Iran Ceasefire Over, Platner Replacements Emerge, Olympic Committee Lifts Russia Ban

0:02President Trump says the ceasefire with Iran is over. I don't want to deal with anybody with this scum.

0:07Ayesha Rascoe:It comes after U.S. strikes on Iran following attacks on commercial ships. It's all happening while the president is in Turkey for the NATO summit. I'm Ian Martinez. That is Michelle Martin. And this is Up First from NPR News. Democrats are making plans to move on from their Senate candidate in Maine, Graham Plattner. He denies accusations of serious sex crimes and hasn't said whether he'll drop out yet. but his replacements are already coming out of the woodwork. And while the war in Ukraine intensifies, the International Olympic Committee decided to lift its suspension on Russia. We don't condone any wars, including this one.

0:42I don't believe athletes should pay the price.

0:44Ayesha Rascoe:It opens the door for Russian athletes to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day.

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2:04Ayesha Rascoe:The U.S.-Iran ceasefire is over. That's what President Trump just said from Turkey this morning. He was asked by reporters after the U.S. struck Iran overnight. Once again, U.S. Central Command said it launched the strikes to impose heavy costs for the attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said today it responded by targeting Bahrain and Kuwait. This is all happening while President Trump is not that far away from that region attending a NATO summit in Turkey. NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben is in Ankara traveling with the president and is with us now. Good morning, Danielle.

2:34Ayesha Rascoe:Hey there, Michelle. So what exactly did President Trump say this morning? Well, he was blunt. He said he considers the ceasefire finished and he had more harsh words for Iran's leadership after that. Let's listen. I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore, but they're scum. However, he didn't quite say that talks are over. When a reporter asked him if talks would continue, he said this. I don't care. They can talk, but I think they're wasting their time. They're a bunch of lying guys. So, long story short, things are pretty unclear right now. Now, meanwhile, Trump also criticized fellow NATO members in Europe for not assisting the U.S.

3:10more in their war with Iran, as he has done in the past. For example, he said, as he also has in the past, that he wants to cut off trade with Spain, though it's not clear how that would work. Now, all of this said, President Trump often changes his mind. So we're going to be watching to see what more he says about this ceasefire surprise announcement.

3:29Ayesha Rascoe:And this comes in the middle of what was already not an easy summit. So tell us a bit more about that, about the context of all this. Right. I mean, there's just been a lot of tension between Trump and NATO for quite a while now. Now, it's worth mentioning that this morning, NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta praised Trump for his action against Iran. But these strikes extend a conflict that European countries just didn't want to be a part of. And now Trump, of course, has said that he considers the ceasefire dead. Now, add on to all of that the other Trump NATO baggage, which is considerable. The White House had gone into this summit prepared to continue pushing NATO countries to spend more on defense, as they have been pushing for throughout his presidency.

4:11and Trump this morning also repeated that he wants the U.S. to take over Greenland. So, taking territory from a fellow NATO member, which doesn't go over well with other NATO members.

4:22Ayesha Rascoe:But it does seem as though Trump has revived efforts to end the Ukraine war, recently speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And I understand that he is meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. What can you tell us about those discussions? Well, that's happening this afternoon, actually in a couple hours now. The president is scheduled to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky. But it's not clear where things stand here. President Trump, just before this trip, like you said, spoke to both Zelensky and Putin. And he came away saying that he feels really optimistic about ending that war.

4:53But when reporters asked him yesterday about why he feels so good, for example, what changed his mind, he didn't list any specifics. Instead, he said then, and he said today as well, that the war affects Europe more than the U.S. and that it just doesn't affect the U.S. that much. The idea being that Ukraine is just so far away. So Trump's message here seems to be, hey, we don't have to help. I just want to. So this afternoon after that meeting, we're going to see what more he has to say about Ukraine. He has a press conference this afternoon.

5:24Ayesha Rascoe:And you can imagine news might come from that. That is. NPR's Danielle Kursley have been traveling with the president in Turkey. Danielle, thank you. Thank you.

5:41Ayesha Rascoe:Maine's race for the U.S. Senate is at the center of a political storm with national implications. It's been more than 36 hours since Democrat Graham Plattner said he was weighing his options for a Senate campaign following allegations of sexual assault. He has not made an announcement yet, but Democrats in Maine and around the country appear ready to move on from Plattner. Political correspondent Kevin Miller with Maine Public is here to bring us up to date. Good morning, Kevin. Hello, Michelle. Thanks for having me on. Thanks for coming. So, Kevin, Graham Plattner's campaign to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins has been dogged by numerous controversies, but this time seems different.

6:15Ayesha Rascoe:Now there's a steady call for him to drop out. Why is that? Yeah, you're right. He's had these controversies, but he's always been able to rise above it, usually by saying those things happened years before. he received treatment for PTSD from his four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But then a former romantic partner accused him earlier this week of sexually assaulting her just five years ago. And even though his populist messages clearly resonated with many voters, those latest accusations were sort of the red line for state Democratic leaders and many of his national allies. And from what we're hearing, it seems that Democratic leaders are just not waiting for Plattner to officially withdraw.

6:54No, they're not. And that's because they only have until July 27th to name a new nominee. And Plattner has to drop out by Monday to make that possible. Party leaders have been kind of quietly putting together their succession plans, if you will, and consulting with their lawyers. They said last night that they're committed to a, quote, open and transparent process, but they haven't provided the details yet of how that would work out. So for instance, Will they hold a new state convention caucuses around the state? Who exactly gets to decide?

