Up First from NPR - Haitian Gang Leader, Michael Cohen Testifies, Israeli Artillery Strikes Gaza

Episode Date: May 13, 2024

More than two months after toppling the prime minister of Haiti, gang leaders control most of the country's capital city Port-au-Prince. Michael Cohen will take the stand today to testify in the New York election interference trial of former President Donald Trump. And as Israel expands its attacks in the Gaza Strip, it also marks Memorial Day. 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 Tara Neill, Krishnadev Calamur, Peter Granitz, Lisa Thomson, Ben Adler and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Destinee Adams and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A prominent gang leader in Haiti speaks about his role in the ongoing violence in Port-au-Prince. The government allowed these things to happen. Why did this former policeman decide to fight the government? I'm Leila Faldin, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. Michael Cohen used to be Donald Trump's personal attorney and fixer. He testifies today in the New York election interference trial. He's testified on this before. It's $130,000. It's not a lot of money.

And we should just do it. So go ahead and do it. He's lied under oath in the past. Will the jury find him credible? And a medical worker in Rafa describes conditions as artillery strikes continue. The flies are everywhere. I really think they can predict death. 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. In Haiti, a coalition of gangs toppled the country's prime minister. And now, more than two months later, they control most of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. One of the most prominent gang leaders is Jimmy Cherissier, or as he's more commonly known, Barbecue. NPR's Eder Peralta is in Port-au-Prince and was able to interview him, and he's with us now. Good morning, Eder.

Good morning, Michelle. Eder, I just have to say, it's often controversial when journalists talk to people who are seen as causing chaos, like street criminals, or gang leaders, like barbecue. So why did you think it was important to talk with him? I mean, look, the gangs in Haiti can't be ignored. Earlier this week, for example, they took to the streets in the neighborhoods in the show of force. I saw dozens of men heavily armed. Earlier this week, for example, they took to the streets and the neighborhoods in a show of force.

I saw dozens of men heavily armed. They had handguns, assault rifles, machetes. And Jimmy Cherizay, or Barbecue, is important because he is the gang leader who convinced a whole bunch of gangs here to stop fighting each other and start fighting against the government. In the last two months, they have burnt down police stations and shut down the port and the airport. And they brought down a prime minister. So tell us more about Sherry Zay.

So I met him in his neighborhood. He arrived in a brand new Land Cruiser. And he had a boy on his knees cleaning his flip-flops. Barbecue used to be a police officer. He used to lead operations against the gangs. And what he told me is that he had, quote, an awakening. And he says the system made me who I am. Essentially, as a cop, he says he learned that politicians created the gangs, that they used them and the police to do what he called their dirty work,

to target their business rivals and their enemies. And so he started fighting against the political elite, he says, to try to change the system. But we should mention that both the U.S. and the U.N. have sanctioned him, accusing him of massacres. You know, at this point, Adar, thousands of Haitians have been killed. What did he have to say about that? Well, we spent much of the interview on that topic. I mean, Barbecue argues that the gangs are fighting against the rich who have exploited this country. I told him that's not what I've seen. Let's hear a bit of the interview.

All I see here are dead poor people. And you are part of that. In this fight, one of the first enemies we have is poor people like us. Because the rich, they use poor people against us. For example, if you take the police, they are the first people that they put in front of us. But I'll tell you what I've seen in Haiti. The gangs are extorting poor people. Women are getting raped. Houses have been burnt.

How are you any different? Everything you say right now is true. But all the extortion and all this mistreatment is because the government allowed these things to happen. So he's blaming the government. He's saying that the government, the powerful people allow this to happen in Haiti to create chaos and to remain in power. So a Kenyan-led multinational security force is expected to arrive soon with a mission to oust the gangs. What did he have to say about this new development?

So he says they're preparing for a long fight. He says he expects a lot of bloodshed and that eventually the international forces will get tired and they will leave. I asked him if he expected to survive. My life depends on God and my ancestors, he said. If Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines worried about his life, he says Haiti wouldn't be free today. That is NPR's Ada Peralta reporting from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Ada, thank you. Thank you, Michelle. Michael Cohen will take the stand today in New York in the election interference trial of former President Donald Trump. Once a personal attorney to President Trump, Cohen facilitated the $130,000 hush money payment at the heart of the trial.

He's one of the prosecution's final witnesses. NPR's Andrea Bernstein has been covering the trial and she is with us once again. Good morning, Andrea. Good morning. So, Andrea, look, I think people might remember Michael Cohen as a guy who once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. So remind us of how it happened that he's now a main witness against him. That's right, Michelle. When he worked for Trump, Cohen did the dirty work, stiffing vendors, intimidating reporters, making secret deals. And it all might have stayed that way. But after the whole Stormy Daniels story blew up in 2018, Trump stopped paying Cohen's legal bills and Cohen became what Trump

very publicly called a rat. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to lying to banks, lying to Congress and quote, at the direction of Donald Trump, violating campaign finance laws. Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison, but before he was incarcerated, he testified to Congress. And how closely did that testimony align with the evidence that's come out in this trial? I think it gives us a pretty good idea of what we should expect to hear from Cohen in the coming days. Some of it has already been corroborated in the trial. For example, former Trump communications aide Hope Hicks testified about how concerned the campaign was after the Access Hollywood tape. This is what Cohen said in 2019.

