Morning Joe - Morning Joe 7/25/24

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

Biden appeals to Americans to 'preserve our democracy'

The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. You just have to keep faith. Keep the faith. And remember who we are.

We're the United States of America. And there's simply nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. We do it together. So let's act together. Preserve our democracy. President Biden addressing the nation for the first time since ending his reelection campaign. In a somber speech, the president talked about uniting the country and putting what's best for our democracy over his desire for a second term. We're going to have more on his historic remarks in just a moment. Also ahead, another day on the campaign trail for Vice President Kamala Harris, working to shore up support in her bid for the White House. Donald Trump was also on the

trail yesterday, but he had a much more pessimistic view of the country. We'll have more on that. Meanwhile, President Biden will hold a high stakes meeting today with Benjamin Netanyahu following the Israeli prime minister's joint address to Congress yesterday, which was skipped by dozens of congressional Democrats. A lot going on. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Thursday, July 25th. With us, we have the host of way too early, White House peer chief at Politico, Jonathan Lemire, professor at Princeton University, Eddie Glaude Jr., U.S. special correspondent for BBC News, Katty Kay, managing editor at The Bulwark, Sam Stein is with us, and U.S. national editor at The Financial Times, Ed Luce as well. Great group, Joe, with a lot of cross-currents this morning,

to say the least. A lot of cross-currents. I will say the speech last night by the president, I thought there were a couple of things that stood out to me. One was the contrast between an autocratic vision of the future and a democratic thought for the future. Instead of saying I alone can do it, instead of talking about moving all of the power into the White House. Joe Biden did something last night that sounds a little radical in 2024, but actually has, I mean, has its hair. It's it goes all the way back to the founding of America and has its heritage in the founding documents where at the end, as we played, he said, history is in your hands. It is. Power.

And he's like, the power. Instead of an autocrat going, you know, I have the power. He said, the power is in your hands. The idea of America is in your hands. It was beautiful. It was beautiful because it was true. It also is beautiful because it's such a marked contrast between a vision, his vision, and I think most Americans' vision of what America should be and the vision of a rising autocracy, the idea of a strong man. So that thematically, it was just absolutely beautiful. And him talking about how he reveres the office of the presidency, but he loves his country more. I thought, though, just two practical

matters that really stood out to me that Democrats should be talking about every day on the campaign trail are a couple of facts. Ronald Reagan said that facts were stubborn things. They really are. You know, that stubborn fact that I always talk about here when Donald Trump was running the first time and talking about the illegal invasion and rapists from Mexico, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and was going to build a wall because the crisis was so bad. What do I point to? I point to the statistics that even the Trump administration had in their documentation that illegal border crossings from Mexico were at a 50-year low before Donald Trump came into office, a 50-year low under Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Illegal immigration has shot up. But the president said something last night that, again,

Democrats should talk about on the campaign trail when illegal immigration comes in. First of all, they can once again talk about how it was Donald Trump that killed the toughest border security bill drafted by a conservative Republican from Oklahoma because he thought it would hurt him politically. But then what else did he say? Said illegal border crossings are lower now than when Donald Trump left office. That's one. Two, that crime, which Republicans are talking about, which Americans have been talking about a good bit. But now there's such there so many good things are happening and things are moving in a great direction. Violent crime is at a 50 year low. Let me say it again, Democrats.

Violent crime across the United States is at a 50 year low. It means it's lower now than it was during any point during the Trump administration. So again, we had beautiful themes flowing throughout, but also a couple of points of the successes that he is having right now on bringing inflation down, on bringing crime down, on bringing illegal border crossings down, the last two to a point that are even lower than any point during the Trump administration, certainly on violent crime. Well, and he is choosing to step back from the campaign and end his presidency as an unmitigated success. Historically, you can't look at it any other way. You may not agree

with his policies, but he got more done than any other president in modern American history, which is a very solid launching pad for Kamala Harris. It's not like he's ending a campaign because, you know, the presidency was a disaster or something bad happened or he, you know, like other presidencies have ended in the past. This is a good launchpad for Kamala Harris. And the Republicans reaction to it is quite something. We'll get to it. It also might be quite revealing. We'll get to that. But from behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office, the president spoke about his desire to unite the Democratic Party and put the country ahead of his own personal ambition. It's been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think is more important than any

title. I draw strength and I find joy in working for the American people. But this sacred task of perfecting our union, it's not about me. It's about you, your families, your futures. It's about we, the people. We can never forget that. And I never have. I've made it clear that I believe America is at an inflection point. One of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine our fate of our nation and the world for decades to come. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America's future, all merit at a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy.

