tv Our World BBC News May 4, 2022 3:30am-4:01am BST
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this is bbc news. the headlines: the senate majority leader in the us, chuck schumer, says he plans to hold a vote as early as next week on enshrining the right to an abortion into federal law. it follows the leaking of a draft supreme court ruling, showing it plans to scrap the legal right to terminate a pregnancy. the ukrainian city of lviv has been hit by a number of missiles — the first strikes in the west of the country in more than a week. donald trump's hold over the republican party has passed its first big test in the state of ohio where the candidate he backed won the primary in ohio.
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russia's bombardment of a steelworks in the besieged city of mariupol in the south—east of the country has intensified, after more than 100 ukrainian civilians were able to flee and reach safety. the un says most are now in the city of zaporizhzhia. now on bbc news, last year, san francisco had twice as many deaths from drug overdoses as covid. for our world, james clayton meets rough sleepers, politicians, charities and the keepers of law and order, to tell the story of how one of america's most beloved cities is having a crisis of confidence. a warning this programme contains images some viewers may find distressing. san francisco is one of the richest cities in the world. but below its gleaming buildings lies a humanitarian disaster. can i ask what you're smoking, sir? fe nta nyl.
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is every day, on average, two people die from a drug overdose here. this a the mayor has declared a state of emergency. what's it like living here? er, lawless. the people in power clash on the solution to the crisis. sense for me, it's really about tough love — it's about being aggressive. he doubling down on a failed war on drugs is never- going to solve those problems. meanwhile, some worry that time is running out. my greatest fear is that he's going to die. wa nts so what will it take to clean up this city? my name is james clayton. i'm the bbc�*s technology correspondent in silicon valley, and i normally report on tech. but when you live here,
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there's another story in town — one that is far more in yourface — drug addiction and homelessness. last year, an incredible statistic was published. we have had, you know, more overdose deaths in one year than we did of covid deaths in our city. it's an extraordinary figure, isn't it? yes. when you think about it, that's, that's a state of emergency. in december, mayor london breed called for a state of emergency in a notorious district, called the tenderloin. this is the start of the tenderloin in san francisco. it's in the heart of the city, and it's not that big an area — it's about ten blocks by ten blocks that way.
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but for decades, the city's problems have been funnelled into this area. filming in the tenderloin is incredibly difficult. so we decided to explore the tenderloin with a team that's working to clean up the area. we've been told it's simply too dangerous to bring our cameras here, so we are filming on our phones. black market... artie works for a charity called urban alchemy. one thing about urban alchemy, we're about cleanliness. that's what we identify, that's our model that we started off years ago. there is a lot of open drug use. i mean, it'sjust happening literally right now, right here.
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urban alchemy aims to get drug dealers off the street and helps addicts find a way to drug services. good morning, good morning. you ok? we about to come through and clean up, ok? who want more coffee? let's go. how you doing, brother? we immediately came across a street with so many people doing fentanyl it was hard to get by. ok, alright, you need some coffee or something? come on, let's get up, let's go get some coffee. come on. can i ask what you're smoking, sir? can i ask what you're smoking? fe nta nyl. high quality. the local dealers had delivered the fentanyl about half—an—hour before we arrived. some were openly taking it on the street, seemingly unworried about the police. there you go. seeing this first—hand is pretty shocking. he trying to make it up. there you go. you got it, bro?
