0:02

I am not afraid anymore. So why

0:04

should the administration be? Students

0:07

speak out about Gaza, Israel, and

0:09

one another. As the schools

0:11

they attend scramble to respond. I'm

0:13

Aisha Roscoe. I'm Scott Simon and this

0:15

is Up First from NPR News. Today

0:20

on the podcast, ongoing demonstrations on college

0:23

campuses across the country. We have the

0:25

latest. And the weekend

0:27

former President Trump's legal maneuvering, both

0:29

at his trial in New York

0:31

and at the Supreme Court, where

0:33

his attorneys took some extreme positions.

0:36

And the findings of an investigation

0:38

into a humanitarian group devoted to

0:40

Palestinians. The report concerns

0:42

one of two controversial claims

0:44

about UNRWA. Stay with us.

0:46

We've got the news you need to start your weekend. This

0:58

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for the million and one ways to

2:02

opt outside. First. Saturday

2:05

students protest on college campuses

2:07

across the country as schools

2:09

like Columbia University Jail and

2:12

Harvard demonstrations of solidarity with

2:14

the people of Gaza. Many.

2:17

Of these students have formed encampments, hundreds

2:19

of been arrested and viewers. Jasmine Garcia's

2:21

been covering the protest and joins us

2:23

from New York. Jasmine thanks for been

2:26

with us. Highs are please bring us

2:28

up to date and a worse situation

2:30

stance with Columbia University. Yeah,

2:32

I was there all day yesterday and

2:35

it's very calm.was in the case a

2:37

week ago when and Y P. D

2:39

got called in to disperse the encampment

2:42

and over a hundred students were arrested.

2:44

The President of Columbia Minutes Seek has

2:46

come under fire for calling the police

2:49

and many Columbia faculty members have condemned

2:51

the decision. Earlier this week I spoke

2:53

to. Professor Thomas whole week. The way

2:56

the university escalated by reaching immediately for

2:58

the nuclear option of police force has

3:00

attracted more radical elements that are not

3:03

part of our student protests community and

3:05

don't share the values of our students'

3:07

specific. Has descended her decision to send

3:10

in and Y P D, but she's

3:12

also acknowledged that it was ultimately in

3:14

fact. It says at the university is

3:16

focusing on negotiating with students. What?

3:18

About other campuses across the country. Or

3:21

protests have spread nationwide, with similar

3:23

demands that the university's disclose financial

3:25

ties to Israel and divest. Now,

3:28

it's really unprecedented. Here is that

3:30

while you expect this type of

3:32

activism at schools late, I don't

3:35

know, U C. Berkeley. the protests

3:37

have also moved into schools like

3:39

University of Southern California or Cal

3:42

Poly's which are not historically associated

3:44

with this kind of activism. A

3:46

couple schools have experienced similar aggressive

3:49

police response. There were over a

3:51

hundred arrests at the University of

3:53

Texas in Austin and the University

3:56

of Southern California. Emory University Student

3:58

Newspaper reported that the Atlanta Police

4:00

deployed gas into. A crowd

4:02

of protesters. There

4:05

have been charges of anti semitism

4:07

at some of these protests. were

4:09

did you find on campus so.

4:11

Yesterday at a press conference

4:13

hosted by Columbia Bernard hello

4:15

several pro Israel students expressed

4:17

fear and anger. Here's know

4:19

was say no in the

4:21

law. And.

4:26

Call for the back of my friends

4:28

and family. Since

4:30

you visit them. She

4:36

pointed out that one of the leaders

4:38

of the Columbia encampment in a social

4:41

media video called for the death As

4:43

Zionist, He's since apologize and been barred

4:45

from campus know. A few days ago

4:47

I also had a chance to sit

4:49

down with Sarah Boris. She's one of

4:52

the students who were arrested last week

4:54

at Columbia. she's been suspended. She can't

4:56

go back on campus. She herself is

4:58

Jewish and she's as the only thing

5:01

making her feel unsafe right now is

5:03

the heightened police presence. In

5:05

my capacity as a Jewish student,

5:07

I feel safe but not with

5:09

all of the militarization of I

5:11

have s. I don't think anyone

5:13

feels safe on our campus because

5:15

of the way that money should

5:17

seek and the administer a sense

5:20

have escalated the situation and which

5:22

she told me as see feals

5:24

protesting Israel's mass killings makes her

5:26

a better job. And graduations read

5:28

or on the corners and. Yes!

5:30

so the University of Southern

5:32

California has cancelled it's mean

5:34

graduation ceremony and speaking to

5:37

students from different colleges, I've

5:39

heard of speakers stepping down

5:41

venues cancelling It's going to

5:43

be a very different graduation

5:45

season. As for Columbia, they're

5:47

hoping to continue negotiating with

5:49

the students and getting.encampment. Cleared

5:51

in time for graduation on

5:54

May fourteenth. Encourages when dirt.

5:56

Thanks so much! Thanks for having me.

