12/08/20 12/08/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> ty were dog whater they re doingo make,nd in m -- hitting me. my s, th look onis fac he was prified. the philelphia pice departnt treat mas if i animals don't even deserve that.

amy: in philadelphia, a black mother who was attacked with her family in october by a horde of police officers is speaking out about the harrowing experience. rickia young was driving an suv with her two-year-old son and teenage nephew when officers descended on the vehicle, broke all its windows, assaulted and arrested young, pulled her 16-year-old nephew frothe car, and grabbed her child. we will he rickia her own words d speak her aorney. then we look at how the ride-hailing companies uber and lyft scored a major victory against worker rights with the passage of proposition 22 in california. they're now pushing similar measures in other states. >> with this passage, this will asicw ivers like mfrom protections afforded to most in the state. these companies are promising to roll o this model nationwi. it foretells a grim future for gig workers across the country. amy: we will look at other

ballot initiatives around the country. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the united states coirmed mo than 200,000 new coronavirus infections on monday and more than 1500 new deaths, capping the deadliest week of the u.s. outbreak since april. nearly than 16,000 people have died of covid-19 across the u.s. in just the last week alone. public health officials warn the worst could beet to come. this is top infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci. >> what we have now is a challenge ahead of us of the bleak months of december and januy where we have a baseline of infections that literally is breaking records every day with regard to number of infections,

number of hospitalizations, and numbers of deaths. the numbers are stunning. we can do something about it, but that something right now is public health measures. amy: u. hospitalizations are at a record high, with more than 100,000 covid-19 patients filling beds. intensive care units in hospitals from coast to coast report a rapidly 21 number of beds. new mexico's governor warning doctors may soon have to ration care. executives with the drug makers pfizer and moderna have declined an invitation to meet at the white house today for what president trump is billing as a "vaccine summit." the event appears to be an effort by trump to pressure the food and drug administration to rapidly approve the drug companies' covid-19 vaccines. the fda is currently reviewing data from pfizer's clinical trials and could allow emergency use of its vaccine by the end of the week. this comes as "the new york times" reports the trump administration turned down an offer by pfizer last summer to

lock in supplies of its coronavirus vaccine, giving other countries a chance to get in line ahead of the u.s. for the drug's limited initial supply. this morning, the united kingdom began administering its first doses of pfizer's vaccine to elderly residents. 90-year-old grandmother margaret keenan was first in line. >> i am happy it has happened. i have done it and hopefully it will help other people to come along. best to geto the rid of this terrible thing. amy: the second person who is given the vaccine was named william shakespeare. meanwhile, there are new questions about the rollout of vaccines in the u.s. "the wall street journal" reports pfizer expects to ship half as many doses of its vaccine as planned in 2020, and the medical news site stat reports frontline u.s. healthcare workers think the trump administration's pledge to vaccinate 20 million people in

december seems unrealistic. on capitol hill, the senate homeland security chair, wisconsin republican senator ron johnson, has invited members of a fringe medical association to testify on the coronavirus pandemic. the lead witness, dr. jane orient, has expressed anti-vaccine views and has pushed the use of hydroxychloroquine -- an anti-malaria drug once promoted by president trump, which can cause heart rhythm problems and showed no benefit in treating covid-19. another witness testifying today, dr. ramin oskoui, has falsely claimed that masks and social distancing don't work at combating the spread of coronavirus. in economic news, congress is poised to pass a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown as negotiations continue for emergency coronavirus relief. senate republicans have offered a limited $908 billion coronavirus relief bill that's far short of the more than $3 trillion stimulus package passed by house democrats in may.

