democracynow--2020-03-31--Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The War and Peace Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , broadcasting from the epicenter of the pandemic in New York ; co-hosting , Juan González , broadcasting from his home in New Brunswick , New Jersey , to stop community spread .
Monday marked the deadliest day of the pandemic in the United States with more than 500 deaths reported .
The total death toll in the United States has now passed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tripled since just Thursday .
Medical workers are bracing for that number to soar in the coming weeks .
In New York state , the current epicenter of the pandemic , the peak of the crisis is expected to come around April 10th , when one study estimates 827 people will die of the virus in a single day .
More than 1,200 people here in New York have already died .
In Michigan , a growing hot spot for the virus , the death toll is expected to peak a day after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ April 11 .
Nearly 200 people have died already in Michigan as the city of Detroit prepares for a swell of cases .
Michigan state Representative Isaac Robinson died of the virus in a Detroit medical center Sunday .
He was only 44 years old .
Detroit ’ s police commissioner has tested positive for the virus , and 500 officers are in quarantine .
Detroit ’ s hospital system is already overwhelmed .
The city has high rates of asthma and chronic illness .
Meanwhile , President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the federal government to offer more medical supplies and who is expected to shutter the state ’ s schools for the remainder of the school year by the end of this week .
They ’ re already closed , but to announce they would be closed for good for this semester .
Well , for more , we are joined by the former director of the Detroit Health Department , recent candidate for governor of Michigan , Abdul El-Sayed .
He ’ s a physician , an epidemiologist .
He ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Doctor ’ s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic , the book just out today , his recent piece in The Guardian headlined “ Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying condition : our epidemic of insecurity.
” And thanks so much for joining us , Doctor , from your home , again , to protect your family , yourself and community spread .
How critical this is .
Can you talk , overall — I mean , every time I see President Trump talking about “ that woman , ” meaning the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vice President Pence not to call her , because he doesn ’ t like her , also talked about the governor of Washington state , as well , talking about him as a “ terrible person , ” and yet your governor continues to say things like — they had just gotten a federal shipment , and she said , “ This shipment is not enough for one shift at one hospital in my state.
” Talk about the state of Michigan , Dr. Abdul El-Sayed .
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED : Well , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all , thank you for having me today .
What we ’ re seeing here is just an utter lapse in federal leadership .
It ’ s clear that the individual in the White House sees himself more as the head of a political party whose job it is to divide the country between himself and leaders in other states , while you ’ ve got governors in places like Michigan or Washington or New York who realize the depth of their responsibility right now .
Michigan is a state with 10 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most diverse states in the country .
But also we ’ ve had this very devastating history of what has been a level of leadership that has taken from communities like Detroit to pass tax cuts for major corporations across the state .
And when you think about the movement of a pathogen like coronavirus , it ’ s easy to just focus on the pathogen .
But epidemiologists think not just about the pathogen , but also about the host and about the environment .
And what we ’ ve seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the environment that ’ s left people in communities like Detroit fundamentally vulnerable to this disease .
And that ’ s why we ’ re seeing the spikes that we ’ re seeing now .
And in the absence of federal leadership to coordinate the response , we ’ re seeing suffering that didn ’ t have to happen .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Dr .
El-Sayed , you ’ ve talked often that this is not just a question of the epidemic of COVID-19 itself , but that there is also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Could you expand on that ?
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED : That ’ s right .
I spent 18 months touring my state .
And I had thought that when I walked into my campaign , that the challenges that people faced in places like Detroit or Flint had to be different than the ones they face in places like Petoskey or Kalkaska .
And then I toured the state .
And as an epidemiologist , my job is to understand patterns in disease , how disease moves between people .
And one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ things that I found was that people were talking about the same set of issues — why water is so expensive in a state that ’ s defined by its fresh water , while corporations like Nestlé can bottle unlimited amounts of water for $ 400 a year ; why our education system is being corporatized and profiteered off of by people like Betsy DeVos ; why it is that people still can ’ t get healthcare in the richest , most powerful country in the world .
And what I realized is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this system that has moved more of the means of wealth off to the very top , leaving all the rest of us , whether it ’ s because of healthcare or housing or an insecure gig job in a gig economy or the porous barrier between corporations and government — have left us fundamentally insecure , and that insecurity has consequences for all of us in some pretty profound ways .
It ’ s what ’ s left us so vulnerable as a society to this .
You know , when we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we say we ’ re number one , usually we mean that to be a good thing , but it shouldn ’ t mean that we ’ re number one in the case burden of a global pandemic .
And that ’ s what we ’ re seeing right now .
And unfortunately , that was written for us well before this pandemic hit , because if it wasn ’ t this , it might have been a climate event .
And we are , as a society , ill-prepared for these things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the slippery edge of our economy and because we have torn our public service and our public infrastructure apart to sell it to the highest bidder .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And I wanted to ask you — you mentioned President Trump , and we ’ ve been watching now , day after day , as the president has his daily press briefings in the evening , just before the 6:00 news is getting ready to start .
And he brings a parade of corporate CEOs , one after another , calling them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t know if that ’ s because he ’ s on a first name basis with all of them or he just can ’ t remember their last names .
But he brings them up one after another , yet we ’ ve seen very few health professionals , the people — you ’ re a doctor yourself , a public health professional .
None of the — except for the top people at NIH and at the Centers for Disease Control , we ’ re not seeing any of the doctors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the frontlines fighting this disease .
I ’ m wondering what your reaction to that is .
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED : Yeah .
We are suffering a public health emergency , not a private health emergency .
But it ’ s rather clear that this is part and parcel of the kind of leadership that , unfortunately , conservatives and Republicans have offered for a very long time , which is to say that the best way to respond to a public crisis is not to empower the government infrastructure that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say , the CDC or HHS or any of the infrastructure that ’ s focused on public health , but instead to bring in corporate CEOs as private solutions to the problem , almost to point at government and say , “ Well , that ’ s why we failed , is because we failed to privatize and sell.
” Fact of the matter is , though , is that the reason we are suffering where we are — right ?
— is because we have gutted the public health infrastructure in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state and local level , we ’ ve seen a 45 % drop in public health funding over the past 15 years .
The CDC has had its budget cut — its budgets proposed to be cut every year of the Trump presidency .
In fact , they were proposing to cut the 2021 budget , which they ’ re negotiating right now in the middle of this pandemic .
We need a public response .
And what Donald Trump is saying is that he doesn ’ t believe in the government that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meanwhile , because of the failure of federal leadership across the country , you ’ ve got governors and mayors competing against each other for resources we should have had stockpiled .
We should have been ready for this .
And one last point about this .
When you look at a pandemic , it ’ s not like a hurricane .
It ’ s not like when it forms , you can ’ t do anything about it , and you ’ ve just got to be ready .
The thing about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And it ’ s almost like a fire .
If you put it out when it ’ s in your toaster , you won ’ t be fighting it when it ’ s in your house .
And if you put it out when it ’ s in your house , you won ’ t be fighting it when it ’ s taken over the neighborhood .
Unfortunately , right now it ’ s almost like we ’ ve taken the battery out of the fire alarms .
We have told all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then , when this thing is raging in our neighborhoods , we ’ re wondering why it ’ s happening , and everybody is left to themselves to try and put out their own fire .
And that ’ s why we ’ ve seen such a massive failure in the response federally .
AMY GOODMAN : [ inaudible ] like a few weeks ago , and other newspapers , of course , as well , that running water will be temporarily restored to thousands of poor Detroit residents disconnected due to unpaid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Detroit amidst an outcry about the public health threat posed by the pandemic .
At least 141,000 Detroit households were disconnected since 2014 as part of a widely condemned debt collection program , according to records obtained by The Bridge news magazine .
