Transcripts For ALJAZAM America Tonight 20140601

Follows up on private health care. Also, Collateral Damage in the war on drugs. Casualties include the guilty and the innocent. Did you think you would be convicted . They cant lock me up for this. Sara hoy on our monday tri sentences cause havoc on lives and justice. Putting his best foot forward for more than 50 years. I want to know now baby. 70s, soul, the spinners. Now a new generation is lying out a dream, but sticking with a promise. You know, ill be around. Good evening thanks for joining u im joie chen. For six months we have vetted ealeses of abuse and cover up in the treatment of teammates. They are not the most sympathetic characters, but the law protects them from inhumane treatment. The allegations we heard that the prison system turning over health for to forprivate Companies Left prisoners vulnerable to dangerous and deadly treatment. Our foerkz on crime and punishment led to this investigation by aaron may. On may. One of the happiest days of our life. It was a release from prison after spending two years for a drug conviction. We have someone waiting. That is her baby daughter, delivered while she was spending time in prison. Youre here, i thought it was just dad. Hi, honey. But the reunion with her daughter is not easy. Hello. Can you say hello. Reporter 11monthold rhylan has been living with her grandparents ever since she was born and has met her mother a handful of times. She didnt want me, it [ bleep ]. It shouldnt blooep bloop you off. It [ bleep ] you off. It does, it hurts. She is glad that rhyl jp is healthy, after receiving health care that was jockingly substandard. It was provided by a private company contracted by the state. She says it was so bad she fears for her childs life. I wanted an ultrasound. Every time i wept in id measure three weeks under. I wasnt gaining enough weight. I said i dont think that this due date is right. But they never. Regan had doubts about the due date, she said prison doctors september her to a hospital to endues labour, performing a c section against her wishes much. Reporter you think they induced a c section because they wanted to get you out of the hospital. The prison have to pay for it. Reporter that was the beginning. America tonight began to investigate the privatized care in arizona prisons last year. At that time regan called from prison telling us what happened after they gave pirth. After you had the c section, what happened to you . Reporter . Reporter back up for a second, how big was the wound . Regan claims guards refused to let her see a doctor for two weeks. When she was admitted to the prison hospital, she says medical staff couldnt believe what they saw. They were shocked that i was in the yard like that. Telling me i could is a died, i could have got crazy infections. What treatment did they get you. They put me on luvac for four or five weeks. When it was small enough to where i didnt have to wear it, they decided to use sugar, kitchen sugar. Reporter what do you mean they used kitchen sugar . The packets like mcdonalds, the sugar. Theyd open it, pour it inside and put gauze over it, tape it up, for about three weeks. Reporter the little pack the of sugar like you get at mcdonalds. Yes. Reporter did they tell you why they are pouring that into your c section. One of the doctors learnt it from i dont know. Basically its a home remedy. Reporter sugar was used to treat wounds before the advent of antibiotics, in the early 1900s, its no longer accepted medical practice. Regan is not the only prisoner claiming to be mistreated. The aclu filed a Class Action Lawsuit alleging that Prison Health care put prisoners at risk of pain, amputation, disfigurement and death. It alleges that care fell to unconstitutional levels after the state of arizona Privatized Health jir and signed a contract with corison. They have faced allegations of wrong doing, sued for malpractice 660 times, according to the miami herald. I felt betrayed by the company. They were supposed to keep it everything working properly. Reporter until now, no one spoke public lick. Teresa ales corize job and arizona officials are trying to cover up a scabies outbreak in tuscon. I have one there, two here. It was bad. I was covered. It was itchy. Short claims, corizon supervisors told her she needed to frorp work. She report to work. She felt it was upethical to treat patients while contagious. She lost her shobment short case job. Short says the prisoner that affected her still as scabies and several more Staff Members contracted it and scaibies are the beginning. Reporter what were some of the first problems that you noticed when you went to work for corize job. Staffing. Reporter lack there of. We have a number much dementia patients, pause of the short staff wed stand for hours to feed them. It was not permitted. Theyd skip a meal. Reporter did you get to every inmate that you needed to get to . Unfortunately not. Some of them would be incontinent. Some dirty. Sitting in their own fees ace. Yes. Did you see inmates die as a result Inadequate Health care . Yes. We had a particular inmate. He had dementia. He had to have dialysis. So he had a vascular cap. One night i kept close eyes on him because he was messing with the vascular cap. I reported it and reported