07/03/24 07/03/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> kirk and beryl, dangerous, devastating hurricane, has come and gone. and it has left in its wake immense destruction, pain,

suffering. amy: hurricane beryl is devastating the caribbean, including massive destruction in islands in st. vincent and the grenadines. we'll go to st. vincent to speak with prime minister ralph gonsalves. then yet another mass displacement of palestinians in gaza as the israeli military issues evacuation orders for up to a quarter of a million people in eastern rafah and khan younis. >> yesterday evening we were staying and all was fine in the european hospital. we were told to evacuate. both my legs are broken and my pelvis. we came to nasser hospital but it was full. i am staying in the street waiting for them to find me a place inside the hospital. amy: we will go to gaza to speak with a doctor who was forced to evacuate from european hospital, one of the few remaining partially functional hospitals in gaza that has now shut down.

the democrats discuss whether president biden should stand down as a candidate following his disastrous debate performance. we will speak with jim zogby, senior member of the democratic national committee about his call for an open and transparent nomination process, a dignified way, he says, for president biden to step down. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. residents of jamaica are bracing for life-threatening winds and storm surge as hurricane beryl is set to make landfall wednesday afternoon. the now-category 4 storm has left a trail of destruction, killing at least seven people. the jamaican prime minister called for a stronger climate action from wealthier nations. >> hurricane beryl is the

earliest category 5 hurricane on record. it highlights the growing impacts of climate change on global weather patterns, particularly on small island developing states like jamaica. while carbon emissions are in a school, our region bears the brunt of the impacts of climate change. the hurricane further highlights the urgent need of global climate action and targeted support against the escalating dangers of climate change. amy: only two other hurricanes have made landfall in jamaica in the last 40 years. later in the broadcast, we will get an update from prime minister gonsalves. gaza's health ministry says is really a tax have killed at least 28 palestinians and wounded 125 others in the past 24 hours after israel's military put a quarter-million palestinians in the city of khan younis under evacuation orders.

among the dead is dr. hassan hamdan, head of the burns and plastic surgery department at nasser hospital. he was killed along with his entire family after israel struck their house in deir al balah. just hours earlier, the family had followed israel's evacuation order and fled north. meanwhile, hundreds of sick and injured patients fled the european hospital on foot ahead of another ground invasion of khan younis by israeli soldiers. this is a resident. >> there are no other hospitals. all the hospitals were destroyed. half of them collapsed and went out of service except the european hospital. and now it seems it will go out of service and there will no longer be hospitals. whoever gets wounded will die. amy: palestinian health officials are warning of the spread of disease after israel's assault on khan younis destroyed water and sanitation infrastructure, flooding entire neighborhoods with sewage and dirty water. resident mohammed al-bayouk said

the disaster is threatening the health of his children. >> when the israeli army entered khan younis, they cause damage. what you see is nothing. what are children endure at home is the sewage. the smell has cause many diseases for our children and little ones. we cough and suffer from the bad smell, everything. our children suffer from itching and bedbugs and other strange things. we cannot sleep at night because of the mosquitoes. amy: a dozen former biden administration officials who resigned their posts to protest u.s. policy towards gaza, and israel have written an open letter calling on their former colleagues to amplify calls for peace. the 12 former u.s. government officials write -- "this failed policy has not achieved its stated objectives -- it has not made israelis any

safer, it has emboldened extremists while it has been devastating for the palestinian people, ensuring a vicious cycle of poverty and hopelessness." this week, maryam hassanein, special assistant at the u.s. interior department, became the 12th person to quit over biden's support for the gaza assault. at 24 years old, she's the youngest such resignee. in 2020, she cast her first-ever vote for president of the united states for joe biden. she spoke to democracy now! on tuesday. >> i resigned ultimately because i felt it necessary to advocate for palestinians who are at the hands of israel undergoing a genocide and with the u.s. kind of funding and backing and support of israel, i felt being in the executive branch, especially being -- it made me