vermont senator bernie sanders is warning other members of the democratic caucus not to support a republican-backed measure that would shield corporations from liability if they expose workers or customers to covid-19. meanwhile, "the washington post" reports millions of people who lost their jobs during the pandemic will owe an average of over $5800 in back rent and utilities by january, as debt to landlords could reach a total of $70 billion after a federal moratorium on evictions expires december 31. this comes as housing and economic justice activists warn of mass evictions. president-elect joe biden is reportedly preparing to pick retired general lloyd austin to be his secretary of defense. if confirmed, austin would become the first african american to head the pentagon. austin is the former chief of u.s. central command where he oversaw u.s. forces in iraq and syria. after retiring in 2016, he joined the board of raytheon and

became a partner in pine island capital partners, a venture capital fund focused on military-related companies. general austin will need a legal waiver from congress to take the position due to laws designed to preserve the civilian control of the military. the selection of austin is being seen as a victory for anti-war groups who had fought against the possible selection of michelle flournoy as defense secretary due to her past support of wars in iraq, libya, and other countries. cnn reports president trump called the speaker of the pennsylvania house of representatives multiple times over the past week asking him to overturn the results of the 2020 election. it's at least the third state where trump has tried to have lawmakers ignore the will of voters in order to send an alternate electoral college slate to formally pick the new president in janry. trump remains unsuccessful in s effort. today is the so-called safe harboreadline for states to certified their election

results. on monday, georgia's republican secretary of state recertified joe biden's win after a recount requested by the trump campaign. gabriel sterling, georgia's voting implementation manager, blasted trump's legal team for spreading selectively edited videos falsely implying election workers had rigged the election. >> what is really frustrating is the president's attorneys have the same videotape. they sell the same thing the rest of us could see and they chose to mislead state senators and the public about what was on that video. amy: nearly 1500 lawyers from around the u.s. have signed an open letter to the american bar association condemning trump campaign lawyers for subverting democracy. saying they could be disbarred for violating the o2 the u.s. constitution. the lawyer's right -- "a license to practice law is not a license to lie." giuliani was hospitalized with covid-19 sunday after he consistently refused to wear a

mask or practice social distancing in multiple public appearances around the u.s. both chambers of arizona's state legislature in michigan's house of representatives have suspended work for a week following giuliani's positive test after lawmakers in both states came in close contact with giuliani and his team. michigan's secretary of state says dozens of armed trump supporters gathered outside her home saturday evening demanding she overturn joe biden's electoral win in michigan. jocelyn benson says she was putting up christmas decorations with her son when the armed group began making "loud and threatening" demands that she "stop the steal," echoing rhetoric spread by president trump. benson spoke monday with cnn. >> s on who started my career investigating hate groups and hate crimes, seeing how he forwards and rhetoric can lead to hatul actio by follers.

am in ocber, thebi rest over a don far-right litia meers accud of plotting to kidnap a murder michan goverr greten whitr. floridaarmed poce raide the homef rebeh joneon mond. she the datscientiswho was foed to regn in maas the leadoftware veloper r flori's coronavis data port after s refusedo cens informaon about flida'covid-19utbreak. poce seizeher computerand pointed guns at her children. jones posted video of the raid on twitter. >> police! come down here! >> he just pointed a gun at my children! amy: rebekah jones accused florida's governor ron desantis of sending the gestapo after her. she wrote on twitter -- "this is what happens to scientists who do their job honestly. this is what happens to people who speak truth to power." florida authorities said the raid was part of a probe into a

recent hack ofhe flori heal department's website but jones said she hasn't had access tohe site in six months. an environmental news, the trump administration has rejected setting tougher standards on industrial soot emissions despite evidence linking the deadly air pollutant to increasing covid-19 deaths and other respiratory illnesses. environmental protection agency administrator andrew wheeler made the decision, ignoring his own scientists at the epa who found strengthening the emissions rule could save up to 34,000 lives a year. and melinda coleman, the mother of late sexual assault survivor and advocate daisy coleman, died by apparent suicide sunday, four months after daisy's death by suicide. melinda was 58 years old. melinda's passing was announced by the group safebae, a youth-led organization cofounded by her daughter daisy,

raising awareness on sexual assault in middle and high schools. in a statement, the group said -- "the bottomless grief of losing her husband, tristan, and daisy was more than she could face most days." melinda's son tristan was killed in a car crash two years ago. in 2016, democracy now! interviewed melinda at the sundance film festival, where daisy described her harrowing experience with sexual assault in the netflix documentary "audrie & daisy." >> i am really proud of her. i think she has been incredibly strong. i think she is a great person. i'm so happy she is in my life. she is my hero. amy: to see our full interview with melinda and daisy coleman, you can go to democracynow.org. both now died by suicide. 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. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we begin with a horrific story. a warning to our listeners and viewers -- the next segment contains graphic images and descriptions of police violence. we go to philadelphia, where a black mother who was attacked with her family in october by a horde of police officers is speaking out about the harrowing experience. rickia young was driving an suv with her two-year-old son and teenage nephew on october 27 as the city was engulfed in protest over the police killing of walter wallace, jr., a black man having a mental health crisis earlier that day. but rickia young didn't yet know about the killing. she was just trying to get her nephew and son home when she took a turn down a one-way street, unknowingly driving

