(INTRIGUING ELECTRONIC MUSIC) Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 - Tonight on Sunday ` putting food on the table in tough times. - My anxiety is very high, and I do struggle to sleep. - A time of huge need for so many... - Approximately 5000 peoples came to taking the food parcels. - ...and the generosity of others. - It's open to all. - I can't afford fruit and veges. - But is anyone helping the helpers? - Now, that's actually at least they can do. - First they think you're crazy, then they fight you, and then all of a sudden, you change the world. - And ` she promised a medical revolution ` - It's finding... what you're born to do. - She was 19. She thought she knew it all. - the superstar entrepreneur... - This is sort of the laboratory of the future. - ...and her $9 billion con. - This is inexcusable, now and forever. - And ` when to haka or not to haka. (INDISTINCT SHOUTING, ROARING) - What did you think of that one? - I thought it was terrible. (LAUGHTER, TONGUE-WAGGLING) - What do you think of that one? - I don't even know if... if that can be called a haka. - Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. For thousands of lockdown families, just getting enough food on the table right now can be tough. Enter the Sikhs, a community who believes it's their duty to help other Kiwis in a time of need. Across the country, Sikh temples have been transformed into vaccination centres and grocery warehouses where the food is offered free. But with thousands of parcels being handed out every day, why isn't our government stepping in to help the Sikhs help us? Tamati Rimene-Sproat reports. (PENSIVE ELECTRONIC MUSIC) - TAMATI: Takanini, three weeks into Auckland's COVID lockdown, and hundreds upon hundreds of families are queuing for food. - We were expecting 500, but we served 700 families yesterday. - They're in need, and many are scared. - What if I'm out and I... I get COVID and I don't know, and then my whole family gets it? - People coming en masse to the Supreme Sikh temple... - This is the place where they can go if they are in need. - ...run by, supported by and funded by the Sikh community. - It's open to all. Every New Zealander. And, um, everyone is welcome. (SOMBRE MUSIC) - Peppa Luke lives in Manurewa. - Hey, boys. Are you guys hungry? - She's a solo mum, four rangatahi dependent on her. How difficult has this lockdown been for you and the people that you need to provide for? - Yeah, it is difficult to get out and make sure that there's enough food. Um, mentally, it's difficult, cos they can't go to school, and we're not doing our normal. - Feeding her boys is a challenge at the best of times. - To be honest, I can't afford fruit and veges. And whatever good stuff I have I make sure that they have. Sometimes I don't eat because I just made sure that they were fed. - How hard has it been to access, kind of, food to provide for them? - Oh, very hard. Cos, um... it's hard to leave the kids home all the time, and then... getting to the supermarket ` the line is huge. - There's a lot to worry about. - My doctor's put me on blood pressure pills, so it's tough. And I do struggle to sleep cos of my anxiety. - Then there's her son Shiloh, 14 ` he's immunocompromised, making going to get food extra risky. - I do worry about that. VOICE BREAKS: Sorry. Just the thought of it... Shiloh... (SNIFFLES) I'm just worried about him getting... hurt the most. (PENSIVE ELECTRONIC MUSIC) - We've spoken to four food aid agencies across Auckland. They're all saying the same things ` demand is going through the roof. Enter the Sikhs. I'm gonna start with a really hard question first. Are you ready? - Yeah. - May I get your full name? - Daljit Singh. - From the North Indian province of Punjab to the South Auckland province of Papatoetoe ` Daljit's been here for 32 years. He's a proud New Zealander and a proud Sikh. - You not have to be born as a Sikh, so... anyone can become a Sikh. - (SINGS IN PUNJABI) - 'The Sikhism basic principle 'is to share with others.' Means, like, whatever you earn you put 10% percent of your income for good deeds. - Sikhism is one of Aotearoa's fastest-growing religions, with over 50,000 believers nationwide. - This is a selfless service. We're not after anything. And, um, our aim is to serve to the community, and community support us. - Good evening. If you're just joining our coverage, the country is reeling from a mass shooting in Christchurch. - When there is need, the Sikhs are quick to mobilise ` like they did after the Christchurch mosque attacks. - We immediately called our Sikh gurdwaras in Christchurch, to help the victims through food and if they need any kind of other assistance, and, uh, raised $71,000 for the