i'm amy goodman. amy goodman: we spend today's hour looking at the bloody struggle to obtain-and protect- voting rights in this country. since 2010, at least 10 states have passed laws that require people to show a government- issued photo id when they go to the polls. while supporters say the laws protect against voter fraud, others argue they're more likely to suppress voter turnout among people of color, the poor and proper id and find it harder to obtain one. in total, 16 states have passed restrictive voting laws that could shape the 2012 election, including the vital swing states of florida and pennsylvania. well, on monday, naacp president and ceo ben jealous made voting rights the center of his address to the group's annual convention in houston. >> we have a choice to make. we can allow this election to be stolen in advance, as politicians from pennsylvania and recently bragged about money thought no one was listening. talking about his state's voter id law. we can double down on democracy. a

amy goodman: do you agree with him? rep. john lewis: i agree with him. amy goodman: that the u.s. is the greatest purveyor of violence. rep. john lewis: we have more- we spend hundreds and thousand, millions and billions of dollars on weaponry. we're supplying the world. we sell arms to everybody. dr. king was saying that we have to put an end to this madness. he was influenced by gandhi, and gandhi said it's nonviolence or nonexistence. dr. king went on to say, "we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or we will perish as fools." he was saying, in effect, that we have enough bombs and missiles and guns to destroy the planet. he said it then, and it's still true today. amy goodman: at the time, time magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for radio hanoi." that's the dr. king 1967 speech against the war in vietnam. the washington post declared king had, quote, "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people." rep. john lewis: i think it's so unfortunate that publications like time magazine, washington post - if they

would be in the 50-95% ami range. for that population, although asian-pacific islanders households comprise 28% of the 50-80 ami, they compose 60% of people that are in the ownership pool. african-americans are underrepresented, as are latino and hispanic families. african-americans are about 7% citywide in that demographic, just about 1%, very low number in our ownership units. latinos 13% citywide and 5% in our bmr units. in terms of the outreach and the marketing for those units, because i think those demographics automatically lead to those questions. through the time i have been there with the department, so i started there about 2005, we have had grants to a number of strategic community-based organizations in order to increase our outreach, specifically on the homeownership side. so we have worked specifically the asian, inc., with san francisco housing development corp., san francisco's lgbt center, et cetera. specifically to try to target outreach to the api lgbt latino and african-american communities, as we

is about 10% lower than the tri-county ami. so san francisco -- 100% ami is equivalent to 90% in san francisco and that is called out here. similarly on the rental side, it coordinates to 55%. >> i understand what you are doing, but i don't really understand why an off-sale unit would be at 70 and not 90? what is the difference between that being on-site and off-site? >> i think my understanding that this policy is a consistent policy that we have had. unfortunately i can't speak to the distinction between those ami levels. how to i believe it's not a new policy. it's consistent with what we have seen previously. >> it's significant for me and any time we approve these projects for sale that was at the tri-county and i understand your adjustment. the other problem is the downward adjustment raises the subsidy, because as you know, when you do an ami unit, it costs more at the lower income level because the price you charge has to become compensatorily lower and therefore, the subsidy from the rest of the project to make that is

ami or below income. so it's a 1:1 match between the pricing the unit and the eligible income level. and given how the pricing works, you really have to be at 89% ami for you to be able to afford the mortgage payment. you have to be credit worthy and have the required down payment. so we have seen cases where a pool of applicants is so restricted given the tight alignment between pricing and eligibility that we wanted to provide the eligibility for bmr units to be priced still at 90% ami, but the income eligibility extended up. so it provides a bigger pool of applicants and allows us to -- if facilitates the sale of the units more quickly. this was the good-faith effort line after a period of six months, units are not able to be sold. and what this allows us is under certain circumstances to grant the ability for those re-sale units to be eligible to people for up to 20% above the ami level. it doesn't change the pricing, but gives us flexibility. >> i think that is right. because if someone is at 89 and

a two person household making 98,900 a year is at 120% of ami. person household making 123,000 is 150% of ami. category? two san francisco unified school district teachers with five years of service and bachelor's degrees are at 120% of ami. so two pretty junior teachers living together are in this 120 to 150 range of ami. now, we can talk about the building trades, and the carpenters, et cetera, who fall -- two of them are living together, would fall into 120% now let's look at the upper end of a four-person household, 120 to 150% of ami for a four-person hoastled, let's say two parents, two kids is 123 to 154,000 of ami. as i mentioned the last time this came up speaker john pÉrez has proposed and i think he's proposing again and he should propose it that for anyone in california with a family where the household is making up to 150,000 a year, that family would get a middle class reduction in to -- from our state universities. john pÉrez, one of the leading democrats in the state, has indicated that 150% of ami throughout california, even thou

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the zip line snapped as amy was riding it. she fell into the river.es to close the wind. but she thought things were okay. a few days later, still in pain, she went back to the hospital and learned she had a flesh-eating bacteria. within days, it began ravaging her body and within weeks, doctors were forced to amputate her leg. that's when we first spoke to amy's father, andy. >> i believe the doctors probably would have said she had probably around a 1% chance of survival that night she arrived here. >> reporter: after two months in the hospital, the disease claimed both of amy's hands, both feet and her left leg. but as her sister paige told us back in june, amy continued to fight. >> she cherishes life. she relishes life. every day is a gift. i mean, she always had had that outlook, even before her accident. >> surrounded by her family, amy moved home at the end of august. local builders donated a $200,000 addition to make life easier for her to get around. she's been fitted with three prosthetic limbs, has an automated wheelchair and she's plannin

