11/24/20 11/24/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! hungrycountry is going on the week before thanksgiving and the senate broke. i don't care what party you are, it is an abandonment of our responsibilities. amy: with some 54 million americans going hungry, food

lines stretching for miles are seen across the country. we will speak to raj patel, author "stuffed and starved: the hidden battle for the world's food system." then a betting pool? that is what managers at a tyson pork slaughterhouse set up a -- to bet on how many workers would get covid. six workers died at the iowa plant. more than 1000 were infected. finally, 2020 has become the deadliest year on record for transgender and gender non-conforming people. we will speak to tori cooper of human rights campaign. vionce iibly toxic and all of these different things that make trans lives being devalued. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the trump administration has cleared the way for president-elect joe biden's transition after 16 days of delay that threatened to derail the incoming administration's preparations for reviving the economy and battling the coronavirus pandemic. emily murphy, the trump-appointed head of the general services administration, had refused to declare joe biden the apparent victor of the november 3 election despite overwhelming evidence. murphy finally made that determination on monday as house democrats demanded she appear on capitol hill and as president trump tweeted his support for her. trump did not concede his election loss but tweeted that he would allow the transition to begin "in the best interest of our country." the move will free up more than $7 million in funding for

biden's transition team, which will now receive office space and government briefings. on monday, michigan's board of state canvassers certified joe biden's win by a margin of more than 154,000 votes. also monday, more than 160 corporate ceo's wrote to trump urging he begin the transition. the letter was organized in part by new york state attorney general letitia james, who wrote in a separate statement -- "without the rule of law and an orderly transfer of power, everything from commerce to health care delivery to national security is in peril, and our business leaders can see that as clearly as the rest of us." present-elect biden's cabinet is beginning to take more shape. former federal reserve chair janet yellen is expected to be nominated as treasury secretary. she would become the first woman to hold the post, as will avril haines, biden's pick to be

the director of national intelligence. haines is a former deputy director of the cia who played a key role in obama's drone wars. she has also been criticized for her role absolving the cia officers who hacked into senate intelligence committee computers in an attempt to thwart and undermine the senate's torture probe. biden has named alejandro mayorkas, a cuban immigrant, to head the department of homeland security. he will become the first latino -- latinx and first immigrant to hold the post. while working in the obama administration, mayorkas helped develop and implement the deferred action for childhood arrivals program. biden has also named former secretary of state john kerry to be his special envoy on climate, a newly formed position. kerry helped negotiate the paris climate accord. he will sit on the national security council. meanwhile, biden is facing pressure from progressives not

to select former chicago mayor rahm emmanuel to a cabinet post. on monday, new york democratic congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez tweeted -- "rahm emanuel helped cover up the murder of laquan mcdonald. covering up a murder is disqualifying for public leadership. it is shameful and concerning that he is even being considered." the united states recorded nearly 180,000 new coronavirus infections monday and over 1000 deaths, with 45 states reporting an increase in week-over-week cases. the u.s. broke its record for hospitalizations for the 14th consecutive day, with nearly 86,000 covid-19 patients hospitalized coast-to-coast. medical workers around the u.s. are growing increasingly exhausted as hospitals fill to capacity and supplies of personal protective equipment run dry. jean ross, president of national nurses united, spoke in a conference call monday. >> nearly one year into this

pandic, our hospitals are knowingly still not prepared. our latest survey of nurses show that more than 80% of hospitals capacity surge planning. and the trump administration has explicitly stated it is not even trying to contain the virus. amy: to see our full interview with jean ross, you can go to democracynow.org. hospitals are warning of an even more dire situation ahead as means of americans ignoring the cdc's recommendation against traveling for thanksgiving. on monday, the transportation security administration said over 3 million people traveled by air over the weekend -- the busiest three-day period since march. in california, governor gavin newsom and his family have gone into qrantine after his children were exposed to an

infected member of the highway patrol. governor newsom also apologized monday after photos emerged of him flouting his own coronavirus guidelines while attending a dinner party at an exclusive french restaurant in napa on november 6. newsom was photographed wearing no mask and seated in a tight cluster of people that included the chief executive of the california medical association and the group's top lobbyist. >>, a mistake being with extra people beyond guidelines i have been promoting, which is outside the households. that was a mistake stop i let my guard down and i apologize for it. amy: meanwhile, the number of covid-19 cases among members of president trump's inner circle continues to rise. donald trump, jr. announced friday he tested positive for coronavirus the previous monday. don jr. was among some 250 people who packed the east room of the white house on election night -- almost none of them wearing masks. ben carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, said friday he'd been desperately ill with covid-19 but was recovering.

