly, incredibly dangerous. this is a virus that commonly spreads throughout households when it is in households. it is on sheets and towels and clothing. we need to be aware of those nonsexual modes of transmission so that if it pops up in a wrestling team or a massage parlor or a broadway show or someone is handling costumes all the time, we actually -- that is on our radar and we can diagnose it in those places and prevent spread. it is a little myopic to be so focused on sex and the queer community. we need to be curious and open to the many places this virus may spread. amy: finally, professor, let's talk about the issue of global equity. there is a severe lack of vaccine here in the united states, but multiply that many times over. talk about the rest of the

world. >> this was a choice. this international outbreak was a choice. the united states government let 28 million doses of the modern smallpox vaccine expire and get binned from the national stockpile is supposed to be used in the endemic regions where people commonly are getting monkeypox s that i was on a webinar with the head of the nigerian cdc who laughed when i asked, what countermeasures do you have? do you have vaccines? jet treatments? they have nothing. if in nigeria where there has been an ongoing outbreak of human to human spread of monkeypox since 2017, if they had countermeasures there to care for this painful infection there, it is likely that we may have prevented the international spread of this virus. infectious diseases show us

borders are meaningless. viruses will spread because people interact around the world. it is our obligation to care for human suffering everywhere, not just because it will prevent us from potentially getting sick but because human suffering is human suffering. so there is absolutely an issue with countermeasures, including vaccines and treatment globally, and capitalism does not set us up well. -- set us up well to care for everybody. it is not a way to make a profit. increasingly warming and interconnected world, we are going to see more of these crises. this is not a viral crisis. this is a crisis of delayed capitalism. amy: joe osmundson, thank you for being with us, professor of microbiology at new york university. scientist, activist, and author of the new book "virology: essays for the living, the dead, and the small things in between."

we will also link to the peace and "the new yorker" cap refutes that features joe osmundson. when we come back, ro khanna. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "gurami" by the diasonics. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to look at the ongoing shortage of baby formula across the united states and how in many cases infant formula is a vital necessity, providing life-saving nutrition for thousands of babies in the u.s. for whom breastfeeding is not possible due to allergies, immune conditions, or other situations. the crisis started last october after a whistleblower sent the food and drug administration a report detailing safety and

sanitation violations at the abbott nutrition factory in sturgis, michigan, the largest baby formula manufacturing plant in the country. actually, the whistleblower had notified authorities long before last but it would be months october. before the fda took action. abbott fired the whistleblower. four babies who had consumed formula from the plant suffered bacterial infections. two of them died. the fda could not conclusively link the illnesses or deaths to that particular sturgis plant. in february, abbott shut down the plant and announced a voluntary recall of its sturgis-manufactured baby formula. the fda followed with a product warning. four corporations control 90% of the baby formula market in the united states. president biden met with most of them last month after he used the defense production act to speed up domestic production and gave an update on "operation fly

formula." this is president biden. pres. biden: on friday, the fda announced the kindle neutral care would be able to import formula from the u.k. today we are announcing united airlines has agreed to offer cargo space for the formula, for the delivery of 3.7 million bottles here under the states. recently signed legislation help make it easier for families to get the formula they need through the wic program. i call on all 50 states to take action and all 50 states answer the call, working with us to make that program more flexible. we're going to stay focused on doing even more. amy: but the shortage continues. "the wall street journal" reports operation fly formula has transported just one week's worth of formula and current stock is only meeting about 70% of demand. this is mother claire lesikar speaking to ktvu in santa clara, california.

>>. he's been really scary. my son being two-month soul can only eat formula and he cannot have anything else. i can't find something else. not having it available at our local store, it is been disconcerting. amy: that mother is in the district of our next guest, california congressmember ro khanna, who also hosted a recent roundtable with parents and on friday he sent a letter to biden administration officials calling for bold action to address the ongoing infant formula shortage and its impact particularly on working class families, especially black and latinx families. parents of color a more likely to use formula in the first three months of an infant's life and white parents. congressmember wrote --

congressman khanna, lay out the issue. you also laid out bold action to address this crisis. >> amy, this is something i am hearing in my district for many months. operation formula only but when week of baby formula back. there is massive -- [indiscernible] they should have antitrust action a long time ago. going forward, there are a few things we can do. first, can invoke the defense authorization act -- production act to start manufacturing baby formula. that is what roosevelt did when

