Democracy Now!

We continue our look at the massive $2 trillion coronavirus relief package — the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history — with author Matt Stoller, who argues the country will be unrecognizable after this pandemic if big corporations walk away with trillions of dollars and no strings attached. Stoller is research director at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of the book "Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy." His recent column for The Guardian is headlined "The coronavirus relief bill could turn into a corporate coup if we aren't careful."

As much of the United States is under lockdown, the House votes today on a $2 trillion emergency relief package to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. It will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations, and the vote comes as a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. We speak with Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress, about the bill, Trump's response to the pandemic, how she has joined calls for student debt relief and to release immigrants and prisoners facing infection, and the challenges African countries face in responding to the coronavirus.

U.S. Leads World in Reported COVID-19 Cases as Hospitalizations Surge, Trump Doubts New York City's Need for 30,000 Life-Saving Ventilators, Politico: President Trump Failed to Follow Pandemic Playbook, Squandering Precious Time, Detroit and Chicago Join New Orleans as U.S. Coronavirus Hot Spots, House to Vote on Record-Shattering $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package, Three Unaccompanied Migrant Children Test Positive for COVID-19, Jailed Asylum Seekers Stage Hunger Strike, Demanding Release During Pandemic, Activists Demand Release of Aging Prisoners as Coronavirus Spreads, Hospitals in Spain and Italy on the Brink of Collapse as COVID-19 Deaths Mount, British PM Boris Johnson Sickened with COVID-19; Ireland to Nationalize Hospitals, Tokyo Streets Remain Crowded as Japanese PM Resists Calls for Lockdown, Health Official Fears 100,000 Deaths If Coronavirus Hits Camps for Displaced Syrians, Ethiopia to Release Prisoners over COVID-19 Fears, as South Africa Locks Down, Brazil's President Exempts Churches from Lockdown as COVID-19 Surges, EPA Indefinitely Suspends Enforcement of Environmental Laws, Climate Change Pushes Australia's Great Barrier Reef to the Brink, Supreme Court Raises Bar to Prove Racial Discrimination in Lawsuits, U.S. Indicts Venezuelan President, Alleging Plot to "Flood the United States with Cocaine", Liyna Anwar, Whose Battle with Cancer Inspired Bone Marrow Donors, Dies Aged 30

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads around the world, we look at India, which is now under the largest lockdown in human history, with 1.3 billion people ordered to shelter in place. As the country's economy and daily life come to an abrupt halt, hundreds of millions of Indians who live hand to mouth have been left without the means to support their families. We speak with Amitav Ghosh, whose books include "Gun Island" and "The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable."

The Senate unanimously approved a historic $2.2 trillion emergency relief package late Wednesday night to battle the unprecedented economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The House will consider the bill Friday before it goes to President Trump's desk to be signed into law. 

The bill would massively expand unemployment benefits, providing laid-off workers up to 100% of their salary and health insurance benefits for four months. Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders successfully fought to strengthen the bill's assistance to laid-off workers, and voted "yes" even as he warned about the bill's corporate bailout fund. "We do not need, at this moment in history, to provide a massive amount of corporate welfare to large profitable corporations," Sanders said in a video explaining his vote.

As New York hospitals see a surge in coronavirus cases, medical workers report growing shortages of protective gear, and a nurse who tested positive after treating patients with the highly contagious disease has died. "It's pretty dire inside New York City hospitals right now," says New York City emergency room doctor Craig Spencer. "We have a growing number of patients coming in every day with coronavirus. We have people young and old, with complications, without complications, who get put on mechanical ventilators, who get put on life support to help their breathing, who have cardiac arrest. It's a daily reality for many of my colleagues on the frontline." Spencer is also a survivor of Ebola, which he contracted while fighting its outbreak in Africa.

Senate Approves Historic $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package, Republican Sen. John Thune Misses Vote on Coronavirus Bailout Due to Illness, New York City Hospitals Set Up Makeshift Morgues as COVID-19 Deaths Multiply, U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 1,000 as Louisiana Cases Soar, Pittsburgh Sanitation Workers Hold Wildcat Strike, Demanding Safety Gear, COVID-19 Claims Playwright Terrence McNally, Chef Floyd Cardoz and Fashionista Jenny Polanco, World Health Organization Urges Dramatic Action as Global Coronavirus Cases Near 500,000, Italy's COVID-19 Infection Rate Slows as Spain's Death Toll Surpasses China's, Indian Police Beat Curfew Violators on First Day of Lockdown for 1.3 Billion People, Kosovo Prime Minister Ousted over Coronavirus Response as Santiago, Chile Locks Down, New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern: Act Like You Have COVID-19 and Stay Home, Joe Biden Dismisses Bernie Sanders Challenge for April Presidential Debate, The Intercept: Time's Up Legal Defense Fund Refused to Support #MeToo Sex Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden, Trump Repeats Call to Reopen U.S. Economy on Easter Sunday Despite Dire Warnings from Health Officials, Federal Judge Orders Environmental Review of Dakota Access Pipeline