Just last year , taps were turned off in more than 23,000 homes , three-fifths of which were still without water by mid-January .
So , can you talk about the significance of saying they ’ re temporarily being rehooked up ?
Because you so well describe in your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fissures of inequality and health inequality in this country .
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED : Yeah , when you look at communities that are suffering the most , they ’ re communities on which environmental injustice , structural racism , and their implications on poverty , have already softened the space for the incoming of this virus to devastate people .
You know , you think about something like water .
The fact that a mayor or a governor have to be thinking about turning water back on suggests that they ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because water should already be on .
It should never have been turned off .
It ’ s one of the most frustrating things about the system of corporate capitalism in communities like Michigan , because what we do is we , in effect , ask poor people to pay exorbitant rates for basic things like water to pay off debts that governments well before them incurred .
You know , look at the situation in Detroit .
The reason that people had their water shut off is because during the municipal bankruptcy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , by the way , had a lot more to do with white flight and the resulting loss of a tax base — during that municipal bankruptcy , it was agreed upon that Detroit had to pay debts for their water authority , that , in effect , had actually purified water for the entire region .
So they were literally — Detroiters were literally having to pay back the debt that the entire region incurred because Detroit was the single utility purifying water for everybody .
And then they just raised rates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pay them , they just shut off people ’ s water .
You think about the logic of this — right ?
— and the realization that water should just be a human right for people , it should just be there for people , and then you fast-forward , and you think about the incoming pandemic , and we ’ re telling people to wash their hands with warm , soapy water for 20 seconds .
Well , if you don ’ t have water in your house , you can ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — all of that is seeded by decisions that have been made , that have been patterned around race and patterned around wealth for a very long time .
And that ’ s why I talk about this epidemic of insecurity as being what laid the groundwork for the incoming pandemic .
And if it wasn ’ t a pandemic like this , it might have been a climate event .
But we are not well situated to be able to handle these challenging circumstances that we ’ re going to see pitched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the reason why we have to build a robust federal government that can take these things on and prevent them when they ’ re small , and , more importantly , build the kind of social infrastructure for people , the kind of social safety net , that says that you ’ re not going to be evicted if something bad happens to you , that you ’ re not going to lose your water simply because you can ’ t pay exorbitant rates , that your kid is not going to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in loans to go to college , that you can get healthcare if and when you ’ re sick .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Dr .
El-Sayed , I ’ d like to ask you about that last point , healthcare when you ’ re sick .
We just played a headline earlier of Joe Biden talking about why Medicare for All would not have been a solution to the current problem .
But the reality is that our healthcare system is this Byzantine world of for-profit hospitals , nonprofit hospitals , some community @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where the executives make multimillion-dollar salaries , and they ’ re all now competing for resources .
If there was a single-payer system with some rationale or planning to a process of responding to an epidemic like this , would the situation have been easier to deal with ?
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED : Absolutely , there ’ s no doubt .
And I just want to explain a couple reasons why .
Number one , the idea that 10 % of your population doesn ’ t have healthcare at all , or another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a deductible that ’ s so high that they ’ ve learned to ignore symptoms like a fever and a dry cough — which , by the way , are the symptoms of COVID-19 — because they know that if they do go and seek medical care for those symptoms , that they ’ ll be hit with a bill on the back end , that ’ s a really dangerous state of affairs when you ’ ve got an incoming global pandemic .
But even beyond that , I just want you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health system .
Hospitals make money in this system on elective surgeries .
That ’ s how they get reimbursed from insurance companies .
But if you ’ ve got a global endemic that ’ s about to hit your hospital , what ’ s the first thing you cancel ?
Elective surgeries .
And so , now you ’ ve got hospitals that not only are trying to staff up and be ready for one of the most serious public health crises of our time , but they ’ re also battling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve lost their main source of pay .
All of that is because the system is run for profit .
Here ’ s the other part .
We keep hearing about doctors going without PPE , personal protective equipment .
And part of the reason why is because they ’ ve talked to business consultants who told them that the best way to supply your hospital is what we call “ just-in-time ” supplying , meaning you don ’ t want to have a bunch of stuff laying around , because you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re going to use it .
That ’ s all overhead you can strip away .
But here ’ s the problem .
Well , when you ’ re hit with a pandemic , just in time doesn ’ t work , because all of a sudden everybody is trying to get the resources that they need .
Just in time is a classic page out of a business consulting manual .
When you run hospitals like a business , you forget the fact that they ’ re actually supposed to be there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point is this .
There is no incentive for prevention in our system .
Why ?
Because our system makes money on people getting sick , right ?
You can ’ t actually bill something if somebody does not get sick , so that you can bill them for the care .
And so , if you look at just the way the system is set up , there ’ s very little incentive to talk about prevention .
And that ’ s why we keep seeing budgets get cut for institutions like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state health departments , because it just doesn ’ t fit within the incentive structure of our health system .
Imagine we had a system that actually rewarded keeping people healthy rather than taking care of them after they get sick .
That ’ s what Medicare for All would have done .
And one last point .
We keep hearing this comparison between us and Italy .
And like , since when did we start comparing ourselves with Italy ?
When was that the comparison ?
The fact of the matter is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And even then , even then , we just surpassed them in terms of the number of COVID cases , and it ’ s looking like , over the long term , our cases are going to skyrocket well beyond what Italy experienced .
We have a responsibility to learn from this moment and realize that we ’ ve got to guarantee everybody in this country healthcare .
And if we don ’ t , we will continue to be vulnerable to these kinds of massive public health crises .
AMY GOODMAN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to thank you so much for being with us .
We hope to talk with you at a future point more about your book and your work as an epidemiologist , a physician , former director of the Detroit Health Department .
His new book is out today , Healing Politics : A Doctor ’ s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic .
When we come back , an exclusive Democracy Now !
TV/radio broadcast .
We speak with Tara Reade about her allegations against Joe Biden .
She says he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a senator and she was his staff assistant .
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 War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, broadcasting from the epicenter of the pandemic in New York; co-hosting, Juan González, broadcasting from his home in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to stop community spread.
Monday marked the deadliest day of the pandemic in the United States with more than 500 deaths reported. The total death toll in the United States has now passed 3,100 — a number that’s tripled since just Thursday. Medical workers are bracing for that number to soar in the coming weeks. In New York state, the current epicenter of the pandemic, the peak of the crisis is expected to come around April 10th, when one study estimates 827 people will die of the virus in a single day. More than 1,200 people here in New York have already died.
In Michigan, a growing hot spot for the virus, the death toll is expected to peak a day after New York, with 164 deaths on April 11. Nearly 200 people have died already in Michigan as the city of Detroit prepares for a swell of cases. Michigan state Representative Isaac Robinson died of the virus in a Detroit medical center Sunday. He was only 44 years old. Detroit’s police commissioner has tested positive for the virus, and 500 officers are in quarantine. Detroit’s hospital system is already overwhelmed. The city has high rates of asthma and chronic illness. Meanwhile, President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who is calling on the federal government to offer more medical supplies and who is expected to shutter the state’s schools for the remainder of the school year by the end of this week. They’re already closed, but to announce they would be closed for good for this semester.
Well, for more, we are joined by the former director of the Detroit Health Department, recent candidate for governor of Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed. He’s a physician, an epidemiologist. He’s the author of Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic, the book just out today, his recent piece in The Guardian headlined “Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying condition: our epidemic of insecurity.”
