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--:-- Leila Fadel: Welcome to Up First. I'm Leila Fadel.
--:-- A Martinez: And I'm A Martinez.
--:-- Leila Fadel: President Trump threatened Chicago in an online post saying it's about to find out why it's called the Department of War. Then he walked it back. We're not going to war. We're going to clean up our city.
--:-- A Martinez: So how is Chicago responding?
--:-- Leila Fadel: I'm Laila Fadel. That's A Martinez. And this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Jury selection begins today in the trial for a man accused of hiding on a golf course with a rifle where President Trump was golfing. He's charged with attempting to assassinate Trump, and he's representing himself in court.
--:-- A Martinez: And Russia says it's carried out the largest airstrikes on Ukraine yet, which doesn't seem to bode well for any prospective peace talks. Is Moscow signaling a new phase in this war?
--:-- Leila Fadel: Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.
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--:-- Leila Fadel: President Trump is dialing back his threats against Chicago after an explosive post on social media over the weekend that many interpreted as a plan to wage war on the city.
--:-- A Martinez: The president has vowed to step up immigration raids and send the National Guard to a number of American cities led by Democrats.
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR's Kat Lonsdorf is in Chicago. Kat, you've been there for the past few days. What happened over the weekend?
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: Yeah, so on Saturday, Trump posted this pretty remarkable meme on social media you just referred to. It's an AI image of him as a character from the 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. And it shows Chicago burning with helicopters flying overhead. And it says, Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of War.
--:-- Leila Fadel: He's referring there to his rebranding of the Department of Defense last week.
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: And that got a lot of attention, especially from elected officials here. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker responded by posting, quote, The president of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal.
--:-- A Martinez: But then on Sunday, Trump was asked by a reporter if he was threatening war with Chicago.
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: And here's how he responded. We're not going to war. We're going to clean up our city. We're going to clean them up so they don't kill five people every weekend. That's not war. That's common sense.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Data shows that violent crime is down in Chicago in recent years.
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: But Trump maintains that the National Guard will be sent here and to other cities to fight crime. He also threatened to step up immigration arrests and deportations.
--:-- A Martinez: All right, so that the view from D How are people feeling in Chicago?
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: People are still going about their daily lives, but it is tense. On Saturday, there was a big protest downtown with marchers taking up whole streets for blocks.
--:-- Leila Fadel: I talked to people there, and they told me that they were really worried about American democracy, especially after they've seen Trump deploy National Guard troops in both L.A. and D.C. in recent months.
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: On the immigration side of things, people are genuinely scared. I went to Pilsen. It's a neighborhood where many people with Mexican roots live on the west side.
--:-- Leila Fadel: I talked to 27-year-old Andrea Soria there. She teared up a bit, telling me about several undocumented members of her family who haven't left their houses this week.
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: For them to not be able to go out. And all this week, they've been relying on myself. You know, go get groceries, go check on this.
--:-- A Martinez: And she said it's been really stressful.
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: Now, Trump has said he will send the National Guard, Kat. He just hasn't said when or where.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Wasn't there a ruling last week, if I remember right, saying that Trump's deployment of troops to Los Angeles this summer was illegal?
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: Yeah, you're right. That judge found that Trump's use of the National Guard violated a law that limits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.
--:-- A Martinez: But that ruling, which the Trump administration has appealed, only applies in California.
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: In D.C., where the National Guard has been deployed for about a month, Trump has the authority to do so because of how enmeshed the federal government is with D.C.
--:-- Leila Fadel: In most cases, governors deploy their state National Guards. Many experts say that what we're seeing here, with it being potentially forced on states, is uncharted territory.
--:-- A Martinez: Okay, so what are you going to be watching for in the coming days?
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: Well, we still really don't know what Trump's going to do.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Remember, Trump has threatened multiple cities. Yesterday evening, he left things open, saying he would make a decision about where to send federal troops and agents, quote, over the next day or two.
--:-- A Martinez: When asked specifically if he has plans for Chicago this week, he said, no, not really.
