democracynow--2020-07-24--Noam Chomsky on Trump's Troop Surge to Democratic Cities & Whether He'll Leave Office If He Loses

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 .
Barely 100 days before the presidential election in November , this week President Trump announced he ’ s sending a “ surge ” of federal officers into large Democrat-run cities , like Chicago .
This comes after Trump first sent federal agents to Portland , Oregon , where the camouflage-clad paramilitary agents attacked antiracist protesters , even snatched activists off the streets in unmarked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal forces fired tear gas at protesters in Portland once again , among those hit was Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler , who also serves as Portland ’ s police commissioner .
The response to Trump ’ s outrageous and likely unconstitutional deployment of federal agents has been resoundingly critical .
Oregon Governor Kate Brown denounced the , quote , “ secret police abducting people , ” and the Oregon attorney general has now sued several of the federal agencies involved .
In the streets , a contingent of women has grown nightly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of moms.
” Oregon Senator Ron Wyden described the federal agents as “ essentially fascist , ” and warned , quote , “ If the line is not drawn in the sand right now , America may be staring down the barrel of martial law in the middle of a presidential election.
” Well , for more on this and much more , we spend the rest of the hour with Noam Chomsky , the world-renowned political dissident , linguist and author , laureate professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Institute of Technology , where he taught for more than 50 years .
He spoke with Democracy Now !
's Nermeen Shaikh and I on Thursday .
We reached him at his home in Tucson , Arizona , where he 's sheltering in place with his wife , Valeria .
I began by asking Professor Chomsky to respond to the surge of federal agents Trump is promising to unleash on the country .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Well , Professor Chomsky , I mean , you ’ ve just said — echoed the concerns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be headed — the U.S. may be headed towards the imposition of martial law .
You ’ ve just called Trump a psychotic , previously having referred to him as a sociopath , and pointed to the differences between — the massive differences between Biden and Trump , when we had you on earlier this year , saying about Biden that he ’ s pretty empty , you can push him one way or another .
And you ’ ve also said that this is the most crucial election in human history , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News interview just on Sunday , Trump refused to commit to accepting the outcome of the 2020 election .
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP : I ’ m not a good loser .
I don ’ t like to lose .
I don ’ t lose too often .
I don ’ t like to lose .
CHRIS WALLACE : But are you gracious ?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP : You don ’ t know until you see .
It depends .
I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election .
I really do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that you might not accept the results of the election ?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP : I have to see .
Look , Hillary Clinton asked me the same thing .
NOAM CHOMSKY : Well , there are various maneuvers that theoretically they might undertake .
One might be to try to throw the election to the — to refuse to accept the vote , to make sure that the Republican governors don ’ t authorize their own electors .
This is routine and automatic , but technically they could refuse .
Could throw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s enough Republicans in the House to essentially turn the election into the kind of farce that you find , as I said , in some tin-pot dictatorship .
That ’ s one possibility .
Another possibility is he might just try to call out the military to impose martial law .
And the point is , he can not lose .
First of all , he ’ s psychologically incapable of losing .
Secondly , if he loses , if he leaves the White House , he may be facing serious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but there ’ s a whole swamp around him .
He ’ s tried to keep it from being investigated .
He fired all the inspectors general when they were beginning to investigate it .
The federal attorney for the Southern District of New York — that ’ s Wall Street and so on , the most important — started looking into it .
Fired him , replaced him with a flack from the private equity industry .
There ’ s nothing he would not do to try to maintain office , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I won ’ t run through the details , but it ’ s a major catastrophe looming .
We have some time to deal with it .
Four more years of Trump might well take us to irreversible tipping points .
At the very least , it will make it much harder to confront this growing crisis .
There ’ s no stopping the polar ice caps from — ice sheets from melting , the Amazon forest from being destroyed .
Large parts of the world might become simply unlivable .
We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maybe one or two feet by the end of the century , much more later .
This is all totally catastrophic .
You can ’ t conceive of how human society can survive in an organized way .
At the same time , Trump is dedicated to destroying the arms control regime .
Last August , he terminated the Reagan-Gorbachev INF Treaty , which helped control the potential for nuclear war growing from a European conflict .
Now he ’ s dismantled the Open Skies Treaty , goes back to Eisenhower .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imposed frivolous demands to try to delay negotiations on the New START treaty , which the Russians have been pleading for for a long time .
This is due for renewal in a few months .
May already be too late to renegotiate it , the last of the arms control treaties .
He ’ s now threatening to carry out nuclear weapons tests , tests that would undermine the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty , almost 30 years .
The United States never ratified it , but it ’ s lived up to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ door wider for other countries to react the same way .
The arms industry is , of course , euphoric .
They ’ re getting huge new contracts to develop major weapons to destroy all of us .
This encourages others to do the same .
So there are new contracts down the road for hopeless means to try to defend ourselves against the monstrosities that we ’ re helping to construct .
This is Trump , racing towards this , apparently enjoying it .
You can ’ t describe it in normal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sociopath , ” is perfectly accurate .
Whether this can be contained within the constitutional structures of the United States , we don ’ t know .
I might say that there ’ s another country that ’ s trying to mimic the United States , Brazil , with another ridiculous dictator , Jair Bolsonaro , who ’ s trying to be a clone of Trump .
He was being investigated by — he and his family , involved in all kind of sordid criminal activities , came under investigation .
He fired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the courts in Brazil .
Not here .
When Trump fired them all , purged the executive , nothing from the courts , nothing from the Republicans in Congress .
Brazil at least has a thin barrier to another military dictatorship .
The United States is in worse shape .
This is pretty serious .
There ’ s been nothing like it .
There ’ s no precedents that have any real relevance .
AMY GOODMAN : MIT professor emeritus Noam Chomsky , linguist , author , activist .
When we come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump bragging about acing a cognitive test for dementia .
All that and more , in a minute .

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.
Barely 100 days before the presidential election in November, this week President Trump announced he’s sending a “surge” of federal officers into large Democrat-run cities, like Chicago. This comes after Trump first sent federal agents to Portland, Oregon, where the camouflage-clad paramilitary agents attacked antiracist protesters, even snatched activists off the streets in unmarked vans. On Wednesday night, when federal forces fired tear gas at protesters in Portland once again, among those hit was Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who also serves as Portland’s police commissioner.
The response to Trump’s outrageous and likely unconstitutional deployment of federal agents has been resoundingly critical. Oregon Governor Kate Brown denounced the, quote, “secret police abducting people,” and the Oregon attorney general has now sued several of the federal agencies involved. In the streets, a contingent of women has grown nightly, protecting protesters by forming a “wall of moms.” Oregon Senator Ron Wyden described the federal agents as “essentially fascist,” and warned, quote, “If the line is not drawn in the sand right now, America may be staring down the barrel of martial law in the middle of a presidential election.”
Well, for more on this and much more, we spend the rest of the hour with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, laureate professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Arizona and professor emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he taught for more than 50 years.
He spoke with Democracy Now!'s Nermeen Shaikh and I on Thursday. We reached him at his home in Tucson, Arizona, where he's sheltering in place with his wife, Valeria. I began by asking Professor Chomsky to respond to the surge of federal agents Trump is promising to unleash on the country.
NOAM CHOMSKY: President Trump is desperate. His entire attention is this one issue on his mind: That’s the election. He has to cover up for the fact that he’s personally responsible for killing tens of thousands of Americans. It’s impossible to conceal that much longer. Just compare the United States with Europe or even Canada. It’s becoming a pariah state, to the point where Americans aren’t even permitted to travel to Europe. Europe won’t accept them.
His chances of victory depend on his doing something dramatic. He was trying very hard to set up military confrontations. You mentioned martial law. It’s moving towards martial law. He might even be able to try to cancel the elections. There’s no telling what he would do. He’s completely desperate. This is like the actions of some tin-pot dictator in a neo-colony somewhere, small country that has a military coup every couple of years. There’s no historical precedent for anything like this in a functioning democratic society. If he could send Blackshirts out in the streets, he’d be happy to do that.
