06/30/21 06/30/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we saw a drastic increase in ovdoses over the last year, including the debt that sistereeley. i just really feel if you want to confront the overdose crisis, we he to end prohibition and

criminalization. amy: over 92,000 people died from drug overdoses last year, the highest since the cdc began keeping records. we will speak to truthout maya schenwar about her sister's death and while -- by defining the police might've saved her life. there was big to democratic congresswoman nikema williams of georgia about her abolition amendment to enforced prison labor as well is voting rights and weill talk about structure spending. >> investing will help get people back to work, create good paying jobs come and a stronger economy for everyone. amy: plus, we look at the deadly building collapse in miami were 12 people are confirmed dead, 149 remain missing. could there be a link to climate change and rising sea levels? we will speak to a scientist.

all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. protests erupted in occupied east jerusalem tuesday after israeli forces, equipped with bulldozers, entered the palestinian neighborhood of silwan and demolished a local business in the al-bustan area, claiming the butcher shop did not have a proper permit. israeli soldiers used tear gas and beat protesters with batons. at least 13 palestinians were injured. this is a resident of silwan. >> do you see this? this has only been constructed two months ago. it cost 300 thousand shekels. i swear to god, and the merchandise is still in it. amy: at least 15 palestinian families are at risk of being displaced from al-bustan as israeli forces have ordered them to destroy their own homes or pay the demolition costs. israeli authorities have banned all new construction in the area

and have earmarked the land to build a park. this comes as the palestinian ambassador said israeli occupations have demolished 72 golding slid into the displacement of 78 palestinians. the u.n. warns over 100,000 palestinian residents in occupied east jerusalem are at risk of displacement. the u.s. military could be just days away from removing troops to month ahead of the september 11 deadline set by president biden. hundreds of troops are likely to remain in the country assigned to securing the u.s. embassy and airport in kabul. is the top u.s. military general in afghanistan says, the country could be headed toward civil war. in related news, the house voted tuesday to expedite visas for afghans who have worked alongside u.s. troops. last week, former interpreters for u.s. and nato troops held a protest in front of the u.s. embassy in kabul to highlight

their plight. >> this is our right. the united states government gives us visa because if they don't give us a chance of visa, it is clear hundreds are dying every day. they want to give us. we want to survive. we don't want our kids to become orphans. amy: russia says it has tested its surface-to-air missile system and war planes in occupied crimea following the launch of ukraine and nato's military drills in the black sea, known as sea breeze 2021. the joint exercise, which includes the u.s. military, will last two weeks and involves around 5000 military personnel, 30 ships, and 40 aircraft. last week, russia said its navy fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a british warship in the black sea that entered waters claimed by the kremlin.

israel's new foreign ministry inaugurated the embassy tuesday and is opening an israeli consulate today. in south africa, former president jacob zuma has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after he failed to appear in court as part of a corruption inquiry. he was forced to resign as president in 2018 amidst hunting corruption scandals is accused of helping a prominent family obtain state contracts and influence government policy. as the delta variant threatens to hamper covid-19 recovery efforts around the world, the red cross is warning indonesia is on the edge of catastrophe as health systems struggle to keep up with the influx of patients. this is a nurse in jakarta. >> a lot of cases were dead on arrival because of a lack of beds. patients had to wait until there

are beds before you could be hospitalized. amy: in brazil, covid-19, which has killed at least 516,000 people, caused life expectancy to decline an estimated 1.3 years in 2020 -- a stark finding in the country with the second worst death toll after the u.s. here in the u.s., the centers for disease control estimates the delta variant now represents around one quarter of infections. los angeles county is advising fully vaccinat residents to continue masking indoors due to concerns over the highly transmissible variant. al jazeera is reporting nearly 800 workers on the enbridge line 3 pipeline in minnesota tested positive for covid-19 since construction began in december of last year. in november, healthcare workers and indigenous groups petitioned governor tim walz to delay construction, fearing an influx -- very a covid spike in rural and native communities. in medical news, researchers found the covid-19 mrna vaccines

