--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his position on vaccines in a contentious Senate hearing.
--:-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Now parents who decide that they do want their children back...
--:-- Michelle Martin: You're just making stuff up, Senator. I'm not making stuff up. You're just making stuff up.
--:-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: So what do you have to say about who can get vaccines?
--:-- Michelle Martin: I'm Michelle Martin, that's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades in briefly before fading out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: European countries have finalized a commitment to provide post-war security guarantees for Ukraine, including troops on the ground, in the sea, and in the air.
--:-- A. Martinez: Now the plan heads to the U.S. You could see the U.S. providing capabilities that Europeans do not have.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And the attorney general for the District of Columbia suing the Trump administration over its deployment of the National Guard of the city, calling it a military occupation.
--:-- A. Martinez: Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from BetterHelp.
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: President Fernando Madeira shares BetterHelp's commitment to expanding access to therapy.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Our State of Stigma report helped us understand that believing in mental health is easy, but asking for help is not.
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: Now with the report on our hands, we can work to make mental health care more accessible.
--:-- Michelle Martin: To get matched with a therapist, visit betterhelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades in briefly before fading out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from the NPR Wine Club.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: For decades, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. built his reputation and fortune as an anti-vaccine activist.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: That concerned many senators who were considering his nomination to serve as Health and Human Services Secretary.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So he made promises not to prevent people who want them from getting vaccines.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: Since he's gotten the job, many of those senators have come to believe he's taken actions that taken together have broken that promise.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So in a Senate hearing on Thursday, they demanded that he explain himself.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin watched the hearing yesterday and is here to explain.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So that was some must-see TV, Selena. What questions do the senators have for Kennedy about vaccines?
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: Well, you know, fall is coming. Winter is coming, right? And for a lot of people, that means the flu shot and the COVID-19 booster to protect against the respiratory viruses that start getting passed around.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So this year, the Food and Drug Administration approved the COVID booster with a catch. It is not approved for everybody, just people with certain conditions and people over 65.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: And there's already a huge amount of confusion about what that means in real life, you know, for doctors, patients, insurance companies.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But yesterday in the hearing, Secretary Kennedy insisted that anybody who wants the shot can get it.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: And he got really angry when he was pressed about it.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Here's one example.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: It was an exchange with Senator Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire, who was asking about the COVID-19 booster for kids.
--:-- Senator Maggie Hassan: Now parents who decide that they do want their children to have COVID-19...
--:-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: You're just making stuff up, Senator. I'm not making stuff up. You're just making stuff up.
--:-- Senator Maggie Hassan: You know, sometimes when you make an accusation, it's kind of a confession, Mr. Kennedy.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: Wow. All right. So who's right, Senator Hassan or Secretary Kennedy?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Hassan is right that parents of kids without certain conditions are probably going to face barriers getting the booster shot this year.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: This approval only for certain groups means that just wanting the vaccine, you know, making the personal choice to get one might not be enough this year.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And, you know, a big question mark is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is going to do.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: You remember, this is the group that Kennedy said he wouldn't touch, and then he fired all 17 members and replaced them with his picks.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Many of whom have a history, like him, of anti-vaccine activism.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: Now, all this isn't just only about COVID-19 vaccines.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah, that's right. The panel, whose meeting later this month, is also set to consider routine childhood vaccines, like the one for measles, mumps, and rubella and hepatitis B.
--:-- Senator Michael Bennett: Senator Michael Bennett, Democrat of Colorado, asked Kennedy if that meant schools and parents in his state should be prepared for more measles outbreaks.
--:-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: I do not anticipate a change in the MMR vaccine.
--:-- Senator Michael Bennett: You know, A-Zip is an independent panel.
--:-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Well, it's a panel you just put those folks on far from what you said.
--:-- Senator Michael Bennett: There are people with ideas that are completely outside the mainstream.
--:-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: You mean out of the pharmaceutical paradigm?
--:-- Senator Michael Bennett: Yeah, that was one of several times in the hearing that Kennedy equated scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective and save lives, with researchers somehow being compromised by drug companies.
--:-- Senator Bernie Sanders: Everybody is corrupt, but you? Is that what we're looking at?
--:-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: I don't think so.
--:-- Senator Bernie Sanders: And I think the issue now... I don't even know what you're talking about.
--:-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Well, I think you do know what I'm talking about.
--:-- Senator Bernie Sanders: I don't know what you're talking about.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: When pressed by Sanders, Kennedy said, yes, he does think mainstream medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics can't be trusted because they're, quote, gravely conflicted and claiming their top contributors are vaccine makers.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Did those organizations have a response to those accusations?
