Think about during this program tonight as you watch this. Look at this. In the states where data could be collected, and that covers just over half of them, after cap america africanamericans are dying at three and a half times. Blacks make up nearly half of the death toll in michigan but they are only 14 hrs of t of t population. And at least eight other states, the death rate exceeds the population rate for blacks by more than 20 percentage points. For hispanic americans, the death rate is unusually high in the epicenter, new york city. Latinos are dying here more than any other race. They and africanamericans are the only groups dying at a higher rate than their populations. And this doesnt help. Minorities make up half of the nations 30 million uninsured. And heres one big reason why. Nativeamericans, blacks and hispanics all face a substantially higher percentage of those in poverty. Now look, those are tough numbers, theres also hope here. And were going to tell this story tonight with some help from some of the biggest names in america. Tonight were going to bring you messages of hope sent with love from viewers tonight, sean colmes, lin manuel miranda, america ferreira, Magic Johnson and in fact our own w kamau bell. Hes going to be here tonight. Also basketball halloffamer Charles Barkley on whether americas athletes can help all of us team up in this critical time and a special musical tribute from the marcelus brothers. It is a big hour, and its going to be informative, and i want to start with the voices that really matter the most, thats our health care professionals, like dr. Regina benjamin. Dr. Benjamin has spent her time on the front lines, to advising president obama and the nation as our Surgeon General in the united states. Dr. Benjamin, we are so happy to have you and we thank you in advance for joining us. Lets talk about all those numbers you heard us reel off the statistics. Why are people of color so vulnerable to this disease . Well, you know, when we first started to talk about this disease, we said elderly and people with chronic underlying conditions were at higher risk. Most of us thought about people with cancer, elderly people, people on oxygen tanks. But what they didnt think about is people with high blood pressure, diabetes, prediabetes, cash cardiovascular disease, people who smoke. Those were the thoughts, but what weve learned, it seems very common that when this particular population would be affected much more rapidly. And so thats what happened. And we started seeing illnesses. What we did not expect was that these were the people whod be coming in much sicker, much faster, and they deteriorate faster and more often. And people with underlying cardiac vascular disease were having poor outcomes, particularly those with irregular heartbeats. So the American Heart Association has put in 2. 5 million for Rapid Research fund to start to address that, to see why and how if we can prevent people with underlying cardiovascular disease from having poor Health Outcomes. Im so curious to know, this is not playing the race card, am i correct . This is a data card. The data shows hotspots are in communities of color. Youve worked for government. Shouldnt we be rush beiing mas and tests and ventilators to those communities . Is it playing the race card to say that we should be focussing on the places where the numbers are so bad . Im a physician. I think we should go wherever were needed, it happens to be our communities right now, and we need to certainly be there. This is around social determi determinants of health. These conditions occur more frequently in our communities. So we should be there. We should be there prepared. The social determinants that weve talked about, weve had Health Disparities around when i was Surgeon General. We released a National Prevention strategy, which was trying to eliminate Health Disparities all together. And were still trying to do that, but the Research Shows us, and we know certain things cause these Health Disparities and things like, we know that our Financial Health is directly related to our physical health. We know that our education is just as important for our health. Your death rate is two and a half times that of a person who doesnt have a High School Diploma as it is for a person who has 13 years or more. Let me ask you a question. Your zip code is a better predictor of your Health Outcome than your genetic code. Im curious, i think thats really, really important. The systems not to do better, the governments got to do better, arent there things that i can do better . I cant control the words that come out of the president s mouth, but i have high blood pressure. Do we have to get to a point where we decide we are going to own our own health and take more responsibility for what we eat and what we do. What can we be doing as individuals to get ourselves out of harms way . Youre exactly right. You cant blame the victims. And many of these things are not our fault, but we can do things every day to help ourselves, and we cant wait on someone like the government or somebody else to take care of us. So there are things we can certainly be doing. Theyre very simple. They sound simple, but they can save your life, things like washing your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. When we ask you to socially distance, socially distance, you are protecting yourself and those around us, and thing those who cant stay at home. Were protecting them. If you smoke, stop. Dont smoke, dont vape. If you know your numbers. Know your blood pressure, know what your blood sugars are. Are and doctor. If you know you have high blood pressure, get somebody to check it. You said dont blame the victim, those are exactly right. I want to get this in. You said dont blame the victim. We also need to talk about, we need to have conversations around urban planning. Around, around racism. Around food deserts, around redlining. All of that has to, we should take all of that into