--:-- Michelle Martin: A new Israeli military offensive in North Gaza has humanitarian organizations raising alarms. The situation in North Gaza is like a catastrophe within a series of catastrophes. What's behind the latest warning?
--:-- A Martinez: I'm Michelle Martin, that's A Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Vice President Kamala Harris is on a push to shore up support among a key group of voters. Black men are no different from anybody else. They expect that you have to earn their vote.
--:-- A Martinez: The push comes as support for Harris among black men waivers, including in swing states. A look at what Harris is doing to earn back that vote.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And a new feature on the real estate website Zillow will show potential property buyers the climate risks on listings. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
This message comes from NPR sponsor Adobe. Introducing the all-new Adobe Acrobat Studio, now with AI-powered PDF spaces. Need to turn 100 pages of market research into five insights with a click? Templates for a sales proposal that'll close that deal? Or an AI specialist to tailor the tone of your market report? You can do all that with the all-new Adobe Acrobat Studio. Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Is Israel trying to starve people in North Gaza? Aid workers and human rights groups are concerned that that is what Israel is trying to do with its new offensive.
--:-- Jonathan Fowler: The situation in North Gaza is like a catastrophe within a series of catastrophes.
--:-- Michelle Martin: His UN agency says civilians are given no choice but to leave or starve. With us now is NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Daniel. So help us understand what's happening in North Gaza.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: Israel is carrying out a new offensive there over the last two weeks, particularly in the Jabalia refugee camp. Israel says Hamas has been trying to regroup there. Residents have been telling us about artillery hitting their buildings, about armed drones flying through the neighborhood opening fire, about Israeli tanks in the streets.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The United Nations says hundreds of people have been killed, including children in that area in the last few weeks. It says Israel has blocked food deliveries to North Gaza for the last two weeks. And Israel has ordered all of North Gaza to evacuate.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: We spoke to one man who did flee his home in Jabalia. His name is Mohamed El-Ba'laoui. He said he was in a group of 25 people fleeing, and they lost 10 of them who were injured or killed as they fled under fire. He said no one looked behind them as they fled.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And his story really encapsulates what is happening in North Gaza. He fled to another part of North Gaza, but his relatives who stayed behind told him they've run out of food and drinking water.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: Okay, so when the UN aid agency for Palestinians says that civilians are being given no choice but either to leave or starve, is that actually Israel stated policy?
--:-- Jonathan Fowler: It's not a stated policy, but it could be an unstated policy. A former Israeli national security advisor has published a proposal to pressure Hamas to release Israeli hostages by ordering civilians to leave North Gaza and whoever won't will be without food and water and will along with Hamas militants have to either surrender or die of starvation.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: Now, this is a proposal that's not an official government plan, but Israeli officials have said that they considered it. On the other hand, the Israeli army denies that it's being implemented.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But this proposal has gotten a lot of international attention and concern from human rights groups in Israel because of the implications of starving a civilian population.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: And also Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted her concern yesterday about the lack of food that has reached North Gaza.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Could that international attention make Israel change its course?
--:-- Daniel Estrin: It might be. After Harris tweeted her concern about the lack of food yesterday, Israel did allow some flour into North Gaza, although rights groups say it will not be sufficient for the population there.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I did speak to a former Israeli military official who closely follows the war, Michael Milstein, and thinks that Israel did try to partially implement this flee or starve plan. But then Israel realized it doesn't seem to be working.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: He thinks Israel realized many civilians are not fleeing North Gaza, and that kind of policy might even endanger hostages.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I think the big picture here is that Israel is not clearly explaining what its aims are and what its objectives are in North Gaza with its new offensive.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: And that points to the fact that there continues to be no explicit endgame for Gaza, for the Gaza war, and civilians continue to pay the price.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Daniel, thanks.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: You're welcome.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Vice President Kamala Harris is on a push this week to court black voters, specifically men.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: While black voters overwhelmingly back the Democratic ticket, black men are not showing as much enthusiasm for Harris as they did for the Democratic nominee when President Biden ran in 2020 or when former President Barack Obama ran before him.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And as some black men gravitate toward former President Donald Trump, Democrats are concerned that even in small numbers, this could cut into Harris's chances in key swing states.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: NPR's White House correspondent Deepa Shibram is traveling with Harris, joins us now from Detroit, Michigan. So Deepa Harris is rolling out new policy proposals focused on black men. She's going to be talking about it today. What's on the agenda?
--:-- Deepa Shibram: So she's going to talk about a lot of proposals with an economic lens, and she has a big focus on entrepreneurs. So part of this plan is to give 1 million loans to black entrepreneurs and others up to $20,000, and those loans are forgivable.
--:-- Michelle Martin: She also says she'll legalize recreational marijuana and make sure there's a role for black entrepreneurs in that business.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: And Harris says she'll do more as president to try and protect cryptocurrency assets, and she points to how more than 20% of black Americans own or have owned crypto.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So that's the message. How is she going to get that message out?
--:-- Deepa Shibram: So she'll be talking about her plans today at a town hall she's doing with radio host Charlemagne the God. He's one of the hosts of the popular morning show The Breakfast Club.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It airs on stations across the country and is popular among younger black people in particular.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: It's a show candidates running for president often appear on. And Charlemagne can be a tough interviewer.