I don't think anybody would dispute this belief that after the wildfire that encompassed the Billy Bush tape, that a second follow-up to it would have been pleasant. And he was concerned with the effect that it had had on the campaign, on how women were seeing him, and ultimately whether or not he would have a shot in the general election. So look, we've already heard a lot in this trial about that tape. Have we learned something about it that's new? You know, one of the things that I've always wondered is why Stormy Daniels' story in particular was felt to be such a threat to Trump. So many women were coming forward with stories of their own after the Access Hollywood tape. And Daniels herself answered that question last week in her testimony. She said there was a power imbalance when she saw

Trump on a hotel bed in his underwear. Not that she was forced, she said there was a power imbalance when she saw Trump on a hotel bed in his underwear. Not that she was forced, she was clear, but that the encounter was unwanted. Trump has pleaded not guilty and has denied any sexual encounter with Daniels. Fundamentally, though, this is a story about falsifying records. But Cohen has lied under oath in the past. Is he considered a credible witness to tell us about those records? Prosecutors said from the outset of the case, basically, that Michael Cohen had a history of lying, but they would corroborate his statements. This is what he said in 2019 about talking to Trump early in his

presidency at the White House. And he says to me something to the effect of, don't worry, Michael, your January and February reimbursement checks are coming. They were FedExed from New York. And it takes a while for that to get through the White House system. In this case, jurors have corroboration, a photo of Cohen in the White House, a meeting memo, FedEx receipts. Prosecution and defense this week will be locked in a battle over whether Cohen is an unrepentant liar or whether he's lied, but in this case, is telling the truth. That is NPR's Andrea Bernstein. Andrea, thank you. Thank you.

All eyes have been on Rafa, Gaza's southern city, where the U.S. and the U.N. have been pressuring the Israeli government to stop a planned major assault. Meanwhile, Israel has expanded its attacks elsewhere. To central and northern areas of the Gaza Strip, it says it's trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping there. All of this is happening while today Israel turns inward for its Memorial Day, which is more somber this year because of the war. Joining us now from Tel Aviv to tell us more somber this year because of the war. Joining us now from Tel Aviv to tell us more about all this is NPR's Lauren Frayer. Lauren, good morning. Good morning, Michelle.

First, could you just tell us what is the situation right now in Rafah? We've been hearing for weeks about Israel threatening a major offensive there. Many will have heard that the Biden administration has been urging the Israelis to show restraint. What can you tell us about that? Has it gone ahead? You know, it feels like semantics at this point. Rafah has been under airstrikes for months. Now it's being hit with artillery from Israeli tanks that rolled in a week ago. Those tanks cut off the border crossing with Egypt, which is the main gateway for food and fuel coming into Gaza and injured people going out. Here's Monica Johnston. She's a nurse from Portland, Oregon, who is one of the dozens of aid

workers who are now trapped in Rafah since that border closed. She describes unsanitary conditions in the hospital where she is. The flies are everywhere. They're in the OR, they're in the ICU. I really think they can predict death. It's, I don't know, just absolutely unbelievable here. Last night, Israel did say it opened a crossing in the north of Gaza to trucks carrying flour in, but hunger and shortages persist. And now a third of Rafah is under evacuation orders. So we're seeing hundreds of thousands of displaced people now being displaced again. And where can they go?

To other areas of Gaza that have already been destroyed and which may now also be under renewed attack. I spoke last night to Hind Khoudri. She's a freelance journalist who left Rafah and went to Deir el-Balakh, which is in the central part of Gaza. And I asked her to describe what she sees around her. There's no empty areas. We're all at the border. So they do not have like a small area to set up their camps. They are homeless. They do not know where to go. While I was talking to her, she said she could hear explosions in the distance. There's been heavy fighting with airstrikes and with ground troops in Jabalia in the north of Gaza, in Zeytoun in central Gaza. And Gaza's health ministry says

the death toll from all of these attacks since October 7th has now surpassed the 35,000 mark. And that's almost surely an underestimate. Lauren, as I mentioned that you are in Israel, it's Memorial Day there today. What does this day commemorate? And what is the mood there? Yeah, today is probably the most somber day of the year in Israel. It's dedicated to fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. This is a country where most people do serve in the military, and it's also a country that's been attacked by its neighbors many times since its founding. Here's what it sounded like at sundown last night and again mid-morning today. So this siren wails, traffic stops, people literally get out of their cars and stand at attention on the highway.

This happens annually, but the focus this year is on memorials for October 7th victims and soldiers killed in the war. And when memorials end at sundown tonight, the mood shifts, most years at least. And it flips into celebrations for Israel's Independence Day, which starts tonight. And that contrast is intentional. It's meant to link the wars that Israel has fought and the casualties it's suffered with the idea of the very survival of Israel as a state. That is and pairs Lauren Freyer in Tel Aviv. Lauren, thank you so much.

You're welcome. And that's Up First for Monday, May 13th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Layla Faldin. For your next listen, check out Consider This from NPR. As a third-party candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces long odds in his quest for the White House. But history shows he could still affect the outcome of the 2024 election. Listen to Consider This. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Tara Neal, Krishnadev Kalamur, Peter Granitz, Lisa Thompson, Ben Adler, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Bunch, Destiny Adams, and Katie Klein. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Start your day here with us tomorrow.