11/02/16 11/02/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> no o one will ever bee inincarcerated for mararijuana again. mayoyor rhondada a arrests - -- maririjuana arrests are the numr one reason people arare sent bak to prison.n. butm not a california voter, ii know whwhen good legislation passes and a big state, other states follow. amy: nine states, including california, vote for some form

of legalization. advocates of prop 64 in california range from hip-hop stars to the state's lieutenant governor gavin newsom. we will speak to deborah small, founder of break the chains. in a shocking new documentary about rikers island, the infamousus new york jail where % of those held have not been convnvicted of a crime. -- - broke myalally nose. >> spipit on me. >> broke a bone. >> my sanity was chipped away little light little. >> i started to feel like an animal. i actually contempmplated suici. >> for all of you u who have ben here, y you are ready know whato expect. for those who have not been here before -- amy: we will speak with the akeem director, and

browder, whose brother kalief browder was falsely accused of stealing a backpack at the age of 16. last month, akeem and kalief's mother died of what her attorney described as a broken heart. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president obama says the u.s. army corp of engineers is considering rerouting the $3.8 billion dakota access pipeline amid months of resistance from the standing rock sioux tribe and members of more than 200 other native american nations as well as tribes from acrossss ththe americas. is there isa: my vieiew a way for us to accommodate sacred williams of native --- lands of n native americansns.

i t think rightht now the armrms is examining whether there are waways to reroute this pipipelin a way, so we're going to let it play out for several more weeks andd determine whether or not this can be resolved in a way ththat i think is properly attentive to the traditions of the first americans. amy: during his news conference, president obama also address the issue of the harsh police crackdown on the resistance movement, which has included riot police deploying tear gas, mace, pepper spray, bean bag rorounds and r rubber bullets , against the native americans water protectotors. pres. obamama: i want t to makee as everyonone is exercising g tr constitutional rights to be heardd, that both sisides are inrained from situations

which people might be heard. amy: president obama's comments come as on tuesday, north dakota officials approved an additional $4 million for policing, bringing the total costs of the police crackdown to $10 million. on monday night, oil was poured on the north dakota state capitol building along with a sign reading, "you can't drink oil." meanwhile, in new york city, hundreds of people protesting the dakota access pipeline flooded grand central statioion during rush hour, holding banners reading -- "indigenous sovereignty: protect land and water." in more news on the dakota access pipeline, authorities have charged water protector red fawn fallis with attempted murder and a slew of other charges stemming from the standoff on october 27 when hundreds of police raided a frontline resistance camp. authorities say fallis fired three shots during the standoff. she faces up to 20 years in prison. this comes after morton county sheriff kyle kirchmeier said he

could not confirm any shots were fired by water protectors dudurg -- on october 27. news a "newsweek" , investigation has revealed donald trump's companies have defied court orders and destroyed or concealed thousands of pages of emails and documents amid lawsuits involving trump companies. the investigation reveals trump's destruction of documents goes back to at least 1973, when trump and his father were fighting the federal government over charges their real estate company was discriminating against african americans by refusing to rent apartments to black families. the fbi is continuing its investigation of more hillary clinton e-mails that were recently found on the computer of former congress member anthony weiner, the estranged husband of top clinton aide huma abedin. weiner is under investigation after he sent illicit sext messages to an underage girl. the fbi's opening of this investigation so close to election day has sparked enormous controversy.

meanwhile, on monday, the fbi released 129 pages of documents from its 2001 investigation into former president bill clinton's presidential pardon of hedge funder marc rich, who fled to switzerland after he was indicted on tax evasion and other federal charges. clinton pardoned him on his last day in office. the pardon was investigated because rich's ex-wife had donated $100,000 to hillary clinton's senate campaign, as well as $450,000 donation to clinton's presidential library foundation. the investigation was closed in 2005 with no charges filed. the redacted documents related to this investigation were tweeted out tuesday by the fbi's twiddle -- twitter handle which has been an active for a year until this past week. the fbi has also released an tweeted out a file on donald trump's bother fred trump on october 30. in more campaign news,s, "new yk times" investigation shows african-american vote is down

compared to 2012. analysis of early voting in florida shows turnout is lower than the state average in the five counties with the highest percentage of african-american voters. the analysis did show the voting is up from 2012 among latino voters. the iraqi military says u.s.-backed iraqi special forces have entered the city limits of mosul as part of its campaign to retake control of the city from isis. the united states is backing the iraqi army with both u.s. special forces on the ground, as well as u.s. airstrikes. on tuesday, the iraqi military says it has taken control of mosul's television station. mosul troops entered the tv station, which is very significant. it means the city of mosul. this is good news for the city of mosul. amy: the united nations is warning as many as 1 millilion civilians could be displaced amid the fighting for control of mosul, leading to what could become the largest humanitarian

