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CNN International: Netanyahu To Meet With Biden, Harris After Addressing Congress; Trump: Israel Not Very Good At Public Relations; Harris Strongly Condemns Pro-Hamas Protesters In Washington. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired July 25, 2024 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Well, welcome to our viewers from around the world. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set for high-stakes meetings with U.S. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris today. We're live in Washington and Jerusalem with the latest. Plus, Donald Trump and Harris, both hitting the campaign trail with neither candidate holding back. I'll discuss with my panel. And we're a day away from the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. We will bring you an exclusive interview with the mayor of the city.

First, we are waiting to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris, who is in Houston, Texas, to address a key constituency, one of the country's largest teachers' unions. Harris is expected to focus on what will be a familiar theme of her presidential campaign, fighting for American workers. We will bring you her remarks live when they happen.

Then, Vice President Harris will travel to Washington later today for a meeting that's taken on a huge significance since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid. She and Mr. Biden will meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a critical moment for Israel's war on Hamas. Prime Minister Netanyahu will sit down with the President just two hours from now. They're expected to discuss efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The Prime Minister has openly dismissed the Biden administration's red line on Rafah and its call to end a war that the International Court of Justice says may amount to genocide. But, he found a very receptive audience in Congress yesterday, when he vowed to press ahead until Hamas is defeated.

Now for his part, President Biden is coming off perhaps the most difficult speech of his life, explaining his decision to exit the presidential race and make way for Kamala Harris. He says the fate of America and even the world is hanging in the balance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I believe my record as

President, my leadership in the world, my vision for America's future all merited a second term, but nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy, and 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: So, let's get more now from Alex Marquardt in Washington. And Alex, we are hearing from our own MJ Lee that President Biden is expected to forcefully urge the Prime Minister to accept this ceasefire deal. What more are we learning about this highly- anticipated meeting?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. This is going to be a really important meeting coming off of that speech to Congress by Netanyahu yesterday, in which he spent much of the beginning of the speech talking about the hostages and getting them home, but not talking about the deal itself that is in the works, not talking about how, according to the Biden administration, Israel has signed on to this framework that Biden had put forward two months ago.

What's really interesting, Bianna, is we're hearing from our White House Correspondent MJ Lee that Biden is going to be as forceful as he has ever been with Prime Minister Netanyahu in terms of getting this deal across the line. We knew that that was going to be the focus for the White House this week when it came to Netanyahu's visit. Netanyahu came to talk to Congress at the behest of the Republican Speaker, but the White House is also getting a crack at him, and they're going to use this chance to try to get Netanyahu to where they need him to be. They are saying quite plainly, the ball is in Israel's court. We'd heard for months that the ball was in Hamas court. Now, the U.S. is saying that it is on Israel to accept this deal.

I learned yesterday that CIA Director Bill Burns is planning to go back out to the region early next week for a meeting with the main mediators, the location and timing still to be determined. After that meeting between Biden and Netanyahu, they're then going to meet with hostage families, which could add more pressure to that conversation.

And then, in terms of the meetings that are going to follow, Bianna, we have Kamala Harris and now the presumptive Democratic nominee, who is coming back to Washington, as you mentioned, she is meeting one-on- one with Netanyahu herself later in the afternoon. We'll be watching that one very carefully as well, because we're trying to figure out where Harris stands herself on this issue of Israel and Gaza, not just now but going forward. She has been more forward leaning in terms of her empathy and in terms of talking about the suffering of Palestinians than perhaps President Biden has. She has been more forward leaning, talking about the need for immediate ceasefire, doing that at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

[11:05:00]

So -- but, at the same time, the sense that we're getting right now is that her policies are relatively in lockstep with President Biden. So, we want to see if there are any differences there now, as she takes that mantle as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

And then finally, we do know that Prime Minister Netanyahu is going down to Florida to Mar-a-Lago to meet with former President Trump, who, of course, is going to be in a very tight race we think with Kamala Harris. Here is what Trump said yesterday about this meeting with Netanyahu tomorrow. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first of all, he was very nice to me yesterday, he says (inaudible) speech, very nicely, and I appreciated that. He is coming to see me. I want him to finish up and get it done quickly. You got to get it done quickly because they are getting decimated with this publicity. And Israel is not very good at public relations. I'll tell you that. Israel, for whatever reason, you have Jewish people out there wearing yarmulkes and they are pro-Palestine. You've never seen anything. People have never seen anything like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: So, that was actually from this morning. There were a couple of things there. He talks about getting -- Israel meeting to wrap things up as quickly as possible in Gaza, not really mentioning the civilian death toll and the destruction that has happened there.

