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>> what they're doing is capitalizing on the dirt cheap prices of homes in cities where the crisis at the heart is. the other turning it into a get rich scheme. >> as blackstone and other private equity firms by over 200,000 rental homes, investment firms are bundling them into new securities. could this help spark the next housing crisis? finally, not a bug splat. in an act of artistic and drone attacks in pakistan, a group of artists and villagers have unveiled a giant banner laid out on the field of a young child. organizers say the child lost her parents and two young siblings in u.s. drone strike.

her picture is large enough to be picked up by satellite imagery. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. several victims said to remain in critical condition following wednesday's stabbing rampage at a pennsylvania high school. a teenage suspect is accused of moving through the school, slashing and stabbing his classmates with kitchen knives. 21 students and a security guard were injured. the police chief described arriving at the scene. >> when we got there, there was a hallway that was pretty much in chaos, as you can imagine. a lot of evidence of blood on the floors in the hallway. about students running trying to get out of the area.

subsequently, upon checking and seeing what we had, immediate calls were put out to ems. >> several victims remain hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. vigils were held for the injured on wednesday night. the american commander of nato forces in europe says he hasn't ruled out deploying u.s. soldiers to counter russian moves in ukraine. commenting on nato deployments and eastern european states, air force general philip breedlove said he would not "write off involvement by any nation, to include the united states." his comments come ahead of next week's talks between the u.s., and theukraine, european union. in washington, the state department spokesperson played down the expectations. >> the russians agreed they would finally sit down over the next 10 days with ukraine and discussnd the u.s. to de-escalation, demobilization

come a support for the elections, and constitutional reform. i have to say we don't have high expectations for these talks, but we do believe it is very important to keep that diplomatic door open. >> israel skill that contact with the palestinian authority in a growing dispute over the future of peace talks. the pa signed 15 international conventions and treaties last week after the israeli government reneged on a plaintiff reposting prisoners. in response, israel says it will suspend cooperation with the pa on most issues except negotiations and policing the west bank. the move comes after secretary of state john kerry appeared to blame israel for the breakdown in peace talks, citing his recent decision to build hundreds of new settlement homes in occupied east to respond. on wednesday, the israeli government said it was deeply disappointed by john kerry's remarks. nation's twoom the largest cable providers are appearing before congress to face questioning over their controversial merger. comcast is seeking to buy time

warner cable in a 45 billion dollar deal. the takeover would grant comcast are virtual monopoly in 19 of the 20 largest media markets. speaking before the senate judiciary committee, comcast vice president david cohen said acquiring time warner would help cable market competition. >> while this transaction will make is bigger, that is a good thing, not a problem. most of our real competitors are national and global and larger than us, like the bells, apple, google, and sony. it is to create a that will enable comcast to invest more in innovation and infrastructure and enhance our ability to compete more effectively. >> comcast and time warner have extensive government ties. both companies have spent tens of millions of dollars on lobbying and donations. the bulk of time warner's lobbyist last year were former

government employees. in testimony critical of the merger, gene kimmelman of the group public knowledge said the merger would raise prices and reduced choices for customers. >> is proposed transaction consolidates too much power in the combined video and high-speed internet market, giving comcast a virtual gatekeeper role for fast internet delivered video and innovative in services. before antitrust officials into medication regulators is really very copper at very simple. if we want more innovative, low-priced internet delivered services, this merger must be rejected. >> the merger hearings continue today in the house. the justice department and the fcc will have final say on whether the merger is approved. senate republicans have blocked a measure aimed at narrowing the pay gap between men and women will stop the paycheck fairness

act would let workers compare salaries without the threat of retaliation and force companies to explain pay disparities. but democrats failed to clear the 60-vote threshold after failing to win any republican support. democrats say they will reintroduce the bill later this year. numeral's on racial profiling by the fbi are will reportedly keep a number of tactics in place. reports york times" proposed revisions would preserve many, if not all policies opposed by civil rights groups. these include mapping ethnic communities and using that information to launch probes and recruit informants. the changes would, however, abandoned a bush-your attention for racial profiling in cases deemed international security. they would also expand the definition of illegal profiling to include religion, national origin, gender, and sexual orientation. in event hosted by the national action network wednesday, attorney general holder discussed his own issue.