crcrisis in n iraq's hihistory. in morocco, 11 people have been ararrested in connection with te death of fish seller mouhcine fikri, who was crushed to death in the compactor of a garbage truck trying to retrieve fish confiscated by police. his death has sparked massive protests across morocco. people drew parallels to that of tunisian fruit seller mohamed bouazizi in 2010 whose death sparked the arab spring uprisings. moroccan authorities have ruled fikri's death a homicide, and charged the 11 with involuntary manslaughter and forgery of public documents. to see our full interview with moroccan-dutch professor miriyam aouragh, go to democracynow.org fighting is continuing along the border between india and pakistan in the disputed region of kashmirir. india says at least seven civililians were killed tuesdayn the india-controlled side, while pakiststan says six momore civis were killed d on the pakistani-controlled side on monday.. fighting betweenen the twowo sis

has been escalating fofor weeks, forcing thousands to evacuate and causing the deaths of at least 28 civilians over r the lt 10 days. in france, authorities are continuing to clear and demolish the calais refuge camp, known as the jungle. hundreds of the remaining 1500 asylum seekers, most of whom are children and teenagers, are being forced onto busses and sent to undiscsclosed locations across france today. tuesdaday night,t, police in rit gear used tear gas against some of the asylum seekers protesting the demolition of the camp. meanwhile, in paris, police are cracking down on refugee encampments that have been growing as the calais camp is shut down by authorities. on monday just before dawn, riot police evicted thousands of refugees from their encampment near a paris metro station. this is afghan refugee sakib dawood. >> nobody wants to stay here. if you don't have a home, you are homeless.

the weather is cold. nobody wants to stay in the streets. amy: in vevenezuela, president nicolas maduro scored a political victory tuesday when the opposition-led national assembly announceded it had suspended its symbolic trial against maduro over claims he had been derelict in his duties as president. the opposition also canceled an anti-governmenent march planned for ththursday. this comes after maduro's government released five opposition activists monday. talks between the government and the opposition are planned for november 11. in iowa, authorities say to police officers have been shot andd kililled in whahat police e descscribing an ambush-s-style tack earlilier today. the fifirst shooting occurred around 1:00 a.m. in urbandale, a suburb of des moines. less than half an hour later, a second officer was found dead in des m moines, about a five-minue drive away from the side of the first shootingng. the shootings are e under invevestigation. in new y york state, a group of undocumented workers have

launched a weeklong march to protest the raids by immigration and customs enforcement agency in buffalo, new york post up the group is known as the buffalo25, 25 undocumented workers who were detained after ice rated for mexican restaurants earlier this month. at least four of the buffalo25 are currently wearing gps ankle monitors used by ice. lastly, eight migrant justice activists were arrested after they blocked the interest -- entrance to downtown buffalo ice office. --rches are offering century sanctuarary. this is one of the workers detained during the ice raids. courts w what was mymy surpre?e? i saw my house, upside down,n, destroyed. my childreren come all four, wee born here. they took a children's documumes , whicich is the most imimportao us. they took all l of our savavingr collllege. to $10,0,000.9,000

that w was for college for my daughter. my daughter is strong, but i'm starting to sesee her wave h he. she says not to worry, that she will start working soon. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and pepeace report. i'm amy goodman.n. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewewers from aroround the country and around the world. on november 8, 35 states and the district of columbia will confront 156 ballot initiatives on issues ranging from universal health care to gun sale restrictions and death penalty reforms. one of the most contentious ballots is on marijuana legalization. after r next week's election, marijuana could be legal for medical or recreational use in 29 states. cucurrently, aboutut 5% ofmemers live in states where t they can legally smoke cannabis. but after november, that figuree could rise to 25%. california is the biggest of the nine states casting a ballot on the measure. while other states are voting on

medicinal use, arizona, maine, massachusetts, and nevada are with california in voting on legalizing the recreioional us of marijua.. e "yesvovote is rrently leadinin all fivstatesand is widy supporteby you votersrom both mor pares. califoia legaliz the mical use ofarijuana 2years o. amy: pls in lifornia sw rorong sport f p proposion 64, the adult e ofof maruana ac this is in ad madede by yes on . > prop 64 makes marijuana lel in california for adult 21 and over. here's what else it does. bans marijuana use in public, permit sales only a licensed marijuana businesses, not a grocery or convenience stores. op 64 genenerates $1 billion in new revenue for the 20 to fund afterschool programs and job trtraining and placement initiatives. leararn more at yeson64.org.

