01/12/22 01/12/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: i believe the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bill, debate them, vote, let the majority prevail. and if that very minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this. amy: in a major speech in

atlanta, president biden has endorsed changing the filibuster rule to help democrats pass voting rights legislation. we will speak to two leaders in the voting rights movement, one who boycotted biden's address and one who attended. then we go to the bronx where 17 people, including eight children, have died in a massive fire in an apartment building. the city is blaming the fire on a space heater, but housing activists say it is lack of safe, public affordble housing. >> in the last eight years working with the tenants over countless buildings who have all experienced these issues, as well as being harassed. i have to say i am shocked and astonished the city leadership would blame the tenants. amy: and we will look at a fight in new jersey to stop a new gas-fired power plant in newark.

>> a year after passing the strongest environmental bill in the country, the governor is betraying our communit he's trying to put up a fossil fuel plant in our neighborhood. governor murphy is breaking his promises. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president biden has publicly endorsed changing senate rules to prevent republicans from using the filibuster to block voting rights legislation. biden spoke tuesday in atlanta, georgia. pres. biden: to protect our democracy, support changing the senate rules. whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights.

when it comes to protecting majority rule, in america, the majority should rule in the united states senate. amy: senate majority leader chuck schumer is expected to introduce proposals to change the filibuster rules as early as today in an effort to pass the john lewis voting rights advancement act and the freedom to vote act. but it remains unclear if democrats will have enough votes due to possible opposition from senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. a number of voting rights groups in georgia boycotted biden's speech saying they needed concrete action, not a "photo op." we will speak to two prominent voting rights leaders after headlines, one who attended biden's speech and one who refused. as the record-breaking omicron-fueled covid surge continues, the acting commissioner of the food and drug administration janet woodcock told lawmakers most people will get covid-19. woodcock said the focus should be on making sure hospitals and other essential services can still function.

u.s. daily cases are now averaging over 760,000, with record hospitalizations. here in new york city, students staged walkouts tuesday to protest covid protocols and learning conditions. the protest included hundreds of students from new york's high -- largest high school, brooklyn tech. this comes as in oakland, california, students have petitioned the schools district to go remote learning and implement better safety protocols, threatening to otherwise boycott in-person classes. in chicago, organizers are calling on federal investigators to look into mayor lori lightfoot's use of pandemic relief funds, accusing her of using the money to pay down city debt instead of helping those in need, including chicago's public schools. the red cross has declared a national blood crisis as the u.s. sees its worst blood shortage in over a decade. blood donations have decreased 10% since the start of the pandemic in march 2020. the organization urged those who can to donate blood and platelets as the red cross

warned it has "less than a one-day supply of critical blood types." top white house pandemic advisor dr. anthony fauci confronted senator rand paul during a senate hearing tuesday, accusing paul of endangering his life with repeated lies. >> a person was arrested who was on their way from sacramento to washington, d.c., at a speed stop in iowa. the pice asked him where he was going. he was going to washington, d.c., to kill dr. fauci. and they found in his car an ar-15 and multip magazines of ammunition becau he thinks that maybe i am killing people. so i ask myself, why would senator want to do this? so go to nd paul website and you see "fire dr. fauci" with a little box that says "contribute

here." you can do five dollars, 10 does, $20,100. so you are making a catastrophic epidemic for your political gain . amy: in international news, aid workers in ethiopia say at least 17 people, including women and children, were killed when a drone bombed a flour mill in the tigray region on monday. a separate attack that killed two people was also reported. the attacks came on the same day president biden spoke by phone with ethiopian president abiy ahmed. the white house says biden raised concerns about civilian casualties in ethiopia's 14-month conflict in tigray that's left thousands of people dead and millions displaced. the u.s. coast guard said it rescued 176 haitian nationals from a precarious boat headed towards the florida coastline monday. this comes as the united states continues its mass deportations of haitians amid a mounting security and political crisis. seven deportation flights were reported yesterday alone.

