12/05/22 12/05/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i am suing the universi for violating the studen rights to reasonable accommodations. i don't want anyone el to exrience what yale hasut me and countls other student through already. i hope this lawsuit can be the first step in changing how we treamental health, to approach it with care and compassion rather than punishment.

amy: a group of current and former yale students have sued the school for discriminating against students with mental health challenges. it is in violation with americans with disabilities act. the lawsuit alleges yale pressures students to withdraw from the school if they're suicidal or hospitalized for mental health treatment. then the jailscraper vs. chinatown. we look at a fight in chinatown, new york, against the city's plans to build the tallest jail in the world. >> $8.3 billion will be spent to build one. we could not let them do this. amy: the jailscraper would be one third asigh as the empire state building. we will speak to a chinatown activist, a new york city counciember, and an award-winning filmmaker who is part of a growing campaign to say no to the new mega jail.

all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in georgia, voters will head to the polls tuesday in the closely watched run-off between senator raphael warnock and republican challenger herschel walker. a record 1.85 million georgians cast early votes with over 350,000 people voting on friday, setting a new single day record . this is senator warnock speaking to voters at a church athens, georgia, sunday. >> the people of georgia nd a true champion. women need a champion. workers need a champion. our kids need a champion. the planet needs a champion. we are on a different field tonight. amy: last week a third former partner accused herschel walker

of violently attacking her. the dnc's rules committee agreed friday with president biden's plan to make south carolina the first primary contest of the 2024 presidential election, replacing the iowa caucus. primaries in nevada, new hampshire, georgia, and michigan will then follow. iowa and new hampshire, which had kicked off the voting schedule for decades, are two of the whitest states in the country. president biden said the new voting calendar will give more weight to voters of color, which helped propel him to victory in 2020. russia says it will not adhere to a g7-imposed $60-per-barrel price cap on maritime shipments of russian crude oil, which went into effect today. the new rule means third parties would not be able to import russian crude using g7 and

european union vessels and companies unless they respect the price cap. ukraine's government said the $60-per-barrel price tag was still too high to impact russia's ability to fund its invasion. an eu embargo on russian crude also begins today. this comes amid a deepening energy crisis across europe affecting millions of people as winter weather sets in. on saturday, people across the united kingdom took to the streets to protest fuel poverty caused by soaring energy prices. demonstrators are demanding the government fund renewable energy and home insulation. meanwhile, french president emanuel macron attempted to mollify fears of potential large-scale rolling blackouts caused by energy shortages. >> don't panic. that is pointless. there is legitimate work to be done by the government to prepare for extreme cases, which is the need to cut electricity for some hours in the day if we have a shortage.

amy: ukraine's government says russia has launched a fresh series of missile attacks across ukraine, with air raid sirens sounding today in the capital kyiv and other cities. this follows reports of intense battles in the eastern donetsk region. large sections of the city of bakhmut have been destroyed after months of attacks. meanwhile new report shows , a global arms sales increased for the seventh consecutive year in 2021, rising to $592 billion. on friday, northrop grumman unveiled its $700 million b-21 stealth bomber. the u.s. air force reportedly plans to buy at least 100 of the warplanes which can deliver conventional and thermonuclear weapons. codepink co-founder medea benjamin blasted the ominous death machine, as she called it, telling common dreams, "one thing the world definitely does not need is another stealth bomber." in north carolina, authorities have called a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in moore

county after gunfire at two power substations cut power to some 45,000 customers sunday. this is sheriff ronnie fields. >> we are looking at all avenues. we have the professionals, the federal folks, they deal with thomistic terrorism more than locals so they are on board and they're wking with us to determine exactly w has done this. i can say, the individual who done this, it was targeted. it wasn't random. amy: authorities have yet to identify any suspects in the shooting. local officials warned power could be out until thursday amid freezing temperatures. schools are closed. president biden on friday signed into law a bill prohibiting a rail strike, imposing a deal rejected by over half of unionized rail workers over its lack of paid sick leave. at the signing, biden acknowledged the issues with the bill. pres. biden: look, i know this bill does not have paid sick leave.