there were shortages of production. they should be producing or baby formula, not just at abbott but other facilities. that is something we have called on the president to do. the president could buy baby pharma from the global market. right now they are simply transporting it. they're not buying in the global markets, baby formula to have it in the united states shelves. third, they should say if baby formula is safer european babies, it is safe for mac and babies. the fda could do a lot more in providing that clearce. i have plotted the president for taking steps but what happen is there was news made, and ova office addss and tn everyone forgot about it other than the mothers still have to feed their kids. amy: so talk about the liability. i mean, this issue of corporate monopoly. i mean, give a whistleblower --

first we thought it was last october the whistleblower sent a warning that involves both the federal government, the fda, and also abbott, because after the whistleblower sent it seems like another warning, ultimately, that whistleblower was fired the government did not act and abbott certainly did not. in fact, some are saying it engaged in a cover-up. >> absolutely. engaged in very, very questionable behavior. there has to be accountability. why was the whistleblower fired? why did they not take action sooner? but the broader question, amy, why is it we are so dependent on one or two main new fractures in this country -- manufactures in this country? it is a problem in so many industries. there are two or three or four major suppliers that make

90% of formula. that is putting consumers at risk, both for the type of severe shortages we're seeing now and for higher prices. long-term, we need antitrust action to make sure there are many more players in the baby formula space. short term, the government needs to get involved in the production and manufacturing, and they should not just be relying on abbott. there should be other places they are trying to get baby formula produced. and there are a number of midsize companies able and willing to manufacture it. they may need government support to be able to do that and we should be willing to provide that. amy: many wealthier americans actually buy baby formula online from european companies. why aren't these european companies more easily available? there formula, in the united

states? >> this is the fda's regulatory scheme where they want the approved product in the united states. some of that i am supportive, obviously, of the fda having standards but i don't believe somehow the european standards are less strict and less safe than the american standards. i believe some of this may be remnant of protectionism and not currently given the crisis the right policy. we should allow americans, particularly lower income, middle class incomes to have access to the european formula. one of the simplest things would be the fda to come out and say if the european regulators are saying it is safe, it is safe in america. amy: let me ask about breast milk. why are insurance companies

requiring -- required to pay for donor breastmilk from others who have trouble breast-feeding? and also many women with an oversupply breastmilk want to help others struggling during this formula crisis but don't know enough about milk banks and safe donation practices. >> those are very good points, amy. the insurance company should be paying for donor breastmilk. the insurance companies should be payining for anything that is going to give mothers the milk whether it is formula or breastmilk for their kids. we need to do a better job of publicizing the donor banks and web others can get this assistance -- where mothers can get this assistance. one of the ironies, have mothers driving around finding formula having relatives drive around and putting gas at six bucks so it is compounding the hardship.

amy: i want to switch gears because of the january 6 insurrection hearings, do you think president trump should be criminally charged? >> i believe the january 6 committee should send the referral to the justice department. that is not for me to say but i will say this. it is not enough for the justice department to just prosecute the individuals who showed up on january 6. they need to hold accountable people who tried to overturn our democratic results by having fraudulent schemes, questioning results that were totally valid. i am hoping the accountability will go up the food chain. amy: merrick garland. do y think the attorney is moving too slowly? >> i would like to see the accountability for people at the top. i understand his job is difficult, not from a political perspective -- i think you once when he indicts he can convict.

the prosecutor wants to have an acquittal. i have given him the benefit of the doubt. but i think there will be a lot of dissatisfaction in this country if the only people charged are those who are caught up in a mob for a day and engaged in the insurrection and the people who were plotting overturning the results are left without can ability. amy: ro khanna, thank you for being with us, speaking to us from fremont, california. we moved from ro to roe with the overturning of roe v. wade. the battleground for abortion access now shifts to the states. even as the u.s. first faces the worst rates up internal mortality -- maternal mortality among rich nations with black mothers facing three to four times more the mortality rate of the national average.

