Democracy Now!

We look at the mounting number of COVID-19 cases inside immigration jails across the country and one of the largest outbreaks at the Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego, run by private prison company CoreCivic. Prisoners were told to sign contracts, written only in English, in exchange for receiving face masks. When some refused to sign, guards pepper-sprayed them. This comes as activists say hundreds imprisoned in detention centers in California are on hunger strike. We get an update from Ruth Mendez, community activist and volunteer with Otay Mesa Detention Resistance.

As the White House and Democrats near a deal on a $450 billion coronavirus relief package, members of the Progressive Caucus say it bails out businesses once again and fails to protect working people. "In general, there's been kind of a disproportionate response that is reflected in the CARES Act. For individuals, for small businesses, it's very hard to get relief," says The American Prospect's executive editor, David Dayen. "But if you're a big corporation, the Federal Reserve has $4.5 trillion in reserves ready for you."

We look at how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting undocumented people here in New York City, where the coronavirus has hit immigrant communities the hardest, even as the numbers of daily deaths statewide has declined in recent days. As reports of widespread poverty and hunger continue in the immigrant communities, people are also organizing and helping each other through mutual aid despite extraordinarily difficult circumstances. We are joined by Juan Carlos Ruiz, Lutheran pastor at Good Shepherd Church in Brooklyn and co-founder of the national New Sanctuary Movement and the New Sanctuary Coalition here in New York City, and Cinthya Santos Briones, a Mexican photographer, anthropologist and community organizer.

We get an update from Democracy Now! co-host Juan González about his mother and wife, who were infected with COVID-19, and discuss how right-wing Trump supporters are brandishing automatic weapons at protests to demand an end to coronavirus shutdowns and are being egged on by the president. "We should make no mistake, that this country is edging closer and closer to neo-fascist authoritarianism," says González, expressing concern these actions will become normalized in the lead-up to a bitter national election in November.

Trump Says He Will Shut Down All Immigration to the U.S. Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Southern States to Reopen Businesses Despite Mounting COVID-19 Cases, Coronavirus Cases Surging in Massachusetts , NY Nurses Sue over Lack of Protection Against Coronavirus, MTA Moves Ahead with Increase in Police Force Despite Financial Hardship and Drop in Riders, Federal Judge Orders ICE to Consider Releasing Immigrants Vulnerable to COVID-19, SCOTUS to Consider Crucial Role of DACA First Responders, Airline Industry Receives $3 Billion in Gov't Funds as Flight Attendants Denounce Working Conditions, Disney to Stop Paying 100,000 Workers as Executives Rake in Millions, Smithfield Foods Blames Immigrant Workforce for Coronavirus Outbreak, 5-Year-Old Michigan Girl Dies from COVID-19, WHO Warns "Worst Is Ahead of Us" as Some Countries Relax Restrictions, Cases of COVID-19 Among Deported People Spreading the Virus Beyond U.S. Borders, Kim Jong-un Reportedly in Critical Condition After Surgery, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz Agree to Power-Sharing Deal , Hong Kong Arrests High-Profile Pro-Democracy Activists Amid Coronavirus Crisis, Oil Price Drops Below Zero for First Time Ever, NYC Councilmembers Unveil Resolution to Divest from Banks Financing Fossil Fuel Industry

Grocery stores are one of the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, with store workers and gig economy shoppers often working without protection, as demand for groceries soars and millions of Americans stay home. "At first, when the adrenaline was still there, we were essential. We were prideful. And now, as we get more into it, that's wearing off, and it's seeming more like expendable," says Matthew Telles, a member of the Gig Workers Collective, who is a personal shopper who helped organize a strike by Instacart workers in March to demand the company implement appropriate safety measures and give them hazard pay.

We continue our conversation with Dr. Armen Henderson, an African-American doctor in Miami who was handcuffed outside his home while preparing for a volunteer shift to help protect homeless people from the spread of COVID-19. The encounter has sparked widespread outrage, and Miami's police chief has now tested positive for COVID-19 and is in self-isolation. Dr Henderson has taken a test himself and is waiting for results — and accountability.

