11/05/20 11/05/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> this afternoon, the filed a lawsuit to stop accounting of the balance in pennsylvania. that is simply wrong. it goes against the most basic principles of our democracy. ap calls michigan and wisconsin for joe biden, moving him closer to the presidency, the trump campaign files

lawsuits in pennsylvania and georgia to stop the vote count while he calls for every ball to be counted in arizona and nevada where he is behind. joe biden now has a 3.5 million-vote lead nationwide. we will speak with democracy now!'s juan gonzalez about the demographics of who turned out about. we will go to arizona to look at how this once red state is turning blue. we will speak with marisa franco, co-founder of mijente. and we will be joined by congressman-elect mondaire jones who is set to become one of the first two openly gay black men -- members of congress. >> the only healthy proposal that would literally ensure everyone in the richest nation of t world has health care amidst a global pandemic. where people have been losing

her health insurance as they have lost their jobs. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the presidential race remains too close to call, but democratic presidential nominee joe biden is closing in on securing enough electoral votes to win after news outlets projected him winning two key states in the midwest -- wisconsin and michigan. according to the associated press, biden has now secured 264 electoral votes. he will reach the needed 270 if he wins any of the four undecided races -- nevada, where he has a slim lead of less than 8000 votes, georgia, where trump is winning by 18,000 votes, but many tens of thousands have yet to be counted. north carolina, where trump is leading by 77,000 votes, or pennsylvania, where trump is up by 165,000 but many absentee

ballots have still not been counted. biden briefly spoke on wednesday. mr. biden: i am not here to declare we won, but i am here to report when the account is finished, we believe we will be the winners. amy: president trump made multiple false claims on wednesday suggesting democrats are stealing the election. at one point, trump wrote on twitter that he was claiming for electoral vote purposes the states of pennsylvania, georgia, north carolina, and michigan even as votes are still being counted. the trump campaign also filed lawsuits in pennsylvania and michigan and georgia and has requested a recount in wisconsin. on wednesday, wisconsin's chief elections official meagan wolfe said trump's claims of electoral fraud are an insult to election workers. >> anybody is welcome to watch

the process. some laces live-streamed their tally last night. say yesterday's election was anything but an incredible success. amy: on wednesday, dozens of trump supporters stormed a vote-counting center in detroit, michigan on windows behind which , elections officials were busy counting mail-in ballots. >> stop the count! stop the count! amy: detroit is a largely african-american city. meanwhile, another group of protesters gathered in arizona chanting "count the vote." many of the protesters were openly carrying ar-15 assault rifles and other guns. a local tv news crew said they left the site after a trump supporter threatened them and said he would find out where they live.

while fox and the associated press have called arizona for biden, the trump campaign is hoping to win the state once all votes are counted. pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in cities across the united states wednesday, condemning trump's efforts to steal the election. in minneapolis, police arrested hundreds of marchers wednesday interstateey flooded 94. here in new york, police cuddled about 60 marchers and arrested them. earlier wednesday, activist linda sarsour spoke at a protest outside the new york public library. everyay we demand that vote is counted. tomorrow we organize and we fight regardless of who goes to the white house. amy: in maine, republican susan collins has been elected to a fifth u.s. senate term, defeating maine's democratic house speaker sara gideon.

collins was thought to be vulnerable after she cast a deciding vote to confirm president trump's supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh, despite sexual assault allegations against him. in michigan, first-term democratic senator gary peters appears poised to win a second term in a close race with republican john james. if joe biden wins the presidency, democrats would need to flip two more senate seats to retake the majority. their best chance is in georgia, where republican david perdue is just over the 50% mark needed to prevent a run-off election against democrat jon ossoff. if perdue falls below the 50% threshold, that race would head to runoff in january, when georgia voters will also decide on a second senate race between democrat reverend raphael warnock and kelly loeffler. house democrats are discussing whether to replace nancy pelosi