But, this is going to be a very interesting meeting, because on the one hand, former President Trump was in many ways the most pro-Israel President that we've ever seen. They -- he moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He recognized the Golan Heights as being part of Israel. He struck the Abraham Accords between Israel and several other Arab countries. But then, Trump was angered by Netanyahu in the wake of the 2020 election when Netanyahu very quickly congratulated Joe Biden on his victory. President Trump thought that was premature. And so, the Netanyahu camp has been trying to get back into Trump's good graces. So, this is going to be another meeting to watch very closely.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And it is interesting that while the former President criticized Kamala Harris for not attending that speech yesterday by the Prime Minister, his own pick for Vice President, J.D. Vance, also skipped that speech. Worth mentioning there.

Alex Marquardt, thank you so much.

Well, now over to Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem. Jeremy, how are Israelis reacting to the Prime Minister's speech, given that it happened in primetime viewing for Israel, and there had been a lot of focus among the Israeli public specifically for those details that Alex Marquardt noted were not in that nearly hour-long speech?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, it's certainly not being received as warmly as it was in the chamber of the U.S. Congress yesterday when the Israeli Prime Minister gave that speech, received something like 50 some odd standing ovations or applause from the overwhelmingly or the majority, I should say, Republican audience.

And I think that perhaps the most telling dichotomy here in terms of how these lawmakers reacted to the speech and how Israelis, many Israelis reacted to the speech, comes when the Israeli Prime Minister vowed at one point that he won't rest until all of the loved ones of the hostages, all of the hostages, I should say, are home. And in that moment, he got a standing ovation from this audience of lawmakers, but the families of the hostages who were actually in attendance for this speech, they did not get up to applaud.

And that speaks to the fact that these families of hostages, and this is also the sentiment of many Israelis, perhaps even a majority of Israelis, they believe that Netanyahu is the one who holds the keys to reaching a ceasefire agreement that could bring dozens of Israeli hostages back home, and hostage families in particular feel like the Israeli Prime Minister has been delaying, has been stalling, as he waits to send the Israeli response back to the mediators to then be delivered to Hamas.

This is a man who has the power to actually reach this agreement. And he was talking about it as if he was just a cheerleader on the sidelines. And it's also clear that overwhelmingly this speech was much more focused on finishing the fight in Gaza, defeating Hamas, then it was to perhaps reach a ceasefire agreement within the next week, perhaps even in a matter of days, if Hamas accepts the latest Israeli response.

That being said, there was support for the Israeli Prime Minister among his right-wing allies who cheered him on as he was talking about defeating Hamas. And also, there is no question that the Israeli Prime Minister nailed the optics of this speech. In many ways, it felt like a State of the Union address that would be delivered by a U.S. President with all of these standing ovations, bringing in members in the gallery, invited guests who were seated next to his wife in the gallery. And so, there is no question that the Israeli Prime Minister got a lot out of this speech.

[11:10:00]

But, what he certainly didn't do was commit to reaching a ceasefire agreement, and that is exactly what we expect President Biden to be emphasizing in his meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister in just a couple of hours.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. An unprecedented fourth speech from this Prime Minister before a joint session of Congress. That's something we haven't seen before from any world leader. It also speaks to the fact that the Prime Minister has been in office for a very long time.

Jeremy, there had been hints going into this speech that he would give more detail as to what a day-after plan in Gaza would look like. But, that didn't appear to happen other than once again reinforcing that there would be a demilitarized and de-radicalized Gaza that would be run by civilians. But, who those civilians are and who would ultimately be in charge, we heard none of that. DIAMOND: Yeah. That's right. And we haven't heard a lot from the Israeli Prime Minister on this issue. He did give a nod to it yesterday in talking about this notion of demilitarizing Gaza, doing it in partnership with some Arab allies in the region. There has been reporting recently, of course, that the United Arab Emirates might even be willing to put some kind of a multinational force together and actually send troops in on the ground to provide kind of a law and order position, while that kind of transition period is happening in Gaza.

