Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20240713

Most of europe to the United States, and also said he will expand sick leave. This comes as Senate Republicans block paid sick leave legislation. We will talk about sick leave and medicare for all with two leading economists. After a disappointing showing in tuesday nights democratic president ial primaries, senator Bernie Sanders says he will stay in the race and debate joe biden. What are you going to do do in the absurdity of the United States not having health care is human right . Are you really going to veto medicare for a all bill if it is passed n congress . Amy and all of italy is lockdown. Among the recent dead is the head of the medical association in the Northern Province of italy. We will go to italy for the latest. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus a Global Pandemic as the number of cases continues to multiply worldwide, with tens of millions of People Living under unprecedented lockdowns. The pandemic declaration came as the number of confirmed cases of covid19 topped 126,000 in over 120 countries, with more than 4700 deaths blamed on the virus. The who said officials are alarmed by both the spread of the virus and the failure of governments to act. In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries higher climate even higher. The who has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. Amamy in italy, where 60 millin people are undnder an Unprecedented Nationwide Lockdown, the death toll has increased to at least 827. Authorities have ordered all shops closed except food markets and pharmacies. Italys economy has all but ground to a halt, with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte describing the outbreak as the countrys darkest hour. Among the recent dead is roberto stella, the head of the medical association and northern italy. In germany, where there have been about two thousand confirmed cases so far, chancellor Angela Merkel said that the majority of people are likely to contract the virus. When the virirus is out ther, the population has no immunity and no therapy exists, and 60 be70 of the population will infected as long as the situation continues to exist. Amy irans government has urged people to remain in their homes as the countrys death toll rose over 10,000 people infected. On wednesday, iranian officials accused the Trump Administration of medical terrorism over u. S. Imposed sanctions that have severely hampered irans ability to respond to the outbreak. Iran hasas asked the i internatl monetaryry fund for 5 billion n emergency funding. One e relative bright spot i china, where dracoconian measurs appear to have stemmed the spread of the virus. Just 24 new infections were reported on wednesday across china, and 10 of those involved people w who recently traveled abroad. In the United States, President Trump addressed the nation in a prime time address from the oval office wednesday, ordering a travel ban thats unprecedented in u. S. History. Pres. Trump i have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and wellbeing of all americans, to keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from europe to the United States for the next 30 days. Amy President Trump said the travel ban would not apply to the united kingdom, even though coronavirus is spreading in britain and northern ireland. Trump owns Trump Turnberry and Trump International golf links in britain. Trumps address inspired panic in Financial Markets after he said he was imposing restrictions on tremendous amount of trade and cargo from europe. Dow futures dropped 1100 points immediately after the comments, building on historic losses in recent days that ended an 11year bull market. Trump quickly issued a correction after his speech, tweeting the restriction stops people not goods. Trump also said during his speech that u. S. Insurance companies have agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments. A spokesperson for Americas Health insurance plans quickly issued a statement saying the waived copays would only apply to coronavirus tests not treatment. And trump also later clarified, though he had read this in a scripted speech, that u. S. Citizens in europe will be allowed to return home, though they will have to undergo screening. In the a address, trump referred to covid19 as a foreign virus that started in china. Chinas Foreign Ministry has condemned such rhetoric is meant to stigmatize china. Labs are reporting shortages of critical equipment and chemicals needed to test for the virus. And Time Magazine reports the whwhite house has blocked the public release of a report by the director of National Intelligence warning the United States is starkly unprepared for a Global Pandemic. The editorinchief of Science Magazine blasted the Trump Administrations Coronavirus Response in a scathing oped published wednesday. The editor, holden thorp, writes that dr. Anthony fauci, a top scieientist on vice presididente pences Coronavirus Task force, must be allowed to speak freely about the outbreak. Thorp wrote informing fauci and other government scientists that they must clear all Public Comments with Vice President mike pence is unacceptable. This is not a time for someone who denies evolution, Climate Change, and the dangers of smoking to shape the public message. On capitol hill, dr. Fauci warned lawmakers wednesday that covid19 is likely 10 times deadlier than seasonalal flu and that the pandemic is certain to get worse. How much worse it will get will depend on our ability to do two things to contain the influx of