Exactly how this will eventuate is very hard to say. The courts are unlikely to do anything. We may even get to a point where the military command has to decide which side they’re on. The man is desperate. He’s psychotic. He is in extreme danger of losing his position in the White House. He’ll do anything he can to prevent it.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Professor Chomsky, I mean, you’ve just said — echoed the concerns of Senator Ron Wyden that we may be headed — the U.S. may be headed towards the imposition of martial law. You’ve just called Trump a psychotic, previously having referred to him as a sociopath, and pointed to the differences between — the massive differences between Biden and Trump, when we had you on earlier this year, saying about Biden that he’s pretty empty, you can push him one way or another. And you’ve also said that this is the most crucial election in human history, literally. Now, in a Fox News interview just on Sunday, Trump refused to commit to accepting the outcome of the 2020 election. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’m not a good loser. I don’t like to lose. I don’t lose too often. I don’t like to lose. CHRIS WALLACE: But are you gracious? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You don’t know until you see. It depends. I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election. I really do. CHRIS WALLACE: Are you suggesting that you might not accept the results of the election? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have to see. Look, Hillary Clinton asked me the same thing.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Could you comment on that and what your concerns are, in the event — I mean, you’ve just said that, in fact, the elections somehow could be canceled. Could you talk about under what conditions Trump might be able to do that? And in the event that they’re not canceled, what are your concerns, depending on the outcome of the vote, what Trump might do?
NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, there are various maneuvers that theoretically they might undertake. One might be to try to throw the election to the — to refuse to accept the vote, to make sure that the Republican governors don’t authorize their own electors. This is routine and automatic, but technically they could refuse. Could throw it into the House, where there’s enough Republicans in the House to essentially turn the election into the kind of farce that you find, as I said, in some tin-pot dictatorship. That’s one possibility. Another possibility is he might just try to call out the military to impose martial law.
And the point is, he cannot lose. First of all, he’s psychologically incapable of losing. Secondly, if he loses, if he leaves the White House, he may be facing serious legal problems. Now he has immunity, but there’s a whole swamp around him. He’s tried to keep it from being investigated. He fired all the inspectors general when they were beginning to investigate it. The federal attorney for the Southern District of New York — that’s Wall Street and so on, the most important — started looking into it. Fired him, replaced him with a flack from the private equity industry. There’s nothing he would not do to try to maintain office, virtually nothing you can think of.
This is a major crisis. There’s been one or other form of parliamentary democracy for 350 years in England, and 250 years here, and nothing like this has happened before. We’re dealing with a figure who’s out of the political spectrum for functioning democracies. And he has a political party behind him which by now has just turned into cowardly sycophants. They’re terrified to cross His Imperial Majesty. He’s got a popular base of heavily armed, angry white supremacist militias. There’s no telling what he would do. I think the country, by November, may be a different country — and a different world, given U.S. power.
But that’s kind of the immediate issue. The reason why this is the most important election in history has nothing to do with this. Four more years of Trump’s climate policies and nuclear policies might simply doom the human species, literally. We don’t have a lot of time to deal with the environmental crisis. It’s very serious. Every prediction that’s been made by scientists has been too conservative. Each time it comes out worse.
I won’t run through the details, but it’s a major catastrophe looming. We have some time to deal with it. Four more years of Trump might well take us to irreversible tipping points. At the very least, it will make it much harder to confront this growing crisis. There’s no stopping the polar ice caps from — ice sheets from melting, the Amazon forest from being destroyed. Large parts of the world might become simply unlivable. We’re talking about potential sea rises of maybe one or two feet by the end of the century, much more later. This is all totally catastrophic. You can’t conceive of how human society can survive in an organized way.
At the same time, Trump is dedicated to destroying the arms control regime. Last August, he terminated the Reagan-Gorbachev INF Treaty, which helped control the potential for nuclear war growing from a European conflict. Now he’s dismantled the Open Skies Treaty, goes back to Eisenhower. That’s gone. He’s imposed frivolous demands to try to delay negotiations on the New START treaty, which the Russians have been pleading for for a long time. This is due for renewal in a few months. May already be too late to renegotiate it, the last of the arms control treaties. He’s now threatening to carry out nuclear weapons tests, tests that would undermine the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, almost 30 years. The United States never ratified it, but it’s lived up to it.
All of this opens the door wider for other countries to react the same way. The arms industry is, of course, euphoric. They’re getting huge new contracts to develop major weapons to destroy all of us. This encourages others to do the same. So there are new contracts down the road for hopeless means to try to defend ourselves against the monstrosities that we’re helping to construct. This is Trump, racing towards this, apparently enjoying it. You can’t describe it in normal — the term you used, “sociopath,” is perfectly accurate. Whether this can be contained within the constitutional structures of the United States, we don’t know.
I mean, something similar to this happened in the United Kingdom a couple of months ago. Boris Johnson, the prime minister, prorogated the Parliament, closed the Parliament, so that he could ram through his version of Brexit. This was regarded by British legal experts as the worst crisis in 350 years. Well, in Britain, the Supreme Court nullified it. That’s unlikely to happen here.
I might say that there’s another country that’s trying to mimic the United States, Brazil, with another ridiculous dictator, Jair Bolsonaro, who’s trying to be a clone of Trump. He was being investigated by — he and his family, involved in all kind of sordid criminal activities, came under investigation. He fired the investigators. But that was blocked by the courts in Brazil. Not here. When Trump fired them all, purged the executive, nothing from the courts, nothing from the Republicans in Congress. Brazil at least has a thin barrier to another military dictatorship. The United States is in worse shape. This is pretty serious. There’s been nothing like it. There’s no precedents that have any real relevance.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Professor Chomsky, you’ve mentioned again now the lack of safeguards there are in the U.S. to the possible imposition of martial law. But even in other countries around the world where martial law has been declared, it requires minimally the compliance of those who are in charge of the military. Do you see those in the U.S. going along with Trump in the event that he chooses to attempt to declare martial law?
NOAM CHOMSKY: As I say, there’s no precedent for this in any minimally functioning democracy. There are countries, many of them, where the military has taken over, often with U.S. support or even initiative, because we wanted to overthrow the civilian government. Nothing like this has happened since — aside from the fascist regimes, interwar regimes, totally different conditions, there’s just no precedent.
There was, as you may recall, a couple of weeks ago, press reports with headlines about how Trump is expanding his purge of the executive, which has almost been cleansed of any controls or dissident voices. He’s extending this to trying to purge the military. Well, there were speculations at the time that the purge of the military might be preparation for a plan to try to bring the military in to carry out something which would amount to a military coup.
The military so far has been refusing, pulled out the 82nd Airborne from Washington after Trump wanted it in there. They’ve been rejecting the proposals from the White House for more force and violence. That’s why he’s resorting to forces outside the official military in his current campaign to set up violent confrontations in Democratic-run cities, the plan right now. What the military would do, we don’t know.
If you look for precedents in Third World dictatorships, it would depend on how those at the colonel level react, people close in contract with troops. But we have no precedent for anything like this. There’s nothing like it. This is a unique situation in modern history, in the modern history of the democratic — more or less democratic societies.
AMY GOODMAN: MIT professor emeritus Noam Chomsky, linguist, author, activist. When we come back, I ask him about President Trump bragging about acing a cognitive test for dementia. All that and more, in a minute.


democracynow--2020-07-24--Watch Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fire Back on House Floor After Rep. Yoho Calls Her an "F'ing Bitch"

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We begin today ’ s show with the stunning rebuke delivered by New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Florida Congressmember Ted Yoho Thursday , after he was overheard by reporters calling the congresswoman from New York an “ f—ing B-word ” — but he used the actual words .
He was standing on the steps of the Capitol earlier this week .
Her response came after Yoho offered a non-apology from the House floor on Wednesday , saying , quote , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” and never naming Ocasio-Cortez directly .
On Thursday , the New York congresswoman took to the floor of the House to respond .
This is her full fiery address .
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ : I would also like to thank many of my colleagues for the opportunity to not only speak today , but for the many members , from both sides of the aisle , who have reached out to me in support following an incident earlier this week .
About two days ago , I was walking up the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suddenly turned a corner — and he was accompanied by Representative Roger Williams — and accosted me on the steps right here in front of our nation ’ s Capitol .
I was minding my own business , walking up the steps , and Representative Yoho put his finger in my face .
He called me disgusting .
He called me crazy .
He called me out of my mind .
And he called me dangerous .
And then he took a few more steps , and after I had recognized his comments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , “ I ’ m rude .
You ’ re calling me rude.
” I took a few steps ahead , and I walked inside and cast my vote , because my constituents send me here each and every day to fight for them and to make sure that they are able to keep a roof over their head , that they ’ re able to feed their families and that they ’ re able to carry their lives with dignity .
I walked back out , and there were reporters in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in front of reporters , Representative Yoho called me — and I quote — “ a f—ing bitch.
” These are the words that Representative Yoho levied against a congresswoman , the congresswoman that not only represents New York ’ s 14th Congressional District , but every congresswoman and every woman in this country , because all of us have had to deal with this in some form , some way , some shape , at some point in our lives .