Calls are growing for Republican Senator Richard Burr to resign after he reportedly sold up to $1.7 million worth of stocks after receiving privileged briefings about the coronavirus's threat to the global economy. ProPublica reports Burr, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, unloaded his holdings on February 13 in 33 separate transactions. At the time, he had access to classified information about the coronavirus and was receiving daily intelligence briefings. The stock market began plummeting a week after Burr's sales and has since lost about 30% of its value. We speak with Derek Willis of ProPublica, one of the reporters who broke the story.

Puerto Rico announced a record $787 million financial package to fight the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic Monday, as the island's death toll hits two with 39 cases reported. The pandemic follows a series of devastating earthquakes in Puerto Rico earlier this year and comes as the island continues to deal with fallout from Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico's infrastructure and killed at least 3,000. "One of the things that I think is evident is that with the Trump administration and FEMA, we have to continue to remind them, time and time again, that we are people and that we deserve to be treated with the same sense of justice, urgency and dignity as anybody else," says our guest, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.

We go to Madrid, Spain, one of the epicenters of the pandemic in Europe, where health workers account for nearly 14% of the country's infections. Many face limited availability of protective equipment. So many people have died that Madrid's municipal funeral home has stopped collecting bodies. A large ice rink is now being used as a makeshift morgue, and the government plans to extend the state of emergency by another 15 days in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. "If Madrid was a country, it would actually be fifth in terms of death rate in the entire world," says María Carrión, journalist and former Democracy Now! news producer.

As the New York metro area has 60% of all the new coronavirus cases in the United States and is responsible for half the cases all over the country, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the number of hospitalizations is expected to peak in the next 40 days as hospitals are already encountering shortages of equipment needed to protect medical workers and to keep patients alive when the city's COVID-19 cases peak in the coming weeks. We're joined by two people on the frontlines of the pandemic: Sean Petty, a registered nurse in the pediatric emergency room of a public hospital in the Bronx and member of the New York State Nurses Association board of directors, and Kelley Cabrera, an emergency room nurse at a public hospital in the Bronx.

Senate and White House Reach Agreement on $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill, NY Governor Blasts Trump's Coronavirus Response, Asking "Where Are the Ventilators?", Two Georgia Medical Workers Die of COVID-19 Amid Critical Shortage of Protective Gear, California Seeks to Add 50,000 Hospital Beds Ahead of COVID-19 Peak, Washington to Inspect Nursing Homes After 37 Die of Coronavirus at Life Care Center, Minnesota Lt. Gov.'s Brother Dies of COVID-19; Sen. Klobuchar's Husband Hospitalized, Defying Medical Advice, Trump Calls for Return to Normal and "Packed Churches" on Easter Sunday, U.S. Immigration Agencies Quarantine Asylum Seekers, Rikers Island Jail to Release 300 Nonviolent Prisoners Amid COVID-19 Outbreak, U.S. Becoming Global Epicenter of Pandemic, as India Orders Lockdown for 1.3 Billion People, COVID-19 Deaths Accelerating Across Europe as Prince Charles Tests Positive, Brazilian President Bolsonaro Blasts Coronavirus "Hysteria" as São Paulo Locks Down, Locust Swarms in South Sudan Further Threaten Food Supply as COVID-19 Fears Mount

As COVID-19 begins to spread in the U.S. prison system, calls are growing in the New York City epicenter of the pandemic to release people from Rikers Island, the second-largest jail system in the country. At least 39 prisoners and 21 staff at Rikers Island have tested positive. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday the city had released 75 people, but advocates are calling for the release of thousands more. We speak with Dr. Homer Venters, former chief medical officer for New York City's Correctional Health Services and author of "Life and Death in Rikers Island." His piece for The Hill is headlined "Coronavirus behind bars: 4 priorities to save the lives of prisoners."

As Italy's death toll soars past 6,000, Cuba has sent medical brigades to combat COVID-19. Cuba has also deployed doctors to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Suriname and Grenada. "The arrival of a medical brigade from Cuba to Italy is pretty historic. You have a leading European nation accepting support in the form of a medical team from a small Caribbean island," says our guest, Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive at George Washington University. "It just goes to the history of Cuba's deep and long-lasting commitment to humanitarian solidarity with other countries." Kornbluh covers Cuba for The Nation magazine.