That includes personal ambition. So I've decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That's the best way to unite our nation. You know, there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There's also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now. In just a few months, the American people will choose the course of America's future. I made my choice. I've made my views known. I would like to thank our great Vice President Kamala Harris. She's experienced. She's tough. She's capable. She's been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country.

Now the choice is up to you, the American people. I've given my heart and my soul to our nation, like so many others. I've been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people. I hope you have some idea how grateful I am to all of you. The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule, the people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands.

The idea of America lies in your hands. We just have to keep faith. Keep the faith. And remember who we are. We're the United States of America. And there's simply nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together. So let's act together. Preserve our democracy.

God bless you all. May God protect our troops. Thank you. You know, Ed Luce, I struck by the humility of that speech in stark contrast, not just to who Kamala Harris will now be running against, but also other politicians of this age where they look at Donald Trump and think, oh, I need to puff my chest out. I need to talk about myself all the time. I need to talk about how powerful I am, that only I can fix it. I need to insult others. And the words are beautiful. I wrote them down here and they struck me last night and I just loved hearing it. I would have loved to hear this. I'd love to hear this from any politician, Republican, Democratic, Independent.

I hope you have some idea of how grateful I am for you giving me this opportunity. And then he talks about how we aren't a nation of kings or dictators, that the power is in Americans' hands, that history is in Americans' hands, that the idea of America rests in the hands of everyday working Americans. That, that is the dream of America. Not some powerful, strong man saying, I alone can fix it. Not some powerful, strong man saying, agree with me or I'll try you for treason. But to be humble in service. You know, that sort of servant leadership that Jesus talked about. And again, to project that out as you're giving what in effect is your farewell speech to this campaign and country, I think is a wonderful example for politicians of all parties. Yes, I agree. And I think, you know, depending on what happens in November, this will, well, regardless of what happens in November, actually, this will go down in history as one

of those moments that you've just described, Joe. I do think that a Kamala Harris victory would help cement this moment as an incredible moment in history. I was fascinated not just by his contrast with the unspoken, the unmentioned Donald Trump, which is as wide as the Grand Canyon in terms of the self-sacrifice involved here, but I was also fascinated by the hints that he's aware he's got six months left as president. And we could have an extremely interesting sort of dual role here between Kamala Harris as the potential next president and a reinvigorated, in some ways liberated, Joe Biden, who no longer needs to campaign, He's got an eighth of his

presidency left. That's that's quite a long time in which he can do things. And he mentioned one of those in the address, and that is reform the Supreme Court, an incredibly important measure to secure the future of American of the American Constitution and the republic. And so I sort of noticed a little bit of steel there, too, as well as as well as nostalgia for for an extraordinary, extraordinary storied career of service in American politics. Katie Kay, your thoughts on President Biden's speech, also potentially how it is being heard around the world, given all the work he's done, expanding and solidifying NATO

and trying to solidify our partnerships after some would claim that they were perhaps loosened a bit in the presidency before him. I wonder how they are looking at this today. I mean, there's been a massive amount of attention on what's been happening in the United States over the last couple of weeks from America's allies here in Europe and, you know, some trepidation about the November election and what might happen and what that could mean for America's allies around the world. But also kind of a sense of excitement that this race has radically changed and that there is now the possibility of a president being elected who is more committed to NATO, who is more committed to Ukraine, who is more committed to multilateral alliances than Donald Trump is. So people were watching what Joe Biden was saying from the Oval Office last night. And I think Joe is right. I mean, there's a kind of there was a soaring quality in defense of democracy and that idea that this is about the American people. And you heard it in Kamala Harris's comments, too.

This is a people power process. It's not about autocracy. And Donald Trump, as he said yesterday, they asked me to be good. Well, that is over going back to the kind of American carnage type message that he had before. So very yesterday was a day of distinctions and contrast between the two campaigns. I just don't understand. I just I just don't I don't understand what it gets anybody trashing America. I never understood this. America is a stupid country. America is, you know, at loose. I want to go back to you. I want to get I'm going to get reporting from Jonathan Meir and Sam Stein.