these rail workers, frankly, every worker in america deserves. at that fight is not over. amy: labor activist have condemned president biden democratic party leaders for failing to secure hates -- paid time off or workers who become ill. pressure is building on by to issue an executive order requiring paid sick days. railroad workers united said in a statement the u.s. rail system should come under public ownership and freight workers should consider supporting leaders outside the existing two party system. the general secretary of the rwu said, "this one-two punch from the two political parties is despicable." in international labor news, thousands of unionized workers marched in seoul, south korea, saturday in a show of support for truckers who have been on strike since last week over a dispute around the price of freight. the south korean government ordered truckers to return to work under a contested law that could impose fines or even jail time if workers continue a work stoppage. this is a spokesperson from the korean confederation of trade unions.

>> we are told to stop distracting about to work -- to stop the strike and get back to work. it means the truckers have not been paid enough to spread the huge influence on the national economy. amy: iran's top prosecutor said saturday that authorities have suspended the nation's morality police. the claim by iran's attorney general have not been verified and it's not clear whether authorities would seek to enforce iran's strict dress code in other ways. this follows more than 11 weeks of nationwide protests sparked by the death in police custody of mahsa amini, a 22-year-old kurdish-iranian woman who was arrested for allegedly violating laws requiring women to cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothing. also on saturday, iran's interior ministry provided its first death toll since the protests erupted, claiming more

than 200 people have been killed in what it called riots. that's about half of the deaths documented by the group iran human rights, which reports at least 448 people, including 60 children, have been killed by iran's security forces since september. meanwhile, iranian authorities have reportedly destroyed the family home of elnaz rekabi, a 33-year-old rock climber who drew international headlines in october when she joined a competition in south korea without wearing a headscarf. a warning to our audience, this headline contains graphic images and descriptions of violence. in the occupied west bank, a 22-year-old palestinian man was shot dead by israeli forces near the city of bethlehem earlier today in the latest killing to come from near-daily raids on palestinian communities. six other palestinians were injured during the monday morning assault on the deheishe refugee camp.

this follows the killing on friday of a 23-year-old palestinian man by an israeli soldier who's been accused of carrying out a summary execution. video of the incident in a town south of nablus shows the israeli soldier holding 23-year-old ammar mufleh in a headlock. mufleh then breaks free of the choke hold, and after a scuffle, the soldier pulls out a pistol and fires it repeatedly at the young palestinian man. the killing has sparked widespread protests. the u.n.'s middle east envoy said he was horrified by the killing and added, "such incidents must be fully and promptly investigated, and those responsible held accountable." in syria, at least two people were killed after syrian security forces fired live ammunition during rare antigovernment protest. dozens stormed a government building in the southern city of sweida sunday, denouncing economic hardships.

>> we want syria to give us our rights. >> we want our dignity. we are asking for our rights and dignity. >> our message today to the government, you see how people are dying from starvation. amy: 90% of the population is below the poverty line. a u.n. envoy urged western and nations to lift decades old catastrophic sanctions on syria. sudan's ruling military junta and pro-democracy groups have signed an initial deal to end their political standoff and prepare sudan for its first election and transition to civilian rule after october 2021's military coup. the agreement establishes a two-year civilian-led transitional government and appoints a prime minister ahead of the elections.

several key players have boycotted the deal as they've refused to negotiate with sudan's military rule. protesters who took to the streets ahead of the signing object to the exclusion of a transitional justice system or the implementation of key military reforms. meanwhile, prominent leftist sudanese politician wagdi salih, a member of the pro-democracy coalition that signed the deal, was freed from jail sunday. talks between the parties have been facilitated by the united nations, the united states, saudi arabia, and the united arab emirates, among others. this is the first of at least two planned accords. in the democratic republic of congo, tens of thousands of took to the streets sunday in what was one the largest mass protests since fighting escalated between the government and the m23 rebel group in recent months. last week, drc's armed forces accused m23 of killing at least 50 civilians in the eastern town of kishishe, violating a five-day ceasefire.

