Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20140904

Two africanamerican halfbrothers have been exonerated of rape and murder after 30 years behind bars in North Carolina. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia once pointed to their case as an example of why the Death Penalty is just. Today, they are free men. We will speak with an attorney for one of the exonerates as well as the former legal director of the center on wrongful convictions. The new York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo is being challenged in his own partys primary. We will speak to all professor Zephyr Teachout and political activist randy credico, who are both running against cuomo, as well as the tuna governor candidate tim wu who coined the concept of Net Neutrality. All of that and more coming up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Violence continues in Eastern Ukraine putting Government Forces and russianbacked separatists following a day of confusion over ceasefire. Ukraine initially claimed it had reached a ceasefire with russia, only to retract the claim after russian president Vladimir Putin said his government isnt a party to the conflict. His ownen unveiled sevenpoint peace plan, which ukraine intern dismissed as a ruse. Speaking during a visit to estonia, president obama squarely blamed russia for the fighting and vowed to defend Baltic States is adjusted are threatened by moscow. It is going to take time for us to be able to roll them back, and it is gone to take time for us to be up to form the Regional Coalition that will be required so that we can reach out to sunni tribes in some of the areas that isis has occupied. And make sure that we have allies on the ground in common nation with the airstrikes that we have already conducted. So the bottom line is this. Our objective is clear. And that is to degrade and destroy isil so it is not just a threat to iraq, but the region and to the in the states. President obama was speaking ahead of todays nato summit in wales, where Member States are expected to approve new sanctions against russia and the creation of a 4000strong force corrupt deployment and eastern europe. France has announced the suspension of a warship delivery to the russian military. At the nato summit beginning today, president obama and other foreign leaders are expected to discuss an International Coalition against the military Group Islamic state. Speaking during his visit to estonia, obama said the u. S. Objective is to degrade and destroy isil. President obamas comments were echoed more forcefully by Vice President joe biden, who told a crowd in New Hampshire the u. S. Will follow isil to the gates of hell. As a nation, we are united and when people hire americans, we dont retreat. We dont forget. We take care of those who are grieving, and when that is finished, they should know we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. Because hell is where they will reside. Hell is where they will reside. The death toll from the Ebola Outbreak in west africa has topped 1900, including around for 400 people of the past week. 35 hundredround confirmed cases in liberia, sierra leone, guinea, and a giraffe, and senegal. Margaret chan of the World Health Organization said the scale of the outbreak is unprecedented. This evil epidemic this ebola epidemic is the largest and most complex we have ever seen. In the nearly 40 year history of this disease. No one comes even outbreak responders, would experience dating back to back in 76 to 1995, people that were directly involved with those outbreaks, none of them have ever seen anything like it. The Justice Department is launching a civil rights probe of the Police Department in ferguson, missouri. Where the unarmed african immigrant teenager Michael Brown was killed last month. The investigation is separate from another civil rights investigation specifically into browns killing at the hands of Ferguson Police officer darren wilson. The announcement follows weeks of protests sparked by browns death that brought to light allegations of racial profiling and other Police Abuses against africanamerican residents. The probe could expand to other areas surrounding ferguson. Area resident convicted in the killing of unarmed africanamerican 19yearold Renisha Mcbride has been sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison. Wafer was found guilty of seconddegree murder and manslaughter for shooting mcbride on the porch of his home last november. Mcbride was apparently seeking help after a car crash when he shot her in the face through his screen door. He claimed he feared for his life. The killing sparked mass protest as prosecutors took about two weeks to file charges. At his sentencing on wednesday, wafer apologized to mcbrides family, saying he will carry tilt and sorrow forever. Seeseral program that local Police Forces hand over immigrant detainees for potential deportation has been found to have no effect on lowering crime rates. Under secure communities, local police share detainees fingerprints with the department of homeland security, which can then order immigration holds that result in deportation. A new study from two law professors shows the program has had no meaningful reduction