WEBVTT

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From New York City,
the epicenter of the pandemic

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in the United States,
this is Democracy Now!

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While we are winning
the ideological battle

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and while we are winning the
support of so many young people

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and working people
throughout the country,

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I have concluded
that this battle

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for the Democratic nomination
will not be successful.

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And so today I am announcing
the suspension of my campaign.

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Bernie Sanders suspends
his campaign

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for the Democratic
presidential nomination,

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making former
Vice President Joe Biden

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the presumptive nominee to face
Donald Trump in November.

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Sanders says he’ll stay
on the ballot

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in remaining primary races

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and continue
to assemble delegates.

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We’ll play highlights
of Sanders’ speech

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and talk to journalist
and activist

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Naomi Klein about Sanders’
historic presidential campaign

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and about coronavirus capitalism

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— President Trump’s response
to the pandemic.

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This administration is uniquely
ill-equipped to deal

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with this crisis,

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because they are not treating it
as a health crisis.

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They’re treating it
as a PR crisis.

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Then we look at the devastating
and disproportionate

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toll the coronavirus
is taking on African Americans.

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We are talking
about it more now.

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As we’re beginning to —
as a community,

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as the African-American
community,

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people are talking
about it more now,

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because everyone seems to know

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someone
who this has touched already,

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and seems to know someone
whose life has been lost

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because of the virus.

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We’ll speak with family
physician,

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epidemiologist
Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones,

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past president
of the American Public

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Health Association, who says,
"Coronavirus Disease

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Discriminates. Our Health Care
Doesn’t Have To."

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All that and more, coming up.

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Welcome to Democracy Now!,
democracynow.org,

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The War and Peace Report.
I’m Amy Goodman.

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We’re broadcasting from
the epicenter of the pandemic

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in the United States,
New York City.

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The coronavirus pandemic

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could push an additional
600 million people into poverty,

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unless urgent action is taken
to bail out poor countries.

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That’s the finding of
the British charity Oxfam,

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which is calling
on world leaders

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to fund a $2.5 trillion
rescue package

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to prevent
"global economic collapse."

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The proposal would cancel
$1 trillion

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of poor countries’ debts

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to free up cash
for food and medicine.

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Oxfam warns that without
massive intervention,

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half of all jobs in Africa
could be lost to the pandemic.

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Worldwide, the coronavirus

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continues to spread
exponentially,

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with over 1.5 million documented
cases and nearly 90,000 deaths —

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though the true rate
of infection

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is certain to be far higher due
to a critical lack of testing.

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In Europe, there are signs
that social distancing measures

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are flattening the curve
of new infections, with Spain,

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Italy and France
all recording fewer deaths

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over the past 24 hours.

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Here in New York,
Governor Andrew Cuomo

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said Wednesday the city
has not yet reached

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its peak rate of deaths
from COVID-19.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo:

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"The bad news
is actually terrible:

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highest single-day death
toll yet, 779 people.

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When you look at the numbers
on the death toll,

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it has been
going steadily up,

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and it reached
a new height yesterday."

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Governor Cuomo acknowledged
the true death toll

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is certain to be higher
because hundreds of people

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who’ve died of COVID-19 in their
homes have not been counted.

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This comes
as The New York Times

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reports Governor Cuomo
and New York City Mayor

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Bill de Blasio failed to trace
the contacts of the first people

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known to be infected
with coronavirus in early March,

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allowing the virus
to spread undetected.

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The Times reports
a failed federal response,

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combined with
unheeded warnings,

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delayed decisions and political
infighting at the state

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and local level to accelerate
the spread of the virus

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across New York.

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The Trump administration said
Wednesday it

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will pay General Motors
nearly half a billion dollars

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to manufacture
30,000 ventilators

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amid a critical shortage
of the life-saving devices.

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The White House says GM
will deliver

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about 6,000 ventilators
by the end of May,

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with the rest delivered through
the summer to the end of August.

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Many models for COVID-19
in the United States

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predict the need for ventilators
will peak this month

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before tapering off
through the month of May.

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In Kansas, Republican lawmakers
have reversed

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an order limiting the size
of church services,

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raising fears of community
spread at congregations

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celebrating Easter services.

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In Chicago, the Cook County Jail
has emerged

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as the largest known source
of coronavirus infections

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in the United States,

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with at least 353 COVID-19 cases
linked to the jail.

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In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric
Garcetti on Wednesday

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ordered all customers
and essential workers

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to wear facial
coverings in public.

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Mayor Eric Garcetti:

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"Employers are required to
provide these face protections

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or to reimburse employees
for their cost.

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This applies to workers
in grocery stores,

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drugstores, restaurants,
hotels, taxis

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and ride-share vehicles,
and construction sites."

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In California,
hundreds of workers

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at 30 fast-food restaurants
are on strike today

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to demand personal protective
equipment and paid sick leave.

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This is Irving Gaza,
a McDonald’s worker in San Jose,

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who joined a strike
earlier this week.

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Irving Gaza: "I am
the one who’s the most at risk.

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I am the guy
who’s in the drive-thru.

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I’m in very close contact
with people.

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McDonald’s doesn’t want
to pay me hazard pay

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or any of us hazard pay.

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We’re getting no masks
or anything like that. Nothing."

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Meanwhile, the United Food
and Commercial Workers union

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is calling on
the Trump administration

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to issue mandatory
safety policies

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to protect grocery
store workers.

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The union wants to ensure
all shoppers wear masks,

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with limits on
the number of people

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allowed into a store
at any given time,

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enforced social distancing,

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disinfecting
and sanitizing procedures,

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and personal protective
equipment for all workers.

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At the White House Wednesday,

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President Trump continued
to promote hydroxychloroquine

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as a COVID-19 curative,
even though no clinical trials

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have shown the drug to be
effective at treating the virus.

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A medical journal
which published a French study

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suggesting a therapeutic use
for the drug

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in treating coronavirus
has since said the study

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does not meet expected
medical standards.

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And cardiologists
warn hydroxychloroquine

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has serious side effects

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and can cause sudden
cardiac arrest in some patients.

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Meanwhile, President Trump
added another chemical

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to his list
of untested treatments.

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President Donald Trump:
"Zinc, they say.

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Zinc. You should add zinc.

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Now, this all has to be
recommended by doctors,

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physicians.
But they say zinc."

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There is no medical evidence

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showing zinc to be an effective
treatment for COVID-19.

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President Trump appears to be
promoting an unproven cocktail

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of drugs administered
by Dr. Vladimir Zelenko,

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a self-described
"simple country doctor"

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in New York who’s been widely
promoted on Fox News.

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Meanwhile, White House aides
are discussing plans

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to reopen the U.S. economy
as early as May 1,

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despite warnings from
public health officials

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that an end to social
distancing measures

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could lead to a new surge
of infections and deaths.

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The head of the World
Health Organization

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said Wednesday he’s received
death threats and racist insults

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while leading
the international fight

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against the
coronavirus pandemic.

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Dr. Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus

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was responding
to a reporter’s question

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about whether criticism
from world leaders

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like President Donald Trump
made his job more difficult.

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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus:

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"Please don’t politicize
this virus.

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It exploits the differences
you have at the national level.

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If you want to be exploited

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and if you want to have
many more body bags,

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then you do it."

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This week, President Trump
tried to shift blame

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for his administration’s
disastrous response

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to the pandemic
onto the WHO,

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calling the agency
too "China-centric."

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Trump and senior Republicans,
including Senator Lindsey Graham

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and Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo,

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have said they may withhold
U.S. funding for the WHO.

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Medical researchers say
the novel coronavirus

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likely circulated undetected
for weeks in New York

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beginning in February —
long before New York

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confirmed its first COVID-19
case on March 1.

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Two separate teams
of researchers

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say genetic material
taken from thousands of patients

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shows the main source of early
infections came from Europe,

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and not from Asia.

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The finding undermines
President Trump’s argument

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that his ban on travelers
from China in late

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January delayed the arrival
of the coronavirus in the U.S.

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It also underscores
how a critical lack of testing

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laid the seeds for an explosion
of COVID-19 illnesses

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and deaths in New York
and beyond.

00:10:08.950 --> 00:10:11.160
Meanwhile, the National Academy
of Sciences

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warns the spread
of the coronavirus

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is unlikely to slow
as springtime temperatures

00:10:17.410 --> 00:10:19.750
return
to the Northern Hemisphere.

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Senator Bernie Sanders said
Wednesday

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he is suspending
his campaign

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for the Democratic
presidential nomination,

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making former Vice President Joe
Biden the presumptive nominee

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to face Donald Trump
in the November election.

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Sanders addressed his supporters
in a live stream

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from his home
in Burlington, Vermont.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders:

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"Together, we have transformed
American consciousness

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as to what kind of nation
we can become,

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and have taken this country
a major step forward

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in the never-ending struggle
for economic justice,

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social justice, racial justice
and environmental justice."

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After headlines,
we’ll play extended remarks

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from Senator Sanders’s
concession speech.

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And we’ll speak with journalist
and activist Naomi Klein

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about his historic
presidential campaign.

00:11:09.540 --> 00:11:12.830
In Yemen, the U.S.-backed,
Saudi-led coalition fighting

00:11:12.830 --> 00:11:16.500
Houthi rebels has declared
a two-week unilateral ceasefire

00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:19.970
as COVID-19 spreads
across the Arabian Peninsula.

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Five years of war
have devastated

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Yemen’s healthcare
and sanitation infrastructure,

00:11:24.540 --> 00:11:26.170
leading to what
the United Nations

00:11:26.170 --> 00:11:29.410
calls the world’s worst
humanitarian catastrophe.

00:11:31.900 --> 00:11:34.350
Over 100,000 people are dead,

00:11:34.350 --> 00:11:36.350
with millions
at risk of famine —

00:11:36.350 --> 00:11:38.280
as well as COVID-19 infection.

00:11:38.280 --> 00:11:41.010
Yemen has recorded
over 2 million cases of cholera

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since 2016.

00:11:42.830 --> 00:11:45.000
Last month, the Trump
administration cut off

00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.140
tens of millions of dollars
in medical aid

00:11:47.140 --> 00:11:48.850
and other assistance for Yemen.

