democracynow--2020-07-08--ICE Threatens to Deport or Bar International Students If Schools Move Classes Online Due to Pandemic

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : As the U.S. reported an alarming surge of 60,000 new coronavirus cases Tuesday , shattering the record of the day before , President Trump continued to pressure state governors to open schools in the fall .
This comes as ICE — that ’ s Immigration and Customs Enforcement — announced Monday that thousands of international students enrolled in universities across the United States could face deportation or denied visas back into the U.S. if their schools switch to online-only courses in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than a million international students were issued visas to study in the United States last year .
They account for as much as a third of the undergraduate student body at many colleges and universities , and are often the majority of graduate students .
This is Olufemi Olurin , an Eastern Kentucky University student from the Bahamas , reacting to the decision .
AMY GOODMAN : ICE released its new guidance just hours after Harvard University announced that all of its classes will be online this fall .
On Tuesday , Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” AMY GOODMAN : This comes as the Trump administration announced plans last month to cancel the visas of thousands of Chinese graduate students who have ties to universities affiliated with China ’ s military .
Chinese students are the largest single foreign student population in the United States .
Well , for more , we ’ re joined by two guests .
In Chicago , Fiona McEntee is an immigration attorney , and she ’ s a former international student herself , from Ireland , now a naturalized U.S. citizen .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jian Ren is with us , an international graduate student , originally from China , pursuing a Ph.D. in Latin American history at Rutgers University , where our co-host Juan González is a professor .
We welcome you both to Democracy Now !
Fiona McEntee , let ’ s begin with you .
Can you explain what ICE has just announced ?
There are something like 1.1 million international students in universities and graduate schools across the country .
They could be deported or denied entry back into the U.S. if they went @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harvard , for example , does not offer in-person classes , ICE saying to them , “ You can transfer , if you have to ” ?
FIONA McENTEE : Yeah , Amy , that ’ s exactly what happened .
So , earlier on this week , we saw an announcement by ICE that essentially stated that if foreign students were attending universities that were going to be online only , or participating in online-only courses , then that they would not be able to maintain their student visa status , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some pretty grim options , one of which is — well , deportation was actually mentioned in the ICE statement , as you mentioned .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Fiona McEntee , but this is obviously no fault of the students if a particular university doesn ’ t offer [ in-person ] courses .
How is the administration justifying this ?
FIONA McENTEE : You know , that ’ s a good question , and I have yet to see a justification for this .
So , historically , there were limits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students could take .
And that makes sense in nonpandemic times .
However , when COVID hit , allowances were made , and rightly so , to that policy , and flexibility was made , allowing foreign students to remain here and maintain their student status and study online .
And I think a lot of stakeholders in this were expecting those allowances to continue , given that we ’ re still in the middle of the pandemic .
However , that was not the case .
And I think it came as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re right , it ’ s not the foreign students ’ fault .
And to be honest , they ’ re one of the most valuable assets that this country has .
So it doesn ’ t make any sense to me , and I ’ ve yet to see a clear justification for this .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : I wanted to follow up on that and ask you about the reaction by anti-immigration groups , like NumbersUSA , the right-wing restrictionist group .
They ’ ve welcomed this policy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Trump ’ s efforts to pressure universities , it also bolsters his anti-immigrant base , as well , doesn ’ t it ?
FIONA McENTEE : Yeah , it definitely does .
But there ’ s really — I mean , you can look at immigration in a number of ways .
You know , you can look at the cultural aspect of the diversity , but you could also look at it economically .
And foreign students contribute about $ 41 billion per year to the U.S. economy .
But just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 450,000 jobs .
So , that ’ s by , you know , food services , healthcare .
I mean , I ’ ve been contacted by landlords who have been saying , “ What am I going to do ?
Foreign students are my tenants , and now they ’ re going to be deported , or they ’ re going to have to leave.
” So , I mean , it doesn ’ t make sense from an economic point of view .
Right now , with the situation , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boost .
And I just don ’ t understand why now we would decide to expel foreign students here , when they contribute so much to the U.S. AMY GOODMAN : Fiona McEntee , I mean , just to understand , how does ICE enforce this ?
It means they have to cooperate — the universities and colleges across the country , who are now absolutely outraged by this very late , not to mention just what the content of the guidance is , they have to cooperate with ICE , right ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ if international students are only taking online courses — for example , places like Juan ’ s university , and our next guest .
At Rutgers , they ’ re going to offer a mix of online and in-person .
You ’ d have to find out if this particular international student is taking only online courses .
So will there be more cooperation ?
Will ICE demand information about the students ?
How do they enforce this ?
FIONA McENTEE : Yeah , I mean , there is a certification process that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the universities are supposed to report to ICE about whether or not the programs are going to be administered fully online or not .
And , you know , I think it ’ s pretty jarring that in the statement they did mention deportation .
And for foreign students , who — you heard the lady earlier — I mean , they ’ ve given up so much .
They come here .
They pay so much tuition .
They contribute so much while they ’ re here .
And they ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the statistics show how many startups they create , how many jobs .
You know , they don ’ t have a negative impact on U.S. wages ; you know , it ’ s quite the contrary .
So , you know , it ’ s kind of — it ’ s very puzzling that you would force international students into in-person studies when there ’ s a global health crisis in this country .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : I ’ d like to bring in Jian Ren , a grad student here at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reaction once you — when you heard the news of this .
JIAN REN : It ’ s shocking , because the obscure language in this instruction impacts on me a lot .
With the research nature of my degree as a Ph.D. student , I should remain in the United States for academic purposes .
I ’ m going to do oral history interviews in New Jersey locally .
And I have to teach undergraduate courses next semester .
I find it impossible to do it in China , a country without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for delivering all my lectures at 3 a.m. in the morning .
But the instruction by the ICE only defines a student ’ s right to remain in the United States by courses .
So , if I don ’ t take online courses , I can not fulfill other research obligations by my degree .
And I was also shocked by the lack of knowledge by whoever drafted this instruction , or they just don ’ t choose to understand the nature of academia in the United States , how a university @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking different roles , different vital roles , in a university to keep it operating .
AMY GOODMAN : I want to go to the tweet that — your tweet , Jian Ren , right after ICE made their announcement on Monday , shocking universities and colleges across the country , not to mention a million students .
You wrote , “ Three common misperceptions : 1. International students don ’ t pay taxes ; 2. International students can apply for a green card after graduation ; 3. International students have freedom of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States.
” Explain these three points .
Start with taxes , Jian .
JIAN REN : So , as a Ph.D. student , I , and maybe all Ph.D. students from overseas countries to the United States , have to teach classes .
And they are responsible for undergraduate education .
And they are paid by the university , so they have to pay federal taxes in the United States .
And our tax rate is often higher than average Americans , because we don ’ t have deductions in tax return .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not substantial deductions like Americans have .
So , that ’ s the number one provision I provided , that we also pay taxes to the U.S. And secondly , there ’ s no direct channel for us from a Ph.D. degree , undergraduate degree or other kind of degree to immigration .
The F visa , the visa for international students , is not an immigrant visa .
It ’ s a non-immigrant visa , or we are called temporary visitors .
It ’ s our privilege to stay in the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I fully understand this .
And we are not going to , like , be American citizens in a few years .
It ’ s simply impossible by law and by the current system .
JIAN REN : And thirdly , the freedom of speech part is a complicated issue .
For me , I ’ m here to participate in the program .
I ’ m facing a risk , because in the next visa application — I have to renew visa in like three years — the U.S. government will ask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like , scrutinize my opinions .
It ’ s a requirement implemented like three years ago .
So , that ’ s what I call — there ’ s no , like , equal definition of freedom of speech for us international students in the U.S. compared with Americans .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Jian Ren , I wanted to ask you — most Americans are not aware of the important role that foreign students play in maintaining American universities .
For instance , at New York University , 20,000 students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ universities , it ’ s the foreign students who pay full tuition — most of them , many of them — who are able to maintain the finances of these public universities , as well .
Can you talk about this role that foreign students play here , as well ?
JIAN REN : Yes .
In most state universities , public institutions , foreign students pay a higher tuition than American citizens in the U.S. And they actually boosted the economy around the campus , especially in college towns like New Brunswick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the car dealers , the landlords , the restaurants , the supermarkets rely on foreign students to survive .
AMY GOODMAN : And what does it mean if you were to go back to China ?
China ’ s reaction to this ?
And this is significant , because of the 1.1 million foreign students , it looks like more than a third of them are Chinese students .
Now , President Trump almost attempted this two years ago .
His senior adviser , the fierce anti-immigrant Stephen Miller , apparently tried to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guess President Trump has now come to understand that courts don ’ t like targeted bannings .
Is this , do you think , a veiled way to go after Chinese students and attack China right now , Jian Ren ?
And how much does it cost to go home ?
JIAN REN : We have to check the reality of U.S.-China tensions right now .
So , with the pandemic and the authoritarian U.S.-China relations in the current moment , there is virtually no flights between China and the U.S. , only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the one-way economy-class tickets cost Chinese students more than $ 10,000 U.S .
So , if mass deportation begins , it ’ s nearly impossible for hundreds of thousands of Chinese students to go home , with both Chinese government and the U.S. government policy to manipulate flight tickets at this moment .
And if the U.S. government is going to implement mass deportations by itself , it would be a heavy tax burden for average U.S. taxpayers .