we will speak with the directors of a new documentary called "aftershock." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "breathe" by seinabo sey. the song was part of the soundtrack to the documentary "aftershock." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as reproductive and abortion rights advocates in the united states ctinue reel llowing e supremcourt's gutting of roe v wade, public -- the battleground for abortion access has shifted to the states. public hlth expes warn abortionans willikellead to morpregnay-relate deat, with black pele dispportionaly impacd. e unitedtates alady has e hight matern mortali rate oall wealy nation accordinto the c, black men and peop are thr times

mo likely die thawhite women and pele durinor after a prnancy duto racism and bias ahospitaland clins, and chnic undeying coitions d to ineqty in heth care cess. now i do docentary- a new documeary los into t crisisf matern mortali ong the blackopulatio centerg the sties of t falies otwo younblack womewho diedfter givg birth new yk cityust six nths apa. they arehamony meba gibs, whwas 30 yrs old wn she ed of a lmonary bolism i octobe19, 13 ds after giving bir at brooyn' woodhu hospita and 26ear-old ber rose isaac, who died in april 2020 after emergcy c-secon at moefiore mical cenr in the bronx. this is the trailer for "aftershock." >> mdauger' storys loud, corful, anrt.

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statisc. >> if tse numrs welipped ound andhite wom were ing at the re of bla women dyint wod be a csis. >>aternal morbidityvent by ent order tcreatehange. >> youan maksomethinof this shony gibn. we heayou. weee y. >> i plann spding a letime th amber this way am stilgoing to the revution will eeted, insgram, fabook. when black mothers die, there is a ripple effect. we call this aftershks. amy: that is the trailer for the new documentary "aftershock." it is now streaming on hulu. it premiered at the sundance film festival earlier this year. we're now joined by co-directors by paula eiselt and tonya lewis lee.

we welcome you both to democracy now! i watched this film twice now. when it premiered at sundance and again this weekend. what a powerful, devastating film, especially to come out now. tonya lewis lee, talk about why you directed this film and the message, the story of these two women and so many others. >> thank you for having us. it became clear the black maternal mortality rate is just going up. it is going up for all of us and it is country, but for black women it is getting worse. i really wanted to tell the story of what was happening in united states around black women's health. we know black women's health and infants health, it's mothers and infants are not doing well, then none of us can do well. we need to figure out what the prlem is and how to fix it.

that is really the bottom line as to why wanted to tell the story. amy: tell us about these two women you feature. sadly my posthumously. and speaking through their partners, the men who are now raisintheir infants that they died giving birth to. >> yes, shamony gibson was a beautiful vibran woman. you can see a bit of her in the trailer. she had a dghter an ge birtto h child and died 13 days lat froa pulmory embosm. amberose iacied inpril 2020 and h a tatable condion at many pregna women tut, unftunately when s showed to h docr was symptoms of theyndrome, she w dmissed bau iid not listeto her.

unfortunely, by e timehe d a cection, it w too lat to savher. its ear thes women were loved won. theyere lovi women. d thei partner, omari maynard and bruce mntyre, ved themo much. and rough r grieand what i've leaed frothese falies ishat griereally ian exprsion ofove. throug theirrief, th become activateto improve ocos for l of us. they're doi amazingork. amari is painter he pntportraitof other won who ve passeaway. reach out tthe otr faers when they lose a paner fromhildbirt complicationso offer suppor that ihow we met bruce intyre becse omaeach out toruce wheamber ssed aw. and uce habeen wking on leslation for birthg cents thatan have midwis and to ing a birthing center to the

bronx. they aremazing men. amy: i want to go to another cl from "aershock." this is shawnee gibson, the mother of shamony, who died two weeks after birth, and shamony's partner, omari maynard. as well as her sister jasmine gibson. we hear firstrom shawnee. >> she eed up wi a c-sectio u did amang, amony. swe leavehe hostal wiin the fst week, sheas compining abt hing ortness breath lked. >> shealked do thetairs to get someing a when sh w tryi to get back , she cod not move. like, e had to jus l on the floor r a whil. >> wcalled t hospitato

tell thethe sptoms. the doctaid,t'ok, ju relax. that proeded forhe next o wes. go ba to the hospil for shony stheyould reme her aples om her c-secon. agai tell em what e sympms were me askghat we things could do. ey ansred pretty ch the same ery time,ust beure th she rt. it wasn't ch of a nse of gency otheir pa at all. >> i'm t a doct so,k. i raled peoe to make als fo h. did at we . take ce of her >> two weeks after s gave bih, shany was comaining of reay sharp chest pain. she says, i want to go to the hospital now.