U.S. Fatalities Top 40,000; Nursing Homes Hit Hard as Death Tolls Soar, Trump and Governors at Odds over Coronavirus Testing as Uneven Reopening of States Commences, Right-Wing Groups Organize Anti-Lockdown Protests Around the Country, New Deal on Relief for Small Businesses Could Be Imminent But May Lack Key Democratic Provisions, Immigrant Prisoners at Otay Mesa Launch Hunger Strike, Denounce Inhumane Treatment, Michael Cohen to Be Released from Federal Detention as Prisoners Nationwide Face Mounting Coronavirus Risk, Italy Records Lowest Daily Death Toll in a Week; Spain & France Also Show Signs of Progress, Report Reveals Boris Johnson Skipped Early Gov't Meetings About Coronavirus Threat, Fire Rips Through Packed Greek Refugee Camp After Protest over Death of Iraqi Asylum Seeker, Thousands in Tel Aviv Protest Against Netanyahu's Coronavirus Response, WHO Warns Severe COVID-19 Cases in Africa Could Reach 10 Million , Afghan President Self-Isolates After 40 Palace Employees Test Positive for COVID-19, Brazil's Bolsonaro Coughs into Crowd at Anti-Quarantine Rally, Mumbai to Test Hydroxychloroquine on Some of City's Poorest Residents, 100,000 Bangladeshis Defy Lockdown to Attend Mass Funeral, South Korean Infections Fall to Single Digits, But Questions Remain over Relapse Risk, Canada Gunman Kills at Least 16 in Nova Scotia Shooting Rampage, Trump Admin Rolls Back Regulations on Toxic Mercury Emissions, West Coast and Northern Mexico Headed Toward Record-Breaking Mega-Drought

A new policy at New York City's public hospitals requires medical workers who call in sick to produce a doctor's note. "We know that people just need a mental health day," says Sean Petty, a registered nurse at a public hospital in the Bronx who is organizing a protest against the policy. "Thousands of us have been exposed. Health workers are the least tested group of people in this city." Petty is a member of the board of directors of the New York State Nurses Association.

We continue our conversation with world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky. He responds to President Trump's cuts to U.S. support for the World Health Organization and the surge in deaths in the United States to another record high, and discusses conditions in Gaza, the rise of authoritarianism around the world, and the progressive response. "This is typical behavior of autocrats and dictators. When you make colossal errors which are killing thousands of people, find somebody else to blame," say Chomsky. "In the United States, it's unfortunately the case, for well over a century, century and a half, that it's always easy to blame the 'yellow peril.'"

U.S. COVID-19 Deaths Surge to New Record High as 4,500+ People Die in 24 Hours, New York COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 12,000 While Hospitalizations Continue to Fall, CDC Investigating SD Pork Processing Plant, Single Biggest COVID-19 Hot Spot in U.S., Nurses Suspended in CA for Refusing to Treat COVID-19 Patients Without N95 Masks, $349B Paycheck Protection Program for Small Businesses Exhausted, USAA Will No Longer Seize Stimulus Checks; ProPublica Finds Landlords Violated Eviction Ban, NY Gov. Cuomo Rules Out Relief for Undocumented Residents, UnitedHealth Group Profits Surge as Coronavirus Spreads, Report: COVID-19 Cases in U.S. Amazon Warehouses Will Likely Skyrocket, China Revises COVID-19 Death Toll in Wuhan Upwards by 50% Since Outbreak First Emerged, Brazil's Bolsonaro Abruptly Fires Health Minister for Urging Social Distancing , Guatemalan Indigenous Communities Fear Country's Health System Unprepared to Respond to COVID-19, Nigerian Security Forces Have Killed at Least 18 While Enforcing Social Distancing Rules, Puerto Ricans Protest Gov. Vázquez Coronavirus "Propaganda," Demand More COVID-19 Testing on Island, U.N. Warns of Pandemic's "Potentially Catastrophic" Toll on Children, Lila Fenwick, First Black Woman to Graduate Harvard Law in '56, Dies of COVID-19, Vice: Ex-Michigan Gov. Snyder Knew About Flint Water Crisis as Early as 2014 & Lied About It to Congress, Alaska Says Surgical Abortions Could Be Banned During Coronavirus Pandemic

Officials in India say six major cities are coronavirus hot spots, including the capital city, New Delhi. We go there to speak with writer and activist Arundhati Roy, who has a new essay on how "The Pandemic Is a Portal." She says, "You have the sense that you're sitting on some kind of explosive substance," and describes how the government of Narendra Modi is using the pandemic to crack down on opponents and dissidents.

With the largest one-day death toll in the U.S. yet — 2,400 in just 24 hours — President Trump is trying to deflect attention from his handling of the pandemic by waging a war on public health experts and science, threatening to cut World Health Organization funding and fueling a theory that the coronavirus came from a lab in Wuhan, China. We speak to a zoologist who has been sounding the alarm about a coming pandemic for years. "The idea that this virus escaped from a lab is just pure baloney," says Peter Daszak, disease ecologist and the president of EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that works globally to identify and study our vulnerabilities to emerging infectious disease. "These pandemic viruses that emerge originate in wildlife."

