[captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york this is democracy now! breaking with convention. i have a proud democratat. i will be proud to carry our banner into the general election. i accept this nomination for president of united states of america. amy: joe biden accepts the democratic presidential nomination, vowing to bring the nation out of darkness.

mr. biden: the current president has cloaked america in darkness for too long, too much anger, fear, division. i give you my word. theou entrust me with presidency, i willll draw on the best of us, not the worst. i will be an ally of the light, not the darkness. amy: we will air highlights from the final night t of the virtual democratatic national coconventn anand speak k to harvard profesr cocornel west and ben jealous, now president of people for the american way. plus president trump's former campaign manager steve bannon was arrerested thursday, accused ofof defrauding donors to o a private effort to bubuild a wall along the mexican border we will get the latest. all that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!,!, democracynow.org. breaking with convention. i'm amy goodman.

joe biden has accepted the democratic party's presidential nominationon. speakiking in his home statete f delaware on the last night of an unprecedented virtual democratic national convention, the former vice president urged the united states to "overcome this season of darkness" as the country faces four simultaneous crises, the covid pandemic, the worst economic crisis since the depression, climate change, and systemic racism. mr. biden: history will be able end of this american here tonight. i promise you. andk you and god bless you god protect t our troooops. 70 national security directors hahave endororsed joe biden.

the staging ground for the u.s. back contras in nicaragua. we will air highlights of the democratic national convention and speak with ben j jealous and cocornell west. the u.s. recorded more than n a thousand daily coronavirus deaths the united states still thursday. leads the world in both deaths, officially more than 174,000, and confirmed cases with more than five and a half million. public health officials say the true toll is far higher. on thursday, cdc director robert redfield estimated as much as 18% of t the u.s. population has already been infected with cocoronavirurus. >> i think if you were going to do a crude estimate, between 30 and 60 million people. meanwhile, the white house says it will designate teachers as "essential workers" exempt from quarantine requirements if

theyey're exposed to covid-19.. this is the white house press secretary speaking on fox news. >> we believe teachers are essential workers. meatpackerers did not stopop wog duringng this pandemic.. stotop workiningo. ---- did notot stop working. nor should our teachers. july, the american federation of teachers said it's 1.1 millioion members stand r ry to strikike. the labor department reports 1.1 million u.s. workers filed ininitial unemployment claims or the last week, up from 970,000 the previous week. stock prices continue to soar on wall street. the s&p 500 and nasdaq stock both hit record highs. on wednesday, apple became the first u.s. company to be valued at $2 trillion dollars. in new york, protesters with the "make billionaires pay" campaign are demanding governor andrew cuomo support a tax on the

wealthy rather than cut funding to life-saving services. this is housing activist felix guzman speaking outside the governor's mansion n this week. fefelix: i know firsrsthand what this m means.. will mean the difference between life and death for some. people will die. people will die. we don't have to w wait for the federal governmenent. richht now, he can tax the and save livives. amy:y: according to cicitizen an new york, some 2 million state residents are struggling to meet basic food, hohousing, and healh care n needs, while new york's 8 billionaires increased their net worth by $77 billion during the pandemicic. a grgroup of 90 house democrats are cacalling for the imimmediae remomoval of louis dejoy as postmaster general, accusing him of sabotaging the postal service ahead of the election. their call comes as dejoy heads to capitol hill for two days of

scheduled testimony before congress. across the country, u.s. postal workers are reporting long delays processing and delivering mail. at one los angeles facility, the l.a. times reported that rodents and insects were swarming parcels of rotten fruit and meat, with baby chicks left dead inside of boxes. in texas, congressmember joaquin castro confirmed wednesday that postal leaders in washington ordered the removal of six mail sorting machines from a processing plant in san antonio. a union leader said mail handlers are instructed to cart away tens of thousands of pieces of mail ahead of castro's tour of the facility to hide evidence of a backlog. this comes as emails obtained by vice show the u.s. postal director of maintenance operations kevin couch ordered postal managers around the u.s. "not to reconnect, reinstall