But, beyond just kind of talking about ideas that have already been out there, we really didn't get a lot new from the Israeli Prime Minister on that issue. And what we certainly didn't get was a commitment on his part to some kind of longer-term solution. And I think that's ultimately one of the overarching takeaways that I had from this, is this is an Israeli Prime Minister who was focused more than anything else on justifying the Israeli war in Gaza, garnering support for that war, making the case for that war, at a time when there is a deal on the table that could potentially end it, and I think that more than anything, that is telling about the Israeli Prime Minister's mindset. Whether or not that is an attempt to kind of shore up his right-wing allies before he takes a leap towards a ceasefire agreement, that's certainly a possibility.

But, if you just listen to the Israeli Prime Minister's words at face value, this did not sound like a man who was thinking about a long- term future in Gaza, or who was thinking about signing a ceasefire agreement in the coming days.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And this came at a time when the IDF announced that they've retrieved five bodies of Israeli hostages that had been killed in Gaza. So, again, once again, highlighting just the fact that the time is of the essence, and that is something that many of these, all of these hostage families have been saying that they're long overdue to reach a deal.

Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.

Well, we're standing by to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris. She is about to speak at a campaign event in Texas as the new presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Plus, President Biden says it's time to pass the torch to a new generation. A closer look at his historic Oval Office address, just ahead.

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GOLODRYGA: Well, any moment now, we're expecting remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston, Texas, where she'll deliver the keynote speech at the American Federation of Teachers National Convention. A source told CNN a short time ago that former U.S. President Barack Obama plans to endorse Harris soon. Harris is not only hitting the trail hard in her first few days as the presumptive Democratic nominee, she has also just released her first campaign out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In this election, we each face a question. What kind of country do we want to live in?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: As for the search for her running mate, sources tell CNN that Harris hopes to pick a VP candidate in the next two weeks, an extremely fast timetable. All of this has been an extremely fast timetable. The past month was about like a week.

CNN Senior Reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere joins us now live. So, Edward- Isaac, it's good to see you. We have Kamala Harris there on the campaign trail in Houston, a new ad just out, and now remarks from her campaign regarding what we saw yesterday, countering what the Prime Minister of Israel was doing as he was delivering comments before a joint session of Congress. We saw protests outside, some of it peaceful, some of it not, some of it included pro-Hamas chants and flags, as well as the burning of American flags outside of Union Station in D.C. The Biden administration earlier was quick to put out a statement. It had been a little bit longer till we heard from Kamala Harris's campaign about this. But here, we now have word that she condemns the burning of American flag outside Union Station in Washington on Wednesday.

I mean, I guess this is just what we can expect the tightrope she is going to have to walk, being her own candidate campaigning, while at the same time also being the Vice President to the current President. It's maybe a little bit difficult to be in lockstep, but also your own person.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. Look, and that statement actually is from her government office. Another part of it, yes, there is the burning of the American flag that she condemns. She also, in the statement, writes, "I condemn any individuals associated with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the state of Israel and kill Jews." That is a pretty strong and direct language from her, and it comes at this moment when she is meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon, when she gets back to Washington.

And as people are looking at her and saying, they really don't know where she actually stands on Israel, she has obviously been part of the administration with Biden. People telling me who are familiar with it that she, for most of the substance, agrees with Joe Biden, has made a point publicly and privately of talking about the emphasis on some of the rhetoric and making sure to talk about the suffering of Palestinians, make clear that when they're saying they're anti-Hamas, that it is not the same as being anti-Palestinian, and that the Palestinian people are separate in this from what Hamas has been doing.

That is a rhetorical shift. But, it also speaks to a sense that she will maybe have a different overall relationship with this issue than Joe Biden has. Biden, obviously, for 50 years, has been one of the most pro-Israel people out there, Jewish or not. And most people would say, one of the, if not the most pro-Israel presidents that we've ever had.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And it is interesting, Edward-Isaac, because before you could argue perhaps that while she was representing the Biden- Harris campaign or administration, that perhaps she was playing a different role that the President was a, for lack of a better word, good cop. She was just more a bad cop in terms of being more tough on Israel, and focusing more on the plight of the Palestinians. How important is it for her to really define where she stands on this issue in particular, given that there is so much focus on that right now?

DOVERE: Yeah. Look, it's extremely important. It's not just a complicated foreign policy issue, but it's very politically fraught too hear at home. Let's take a listen to what Doug Emhoff, her husband, said when he jumped on as a surprise to a call yesterday of Jewish supporters for Harris. Nobody, I'm sorry. He spoke about how he wanted there to be clear that Harris is a supporter of Israel and the strength of Israel and the security of Israel, and that there should be no question about that.