produced by pfizer and moderna may offer protection against the coronavirufor years. patients may still need booster shots if the virus and its variants evolve significantl meanwhile, in housing news, the supreme court left in place a cdc-issued moratorium on evictions during the pandemic. that moratorium will expire at the end of july. the new york city mayor's race was thrown into disarray after the elections board released in updated vote come for the democratic primary then hours later, removed the new figures from the website saying there was a discrepancy. yesterday's new vote count put frontrunner eric adams just over 2% ahead of former sanitation commissioner kathryn garcia. the board later explained it accidentally counted 135,000 test ballots in its latest tally. this is the first time ranked-choice voting is being used in citywide elections in new york. the city is expected to release updated results today. 124,000 absentee ballots also

have yet to be added to the final result, which is expected in mid-july. in arizona, maricopa county officials will replace all voting machines that were turned over to a private company hired by republicans to conduct a fourth audit of the 2020 election. the maricopa county board of supervisors said the equipment "could pose a risk to free and fair elections" after being handled by cyber ninjas, a company with no record of working in election security and whose ceo has promoted conspiracy theories claiming the presidential election was stolen. the u.s. house of representatives voted tuesday to remove confederate statues on display in the capital building. the bill would replace a bust of roger taney, who wrote the 1857 dred scott decision denying citizenship to african americans, with one of thurgood marshall, the first african american supremeourt justice. the bill now heads to the senate.

missouri democratic congress member congressmember cori bush introduced the people's response act, which would send unarmed, trained professionals to respond to mental health and substance use crises instead of police. congressmember bush said the program "will transform public safety into a system of care rather than criminalization, healing rather than incarceration, and prevention rather than policing." "the new york times" reports that far-right operatives infiltrated democratic-affiliated groups across western states during the 2020 election cycle to try to manipulate politics and reshape the u.s. electoral map. "the times" exposé reveals how a former british spy connected to the mercenary contractor erik prince recruited ex-operatives from the conservative group project veritas to gather dirt that could sabotage the reputations of people and groups considered threats to then-president trump. major funding for the effort came from susan gore, heiress of the gore-tex fortune. the operatives also targeted

wyoming republican governor mark gordon whom trump supporters considered far too moderate. in immigration news, the supreme court ruled asylum seekers who were previously deported and then re-entered the u.s. can be detained indefinitely. the case involved asylum seekers who were apprehended when reentering the u.s. even though many faced violent persecution, torture, and death in their home countries. the 6-3 ruling now allows the u.s. gernment to imprison some asylum seekers and deprive them of their right to see a judge or be given a bond hearing while their cases are resolved -- a process that could take months or years. this comes as buzzfeed reports the number of imprisoned asylum seekers has skyrocketed under the biden administration, nearly doubling from 14,000 early this year to 27,000 detainees in june. in new jersey, immigrant justice advocates are denouncing the transfer of a group of 30 ice -- immigrates detained in newark

to an unknown location early tuesday. among them were men who had recently started a hunger strike. the group abolish ice ny-nj reports guards may have tried to end the strike by entering people's cells and macing them. the group said some dragged out of their cells in the underwear and immigrants whereabouts are still unknown. in canada, it is estimated dozens have died in connection with the record shattering climate change-driven heatwavet. and canada in recent days. >> there will be a lot of people ending up in the hospital and being really, really sick because some of them don't know how to look after themselves. amy: and in the nation's capital, climate actions continued tuesday as activists

rallied on capitol hill. over 500 groups signed on to a letter to democratic leadership calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies in any infrastructure or economic recovery bills. democratic congressmembers ro khanna, ilhan omar, nanette barragán, and earl blumenauer spoke at the rally. this is ebony martin of greenpeace usa. >> the time is now for biden to change. it is time to comfort and elimination of fossil fuel subsidies. i want y to get on the phone. i want you to call all day, every day. get on their nerves. let them know they work for us. amy: climate actions continue today with protests planned at the white house. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace 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 listener and viewers from around the country and around the world.

