Up First from NPR - Russian offensive, Israel-Lebanon Tensions, DOJ Special Counsels

Episode Date: December 30, 2023

More than 150 missiles and drones fell on Ukrainian cities on Friday, hitting a shopping mall and a maternity hospital. President Zelensky says there will be payback. The Israeli army says it will ramp up its offensive in Gaza, all while artillery exhanges between Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Israel also increase. Three special counsels will be investigating former President Trump, President Biden, and Biden's son, Hunter. But some at the Department of Justice think they may be overused.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Russian missiles rained on Ukraine yesterday, killing at least 30 people. Ukrainians say it may be the largest aerial attack yet. And President Zelensky says there will be retribution. I'm Rob Schmitz. I'm Alina Seluk. And this is Up First from NPR News. Israeli forces are ramping up their offensive in Gaza. And the United Nations is sounding the alarm about the humanitarian crisis there.

All this while tensions on the Lebanese border with Israel increase. And back at home, in just over a year, three prosecutors were named to investigate former President Trump, current President Biden, and Biden's son Hunter. But what makes these special councils, well, so special? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend. 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. Apartment buildings and schools were hit by more than 150 Russian missiles and drones in Ukraine on Friday. At least 30 people were killed and over 160 were wounded, according to Ukrainian officials. It may also be the largest aerial assault in the war to date. NPR's Alyssa Nadwerny is in Ukraine and has more details from Lviv. Hi, Alyssa. Hi, Alina.

Alyssa, tell us more about the strikes. What all happened? So the attacks were all across the country. There were some energy infrastructure hit in the east, but largely the attack hit mostly places where civilians live and visit. More than 45 apartment buildings, 100 private homes. In the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine, the attack hit a shopping mall and a maternity hospital. Artem Rysukin was in Dnipro visiting his family for Christmas. He planned to see the movie Ferrari Friday night at that shopping mall that was hit. The world somehow is growing tired of news from Ukraine while we try not to get tired of being bombed, of being terrorized. He sounds so exhausted.

Yeah. And, you know, in Kiev, a commercial warehouse was hit. This morning, the mayor said the bodies of four more people were found in the rubble. The other thing that happened, Alina, is that one of Russia's missiles appears to have briefly entered the airspace of Poland, a NATO member, according to the military there. It only lasted about three minutes in Polish airspace, reaching just about 24 miles inside Poland before flying back to Ukraine. So I understand Ukrainian officials are saying that its air defense systems managed to shoot down most of the missiles, even though there were a lot of them, right? Yeah, that is right. And you know, what's different now versus, say, a year ago, is Ukraine has new Western supplied air defense systems, including the Patriot missile defense system from the U.S. And so, yes, they were able to shoot down a lot of those missiles.

Russia was likely testing and aiming to weaken those defenses with the volume and kind of all of these missiles and drones at once. What has been the response to this attack in Ukraine? For Ukrainians who've had kind of a quiet fall, it's been terrifying. Ola Alexieva, who has two kids in Dnipro, said the hardest part was watching her five-year-old be so afraid. He told her, mom, I don't want to die. He said it over and over again. You know, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an address about the attacks. Let's listen a little bit. He said Ukraine would respond, though he didn't provide any details. And the Ministry of Defense of Russia claimed that Ukraine sent drones and U.S. made harm missiles into Russian territory in the aftermath. But Ukraine has not confirmed that.

Any response from abroad? The UN Security Council and many foreign leaders have expressed outrage, including President Biden, who urged Congress to approve billions of dollars in funding for Ukraine that is currently stalled. The Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs said he wanted the sound of explosions in Ukraine to be heard all across the world. And according to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia will likely continue to do these large-scale aerial attacks to beat down Ukrainian morale and limit the country's military capabilities. I mean, just this morning, Alina, we've had air raid sirens go off across Ukraine. So officials here are bracing for more attacks to continue this whole weekend. NPR's Alyssa Nadroni reporting in Ukraine from the city of Lviv. Thank you so much, Alyssa. Thanks, Alina.

Gaza will see an increase in hostilities by the Israeli army in the coming days. And the United Nations says the humanitarian crisis keeps getting worse. All this while artillery exchanges between Hezbollah militants and Israel have gone up. For more, we're joined by NPR's Keri Khan in Tel Aviv. Good morning, Keri. Hello. So what can you tell us about the stepped-up offensive deep into Gaza by Israel's military? Fighting has intensified with Israel stepping up air, land, and sea bombardments in recent days. Both Hamas and Israel's military have reported intense combat in central Gaza and around the second largest city, Qamunis, and even in southern Gaza, where Israel has told most cousins to go for their safety. The UN says 100,000 more Palestinians have fled in recent

days to the south. According to Gaza's health ministry, more than 21,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war now. The U.N. Secretary General yesterday again called for a humanitarian ceasefire and release of all hostages that Hamas is still holding captive from the October 7th attack on Israel. Antonio Guterres said he is concerned about further spillover of the conflict throughout the region. And what is the situation along the Lebanese-Israeli border in the north? A cross-border artillery and rocket fire have been a daily occurrence there all week, with many already happening today. We've heard some warning sirens have been constant in northern Israeli towns. Israel says it's carried out extensive strikes

