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Updated 2024-11-24 07:15
Third White Man Arrested for Murder in Ahmaud Arbery Shooting as DOJ Considers Hate Crime Charges
Authorities have arrested a third white man for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, this one charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. We speak with civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump about how William Bryan filmed Arbery jogging down a narrow road in Brunswick, Georgia, in broad daylight, before he was confronted by two armed white men — retired police officer Gregory McMichael and his son Travis — who shot him three times. "This was never about any trespassing or burglary," Crump says. "This was always about profiling Ahmaud Arbery because of the color of his skin."
Headlines for May 22, 2020
Unemployment Claims Reach 38.6 Million in Worst U.S. Economic Crisis Since Depression, As Millions Lose Jobs, the Billionaire Class Sees Wealth Soar by $434 Billion During Pandemic, COVID Cases Spike in Brazil, Mexico, India & Indonesia as Outbreak Grows in Global South, World Bank: 3 Billion People Don't Have Access to Clean Water & Soap, U.S. COVID Death Toll Tops 95,000, Trump Refuses to Wear Mask in Front of Media at Ford Plant in Michigan, Report: Striking Racial Divide Found in Nursing Homes Impacted by COVID Outbreak, COVID Racial Data Tracker Documents How Pandemic Is Devastating Communities of Color, Police in Georgia Arrest Third White Man in Murder of Black Jogger Ahmaud Arbery, U.S. Threatens to Spend Adversaries "Into Oblivion" in New Nuclear Arms Race as Trump Withdraws from Arms Treaty, Progressive Democrats Call for Reducing Military Spending in Wake of COVID Outbreak, Cyclone Death Toll in Bangladesh and India Tops 80, China Considers New Security Law in Hong Kong, Oxfam to Lay Off 1,450 and Close Operations in 18 Countries, Senate Confirms John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence, Republicans Back Installing Ally of Steve Bannon to Head State-Run Media Agency, The Atlantic Magazine Lays Off 68, Food Not Bombs to Mark 40th Anniversary
Study Warns 1.1 Million Children Could Die as Pandemic Interrupts Access to Food & Medical Care
A new report finds 1.1 million children under 5 could die the next six months from secondary impacts of the pandemic, like disruptions to health services and access to food. Mothers are also imperiled. We speak with Tim Roberton, lead author of the study and assistant scientist in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and with infectious diseases pediatrician Dr. Beate Kampmann.
From Syria to U.S.-Mexico Border, Refugees Worldwide Face Hunger & Deprivation as COVID-19 Spreads
We look at the coronavirus threat to millions of refugees across the globe, where social distancing is often impossible and healthcare is extremely limited. We're joined by Dr. Miriam Orcutt, executive director of Lancet Migration.
Crowded & Desperate: Rohingya in World's Largest Refugee Camp Face Dual Crises of Cyclone & COVID-19
A major cyclone hits India and Bangladesh amid the pandemic, displacing 3 million people and unleashing heavy rain on Cox's Bazar, home to 1 million Rohingya refugees, where the first cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed. We get an update from Steven Corliss, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Bangladesh, and speak with Tun Khin, a Rohingya activist, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK.
Headlines for May 21, 2020
Global Coronavirus Cases Top 5 Million as WHO Records Record One-Day Spike, Brazilian Mayor Fears "Genocide" from COVID-19, Accuses Bolsonaro of "Crime Against Humanity", Disease Modelers Say Delays in U.S. Lockdowns Cost Tens of Thousands of Lives, Pro-Trump Doctors to Promote Reopening States Despite CDC Warnings, Millions Flee as Cyclone Batters India and Bangladesh, Dam Disaster in Michigan Threatens to Flood Toxic Sites, Trump Threatens to Cut Funding to Michigan, Nevada over Mail-in Voting, McDonald's Workers Strike to Demand Personal Protective Equipment, Striking New Orleans Sanitation Workers Replaced by Prison Labor, 68 U.S. Grocery Workers Die of COVID-19; Ford Temporarily Halts Production at 2 Plants, Asylum Seeker Who Sued ICE Deported to Mexico Despite Judge's Order, Immigrants in For-Profit ICE Jail Launch Hunger Strike as Coronavirus Spreads, U.N. Envoy Calls Israel's Annexation Plans a "Violation of International Law", University of California Says It Has Divested Completely from Fossil Fuels
Immigrants Protest Demolition of NJ Public School for $750 Million Robert Wood Johnson Cancer Center
We go to New Brunswick, New Jersey, to look at the fight to save the largely immigrant Lincoln Annex public school from demolition to make way for the Robert Wood Johnson Hospital's $750 million cancer center. Democracy Now! co-host Juan González lives in New Brunswick and has been active in the campaign. We also speak with Juan Cartagena, president and general counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and attorney representing parents, students and taxpayers who oppose the demolition.