as speaker of the house after republicans scored unexpected victories on tuesday, cutting into democrats' majority. that's according to "the hill," which reports two unnamed congressmembers have been approaching colleagues and asking them to back house democratic caucus chair hakeem jeffries as the next house speaker. meanwhile, new mexico has become the first u.s. state to elect women of color as his entire congressional delegation. is aratic teresa fernandez supporter of medicare for all and green new deal. republican yvette herrell is a member of the cherokee nation and former state representative in new mexico's house. they join incumbent congressmember deb haaland who in 2018 became one of the first two names of american women elected -- native american women elected to congress. the united states reported more than 103,000 new coronavirus infections on wednesday, the highest one-day toll for any

nation since the start of the pandemic. 17 states reported record hospitalizations on wednesday, and the u.s. continues to lead the world in covid-19 deaths with over 234,000 reported. the u.s. confirmed about 600,000 new cases just in the last week. breaking yet another record. italy has ordered four regions into lockdown to slow community spread of coronavirus, joining britain, france, germany, the netherlands, the czech republic, and other european countries with tough new measures. kenya has ordered bars and restaurants to close and will ban political gatherings for two months as an exponential rise in coronavirucases threatened to surpass july's peak. in mexico, hospitals in the northern border city of ciudad juarez have reached capacity and began wait-listing patients amid

a surge of covid-19 cases. officials have imposed a nightly curfew and ordered the largely u.s.-owned factories known as maquiladoras to close on weekends. across the border, overtaxed hospitals in el paso have begun airlifting covid patients to other cities in texas. in denmark, officials have ordered millions of minks to be killed amid fears the animals are transmitting a mutated strain of the novel coronavirus back to humans. there are fears the new strain could be resistant to vaccines currently under development. a warning to our listeners and viewers, this story includes graphic descriptions of police violence. in philadelphia, city officials have released body camera footage of the police killing of walter wallace, jr., the african-american 27-year-old father who was shot by two police officers while having a

mental health crisis last week. the video shows police officers shooting and killing wallace as he stands outside his parent's home carrying a knife. a woman in the video can be heard repeatedly saying "wallace is mental" as the officers pointed their guns at him. at one point, wallace's mother states between the officers and wallace. i no one video, a man's voice can be heard saying "shoot him" and "get him." officers fire at least seven rounds each at wallace who falls to the ground. wallace's mother rushes to him saying "you killed my son." one of the officers response "he was effing cases as." wallace never appears to get closer than 10 to 15 pete away from the officers. in texas, williamson county sheriff robert chody has lost

his reelection to democrat mike gleason after chody was indicted on felony charges of evidence tampering related to the police killing of javier ambler. ambler, who was african american, was tasered to death during a traffic stop in march of 2019 as he told officers, "i have congestive heart failure" and "i can't breathe." ambler's death was recorded by the former reality tv show "live producershat shows never showed the footage and later said they destroyed it at that sheriff's request. mississippi voters have overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure overturning a jim crow-era electoral college provision for determining governors and other elected officials. the two-step process for selecting statewide office holders has helped preserve white supremacy in mississippi politics since the law was enacted in 1890. african americans make up nearly 40% of mississippi's population. in missouri, voters have narrowly approved a ballot

measure reversing recent changes to the redistricting process that made state legislative races more competitive. passage of amendment 3 is a major victory for missouri republicans, who are now poised to maintain their supermajority control of the state house and senate. in delaware, democrat sarah mcbride has been elected the first openly transgender state senator in the united states, defeating republican candidate steve washington. in 2016, mcbride became the first openly transgender woman to speak at a major-party convention, addressing democrats in philadelphia. >> will we be a nation where there is only one way to love and only one way to live? or will we be a nation where everyone has the freedom to live openly and equally? a nation that are stronger together? amy: the united states officially withdrew from the landmark paris climate accord on wednesday, drawing condemnation from governments and environmentalists around the world.

this is japan's top government spokesperson. >> the climate change issue is a global challenge and isn't something affecting just a single country. it should be addressed by the entire international community. from that point of view, it is extremely regrettable the united states is withdrawing from the paris agreement now. amy: joe biden has pledged to rejoin the landmark 2015 -- paris accord climate accord on his first day in office. on wednesday biden tweeted -- "today, the trump administration officially left the paris climate agreement. and in exactly 77 days, a biden administration will rejoin it." and in madrid, spain, activists with the climate action group extinction rebellion superglued themselves to the ground outside the entrance to the agriculture ministry on wednesday, demanding spain's government do more to protect biodiversity.