machines that have previously been disconnected without approval from hq maintenance." scores of f the machineses haven removed and brokoken down intoto parts nanationwide. in california, at least five people have died as the state battles more than two dozen major fires amid a record-breaking heatwave and an unprecedented number of lightning strikes. authorities say nearly 700,000 acres have burned. tens of thousands of homes are threatened. the university of california santa cruz has been forced to evacuate. during the democratic national convention, california governor gavin newsome said, "if you are in denial about climate change, come to california." on thursday, president trump threatened to withhold emergency aid for california while blaming the state for causing the fires by not properly raking leaves from the forest, a theory dispsped by dispsputed by nyny forestry e exper. inin more climate news, ee national hururricaneenteter says not one but two hurricanes could make landfall along the gulf coast next week nearly simultaneously, as the 2020 atlalantic hururricane season ks up its record-shshattering pace.

president trump's former campmpaign mananager and chief strategist steve bannon was arreststed thursday, accused of defrauding an anti-immigrant nonprofit called "we build the wall." bannon was taken by u.s. postal police aboard a a chinese billionaire's $28-million yayac, anchored off the coast of connecticut. an i indictment unsealed by the southern district of new york alleges bannon and three other officials at the nonprofit siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations into their own pockets to support their lavish lifestyles. the funds were supposed to go toward privately-funded sections of barrier wall to be built along the u.s.-mexico border. bannon pleaded not guilty thursday at an arraignment in manhattan and was released after posting $5 million bond. at the white house, president trump rejected the idea that he's s surrounded by a "culultuf lawlessness.s." trump was questioned by nbc's geoff bennett. >> it is not just steveve banno, it is michael flynn, paul gates, michael cohen.

>> i have no idea. >> t the culturere of lawlessne. >> there was great l lawlessness in the obama administration. amy: here in new york, a feral judge ruled thursday that a manhattan prosecutor can subpoena donald trump's tax records, rejecting the president's claim that the request amounted to unlawful harassment. district attorney cy vance is seeking eight years of trump's tax records as part of an investigation into hush-money payments doled outut by trump's former fixer and personal attorney michael cohohen ahead f the 2016 election. president trump welcomed iraqi prime minister mustafa al-kadadhimi to the white house ththursday for negotiationons or the fate of 5,200 active-duty u.s. troops statitioned in iraq. speakingng to reporters after an oval officice meeteting, the pre minister said iraq's vast oil fields were open to american oil companies and investors. >> iraq is open for american business and investment. amy: the energy department

rereported this week several u.. companies, i including honeywell and ge, signeded oil contracts wortrth up to $8 billilion withh iraqaq. meanwhile, in iraq, a gunmanan n a motorcycle opened fire on n a car in the southern city of basra wednesday, killing women's rights activist reham yacoub and injuring two of her companions. it was the third such assassination in basra in just the last week and came a day after prime minister al-kadhimi fired basrsra's securirity commander,r, promising to investigatate politically motivated murders. in the gaza strip, massive explosions tore through the city of khan yunis overnight as israel's military launched attacks for a tenth consecutive day. the israeli airstrikes came as palestinians launched rockets and incendiary balloons into southern israel. meanwhile, gaza officials are warning of disruptions at hospitals and other critical facilities after israel cut fuel supplies to gaza's only power plant, leaving residents with just a few hours' electricity per daday. a warning to our audience: the following stories contain

disturbing images of police violence. in arizona, body-camera and surveillance footage released tuesday show phoenix police officers held a man on the hot asphalt for nearly six minutes before he died in the back of a police car earlier this month. 28-year-old ramon timothy lopez was apprehended on august 4, chased and tackled to the ground by one of the officers. two others later arrived on the scene. after pressing him into the scorching hot pavement for six minutes, lopez was lifted and placed in the back of a police car, where he was later found unresponsive. photographs revealed his skin wawas covered in burns. in related news, the family of muhammad muhaymin jr., a black muslim man who was killed by phoenix police in 2017, is renewing calls for justice after recently released video footage shows him screaming "i can't breathe" and calling "please