As #NotDying4WallStreet trends on Twitter, President Trump defies his top scientists and soaring infection rate, saying he will ease restrictions soon to jumpstart the economy. We speak with economist Jeffrey Sachs about the stimulus package that failed to pass again Monday, as Democrats called the measure a slush fund for corporations. Sachs also led the WHO's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health from 2000 to 2001 and played a key role in conceiving and establishing the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which helped distribute new medicines to fight infectious diseases.

U.N. Calls for Global Ceasefire So Countries Can Unite in Fight Against Coronavirus Pandemic, Italy's COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 6,000 as Spain Officials Say Nearly 4,000 Health Workers Are Infected, Trump Says Country Will Be "Open for Business Very Soon" Despite Skyrocketing COVID-19 Infections, 16 U.S. States Enforce Stay-at-Home Orders Amid Coronavirus Pandemic Affecting Over 40% of Population, Texas Orders Abortion Providers to Stop Performing Procedures, Texas Lt. Gov.: Elderly Should "Sacrifice" for U.S. Economy Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Man in AZ Dies, Wife in Critical Condition, After Couple Took Chloroquine to Prevent Coronavirus Infection, ORR Refuses to Free Migrant Kids from NY Facilities Where 3 Staff Tested Positive for COVID-19, NJ Plans to Release Some 1,000 Prisoners from County Jails to Limit Spread of Coronavirus, New York Now Accounts for Around 5% of All COVID-19 Cases in the World, Puerto Rico Passes $787 Million Financial Package as Coronavirus Pandemic Further Cripples Economy, U.S. Senate, Treasury Sec. Could Soon Agree to a $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package, Federal Reserve Says It'll Buy Unlimited Amount of Bonds as U.S. Unemployment Skyrockets, Coronavirus Death Toll in Iran Approaches 2,000 with Almost 25,000 Confirmed Cases, Pakistan's COVID-19 Cases Top 900, Prompting Gov't Ban on All Int'l Flights; Saudi Arabia Imposes Curfew, South Africa Enacts Nat'l Lockdown; Prominent Zimbabwe Journalist Zororo Makamba Dies of COVID-19, Tokyo Olympics to Be Postponed Until 2021, Indonesia Reports Over 100 COVID-19 Cases as China to Lift Lockdown on Wuhan, U.S. Cuts $1 Billion for Afghanistan After Political Stalemate Stalls Peace Deal, Mexican Man Is the 10th Death in ICE Custody Since October, PG&E Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter for 2018 Camp Fire That Killed 85 People, Colorado Abolishes Death Penalty

As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. rises to more than 35,000, doctors are facing a desperate lack of supplies, and tests continue to lag. We speak with Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University. She previously served as Baltimore's health commissioner. She says healthcare workers are "putting their lives on the line every day" as they work in hazardous conditions with inadequate supplies, including N95 respirator masks. "First we're going to run out of masks, and then we're going to run out of doctors and nurses, because they'll become sick," Dr. Wen warns.

Alarm is growing about the safety of more than 37,000 people held in immigrant detention centers and private jails that contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, where it is nearly impossible for them to avoid close contact to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Nearly half of those detained by ICE are accused of no crime other than civil immigration violations. Immigrants at three jails in New Jersey are now on hunger strikes over unsanitary conditions that put them at high risk during the pandemic.

 We hear from a detained person on hunger strike and speak with John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE during the Obama administration, who is calling for ICE to release thousands from detention, and Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, or CHIRLA, which just led a national effort to stop immigration enforcement actions.

Global COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 15,000 as Italy Drafts Military to Enforce Lockdown, Angela Merkel to Self-Quarantine After Her Doctor Tests Positive for COVID-19, First COVID-19 Cases Reported in Occupied Gaza, War-Stricken Syria and Afghanistan, Coronavirus Cases Mount Across Africa, Two Nigerians Overdose Self-Medicating with Chloroquine After Trump Praised Anti-Malaria Drug as Possible COVID-19 Treatment, Coronavirus Leads to Lockdowns, Travel Bans in Latin America, as a Colombian Prison Riot Turns Deadly, Fate of Tokyo Olympics Still Unknown as Canada, Australia Refuse to Send Athletes, India Locks Down Major Cities in Effort to Contain Coronavirus Spread, 1 in 3 People in U.S. Under Lockdown as Cases Soar and Critical Supplies Dwindle, New York Hospital Network Bans All Visitors During Birth, Including Partners, Harvey Weinstein Reportedly Tests Positive for COVID-19 in Prison; 38+ Test Positive at Rikers, Coronavirus Cases Grow Across U.S., Trump Activates Nat'l Guard as Lawmakers Fail to Pass Coronavirus Stimulus Package , Doctor Rand Paul is First U.S. Senator to Test Positive for Coronavirus, New Evidence of Trump's Botched Response to Coronavirus, Mike Pompeo in Afghanistan in Attempt to Revive Flailing U.S.-Taliban Deal

