success to pepfar. [applause] elizabeth: thank you. good morning. my name is elizabeth cohen and i am the senior medical correspondent at cnn. thank you for joining us. it is such a pleasure and honor to be here with these two gentlemen. we will do quick introductions because you all know who they are. dr. anthony fauci served as director for the national institute -- [applause] elizabeth: national institute of air and infectious to the from 1984 until 22. he advised seven u.s. presidents and was a principal architect of the president's emergency plan for aids relief, or pepfar. senator bill frist served in the senate from 1995 until 2007. the last five of those years he was the senate majority leader and let the passage of pepfar legislation. he is a surgeon who specializes in heart and lung transplant surgeon -- transplants. i want to give an introduction to pepfar. i learned about that in public health school. there may be a few of you who are a little bit young. who are not as familiar with it. in public health school, it was in addition to immu

we authorize pepfar. [applause] we need it.of the leadership of america, of the generosity of americans, people putting this into the response. look, the high budget countries, in many of them come up to 95% of the funding for this, putting people on treatment and prevention, is paid for by this program. and these are countries today that are so highly indebted, they are paying towards servicing their debt just the interest on their debt, four, five times as much as they are putting in their own health system. so this is not the time to -- this is the time for the leadership in america to continue doing what it has done right, and continue supporting countries to keep their people alive. it is so important. it's been a great part of the success story. 25 million people on treatment today have been supported by the pepfar program. we need it. now, you say, your question was, so i am hopeful. i am hopeful that pepfar will be reauthorized because people i know are alive today because the support isn't there. and more is needed tod

aids a prime pepfar partner composed of the w.h.: o. and others welcomed buyen's renestle pro-life policy saying it showed his commitment to abortion rights. mr. speaker, a june 6 letter signed by 131 african lawmakers and religious leaders including the speaker of the parliament of ghana, implored congress not, i say again, not to exploit pepfar to promote abortion, stating and i quote in pertinent part, we want to express our concerns and suspicions that this funding is supporting abortion, that violates our core beliefs concerning life, family and religion. most of the african countries are solidly pro life and they are under siege by the n.g.o.'s that we are supporting mexico city helps to ensure that that doesn't happen. they went on to say, we asked that pepfar remain true to its original mission and respect our norms, traditions and our values. we ask that partner organizations with whom the united states partners are cognizant and respectful of our beliefs. and not cross over into promoting divisive ideas and practices that are

at the recent u n general assembly, the president touted pepfar success.having me this morning. we have i said earlier, we have saved 25 million lives and in fact we are on track to achieve an aids regeneration hurdler goal when 2030. and the regional bloc brackets agreed it. -- and we have made some agreements that we continue to be pi partisan, and for the life of me, those have tried to undermine it. and they're really putting the pepfar program and lives in danger. >> let's face specific about the undermining, who are they? and what is the problem? >> they are trying to say that pepfar funds could be used for abortions. and that is just misinformation. and it is really ally. we are talking about just extending what has been in the law for the last 20 years. so it's misinformation, and i don't know why those who are trying to blow this up are doing some when in fact we have saved together 25 million lives. it just does not make any sense. but this is another example of what the maga extremists republicans are trying to do. in terms of just trying to rea

covid pandemic response, he was the architect of the pepfar program.white house. the president said, you know, this is great, but i want something even more france formative. i want you to think real i, really big. let me worry about the money. you just go put the program together. on january 28th, 2003, the president announced the president's emergency plan. >> and the results were significant. aids related deaths have declined 68% since their 2004 peak, and new hiv infections are down 42%. dr. fauci's long time colleague served as the director of the africa cdc and is a critical leader of pepfar. >> first of all, hiv is a pandemic. it's because of the research and funding over the years that understanding of the virus has improved. we've moved from treating people with a cocktail of drugs to about one pill a day. that is remarkable. >> how are the resources aimed at those subsets of more vulnerable people? >> we have been so successful with the pepfar program that the young people that are reached today, the 19 through 25 years, they have not seen th