allah" before he died. footage shows the 43-year-old was held down by at least four phoenix police officers for nearly eight minutes. one of the officers is seen pressing his knee into muhaymin's neck. the famimily has since filed a 0 million wrongful death lawsuit. in portland, oregon, mass protests against police brutalality and racial vioiolene are nearing 90 days straight. this comes a as police c contino violently repress protesters. footage from earlier this week shows portland police firing tear gas and explosive crowd control munitions to disperse crowds. on tuesday, portland police declared a riot amid ongoing protests, at least the third riot declaration within a weeke. in new york, black lives matter groups led a march wednesday protesting the new york police department union's recent endorsement of president trump reelection. over 50 protesters marched toward the home of nypd union president pat lynch, but were met by a police barricade. lynch is a fierce opponent of police reform. this comes as more than 323,000

misconduct accusations against current and former nypd officecs were published and an online database thursday. the complaints were made public by the new york city liberties union, following the recent repeal of a state law that kept them secret for decades. less than 3% of the accusations resulted in a penalty for police officers, including 12 who were fired. and in labor news, a california appeals judge has temporarily blocked an order from earlier this month that mandated uber and lyft to classify their drivers as employees and not independent contractors. the order came after lyft had announced it would be suspending its services in california startiting today. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!,!, democracynow.org. i'm amy goodman. we are breaking with convention. joe biden accepted the democratic presidential nomination on thursday night.

speaking in his home state of delaware, the former vicice president urged the country to "overcome this season n of darkness" as the country f faces four simultaneous crises, the covid pandemic, the worst economic crisis since the depression, climate change and systemic racism. each issue was addressed earlier in the evening during the final night of the virtual democratic national convention. california governor gavin newsom spoke about the deadly wildfires ravaging his state. or so away from 370 wildfires we are battling in california. we are coming off of a record heatwave that led to 130 degree temperatures, the highest temperature ever recorded in california. the hots are getting hotter. climate change is real. ifif you are in denial about climate change,e, come to

california. amy: representative deb haaland of new mexico became the first naive american congresswoman to address a political convention. >> voting is sacred. my people know that. we were not universally granted the right to vote until 1962. that fundamental right is more important than ever. whether your ancestors have been here for hundreds of years or you are a new citizen, whether we vote and how we vote will determine if our nation's promise of social, racial, and environmental justice will outlast us. amy: former presidential candidate senator cory booker of new jersey accused president trump of failing to help working people. >> working people are under attack. the wealth gap grows. our middle class shrinks. poverty persists. last week, donald trump said our economy is doing good while 40 million americans are at risk of losing their homes, 30 million

are not getting enough to eat, and 5.4 million people have lost their health care because of this crisis. he has failed d us. senator cory booker also took part in a tapeded conversation with six of his former rivals, amy klobuchar, pete buttigieg, bernie sanders, andrew yang,g, elizabeth wararr, and beto o'rourke. former housing secretary julian castro, the only latinx presidenential canandidate i ine 2020 race,e,as not invited. congresswoman tulsi gabbard was also not invited to speak at the convention e even though she won two pledged delegates. the former republican mayor of new york mike bloomberg, who spent more than a billion dollars on his faiailed bid to n the democratic nomination, was given one of the most prominent speaking spots on the final night. in one of the most moving momentnts of the night, a 13-year-old boy from new hampshirire named brbrayden harrington talked about how joe biden had personally helped him. >> witithout joe bidenen, i woud

