Hey, welcome back. Now, earlier we were talking
about the continuing water crisis in Flint, Michigan,
and how the governor has been completely blowing the response.
In fact, he's been screwing up so bad,
Beyoncé just released a concept album about what he did.
(laughter, groans)
But here's the thing.
Lemonade?
Okay, yeah. But here's the thing.
Despite the continued incompetence from the top,
the story does have a few heroes.
We might still be in the dark about Flint if not for the work
of a few committed scientists and doctors. For example...
NEWSMAN:
at the Hurley Medical Center in Flint,
was one of the first to sound the alarm.
But when she released her findings
in September of 2015...
HANNA-ATTISHA:
We were told we were wrong,
that we were "unfortunate researchers."
"Unfortunate researchers"?
That's a terrible thing to be called.
But it will be an awesome name for her eventual Oscar-winning
-biopic.
You gonna crush it!
Yeah! But in covering this story,
I have to say I've been so impressed
by the work that Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha has done
for her community, and I just had to have her on our show.
So please welcome Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, everybody!
-♪ ♪ -(cheering, applause)
WILMORE: Hey!
-I said your name right? -Yeah.
Okay, good. Have a seat there.
-♪ ♪ -(cheering, whistling, applause)
WILMORE: Wow, look at that! Nice!
-A standing ovation. -Awesome.
Um, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much for coming out here.
-Thanks for having me. -And thanks so much
for all your dedication and everything.
Um, uh, tell me how you first started to realize
that something was wrong there.
Well, we were hearing reports
that there was lead in the water,
-Mm-hmm. -so an amazing researcher,
Marc Edwards from Virginia Tech, drove up to Flint
-Uh-huh. -from Blacksburg, Virginia, to research the water,
and he was telling us that there was lead in the water.
And when pediatricians hear about lead anywhere,
-Right. -we kind of freak out.
-Yeah. -It's an irreversible neurotoxin.
You don't mess with lead, and you don't mess with kids.
Right. It's like, there's lead in those Band-Aids! What?!
(laughter)
-So, um, so we decided to do the research -Mm-hmm.
to see if that lead in the water
-was getting into the bodies of our children. -Right.
Um, and it was.
-Yeah. -So, uh, we looked back on our records,
and we noticed that after that water switched,
the percentage of kids with elevated levels
-doubled in the city of Flint. -Wow.
And when you first saw those results,
what was your first reaction?
You know, I... I wasn't surprised,
-Mm-hmm. -because it didn't take a doctor
-or a rocket scientist to figure this out. -Yeah.
General Motors had stopped using this water in October of 2014
-'cause it was corroding engine parts. -Hmm.
-(audience groaning) -So... it's corroding engine parts,
but okay for our kids.
-Yeah. -Uh, so all the clues were there.
So we weren't surprised but we were sad,
-because it's 2016... -Right.
Flint is in the middle of the Great Lakes.
It's, like, the largest source of fresh water
-in the world. In the world! -Yes. Thank you.
-In the world. -(applause)
And, uh...
and-and how did you... how did you release those findings?
Didn't you have, like, a press... a press conference...
-Yeah. So, you know... -You couldn't just send
the memo, I guess, right?
No. So, yeah, medical research is always released
-in press conferences. -Yes, I know.
No, no. You see, we publish journals,
-publish articles in journals. But... -Sure.
we had a professional, a moral and ethical obligation
to share this as soon as possible,
to alert our families, our pregnant moms, our babies,
-Yeah. -to stop using this water.
So we had a press conference in last September.
What was the reaction to you, uh, after that?
-You know, I felt good for, like, two minutes. -Good?
For two minutes I felt good, I'm like, "Yeah,
-Right. -we saved our city!" You know?
-But the haters... -But hey, yeah, so just like
the amazing citizens of Flint were dismissed for 18 months,
just like the researchers were dismissed, the moms,
the pastors, we were dismissed.
So I was called an "unfortunate researcher,"
-Yeah. -which is a great title for my new book.
-(laughter) -Um...
-Exactly. We said the movie, too. Yeah. -Yeah.
-(cheering, applause) -It is.
-Um, so... -"Unfortunate Researcher"!
What did they mean by that?
-So, uh... -Did they have an explanation?
Yeah, the direct quote, I think, was, uh, you know,
"She may not be irresponsible,
but she's an unfortunate researcher."
Uh, I was ca... they said I was...
they said I was causing near hysteria,
-Uh-huh. Oh, my God. -that I was splicing and dicing numbers,
and that the state's numbers were not consistent
with my numbers.
And when you proved them wrong?
-Uh... -Did you get a... did you get a, "Oh, we're sorry,
-unfortunate researcher"? -(laughter)
So yeah, I got many apologies, and I don't...
-Uh-huh. -I don't care about that.
-So I don't care about what happened. -Sure, sure, sure.
You know, I care about... I care about the kids
-Right. -in our community and what's gonna happen next.
Okay, yeah, I know... That's great.
-(cheering, applause) -Right. Uh...
What do you think... uh, what do you think should happen
to Governor Snyder?
-So.. -Or let me put it a different way.
-Which type of execution... -(laughter)
No, no, no. Horrible thing.
So, you know, I was tortured as a child.
-Yeah. -So, my brother made me watch a lot of
-And, uh... -That was your torture?
-That was my torture. -That's a fun kind of torture, actually.
-So, Dr. McCoy on
he has a line-- he's like, "I'm not a prosecutor,
I'm a doctor." So I have to work with this governor,
-Yes. -and I have to work with the next five governors.
-Yes. -When you understand the consequences of that...
But if I were to give you a large sack of nickels
-and he were unconscious... -(laughter)
-(applause, shouts) -All right, one more question.
All right, uh, you know, now...
we like to keep it 100 here on the show, you guys, right?
And you kept it so hunnit in your community
that we want to give you our highest honor here, okay?
This is our Golden Hhhunnit Award.
-Aw... -So... -(cheering, applause, whistling)
So on behalf of
I want to present you the Golden Hhhunnit Award
for your work with the kids in your community.
It is truly an inspiration.
And thank you for everything that you've done.
-Thank you so much. -And if you're watching at home
and you'd like to give to the people of Flint,
uh, check out flintkids.org.
And if you know anyone in your community
who's fighting the good fight-- like she is right here
by keeping it a hundred, just let us know.
Tweet at
uh, #GoldenHunnit. Thanks for being here.
Dr. Mona, everybody. We'll be right back.
-There you go. -(cheering, applause)
You're welcome. Thank you so much.
-(growls) -(laughs)
-Thank you. That's amazing. -So great.
Thank you. So, I'll take this with me.
-Golden Hhhunnit. Look at that. -♪ ♪