09/22/23 09/22/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we have personal news to share with you this morning. our bus rupert murdoch is transitioning from chair of our parent company fox corporation. amy: rupert murdoch is stepping down as head of his right-wing media empire. we will talk to the head of media matters who says murdoch's legacy is one of deceit, destruction, and death. then to israel.

pres. biden: even where we have differences, -- ironclad. i think -- amy: president biden has invited israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to the white house after the two met on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly. critics say biden is embracing israel's apartheid system. plus, we will speak to congressmember ro khanna as republican infighting could soon lead to a government shutdown. house speaker kevin mccarthy has warned that far right lawmakers want to "burn the whole place down." plus, we will talk about the uaw strike as the auto workers threaten to expand their strike today against the big three. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. house speaker kevin mccarthy has dismissed lawmakers for an extended weekend after a handful

of republican hardliners rebelled and blocked an $886 billion pentagon spending bill. mccarthy blamed members of his caucus for wanting to burn the whole place down, he said. their defection makes it increasingly likely the federal government will shut down on october 1 when funding for federal agencies expires. on thursday, democratic congressmember ilhan omar blasted republicans for demanding massive cuts to social programs. >> now a lot some of the most radical cuts to health care, to housing assistance, to food as instants come to the post office, and nearly every program under the sun. all while doing nothing to rein in our nearly $3 trillion budget or the trillions they have handed out to millionaires and billionaires. amy: meanwhile, the pentagon says it will exempt its ukraine operations from any government shutdown to allow it to continue

training ukrainian soldiers and shipping arms to kyiv. we'll have more on the congressional budget fight later in the broadcast with california congressmember ro khanna. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy has arrived in canada after wrapping up a visit to washington, d.c., where he met thursday with u.s. lawmakers, military leaders, and president joe biden. during a speech at the national archives, zelenskyy thanked the u.s. for the $113 billion in aid to ukraine approved by congress, saying the money is helping to prevent a wider war in europe. >> if we fall, half of your would be in danger of being in moscow's sphere of influence. global protection of freedom is working 100% every cent . amy: meanwhile, poland's prime minister says he will no longer send arms to ukraine and will instead focus on arming poland

with modern weaponry. the move comes amid a trade dispute that's seen poland ban imports of ukrainian grain and other food products. in an historic victory for indigenous communities, brazil's supreme court has blocked efforts led by agribusiness-backed lawmakers to enforce a time limit for making claims to ancestral territory. the case argued indigenous groups were only entitled to land that they physically occupied when the 1988 brazilian constitution was signed. many indigenous communities were expelled from their ancestral territory over the course of decades, including during the military dictatorship. nine of the 11 justices sided with indigenous people, who gathered outside the supreme court in brasília thursday in an emotional celebration following news of the ruling. many wept with joy, others danced. >> we are getting emotional. we are happy and we cried because we know it is protecting

indigenous territory that be able to stop climate change from happening and preserve our biome . we are responsible for it. amy: in guatemala, demonstrations have continued nationwide in support of progressive president-elect bernardo arevalo and his semilla political party as prosecutors seek to derail the results of august's runoff election and prevent arevalo from taking office in january. protesters are demanding the resignation of corrupt prosecutors, backed by guatemala's right wing business and political elite, who've launched several investigations against arevalo and semilla on alleged election fraud and irregularities in the party's registration. international observers have said there is no evidence backing these claims. a reveler rallied supporters outside -- arevalo rallied supporters outside the supreme court in guatemala city earlier this week. >> when the institutions ask us

to mobilize and defend democracy and today we're here in an act of defense of democracy. amy: on tuesday, thousands of indigenous leaders took to the streets blocking major highways. in new york, brazilian president luiz inacio lula da silva warned world leaders about the prospect of a coup unfolding in guatemala . >> there is a risk of a coup that would impede the inauguration of the winter of democratic elections. amy: in immigration news, the biden administration announced wednesday it's granting work permits and temporary protection from deportation to nearly half a million venezuelans. migrants from venezuela who were already in the u.s. as of july 31 can apply for temporary protected status. the relief will last for 18 months and comes after a massive push led by immigration rights activists demanding work authorization for the tens of thousands of migrants who've arrived at the u.s. in recent months. in related news, a three-year-old migrant child has