m23 denied that it had targeted civilians. the u.n.'s peacekeeping mission in the drc also denounced the killings and called for an investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. nearly 400,000 people have been displaced by the fighting. former president trump has called for terminating the u.s. constitution as he continues to rail against his election loss in 2020. in a post on his social media platform truth social, trump wrote -- "a massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the constitution." a flurry of democrats and the white house swtly rebuked the comment, while top republican leadership remained silent. trump's post followed a twitter thread by reporter matt taibbi, promoted by elon musk, detailing twitter's internal discussions in 2020 as the platform decided to block links to a "new york post" article about emails found on hunter biden's laptop.

in other trump news, a prosecutor in the criminal tax fraud trial of his real estate business told a manhattan court friday evidence shows "mr. trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud." the trial is expected to wrap up this week. and in washington, d.c., jane fonda led climate activists on their first fire drill friday rally in nearly three years. protesters were joined by some democratic lawmakers and members of the biden administration to demand senator joe manchin's "dirty deal" -- granting favorable permitting to the fossil fuel industry -- be shot down for good. this is climate activist maria lopez-nuñez. >> no more sacrifice of our community's for the greater good. the greater good will come from a just transition where we are all taking care of. when we break apart the racism, the classism.

no means no. but send it back where the hell it came from and build a future. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the tallest jail in the world? that is coming up. at first, a group of current and former yale students have sued the school for discriminating against students with mental health challenges. back in a moment. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a group of current and former students at yale university have sued the ivy league university for discriminating against students with mental health challenges.

in violation of the americans with disabilities act. the lawsuit alleges yale pressures students to take -- withdraw from t school if they are suicidal or hospitalized for mental health treatment. some students refused to withdraw are then violent early withdrawn. -- and voluntarily withdrawn. when plaintiff said they visited her at the hospital after she overdosed on aspirin to urge her to withdraw. the university involuntarily with drew her while she was still hospitalized. she was told she would need a police escort to retrieve her belongings. a lawsuit alleges yale has "treated unequally and failed to accommodate students with mental health disabilities." the lawsuit goes on to say "the impact of yale's discriminatory policies is harshest on students with mental health disabilities from less privileged backgrounds , including students of color, students from poor families, or

rural areas and international student." in 2018, a foundation issued a report on absences and withdrawal policies at ivy league schools. yale was awarded an f. yale has set its withdrawal policies are now under review. the lawsuit cites the case of a former student named nicolette. in this video produced by the group eli's for rachel, she describes what happened. >> when my condition got to a place where i needed to get he, and it up seeking help through mental health. but after a few months of treatment, was hospitalized and eventually was asked to leave on medical withdrawal. it was really shocking because i wasn't really in a life or death

circumstance. i have very little knowledge beforehand about what decisions were being made on my behalf. it happened really suddenly. i was told i was going have to leave yale, i had two hours to pack my things, and then i was gone. and in my time away froyale, i was living back, in a rural area that did not have resources and was hospitalized again just six months later. i transferred to northwestern university. i found i could find providers who cared for me as an individual and university that would support me as a student. amy: those are the words of former yale university student nicolette mantica. we are joined now by three guests. alicia abramson is a current yale student and one of the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the university.

she said yale repeatedly refused to accommodate her mental health struggles related to an eating disorder, depression, and insomnia. miriam heyman is also with this senior research associate at the , a lurie institute for disability policy at brandeis university. she authored the 2018 ruderman white paper on mental health in the ivy league, which is cited in the yale lawsuit. monica porter is an attorney for the bazelon center for mental health law, one of the groups representing the yale plaintiffs. we welcome you to democracy now! talk about your journey, what happened you come and why you are suing the university you are attending. >> it has been a long journey for me. i started at yale in 2018. i have been dealinwith mental health issues for a while

already. once i got to campus, i struggled to receive accommodations almost right away. i was told by the psychiatrist that i was seeing at yale that yale mental health has a policy of not getting students accommodations because they could be untruthful about our symptoms come the same symptoms prescribing the medication for, so it was difficult struggle to try to get any sort of accommodation from university. i was not able to take a part-time courseload because that is against yale policies. ultimately, i made the choice to withdraw in 2019. when i did withdraw, was basically an immediate ban from anything related to yale, so i could not take courses, participate in activities or even step foot on campus. i lost my health insurance. i forfeited most of my tuition. so it certainly felt like yale