he slammed what he suggested was racist treatment in an appearance before congress earlier this week. >> i am pleased to note the last five years have been defined by significant strides and lasting reforms, even in the face of unprecedented, unwarranted, ugly, and divisive adversity. [applause] forget about me. forget about me. you look at the way the attorney general of the united states was treated yesterday by a house committee. what attorney general has ever had to deal with that kind of treatment? [applause] what president has ever had to deal with that kind of treatment? >> he was referring to is heated dispute with republican congress member louie gohmert who .hreatened a new

>> sir, i have read you what your department promised and it is inadequate. i realize that content is not a big deal to our attorney general, but it is important that we a proper oversight. >> you don't want to go there, buddy. but i don't want to go there about the content? that ishould not assume not a big deal to me. i think it was inappropriate and unjust. never think that that was not a big deal to me. never think that. >> a memorial was held at the fort hood army base wednesday for victims of last week's shooting rampage where three people were killed and 16 wounded when an iraq war veteran for taking his own life. the veteran, ivan lopez, had sought care for mental health issues including postherpetic stress disorder. president obama honored the victims and pledged to tackle mental health treatment for u.s. service members. >> as a father, i cannot begin

to fathom your anguish, but i know you poured your love and your hopes into your sons. i know the men and soldiers they became, their sense of service and their patriotism -- so much of that came from you. as commander-in-chief, i am determined that we will continue to step up our efforts to reach our troops and veterans who are hurting, deliver to them the care they need, and to make sure we never stigmatize those who have the courage to seek help. >> it was obama's second appearance at a fort hood memorial since taking office, following the killing of 13 people by a u.s. soldier in 2009. in connecticut, 16-year-old transgender girl is being held in an adult prison without any criminal charges against her after the state department of children and families told a judge it could not care for her. statutee agency cited a

that has not been used in 14 years, which they say allows the transfer. but critics, including the aclu, say the teenager is being treated like a criminal since the -- simply to get she is transgender. she was taken to a woman's prison on tuesday, but could potentially be transferred to a men's prison he been a shift in the fight that's a woman. a new study finds are 10 times more people with severe mental illness in u.s. prisons than in psychiatric facilities. the treatment advocacy center says over 356,000 people with serious conditions, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are behind bars. in 44 states, prisons hold more people with serious mental illness and the largest remaining state psychiatric hospital. mentally ill prisoners also face a number of violations and abuses that are causing is proportionate rates of suicide. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners

and viewers from around the country and around the world. protesters took to the streets in more than 60 cities this weekend to call on president obama to stop the deportation of undocumented immigrants. speakers at a rally in washington, d.c. marked saturday as the date when the obama administration likely reached its 2 millionth deportation. >> we now know 2 million people have been supported under the obama administration. we are saying that is enough. enough of that. we are saying we need to into the separation of our families. we need to end the attack on our communities. we are not going to be silent. we're not going to stop marching acts ofcipating in civil disobedience until obama takes a seriously and use his executive order to get our community really. we know we don't need congress

for that. >> this was president obama in 2012. >> what i've also said his, if we are going to go after folks are here illegally, we should do it smartly and go after folks who are criminals -- gang bangers, people who are hurting the community, not after students, not after folks who are here just because they're trying to figure out how to feed their families. and that is what we have done. >> but that is not what "the new york times" has found. it reports two thirds of those group ported -- deported under president obama committed minor infractions such as traffic violations or had no, no record at all. war than 5000 children whose parents were removed from the country have ended up in foster care. each day reform is delayed, an estimated 1100 more people are deported. on wednesday, congressman number to tear is stopped by a vigil withde the white house families with loved ones in

