Up First from NPR - Hegseth Boat Strikes, Witkoff To Moscow, National Guard Shooting Suspect

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

A U.S. official contradicts the White House account of who ordered the deadly boat strike in the Caribbean, while President Trump considers his next moves with Venezuela.U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow for high-stakes talks after revising the peace agreement with Ukrainian negotiators. And new details about the Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard soldiers point to a long-running mental health crisis rather than radicalization.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 Rebecca Metzler, Miguel Macias, Alina Hartounian, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Damian Herring. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Our Senior Supervising Producer is Vince Pearson.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Good morning, Leila. What? Did you just say good morning? Yeah, it's Giving Tuesday. I figured I'd give you a good morning. Thank you, and I'm glad you remembered what I reminded you of yesterday. So on this Giving Tuesday, we want to thank Up First listeners who have stepped up to support NPR during a really difficult year. Yeah, listeners such as Shannon in California who says she gave because NPR lost federal funding, and I listened to Up First every morning. Hi, Shannon. I hope you're listening. Thank you for supporting the work. love starting the day with you. Now, it's true. Federal funding for public media was eliminated

as of October 1st. That means that NPR is now operating without federal support for the first time in our history, but NPR's commitment to you has not changed one bit. Yeah, we're going to keep bringing you the news you need to start your day right here on Up First, and you can help us do that by signing up for NPR Plus. It's a simple recurring donation that gets your perks to NPR's podcast, and you'll be supporting public media while you listen. So join us. at plus.npr.org. A U.S. official tells NPR that it was Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth who gave the command that killed everyone on board a boat in the Caribbean.

Did those orders break the law? Members of Congress want to know. I'm Lela Faldi. That's A. Martinez. And this is up first from NPR News. U.S. envoy, Steve Whitkoff, meets with Vladimir Putin in Moscow today. and he's joined by President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The goal? Peace in Ukraine. The question, does Putin want peace or just a path to declare victory over Ukrainian territory?

And we're learning more about the Afghan man accused of killing one National Guard member and injuring another in Washington, D.C. A volunteer who worked closely with him says they saw no signs of radicalization, only a man in deep personal and mental crisis. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. President Trump and his advisors met yesterday evening to discuss next steps with Venezuela. The meeting comes after months of growing tension between the two countries. This year, the Trump administration has conducted strikes against what they allege are drug boats traveling from Venezuela to the U.S.

Those strikes have killed dozens of people and opened questions about the legality of these attacks. Meanwhile, there's a military buildup off the coast of Venezuela. And now, as the Trump administration considers next moves, those strikes are also under renewed scrutiny. NPR White House correspondent Daniel Kurtzleben is here. So, Daniel, tell us about the meeting over Venezuela. Well, there's not much to tell right now. We do know the meeting had been set to be with Trump's national security team. So that would include people like Defense Secretary Pete Haguezeth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

But Trump has said he spoke to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last week. But Trump wouldn't say much more. All that said, it was likely not a friendly call. Trump has long railed against the authoritarian leader. And Maduro, for his part, thinks the U.S. is aiming for regime change in his country. And he's accused the U.S. of using this pretext of fighting drug traffickers to seize his country's oil reserves. Now, you mentioned Secretary Pete Heggseth in connection to that meeting about Venezuela. He's getting some heat for strikes on one of those boats.

Take us through why? Sure. So on Friday, the Washington Post reported that on September 2nd, U.S. forces struck one of those boats, leaving survivors afterwards. And so Hegseth gave an order to kill those survivors. Now, NPR later confirmed that Hegseth had ordered both strikes. All of that matters because, as Congress members from both parties have said, that second strike may have constituted a war crime. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense in that Washington Post story said that, quote, this entire narrative is completely false. Now, what did we learn from the White House

yesterday. Well, the administration then confirmed some parts of this story. At yesterday's press briefing, Press Secretary Caroline Levitt acknowledged a second strike, but as for Hegseth ordering it, she didn't deny it, but said Hegseth authorized U.S. Navy Admiral Frank M. Bradley to take these actions. Secretary Hegeseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was

eliminated. But our NPR colleague Tom Bowman has new reporting on this. Yesterday a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly pushed back on the White House saying Hague Seth gave the command for two strikes to kill in addition to two strikes to sink the boat.