AMY GOODMAN : I wanted to go back to Fiona McEntee and read you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ICE announced they might deport or bar more than a million students from higher education in this country , foreign students .
It said , “ Petition for universities to create a one-credit course for international students called ' F— ICE 101 ' that meets in person once per semester with excused absences . '
F— ICE 102 ' to be taught next spring.
” Now , they gave the full word .
But , Fiona McEntee , what your recommendation is to the more than million international students in this country right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them .
FIONA McENTEE : Yeah , I was once one of them .
And I think this is why — I mean , and I ’ ve worked with thousands of international students over the course of my career as an immigration lawyer , and so I see how much they bring to this country .
And so , you know , I think that ’ s an interesting idea for the in-person classes .
But really , if they want to stay in their universities that they ’ re in , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to an online-only model , they ’ re not going to be able to do that , so they do need some type of in-person class .
And , you know , the foreign students are in class with American students .
You know , they ’ re next — it ’ s not like there ’ s all just foreign students in a class together .
So they ’ re mixed in .
So , we ’ re now going to require American students , forcing them to come into class to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their friends .
And , you know , I ’ ve yet to see any type of justification for this .
And another option would be if they — to scramble to try to change schools , when fall semester is starting in a couple of weeks .
And so , I think the — I ’ ve definitely seen the universities push back .
I have seen an open letter that has been published online , and I was looking at it this morning .
There ’ s hundreds of signatures from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , universities , colleges all over the U.S. have signed on to this letter to oppose this policy that just doesn ’ t make any sense .
And so , I think you might see some more pushback from the universities and maybe some modifications with adding some in-person classes .
But , you know , why should they have to do that ?
AMY GOODMAN : Well , it looks like President Trump wants to make it look like business is carrying on as usual in this country .
He particularly attacked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ classes , calling their decision “ ridiculous.
” And then ICE released its decision right after that announcement .
Fiona McEntee , I want to thank you for being with us , immigration attorney , former international student from Ireland , and Jian Ren , international Ph.D. student at Rutgers University in New Jersey , where Juan teaches , as well .
Next up , we go to Texas to speak with the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dr. Sheri Fink , who ’ s been reporting inside Houston ’ s hard-hit hospitals .
Ten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That ’ s the number for Texas alone .
More than 60,000 cases in the United States .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: As the U.S. reported an alarming surge of 60,000 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, shattering the record of the day before, President Trump continued to pressure state governors to open schools in the fall. This comes as ICE — that’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement — announced Monday that thousands of international students enrolled in universities across the United States could face deportation or denied visas back into the U.S. if their schools switch to online-only courses in the fall due to the pandemic.
More than a million international students were issued visas to study in the United States last year. They account for as much as a third of the undergraduate student body at many colleges and universities, and are often the majority of graduate students.
This is Olufemi Olurin, an Eastern Kentucky University student from the Bahamas, reacting to the decision.
OLUFEMI OLURIN: I did come here legally. I’ve been legal. You know, I check in with the government. I pay my taxes. I do everything they tell me to do. If I move, I check in within 10 days. You know, I know all my — I know the law. … I did everything they told me to do, and it’s still like, “Oh, we’re going to take that mat from under you.” … When you plan your life in your twenties, when you start to get into that age where you’re trying to set up a 5-year plan and a 10-year plan, obviously deportation isn’t something you want to put in that plan. So, it definitely took me — took me by surprise.
AMY GOODMAN: ICE released its new guidance just hours after Harvard University announced that all of its classes will be online this fall. On Tuesday, Trump called Harvard’s plan “ridiculous.”
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I see where Harvard announced that they’re closing for the season or for the year. I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s an easy way out. And I think they ought to be ashamed of themselves, you want to know the truth. But I noticed that today. And probably others are doing that. That’s called the easy way out.
AMY GOODMAN: This comes as the Trump administration announced plans last month to cancel the visas of thousands of Chinese graduate students who have ties to universities affiliated with China’s military. Chinese students are the largest single foreign student population in the United States.
Well, for more, we’re joined by two guests. In Chicago, Fiona McEntee is an immigration attorney, and she’s a former international student herself, from Ireland, now a naturalized U.S. citizen. And in Union City, New Jersey, Jian Ren is with us, an international graduate student, originally from China, pursuing a Ph.D. in Latin American history at Rutgers University, where our co-host Juan González is a professor.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Fiona McEntee, let’s begin with you. Can you explain what ICE has just announced? There are something like 1.1 million international students in universities and graduate schools across the country. They could be deported or denied entry back into the U.S. if they went home, if their university, like Harvard, for example, does not offer in-person classes, ICE saying to them, “You can transfer, if you have to”?
FIONA McENTEE: Yeah, Amy, that’s exactly what happened. So, earlier on this week, we saw an announcement by ICE that essentially stated that if foreign students were attending universities that were going to be online only, or participating in online-only courses, then that they would not be able to maintain their student visa status, which leaves them with, you know, some pretty grim options, one of which is — well, deportation was actually mentioned in the ICE statement, as you mentioned.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Fiona McEntee, but this is obviously no fault of the students if a particular university doesn’t offer [in-person] courses. How is the administration justifying this?
FIONA McENTEE: You know, that’s a good question, and I have yet to see a justification for this. So, historically, there were limits on the amount of online courses international students could take. And that makes sense in nonpandemic times. However, when COVID hit, allowances were made, and rightly so, to that policy, and flexibility was made, allowing foreign students to remain here and maintain their student status and study online. And I think a lot of stakeholders in this were expecting those allowances to continue, given that we’re still in the middle of the pandemic. However, that was not the case. And I think it came as a shock to us all. And you’re right, it’s not the foreign students’ fault. And to be honest, they’re one of the most valuable assets that this country has. So it doesn’t make any sense to me, and I’ve yet to see a clear justification for this.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: I wanted to follow up on that and ask you about the reaction by anti-immigration groups, like NumbersUSA, the right-wing restrictionist group. They’ve welcomed this policy. So, it not only fits into President Trump’s efforts to pressure universities, it also bolsters his anti-immigrant base, as well, doesn’t it?
FIONA McENTEE: Yeah, it definitely does. But there’s really — I mean, you can look at immigration in a number of ways. You know, you can look at the cultural aspect of the diversity, but you could also look at it economically. And foreign students contribute about $41 billion per year to the U.S. economy. But just by being here, they created over 450,000 jobs. So, that’s by, you know, food services, healthcare.
I mean, I’ve been contacted by landlords who have been saying, “What am I going to do? Foreign students are my tenants, and now they’re going to be deported, or they’re going to have to leave.”
So, I mean, it doesn’t make sense from an economic point of view. Right now, with the situation, the economy is, like — needs a boost. And I just don’t understand why now we would decide to expel foreign students here, when they contribute so much to the U.S.
AMY GOODMAN: Fiona McEntee, I mean, just to understand, how does ICE enforce this? It means they have to cooperate — the universities and colleges across the country, who are now absolutely outraged by this very late, not to mention just what the content of the guidance is, they have to cooperate with ICE, right? Because they have to let them know if international students are only taking online courses — for example, places like Juan’s university, and our next guest. At Rutgers, they’re going to offer a mix of online and in-person. You’d have to find out if this particular international student is taking only online courses. So will there be more cooperation? Will ICE demand information about the students? How do they enforce this?
FIONA McENTEE: Yeah, I mean, there is a certification process that’s built into this. So, the universities are supposed to report to ICE about whether or not the programs are going to be administered fully online or not. And, you know, I think it’s pretty jarring that in the statement they did mention deportation.
And for foreign students, who — you heard the lady earlier — I mean, they’ve given up so much. They come here. They pay so much tuition. They contribute so much while they’re here. And they’re also — you know, all the statistics show how many startups they create, how many jobs. You know, they don’t have a negative impact on U.S. wages; you know, it’s quite the contrary. So, you know, it’s kind of — it’s very puzzling that you would force international students into in-person studies when there’s a global health crisis in this country.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: I’d like to bring in Jian Ren, a grad student here at Rutgers University, ask you about your reaction once you — when you heard the news of this.
JIAN REN: It’s shocking, because the obscure language in this instruction impacts on me a lot. With the research nature of my degree as a Ph.D. student, I should remain in the United States for academic purposes. I’m going to do oral history interviews in New Jersey locally. And I have to teach undergraduate courses next semester. I find it impossible to do it in China, a country without free internet, for online courses, for delivering all my lectures at 3 a.m. in the morning. But the instruction by the ICE only defines a student’s right to remain in the United States by courses. So, if I don’t take online courses, I cannot fulfill other research obligations by my degree.
And I was also shocked by the lack of knowledge by whoever drafted this instruction, or they just don’t choose to understand the nature of academia in the United States, how a university operates, because different international students are taking different roles, different vital roles, in a university to keep it operating.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to the tweet that — your tweet, Jian Ren, right after ICE made their announcement on Monday, shocking universities and colleges across the country, not to mention a million students. You wrote, “Three common misperceptions: 1. International students don’t pay taxes; 2. International students can apply for a green card after graduation; 3. International students have freedom of speech when they are in the United States.” Explain these three points. Start with taxes, Jian.
JIAN REN: So, as a Ph.D. student, I, and maybe all Ph.D. students from overseas countries to the United States, have to teach classes. And they are responsible for undergraduate education. And they are paid by the university, so they have to pay federal taxes in the United States. And our tax rate is often higher than average Americans, because we don’t have deductions in tax return. We have some, but they are not substantial deductions like Americans have. So, that’s the number one provision I provided, that we also pay taxes to the U.S.
