Harris Tours Battleground States, Ukraine Receives Weapons, Hawaii Fire Anniversary

0:00Hello, A. Martinez., Hello, Leila Foddle. What are you doing? I'm about to... Host a show? Lead a national radio show alongside with my... Do you see that? He's talking about me like I'm a sidekick. I'm kicking you off this show. This is going to be Layla's show today. Hey, you put that one on a tee for me today. That's on you.

0:26The Harris-Walls campaign is drawing massive crowds in the Midwest. This is what's like jazzed everybody up because now we have hope and there's a chance. Can they turn that August enthusiasm into November momentum? I'm Leila Faldil, that's A Martinez and this is Up First from NPR News. Ukraine is getting new weapons like F-16 fighter jets to aid in its war with Russia. But Ukrainian troops are still struggling to gain ground in the conflict. Will the new weapons make a difference? And Maui residents are remembering the Lahaina fire one year ago. some question whether the town is prepared for any future disasters.

1:03We have no evacuation spaces, even though they're creating some, it's still one way in and one way out. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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2:06Grammarly is the essential AI communication assistant that boosts your productivity at work so you can get more of what you need done faster. Just a few clicks can tailor your tone and writing so you come across exactly as you intend. Get time back to focus on your high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free at grammarly.com slash podcast. That's Grammarly.com slash podcast. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walls, are continuing their introductory tour today. They'll be in Phoenix tonight and then head toward Las Vegas. Yesterday, they drew thousands of people on a hot Midwestern summer day in Wisconsin and Michigan.

2:44The energy around the campaign is heating up. They try and steal the joy. But you know what? You know what? Our next president brings the joy. She emanates the joy. NPR's Tamara Keith is traveling with the candidates, joins us now from Detroit. Tamara, we're seeing lots of images of big crowds, hearing a lot of cheers. What did you experience there on the ground? Yeah, these are the biggest rallies I've seen in a very long time. These are the kinds of rally crowds that you would see in October or early November, just ahead of the election. But it's August right now. This is really not the campaign that Democrats were girding themselves for even just a month ago.

3:24and it's the kind of enthusiasm they haven't experienced since Obama. I talked to Kathy Windorf of Madison, Wisconsin at the rally in Eau Claire, and she had driven about three hours to get to the rally and said before President Biden dropped out, she was in a funk, depressed about politics. They felt like Trump had won the election. I think that's how people felt. And so this is what's like jazzed everybody up because now we have hope and there's a chance. The second rally was at the airport in Detroit in an aircraft hangar, and Air Force Two pulled right up. It reminded me of so many Trump rallies I've covered over the years, but the mood was different.

4:04There were DJs hyping up the crowd, and when Harris and Walls walked off the plane, everyone went wild. Instead of getting in the SUVs, they walked straight toward the crowd, and members of Harris's staff were literally dancing on the tarmac. Now, you mentioned how it's November energy, but in early August, it is early August only. So, I mean, what does this mean for the campaign, practically speaking? Well, in the first 24 hours since Walls was announced as the running mate, the campaign raised$36 million. A million of that was from people buying camouflage hats with orange writing on it that says Harris Walls, because Walls is known for wearing a hunting style camo hat.

4:45You know, there's definitely optimism, but there's also an urgency to their message in their speech. And in her speeches, Harris talks about winning, but she also talks about needing to do a lot of work, knocking on doors, talking to neighbors. And they don't want people to assume that they'll win and then just not show up and vote in the end. She's holding rallies with 12 ,000, 15 ,000 people and still describing herself as an underdog. You know, there's a lot that could go wrong for Harris in the next 90 days of this campaign. She is very much in the honeymoon period right now, and nobody knows when it will end.

5:20She's got the stump speech down, but she hasn't put herself in a position to be pressed on exactly what her positions are or how her positions have changed since 2019. As vice president, it wasn't her job to set a policy agenda. As the Democratic nominee now, it absolutely is her job. And quickly, how has the Trump campaign been handling this shift? Well, J.D. Vance has been shadowing her. His plane was on the tarmac at the same time ours was in Wisconsin. Trump himself is not having any rallies in swing states this week. He does have a rally, however, in Montana, which is not a swing state. That's NPR's Tamara Keith in Detroit.