the activists say climate change and the loss of animal habitat threatens to spark new pandemics around the world. >> we demand measures to release all this climate crisis are taken. for example, the coronavirus basically derives from climate change, that little by little we are losing biodiversity. one of the direct consequences is we are losing the natural barrier that previously protected us. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined remotely by my co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen. nermeen: hi, amy welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: democratic presidential nominee joe biden is closing in on securing enough electoral votes to win the election after news outlets projected him winning two key states in the midwest -- wisconsin and michigan. according to the associated press, biden has now secured 264

electoral votes. he will reach the needed 270 if he wins any of the four undecided races -- nevada, where -- georgia, north carolina, or pennsylvania. biden briefly spoke on wednesday. mr. biden: and now after a long night of counting, it is clear that we are winning enough states to reach 200 70 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. i am not here to declare that we report when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners. amy: trump made multiple false claims on wednesday suggesting democrats are stealing the election. at one point, trump wrote on twitter he was claiming for electoral vote purposes the states of pennsylvania, georgia, north carolina, and michigan even as votes are still being counted. the trump campaign also filed

lawsuits in pennsylvania and michigan and georgia, and has requested a recount in wisconsin. pennsylvania governor tom wolf criticized the trump campaign's lawsuit. >> this afternoon, the filed a lawsuit to stop the counting of baots in pennsylvania. that is simply wrong. it goes against the most basic principles of our democracy. amy: to talk more about the election and a look at who turned out to vote in this historic election, we're joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzalez who has been looking closely at who has turned out to vote. he joins us from new jersey where he is a professor at rutgers university. astounding what has taken place in this country. we are talking about a record smashing number of voters. it is believed over 150 million

people voted. can you talk about the demographics of the vote in the last days, the main narrative has been before the election final day on november 3, that african-americans and latinos were not coming out to vote for joe biden to the extent it was believed they would be, but this is a narrative right now you are refuting stuff can you talk about your findings? juan: yes, amy. i have been pouring over the numberand trying to make sense of what happened in the selection. thatdeveloping narrative latinos and to some extent african-americans shifted more toward donald trump in the selection, that they underperformed for joe biden and the democratic par, i believe is a largely false narrative.

i think the main story at this election, as you mentioned that's a record turnout -- we won't have the exact numbers but 158 million, 160 million, post a 160 million people voted. the main sto is people of color, especially latinos, flocked to the polls inumbers that far exceeded what the experts had expected. while the total number of votes cast by white amerans, barely increased from theast presidential election. and most importantly, white voters, including white women, voted at higher percentages for trump this year than they did in 2016. so how come none of the experts are asking why white voters underperformed the democratic party? le me be a little more specific. been somepear to have

areas of the country where there was an increase in the percentage of the latino vote for donald trump, specifically in that rio grande valley of texas and in the miami-dade county. both of which i should note, for those people who know the voting powers test patterns of the latino community come have been relatively conservative areas of the latino community in terms of voting, even though south texas is largely democratic, it has always been a moderate disinterest or conservative democratic voting bastion. but my analysis of the numbers shows a completely different story when you look at the entire country, the country as a whole. i am doing this based on the exit polls that most of the networks use, which is the edison national election poll, which have always been -- it has been criticized in the past precisely because it gives -- he

does not get correct numbers or does not give valid numbers on the latino community but it is still the only massive exit poll that we have until we get more scientific studies that, maybe months later or a year later. so first of all, the historic turnout. million,he number 159 the last election was 136 million people voted. we are about an increase of3 million voters compared to the last election. phenomenal increase. who were those 23 million people? where did they come from? i have a chart here. i hope the producers are able to put it up here. but you will see according to the exit polls, 13% of the vote , tinorom latino voters americans. millionresents 20.6 latinos voted in this election. that is an incredible increase.