And thanks so much for joining us, Doctor, from your home, again, to protect your family, yourself and community spread. How critical this is. Can you talk, overall — I mean, every time I see President Trump talking about “that woman,” meaning the governor of Michigan, saying he told Vice President Pence not to call her, because he doesn’t like her, also talked about the governor of Washington state, as well, talking about him as a “terrible person,” and yet your governor continues to say things like — they had just gotten a federal shipment, and she said, “This shipment is not enough for one shift at one hospital in my state.” Talk about the state of Michigan, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED: Well, let me tell you, first of all, thank you for having me today. What we’re seeing here is just an utter lapse in federal leadership. It’s clear that the individual in the White House sees himself more as the head of a political party whose job it is to divide the country between himself and leaders in other states, while you’ve got governors in places like Michigan or Washington or New York who realize the depth of their responsibility right now. Michigan is a state with 10 million people. It’s one of the most diverse states in the country. But also we’ve had this very devastating history of what has been a level of leadership that has taken from communities like Detroit to pass tax cuts for major corporations across the state.
And when you think about the movement of a pathogen like coronavirus, it’s easy to just focus on the pathogen. But epidemiologists think not just about the pathogen, but also about the host and about the environment. And what we’ve seen is an interplay between the host and the environment that’s left people in communities like Detroit fundamentally vulnerable to this disease. And that’s why we’re seeing the spikes that we’re seeing now. And in the absence of federal leadership to coordinate the response, we’re seeing suffering that didn’t have to happen.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Dr. El-Sayed, you’ve talked often that this is not just a question of the epidemic of COVID-19 itself, but that there is also an epidemic of insecurity in the country. Could you expand on that?
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED: That’s right. I spent 18 months touring my state. And I had thought that when I walked into my campaign, that the challenges that people faced in places like Detroit or Flint had to be different than the ones they face in places like Petoskey or Kalkaska. And then I toured the state. And as an epidemiologist, my job is to understand patterns in disease, how disease moves between people. And one of the most interesting but also inspiring things that I found was that people were talking about the same set of issues — why water is so expensive in a state that’s defined by its fresh water, while corporations like Nestlé can bottle unlimited amounts of water for $400 a year; why our education system is being corporatized and profiteered off of by people like Betsy DeVos; why it is that people still can’t get healthcare in the richest, most powerful country in the world.
And what I realized is that all of us are living in this system that has moved more of the means of wealth off to the very top, leaving all the rest of us, whether it’s because of healthcare or housing or an insecure gig job in a gig economy or the porous barrier between corporations and government — have left us fundamentally insecure, and that insecurity has consequences for all of us in some pretty profound ways. It’s what’s left us so vulnerable as a society to this. You know, when we talk in the United States, when we say we’re number one, usually we mean that to be a good thing, but it shouldn’t mean that we’re number one in the case burden of a global pandemic. And that’s what we’re seeing right now. And unfortunately, that was written for us well before this pandemic hit, because if it wasn’t this, it might have been a climate event. And we are, as a society, ill-prepared for these things, because our people are unfortunately living at the slippery edge of our economy and because we have torn our public service and our public infrastructure apart to sell it to the highest bidder.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you — you mentioned President Trump, and we’ve been watching now, day after day, as the president has his daily press briefings in the evening, just before the 6:00 news is getting ready to start. And he brings a parade of corporate CEOs, one after another, calling them all by first names. I don’t know if that’s because he’s on a first name basis with all of them or he just can’t remember their last names. But he brings them up one after another, yet we’ve seen very few health professionals, the people — you’re a doctor yourself, a public health professional. None of the — except for the top people at NIH and at the Centers for Disease Control, we’re not seeing any of the doctors and nurses and people who are on the frontlines fighting this disease. I’m wondering what your reaction to that is.
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED: Yeah. We are suffering a public health emergency, not a private health emergency. But it’s rather clear that this is part and parcel of the kind of leadership that, unfortunately, conservatives and Republicans have offered for a very long time, which is to say that the best way to respond to a public crisis is not to empower the government infrastructure that’s intended to solve it, like, say, the CDC or HHS or any of the infrastructure that’s focused on public health, but instead to bring in corporate CEOs as private solutions to the problem, almost to point at government and say, “Well, that’s why we failed, is because we failed to privatize and sell.”
Fact of the matter is, though, is that the reason we are suffering where we are — right? — is because we have gutted the public health infrastructure in this country. If you look at the state and local level, we’ve seen a 45% drop in public health funding over the past 15 years. The CDC has had its budget cut — its budgets proposed to be cut every year of the Trump presidency. In fact, they were proposing to cut the 2021 budget, which they’re negotiating right now in the middle of this pandemic. We need a public response. And what Donald Trump is saying is that he doesn’t believe in the government that he leads to solve it. And meanwhile, because of the failure of federal leadership across the country, you’ve got governors and mayors competing against each other for resources we should have had stockpiled. We should have been ready for this.
And one last point about this. When you look at a pandemic, it’s not like a hurricane. It’s not like when it forms, you can’t do anything about it, and you’ve just got to be ready. The thing about a pandemic is that it starts small. And it’s almost like a fire. If you put it out when it’s in your toaster, you won’t be fighting it when it’s in your house. And if you put it out when it’s in your house, you won’t be fighting it when it’s taken over the neighborhood. Unfortunately, right now it’s almost like we’ve taken the battery out of the fire alarms. We have told all the firehouses to go home. And then, when this thing is raging in our neighborhoods, we’re wondering why it’s happening, and everybody is left to themselves to try and put out their own fire. And that’s why we’ve seen such a massive failure in the response federally.
AMY GOODMAN: [inaudible] like a few weeks ago, and other newspapers, of course, as well, that running water will be temporarily restored to thousands of poor Detroit residents disconnected due to unpaid bills, disconnected to the water supply of Detroit amidst an outcry about the public health threat posed by the pandemic. At least 141,000 Detroit households were disconnected since 2014 as part of a widely condemned debt collection program, according to records obtained by The Bridge news magazine. Just last year, taps were turned off in more than 23,000 homes, three-fifths of which were still without water by mid-January. So, can you talk about the significance of saying they’re temporarily being rehooked up? Because you so well describe in your book the way this pandemic has exposed the fissures of inequality and health inequality in this country.
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED: Yeah, when you look at communities that are suffering the most, they’re communities on which environmental injustice, structural racism, and their implications on poverty, have already softened the space for the incoming of this virus to devastate people. You know, you think about something like water. The fact that a mayor or a governor have to be thinking about turning water back on suggests that they’re already playing from the back foot, because water should already be on. It should never have been turned off. It’s one of the most frustrating things about the system of corporate capitalism in communities like Michigan, because what we do is we, in effect, ask poor people to pay exorbitant rates for basic things like water to pay off debts that governments well before them incurred.
You know, look at the situation in Detroit. The reason that people had their water shut off is because during the municipal bankruptcy in the city of Detroit, which, by the way, had a lot more to do with white flight and the resulting loss of a tax base — during that municipal bankruptcy, it was agreed upon that Detroit had to pay debts for their water authority, that, in effect, had actually purified water for the entire region. So they were literally — Detroiters were literally having to pay back the debt that the entire region incurred because Detroit was the single utility purifying water for everybody. And then they just raised rates. And when people couldn’t pay them, they just shut off people’s water. You think about the logic of this — right? — and the realization that water should just be a human right for people, it should just be there for people, and then you fast-forward, and you think about the incoming pandemic, and we’re telling people to wash their hands with warm, soapy water for 20 seconds. Well, if you don’t have water in your house, you can’t do that.
