07/11/24 07/11/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: we can and will defend every inch of nato territory and we will do it together. and that we are investing in our future strength to ensure nato will always be ready for whatever threats we will face should be a clear message we are

making -- sending to the world. amy: as president biden hosts nato leaders in washington, pressure is growing on him to drop his re-election campaign as doubts grow over his mental fitness and ability to be donald trump. as vermont senator peter welch and major democratic fundraiser george clooney call for biden to step aside, we will host a debate on what biden should do. then we look at the state of the gaza ceasefire and hostage negotiations. a framework for a deal has been reportedly agreed to by hamas and israel. >> the president believes wholeheartedly that the ceasefire proposal we are trying to get done will make a big difference in terms of not only temporarily ceasing hostilities but an opening to end this conflict. amy: all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israeli troops have killed at least 30 palestinians in the gaza city neighborhood of tal al-hawa. the attack came a day after israel ordered all civilians in gaza city to leave despite them having no safe place to go. al jazeera reports israeli snipers have been shooting at some palestinians who have attempted to flee. the israeli human rights group b'tselem decried the evacuation order of the city as "absolute madness." the group said -- "based on israel's actions, it appears that it intends to continue fighting indefinitely, sowing destruction, and killing masses of people for the foreseeable future." this comes as israeli troops have once again attacked the gaza city headquarters of the u.n. palestinian refugee agency unrwa. according to the agency, israel

has attacked unrwa facilities 453 times since october meanwhile, israeli troops have pulled out of parts of the neighborhood of shujayea in gaza city, leaving behind utter destruction. this is a resident. >> we returned after 15 days. you can see the destruction. there was a lot of greenery in this area. there are bodies of civilian people. where is the guilt? who are you fighting? the israeli forces are destroying everything. amy: israeli officials have returned from qatar after meeting with cia director william burns and qatari, egyptian, and israeli officials as caesar negotiations

reportedly negotiations. -- ceasefire negotiations reportedly are a negotiation. >> we are intensifying our negotiation with our brothers, various lebanese parties, as well as defective regional and international parties to diffuse the crisis and to avoid this gorge of engagement and all confrontations that will lead to the ignition of the lebanese front, which will have grave conference quinces -- consequences for the people and the entire region. amy: hezbollah has said it will stop cross-border attacks if a gaza ceasefire deal is reached . the biden administration is resuming the shipment of 500-pound bombs to israel after a two-month pause and intense pressure by israeli officials. this comes despite the continued israeli carnage in gaza, which has now killed close to 39,000 palestinians according to the ministry of health, though the

true toll is expected to be much higher. the resumption of shipments of 2000-pound u.s. bombs is reportedly still under review. president biden is meeting with ukrainian president blumer zelenskyy -- volodymyr zelenskyy today on the final day of the three-day nato summit in washington. on wednesday, nato members formally declared that ukraine is on an "irreversible" path to nato membership but only after war with russia ends. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken also announced u.s.-built f-16 warplanes are headed for ukraine. >> and i am also pleased to announce as we speak, the transfer of f-16 jets is underway. coming from denmark, coming from the netherlands. and those jets will be flying in the skies of ukraine this summer to make sure ukraine can continue to effectively defend itself against the russian aggression. amy: on wednesday, nato also

accused china for the first time of being a "decisive enabler" of russia's war. the military alliance called on china to "cease all material and political support to russia's war effort." china condemned nato's declaration. >> the nato-washington summit declaration place of the tension in the asia region and is full of cold war mentality and rhetoric. it is full of prejudice. we are strongly dissatisfied and firmly oppose it. amy: russian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for yulia navalnaya, the widow of the opposition politician alexei navalny who died earlier this year in a siberian penal colony. yulia navalnaya left russia in 2021 and has lived in germany ever since. if she returns to russia, she faces arrest and at least two months in jail. meanwhile, a court in moscow has

sentenced a playwright and a theater director to six years in prison after they were convicted on charges of justifying terrorism. authorities objected to a play produced by yevgeniya berkovich and svetlana petriychuk about russian women marrying islamic state fighters in syria. many prominent artists have left russia since its 2022 invasion of ukraine after authorities tightened censorship laws and launched a crackdown on anti-war voices. a new u.n. report finds uganda responsible for supporting m23 rebels in eastern congo, while at least 3000 to 4000 rwandan troops are deployed in the region and operating alongside the armed group. u.n. experts say the presence of rwanda's forces violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the democratic republic of the congo and implicates the rwandan government in crimes committed by the m23. the congolese have long accused rwanda of backing the m23, which

