Democracy Now!

U.S. Has Second-Worst Day of Pandemic as L.A. Logs Two COVID-19 Deaths Per Hour, FDA Panel Recommends Emergency Use of Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine, U.S. Unemployment Claims Surge as Lawmakers Haggle Over Pandemic Relief, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Calls for New Democratic Party Leadership, Biden Nominates Deb Haaland to Become First-Ever Native American Cabinet Member, Biden Taps North Carolina's Top Environmental Official Michael Regan to Head EPA, Rep. Cedric Richmond, Top Biden Adviser, Tests Positive for COVID-19, 28 Children from Haiti, Central and South America to Be Deported with Their Families, 344 Kidnapped Schoolboys Have Been Freed in Nigeria, Billionaire Sackler Family Refuses to Apologize for Fueling Deadly Opioid Epidemic , Federal Death Row Prisoner Contracts COVID-19 Weeks Before Planned Execution, Google Faces Third Major Antitrust Challenge as Dozens of AGs Launch Lawsuit, Google Employees Demand Company Reinstate Researcher Who Was Fired for Calling Out Bias in AI, NYC Council Passes Bill to Protect Fast-Food Workers from Being Fired Without Cause

After months of inaction, Congress finally appears close to passing a second, $900 billion coronavirus stimulus package. The agreement is likely to include additional unemployment assistance of $300 a week and one-time direct cash payments of between $600 and $700 for people in the U.S. — a sharp reduction from the first COVID check of $1,200. The COVID-19 relief checks were put back in the bill after a major push from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. A new study reports 8 million Americans have been pushed into poverty since the summer, in part due to a lack of federal assistance. "It's just staggering that Congress can't come together to help people in their time of need," says David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, who has been following stimulus talks closely.

As the "very exciting" rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution gets underway in the United States, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, says the country is still experiencing "astronomical" numbers of new infections and deaths. "We've just had a federal government that has given up on any efforts to try and control the pandemic," he says. "What we have to do is get through the next few months with basic public health measures until vaccines become widely available and widely adopted. Until that time, there is no reason to let up whatsoever."

Health experts are raising concerns that wealthy countries have reserved enough coronavirus vaccine doses to immunize their populations multiple times over, while poorer countries may only have enough to vaccinate about 20%. Reuters reports the World Health Organization's global plan for delivering COVID-19 vaccines to 91 poor and middle-income countries faces a "very high" risk of failure and could leave billions of people with no access to vaccines until 2024. "What we see is that something like 90% of all the vaccine doses that have been purchased have actually been done directly by countries, mostly middle-income and high-income countries," says Dr. Krishna Udayakumar, founding director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, who has been tracking COVID-19 vaccine purchases around the world. "What we are seeing is a lot of side deals, in essence, where people are trying to also ensure that they are hedging their bets to make this work."

U.S. Shatters COVID-19 Daily Record with 3,656 Deaths & Quarter-Million New Cases, WHO's COVID-19 Plan to Vaccinate Poorer Nations Faces "Very High" Risk of Failure, FDA Panel to Vote on Emergency Use Authorization for Moderna Vaccine, Trump Appointee Pushed COVID-19 Herd Immunity Strategy: "We Want Them Infected", Chris Christie on COVID-19: "How Wrong I Was to Remove My Mask at the White House", French President Tests Positive for COVID-19 After Meetings with European Leaders, Brazil's Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Top 7 Million, Lawmakers Near Deal on $900B Coronavirus Relief Bill as U.S. Poverty Surges, Poverty on the Rise Across the Globe, as 2.7 Billion People Saw No Public Assistance Amid Pandemic, U.N. Warns Locust Swarms Threaten Food Security for Millions in Horn of Africa and Yemen, Top U.S. General Holds Unplanned Talks with Taliban and Afghan President, France Delivers 14 Guilty Verdicts in 2015 Charlie Hebdo and Connected Attacks, Hungary Bans Same-Sex Adoptions in Latest Crackdown on LGBTQ Rights, Religious Leaders Call for Ban on "Conversion Therapy", University of Mississippi Slammed for Firing Prof. Who Called Out Relationship with "Racist Donors", MLB Elevates Negro Leagues to Major League Status in Effort to Correct Decades of Racism, Tyson Foods Fires Managers Who Started Betting Pool on Employees Getting COVID-19, Climate Groups Urge Biden to Take Immediate Executive Action to Tackle Climate Crisis, 22 Arrested as Indigenous Water and Land Protectors Fight Against Enbridge Line 3

President-elect Joe Biden promised to reverse Donald Trump's most restrictive immigration policies during his 2020 campaign, but since he was elected, Biden has not included immigration among his top four priorities. Hundreds of immigrant activists and their allies caravaned through Biden's home city of Wilmington, Delaware, demanding he issue a moratorium on deportations and advance a path to citizenship for undocumented people within his first 100 days in office. This comes as more than half of ICE's immigration detention centers are currently reporting coronavirus outbreaks. Protesters are also mobilizing at the Northwest Detention Center run by GEO Group in Tacoma, Washington, where another detainee has tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the number up to at least 22. ICE has punished many who protest conditions and call for release by putting them in solitary confinement. "Guards and employees of ICE are bringing in the virus. They're testing positive and yet coming in to work," says Maru Mora-Villalpando, an undocumented immigrant activist and co-founder of La Resistencia. We also speak with Manuel Abrego, head of La Resistencia's phone support system for people detained in Tacoma, who describes how he spent eight months in solitary confinement at the jail after going on hunger strike to protest conditions.