amy: we begin today with a deadly scourge striking down people at an alarming rate -- no, it is not covid. it is drug overdoses. over 92,000 people died in the united states from overdoses in the 12-month period ending in november -- the most since the centers for the disease control and prevention began keeping track over two decades ago. many experts cite two factors for the surge in deaths -- the pandemic and the increasing availability of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. this all comes as the nation marks 50 years since president richard nixon declared a war on drugs on june 17, 1971. we begin today's show with someone who lost her sister to an overdose just as the pandemic was starting. maya schenwar joins us from chicago, where she works as editor-in-chief of the news website truthout. her sister keeley died of a drug overdose in february 2020 at the age of 29.

maya's piece about her death is just out. it is headlined "my sister died of an overdose. defunding the police might have saved her." maya is the co-author of "prison by any other name" and author of "locked down, locked out: why prison doesn't work and how we can do better." welcome to democracy now! our condolences on the death of your sister. the story you tell is heartrending. tell us the story of keeley, how she lived -- she is also another -- and how she died. >> thank you for having me. my sister was as you said a wonderful mother, a writer, an animal lover, and a friend. she died last yearhanks a

long cycle of criminalization. keeley was incarcerated for the first time when she was 15. for the nt 14 yearsshe was cycling in and out of jail and prison, as well as alternatives like electronic monitoring and drug treatment. the things she was arrested for were always rated to her addiction even when they re not drug charges. so she would go to prison. she would become even more deeply traumatized because tha is what prison does. it traumatizes people. she would emerge with even fewer opportunities and options, and then she would just go back to heavily using heroin to help deal with that pain. i want to point out real quick, so heroin in vacuum, just like

any other drug, is not the problem. i think people can use most stigmatized drugs and be ok, even the most stigmatized drugs like heroin. the people a not supported in using drugs and being ok because there criminalize. so while keeley was incarcerated, horrible things happen to her, like anyone who is locked up, she experienced violence that was perpetrated by guards, she experienced the daily violence that everyone experiences -- strip searches and medical neglect and really just being called by a number instead of your name. also, she experienced giving birth to her baby while she was incarcerated in a prison guard was just sitting there watching her give birth. when keeley returned to using

heroin after her time in prison or a mandated treatment program, each time she was at a much greater risk of overdose. this is something i really want tomphasize. this is true for so many people o use drugs who are released from prison. within the first couple of weeks after being released, someone's risk of overdose is almost 13 times higher than it is for the rest of the population. and that is partly because your tolerance for the drug is lower because you have not been using. so last year, my sister wasn a drug treatment program, a drug court program -- so mandatory treatment. it was based around abstinence, not using the drug. so her tolerance was reduced. she was also very scared of

being rearrested becau she knew that that would mean returning to prison and being separated from her daughter again. so she was avoiding seeking any kind of medical help because it could mean police involvement. juan: i want to ask you, in terms of when she was out of prison, what kind of medical and therapeutic help did she receive during those periods of time? you also said her interactions with police made her situation worse, not better. if you could talk about that as well? >> absolutely. while she was out of prison, she would occasionally receive some support. she tried to be engaged in medication-assisted treatment, which has proven to support people with heroin addiction. but so much of the treatment

that she experienced was based around surveillance and leasing. this is something that we see with many, many people who are criminalized and also use drugs. because it is inside the criminal legal system, so we see substance use as a problem that is within the criminal system even if we are not sending people to jail. so when people are sent to a maated drug treatment center -- when treatment is mandated, the research shows that is not actually effective in helping people recover. also we have to think about ethically whether we should be putting people in the position where there mandated to do certain things with their bodies and their minds. so keeley was always surveilled. shwas not able to do the things that many of us are able

to do to create a meaningful life. she wasn't given opportunities to pursue her interests, to be with her family in a sustained way -- many of these treatments separated her from her family and confined her just like prison. and the thing i mentioned often about policing and the role it played in her death was she became so afraid of being rearrested. this is a very common fear among people who use drugs, particularly, among marginalized people who use drugs -- black people, indigenous people, trans people, people with disabilities and mental health diagnoses. you know, police are targeting them very, very heavily so it is a warranted fear. so seeking any kind of medical attention, particularly calling