has been accused of the mass killing of civilians. a two-week humanitarian truce started last friday in eastern congo, but there have been multiple reports of violence since then. over 5 million congolese are internally displaced, with another million having fled the country. back in washington, d.c. president joe biden is holding a , news conference to close out the nato summit in washington amid a frenzied debate over the future of his candidacy for president. more democratic defectors emerged over the past day despite biden's calls to move on from the issue. vermont democratic senator peter welch becomes the first senator to call for biden to step aside wednesday. democratic congressmembers pat ryan and earl blumenauer also joined at least nine other house members calling on biden to withdraw. former house speaker nancy pelosi also weighed in on the issue during an interview on msnbc. >> it is up to the president to

decide if he is going to run. we are all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. amy: meanwhile, the nation's top union leaders reportedly expressed concerns about biden's candidacy at a closed-door meeting wednesday. in another blow to biden, george clooney, one his highest-profile supporters of biden in the entertainment world, cover oakley -- publicly called for the sitting president to step down as the democratic nominee. in an op-ed for "the new york times," george clooney wrote -- "the joe biden i was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the joe 'big f-ing deal' biden of 2010. he wasn't even the joe biden of 2020. he was the same man we all witnessed at the debate." house republicans on wednesday passed a bill that would require voters to prove their u.s. citizenship in order to vote in federal elections. democrats and voting rights

advocates blasted the safeguard american voter eligibility, or save, act. this is progressive congressmember summer lee speaking from the house floor. >> let me be clear, they don't want you to vote. they don't want to hear black voices, brown voices, lgb's to cash lgbtq in voices, young voices. the attack we are debating today will make it harder for americans to vote. my republican colleagues will claim requiring an ids is a small ask. 15 million to 18 million don't have access to documents proving the birth or citizenship. americans don't need or obstacles. it is already hard enough. amy: congressmember summer lee has introduced the right to vote act, which would enshrine federal protections on voting and prevent republicans from pushing such voter suppression measures.

nevada's secretary of state has requested the state's supreme court certify the vote recount of two primary races in washoe county after washoe commissioners voted not to certify the results. the move came after a well-known trump supporter and election denier claimed the results were rigged and demanded a recount by hand. observers warn the election tumult in washoe could be a sign of further chaos for the battleground state as november approaches. alexandria ocasio-cortez led a group of house democratic congressmembers in introducing articles of impeachment against supreme court justices clarence thomas and samuel alito for failing to gifts they received, over decades, from right-wing billionaires. >> justices thomas and alito's years of pattern of misconduct and failure to recuse in cases bearing their clear personal and financial involvement represents an abuse of power and threat to our democracy, fundamentally

incompatible with continued service on our nation's highest court. amy: the impeachment effort is not expected to move forward in the republican-controlled house. this comes as more details emerged this week about gifts received by justice thomas from the conservative megadonor billionaire harlan crow and others, including a yacht trip to russia in 2003. in a letter sent to attorney general merrick garland on tuesday, senators sheldon whitehouse and ron wyden called on garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate thomas and said the justice may have committed tax fraud by not reporting the gifts. a bipartisan group of senators announced the ethics act wednesday, which would ban members of congress, their families, and the u.s. president and vice president from stock trading while in office. democratic senator jeff merkley said, "we must be here to serve the public, not our portfolios."

jury deliberations are expected to begin today in new jersey senator bob menendez's corruption case. the democratic senator, his wife nadine menendez, and three new jersey businessmen are accused in the bribery scheme. senator menendez is also accused of abusing his official position to benefit interests in egypt and qatar. if convicted, senator menendez could face years in prison. chicago's democratic mayor brandon johnson has spoken out after a spate of shootings over the july 4 holiday weekend, which injured more than 100 people and killed at least 19 . johnson called on federal authorities to intervene as he spoke at a chicago police public safety news conference. >> we need to ensure we are holding every single individual accountable for the pain and trauma and the torment they have caused in this city. there will be consequences. there will be consequences for the violence.

