Up First from NPR - Moscow Attack, Trouble for Speaker Johnson, Princess of Wales' Cancer

Episode Date: March 23, 2024

Russian authorities say they've arrested several people responsible for the attack at a large concert venue on the Moscow outskirts, where more than 100 people were killed. House Speaker Mike Johnson passes spending bills with the help of Democrats, and now some Republicans are threatening his job. Catherine, Princess of Wales, announces after weeks out of the public eye that she is receiving treatment for cancer.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Russian authorities say several people believed responsible for an attack on a concert hall are in custody. Gunmen killed more than 100 people on the outskirts of Moscow and left the venue on fire. I'm Ayesha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News. In the U.S., a government shutdown averted for now. The House speaker worked with Democrats to pass spending bills. And now there's another revolt from inside his conference. I filed a motion to vacate today, but it's more of a warning and a pink slip.

And a message from the Princess of Wales. She has cancer. This, of course, came as a huge shock. And William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend. Now Our Change will honour 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.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack on the concert venue just outside of Moscow. And now Russian authorities claim the men arrested for the attack were arrested on their way to the Ukrainian border. NPR's Charles Maines went to the scene of the attack, which has been condemned by leaders around the world. Charles, thank you for being with us. Good to be with you. What did you see and hear? Yeah, so this morning I took the Metro out to Crocus City Hall. This is the concert venue where this terrible attack took place. As you can hear there, there's a heavy security presence of helicopters and police,

and Russians were bringing flowers to an impromptu memorial set off to the side of this massive entertainment complex. Among the Russians there, a gentleman named Anatoly, who declined to provide his last name, given we were surrounded by security agents. But it turns out he used to lot of the people working at the event last night and felt obligated to pay his respects. He said that some might be injured, others were, of course, dead. And he called this all a big tragedy, which, of course, it is. Charles, can you take us through what we know about what happened? Well, the attackers, who appear to number up to four,

perhaps five in number, based on some of the videos we've seen, they entered the venue armed with Kalashnikovs and explosives shortly before a sold-out concert by a veteran Soviet-era rock band called Picnic. They were scheduled to start their show. Witness video shows the gunmen firing point-blank on civilians, on security guards near the entrance,

before heading to the main concert hall. A fire then broke out after the attackers detonated explosives, engulfing the venue in smoke and flames that quickly spread, sending the public scurrying. Some people hid in bathrooms and basements. Others were rescued from the roof or broke through glass to make their way out. And of course, many never did. The whole complex caught fire. And today I could see the facade of the building. It's just now gutted. Moreover, amid the chaos, the attackers got away. Russian authorities say they've caught the attackers and accomplices. What's known about them? Well, Russia's investigative committee said it arrested 11

individuals in connection with the attack today. Four apparently for direct involvement leaked data of their passports, at least online, claims that several of these men are from Central Asia, in fact, from the former Soviet Republic of Tajikistan. And yet, they were detained on their way to the Ukrainian border, where Russian security services suggest these men had, quote, contacts. Now, as you noted in the intro, an Islamic State group has claimed responsibility in a statement for this attack. And let's not forget the U.S. Embassy had publicly warned. It had credible reports that extremists were preparing an attack at a public event like a concert in Moscow, a charge that Russian President Vladimir Putin later said was fear-mongering.

And indeed, the intelligence was off. The U.S. warning came out two weeks ago, said it would happen within the next 48 hours. But as one gentleman today who spoke with me off the record said, how is it the U.S. knew and our own security forces didn't? And Pierce Charles Mainz in Moscow, thanks so much. Thank you. A familiar drama is playing out on Capitol Hill. A House speaker works with Democrats to pass spending bills to keep the government open. And then his job is threatened. I do believe we've seen this before. Last time it was Kevin McCarthy.

This time it's Mike Johnson. And para-political correspondent Susan Davis joins us now. Susan, thanks so much for being with us. Happy to be here, Scott. Shortly after the House passed a package of six spending bills on Friday, Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a resolution to remove Mike Johnson from leadership. This is not personal against Mike Johnson. He's a very good man, And I have respect for him as a person, but he is not doing the job. Is this the end for the speaker? You know, it could be. The vast majority of House Republicans still support Speaker Johnson.