"Stay Alive, Stay at Home, Organize": Rev. Barber Sets June 20 for Poor People's Digital March on DC
We look at the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Black, Brown and poor communities, and the next steps officials should take, with Reverend William Barber, who is organizing an online Mass Poor People's Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C., on June 20. "We're not going to just die. We're going to stand up and fight back," says Rev. Barber. He also discusses voter suppression ahead of the November election.
As NYC Subway Closures Force Unhoused People into Packed Shelters, Advocates Demand Permanent Homes
For the first time in its 115-year history, this month New York City began shutting down its subway system overnight. The unprecedented move has left unhoused people who rely on the trains for shelter suddenly with nowhere to go, and made them even more vulnerable as the coronavirus continues to spread. "The situation is concerning," says emergency physician Dr. Kelly Doran, who has joined advocates in calling on New York to do more to protect unhoused people from infection. We also speak with Josh Dean, executive director of the homeless advocacy group Human.NYC.
Headlines for May 20, 2020
CDC Unveils Guidance on Reopening, Excluding Advice to Houses of Worship, Florida, Georgia Accused of Manipulating Data on Coronavirus Outbreaks, Senators Grill Treasury Secretary, Fed Chair over Coronavirus Loan Programs, Trump Claims Meat Plants Are Safe Despite Surging Coronavirus Cases, Unhoused New Orleans Residents Demand Rooms in Hotels Idled by Pandemic, Federal Judge Rules Texas Must Allow Residents to Vote by Mail, Homeland Security Department Watchdog to Probe Coronavirus Response, Trump Defends Use of Unproven Antimalarial Drug Despite Medical Warnings, Brazilian President Pushes Chloroquine Use as COVID-19 Cases Soar, Bolivian Protesters Demand End to Coronavirus Lockdown as Hunger Mounts, Mexican Maquiladora Workers March to Demand Safe Working Conditions, In Deathbed Confession, Plaintiff in Roe v. Wade Admitted She Was Paid by Abortion Foes, Johnson & Johnson to End Some Talcum Powder Sales over Asbestos, Hungary to Revoke Legal Recognition for Trans and Gender Nonconforming People, Afghan Air Force Bombs Health Clinic as U.N. Warns of Mounting Civilian Deaths, Supercyclone Prompts Mass Evacuations in Bangladesh and India , Thousands Evacuate Catastrophic Flooding in Michigan as Dams Fail, Climate Activists Declare "Shell Must Fall" Outside Shareholders' Meeting
"Whitening of the Media": As Pandemic Cuts Ravage Newsrooms, Diversity Is "First Thing That Goes"
At a time when many journalists are risking their lives to cover the coronavirus, media companies are slashing jobs and salaries. Over the past week, hundreds of journalists at Vice, Quartz, The Economist, BuzzFeed and Condé Nast have been laid off. In April, The New York Times estimated 36,000 employees of news media companies had been laid off, furloughed or had their pay reduced since the arrival of the pandemic. We speak with award-winning journalist and former editor of The Denver Post, Gregory Moore. He says, "Advertising has fallen out of these newspapers because of the economic shutdown, and it has led to devastating layoffs and furloughs ... at a time when the public really needs quality information more than ever." We also speak with freelance journalist Angely Mercado, who was laid off in March.
Harvard Doctor: As States Rush to Reopen, Lack of COVID-19 Testing Is "Achilles Heel" for U.S.
President Trump claimed Monday he's been taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, even though multiple studies show the drug can be dangerous and is not an effective treatment for COVID-19. This comes as the U.S. COVID-19 death count tops 90,000 and all 50 U.S. states prepare to partially reopen by Memorial Day. We speak with Dr. Ashish Jha, the director of Harvard University's Global Health Institute, who says that testing needs to vastly improve in order for widespread reopenings. He calls the lack of accurate tests in the U.S. the nation's "Achilles heel," saying, "The testing saga will go down as one of the big fiascos that led to us being where we are today."
Headlines for May 19, 2020
Trump Claims He Is Taking Hydroxychloroquine Despite FDA Warnings, Navajo Nation Has Highest Coronavirus Infection Rate in the U.S., 60-Year-Old Burmese Refugee Becomes Eighth COVID-19 Victim at Colorado Meat Plant, 74-Year-Old Man at California ICE Prison Dies of Suicide, Trump Attacks WHO as U.S. and China Trade Barbs over Pandemic Response, Early COVID Vaccine Trials Show Positive Results, Outbreak at Refugee Center in Germany Infects at Least 70 people, France and Germany Propose 500 Billion-Euro Coronavirus Assistance Fund for EU, São Paulo's Hospitals "Near Collapse" as Brazil Becomes Third Most Infected Nation, Ouster of State Dept. Watchdog Could Be Linked to Saudi Arms Deal, Rights Groups Appeal to U.N. to Help Save 4 Yemeni Journalists Sentenced to Death, Cuban Foreign Minister Accuses Trump Admin of Promoting Terrorism Against Cuba, Colombian Environmentalist Jorge Enrique Oramas Killed Amid Spate of Activist Murders, "COVID Today, Climate Tomorrow": Climate Activists Stage Protest Installation in London, New Evidence Reveals Pattern of Racist Targeting Prior to Ahmaud Arbery Murder, Missouri to Execute Death Row Prisoner Amid Pandemic Despite Questions over Evidence, FBI Says al-Qaeda Linked to 2019 Mass Shooting at Pensacola Air Base, CA Governor Gavin Newsom Moves to Close State-Run Youth Prisons
How Will COVID-19 Change the World? Historian Frank Snowden on Epidemics From the Black Death to Now
Pandemics, like revolution, war and economic crises, are key determinants of historic change. We look at the history of epidemics, from Black Death to smallpox to COVID-19, and discuss how the coronavirus will reshape the world with leading medical historian Frank Snowden, author of "Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present." He is a professor emeritus at Yale University who has been in Italy since the pandemic began, and himself survived a COVID-19 infection.