not be talking to you today. innw m months ago, i i met him new w hampshire. he t told me we were memembers f the same club. we s-s-s-s-stutter.. hears really amazing g to that somebody like me became v-v-vice pr-pr-r-presidenent. he told me about a book of poems by yeats. i did the samemehing todayay. we all want the world to feel better. we need the world to feel better. a regular k kid. in a short amount of time, joe biden made me feel confident about something that has

bothered me my whole life. joe biden cares. amy: the democraratic natitional convention endnded witith former vice president joe biden speaking in wilmington, delaware. light and they will find the way. give people light. those are words for our time. the current president has cloaked america in darkness for twoo long. too much anger, fear, division. i give you my word. if you interest me with the presidency, i will draw on the best of us, not the worst. i will be an ally of the light, not the darkness. it is time for we the people to come together. we can mistake, united

and will overcome this season of darkness in america. we will choose hope over fear, fax over fiction, fairness over privilege. i am a proud democrat. i will be proud to carry the banner of our party into the general election. it is with great honor and humility i accept this nomination for president of the united states of america. while i will be a democratic candidate, i will be an american president. for thosek hard that did not support me, as hard for them as those that did support me. that is the job of the president, to represent all of us, not just our base or party. this is not a partisan moment. this must be an american moment. it is a moment that calls for hope and light and love.

hope for our future, light to see our way forward, and love for one another. america is not just clashing interests of red and blue states. we are so much bigger than that. we are so much better than that. nearly a century ago, franklin roosevelt pledged a new deal and unemployment,ive uncertainty, and fear. disease, fdr pledged he would recover and prevail and that america could as well. he did and we did. this campaign is not just about winning votes. it is about winning the heart and soul of america. winning it for the generous among us, not the selfish. winning it for the workers of this country, not just the few at the top. communitiesor those that have no need of a knee on

youngck, for all the people who only know america being rising in equity and tracking opportunity. they deserve to know america's promise in full. no generation ever knows what history will ask of it. all we can ever know is whether we are ready when that moment arrives. now history has s delivered us o one of the most difficult moments america has ever faced. es, all at thecris same time, a perfect storm. the worst pandemic in over 100 years, the worst economic crisis since the great depression, growing calls for ratiracial justice, and the accelerating threats of climate change.

the question for us is simple, are we ready? i believe we are. we must be. all elections are important. we know in our bones this one is consequential. america is at an inflection and alsotime of peril extraordinary possibilities. we can choose the path of less hopeful,er, more divided, shadow and suspicion, or we can choose a different path and take this chance to heal, to reform, unite. this i is a life-changing election. going to determine what america will look like for a long time. amy: joe biden ended his address describing this election as a battle for t the soul of the nation. poet shamushe irish

once-in-a-lifetime, the longed for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme. with passion and purpose, let us begin together, one nation under god, united in our love for each other, for love is more powerful than hate, hope m more powewerful than fear. this is our moment. this is our mission. let history be able to say that the end of this chapter of american darkness began here as love and joy and light joined together in the battle for the soul of the nation. this is a battle we w will win,

and we wilill do it totogether. i promise you. thankk you and may god bless you and may god protect our troops. amy: joe biden accepting the nominanation foror president ofe united states on t the final nit of the democratic national convention. when we come back, we will hear from cornell west and ben jealous. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

,my: democracycy now!! democracynow.org. joe biden accepted the democratic presidential nomination thursrsday on thehe t night of the democratic national convention. mr. bidenen: will we be the generaration that finally wipes out the stain of racism from our national character?

i believe e we are up to it. i believe we are ready. a week ago yesterday it was the third anniversary of charlotteslllle. remember seeing those neo-nazis and klansmen coming out of the field with torches, veins bulgi ng, spewing the same thrownmitic bile across europe in t the 1930's. remember the courage to stand against it and remember what the president said when asked, he were very fine people on both sides. call to action. at that moment, i knew i would have to run. my father taught us that silence was complicity.