And I want to be clear that Representative Yoho ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to me , because I have worked a working-class job .
I have waited tables in restaurants .
I have ridden the subway .
I have walked the streets in New York City .
And this kind of language is not new .
I have encountered words uttered by Mr. Yoho and men uttering the same words as Mr. Yoho while I was being harassed in restaurants .
I have tossed men out of bars that have used language like Mr. Yoho ’ s .
And I have encountered this type of harassment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is not new .
And that is the problem .
Mr. Yoho was not alone .
He was walking shoulder to shoulder with Representative Roger Williams .
And that ’ s when we start to see that this issue is not about one incident .
It is cultural .
It is a culture of lack of impunity , of accepting a violence and violent language against women , and an entire structure of power that supports that .
Because not only have I been spoken to disrespectfully , particularly by members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Republican Party , not just here , but the president of the United States last year told me to go home to another country , with the implication that I don ’ t even belong in America .
The governor of Florida , Governor DeSantis , before I even was sworn in , called me a “ whatever that is.
” Dehumanizing language is not new .
And what we are seeing is that incidents like these are happening in a pattern .
This is a pattern of an attitude towards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while I was not deeply hurt or offended by little comments that are made , when I was reflecting on this , I honestly thought that I was just going to pack it up and go home .
It ’ s just another day , right ?
But then , yesterday , Representative Yoho decided to come to the floor of the House of Representatives and make excuses for his behavior .
And that , I could not let go .
I could not allow my nieces , I could not allow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to , I could not allow victims of verbal abuse , and worse , to see that , to see that excuse , and to see our Congress accept it as legitimate and accept it as an apology and to accept silence as a form of acceptance .
I could not allow that to stand , which is why I am rising today to raise this point of personal privilege .
And I do not need Representative Yoho to apologize to me .
Clearly , he does not want to .
Clearly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not .
And I will not stay up late at night waiting for an apology from a man who has no remorse over calling women and using abusive language towards women .
But what I do have issue with is using women , our wives and daughters , as shields and excuses for poor behavior .
Mr. Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters .
I am two years younger than Mr. Yoho ’ s youngest daughter .
I am someone ’ s daughter , too .
My father , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter .
My mother got to see Mr. Yoho ’ s disrespect on the floor of this House towards me on television .
And I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men .
Now , what I am here to say is that this harm that Mr. Yoho levied , tried to levy against me , was not just an incident directed at me .
But when you do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters .
In using that language in front of the press , he gave permission to use that language against his wife , his daughters , women in his community .
And I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable .
I do not care what your views are .
It does not matter how much I disagree or how much it incenses me or how much I feel that people are dehumanizing others .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will not allow people to change and create hatred in our hearts .
And so what I believe is that having a daughter does not make a man decent .
Having a wife does not make a decent man .
Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man .
And when a decent man messes up , as we all are bound to do , he tries his best and does apologize , not to save face , not to win a vote .
He apologizes , genuinely , to repair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we can all move on .
Lastly , what I want to express to Mr. Yoho is gratitude .
I want to thank him for showing the world that you can be a powerful man and accost women .
You can have daughters and accost women without remorse .
You can be married and accost women .
You can take photos and project an image to the world of being a family man , and accost women without remorse and with a sense of impunity .
It happens every day in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steps of our nation ’ s Capitol .
It happens when individuals who hold the highest office in this land admit — admit — to hurting women and using this language against all of us .
AMY GOODMAN : New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez firing back at Florida Congressmember Ted Yoho after he called the congresswoman from New York “ an f—ing B-word ” — but he actually used the words .
This is Democracy Now !
One congressmember after another followed AOC to express their support for her .
When we come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show with the stunning rebuke delivered by New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Florida Congressmember Ted Yoho Thursday, after he was overheard by reporters calling the congresswoman from New York an “f—ing B-word” — but he used the actual words. He was standing on the steps of the Capitol earlier this week. Her response came after Yoho offered a non-apology from the House floor on Wednesday, saying, quote, “I cannot apologize for my passion,” and never naming Ocasio-Cortez directly.
On Thursday, the New York congresswoman took to the floor of the House to respond. This is her full fiery address.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: I would also like to thank many of my colleagues for the opportunity to not only speak today, but for the many members, from both sides of the aisle, who have reached out to me in support following an incident earlier this week. About two days ago, I was walking up the steps of the Capitol when Representative Yoho suddenly turned a corner — and he was accompanied by Representative Roger Williams — and accosted me on the steps right here in front of our nation’s Capitol.
I was minding my own business, walking up the steps, and Representative Yoho put his finger in my face. He called me disgusting. He called me crazy. He called me out of my mind. And he called me dangerous. And then he took a few more steps, and after I had recognized his comments as rude, he walked away and said, “I’m rude. You’re calling me rude.” I took a few steps ahead, and I walked inside and cast my vote, because my constituents send me here each and every day to fight for them and to make sure that they are able to keep a roof over their head, that they’re able to feed their families and that they’re able to carry their lives with dignity.
I walked back out, and there were reporters in the front of the Capitol. And in front of reporters, Representative Yoho called me — and I quote — “a f—ing bitch.” These are the words that Representative Yoho levied against a congresswoman, the congresswoman that not only represents New York’s 14th Congressional District, but every congresswoman and every woman in this country, because all of us have had to deal with this in some form, some way, some shape, at some point in our lives.
And I want to be clear that Representative Yoho’s comments were not deeply hurtful or piercing to me, because I have worked a working-class job. I have waited tables in restaurants. I have ridden the subway. I have walked the streets in New York City. And this kind of language is not new. I have encountered words uttered by Mr. Yoho and men uttering the same words as Mr. Yoho while I was being harassed in restaurants. I have tossed men out of bars that have used language like Mr. Yoho’s. And I have encountered this type of harassment riding the subway in New York City. This is not new. And that is the problem.
Mr. Yoho was not alone. He was walking shoulder to shoulder with Representative Roger Williams. And that’s when we start to see that this issue is not about one incident. It is cultural. It is a culture of lack of impunity, of accepting a violence and violent language against women, and an entire structure of power that supports that. Because not only have I been spoken to disrespectfully, particularly by members of the Republican Party and elected officials in the Republican Party, not just here, but the president of the United States last year told me to go home to another country, with the implication that I don’t even belong in America. The governor of Florida, Governor DeSantis, before I even was sworn in, called me a “whatever that is.”
Dehumanizing language is not new. And what we are seeing is that incidents like these are happening in a pattern. This is a pattern of an attitude towards women and dehumanization of others. So, while I was not deeply hurt or offended by little comments that are made, when I was reflecting on this, I honestly thought that I was just going to pack it up and go home. It’s just another day, right?
But then, yesterday, Representative Yoho decided to come to the floor of the House of Representatives and make excuses for his behavior. And that, I could not let go. I could not allow my nieces, I could not allow the little girls that I go home to, I could not allow victims of verbal abuse, and worse, to see that, to see that excuse, and to see our Congress accept it as legitimate and accept it as an apology and to accept silence as a form of acceptance. I could not allow that to stand, which is why I am rising today to raise this point of personal privilege.
And I do not need Representative Yoho to apologize to me. Clearly, he does not want to. Clearly, when given the opportunity, he will not. And I will not stay up late at night waiting for an apology from a man who has no remorse over calling women and using abusive language towards women. But what I do have issue with is using women, our wives and daughters, as shields and excuses for poor behavior.
Mr. Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters. I am two years younger than Mr. Yoho’s youngest daughter. I am someone’s daughter, too. My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter. My mother got to see Mr. Yoho’s disrespect on the floor of this House towards me on television. And I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men.
Now, what I am here to say is that this harm that Mr. Yoho levied, tried to levy against me, was not just an incident directed at me. But when you do that to any woman, what Mr. Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters. In using that language in front of the press, he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community. And I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable. I do not care what your views are. It does not matter how much I disagree or how much it incenses me or how much I feel that people are dehumanizing others. I will not do that myself. I will not allow people to change and create hatred in our hearts.
And so what I believe is that having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man. And when a decent man messes up, as we all are bound to do, he tries his best and does apologize, not to save face, not to win a vote. He apologizes, genuinely, to repair and acknowledge the harm done, so that we can all move on.
Lastly, what I want to express to Mr. Yoho is gratitude. I want to thank him for showing the world that you can be a powerful man and accost women. You can have daughters and accost women without remorse. You can be married and accost women. You can take photos and project an image to the world of being a family man, and accost women without remorse and with a sense of impunity. It happens every day in this country. It happened here on the steps of our nation’s Capitol. It happens when individuals who hold the highest office in this land admit — admit — to hurting women and using this language against all of us.