complicit, may be associated with the thing that i definitely most don't want to be associated with. amy: to see our interviews with other biden administration officials who've resigned to protest u.s. support for the assault on gaza, go to democracynow.org. here in new york a manhattan judge has postponed donald trump's felony sentencing trial until september 18. trump faces 34 felony charges of attempting to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election by falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to adult film star stormy daniels. he was convicted of all. the delay gives trump's lawyers more time to persuade a judge the conviction should be thrown out following the supreme court's landmark ruling that trump has broad immunity from prosecution for official acts he committed as president. former president trump's ex-lawyer rudy giuliani has been stripped of his license to

practice law in new york over his lies and false statements about the 2020 election and his efforts to overturn joe biden's victory. on tuesday, a panel of new york appellate court judges ruled that giuliani "not only deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession, but he also actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 presidential election, for which he is entirely unrepentant." giuliani already faces criminal charges for election interference in arizona and georgia. his law license remains under review in washington, d.c. president biden is meeting with democratic governors behind closed doors today as party leaders grow increasingly panicked about biden's dismal performance in last week's presidential debate, where the president appeared halting, disjointed, and frequently lost his train of thought. on tuesday, biden told donors at a campaign fund-raiser in virginia that he "almost fell asleep onstage," something he blamed on exhaustion from international travel. his remarks came as "the new york times" reported aides and

others who've encountered biden behind closed doors notice that he has increasingly appeared confused or listless or would lose the thread of conversations. on tuesday, california congressmember and former democratic house speaker nancy pelosi said both biden and trump should take mental fitness tests. and for the first time a sitting democratic member of congress has called on biden to step aside. lloyd doggett represents texas' 37th congressional district in austin. he spoke tuesday evening with cnn's anderson cooper. >> and i think we would be better off if we had a new candidate who could present a new vision for our country, and we can do that if we have an open and fair democratic process over the next few weeks. amy: in india, at least 121 people were killed at an overcrowded religious gathering in uttar pradesh state tuesday when a sudden surge of thousands of worshipers triggered a stampede. event planners had sought permission for up to 80,000

people to attend but an estimated showed up. 250,000 mass protests continue across kenya even after kenyan president william ruto in -- withdrew in response to the unrest. protesters took to the streets of the coastal city of mombasa tuesday denouncing police violence against demonstrators and were met with armed forces who fired tear gas and charged at demonstrators. >> people are suffering. amy: since protests began in mid june, the kenya national human rights commission estimates at least 39 people have been killed. most casualties happened when police opened fire on crowds that gathered at the parliament complex in nairobi last week. over 360 people have been injured in what the commission described as excessive and disproportionate police force. indigenous leader and political prisoner leonard peltier has

again been denied parole and won't be eligible for another full hearing until 2039 when he would be 94 years old. peltier, who is 79, has been behind bars for nearly half a century for a crime he says he did not commit. his 1977 conviction for alleged involvement in killing two fbi agents in a shootout on the pine ridge reservation was riddled with irregularities and prosecutorial misconduct. supporters vow to continue to fight for his freedom. the civil rights and criminal defense attorney martin stoler has died. legal career spanning more than half a century come he represented anti-vietnam war protesters, black panthers, attica prisoners, members of occupy wall street. in 2015, he spoke on democracy now! >> the courts found all 10 defendants not guilty, releasing

them and basically endorsing the position they took that climate change is a serious, urgent problem requiring attention. and basically complementing the defendants for being out there and protesting. and because the police department made a mistake in the way the ordered people to leave the demonstration area, the judge said it was impermissible under the constitution and therefore came out all the defendants not go to for violating an unlawful order. amy: martin stoler was 81 years old. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. make a residents of jamaica are