00:11:49.680 --> 00:11:52.400
The Yemen ceasefire comes
amid reports

00:11:52.400 --> 00:11:56.130
that as many as 150 members
of the Saudi royal family

00:11:56.130 --> 00:11:58.380
have contracted COVID-19,

00:11:58.380 --> 00:12:01.570
including 76-year-old
Prince Faisal bin Bandar,

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the governor of Riyadh,

00:12:02.770 --> 00:12:05.960
who has reportedly been admitted
to an intensive care unit.

00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:09.120
Human rights groups
are calling on Israel

00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:13.120
to urgently lift its blockade of
occupied Gaza and the West Bank

00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.540
to allow the flow
of medical supplies,

00:12:15.540 --> 00:12:17.410
equipment and medical personnel

00:12:17.410 --> 00:12:19.950
needed to stem the spread
of the coronavirus

00:12:19.950 --> 00:12:22.290
and to treat COVID-19 patients.

00:12:22.290 --> 00:12:24.420
This comes as Palestinian
health officials

00:12:24.420 --> 00:12:27.330
say Gaza has run out
of coronavirus test kits

00:12:27.330 --> 00:12:29.530
and are pleading with
international organizations

00:12:29.530 --> 00:12:33.840
for more ventilators and beds
for intensive care units.

00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:37.770
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has
gifted 1 million surgical masks

00:12:37.770 --> 00:12:41.430
to the Israel Defense Forces,
as soldiers remain on patrol

00:12:41.430 --> 00:12:45.120
in occupied Palestinian
territories during the outbreak.

00:12:46.170 --> 00:12:48.760
The Israeli government
has ordered Palestinians

00:12:48.760 --> 00:12:50.550
who hold permits
to work in Israel

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to download a smartphone app
giving Israel’s military access

00:12:54.810 --> 00:12:57.400
to personal
and GPS location data —

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and even to cameras.

00:12:59.870 --> 00:13:01.160
In immigration news,

00:13:01.160 --> 00:13:03.290
Italy has closed
its ports to boats

00:13:03.290 --> 00:13:05.250
that provide humanitarian aid

00:13:05.250 --> 00:13:08.110
to migrants attempting
to cross the Mediterranean.

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Government officials
say its ports are no longer safe

00:13:10.760 --> 00:13:13.670
amid the coronavirus outbreak.

00:13:13.670 --> 00:13:15.280
In Greece, fears are mounting

00:13:15.280 --> 00:13:18.760
over the uncontrollable
spread of coronavirus

00:13:18.760 --> 00:13:22.290
in overcrowded
and unsanitary refugee camps.

00:13:22.290 --> 00:13:23.750
The Greek government says

00:13:23.750 --> 00:13:25.800
it won’t be reviewing
new asylum claims

00:13:25.800 --> 00:13:27.530
until after the crisis is over,

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leaving thousands of people
trapped in camps.

00:13:31.750 --> 00:13:33.700
In Bolivia, hundreds of people
are stranded

00:13:33.700 --> 00:13:35.830
in a military quarantine camp

00:13:35.830 --> 00:13:38.740
after they tried to cross the
Chilean border back into Bolivia

00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:41.830
to avoid Chile’s
14-day mandatory quarantine.

00:13:41.830 --> 00:13:44.560
The camp was built last week
to hold Bolivians

00:13:44.560 --> 00:13:48.100
who were not in the country when
the coronavirus outbreak began.

00:13:48.820 --> 00:13:51.860
In Colorado, 13-year-old
Charlotte Figi

00:13:51.860 --> 00:13:55.030
has died of respiratory failure
and cardiac arrest

00:13:55.030 --> 00:13:58.220
stemming from a suspected
case of COVID-19.

00:13:58.220 --> 00:13:59.850
As a small child,

00:13:59.850 --> 00:14:03.260
Charlotte suffered from
relentless epileptic seizures

00:14:03.260 --> 00:14:05.660
that improved dramatically
after her family

00:14:05.660 --> 00:14:09.600
treated her with oil from a
strain of medical marijuana,

00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:11.400
high in the chemical CBD,

00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:14.820
that’s since been named
"Charlotte’s Web."

00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:18.840
The oil is now widely used to
treat certain forms of epilepsy.

00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:22.430
Click here to read more
about Charlotte’s case.

00:14:25.140 --> 00:14:27.660
In environmental news,
the snow-capped Himalayas

00:14:27.660 --> 00:14:30.150
are visible from cities
in northern India

00:14:30.150 --> 00:14:32.500
for the first time
in 30 years,

00:14:32.500 --> 00:14:34.780
as pollution levels
have dropped dramatically

00:14:34.780 --> 00:14:38.330
since the enactment of a
nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

00:14:38.330 --> 00:14:41.850
Los Angeles saw some of
the cleanest air of any city

00:14:41.850 --> 00:14:46.080
in the world this week,
as the dark smog and pollution

00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:49.640
that usually clouds the city’s
skyline have dissipated

00:14:49.640 --> 00:14:52.350
under California’s strict
stay-at-home measures.

00:14:52.350 --> 00:14:53.870
Meanwhile, the Trump
administration

00:14:53.870 --> 00:14:57.350
is set to open more than
100 national wildlife refuges

00:14:57.350 --> 00:14:59.050
to hunting and fishing.

00:14:59.640 --> 00:15:02.810
The plan would allow fishing
for the first time

00:15:02.810 --> 00:15:06.540
at several wildlife refuges,
including the San Diego Bay

00:15:06.540 --> 00:15:08.940
and the Everglades
Headwaters in Florida.

00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:12.420
The American
Civil Liberties Union

00:15:12.420 --> 00:15:14.010
is demanding an investigation

00:15:14.010 --> 00:15:16.030
into the Border Patrol’s
abuse of pregnant

00:15:16.030 --> 00:15:17.700
migrants in their custody.

00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:19.530
The complaint filed
Wednesday details

00:15:19.530 --> 00:15:21.290
how a Guatemalan woman
gave birth

00:15:21.290 --> 00:15:24.860
at the Chula Vista Border Patrol
station near San Diego,

00:15:24.860 --> 00:15:27.740
standing up,
holding onto a trash

00:15:27.740 --> 00:15:30.740
can while
still wearing her pants.

00:15:30.740 --> 00:15:34.300
She had pleaded with
Border Patrol agents for help,

00:15:34.300 --> 00:15:36.480
but they reportedly told her
to sit down

00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:38.280
and wait to be processed.

00:15:38.280 --> 00:15:39.980
She had been detained
with her husband

00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:42.210
and two young daughters
in February

00:15:42.210 --> 00:15:44.940
as they hoped to apply
for asylum in the U.S.

00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.840
In related news, the Trump
administration has quietly

00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:52.640
shut down the country’s
asylum system for the first time

00:15:52.640 --> 00:15:55.800
in decades using an obscure
public health law

00:15:55.800 --> 00:15:58.760
to justify one of the most
aggressive U.S.-Mexico border

00:15:58.760 --> 00:16:01.430
crackdowns amid the pandemic.

00:16:02.020 --> 00:16:04.390
And those are some of the
headlines this is Democracy

00:16:04.390 --> 00:16:07.630
Now, Democracynow.org,
the War and Peace Report.

00:16:07.630 --> 00:16:08.900
I’m Amy Goodman.

00:16:08.900 --> 00:16:10.110
AMY GOODMAN: We begin
today’s show

00:16:10.110 --> 00:16:11.860
with Senator Bernie Sanders’
announcement

00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:15.650
Wednesday that he’s
suspending his campaign

00:16:15.650 --> 00:16:18.190
for the Democratic
presidential nomination.

00:16:18.190 --> 00:16:20.660
Vice President Joe Biden
is now the presumptive

00:16:20.660 --> 00:16:24.150
nominee to face Republican
President Donald Trump

00:16:24.150 --> 00:16:25.680
in the November election.

00:16:25.680 --> 00:16:28.460
Sanders addressed his supporters
in a live stream

00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:31.190
from his home
in Burlington, Vermont.

00:16:32.750 --> 00:16:34.380
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Together,
we have transformed

00:16:34.380 --> 00:16:36.200
American consciousness

00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:38.900
as to what kind of nation
we can become,

00:16:39.520 --> 00:16:42.760
and have taken this country
a major step forward

00:16:42.760 --> 00:16:46.770
in the never-ending struggle
for economic justice,

00:16:46.770 --> 00:16:50.460
social justice, racial justice
and environmental justice. ...

00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:54.890
As many of you will recall,
Nelson Mandela,

00:16:54.890 --> 00:16:56.370
one of the great freedom
fighters

00:16:56.370 --> 00:16:59.570
in modern world history,
famously said — and I quote —

00:17:00.290 --> 00:17:03.890
"It always seems impossible
until it is done," end quote.

00:17:04.690 --> 00:17:07.810
And what he meant by that
is that the greatest obstacle

00:17:07.810 --> 00:17:09.960
to reach social change

00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:13.230
has everything to do
with the power of the corporate

00:17:13.230 --> 00:17:15.250
and political establishment

00:17:15.780 --> 00:17:19.650
to limit our vision
as to what is possible

00:17:19.650 --> 00:17:22.370
and what we are entitled
to as human beings.

00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:26.310
If we don’t believe that we are
entitled to healthcare

00:17:26.310 --> 00:17:27.730
as a human right,

00:17:27.730 --> 00:17:29.920
we will never achieve
universal healthcare.

00:17:30.490 --> 00:17:33.550
If we don’t believe that we are
entitled to decent wages

00:17:33.550 --> 00:17:35.200
and working conditions,

00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:38.460
millions of us will continue
to live in poverty.

00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:42.930
If we don’t believe that we are
entitled to all of the education

00:17:42.930 --> 00:17:45.540
we require
to fulfill our dreams,

00:17:46.080 --> 00:17:49.260
many of us will leave schools
saddled with huge debt

00:17:49.830 --> 00:17:51.890
or never get
the education we need.