AMY GOODMAN: New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez firing back at Florida Congressmember Ted Yoho after he called the congresswoman from New York “an f—ing B-word” — but he actually used the words. This is Democracy Now! One congressmember after another followed AOC to express their support for her.
When we come back, professor Noam Chomsky. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-07-28--No Paper Trail: Migrant Children Secretly Held in Hampton Inn Hotels Before Expulsion from U.S.

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Juan González .
Under a shocking new Trump administration policy , hundreds of people who came to the United States seeking asylum were secretly held in hotels for days on end before being expelled from the country , often with little or no paper trail .
Between April and the end of June , more than 200 unaccompanied immigrant children — including babies and toddlers — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A private contractor for ICE — that ’ s Immigration and Customs Enforcement — took the children to three Hampton Inn hotels in Arizona and near the Texas-Mexico border .
ICE paid MVM , Inc. to transport and monitor the children .
The same company previously held separated immigrant children in squalid conditions in empty office buildings .
As Hurricane Hanna threatened South Texas this weekend , many children held at the hotel were moved to different locations , though it ’ s not clear where .
And then , last night @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Texas Civil Rights Project and their co-counsel successfully sued to stop the expulsion of 17 people detained in the Hampton Inn hotel .
Officials agreed instead to transfer them to the custody of ORR — that ’ s the Office of Refugee Resettlement , where they were supposed to be held .
All of this comes after members of the Texas Civil Rights Project went to the Hampton Inn hotel in McAllen last week and attempted to offer legal help to people detained there .
In this video , you can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he is getting off an elevator on the fourth floor , confronted by men who refuse to identify themselves .
AMY GOODMAN : An attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project yelling to people and to children , “ Are you being detained ?
Do you want to yell to me your name ?
” as he ’ s being thrown out by security .
For more , we go to McAllen , where we ’ re joined by Zenén Jaimes Pérez , advocacy director for the Texas Civil Rights Project , part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration policy .
Zenén , it ’ s great to have you back with us .
You were right there in the hotel on the fourth floor .
Can you explain how you came to learn ICE was secretly holding children in hotels like these ?
ZENÉN JAIMES PÉREZ : Hi .
Yes .
Good morning .
Glad to be here .
So , part of what we ’ re seeing here with the video — right ?
— with Andy bravely stepping forward and basically taking abuse by these unnamed guards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for many weeks now , especially since the CDC order that effectively the Trump administration used to end asylum , we ’ ve known that folks who have been coming in through the border to legally seek asylum , including unaccompanied children , that instead of going through the process that is spelled out by law , the Trump administration has been just basically expelling them — right ?
— without due process and without any paper trail — in effect , basically violating their due process .
So , for the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ known that the number of children who have been under the custody of the federal government in the Office of Refugee Resettlement has decreased over the course of the pandemic .
And so , in that time , in June , we filed a lawsuit on behalf of one of the children that was expelled .
And through her experience and working with her , we came to find out that she was held in a hotel .
And that sort of set off for us a period of investigation to try to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mean , right ?
What do you mean that you ’ re in a hotel ?
If you ’ re an unaccompanied child , that was never supposed to have happened to you in the first place .
And so , after a couple of weeks of investigation and working with the Associated Press , which broke the story last Tuesday , we were actually able to uncover that the Hampton Inn hotel in McAllen , Texas , was being used to house and detain individuals , including unaccompanied children , but also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ units , before they were expelled from the country .
And it ’ s important to sort of note the distinction between expulsion versus deportation , because under deportation , which is a legal process , there is a paper trail , right ?
There ’ s a way for us to be able to track what is going on and try to do some legal intervention .
But under expulsion , under Title 42 of the CDC order , what ’ s happening is that the administration is basically just apprehending people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either like this Hampton Inn hotel or other hotels across the country , or , quite frankly , maybe moving now to other government prisons , before they ’ re just summarily expelled , disappeared basically from the country , and it becomes almost impossible for groups like us , other immigration attorneys or other human rights advocates to try to even find individuals to try to start some type of legal process on their behalf .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Well , Zenén Jaimes Pérez , I wanted to ask you , this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States talk of the Black Belt South , those portions of the United States that were — still overwhelmingly African American .
Really , the area of McAllen , South Texas , the Rio Grande Valley is the Brown Belt of the United States , where counties and cities are 80 % , 90 % Latino , with Latino elected officials .
What is your understanding of what the local officials know , if anything , about what ’ s going on here with the federal agencies ?
ZENÉN JAIMES PÉREZ : Yeah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ became viral on Thursday , we quickly came to find out that the city of McAllen , from what they ’ ve told us , that they really didn ’ t have any knowledge of what was going on at the Hampton Inn hotel .
But this is part of the wider picture — right ?
— the things that we ’ re seeing in Portland , which DHS agents , including Border Patrol agents — where , you know , Portland is not on the border — they are disappearing folks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s happening , though , at the border in the Rio Grande Valley , in El Paso and in Arizona is that the heavy militarization because of DHS over the last 20 years have already — have been experienced by the community here for decades — right ?
— hypermilitarization , unaccountable federal agents that are basically shooting individuals with impunity .
There ’ s been numerous deaths of children and other individuals in ICE and also Border Patrol detention facilities here .
Border wall construction is ongoing and even ramping up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And there have been this type of hypermilitarization on Brown communities here at the border for decades and decades and decades .
And so , what we saw on Thursday was also an outcrop of that .
And unfortunately , this is definitely something that is being imposed under the national security apparatus coming to Washington , D.C. , with no regard to the communities that have actually been here and live here and have been undergoing this militarization for decades .
AMY GOODMAN : Zenén , I wanted to get your response @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hampton Inn brand .
They said , “ Our policy has always been that hotels should not be used as detention centers or for detaining individuals .
We expect all Hilton properties to reject business that would use a hotel in this way.
” Your response ?
And what are you demanding of them ?
ZENÉN JAIMES PÉREZ : Yeah , you know , definitely .
On Friday , we had that statement from the Hilton company , but we also saw that in the statement they say that they were no longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But when we went on Saturday , we definitely found still families there that were waving at us from the window , right ?
And so , we definitely knew that they had to — and on Monday , we saw the Hilton company actually update their statement to clarify what was actually going on .
And so , we know that this sort of back-and-forth is happening and that there is definitely accountability that the Hilton company needs to have , because it definitely happened under their noses , right ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but also in — as you mentioned , in Arizona and in other locations .
So , definitely , there ’ s some more oversight and accountability that needs to happen there .
But the wider point , I think , here is that these black sites that are being operated by the DHS , whether they ’ re at a Hilton , Ritz-Carlton or even one of the government prisons that we already have a network of along the border — the wider picture here is that there is no oversight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going on .
So , we could have families and other detained folks here in our community still , and there would almost be no way for us to find out , unless we do a big investigation like we just did to uncover one site .
So , if this is what it takes to uncover one location and try to stop the illegal expulsion of just 17 individuals — which , you know , we know that there were more than 17 in there , so we ’ re still actively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moved this weekend under the cover of a hurricane .
So , if this is all happening with no oversight , we can only just kind of imagine what other black sites and what other secrecy is being operated by DHS along the border .
AMY GOODMAN : You ’ re calling for a congressional investigation , so you don ’ t have to imagine ?
ZENÉN JAIMES PÉREZ : Exactly , yes .
So , this is the type of oversight that we need , right ?
We need people to start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been expelled , how many unaccompanied minors , where are these locations , and why isn ’ t there access to legal counsel at these areas .
And so , before we start — we can ’ t intervene on behalf of individuals unless we know the full picture .
And unfortunately , right now the administration has been using the COVID pandemic to basically create a cloud of secrecy over their asylum process and asylum — illegal asylum policies here at the border .
And we really need to shine a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Well , you mentioned the hurricane , and we want to stay at the Texas-Mexico border to look at what ’ s happened to asylum seekers in the Mexican city of Matamoros , just across from Brownsville , Texas , one of the largest refugee camps , that houses more than a thousand asylum seekers , including newborns and elderly people , told to evacuate overnight when the river next to it , the Rio Grande , started to rise and flood their tents .
Rain from Hurricane Hanna has continued to devastate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been waiting for months for court dates under a U.S. immigration policy informally known as “ Remain in Mexico.
” For more , we ’ re joined by Sister Norma Pimentel .
