Transcripts For RT Documentary 20240711

A famous in the United States. Bridges fall from grace is a situation that affects thousands of other americans. For a long time she had everything she always wanted. She was married and lived in this beautiful house. But after 5 years of living together her blissful marriage suddenly fell apart. He could adopt me dump me as ok it didnt work bye bye ok bye bye see ya later there were no i dont have. No bed no no furniture or no house. This is my car i have a seat here. And. Now thats the way it is maria didnt get to keep a single thing she preferred to leave everything to her exhusband and turn over a brand new leaf but over the last several years in california the cost of rent has risen so much that her salary of 1500 euros was not enough to afford an apartment ever since then every morning before heading to work she goes to this gym she exercises for 45 minutes but she mainly comes for another rather urgent need i have to take this decision because i have no place to shower. One time i can shower for a week feel farrel let me tell you you feel like a home and. Thinking. Why should i be doing if i thought oh thank you him so i came here. For membership costs her 40. 00 euros a month the cost of continuing a near normal life. Upon leaving the gym no one would notice that maria no longer has a house and that she sleeps in her car. With a quandary job because of that because if i dont shower nobodys going to hire me im going to be homeless no car no nothing might my worlds going to go drop you know. What im going to be doing ill be complete 100 percent home. Come with the. Chess kit he. Maria is just one of many middle class american citizens who have in recent years fallen into poverty. And officially america is great again since the 2008 crisis the economy has never been stronger a record breaking growth and unemployment has dropped to a historical low less than 4 percent an upturn for which donald trump has claimed all the credit. There has never been a better time just start living the American Dream but despite what the president the firms the famous American Dream is far from being achieved in the United States 40000000 people are living below the poverty line and millions of workers will go to Great Lengths to stay above it to get my mail but if. I do that twice a week becoming homeless overnight is what these americans fear most because here the system is not very kind to those short of cash but a catch up real quick for youre going to have a judgment of possession against you and get a ticket in some states being late on your rent is no laughing matter. Here one by one tenants are they good at gunpoint where marvelously back if even the whole thing about need. For these americans on the verge of ruin seeking medical treatment can cost a fortune harvey thank you medicine too because you may not get one or the other. So some people are standing up in solidarity making sure theyre taken care of free of charge in field hospitals not unlike those found in a country at war and insight into the lives of those who cannot scrape a living in the heart of destitute america. San diego in Southern California 300. 00 days of sunshine a year and beaches as far as the eye can see an idyllic setting the picture postcard california san diego is also one of the most dynamic cities in the country here unemployment is practically nonexistent. This dream lifestyle was once an everyday reality for eric he was a successful computer engineer earning 7000 euros a month today at 53 years old this man lives alone in his car and to eat for free hes made an agreement with the employees of a pizzeria. Hello. How are you today it. Looks yes. Thank you. What do you take here that these are the slices that they have in their display that they havent for too long then they put them in the fridge for me so that they donate them. To. Eric comes every evening to pick up some pizza. Thank you very much very much appreciate it ok ill buy. Hes going to share these unsold slices with other victims of poverty because for a year and a half eric has been sleeping in this parking lot the one where maria the cleaner also lives with his pizza he makes his neighbors very happy. Theres a lot. Like a 55 year old driver thats. Our hungry. Do not today no no no i had to drive on didnt. In his former life eric also worked a lot 50 hours a week but 4 years ago he suffered a burnout as well as a series of Health Problems including problems with his heart he could not work and received Unemployment Benefits for 6 months and then nothing at all i can handle i thought i would get certain. To get full enough for some lawyers are honest with doctors im going furniture my savings. I ended up. Basically burning through everything and what can afford to stay in a farm and. Eric is trying to pick himself up nowadays hes doing temporary work in a saving up to be able to rent an apartment. After her long day at work maria is back. To her. Yeah its where i work its a little hard because. I have to lift a lady shes very had a. Back and forth back and. 9 hours its not. Its a its a lot of hours but im ok the. First my food my bed im ready to jump in my bit. Counts. At half past 9 at night the gates closed from this point onward no more cars can enter the parking lot at night there isnt a Security Guard and even though there hasnt been any attacks this doesnt reassure maria. I close the door put that we know down like this much and put the alarm if somebody is trying to break in oh well no i come at the 1st break. And my head might cut it some may trying to break in such spray. You never know. A few meters away eric is getting ready to spend another night in his car even though the passenger compartment is full to the brim the former computer engineer will sleep sitting behind the wheel certainly far from the comforts of his old life. And one thing that ive really found out about this is that you know the typical stereotype of. You know the homeless person being lazy and not wanting to work or being a drug addict. That may be the case in some places and some and some but the people ive come to in this program most of my very hard working people that want to get ahead that have either have some some Health Issues or have some of how district a bad luck or for whatever reason. Theyve you know come into this is this this situation some people are able to get out of it quickly some people take longer. California is a state of stark contrasts despite being the 6th largest economy in the world more and more of its workers can no longer afford somewhere to live but there is another state where the system is even more unforgiving. This state is virginia right next to washington d. C. And in particular its capital city Richmond Richmond is a former Industrial City here a quarter of the population live beneath the poverty threshold. Richmond also holds an unfortunate record this city has one of the highest rates of addiction in the United States there are 3000. 