Democracy Now!

With the 2024 Summer Olympics just concluded in Paris, we look at the highlights and lowlights of the past few weeks, both on and off the field. Journalist Shireen Ahmed discusses the victories for women in sport, including Dutch runner Sifan Hassan's gold medal in the women's marathon, which she accepted at the closing ceremony wearing a hijab while France's ban on its women athletes competing in hijabs was in effect. It was a very beautiful and quiet message to women all around the world, and particularly those in France," says Ahmed, senior contributor to CBC Sports and a lecturer in the journalism program at Toronto Metropolitan University. The Nation's Dave Zirin notes that while the Olympic Games had many powerful moments, they happened against a backdrop of mass social cleansing in Paris, with thousands of migrants and unhoused people unceremoniously loaded on buses" and dumped outside the city. We have to start organizing now to make sure that the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles are not a carnival of injustice," he warns.

As Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tries to downplay his connection to the far-right policy agenda known as Project 2025, ProPublica and Documented have just published dozens of training videos by the group that show how the conservative movement is gearing up for the next Republican administration. It's an effort led by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank and other groups to remake the federal government, including by replacing civil servants with thousands of partisan political appointees who would help carry out the extreme policies envisioned by Project 2025. Many of the people who crafted the policy blueprint are former top Trump officials. The training videos include discussions about undoing climate policy, combatting diversity efforts, denying freedom of information requests and more.The first time that Trump ... got elected, his operation was very unprepared. They did not have a bench of people ready. There was chaos, there was confusion, and that set back that administration for perhaps months, maybe even a year or two," says ProPublica reporter Andy Kroll. If he is elected again, that will not be the case."

The official death toll in Gaza now stands at just under 40,000, though the true number of casualties is likely far higher with many thousands of the dead unaccounted for. In one of the deadliest attacks of the entire war, Israel on Saturday bombed the al-Tabin school in Gaza City where thousands of Palestinians had sought shelter. Officials in Gaza say over 100 Palestinians were killed in the attack, many of them while they were praying at a mosque inside the school. Many of the dead were dismembered or destroyed beyond recognition, with medics reportedly collecting body parts in plastic bags. CNN has confirmed a U.S.-made GBU-39 small diameter bomb was used in the strike, which resulted in over 100 pieces of people," says Palestinian journalist Shrouq Aila in Gaza. I'm saying 'pieces' because nobody was able to recognize the full body of their beloved ones."

Israel Used U.S. Munitions in Attack on Gaza School Killing More Than 100 Palestinians, U.S. Deploys Guided-Missile Submarine & Strike Group to Middle East, Now Is the Time to Get a Ceasefire Deal": Kamala Responds to Pro-Palestinian Protesters, Trump Falsely Claims Kamala Harris Is Using AI to Fabricate Photos of Large Crowds at Rallies, Ukraine Expands Surprise Incursion into Russia, Bangladesh's Chief Justice & Central Bank Governor Resign, U.S. Lifts Ban on Sending Offensive Arms to Saudi Arabia, Sudan Peace Talks to Go Ahead in Geneva Despite Questions over Sudan's Participation, Journalism Can Thrive, Even in the Line of Fire": Rappler Wins Battle Against Duterte Closure Order, Wall Street Journal: U.S. Offering Amnesty" to Maduro If He Concedes Venezuelan Election, Peru Passes Bill Barring Prosecution of Crimes Against Humanity Committed During 1980-2000 Conflict, Cancer Doctors, Lawyer Who Challenged Airlines Among the 62 Victims of Brazil Plane Crash, Appeals Court Extends GOP-Led Block on Biden's SAVE Student Loan Repayment Plan

Press freedom groups are raising alarm after New York police arrested and charged videographer Samuel Seligson for allegedly filming pro-Palestinian activists hurling red paint at the homes of top officials of the Brooklyn Museum, part of a campaign by activists demanding the institution divest from Israel. Seligson faces eight counts of criminal mischief with a hate crime enhancement, which is a felony. Police also raided his home twice. Seligson is a well-known local journalist whose work has appeared on major news outlets, and his attorney Leena Widdi says the charges are an attack on constitutionally protected press freedoms. It is an extremely concerning assault on the First Amendment. The reason why the freedom of press is so strongly protected is because there's some underlying belief that in order for the public to meaningfully participate in a democracy, they must be actually informed," Widdi tells Democracy Now!

We speak with the co-chair of the Uncommitted National Movement, who briefly met with Vice President Kamala Harris this week as the Democratic presidential candidate is under pressure to define her platform on Palestine. Layla Elabed spoke with Harris before her rally in Michigan to press her on a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel. I was very emotional in that brief exchange. I did feel like her sympathy and empathy towards me was very genuine, but Palestinian children cannot eat words," says Elabed. We need action."