And secondly, there’s no direct channel for us from a Ph.D. degree, undergraduate degree or other kind of degree to immigration. The F visa, the visa for international students, is not an immigrant visa. It’s a non-immigrant visa, or we are called temporary visitors. It’s our privilege to stay in the United States, but not a right. I fully understand this. And we are not going to, like, be American citizens in a few years. It’s simply impossible by law and by the current system.
And thirdly —
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And —
JIAN REN: Yeah.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: No, go ahead.
JIAN REN: And thirdly, the freedom of speech part is a complicated issue. For me, I’m here to participate in the program. I’m facing a risk, because in the next visa application — I have to renew visa in like three years — the U.S. government will ask me about my social network information and, like, scrutinize my opinions. It’s a requirement implemented like three years ago. So, that’s what I call — there’s no, like, equal definition of freedom of speech for us international students in the U.S. compared with Americans.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Jian Ren, I wanted to ask you — most Americans are not aware of the important role that foreign students play in maintaining American universities. For instance, at New York University, 20,000 students are foreign students. In many public universities, it’s the foreign students who pay full tuition — most of them, many of them — who are able to maintain the finances of these public universities, as well. Can you talk about this role that foreign students play here, as well?
JIAN REN: Yes. In most state universities, public institutions, foreign students pay a higher tuition than American citizens in the U.S. And they actually boosted the economy around the campus, especially in college towns like New Brunswick, in New Jersey. LIke, the car dealers, the landlords, the restaurants, the supermarkets rely on foreign students to survive.
AMY GOODMAN: And what does it mean if you were to go back to China? China’s reaction to this? And this is significant, because of the 1.1 million foreign students, it looks like more than a third of them are Chinese students. Now, President Trump almost attempted this two years ago. His senior adviser, the fierce anti-immigrant Stephen Miller, apparently tried to just get Chinese students banned. I guess President Trump has now come to understand that courts don’t like targeted bannings. Is this, do you think, a veiled way to go after Chinese students and attack China right now, Jian Ren? And how much does it cost to go home?
JIAN REN: We have to check the reality of U.S.-China tensions right now. So, with the pandemic and the authoritarian U.S.-China relations in the current moment, there is virtually no flights between China and the U.S., only two or four per week. And the one-way economy-class tickets cost Chinese students more than $10,000 U.S. So, if mass deportation begins, it’s nearly impossible for hundreds of thousands of Chinese students to go home, with both Chinese government and the U.S. government policy to manipulate flight tickets at this moment. And if the U.S. government is going to implement mass deportations by itself, it would be a heavy tax burden for average U.S. taxpayers.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go back to Fiona McEntee and read you a tweet that came out soon after ICE announced they might deport or bar more than a million students from higher education in this country, foreign students. It said, “Petition for universities to create a one-credit course for international students called 'F— ICE 101' that meets in person once per semester with excused absences. 'F— ICE 102' to be taught next spring.” Now, they gave the full word. But, Fiona McEntee, what your recommendation is to the more than million international students in this country right now? You were once one of them.
FIONA McENTEE: Yeah, I was once one of them. And I think this is why — I mean, and I’ve worked with thousands of international students over the course of my career as an immigration lawyer, and so I see how much they bring to this country.
And so, you know, I think that’s an interesting idea for the in-person classes. But really, if they want to stay in their universities that they’re in, and the university or college is going to an online-only model, they’re not going to be able to do that, so they do need some type of in-person class. And, you know, the foreign students are in class with American students. You know, they’re next — it’s not like there’s all just foreign students in a class together. So they’re mixed in. So, we’re now going to require American students, forcing them to come into class to avoid risking deportation of their classmates and their friends. And, you know, I’ve yet to see any type of justification for this. And another option would be if they — to scramble to try to change schools, when fall semester is starting in a couple of weeks.
And so, I think the — I’ve definitely seen the universities push back. I have seen an open letter that has been published online, and I was looking at it this morning. There’s hundreds of signatures from — professors, from, you know, universities, colleges all over the U.S. have signed on to this letter to oppose this policy that just doesn’t make any sense. And so, I think you might see some more pushback from the universities and maybe some modifications with adding some in-person classes. But, you know, why should they have to do that?
AMY GOODMAN: Well, it looks like President Trump wants to make it look like business is carrying on as usual in this country. He particularly attacked Harvard yesterday, that announced no in-person classes, calling their decision “ridiculous.” And then ICE released its decision right after that announcement.
Fiona McEntee, I want to thank you for being with us, immigration attorney, former international student from Ireland, and Jian Ren, international Ph.D. student at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where Juan teaches, as well.
Next up, we go to Texas to speak with the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dr. Sheri Fink, who’s been reporting inside Houston’s hard-hit hospitals. Ten thousand new coronavirus cases in one day. That’s the number for Texas alone. More than 60,000 cases in the United States. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-07-08--Headlines for July  8, 2020

Headlines for July  8, 2020

In Brazil , the nation ’ s far-right president , Jair Bolsonaro , has tested positive for the coronavirus after months of downplaying the severity of the pandemic .
Bolsonaro recently developed a high fever and a cough .
Brazil is the second-hardest-hit nation in the world after the United States , with more than 65,000 deaths and 1.6 million confirmed cases .
Bolsonaro said Tuesday that he is taking hydroxychloroquine , even though it has been proven ineffective against COVID-19 .
President Jair Bolsonaro : “ Here , I ’ m taking my third dose of hydroxychloroquine .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was feeling a little ill on Sunday .
I was bad on Monday .
Today , Tuesday , I feel better than on Saturday .
So , in all certainty , it ’ s working.
” Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald noted that Bolsonaro ’ s announcement comes as the country is on day 53 of having no health minister .
The last two were fired or resigned within 30 days of each other for endorsing science .
The grandmother of Brazil ’ s first lady Michelle Bolsonaro is also suffering from COVID-19 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ unit and is reportedly intubated .

In Brazil, the nation’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has tested positive for the coronavirus after months of downplaying the severity of the pandemic. Bolsonaro recently developed a high fever and a cough. Brazil is the second-hardest-hit nation in the world after the United States, with more than 65,000 deaths and 1.6 million confirmed cases. Bolsonaro said Tuesday that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, even though it has been proven ineffective against COVID-19.
President Jair Bolsonaro: “Here, I’m taking my third dose of hydroxychloroquine. I’m feeling very well. I was feeling a little ill on Sunday. I was bad on Monday. Today, Tuesday, I feel better than on Saturday. So, in all certainty, it’s working.”
Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald noted that Bolsonaro’s announcement comes as the country is on day 53 of having no health minister. The last two were fired or resigned within 30 days of each other for endorsing science. The grandmother of Brazil’s first lady Michelle Bolsonaro is also suffering from COVID-19. She was recently transferred to an ICU unit and is reportedly intubated.


democracynow--2020-07-09--Belgian Princess Condemns Her Family's Brutal Colonial History in Congo & Calls for Reparations

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
The Black Lives Matter uprising in the United States has catalyzed a reckoning about racism and colonialism across the globe , including in Belgium , where a growing movement is demanding Belgium address systemic racism and make amends for its brutal colonial legacy .
Protests have rocked Belgium as demonstrators demand the removal of statues of King Leopold II , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo as his own personal colony until 1908 , in a reign of terror that killed up to 10 million people .
In the 1880s , Leopold II seized land in Central Africa 76 times the size of Belgium .
He ran the region for his own personal profit , commanding a private army that included Congolese children , and draining the land of its resources , including rubber and ivory .
Under his command , millions of Congolese people were enslaved and separated from their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collect the hands of victims and to shoot those who resisted slave labor .
He also imported Congolese people for a human zoo in Belgium .
Leopold II was forced to give up Congo as his private fiefdom in 1908 , though it remained under Belgian rule until 1960 , when Congo won its independence .
Now 60 years later , Belgium has hardly reckoned with its bloody past .
Statues of Leopold II can be seen in cities across Belgium .
In Brussels last month , activists climbed a statue of Leopold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ waving the flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo .
Meanwhile , Belgian authorities in the city of Ghent removed a separate statue of Leopold on Congo ’ s Independence Day , June 30th .
The move came after protesters doused it with red paint to symbolize the blood of murdered Congolese .
A Leopold statue was also removed in Antwerp .
This reckoning led King Philippe of Belgium to issue an unprecedented statement expressing regret for Belgium ’ s colonial rule in a letter to DRC President Félix Tshisekedi .
The Belgian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new truth and reconciliation commission to address the legacy of its genocidal rule in Congo .
This all comes amidst a growing demand for reparations .
For more , we ’ re joined by a descendant of King Leopold II who ’ s joining the protesters in demanding a reckoning about his brutal legacy .
Princess Esméralda is the great-grandniece of Belgium ’ s Leopold II .
She ’ s the aunt of the current King Philippe of Belgium and the daughter of the former King Leopold III .
She is joining us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re also joined by Gia Abrassart , the Congolese Belgian activist and founder of Café Congo in Brussels .
We welcome you both to Democracy Now !
Gia Abrassart , let ’ s begin with you .
You are Congolese living in Belgium .
You run the Congo Café .
Can you talk about the legacy of Leopold II and what it means ?