00:17:52.750 --> 00:17:56.180
If we don’t believe that we are
entitled to live in a world

00:17:56.180 --> 00:17:57.840
that has a clean environment

00:17:57.840 --> 00:17:59.870
and is not ravaged
by climate change,

00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:03.170
we will continue
to see more drought,

00:18:03.170 --> 00:18:05.460
floods, rising sea levels,

00:18:05.460 --> 00:18:08.240
an increasingly
uninhabitable planet.

00:18:09.890 --> 00:18:11.770
If we don’t believe
that we are entitled

00:18:11.770 --> 00:18:13.720
to live in a world of justice,

00:18:13.720 --> 00:18:16.560
democracy and fairness,
without racism,

00:18:16.560 --> 00:18:20.700
sexism, homophobia, xenophobia
or religious bigotry,

00:18:21.260 --> 00:18:25.360
we will continue to have massive
income and wealth inequality,

00:18:25.360 --> 00:18:27.030
prejudice and hatred,

00:18:27.030 --> 00:18:30.460
mass incarceration,
terrified immigrants,

00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:32.900
and hundreds of thousands
of Americans

00:18:32.900 --> 00:18:36.580
sleeping out on the streets
in the richest country on Earth.

00:18:37.860 --> 00:18:41.470
And focusing on that new vision
for America

00:18:41.470 --> 00:18:44.690
is what our campaign
has been about and what,

00:18:44.690 --> 00:18:46.590
in fact,
we have accomplished.

00:18:47.280 --> 00:18:49.630
Few would deny that over
the course of the past

00:18:49.630 --> 00:18:54.430
five years our movement has won
the ideological struggle.

00:18:54.430 --> 00:18:58.220
In so-called red states and blue
states and purple states,

00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:01.960
a majority of the American
people now understand

00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:06.020
that we must raise the minimum
wage to at least $15 an hour,

00:19:06.550 --> 00:19:08.450
that we must
guarantee healthcare

00:19:08.450 --> 00:19:10.760
as a right to all of our people,

00:19:10.760 --> 00:19:13.480
that we must transform
our energy system

00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:15.230
away from fossil fuel,

00:19:15.230 --> 00:19:19.140
and that higher education
must be available to all,

00:19:19.140 --> 00:19:21.090
regardless of income.

00:19:21.090 --> 00:19:23.610
It was not long ago
that people considered

00:19:23.610 --> 00:19:29.230
these ideas radical and fringe.
Today they are mainstream ideas,

00:19:29.230 --> 00:19:32.930
and many of them are already
being implemented in cities

00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:35.010
and states
across the country.

00:19:35.010 --> 00:19:37.420
That is what we have
accomplished together.

00:19:38.340 --> 00:19:40.100
In terms of healthcare,

00:19:40.100 --> 00:19:43.650
even before
this horrific pandemic

00:19:43.650 --> 00:19:47.390
we are now experiencing,
more and more Americans

00:19:47.390 --> 00:19:49.470
understood that we must move

00:19:49.470 --> 00:19:51.700
to a Medicare-for-All,
single-payer program.

00:19:52.300 --> 00:19:55.290
During the primary elections,
exit polls showed,

00:19:55.290 --> 00:19:57.210
in state after state,

00:19:57.210 --> 00:20:01.120
a strong majority
of Democratic primary voters

00:20:01.120 --> 00:20:05.380
supported a single government
health insurance program

00:20:05.380 --> 00:20:10.080
to replace private insurance.
That was true even in states

00:20:10.620 --> 00:20:13.580
where our campaign
did not prevail.

00:20:13.580 --> 00:20:16.840
And let me just say this.
In terms of healthcare,

00:20:16.840 --> 00:20:21.830
this current horrific crisis
that we are now in has exposed

00:20:21.830 --> 00:20:27.060
for all to see how absurd
our current employer-based

00:20:27.060 --> 00:20:29.210
health insurance system is.

00:20:29.210 --> 00:20:32.360
The current economic downturn
we are experiencing

00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:35.780
has not only led
to a massive loss of jobs

00:20:35.780 --> 00:20:38.750
but has also resulted
in millions of Americans

00:20:38.750 --> 00:20:40.790
losing their health insurance.

00:20:40.790 --> 00:20:43.670
While Americans have been
told over and over again

00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:48.760
how wonderful our employer-based
private insurance system is,

00:20:49.280 --> 00:20:52.310
those claims sound
very hollow today

00:20:52.850 --> 00:20:56.170
as a growing number
of unemployed workers struggle

00:20:56.760 --> 00:20:59.460
with how they can afford
to go to the doctor

00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:02.440
or not go bankrupt
with a huge hospital bill.

00:21:03.180 --> 00:21:06.040
We have always believed
that healthcare

00:21:06.040 --> 00:21:09.190
must be considered
as a human right,

00:21:09.190 --> 00:21:13.020
not an employee benefit.
And we are right.

00:21:14.130 --> 00:21:16.970
Please also appreciate
that not only are

00:21:16.970 --> 00:21:19.480
we winning
the struggle ideologically,

00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:21.680
we are also winning
it generationally.

00:21:22.390 --> 00:21:25.110
The future of our country
rests with young people.

00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:28.290
And in state after state,
whether we won or whether

00:21:28.290 --> 00:21:31.720
we lost the Democratic
primaries or caucuses,

00:21:32.330 --> 00:21:35.680
we received a significant
majority of the votes,

00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:38.040
sometimes
an overwhelming majority,

00:21:38.040 --> 00:21:42.050
from people not only
30 years of age or under,

00:21:42.050 --> 00:21:44.590
but 50 years of age or younger.

00:21:44.590 --> 00:21:50.050
In other words, the future of
this country is with our ideas.

00:21:51.390 --> 00:21:53.710
As we are all painfully aware,

00:21:54.510 --> 00:21:57.350
we now face
an unprecedented crisis.

00:21:58.110 --> 00:22:01.540
Not only are we dealing with
a coronavirus pandemic,

00:22:01.540 --> 00:22:04.730
which is taking the lives
of many thousands of our people,

00:22:05.290 --> 00:22:07.680
we are also dealing
with an economic meltdown

00:22:08.190 --> 00:22:11.730
that has resulted in the loss
of millions of jobs.

00:22:12.840 --> 00:22:17.450
Today, families all across our
country face financial hardship

00:22:17.450 --> 00:22:19.920
unimaginable
only a few months ago.

00:22:20.580 --> 00:22:23.790
And because of the unacceptable
levels of income

00:22:23.790 --> 00:22:26.130
and wealth inequality
in our economy,

00:22:26.820 --> 00:22:28.780
many of our friends
and neighbors

00:22:28.780 --> 00:22:30.900
have little or no savings

00:22:30.900 --> 00:22:32.880
and are desperately
trying to pay their rent

00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:35.810
or their mortgage
or even put food on the table.

00:22:36.630 --> 00:22:38.370
This reality makes it clear
to me

00:22:38.370 --> 00:22:42.660
that Congress must address
this unprecedented crisis

00:22:42.660 --> 00:22:44.820
in an unprecedented way

00:22:44.820 --> 00:22:47.910
that protects the health
and economic well-being

00:22:47.910 --> 00:22:50.740
of the working families
of our country,

00:22:51.350 --> 00:22:53.930
not just powerful
special interests.

00:22:55.390 --> 00:22:57.650
As a member of
the Democratic leadership

00:22:57.650 --> 00:22:59.480
in the United States Senate

00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:01.840
and as a senator
from the state of Vermont,

00:23:01.840 --> 00:23:06.160
this is something that I intend
to intensely be involved

00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:09.050
in over the next
number of months,

00:23:09.670 --> 00:23:13.990
and that will require
an enormous amount of work —

00:23:15.310 --> 00:23:19.150
which takes me to the state
of our presidential campaign.

00:23:20.060 --> 00:23:22.320
I wish I could give you
better news,

00:23:22.920 --> 00:23:25.090
but I think you know the truth.

00:23:25.090 --> 00:23:27.330
And that is that
we are now some 300

00:23:27.330 --> 00:23:30.340
delegates behind
Vice President Biden,

00:23:30.890 --> 00:23:33.510
and the path toward victory
is virtually impossible.

00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:37.000
So while we are winning
the ideological battle

00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:40.340
and while we are winning the
support of so many young people

00:23:40.340 --> 00:23:42.800
and working people
throughout the country,

00:23:42.800 --> 00:23:45.430
I have concluded
that this battle

00:23:45.430 --> 00:23:48.750
for the Democratic nomination
will not be successful.

00:23:49.610 --> 00:23:52.780
And so today I am announcing
the suspension

00:23:52.780 --> 00:23:54.420
of my campaign. ...

00:23:54.420 --> 00:23:57.120
While this campaign
is coming to an end,

00:23:57.650 --> 00:23:59.440
our movement is not.

00:24:00.760 --> 00:24:04.040
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
reminded us that, quote,

00:24:04.810 --> 00:24:07.590
"The arc of the
moral universe is long,

00:24:07.590 --> 00:24:09.600
but it bends toward justice,"
end quote.

00:24:10.420 --> 00:24:14.040
The fight for justice is what
our campaign has been about.

00:24:14.610 --> 00:24:19.130
The fight for justice is what
our movement remains about.

00:24:20.090 --> 00:24:23.860
Today I congratulate Joe Biden,
a very decent man,

00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:28.770
who I will work with to move
our progressive ideas forward.

00:24:29.600 --> 00:24:32.850
On a practical note,
let me also say this:

00:24:32.850 --> 00:24:35.610
I will stay on the ballot
in all remaining states

00:24:35.610 --> 00:24:37.480
and continue
to gather delegates.

00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:40.810
While Vice President Biden
will be the nominee,

00:24:41.450 --> 00:24:44.070
we must continue
working to assemble

00:24:44.070 --> 00:24:48.130
as many delegates as possible
at the Democratic convention,

00:24:48.130 --> 00:24:51.730
where we will be able
to exert significant influence

00:24:51.730 --> 00:24:54.450
over the party platform
and other functions.

00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:58.030
Then, together,
standing united,

00:24:58.590 --> 00:25:01.160
we will go forward
to defeat Donald Trump,

00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:04.410
the most dangerous president
in modern American history.