We go to Dhaka for an update as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is sworn in to lead Bangladesh's caretaker government just days after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned and fled the country amid a wave of student-led protests over inequality and corruption. Yunus is known as the banker to the poor" and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work developing microloans that helped lift millions out of poverty. Yunus thanked Bangladeshi youth for giving the country a rebirth" and vowed to work for the public good.This is uncharted territory," says Shahidul Alam, an acclaimed Bangladeshi photojournalist, author and social activist, who has spent decades documenting human rights abuses and political and social movements in the country. Alam was jailed in 2018 for his criticism of the government and spent 107 behind bars, during which time he says he was tortured by the authorities. This repression has taken such a toll on so many people for so long, the nation is just hugely relieved."We also speak with Nusrat Chowdhury, an associate professor of anthropology at Amherst College and author of Paradoxes of the Popular: Crowd Politics in Bangladesh. She says it's very significant that student leaders are being brought into the new government and says Yunus is a rare public figure in Bangladesh who exists beyond party politics" and has the chance to unify the country.

Nations Call for Renewed Ceasefire Talks as Israel's Genocidal War Kills and Displaces More Gazans, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz Address UAW in MI; Trump Goes on Lie-Filled Rant in Florida, Kamala Harris to Debate Donald Trump on Sept. 10, A Shameful Abrogation of Responsibility": Groups Slam FEC Refusal to Rein In Political Deepfakes, Microsoft and Palantir Partner to Sell Cloud and AI Services to Pentagon, Gov. Greg Abbott Orders Texas Hospitals to Gather Patients' Immigration Status, Climate Activist Arrested as He Was Performing Bach Piece in NYC Public Plaza, Muhammad Yunus Sworn In to Lead Bangladesh's Interim Gov't, Tunisia's Pres. Kais Saied Fires PM as Main Rivals Are Sentenced to Prison Ahead of Oct. Election, Western Officials Boycott Nagasaki Commemoration Ceremony Over Exclusion of Israel, Thailand's Disbanded Opposition Party Reforms as People's Party Days After Dissolution, Catalonia to Be Led by Socialists, Ending Separatist Rule as Puigdemont Manages to Flee Spain, Pres. Maduro Blocks X for 10 Days Amid Entrenched Dispute over July Election, New Records Show Warning Calls from Sonya Massey's Mom Ahead of Police Killing, Michael Brown's Mother Still Fighting for Justice 10 Years After Her Son's Killing by Ferguson Officer

Senior United Nations officials are calling on the international community for help in getting humanitarian aid into Sudan after a famine was declared in at least one part of the Darfur region following 15 months of war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Officials say perhaps 26 million people are at risk from acute hunger, but Sudanese activist Marine Alneel warns that the true scope of the crisis could be much larger. This is a continuous pattern in Sudan that catastrophes are always underreported, they're underdocumented," says Alneel, who adds that the world can't wait for a settlement between the warring parties before acting. What matters now is for people to eat, for people to live safely, and that is not going to happen through ... the same ones who are killing us and causing us to starve."

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has published a major new report documenting how the Israeli prison system has become a network of torture camps," where physical, psychological and sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners is normalized and routine. The report, titled Welcome to Hell," collects the testimony of 55 Palestinians who were detained by Israeli authorities since October 7 and later released, almost all without charges. This comes as a group of U.N. experts condemned the widespread torture of Palestinians and as Israel's Channel 12 News aired shocking footage of Israeli soldiers sexually abusing a prisoner at the Sde Teiman army base, where thousands of detainees from Gaza are held. Sarit Michaeli, the international advocacy lead for B'Tselem, says the abuse in Israeli prisons is systemic, ongoing and state-sanctioned," reflecting the cruelty and thirst for revenge among a growing number of Israelis. They would like to have a completely open field in terms of what they can do to Palestinians," says Michaeli.

Thousands filled the streets across the United Kingdom this week in massive rallies against racism and Islamophobia, a show of unity to counter a recent surge in far-right violence. British police have arrested hundreds of right-wing rioters for carrying out a string of attacks in England and Northern Ireland targeting Muslims and migrants. While the wave of violence was partly spurred by misinformation about the identity of a suspect in a deadly stabbing spree, academic Faiza Shaheen says mainstream public figures and the media establishment are also to blame for drip-feeding poison into the ears of the public" about immigrants over many years.