people who are infected coming from the outside and the ability to contain and mitigate within our own country. The bottom line, it is going to get worse. Amy also on capitol hill, Tennessee Republican senator Lamar Alexander blocked a motion to immediately pass legislation that would guarantee 14 days of paid sick leave to workers during Public Health emergencies. This comes as democrats in the house of representatives prepare to debate a package of bills today to give workers 14 days paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave. The bill also includes funding for low income mothers and pregnant people who may be laid off due to coronavirus, 400 billion for local food banks and free coronavirus testing for all those who need it, including those without insurance. Meanwhile, washington, d. C. , mayor Muriel Bowser declared a Public Health emergency in the nations capital, where there have been 10 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. One of them is a staffer for Washington Democratic senator marie cantwell. Congressional l leaders have agreed to severely restrict Public Access to capitol hill, and senator cantwell has closed her d. C. C. And seattle o officed has ordered her staff to work remotely. In seattle, governor jay inslee has ordered Public Schools closed for a minimum of two weeks, bringing the total number of u. S. School closures to over 1500 affecting over one Million Students nationwide. In oklahoma city, an nba game between an nba game was called off moments before tipoff wednesday evening after utah jazz player rudy gobert tested positive for coronavirus. The nba has since suspended its season until further notice. The ncaa said all Upcoming Division 1 basketball tournaments will be played in empty arenas, with only essential staff and family members allowed to attend. Other sports leagues are preparing to cancel events or to limit Public Access to games. California is urging officials to cancel all public gatherings of more than 250 people. Joe bidens president ial campaign has scrapped planned rallies in chicago and miami and will instead hold virtual events. Biden is planning an address on the coronavirus from wilmington, delaware, his home state, this afternoon. President Trumps Campaign postponed plans for a catholics for trump rally schedululed for march 19 in milwaukee day after , one announcing the event. Even hollywood has been affected by coronavirus. On celebrities tom hanks andnd wewednday, Rita A Wilson annound they have bothth tested positive fofor covid19 after coming down wiwith flulike symptoms duringa trip to australia. In campaign news, senator Bernie Sanders said wednesday he will continue his fight for the democratic partys president ial nomination and is looking forward to sundays debate in arizona against joe biden. He promised to challenge bidens lack of support fofor progressie causes like the Green New Deal and medicare for all. Sen. Sanders the American People understand that we cannot continue a cruel and dysfunctional Health Care System and it is amazing to me to see that even in conservative states like mississippi, there is an overwhelming understanding that we are now spending twice as much per capita on health care as the people of any other country, while 87 million of us remain uninsured or underinsured. And this crisis, this absurd Health Care System, is becoming more and more obvious to the American People as we face the challenge of thehe coronavirus pandemic. Amy with more than half of the u. S. Population yet to vote, sanders is trailing biden by about 150 pledged delegates out of about 2000 needed to clinch the nomination. After headlines, well play extended remarks from senator Bernie Sanders address. Joe bidens younger brother is facing allegations of financial fraud in civil court proceedings. According to a lawsuit filed in federal court by a pair of medical firms, james biden promised investors at the forprofit hospital chain Americore Health that hed leverage the biden family name to attract a large investment from the middle east. The money never materialized, and americore has since entered bankruptcy proceedings, but not before james biden allegedly walked away with a 650,000 personal loan from the company that he has yet to repay. Politico reports james biden introduced americores founder to his older brother joe biden at a september 2017 fundraiser for the beau biden foundation. A Biden Campaign spokesperson denied joe biden ever discussed americore with his brother or expressed support for the business. James bidens ties to americore came under incncreased scrutiny following an fbi raiaid on the companys ellwood City Hospital in pennsylvania in january. The reason for the raid is unknown. Here in new york, a manhattan judge has sentenced former hollywood producer and convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein to 23 years in prison in a landmark ruling for the metoo movement. After his sentencing, weinstein was taken under armed guard and bussed from bussed from the manhattan courthouse to the Rikers Island jail. He was later transferred to manhattans Bellevue Hospital after complaining of chest pains. Weinstein was found guilty last month of raping thenaspiring actress jessica mann in a hotel room in 2013 and of sexually assaulting Production Assistant mimi haley at his apartment in 2006 by forcibly performing oral sex on her. Attorney Gloria Allred read from haleys victims impact statement outside the court just after weinsteins sentencing. I have o observed in indifferencece, a lack of remor, a lack of acknowledgment, a lack of awareness and selfawareness by t the defendant throughout ts process that has made me feel anger, that has left me concerned that he is completely disconnected from the gravity yf the crime that he committed against me and the impact it has had. I can only hope that whatever sentence the court sees fit is long enough for Harvey Weinstein to acknowledge what he has done and to be truly sorry. Amy actress mira sorvino tweeted in response i literally cried tears of amazement, gratitude that the Justice System has worked on behalf of all of his victims today. Meanwhile, prosecutors in los angeles are working to extradite weinstein to face further charges of rape and Sexual Assault in california. In iraq, a British Army Medic and two u. S. Soldiers were killed wednesday in a rocket attack on the Taji Military base near baghdad. 