She is executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley .
Welcome to Democracy Now !
Can you describe what happened last night and what people need to know ?
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL : Thank you .
Yes .
We have been very concerned for the almost 2,000 individual refugees that are waiting there in Matamoros — SISTER @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the river is growing .
Yes ?
AMY GOODMAN : Keep going .
Yes , Sister .
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL : We just want to make sure that they ’ re safe .
And together with the authorities of Matamoros , the immigration in Mexico , we are trying to work with the families to move them to a safer space .
And because they ’ re afraid , they ’ re afraid that — of what is happening to them , and not wanting to leave the area .
We continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re prepared to move them to a safer space this morning or throughout this day .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Sister Norma , in terms of how the United States — we ’ re hearing all the attention placed on the storm in the U.S. , very little on the impact on Mexico , right across the border .
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL : Well , we see the families in Mexico .
I mean , all the border is being affected on both sides of the U.S. and the Mexican border @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of extensive flooding in both sides .
And so , we ’ ve already seen how the river , they ’ re letting the — water is being released from along the river areas to release all the flooding that is happening in Reynosa and other cities .
Already the river has gone over and covered a lot of areas , and so we were afraid that this is happening also in Matamoros .
And so , we ’ re trying to do our best to assist the families and help the Mexican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the families .
AMY GOODMAN : I want to turn to Josué Cornejo , Honduran asylum seeker , who ’ s been forcibly living at the Matamoros encampment with his family for a year due to Trump ’ s “ Remain in Mexico ” policy .
AMY GOODMAN : So , that ’ s Josué describing what ’ s happening there .
Can you compare the U.S. response to Mexico ’ s , Sister Norma ?
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL : Well , I wish that the U.S. can see the danger that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they are allowed to enter the United States and be safe in an area here in the U.S. , so we can take care of them as they go through their asylum process , because it ’ s not safe for them to be there in that area .
AMY GOODMAN : And finally , you wrote a piece in The Washington Post , Sister Norma , that “ Covid-19 has come to our migrant camp .
It makes ending the MPP policy even more urgent.
” In these last 30 seconds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there .
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL : Well , we are doing our best to control the spread of COVID , and measures are being taken to make sure it doesn ’ t .
We ’ re thankful that we can do that .
But they are truly at the need to move them out of there and allow them to enter the country , the United States .
It ’ s the right way to do it , and I wish that that happened .
AMY GOODMAN : And we ’ ll link @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Remain in Mexico ” program .
Sister Norma Pimentel , I want to thank you for being with us , executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley .
And thank you to Zenén Jaimes Pérez , the advocacy director for the Texas Civil Rights Project .
We will continue to follow what ’ s happened to these disappeared children and adults .
That does it for our broadcast .
If you want to sign up for our Democracy Now !
daily newsletter , you can go to democracynow.org or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the number 66866 .
That ’ s “ democracynow , ” one word .
Democracy Now !
, produced with Renée Feltz , Mike Burke , Deena Guzder , Libby Rainey , Nermeen Shaikh , Carla Wills , Tami Woronoff , Charina Nadura , Sam Alcoff , Tey-Marie Astudillo , John Hamilton , Robby Karran , Hany Massoud .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Juan González .
Stay safe .
Save lives Wear a mask .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
Under a shocking new Trump administration policy, hundreds of people who came to the United States seeking asylum were secretly held in hotels for days on end before being expelled from the country, often with little or no paper trail. Between April and the end of June, more than 200 unaccompanied immigrant children — including babies and toddlers — were held in hotels, then removed.
A private contractor for ICE — that’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement — took the children to three Hampton Inn hotels in Arizona and near the Texas-Mexico border. ICE paid MVM, Inc. to transport and monitor the children. The same company previously held separated immigrant children in squalid conditions in empty office buildings.
As Hurricane Hanna threatened South Texas this weekend, many children held at the hotel were moved to different locations, though it’s not clear where. And then, last night, on Monday night, the ACLU and the Texas Civil Rights Project and their co-counsel successfully sued to stop the expulsion of 17 people detained in the Hampton Inn hotel. Officials agreed instead to transfer them to the custody of ORR — that’s the Office of Refugee Resettlement, where they were supposed to be held.
All of this comes after members of the Texas Civil Rights Project went to the Hampton Inn hotel in McAllen last week and attempted to offer legal help to people detained there. In this video, you can see and hear attorney Andrew Udelsman as he is getting off an elevator on the fourth floor, confronted by men who refuse to identify themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 1: Can we see your badges, sir?
ANDREW UDELSMAN: Sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Sir, you can’t come here. You can’t be here.
ANDREW UDELSMAN: Can I ask who you are?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 3: Can I ask who you are, sir?
ANDREW UDELSMAN: Soy abogado, estoy aquí para ayudar.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Get out!
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 3: Outside.
ANDREW UDELSMAN: ¡Si necesita ayuda —
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Get him out! Get him out!
ANDREW UDELSMAN: — digame su nombre!
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Get him out!
ANDREW UDELSMAN: ¡Dígame su nombre si necesita ayuda!
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Hey, if you’re smart, you’re going to get out.
ANDREW UDELSMAN: If you’re detained, give me your name!
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Get out, if you’re smart! Get out!
ANDREW UDELSMAN: Who are you? Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Don’t worry about who we are!
ANDREW UDELSMAN: Who are you? Are you police?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Don’t worry about who we are.
ANDREW UDELSMAN: Are you police?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 4: You need to get out.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Get out! Get out! Get out! Now!
ANDREW UDELSMAN: Are you police?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Don’t worry about who we are!
ANDREW UDELSMAN: Are you police?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Get out!
AMY GOODMAN: An attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project yelling to people and to children, “Are you being detained? Do you want to yell to me your name?” as he’s being thrown out by security.
For more, we go to McAllen, where we’re joined by Zenén Jaimes Pérez, advocacy director for the Texas Civil Rights Project, part of the team that uncovered this new Trump administration policy.
Zenén, it’s great to have you back with us. You were right there in the hotel on the fourth floor. Can you explain how you came to learn ICE was secretly holding children in hotels like these?
ZENÉN JAIMES PÉREZ: Hi. Yes. Good morning. Glad to be here.
So, part of what we’re seeing here with the video — right? — with Andy bravely stepping forward and basically taking abuse by these unnamed guards when we were there, is that for many weeks now, especially since the CDC order that effectively the Trump administration used to end asylum, we’ve known that folks who have been coming in through the border to legally seek asylum, including unaccompanied children, that instead of going through the process that is spelled out by law, the Trump administration has been just basically expelling them — right? — without due process and without any paper trail — in effect, basically violating their due process. So, for the last couple of weeks, we’ve known that the number of children who have been under the custody of the federal government in the Office of Refugee Resettlement has decreased over the course of the pandemic.
And so, in that time, in June, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of one of the children that was expelled. And through her experience and working with her, we came to find out that she was held in a hotel. And that sort of set off for us a period of investigation to try to find: Well, what did she mean, right? What do you mean that you’re in a hotel? If you’re an unaccompanied child, that was never supposed to have happened to you in the first place.
And so, after a couple of weeks of investigation and working with the Associated Press, which broke the story last Tuesday, we were actually able to uncover that the Hampton Inn hotel in McAllen, Texas, was being used to house and detain individuals, including unaccompanied children, but also other asylum seekers, including other family units, before they were expelled from the country.
And it’s important to sort of note the distinction between expulsion versus deportation, because under deportation, which is a legal process, there is a paper trail, right? There’s a way for us to be able to track what is going on and try to do some legal intervention. But under expulsion, under Title 42 of the CDC order, what’s happening is that the administration is basically just apprehending people, holding them at black sites, either like this Hampton Inn hotel or other hotels across the country, or, quite frankly, maybe moving now to other government prisons, before they’re just summarily expelled, disappeared basically from the country, and it becomes almost impossible for groups like us, other immigration attorneys or other human rights advocates to try to even find individuals to try to start some type of legal process on their behalf.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Zenén Jaimes Pérez, I wanted to ask you, this — we often hear in the United States talk of the Black Belt South, those portions of the United States that were — still overwhelmingly African American. Really, the area of McAllen, South Texas, the Rio Grande Valley is the Brown Belt of the United States, where counties and cities are 80%, 90% Latino, with Latino elected officials. What is your understanding of what the local officials know, if anything, about what’s going on here with the federal agencies?
ZENÉN JAIMES PÉREZ: Yeah. So, once sort of everything became viral on Thursday, we quickly came to find out that the city of McAllen, from what they’ve told us, that they really didn’t have any knowledge of what was going on at the Hampton Inn hotel.