WHO Sending 1.2 Million Polio Vaccines to Gaza as Israel Continues Its Genocidal War, Harris & Walz Rally in Midwest in Dueling Campaign Events with Ohio Sen. Vance, We Won't Vote for Genocide": Pro-Palestinian Protesters Disrupt Kamala Harris's Detroit Speech, Utah Orders Removal of 13 Books from Public Schools and Libraries in First Statewide Book Ban, Muhammad Yunus Returns to Bangladesh to Lead Interim Gov't, Spanish Police Launch Manhunt for Catalan Separatist Leader Puigdemont as He Returns to Barcelona, Anti-Fascist Demonstrators Take to U.K. Streets to Counter Far-Right Violence, Moscow Accuses Kyiv of Major Provocation" After Ukrainian Incursion in Kursk, Jailed Russian Pianist and War Critic Pavel Kushnir Dies; Oleg Orlov Speaks from Berlin After Release, Arizona Republican Pleads Guilty in Trump Fake Electors Case, NY County Votes to Ban Face Masks as COVID Surges in Dozens of Countries, Scientists Urge Immediate Global Action to Combat Coral Reef Destruction, Hualapai Nation Sues over Lithium Project; U.K. Police Arrest Activists over Planned Climate Action

We remember our dear colleague Simin Minou Farkhondeh, who died August 5 after a battle with cancer. She was 61 years old. Farkhondeh was a lifelong educator, filmmaker and activist who served as Democracy Now!'s education director for 13 years, helping to bring lessons on media literacy and independent journalism to thousands of students. When the COVID-19 pandemic made in-person lessons impossible, Farkhondeh used virtual online classes to expand the reach of the education program to students in countries around the world. Before joining Democracy Now!, she was part of a group from Deep Dish and Paper Tiger that produced a series in the early 1990s, before the Gulf War started, called The Gulf Crisis TV Project that challenged the rampant militarism that seemed to be leading to war. Her work has been featured at the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and elsewhere. She is survived by her partner of 20 years, Eric Hiltner, and her daughter AnaLouisa.

Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar as successor to former senior political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last week, shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's warmly received visit to the United States. Sinwar helped to found the precursor to Hamas's current militant wing and is believed to have orchestrated the organization's October 7 attack on Israel. As the region braces for a retaliatory attack on Israel from Iran, we speak to Jeremy Scahill, whose latest piece for Drop Site News details Hamas's account of the assassination, and look at how Haniyeh's death and Sinwar's ascension may affect Hamas's next moves and the course of the nearly yearlong conflict in Gaza.

We want a meeting with Vice President Harris so we can talk to her to get a commitment for an arms embargo and a ceasefire." That's the demand of uncommitted" delegates to the upcoming Democratic National Convention, who have pledged to withhold support for the Democratic presidential nominee over the Biden administration's backing of Israel's ongoing attack on the Gaza Strip. We're joined by Asma Mohammed, a DNC-bound uncommitted delegate with Uncommitted Minnesota. She shares how pro-Palestine activism has shaped the 2024 presidential race, including Kamala Harris's decision to tap Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate over Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro, who recently likened pro-Palestine protesters to the KKK. Walz has also been pretty clear in his support for Israel" but, unlike Shapiro and other politicians, has additionally demonstrated a willingness to learn and to move," says Mohammed, a Minnesota resident. Overall, she says, the choice of Walz has renewed hope for many in the uncommitted movement as a reminder that Kamala Harris is different" than President Biden and may be more receptive to restraining Israel if elected.

We look at the record and response to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's selection as Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris's new running mate. Walz is a former public school teacher and high school football coach who served 24 years in the National Guard and was elected governor in Minnesota in 2019 after six terms in Congress. After starting out as a more centrist politician, Walz began a surprising" shift toward more progressive policies, particularly in the post-Trump years, says Jacobin staff writer Branko Marcetic. His governing record includes codifying abortion rights in Minnesota, investments in education and child care, an A" rating from the NRA that eventually fell to an F," and passing additional police funding after the 2020 George Floyd protests. Walz's progressivism has major limitations," Marcetic explains, and it remains to be seen if he and Harris can turn their feel-good rhetoric into real solutions." We also examine the choice of Walz over another reported vice-presidential front-runner, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, as well as what his ultimate selection says about a changing Democratic Party.

Weird as Hell": Tim Walz Blasts Trump in His First Speech as Harris's Running Mate, Hamas Names Yahya Sinwar to Be Group's New Political Leader, Report: Israeli Military in Gaza Relying on Help from Amazon, Google & Microsoft, U.N. Experts Decry Torture in Israeli Prisons; B'Tselem Accuses Israel of Running Torture Camps", Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus to Head Bangladesh's Interim Government, Thai Court Orders Disbandment of Country's Largest Opposition Political Party, U.N. Urges Global Community to Help Sudan After Famine Declared, Rep. Cori Bush Loses Primary After AIPAC Spent Over $9 Million to Defeat Her, Migrants Launch Hunger Strike at Two Private ICE Detention Centers in California, Four Hotel Workers Charged in Murder of D'Vontaye Mitchell in Milwaukee, NYPD Charge Journalist with Hate Crimes for Filming Pro-Palestinian Direct Action, Police Chief in Marion, Kansas, to Face Charges over Raid on Newspaper & Publisher, Climate Activists Spray-Paint Lionel Messi's Mansion in Spain

Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a favorite of many progressives in the Democratic Party, to be her running mate in the 2024 presidential race. They are set to hold their first joint campaign rally this evening. We get analysis from John Nichols, The Nation's national affairs correspondent.