straight into a throng of police in riot gear. as young tried to turn the car around and leave the dangerous scene, t officerdescendeon her suv, brokell itsindows, assauld and arsted h. this is rickia young in her own wos, descring thattack t the "philadelphia inquirer" in a recently published interview. >> once i got close enough to see the cops, i stopped. i stopped right there. i was trying to turn around. it was like people came inside the street. there were throwing stuff at the cops. the next thing you know, the cops started charging, running. my nephew was saying, "lock the doors." they were banging on the car. there were saying, "turn this effing car around." they yanked my door open. by that time, they busted the back window.

they pulled out of e car and busted the other window. "mys yelling at them,ike, son n the r, my sois in e car! oncehey sted the window, they we him up werdoing whever they we doing tme, hittge, throng me. my sonthe lookn his fa -- heas petrified. petrified. amy: rickiyoung was th serated fr her twoear-old child anheld forours. she descbed pleang with poli officerrom the ba of a police won. >> i was asking, what is going on? where is my son? where is my son? screaming, trying to find my son. the officer had the nerve to telle, "he in a beer place, d." you can s anythinyou want

about , but lony -sang someing likehat toe is an insult. thphiladelia deparent of police treated me aif i w an anal othe stre. an animadon'even desve th. amy:fter pice assated ckia you and sepated her fromerhild, a photo was taken of a female officer holding the toddler. the national fraternal order of police, the nation's largest police union, posted the photo on social media, falsely claiming -- "this child was lost during the violent riots in philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness. we are the only thing standing between order and anarchy." the false post racked up thousands of shares before it was deleted amid outcry. more than a month after the lice attack, rickia young is

stilfightingor justi and dending thofficersnvolved be fir. she's alsorying toelp her two-yearld recover from t ysicalnd emotial traumof the sault. to th rickispeaking "philalphia quirer." he petrifi. is only o years ol myom andy nephew asked him whatappened. eep] open e, "[b door aeggingis hands he kt repeatg it. likee stiltrying to ll the story. bit his nls, puls here now and he nev did tse thgs befor he is trautized. he igoing thugh someing. he can't express to me how he is feeling. amy: are little two-year-old is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids.

when police impounded her suv, they did not have access to the hearing aids for weeks. for more on this disturbing place assault and what has happened since that night on october 27, we go to philadelphia where we're joined by kevin mincey, rickia young's attorney. kevin, welco to democracy now! thank you for joining us. it is such a horrific story. if you could tell us what the police explanation for this is, what they are doing, and how rickia is dealing with her child who is so traumatized at this point? morning.ood thank you for having me. police have not offered any explanation as to why they acted the way they did that night. they have responded instead with an investigation into rickia. , firstld her vehicle after losing her vehicle, not knowing where it was for several days according to what they told

us and when they fally recovered it three or four days later, ne of her belongings were inside. the hearing aids come her purse, wallet. even more damage than when she left. they smashed out the windows. the police response has been unsatisfactory, disappointing and really insulting to ms. young and her son. ms. young had done nothing wrong that night. ,uan: kevin, --kevin mincey what do you understand from the police version is the reason they stopped her in the first place? clearly, she was just driving through come happened to be driving through the neighborhood . >> there has been no explanation. the onlynt thing the even triedo do was workshop the story where they were going to accuse her of trying to assault a police officer. that was done after they had taken her into custody when rickia young was in the hospital and being held at police

headquarters with wristband that says arrested for assault on police. you can see from the videos taken that nighthat her car never moved. when she came down the street and started to turn and turn around, she stopped and did not back because there were people around her, people running toward her. she did not do anything to revoke an officer. i think that is why they ultimately decided not to charge or criminally, because they had no evidence for such charge. juan: could you talk about her family eventuay found and were able to locate her child? >> sure. firstly, there were two young women who are in the paddy wagon with rickia. one of the women still had her cell phone on her, incredibly. the young able to get lady to call her sister and rickia was able to tell her sister and mother what happened that night. that her mother and sister went out to question the police.

