Governors and the National Guard, Europe and Ukraine, Texas Redistricting

0:02Six states, all with Republican governors, plan to send National Guard troops to Washington, D. but many have cities with higher crime rates than the capital. So exactly how might these deployments reduce crime? I'm Michelle Martin, that's A Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News.

0:20President Trump wants Europe to take the lead on security in Ukraine, although he said that the U.S. will help provide security guarantees for the country. The stakes are high for the EU. I want that we face a difficult road ahead. How are European leaders responding? And Texas Republicans are about to redraw the state's voting map. How might that help their party in the midterms and which states might follow suit? Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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1:34It's no surprise. Walmart is investing$1 billion in training and development to help associates build lasting careers with or without a degree. In fact, 75 % of Walmart management started in hourly roles. With benefits like health care, paid parental leave, and tuition support, Walmart isn't just a place to work. It's a place to grow. Learn more at walmart.com slash spark. A total of six states have now promised to send their National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. That will bring more than 1 ,100 additional soldiers to patrol the streets. The deployments follow President Trump's declaration of what he has called a, quote, crime emergency, unquote, in the Capitol.

2:17All the states sending troops are led by Republicans, and that has raised concerns that the Guard is being politicized. NPR criminal justice reporter Meg Anderson joins us to explain. So as Michelle just mentioned, the deployments are from states with Republican governors. I mean, that can't be a coincidence, is it? Yeah, yeah, it's not. So, so far, the states are West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, and as of yesterday, Tennessee. And, you know, in their statements, they echoed what Trump has said about crime in D.C. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said the troops were there to, quote, support President Trump and his mission to restore law and order.

2:54And this really is falling mostly on partisan lines. Yesterday, Governor Laura Kelly of Kansas, she's the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, put out a statement urging state leaders to, quote, reject the temptation to use their soldiers to reinforce a dangerous, politically motivated agenda. And I should note Vermont Governor Phil Scott, he's a Republican. He said he's not going to send his troops. He didn't feel like it would be an acceptable and appropriate use of them. Okay. Now, the thing I think a lot of people find puzzling is that many of the states are sending troops to D.C.

3:25have cities with crime rates that are higher than the Capitol. Don't they need them? Yeah. I mean, so that's true. I looked at last year's murder rates, and in Jackson, Mississippi, the murder rate was more than four times the rate in D.C. In Memphis, it was nearly triple. In New Orleans, it was nearly double. I spoke about this with Incha Rahman. She's with the advocacy group, the Vera Institute of Justice. They work to end mass incarceration. Trump enlisting Republican governors to send National Guard troops signals one thing very clearly, that this is about a political power grab and political theater, not about making cities safer.

4:04To be clear, D.C. still has had higher violent crime rates than many other major cities, but the numbers are falling. Now, did you reach out to any of those governors who are deploying troops? I did. I only heard back from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's office. They said they've sent their troops outside the state before, including the inaugurations of both President Trump and former President Joe Biden, and also to protests in Minneapolis and natural disasters in Florida, North Carolina and Louisiana. So how well suited is the National Guard at actually policing streets? Yeah. So, you know, the National Guard usually is engaged in crowd control or helping in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

4:45They are not experienced in doing local police work. Policing expert Mark Krupansky noted that, too. He's with Arnold Ventures, a group that funds criminal justice initiatives. And he says he suspects using the Guard like this is not going to reduce crime. This is kind of described as like the grenade effect where they throw a considerable amount of resources at a problem over a short period of time. And that might help to drive that number down in the short term, but it doesn't actually help address the problem over the long run. And, you know, he stressed that there are long term strategies that we do know work in lowering crime.

5:20Things like community policing and boosting social services in neighborhoods, like adding employment opportunities and mental health resources. That is NPR's Meg Anderson. Meg, thanks. You're welcome.

5:41Following meetings with President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, European leaders have been urgently trying to figure out what they need to do next to end Russia's nearly four-year war in Ukraine. Trump has ruled out sending U.S. troops to join a European-led force that would guard against another Russian invasion. From Brussels, Terry Schultz joins us now to talk about the challenges Europe faces with so many factors still dependent on Washington. So, Terry, how have European leaders been digesting the events from D.C.? Well, quickly is the best way I can describe it.

6:12It was less than 24 hours after those meetings at the White House that the EU leaders who'd been present there were back here in virtual sessions debriefing their counterparts. And that urgency just goes to show how high stakes the situation is for Europe. They had both a meeting of this coalition of the willing, that's some 30 countries which have expressed their readiness to physically help support a ceasefire in Ukraine, and they had one with just the 27 EU member countries. Okay, now President Trump has made it pretty clear that he wants Europe to take the lead on Ukrainian security. That's our understanding, right?

6:43That's right. And they'd more or less already decided that themselves before, before Trump became more supportive of Ukraine. But now the president has confirmed it many times over. And the good news for the Europeans is that Trump is now pledging for the first time to help with these security guarantees for Ukraine. Chairing the meeting of EU leaders, European Council President Antonio Costa said Europe is actually now working hand in hand with the U.S. Their commitment to participate in the security guarantees with the Europeans and other like minded countries is a very important step, a very welcome step.