It's roughly this same small group of hard right conservatives who continue to be angry that a Republican speaker cannot deliver clear conservative wins in a divided government. But they've always sort of wanted an impossible outcome. And Johnson understood this. There's only so much you can do when Democrats control the Senate and the White House. And he chose stability in the government versus shutting it down with no endgame out of it. But House Republicans have been infighting since the ousting of former Speaker McCarthy. It's been a really unruly majority. There's a lot of bad blood.

And remember, the current House rules still make it easy for just a handful of lawmakers to remove the Speaker. Johnson has a short reprieve. The House is going to be adjourned for two weeks until after Easter. But this is something that they could confront in April. Sue, what role might Democrats play? Because they voted unanimously against Kevin McCarthy, but does Speaker Johnson engender any more sympathy? He does, yes. Hakeem Jeffries, he's the minority leader, the Democrat from New York, he has publicly said that if the

motion to vacate were to happen again, some Democrats might vote to save him and keep him as Speaker. As Jeffries has reasoned it, they can trust Johnson where they couldn't trust McCarthy. He has kept his word through these budget negotiations. He did rely on Democratic votes and negotiated in good faith to pass them. And there is still one must-pass item before the election, at least for the White House and for Democrats, which is that money for Ukraine. And once again, that means Democrats could have some leverage over the Speaker and over the Republican majority. But that, again, is still a pretty difficult position for a speaker to be in. And Ukraine aid is an issue that splits the

Republican Party. But what kind of path might there be to make it through the House? You know, Johnson has publicly committed to approving or at least bringing up for a vote some form of foreign aid. It's not necessarily going to be that full $95 billion package that the Senate approved. Some Republicans are talking about making it a loan or putting other terms on the money. But it seems pretty clear that there is a bipartisan majority of votes to pass aid to Ukraine in the House. There has been enormous pressure on Speaker Johnson from the national security community, from the White House, and from the other top three congressional leaders saying, we have to do this. But Donald Trump opposes it. And there is deep opposition to this money among Republican base voters. So far, Donald Trump continues to

back Johnson for speaker. But, you know, could that change? That could weigh on lawmakers here. And it adds to the precarious nature of his hold on the job and how long he can hold on to it and whether he can hold on to it through the election. And Sue, what's the status of the impeachment investigation of President Biden? It seems like it's on ice. One of the leading investigators, Oversight Chairman James Comer, he's a Republican from Kentucky. He said this week that the path forward might shift to possible criminal referrals to the Justice Department. That, of course, does not mean that the Justice Department will investigate. It just means they could. It seems pretty clear Republicans don't have the votes to impeach Joe Biden on the House floor. Democrats are obviously not going to help them on that one,

Scott. But this is a tough vote that just got tougher. Ken Buck of Colorado is a House Republican who left the House early on Friday. He retired early. That same day, Mike Gallagher, he's a Republican from Wisconsin, announced he'd already said he was going to retire, but he announced he's going to leave in a couple weeks. Gallagher was one of just three Republicans who voted against the impeachment of Homeland Secretary Mayorkas. He condemned his party for using impeachments for purely political purposes. But also what that means, Scott, is when Mike Gallagher leaves, Speaker Johnson is going to have a one-vote margin in his majority to pass legislation or any other matter through the House. NPR political correspondent Susan Davis, thanks so much. You're welcome.

The reaction to a video of the Princess of Wales was first shock, followed by concern, and then, for some, shame. Kate had been the target of rumor and speculation for two months about her health, her whereabouts, about a photoshopped picture, and about her marriage. It turns out that all the while she was dealing with something very serious, cancer. I'm Charles Lauren Frayer, has been covering this from London. Lauren, thanks for being with us. Thanks for very serious, cancer. I'm sure Lauren Frayer has been covering this from London. Lauren, thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me, Scott. Tabloids more circumspect now? For now, at least.