65% over the last election, which was already a record for latinos when it was only 12.6%. for the first time in u.s. history, because latinos have never voted more than 50% of the eligible population -- they have always been 45%, 46% or less. for the first time, about two thirds of the eligible latinos came to the polls. 8 million more latinos voted in the selection than the last election. then come the asian-americans. a phenomenal turnout in the asian-american cmunity. 3.6 million more votes than voted in 2016. african-americans also had an increase. they went from 17.1 million who voted in 2016 to 19 million, about 1.9 million. that is an increase but it is not as increased as you may

have expect of the two years of protests. but it is still an increase. what about white voters? the largest sector of the electorate? but a diminishing portion. in 2016, 100 million whites voted. in this election, 1 million just 2.7 million increase. and of the total white vote in the country. so the bulk of the increase of the vote in the selection came from people of color, largely latinos. so no people say, well, but there was a slight percentage increase among african-americans and latinos for trump. percentages don't win elections. votes win elections. that is what you have got to understand. would you rather have 70% of 12 million votes or 68% of 20

million votes? the increase has been so large whereas the percentages have stayed roughly the same that there was enormous increase in the votes by asian-americans, latino americans, and african-americans for biden and the democratic party. why was this? i think the enthusiasm and the turnout of the latinx community was fueled by four years of constant republican scapegoating and attacks on latinos from the disastrous response to hurricane maria for the puerto rican community to family separations and also to the terrible response of the trumpet administration to the coronavirus. and it is why arizona and nevada and colorado are likely it seems to go for joe biden. and what has happened now is votings a new brown belt

block developing under the southwest that includes arizona, nevada, colorado, new mexico, and soon, texas as well. so the real underperformers under this election were white voters who not only did not have a qualitative increase in the vote totals, they dropped from 71% of the electorate to 65%. but they voted in an even higher percentage for trump this time than last time more tn they did for john mccain in 2008. this is especially true among white women. possibleow is this sexual a years now of look -- allegations of sexual assault against trump, his denigrating of women, his family separation policies that white women increased the percentage of the vote that they gave the donald trump? what is up with that? where all the commentators on dissecting what the heck is going on in white america and

with white women in america? unfortunately, it seems to me looking at the numbers, there is no gender gap. there is a racial gender gap in that african-american, latino women are voting so overwhelmingly for the democratic party, but not white women. i think that needs to be analyzed more. finally, i think the issue here is that the united states being the world's prime imperialist power with no real competition, no real adversaries that threaten it and make only china who can compete ecomically with the united states, that we are a coury that is increasingly moving to a situation where the republican party is moving more and more to be the party of white people in america and the democratic party is increasingly becoming the party of the new multiracial majority of the american people. that is what i take from the

results of this election, no matter who ends up actually winning the election or what happens in the senate or with the congress. it is the developing trends in the electorate of america that are showing enormous racial division between the two parties and who they represent. amy: that is juan gonzalez, democracy now! cohost and professor at rikers, doing a deep dive, even as we are waiting to hear who has won the presidency in the united states into the data. juan, maybe you can talk about the kinds of narratives that 2016, theover misinformation that continues to this day about who votes, like the more than half of white women who voted for trump in 2016 -- you are exploding all of this. juan: the exit polls were actually less time around were

considerably off on the women's vote. in fact, the pew center later on and several other groups did more extensive studies and found that in the 2016 election, there betweenhly an even vote donald trump and hillary clinton when it came to white women. i think was 47% to 40%. there were third-party candidates back in 2016 that took a portion of the women's vote as well. to 48%.7% this time around, there is a clear majority that is showing that white women are voting for trump. i don't think there has been any real analysis of what has happened there. by anyly no questioning of the political commentators that i have seen as why trump' support among white women has

increased since 2016. i think while it has not or barely increased among african-american and latino women. i think that is something that has got to be looked at. but i think generally speaking, if you look at the historical thirds it is about two of latinos, going back to george bush -- george bush was the last republican candidate that was able to get 40% of the latino vote. ronald reagan back in the 1980's got about 40% of the latino vote. back then it was a much smaller pie. was a much smaller boat. now it is a much bigger vote. 20%, 29%,u're in the 30% as a republican candidate, that is not a real substantial