Headlines for May 18, 2020
U.S. Coronavirus Deaths on Track to Surpass 100,000 by June with Most States Partially Reopened , House Dems Probe Firing of State Dept. Watchdog, Pass $3 Trillion Stimulus Bill, Trump Names Ex-Pharma Exec and Army General to Lead Coronavirus Vaccine Effort, CDC Hits Back After WH Trade Adviser Criticism: CDC Director Is "Appointed by President Trump", Obama Slams Trump Admin Response to Crisis: "A Lot of Them Aren't Even Pretending to Be in Charge.", Belgian Medical Workers Stage Protests Against Gov't Response to Pandemic, Italy Opens Up Businesses, Starts Holding Public Masses as Part of "Calculated Risk", India Extends Lockdown as Coronavirus Grips Mumbai, Japan's Economy in Recession; NHK Video Shows How Quickly COVID-19 Spreads in Social Settings, Brazil's Coronavirus Cases Soar as Toll on Indigenous Communities Raises Alarm, Chile Prepares for Mass COVID Deaths; Reports of Secret Burials in Nicaragua Suggest Possible Gov't Cover-Up, Kenya Closes Borders over Fears of Medical Equipment and Personnel Shortages, Afghan Leaders Sign Power-Sharing Deal, Ending Months-Long Political Stalemate, Pandemic Puts Children at Increased Risk of Disease, Preventable Death, and Violence, Israel's Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu Form Unity Government, Egyptian Newspaper Editor Arrested in Latest Attack on Independent Media, Carbon Dioxide Levels at Record High Despite Emissions Drop from COVID-19, Fugitive Rwandan Leader, Accused of Financing Genocide, Arrested in France, Frances Goldin, Famed New York Housing Activist, Dies at 96
"Can Democracy Survive the Pandemic?": Election Hangs in the Balance as Trump Attacks Mail-In Voting
The coronavirus pandemic poses unprecedented challenges to the November presidential election, as President Trump and the GOP capitalize on the moment to attack voting rights. We speak with Emily Bazelon, staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, whose new cover story examines the bureaucratic and political challenges of mobilizing widespread vote-by-mail by November. We also speak with Jena Griswold, secretary of state of Colorado, which already has universal vote-by-mail and the second-highest voter turnout in the country.
Democracy At Stake: "Faithless Electors" SCOTUS Case Tests If Electoral College Members Can Go Rogue
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a case that could shape the outcome of future presidential elections. The question at hand was whether Electoral College members can "go rogue" and support candidates who did not win the state's popular vote. In 2016, one of Colorado's nine electors, Michael Baca, attempted to cast his Electoral College ballot for Republican John Kasich instead of Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Colorado secretary of state at the time — a Republican — removed Baca as an elector. Colorado is one of 31 other states that has a law requiring presidential electors to vote for the candidate who wins the state's presidential election popular vote. Baca sued Colorado, and the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled his removal was unconstitutional. The case reached the Supreme Court this week. We speak with Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who says, "What is at stake in this case is the foundation of our democracy."
"The Wuhan of the Americas": U.S. Deports COVID-19-Positive Immigrants to Haiti & Guatemala
The United States continues to deport thousands during the coronavirus pandemic, causing a dangerous spread of COVID-19 to Central America and the Caribbean. We speak with Haitian American novelist Edwidge Danticat, who says "U.S. deportations to Haiti during coronavirus pandemic are 'unconscionable,'" and go to Guatemala City for an update from reporter José Alejandro García Escobar.