died after being swept away by the current of the rio grande along the texas border with mexico. texas officials also recovered another migrant presumed to have drowned in the river. boys were installed to block migrants from crossing into the u.s.. earlier this month, federal judge ordered reg abbott to remove the dangerous floating water barrier. the ruling was temporarily caused after texas filed an appeal. india has suspended visas for canadian nationals as tensions continue to escalate between the two nations. andy rejected the claim and accused canada of harboring sikh separatist terrorists. both countries have expelled diplomats. the ap is reporting canada's

claim is based on surveillance of indian diplomats in canada and intelligence provided by an unnamed ally from the "five eyes" intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes the u.s., the u.k., australia, and new zealand. billionaire media tycoon rupert murdoch announced thursday he is stepping down as the leader of his media empire and will put his son lachlan murdoch in charge. is fast media holdings include the right-wing tv network fox news, which has been plagued by a series of scandals around sexual harassment and reporting lies including around trump's loss in the 2020 election. we will have more after headlines. in france, police released journalist ariane lavrilleux thursday, two days after her home was raided and she was arrested over her reporting. writing for the website disclose, lavrilleux reported on a leak that said french intelligence was used by egyptian forces to target smugglers along the libya-egypt

border resulting in the killing of civilians. reporting said french were complicit in bombings between 2016 and 2018. she also wrote about various arms trades in egypt, libya, saudi arabia, the uae, and russia. amnesty international chief agnès callamard said -- "it is deeply chilling that, almost two years after the revelations that france was allegedly complicit in the extrajudicial executions of hundreds of people in egypt, it is the journalist who exposed these atrocities that is being targeted, rather than those responsible." on thursday, lavrilleux spoke at a news conference at the paris office of reporters without borders shortly after her release. she deplored the lack of political support for her case and called on parliamentarians to investigate abuses by french intelligence services. >> all these people remain silent. it is very disquieting for our democracy.

do not ask question post democracy dies in darkness. as the slogan goes, this is the very political essentially democratic matter. amy: in louisiana, a new lawsuit accuses officers in a street crimes unit of the baton rouge police department of unlawfully arresting people and torturing them in an unmarked warehouse dubbed the brave cave. ternell brown, a 47-year-old grandmother, says she was arrested at a traffic stop in june after officers falsely told her it was illegal to store her prescription medications in a single bottle. rather than being processed at the local jail, brown alleges she was taken to the warehouse where she was stripped naked and subjected to invasive body cavity searches. she was released without charge about two hours later. this is the second federal lawsuit against the baton rouge police. in another suit, 21-year-old jeremy lee, who is black, alleges officers strip searched him in public before bringing him to the warehouse where he was brutally beaten by officers who turned off their body

cameras. former trump white house aide cassidy hutchinson has accused rudy giuliani of groping her on january 6, 2021, shortly before the capitol insurrection. in her new book "enough," hutchinson described giuliani slipping his hand "under my blazer, then my skirt" while they were backstage at trump's speech. a giuliani spokesperson has denied the claim. meanwhile, the lawyer who had been leading giuliani's defense in his litany of legal challenges sued giuliani for the $1.3 million he owes his law firm. this comes as georgia election workers ruby freeman and shaye moss said in a court filing thursday that giuliani has failed to comply with a federal judge's order to turn over evidence and pay $89,000 in legal fees their lawyers as part of their defamation case. and in labor news, the united auto workers union says it is escalating its stand up strike against the big three u.s. automakers today unless

significant progress is made at the bargaining table. uaw president shawn fain will announce the auto plants that will join workers on the picket line at gm, ford, and stellantis. amid soaring profits and ceo compensation, workers are demanding better wages, an end to tiered pay, cost-of-living adjustments, a return to defined benefit pensions, and a 32-hour work week. separately, uaw workers in tuscaloosa, alabama, have launched a strike at their plant, which produces parts for mercedes-benz. >> because of inflation right now. the wages we have, not -- it does not meet our needs. the benefit package they offered us, can't afford it. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. media billionaire rupert murdoch made a surprise announcement thursday that he is stepping down from his media empire and will put his son lachlan murdoch in charge.