But, I think importantly here, yesterday I had asked Harris's office whether she considers herself a Zionist. That is a term that Joe Biden as recently as two weeks ago was saying, he proudly is, and you don't have to be Jewish to be a Zionist. Harris's office did not give me a direct yes or no to that question. They gave me a long statement that said she stands with Israel and the security of Israel and belief in Israel's right to exist, but also wants to make sure that the Palestinian people are being taken care of.

[11:20:00]

That speaks to how this issue has shifted, because of course that term has shifted in some people's minds.

GOLODRYGA: No. That term definitely has shifted and become very polarizing over the course of this war. And we should note that President Biden has also expressed sympathy for Palestinian civilians as well. So, maybe you could make the argument that she perhaps does that in a more articulate way. I mean, we have focused a lot on his ability to really address his own policies in a way that he hasn't been able to do so well over the past few months that ultimately led him to the decision to drop out of the race. She tackles that a bit differently.

DOVERE: Yeah. And look, we will see also what she says, and even just the body language, if we see her on camera after the meeting with Netanyahu. She is meeting with him in her ceremonial office, in the Old Executive Office Building. So, it really gives her staff a way to control what is seen of that meeting and what is seen after that meeting, and of course, the readouts of this.

But, notably, Netanyahu in his long speech to Congress yesterday talked about Joe Biden a bunch of times. He talked about Donald Trump. He did not mention her name. Donald Trump's campaign went after her for not being there, said that she was insulting the Jewish people and running away from Israel. But, of course, J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, was not there either, even though he is the Senator. We didn't really get an explanation from the Trump campaign about that other than a statement that he was fulfilling the duties of a vice presidential candidate.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. We know where some of his foreign policies lie too. I mean, he has called and been described as an isolationist not wanting to meddle in foreign wars. He has been a supporter of Israel. But, the fact that he wasn't there really does raise more questions on that front.

Edward-Isaac Dovere, thank you.

DOVERE: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Donald Trump says that he is done being nice. The Republican nominee was in full attack mode at a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, repeatedly blasting Kamala Harris. Trump had called for unity in the days after he survived an assassination attempt, but that no longer appears to be the case. The former President described Harris as an ultra-liberal and claim she has been a part of every mistake made by the Biden administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If Kamala Harris gets in, she would be the most radical far- left extremist ever to occupy the White House times 10. There has never been a lunatic like this in the White House, and we've had some bad ones. But, the worst one is Joe, actually.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Meanwhile, a brand new CNN poll finds no clear leader in the race between Harris and Trump. Trump's small lead is within the margin of error. He had a six-point advantage over President Biden in a CNN poll just one month ago.

So, let's turn to our panel, CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist, S.E. Cupp, and Natasha Alford, Senior Correspondent for TheGrio, a news organization focused on the African American community.

S.E., let's start with you. I don't know how many people have been holding their breath waiting to see this new, nicer version of the former President. We've covered him for many, many years. There have been ebbs and flows about whether this would be a different, more presidential, more serious, more nicer, however we want to describe it. Trump is the same Trump. The fact that he is choosing to go about now characterizing his new opponent and rival by calling her dumb, by criticizing her liberal past, by mispronouncing her name, I mean, I'm just wondering, how effective is that outside of the MAGA base?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, & U.S. REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yeah. I mean, inside the MAGA base, it's very effective. And I -- there was no question he was not going to take a unifying tone, mostly because they don't want him to. He does respond to his base and they want him to be on the attack. So, calling her a lunatic, earlier today, he called her garbage, I mean, really gross descriptors. And over on the right, his surrogates and fans are even saying worse things. This is what they're there for, unfortunately. So, he is giving the people what they want.

Outside of that, though, this smacks of real desperation. Look, she has got record, a record to go after. She has got liberal policies, things that she has said, things that she has done, both as a Senator and a Vice President, that are ripe for Republican and conservative attacks and criticism. They can do that and that's what they should do, because outside of the MAGA base, the voters they still need to get, women, swing state voters, independents, moderates, they don't like this. They are not here for that. That's why they're not behind Trump yet.