Trump Pushes to Reopen Economy by May as Doctors and CEOs Object, 22 Million U.S. Workers File for Unemployment in Just Four Weeks, Tax Loopholes in Coronavirus Relief Bill to Overwhelmingly Benefit the Wealthiest, New York Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 11,500 as Governor Orders Wearing of Masks in Public, Medical Workers Demand More Safety Measures as COVID-19 Deaths Mount, Michigan Protesters Defy Social Distancing Rules, Demanding End to Quarantine, Mexico Faces Shortage of Medical Workers as COVID-19 Spreads, French Aircraft Carrier Evacuated as Nearly 700 Sailors Test Positive for COVID-19, Swedish COVID-19 Cases Multiply as Public Spaces Remain Open, Asylum Seekers Protest in Immigration Jails as COVID-19 Deaths Mount, Prisoners at Chicago Jail Report Desperate Conditions as COVID-19 Spreads, Pennsylvania Prisoner Dies of COVID-19 Days Before Scheduled Review of Innocence Claims, Political Prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal Reports No COVID-19 Symptoms, Worker Dies of COVID-19 at South Dakota Pork Factory Where 640 Tested Positive, African-American Pastors Call for Equity in Coronavirus Testing, New Jersey Rolls Out First Saliva-Based COVID-19 Test, Sen. Elizabeth Warren Endorses Joe Biden, Says She Would Serve as Vice President, South Korean President's Party Wins Landslide in High-Turnout Election, New Research Confirms Greenland Ice Sheet Suffered Record Melt in 2019, U.S. Judge Revokes Crucial Permit for Keystone XL Pipeline, Transgender Woman Murdered in Baltimore; ACLU Sues Idaho over Trans Athlete Law

We speak with Dr. Armen Henderson, an African-American doctor who was handcuffed and detained outside his home Friday as he was wearing a mask and preparing for a volunteer shift to test homeless people for COVID-19. "I want the officer held accountable. There's no way that you racially profile me and then you arrest me, detain me, during a pandemic, when you have no mask on, where hundreds of police officers throughout Miami-Dade County have tested positive," says Dr. Henderson, who is an internal medicine physician, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Miami and an organizer with Dream Defenders.

As the COVID-19 death toll continues to rise in the U.S., fear is mounting that the spread of the virus could devastate tribal communities. We look at how the coronavirus is impacting Indian Country with Dean Seneca, a citizen of the Seneca Nation and epidemiologist who spent nearly 20 years as a senior health scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Navajo activist and artist Emma Robbins, director of the Navajo Water Project, a community-managed utility alternative that brings hot and cold running water to homes without access to water or sewer lines. "One of the hardest things right now is being able to wash your hands in the Navajo Nation," says Robbins. The Navajo Nation is the largest tribal nation in the United States and the hardest hit by the outbreak, with nearly 30 deaths and more than 830 confirmed cases.

As the confirmed cases of coronavirus surpass 2 million around the world, President Donald Trump says he will cut U.S. support for the World Health Organization. Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet medical journal, called it a "crime against humanity." Oxfam America said the cuts slash "any hopes for the responsible international cooperation and solidarity that is critical to save lives and restore the global economy." This comes as a new Oxfam report estimates the pandemic's economic fallout could push more than half a billion more people into poverty. We get response from Paul O'Brien, vice president of Oxfam America.

Lancet Editor Calls Trump's WHO Funding Freeze a "Crime Against Humanity", NYC Coronavirus Toll Tops 10,000 as Thousands of Uncounted Deaths Added, Health Official Says COVID-19 May Be Present in All New Jersey Nursing Homes , California Governor Outlines Roadmap for Easing Coronavirus Lockdown, Florida Governor Declares Pro Wrestling an "Essential Service" Amid Lockdown, Pandemic to Increase U.S. Budget Deficit to World War II Levels, IMF Warns Global Economy Faces Worst Downturn Since Great Depression, Indian PM Modi Cracks Down on Political Opponents Amid Coronavirus Lockdown, Scientists Warn 400,000 Will Die of Coronavirus in Japan Without Tough Measures, Italy and Spain Relax Lockdowns as COVID-19 Deaths Surge in U.K., Germany, Turkey's Release of 45,000 Prisoners Won't Include Political Prisoners, COVID-19 Deaths and Infections in Ecuador and Brazil Go Largely Uncounted, Guatemalan Surge of COVID-19 Cases Blamed on U.S. Deportations, China Approves Two More Clinical Trials of Potential Coronavirus Vaccines, Prisoner Deaths Mount as Coronavirus Spreads Rapidly Behind Bars, New York Police Detain Child for Social Distancing Violation in Subway, Barack Obama Endorses Joe Biden for President, Ohio Delays Executions Amid Shortage of Death Penalty Drugs

We look at the spike in coronavirus infections at meatpacking plants. In just one case, Smithfield Foods shut down a plant responsible for 5% of U.S. pork production after more than 350 workers at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, deaths of slaughterhouse workers have been reported in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Colorado. Many meat processing facilities employ large numbers of immigrants, including undocumented workers. We speak with Wenonah Hauter, executive director and founder of Food & Water Watch, and with Magaly Licolli, executive director of Venceremos, an advocacy group for poultry plant workers, based in Springdale, Arkansas, home to Tyson Foods headquarters.