pepfar is a very successful program, and i think all sort of righteous people want to defend it in termst's saved around the world, but -- >> 25 million. >> it's an astonishingly effective american program, perhaps one of the most life saving american interventions in the world ever, and i keep hearing from activists who are trying to keep the gay community from being killed off by their government in uganda that pepfar funds are being routed through the ugandan governments who are most responsible in uganda for that policy, and given how strongly the administration feels about this, isn't there a way that that funding could be directed so that it's still solving the problem in uganda but not making that problem worse for their sexual minority that is facing really really serious, serious risk? >> you know, i was asked this question by lawrence o'donnell when i was on his show the last time after you spoke to him, and let me just start out by saying that this law is horrific, and we've made very clear in no uncertain terms to the ugandan government that it is unacceptable. and we are doi

> so we are looking at, and i've said this before how we can continue to provide the good support pepfardividuals to help save their lives without putting that funding through the ugandan government or through individuals in the ugandan government who are responsible for implementing this law. it's a huge dilemma, but we have to find a way to do that. and we have to find a way to hold those accountable who are basically violating the human rights, the lgbtq community in uganda. we engage with them on a regular basis. i was involved with the situation during the 2013, 2014 period during the obama administration when i was assistant secretary for africa, and we were successful in getting the government to -- to stop moving forward on the law. we failed on that this time around, but we're continuing to engage the lgbtq community on how we can help them and also to put pressure on the ugandan government to push back and urge them not to enforce this horrific law. >> neighboring countries, of course, watching closely to see what happens in uganda to see if they should also pursue legislation

aids a prime pepfar partner composed of the w.h.: o. and others welcomed buyen's renestle pro-life policy saying it showed his commitment to abortion rights. mr. speaker, a june 6 letter signed by 131 african lawmakers and religious leaders including the speaker of the parliament of ghana, implored congress not, i say again, not to exploit pepfar to promote abortion, stating and i quote in pertinent part, we want to express our concerns and suspicions that this funding is supporting abortion, that violates our core beliefs concerning life, family and religion. most of the african countries are solidly pro life and they are under siege by the n.g.o.'s that we are supporting mexico city helps to ensure that that doesn't happen. they went on to say, we asked that pepfar remain true to its original mission and respect our norms, traditions and our values. we ask that partner organizations with whom the united states partners are cognizant and respectful of our beliefs. and not cross over into promoting divisive ideas and practices that are

the nonprofit said in a statement -- "pepfar has saved millions of lives.it is criminal for some members of congress to treat it as a political football." and in georgia, atlanta city officials are facing backlash after they refused to begin counting and verifying over 116,000 signatures submitted by activists monday in support of a public referendum that could block the construction of cop city, a massive $90 million police training center that would be the largest in the united states. the effort now appears to be in legal limbo after an appellate court suspended a previous order by another judge that had granted activists more time to turn in the petitions. the original deadline to get the measure on the ballot was august 21. atlanta officials said they won't verify signature forms until the appellate court rules on whether the deadline extension was lawful. this is the latest setback for the stop cop city movement. it comes after 61 protesters were indicted on racketeering charges. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracyno

you asked about pepfar. the president's emergency plan for aids relief.-sponsors of it in 2003. the great henry hyde, the finest pro-life lawmaker who ever lived, he was the prime sponsor. and the legislation was about going after the pandemic of hiv-aids, which was rafrbageing -- ravaging africa. so many people were dying. and it worked. it put a tourniquet on it. it's being sustained with drugs and a.r.v.'s, all these good things. in comes joe biden, he puts out brand new guidance to all of the recipients of pepfar, and says, you have to now try to change the laws in the countries you're operating under for sexual reproductive health and rights, which means on the lgbtq agenda and on the abortion agenda. and they're not trying to protect life, believe me. this is planned parenthood and all the usual suspects. unfortunately we got some people in our party, not many, who are suggesting that, let's just pass a three or five-year re-authorization of the program. well that just endorses everything that biden has done. puts a rubber stamp, it says, yep, we're