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so fentanyl�*s been knocking out other drugs on the street? so it used to be heroin, crack, meth, and it is all becoming fentanyl? yeah. fentanyl was developed as a pain medication. its use as a recreational drug has exploded due to its low cost. it's 100 times stronger than morphine and even a tiny quantity kill. yeah, this is like this every day, every day. there's evidence of drug use everywhere. there you go, one that's been used — two, three — these are $4 needles — three, four, five, six. here's a bag of needles. here's a needle right here. i mean, anyone could, i mean, a kid... a kid could walk right by here, and come to grab their toy on the side and get poked right by that needle. if i see someone who's, you know, doing drugs or something while i'm taking my kids to school,
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we have to say, "kids coming through!" it comes to a point where we sometimes feel angry about it, like sometimes ijust want to walk up to them and kick it out of their hands. walking around, it's clear that san francisco doesn'tjust have a drugs problem, it has a public health crisis, too. excuse me, is your foot ok? i've just noticed that this gentleman's foot is very swollen. he's getting help? so what — what's happened to his foot? his foot looks terrible. looked terrible, terrible, yeah, so it looks like it's infected. he don't want no medical care for that right now. as we were filming, a woman approached us. hey, do you guys know- where we can get any free tents at around here? free tents? beth and her partner, jay, have been in san francisco
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for about a year. so were you doing fentanyl, like, today? every day. every day, yeah. really? mm—hm. and what's it — what's that like? it's not good stuff. it's terrible. i'm sick all the time. how did you get into fentanyl, can i ask? pain pills. years ago, i was put on pain pills for my knee. i dislocated my knee on the job, and i took pain pills and then coming off the pain pills, theyjust stopped them, i got sick. so how would you take fentanyl? is it — do you smoke it? intravenous. my arm's a little bad at the moment. missed a couple of shots. is that swollen from... that's swollen from fentanyl, yeah. it's horrible, man. what is it like living here? lawless. completely lawless. this is anarchy. yeah. the police don't care about anything — nothing at all. if you are not harming them in some way, you're not getting arrested. the drugs, theyjust go ahead and keep them and walk away.
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tucker carlson: san francisco is falling apart. _ the right—wing media in the us has become obsessed with san francisco. the tenderloin, i didn't think it would, but it's actually gotten worse. the city is covered in filth - and homeless encampments. to many republicans, the city is a sign of everything that's wrong with the left — a town ruined by liberal drug laws and a relaxed attitude to crime. and the figurehead for that is this man, democrat chesa boudin, the elected district attorney for san francisco. boudin is a yale—educated - public defender who has never prosecuted a case. fox news has mentioned your name more than 1,000 times in recent contact in the last year. it sounds like you're paying more attention to fox news than i am — and my sympathies for that. chesa boudin is a radical, part of a wave of liberal das elected in cities across america. he's responsible for which crimes get prosecuted.
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his detractors say he simply doesn't prosecute enough and that he's soft on crime. this is an issue we can't prosecute our way out of. the history of the war on drugs tells us that. we need real investments in housing, in treatment on demand, on mental health services, on harm reduction, and doubling down on a failed war on drugs is not going to solve those problems. but these liberal attitudes aren'tjust being challenged from the right. in december, the democrat mayor of san francisco made a spectacular u—turn on previous progressive policies. it is time for it to come to an end. and it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement and less tolerant of all the bullshit that has destroyed our city. for london breed, this is deeply personal — her 25—year—old sister
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died of an overdose in the tenderloin. as part of the state of emergency she announced, she wants tough love, more police, less tolerance of drugs and crime. i think you said you're tired of the bullshit. i am tired of it. we have services. we provide food. we provide programmes. we try to get people into shelter and housing and all of these things, but that does not mean that it is ok for you to shoot up out in the public, for you to sell drugs out in the open, so i think that, just, you know, the fact that these incidents have gone up considerably is what is very problematic in our city, and so i think it's to say, ok, we are compassionate, but, at the same time, we're not going to tolerate certain things that have gone on for far too long. these two democrat politicians are the most important in the city, and yet they simply don't agree on how
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to solve san francisco's problems. i am travelling over the bay bridge to oakland, to meet someone whose life has been turned upside down by drugs. i'm worried that he's going to overdose. i'm worried that he's going to die. jacqui's son corey is living on the streets of san francisco. there is a beautiful human being inside this addict. a really sensitive, kind—hearted soul who feels completely trapped. it wasn't always like this. growing up, he was a happy child. he self—taught himself to play guitar, he played the saxophone in the marching band in high school. he did start having some troubles with anxiety. he started dabbling in marijuana.
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just after high school, he met his first girlfriend. she was a really sweet girl, but she had addiction issues. went downhill from there. corey has been addicted to drugs for ten years. jacqui isn't in touch with him regularly. when i was scrolling through facebook one day, there was a post and it was someone passed out with a pipe next to them, and i looked closely, thinking this person looked familiar. i started reading the comments, and people were saying horrible things about this passed—out addict, and i realised it was my son. i tried to, for a couple of hours, just ignore it, and itjust really bothered me, so i went back on there and i said, "this is my son. "he is notjust a bum on the street. "he has a family that loves him. "and he actually has
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a kind heart, he'sjust very, very sick." jacqui blames, in part, the city government for what has happened to her son. san francisco has made it incredibly easy for my son to remain an addict. they almost enable him and normalise his addiction. everything that he needs to stay addicted is given to him. everyone is in agreement that people like corey need help, but what they don't agree on is how to help. the tenderloin has a network of charities who support people who are homeless and have addiction issues. this is perhaps the most well—known. it's called glide.
