Rep. Ocasio-Cortez On The Humanitarian Crisis In And Speaking With President Biden About Gaza

Welcome back everyone, ladies and gentlemen, my guest tonight is a three-term Democratic congresswoman from New York. Please welcome back to the Late Show, Congresswoman Alexandria Okio Cortez, thank you, hello, hello, how's she doing? eh, it's going pretty well, it's a pleasure to see you again, it has been too. It's been a long time, there's a lot to catch up on, but I guess the first thing we should talk about is the big story of the day, did you catch the eclipse? I did, um, my puppy and I went to the Lexington and Queens School for the Deaf and I was with all the kids and this is your puppy, oh yeah, here you go, play it safe, kid, play it safe, that's Deco, um, he had his goggles on too, so it's okay, now.

You, I, I know you're a congressman now, but you originally wanted to be a scientist, right? Yeah this is where this is oh my gosh this was at the Intel ISF science competition that's me in high school so there you say um um now Congress is back uh uh it's tomorrow after a two break tomorrow is fine, tomorrow break for two and you, uh, you made a lot of news for giving a speech on the floor of the house, uh, before break and we're Next, we just got through six months of the war between Israel and Gaza and the

crisis

that is developing there and this, the anguish and horror of the asymmetric war, the horrors of the October 7 attack and the horror of the people.

You see the innocent lives lost in the military response, the tens of thousands of lives being lost there, but you went one step further. I think you were the first person to do this in Congress. You said you call the famine in Gaza a development. Genocide, that is an electrifying term to use against the actions of a country that was formed in the wake of the greatest genocide of the 20th century. If politics is the art of the possible. MH. You are a politician. What did you hope to make possible? Going so far in your description, I appreciate the scope of that question and although I was not the first in Congress to use that term, it was certainly a speech dedicated to it before the beginning, if not the end of it. session and for me what I saw in that moment is that we have been on the brink of a mass famine that would indiscriminately kill almost a million children, adults, innocent people, men, women and children, and this is an absolutely heartbreaking moment, as you mentioned.

The October 7 attacks were horrifying for the hostages held in Gaza. They are also endangered and endangered by indiscriminate famine and a bombing campaign. And it's important that they're at home, but I think using this term. This is not to engage in a game of rhetoric, but it is for us to see what is happening as it is. um I'm very very close uh growing up one of my closest friends is a survivor of the Rand link in the genocide and I. I've been talking to him a lot while all this was going on and I asked him what he would have liked to see a member of Congress in the United States say when he was a kid fleeing Rwanda and what he said to me was: I wish people had seen us as humans. because genocide is a crime on a dehumanizing scale and in order for us to prevent and save lives we have to rehumanize people whose death has been normalized and I think that's what this moment is really about for us. to establish lasting peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians, well, the former

president

of the United States, the leader of his party, Joe Biden, a strong supporter of Israel, eh, he is a man who also has the normal amount of empathy that I have.

You talked to him directly about this thing I have and what those conversations have been like. If you can tell me, you know, I think, for you, I think it's important. I think many of us have engaged the

president

on this issue. You're right, he is a man of tremendous empathy and you know, I think as time goes on we are starting to see the greater urgency that he has seen on this issue, he called Prime Minister Netanyahu recently and I think we have seen dramatic changes since then, especially after the world's central kitchen workers were attacked and seven of them died and I think what we're seeing particularly right now is the aid trucks starting to arrive, although not even close to the level I'm uh level necessary to avoid a famine um but we're starting to see some of that progress because at the end of the day to take this is not just about and I said this in the room it's not just about Israel It's not just about Gaza, it's about us because It's about American taxpayer aid and what is funded by our resources, and in any case, if some conflict is going to deprive us of resources, then it becomes a question of our values ​​and whether we should protect them. democracy around the world we have to show what democracy is for and, for me, showing the value of democracy is a commitment to human rights, to the sanctity of civil rights, the rules of war and to ensure that, At the end of the day, the people who know that the humanity of innocent populations is preserved and protected at all costs.

We have to take a short break. We'll be right back with more Alexandria Oazo Cortez. Everyone stay for the meeting.