victims. - When COVID hit our shores last year and the first lockdown tightened its grip, Daljit had an idea. - I actually was in the gurdwara at that time, and I find that we have about 100 bottle of milks in the container and then we have some fresh vegetables. I thought, 'Why are we going to rubbish that? Why not we can use this?' - Within a week, he had the beginnings of a food aid service working out of the gurdwara, the Sikh temple. - We start with 200 food parcel, and time came when we start to 2500 food parcels a day. So we done about more than 100,000 food parcels in the very first lockdown. - But nothing could have prepared the Sikhs for this latest lockdown. - So, once this lockdown start, and we prepared 2000 food parcels, but we were not aware that the demand is that grown. So, approximately 5000 peoples came on the road with their cars to taking the food parcels. So then I actually called the police to please come and help us. - Peppa and her family were caught up in the chaos that day. - I was devastated. I asked one of the Sikh guys, I said, 'What happened?' And they said, 'Oh, the police have shut us down. 'You'll just have to go home and wait.' I asked the police lady, I said, 'What's going on? 'Why are you doing this?' And they said, 'Oh, there's too much traffic...' - The Sikhs had to do something fast, so they got organised. - So, I'm sending you a text message. Just show the text on the gate and then you can collect your parcel. - (SINGS IN PUNJABI) - A booking system was started so people could order a food parcel online and a time to collect it in safety. Today, 500 families have made appointments... - Hello! - ...including Peppa. Peppa? - Yeah. - You've just got your box. How is this going to help your family? - A lot. - Yeah? - It's gonna go a few days. - Yeah? - Yeah. - Gonna help quite a lot? - Yeah, it will do. - Hungry, boys, eh? - CHUCKLES: Oh, yeah. Definitely hungry boys. - But Daljit is expecting even more to show up. Your phone must be going crazy. - It's all day and night. In one single night, I have received 325 text message, 275 emails ` people asking for food. - The food, money and the resources needed are enormous. So, we've got an example box here. Can you tell me what's in these boxes? - Yeah. Each boxes actually have at least 12 to 13 items. So we have, actually, loaf of bread... and the one 2-litre fresh milk. - Fresh milk's important. - Must be with every food parcels. These are items like these salads, and then we have a lettuce and, um, a bananas and, um, carrots. Apples... - Wow. Where is the food coming from? - We have people in the group from... Sikh growers who are in Te Puke ` they bring in kiwifruit; and same in Napier ` we have friends who helping us with the apples. We have very generous grower in Pukepuke who's also Sikh ` been helping us get cucumbers from day one. - And it's not just food. The Sikhs have partnered up with a local pharmacy for vaccinations too. How many vaccinations have you`? - So far we've done about 200. - 200 people? - Yeah. Since we've started at 10 o'clock. - I think, like, you know, working with the ethnic communities is about easy access ` that people can come to a place that they trust and they know well. - So, where is the government in all this? Do you think it's acceptable that any Kiwi should be struggling to put food on the table in a lockdown? - No, it is not acceptable. - 'Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Associate Minister of Social Development.' - The Food Network working with a number of food hubs that know how to reach their communities, we feel, is a good way to get food to those who need it. - Are you doing enough to support those communities in need? And could you do more? - We are constantly reviewing the situation. MSD, I know, is in contact with a number of those food organisations ` you know, food hubs, as the Food Network calls them ` of which the Supreme Sikh Society is one. And they have been funded through the Food Network, which, of course, as I mentioned, is supported by MSD funding. So from what we're hearing, there is a surge in demand. We are aware of that. - That demand is so high ` is that an indicator to you that something is seriously wrong with the system? - We're doing everything we can to ensure that we meet that demand, and as I mentioned, we are reviewing it and will look to see if there's further support that's needed. - But for the families lining up in Takanini, support is needed right now. Luckily for them, the Sikhs are there to fill the gap. - To... To serving the country. It's something making us feeling proud. - OK! - And whenever New Zealand need us, we will be there. - And food anxiety is something that's being experienced