As lockdowns and layoffs sweep the U.S., mutual aid groups are forming to protect and provide for the vulnerable, including the elderly, incarcerated, undocumented and unhoused. We look at the incredible community networks across the country that are coming together to protect their neighbors during the coronavirus pandemic — and how you can get involved. From Washington state to the Bay Area, Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota and New York City, thousands of mutual aid efforts are aimed at building solidarity, not charity. We speak with two longtime mutual aid organizers and activists in two hot spots of the pandemic. In New York City, Mariame Kaba is a longtime organizer, abolitionist, educator and the founder of the grassroots organization Project NIA, which works to end the incarceration of children and young adults. She has raised tens of thousands of dollars and redistributed it to groups across the country in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and she just did a public conference call with Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on mutual aid. In Seattle, Washington, Dean Spade is an associate professor at Seattle University School of Law and founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. He is the creator of mutual aid resource website "Big Door Brigade":http://bigdoorbrigade.com/.

As the worldwide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has topped 10,000, with over 250,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, we speak with Stanford University's global health expert Dr. Michele Barry, an infectious disease doctor. Italy has surpassed China in coronavirus deaths, and cases are rising in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, as the governor of California has ordered all 40 million residents to shelter in place.

Worldwide COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 10,000 as Italian Nurses "Stop Counting the Dead", Refugee Groups Warn of COVID-19 "Carnage" in Camps Housing Millions, Coronavirus Multiplies Across Australia, Latin America, Africa and Middle East, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Issues Statewide "Stay at Home" Order for 40 Million, New York Mayor Calls on Trump to Mobilize Military to Aid Overwhelmed Hospitals, Georgia State Legislators Urged to Self-Quarantine; Spring Break Revelers Party On in Florida, Demands Grow to Empty ICE Jails as NJ Detention Center Worker Tests Positive, Trump Blasts "Corrupt" Media at Rambling Coronavirus Press Conference, At Least Five U.S. Senators, Briefed on Coronavirus, Sold Stocks Before Market Crash, Unemployment Skyrockets as Estimated 2.5 million U.S. Workers Apply for Benefits in One Week, New York City Workers Revolt over Lack of Coronavirus Safety Protections, India Hangs Four Men Convicted of Brutal 2012 Gang Rape in Delhi, Greenland Lost Record 600 Billion Tons of Ice in 2019, Indigenous People Left Homeless by Flooding in Ecuador's Amazon Region Blame Climate Change, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Drops 2020 Presidential Bid, Endorses Joe Biden

"I would like to begin by announcing some important developments in our war against the Chinese virus. I will be invoking the Defense Production Act just in case we need it." That was the opening line of President Trump's news conference Wednesday afternoon. Later in the news conference, Trump was questioned by ABC News reporter Cecilia Vega on continuously referring to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus." A member of the administration also reportedly referred to the coronavirus as the "kung-flu." Meanwhile, racist incidents and threats of hate crimes against Asian Americans have emerged across the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. We get response from Elizabeth OuYang, the former president of OCA-New York, a civil rights organization where she advocated for victims of hate crimes and fair media representation of Asian Americans. She is a civil rights attorney and community advocate who teaches at Columbia and New York University.

The coronavirus relief package signed by President Trump Wednesday provides unemployment benefits and free coronavirus testing to millions of Americans suddenly out of a job, but guarantees paid sick leave to less than 20% of American workers. Earlier this month, Trump signed into law an $8 billion coronavirus response package and has laid out the first details of a third, $1 trillion economic package and invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to allow the government to direct industrial production. For more on those bailouts and who benefits, we speak with Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor and chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute. He served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton and as chief economist of the World Bank. His latest book is "People, Power and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent."

Author, activist and journalist Naomi Klein says the coronavirus crisis, like earlier ones, could be a catalyst to shower aid on the wealthiest interests in society, including those most responsible for our current vulnerabilities, while offering next to nothing to most workers and small businesses. In 2007, Klein wrote "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism." Now she argues President Trump's plan is a pandemic shock doctrine. In a new video for The Intercept, where she is a senior correspondent, Klein argues it's vital for people to fight for the kind of transformative change that can not only curb the worst effects of the current crisis but also set society on a more just path.