And certainly, boy, I want to hear Eddie and his take. But I was I was after the show yesterday. I was having breakfast with a top executive and and I've known him for a very long time. And we were just sitting there catching up. And I asked him, I said, what is it? Because I was asking about the economy. I was asking, I said, I said, what do I need to be looking at as we're moving forward? He goes, Joe, you need to be looking at it. You need you need to not listen to what the politicians are saying. You need to listen to what our allies and adversaries are saying and what they're thinking about America outside of Washington. He said, if you and it actually sounds a lot like

what Joe Biden said. He said, if you had told me 20 years ago that we were going to be in such a strong position over China, that we were going to be lapping China economically, that we were going to be lapping China politically, that we were going to be lapping China on AI, that we were going to be lapping China on everything, that they were going to be in the middle of a demographic crisis. If you had told me 10 years ago that America was going to be in the strongest position that it's ever been economically, militarily, culturally, socially, I would have said you were crazy. He said even five years ago, he said since COVID, he said America has gone like this and the rest of the world seems to be going like this.

He said we're not only, you know, the envy of our enemies, we're the envy of the world seems to be going like this. He said, we're not only, you know, the envy of our enemies, we're the envy of our allies. He said, that's what you need to look at, just how strong America is. And this, by the way, this guy is not political. He was just talking about how he was seeing the world investing and running his his his corporation over the next five, 10 years. And he said, we're just we're just in a position nobody would have dreamed we would have been in getting out of COVID. Yeah. And I think that's right. I mean, and President Biden alluded to that last night. He could have gone on more about it. I mean, America has had by far the strongest rebound from the pandemic. The Biden administration really put its shoulder to the wheel.

And we see that in the numbers. Far higher growth, far lower unemployment than other developed countries. And inflation is now back under control. And in fact, you know, I don't know whether you discussed this with your friend over breakfast, but the Fed would be in a good position now next week to start cutting interest rates. And again in September, which I guarantee you will send Donald Trump insane because he will allege bias on the Fed's part. But it would be objectively a good thing to do and very helpful in helping persuade Americans

exactly what your chief executive was telling you about because there's a weird vibe session going on in this country where people are not really acknowledging what you've just laid out and which are objective facts. And I think that's partly to do with the distortive prism of the media we consume. If you keep getting told you're badly off, then you start to believe it. But the Fed could help people to believe it. And they're pretty much on the cusp of being able to do so now. Yeah. And it is so strange that the disconnect between and a lot of it is disinformation.

A lot of it is disinformation online. A lot of it is disinformation coming from other networks. A lot of it is disinformation, disinformation from politicians who who want to tell you how badly things are when America's economy is stronger today just by data. It's not opinion. This is not opinion. This is fact. Look at the data. We are stronger economically. We are stronger militarily. We are stronger culturally. Violent crime, violent crime again at a 50-year low right now. Vast improvements there. Inflation going down faster than it is across other industrialized, Western industrialized nations. Jobs numbers the best in 30 years. The dollar stronger than it's been in 40 years. It could go on and on. These are just the facts. And this is why the world is still looking to the United States and why we're still the envy

of the world. It's just some of our own politicians and some news people who want to whip you into a frenzy every day and beat down America. Talk about how badly America is. You know, we're all I mean, I'm so, so horrified by by the imagery of the American flags burning. I think it reveals a hell of a lot about the people who did it and and and who's backing them. And it's horrifying to me. And at the same time, you have people who are trashing America every day. And how is that not playing into the Russians hands? How is that not playing into the communist Chinese hands? How is not that not playing into Iran's hands by constantly trashing America and saying that America is a stupid country? That's straight from the mouth of Vladimir Putin. That's straight from the mouth of President Xi. That's what they want you to believe. We're not a stupid country.

We are a great country. And America is great because, as the president said last night, because our people are good and we're working harder than ever and we're doing better than ever before. Don't believe their lies. America is great. Now, we'll be right back. We're going to have reporters round up. Mika, after right back. We're going to have reporters round up. Mika, after the break, we're going to have reporters round up by two of the best reporters in Washington, D.C., and we're going to be getting keen insights from our favorite, brilliant Professor Eddie Glaude, Jr. There you go. We'll be right back. Countries are taking their criminal elements and they're bringing them into the United States of America.