in the overall crime rate of communities involved. The authors say their study a top palestinian lawmaker says palestinians will ask the united toions Security Council impose a threeyear deadline for israel to end the occupation of the west bank and gaza. Speaking at the united nations, Hanan Ashrawi said the Palestinian Authority will push for an end to the occupation as well as for International Criminal court jurisdiction. Hanan ashrawi dismissed the threat of losing u. S. Support. We would be seeking a Security Council resolution on ending the occupation within the specified date, and any solution must be based on International Law. They cannot violate International Law and you and conventions and agreement. If the u. S. Was to isolate itself as a reaction to palestinians joining the international community, then they are welcome to do that. Is not that funding essential to palestinian survival. Quite often, having protection of the law is much more important than getting some funding from congress. , Hanan Ashrawi went on to say enough is enough, and what has the u. S. Done for us . Her comments appear to mark the most forceful public repudiation to date of the Obama Administrations policy by Palestinian Leader tied to president abbas. Shows hamashis week has surged in palestinian Public Opinion since the israeli assault on gaza. According to the Palestinian Center for policy and survey research, hamas would defeat abb marginah party by what if National Elections were held today. Comments come days after israel approved its largest seizure of Palestinian Land in three decades, nearly 1000 acres in the occupied west bank. At a news briefing, the u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. Samantha power criticized israels decision. The u. S. Position on settlement activity is very wellknown. We have long made clear our opposition to settlement activity. Were deeply concerned by the reports of expanded settlement activity over the last few days. We call on the government of israel to reverse its decision. I think these actions are contrary to israels stated goal of achieving a permanent Status Agreement with the palestinians. Despite saying it opposes israeli settlements, the Obama Administration has previously vetoed a u. N. Security counsel resolution decrying them illegal. A Columbia University senior who says he is raped on campus two years ago has launched a novel protest and Performance Art piece to call for the expulsion of the alleged perpetrator. For her senior thesis project, Emma Sulkowicz will carry around a twin size dormer mattress with her everywhere she goes on campus until her rapist is expelled. She calls her piece carry that weight. Will be carrying this mattress with me everywhere i go for as long as i attend the same school as my rapist. And it could take a day or it could go on. That clip is from the columbia spectator. Emma sulkowicz says the perpetrator has sexually assaulted two other female students. She was part of a federal columbia challenging universitys handling of rape cases earlier this year. Fast food workers across the country are holding the latest mass strike today to call for higher wages and improved workplace conditions. Strikes incidents are taking place of fast food chains in and around 150 cities to demand a 15 minimum wage, the right to organize, and and and to wage theft. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. With thetodays show case of two africanamerican halfbrothers who have been exonerated of rape and murder convictions in North Carolina after over 30 years behind bars. Henry lee mccollum and leon brown were found guilty in 1984 of the rape and murder of an 11yearold girl. There was no physical evidence tying them to the crime, but police obtained confessions that mccollum and brown have always said were coerced. In fact, during his trial, mccollum recanted his confession 226 times. Police at the time failed to investigate another man,a, who lived your the crime scene and had admitted to similar rape and murder around the same time. After 30 years, the case saw a major breakthrough last month when testing by North Carolinas Innocence Inquiry Commission tied roscoe artiss dna to the time seemed. After hearing presenting the new evidence tuesday, the two brothers were declared innocent and ordered freed. This is mccollum speaking wednesday after he was released from death row. Im happy. God. T to thank i have been through a long journey. I came here with my brother leon brown. At times i thought i giving up. I said, i cant do that. I was goingay that to be blessed and get out of prison. I just did not know when that time was going to be. My god kept be going strong. A lot of rejoicing, happiness and everything. I was very anxious when they told me this news and stuff. I wanted to get away from this place. Last night, i only had a couple of hours of sleep and stuff. It is wonderful. I just think god. Both Henry Mccollum and his brother leon brown have mental disabilities. Mccollum plus iq is between 60 and 69 and brown has scored as low as 49. Both were originally sentenced to death. After second trial, brown was convicted of rape and sentenced to life in prison while mccollum remained on death row. In a recent