Italy Records Record 475 Coronavirus Deaths as Infections Continue Climbing, British PM Boris Johnson Closes Schools After Reversing Lax Virus Containment Plan, Millions of Brazilians Protest from Windows and Balconies Demanding President's Ouster, World Health Organization Warns Critical Lack of Testing Is Costing Lives, Egypt Arrests Protesters Calling for Release of Prisoners at Risk of COVID-19, Yemen, Already Wracked by U.S.-Supported, Saudi-Led War, Braces for Coronavirus, Trump Admin Tightens Sanctions That Have Devastated Iran's Public Health System, Trump Signs Coronavirus Relief Bill Providing Paid Leave to Small Fraction of U.S. Workers, 150,000 Auto Workers Idled as Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler Halt Production, White House Invokes Defense Production Act to Order Manufacture of Life-Saving Equipment, Two U.S. Congressmembers Test Positive for COVID-19, White House Warns Millennials at Substantial Risk of Illness and Death from COVID-19, Hospital Workers Produce DIY Masks as Medical Supplies Dwindle, Celebrities Get Coronavirus Tests as Critically Ill Patients Struggle to Learn Status, Trump Doubles Down on Racist "Chinese Virus" Label, Air Pollution Plummeted as Coronavirus Crisis Idled Much of China's Economy, U.S.-Canada Border Partially Closed as ICE Says It Will Suspend Most Immigration Raids, Georgia Department of Driver Services Shared Data with ICE, Asked About Campaign Plans, Bernie Sanders Says "I'm Dealing with a F––– Global Crisis"

Mass shutdowns and layoffs due to the spread of COVID-19 are affecting millions of restaurant workers across the U.S., with bars and restaurants closing for the foreseeable future. Servers, bartenders, kitchen staff and more have been left in the lurch, many without paid sick leave, paid time off or benefits. One study estimated 4 million restaurant workers in the U.S. are at risk of losing their jobs in a matter of weeks. For more on the impacts on service workers, we speak with Saru Jayaraman, the co-founder of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and president of One Fair Wage, which has launched an emergency fund to support workers during this time. We also speak with Damani Varnado, a restaurant worker who has worked in catering, fine dining and cocktailing for the past 20 years in New York City. He was working at the restaurant Tiny's & The Bar Upstairs when the whole staff was let go during the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak is a "devastating" blow to an industry that had "severe structural inequality problems that existed long before this crisis," Saru Jayaraman says.

Tuesday night's primary election for the Democratic presidential nomination was marred by chaos, confusion and fears over the spread of coronavirus at polling places as former Vice President Joe Biden consolidated his lead as he won Florida and Illinois by a wide margin and scored a victory in Arizona. We are joined by Vanita Gupta, former head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in the Obama administration, now president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights coalition. They issued a call with 100 voting rights groups for states to proceed with elections while protecting public health. We are also joined by Ro Khanna, Democratic congressmember from California and co-chair of Senator Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign.

Amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus at polling places, many Americans stayed home. Nearly one in five households have already experienced a layoff or a reduction in work due to the pandemic. Trump wants to inject more than $1 trillion into the economy and send a $1,000 check to everyone. This comes as the Senate is set to consider a multibillion-dollar package bill passed by the Democrat-led House Monday night that includes significantly weakened paid sick leave measures. We get response from California Congressmember Ro Khanna, who has also co-sponsored a bill for an emergency Earned Income Tax Credit that would give up to $6,000 to everyone who made less than $130,000 last year. His Bay Area district has been hit hard by the coronavirus, and about 7 million residents there have been told to stay home for all but the most crucial outings until April 7.

Global COVID-19 Cases Top 200,000 Worldwide with Over 8,000 Dead, Researchers: Left Unchecked, Coronavirus Could Kill 2.2 Million in U.S. , New Yorkers Prepare to Shelter in Place as Hospitals Face Severe Shortages, Coronavirus Fears Grow for Prisoners and Migrants in ICE Jails, Trump Admin Pushes Economic Stimulus Package Worth Over $1 Trillion, WHO Considers Airborne Precautions for Medical Workers After Coronavirus Found in Aerosols, Rewriting History, Trump Says "I've Always Known" About Pandemic, Internet Providers Drop Data Caps as Calls for Net Neutrality Grow, Biden Wins 3 States as Coronavirus Fears Cause Election Chaos, Sen. Bernie Sanders Outlines $2 Trillion Coronavirus Emergency Plan, Illinois Progressive Marie Newman Defeats Anti-Abortion Incumbent Dan Lipinski, China to Expel U.S. Journalists in Retaliation for Trump-Imposed Restrictions

A teenager's website tracking coronavirus has become one of the most vital resources for people seeking accurate and updated numbers on the pandemic. The URL is nCoV2019.live. We speak with 17-year-old Avi Schiffmann, a high school junior from Mercer Island outside Seattle, who started the site in late December, when coronavirus had not yet been detected outside of China. Now the site has been visited by tens of millions, from every country on Earth. It tracks deaths, numbers of cases locally and globally, and provides an interactive map, information on the disease, and a Twitter feed. The resource updates every minute or so, and pulls information from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and elsewhere.