any company this is an ad made by no on prop 64. >> proposition 64 will allow marijuana smoking ads in pririme time and on programs with millions of childreren and teene viewers. children could be exposed to marijuana coming candies and brownies. fidelity's doubled the marijuana related car crashes after legalization in washington state. yet in california, proposition 64 does not even include a dui standard. prop 64, they got it wrong again. amy: to talk more about prop 64, we're going to san diego to talk founder ofsmall , break the chains: communities of color and the war on drugs. her recent piece for the root is headlined, "how we can reap reparations from marijuana rereform." she's a longtime advocate for drug decriminalization. welcome back to democracy now! it is good to have you with us.

it is a major day around the issue of drug decriminalization on tuesday. can you talk about what is at stake? in the country, the numbmber of propositions, and in calaliforn? >> thank you so much for having me on agagain today,y, amy. i amam so happy because i really think we are going to see positive results in the election next week, and that all of the states that are considering legalizing marijuana are going to approve it. and that is going to be a major blow in our campaign to dismantle the war on drugs the cousin contrary to popular opinion, you know, the war on drugs really is substantially a war on weed. morere than half of all drug arrests in the country every year are for marijuana possession charges were marijuana related charges. so making this move to legalize recreational use of marijuana for the majority of americans around the country is going to substantially reduce the ability of law enforcement to use

marijuana law enforcement as a target, particularly in communities of color and particularly among youth of color. in many cases, the arrest for marijuana possession act as a sort of head start to prison. it begins the process of having them come in contact with the criminal justice system, having their names and fingerprints entered into databases. it makes the much more likely to be under surveillance and much more likely to be arrested again , subsequently, for other activities. marijuanaare so many growers in california opposed to this particular referendum? how do you respond to their charges this is going to basically for ties the sale -- corporatized the sale of marijuana and allow major businesses to push that only push out s small growers and marijuanana, but also to make te price of marijuana too high for

low income people? well, to be honest, i think one of the reasons that many of the growers currently are opposed to the initiative is because they have been operating in sort of a quiet as i legal status for a while, which means in many places, they have not had to face a lot of regulation and a lot of taxes. but what i think it is important for people to know is that california passed a comprehensive series of state regulations last year to govern the medical marijuana industry -- which is going to get carried forward into the recreational industry. but most of these growers would be facing increase cost and increase regulations regardless of whether or not prop 64 passes because the state has finally decided that they want to fully bring the industrtry out of the shadow and actually control it. so that, of course, for some people will be problematic. but prop 64 actually anticipates that in that it bans large-scale

cultivation. the first five years. in an effort to make it possible for smaller growers to actually be able t to scale up and be abe to compete with l larger cultivators when they are able to come in. can you talksmall, about the experience of colorado and has the inflfluence how this proposition was shaped? >>, yes, it has. one of the things we feel really good about in drafting the california initiative, we have made an effort to learn from what happened in washington state and colorado. no on 64ry to what the people say, the initiative will not allow advertising, either targeting children or others, on tv. there will be no marijuana ads on tv foryouth or a dolt after prop 64 is passed. we also included very strict safeguards around labeling and

marketing to make sure that all of the products would be childproofof, that thehey're gog to be inspected by the department of public health, and there will even be a limit on the amount of thc that can be includeded in edible p productsn ordeder to avoid the problblem f accidental overdoses that they have seen and colorado. so i think o on that level, the california initiative actually moves forward in terms of protecting public health, but from my perspective, what is equally important is the fact that it will allow -- it will substantially reduce penalties for all marijuana, what are currently crimes, will now just be infraractions. more importantly, it has retroactive effect. it means all of the people who have previous marijuana convictions for things that no longer would be crimes under cacalifornia law will be able to apply to have their records expunged. and people who are currently in jail for marijuana related charges will be able to go to court and petition for release.

to me, as a person who is focused on the impact of drug law enforcement and marijuana law enforcement on communities of color, this retroactive part is really important because of all of the ways in which an arrest record continues to hot people throughout the rest of their lives. passes, howp 64 will it relate e to federal law, which h the sale of marijuana is still a federal offense, especially in lieu of the fact that they that were fed really regulated were supposedly be providing loans to growers who want to e establish m marijuana businesses? >> well, there is the rub. quite frankly, one of the major problems that has been faced by businesses in colorado and washington and oregon and alaska is the fact that federal law still does not recognize the legitimacy of marijuana, even for medical usage -- which means