detention began a hunger strike for their release. they include jose valdez. activists sayn presidential action on deportations is not enough. they're focused instead on the passage of the bill in congress that includes a path to citizenship. they include eliseo medina, who arrived at the national mall on wednesday after a 30-state bus tour. this is medina speaking on democracy now! just after he ended a 22-day hunger strike on the national mall in december. ask we are already planning to fast from washington down into every congressional just are in the country where we to theng to be going congressman's district and having conversations with the constituent about why this immigration reform needs to be done as fast as possible. there is no option for us. we cannot continue to allow

deportations and deaths in the desert. so we will be pressing congress to act. and we will also be asking the president to also take a look and act within his authority. but at the end of the day, they will have to make a decision -- congress will have to make a decision whether they want to take a vote or not. if they decide not to, we know there's an election coming in november 2014 in which we get to vote. we, the people who care about this issue, and there are millions and millions and millions of us. we will be holding congress accountable for their actions or inactions as it pertains to immigration reform. if they won't vote for us today, why should we vote for them tomorrow? >> today we host a debate on what the next of should be in the push for humane immigration reform. in los angeles, we're joined by pablo alvarado, president of the

national day laborers organizing network, calling for president obama to take executive action to medially stop deportations. in cleveland, we're joined by david leopold, past president of the american immigration lawyers association. he says there are still a window of opportunity this year for congress to pass a conference of immigration reform bill that could slow deportations and much more. we welcome you both to democracy now! let's go to los angeles. pablo alvarado, can you talk about why you what president obama to issue an executive order and what it should say? >> good morning. first of all, let me tell you that our country is going through the dilemma of whether to include or exclude the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are working very hard, raising families, plowing the fields and working construction sites and they're being denied

equality, being denied justice. their humanity is not being recognized. what is worse, instead of having a federal government that protects this vulnerable segment of society, we have a government that systematically persecutes and supports them. both parties are responsible for this reality. we understand the republicans have given us the politics of self deportation. they have given us these laws. but we also understand the president has built an incredible deportation machine. he has created and nationalized deportation programs that have ended up in the deportation of over 2 million people now. this is changing. and the reason why it is -- last is because saturday there were 100 events were effective communities came out and said, this is enough.

this is my story. they have protested. they have marched. they have engaged in civil disobedience. as a consequence, they have made sure the end of deportation becomes plan a. the question is now, it is not whether the president will act, but when will he do it? >> david leopold, what about the issue right now of the prospects in the remaining months before everyone starts gearing up for the november elections, some kind of immigration reform coming out of congress, and what my that immigration reform look like if it did come out? >> first off, thank you for having me. i want to point out that what we're looking for here is, number one, a permanent solution to this humanitarian problem, this economic problem. it is a problem that engulfed the whole country. the only group that can fix it him and the only group that can fix it, is congress.

and right now, unfortunately, the house of representatives, the republican dominated house of representatives, has simply failed to do its job. speaker john boehner, eric cantor, kevin mccarthy, the leadership, they completely thumbed their nose at the american people. in poll after poll, the american people have stressed her will for immigration reform, which includes, by the way, pathway to lawful compliance for the 11 million plus undocumented noncitizens in the country. so we need a permanent solution. we need a permanent solution. my worry is even if we have an in 2016, weospect, don't know who the president is going to be. i want a law that protects all americans and keeps all american families together. in terms of where we are copper i think we do have a window.