As the coronavirus sweeps through the United States, the country's 2.5 million farmworkers are continuing to go to work every day, often facing crowded and unsanitary conditions without personal protective equipment, for poverty wages. We speak with Gerardo Reyes Chávez, a farmworker leader with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, who describes the conditions farmworkers in Florida are facing and how they are calling on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to protect farmworkers during the COVID-19 crisis, and with Mónica Ramírez, president and founder of Justice for Migrant Women and co-founder of the National Farmworkers Women's Alliance.

As the United States leads the world in both reported COVID-19 cases and death toll, hospitals at other coronavirus hot spots around the country are reporting dire conditions as they deal with a surge in critically sick patients. "We have to ask ourselves why, in a country that spends so much money on healthcare, are we still having problems producing the most basic equipment, [such as masks, gowns and tests]," says Democracy Now! co-host, Juan González, who describes how he struggled to get his own 92-year-old mother tested when he took her to the emergency room in New Jersey. "It is just an outrage that this discontinues to bedevil a country as wealthy as ours. And I really believe it's part of this whole situation of this neoliberal view of how to run the market."

New York Says Coronavirus Cases May Be Stabilizing But Hospitals Still Overwhelmed, 50 NYC Education Employees, Including At Least 21 School Teachers, Have Died of COVID-19, New Jersey Grapples with Surge in Cases as Deaths Mount in Veterans' and Nursing Homes, Deceased COVID-19 Patients Were Piled into Vacant Rooms as Detroit Hospital Overwhelmed with Cases, Virginia Pastor Who Held Packed Services, Defying Order to "Stay at Home," Dies of COVID-19, Sailor from Coronavirus-Stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt Dies of COVID-19, At Least 19 Immigrant Children Infected with COVID-19 at Chicago Facility, Demolition of Chicago Power Plant Releases Plumes of Dust, Stoking Fears for Health of Residents, Trump Declares "Ultimate Authority" After Governors Announce Plan to Work Together on Reopening States, Bernie Sanders Endorses Joe Biden, Says Their Campaigns Will Work Together, Joe Biden and Liberal Judge Jill Karofsky Win Wisconsin Election Marred by Coronavirus Threat, France Extends Coronavirus Lockdown, Acknowledges Missteps in Response, Turkey Prepares to Release 10,000s of Prisoners, Calls Mount for Release of Afro-Bolivian Coca Union Leader Elena Flores, Kashmir Tensions on the Rise as Residents Face New Lockdown Challenges from COVID-19, SCOTUS to Hear Arguments Via Teleconference for First Time

Water shutoffs continue amid the coronavirus pandemic in Detroit, despite a moratorium and a program to help thousands of residents restore service last month. The lack of water access comes as nearly 1,500 people in Michigan have died from COVID-19, and 40% of those who have died are African-American, despite making up just 14% of the state's population. We speak with community pastor and activist Rev. Roslyn Bouier, who has been working with residents to restore their water.

The coronavirus hot spot Detroit is the site of the first major U.S. study into whether or not the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine could help prevent the spread of COVID-19. This comes after weeks of President Trump promoting the drug despite warnings from medical experts. "There's been a lot of hype from the president, and that is so problematic, because we know that hydroxychloroquine … has some potential side effects that can be really dangerous,” responds Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and epidemiologist who is the former head of Detroit's Health Department.

As the United States surpasses the coronavirus death toll of any country in the world with more than 22,000 dead, we look how President Trump led the country to this point with Eric Lipton, lead author of The New York Times's explosive new exposé, "He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump's Failure on the Virus."