So often , in now hearing the story of the king , who considered Congo his personal fiefdom , we think of the cutting off of hands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rule .
Explain this history , or at least describe it to us .
GIA ABRASSART : Yes .
I ’ m not a historian , but I ’ m a journalist .
I ’ m a Belgo-Congolese journalist .
And I like to read , to study the construction of the Belgium national narratives .
And I observed how systematically there is an obliteration , there is an erasure , of the Congo ’ s contribution in the co-construction of the Belgium identity .
That ’ s why , coming from — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was the second king of Belgium , but also a builder and also the head of the Free State of Congo , he had duties and responsibilities , and that continuity , that colonial continuity , you know , after we had the Belgian Congo , and then we arrive today with the systematic discrimination .
And I can confirm that I ’ m the fruit of this shared history between Belgium and Congo , but it is a denial history .
It ’ s a erased history .
That ’ s why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point of view , from my experience , I think it ’ s really important to testimony and also to anchor these observations in historical facts , because we have archives , we have facts , we have evidence of these crimes , of these colonial crimes under King Leopold II and under Belgian Congo .
It ’ s important to frame directly , to link directly to the demands of the new generation today .
That ’ s the colonial continuum .
That ’ s why now we arrive in a momentum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and , you know , the demands , the negotiations to remove definitely these statues of King Leopold II as the head of the Free Congo State .
But , you know , if you keep on the reflection , it goes further .
And we would like to work not on the material and memorial reparation , because it has still an impact today on us , on the new generation , on the Afro-descendant generation .
It means , for example , the ceiling glass , you know , the racial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ systematic negrophobia .
That ’ s why we are really aware , and we are really in that kind of momentum with the internationally , you know , revendications .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Well , Princess Esméralda , I want to ask you about the Belgian government ’ s response so far to this history between Belgium and — colonial Belgium and Congo .
In recent years , the Belgian government has issued apologies for some aspects of its relationship to Congo , including the separation of mixed-race children from their Congolese mothers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s role in the assassination of Congo ’ s first post-colonial prime minister , Patrice Lumumba .
Even though many , including the U.N. , have called for Belgium to apologize for its brutal rule , King Philippe , in the letter that we mentioned earlier and he sent to the DRC president , he only expressed the deepest regret for what Belgium had done , acts of violence and cruelty , as he said .
Now many have said that that letter , quite apart from not containing an apology , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not represent the viewpoint of the Belgian government , since he ’ s not formally a member .
And then the question of why it is that Belgium has apologized for certain aspects of its rule but not for its overall brutality in the region .
So , could you talk about that , and whether you think these protests might produce an apology now ?
PRINCESS ESMÉRALDA OF BELGIUM : Well , you ’ re absolutely right .
I mean , there was also always some mixed message .
There was some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were other people , other ministers , saying , “ No , we should not apologize .
We can not erase history.
” So , I think , honestly , this first step by the king , saying that he expressed deep regret , obviously doesn ’ t go far enough , but it ’ s a first step .
It ’ s quite historical in our country that a chief of state recognizes , acknowledges the problem of the past .
Obviously , we have to go much further .
And the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truth and reconciliation .
And I really hope that this will expose the past honestly , get rid of a narrative that was built over the years with a certain nostalgia by some of Belgium ex-colonizers saying , “ But there were good things in the colony.
” No , there were not .
It was a brutal system , which provoked crime .
It was exploitation of the people .
And not only the crimes and the rapes and the most atrocious human rights violation happened , but also it had an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deep impact in the society that is still today .
And , of course , we have to realize that racism in our country , like in many countries of Europe , are essentially from colonialism and slavery .
And Belgium is not alone .
I ’ m aware that there are petitions that are starting to be organized for other European countries to recognize , acknowledge their past .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Gia , I want to ask — NERMEEN SHAIKH : Gia , I wanted to ask you — one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to transform the curricula of Belgian schools so this colonial history is taught more accurately .
For decades , Belgian children were taught that Leopold II in fact brought civilization to the areas of Central Africa that he governed , abolishing slavery , building roads and schools , introducing democracy to Congo .
Now the education minister for French-language schools has said educators would require the teaching of Congolese history and Belgian colonialism .
Could you talk about that ?
What needs to be taught in Belgian schools ?
GIA ABRASSART : I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a memorial reparation .
We are not talking about amnesty of amnesia .
We are not here to restore , you know , the colonial personalities ’ honor .
But even if we are forgiving and we are doing great steps to include in schools the colonial past of Belgium , we can ’ t forget , for example , that the Congolese lands were plundered in the name of , apparently , legal text , which only recognized , you know , the white are the strongest .
We can ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the colonial past , under the Belgian Congo and under the Free State of Congo , and that Black persons were not allowed to go to cinemas , to restaurants or so-called European shops .
And it ’ s that kind of , you know , historical facts , historical denial , historical crimes , that we have to share in the public space .
And I think that this commission that Parliament will allow , that implements from September , the truth , reconciliation — and , I would add , reparation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will really create like a collective therapy for all the Belgians , including the post-colonial bodies like Congolese , Burundis and Rwandis .
I think it ’ s a kind of a shared collective memory .
I ’ m , you know , that kind of irreversible fruit of this shared history , and the fact that even at university when you are studying journalism , you don ’ t cope with the real facts of the history of Belgium , when at schools you are not including in the manuals the real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ King Leopold II in 1885 'til 1960s , when the independence of Congo was there .
You know , it 's important for a affirmation and to include all the Belgium citizenships in the more serene atmosphere .
No , Belgium won ’ t escape that kind of a therapy and work , you know , on its colonial past .
It ’ s really important .
AMY GOODMAN : Princess Esméralda , I ’ m wondering if you can talk about the historic silence of your family , of the royal family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , how you came to understand Leopold ’ s history ?
You ’ re the aunt of the current king .
Your father was king .
And , of course , you ’ re the great-grandniece of Leopold II , who we ’ re talking about today .
Give us a history lesson on what you understand he did .
PRINCESS ESMÉRALDA OF BELGIUM : Well , obviously , because I am part of this family , I feel the responsibility to talk .
I mean , my family has not talked before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talk about it , and , recently , to really apologize for this past , because I strongly believe that only with apologies first , we can build something different .
We confront our past , and then we can build new relationship .
My personal path , I have been an activist for the environment and for human rights for a long time .
And I can see so much the link between racism , even in the climate crisis now , even in the way the Indigenous people are displaced by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the colonizer moved and killed the Indigenous people before .
So , all that , for me , makes so much sense .
And I think we have to talk about that .
It ’ s a difficult conversation for many , especially when we talk about reparation , but it is absolutely necessary if we want to have a just , fair society .
So , if we talk about reparation , why not start by fair trade ?
That seems to be obvious .
There are so many things we can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ society , where community can talk and flourish , and where we don ’ t have the discrimination that we see every day .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Princess Esméralda , as you ’ ve mentioned — you mentioned and Gia mentioned earlier , as well — the question of reparations , one of the striking things is that Congo is an extremely resource-rich country but is also one of the poorest countries in the world .
You mentioned now the issue of fair trade .
Could you talk about the enduring legacy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suffer from this legacy , and , in addition to fair trade and reparations , what you think needs to happen ?
PRINCESS ESMÉRALDA OF BELGIUM : Well , yes , that ’ s really the doom of the country .
The country is so rich in resources , in all the minerals , and , unfortunately , the population is still not benefiting from that , because you still have a lot of multinationals which are plundering the country .
And that ’ s obviously a legacy from the past and from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : We want to thank you both for being with us .
Princess Esméralda is the great-grandniece of Belgium ’ s Leopold II .
She ’ s the aunt of the current King Philippe of Belgium and the daughter of the former King Leopold III .
She ’ s speaking to us from London , where she ’ s been arrested with Extinction Rebellion , protesting around the climate crisis .
I also want to thank Gia Abrassart , who is the Congolese Belgian activist and founder of Café Congo in Brussels .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Democracy Now !
is produced with Mike Burke , Renée Feltz , Deena Guzder , Libby Rainey , Nermeen Shaikh , Carla Wills , Tami Woronoff , Charina Nadura , Sam Alcoff , Tey-Marie Astudillo , John Hamilton , Robby Karran , Hany Massoud , Adriano Contreras , María Taracena .
Special thanks to Julie Crosby and Becca Staley , Miriam Barnard .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.
The Black Lives Matter uprising in the United States has catalyzed a reckoning about racism and colonialism across the globe, including in Belgium, where a growing movement is demanding Belgium address systemic racism and make amends for its brutal colonial legacy. Protests have rocked Belgium as demonstrators demand the removal of statues of King Leopold II, who became king in 1865 and ruled what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo as his own personal colony until 1908, in a reign of terror that killed up to 10 million people.
In the 1880s, Leopold II seized land in Central Africa 76 times the size of Belgium. He ran the region for his own personal profit, commanding a private army that included Congolese children, and draining the land of its resources, including rubber and ivory. Under his command, millions of Congolese people were enslaved and separated from their families. His troops were ordered to collect the hands of victims and to shoot those who resisted slave labor. He also imported Congolese people for a human zoo in Belgium. Leopold II was forced to give up Congo as his private fiefdom in 1908, though it remained under Belgian rule until 1960, when Congo won its independence.