change in the vote. you have to get up into the 35% or 40% where you can claim there is actual real movement occurring in the latino community. the historical trend has been republicans generally get about latino 25% to 35% of the vote. remember, latinos are very disparate group. there are many nationalities. isause of migration, there constant change. people are saying, well, south florida voted more for trump as well, the south florida of today is not the same south florida of 10 years ago because south florida has increasingly become the base area for all conservative latin americans, whether they are nicaraguans fling social change in nicaragua, colombians increasingly venezuelans, and of course the old-style cuban community. it is the refuge area for all

people fleeing social upheaval and social revolution in latin america. so it is no surprise there may have been a conservative increase of the latino vote in south florida. that is not a surprise atll. it is only a surprise to the people who don't pay attention to the evolution and the dynamics of the latinx community across the country. but i think the key area, what happened in wisconsin, what happened in pennsylvania, what has happened in the midwest, what has happened in arizona, nevada where the bulk of the latinx community exists, and of course, texas, where the bulk of the latinx community lives and votes. amy: i want to ask about native americans. i was communicating with someone last i from standing rock sioux tribe and they were talking about the big story and it wisconsin around native americans. although it is harder to tra

because of who's identified demographically and who isn't? certainly, the native american vote not only in wisconsin and montana and also in arizona, probably played a very big role in arizona along with the latinx community. people talk about maricopa county has been decisive i knew what happens in arizona. maricopa county is 31% latino. it is the biggest county and it thea very big share of vote. thinkzona especially i and a few other states, native american vote will be crucial but getting the hard numbers is going to take some time because usesample these pollsters is so small that it is going to

take a lot more digging to get the actual results. , even as you say it is very surprising that white in --voters voted for him trump in greater numbers in 2016 given trump's consistent assault guessen of all kinds, i the thing that is striking is also the fact -- i mean, trump did win over 16 million votes, 68 million votes, that given what he has done and said to and about african americans, asian americans, the latinx communities, that a increas -- first of all, that y people would vote for him. and on top of that, that there would be an increase at all, even if marginal. juan: yes, well i agr with you, nermeen.

i think the issue to understand -- again, that is why i raised the nature of u.s. imperialism. i do not think that we should underestimate the reality because everyone knew why they were voting in this election. there were very few undecided voters. i think one of the things that still has to be answered is, how, once again, the polls were so wrong -- not necessarily about the vote for joe biden because most of the polls gave 51 percent,out sometimes 52% of the vote, which is more or less what he has been getting. but there was a severe underestimation in all the polls once again i have how many americans were voting for trump. we've got to understand increasingly these polls are highly susct and cannot be

trted. but i think the key thing to understand is that, unfortunately -- and i have been saying this now for years when i get a chance to do analysis ratherhan just ask questions -- is that there is a significant portion of the , including among african-americans and latinos and other groups, who are perfectly happy with the united states being the world's imperial power. and to some degree or other, believe they are invested in the continued national chauvinism and expansionism and bullying of america around the world. also represents, even if joe biden wins, that there are many americans who are perfectly happy with our country being a rogue state in the world and lording over the rest of the itsd and insisting

interests are first. there is a national chauvinist event in america. a movement that believes other terrorism is the way to go. we cannot underestimate this and hopefully, the progressives will attempt to organize understanding that in the work that has to be done is in the white community, among white americans. that is where the organizing needs to be done. because that is the population that is increasingly shifting more and more to a national chauvinist and a white supremacist view of the world. and i don't think that we can sweep that under the rug and act like it is not happening, because it is happening. and i think that is the key lesson that, yes, donald trump got more votes this time then he there is ime and

reason f that. trump dids you say, get more votes, 4 million at the moment, 4 million more votes in this election than in 2016. and in 2016 when he n, there was a missed universal consensus that he was an aberration -- in other words, he was eccentric to with the republican party had been, what it stands for. whereas it is not really possible to hold that position now. believeght, because i he is an aberration in his personal conduct and the way he carries out the office, but not in the policies that he is implementing. the policies that he is implementing are pretty much in lockstep with conservative republican policies that have been developing for decades.