U.S. Leads in Coronavirus Death Toll, as Trump Eyes Easing Restrictions in Weeks, Trump Moves to Slash Pay for Essential Migrant Farmworkers, USPS Says It Will Become Insolvent Without Gov't Help, But Trump Refuses to Bail It Out, 200+ Prisoners Released in Philadelphia After Weeks of Protest Calling for Decarceration, Protests Call Out Mounting COVID-19 Cases at Immigrant Prisons in Arizona, California, Mounting COVID-19 Clusters Reported at Meat Processing Plants, Almost 600 Sailors On Board USS Theodore Roosevelt Test Positive for COVID-19, Judge Blocks Alabama Coronavirus Abortion Ban; Texas Providers Ask SCOTUS to Allow Medical Abortions, Boris Johnson Leaves Hospital, Lauds NHS as U.K. Health Workers Say They Lack Critical Protection, Italy Extends Lockdown, Spain Eases Restrictions, and Russia Notes Surge in COVID-19 Cases, China Reports Spike in New "Imported" COVID-19 Cases, Yanomami Teen Dies of COVID-19 as Fears Mount of Outbreaks Among Indigenous Groups, Chloroquine Study in Brazil Halted After 11 Patients Died, War-Displaced Syrians Return Home as They Now Flee the Coronavirus, DRC Reports New Ebola Cases as Health Authorities Tackle Triple Public Health Crisis, Liberians Say They Fear Hunger More Than COVID-19 as Police Violently Enforce Lockdown, Africans in China Say They Are Being Targeted Amid Coronavirus Crackdown, OPEC Deal Will Cut Oil Production by 10% in Effort to Stem Crash in Oil Prices, Canada Subsidizes Employee Salaries in Bid to Curb Unemployment , Fiancée of Julian Assange Reveals Couple Have 2 Children, Calls for His Release , NYT Reports on Tara Reade's Joe Biden Sexual Assault Allegation But Retracts Mention of Prior Sexual Misconduct

How did the United States — the richest country in the world — become the worldwide epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, with one person dying of COVID-19 every 47 seconds? We spend the hour with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, discussing this unprecedented moment in history, and its political implications, as Senator Bernie Sanders announces he is suspending his campaign for the presidency. Chomsky also describes how frontline medical workers and progressive organizing are giving him hope.

COVID-19 Patients Dying Every Minute in the United States, Epicenter of the Pandemic, 17 Million U.S. Workers File Unemployment Claims in Just Three Weeks, New York City Workers Dig Mass Graves Amid Surge of COVID-19 Deaths, President Trump Pushes to Reopen U.S. Economy Despite Severe Shortage of Tests, California Nursing Home with COVID-19 Cases Evacuated After Workers' No-Show, Kansas Governor Sues to Halt Church Congregations Ahead of Easter, Chicago Prisoners Post Signs in Jail Windows: "Help, No Supply" and "We're Dying", NYC Cathedral Won't Partner with Christian Fundamentalist Field Hospital Group over LGBTQ Rights, Pope Francis to Live-Stream Easter Services from Empty St. Peter's Basilica, French COVID-19 Death Toll to Jump by 40% Once Home Deaths Counted, Spain Likely to Extend Stay-at-Home Orders into May; EU Finance Ministers Agree to $590B Bailout, China Locks Down Russian Border City as Other Regions Ease Restrictions, Mexico City Sex Workers Left Homeless Without Benefits as Coronavirus Spreads, U.S. Healthcare Workers Demand Protective Gear in National Day of Action, Joe Biden Calls for Medicare Eligibility Age to Be Lowered from 65 to 60, 10,000 Asylum Seekers Deported to Mexico as Trump Admin Stops Processing Claims, Lawsuit Charging Trump Family with Pyramid Scheme Will Be Publicly Litigated, Chemical Weapons Watchdog Blames Syrian Government for 2017 Attacks

We speak with family physician and epidemiologist Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones about how the coronavirus is taking a devastating toll on black Americans, who are disproportionately dying from the virus across the country as a result of entrenched racial inequality. Black Americans are more likely to have chronic health problems and less likely to have insurance. They also make up significant numbers of frontline workers that are still going to work amid the pandemic. Jones is the former president of the American Public Health Association. Her recent piece for Newsweek magazine is headlined "Coronavirus Disease Discriminates. Our Health Care Doesn't Have To."

In a new interview, world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky reflects on the significance of the Bernie Sanders campaign, calling it "an extraordinary success" that "completely shifted the arena of debate and discussion" in the United States.

We talk to journalist and activist Naomi Klein about Bernie Sanders's historic presidential campaign as he suspends his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination, and about coronavirus capitalism — President Trump's response to the pandemic. Sanders "opened up the window of what was possible politically in this country,” says Klein, a senior correspondent at The Intercept, Rutgers University professor and longtime Sanders supporter.

Senator Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, making former Vice President Joe Biden the presumptive nominee to face Donald Trump in November. Sanders says he will stay on the ballot in remaining primary races and continue to assemble delegates. We play highlights from Sanders’s speech to supporters in a live stream on Wednesday. "Together, we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become, and have taken this country a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice," he said.