All of those — all of that is seeded by decisions that have been made, that have been patterned around race and patterned around wealth for a very long time. And that’s why I talk about this epidemic of insecurity as being what laid the groundwork for the incoming pandemic. And if it wasn’t a pandemic like this, it might have been a climate event. But we are not well situated to be able to handle these challenging circumstances that we’re going to see pitched at us. And it’s the reason why we have to build a robust federal government that can take these things on and prevent them when they’re small, and, more importantly, build the kind of social infrastructure for people, the kind of social safety net, that says that you’re not going to be evicted if something bad happens to you, that you’re not going to lose your water simply because you can’t pay exorbitant rates, that your kid is not going to have to take hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans to go to college, that you can get healthcare if and when you’re sick.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Dr. El-Sayed, I’d like to ask you about that last point, healthcare when you’re sick. We just played a headline earlier of Joe Biden talking about why Medicare for All would not have been a solution to the current problem. But the reality is that our healthcare system is this Byzantine world of for-profit hospitals, nonprofit hospitals, some community hospitals, some huge so-called nonprofit chains where the executives make multimillion-dollar salaries, and they’re all now competing for resources. If there was a single-payer system with some rationale or planning to a process of responding to an epidemic like this, would the situation have been easier to deal with?
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED: Absolutely, there’s no doubt. And I just want to explain a couple reasons why. Number one, the idea that 10% of your population doesn’t have healthcare at all, or another 50% on top of that have a deductible that’s so high that they’ve learned to ignore symptoms like a fever and a dry cough — which, by the way, are the symptoms of COVID-19 — because they know that if they do go and seek medical care for those symptoms, that they’ll be hit with a bill on the back end, that’s a really dangerous state of affairs when you’ve got an incoming global pandemic.
But even beyond that, I just want you to think about the structure of our health system. Hospitals make money in this system on elective surgeries. That’s how they get reimbursed from insurance companies. But if you’ve got a global endemic that’s about to hit your hospital, what’s the first thing you cancel? Elective surgeries. And so, now you’ve got hospitals that not only are trying to staff up and be ready for one of the most serious public health crises of our time, but they’re also battling bankruptcy on the back end because they’ve lost their main source of pay. All of that is because the system is run for profit.
Here’s the other part. We keep hearing about doctors going without PPE, personal protective equipment. And part of the reason why is because they’ve talked to business consultants who told them that the best way to supply your hospital is what we call “just-in-time” supplying, meaning you don’t want to have a bunch of stuff laying around, because you don’t know when you’re going to use it. That’s all overhead you can strip away. But here’s the problem. Well, when you’re hit with a pandemic, just in time doesn’t work, because all of a sudden everybody is trying to get the resources that they need. Just in time is a classic page out of a business consulting manual. When you run hospitals like a business, you forget the fact that they’re actually supposed to be there to save lives.
And the third point is this. There is no incentive for prevention in our system. Why? Because our system makes money on people getting sick, right? You can’t actually bill something if somebody does not get sick, so that you can bill them for the care. And so, if you look at just the way the system is set up, there’s very little incentive to talk about prevention. And that’s why we keep seeing budgets get cut for institutions like the CDC or local health departments or state health departments, because it just doesn’t fit within the incentive structure of our health system. Imagine we had a system that actually rewarded keeping people healthy rather than taking care of them after they get sick. That’s what Medicare for All would have done.
And one last point. We keep hearing this comparison between us and Italy. And like, since when did we start comparing ourselves with Italy? When was that the comparison? The fact of the matter is, Italy is a far smaller country. And even then, even then, we just surpassed them in terms of the number of COVID cases, and it’s looking like, over the long term, our cases are going to skyrocket well beyond what Italy experienced. We have a responsibility to learn from this moment and realize that we’ve got to guarantee everybody in this country healthcare. And if we don’t, we will continue to be vulnerable to these kinds of massive public health crises.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, we want to thank you so much for being with us. We hope to talk with you at a future point more about your book and your work as an epidemiologist, a physician, former director of the Detroit Health Department. His new book is out today, Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic.
When we come back, an exclusive Democracy Now! TV/radio broadcast. We speak with Tara Reade about her allegations against Joe Biden. She says he sexually assaulted her in 1993 when he was a senator and she was his staff assistant. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-03-31--Headlines for March 31, 2020

Headlines for March 31, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the globe with nearly 38,000 known deaths and close to 800,000 confirmed cases .
In the U.S. , the death toll has topped 3,100 , meaning more Americans have now died from COVID-19 than from the 9/11 terror attacks .
Nearly 520 of those deaths were reported Monday — the highest number in a single day so far .
Three-quarters of American residents are now under stay-at home-orders , as people in at least 31 states , the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have been told by officials to stay home except for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Some states have resisted such moves , though , including Missouri , where Governor Mike Parson has denied pleas from across the state ’ s medical community to issue a stay-at-home order , even as the state ’ s coronavirus cases recently topped 1,000 .
Maryland , Virginia and Washington , D.C. , enacted their own shelter-in-place orders Monday , with D.C. and Maryland residents subject to hefty fines and even imprisonment for violating the strict measures .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s top infectious disease expert and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ task force , said Monday another coronavirus outbreak in the fall is likely , but that the nation would be better equipped to handle it .

The coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the globe with nearly 38,000 known deaths and close to 800,000 confirmed cases. In the U.S., the death toll has topped 3,100, meaning more Americans have now died from COVID-19 than from the 9/11 terror attacks. Nearly 520 of those deaths were reported Monday — the highest number in a single day so far.
Three-quarters of American residents are now under stay-at home-orders, as people in at least 31 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have been told by officials to stay home except for necessities or if they provide essential services. Some states have resisted such moves, though, including Missouri, where Governor Mike Parson has denied pleas from across the state’s medical community to issue a stay-at-home order, even as the state’s coronavirus cases recently topped 1,000. Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., enacted their own shelter-in-place orders Monday, with D.C. and Maryland residents subject to hefty fines and even imprisonment for violating the strict measures.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and a member of President Trump’s coronavirus task force, said Monday another coronavirus outbreak in the fall is likely, but that the nation would be better equipped to handle it.


democracynow--2020-04-01--#CancelRent: Tenants Demand Rent Relief & Organize Strikes as Unemployment Surges Due to COVID-19

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
I ’ m Amy Goodman in New York .
Juan González is in New Brunswick , New Jersey .
Today is April 1st .
Millions across the country do not have money to pay rent in the midst of this pandemic .
But despite eviction moratoriums and relief on mortgage payments in hard-hit states like California , Washington and New York , no rent freeze has been ordered .
In response , tenants around the country are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are planning to rent strike .
This is Crystal Stella Becerril , a tenant in Brooklyn , speaking to PIX News .
AMY GOODMAN : That ’ s Crystal Stella Becerril , a tenant in Brooklyn , speaking to PIX News .
According to one estimate , 40 % of renters in New York City may not be able to make rent this month .
And while a record 3 million people in the U.S. applied for unemployment last week , many workers who lost their livelihoods still have not even been able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million people called the New York state Labor Department hotline last week , compared to an average 50,000 weekly calls .
For more , we ’ re joined by Cea Weaver , campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All , which is organizing to cancel rent during the coronavirus pandemic .
She ’ s here in New York , as Juan González is also in New Jersey .
Cea , talk about what you are calling for on this first day of the month .
Yes , no one is talking about April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but clearly no one is canceling rent right now at a mass level .
CEA WEAVER : Yeah , so , you ’ re absolutely right .
It ’ s April 1st , and millions of New Yorkers are going to be unable to pay their rent today .
While the eviction moratorium is a step in the right direction , it does nothing to prepare for when we emerge from this crisis .
And so we are calling for full universal cancellation of all rent that is accrued during this crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t pay — if you can ’ t pay now , you don ’ t have to pay , and you won ’ t be taken to court for this rent later , either .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And how do you respond to folks like Governor Cuomo , who has said he ’ s all for a mortgage and rent moratorium , but not for cancellations per se ?
CEA WEAVER : Yeah , so , Cuomo has actually not called for a rent moratorium .