Today, the headlines in all the papers here say things like, Kate, you are not alone, Kate, cancer shock, all sort of extolling love and support for the princess. That's a big turnaround from even a couple days ago when the UK tabloids were speculating about whether Kate's abdominal surgery was actually a nervous breakdown, why that Mother's Day photo of her and her children was photoshopped, what the palace was keeping from the public. Stephen Colbert on his TV show joked about rumors that Kate's husband Will was having an affair.

The headline in The Atlantic magazine now reads, I hope you all feel terrible now. Here's a woman named Sheena Best whom we caught up with at London's Victoria Station. It's so sad. We were saying it's really sad that she's been hounded in the press for like the last couple of weeks and then for that news to come out. It's so, it's so sad. Well, I hope all the press do feel really guilty because God help her. Like, it's just really sad.

So there's definitely some shame and introspection about the media culture here. Lauren, what do we actually know about the diagnosis of the princess and her treatment plan? We don't know much. We know she was hospitalized for 13 days back in January for abdominal surgery. At the time, the guidance we got from the palace was that this was not cancer. But then Kate said in this video last night that post-op tests showed cancer had been present. The palace says she started treatment in late February. They're calling what she's getting, though, preventative chemotherapy.

Now, as you know, Scott, King Charles also has cancer. For both him and Kate, we don't know the type of cancer, we don't know the stage, where the treatment is happening, for how long it'll last, none of that. The King did issue a statement last night saying he's proud of his daughter-in-law and he's in touch with her often. How did they manage to make this video without anyone knowing it was coming? Yeah, the palace tells us it was recorded two days before its release, somewhere outdoors in Windsor. That's west of London where Kate and William live. It was filmed by a BBC Studios camera person. Only a handful of people knew about its existence.

Kate is shown sitting on a garden bench, dressed casually, looking relaxed, her hair in waves down her shoulders. And it seems designed to reassure people, you know, that she's OK, but also to kind of tell them to back off in the most polite royal words, of course. Here's part of the video. We hope that you'll understand that as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment. She mentions her three children. The youngest is just five years old. She says it's taken some time to explain this to them. She also talks about her husband, William, and calls him a, quote, great source of comfort and reassurance. And of course, he's the heir to the throne. His father and his wife are now both in treatment for cancer.

How does all this affect the monarchy? Well, this is already what they're calling a slimmed down monarchy, you know, with Prince Harry and Prince Andrew both having stepped down from royal duties. And of course, this is after the loss of Queen Elizabeth around 18 months ago. With the king getting his own cancer treatment, Queen Camilla has been stepping in to handle some of his duties. So this will overall be a bigger workload for an ever smaller number of working royals. And, you know, Scott, Kate ranks absolutely number one in polls of which royal is most beloved here. The palace had said she would be back on duty sometime after Easter.

That looks pretty uncertain now. Lauren Frayer, thank you. You're welcome. And that's up first for Saturday, March 23rd, 2024. I'm Aisha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon. Danny Hensel produced today's podcast with help from a small but mighty team, Andrew Craig, Gabe O'Connor, and Martin Patience. Our director is Michael Ratcliffe.

Our editors are Nick Spicer, Krishna Dave Calamore, Shannon Rhodes, and Melissa Gray. Our technical director is Hannah Glovna, with engineering support from Carly Strange, Nisha Hynes, and Phil Edfors. Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor. Sarah Lucy Oliver is our senior supervising editor. Sarah Lucy Oliver is our executive producer. Jerry Holmes is our deputy managing editor. Tomorrow, on a first, new rules for vehicles emissions are expected to speed up the transition to electric vehicles over the next decade or so.

But people have questions. And NPR's Camila Dominovsky, who covers cars and energy, she has some answers. For more news, analysis, interviews about books, music on the weekend, sometimes just plain fun, you can always tune in to Weekend Edition, and of course, you find it on NPR, only NPR. Yes, find your stations at stations.npr.org.