They're dumping them in our we're a dumping ground. We're a stupid country that's run by stupid people. Mayor Ed Luce said earlier that this is one of those historic speeches that would be talking about for a very long time, that historians would be writing about. We look back and see what LBJ said in March of 1968. This is one of those speeches as well. And but I've got to say thematically, just beautiful. And again, the sort of speech I would love to hear from a Democratic president, a Republican president, an independent president talking about the power of America being in the

hands of Americans. Yeah, a powerful speech and a powerful moment in history. The speech per reporting came together. Mike Donilon, one of the president's longest serving aides, the main author, our friend, historian John Meacham contributed as well. And this is one, look, we know this. President Biden got to this moment somewhat reluctantly. You could see it in his speech last night. He still believes he could run. He still believes he could win. He says his record and his ideas warrant a second term. But he is bowing to reality and in a very selfless act, a selfless act, one that we should not overlook, relinquished political power, saying it is time to bring the party together. The stakes

are too high. The threat is too grave to risk it if people don't believe that I can still do it. So he hands the torch now and he said it to a younger generation and to Vice President Harris. And we have seen what has been a blockbuster rollout of her candidacy in recent days. But Sam Stein, this president not quite done yet. As Ed mentioned, Supreme Court reform on the agenda, perhaps as to what that means, perhaps a code of ethics, perhaps more. We should get details on that in the coming days. The president also mentioned trying to revive the cancer moonshot. He's got a major meeting today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel trying to get a ceasefire

deal done. The U.S. officials say it's close, but there's still some stubborn hurdles to clear. Give us your thoughts last night about what this means for this president, both in the present, but also what it means for his legacy. Yeah, well, like Ed said, one of the things is going to that will determine all this is if Kamala Harris can win, right? His legacy is going to be directly tied to that. I was struck, like all of you, by the somberness of the speech. I went back and looked at—well, the other contrast I was struck by is with Donald Trump, frankly. People made this observation.

I think it's apt. But Donald Trump's one of his last speeches in the White House was post-January 6, in which he was talking about his refusal to relinquish power, in which he talked about his belief that he had been robbed, cheated of his presidency, and he was holding on to power. And here was Joe Biden, not three and a half years later, saying, I will give up power willingly and explaining why. And I thought that contrast was just extremely profound. And it got me thinking about what means what it means to be strong, right? Strong can be interpreted in a different way for different

people. Some people view strength as a projection of power. But I think Strong is willingly stepping aside, knowing that you can't win and saying, I'm going to sacrifice my ambition for something larger. And I think in this case, that's what Biden decided to do. I will say, look, it needs to be said, he doesn't believe this criticism. But the other contrast is with Kamala Harris. I thought Biden did look frailala Harris. I thought Biden did look frail last night. I thought Biden did look old. And he is old. And as you've seen Kamala Harris on the trail the past two days, you can just see that contrast and how profound it is and what it means to Democratic voters who have responded with this incredible enthusiasm in terms of

the outpouring of donations and support. And so it was just a historic moment last night seeing this presidency at a crossroads. And like you, Jonathan, I am curious what he does with the next six months. I don't think those agenda items you listed necessarily are practical, but he can use that office to really shine a light on things that he probably couldn't have done had he been a candidate for office. Yeah. And Eddie, I'm struck. I'm just so struck by the contrast between what Donald Trump has said, what he's told Americans about the state of America and where America really is.

And again, I'm not we're we're out of the the opinion range right here. And I'm just talking about facts. Remember when he ran, he said the American dream was dead. Just a lie. The American dream is not dead. The American dream has been growing. And and then he talked about American carnage. Remember American carnage during his inauguration. And when he was saying that, let. Remember American carnage during his inauguration? And when he was saying that, let me repeat it again, because the lie has been told so often that I need to keep repeating the truth. That when Donald Trump was inaugurated and talked about American carnage and people pouring over our borders more than ever before and more violent. Violent crime was at a 50 year low. Crime was at a 50 year low when he became president.