are, ierms of where we think we do have a window. we need to remember republican party needs immigration reform for its own political existence, for its own long-term future. if they ever want to see the white house, if they ever want to remain a majority -- a dominant party or a major party, i should say, in this country, they're going to have to get with political reality. this country cannot continue to function with in immigration system that cuts off our global competitiveness, that limits our employers from bringing in ,orkers in shortage occupations that keeps entrepreneurs and others who would build this this is here and create jobs for american workers out. this is the -- the 11 million are not the problem. they are tragic humanitarian

crisis which is a symptom of the bigger problem that is completely dysfunctional system, immigration system. and congress -- speaker boehner, they are the ones who really are hief, notter's-in-c doing their job, need to fix this job. >> david leopold, you correctly focus on the obstacles in congress, but don't mention the whole issue of president obama's policies of deportation. "the new york times" on sunday mr. obama is correct when it complains that long-term immigration repairs have been ronald in congress, but go on to say, mr. obama has compounded this fill your i claiming dust clinging to a cold-blooded strategy of ramped up enforcement on the same people he has promised to help through legislation he has failed to achieve. what about the issue of the president saying one thing, but

concerning the mass deportations? >> let's look at it in perspective. the deportation machine was not built by president obama. it was built years before. underawful numbers began the last administration. i can remember back in 2008 when under the bush administration, we had military-type rates in places like postville, iowa where there rested -- they arrested and convicted of felonies nearly 400 guatemalan s who were here just to see their families and devastated that town. of this terrible situation did not begin with president obama. that said, i believe the president and the administration does have a shared responsibility with congress to make sure the american families are safe and american families

are together. why do i say american families? because we can't think of undocumented families as being all people without papers. the reality of the situation is, you have families where a mother or father is undocumented and everybody else is a citizen or lawful resident. we have mixed families. i understand what you're saying about "the new york times" and i thought it was a well-thought-out editorial. the article that came out monday monday that followed it or sunday night, written by injured ginger, was an exposé -- thompson, was an exposé on what is going on in the ground. i know the situation personally as an attorney. innocent people are being removed from this country right now. people who should not be included as priority removals, technically speaking, are included.

-- they'reumbers playing games with numbers, i believe, by the department of homeland security. i think the department of homeland security is specific cut immigrations and customs enforcement, should be following the directives coming out of washington. there is a disconnect in my view between what washington, the department of homeland security in washington put some paper through memos on prosecutorial discretion, telling people the president said, let's focus on the worst of the worst, not the mothers, but the murderers. there is a disconnect. what we find out in the field where the world really exist, is immigrations and customs enforcement doesn't pay a whole lot of attention to the morning memo or other directives that they use smart enforcement. books "the new york times"

exposé is very important as president obama says were talking about that gang bangers, the people who are wrecking communities being deported. but 2/3 of the people have committed either minor violations like running a traffic light or have committed no crime at all. but i want to ask pablo alvarado about the comment of david leopold, why he is opposed to executive action, not only david leopold, but the bipartisan policy center among the think tanks in washington who say reform efforts should focus on congress. said, if the president were to take very strong executive action, he would be completely writing off immigration reform until 2016. pablo alvarado? >> the president obviously made a miscalculation. in his effort to build his

enforcement credentials, he has become very aggressive in the enforcement law. being passed on immigrants, the extreme right wing republicans are holding hostage this debate in the house of representatives. obviously, this debate is not moving forward at all. thisve been relying on strategy from most 14 years. it is time to try something new. and we believe that if the president intervenes right now, would actually include the chances of immigration reform. if the president was to extend it to the fullest extent possible, suspending deportations, i would actually remove the fear of deeper -- that would actually remove the fear of deportation for so many who engage in the political process. speak for themselves in this

fight for immigration reform. if the president acts, he will send a very clear message to the republicans and tell them, look, i'm going to legalize people with or without you. if you don't like it, come to the table of negotiations. throughout these years, republicans have said, ok, just give us the militarization of the borders, just give us -- if the president acts, essentially, the president will be removing the bargaining chip off the table. then we can have rational debate with the republicans. right now the debate is not moving forward whatsoever. are playing politics. the only ones who can actually infuse this debate and move it forward is the president. he can intervene and stop the deportations. one whot is the

nationalize the communities program. obama already did daca that essentially prevented the deportation of many, many young people. that was good for the use. -- the youth. that actually help the store immigration reform. what gets is farther away is the criminalization. even people relief improves the chances. the issue ofin, whether the president will act or not, let's say he doesn't act. let's say he designs he doesn't want to take the chance -- he decides he doesn't want to take the chance of hurting the democratic party in the november elections by creating a crisis. what will be the response of them are great rights movement? i think back to my prior life as