911, can put you at risk for police contact. and that can lead to a return to incarceration. so even when in theory there are options available and people say, "why did it you seek help?" well, why would you seek help if the threat of punishment and torture and trauma is hanging over your head every single second of the day? juan: in 2019, keeley was sentenced to two years in drug court. explain what that means i what happened to her after that. >> yeah. so drug court is a diversion. the idea is someone will be diverted either pretrial or sentenced to treatment instead of prison. this option has grown

substantially in popularity over the past few years. it is something that biden has heavily promoted. it often is a thing that generates bipartisan enthusiasm. but what people are not acknowledging is it is still criminalization. so it still involves arresting people. ju arrest is a trauma. is within the criminal legal system, which is built on foundations of white supremacy. so it is still targeting people of color, targeting black people. it is still operating within the mindset of surveillance, so drug testing people constantly -- it is still operating within a model of abstinence, which we know is not actually the best way to help people survive. so even though we know all of these things, we are endorsing

this program i think because, partly, because it is so hard to break out of this punishment mindset. we need to challenge ourselves and say, what are we doing? why are we supporting criminalization at the expense of people's actual survival and ability to find support and ability to find resources? i think one really sad thing about all of the money that is going into drug policing and drug courts and all of these resources not only are harming and killing people, but like the defund police movement has brought up again and again, what we have if we diverted those resources and spent even more resourceon things like housing and education and noncoercive health care and mental health

carend me recreational opportunities and the arts and ways for people to live meaningful and livable lives and have all kinds of options to support their survival. that is where we should be directing our energy. amy: i would like to go back to june 2014 when your sister keeley schenwar participated in a panel discussion in chicago on breastfeeding and incarceration. keeley read a poem she wrote for her baby daughter while she was incarcerated. keeley gave birth while she was in prison and was taken away from her newborn daughter after only 24 hours with her. >> took me over a month to start writing. it is so hd for me to think about all i have put you through. the nurse giving updates when the counselors let me call. they say you're almost 10 pounds. starting to feel better you love your bets. i am not the one that holds you

when you cry or the when you look at when you open your eyes. it kills me to know the reality is i am not a your life. i brought you into a world full of great things around with pain that which you already know too well and have no choice but to let you handle it all on your own and without a mother. i guess you are not alone. it doesn't matter, nothing about this feels right. although i know you will remember this, i can't help but wonder if you feel the emptiness i carry day and night without you close or on-site. i know my handwriting is sometimes sloppy, but it is late and i'm writing in the background of the prison hallway lights. i'm about to miss your first halloween just as i have missed these last two month i wish none of this was true, but deep inside and underneath, i know i need to tell you nothing but the truth, which also includes that i love you. i will spend the rest of my life

making this up to you. amy: that is keeley schenwar in 2014. i'm so sorry, my outcome how difficult this is for you, which makes it all the more break free to have written this piece in truthout and to tell your sisters stories and her true. as we talk about her baby being taken away from her so quickly, can you talk about her tear -- terror to get help because she was always afraid she would lose her baby, that they would take her baby from her and what you think needs to happen now? and cori bush's new resolution she just introduced to congress, the people's response act, which would send unarmed train professionals to respond to mental health and substance abuse crisis instead o police would make a difference? >> thank you, amy. thank you for playing that.

i am overwhelmed. the poem is so beautiful. it should not have had to be written. tearing a mother away from her newborn baby is one of the most violent acts in the universe. it is perpetrated by our legal system. i think when we think about the terror of keeley and so many mothers and parents who use drugs and more generally are criminalized, have tohink about the double punishment -- the fact that not only are they under threat of being put into torture chambers, prison, but also they are under threat of this deep, deep reaching punishment of being torn away. for keeley, that was also the trauma of being pregnant and giving birth behind bars.