When he became president, when he took the reins from Barack Obama and Joe Biden, illegal border crossings were at a 50 year low. And yet he was talking about American carnage and how things were horrible and how only he could fix it. Now he's saying America is a stupid country again. America is a stupid country because we're letting all of these people pour in and this is the worst. No, it's been bad. It's it has been bad. It was bad during Donald Trump's term. It got worse during the first part of Joe Biden's term. But right now, again, you look at the trend lines and illegal border crossings are lower right now than they were when Donald Trump

left office. And so, again, the contrast between what he says and what is true is striking. The most striking thing, though, is that he thinks he can get votes, and he obviously can, by tearing down America, by saying we are a horrible country, by saying we're a stupid country, by attacking us the same way Vladimir Putin or President Xi attacks us,

by bringing us down, where you heard Joe Biden last night, lifting us up that this campaign should be about that, about the greatness of America. Right, Joe. I think Donald Trump understands the media ecosystem in which those statements are going to land. He's going to make this claim that America is stupid because of them, because of those policies. Your life isn't what it should be because of them, because of these policies. So it's a way of exploiting grievance. It's a way of exploiting a sense that people can barely keep their noses above water.

And when you contrast that with what we heard last night, no matter whether what you what your position on, what your position may be vis-a-vis Joe Biden's policy vis-a-vis Gaza. No matter your position on his his his policy with regards to to student loan debt. What we saw was magnanimity. What we saw was a quiet statesmanship. And he asked us this question. Do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy? That question fundamentally goes directly to what Donald Trump represents, what he what he poses as a threat. And then, Joe, for me, it was this really interesting moment because he knows that the country is really on the precipice, as it were, in terms of our divisions. He reaches for Lincoln and he reads the Declaration of Independence into the Constitution.

That's Lincoln's move. So a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Right. That move is so fundamentally tied to our sense of every human being is equal before God. Right. When we begin to think about that, we know that Joe Biden was reaching for the best of who we are as he's calling us to take responsibility for this country, for democracy itself. The contrast could not be could not be starker, Joe. Yeah, no doubt. All right. Still ahead on morning, Joe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress yesterday. We'll show you some of what he had to say about the war in Gaza and the pro-Palestinian protesters here in the U.S.

Plus, we'll get a reaction from a pair of lawmakers on opposite sides of the aisle who's attended those remarks. Morning Joe, we'll be right back. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed total victory against Hamas in his address to a joint session of Congress. Netanyahu delivered the speech on Capitol Hill yesterday. It was his fourth address to Congress since 1996. Dozens of Democrats skipped the event, including Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In his nearly one hour long speech, Netanyahu defended Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling it a battle for the survival of the Jewish state. He also denounced the criticism he's received both here in the U.S. and internationally,

specifically calling out pro-Palestinian protesters. We meet today at a crossroads of history. Our world is in upheaval. In the Middle East, Iran's axis of terror confronts America, Israel, and our Arab friends. This is not a clash of civilizations. It's a clash between barbarism and civilization. For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together. Because when we stand together, something very simple happens. We win, they lose. Many anti-Israel protesters, many choose to stand with evil.

They stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists and murderers. They refuse to make the simple distinction between those who target terrorists and those who target civilians, between the democratic state of Israel and the terrorist thugs of Hamas. For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protests that are going on right now outside this building. Not that many, but they're there and throughout the city. Well, I have a message for these protesters. When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting, and funding you, you have officially become Iran's

useful idiots. They are Iran's useful idiot. They're Hamas's useful idiot. They're terrorism's useful idiot. We're going to talk more about Netanyahu's speech in a moment. But first, I just I was talking about how Republicans tear down the United States of America, how Donald Trump calls America a stupid country. He talks about American carnage, constantly trashing the United States of America. And and. We see the American flag yesterday being burned. And, you know, some of us are some of us are kind of old fashioned about the American flag. We don't like seeing it burned. We sure as hell don't like seeing people stand by while it's taken down and replaced by a Palestinian flag. We don't like seeing when in the 70s,

when the American flag was used as a weapon to attack black students when they were trying to integrate Boston schools. And we sure as hell don't like seeing the American flag used as a weapon on January the 6th to attack police officers. And of course, there's video people bragging about how they make their American flag a weapon leading up to the riots. I just it's. The idea of what we saw on college campuses last year, just like, oh, this and a lot of people got upset when I said that, oh, this was just college students just wandering out of their classes and deciding one day they're going to protest against Israel. It's so naive when you look at the people

