Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20240711

Major drug maker reports encouraging findings for a covid vaccine. We will speak to dr. Saad omer, the director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. Then nine months into the pandemic, we look at how many hospitals are failing to provide adequate ppe to doctors and nurses. We will talk to jean ross, copresident of National Nurses united. We have been calling for this protection for Health Care Workers, not just for many months now, but also, if you recall, since the ebola crisis hit our shores. And sad to say, we are still very lacking. Amy plus, Central America has been devastated by backtoback Climate Changefueled hurricanes over the past two weeks. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the quarantine report. Im amy goodman. The United States recorded nearly 167,000 new coronavirus cases on monday, the third highest daily toll of the pandemic. The official u. S. Death toll, already the highest in the world, is rapidly approaching 250,000 with 800 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours. In california, democratic governor gavin newsom ordered pandemic restrictions for three quarters of the states counties and is considering a statewide curfew. Iowas republican governor kim reynolds has ordered a statewide indoor mask mandate, with some exceptions, along with limits on bars and restaurants and a ban on certain public gatherings. In arizona, the Navajo Nation on monday ordered nonessential businesses closed, canceled inperson classes, and shut roads to visitors warning of uncontrolled spread of the virus. In south dakota, where the covid19 death rate is among the worst in the world, emergency room nurse jodi doering says shes treated many patients who deny that covid19 is making them ill even as theyre hospitalized. In a nowviral thread on twitter , doering wrote these people really think this isnt going to happen to them. And then they stop yelling at you when they get intubated. She spoke on cnn. Their last dying words are this cant be happening. Its not real. When they should be spending time facetiming their families, they are with anger and hred and made me really sad the other night. I just cant believe this is going to be there last 10 words. Last spoken words. Amy in delaware, president elect joe biden spoke of a very dark winter ahead as the u. S. Continues to lead the world in Coronavirus Infections and deaths. Biden was asked what will happen if President Trump continues to prevent bidens Transition Team from coordinating with the outgoing administration. Yr. Biden more people made die. Amy biden called on Senate Republicans to pass a covid relief package like the 3 trillion heroes act approved by House Democrats last may. Vice president elect Kamala Harris noted the pandemic has a far greater impact on people communities of color. Black americans and latinos are three times as more likely to contract covid and more likely to die. Native americans are more than four times as likely to be hospitalized as others. In last month, the Unemployment Rate for black americans was almost twice the rate of others. Amy michigans democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer is blasting White House Coronavirus adviser dr. Scott atlas after he called on michiganders to rise up against Public Health measures aimed at slowing the spread of covid19. On sunday, atlas tweeted the only way this stops is if people rise up. You get what you accept. Tet came st ov a monthfter thebi said itad brokeup a ploby at ast 14en to atck the chigan ste capit and to kidn goverr whitr. Whmer latesaid atlas tweet took my breath away. She spoke with cnn on sunday evening. We know the white house likes to single is out in michigan, me in particular. I am not going to be bullied in a not following reputable scientists and medical professionals. Amy on monday, Stanford University issued a statement radiologistlf from dr. Scott atlas, whos currently on leave as a senior fellow at stanfords hoover institution. The Statement Read dr. Atlas has expressed views that are inconsistent with the universitys approach in response to the pandemic. In mexico, confirmed coronavirus cases have topped 1 million though the true number of infections is likely many times higher. Mexicos official covid19 death toll is nearing 100,000. Pakistan has banned public rallies after a spike in covid19 cases. Russia turned an ice rink into a temporary hospital as its cases reached a daily record of nearly 23,000 new infections. Iran also reported its largest daily increase, with over 13,000 confirmed cases. Hurricane iota made landfall on monday afternoon on nicaraguas caribbean coast as an extremely dangerous category 4 storm. Much of the city of Puerto Cabezas has been left without power, with the roofs of homes and a makeshift hospital ripped off by heavy winds and rain. Iota is the strongest hurricane ever observed this late in the season. It hit just days after hurricane eta devastated communities across the region, killing at least 150 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. Well have the latest on the Central American hurricanes, fueled by the climate crisis, later in the broadcast. President trump continues to refuse to concede to president elect joe biden. On monday, trump tweeted that ohios next republican gubernatorial primary would be hotly contested after republican Governor Mike Dewine publicly acknowledged bidens victory. On monday, Trumps