when we look forward and think about, well, what can be done? i think the number one thing we ed to be thinking about is end criminalization and policing. you know, this might sound like something we're doing away with instead of introducing, but i think it is generative. criminalization and incarcerion are traumatizing and torturing people, and they'relso putting us in the mindset that this is all we can do, that this is our go to solution. well, you c't acally a minister tatment through a syst like that and as we discussed, these are actually making it less likely that people are going to seek emergency help when they really need it. so i think within that, we also need to look at some of the other demands that are being made by organizers working to defund police and to defend a

black lives. i think cori bush's legislation does encompass some of that. need to be fueling resources for priorities that affirm life and that includes housing, education, food, health care -- these things would absolutely reduce overdoses in addition to all of the other many benefits they would have and the ways in which they would build toward creating a more flourishing and meaningful and equitable society. and i think creating nonpolice emergency responses is definitely something we should be funding and feeling. i believe cori bush's bill put funding into existing programs, which is good, and we also need to be fting up and funding and supporting all of the mutual aid

efforts and the efforts that have actually been created by people who use drugs to support people in their survival, calm up wit creative crime reduction techniques, and actually bring those to the community. i think in addition -- i just want to say real quickly, actually legalizing drugs and doing that in a way that is informed by racial justice, that grants reparations to people most impacted by the drug war, that also has to happen, too. as we are talking about all of these issues with people dealing with contaminated drugs, people dealing with overdoses when they did not even realize what amount they were taking. i think it is all of these things together with a mindset of freedom and supporting people in their survival, a mindset of healing and liberation instead

of the idea that you can confine and survey and police people into so-called recovery. amy: maya schenwar, thank you for being with us. again, this is a conversation we will continue. editor-in-chief of truthout. her sister keeley died of a drug overdose in february 2020 at the age of 29. maya's piece about her death is just out. we will link to it was stock it is headlined "my sister died of an overdose. defunding the police might have saved her." schenwar is co-author of "prison by any other name" and author of "locked down, locked out: why prison doesn't work and how we can do better." next up, we speak with congressmember nikema williams i'm george about her abolition amendment to an forced prison labor and also talk with her about voting rights and infrastructure spending. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "so much more" by we amplify voices featuring effee. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we look now at new a new abolition amendment that was reintroduced after president biden signed legislation this month to create a federal holiday commemorating june 19th as juneteenth, the day in 1865 when enslaved people in galveston, texas, learned of their freedom more than two years after the emancipation proclamation. some human rights advocates say juneteenth didn't actually mark the end of slavery in the united states because of a clause in the 13th amendment that bans the enslavement of people with the exception of involuntary servitude as punishment for being convicted of a crime.

now oregon senator jeff merkley and georgia congressmember nikema williams have introduced legislation to amd the 13th amendment. for more, we're joined by jorge renaud, national criminal justice director for latino justice. he was previously incarcerated for over 27 years in texas where he picked cotton, chopped trees, and did road work. he joins us from austin. and joining us from washington, d.c., is the sponsor of this amendment -- to the amendment, congress member nikema williams. it is great to have you with us for the first time as you replace john lewis in congress. let's start with this. can you talk about what is called the abolition amendment? >> absolutely. thank you for having me. i think we need to look at exactly where we are in our country right now. we are in a period of reckoning with our country's history. yesterday on the floor we voted to remove statues of people who

voluntarily serve the confederacy in this country. we saw what happened on january 6. we came together as a country and voted in a very bipartisan -- people like to use that word so much -- bipartisan faction to make tutee the federal holiday. we still have our country's bending document, constitution has an exception for slavery. the history of the country is marked with racism and white supremacy and oppression and it is up to us to do something about it. eliminating the loophole in the 13th of them that still allows for slavery is one way to continue to move forward with addressing the probls our past and building for the future. i think i hear a lot people say, "but it is not really happening and there is no slavery happening in the country," than what is the problem with removing it? what i see from history, some

laws are put on the books and some things are in is just so they can be used in certain instances, for certain people. i am working with my colleague in the senate to make sure we get this done. we have seen are some states that have already removed this from their state constitutions. very red states like nebraska and utah, they had constitutional amendments and took it to the voters and the voters agreed that this loophole was unacceptable and it is time that we do that on the federal level. juan: a lot of people are not familiar with this history on this provision, especially in penal facilities. the state of alabama, by the turn-of-the-century, about one third of its revenue came from contracting out prison labor? >> yeah. if you go back to the history of this country when black codes were put in place, that is while