a community organizer and as an activist. in august and september of this year, if there's no action, what do you see is the possibility for moving this forward? what about the possibility of a freedom summer, of tens of thousands of young latinos moving into washington, d.c. and creating a crisis of mass arrest? but 5000,00 or 1000, 10,000, 15 thousand people filling the jails of washington, d.c. and forcing the government to do with the issue? obviouslyhe pain is an bearable. that is why families are doing a hunger strike in front of the president. their message is clear. give us relief and start with our relatives. if the president doesn't act, honestly, this humanitarian -- obviously, the humanitarian crisis will continue, the suffering will continue. people are speaking for

themselves. what is happened so far is there are many people, many lawyers, any activist, many paid lobbyist and washington, d.c. who are speaking for people. obviously, that is not good to achieve political equality. aboutcal equality is citizenship. citizenship is about people speaking for themselves. that is exactly what is happening across the country. that is why there were 100 events last saturday of committed these telling their stories. the pain is unbearable. it is unfortunate. right now there are families in front of the white house -- the lead me, if he does not act, more families will come will stop the rule be more acceptable disobedience taking place. the president has a choice. he can be the champion that he promised to be or he can choose to continue to be the

deporter-in-chief. boehner isnd that blocking the vote in the house of representatives, but that party has been hijacked by extreme vigilantes. we understand that perfectly. at the end of the day, speaker boehner is not the one who's deportations, it is president obama. he has the power to act. in our view, he has the moral obligations. the people outside the white .ouse are actually helping him >> we have to take a break. pablo alvarado speaking to us from los angeles and david leopold from cleveland. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

our democracy now! studios. this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. our guests are pablo alvarado, director of the national day laborers organizing network and .avid leopold >> pablo, i want to follow-up on what we discussed before the break on where we go from here. commerce may get your is a chicago put out a statement a few days ago my basically warning his colleagues that they limited amount of time to act on immigration reform or the president would act himself. that makes me get a sense that the president has already signaled to the terrace and other leaders he will take some kind of inaction -- to luis gutierrez and other leaders he will take some kind of action. what about the parents of the dreamers already covered by the act, some kind of a compromise measure of extending legalization but not -- not

legalization, but extending called to deportations but not a full extension to the entire community that will be affected. would that satisfy you in terms of progress on the issue. >> no. we will not accept cosmetic changes. the intervention the president needs to make right now has to be immediate postop it has to be as broad as possible. it has to include and remove the fear of deportation for his many people as possible. the president and do that right now if he wanted to. you can go beyond. -- the president can do that right now if he wanted to. he can go beyond. he can set the bare minimum, i'm not going to do the port people andwill become direct fisheries. he could easily say that.

there are other things he can do. for instance, president obama continues to collaborate with sheriff arpaio doing very well he has engaged in massive racial profiling. ouriff arpaio arrests community and president obama comes and deport them. you could easily step in and say, i'm not going to collaborate with that sheriff. they're plenty of things that president obama can do. obviously, we won't accept changes that are just cosmetic, that are symbolic. in this debate, there's been too much symbolism. the intervention has to be very, very meaningful and alleviate the suffering people are going through. i think the community has spoken very clearly. for the first time, the beltway is listening to what people are saying. that have toying starts with the

end of deportation. people are taking their message from the people fighting on the ground and from people who are suffering. >> as we wrap up, i want to bring in david leopold. bush stood apart from many in his own party when he said people who illegally come to the united states do so out of an act of love for their families. box across the border because that no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. yes, they broke the law, but it is not a felony. it is an act of love. it is an act of commitment your family. i honestly think that is a different kind of crime that should be a price paid, but it thatdn't rile people up people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families. >> david leopold, to have any hope as he represents him and the people on the ground who have not committed any crime and are being deported out of this country? >> i would just like to say, and