bracing for life-threatening winds and storm surge as hurricane beryl is likely to make landfall wednesday afternoon. the now-category 4 storm has devastated nations across the caribbean region, killing at least people and wiping away six large swaths of the island of carriacou in grenada and st. vincent and the grenadines, where most homes on union island have been completely destroyed. jamaica and the cayman islands remain under a hurricane warning. jamaican prime minister andrew wholeness called for stronger climate action from wealthier nations. >> hurricane beryl is the earliest category 5 hurricane on record. it highlights the growing impacts of climate change on global weather pattern, particularly on small island developing states like jamaica. while our carbon emissions are minuscule, our region bears the brunt of the impacts of climate change. the hurricane further highlights the urgent need of global limit

action and targeted support to enhance resilience against the escalating dangers of climate change. amy: only two other hurricanes have made landfall in jamaica in the last 40 years. beryl is expected to bring several inches of rainfall that could flood jamaica's coast. beryl had strengthened to a category 5 tuesday after devastating the windward islands. the storm is expected to head into mexico's yucatán peninsula by friday. israel is the earliest category 5 storm ever observed in the atlantic and comes as climate scientists predict an extremely active 2024 hurricane season. for more, we go to st. vincent where we are joined by ralph gonsalves, prime minister of st. vincent and the grenadines. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about what you just saw as you toured the disaster area? >> thank you very much for having me. in the southern grenadines of the archipelago, which is 32

islands, what we have in the south is armageddon. one island is flattened, an island of 2500 persons. another, 100 family homes. another, somewhere between -- in terms of population, they are all severely damaged. on one island, everyone is homeless. it is terrible. i went there yesterday and we are evacuating yesterday about 300 and we are to continue the evacuation today. we are taking a lot of food and

supplies. it is going to be a herculean effort to rebuild. the union and miro and resort islands, by far they are the worst hit. on the main island of st. vincent is also terrible. it is just awful. what andrew holness said, what you see are the consequences of climate change. we are in the era of prophecy. the developed countries are not taking this matter seriously. if we don't move to net zero, we are going to be an inhospitable place to be in another two or

three decades. this is not scaremongering, this is science. the devastation in st. vincent and the grenadines is going to be hundreds of millions of dollars. i would not be surprised at the end of it that would probably are going to have to rebuild upwards of 1000 homes. it is a country with 46,000 households. you will see the magnitude of that. and then we have to repair others and public buildings. the disaster at the seashore. the erosion of the land, the land degradation because of the seas. we are innocents going -- every

time we make some progress, we get hit by these natural disasters and we will build, start afresh. juan: prime minister, i am wondering the main airport, argyle international airport, significantly impacted. what is -- what about the arrival of relief and recovery supplies? when do you expect the airport to reopen for regular operations? >> well, fortunately, we have done a lot of preparation at the airport. we can fly in and out. for emergency supplies. hopefully, we are going to be in the situation to have commercial traffic after midday today. we are engaging agencies across the caribbean.

we had a meeting of the heads of government yesterday morning. the governments across the world, north america, venezuela, cuba, europe -- they are all contacting us. the secretary general of the united nations is in central asia. he called me yesterday and made an appeal to st. vincent and the grenadines. we probably have to go in conference with grenada. it is a difficult time ahead. the americans have a saying i think that, you know, if you have an 800 pound gorilla, try to eat it one bite at a time. this is horrendous. juan: you mentioned the caricom community, the 20 nation

community leaders were supposed to meet this week in grenada. what are the updates on that summit? will it be rescheduled? >> that will be rescheduled. we had a meeting yesterday. we are fortunate still to have telecommunication possibility. on st. vincent and grenadines, we are without electricity in most of the places. the telecommunications are still sketchy. sometimes they are up and sometimes they are down. in the southern grenadines, it is like a different danger altogether. imagine an island where everyone is homeless. amy: prime minister -- >> the men and women are anxious. sorry. is that amy? amy: yes, hi.

