RFK Jr. Grilled, Europeans Pledge Troops to Ukraine, DC Sues Trump Admin

0:02Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his position on vaccines in a contentious Senate hearing. Now parents who decide that they do want their children back. You're just making stuff up, Senator. I'm not making stuff up. You're just making stuff up. So what do you have to say about who can get vaccines? I'm Michelle Martin. That's A. Martinez. And this is Up First from NPR News. European countries have finalized a commitment to provide post-war security guarantees for Ukraine, including troops on the ground, in the sea and in the air. Now the plan heads to the U.S.

0:34You could see the U.S. providing capabilities that Europeans do not have. Will President Trump give it his support? And the attorney general for the District of Columbia suing the Trump administration over its deployment of the National Guard of the city, calling it a military occupation. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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2:23For decades, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. built his reputation and fortune as an anti-vaccine activist. That concerned many senators who were considering his nomination to serve as Health and Human Services Secretary. So he made promises not to prevent people who want them from getting vaccines. Since he's gotten the job, many of those senators have come to believe he's taken actions that taken together have broken that promise. So in a Senate hearing on Thursday, they demanded that he explain himself. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin watched the hearing yesterday and is here to explain. So that was some must-see TV, Selena.

2:57What questions do the senators have for Kennedy about vaccines? Well, you know, fall is coming. Winter is coming, right? And for a lot of people, that means the flu shot and the COVID-19 booster to protect against the respiratory viruses that start getting passed around. So this year, the Food and Drug Administration approved the COVID booster with a catch. It is not approved for everybody, just people with certain conditions and people over 65. And there's already a huge amount of confusion about what that means in real life, you know, for doctors, patients, insurance companies. But yesterday in the hearing, Secretary Kennedy insisted that anybody who wants the shot can get it.

3:35And he got really angry when he was pressed about it. Here's one example. It was an exchange with Senator Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire, who was asking about the COVID-19 booster for kids. Now parents who decide that they do want their children to have a vaccine. You're just making stuff up, Senator. I'm not making stuff up. You're just making stuff up. You know, sometimes when you make an accusation, it's kind of a confession, Mr. Kennedy. Wow. All right. So who's right, Senator Hassan or Secretary Kennedy? Hassan is right that parents of kids without certain conditions are probably going to face barriers getting the booster shot this year.

4:09This approval only for certain groups means that just wanting the vaccine, you know, making the personal choice to get one might not be enough this year. And, you know, a big question mark is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is going to do. You remember, this is the group that Kennedy said he wouldn't touch. And then he fired all 17 members and replaced them with his picks, many of whom have a history like him of anti-vaccine activism. Now, all this isn't just only about COVID-19 vaccines. Yeah, that's right. The panel who's meeting later this month is also set to consider routine childhood vaccines like the one for measles, mumps and rubella and hepatitis B.

4:51Senator Michael Bennett, Democrat of Colorado, asked Kennedy if that meant schools and parents in his state should be prepared for more measles outbreaks. I do not anticipate a change in the MMR vaccine. You know, A-Zip is an independent panel. Well, it's a panel. You just put those folks on far from what you said. There are people with ideas that are completely outside the mainstream. You mean out of the pharmaceutical paradigm? Yeah, that was one of several times in the hearing that Kennedy equated scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective and save lives with researchers somehow being compromised by drug companies.

5:33There was a memorable moment when Senator Sanders, independent of Vermont, picked up on that. Everybody is corrupt, but you? Is that what we're looking at? I don't think so. And I think the issue now... I don't even know what you're talking about. Well, I think you do know what I'm talking about. I don't know what you're talking about. When pressed by Sanders, Kennedy said yes, he does think mainstream medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics can't be trusted because they're, quote, gravely conflicted and claiming their top contributors are vaccine makers. Did those organizations have a response to those accusations?

6:05Yeah, the AAP put out a statement right away that said that was false and its financial information is public and industry sources represent less than 4 % of their revenue. And they concluded, quote, pediatricians recommend vaccines for one reason only. They are proven safe and among the most effective tools we have to protect children's health and stop the spread of disease in our communities. That's NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin. Thanks a lot. You're welcome.

7:01What did the Europeans announce? Well, 35 countries got together physically here and by video link. Not only European, the group is known as the Coalition of the Willing. It includes Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada. And they say they are ready to commit to Ukraine's security and have concrete plans for it. Here's French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke after the meeting, standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Let's listen.

7:30He said we have 26 countries formally committed to deploying a reassurance force of troops in Ukraine to be physically present on land, air or sea to guarantee peace the day it is declared. Now, Macron said he could not give any details, but he said they would be ready. And for anyone who thinks this is just more talk, Macron reminded everyone of how far this group has come. They first came together last February in despair, really, when it became very clear that the U.S. under President Trump was going to be completely different on Ukraine than the Biden administration. Back then, Macron said only two countries were ready to commit troops.

8:06What about the United States? Will it play a role in this coalition? Well, hopefully, yes. Macron and Zelensky also spoke with President Trump after the meeting. They said they spoke to him for an hour and a half and they said the U.S. role would be determined in the coming days. Europeans definitely are counting on the U.S. to be there. Macron claimed the U.S. is fully on board and special envoy Steve Witkoff was in Paris at the meeting. But clearly there are doubts how the U.S. will contribute or even if. And I spoke with Martin Kinse, who is the director of the Paris office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

8:38And he says it's hard to see a U.S. backstop providing major guarantees. Now, the backstop could be at least some sort of intelligence and logistical support. And there you could see the U.S. participating in providing capabilities that Europeans do not have without obviously sending any troops to Ukraine or officially guaranteeing the security of those European troops. OK, but how has President Putin reacted to the announcement? Right. Well, President Putin has been in China over recent days, joining huge celebrations on the end of World War II with allies China and North Korea. This is the new multipolar world on display that's against U.S.