and that is why so many republicans who really can't stomach the man still vote for him because he is implementing the policies that they believe is where the country should go, whether it is deregulation, whether it is on the climate crisis, whether it is on immigration and 70 other policies -- he is implementing the policies on taxes, implementing the policies the conservative republican establishment want to come is just that he does it in such a manner thatpersonal it is hard to stomach him at the same time. amy: juan gonzalez, they can for being with us. democracy now! cohost and professor at rutgers university

speaking to us from new brunswick, new jersey. when we come back, we had to phoenix, arizona. arizona, you battleground state. what was once radcom is a turning blue -- red, is a turning blue? stay with us. ♪ [music break] nk

amy: "short side of nothing" by los lobos. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we turn to the presidential race in arizona, where joe biden is leading donald trump by more than 68,000 votes with 86% reporting. the associated press and fox news have called the state for biden -- and they did that over a day ago -- but other outlets, including cnn, have yet to declare a winner. biden's lead narrowed early thursday morning when arizona announced results of a batch of mail-in ballot, mainly from maricopa county, which includes phoenix. counting the remaining votes could take several days. several hundred trump supporters

protested outside of the maricopa county election center last night chanting "count the vote." the protesters were openly carrying ar assault rifles. donald trump won arizona in 2016. they were chanting "count the vote" as opposed to the group, donald trump, jr. referring to as the army of supporters that were outside a detroit counting center where trump was ahead in michigan and they were saying "stop the vote" as they stormed into a counting center. in arizona where they were behind, trump insisted they count every vote. if biden's lead holds in arizona, he will be just the second democratic presidential candidate to win the state since 1948. arizona's blue shift is in large part due to a decade of grassroots organizing, particularly in latinx communities, against arizona's anti-immigration policies and maricopa county's infamous former sheriff joe arpaio.

meanwhile, in a closely watched senate race, mark kelly, the astronaut, and the husband of gabby giffords, the congress member from tucson who was shot in the head, mark kelly has unseated arizona republican senator martha mcsally. we go now to phoenix where we're joined by marisa franco. she is director and co-founder of mijente, a national digital organizing hub for latinx and chicanx communities, which this year has led a national campaign to mobilize latinx voters. welcome to democracy now! talk about significance of what is happening in arizona, the explosion of the latinx vote. say, therst thing to lion share of the credit belongs to sustain community organizing in the state. the other night, all of us were watching anything probably like many of you all, we were having this feeling of doom of 2016.

in 2016, we had this feeling of -- it was bittersweet. we finally took sheriff arpaio out of office but as soon as that was announced, it was very clear that trump was going to win the election. as we waited for the results this year and we heard about florida, we started seeing the numbers coming out of ohio and the midwest, it felt really good this year to have our state be a shot in the arm. we were very excited about the results. we are still awaiting what the results are at the top of the ticket, but we have one seat at the county board of supervisors, elected it looks like a , andessive county attorney just continue to see shift in the state. i think it is important that it is a shift that comes at the efforts of many, many people

can't sustain community organizing, embracing of multiplicity of strategies. this is just as much owed the people who took to the streets in protest, the people that call for boycotts, as much as it is the people who knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors to register and mobilize voters. nermeen: what you think accounts for the difference in arizona and compared other states when it comes to latinx voters? is it this organizing that your speaking of? clubs absolutely. was after my heart and the last segment. the numbers are astounding. our community, the main story of this election in reference to latino voters, we came out. we showed up and showed out. arizona is one example of how that is done. i think it is an example that can be replicated. i think we should not take for granted this means that arizona will always be blue or latinos

will always come out. frankly, that is something that democratic party does pretty often. our community is an afterthought. there is not a substantive effort to think of the issues that matter to us, how to be engaged in a meaningful way, how are we involved in decision-making and leadership of little campaigns. often are getting the short end of the stick on resources as well. at a lot probably look of different examples. arizona is one of them. the arizona example i think really demonstrates the organizing istain critical for the community to feel something is changing and they have a role in it. nermeen: can you talk about the significance -- we don't know the results yet of the election, but what is at stake on immigration issues in particular now? big.

