Up First from NPR - Baltimore Bridge Collapse, U.S.-Israel Rift, SCOTUS Abortion Pill Case

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

A one-and-a-half mile bridge in Baltimore has collapsed a large container ship crashed into it and caught fire, with several vehicles falling into the waters below. Israel has canceled a high-level delegation to Washington, after the U.S. declined to block a United Nations resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza. And a challenge to FDA regulations that make abortion pills more accessible reaches the Supreme Court.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Mark Katkov, Krishnadev Calamur, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Milton Guevara. We get engineering support from Phil Edfors. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A one-and-a-half-mile bridge in Baltimore has collapsed. It snapped when a large container ship crashed into it and caught fire. Several vehicles fell into the waters below. I'm Leila Fadil, that's Debbie Elliott, and this is Up First from NPR News. The rift between Israel and the U.S. grows deeper. The U.S. allows a United Nations ceasefire resolution to pass. Israel cancels a delegation's visit to Washington. They don't need to do that.

And the Supreme Court hears oral arguments today in a new abortion case. It's about FDA rules that make abortion pills more accessible. But there's even more at stake. It could threaten the entire structure the FDA uses to regulate drug companies. This is a dagger at the heart of the entire industry. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. Now Our Change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad.

From the skies to Our Change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. At least two people have been rescued. One is in very serious condition. After a Baltimore bridge collapsed early this morning, spilling multiple cars into the water below. A large boat collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning, causing multiple vehicles to fall into the water. Officials are still working to confirm the exact number of people who were in the vehicles that fell to the water as search and rescue operations continue. Maryland Governor Wes Moore spoke at a press conference. To our first responders, I'm in awe of you. You saw a crisis and you said, what can I do to help? Matt Bush of member station WYPR in Baltimore has been on the scene all night

reporting and joins us live now. Hi Matt, update us on what the situation is at this moment. So the search and rescue efforts are still going on here. The governor still wrapping up his press conference here, chatting with some reporters, taking some questions and all that. But what we've heard right now is you said two people were rescued from the water, but there could be as many as seven more. There was a construction crew working on the bridge at the time it collapsed. They were patching potholes. And I think a lot of the concern about the missing people right now

are the people they're still looking for regard those construction workers. So the video that we've been seeing this morning of that container ship hitting the bridge is pretty horrifying. What are you being told about what could possibly be the cause of the accident? Well, the FBI is here and the FBI just spoke at this press conference, but so far there is no indication, none, that this is terrorism or that this was intentional. They believe it was an accident and more will have to come out about that. And I think if people who, you know, saw that video and all that, it appears, cannot be confirmed, but it appears that the ship lost power

multiple times as it approached the bridge support that it ended up striking. The National Transportation Safety Board will be the organization doing the investigation into the crash and why it happened. So the Francis Scott Key Bridge sees huge amounts of traffic both over and under it on the water. What is the impact of the loss of this going to be? I think we're just wrapping our heads around it right now. It was about 31,000 vehicles went over the bridge every day, much less the ships that went under it from the port of Baltimore, which is one of, if not the busiest ports in the United States. So I don't think we have any idea right now how much this is, how long this is going to take the impact of this.

The governor just said there's no timetable right now on when things could be rebuilt or when things may reopen. So very long term. This is one of the three interstate crossings of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, and it's the only one that was above ground. The other two are tunnels. And, you know, there's a lot of trucks, such as hazmat trucks, that can't go through tunnels. So they're going to have to go somewhere. So the impact on traffic is going to be enormous, both on the ground and in the water. And I understand it's also curtailed traffic on the water from the port of Baltimore

right now. Is that correct? Right. That's what we've heard, that the port has been closed. And again, the impact that's going to have could be absolutely enormous, depending on how quickly they're able to reopen shipping in and out of the port. Could impact the whole region's economy? More than just the region. I think we've seen with supply chain issues with shipping and all that, it could impact more than just the mid-Atlantic region. Matt Bush of member station WYPR in Baltimore, thank close allies, are increasingly at odds. In the latest rift yesterday, Israel canceled a high-level delegation to Washington after the U.S. declined to block a United Nations resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza. Instead, it abstained.

To find out more about what's driving these divisions, we're joined by NPR's Jennifer Ludden, who's in Tel Aviv. Good morning, Jennifer. Good morning. This was a real break for the U.S. to allow this resolution to go through yesterday. What got us here? You know, I would say it is the death toll in Gaza. It's now more than 32,000, according to Gaza health officials. The Israeli public largely supports the war there and

the government's goal of destroying Hamas, which led the October 7th assault that killed 1,200 people, according to Israel. But in the U.S., there has been a shift in opinion. Younger people, especially, are less likely to support Israel. It is also an election year. President Biden has faced serious blowback, especially from Arab Americans, for his support of Israel. It is also an election year. President Biden has faced serious blowback, especially from Arab Americans, for his support of Israel. The depth of this rift with Israel, I think, was really revealed in a stunning moment earlier this month. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish and as staunch a supporter of Israel as you can find, he took to the floor of Congress to denounce the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,

and he even encouraged elections to replace him. I mean, that's just something that would have been unimaginable before now. U.S. officials are trying to downplay this rift. They say they're actually looking out for Israel's best interest. What is their point here? Well, so publicly, the administration is saying it is, quote, perplexed by Israel's objection over the U.N. resolution. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said it did not represent a change in the U.S. position. Let's listen.

