Democracy Now!

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

Just hours before Friday's opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics, a series of apparently coordinated arson attacks were reported on France's high-speed rail network. No one has claimed responsibility yet. Before the games, protests highlighted the displacement of thousands of migrants, unhoused people and other vulnerable communities as social cleansing." We go to Paris for an update with Jules Boykoff, former professional soccer player, author and scholar focusing on the Olympic Games, and Paul Alauzy, Paris-based activist with the collective Revers de la Medaille (Other Side of the Medal). We are not anti-Olympics," says Alauzy. You can support the games, but you need to know that they have a big social impact and they come with a cost. And they come with a cost of the lives of hundreds, thousands of people being mistreated." We also discuss how Palestinian athletes are taking part in this year's Olympics amid the Israeli war on Gaza, the health risks of competing during rising heat and COVID, the environmental impact of major sporting events and more.

As Paris hosts today's opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics, we speak with Lebanese photojournalist Christina Assi of Agence France-Presse, who carried the Olympic torch Sunday in Paris to honor journalists wounded or killed on the job. Assi lost her leg in the same Israeli attack that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah in southern Lebanon on October 13, and says carrying the Olympic torch was a great opportunity to highlight the atrocities" happening in the region. There was all the indications that we are press and we were just doing our jobs," Assi recalls of the attack. We weren't holding guns. We were holding cameras."

We speak to two doctors who are part of a group of 45 U.S. doctors, surgeons and nurses who have volunteered in Gaza since October 7 and wrote an open letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, demanding an immediate ceasefire and an international arms embargo of Israel. The group includes evidence of a much higher death toll than is usually cited: more than 92,000 people, which represents over 4% of Gaza's population. The doctors write, With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both. Israel's continued, repeated displacement of the malnourished and sick population of Gaza, half of whom are children, to areas with no running water or even toilets available is absolutely shocking." The conditions in Gaza are unacceptable," and people know this is wrong but no one is speaking up," says Dr. Thalia Pachiyannakis, an obstetrician and gynecologist who volunteered at the Nasser Medical Complex. We all saw evidence of a death toll that is certainly much higher than what is reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health," adds Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon who volunteered at the European Hospital.

WFP Makes More Cuts to Food Rations in Gaza as Israeli Attacks Increase Displacement Crisis, Palestinian Detainees Tortured and Abused at Hands of Israeli Prison Authorities, Netanyahu Meets with Biden and Harris After Address to Congress, He Never Should Have Been Allowed on U.S. Soil": Protesters Decry Netanyahu Meeting with Biden, Kamala Harris Receives Obama, Pelosi Endorsements, Says She Is Ready to Debate Trump, California Gov. Newsom Orders Evictions of Unhoused People in Wake of SCOTUS Ruling, Sonya Massey's Killer Was Discharged from Military for Misconduct," Had 6 Police Jobs Over 4 Years, U.S. Authorities Arrest Two Leaders of Sinaloa Cartel, Kenya's Ruto Appoints Opposition Members in New Cabinet in Bid to Appease Protesters, Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro Campaigns for Third Term as President Ahead of Sunday's Election, Vandals Sabotage French Rail Network on Eve of Paris Olympics, Extreme Heat Is the New Abnormal": U.N. Head Calls for Urgent Action as Planet Swelters, Half of Alberta Tourist Town Is Destroyed by Fast-Moving Wildfire, Forever Chemicals" Increasingly Detected in Commonly Used Pesticides, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Sued for Halting Traffic Congestion Pricing Plan, American Federation of Teachers Prepares to Join General Strike on May Day 2028

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, many Democratic lawmakers skipped the speech and held an alternative event on Capitol Hill to promote peace. The panel discussion featured Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah, Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers who have both lost family members to violence. Inon's parents, Bilha and Yakovi Inon, were killed in the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. When Abu Sarah was a child, his teenage brother was arrested and held in Israeli prison for a year and died shortly after his release from internal injuries he suffered while being tortured in prison. Both Inon and Abu Sarah join Democracy Now! to talk about how they are hoping to use these tragedies to foster peace in Israel-Palestine.