interview with the news and observer after the dna testing pointed to a likely exoneration, he said he never lost hope that he would one day see freedom. Since i have been here, i have never stopped believing that one day i would be able to walk out that door. I never stopped believing it. Ago, i a long time wanted to find me a good wife. I wanted to raise a family. I wanted to have my own business and everything. Chance tot the fulfill those dreams. Never got the chance because people took 30 years away from me. They destroyed my life. Now, i believe that god is going to bless me to get back out there. Over the years, Death Penalty supporters have cited a brothers case in order to back Capital Punishment. In 2010, the North Carolina Republican Party pasted mccollum plus mugshots on campaign mailers. In 1994, supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia pointed to mccollum as an example of why the Death Penalty is just. For more we go to raleigh, North Carolina where we are joined by Vernetta Alston, one of the lawyers representing Henry Mccollum and a staff attorney with the center for Death Penalty litigation. Welcome to democracy now can you describe the scene yesterday, Vernetta Alston, when Henry Mccollum and leon brown were freed . Well, i was there for henrys release. I unfortunately wasnt able to go to see leons. For henry, it was exciting. He was happy, clearly relieved. His dad and stepmother i think were nervous and very excited for their son to come home. Henry and a handful of other supporters, including myself and another member of his legal team, it was a relief. Vernetta alston, could you talk a little bit about the origins of the case, when they were originally arrested and the issue of the confessions and how confessions were gotten from them . Sure. Henrytember 1983, both who was 19 and leon who was 15, as you mentioned, both intellectually disabled, or taken to the police or henry was taken to the Police Station by Law Enforcement officials and questioned between four to five hours. Shortlye to the station after henry, just to see what was happening. Once he got there, he was brought into a room by two other Law Enforcement officials. Both boys were question into the early hours of the morning. They were manipulated and threatened and told if they just signed these statements, they could go home. And so around 2 00 in the morning, both boys signed these statements that were filled with details that were only known to Law Enforcement officials at the time. They thought they could go home. They quickly learned that wasnt the case and they were arrested. Their you talk about protests of innocence in prison, particularly, Henry Mccollum . Henry has maintained his innocence since the day he was first detained at the Police Department. He has been steadfast in that claim ever since. In every meeting ive had with henry over the last 2. 5 years, the only thing that he wants or has wanted to talk about is his innocence. Into prison officials, he is maintain the same refrain, that he was completely innocent of this crime. And his brother leon was as well. I wanted to ask you about the 1994 debate were supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia pointed to Henry Mccollum as an example of why the Death Penalty is just. He wrote scalia has long been a vocal supporter of Capital Punishment, and has adjusted that an innocent man has never been put to death, at least in recent years. Vernetta alston, what would you say to Justice Scalia now . Withs having a debate Justice Blackmun at the time. He was wrong. In this case and cases like it, prove he is been wrong then and is wrong now. Innocent people are on death row. Innocent people likely happen put to death. And that should be a huge problem. I think it illustrates how the irredeemable the Death Penalty is as a punishment. In his interview, Henry Mccollum said he made up the story about attacking a girl so he could just go home after he been interrogated for several hours. In this clip, he describes the detectives behavior and questioning and his response. I was sitting in a chair and he got in my face, hollering at me. It kind of shook me. It scared me up a little bit. Been a no Police Station before, being questioned by a police. He said, you know you kill that girl. I said, man, i did not kill nobody, man. Back in when i come your, you better tell me the truth, and all that. I said, i told you the truth, where i was that night. He said, no, you said you and home. I said, i was at home. I was there from 12 30 at night. He came back in like five minutes later. I had made up my mind, right, because i had never been under this message this much pressure with a person hollering at me and all that crazy stuff. What i did i gave him a false name. I made up the story that this is the way the crime happened, when the crime really didnt happen that way. I was trying to go home. I gave a fulls confession. False confession. That was Henry Mccollum in prison in the interview. Vernetta alston, if you could respond to what he said. Henry mccollum had two trials . He did. He did. He was now that threatened. Because of his disabilities, because he was poor and wasnt in a position intellectual to defend himself, he was