account when it comes to health and why people of color are dealing with this as well. Yes, we need to talk about what we put in our mouths, but also we need to talk about the underlying issues as to why africanamericans are in this predicament. I think youre exactly right. You really have to do that, and, as we move through this epidemic, pandemic, we basically, hopefully will come out on the other side in a much better place that we can have many some better Public Policies to address these issues, but in the moon tieantime we have to m sure we save our lives by doing these things every day. But youre absolutely right. We have to address these as a society, because it impacts all of us, and its not just people in africanamerican and hispanics and population, its also affects people in my community, in the rural areas. We have the same sort of problems with diabetes and high blood pressure. We smoke too much. Those obesity, all those things that lead to cardiovascular disease is in the Rural Communities. And youre going to see the same thing. Its poor people. Yeah, its poor people. Dr. Benjamin, thank you so much, we really appreciate your time and your wisdom tonight and everything that you are doing to heal our community. Thank you. Thank you. Concern is growing in the nations Latino Community. Up next how the hard work done by hispanic americans could be putting them at greater risk for the virus. And w. Kamau bell needs your help. Thats coming up, van . And don, were also lucky tonight to have very special greetings for everyone in this crisis. These, again, are messages of hope. Lets start with snoop dogg and america ferreira. What up, this is snoop dogg double g and i want to send words of encouragement to all my people out there, yo, i want to you have some fun, spend some time with your loved ones, go to instagram, watch some funny stuff. Check out some good movies. Drink a lot of water. You can do some body lifting, pushups, a lot of things to keep your mind moving. But stay positive and stay in the house. Because this thing will be over soon, and it takes all of us in order for this thing to work. Im big snoop do double g. God dont put nothing on us that we cant handle. Love is love. To all my peoples out there, i love you more today than i did yesterday. Peace be unto you. Hi, im america ferreira, and i want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the amazing people showing up every day to provide Critical Services through this crisis. Some of those people are our nations farm workers. Theyre putting their lives and health on the line by planting, picking and packing the food we all need to get through this covid19 crisis. And yet, farm workers are reporting that they do not have enough food to feed their own families. Even though the federal government has deemed them essential workers, they are being denied essential benefits. These front line workers need our help. Can you support them by making a donation to the farm workers pandemic relief fund, providing farm workers with food, diapers, formula and other basic necessities. 100 of your donations will be used to support the farm workers who feed us. Thank you. Lets watch a cooking show. Cookie show . Cooking shows. Cookie shows . Play the Great British baking show. [cookie monster] cookie shows introducing at t tv. Watch with easy selfsetup. Shipped directly to you. It only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous. Tide pods childguard pack helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. Align, press and unzip. Tide pods. Keep them up. Keep them closed. Keep them safe. From fires and hurricanes in 90 years at farmers we thought wed seen it all. To animal antics we could laugh about later. But we havent seen this. So, farmers is reducing auto premiums by 25 , extending payment due dates, and expanding coverage for the delivery drivers who are carrying us through. And then well do the next thing, and the thing after that, until this is another thing weve seen and done. Im going to start the bidding at 5. Thank you, sir. Looking for 6. 6 over there do i hear 7 . 7 in the front 7 going once. Going twice. Sold to the onion lover in the front row next up is lot number 17, a spinach and artichoke dip, beautifully set in a hollowedout loaf of sourdough bread. Dont get mad get e trade and get more than just trading investing. Banking. Guidance. Has been on essential businesses due to covid19 because we are an essential business. Helping you solve your changing communication and business challenges is our commitment. Were in this together. It didnt take us long to realize. We werent in the car business. At lexus, we were in the people business. We needed to be helpful. Respectful. And compassionate. To treat people like guests. Its what we all signed up for. And now when people need this most, we will do what weve always done. Take care of people first. The rest will follow. Until i found out what itst it actually was. Ed me. Dust mite droppings eeeeeww dead skin cells gross so now, i grab my swiffer sweeper and heavyduty dusters. Duster extends to three feet to get all that gross stuff gotcha and for that nasty dust on my floors, my sweepers on it. The textured cloths grab and hold dirt and hair no matter where dust bunnies hide. No more heebie jeebies. Phew. Glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. Back with our cnn special, the color of covid. Im don lemon along with van jones. We see areas of vulnerability. In new mexico, 75 of new coronavirus cases on monday and tuesday came from the Navajo Nation counties. They say they now have over 1,000 cases across the Navajo Nation, with more than 40 deaths. And van, one expert is bracing for an explosion of new cases, warning this could explode into a wildfire. The asianamericans have their own problems, different risks. At the moment, the death rate is not above average for asians so far, thank goodness, but the fbi is saying there is a big, big increase in hate crimes against