00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:07.770
And we will fight
to elect strong progressives

00:25:07.770 --> 00:25:09.520
at every level
of government,

00:25:09.520 --> 00:25:11.470
from Congress
to the school board.

00:25:12.580 --> 00:25:14.530
As I hope all of you know,

00:25:14.530 --> 00:25:16.310
this race has never been
about me.

00:25:17.040 --> 00:25:20.580
I ran for the presidency because
I believe that as a president,

00:25:20.580 --> 00:25:24.000
I could accelerate and
institutionalize the progressive

00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:26.570
changes that we are
all building together.

00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:29.210
And if we keep organizing
and fighting,

00:25:29.730 --> 00:25:33.070
I have no doubt but that that
is exactly what will happen.

00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:36.170
While the path
may be slower now,

00:25:36.170 --> 00:25:37.870
we will change this nation

00:25:38.380 --> 00:25:40.940
and, with like-minded friends
around the globe,

00:25:41.560 --> 00:25:43.260
change the entire world.

00:25:44.050 --> 00:25:46.860
AMY GOODMAN: Senator Bernie
Sanders announcing Wednesday

00:25:46.860 --> 00:25:48.710
he’s suspending his campaign

00:25:48.710 --> 00:25:51.330
for the Democratic
presidential nomination,

00:25:51.330 --> 00:25:54.800
speaking from his home
in Burlington, Vermont.

00:25:54.800 --> 00:25:57.110
When we come back,
we’ll speak with journalist

00:25:57.110 --> 00:26:01.330
and activist Naomi Klein,
a well-known Sanders supporter,

00:26:01.330 --> 00:26:04.510
about Sanders’ historic
presidential campaign.

00:26:04.510 --> 00:26:07.760
And we’ll talk to her
about coronavirus capitalism —

00:26:07.760 --> 00:26:10.230
President Trump’s response
to the pandemic.

00:26:10.230 --> 00:26:11.530
Stay with us.

00:26:11.530 --> 00:27:43.880
[break]

00:27:43.880 --> 00:27:47.130
AMY GOODMAN: "Something to
Think About" by Willie Nelson,

00:27:47.130 --> 00:27:50.000
who will be joining Neil Young
and John Mellencamp

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:53.230
and others April 11th
for a big Farm Aid concert

00:27:53.230 --> 00:27:58.660
to support, first, frontline
essential workers,

00:27:58.660 --> 00:28:02.410
from grocery store clerks
to delivery truck drivers

00:28:02.410 --> 00:28:04.020
to healthcare workers.

00:28:04.020 --> 00:28:05.270
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy
Now!

00:28:05.270 --> 00:28:08.110
I’m Amy Goodman,
broadcasting from the epicenter

00:28:08.110 --> 00:28:10.260
of the pandemic
in the United States,

00:28:10.260 --> 00:28:12.950
New York City,
along with my co-host,

00:28:12.950 --> 00:28:15.150
who is right here
in New York City,

00:28:15.150 --> 00:28:17.340
as well, unfortunately
not next to me

00:28:17.340 --> 00:28:19.460
where we usually
are in the studio,

00:28:19.460 --> 00:28:23.880
but preventing community spread
by broadcasting from home.

00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:25.160
Hi, Nermeen.

00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:26.380
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Hi, Amy.

00:28:26.380 --> 00:28:28.020
And welcome to our listeners
and viewers

00:28:28.020 --> 00:28:30.190
around the country
and around the world.

00:28:30.900 --> 00:28:32.390
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’re going
to turn right now

00:28:32.390 --> 00:28:33.810
to Bernie Sanders.

00:28:33.810 --> 00:28:37.250
We just played his speech
as he withdrew his bid

00:28:37.250 --> 00:28:40.800
for the 2020 Democratic
presidential nomination.

00:28:40.800 --> 00:28:43.340
Joe Biden now faces
the challenge of winning

00:28:43.340 --> 00:28:44.940
over his supporters.

00:28:44.940 --> 00:28:47.760
On Wednesday,
seven progressive groups

00:28:47.760 --> 00:28:50.660
made up of young activists,
including NextGen America,

00:28:50.660 --> 00:28:52.850
Sunrise Movement
and Justice Democrats,

00:28:52.850 --> 00:28:56.940
issued the Biden campaign
a series of platform demands,

00:28:56.940 --> 00:28:58.450
saying, quote,
"The organizations ...

00:28:58.450 --> 00:29:00.410
will spend more
than $100 million ...

00:29:01.330 --> 00:29:04.080
but we need help ensuring
our efforts will be backed-up

00:29:04.080 --> 00:29:07.960
by a campaign that speaks
to our generation," they said.

00:29:08.550 --> 00:29:10.020
We’re joined now by Naomi Klein,

00:29:10.020 --> 00:29:11.970
senior correspondent
at The Intercept.

00:29:11.970 --> 00:29:14.530
She endorsed Bernie Sanders
back in November

00:29:14.530 --> 00:29:16.960
and is joining us
to talk not only

00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:19.440
about his historic campaign,

00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:22.060
as it surged
and now as it’s suspended,

00:29:23.080 --> 00:29:25.840
but also to talk about
coronavirus capitalism.

00:29:25.840 --> 00:29:28.590
Naomi is the inaugural
Gloria Steinem chair of media,

00:29:28.590 --> 00:29:30.880
culture and feminist studies
at Rutgers University,

00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:33.800
author of a number of books,
including The Shock Doctrine:

00:29:33.800 --> 00:29:36.610
The Rise of Disaster Capitalism;
her latest book, On Fire:

00:29:36.610 --> 00:29:38.720
The (Burning)
Case for a Green New Deal.

00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:40.740
Naomi, it’s great to have you
with us.

00:29:40.740 --> 00:29:43.740
You were one of our
last guests in studio here,

00:29:44.690 --> 00:29:48.040
and now you’re speaking to us
from your home in New Jersey.

00:29:48.770 --> 00:29:51.320
Can you talk about how you
and your family have fared

00:29:51.320 --> 00:29:53.020
during this pandemic?

00:29:54.840 --> 00:29:56.220
NAOMI KLEIN: Well, it’s
very good

00:29:56.220 --> 00:29:57.970
to be sort of with you, Amy,

00:29:57.970 --> 00:29:59.910
and it is true
that going on your show

00:29:59.910 --> 00:30:01.900
is the last thing
I did in person

00:30:03.030 --> 00:30:06.600
before this kind of lockdown.
And thank you for asking.

00:30:06.600 --> 00:30:11.750
We are all doing well
and healthy at the moment,

00:30:12.490 --> 00:30:15.100
though we weren’t
a couple weeks ago,

00:30:15.100 --> 00:30:17.070
and so we’re
very relieved to be.

00:30:17.070 --> 00:30:20.170
And yeah, I just want
to express my gratitude to you

00:30:20.170 --> 00:30:23.260
and the whole Democracy Now!
team for continuing to broadcast

00:30:23.260 --> 00:30:28.530
and bring us so many just
crucial voices in this period.

00:30:28.530 --> 00:30:31.810
AMY GOODMAN: Naomi, you and your
family were exposed to COVID-19,

00:30:31.810 --> 00:30:33.940
is that right?

00:30:33.940 --> 00:30:36.710
NAOMI KLEIN: Yeah, we believe
that we were,

00:30:36.710 --> 00:30:44.750
because a colleague and friend
of ours stayed at our house,

00:30:45.730 --> 00:30:47.430
and we spent time together —

00:30:48.340 --> 00:30:50.490
actually, the night
before I saw you,

00:30:50.490 --> 00:30:53.310
Amy, which is why
you know about this,

00:30:53.310 --> 00:30:56.010
because we contacted everyone
we came in contact with.

00:30:57.070 --> 00:31:03.200
And that friend went back
to Canada, got sick and,

00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:06.970
because they live somewhere
where there’s more testing,

00:31:06.970 --> 00:31:09.690
was able to get tested,
and did test positive.

00:31:09.690 --> 00:31:12.130
And so, when we started
showing symptoms,

00:31:12.130 --> 00:31:16.240
my husband Avi Lewis and I,
we wondered about that.

00:31:17.330 --> 00:31:19.030
But we’re fine.

00:31:19.660 --> 00:31:21.460
And you appear to be fine,
too, Amy,

00:31:21.460 --> 00:31:24.060
so we are the least
of people’s worries right now.

00:31:24.060 --> 00:31:25.360
We’re all good.

00:31:25.360 --> 00:31:29.860
And our colleague has recovered
and is doing well, as well.

00:31:29.860 --> 00:31:31.100
AMY GOODMAN: And, of course,

00:31:31.100 --> 00:31:32.860
that’s an absolutely
critical issue,

00:31:32.860 --> 00:31:36.220
the severe lack of testing
to this day,

00:31:36.220 --> 00:31:37.880
whatever the president asserts —

00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:39.130
NAOMI KLEIN: Oh, absolutely.

00:31:39.130 --> 00:31:41.040
AMY GOODMAN: — in New York City,
the epicenter,

00:31:41.040 --> 00:31:42.610
and all over the country.

00:31:42.610 --> 00:31:44.509
But, Naomi,
before we talk about that,

00:31:45.090 --> 00:31:47.940
Bernie Sanders has suspended
his campaign.

00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:53.370
You, until recently,
were saying he should continue,

00:31:53.370 --> 00:31:56.590
especially during this pandemic,
to run for president.

00:31:56.590 --> 00:31:58.890
So can you talk
about your response

00:31:58.890 --> 00:32:00.990
to his address
and his decision?

00:32:03.700 --> 00:32:05.060
NAOMI KLEIN: Well, I think
the main thing

00:32:05.060 --> 00:32:06.660
that I want to say this morning,

00:32:06.660 --> 00:32:09.710
Amy, is just that I just
would like

00:32:09.710 --> 00:32:13.480
to express my huge gratitude
to Bernie Sanders,

00:32:14.270 --> 00:32:16.900
to his entire family,

00:32:17.620 --> 00:32:21.850
to the many people
who worked for the campaign

00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:26.800
just so tirelessly
and opened up the window

00:32:26.800 --> 00:32:29.300
of what was possible
politically in this country.

