Reuters World News - Handover to Harris, Biden's legacy and Gaza ceasefire plan

Episode Date: August 20, 2024

President Joe Biden cemented the Democratic Party's elevation of Kamala Harris to lead the fight for the White House against Republican Donald Trump with a convention speech that praised his vice president as the best hope for preserving American democracy. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted a "bridging proposal" to tackle disagreements blocking a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and has urged Hamas to do the same. Find our recommended read here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Read here.   Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Joe Biden hails Kamala Harris as the DNC's future in an emotional farewell speech. Anthony Blinken says Israel has accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal and urges Hamas to do the same. And the search continues for a British billionaire lost off a super yacht near Sicily. It's Tuesday, August 20th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool. To introduce my father, your 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden. Ashley Biden at the Democratic National Convention, where Joe Biden delivered an emotional speech on the opening night.

In it, he praised his VP, Kamala Harris, describing her as the best hope for preserving American democracy. Our very own Christopher Wooljaspur was there watching. He spoke for nearly an hour, and he was energetic. He was animated, laughing, and going off script. Now, there were a few times where he stumbled over his words, and it kind of harkened back to that debate that ultimately led to him stepping aside. But even in those moments when he stumbled, the crowd rallied around him and started chanting his name.

And all this talk about how I'm angry, all those people said I should step down. That's not true. The speech was largely positive and focused on Biden's legacy, but he did get some jabs in the former President Trump and at times wagged his finger at Trump for things he'd said in the past. I spoke to a number of people after Biden's speech and many of them really, really appreciated Biden's words and the passing of the baton to Vice President Harris. For instance, I spoke to Maria Banjo. She's a delegate from Georgia.

Tonight, Biden was on fire. Clearheaded. But not everyone in the crowd was in love with Biden's speech. I also spoke to an uncommitted delegate from the state of Washington. She's Palestinian American. Her name is Sabrina Oda. Obviously, we're here to amplify what's going on in Gaza. I think that he could have talked a little bit more,

given a little bit more detail to his base. The conflict in Gaza is a key policy area. her bite. And while he didn't lay out anything new, he did acknowledge the protesters outside, saying that they had a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides. While he walked through his own legacy and accomplishments, he also took the time to hand those accomplishments over to Harris, suggesting that she would shepherd his legacy and further the agenda. Her story represents the best American story. And like many of our best presidents. She was also vice president. Towards the end of his speech, Biden got a little tearful

and described how early on in his career people told him he was too young to be a senator. And yet, in the last few weeks, people told him he was too old to continue on as president. Let me know in my heart when my days are through. America, America, I gave my best to you. Earlier in the day here in Chicago, I caught up with our political reporter, Jeff Mason. He's been covering Biden since he was a vice president and has been looking into what Biden's legacy might be. Certainly the first part of his legacy among Democrats would be that he defeated Donald Trump. And that was huge for the party. Then he helped usher the country through COVID.

And he also had some other major policy wins. that were supported in some cases by both Republicans and Democrats, including the infrastructure bill and some gun legislation and some legislation on chips, and some that were not supported by Republicans, but absolutely are viewed as hugely consequential by Democrats, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which, despite its name, was largely a climate change bill. And that is a hugely important issue for young people, for progressives. On a political level, the fact that he chose Kamala Harris as his vice president is a piece of his legacy. And if she wins, if she beats Donald Trump in November, that will be a part of his legacy as well.

In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister of Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken after a day of meetings with Israeli officials, including a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinkin's urge Tamas to also accept the proposal. His remarks come as Israel says it retrieved the bodies of six hostages from the Khan-Unis area in southern Gaza overnight. The US and others are concerned that if ceasefire talks break down, Iran could retaliate against Israel for the recent killing of a prominent commander. leading to wider regional escalation.

Mayan Lubell has been covering the story. So Mayan, what do we know so far about this bridging proposal? Well, the only thing we know about the so-called bridging proposal so far is only what the site is saying about it, not what is actually in it. We have the US and Israel using words like constructive and positive and sounding more optimistic. And on the other side, you have Hamas voicing a lot of skepticism. even suspicion about this round of talks being more for show than real substance. And up till now, Israel has said the war can own the end with the destruction of Hamas as a military

and political force, right? And Hamas has said it will only accept a permanent, not a temporary ceasefire. So how far will this proposal go to tackle some of those issues? Do we know? The proposal gives time for the size to try and work that out. The question is just whether they will even get that far. What can we expect from Hamas now? Well, the situation with Hamas is that their leader is hold up in Gaza, probably beneath ground. So the communication with him takes a day or two at least. So what we're seeing now, for instance, is kind of holding patent statements from them. So we might see them come out in a day or two with something new. We have Blinking in Egypt today, and then he's going off to Qatar. So the Israeli working teams were still in

in Egypt yesterday. They go back yesterday. So there are negotiations going on. There are details that the side are trying to hammer out. But I don't think we'll actually hear anything of substance from Hamas. Leif through there too. U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed that Iran tried to hack into the campaigns of both presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. The FBI and other intelligence agencies said Iran targeted the American public with influence operations aimed at fanning political discord. Iran calls the allegations unsubstantiated and devoid of any standing. Rescue teams are resuming a search off Sicily for six missing people after a luxury yacht was

struck by a violent storm and sank. Among the missing is Mike Lynch, a tech tycoon who spent more than a decade building Britain's biggest software company, and then almost as long again fighting fraud charges related to its multi-billion pound sale. Ukrainian president Volodymy Zelensky says his country's assault on Russia's Korsk region showed that Kremlin threats of retaliation were a bluff, and he urged Kiev's allies to loosen curbs on using foreign-supplied weapons. Zelensky said Ukrainian forces now controlled nearly 500 square miles in the Korsk region. Russia has said Ukraine struck a third bridge in the area, complicating Russian efforts to repel the Ukrainian attack. Ten more states have joined a

Department of Justice anti-truss lawsuit against Live Nation, and they're looking for more money from the concert giant. Kamal Crimmons is here with the details and a sneak preview of this week's Econ World Pod. So the Department of Justice and several states first sued Live Nation and its ticket selling unit ticket master back in May. It accuses them of illegally inflating concert ticket prices and it wants to break them up. So how are things changed? So now 10 states have joined the federal lawsuit and by adding claims under the federal law, they can seek three times the damages. The uproar over prices for Taylor Swift's US concert tickets a couple of years ago

really kick-started this legal action, right? It did. And actually, Tara, she's also at the heart of this week's Reuters Econ World Pod. We're diving into Swiftonomics. Is it even real? That's what we're asking. And I'm delighted that you're going to feature on this week's show. My starring moment at last.

Best tune in tomorrow where we'll be talking Swiftinomics. Thanks, Carmel. Time now for our recommended read before we go. And today's is from Kenya, where a price war between ride-hailing companies, including Uber, has forced local drivers to set their own fares. One driver says about half the passengers who get in touch eventually agree to pay more than the price flashing up on their app, generated by the company's algorithms, helping her keep going as living costs rise. You can find a link to the story in today's pod description.

For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show. And to make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe on your favourite podcast player.