We look at the historic $2 billion payout by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to farmers who experienced systemic discrimination when applying to the USDA's farm loan programs. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has documented how USDA administrators routinely denied loans to Black farmers and other farmers of color for many decades, contributing to a massive decline in the amount of Black-owned farms in the United States. This is a very, very historic payout for Black farmers," says John Boyd, a fourth-generation Black farmer and founder of the National Black Farmers Association, who notes the application to receive the payout was 40 pages long. He says the group is also still fighting for a related $5 billion debt relief program. I want people to know this is a big win, and don't never, ever give up. The arc of justice bends slow; it bends slower for Black people, but I never gave up."

As voters in several states cast their ballots in primary elections Tuesday, we look at one of the most high-profile races between Missouri Congressmember Cori Bush and St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell, who is challenging her for the Democratic nomination. Bush, a member of the progressive Squad," is one of the most outspoken advocates for Palestine in Congress, and the powerful pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC has poured over $8 million into the race in an effort to defeat her. It's all meant to push out someone who stands up for Palestinian rights," says Michael Berg, a Bush supporter, whose recent essay in The Nation is titled I'm a St. Louis Jew. Here's Why I'm Backing Cori Bush."

We get an update from Dhaka, where Bangladesh's president dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, a day after the long-ruling Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country amid a wave of student protests. The military says an interim government will be formed to lead the country to new elections, but its makeup remains unclear, with many students demanding the installation of Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus as interim prime minister. More than 400 people have been killed in a violent crackdown since protests began over anger at a quota system for government jobs. We are joined by Tanjeem Arnob, a student at Brac University in Dhaka who has taken part in recent protests, and Irene Khan, U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression who served as secretary general of Amnesty International from 2001 to 2009.

In the biggest antitrust case in decades, a federal judge ruled Monday that Google illegally maintains a monopoly over the online search industry, using its market dominance to shut out competitors and limit user choice. Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for D.C. wrote in his ruling. What remedies will be demanded by the government is the next stage of the lawsuit, which is also likely to be appealed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, says antitrust expert Matt Stoller. But the ruling is certain to have far-reaching effects in Silicon Valley as Big Tech firms face increasing scrutiny over their business practices. The question has been: Who runs this country?" says Stoller. Is it a small group of people that make choices about what we can see online, or is it the public, through competition?" Stoller is research director at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy.

Middle East Braces for Possible Wider War as Tensions Boil After Israeli Attacks on Lebanon, Iran, Israel Intensifies Attacks on Occupied West Bank, Killing at Least 8 Palestinians, Israel's Far-Right Finance Minister Says Starving Gaza Is Moral" and Justified" as Child Hunger Soars, Bangladeshi Parliament Dissolved; Student Leaders Call for Muhammad Yunus to Lead Interim Gov't, Google Is a Monopolist": Federal Judge Rules Against Tech Giant in Landmark Antitrust Case, Kamala Harris Clinches Nomination in DNC Virtual Roll Call Vote, Announces Gov. Tim Walz as Running Mate, Ex-Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis Flips, Will Cooperate in 2020 Fake Electors" Case, Global Markets Rebound After Taking a Plunge over U.S. Recession Fears, WHO: Extreme Heat Causes 175,000+ Deaths in Europe Every Year, Gunmen and Farmers Attack Indigenous People in Brazil's Mato Grosso do Sul, U.S. Military Withdraws from Its Last Base in Niger, Nigeria Anti-Hunger Protests Continue Amid Violent Crackdown, Nigeria, Kenya, Indonesia and Others Warn Citizens in U.K. to Be Vigilant Amid Far-Right Riots, Gymnasts Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles Make History in First-Ever All-Black Podium, Peace Activists Shine Light on Gaza as Japan Marks 79th Anniversary of Hiroshima Bombing

We get an update on the case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi, three of the men alleged to have planned the 9/11 attacks on the United States. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin surprised observers Friday by revoking a plea deal that would have commuted the three men's sentences to life. Our first guest, Shayana Kadidal, the managing attorney of the Guantanamo project at the Center for Constitutional Rights, questions the legality of Austin's override of the prosecutor-supported deal. The revocation means the three men could once again face the death penalty for their roles. We also speak to Terry Rockefeller, a member of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Rockefeller, who supports the plea deal, lost her sister Laura in the attacks on the World Trade Center. She expresses frustration over continued delays to the prosecution. I'm so sad for our country that we haven't been able to grapple with the mistakes that were made in handling this case," she says. Had family members actually gotten all the opportunities that the plea agreement promised us, many, many of them would have been satisfied."