Headlines for May 15, 2020
Coronavirus Whistleblower Says U.S. Unprepared for Second Wave of Infections, The Lancet Assails Trump's "Inconsistent and Incoherent" COVID-19 Response, Trump Says Mass Coronavirus Testing May Be "Overrated", FDA Warns of Inaccurate Results from Rapid Coronavirus Test Used by White House, Michigan Cancels Legislative Session as Armed Protesters Gather at State Capitol, California to Slash Billions from State Budget as Coronavirus Hammers Tax Revenues, Amazon to End $2-an-Hour Hazard Pay as CEO Jeff Bezos Gains $30 Billion During Pandemic, New York Police Tackle and Arrest Mother for Allegedly Wearing a Mask Improperly, First Coronavirus Cases Detected in World's Largest Refugee Camp, Hospitals in Peruvian City in "Catastrophe" After 14 Healthcare Workers Die of COVID-19, Second Immigrant Dies of COVID-19 After Release from ICE Jail, U.S. Granted Asylum to Just 2 People Since Coronavirus Immigration Bans Took Effect, Family of Guatemalan Woman Killed by Border Patrol Agent Files Civil Rights Lawsuit, Senate Reauthorizes Warrantless Surveillance of Internet Browsing History, Richard Burr Resigns as Senate Intel Chair as FBI Probes Coronavirus Stock Sales, Tens of Thousands Evacuated as Typhoon Vongfong Hammers the Philippines, 6.4 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Western Nevada
When Patients Die Alone, How Do Families and Health Workers Cope, Relieve Suffering?
We look at the tremendous emotional toll the coronavirus is taking on families when loved ones are forced to battle COVID alone in hospitals or at home, with Dr. Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care and a professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She helped start a 24-hour palliative care hotline for COVID-19 patients in New York City that served nearly 900 people in a four-week period.
Coronavirus Pandemic Prompts Global Mental Health Crisis as Millions Feel Alone, Anxious & Depressed
Is the coronavirus pandemic generating a mental illness crisis? Millions face isolation, poverty and anxiety. We speak with psychology professor and author Andrew Solomon, as the United Nations calls on governments to put mental health "front and center" in their response to the crisis.
Headlines for May 14, 2020
World Health Organization Says Novel Coronavirus "May Never Go Away", Whistleblower Warns U.S. Faces "Darkest Winter" Without Urgent Action on COVID-19, Trump Calls Dr. Anthony Fauci's Warning on COVID-19 and Schools "Not an Acceptable Answer", Wisconsin Stay-at-Home Orders Struck Down, Threatening New Wave of COVID-19 Deaths, Fed Reserve Chair Warns of Long Recession as Unemployment Claims Hit 36 Million, Trump Calls Democrats' Coronavirus Relief Bill "Dead on Arrival", Native Americans Make Up Half of New Mexico Coronavirus Deaths; New Orleans Sanitation Workers Strike, China to Test 11 Million Wuhan Residents for Coronavirus, New Zealand Reopens Economy as New Coronavirus Cases Fall to Zero, Mexican Medical Workers Demand Protective Gear as COVID-19 Spreads, Ex-Trump Campaign Chair Released from Prison as Lawmakers Demand Release of Leonard Peltier, FBI Seizes Cellphone of Sen. Richard Burr over Pre-Pandemic Stock Sales, FBI Inadvertently Names Saudi Official Suspected of Helping 9/11 Hijackers, Republican Mike Garcia Wins California Special Election, Flipping House Seat, Costa Rica Set to Issue First Same-Sex Marriage License
Screen New Deal: Naomi Klein on How Companies Like Google Plan to Profit in High-Tech COVID Dystopia
In her new report for The Intercept on the "Screen New Deal," Naomi Klein looks at how the coronavirus pandemic is more high-tech than previous disasters — and how the future we're being rushed into could transform our lives into a "living laboratory for a permanent — and highly profitable — no-touch future." She joins us to discuss what she found, and says, "I think we're going to see very incomplete so-called solutions ... that massively benefit private tech interests."
Naomi Klein: Healthcare Industry Sees "Potential Bonanza" of Profits in COVID-19 Crisis
As the top infectious disease expert testifies to the Senate that needless death and suffering could result from reopening too quickly, author and journalist Naomi Klein says a "pandemic shock doctrine" is beginning to emerge. "The fact that a large sector of the economy, the healthcare industry, sees a potential bonanza here … that's a win for them."
Headlines for May 13, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci Warns Senators Reopening Too Soon Will Cause "Suffering and Death", House Democratic Leaders Unveil New $3 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package, Tesla CEO Elon Musk Defies Lockdown Order, Reopens California Auto Plant, L.A. Extends Lockdown for 3 Months as Cal State Cancels In-Person Fall Classes, CDC Estimates 5,000+ More New York City Coronavirus Deaths Than Officially Reported, Progressive Lawmakers Call on World Bank, IMF to Cancel Poor Countries' Debts, Brazil Records Its Highest Daily COVID-19 Death Toll, London Transit Worker Dies After Man Claiming to Have COVID-19 Spits on Her, Aide to Russian President Putin Hospitalized with COVID-19, "We Aren't Heroes": Spanish Medical Workers Protest for Better Working Conditions, Bangladeshi Garment Workers Ordered Back to Factories Lacking Basic Coronavirus Protections, Afghan Mothers and Babies Killed as Gunmen Storm Kabul Maternity Hospital, Secretary of State Pompeo Visits Israel, Supporting West Bank Annexation Plans, NJ Prisoner in Solitary Confinement Reportedly Dies of COVID-19 While Screaming for Help, Trump Admin Detaining 1,800 Migrant Children Despite Pandemic, Georgia Attorney General to Probe Prosecutors' Handling of Ahmaud Arbery Killing, Black Woman in Kentucky Shot to Death in Her Own Home by Police at Wrong Address, Supreme Court Hears Trump's Challenge to Releasing Tax Records, Pioneering Transgender Rights Activist Aimee Stephens Dies at 59, Ex-Mayor Calls on Philadelphia to Apologize for Deadly 1985 MOVE Bombing
Los New Yorkers: Essential, Underprotected Undocumented Immigrants Struggle to Survive in Epicenter
As the coronavirus continues to devastate New York City communities, we hear the voices of undocumented New Yorkers about how they are surviving the pandemic. Their stories are told in a new ProPublica story headlined "Los New Yorkers: Essential and Underprotected in the Pandemic's Epicenter." We speak with one of the story's reporters, Adriana Gallardo.