Now 60 years later, Belgium has hardly reckoned with its bloody past. Statues of Leopold II can be seen in cities across Belgium. In Brussels last month, activists climbed a statue of Leopold II and chanted “murderer” while waving the flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, Belgian authorities in the city of Ghent removed a separate statue of Leopold on Congo’s Independence Day, June 30th. The move came after protesters doused it with red paint to symbolize the blood of murdered Congolese. A Leopold statue was also removed in Antwerp.
This reckoning led King Philippe of Belgium to issue an unprecedented statement expressing regret for Belgium’s colonial rule in a letter to DRC President Félix Tshisekedi. The Belgian Parliament has also agreed to form a new truth and reconciliation commission to address the legacy of its genocidal rule in Congo. This all comes amidst a growing demand for reparations.
For more, we’re joined by a descendant of King Leopold II who’s joining the protesters in demanding a reckoning about his brutal legacy. Princess Esméralda is the great-grandniece of Belgium’s Leopold II. She’s the aunt of the current King Philippe of Belgium and the daughter of the former King Leopold III. She is joining us from London. And in Brussels, we’re also joined by Gia Abrassart, the Congolese Belgian activist and founder of Café Congo in Brussels.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Gia Abrassart, let’s begin with you. You are Congolese living in Belgium. You run the Congo Café. Can you talk about the legacy of Leopold II and what it means? So often, in now hearing the story of the king, who considered Congo his personal fiefdom, we think of the cutting off of hands. Ten million people died under his rule. Explain this history, or at least describe it to us.
GIA ABRASSART: Yes. I’m not a historian, but I’m a journalist. I’m a Belgo-Congolese journalist. And I like to read, to study the construction of the Belgium national narratives.
And I observed how systematically there is an obliteration, there is an erasure, of the Congo’s contribution in the co-construction of the Belgium identity. That’s why, coming from — starting from King Leopold II, who was the second king of Belgium, but also a builder and also the head of the Free State of Congo, he had duties and responsibilities, and that continuity, that colonial continuity, you know, after we had the Belgian Congo, and then we arrive today with the systematic discrimination. And I can confirm that I’m the fruit of this shared history between Belgium and Congo, but it is a denial history. It’s a erased history.
That’s why, you know, starting from my point of view, from my experience, I think it’s really important to testimony and also to anchor these observations in historical facts, because we have archives, we have facts, we have evidence of these crimes, of these colonial crimes under King Leopold II and under Belgian Congo. It’s important to frame directly, to link directly to the demands of the new generation today. That’s the colonial continuum.
That’s why now we arrive in a momentum. It starts from King Leopold II and, you know, the demands, the negotiations to remove definitely these statues of King Leopold II as the head of the Free Congo State. But, you know, if you keep on the reflection, it goes further. And we would like to work not on the material and memorial reparation, because it has still an impact today on us, on the new generation, on the Afro-descendant generation. It means, for example, the ceiling glass, you know, the racial ceiling glass, the discrimination, the systematic negrophobia. That’s why we are really aware, and we are really in that kind of momentum with the internationally, you know, revendications.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Princess Esméralda, I want to ask you about the Belgian government’s response so far to this history between Belgium and — colonial Belgium and Congo. In recent years, the Belgian government has issued apologies for some aspects of its relationship to Congo, including the separation of mixed-race children from their Congolese mothers, as well as for Belgium’s role in the assassination of Congo’s first post-colonial prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. Even though many, including the U.N., have called for Belgium to apologize for its brutal rule, King Philippe, in the letter that we mentioned earlier and he sent to the DRC president, he only expressed the deepest regret for what Belgium had done, acts of violence and cruelty, as he said. Now many have said that that letter, quite apart from not containing an apology, is almost entirely irrelevant because the king does not represent the viewpoint of the Belgian government, since he’s not formally a member. And then the question of why it is that Belgium has apologized for certain aspects of its rule but not for its overall brutality in the region. So, could you talk about that, and whether you think these protests might produce an apology now?
PRINCESS ESMÉRALDA OF BELGIUM: Well, you’re absolutely right. I mean, there was also always some mixed message. There was some apologies for some things, but there were other people, other ministers, saying, “No, we should not apologize. We cannot erase history.”
So, I think, honestly, this first step by the king, saying that he expressed deep regret, obviously doesn’t go far enough, but it’s a first step. It’s quite historical in our country that a chief of state recognizes, acknowledges the problem of the past. Obviously, we have to go much further.
And the Parliament has voted for a commission of truth and reconciliation. And I really hope that this will expose the past honestly, get rid of a narrative that was built over the years with a certain nostalgia by some of Belgium ex-colonizers saying, “But there were good things in the colony.” No, there were not. It was a brutal system, which provoked crime. It was exploitation of the people. And not only the crimes and the rapes and the most atrocious human rights violation happened, but also it had an impact on the country culturally and a deep impact in the society that is still today.
And, of course, we have to realize that racism in our country, like in many countries of Europe, are essentially from colonialism and slavery. And Belgium is not alone. I’m aware that there are petitions that are starting to be organized for other European countries to recognize, acknowledge their past.
AMY GOODMAN: Princess —
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Gia, I want to ask —
AMY GOODMAN: Sorry, Nermeen. Go ahead.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Gia, I wanted to ask you — one of the demands that protesters are making is to transform the curricula of Belgian schools so this colonial history is taught more accurately. For decades, Belgian children were taught that Leopold II in fact brought civilization to the areas of Central Africa that he governed, abolishing slavery, building roads and schools, introducing democracy to Congo. Now the education minister for French-language schools has said educators would require the teaching of Congolese history and Belgian colonialism. Could you talk about that? What needs to be taught in Belgian schools?
GIA ABRASSART: I think it’s a first step for a memorial reparation. We are not talking about amnesty of amnesia. We are not here to restore, you know, the colonial personalities’ honor. But even if we are forgiving and we are doing great steps to include in schools the colonial past of Belgium, we can’t forget, for example, that the Congolese lands were plundered in the name of, apparently, legal text, which only recognized, you know, the white are the strongest. We can’t forget that there was apartheid under the colonial past, under the Belgian Congo and under the Free State of Congo, and that Black persons were not allowed to go to cinemas, to restaurants or so-called European shops. And it’s that kind of, you know, historical facts, historical denial, historical crimes, that we have to share in the public space.
And I think that this commission that Parliament will allow, that implements from September, the truth, reconciliation — and, I would add, reparation — it means material and memorial — will really create like a collective therapy for all the Belgians, including the post-colonial bodies like Congolese, Burundis and Rwandis. I think it’s a kind of a shared collective memory. I’m, you know, that kind of irreversible fruit of this shared history, and the fact that even at university when you are studying journalism, you don’t cope with the real facts of the history of Belgium, when at schools you are not including in the manuals the real colonial past of Belgium, coming from King Leopold II in 1885 'til 1960s, when the independence of Congo was there. You know, it's important for a affirmation and to include all the Belgium citizenships in the more serene atmosphere. No, Belgium won’t escape that kind of a therapy and work, you know, on its colonial past. It’s really important.
AMY GOODMAN: Princess Esméralda, I’m wondering if you can talk about the historic silence of your family, of the royal family, and the journey that you took, how you came to understand Leopold’s history? You’re the aunt of the current king. Your father was king. And, of course, you’re the great-grandniece of Leopold II, who we’re talking about today. Give us a history lesson on what you understand he did.
PRINCESS ESMÉRALDA OF BELGIUM: Well, obviously, because I am part of this family, I feel the responsibility to talk. I mean, my family has not talked before. I was one advocating always to talk about it, and, recently, to really apologize for this past, because I strongly believe that only with apologies first, we can build something different. We confront our past, and then we can build new relationship.
My personal path, I have been an activist for the environment and for human rights for a long time. And I can see so much the link between racism, even in the climate crisis now, even in the way the Indigenous people are displaced by all the multinationals, the same way the colonizer moved and killed the Indigenous people before. So, all that, for me, makes so much sense.
And I think we have to talk about that. It’s a difficult conversation for many, especially when we talk about reparation, but it is absolutely necessary if we want to have a just, fair society. So, if we talk about reparation, why not start by fair trade? That seems to be obvious. There are so many things we can do and try to have a better society, where community can talk and flourish, and where we don’t have the discrimination that we see every day.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Princess Esméralda, as you’ve mentioned — you mentioned and Gia mentioned earlier, as well — the question of reparations, one of the striking things is that Congo is an extremely resource-rich country but is also one of the poorest countries in the world. You mentioned now the issue of fair trade. Could you talk about the enduring legacy, the ways in which Congo continues to suffer from this legacy, and, in addition to fair trade and reparations, what you think needs to happen?
PRINCESS ESMÉRALDA OF BELGIUM: Well, yes, that’s really the doom of the country. The country is so rich in resources, in all the minerals, and, unfortunately, the population is still not benefiting from that, because you still have a lot of multinationals which are plundering the country. And that’s obviously a legacy from the past and from the colonial state before.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you both for being with us. Princess Esméralda is the great-grandniece of Belgium’s Leopold II. She’s the aunt of the current King Philippe of Belgium and the daughter of the former King Leopold III. She’s speaking to us from London, where she’s been arrested with Extinction Rebellion, protesting around the climate crisis. I also want to thank Gia Abrassart, who is the Congolese Belgian activist and founder of Café Congo in Brussels.