across the country. If you need help, the Ministry of Social Development says to call their 0800 number; and if you want to donate to the Takanini gurdwara, details are on our Facebook page. Well, next ` the start-up founder in a bizarre tale of blood, lies and money. - # No, no, no, no, you can't touch this. - Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. - She tried to, essentially, take an entire pathology lab and squish it into a little black box. - This new revolutionary device, it wasn't actually in existence. - Elizabeth Holmes and her $9 billion lie. - You can realise great things. - She had no knowledge of medicine and a rudimentary knowledge of engineering, and she was 19. * Hoki mai ano. She was just 19 when she promised the world a medical revolution; investors rallied to her cause ` Elizabeth Holmes and her miracle machine, Theranos. Just testing a single drop of blood, she claimed, could prevent serious disease. In a flash, this college dropout became the toast of Silicon Valley, its first female billionaire. Problem was, as Tara Brown reports, Elizabeth Holmes' invention was all a fake. - # Can't touch this. (CHEERING) # Can't touch this. - TARA: It was more a religion than a company... - # Can't touch this. - ...and as CEO and founder of Silicon Valley's superstar start-up Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes was the messiah. - # ...makes me say, 'Oh my Lord!' - ELIZABETH HOLMES: 'Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. 'Impossible is potential; impossible is temporary; 'impossible is nothing.' - # Can't touch this. - It's finding what you're born to do. And when you really give everything to that, then you can realise great things. - Holmes was making the greatest promise of all ` that she could save lives through a revolutionary blood-testing device she had created and which she would make available to all through supermarkets and pharmacies. - Theranos means... being able to see the onset of disease in time to be able to do something about it. - I'd like to welcome Elizabeth Holmes. - The real treat ` the incredible Elizabeth Holmes. - # No, no, no, no, you can't touch this. # - California's Silicon Valley ` and some of the richest people in the world ` bought the dream... - There are people in this world who revolutionise our lives ` Coco Chanel, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Walt Disney... and Elizabeth Holmes. Mark my words. - Nice to meet you. - ...turning Theranos into a staggering $9 billion juggernaut and making Holmes the Tech Valley's first self-made female billionaire. - You founded this company 12 years ago, right? - Yeah. - Tell 'em how old you were. - CHUCKLES: I was 19. (APPLAUSE) - Celebrity commentators and cashed-up investors couldn't get enough of this new kid on the block. - In Silicon Valley, she was the new darling, and a lot of that was because she was a woman entrepreneur, which is a very popular thing ` it's been a man's world, you know, for so long. She would wear black turtlenecks like Steve Jobs and sold her little tale, and, uh, everybody bought it. For a while. - The revolution promised by Elizabeth Holmes was to put preventative health care at our fingertips ` quite literally. All it would take would be one tiny drop of blood from a finger prick, from which to run hundreds of blood tests using a groundbreaking miniaturised testing device, which would deliver more reliable, faster and cheaper results. - People don't like big needles being stuck into their arm. Uh... Part of it` - You're one of those people, right? - CHUCKLES: Uh, deeply so, yes. - (LAUGHS) - Elizabeth's machine would wipe out the traditional way of doing things ` larger volumes of blood drawn from the arm by big needles and costly and time-consuming lab analysis. The mission was to enable everyone to get blood tests as frequently as once a month to build a personal health profile and to catch diseases like cancer at their earliest. - People don't even know that they have... a basic human right to be able to get access to information about themselves and their own bodies that can... change their lives. - But, as whistle-blowers would expose, the Elizabeth Holmes revolution turned out to be an extraordinary fraud, a lie that put lives in jeopardy... Were you ever asked to falsify data or destroy data? - 'Oh, just` just get rid of these tests that you've run.' - ...wiped out nearly $1 billion of investors' money... - There was no money to be had. It all just evaporated. - Any comment at all to the investors? - ...and may well end with Holmes behind bars for up to 20 years. - Ms Holmes, please raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? - I do. - How would you describe the rise