we will not let criminal activity ruin and harm our city. amy: in other gun news, vending machines have been installed in grocery stores in texas, oklahoma, and alabama that sell bullets. the texas-based company american rounds says it plans to expand its bullet vending machine to other states with lax gun laws. and today marks the international day of remembrance for the 1995 srebrenica genocide. the remains of 14 more victims are being buried today at the srebrenica genocide memorial. some 8000 bosnian muslim men and boys were killed in the massacre after bosnian serb armed forces stormed the u.n. safe zone during the balkan wars, seen as the worst atrocity in europe's history since world war ii. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, debate on president biden.

is it time for him to step aside and drop out of the presidential race? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "superreality" by marina allen. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. president joe biden faces high stakes when he holds a news conference this evening after hosting nato leaders in washington, d.c. it will be biden's first solo news conference this year. this comes as biden is facing growing calls to quit the 2024 presidential race after his disastrous debate performance two weeks ago. on wednesday, senator peter welch of vermont became the first democratic senator to publicly call on president biden to step aside. welch penned an op-ed in "the washington post" headlined "biden should withdraw for the good of the country."

he wrote -- "i deliver this assessment with sadness. vermont loves joe biden. president biden and vice president harris received a larger vote percentage here than in any other state. but regular vermonters are worried that he can't win this time, and they're terrified of another trump presidency." senator welch is the 10th congressional democrat to call on biden to step aside. this comes after colorado senator michael bennet told cnn tuesday he doesn't think biden can win reelection but stopped short of calling for his withdrawal. >> donald trump is on track i think to win this election and may be by a landslide and take with him the senate and the house. for me, this isn't a question about polling, politics. it is a moral question about the future of our country. nermeen: on wednesday, "the new york times" published an-op ed by actor george clooney headlined "i love joe biden. but we need a new nominee." clooney co-hosted a major fundraiser for president biden last month and wrote --

"it's devastating to say it, but the joe biden i was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the joe 'big f-ing deal' biden of 2010. he wasn't even the joe biden of 2020. he was the same man we all witnessed at the debate." meanwhile, former democratic house speaker nancy pelosi said wednesday she is waiting for biden to make a final decision on running. this all comes as biden insists he is staying in the race and has been backed by many progressive congressmembers, even some who are openly critical of his support for israel's war on gaza. this includes congressmembers ilhan omar who told the washington post "he has been the best president of my lifetime and we have his back." and also congressmembers ayanna pressley, cori bush, congressional progressive caucus chair pramila jayapal, senator bernie sanders, and new york congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez -- who spoke to reporters monday. >> i have spoken with him

extensively. he made clear then and he has made clear sense that he is in this race. the matter is closed. he has reiterated that this morning. he has reiterated that to the public. joe biden is our nominee. he is in this race and i support him. what i think is critically important right now is we focus on what it takes to win in november because he is running against donald trump, a man with 34 felony convictions. amy: the majority of the congressional black caucus has also supported biden's plan to stay in the race, but this week one of its members said vulnerable democrats may want to distance themselves from biden. this is congressmember marc veasey. >> i think they need to do whatever they need to do in order to come back and be reelected. if they need to distance

themselves, then that is what they need to do. amy: meanwhile, on wednesday, the republican-led house oversight committee issued subpoenas for three senior white house aides to testify about biden's health. today, senate democrats will have a special caucus lunch with top biden officials to discuss the path forward. for more, we are joined by two guests with different views on what this path forward should be. here in new york, wajahat ali is a columnist for the daily beast. his podcast is "democracy-ish." his substack is called "the left hook" where his recent pieces are headlined "democracy or dictatorship: choose one" and "why is the punditocracy try to get rid of biden?" and in san francisco, norman solomon, the executive director of the institute for public accuracy and co-founder of

rootsaction.org, which sponsors the step aside joe campaign. they are calling for an open convention in order to defeat trump. norman solomon's most recent book is titled "war made invisible: how america hides the human toll of its military machine." he has been an elected delegate at three different democratic national conventions. by the way, we will both be at the republican convention with two hour daily coverage from milwaukee and at the democratic convention with the same two hours across the week. wajahat ali, let's start with you. why do you believe that president biden should remain in the race? >> first of all, thank you for having me. it is the first time ever. this is why my parents came from pakistan. this is a big deal. i have no fidelity to joe biden, i have fidelity to this flawed democracy. right now it is under threat from a very real right-wing