We speak with Nina Turner, one of Bernie Sanders's top allies, the day after she announced she is running for Congress in Ohio to fill the seat of Congressmember Marcia Fudge, who Biden tapped to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Turner has promised to hold the Biden team accountable and pressure the incoming administration to enact a progressive agenda. "I'm running in service of the people," says Turner. "We need more, not just bold voices, but people who will take action and will be fearless when it comes to standing up for what is just, for what is right and for what is good." Turner is a former state senator from Ohio who served as president of Our Revolution, the progressive organization spun out of the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign, and national co-chair of Bernie Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign. If elected, she will join the growing progressive wing of the Democratic Party in Congress.

Positive Vaccine News Tempered by Surging Cases, 3,000 New Deaths and Record Hospitalizations, California Activates "Mass Fatality" Program as Coronavirus Spikes, FDA OKs At-Home Rapid Test, as Staff Warns Against Possible Bell's Palsy Symptoms After Vaccine, Mitch McConnell Acknowledges Biden's Win, Urges GOP Senators Not to Oppose Election Results, Biden Taps Pete Buttigieg for Transportation Secretary, Jennifer Granholm for Energy Secretary, Immigration Activists Call on Biden to Enact Major Reforms After Helping Propel Him to Victory, Biden Hits Georgia Campaign Trail to Get Out the Vote for Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Trump Rolls Back Endangered Species Act, Removes Habitat Protections of At-Risk Animals, Bolivian Expedition Uncovers 20 New Species, Underscores Need to Protect Natural Habitats, ICC Rejects Calls to Probe China for Genocide Against Uyghur Population, ICC Says Philippines Likely Committed Crimes Against Humanity in President Duterte's Drug War, European Officials Introduce Measures to Curb Monopoly Power of Big Tech, Halt Misinformation, New Trump Admin Rule Will Send Asylum Seekers to Wait in El Salvador Despite Dangers, Myon Burrell Leaves Prison After Minnesota Commutes Life Sentence, Chicago Woman Speaks Out After Being Terrorized by 9 Officers in Her Own Home in Botched Raid, Report Finds Massive Wage Theft on Farms as Farmworkers Provide Essential Services During Pandemic, MTA Workers Rally Against Layoffs and Service Cuts, Call for Taxes on the Rich

Prisons across the U.S. are facing their greatest swell in COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Nearly a quarter-million incarcerated people in the U.S. have been infected with COVID-19, according to the Marshall Project, and advocates are pushing for incarcerated people to be prioritized in the country's vaccine rollout. All of California's state prisons have active coronavirus cases, but the California Department of Corrections is continuing to transfer incarcerated people between institutions. San Quentin State Prison has begun the transfer of nearly 300 incarcerated people to other institutions, against the advice of health professionals and despite the outcry of prisoners, after a California appeals court ordered prison authorities to cut the population of the overcrowded prison in half in October after a first wave of the coronavirus at the prison left 28 people dead. "The outbreak throughout the 34 prisons is surging in a way that shows that overcrowded, unventilated prisons throughout the state are not safe to protect people from COVID-19, something that public health officials have been saying for the past nine months," says James King, a state campaigner for the Oakland-based Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and a member of the Stop San Quentin Outbreak Coalition.

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris officially won the Electoral College Monday, as electors met in their respective state capitols to formalize their victory. President Trump continued to claim without evidence he was the victim of a massive conspiracy to rig the election. Republicans across the country attempted to undermine the election results, and right-wing supporters threatened violence. John Koza, chair of National Popular Vote, says the chaos of the 2020 election is further proof that the United States should abandon the Electoral College system as it is currently constituted and elect presidents by popular vote instead. "The flaws of the current system have become more and more apparent to people," he says.

William Barr is resigning as attorney general, leaving his post after angering President Trump for not backing his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud more strongly. But despite their split, Barr has been one of Trump's staunchest allies, echoing much of the president's inflammatory rhetoric about Black Lives Matter and antifascist activists this year even while downplaying the threat posed by far-right extremists. In June, Barr reportedly personally ordered police to beat and tear-gas peaceful protesters gathered near the White House in order to clear a path for President Trump to walk to the nearby St. John's Episcopal Church for an infamous photo op holding a Bible. David Cole, the national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, says despite their recent split, Barr was Trump's "most loyal henchman" during his tenure. Barr was "entirely President Trump's right-hand man, doing his bidding rather than providing an independent Justice Department," Cole says.

First Americans Receive Coronavirus Vaccine as U.S. COVID-19 Deaths Top 300,000, More European Nations Enter Lockdown as Mexico Approves Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine, Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro Accused of "Lethal Incompetence" over Lack of Vaccine Planning, Joe Biden Condemns Trump's "Abuse of Power" as Electoral College Affirms His Win, Rep. Paul Mitchell Leaves GOP, Blasting Trump's "Disgusting" Efforts to Overturn Election, Lawmakers Unveil Coronavirus Relief Package as 12 Million Face Loss of Jobless Benefits, Oil Tanker Hit by Explosives in Saudi Port Amid Houthi Rebel Attacks on Saudi Infrastructure, U.S. Removes Sudan from List of State Sponsors of Terrorism, U.S. Sanctions Turkey over Purchase of Russian-Made Missile Defense System, Boko Haram Claims Responsibility for Mass Kidnapping of Schoolchildren, Report: Russian Intelligence Agents Poisoned Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny, Pentagon and State Dept. Join Growing List of Agencies Hit by Cyber Espionage Attack, Eraina Pretty, Maryland's Longest-Serving Woman Prisoner, Released