And that does it for our show. Democracy Now! is produced with Mike Burke, Renée Feltz, Deena Guzder, Libby Rainey, Nermeen Shaikh, Carla Wills, Tami Woronoff, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Tey-Marie Astudillo, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hany Massoud, Adriano Contreras, María Taracena. Special thanks to Julie Crosby and Becca Staley, Miriam Barnard. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.


democracynow--2020-07-09--How to Stop the Next Pandemic: U.N. Report Links Outbreaks to Climate Crisis &  Industrial Farming

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
As the global health emergency caused by the coronavirus continues to unfold , we look now at a new United Nations report on how to prevent the next pandemic .
The COVID-19 virus has a zoonotic origin , meaning it jumped from animals to humans .
It spilled over .
Other zoonotic diseases include Ebola , MERS , HIV/AIDS and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United Nations found zoonotic diseases are spreading with greater frequency because of stresses humans have placed on animal habitats , including industrial farming and the climate crisis .
Their new report outlines steps for how to break this chain of transmission .
It was published Monday , which was World Zoonoses Day , commemorating the work of the French biologist Louis Pasteur .
It was July 6 , 1885 , when Pasteur administered the first vaccine against rabies , a zoonotic disease .
For more , we ’ re going to Nairobi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re joined by Delia Grace , lead author of this report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Livestock Research Institute .
She ’ s also professor of food safety systems at the Natural Resources Institute .
We welcome you to Democracy Now !
, Delia Grace .
If you can start off by laying out what you have found ?
DELIA GRACE : Thank you , and it ’ s a pleasure to be here and to share some of the findings from my report .
One of the novelties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that while there have been many attempts to understand the impacts of COVID-19 and how to manage it and how to deal with the economic and other social kind of aspects of it , there has been much less attention paid to the actual causes of COVID , why it came , and will something similar come again .
And this is what our report focuses on .
It ’ s not so much about how to deal with pandemics , but why they come in the first place and how we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so they do less harm .
Our main findings , I think , were to focus firstly on the drivers of zoonoses , of emerging zoonoses .
So , rather than focusing on the symptoms , we were looking at the causes .
And then , our next major part of the report was looking at recommendations and what should be done .
So , that ’ s just a quick overview .
And maybe if you have some specific questions , I can go back to those in more detail .
NERMEEN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , before we get into more details from your report , I also want to say that it ’ s striking that already before the coronavirus , 2 million people every year died from zoonotic diseases .
So , can you say a little about what those diseases are and why they ’ ve not been talked about ?
You also , in the report , anticipate further pandemics from these — potential pandemics from some of these diseases .
Could you talk about what those are and what areas are most at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in epidemiology , which is the study of diseases , we often make a distinction between what we call endemic disease and epidemic disease .
So , endemic diseases are those which are present more or less continuously in a population .
And the epidemic diseases are ones which suddenly increase in their geographical spread or the number of people they affect .
So , most of the people dying of zoonoses are dying of the first type , the endemic diseases , the diseases which have been mainly controlled in rich countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and death occurs in poor countries .
And that ’ s why , I think , it has received less attention .
If these diseases were equally prevalent or common in rich countries , they would get a lot more notice , a lot more news coverage , and maybe better control .
On the other hand , it ’ s the emerging diseases which are new and which can spread rapidly from country to country , like we ’ ve seen with COVID-19 and like we saw with West Nile virus and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ swine flu .
So , these are the diseases which typically kill far fewer people .
I mean , COVID-19 has killed a lot of people , but some of the other diseases — mad cow disease , the SARS , sudden acute respiratory syndrome , which was a problem in the early 2000s — actually had less effect on human health but more effect on human economies , and that was because they got into rich countries .
So , yes .
So , a lot of the problem of these zoonotic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and people living in places where they ’ re in very close contact with animals , sometimes in the same house — chickens kept under the bed , because if they ’ re not under the bed , they ’ re going to be stolen — and also health services which are not very good .
So , this combination of poverty , people highly dependent on animals , degraded environments and poor health services is a lethal cocktail for these zoonotic diseases , diseases which jump between people — animals and people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people and animals .
AMY GOODMAN : And can you talk about how the climate crisis plays into this , and this whole issue of it ’ s not animals encroaching on land where humans are , it ’ s humans increasingly encroaching — for example , the issue of deforestation forcing out animals from their natural habitat who would not want to be interacting with humans ?
DELIA GRACE : Yes , it ’ s land fragmentation .
It ’ s also extractive industries , especially in Africa , Southeast Asia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in things like logging , mining .
Many of these require roads to get in , to get the resources out .
Many of these resources are not being — they ’ re being exported .
They ’ re not being used by the local communities .
But these roads also then offer a way to get the livestock or the wildlife out from their pristine , their previously kind safe , isolated areas into the emerging urban markets , where they ’ re often in demand by wealthy elites as exotic foods @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provides income for very poor people .
So , habitat fragmentation , land-use change has a big role in this .
In terms of climate change , it ’ s not so much that it drives the emergence of disease , that it helps disease jump from one animal to another or from animals to people , but rather that it changes the distribution of pathogens — that ’ s of the things which cause disease — and also what we call vectors , which are often insects or other animals that move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ midges or flies .
And many of these are dependent on climate factors , such as humidity , rainfall , growing season , air temperature .
So , when you get climate change , you get vectors and disease-causing organisms moving , coming to new places .
And what they encounter there is naive populations , people who have not been exposed to these .
And that ’ s when you can get outbreaks of epidemics of disease .
So climate change is less a direct driver and more a facilitator of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SHAIKH : Professor Grace , many of the diseases , zoonotic diseases , have their origins now in the Global South .
One thinks of Ebola , the West Nile virus and earlier coronaviruses .
But you ’ ve pointed out that previously , ’ til as recently as the year 2000 — so just 20 years ago — most new human diseases , zoonotic diseases , originated in the western seaboards of Europe and North America .
So , what is it that changed ?
DELIA GRACE : Yes .
I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one complication is that it ’ s really only in the last century we ’ ve had good records of emerging diseases .
And certainly we have better ability to detect the diseases in rich countries , whereas that is now changing .
Some of the best diagnostic facilities are now in Southeast Asia and China and in other countries .
So there is an element of our ability to detect diseases has increased .
But there also , we believe — and , you know , we have published on this — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the switch in low- and middle-income countries to highly intensive industrial agriculture , which was not a phenomenon even a hundred years ago , and also the increasingly rapid degradation of natural resources , driven by population growth but also people ’ s increasing demand for animal protein .
And our study we did in the last decade suggested that emerging diseases were now shifting increasingly .
They were , A , getting more common and , B , increasingly coming from the Global South .
AMY GOODMAN : Can you talk about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a leading example of how to manage zoonotic diseases ?
DELIA GRACE : We actually see several — you know , one of the most encouraging and saddening issues with these emerging diseases is that they are actually not terribly difficult to control , if you only invest in them in the right places and at the right time .
So , we gave an example in Uganda , where basically it was community-level workers .
So it ’ s basically training communities to — and working with them and learning from them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often have the greatest knowledge of the diseases they face , but they don ’ t have the ability always to report them or to manage them .
So it ’ s basically working with communities in order to manage diseases at a local level before they become a problem .
And this was an example of training environmental officers who could work with the communities , in the communities , at relatively low cost , and was able to demonstrate good benefits on reduction of disease control .
In Kenya , too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what ’ s called the Zoonotic Disease Unit , which brings together the government , different ministries with the government , from health , from environment , from veterinary , as well as researchers like myself .
And again , this unit has been extremely successful in dealing with these zoonotic diseases , because zoonoses occur , as we say , at the intersection .
They occur at the intersection of humans , wildlife , livestock and the environment .
And things which happen at the intersection can best be managed at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bringing together these groups has been very successful in Africa , I would say more successful than in Europe or in America .
AMY GOODMAN : Delia Grace , we want to thank you very much for being with us .
A quick question : Another , what people don ’ t usually think of as a zoonotic disease , I would guess , is Lyme disease in the United States , this chronic condition — right ?
— where ticks are transferring the virus into humans .
DELIA GRACE : Yes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ classic disease , again , which has environmental and wildlife elements and land-use change .
We identified land-use change as a key driver .
So , we ’ ve seen a complete ecological transformation , especially in parts of Europe and northern America .
And this has allowed diseases to behave in ways , partly because the predators were removed from the system , so therefore you got far more deer , and then you get far more ticks .
And then also you get people wanting to interact with the environment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ diseases .
And that can be managed best — one of the other key premises for this one health approach is that rather than treating the sick human , waiting 'til the human get sick and then trying to treat them , we treat the environment .
We try to get a healthy environment so that people do n't get sick in the first place .
AMY GOODMAN : Delia Grace , we want to thank you so much for being with us .
Of course , we have to comment that this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worst surge for coronavirus during the pandemic is the time that the president of the United States is pulling the United States out of the World Health Organization .
Delia Grace , lead author of a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Livestock Research Institute titled “ Preventing the next pandemic–Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission.
” We ’ ll link to that at democracynow.org .
She ’ s also professor of food safety systems at the Natural Resources Institute , speaking to us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democracy Now !
When we come back , we will talk about the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium ’ s legacy there .
We will speak with the great-grandniece of King Leopold II , who considered the Congo his own personal fiefdom .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. As the global health emergency caused by the coronavirus continues to unfold, we look now at a new United Nations report on how to prevent the next pandemic.