He ’ s called for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you know , I think that Governor Cuomo is simply just ignoring the fact that more than half of the state rents their homes .
He has repeatedly said that the closure of housing courts , the eviction moratorium , is — taken care of the rent issue .
I think that he ’ s got to be kidding himself if he thinks that that ’ s true .
I know he can ’ t truly think that that ’ s accurate .
All that that is is just the very definition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
AMY GOODMAN : I want to turn to Governor Cuomo speaking about the eviction moratorium at his press conference Tuesday .
He is then asked about what renters should do when that moratorium ends .
AMY GOODMAN : So , that ’ s Governor Cuomo ’ s daily news conference from yesterday .
Cea Weaver , if you could respond to what he said , and Governor Cuomo , who is now being talked about in all sorts of circles as a possible presidential candidate , a brokered convention , etc.
, @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here in New York ?
CEA WEAVER : Cuomo has a long history of standing with the real estate industry and not standing with the tenants .
He ’ s got a long history of standing with real estate over standing with public housing .
He has worked in housing his whole career , and the entire time he has been on the side of the real estate industry .
So it ’ s not surprising to hear that he ’ s not really taking seriously the rights of renters during this time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about being unable to pay the rent on April 1st , on May 1st , on June 1st , and not really having a plan to move forward .
It ’ s unsurprising , but it is terrifying , and we need the governor to take urgent action here — CEA WEAVER : — to take the rental [ inaudible ] response seriously .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Cea , do you have any sense whether across the country the movement is spreading of people saying they just won ’ t pay rent to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There are more people who are waking up to the housing crisis today than ever before .
And that ’ s the thing that is giving me hope and making me feel like we ’ re going to win this thing .
The housing justice movement has been saying for a long time that everyone is just one major life event away from an eviction .
We say that — we say that a lot .
We say , you know , if your mother gets sick or if you lose a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if you have a medical emergency yourself , that you may be just , you know , one paycheck away from an eviction .
What ’ s happening right now is that that is happening to hundreds of thousands of people , millions of people , all at once in our society .
And so , all of those people are turning to the housing justice movement and saying , “ Wow !
I was living that precariously.
” And sort of a moment — it ’ s a moment where everybody is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not working for renters , and trying — coming together to take political action .
AMY GOODMAN : And can I get your comment to Mayor de Blasio calling for a rent freeze for the 2.3 million tenants in nearly a million rent-stabilized units across New York , the city saying they ’ ll work with the state to suspend Rent Guidelines Board process for the upcoming year ?
De Blasio is saying , “ We are in the midst of a crisis only comparable to the Great Depression .
The people of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rent freeze is the lifeline so many will need this year to stay above water.
” Cea ?
CEA WEAVER : Yeah , so , I think , yeah , you said it yourself : The buck stops with the governor , unfortunately .
And it ’ s great that de Blasio is taking a step , but we need Cuomo to take action .
That ’ s just the scenario that we ’ re in right now .
And then , I think it ’ s incredibly important to not forget the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rent-stabilized , who are living precariously without the right to a renewal lease , in unregulated apartments , who have also lost income , who also need immediate relief now .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , Cea Weaver , we want to thank you so much for being with us , campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All , organizing to cancel rent during the pandemic .
And as we wrap up the show , Juan , this latest news that has just come out , of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus joining with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well as many immigration rights groups , for ICE to immediately release all 37,000 detainees in ICE custody , Juan ?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Well , Amy , it ’ s clear that given the huge number of people in detention , in immigration detention , overwhelmingly , most of them have not been — they ’ ve not been convicted of any crime .
They ’ re being detained while their status is adjudicated .
And it seems positively mind-boggling that the federal government doesn ’ t realize , especially in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detainees are in , that it would be the proper humanitarian policy to release them , release them now , to prevent the spread of COVID-19 .
And their status can be adjudicated after this crisis is over .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , we have to come to the end of the show .
We tried to reach Chris Smalls , who organized the Amazon protest and was fired , Amazon said , because he wasn ’ t keeping social distancing rules or quarantining , and , Chris Smalls alleges , because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep workers safe .
But we will certainly continue to follow this issue .
And a little correction : Earlier in the headlines , I talked about Franklin Graham , the president of the Christian relief organization Samaritan ’ s Purse , who has helped to organize a hospital outside of Mount Sinai here in New York in the middle of Central Park .
I mentioned he was a university president .
He isn ’ t .
That ’ s Jerry Falwell , who kept Liberty University open despite the concern of many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does it for our show .
By the way , whether or not we have access to medical masks , using a scarf is a great idea when you go outside .
We must all protect ourselves to protect the community .
All safety to everyone .
Juan , thanks so much for joining us .
Democracy Now !
produced by a remarkable team : Mike Burke , Renée Feltz , Deena Guzder , Nermeen Shaikh , Carla Wills , Tami Woronoff , Libby Rainey , Sam Alcoff , John Hamilton , Robby @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Charina Nadura , Tey-Marie Astudillo , Adriano Contreras .
Special thanks to Julie Crosby .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Juan González .
Be safe , all .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman in New York. Juan González is in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Today is April 1st. Millions across the country do not have money to pay rent in the midst of this pandemic. But despite eviction moratoriums and relief on mortgage payments in hard-hit states like California, Washington and New York, no rent freeze has been ordered. In response, tenants around the country are calling for immediate rent cancellation. Some are planning to rent strike. This is Crystal Stella Becerril, a tenant in Brooklyn, speaking to PIX News.
CRYSTAL STELLA BECERRIL: Asking them to reduce our rent by a minimum of 50%, beginning April 1st, so this Wednesday, with the possibility up to 100% rent reduction or forgiveness for those tenants who have completely lost all forms of income and won’t be able to pay. … We’re standing in solidarity with those who can’t, because we know that if three people in a building of 36 can’t pay rent, those people will be taken to court and be evicted. But if we stand in solidarity with them, the chances of that happening are reduced.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Crystal Stella Becerril, a tenant in Brooklyn, speaking to PIX News. According to one estimate, 40% of renters in New York City may not be able to make rent this month. And while a record 3 million people in the U.S. applied for unemployment last week, many workers who lost their livelihoods still have not even been able to file for unemployment. Nearly 8 million people called the New York state Labor Department hotline last week, compared to an average 50,000 weekly calls.
For more, we’re joined by Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All, which is organizing to cancel rent during the coronavirus pandemic. She’s here in New York, as Juan González is also in New Jersey.
Cea, talk about what you are calling for on this first day of the month. Yes, no one is talking about April fools in the midst of this pandemic, but clearly no one is canceling rent right now at a mass level.
CEA WEAVER: Yeah, so, you’re absolutely right. It’s April 1st, and millions of New Yorkers are going to be unable to pay their rent today. While the eviction moratorium is a step in the right direction, it does nothing to prepare for when we emerge from this crisis. And so we are calling for full universal cancellation of all rent that is accrued during this crisis. So that means you can’t pay — if you can’t pay now, you don’t have to pay, and you won’t be taken to court for this rent later, either.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And how do you respond to folks like Governor Cuomo, who has said he’s all for a mortgage and rent moratorium, but not for cancellations per se?
CEA WEAVER: Yeah, so, Cuomo has actually not called for a rent moratorium. He’s called for a mortgage moratorium for property owners. And, you know, I think that Governor Cuomo is simply just ignoring the fact that more than half of the state rents their homes. He has repeatedly said that the closure of housing courts, the eviction moratorium, is — taken care of the rent issue. I think that he’s got to be kidding himself if he thinks that that’s true. I know he can’t truly think that that’s accurate. All that that is is just the very definition of kicking the can down the road.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to Governor Cuomo speaking about the eviction moratorium at his press conference Tuesday. He is then asked about what renters should do when that moratorium ends.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO: You cannot be evicted for nonpayment of rent, residential nor commercial, for three months. Again, we pick these intervals, and you can say they’re somewhat random. But, you know, when is it going to end? Nobody knows. Pick an interval. So we said three months. You can’t be evicted, residential or commercial, for nonpayment of rent for 90 days. On that basis, my daughters have stopped paying me rent. I’m not even sure that their finances have dropped significantly, but I think they’re just taking advantage of the noneviction order that I myself posted. And I resent it.