The U.S. Army has fired or suspended 14 officers and soldiers stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, following an investigation into sexual assaults and murders at the base, including the bludgeoning to death of 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillén, whose remains were found in July. "These are institutional failures at scale. And by the Army's own admission, and in this report, it's clear that this is not unique to Fort Hood," says Pam Campos-Palma, an Air Force veteran who leads the Vets for the People project at the Working Families Party. "The military is dealing with large-scale corruption and crime, and it should be treated as such." Meanwhile, veterans groups are demanding the firing of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie after an inspector general report found he tried to smear a woman who filed a complaint of sexual assault at a VA hospital.

As the first shipments of a federally approved COVID-19 vaccine arrive across the United States, healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes will receive the first shipments, and epidemiologist Camara Phyllis Jones says communities of color with high rates of COVID-19 should also get consideration for early access. "I think that CDC got it right partially in terms of those overexposed because of their work or their living conditions, but they did not include our brothers and sisters in prisons, jails, detention centers, and they did not include those of us who are more exposed and less protected in our work," say Dr. Jones, who is the former president of the American Public Health Association.

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who launched the global Fridays for Future youth climate movement, issued a stark warning on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement that the world is not doing enough to keep global heating below 2 degrees Celsius — the target set in the landmark 2015 deal. "The gap between what we need to do and what is actually being done is widening by the minute. We are still speeding in the wrong direction," Thunberg said in a video message posted on social media.

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Rolls Out Across the U.S. as Death Toll Tops 300,000, Gov't Funding Extended by One Week as Coronavirus Stimulus Bill Lingers in Congress, Harris County, Texas, Prisoners Can Now Attend Virtual Funerals During Pandemic, Germany Announces Hard Lockdown as Cases Surge in Japan, South Korea, Electoral College Electors Cast Their Votes, Further Cementing Biden's Win, Trump Rally in D.C. Turns Violent as Four People Stabbed, Protesters Attack Black Churches, Police Go After Protesters Outside Bergen County Jail, While a Car Rams into a NYC Solidarity Action, Indian Farmers Stage One-Day Hunger Strike as Historic Protest Against Agricultural Reforms Continue, Nigerian Authorities Search for 300+ Missing Students After Gunmen Raid Boarding School, Azeri and Armenian Forces Accused of Breaching Ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, Israel and Bhutan Establish Full Diplomatic Relations, U.S. Adopts New Map of Morocco Including Western Sahara After Israeli-Morocco Deal, Fate of Brexit Uncertain as Both Sides Agree to Extend Talks with Just 2 Weeks to Spare, U.S. Gov't Continues Execution Spree with Alfred Bourgeois, Despite His Intellectual Disability, Protesters Demand Justice for Bennie Edwards, a Black Oklahoma Man Who Was Fatally Shot by Police, Kris Smith Becomes Second Breonna Taylor Protest Leader to Be Killed in Under a Month, Veto-Proof Majority of Lawmakers Approve $741B Pentagon Budget Bill, Trump Admin Admits Russian Intelligence Was Likely Behind Major Hack of U.S. Networks, Cleveland's Major League Baseball Team Drops Racist Name After 105 Years, John le Carré, Iraq War Critic and Legendary Author of Spy Novels, Dies at 89

Joe Biden's nominee for defense secretary, retired four-star Army General Lloyd Austin, would make history as the first African American to lead the Pentagon if confirmed by the Senate. But Austin can only be confirmed if he secures a waiver from Congress due to laws designed to preserve the civilian control of the military, and several leading Democratic senators have indicated they would oppose granting a waiver. Andrew Bacevich, president and co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, says he shares those concerns. "The general is not a civilian, and it seems to me if we're serious about civilian control of the military — and we should be as citizens — that we ought to have a bona fide civilian in charge of the Pentagon," he says.

We continue to examine the U.S.-brokered deal between Morocco and Israel to normalize relations. As part of the deal, the U.S. will become the first country in the world to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, which Morocco has occupied since 1975 in defiance of the international community. We convene a roundtable to discuss developments: Mouloud Said, a representative of the Polisario Front in Washington; Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco; and Sahrawi journalist and activist Nazha El-Khalidi.

In a deal brokered by the Trump administration, Morocco and Israel have agreed to establish diplomatic relations. The United States has also agreed to recognize Morocco's sovereignty over occupied Western Sahara, the first country in the world to do so. Morocco has occupied much of the resource-rich territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. Thousands of indigenous Sahrawis have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the Moroccan occupation. Morocco is the fourth Arab nation to establish ties with Israel since August, part of a diplomatic push by the outgoing Trump administration to shore up international support for Israel. Palestinian diplomat and scholar Hanan Ashrawi says this latest agreement is legitimizing land theft. "This is part of a whole pattern of behavior, a process whereby the Trump administration has been acting as the errand boy for Israel in order to try to get as many victories, as many benefits, as many privileges for Israel," she says.