that funded those protests and funded the protests probably yesterday. And you look at the statements they made celebrating the slaughter, the rapes, the killings, the burnings on October the 7th. It tells you all you need to know. We have useful idiots for Russia every day, useful idiots for Russia every day doing Vladimir Putin's bidding. We also, as Benjamin Netanyahu said we have useful idiots for the mullahs in Tehran and we cannot let them have their way in America and infiltrate our college campuses and burn American flags within the shadow of the U.S. capital. Just like the American flag can't be used as a weapon. As it was on January the 6th. A couple of Democrats expressing their anger. Congressman Dean Phillips posted this. I never imagined seeing the flag of a terror group holding eight Americans hostage for 292 days,

waved in the streets of our nation's capital. I'll leave you with that alongside the image of a protester waving the Hamas flag. And Congressman Jake Auchincloss posted, quote, the Jew hate and anti-American garbage coming out of college campuses this spring didn't end with the last day of school. College presidents, you are on notice. You are on notice. Enforce your codes of conduct from day one of the fall semester and let our students go back to class.

This is me now and actually learn. And Republican Governor Larry Hogan, who's running for the Senate, says this is an insult to every American who has worn the flag on their arm and died for our nation. It is disgusting and disgraceful. And it is. Let's bring it right now. The president, Meredith, the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass. Richard, let's talk about Benjamin Netanyahu's speech. We've heard for some time that a peace deal may be near, a ceasefire, a peace deal may be near. What was interesting yesterday was the prime minister spoke very little of hostages. Hostage families were very upset that he seems to be ignoring their pleas to bring the hostages home. Talk about the speech. Talk about

what you expect today when Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Biden and if we may be close to a ceasefire or a peace deal that will bring those hostages home. Well, lots of things to say, Joe. Good morning. Look, there were some good lines in the speech, the one you played at the beginning. It's not a clash between civilizations, but between barbarism and civilization, I thought was a powerful line. I also like when the prime minister had several Israeli soldiers stand up. And you saw one was from Ethiopia, one was a Muslim. It actually showed the diversity of Israel society, implicitly putting a lie to the claim that somehow this was this white country colonizing the Middle East.

I thought that was almost Reagan-esque. It was quite clever. It was quite powerful, had the advantage of being true in what it showed about Israel's diversity. Some of it was, shall we say, a bit cynical, all the emphasis on the hostages, even though Bibi Netanyahu has not made the return of hostages a priority. I think he painted with a very broad brush all the protesters. Yes, many are doing exactly what you and he rightly criticized them for, but you can be critical of how Israel has used military force. You can be critical of what Israel has not put forward in the way of political initiatives and not be pro Hamas. You could simply question whether what Israel is doing is in his own long-term self-interest. I think the biggest problem with the speech, Joe, is what it wasn't. You didn't really have a plan

at all put forward for Gaza. He talked about demilitarization and de-radicalization, never mentioned the Palestinian Authority, never mentioned how you would get the Saudis and others to provide troops and money for Gaza, no mention of the West Bank, no mention of the Palestinian state. So still missing, pretty much, is what you might call the political dimension, the necessary political dimension of what has been and remains a largely military strategy. So I don't think the prime minister changed the conversation. You may get some type of a temporary ceasefire at some point, but I don't think even if you do, it's going to change the fundamentals. It's not going

to give you the basis of long-term governance in Gaza. It's not going to give you the basis of putting together some type of relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. Yeah, certainly. And the response in the hall there, deeply partisan, Netanyahu welcomed warmly by Republicans, far less so from Democrats, and very little talk, as Richard said, of the day after. Katty, I've got new reporting this morning. President Biden meeting, of course, the prime minister this afternoon. And then the vice president will have her own meeting with him a little later in the day.

And I am told by officials that President Biden's gonna take a tougher tone, really urge Netanyahu, take this deal, get this deal done. U.S. officials still believe it's close, but they acknowledge not there yet. Some pretty stubborn hurdles. Looks like there's gonna be another round of negotiations sometime next week. But Biden pushing Netanyahu here is an important piece. But there is some cynicism.

And I want to hear what you think in the Biden administration as to whether Netanyahu really wants a deal, whether he's trying to play out the string to November. And he may have tipped his hand because today, after his meetings in Washington, where does he go? He goes to Mar-a-Lago tomorrow to meet with Donald Trump. Yeah. I mean, how many times have we heard, John, that we're almost on the point of some kind of deal? How many times have U.S. officials, Tony Blinken, Bill Burns, flown out to the Middle East to meet with the Qataris, to meet with the Egyptians, to meet with the Israelis? And we thought that a deal was coming and the hostage families have now got to a position where they daren't hope that there's going to be a deal because they've had those hopes dashed before.