people cannot always use credit cards in their businesses and they cannot open bank accounts. we know the dea this past august refused the petition to reschedule marijuana below schedule 1, which would allow some liberality, some loosening of these regulations and restrictions. one of the things that prop 64 when it passes will do is put more pressure on the federal government to o begin to rely on its policy with the will of the people. support57% of american marijuana legalization. a larger number of them support decriminalization. they do not believe people should be arrested for this. they do not believe it should be treated like a crime. the fact our federal government still maintains the policies that trereats marijuanana worsen heroin and cocaine and doesn't allow legitimate businesses licensed and regulated in their state to operate legally is a major problem, and we believe the federal government will have

to change because this is a train that has left the station, that people are camilla really in support of this. so the major problem is to get congress and our federal cede tos to begin to the demands of the people. amy: we're going to go to some of the voices opposed against prop 64. this is the former drug policy advisor to president obama kevin , sabet. he is president and ceo of smart approaches to marijuana, or sam. here he e is talking with the daily y signal. >> i don't think young black men or a anybody should get t a cril recocord for you lowow level us. i do not believe we should spend our law enforcement t time j jag or imprisosoning marijuana user, butt to solvee thahat problem, u don't neneed to go to the other extreme of creating big tobobaco 2.0.0. legalization is not a about to n chung smoking marijuana or a gratefeful dead concert. it is about t creating t the net marlborough of ourur time, thehe xt p phillip mororris and r rj

reynynolds, the big totobacco al over againin. we're just t coming out of a a 0 year s stupor for r being lied y the tobacccco industry y for a century ababout the effect on yoyoung people, on canancer, the candyy cigarettes ththat they promise e had nothining to do wh kids, joe camemel that they promomised was focused on n the 55-year-old white male smoker -- which we k know is wrorong. andd we finallyy got out of tha. why in the world would we want to create thee same thing, just not big tobacco this time, big marijuana? i don't geget it. some people e think we have to o that to get rid ofof the disproportionate arrest. i say get rid of the disproportionate arrests, don't create tobacco 2.0. amy: in another interview with "bbc newsnight," sabet talked about the relationship between drug use and criminal activity. >> the issue is, you do not have to go to either criminalizing and thrown people in prison -- i don't t think you should do that

for people whoho are using d dr. theyey need treatment. we d do not wantnt to increase e availabili, promotioion, andnd commercialalization that w would cocome with this idea ofof legalization.. itit is s a complex connectition between crime and addictction becaususe a lot of p people are committing crime to o either ful their drug habit or under the influence of drugs, which they're going to do whether it is legal or not. amy: so that is the former drug policy advisor to president obama, kevin sabet. deborah small, your response? >> it is funny because these are the same arguments that were made in 1996 when californianans wewere considering prop 215 to legalize medical marijuana. people said it would increase use, it would increase drunk driving, that it would create all kinds of problems, increase crime, etc.. none of those things that happen. one of the reasons they're so much public support for these initiatives is we have now had enough experience in enough states for people to actually

understand that these arguments do not work. and to say having marijuana legalization is going to lead to big tobacco? all we have to do is look abroad at the other countries that have liberalized their marijuana laws to see that is not the case. i just came from amsterdam last month. to me, that is the future of marijuana legalization. whwhat i want people to know is the future of marijuana legalization is boring. when you go into a place in amstererm, it the same gointo a restaurt oro a r. pele ord 'd e way they would der a gss of ne. ey sit and use wityour oer ult friendsn a coletely responsiblway. ey havseen a decreasin adction harder druince ee netheandsdsiberaled their marijuana laws. they have not seen an increase in crime among any group. because of regulation, they actually have better control over the products that people are accessing. ishink that kevin sabet

running a line we have heard before, but which experience tells us is different. with respect to the harms associated with marijuana use, there are no drugs that people can use that do not have some harms associated with them. that is true whether or not you're talking about coffee, or any, alcohol a,mbien, number of products that people put into their body. the issue here is, how do you remote responsible use? how do you promote moderate use? quite frankly, none of that can be done in a prohibition scheme. the whole problem with prohibition in general is that it drives people to use drugs in more dangerous ways. while kevin would like people to believe the issue can be solved through decriminalization, i think that you, amy and juan, no living in new york city, it is not enough. new york decriminalized marijuana possession in 1977.