FDA Nears Emergency Use Approval of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, CDC Director Warns Daily U.S. COVID-19 Toll Could Top 9/11 Death Toll for Months, New Hampshire House Speaker Dies of COVID-19 After Close Contact with Fellow Republicans, Shoplifting Soars with Millions Across U.S. Set to Lose Jobless Benefits and Eviction Protection, Sen. McConnell Rejects $908B Coronavirus Relief Plan as Sen. Sanders Demands $1,200 Stimulus Checks, Morocco and Israel Normalize Ties as U.S. Recognizes Moroccan Claim on Occupied Western Sahara, Rights Groups Say Azerbaijan and Armenia Committed War Crimes in Nagorno-Karabakh, Biden Tells Civil Rights Leaders to Back Off Police Reform Campaigns Until After GA Election, Biden Taps Obama Alums Susan Rice for Top Domestic Policy Role, Denis McDonough to Lead VA, Report Finds VA Secretary Robert Wilkie Smeared House Aide Who Reported Sexual Assault, 106 House Republicans Back Lawsuit Seeking to Invalidate Votes in States That Biden Won, State Dept. Watchdog Steps Down After Pompeo Blasts Report About Wife's Travel, SCOTUS Rules Muslim Men Who Were Placed on No-Fly List by FBI Can Sue, Acting Head of ICE Resigns After Less Than 5 Months on the Job, U.S. Executes Brandon Bernard After Widespread Calls for Clemency

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for ending the two-decade "state of war" between Ethiopia and Eritrea, with many hailing a new era of peace in the region. Just one year later, Ahmed's military has displaced tens of thousands of civilians in an ongoing military campaign in the northern Tigray region. Thousands have died since Ethiopia declared war on the Tigray People's Liberation Front in early November, and at least one massacre has been reported. Ethiopia has admitted federal troops fired at and detained U.N. workers in the northern Tigray region for attempting to enter areas they say are forbidden. Awol Allo, associate professor at the Keele University School of Law in the United Kingdom, was among those who nominated Ahmed for the Nobel Peace Prize, but he now says the prime minister has dashed hopes for peace in the region. "Ethiopia over the course of the last two years moved from a moment of a very high degree of hope and optimism, a vision of transformation, into a total civil war that threatened to destabilize not only the country but also the broader Horn of Africa region," he says.

Progressives and environmental and labor activists are objecting to President-elect Joe Biden's selection of Tom Vilsack to be his agriculture secretary, reprising the role he held in the Obama administration. Those opposed to Vilsack's nomination say he has a record of supporting corporate interests over those of farmers, loosening regulations and backing genetically modified, herbicide-resistant crops. The NAACP has pointed to Vilsack's role in firing former USDA official Shirley Sherrod in 2010 as disqualifying. Biden's pick of Vilsack is a missed opportunity to reshape the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says Ricardo Salvador, director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Going back to a secretary of the past is not the way to strike in a new direction. That is status quo."

As the World Food Programme accepts the Nobel Peace Prize, we look at the growing global hunger crisis amid the pandemic, the climate crisis and war. In the United States, as many as 50 million people could experience food insecurity before the end of the year — including one in four children. "It's important to remember that hunger does not always happen because of natural disasters," says Ricardo Salvador, director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "It is often the result of things that we do to each other deliberately."

The World Food Programme, the world's largest humanitarian organization dealing with hunger and food security, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize today, with its executive director David Beasley warning that the combination of conflict, climate crisis and COVID-19 could push 270 million people to the brink of starvation. In his acceptance speech, Beasley said, "Because of so many wars, climate change, the widespread use of hunger as a political and military weapon, and a global health pandemic that makes all of that exponentially worse, 270 million people are marching toward starvation. Failure to address their needs will cause a hunger pandemic which will dwarf the impact of COVID."

U.S. Records Deadliest Day of Pandemic as COVID-19 Patients Fill Intensive Care Units, Germans Asked to Skip Christmas Celebrations Amid Record COVID-19 Surge, U.K. Warns People with Strong Allergies to Avoid Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine, FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee Could Approve COVID-19 Vaccine Thursday, UAE Reports China's Sinopharm Vaccine Has 86% Efficacy at Preventing COVID-19, FTC and 46 States Demand Breakup of Facebook in Antitrust Lawsuits, Joe Biden Taps Capitol Hill Attorney Katherine Tai as U.S. Trade Representative, Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin's Nomination as Pentagon Chief Challenges Civilian Control of Military, Senators Reject Bid to Halt $23 Billion U.S. Arms Deal with United Arab Emirates, 8 People Killed in Kurdistan Protests Amid Mounting Unrest, Financial Crisis, Gunmen Kill Afghan Television Journalist Malalai Maiwand, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo Wins Reelection as 5 People Killed in Related Violence, NOAA Warns Climate Crisis Is Leading to Radical Transformation of Arctic, New York to Divest Its $226 Billion Pension Fund from Fossil Fuels, Trump Asks SCOTUS to Toss Millions of Votes in Battleground States as Part of Texas AG Lawsuit, Rudy Giuliani Leaves Hospital After Exclusive COVID-19 Treatment, Federal Investigators Probing Hunter Biden's Taxes, Foreign Business Dealings, Minneapolis City Council Redirects $8 Million from Police Dept. in New Budget, New Los Angeles DA George Gascón Calls for Major Changes to Criminal Justice System, Johns Hopkins, Namesake of Baltimore Hospital and University, Enslaved Black People, Connecticut to Require High Schools Offer African American, Black, Puerto Rican, Latinx Studies, Lebanese Prime Minister, Ex-Ministers Charged With Negligence Over Deadly Beirut Blast