REPORTER: Governor, what do you say —
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO: I love when they lie to me.
REPORTER: — renters should do once your 90-day moratorium on evictions ends and they likely owe several months of rent? You know, unemployment is obviously increasing.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO: We’ll deal with that when we get to it.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Governor Cuomo’s daily news conference from yesterday. Cea Weaver, if you could respond to what he said, and Governor Cuomo, who is now being talked about in all sorts of circles as a possible presidential candidate, a brokered convention, etc., what his history has been on housing here in New York?
CEA WEAVER: Cuomo has a long history of standing with the real estate industry and not standing with the tenants. He’s got a long history of standing with real estate over standing with public housing. He has worked in housing his whole career, and the entire time he has been on the side of the real estate industry. So it’s not surprising to hear that he’s not really taking seriously the rights of renters during this time and the fear that renters may feel about being unable to pay the rent on April 1st, on May 1st, on June 1st, and not really having a plan to move forward. It’s unsurprising, but it is terrifying, and we need the governor to take urgent action here —
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Cea —
CEA WEAVER: — to take the rental [inaudible] response seriously.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Cea, do you have any sense whether across the country the movement is spreading of people saying they just won’t pay rent to their landlords?
CEA WEAVER: Absolutely. There are more people who are waking up to the housing crisis today than ever before. And that’s the thing that is giving me hope and making me feel like we’re going to win this thing. The housing justice movement has been saying for a long time that everyone is just one major life event away from an eviction. We say that — we say that a lot. We say, you know, if your mother gets sick or if you lose a job or if you have to — if you have a medical emergency yourself, that you may be just, you know, one paycheck away from an eviction. What’s happening right now is that that is happening to hundreds of thousands of people, millions of people, all at once in our society. And so, all of those people are turning to the housing justice movement and saying, “Wow! I was living that precariously.” And sort of a moment — it’s a moment where everybody is realizing just how the housing market is not working for renters, and trying — coming together to take political action.
AMY GOODMAN: And can I get your comment to Mayor de Blasio calling for a rent freeze for the 2.3 million tenants in nearly a million rent-stabilized units across New York, the city saying they’ll work with the state to suspend Rent Guidelines Board process for the upcoming year? De Blasio is saying, “We are in the midst of a crisis only comparable to the Great Depression. The people of our city are struggling, and a rent freeze is the lifeline so many will need this year to stay above water.” Cea?
CEA WEAVER: Yeah, so, I think, yeah, you said it yourself: The buck stops with the governor, unfortunately. And it’s great that de Blasio is taking a step, but we need Cuomo to take action. That’s just the scenario that we’re in right now. And then, I think it’s incredibly important to not forget the millions of other renters who are not rent-stabilized, who are living precariously without the right to a renewal lease, in unregulated apartments, who have also lost income, who also need immediate relief now.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Cea Weaver, we want to thank you so much for being with us, campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All, organizing to cancel rent during the pandemic.
And as we wrap up the show, Juan, this latest news that has just come out, of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus joining with many others, 3,000 medical professionals, as well as many immigration rights groups, for ICE to immediately release all 37,000 detainees in ICE custody, Juan?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Amy, it’s clear that given the huge number of people in detention, in immigration detention, overwhelmingly, most of them have not been — they’ve not been convicted of any crime. They’re being detained while their status is adjudicated. And it seems positively mind-boggling that the federal government doesn’t realize, especially in the crowded conditions that many of the detainees are in, that it would be the proper humanitarian policy to release them, release them now, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. And their status can be adjudicated after this crisis is over.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we have to come to the end of the show. We tried to reach Chris Smalls, who organized the Amazon protest and was fired, Amazon said, because he wasn’t keeping social distancing rules or quarantining, and, Chris Smalls alleges, because he organized the protest at Amazon to keep workers safe. But we will certainly continue to follow this issue.
And a little correction: Earlier in the headlines, I talked about Franklin Graham, the president of the Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, who has helped to organize a hospital outside of Mount Sinai here in New York in the middle of Central Park. I mentioned he was a university president. He isn’t. That’s Jerry Falwell, who kept Liberty University open despite the concern of many staff, teachers and students.
That does it for our show. By the way, whether or not we have access to medical masks, using a scarf is a great idea when you go outside. We must all protect ourselves to protect the community. All safety to everyone. Juan, thanks so much for joining us. Democracy Now! produced by a remarkable team: Mike Burke, Renée Feltz, Deena Guzder, Nermeen Shaikh, Carla Wills, Tami Woronoff, Libby Rainey, Sam Alcoff, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hany Massoud, Denis Moynihan, Charina Nadura, Tey-Marie Astudillo, Adriano Contreras. Special thanks to Julie Crosby. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González. Be safe, all.


democracynow--2020-04-01--With Hospitals Reaching Breaking Point, Pregnant People Face Additional Uncertainty During Pandemic

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The War and Peace Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman in New York , with co-host Juan González speaking to us from his home in New Brunswick , New Jersey .
And now we ’ re going to talk about a different kind of delivery .
“ I ’ m nine months pregnant , and I ’ m bringing my baby into a world I no longer understand .
I have to remain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Littlefield in a new piece for Insider .
Her baby is due Sunday .
Amy Littlefield recently joined us from her home in Boston , Massachusetts , and I spoke to her before Governor Andrew Cuomo here in New York released an executive order Saturday saying hospitals could not force pregnant people to give birth without a chosen support person , the order coming in response to a move by both NewYork-Presbyterian and the Mount Sinai hospital systems to bar partners from labor and delivery rooms , causing widespread outrage even in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gathered over 600,000 signatures .
So this was the context in which we spoke .
And Amy Littlefield is a part of the Democracy Now !
family , a former Democracy Now !
producer .
Again , her baby is due on Sunday .
I asked her about the reality she ’ s confronting now at the end of her pregnancy AMY LITTLEFIELD : First of all , giving birth in the United States , let ’ s just say , it can be a terrifying experience in the best of times .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ maternal mortality rate among wealthy nations .
And we — you know , even with insurance , people often , on average , end up paying more than $ 4,500 out of pocket for their delivery .
These were predictable failures that my partner and I have thought about before we decided to have our first child .
And because I ’ m a journalist who reports on reproductive healthcare , I have thought a lot about these issues .
But , of course , we failed to factor in , you know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to shut down the healthcare system just a few weeks before my due date .
AMY LITTLEFIELD : I mean , we had — you know , I had controlled my anxiety around the unpredictability that ’ s built into birth , by planning every single aspect of it that I could .
We were touring hospitals before I was even pregnant .
I was interrogating the tour guides about whether they had nitrous oxide machines and how many birth tubs did they have .
And the people who were actually pregnant were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ park my car ?
” And so , we read all the books .
We hired a doula , because we know that the evidence shows having a doula really increases people ’ s — you know , decreases chances of having interventions like C-sections and creates a more positive experience for people giving birth .
So , we were so — As little as two weeks ago , our midwife was still assuring us that our doula could be with us during our birth .
And a few days later , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people in my situation around the country right now , we were told that our doula couldn ’ t be with us .
The hospital was restricting visitors to only one , which meant only my partner would be there .
My family wouldn ’ t be able to visit .