you have been quoted recently calling the annual u.n. climate summit a largely talk shop. what final message do you have for the united states, for the western nations when it comes to this climate catastrophe? >> well, i want to say to the climate deniers, get real. and i want to say to those who know about climate change, let's do some walking rather than just talking for the populations as a whole. they must call their leaders to account and they must insist that this matter, this existential matter for all humanity -- urgency. we have to get net zero by 2050. one candidate in the united states saying -- and to cause

more emissions and denying climate change exists. and so on and so forth. we have to get real with this. we have a lot of promises being made i developed countries. hardly any of them are being fulfilled. so we get the more intense, the most advanced hurricanes, oscillating with droughts, land degradation. it is all sides of the same coin. it is established by science. i'm hoping programs like yours -- and i listen to you all the time, amy -- that progressive people of the world will unite on this vital existential question. we don't have climate justice,

the international financial institutions are not aligned to help. we are going to have hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure, which we have to recover and rebuild. by the time you get a project, get some resources together, it is three or four years down the road. i then you have other disasters. like i said, going up and down an escalator. it is terrible. it is so unfair and unjust. more than that, the selflessness of the current dominant political economy in the world. it is driving all of us toward if not extinction, terrible inhospitable place called earth.

amy: ralph gonsalves, thank you for being with us, prime minister of st. vincent and the grenadines. thank you for joining us from st. vincent. next up, yet another mass displacement palestinians in gaza as the israeli military issues evacuation orders for up to 250,000 people in eastern rafah and khan younis. already the death toll is near 39,000. we will go to gaza to speak with a doctor who was forced to evacuate from european hospital. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in gaza, an israeli airstrike on tuesday afternoon on a building in deir al-balah inside an israeli-declared safe zone killed at least a dozen people, including nine members of one family across three generations, including grandparents, parents, and children as young as three years old. this according to the associated press. among those killed was dr. hossam hamdan, head of the burns and plastic surgery department at nasser hospital. the family had fled their home in the middle of the night after the israeli military ordered new evacuation orders for areas in southern gaza, including eastern rafah and khan younis, gaza's second largest city. the united nations estimates that up to a quarter of a million people live in the area , which has triggered the third mass displacement of

palestinians in gaza in as many months. over 1 million people have fled rafah since may following israel's invasion there and tens of thousands have been displaced in the past week amid a new israeli offensive in the shujaiya neighborhood in gaza city. monday's evacuation order also prompted a frantic flight from european hospital in eastern khan younis, one of the few remaining partially functional hospitals in gaza. the facility shut down after thousands of medical staff, patients, and displaced families seeking shelter on the hospital grounds evacuated overnight. the red cross said some families dragged patients in their hospital beds through the streets for up to six miles to reach safety. more than 37,900 palestinians have been killed in over 87,000 wounded in gaza since october.

there is an unknown number of thousands dead in the rubble. we hoped to reach gaza momentarily but first, we go to london where we are joined by dr. james smith, an emergency medical doctor who returned from gaza in june. he spent nearly two months treating patients at trauma stabilization points in al-mawasi and rafah. he also worked in the emergency rooms of al-aqsa hospital in deir al-balah and al awda hospital in nuseirat. tell us the latest that you're hearing, dr. smith, as the situation becomes ever more dire in gaza. >> thank you, amy. as you say come the situation is dire. it was dire we last spoke. it was dire prior to october of last year. as you have reported, nearly a quarter of a million people are now in this new red zone as designated by the israeli military.

we have heard reports, as you mentioned, of caretakers and family members having to drag patients from european gaza hospital several kilometers in order to seek some degree of safety. of course, that notion of safety is an incredibly fragile one in gaza. we have heard repeatedly, and i have seen it firsthand, that nowhere is safe in gaza. as you mentioned, dr. hamman was killed along with members of his family yesterday in a supposedly safe area. there are on a daily basis air and artillery strikes, naval shoveling from the israeli worshiped -- warships into areas that are supposedly safe areas. the situation with respect to european gaza hospital is beyond catastrophic. e.g. age, was, is one of the biggest hospitals in gaza after