rupert murdoch is 92 years old. in november, he will transition to become chairman emeritus of both fox corporation and news corporation. lachlan murdoch will become chairman of news corp. and continue his position as chief executive officer of fox corp. murdoch's media empire began in australia. 1952. it quickly expanded. in 1969, he bought one of britain's oldest newspapers, "news of the world" which he then shut down in 2011 after the tablet was accused of eavesdropping on phone calls and hacking voicemails of missing children, families of soldiers killed in action, and others. this is rupert murdoch testifying before the british parliament's culture and media committee in 2011. his question by labor mp tom watson. >> mr. murdoch, at what point

did you find out that criminality was endemic at the news of the world? >> endemic is a very hard -- is a very wide-ranging word, and i also had to be extremely careful not to prejudice the course of justice which is taking place now. that has been disclosed. i became aware as it became apparent. amy: the british parliamentary committee concluded rupert murdoch and his son james showed "willful blindness" about the scale of phone hacking at "news of the world." the next year, a parliamentary report concluded rupert murdoch was "not a fit person" to run a major international media company. this is british labour mp tom watson in 2012. >> everybody in the world knows who is responsible for the wrongdoing of news corp., rupert murdoch. more than any individual alive, he is to blame.

morally, the deeds are his. he paid the piper. this is his company, his culture, his people, his business, his failures, his lies, his crimes. amy: meanwhile, here in the united states, the right-wing tv network fox news under rupert murdoch has long served as the arm of the republican party and paste a a series of sexual harassment scandals. in 2016, the chair and ceo of fox news roger ailes was forced to resign amid multiple accusations of sexual harassment, along with prime time host bill o'reilly. this was rupert murdoch's response in 2017 on the sky news channel, which he founded. >> how harmful is the whole

allegations been for the business? >> was a problem with our chief executive. sort of -- as soon as we investigated, he was out. three or four days. nothing else since then. amy: rupert murdoch's resignation comes after fox news settled a defamation lawsuit with dominion voting systems over 2020 election lies for nearly $800 million. fox news is still facing a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit from smartmatic. michael wolff, author of the new book "the fall: the end of fox news and the murdoch dynasty," reports murdoch was "frothing at the mouth" in anger at donald trump. for more, we are joined by angelo carusone, president of media matters. he has closely followed murdoch and released a statement that murdoch's legacy is one of

deceit, destruction, and death. welcome back to democracy now! can you respond to the surprise announcement yesterday? >> i think one of the things -- the two things i felt immediately was, one, to make sure his legacy does not get sugarcoated. that we are cognizant of the scale of damage that he has created. it is not just the kuro charter of corruption and lies that tom watson was representing, but the long tail of some of his active campaigns, in particular against climate change. i don't think there's a single person or entity in the world that is done more to promote climate to nihilism -- denialism . rupert murdoch was significant. to make sure the legacy does not get sugarcoated. the second was to ring the alarm bell which is that lachlan murdoch will be worse and many respects. things will get both more

chaotic and extreme. amy: let's talk about whether rupert is stepping back. will he be in charge behind the scenes? talk more about lachlan murdoch and james murdoch, who in fact will ultimately be in charge. >> that is a good point. that is also getting glossed over in the coverage. the statement were rupert murdoch's announcement was made, one of the things it also simultaneously emphasized was he still intends to be heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the media properties. i think when they say that, they mean fox news. he goes to the fox offices significantly more than lachlan murdoch does. lachlan murdoch mostly operates out of australia. he calls in to engage in some events but he does not really run the place in the same way rupert murdoch has. according to the statement, rupert murdoch will still be there. there will be a shadow of

murdoch and i think in some respects the culture will be sustained in part because of his presence. from a decision-making capacity, at minimum, lachlan murdoch will have a lot more latitude to be the ultimate and final decision-maker, which is something he shared with rupert murdoch up to this point. you will be able to set the vision for the strategic investment of the business. i think that will be the one difference. but day to day, we're not going to feel much except the fact lachlan murdoch has a tolerance for more extreme content that even rupert murdoch test. amy: it should not be a surprise to many given he is 92 years old, but some are saying that the reason he stepped down so quickly, the surprise announcement, was because he does not want to testify in the smart medic case. explain what happened. you have this corporation that now has to pay nearly $800 million to dominion -- explain

what that was about, and now smartmatic $2.7 billion. >> it is hard to overstate just how damaging for fox corporation rupert murdoch deposition was in the dominion case. it was a devastating deposition that had consequences not just for the case but for the future of his companies. just before the deposition started, rupert and lachlan murdoch were going to reemerge his companies. that was something they were undertaking. a few days after the deposition, they could no longer make the case to the shareholders of news corp. it would be a viable merger. they had a scott -- had to scuttle those plays. rupert murdoch undermine fox's defense. one of the defenses was claiming the fox host were not advancing

and making the claims themselves , they were simply giving -- covering the claims other people were making. during his deposition, rupert murdoch repeatedly said the fox hosts were endorsing him. that eliminated one of fox's major defenses. in part, it undermine the case. from a legal perspective, there is value in trying to make subsequent depositions, well, he is not in charge anymore so you might be able to get discovery but you should not treat him the way you would treat an active decision-maker. i think that will be a tough argument for them to make, but it does give them an additional leg to stand on. i think that is part of it. the other part, things are not great at fox right now. they have suffered about a 30% loss in their audience ever since tucker carlsen left. that audience has not come back. they don't have the same power and influence they had.

