On Monday's NewsNight show, for the second time in less than a week, CNN host Abby Phillip discussed the war in Gaza with a liberal guest whom she prodded to convey whether Israel is committing "genocide" against the Palestinians in spite of the Israeli Defense Forces making efforts to limit civilian casualties even while Hamas fighters hide among the civilian population.
Phillip began the segment at the top of the show by recalling a U.S. soldier who set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy to protest Israel's war efforts, and then recounted previous examples of protesters engaging in similar extreme acts of self-injury to protest other wars like Vietnam. "Now, the fact that Israel's war in Gaza has provoked this kind of response from really anyone marks a new and stunning chapter in this country's stark divisions over this war."
She then cited polls finding that much of the public, including most Democrats, believe Israel has gone too far, and brought aboard far-left Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who is also running in the primary for the U.S. Senate right now. Phillip called her a "progressive" and recalled that, in 2001, she was the only member of Congress to vote against going to war in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks "that sent American troops into Afghanistan for what turned out to be two decades of war."
After asking for her reaction to the man who set himself on fire, Phillip's second question was to bring up accusations of "genocide" against Israel:
PHILLIP: So this servicemember said that he could no longer be complicit in genocide. Two questions for you: Do you consider what Israel is doing in Gaza to be a genocide? And do you consider the President, as a result of that, to be complicit in a genocide?
LEE: Look, I am going to tell you what I believe first in terms of condemning the horrific Hamas attacks. Terrorism should not be tolerated in any part of the world, including in Israel. And I also have said very clearly that, in going after Hamas, killing innocent civilians -- what, 30,000 nearly -- women and children -- that is not how you prosecute a war to address terrorism We have to have a ceasefire, and, Abby, that's what I'm calling for.
Instead of pushing back in any way, the CNN host followed up by playing a clip of President Biden talking up the possibility of a temporary ceasefire in about a week, and then posed: "Is that enough for you? He's talking there about not a permanent ceasefire but a short-term ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages."
After Lee repeated her claims about the number of civilian deaths, Phillip followed up by asking if President Biden should push even further for a longer-term ceasefire:
LEE: It does -- it does need to be conditioned. We should never allow any country to receive U.S. tax dollars without some rules -- some conditions and some accountability measures. So, yes, that should take place.
PHILLIP: I mean, to be clear, there are -- I mean, there are conditions by law on the aid that goes to Israel. But I think the criticism from some people is that it doesn't go far enough, and that it needs to go further. So, I mean, to what degree do you think that that should be something that President Biden pushes even further than what is already required by law?
LEE: He should push as far as he can push...
Again, instead of giving any pushback, Phillip then moved to asking her if her liberal guest hypothetically would take part in a protest vote against President Biden in the Michigan primary if she lived in the state to send a message over his handling of the Gaza issue. Nowhere in here was the notion that there's anything objectionable or terrorist or radical in what Hamas has done.
Transcript follows:
CNN's NewsNight
February 26, 2024
10:04 p.m.
ABBY PHILLIP (after informing viewers of a man who set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy to protest the war in Gaza): Now, the fact that Israel's war in Gaza has provoked this kind of response from really anyone marks a new and stunning chapter in this country's stark divisions over this war. Biden is clearly feeling the pressure, and, privately, he's expressing his frustration with the Netanyahu government and its refusal to moderate the bombing campaign. Right now, here's where the numbers stand domestically -- 50 percent of Americans say that Israel's campaign has gone too far. That includes 63 percent of Democrats. And that number has been building.
Recent events -- they've also highlighted how limited Biden's increasingly frank warnings to Netanyahu have been in exerting pressure on a U.S. ally. He, for example, warned Netanyahu not to plan for an invasion into the densely populated refuge for civilians, Rafah. Netanyahu says he has a plan to do just that. And tomorrow we'll see a test of just how frustrated the voters are. There's been a vocal campaign in the state of Michigan to get Democrats to vote uncommitted as a message directly to the President of the United States. Now, whether President Biden hears that message or if he can do anything at this point to make Israel hear that message, well, that remains to be seen.