i can never remain silent or complilicit. at the time, i said we were in the battle for the soul of this nation. we are. of the most important conversations i have had in this with johnnd that employs ththe day before her day george floyd was laid to rest. when i leaned down to speak to , she said daddy changed the world. er wasgeorge floyd's murd a breaking point, maybe john was an passing

inspiration, but however it came to be, john's words to lay down the heavy burden n at last and begin the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism. amy: that was joe biden speaking last night from wilmington, delaware. after the acceptance speech, he and dr. jill biden and kamala harris and her husband walked outside to a parking lot filled with cars, people socially distanced to cheer them on. there was a fireworks display. for more on this historic democratic convention, we're joineded now by two guests. in newton, massachusetts, dr. cornel west, professor of the practice of public philosophy at harvard university. he is the author of numerous books including "race matters" and "black prophetic fire." his new podcast is called "the tight rope".

in 2017, c cornel west was in charlottesville when neo nazis stormed the campus. he and other clergy members were protected by antifascicists from the mob of white supreremacists. anand in baltitimore, maryland, we're joined by ben jealous, president of people for the american way, former president of the naacp. he ran for governor of maryland in 2018. we welcome both of y you to democracy now! ben jealous, congratulations on your new position. start off by responding to this week's d democratic national convention, your t thoughts on where the two nominees, presidential nominee joe biden, and the historic selection of kamala harris to be his running mate, their positioions and how they represent what you do or not. ben: i think the theme of this convention was one of unity.

this was a time when we have to come togetether to defeat a presesident whwho is the most e, the most corrupt any of us have ever seen. that says a lot. it also was a time when we saw twoo nominees thatat we as progressiveses canork with.. kamala harris intrododuced her sister maya. da that a mucuch more conservative timime, but hd heher ground when an offfficer s killed and the entire e liberal establishmenent in northern california came down on her, and she said the death penalty is wrong period. poised to be thee most progressive p presidentnt e fdr. bernie, we e ow

ththese are e people w we can wk with. these e are people who repeprest our best values, the daughter of a civil rights activisist, sistr of a civil rights lawyer who told me 15 yeaears ago she becae a prosecutor b because it was nt enough to fight the power,r, we have to hold the power. i i am very hopeful. i have no doubt we can work with joe. addie, i believe wewe must move towards medicare fofor all. i believe joe biden will take us further in that direction, certainly than donald trump, and more thahan most prpresidents. wewe have an opportunityty to me in thehe right direction again. as organizers, that is the most important thing to get outt o of any presidential election, a president you can move i in the right direction. amy: dr. cornel west, your

reaction to this week? prof. west: sister amy, my points of refererence are e the freedom dreams we just heard lionel richie, who was invoked by brother biden in the first sentence of his speech, the elevator who was working on the mass party, actually working for a third-party because she thought the two-party system was so decrepit. also may feel that they have been playing over and over again. you have to move up from poverty. in order to do it, you have e to talk about poverty. if you are going to move up from wall street greed and crimes, you have to talk about wall street greed and crimes. if you are going to move up from the penentagon militarism, youu have to talk about it.

those are the issues we don't get serious wrestling with. when you talk about the soul of america, much of that soul has been evacuated by the pentagon greed and the wall street greed and the inability of the police and other institutions to treat black people and brown people as human beings. ben in with brotother being part of an anti-fascist coalition. we are going to be forced to vote for biden, but we are not going to lie about biden or harris. we are going to tell the truth about their captivity and their hit pentagon and money spending around the world and wall street greed and speak substantively to poverty. you cannot have massive protests all around the country, the

largest in the history of the country, you cannot have sister out there talking about poverty, and when you get to the convention, you have this spectacle that has nothing to do withth wrestling with poverty. i think brother cory was the only of the major figures that talk to. ben in terms ofof we have got to vote for biden, but never lying about him or coming to terms with the fact that at this moment of the decline and fall of the american empire, it looks as if the system is not able to generate enough energy to reform itself. it remains superficial. we are getting bubbles rather than revolution. i wawant fundamental chahange. amy: i want to turn to joe