fox and his media properties are as much about profit as they are about power. is that power starts to diminish, you sort of lose the incentive. i think those are the two pieces that led to this motivation. it makes it clear because it will be a tumultuous period, having just one decision-maker that can be pointed to i think makes it easier for that person to navigate the sort of terrain. obviously, that is reflection of leadership. he wanted to signal that often will be the 1 -- lachlan murdoch will be weathering the storms ahead. amy: it might surprise you that rupert murdoch hates donald trump given the role of fox when it comes to trump's run for the presidency, but before and now. explain what that relationship is all about, angelo. >> rupert murdoch has always

thought trump was a creature of tablets and not somebody that should be taken seriously. that was unpredictable and volatile. that is something that rupert murdoch does not like, volatility. one of the things that fox news did is they sort of built the demand amongst the republican base for the types of claims that tromped for that echoed and made him popular. fox news made trump acceptable to the republican party. fox news introduced a lot of the lies that trump parroted during the 2016 election. rupert murdoch had a hand in making the republican party more extreme, and on top of that, as trump started to -- that first hustled her in 2016 primaries where trump started to criticize fox were not being supportive of him enough, trump won that fight. he was able to leapfrog fox news and speak directly to the audience i get the fox news audience to pressure fox to be

more supportive and sympathetic. ever since then, there has been this weird tension were rupert murdoch accepted he could use him. in the early days of the trump administration, rupert murdoch spoke to him regularly. he was trying to pressure trump to getting cnn's parent company to force a spinoff of cnn so he could make another run to try to buy it. he was try to leverage the power of the presidency in order to further advantages his political and his business interests. it is something rupert murdoch -- he does is all across the road, since his media properties to identify political people he could put into the positions as the heads of government because that gives him influence and he can get a return on investment. there has always been this tension. i think during the wake of dominion, industry sun came out in the intro ultimately rupert murdoch blames donald trump for the position fox was in.

he is wrong about that. it was an active decision by fox to amplify and help build the case the election was stolen based on these fabrications analyze, but he is right about one thing. fox was stuck between a rock and a hard place. they would experience blowback from their audience if they did not do more to cap those election lies. part of that is trump at the main part is because fox news built these appetites amongst a very large part of our country and audience that they did not really have a choice but to continue to feed those appetites with these lies. amy: angelo carusone, media matters has a piece. explain his politics and his brothers politics james murdoch. >> i think the 2 -- there's this idea that somehow james murdoch is a liberal. he is not. lachlan murdoch is not a

liberal. he is much more a reflection of his father's politics. they differ on a few major things. one is james murdoch and lachlan murdoch differ on climate change. trips murdoch believes it will destroy the world -- james murdoch believes it will destroy the world. you have an obligation to tell the truth about climate change. lachlan murdoch believes the climate is overhyped and it is an effort by liberals and elites to exercise control over the general public. that is a major difference. the other difference is lachlan murdoch was not -- whether or not he believed the lies about the election, he was tolerant of them. he actively helped spread misinformation june the 2020 election by calling into producers and saying, hey, that host is not giving enough credence to these attacks on the election, better get them to change their coverage in real time. he had an active hand in shifting fox's direction around

that. james murdoch would argue that is bad, destructive, should not be doing that. they had other difference is around politics. during black lives matter, james murdoch. there did need to be more discussion around racial reckoning where lachlan murdoch was more in the tucker carlson camp, endorsed white culture is being systematically destroyed and eliminated by elites. at its core, lachlan murdoch is much more of a conservative and his worldview is a bit more brutal than his dad's. his dad is still a believer and building things. these things are instruments of deceit and power and profit, but he created news companies and media outlets. there is a sentimentality that rupert murdoch right at minimum grounded how far he was willing