And now seeing what ’ s happening with NewYork-Presbyterian , of course , we ’ re afraid that my partner might not even be allowed into the delivery room , and we ’ re having to think about what that could look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I mean , I think , like so many people , there ’ s , you know , so many of us over the last few weeks , things are changing so quickly , and there ’ s a moment when you realize the world is different .
And for me , that came just under two weeks ago , I guess , when I went to my regular prenatal yoga class that I relied on to deal with those , you know , crazy aches and pains that can come with pregnancy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and I walked in , and there was one other person there , and then one other person joined us .
And as trivial as it might seem , that was sort of the moment that I knew that the world was changing and that something that had felt like sort of this distant threat was now about to disrupt our lives in a big way .
And pretty soon after that , my partner and I made the decision to stop leaving the house , except to walk our dog , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either of us to get sick before delivery .
AMY LITTLEFIELD : We did .
We had on , not — the Friday the 13th , so not this most recent Friday , but the one before , we had friends over to bring us some groceries .
And , you know , I let them into the house .
I felt so buoyed by their visit and happy to see them .
We kept several feet away .
And several hours later , one of the friends texted me to say they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And we just panicked , I mean , rubbed down everything we thought they had touched with bleach and jumped in the shower , dragged our dog in with us , washed her from head to toe , which she was pretty baffled by .
And I just remember standing there thinking , “ Please give me more time .
I ’ m not ready to give birth in this moment .
I don ’ t even understand what ’ s happening.
” AMY GOODMAN : And now the question of whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you .
You ’ re about a week or two behind New York .
In New York , the NewYork-Presbyterian has apparently made this decision , announcing on Sunday it would no longer allow visitors for patients giving birth , including allowing partners to be present during childbirth , even though the World Health Organization has said that all pregnant people , including those with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections , should have the right to have a chosen companion present during labor .
So , what does this bring up for you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these last weeks before you give birth ?
Or it could be hours , of course , because you ’ re at 38 .
It has prompted us to think about switching to a home birth at the last minute , which legions of people are doing right now .
I mean , apparently the home birth midwives are just getting inundated with requests , last-minute requests , from people like me , who are two weeks away from their due date and afraid to contemplate going into a hospital , afraid that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or that the hospitals will just be so inundated that it won ’ t be safe to give birth there .
And , you know , I spoke with my doula yesterday about the possibility of a home birth , and she said , “ Look , this is really something that you shouldn ’ t do out of fear , because you ’ ll open the door to trauma .
You should do it out of confidence that it ’ s something that you want and it ’ s the right decision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when I got off the phone with her , I just burst into tears , because how — I mean , how can any of us who are facing this decision think about making it out of anything but fear in this moment ?
I mean , the fear of being separated from our partners in that moment is absolutely what ’ s driving this .
And so — AMY LITTLEFIELD : Right , right .
I mean , first of all , it costs thousands and thousands of dollars .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , because it ’ s generally not covered by insurance .
So , that ’ s not something we had planned or budgeted for .
Secondly , you know , you have to think about turning your home into an impromptu delivery room .
You have to think about meeting a care provider that you ’ ve never met before , that you would have to build trust with very quickly .
And I don ’ t think that with so little time to plan it , it ’ s actually — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s less scary or more scary to do that than to think about going into a hospital , which is a complete unknown at this point .
We just don ’ t know what the medical system in Boston will look like two weeks from now .
AMY LITTLEFIELD : I mean , it takes a tremendous amount of energy to give birth , right ?
Or so I ’ ve been told .
And I ’ m trying to summon that energy and not sink into despair , which is difficult @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do you contemplate the fact that we are facing a situation where as many as 1.7 million people could die in this country , and it could have — many of those deaths could have been prevented if our government had acted fast enough ?
How do you contemplate what ’ s about to happen in the prisons , in the immigrant detention centers and among the homeless population as this virus spreads ?
How do you — I mean , for me , it ’ s how do I think about having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I think it ’ s very easy to sink into despair and feel like the world is a terrifying place .
And what ’ s been pulling me back from that is just seeing all of these beautiful examples of mutual support .
AMY GOODMAN : That ’ s Amy Littlefield , independent journalist , former Democracy Now !
producer , now documenting her own journey giving birth .
We ’ ll link to her article , “ I ’ m nine months pregnant , and I ’ m bringing my baby @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I have to remain hopeful anyway.
” Shortly after Amy spoke to us , she got a call from her health provider saying her partner could not attend her prenatal visit at 38 weeks in the midst of the pandemic .
He joined the appointment by phone .
And this news : Today , her little sister is in the hospital in the very beginning of labor — their parents about to have their first two grandchildren , though they won ’ t be able to go to the hospital for each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back , well , it ’ s April 1st .
Tenants are calling for rent to be canceled .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : “ To Be Young , Gifted and Black ” by Bob Andy and Marcia Griffiths .
Jamaican singer and songwriter Bob Andy died of cancer last week at the age of 75 .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman in New York, with co-host Juan González speaking to us from his home in New Brunswick, New Jersey. And now we’re going to talk about a different kind of delivery. “I’m nine months pregnant, and I’m bringing my baby into a world I no longer understand. I have to remain hopeful anyway,” writes journalist Amy Littlefield in a new piece for Insider. Her baby is due Sunday.
Amy Littlefield recently joined us from her home in Boston, Massachusetts, and I spoke to her before Governor Andrew Cuomo here in New York released an executive order Saturday saying hospitals could not force pregnant people to give birth without a chosen support person, the order coming in response to a move by both NewYork-Presbyterian and the Mount Sinai hospital systems to bar partners from labor and delivery rooms, causing widespread outrage even in this pandemic. A petition opposing the ban gathered over 600,000 signatures. So this was the context in which we spoke. And Amy Littlefield is a part of the Democracy Now! family, a former Democracy Now! producer. Again, her baby is due on Sunday. I asked her about the reality she’s confronting now at the end of her pregnancy
AMY LITTLEFIELD: First of all, giving birth in the United States, let’s just say, it can be a terrifying experience in the best of times. I mean, we have the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy nations. And we — you know, even with insurance, people often, on average, end up paying more than $4,500 out of pocket for their delivery. These were predictable failures that my partner and I have thought about before we decided to have our first child. And because I’m a journalist who reports on reproductive healthcare, I have thought a lot about these issues. But, of course, we failed to factor in, you know, plans for a global pandemic threatening to shut down the healthcare system just a few weeks before my due date.
AMY GOODMAN: So, about all your plans, take us through just — I mean, you planned this so carefully, and all your hopes, your dreams, your birth plan, what you were going to do, and how you’ve been forced to cope at this point.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: I mean, we had — you know, I had controlled my anxiety around the unpredictability that’s built into birth, by planning every single aspect of it that I could. We were touring hospitals before I was even pregnant. I was interrogating the tour guides about whether they had nitrous oxide machines and how many birth tubs did they have. And the people who were actually pregnant were just like, “Where do I park my car?” And so, we read all the books. We hired a doula, because we know that the evidence shows having a doula really increases people’s — you know, decreases chances of having interventions like C-sections and creates a more positive experience for people giving birth. So, we were so —
AMY GOODMAN: And explain what a doula is, Amy.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: A doula is somebody who is an emotional support person who’s an expert in things like helping you find comfortable positions, in massage, in advocating for people among healthcare providers, helping people make informed decisions. They’re really there to provide the emotional support, as well as the expertise, you know, during labor. And there’s just a huge body of evidence showing that they increase positive outcomes and decrease the need for birth interventions. And so, we felt that was a crucial part of our care, and we were privileged to be able to afford that.