--:-- Michelle Martin: You know he's been critical of Democratic candidates in the past like with President Biden when he was a candidate for president back in 2020.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: Last week former President Barack Obama said he thinks black men are having an issue with voting for a woman for president.
--:-- Michelle Martin: How is Kamala Harris responding to that?
--:-- Deepa Shibram: You know, she was asked about Obama's comments by the Shade Room, which is also very popular with black audiences. And she didn't really acknowledge anything about her polls that have been showing some weakness with black men.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But she did say, in essence, that she doesn't take anyone's vote for granted just because of who she is.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: Take a listen. Black men are no different from anybody else. They expect that you have to earn their vote.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And that's why I'm out here doing the work that I'm doing about talking with folks, listening with folks.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: And, you know, this is an election that's going to be so, so close.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We keep saying it.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: So Harris has to drum up enthusiasm and support from her base voters, even as she also tries to spend time here trying to appeal to independent voters and Republican voters.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And that's something we saw from her last night at a rally.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: So where was that rally at?
--:-- Michelle Martin: So we were in Erie, Pennsylvania. It's a pivot county. So it went twice for Obama, then Trump in 2016, and then Biden last time around.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: And Harris did something new last night. She had a giant video screen and she played a kind of highlight reel of things that Trump has said recently that her campaign feels haven't been getting enough attention.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And in these final weeks, you know, they're trying to break through to moderate Republican voters and independents and say, you know, hey, there are some things that Trump is saying that are dangerous, particularly his recent comments that if he wins the election, the National Guard or even the military could be used to handle what he called, quote, the enemy within.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: In other words, his opponents.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And, you know, I've been to a lot of Harris's rallies. This highlight reel approach was a first.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: And we'll see if she uses it again later this week.
--:-- Michelle Martin: All right. So Erie, Pennsylvania last night in Detroit today. Where does she go next?
--:-- Deepa Shibram: She'll be ping ponging around the blue wall states this week. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.
--:-- Michelle Martin: She's doing a lot more interviews as well, including a big one coming up tomorrow.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: She's sitting down with Fox News host Brett Baer, and it's her first time ever interviewing with the network.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's NPR's Deepa Shibram. Thanks, Deepa.
--:-- Deepa Shibram: Thank you.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Zillow, which might be best known for its home buying app, says it is adding a new feature to its services.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: Yeah, you'll soon be able to find out if a property might be at risk for five key climate-related disasters.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, these risk scores for homes will arrive next year, and the announcement came as Hurricane Helene made landfall.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: Here to tell us more about this is Hannah Ziegler. She's a business reporter for The Washington Post. Hannah, thanks so much for joining us.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So how will this work? Like, who's providing this information? How will we see it? Is there like a different key or color for what kind of risk there is? Give us the basics.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: Yeah. So the scores show a home's climate risk based on how susceptible it is to flooding or wildfire or heat, air quality and wind damage.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So the scores estimate a home's current risk and its risk 15 and 30 years in the future because that's how long typical mortgage loans are.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: And you'll be able to see them on an interactive color-coded map and along with every single home listing that's on Zillow right now.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And where this information coming from and do you have confidence that it's accurate?
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: Zillow is partnered with a nonprofit called First Street which has been working on these climate risk models for years.
--:-- Michelle Martin: First Street assigns risk scores based on how likely a climate disaster is and how severe it could be.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: And they update these models once a year based on natural disasters that have happened in an area.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And First Street sees this as democratizing information that banks or insurance companies already have on climate risk for properties.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: But climate modeling experts say homebuyers should take these scores with a grain of salt. They're still developing the best way to measure a home's climate risk, so data can be uneven depending on where a person is house hunting.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So homebuyers should treat the scores as warning flags rather than deal breakers.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: Does anybody else already offer this? I kind of feel like Redfin offers this information.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Is Zillow offering something that's unique or easier to access or something like what's so special about this?
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: Yeah, Redfin already does offer the climate risk scores.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And the main thing that Zillow is adding to this is the map and the color coordination and kind of those shiny newer features that people might think make it more interactive.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: But Redfin does have the same data and the same system.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I understand that this has just been announced. And so the tool isn't available for us to kind of, you know, to see in the real world yet.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: But I'm wondering how home buyers and sellers and realtors are reacting to this.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah, there has been a lot of conflicting information about how much people care about climate risks affecting their properties, especially in comparison to if you get a really great rate on a home, if you get a really good price.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: But Zillow released a survey last year saying that 80 percent of buyers now consider climate risks when shopping for a home.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And Zillow has been very transparent about the information they have about just how many homes are facing climate risk now.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: So even compared to, you know, five years ago, there are a lot more homes on the market that might have greater risk of flood or fire or heat.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So it definitely is something that remains to be seen about how much buyers will ultimately care about all of this.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: But now that this information is in their hands and they're able to use it in a much more accessible way on Zillow, a lot of experts say that this is only the beginning and how much this is going to affect their decision-making process moving forward.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's Hannah Ziegler, business reporter for The Washington Post. Hannah, thank you.
--:-- Hannah Ziegler: Thank you.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And that's up first for Tuesday, October 15th. I'm E. Martinez. And I'm Michelle Martin.