al-shifa and nasser, both of which have been to shall he targeted and estimated over the course of recent months by the israelis. what that means, the forced evacuation of staff and patient from in and around egh means the few remaining partially functioning hospitals have had to try as best they can to absorb the additional medical need. hundreds of patients that are still in need of immediate medical and surgical care. and we're talking about hospitals that are already beyond capacity. they have, by some miracle, by some testament, the determination of palestinian colleagues, been able to respond to some of those additional pressures. it with phenomenal difficulties. juan: dr. smith, what will happen, from your experience, to the many patients who are not

able to evacuate the hospital? >> so we know from the way the israeli military has behaved in its targeting, in its rai the way it has besiegedds, other health care facilities, that those patients are unable to leave european hospital. now face the grave threat of immediate israeli violence. we know patients that are being shot and injured within hospital compounds. we know of patients that have died in their hospital beds elsewhere in occupied palestine in the west bank. we know of israeli troops that have raided health care facilities to assassinate palestinians in their hospital beds. the risks those patients face is phenomenally high now. amy: on monday, israel released

the doctor of gaza's largest medical center after detaining him without charge for seven months. he said after his release, his israeli captors broke his fingers while he was in captivity, repeatedly struck him in the head as part of daily torture he and other palestinians endured. >> prisoners are undergoing extremely harsh conditions from scarcity of food and drink as well as physical torture. prisoners are all facing brutal conditions right now. hundreds of medical staff, putting doctors, nurses, others were targeted and are stuck in occupation army prisons being tortured. amy: he said prisoners lost an average of 25 kilos, or 55 pounds, body weight after they were denied adequate food and water.

we are talking about the director of al-shifa hospital who had his fingers broken and described the rest. can you respond to this, dr. smith? >> so the testimony from the doctor is one of many hundreds, if not thousands, that we have heard not only over the course of the last several months, but over the course of the history of the israeli occupation. details of illegal detention and torture and extrajudicial killings in the context of israeli detention are not new. they have a long history in occupied palestine. during my time in gaza, i treated people that have been released from detention, including health care workers, all of whom recounted the most horrific stories of the ways they had been treated in israeli captivity. we actually don't now currently have accurate figures for the

total number of people who are being held hostage in israeli detention camps. there is a complete lack of transparency. there is no access for independent observers or human rights observers. and of those who have been released, as you mentioned, they are recounting the most horrific testimonies of direct experience of torture, having witnessed other individuals being tortured. they also recount experiences of medical negligence on the part of israeli health care workers. and on occasion, as was mentioned, the direct participation of israeli health care workers in acts of torture. juan: dr. smith, i know your main concern is the treatment -- the medical treatment of those injured in gaza, but i am

wondering your reaction to reports in recent days that even the generals of the israeli army are calling for -- urging a cease-fire because there troops are exhausted and they see that as a main way to free the remaining hostages, yet the netanyahu government persists in pursuing the war. >> i can't say i'm particularly interested in the exhaustion of occupying forces, but we absolutely need a ceasefire. as a medical professional, yes, you are right to say my priority is administering care to those who suffer from illness and injury. it of course, medicine is deeply and inherently political. we have an obligation as health care workers, as advocates, to stay very clearly and escalate in whatever way possible our

demands not only for an immediate and sustained cease-fire, but an end to the israeli occupation of palestine. amy: your speaking to us from london. there are elections tomorrow. hundreds of thousands of breads have got into the streets to protest calling for a cease-fire in gaza and an end to the occupation over these months. how much of an issue is it in these elections right now? >> i mean, we know the u.k. government is clearly complicit in not only the ongoing genocide in gaza, but the occupation of palestine. the u.k. government was instrument and the formation of the israeli entity and the violence that has since followed. the question of what is happening in palestine is

clearly a major electoral issue in the u.k. there are very few parliamentary parties, certainly the two leading parties have made a very clearly that -- sorry, rather made clear they are not about solidarity with palestine or the palestinian people. and many people will vote and act accordingly. amy: i what to go to a senior member of the u.n. humanitarian and reconstruction, the u.n. senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for gaza addressing the u.n. security council in gaza on tuesday -- rather, in new york, saying there is no place in gaza that is safe. >> the war is not merely crated the most profound humanitarian crisis, it has unleashed human misery. the public health system has