biden's comments last night about social security. seniors,: to our social security is a sacred obligation. the current president is threatening to break that promise. he is propososing to eliminate a tax that pays for half of social security without making up for that losost revenue, resulting n cuts. i will not let that happen. if i am your president, we are going to protect social l secury anand medicare. amy:y: you have my worord. during the primary campaign, bernie sandeders released an ad highghlighting biden''s supporor cutting social security and medicarere. we ha a a defitit. we h havsocial security and

medicareoomiming wowod you u nsider looking at thee programs? > absolutel u have to. one of the things that the political advisers say to me, don't toh thatathird rail. the american peoplare e no stid. it is a simple propositi.. social security is not hard to solve. micare, yo have got to put all of it on the table. everything. you have got to. amy: you have got to put all of it on the tablble. ben jealous, you and professor have beenst surrogates for bernie sanders. can you talk aboutut how t that relatetes to joe bididen today a his posititions? biden needs eveveryone who voted for bernie to become president. jojoe biden todayay has moved wh ththe party to the left. gets thatat we

have to protecect medicare, socl securityty. he is a politician t that has bn at different p places at differt poinints. thatve to be very c clear evererybody needs s to vote agat trump p and for b biden in this moment so we havave a presesidet that we can movove. there is no o moving trump, butt is possible to move joe. every organizer needs a president that they can move. clip from 2007. that is 13 years ago. only recently, presidential candidate joe biden said evevenf a medicare for all -- that is

different from medicare he was talking in 2007 -- even if medicare for all were passed, meaning bipartisan support, he would veto it if he was present. told west: brother biden my dear brother bebernie in frot of the nation i never entertained the possibility of cutting medicare and social security. you have got the evidence that he did. he lied. amy: let me go to joe biden. prof. west: politiciansns lie al the time. amy: let me go to joe biden. nbcwas speaking g on ams about what he would do if he were president. would veto anything that delays the security and certainty of health care now.

thatme miracle occurred said it is passed, you have to look at the cost. how did they find the $35 trillion? what is that doing? is it going to raise taxes on the middle class, which it will? everybody -- health care should be a right in america. my oppositioion is to visit it doable, the cost, and the consequences for the rest of the budget. marchhat was joe biden in , just as we are moving into the pandemic. do you think this pandemic has highlighted so many inequities it would make it easier because of the horror of the number of deaths disproportionately affecting people of color and poorer people in this country?

do you think joe biden could be that person as president? prof. west: i hope so. that is why we have to push him over the line. we have to be honest with ourselves. we have 68% of fellow citizens who support medicare for all. 47% of republicans. 87% of democrats. big pharmaceutical companies, private insurers, the donors dictate the destiny of policy. the distinctive features of the decline of an empire, military overreach. $.53 of every dollar is going to the military. $.53 of every y dollar in chicao goes to the police. militarism domestically and abroad. the people themselves are moving in a progressive direction, but there is no translation. that is why we did not hear

enough serious progressive voices during the spectacle. you have got this big money rendering captive so many of those in the democratic party, and they want to give lip service to justice, but there is no real substance there in terms of sustaining an attack on poverty, an attack on the mass incarceration system, the redistribution of wealth downward. you cannot talk about racism if you do not talk about black people having access to wealth. it could be reparations, redistribution. we have to have access to wealth and income. this is true for indigenous people, for asians across the board. we are getting a sad spectacle that remains on the surface, and yet the masses suffering in misery is intensifying.