Campaign gave up major parts of its federal lawsuit challenging Election Results in pennsylvania, a state biden won by over 73,000 votes. Trump supporters also dropped lawsuits challenging results in michigan, georgia, pennsylvania, and wisconsin. Georgias republican secretary of state says members of his own party are pressuring him to exclude legally cast ballots from a hand recount of november 3s Election Results. Speaking from quarantine after his wife tested positive for covid, bread Brad Raffensperger said South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham urged him to throw out all mailin ballots in certain counties. And raffensperger blasted Georgia Republican Congressmember Douglas Collins for accusing him of capitulating to democrats. Raffensperger said im an engineer. We look at numbers. We look at hard data. I cant help it that a failed candidate like doug collins is running around lying to everyone. Hes a liar, georgias secretary of state said. Georgias initial counshowed joe biden won by over 14,000 votes a result thats extremely unlikely to change significantly after a recount. The New York Times reports President Trump has inquired about bombing irans main nuclear site in the coming weeks. Trump raised the issue during a meeting thursday with Vice President mike pence, secretary of state mike pompeo and top military officials, including christopher miller, the new acting defense secretary. The times reports the advisers attempted to dissuade the president , warning that a strike could escalate into a broader conflict. But officials told the times trump may still be looking for ways to attack iran or iranian assets before his term ends. Thursdays meeting was held a day after International Inspectors reported irans lowenriched uranium stockpile is growing again following trumps abandonment of the 2015 iranuclear dea iran is enriching the uranium at a level suitable for Nuclear Power plants but not nuclear weapons. The New York Times is also reporting trump is expected to soon order the withdrawal of thousands of troops from afghanistan, iraq, and somalia. The proposed plan would leave about 2000 troops in afghanistan and 2500 troops in iraq. The withdrawal has been opposed by some top military officials. Shortly before he was fired, former defense secretary mark esper sent a classified memo to the white house opposing the troop withdrawal from afghanistan. The Ethiopian Air force bombed the capital of the semiautonomous Northern State of tigray monday as part of a new offensive in the nearly twoweek conflict. This comes as ethiopian Prime Minister abiy ahmed who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year is rejecting calls to deescalate. Hundreds of people have died since ethiopian troops began the attack on tigray on november 4. More than 25,000 refugees have fled into sudan. Perus congress on monday selected the countrys third leader in just the past week. Francisco sagastis rise to power came a day after interim president Manuel Merino resigned amid ongoing mass protests, in which at least two people were killed. Merino was appointed after what opponents are calling a legislative coup against former president martin vizcarra, who was impeached and removed as hes being investigated for corruption allegations. At least half of perus congressmembers are also under investigation for corruption. In brazil, local Election Results in the countrys main cities show candidates backed by farright president Jair Bolsonaro have lost across the board. Among the victories is the election of Monica Benicio to the Rio De Janeiro city council. Benicio is the widow of marielle franco, a vocal black, lgbtq rights activist, longtime critic of police brutality. While in office, franco was the only black woman in rios city council. She was assassinated in 2018. Her murder remains unsolved. Back in the United States, nearly 93,000 claims of sexual abuse have been filed against the boy scouts of america. Monday was the deadline for victims to submit claims against the now bankrupt organization. Andrew van arsdale, a lawyer with the group abused in scouting, said sexual abuse was an unspoken norm within the scouts. The New York Times reports most serious conduct charges against new York City Police officers were met with lenient punishments as a department constantly ignored or downplayed the need for stricter response. Of nearly 7000 misconduct charges against officers, the department overruled harsher punishments and about 70 of cases, including officers accused of physically assaulting people. Meanwhile, new york city simultaneously paid millions of dollars to settle lawsuits that stem from those same abuse complaints. This comes as new york city added another 900 cups to the police force last month. Dozens of people in new york city over the week it took to the streets protesting Ongoing Police killings and abuse. This is an organizer with democratic socialists of america. At the end of the daypolice since this movement there will be more and more flashpoints. There is a sustained movement because of the daily presence of these people. Amy last week mayor de blasio launched a Pilot Program that would remove Police Officers from responding to Mental Health calls. And those are some of the stories. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the quarantine report. Im amy goodman. As coronavirus cases soar across the country and around the globe, the drug maker moderna announced monday that its Coronavirus Vaccine is nearly 95 effective. This comes after pharmaceutical giant pfizer announced a vaccine last week with 90 effectiveness. As the virus has now killed at least 1. 