And I think to Richard's point about there not being a plan that gets to Benjamin Netanyahu's priorities. Is his priorities just spinning this out as long as possible because he knows that the collapse of his government could come when he doesn't have this card to play. I mean, Richard, it's interesting what you say about the fact that there was almost nothing about a plan, almost nothing about the hostages at the moment. My understanding is there is no sympathy really in Israel at the moment, even from the left, for any talk about a two-state solution. That's just gone. The bottom has fallen out of that. So where does that leave Benjamin Netanyahu? Where does that leave the Israeli political process as they try to come up with something if there is so little support within the Israeli population, even from the left, for some sort of a deal with the

Palestinians? Well, quite honestly, there isn't much of a left in Israel to be blocked. I don't think it makes sense to be talking a lot about two-state solutions. That's way, way, way down the road. The goal is to keep open the possibility. And that's why the president, among other things, should be talking about the importance of Israelis stopping settlements. Why? Because settlements take territory, and that makes the chances of reaching a two-state solution or any solution even more remote. So, again, two-state solution is not the issue for today or even tomorrow. But if there's got to be a Palestinian entity, a state, we can talk about the conditions, territories to be negotiated.

What we need to do is keep open that possibility on the West Bank. And in Gaza, you still need a plan for governance. He talked again about de-radicalization, de-militarization. He talked about an alliance with Arab states. But guess what? The Saudis and other Arab states are not going to want to spend money rebuilding Gaza unless the shore of the war is over. They're not going to want to send troops in there unless they're confident you've got a political framework that has a chance of succeeding. Again, you can't marginalize Hamas just with military force. That's part of the answer. But you've got to give Palestinians a reason to support others,

whether it's a Palestinian authority, what have you. And that's still not forthcoming. And I think the reason is the prime minister's coalition comes apart on that. So that's still the dilemma that Bibi Netanyahu faces. And yesterday didn't help him manage that dilemma. There's a fundamental tension between what he needs to do to make progress on the ground and what he needs to do to keep his government in power. Yeah, I'm struck, like Richard is, at the politics of this, because to me, one of the key audiences for him was, Bibi that is, was domestic, right? He has this incredibly tenuous position, and it's pretty clear that once this war ends, he's going to face an existential political threat.

But the other sort of political context, and Ed, I'm curious for your thoughts here, is Israel on the international stage. This was Bibi's fourth speech to Congress, which underscores just how long he's been around. I remember the 2015 one when he came here to talk about the Iran nuclear deal. In that situation, a very controversial speech, Congress was still filled with almost all of the lawmakers from both parties. Yesterday, about half of the Democrats decided not to show up. Netanyahu is a bit of a pariah, not just here, but internationally. And I was wondering if you could sort of step back for us, contextualize a speech about how Israel is now received internationally

and what Netanyahu's prosecution of the war has done to Israel's image around the globe? That's a great question, Sam. I mean, yesterday was a tale of two speeches, two very contrasting speeches, one from a president here, President Biden, voluntarily relinquishing power. The other, Netanyahu, breaking the record, as you pointed out, for foreign leaders' addresses to Congress, overtaking Winston Churchill, fourth time. whimmying deals to release the hostages, breaking his word to Biden again and again and again in order for him personally to cling on to power. And that is known very well, not just around the world, but in Israel in particular. Somebody remarked yesterday that the kind of speech he gave and reception he got from the Republican side of the chamber yesterday would have been impossible for Netanyahu to arrange within Israel. He is so unpopular. He is such a toxic brand. So I think the world

look on, I'm afraid to say, quite cynically on this. But they're aware also, and I think both Cathy and Richard mentioned this, that Netanyahu is going to Mar-a-Lago, that some call him the prime minister of Israel, others might call him the Republican senator from Jerusalem. He has a stake in this American presidential election, and it's not on Kamala Harris's side. It is on Donald Trump's side. So he has form in this regard. In 2015, he was overtly going against Obama. And I think the world sees all this. The world is, you know, gripped by the American political season. It's disturbed by what's happening in Gaza.

And it sees the link between the two in the form of this one man, Netanyahu. I don't disagree. Still ahead, our next guest says President Biden's painful Oval Office farewell address is a reminder of how quickly the 2024 campaign has already moved on. Susan Glasser will explain for her new piece for The New Yorker. Plus, we'll talk to the head of the NAACP about the prospect of the first black female president in U.S. history. Warning Joe is coming right back. Swing and a drive, left center field. Francisco flushes the game with a three-run shot.