fascist movement which is maga . when the pro-democracy coalition splinters and falters, what happens? fascismw ins. as of this we come after two weeks of restless coverage were we talked about joe biden being old and the terrible no good debate, did you hear about the debate, how old is? like the dog from " up." it has influence public opinion. i do know joe biden says he is still in the race. the ticket as of right now is biden-harris. paris is on the ticket. she is the vp. i know the cbc is behind biden. the progressives are behind biden. it is still a winnable race. a lot can happen in four months. everyone on sunday said, "i

don't know, the rally looks like it is going to win." what happened in france and u.k.? it was going to be a red wave, red trickle. special elections when it came to abortion when abortion was on the ballot. overwhelmingly, abortion rights won. i still think it is in the margin of error. i know norm cares and i care, but if you're telling me biden is in the race come the cbc is behind them, you're going to force him out then in a month in the democratic convention put harris with some random white person -- because that is what it will be -- and pitch this to the american public? that is a recipe for disaster. we just found out about project 2025. you have four months. attack, attack, attack. this firing squad will weaken us and we will lose. nermeen: norman solomon, if you can respond to what wajahat ali

said and why you think biden should step aside? >> it is precisely because of the threat of the right-wing neofascist republican party that we need to recognize reality. magical thinking will not work. hope will not work. when the facts are so daunting and so frightening, frankly, in terms of their prospects for preventing trump from getting a second term. it is very important we not replicate joe biden's denial. i'm hearing a lot of that. the idea because joe biden wants to continue, because joe biden, without being credible, claims he is in a good position to be trump, i think that is a terrible mistake. it is not just about the debate a week ago and is abc news interview. we had a situation where joe biden made fantastic claims about his political standing, which were basically contradicted by facts and we

should not get into alternative facts, try to hopefully through our wishful thinking, but with different circumstances. of course we wish that trump wasn't running away with his in swing states, but the latest polling indicates it is getting worse and worse. we also consider what joe biden himself said last week. this is really significant. he said he should no longer do public events after 8:00 p.m. can you imagine in the last months of presidential race the standardbearer of the democratic party saying, "i can't do any public events after 8:00 p.m."? i don't even know if that is eastern time zone if he is in zone or nevada. it is preposterous that out of his own mouth the perspective nominee is saying, "my lesson for my recent problem is i can't

campaign in public after 8:00 p.m.." when we look at the latest polling, it is gotten worse. in the last day, the swing states are going further south. we have pbs reporting last night, "new polls show biden slipping further behind trump in critical swing states." not only that, it gets worse. political reported yesterday that new york is now in contention, which is frankly mind blowing. the deeply blue state of new york with biden at the top of the ticket, "it is now competitive race and deeply new york, elected officials, union leaders, and political consoles are panicking over a steady erosion of biden support in new york." really, the idea that we should stick with biden i think is a terrible mistake. members of congress under all sorts of pressure. our job is to not replicate or

imitate those inside the bubble who are to joe biden. our job is to not imitate biden 's yes-man and yes women. we are not yes people when it comes to people in power who are leading us down a garden path to disaster. there is a cliché that you don't switch horses in midstream. but if you are astride a horse that is drowning, you better switch horses. it is true there is an unknown if we can and do soar force biden to step aside. but what is known is the prospects for trump to triumph over a biden-led ticket or huge. let me mention -- and this has not gotten enough attention -- that in his op-ed, george clooney said yesterday that he had talked with senators,

representatives, and governors -- all democrats -- and every single one of them told him they believed that with biden at the top of the ticket, the u.s. government will fall into the hands of the republican party, that trump would win the white house, the republicans would when the senate and retain the house. >> that is an absolute prescription for neo fascism in this country. i think we need to be real about this. i point out something that george clooney said which i think is quite relevant. "we can put our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle in november or we can speak the truth." it is our responsibility for progressives and others who want to stop fascism to speak the truth and demand biden get off the ticket. nermeen: wajahat, if you could