today marks 12 years since the devastating 2010 earthquake in haiti which killed an estimated 300,000 people. the justice department announced it's forming a new unit to combat the growing threat of domestic terrorism. assistant attorney general matthew olsen told a senate committee tuesday the number of fbi domestic terror investigations has more than doubled since march 2020. >> we have seen a growing threat from those who are motivated by racial animus as well as those who ascribe to extremist antigovernment and anti-authority ideologies. amy: while democrats opened the hearing with a video about the january 6 insurrection, publicans worked to center questioning around leftist protest movements. pressed by senator chuck grassley, the fbi's jill sanborn said the agency has opened over 800 cases related to the 2020 wave of black lives matter protests. protesters have been taking to the streets of fayetteville, north carolina, following the

deadly shooting of jason walker, a black father, in front of his own home by an off-duty sheriff's deputy on saturday. officer jeffrey hash says he shot the 37-year-old walker after he jumped on his car. attorney ben crump, who is representing walker's family, says the killing appears to be another case of shoot first, ask later. the city council has asked the u.s. justice department to get involved in the investigation. a hunger strike is underway at the rikers island jail in new york city. about 200 people began the strike days ago to protest deplorable conditions inside citing the rapid spread of covid, inadequate heating, and a growing level of violence at the city-run jail. many of the hunger strikers say they haven't been allowed outside in weeks. the u.s. navy has finally agreed to an ord from ste officis in hawi to din a masve unrground stora the sil nearhe pea harbor vy base foowing a lar leak. ate heal officia recentl fod proleum levs 0 times

e safe lit and aater systemhat serv over 9000 mils near p holver - pearl haor. militaryamilies nated actio after tting sick frodrinking the water, with some having to be hospitalized. clyde bellecourt, the co-founder and director of the american indian movement, has died at the age of 85. in 1972, the group organized a major march to d.c. called the trail of broken treaties. bellecourt was a prominent figure in the occupation of wounded knee on the pine ridge reservation in south dakota in 1973. in 2013, we spoke with bellecourt about the campaign to force the washington football team to change their racist name. >> we are putting pressure on the whole world about these racist slurs and this continued cultural genocidal policies of this government.

let's not forget, over 2000 high schools, colleges, and universities throughout america have changed. they said they would never change. never change their name. just like dan snyder. but they have changed. every single one of them. have changed. and so will happen to this washington team. amy: in 2020, the washington team finally retired its old name. you can see our full interview with clyde bellecourt at democracynow.org. his ojibwe name means "thunder before the storm." in buffalo, neyork, starbucks workers have successfully unionized a second u.s. location of the coffee chain. on monday, the national labor relations board certified the victory from a december election, ruling in favor of the union, which challenged a number of votes from people that it said do not work at the shop. meanwhile, a starbucks in eugene

has become the first oregon location to petition for unionization. in more labor news, amazon workers at a bessemer, alabama warehouse will vote again starting next month on what would be the company's first u.s.-based union. ballots will be counted on march 28. the new vote comes after the national labor relations board found amazon interfered with the first election and intimidated workers. in maine, labor advocates are blasting democratic governor janet mills after she vetoed a bill that would have allowed farmworkers to unionize. in florida, democrat sheila cherfilus-mccormick has won a special election to replace the congressmember alcee hastings, who died last year of pancreatic cancer. her when brings the house to a 222-to-212 democratic majority. meanwhile, californians in the 22nd congressional district will select a replacement for republican congressmember devin nunes in a special primary in april after nunes resigned earlier this month to become ceo

of the trump media & technology group. and the treasury department has started circulating quarters featuring the celebrated author maya angelou. she died in 2014, the black first woman to be featured on the 25-cent coin. hers is the first in a series of special edition quarters featuring notable american women throughout history. others include physicist and astronaut sally ride, chinese american hollywood star anna may wong, and indigenous activist wilma mankiller, the first female principal chief of the cherokee nation. 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 listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: in a major speech in atlanta, georgia, president biden has endorsed changing the filibuster rules to prevent republicans from using the

filibuster to block voting rights legislation. biden spoke in atlanta. pres. biden: i believe our threat to democracy is so grave, we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills. debate them. vote. let the majority prevail. if that your minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this. amy: biden spoke in atlanta after he and vice president kamala harris laid a wreath at martin luther king jr.'s crypt and visited the historic ebenezer baptist church where mlk was pastor. during his speech, biden made references to king's struggle to secure voting rights. pres. biden: will you stand against voter suppression? yes or no? that is the question i will answer. will you stand against election subversion, yes or no? will you stand for democracy, yes or no?

