--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- Scott Simon: It's been busy, busy, busy on the track, in the ring, on the hardwood, on the mats, all sorts of places where competitors face off.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: A crescendo of competition as the Olympic Games head into tomorrow's closing ceremony.
--:-- Scott Simon: I'm Scott Simon.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Scott Simon: 10,000 athletes, two weeks of victory, near victory, and drama. We'll have the latest from Paris.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And we have the latest from the campaign trail. Kamala Harris met crowds in Arizona. Donald Trump rallied last night in Montana.
--:-- Scott Simon: And the battle lines in the war between Russia and Ukraine are shifting. We'll tell you where.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: So stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.
--:-- Scott Simon: This message comes from BetterHelp.
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right? Is going to be there and going to listen to me.
--:-- Scott Simon: And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today. And it feels natural. I love it.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Support for NPR and the following message come from Pete and Jerry's Eggs.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Their new organic pasture-raised eggs come from hens that roam lush pastures and enjoy a USDA-certified organic diet.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: The result? Delicious, ethical, healthy eggs, as nature intended. Learn more at PeteAndJerrys.com.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: This message comes from NPR sponsor AARP.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Where do you see your career in 12 years? What are you doing now to help you get there?
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: The sooner you start enhancing your skills, the sooner you'll be ready.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: That's why AARP has management, finance, and small business reskilling courses, all to help your income live as long as you do.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Because the steps you choose to take today will help you love what you do in the future. Learn more at aarp.org slash skills.
--:-- Scott Simon: First up today, Ukraine, or rather Russia. Ukrainian forces shocked Moscow this week by doing something they hadn't done before, launching a substantial invasion into Russia itself.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Ukraine's cross-border incursion into western Russia is now on its fifth day.
--:-- Scott Simon: Russian forces appear to be struggling to mount an effective counterattack.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: Yeah, Ukraine clearly identified a vulnerable spot on Russia's western border.
--:-- Scott Simon: Russia clearly wasn't paying attention, and Ukraine sent these ground troops rumbling across its northeastern border in armored vehicles, nothing hidden here, into western Russia on Tuesday morning.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: The Ukrainian forces are at least six miles or so inside Russia's Kursk region, and we're getting all sorts of reports that small units may have penetrated much deeper.
--:-- Scott Simon: The Ukrainians are operating in or have taken control of numerous villages in at least one town.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: Videos on social media show a burned-out column of Russian military vehicles, dozens of Russian soldiers surrendering, large numbers of Russian civilians fleeing by car.
--:-- Scott Simon: Now, neither Russia nor Ukraine is saying much, so we're trying to put this together like a jigsaw puzzle where we only have a small number of the pieces.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: Just a week ago, we were talking about the Russian offensive in Ukraine. How's Russia responding now that it's on the defensive?
--:-- Scott Simon: Well, in a word, struggling.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been holding meetings with top national security officials at the Kremlin Some of this has been televised in an attempt to reassure Russians
--:-- Scott Simon: And the military officials are telling Putin that troop reinforcements are on the way that they defeating the Ukrainians and they regain control of the border very soon
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: Putin is clearly unhappy in some of this video, and these reports appear to be way too rosy.
--:-- Scott Simon: Russian military bloggers are saying the fighting is not going well for Russia. They described the Russian response as chaotic, the panicked civilians are fleeing, and the Ukrainians seem to just keep attacking.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: Do we know what Ukraine's goal is with this high-risk operation?
--:-- Scott Simon: You know, Scott, we don't. What we have right now is just a lot of speculation.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: Now, in remarks in his nightly address, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said, quote, Russia brought war to our land and should feel what it's done.
--:-- Scott Simon: So there's definitely this psychological component of what's going on the offensive, raising morale in Ukraine, which has indeed happened, and putting Russia on the defensive, which has also happened.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: Now, we only have hints of the possible military strategy here.
--:-- Scott Simon: I spoke with one of Zelensky's top advisors this week. His name is Mihailo Podolak.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: He said Russia has been attacking from these border areas without fear of retaliation on Russian territory, and that needs to change.
--:-- Scott Simon: Here he is speaking through an interpreter.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: We have to push them back in some areas if we want to make those areas safe for us, and we are creating this buffer zone.
--:-- Scott Simon: So I would just add, Scott, that it could be extremely difficult to hold on to Russian territory if the Russians make a big push to get it back, which they seem to be doing.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: And Greg, how's the fighting inside Ukraine going?
--:-- Scott Simon: Yeah, Ukraine is still on the defensive at home and it's struggling to halt or at least limit a Russian offensive in the eastern Donbass region.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: The Russian forces have seized a number of villages in recent weeks, making it one of their more successful ground operations in well over a year.
--:-- Scott Simon: The Russians just send wave after wave of troops towards Ukrainian lines and they've been suffering massive losses with these attacks, but they have advanced.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: And Scott, we're just at this rare moment in the war where both the Russians and Ukrainians are on the offensive at the same time, though obviously in different places.