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the charity feeds hundreds of people every day. it also gives addicts everything they need to use drugs safely, bar the drugs. do you want any narcan or a sharps container? i'll take a medium sharps container. nicos is giving out the supplies. yeah, so these are fenta nyl test strips. we have syringes or points for safer injection supplies. we have our alcohol pads so if you are injecting, you're going to want to make sure you clean the site, make sure it's disinfected. and then our tourniquets. there will be some people who will be looking at all of this and saying rather than harm reduction, you are encouraging people to take risks. you are giving them everything that they would need to take drugs, other than the drugs. yeah, to that i would simply ask, do you think giving
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someone condoms for safer sex encourages them to have sex or allows for safer sex to happen? it's a very similar thing. we know people are using substances. if they're going to use, we might as well encourage them to use in a safe way. you do see a lot of needles around. we spoke to one mum, she said she was concerned about her kids. is that something that you think about when you're giving people syringes? if there are syringes on the streets, then perhaps we should be providing more shelter beds, more shelters, affordable housing, more bio containers available on the streets for people. but jacqui doesn't agree. i do believe in some harm reduction but i don't believe in allowing open—air drug scenes where people are selling openly on the streets. do you think it's too liberal? it's way too liberal. it's way too free, way too liberal. do you think that corey should, i don't want to say the word "forced", but do you think there should there be something... yes, i would like them to arrest my son. would you? i would, yeah. this problem ends today, i
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notjust in san francisco... chesa boudin thinks that prison should only be used as a last resort. his viewpoint is informed by the experience of his parents. both were given life sentences for murder when he was a small child. but many have say he doesn't prosecute enough, including mayor london breed. we have differences of opinion. i can only speak for myself based on my conversations with him because we do still communicate, and part of my conversations is, "what about the person who was attacked, what happened to them? what are you going to do? are you going to prosecute that person for what they did?" so have those conversations? oh, definitely. all the time? definitely. but chesa boudin says he's prosecuted at a higher rate than his predecessors, and critics of london breed say
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she has flip—flopped on crime and drugs in san francisco. in 2020 she defunded the police here. london breed publicly called for defunding the police after george floyd was killed. i never took that position. i was very surprised, frankly, to see london breed publicly call for moving more than $100 million out of the police budget into other areas of the budget. we can't prosecute crime unless police make arrests. whether we need more law enforcement... we need more effective law enforcement, to be sure. arrest rates in san francisco are at decades—low. london breed is now trying to give the police more support in areas like the tenderloin. one of the things that you're doing right now is you've increased the budget for police in the tenderloin. a year and a half ago, after george floyd's murder, you reduced the budget. do you regret doing that now? i don't regret doing that because when we reduced the budget and took resources from the san francisco police department and other law enforcement agencies in san francisco to divert that to the african—american community, we were making a powerful statement. we didn't cut any police officers.
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these are two democrats, remember. they're supposed to be on the same team. and while the two politicians disagree, jacqui worries that time is running out for her son, corey. i know that he's overdosed before, and been revived with narcan, sojust one little mistake... jacqui hasn't seen or heard from corey in two months. she's come to the tenderloin to try and find him. they've been moving the dealers around, so those are dealers over there. i don't see him over there. let's go this way. i'm looking for my son today, have you happened to have seen him? he looks familiar. has he been out here for a while? yes, he has been. everyone says that he has really piercing blue eyes, that's the way that you can
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kind of recognise him. yeah, he does, he has really beautiful eyes. he also, sadly, is usually pretty hunched over from the fentanyl. do you want to go down here? yeah. hi, how are you? i'm good. i'm looking for my son, wondering if you might have seen him around. i don't know. we're not having much luck but then, a glimmer of hope. i'm looking for my son who's out here, his name's when�*s the last time you saw him? yesterday. did you see him yesterday? was he here in san francisco? he was here. can you just tell him his mum is out here looking for him next time you see him? is everything 0k? everything's ok, ijust really miss him. he has always been that way.