there is one thing every senator come every american should remember. history has never been kind to those who have sided with voter suppression over voters rights. it will be less kind for those who side with election subversion. so isk every elected official in america, how do you want to be remembered? inconsequential moments in history, they present a choice. do you want to be on the side of dr. king or george wallace? do you want to be on the side of john lewis or bull connor? you want to be on the side of abraham lincoln or jefferson davis? this is the moment to decide to defend our elections, to defend our democracy. amy: senate majority leader chuck schumer is expected to introduce proposals to change the filibuster rules as early as today in an effort to pass the john lewis voting rights advancement act and the freedom

to vote act. but it remains unclear if democrats have enough votes due to possible opposition from senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. democratic lawmakers drafted the two bills in part because 19 states, including georgia, passed new laws to restrict voting access in the wake of the 2020 election. a number of voting rights groups in georgia, including the group black voters matter, boycotted biden's speech saying they needed concrete action, not a "photo op." also not there was stacey abrams, who is running for governor and is the leading voting rights advocate. we're joined now by cliff albright, co-founder and executive director of black voters matter. also joining us is ben jealous, president of people for the american way, former president of the naacp. he traveled to atlanta to hear biden's address. welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us.

on this issue, were on two sides but together on the issue of voting rights. ben, why did you attend the address? talk about what you think should come out of this. >> checking in with my good friend and former cellmate with albright, it was important to me to be there to make sure that biden actually followed through on our demands that he call on the senate and to celebrate when he did. we had been to jail, hundreds of us. we had called the white house, written the right house -- white house. as one of the leaders of that movement, for me was a moment to celebrate all of the activists and celebrate the president joining us in this push. at the same time, i deeply respect cliff and his work and black voters matter and totally

understood why they were not there. what is important is we remain on the battlefield together pushing forward together. and we are all very clear from the only thing that wi matter is getting these laws passed and passed now. juan: cliff albright, why did you decide to stay away and also the importance, from your perspective, of president biden making this? >> good morning. i just want to rid rate what my good friend said, --eiterate, what my good friends at, we met and had last before the speech. we were not putting on a call for other groups, financial groups to not attend, we just made the decision as torture based organizations, that we needed to make a strong statement that we did not think he should even be in georgia. we would have preferred he were in d.c. giving the speech, ask

at the senate ving a speech directly to the senators so th could then come as amy said, do what they're planninon doing reintroducing some of this legislation and reforms to the filibuster tod. they could have started yesterday, but they were not in d.c. that was really at our potion -- it is not spite for joe biden. weike joe. we bieve heants to do right. ase said at many denstrations that ben were gettg arrested at over the summer and fall, what we repeatedly say is we are not doing this because we don't expect anything out of joe biden or we think ill of him, it is because we expect more out of him. we know he has the skills to get more done after 40 years of being in the senate. that is what our position was about. but there is no daylight between us and any of the organizations that attended. later on today, we will be doing a joint debrief with some of the organizations, including ben and

ople from the american way and some of the other organizations. that speech was one that was written by movement. it is movement per that brought joe biden frowhere he was months ago saying modifying the filibust would behaoso the speech we saw yesteay which was a strong call for the filibuster to be modified for voting rights. juan: ben, the president focused largely on the obstructionism of republicans on this legislation. you are a veteran of the civil rights battles. you know it is not just republican-controlled states that hold back voter participation. democratic states like new york and delaware have very limited provisions for voter participation.

