Will Biden’s leadership hold under pressure?
KCRW's Left, Right & Center
KCRW
4.2 • 4.8K Ratings
🗓️ 1 December 2023
⏱️ 51 minutes
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Summary
A temporary pause on fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas was agreed upon with the help of President Biden and the Qatari government. It’s a volatile situation, relying on the continued trade-off of hostages and prisoners between the two sides. There aren’t many on the left or the right who have been pleased with Biden’s handling of the situation, even with the desired outcome of released hostages. Will the president’s commitment to nuance continue to withstand the political pressures he faces?
The Republican Party’s lack of leadership has left Speaker Mike Johnson — and the future of the GOP — hanging in the balance. Johnson’s position remains vulnerable to the appeasement of his colleagues. Donald Trump’s allegiance can’t be relied upon. Would a new face of the party provide some much-needed stability?
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died at the age of 100 this week. His outsized influence on U.S. foreign policy since the Nixon administration drew the admiration (and the ire) of many. In the wake of his passing, David Greene, Sarah Isgur and Mo Elleithee provide their thoughts on his complicated standing as one of America’s most legendary statesmen.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everybody I'm David Green and welcome to left right and center. It is December I guess so I guess I should say thank you for taking time out of your holiday shopping to join us here on the show and let's dig right in. |
| 0:14.0 | Under a deal reached by extensive US diplomacy including numerous calls |
| 0:19.0 | I've made from the Oval Office to leave us across the region. |
| 0:23.0 | Fighting in Gaza will halt for four days. |
| 0:26.5 | This deal also is structured to allow a pause to continue |
| 0:30.9 | for more than 50 hostages to be released. That's our goal. This morning I've |
| 0:36.6 | been engaged with my team as we began the first difficult days of implementing this |
| 0:41.0 | deal. It's only a start but so far it's gone more. days of |
| 0:45.0 | days of implementing this deal. It's only a start, but so far it's gone well. All right, that of course President Joe Biden, he was outlining the terms for |
| 0:50.0 | a temporary pause in military operations in Gaza. |
| 0:54.4 | This initial four-day pause between Israel and Hamas |
| 0:57.5 | negotiated with help from both the United States |
| 1:00.0 | and the government of Qatar |
| 1:01.7 | was extended earlier this week, and it could stretch out |
| 1:05.0 | could stretch out even further with the continued release of Israeli |
| 1:08.2 | hostages by Hamas. |
| 1:10.7 | So this deal, we should say, includes an agreement to add an additional day to this pause for every 10 |
| 1:17.2 | hostages who are released by Hamas after the original 50 hostage threshold. |
| 1:22.0 | So here's where we are. |
| 1:23.2 | So far, 81 hostages have been handed over |
| 1:25.9 | to Israeli officials, including Israeli and dual citizens, |
| 1:29.9 | as well as Thai and Polish nationals, |
... |
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