suspected of shooting one of his passengers to death. while authorities say there is probable cause the 29-year-old fired at least ten shots at the passenger who police found laying on the floor of hand congress s car. uber says it is deeply troubled by the events. the company s policy prohibits both passengers and drivers from carrying firearms. and this latest incident is fueling concerns about whether uber is properly vetting its drive drivers. now cnn uncovers records revealing thousands of criminals cleared to be uber drivers. here s cnn senior investigative correspondent drew griffin. reporter: when he heard about the drivers, he demanded a list. we were shocked. reporter: the list included 12 uber drivers convicted of felonies and others with duis or
every single city. every single state. we re going to get a law passed just for us. it s their own special law for uber and lyft. reporter: a special investigate tallied more than 400 highed by uber mostly to fight stricter oversight. in many states, even writing the laws. cnn s investigation reviewed all 43 states that have laws or rules on driver background checks. and they are strikingly similar. all but massachusetts leave background checks up to uber. and in 31 states, the laws passed reflect uber s recommended wording on driver screening, in some cases, almost word for word. this e-mail from an uber lobbyist to a wyoming lawmaker shows just how influential uber can be. the uber lobbyist writes, they have two major issues with a draft of the bill, including the criminal background check provision. the lobbyist tells the lawmaker, change it back to the model language. it was.
how they screen drivers. if they really want to put themselves out there as the safe ride home, they should really make sure that they are putting these people out there that are going to get you home safely. reporter: uber s response to the problems and its background checks is the company has made significant investments in improvements and will continue to work with state and local governments to get it right in the future. to conduct its background checks, uber and lift both use a company called checker which uses a potential driver s name and social security number to search federal, state and local courts and other databases for disqualifying records. regulators tell cnn that is not enough. and that government-run background checks that include fingerprinting, potential drivers, would go further in discovering histories of violence. but uber says fingerprints don t offer a complete picture of arrests and convictions, and uber has gone to great lengths to fight any government-
three former uber employees who worked on policy tell cnn uber wants to control its screening process to get drivers on the road as soon as possible. georgia legislator allen powell says uber s attitude is states have no business screening its drivers. it s, oh, no, we re above the government, we run our own background checks. reporter: in response to its lobbying effort, uber says everybody lobbies and we re proud to work with officials to develop commonsense regulations for a new industry. drew given, cnn, denver. drew griffin, cnn, denver. still ahead we re used to lava but not in our subdivisions. life on the big island in hawaii is grinding to a halt as lava continues to eat away the landscape and force residents from their homes. we ll be back. and all you wanted to do was surround them in comfort and protection.
made significant investments and improvements and will continue to work with state and local governments to get it right in the future. to conduct its background checks, uber and lyft both use a company called checker which uses a potential driver s name and social security number to search federal, state and local courts and other databases for disqualifying records. regulators tell cnn that is not enough. and that government-run background checks that include fingerprinting potential drivers would go further in discovering histories of violence. but uber says fingerprints don t offer a complete picture of arrests and convictions. and uber has gone to great lengths to fight any government-run background checks. that s their game plan in every city and state. we ll get a law passed that s just for us. it s their own special law for uber and lyft. reporter: a cnn investigation tallied more than 400 lobbyists across the country hired by uber. mostly to fight stricter