in illinois right now come the mexican american legal defense fund is challenging the redistricting proposal of a blue state because it does not provide sufficient representation for the latino population of chicago. isn't voter suppression sometimes i bipartisan issue of incumbent? >> absolutely. i spent a good part of my childhood in monterey, california, which was included in section five because of its discrimination against chicanos. the reality is, there are still games played. in delaware, when we were expanding voting rights in maryland, we went to democrats in delaware, i was leading the naacp, and we asked them for early voting like we were doing in maryland and same-day registration. they said, only for the general, not the primary. it was obvious to the naacp they did not want more black folks

flooding into crime. upsetting the balance of power in their own party. sure, games arplayed. one of the most important things of their freedom to vote act as the ways it will force ansparency and the dark money that floods in. you look at my state, maryland, looks likearry hogan will be getting into this senate race. he seems to be doing everything he can come and right now looks like he will most likely be our sitting senator chris van hollen. if he gets into this race, it will become the most expensive senate race. you will see dark money flooded in. i am eager to see this law paso and the koch brothers are buying ads for larry hogan, we know -- [indiscernible] amy: talk about the voter suppression laws passed in georgia at this point. you're talking about ballot boxes being dramatically reduced for the next election, among other things. the talk about nationally. >> thank you, amy.

let me say something real quick on their previous question. some of the members of this georgia coalition, jerry gonzales, asian americans for justice, they ve been phing for more prosions in the voting rights legislation related to language justice. that is an issue i'm glad you raised. i just wanted to add that in on behalf of our georgia partners. in regards to the georgia bill, some of the most dangerous provions -- everybody knows about the food and ter restrictions, the vice president spoke about that. i don't think her speech is getting enough attentn. obviously, the president was the headliner -- amy: let's go to vice president harris, the first african-american vice president in united states. you are right, a lot of the b r you seeo isl her walking with the presidentl. you see her going to the president. as soon as the words come out,

they are president biden's. vice pres. harris: my fellow americans, do not succumb to those who would dismiss this assault on voting rights as an unfounded threat. who would waive this of as a partisan gain. the assault on our freedom to vote will be felt by every american in every community in every political party. and if we stand idly by, our entire nation will pay the price for generations to come. amy: that was vice president harris. by the way, they were speaking at the morehouse park atlanta university complex, two historically black colleges, right near the residence hall of

martens or king junior, after having just come from his crypt with the family of dr. king, who i think to the end, was deciding whether to be a part of this. cliff, keep going. >> in terms of the georgia bill in addition to the food and water, what of the most dangerous provisions -- and this is something that several bills and several states -- are the attacks on election so version, the attacks on election officials both at the state level as well as the local level , of course in arizona they took away -- in georgia, the bill allows t republican legislature to actually take over some local boards of election that we have already seen a numb replacing board members in some counties within the state already. so it is already having an impact. it is one of thmost dangero

pieces. it means regardless of what w do to organize and mobilize both -- regardless of what the vote counts are, if this law was in place in november 2020 when donald trump was calling up the secretary of state of georgia asng him to go out andind 11,700 votesthis bill would have made it easier for that republican sretary o state to do that. he could have found both were more important, gotten rid of those in just one county. fulton county, that would've been able -- he pedantic of the georgia secretary of sta would have done it if you had the power to do it. th is the most dangerous prision. it gets and other things like the days of really voting and attacks on vote by mail. they're trying to go even further in this ishat whave toeep in mind, evenow georgia just started its new session and they're tryg to go fuher by trying to get rid of

drop boxes in this state. the attack has not ended. that is why we need this legislation this week. juan: cliff, some critics have said president biden is acting too late and he should have acted sooner. but isn't story of tse battles -- president johnson had to be dragged, basically, kicking and screaming to approve the voting rights act. at that time he had a huge majority in congress for the demoatic party. of course, there were a lot of dixiecrat the democratic party that time that made it more difficult for him. but usually when presidents decide to take a strong stand, it is after enormous pressure put on them by mass movements, isn't it? close at the end of the day, frederick douglass told us a long time ago -- we knew it was going to te -- actually, we did not think it would te this much pressure.