it. At 5 oclock in the morning when i wept back to the cell i could smell blood went back to the cell, i could smell blood. When i turned on the lying, it looked like someone had been murdered. There was blood over the room. I screamed for help. Basically whether or not he had done is he had un plugged the vascular kath and bled out in a short amount of time. Reporter how could his life have been saved . Where was the failure . Supervision. He needed to be watched. Reporter you told others that he needed supervision . Yes. Reporter what happened to those requests . I dont know. I dont know. To be perfectly clear, theres no scabies outbreak at tuscon. Reporter Richard Pratt is the director of health services. After requests by america tonight, he agreed to speak to us briefly, outside his office. Before it was privatized and after privatisation, what is the difference in Staffing Levels, when it comes to medical care . Staffing levels are the same. In fact, i would tell you that corizons Staffing Levels have been coming up on a monthly basis, to the point that the hours they were working with their existing staff exceeded the contract requirements. So you are confident that corison is providing adequate Good Health Care within the prison system. I am. That is not true, according to a prison watchdog group. The american Friend Committee found Staffing Levels and Health Care Spending plumb eted after the state Privatized Health services. Even though legislators were promised the same services at a low cost. Corizon understand health care. Reporter are they saving money by privatizing the health system. I dont know. Are you paying more or they say than you were when it was public . I am not sure what the numbers were in public. Its probably a little more. Again, as time moves on, and medical costs move on, costs go up. It wouldnt surprise me if its more. It was not a decision by the department of corrections. This was legsize lated, mandated. It was the war. Did the legislature make a mistake . I cant comment on that. It is what it is. We will deal with moving forward as best we can. Some people believe the government is the only one that should care for the people. America tonight went to the legislator that wrote the law privatizing Prison Health care, representative john cavanagh. When we spoke with him in october, we asked whether he thought corizons private Prison Health care was putting people at risk . People die in prison. I receive handwritten notes from prisons and from families with allegations of crazy behaviour. You call the prison people up, they usually have a reasonable explanation for it. We talked about the care raying jp received regan received. The doctor took sugar packets and poured them into the wound. Does that sound like Adequate Health care. It doesnt sound like a true allegations. Prisoners have 24 7 to think after alleges. Im not saying some are not based in fact but you have to take them with a grain much salt or in this case a grape of sugar. We shared your story with someone that overseas contracts. And he said you were probably making this up. Well im not. Thats crazy. I dont think i could come up with that. Thats crazy, sugar. Reporter back home, regan is trying to make up for loft time with her baby. Her mother says regan may have made mistakes, but it doesnt justify the treatment she received in prison. She got her just punishment, but they are still human beings, take care of them. Corize job declined a request for an oncamera interview, issue a statement reading in part . Coming up next here embedded. Inside the hornets nest of afghanistan, and on the front lines with news correspondent. Gripping stories next. Now inroducing, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. Get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. A global perspective wherever you are. The major headlines in context. Mashable says. Youll never miss the latest news they will continue looking for suvivors. The potential for Energy Production is huge. No noise, no clutter, just real reporting. The new Al Jazeera America mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. Download it now every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. Grammy Award Winning singer, songwriter Angelique Kidjo music transforms lives of people inspiring strength read, be curious your brain is your ultimate weapon hope for the future the only thing that can transform my continent is Girls Education talk to aljazeera only on Al Jazeera America declaring its time to turp the page on afghanistan, president obama announced plans to end the u. S. Combat mission. Less than 10,000 members will remain to train afghan forces. From the front line, the longest war in history. A film chronicles what the troops capt see in the hornets nest. Afghanistan. After three decades in the worlds worst places, hot beds of conflict. Iraq, el salvador, this could have been one more stop for combat correspondent mike. The public had grown tired of afghanistan, many reporters too. He felt he had to keep up the fight to get the story covered. I felt, as a journalist, that we became as war weary as the rest of the nation did, and stopped talking about covering these soldiers and marines and sailors and airme on the front lines. If, as a nation we are going commit our