the line snapped as amy was riding it.d staples to close the wound. she thought things were okay. several days later, she went back to the hospital and learned she had a bacteria. within days, it began ravaging her body and within weeks, doctors were forced to amputate her leg. that's when we first spoke to her father. >> i believe the doctors would have said she had a 1% chance of survival. >> after two months in the hospital, the disease claimed both of amy's hands. both feet and her left leg. but as her sister told us in june, she continued to fight. >> she cherishes life. every day is a gift. she has always had that outlook. >> surrounded by her family, amy moved home at the end of august. local builders donated a $200,000 addition to make life easier for her to get around. she's been fitted with three prosthetic limbs, has an automated wheelchair and she's planning on returning to college and getting that masters degree. >> it's a really unbelievable regimen she does for about an hour and a half each day. >> she's bei

code defines under 80 percent of ami as low income. i have not seen any other legal standards that provide otherwise so whatever one's personal opinion, the standards that we apply in san francisco define under 80 percent of the ami as low income and the enabling legislation creating a low income seat for the market-octavia cac does not provide otherwise. so i think for the sake of consistency we should be applying that standard. i will also note that this seat was held for a number of years by peter cohen, who by his own statement before this committee almost a year ago is not low income. and mr. cohen held the seat for quite some time and when he was not reappointed by the board of supervisors earlier this year 5 members of the board, two of whom are sitting here in this committee today, voted to reappoint him and i don't recall this issue being brought up. so i'm surprised it hear it being brought up today from someone who under san francisco's own definition of low income undisputiblely qualifies as low income. so i do support mr.

code defines under 80 percent of ami as low income. i have not seen any other legal standards that provide otherwise so whatever

amy? >> heartbreaking story there, josh. >>> we do have breaking weather news, though. much of the country under a blanket of snow. and sam's telling us, there's more snow on the way. >> watching this storm develop this morning, amy. good morning, everybody. 64% of the country now has the white stuff on the ground. let's show you some pictures out of maine, and the storm exiting that area. caused gusting winds up and down maine. look at vermont, killington, coming in with 18 inches of snow. some places in vermont with 27 inches of snow. as we said, the gusty winds part of the storm that exits. look at the new storm. it's two lows moving through the middle of the country. it will have big impact here. because the southern part of the storm becomes the snowmaker. but during the day today, kicks off strong to severe storms throughout the southeast. the same place that got the december tornadoes will see more storms during the day today. and you need to keep your eye on those storms. then, tha

amy. >> good news. thanks for that. >>> back to barbara walters for more of her exclusive interview with president obama and the first lady. it's becoming a holiday tradition. it airs tonight on "20/20." and barbara is here with some of the highlights right now. you got the full tour. as always. >> i got the full tour of the white house, with the star of the white house. that's not the president or the first lady. you know it's bo. >> but you did sit down with the president and covered the news of the day, as well? >> we did. we talked to the two of them. they're very different when they are together. they're funny and cute. but we also asked the president a very important question about the legalization of marijuana. there are two states in which it is legal. >> washington and colorado. we'll take a look. >> do you think that marijuana should be legalized? >> i wouldn't go that far. but i what think is that, at this point, washington and colorado, you've seen the voters speak on this issue. and, as it

amy hollyfield, abc7 news. >>> police are also investigating a shooting in oakland near lake merritt overnight that left four injured around 10:30 along east 18th street near fifth avenue, a witness tells abc7 news he heard gunshots. within person was initially reported to be in -- one person was initially reported to be in critical, all are now in stable condition. investigators looking for three suspects. >>> ban on gay conversion therapy for mineovers appears to be taking effect january 1st. a federal judge ruled against blocking the law yesterday and said it could go into effect in the new year this contradicts a ruling made monday by a different judge who says the law potentially violates first amendment rights. attorney general harris supports the ban and intends on defending the law. >>> clerical employees at the port of long beach and los angeles will go back to their jobs this morning follow allege eight-day strike. they reached a deal last night. the los angeles mayor took part in the negotiations yesterday with federal mediators only a small number of clerical workers had

amy robach here this week. carpet." >> thank you. thank you. >> in for lara, taking a little break this week. >> nice to see you. >>> and we want to bring in a very important picture here. because we have babies being born today. in fact, we're having women inducing labor, specifically to be born on 12-12-12. we're going to go live to the hospital, to find out why this mom wanted to make sure her baby was born today. >> we're not encouraging them. to induce labor. >> we're not. >> good choice. they're making. >>> we're choosing to put sam and amy in bubbles and making them play soccer. >> instant replay. >> i have a feeling we'll be seeing this video again. but we do want to thank our friends from ohio mobile gaming, who drove through the night to get these things here. >> yes. >> to you and your sacrifice. i mean, thank you. >> amy, great job. >> thank you. in heels, by the way. >> well done. >> two people in bubbles here. amy, great job in heels. >> hey, i give sympathy. >> thank you. >> you could have worn h

i'm amy goodman. president obama and members of the senate are back in washington today after a short break with just days before the onset of the so-called fiscal cliff. obama and republican leaders remain at a crossroads on reaching a budget deal before the combination of spending cuts and tax hikes kicks in with the new year. on wednesday, treasury secretary timothy geithner told congress the u.s. will reach its federal borrowing limit on new year's eve, threatening the same default that was narrowly avoided last year. in a letter to lawmakers, geithner vowed to take extraordinary measures to avoid a new default but said any remedies would only be short- term. the u.s. has acknowledged for the first time a carried out a september drone strike that killed 11 people in yemen. the victims were packed into a truck on a desert road in a town of radda when they're struck by a missile. the washington post reports the yemeni government tried to hide u.s. responsibility for the attack by taking credit for c