getting thee are inability to envision a substantive alternative to the present, so we end up tied to this nightmarish reality. vote for biden as an anti-fascist vote. that is different from falling prey to delusions. whilee to keep our hope failing to fall to illusions. medicare for all issue, when it came to the presidential debate, kamala harris raised her hand when asasked if she suppord medicare for all, but the next day said she had not heaeard the question propeperly. ben jejeous, you h have known kamala harris for a long time. the vice president does not determine the agenda, the president does. your thoughts on this, and as a

supporter for this, what do you think is the best strategy? until are saying you wait november 4, and then you apply massive pressure. or do you start now? if you do not start now, will a pattern be set where it t is too latete after the e election? broke when i saw speak viamr.r. barken computer. the last time i saw him, we were training dozens of activivists o wewere aboutut to gett arrested demandnding medicare for all. as an orgaganizer, i cannot pretend it is all abobout wheree are at this moment.

i is alwaysys about our vision, the will of thee people,e, and e trend of thehe movement in a country. all of those poioint toward the day y when mededicare fofor alll be a reality. establisishmt progressives, experts on the budgetho have been bamamboozled by corporatios into believing we cannot affofod itit, and yet y year afteter yeu sese more studies by academics sasaying medicare fofor all is e most a affordable optionon. i i believe that becausese of a , theentnt in this country opopinion of the people e as lad out by dr. west, because of the we willof organizers get medicare for all. i don't pepend on ththe platfofm posisition of f some pololitici.

i i look to o thwill of ee people that is ere my h hope is. as an organizizer, i know we e e to have a president, a vice presidident that we can work wi. can wewe move biden? absolutely. can we move harris? absolutely. amy: he gave a few minutes of an address, but i have never heard him speak without saying medicare for all, and here he did not say, not clear if it was because of the contenders' positions. he described it. he just did not use the words. let me ask cornell west if you are concerned. presidential the positions bloomberg,

cory booker, others, but you did .ot have julian castro how is it possible that the only latinx presidential candidate was not invited when almost all of the rest of them were? prof. west: i think it is ridiculous. you have a neofascist gangster in the white house who started his campaign by attacking our brothers and sisters. bloomberg does. the billionaire. gets demonized and pushed out because she stands for p palestinians against the vicious israeli occupation. biden is talking about human rights. harris is talking about a coalition of conscience.

you cannot have a coalition of conscience if you did not come to terms with the vicious occupation of palestinians by israel. justice is justice. you shall pursue. they are talking about justice. ku have got a pack -- aipac, street across the board, and these are moral and spiritual issues. these are not just tribal. these are not identity politics. if we cannot reach a point of integrity, honesty, and decency, the use of empathy and imagination to envision another future, a better future, if we are unable to do that, we are locked in. slopede down the slippery to chaos and fascism. minutes did get a few to speak at the democratic national convention, when he saw

the attack on linda's are sore -- linda sarsour, who has traveled this country during the pandemic, demonstrating against police tally, and israeli anrican -- police brutality, israeli american said the biden -- then issued a vile biden campaign must retract and apologize. i want to go to some of those that did get to speak. a number of republicans did, including former ohohio governor john kasich. kasich: i'm su t there are

republics and independents who ululd not imagine to cross over anand vo foror aemocrat. i know the msusure oththean. it is reasonable. jealous. ben: one of the greaeat moments that 13 of our young frome spoke,, roberert garcia a state senator from tennessee, stacey abrams and julian castro were in our first class. i would love to have seen julian spoke, and he should have spoke. yoyou have to look at ththe fute anand the trendline. , theoung people that spoke

first openly gay black member of the pennsylvania state legislature, thehey represent te future. we cannot take this away fromm them. a struggle in a party between older polititicias and younger poliliticians. it's not t pretend don't see the future in the young public service whwho spoke during this conventionon. it is ththere. it shows a party that is muchh and that is being moveved in the right direction y the people of this country. the republican party is s not. to be clear with the young people of this country ist what they see in the aoc a reflection of their power to move this couountry in the right directioion. was evidence of that.