As little as two weeks ago, our midwife was still assuring us that our doula could be with us during our birth. And a few days later, that had changed. And like so many people in my situation around the country right now, we were told that our doula couldn’t be with us. The hospital was restricting visitors to only one, which meant only my partner would be there. My family wouldn’t be able to visit. And now seeing what’s happening with NewYork-Presbyterian, of course, we’re afraid that my partner might not even be allowed into the delivery room, and we’re having to think about what that could look like.
AMY GOODMAN: Even before, talking about how you stayed fit and healthy going to yoga, how did those yoga classes change with pregnant people?
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Well, I mean, I think, like so many people, there’s, you know, so many of us over the last few weeks, things are changing so quickly, and there’s a moment when you realize the world is different. And for me, that came just under two weeks ago, I guess, when I went to my regular prenatal yoga class that I relied on to deal with those, you know, crazy aches and pains that can come with pregnancy. And usually it’s packed, and I walked in, and there was one other person there, and then one other person joined us. And as trivial as it might seem, that was sort of the moment that I knew that the world was changing and that something that had felt like sort of this distant threat was now about to disrupt our lives in a big way. And pretty soon after that, my partner and I made the decision to stop leaving the house, except to walk our dog, because we really didn’t want either of us to get sick before delivery.
AMY GOODMAN: But you did have some friends in about a week ago.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: We did. We had on, not — the Friday the 13th, so not this most recent Friday, but the one before, we had friends over to bring us some groceries. And, you know, I let them into the house. I felt so buoyed by their visit and happy to see them. We kept several feet away. And several hours later, one of the friends texted me to say they were running a fever and body aches. And we just panicked, I mean, rubbed down everything we thought they had touched with bleach and jumped in the shower, dragged our dog in with us, washed her from head to toe, which she was pretty baffled by. And I just remember standing there thinking, “Please give me more time. I’m not ready to give birth in this moment. I don’t even understand what’s happening.”
AMY GOODMAN: And you then talk about losing your doula, because she won’t be able to be in the delivery room.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: And now the question of whether your partner will be able to join you. You’re about a week or two behind New York. In New York, the NewYork-Presbyterian has apparently made this decision, announcing on Sunday it would no longer allow visitors for patients giving birth, including allowing partners to be present during childbirth, even though the World Health Organization has said that all pregnant people, including those with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections, should have the right to have a chosen companion present during labor. So, what does this bring up for you? What are you thinking now in these last weeks before you give birth? Or it could be hours, of course, because you’re at 38.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Could be. Could happen right now. I mean, it’s — the idea of giving birth without my partner there to comfort me, to advocate for me, to share in what should be the happiest moment of our lives, is kind of unfathomable to me. And my heart breaks for the people who are going through that right now at NewYork-Presbyterian, who are having to give birth without a partner, any family member, any support person there with them, just totally alone, I mean, what can be a terrifying experience if it feels like it’s out of your control.
It has prompted us to think about switching to a home birth at the last minute, which legions of people are doing right now. I mean, apparently the home birth midwives are just getting inundated with requests, last-minute requests, from people like me, who are two weeks away from their due date and afraid to contemplate going into a hospital, afraid that all their autonomy will be taken away or that the hospitals will just be so inundated that it won’t be safe to give birth there. And, you know, I spoke with my doula yesterday about the possibility of a home birth, and she said, “Look, this is really something that you shouldn’t do out of fear, because you’ll open the door to trauma. You should do it out of confidence that it’s something that you want and it’s the right decision for you.” And I just — when I got off the phone with her, I just burst into tears, because how — I mean, how can any of us who are facing this decision think about making it out of anything but fear in this moment? I mean, the fear of being separated from our partners in that moment is absolutely what’s driving this. And so —
AMY GOODMAN: And what does it mean, a home birth? But what would that involve? I mean, it’s a whole different trajectory, of course.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: And you are doing this, and people plan for this for a long time.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Exactly.
AMY GOODMAN: You’re doing this in a few days, if you were to do it.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Right, right. I mean, first of all, it costs thousands and thousands of dollars. It’s just not an option for many people, because it’s generally not covered by insurance. So, that’s not something we had planned or budgeted for. Secondly, you know, you have to think about turning your home into an impromptu delivery room. You have to think about meeting a care provider that you’ve never met before, that you would have to build trust with very quickly. And I don’t think that with so little time to plan it, it’s actually — I don’t know whether it’s less scary or more scary to do that than to think about going into a hospital, which is a complete unknown at this point. We just don’t know what the medical system in Boston will look like two weeks from now.
AMY GOODMAN: You talk about, in your piece, how your grandmother is in failing health but was so excited, 100 years old, to be able to hold her little grandchild.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Yeah, yeah. And that’s what’s been keeping her going. She’s told me that. So, her nursing home is basically shut down to visitors, which is right. They should do that. And I would not contemplate visiting her right now. But I don’t know how long it will be and whether she has that much time, you know, to be able to meet her great-grandchildren. And so many people I know are in my position and facing these very same choices, painful choices.
AMY GOODMAN: You write in your a piece about your parents and what you have — since everything was so perfectly planned, your thoughts about them coming into the hospital and what you would reveal to them.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Yes. We’ve been keeping the name and the baby’s presumed sex secret through the whole pregnancy. We’ve worked very hard to guard that. And I had just really looked forward to that moment in the hospital room when they would get to meet their grandchild and when we would reveal that information to them. And it’s not going to happen that way. I don’t know when it will happen.
AMY GOODMAN: So, they can’t come into the hospital, you know.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: No.
AMY GOODMAN: You don’t know if your partner will be able to join you.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Exactly.
AMY GOODMAN: But then, afterwards, given all of the issues of social distance.
AMY LITTLEFIELD: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And it’s — I mean, it’s heartbreaking. I’m hearing in online communities, and I’ve heard from so many other people who are pregnant, about the very painful decision-making of, you know, pushing family away for safety in a moment where you expected to hold them close and to be with them and to just treasure, you know, the moments you never get back, the first moments of a child’s life. It’s really tough, and we’re trying not to — we haven’t made any final decisions about that yet, because everything is changing day to day, and we just don’t know what the world will look like in a few weeks.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Amy, as you always do during the most difficult circumstances, you always manage to find rays of hope. And I’m wondering what is sustaining you right now and what you’re seeing outside and inside, since you are self-isolating. What is giving you the most hope right now?
AMY LITTLEFIELD: I mean, it takes a tremendous amount of energy to give birth, right? Or so I’ve been told. And I’m trying to summon that energy and not sink into despair, which is difficult, because, you know, how do you contemplate the fact that we are facing a situation where as many as 1.7 million people could die in this country, and it could have — many of those deaths could have been prevented if our government had acted fast enough? How do you contemplate what’s about to happen in the prisons, in the immigrant detention centers and among the homeless population as this virus spreads? How do you — I mean, for me, it’s how do I think about having to explain this to a child, and I think it’s very easy to sink into despair and feel like the world is a terrifying place. And what’s been pulling me back from that is just seeing all of these beautiful examples of mutual support.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Amy Littlefield, independent journalist, former Democracy Now! producer, now documenting her own journey giving birth. We’ll link to her article, “I’m nine months pregnant, and I’m bringing my baby into a world I no longer understand. I have to remain hopeful anyway.” Shortly after Amy spoke to us, she got a call from her health provider saying her partner could not attend her prenatal visit at 38 weeks in the midst of the pandemic. He joined the appointment by phone. And this news: Today, her little sister is in the hospital in the very beginning of labor — their parents about to have their first two grandchildren, though they won’t be able to go to the hospital for each to meet them.
When we come back, well, it’s April 1st. Tenants are calling for rent to be canceled. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” by Bob Andy and Marcia Griffiths. Jamaican singer and songwriter Bob Andy died of cancer last week at the age of 75.