at first the police acted as if they did not know what they were talking about. eventually, they directed rickia 's mother and sister about four miles away from where this happened. 15th and jfk, to be exact, and where the department of human services is here in philadelphia. when they went down there, rickia's mother found h son sitting in the backseat of a police car still in his car seat. when she touched his hair,lass fell out of h hair. there were still glass and in the corsi. when i met them mae the next da i was looking at thear seat and glass was still there. large piecesf glas still ended the corsi. police were allowing him to sit in the glass. i pretty harrowing perien for him. dramatic for wiki had to go through and even rickia'mother and sister to witness the outer -- aftermath was terrible for the whole family. amy: explained how the eternal

order police got this picture of a policewoman holding her child compacting like they were saving this two-year-old. >> it unclear where they got it from. my understanding is that picture was initlly snapped by photographer on the scene that night for a news organization. on theirnal fop put it facebook page. what is really troubling is trying to understand where they got the story from because they either got it from someone in philadelphia who lied and said they found this baby wandering on the street or they made it up completely to support some kind of narrative they were trying to promote where they just created a story about finding this baby wandering around in this "lawless area" of philadelphia. either way, they painted rickia and her family in a false light, exposed her to negative comments on social media and abuse. it is something we will hold them accountable for. amy: kevin, can you talk about the baby's hearing aid?

he is part of hearing. her car was impounded. hiswas not able to access hearing aids for weeks? >> what happened was the hearing aids were in the backseat when th happene he did not have them in because he was asleep. when the police took rickia from her car and her son and nephew, the car was still sitting in the middle of chestnut street. somehow, the police lost the vehicle. they had not been able to explain to me why for days they did not know where the car was. i was calling every day trying to find the car. do you have her hearing aids? do you have her wallet or purse? it was done until three or four days later i w informed they had recovered the vehicle. i can't understand how when rickia left the area the car was surrounded by police officers, how they could somehow then lose it in the midst of all those ficers you can see uer the video. they basically left her vehicle on the street unattended and allowed it to be stolen until

someone decided they did not want to drive around in it anymore or they kept it for a number of days, or dishonest about where the vehicle was, and still have not returned the items inside. we don't know the answers yet. juan: also, could you put what happened to your client in the context of what was actually going on that night? it was a protest that had broken out in response to the police killing of walter wallace, jr., who was shot while having a mental health crisis. could you put that in context? also, your assessment of the response so far of mayor kenney and the police commissioner of philadelphia? >> obvioly, there was a lot of tension and industries that night. this is seven or eight hours after police have killed mr. wallace in t area of the city. mays sixpence prior to that they had te gassed the west philadelphia neighborhood and had tear gassed and shut rubber bullets and protesters.

the world was watching the police response that night and a in particular due to their past behavior in similar circumstances, this is how they responded. hours later, smashing the windows out of a single moms vehicle and dragging her away from her child. as far as response from the mayor or the police commissioner, as far as i know, there is not been any. have not heard anything from the mayor, from the police commissioner. we have had some informal conversations with lawyers from the city, but no apology, no acknowledgment of wrongdoing. instead, the police initiated a criminal investigation into rickia and her conduct that night. they are still trying to justify this -- these unlawful acts and have yet to acknowledge they were wrong. amy: kevin mincey, can you talk more about how rickia, her two-year-old boy, her 16-year-old nephew who she is simply going to pick up that night, how they're coping with

thtrauma they have experienced? >> it is an extremely difficult thing to deal th. you go from being someone who is living their life almost in an anonymous fashion d nowou' staming onveryone ll phone and compur a becomin the subjecof intert debate a soal media commentary. set aside that and talk about the actual physical injuries that all of them suffered. large bump on his head. she had internal injuries. her nephew had broken bones in his hands. slow recovered from the physical injuries and even slower recovery from the emotional trauma they will be dealing with probably for the rest of their lives. amy: and your demands of the police? >> the officers need to be held accountable. i think they're up to five officers placed on desk duty. as a way more than five officers either involved in the destruction of rickia's property or ignoring the conduct of other