young men and women over there to a war in our name, we better darn sure cover them. Over 2year period. They embedded for a lopping period with u. S. Forces. Side by side in a firefight, aiming his lps at the reallife lens at the reallife experience of americans in war. You vol tor to serve, you are september 10,000 sent 10,000 miles a way to a war zone. That is their support network. That is their family, while they are over there. Family they count on with their lives. A oneday mission for an elite unit became a 9day hell. Intense combat pinned down in a remote valley. Battling an invisible enemy. I was after the human element, being in a place 10,000 mools from your home miles from your home, with every chance to die every day you woke up. Thats what the film captures. Thats why its different from a war film. Its not a film about war, it isnt. Its a film about family and bonds and the closeness of people. Movie reel is that a friend. What are you going name him . Are you okay pip. The only thing they have is themselves, each other. Thats who they fight for. When they are out there in the middle of a gunfight, they are not thinking about a huge strat eem yik objective, they are thinking about how they are going to get out of there alive. Its hard to describe. They are my brothers because you go through the worst conditions ever with them. You experience the worst that man has to offer when you get shot at. The hate, the anger. You feel so many emotions. The full spectrum, the full raping of emotions. It doesnt matter if you are black, white, indian, arabic. Doesnt matter what you are. When you are fighting next to each other, thats all that matters. Rorry hamel is a fourth generation marine. After this mission was filmed hamel was hit by an. Ed. By an i. E. D. It was 1 30. It rained all night. We were walking through kneehigh mud. I stepped on a metallic pressure plate. I didnt get knocked out. I watched my legs separate from my body. I hit the ground and i remember thinking that didnt happen, i tried to stand up. I couldnt. Then my friends, my brothers, my marines, they got to me, they saved my life. I eventually died, but they brought me back to life. Here i am today. It was a long arduous process. Im alive and conducting now. Seeing the film helped him get through that dark time. The film helped me out a lot of i didnt know what to do, i didnt know where to go. I didnt know how i was going to go on living my life because im used to being full bodied. It helped me to push past, and realise that many, many people, its not just about me. It is, as hamel says, about family. About the brothers in arms. Just as the film was for this man who brought his son to the fight. Carlos joined his father, embedded on the front line. Well, he didnt put the decision in my hands he said he was going, no matter what. I guess i could have cut him off and said no. He was 22 years old, about the same age when i covered the war. He made a decision that he wanted to do something important. And why, as a Foreign Correspondent for three decades, i was never there for birthdays, christmas, thanksgiving, he was never home, and wanted to know why i chos that path. In the end it allows him to understand his fathers choice, and the bond of brothers. Theres a squad that surrounded and carlos came to me and said pop, if you do this, youll die. He said ill go, not you. Its created a bond that is not just a fatherson bond, but a brothers and sisters, caught up in extreme situations, warfare and survived. This movie accurately shows who we do. Its exactly what its look, you see what we go through, and for americans for the people that come up and say thank you, or mean well. Theyll see the movie and understand why they are saying thank you. The movie is the hornets nest. Next locked up and forgotten. Mandatory minimums, maximum damage. The war on drugs and a battle for justice. These protestors have decided that today they will be arrested these people have chased a president from power, theyve torn down a state. Whats clear is that people dont just need protection, they need assistance. On on unintended consequence of crime and punishment, the attempt to crackdown on the war on drugs created a punishment that judges raised objection to, the requirement of mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. Case in point. Twin brothers, with plans for careers in criminal justice, but who found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Sara hoy has more. Lawrence and his brother were about to graduate when two u. S. Marshals knocked on the door. I heard a mapping on the door mapping on the door banging on the door. The garrison twins had plans to attend law school. They tested them for drugsment they put them drugs. They put them in a conspiracy. They brought an a table of drugs, maamming marijuanaing bullets. Accusations that the garrisons deny. Did you par fake in a multi partake in a multistate drug facility. No. Reporter no drugs were found in their possession, and no money recovered, they were found guilty. Reporter did you think you would be convicted . Initially because i was not caught in possession of anything, no phone conversation or photographs or anything of that nature. I thought they cant lock me up for this. The ipp seperable inseparable twins were