also, why are migrant families still being separated at the u.s. border and being left in limbo? i am ayman mohyeldin. let's do it. we begin with an important seismic shakeup in the israeli government. benny gantz, one of the three core members of israel's work cabinet and benjamin netanyahu's top political rival has resigned. in a press conference today he said quote, netanyahu prevents us from moving forward to real victory, and accused his far right coalition of prioritizing political convictions of her work strategy. last month gantz made a public ultimatum, resent a plan for the day after the war in gaza by june 8th or else. it was one of the most visible signs of division within the emergency wartime government. a team of political rivals who had until recently projected unity, but netanyahu has not produced a plan for gaza's future beyond rejecting a two state solution and insisting on israel's long-term security oversight over gaza and the west bank so gantz followed through on his trip to step down, delayed by one day due to the brutal israeli attack to rescue hostages in gaza. today, netanyahu for a second time publicly urged gantz to stay, posting on xcode, israel is in existential war on several fronts. this is not the time to abandon the campaign. with the resignation, israel no longer has a centrist in the work cabinet. it will not immediately sink netanyahu's government but it does mean he now needs the far right members of his coalition now more than ever to stay in power. the national security minister, highly controversial figure, one of israel's most radical nationalists and extremist is demanding a seat in the work cabinet saying he wants the power of his party to be given expression as it has not been until now. gantz was asked today whether his resignation leads the israeli government without any adults in the room. here is what he said. >> i was privileged to bring to the cabinet room all the experience we have. i know other people are staying . they know what should be done. hopefully they will stick to what should be done and then it will be okay. >> this is the biggest shakeup to israel's leadership till -- since october 7th and it comes at a critical moment in the war, comprehensive cease-fire and hostage deal is on the table right now. the world is waiting for a response from hamas but it is not clear if israel will accept terms outlined by biden. there are gaps between the proposal biden described in one's that have been rejected. just weeks from now netanyahu will make his case for what he describes as israel's just word when it comes to speak before the u.s. congress but he must ask, will gantz' s departure result in fundamental change for the war in gaza? after all, the problem does not lie singularly with netanyahu but to israel's ideological approach to the palestinian issue broadly speaking. opposition to the palestinian neighborhood is deeply embedded in israeli society. joining me now is the author of the book "the end of ambition." ambassador, i will start with you and get your take on this resignation. does this change anything about how israel conducts this war in gaza or talks for a cease-fire and hostage deal? >> hi and good evening. look, it looks like a drama. it looks like a political earthquake. it is not but it does have the potential to evolve into something very dramatic if mr. gantz's resignation, which according to most of his critics, will was belated by at least five or six months. to a large extent, his influence and decision-making in the cabinet was marginal. his ability to affect change in both the prosecution of the war and in developing and crafting a strategy for postwar gaza was marginal. so much so that he essentially became an enabler. and i think, if you read stephen hook's article on foreign-policy from yesterday, that even the americans got him wrong in terms of the thinking. he is so centrist, even left of center in terms of policy, he's a decent man. there is no malice there. he meant well when he joined the government. it was a time of emergency, but effectively, he enabled netanyahu. he is complicit and an accomplice to every mistake, every strategic flawed assumption this government made. in terms of how this will affect the war, it does not change the fundamental elements, the fundamental parameters of what needs to be done. israel still faces a binary choice. accept the plan or don't accept the plan. it sounds bizarre if you read the headline that he rejects israel's plan. if you read the planus like it's 1994. in that respect, nothing changes as a result of his departure. >> there was an interesting element in his press conference, a fact that came out that he's calling for new elections in israel this fall but that was somewhat echoed by chuck schumer here a couple weeks ago, senate leader chuck schumer, the highest-ranking semiofficial in american history demanding netanyahu step aside and calling for early elections, as well. first of all, do you see that happening, and what are the chances that the next reiteration of the israeli government does not move further to the right if you do bring in somebody or give more pressure from the outside. >> there is pressure coming from the outside and from within but netanyahu, even with gantz's decision to leave the government has a solid 64 seat majority so he can stick it out as long as he has the support of the radical right. this is likely to move further to the right. benny gantz had played essentially a marginal role, but now that you have others demanding a seat in the work cabinet that affects it in different ways. it strikes me that if gantz was concerned about the work cabinet it would strike me that he would want to remain in the work cabinet rather than take himself out. if you think they want to resettle the gaza strip, that is an ultimate disaster so it may be that gantz thought he could save himself the fight for another day and improve