President Trump has sent eight people to their deaths so far this year, breaking a 17-year hiatus in federal executions, and plans to execute five more in the final weeks of his administration. On December 10, International Human Rights Day, the federal government is scheduled to kill Brandon Bernard, a Black man who was 18 years old when he was convicted as an accomplice to the murder of a young white couple in Texas. Bernard did not kill either person and says he was a "getaway driver" during a robbery gone wrong. Citing moral reasons and new evidence, five of the nine surviving jurors have changed their minds, and the former assistant U.S. attorney who helped secure his death sentence is calling for his execution to be halted. "It's very rare that you have five of the nine surviving jurors saying that they would like to see clemency in this case," says Liliana Segura, a criminal justice reporter for The Intercept, who has covered the case extensively. "Brandon Bernard's death sentence hinges on evidence that has been called into significant question."

While the United States, Britain and other wealthy countries race to vaccinate their populations against the coronavirus, a new report finds that as much as 90% of the population in dozens of poorer countries could be forced to wait until at least 2022 because wealthy countries are hoarding so much of the vaccine supply. A growing movement is calling for the development of a people's vaccine and the suspension of intellectual property rights to expand access. We speak with Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni, a policy adviser to the People's Vaccine Alliance, and Achal Prabhala, a public health advocate and coordinator of the AccessIBSA project, which campaigns for access to medicines in India, Brazil and South Africa.

Joe Biden Vows to Administer at Least 100 Million Vaccines in First 100 Days in Office, FDA Moves Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Closer to Authorization, Report Warns 90% of People in Poorer Countries Will Miss Out on Vaccine as Rich Countries Hoard Doses, Iran Says U.S. Sanctions Impeding Its Access to COVID-19 Vaccine, California Prisoners Speak Out Against Planned Transfer as COVID-19 Cases Skyrocket, Activists Protest in Front of Bergen County Jail in Solidarity with Hunger-Striking Prisoners, WH Stimulus Bill Provides Local Relief But Cuts Unemployment Benefits and Slashes Direct Payment, SCOTUS Rejects GOP Challenge to Pennsylvania Election Results, Biden Taps Tom Vilsack to Lead Agriculture Dept, Rep. Marcia Fudge for HUD, Ethiopia Fires at U.N. Workers in Tigray as Fighting Continues, Study: U.S.-Led Airstrikes in Afghanistan Up by 330% Since 2017, President Macron Says France Will Keep Selling Weapons to Egypt Despite Human Rights Record, People Displaced from Conflict in 2020 Tops 80 Million, Refugees and Aid Workers in Greece At Risk of Lead Poisoning in Camp Built on Former Military Site, U.S. Agrees to Extend TPS as Central American Nations Reel from Hurricanes Eta and Iota, House Passes National Defense Authorization Act with Veto-Proof Majority, 14 Officers Fired or Suspended After Fort Hood Investigation, Housing Activists Defend Home of Evicted Black and Indigenous Family in Portland, Federal Court Rejects Gov't Approval of Offshore Oil Facility in Federal Arctic Waters, Soren Ambrose, Longtime Anti-Globalization Activist, Dies from COVID-19

We look at how the House of Representative voted Friday to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and "address the devastating injustices caused by the War on Drugs," as voters in Arizona and New Jersey approved ballot measures in November that legalize the possession and use of recreational marijuana for adults aged 21 and up. Oregon also became the first state to decriminalize low-level drug possession while legalizing the recreational use of psychedelic mushrooms under Measure 110. Ronald Newman, national political director for the American Civil Liberties Union, says the overall trend toward undoing the drug war is positive. "We are developing a collective consensus that we need not throw people behind bars for use of marijuana, and we should be happy about that progress," he says.

Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft scored a major victory with the passage of Proposition 22 in California, and worker rights advocates fear they will push similar measures in other states. Prop 22 will exempt companies in the so-called gig economy from having to classify their workers in the state as employees rather than as independent contractors. Uber, Lyft and other companies that rely on gig workers spent more than $200 million to promote Prop 22, and a survey of California voters who voted "yes" on the measure showed 40% thought they were supporting gig workers' ability to earn a living wage, even though critics say the measure will do the opposite. "The law will now exempt drivers like me from basic wage and labor protections afforded to most workers in the state in the middle of a pandemic and recession," says Cherri Murphy, a Lyft driver and organizer with Gig Workers Rising. We also speak with Veena Dubal, professor of law at the University of California, Hastings, who says measures like Prop 22 pose "extreme danger" to American workers. "If this spreads past California, we are headed for an even worse situation of inequality than we are already experiencing," Dubal says.