Coronavirus Pandemic Could Push 600 Million More People into Poverty, New York Reports Record 779 Coronavirus Deaths in Just 24 Hours, General Motors to Deliver 30,000 Ventilators, with Most Arriving Long After Projected COVID-19 Peak, Kansas to Allow Crowded Church Services as L.A. Expands Order on Face Coverings, California Fast-Food Workers Strike, Demanding Hazard Pay and Protections Against COVID-19, Trump Touts Unproven Treatments of Hydroxychloroquine and Zinc for COVID-19, World Health Organization Head: "Please Don't Politicize This Virus", Researchers Find Coronavirus Arrived in New York from Europe in Mid-February, Bernie Sanders Suspends Presidential Campaign, Saudi-Led Coalition in Yemen Declares Ceasefire as Coronavirus Takes Toll on Royal Family, Palestinians Plead for Lifting of Gaza Blockade as Coronavirus Tests Run Out, Italy to Close Ports to Migrant Aid Ships; Asylees in Greece Must Remain in Camps, Hundreds of Bolivians Trapped in Quarantine as Chile Seals Border, 13-Year-Old Charlotte Figi, Whose Epilepsy Was Eased by Medical Cannabis, Dies of Suspected COVID-19, Air Pollution Plummets Worldwide Amid Coronavirus Lockdowns, ACLU Demands Investigation After Migrant Forced to Birth Baby in Border Patrol Custody

The coronavirus pandemic is exhausting Ecuador's medical resources, with at least 220 dead and more than 4,000 cases. Ecuador is among the top three countries with the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the entire Latin American region. In recent days, images of dead bodies wrapped in plastic tarp left on the streets of the city of Guayaquil as families desperately try to bury loved ones have shocked the entire country and the world. Guayaquil is Ecuador's most populous city and the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. We speak with Denisse Herrera, the Ecuador correspondent for teleSUR.

As millions shelter in place around the world, we speak with Albert Woodfox, who served the longest time in solitary confinement of any prisoner in the United States. Known as one of the Angola Three, along with Robert King and Herman Wallace, Woodfox was held in isolation for nearly 44 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. He was convicted of killing a guard in jail, but always maintained his innocence. He says he was targeted for co-founding the first Black Panther chapter in Angola. He was released in 2016 and is now 73 years old. His memoir is "Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement. My Story of Transformation and Hope." Woodfox says that while speaking to people around the country, he is often asked to describe what solitary confinement is like. "We never had a reference other than our own experience," he says, "but this coronavirus pandemic, now people have a small window into what it is like."

Louisiana faces one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the United States. New data shows black people account for 70% of all the state's coronavirus deaths, though they comprise just 32% of the state's population. Louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are black. At least 28 people are infected, and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. State corrections officials are sending infected prisoners to the Louisiana State Penitentiary — known as Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the United States — where they are being held in Camp J, a notorious part of the prison that was shut down in 2018 because of inhumane treatment. 
The ACLU of Louisiana sued to stop the statewide transfer of COVID-19 patients to Angola prison, but a judge denied the request last Thursday. We speak with Alanah Odoms Hebert, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, and Albert Woodfox, who served the longest time in solitary confinement of any prisoner in the United States — 44 years in Angola prison. His memoir is "Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement. My Story of Transformation and Hope."

Lines stretching city blocks, hours-long waits and polling officials in hazmat suits. That's the scene voters in Wisconsin encountered as they braved the polls Tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic. Despite growing outcry about the risks to public health and safety that in-person voting would pose, on Monday the state Supreme Court blocked Democratic Governor Tony Evers's ruling to delay the election until June. At least 92 people in Wisconsin have died from exposure to COVID-19. In Milwaukee — the most diverse city in Wisconsin — the number of polling stations went from 180 to five. We speak with Jesse Wegman, longtime journalist and member of The New York Times editorial board.

U.S. Daily Death Toll Nears 2,000 as Hundreds of COVID-19 Deaths Go Uncounted, Trump Announces Hold on U.S. Funding for World Health Organization, Then Reverses Stance, New WH Press Secretary Said Recently, "We Will Not See Diseases Like the Coronavirus Come Here", Trump Fires Inspector General Tasked with Overseeing $2 Trillion Stimulus, China Lifts Lockdown in Wuhan, Where Coronavirus Pandemic Began, EU Coronavirus Stimulus Talks Fail as Deaths Surge in Spain and France, Libyan Rebels Attack Hospital for COVID-19 Patients; Chadian Ex-Dictator Released from Prison, International Labour Organization: Pandemic Could Wipe Out 195 Million Full-Time Jobs, San Francisco Protesters Demand ICE Release Jailed Asylum Seekers, Wisconsin Holds In-Person Voting in Midst of Deadly Pandemic, Floridians Left Unemployed by Pandemic Crowd Public Spaces Seeking Benefits, Chicago Mayor Demands More Reporting on Racial Disparity in COVID-19 Deaths, Acting U.S. Naval Secretary Fired over Handling of Outbreak Aboard Aircraft Carrier, Hospitals Say FEMA Is Seizing Medical Supplies for Unknown Reasons, COVID-19 Claims Songwriter John Prine, Producer Hal Willner and New Jersey Politician Michael Yun, Federal Court Allows Texas Abortion Ban to Remain in Effect During Pandemic, Dozens Dead as Category 5 Cyclone Devastates South Pacific Islands

