Up First from NPR - Trump Protective Order, Niger Coup, Ukraine Talks In Saudi Arabia

Episode Date: August 7, 2023

Donald Trump's attorneys have until Monday evening to respond to a request for a protective order against him. Niger's coup leaders close the country's airspace. Ukraine calls Jeddah talks productive.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 Dana Farrington, Ally Schweitzer, Michael Sullivan, and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Mansee Khurana, Kaity Kline, Claire Murashima, and Lilly Quiroz. Our technical director is Stacey Abbott, with engineering support from Caleigh Strange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Donald Trump's lawyers face a deadline today. They have to answer a demand for a protective order. Prosecutors asked a judge to block Trump from talking publicly about the evidence he sees while preparing for trial. I'm Steve Inskeep with Sarah McCammon, and this is Up First from NPR News. Leaders of a coup let a deadline pass in Niger. Neighboring nations told the military rulers to reinstate their ousted president or face intervention. Instead, the military rulers closed Niger's airspace. So how serious is the threat to act against them?

Also, Ukraine's president makes a pitch for global support. Volodymyr Zelensky appeared at a conference in Saudi Arabia that 40 nations attended. What could they do to influence Russia to make peace? Stay with us. We've got 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.

Former President Donald Trump's lawyers have until 5 p.m. today to respond to a request from prosecutors. Yeah, the prosecutors want a protective order. They have to share evidence with the defendant as he prepares for a conspiracy trial for trying to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. What they don't want is Trump spreading sensitive information in speeches or on social media. Franco Ordonez covers Trump and the White House and has been covering all of this. Hi, Franco. Hey, Sarah. So first, what does a protective order mean in this case?

Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like what Steve said. I mean, the order specifically seeks to stop Trump from sharing protected info and his legal team. We're talking about things like grand jury testimony, info about witnesses. And how is Trump's team responding to all of this? Well, I mean, the two sides were trading legal barbs over the weekend, and it's pretty common in criminal cases to keep sensitive information under wraps. But Trump's attorney, John Lauro, said on CNN that they will fight the order. The press and the American people in a campaign season have a right to know what the evidence is

in this case, provided that this evidence is not protected otherwise. Sarah, though, prosecutors do have a lot of concerns. I mean, they say Trump has already made public statements about judges and attorneys in the case, and they worry that sharing more info could have a, quote, chilling effect on witnesses or impact justice being carried out in the case fairly. So they're trying to keep Trump quiet. You know, in making this request, prosecutors have noted a truth social post that Trump shared on Friday where he said, if you go after me, I'm coming after you. Franco, how does that play into all this? I mean, it shows that Trump is not afraid to attack his opponents. He's got a huge megaphone

and he has no hesitation of using it. And it's tricky for prosecutors, and it shows how extraordinary this case is. Considering the highly sensitive nature of what's at stake, prosecutors are worried. And there really is so much unpredictability. And we should remember that the whole classified documents case, the other case, is based on alleged indiscretion of national secrets. Now, one of the key figures, and I think one of the really interesting figures in all of this, of course, is former Vice President Mike Pence, who, as we know, is also running for president. What's he been saying about this case? Yeah, a number of the Republican candidates have been careful about not wanting to alienate Trump's base. But on this issue, January 6th, Pence has been talking tough and casting himself as defending the Constitution. Here he is on CBS's Face the Nation.

Our Constitution is more important than any one man, and our country is more important than any one man's career. And, you know, I'm running because not just I kept faith in the Constitution every day for those four years, but also because this country's in a lot of trouble. You know, at the same time, though, he's also claiming that the Justice Department is politicized. You know, Pence has yet to qualify for the upcoming Republican debate. So he really needs to make some bold moves if he wants to get up on that stage. So that might be some of this. Right. And we're expecting a more formal response from Trump's legal team today.

Do we expect them to drag this out? I mean, the goal for Trump's team from the start has been delay, delay, delay. And they do want to stretch this out as long as possible, possibly until after the 2024 election. But the special counsel, Jack Smith, wants a trial as soon as possible. I really expect to see this kind of push and pull over the pace of the case to be really a centerpiece of this going forward. That's Franco Ordonez, who covers Trump and the White House. Thanks so much, Franco. Thank you, Sarah. Diplomatic efforts to reverse a coup in the West African nation of Niger have yet to work. The group of West African nations called ECOWAS gave coup leaders a choice.

They could release and reinstate their president or face military intervention. Instead, Niger's military vowed to defend themselves from any attack. And now a country that was a U.S. ally until the other day has cut diplomatic ties with the U.S. and other countries. We're joined now by NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu, who's in Lagos. Hi, good morning. So, Emmanuel, the deadline has passed. Are we likely to see a military intervention now? Well, it's possible. You know, in intervention plans, they've been laid out, but it's less and less likely.