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: Yeah, the AAP put out a statement right away that said that was false and its financial information is public and industry sources represent less than 4% of their revenue.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And they concluded, quote, pediatricians recommend vaccines for one reason only. They are proven safe and among the most effective tools we have to protect children's health and stop the spread of disease in our communities.
--:-- NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin: That's NPR's Selina Simmons-Duffin. Thanks a lot.
--:-- Michelle Martin: You're welcome.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades in briefly before fading out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: Europe has finalized a strategy to guarantee peace and security in Ukraine once the war comes to an end.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: The plan, which would include troops on the ground, was announced Thursday at a summit in Paris.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It has yet to be guaranteed by the U.S., but already early this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his reaction.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: NPR's Eleanor Beardsley is in Paris.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So, Eleanor, what did the Europeans announce?
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: Well, A, 35 countries got together physically here and by video link. Not only European, the group is known as the Coalition of the Willing.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And they say they are ready to commit to Ukraine's security and have concrete plans for it.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: Here's French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke after the meeting, standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
--:-- French President Emmanuel Macron: Let's listen.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: He said we have 26 countries formally committed to deploying a reassurance force of troops in Ukraine to be physically present on land, air or sea to guarantee peace the day it is declared.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, Macron said he could not give any details, but he said they would be ready.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: And for anyone who thinks this is just more talk, Macron reminded everyone of how far this group has come.
--:-- Michelle Martin: They first came together last February in despair, really, when it became very clear that the U.S. under President Trump was going to be completely different on Ukraine than the Biden administration.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: Back then Macron said only two countries were ready to commit troops.
--:-- Michelle Martin: What about the United States? Will it play a role in this coalition?
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: Well, hopefully yes.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Macron and Zelensky also spoke with President Trump after the meeting.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: They said they spoke to him for an hour and a half.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And they said the U role would be determined in the coming days.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: Europeans definitely are counting on the U.S. to be there.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Macron claimed the U.S. is fully on board and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was in Paris at the meeting.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: But clearly there are doubts how the U.S. will contribute or even if.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And I spoke with Martin Kinse, who is the director of the Paris office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: And he says it's hard to see a U.S. backstop providing major guarantees.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, the backstop could be at least some sort of intelligence and logistical support.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: And there, you could see the U.S. participating in providing capabilities that Europeans do not have without obviously sending any troops to Ukraine or officially guaranteeing the security of those European troops.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Okay, but how has President Putin reacted to the announcement?
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: Right. Well, President Putin has been in China over recent days, joining huge celebrations on the end of World War II with allies China and North Korea.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This is the new multipolar world on display that's against U.S. dominance.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: And this morning, Putin said that, quote, any foreign troops in Ukraine would be a legitimate target for Russian forces.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It's not surprising.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: And it's why Macron said that the main pillar of Ukraine's post-war security is actually a strong Ukrainian army.
--:-- Michelle Martin: He said they will not accept any restrictions on the size and shape of Ukraine's forces in the future.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: So what if Vladimir Putin, Eleanor, just does not agree to a peace deal?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Exactly.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: And that's what we've been seeing.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And Macron admitted that Putin thinks he's winning, so he doesn't want to stop the war.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: But he emphasized that Russia has suffered more than 1 million casualties for barely 20% of Ukrainian territory.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And Macron said there will be new economic sanctions in coordination with the U.S. if Russia continues to refuse to end its war.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: And President Trump also spoke about that.
--:-- Michelle Martin: He didn't mention sanctions, but he said that the Europeans need to stop buying any Russian oil.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: All right.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Paris. Thank you.
--:-- NPR's Eleanor Beardsley: You're welcome.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: The Attorney General for the District of Columbia has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.
--:-- Alex Koma: The lawsuit calls the use of the National Guard in the district a, quote, illegal deployment.
--:-- Michelle Martin: National Guard troops have been patrolling certain streets in Washington, D.C. for the past three weeks since the president declared what he calls a crime emergency in the city.
--:-- Alex Koma: D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is basically calling this unconstitutional, saying that this is an improper use of the military on, you know, home soil, you know, here in the U.S.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And he's drawing out this point that normally D.C., while it doesn't have control of its National Guard, can request it and only in cases of a natural disaster, a riot, some sort of emergency.
--:-- Alex Koma: And they haven't done that here.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And instead, you've got National Guard troops who aren't trained in policing patrolling the streets here in D.C.
--:-- Alex Koma: But the White House pushed back.
--:-- Michelle Martin: They released a statement basically saying that the president was well within his lawful authority to deploy the Guard here.
--:-- Alex Koma: And called Schwab's lawsuit in an attempt to undermine the president's operation.
--:-- Michelle Martin: You know, I'm going to be in D.C. next week, Alex, so I'm kind of interested to see what the city looks like.