According to new reporting by The Washington Post, the Egyptian government attempted to funnel $10 million in cash to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, leading to a previously undisclosed Department of Justice investigation into the transaction. The investigation went nowhere, with Trump's Attorney General Bill Barr ordering it closed due to a lack of sufficient evidence." Meanwhile, Trump approved millions of dollars of military aid to the government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has been in power since 2013. Carol Leonnig, the reporter who broke the story at The Washington Post, explains that the money, if it did reach the at-the-time cash-starved" Trump campaign, will have amounted to bribery. However, notes Leonnig, the window for prosecuting anyone involved in the transaction has largely passed following the aborted investigation.

In Venezuela, tensions are rising over the contested results of last Sunday's presidential election. In the latest developments, opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez published a count of thousands of vote tally sheets alleging that he received more votes than sitting President Nicolas Maduro, who is claiming to have secured a third term fairly. Protesters from both sides have taken to the streets; more than a dozen have been killed by Venezuelan armed forces. Maduro has called for a new revolution" if the U.S. and other foreign actors continue to back his opposition and dispute the integrity of the election. We hear opinions from both camps on the show today. There's no doubt that Maduro lost these elections," says Venezuelan sociologist Edgardo Lander, who contends that sufficient evidence of Maduro's win that's expected and established by the law is completely absent," while legal scholar Nina Farnia, who served as electoral observer in this year's election, says she witnessed a free and fair election process" and supports the Electoral Council's decision.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and fled the country after weeks of student-led protests against government nepotism, corruption and repression. The demonstrations have been met with lethal police force, resulting in over 300 deaths. Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's first president, had led the country since 2009. Though the protests were initially focused on nepotism in the quota system for government jobs, the violent crackdown expanded protesters' demands, including calling for Hasina's ouster. It was amazing" to see this demand fulfilled in just two days," says our guest Taqbir Huda, a researcher at Amnesty International. Bangladesh's military has agreed to hand power to an interim government, though Huda warns that the country's previous history of military rule could pose a danger to maintaining democracy.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Resigns, Flees Country After Bloody Weekend, Weeks of Protests, U.S. Sends More Military to Middle East Amid Threats of Retaliation After Israel's Assassinations, Israeli Attacks on Shelters for Displaced Gazans Kill Dozens, Most of Them Children, Far-Right Protests Roil U.K. in Aftermath of Deadly Stabbing Attack That Killed 3 Girls, Kamala Harris Gets Enough Votes to Clinch DNC Nom as Trump Pulls Out of Debate, WaPo: Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi May Have Bribed Trump for $10 Million in 2017, Sudan's Paramilitary RSF Continues Deadly Attack on El Fasher as U.N. Warns Famine Could Spread, Al-Shabab Claims Mogadishu Beach Attack That Killed 37, Dispute over Venezuela's Election Results Deepens as Opposition Claims It Won by 2X the Vote Count, Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin Revokes Plea Deal for 9/11 Guantanamo Prisoners, U.S. Gov't to Start Paying Out $2 Billion to BIPOC Farmers Who Suffered Institutional Discrimination, Southern States Brace for Hurricane Debby as It Makes Landfall in Florida

We speak with The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel about the prisoner swap between Russia, the United States and several other countries on Thursday that saw the release of 24 people, with 16 prisoners in Russia traded for eight Russian nationals held in the U.S., Germany and elsewhere. It was the biggest exchange of prisoners between Russia and the West since the Cold War era. Among those released are Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. marine Paul Whelan and Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva. Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian assassin who was in German custody after the 2019 killing of a Chechen dissident in Berlin, was also released and sent back to Moscow. Vanden Heuvel says it was an extraordinary swap" that could pave the way for more diplomacy to wind down the war in Ukraine. Negotiations and diplomacy are not about capitulation. They're about improving the conditions of a world which is too militarized and at war."

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is reportedly at the top of the list of potential running mates for Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the White House. But many progressives have raised alarm about Shapiro's record, including his support for corporate tax breaks and school vouchers, his relationship with oil and gas companies, and his demonization of pro-Palestinian protesters. He's been actively and vocally supportive of Israel's war on Gaza since October 7 and prior," says journalist Marc Lamont Hill in Philadelphia. In every conceivable way, Josh Shapiro is not a progressive candidate." He adds that while Shapiro's choice as running mate would be very frustrating," it would also clarify the choices in the election and prevent people from projecting false hope onto Harris as many did with Barack Obama. She very clearly is a liberal, but certainly not a progressive or a radical."