manipulated in the confession whenorced to tell a story he thought he could go home. They told him, if you gave him that information, he could leave. , i want to alston ask you not only you talked about the Police Misconduct in this case in terms of the confession, but what about the prosecution withholding evidence that could have been used to exonerate the men. Could you talk about that as well . Inone of the biggest pieces one of the most alarming things we have learned in the last few months to the innocence commissions work is that Law Enforcement had requested that a fingerprint, a known fingerprint found at the crime scene next to the victims blood on it, requested for that fingerprint to be compared to roscoe artis, whose dna was found at the scene and committed a very similar rape three weeks later. Rape and murder, right . Correct. That request was made three days before henrys trial and was never carried out. Based on what we know now, that request was never divulged to henrys Trial Attorney by the state. And that represented a huge violation of henry and lyons constitutional rights. In 1984, these cases were prosecuted by in a tory us supporter of the Death Penalty and secure between 40 to 50 death penalties during his tenure as district attorney. Seen as a pattern is he was incredibly reckless to the point where all but two of his convictions of death sentences have been overturned. The only two that havent are folks who have been executed. I think i should signal a huge problem with all of his cases in terms of what he is turned over and what he hasnt come and his own rush to judgment and his own priorities and getting a conviction rather than seeking the truth. We will continue this discussion with Vernetta Alston, one of the lawyers for Henry Mccollum and a staff attorney for the center for Death Penalty litigation. When we come back, well also be joined by Steven Drizin come the legal director of the center on wrongful convictions. s a with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. We continue to look at the case of Henry Lee Mccollum and leon brown him at two africanamerican halfbrothers who have been exonerated of rape and murder convictions in North Carolina after over 30 years behind bars. To talk more about the case in the broader issue of false confessions, were joined by Steven Drizin, conical professor radical professor at northwestern law school. For more than a decade he was legal director of their center on wrongful convictions. ,till with us, Vernetta Alston one of the lawyers for Henry Mccollum and a staff attorney with the center for Death Penalty litigation. She is with us in North Carolina. He is with us in chicago. Steven drizin, how did this case happen . Talk about the case of brown and mccollum, and after 30 years, it was discovered that the dna actually belong to another man. The case happened, as in many cases up false confessions, and began with a brutal, horrific crime, often the murder and rape of a small child. Police officers are desperate to solve that case. Who areo in on suspects innocent, but for whatever reason, believe they are guilty. In this case, the only reason they suspected Henry Mccollum is because the local 17yearold girl had said she did not like the way he stared at women in the community. Once they focused on mccollum, they brought him in and grilled him relentlessly for hours. They threatened him with the Death Penalty and promised him he would go home. A written detailed statement for him to sign. At that point in time, as he said, i pretty much what of sign anything in order to go home. The fact this confession was unreliable was apparent when the very face of this confession. As his attorney remarked, there were a ton of details in the confession that only Law Enforcement officers had known. They obviously put those in the confession. When they asked him a question about who he participated with in the crime, he named two other young men who were never even charged in the case because they had rocksolid alibis. So once this confession entered the case and injured the stream of evidence entered the stream of evidence, the most , their sentence of death was pretty much assured. How often these confessions become the basis of Capital Punishment cases, could you talk about that . Cases thatamong the have led to exonerations of people by dna evidence, that a those aly 20 to 25 of proximally 320 exonerations involve false confessions. We also know we have evidence of hundreds of other false confession cases and almost all of them, more than 80 of them, are in murder cases, which in most states, qualify for Capital Punishment. Vernetta alston, the whole issue of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, what is that . How are they the ones to ultimately exonerate the brothers . The commission is an independent state agency that was created around 2007, 2008. They function independent. They are not related to any prosecutorial or any defense organizations. They are in independent agency that looks into claims of innocence to find evidence that has a been uncovered, and to verify claims of innocence. In 2010 involved following a letter from leon brown in 2009, asking them to look into the case. Come 2010 up until