2 Million People nationwide worldwide, the Companies Say they could offer 20 million doses of the vaccine to people in the u. S. By sometime next month. But officials warn that widespread distribution of a vaccine for coronavirus will be a tremendously difficult and lengthy task. The World Health Organizations immunization director Katherine Obrien said monday discovering a vaccine was like building a base camp on mount everest. This comes as the ited states recoed nearly 167,000 new cases on monday, the third highest daily toll of the pandemic. Nearly 800 people died of covid19 on monday, bringing the official u. S. Toll to nearly 247,000. For more on the latest vaccine news, we go to new haven, connecticut, by dr. Saad omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, professor of Infectious Diseases at yale school of medicine, and a vaccine researcher. Welcome to democracy now it is great to have you with us. Lets talk about some numbers. You have this amazing announcement last week by Pfizer Biontech that their vaccine to stand percent effective. That is followed this week by samenas vaccine, moderna theres is 94. 5 percent effective. These are astounding figures. It i want to talk about how we got this information, by two press releases. Dr. Saad omerna dr. Saad omer and one from pfizer. As soon as they are released, their stocks skyrocket. How can we trust this . What should we understand . What do you understand . The news that is out there is reassuring but you are right, we need a little more information and we need a little more transparency. I can understd they want to get the information out right away due to insidertrading concerns and whatever. But soon after that, they should be a little more detailed and it should be in the form of some scientific report. Ideally, a reprint of bountiful. A peerreviewed report. More than a press release. Amy what kind of encouragement are you taking from this . How significant . And what about these two tests, these remarkable findings . And what does it mean for further testing . Who has to approve this next . How fast this becomes available, even as other vaccines we understand astrazeneca, johnson johnson, are nearing announcement as well . This is certainly good news. I dont think theres much of a practical difference between a 90 efficacy or 95 efficacy in preliminary results. So that is one thing. The best news is for the first time it has been shown there can a vaccine against this coronavirus. The establishment of that, proof of principle that an effective vaccine can be created by any method is a big deal. The second thing is that protein targeted by both of these vaccines is which is the target we have put most if not all x i, not all, but most of of eggs in the basket rgeting is protein, that is reassuring that two vaccine targetinghat seem to be working. The third thing is the mrna technology, both of them, seem to be working. This is part of good news. There is a lot to be known. For example, we need to know how long it is going to work. We need a little more details. The way it is likely to be approved, it is likely to be authorized like the to go to the fda now. Both of the companies have indicated theyre going to go to the fda in the few weeks. The fda has had a little course correction in the past for five weeks where they have been more open about following the mainstream process and, frankly, due to the pushback from that folks that is reassuring and it is likely these vaccines the data from these vaccines will be even more detailed data that is presented to the Advisory Committee, the independent Advisory Committee of the fda at fda itself, and that a decision will be made. Amy talk about what is needed for distribution. We understand the Pfizer Biontech double vaccine, need to have them, has to be kept at. Ubzero temperatures many states are deeply concerned in the United States, not to mention countries around the world and you are deeply involved with both as you are involved with the World Health Organization do not have these special freezers that are needed. Moderna is differe, though it still needs freezers. It ultracold call chamber requirement for Something Like what would be required for the Pfizer Biontech vaccine. That is a problem. I would say that is a challenge. It is not unsurmountable because the ebola vaccine was distributed in a low income country situation using ultracold chambers, so it is not impossible but it is a pretty substantial challenge. Focusing on this and terms of country preparedness. Look, you know, the world is not easy. Similarly in the u. S. , i wish we had beenlanning we had started planning a little bit earlier, but the cdc has released a few documents, has been working with several states to get us online as a country to prepare for vaccines that require ultracold chamber. It doesnt mean that will not pose challenges. It will pose substantial challenges. My concern, in terms of equity. So people who have access to facilities, both physical and otherwise, that have these kinds of requirements have are different from people who dont have access to these facilities and so on and so forth. It is not unsurmountable, but we need to work hard. Meansalk about what this for who has access and who doesnt. Both in the United States, but also around