6:09

If we end up another busy

6:11

weekend, poor it, as a former

6:13

President, finds himself needing to mount

6:15

defenses on a number of fronts.

6:17

This week, a tabloid publisher told

6:20

a New York Juri about his

6:22

efforts to pay off people with

6:24

salacious stories about Donald Trump's before

6:26

the Twenty Sixteen election. And the

6:28

Us Supreme Court debated whether Trump's get

6:30

a legal shield for his actions pertaining

6:32

to the January Sixth Attack on the

6:34

Us Capitol and pair just as corresponded

6:37

Carrie Johnson. Following all of this carry

6:39

thanks so much for being with Us.

6:42

Good morning scan and was friggin' with the

6:44

Us Supreme court. how to read would happen

6:46

there. While the justices are

6:48

considering. Whether. Trump should enjoy absolute

6:50

immunity from criminal prosecutions. Would be

6:52

for his efforts to cling to

6:54

power after the Twenty Twenty election.

6:57

In Donald Trump's lawyer John Sour took

6:59

some heat this week for his extreme

7:02

positions. Things like are arguing Trump might

7:04

be able to use the military to

7:06

mount a coup attempt or to kill

7:09

a Trump arrival, but most of the

7:11

conservative justices seemed a lot more concerned

7:13

about playing a future presidents hands than

7:16

about violence at the Us Capitol on.

7:18

January Six Twenty Twenty One. Years

7:20

Justice Samuel Alito talking to the

7:22

government. Lawyer Michael Dream and presidents

7:25

have to make a lot of

7:27

tough decisions you know, policies and

7:29

a special and as a particularly

7:32

precarious position, making a mistake is

7:34

not what lands you in a

7:36

criminal prosecution. That's. What the government?

7:39

We're said. but others including the Chief

7:41

Justice John Roberts, really seem worried about

7:43

prosecutors counting the future presidents, even though

7:45

the lawyer for the Justice Department said

7:48

the country hasn't faced these kinds of

7:50

question. Since Richard Nixon, oh, that was

7:52

the view from conservatives are in the

7:54

high court ordered some of the board

7:56

liberal justices. Justice Elena Kagan

7:58

said the sounders. really knew how

8:01

to write immunity for the president into

8:03

the Constitution, but that they had decided

8:05

not to do that because they didn't

8:08

want some kind of all-powerful monarch. Justice

8:11

Katanji Brown Jackson said she feared

8:13

giving a president too much power,

8:15

giving him a get-out-of-jail-free card. Here's

8:18

more from Justice Jackson. I'm trying

8:20

to understand what the disincentive is

8:22

from turning the Oval Office into

8:25

the seat of

8:28

criminal activity in this country. And

8:30

she also tried to focus the court

8:32

on the specific allegations against Donald Trump,

8:35

who's charged with subverting the will of

8:37

voters while he's running to return to

8:40

the White House this year. Trump, of course, has pleaded

8:42

not guilty. But the

8:44

Supreme Court ultimately decides, and

8:46

when, could make or break that federal

8:48

January 6 case against Donald Trump. Kerry,

8:52

can you venture any inferences from the question

8:54

you heard this week? It's

8:56

always dangerous, but it seemed like at

8:58

least four of the conservative justices wanted

9:01

to give the president some protection

9:03

from criminal prosecution. And they

9:05

may want to draw some lines between actions

9:08

that a president takes as a part of

9:10

his job and ones that are simply personal.

9:13

Now, that kind of opinion could take

9:15

a long time to write, especially if

9:17

the justices want to send the case

9:19

back to the lower courts for more

9:21

fact-finding. The chances for a trial

9:23

in Washington, D.C. for Donald Trump before

9:25

the November election now seem

9:27

pretty slim to none. Donald

9:30

Trump couldn't make his own Supreme Court case because, of

9:32

course, he had to be in New York for his

9:34

criminal trial. That jury

9:36

in Manhattan has been hearing evidence in the case

9:38

about accounting for hush money payments.

9:41

What did they hear? Jurors heard from

9:43

the first witness from the district attorney.

9:45

That would be former National Inquirer publisher

9:48

David Becker. He described himself

9:50

as a longtime friend to Trump, but

9:52

he offered some pretty damaging testimony. He

9:54

said he knew about or took part

9:56

in payoffs to people who had stories

9:58

to sell about Trump's personal baby. Before

10:00

the 2016 election, David Packer said

10:03

Trump was not worried about his family

10:05

finding out, but he

10:07

was worried about his political standing if

10:09

stories about his alleged womanizing got published.

10:13

Trump's lawyers tried to suggest Packer was acting

10:15

to benefit his own company, not Trump. Kerry, what

10:17

are you going to be watching for this week? This

10:20

week, the judge in New York, Juan Marchón,

10:22

is considering whether Donald Trump should be

10:24

fined for repeatedly violating a

10:26

gag order and verbally attacking potential

10:29

witnesses in the case. Right now,

10:31

a money penalty seems to be on

10:33

the table, but if Donald Trump does

10:35

not stop posting negative information about his

10:37

former lawyer Michael Cohen, this

10:39

judge may have to consider harsher measures.