--:-- Scott Simon: And Piers Greg Myrie in Kiev, thanks so much for being with us.
--:-- NPR's Greg Meirey: Sure thing, Scott.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have been barnstorming the country this week, rallying with supporters in key swing states.
--:-- Scott Simon: The Harris-Walls ticket is only three weeks old, and the candidates are moving at breakneck speed as Democrats prepare for the party's convention later this month.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And Pierre Whitehouse correspondent Deepa Shiveram has been traveling with Harris.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Busy few days. Campaigns trying to introduce the ticket in all those swing states. What kind of reception?
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: I mean, so far, Harris and Walls have been greeted with this huge jolt of energy.
--:-- Scott Simon: In Phoenix last night, there were almost 20,000 people in the arena.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: In Detroit, 15,000 people came to a rally at an airport hangar.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And, you know, Harris was already starting to gather large crowds in places like Atlanta and Milwaukee before she announced Governor Walz as her running mate.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: But since he joined the ticket just on Tuesday, it's brought on this extra wave of intrigue from people, many of whom hadn't heard of Walz before, but are learning about his record as a former teacher and coach and elected leader, of course, in Minnesota.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And so far, how has he fared into that kind of increased scrutiny?
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: I mean, right, big change for Governor Walz in just one week, right? He comes across as a very enthusiastic partner to Harris.
--:-- Scott Simon: You know, he's been talking about bringing joy into the campaign, reminding crowds that there are only about three months left until Election Day
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: And he keeps saying you know quote we can sleep when we dead
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And you know keep in mind this is a pretty critical time for the campaign because polling shows that most Americans don really know anything about Walls
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: And there sort of this race from Democrats on one side and Republicans on the other to define him as quickly as they can.
--:-- Scott Simon: Republicans are trying to attack him on his military record.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: Meanwhile, Democrats are highlighting his background growing up in Nebraska and in rural America.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And, you know, it's a stark contrast from Harris, who grew up from, you know, Oakland, California.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: But something Harris has emphasized this week is that despite their differences, they do have a lot in common.
--:-- Scott Simon: Seemingly worlds apart, but the same people raised us.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: Good people, hardworking people, people who had pride in their hard work.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And that was her speaking to union workers in Detroit on Thursday.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: And, you know, that's kind of been the similar message she's been taking other stops too.
--:-- Scott Simon: Interesting you point out all the interest in trying to get a handle on Governor Walz because a lot of voters also would like to know more about Kamala Harris and what her policies will be if they will differ much from President Biden's.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: Yeah, I mean, that has been a really big question this week.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: You know, they had to get through this VP process, but I think you will see more of a focus on defined policy ideas coming down the pipeline.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: You know, here in Arizona, of course, one thing she was really speaking about last night was immigration, the border.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: She said she wanted a border and a, quote, earned pathway to citizenship.
--:-- Scott Simon: Speaking of Donald Trump, he and his running mate, J.D. Vance, have held a few events this week.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: How did those go?
--:-- Scott Simon: Well, you know, Vance has been really hitting walls.
--:-- Deepa Shiveram: He's also a veteran, of course, on his military record and experience, like I mentioned earlier.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Trump, for his part, held a really lengthy press conference on Thursday, and he's been really focused on crowd size.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And finally, today on the podcast, the Olympics.
--:-- Scott Simon: Paris was filled with medal events Friday, eight in track and field alone.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: The French played in the men's soccer final and the Algerian boxer at the center of a gender controversy box for gold.
--:-- Scott Simon: The U.S. and China are very close in the race to see who can claim the most gold medals and today brings a couple of big games and opportunities to go ahead in the medal count.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan is there in Paris and joins us.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Thanks for being with us.
--:-- Scott Simon: Good morning, Becky.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Let's begin with track and field.
--:-- Scott Simon: Americans ran two big relay races, the four by 100 meters, both men's and women's, substantially different outcomes, weren't they?
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Yes, no doubt.
--:-- Scott Simon: Let me start with the bad one first, which was the men.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: The U.S. had hoped to have the sprinter Noah Lyles competing. He just won the 100-meter dash about a week ago, but he had to bow out of the relay final because he tested positive for COVID.
--:-- Scott Simon: So the rest of the team was talented, but they just couldn't put it together yesterday.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: They really badly bobbled a handoff of the baton, And so not only did they not meddle, but then the salt in the wound were eventually disqualified over this messed up handoff.
--:-- Scott Simon: The handoffs really have been a problem for the U.S. over the years in the relays.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And the American women also struggled a little bit last night with it.
--:-- Scott Simon: But the good news there was the track star, Sha'Carri Richardson.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: She was the anchor, the dramatic last runner in the race.