[11:25:00]

And so, they're waiting for someone to come along and talk about the real issues. That person might just be Kamala Harris if Trump doesn't realize and J.D. Vance doesn't realize that these attacks on women specifically are really alienating the very voters they need.

GOLODRYGA: Natasha, I'm just curious how best the now Harris campaign can capitalize on this type of language and these very personal attacks, because I think back to several years ago, when we heard from Michelle Obama, perhaps the most popular even more so than her husband, one could argue, a Democrat in the country say, when they go low, we go high. That didn't seem to have a nationwide ultimate. The impetus wasn't there to go down that route. It didn't work for them, even though it's a great line. What do you think the response should be from the Harris campaign to these types of attacks?

NATASHA ALFORD, HOST, "THEGRIO WEEKLY": Well, I think she is being attacked because she is a worthy contender, right? The fact that they have to stoop so low, that they have to go with the racism and the misogyny, that speaks to what S.E. said, which is that they don't want to engage in policy conversation. So, I think she needs to lean into that. That ad with Beyonce in the background was brilliant, because not only thematically does that song "Freedom" speak to so many people, people want to be free from this disgusting, uncivil sort of political moment that we're in. They're tired of personal attacks. They're tired of being divided as Americans. People want to be proud of the America that we were told about as children, one that embraces everyone.

And so, she can lean into that. She can be the example and the adult in the room. But, please be clear. Kamala Harris with her prosecutorial background, her time in the Senate, she is fierce. She is tough. She can fight. And so, people want somebody who can hit back, but do so with the truth and do so with some integrity.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. In response to this ad, I noticed a tweet from Amy Walter of The Cook Report, and she wrote that the freedom message is one that many Democrats have argued works better than calls to protect democracy. So, that's sort of in line with the point that you just made.

S.E., Republicans close to Trump say they're really worried about him and his allies venturing too far down the road of racism and misogyny and personal attacks against the Vice President. You've had the current Speaker and the former Speaker also worry about some of this language, and telling the Republicans, in particular this campaign, not to go down the DEI higher road. I am wondering, do you think they'll actually heed that warning and advice?

CUPP: Yeah. TBD. Up until the point where Joe Biden dropped out of the election, the Trump campaign was actually fairly disciplined. Of course, LaCivita really knew what he was doing, and whether it was encouraging Donald Trump to distance himself from 2025, whether that's true or not, or not to dance on Joe Biden's grave while he was struggling. Those were two very good things to advise Donald Trump to do when he did them. He will need to be advised again, and so will J.D. Vance, that these kinds of attacks are really deleterious to their campaign.

There is always a question of whether Trump will listen, because he has his own principle and he has impulses that he can't deny, generally. But, that would be the smart thing to do. And like I said, he has smart people running this campaign. The problem is, they didn't have a plan for this campaign, the one against Kamala Harris. So, they are basically starting over and having to scrap a very finely tuned campaign that was meant to be run against Joe Biden through November. So, I think that's why you're seeing this sudden explosion of undisciplined, sort of not a unified Republican Party uniting around a single message, uniting around ideas. I think that's what's happening right now.

GOLODRYGA: And we're taking a live look there.

ALFORD: Bianna, if I may.

GOLODRYGA: Sorry. Go ahead quickly. And if I interrupted Natasha, it's just because the Vice President is about to start talking. But, go ahead.

ALFORD: No worries. Really quick. Trump made a lot of trying to recruit diverse people to bring out black and brown people at RNC. When you attack people because of their race, because of their gender --

GOLODRYGA: Yeah.

ALFORD: -- that doesn't do a lot to welcome those people into your party.

GOLODRYGA: Well, let's listen into the Vice President in Houston.

HARRIS: It is good to be in the house.

(CROWD CHEERING) HARRIS: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

(CROWD CHEERING)

[11:30:00]

HARRIS: Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

(CROWD CHEERING)

HARRIS: Thank you, Oh, thank you all. That you so very much. (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY).

(CROWD CHEERING) (APPLAUSE).

HARRIS: Oh, thank you. It's so wonderful to be back with everyone here. Thank you. That means so, so much more than I can say. Randy, thank you for your friendship, your longstanding friendship. As we all know, Randy is a force, and she has been an incredible friend and advisor to the President and me, and I want to thank you on behalf of the President and me and our country for all that you are.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And I want to begin by saying a few words about our President Joe Biden. Right?

