KPFA - Democracy Now!

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

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.

The post “A Systematic Issue of Disparity”: Black People in Louisiana Account for 70% of COVID-19 Deaths appeared first on KPFA.

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

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Click here for transcript.

The post “Leaving Us Here to Die”: Prisoners Plea for Release, Protection Amid Skyrocketing Infection Rates appeared first on KPFA.

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

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.

The post “Our Bodies Are On the Line”: NYC Nurses Demand Protective Gear as COVID-19 Death Toll Skyrockets appeared first on KPFA.

As the United States leads the world in coronavirus cases, the nation’s healthcare system is already stretched to capacity and protective gear in short supply. President Trump and his health advisors say more than 100,000 Americans could die from the coronavirus in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, millions of people have lost their jobs, and a record 6.6 million unemployment claims were filed this week, on top of last week’s 3.3 million claims. For more on the economic impacts of the coronavirus, and how Trump has responded to the pandemic by rewarding pharmaceutical corporations like Gilead Sciences and indefinitely suspending environmental regulations, we speak with Robert Weissman (@Rob_Weissman), president of Public Citizen.

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Click here for the transcript.

The post As U.S. Reels from COVID-19, Trump Backs Gilead’s Exclusive Patent on Treatment & Suspends EPA Rules appeared first on KPFA.

Today is April 1, and millions across the country don’t have the money to pay rent. 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.” Meanwhile, many workers who lost their income due to the pandemic haven’t even been able to file for unemployment in New York state, with the unemployment website continually crashing and phone lines jammed. Seven-point-eight million people called the New York state Labor Department hotline last week, compared to the average 50,000. We get an update from Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All, which is organizing to cancel rent during the coronavirus.

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.

The post #CancelRent: Tenants Demand Rent Relief & Organize Strikes as Unemployment Surges Due to COVID-19 appeared first on KPFA.

In an exclusive Democracy Now! TV/radio broadcast, we speak with Tara Reade, the former staffer in Joe Biden’s Senate office who has come forward with allegations that Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993. Last week, The Intercept reported that the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, set up to help survivors of rape and sexual assault, refused to fund a #MeToo investigation into allegations against Biden. Reade told journalist Katie Halper in an interview published Tuesday that Biden repeatedly touched her without her consent and sexually assaulted her. Reade approached the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund in January looking for assistance, but was reportedly told the fund could not help her because Biden is a candidate for federal office, and pursuing a case could jeopardize the fund’s nonprofit status. Reade says she learned from The Intercept report that the public relations firm representing Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund is SKDKnickerbocker, whose managing director, Anita Dunn, is top adviser to Biden’s presidential campaign.

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Click here for the transcript.

The post “It Shattered My Life”: Former Joe Biden Staffer Tara Reade Says He Sexually Assaulted Her in 1993 appeared first on KPFA.

We look at the crisis of homelessness during the coronavirus pandemic in California, where the number of cases has passed 6,000 with 132 deaths. The entire state has been ordered to shelter in place, leaving the state’s massive unhoused population extremely vulnerable. As the state braces for a surge in cases, tens of thousands of people are living on the streets. A recent study estimates that nearly 2,600 unhoused people will need to be hospitalized for the virus in Los Angeles alone — and nearly 1,000 will need intensive care. We speak with Martha Escudero, a member of a group of unhoused mothers, elders and families who have moved into vacant houses called Reclaiming Homes, and Carroll Fife (@carroll_fife), director of the Oakland office for Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE).

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Click here for the transcript.

The post “Housing Is Health”: Calls Grow for California to Give Vacant Homes to Unhoused People Amid Pandemic appeared first on KPFA.

As much of the United States is under lockdown, the House votes today on a $2 trillion emergency relief package to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. It will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations, and the vote comes as a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. We speak with Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress, about the bill, Trump’s response to the pandemic, how she has joined calls for student debt relief and to release immigrants and prisoners facing infection, and the challenges African countries face in responding to the coronavirus. Click here for transcript.

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.

The post Rep. Ilhan Omar: The U.S. being epicenter of the pandemic is the “wrong kind of American exceptionalism” appeared first on KPFA.

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads around the world, we look at India, which is now under the largest lockdown in human history, with 1.3 billion people ordered to shelter in place. As the country’s economy and daily life come to an abrupt halt, hundreds of millions of Indians who live hand to mouth have been left without the means to support their families. We speak with Amitav Ghosh (@GhoshAmitav), whose books include Gun Island and The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable.

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.

The post “Chaotic Situation” as India Begins Lockdown of 1.3 Billion Residents amid Coronavirus Pandemic appeared first on KPFA.

Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.

The post Democracy Now – March 25, 2020 appeared first on KPFA.