and rise and then the fall of Elizabeth Holmes? - Well, I think it is a commentary on Silicon Valley's culture. There's so much hyping, so much exaggerating in this culture that, you know, young entrepreneurs are, basically, bred to behave this way. - And, as investigative journalist John Carreyrou found, there were plenty of people in the room willing to drink the Kool-Aid, all hoping to crack the unicorn club, the billion-dollar start-ups emerging in Silicon Valley at the time. - This was the unicorn boom, and this was 2015, and things were getting really frothy in Silicon Valley, and people didn't want to miss the next Facebook. And a lot of people wanted it to get on board this next rocketship to riches. - When she first interviewed me, I have to say I was a bit starstruck. - Science graduate Erika Cheung was not out to get rich; she just wanted a job, and Theranos, with earnest Elizabeth Holmes at the helm, was the dream pick. - I was really enthusiastic, as a young scientist, to... to work for a company that seemed to have a compelling vision and... and a strong leader who seemed to back it as well. - But Erika was shocked to find the Theranos dream was, in fact, a fairy tale peddled by Holmes and chief operating officer Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani, Elizabeth's boyfriend at the time. For all the excitement, the little black box simply did not work. It could not do what the pair claimed. - The reality of working at Theranos was that... a lot of the things that were being said about the company were not actually what was going on behind closed doors. This new revolutionary device, it wasn't actually in existence. It hadn't quite been built yet. - Worse, they were using a jerry-rigged version of the machine to run patients' blood tests. The results were often false or misleading, but this too was hidden from an unsuspecting public, despite the significant health risks. - I just wanted people to know that they were leveraging this faulty device to tests on patients, and that needed to be stopped. - Rumours of Theranos' bad practice were circulating, but it was journalist John Carreyrou, from The Wall Street Journal, who would be the first to start investigating after a tip-off from a sceptical pathologist. - Things, you know, began to come into focus for me, and` and I realised that, you know, this was not just a business fraud and a corporate fraud but, potentially, a fraud that had big implications for the public health. And so I thought, 'Well, this is a big story.' - This used to be my advisers' office. We got in. (LAUGHS) - At just 19 ` and after just two semesters studying chemical engineering ` Holmes dropped out of university to become a medical technology entrepreneur. - Another few classes in chemical engineering (CHUCKLES) was not necessary for what I wanted to do. - One of the first to hear her future business plans was Stanford University Professor of Medicine Dr Phyllis Gardner. Unlike most who encountered Holmes, Dr Gardner was not impressed. Did Elizabeth Holmes always have big dreams, in your opinion? - Well, absolutely. Her ambition was over the top, and unfortunately, the person who twice introduced her to me said, 'She's just brilliant. She's brilliant.' And when you're surrounded by Nobel laureates, you take that with a grain of salt. A boulder of salt. She had no knowledge of medicine and a rudimentary knowledge of engineering, and she was 19. And she really didn't want any expertise; she thought she knew it all. Well, you don't at 19. I'm sorry. (APPLAUSE) - But right from the start, Elizabeth Holmes knew the power of PR. - I believe the individual... is the answer to the challenges of healthcare. - She didn't bother proving her so-called groundbreaking blood-testing device could do all she promised through peer reviews or releasing extensive data. - Let's take these tests and... make them accessible. - Instead, she gathered a war council to her board, revelling in their fame and credibility. - So, it includes three former US Cabinet secretaries, two former US senators, a retired Navy admiral and a retired Marine Corps general, including George Shultz, Henry Kissinger. How did you make that happen? (LAUGHTER) - (CHUCKLES) - The Board was George Shultz, Jim Mattis, Henry Kissinger and a bunch of four-star generals, and someone said, 'This is, like, a board that's gonna take over the world.' And, uh` But what does it have to do with medical advancements? Nothing. And so... everyone was duped. Silicon Valley really had egg on its face over this thing. - But initially, like so many, small-time investor Eileen Lepera was impressed after she was advised to sink a hard-earned $100,000 into Theranos. Was there something