torn apart. It was a nonviolent offense, strict laws sent lawrence to custody for 15 years, and lamont for 10. At that point my brother and i knew we were being railroaded. We expected it. My mother prepared us. We were young black me. When the verdict was read, their mother, karen garrison couldnt believe what she was hearing. When they said guilty, i passed out. She turned from mother to activist, refusing to give up on her boys. What did you decide to dox. I never made a conscious decision. I went to work. She talked to anyone that would lisp. Racism in the criminal Justice System needs to stop. Anyone that is not making a constructive comment. The laws that september their son to prison grew out of the crack epidemic grew out of washington d c. Congress passed the antidrug abuse act. The mandatory minimum sentence for possessing five grams of crack campaign, the same sentence someone trafficking 500 gram of powdered cocaine received. Three months later george w. Bush unveiled his drug policy. If we face that evil. This will be nothing but a handful of useless chemicals. According to the u. S. Sentencing mission, 82 convicted were black. 32 were sentenced to 10 years or more. One thing i know in this universe, numbers are con stand. The draconian laws were created to locus up. Crack cocaine was a big deal in washington d c. It was a new drug. It was cheap. Reporter julie stuart is president of families against mandatory mip mums. Minimums, dedicated to reform. The drug war was at full policemen in the mid 80s. Fledge in the mid 80s. Cop impress said they would Congress Said they would stop sentences. It didnt work like that. Reporter the u. S. Has also than 5 of the worlds population, a quarter of the worlds prisoners are incarcerated here. In 2010 the teed began to tide began to turp. President obama signed the fair sentencing act into law. In january attorney general eric holder called for reduced sentences for lowlevel drug offenders. I am sure people convicted of lowlevel, nonviolent federal drug crimes face sentencing appropriate to individual conduct, rather than stripping ept mip mums. In april the Commission Voted unanimous unanimously on guide lines. If approved. The guidelines will go into effect on nef first. Its too little, too late. My brother and i will never feel the effects of this, we were given a lengthy sentence for firsttime offenders. Theres other men and women languishing in prison. They are changing something now. What about others that still are. Sara hoy tells us that the garrison defence have their real estate licences and both brothers maintain their innocence. Looking ahead on the programme. Light, camera, prison. Other people were closer by. Were they arrested. No, they werent arrested. I was the guy with the camera. Armed with cameras, suspects charged with recording the activities of the police, no other crime. Is there such a thing as a right to record. America tonights adam may explores the growing tension between cops and cam resist on monday, on america tonight. After the break in this hour, when dads lose their kids a fight for father hood, and the utah law that let her mother give the child away. Im ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. We are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. We are ment to be your first choice for the news. Imagine a child put up for adoption without the parent knowing it happened, or agreeing to it. Its not only happened, its legal in a statement aiming to protect the mothers right, but says an unwed father does not have the power to intervene. A look at fathers rights. Adam may reports on a movement di fathers by fathers to get their rites and kids back. Its statesanctions kidnapping. Its devastating. Its stealing of children. Sink sink rob and his fiance are razing three children. Thats an empty seat at the dipper table. Hes been dinner table that hes been fighting to fill for six years. Rob claims his former girlfriend gave their daughter up for adoption secretly, without his nom or scoent knowledge or consent. The couple lived together in colorado when she was pregnant. Reporter did she want the baby . I think for the first couple of weeks she did. After that there was a change in how she was acting and started discussing strange things, and that was adoption. Reporter you were not interested in adoption . Not at all. I told her from that minute i will fight to be a part of my childs life. Reporter rob and his gifrld were not married, he worried what shed do. Soon after he said his girlfriend, a mormon, hatched a sinister plan. I had a strange email from her stating that she was going to visit a sick relative and wed discuss adoption when she returned. When he returned from utah the baby was born. Thats when i took action. I was searching hospital to see if there was a child that looked like me or a child there that was mine. Reporter how frantic did that feel, trying to find the baby . Its like your heart is ripped out and shredded and you are grabbing to put the pieces back together and find a piece and its not there, and you cant find it. Reporter rob is far from alone. In utah until, biological fathers have few rights. Utahs adoption policy is that a killed is better off with a married couple, even if strangers, rather than a single biological