the world. Involved with the World Health Organization. Can you talk about how these vaccines will be distributed . Already the most wealthy countries in the world, havent they bought up the vast majority of these vaccines in advance, ordered them . Yes and no. There are two mechanisms. Individual countries are doing their own deals, those who can afford it with these vaccine companies, but there is this facility calledcovax that has two subgroups. Any rich or poor country can buy into that facility and say, look, you are backing nine vaccines, for example, are backing whichever is successful, we dont know, for example, brazil or south africa makes a bet on one vaccine and it doesnt work, then they are in trouble. Theres another component that says countries that do not afford that cannot afford this vaccine can either do it through the resources or a combination of their own resources and aid, etc. The idea ithis facility can make this vaccine available to the world, to a lot of countries of the world. Even with that, it is not too ambitious, and says at least in the initial phase, focus on 20 of supply for these countries. That is a group that is making efforts towards it. Unfortunately, the u. S. Has been conspicuous in its absence of backing that facility. Hopefully, that will change. Overly there will be a focus on hopefully, there will be a focus on the fact to make sure everyone is free from this virus because it is a pandemic and involves everyone, in light of the selfinterest, the u. S. Has been a leader in Global Health, played a substantial role in smallpox eradication, for example, and played a substantial role in the efforts the ongoing efforts of a polio eradication. It is pretty surprising and disheartening the u. S. Is absent covax again, talking about not just because people think it is fair or everyone under the world to get the vaccine, but the self interest im looking at a piece and a medical express that says researchers down the rich nations stockpiling scenario reduced covid19 deaths by 33 globally. The fair share approach prevented 61 . As we know, this is a highly infectious disease. If one part of the world is infectious, we are all threatened. Exactly. It is smart strategy that we dont go alone. It is understandable for every country to make sure its own population is protected, but that is not a zerosum game. That also means we dont have to just look inward. Again, we have the leaders in Global Health and we have to do our part in making sure the rest of the world also gets this vaccine. , several ofd omer your colleagues are on the bite and Coronavirus Task force. Task force. Onavirus President Trump has refused to cooperate in the transition from one president to another. This is not just a point of politeness, this is a point of what happens in a case like this where you President Trump once said he considered himself a war president taking on coronavirus. Since then, is that it is like a small flu and has not been to a Coronavirus Task force in Something Like five months. But what does that mean this task force that Vice President elect harris and president elect biden have put together cannot get information from the Trump Administration in terms of moving forward to vaccinate commit possible, much of the population of the United States . That is unfortunate. Because there are thingthat need to be coordinated witthe federal agencies. My hope is agencies like the cdc b that was created in earlya 2000rda with bipartisan support to develop these countermeasures by the way, played a huge role or substantial role, not as much as i would have liked but still significant control in this pandemic as well, so these kinds of agencies need to be on board with the response going forward, and not just on board, they need to enhance the response and there needs to be cooination at the federal level. All of that would require a tooth handover come access career professionals, and so on and so forth. So be it is unfortunate. It does not mean the Incoming Administration cannot do its homework entirely. A lot of engagement can happen with states and other entities, scientific entities, professional, medical associations, etc. But they should have access to the federal system. Amy i want to ask about patents. In this time of this massive threat to human life around the world, with the developed world expecting to get the vast majority of the vaccines as they become available, i am looking at the wall street journal which says if the developed nations dont relent, south africa is prepared to try to force the issue through a rare , whiched vote at the wto would challenge patents of these large pharmaceutical manufacturers. Think there are already mechanisms to devolve production around the world. And that has to happen. The worlds biggest producers by volume are not in the western world. The biggest producers are in india and china, for example. It would be a tragedy if intellectual property becomes what is reassuring on that side, i have heard some noise about someunder licensed of the manufacturers you know in india and china, specifally india, to scale up production. India supplies a lot of the vaccine that is used in low income couri, well beyond india itself. I hope that happens. Havee we do not, not just barriers due to intellectual property, but we dont delay the prram. You know, delay the Vaccination Program inherently is an equitable program because it exposes the most vulnerable to these kinds of diseases