Okay, so we have all that. And just a few weeks ago, Democratic Congress members with military or intelligence backgrounds released a video telling service members to refuse illegal orders. Trump call that video, seditious behavior, punishable by death, have they responded to the latest developments? Yes, Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a retired naval officer who was in that video, spoke about this yesterday. When a reporter asked him about the strikes, Kelly said,

if the reporting is accurate, that second strike could have been illegal. I will say, though, as somebody who has sunk two ships myself, folks in the military need to understand the law of the sea, the Geneva Conventions, what the law says. And leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees have said they're going to be looking into these strikes. And Admiral Bradley is expected to give a classified briefing on Thursday. So we may know more about them in the weeks ahead. All right. That's NPR's Danielle. Kurtzleben. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

Steve Whitkoff is in Moscow today for talks with Russian president, Vladimir Putin. In an added twist, Whitkoff will be joined by President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Discussions are expected to focus on a U.S. peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. NPR's Charles Mainz joins us on the line from Moscow. So Charles Whitkoff meeting Putin, those two guys, know strangers to each other. But Jared Kushner, how does he fit in? Yeah, you know, Jared Kushner was involved in negotiations with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida over the weekend. But this clearly takes his role to another level, much like the one he played in

the Gaza negotiations. As to Whitkoff, well, he now will have met with Putin six times since January. So he knows Putin well and he knows his team well. Someone argued too well as a recent leak of a phone transcript of conversations he had with Kremlin mediators appeared to show. Yeah, it's okay. So they have some kind of rapport. But has that led to any breakthroughs, any flexibility at all in Vladimir Putin's positions on Ukraine? Well, Whitkoff has come out of past meetings saying he believes Putin wants peace. So the White House says it's hopeful, too. And yet that's hard to square with scenes broadcast last night here on Russian TV,

which suggested that what Putin wants is victory. So Putin visited a military command post, dressed in fatigues, where his top brass reported Russian gains on all fronts, and they told Putin that ill-equipped Ukrainian recruits were essentially being sent to slaughter, which prompted this response. Tragidia. Tragidia of Ukrainian people.

So here Putin, getting emotional, says this is a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, and he goes on to blame the criminal policies of their pro-Western government, which he labeled an illegal junta

for dragging it into war. Okay, so some pretty strong language there by Vladimir Putin. On the eve of these peace talks, no less, so what do you make of that? Well, I think it's important first to point out this is a very Kremlin interpretation

of recent Ukrainian history, one most Ukrainians would dispute. But leaving that aside, yeah, the video seems to be a message to Trump and his team that any compromises towards Ukraine are out of the question. I mean, look, this deal was initially tilted in Russia's favor, which got Putin's cautious endorsement. But then came the blowback. Ukraine, Europe, even some Republicans in Congress said this was unacceptable and they demanded changes. And so with each revision, they pulled it further away from a deal Moscow liked. And these scenes of Putin and his generals certainly seem an attempt to convince the U.S. that there's just no alternative but for Ukraine to bend to core Russian demands. And those remain. Ukraine formally giving up territory, Moscow claims to have annexed, including parts not occupied by Russian forces, and

the ban on Ukraine joining NATO, full stop. So, Charles, if those are the bottom line Russian demands, what does Ukraine want? Well, Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, was in Paris yesterday for meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, in which they clearly tried to impress upon the U.S. the need for

long-term security guarantees for Ukraine. Here's Zelensky. So here's Zelenskyy says Ukraine must know for sure that when the war ends, the West is willing to provide protection, so Russia doesn't just invade again later. So this is key, if Kiev really wants to begin to even talk about signing away territory. But the fear, and it's one shared by Europe as well, is that with Whitkoff and Kushner and the Kremlin, meaning with Putin, somehow the U.S. and Russia will be cutting deals over their heads. That's NPR's Charles Mains in Moscow. Thanks a lot. Thank you. The Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members last week in Washington, D.C.

appeared to suffer a personal crisis in the years leading up to the attack and not radicalization. That's according to a refugee resettlement volunteer who worked closely with Rahmanullah Lackenwal and his family over. over a period of years in Bellingham, Washington. NPR's Brian Mann is part of the team covering this story. Brian, you spoke with this resettlement support work or a volunteer. What did they have to tell you? Yeah, this volunteer agreed to speak with NPR on condition of anonymity. They said they fear for their safety and the safety of others working with the Afghan refugee community.