about the nature of what Elizabeth Holmes was hoping to do, promising to do, that attracted you to this type of investment? Was there anything altruistic about it? - Uh, not for me. I was lookin' to make money. (LAUGHS) But I worked for a venture capitalist at the time, and, um, he said it would be... equivalent to Apple and to get as many shares as I could. - No matter there was no evidence; the money flowing into Theranos was huge ` almost $1 billion. At one time, Rupert Murdoch was the single biggest investor, buying $125 million worth of shares. Coincidentally, as the proprietor of The Wall Street Journal, he was also investigative journalist John Carreyrou's boss at the time Carreyrou exposed Holmes' spin as lies. To invest that sort of money without any real data, any peer reviews ` I mean, did that surprise you? - As it relates to Murdoch, he kind of operates from the gut. Um... Uh, and mostly he's been right. As for the other investors ` certainly, you know, they should have done more due diligence. I think it was a deliberate choice of Elizabeth's to focus on what I would call, uncharitably, the dumb money ` the billionaires and their family offices ` as opposed to the sophisticated Silicon Valley venture funds, who` I don't think they would have fallen for the same lies. - What do you think of the investors who lined up to give her nearly $1 billion worth of money? - Older white men. Right? I'm tellin' you ` I've said it ` brains goin' south. - They weren't thinking with their brains is what you're saying. - Uh-huh. (LAUGHS) I don't know. And they believed her! And she could be charming. She could be, I'm sure. She just didn't charm me, but she could be charming to older men. - Well, next ` how the great con came undone. - As a scientist, feel like shouting, 'The Emperor's not wearing any clothes.' - The devices were so unreliable that you really couldn't trust it. - If you'd followed the Theranos model, you would've been on medication for a disease you don't have. - Yes. (UNEASY MUSIC) - Founder and CEO of start-up company Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, was promising to make possible the impossible in the name of preventative medicine. - The issue comes that she tried to, essentially, take an entire pathology lab and squish it into a little black box and promised to be able to do all those tests all the time for people. And... it takes years and years to develop a single one of those tests up to the standard where it can be accurate. So it was... You know, 'ambitious' doesn't quite capture it, but it was incredibly ambitious. - Medical scientist Dr Darren Saunders from Sydney University has keenly followed the rise of Elizabeth Holmes and her promise that this mini lab could run hundreds of blood tests off just one drop of blood. His expertise in the field made him incredulous right from the start. - Over the last 11 years, we've reinvented the traditional laboratory infrastructure. - It's quite a weird thing to watch happen, because you feel like shouting, 'The Emperor's not wearing any clothes,' right? And as a scientist, it was` I think 'frustrating' is the word I'd use. Incredibly frustrating. Cos you felt like taking these people aside and going, 'Look, there's nothing going on here. 'Why are you spending so much money on something that there's no proof that it exists?' - That was the phrase I always used. It was exactly that ` 'The Emperor has no clothes.' And... that is the perfect metaphor for what it was like. - Across the world, Dr Phyllis Gardner was equally disturbed. As a professor at Stanford University, she knew Elizabeth Holmes as a student there... - Up until that point, the way that they'd had to draw blood is... - ...before she famously dropped out and acquired the Steve Jobs attire ` - Um, so dehumanising that, um... it's an incredibly emotional process, so... - and before her voice changed. - DEEP VOICE: Well, it's wonderful to be here. I started this company because... - And what about the deep voice? Did she have the deep voice when you were dealing with her? - No. I was shocked when I heard her voice, cos I'd met her before. I certainly` That is a voice you don't forget. In a woman. DEEP VOICE: Oh. Hello. - (LAUGHS) - HUSKILY: Yes. - The right to protect the health and well-being... - Carefully crafted or otherwise, corporations were lining up to embrace Elizabeth Holmes. Her success was sealed when, in 2013, in a multimillion-dollar deal, Theranos was launched in pharmacy chain Walgreens. - We have an operational plan that will allow us to become within five miles of every person's home through the Walgreens that we've opened and are continuing to open nationally. - It was all about access and