Fort Stewart Shooting, Tariff Deadline, Trump And Putin Meeting Prospects

0:01A soldier shot five people at a base in Georgia. Soldiers in the area that witnessed the shooting immediately and without hesitation tackled the soldiers, subdued him. What did local police know about him that his commanders did not? I'm Steve Inskeep with A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News.

0:22Evidence is piling up that new tariffs are raising prices and slowing economic growth. One indicator is McDonald's. Executives say low-income customers are spending less at the start of the day. They're skipping breakfast or they're trading down either within our menu or they're trading down eating at home. What's that mean for other businesses? And President Trump is expected to meet with the president of Russia. The Kremlin's agreement on a meeting, though not yet a peace deal, comes just after another Trump deadline approach for sanctions on Russia. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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1:41Get market insights, education, and human help when you need it. This message comes from Michelin. More than a tire company, Michelin is an innovation company. From connected mobility to clean materials. And now taking on one of the toughest mobility challenges, space. Developing an airless wheel for space exploration. Designed to withstand the extreme conditions at the moon's south pole. Michelin isn't just making exceptional tires. They're helping build a better future. Motion for life. More at michelinman.com slash y hyphen Michelin slash innovation. Five soldiers were injured in a shooting at Fort Stewart in Georgia yesterday.

2:23The alleged shooter is a fellow soldier and is in custody. WABE's Emily Jones was at Fort Stewart right after the shooting. Emily, how did this all unfold? Well, Army officials identified the alleged shooter as Sergeant Cornelius Radford. They say he opened fire on his co-workers at their place of work on post around 11 a.m. yesterday. The base was placed on lockdown shortly afterward. At a press conference, Brigadier General John Lubas, the commanding general of Fort Stewart, says other soldiers stepped in and tackled the shooter. Soldiers in the area that witnessed the shooting immediately and without hesitation tackled the soldiers, subdued him, that allowed law enforcement to then take him into custody.

3:06That was around 1135, they said, and then shortly after noon, the lockdown was lifted. Of the five soldiers who were shot, three of them did need surgery, but officials said they are all in stable condition. The alleged shooter, what more do we know about him? Do we know maybe a motive? Not much is known about the motive. Law enforcement is still talking with Radford. They did say that he was known to local police because of a DUI earlier this year, Although his commanders did not know about that until his arrest after the shooting yesterday. Army officials say he worked in automated logistics and he's been stationed at Fort Stewart since 2022.

3:45They also said he never deployed to a combat zone. And they did say that the soldiers he shot were his co-workers and the gun he used was apparently his own handgun. OK, so what does this say then about safety at the base? I mean, are there concerns about that? That is the question, you know, the question of how he got his gun onto the base. While it is an army base, typically only military police are wearing weapons. Soldiers really are not walking around armed. General Lubas in the press conference did reassure people that the base was safe and well guarded. And he said they are also looking into how this happened.

4:21And once there's a clear motive and more details, we may learn more. I mean, Emily, I would guess that of all places that could protect from a mass shooting, it would be a military base. I mean, yeah, kind of hard to make sense of that. It is. Yeah. Again, they are well guarded. But, you know, there have been several mass shootings at military bases since 2009. That's when 13 people were killed in a shooting at Fort Hood in Texas. And then since then, that same base had another mass shooting in 2014 with four fatalities and 12 people wounded. In 2013, 12 people were fatally shot at the Washington Navy Yard.

5:00And at Naval Air Station Pensacola, a man from Saudi Arabia who was there for flight training killed three soldiers in 2019. And that same year in Pearl Harbor, a sailor shot three workers, killing two of them. So there have been several mass shootings on military bases, and they do still happen sometimes. That's Emily Jones with WABE. Thank you very much for the update. Thank you.

5:33President Trump's tariffs are probably taking a bite out of egg McMuffin sales, according to McDonald's executives. And that's not just because of the Canadian bacon. McDonald's says lower-income customers are skipping the drive-thru in some cases, and worries over tariffs may be partly to blame. The news comes as the president imposed another round of unilateral tax increases on imports starting today. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now with a less-than-happy economic meal. So, Scott, tell us where tariffs stand right now. Higher tariffs are kicking in today on goods from a lot of big trading partners.

6:06For the last four months, the U.S. has been charging a 10 % tax on most of what we import. As of today, that's going to 15 % on goods from Europe, Japan, South Korea. Even higher tax rates are taking effect on goods from countries like the Philippines, Switzerland, and South Africa. The tax on many Canadian goods jumped to 35 % last week. And the president just imposed a 50 % tax on goods from Brazil, which is the world's number one coffee producer. So you're likely going to have to pay more for your morning java. Yeah, and McDonald's sells a lot of coffee. Yeah, and their breakfast business has already taken a big hit.

6:42So tell us about that. McDonald's has actually fared better than a lot of fast food competitors. Sales of the chain's existing restaurants in the U.S. are up about 4 % from a year ago. But executives said yesterday they are concerned. A lot of their customers are very price sensitive, especially when it comes to breakfast. And CEO Chris Kamchensky says industry-wide, lower-income customers are just not spending as freely as they were this time last year. There is a lot of anxiety and unease with that low-income consumer. Probably tariffs and the impact that that might have, questions around employment situation.