parents. Mothers can give children up for adoption if fathers dont meet complicated material in 30 days. Reporter why not give you the kid . I think it was something she was conscious to do to get the child to a 2party home. Reporter was she pressured into doing it by the Mormon Church . I think so. I think the church had something to do with helping her decide if this was right for the child. I remember her coming home from church and discussing adoption. Trying to convince me to say it was in our best interests and the childs best interests to get the child to a family home. Utah seems to be a baby mill or mecca. Reporter ws is head of the wes is head of the adoption council, and a lawyer representing three dozen birth fathers, trying to get their children back. What do you think is wrong with the adoption laws in utah . Its legal. Reporter hes suing the state and federal court demanding 100 million in dams, challenging the damages, challenging the constitutional chption. You can lie, misrepresent, deceive and its not a basis to overturn an illegal adoption. A birth mother can lie to a birth father and say im not placing the child for adoption or tell the birth father that the baby kid. Reporter are adoption laws a result of influence from the lds church. I think utah has a long history of being pro family and adoption. Theres an froouns influence from the lds church, and im lds. A lot of people misinterpret children being raised in 2parent homes, they misinterpret and apply it in a way of the ends justifies the means approach. Lets do what we have to to get the children adopted. Hutchins says the proof of lds influence is in this letter, written by a Church Leader to the paternal grandmother about a child given up in a questionable adoption. It states we couldnt get kayas birth mother or adoptive parents to talk to us. We spoke to an organization arguing on their behalf. I think the mothers are doing great things. Bill duggan is with the sutherLand Institute, a powerful group in utah. Reporter what is your skin in the game . We are interested in making sure our laws reflect the realityius of family realities of family life, and they protect the most vulnerable people, the children. The suth are Land Institute filed briefs defending utahs adoption laws. Should some of the biological fathers get their kids back. There have been problems. Of course. Assuming we can prove that a fraud happened or been perpetrated, what is the best way to solve the problem . Is it to remove a child from a home theyve been raised in or punish the person that committed the fraud. Reporter wouldnt you say the biological father is punished anyway. Punishment is the wrong term. Reporter if you dont have your kid, what is it . Here is the question. Why dont they have the child. Reporter because perhaps the biological mother came and committed fraud in utah. If they mar implied the moth married the moth are, fraud would. Reporter for you this is the fact, they are upwed. This is the reality. If the mother and father are married, you know, theres rites that automatically kick in. If we get to the point where thats unreasonable, im not sure that theres a debate to have any more. Some of the biological fathers have taken their legal battles to the highest form possible, the utah court. There was a grouped breaking groundbreaking decision. The judge said he was wrongfully denied a stay in the adoption. I remember her walking in. I saw myself, a little child. I had tippingles over my tippingles over my body, ill excited to meet her. Within 30 seconds i say high, im rod. She sits on my lap. She looks me, puts the dolls down and said daddy, where have you been. Rob is the first man to have success against the fraud immunity statute. It says if its approach someone lied. The adoption cannot be overturned. Since their brief meeting in 2009. Rod and kia spend more courtordered time, a few days around chris, a week at spring break and a longer plan. Rob says its not enough, and is fighting for full custody. I dont feel i should be sharing custody with the people that dragged this out, that fraud uentally did this to this child. Shell know this and realise what has happened to her. I think shes grasping at what happened to her. Its hard for her. Some people may say, including a therapist that you worked with, that this change in her life could be detrimental and disruptive. I think, yes, it will be hard on her in the beginning. Im not asking for her to come today or tomorrow. Im saying lets do this with the right type of therapy to get her transitioned over to my home in a manner that will be best for her. Reporter without kia rob says his family is not complete. So peter parker decided to become. Reading to his youngst son, he cant stop the time hes micing with kia as each day becomes night. My fight since day one is to have her home. I mean, this has gone for s years, for too long. America tonight correspondent adam may approach the church of jesus christ of later day saint, the mormons and got their response ahead here in our final thoughts of the hour a swift in the story of the spinners. From their first hit to the walk of fame, what the last original spinner says about fame and the future. Finally from us this hour, detroit in the 50s and 60, home to the motown town superstar, stevie