officers. more officers need to be held accountable. i will join in rickia's request the officers involved be fired. they certainly do not deserve to have trust placed in them to protect and serve our communities. amy: juan, you have covered police brutality issues r years. talk about what this reminds you of. juan: amy, this is eerily reminiscent of a story i uncovered almost 30 years ago. it is amazing how the more things change, the more they stay the same. 1991 in thek in aftermath of the crown heights riots in brooklyn, new york, supposedlyouched off by a motorist, the killing of a young child gavin kato by motorcade of a his sitter by that was passing through the crown heights neighborhood. a few weeks after that riot, i got a call from a lawyer who

said his client had been arrested that night, the night of the crown heights riot and he was an innocent motorist just driving through the neighborhood who happened onto president street. as he was trying to get home. the police immediately converged on his vehicle destroyed -- broke the windows of his car, dragged him out and beat him. i set up are you sure? i got her anything about it. he said your newspaper has a photo of my client being arrested as a so-called writer. he says, i'm trying to identify the other police officers who actually were involved in beating him. so you must've had a photographer on the scene. so i said, well, look, i can't give you anything other than what is already published in the paper but i will see if there any other photos in our photo library. sure enough, because this is

before smartphone videos and developed actual film by photographers, before digital photos, and i found the real photos that were involved in this incident was de prez somehow, mysteriously, the key photos of the police beating this young haitian-american were missing. someone had gone into "the daily news" photo library and pulled out the most incriminating photos. there were still photos left so all i could tell the lawyer was coming guess, i think are some photos. he eventually subpoenaed them and got the police civilian review board to subpoena them, and the upshot was there was a trial in which i think pierre it'd have been awarded over $3 million as a result of the injuries he sustained. it was the same story. he was labeled a rioter.

he was just passing through in the middle of a racial disturbance. once again, the police turn the victim into supposed criminal. it is eerily reminiscent of what is happening here to rickia young, but it happened 70 times. luckily, this time there appears there will be some action taken, hopefully, by -- join amy: i want to thank kevin mincey for joining us, the attorney for rickia young, a black mother who was attacked in by a horde of october philadelphia police officers, now calling for them to be barred. this.l continue to cover next up, we look at how the right helen companies uber and lyft scored a major victory against worker rights with the passage of prop 22 in california, how they are now pushing similar measures across the country. this is democracy now! thank you, kevin mincey.

we will be back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: "scary times" by sault. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we look now at how ride-hailing companies uber and lyft scored a major victory against worker rights in the election with the passage of proposition 22 in california, and how they're now pushing similar measures in other states. during the campaign to pass up 22, uber and lyft spent a record-setting $205 million to bombard voters and their own workers with misleading advertisements and messages that

promised minimum wage, health care, and protections that are typically consistent with a full-time job. one ad appropriated the words of the legendary poet maya angelou as it showed images of black and brown workers getting ready for their morning drive to pick up passengers. lift upour eyespon this ste breaki for you give bir againo the drm. women, chiren, men ten int thpalms ofourands, ld it into t shape of yo most prive needs. sculed intthe ige of ur mostublic sees. lift up yo hrts. each newour holds new chances for a new beginning. amy: one survey of california voters who voted "yes" to prop 22 showed 40% thought they were supporting gig workers' ability to earn a living wage. but the measure will actually stop gig workers from being eligible for job protections and prevent them from accessing the

benefits of being on the payroll, such as contributions for social security and medicare benefits and overtime pay. prop 22 overrides ab 5 -- a major lar law passed in california in 2019 that extended employee classification to gig workers. now critics worry the proposition could have dire implications for labor rights across the country. the proposition was also backed by doordash, instacart, and postmates, which uber now owns. it was also pushed by tony west, the brother-in-law of vice president-elect kamala harris, who is uber's chief legal officer. for more, we go to california. in oakland, we're joined by cherri murphy, who is a lyft driver and organizer with gig workers rising. she wrote a piece for "the guardian" headlined "uber bought itself a law. here's why that's dangerous for struggling drivers like me." and veena dubal is a professor of law at the university of california, hastings, who writes extensively about the gig