and infections more than those who are more privilege. Amy finally, your Quick Response on why the coronavirus is increasing exponentially in the richest country in the world, right here in the United States . Unfortunately, it is all about implementation and leadership. This is not a political statement. It is at various levels of the government that this has happened. So that is part of it. But on top of it is the idea started,he pandemic the respiratory virus he said in the u. S. Was waning. So we never saw the optimal time during which these kinds of viruses, not just coronavirus, transferred most efficiently. There are different factors. The role of each of these factors is unclear. Other respiratory viruses as well. But it is no it ishe culmination of these factors, cluding crowding indoors, including humidity and temperature, etc. , that facilitates transmission. So now we are entering that a sub optimal baseline and we are seeing record numbers. Amy and the effect of dr. Atlas, telling people to rise up against Health Regulations . What this means . I think we should all be following it is not that hard. As we have known, as the evidence involved, as we have known about masks and their utility in preventing this outbreak, the evidence emerged, evolved, it is out there. You can have a difference of opinion about tactics, but the big strategy things like testing, like social distancing nobody at this point is advocating outright lockdowns. People are advocating for more finetuned approaches. It really surprises me that even with this kind of an approach, this reaction even Something Like a mask that does not impose my peoples freedoms, etc. , people are making these kinds of unfounded statements. Amy dr. Saad omer, thank you for being with us, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. Professor of Infectious Diseases at yell school of medicine. When we come back, talk about how ninemonth into the pandemic many hospitals are failing to provide adequate ppe to doctors and nurses and so much more. Back in 30 seconds. [music break] amy working poor by fantastic negrito. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the quarantine report. Im amy goodman. As the covid19 pandemic enters its ninth month new report by , a National Nurses united, the Largest Nurses Union in the United States, finds hospitals are still failing to provide adequate ppe and are unprepared as the surge is expected to get far worse during the flu season. Nurses also report Mental Health struggles related to the pandemic. National nurses united estimates at least 2000 frontline healthcare workers have died due to covid19, and the number could be far higher. Nurses of color account for half of those deaths, even though theyre less than a quarter of the workforce. This comes as north dakotas republican governor doug burgum has called on infected but Asymptomatic Health workers to keep treating covid19 patients. Meanwhile, in texas, a state Appeals Court has blocked el paso countys shutdown of nonessential businesses that had been implemented to slow a massive outbreak after it was challenged by the Texas Attorney general. After the ruling friday, National Nurses united held a virtual News Conference with a group of registered nurses in el paso who spoke out against the ruling. This is idali cooper. Is really,nity that where the majority of hispanic people and we have been affected the most. Inform ourative to governor or attorney general that their decisions have dire consequences for my community or for communities of color. I am extmely exhausted emotionally, physically. I have to go back to work tomorrow. I have not recovered. Been napping all week. Knowing that my patients are being intubated. It is very demoralizing. I just want the community to know it is very important for all of us, even though our governor and attorney general did not do the right decision for our community, that we do what is right for our community regardless of what they say. Unit,now in the adult there is not enough nurs for all the patients thaare being that need to be taken care of adequately. Amy thats registered nurse idali cooper speaking in el paso friday, where prisoners are being paid 2 an hour to move the bodies of people who have died of covid19 to mobile morgues as the number of cases and deaths has completely overwhelmed local hospitals. For more, were joined by jean ross, an acutecare registered nurse and president of National Nurses united. Shes in bloomington, minnesota. Welcome back to democracy now talk about what nurses are facing around the country right now, what your report found. What we found was if we compare this report as of october november to win we first started at the beginning of the pandemic, things have not gotten better in many cases, they have gotten worse. Nurses are still not getting the ppe that we need. Many hospitals are still putting covid19 patient separate from other patients are still not putting covid19 patient separate from other patients. Hospitals still do not have a plan in place for a surge, and we are currently in a surge. Nurses are reporting feeling more devastated, more sleepless not hopeless. We keep our spirits up. But we do need to see some sort of improvement from our employers, from our government that we are not seeing right now. Amy can you talk about with the federal government needs to do . When you say hospitals are not providing ppe. How are they supposed to get them . How is it possible nine months