to go. at its core, he was trying to create businesses. lachlan murdoch is a bit more of a nihilist. that means there's not much of a core there that will tether him. if it serves a short-term interest, he will engage in it. what that means is they will burn brighter and hotter. amy: a book with the new york times" reported james murdoch has raised the possibility he would seek to rally this to sisters devote with him to wrest control of the company away from lachlan murdoch after their father's death. these to be people talked about if rupert murdoch dies, -- rather, when rupert murdoch dies, change to "if" he ever dies. >> the way the companies are structured, they're owned by a trust. the trust that rupert murdoch exercises total control over the trust while he is alive but when he dies each of his children get

an equal vote. there are four of them. james has to rally his siblings and lachlan murdoch would not be in control anymore. that is in cordon -- important. he does not have a long runway. if you are looking murdoch any of these resources to make investment, you know your time is limited and the fog is taking. it is in his interest to make as many moves as he once as fast as possible so he has a chance to do them because he does know right around the bend, james is going to try to wrestle control of the company away from him. this succession battle is not over. we're basically in the semifinals right now and when rupert murdoch passes, there will be an additional battle. i think lachlan murdoch is hoping he can maneuver the company in a way that somehow he is able to insulate himself from

secession battle or spinoff the things that are most important him. there was some talk about spinning a fox and buying it for supper company. there are a lot of maneuvers that remain to be seen. amy: fast we wrap, we look at news of the world, one of the oldest tablets in britain, it closed -- or duck closed almost overnight after it was awash in scandal. yet michael wolff who just wrote a biography who told vanity fair , speaking about fox, i think it will cease to exist in the present form. do you see that possibly happening? could fox be sold off to someone like elon musk? >> i think fox news in its current form will no longer exist and we're starting to see that happen. most recently, with the debate,

they did not have streaming rights. they share it. that would have been unheard of. for the last 25 years, fox news and rush limbaugh were the center of gravity among the massive right-wing media echo chamber. they were the conductor for this course. right now the right wing media is without a conductor. they don't exert the same influence, the ratings are down. the business fundamentals are changing. they don't really have a plan for what happens on the others have all these changes in consumption habits though. the one thing that isn't going to change is what happens with these cable fights. about 70% of fox revenue is up for grabs right now because they're trying to renew their contracts with these cable companies. they're trying to get massive increases in what cable companies pay them.

if they're successful, then fox news will look and feel the same for at least the next six years. if they are not as successful, then fox will start to adjust and weaken faster because they will be a profitable company anymore, which would never have been conceivable even six months ago that fox would not be profitable. i do believe the changes in the landscape, consumption habits, and for the first time ever they are not really sitting at the center of gravity. that could be worse for all of us because it depends on who comes in. the right wing landscape right now is blood thirsty. it could also mean they never get another conductor and a right-wing media is only as powerful when it functions as an echo chamber. if it does not have an echo -- if it does not have a conductor, then it is just noise. angelo carusone amy:angelo carusone, thank you for being with us president of media , matters.

next up, president biden has invited the israeli prime minister bridgman netanyahu to the white house after the two met on the sidelines of the u.n. general sibley. critics say biden is in bracing israel's apartheid system. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. protesters are planning to gather today outside the united nations where israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is scheduled to address the u.n. general assembly. on wednesday, president biden met with netanyahu on the side lines of the unga in their first meeting since netanyahu returned to office in december as the head of the most right-wing government in israel's history. biden reportedly invited netanyahu to the white house for a future meeting. in recent months, the biden administration has criticized the gutting of the judiciary by netanyahu's far-right government and its expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied west bank. but the biden administrations

continues to send israel $3.8 billion in annual military funding to help israel run what many human groups describe as an apartheid state. so far this year, israeli forces have killed at least 240 palestinians, including six on tuesday, the day before biden and netanyahu met. this is president biden speaking as their meeting began. pres. biden: we will discuss some of the hard issues. upholding democratic values, including checks and balances in our systems and preserving a path to a negotiated two state solution. and ensuring iran never acquires a nuclear weapon. because it given where we have some differences, my commitment to israel is ironclad. i think without israel, there is not --

amy: during the meeting, biden also pushed for israel to reach a deal to fully normalize relations with saudi arabia. today's protest against netanyahu is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. outside the united nations. a key organizer of the demonstration is jewish voice for peace. beth miller, the political director of jewish voice for peace action, spoke to democracy now! >> this morning israeli prime minister benjamin is going to be addressing the united nations general assembly and is going to be attempting to justify the government violence and racism against palestinians. and he is honest certainly going to falsely claim that his government's brutality against palestinians somehow protects jews. that is simply not true. so today, the new york city chapter of jewish voice for peace is taking to the streets in front of the u.n. to protest.