was abandoning me when i was in the need of most help. amy: and how did you come back? what was required of you to set foot back on campus and become a student again? >> it was an arduous process to get back in. ere was an application that involved nsa and several letters of recommendation. i also had to complete two classes at a four-year university. yale has since removed that policy. it of time it was very expensive and time-consuming. all of that was meant to assess if i had used my time off productively, which it felt like i should be using my time off to heal and not be productive. yeah, when i came back, i was still struggling to get accommodations. it definitely has been a challenge. amy: what is interesting about you losing much of your tuition for that suet -- semester and your health insurance, if you

wanted to withdrawal, that would be because you felt you needed to for your own mental health, thatould be such a deterrent from doing it. >> absolutely. i think a lot of students are deterred for that reason. because they know they will get cut off from resources. i could turn to my family for support and for financial help and getting treatment, but a lot of students are not in that position and they rely on yale for insurance, for treatment, for housing, for visas. so when yale cuts them off completely, they have nowhere to turn. amy: i want to go to monica porter. she is with the bazelon center. the bazelon center is -- it is representing the students who have sued yale university, the bazelon center for mental health law. monica porter, if you can talk about this lawsuit.

you have -- in this case, have alicia, one of the named plaintiffs. talk about whether this is a class-action suit and what you're demanding. >> yes, we are seeking for this to be a class-action suit, which would enable us to represent alicia, the other named plaintiffs, as well as all le students who have or had a record of mental health disability and who are being harmed or were being harmed by yale policies. what we are seeking in this lawsuit is simple, since policy reform. none of the plaintiffs who are a part of this are seeking any form of monetary relief. we are purely seeking improvement in yale's policies as they pertain to withdrawals, that requirement that alicia mentioned about all students having to be full-time and not allowing part-time as an option, as well as policies that enable

students to seek and receive the reasonable accommodations that they are entitled to under federal law. amy: i want to go to another clip about a student at yale university. this is alicia floyd talking about her experience at yale, now a doctor. this was about 20 years ago. >> i but to collate it in 1998 and graduated in 2005. and those were not good years. those were not good years for me. i fell into a deep depression. that culminated in myverdosing . i was hospitalized -- actually, i was hospitazed twice. i had to withdraw from college and apply for readmission and go through that whole process -- i think it is now called reinstatement step but essentially, the same.

if i could go back and talk to 19-year-old me, 19-year-old me who was like sitting on the ground outside the health clinic at 2:00 in the morning crying in the dark, sobbing because i can't figure out how to open the door and i really want someone to talk to, i think the first thing i would do is give myself a hug. because it is har it is hard being at yale. if you are at yale right now and you are struggling and you're feeling like you can't keep up and you are feeling crushed by the weight of a million expectations, just know you're not alone. you are definitely not alone. amy: that is now dr. alicia

floyd. i want to go back to october 2016. yale student hale ross died by suicide. this is hale's dad jack ross, who also attended yale. >> it is been quite a journey since i left yale in 1979. this right struggles with bipolar depression and alcoholism, could have killed me, i'm still in the game. i have a great life. tragically, my son is no longer in the game. he took his life in october 2016 during his junior year at yale. it is something i will process for the rest of my life. i think he held himself to a nearly unattainable standard of perfection. we all know academic and other pressures are a normal part of college life, but what happens is that mental illness can cause

those pressures to escalate into severe loss of mental calibration, if you want to call it that. i know all too well you can totally lose your perspective on yourself and on your connection to the world. so in the end, i don't think yale w able to perceive the vast worth of his life that far transcended yale racine u could have recovered if you have reached out for help. so weeed to talk about mental illness to boost awareness, rece stigma, and take steps to try to avoid tragedies like hale's death. amy: so these figures were created by eli's for rachel, mental health addressee -- advocacy group. formed in the wake of rachael shaw rosenbaum's death by suicide in march 2021.