collapsed. schools, destroyed. 1.9 million people are displaced across gaza. i am deeply concerned about reports of new evacuation orders issued into the area of khan younis. its impact on the civilian population is deep. in gaza, nowhere is safe. amy: your final comment, dr. james smith? >> i mean, that is absolutely true. human misery entirely manufactured and much of the world watching on in clear complicity with israel's ongoing war crimes and is in a side against the palestinian people. this must end. it should never have been allowed to happen. amy: dr. james smith is an emergency medical doctor. just returned from gaza. spent nearly two months treating patients at trauma stabilization points in al-mawasi and rafah. he also worked in the emergency rooms of al-aqsa hospital in

deir al-balah and al awda hospital in nuseirat. we had hoped to go to gaza but we have not been able to reach the doctor there. when we come back, as democrats discuss whether president biden should stand out as a candidate following his disastrous debate performance, we will speak with jim zogby, senior member of the democratic national committee who is making a call for an open and transparent nomination process, calling for president biden to step down. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. at a campaign event in virginia tuesday, president joe biden blamed a heavy travel schedule for his disastrous debate performance last week when he appeared disjointed and frequently lost his train of thought. biden said, "did not listen to my staff and came back and

nearly fell asleep on stage." meanwhile, "the new york times" has a new report saying biden's aides who've encountered him behind closed doors say he has increasingly appeared confused or listless or would lose the thread of conversations. this comes as biden is facing growing calls to step aside. to not run for president again. biden is is meeting with democratic governors today behind closed doors. he is later due to campaign in wisconsin but will not be joined by democratic senator tammy baldwin, who faces a competitive reelection and will be campaign elsewhere in wisconsin. at least 25 house members are reportedly preparing for a call for biden to step down. on tuesday, biden faced his first call from a sitting democrat in congress to withdraw from the presidential race. congressmember lloyd doggett of austin, texas, spoke on cnn. >> i think we would be better

off if we had a new candidate who could present a new vision for our country, and we can do that if we have an open and fair democratic process over the next few weeks. amy: also on tuesday, former house speaker nancy pelosi said biden's debate performance made it "a legitimate question to say, 'is this an episode or is this a condition?'" meanwhile, a key biden ally, democratic congress member jim clyburn of south carolina, told msnbc's andrea mitchell he would support vice president kamala harris if biden withdrew. though he wasn't calling for that at the time. >> how would you feel if they worked around and try to go around, harris because of her lack of high poll numbers and popularity, broadly based -- do you think it is hers to have if it is not his? >> i will support her if he were to step aside. amy: for more, we are joined by

james zogby, president of the arab american institute and was a longtime member of the democratic national committee's executive committee from 2001 to 2017. he is longtime member of the democratic national committee. he has proposed to the dnc chair what he says would be an open, transparent, and energizing process for the democratic national committee to choose its nominee if biden steps aside. jim zogby, this is a raging question everywhere. can you talk about what that process would be? what exactly would happen if he did it before the convention, what this process is -- during the convention or after? >> thank you. i have been pleased in a few days this has garnered so much support and discussion among democrats, including democrats

on the national committee. my goal was to not allow this to be left to the base. joe biden steps down and lord knows what we do. i was trying to lay out a process that would create an organized and very democratic and transparent process to choose a new nominee. would basically compress the primary process into a month. there are 400 plus members of the democratic national committee. it would convene, nominations would be open, and we would get a requirement that anyone who wanted to be president or run in this primary would have to have the signature of 40 sitting members of the democratic national committee, including at least four from each of the four regions of the party. this is only 400 plus members. very few people could do that. it would be people we know. it would be governor whitmer, cory booker, kamala harris,

governor newsom, ab governor shapiro. people who already have a constituency and states with the deaf members on the dnc they would be able to get the required 40 in a week's time. then they would begin to campaign. they would be certified by the secretary as legitimate nominees. they would show they have a national base support among democratic party officials. the party would organize enough town halls, televised town halls with the candidates appearing, go to the convention, and it would be like a convention of 1960 where it would be wall-to-wall campaigning for delegates. the elected delegates, most of whom are biden delegates. it would be pretty exciting. the networks -- the media would cover it wall-to-wall as opposed to the way they cover the scripted conventions now, which would maybe give it an hour.