--:-- Scott Simon: The U.S. was in fourth place when she got the baton and she booked it.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And in fact, had this amazing sort of meme worthy moment where she pulled ahead into first place, looked over at the runners who were now behind her in this like gotcha triumphant way, secured the gold medal for the U.S. and also her first Olympic gold.
--:-- Scott Simon: And a historic gold medal in U.S. women's weightlifting, right?
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Absolutely.
--:-- Scott Simon: Yeah. So this is a great story here.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Olivia Reeves is a 21-year-old college student at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga.
--:-- Scott Simon: She was a favorite in the light heavyweight division and she came in and she crushed it.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: She set a new Olympic record in the lift that called the Snatch
--:-- Scott Simon: And then she came just shy of another record in the other lift called the clean and jerk
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And as you say it the first gold medal for the U in women weightlifting since before Olivia Reeves was even alive
--:-- Scott Simon: Women's weightlifting amazingly was only added to the Olympics back in the year 2000.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And that was the last time the U.S. won one of the golds.
--:-- Scott Simon: And Iman Khalif, the Algerian boxer, she won a gold last night after being at the center of a controversy over who ought to be allowed to participate in women's sports.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: You were there. What was it like?
--:-- Scott Simon: Yeah, it was really something.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: So just to give some context, the controversy around her comes from claims by the International Boxing Association that she, along with another female boxer here at the Olympics, had failed two gender eligibility tests over the past couple of years.
--:-- Scott Simon: But there have just been a lot of questions about those tests.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: The IBA hasn't released proof or really details about them.
--:-- Scott Simon: Additionally, for context, the IBA has deep ties to Russia, and there have long been concerns about corruption in the organization, so much so that the Olympics cut ties with the IBA last year before all of this.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And so over the past couple of weeks, Olympic officials had defended Khalif.
--:-- Scott Simon: They say she's eligible.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: They say that her participation has nothing to do with inclusion or anything like that.
--:-- Scott Simon: So anyway, last night she was up against the Chinese boxer Yang Liu in the gold medal match and Khalif won in a unanimous decision.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: Afterwards, she said defiantly, I'm a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman. I lived as a woman. I've competed as a woman. There's no doubt about it.
--:-- Scott Simon: Becky, two big U.S. medal opportunities for gold medals today come in team sports, women's soccer, and men's basketball.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: They're playing France, okay?
--:-- Scott Simon: They are.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: I'm going to be a little divided about this, so give us a preview.
--:-- Scott Simon: Okay, well, the U.S., these are two big, huge team opportunities, and today they need a little bit of a lift because the women's water polo team, which has been one of the most dominant teams at the Olympics these last couple decades, lost in the bronze medal match this morning, so they're going to go home empty-handed.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: So in women's soccer, this is a redemption for the U.S. women's team after they got bounced early out of the FIFA Women's World Cup last year.
--:-- Scott Simon: They are playing Brazil today.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: It would be the first gold medal in women's soccer since 2012.
--:-- Scott Simon: And then for Team USA men's basketball, as you say, a huge game tonight against the hosts.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: France, the crowd is going to be absolutely electric.
--:-- Scott Simon: The U.S. team came very close to losing a couple nights ago against Serbia.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: They were down almost the whole game into the last couple minutes when finally these NBA MVPs, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, each did their thing to seize that victory back.
--:-- Scott Simon: And I was there, Scott.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: And I got to say, it was one of the best basketball games I've ever seen in my life.
--:-- Scott Simon: And I am going to be there tonight, and I can't wait.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: One of, one of, my gosh.
--:-- Scott Simon: NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan in Paris. Thanks so much, Becky.
--:-- Becky Sullivan: You are welcome, Scott.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And that's up first for Saturday, August 10th.
--:-- Scott Simon: I'm Aisha Roscoe.
--:-- Scott Simon: And I'm Scott Simon.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Fernando Naro, Martin Patience, and Gabe O'Connor produced today's podcast.
--:-- Scott Simon: Andrew Craig directed.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Our editors were Ed McNulty, Nick Spicer, Dana Farrington, and Russell Lewis.
--:-- Scott Simon: Nisha Hines is our technical director with engineering support from Arthur Laurent, Andy Huther, and Ted Meebane.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor.
--:-- Scott Simon: Sarah Oliver is our executive producer.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And Jim Kane is our deputy managing editor.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And tomorrow on the podcast, sex testing in elite sports. What happens when an athlete runs afoul of shifting standards?
--:-- Scott Simon: Listen to that right here in this podcast feed and listen to a whole lot more on your local NPR station.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Find it by going to stations.npr.org.
--:-- [Theme music starts]
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Do it today.
--:-- Scott Simon: Yeah, right now.
--:-- [Theme music continues]
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Why are you still here?
--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: This message comes from Ritual.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: What makes Ritual vitamins different?
--:-- Scott Simon: Ritual vitamins are made with bioavailable, clinically studied key ingredients, as well as the essence of mint.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Get 25% off your first purchase when you visit ritual.com slash NPR.