12 other soldiers were injured. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Iraqs military circulated photos showing an abandoned pickup truck with a battery of rocket launchers found a few miles from the base. After a similar attack three months ago killed a u. S. Contraoror, pridenent ump orded d a dronstririken iranas top militaryomommand qasasse soleani in bhdad. Thassassinion brout the u. S. Nd iran the bri of war. E supremcourt sa wednesd will alw the trp administtion to ntinue t force asum seeke to rema in mexico while they await their day in a u. S. Court. Only one justice, sonia sotomayor, registered a dissent, as the Supreme Court ordered a stay on a 9th Circuit Court of appeals ruling that the policy likely violates u. S. Law. Some 60,000 Asylum Seekers have been forced to wait in mexico in dangerous and often squalid conditions while their claims make their way through u. S. Courtsts, which can take monthsr even years. U. S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning is recovering in a virginia hospital after she reportedly attempted suicide at a federal prison in alexanandri. Manning has been jailed since march of last year on contempt charges for refusing to cooperate in a federal grand jury investigation into wikileaks. Chelsea manning previously attempted suicide twice in a u. S. Military prison after she was sentenced to 35 years for leaking documents and video to wikileaks showing evidence of u. S. War crimes in iraq and afghanistan. President obama granted her clemency in 2017. Chelsea manning is due in court on friday, where her lawyeyers have entered a motion for her release. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen and im nermeen shaikh. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. After a disappointing showing in tuesday nights democratic president ial primaries, senator Bernie Sanders announced his future plans on wednesday. Sanders was the frontrunner until just two weeks ago and said he will stay in the race. Withwe begin today show Bernie Sanders, in which he lays out a series of questions to his rival, former Vice President joe biden, on how he would address key issues like economic inequality, health care, and Climate Crisis. Sanders is set to debate biden this sunday in phoenix. Because of the coronavirus, there will be no audience. Sanders spoke to reporters in burlington, vermont. Sanders last night was not a good night for our campaign from a delegate point of view. We lost in the largest state up for grabs yesterday, the state of michigan. We lost in mississippi, missouri, and idaho. On the other hand, we won in north dakota and we lead the vote count in the state of washington the second largest yesterday with 67 of the votes having been counted, we are a few thousand votes on top. What became even more apparent yesterday is that while we are currently losing the delegate count, approximately 800 delegates for joe bidenn and 660 for us, we are strongly winning in two enormously important areas, which will determine the fututure of ourr cocountry. Poll after poll, including exit polls, show that a Strong Majority of the American People support our progressive agenda. The American People are deeply concerned about the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in this country, and the American People want the wealthy and large profitable corporations to start paying. Heir fair share of t tax overwhelming support for that. The American People understand the federal minimum wage of 7. 25 an hour is a starvation wage. They want to raise the minimum wage in this country to a living wage of at least 15 an hour. And the American People ununderstand that if our kids ae going to make it into the middle class of this country, we must make public colleges and universities and trade schools tuitionfree. The American People understand that we cannot continue a cruel and dysfunctional Health Care System it is amazing to me to see that even in conservative states like mississippi, there is an overwhelming understanding that we are now spending twice as m much per capita onon health care as the people of any other country while 87 million of us underinsuredred or. And this crisis, this absurd Health Care System, is becoming more and more obvious to the American People as we face the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic that we are currently experiencing. Thatne facing a pandemic having 87 Million People who are having a difficult time going to a doctor when they need it. And the American People know, i like donald trump, that Climate Change is an existential ththret to our country and the planet and that we need to transform our Energy System away from fossil fuel to Energy Efficiency and sustainable energy. And the american