As millions hope to receive support as soon as possible from the massive coronavirus stimulus bill passed by Congress without adequate oversight mechanisms, we look at who will benefit from "extraordinary asymmetrical assistance" that went to corporations instead of working people. "Some of the people who need it the most are not getting it," says Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "This contributes to a public health crisis in addition to an economic one." She also discusses plans for the 2020 election and a "progressive future" for the United States with a single-payer health system and a living wage.

As COVID-19 deaths spike in African-American and immigrant communities, almost a third of New York City's infections are in Queens, one of the most diverse places in the world, and many in the hardest-hit neighborhoods are undocumented and working-class. We speak with Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the neighborhoods at the epicenter of the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, about how the Trump administration's response to the pandemic is causing "deaths of incompetence," "deaths of science denial" and "deaths of inequality."

Just a week "after Amazon fired":https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/31/headlines/amazon_fires_organizer_of_staten_island_strike_action a worker who led a walkout, workers at the same Staten Island warehouse walked off the job again Monday to protest unsafe working conditions as online orders soar during the pandemic. We get an update from Angeles Solis, lead organizer at Make the Road New York, which helped organize the strike. Solis helps lead the group's Beyond Amazon coalition in New York City. If Amazon doesn't do more to protect workers, "they are not only profiting from this pandemic, but they're helping to perpetuate it," Solis says. We also talk about mutual aid organizing among immigrant and low-income communities, and Make the Road's COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund.

Boris Johnson in Intensive Care for COVID-19, U.K.'s Foreign Secretary Deputized, Most of U.S. Population Told to Stay Home as Medical Equipment Shortages Continue to Mar Response, Trump Ignored Coronavirus Warnings from His Own Administration as Early as January, Grocery Stores Report Coronavirus Deaths as Workers Say They Are Not Receiving Adequate Protection, WI Primary Vote Goes Ahead After Ruling by State Supreme Court; SCOTUS Throws Out Mail-in Ballot Extension, New York Appears to Flatten COVID-19 Curve as Cuomo Tightens Preventive Measures, Gov't Called to Release Data on Racial Makeup of COVID-19 Deaths as Black People Suffer Greatest Impact, ACLU Sues Louisiana Prison After 5 COVID-19 Deaths Reported, Domestic Violence Has Surged Around the World Since Start of Pandemic , Spain Says It Will Implement a Universal Basic Income as France Reports Highest Daily Death Toll, Guatemala Moves to Restrict Deportations During Pandemic, Trans Activists in Latin America Speak Out Against Policies That Restrict Outings by Sex, Medical Workers in Pakistan Arrested, Beaten for Protesting Lack of Protective Gear, India Halts Plan to Restrict Hydroxychloroquine Exports After Trump Threatens to Retaliate, WHO Condemns Racist Suggestion by French Doctors to Test COVID-19 Vaccine in Africa, Multiple Countries Say U.S. Is Intercepting Critical Medical Gear Shipments Around the World, Cardinal Pell Walks Free After Court Overturns Conviction for Sexually Assaulting Boys, U.N.: Deadly Shelling of Yemen Women's Prison Could Amount to a War Crime, U.S. Labels Russian White Supremacist Group a Terrorist Organization

As millions of worshipers around the globe enter the month of April preparing to celebrate Holy Week, Passover and Ramadan in the age of coronavirus, Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan is set to open its doors to 400 beds for non-COVID-19 patients to make more space in the hospitals for those suffering from the coronavirus. But there's a catch: The city is partnering with the Christian fundamentalist group Samaritan's Purse, led by Franklin Graham, a virulently Islamophobic, anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ preacher. Last week, the group erected an emergency field hospital in Central Park to treat spillover patients from Mount Sinai Hospital. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised to send aides to monitor the group to prevent discrimination against patients. We speak to Bishop Clifton Daniel, the dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, who says he rejects the values of Samaritan's Purse but welcomes their help regardless. "We are in the business of saving lives and helping people," Dean Daniel says. "If you are in the desert dying of thirst and somebody hands you a glass of water, you don't check their driver's license. You just say 'thank you.'"

U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued an emergency order Friday calling for the release of vulnerable federal prisoners into home confinement amid the coronavirus crisis. This news comes as at least 16 states have also released prisoners. We look at the treatment of incarcerated people in New York state, where Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to grant anyone freedom despite at least 24 confirmed cases among state prisoners. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he'll release about 300 people from Rikers Island and other city jails, but advocates are calling for far more to be freed. We speak to José Díaz, a New York University graduate student who was just released from Rikers on Saturday morning. We also speak with Jose Saldana, director of the group Release Aging People in Prison.