she was a freshman at yale. democracy now! reached out to yale university and invited its president peter salovey on the program. while that request was declined, a spokesperson karen peart, sent , us a statement that read in part -- "we recognize how distressing and difficult it is for the student and their loves ones when a student is facing mental health challenges. when we make decisions and set policies, our primary focus is on students' safety and health, especially when they are most vulnerable. we have taken steps in recent years to simplify the return to yale for students on medical withdrawals and to provide additional support for students. we are also working to increase resources to help students. we have been working on policy changes that are responsive to students' emotional and financial wellbeing." alicia abramson, again, you're one of the named plaintiffs in the suit, does that satisfy you?

also, if you can talk about the protections that you have as a student at yale that you did not feel were being respected? >> yeah, i think yale has made a few changes. they have gotten rid of that coursework requirement. they have added a couple of more counselors. i think that is a great start but it is certainly not enough. it is not even close to the policy changes that actually need to happen. i think in terms of what i experienced, it was a denial of those accommodations that i do have protections to an rights to as a student at yale, denial of those accommodations, and arduous reinstatement process that only read traumatized me even more. ultimately, it was the way yale treats their stable students like they are criminals. they treat us with punishment and discipline and don't get us

the resources or support. ultimately, we are not criminals. we are sick and we need help, but that is not what yale has given us. amy: i want to bring in miriam heyman and to this conversation senior research associate at the , lurie institute for disability policy at brandeis university. co-authored the 2018 ruderman white paper on mental health in the ivy league, which is cited in the yale lawsuit. if you can talk, miriam heyman, about what is happening at yale. clearly, they are not alone. also, what the emergence with disabilities act has to do with all of this -- americans with his abilities act has to do with all of this. >> thank you for having me. i agree, unfortunately, yale is not alone in this. mental health is a very large challenge on college campuses.

data before the pandemic shows across the country about 40% of undergraduates have been so depressed in the past year that it was difficult for them to function, that exploded since the pandemic and that is higher than the prevalence rates for young adults of similar age groups who are not enrolled in college. for a lot of reasons but partial because college is stressful. meanwhile, colleges across the country -- this is also not pacific to yale -- lack the infrastructure to support students with mental health. on average across the country on smaller campuses, there is about one clinician for every 1000 50,000 students. on larger campuses, about one clinician to every 235,000 students. colleges are not prepared to meet the mental health needs of their students.

unfortunately, they are often resorting to exclusion via the leave of absence by excluding their students who have mental health lists -- mental illness instead of accommodating them on campus. the policies as they are written currently are often exclusion. alicia mentioned she is prohibited from visiting campus, that students are prohibited from visiting campus. that is true in a lot of different policies. from a mental health perspective , for students who are on leaves of absence who live near -- live nearby, coming to campus -- havi a meal and the cafeteria are spending a night in the dorm might be essential to their sense of social belonging. unfortunately, through that example and other exclusionary aspects of policies, leaves of

absence are worsening students well-being instead of improving it. amy: let me ask you, professor hyman, about some universities policies against so-called community disruption, including help seeking behaviors. can you talk about what are examples of what help students in these terrible times of crises for them? >> yes, so that is a really important point. many leaves of absence policies, and yale doesn't have this which is a good thing, but many students -- many schools leave of absence policies include community disruption as grounds for an and voluntary leave. the problem with the term "community disruption" is that it is very vague and can be applied very broadly. what can happen and has happened

is that students, for example who are experiencing thoughts about suicide might tell the roommate or friends there having these thoughts and that can be upsetting to roommates and friends, can be construed as community disruption and students can have a leave of absence imposed on them. the problem is that when students are struggling, we want them to seek help. we want them to tell their friends, professionals at the school that they need help. that is how they will eventually get better. and when we exclude students for sharing and disclosing that they are having a hard time, we are detracting from their well-being. the other example of a community disruption is if a parent, for example, request the campus -- canvas security do a wellness check that their child is ok.