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: All right. That's NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Chicago. Kat, thanks a lot.
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: Thank you.
--:-- Leila Fadel: In Florida, jury selection begins today in the trial of the man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year when he was running for president.
--:-- A Martinez: A Secret Service agent says he spotted Ryan Ruth holding a rifle and fired on the suspect while Trump was golfing at his West Palm Beach club last September.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Ruth will represent himself in court.
--:-- A Martinez: The judge hearing the case granted Ruth's request to dismiss his lawyers.
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR's Greg Allen will be in the courtroom today. He joins us from Fort Pierce, Florida.
--:-- Greg Allen: So, Greg, why did Ruth decide he wanted to represent himself?
--:-- Leila Fadel: Well, you know, we had a series of pretrial hearings over the last several months. And in the last several, Ruth told Judge Eileen Cannon he was dissatisfied with his attorneys because he couldn't hire his own lawyers.
--:-- Greg Allen: He was assigned two federal public defenders. But over the course of several months, he'd said to the judge he didn't like how they were representing him.
--:-- A Martinez: In a letter to the judge, he said they were a million miles apart, that's a quote, and were refusing to answer his questions.
--:-- Greg Allen: Judge Eileen Cannon, who's hearing the case, held a couple of hearings and considered an evaluation of Ruth's competency that was done by a forensic psychologist.
--:-- Leila Fadel: She agreed Ruth could represent himself but denied a request from his public defenders that they be released in the trial.
--:-- Greg Allen: Instead, she says they'll serve as standby counsel, helping him with court filings and other legal assistance when needed.
--:-- A Martinez: Okay, so remind us what is Ruth charged with and what penalties could he face?
--:-- Greg Allen: Right, well, to recap in September of last year a Secret Service agent who was part of Trump security detail says he saw a gun barrel poking from the tree line a few holes ahead of where the then presidential candidate was golfing.
--:-- Leila Fadel: He immediately fired on the person holding the gun. A man later identified as Ruth fled the scene and was arrested a short time later driving north on Interstate 95.
--:-- Greg Allen: The main count he faces is attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate. A conviction on that charge would carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.
--:-- A Martinez: There are four other counts, including some federal weapons charges, and Ruth has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
--:-- Greg Allen: All right. Tell us about Ryan Ruth and tell us about maybe how he'll conduct his defense.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Well, you know, he spent most of his life in North Carolina before moving to Hawaii.
--:-- Greg Allen: He has a criminal record, including a conviction in 2002 for possessing an explosive device.
--:-- A Martinez: He's apparently had a lot of different political views in his time, supporting people like Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, and then Donald Trump.
--:-- Greg Allen: He's been a strong supporter of Ukraine. He traveled there and was photographed and interviewed while there.
--:-- Leila Fadel: He said he supported Trump for president in 2016 and now regrets that decision.
--:-- Greg Allen: A key piece of evidence in the trial, I think, will be this 12-page letter he left with a friend that was turned over to authorities after his arrest.
--:-- A Martinez: Prosecutors plan to show just the first page of the letter to the jury.
--:-- Greg Allen: That's where he writes, Dear world, this is an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Ruth wants the jury to see the full text of the 12-page letter. He said in a motion to the judge that, quote, every line is about gentleness, peacefulness, and nonviolent caring for humanity.
--:-- Greg Allen: Judge Cannon says she'll wait until later to rule on that request.
--:-- A Martinez: And speaking of Judge Cannon, she had another high-profile case not that long ago. That was Donald Trump's criminal trial on charges that he mishandled classified and top-secret documents.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Right. We heard a lot about Judge Eileen Cannon over the last couple years. She was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in 2020.
--:-- Greg Allen: In that classified documents case, she dismissed the charges against Trump, ruling that the appointment of a special counsel to prosecute the former president was unconstitutional.
--:-- A Martinez: She was randomly assigned to hear this case.