7:18Now, Costa says there's still a difficult road ahead, but Europeans are feeling reassured by the new U.S. support. OK, how might this look, though, practically? I mean, this coalition has been meeting for months without the participation of the U.S. Well, and also without even a basic outline of what a final peace deal might look like between Russia and Ukraine. So what would be the rules and protections and obligations of such a mission on the ground? In addition, it's been hamstrung since it was created by the U.S. lack of support earlier, which is really critical both in terms of capabilities such as intelligence sharing and surveillance where the U.S.

7:50is dominant, but also the deterrent factor, sort of the stick that you have with an agreement backed by the U.S., especially in the eyes of the Kremlin. So now discussions will take a new, more optimistic shape. Now, President Trump says no U.S. troops would join this mission. So how willing are Europeans to send their people into Ukraine? Well, that's a huge unanswered question because it's not clear whether this mission would be to sort of monitor a ceasefire or reinforce it or defend certain lines. And those verbs all mean very different things, carrying different levels of danger for those deployed.

8:23In general, European countries are going to have to send forces, and it seems about 10 have committed to doing that so far. But some options are much less palatable than others. And if this is a small force that's just there to deter Russia reattacking Ukraine, this is sometimes described as a tripwire force. What happens if it is attacked? We don't have any answers yet. Or are we going to need to see hundreds of thousands of European military personnel armed to fight back? I think that's pretty unlikely. So how does this fit into this idea of, quote, NATO style security guarantees that the Trump administration first brought up?

8:56Well, another unanswered question. But I basically described the dilemma already. With NATO's Article 5, an attack on one is considered an attack on all. So if you apply this to Ukraine, will all European Union members or NATO members, including the U.S., come if it's attacked again after a peace deal? And what about if a European soldier is attacked? I think everyone here is eager to hear what kind of commitments the U.S. is ready to make. And certainly Trump's latest suggestion that air power could be provided will be welcome. That's Terry Schultz in Brussels. Terry, thank you. Thank you.

9:34Texas Republicans are on the verge of redrawing the state's congressional districts for President Trump. Trump wants the change to help Republicans win potentially five more seats in next year's elections. Now other states are looking to support or counter that. Texas Democrats left the state for a couple of weeks to try to slow it down. The Texas newsroom's Blaze Ganey is in Austin to discuss this. So, Blaze, Texas Democrats came back to the legislature Monday after their walkout. So where do things stand now? Yeah. So first, while they were gone, House Democrats were threatened with arrest or being replaced.

10:06And when they came back to the House floor, Republican House Speaker Dustin Burroughs ordered them to sign a paper if they wanted to leave, pledging they'd show up for today's session. And until then, they'll be technically under custody of Texas law enforcement. Most of them signed and went home, except for one who refused, Representative Nicole Collier. She calls it demeaning, and she's so far refused to sign and has chosen to stay in the chamber since Monday, giving interviews and even slept there. It's become a form of protest. And some Democratic colleagues tore their papers up and said they were joining her last night.

10:37And she was planning on staying there again. Wow. Okay. So remind us again what the issue is at stake here. What are Texas Republicans trying to do? Yeah. I mean, Texas Republicans want more seats in Congress. Right now, there are 38 congressional districts in Texas. Twenty-five are held by Republicans. And Republicans are trying to redraw the districts based on how people have voted in the past to give their party an edge and at least five more seats. Republicans say this is legal. They note that Democrats have done it in other states in the past, but usually states do redistricting at the start of the decade when the national census count comes in.

11:11Democrats say these maps that Republicans have drawn weakens the vote of black and Latino voters in ways that are illegal and they will challenge in court. Republican lawmakers aim to vote in favor of this plan today and then in Senate tomorrow. And Governor Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, is expected to sign it when it gets to him. So other states are watching Texas, especially the one state with a bigger population, Democratic-led California. So what might California do? Yes, that's correct. And, you know, this is all prompted by the movement from President Trump in Texas. Several other states are talking about mid-decade redistricting right now.

11:45The main one, as you said, California. They are directly the county of Texas. Democrats in the California legislature have actually drawn a map that will give an edge to five more Democrats next year. They plan to vote on that this week. But they are seeking approval of voters in a special election in November because unlike Texas, California law requires that an independent commission do the redistricting to take the politics out of it. Now they want voters to approve redistricting without that commission. The legislature might vote on that Thursday, but California Republicans have filed a lawsuit yesterday trying to slow that down.

12:18Now some other Republicans in Democratic states are talking about redistricting too. But for right now, Republicans only hold the House by a few seats. So a five-seat swing either way could really make a difference for President Trump's agenda. All right. That's Blaise Ganey of the Texas Newsroom. Blaise, thank you very much for this update. Thank you.

12:42And that's up first for Wednesday, August 20th. I'm E. Martinez. And I'm Michelle Martin. The NPR Network includes the work we do at NPR and the work of reporters at member stations across the country. You can support that reporting at donate.npr.org slash upfirst. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Martha and Overland, Tara Neal, Ryland Barton, Acacia Squires, Olivia Hampton, and Mohamed Elbardisi. It was produced by Zia Butch, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

13:23Thank you.