without one of the first things president biden would've done is deal with voting rights. we were in the midst of coviat the time, b we thought voting rits was fresh and needed to be dea with. we knew it would take some pushback and some organizing to make it happening. we did not think it would take more than a year. ben and i and hundreds of organizations have been pushing for this in order to have power to do what it should be doing for the entire year. we knew it was going to take that. we were prepared to do our part but there is a graphic put up fun another show that show the number of speeches the president gave on covid, the number on infrastructure, and the number on votg rights. the last speech he gave on voting rights before yesterday was ijuly. six month went by with no

noticeable action othe issue of voting rights. and it was put behind other ises. that is what we were arguing for coming to move it up in terms of prioritization. it is late but i think dr. king said something like it is always a good time, always the right time to doight. right now is the right time to do right. if he can follow-up the speech yesterday with action, pressuring manchin and sinema, helping senator schumer to do so -- not just the president. we need other senators who support voting rights to also encourage their colleagues. that is happening more over the past two weeks as more democratic senators who had been on the since about filibuster reform have started to come out. maggie hassan, angus king, kain in virginia. that is what we need to have happened over these next few days as senator schumer reintroduces this legislation.

everybody has a role to play, but we're glad the president has leaned in a little more in regards to filibuster reform. amy: let's hear what president joe biden said about filibuster reform when it comes to voting rights. pres. biden: the filibuster is not used by republicans to bring the senate together but to pull it further apart. filibuster is weaponized in abused. all you need in your house and senate is a clear majority. the united states senate, takes a super majority. 60 votes even to get a vote. instead of 50 to protect the right to vote. state legislators can pass down anti-voting laws with a simple majority. if they can do that, the united states and it be able to protect voting rights by a simple majority. [applause] pres. biden: today, i am making it clear to protect our

democracy, i support changing the senate rules -- whichever way they need to be changed, to prevent a minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights. when it comes to protecting majority rule in america, the majority should rule in the united states than it. i make this announcement with careful deliberation recognizing the fundamental right about is a right from which all other rights flow. amy: that is president biden yesterday. ben jealous, can you explain, the argument is if you carve out for voting rights, then if the republicans gain power, they will do this. but if they gain power, they will do it anyway in 2017 they did a carve out for supreme court justices. they don't need 60 votes. recently, have the carveout for the debt limit. can you explain how this works? >> to be clear, there have been

carvings like 160 times in u.s. history. you're right, the republicans have no problem using their power, raking promises. they have done it again and again. so for us to not use power because we fear them using power is ridiculous. if only we protect voting rights -- that is critical. the way th wouldwork -- many optis. some folks say, i'm not forgetting rid of the filibuster but i am ok with rules reform. it was so important that, klobuchar was there because everybody knows there are many ways you can do this. you simply could retain the filibuster but lowered the threshold for each round of debate for what it takes to get a book to the floor until you get to a simple majority. the bottom line is right now 40 senators and stop 100 senators from having to vote. and that is absolutely unheard

of anywhere else in our democracy. it was not intended by the founders to occur in our senate. it has brought washington to a standstill. it has got to change. amy: we want to thank you both for being with us ben jealous, , president of people for the american way. cliff albright is co-founder and executive director of black voters matter. both in atlanta, georgia, after the speeches by president biden and vice president harris. next, we go to the bronx where 17 people, the majority children come have died in a massive fire -- eight children -- in an apartment building. he was to blame? stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "my people" by cha wa. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. here in new york, a vigil tuesday night mourned the 17 victims of a deadly high rise apartment building in the bronx, the city's deadliest fire in decades.

♪ amy: officials have now released the names of the 17 people who died in sunday's deadly fire in the 19-story apartment building in the bronx. they range in age from two to 50 years old and some came from the same families. all of them died from smoke inhalation. many were immigrants from west africa and part of the local muslim community. a nearby mosque and the gambian youth organization are gathering support for families of the dead and the survivors. investigators say sunday's fire began when an electric space heater malfunctioned, and that victims suffered from severe smoke inhalation after a pair of open doors allowed smoke to spread throughout the building. the building acted as a kind of

chimney. tenants had complained about a lack of heat in the building and doors that did not close automatically as required by law. the building did not have fire escapes or sprinklers, and many people became trapped in upper floors where self-closing doors were supposed to have blocked toxic smoke and flames from spreading. the new new york city mayor eric adams spoke outside the bronx building on monday. >> if we take one message from this, as the commissioner has mentioned several times, close the door. close the door. that was embedded in my head as a child watching commercials over and over again. we're going to double down on that message. my conversation with the chancellor this morning, you're going to send out communications to all of our schools that say we want our children to receive the same level of reinforcement. muscle memory is everything.