in 2007, new york city was leading the country in arresting people for marijuana possession because it is not enough. , we talkedah small earlier about the conflict with federal law and some of these legalization initiatives. the obama administration has basicalllly ososen not too prioritize the enforcement of federal marijuana laws. what is your sense of where the candidates hillary clinton and donald trump are on this issue? >> well, i think it is pretty clear. i mean, hillary has said she actually supports medical marijuana, that she also supports the rescheduling of marijuana. i believe she would respect the vote of voters around the country who voted in favor of either medical marijuana and/or recreational marijuana. donald trump on the other hand would bring back the war on drugs. he says one of the big problems that we are facing is drug

smuggling by mexican immigrants. his first supporter was governor lepage of maine who has engaged in his own local drug war in maine that he is associated with blacks and latinos who he claims come to his state bringing drugs, impregnating their women, and generating the opioid crisis in that state. i think if you think about what they have said, who the people are around them, the policies that they support, , it is fairy clear that donald trump would greatly amplify the drug war and rollback many of the reforms that we have made over the last 10 -- - five years, whereas hillary clclinton was support te efforts of blalack lives matter and other grassroots groups to actually prioritize criminal justice reform and rollback the war on drugs and have as redirect our resources away from locking up and criminalizing people towards providing public health and treatment for those who want and need it. amy: the atlantic writes --

by the time americans wake up on november 9, that percentage could be swelling to more than one quarter. from 5% to one quarter. so what kind of pressure does that put then on the federal government? >> well, i think it would a lot of pressure on the federal government to both acknowledge and respect the voice of the people that has been expressed through these various initiatives. why frankly, it also puts pressure on them to change their position on the global war on drugs because this is not just a u.s. phenomenon. i know you have been reporting about what is happening in the philippines and the war on drugs there with the president actively engaged in a campaign of extrajudicial killing of people who are deemed to be drug users or drug dealers. the u.s. is directly responsible thethat because we exported

drug war to the philippines and all of these other countries around the world. in the last five or six years, ,e've seen a real upsurge particularly for latin america, for the cry for us to re-examine our policies. of all brazil, colombia, called on the u.s. to move towards a more public health approach for drugs. this is what these initiatives are about. it is time for the federal government to listen both to the people here and to the people abroad who have collectively said that the war on drugs is a colossal failure and that we need to repeal it and move to an approach to drug control that respects human rights and also protect public safety. amy: arizona, maine, has a choose its, and nevada -- massacachusetts and nevada are with california on legalizing marijuana on tueuesday? florida, arkansas, where do they fit in?

north dakota? what we're seeing in those states is, again, a movement toward liberalizing their laws to make medical marijuana more available to people. it is pretty clear that within the next few years, the vast majority of americans are going to be living in states where they have illegal access to marijuana. it will represent a major sea change in ouour approach to dealing with drugs in this country. it will be really hard to maintain a level of criminalization and a focus on drug law enforcement when the majority of americans believe they have a legal right to this. then we will confront the question of whether or not we're going to continue to use these laws as a tool to target minorities another honorable population -- vulnerable populations. the majority of americans with and, quitetatus franankly, who do not look like me, marijuana has been legal for

them all along. this is really about having the laws contort, making sure everybody in america has legal right and everyone is treated equally under the law. amy: we want to thank you very much, deborah small, for being with us founder of break the , chains: communities of color and the war on drugs. we will link to your piece in the root "how we can reap , , reparatitions from marijuana reform."." longtime advocate for drug decriminalization. when we come back, an astounding film called "rikers." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "sweet leaf" by black sabbath. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we spend the rest of the hour looking at new york city's

rikers island -- one of the largest jails in the united states. on tuesday, abc7 here in new york air exclusive video of a 36-year-old man named rolando perez who died in his jail cell in 2014 after being denied anti-seizure medication. ththis is s part of abc7c7's re. >> in this e exclusive vidideo f traiained by eyewitness s news,u can hehear inmates t telling veststigors s they hururt mr. perez screaming for his medication. he relied o on it since he was 6 years olold to control his sevee seizure disororder. the 36-year-r-old dieded in soly confnfinement afterer getting ia fight with another inmate. he was under arrest fofor petttty burglary back in january 2014. he had not beeeen convicted d oa crime. an autopsy foundnd he died of a sesevere seizure and her proble.