into this pandemic that theyre still not enough tests available, not enough masks and other protective gear . What are you demanding of the Trump Administration . Two main things would really help. One is to fully institute the defense production act, the act that came with wartime where you can have manufacturing in this ofntry so we have the amount ppe that we need. The other would be a temporary emergency osha standard that diseases,nfectious hospitals, these employers must give at least this minimum standard of ppe and make sure there is enough of it. Right now we are being told Different Things by the employers. Sometimes they say, yes, we have plenty but we have to keep them under lock and key in case there is a surge. Well, there is a surge and there still insisting many, if not most nurses, reuse equipment that really is supposed to be single use. Amy can you talk about the Mental Health of nurses across the country . I mean, the devastating fact that nine months in, we are now talking about some of the worst figures of the entire pandemic projects and infections, how do healthcarworkers keep goi . If it isically, our job. That is what you are prepared to do. But until this pandemic and i would say not the pandemic because we always knew this was at some point inevitable but it is the lack of response to improper response that has nurses and other Health Care Workers really down. Most of our nurses report ev in their downtime, they are t sleeping as well, they are anxious they did not used to be so anxiou they are anxious not just about passing it on to other people, to theiramils, to other patients, but the fact they mit not be able to keep going because it is very devastating to see this amount of death every day, every shift with what appears to be no endn sight. Amy north dakota governor doug burgum set infected nurses and Health Care Workers should still continue working if they are asymptomatic. S yeah, that statement unconscionable. It is so irresponsible. I derstand where he gets it from, though. They look to the cdc with that and many other things and unfortunately with requests from the hospital association, employers, and others, they have continued to downgrade their recommendations. , we knownovel virus one of the things unique about it is you can be mpletely asymptomatic and yet be a very effective spreader. What sense does it make for nurse to go into the hospital and try to kate take care people who are in albeit, with t same disease, doesnt matter and spread it to her family. Uding it is irresponsible and it is something i never thought i would hear from the government. Amy let me ask you about another study you put out that revealed hospitals may be charging as much as 18 times over their cost. Your response . Yes again, unconscionable, but that seems to be the way in this country. Up to 18 times. For example, if your true cost, the charge to cost ratio, if your true cost Pearce Service is 100, they are in many cases charging up to 1800. They do it because they can. Amy i want to go to south dakota where the covid19 death rate is among the worst in the world. Governor kristi noem, a close trump ally, has said she would not enforce a mask mandate even if ordered by future president joe biden. South dakota er nurse jodi during said some of her covid 19 patients refuse to believe that covid is real. Her Covid Patients. Twitter viral thread on she said these people really think this is going to happen to them and then they stop yelling at you when they get intubated. Here she is speaking on cnn. Thise last dying words are cant be happening, it is not real. When they should be spending time facetiming their families, their filled with anger and hatred and it made me really sad the other night and i cant believe that is going to be there last thoughts and words. Amy this is astounding. They are fighting with the nursing staff saying, why are you wearing protective gear . What i am dying of is not covid19. And the only stop yelling when they are intubated. That is south dakota. We had a story out of provo, utah, so hardhit, where people were trying to break into the local hospital, packed to the gills with Covid Patients saying they dont believe people are in their in icus with covid. I did hear jodi say that and i felt so bad for her and other nurses. These e things we did not used to have to contend with. That is what happens when people are brainwashed. Comment when for you know your patient is probably going to die, is the mo useful death possible peaceful death possible. It is not peaceful and it has to be devastating. Scared for that patient and devastating for the nurse and the family. Amy final question, what are you demanding right now . As president of National Nurses united, the biden transition is happening, whether or not trump is helping with it, what do you demand happens . Trump is still there for two months. That is tens of thousands of people dying in this country. Well, what were asking is president elect biden and Kamala Harris continue the fight to try to get into that transitioning. We know they are doing all the right things right now, putting together the proper people for once, some sane, rational peopleho believe in sites, the true experts andistening to them. This is a step in the right direction. And continue to put those people in place so that we push for the ppe, the defense production act, the osha standard. It cant come soon enough. Amy jean ross, thank you for being with us, president of National Nurses united. When we come back, we look at as Central America. Stay with us. [music break] amy tukur. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the quarantine report. Im amy goodman. America. N to central on monday, hurricane iota made landfall monday on nicaraguas caribbean coast as a category 4, just two weeks after hurricane eta devastated communities across the region, killing at least 140 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. Hurricane iota is the strongest november hurricane to ever make landfall in nicaragua. It let much of the coastal city of Puerto Cabezas without power, dozens of indigenous communities in nicaragua and honduras were evacuated this weekend. This is a resident of Puerto Cabezas who sought shelter ahead of the storm. Die. Could that is why we have to come here to shelter. On the case, theres nothing to eat at all. All the plantations have come down. Amy hurricane iotas devastation comes as much of the Central American region is still reeling from the destruction of hurricane eta, which impacted more than 3 Million People and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in guatemala alone. The backtoback Climate Change field hurricanes, midst the raging coronavirus. Well, for more, were joined by Giovanni Batz who has been in touch with people reeling from the storm, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of native american studies at the university of california, davis. His forthcoming book is tentatively titled the fourth invasion decolonial histories, megaprojects, and ixilmaya resistance in guatemala. Hes joining us from las cruces, new mexico. Welcome to demracy now it is great to have you with us. Describe what is happening right now. First, good morning, everyone. Thank you for having me. In terms of what is going on in Central America, unfortunately, the news is not great, i was like, the hurricanes. It has caused a lot of damage to the most vulnerable populations, which tends to be Indigenous People across Central America. So right now as a result of hurricane eta, there have been communities that have been severely impacted. Communities that have experienced mudslides. Both have been destroyed, bridges have been destroyed. Some communities do not have access to town centers where they can Access Health care or other necessities. Thet now, unfortunately, reality is grim. On top of that, with the pandemic, the government has not been responding adequately enough was enough aid is not been provided to people. The situation is extremely concerning, now with iota hitting Central America now. Amy talk about how Climate Change is connected to this mess devastation. Sure. Indigenous communities have been warning us Climate Change is a real thing. Unfortunately, they tend to be indigenous communities tend to be heavily impacted. As a result of deforestation, as a result of increasing droughts, people are finding the conditions a lot more severe, right . Where i work, a lot of people have argued that Climate Change has devastated their communities. The rains are a little heavier. This is causing more mudslides, among other things. Necessarily just Climate Change, it is also the arrival of Extractive Industries like hydroelectric plants and dimes and mining dams and mining. I work in a place in the ixil region. It was heavily impacted by the back in the 1990s. Reasons why they call it the new invasion is because these are foreignowned imposed extractive is industry projects that create environmental degradation. One of the things were looking at is governments will propose hydroelectric projects to reduce co2, propose hydroelectric plants and dams as a form of green energy. When you look at the projects, they are causing a lot of environmental damage. Those the hydroelectric plant look at and i my forthcoming book was constructed by an italian corporation. The company will say this plant is reducing co2, producing green energy, combating Climate Change. And you look at the local realities, they have diverted flooded one of the rivers have contaminated the rivers to appoint where after the river passes through this hydroelectric plant, the river has been visibly contaminated. The fish have died off. Children who bathe in the river come out with precious, wards, among other things. These hydroelectric plants are viewed as a solution for Climate Change. Indigenous communities will tell you it is causing social division, bimetal degradation. When we think about Climate Change, we have to take into nsideratio the extractivist industries and furthering exacerbating an already dark situation. Amy lets go to president giammattei speaking on powerful storms on guatemalas economy. There is a Natural Disaster as a result of Climate Change, we acquire debt. We have come out to knock on the doors of the generous and multilateral organizations that give us higher financing to achieve reconstruction. This has brought a vicious cycle. We get into debt, reconstruct, it gets destroyed. Amy that is the guatemalan president most of what im allah guatemalan president. Guatemala is petitioning the Trump Administration for temporary protected status, tps for guatemalans in the u. N. To do the construction destruction of eta. Mitch,go after hurricane hundreds as well as nicaraguans got tps as a result of the devastation. Absolutely. Any sort of protections for migrants is welcome. Tps is not perfect in the way there needs to be a pathway to citizenship. Intends to be a very ambiguous situation where people live uncertain lives. Trump is trying to get rid of tps in that places people who a veryeive tps in precarious situation. Any Legal Protections for migrants is definitely welcome. The u. S. Needs to stop deporting people first and foremost. And in the first two except november after the hit comedy was continues to deport folks. 