we are really clear in our organization when we engage in the endorsement process the media decided to participate in the selection in a more active way, we made it very clear we were not picking a savior, we were picking a target for immigrants and the immigrants rights movement across the country. dismantled or attempted to be dismantled. . it has been one of the things the trump administration is most focused on in this first term. we can only expect in the first term there were understanding they would have to base reelection. i don't think we want to imagine what they're going to do in the second term. a shift in the administration would give us a fighting chance, give us a fighting chance to advance the campaigns and causes that we need in rms of

immigration and addressing deportation. amy: can you talk about some of the share prices you've been following? you're based in arizona but work everywhere from arizona to georgia. >> yeah. , butia in particular immigrants in the state of georgia have faced -- it is almost a tradition in the georgia state legislature, similar to here in arizona. almost tradition to pass anti-immigrant laws every year, year after year. politicians who think they can make an by disparaging us. this is the second cycle were people have come together to mobilize voters. two sheriffs have been knocked out. these are shares that have promoted the program that long has been a program that fuses

local police with immigration enforcement and has been a catalyst of deportation. it is a huge victory. we're really proud. amy: final words, 30 seconds, because of the announcement of president which may come later today? as we wait these results, trump and his supporters are showing who they are. in one place they say count the votes and the other they say stop it. we must not give them the lifeline to relevance. we must not try to think we're are going to be able to just come encounter them. they cannot play the same place. they cannot -- our movement needs to hold steady. we need to count the votes. we are confident we voted and up. if we need to walk him out of the white house, we will. let's hold down, hold steady, not give trump supporters a pathway to any form of moral high ground. they are showing everyone who they are. let the world see it.

amy: marisa franco, director and co-founder of mijente, a national digital organizing hub for latinx and chicanx communities, which this year has led the national campaign called fuera trump to mobilize latinx voters. this is democracy now! me back, we got one david first to openly pla let congress members in the u.s. stay with us. -- openly gay black congress the senate. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "where shall i be" by eric bibb. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we turn now to new york, where democrats mondaire jones and ritchie torres are set to become the first two openly gay black members of congress, replacing lawmakers who are retiring after decades in washington. ritchie torres will represent new york's 15th district in the bronx. mondaire jones will represent new york's 17th congressional district, including rockland county and parts of westchester county. he is replacing the long time

congress. mondaire jones joins the progressive wing of the democratic party, supports the green new deal, medicare for all , and a $15 minimum wage. we welcome you to democracy now! these are historic when. -- historic wins. , welcome back to democracy now! it was great to have you here on election night. then you talk about what your plans are right now? we are speaking to you on the eve of the announcement of who won the presidency today. what does your victory mean for this country? whenat a joy it will be the future president biden is able to announce his victoryn the coming hours or days. with respect to my own election, of smallthat the era

ideas is over. iran probably on a progressive platform from the very beginning of my campaign, which, as you may recall, began as a very challenge and then it an open seat. anyone who had ever aspired to run, move to the distct. including billionaireho spent 5.4 million dollars. people tell me not to run a medicare for all. they tell me it was too polarizing. in the midst of a global pandemic, it had more residents and never before. i really grateful to have defied expectations and conventional political wisdom throughout the course of my year and maybe performance on campaign. , haven: mondaire jones spoken out about your experiences growing up saying for you that policy is personal. could you talk about that? >> yeah. from't come from money or

a political family. i group in section 8 housing and on food stamps. i was raised by young single mom , who like so many incredible women throughout my district and throughout this country, worked multiple jobs just to put food on the table for us. when politicians in washingt debate the need for a $15 minimum wage, that is not an abstraction for . the $15 minimum wage or living wage is a need i know to exist from first-hand experience. my mom got help raising us with our grandparents. when daycare was too expensive, she took me to work with her. when people like elizabeth warren talk about the need to invest in universal childcare as infrastructure, that is a fight i want to join when i get to washington based on not wanting any kid to have to go through what i went through growing up. mondaire jones, could you talk about where election results stand now? you previously advocated for