p people also know that we need fundamental transformation of a broken and racist criminal Justice System, as well as a cruel immigration system, that keeps millions of. Eople living in fear but it is not just the ideological debate that our Progressive Movement is winning. We are winning the generational debate. While joe biden continues to do very well with older americans, especially those people over 65, continues to win the vast majority of the votes of younger people. And i am talking about people not just in their 20s, but in their 30s and their 40s. The younger generations of this country continue in very strong numbers to support our campaign. Say to the democratic establishment, in order to win in the future, you need to win the voters who represent the future of our country, and you must speak to the issues of concern to them. You cannot simply be satisfied by winning the votes of people who are older. Thee our campaign has won ideological debates, we are losing the debate over electability. I cannot tell you how many people are campaign has spoken to who have said, i like what your Campaign Stands for. I agree with what your Campaign Stands for, but im going to vote for joe biden because i think joe is the best candidate to defeat donald trump. We have heard that statement all over this country. Needless to say, i strongly disagree with that assertion. But that is what millions of todayats and independents believe. On sunday, i very much look forward to the debate in arizona with my friend joe biden. Let me be very frank a as to the questions that i will l be askig joe. Do, what are you going to for the 500,000 people who go bankrupt in our country because andedicallyrelated deaths what are you going to do for the working people of this country and Small Business people who are paying on average 20 of their incomes for health care . To, what are you going to do end the absurdity of the United States of america being the only major country on earth where health care is not a human right . Vetoou really going to medicare for all bill if it is passed in congress . Joe, how are you going to pond to the scienc scientists who tell us we have seven or eight years remaining to transform our Energy System before irreparable harm to this planet because of the ravages of Climate Change. Joe, at a time when most young people need a Higher Education to make it into the middle class, what are you going to do to make sure that all of our people can go to college or trade school regardless of their income . What are you going to do about the millions of people who are struggling without with outrageous levels of student debt . Joe, at a time when we have more people in jail then communist china, a nation four times our size, what are you going to do to en mass incarceration in a racistd criminal Justice System . What are you going to do to end the terror that millions of undocumented people experience right now because of our broken and inhumane immigration system . Do, what are you going to about the fact we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth and are living with the fact that 500,000 people tonight are homeless and 18 million families are spending half of their income to put a roof over their heads . Joe, what are you going to do to end the absurdity of inlionaires buying elections the three wealthiest people owning more wealth in the bottom half of our people . So let me conclude the way i began. ,onald trump must be defeated and i will do everything in my power to make sure that happens. On sunday night in the first oneonone debate at this campaign, the American People will have the opportunity to see which candidate is best positioned t to accomplish that goal. Thank you a all veryy much. Amy that a senator Bernie Sanders announcing his future plans wednesday in burlington, vermont. Senator sanders was the front runner for the democratic president ial nomination until just two weeks ago. He said he is staying in the race and is set to debate joe phoenix,sent in arizona. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, there will not be an audience in the room. When we come back, leading economists Robert Pollin talk about medicare for all and what it means in this type of the coronavirus. Stay with us. [mumusic break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen after downplaying the threat of coronavirus for days, President Donald Trump struck a different tone wednesday night in an Oval Office Address. As the number of confirmed cases in the United States topped 1300 and the death toll reached 38, trump referred to the covid19 pathogen as a foreign virus that started in china and ordered a travel ban that is unprecedented in u. S. History. Trumps address inspired panic and Financial Markets after he said he was imposing restrictions on tremendous amount of trade and cargo from europe. Dow futures dropped 1100 points immediately after the comments, building on historic losses in recent days that ended an 11year bull market. Amy despite the fact is Oval Office Address was scripted, the Trump Administration quickly had to issue a number of corrections. Among them, trump tweeted the restriction stops people not goods. Trump also said during the speech Insurance Companies have agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatment. In a spokesperson quickly issued a statement saying the wave would only apply to coronavirus tests, not treatment. Trump also later clarified u. S. Citizens in europe would be alallowed to r return home, thoh they will have to undergo screens. Trump proposed eliminating