00:32:30.030 --> 00:32:32.370
It was an incredibly
tough campaign.

00:32:33.060 --> 00:32:35.990
And I trust that Bernie
is making the right decision

00:32:35.990 --> 00:32:37.430
in this moment

00:32:37.430 --> 00:32:40.620
as the leader of that campaign
and also as a U.S. senator.

00:32:41.190 --> 00:32:44.070
I know that he’s not
going to just go relax,

00:32:44.070 --> 00:32:46.180
as he said in his address.

00:32:46.180 --> 00:32:51.090
He intends to fight for people,
as he has always done,

00:32:51.090 --> 00:32:53.150
in this critical moment,

00:32:53.150 --> 00:32:57.940
in terms of what kind of relief,
rescue and reimagining

00:32:57.940 --> 00:33:02.110
that we do in the midst
of this pandemic.

00:33:02.940 --> 00:33:07.100
He is staying on the ballot.
He is still building power

00:33:07.100 --> 00:33:10.440
in order to pressure the
Democratic Party and Joe Biden

00:33:11.070 --> 00:33:13.660
to run the most progressive
campaign that they can.

00:33:14.220 --> 00:33:17.750
So, you know, I feel so much
gratitude for Senator Sanders.

00:33:20.350 --> 00:33:23.070
More than anything else,
I think what the campaign did

00:33:24.140 --> 00:33:27.400
is help us find each other.

00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:30.560
And by "us," I mean
that huge "us" of the "Not me.

00:33:30.560 --> 00:33:32.260
Us." campaign.

00:33:32.810 --> 00:33:34.900
And he did this not
just in this campaign,

00:33:34.900 --> 00:33:37.150
but in 2016,

00:33:37.150 --> 00:33:42.130
where he really broke
the spell of the Reagan era,

00:33:43.210 --> 00:33:47.400
that spell that has lasted
for four decades,

00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:49.910
that told people,
who believed,

00:33:49.910 --> 00:33:54.530
that this system that was
funneling so much wealth upwards

00:33:54.530 --> 00:33:56.620
and spreading insecurity,

00:33:56.620 --> 00:33:59.740
precariousness, poverty
and pollution

00:33:59.740 --> 00:34:04.300
for everybody else —
everybody who saw that system

00:34:04.300 --> 00:34:07.030
and thought there was something
deeply wrong with it,

00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:10.490
what the neoliberal era
told us

00:34:10.490 --> 00:34:12.440
was that we were the ones
who were crazy,

00:34:12.440 --> 00:34:17.900
we were a tiny minority
of fringe people,

00:34:18.720 --> 00:34:21.200
and that we should
just accept it.

00:34:21.710 --> 00:34:25.050
And what the Sanders campaign
did in 2016

00:34:26.070 --> 00:34:28.180
is tell us that
we had been lied to,

00:34:28.180 --> 00:34:31.720
that, in fact, there were
so many millions of us

00:34:31.720 --> 00:34:36.560
who saw that this world
was fundamentally upside down.

00:34:36.560 --> 00:34:39.160
And all of the incredible
organizing,

00:34:39.160 --> 00:34:43.020
including digital organizing
but also in-person organizing,

00:34:43.020 --> 00:34:45.370
wove this amazing web,

00:34:46.060 --> 00:34:48.280
and we were able
to find each other

00:34:48.280 --> 00:34:51.610
and find that we were many
and they were few.

00:34:52.450 --> 00:34:58.020
And so, I don’t think
we can ever thank Bernie Sanders

00:34:58.020 --> 00:34:59.500
and the campaign
enough for that.

00:34:59.500 --> 00:35:02.700
And being part of the campaign
as a volunteer —

00:35:02.700 --> 00:35:06.310
but I did go to four states
for the campaign

00:35:06.310 --> 00:35:09.980
— was some of the — provided
some of the greatest moments

00:35:09.980 --> 00:35:11.180
of my political life.

00:35:11.180 --> 00:35:14.290
I mean, I was in Nevada
when we won,

00:35:16.180 --> 00:35:20.260
and got to be part of that
incredibly joyful moment

00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:25.670
and just got to meet so many
other like-minded people.

00:35:25.670 --> 00:35:29.940
And I think in Senator Sanders’s
address that we just heard,

00:35:29.940 --> 00:35:35.330
Amy, I think he was so correct
in zeroing in

00:35:35.330 --> 00:35:38.890
on the conspiracy
of lowered expectations, right?

00:35:38.890 --> 00:35:43.430
He focused —
he very directly addressed

00:35:43.430 --> 00:35:45.160
the American public and said,

00:35:45.160 --> 00:35:49.540
"If you don’t believe that you
deserve universal healthcare,

00:35:49.540 --> 00:35:50.880
you’re not going to get it.

00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:53.580
If you don’t believe
that you deserve a safe planet,

00:35:53.580 --> 00:35:55.280
you’re not going to get it."

00:35:56.150 --> 00:36:01.210
And I think that that is really
at the heart of why he lost.

00:36:01.210 --> 00:36:03.080
You know, we’ve heard
again and again,

00:36:03.080 --> 00:36:05.680
Bernie has won
the battle of ideas.

00:36:05.680 --> 00:36:07.910
But the truth is,
there is a difference

00:36:07.910 --> 00:36:10.960
between winning
a battle of ideas,

00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:12.760
winning an intellectual battle

00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:15.590
about what kind of policies
are right

00:36:15.590 --> 00:36:21.650
and just and will keep us safe,
and believing that you can win.

00:36:21.650 --> 00:36:24.560
You can simultaneously win
that battle of ideas

00:36:24.560 --> 00:36:28.510
and still believe that you will
never actually win,

00:36:28.510 --> 00:36:32.300
that you are still
a weak minority,

00:36:32.300 --> 00:36:34.740
that you will still be destroyed

00:36:34.740 --> 00:36:39.130
by the forces of
establishment power and money.

00:36:39.640 --> 00:36:43.100
And that, I think, is the real
generational divide

00:36:43.860 --> 00:36:46.600
that Bernie was also speaking
to in that address.

00:36:46.600 --> 00:36:48.640
You know, I don’t think
that Bernie lost

00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:52.780
because of a battle
between leftist and centrist,

00:36:52.780 --> 00:36:56.530
although of course
that battle is still raging,

00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:01.660
but we had a progressive
majority on the issues.

00:37:02.210 --> 00:37:06.490
But where the generational
divide comes in —

00:37:07.180 --> 00:37:08.800
and Bernie spoke to this —

00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:12.400
is that among voters
not just under 30,

00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:15.440
but in many cases under 45,
under 50,

00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:18.610
were starting to believe
that they could actually win.

00:37:20.130 --> 00:37:23.530
And I think particularly among
that majority of young voters,

00:37:23.530 --> 00:37:27.230
that always backed Bernie,
they understood

00:37:27.230 --> 00:37:33.440
that the intellectual project
of neoliberalism was bankrupt,

00:37:33.990 --> 00:37:37.180
that it had lost
its powers of persuasion,

00:37:37.180 --> 00:37:39.870
and that these words
like "democratic socialist"

00:37:39.870 --> 00:37:41.910
were not as scary anymore.

00:37:41.910 --> 00:37:44.130
In fact,
they have become appealing.

00:37:44.640 --> 00:37:47.140
But I think for that
older generation,

00:37:47.140 --> 00:37:49.910
that has — particularly
the older generation

00:37:49.910 --> 00:37:55.650
that has a living memory
of the state violence

00:37:55.650 --> 00:38:01.090
of the 1960s
that waged literal war

00:38:01.090 --> 00:38:03.150
on revolutionary
movement leaders,

00:38:03.990 --> 00:38:05.730
that sent them into exile,

00:38:05.730 --> 00:38:07.750
that sent them
into their graves,

00:38:07.750 --> 00:38:09.970
that surveilled them,
blacklisted them,

00:38:11.140 --> 00:38:16.750
when Bernie’s opponents raised
the specter of the Red Scare

00:38:16.750 --> 00:38:19.600
that would be used
against him,

00:38:19.600 --> 00:38:22.680
that was incredibly triggering,
terrifying,

00:38:23.810 --> 00:38:26.780
and they couldn’t —
progressive voters

00:38:26.780 --> 00:38:30.180
who agreed with Bernie could not
believe that he could win,

00:38:31.900 --> 00:38:34.940
where younger voters
did believe that he could win.

00:38:34.940 --> 00:38:38.230
And that was, I think, the most
important generational divide.

00:38:40.470 --> 00:38:44.420
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Naomi, a lot
of people believed —

00:38:44.420 --> 00:38:46.590
progressives,
but also others —

00:38:46.590 --> 00:38:50.870
that since this coronavirus
emergency

00:38:50.870 --> 00:38:54.740
has exposed so many failures
of the U.S. system —

00:38:55.450 --> 00:38:59.530
healthcare, as well as the
absence of a social safety net —

00:38:59.530 --> 00:39:05.480
that this would enhance support
for Sanders and his policies.

00:39:06.260 --> 00:39:10.310
Your response to that,
and also whether you think

00:39:10.970 --> 00:39:14.110
his supporters
will actually back Biden?

00:39:14.110 --> 00:39:17.080
I mean, Sanders
did not say yesterday —

00:39:17.600 --> 00:39:20.660
he did not explicitly
endorse Biden.

00:39:24.010 --> 00:39:27.290
NAOMI KLEIN: Well, I think
that he implied that

00:39:28.150 --> 00:39:31.520
after the battles
over the platform were won,

00:39:32.150 --> 00:39:34.400
then it would all be
about coming together

00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:36.480
and defeating Trump.

00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:38.880
So, I don’t know,
that’s not the way I heard it.

00:39:40.430 --> 00:39:42.530
I think that there is no doubt

00:39:42.530 --> 00:39:47.110
that the way this pandemic
is playing out is opening —

00:39:47.110 --> 00:39:48.950
is further opening up
that window

00:39:48.950 --> 00:39:50.490
of what is politically possible,

00:39:50.490 --> 00:39:53.330
indeed what is necessary
for people’s survival.