--:-- Alex Koma: But remind us why National Guard troops were deployed to D.C. in the first place.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah, well, this is all part of Trump's emphasis on crime in the city.
--:-- Alex Koma: Basically, his claim that crime is out of control here, even though the numbers, of course, show otherwise, that many violent crimes are actually at historic lows.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And as I said before, he's the one who controls the Guard.
--:-- Alex Koma: D.C. is not a state, so there's no governor to control it. It's solely in the president's authority.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So whether or not people here think it needed, he got the power to send them in.
--:-- Alex Koma: And he has done so along with guards from other states about 2 of them all part of this broader surge of federal law enforcement officers into the city, whether it's FBI, ICE, DEA, the whole alphabet soup.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And, you know, many people here aren't really thrilled to see them.
--:-- Alex Koma: Many feel that it's kind of unsettling to see uniformed troops on the metro.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It's unsettled people, but that hasn't changed the fact that Guard officials are saying they should probably be here until at least the end of November, if not longer.
--:-- Alex Koma: Well, okay. So has their presence helped reduce crime?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Well, Trump, of course, said that the city's crime-free now, but we know that's not true.
--:-- Alex Koma: The D.C. Police Department has found that crime overall has decreased, but I'd still add that the troops themselves, you know, they're not authorized to make arrests.
--:-- Michelle Martin: They can merely notify police if they see a crime or in some instances simply call 911.
--:-- Alex Koma: So it's kind of difficult to draw any, you know, direct correlation here when a lot of times they're doing things like spreading mulch and cleaning up parks.
--:-- Michelle Martin: President Trump, though, has said he wants to send troops to other cities.
--:-- Alex Koma: So what could this lawsuit mean for the guards deployment in other cities and the deployment in D.C.?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah, well, you know, federal court will hash this out.
--:-- Alex Koma: It could send the guard home entirely.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But a complicating factor is that House Republicans are even trying to get rid of D.C.'s elected independent attorney general.
--:-- Alex Koma: And it's worth mentioning that a federal judge ruled that Trump's actions in California were illegal.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So for people in places like Chicago or Baltimore, where Trump has also threatened to send a guard in, this is something they'll be watching very closely.
--:-- Alex Koma: That's WAMU's Alex Koma. Thanks a lot.
--:-- Michelle Martin: My pleasure.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: And that's up first for Friday, September 5th.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I'm E.R. Titoz.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And I'm Michelle Martin.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades in briefly before fading out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: This Sunday on Up First, America's thirst for oil has left a graveyard of unplugged wells all across the landscape.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Most hardly produce any oil at all.
--:-- Michelle Martin: These piddly little wells that are just drip-drabbing out a little bit of profit while polluting on the other end, they're not worth it.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This week on the Sunday Story from Up First, a look at why so many wells across the country remain unplugged and abandoned despite the real threat of long-term pollution.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The grass didn't grow. The pine trees kept dying.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah. And there was another tree that sat there and it died.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Stripper wells, orphan wells, and the legacy of America's love affair for black gold.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Listen to the Sunday story right here in the Up First podcast.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Diane Weber, Miguel Macias, Martha Ann Overland, Lisa Thompson, and Alice Wolfley.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It was produced by Zia Butch, Nia Dubas, and Christopher Thomas.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We get engineering support from Nisha Hainas.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And our technical director is Carly Strange.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Our executive producer is Jay Shaler.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Join us again on Monday.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades in briefly before fading out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from Lisa.
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: Lisa mattresses are meticulously designed and assembled in the USA for exceptional quality.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And each mattress is designed with specific sleep positions and feel preferences in mind.
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: Plus, they back it all up with free shipping, easy returns, and a 100-night sleep trial.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Visit Lisa.com for 25% off mattresses.
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: Plus, get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's L-E-E-S-A dot com promo code NPR.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: Support for NPR and the following message come from USPS.
--:-- NPR's announcer: With USPS Ground Advantage Service, it's like your shipment has a direct line to you.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It leaves the dock, you know about it.
--:-- NPR's announcer: It's on the road, you know.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And when it reaches your customer, you guessed it, you're still in the know.
--:-- NPR's announcer: Here's the real game changer.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It's one journey, one partner, total peace of mind.
--:-- NPR's announcer: Check out USPS Ground Advantage Service at usps.com slash in the know.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Because if you know, you know.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from Capital One.
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts.
--:-- Michelle Martin: What's in your wallet?
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash bank for details.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Capital One N.A. Member FDIC.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades in briefly before fading out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's all for today's episode of Up First.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Thanks for listening.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And we'll see you again tomorrow.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