"Losing the Fabric of the City": COVID-19 Took Chicago Black Lives First & Exposed Structural Racism
We look at the coronavirus pandemic's disproportionate toll on African Americans through the story of Chicago's first 100 recorded deaths. A report by ProPublica found that 70 of the first 100 people to die were African American. Black people account for 30% of Chicago's population and 72% of COVID-19 deaths. We speak with ProPublica reporter Adriana Gallardo, who contributed to the report "COVID-19 Took Black Lives First. It Didn't Have To." She says the story paints a picture of "sophisticated structural racism" in Chicago.
Standoff in South Dakota: Cheyenne River Sioux Refuse Governor's Demand to Remove COVID Checkpoints
There's a standoff brewing in South Dakota, where two Native American Indian tribes are upholding their sovereignty by defying orders by Governor Kristi Noem to remove COVID-19 checkpoints from their territories. The Cheyenne River Sioux and Oglala Sioux tribes say the checkpoints are the best way to protect against the coronavirus entering their communities, which are not equipped to handle an outbreak. The governor says the checkpoints — which are set up on highways on tribal land — are illegal. We speak with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe's Chairman Harold Frazier, who says he is defending his people's "right to live."
Headlines for May 12, 2020
Dr. Fauci to Warn Lawmakers of "Needless Suffering and Death" If Lockdowns End Too Soon, European Countries Report New Spikes as They Reopen Economies, Trump Makes False Claim About Testing Capacity, Tells Reporter Weijia Jiang to "Ask China" About Coronavirus, PA Plant Canceled Trump Visit over Concern for Worker Health, New Study Finds Hydroxychloroquine Does Not Help COVID-19, Can Cause Heart Attacks, China Threatens "Countermeasures" for U.S. Journalist Visa Restrictions, Meatpacking Union Condemns Reopening of Factories Amid Pandemic, India Starts to Ease Lockdown as Cases Mount, Coronavirus Cases Mount in War-Ravaged Yemen, Coronavirus Compounds Food Insecurity as Locusts Ravage East African Crops, WHO Warns AIDS Deaths Could Soar During Pandemic, Progressive Groups Call on Joe Biden to Adopt Progressive Foreign Policy, Joe Biden Supports Unelected Juan Guaidó in Venezuela, Says U.S. Should Keep Sanctions Against Cuba, Bolivians Protest Lack of Food Assistance During Pandemic, 21-Year-Old Oaxacan Environmental Activist Eugui Roy Assassinated, Protests Mount in Indianapolis over String of Killings by Police, SCOTUS to Hear Arguments Around Trump's Tax Returns
Trump Death Clock: Creator Eugene Jarecki Says "Reckless Mishandling" of COVID-19 Must Be Quantified
As the death toll from COVID-19 in the United States surpasses 80,000, an unusual new billboard called the Trump Death Clock in New York City’s Times Square keeps tally of lives lost to government inaction. “What we found was that there was an amazing and very dark truth underlying the numbers that spoke to reckless mishandling of a pandemic by the president and his team, and we felt that ought to be quantified,” says Eugene Jarecki, the award-winning documentary filmmaker, author and activist behind the project.
"Weaponized and Racialized": Police Departments Use COVID-19 to Target Black & Brown Communities
Viral images have shone a spotlight on uneven policing. Some show police officers distributing masks to White residents in crowded New York City parks — and apparently arresting no one. Meanwhile, videos have emerged of violent crackdowns on social distancing measures in Black and Latinx neighborhoods. We continue our look at how Black and Brown communities are being disproportionately targeted and policed in New York City's enforcement measures during the pandemic, and also discuss how officers have ordered protesters to disband, citing executive orders from the mayor and the governor that ban "any non-essential gathering of individuals of any size for any reason." We speak with author and activist Jill Nelson, who was recently arrested when she used chalk to write "Trump = Plague" on an abandoned building, and with Norman Siegel, civil rights lawyer for Nelson and former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
"COVID-19 Has Been Racialized": Black Scholar Jill Nelson Arrested for Chalking "Trump = Plague"
Black and Brown communities are being disproportionately targeted and policed in New York City's response to the spread of COVID-19. We speak with author and activist Jill Nelson, who was herself arrested by NYPD in April for writing "Trump = Plague" in chalk on an abandoned building in her Washington Heights neighborhood. The 67-year-old scholar was handcuffed, taken to the police station and held for five hours. Now she is speaking out. The president is "telling us that as people of color, and older people, we should just die," says Nelson. "It's ridiculous."