We speak with Palestinian human rights lawyer Noura Erakat about Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress, in which he defended Israel's brutal war on Gaza, lied repeatedly about the dire humanitarian conditions on the ground and refused to talk about how to reach a ceasefire to end the bloodshed. Although more than 100 Democrats skipped the speech, Erakat says the jubilant reaction from lawmakers in attendance showed U.S. leaders cheering for what is essentially a war on children."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday to defend the ongoing war on Gaza as thousands of people outside protested his appearance. The speech came two months after Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, announced he was seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for committing war crimes in Gaza. Over 100 Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, skipped the speech, but those in attendance gave Netanyahu numerous standing ovations as he painted a distorted picture of what's happening in Gaza, making no mention of efforts to reach a ceasefire or the more than 16,000 Palestinian children killed in Israel's assault. Foreign policy analyst Phyllis Bennis says the speech was horrifying," but says it showed that support for Israel has become a thoroughly partisan issue." Bennis adds that peace activists in the U.S. have built a broad consensus against the war on Gaza and military support for Israel, and says Vice President Kamala Harris has an opportunity to chart a new path on Middle East policy as she runs for president.

U.S. Lawmakers Delivers Standing Ovations for War Criminal Netanyahu; 100+ Democrats Skip Speech, Thousands of Protesters Condemn U.S. Support for Israeli Genocide Outside Netanyahu Address, Everyone in Gaza Is Sick, Injured, or Both": U.S. Doctors Demand Biden Admin Stop Arming Israel, She Wanted to Bring Life Back to Our Home": Gazan Mourns Daughter Murdered at 9 Months Pregnant, Biden Returns to D.C., Addresses Decision to Drop Reelection Bid and Back Harris for President, Kamala Harris Vows to Restore Reproductive Rights Through Congress, Childless Cat Ladies with Miserable Lives": JD Vance Mocks Democratic Leaders in Resurfaced Tape, At Least 25 Killed as Typhoon Gaemi Lashes Taiwan and the Philippines, Climate Activists Disrupt Air Travel in Protests Demanding End to Fossil Fuels

D'Vontaye Mitchell died last month in Milwaukee after he was violently pinned to the ground by four security guards outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel, just a few minutes from where the Republican National Convention would take place. Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who is representing the family, says that the killing is just inexplicable," with nobody charged for Mitchell's death so far. You have a video of a man being killed. You have witnesses who have given statements. But yet you're saying you still have to investigate? Why is it different when it's a Black victim laying dead on the ground?"

The family of Sonya Massey is demanding justice after they say authorities tried to cover up her fatal shooting by a sheriff's deputy in Springfield, Illinois, by initially claiming it was self-inflicted." Police body-camera footage showed this was a lie. The 36-year-old mother of two was shot dead in her own home on July 6 after she called 911 for help. This is the worst police shooting video that I've seen. It is so senseless," says Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing the family. [Massey] needed a helping hand. She did not need a bullet to the face."

Some 400 Jewish activists, including over a dozen rabbis, were arrested Tuesday during a sit-in inside the Capitol to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress and demand an immediate U.S. weapons embargo on Israel. It is absolutely shameful that congressional leadership has invited a war criminal, who is currently leading a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, to address a joint session of Congress," says Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action. Lawmakers have rolled out a blood-soaked red carpet to a war criminal" by inviting Benjamin Netanyahu, adds Palestinian American organizer Linda Sarsour, co-founder of the Muslim advocacy group MPower Action. Tuesday's civil disobedience protest was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace. We are also joined by Noa Grayevsky, member of Jewish Voice for Peace-Portland, who joined the protest and whose cousin's close friend was taken hostage on October 7.

As the death toll from Israel's war on Gaza tops 39,100, tens of thousands of protesters plan to march on Capitol Hill today during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers plan to boycott the speech, including Senators Dick Durbin, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, Patty Murray and Bernie Sanders. Congress has made a terrible mistake in inviting Netanyahu," says award-winning Israeli scholar David Harel, who co-authored a New York Times essay, We Are Israelis Calling on Congress to Disinvite Netanyahu." Harel says Netanyahu does not represent a majority of Israelis."

Protesters Gather in D.C. as Israeli PM Netanyahu Prepares to Address Congress, 400 Jewish Protesters Arrested in U.S. Capitol Demanding U.S. End Support to Israel, Families of Israeli Hostages Rally in D.C. Demanding Ceasefire and Prisoner Exchange, Gaza Death Toll Tops 39,100 as Israeli Lawmakers Label U.N. Relief Agency a Terror Organization", Biden Returns to White House as Kamala Harris Campaigns in Wisconsin, 100% She Was a DEI Hire": Republicans Launch Racist and Sexist Attacks on Kamala Harris, Embattled NJ Sen. Bob Menendez to Resign Ahead of Sentencing on Bribery, Corruption Charges, Secret Service Director Resigns over Failures During Trump Assassination Attempt, Youth-Led Protests in Kenya Demand Ouster of President over Corruption, Debt, 229 Killed as Heavy Rains Trigger Landslides in Southern Ethiopia, Monday Breaks Record for Planet's Hottest Day Ever Recorded