00:39:55.440 --> 00:39:57.660
And so, yes,
support for Medicare for

00:39:57.660 --> 00:39:59.180
All is surging,

00:39:59.180 --> 00:40:02.380
as well as support
for other kinds of programs,

00:40:02.380 --> 00:40:04.190
like housing for all,

00:40:04.190 --> 00:40:07.550
that were always at the center
of the Sanders campaign.

00:40:08.260 --> 00:40:10.470
You know,
in your headlines just now,

00:40:10.470 --> 00:40:14.220
we heard news about the air
clearing around the world.

00:40:14.220 --> 00:40:17.940
We are seeing that it is
possible to clean the air.

00:40:18.490 --> 00:40:20.190
A lot of people like that

00:40:21.110 --> 00:40:23.170
as one of these silver linings
of this crisis.

00:40:23.170 --> 00:40:24.950
But this isn’t how we want
to clean the air.

00:40:24.950 --> 00:40:29.620
We don’t want to clean the air
by crash, by brutal crash.

00:40:29.620 --> 00:40:32.430
We want to clean
the air by craft.

00:40:32.430 --> 00:40:36.970
We want to design policies
that care for workers,

00:40:36.970 --> 00:40:39.550
that protect workers,
that retrain workers,

00:40:40.360 --> 00:40:44.300
but allow us to live in a way
that doesn’t poison

00:40:44.300 --> 00:40:45.780
people’s lungs,
which, by the way,

00:40:45.780 --> 00:40:49.870
is part of what is making black
and brown communities

00:40:49.870 --> 00:40:52.560
more vulnerable
to the coronavirus,

00:40:52.560 --> 00:40:53.780
because those are
the communities

00:40:53.780 --> 00:40:56.460
that have the most polluting
industries in their backyards.

00:40:56.460 --> 00:40:58.310
That’s one of the factors.

00:40:58.310 --> 00:41:01.380
So people are seeing this
and being radicalized by this

00:41:01.380 --> 00:41:03.300
and demanding policies

00:41:03.300 --> 00:41:05.980
that were at the center
of the Sanders campaign.

00:41:06.500 --> 00:41:11.810
But during times of crisis,
people also are risk-averse.

00:41:12.370 --> 00:41:17.390
And so, you know, I think
the timing of this was such,

00:41:17.390 --> 00:41:20.700
with the inability to continue
campaigning in person,

00:41:20.700 --> 00:41:22.890
with people just reaching
for something that looked

00:41:22.890 --> 00:41:24.510
and felt safe,

00:41:24.510 --> 00:41:29.800
I don’t think it was possible
to translate that shift

00:41:29.800 --> 00:41:33.710
in openness
to these kinds of policies

00:41:33.710 --> 00:41:38.310
with a huge electoral
swing from Biden towards Bernie,

00:41:38.310 --> 00:41:40.930
although I was certainly
hoping for it up

00:41:40.930 --> 00:41:43.770
until Bernie’s announcement
last night.

00:41:43.770 --> 00:41:46.710
But while hoping for it,
I was keenly aware

00:41:46.710 --> 00:41:48.310
that the polls
were not reflecting it,

00:41:48.310 --> 00:41:52.340
that it wasn’t happening
and that people are not up

00:41:52.340 --> 00:41:57.190
for that kind of political
seesaw in this moment of tumult.

00:41:57.190 --> 00:41:59.510
So, what we have
to be focused on,

00:41:59.510 --> 00:42:02.530
what the movement that
the Sanders campaign represents,

00:42:02.530 --> 00:42:04.810
but also all of
the social movements

00:42:05.490 --> 00:42:09.700
that were part of that campaign,
independent social movements,

00:42:09.700 --> 00:42:12.170
and also movements that never
joined the campaign —

00:42:12.170 --> 00:42:14.830
what we need to be focused
on right now

00:42:15.470 --> 00:42:20.480
is winning those policies
for a kind of a people’s bailout

00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:22.730
in this moment
of profound crisis.

00:42:22.730 --> 00:42:24.640
And we need to be focused

00:42:24.640 --> 00:42:27.270
on beating Donald Trump
in November, absolutely.

00:42:27.270 --> 00:42:29.320
AMY GOODMAN: And how exactly
do you see that happening?

00:42:29.320 --> 00:42:30.790
This is our last question
to you.

00:42:30.790 --> 00:42:33.030
We’re going to then play
a clip of Noam Chomsky

00:42:33.030 --> 00:42:35.550
talking about the significance
of Bernie Sanders.

00:42:35.550 --> 00:42:38.280
But I wanted to ask you, Naomi,
how you see this happening,

00:42:38.280 --> 00:42:41.210
when people have to be isolated.

00:42:41.210 --> 00:42:43.760
It’s not clear what’s going to
happen in the coming months.

00:42:43.760 --> 00:42:45.040
Clearly, in the White House

00:42:45.040 --> 00:42:46.980
right now
they’re talking about opening

00:42:46.980 --> 00:42:48.720
as fast
as possible the country,

00:42:48.720 --> 00:42:51.660
despite the dire warnings
of scientists

00:42:51.660 --> 00:42:55.210
that another surge could happen
if Trump does this.

00:42:55.210 --> 00:42:56.990
He has removed
the inspector general

00:42:56.990 --> 00:43:00.670
in charge of the $500 billion
corporate fund

00:43:01.450 --> 00:43:04.170
that corporations
will be bailed out by,

00:43:04.820 --> 00:43:09.050
despite the fact that Democrats
put that into the bill

00:43:09.050 --> 00:43:11.810
to ensure that there would be
some kind of oversight,

00:43:11.810 --> 00:43:14.610
but clearly didn’t put it
in strongly enough,

00:43:14.610 --> 00:43:18.650
because he is able to
just fire the person.

00:43:19.590 --> 00:43:20.970
We’re going to talk in a moment

00:43:20.970 --> 00:43:24.420
about the disparities
of who is affected by this.

00:43:24.420 --> 00:43:26.950
It’s certainly not a great
leveler, the coronavirus.

00:43:26.950 --> 00:43:30.750
Those on the frontlines are,
of course, the most hard hit,

00:43:30.750 --> 00:43:34.370
and who are on the frontlines
of inequality in the country

00:43:34.370 --> 00:43:35.970
are the most hard hit.

00:43:35.970 --> 00:43:40.460
But your whole assessment
of coronavirus capitalism

00:43:40.460 --> 00:43:43.980
right now,
where it stands right now

00:43:43.980 --> 00:43:46.460
on what has to happen
in these next months?

00:43:48.020 --> 00:43:52.010
NAOMI KLEIN: So, I think
our phones still work,

00:43:52.010 --> 00:43:53.320
our internet still works,

00:43:53.320 --> 00:43:55.850
so we are still able
to make ourselves heard

00:43:56.860 --> 00:44:01.480
in sending a very clear message
to people in Congress,

00:44:01.480 --> 00:44:03.560
who are going to have to be
running for reelection,

00:44:03.560 --> 00:44:05.260
who are running for reelection,

00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:10.460
that people are enraged
by this bailout

00:44:11.110 --> 00:44:14.870
and the fact that these meager
strings that were attached

00:44:14.870 --> 00:44:18.360
to the corporate bailout
were immediately snipped

00:44:18.360 --> 00:44:21.620
by the Trump administration
in terms of oversight,

00:44:21.620 --> 00:44:23.110
in terms of congressional
oversight,

00:44:23.110 --> 00:44:27.360
in terms of their own watchdogs,
in terms of giving Steve Mnuchin

00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:30.790
the ability to override
that oversight.

00:44:31.540 --> 00:44:33.260
I think that the battle,
frankly,

00:44:33.260 --> 00:44:36.490
when it comes
to disaster capitalism

00:44:36.490 --> 00:44:38.120
and this sort of corporate
free-for-all

00:44:38.120 --> 00:44:42.320
that we are seeing right now
under cover of pandemic,

00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:46.330
that that battle was lost
when the rescue for people

00:44:46.330 --> 00:44:48.750
was bundled together
with the corporate bailout.

00:44:49.860 --> 00:44:53.680
I think the demand that we need
to make on lawmakers right now

00:44:53.680 --> 00:44:55.960
is that they need to keep
those things separate

00:44:55.960 --> 00:44:58.020
so that they aren’t
held hostage, right?

00:44:58.020 --> 00:45:00.100
When we look at the fact
that there was —

00:45:00.890 --> 00:45:02.550
that people voted
for that bailout

00:45:02.550 --> 00:45:04.150
who shouldn’t have voted for it,

00:45:04.150 --> 00:45:06.200
it was because
they couldn’t be seen,

00:45:06.200 --> 00:45:08.180
or they felt that
they couldn’t be seen,

00:45:08.180 --> 00:45:11.400
to be voting for what
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

00:45:11.400 --> 00:45:13.580
called "crumbs
for our families," right?

00:45:13.580 --> 00:45:16.000
Because those crumbs
are not nothing

00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:17.730
when people are starving.

00:45:17.730 --> 00:45:19.510
So, the battle, really,
the political battle,

00:45:19.510 --> 00:45:22.770
was lost when those two things
were bundled together,

00:45:22.770 --> 00:45:24.490
when the people’s rescue
was bundled together

00:45:24.490 --> 00:45:25.790
with the corporate rescue.

00:45:25.790 --> 00:45:28.670
So people need to send that
message very, very strongly.

00:45:28.670 --> 00:45:31.290
The fact is,
there is power right now,

00:45:31.290 --> 00:45:34.830
and there is power
from the working people

00:45:34.830 --> 00:45:37.270
who are holding the world
together —

00:45:37.270 --> 00:45:39.120
this country together,
but the world together —

00:45:39.120 --> 00:45:42.440
the healthcare workers,
the janitors, the caretakers,

00:45:42.440 --> 00:45:46.480
the delivery workers, the people
who are picking our food,

00:45:46.480 --> 00:45:48.550
under very unsafe conditions.