They lead it 11-2 on Lindor, second of the night. High flat ball, deep left field, way back. Take a a good look you won't see it for long how about a grand slam for greg doyle and somewhere men are laughing with 17 and somewhere children shout but there's no joy in mudville. Mighty Casey has struck out. Mike Barnacle, what if we had a pennant race and nobody wanted to win? What if the Red Sox went from being the hottest team in baseball before the All-Star break to being one and five after the All-Star break and still managing not to lose any games on the Orioles or the Yankees. I mean, the Yankees are in

just a mystifying collapse. The Orioles, the same. You know, we're so focused on the Red Sox and the Yankees that we don't talk about the Orioles' woes. But boy, they went from being one of the hottest teams in baseball to struggling. And the Yankees, my God, just stupefyingly bad right now, how much they've collapsed. And the Sox have had a bad road trip on the West Coast simply because they couldn't hold leads. Good news there, at least, is they did the most important thing they could have done this past week. They signed

Alex Cora to a three-year deal. That's right, Joe. That's why there is joy in Mudville today, because Alex Cora is going to be with the Red Sox for three more years at about $7 million a year, and good for Alex Cora. He is the face of the Boston Red Sox. Look at what's happening to the Orioles, the Yankees and the Red Sox. Baseball is like life. It's every day. It's a long slog. Hopefully most of us are successful and happy at the end of each day. But baseball is different. You get up and you do it again tomorrow. And these are little wrinkles, midseason wrinkles that will work out. I'm confident for two of the three teams. The Yankees, I'm not so sure. The Yankees, their roster, I think, is not what they thought it was just a month ago.

Garrett Cole, their ace, one of the best pitchers in baseball, he got cuffed around last night by the New York Mets in the City Series, Mets and Yankees. I was shocked at what happened to the Yankees yesterday. Yeah, Cole has not been the same since coming back from injury. He's been hit hard a number of times. Great news on Alex Cora. He is indeed the face of the franchise. This young team is overachieving, playing hard for him. Great to see that he'll stay. Red Sox then went out to celebrate Cora's extension by giving up 20 runs to the Colorado Rockies and utterly getting blown out. And Richard Haas, your Yankees, as just noted,

not playing all that much better. That lineup is really top-heavy. It is Soto and Judge and not much else. The pitching had been good, but it's sort of fallen off a little bit of late. Aaron Boone, deeply frustrated. They got swept in the season series by the Mets this year had been good, but it's sort of fallen off a little bit of late. Aaron Boone, deeply frustrated. They got swept in the season series by the Mets this year for the first time, I think, since 1997.

And now we have two teams both collapsing, Yankees and Red Sox. Guess what? They play each other this weekend at Fenway. Somebody's got to win. You know, it's almost enough to make me want to go back to talking more about the Middle East. This is painful. The Yankees are now the second best team in New York. That is not where I thought we would be when the season began. And pitching, I mean, when your race gets homered and hammered, it's a bad sign. I think we could also segue, Joe, if you'd like, to talking about the Open. We never had a proper conversation about Xander Shopley.

I think since there are 162 games in the baseball season, I think we can basically be patient and return to it another morning rather than dwelling on it. No, no, no. I think we need to talk about the Yankees. I think Mike's right. I think if you look at the Orioles and the Red Sox, these are young teams with a bright future. The Yankees, this seems to be a structural problem. This seems to

be a house not built on rock, but built on sand. Richard Haas, what say you? I like one of the many things I like being on the show is the balance. There's no leading questions when it comes to baseball. The neutrality of you and Barnacle and Lemire. Where's Willie when I when I need him? But it's good to see you all, really. And I enjoy this and appreciate this. To agree, I can't quite verbalize. I will tell you where relief will come for you,

Richard Haass, from the very board, Mika Brzezinski, who is now ready to move beyond baseball. Mika? I just, you know, I mean, Jonathan Lemire, let's get your facts right. OK, like, come on, you're a reporter, right? The Yankees were swept by the Mets back in 2013. It's the second time. Oh, there you go. Look, see, I should have deferred to the expert on all things baseball and gone to Mika to check that. Yeah, let's go back to politics. Let's go.