his political chances but it leads to assault optical -- a suboptimal outcome for everybody else. >> there on the cusp of waking up to an israeli government that is more extreme and potentially calling for the full reoccupation of gaza and the displacement perhaps of the palestinians if you do bring in people or give people like itamar ben-gvir even more conduct over the war in the policy. >> i was perhaps the least optimistic person in washington when it came to a cease-fire anyway. now there is less optimism. there is no basis for an agreement at this point. it seems after all of this terrible bloodshed that the conflict is not yet right for resolution in the secretary of state is going to find the same problems he found on his previous seven trips. >> ambassador, your thoughts on what america needs to do now? according to the former army officer who resigned, he said america does have a lot of influence over what happens. what do you think america should do now as it sees this israeli government consistently moved to the extreme right with no fundamental change in policy vis-@-vis the palestinians? >> and president biden's -- to president biden's credit, he warmed mr. netanyahu when the government was formed, this is an extremist government and then when mr. netanyahu instigated a constitutional coup in january of 2023 it was followed by biden refraining from inviting him to the washington white house for nine full months and then the war broke out so yes, the u.s. has all kinds of leverage that it could use. it shows until now not to use it and i heard your interview with that major, and you made actually -- you submitted two premises and you are right on both. u.s. both has lovers and chooses not to use them and to a large extent, it lost a lot of its levers because mr. netanyahu has been intransigent and defiant and is actively seeking confrontation with biden. his plan right now is to try and stall and waste time and wait until america is sucked into its election cycle full force around september, then he hopes that mr. trump will be elected. there's no question and there's no doubt about that. what the u.s. needs to do now is one of two things. it needs to do its basic calculus of how much our american interests being threatened here, and that particularly pertains to a possible escalation in lebanon and indirectly or even directly in iran, or pullout, meaning you know, say to mr. netanyahu, do whatever you want but leave us out, which is obviously not a reasonable and realistic option but what the u.s. can do -- i know we don't have time but with the u.s. can do and has not done until now, is for president biden, not anyone else, not blinken or stolen, but for the president himself to stand up and make a speech differentiating, drawing a clear distinction between israel and mr. netanyahu and talking to israelis and calling netanyahu's bluff if he believes it is indeed a bluff. i don't know. >> we will have to wait and see if the president is watching this. i know it is very late in israel. thank you so much for staying up for us into the middle of the night. >> what else would i do it 3:00 a.m. but talk to you? >> we greatly appreciate it. stephen cook, great to talk to you, as well. next up, why a man dressed as an exterminator started a hateful conspiracy theory that is spreading like wildfire ahead of november's election. then later caitlin clark left off of team usa. was she snubbed? team usa. was she snubbed? hi honey. ahhh...ooh. look, no line at the hot dog stand. yes! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty.♪ i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission ill tell your dou have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. craig here pays too much for verizon wireless. so he sublet half his real estate office... ♪ [ bird squawks loudly ] to a pet shop. meg's moving company uses t-mobile. so she scaled down her fleet to save money. and don's paying so much for at&t, he's been waiting to update his equipment! there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities. shell renewable race fuel. reducing emissions by 60%. ♪♪ we're moving forward with indycar. because we're moving forward with everybody. shell. powering progress. back in march, a man posing as a pest exterminator arrived at the hotel in san diego that serves as a shelter for migrant families in an attempt to gain access. he was turned away. three days later, menacing calls begin pouring into staff at the catholic charities, the organization running the shelter. one voicemail left for the chief executive called him quote,'s, not really christian. another woman in a message to a different staff member iqs the nonprofit of flying immigrants all over the country and profiting from an illegal operation. that false, baseless claim can be traced back to james o'keefe, the guy disguised as an exterminator. turns out o'keefe had made posts on x pushy and unfounded conspiracy theory that the center was illegally trafficking immigrants. online threats turned into threats in real life and o'keefe supporters started showing up at other conflict charities and sites. private armed guards were posted outside facilities across the city after people apparently prompted by o'keefe's post came searching for quote, smuggled children. volunteers were sent home. employees who continue to work were told to keep a low profile. the catholic charities found the said quote, we have never seen this level of harassment. this is just one story that disinformation campaign and conspiracy theory as part of a far larger story about intensifying hostility and threats across the country. this is one of the findings in a new report by the southern poverty law center which found 595 active hate groups and 835 antigovernment groups across the united states last year, and between 2022 and 2023, the number of white nationalist groups grew by more than 50% from 109 to a historic high of 