But this is part of the wider picture — right? — the things that we’re seeing in Portland, which DHS agents, including Border Patrol agents — where, you know, Portland is not on the border — they are disappearing folks, protesters, right? The thing that’s happening, though, at the border in the Rio Grande Valley, in El Paso and in Arizona is that the heavy militarization because of DHS over the last 20 years have already — have been experienced by the community here for decades — right? — hypermilitarization, unaccountable federal agents that are basically shooting individuals with impunity. There’s been numerous deaths of children and other individuals in ICE and also Border Patrol detention facilities here. Border wall construction is ongoing and even ramping up in the middle of the pandemic. And there have been this type of hypermilitarization on Brown communities here at the border for decades and decades and decades.
And so, what we saw on Thursday was also an outcrop of that. And unfortunately, this is definitely something that is being imposed under the national security apparatus coming to Washington, D.C., with no regard to the communities that have actually been here and live here and have been undergoing this militarization for decades.
AMY GOODMAN: Zenén, I wanted to get your response to the Hilton company, which owns Hampton Inn brand. They said, “Our policy has always been that hotels should not be used as detention centers or for detaining individuals. We expect all Hilton properties to reject business that would use a hotel in this way.” Your response? And what are you demanding of them?
ZENÉN JAIMES PÉREZ: Yeah, you know, definitely. On Friday, we had that statement from the Hilton company, but we also saw that in the statement they say that they were no longer detaining individuals at that Hampton Inn hotel. But when we went on Saturday, we definitely found still families there that were waving at us from the window, right? And so, we definitely knew that they had to — and on Monday, we saw the Hilton company actually update their statement to clarify what was actually going on. And so, we know that this sort of back-and-forth is happening and that there is definitely accountability that the Hilton company needs to have, because it definitely happened under their noses, right? It happened not just in the valley, but also in — as you mentioned, in Arizona and in other locations. So, definitely, there’s some more oversight and accountability that needs to happen there.
But the wider point, I think, here is that these black sites that are being operated by the DHS, whether they’re at a Hilton, Ritz-Carlton or even one of the government prisons that we already have a network of along the border — the wider picture here is that there is no oversight, no accountability to what’s going on. So, we could have families and other detained folks here in our community still, and there would almost be no way for us to find out, unless we do a big investigation like we just did to uncover one site. So, if this is what it takes to uncover one location and try to stop the illegal expulsion of just 17 individuals — which, you know, we know that there were more than 17 in there, so we’re still actively looking for those other individuals who were moved this weekend under the cover of a hurricane. So, if this is all happening with no oversight, we can only just kind of imagine what other black sites and what other secrecy is being operated by DHS along the border.
AMY GOODMAN: You’re calling for a congressional investigation, so you don’t have to imagine?
ZENÉN JAIMES PÉREZ: Exactly, yes. So, this is the type of oversight that we need, right? We need people to start asking questions, like how many people have been expelled, how many unaccompanied minors, where are these locations, and why isn’t there access to legal counsel at these areas. And so, before we start — we can’t intervene on behalf of individuals unless we know the full picture. And unfortunately, right now the administration has been using the COVID pandemic to basically create a cloud of secrecy over their asylum process and asylum — illegal asylum policies here at the border. And we really need to shine a light on that.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, you mentioned the hurricane, and we want to stay at the Texas-Mexico border to look at what’s happened to asylum seekers in the Mexican city of Matamoros, just across from Brownsville, Texas, one of the largest refugee camps, that houses more than a thousand asylum seekers, including newborns and elderly people, told to evacuate overnight when the river next to it, the Rio Grande, started to rise and flood their tents. Rain from Hurricane Hanna has continued to devastate the area. These are people who have been waiting for months for court dates under a U.S. immigration policy informally known as “Remain in Mexico.”
For more, we’re joined by Sister Norma Pimentel. She is executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.
Welcome to Democracy Now! Can you describe what happened last night and what people need to know?
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL: Thank you. Yes. We have been very concerned for the almost 2,000 individual refugees that are waiting there in Matamoros —
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Sister Norma —
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL: — and seeing that the river is growing. Yes?
AMY GOODMAN: Keep going. Yes, Sister.
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL: We just want to make sure that they’re safe. And together with the authorities of Matamoros, the immigration in Mexico, we are trying to work with the families to move them to a safer space. And because they’re afraid, they’re afraid that — of what is happening to them, and not wanting to leave the area. We continue to just monitor the river, and we’re prepared to move them to a safer space this morning or throughout this day.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Sister Norma, in terms of how the United States — we’re hearing all the attention placed on the storm in the U.S., very little on the impact on Mexico, right across the border.
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL: Well, we see the families in Mexico. I mean, all the border is being affected on both sides of the U.S. and the Mexican border, and there’s a lot of extensive flooding in both sides. And so, we’ve already seen how the river, they’re letting the — water is being released from along the river areas to release all the flooding that is happening in Reynosa and other cities. Already the river has gone over and covered a lot of areas, and so we were afraid that this is happening also in Matamoros. And so, we’re trying to do our best to assist the families and help the Mexican authorities that are concerned for the safety of the families.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to Josué Cornejo, Honduran asylum seeker, who’s been forcibly living at the Matamoros encampment with his family for a year due to Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.
JOSUÉ CORNEJO: [translated] There were some very difficult days and nights, two long, sleepless nights. The rain has passed, but it’s now headed to the mountains. What are the consequences of that? The Rio Grande flows from up there. The most dangerous part could come if the river floods. The camp is right next to the river. There is no protection for us if the river overflows.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Josué describing what’s happening there. Can you compare the U.S. response to Mexico’s, Sister Norma?
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL: Well, I wish that the U.S. can see the danger that these families are exposed to, and that they are allowed to enter the United States and be safe in an area here in the U.S., so we can take care of them as they go through their asylum process, because it’s not safe for them to be there in that area.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, you wrote a piece in The Washington Post, Sister Norma, that “Covid-19 has come to our migrant camp. It makes ending the MPP policy even more urgent.” In these last 30 seconds, explain how hard COVID has hit there.
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL: Well, we are doing our best to control the spread of COVID, and measures are being taken to make sure it doesn’t. We’re thankful that we can do that. But they are truly at the need to move them out of there and allow them to enter the country, the United States. It’s the right way to do it, and I wish that that happened.
AMY GOODMAN: And we’ll link to your piece. MPP is that “Remain in Mexico” program. Sister Norma Pimentel, I want to thank you for being with us, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. And thank you to Zenén Jaimes Pérez, the advocacy director for the Texas Civil Rights Project. We will continue to follow what’s happened to these disappeared children and adults.
That does it for our broadcast. If you want to sign up for our Democracy Now! daily newsletter, you can go to democracynow.org or text the word “democracynow” to the number 66866. That’s “democracynow,” one word.
Democracy Now!, produced with Renée Feltz, Mike Burke, Deena Guzder, Libby Rainey, Nermeen Shaikh, Carla Wills, Tami Woronoff, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Tey-Marie Astudillo, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hany Massoud. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González. Stay safe. Save lives. Wear a mask.


democracynow--2020-07-28--Who Profits & Where Is the Transparency in Trump Admin's $6 Billion Vaccine Program?

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Juan González .
Operation Warp Speed .
That ’ s the name of the government program pumping billions into vaccine development and research .
But who ’ s profiting ?
We look now at the nearly $ 6 billion the U.S. government has invested into coronavirus vaccines , testing and treatment .
The Trump administration has poured taxpayer money into more than six vaccine efforts , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contract with Pfizer and a German company for 100 million vaccine doses by December .
Earlier this month , the Trump administration gave $ 1.6 billion to a small company , Novavax , which has never brought a vaccine to market in its more than 30-year history .
This comes as The New York Times reports corporate insiders are profiting off the rush to make a vaccine .
The Times reports , quote , “ Insiders from at least 11 companies — most of them smaller firms whose fortunes often hinge on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — have sold shares worth well over $ 1 billion since March.
” For more , we ’ re joined by Peter Maybarduk .
He is the director of Public Citizen ’ s Access to Medicines Program , which has released a database that tracks the billions of taxpayer dollars supporting COVID tests , treatments and vaccines .
Welcome to Democracy Now !
, Peter .
It ’ s great to have you with us .
So , lay out who ’ s getting this money .
I mean , people want a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Billions and billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars is going into where ?
How do these companies prove that there ’ s a possibility , a path to success ?