The death toll in Bangladesh from a crackdown on massive student protests has risen to at least 174, with more than 2,500 people arrested, after police and soldiers were granted shoot-on-sight" orders amid the unrest. The protests were in response to a highly contested quota system for civil service jobs, with 30% of government positions reserved for relatives of veterans who fought in the country's independence war against Pakistan in 1971. The country's high court rolled that back Sunday to only 5%, but students are still demanding that a curfew be fully lifted, schools reopened, and detained students and protest leaders released. The collective anger that you're seeing is over inequality, lack of opportunity, and a perception that those who are close to the ruling class and ruling elite are getting all the benefits," says journalist Salil Tripathi, author of a book on the Bangladeshi war of independence.

The Israeli military says it has begun vaccinating its soldiers against poliovirus after the paralytic disease was found in several wastewater samples in Gaza. The World Health Organization warns the risk of further spread remains high while Gaza's children go unvaccinated during Israel's assault, which has devastated Gaza's water and sanitation infrastructure. Public health officials have called it a major setback for global efforts to eradicate polio. Right now, fortunately, we don't know of any polio patients in Gaza. But we anticipate that it will come," says Dorit Nitzan, director of the masters program in emergency medicine at Ben-Gurion University and former regional emergency director for the World Health Organization's European office. The prescription is ceasefire, vaccines and good public health conditions."

As Democratic support coalesces behind Vice President Kamala Harris in her run for the White House, we speak with Lily Greenberg Call, who worked on Harris's presidential campaign in 2019 and went on to join the Biden administration before resigning from her position in the Interior Department to protest U.S. support for Israel's war on Gaza. She was the first Jewish political appointee to publicly quit because of the administration's Middle East policy, part of a wave of resignations over the war. She says Harris must seize the opportunity to chart a new path" on Gaza and overall Israel-Palestine policy. People are watching, through social media, a genocide being live-streamed, and they're realizing that it's their tax dollars and American weapons being used to kill children - and they're not OK with it," says Greenberg Call.

Vice President Kamala Harris has the backing of enough Democratic delegates to secure the party's presidential nomination, with Democrats planning to hold a virtual roll call in the coming days to formalize her place atop the ticket ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August. The Democratic Party has quickly coalesced around Harris following President Joe Biden's stunning decision Sunday to drop his reelection bid, but questions remain about whether she will significantly alter Middle East policy. The uncommitted" movement of voters seeking to pressure Democrats to stop U.S. support for Israel's war on Gaza breathed a sigh of relief" when Biden dropped out, says Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid, an adviser to the movement, and activists are hopeful for Harris to take a new approach. Shahid adds that the Democratic Party cannot cast itself as a champion of democracy standing against far-right authoritarianism while continuing to arm the extremist Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it makes a mockery of our party's claim to be fighting on the right side of history."

Kamala Harris Wins Support of Enough Democratic Delegates to Clinch Nomination, Bodies of Dead and Wounded Fill Khan Younis Hospital as Israeli Assault Grinds On, Israel to Vaccinate Soldiers Against Polio After Virus Is Found in Gaza Wastewater, 7 Killed in Latest Israeli Raids on West Bank, Netanyahu to Face Protests and Boycotts in D.C. Visit, Will Meet with Kamala Harris, Secret Service Director Faces Bipartisan Calls to Resign After Trump Assassination Attempt, Jan. 6 Rioter Who Gave Nazi Salute on Capitol Steps Gets Nearly Five Years in Prison, Ohio State Senator Says Only Civil War" Would Save U.S. from Harris Presidency, J.D. Vance Attacks Kamala Harris, Defends Soda Consumption in First Solo Campaign Rally, Climate Clock Ticks Below Five Years to Avert Worst of Climate Catastrophe, Veteran Anti-Whaling Activist Paul Watson Arrested in Greenland, Could Be Extradited to Japan, Russia Sentences Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to 6.5 Years in Prison, Genocide Is Not an Olympic Event": Protesters Call for Ban on Israel Ahead of Paris Games, Bangladesh Death Toll Hits 174, with Over 2,500 Arrests, Amid Ongoing Uprising Against Gov't Job Quotas

The International Court of Justice has ruled Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and should come to an end as rapidly as possible." This is one of the most significant rulings issued by an international court on the matter since Israel's military occupation of the territories began in 1967. We speak with Palestinian human rights lawyer Diana Buttu on the historic ruling and what impact it could have on Israel. The court makes it clear not only that Israel's occupation is illegal, but it also says that all countries around the world have an obligation to make sure that Israel doesn't get away with it," says Buttu. It's up to the international community now to put sanctions on Israel to end this military occupation."

Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown remembers longtime Texas Democratic Congressmember Sheila Jackson Lee, who was a tireless fighter for civil rights and progressive causes throughout her three decades in the U.S. House. Jackson Lee has died at the age of 74 after announcing last month she had pancreatic cancer. Lee was an early and outspoken opponent of the disastrous and illegal invasion of Iraq, as well as an advocate for reparations to the descendants of enslaved African Americans. She has left a legacy of service, a legacy of love," says political organizer LaTosha Brown of Black Voters Matter. She was someone you could always depend on."

As President Biden drops his reelection bid and endorses Vice President Kamala Harris, we discuss the next steps forward and whether there should be an open convention. James Zogby, former executive member of the Democratic National Committee, says an open convention is what democracy needs from our party right now." Meanwhile, Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown says an open convention is a risk that would cause chaos" within the Democratic Party. This is a moment that we have to defeat Trump," says Brown.

Journalist Mehdi Hasan joins us to respond to President Joe Biden's announcement Sunday he is ending his campaign to seek reelection just four months before Election Day. In a letter posted on social media, Biden wrote he was stepping aside in the best interest of my party and the country," and then endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris. She quickly received the backing of many powerful Democrats, but Harris could still face a challenge for the party's nomination in the four weeks before the Democratic National Convention. Questions about Biden's candidacy had been growing since at least last year. The activist group RootsAction launched a campaign called Don't Run Joe 20 months ago, and during the primary more than a half-million voters chose uncommitted" instead of Biden to protest his support for Israel's war on Gaza. Hasan says that this is a big, big moment for American democracy," and when it comes to Harris, we need to pressure her in a way that we failed to pressure Joe Biden."

President Biden Ends Reelection Bid & Endorses Kamala Harris, Israel Kills 39 in Khan Younis as Official Death Toll Tops 39,000, ICJ Rules Israel's Occupation of West Bank and East Jerusalem Is Illegal, Netanyahu Heads to Washington to Address Congress Despite ICC Arrest Warrant for Gaza Genocide, Israel Attacks Yemen's Hodeidah, Killing 6 People, After Houthi Drone Strike on Tel Aviv, Injured AFP Journalist Christina Assi Carries Olympic Torch to Honor Slain and Wounded Media Workers, Bangladesh Rolls Back Gov't Job Quota Rule Following Student Protests That Killed at Least 160, 40 Asylum Seekers Die Off Haitian Coast Amid Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis, U.S. Ambassador to U.N. Travels to Haiti; Court Charges 40+ in 2018 Massacre, Incl. Jimmy Cherizier, Calls to End Microsoft's Monopoly After Global Outage Wreaked Havoc Last Week, Illinois Officer Charged with Murder for Fatally Shooting Sonya Massey in Her Home, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Civil Rights Pioneer in Congress, Dies at at 74

As anger grows in Milwaukee over the police killing of 43-year-old Samuel Sharpe during the Republican National Convention, we speak with his sister, Angelique Sharpe, who says the family is fighting for transparency from the authorities and the full video of the fatal incident. We really want justice for my brother," says Angelique, who also explains that her brother's life had been threatened by a bully" and that he had actually called the police for help before he was killed. Samuel Sharpe was an unhoused Black man shot 27 times by police on Tuesday - but the officers were from Ohio, part of a deployment of thousands of outside law enforcement members in Wisconsin for the RNC. We are also joined by Wisconsin state Representative Darrin Madison, a Democratic Socialist, who says both Sharpe's death and the killing of D'Vontaye Mitchell by hotel security guards weeks earlier point to a larger problem of anti-Black violence in Milwaukee.

The Washington Post reports the word abortion" was not mentioned a single time from the stage during the first three days of the Republican National Convention. Reporter Amy Littlefield, abortion access correspondent at The Nation, says the silence from Trump and others at this week's RNC in Milwaukee does not reflect a change in attitude from the Republican Party, which is still fiercely opposed to reproductive rights. Republicans can read the polls. They know that abortion has triumphed in all seven instances where it's been on the ballot since the Dobbs decision. They know that a rising number of people support abortion rights," says Littlefield, who predicts that abortion is going to have a huge impact on this election" and calls for a Reproductive Justice New Deal."