165 and it is no coincidence that we are seeing all of this happen right now. quote, extremist and those opposing inclusive democracy have used the past year to legitimize insurrection, paint hate as virtuous and transform false conspiracy theories into truth all in preparation for one of the most significant elections in u.s. history. joining me now to discuss this is pizza me, associate professor at chapman university and co- author of "out of hiding." it's great to have you on the program. let me start with your response to this idea that 2023 became clear that two years since the january 6th insurrection was a time of preparation for the hard right and effectively we are going to see all of this manifest within the next several months as we head into this critical election. >> first, thanks for having me on. i think it is right on target. what we saw after january 6, 2021, was a period in time where , you know, extremists went into a short period of trying to regroup. obviously arrests and prosecutions had some substantial impacts on that world, but arrests and prosecutions are enough and when you're not dealing with the root causes of a problem these groups are able to essentially regroup and then re- emerge even stronger, and i think that is what we are seeing, exactly what the southern poverty law center is pointing to. >> how does misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories play into the activity and rise of hate groups right now, thinking about the harassment we saw play out at a migrant shelter in san diego, what lead people to the january 6th insurrection? how is it these baseless theories are resonating so much with people on the far right driving them to make these online and real- life threats, even things like pizza-gate that we saw several years ago. >> in many ways, conspiracy theories are defining features of extremist hate groups and one of the things they do that is so important for them is that they offer a bridge of sorts and civil conspiracy theories can reach a much wider audience than those directly involved in extremist hate groups and we saw that on january 6th in terms of the attack on the u.s. capital. we had lots of different folks who ended up showing up by the thousands at the capital that day. you had the problem is, the three presenters, oath keepers, , neo-confederates and lots of folks who are not necessarily affiliated with any groups. one of the things they all had in common is they believed in the conspiracy theory about the stolen election of these kinds of ideas really provide people a special sense that they are aware of things that the average person is not aware of. it provides them with this special knowledge, secretive knowledge, special insight and it really goes along with the idea that extremist groups offer to their adherents, which is that you are part of the special population, special culture, special country, special race, special religion that is different and quite frankly, is superior to other groups. >> when you look at this record number of anti-lgbtq and white nationalist groups in 2023 numbering 86 and 165 respectively according to the splc, why are these groups, in your opinion, growing so significantly? has there m.o. shifted and having this kind of hatred toward the lgbtq community? >> that is one of many hot button issues these groups are good at identifying and then targeting and really spending a lot of time directing disinformation toward propaganda and really trying to highlight the supposed dangers or risks that go along with, from their perspective, these hot button issues. immigration has been one for years, as well, and frankly right now, they have at their fingertips some of the most powerful technology in human history in terms of social media platforms, and the problems, you mention the root problems we are really not addressing -- social media platforms and the lack of regulation around those would certainly be one of them, coupled with national leadership that is helping essentially espouse some of the same ideas using in the case of donald trump, the language of nazi germany. >> do you think we have adequate legal tools to take on these organizations when you think about, as you are just mentioning, the issues of social media, it obviously rubs up against the issue of free speech in this country and that is always the fine point when you're trying to go after these groups, you almost have to wait until the free speech becomes actionable and they go carry out some kind of attack or potential violence, at which point , it violates the law but up until the point of actually doing something about it, it falls somewhat under free speech. do we have the legal tools the way we have designated foreign terrorist organizations to go after isis and what have you, do we have enough adequate resources and tools to go off there mystic terrorist organizations? >> i don't think any statute is the answer per se. i do think essentially, utilizing resources that we have, been more aggressive, understanding that arresting and prosecuting is an important, necessary part of it, but obviously not the only part of it, and then of the civil issues you know, in terms of talking about the law, i do think we need some changes in that realm as it relates to social media platforms and being able to hold the more civilly accountable for the material they are publishing and of course that means congressional changes to section 230, and i do think it is clear that social media platforms are not willing to take the kinds of aggressive action that are necessary to essentially cleanup their platforms. >> all right, it's a pleasure to have you on the program. thank you so much for joining us. i greatly appreciate your insights. next, families are still being separated at the southern border. why? the southern border. why? visionworks. see the difference. 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