parties alwaways bring out somebody from the otheher partyo suggest weekekend rebuild the middle. we are allll hungry to get beyod the moment of division in this country. i embrbrace that. therere is no republican that represent my values. are ere s some that represent my hope? criminalis not j just justice reform we agree on, i welcome thatat day. the way we havave been able to shrink prisons i in placeses lie texas s is by finding the republicans we can work with in that moment. amy: ben, i was wondering your response to the 13-year-old boy who spoke frfrom new hampshire, braden harrington. ben: it mamade me cry. i have been involved in every presidential since jesse jackson.

i was 14 yeaears old. it was another candidate, joe bibin, who insnspired meme the first time i gave a speech to the democrats, i started soo badly -- stuttered so badly, an old hipippie woman came up totoe wi a a meditatn n tape and slipped it to me, listen to this.. painfnful.ly i know what joe biden has m meat to all of us who stutter. even when i was s fightiting for jesse jackson's campaiaign, he s inin a dfeferent placece in that race. the fact that he has grown upp with a stututter and foundnd his voice was as t transformative fr me as s the candidate i was pushing in thatt primary so many years ago. west, ially, cornel

began by saying you were in charlottesville, where basically hoods,n without where they felt safe enough not to hide their identities. theme next week for the republicans will be going after anti-fascist's, those charged with murder or attacks have been overwhelmingly proud boys. we were standing as part of an anti-fascist , the same logic of pushing biden and harris across the line but telling the truth in charlottesville. broad.lition was

you saw at the convention colin powell, not my political friend, but he is a brother. we have the revolutionary communist party, carl dix talking about voting for biden against the fascists but not fetishizing the vote, thinking biden is going to be this salvation figure or that biden has principles and integrity that relate to poor and working people. knows the mass incarceration movement, you h he a whole lot of folks who stutter who went to jail becauause of bideden, a whole lot of folks in iraq who stutter who died because of biden. you cannot have a soul with

massive militarism, massive wall street greed. we talked about this on the campaign with brother bernie. amy: i i'm going to come e backr your final comomment. cornel west and then jeaus, please stay th us for a few more mututes. ♪ [mus break] amy:y: this is d democracy n no, democracynow.org.

i am amy goodman. j jn lewis isis lying in statee in thehe u.s. capital. how do you think historyry will remember j john lewis?? >> i don''t know.. i don'n't knowow john lelewis. he chosese not to come to my the mimigration. i never m met -- my inaugugurat. i never r met john lewis.. >> do you find him i impressive? >> i cannot say one way y or the other. i find a lot o of people impressive. i find a lot of people notot impressive. he did not c come to my cannot duration. he didid not come e to my -- my inauguration. he did not come to my state of the union speeches. nobody has done more for black americans. i think he should have come. >> taking g your relationshiouot of it, do you find h his story

impresesve? > he e was a person who d dea lot of energy toto civil rights, but there were many others a al. amamy: therere were many othersd he did not c come to m my statef the union. your final c comments, preresidt trtrump saying he has done more for black people. cowardly isis the most and corrupt president t we have ever seen.n. what i woululd say to my good friend dr. west, who has inspired me my entire adult life and whwho has been n a real fri, prophphetic voice in polititics must do o two things. one is to be honesest about whee we arere and the othther is to e honest a about where we cacan bb in our church, we claimed the victory in advance and then we

mamake it real. there is a a day coming when w e will have medicare for all, when we will transform public safety, beginssing to that day with getting donalald trump outf offifice. west, 30rnel seconds. cornel west. prof. west: that is true. i i agree with brother ben. it is not just that medicare will come. we have to point out who the major obstacles are. those obstacles are big pharmaceutical companies, private insurance who often provide money to the politicians who remain stuck in the middle ground rather than pushing. i'm with you, i am with you brother. amy: we will e end the discussi, but we continue the conversation as always. next week, we cover the

republican national convention. thank you for being with us. that does it for our broadcast.

is "al jazeera." >> hello. you are watching the news live from london. coming up, cleared to fly. russian doctors say opposition leader -- the opposition leader can be moved to germany for medical treatment. a new cease-fire is announced libya's recognized goverernment, with the backing of rivals in the east.