african perspective, i think people would say, "well, look, it was actually "george bush and his pepfars, into fighting tb in africa. "he was the last american administration that "really made a difference." there are a lot of american companies trying to do business in the continent, but they are being eclipsed on a massive scale by the chinese. the chinese are there on the ground. chinese diplomacy, chinese businessmen, small and large, are everywhere. and the americans may be investing from a distance, but they're just not there in the way that i think impresses africans and makes them feel that they're being treated seriously. so when the chinese come, when the russians come, when russia invades ukraine, african governments and african populations go, well... "..we don't want to be anybody�*s plaything, "but at least the chinese seem to take us seriously. "at least the russian diplomacy, sergei lavrov, comes for days, "he comes for weeks. "he visits so much more often than any british diplomats." you lived in south africa, injohannesburg. what's gone wrong there? it's a very schizop

in know small part because of pepfar's work and 25 countries, saving more than 25 million lives. it's a profound testament what we can achieve when we act together. when we take on tough challenges. and an admonition for all of us to urgently accelerate our progress so that no one is left behind because too many people are being left behind. the institutions we built together at the end of the second world war are an enduring bedrock of our progress. the united states is committed to sustaining them. this year we are proud to rejoin unesco. we also recognize that to meet the new challenges of our decades-old institutions and approaches, they must be updated to keep peace with the world. we have to bring in more leadership and capability. everywhere especially for regions that have not always been included. have to grapple with the challenges that a more connected and complex. we have to make sure we are delivering for people everywhere, not just somewhere. everywhere. simply put, the 21st century results are badly needed, and needed to move us along. that starts with the united n

aids and other diseases have been stopped because of the work of pepfar saving over 25 million lives.found testament what can be achieved when we act together and take on the tough challenges. it is anne admonition for all o us to accelerate the progress to make sure that nobody is left behind, because too many are left behind. the institutions that we built together at the end of the world war ii are an enduring bedrock of our progress. the united states is committed to sustaining them. this year, we are proud to rejoin unesco. we also recognize that to meet the new challenges of our decades' old institution, and approaches, they must be updated to keep peace with the world. we have bring in more leadership and capability that exists everywhere, especially from the regions that have not been fully included, and we have to grapple with the challenges that are more connected and more complex. we have to make sure that we are delivering for people everywhere and not just somewhere, but everywhere. simply put, the 21st century, the 21st century results are badly needed and needed to move

of the plan success to pepfar. [applause] elizabeth: thank you. good morning. my name is elizabeth cohen and i am the senior medical correspondent at cnn. thank

hiv and aids plummeted no small part because of pepfar's work in 55 countries, saving more than 25 million lives. it is a profound testament to what we can achieve when we act together, when we take on tough challenges, and an admonition for all of us to urgently accelerate our progress so that no one is left behind because too many people are being left behind. the institutions we built together at the end of the second world war are an enduring bedrock of our progress. and the united states is committed to sustaining them. and this year, we're proud to rejoin unesco. we also recognize that to meet the new challenges of our decades old institutions and approaches, they must be updated to keep peace with the world. we have to bring in more leadership and capability, especially from regions that have not always been fully included. we have to grapple with the challenges that are more connected and more complex. we have to make sure we're delivering for people everywhere, not just somewhere, everywhere. simply put, the 21st century results are badly needed, needed to move us along. that star

an african perspective, i think people would say, well, look, it was actually george bush and his pepfar. the chinese are there on the ground. chinese diplomacy, chinese businessmen, small and large, are everywhere. and the americans may be investing from a distance, but they're just not there in the way that i think impresses africans and makes them feel that they're being treated seriously. so when the chinese come, when the russians come, when russia invades ukraine, african governments and african populations go, well... ..we don't want to be anybody�*s plaything, but at least the chinese seem to take us seriously. at least the russian diplomacy, sergei lavrov comes for days, he comes for weeks. he visits so much more often than any british diplomats. you lived in south africa, injohannesburg. what's gone wrong there? it's a very schizophrenic country. it is still spectacular. it is still impressive on many levels. it still has a very vibrant private sector, a very energetic, quite optimistic population. and yet infrastructurally, the rot has been spectacular. and the anc, the govern