00 the actions per year thats 25. 00 times more than in paris. Well the pandemic no certainly no borders and a slide into nationalities. Has emerged with the we dont like seeing the whole world needs to be. Judged. Commentary classes. We can do better we should be. Everyone is contributing way but we also know that this crisis will not go on forever the challenges created with the response has been so many good people are helping us. It makes us feel very proud that we are in it together. Is youll be a reflection of reality. In a world transformed. What will make you feel safe. Isolation community. Are you going the right way or are you being so. Direct. What is true what is faith. In the world corrupted you need to descend. To join us in the depths. Or remain in the shallows. The addictions are a routine job for officer lawyer from the Sheriffs Office several times a week he distributes these yellow documents. How you does. Candace if you are ok as this was a notice set up placed on your door sort of action notice you need to get in touch with a management property manager here if you feel the same correct but we said eviction for august the 7th at 9 oclock. Ok thank you maam. In the state of virginia the law is strict if the rent is late by 5 days the landlord has the right to begin the eviction process a few weeks later the tenant receives a notice on their door. You know what is right you know what it is. Go for the one week you know. Its going off and i will take it out. Sometimes carried away by his own enthusiasm officer loyal is not always accurate usually me how are you are you are you. Now the she there here now this is. This announcement to make. This woman who has nothing to feel guilty about got away with nothing more than a fright. Im sorry maam were at the wrong apartment thank you. The threatening tenants have one week to settle their debts otherwise they face eviction by force and officer loyal does not show much sympathy. This morning he and his colleague must addict the person that lives in this house. Its. Sheriffs office. And just like arresting a dangerous criminal. They enter the home armed with guns take a. Sheriffs office. Right now the tenant is not at home and clearly has not had time to vacate the premises. And on your location. As for the landlord he immediately reclaims his property. On average in france it takes a year and a half to evict someone whilst here it happens in almost an instant in less than 2 months everything is settled change everything im checking the wind the snow. To make sure that isnt secure. The tenant has just arrived and is in shock she had been renting the house for 7 years a single mother to a grown up daughter she works but has frequently struggled to make ends meet she can only pick up her belongings the next day otherwise everything will go to the junk yard at her expense. Why its just going to be easier on you like to be a chorus in a backyard or whatever if you were having removed because if he has a token ring remove it thats an added expense that youd be looking at yes i mean just plan to think all this. You act like its hard not you gotta do we gotta do and i gotta do what i gotta do what are you going to. Where am i going to sleep at if you can all see about me. Yeah i can yeah you have a good day shes thrown out on the streets with no room for negotiation she only which moves or didnt move. Thats up to her if thats the only way she said she would move before this didnt move. Maybe she knew what it. You know she never did say that to me. Here. There are around 10 divisions just like this one every day in richmond as a consequence of this express just as Budget Hotels on the outskirts of the city have become a refuge for those whove been kicked out of their homes some people stay there for a very long time this is the case where david a 38 year old gardener. Was going on man. Sammul sam on new day. David has lived in this motel since his addiction 2 years ago at the weekend this divorced fathers children come to stay over and his 10 square meter room for which he pays 1300. 00 euros a month. This is it man misses our bed bedroom living room family room everywhere and this is the Little Kitchen which i cooked our eggs last night and made hamburgers so i cant clean the dishes or you know we played video games and bathroom. You know got a shower but thats about all. During the week david shares the single room which is bursting with things with his new partner. He didnt want to follow suit you put 2 years here man a month cramped in a ike obviously if you put 2 people in the same room for a long enough time its theirs you know bump heads and have arguments and stuff his girlfriend has a stable job in the Insurance Business as a couple they could buy themselves a bigger and less expensive apartment yet they remain trapped in this tiny room because their past a big one continues to haunt them but at the time she was trying it 1st and then you get so be down by going to places and stuff and then not theyre not giving you a place because theyre like oh you had an addiction its you know shows that you didnt pay just like 2 months or Something Like that and it definitely was detrimental to it there was no way of getting anywhere. It is almost unthinkable in europe but here landlords are able to access the past of bad tenants with a few simple clicks a systematic surveillance that has been denounced by martin veg bright a lawyer and defense attorney for tenants. So. This database is a public database i mean anyone can go onto this database and look at it and you can search by name so try a common a common american name or we get america less speak ok. There we go and you can see 5 on lawful detainers lets see 10 years ago this tenant had a series of late payments despite being small amounts like this 291. 