basically tuesday, they had an active investigation going on in leon browns case, with the understanding the evidence related chile on skys is identical to that of Henry Mccollum. That is how they got involved. They exhausted investigation and tested and retested many items. F physical evidence they did a phenomenal job in this case. Steven drizin, the importance of this commission in North Carolina . I understand it is one of the elements like it in the country and the impact this could have in other states around the country . Theou cant overstate importance of this commission. Men would probably have died in prison if it wasnt for their exhaustive investigation. There is no other state with such a commission. The beauty of the commission is it has subpoena power. It can obtain documents that oftentimes are not produced by the state to defense attorneys. That in fact happened in this case. Theybut i dna testing can expedite dna testing incentive to a private lab and make sure the results qualify for being uploaded into a national database. It did a wide ranging and exhaustive investigation, and it was completely independent of any of the parties in the case. So when they took a fresh look at this case, they were not looking at it with blinders on. There was no chance of tunnel vision. They were just seeking the truth. What prompted North Carolina to establish the commission . A number of wrongful convictions, including several in Death Penalty cases, led the then Supreme Court chief justice. Beverly lake it looked at all the causes of wrongful convictions in North Carolina and passed and suggested a number of reforms to prevent wrongful convictions. One of the reforms was to have an independent body outside of the court system to be able to evaluate claims of innocence. Professor, Henry Mccollum possible lawyers possible lawyers pressured him to plead guilty in the second trial. It just shows a couple of things. One, the way in which the Death Penalty can corrupt the search for truth. Clearly, Police Officers coerced and threatened the suspects with the Death Penalty at the beginning. The prosecutor wore his Death Penalty convictions like notches on his belt, and this case. Even the Death Penalty lawyers, two of the best Death Penalty lawyers i know of, they felt compelled to pressure henry to confess to an expert because they figured they were going that henry was going to get convicted after his case had been reversed, and a needed him to confess in order to save his life. So the mere presence of the Death Penalty corrupted the search for truth at every single process of this case. You have to understand one thing. I salute the lawyers in this case, the defense lawyers. They did aim or reckless a miraculous job keeping this man alive. 1988ack in 1983, even in when these men were tried, we did not know very much about false [no audio] lost them to have just audio for professor Steven Drizin, clinical professor at northwestern law school, assistant dean of the blue legal clinic where for more than a decade, he was legal director of the center on wrongful convictions. I would like to ask Vernetta Alston, your client henry for more than 30 years was in prison. During that time, about more than 40 of her death row inmate lls withwas sharing ce or was incarcerated with, ended up being executed . Could you talk about the emotional damage done to him throughout these years . Henry saw 42 or lived through 42 executions while he was up on death row. He saw many of his friends, many of the people he spent most of the days with, executed. It took a tremendous toll on him. Where anto the point execution was scheduled and he would get so anxious that the staff would have to isolate him and put them basically in a cage by himself just so they could watch him because he of become so distraught and so emotional facing one of his friends take of an execution chamber. And that pattern persisted over the many years he had to see his fellow inmates executed. It resulted in years of depression and anxiety still struggles with. Steven drizin, were talking to you from perhaps the Death Penalty capital of the united states, from chicago. Can you talk about the issue of false convictions . Can you talk about what is happening in illinois . Were not the Death Penalty capital of the united states. He abolished the Death Penalty. With time it to say false convictions. Of a false capital of the united states. It had dozens of cases of young africanamerican men were pressured into falsely confessing to murders and rapes anything not correct. Very much like the mccollum case. As those cases began to mount, pressure to first put a moratorium in place and then to abolish the Death Penalty happened here in illinois. I hope the mccollum, which is one of those bad as hell and i just cant take it anymore kind of cases, lead North Carolina the finally abolish the Death Penalty there. Steven drizin, thank you for being with us, clinical professor at Northern Law School and assistant dean of the bluhm legal clinic, for more than a for thehe Director Center on wrongful convictions. And Vernetta Alston, one of the attorneys for Henry Mccollum and a staff attorney with the center for Death Penalty litigation. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. When we come back, we will have a discussion with the candidates in the democratic primary for governor and the tenant governor here in new york state. Lieutenant governor here in new york state. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. We turn now to politics here in new york state where andrew cuomo, one of the nations most wellknown democratic governors, is facing a challenge from within his own party as he seeks reelection. Voters head to the polls next tuesday for the states democratic primary. Reelection hasor taken some unexpected turns as he faces two primary challengers, fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout and comedian and activist randy credico. The New York Times declined to endorse in your the candidates in the primary, in parting cuomo because of his decision to disband a commission he created to root out corruption in state politics. Teachoutsraised push to fight corruption and reform the States Campaign finance system. Meanwhile, the times editorial page endorsed tim wu, who is running with cuomo. He is a columbia law professor best known for coming up with the open internet principle of Net Neutrality. Would were to win, wu become the first asianamerican elected to a statewide office in new york state. While most of the democratic establishment has backed the cuomo ticket, the teachoutwu campaign has received some notable endorsements including the public in place federation, the states secondlargest union of government workers, as well of thestate chapters National Organization of women and the sierra club. Randy credico is running on a platform calling for Economic Justice and the reform of the states drug laws. So far, Governor Cuomo and warmer commerce member hochul have declined all invitations to debate their challengers. We invited them to join us today, but they declined. But we are joined by the other democrats on tuesdays ballots, Zephyr Teachout and her running mate tim wu, as well as randy credico. We welcome you all to democracy now Zephyr Teachout, why are you running . Why do you feel the needs to be a change in new york . Andrew cuomo, despite calling himself a democrat, has governed as a republican. His whole policy and every thing has pushed has been tax breaks, tax giveaways for the wealthy. It is really hurting new york state. New york is now the most unequal state of all the states with the most segregated schools. So i am running for the oldfashioned reason that i know i would be a better governor. That my values align with the values of new yorkers. I would fight for all new yorkers. Talks you just came from the fast food workers protest earlier this morning . Yes. Im happy to stand with the fast food workers were protesting for a fair wage and the union. In new york city, you need 15 an hour just to make a living. I talked to some of the people who are there protesting, asking where they found their courage. I talked to a woman who walked off the job seven times striking kfc. She said, well, it is my family. When she said her family, she met the other people she works with. And the other people in the same situation. She said, for myself, i could do it maybe once, but for my family and all of us i find the courage. You were originally recruited by the working Families Party is a potential gubernatorial candidate, and in the very party, the independent party, Leftwing Party in new york politics, and then at their own convention, they essentially cut a deal with the governor, among the things he promised to do would be to support a state raise the minimum wage. Could you talk about that whole situation and your decision to go ahead and run anyway . Was recruited around march 15. When they recruited me, i explain im also a democrat and also wanted to run on the democratic primary. So when andrew cuomo heard about my candidacy and the working Families Party primary, he did something that is remarkable for isocrat, only because it andrew cuomo, he finally agreed to support a democratic senate. I think people need to understand how much he is not a democrat. He really has worked behind the scenes to have a republican senate. Never really Democratic State here. I decided to continue to run because despite Andrew Cuomos promises, he did not say anything about fracking. Yes me know commitment to ban fracking. He is may know commitment to fully fund our schools. Our schools are in a crisis. He made no commitment to actually turn our tax system right side up. Right now it is the wealthiest new yorkers pay less other income than the middle 20 . , you have adico long history with andrew cuomo. Years back, you join with him on thefight to do away with rockefeller drug laws and that you decided not only to challenge them, but also to vie for the nomination with Zephyr Teachout. I was in the race long before Zephyr Teachout got into it. I got into in general because andrew cuomo is a reactionary democrat. The Democratic Party is a reactionary party. I am in and goodman democrat or jeremy scale democrat. Of thesent the far left Democratic Party. I did work with andrew cuomo in 2003 against the rockefeller drug laws. She called for complete elimination of the laws and we got some change. However, now that he