if we can drill that in, we can save lives by closing the doors. not only in the city, but across the entire globe. this painful moment can turn into a purposeful moment as we send the right message of something simple as closing the door. amy: housing activists say the real responsibility for saving lives lies with city agencies like housing preservation and development or hpd that failed to enforce building safety codes. democracy now! spoke with the director of community action for safe apartments, pablo estupiñan, on tuesday. as a organizer the last eight years and working with tenants of countless buildings who have all experienced these issues as well as being harassed, living without gas, have to say i am shocked and astonished the city leadership would blame tenants, that they wod say closing the

doors is enoughnd people should not have had space heaters. that kind of response neglects any responsibility or accountability on city agencies ke hpd or dertment of buildings and their lack of code enforcement. our experience is tenants will go in buildings with these conditions, lack of heat for months, for years on end, and there is never any meaningful action taken by the city. the only time -- the timee are successful in getting lanords to change conditions of the building often comes through civil action, through tenants organizing togethe and housing courts to get repairs. en after a judges order, we have seen buildin where hpd was still refused to come in and make repairs to hold the landlord accountable. amy: that is pablo estupiñan.

the building where the fire took place is owned by a group. for more, we are joined by reporter claudia irizarry aponte, who covers the bronx for the new york-based outlet the city and has been closely following this story. her latest articles headlined "self-closing door law failed to save bronx fire victims" and "deadly bronx blaze prompts scrutiny of open door that spread smoke." welcome to democracy now! by the way, congratulations on the announcement that you've received the ida b. wells award honoring exceptional coverage of communities of color from the newswomen's club of new york. i think that goes directly to your superb reporting on this issue. we hear that mayor and the governor, we hear them talking about the space heater. why was it so the space heaters were needed? and tenants leaving open doors.

they're supposed to be automatically closing, is that not right? talk about what you found. >> that's right, amy and juan, and thank you for having me. there are two things that may have contributed to the fire. of course there's the issue of the malfunctioning space heater and the fact the door th a fire originated did not close properly, allowing for the smoke to spread more quickly. that begs the question of why these tenants were using space heaters in the first place and whether building was not warm enough. certainly, from the tenants i have spoken with -- i have been on the site every day since sunday -- that is the top russian on the tenants a partially mine. multiple say they use space heaters because they could not find their apartments were warm enough, that they claim their windows are not insulated and on very cold days, they would actually get frost on the interior part of their windows.

it is about 50 years old. [indiscernible] and a lot of these buildings, if tenants are not able to control the temperature in their own apartments, it is up to the building management. a lot of these tents are seniors and shot them with multigenerational households, have two use ovens and space heaters to stay warm. when the schools now -- tools malfunction, good fires like we saw sunday. they're asking for accountability not just from the state and city agencies, but first and foremost, from their landlord and the building

owners. juan: this whole issue -- obviously, this building did not have fire escapes or sprinklers because supposedly these more modern, relatively as you say, modern buildings are supposed to be to some extent fireproof and have at least double staircases for exiting in case of fires. most of the people died of smoke inhalation. could you talk about what caused the deaths? >> the fire commissioner said most of the victims did die from smoke inhalation. we don't know mh detail about where exactly the victims were found. all we do know is in terms of the people who are still injured and to use the commissioners onwards, fighting for their lives, did suffer injuries from smoke inhalation. the people who have died so far,

the majority of them, smoke halation were found in city apartment hallways and stairwells. one could imagine they were trng to escape and unfortunately the smoke was too dense. i have heard that as well from tenants who were rescued b firefighters that the smoke became too dense and they could not see stuff i spoke to an elderly man who passed out from smoke. fortunately, he was ok when i spoke to him on sunday at the gathering for the tenants. he tried to escape and it triggered an asthma attk and passed out but he was in good spirits and ok when i spoke to him on sunday night. the building does not have -- like this farce gives you see in five story buildings across new york or brownstones on the outside. fire officials did say there are interior stairwells for tenants