The COVID-19 virus has a zoonotic origin, meaning it jumped from animals to humans. It spilled over. Other zoonotic diseases include Ebola, MERS, HIV/AIDS and the West Nile virus. Researchers with the United Nations found zoonotic diseases are spreading with greater frequency because of stresses humans have placed on animal habitats, including industrial farming and the climate crisis.
Their new report outlines steps for how to break this chain of transmission. It was published Monday, which was World Zoonoses Day, commemorating the work of the French biologist Louis Pasteur. It was July 6, 1885, when Pasteur administered the first vaccine against rabies, a zoonotic disease.
For more, we’re going to Nairobi,, Kenya, where we’re joined by Delia Grace, lead author of this report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Livestock Research Institute. She’s also professor of food safety systems at the Natural Resources Institute.
We welcome you to Democracy Now!, Delia Grace. If you can start off by laying out what you have found?
DELIA GRACE: Thank you, and it’s a pleasure to be here and to share some of the findings from my report.
One of the novelties or the unique aspects of this report is that while there have been many attempts to understand the impacts of COVID-19 and how to manage it and how to deal with the economic and other social kind of aspects of it, there has been much less attention paid to the actual causes of COVID, why it came, and will something similar come again. And this is what our report focuses on. It’s not so much about how to deal with pandemics, but why they come in the first place and how we can prevent them or catch them early so they do less harm.
Our main findings, I think, were to focus firstly on the drivers of zoonoses, of emerging zoonoses. So, rather than focusing on the symptoms, we were looking at the causes. And then, our next major part of the report was looking at recommendations and what should be done. So, that’s just a quick overview. And maybe if you have some specific questions, I can go back to those in more detail.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Professor Delia Grace, before we get into more details from your report, I also want to say that it’s striking that already before the coronavirus, 2 million people every year died from zoonotic diseases. So, can you say a little about what those diseases are and why they’ve not been talked about? You also, in the report, anticipate further pandemics from these — potential pandemics from some of these diseases. Could you talk about what those are and what areas are most at risk?
DELIA GRACE: So, in epidemiology, which is the study of diseases, we often make a distinction between what we call endemic disease and epidemic disease. So, endemic diseases are those which are present more or less continuously in a population. And the epidemic diseases are ones which suddenly increase in their geographical spread or the number of people they affect.
So, most of the people dying of zoonoses are dying of the first type, the endemic diseases, the diseases which have been mainly controlled in rich countries, and so most of the sickness and death occurs in poor countries. And that’s why, I think, it has received less attention. If these diseases were equally prevalent or common in rich countries, they would get a lot more notice, a lot more news coverage, and maybe better control.
On the other hand, it’s the emerging diseases which are new and which can spread rapidly from country to country, like we’ve seen with COVID-19 and like we saw with West Nile virus and Riff Valley fever and avian influenza and swine flu. So, these are the diseases which typically kill far fewer people. I mean, COVID-19 has killed a lot of people, but some of the other diseases — mad cow disease, the SARS, sudden acute respiratory syndrome, which was a problem in the early 2000s — actually had less effect on human health but more effect on human economies, and that was because they got into rich countries.
So, yes. So, a lot of the problem of these zoonotic diseases is poverty and lack of development and people living in places where they’re in very close contact with animals, sometimes in the same house — chickens kept under the bed, because if they’re not under the bed, they’re going to be stolen — and also health services which are not very good. So, this combination of poverty, people highly dependent on animals, degraded environments and poor health services is a lethal cocktail for these zoonotic diseases, diseases which jump between people — animals and people, and the other way around, people and animals.
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about how the climate crisis plays into this, and this whole issue of it’s not animals encroaching on land where humans are, it’s humans increasingly encroaching — for example, the issue of deforestation forcing out animals from their natural habitat who would not want to be interacting with humans?
DELIA GRACE: Yes, it’s land fragmentation. It’s also extractive industries, especially in Africa, Southeast Asia. We’ve seen a big uptick in things like logging, mining. Many of these require roads to get in, to get the resources out. Many of these resources are not being — they’re being exported. They’re not being used by the local communities. But these roads also then offer a way to get the livestock or the wildlife out from their pristine, their previously kind safe, isolated areas into the emerging urban markets, where they’re often in demand by wealthy elites as exotic foods, which can — yeah, which provides income for very poor people. So, habitat fragmentation, land-use change has a big role in this.
In terms of climate change, it’s not so much that it drives the emergence of disease, that it helps disease jump from one animal to another or from animals to people, but rather that it changes the distribution of pathogens — that’s of the things which cause disease — and also what we call vectors, which are often insects or other animals that move pathogens around, such as mosquitoes or midges or flies. And many of these are dependent on climate factors, such as humidity, rainfall, growing season, air temperature. So, when you get climate change, you get vectors and disease-causing organisms moving, coming to new places. And what they encounter there is naive populations, people who have not been exposed to these. And that’s when you can get outbreaks of epidemics of disease. So climate change is less a direct driver and more a facilitator of these pandemics we are increasingly seeing.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Professor Grace, many of the diseases, zoonotic diseases, have their origins now in the Global South. One thinks of Ebola, the West Nile virus and earlier coronaviruses. But you’ve pointed out that previously, ’til as recently as the year 2000 — so just 20 years ago — most new human diseases, zoonotic diseases, originated in the western seaboards of Europe and North America. So, what is it that changed?
DELIA GRACE: Yes. I think there’s — I mean, one complication is that it’s really only in the last century we’ve had good records of emerging diseases. And certainly we have better ability to detect the diseases in rich countries, whereas that is now changing. Some of the best diagnostic facilities are now in Southeast Asia and China and in other countries. So there is an element of our ability to detect diseases has increased.
But there also, we believe — and, you know, we have published on this — it also appears to be driven by the switch in low- and middle-income countries to highly intensive industrial agriculture, which was not a phenomenon even a hundred years ago, and also the increasingly rapid degradation of natural resources, driven by population growth but also people’s increasing demand for animal protein. And our study we did in the last decade suggested that emerging diseases were now shifting increasingly. They were, A, getting more common and, B, increasingly coming from the Global South.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about Uganda, mentioned in the report as a leading example of how to manage zoonotic diseases?
DELIA GRACE: We actually see several — you know, one of the most encouraging and saddening issues with these emerging diseases is that they are actually not terribly difficult to control, if you only invest in them in the right places and at the right time.
So, we gave an example in Uganda, where basically it was community-level workers. So it’s basically training communities to — and working with them and learning from them, because they are the people who often have the greatest knowledge of the diseases they face, but they don’t have the ability always to report them or to manage them. So it’s basically working with communities in order to manage diseases at a local level before they become a problem. And this was an example of training environmental officers who could work with the communities, in the communities, at relatively low cost, and was able to demonstrate good benefits on reduction of disease control.
In Kenya, too, where I work, we have what’s called the Zoonotic Disease Unit, which brings together the government, different ministries with the government, from health, from environment, from veterinary, as well as researchers like myself. And again, this unit has been extremely successful in dealing with these zoonotic diseases, because zoonoses occur, as we say, at the intersection. They occur at the intersection of humans, wildlife, livestock and the environment. And things which happen at the intersection can best be managed at the intersection. And that’s how bringing together these groups has been very successful in Africa, I would say more successful than in Europe or in America.
AMY GOODMAN: Delia Grace, we want to thank you very much for being with us. A quick question: Another, what people don’t usually think of as a zoonotic disease, I would guess, is Lyme disease in the United States, this chronic condition — right? — where ticks are transferring the virus into humans.
DELIA GRACE: Yes, I mean, and that is a classic disease, again, which has environmental and wildlife elements and land-use change. We identified land-use change as a key driver. So, we’ve seen a complete ecological transformation, especially in parts of Europe and northern America. And this has allowed diseases to behave in ways, partly because the predators were removed from the system, so therefore you got far more deer, and then you get far more ticks. And then also you get people wanting to interact with the environment. And then you get outbreaks of zoonotic diseases.
And that can be managed best — one of the other key premises for this one health approach is that rather than treating the sick human, waiting 'til the human get sick and then trying to treat them, we treat the environment. We try to get a healthy environment so that people don't get sick in the first place.
AMY GOODMAN: Delia Grace, we want to thank you so much for being with us. Of course, we have to comment that this week in the United States, the worst surge for coronavirus during the pandemic is the time that the president of the United States is pulling the United States out of the World Health Organization. Delia Grace, lead author of a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Livestock Research Institute titled “Preventing the next pandemic–Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission.” We’ll link to that at democracynow.org. She’s also professor of food safety systems at the Natural Resources Institute, speaking to us from Nairobi, Kenya.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, we will talk about the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium’s legacy there. We will speak with the great-grandniece of King Leopold II, who considered the Congo his own personal fiefdom. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-07-09--Viagra? Yes. Birth Control? No. SCOTUS Sides with Trump & Limits Free Contraception Under Obamacare

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We ’ re beginning today with the Supreme Court , which dealt a blow to reproductive rights Wednesday , when it upheld Trump administration rules that let employers deny people access to free birth control based on their religious or moral beliefs — the employers ’ religious or moral beliefs .
In a 7-to-2 ruling written by Justice Clarence Thomas , the court hollowed out a birth control mandate under the Affordable Care Act that requires most private health insurance plans to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Planned Parenthood estimates the mandate expanded contraceptive coverage with no out-of-pocket costs to more than 62 million women , including 17 million Latinas and 15 million Black women .