that has been construed as community disruption and we absolutely do not want to discourage parents from checking on their students if they are worried. amy: let me ask monica porter at the bazelon center, if you can talk about examples around the country, specifically where a student was actually supported and what makes the most difference for students going through these times? >> that is a great question. at the bazelon center, we have been collecting data at universities across the nation to inform policy advocacy and suggestions that we are making. unfortunately, i don't have an example offhand but i could say some of the things that schools could be doing to support students, to train faculty and

staff on mental health disabilities and that they are protected by federal civil rights laws. that students with mental health disabilities just as students and people with physical and learning disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations and entitled to equal opportunity to purchase a paid in programs and services in the most integrated setting appropriate. schools should be taking measures to treat all students individually, to assess what could be done and how students could be accommodated without resorting to exclusion. amy: can you talk about what happened before covid and then through the pandemic? where the issue of mental health and students -- young students, college students, graduate students -- are just experiencing a level of mental health challenges that we haven't seen before? >> absolutely.

as we have seen, dr. heyman's report was before the pandemic so these issues have ested for years. during the pandemic, as you say, students experience levels -- heightened levels of stress in the nation conversation about mental health has shifted. we are very grateful for the opportunity to discuss it today on your program and in addition to as talking about it more at the kitchen table and on social media and what have you, united states department of justice and education have further taken steps to affirm students rights and schools responsibilities to protect students, especially in the era of covid-19. amy: finally, alicia abramson, if you can talk about what it has meant you to come out so publicly in this way, being a named plaintiff in the lawsuit against your university, and how it has failed to return to school. what kind of accommodations have

helped you in dealing with your anorexia, your insomnia, your depression? >> luckily, i was eventuay able to get accommodations for my eating disorder. it took a lot of fighting, but i was able to secure those. yale has tilde 90 accommodations for my insomnia despite the fact have submitted several letters from medical providers. that has definitely still been a challenge. but ultimately i think coming out with my story has been really powerful for me and hopefully for the other students that have experienced the same thing. yeah, i have received so much support already from students at yale and at other universities were struggling. and those who feel like they are alone again sees very powerful institutions. ultimately, i am very, very grateful i've had the opportunity to actually do something about it and hopefully begin to shift the way we treat

into on campuses. amy: finally, miriam hagman, is this the first of a kind lawsuit --miriam heyman, the first of a kind lawsuit and hoping for colleges around the country? >> pertaining to discrimination against college students with mental illness. i think what i hope is because it is yale, which is obvious that one of the most elite diversities, that changes of this lawsuit will bring not only to yale but other schools will be encouraged to follow suit will stop i don't think this problem is specific to yale but i think yale now has an opportunity to make changes provide an example to the rest. amy: dr. miriam heyman, thank you for being with us lurie , institute for disability policy at brandeis university.

lee shaver and, named plaintiff and yellow student. and monica porter is an attorney for the bazelon center for mental health law, one of the organizations representing the yale plaintiffs. if you or someone you know needs help, call the national suicide prevention lifeline at 988. you can also reach a crisis counselor by messaging the crisis text line at 741741. coming, we look at the jailscraper vs. chinatown. we look at a fight in your against the city's to build the tallest jail in the world. it is happening now. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

newly one of those celebrated at the kennedy center -- amy: one of the celebrated at the kennedy center. cuban born connector and educator who helped found the dance theater of harlem.

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we look now at the five to stop the construction of what could be the world's tallest jail in chinatown, the neighborhood of manhattan. the 300 foot tall so-called jailscraper were mega jail would be one third as high as the emperor state building. it is one of four new jails that are part of a plan to replace the city's notorious rikers island jail were 18 prisoners have dd this year alone. the marshall project reports the bro-based geo plan focuses on building near courthouses and would feature jails meanto be more "humane." opponents of the $8 million plan have called instead for the city to invest in noncommercial prevention harm reduction and crisis management. in addition to the jailscraper

to manhattan, the city's plan includes new jails in queens, brooklyn, and the bronx. it excludes staten island, predominately white and conservative. chinatown is one of new york city's poorest neighborhoods with more than one quarter living in poverty, could one third of senior citizens. in march, hundreds snake through chinatown busy streets and formed a human chain to protest the jail. this is a clip from the short documentary "jailscraper vs. chinatown" by the maker jon alpert, cofounder of dctv which has been located in chinatown for half a century, the former home of democracy now! it was organized by neighbors united below canal. this is the cofounder who will join us in a minute. >> we are not letting you put up these fences. we are going to defend chinatown. everybody sit down.