to escape from in case of emergency. the issue is, the door of the apartments did not cle properly as my law that allow the spoke to spread quickly and create this, as amy said, chimney effect throughout the entire building. to the 19th floor. that cost a lot of injury that we saw with this fire. juan: what can you tell us about the owner, this rick gropper, and how many buildis does h or his investment group own across the city and has he made public statements as well? >> camber property group, which was one of the co-owners of this building, keep in mind there's a consortium of property managers and affordable housing providers that the ownership of this building about two years ago from this building also received

funding through the state housing program that subsidizes affordable apartments as well as section 8 housing program. kimber property group is affordable housing provider in the city. they own or manage well over 100 buildings in new york. they also have contracts for the public/private ownership or manage it program with york city public housing, the rad program come they operate several look housing buildings through that program. rick gropper is the founder of the group. he also is a part of mayor eric adams transitional team. advising him on housing. it is unclear to the extent of how he advised the mayor on

housing, whether the mayor is still talking with him about that issue specifically -- obviously, they are in a contact right now. responding to this fire. but it really does but the question, especially here if that mayor and his public response speaking over and over -- i have heard a ton of tenants say they are quite disappointed with the mayor's messaging. speaking rightfully so about closing the door behind you and to be careful with the use of space heaters, but of course, many tenants feel we would not be using the space heaters at the building was warm enough. the doors that did not close properly as required by law, the city agency and the landlord should have made sure the doors close properly. certainly, a lot of frustration and anger from a lot of tenants. and housing advocates and, frankly, new yorkers who have been responding in speaking

about this issue. amy: some of the survivors were talking about how they did not initially try to get out because so many times there were false alarms, there used to these alarms going off on a regular basis. that also takes us to philadelphia where 12 people died last wednesday, including nine children. the blaze killing three adult sisters, nine of their children. occurred in a row house owned by philadelphia housing authority. 14 people were inside the building when the fire began. none of the building's four smoke detectors went off. they believe a five-year-old accidentally lit a christmas tree on fire. so this issue and the never people now who lose their homes, what happens to them, especially as you have this latest development yesterday with protesters blocking the steps of

the new york state capitol in albany, demanding the governor extend the eviction moratorium, which expires ironically on friday. that is january 15 step january 15 is dr. martin luther king's birthday. this is tenants & neighbors executive director genesis aquino. >> greedy landlords are willing to do anything to get a profit. that is why they are willing whatever cost. the main reason they do that is because they can get away with murder. [inaudible] they landlord could not evict them, so he killed them. we know we are not disposable.

amy: the eviction moratorium end s generally 15th. the significance of thisnd whatappens to the people? >> certainly, it is front of my for new yorkers right now. this happening at the same time. as you said, there were actions yesterday at the albany state capitol fighting for the good cause eviction bill, whichould grant release for some tenants when the moratorium expires on the 15th. as far as the tenants in this bronx building, they are in for a road ahead of them. fires and york are not uncommon, unfortunately. i have covered several other residential fires. it is taken tenants up to a year to find single permanent housing. especially in the case of tenants like the ones who have section 8 vouchers and other

properties which we know are few and far between. as far as what is next in the short term for these tenants, their landlord is paying for them to stay in hotels for the next two weeks. several city agencies, housing advocates, and even some attorneys, public defenders, are helping them not only gather a case potentially against their landlord, but also helping them to find housing and be placed in section eight housing or other affordable housing in the interim. unfortunately, after that two weeks of them staying in the hotel expires, those who do not have an apartment to stay in, whether by themselves or their families come have been offered to stay in city homeless shelters -- which is very concerning for many of the tenants i've spoken with. they are scared of going to homeless shelter with covid cases on the rise across new york city.