is been in office as governor, he hasnt mentioned it for granted one clumsy not one, seasons he is been there. That is what prompted me to run against him. Southern governors a George Wallace dead, too. He is not given one clumsy or pardon, even though he had all of these cracks in the rockefeller drug laws. Justiceto reform the system. Really, start all over. I was recently arrested for filming the police and spent 24 hours in central booking for filming the police. Ive been in jail and knocker walk what in honduras grog what in honduras and never seen conditions like we have in that particular jail i was in. We have 55,000 people in prison in the state. Compare how new york, randy, compares to the rest of the world and it comes to drug laws. It is still very bad. You can still get 12 years in prison for the attempted sale of a five dollar bag of cocaine. This great episode he had prior to this with the Death Penalty in North Carolina, you can actually get off with dna if youre convicted of rape or murder. You cant on drug charges. There are thousands of people who are framed who will say, ok, im guilty, because they dont notice and a year and rikers awaiting trial. You cant get off on dna. That is across the country. There are thousands of people in jail who should not be there. We of 55,000 when attica when hadn smoke in 1971, we 10,000 people in jail. Now we have 55,000 people in jail, almost exclusively people of color. Im running to represent them. If i think it all their families to vote for me, i would win next tuesday. You have received some surprise endorsement from not only the New York Times, the new york observer. Can you talk about what you would hope to do for Lieutenant Governor, which is essentially a job that no one really knew about until Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign and David Pederson took over as governor. Im running generally because i feel there is a battle going on for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, beginning right now between people more serious about the problems of inequality, people less serious about that problem. The Lieutenant Governor position in new york has been a position of wasted potential. I think it could be used as a position of public efficacy where i would serve as an indefinite voice and the State Government and a critic of some of the things that go on. We have a problem with checks and balances in State Government and need to have them address. Groups have endorsed my vision and im very proud of that. You are known as an internet activist. You really originated the whole concept of Net Neutrality. On september 10, theres going to be what is known as an internet slowdown. Activists are organizing around the country and the world. You might go to their website and a spinning will of death will be there. Showing what it would be like, basically, if Net Neutrality is done away with. Explain what it is and why you are issue around neutrality ways into your desire to be Lieutenant Governor of new york. The reason one night people decided took a time to write in about Net Neutrality, they believe equality in our time is threatened and see the internet, the open internet, which has long been the place for equal speech, where obscure blogger has a similar voice to a wealthy newspaper. They say, we want the internet open. We believe in a society that is more equal. In some ways, i think the passion for Net Neutrality right now is really reflective of a deeper concern with widening inequality in this country. The internet slowdown is designed to dramatize what would be like to live on or have an internet where the rich get faster speeds, this locus lower. It is like divided sidewalks. It feels so wrong. People are getting. Fired up are also challenging the comcast, time warner merger . I think the federal government and the state should take an active role in blocking a merger which is very bad for americans, very bad for the entire country. The prices we pay for cable are unregulated, generally, and of gone so high they are threatening the daytoday life of lower income and middle income people. Theyre rising many times the price of inflation. There in the position to extort payments. We need to stop this merger and start asking, why are we letting these monopolies charges these outrageous prices and threaten the internet, open internet . It is a serious problem. Zephyr teachout, i want to ask about the issue of public corruption. For andrew cuomo ran governor the first time, he said he was going to clean up albany. He established a commission that was supposed to look into corruption. Then he disbanded the commission, and now theres a federal investigation of whether his office or people around him had some kind of a role in trying to sort some of the investigations. Can you talk about the importance of this particular issue of cuomos track record . His track record is terrible. He broke his corp. Campaign promise which was to clean up publiclyo push for funded elections. Which we all need to do. If we dont get at the root issue of who is funding campaigns, it is hard to get at the other issues. He promised to push for a Republican Democratic senate by vetoing an, protection gerrymandering districts. A promised