PETER MAYBARDUK : Well , we don ’ t know how they ’ re proving their path to success , because there is a striking lack of transparency in the selection process .
But BARDA , the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency , as you ’ ve said , is giving hundreds of millions of dollars to each of a number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also manufacturing .
In many cases , these are vaccine candidates that are already built on taxpayer-funded science .
In some cases , the National Institutes of Health actually owns or claims patents on some of the key technology .
So , the public has been investing in these technologies for a very long time , but today we see executives and hedge funds making tremendous paydays just by announcing snippets of positive news , even though their candidates may turn out not to be successful .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And I wanted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not just happening , obviously , in the United States .
In the European Union , in China , in India , and we ’ ve seen recently in Brazil , huge sums are being invested in what is essentially the California gold rush for the pharmaceutical industry .
Untold wealth awaits those who are able to produce these initial vaccines , and yet there is so little , as you mentioned , transparency as to who is getting this and how the decisions are being made .
PETER MAYBARDUK : Yeah , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So , some heavily redacted contracts from BARDA were obtained by a consumer group called Knowledge Ecology International last month , but they ’ re so heavily redacted that it ’ s still hard to tell whether any significant conditions are being attached to the hundreds of millions of dollars that taxpayers are giving out .
Indeed , we want to be investing in vaccine research and development , but it ’ s important that there are conditions attached , regarding , for example , affordability and reasonable pricing , regarding plans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to transfer technology so that we can teach the world how to make this vaccine and avoid severe rationing in years ahead .
So there ’ s much more to know , but what is clear right now is that stock options are increasing five- and sixfold for the executives in these firms , even as they exaggerate their role in Operation Warp Speed .
AMY GOODMAN : Can you talk , Peter , about the company Novavax ?
BARDA — that ’ s , again , the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from BARDA , $ 1.6 billion to Novavax , the little-known Maryland firm that had not developed a successful vaccine in 30 years .
What do you know about it ?
Why do they get $ 1.6 billion ?
PETER MAYBARDUK : We don ’ t know , is the short answer .
And we don ’ t know too much more about Novavax than what you ’ ve said .
So , it ’ s the largest grant , and it just indicates how little transparency there is in this process and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Unfortunately , it ’ s — we do know that Novavax ’ s stock options for executives jumped from $ 20 million to $ 100 million with their close association with Warp Speed , so there ’ s that .
But in terms of the science , in terms of how it ’ s progressing , we know very little .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And this whole issue of the executives being able to cash in , even before a drug particularly comes to — is proven effective , or vaccine is proven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there any way to restrain this kind of activity , especially in an international emergency like this ?
PETER MAYBARDUK : Well , we certainly should be attaching conditions , as regard reasonable pricing .
We certainly should be demanding a great deal more transparency in the disclosures that are made .
Trump ’ s vaccine czar actually comes from GlaxoSmithKline , and we had petitioned that he at least have to disclose his financial conflicts of interest , were turned down by the HHS inspector general .
So I think the public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here .
But , really , what we ’ re primarily concerned about are the conditions of affordability and supply that come out of this , because no corporation manufactures at scale to supply the entire world .
So , a year or two years from now , we could be encountering a serious , essentially , global vaccine apartheid , where much of the world ’ s population does not have access to vaccines .
And that ’ s because there ’ s a tremendous reticence among our leaders to order corporations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conditions whatsoever on top of these grants , despite the fact that all the leading candidates that are being considered for Operation Warp Speed , one way or another , are benefiting not just from the BARDA grants , but from early-stage research by federal scientists , taxpayer-funded studies , that led to the development of the technology that ’ s being used to develop the vaccines today .
So , we have already invested in these vaccines , and we should have the right to attach certain conditions and make sure everybody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when it ’ s developed .
AMY GOODMAN : Peter , let ’ s talk about how investors are benefiting from the billions of dollars going to these drug companies .
For example , The New York Times reports , after Vaxart , a small San Francisco-based company , was selected to be part of a federal program to develop a vaccine , stock options for insiders at the company soared .
A hedge fund that partly controls the company immediately gained something like $ 200 million of profits .
PETER MAYBARDUK : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So , as you ’ ve said , the problem is that the companies , the executives , the hedge funds are feeding on people ’ s hope and desperation , and it takes only a little bit of positive news to send stocks soaring , or , conversely , a little bit of negative news to send them plummeting right now .
And so , Vaxart , for example , noted in a press release that it had been selected by Operation Warp Speed .
Now , “ selected ” just meant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trial involving primates .
Vaxart is neither receiving BARDA funding nor negotiations to receive that funding .
But just that bit of news , just that claim of a connection to the federal government , led Vaxart ’ s stocks to soar , as you said , allowed the hedge fund to make $ 200 million and walk away .
So , that ’ s the sort of climate that we ’ re in .
And we obviously — you know , we need a little more discipline .
We need transparency around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being selected and what we can expect out of them .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And do you have any concerns about any other members of the Trump administration who may be , in one way or another , being able to privately benefit from the inside information that is developed within the administration as to who gets funded or who gets government support ?
PETER MAYBARDUK : Well , in addition to Moncef Slaoui , the vaccine czar — as I said , comes from GSK , was on the board of Moderna @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t really know , because he ’ s not been forced to disclose his ties — the Trump administration is built on a number of pharmaceutical executives that have played key roles .
Alex Azar , secretary of health and human services , is an insulin price spiker from Eli Lilly .
Former adviser Joe Grogan in the White House came from Gilead , where he was a lobbyist .
So , these policies — this background certainly has informed the Trump administration ’ s policy in this area and its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Warp Speed and elsewhere .
The central problem that we see — you know , it ’ s appropriate to be investing great sums of money right now in an effort — and putting money , investing money at risk , recognizing that some vaccines are not going to work out .
We have to spend that money as a people in order to develop a safe and effective vaccine as quickly as possible .
However , we should be able to ask for certain conditions attached to that .
And we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccine comes online and there ’ s simply not enough manufacturing capacity to get it to everyone who needs it .
AMY GOODMAN : Finally , Peter , U.S. PIRG organized a letter that ’ s been signed by hundreds of health professionals , that essentially says to President Trump , “ Shut it down , start over , do it right.
” What are you demanding ?
PETER MAYBARDUK : We ’ re demanding that the Trump administration impose — first , BARDA needs to publish the contracts .
We need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billions in taxpayer dollars , and more to come , that is being spent in the vaccine hunt .
Second , we need to attach basic conditions to the contracts , reasonable pricing and technology transfer .
Technology transfer means we have to order companies to disclose their confidential information , to license their patents , so that other manufacturers can also make those same vaccines .
Essentially , if we don ’ t teach the world how to make vaccines , there will be a global vaccine apartheid .
There will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delay will cause great setbacks in poverty .
It will cost people ’ s lives .
It could come with costs to political stability in less wealthy parts of the world .
So , we have to be willing to order corporations to do what is necessary to scale up supply , and that means not basing the vaccine market on monopolies , not simply entrusting any given corporation with hundreds of millions of our dollars to then just go and do the right thing , but making it a national project to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccine technology and help others manufacture it , to publish the data so we can verify safety and efficacy , and so on .
AMY GOODMAN : Should patents be forbidden ?
Five seconds .
PETER MAYBARDUK : Patents for — well , they should be licensed .
There shouldn ’ t be monopolies .
Everything should be licensed nonexclusively , openly , so that others can make use of the technology .
AMY GOODMAN : And I should say , that letter from U.S. PIRG and hundreds of health professionals is more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ telling the U.S. government to shut it down , to go back to a national strategy for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic .
Peter Maybarduk , I want to thank you for being with us , director of Public Citizen ’ s Access to Medicines Program , organization recently releasing a database that tracks the billions of taxpayer dollars supporting COVID tests , treatments and vaccines .
When we come back , we will go to one of the people who went to a local hotel in McAllen , Texas , and saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What ’ s happened to them ?
The state being hit not only by the pandemic , but by the hurricane .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
Operation Warp Speed. That’s the name of the government program pumping billions into vaccine development and research. But who’s profiting? We look now at the nearly $6 billion the U.S. government has invested into coronavirus vaccines, testing and treatment.
The Trump administration has poured taxpayer money into more than six vaccine efforts, recently announcing a nearly $2 billion contract with Pfizer and a German company for 100 million vaccine doses by December. Earlier this month, the Trump administration gave $1.6 billion to a small company, Novavax, which has never brought a vaccine to market in its more than 30-year history.