7:24Ayesha Rascoe:And these are thorny issues, given that there is lingering resentment in the Democratic Party over 2024 and how the National Party handled President Biden's withdrawal. Yeah, exactly. I think it's safe to say that party leaders really want to avoid being viewed as handpicking a so-called establishment candidate during an election when they really need huge turnout among Democrats and independents to defeat Susan Collins. But it does sound like potential candidates are starting to come forward. So who are the biggest names? Well, we just had two hotly contested Democratic primaries for governor and the U.S.

7:57House seat about a month ago. Many of those folks are contenders. One is the former Maine Senate president, Troy Jackson. He's a logger from the very northern tip of Maine and an unabashed progressive who has spent years pushing some of the same ideas as Plattner. Things like Medicare for all, workers' rights, higher taxes on billionaires. Another progressive is our current Secretary of State, Shanna Bellows. She's made national headlines pushing back against President Trump. And then there's Dr. Nirav Shah, who headed the state's COVID-19 response and was second in charge at the U.S. CDC for a time.

8:33Ayesha Rascoe:And, of course, the context here that Democrats really want to take back the Senate, and experts have been saying to win the Senate back that Democrats have to defeat Collins and Maine. So are national groups affecting this internal debate in Maine? I'd say it's unclear at this point, but they're definitely trying. The Senate Majority PAC, which is the big super PAC for Democratic Senate candidates, they've said it would only continue investing tens of millions of dollars in Maine if Plattner withdraws. And then yesterday we saw the group Our Revolution, which is a spinoff of Bernie Sanders' campaign, endorse Troy Jackson.

9:08But I'd say kind of it's a tightrope for these national groups to walk because Maine is a fairly independent state where Plattner was so popular because of his loud anti-DC establishment message.

9:19Ayesha Rascoe:That is Kevin Miller with Maine Public. Kevin, thanks so much for sharing this reporting with us. Thank you.

9:32Ayesha Rascoe:The International Olympic Committee has opened the door to Russia's return to competition in time for the Los Angeles Summer Games in 2028. The decision is described as provisional and comes as Russian missile strikes are killing civilians deep inside Ukraine. And there are also questions about doping by Russian athletes. NPR's Brian Mann is with us to tell us more about this. Good morning, Brian. Good morning, Michelle. So why is the IOC welcoming Russia back now? Yeah, IOC officials have signaled for a long time they were increasingly uncomfortable with these sanctions. Athletes compete in the Olympics from numerous countries that are at war.

10:06But after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the IOC hit Russia and Belarus with tough sanctions. So speaking at a press conference yesterday, IOC President Kirstie Coventry said Russian athletes shouldn't be blamed for Moscow's actions. We don't condone any wars, including this one. I don't believe athletes should pay the price. Now, Coventry says some restrictions will remain in place, at least for now. The Russian flag and national anthem still aren't allowed at Olympic events, but the IOC has signaled that too could change before the LA Games.

10:42Ayesha Rascoe:You know, Brian, the IOC made this change very soon after Russian cruise missile strikes killed civilians in Kiev. So how are Ukrainians reacting to this? They're angry. I'm hearing a lot of fury. Vladislav Hariskevich is a Ukrainian Olympic bobsledder. He told me yesterday this decision will allow Russian athletes to compete even if they're part of the war effort. What we see in Russia, Russian athletes are involved in propaganda. So Russian athletes are taking active part and they're involved in activities in some propaganda events. So Ukraine's Olympic Committee also pointed out that hundreds of Ukrainian athletes, Michelle, have been killed since the full-scale invasion.

11:18Ayesha Rascoe:And Russian athletes have also been involved in numerous large doping scandals over the years. And what is the IOC saying about that? Yeah, the IOC did acknowledge yesterday the Russian anti-doping agency called RUSADA still doesn't meet international standards. The IOC says it's going to be working to make sure Russian athletes are clean ahead of the LA Games. But I spoke with Travis Tigard, who heads the US anti-doping agency. He points out Russian doping has caused scandals at multiple Olympics, including Sochi and again at Beijing. He fears that could happen again in LA. We don't want to have here in the United States a Sochi type Olympics that was defrauded by state-sponsored doping out Russia.

12:00And until we can get some proof that that's not going to happen, it's really hard to get your head around them just carte blanche coming back into competition. So Tiger says he'll be watching in the coming months to see how transparent Russia is willing to be.

12:13Ayesha Rascoe:We asked how Ukraine is responding, so I think it's only fair to ask how is Russia responding to this IOC decision? Well, they're celebrating. Russia's Minister of Sport, Mikhail Dektorov, issued a statement saying, and I'm quoting here, the return of our country into the Olympic family is a green light toward full restoration of the rights of our athletes. The IOC is still allowing federations, individual sports federations that govern some athletic events to impose their own restrictions on Russian athletes. That's still a concern in Moscow. But overall here, Russians are describing this as a big win.

12:47That is.

12:48Ayesha Rascoe:NPR's Brian Mann. Brian, thank you. Thank you.

12:55Ayesha Rascoe:And that's Up First for Wednesday, July 8th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Amy Martinez. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Rebecca Metzler, Megan Pratz, Jennifer Portman, Alice Wolfley, and Mohamed Elbardisi. It was produced by Zia Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Aowyn Fane. Our technical director is Damian Herring. Our supervising producer is H.J. Mai. Join us again tomorrow.

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