00 they can bear heavy consequences. So if im a landlord i can look at that and say well that was 10 years ago but i think shes too much of a risk i dont want to rent to her if anything bad happens to you whether its you know you get your hours cut back at work whether or you break an ankle and youre off work for a month whether you got that car repair bill or that hospital bill or any thing that just throws your budget off slightly you better catch up real quick or youre going to have a judgment of possession against you and get addicted so the tenant really is living under the sword of damocles. With such a system its difficult to imagine how david could one day leave his motel and buy himself an apartment in which he could properly house his children. In a situation like this too if youre depressed and you sit in one little room by yourself alarm or he end up trying to enter on you know doing something stupid and thank god jenkins my only advice right now. Trying to be a decent person and going to. David is far from an isolated case 6300 people are that did throughout america each day although in the city finding accommodation is the main source of anxiety there is a region where for some the main worry is simply being able to put food on the table. Welcome to Rural America the appalachian in the eastern part of the country a mountainous region. Appalachian was once widely known for its Coal Production these days almost all the mines are closed down it is often said that the American Dream got lost somewhere along the way to here. The Appalachian Region with a predominantly white population is where the poorest counties in the country are found. During the summer at lunch time this food truck travels up and down the disadvantaged areas of roanoke. Loose and stacey are 2 volunteers that give out free meals to children. In the School System you get lunch and you get breakfast so a lot a lot of families depend on that lunch or breakfast that they dont necessarily have to buy if that makes sense because a sole School System will provide it for them. But in the summer from june to mid august theres no school so then word is most coming from so thats where we kind of step in they serve up to 200 meals a day. And every time they arrive they are eagerly awaited. I dont know how you know. Because because i read you cant think you know hungry yes im starving. Im getting. On todays menu a sandwich a carton of milk and a kiwi in this family both parents do not work they receive 1200. 00 euros of social welfare a month but as a family of 5 its barely enough to live on. Well ill try to get in at least 2. 00 to 3. 00 but towards the end of the month when the stamps from. Maybe one. Or the articles will now be on the them i dont want to want to have this when i usually skip breakfast to launch. For us to watch in the night and thats only if you know yes only right and being poor to the point of starving yourself to see tomorrow they did not say they. Already this reality is nothing new in the Appalachian Region. 1964 during his Election Campaign president johnson visited appalachian he was horrified by this poverty once elected he launched a master plan to put an end to poverty today here and now declares on the foundation no war on poverty in america. One of his ideas was to create food stamps which were food coupons given free of charge to the poor. And. Still to this day the government distributes these food stamps to 40000000 American People in this Mobile Home Park in the heart of the appalachian the majority of families benefit from this food in. With the American Flag hanging from the front steps this is the mobile home of 58 year old collins a former marine no longer works following a long term illness she receives a pension of 700 euros so every day she tries to get by. Anybody who thinks that because by islam the election we are problems are over simply not sure the problems were there for President Trump theyre not going away you have problems with the economy in the long room youre going to have huge debt pay for the things youre going to do we still have a problem in the United States which is racism we have too many young are going to american. Jails are going possessions or some of those problems are. Simply allowed produce not does not. Sputnik 5 has the world. Just like its namesake the original. The 1st draft of a to leave. Orbit the world. Many questions remain unanswered as new vaccine the authorities are confident enough to go forward with mass production. Thats. What the family states when he made. His no one for. Real radio received. Interest in preliminary requests. Williams those of us. All right this is happening all the way go and the reaction has been exactly the same as it was waved by. Journalists in the us. The world reaction is made of green cheese. But. Its. A picture of. The u. S. Has a history complicated and heated president ial whats different this time is that the biggest political events of the last 4 years is happening amid the coronavirus. And rest of them to the level of civil unrest sparked by the death george floyd and the lives of the radical groups on both sides of the political spectrum. Right there with breaking the city ordinance. Say. These groups attract barely a week members who have taken to the streets may control tasks look like full scale what you see here was only a taste of whats about to. Visit demonstrators are sometimes heavily armed and they are not afraid of violence or law enforcement. If you want a war lead to deal with us. Were going to meet those groups and their leaders to find out how far theyre ready to go to fight for what they believe the state for this country. Have a final declaration. Of victory yet. But the numbers clear were going to win this race stopping short of declaring victory Democrat Joe Biden says hes on course for the white house his announcement comes despite ballot counting continuing in key states. Joe biden leads with 264 electoral votes trump has 200 and 142270 is the magic number needed to win the presidency. Donald trump insists his rival has no right to close wrongfully declare victory launching multiple lawsuits alleging electoral fraud the republican claims sudden flips in joe biden state and a number of states are suspicious