economy and says during the campaign for proposition 22, she was one of many critics subjected to online and offline attacks, including a massive public records act request for her emails and text messages from one of the campaign's pr firms. we welcome both of you to democracy now! cherri murphy, we begin with you. you are a lyft for several years. this was a way to bring financial security to people like you. is it financial security that you are in fact getting or do you feel that this is subverting your ability to make a living and be secure? >> amy, thank you for having me. mentied, along with instacart, doordash, a $200ates, these -- over million. any ballotent in

initiative. with the passage, the law will keep drivers like me, basically from labor protections afforded to most in the state in the middle of a recession. because of that, we will be afforded no paidick leave, family leave, no workmen's compensation, no unemployment insurance, no overtime, and no prective equipment in the middle of a pandemic. are fromhe drivers communities of color. many are immigrants. no protection from discrimination based on immigration status or historical [indiscernible] murphy, what is your response to wha these companies are constantly promoting inheir advertisements that these kinds of jobs offer a freedom and flexibility that normal workers would not be able to have a way

to realize your economic dream? these corporations can provide the flexibility and benefits, like i mentioned, and employme insurance, and there's nothing in the law that is taking with the drivers flexibility. during the campaign, it was a major threat for these compies because they know -- we had theseics professor saying company still need [indiscernible] nothing flexible about cutting wages for health-care putting drivers and rideers at risk. they fought hard to get here. you mentioned that in the wick of george floyd d breonna taylor, these companies included various attitudes about their commitment to racial jusce in

the black community. many of us know that there lyft service was not in support of black lives. completeollow word, locate, public relations teams [indiscernible] we rejected these attempts. we know racial justice, economic justice. we saw this as an attempt to dodge responsibility fothe exultation of black and brown workers every day. many of us know this fight is not only about police killings but every institution that explains and abuses black and brown people. when it comes to lyft and uber and their corporate cronies, they are experts. juan: i would like to possibly bring in veena dubal, professor of law at california hastings. i want to ask about these corporate democrats, with some firms.e key gig economy

david cluff who used to be one of obama's closest friends and aids who first went to work for uber and eventually left uber would to work for mark zuckerberg's charity. you also had anthony foxx, former obama secretary of transportation who became a top official at lyft. forhew wayne, a spokesman andrew cuomo who also became the spokesman for uber. all of these corporate democrats, top aides going to work for these firms in the gig economy. that the lawking that is probably the most dangerous law to workers that we have seen since taft-hartley, that it was architected and heralded by corporate democrats and not republicans -- it is a far right law, the way it was

as antidemocratic, , extreme dangerous danger to american workers and yet you're right. the people behind it, including tony west is now potentially being considered for attorney general, were corporate democrats. professor,u talk, about what you think was most misleading about this campaign? californians voted or of those who voted voted for it. talk about it being used as a model. you see this as one of the most itious attacks on labor and all of your studying of labor law in the united states. >> yes. the reason it is such a huge attack on labor is because it

dismantles -- this corporate fantasy they have been trying to accomplish the past century will it dismantles all of the noodle protections. workers no longer have access to a minimum wage. to overtime compensation, to an employment insurance come to worker compensation, and all of the things that we know -- the very limited protections that working people have in the united states. who most the workers need those basic protections as cherri articulated, low-wage, mostly people of color workers. during the campaign -- i should thereese $200 million were spent on a variety of things that they were mostly spent on bombarding the california electorate are voters of california with -- more voters of california with slitting advertising on youtube, facebook, instagram, even on google when you're searching,

the ad that popped up, emails, messages -- i mean, constant bombarding -- bombardment of messaging that was just inaccurate. in california, it is illegal to be slitting in political advertisements. probably the most misleading thing that i saw was that the advertisements alleged workers would be making a minimum wage. and that is the most important thing for your viewers and listeners to understand about prop 22 and the danger it poses is that it takes away access to a time-based than among wage. some people are no longer getting paid for all the time they work. their only getting paid when they have an aignment. so all of the risks and liabilities traditnally associated with doing business are now on the workers themselves. drivers like cherri cannot predict how much they will make in a given day or a given week. it is at the whim and whimsy of

both demand and the corporations themselves. if that spreads to other sectors, we are going to face increasing inequality, increasing procured a -- the growth of the contingent workforce. it is going to make it extremely difficult for working families to survive, to put food on the table. as we are all anticipating, we may be facing a big economic depression in the coming years. this is the absolute worst time for workers to not have access to just that very basic protection we have come to understand is a limited right that americans have. it is a time-based minimum wage. wondering if i am you could talk about the experiences, especially during the pandemic, of uber and lyft drivers and others in the gig economy? >> certainly.