(CROWD CHEERING)

HARRIS: Yeah. Yeah. So, last night, our President addressed the nation, and he showed once again what true leadership looks like.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: He really did. His words were poignant. I'll speak in a moment about the importance of reminding people of history, teaching America's true history. He thinks and talks about his work and our country, understanding what it means in terms of what we do now and how that will impact the future. He thinks about our history in the context of the importance of the work we do now. And over the past three and a half years and over his entire career, Joe has led with grace and strength and bold vision and deep compassion. And as he said --

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: That's right. And as he said, in the next six months, he will continue to fight for the American people. And I know we are all deeply, deeply grateful for his continued service to our nation.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS; Thank you. Thank you. And to the members of AFT, I thank you for your service to our nation.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: From the public service workers and higher education faculty, to the school bus drivers and the custodians, to the school nurses and our teachers, you all do God's work, educating our children, the whole ecosystem of who are AFT members. It is you who have taken on the most noble of work, which is to concern yourself with the well-being of the children of America, and I thank you for that. I thank you for that.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And I thank you also for your support over the years and for being the first union to endorse me this week.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Thank you. I thank you. I thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And as you may know, I am a proud product of public education.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Many of you know that my first grade teacher, Mrs. Frances Wilson, God rest her soul, taught me and educated me and encouraged me and inspired me. And years later, when I walked across the stage to receive my law school diploma, Mrs. Frances Wilson was in the audience.

(APPLAUSE)

HARIIS: Yeah. Yeah. And that's who you are. I know who you are. I know who you are. This work is personal and it is professional and it is so critically important. And so, it is because of Mrs. Wilson and so many teachers like her that I stand before you as Vice President of the United States of America --

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: -- and that I am running to become President of the United States.

(APPLAUSE) (CROWD CHEERING)

[11:35:00]

HARRIS: And what I know firsthand is that our teachers and all those who are here, all the members of AFT, I know that by nature you are visionaries. You are focused on the future. The work you do is about a focus on the future. You see the potential in every child. You foster it. You encourage it. And in so doing, you shape the future of our nation, which is why I say, we need you so desperately right now. Today, we face a choice between two very different visions for our nation, one focused on the future and the other focused on the past. And we are fighting for the future.

(APPLAUSE) (CROWD CHEERING)

HARRIS: And in our vision of the future, we see a place where every person has the opportunity not just to get by but to get ahead, a future where no child has to grow up in poverty, where every senior can retire with dignity, and where every worker has the freedom to join a union.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: We see a future with affordable healthcare, affordable childcare and paid leave, not for some but for all.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: We see a future where every student has the support and the resources they need to thrive and a future where no teacher has to struggle with the burden of student loan debt.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: So, as an example, our administration has forgiven student loan debt for nearly five million Americans --

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: -- and twice as much for our public servants, including our teachers.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Teachers like Tonya Cabeza, who I met recently in Philadelphia. Tonya was first in her family to go to college. And she had been, like many, paying off her student loans for 20 years. And she told me -- she was like, look, I at many times wondered, would I have to leave this profession I love to just be able to pay my bills? But I did it -- I didn't leave because I love what I do and I understand the importance. But making decisions, then, about what she could afford in terms of her daily obligations and dealing with these loans. And after 20 years, she still owed $40,000 in student loans. And we forgave it all.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: When she learned, she told me -- she said when she learned that her loans had been forgiven, she said, well, me and my children knew our lives had changed, and we were just dancing. Dancing. So, there we go.

But, we are clear-eyed. As we work to build a brighter future and to move our nation forward, there are those who are really trying to take us backward. And you, I'm sure, have seen their agenda: Project 2025.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: Randi, can you believe they put that thing in writing?

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: -- 900 pages in writing.

So, Project 2025 is a plan to return America to a dark past. Donald Trump and his extreme allies want to take our nation back to failed trickle-down economic policies --

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: -- back to union busting --

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: -- back to tax breaks for billionaires.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: Donald Trump and his allies want to cut Medicare and Social Security --

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: -- to stop student loan forgiveness for teachers and other public servants.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: And I say to AFT, they even want to eliminate the Department of Education --

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: -- and end Head Start --

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: -- which, of course, would take away preschool from hundreds of thousands of our children.

[11:40:00]

He intends to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and make working families foot the bill. And he intends to end the Affordable Care Act. Now, think about that, to take us back to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions. Remember what that was like? Children with asthma, women who survived breast cancer, grandparents with diabetes.