It seems like the prime minister's office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they don't need to do that. But behind the scenes, there is a lot of worry. My colleague Daniel Estrin obtained an internal State Department memo which said that Israel faces a serious hit to its reputation worldwide over its unpopular offensive war in Gaza, even possible, quote, generational damage, but that Israel was denying this. And it said that both Israel and the U.S. face a major credibility problem. And yet, at every turn, we have seen Israel openly defy the U.S. Last week, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken was here for ceasefire talks, Israel announced its largest seizure of West Bank land in decades.

Netanyahu has rejected U.S. efforts to avoid a major deadly ground assault in Rafah. He says he's already approved a plan for that and he will invade whether or not the U.S. supports it. All these disagreements are focused on Gaza. We're closing on six months now of the Israeli military action there. Remind us, what's the situation on the ground? It's really hard to overstate just how desperate it is. Israel controls the entry of food aid trucks, and for months there have not been nearly enough. Israel says it does not want the aid to benefit Hamas. But Palestinians say their children cry all day from extreme hunger.

They're reduced to eating animal feed. And the U.N. says famine is imminent. And Israel's military offensive is continuing. It says it's targeting Hamas militants who hole up in places like hospitals. But Gaza health officials say civilians are getting caught up and killed in the fighting. And more homes are being destroyed. People keep evacuating. And Palestinians say there's no safe place in Gaza anymore. NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you. Abortion is back at the Supreme Court today. This time, anti-abortion doctors are challenging FDA regulations that make abortion pills more accessible. They've become the most common way

women who choose to terminate a pregnancy do so, using a combination of pills approved by the FDA. Joining me now is NPR's legal affairs correspondent, Nina Totenberg. Hi, Nina. Hi there, Debbie. So let's start with the big picture. What's this case about and what's at stake? Well, you might call this case Daughter of Dobbs. That's the Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Only this time, there's more at stake than abortion rights. It's the entire structure of the FDA's regulatory power to approve drugs, continually evaluate their safety, and to lift restrictions found to be unnecessary. It's a system that, until now, has been widely viewed as the gold standard for both safety and innovation in this country and abroad. So what's the legal question here? A group of anti-abortion doctors called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine was formed shortly after the Dobbs decision and promptly challenged a variety of FDA decisions involving mifepristone, commonly called the abortion pill.

In 2016, after 15 years of monitoring the drug, the agency allowed mifepristone to be used for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy instead of the previous seven weeks. Second, the agency cut the number of required in-person doctor visits from three to one. And lastly, the agency allowed the drug to be prescribed and dispensed not just by doctors, but in states that allowed it also by specially certified midwives and nurse practitioners. So much more widely accessible now in question. You've been talking with lawyers for both sides. What are they telling you? The anti-abortion group has an interesting advocate at the Supreme Court today.

Making the case for the alliance will be Erin Hawley, wife of Republican Senator Josh Hawley. In an interview with NPR, she talked, for instance, about why anti-abortion doctors oppose the change from seven to 10 weeks of pregnancy. There's no question that the child is larger, the pregnancy tissue is larger. And for that reason, the record shows in several places that the risk of complications increases tenfold from seven weeks to 10 weeks. Not true. Not true at all. And that's Jessica Ellsworth, the lawyer representing Danko Laboratories, which makes mifepristone. She says that because of drug dosing changes that the FDA approved as safe in 2016, there have been dramatically fewer

complications than when the drug was approved for just seven weeks. Then in 2021, at the height of the pandemic, the FDA temporarily dropped the in-person medical visit and dispensing requirement. And in 2023, the agency formally adopted that change after it determined there'd been no uptick in serious complications. So, Nina, the broader medical community has supported the FDA in this case with major medical groups weighing in. What are they saying? Actually, it's more than that. I can't recall any case like this in which the government regulator, the regulated industry, and even the private watchdog group that has often criticized the agency are all on the same side. They see this case as an existential threat to the pharmaceutical industry as a whole and to its ability to develop new drugs and the

ability of the FDA to evaluate drugs scientifically and objectively. NPR's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, thank you. Thank you. And that's Up First for Tuesday, March 26th. I'm Debbie Elliott. And I'm Layla Faldin. Your next listen is Consider This from NPR. After more than five months of war, hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are facing imminent famine. How do you stave off famine when hunger appears to be a weapon of war? Listen to Consider This. Today's episode was edited by Miguel Macias, Mark Katkoff, Krishnadev Kalamar, Alice Wolfley, and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams, and Milton Gavata. We get engineering support from Phil Edfords. Our technical director is Carly Strange. Start your day here with us

tomorrow.