As New York state's death toll from coronavirus passes 4,000, nurses and medical workers on the frontlines in New York City are protesting for better protections. We go to a demonstration outside Harlem Hospital to speak with Sarah Dowd, a registered nurse who works in its medical/surgical unit and has been treating COVID-19-positive patients. She is a member of the New York State Nurses Association union. "This is not a time for people to be sitting on the sidelines," Dowd says. "We need to make big demands of the system."

Coronavirus Cases Surge in U.S., Surgeon General Warns of "Pearl Harbor Moment", Gov. Cuomo Slashes Medicaid as New York Struggles to Get Handle on COVID-19 Cases, Black Communities Hit Disproportionately Hard by Coronavirus , Coronavirus Cases Appear to Level Off in Parts of Europe, But Death Tolls Remain High, Boris Johnson Hospitalized for Acute Coronavirus Symptoms, Japan's Shinzo Abe to Declare Emergency; Filipino Police Kills Man Who Flouted Coronavirus Rules, Low-Paid Garment Workers in Bangladesh Face Mass Unemployment , Former Prime Ministers of Somalia and Libya Die from COVID-19, Complaint Filed at ICC over Jair Bolsonaro's Handling of Coronavirus Outbreak; Death Toll Mounts in Honduras , Trump Ignores His Govt's Recommendations, Says He Won't Wear Face Mask and Touts Anti-Malarial Drug, Immigrant Women Launch Hunger Strike in Tacoma, WA as COVID-19 Cases Rise in Immigration Jails , Employees at Chicago Amazon, Food Processing Plants Among Rising Worker Actions Amid Pandemic, Tiger at Bronx Zoo Tests Positive for COVID-19, Construction of Keystone XL Pipeline to Resume Despite Coronavirus and Environmental Threats, Fired U.S. Navy Captain Brett Crozier Tests Positive for COVID-19 , Trump Fires Intelligence Community Watchdog Michael Atkinson , Longtime AP Writer, Deputy Tech Editor Anick Jesdanun Dies of COVID-19, Journalist & Economist Martin Khor, Who Fought for Ecological Rights in the Global South, Dies at 68, Legendary Soul Singer Bill Withers, Known for "Lean on Me" & "Ain't No Sunshine," Dies at 81

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all prisoners from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Since the implementation of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers from regions like Central America and Africa have been stranded in Mexican border cities waiting for their asylum cases to resolve in U.S. courts. We speak to Laura Molinar, founder and executive director of Sueños Sin Fronteras de Tejas, a Latinx, women of color-led collective providing support to immigrant and asylee women, children and families.

Taiwan, despite being just 100 miles from mainland China with regular flights to and from Wuhan, has successfully staved off the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. The country has so far seen five deaths and just under 350 confirmed cases, and most schools and businesses remain open. How did Taiwan do it? "Aggressive action," says Dr. Jason Wang, the former project manager for Taiwan's National Health Insurance Reform Task-force. He is now the director of the Center for Policy, Outcomes and Prevention and associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at Stanford University. He speaks with us about Taiwan's strategy and what the world can learn from it.

In the Philippines, authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he's ordered soldiers to shoot to kill residents if they resist a strict lockdown on the island of Luzon. His order came after residents of Manila's Quezon City shanty town staged a protest, saying they've gone hungry without food promised when the lockdown began more than two weeks ago. The Philippines death toll is 136 with more than 3,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. As those numbers grow, nurses and doctors report a drastic lack of personal protective equipment. While the Philippines has seen a surge in cases, Indonesia is now reporting the second most fatalities in Asia after China with 181 dead. Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan have also had success in containing the virus. For more on how countries in the region are responding to coronavirus, we speak with Natashya Gutierrez, editor-in-chief of VICE Asia.

Nurses in California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada and Texas are protesting one of the nation's largest hospital chains for a "lack of preparedness" amid the coronavirus pandemic. They're calling on HCA Healthcare to provide optimal personal protective equipment, or PPE, for nurses and other staff. In New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, nurses and doctors at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx protested Thursday over the lack of PPE. Today another protest is underway in front of Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan calling for more PPE, better staffing and COVID-19 testing for frontline staff. Live from the protest, we speak with Tre Kwon, an ICU nurse at Mount Sinai West and a member of the COVID-19 Frontline Workers Task Force at Mount Sinai Hospital. Kwon ended her maternity leave early to help her colleagues address the COVID-19 pandemic, which is overwhelming New York City hospitals. Kwon is also a member of Left Voice.