respond? you drew the analogy between orban and trump. there is another a buy progressives on the left that the analogy is not so much with orban as it is with marine le pen and those elections -- they were snap elections. there are a couple of things, one, do agree the analogy is that? and the second thing is, another argument made against replacing biden is that it is -- the election is only four month away. on the other hand, performance is an extremely long time compared to elections that are held elsewhere, including just now we have seen in the u.k. and france. >> so we don't have a parliamentary election in multiple parties and we don't have second round of voting which is why it is that much more important we have unity here. and we have at least a pro-democracy coalition. when talking about wishful thinking and hope, i am a muslim. to say next month we're going to

go into the convention and -- find a ticket, maybe here's a maybe not. a lot of these pundits have not mentioned harris, they have mentioned whitmore, gavin newsom. it is like throwing darts on the board. when you pair people together with three months left and then trot them out in front of the american public and say, oh, this is the new ticket, by the way. and joe biden is still not going to come out right. now you're going to have an absolute disaster with the democratic party, disarray. where in the press we know what is going to happen. that will be the leading news. that will be driving the news. a very good pole what people to talk about, cornell belcher came out with one yesterday that set in the swing states when black voters in swing states saw the debate, there view and position with biden did not change. however, for those black voters in swing states who did not watch the debate but read the coverage from the past two

weeks, that shifted their opinion. i think we have to talk about this. what is happening? the supreme court stacked with right-wing extremists decided to nuke the chevron document, make the next president a dictator. project 2025 is now in the news. amy: immunity. >> absolute immunity. project 2025 so we are in the process of a second revolution right now and it will be bloodless if the list allows it. josh hawley yesterday said he's a christian nationalist. another, mike johnson, approves trump's plan of camps and two days ago at the rally donald trump said he has no idea what nato is. this man who is president for four years. joe biden, got a standing ovation in front of nato leaders. the last two weeks, imagine if we're corporate press talked

about these topics, judge you think would sway people? we have talked about this democratic infighting. this is hillary clinton's emails on steroids. with four months left what i took from marine le pen was, i don't know, it looks bad, it seems like she is going to win and at the last second when democracy was under threat, we saw in the u.k. and brazil and france, multiracial coalition come together. that is what i think is going to happen. i know norm cares. what norm is proposing is risky. it will sabotage the only chance we have to save this country from trump. i have no fidelity to any of the candidates except mark received. amy: it is interesting you're taking this position. the squad has taken this

position. not exactly receipted or summer lee. summer lee said she would endorse kamala harris as a presidential candidate. but given what is happening right now in palestine, gaza, talk about the massive criticism of president biden. and you were part of that. >> i am part of that. amy: and yet you're continuing to support him. >> i think the biden administration has been a moral failure on gaza. i think we all agree what is happening is a genocide. i also believe he is complicit in this genocide and this will be a stain on his legacy. with that said, trump will be even worse on palestine and every other issue. i what remind people at the debate because i watched it because i'm a masochist, trump use the word "palestinian close what is a pejorative. when trump was asked -- amy: schumer.

>> antisemitic. and at the debate when asked about the two states, he planted it. i want people to remember netanyahu and ben-gvir want trump to win. behind closed doors, asleep at 8:00 p.m., so did george w. bush and reagan. trump is courting money that has pledged to give $100 million provided that they can't annex the west bank. on palestine, on immigration, and on islamophobia and the muslim man and every other issue, folks, trump will be worse. i am looking at the big picture. i'm not excited about biden. you know who else isn't by did the right thing? look to the black voters, specifically the cbc, congressional black caucus. i'm saying that because historically that has been the

base, the bellwether of the democratic party. black women in particular know what is at risk. they put the economic anxiety second to protect the nation. using the cbc, which is not representative of all black voters -- stacey abrams came out pro for biden. we have done the analysis and biden-harris is the ticket. for me, that is the bellwether. nermeen: norm, if you could respond? in particular, the fact there are progressive democrats who have backed biden. most of the squad. if you could respond? >> the progressives in capitol hill who are under pressure, they are dealing with their own pressure situation. the reality is, for instance, polling for many months, including now, has shown biden's support among african-americans