asians. Youre seeing all these disgusting stories of them being targeted and attacked. And in the chinatown sections, theyve been fighting to save their businesses. When you look at hispanic americans, you can see they are suffering the most in new york city, making up more than a third of deaths as of now, while being just under a third of the population. Cnns nick valencia is here to look at the toll on hispanics across this country. Nick, what are you finding . Yeah, hey, there, don, theres a lot of socioeconomic factors, a lot of disparities. You mentioned new york, how hard hit latinos are hit there, your 34 of the death rate is made up of latinos. Maybe theyre showing symptoms of being sick and are afraid of going to the doctor. It also may be the jobs that latinos have that put them more at risk of contracting the coronavirus. Reporter anthony says he cant remember the last time he got sick. But two weeks ago he tweeted that he felt an itch in his throat. More severe symptoms followed. I got the results that i was positive with covid19. Body aches, i had a whole lot of body aches. Recently, ive developed a lot of night sweats. Reporter his condition hasnt improved. He thought he was turning the corner only to be diagnosed with knew monday yeah. He works in hospice care, making visits to terminally ill patients. He knew he was at higher risk of contracting the virus and had been taking precautions. But in his like of work that doesnt always guarantee your safety. Latinos are the cnas and janitors. When you go into these facilities, thats where you see us, the janitors cleaning everyones room, changing everybodys diapers, giving them showers, feeding them facetoface. Reporter this doctor who serves the Latino Community in vancouver, washington says they are often found in these lowerlevel hospital jobs, such employees may not have Health Insurance or the option to stay home if they get sick. This leads not only to worsening health for these people but also spreading of the pandemic and prolonging the illness and the effects that this is going to have. Reporter according to the pew research center, concern about the virus is more concerning to the latinos, its a major threat to the americans. There are clear inequalities, clear dispairs in how this disease is affecting the people of this city. Reporter the mayor says the latinos are dying at rates higher than any other group, making up 34 of deaths. Other locations have been slow to release the break down of deaths by race or ethnicity. So no National Trends are clear yet. Meantime, dr. Oneill and other professionals say economic disparities which disproportionately affect communities of color play a role. Often youll find us living in multigenerational households with grand parents and newborns and creating a situation where its very hard to contain the spread of disease. Do it for your big mama and your pop pop. Reporter think urged blacks and latinos to protect themselves, but he was criticized for the words he used. Latinos used to getting together with family and friends are now having to change normal routines, like these coffee happy hours in south florida. Acevedo sees the risk for himself and others. It means not pushing to go back to work before hes ready. To me, thats the worst fear. Just to know that i have it so i can stay home and try to take care of this problem without infecting other people. And theres another thing going on in our communities right now that i want to talk about. Its Mental Health issues. This coronavirus has been called the great equalizer. Clearly from that report, theres a lot of disparities and inequalities at play. But it really is the Mental Health struggles that a lot of people are going through that i see as the equalizer. This is something thats difficult for me to talk about but something i want to share for the first time publicly. Earlier this year in january i was diagnosed with post traumatic stress. And anxiety disorder. I may not know whats caused my own issues but even for somebody like me whos clinically diagnosed with a condition, this time, this period, this pandemic has been extremely difficult, and i was having such a good, you know, four months leading up to this. And i know theres a lot of people that may need to hear this, theyre feeling alone right now. We may all be going through this together as a community, don and van, but there is a lot of people right now that really feel alone, and i think we need to share with our brothers and sisters out there that they shouldnt feel alone, because were going through it with them. I think its very brave of you to share that. And many times. Thank you, brother. People will say that maybe you can sort of pray your way out of a situation like this or you dont need it or maybe you can medicate it or youre weak, but i think its very brave, and its Important Information that you shared, nick. So we really appreciate you sharing. Thank you, brother. Appreciate it. If you want to read more about some of the issues that we are discussing tonight, there is a fascinating new column on cnn. Com by kathryn powell. She writes how this is highlighting so many inequalities with race at cnn. Com. Americas inmates are facing this deadly virus with no way out. Up next, inside the jail. Thats become a flash point in this crisis. Hundreds of inmates and gars infected. And ahead, Charles Barkley is with us. Its been more than a month since the nba season was just wiped out. Lou professional athletes using their time to help their communities. As we go to break we have more love, more hope from celebrity. Comedian george lopez and his tv wife, Constance Marie right now. Wed like to send a huge to the Latino Community, which is our community. And a special thank you to all the health care workers. You are heroes. We know you are working long hours away from your family to help everyone. Thank you to everyone who has supported my foundation. It is very difficult right now when a lot of immune systems a