--:-- Leila Fadel: Three Americans released in a prisoner swap with Russia were greeted by their families at a military base in Maryland. President Biden and Vice President Harris were there too. I'm Amy Martinez, that's Leila Fadl, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Funerals were held for Hamas and Hezbollah leaders killed in back-to-back attacks this week in Iran and Lebanon. as a family is killed in South Lebanon. How nervous are people in the region about the days ahead?
--:-- Amy Martinez: And the USA women's gymnastics team dominated to win gold at the Paris Olympics. It is crazy that I am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes because I just still think I'm Simone Biles from Spring, Texas that loves to flip. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
This message comes from BetterHelp. President Fernando Madeira describes how BetterHelp Online Therapy has helped him.
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right? It's going to be there and they're going to listen to me. And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today. And it feels natural. I love it. To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
This message comes from NPR sponsor Adobe. Introducing the all-new Adobe Acrobat Studio, now with AI-powered PDF spaces.
--:-- Announcer: 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.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Last night, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews to welcome a group of Americans imprisoned by Russia. The group included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in what was the largest prisoner exchange between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War.
--:-- Leila Fadel: It also included radio journalist Alsu Kormaseva, who was greeted by her husband and daughters who she hadn't been able to speak to for nine months. The occasion was also her younger daughter's 13th birthday. Here's her husband, Pavel Butorin.
--:-- Pavel Butorin: And not only will Alsu find that they have grown taller, but you'll also find two young women who are more mature, more resolute about their own rights to free speech and expression as Americans.
--:-- Leila Fadel: This deal was months in the making and depended on several American allies, including Germany. And that's where NPR's Rob Schmitz joins us from right now to talk about all this.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Hi, Rob. Good morning. Good morning. So President Biden made it clear that securing the freedom of these prisoners was dependent on allies like Germany. So give us some insight on the role Germany played here.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Germany's cooperation here was crucial for the success of this deal because Germany held the most important prisoner in the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that's a man named Vadim Krasikov.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Up until yesterday, he was serving a life sentence for assassinating a former Chechen rebel in broad daylight at a public park here in Berlin five years ago. After he was caught, German authorities learned that he was likely a Russian state hitman sent here on a fake passport by Russian intelligence. and as such, he was on top of Putin's wish list.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: President Biden and his team including Vice President Harris knew about this and had met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about securing Krasikov release in return for the group of prisoners we saw set free yesterday.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Here what President Biden said about the cooperation needed to make that deal happen yesterday.
--:-- President Biden: So for anyone who questions whether allies matter, they do. They matter. And today is a powerful example of why it's vital to have friends in this world.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Now, the Republican nominee, who was president, did not place such a high value on these alliances with European countries like Germany as much as the Biden-Harris administration has.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: So it seems like the big concession really came from Germany. So how do Germans feel about the news of yesterday's prisoner exchange?
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Yeah, that's complicated. On one hand, Germans are relieved to have their nationals back on German soil. Russia released five Germans in this deal, one who had been sentenced to death by firing squad in Belarus and was pardoned for charges of espionage earlier this week.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: But on the other hand, as part of this deal, Germany released a convicted murderer back to Russia. Last night after greeting the returned prisoners, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, quote, nobody took this decision lightly to deport a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after only a few years in prison.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: And we know now that there was a lot of hand wringing inside Germany's leadership about this. It's been reported that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was against this deal because of the message it would send to Putin, that the West is open to negotiating with a regime that takes hostages at will.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: But in the end, even the biggest opposition party in parliament agreed with Schultz's decision on this. But of course, it was not an easy one.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Should we read further into this deal? I mean, does the fact that this prisoner swap happened at all mean that relations between the U.S., its allies and Russia are improving, could improve?
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Yeah, most political observers I'm talking to say no. I mean, when President Biden was asked this very question at the White House yesterday, he responded by saying your lips to God's ears, meaning that he was hoping this could improve relations with Russia.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: But then when he was asked if he'd be willing to speak directly with Putin, his answer was really quick. He said, I don't need to speak with Putin.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Israel and Lebanon are bracing for the possibility of even stronger attacks. This after Israel's killing of top leaders from the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah in three different countries.
--:-- Leila Fadel: The U.S. and other nations have upgraded travel warnings to one of their highest levels. Airlines have canceled flights and Hezbollah's leader warns they have not begun to retaliate.
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR's Jane Araf joins us from Beirut now. Hi, Jane.
--:-- Jane Araf: Hi, Leila. So, Jane, it's kind of hard to get your head around what's happened in just the last few days. And now you were at the funeral of this top Hezbollah commander killed there. What was that like?
--:-- Jane Araf: Yeah, it was the funeral for Fawad Shukr, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the capital on Tuesday, along with five other people, including children. So Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, gave an hour-long video address at the ceremony Thursday. And he made clear Hezbollah would retaliate, but said they were pausing attacks in the meantime in respect for the slain commander.
--:-- Jane Araf: Last night, though, Israeli attacks killed a family, including children, in South Lebanon, according to Iran-backed Hezbollah. Just to go back a bit, Israel said the assassination in Beirut was in response to a Hezbollah attack which killed 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah has consistently denied it.
--:-- Jane Araf: This is what the leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah said at the memorial We will respond This is certain And they must wait
--:-- Leila Fadel: President Biden meanwhile and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night in a bid to de tensions Now, there was also the killing of Hamas's top political official in Tehran this week. Hamas and Iran blame Israel. Israel hasn't publicly claimed responsibility. He's also being buried today?
--:-- Jane Araf: He is. He's being buried in Qatar. He was Hamas's top political official, and he was killed in an attack at the guest house where he was staying in Tehran.