and latinos has plummeted compared to 2020. we can't or should not blame the messengers for the bad news. the idea we should be unified behind a candidate who is headed for catastrophic defeat according to virtually all of the people paying attention to the polling where it is going, i think that is a mistake. i think it is a way of internalizing conventional political wisdom. it is a way of fearing a process where an emerging "other" candidate could make it impossible to get out of this depot we are in. we are in a deep ditch. biden's refusal to deal with reality has driven not just himself, not just his own ticket, but the entire up and down the ballot of democrats into a fever pitch of panic. we can say that we know better than the pollsters. we can say we know better than

those who are freaking out on capitol hill because they don't want to lose the senate because they don't want to lose their own races and the house and senate. we can say we know better. but to tune out so much information, to pretend it doesn't matter what biden is saying -- by the way, there is not a major candidate for president in our lifetime who said "i'm not going to campaign after 8:00 p.m." it is not about taking a nap, it is about someone, as "the new york times goes court reported five days after the debate, for many months has an individual interactions and meetings as well, really concern people, really concern people because his sentences did not end, did not have a logical conclusion. he would sort of trail off. this is a guy who was supposed to be leading the charge for the next four months to defeat the republican party, to defeat donald trump?

frankly, i think that is borderline absurd. i do believe that if we are going to be realistic about where we are now, it is not enough for us to make speeches, as we should come about how horrific a trump second term would be. i completely concur with everyone who is then we must prevent trump from winning again. our huge problem right now is that president biden is refusing to step aside. we have unknowns if he does step aside. we have knowns if he refuses to step aside. we would have a candidate who appears from all indications to be incapable of fighting his way back from a very substantial deficit, which has gotten worse in the last two weeks. whether we identify as progressives or anyone else, we don't want any of fascist takeover of the executive branch

and all of congress, then we have to come to terms with where we really are now. and that question of denial, which is radiating out of the white house every day, 24/7 from the spin masters of the white house "oh, it is not so bad, biden is really in control." what you saw a week ago with george stephanopoulos on abc news, did not really see it. are you really going to bleed what you saw and heard or the white house spin masters and those who are wishful thinking telling us to just plow ahead behind the biden train? there is a train wreck that is very foreseeable around the bend. and when you see a train wreck around the bend, you've got to pull the emergency cord. you need to do everything you can to get biden off the ticket.

nermeen: your response? everybody's priority is defeating trump, all the people were saying whether biden should stay or go. is there no candidate you can think of that would be likely more successful than biden in defeating trump? >> speaking of the polls, pairing these magical -- the greatest advantage any pairing has is one point. that is it. you pair harris was someone else , plus one. that means we're still within striking distance. if norm or anyone else can show me a call that any other magical pairing other than biden gives us plus seven, plus a to be on the four points of air, sure. we've only seen a one point shift. it has evened out. 46-46. biden is still within striking distance. i think i have a small risk here but even riskier to break apart this coalition especially after you have progressives, cbc, and

calmly harris say we are with -- kamala harris say we are still with biden and then magically come up with two people -- no poll has shown me that has a plus five, plus seven, plus 10. four must. unite, fight. i believe we can win. amy: norman solomon? >> i think it is really improper to cite the popular vote when the reality is, as we have seen twice this century, it is about the swing states. in the swing states, biden is tanking. when you talk about popular -- we can talk about popular vote we want but it is about the battlefield states. now new york, according to the polling, is a swing state. that is how bad it is with biden on the ticket. amy: we have to leave it there. before we go, nermeen and i went to wish a very happy eighth

birthday. your daughter. that she has battled and defeated stage four liver cancer? >> when she was three she had stage iv liver cancer. she needed a full liver transplant. an anonymous donor showed up. amy: just put out to the world? >> people signed up to be a liver donor, mostly strangers. one operson stepped up. half my brain is about standing for democracy and the other is planning a big water balloon fight for my daughter. she is alive and healthy and cancer-free. she has two costume changes a day. if you need hope -- people need hope. have hope. we are fighting for democracy. i have faith in us. we were in the darkest period. people said she would not survive and look at her now. she is thriving. nermeen: organ donors save