that my views of lyft were shifting prior to covid-19. the past three years, lyft as be my primy source of income. over the years, after the number abundances decreased while the demand for rights increase, cutting at your take-home pay, becomingncreasingly difficult to sustain a living. flexibility became painfully clear. covid-19 and the black lives matter movement have pulled back the curtain and showed americans diseases for which there still no vaccine. by noise out covid-19. -- i know about covid-19. --le we were seeking solace nor to be found. ,rivers tried to secure mass

hand sanitizer, and implement insurance and other protective measures that without obstacles and lack of transparency processes. i cannot even find a place that was open -- i know what it is like to work for lyft and uber in these corporate greed companies some long hours with no guaranteed wage. no work breaks. a restroom facilities. no overtime. no protective equipment. no paid sick time. i know it is like to always have the looming threat of an accident with no coverage or deactivation based on retaliation and discrimination with no protections, no remedies in place. i know what it's like to be in the idol of a pandemic now. when you have your employer who is denying you unemployment insurance in the middle of a pandemic. i know what it is like to have your company threatened to shut down because they can't get what

they want. there are stories of drivers who have lost their lives in an effort to pay their bills. there were our drivers who are symptomatic of the virus but continue to drive for fear of financial ruin. cherri amy:cherri, prop 22 illuminates required sexual harassment training and uber lyft and lyft to investigate customers and drivers harassment claims? required sexual harassment training as well as the obligation on uber and lyf to investigate drivers a customers harassment claims. a lot of us know there are at least 6000 claims for 27 and 2018 that when in touch what is even more disturbing is these companies are promising to rule out this model nationwide for telling a grim future for gig workers across the country. , about thisdubal

effort to roll it out nationwide, there has been discussion of trying to get a federal law passed? could you talk about that? >> yes. they have announced they are ready and willing to take this really dgerous law to the federal level. they are alrdy trying to replicate it in a number of states, including new york state. rolling up advertisements similarly, misleading advertisements to thatn california. since lyft hit the streets in san francisco, almost a decade, the companies -- the company has -- a number of bills have been written and introduced to do exactly what cop22 does, which is create a substandard category of work under the u.s. law. i think they think they have a blueprint now.

they got this pass in california and we all know what happens in california tends to spread all over the country, even the world. so i think we are going to see a flood of misinformation in states and on the federal level about what gig work is, the kinds of benefits supposedly it offers. we are goi to hear lot of dishonest representations of what freedom and flexibility it offers and how people need this work. it is so important for people to understand from voters, for americans to understand that this law takes away all of the hard-won protections that workers had. we're at a point in technology and history where we should be expanding workers rights. instead, we have -- this law has put was stripped them away. amy: in just 30 seconds, if you can explain what happened to you

as you campaigned against prop 22, the mass investigation that was done of you? >> yeah. i had extreme forms of harassment from the pr campaign, which is again, this proposition passed as a result of disinformation and harassment. it was very trumpian in that sense. i got massive text and email public requests. i was constantly harassed online and off-line. someone put my home address up on twitter. of misinformation on t right wing blogosphere. it was really something. they were scared of what i had to say. i will continue to say it if this spreads cast california, we are headed for an even worse situation of

inequality than we are already experiencing. amy: finally, professor, we at democracy now! want to extend our deepest condolences to you on the loss of your brother sam. the university of washington anthropology professor. he has been missing since early october when he embarked on a solo 17 mile overnight hike on mount rainier in washington state. say he willfamily be remembered for his deep commitment to antiracism in medicine. in late october, tweeted a family of your family saying "we carry your families, thoughts, good wishes for sam as we begin to grieve and celebrate his remarkable life and kind soul. after a thorough search, the outer limits of time for survivability have passed. our deepest gratitude to all, including the brave searchers and community." your brother was an amazing

researcher, antiracist academic. if you want to share a few final thoughts about your brother? >> that is so kind of you. he would be so honored to have his name mentioned on democracy now! sam was the kindest, most brillian most dedicated ethical researcher, friend, community member come advocate i've ever met in my life. he was truly, truly had the spirit of a social justice live his life and let his soul. he loved democracy now! he loved you, amy goodman, and an gonzalez. we miss him so, so very much. i will do everything i can with every day of my life to continue his spirit and to work in his memory, and that includes fighting this kind of economic injustice and inequality. you again.