they are in for a long, painful road. congressman ritchie torres, a democrat who represents the neighborhood, said he is going to do everything in his power to make sure those residents have section a bang vouchers are located in similar section a bank -- section eight housing. amy: we want to thank you for being with this. the wrong store owners have been hit with a $3 billion class action lawsuit over this fire that killed 17 people. claudia irizarry aponte is a reporter covering the bronx for the new york-based outlet the city. we will link to your stories. next up, the fight in the ironbound section of newark, new jersey come to stop a new gas-fired power plant. stay with us. ♪♪ [musibreak]

amy: singing at november's march to the pvsc headquarters in newark, new jersey. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we enter the show in new jersey were residents of the logic black and latinx committee and the ironbound section of newark for calling on the

governor to stop a plan to build the new gas-fired power plant that could worsen already poor local air quality. >> what we want? >> clean air. >> when we want? >> now. amy: key vote on a contract to build a new power plant is set for thursday. activist they approved the contract would go against faust new jersey governor phil murphy, when he signed one of the country strongest abdominal justice laws in 2020 -- bimetal justice laws in 2020. >> residents were predominately people of color have suffered from adverse health conditions at rates hire than elsewhere. we know this virus has been particularly worse for those with underlying health conditions. what is important in this moment

that we send the message that no longer will economically disadvantaged areas of our state the dumping ground and no longer will the rights of the residents to clean air and clean water be overlooked. amy: the power plants backers take it as needed as a backup source of power for a massive nearby sewage treatment facility that leaks sewage during superstorm sandy in 2012 after using power. critics say the plant would run on fracked gas and its carbon emissions would contribute to stronger and more frequent extreme weather. for more we go to newark to speak with maria lopez-nunez, deputy director of organizing and advocacy and a member of the white house environmental justice advisory council. welcome to democracy now! you push for this law that governor murphy is talking about. explain what is at ake in this boat tomorrow.

>> absolutely. thank you for having me. it is a communities across new jersey who have been dumped on way before murphy, for decades, bribe republican and democrats. f community's have been used as sacrifice zones. we already have three power plants, three superfund sites. you name it, it is probably in our neighborhood. we have thousands of trucks that battle through the neighborhoods to deliver things. putting that diesel pollution in the air. we need to look at the whole picture. that is why we push toave an environmental justice law that would give the department of environment the ability to deny permits based on this thing called humily of impact. every time i explain it come in a subset. -- every time i explain it, it is so sad. how much do you pollute?

how much do you polte? a four-year-old could stay on a street corner in new york and look at the smokestacks and say, should not add one more. we are having a fourth power plant. thursday, they're trying to vote to start the construction of this powerplant. juan: what is the agency that is going to be meeting and what c people who what to oppose this action do? >> absolutely. the agency will b the sewage treatment commission. they serve new york city and 11 states. this is beyond new jersey. where asking governor murphy because we don't believe the commissioners will vote no. we think governor murphy needs to use his moral authority, stepped in and be an example f the country that when you pass a

law, you make sure that is when the booktops -- buck stops. we're asking people to call governor murphy directly and say protect environmental justice. if we do not set a good precedent in new jersey, it takes the wind out of your sails to see newersey fa like this. juan: you mention the history, especially in ironbound, for those viewers a listers who are not aware, could you give us a quick summary of some of the historical problems that ironbound has faced? >> we are a neighborhood home t three superfund sites. during the vietnam war and the ironbound, with the largest production of agent orange. it had a byproduct that is incredibly cancer-causing that was being dumped into the river. the white powder went all over our neighborhood polluting our walls.

buildings had to be closed down -- pools had to be closed down because people were swimming in this product. we had the region's largest garbage incinerator. it brings over a million tons of trash a year. the sewage commission is the largest in the state and the fit largest in the country. newark serves all of the metropolitan region. eta percent of the goods come out of that port. most of them are loaded up on trucks. i'm just talking about my neighborhood, not the whole city that is equally dumped upon. were talking about decades of environmental racism. amy: you already have the longest superfund site in the country in that little area you're talking about of ironbound.

talk about the community that lives there. >> 17 miles of a polluted river we have been fighting for decades to reestablish our relationship with the river. our communies, largely black and latinx. despite our housing issues and immigration issues, we still fight to make sure we are bettering, knowing we helped build a park, have a vision for our community. that is all we're asking for. not anything extra, just a chance to fight for clean air and clean water. amy: new jersey already facing sea rise. and amazon is looking for a new terminal at the airport? >> we are fighting to recall a secret hub. amazon [indiscernible] port authority, which is authority shared with new york

and new jersey. our community -- amy: we have to leave it there but we will come back to this. maria lopez-nunez with the iron ■ú

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