Tonight, progressive anger at the President is mounting. Joining me now is someone who's been a key progressive for a very long time, Democratic Congresswoman from California, Barbara Lee. She's a former chair of the Progressive Caucus. She's also running for Senate. Now, Lee was also the only member of Congress from either party to vote against the 2001 authorization of military force that sent American troops into Afghanistan for what turned out to be two decades of war. Congresswoman, thank you for joining us tonight. As you saw there, a servicemember self-immolating outside of the Israeli embassy. It's really a horrifying thing to watch. When you saw that, what went through your mind?
(CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE (D-CA))
PHILLIP: So this servicemember said that he could no longer be complicit in genocide. Two questions for you: Do you consider what Israel is doing in Gaza to be a genocide? And do you consider the President, as a result of that, to be complicit in a genocide?
LEE: Look, I am going to tell you what I believe first in terms of condemning the horrific Hamas attacks. Terrorism should not be tolerated in any part of the world, including in Israel. And I also have said very clearly that, in going after Hamas, killing innocent civilians -- what, 30,000 nearly -- women and children -- that is not how you prosecute a war to address terrorism. We have to have a ceasefire, and, Abby, that's what I'm calling for. I called for a ceasefire early. We have to get a political and diplomatic solution so that the hostages can be released -- so this terrible death and destruction and violence can stop. And I'm concerned about an escalation into a regional war with the United States embroiled in it. And so of course it's in our national security interests also, and we need to continue to call for a ceasefire, and we need to call for the end of the killing of so many civilians -- so many children, so many women.
PHILLIP: Just tonight, President Biden made some news. He spoke to the late night host Seth Meyers. I want to play for you what he said.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Well, I hope by the beginning of the weekend -- I mean the end of the weekend. My national security advisor tells me that we're close. We're close. It's not done yet. And my hope is by next Monday we'll have a ceasefire.
PHILLIP: Is that enough for you? He's talking there about not a permanent ceasefire but a short-term ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages.
(...)
LEE: But remember the United States has supported and continues to support a two-state solution. Netanyahu said that he does not, so we're going to have to fight very hard for a permanent ceasefire and to get back on track for a politically diplomatic --
PHILLIP: And on that exact note, I mean, Netanyahu has essentially ignored a lot of what the Biden administration has already said to them about what they want to see. He has pushed aside this idea of a two-state solution. He says he still plans to conduct an invasion into Rafah despite the Biden administration warning him not to do that without certain conditions being met. Do you think that President Biden actually has influence over the Netanyahu government at this point?
LEE: The President must continue to hold Israel accountable and must continue to tell Netanyahu in no uncertain terms that what is taking place is, first of all, against the rules of warfare. It's a violation of human rights. What is taking place is thousands of civilians -- women and children -- 30,000 -- are being killed.
PHILLIP: Is it enough for him to just say that to Netanyahu? Or does he -- others have said the aid needs to be conditioned. Do you believe that that's the case?
LEE: It does -- it does need to be conditioned. We should never allow any country to receive U.S. tax dollars without some rules -- some conditions and some accountability measures. So, yes, that should take place.
PHILLIP: I mean, to be clear, there are -- I mean, there are conditions by law on the aid that goes to Israel. But I think the criticism from some people is that it doesn't go far enough, and that it needs to go further. So, I mean, to what degree do you think that that should be something that President Biden pushes even further than what is already required by law?
LEE: He should push as far as he can push because, one, the leverage that the United States has is very clear to me. I chaired the committee on appropriations that funds a lot of our international diplomacy and develops investments. It's very clear to me that if, in fact, countries don't meet the conditions, then we have the kind of leverage that should insist that they do, or we pull back and do not fund to the extent that the funding is not accountable to U.S. tax dollars. And this what's taking place now, and so the President must insist that the rules of accountability be complied with, and they haven't been, Abby, so that's the issue.
PHILLIP: Congresswoman, I want to get your take on the Michigan primary, which will be tomorrow. There's a very public, very high-profile campaign to get Michigan Democrats to go ahead and vote uncommitted at that primary to send a message the President Biden. If you were -- I know you're California voters, but if you were a Michigan voter, would you vote uncommitted?
LEE: No. But, Abby, what I am doing and very focused on, first of all, of course, is my election on March 5th for the United States Senate from California. Secondly, I would do everything I can do to make sure that Donald Trump is not elected.
Donald Trump wants to disrupt, dismantle our democracy. He wants to establish an autocratic government and he's a national security threat and he's a danger to this country and to the rest of the world.