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with the wheelchair? despite our best efforts, we simply can't find him. so i would really love to see corey get well, to not have to worry every single day that it's going to be his last day. corey is not blameless, my son makes the choices that he does that got him into this position, and he'll be the first to tell you that he made this mistake, so while he has a part to do with it, i think the dealers, i think chesa boudin, i think mayor london breed, i think they all have a hand in it not going well. the story of san francisco is, in many ways, mirrored in cities across america. last year, drug overdose deaths topped 100,000 for the first time, and many democrats disagree on what to do. there is a big spectrum of views represented under the tent of the democratic party and we see some of those disputes play out at
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the local level as well. there is this assumption that all democrats are the same and there are different layers to this, there are different experiences, there are different kinds of people, and i don't think there is anything wrong with disagreements. obviously drug deaths in particular have increased a lot in the last few years. who is responsible for that? i would just say that every elected leader in the city, from me to the da, we are all responsible. and it's important that we all put aside whatever differences we have and do the right thing. this is city hall. it's the home of san franciscan politics. san francisco has always been an extremely wealthy city. it still is. but it has its problems, and until politicians can agree how to solve them, it's
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unlikely much is going to change, not only here, but across other cities in america. jacqui isn't going to give up. if we had found him today, i would have hugged him and kissed him and told him i loved him and then i would ask him if he is ready to try again to get well. san francisco isn't short of good people trying to help. back in the tenderloin, artie managed to find jay and beth a new tent. that's why we do what we do. so good. yeah, so awesome. i won't forget this guy. thanks so much. thank you, guys! they'll at least be able
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to sleep better tonight, hello, there. we've seen plenty of cloud over the past few days. wednesday brings the promise of brighter skies. but with more in the way of sunshine, we could trigger some heavy downpours with the odd rumble of thunder and some lightning mixed in as well. here's the set—up as we move into wednesday, then. we've got these weather fronts
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bringing and patchy outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards, so it does mean that we start the day on a generally cloudy note. there could be a bit of mist and murk and some patchy outbreaks of rain. that is all shifting its way eastwards, so it will brighten up from the west as we go through the day. sunny spells coming through with more in the way of sunshine, could trigger those heavy thundery downpours. parts of eastern scotland, north—east england, and the midlands through to southern and central england seeing those heavy, thundery downpours. of course, not everyone catching one, but if you do see one, it could be heavy. and with more in the way of sunshine, it's going to be warmer highs, around 17 celsius in the south and east. as we move overnight, we'll see those showers fading away. we'll see plenty of clear spells, but turning cloudier across the north and west with some patchy outbreaks of rain. the temperatures not falling too far at all, staying in the single figures. as we move into thursday, here's how the pressure chart looks. high pressure tending to dominate across england and wales. here, we see a good deal of dry and fine weather. we have those weather fronts just topping across the top in the north—west, bringing cloud and outbreaks of rain. we do drag in this milder air from the south—west, so thursday is looking like a warmer day. a good deal of sunshine across england and wales.
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cloudier skies, though, across the north and west with some patchy outbreaks of rain. so, for the north, we are looking at highs of around 13—16 celsius, 16—21, perhaps 22 celsius in the south. friday, we'll see this band of rain pushing its way south. there could be some heavy bursts in there for parts of northern england and the midlands. drier and brighter behind it, and temperatures dropping off a touch here, but still warm in the south and east. highs of 20 degrees celsius. into the weekend, then, and high pressure dominates the weather, so it's looking like a settled picture. we'll see a good deal of dry, fine weather with light winds. so, if we take a quick look at those outlooks, we can see plenty of dry weather through the weekend. there'll be some patchy cloud and sunny spells and temperatures reaching a high of around 21 celsius. bye— bye.
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this is bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories: protests in the united states after a leaked document suggests the supreme court will overturn the law protecting the right to abortion. there's fierce reaction from the camp of the democrats. the us senate majority leader says he'll hold a symbolic vote to put the right to an abortion into federal law. we will vote to protect a woman's right to choose and every american is going to see which side every senator stands on. the man backed by donald trump to run for the us senate, jd vance, wins the republican primary in ohio. in ukraine, safety at last for more than 100 civilians, including children,
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