the exception was initially there, these black codes were put in place for the people who were just freed, couldn't rest them for loitering -- could arrest him for loitering are minor infractions and put them right back from where they were freed from. this continued to play into this mass incarceration system that we have in this country, that we all know disproportionally impacts black and brown people. juan: jorge renaud, from the national criminal justice director for latino justice, welcome to democracy now! could you talk about the abolition amendment, what you hope it might achieve? >> thank you. good morning. first, i want to say it is an honor to be here with the congresswoman from georgia. i want to set couple of things. i think one of the ways we are going to have toegin this is with how we frame at and talk about this and introducing this

segment, the comment was made some activists say this is haening the way it is. that is actually part of the constitution. right now there are like 2.3 millio people incarcerated in american cages. 1.8 million in prisons across the count who own nothing, who are told to go to work whenever the administration wants them to go to work, whose work and labor benefit 96% of the work that is done by individuals who are incarcerated in american prisons benefits local government. at does not benefit prite corporations, right? i think what we ha to do purses recoize that in american prisons are run by incarcerated labor. the only thing that guards do in this country is passed out male, turnkey's cup and cap individuals. everything us from cutting the grass to the electrical work or maintenance work, from cooking

and cleaning and washing dirty underwear -- everything is done by incarcerated indiduals who in five states don't get anything at all for their labor, which means this country is built upon the concept of -- upon the idea that initiative is something good, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. however, can go to an american prison and cannot 25 years later and not have a penny to your name. i think even worse than the enforced poverty is flitted upon those individuals, is the idea that their labor, themselves is not worthy at all. that they have no input into what they do while they are incarcerated and thanone of their work is an official to when they get out. amy: one of the reasons recall -- we call democracy now! news with the heart, we go to the people who are closest to a story.

you are not just an armchair commentator on this issue. you experienced it. you are in is in for 27 years. in texas, where you picked cotton, chopped trees, did road work. can you talk about how this amendment would affect you? if this were passed like you were in prison. looks the thing is, it would still affect me because i have been in new york for three days and i had to go down to the board of pardons and parole get permission in order to travel and georgia law enforcement. that is analogous of slave papers. when slaves were allowed to travel over 100 years ago, they had to get permission from their masters. while i was incarcerated, one, it would have allowed me in a way to pursue emplment or educational or vocational work while incarcerated that was meaningful to me.

something i could build upon when i got out. it would have allowed me to say, you know what? this specific job that has to be done in prison that you may or may not pay me for come however, is one that is going to be conducive to my skill set. it would allow me to say, the work i'm doing while incarcerated is meaningful to the community around me and other individuals who also are incarcerated. it would allow me to think, i matter, i an something. i was put in solitary confinemenbecause i told the people the last time i was incarcerated two years in while working in the field that i was tired of doing slaver, fieldwork, and they put me in solitary. they locked me up in solitary confinement. he would put a stop to some of that, right? amy: did you get paid? how many states pay no wages at

all? close five states right now pay no wages at all. i was given $50 when i was released. i was given a bus ticket to austin, which is where i told the parole board i was parole into. no, i was not paid one penny. juan: i want to get back to congresswoman nikema williams. i wanted to ask you, what do you see as the prospects for this legislation, especially given the ve close provision in the senate and house, but especially in the senate? >> this was something i think could pass on a bipartisan level. we have seen a willingness i've some republicans to come to grips with our nations history and stand on the side of what is

right. this was a bipartisan bill was introduced in the last congress, and we are working through this. so i am hopeful that we will see people standing up to say once and for all we are going to end the exception for slavery in our constitution. we are still working on it. it was just introduced recently, so there's still so much work to do. we need people to be calling the members of congress and their senators and voicing the concer. a lot of members don't even know this exists. when i introduced it, started talking to some of my democric colleagues and they did not realize there was still an exception in the u.s. constitution for slavery. amy: congressmember nikema williams, today the house is voting to create a select committee that will investigate the deadly generous six attack on the u.s. capitol. house republican leaders still are not saying whether they will participate in the panel. can you explain what is

happening after they voted down having this bipartisan investigation of what happened, how this affected you as you first came into congress and the fact the department of homeland security has just issued a bulletin talking about possible extremist right-wing violence happening in august? >> so i experienced the attack on the capitol my third day of being a member of congress, having just been sworn in. it came at a very pivotal time for me, especially as a member representing georgia. i had been up the entire night talking with media about our two u.s. senate races we just won in georgia, so the attack on the capitol is juxtaposed against winning two senate seats in georgia, sending a black man and jewish man to represent the deep south and then we sitting in my ofce getting ready to go on the floor and defend the