i listen to pop low for a long time here. honestly, he doesn't have an answer for what we do in january 2017 if we have a new president who doesn't agree with immigration reform, who doesn't care about the 11 million. not to focus on john boehner and not to focus on the leadership in the house of representatives, is a huge, huge mistake. nobody is saying the president shouldn't use his executive authorities to protect american families. he has done that. we talked about daca. --has expanded state what stateside waivers and so forth. can you do more? of course. should he do more? yes, he should use his executive authority. the two are not mutually exclusive. we need to keep focus. if we do not focus on the problem here, which is the republican-controlled house of representatives, then in the end we will all lose. in the end, we are not going to

have the permanence immigration reform we need. be aerstand there may little calculations that we permanent talk about reform but focus on the moment. believe you me, i spend a and and day out helping families that are getting destroyed and getting torn apart. the only question these families ask me is, when are we going to get permanent reform? when a record to get our rights and a chance to live in this country outside the shadows? when are we going to get a way to earn our way to your citizenship? nicetive action is very and is something that should be employed, something the president has employed and something i hope we will think about during this review that the department of homeland security is undergoing right now. i think there are a variety of

things that can be looked at. i think pablo alvarado was correct talking about giving some sort of expansion the people who would qualify under the senate bill. it is patently unfair to the poor people who would qualify for reform. i agree with that -- to deport people who would qualify reform. i agree with that. but we still need to focus. we need a permanent solution to this problem. the only people who can do that right now are the house of representatives. cantor andr and eric kevin mccarthy, their the deporter's and she. if it were for them, pablo wouldn't a problem he is talking about this morning. i would not have clients who are freaking out about being deported tomorrow. , a key foropold

being with us, past president of the american immigration lawyers association. pablo alvarado speaking to us from los angeles, director of the national day laborers organizing network. we will continue to follow this issue as we turn our to yet another issue. theou may not have heard of blackstone group, but it is the largest private equity firm in the world. now it has become the largest owner of single-family rental homes in the country. over the last two years, blackstone and other wall street firms have been quietly grubbing up huge swaths of the rental housing market from a purchasing more than 200,000 cheap homes. they hope to turn a profit. that one option in atlanta, blackstone swept up 1400 houses in a single day. a new report released wednesday found like stone tenets in atlanta reported ranging issues from worst pipes and exposed plumbing to bed bugs, which the wall street landlord has been slow to fix. also, their private in -- private equity firms are

bundling mortgages into a new financial product known as rental backed securities. >> now a new article turns the spotlight on new york city. a case study in what critics call predatory equity. private equity firms have bought up rent-regulated properties, hoping tenants will leave so they can hike up the rent. when tenants fought to stay, the firms resorted to predatory tactics from sending out fake eviction notices to shutting off he or water. in new york city, 1600 families in 42 buildings are falling victim to one of the hardest single foreclosures in the city's recent history. after conglomerate a private equity firms fail to pay the mortgage. we're joined by benjamin warren, a housing advocate who has been part of his building's tenant committee in the south bronx since the 1980's.

and laura gottesdiener is with us, author of, "a dream foreclosed: black america and the fight for a place to call home." she's an editor and her most recent piece for tomdispatch is called, "when predatory equity hit the big apple: how private equity came to new york's rental market -- and what that tell us about the future." we welcome you both to democracy now! laura, tell us about this particular case. >> thanks for having me. as we've been looking at the growth of the single-family rental empire across the country, what we hear over and over again is this is an utterly unprecedented phenomenon, that nothing like us has ever happened in the history of the united states. in many ways, that is true. in other ways, in new york city we have this case study of what it looked like over the last decade when private equity firms have gone in and seen what they consider to be opportunities and housing markets make a lot of money quickly.