Headlines for May 11, 2020
COVID-19 Cases Mount as States Reopen Economies, NY Investigating Deaths of at Least 3 Children Linked to COVID-19, Bronx Hospital Investigating Nurse Who Shared Video of Medical Staff Speaking Out About Lack of PPE, Cheyenne River Sioux Defies South Dakota Order to Remove Coronavirus Checkpoints, Another COVID-19 Case Confirmed at White House as Barack Obama Blasts Trump's "Chaotic" Response, Hunger-Striking Immigrant Women Released from California Prison, U.S. Continues to Deport Haitian Immigrants, Including Those with COVID-19 Infections, WSJ: Trump Planning to Ban H-1B Visas, Three Prisoners Die at Chino Facility as COVID-19 Cases Surge in Prisons, Mixed Messages Across the U.K. as Boris Johnson Moves to Relax Lockdown, France Eases Lockdown, Requires Mandatory Masks on Public Transportation, Spain Starts Reopening Businesses for Half the Country, Fire in Russian Coronavirus Hospital Kills Patient, South Korea Closes Bars and Nightclubs After New Coronavirus Cases Erupt, Afghans Demand Justice After Police Kill Six at Food Distribution Center, Syrian Refugees Face Mounting Hunger in Lebanon Amid Pandemic, Economic Crisis, U.S. Blocks U.N. Security Council Resolution Calling for Global Ceasefire, New Iraqi Prime Minister Promises Payments to Family Members of Slain Protesters, Turkey Warns Libyan Rebel Leader over Escalation in Fighting, Georgia Attorney General Asks DOJ to Investigate Killing of Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop, Black Trans Woman, Murdered in Missouri
As States Loosen Pandemic Restrictions, Dr. Leana Wen Warns "We Are Not Ready for a Safe Reopening"
As more than 40 states begin to reopen, President Trump is downplaying the need for mass COVID-19 testing, even as he himself is now being tested every day for the virus. We speak with emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen, who says, "Widespread testing is so critical. … Why shouldn't this testing be available to all Americans?"
"A Terrible Price": Mardi Gras Story Lays Bare How COVID-19 Is Devastating Black America
We look at the deadly disparate impact of the pandemic on African Americans as told through an in-depth story for The New York Times Magazine by writer Linda Villarosa in her new piece, "'A Terrible Price': The Deadly Racial Disparities of Covid-19 in America," that tells what happened to the Zulu club, a Black social organization in New Orleans, during and after Mardi Gras. She reports that the experience is usually a joy, but the coronavirus made it a tragedy.
"A Lynch Mob": After Months of Inaction, 2 White Men Are Charged with Murder of Ahmaud Arbery in GA
The two white men caught on camera shooting and killing Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old African American man, were arrested and charged Thursday with murder. The arrests came two days after video of the attack in February was shared with the public, sparking widespread outrage. Today would have been Arbery's 26th birthday. We speak with civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Arbery family and formerly represented Trayvon Martin.
Trump Death Clock: Times Square Billboard Tallies Lives Lost to COVID-19 Inaction
A 56-foot billboard called the Trump Death Clock was unveiled in Times Square in New York City. The tally of lives lost to government inaction was created by filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, who says, "On behalf of all of those who needlessly lost their lives to this failed leadership in a pandemic, we need a symbol, a symbol that cries out not only for accountability, but also for more responsible and responsive stewardship, going forward." As of the Friday morning broadcast, the death toll count was nearly 47,000 and growing.
Headlines for May 8, 2020
U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Pass 75,000 as Trump Sidelines Top Medical Experts, Trump to Be Tested for Coronavirus Daily After Valet Tests Positive, Vigil at White House Honors 88 Who Died from "Trump's Abhorrent Failure to Protect Nurses", U.S. Unemployment Claims Soar to 33.3 Million Amid Pandemic, Democrats Promise "Rooseveltian" Coronavirus Relief Bill, Mitch McConnell Prioritizes Judicial Confirmations as Senate Returns Amid Pandemic, Data Shows 35 of 40 People Arrested in NY for Social Distancing Violations Are Black, Texas Stops Jailing Lockdown Violators; Nebraska Ends Reporting on Meat Plant COVID-19 Cases, 2 White Men Charged in Georgia With Murdering Black Jogger Ahmaud Arbery, DOJ Drops Charges Against Disgraced Ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn , Supreme Court Overturns Convictions of Senior Aides to Former NJ Gov Chris Christie, Black U.K. Residents Far More Likely to Die of COVID-19 Than Whites, European Leaders Hold Low-Key VE Day Commemorations as Belarus Plans Parade, Tara Reade Urges Joe Biden End Presidential Bid over Alleged Sexual Assault
Profiting from the Pandemic: Will Pharmaceutical Giants Use Patents to Limit Access to COVID Drugs?