As San Francisco takes the most severe measures in the country in response to COVID-19, telling 7 million people to shelter in place, we go inside the Bay Area's San Quentin State Prison, where two prison blocks are under partial quarantine, to speak with incarcerated journalist Juan Moreno Haines. We look at how the coronavirus pandemic is a growing threat to the 2.3 million people locked up in U.S. prisons and jails, as prisons across the country have been shut down in response to the spreading virus and calls grow for mass prison releases around the United States.

Europe is the epicenter of coronavirus, and Spain now has the second most cases in Europe, with more than 2,000 new cases in 24 hours and the number of deaths doubled. We'll go to Madrid for an update, where more than half of the country's cases have been reported. This comes as the Spanish government announced it is nationalizing hospitals and private healthcare companies to better manage the pandemic. We are joined by María Carrión, a freelance journalist and former Democracy Now! producer who is also executive director of FiSahara and co-founder of Nomads HRC, which focus on human rights in Western Sahara.

More Countries Enact Travel Bans, Isolation Measures, as Coronavirus Cases Top 183,000 , U.S. Braces for Spread of Coronavirus as Trump Lauds Gov't Response Despite Severe Lack of Testing, Stock Market Plummets as Trump Acknowledges Economy "May" Be Headed Toward Recession , Fire Kills Young Girl at Refugee Camp in Lesbos, Netanyahu Rival Benny Gantz Asked to Form New Government , U.S. to Pull Out of Several Iraqi Bases After Recent Attacks , Mitch McConnell Urging Conservative Judges to Retire While GOP Still Holds Senate & Presidency, Gunman Kills 5 People at Missouri Gas Station, Maryland Senate Passes Bill to Provide $580 Million to HBCUs

Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders faced off in their first one-on-one debate Sunday night in the midst of an unprecedented national crisis, with 3,600 reported COVID-19 cases, 61 deaths so far, 33 states closing schools and mass shutdowns in major cities. The rivals clashed on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, Medicare for All, the climate crisis, Joe Biden's record and whether or not the U.S. needs a revolution. We play highlights from the debate and get responses from scholars Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Michael Eric Dyson. Taylor is assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton who has endorsed Sanders, and Dyson is a Georgetown University professor, political analyst and author who has endorsed Biden.

Coronavirus Pandemic Death Toll Tops 6,500 Worldwide, About 170,000 Confirmed Cases, U.S. Coronavirus Cases Reach 3,600 as True Number of Infections Continues to be Unknown, Trump Tests Negative for Coronavirus After Being in Contact with Brazilian Official Infected with COVID-19, States Across U.S. Ramp Up Measures to Control Spread of Coronavirus, Including Massive School, Business Closures, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Rule That Would Have Thrown 700,000 People Off Food Stamps, AOC Confronts ICE Agent at LaGuardia Airport as 6 Migrant Children Detained in Texas Were Relocated to New York, Sanders, Biden Faced Off in First One-on-One Debate as Louisiana & Georgia Postpone Primaries, Rockets Strike U.S. Military Base in Iraq Following U.S. Airstrikes on Iranian-Backed Militia Groups Last Week, 2 Men Accused of Assassinating Brazilian Councilmember & Activist Marielle Franco to Face Jury Trial, Commemoration for 1st Anniversary of Christchurch Mosque Massacre in New Zealand Canceled Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Trump Says He's Considering Pardoning Former Nat'l Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Unhoused Mothers in L.A. Take Over Vacant House, Demand Local Gov't Use Vacant Properties to House People Immediately

It has been seven weeks since the first case of the new coronavirus was reported in the United States. President Trump is claiming, "Anybody that needs a test gets a test," but this is simply untrue. There have been just 11,000 tests so far throughout the United States since the coronavirus outbreak began, compared to nearly 20,000 tests for coronavirus every day in South Korea alone. We spend the hour looking at how the Trump administration has failed to account for what may be thousands of infections because of ongoing problems with access to testing, and how other countries have responded. We also discuss measures people must take to limit their exposure and protect their communities. We speak with Justin Lessler, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is the senior author on a new study that suggests the median incubation period for the new coronavirus is about five days. We are also joined by Dr. Steven Goodman, associate dean at Stanford Medical School, where he is professor of epidemiology and population health and medicine. He is also Amy Goodman's brother. Both schools are now holding classes online over concerns about the outbreak.