We speak with journalist Marc Lamont Hill amid Donald Trump's ongoing attacks on the racial identity of Vice President Kamala Harris. The Republican presidential nominee was interviewed this week at the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists, where he claimed Harris happened to turn Black" for political expediency, even though she has always been open about her Jamaican and Indian American parents and identifies as both Black and South Asian. Following backlash to his comments, Trump dug in and continued to attack Harris on social media for supposedly obscuring her heritage, while Trump's running mate JD Vance, whose wife Usha is Indian American, defended the remarks. I wish I could say I was shocked or disappointed. This is exactly what Donald Trump does," says Hill, who is a member of the NABJ. He demonstrated all the misogynistic and racist and patriarchal sensibilities that we would expect from Donald Trump. And, of course, he spent a lot of that time simply lying."

Evan Gershkovich Arrives in U.S. with Other Freed Americans After Historic Prisoner Swap with Russia, Mourners Gather for Ismail Haniyeh's Funeral in Doha Amid Questions over Fate of Ceasefire Talks, A Long History of Fabrications": Al Jazeera Blasts Israeli Claim Slain Reporter Worked for Hamas, The Uncommitted Movement Calls on Democrats to Let Doctor Who Volunteered in Gaza Address DNC, AIPAC Spending Millions to Unseat Progressive MO Congressmember Cori Bush, Jewish Activists Descend on Atlas Air to Shine Light on Its Role in Gaza Genocide, Famine Has Been Confirmed in Darfur's Zamzam Camp, After Months of Warnings, Police Kill 2 People as Nigeria Erupts into Protests Against Poverty, Hunger, U.S. Recognizes Venezuelan Opposition Candidate as Winner of Presidential Election, Ex-Head of Honduras's Police Force Sentenced to 19 Years in U.S. for Drug Trafficking, Beloved Texas Immigrant Rights Activist Eddie Canales Has Died, 52-Year-Old Christopher Dunn Is Freed After More Than 3 Decades in Prison on a False Conviction, South Carolina Rules Execution by Firing Squad Is Lawful, Navajo Nation Bans Uranium, Radioactive Substances from Entering Its Land

We look at a new Washington Post investigation titled Money War" that traces the effects of U.S. sanctions under the last four presidents: Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden. According to the report, the U.S government has instituted, in some form or another, sanctions against a third of all other countries around the world, despite no clear evidence that they are effective in influencing target nations' politics, and in fact may often entrench the power of ruling parties. We speak to Jeff Stein, one of the authors of the Post investigation, about its findings, including on the effects of sanctions in Venezuela and Iran.

We play excerpts from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's interview Wednesday with a panel of Black women journalists from the National Association of Black Journalists. In response to his interviewers' questions about his record with Black Americans, Trump cast doubts on Kamala Harris's racial identity, repeated his claims that immigrants are threatening Black jobs," and declared that he was the best president for the Black community since Abraham Lincoln. NABJ's decision to host the Trump interview during its annual convention had sparked controversy within its ranks.

Unrest continues to brew in Israel after a right-wing mob including members of the Knesset broke into two Israeli military bases in an effort to prevent Israeli military police from detaining nine soldiers who were under investigation for gang raping a Palestinian prisoner at the notorious Sde Teiman facility. +972 Magazine's Oren Ziv, who was at one of the bases reporting on the events, says that the support of Israeli political leaders, including some members of the Knesset who participated in the riots, and the apathy of the military police all indicate that those protesting against the soldiers' charges are the face of the state," expressing what are mainstream" views in Israeli society. We also speak to Diana Buttu, a Palestinian human rights attorney who has interviewed some of the torture victims and says the extent of their abuse is appalling." She calls Sde Teiman a concentration camp" that the entirety of Israeli society and the international community are complicit" in.

This is one of the most perilous moments in the [Middle East] region in years," says Ali Vaez, director of the International Crisis Group Iran Project, after Israel's assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday in Tehran. Iranian retaliation against Israel appears imminent. All bets are off," warns Vaez, adding that Israel's latest maneuver will put Americans in harm's way," as Iran will no longer hold back fellow Axis of Resistance members, especially Islamic militias in Iraq and Syria, from launching attacks on U.S. military bases in the region. It is disastrous for a superpower who cannot control, basically, a client state that is destabilizing the region," Vaez explains. We also hear from Palestinian human rights attorney Diana Buttu, who responds to Israel's announcement that its July strike on al-Mawasi, an alleged safe zone in Gaza, killed Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif along with nearly a hundred civilians. Buttu argues it is Israel's international impunity over the course of its campaign against Palestine that has led to this dangerous moment of escalation. This is a monster that's been unleashed," she says. This is going to spread, and this is exactly what Netanyahu wants."