any company that comes to chinatown to profit off the building of this jail or the demolition of these two gels is not welcome. you're not welcome here. people first, no new jails! people first, no new jails! >> we're doing it for community. you're doing it for seniors. we are doing them. we are doing it for the residence. over 12,000 letters written to mayor adams against this jail. we have heard zero from his administration. how dare he not even respond to his constituents. amy: the protesters mentioned mayor eric adams who took office in january, continue to support the jail plan he inherited from mayor bill de blasio despite

adams vowing to stop it when he was on the campaign trail. this is then candidate eric adams speaking in april 2021 in chinatown. >> i know this community well. as a police officer, i was assigned to this community. i know how much they have endured. if you want to stop -- that goes into what this community -- [indiscernible] let's stop the institutionalizing of the hate we're seeing. today i'm saying no new jails, though building up a jail in this location. we can do a better job. amy: then candidate eric adams. over the weekend, construction heated up on the jailscraper in

chinatown even as opposition continues. just before we went to broadcast, film maker jon alpert recorded this update from dctv. just feet from the jail. >> [indiscernible] this is a low point of the block. all of our basement got flooded from the jail construction. that is the reason they jammed this up because of the jail. they just put this brand-new street down in august and they tore it backup. amy: democracy now! invited the mayors office to join us. they sent this statement -- from or where joined by three guests. jan lee from the video is the

cofounder of neighbors united below canal. christopher marte is a new york city councilmember representing district one. that includes chinatown. he has been at the protest. and jon alpert has won an emmy's then we can count documentary , filmmaker and co-founder and executive director of dctv along with keiko tsuno. jan, let's begin with you. you have been fighting this jailscraper. we're talking about a prison that would be the tallest in the world. what involvement has the community had in this and has a broken ground? >> we have to make a distinction here. it is not a prison, it is a jail. it is intended for detention pretrial and some short-term states. let's be clear about the history of chinatown. we have had a jail at that place

since 1838, so we're very familiar with how varying administrations have torn down jails and build bigger ones in their place. every time they build a bigger one, they are just as dysfunctional as the one before them. we are saying we are in a unique position as a community that has fully accepted our part in creating a more humane environment for those who are incarcerated. very important to understand we are accepting of this. what we are not accepting is the sacrifice because this is a very dangerous area to be building a 350-foot tall tallest jail in the world. it is also the massive -- the building is a couple of blocks long in every direction. we still don't know what it looks like. the plans have not been revealed. they won't revealed for quite a while because the design build project -- contrary to what a

lot of people say that chinatown , we are fully accepting. amy: you mean i'm a not in my backyard." >> that is an unfair characteristic of our fight that has gone on since 2018 over the jail -- these two jails being torn down and a new mega jail been built in its place. chinatown sits in the largest car throw footprint probably on the whole east coast of the united states with every core represented, federal jail and two city jails. amy: jon alpert, you just filmed my kimber outside the dctv, place we know well. we broadcast from there for years. explain what is happening directly next door to you. what have you been told? how are you preparing for this building of the jail?

and is it a fate acompli? >> the ste is rushing to make it a fate accompli. did it is too late to adapt the gels we have right now and modernize them. that would be so much cheaper. right here, sort of instructive. part of the empire state building is the exact size of the jail they're trying to build. the empire state building cost about $40 million just to tear down what they're doing right now, $259. when was the last time they built housing -- tear down. what they're doing right now, 250 million dollars. when was the last time they built housing? it is being spent on iron bars and a building -- no one is ever seen anything like this before.