10:42

And, Paris Kerry-Johnson, thanks so much. My

10:44

pleasure. Finally

11:02

today, an independent review says that

11:04

Israel has not provided evidence to

11:06

support its accusation that a significant

11:08

number of employees of a

11:10

U.N. relief agency in the Gaza Strip

11:13

are members of Hamas, the Palestinian militant

11:15

group that attacked Israel last October. That

11:19

agency is UNRWA, officially the United

11:21

Nations Relief and Works Agency for

11:23

Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

11:26

And the accusation led to a

11:29

loss of vital international funding at

11:31

a time when Gaza is on

11:33

the brink of famine. NPR International

11:35

Affairs correspondent Jackie Northam has been

11:37

following the details of this story and joins us

11:39

now. Hi, Jackie. Good morning, Ayesha. So,

11:43

first of all, can you tell us a

11:45

few more details about this review? Well,

11:47

it was led by former French

11:49

Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, and she

11:52

was charged with looking into whether

11:54

UNRWA was ensuring that there was

11:56

no complicity with Hamas. And the

11:59

review started in late January. January,

12:01

after Israel made accusations of terrorist

12:03

links among UNRWA employees. And

12:05

after that, more than a dozen international

12:08

donors, including the U.S., suspended about $450

12:10

million in funding. And

12:12

you know, that's money that's desperately needed right

12:15

now. UNRWA is the main

12:17

agency in Gaza, providing aid and

12:19

social services. And these are critical

12:21

at this moment when there are

12:24

dire shortages of food and water

12:26

and sanitary conditions because

12:28

of the Israeli military

12:30

campaign. And some countries

12:32

have restored funding. Germany most recently following

12:35

this latest report. But, you know, Congress

12:37

has suspended U.S. financial support until at

12:40

least March 2025. So

12:43

late January until this week,

12:45

this review took about nine

12:48

weeks. What are

12:50

some of the key findings? Well,

12:52

the review found that, in fact, UNRWA was

12:54

doing everything in its power to ensure its

12:57

neutrality. However, it also

13:00

found some employees had expressed political

13:02

views and said critical

13:04

breaches of neutrality could include the

13:06

discovery of weapons and tunnels, which

13:09

the agency always protests. I

13:11

spoke with William Duddy, and he

13:13

has UNRWA's Washington representative office, and

13:15

he felt that the report was

13:18

fair and balanced. Here he is

13:20

here. And Mr.

13:22

Colonna said, you know, confirmed that we

13:24

actually have procedures and mechanisms in

13:27

place to address neutrality better than any

13:29

other UN agency or NGO. And that's,

13:32

as she noted, because of politically challenging

13:34

part of the world in which we

13:36

operate. But like anyone, you can do

13:38

better. And hence the recommendations that she

13:41

included in the report. You

13:43

know, some of the recommendations include

13:45

better training and more robust screening

13:47

of employees. You Know, until

13:49

just recently, Israel received lists of

13:51

UNRWA employees, but without Palestinian identification

13:54

numbers. And Then in March, the

13:56

list did have ID numbers. And

13:58

That's when Israel said... A

14:00

significant number of employees were members

14:03

of terrorist organization, but you know

14:05

you shut. The report said Israel

14:07

has yet to provide supporting evidence

14:09

of that Israel. For it's part

14:11

dismiss the findings of the review

14:13

saying it doesn't deal with that

14:16

quote scope of the masses infiltration

14:18

into unrest. Now this is just

14:20

the first have to you in

14:22

commission reports on on Ruff what

14:24

about the other one right? So

14:26

the under Investigation is looking at

14:28

Israel's claims. That about a

14:31

dozen Unwra employs actually took part

14:33

in the October Seventh Attack on

14:35

Israel that killed about twelve hundred

14:37

people. It's been conducted by the

14:40

Un Office of Internal Oversight Services

14:42

and you shortly after Israel made

14:44

those accusations own was terminated the

14:46

contracts of ten of those workers

14:49

another to were confirmed dead by

14:51

no word yet on when that

14:53

reporters do Npr secularism jackets and

14:55

kisses. And youth. And

15:01

that's a first for Saturday. April

15:04

Twenty Seventh Twenty Twenty Four, I'm

15:06

Scott. Science in I'm Ice Roscoe

15:08

Danny Handful produced at a podcast

15:10

for help from Martin Patients and

15:12

Fernando North Michael Redd with direct.

15:15

And Ed Mcnulty edited along

15:17

with President Polymer. James

15:19

Hider and Catherine or technical

15:21

director is on a glove

15:24

with engineering supports curvy, strange

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highness and should be top

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secret. Easy. Stone is our

15:30

senior supervising editor. Sarah Oliver's.

15:33

The Producers Gym Kane is

15:35

our deputy managing editor. Tomorrow.

15:38

And up first the promise

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and peril of Solar Geo

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Engineering. And this weekend on

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weekend edition. ransom we're in

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