dr. carson said his condition improved at walter reed medical center after president trump intervened on his behalf. carson wrote on facebook -- "president trump was following my condition and cleared me for the monoclonal antibody therapy that he had previously received, which i am convinced saved my life." dr. carson is just one of a handful of people able to access regeneron's therapeutic before the fda granted the drug emergency use authorization last saturday. the treatment continues to remain in short supply, with regeneron saying it will ship doses for 80,000 patients by the end of november. in hong kong, pro-democracy activist joshua wong and two fellow campaigners face up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to inciting and organizing a massive protest last year against a proposed extradition bill with china. opposition to the bill triggered months of ongoing protests across hong kong. this is joshua wong speaking to the press monday.

that no powerded will stop us from activism. what we're doing now is explaining freedom to the world. amy: in somalia, at least four people are dead after tropical cyclone gati made landfall sunday. the storm was poised to drop two years' worth of rain in just two days. it is the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the northern indian ocean and to hit somalia. it rapidly intensified as it approached eastern africa. this comes as scientists say this is happening more frequently as storms are given a bot by the rising ocean temperatures fueled by the climate crisis. new details have emerged about why u.s. prosecutors dropped narco-trafficking and money laundering charges against mexico's former defense minister salvador cienfuegos. reuters reports attorney general william barr agreed to drop the charges after mexican ficials privately promised him they would arrest a senior cartel leader involved with trafficking large quantities of the

synthetic opioid fentanyl. the drug enforcement administration had accused general cienfuegos of protecting the violent h-2 drug cartel while directing mexico's army against its rivals. authorities in florida have opened an investigation into the recent police killing of two black teenagers who were shot at least eight times while driving a car in cocoa, florida, at around 10:30 a.m. on november 13. one passenger in the car survived. attorney benjamin crump is now representing the families of 16-year-old angelo crooms and 18-year-old sincere pierce. crump said the teenagers were terrified and tried to drive around the officers who were aiming guns at the car. the officers were following the car because they thought it had been stolen. but in fact, the car belonged to the girlfriend of one of the teenagers. in omaha, nebraska, protests continued over the weekend after two omaha police officers shot dead kenneth jones, a 35-year-old black man, during a routine traffic stop on thursday.

police smashed in the passenger window where jones was sitting and attempted to drag jones out of the car before opening fire. according to a police press release, the officers continued to yell at jones to show his hands even after they had shot him. in california, san francisco district attorney chesa boudin has filed homicide charges against a police officer who shot dead an unarmed black man in 2017. the officer, christopher samayoa, shot keita o'neil from inside his patrol car after a chase. boudin is believed to be the first san francisco district attorney to ever file homicide charges against an officer. in kentucky, a leader of the movement demanding justice for breonna taylor has been fatally shot. 21-year-old hamza "travis" nagdy was reportedly struck by multiple bullets during a suspected carjacking early monday near the university of louisville campus. police have released few details and have not named a suspect.

nagdy was well-known for leading chants over his bullhorn at black lives matter events demanding the officers who shot and killed breonna taylor in her own home last march be charged with murder. he voted for the first time just three weeks ago in the november 3 election. in tacoma, washington, the immigration rights group la resistencia is reporting at least seven prisoners at northwest detention center have gone on hunger strike following the alleged assault earliethis week oa 19-yr-old prisoner when guard rortedly t thr knee othe tee's ne. ateast fr othersere th placed isolitaryonfineme, inetaliati for sakinup agait the attack cording to the oup, inclung a 62-year-old prisoner who has cancer and other serious health problems. this comes as prisoners continue to fight for their release during the pandemic. this is gaby parra perez, one of the hunger strikers, speaking from northwest detention center. she's been imprisoned there for nearly one year.

