Senate Spending Bill, Ukraine Airstrikes, Idaho Firefighter Shootings

0:01The Senate is moving ahead on the president's massive tax and spending bill, but there is dissent in the ranks of the GOP, mainly overcuts to Medicaid. Do leaders have the votes to get this bill over the finish line? I'm Leila Fodil, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News.

0:21Russia pummeled Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones. It was the largest attack since the full-scale invasion began in 2022 and targeted several areas, including western Ukraine. Are the two countries moving any closer to a breakthrough that could end three years of war? and the latest on the attack on the firefighters who were responding to a wildfire in Idaho. Two were killed and a third was injured. This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

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2:19For the great sleep you deserve, visit Mattress Firm and upgrade to cooling comfort. They make sleep easy. The Senate worked throughout the evening and is still debating the sweeping Republican tax and spending bill. President Trump lobbied Republicans over the weekend and wants Congress to send him a bill by July 4th. But GOP leaders have little room for error as they negotiate key issues right up until the final vote. NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh is with us now to tell us more. Good morning, Deirdre. Good morning, Michelle. So do leaders have the votes to get this bill over the finish line?

2:53You know, they're sounding confident, but they can only lose three votes. And two Republicans already voted no to start debate on this bill Saturday night. North Carolina Republican Tom Tillis was one of those. He's been warning that the fallout from the cuts to Medicaid in this package would mean shifting billions of dollars of costs to the states. And he said the president is flat out wrong to back this bill. But I'm telling the president that you have been misinformed. You supporting the Senate, Mark, will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid. Well, speaking of Tillis, he made some news yesterday.

3:33He did. A day after President Trump blasted him on social media for opposing this bill and vowed to back a primary challenger to him, Tillis says he's not running for re-election next fall. His race was expected to be very competitive, but Tillis says his brand as a bipartisan lawmaker was essentially becoming an endangered species. So I take it there are Republicans who are still considered undecided. What are they looking at as they weigh their votes? Right. There are a few. Conservatives like Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, Florida Senator Rick Scott want deeper spending cuts. And they're pushing for an amendment later this morning to change how much the federal government pays for people covered under the Medicaid expansion program that passed as part of the Affordable Care Act.

4:17Moderate Republicans like Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski really want to limit changes to Medicaid, ensure there are resources for rural hospitals in their states to treat patients. how those Republicans view the final version after these amendment votes later this morning and the cost of the bill will determine if it passes. So how much does this overall package cost and what are the key components? This is really a tax bill. It makes the tax cuts enacted in 2017 in President Trump's first term permanent. It adds some temporary tax breaks like no tax on tips, no tax on overtime.

4:54It also boosts spending for border enforcement, for the military, increases the debt ceiling by$5 trillion to avoid a default later this summer. But to offset all of those tax breaks, the legislation includes significant spending cuts. It cuts nutrition programs. It rolls back green energy tax breaks. But the bulk of these spending cuts, almost a trillion dollars worth, come from changes to Medicaid. The Senate bill adds new work requirements for some enrolled in the program, changes the way states finance their Medicaid programs. And Congress's nonpartisan scorekeeper said yesterday this version of the bill adds$3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, and almost 12 million Americans could lose their coverage.

5:37So let's say if the Senate approves this bill, what is likely to happen in the House? Will the House pass it this week? It's going to be tough. House Speaker Mike Johnson has a razor-thin margin. President Trump is going to put a lot of pressure on Republicans there to pass it. He's going to have to help the Speaker lock in those votes. That is. and Paris Deirdre Walsh. Deirdre, thank you. Thanks, Michelle.

6:06This weekend, the Ukrainian Air Force said Russian forces launched the largest air assault on Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. Russia has been bombing Ukrainian cities more often over the last few months, and that battlefield remains a bloody war of attrition with no end in sight. NPR's Ukraine correspondent Joanna Kakisis is on the line with us now from Kiev to tell us more. Good morning, Joanna. Good morning, Michelle. So tell us about this weekend's airstrikes. What happened? Well, the Ukrainian Air Force told us this attack was the largest of the war because of the sheer number of weapons used.

6:40Russia fired more than 500 drones, missiles, and guided air bombs at several Ukrainian cities and regions. About half were shot down. We in Kiev were largely spared this time, but the capital has been repeatedly targeted, including earlier this month when 28 people were killed. And was anybody hurt this time? Yes. At least six civilians died across the country and at least a dozen were injured. Businesses, residential areas, and utilities were damaged. The Air Force also lost an F-16 fighter jet and its pilot, 32-year-old Maxim Ustamanco, who shot down seven aerial targets before his plane went down.