right now the israeli government is demolishing palestinian homes, throwing children into military prisons, locking minds of people in gaza under military blockade, so we're going to be making it clear that no leaders of this government, including netanyahu, are welcome in new york city. more important, it is time for the u.s. government to end the flow of $3.8 billion every single year to the israeli the terry. amy: we are joined now by two guests. alex kane is a senior reporter for jewish currents. his new piece is titled "biden's legacy will be apartheid." and yousef munayyer is a palestinian american analyst and is the head of the israel-palestine program at arab center washington, d.c. we welcome you both to democracy now! alex kane, that's begin with you, that title "biden's legacy will be apartheid." many would say biden has been critical of what many describe

as israel's most far right government in its history. talk about the significance of this meeting with netanyahu this week and inviting him to the white house. >> thank you, amy. the meeting at the u.n. general assembly was notable for where it was not. it was not at the white house. that was taken israel and the united states as a rebuke of netanyahu for pursuing the far right agenda to gut the power of the israeli judiciary, which biden is concerned with because biden sees israel as a fellow liberal democracy. the fact the u.n. general assembly rather than the white house was a symbolic rebuke. biden's state department has issued many statements of condemnation of israel's plans in the west bank when they build little settlements and --

illegal settlements and outposts and kill palestinians, including palestinian americans. the state department repeatedly has told israel to calm down the situation in the west bank. these are merely symbolic rebukes. the biden administration has refused to even think about conditioning its military aid on respective palestinian human rights. they have shielded the country from pressure at the united nations over illegal settlements , and have continued to stress the importance of the u.s.-israel alliance. we should be clear biden is deeply uncomfortable with this far right israeli government because it has an agenda at odds with how biden conceives of israel, but he continues to support israel with money and diplomatic support. so when biden says his support for israel is ironclad, it basically means it is unconditional. even as it consolidates an

apartheid rule and escalates at the cleansing processes going on right now. nermeen: -- amy: and when joe biden ran for president come he said he would make mohammed bin salman a pariah for the assassination of "washington post cultural columnist jamal khashoggi, but now the was pushing for normalization relations between israel and saudi arabia. >> biden believes the fundamental route of sort of conflict in the middle east that israel is involved with his air of rejection of israel as a jewish state. as a result, he is doubling down on trump-era normalization deals in exchange for dropping plans to declare annexation of the

west bank. israel normalize ties with united arab emirates as well as bahrain and morocco. when biden came in come he decided to pursue this. now with saudi arabia, he is looking to basically bring israel, saudi arabia together, with some serious u.s. guarantees -- there is talk of the u.s. defense treaty with both saudi arabia and israel which would binder u.s. to come to the defense of these two repressive countries. really what the abraham accords will do, there's a lot of talk about how this will help the palestinians who were under brutal military occupation. but what saudi normalization with israel would do with u.s. help would be to further isolate and marginalize palestinians. it is not going to help regional peace, will further consolidate apartheid. this time with the blessing of the most important muslim state

in the region posted and code let's bring yousef munayyer into this conversation -- region. amy: let's bring yousef munayyer into the conversation. as biden and netanyahu met, a day after six palestinians were killed by israeli forces. can you talk about the significance of this? that is about 240 palestinians that have been killed by israeli forces so far this year. >> thank you for having me. that is correct. in 2022, last year, united nations noted it was the single deadliest year for palestinians in the west bank being killed by the israeli military in nearly two decades of them keeping track of those numbers. the pace we are seeing for 2023 looks to go over the numbers

from the record-setting year the year before. i think if we are to describe the biden administration as anyway critical of the israeli government and netanyahu in particular, we need to put that kind of criticism in perspective and the extreme context which we are seeing on the ground of unprecedented violence against palestinians on a daily basis. not just being carried out by the israeli military, which as you noted as been accused by various human rights organizations of committing the crime of apartheid, but also violence against palestinians at the hands of israeli settlers who are running amok in the west bank, feeling a sense of support from an extremist government in