again, our condolences to everyone in your family. law professor at the university of california, hastings, who writes about the gig economy. murphy, lyft with gig workers rising. we will be back in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: "hit em where it hurts" by pawpaw rod. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in a historic move, the house of representatives voted friday to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and expunge nonviolent convictions for marijuana-related offenses to "address the devastating injustices caused by the war on drugs." next year will mark half a century since president richard nixon declared drugs "public enemy number one." the more act also authorizes a 5% sales tax on marijuana products to be reinvested in community grants and programs including job training, legal aid, and substance abuse treatment for communities who were disproportionately targeted by the war on drugs. this comes as arizona and new jersey voters approved ballot

measures last month that legalize the possession and use of recreational marijuana for adults aged 21 and up. i south dakota, improved recreational marijuana. for more on this and some of the other key ballot measures that passed this election, we're joined by ronald newman, national political director for the american civil liberties union. we don't have much time. thank you so much for joining us. why don't you start on the marijuana legislation, both in the house and these ballot initiatives around the country? >> thank you, amy. glad to be here this morning. you mentioned the source, the highlight aut the vote in congress was never before ha compass past legalization bill of this nature. he also mentioned some of the key limits that came in the legislation and those are elements we as -- we care quite a bit about, the social justice aspects of the legislation.

first, expungement. so people are not saddled with the collateral consequence of having an marijuana conviction on the record. in addition to that, the reinvestment provision that try to ensure it is funnel back into communities that have been destroyed over the last 50 years by the misguided war on drugs. that action in congress was really big deal. there is more to do. we still need to make it to the senate, and that will take some time. but that is good news. youentioned the ballot measures under blue states, purple states, red states. we are developing a collective consensus that we need not throw people behind bars for use of marijuana, and we should be happy about the progress. juan: could you give us a sense of the scope over these last 50 years? numberre numbers on the

of people who were arrested for crimes?a-related >> we are talking millions of people. even today, even after the progress we have made half a million people are arrested every year for marijuana possession. in these arrests and convictions have consequences that stick with people for lifetime. this misguided approach to drug use has hurt millions of people and we must move beyond it. it is important to note it has had a disproportionate impact on communities of color. again, even today, like people are four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession even though study after study has demonstrated the use rates are roughly the same between black people and white people. been significant.

amy: can you talk about some of the surprises and how states voted? we're talking era going, new jersey, south dakota. what surprised you most and how will it change the laws in these states? support is thean most promising and most surprising. wonh dakota, trump handily. but they also voted pretty convincingly to legalize marijuana stop so there's across ideological consensus there. montana, same story. up and down the ballot, conservative republican on the race for the president and the race for governor in senate, but despite that, marijuana legalization passed convincingly. that is important. that shows the country as a whole is moving in the right direction. i would like to take a quick

second on oregon because that is historic and precedent-setting in a different way. people that don't know in oregon, the voters passed a ballot measure that decriminalized drug possession for all drugs, not just marijuana. but the population of oregon's made a collective judgment that people engaged in low-level drug use, regardless of the drug, the best most reasonable, most appropriate response is treatment, not prison. and that also is a philosophical corner that we are turning as a people. that is something to be proud of. what we need to do now is take oregon to other states. so we're having this conversation five years from now, have oregon be the default as opposed to the one-of-a-kind events that happen in this electoral cycle. amy: we want to thank you, ronald newman, for joining us. we will talk to you after the

show and post it online about the right to counsel the spacing you fiction in boulder, colorado. we also want to talk about low-wage jobs and what happened with legislation. ronald newman is the national political director for the american civil liberties union. happy birthday to carla wills!ñ on "america reframed":

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