9:19dominance. And this morning, Putin said that, quote, any foreign troops in Ukraine would be a legitimate target for Russian forces. It's not surprising. And it's why Macron said that the main pillar of Ukraine's post-war security is actually a strong Ukrainian army. He said they will not accept any restrictions on the size and shape of Ukraine's forces in the future. So what if Vladimir Putin, Eleanor, just does not agree to a peace deal? Exactly. And that's what we've been seeing. And Macron admitted that Putin thinks he's winning, so he doesn't want to stop the war. But he emphasized that Russia has suffered more than one million casualties for barely 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.

9:59And Macron said there will be new economic sanctions in coordination with the U.S. if Russia continues to refuse to end its war. And President Trump also spoke about that. He didn't mention sanctions, but he said that the Europeans need to stop buying any Russian oil. All right. That's NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Paris. Thank you. You're welcome.

10:25The attorney general for the District of Columbia has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. The lawsuit calls the use of the National Guard in the district a, quote, illegal deployment. National Guard troops have been patrolling certain streets in Washington, D.C. for the past three weeks since the president declared what he calls a crime emergency in the city. Alex Koma covers D.C. politics for member station WAMU. He joins us now. So, Alex, what is the lawsuit alleging? Yeah, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is basically calling this unconstitutional, saying that this is an improper use of the military on, you know, home soil, you know, here in the U.S.

11:05And he's drawing out this point that normally D.C., while it doesn't have control of its National Guard, can request it and only in cases of a natural disaster, a riot, some sort of emergency. And they haven't done that here. And instead, you've got National Guard troops who aren't trained in policing patrolling the streets here in D.C. But the White House pushed back. They released a statement basically saying that the president was well within his lawful authority to deploy the Guard here and called Schwab's lawsuit in an attempt to undermine the president's operation. I'm going to be in D.C.

11:38next week, Alex, so I'm kind of interested to see what the city looks like. But remind us why National Guard troops were deployed to D.C. in the first place. Yeah, well, this is all part of Trump's emphasis on crime in the city. Basically, his claim that, you know, crime is out of control here, even though the numbers, of course, show otherwise, that many violent crimes are actually at historic lows. And as I said before, you know, he's the one who controls the Guard. D.C. is not a state, so there's no governor to control it. It's solely in the president's authority. So whether or not people here think it's needed, he's got the power to send them in.

12:13And he has done so along with guards from other states, about 2 ,300 of them, all part of this broader surge of federal law enforcement officers into the city, whether it's FBI, ICE, DEA, the whole alphabet soup. And, you know, many people here aren't really thrilled to see them. Many feel that it's kind of unsettling to see uniformed troops on the metro. It's unsettled people, but that hasn't changed the fact that Guard officials are saying they should probably be here until at least the end of November, if not longer. Okay, so has their presence helped reduce crime? Well, Trump, of course, said that the city's crime-free now, but we know that's not true.

12:53The D.C. Police Department has found that crime overall has decreased, but I'd still add that the troops themselves, you know, they're not authorized to make arrests. They can merely notify police if they see a crime or, in some instances, simply call 911. So it's kind of difficult to draw any direct correlation here when a lot of times they're doing things like spreading mulch and cleaning up parks. President Trump, though, has said he wants to send troops to other cities. So what could this lawsuit mean for the guards' deployment in other cities and the deployment in D.C.? Yeah, well, you know, federal court will hash this out.

13:26it could send the guard home entirely, but a complicating factor is that House Republicans are even trying to get rid of D.C.'s elected independent attorney general. And it's worth mentioning that a federal judge ruled that Trump's actions in California were illegal. So for people in places like Chicago or Baltimore, where Trump has also threatened to send the guard in, this is something they'll be watching very closely. That's WAMU's Alex Koma. Thanks a lot. My pleasure.

13:55And that's Up First for Friday, September 5th. I'm E. Ortiz. And I'm Michelle Martin. This Sunday on Up First, America's thirst for oil has left a graveyard of unplugged wells all across the landscape. Most hardly produce any oil at all. These piddly little wells that are just drip-drabbing out a little bit of profit while polluting on the other end, they're not worth it. This week on the Sunday Story from Up First, a look at why so many wells across the country remain unplugged and abandoned despite the real threat of long-term pollution. Grass didn't grow. The pine trees kept dying. Yeah. And there was another tree that sat there and it died.

14:34Stripper wells, orphan wells, and the legacy of America's love affair for black gold. Listen to the Sunday Story right here in the Up First podcast. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Diane Weber, Miguel Macias, Martha Ann Overland, Lisa Thompson, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dubas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hainas, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Our executive producer is Jay Shaler. Join us again on Monday. How are you choosing to live? On autopilot or with intention? The way you think you should or the way you want to?

15:08I'm Mariel Segarra, host of the Life Kit Podcast. Each episode is like a mini guidebook para tu vida. So you can manage time, money, fitness, amor, and other life things on your terms. Listen to the Life Kit Podcast from NPR. I'm Rachel Martin. If you're tired of small talk, check out the Wild Card Podcast. I invite your favorite celebrities to open up about the big topics we all think about but rarely talk about. Tune in this fall to hear Matthew McConaughey, Shonda Rhimes, and Padma Lakshmi Talk about everything from grief and God to ambition and forgiveness. Watch or listen on the NPR app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

15:47Is the American dream a scam? Alligator Tears, a new memoir by Edgar Gomez, tackles that question. Who are the people who are benefiting the most from this idea that we need to keep working, that we need to keep our heads low, that we need to keep going out and risking our lives? You can hear more about that on Code Switch from NPR, wherever you get your podcasts.