America has tried these failed economic policies before. But, we are not going back. We are not going back.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: No, we will move forward. And one of the best ways to keep our nation moving forward is to give workers a voice: to protect the freedom to organize, to defend the freedom to collectively bargain -- (APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: -- to end union busting.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: As head of the White House Labor Task Force, I have led our work to eliminate barriers to organizing in both public and private sectors, including for teachers. But, there is more that we must do. President Joe Biden and I promised to sign the PRO Act into law, and I promise you I will keep that promise.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Because when workers join together and demand what is fair, everyone is better off.

Understand, and I say this everywhere I go, understand, you may not be in a union member, but you should thank unions and I'm looking to the cameras in the back of the room, not them, but the people who might be watching. You may not be a union member, but thank unions for the five-day workweek --

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: -- for the eight-hour workday. Thank unions for sick leave and paid family leave and vacation time.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Because the fact is unions helped build America's middle class.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And when unions are strong, America is strong.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: So, AFT, ours is a fight for the future. And ours is a fight for freedom.

In this moment, across our nation, we witness a full-on attack on hard-won, hard-fought freedoms. While you teach students about democracy and representative government, extremists attack the sacred freedom to vote. While you try to create safe and welcoming places where our children can learn, extremists attack our freedom to live safe from gun violence. They have the nerve to tell teachers to strap on a gun in the classroom --

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: -- while they refuse to pass commonsense gun safety laws.

(APPLAUSE) HARRIS: And while you to teach students about our nation's past, these

extremists attack the freedom to learn and acknowledge our nation's true and full history --

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: -- including book bans. Book bans in this year of our Lord 2024.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You tell them, President Harris.

HARRIS: And on these last two issues, just think about it. So, we want to ban assault weapons, and they want to ban books.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

HARRIS: Can you imagine?

All the while, these extremists also attack the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: They pass so-called "Don't Say Gay" laws.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

[11:45:00]

HARRIS: Now, I have to tell you, so many of you may know, in 2004, on Valentine's Day weekend, I was one of the first elected officials in the country to perform same-sex marriages.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: So, here is the thing. It pains me so to think 20 years later that there are some young teachers in their 20s who are afraid to put up a photograph of themselves and their partner for fear they could lose their job. And what is their job? The most noble of work, teaching other people's children. And God knows we don't pay you enough as it is.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: In this moment, we are in a fight for our most fundamental freedoms. And to this room of leaders, I say, bring it on.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Bring it on. Bring it on.

AUDIENCE: Bring it on! Bring it on! Bring it on!

HARRIS: Bring it on. That's right. Because here is the thing. Here is the thing. Here is the thing. We believe in our country, we believe in its promise of freedom, and the American people believe in the promise of freedom. So, we are in the fight. We who believe in the freedom to vote will pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: We who believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence will pass an assault weapons ban.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: We who believe that every American should be free from bigotry and hate will fight to protect our teachers and our students from discrimination --

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: -- and make sure every student can learn America's history.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And we who believe in reproductive freedom will restore the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not to have her government telling her what to do.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: So, AFT -- that's right. Bring it on.

So, ultimately, in this moment, I know we all know, we each in our country face a question. That question being, what kind of country do we want to live in, a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear, and hate? The beauty of our democracy is that we each have the power to answer that question when we vote. And when we vote, we make our voices heard.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: So, today I ask you, AFT, are you ready to make your voices heard?

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Do we believe in freedom?

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Do we believe in opportunity?

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Do we believe in the promise of America?

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And are we ready to fight for it?

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And when we fight, we win. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: God bless you.

GOLODRYGA: We've been listening to a very energized Vice President and candidate now, Harris, speaking before a teachers' union convention there in Houston, Texas, the first union, actually, to endorse her candidacy, equally enthusiastic reception and audience there, where the Vice President said that if she was elected, the first one -- the first thing she would do is sign the Protecting the Right to Organize Law into law -- Act into law, rather.

[11:50:00]

I do want to bring in Natasha Alford, senior correspondent for TheGrio news organization focused on the African American community. Aside from showcasing her support for teachers and unions in general, she went to a larger perspective, and that is really showcasing the difference between what Democratic -- what a Harris administration would bring for the country versus another Trump administration. She described it as rule of law versus chaos, fear and hate. Your views.