7:18Wow. So Russia is obviously escalating its attacks on Ukraine. How are Ukrainian cities protecting themselves? So here in Kiev, the military usually shoots down attack drones using anti-aircraft missiles. They also have these machine gunners moving around on trucks. And in another city that's often hit, the southern port of Odessa, the Navy uses mobile air defense units on speedboats in the Black Sea. We rode with one of the speedboat units recently and spoke with the crew, including Pirat or Pirate. We are using only his call sign at the request of the Ukrainian military, which cites security reasons.

7:54Pirate always carries a photo of his wife and baby son.

8:00He's saying the crew celebrates whenever they shoot down a drone because it means that drone will not hit a neighborhood. And one drone hit very close to his own family's home recently. Now, I should add, Michelle, that military experts say Russia is using these aerial assaults to deplete Ukraine's supply of air defense munitions. You know, Joanna, Odessa and even Kiev aren't that close to the front line. So how is Ukraine's attempt to defend its territory on the ground going? Well, Michelle, it's been very difficult for Ukraine's ground forces. The front line stretches hundreds of miles, and the Russians are making incremental gains pushing farther west into Ukraine.

8:36But I should say at this rate, it would take Russia years to conquer Ukraine, and the war has also cost Russia. The UK's defense ministry estimates that more than a million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded during the full-scale war. So amid all this, Joanna, is there any hope for a ceasefire? Well, not right now. Representatives from Ukraine and Russia have met in Istanbul and agreed to prisoner exchanges, but no ceasefire. And another sign that this war will not end anytime soon. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky just signed a decree withdrawing his country from the Ottawa Treaty, which bans the production and use of anti-personnel landmines.

9:16Now, he says landmines are instruments of defense against Russia. And some other countries bordering Russia have also said that they will withdraw from the treaty. Russia, by the way, has not signed this treaty and has used anti-personnel mines extensively. That is. NPR's Joanna Kikisis in Kiev. Joanna, thank you. You're welcome.

9:44Two firefighters are dead in North Idaho, along with the man suspected of shooting them. Yeah, authorities called it an ambush by sniper. The city of Coeur d 'Alene was under a shelter-in-place order most of yesterday afternoon. Investigators are still trying to determine exactly what happened and why. Spokane Public Radio reporter Eliza Billingham is with us now from nearby Spokane, Washington. Good morning, Eliza. Good morning. So what can you tell us so far about what happened? What are the authorities saying? Well, yesterday afternoon, firefighters responded to a 911 call for a grass fire on Canfield Mountain, which is a small mountain just north of Coeur d 'Alene.

10:25And pretty soon after the firefighters arrived, officials say that somebody opened fire on them. Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris was clear that he thinks this was intentional. This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance. Two firefighters were killed, another was injured, and later that afternoon, law enforcement was able to recover the body of the suspect from the ongoing fire. So Eliza, I understand that the authorities are saying that they think there was only one shooter and that he is dead. They don't yet know how he died. Could you walk us through how they went about figuring that part out?

10:59And do we know anything about who this person is or was? Of course. So lots of law enforcement from nearby jurisdictions showed up, plus the FBI. Apart from the fire, the sheriff said this is a really difficult type of terrain to conduct a search. When you have an environment where you don't know where the bullets are coming from because of the trees and the shrubbery and what have you. It is daunting for police officers, let alone firefighters. And the FBI was able to locate a cell phone signal. And when they followed that signal, they were able to find a body. And they say that body was near a type of weapon that made them think this was the suspect and the only shooter.

11:47But they're not saying what kind of weapon that is. And they're not saying anything about his identity, his politics, his past, or anything that might explain why he did this. So we don't want to speculate, but North Idaho does have a reputation as a place where white supremacist organizations or anti-government militia groups have gone to set themselves up at some point. Did authorities there talk about that at all? Right. Well, County Commissioner Bruce Matari did acknowledge the region's history with violence against authority, but he stressed that that's not what defines the area today. He said that this is an area that loves first responders.

12:26And when they moved the bodies of the firefighters from the North Idaho hospital to the Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office, people were lining the interstate for miles on both sides of the state line, waving American flags. Despite its history, this is a place that people have been moving to raise young families. And this type of attack against firefighters is especially strange and difficult for this community to process. So where does this investigation go from here? Authorities said that they've contained the fire and they'll resume the investigation on the mountain this morning. The sheriff is thinking that they may find more weapons.

13:08But meanwhile, local and federal agents are working to ID the suspect and they hope to uncover more about his motive. That is Spokane Public Radio's Eliza Billingham. Eliza, thank you. Thank you so much.

13:23And that's up first for Monday, June 30th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Leila Faldil. Your next listen is Consider This from NPR. We hear it up first, give you the three big stories of the day, or consider this team takes a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you. That means you can learn about a big story of the day in less than 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Jason Breslow, Ryland Bartland, Kevin Drew, Jenea Williams, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Zia Butch, Destiny Adams, and Christopher Thomas.

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