payroll tax to the end of the year with a timeline that would extend the tax at through his reelection campaign. Pres. Trump im calling on congress to provide americans with immediate payroll tax relief. Hopefully, they will consider this very strongly. We are at a critical time in the fight against the virus. I will never hesitate to take any necessary steps to protect the lives, health, and safety of the American People. I willll always put the wellbeg of an america first. Amy for more, were joined by Robert Pollin, distinguished University Professor of economics and codirector of the Political Economy Research institute at the university of massachusettsamherst. The campus Just Announced it is closing due to coronavirus. His forthcoming book he coauthored with noam chomsky is titled the Climate Crisis and the global Green New Deal the political economy of saving the planet. In 2018, he coauthored a paper titled Economic Analysis of medicare for all. Welcome back to democracy now it is great to have you with us. We thank the team that is in the studio now with your university closing. If you can talk about what medicare for all would mean in the time of the coronavirus, and what President Trump is proposing around this payroll tax cut . Sure. Wellll, you kind of characterizd everything very well with his dues from the Insurance Companies, wherein trump announced just last night that the Insurance Companies agreed toto waive all copaymements. Well, that turnsns out to not en bebe trurue. That is a a minimal gesesture, t it turnsns out to not even be te because the Insurance Companies said they would only waive copayments for testingng and not treatment. So what we have is the exacerbation of a crisis due too thee fact the absurdity, as Bernie Sanders put it, the absurdity that people c cannot feel confident that they are going to get medical treatment. Exactly when Everyone Needs to feel like they can get the medical treatment that they need, that they can get testing, that they can get treatment, that they dont have to worry about it, that they are not one to go bankrupt, that their famililies are not going to lose ththeir homes, that we can procd in a way to solve the crisis as opposed to worsening it under an economy that operates with medicare for all, that would be the case. That is not what we have now. Nermeen do you expect that, professor pollin come to change at all as more and more people are tested and likely more people are found to be infected . The proposal that trump has come up with is absurdly inadequate. The house repepublicans are blocking the measure as you reported at the top of the show, blocking a measure to extend paid sick leave for everybody. Now, heres the situation with respect to the coronavirus and the economy. Weike most recessions, as move into recession, in this recession, the impact is being felt immediately and is being t primarily, first of all amy k keep going. Withe impact is being felt Service Sector jobs that are generally lower paying jobs, jobs in hospitality industry, jobs in transportation. So people that are working for airlines, people that are moving baggage, people that are working in restaurants. For a hype proportion o of those people high proportion of those people, they are lowpaid, they d dont get paid sick leav. The firsrst immediate step is to get money in these peoples pockets because they are facing layoffs and furloughs. President bush in 2008 sent out checks for everybody. 60000 per persoson. 300 for children. Something called let to that at a higher level, maybe 2000, is what we need right now. A payroll tax is going to dribble out slowly. He will also benefit people at higher income levels, disproportionate to people at lower income levels. It will not help the people that need it most. What the people need most is reassurance theyre not going to lose their livelihoods and that if they need medical treatment, theyre going to get medical treatment. So trump has now proposed that. Under a medicare for all of economy, that would be a matter of course. Amy i want to turn to the exit polls. In every state that voted in the democratic p primary in super tuesday 2, showing strong support for medicare for all, including in conservative mississippi where it had the backing of nearly two thirds of democratic voters. Speaking on msnbc monday, joe biden indicated if elected president , he would veto medicare for all legislation should Congress Send it to his desk. I would veto anything that the securitying and certainty of health care being available now. Amy that was joe biden. Robert pollin, your response . Look, biden has been obvious getting the truth about medicare for all throughout the campaign. Hes not the only one, but he is the only one left running. The simple fact is medicare for all is capable of delivevering high quality Good Health Care to every single person, every resident in the country at lower cost. Financing this is simple. Financing this is simple because it w will save money. We know itit will save money bebecause every other r advanced economyy is delivering health care for all, as bernie sasandes said in his speech,h, at roughly half of what we nonow pay. So whehebiden sayaywe cant popoibly afforord this, it is going to bankrupt the country, that flies against all the evidence we have from all the other advanced econonomies and l the research that h has beenn conducted by many people, myself included,ut many otother stududies. There was a study of f all the studies that came out from the university of california about two months ago which said, not 20t mine, but showewed