ease. Customers could get an in-store blood test off a simple finger prick, which would cost next to nothing. They'd even get the results back within four hours. That was the promise. The truth was another matter, according to former Theranos lab associate Erika Cheung. - You know, this thing that was supposed to be five would all of a all of a sudden show up to be... 60, and then you would run it and it would show up to be, you know, four. And it was just` the degree of inaccuracy was just way too high to be acceptable to start running on patients. - So, I got my Theranos test done on like 29th of July, and then 31st of July, I got a test done by another lab, and it was different. - Unaware of the wildly unreliable results, Pallav Sharda, himself a physician turned medical technology entrepreneur, went to Walgreens for a Theranos blood test. The results were surprisingly bad for this health-conscious medico. They showed he was prediabetic. Luckily, Pallav's own doctor was suspicious of the diagnosis and ordered another blood test from another lab. - That was the moment when I felt cheated, because I... there was a little bit of a pride hurt (CHUCKLES) because I'm from the industry. - If you had not got a second opinion, a second test, what course of action would you have taken? - At age... 35, I would have been started on anti-diabetic medication. And... no medication is... comes without side effects. So I... I` I get emotional thinking about... how big a deal it was for me. - If you'd followed the Theranos model, you would have been on medication for a disease you don't have. - Yes, absolutely. Uh, this is inexcusable. Now and forever. - Was it a fact that there were illnesses that might not have been picked up, that there were people who might have been suffering from life-threatening diseases and they just didn't know it because they got a false result? - Yeah. The devices were so unreliable that you really couldn't trust it with any test. - The groundbreaking Theranos technology was a charade. Instead, Theranos was secretly using traditional commercially available blood analysers. Because those machines require larger amounts of blood to run their tests, staff were ordered to dilute the small blood samples collected by fingerprick, rendering those results unsafe. - They were doing the tests on standard equipment, and they were diluting the blood, which invalidates a lot of the results. So I knew there was fraud going on, and I` (SIGHS) from very early on. - But still the marketing myth continued. - And you make a decision to do something, you do it, and that's it. - A previously nonexistent lab was created, filled with as many of the black boxes as the company could find. Then Vice President Joe Biden was invited to inspect... - This is, sort of, the laboratory of the future. - ...unaware the devices didn't work and that he, along with the world, was being conned. To learn that she created a fake lab to show Joe Biden... I mean, what an audacious act of deception. - Well, she was audacious. I would grant you that. In everything she did. I do think there's some... this is my opinion ` that there's some sociopathy involved. And the ability to... lie, and without caring, is not normal. From my perspective. As a medical doctor. - She was trying to overpromise and then hope that her engineers and her biochemists would catch up and that when they eventually did and that her machine worked, no one would be the wiser. The problem is she was nowhere near ready. - Elizabeth Holmes was revered as the superwoman scientist come to rescue and revolutionise the US health system. But the true heroes of the Theranos tale are the courageous whistle-blowers who helped investigative journalist John Carreyrou, from The Wall Street Journal, expose the sham. Off their testimonies, he went on to write the award-winning Bad Blood, and he's hosting a podcast called Bad Blood: The Final Chapter. These are people who wanted to do good. These are people who couldn't sleep at night because they were worried that patients were relying on false results. - Right. - Did that strike you as well? - They couldn't in good conscience continue to not say anything. They felt the need to speak up. And they felt that lives were in danger and that the longer this went on, the worse it would get. - Erika Cheung was one such hero. When her concerns were ignored by Theranos, she left in disgust but still feared for its customers. Erika alerted regulators to what was going on behind closed doors. You were being extraordinarily brave. - Yes` - You clearly felt compelled to get someone else in. - Yes. Even though it was scary and it was nerve-racking, and at that time, Theranos was... at least threatening to sue