ways they have never felt before. and really conducting attacks on palestinians with a sense of impunity. and all of this is happening alongside of course this israeli government attempting to match -- massive power grab to assure right-wing forces in israel remain in power for years to come. so while we have heard some mild criticism from the biden administration, particularly around these judicial issues, that criticism does not match the extreme situation on the ground. in fact, it seems completely ignorant of the very dangerous realities. couple that with the fact the biden administration is also doing for netanyahu things that other administrations have not been willing or able to do before. this american administration is racing toward granting israel

entry into the u.s. visa waiver program, something that israel has sought for many years that the biden administration seems willing to bend over backwards to accommodate even if it means accepting the discrimination of palestinian-americans traveling into and through israeli -controlled borders. it is working on providing netanyahu with perhaps his biggest political achievement in normalizing ties with saudi arabia. when one considers the degree of severity of the situation on the ground, the rampant violence against palestinians, the way this extreme right-wing government is dedicated to annexation and destroying any possibilities of peace, and then puts that alongside what this administration is actually doing , it is hard to think of this administration as anyway critical but rather providing full support for continued apartheid.

amy: do you see a difference in concrete ways between the biden policy toward israel and trump's policy toward israel? >> in some ways, the biden administration policy is worse because i think it is more hypocritical. with trump, you had this at no nationalist approach that was at least in harmony with what the israelis were trying to do and what other right-wing leaders across the world were trying to do. with the biden administration, have language about human rights being at the center of foreign policy but the reality is completely different. you see this not just with israel but with saudi arabia, the administration is normalizing its relations with after calling them a pariah a few years ago, see that as well with india, which has just been accused of gruesome act of

repression in neighboring canada . and many people have been outspoken and criticizing the human rights violations of the modi regime in india that the biden administration welcomed with red carpet here for a state visit earlier this year. so the biden administration you hear talk about democracy and human rights, but the reality is quite the contrary. i think that hypocrisy is what separates the most from donald trump. because you knew what you were getting with donald trump and he was quite honest about it. with the biden administration, you hear talk about democracy but the reality is they are supporting apartheid and authoritarianism in many places around the globe. amy: alex kane, do you see jewish public opinion in the united states shifting around israel and the occupation of the palestinian territories? >> yes.

particularly amongst young people. but not just young people, people are waking up and particularly now as netanyahu's extremist government puts on display a shocking level of violence. we have over 1000 palestinians that have been displaced this year. villages wiped off the map. young american jews and not just young american jews are waking up and seeing this but that is not being reflected in the organized american jewish establishment which continues to lobby the u.s. government to support israel as it does. so there is a real cap between jewish public opinion and what the organized american jewish community is telling the biden administration to do. amy: alex kane, thank you for being with us senior reporter , for jewish currents. we will into your piece "biden's legacy will be apartheid."

and yousef munayyer is a palestinian american analyst and is the head of the israel-palestine program at arab center washington, d.c. next up, we speak with california congressmember ro khanna as republican infighting could soon lead to a government shutdown and more. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. we turn now to congress and the shutdown showdown. house speaker kevin mccarthy has accused right-wing extremists in the house of wanting to "burn

the whole place down" after a handful of republican hardliners rebelled and blocked a pentagon spending bill. it is becoming increasingly likely the federal government will shut down on october 1 because fighting within the republican caucus has prevented mccarthy from being able to pass any spending bills. on thursday, mccarthy sent lawmakers home for an extended weekend. this is house speaker mccarthy talking to reporters thursday after the latest setback. >> it is frustrating in the sense i don't understand why anybody goes against bringing the idea of having a debate. this is a whole new concept. they want to burn the place down. it doesn't work. amy: we're joined by democratic congressmember ro khanna to talk about the possible shutdown as well as the uaw strike and other issues. welcome back to democracy now! so what does this shut down mean

if it were to happen? talk about whether you think house speaker mccarthy is going to use his position as speaker. >> it is chaos here. the sad thing is, it has a real impact on americans. if you need a social security check or something from the government, now it is a 35 minute wait time. it used to be hours to get anyone of the government shuts down. our military would not get paid if we cannot pass a defense appropriation bill. millions of workers in the federal government would not get paid. they may get back pay, but if someone is living on $50,000, $60,000, how are they going to pay rent or mortgage? it is highly irresponsible. just this morning we finally have one republican mike moeller saying he may side with democrats, sign a discharge petition to get the government funded. if we can get five or six