juan: rolando perez was being held at rikers for thehe suspicn of robbing a television. his family is now suing new york city. amy: well, we turn now to a new documentary called "rikers." it brings you face-to-face with men and women who have survived incarceration at new york city's largest and most notorious jail. their stories are told directly to the camera without any additional narration. a dozen former prisoners vividly describe the cruel arc of the rikers experience -- from the trauma of entering the island, to thehe extortionon and contrtl exercised by othther inmateses,o the harrowing interactions with corrections officers. they also detail the beatings and stabbings, the torture of solitary confinement, and the psychological difficulties of psychological difficulties of reentering the outside world. this is the trailer for "rikers ." >> it was the daytime, but it

felt dark. throuough stuff going my m mind, but the m main things hoping that i i do make it out. lookedd like a monsteter. like we were about to go into the valley of beasts. >> once you are there, it is easy to get t there, but hard as hell to o get out. >> complete upside down kingdom. every thing that means something to us here, dodoesn'tt mean [bl] there. >> it was total chaos. >> i was scared.d. >> i was literalally cowering in the corner. >> t the worse you do,o, the bir yo are. >> i've seen men rarape other m. >> if you don't have aeaeapon diand yourlf, yoyo having issue. >> i ias l litallyogtied. >> ty broke my nose. >> spit on me and broke a bone in my back.k. >> m my sanity was chihipped awy

little by y little. >> solitary confinement is rough.h. you cacan go crazyzy. >> you startrt defendingng -- befriending the roacs s and rats. >> i a actually conontemplate suicide. for all of you who have been here, you u know it to expect. for those who o have not beehehe , sign your hands. amy: that was the trailer for the new pbs thirteen documentary "rikers." it will have its broadcast november 15 at 10:00 p.m. eastern on thirteen. well, for more, we're joined now by award-winning independent filmmaker marc levin, director of the new documentary, "rikers." marc levin, welcome to democracy now! you worked with two others on

this film. this film iswhat about. what inspired you to do this? bill's,is an idea of who i've known for many years. the basic idea was, as you said, face-to-face, to hear for the first time exclusively from people who have survived rikikes newspeopleout any interfering or officials or politicians. it is really to hear them. and i would say, rikers is a symbol of a criminal justice system that is dysfunctional. we have this idea of criminanal. we have criminalized so many people. i mean, that is whatat the h" was about. here is a chance to read human eyes people. as you said in the tragic report you just had up there, 80% of

them have not even been convicted of a crime yet. they are waiting does -- to go to trial or plea bargain. that was the idea of this film was to allow people to experience what it is like to be on rikers island. juan: how did you decide on the inmates you would use in the film? the process of making it? >> with my partner mark benjamin and our producer tom a we peopley that over 100 who had been on rikers between the late 1970's and all ththe wy to this year. out of thahat, just a natural kd of winnowing down n to about 12f who ended up being the main characters. that we talked to, obviously, a lot of people. amy: let's go to a clip of "rikers," where formerer detains dedescribe thehe culture o of violence. >> it is gladiatoror school for real. >> iff you don't have a w weapoo

dedefend yourself, y you have an issue.e. >> vioiolence rules.. primeor or prey. >> minister situauation where i cannnnot run from, b but my whoe time in the strereets, that is l i have evever been do is fighgh. so i'm lookining like i'm in a place wheree i i alwayays traind for, but did notot know it.. >> the alternative is momore viololence. when somebebody realizezed you'e willing g to be more violent thn they are, ththey're less prone o be v they taught mhohow to use a level of violence i have never -- i could never imagine i was capable of doing. amy: talk about this. >> this is one of the main issues.. we think we're putting people away on this penal colony and, out of sight, out of mind. basically, it is uniniversity of crime, a and accelererate a mis. it makeses things worse. ththe price we'e're paying -- we talked about the cost, but the price we're paying in terms of

sending young pepeople, mostly young people of c color, awawayd coming out worse off than they wentnt. if they're going to survive, they have to be part of this notorious culture of violence, and that is frightening. juan: the culture of violence -- yound obviously mentioned, i busilily the prisin guarards themselves have to be a major participant in allowing this to happen. one of the interesting things that i have found fascicinatings the correction officers association is a very powerful institution. largely african-american and officers.rections obviou one was just indicted on federal charges in ousted. nonorman seabrbrook had numerous power in protecting his members are the members of his union from any kind of charges againit ththe kindnd of brutality that o rampant at rikers. >> absolutely. it is one of the issues that officialals are struggling witih

now. i think they have made some progress. there was a trial recently were a number of officers were convicted for abuses come as you said, seabrook himself has been indicted. it is a struggle because the irony i is, many of the corrections officers are from the same communities, sometimes they know or are related to, as in our film "rikers" talks about his relatives were corrections officers and how used to wink and height he was related to people. it is a complex x situation but there is no dououbt changing the coulter of violence means changing how corrections officers are trained and discipiplined. amy: what is the history of rikers? >> it is a landfill. amy: from the east river? >> exactly. that is the big question rigight now,w, is the history so cursedn the karma of this place just so

dark that it can't be changed and it has to be closed down? certainly, a lot of adadvocates feel that way. or can it be -- can we reduce the number of detainees there so much that it does not make financial sense anymore to run an institution? juan: there has been a sharp reduction. at one point, there were around 16,000. >> the people thomas 18,000 to 20,000 during the crack years. now it is down to about 7500. i think that is the key thing. first, how do you prevent people -- a guy that robbed a television set, dead now. how do prevent people like that, what are alternative sentences yet the what kind of bond bill would form as needed? i know you're going to have kalief's brother on here. for a bail of a few hundred dollars to a few thoususand dollars can get that money and does not end up being locked u ?