i know you have covered this extensively thomas juan. what is important see in both this case that richmond is living through and 1600 other families are living through, and in a slew of other very high-profile deals, is that this is been something of a disaster not just for the tenants, but also from a financial perspective. these are deals that they were betting big that they could turn these buildings around by pushing out hundreds of thousands of families. they were not able to push out the families because they organized. and the deals failed and made the situation where the broader housing market in new york city got hit and the tenants had a living completely inhumane conditions. >> what about the rise of the private equity involvement? most of these private equity firms often depend on pension pension funds to invest in them to great the capital they amassed to the

entities cash buyouts. hasn't there been any reaction tothe part of activists question these pension funds on how their investing their money? >> that is one of the most important aspects of these -- the story, but rarely reported on. what of the most spectacular private equity deals, predatory equity deals to fail in new york city happened in manhattan. these are massive properties in lower manhattan where private equity firm, the black rock group, which is different than blackstone, but often confused, believes it could buy up these properties, transition these families out, force these families out -- we're talking about tens of thousands of families. one of the largest deals in new york city history, in u.s. history. it completely failed because the tenants did an incredible job of fighting for the right to stay. at the end of this $5.4 billion

deal, blackrock lost just over $100 million. however, the california public engine fund lost 500 million dollars. the california teachers retirement fund lost $100 million. hawkes because gecko -- >> because? >> because they had invested. if their private equity firm loses, they don't lose much money. if they win, they win an incredible amount of money. it is an example of the perverse incentives where private equity firms, big bangs are able to eliminate risk for themselves through these complex financial products, to be securities, but meanwhile, our own lives and communities are getting significantly less secure. turning a profit for these equity companies? buy up could rent-regulated buildings and forced the tenants to leave.

by forcing them out, based on new york city tenant law, these owners now have the opportunity to raise the range romantically. the tenant laws in new york city is if you have been living in an apartment for a long time, there's a cap the amount can go up each year. as a long-term tenant leaves, then you can raise the rent dramatically. the bet by the private equity firms as they could buy up these apartments and force people out at a rate that was spectacular. in one deal, they that essentially that in five years, they would be able to force 50% of the tenant out of their properties. the turnover for rent-regulated properties is 5%. the reason we call this a predatory equity deal is because there is no way -- and you can testify to this -- there is no way they could keep these financial projections without doing things like cutting off the heat, cutting off the water, cutting off the hot water,

allowing furman infestations to fester. all of these abuses to push people out of their homes. >> tell us your story in the building your been helping to organize now for quite some time. in my building -- >> in the bronx. >> correct, in the south bronx. we have problems with the heat, hot water. they found a way of shutting off the heat at certain times. they have a thing about rent. they say, ok, you have to pay three rents. get to pay months rent, a month security, and a focus the. i make it clear to the tenants that -- >> this is for tenants already living in the apartments? >> no, first time. they would charge them a broker's fee.

i would say, did you see him rocher or contact one? they would say, no. we end up paying a broker's fee. why? did you know that is illegal because you did not contract with a broker? a did not know this. likeve other problems tenants moving into a new apartment. if the previous tenant was there and he's only paying $626, the new tenant comes in and they're paying $1000. which is way above the equity price of that apartment. a tenant bringing another relative remember to live in that apartment with them, there were drapes the rent -- they would raise the rent again. this is going on regularly. >> you have called the city to complain about conditions like not having fire routes to get out? >> correct. first of all, as everybody knows, you must have a second or

exit to get out of the building. if you have an emergency where you can't leave the front of the building, you must be able to have a secondary way to get out. , they blocked off the secondary exits. so one time actually blocked off the second or exits so you could not get out of there was emergency. d sidesocked off the cn of that he get out of a second or exit, they could not. >> what is the city doing? >> first of all, the fire department issued violations of these are illegal gates. as of yet, they are still there. >> can you tell us about ocelot? >> it was a real estate company based in new york that was backed by private equity money from israel. i'm using the past tense because essentially it all but disappeared in the midst of this