00:45:48.550 --> 00:45:52.910
And we are seeing a wave of job
action from these workers,

00:45:52.910 --> 00:45:56.010
who understand themselves to be
so essential

00:45:56.010 --> 00:45:59.230
despite decades
of having their labor

00:45:59.230 --> 00:46:03.280
belittled by those in power.
And that is one of the great —

00:46:03.990 --> 00:46:05.230
it was one of
the great strengths

00:46:05.230 --> 00:46:08.300
of the Sanders campaign,
was that he always recognized

00:46:08.300 --> 00:46:10.590
the power
of those essential workers.

00:46:10.590 --> 00:46:13.350
It’s why he was supported
overwhelmingly

00:46:13.350 --> 00:46:17.520
by Amazon workers,
by grocery store workers

00:46:17.520 --> 00:46:20.160
and, of course,
by nurses and by teachers.

00:46:20.160 --> 00:46:24.220
And so, this is a time
for us to be organizing

00:46:24.220 --> 00:46:27.060
and taking leadership
from those workers.

00:46:27.060 --> 00:46:30.510
And I have to say
that one of my great,

00:46:30.510 --> 00:46:34.210
great regrets from having
been involved in this campaign

00:46:34.210 --> 00:46:37.090
is watching my friends
in the progressive movement

00:46:37.090 --> 00:46:38.940
who didn’t support Sanders,

00:46:39.500 --> 00:46:42.480
in part because they weren’t
able to take leadership

00:46:42.480 --> 00:46:45.630
from those working people
who recognized Sanders

00:46:45.630 --> 00:46:48.520
as their champion
from the very beginning,

00:46:49.220 --> 00:46:50.490
and they felt that those workers

00:46:50.490 --> 00:46:52.660
didn’t understand
their own best interests,

00:46:52.660 --> 00:46:55.110
and so they wanted them
to support somebody else.

00:46:55.780 --> 00:46:58.770
And this is a moment
where if we say

00:46:58.770 --> 00:47:01.760
that we have so much gratitude
for these frontline workers,

00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:03.680
let’s trust them
politically, too,

00:47:03.680 --> 00:47:06.500
and let’s do everything
we can to augment

00:47:06.500 --> 00:47:07.790
their political power.

00:47:07.790 --> 00:47:10.110
Let’s demand
that of our trade unions.

00:47:10.780 --> 00:47:14.720
Let’s demand that of ourselves.
Let’s support them tangibly.

00:47:14.720 --> 00:47:17.940
But let’s also take leadership
from them,

00:47:17.940 --> 00:47:20.660
which is something that
Bernie Sanders always did,

00:47:20.660 --> 00:47:23.540
and it is one of the things
that I love most about him.

00:47:23.540 --> 00:47:25.310
AMY GOODMAN: Naomi Klein, I want
to thank you for being with us,

00:47:25.310 --> 00:47:26.800
senior correspondent
at The Intercept,

00:47:26.800 --> 00:47:28.130
professor at Rutgers University.

00:47:28.130 --> 00:47:30.580
Tonight she’s joining
in an "After Bernie"

00:47:30.580 --> 00:47:32.750
online teach-in
with Astra Taylor

00:47:32.750 --> 00:47:36.160
and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.
We’ll link to it at our website.

00:47:36.160 --> 00:47:38.140
AMY GOODMAN: Before we go
to break, on Wednesday,

00:47:38.670 --> 00:47:40.720
just before
Bernie Sanders announced,

00:47:40.720 --> 00:47:42.600
but it did look like
he was about

00:47:42.600 --> 00:47:45.790
to pull out of
the presidential race,

00:47:45.790 --> 00:47:50.070
I asked political dissident,
linguist and author Noam Chomsky

00:47:50.070 --> 00:47:53.930
about his assessment
of the Bernie Sanders campaign

00:47:53.930 --> 00:47:57.080
in this time
of the coronavirus pandemic.

00:47:59.150 --> 00:48:01.560
NOAM CHOMSKY: If Trump
is reelected,

00:48:02.680 --> 00:48:07.150
it’s a indescribable disaster.

00:48:08.040 --> 00:48:12.850
It means that the policies
of the past four years,

00:48:12.850 --> 00:48:15.190
which have been
extremely destructive

00:48:15.880 --> 00:48:18.650
to the American population,
to the world,

00:48:19.220 --> 00:48:22.750
will be continued
and probably accelerated.

00:48:25.890 --> 00:48:29.990
What this is going to mean
for health is bad enough.

00:48:29.990 --> 00:48:32.890
I just mentioned
the Lancet figures.

00:48:32.890 --> 00:48:34.700
It will get worse.

00:48:34.700 --> 00:48:37.120
What this means
for the environment

00:48:37.790 --> 00:48:42.090
or the threat of nuclear war,
which no one is talking about

00:48:42.090 --> 00:48:46.440
but is extremely serious,
is indescribable.

00:48:47.340 --> 00:48:49.460
Suppose Biden is elected.

00:48:52.550 --> 00:48:54.690
I would anticipate
it would be essentially

00:48:54.690 --> 00:49:00.680
a continuation of Obama —
nothing very great,

00:49:00.680 --> 00:49:04.040
but at least not
totally destructive,

00:49:04.600 --> 00:49:09.650
and opportunities
for an organized public

00:49:09.650 --> 00:49:13.230
to change what is being done,
to impose pressures.

00:49:14.500 --> 00:49:19.140
It’s common to say now that
the Sanders campaign failed.

00:49:19.790 --> 00:49:21.610
I think that’s a mistake.

00:49:21.610 --> 00:49:23.850
I think it was
an extraordinary success,

00:49:24.580 --> 00:49:30.600
completely shifted the arena
of debate and discussion.

00:49:31.610 --> 00:49:36.450
Issues that were unthinkable
a couple years ago

00:49:36.450 --> 00:49:38.630
are now right in
the middle of attention.

00:49:41.640 --> 00:49:43.310
The worst crime he committed,

00:49:43.310 --> 00:49:45.010
in the eyes
of the establishment,

00:49:45.530 --> 00:49:47.480
is not the policy
he’s proposing;

00:49:48.190 --> 00:49:54.900
it’s the fact that he was able
to inspire popular movements,

00:49:54.900 --> 00:49:56.650
which had already
been developing —

00:49:57.430 --> 00:50:00.290
Occupy, Black Lives Matter,
many others —

00:50:00.830 --> 00:50:04.210
and turn them into
an activist movement,

00:50:04.210 --> 00:50:07.730
which doesn’t just show up
every couple years

00:50:07.730 --> 00:50:09.540
to push a leader
and then go home,

00:50:10.130 --> 00:50:15.780
but applies constant pressure,
constant activism and so on.

00:50:15.780 --> 00:50:19.000
That could affect
a Biden administration.

00:50:20.090 --> 00:50:23.980
AMY GOODMAN: That’s activist,
public intellectual,

00:50:23.980 --> 00:50:26.380
world-renowned linguist,
Noam Chomsky.

00:50:26.380 --> 00:50:30.490
We’ll spend the hour with him
on Friday on Democracy Now!

00:50:30.490 --> 00:50:31.810
This is Democracy Now!

00:50:31.810 --> 00:50:35.050
When we come back,
the racial disparities.

00:50:35.050 --> 00:50:37.970
Who’s dying in this pandemic?
Stay with us.

00:51:26.600 --> 00:51:29.800
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy
Now!, democracynow.org,

00:51:29.800 --> 00:51:31.080
The War and Peace Report.

00:51:31.080 --> 00:51:33.110
We’re broadcasting
from the epicenter

00:51:33.110 --> 00:51:34.690
of the pandemic
in New York City.

00:51:34.690 --> 00:51:36.350
I’m Amy Goodman,
with Nermeen Shaikh,

00:51:36.350 --> 00:51:39.520
as we turn to the devastating
toll the coronavirus

00:51:39.520 --> 00:51:40.850
is taking
on black Americans,

00:51:40.850 --> 00:51:43.050
who are disproportionately
dying from the virus

00:51:43.050 --> 00:51:44.330
across the country.

00:51:44.330 --> 00:51:46.740
In Michigan and Illinois,
African Americans make up,

00:51:46.740 --> 00:51:50.000
oh, 14 to 15%
of the population

00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:53.390
but account for 41%
of the COVID-19 deaths.

00:51:53.390 --> 00:51:55.680
In Chicago alone,
African Americans account

00:51:55.680 --> 00:52:01.070
for 70% of the city’s deaths,
yet just 30% of the population.

00:52:01.070 --> 00:52:03.720
In Louisiana, one of the hot
spots of the virus,

00:52:03.720 --> 00:52:07.100
African Americans comprise
about a third of the population

00:52:07.100 --> 00:52:12.010
but 70% of the COVID-19 deaths.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo,

00:52:12.010 --> 00:52:14.160
who once called the virus
the "great equalizer,"

00:52:14.160 --> 00:52:17.550
said Wednesday black people
make up 18% of the deaths

00:52:17.550 --> 00:52:21.080
in the state despite being 9%
of the state population.

00:52:21.080 --> 00:52:24.300
The Latinx community
makes up 29% of New York City

00:52:24.300 --> 00:52:27.630
but 34% of the deaths,
many of them in Queens,

00:52:27.630 --> 00:52:30.950
the most diverse community
in the nation.

00:52:30.950 --> 00:52:33.240
The actual number of deaths
due to COVID-19

00:52:33.240 --> 00:52:37.640
will likely be never known,
as people, often undocumented,

00:52:37.640 --> 00:52:42.410
those on the margins of society,
are dying at home uncounted.

00:52:42.410 --> 00:52:46.630
For more, we turn
to Camara Phyllis Jones.

00:52:46.630 --> 00:52:49.690
She’s a family physician,
epidemiologist, past president

00:52:49.690 --> 00:52:51.860
of the American Public
Health Association,

00:52:51.860 --> 00:52:54.050
her recent piece
for Newsweek magazine

00:52:54.050 --> 00:52:56.930
titled "Coronavirus Disease
Discriminates.

00:52:56.930 --> 00:52:59.130
Our Health Care
Doesn’t Have To."