roughly stududies of w which 18 of theml shshowed that the under mayor to re for alwlways save m money under medicare for always save money. Biden at least has to acknowledge that truth and then recognize if he says he is going to veto this, then what we can say is, therefore, youre going to veto a man in which everybody is able to get good quality care at lower cost. How do you defend that position . Begsprofessor pollin, that the question, if it is the case that medicare for all, wrote that Economic Analysis for medicare for all, is when you be cheaper than the present system, then why is their opposition to it that sustain the present situation for as long as it has . As you point out, which is very different from advanced economies. Well, the real answer is pretty simple. There are two big ways we save money and medicare for all relative to our existing system. One is that we eliminate the private Health Insurance industry. Two, w we dramatically lower the priceutical costs, of prescscription drugs. That means gigantic profits are going to be taken away from Health Insurance in the pharmaceutical industry. I mean, gigantic profits. So if we add it all up, we are approaching 1 tririllion here. Theyre going to fight withth everything they have to keep thosose profits, and they have virtually the entire Political Class in their pockets including joe biden. Amy were going to talk about paid leave, such a critical ,ssue and a time of covid19 that people dont go to work sick but they dont lose money if they do. Were going to go to break. We want you to stay with us, Robert Pollin, and we will be joined by another economist and a lawyer fighting for this in this state, new y york, one of e epicentersrs of the coronavirus over the country. Stay with us. Over the country. Stay with h us. [musisic breaeak] amy this is democracy now , im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen as the number of coronavirus cases in the United States passes 1300 cases with 38 deaths, more than 30 million workers lack access to paid sick leave. President trump addressed the nation wednesday night, saying he will expand sick leave as part of Emergency Response to the virus. Pres. Trump if you are sick or not feeling well, stay home. To ensure that working americans impacted by the virus can stay home without fear of financial hardship, i will soon be taking Emergency Action which is unprecedented to provide financial relief. This will be targeted for workers who are ill, quarantined, or caring for others due to coronavirus. I will be asking congress to take legislative action to extend this relief. Nermeen that was President Trump speaking last night. But the same day, republican senator Lamar Alexander of tennessee blocked an attempt by Senate Democrats to quickly pass legislation requiring employers to grant paid sick leave. The idea of paid sick leave is a good idea, but if washington, d. C. , think that is a good idea, then washington, d. C. , should pay for it. And i was governor of tennessee, nothings to make me more and happy than some wellmeaning individual in the e united s sts senate or house coming up with the big idea, passing it, taking credit for it, and sending me the bill. So employees are strtruggling,go our employers. Amy y this comemes as democratn the house of representatives prepare to debate a package of bills thursday to give workers 14 days paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave. The bill also includes funding for low income mothers and pregnant people who may be laid off due to coronavirus, 400 billion for local food banks and free coronavirus testing for all those who need it, including those without insurance. Labor Department Data says that one in four workers have n no access to paid sick leave, including twothirds of lowest income earners. The u. S. Is one of the only wealthy countries in the world that does not require employers to offer its workers paid sick leave. For more, were joined by two new guests. In washington, d. C. , elise gould is a senior economist at the Economic Policy institute. Her most recent article is titled amid covid19 outbreak, the workers who need paid sick days the most have the least. And here in new york donna , lieberman, executive director of the new york Civil Liberties union. Still with us, Robert Pollin, distinguished University Professor of economics and codirector of the Political Economy Research institute at the university of massachusettsamherst. Elise gould, lay out for us what is being debated right now. What needs to happen in this country . Why paid sick leave is not only for people who individually have it work could get it, bubut forr the e whole c community . . It is absolututely of the utmost importance. The e cdc recommends people e sy home. They stay home if ththey mightht have been infected, stay home if they are quarantined, stay home to stay out of harms way. And d unfortunately, a as you sd already, about one quarter of u. S. Workers dont have paid sick days. Dont have the ability to stay home when they are sick or they need to stayay home e if there quarantined or they need to take care of another family member. So that is an important gap we need to fill with policy. Luckily, policymakers cacan do something abouout it. What makes this even worse, lowwage workers are far lesss likely to have paid days and far less likely to be able to work from home. We think about the Service Sector, the sector that will get particularly at by this, not only because they are out in public also because they will have fewer customerers, will se layoffs, seeee