The Critical Hour

Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina to Reopen as Hot Spots Emerge: Are Politics Trumping Science?

On this episode of The Critical Hour, Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Dr. Yolandra Hancock, a public health expert with a focus on health disparities and a professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University.
Sputnik

"Residents of Georgia will be allowed this Friday to return to the gym, get haircuts, pedicures, massages and tattoos. Next Monday, they can dine again in restaurants and go to the movies," the New York Times reported Monday. Should residents of these states, as well as Americans overall, be concerned, since we still have not tested a sufficient number of Americans to be able to understand the depth and breath of the problem, and we don’t have an antibody test we could use to quantify the number of those infected who are now healthy enough to return to public space? Furthermore, there are signs that the outbreak is just beginning in some parts of the US.

US President Donald Trump has announced he will issue an executive order to suspend immigration to the US during the COVID-19 crisis. In a tweet Monday night, he said, “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!” Are there legitimate reasons for such an action, or is this his restrictionist immigration policy on steroids: a pass-the-buck obfuscation tactic to divert attention away from the real issues?

"The crash in global oil prices deepened Tuesday, as pain spread to currencies of major exporters and shares in energy producers reflecting doubts over how soon the global economy can recover from the coronavirus pandemic," the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. "The most actively traded US contracts for crude — the West Texas Intermediate futures for delivery of oil in June — plunged by almost a third to $13.80 a barrel. The decline came a day after some contracts for the US crude benchmark dropped below zero for the first time in history, leaving sellers having to pay buyers to take barrels off their hands. ... Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil markets, dropped roughly 24% to $19.54 a barrel, their lowest level since 2002." What does this mean or how does this translate to the average American?

"The US is monitoring intelligence that suggests North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after undergoing a previous surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge," CNN reported Monday. "A second source familiar with the intelligence told CNN that the US has been closely monitoring reports on Kim's health." I believe CNN correspondent Jim Sciutto is credited with breaking this story. After checking a number of sources, USA Today reports, “South Korea: No reason to think Kim Jong Un gravely ill despite US media report." Al Jazeera did not mention it, nor did RT or the Financial Times. It’s not a lead story on their web sites. So, what’s going on here?

GUESTS:

Dr. Yolandra Hancock — Board-certified pediatrician and obesity medicine specialist who combines her hands-on clinical experience and public health expertise with her passion for building vibrant families and communities by providing patient-empowering, best-in-class health and wellness care to children and adolescents who are fighting obesity.

Attorney Mark Shmueli — Manages a solo practice dedicated exclusively to immigration law. Shmueli represents asylum seekers before the US Asylum Office and Executive Office for Immigration Review and handles employment-based non-immigrant and immigrant visa petitions. He has authored articles on the immigration consequences of criminal convictions and the Violence Against Women Act for the Maryland Bar Journal and is a frequent lecturer at national and local conferences on immigration law.

Carlos Casteneda — Attorney with The Law Offices of Perez & Malik who specializes in immigration law.

Gerald Daniels — Assistant professor of economics and the associate director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics at Howard University.

Mark Sleboda — International affairs and security analyst.

We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com

Discuss