As many as 126,000 people now face the immediate loss of access to contraceptive services with no out-of-pocket costs , if the businesses , nonprofits and universities that employ them opt out of providing this coverage .
For more , we ’ re joined in Beaufort , South Carolina , by Fatima Goss Graves , president and CEO of the National Women ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Now !
It ’ s great to have you with us .
Can you respond to the Supreme Court ruling , Fatima Goss Graves ?
FATIMA GOSS GRAVES : Listen , it ’ s a really deeply disappointing ruling .
The Affordable Care Act ’ s birth control benefit has been transformative , especially for women , who can access the contraception that they need , that their provider is recommending , and not have to worry about paying what can be really , really high costs .
And what the Supreme Court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or university can now assert a religious or a moral reason and make it so that these individuals are effectively on their own to find and pay for their contraception .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Fatima , could you talk about the cases that were consolidated in this ruling , Trump v. Pennsylvania and Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania ?
FATIMA GOSS GRAVES : Right .
So , the Trump v. Pennsylvania case , you know , several states and also individual organizations around the country challenged this rule , including the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And the reason that this rule was being challenged was for two reasons .
One , we believed that the rule itself went against the thrust and purpose of the Affordable Care Act .
What the Affordable Care Act tried to do with this birth control benefit was ensure that women , in particular , did not experience discrimination .
It was designed to further gender equality .
And the Trump administration , by allowing for virtually any employer or any university , really , to name a religious or this vague , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ control coverage , that rule went against the thrust of the Affordable Care Act .
So , what the Supreme Court said , basically , was that the administration was authorized to write such a rule .
There is a question that remains , and that the state of Pennsylvania and New Jersey have said they will continue to litigate , and that we at the National Women ’ s Law Center will continue to litigate , and that is whether the rule itself was arbitrary and capricious , whether or not they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or not , for example , this vague moral justification for not providing the birth control benefit will be enough when weighed against the really important justification of furthering gender equality .
That was the thing that was most missing , I would say , from the majority opinion in the Supreme Court .
They barely talked about the individual workers and students who now are going to have to be paying so much more , in the heart of an economic decline , and working harder to get the healthcare they need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I want to read from the two dissenting justices in the case .
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor warned , quote , “ [ T ] his Court leaves women workers to fend for themselves , to seek contraceptive coverage from sources other than their employer ’ s insurer , and , absent another available source of funding , to pay for contraceptive services out of their own pockets.
” They added , quote , “ Faced with high out-of-pocket costs , many women will forgo contraception … or resort to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could comment , Fatima Goss Graves ?
So , the Affordable Care Act does pay for Viagra — right ?
— but will not cover , if an employer objects , birth control ?
FATIMA GOSS GRAVES : It ’ s outrageous .
I mean , what we have right now is a situation where some of the healthcare that women , in particular , need won ’ t be covered in the same way .
So , contraception , which the vast majority of women in this country have used at some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expensive .
And because the Affordable Care Act was trying to set up a system where core preventative services were allowed without extra costs , without having to pay copays , they knew , though , if they didn ’ t detail specific services that women mostly needed , that women might get shut out .
And so , there are very specific services that women need , including contraception , and now we ’ re in a situation where not the employee ’ s religious objection , not the employee ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or because her university [ inaudible ] , are going to [ inaudible ] more .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , I want to thank you so much for being with us .
Of course , we ’ re going to continue to follow this .
Today is the last day of the Supreme Court .
Expected today are the Supreme Court ’ s decisions on President Trump ’ s taxes .
Fatima Goss Graves , president and CEO of the National Women ’ s Law Center , speaking to us from South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When we come back , the transmission of viruses from animals to humans .
And then we will look at what ’ s happening in Belgium and speak with the descendant of King Leopold II as Black Lives Matter activists want to take down his statue , a reassessment on what he did in the Congo .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re beginning today with the Supreme Court, which dealt a blow to reproductive rights Wednesday, when it upheld Trump administration rules that let employers deny people access to free birth control based on their religious or moral beliefs — the employers’ religious or moral beliefs.
In a 7-to-2 ruling written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court hollowed out a birth control mandate under the Affordable Care Act that requires most private health insurance plans to cover birth control without a copay. Planned Parenthood estimates the mandate expanded contraceptive coverage with no out-of-pocket costs to more than 62 million women, including 17 million Latinas and 15 million Black women. As many as 126,000 people now face the immediate loss of access to contraceptive services with no out-of-pocket costs, if the businesses, nonprofits and universities that employ them opt out of providing this coverage.
For more, we’re joined in Beaufort, South Carolina, by Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center.
Welcome back to Democracy Now! It’s great to have you with us. Can you respond to the Supreme Court ruling, Fatima Goss Graves?
FATIMA GOSS GRAVES: Listen, it’s a really deeply disappointing ruling. The Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit has been transformative, especially for women, who can access the contraception that they need, that their provider is recommending, and not have to worry about paying what can be really, really high costs. And what the Supreme Court decision means is that virtually any employer or university can now assert a religious or a moral reason and make it so that these individuals are effectively on their own to find and pay for their contraception.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Fatima, could you talk about the cases that were consolidated in this ruling, Trump v. Pennsylvania and Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania?
FATIMA GOSS GRAVES: Right. So, the Trump v. Pennsylvania case, you know, several states and also individual organizations around the country challenged this rule, including the National Women’s Law Center. And the reason that this rule was being challenged was for two reasons. One, we believed that the rule itself went against the thrust and purpose of the Affordable Care Act. What the Affordable Care Act tried to do with this birth control benefit was ensure that women, in particular, did not experience discrimination. It was designed to further gender equality. And the Trump administration, by allowing for virtually any employer or any university, really, to name a religious or this vague, not defined moral objection to providing birth control coverage, that rule went against the thrust of the Affordable Care Act. So, what the Supreme Court said, basically, was that the administration was authorized to write such a rule.
There is a question that remains, and that the state of Pennsylvania and New Jersey have said they will continue to litigate, and that we at the National Women’s Law Center will continue to litigate, and that is whether the rule itself was arbitrary and capricious, whether or not they took the appropriate steps, and whether or not, for example, this vague moral justification for not providing the birth control benefit will be enough when weighed against the really important justification of furthering gender equality. That was the thing that was most missing, I would say, from the majority opinion in the Supreme Court. They barely talked about the individual workers and students who now are going to have to be paying so much more, in the heart of an economic decline, and working harder to get the healthcare they need during a pandemic.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to read from the two dissenting justices in the case. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor warned, quote, “[T]his Court leaves women workers to fend for themselves, to seek contraceptive coverage from sources other than their employer’s insurer, and, absent another available source of funding, to pay for contraceptive services out of their own pockets.” They added, quote, “Faced with high out-of-pocket costs, many women will forgo contraception … or resort to less effective contraceptive methods.” If you could comment, Fatima Goss Graves? So, the Affordable Care Act does pay for Viagra — right? — but will not cover, if an employer objects, birth control?
FATIMA GOSS GRAVES: It’s outrageous. I mean, what we have right now is a situation where some of the healthcare that women, in particular, need won’t be covered in the same way. So, contraception, which the vast majority of women in this country have used at some point in their life, is extraordinarily expensive. And because the Affordable Care Act was trying to set up a system where core preventative services were allowed without extra costs, without having to pay copays, they knew, though, if they didn’t detail specific services that women mostly needed, that women might get shut out. And so, there are very specific services that women need, including contraception, and now we’re in a situation where not the employee’s religious objection, not the employee’s moral objection, but because her boss or because her university [inaudible], are going to [inaudible] more.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you so much for being with us. Of course, we’re going to continue to follow this. Today is the last day of the Supreme Court. Expected today are the Supreme Court’s decisions on President Trump’s taxes. Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, speaking to us from South Carolina.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, the transmission of viruses from animals to humans. And then we will look at what’s happening in Belgium and speak with the descendant of King Leopold II as Black Lives Matter activists want to take down his statue, a reassessment on what he did in the Congo. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-07-09--Headlines for July  9, 2020

Headlines for July  9, 2020

The United States reported 62,000 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday — a new daily record .
This brings the total @ @ @ @ @ over 3 million — by far the largest in the world .
At least five @ @ @ @ @ , Tennessee , Utah and West Virginia — set new single-day infection records on Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ reported their highest single-day death toll to date .
The U.S. death toll has topped @ @ @ @ @ widely believed to be an undercount .
In Houston , Texas , ProPublica reports there @ @ @ @ @ people dying at home before they even make it to the hospital .
As the @ @ @ @ @ , so has the demand for tests .
In Texas , drive-thru COVID testing sites @ @ @ @ @ wait times .
And with many laboratories backlogged , test results can take more than @ @ @ @ @ making contact tracing ineffective .

The United States reported 62,000 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday — a new daily record. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to over 3 million — by far the largest in the world. At least five states — Missouri, Texas, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia — set new single-day infection records on Wednesday. California and Texas also reported their highest single-day death toll to date.
The U.S. death toll has topped 132,000, but that is widely believed to be an undercount. In Houston, Texas, ProPublica reports there has been a spike in people dying at home before they even make it to the hospital.
As the U.S. case count has soared, so has the demand for tests. In Texas, drive-thru COVID testing sites report long lines and hours-long wait times. And with many laboratories backlogged, test results can take more than a week to arrive, making contact tracing ineffective.