peoples hours cu, so it is really important we have the protections for those workers in particular. Couldn donna lieberman, you explain who at the moment does have sick leave, paid sick leave and who doesnt . Mix of peopley a who in new york lack paid sick leave are overwhelmingly lowpaid workers and workers in the gig economy. That includes domestic workers, in includes restaurant workers, and joint amy Home Health Care workers. Cooks and people who are not in unions. York, we havenew been campaigning for quite a while now to get mandatory paid sick leave. There are two issues. One is being able to stay out of work and get your job back and the other is getting paid. There is legislation pending in new york to mandate that. And that is for the long term. We also have to deal with the immediate problem that we are presented with, which is the coronavirus. It is imperative that the state passed legislation that would guarantee that people will not lose their jobs for their income if they adhere to the Public Health best practices, which is to stay in quarantined under a whole range of circumstances and work from home. And because some of the corporate sector are changing their policies in response to the pandemic, including walmart, which launched an emergency leave policy for its 1. 4 million hourly u. S. Workerers after kentucky employee tested positive. The nations largest private employer said tuesday that workers who are forced to quarantine will receive two weeks pay with additional compensation for provided up to 26 weeks for both fulltime and parttime hourly workers. Darden restaurants that he willl offer hourly workers 40 0 hoursf paidid sick leave annually. Uber would provide die most drivers diagnosed drivers with 14 days basically, but did not specify what that would be. Theydid not specify how would. Robert pollin, if you can address all of these and also if they test positive for the coronavirus, it is extremely difficult for people in this country to even get a tesest. Right. This, again, realllly portraysye failure of our Health Care System to deal with anything like this at all. What we ththerefore need to focs on is everybody recognizing that they can have the paid sick leave that ththey need such that they are not going to face any kind of financial crisis on top of any kind of health care crisis. And so a as elise said, thehe pe in the lowest 10 in terms of their pay scale come in 90 of them have no paidid sick leave. So this has to be recognized across the board that everyone is going t to get paid sick lel. Lamar alexander sasaid, this is alall well and good but we dont know how to pay for it. It is very easy to pay for it. We just extend medicaid benefits to everybody that needs this. We expand medicare to cover everything to do with the cororonavirurus. And the federal government, yes, willll pay for it. To not opposed per se employers getting a payroll tax cut if that tax cut is then used to help cover the cost of covering paid sick leave. At the same time, the most important thing for people is to be able to get money in their pockets for that assurance and to recognize they have paid sick leave and full coverage for any kind of care that they need with the coronavirus. Youan, professor pollin, as also mentioned, all of this is taking place in the context of a crisis in theic United States and the two are playing off one another from the thecrisis as w well as coronavirus, which created the situation. The u. S. Is on the cusp of an economic recession. Could you talk about what the impact of that will be on the possible government responses to the coronavirus as we see more infections . Well, pumping money into the economy is basically what we need right now, even if it wasnt a coronanavirus crisis it is a significant recession that we are facing. It would have happened anyway. The Financial Markets have been overvalued for years. They were vulnerable to any kind of shock andnd so we arare experiencing that now. One of the main things that happens ththat exacerbateses the financial crisisis is that state and local governments runun outf money. They runun out of money because people donont have asas much, e not spending as much on sales taxes, s t that would happen anyway. Thatat is going toto get much he than it wowould otherwise, precisely because the state governments are going to pay for memedicare expenses. So t the federal government haso move money from ththe federaral l lamarnt, cocontrary to alexander, move money into coveringng medicaiaid for the s. So the states d dont deepen the crisis with the f fact they dot have money. On top of that, then spending by the federal governrnment as i said, in 2008, the Bush Administration sent out checks. Just sent out checks. If youre just going away for payroll tax cuts, these are going to dribble out slowly over time. What we e need is a positive shk to the economy to cocounteract e negative shock of the coronavirus most of the positive shock is at leaeast p people wil know t theyre gettingng these checks, that they will be disproportionatelyly beneficial for low w income people who depd n Service Sectorr jobs restaurantnt workersrs, hotel workers, gig economy workers they need to feel they a are g g to be fifinancially stable and that thehey will not go bankrupt due to having to get a if theyrus test and test positive, getting treatment. Amy elise gould, what would a conference of Worker Protection plan look like right now . What you are in washington. What do you see is being debated in the house . What happens with undocumented immigrants . When you talk about the gig