Up First from NPR - The Gaza Ceasefire That Wasn't, Putin's Fifth Inauguration, House Speaker Vote?

Episode Date: May 7, 2024

After seven months of war and nearly 35,000 deaths, a pause in the fighting in Gaza seemed in sight — and then it wasn't.Russian President Vladimir Putin takes his fifth oath of office, which if he serves the full term would give him a longer tenure than Joseph Stalin. And the House could vote on another motion to oust a Republican speaker — but this time, Democrats might save Mike Johnson.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 Vincent Ni, Nick Spicer, Kelsey Snell, Lisa Thomson, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Phil Edfors. And our technical director is Stacey Abbott.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

People in Gaza celebrated what seemed like a ceasefire, which hasn't happened. Instead, Israel continues operations against Hamas around the city of Rafah. Are negotiations really over, or is there still hope for a deal? I'm Steve Inskeep with Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. Russian President Vladimir Putin takes the oath of office again today. One analyst says his near-total control puts Russia at risk. It's not that some external enemy or domestic opponents threaten the existence of Putin's regime, but rather Putin himself.

And the House could vote today on another motion to oust the Republican speaker. Mike Johnson is not capable of that job. He has proven it over and over again. But he might survive thanks to Democrats. 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. After seven months of war and tens of thousands of deaths, a pause in the fighting in Gaza seemed to be in sight yesterday. So it seemed, and in the city of Rafah, people celebrated. They're cheering, honking car horns, setting off firecrackers. Hamas announced it had just agreed to a ceasefire deal, and then Israel said the terms that Hamas claimed to have agreed to

were not the terms that Israel put forth on the table. This morning, Israeli tanks are in Rafah and in control of Gaza's border crossing with Egypt. NPR correspondent Aya Bertraui has been tracking these developments from Dubai, and she is with us now. Good morning, Aya. Good morning, Michelle. So it has been a whirlwind 24 hours there for people in Rafah. Could you just tell us how we got here? It really has been. I mean, this actually really began, you could say, Sunday afternoon when Hamas fired rockets from Rafah

into Israel, killing four soldiers. And this was in the middle of ongoing ceasefire talks in Cairo. Now, Israel, which had been planning an attack on Rafah, then dropped flyers and sent messages for people to leave certain parts of Rafah. The order impacts at least 100,000 people. There were chaotic scenes of people frightened, packing their bags, again displaced for the fourth and fifth time, trying to walk with canes, wheelchairs, whatever they could carry. And just when it looked like Hamas and Israel were dug in for this major battle on Rafah, Hamas says they're ready to release hostages and accept a truce, something that huge numbers of supporters of Israeli hostages were waiting for. You know, obviously, you know, for these hostages and for the people of Gaza,

the stakes could not be higher. So what do we know about the deal that Hamas agreed to? So the devil here is really in the details, Michelle. Now, this was a version of the deal that Egypt and Qatari mediators had been hammering out with Hamas over the weekend in Cairo with the CIA director there as well. Now, Hamas leaked a draft of this proposal, and basically it calls for three phases to end the war, starting with a six-week pause and the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and more aid coming into Gaza. But ultimately, the sticking point has been and continues to be that Hamas wants a deal that ends the war. And Israel says that would just leave Hamas intact. So Israel's war cabinet says the current deal doesn't meet its requirements, but they will send negotiators this time around to Cairo. They weren't there over the weekend. And meanwhile, you know, we're seeing these striking images of Israeli tanks in control of