electoral college votes in georgia, seeing a confederate flag paraded through the rotunda of the united states capital was jarring to me. and this constant reminr'm operating in a system that was t designed for or by peoe who lo like me. but i am determined to make it work for all of us. as we move forward, i clearly understand there are some people who don't think i deserve to be he and whether they're willing to -- they clearly support the constituents back home who uplift this mantra. i applaud speaker pelosi for moving forward and coming up with a select committee, en if it is not bipartisan, because we have to get to the truth. we have to do the investigation, to do the hard work, have the hard conversations so we c keep people safe. when all of this first started, i started getting threats, death

threats. i had to have security for me, my family. i had a five-year-old son. i signed up to serve the people, but i never imagined i would be unsafe as a member of congress. amy: i also want to ask you about the emerging so-called bipartisan infrastructure spending deal. president biden went to la crosse, wisconsin, yesterday and said i feel infrastructure is "a drain on our economy." it was see the u.s. spend over on new infrastructure over five $579 billion years, with some $300 billion going to transportation and $100 billion earmarked for roads, bridges, and other major projects. it does not include funding for major programs championed by progressives, including investments in green energy jobs and funds to combat the climate crisis. as we are experiencing the worst he'd ever and it does country,

not too much in canada as well, portland broke every record, one of the hottest places on the planet right now, that is portland, oregon, just to name one place. in moment we will talk about what happened in florida with the catastrophic collapse and its connection, possibly, to the climate crisis. but what about this, the demand linking the bipartisan infrastructure plan with the much larger one that bernie sanders and others arerafting? >> so the house of representatives has equal power in congress to the senate, and we need to make sure the american people understand that and, frankly, that the united states senate understands at. speaker pelosi is made it crystal clear the house will only vote on the bipartisan bill once the larger infrastructure bill is asked through reconciliation. i applauher for that because we have some challenges under

this country that we must address. we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be bold and visionary as we rethink infrastructure, as we truly look at a transformational package that will help us build back better. you should not just be a tagline. we can't go back to where we were before. we have to make sure we come out of this pandemic stronger than ever before, creating jobs for everyone and making vital investment for our future and that includes things like making sure childcare is a part of what we think about who we think about infrastructure. infrastructure keeps the economy going. i know that going too small in reaching this compromise will cost us so much more in the long run, and so i stand with my colleagues in the congressional progreive caucus that we had to do both of these things concurrently.

juan: congresswoman, i know you have to go, but i want to ask you quickly about what are the key infrastructure needs of your state that you are concerned about in this compromise measure? and could you talk about this magic of120 prect with no new taxes? -- $1 trillion project with no new taxes? >> that is still being worked out. we have had an opportunity to weigh in. i have done tours of every city in this congressional district. i've seethe bridges that need repair, the roads that need read their. -- need repair. i see how we need to address the inequities of the past and reconnecting communities. the 1956 federal highway act intentionally divided black communities and decimated black wealth in our country. lanta leaves the country and it being the economic mobility

and racial wealth gap. as we are looking at how do we look at things in atlanta that i know we need to do like our bridges and roads and wer system, we also have to look at things that were done intentionally to some of our communities. i have to always look at this through an equity lens. what i know about paying for this, anyone who makes less than or hundred thousand dollars a year will not -- less than 400,000 does he will not see one penny increase in their taxes. i am ready to move forward. i know i have a lot of colleagues in the house with me and we are ready for the senate to do their job and we will do hours. amy: congressmember nikema williams of georgia. thank you for being with us. we also want to thank jorge renaud of national criminal justice director for latino justice. next up, we look at the catastrophic building collapse of miami beach were 12 people are confirmed dead, 149 are

still missing. could there be a link to the climate crisis and rising sea levels? we will speak with the scientist. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "just another link in the chain" by the prison music project and zoe boekbinder. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in florida, the death toll has risen to 12, with nearly 150 people still missing following the catastrophic collapse of a