crisis that it orchestrated. it bought up a number of properties in the bronx. immediately, they started creating unlivable situations with the goal of forcing tenants out. no heat, no hot water, sometimes no water at all, ceilings caving in, pipes bursting. one tenant organizer who did a visit said she found a family living with no bathroom and three small children. people would say, why don't they just move? we have to contextualize this in the midst of a much broader housing crisis that we are very much still living through. when people have rent regulation or have a housing voucher and it is affiliated with the building or attach to a building they can afford but even if it is a lovable, people will stay and fight for the right to live in a city where their job is, community is, their family is. bylot made headlines highlighting the fact that these private equity firms were creating situations that people can't conceive families are living through in new york city. >> what has been the response of

the regulatory officials on some of these issues? i know when elliott it's her was attorney general, he went after some of the groups, but he actually himself is a former -- from a landlord family. then andrew cuomo came in and now eric schneiderman. what is been there response to these abuses? >> great question. we saw the attorney general's office advantage, which is one of the landlords and benjamin's building, for systemic attempt to force people out by sending illegal eviction notices. you have to highlight, these are illegal actions, sending illegal eviction notices by cutting off the heat and hot water. or haven't we seen prosecution of these crimes? it is a question i get all the time. and the same question i asked back. why are we surprised they're getting away with these abuses? these are the same prices --

crimes and abuses we saw a rampant. this is part of the too big filming talladega. this is part of a process the bloomberg administration really made official housing policy to gentrify the stateaid. to turn it into a gilded city. i spoke to a lot of people for this article who work inside the agencies. they say the city agencies that would prosecute these are underfunded but there's also a lack of political will. >> one point you raise in your article is there has been the housing market has rebounded, but homeownership has not increased nationwide. talk about that. to thehat we're going national level, at which we talk all the time about the housing recovery. and never asks who is the recovery for. this discrepancy between homeownership and rising prices

i think really gets to the heart of the matter. we're seeing home prices rise rapidly in many cities across the country. the national homeownership rate is still falling. who is buying these homes? well, it is these private equity firms like a blackstone group, like american homes for rent, that are buying up the credit will number of homes across the country in my penny kilo be described as a land grab. >> and bundling them. as ad selling off a bond security to investors all around the world in these rental backed securities. what is exciting to me in the new york city case is that even though it has created an untenable situation for many, we have an example of ordinary people organizing and beating these private equity firms. >> we want to thank you both for being with us, laura gottesdiener, the author of, "a dream foreclosed: black america and the fight for a place to call home." we will have a link to your tomdispatch, "when

predatory equity hit the big apple: how private equity came to new york's rental market -- and what that tell us about the future." benjamin warren, we will continue to follow your case as well as the many others around the city and around the country. when we come back, there is a vast banner that has been laid out in a field in pakistan that can be seen from the heavens, or least from satellite. it is a picture of a girl who lost her family and a drone strike. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. an act of protest against drone attacks in pakistan, group of artists and villagers have unveiled a giant banner of a young child on the field in a heavily bombed region. organizers say the child lost her parents and two young siblings in the u.s. drone strike. her picture is large enough to be picked up by satellite imagery. >> where joined by akash goel, one of the co-creators of the project.g splat"

he's a practicing physician at columbia university. welcome. explain what this is nyu why you, a doctor practicing in new york city and are involved with this past banner that can be seen from the heavens. >> thanks for having me. i think we were very concerned about how dehumanizing this war by remote control is to begin with. i think only heard about the language in the lexicon with which it was used, bug splat, we were appalled by the insensitivity. >> explain. who uses that? >> bug splat refers to computer generation of the effects of a bombing, including collateral damage. which is often civilian life. we basically wanted to bring a sensitivity and awareness to the civilian casualties at stake. >> how to to get the banner out

there? feet, printedy 70 on vinyl and basically rolled out, printed and rolled out and intalled by villagers western pakistan. >> and the girl who is pictured their? >> she was subject to a bombing in 2009. she lost both her parents and a sibling. she is a survivor. survivor -- show >> and the response? >> it has been overwhelmingly positive. positive. i

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