economy, how are people going to be protected at ththis moment . That isis a great question. I think robert is absolutely right. We need to take all the measures to make sure people have paid sick days, but that is not enough. We need to make sure people have money in their pockets. This recession will affect lower paid workers and Service Sector workers. We need to get money in their pockets now andnd make sure they can stay home, have all of the economomic incenentives to staye w which means they get paid o stay home. If that means expanding uninsured employment expense, thats great. The tax cuts i think is s too little, too late. We need money and the pockets of people right now. And money in the states. Absolutely, cocovering this medicaid match is for the increase demand and making sure states have the money to take care of the people. Amy in new york state, donna lieberman, your part of this coalition how is it divided by the state and federal government . And when Governor Cuomo says we want to make sure that Insurance Companies pay full amount, for example, testing, what if you dont have insurance . Close new york has a very liberal Medicaid Program, but you have nailed it. If and whenesting they actually become available and they are not available thanks to the bumbling of the federal government is essential. Testing is meaningful in terms of Public Health, but it is not meaningful without treatment for people who are sick. So i think new yorks Medicaid Program is pretty good and i think the governor has said testing wiwill be free, but it s to be available broadly and that requires some push on the federal government. Amy we want to thank you all. We will continue to be on this. ,onna lieberman, elise gould and Robert Pollin. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen we ended the show in italy w where 6 60 million peope are in an Unprecedented Nationwide Lockdown and the death toll has increased to o at least 82727. All airport will shut down passenger flights starting friday and romes main airport will close a terminal. Authorities ordered all shops closed except food markets and pharmacies. Italys economy has all but ground to a halt. Amy among the recent dead is the head of the medical association in northern italian province. Italian doctors have warned doctors across europe to prepare for covid19. In a letter, they reveal up to 10 of all people infected with the new coronavirus need intensive care. For more we go to milan to speak with antonella serrecchia, an Italian Journalist at the vision, an online magazine. Welcome to democracy now i know you are under the total lockdown right now, as is everyone else. Describe what yours we have not even mentioned the prison up writers. Prprisonerfear what t will happn to thehem as well. Thank you for having me. I am at t my place right nowow. I live in ththe suburbs. If i look at my window, i dont see much different from normal everyday life as it is s not vey busy even normally. But i am pretty sure if you g go to t the city center, it wille quite shocking because, as you said earlier, all of the shops exexcept pharmacies and grocery shops and some otherer shops tht provide essential services are closed right now. Less than usual. Ththere are nonot so many peopln ththe streets. Riots thationed, the are happening right now in jails are related to the coronavirus containment measures. It is obvious for people who normally have maybe one or two , this is veryom. Eavy to bear for three weeks this is whyhy they y are protes. Us what can you tell the situation is in hospitals and italy . There is a massive burden on them to treat all of the people who have been infected and also to carry out tests. The university of milan has reportedly graduated nurses early so that they can work in hospitals and alleviate the stress that doctors and nurses are under. Right 87 n nurses were able to graduate one month earlier r just to go in hospspis and help m most of the situauatn is quite bad because we do have a good Health Care System as in italy it is mananaged by region, soso it is not the same in every regionon. But here, we do have efficient healthth care system. Most as you said, lot of t the people neneed intee care and this putsts a lot of pressure on hospitals because in general, we dodo have a problem with understaffed hospitals. We do lack professionals working in the system. Even though in the last 10 years higherthe budget was yearbyyear, it increased by around 1 per year, but at the same time, the inflation rate this meant there arare cuts in the budget. Is emergency right now putting a lot of pressure on the health c care system. Amy we just have about 40 seconds. Italys death toll from the coronavirus rose by 31 , by one third in the space of just 24 hours to a total of 827. Are People Living in serious fear right now . I mean, the idea that your entire country is on lockdown. I mean, yes. I think people are afraid rigigt now. In the fact that hospitals are nowon so much pressure, ththey are using diffeferent criteria to admit people e in hospitals. S. So it is n normally firirst come first serve. Right now they do evaluate as well the chance o of joint amy are t tests available in italy, unlike in the united ststates . Rununof yesterday, we 63,000 tests roughly. Amy we have to leave it there but we will check back with you in these coming days. Far more than the test that habitat in the unites of america. Antonella serrecchia is an Italian Journalist at the vision, an online magazine. I am amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Happy birthday to adriano