Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) delivers a campaign update at the Hotel Vermont on March 11, 2020 in Burlington, Vermont. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders delivered an address on the coronavirus outbreak, rounding out three perspectives from the current president and the two Democratic challengers to his presidency.
Sanders, who trails former Vice President Joe Biden in the delegate race to the nomination, used his speech to contrast with his rivals. He called for the Trump administration to declare a national emergency and appoint an "emergency bipartisan authority of experts" to determine the next steps in the crisis.
Like Biden earlier, Sanders criticized the White House response, calling the administration incompetent and point out that its "incompetence and recklessness have threatened the lives of many, many people in this country."
Sanders and Biden both mentioned the lack of intensive care units and ventilators, an issue raised by health officials but one that the administration has not touched upon. The senator called for mobilizing retired medical professionals and medical students to increase medical care. He implored the nation to protect doctors, medical professionals, and nurses with proper instructions and personal protective equipment both because their safety is important and because "if they go down, then our capacity to respond to this crisis is diminished."
"Our country is at a severe disadvantage," Sanders said, "because we do not guarantee healthcare to people as a right."
During the speech, news came in that France's Emmanuel Macron called coronavirus the worst health crisis in a century, ordered changes to businesses and education and, echoing the very words Sanders was delivering across the Atlantic Ocean, said France will massively increase hospital capacity to deal with the novel coronavirus.
Both Democratic hopefuls today pleaded for an expansion of current practices. Biden called for mobile testing centers and Sanders for an expansion of community health centers.
Sanders also listed proposals to support people from low-income neighborhoods and working-class families, including calling for providing healthcare to immigrants regardless of immigration status, emergency funding for paid medical and family leave and a moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and utility shutoffs.
Repeatedly, health officials and, now, the Democratic hopefuls, have said a choice between a paycheck and staying home when sick will expedite the spread of a virus in need of slowing down so as not to overwhelm America's health system likely to be overwhelmed in the coming weeks.
"Here is the bottom line and that bottom line is that in the midst of this unprecedented moment, we need to listen to the scientists, to the researchers, to the medical folks — not the politicians," he said of the spread of the virus as "on the scale of major war."
World Central Kitchen is Ukraine helping to feed people remaining in the country or fleeing from the Russian forces. Nate Mook, CEO for the non-profit, joined Cheddar New to discuss the efforts being made to help those in need in a very tenuous situation and how the invasion disrupted the lives of Ukrainian people."We met a young woman from Kyiv who had crossed into Poland, she had a great job, she just moved into a new apartment. She was really excited about decorating her apartment. You know, things that we all do on a day-to-day basis, and she had to just abandon her life," he said.
Bina Venkataraman, Boston Globe Editorial Page Editor & former White House disaster policy adviser joins Cheddar News to discuss the current state of the pandemic as well as Biden's handling of the crisis
Michael Li senior counsel for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program joins Cheddar News to discuss gerrymandering and how it's impacting American politics
As half a million Ukrainians fled when Russia invaded its neighbor, some civilians chose to stay in harm's way. Igor Gamaniuk, a 17-year-old Ukrainian college student, joined Cheddar News to talk about his decision to remain in his beloved country and volunteer to support soldiers with food, clothing, and supplies. "Right now people are pretty calm in my town. We are trying not to panic. But we have to be cautious because every day and every night the siren could sound and we have to move away from the window or go to the nearest shelter," Gamaniuk explained.
As Russia continues to invade Ukraine, its tech outsourcing sector is at risk. Over the past few years, the country has become a popular outsourcing destination for American and European tech companies, but now the future of that industry is uncertain. Isabelle Bousquette, enterprise technology reporter, for The Wall Street Journal, discusses what repercussions the crisis might have on the industry, and what companies are doing to mitigate possible disruptions.
In a nearly 3,700 page UN report, climate scientists outline the imminent dangers caused by climate change, saying fossil fuels are 'choking humanity.' The report calls some of the impacts of global warming 'irreversible,' warning of extreme consequences in the near future. Kristie L. Ebi, Professor of Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