Israel Confirms It Killed Hamas Military Commander in July as Regional Tensions Reach Boiling Point, Israeli Strike Kills Celebrated Al Jazeera Reporters Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi, Trump Accuses Harris of Denying Her Blackness, Attacks Black Women Reporters in Stunning Interview, Kamala Harris Receives Backing of UAW, Several Progressive Climate Groups, Election Denier Kari Lake Wins GOP Nom for U.S. Senate Seat, Will Face Rep. Ruben Gallego, Sudanese Military Chief Defiant After Surviving Drone Attack, Pres. Maduro Says He May Start New Revolution Amid Venezuelan Election Dispute, Accused Plotters of 9/11 Attacks to Plead Guilty, Receive Life Sentences, Reporter Evan Gershkovich, Ex-Marine Paul Whelan Released in Russia-U.S.Prisoner Swap

We speak with legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw about the historic presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is facing a slew of racist and misogynist attacks from Donald Trump and others as she runs to be the first woman and the first woman of color to occupy the White House. Crenshaw, who coined the term intersectionality," says Harris's candidacy is leading to backlash from those who fear the emergence of a more diverse country. The challenge is, quite clearly, that those who support Kamala Harris and those who support our democracy have to take back the ground that they have ceded in the war on woke," says Crenshaw, executive director of the African American Policy Forum, which is hosting its annual Critical Race Theory Summer School in Nashville this week.

Fears of all-out war in the Middle East are growing after top Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday. Haniyeh was in Iran for the inauguration of the country's new president. Iran and Hamas both blamed Israel, which has not officially claimed responsibility but had previously vowed to kill Haniyeh and other top Hamas leaders over the October 7 attack. The assassination came less than 24 hours after Israel took credit for killing Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander, in an airstrike on Beirut. For more on the significance of the assassination, we host a roundtable discussion with Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy in Tel Aviv; international politics professor Karim Makdisi, who teaches at American University of Beirut; and Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri in Boston. Killing Haniyeh really is a sign from the Israelis that they are not interested in negotiating the ceasefire, the hostage release, prisoner exchanges. They just want to assert Zionist Jewish supremacy in all of Palestine and control the powers around the region," says Khouri.

Hamas Political Leader Ismail Haniyeh Assassinated in Tehran by Alleged Israeli Strike, Israel Kills 3 Civilians, Wounds 74 Others in Attack on Hezbollah Commander in Beirut, Bodies Litter Ruins of Khan Younis After Israeli Ground Troop Withdrawal, Interfaith Protesters Disrupt D.C. Gathering of Christians United for Israel, France Recognizes Moroccan Sovereignty Over Occupied Western Sahara, Ukraine Claims It Repelled Major Russian Drone Attack on Kyiv, U.S. Pledges New Military Aid to Philippines as Protesters Warn Against Provoking China, Interior Department Report Details Deaths and Abuses at Indian Boarding Schools, Cop Who Killed Sonya Massey Previously Faced Discipline for Lying on Police Reports, Federal Prisoners in Florida Launch Hunger Strike to Protest Deplorable Conditions, Kamala Harris Claims She's Tougher Than Donald Trump on Border Policies, National Association of Black Journalists Faces Backlash over Donald Trump Invitation

Protests erupted on Monday in Venezuela after sitting President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of Sunday's presidential election despite the opposition's accusations of election fraud. Maduro has countered by accusing the opposition of attempting to stage a fascist coup. We go to Caracas for an update from Venezuelanalysis reporter Andreina Chavez, who says the opposition's claims are still unsubstantiated. We also hear from Venezuelan historian Alejandro Velasco, who lays out how Venezuela's economic crisis, fueled in part by U.S. sanctions, has generated rising social upheaval.

New details have emerged about Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance's past comments that continue to plague the Trump campaign, with the Ohio senator having made repeated remarks over the years denigrating people without children as cat ladies" and sociopaths." We speak with ProPublica reporter Andy Kroll, who has reported on Vance and says he is demonizing huge swaths of Americans" and embodies a really extreme version of conservative politics."

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made headlines this week after suggesting the 2024 election could be the last U.S. election if he wins in November. We look at a secret organization of wealthy Christians called Ziklag that is backing Trump's efforts by working to purge more than a million voters from the rolls in battleground states and mobilize Republican voters to back Trump. The news outlets ProPublica and Documented obtained thousands of Ziklag's internal files and found the group has divided its 2024 activities into three different operations: Steeplechase, which uses churches to get out the vote; Watchtower, which aims to rally voters around opposition to transgender rights; and Checkmate, which is focused on funding so-called election integrity groups, explains ProPublica investigative reporter Andy Kroll.

Just a month after the Supreme Court granted former President Donald Trump broad immunity from prosecution for crimes committed in office, President Joe Biden has laid out a plan to reform the court. On Monday, Biden called for 18-year term limits, an enforceable code of ethics and an end to presidential immunity, though he stopped short of supporting court expansion. This is a pretty big deal," says Jennifer Ahearn, senior counsel in the Brennan Center's Judiciary Program, though she notes that politically, we have a ways to go before the views of the people ... can actually make their way through the Washington process." Ahearn explains the potential effects of judicial term limits, which could bring the court closer in line with the issues of the day," better reflecting the results of recent presidential elections than the current system of lifetime appointments does. Biden's proposal was buoyed by Justice Elena Kagan's public comments last week endorsing an enforceable code of ethics. This shows just how much the conversation around Supreme Court reform has changed" as a result of the court's current ethics scandal, adds ProPublica reporter Andy Kroll, who was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team that exposed how Justice Thomas accepted unreported gifts from conservative megadonors who had business before the court.