This comes as The New York Times reports corporate insiders are profiting off the rush to make a vaccine. The Times reports, quote, “Insiders from at least 11 companies — most of them smaller firms whose fortunes often hinge on the success or failure of a single drug — have sold shares worth well over $1 billion since March.”
For more, we’re joined by Peter Maybarduk. He is the director of Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Program, which has released a database that tracks the billions of taxpayer dollars supporting COVID tests, treatments and vaccines.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Peter. It’s great to have you with us. So, lay out who’s getting this money. I mean, people want a vaccine, that’s for sure. Billions and billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars is going into where? How do these companies prove that there’s a possibility, a path to success?
PETER MAYBARDUK: Well, we don’t know how they’re proving their path to success, because there is a striking lack of transparency in the selection process. But BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency, as you’ve said, is giving hundreds of millions of dollars to each of a number of pharmaceutical corporations to advance vaccine development and also manufacturing. In many cases, these are vaccine candidates that are already built on taxpayer-funded science. In some cases, the National Institutes of Health actually owns or claims patents on some of the key technology. So, the public has been investing in these technologies for a very long time, but today we see executives and hedge funds making tremendous paydays just by announcing snippets of positive news, even though their candidates may turn out not to be successful.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you, because this is not just happening, obviously, in the United States. In the European Union, in China, in India, and we’ve seen recently in Brazil, huge sums are being invested in what is essentially the California gold rush for the pharmaceutical industry. Untold wealth awaits those who are able to produce these initial vaccines, and yet there is so little, as you mentioned, transparency as to who is getting this and how the decisions are being made.
PETER MAYBARDUK: Yeah, we don’t have the contracts. So, some heavily redacted contracts from BARDA were obtained by a consumer group called Knowledge Ecology International last month, but they’re so heavily redacted that it’s still hard to tell whether any significant conditions are being attached to the hundreds of millions of dollars that taxpayers are giving out.
Indeed, we want to be investing in vaccine research and development, but it’s important that there are conditions attached, regarding, for example, affordability and reasonable pricing, regarding plans to get to scale and supply and to transfer technology so that we can teach the world how to make this vaccine and avoid severe rationing in years ahead.
So there’s much more to know, but what is clear right now is that stock options are increasing five- and sixfold for the executives in these firms, even as they exaggerate their role in Operation Warp Speed.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk, Peter, about the company Novavax? BARDA — that’s, again, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority — was — the single-largest award from BARDA, $1.6 billion to Novavax, the little-known Maryland firm that had not developed a successful vaccine in 30 years. What do you know about it? Why do they get $1.6 billion?
PETER MAYBARDUK: We don’t know, is the short answer. And we don’t know too much more about Novavax than what you’ve said. So, it’s the largest grant, and it just indicates how little transparency there is in this process and how much we need to know. Unfortunately, it’s — we do know that Novavax’s stock options for executives jumped from $20 million to $100 million with their close association with Warp Speed, so there’s that. But in terms of the science, in terms of how it’s progressing, we know very little.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And this whole issue of the executives being able to cash in, even before a drug particularly comes to — is proven effective, or vaccine is proven effective and comes to market, is there any way to restrain this kind of activity, especially in an international emergency like this?
PETER MAYBARDUK: Well, we certainly should be attaching conditions, as regard reasonable pricing. We certainly should be demanding a great deal more transparency in the disclosures that are made. Trump’s vaccine czar actually comes from GlaxoSmithKline, and we had petitioned that he at least have to disclose his financial conflicts of interest, were turned down by the HHS inspector general. So I think the public needs to demand quite a bit more here.
But, really, what we’re primarily concerned about are the conditions of affordability and supply that come out of this, because no corporation manufactures at scale to supply the entire world. So, a year or two years from now, we could be encountering a serious, essentially, global vaccine apartheid, where much of the world’s population does not have access to vaccines. And that’s because there’s a tremendous reticence among our leaders to order corporations to transfer their technology to impose any conditions whatsoever on top of these grants, despite the fact that all the leading candidates that are being considered for Operation Warp Speed, one way or another, are benefiting not just from the BARDA grants, but from early-stage research by federal scientists, taxpayer-funded studies, that led to the development of the technology that’s being used to develop the vaccines today. So, we have already invested in these vaccines, and we should have the right to attach certain conditions and make sure everybody can access a safe and effective vaccine when it’s developed.
AMY GOODMAN: Peter, let’s talk about how investors are benefiting from the billions of dollars going to these drug companies. For example, The New York Times reports, after Vaxart, a small San Francisco-based company, was selected to be part of a federal program to develop a vaccine, stock options for insiders at the company soared. A hedge fund that partly controls the company immediately gained something like $200 million of profits.
PETER MAYBARDUK: Yeah, that’s right. So, as you’ve said, the problem is that the companies, the executives, the hedge funds are feeding on people’s hope and desperation, and it takes only a little bit of positive news to send stocks soaring, or, conversely, a little bit of negative news to send them plummeting right now.
And so, Vaxart, for example, noted in a press release that it had been selected by Operation Warp Speed. Now, “selected” just meant, in this case, a clinical trial involving primates. Vaxart is neither receiving BARDA funding nor negotiations to receive that funding. But just that bit of news, just that claim of a connection to the federal government, led Vaxart’s stocks to soar, as you said, allowed the hedge fund to make $200 million and walk away.
So, that’s the sort of climate that we’re in. And we obviously — you know, we need a little more discipline. We need transparency around the standards of how these contracts are being selected and what we can expect out of them.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And do you have any concerns about any other members of the Trump administration who may be, in one way or another, being able to privately benefit from the inside information that is developed within the administration as to who gets funded or who gets government support?
PETER MAYBARDUK: Well, in addition to Moncef Slaoui, the vaccine czar — as I said, comes from GSK, was on the board of Moderna, and maybe heavily invested — we don’t really know, because he’s not been forced to disclose his ties — the Trump administration is built on a number of pharmaceutical executives that have played key roles. Alex Azar, secretary of health and human services, is an insulin price spiker from Eli Lilly. Former adviser Joe Grogan in the White House came from Gilead, where he was a lobbyist. So, these policies — this background certainly has informed the Trump administration’s policy in this area and its extreme deference to corporate interests in Operation Warp Speed and elsewhere.
The central problem that we see — you know, it’s appropriate to be investing great sums of money right now in an effort — and putting money, investing money at risk, recognizing that some vaccines are not going to work out. We have to spend that money as a people in order to develop a safe and effective vaccine as quickly as possible. However, we should be able to ask for certain conditions attached to that. And we are very concerned about what happens when a vaccine comes online and there’s simply not enough manufacturing capacity to get it to everyone who needs it.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Peter, U.S. PIRG organized a letter that’s been signed by hundreds of health professionals, that essentially says to President Trump, “Shut it down, start over, do it right.” What are you demanding?
PETER MAYBARDUK: We’re demanding that the Trump administration impose — first, BARDA needs to publish the contracts. We need to see what is being done with the billions in taxpayer dollars, and more to come, that is being spent in the vaccine hunt.
Second, we need to attach basic conditions to the contracts, reasonable pricing and technology transfer. Technology transfer means we have to order companies to disclose their confidential information, to license their patents, so that other manufacturers can also make those same vaccines. Essentially, if we don’t teach the world how to make vaccines, there will be a global vaccine apartheid. There will be serious rationing in years ahead. The delay will cause great setbacks in poverty. It will cost people’s lives. It could come with costs to political stability in less wealthy parts of the world. So, we have to be willing to order corporations to do what is necessary to scale up supply, and that means not basing the vaccine market on monopolies, not simply entrusting any given corporation with hundreds of millions of our dollars to then just go and do the right thing, but making it a national project to get to scale, to liberate the vaccine technology and help others manufacture it, to publish the data so we can verify safety and efficacy, and so on.
AMY GOODMAN: Should patents be forbidden? Five seconds.
PETER MAYBARDUK: Patents for — well, they should be licensed. There shouldn’t be monopolies. Everything should be licensed nonexclusively, openly, so that others can make use of the technology.
AMY GOODMAN: And I should say, that letter from U.S. PIRG and hundreds of health professionals is more broad, beyond vaccines, again, telling the U.S. government to shut it down, to go back to a national strategy for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Peter Maybarduk, I want to thank you for being with us, director of Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Program, organization recently releasing a database that tracks the billions of taxpayer dollars supporting COVID tests, treatments and vaccines.
When we come back, we will go to one of the people who went to a local hotel in McAllen, Texas, and saw children being held there, immigrant children. What’s happened to them? The state being hit not only by the pandemic, but by the hurricane. Stay with us.