>> i want be released, to b able to deal with thi. i 26 years ol i shld not b havinhalf of the medil issueshat i ha. it is nomandatorfor us tbe in here. ha of e peoplehat are he n't ve a sine thingn the crimin records the others ve livedn the ited stas for me than 2 yes. i know it is not iependently of what a judge has had. i's has the ability to let us go. amy: in more immigration news, wnyc reports nine immigrants being held at the bergen county jail in new jersey have been on hunger strike for nearly two weeks. the prisoners are demanding their release amid growing concerns of the spread of covid-19 in the crowded and squalid jail. several of them have health problems, including kidney disease, making them more vulnerable to worsening covid-19 symptoms.

general motors is recalling some 7 million pickup trucks and suv's worldwide to replace potentially dangerous air bags. this comes after the u.s. government ordered gm to recall the vehicles, which gm sustains are safe to drive. meanwhile, the automaker has withdrawn support for the trump administration's years-long efforts to block california from establishing the state's own fuel efficiency standards. "the new york times" reports gm's move signals the company is ready to work with president-elect joe biden in reducing climate-warming emissions from cars and trucks. in puerto rico, the beloved social leader carlos "taso" zenón died last friday. he was a longtime activist who for decades led the fight against the u.s. navy's occupation of the island of vieques -- his hometown and where the u.s. government tested weapons and held military training. between 1978 1983, zenón and

other fishermen repeatedly confronted u.s. navy ships in and the navy finally left vieques in 2003. they bonded with napalm for years. former new york city mayor david dinkins has died at the age of dinkins graduated from howard 93. university and earned a law degree at brooklyn law school. the only african-american to ever hold the position. during his four years in office, deacons expanded the size of new york's police force to record levels. he ordered the city to to vest its pension fund from companies doing business in apartheid south africa. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. new jersey, as in 70 other places around the country, covid is exponentially spreading.

hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. on without we move first story, i just wanted to lastomment from you on the bit we brought people in the headlines. i want to start with mayor david dinkins, howard graduate who became the first and only african-american mayor of new york. >> as you know, i knew david dinkins pretty well over the years, covered him before his administration and then afterward as well. what you could save a david dinkins is he practiced an old-style the politics in new york city, the politics of stability which is rare in many political leaders. he was the first african-american mayor in the 1980's were all the big cities

of america suddenly had african-american mayors. tom bradley of los angeles, howard washington in chicago, wilson good in philadelphia. thisns was the last of group to come to office. he only served one term. people forget he was the democratic vogue in. what a lot of people don't realize about david dinkins is he was a reluctant mayor. he never really wanted to be mayor of new york city, but he was thrust into that position by the rainbow coalition movement of the d. -- itjackson in 1988 had was that rainbow coalition that prepare propelled dinkins and o. i'll never forget new year's day 1989, i flew to puerto rico to

cover the operation of a new governor in puerto rico and dinkins and several politicians were on the plane of the same plane. he was the manhattan borough president. he was in first class and i was in coach. he comes and sits next to me and says, they want me to run for mayor and i am not sure if i want to do this because i have to give up my seat as manhattan borough president. this is the job i always wanted, manhattan borough president. he said, what do think i should do? i said, mr. dinkins, i am a journalist. i am not involved in politics, but one thing i have learned is if you're going to accomplish any great thing in life, you have to be willing to sacrifice a lot. that is the only advice i can give you. about three weeks later, he decided he was going to throw his hat in and he won. the only served one term. i think the problem with david dinkins is he did a lot of good

come and i think you mentioned the battle against apartheid, but people forget he brought nelson mandela to new york city right after mandela have been free. gave him a tickertape parade. really associated new york with the battle to end minority role in south africa. but he was felled in large part , the cracke in crime cocaine epidemic, and a refusal of the police department really to work for him. they did everything possible to undermine him and as a result, he only served one term with rudy giuliani coming in as mayor. we all know what rudy giuliani is now. but back then, a lot of people considered him almost a mystic figure in big-city politics. we have now seen for the end of his career, wha giuliani is like. david dinkins is refreshing --