00:52:59.130 --> 00:53:01.640
Why don’t you elaborate on that,
Dr. Jones,

00:53:02.890 --> 00:53:07.320
this issue, and why you see
this disparate effect

00:53:07.320 --> 00:53:09.070
on the African-American
population?

00:53:11.070 --> 00:53:12.330
DR. CAMARA PHYLLIS JONES: 
COVID-19

00:53:12.330 --> 00:53:16.150
is exposing U.S. racism
in a stark new way,

00:53:17.500 --> 00:53:21.530
because the black and brown
bodies are piling up so fast

00:53:21.530 --> 00:53:23.360
that they can’t be —

00:53:23.360 --> 00:53:26.500
these deaths can’t be
normalized or ignored.

00:53:27.190 --> 00:53:32.460
And the way that racism
is operating in this pandemic

00:53:32.460 --> 00:53:34.460
is in two separate fronts.

00:53:35.030 --> 00:53:39.020
It’s increasing exposure
to the virus,

00:53:39.020 --> 00:53:42.980
and it has increased
vulnerability to the virus.

00:53:42.980 --> 00:53:45.140
So, increasing exposure
to the virus

00:53:45.140 --> 00:53:48.040
because the way that racism,

00:53:48.040 --> 00:53:51.090
that structures opportunity
and assigns value,

00:53:51.090 --> 00:53:54.300
has structured
our educational opportunities

00:53:54.300 --> 00:53:58.460
and job opportunities,
we are in more front-facing,

00:53:58.460 --> 00:54:02.560
low-income,
underappreciated jobs,

00:54:02.560 --> 00:54:04.980
where we are part of
the essential workforce

00:54:04.980 --> 00:54:07.910
that really isn’t getting
its full attention,

00:54:07.910 --> 00:54:11.550
and certainly not getting the
full protection that we need.

00:54:12.530 --> 00:54:15.340
Racism has increased
the vulnerability of us

00:54:15.340 --> 00:54:16.630
to this virus,

00:54:16.630 --> 00:54:20.730
because living in racially
segregated communities

00:54:20.730 --> 00:54:24.380
that are resource segregated,
without adequate access to food,

00:54:24.380 --> 00:54:28.480
and are environmental
racism hazard segregated

00:54:28.480 --> 00:54:32.540
has made us carry in our bodies
all of those same diseases —

00:54:32.540 --> 00:54:37.550
diabetes, high blood pressure,
renal disease, asthma —

00:54:37.550 --> 00:54:42.290
that are making people who get
infected to the virus sicker

00:54:42.290 --> 00:54:43.990
and die faster from it.

00:54:45.420 --> 00:54:48.740
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Dr. Jones,
even before — I mean,

00:54:48.740 --> 00:54:51.830
we mentioned
the statistics everywhere,

00:54:51.830 --> 00:54:57.190
but in Chicago,
even before the pandemic began,

00:54:57.190 --> 00:55:00.070
the life expectancy
of African Americans

00:55:00.070 --> 00:55:03.820
was nine years —
slightly less than nine years

00:55:04.890 --> 00:55:09.220
less than white people
who live in Chicago.

00:55:09.220 --> 00:55:13.450
So, could you say, Dr. Jones,
what you feel should be done?

00:55:13.450 --> 00:55:16.690
What steps should be taken
to compensate

00:55:16.690 --> 00:55:19.950
for the disproportionate
vulnerability

00:55:19.950 --> 00:55:25.620
of African Americans,
Latinx communities in light

00:55:25.620 --> 00:55:28.390
of this emergency,
health emergency?

00:55:28.390 --> 00:55:29.590
DR. CAMARA PHYLLIS JONES: Right.

00:55:29.590 --> 00:55:32.150
I am so glad that you
asked me that question,

00:55:32.150 --> 00:55:35.010
because we can’t just look
at these statistics

00:55:35.010 --> 00:55:38.200
and then shrug or say,
"Oh, well, we expected that."

00:55:38.200 --> 00:55:39.970
We have to act.

00:55:39.970 --> 00:55:42.640
And so, the way that we act
is on both fronts.

00:55:42.640 --> 00:55:45.560
You asked me: How do we act when
we recognize that we already —

00:55:45.560 --> 00:55:50.210
we have chronically been sicker
and dying sooner?

00:55:50.210 --> 00:55:52.710
What that means is,
if we already recognize that,

00:55:52.710 --> 00:55:56.740
we have to move all of the
health resources to those areas

00:55:56.740 --> 00:56:00.270
where we can already expect
higher deaths and all.

00:56:00.270 --> 00:56:03.420
So we should not have
black people already burdened

00:56:03.420 --> 00:56:05.420
with these diseases
living in communities

00:56:05.420 --> 00:56:08.280
where they can’t get adequate
testing, number one,

00:56:08.280 --> 00:56:10.450
but adequate access
to ventilators

00:56:10.450 --> 00:56:11.980
and health resources,
and they’re not.

00:56:11.980 --> 00:56:15.740
So we need to provide resources
according to need.

00:56:15.740 --> 00:56:18.170
And we can already
predict that need.

00:56:18.170 --> 00:56:19.980
On that vulnerability side,

00:56:19.980 --> 00:56:22.010
the other thing that
I really need to say is,

00:56:22.010 --> 00:56:23.390
you will be seeing now
in the news

00:56:23.390 --> 00:56:27.420
lots of different ways
of people trying to say,

00:56:27.420 --> 00:56:30.490
"If we have to ration
ventilators,

00:56:30.490 --> 00:56:33.170
well, maybe we should
discount people

00:56:33.170 --> 00:56:35.390
if they have diabetes
or whatever."

00:56:35.390 --> 00:56:38.860
We cannot allow that to happen.
First of all,

00:56:38.860 --> 00:56:44.370
we should not be working
under a scenario of scarcity,

00:56:45.200 --> 00:56:47.590
because there’s no reason
we have to have scarcity.

00:56:47.590 --> 00:56:50.440
So we should reject that.

00:56:50.440 --> 00:56:54.400
But certainly, if we do have one
ventilator and three patients,

00:56:54.400 --> 00:56:57.280
there should never be
any counting in of

00:56:57.280 --> 00:56:59.220
"this person has diabetes
or heart disease"

00:56:59.220 --> 00:57:00.440
in that allocation.

00:57:00.440 --> 00:57:03.700
I actually think
that if it comes down to that,

00:57:03.700 --> 00:57:07.260
we need to have a random
allocation of those resources.

00:57:07.260 --> 00:57:10.900
We need to value all individuals
and populations equally.

00:57:10.900 --> 00:57:14.030
That’s one of
three core principles

00:57:14.030 --> 00:57:15.730
for achieving health equity.

00:57:17.230 --> 00:57:18.520
AMY GOODMAN: Camara
Phyllis Jones,

00:57:18.520 --> 00:57:20.670
let me ask you
one last question,

00:57:20.670 --> 00:57:22.120
and then we’re going
to do Part 2

00:57:22.120 --> 00:57:24.170
and post it at democracynow.org.

00:57:24.170 --> 00:57:29.340
This critical lack of testing
that has completely compromised

00:57:29.340 --> 00:57:31.670
the public health response
in this country,

00:57:32.470 --> 00:57:34.230
you have talked about the fact

00:57:34.230 --> 00:57:36.850
that that discriminates
against African Americans,

00:57:36.850 --> 00:57:39.490
as well, where people
can even get tests.

00:57:40.670 --> 00:57:41.960
DR. CAMARA PHYLLIS JONES: Yes,
that’s true,

00:57:41.960 --> 00:57:44.600
where people can get tests.
But I have to say,

00:57:44.600 --> 00:57:50.760
the kind of haphazard way
that we’ve approached testing

00:57:50.760 --> 00:57:54.100
is affecting all of us.
It’s affecting our ability

00:57:54.100 --> 00:57:56.730
to alter the course
of the epidemic.

00:57:56.730 --> 00:58:00.220
The way that we’re using testing
in this country right now

00:58:00.220 --> 00:58:03.540
is to confirm diagnosis
in a very narrow,

00:58:03.540 --> 00:58:05.980
one person by one person,
kind of clinical,

00:58:05.980 --> 00:58:07.970
in the medical space way.
What we —

00:58:07.970 --> 00:58:09.670
AMY GOODMAN: We just have
20 seconds.

00:58:10.250 --> 00:58:12.270
DR. CAMARA PHYLLIS JONES: So,
what we really need to do

00:58:12.270 --> 00:58:15.260
is we need to find out everybody
who has the disease,

00:58:15.260 --> 00:58:17.240
and we need to do
a public health testing.

00:58:17.240 --> 00:58:19.150
Test those with symptoms.

00:58:19.150 --> 00:58:21.880
Test those — sample those
who don’t have symptoms,

00:58:21.880 --> 00:58:24.270
so that we can distribute
our resources,

00:58:24.270 --> 00:58:27.320
so that we can identify
and isolate people

00:58:27.320 --> 00:58:29.680
who have the disease
before they’re symptomatic,

00:58:29.680 --> 00:58:32.250
while they’re spreading it,
and also do contact tracing.

00:58:32.250 --> 00:58:34.260
That will be
for the good of all of us.

00:58:34.260 --> 00:58:36.740
That way, we don’t document
the epidemic;

00:58:36.740 --> 00:58:38.490
we actually can change
the course of it.

00:58:38.490 --> 00:58:39.730
AMY GOODMAN: Camara
Phyllis Jones,

00:58:39.730 --> 00:58:41.000
I want to thank you
for being with us.

00:58:41.000 --> 00:58:43.650
We’re going to do Part 2,
post it at democracynow.org.

00:58:43.650 --> 00:58:46.660
Family physician,
epidemiologist, past president

00:58:46.660 --> 00:58:48.860
of the American Public
Health Association,

00:58:48.860 --> 00:58:51.610
currently Radcliffe Institute
for Advanced Study

00:58:51.610 --> 00:58:53.270
at Harvard University fellow.

00:58:53.270 --> 00:58:54.820
That does it for our show.

00:58:54.820 --> 00:58:57.430
Thank you to all the team that
has made this show possible.

00:58:57.430 --> 00:58:59.280
I’m Amy Goodman,
with Nermeen Shaikh.