her mom and aunt were in the back with her and then i hear em screang, omari come here! i run and see shamony and she is in shock. , because that is that clip from "aftershock." paula eiseit you're the other director of this film. what we get from this film is that these women just did not go into shock, they were complaining that they were experiencing problems. talk about why the maternal mortality rate is so much higher in the black community, this issue of being heard, i have taking their pain series -- of taking their pain seriously. >> our birthing system and our mental healtsystem is like no other country. we are the only country in the

industrialized world that does not have midwives integrated into our system. and our rates correlate to that. other countries thatave midwives, there mortality rates are ch lower mentiod thatecause dwifery is human-centered care. that is the philophy of midwify is thaa pregnt persoknows he body best and ces first women are seen and heard much more than in the hospital system where it is not a shared decision-makings it is said in our film. it puts ofit or peopledoes not listen alreadblack women are more affected by this due to the systemic racism that is ingrained into our system. and it is that rism that is a

reas why we n't ve midwes becau at the tu of e 20th centu, white n decided ey were goi to take over theaternal alth syste and unched aeally successl maeting campan against miives, blk midwives sang th are dty, theyre an traid, babie are dng becae of the and really pusd mwifery out of the way i way that no other industrialized country has. we essentially don't have that level of care here and it is because of that racist campaign that got us here. amy: i want to go back to "aftershock." this is shawnee benton gibson, the mother of shamony gibson, who died two weeks after giving birth, speaking at a rally in washington, d.c. >> black lives matr, but lack wombs create lack ve and forthat, we rget our humanity. we want to make se our granabies, o childre he

moths to rai them d faths are noleft to gure out on eir o. we musstop this. black ves matt becauselack wombs matter1 black lives matter because bck wombs matter and a black womb created you! amy: that is shawnee gibson. tonya lewis lee, can you talk about c-sections? and their relation to this higher death rate? not that you condemn women getting c-sections who need them. the hospital's incentive for performing a cesarean sectio even when it is not necessary? >> absolutely. first of all, i want to say c-sections are really importan they save lives. at the same time, though, c-sections are major surgery. c-sections are major surgery. it is not just a simple thing. when youave one cectionis

sort of puts you in a position to have another c-section and other complications. unfortunatel in the united states, the ratof c-sections has gone uover the last 25, 30 years. we have seen the maternal rates go up alongside it. unfortunately, what happens in our birthing stems here in the unit states, when we are -- we ne to surgeons. paula was just lking about midwives. midwives can do just about anything a docr can accept cut you. i jt want to say that. but the thing about the c-section rate is we really need to be careful about h we are applying cections. it happens is we induce women to get them going andhen doesn't move along fast enough d you're pushed into a c-section. c-sections take less time. they cost less mon but they are rmbursed re by the

hospital's than a natural, spontaneous vaginal birth. vanal birth take a long time. regur, spoaneous birth takes a long time. it is healthy. it is the way our bodies are built. if we can go throu that process of natural birth, it costs more and hospitals don't necessarily want to pay for it. i think in general, we need to think about in this country how we are birthing. is it really about hurrying up and geing that baby out or allowing the woman's body to do whatt is supposed to do so she canring for this baby ithe time she is supposed to be doing it and it is safest way possible? amy: paula eiseit, in the film, you have expectant mom felicia ellis from tulsa, oklahoma, saying a black woman having a baby is like a black man at a traffic stop with police.

in oklahoma, the maternal mortality rate, black maternal mortality rate is double the national average. talk about this in the bill in congress. we have 30 seconds. >> m theomnibus bill would be the largest investment maternal heah, spefically black maternal health in the country. it would improve access to midwives. it would incree the congruent care, allow more blood midwives -- like midwives and training. it would extend postpartum coverage throughout the country. right now medicaid in some states only cover six weeks and we know women can die after one year postpartum. that collection of pills do a

tremendous amount to cut down this mortality rate and improved birthing for all women. amy: paula eiseit and tonya lewis lee, fantastic film, codirectors ofpgdki

[chanting ] matt davis: bali is one of the world's most popular holiday destinations, but has it become a victim of its own success? wayan: tourism started to explode. more people's coming in from outside than the peoples living here. matt: decades of unhinged tourist development has come at a cost. gary bencheghib: the island of gods had become the island of trash. [singing foreign language] matt: now, mostly closed to the outside world,