was a refreshing figure in new york city potics. againstn the battle apartheid, he took on the , fighting to have the city to vest of its half $1 billion worth of pension penstock invested in companies that do business in south africa. and passed a bill that allow the city to rate banks on their opposition to apartheid. decision tod york's divest was a big blow and really i think propel the divestment movement and force corporate america and a large extent to turn more and more against the south african government. obit.inally, another carlos zenon died at the age of 84 last friday, the longtime activist who among many other action fought against the u.s. navy's occupation and constant

bombing of the island of the at this. zenon was another figure and certainly in the puerto in the puerto rican community, not only in puerto rico but in the united ace. i met him for the first time in 19 avenue nine in philadelphia because it turns out many of the fishermen who have been dislocated from their land migrating to the united states primarily in philadelphia. it was a large community of areao ricans in the camden and said would go back often to raise funds and support for the efforts of the fishermen to block the navy blockade -- they actually interrupt over 30, 35 naval exercises with their boats throughly from 1978

1983. this was way before vieques was known as a battle against colonialism. a mythic figure. years later, his sons and other members of his family continued to fight, which eventually ended in forcing the u.s. navy out of the early 2000's. this was a battle that it went on for 25, 30 years and zenon was the person who touched it off back in the late 1970's. amy cooper people were not friendly with what the military did for decades, they bombed vieques with napalm, depleted uranium, and many other toxic explosives. juan, thank you so much for explaining the significance of both losses today as we remember n, amerin mayor of new york -- african-american

mayor of new york, david dinkins. with some 54 million americans going hungry, the food line my people in lines, cars in lines for miles are seen across this country. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "can i kick it" by a tribe called quest. a shout out to david dinkins, who died about a month after his wife died. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we look now at the growing number of people in the united states who do not have enough food to eat. thousands are standing in lines across the country at food pantries, and parked in hours-long lines of cars at food banks. a recent poll found 4-in-10 americans say they've experienced food insecurity for the first time during the covid-19 pandemic.

here in new york, some food banks had to turn away some families amid unprecedented demand. this is harlem resident ruth crawford in line at a food bank that handed out 500 turkeys to residents, including herself. close you have to try to relax and think of the better things because it wasn't always like this. to people.ng it is just sad. you work all the time and you can't go to work or you can't work from home. it is not easy. amy: the hunger relief group feeding america warns some 54 million u.s. residents currently face food insecurity amid a massive public health and economic crisis. two recent surveys found almost 10% of parents with children under the age of five cannot afford enough food for their kids. many say they have struggled even more after the expiration of federal assistance programs in the cares act, and senate

republicans and the white house have refused to advance multiple relief measures passed by the democrat-controlled house. this is congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez speaking friday on the house floor after senate majority leader mitch mcconnell sent the senate home for thanksgiving without finalizing a coronavirus relief bill. hungrycountry is going on the week before thanksgiving and the senate broke. don't care what car you are. it is an abandonment of our responsibilities as elected officials were charged and acting in the public trust. amy: this comes as the united nations world food program predicts acute hunger could affect 270 million people worldwide by the end of 2020 -- an 82% increase since the start

of the pandemic -- amid the economic fallout from pandemic-related layoffs and less money being sent home by relatives working in wealthier countries, like the united states. for more, we're joined by raj patel, award-winning author, filmmaker, and co-host of the food politics podcast "the secret ingredient." his books include "stuffed and starved: the hidden battle for the world's food system." he teaches at the university of texas, austin, and is currently completing a documentary project about the global food system. it is great to have you back again. lineslooking at the food across the country. pictures of food lines cannot so far from you, in arlington, texas, there was a car food line that went on for miles. four in 10 people in this country who are on these food lines say they have never been on a food line before. talked about what this country is facing and then talk about

the world. , ithank you, amy and juan is great to be back. it is important we think about the horror and the indignity those clips and what we are seeing represents. important to remember the context that happened before covid. before covid, hunger rates -- food insecurity rates in the u.s. -- when we say food insecurity, we are talking about that worry, that experience, that you concern that comes with knowing your household is not going to have enough food to be able to put on the table for everyone so maybe you skip a meal. that food insecurity was bad enough in the united states, hovering around 13% of households, for the past couple of decades. during the great recession, and surged to 16%. 15 million americans. gradually sort of fell away to around 10% last year, 35 million