it is pork. it is ironic it is up the street from the courthouse that makes the supreme court house look like a pup tent. amy: talking by the famous corrupt politician of new york city. christopher marte, you are the new york city council member who represents the district. is this going to be one third-highest the empire state building or as high as the empire state building? and what involvement -- you are an elected representative -- your community have? >> it is going to be one third of the empire state building. as jan mentioned, for the past four years we have been organizing, testifying, even suing the city to stop the construction of the world's tallest jail. leaders of our community like jana myself have come together and met with the administration a number of times throughout this year to convince them. right now in rikers island come

almost every single month we hear about another death. we hear about the inhumane nature that is happening there. we have a plan that will allow you to adaptively reuse the two current jails to house these people much quicker, closer to the court, and closer to their families. plus, this will save the city almost $1 billion. right now they're overbudget when it comes to the building and demolition of this site. we have a plan supported by our entire community, as jan said, we have lived with the ecosystem for decades. we want to make sure the city listens to us and we will continue on fighting to make sure we are heard. amy: you are saying you support the closing of rikers but you don't support what is being done as the alternative. if you can elaborate on what jon alpert just talked about, where money is spent in the city. for example, the issue of housing and hospitals and health care.

the two jails are those there right now. one used to be called the bernard detention complex until bernard care, the former police commissioner was put in the prison? the jail? then removed that banner? >> now it is called the tomb, which is ironic as well. our brother was in and out of rikers island growing up. i have been there a number of times. i've taken my nephew when he was a child there and seen that inhumane nature of everyone involved. right now the construction of the new mega jail, the city would not even release plans of what it is going to look like. throughout this whole process, there hasn't been any transparency or any accountability. it has taken the community to develop our own plan to build a much humane project that will be quicker, save money, and move people off rikers island much quicker. we have been pushing for this

plan to make sure we can have a say in this process. amy: jan lee, there used to be many more community groups who were very vocally opposed to this. what has happened? >> neighbors united below the canal was formed as a clearinghouse of information because information we get from the city involved in the uniform process is extremely complex. the community partners that we partner with have used nubc sr front face of this opposition but we should also look toward the positive nature of what adaptive use can be and what will should support it. we are looking at not a renovation -- a renovation is just the cursory rudimentary radio something. we're tired of going about entire stripped on of these buildings stripped down to the steel girders and building back

these buildings with more efficient use of space, to code, making it a more humane environment for the people you're going to be inside. we're also looking at something that could be a shining beacon for new york city and lorman had to look at how we have taken what used to be since 1838 failed policies over and over at that site and really create something that the neighborhood could be proud of and still maintain a safe building not having to dig down many, many feet into what is essentially a swamp and what that experienced that dctv is flooding because the water is very close to the surface. this is not an area where you want to build a jailscraper, not an area where the soil is stable. we will destabilize chinatown. we're still on the heels of many other disasters like 9/11 and hurricane sandy and of course

the global pandemic. we should be reminded this plan was planned in 2017 when things were a lot different. we are looking at the heels of a global pandemic, which i setback supply chain issues across building and what we want to be more green? shouldn't we not take buildings down and put them into landfills? there is a way to do this which the rest of the world has adopted which is adaptive reuse. i really think we can look forward to a win-win situation for both the administration, detainees, and the neighborhoods that will be subject to these years long demolition and years on construction. we can get people into safer environments much, much faster. amy: jon alpert, the land -- the bridge between the two buildings was taken down. are there permits for this destruction? how were you informed about this in the community? >> they knocked the windows out of their bridge.

as we were coming up here today, they have the instrument of destruction ready. they're trying to get something down as fast as they can so it is fate accompli and they have to take the whole building down. the sad situation is there isn't rationality involved. no one is thinking about what is best for the city and how much money they can spin as fast as possible. this is the perfect definition of porkbarrel. it is as regressive as anything that has ever been done in the history of new york city. it is shocking that some of the political leaders are going along with this. amy: 10 seconds. >> it was a lot of corruption, amy, people who should have opposed this that got bought

off, doing anything they can to build this jail. america chris marte, is it possible to change this? >> regarding the permits, there are permits to demolish these buildings, just the bridge. amy: we have to leave it there. óróxór[r

q■q■ linton besser: on the coast of west africa, the ships arrive day after day with an unrelenting cargo. in ghana, they call them "obroni wawu," or "the clothes of dead white men." emmanuel ajaab: take this bale from australia. linton: they're the charity shop castoffs from the western world. emmanuel: dirty. linton: it's sweat. emmanuel: see. yeah, rubbish. it's like a insult. linton: too many of them arrive in unwearable condition. while the trade in used clothes has created thousands of jobs,