on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon near the Israeli border just in the last couple days. Israeli military officials this week issued some very stern warnings to Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. One member of the Israeli war cabinet was quoted earlier this week warning the militants that Israel could do in Beirut what it has done in Gaza if Hezbollah continues its attacks into northern Israel. And what's the latest on any proposals for a ceasefire or an exchange of hostages? Earlier in the week, there was an Egyptian proposal, and now another attempt by Qatar is being discussed, but neither appears to be moving forward. The proposals call for withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a political resolution to the conflict,

but Israel still wants to press ahead with its military goal of crushing Hamas. Meanwhile, last night, an interview of one of the released hostages, Maya Shem, is getting much play on major news outlets here in Israel. Here's a small excerpt from Channel 13. Jen talks about feeling very guilty about being freed while others remain in Gaza, and she talks about promising them as she left that the hostages will not be forgotten. She was held in Gaza for more than 50 days, part of the time with a family there, she says. She also says she had an operation there without anesthesia or

painkillers for a wound she sustained in the October 7th attack. And she says while there, she felt like being a caged animal in a zoo. That's NPR's Gary Kahn in Tel Aviv. Thank you for sharing all this. Thank you for having me. Attorney General Merrick Garland made three high-profile prosecutor appointments in just over a year. They're Jack Smith, Robert Herr, and David Weiss. They will be investigating former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and Biden's son Hunter. And there could be big ramifications for the 2024 presidential campaigns. NPR's justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is with us for more. Hey, Carrie. Hey there.

So given the sensitivity of these investigations of two leading candidates for president, remind us, how did the Justice Department get embroiled in all of this? The DOJ has been investigating Donald Trump over documents, highly classified documents that Trump stored at his Mar-a-Lago resort and refused to return. It's also been investigating Trump over the efforts to overthrow the last presidential election. The FBI has been investigating the current President Joe Biden after classified documents were found at an office he used in Washington and at one of his residences in Delaware. And then the Justice Department has

also been investigating Hunter Biden's taxes and possession of a gun while he was addicted to drugs. Of course, these are not at all the same level of seriousness. Trump now faces two separate indictments in Florida and D.C. Hunter Biden, who's not a political candidate, faces two other indictments in Delaware and California. And Joe Biden has not been charged with any crime. That sounds like a lot of work for prosecutors. What makes the special counsels leading these investigations special? special. They operate outside of day-to-day supervision from the Justice Department. And this process is designed for cases where there may be a conflict of interest, where the attorney general might be recused. And they're supposed to operate in the public interest. These lawyers tend to be attorneys who have worked for the Justice Department in the past, sometimes in very high-level jobs. Jack Smith, who's been leading the Trump probe, is a former prosecutor and justice official in the Obama years. Robert Herr, who's leading the Joe Biden probe,

is a former prosecutor and justice official in the Trump years. And David Weiss, who's investigating Hunter Biden, is the U.S. attorney in Delaware. He's a holdover from the Trump era, too. So, I mean, with three of them, though, I mean, how special are they? That's exactly what some experts are asking. Their argument is the Justice Department is supposed to act based on the facts and the law, not on political considerations. So why not have regular lawyers at DOJ lead these kinds of cases? Chuck Rosenberg worked for the FBI in the Justice Department. Here's what he says about that. It's almost in a sense saying that we can't

trust an apolitical department to do apolitical work, though in my view we can and we should trust them to do exactly that. Prosecutors at the Justice Department have handled terrorism cases and political corruption cases for decades. Chuck Rosenberg says the Justice Department has appointed five special counsels over the past six years, and that may be too many. So, I mean, what are the benefits of naming a special counsel supposed to be? Well, one big one is speed. These people can work faster than the normal channels at the Justice Department, which have lots of layers of review. They're also generally focused on one narrow mission so they can concentrate their efforts.

The other is the idea that they're apolitical, but that hasn't worked out too well in the recent past. Again, here's former prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg. Attacks on them have been relentless. Attacks on Bob Mueller when he was special counsel. Attacks on Jack Smith today while he serves as special counsel. The people doing the attacking in those instances are former President Trump, his allies in Congress, and some of his supporters. Jack Smith, for instance, has nearly constant security given all the threats. Carrie, as we begin a new year, what do you expect out of these special counsel probes? Two sources are telling me the investigation of Joe Biden

for having classified material at his office and his home is close to an end. It's unlikely, they say, we'll see charges there, but the prosecutor is writing a report that we may be able to see in the new year. It's still sure to become a conversation point in the campaign. And as for Donald Trump,

he's pleaded not guilty to two federal indictments in D.C. and Florida. His D.C. trial is set for March, but that's on hold while he argues that he should get lifetime immunity from prosecution because he was president at the time of January 6th. Not clear right now if Trump is going to face trial next year, but these prosecutions have been a key part of his campaign. And as for Hunter Biden, he is now fighting those charges in two different jurisdictions, too. And unless he reaches a plea deal, he could be going to trial in a year his father is running to return to the White House. That's NPR's justice correspondent, Carrie Johnson. Thanks, Carrie. My pleasure.

And that's Up First for Saturday, December 30th, 2023. I'm Alina Selou. And I'm Rob Schmitz. Tomorrow on The Sunday Story, a look into what drove this year's massive worker strikes that shook the private sector. This Saturday version of the podcast was produced by Michael Ratcliffe and Ryan Bank. Our editors are Hadil Al-Shawchi, Don Clyde, and Shannon Rhodes. Our director is Danny Hensel. Technical director is Hannah Glovna,

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Find your NPR station at stations.npr.org. And Happy New Year. Is that it? Wow. Okay, cool. See you guys later.