election reforms, including ranked choice voting and nationwide automatic voter registration. first, your response to how close this race has been and then what you think reforms you have advocated for, how that might change the way elections turn out. watching thell data role in in these swing states, in particular, but your point is well taken. i think many of us on november 3 pected t margins not to be what they were. we expected them to be more favorable, the vote count, toward joe biden. of course, the absentee ballots skew heavily democratic. many votes -- folks who are experts in the area where does not to freak out on november 3. i'm waiting for slley with respect to that. we will continue to press for democracy reforms.

we have seen democracy reforms work here in new york state where i reside. early voting was a tremendous boom and has saved a number of my colleagues. parts of new york are more competitive than my district here and court expansion will have to continue to be part of the expansion. if the senate majority continues to be republican, the prospects for court expansion are significantly dimmer than they were just a few days ago when we expected a democratic control of the senate. amy: i notice you're using the word "court expansion" not "court packing." i would ask you about another issue, and that is congressmember-elect the usps, the u.s. postal service, shows thousands of mailed ballots missed election day deadlines. could be tens of thousands of

ballots, not getting to be counted. you are involved in a lawsuit against the united states postal service yourself that was just settled, is that right? can you talk about the significance of this with the postmaster general being louis dejoy a mega donor to president trump's campaign? >> absolutely. i have been talking about how so many of our institutions have failed us these past few years, to say nothing of systems like our health care system and economic system that we have that is rigged towards the wealthy and well-connected and big corporations. one of those institutions is the postal service. who would thought i would have to sue the postmaster general and the esident of the united states to suspend so-called operational changes which were meant to undermine a free and fair election? we got a nationwide injunction over a month ago at this point. and part of the relief in the southern district of new yk

was the eatment of all election mail as either priority or first class, and then the preapproval of overtime from the period expanding october 26 i believe or 24th through novber 6. so these were commonsense things in addition to weekly reports to confirm for the district court to confirm compliance with his order. but it is not surprising to me that deadlines were miss and of course there is been litigation -- if something is in the mail and arrives in a reasonable -- something is in the mail and arrives, it ought to be counted. unfortunately, republicans of the state legislative level and in congress and even the supreme court as an accomplice working to undermine that basic principle that all votes should count. nermeen: mondaire jones, your response to trump's accusations that theemocratsre trying to steal the election and to get

vote counting to stop in crical states? antidemocratic to just want every vote to be counted. i was casual he cable television yeerday when i was with my .rother and his wife i saw at least some republican viewors also shared the that they publicly expressed ethic mitch mcconnell and mark rubio suggested that every vote should be counted. so i think they're getting tired of this president and his antics as well. some of the policies you have advocated, medicare for all and the green new deal, ese are not policies that biden has endorsed. i am really

impressed by his climate proposal. it is the most ambitious climate plan offered by any major party nominee for the presidency of the united dates. it is a version of a green new deal. it is why you see people -- organizations like the sunrise movement and autho of the green new deal or co-authors of the green new deal like senator ed markey so excited about working to enact it. medicare for all is going to continue to be a battle. obviously, public option would be an improvement from the status quo. let's see what the senate looks like. let's see what joe biden is able to do using the office of the presidency to get republicans to come to e table if they maintain their majority. amy: mondaire jones, thank you for being with us, democratic congressmember-elect for new york's 17th congressional district. one of two openly gay black

members of congress, the first making history in this country. that does it for our show. you can track the presidential elections, to the latest vote cap state-by-state at democracynow.org. democracy noñññññññññg?

narrator: on this episode of "earth foc," avocados have become one of the most popular foods on the planet and exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry. the petorca province in chile is a hub of worldwide avocado production, but the growth of the industry has created a crisis over water rights, raising questions about the moral dimensions of how our avocados are grown and consumed.