me, and they were following me to sort of intimidate me to not speak up against them... It's just that they needed to stop doing this thing. Right? They needed to stop testing on patients. And... that the truth needed to be uncovered. - This is what happens when you work to change things, and... First they think you're crazy, then they fight you, and then all of a sudden, you change the world. - Elizabeth Holmes came out fighting, but regulators acted against her, closing down Theranos laboratories and banning medical testing after they found massive fraud that put patients in serious jeopardy. The company, once valued at $9 billion, was now worth zero. - And that was good, right? Like the mission was finally accomplished. By that point, I was able to finally sleep at night and realise that, you know, my work was done. - # No, no, no, no, you can't touch this. # - In further legal action, Elizabeth and ex-boyfriend Sunny Balwani are now in the midst of a delayed criminal trial for defrauding investors, patients and doctors and could be jailed for up to 20 years if convicted. Holmes' trial has been pushed back to the end of this month, first by COVID and then news she was expecting her first child, due any day. - To get pregnant... when you're undergoing a trial... is the height of irresponsibility, in my mind. What about the baby? - Well, do you think this was a planned pregnancy, or do you think it was an accident? - I definitely think it was. I mean, I was predicting it, because it's the best way to garner sympathy to try to keep yourself out of prison. - I think she needs to go to prison for a while. I think 25 years sounds good. (LAUGHS) - Those closest to the Theranos dream, including investor Eileen Lepera, still believe Elizabeth Holmes should face the harshest sanctions ` because, beyond money, so much was at stake. - Everybody knows it was all a sham. So why would you get a slap on the wrist? You know, if it was just money, that's one thing; but it's people's lives, their medical situations. That's not OK with anybody. - Yes. So, Elizabeth Holmes is accused of 12 counts of federal fraud. A jury was selected last week, and the criminal trial will begin in California tomorrow. It's expected to carry on for months. If found guilty, Elizabeth Holmes could face up to 20 years in prison. Well, next ` when it's OK to haka and when it's just not. (SCREAMING) - That noise... - (SCREAMING CONTINUES) - A pack of arseholes. - (LAUGHS) Are you saying that non-Maori... can't haka? - Not saying that, but, like, do it professionally and not like... mocking. * Nau mai ano. As a country, we're proud of the haka and what it means for our national identity. Let's be honest ` it hasn't always been respected here. That battle's been hard won, but it's still being fought on the global front. You know those viral videos of people around the world butchering the haka, reducing it to a joke? Well, self-described cultural warden JP is here to sort things out. When, he asks, is it OK to haka? - (EXHALES HEAVILY) 'Ring-a-taka'! Hi! Ka mate, ka mate! 'Kora', 'kora'. Ka mate, ka mate... - (LAUGHS) - ...tenei te tangata. (ROARS) - (PUKANAS) - Hey! - ALL: 'Ka mati', 'ka mati', 'ka mati', hey! - This is the message we preach to afar! - (ALL SING GIBBERISH) - SHRIEKS: - (CHUCKLES) I just stopped it. - Oh, did you? - Yeah. Like, I was like, 'Ugh, shut up! (PENSIVE MUSIC) As Maori, we feel protective of our haka. We get why non-Maori love it, but I need to investigate how other Maori feel about these cringey renditions. Kia ora, tamariki ma. - KIDS: Kia ora. - So, we all know about the All Blacks, and they're all mean as at the haka. - KIDS: Yep. - But there's some European brothers and sisters and... they're not doing it right. I was wanting to show you guys a video of them. - OK. - MEN ROAR: Ah! Ah! Ah! Ahhh! (ROARING CONTINUES) - Ah! Ah! - (INDISTINCT SHOUTING) - What did you think of that one? - I thought it was terrible. - Yeah? - That's my only one word is... ter-ri-ble. - Yeah. Are you saying that non-Maori... can't haka? - Nah. - Not saying that, but, like, do it professionally and not like mocking. - Come to New Zealand and, like, just do... actual professional training. - Yep. - From the actual Maori. - Yep. Oh, mean. Yeah, I think that too. - (QUIET FART, MUFFLED GIGGLING) - What just happened? - (GIGGLING CONTINUES) - (LAUGHS) - Was it a patero? - Think he shat his pants. (LAUGHS) - (ALL LAUGH) - (GAGS) - There is something in the air, and I think it might be cultural appropriation. Kia ora, bro. - How's the cultural policing going? - Oh, well, I'm just investigating a serious case at the moment. Would you like to take a look at these videos? - Yeah, sure thing. - Yep. (DRUNKEN YELLING) - Bleeeeugh! - 'Ko-minny', 'ko-minny'! - (MEN GRUNT, LAUGH) - Haaaaa! - (HISSING NOISES, TONGUE WAGGLING) What do you think of that one? - I don't even know if that can be called a haka. - It's kaka? - Yeah. - Yeah. - Kaka haka. - Yeah. It was a kaka haka, all right. - Just kaka kaka, cos we don't want them to have the 'haka' word, eh? - Yeah, the whole thing. Yeah, just kaka kaka. - Kaka kaka. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. And what did you think about the... the woman doing the pukana? She was poking her tongue out. - Oh, yeah, that's different. Um, whetero is for the... the tane. Warriors used to use it as a taunt to their enemies to say they can't wait to eat them. It's over. - Cannibalism. - Yeah. - Yeah? - Well... It's` Yeah. - Taste the blood. - Hard. - That's pretty ruthless, eh? - Miti, yeah. - Yeah. I should contact them. Yeah. - Yeah, you should contact them. And then you teach it. - Mate, I don't know` Oh, well, I wouldn't be the right person to teach them, but I can send them an email, yeah. - Yeah, cool. - Mean. - Cool. - Send. - (MESSAGE WHOOSHES) Have we lost our sense of humour or do we need some hard truths? This kaumatua doesn't mince his words. (INDISTINCT SHOUTING) (ALL CHANT GIBBERISH) (YELLING, GROWLING) That noise... - (GROWLING CONTINUES) (AUDIO PAUSES) - A pack of arseholes. - (LAUGHS) - (SCOFFS) That is culturally insensitive, bro. You know, when you get the people around the world doing that ` yeah, nah. They're good when you see it, eh? - Yeah. - True. - Sort of... Sort of rarks you up inside, eh? - Oh, yeah, rarks you up. Yeah, it does rark you up, yeah. Yeah. Now, if we did that at the` their French anthems, yeah, they would` what they'd think about it if we made fun of that, eh? - Yeah, yeah. How would they feel? - Because haka can be for many things, eh? A haka can be for getting you into battle. - Yeah. - A haka can be for sadness that someone's passed. If people don't know what they're saying or what they're doing, then they shouldn't do it. - It's real dongi, eh? - CHUCKLES: Yeah. What does 'dongi' mean, bro? - Oh, means 'dopey'. - (LAUGHS) - Yeah, stupid. - Or words that` 'Dopey'. It's stupid, yeah. - Yeah. It's not a Maori word, though, 'dongi'. - Nah. Nah. - No D in the... - Yeah, true. - ...Reo. (COWS MOO) I like your horns, bro. Phew-ee. And the smell. SHUDDERS: Ugh. If it looks like kaka, you can guarantee it smells like kaka. This is Roimata. There are two things she is real passionate about ` cows and protecting cultural identity. Still loading. - We're in the wops, cuzzie. It's not gonna load. It's no Wi-Fi out here, cuz. Let me just put my satellite on. Nah. (LAUGHS) - It's, um... (CHUCKLES) - (COWS MOO) - Oh, it's not picking it up. Isn't it flattering to be copied, you know? - Yeah, it is` it is flattering to be acknowledged around the world, but we don't go and make a pancake if we don't know how to make a pancake. You know? We do a bit of research and find the ingredient. That's all it takes. - I like your korero. So, why do we haka? - To teach our tamariki so that our matauranga stays intact and we're still passing down those generational... those generational lessons that just pass on down to us. - Yep. - But first and foremost, our haka, we do it because we're Maori. - Yep. - And we do that to represent who we are as a people and as a nation. And those are big things for us. - Yeah. - And to see someone else from somewhere else not knowing those aspects and just having a laugh about it, it kind of hurts a little bit. - (SPLATTERING) - So, whanau, we have to take some responsibility to protect our haka. That means next time you see a haka that makes you unhappy, call it out and make them accountable. Cultural appropriation is not OK. OK? - # A ringa ringa pakia! # Waewae takahia! Kia kino nei hoki! # A kia kino nei... - # ...hoki! # A ka mate! Ka mate! # Ka ora! Ka ora! - # Ka mate, mate ka ora ka! - KIDS: # Tenei te tangata # puhuruhuru... # ...nana nei i tiki mai, # whakawhiti te ra! - # A upane! # A kaupane! # A hupane! Kaupane! - # Whiti te ra! # Hi! # (PUKANAS) - And the haka Ka Mate was composed by Te Rauparaha, who was the chief of Ngati Toa Rangatira. This story was directed by Corinna Hunziker and produced by Justin Scott. Loading Docs is made with the support of New Zealand On Air, along with the New Zealand Film Commission and Te Mangai Paho. And we'll see you again in a moment. * Hello again. Hope you enjoyed our show this evening. You are welcome to share your thoughts on social media ` Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, SundayTVNZ. We do love to hear from you. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next Sunday. Nga mihi nui, hei kona.