lives. >> if you're watching now, you can get a piece of your liver. you can get a piece of your liver. it grows back. i had no idea deliver grows. the one beautiful thing about my daughter story is i got a message last week from someone he said, i never knew about live donations. i just got matched and i'm paired up with a kid. imagine the life that can be saved. if you're watching right now, think about donating a piece of the liver. it grows back. amy: i want to thank you so much again. happy birthday to your daughter. wajahat ali is a daily beast communist and runs the left hook substack. norman solomon is the executive director of the institute for public accuracy and co-founder of rootsaction.org, which sponsors the step aside joe campaign. next up, we look at the state of the gaza ceasefire and hostage

negotiations. a framework for a deal has been reportedly agreed to by hamas and israel. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: "the washington post" is reporting israel and hamas have agreed to the framework for a new ceasefire and hostage deal following talks in cairo and doha. "washington post" columnist david ignatius reports a senior u.s. official told him that the parties are now "negotiating details of how it will be implemented." but a final deal may not be imminent. this comes as israel intensifies its attacks on gaza while order -- ordering all civilians in

gaza city to leave the city despite having no safe place to go. the israeli human rights group b'tselem decried the evacuation order of the city as "absolute madness." amy: on the diplomatic front, the israeli newspaper haaretz reports israel negotiators have returned from doha. the negotiators met with egyptian, qatari, and u.s. officials. on the u.s. side, cia director william burns. on the israeli side, it was the head of mossad. we are joined now by daniel levy, president of the u.s./middle east project. former israeli peace negotiator joining us from london. thank you for being with us again. can you explain what is at stake? what is this three stage deal, daniel? >> good to be with you. the idea is that in the initial

phase, there would be withdrawal of the troops from large parts of gaza. the israeli military. you would have the release of those israelis being held who are still alive and are not male soldiers. you would allow the real humanitarian access. you would have palestinian prisoners being released and then you would move on to a second phase where there would be a more significant palestinian prisoner release, full israeli literary withdrawal, the soldiers will be released. third phase, bodies would be returned and there would be the start of more rehabilitation efforts. the big question come and has been for months, is whether you can do phase one and then continue with the destruction with everything given reporting for months now, 21,000 children

unaccounted for, 30,000 dead in gaza and counting and that is without what is under the rubble. does that continue? or are there sears commitments that this will -- serious commit was this will be a permit cessation of these kinds of hostilities? here's the rub. the document is trying to create a degree of ambiguity. hamas has said, we know there's nothing ironclad -- i am paraphrasing -- there's nothing ironclad but we need to know the maximum possibility that there is a commitment to this being a permanent cessation. what you have on every occasion is the israeli prime minister saying, no, i am committing to continuing the war until the objectives are realized. those objectives are unrealizable. everyone knows that.

therefore, he is trying to do everything to prevent a deal. what we're seeing is, unfortunately, still a lot of unsubstantiated optimism and from the u.s. administration -- nermeen: there was renewed hope that a deal could be reached after hamas last week reportedly gave up on its initial demand that a permanent cease fire be part of the first phase of any agreement. if you could talk about the significance of hamas doing that, why you think they took that step? and the fact there such increasing opposition within israel to netanyahu's stance not just from hostage families, but this latest move that he made saying israel -- one of the condition should be that israel resumed fighting until conditions are met, that people were so widely critical within

israel of netanyahu taking that position. do you think that might make any difference in the short-term? >> ok, so on the hamas side of things, i think there has been a deliberate misinterpretation of the hamas position. the permanent cease fire was never locked into phase one. it was always part of the transition from phase one phase two. they're constantly has been the question of how to make that as reasonable as possible. i'm not privy to their internal conversations, of course. hamas may be looking at this and saying, we are still here. we will be here if the israelis resume actions after the six week hiatus. we now have a situation where in order to dial down the escalation on the northern

front, you clearly need our situation to be dialed down. maybe we can get the kind of humanitarian relief in all of these things. we will make it increasingly difficult for israel even if that is what they intend to resume these kinds of actions after six weeks and we have a more desperate administration in the u.s. that might suggest were some additional google room is created. however, that will karen i don't think can be sufficient enough -- wiggle room i don't think heavy enough to sustain what we mentioned in the second part of your question, which is to state a very vocal and transparent and assistant israeli forcing the issue that know there can be no permanent ceasefire. netanyahu put out four conditions, one of them was any deal would allow israel to resume fighting until all of the objectives of the war have been achieved.