reasonable republicans to do that, we can ever this crisis. it mccarthy has failed to do the most basic function of the speaker the house, keep the government open and functioning. amy: what does that mean when the government shuts down? explain who gets affected right off october 1. >> all of the federal workers get affected. military personnel would not be paid. you would not get pay if you are a federal employee. this will impact the level of services that people get at the parks, the level of services they get if you need a social security check or a government assistance for anything. it will impact our immigration services at a time where the republicans are screaming saying we are not processing immigration cases fast enough. this would slow that down. it would just be a total self-inflicted injury that would make life much harder for ordinary americans, particularly for people who serve in our

military or in the federal government in any way. amy: you also have what is going on in the senate right now with the alabama former football coach now senator tuberville stopping the confirmation of top military officials. explain how that works in coupling with the surprise that house republican members are no longer supporting funding the military. >> well, to the extent there are some house republicans who are against the bloated pentagon budget of $1 trillion, i welcome that. i interviewed lockheed martin co, 40% profit on the patriot system, and we definitely need accountability and strategic cuts in the defense contract. the problem is, you can't just stop funding our military and stop paying the troops. that is what the extreme republicans are for.

you can't do it senator tuberville is doing, which is hold up the appointment of senior military leaders and officials. that is hurting the morale of the military. if there were a conflict, it hurts our readiness. it is highly irresponsible. to my knowledge, no senator has ever done that before, holding up senior military appointments. it shows the need for systematic reform of the united states senate. amy: congressmember khanna, let's talk about the historic auto workers strike that just marked a week since close to 13,000 auto workers walked off the job. ahead of the strike, you co-authored an op-ed in the guardian with uaw president shawn fain where you wrote -- "the climate crisis and income inequality are the two greatest challenges facing our generation. this is a pivotal moment for the american economy and the workers that make it run. corporations are pushing hard to use this moment to expand their power. we're mobilizing for a new model that puts working people, climate justice, and human

rights before profit," you and the uaw president shawn fain wrote. if you can talk about this and former president trump now heading to detroit. he is attacking the uaw leadership by saying he supports the workers but going to try to drive a sort of wedge around the issue of electric vehicles and saying this kind of climate change approach will make workers lose jobs. >> shawn fain is an american hero. he is not just speaking out for uaw, he is speaking up for what the working class has wanted for the last four decades. that is what i heard on the picket line when i was out with uaw members in michigan and in toledo, ohio. he is saying these ceos are making $30 million, 300 to one the median worker wage. that is up from 20 to one in the

1960's. these big three auto companies are making 21 billion dollars in profits. they are taking that money and putting $5 billion in buying their own stock to enrich their shareholders. and yet workers, many of them are not whole from the cuts they took in 2008 where they voluntarily agreed to reduce their salaries because of the great recession. they still have not been made whole for that. it is wrong. it is a symptom of the gross income inequality in this country. shawn fain is finally standing up to it. he is going to win. they should agree to the increases that shawn fain wants. in many cases, that is just going to bring people up to the 2008 level. i believe donald trump is demagogue in the issue. his view that we should not have electric vehicles, a means all those elektra vehicles would be produced in china. of course we want to make sure

they are produced in the united states and not in china and want to make sure those jobs are good union jobs. that is what shawn fain and the uaw are fighting for. amy: hakeem jeffries walked the picket line. do you think president biden should? what do you feel about your colleague covers member debbie dingell who represents the workers at the ford plant that is on strike saying that biden should keep his distance? >> i thought hacking did a good job -- hakeem did a good job. i like to see other congressmembers got to the picket line. it would be good for president biden to come out either to a union hall or to a picket line. i know the logistics are hard. i think what congress member debbie dingell meant as the president and his team should not intervene in the negotiations. the uaw has the upper hand and we should strengthen that and

side with them and not try to preempt the negotiation in having a deal that does not get what they workers really need. amy: congressmember khanna, you serve as cochair of the congressional caucus on india and indian americans. can you talk about this growing dispute between canada and india after the canadian prime minister justin trudeau accused the indian government of assassinating a canadian sikh leader who was shot dead outside his temple in june. a canadian official has told the ap that trudeau's claim was based in part on surveillance of indian diplomats inside canada that was collected up by a member of the "five eyes" intelligence-sharing alliance. can you respond to the allegation against modi? >> there are very serious allegations and i echo what jake sullivan our state department have said that the united states needs to cooperate in a transparent investigation. and we expect a transparent investigation. and then whoever the perpetrators are to be brought

to justice. but there has to be full transparency and there has to be all the facts that come out. obviously, there are very serious allegations that i do think jake sullivan -- amy: we have to leave it there. ro