americans were struggling with food insecurity. which isn't great. that shows the systemic -- whats that counts covid has done is effectively target -- we talk about covid as being a great unveiling of the inequalities in america. but it strikes deep in the food 10tem because seven out of worst paying jobs in america are jobs in the food system. the recession accompanying covid really striking at the food system and the food service jobs come the people and at the frontlines or described as essential workers, are also the people who are more likely to be exposed to covid and more likely to be in precarious and low-wage work. what we are saying, certainly in texas where we are saying these lines -- when i volunteer at the

food bank, it is desperation, is what you see. is theg story here continuing kind of war on the american working class. when you hear about 40% of american households experiencing food insecurity or insecurity of some kind, that is a record. it is a very dark one to be breaking. this is particularly targeting -- it deeply affects households where there are children, expressinghouseholds some sort of decline in income and we are super to clearly low income households a people of color struggling with hunger. juan: i wanted to ask you, why so manys you mentioned, our lowest paying jobs are in the food industry from those who pick our crops to those who

butcher and packed the meets that the public needs, to those who serve the food -- why have we gotten to this situation? word, colonialism. the subtler colony we find ourselves in, the u.s., was founded on certain kind of agricultural colonialism that involved first the enslavement and occupation and genocide of indigenous people and then the enslavement of people from africa. the long history of the u.s. is about a long history of the rebellion of people who have been enslaved in whose land has been colonized. but what we have seen throughout early and more recent u.s. history is workers under the food system are disenfranchised -- prevented from unionizing, for example. if you look at a few the farmers and the u.s., the breakdown is well over farmers -- farm

supervisors are white. there is a cadence of the way work in the food system, which is often done by people of color , like people, enslaved people, and also now is done disproportionately by women -- all of those figure into the long history of the way in which the united states has militated against workers in those professions from organizing and asserting their power. are moving from the trump administration into the incoming biden administration, there is discussion one of the leading contenders for the secretary of department of agriculture, which executes food and foreign policy this country, could be heidi heitkamp. i am wondering your concerns about that possible nomination? >> as you were saying at the top of the hour when you are listing

biden's current appointees, a couple of possible glimmers of if you're feeling optimistic. that this is a continuation of the neural liberal run of the obama era. heidi heitkamp, i think the most astute analysis comes from my colleague of the heel food alliance, she says heidi heitkamp is so far right, she was on trump's list within the mocratic party at the moment, there is a discussion around whether to lean back into the ear in which tom vilsack was the secretary of agriculture and essentially continue the long betrayal of farmers, the democrats have been involved since before nafta. or whether to try a different candidate. the american federation of teachers and the food and commercial workers union came out recently in support of marcia fudge, the congresswoman from ohio's 11th district who

offers a different kind of opportunity for the u.s. that is not about cleaving to the agribusiness monopolies that have bankrolled and supported the for a while, but rather we need a transformation in the way food is grown and to support the eating of food. most of the usda budget goes to things like snap. i think there is a fight and in the democratic party. heidi heitkamp, or should become secretary of agriculture, i think would signal the way in which biden and the biden administration is sticking to neoliberal as this as usual. amy: one of the issues you have raised is who gets the vaccine. we have been having a lot of these discussions, who gets access to these vaccines that are being developed in the world. you have made the point that essential workers, not just nurses, doctors, hospital staff, but for example, food workers

and pickers in california, they, too, should have the first access. >> i agree with me. [laughter] the work is on the frontline precisely workers of the food system. i do want to make a point how this is an international crisis. one where the hunger in the united states is bad and hunger outside the u.s. is worse and the hunger outside the united states is because of u.s. policy, of u.s. trade policy, u.s. policy run intellectual property rights, for example, the wto. if we are to have anything approaching a just recovery, then let's link these issues and understand the reason the frontline workers in the u.s. are often people of color and the long history of a document of workers being part of the u.s. food system is because of u.s. trade wallace he. -- u.s. trade policy.