You know, this ultimatum, it was meant to show Niger that West African leaders wouldn't let this happen like it had with other coups in the recent past, in the last few years. And it was meant to pressure the junta to make concessions. But it's backed Niger's military leaders into a corner now, and they've come out swinging. You know, they've cut diplomatic ties with Nigeria, the US, France. They've quickly aligned with military leaders in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea. You know, these are three countries in West Africa that have had military takeovers. In Mali and Burkina Faso, have actually vowed to come to Niger's defense. These militaries are altogether far smaller than the intervening countries. But, you know, it's raised the stakes that this could spark a regional conflict. You know, yesterday, tens of thousands of people showed up at a rally

in support of the coup in Niamey, in the capital of Niger. And at other protests, we've seen chants against ECOWAS, you know, the bloc of West African countries, Nigeria, and of course, the former colonial ruler, France. And, you know, these protests, it doesn't reflect how the entire country feels about the coup, but it does show that for some, there is this sense that the country's under siege, and they're responding to that defiantly. Many countries like the U.S. are clearly desperate for the coup to be reversed. What are the other options on the table to try to release the president and restore the government? Well, there are still some channels of communication and diplomatic levers to pull. You know, these are ongoing. But what we've seen so far is the junta have responded quite negatively to any actions it views as a threat. You know,

a contingent of officials from Nigeria and ECOWAS, they weren't even able to meet the General Abdurrahman Chiani. He's the self-declared leader. And they weren't able to meet President Mohamed Bazoum, who's still being held at his residence. And Nigeria's cut electricity supply to Niger, and that's caused blackouts. And France and other countries have cut aid, and that aid makes up about 40% of Niger's budget. But there's a fear that these triggers, these actions, they can actually fuel more anger at these foreign countries rather than the military leaders themselves. And of course, fuel poverty in Niger, which is one of the world's poorest countries.

Now, Niger is just the latest African country to suffer a coup. How does this affect the region and democracy more broadly? You know, Niger is this large country, mainly poor, landlocked between several fragile states like Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso. And overall, Islamist insurgencies in this region are on the rise. It's a desert, arid region, you know, where large parts are overwhelmed by terrorist groups, armed groups and the impact of climate change. You know it's a really fragile fraught region and these crises they've displaced millions of people you know caused some of the worst humanitarian crises in the world

and the US, France and other countries they've poured in more and more support into the Sahel and recently in particular to Niger over the last decade. You know, Niger has really become one of the last main allies of the West in this region. But the impact of that support is now causing reflection. And the fear is that this coup could actually set back the country and this wider region even more. NPR's Emmanuel Akinmoutou in Lagos, thanks so much for your time. Thank you. How might the war in Ukraine come to an end? Representatives of about 40 countries met in Saudi Arabia this weekend to talk about that. Those attending included diplomats from the United States and the European Union,

as well as India and China, but not Russia, of course. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says he wants the talks to lead to a peace summit this fall. Joining us now to talk about those talks and much more from Kyiv is NPR's Joanna Kakisis. Hi, Joanna. Hello, Sarah. So, Joanna, what did Ukraine get out of these talks? So, for the Ukrainians, these talks were about trying to convince countries that are on the fence about this war to be their friends. And we're talking about the countries that Steve mentioned earlier, like India and China, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt. These countries have been careful to stay neutral because they don't want to anger Russia or the Western allies supporting Ukraine. But these fence-sitters all pretty much showed up for this conference in Jeddah this weekend, and they heard President Zelensky's 10-point peace formula

when he's been shopping around the world. This formula includes the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukrainian land, the release of all political prisoners and deportees, including children deported to Russia without their families, and for a tribunal to investigate what the Ukrainians say are tens of thousands of alleged Russian war crimes. Joanna, these talks happened without Russia, of course, the country that invaded Ukraine and has waged war there for 18 months. How can you have any kind of peace settlement without them? Yeah, that is the challenge, isn't it? Russia maintains that it is open to peace talks, but on its terms, which means that Ukraine must accept, quote, the new reality of its borders.

Russia has illegally annexed the Ukrainian land it invaded and currently occupies, and claims this land is part of Russia now. Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Ukraine is historically part of Russia's sphere of influence. So it goes without saying that the Kremlin will not support Zelensky's peace plan. And remember, Putin held talks about a week ago with African nations in his own quest to secure friends, just like Ukraine tried to do this weekend with those fence sitsitters I mentioned earlier. In a video address to Ukrainians, President Zelensky said, perhaps too optimistically, that these countries may have different perspectives, but are united by one thing.

Everyone is united by the idea that international law must be a priority. And that's why Ukraine proposed this peace formula, because the international rules-based order violated by Russian aggression must be restored. The problem is not everyone agrees on interpretations of international law or what this rules-based order should look like. And so what happens next? Are we expecting more talks? Well, the Ukrainians hope so, that's for sure. They say they're happy with what happened this weekend in Jeddah. And even though nothing concrete came out of this meeting,

the hosts, the Saudis, said in their closing statement that it's important to try to build common ground and pave the way for peace. Remember, this meeting was also an opportunity for the Saudis to raise their diplomatic profile internationally, while at the same time trying not to anger Russia. And there are expected to be more meetings just like this one, perhaps as early as this fall. NPR's Joanna Kakissas, thank you so much. You're welcome. And that's Up First for Monday, August 7th. I'm Sarah McCammon.

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Up First is produced by Mansi Khurana, Claire Murashima, and Lily Quiroz. Our editors are Dana Farrington, Ali Schweitzer, Michael Sullivan, and Alice Wolfley. Our technical director is Stacey Abbott with engineering support from Carly Strange. Join us tomorrow. Thanks for listening to Up First. You can find more in-depth coverage of the stories we talked about today and much more on NPR's Morning Edition,

the radio show I sometimes host with Layla Fadal, Steve Inskeep, Michelle Martin, and A. Martinez. Find Morning Edition and your NPR station at stations.npr.org.