As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide approaches 4 million and the pandemic could be with us for months or years, we look at who can access drugs like remdesivir, being developed by pharmaceutical giant Gilead, which has the patent for the drug and is poised to make massive profits. We look at how much drugs like remdesivir will cost, and who can access them, with writer Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project, which campaigns for access to medicines in India, Brazil and South Africa.
How Russia Became the Next COVID-19 Hot Spot: Infection Rate Soars with 10,000 New Cases Each Day
We go to Moscow for an update on the pandemic in Russia, where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, with at least 10,000 new cases a day and the second-highest infection rate in the world, and more than 100 medical workers have died fighting the virus, and many have reported lack of personal protective equipment. Meanwhile, three Russian healthcare workers mysteriously fell from hospital windows over the past two weeks. Two died, and the one who is hospitalized had posted a video online to note the lack of medical equipment and said he had to keep working despite testing positive. We speak with Joshua Yaffa, Moscow correspondent for The New Yorker magazine.
Headlines for May 7, 2020
U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 73,400 as 41 States Begin Reopening, White House Shelves Guidelines on Reopening, as Experts Warn U.S. Failing to Stem COVID-19 Deaths, Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. Children Going Hungry as Unemployment Surges to Great Depression Levels, State Budget Cuts Loom as Trump Rails Against "Blue State Bailouts" , United Nations Seeks $6.7 Billion for Coronavirus Aid to Poor Countries, EU Warns Pandemic Economic Recession Will Be Worst in History, Closing Ceremony of Spanish Coronavirus Field Hospital Marred by Tightly Packed Crowds, Venezuelan TV Airs Video of Arrested U.S. Mercenary Confessing to Attempted Coup, Trump Vetoes Senate Resolution Limiting President's Military Power to Attack Iran, Trump Gets in Heated Exchange with Nurse Denouncing Shortage of PPE for Hospital Workers, Black Michigan Lawmaker Escorted by Armed Volunteers After Anti-Lockdown Protests, Beloved Colorado Pastor Released from VA Hospital After Long Battle with COVID-19, Top Republican Fundraiser & Trump Ally Named Postmaster General, Brother-in-Law of Sen. Richard Burr Also Dumped Stocks Ahead of Coronavirus Market Crash, Salvadoran Immigrant Is First Person to Die of COVID-19 in ICE Custody, Anger Mounts over Killing of Ahmaud Arbery, Black Jogger Shot to Death by 2 White Men in GA, Viral Video Shows LAPD Officer Violently Punching a Man Arrested for Trespassing , Chemical Gas Leak in India Kills at Least 9, Hundreds Others Hospitalized, New Campus Sexual Assault Rules Bolster Protection for Accused Students
U.S. Mercenaries Captured in Venezuela After Failed Coup Attempt Compared to a "Bad Rambo Movie"
We look at an incredible story unfolding in Venezuela of a failed coup attempt. Did a former Green Beret mastermind it? Two Americans have been arrested in Venezuela. President Nicolás Maduro claims the U.S. was behind the plot. "It looks like a bad Rambo movie, or a really bad telenovela," says Miguel Tinker Salas, author of "The Enduring Legacy: Oil, Culture, and Society in Venezuela." He notes that "the U.S. is seeking regime change ... and the consequences for Venezuela could be very dire going forward.”
As Trump Claims "Fantastic Job" on COVID, Reporter Laurie Garrett Warns Pandemic May Last 36+ Months
As President Trump starts to reopen the country, Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Laurie Garrett predicts the pandemic will last at least 36 months. Meanwhile, a top government vaccine specialist says he was forced from his job after he resisted the administration's promotion of untested treatments for COVID-19. Garrett predicted the pandemic. In an extended interview, she discusses what's next.
Headlines for May 6, 2020
White House to Wind Down Coronavirus Task Force Even as U.S. Cases Surge, Trump Meets Tribal Leaders, Promising to Distribute Long-Delayed Coronavirus Relief Funds, Ousted Scientist's Whistleblower Complaint Cites "Political Connections and Cronyism", Trump Lashes Out Against "Mourning in America" Advertisement, Researchers Say Coronavirus May Have Mutated in Europe to Become More Contagious, Amazon Worker Dies of COVID-19; Wisconsin Supreme Court May Revoke Remain-at-Home Order, Michigan Security Guard Shot After Enforcing Mask Policy, As Meatpackers Fall Ill from COVID-19, Wendy's Faces Hamburger Shortage, Senators Return to Capitol Hill Despite COVID-19 Concerns, Republicans Set to Confirm John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence, Federal Judge Allows ICE to Transfer Jailed Migrants Despite Spread of Coronavirus, U.S.-Owned Factories in Mexico Reopen Despite Spread of Coronavirus, Hundreds of People Imprisoned in El Salvador Quarantine Centers Demand Release, Philippines Broadcaster Forced Off Air After Criticism by President Duterte, Climate Study Projects 3 Billion Will Suffer from Extreme Heat by 2070, Shocking Video Shows White Men Chasing and Killing Black Jogger in Georgia, Federal Judge Orders New York to Restore Presidential Primary Vote, Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Hospitalized with Gallbladder Condition, Activists Remember Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Despite Lockdowns
The Case for Prison Abolition: Ruth Wilson Gilmore on COVID-19, Racial Capitalism & Decarceration
The spread of COVID-19 threatens the lives of more than 2.3 million people locked up in prisons and jails throughout the United States. We look at how the call to release prisoners during the coronavirus pandemic makes the case for prison abolition, with scholar Ruth Wilson Gilmore, co-founder of California Prison Moratorium Project and Critical Resistance and the author of "Golden Gulag: Prison, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California." Her forthcoming book is "Change Everything: Racial Capitalism and the Case for Abolition."