what kind of programming to the upper people who are locked up? many have mental-health issues. on the reentry side, what do you do when people get out? amy: l let's go t to another clp from "rikers." >> i bececame a blood. nonow i had an authority.y. now i i am the authority. that coulterer is very muchh different -- c coulterer is very mumuch different because t the e you do, thehe bigger yoyou are. at that pointnt, we were not the strongesest. there e was a gang that was s br than us. ththe latin kings. they were the majority. we were t the minority. i enended up putting a lotot ofk -- and by that i meann a l lot f physical c contact, a lot off violence, , a lot of stabbing, a lot of cuttiting. when i say j jump, that t was fr realal. if you don't t do it, i got 35 other pepeople in here that will make you do itit. >> the bloods were putting fear inin a lot of people. very few of our people who ststd ththeir ground. >> it t became this whole tytypf

system that was withth the latin gangs 10 years prior wasas now with the b bloods andd t the crs and ththe o other gangsgs were y had cocontrol of the officererse themem power, gaveve them drugs, gave them and d floods, riright? the co's was always the oppositional gain. whether they were secret member of this gang, they were an entire gang themselves. that is the way they portray themselves. thehere is a uniformed officer for nearly every detainee at new york city jails. saying thahat it dodoesn't matter if you have the uniform on, right?? that says "correction officer" or one that says "inmate." you are stilill doing t time. >> being a an inmate a and beina co is a very thin line. stop -- time stops for ththem wn

they come e in. only o one bridge in and one ou. some co's are real cool a and se really understand the syststem d try to preventnt these young people from cocoming back by talking to them. >> the majorority of the offices onon rikers island a are minino. ththey come from where w we come from. they g grew up where we grew up at. somehow they j just never made t to prison. >> a myunt and my sister ourur captorors on rikerers island, mm and dad. i couould not telell anybody i s related to this persrson. i i was the family and ththe corrididor going to eat dd just give them a wink bethey tell me i wowould sent to the box if i did not pay them. that name he say, you're just like me. we are all criminals in here. amy: that is an excerpt of the film "rikers" that will premiere on public television wnet

channel 13 in new york on november 15 and atdoc nyc the film festival in new york on november 12. is the award-winning independent filmmaker. we will be back with him as well as a young man who you have heard a good deal about on democracy now!, who has died, but his brother, kalief browder's brother akeem. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we continue our coverage of rikers island. in october, the browder family held a memorial service for venida browder who died of a broken heart 16 months after her own son kalief, hanged himself in his bronx and after

spending italy three years at new york''s rikers islanand. 20 10, hes just 16 in was sent to prison for stealing a backpack. he always maintained his innocence and demented a trial. he's been a nearly next three at rikers, even though he was never tried or convicted. for nearly 800 days of that time, he was held in solitary confinement. near the end of his time i in jail, the judge offered to sentence him to time served if he entered a guilty plea, and told him he could face 15 years in prison if he went to trial and was convicted. kalief still refused to accept the plea deal. he was only released when the case was dismissed. amy: kalief was repeatedly assaulted by guards and other prisoners. hehe also told h huffington n st live h he was r repeatedly y ded food by guards wlele he was in solitary c confinent.. thesexperiencesesraumatizeded him. ultimamately afterer his releas, kalief browdererook his owown le

june 6, 2015, when he was 20 two years old. he was a student at bronx community college. ththvideo thatat has comee outuf the assauaulton him by both the guarards and the pririsoners ist astounding. for more, we're joined by akeem other brother,'s founder of the campaign to shut down rikers. akeem browder, it is wonderful to meet you in person. i know it is hard, just in the music break, showing images of your brother. you were seven. your family, seven kids? you called him peanut? >> yes. herereciate you having me and i which it was -- i wish you was kalief so he could tell his story the way he would have come or my mom, who now we have lost -- i've had to go to two funerals are ready within the