Gaza's border crossing just across from Egypt. What about that? What does Israel's military operation look like in Rafah now? I mean, is this the major assault on the city that the U.S. and others had been warning against? So, Michelle, this really just depends on who you ask. You know, a U.S. official told NPR in Washington this did not appear to be that, but they said the White House has real concerns about this unfolding Israeli operation. Now, the Israeli military says this is a, quote, precise counterterrorism operation aimed at Hamas infrastructure. They say they killed 20 militants overnight. But for Palestinians in Rafah, this is what they feared the most. You know, hundreds have been killed in Rafah in Israeli airstrikes over past weeks. There

were intense airstrikes again overnight, striking homes and killing families, sheltering there. And eight organizations say this is also a nightmare scenario for them as well, because the area that Israel told people to evacuate from in Rafah is where Gaza's main crossing with Egypt is. Now, this is a gateway for people to leave Gaza, but also for aid organizations to have their staff enter and for aid to enter Gaza. And it is now sealed at a time when people are dying of hunger. So this is why we heard like the International Rescue Committee saying, for example, this is as bad as it gets. And there's also the question of where do people in Rafah go? You know, aid groups on the ground running field hospitals and aid distribution say the areas people were told to flee to by the Israeli military are uninhabitable and don't have vital services or

even shelter. And so I think right now, it's just unclear to us how far Israel's military really intends to push into Rafah. That is NPR's Ea Bertrami. Ea, thank you. Thanks so much, Michelle. It's Inauguration Day in Russia, and there is a familiar face in the spotlight. Russian President Vladimir Putin taking the oath of office for the fifth time at the Kremlin. At the end of this term, he will have been in power longer than Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. NPR Russian correspondent Charles Mains is on the line with us from Moscow to tell us more. Good morning, Charles.

Good morning. So given the war in Ukraine, how would you describe, I guess, what I would call the state of the country as Putin hits this milestone? Good morning. The economy, culture, media, education, they all now serve the war effort, which is increasingly framed not as a battle with Ukraine, but with what Putin calls the collective West. And that fight also extends to value systems. Putin presents Russia as a global leader in defending so-called traditional values from Western liberal propaganda of LGBTQ plus rights in particular. That's in his view. And these days, Russia is a drastically more repressive society. Public space for dissenting views has disappeared completely, enforced by a rash of new laws that criminalize public criticism of the government or the war effort. And so most who disagree with the president are either in exile, jail, or silenced

out of fear of persecution. And I think people will remember that Putin's probably best known critic, Alexei Navalny, died in jail just before the election. Does that mean that Putin faces no challenges at all? Well, you know, Putin's hold over political life here is arguably never been stronger. And yet the decision to invade Ukraine has upended Putin's reputation for providing stability to Russians following the collapse of the Soviet Union. So instead, we have now tens of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians dead, relations with the West in tatters. And, you know, this wasn't something that the public was clamoring for, at least not outright. And some observers argue this points to the inherent fragility of today's Russia. There's a powerful president in Vladimir Putin, but no institutions to check him. And, you know, I recently spoke with

Maxim Samorukov. He's a fellow with the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, who argues that as long as the country is built around the whims of one man, Russia will always remain one potential step away from collapse. It's not that some external enemy, external opponents or domestic opponents threatening the existence of Putin's regime, but rather Putin himself because of his self-defeating decisions, because of his propensity to make moves that create problems for the survival of his system. Do we have any idea of what Putin's objectives are now, how he's going to use that system in this fifth term. Well, Putin's vowed to fulfill Moscow's goals in Ukraine. The question is what that might entail, for example, more mobilization or higher taxes. Putin's also promised a slew of social programs,

suggesting he thinks that Russia can do it all, you know, despite the cost of the war and Western sanctions. But Putin's real focus has often been on bigger forces at play. He argues this is a pivotal moment when the world is realigning into a new order with Russia at the forefront. And in that sense, some like Samarukov, the Carnegie analyst, argue Putin, healthy but age 71, is in a race against time. He's a man in a hurry. He's now in the pantheon of longest-serving Russian leaders, certainly in the modern era, at a quarter century and counting. But it would seem he has a lot still to do to achieve his greater mission, which is to reestablish some form of the Russian Empire and reverse the outcomes of the Cold War. That is NPR's Charles Maines in Moscow. Charles, thank you. Thank you.

The House of Representatives could vote today on whether to oust the Speaker. Second time that's happened lately. Last year, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy lost his job. In a divided House, just a few Republicans voted against him. But that was enough, because Democrats did not save him. Now an even more closely divided House votes on Speaker Mike Johnson. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene is leading this effort, but this time Democrats appear ready to help the Speaker if he needs it.

NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt will be following whatever happens. And she's on the line. Good morning. Good morning. Okay, let's just remember, under the current rules, any one lawmaker can start this process. Greene is the latest to try it. Why? Well, this all started because she was angry about the way Johnson handled a set of six appropriations bills for this year. That package passed in the House with more Democratic support than Republican support. And then the same thing happened with the foreign aid package, including money for Ukraine,

something that she and others in the conference oppose. She's been raising money off of this effort to potentially oust the speaker. It's been getting lots of attention. Here she is last week. She said House Republicans need a leader who will support Donald Trump's agenda. Not working for Hakeem Jeffries, not working for Joe Biden, and not going to be twisted and lulled into continuing the disgusting practices of Washington, D.C. For those who don't follow this every day, Hakeem Jeffries is the House Democratic leader. And, of course, he's a factor here, by the way. So how is Speaker Johnson responding to this threat?

Well, leading up to this week, he'd been saying he's not focused on this, he's got a job to do, that the overall effort is bad for Republicans and for the Republican Party. Yesterday, after emerging from a long meeting with Greene and Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey, who's co-sponsoring this motion of Greene's, Johnson said he understands their frustration that the conference isn't advancing more conservative policy. The reality is we are working with the smallest majority in U.S. history with a one vote margin. It makes it very difficult for us to, using my football metaphor, as I often do, throw touchdown passes on every single play. He's making a case for what you do in divided government. You don't get everything. You get what you can and then you go on to the next election.

That's what Johnson is saying. So how does the threat to Johnson compare to last year's threat to his predecessor, McCarthy? Well, the math is a factor. Green just doesn't have the votes. Top House Democrats have already said they'll support a motion to basically set all of this aside, a motion to table. It would avoid a situation where members stand on the floor and directly cast their votes to remove or keep Johnson. And I've talked to Republican members who are pretty upset with the Speaker's choices so far, but they still say that removing him as Speaker would be a mistake. They say it's unproductive. They don't want to relive the chaos of trying to elect another Speaker. And of course, it's an

election year. They worry it doesn't look good for the party to be mired in this sort of infighting just months before people go to the polls. And, you know, not to mention there's no clear successor for Johnson. Of course, if Democrats do save his job, it sort of boosts Greene's claims that he's operating far too closely with Democrats. Is Greene going to go through with this if she doesn't have the numbers? We'll find out later today. Last week, she insisted she was done waiting and would move ahead this week. But she met with Johnson yesterday for about two hours. When she came out, she gave very brief remarks and basically said, we had a nice chat, long chat. We'll have

another one today. We just had a nice chat with NPR's Barbara Sprunt. Thanks so much. Thanks for having me. And finally today, some universities are changing their commencement plans because of the student protests against the war in Gaza. At least two universities, Columbia and USC, canceled the main graduation ceremonies, although USC is throwing a party on the football field instead. Emory University in Atlanta plans to hold its main commencement ceremony off campus, and some other colleges are adding extra security. Issa Johnson is about to graduate with a degree in journalism from USC. She also missed her high school graduation in 2020 because of COVID.

She says a lot of her classmates are upset. They're kind of just like, you know, I want a normal graduation. I just wish things could be normal on campus. University of Virginia senior Charlie Burns also did not have a high school graduation in 2020. So any kind of disruption to my college graduation, especially my grandparents are visiting from Kansas City, that would be a huge bummer. The schools that have canceled their main commencement plan to focus on smaller ceremonies where students are able to walk on stage to accept their diplomas. And that's up first for Tuesday, May 7th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Consider listening to Consider This from NPR News.

Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, blamed outside agitators for protests at Columbia University. That's a term people have used for decades, but who are the outside agitators and what purpose does the label serve? Listen to consider this. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Vincent Nee, Nick Spicer, Kelsey Snell, Ben Adler, Lisa Thompson, and Alice Wilfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams, and Katie Klein. We get engineering support from Phil Edfors

and our technical director is Stacey Abbott. Join us again tomorrow.