A Black mother who was attacked by a horde of Philadelphia police officers is speaking out about the harrowing experience. Rickia Young was driving an SUV with her 2-year-old son and teenage nephew on October 27 as the city was engulfed in protest over the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. earlier that day. Officers descended on the vehicle, broke its windows, assaulted and arrested her and separated her from her child. Young's arrest went viral due to a shocking video of the police swarming her vehicle, and after the National Fraternal Order of Police — the country's largest police union — posted a photo of her 2-year-old on social media, falsely claiming he "was lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness." More than a month after the police attack, Rickia Young is demanding the officers involved be fired. "The police have not offered an explanation as to why they acted the way they did that night. They responded instead with a police investigation into Rickia," says Kevin Mincey, Rickia Young's attorney.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Warns of Bleak Months Ahead as U.S. Hospitals Fill with COVID-19 Patients, Trump Admin Rejected Pfizer's Summertime Offer of Millions More Vaccine Doses, U.K. Begins COVID-19 Vaccinations as U.S. Faces Vaccine Logistics Hurdles, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson Invites Anti-Vaccine Witnesses to Senate Hearing, Senate Readies Vote on Slimmed-Down Coronavirus Relief Bill That Shields Corporations from Liability, Biden Set to Nominate Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as Pentagon Chief, Trump Reportedly Pressured Pennsylvania House Speaker to Overturn Election Results, Georgia Recertifies Joe Biden's Win as Election Officials Blast Trump's Misinformation, U.S. Lawyers Demand Bar Association Probe of Trump Campaign Lawyers for Subverting Democracy, Michigan Secretary of State Faces "Loud and Threatening" Armed Trump Supporters Outside Home, Police Raid Home of Data Scientist Who Blew Whistle on Florida COVID-19 Reporting, Trump Admin Rejects Tough Standards on Deadly Pollution from Industrial Soot, Melinda Coleman Dies by Suicide After Her Daughter, Rape Survivor Daisy Coleman, Took Her Own Life

Civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, was one of four human rights defenders to win this year's Right Livelihood Award on December 3. "I work in a country that has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. I work against a system that treats you better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent," he said in accepting the honor. "We work to overturn this horrific era of mass incarceration in America that has been brought about by the politics of fear and anger." We feature his full acceptance speech of the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." This year it was also given to Indigenous rights and environmental activist Lottie Cunningham Wren of Nicaragua, Belarusian pro-democracy activist Ales Bialiatski and Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was returned to prison one day before the ceremony after being temporarily released last month due to her worsening health.

On the voter registration deadline for Georgians who want to vote in two Senate runoff elections on January 5, we speak with Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, about why the state is "ground zero" for Republican voter suppression efforts. Black Voters Matter has filed a federal lawsuit alleging Georgia's current secretary of state improperly removed nearly 200,000 voters from the rolls. Those voters "were purged illegally" ahead of the 2020 election and almost certainly affected the results, says Albright. "At the end of the day, this election … should not have even been close." We're also joined by Emory University professor Carol Anderson, who argues President Trump's attacks on the legitimacy of the presidential election reflect the entire party's attitude toward voting. "He's not an aberration," she says. "He is the culmination of decades of the Republicans hollering voting fraud, of creating the theater of voter fraud as a means to justify massive voter suppression."

Two Georgia Senate runoff elections on January 5 will decide who controls the upper chamber and whether the Biden administration will be able to pass its ambitious policy agenda. If Democrats succeed in unseating Georgia's two senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, the Senate will be split 50-50, with incoming Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast tie-breaking votes. In two debates Sunday night, Perdue skipped his debate with challenger Jon Ossoff, who took the stage opposite an empty podium, and Loeffler faced off against Reverend Raphael Warnock. We play excerpts and host a discussion with author and Emory University professor Carol Anderson, as well as Democratic state Representative Bee Nguyen, whose district includes Atlanta.

U.S. Barrels Toward 15 Million COVID-19 Cases as Hospitals and 911 Reach Breaking Point, Sweeping Lockdown Takes Effect in California; Data Shows 1,000 Migrant Kids Have Contracted COVID-19, Jobs Growth Slowed in November as Pressure Mounts for Congress to Pass New Stimulus Bill, Restrictions Tighten in Iran, South Korea as Countries Around the World Battle Surges, Argentina Passes "Millionaire's Tax" to Help Pay for Coronavirus Response, COVID-19 Vaccines Start to Roll Out as U.N. Warns of Disparities in Distribution, Senate Debates Held in GA Ahead of January Runoff as Trump Tries to Overturn Presidential Vote Outcome, Joe Biden Taps California AG Xavier Becerra to Head Health and Human Services Dept., House Dems Vote for NY Rep. Gregory Meeks to Chair Foreign Affairs Committee, Judge Orders Trump Administration to Fully Restore DACA, House Passes Historic Bill Decriminalizing Marijuana, Peru Repeals Pro-Corporate Farm Law After Days of Labor Protests, Calls for Justice Mount After Israeli Soldiers Kill Teenage Boy in West Bank, World Food Programme Chief Warns of "Catastrophic" Humanitarian Crisis in 2021, Venezuelan President Claims Victory in Parliamentary Elections Boycotted by Opposition, Family Demands Justice for Casey Goodson Jr., 23-Year-Old Black Man Killed by Ohio Police, Water Protectors Take Direct Action Against Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline in Minnesota

We continue our conversation with medical anthropologist Dr. Paul Farmer, whose new book, "Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds," tells the story of his efforts to fight Ebola in 2014 and how the history of slavery, colonialism and violence in West Africa exacerbated the outbreak. "Care for Ebola is not rocket science," says Dr. Farmer, who notes that doctors know how to treat sick patients. But the public health response was overwhelmingly focused not on care but containment, Dr. Farmer says, which "generated very painful echoes from colonial rule."

As the United States sets new records for COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations, we speak with one of the world's leading experts on infectious diseases, Dr. Paul Farmer, who says the devastating death toll in the U.S. reflects decades of underinvestment in public health and centuries of social inequality. "All the social pathologies of our nation come to the fore during epidemics," says Dr. Farmer, a professor of medicine at Harvard University, chair of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, and co-founder and chief strategist of Partners in Health.