--:-- Greg Allen: All right, that's NPR's Greg Allen in Fort Pierce, Florida. Greg, thanks.
--:-- Greg Allen: You're welcome.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Over the weekend, Ukraine says Russia launched its largest airstrikes yet on Ukrainian cities using more than 800 attack drones.
--:-- A Martinez: At least five people were killed and dozens were injured. And for the first time, a building in the heavily protected government sector was badly damaged.
--:-- Leila Fadel: The attack comes as appeals from the Trump administration have failed to push Russia into ending its war on Ukraine.
--:-- A Martinez: NPR's Joanna Kakissis is on the line from Kiev. Joanna, tell us about this weekend's attacks.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: Yeah, actually, I had just gotten back into town when these attacks began on Saturday evening. I woke up in the middle of the night after I heard a very loud and familiar buzzing sound.
--:-- Leila Fadel: That's a shot head drone flying over our neighborhood and then the booms of air defense trying to shoot down the drones as well as missiles.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: By early Sunday morning, smoke was billowing from the government sector, which is protected by layers of air defense.
--:-- A Martinez: The building where President Volodymyr Zelensky's cabinet meets was on fire.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Yeah, and this is a heavily guarded sector of Kiev. I mean, is this the first time a building in that area has been damaged in an attack?
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: Yes, it's the first time since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
--:-- A Martinez: According to Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, the fire appears to have started after burning debris from a destroyed Russian drone fell on the building.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And later on Sunday, Yulia Svatedenko, she's Ukraine's prime minister, she posted a video to social media of herself walking past the broken walls of the damaged building.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: Here's a bit of that clip. Now she's saying you can see the consequences of this attack. We've put out the fires. Our rescue crews are still working.
--:-- A Martinez: And it looks like Russia is not seeking peace and is not ready for negotiations.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Svita Denko went on to say that she hopes Ukraine allies will respond.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: Well, yeah, they have at least verbally. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said the Kremlin is mocking diplomacy, trampling on international law and killing indiscriminately because among those killed in Ukraine was a mother and her infant son in Kiev.
--:-- A Martinez: However, the European Union is not entirely united in how to respond to Russian attacks.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Hungary and Slovakia, for example, rely on Russian oil and economic ties, and its populist leaders often attack NATO and even the EU leadership as elitists.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: But von der Leyen said the EU is tightening sanctions on Russia and is helping Ukraine financially and with its military.
--:-- A Martinez: Okay, what did President Trump have to say about this?
--:-- Leila Fadel: Well, President Trump told reporters in Washington on Sunday that he is considering new sanctions in response to Russia rebuffing a ceasefire.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: However, the 50 percent tariffs the Trump administration imposed on countries like India for buying Russian oil appear to have had no real impact.
--:-- A Martinez: Speaking to NBC News on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the U.S. is open to partnering with the European Union to impose even more sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil.
--:-- Leila Fadel: This would be an attempt to, quote, collapse the Russian economy, as he said, though, of course, that would take quite a while.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: So it looks like Russia is able to resist the effects of sanctions.
--:-- A Martinez: So is Ukraine preparing for an extended war?
--:-- Leila Fadel: Yeah, well, they're preparing by arming themselves. President Zelensky said a couple of days ago that Ukraine now produces more than 60 percent of its own weapons.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: And in his evening address last night, Zelensky said Ukraine is fighting what he called air raid anxiety by making air defense a top priority.
--:-- A Martinez: Because according to Ukraine's military intelligence, Russia is producing nearly 3,000 shothead attack drones every month.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And that's a sign that the attacks will continue.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: That's NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kiev. Joanna, thanks.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: You're welcome.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And that's Up First for Monday, September 8th. I'm E. Martinez. And I'm Leila Fadel.
--:-- A Martinez: Your next listen is Consider This from NPR. We here at Up First give you the three big stories of the day. Our Consider This colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you. Learn about a big story of the day in less than 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Announcer: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Gigi Douban, Russell Lewis, Miguel Macias, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woefle.
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