Calls Grow for Mass Release from Ohio's Marion Prison as 80% of Prisoners Test Positive for COVID-19
We get an update on one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the United States, at the Marion Correctional Institution in Ohio, where 11 prisoners and one staff member have died, and at least 80% of prisoners and half of the prison staff tested positive. Despite growing calls to release thousands of Ohio's nearly 50,000 incarcerated people as the coronavirus spreads, Governor Mike DeWine has only approved the release of more than 100 people in the state's prisons. "We're seeing a few people being released … but not anywhere near the 20,000 [we are] demanding," says Azzurra Crispino, whose husband, James, is incarcerated at Marion. She is co-founder of Prison Abolition Prisoner Support.
Navajo Nation Suffers Third-Highest COVID-19 Infection Rate in U.S. with Limited Healthcare & Water
We get an update from two doctors treating patients with the Navajo Nation, the largest Indigenous reservation in the country, which has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Michelle Tom is a member of the Navajo Nation and a family physician treating COVID-19 patients at the Winslow Indian Health Care Center and Little Colorado Medical Center in northern Arizona near the Navajo reservation. In Gallup, New Mexico, Dr. Sriram Shamasunder is leading a medical volunteer group of 21 nurses and doctors from the University of California, San Francisco as part of the HEAL Initiative. He says the coronavirus hit harder on the Navajo Nation due to a "trajectory of an underfunded health system," and notes the Indian Health Service is funded at one-third the rate per capita as Medicare. "The level of inequity that you're seeing … it's part of this pattern."
Remembering Valentina Blackhorse, Beloved 28-Year-Old Navajo Community Activist Who Died of COVID-19
After New York and New Jersey, the next highest number of coronavirus infections per capita in the United States is in the Navajo Nation, the largest Indigenous reservation in the country. We go to Kayenta, Arizona, to speak with Robby Jones, a member of the Navajo Nation and the partner of one of those to die from the virus: 28-year-old Valentina Blackhorse, a beloved community leader who promoted Navajo culture and left behind a daughter named Poet.
Headlines for May 5, 2020
Dire Forecasts Warn U.S. Death Toll Could Surge in Coming Weeks as States Move to Relax Restrictions, China Rebukes Trump Admin Claim That Coronavirus Was Man-Made, Report Says Brooklyn Jail Destroying Medical Records to Hide Toll of COVID-19, J. Crew Files for Bankruptcy, Betsy DeVos Sued for Garnishing Wages of Student Loan Holders During Pandemic, EU, World Leaders Pledge Billions to Fund Coronavirus Vaccine; U.S. Sits Out, Questions Raised After 3 Doctors in Russia Fall from Hospital Windows, U.K. May Have Second-Highest Coronavirus Death Toll; France Identifies COVID-19 Case from December, Venezuela Detains Ex-U.S. Special Forces After Failed Coup, Report: Colombia Spied and Collected Data on Journalists, Union Leaders, Politicians, Sudan Outlaws Female Genital Mutilation, Senate Rejects Request to Search Records for Tara Reade Complaints Against Joe Biden, Amazon VP Quits over Retaliatory Firings of Protesting Workers, King County, WA, Apologizes, Reaches Settlement for 2017 Police Killing of Black Teen, José Soler, Puerto Rican Independence Activist and Labor Journalist, Dies at 75, 2020 Pulitzer Prizes Recognize Work on Immigration, Sex Crimes, Labor and Slavery
ER Doctor: Pulse Oximeters Detect Oxygen Deprivation Earlier from COVID-19, Help Avoid Ventilators
We speak with Dr. Richard Levitan, an emergency physician based in Littleton, New Hampshire, who volunteered at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for 10 days at the height of the COVID-19 surge in April. Based on what he saw, he argues patients should be going to hospitals sooner and that medical professionals could use a small device you clip on your fingertip, called a pulse oximeter, to help detect the virus earlier by revealing oxygenation problems and elevated heart rates. "A pulse oximeter is just a measure of identifying how well the lungs are working, and, I believe, can be basically an early warning system in terms of patients to know who has COVID pneumonia," says Dr. Levitan.
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