740 people were deported between novemb 1 and november 12. 208 of those were unaccompanied minors. 28 . Tps needs to allow folks to gain citizenship. We also have to help asylumseekers at the u. S. Mexico border. Bankrupt. Is morally theres a reason why people flee guatemala. It has to do with structural violence, leaders were being persecuted for their activism against bio projects and other things. Guatemala has to improve the situation in guatemala because there is a reason why people are fleeing. Amy the Trump Administration is virtually ended a silent. When you talk about people being deported, a number of them have covid19. But also the criminalization of climate refugees, giovanni . When we think about climate refugees, today in guatemala a lot of people are displaced as a result of Natural Disasters. Unfortunately, indigenous communities and those that rise up to engage in social justice movements, fight for environmental justice, these are the people being persecuted. In my work i also analyze Community Leaders being persecuted by the state, by corporations, among other provide one will example. There are two friends here less than an hour away from where im currently located. Twocisco chavez and activists from the ixil region who were forced out of their communities due to their activism. We have an antimoney activist that received antimining activist that received death threats. The witness in the genocide trials a few years ago sought refuge and has been there over a year as a result of trumps stay mexico policy. Theng in the area is not best scenario for them. Migrants tend to receive death threats, are vulnerable to a lot of criminal activities. The Trump Administration is responsible for the jets and suffering of lots of migrants here in the u. S. Mexico border. Amy let me ask about the incoming Biden Administration. Under president obama and joe biden as Vice President , though their language was extremely different when it came to immigrants, when it came to deportations, they deported more immigrants that i think most president s combined in the past. Millions and millions and millions of people coming into this country. What do you expect of the incoming Bidenharris Administration . We have to remember biden and trump are two sides of the same coin. While personally i was excited trump lost, obviously, the Biden Administration, have to be careful. As you mentioned, the Obama Administration obama known as the deporterinchief as a result of his reputation within the migrant community. One of the things a lot of people dont chart aware of, during the Obama Administration, in order to combat migration coming from Central America, specifically unaccompanied minors, biden and obama designed initially a one milliondollar initiative in order to promote security, good governance, and International Investment to Central America in order to try to curb migration. In 2015. Arheaded that once trump took overcome it was one of the few obama era initiatives he ashley did not get rid of. So it was this is a u. S. Interventionist policy. This is where we have the introduction of Central America at the northern tribal, truly militaristic term. I encourage folks not to use that concept of the northern triangle because it is within this logic that Central America needs saving from the u. S. Under the alliance for prosperity, we have seen increased militarization in Central America, corrupt Central American president s being aided. One orlando was just his brother was convicted odrug trafficking. Morales was being investigated for corruption by u. S. Watchdog group. Basically commanded he actually used military vehicles donated by the u. S. Department of defense to intimidate them rights activists and other people investigating him for corruption. I think with biden we expect more of the same in terms of u. S. Foreign policy in Central America. An equal and finally biden, basically more megaprojects, sweatshops. When wethe case think of these mega projects where i do my work, only 37 of the populationas access to electricity. This hydroelectric plant generates about 30 million to 40 million in profit. They need less than 300,000 to the municipality, which is less than 1 . When we think about these megaprojects, which the Biden Administration will definitely promote, we have to ask, who does it benefit . A does not benefit local communities and only the corporations. , thank youni batz for being with us president s , postdoctoral fellow in the department of native american studies at the university of california, davis. His upcoming book is tentatively titled the fourth invasion decolonial histories, megaprojects, and ixilmaya resistance in guatemala. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] thank you for joining us. From our studio in tokyo, this is nhk newsline. We begin in the United States. President donald trump is further refusing his countrys military presence in afghanistan and iraq. The move is drawing concerns from some republicans and democrats who fear it could destabilize the region and disrupt ongoing peace efforts. By january 15th,