if we are to move out of the covid dear with any justice, not only must frontline workers in the u.s. revaccinated if and only if it is safe, but also the u.s. needs to stop making the rest of the world hungry through its food policy. that is in addition to recognizing the u.s. needs to be lifting the kinds of restrictions it fought for at that wto run intellectual property rights so countries can become powerful enough to not only know the content of the vaccine, but the production and processes required to be able to make it effectively and ably. but i think the important point is to recognize the u.s. is not an island. the world suffers down alongside the u.s., but because of it. if you're interested in moving out of the covid era, than understanding the frontline workers whether in meatpacking place in the united states worsening remittances home elsewhere under the global sell to other countries under the global south are all affected by u.s. policy, and that policy

must change. amy: thank you for being with us. we're going to be going back to you soon to have this discussion as this problem only worsens in the united states and around the world. raj patel is an award-winning author, cohost of the food politics podcast "the secret ingredient." among his books, "stuffed and starved: the hidden battle for the world's food system." we will stay on the world food system. this is this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. to iowa.ight now it was a betting pool. as covid-19 raged through factories and meatpacking plants in the spring, the mega-corporation tyson refused to close its largest pork slaughterhouse to protect its workers. while publicly claiming to be implementing all possible safety measures, the managers of the waterloo plant in iowa put money on how many workers would get

the deadly virus. soon after, at least six people at the plant had died and more than 1000 were infected. these horrific allegations were made by the family of meatpacker isidro fernandez, who died of covid-19 on april 20. in a lawsuit, the family claims that "plant manager tom hart organized a cash-buy-in, winner-take-all, betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many plant employees would test positive for covid-19." last week, tyson suspended the managers without pay and hired a law firm to do an independent investigation into the claims, to be led by former u.s. attorney general eric holder. in a statement, tyson foods ceo dean banks said -- "we are extremely upset about the accusations involving some of the leadership at our waterloo plant. if these claims are confirmed, we'll take all measures necessary to root out and remove

this disturbing behavior from our company." but worker advocates say the betting pool is just further evidence of mistreatment by tyson at the iowa meat plant and its other factories -- tyson produces 20% of america's beef, chicken, and pork. the president of the united food and commercial workers international union, which represents workers at the plant, said -- "this shocking report of supervisors allegedly taking bets on how many workers would get infected, pressuring sick workers to stay on the job, and failing to enforce basic safety standards, should outrage every american." this comes as a new study found that up to 8% of all u.s. covid-19 cases came from meatpacking plants -- that is more than 300,000 cases. as covid spikes across the united states, again endangering meat workers, we go to springdale, arkansas, home of tyson foods headquarters, to speak with magaly licolli.

she is executi director of venceremos, an advocacy group for poultry plant workers. it is great to have you back. thank you for joining us. but a very sad circumstances. talkbout what is happened in iowa at a pork slaughterhouse and what that means for all meat workers around the country. clubs thank you so much for inviting me. definitely this is outrageous and unacceptable. however, this is shocking for the people who don't know how workers are treated every day. when i informed the workers about this lawsuit here, they were not shocked at all. the practicese among workers, there's a lot of racism, discrimination. a lot of these workers are immigrants, refugees, blacks, asians.

really, the companies are treating them like animals, treating them as disposable. this example of the bettinpool howlly an example of these workers are going through every day. shocking toely is know on top of that the workers were getting sick, they were retreatinge managers these workers as animals and just really during the pandemic, we saw the highlighted issues in this industry that these workers were treated as disposable and that these workers are purposefully put at risk of getting sick. and this is why even the managers tried to pet because they knew it was inevitable that these workers are getting sick, because the company did not

provide even essential benefits such as ppe or even allow workers to practice social distancing. and really what we saw during the pandemic and during this month is there was a lot about tyson pretending that they care for workers. and why i say pretending, because they can put a lot of money in pr campaign trying to convince the public that they were doing everything they could to protect workers. however, still they did not provide basic needs. workers raise to coming to work sick. they said they gave $500 in bonuses with the condition that they did not have to miss any days of work. in the announcement was made in march when they knew that the cases were growing in their plant and that they do that workers were going to get sick, so they kind of incentivized workers to continue coming to work.