we would have nominations from the floor. we would have speeches given. we would have the horsetrading taking place between state delegations. an eventual nominee would be elected, probably after more than one ballot. people would leave the convention with the new nominee energized with wind in that nominee's sails. i don't think it would be good for -- harris should be the result of a legitimate process in the convention that elected her. i think she would win, but i think her winning ought to come as a result of a consensus process within the party. it would be good for her, good for the party, and i think it would insure the defeat of donald trump. juan: james zogby, what do you

say to those who would argue that the dnc delegates would be disproportionately influenced by lobbyists and the money donors of the party who are so close to many of them? >> they are thinking of the folks appointed by the chair. that is the case -- some of them are people who are friends of the chair, friends of the money to interest, it etc., who become -- there are only 75 of them. most of the dnc members are state chairs, national committee people elected in the primaries in their states as national committee people. to serve on the dnc. they are rank-and-file democrats. they are organizers. they are people live organized their own campaigns to win these elections. these folks are hard-working democrats representing all 50 states and the territories.

i don't agree with that. yes, there are some lobby folks and consulted people on the dnc. they are an absolute minority. most of them are really hard-working activist chairs and national committee people who earned their stripes working hard in the field. juan: what about -- you mentioned vice president harris. what about the possibility denying her as vice president the chance to move up to presidential candidacy, my open a racial rift within the party? >> look, number one, i think she would probably win. after all, she would have the support of the president, the support of clyburn and many other democrats. i think we have a significant number of members of the dnc right now would support her. certainly among the delegates

who would support her. but i think she needs to win rather than it simply be handed to her. i want to see a unified, energized party with a lot of excitement because they were part of a historic process of change. the president most likely would endorse her. i think that would be important. most of the delegates -- they are biden delegates. he would release them but he could release them with the support of harris. better to do it that way than simplistic, by default she becomes the candidate because she is been vice president. i've had conversations with her about issues i care about i gaza and the middle east. she gets it. i would love to support her. but i think i need to see an energized and open process resulting in the nominee. i don't think just passing the mantle is good for her, good for

the party, or good for this election. amy: james zogby, you explain what that process could look like during the convention. democracy now! we'll be there, expanding to two hours a whole week of chicago, the democratic convention as well as in milwaukee that week of july 14, expanding to two hours. covering the republican convention. i want to go there for a minute. people's concerns about president biden, but also their deep concerns about president donald trump's second presidency. i want to go back to that debate on thursday night and get your response to what president trump had to say when the issue of gaza came up in the debate. >> he said the only one who wants to keep going is hamas. actually, israel is the 1 -- and you should let them go and

finish the job. he has become like a palestinian but they don't like him because he is a very bad palestinian. he is a weak one. amy: president trump calling president biden a weak palestinian. your thoughts on that? and on president trump being the candidate? and president biden saying you're talking about an existential threat to democracy and he says i am the only one who ever beat donald trump for president. >> i think he was -- will always be remembered that joe biden is the one who knocked donald trump out of the white house in 2020. i want a candidate strong enough to do it again, number one. number two, with regard -- he is an existential threat. i worry sometimes that if he wins it is a danger, if he loses -- the violence that will be unleashed if he loses will be a danger. we have entered a very dark and

i think dangerous period in american history and i think we have to deal with that. that is the topic for another show about why we haven't dealt with it and now we don't understand the appeal of this man. but never to come on the question of gaza, there is no question in my mind that this president has failed. there is genocide. there is clearly genocide. i was itching to get into the discussion that preceded me. this is a horror and we have enabled it and allowed it to happen. i can't forget that. even with that -- the worry i have is a donald trump in the white house would not only be a danger domestically, but what he has enabled israel to do in the past -- annexations, etc., have been disastrous. they even removed the word " occupy" from human rights documents at the white house. ordered to never call west bank gaza occupied territory again.