Bishop William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, joins us as the Republican National Convention wraps up in Milwaukee. On the final night, Donald Trump's invective-filled speech, coming just days after the attempt on his life, was promoted as an address about unity. But Barber says it was only a unity of rejection" on offer - rejecting the rights of women, immigrants, workers, poor people, disenfranchised voters and more. They may have toned down their voices, but they did not tone down their extreme policies," he says.

A march through downtown Milwaukee Thursday called for justice for Samuel Sharpe and D'Vontaye Mitchell, two Black men killed before and during the Republican National Convention amid a massive security buildup. Sharpe was a 43-year-old unhoused Black man who was shot dead by police officers from Ohio who were in Wisconsin as part of a group of 4,500 law enforcement officials in Milwaukee for the RNC. The shooting took place a mile from the RNC's proceedings. Weeks earlier, security guards at the Hyatt Regency Hotel killed D'Vontaye Mitchell, a 43-year-old Black father who died after security guards pinned him to the ground. Democracy Now! was at the protest, and we feature the voices of grieving family members who spoke out.

We host a roundtable the morning after Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president on Thursday, just five days after surviving an assassination attempt, delivering the longest acceptance speech in convention history. Trump began with a somber recounting of what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a bullet grazed his right ear, and soon went off script to deliver a rambling diatribe against various political enemies and repeatedly demonized immigrants. The first three or four days of the convention were pitched as a display of unity," says Benjamin Wallace-Wells of The New Yorker, who says the nominee got in the way" of the party's plans. Trump was just straightforwardly weird." Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa, founder of Futuro Media, says the vicious anti-immigrant rhetoric from Trump and almost every other speaker throughout the week is built on lies. If everything that he said is true, then our American economy would be tanking, right? And, actually, there would be rampant crime across the streets. That is not the truth. And even Trump supporters ... know that's not the truth," says Hinojosa. We also speak with former Ohio state Senator Nina Turner, who says both Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance are promoting a false populism that does not actually support workers or challenge the power of big money. We do need a president that will put the working-class people ahead of corporations. We do need a president that will line up the supposed values of this country with policy. The problem is, President Donald J. Trump is not it, and neither is J.D. Vance," says Turner, a senior fellow at The New School's Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy.

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The Democratic National Committee is moving ahead with a plan to virtually nominate Joe Biden ahead of the Democratic convention in Chicago despite growing calls for him to step aside and as a new Associated Press poll shows nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw from the race following his disastrous debate with Donald Trump. Top Democrats including Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are reportedly privately lobbying for Biden to step aside. With Biden as the presidential candidate, Democrats have a vanishingly thin chance of recapturing the House," says Chris Lehmann, who rejoins us to discuss the unprecedented" and contentious fight over Biden's reelectability occurring within the Democratic Party ahead of its convention next month.

American historian and the author of White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, Nancy Isenberg, calls Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance a peddler of the self-made man myth." Isenberg criticizes Hilbilly Elegy, the memoir that propelled him to fame, as a deceptive way of selling this myth and the conservative politics it comes with. Much of what his memoir says tells us nothing about real class conditions," Isenberg says, pointing to her own historical and sociological research on the rural poor in the United States.

Politico reporter Ian Ward interviewed Ohio Senator J.D. Vance at length for a recent profile and joins us to discuss Vance's biography and ideology after he formally accepted the Republican vice-presidential nomination to run with Donald Trump, whom he once staunchly opposed.

We continue to look at the record of Donald Trump's vice-presidential running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, with a focus on his foreign policy actions, with Matt Duss of the Center for International Policy, former adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders. Vance is very aligned with Trump," says Duss, such as in his support of the Abraham Accords, the Arab-Israeli normalization deal signed under the Trump administration that sought to increase Israel's power in the region at the expense of Palestinian rights.

After Ohio Senator J.D. Vance makes his nomination official as the Republican vice-presidential candidate in 2024, we spend the show looking at his record. We begin with a discussion on Vance's professed economic populism with independent journalist Zaid Jilani and The Nation's Chris Lehmann. Jilani argues Vance's pro-working class image is not only genuine, but that he may also hold enough sway to bring the Republican Party closer to the labor movement. Big business does fear Vance to some extent," he says. Lehmann counters, I don't see the Republican Party, at the end of the day, moving toward these ... redistributive policies," citing its hostility toward immigrants, who are a major driver of economic growth. The forgotten working class is going to stay forgotten," he concludes.

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