5:59Tab, thanks. You're welcome.

6:09Ukraine has launched one of its boldest operations in the war with Russia. In a surprise attack, the Ukrainian military has sent a large ground force across its northeastern border and into western Russia. This is according to Russian officials and military analysts. Ukraine is so far remaining tight-lipped about the incursion. NPR's Greg Myrie is in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv. Greg, so what are you hearing about this very unusual cross-border operation by Ukraine? Most of the information is coming from the Russian side, though it's still pretty limited. Now, the defense ministry in Moscow said the incursion began Tuesday when about 300 Ukrainian troops, backed by more than 30 armored vehicles, crossed from Ukraine into Russia's Kursk region.

6:54Yesterday, the top Russian military official briefed President Vladimir Putin, and the official spoke of 1 ,000 Ukrainian troops entering Russia. Now, Russia is sending reinforcements to counter the Ukrainians, and the Russian official predicted the military would regain control of the border very soon. And Putin was taking this in. He was shown sitting at the head of a long table, and the look on his face seemed to be a mixture of impatience and disgust. He called the Ukrainian operation a large-scale provocation. The Ukrainians appear to be several miles inside Russia and have entered or taken over several small communities.

7:33The fighting seems to be ongoing, but we just don't have many details. You mentioned that most of the information is coming from the Russian side, but Ukrainians are often very talkative about what they do with their military. Anything at all coming from Ukraine? The Ukrainians are trying to say as little as possible. However, I was able to sit down yesterday with one of President Volodymyr Zelensky's closest advisors. His name is Mihailo Podolak. We met in a hotel conference room just outside the heavily fortified presidential compound. Now, Podolak declined to provide any specifics on the operation, but in general terms, he seemed to provide the rationale for it, saying Ukraine needs to drive Russia away from border areas where it's launching so many attacks.

8:18Here he is speaking through an interpreter. 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. A buffer zone? Is it realistic to think that Ukraine could actually hold a buffer zone on Russian territory? Yeah, that would be pretty remarkable. No one's been predicting that. But the Ukrainians found a weak spot on Russia's border and certainly caught the Russians by surprise. But we'll have to see how this plays out. Now, will the Ukrainian forces stay and fight, or will they try to slip back into Ukraine? Ukraine has far fewer troops in Russia, and some military analysts are questioning whether this incursion makes sense.

8:57They say Ukraine needs all the forces it can muster to defend its own territory. So speaking of that, bring us up to date on the fighting inside Ukraine. The Ukrainian official, Mihailo Podolak, acknowledged Ukraine is having a very tough time in the eastern region, the Donbass. Russia has seized a number of small villages and is making incremental gains for the past few weeks. Now, Russia has two big advantages. One, the Russians send wave after wave of ground troops. Sometimes they even attack on motorcycles and they get mowed down by Ukrainian fire, but they just keep coming. And second, the Russians have far greater air power.

9:35Ukraine received its first batch of F-16 fighter jets just last week, but we're talking about 10 planes. And Ukraine says it needs many more before it can effectively counter Russia in the skies. All right. That's NPR's Greg Myrie in Kiev. Greg, thank you. Sure thing, eh?

10:00Today in Maui, residents are remembering 102 people who lost their lives a year ago. That's when an extreme wildfire tore through Lahaina, destroying more than 2 ,000 homes and buildings. Many of those who died were trying to flee the flames. So what's being done to improve evacuations? Lauren Sommer of NPR's climate team went to Maui. Lauren, have Maui officials taken steps to ensure that this kind of disaster, first off, doesn't even happen again? Yeah, I mean, that's on the minds of a lot of people I spoke to in Lahaina because there's a lot that went wrong one year ago. Many residents did not get an alert to evacuate.