ALFORD: Bianna, it was that phrase, we see a future, we see a future. That is what is going to get people to leave their house and cast a vote in November. For people who were feeling downtrodden, uninspired, those are the speeches that rally folks. I want to say, as the daughter of an educator, a public school teacher who watched her mother have to get crayons and books for her classroom, I mean, she was speaking to people on a level that they understood emotionally, right, talking about the struggle, talking about sort of the irony and unfairness of teachers having to put their lives on the line being told to carry guns in classrooms, but not making enough money and having to potentially get a second job. Right?

So, I think she spoke on every level that mattered. She talked about policy, right, and didn't just denigrate Donald Trump, but gave people something to go out and vote for, and that's going to make the difference in November.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. She said we want to ban assault weapons. They want a ban books.

Natasha Alford, thank you so much.

ALFORD: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well then, in little more than an hour, the Israeli Prime Minister is set to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House. President Biden is expected to forcefully urge Mr. Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal. And later, Vice President Kamala Harris is also set to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister, having missed his address to Congress to attend a pre-arranged event. Anshel Pfeffer is a journalist with the Israeli daily Haaretz, and

also writes for The Economist. He is also the author of "BIBI: THE TURBULENT LIFE AND TIMES OF BENJAMIN NETANYAHU." Anshel, it's good to see you. Thanks so much for patiently waiting by, as we listened to the Vice President there speaking in Houston at a teacher's union. One would, in theory, think that that's not relative to the current news of day with regards to Israel and the war in Gaza. But, I'm just curious, I know you listened in to the Vice President, compare that to the Prime Minister of Israel and his perception of what he was anticipating to be perhaps another Biden administration. I don't know how well he and Kamala Harris know each other. But, just listening to her speak there, if you could talk to us, perhaps, about how you think Bibi may be crafting his approach to her.

ANSHEL PFEFFER, HAARETZ JOURNALIST: Well, I think the only thing that they -- that the two speeches have in common is that they were both election speeches. There isn't yet a date for an election in Israel. We don't know if and when this government will fall. But, what we all saw yesterday, those who watched Netanyahu's speech in Congress was actually an Israeli election speech. Netanyahu was speaking in English. He was speaking to an American audience sitting there in Congress, but he was really speaking to Israelis back home, trying to somehow revive the trust and the support he has lost in Israel over the last nine and a half months since the war began.

And the only way Netanyahu can find now to try and revive himself, revive his standing, is by showing the Israelis, look at this incredible reception I've just received in the United States, the invitation to speak to Congress, the standing ovations, and Netanyahu is looking at a new generation of American politicians coming forward in someone like Kamala Harris. And this is not the America he knows. This is not the America he has been working with basically for the last 40 years, and I think he is a bit worried.

GOLODRYGA: And this isn't the type of reception, I think you'd agree, that he would have received in Israel at the Knesset among Israelis either, given how unpopular he is right now, and the majority of Israelis would like to see him resign at some point, sooner rather than later. Also notable in his speech yesterday, listen, he did try to strike a chord of bipartisanship, naming President Biden and Donald Trump. Interesting that he never referenced Kamala Harris. But, there were no real specifics. Anybody looking for focus on a ceasefire deal, more specifics on then that could take place or even what a day-after plan may look like, he had an hour to really lay that out and he didn't.

[11:55:00]

What is the takeaway from that?

PFEFFER: Well, Netanyahu has refused so far to present any type of strategy to the Israeli people, with the exception of empty slogans like total victory, and that's what we saw yesterday in Congress. He spoke for 53 minutes. There wasn't any substance, no policy. I mean, it all boiled down to one sentence that Gaza, after the war, will be demilitarized and de-radicalized. No details on how that can be achieved. No timetable. Really, there is nothing there but slogans. But, that was good to milk the audience for applause or the standing ovations. That what Netanyahu wants Israelis to see back home. But, he doesn't have a strategy right now because his government won't allow him to have a strategy.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah.

PFEFFER: He is dependent on far-right parties who want this war to continue, God knows until when, and he can't defy (ph) them.

GOLODRYGA: And he has very crucial meetings coming up not only with the President and the Vice President, but also, as we know, that meeting in Mar-a-Lago tomorrow with former President Trump.

Anshel Pfeffer, great to see you. Thanks so much for joining the program.

PFEFFER: Thank you for having me, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you so much for watching. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. "One World" is up next.

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