Coronavirus Infections Around the Globe Reach 135,000 People, Nearly 5,000 Dead, U.S. Coronavirus Infections Rise to 1,650 as Actual Number Believed to Be Higher, Dow Jones Plummets 10% in Biggest Drop Since 1987 , Trump Administration Faces Backlash for Handling of Coronavirus Outbreak, Testing, Brazilian President Bolsonaro's Aide Tests Positive for COVID-19 Days After Meeting with Trump, Philippines President Duterte Orders Lockdown in Manila Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Advocates Afraid of Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak in Immigration Jails Plagued by Medical Neglect, Democratic Presidential Debate Relocated from Arizona to D.C. over Coronavirus Outbreak, U.S. Launches Air Raids in Iraq Targeting Iran-Backed Militia in Retaliation for Rocket Attack on U.S., British Troops, Judge Orders Immediate Release of U.S. Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning After 1 Year in Jail, Trump Supporter Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison for Threatening to Assault & Murder Rep. Ilhan Omar, U.N. Warns Polar Ice Caps Melting Six Times Faster Than They Were in the 1990s , Outdated Anti-LGBTQ Law in South Carolina Declared Unconstitutional, Colorado Replaces Columbus Day with Holiday Honoring Patron Saint of Immigrants

We get an update from Italy, where 60 million people are under an unprecedented nationwide lockdown and the death toll has increased to at least 827, rising by 31% in just 24 hours. Authorities ordered all shops closed except food markets and pharmacies. Italy's economy has all but ground to a halt, with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte describing the outbreak as the country's "darkest hour." Italian journalist Antonella Serrecchia joins us from Milan, where she is a reporter for the online magazine The Vision.

As the number of coronavirus cases in the United States passes 1,300 cases with 38 deaths, more than 30 million workers lack access to paid sick leave. President Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night, saying he will expand sick leave as part of emergency response to the virus. But the same day, Republican senators blocked an attempt by Senate Democrats to quickly pass legislation requiring employers to grant paid sick leave. Meanwhile, Democrats in the House of Representatives will debate a package of bills Thursday to give workers 14 days of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave. Labor Department data says that one in four workers have no access to paid sick leave, including two-thirds of lowest earners. The U.S. is one of the only wealthy countries that does not require employers to offer its workers paid sick leave. We speak with Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute; Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union; and economist Robert Pollin, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

After downplaying the threat of coronavirus for days, President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday from the Oval Office, calling COVID-19 a "foreign virus" and announcing an unprecedented travel ban from most of Europe to the U.S. He also said he will expand sick leave. This comes as Senate Republicans blocked paid sick leave legislation. Robert Pollin, distinguished university professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, says the lack of universal healthcare in the U.S. is exacerbating the coronavirus crisis due to "the absurdity that people cannot feel confident that they are going to get medical treatment" when they need it most. In 2018, Pollin co-authored a paper titled "Economic Analysis of Medicare for All." His forthcoming book, co-authored with Noam Chomsky, is "The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet."

After a disappointing showing in Tuesday night's Democratic presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he will stay in the race. In his address from Burlington, Vermont, Sanders challenged his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, to address key issues like economic inequality, healthcare access and the climate crisis. Sanders is set to debate Biden this Sunday in Arizona. "It is not just the ideological debate that our progressive movement is winning. We are winning the generational debate," Sanders said. "While Joe Biden continues to do very well with older Americans, especially those people over 65, our campaign continues to win the vast majority of the votes of younger people. … Today, I say to the Democratic establishment, in order to win in the future, you need to win the voters who represent the future of our country, and you must speak to the issues of concern to them."

World Health Organization Declares Coronavirus Pandemic, Top Italian Health Official Among 827 Coronavirus Dead as Italy Faces "Darkest Hour", Iran Condemns U.S. Sanctions as "Medical Terrorism" as Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 429, President Trump Announces Europe Travel Ban in Error-Laden Oval Office Speech, U.S. Labs Face Shortage of Supplies Needed to Test for Coronavirus, Sen. Lamar Alexander Blocks Quick Passage of Paid Sick Leave Bill, School Closures from Coronavirus Affecting Over 1 Million K-12 Students Nationwide, Bernie Sanders Promises to Question Biden Over Progressive Policies at Next Debate, Joe Biden's Brother Faces Fraud Allegations over For-Profit Hospital Ties, Harvey Weinstein Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for Rape, Sexual Assault, 1 British Medic and 2 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Rocket Attack on Base Near Baghdad, Supreme Court Allows Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy to Stay in Place, Jailed U.S. Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Hospitalized After Suicide Attempt

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has passed 1,000 Tuesday, with the rate of infections likely increasing. Despite this, the U.S. continues to lag on testing, and healthcare workers say they lack adequate protection and protocols to allow them to safely care for infected patients. They also say the country's hospitals are woefully unprepared to handle the crisis. Nurses in the hot zones of California and Washington had already reported having to beg for face masks and lacking guidance on how to address the virus. We are joined by Jean Ross, president of National Nurses United, the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States, which says Centers for Disease Control actually weakened its guidelines on responding to the pandemic by rolling back requirements for protective gear, not requiring infected patients to be in negative pressure isolation rooms at all times, and decreasing healthcare worker protections. In response, nurses with the NNU are holding a national day of action today to demand better protections for healthcare workers and the public. We are also joined by Alicia Garza with the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Black Futures Lab, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, and Naomi Klein, senior correspondent at The Intercept and the inaugural Gloria Steinem chair of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University.