They told me when they first met Lackenwal in 2022, he seemed hopeful and outgoing. They met at his home where he was often outside playing with his kids and laughing. He held part-time jobs for a time. But by 2023, after failing to find permanent work, he was struggling with cultural isolation. This volunteer described Lackenwal withdrawing and becoming more isolated, behaving more and more erratically. We should note a Lackenwal was a member of a paramilitary group called Zero Unit that operated in Afghanistan before U.S. troops left. My colleague Tom Bowman has reported they would mount night raids go after Taliban fighters. they were pretty brutal, and there were reports from human rights watch that they engaged in torture and also illegal killings.

Okay, so he had this military history. Did this volunteer worker think that he might be violent when he was in the U.S.? No. After spending a lot of time with Lackenwal and his family, this volunteer said they never saw or heard any threats, never sensed any danger to the community, and observed no hostility toward the U.S. They tried to get help for Lackenwal, beginning early in 2024, because they feared for his, safety. They told me, and I'm quoting here, my biggest concern was that Lackenwall would harm himself. Now, after last week shooting, of course, 20-year-old Sarah Bexstrom, a guard member

from West Virginia, died from her wounds. Twenty-four-year-old Andrew Wolfe remains in serious condition. And in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Homeland Security Secretary Christie Nome said Lackenwall was radicalized after coming to the U.S. in 2021. But this volunteer said they saw no evidence of that. This individual's account of Lackenwall's behavior is supported by emails they shared with me showing they started raising concerns about his mental health beginning in January of 2024. Do we know anything more about why he drove across the country before this attack? Okay, so this person, A, could not shed light on any possible motive.

But the volunteer, who's not a mental health professional, said they feared Lackenwal was suffering emotional strain, related to his time in Afghanistan, working alongside U.S. forces. And this volunteer told me one other interesting thing. Beginning in 2023, Lackenwald began making long, rambling driving trips by car from Bellingham, Washington, across the U.S. He would drive as far away as Arizona. And Illinois, often his family and volunteers trying to help him would not know where he was. So the fact that Lackenwal drove to Washington, D.C., that wasn't surprising to people in his community. But the volunteer said Lackenwald's alleged violence, that came without warning. Okay. Now, you mentioned concerns about his well-being at least as early as January of 2024. Did anyone try to help him? Yeah, and that's documented in the emails this source shared with me. This volunteer says locals in Washington State who worked with Afghan families tried to get professional mental health support. They said after an initial orientation for Afghan families,

volunteers supporting them got little help from trained experts on refugee care or mental health. NPR did reach out to nonprofit refugee aid groups. that worked with Afghans in the Bellingham, Washington area. They didn't respond or they declined to comment. Okay, that's NPR's Brian Mann. Brian, thanks. Thank you, Bay. All right, before we go, today on Morning Edition,

we're airing a new NPR investigation into a company that is sending disabled military veterans bills for tens of thousands of dollars. Yeah, there's a federal law. that says that you can't charge veterans money for help filing initial disability claims. But despite warnings from the VA that it may be breaking the law, Trajector medical continues to operate. A former Army Ranger told NPR's investigations team, he started working with the company for help on his disability case.

But he says Trajector stopped responding, so he did the paperwork himself. He was stunned when he got the bill. I think that they took advantage of me, and they accessed via database to find out if I had a claim. So they could make $4,500 from a guy who spent five and a half years in the Army and two tours in Afghanistan. Veterans told NPR they were surprised by how aggressive trajectory was at trying to collect. Here's Marine Corps vet Enrique Miranda Cardenas.

They were calling just about every day, sometimes even twice or three times a day. Trajecture says it complies with the law and that it's just helping vets, quote, understand, identify, and document their medical conditions. You can hear the full investigation on our radio show, morning edition, find it on your local NPR station or any time on the NPR app. And this afternoon, our colleagues at all things considered will dive deeper into what Congress might do to put restrictions on companies like Trajecture Medical. And that's up first for Tuesday, December 2nd. I'm A. Martinez. And I'm Lela. Faudill, we hear it Up First, give you the three big stories of the day.

Our consider this colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you. 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 Rebecca Metzler, Miguel Macias, Alina Hartunian, Mohammed al-Bardisi and Alice Wolfley was produced by Ziet Bouch, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Damian Herring, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Our senior supervising producer is Vince Pearson. Join us again tomorrow.