Palestinian Health Officials Declare Polio Epidemic in Gaza, Far-Right Israeli Protesters Storm Military Bases to Defend Soldiers Accused of Torture, Israel's Netanyahu Blames Hezbollah for Golan Heights Blast, Pledges Harsh" Response, Venezuela's Maduro Claims Attempted Coup Underway as Opposition Challenges Vote Tally, UNICEF Warns Drought Is Triggering Food Crisis in Southern Africa, Park Fire Becomes Sixth-Largest in California History, Climate Activists Stage Sit-In to Protest Sen. JD Vance's Billionaire Fossil Fuel Funders, JD Vance Once Described Democrats as Childless Sociopaths", Iowa Becomes 22nd State to Restrict Abortions as 6-Week Ban Takes Effect, Sheriff Apologizes for Deputy's Fatal Shooting of Sonya Massey But Won't Resign, William Calley, the Only Person Convicted over the My Lai Massacre, Dies at 80

Israel has vowed to retaliate against Hezbollah after blaming the Lebanese group for a rocket attack Sunday in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria that killed 12 children at a soccer field. Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the attack in the village of Majdal Shams, home to members of the Druze community, an Arab-speaking minority group. Israel claimed the victims were Israeli citizens, though many Druze in the area do not have Israeli citizenship and are in fact Syrian citizens. The deadly attack has further stoked fear of a wider regional war. Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri says that while the rocket attack looks as though it could have been an accident, there is still risk of more violence. The danger is always there that an accident could spark a bigger confrontation," he says. Militarism isn't a solution. Militarism is part of the problem."

We speak with Politico reporter Ian Ward about JD Vance, who has become a lightning rod for controversy since being picked by former President Donald Trump to be his running mate. Ward spent months with Vance earlier this year for a profile about the freshman Ohio senator and his political evolution from a Never Trump" Republican to one of the MAGA movement's most prominent voices. He recently wrote a new piece about Vance headlined The Seven Thinkers and Groups That Have Shaped JD Vance's Unusual Worldview."

We speak with reproductive justice activist Renee Bracey Sherman about Ohio Senator JD Vance, whose history of sexist remarks has come under scrutiny since he was chosen to be Donald Trump's running mate in the 2024 presidential election. Bracey Sherman says Vance's attacks on women who do not have biological children and his promotion of a kind of trad" lifestyle harkening back to 1950s norms show he is out of touch with modern families. The short answer is he's a weirdo. The longer answer is he's a white supremacist and he's a white nationalist," Bracey Sherman says in explaining Vance's ideology.

Republican vice-presidential nominee Ohio Senator JD Vance has doubled down on his sexist remarks that Democrats are led by childless cat ladies," claiming the party is anti-family. He made the original comment on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show in 2021. He has also previously suggested parents should be given more votes than childless people. I just find the entire line of attack to be ridiculous and also unpopular," says New York Times opinion writer Jessica Grose, who notes that Republicans generally also oppose paid leave, universal child care and other policies that make it easier to have families. There's still this idea that if you are a woman, unless you bear children, you are somehow less than."

Gaza: Israeli Strike on School Kills 30 Palestinians, Injures Over 100, UNRWA: 86% of Gaza Strip Now Under Evacuation Orders from Israel, Strike in Occupied Golan Heights Kills 12 Druze Children as Fears Grow of Regional War, Pres. Nicolas Maduro Declared Winner of Venezuelan Election; Opposition Rejects Results, U.S. to Establish New Military Command HQ in Japan to Counter China, Internet Restored in Bangladesh After Deadly Student Protests as Demands for Accountability Mount, New Report Reveals Extent of Rampant Sexual Violence by Warring Parties in Sudan, It'll Be Fixed": Trump Tells Christians You Won't Have to Vote Anymore" If He Wins in November, JD Vance Doubles Down on Claims Democrats Are Anti-Family", Harris Raises Over $200M in a Week, Faces Pressure from 2 Megadonors to Fire FTC Chair Lina Khan, Biden Calls for SCOTUS Overhaul, Incl. Term Limits, Ethics Codes and Barring Presidential Immunity, Park Fire Rages On in California, Burning 550+ Square Miles and Becoming Largest Wildfire in U.S., NYPD Arrests 59 Climate Activists Outside Home of Citigroup CEO, Virginia Police Clear Gaza Encampment Outside Blinken's Home, At Olympic Opening, Palestinian Boxer Wears Shirt Showing Children Being Bombed