Former Vice President Joe Biden scored decisive primary victories Tuesday night in the key state of Michigan, along with Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho. Sanders won North Dakota and holds a lead in Washington state, but votes are still being counted, and the races are still too close to call. While Biden is less than halfway to the delegates he would need to secure the Democratic nomination, Sanders faces a decision about whether to continue his increasingly uphill fight for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination. This comes as Biden and Sanders called off their planned campaign rallies in Cleveland on Tuesday because of concerns over the coronavirus, which continues to spread, and Trump announced a new rally. We speak with Naomi Klein, senior correspondent at The Intercept and the inaugural Gloria Steinem chair of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University, and Alicia Garza, strategy and partnerships director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, principal at the Black Futures Lab and a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network.

National Guard Deployed to Coronavirus "Containment Area" Outside New York City, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Bans Public Gatherings of 250+, Classes and Sporting Events Canceled as Coronavirus Spreads Across U.S., Top U.S. Health Official: Start Taking Coronavirus Seriously, Worldwide Coronavirus Cases Top 121,000, Trump Floats $700 Billion Payroll Tax Cut Decried as Stealth Attack on Social Security , Joe Biden Wins Four States Including Michigan, Building Primary Lead Over Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden Threatens Detroit Autoworker, Calls Him "Full of Sh**" in Argument over Guns, Bernie Sanders Calls Long Lines at Michigan Polling Places an "Outrage", Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Intensifies Crackdown on Royal Family, Russian President Vladimir Putin Moves to Remain in Power Until 2036 , U.N. Rights Chief Says U.S. Sanctions Causing Shortages in Venezuela, Saint Paul, MN Teachers Strike for Mental Health Funding and Multilingual Interpreters

As the world responds to the COVID-19 outbreak, we look at how the Trump administration's immigration policies may put everyone at risk. We go to Seattle, Washington, not far from the Life Care Center in the suburb of Kirkland, which was the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. In nearby Tacoma, Washington, our guest says she saw posters in English only when she went to visit immigrants held in the Northwest Detention Center, which is run by private prison company GEO Group. We speak with Maru Mora-Villalpando, an activist and undocumented immigrant with the groups La Resistencia and Mijente, who issued a call for public health inspections of the Northwest Detention Center, due to the danger of coronavirus within the facility, along with other demands for how ICE should respond to the epidemic.

As Italy went on lockdown, nearly 30 prisons across the country broke into riots Sunday and Monday after visitation rights were suspended in response to the outbreak. In a prison in southern Italy, a riot left at least six incarcerated people dead and caused 50 people to escape. Prisoners have reportedly lit fires, charged guards and even escaped at multiple facilities. This comes as the United Nations confirmed that coronavirus had reached Iran's prisons, as the number of cases there continues to soar. Iran has temporarily freed some 70,000 prisoners in response to the coronavirus. And concerns are growing about the health of the at least 1 million Uyghur Muslims jailed in prison camps in western China, where at least 13 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the region of Xinjiang. In the U.S., New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing backlash after announcing Monday that New York state would respond to the growing coronavirus outbreak here by producing its own hand sanitizer made by prisoners for less than a dollar an hour. Not only will prisoners be making the 75% alcohol hand sanitizer for an average of 65 cents an hour, it's unclear if they will even be allowed to use it to protect themselves from infection. Items with alcohol are typically considered prisoner contraband. From Houston, we speak to Keri Blakinger, a reporter with The Marshall Project.

The entire country of Italy has been placed on lockdown in an attempt to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, impacting 60 million people. People in the nationwide red zone will only be allowed to travel for work, medical reasons or emergencies until early next month. All schools and universities will also remain closed, major sporting events are suspended, and airline passengers now have to justify their reasons for traveling. We go to Italy to speak with Romy Kool, an international student at Bocconi University in Milan, where courses are now being taught online amid the coronavirus outbreak. We are also joined by epidemiologists Thomas Bollyky with the Council on Foreign Relations and Alfredo Morabia, professor of epidemiology at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, City University of New York, and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Public Health.

The coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 113,000 people worldwide, and killed more than 4,000. We are joined by two epidemiologists to examine the response so far around the world and in the United States. Thomas Bollyky is director of the global health program, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the book "Plagues and the Paradox of Progress: Why the World Is Getting Healthier in Worrisome Ways." We're also joined by Alfredo Morabia, professor of epidemiology at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, City University of New York, and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Public Health.