10:38It came too late when the cell phone network was already down. The roads were completely jammed with traffic. And, you know, some people had to jump into the ocean to escape the flames. So Maui officials are changing their evacuation methods to use zoned evacuation, basically doing it sequentially to control traffic. So staggering, the evacuation. So has that been shown to work better? Yeah, it's the direction a lot of cities with wildfire risk are moving because, yeah, the idea is not to create gridlock and to keep that traffic flowing. Maui is also getting new software that can analyze how to do that in real time during a disaster.

11:12There's new networks of fire sensors and cameras that can help with early detection of fires. But, you know, even a well-planned evacuation won't be enough if there aren't enough roads for all that traffic to get everyone out of town. Is this then a chance for La Haina to rebuild those roads to create more ways out? Yeah, I mean, Maui County officials, they're planning seven road projects to connect dead-end roads and create more outlets. Because, you know, about half the deaths happened in one neighborhood with very narrow streets. But to widen those streets, you know, or make more evacuation routes, it will likely involve taking some of people's property.

11:49And that's something Maui County Mayor Richard Bisson has brought up in community meetings. If there's a decision to be made, that'll be made with a respective landowner. We're not trying to take anybody's property. But if we can convince them that this would be in their benefit, too, to be open to an exchange, a swap. So that could be, you know, a land swap of some kind or maybe just buying out a landowner. So I'm sure a lot of residents are very eager to start rebuilding as soon as possible. Would that slow the process down? Yeah, it would. And, you know, that's the tension right now. Most residents haven't started rebuilding yet and some really want to get home.

12:26It's been a very painful year. It's been hard to find housing for a lot of people. But other residents like Shannon E.E. say, you know, there needs to be more done on evacuation for her to feel safe again. She lost her home in the fire and was one of those people who sat in traffic as that fire got closer and closer. Nothing's changed. And I'm like, what's going to happen? We have no evacuation spaces. Like, even though they're creating some, it's still one way in and one way out. You know, this is a dilemma that many communities hit by wildfires face. With so many buildings gone, it seems like a clean slate, right?

13:00Like it's a chance to build a community that will be safer next time. But it's not really a clean slate. There are still property lines on the map. And to remake that, you know, at a time when there's so much urgency to rebuild, it's just, it's a really tough discussion. All right, that's Lauren Sommer from NPR's Climate Desk. Lauren, thanks. Thank you.

13:28And last but not least today, NPR's Brian Mann is at the Summer Games in Paris. We checked in with him about the latest and what to look for next at the Olympics. Yesterday, the big news was American runner Quincy Hall, who surged from behind in the 400-meter Olympic final to win the gold medal. It was a remarkable race. He was trailing and put on this amazing burst of speed toward the end. Quincy Hall claiming a gold medal here. Pivoting forward, it's going to be a really, really big day at the track at the Stade de France. World's fastest man, American Noah Lyles, races in the 200-meter final.

14:05He won gold earlier in Paris in the 100-meter. That gives him a shot at the Olympic sprint double. Only nine men have done this in the history of the Olympic Games. The last to do it was Jamaica's Usain Bolt, so we'll see if Lyles can pull it off. Also, Sydney McLaughlin-Lavroni is heavily favored in the women's 400-meter hurdles final. And Grant Holloway favored in the 110-meter hurdles, so could be a lot of American gold. Also, the U.S. men's basketball team plays Serbia in a semifinal game. I'm Brian Mann, NPR News in Paris.

14:42And that's the first for Thursday, August 8th. I'm Emi Martinez. And I'm Leila Faldin. Your next listen is Consider This from NPR. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has spent the better part of four decades amassing political power and using it to achieve her legislative goals. Now she's put pen to paper about how she did it in her new book, The Art of Power. Listen to Consider This. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Dana Farrington, Nick Spicer, Neela Banerjee, Jenea Williams, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams, Nia Dumas, and Julie Deppenbrock. We get engineering support from Carly Strange and our technical director is Zach Coleman.

15:21Join us again tomorrow.