this is a very dangerous man. we need a president who can challenge this. i hope the next democratic nominee would challenge it. it is very clear that we have seen the darkest of american policy in the middle east unfold in the last eight years. i think we need to turn the page completely. juan: james zogby, could you discuss what you think would happen if president biden decides to continue his candidacy? >> you know, what we saw in the debate was the media focused almost nonstop on every verbal gaff, every misstep come every sense of hesitation on his part. there clearly is a problem. i don't want between now and -- the attention of the press to be, "did you hear what he said?" "? did you see him do this"

that is not where this election needs to be. he needs to be on what donald trump is saying and what the next democratic president of the united states is saying about the future of our country. we have to turn the page so we are not focused on this stuff but focused on policy and the future. frankly, the media is like a dog with a bone. now that they have grabbed hold of this issue, they're not going to let it go. the only thing people have been talking about for a week -- and it will continue. the next verbal gaff will unleash another round. it is time to say enough is enough and let's focus on the future. look, i can imagine joe biden giving a farewell address at the convention. coming across as the true leader who sacrificed ambition for the sake of the country, who was willing to recognize the victory he won in 2020, the accomplishments of his first few

years before we got a crazy, dysfunctional congress, republican-led congress, and passing the mantle and passing the legacy that he wants to protect to a new candidate. that is the future for the party but it is also the best way for joe biden to go out looking like a strong visionary leader as opposed to one gaff after another, drip, drip, drip with more members of congress coming out, more elected officials saying "it's not working." that is not the way for him to go out. he needs to go out on his own terms. amy: james zogby, you are a longtime senior democratic national committee executive committee member. you are still senior member of the democratic national committee. explain who the delegates and

superdelegates are. i don't know if people even understand that. and again, if biden were to hang on during the convention and then afterwards what would happen if you said "i'm stepping down" in the race against trump? >> i should say the nation's window, senior. i think senior meant i am really old. there's no title for senior. it is a long story how i got on. the difficulties i have had since i have been on. things they did not want to do but i continued to push. i am glad i have been a thorn in the side because i have been on the right side of the many fights i have been engaged in. this is yet another fight, when i think we have to win. delegates are people elected in the states along with the candidate they support. so we will have delegates from

the state of pennsylvania or michigan, joe biden won the primaries there. they will pick a slate of delegates to run as joe biden delegates. they will also win when he wins and they go to the convention. superdelegates are members of the democratic national committee who are automatically delegates of the convention and elected officials who are designated, a certain number of them, from different states, are also designated as superdelegates. they are elected officials who come to the convention. the majority of the delegates are those elected in the states. we did pass a rule after boerne in 2020 that said superdelegates could not vote in the first round. that was a way to not have the debt stacked against the grassroots candidates elected. almost everybody has been elected by joe biden in the selection. 400 or so of the members of the

democratic national committee are themselves elected on their own terms in their states. there are about 75 or so members of the democratic asked a committee appointed by the chair , ever that chair happens to be. and then there are the elected officials who come. we are already seeing elected democratic national committee people saying, i am uncomfortable with this. i'm afraid what is going to happen. amy: if you can say what would happen if you wanted to step down in september? >> it would not be good for the person he passed the baton to. it is too late to have a process. that would be -- the sooner he doesn't, the sooner we put in place a process that is orderly, transparent, and viewed as the judgment by the majority of democrats. amy: james zogby, former dnc executive committee member from

2001 to 2017. current member of the democratic national committee, also president of the arab american institute. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for a director of development. learn more and apply at de