inwhen workers told me back march about these bonuses and how the company was forcing them to come to work when they don't have any benefits, basic leave, anything like that, it was a lot of understanding that this company knew what they were doing, that they knew they were putting workers at risk of dying also careese workers a lot of pre-existing conditions of working in the processing plantsith high aunts of chemicals. they have developed resistance to installments. so they knew if the workers were afraid of losing their lives, they have to give them money to make them come to work. and that is what happened. and that is how this all laid out how they were forcing workers to come -- one thing to

tyson and other companies used this benefit system that is like if workers missed a day of work because they were sick, they would get a point. if they reach up to 13 points the workers are going to be fired. so they all the time are afraid jobs for missing work because they were sick. we saw a lot ocases we workers coming in sick. workers being exposed. and also denying workers of the risk of he was -- there was a lot of times workers do not know how many workers were sick, if the coworker next to them was sick. that information was hidden to workers. juani wanted to ask you in terms of we are in the second

and some places third wave of the covid pandemic have conditions changed at all in any of these plants since back in march, april, and may? what is your response because many of these private employers are seeking to have congress eliminate any liability on their part for not properly protecting fromorkers, one immunity any possible lawsuits as a result of their negligence in protecting their workers. your response to that as well? , was how thean govement was really protecting these companies instead of workers. so right now workers are terrified for the second wave because the majority of them got sick. and they also have long-term effects of covid. many of them are disabled. i knoworkers who had only 40% of their lung capacity after getting the covid. so they are not able to return

to work. tyson was not paying workers the quarantine. they were not paying workers from being sick. many workers had to be hospitalized for like three months. and after that, so many of them died. workers were not compensated whatsoever for those times during being hospitalized. many of them are facing food insecurity. many of them are facing -- they're going through hardships of being able to pay medical bills, not being double to pay the utilities, you know. so right now the year is with the second we, ton has not 10 anything to protect workers. outbreak we're experiencing here, the company relaxed its policies about checking the temperature, about asking questions in regard to if they were exposed to others or traveled outside the state where the country. so they have relaxed a lot of

the policies. and that is why i said tyson was pretending to protect workers when in fact they did not do any meaningful changes to continue protecting workers in the long term so we were demanding basic leave. this essential and if it was not essential workers -- benefit was not granted to workers. so workers can assure if they're sick they stay home. going through this hardship that they are experiencing right now. so, yeah -- amy: we have 10 seconds. -- wei think workers need need to create a set a set of bill of ghts to protect worrs, central workers moving forward -- essential workers moving forward with paid sick leave so that these workers don't go to these situations as

they have been going through right now. so we hope tyson really does meaningful changes for workers. it is time to hold them accountable. it is time for consume to join this fight, to put pressure to these companies because we are also responsible to make thedo the right thing for these workers. amy: magaly licolli, thank you for being with us, especially on this day before the holidays, perhaps the largest poultry consuming holiday of the year stop magaly licolli, executive director of venceremos, an advocacy group for poultry plant workers. joining us from springdale, arkansas, home to tyson foods headquarters. next up, we look at how this year was the deadliest on record for transgender and gender nonconforming people. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "don't shoot" by shea diamond. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. dominique, nina putz, marilyn,

tony. just a few of the names of the 37 transgender and gender nonconforming people violently killed in 2020, the deadliest year for trans and gender conforming people. this according to a new report from human rights campaign. it is the highest number of deaths since the hrc started recording and reporting this type of violence since 2013. human rights campaign foundation president alphonso david said -- "this grim milestone proves what we have long known -- this violence is an epidemic. each one of the lives we lost was someone ripped from their family, their friends and their community by an act of senseless violence, often driven by bigotry and transphobia and inflamed by the rhetoric of those who oppose our progress." and gender00 trans

nonconforming people have lost their lives since 2013. two thirds of those killed have been black men. for more on this devastating study, we go to atlanta, georgia, where we're joined by rightsoper, human campaign director of community engagement for the transgender justice initiative. start off by talking about what you found in this devastating report. so much foryou having me. so many things we found in this report. we found the majority of the debts have been black and brown trans women. that is really unfortunate. we are also finding with black and brown trans women come off and they're being killed by people who they know. these numbers are likely any underreport of the deadly violence targeting transgender and gender nonconforming people.