wonned are, and wonder and the spinners got their start. The spinners are groving, on tour with a new generation working hard to fill big shoes. There is an original in the mix, and tonight he gives us the twist in the story of the spinners. You mind if i Say Something. Go for it. How you all doing. My name is henry. I am a member of the spinners vocal group, im 75 years old and still kicking. Not kicking hard, but im singing. Duwhoh is durkswhop duwhop [ singing ]. That was the duwhop. That year, 1954, we were in our teens, in high school. Im talking about the beginning of the groups existence. We was only on the Basketball Court outside, and every day in the summer time all the guys would gather, standing around singing. And everyone would Say Something like why dont you start a group, you sound good . This is why, phillippa on the right. Purpose jackson next to him. Bobby smith. Billy henderson and myself on the end. At that time i was our name wag domi nrkts was domengos, and bobby came up with the spinners, getting it from a cadillac hub cap. We knew we were not going to college. We made a pact with each other, that wed take this and make a career out of it. If we make it, we make it. If we dont, we dont. [ singing ] they came up with a song thats what girls are made for, i swear to god. It came up and went to top 40, motown for us was a very, very good college. They taught you how to use a microphone. They taught you to sit on a stool. They taught you everything. The spinners album. Its the first album on atlantic records. They released the first record. A disc jockey in buffalo new york he turned the record over and played i would be around. That record im telling you. That sold so fast. [ singing ] and we kept on doing that. This is the star on the hollywood walk of fame. With respect the second black group to get a star on the hollywood walk of fame. The first group was the mels broth are. We tested at the time, sold a million copies. And it was a great, great, great hit for us. [ singing ] this is out of the archives. This was the 20th anniversary. We had a rightup in jet magazine. This is before uniforms. It was too late. The first concert i saw was a spinners consempt i thought im going to do what they are doing. Im charles. I grew up listening to the spinners music. I remember when it came out. I thought who is that. Its the same. Im the newest member. Im one of the tenors in the group. Could we not interrupt please, this is important. Hi. Im jessie peck, i do the base parts and fill the shoes of fergus jackson, its a dream come true. Im Marvin Taylor and do most of bobbys parts i do all of possiblys parts, what am i talking about. I realise that this is what i have to do. I have to step up and be bobby so to speak, and let him know thats its all right down here. How are you all doing. [ singing ] oh, my guys theyll book me, and i have put four more guys toot and the audience seems to they have accepted the four guys that i have with me now. They are doing excellent job of replacing the guy that is going away. We dont want nobody up there thinking im with the spinners now. No, you aint nothing, you know. You are nothing until you prove yourself. I dont care if its a tenor, base or barra time. You have to get the sound that you barra tone. You have to get the sound that you yeahated. If you created. If you dont, you get another town. When i brought these two to rehearsals five years ago, when henry started they were pretty goodlooking shoes. When you go on stage, you know, you dont think you look good. You dont look good we had the clothes made so theyd be one of a kind. When you go on stage like that, and you know things are looking good. You can forget that part of it. I feel lying a spinner like a spinner. Bobby was the last member that went away. We close at night, me and him had dinner. He said look, i dont know what is going to happen, but whatever you do, man, keep this going. That was the last time i talk to hum. When we are on stage, when you say the spinners, its the same. You get the same ovation, and the same excitement. I see it in the audience faces. We go back almost 40 years. You know, the new ones come along. They are great. They make a great sound. Doesnt matter. Doesnt matter. They can put four new people in there. Its still the spinners. Looking back on our career, i think things i wouldnt change a thing. Still sounding great. Thats if for us here on america tonight. Please remember if you would like to comment on any of the stories, log tonne the website aljazeera. Com americatonight. You can meat the team and get meet the team and get sneak previews of the stories we are working on. Join the conversation on twitter or facebook. Goodnight and well have more of america tonight tomorrow. The life of doha. This is the International News hour. An informed look on the nights events, a smarter start to your day. Mornings on Al Jazeera America thanks for being with us. This is Al Jazeera America. Im Thomas Drayton in new york. Lets get you caught up on the top stories. Bowe has been gone so long that its going to be very difficult to come back. The father of a freed american soldier talks about the hurdles facing his son. Pushback over the swap for Sergeant Bowe bergdahl. In oorn ukraine our Eastern Ukraine our reporters