to get rid of loophole that allows corporations in new york to move directly to canada. Instead of all of that, we have this real scandal in new york. Because he created an anticorruption cam a commission saying it can search anywhere, go anywhere. They meathe minute it started getting close to him and his Business Associates, he shut it down. There is new evidence his top aide was saying, was subpoenaed they should be issuing and what subpoenas they werent. This is a very serious file asian a public trust. And the reason it matters is because bigmoney real estate and the big banks in the Business Associates of andrew cuomo are getting special favors. Theyre getting the tax giveaways. Meanwhile, new yorkers are really suffering. The wage gap is growing. So many people are foodinsecure. This is new york state, which is , deep commitment to being open to public education. The reason i care about corruption is because of how it affects peoples lives. This is an Old Boy Network and albany. How does what is happening in issue of corruption in new york compared to the country . You have a book coming out. I think its a terrible example of what is happening. It has gotten worse since 2010 nationally because of citizens united. But theres a deep cynicism we have to overcome, and i think people are actually saying you still have the power of the vote. You can still kick out people like andrew cuomo. But the outside money has a very insidious of fact. Randy, i would think i many of these issues, you and Zephyr Teachout would agree, but you are running against her as well is against cuomo. Can you talk about the differences you see . There are a lot of differences. When this is over, if i lose on tuesday, i am supporting the green party. I think the biggest problem in this state we should focus on is the economy. Chuck schumer hedge job on andrew cuomo. That is his guy. Jeremygha who put germa hammond in jail. Im rooting we change this economy. By economic adviser has laid out a blueprint that i am following, which is to tax wall street to 1 from open sales tax, progressive Real Estate Tax and cutting out for 201a which gives big breaks to all the sports teams in the city. Talks and bonds, intangible assets, along with tendril assets like cars and homes. There are a lot of differences here. She wont talk about israel. For theondemned Israel Occupation of gaza. He did not visit the graves and gaza. I will say it. It is sudden death to talk about israel. But i stand on principle on that. She hasnt spoken out. You have to talk about your position on the occupation of gaza. Zephyr teachout, your position on this issue . I actually think we agree on a lot of different issues, but i have stayed neutral as governor i will be representing all of new york. I certainly have talked to people and feel great compassion for what is happening on both sides of the conflict. Jews and a governor of muslims in new york. But im not running for president and im not going to be making foreignpolicy decisions. Tim wu, it turns out your is most, kathy hochul, known for opposition when she was a congressperson to drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants and has a pretty conservative record in congress, yet Governor Cuomo has chosen her this time around as his running mate. Governor cuomo had a wide range of choices for who he could have chose to be his running mate as Lieutenant Governor candidate. Somehow he found a Bank Lobbyist for the job. Maybe on the idea that things are under represented in the state capital, which i dont think is true. A Bank Lobbyist with one of the most conservative voting records in congress. She voted multiple times to repeal obama care. To guted multiple times the clean air act. She has done things in my mind democrats canieve have differences of opinion, but she is gone against the main tenets of the Democratic Party. There was a germanic incident where the House Republicans were on one of these which funds, the fast injuries, citing eric holder for contempt. The houston all caps got up and left the house for that vote. Kathy hochul stayed with speaker boehner, voted for the first time in history to hold the attorney general eric holder from a site him for criminal contempt. She is shown over and over again she is far too conservative and i think disqualifying for the Democratic Party. Just yesterday, the progressive new mayor of new york de blasio and the cofounder of the progressive caucus all lined up to support her. With respect to the mayor, we agree on in fact, we almost everything. Today we were name together as the new new left along with Zephyr Teachout. Yesterday, he made this tremendous mistake of endorsing kathy hochul. They dont agree on any issues. Mind, she is been tried to misrepresent herself as a progressive democrat now. I think yes become an accomplice. I wish they were here to represent themselves, andrew cuomo and hochul were invited to be part of this debate. I want to thank you all for being with us, Zephyr Teachout, candidate for new york governor on the democratic alan. Tim wu is for running mate for Lieutenant Governor. Randy credico is also a candidate for the governor democratic ballot. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] upwqcx