could you talk about how police actually are cataloguing these and reporting these? >> as a black trans women, many of us in the community believe these numbers are low. part of that -- in part because police will tell a story, they will talk about a dad in a way that is truthful. i truthful, i mean the persons legal identification still has"m" instead of "f." they are telling them truthfully, but not accurately. when they use tm by their birth name rather than chosen name. we know this happens and this is a separate issue, there are legal consequences to that, certainly there rorting consequences as well, but we believe that is one of the things that contributes to terribly low numbers and inaccurate counts. in addition to that, families --

they're not always as welcoming and uerstanding about a person's gender identity. that certainly plays an part in getting a more accurate count as well. talk about theld point you first made, you said "killed by people they know." relationship.word yes. what we have found out is the majority of the black and brown trans women who have been killed this year, like an latinx, they had some kind of relationship with the person. it may have been a social media person. there was one or two accounts where folks are believed to have been killed by people they went to school with and perhaps lost contact with over a number of years. so they were in some relationship, social media. could have been an amorous relationship, boy and girl relationship. whatever the relationship, there was some way they knew each

other prior. trans women, particularly black trans women come if we cannot trust people that we know and in a relationship with, then it really takes away all sense of safety and makes us feel even more vulnerable. juan: could you talk about the case of a black trans women who was utally beaten by a mob in st. paul, minnesota, back in june? how often are these situations even investigated and are some trans people often afraid of reporting such attacks to the police? >> this case, it is unfortunately not as uncommon as you would like to think. i do not know her personally, but i will make sure to say that, but i did reach out to her several times and we communicated and through my work as -- a hrc as well. but my understanding, it was a simple small cap of the car

vehicle. and it escalated into basically a group jumping on her and beating her up inside of a store. not only was she not protected by the folks who worked at the store, but as folks realized her gender identity, more and more folks ganged up on her. really, for no reason at all. it is kind of emblematic, symbolic of how we as trans and gender nonconforming folk, how we are ganged up in society. this young lady appears to be minding her own business. it was an accident. a small accident that jeanette create any significant damage, and yet these folks -- not only did they beat her up gang style, ganged up on her, but they videotaped it and played it on social media for others entertainment. as trans people, we feel our liveare displayed in our victimization is displayed for all the peoples entertainment all the time.

juan: can you talk about the role of the media and how we could have a more positive impact on combating these incidents of violence? of theificant role media. quite often what has happened is the media talks about trans and nonconforming people when we are celebrities or when we are dead. the truth is, most of us lie at extremes from somewhere in between those two extremes. it is important for the media t just to tell -- as with any other marginalized group also. it is important that the media tell our stories and a way that is truthful and accurate. it is important that media counteract some of the negative imagery around us by telling stories that uplift our community, that provide a more holistic view of who we are. i like to say add color to the picture of trans and non-binary people.

that is really important. sarahinally, tori, mcbride is a trans woman who was elected to the delaware state legislature, might be the first trans openly transgender state senator in the united states. about her lifek experience. her book is called "tomorrow be different, love, lust, and the fight for trans equality." it has afford by joe biden, the new president-elect of the united states. can you talk about what you want to see this new administration do and what you think the old one, the effect of trump? sara.excited for i respectfully correct you, she first out trans person

elected to congress. incredibly proud of her. state legislator. thank you. we are very proud of her coming to human rights campaign, also proud of her in the trans community. partwe expect from her as of the legislature and from the biden-harris administration is to hold them accountable. in a recent speech was the first to acknowledge transgender folks. statementreleased a on november 20. beginning in january will now be under the administration that is the most supportive of transnon-binary, and all other queer folks will stop what we believe is we're going to hold them accountable so they not only and that hate crime legislation, but legislion that is already on the books, we believe there will

now be policies that will be inclusive of trans folks. again, being able to join the military. there will be protections in the workplace and in education. we believe there will be more of a sensexx

woman: we want our children and our grandchildren, but we are not allowed to keep them. natasha del toro: for decades, u.s. adoption policies tore native american families apart. kathryn fort: 25% to 35% of all american indian children were removed from their homes. 90% of those children were in non-native families. del toro: now, the adopted and foster relatives are coming together to heal and reconnect with their heritage. "blood memory" on america reframed. ♪ ♪