--:-- Leila Fadel: In Beirut, Hamas has called for a mass march this afternoon and morning. Israel also announced to kill the head of the Hamas military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an attack in July in Gaza. And it said this morning it had killed a senior commander in Islamic Jihad, another militant group in Rafah.
--:-- Jane Araf: Israel says it tried to reduce civilian casualties. It consistently says that. But Gaza health officials and other agencies say about 40,000 people, most of those women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the war began last October.
--:-- Leila Fadel: OK, so four senior leaders killed. What effect is this expected to have? Well, it will certainly be expected to have a temporary effect on operations. Two of those men were hands-on commanders.
--:-- Jane Araf: Shukr, who was killed in Lebanon, actually had a $5 million U.S. bounty on him, accused by the U.S. of being involved in the bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. Hania, though, killed in Tehran, was a key part of U.S.-brokered negotiations with Israel in a ceasefire. And that could be a serious setback to those.
--:-- Jane Araf: Amid all that, I mean, you're in Beirut. How nervous are people there and in the region about what could happen next?
--:-- Jane Araf: It feels like a dangerous moment. Yeah, they're pretty nervous. The U.S. Embassy has now told citizens not to travel to Lebanon. And if they're there, to be prepared to shelter in place. And other embassies have done the same. Israel also is on high alert.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Now to Paris, where Simone Biles cemented her legacy as the greatest gymnast of all time. Yeah, hard to argue that. She helped the U.S. reclaim the throne at the Olympic team event earlier this week.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And last night, she became just the third woman ever to win a second gold medal in the individual all-around final. NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan was there and joins me now. Hi, Becky.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Hi, good morning. Okay, so often when Samolyn Miles is competing, her win is kind of never in doubt. But that's not what happened last night, right? Tell us about it.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Yeah, absolutely. So on her second of the four events last night, she had to do the uneven bars. And if she has a weakness, this is it. She had a really shaky routine, which is unusual for her. Like she was trying to swing from the high bar to the low bar and just had like a poor swing where she lost momentum, barely made it to the lower bar. Her knees almost touched the ground.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And afterward, with the low score from that, she was in third place behind some very strong competition. And so basically Simone Biles was in a position where she had to mount a comeback, which is unusual for her. She ended up performing the way the lineup worked out, the very last routine of the night, the floor exercise.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And she was in a position where she needed to hit without any major mistakes to win. And by the time she was coming down on her final pass, she was already smiling because she knew she had pulled it off. And so the individual all event in the Olympics is usually a situation where gymnasts have to perform perfectly to win
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And it really is a testament to Simone Biles that she can have a mistake that big and still pull off a decisive win She ended up winning by a little over a point.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So I know she wears the necklace, but is she the GOAT, the greatest of all time?
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Yeah. I mean, so this was her ninth Olympic medal. Six of them are gold. There are three more events to go for her, so three more opportunities to win even more medals. And so if we're talking gymnasts, you know, technically there is another gymnast with, as of today, double the Olympic medals of Simone. That is Larissa Latamina of the Soviet Union.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: But it's I think it's just hard to compare gymnastics of that era, the 1950s and 60s, to that of today. Like the skills that Biles is performing are like orders of magnitude more difficult than what they were doing back then.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And so I think it's safe to say the greatest gymnast of all time, as you said in the intro. And there are some people who would argue the greatest athlete of all time in terms of like how dominant she is and how much longevity she's had in this sport where careers traditionally end a lot earlier than where she is now at 27 years old.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And here's one person who believes that she's the best of all time, her teammate Jordan Childs, who last night after Biles won, as you referenced, Childs pulled out this necklace that Simone put on and showed the cameras, a diamond encrusted goat, literally a goat necklace.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Here's what Simone Biles had to say about that.
--:-- Simone Biles: People love it and then some people hate it. So it's like the best of both worlds. And I was like, okay, if it goes well, we'll wear the goat necklace. I know people will go crazy over it. But at the end of the day, it is crazy that I am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes because I just still think I'm Simone Biles from Spring, Texas that loves to flip.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Oh my God. She definitely should be wearing that goat necklace. What else are you looking forward to this weekend?
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Well, so the track and field events begin today. And so one early highlight from that that I'm looking forward to is the Women's 100 Meter Dash. And so here's a name you might recall. Sha'Carri Richardson is going to be running in some heats for that today. The final will be tomorrow night.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Richardson is the fantastic and like very flamboyant, stylish, fun American runner who was forced out of the Tokyo Olympics. Exactly. She was forced out of the Tokyo Olympics due to a positive marijuana test. And she talked about it then. Her mom had just died. Marijuana is not a performance-improving drug. It's just against the rules. So that was a bummer that she had to pull out of that.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: But now she is finally here in Paris to make her Olympic debut. And I'm very excited to see it.
--:-- Leila Fadel: That's awesome. NPR's Becky Sullivan in Paris. Thank you so much, Becky.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: You're welcome.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And that's Up First for Friday, August 2nd. I'm Leila Fadel. And I'm A. Martinez.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
How about listening to Consider This from NPR? In the Middle East, two assassinations in less than 24 hours could transform the region. Israel claimed responsibility for one. It has no comment on the other. Both, though, have the potential to start a violent chain of reactions throughout the region. Will they? Listen to Consider This.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
Today's episode of Up First was edited by James Heider, Rebecca Rossman, Miguel Macias, Jenea Williams, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams, Nia Dumas, and Milton Kevada. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Zach Coleman.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
Join us again on Monday. This message comes from ZipRecruiter. Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. unless you use ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter doesn't depend on candidates finding you. It finds them for you. That's why four out of five employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. And right now, you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash zip. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash zip.