last not even two years, 18 months. fromat time, her promises that i have heard promises from de blasio that there is going to be some reform justice made that other people would not have to suffer the way kalief did, which does not bring back kalief, but it lets me know or tells my family that something is one to be done about this. yet, not a single thing has been done full's top when we talk about how many people are on rikers, it is no longer at 15,000 where was when i first started getting into this, but just because it is down to mean it78,000, doesn't makes a difference on the numbers of people that is exley going in, which is 70,000 people is the 70,000 people go into rikers yearly. andou realize that,

overheard you speaking about gladiator school. ,hese 70,000 some odd people black and brown skin, 89% of the population, and yet we are going through gladiator school today be released into public where people live and fear against you because you are on the news as a demonic animal or demonized and dehumanized just because of our -- the color of our skin most of the time. went through, no kitchen go through. a lot of 16-year-olds and 17 euros are majority that make up that 70,000 people who go into the system. juan: you mention thehe issue of clososing down rikers. ,here's s been a discussion several council members including the speaker of the council, have said they are in favor of shutting down rikers. the mayor, while apparently sympathetic to the issue, has

not made that stance. what is your sense of how that movement is building and the potential that it might succeed? >> as i said, within the last 18 ,onths, mayor de blasio although sounding sympathetic, it is lip service. he tells us that they're going to reduce the population, however, at that time, from then until now, it has only been a couple hundred, not even, because the population from 1500 is only down to 1475. that is not movement. that is not reforming. that i is not being sympathetic. amy: teenagers being taken out of solitary confinement at rikers? >> yes, there is a movement to get -- like, i've been working with close rikers group where we agepushing to raise the

of awareness. we are focusing on rikers island, but the department of corrections in which i used to work for while kalief was there, as an engineer, not an officer, but that population is just being refocused -- you're focusing on rikers while there is more than just rikers. ththere is the boat. we're manhattan house, brooklyn house.e. jujuan: the boat is a barge in e -- >> yes. we're focusing on the wrong thing. we're focusing on rikers, but they are abusing other human beings in other facilities. amy: you are unusual in that you both served at rikers island as a corrections guard? >> no, an engineer. amy: an engineer. and you're also a detainee. talk about both experiences. >> i was there as an adolescent

as well, as 16 -- as 16 years old. they considered you an adult. the public is being lied to. they are saying we're putting these adolescents into adolescent facilities, but me being there, i can say that what ,hey do is there are john does people who do not want to give up their age, but their 34, 28. since they're considered john does and they live about their age, their than entered into the adolescent prisons. amy: how old were you? >> 15, going on 16. they said i was 26 until the corrected. then they put me in an adolescent facility. there were adult there. ony will entitle people different gang members. instead of trying to fix things of what is going on, they create a system of violence that is

really predominate. juan: i want to turn to kalief browder in his own words. in this december 2013 interview with huff post live's mark lamont hill, browder talked about his suicide attempts at rikers and his efforts to get psychiatric help. >> i would say a committed suicide about five or six times. >> you attempted suicide five or six times all while still in prison? >> yes. to telling thert correction officers that i a psychiatrist or counselor, something. i said i needed mental health because i was not feeling right. all of the stress from my case, everything, it was getting to me and i could not take it. i needed someone to talk to. i just needed to talk and be stress free. the correction officers, they did not want to hear me. nobody wanted to listen. juan: that was your brother speaking to huff post live before he committed suicide himself. >> yeah.

my mother, if she were sitting here, she would have spoke of how the from of having her son being lost to the system, the system has claimed already two of my family members through depression, anxiety, and stress. she is not here anymore, either. i am realizing now that the depression that has transpired from kalief to my mother is also to my family members. where senators and everyone asked -- we have to push for reform. we have to push for this law or that law. they ask of us, the family members, to speak and to come out yet when is it there wonder realize these human families, these people like myself or my brother who are still suffering from depressioion because losing our mother''s heart is thehen we had to do,o, now we are beingg askeked to come up to albany and forces to get out of our realm where we want to be morning our family but then does not provide

help or services that could inevitably stop the cycle of depression like therapy or counseling or something like that will stop where e it stops this. you have already created a cycle and it is not going to stop until it consumes everyone that is in the path. juan: marc, most new yorkers, the only time they ever see rikers island is when they're flying into laguardia airport on a plane. what you are hoping they will get out of your film? >> it isis no longer out of sig, out of mind. we don't have to think about guanantanamo. we don't have to think a about u ghraib. i ththink what you just heard hm a sololitary, especially for adolescents, it is a a form of torture. we have been doing it right here . it is time to wake up. it is time to change who we are. amy: we want to thank you both for being with us. akeem browder, your with campaign to shut down rikers.

you lost your brother kalief to the system as well as your mother. i want to thank marc levin, director of the film "rikers." it airs november 15. ñ