California Put Back on Lockdown as U.S. Coronavirus Toll Hits New Record High, Biden Will Call on U.S. Residents to Wear Masks for First 100 Days of His Presidency, Italy to Ban Holiday Travel as Daily COVID-19 Deaths Near 1,000, U.N. Secretary-General Warns Impact of Pandemic May Last for Decades, California Farmworkers Infected by Coronavirus at Three Times the Rate of Other Workers, Wisconsin Supreme Court Won't Hear Trump Lawsuit Seeking to Overturn Election, Trump Vows to Veto Military Spending Bill over Anger at Twitter, Facebook, U.S. Pulls Baghdad Embassy Staff on Anniversary of Assassination of Iranian General, Egypt Frees Jailed Human Rights Workers After International Outcry, Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh Being Moved to Isolated Island in "Dangerous Mass Detention", Lawyers Working to Reunite Immigrant Families Finally Obtain Data from U.S. Government, Asylum Seekers Protest on U.S.-Mexico Border to Demand Resumption of Legal Proceedings, U.S. Bans Cotton Imports from Chinese Company It Say Uses Uyghur Slave Labor, Protesters in Bhopal Call for Justice 36 Years After World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster, Trump Admin to Start Selling Drilling Rights in Arctic Wildlife Refuge in January, Bond Fire in SoCal Rages as California's Worst Fire Season Ever Continues, Georgia Sen. David Perdue Traded 2,600 Stocks in One Term, Florida Attorney Under Investigation for Violating Voting Laws in Georgia, Black Mother Attacked by Philadelphia Police Speaks Out: "My Son Is Petrified", Democrats Push to Cut "Slavery Loophole" from Constitution, "Alternative Nobel" Honors Iranian Lawyer, Nicaraguan Land Defender, Belarusian Activist & U.S. Civil Rights Lawyer

As COVID rages through India, which has the second-highest number of reported cases worldwide, hundreds of thousands of farmers are converging on the capital New Delhi to demand the government repeal new laws that deregulate agricultural markets, saying the reforms give major corporations power to set crop prices far below current rates and devastate the livelihoods of farmers. Agriculture is the leading source of income for more than half of India's 1.3 billion people. The farmer revolt comes as some 250 million workers across the country took part in the largest strike in history against the Modi government's neoliberal labor reforms. We speak with P. Sainath, a longtime Indian journalist and the founder of People's Archive of Rural India, or PARI, who describes why working-class Indians are standing up against "absolutely vicious" new rules that were rammed through Parliament, and the protests show no signs of stopping.

The United Nations has reached a deal with Ethiopia's government to allow humanitarian access to the northern Tigray region and start providing aid. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched military action against regional forces one month ago, setting off a bloody conflict and adding to the already alarming number of displaced people and refugees in the country and neighboring nations. Ethiopia has declared victory after announcing it took control of the capital of Tigray, but the Tigray People's Liberation Front says they are continuing to fight. CNN senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir says what is happening Ethiopia is "a conflict over power that has descended into potentially a form of ethnic cleansing," with Tigray people saying they're being "targeted based on the ethnic distinction on their ID cards."

A CNN investigation has exposed the Nigerian Army's role in a deadly attack on protesters in the capital city of Lagos in October, when soldiers opened fire on protesters gathered at Lekki toll gate, a key roadway and protest site. At least 12 people were killed in the massacre, which the Army initially denied, and capped weeks of demonstrations against the notorious Nigerian police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS. Senior CNN international correspondent Nima Elbagir says the massacre "had a chilling effect" on the protest movement and enraged many Nigerians. "We kept hearing from these families who were still looking for their loved ones how hurtful it had been for them to hear the Nigerian government deny that they had anything to do with this huge and grievous loss," says Elbagir.

U.S. Breaks Records for COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Deaths on Worst Day Yet of Pandemic, CDC Shortens Coronavirus Quarantine Recommendations, White House and State Department Plan In-Person Holiday Parties as Pandemic Rages, Russia to Begin Vaccinating Doctors and Teachers Against COVID-19 Next Week, Trump Posts Lie-Filled Video Alleging Massive Election Conspiracy, Georgia Secretary of State Blames Trump's Conspiracy Theories for Violent Threats, Trump-Backing Lawyers Urge Georgia Republicans Not to Vote in Senate Runoff, As 2020 Breaks Climate Records, U.N. Urges End to Humanity's "War on Nature", Afghan Government and Taliban Reach Breakthrough in Peace Talks, Iran Warns It Will Increase Uranium Enrichment Unless U.S. Sanctions Are Soon Lifted, Reports: Saudi Arabia to End 3+ Year Blockade Against Qatar, Ivanka Trump Deposed in D.C. Lawsuit over Misuse of Inaugural Funds, Labor Group Accuses Google of Firing Workers for Protesting Company, Union Organizing, Workers Slam Trump Move to Freeze Federal Pay Amid Raging Pandemic, U.S. Women's Soccer Team Reaches Settlement in Dispute over Unequal Working Conditions, Eddie Benton-Banai, Native Activist Who Co-Founded the American Indian Movement, Dies at 89

We speak with the co-author of a major new biography of Malcolm X, "The Dead Are Arising," which recently won the 2020 National Book Award for Nonfiction and offers a sweeping account of Malcolm X's life by weaving together hundreds of interviews with Malcolm X's family, friends, colleagues and enemies. The book is based on decades of research by Les Payne, who died in 2018, and finished by his daughter, Tamara Payne. "The reason why he admired Malcolm is because Malcolm was dealing with the conditions that Black people are facing even internally and how we viewed ourselves in this situation," she says, and describes how her father lived through the civil rights movement and strongly connected with Malcolm X's teachings.