7:16But it's clear from the data that sentiment is down. And the result of that is they're skipping breakfast or they're trading down either within our menu or they're trading down to eating at home. A 50 % tax on imported coffee is not going to help, although homebrewed Java is likely to see a price hike as well. Sure. Now, beyond the drive-thru, I mean, how are the president's tariffs affecting the broader economy? Evidence continues to pile up showing these import taxes are raising prices and slowing growth. U.S. factories have been in a slump for months now, and now the tariffs are starting to weigh on the much larger services side of the economy.

7:53Every month, the Institute for Supply Management puts out an index of service sector activity. And the July figure, which came out a couple days ago, showed services moving just above stall speed last month. Steve Miller, who oversees that index, says farmers, hotels, construction companies, they're all looking at higher prices and slower growth. Tariff tensions are not just increasing uncertainty, but they're impacting global trade. No question that tariffs are raising prices paid as a potential driver of future inflation. Now, forecasters don't think we're looking at anything like the 9 % inflation rate we had a few years ago.

8:28But tariffs could push inflation back above 3%, and that makes it harder for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, even though that's what Trump says he wants. Still, markets are betting the Fed will cut rates at his next meeting in September, partly to prop up the sagging job market and perk up sluggish growth. But President Trump boasts all the time that tariffs are raising a lot of money for the government. So is he right? When you impose a big tax like this, it does bring in a lot of money, about$30 billion a month right now. I'll caution, however, federal courts have raised serious questions about whether most of these tariffs are even legal.

9:03If it turns out once the appeals are exhausted, they're not legal, then the government's going to have to give a lot of that money back. That's NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, thank you. You're welcome.

9:19President Trump says there is a very good prospect he will meet very soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an attempt to end Russia's war with Ukraine. The president, President Trump, was speaking after what he described as productive talks between his special envoy Steve Whitcoff and Putin. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez has been following all the developments. So, Franco, tell us more about when or whether this meeting will even happen. Yeah, A. Trump didn't share timing details, but he did speak optimistically about a meeting happening soon following these talks with his special envoy.

9:57There's a very good chance that we could be ending the round, ending the end of that road. That road was long and continues to be long, but there's a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon. Now, according to statements from Russia, a meeting between Trump and Putin could happen as early as next week. Russian officials agreed the talks were constructive and added that they were finalizing a location. But Trump is also being a bit cautious and reflective in his assessment, considering, you know, the up and down nature of how these developments have gone. You know, he really did not want to call this a breakthrough or even handicap it in any way about when a deal could be reached.

10:39I don't want to say I've been disappointed before with this one. Did Vladimir Putin give up anything to get this meeting? Yeah, it's unclear whether Putin has offered any concessions. Trump would only say that the meeting with Whitcoff was productive. But this would be a big win for Putin. He has long sought a meeting with Trump. And I'll just add a that Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview with Fox Business says they now have quote concrete examples of the kinds of things that Russia would ask for in order to end a war. Now he would not give too many details but said that concessions would have to be made on both sides and he noted that a ceasefire is a key step.

11:24You know Franco thinking back to the relationship between Trump and Putin I mean it's been hot it's been cold how has it all evolved over over the months and years. Yeah, I mean, it is very, very complicated. I mean, for months, Trump resisted putting pressure on Putin, saying he did not want to complicate the path to a peace agreement. But over time, Trump's posture shifted as Russia escalated its strikes against Ukraine. Trump, remember, would talk about how they'd have these, quote, beautiful conversations, and then the next day bombs would be falling on Keith. Trump eventually lost patience, even lashing out at Putin ahead of a meeting with the Secretary General of NATO, where Trump announced plans to boost U.S.

12:05military support for Ukraine. And most recently, Trump threatened more intense sanctions if Russia didn't agree to a peace deal. And that deadline is Friday, tomorrow. So, okay, let's just say President Trump and President Putin meet. They actually get together and meet. How big of a deal would this be? I mean, it'd be a big deal. I mean, this would be the first face-to-face meeting with a U.S. president. Since then-president, Joe Biden met Putin in 2021. Trump met Putin, of course, in Helsinki in his first term in 2018. And it's also just a big step. I mean, Trump campaigned on a promise to end this war within 24 hours of being elected.

12:44And that obviously hasn't happened. But he really wants to be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize. And while he says he's made progress on a number of lesser known conflicts, such as India, such as Pakistan, this war, this war in Ukraine, and also Gaza have really been challenges for him. And he's said over and over that this is the big one he's working on. That's White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

13:15And that's up first for Thursday, August 7th. I'm me, Martinez. And I'm Steve Inskey. If you can hear this podcast, sponsor-free while financially supporting public media with Up First Plus. Learn more at plus.npr.org. That's P-L-U-S.

13:32It's good that we learn how to spell plus. P-L-U-S. N-P-R.org. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Susanna Capilouto, Rafael Nam, Krishnadev Kalamor, Jenea Williams, and Ali Schweitzer. It was produced by Zia Butch, Ian Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow. P-L-U-S. P-L. This message comes from Michelin. More than a tire company, Michelin is an innovation company. From connected mobility to clean materials, and now taking on one of the toughest mobility challenges space. Developing an airless wheel for space exploration designed to withstand the extreme conditions at the moon's south pole.

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