13-story apartment building in surfside, right next to miami beach. on thursday, president biden is scheduled to visit the site with his wife dr. biden. the state attorney for miami-dade county has announced that she would ask a grand jury to examine what may be deadliest collapse of a residential building in u.s. history. a 2018 inspection found the building had "abundant cracking and spalling" in its foundation, with engineers pointing to design flaws and insufficient waterproofing. less than three months before the collapse, the president of the condominium association warned residents that the damage had "gotten significantly worse." just last week, a pool contractor took photos underneath the building's pool deck showing water damage and cracked concrete. while investigators have not determined the exact cause of the collapse, the disaster raises new questions about how rising sea levels will impact oceanside buildings in miami and other cities. we go now to coral gables, florida, where we are joined by

harold wanless, a professor in geography and urban sustainability at the university of miami. he leads a project called the invading sea, a collaborative effort by news organizations across florida to dress the threat of sea-level rise. dr. wanless, you say infect miami will be underwater. but talk about that relevance today to what we are saying in all of the corporate coverage of this catastrophe that has taken place, rarely do we hear the words " imate change." >> since the building was built, there is been about seven inches, eight inches of further sealevel rise, which is very fast. but if that building was built properly, i would be surprised that would have a major effect. if we look to the future, which maybe we can do in a minute, that would be important.

i think the problem with this building, as there may be some design and certainly some maintenance problems, but i think they need to look very carefully at the elevation of the base of t parking garage, which you go down to go into, i belie, and that was much lower. they also are going to need to look at very carefully exactly what this building was built on. we assumed it was sand overlying rock, but that may not be correct. there's evidence something else was dug out and build back in and we need to look at that. but the reason this is so important is that either this is something unique to the building or this is a general problem and all the condos along the coast of the world are going to have to deal with. certainly, there is salt spray.

and certainly drink exceptional tides, you do get saltwater into the groundwater. but even freshwater on concrete that isn't that good is highly corrosive. juan: could you talk about the impact of saltwater on structures? we see this in new york city all the time and how is that a right along the water that they're constantly having to repair them because of the corrosive nature of the salt. >> that's right. contrast, flaer built the railroad young to key west under the early part of the previous century and he used german concrete that was design for saltwater. we do it all the time with bridges and other structures around the world. the problem is, i don't think we are using the proper quality concrete because -- you know, it

could be in 20 to 30 years could have as much as two feet to three feet further sealevel rise. i see this accelerating our sealevel rise. we are really in for it. we have to deal with the question you asked straight up. it is not, well, this is about syria level -- sea level. it is not really above a level in the near future. amy: can you talk about mii, it's true? miami's future? because we have warmed the ocean, most all of the heat from global warming is in the ocean, because it is now -- it has initiated and is rapidly accelerating icemelt on both greenland and antarctica, we are, as i said, certainly going to be in for two to three foot

further sealevel rise by mid century. we could be at eight to 15 feet by the end of the century. miami? well, there's only 3% of miami -dade county that is greater than 12 feet above sea level. and even at six feet, it is pretty well going to be over later this century. but we are building here like there is no tomorrow. it is a hard thing for people to think that this hasn't always been here, but it hasn't. sea just happened to slow down for the last couple thousand years, so we built like this has always been here. unfortunately, the barri island of miami beach and all the barrier islands of the world are going to be inundated,

compromised, eroded, storm surged across more aggressively in the pretty near future. juan: can you talk about the government policy related to this in places like miami or new orleans that it is actually to build -- spend billions on constructing man-made barriers instead of relocating populations and having the whole country have to pay for folks who went to live by the ocean? amy: we just have 30 seconds. >>hat is a very good question. it is the same question on floodplains where we are now having more aggressive floods. this is a very fair question. i don't think there is an easy answer. the problem with miami, we lived on limestone so you can't put a

diaper levy around us and keep the water out. it will come up through the rock. because dr. harold wanless, we will be back with you soon professor in geography and urban , sustainability at

♪ hello, and welcome to this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm kathy kobayashi in new york. people in parts of canadand the u.s. are feeling levels of heat they've never felt before. they've struggled through temperatures that have reached near 50 degrees celsius. in