For his incoming economic team, President-elect Joe Biden has picked several people associated with the investment giant BlackRock, which has been called "the fourth branch of government." This includes his choice of Brian Deese, a former adviser to Barack Obama, to be his director of the National Economic Council. Deese was the global head of sustainable investing for BlackRock, which is the world's largest asset manager, with over $7 trillion in its portfolio. This comes as progressives are demanding a Cabinet free of Wall Street influence. "BlackRock has very smartly cultivated its reputation as a sort of 'good guy' on Wall Street" that is contradicted by their conduct, notes Kate Aronoff, staff writer at The New Republic. "Time after time, they have sought to shirk regulation and — in the last year especially, and while Brian Deese has been there — really greenwashed their image."

President-elect Joe Biden announced his top economic advisers this week, setting the tone for his administration's recovery plan, including Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress think tank, as head of the Office of Management and Budget. While Tanden would be the first woman of color and the first South Asian woman in the role, critics oppose her organization's cozy relationship with corporate funders, her record of antagonizing and undermining progressive Democrats, and her aggressive foreign policy positions. Briahna Joy Gray, former national press secretary for the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign, says there has been "a lot of emphasis on the identity of the individuals picked" for Biden's incoming team, but representation alone is not enough. "Several of these individuals have real problems, and none of them truly represent a progressive in the mindset of most Americans, especially those who identified with Bernie Sanders."

U.K. Becomes First Country to Approve Use of Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus Vaccine, CDC Recommends Healthcare Workers, Nursing Home Residents and Staff Receive First Vaccines, COVID-19 Was Likely on U.S. Soil in Mid-December 2019, Senators Unveil $908 Billion Bill, But Passage Remains Uncertain as Millions Face Unemployment, Hunger, Trump Considers Pardons for Family, Associates as DOJ Probes Pardon Bribery Scheme, William Barr Says DOJ Found No Evidence of Widespread Voter Fraud in 2020 Election, Georgia Election Official Slams Trump, GOP Leaders for Enabling Violence Against Election Workers, U.N. Reaches Deal for Humanitarian Access to Tigray as Food Runs Out for Refugees, Bobi Wine Suspends Presidential Campaign in Uganda After Targeted Attacks, Hong Kong Sentences Joshua Wong to 13.5 Months for "Illegal Assembly", Climate Groups Take Big Oil to Court: "Shell Is on a Collision Course with the Global Climate Target", Fraser Island Devastated by Massive Bushfire Amid Record-Breaking Australian Heat Wave, New Zealand Declares Climate Emergency, Saudi Arabia to Try Women's Rights Activist Loujain al-Hathloul in Terrorism Court, SCOTUS Considers Whether U.S. Companies Can Be Held Liable for Enslavement Abroad, 19-Year-Old Black Oregon Teenager Shot Dead by White Man for Playing Music Too Loudly, Hollywood Actor and Activist Elliot Page Comes Out as Transgender, Miguel Algarín, Poet, Writer & Founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Dies at 79

December 1 is World AIDS Day, and as the world waits on an effective vaccine for COVID-19, we look at the ongoing AIDS epidemic and how the coronavirus has threatened treatment for those living with HIV. Author and journalism professor Steven Thrasher says the coronavirus has amplified racial, class and other disparities, just as AIDS has done for decades, and that treatments must have an antiracist and anti-capitalist foundation in order to be successful. "HIV/AIDS has continued to kill way too many people. Almost 700,000 people died last year," says Thrasher. "The problem is not just the drugs. It's the conditions around people's lives that lead them to become affected by viruses."

As distribution of coronavirus vaccines draws near, a recent poll suggests that 42% of Americans are reluctant to take the vaccine. In response, some, including former Maryland congressmember and presidential candidate John Delaney, are pushing to pay people to get vaccinated, a move being discouraged by many, including Dr. Monica Peek, a physician, associate professor of medicine and health disparities researcher at the University of Chicago. She says there are major concerns about how to ensure at-risk groups get vaccinated while overcoming public doubts about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, but paying people to get vaccinated would be a mistake. "We need to have the public trust that this vaccine will be safe, and we cannot cut corners," she says.

As the drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna seek emergency approval for their coronavirus vaccines, public health bodies and regulators are weighing how to distribute the vaccines and who will get access to them. The pandemic is disproportionately impacting African American, Latinx and Indigenous communities, exposing long-standing inequities and systemic racism in the U.S. healthcare system. These same communities are underrepresented in the clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines, due in part to centuries of abusive treatment at the hands of medical researchers. We speak with Dr. Chris Pernell, a public health physician in Newark, New Jersey, who is participating in Moderna's vaccine trial, in part as a way to honor her late father who died from COVID and to ensure African Americans are included in the studies. "Being a public health physician, I needed a way to be a part of the solution," she says. "I knew it was important for Black and Brown persons to participate if we were ever to get at a truly effective solution."