that doesn't give you an ability -- what about what is going on inside israel? your question regarding is the pressure now in a place where netanyahu simply has to accept this? the unfortunate answer is -- i so hope i'm wrong -- the answer is, no, you have greater protest, the families were mobilized, you have a military that is more clearly saying -- again, i'm paraphrasing -- if we want a chance to deal with the situation in the north whether de-escalating or having the intentions fan to deal militarily, then you need -- military prefers a deal. they prefer a ceasefire deal. they know their troops have been on the frontline for a long time and are rather exhausted. so the military has said that. you have the parliament going

into a summer recess. i think the hope was that netanyahu could tell his right wing even more extreme than himself coalition allies, guys, don't leave me turn the summer recess. there's no urgency here. i promise you by the time the parliament is backup in october, i will be killing palestinians just like i have done and like you like me to do. we will be fighting a war in gaza. in the meantime, you can have fun causing mayhem, disgracing palestinians. don't rush to do anything crazy. they will say, no, we're going to bring you down. netanyahu is looking around and sees the domestic pressure inside israel is not a threat to his ability and, crucially, he is seeing u.s. administration will continue when push comes to shove to say, it is hamas's fault and they will continue to sin the weapons without which israel could not be causing this death and destruction, the 500 pound bombs.

and he knows he has a nice little baked in congress following the invitation by the republican and democratic congressional leadership -- amy: let's talk about july 24. netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint session of congress on july 24. a number prominent israelis including a former head of mossad, former prime minister, nobel winner have written a joint op-ed in "the new york times" headlined "we are israelis calling on congress to disinvite netanyahu." they argue the invitation will make a ceasefire agreement more unlikely. they write -- "netanyahu's supporters in israel will be emboldened by his appearance in congress to insist that the war continue, which will further distance any deal to secure the release of the hostages, including several u.s. citizens. giving mr. netanyahu the stage in washington will all but dismiss the rage and pain of his people, as expressed in the demonstrations throughout the country. american lawmakers should not let that happen. they should ask mr. netanyahu to stay home." your response to this?

>> i don't like giving one word responses but if you're looking at it from the israeli perspective, that absolutely, the way the congressional leadership -- i would argue the with the administration has behaved -- has cut off at the knees any prospect of the shift in israel necessary to end this war that has led to the icc and the icj -- by the way, if i was looking at this from the perspective of of international law in general, the palestinians living under these conditions, say, how the hell do you invite netanyahu? let me say this, because you referenced that piece in "the new york post," ignatius is not writing his own opinion on. he is being a faithful stenographer of the spin given

to him. he writes that it would be a ring validation of president biden's diplomacy and potential valedictory moment if you got the ceasefire. just cause. -- just puase. can i translate the term patient diplomacy? it means after nine months he have tens of thousands who are dead, nine out of 10 people are displaced. starvation. humanitarian catastrophe. this is patient diplomacy that you should be proud of? the hostages are still there. i merrick's international reputation -- i merrick's international reputation has been thoroughly taken to the cleaners. and the internal situation on the democrat side. i would simply say because i listen to your earlier segment, when you have a real problem, if you think you can sell this spin

and treat your voters with contempt, you do that at your own risk. i will take would happen in our elections here. labor bang -- labour lost. voters deserted labour over gaza. in france, he saw a left alliance come together, close the enthusiasm gap with the right. it was because one of the things that the left alliance did was come up with a credible position on gaza. i would simply ask the question, is the stunning validation of your approach, what you're going to be selling people -- you are still sending the weapons and still in violation of international law. nermeen: i wanted to ask about the position of the israeli village here, which are becoming more and more public in their

own opposition to the war. could that make a difference? >> big issue. what is going on here is the military knows they have no political plans. there being sent on a mission that is not achievable. you cannot defeat hamas and the way netanyahu talks about. i think with the military is saying is we need a different approach. the problem here is that these are the same guys in the military and chart on october 7. there is a blame game between the military and netanyahu. amy: we have 20 seconds. >> was a political or military failure? you have blame games. netanyahu they replay some of this military. amy: daniel leavitt, thank you for being with us -- daniel levy, thank you for being with

us. president of the u.s./middle east project and a former israeli peace negotiator under prime ministers ehud barak and yitzhak rabin. we will be broadcasting live from the republican convention in the chicago convention expanding to two hours every day. and we have a development director position opening to lead