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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Girls who say they have been victimized by Jeffrey Epstein need the federal government to launch extra details about the convicted intercourse offender.
LISA PHILLIPS: It is a human rights difficulty, you recognize, to get justice.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
What do they hope to be taught?
MARTIN: I am Michel Martin. That is Steve Inskeep, and that is UP FIRST from NPR Information.
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MARTIN: The Trump household’s cryptocurrency is now publicly traded. The launch added $5 billion to the Trump household wealth. Why would folks make investments a lot?
ROSS DELSTON: Is that this the sort of cash that anyone desirous to affect the president would wish to put money into? Completely.
INSKEEP: Additionally, China held a army parade to mark the eightieth anniversary of the top of World Struggle II. That allowed China, reasonably than America, to pose as a defender of the post-World Struggle II order. Stick with us. We have the information it’s essential begin your day.
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MARTIN: At this time, President Trump faces one other new story he’d desire to not hear.
INSKEEP: The president spent a part of yesterday dismissing questions on a decline in his well being, saying he was, quote, “very lively.” At this time, some members of Congress try to power a vote to make the Trump administration launch the Epstein information. Trump’s Justice Division first promised to launch extra details about the convicted intercourse offender after which abruptly stated, transfer alongside. Nothing to see right here. A number of the girls that Epstein victimized deliberate to seem on the Capitol in the present day, and one in all them, Lisa Phillips, spoke with NPR.
PHILLIPS: I imply, for me, it is not a political difficulty or one aspect or the opposite. It is only a human rights difficulty, you recognize, to get justice.
MARTIN: NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro is with us now to inform us extra about all this. Good morning, Domenico.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So clarify what these lawmakers try to do.
MONTANARO: Effectively, the 2 members of Congress who’re on the heart of this effort are Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democrat Ro Khanna of California. Massie filed what’s generally known as a discharge petition on Tuesday. That is a procedural maneuver to try to get round management and power a vote. They want 218 Home members to signal it and power that vote. It might nonetheless have to cross the Senate, although, so this would not power a launch by itself. However proponents hope that this’ll ramp up political stress on the administration to do extra. To an extent, it is already having an impact. I imply, after the petition was filed, the Republican-controlled Home Oversight Committee launched some 30,000 extra pages of paperwork associated to the investigation, however lots of that info is already public. It isn’t new. And people in favor of the discharge – of extra launch – are saying, do not be fooled by that.
MARTIN: So what precisely do these calling for the complete launch of the information need or anticipate finding?
MONTANARO: Effectively, I wish to spotlight how Ro Khanna describes what this effort and discharge petition are about right here on Morning Version on Tuesday.
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RO KHANNA: The petition is about restoring belief in authorities. It protects victims’ identification. It is merely calling for the discharge of the entire Epstein information to carry wealthy and highly effective males who abused underage ladies accountable.
MONTANARO: , greater than this being about particular person males who’re Democrats or Republicans, that is seen as a query of who has energy, cash and affect and the way it’s used or abused. Very hardly ever have we ever seen Congress actually contain itself within the Division of Justice and its investigations fairly on this manner.
MARTIN: what? We do not wish to low cost the truth that there are younger girls right here who skilled one thing horrible, OK? However how a lot of this stress is basically about political alternative?
MONTANARO: Yeah, all the pieces in Washington has some tinge of politics, proper? So, you recognize, I take Khanna at his phrase that he desires full accountability and is advocating for victims. However politically, a day that is targeted on Epstein is a day that’s possible extra useful than to not Democrats. I imply, it is an irritant for Trump, particularly since he is had a longtime friendship with Epstein. The White Home says Trump and Epstein had a falling-out within the early 2000s as a result of Epstein was, quote, “being a creep.” Different reporting has stated it was over a property dispute. Nonetheless, there’s lots we do not find out about their relationship. The affiliation is definitely one thing Democrats, although, do not thoughts reminding folks about. And polling has proven large majorities of individuals do not assume the federal government is being clear sufficient and disapprove of how Trump is dealing with this.
MARTIN: Are you able to say extra about that polling very briefly? Is that this one thing that is resonating with voters?
MONTANARO: , it is onerous to say that that is going to be one thing that elements into folks’s minds extra so than, say, costs, crime or immigration. However that is to not say it does not matter to folks. It is one of many uncommon areas the place we have seen some splits with people who find themselves key in Trump’s base.
MARTIN: That’s NPR’s Domenico Montanaro. Domenico, thanks.
MONTANARO: You are welcome.
INSKEEP: We’re additionally following this story – a federal choose in California dominated that President Trump’s use of the Nationwide Guard in Los Angeles this previous summer season was unlawful.
MARTIN: Trump deployed about 4,000 Guard troops to confront anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests within the metropolis. Round 300 troops are nonetheless there. They did issues like arrange site visitors blockades, which the choose stated violates a prohibition on the army taking up a legislation enforcement function.
INSKEEP: The president has since deployed the Nationwide Guard in Washington, D.C. And on Tuesday, he vowed to ship troops to Baltimore and Chicago, though he didn’t give any particulars about when.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’re moving into. I did not say once we’re moving into. Once you lose – look, I’ve an obligation. This is not a political factor.
MARTIN: At a press convention, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, stated it’s about politics.
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JB PRITZKER: We all know earlier than something has occurred right here that the Trump plan is to make use of any excuse to deploy armed army personnel to Chicago.
MARTIN: The California ruling simply applies to California, and the administration has till September 12 to enchantment.
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INSKEEP: President Trump’s household crypto enterprise seemingly made a fortune this week.
MARTIN: The cryptocurrency World Liberty Monetary, co-founded by the president and his sons, began buying and selling publicly on Monday. The launch added some $5 billion to the household’s wealth, no less than on paper.
INSKEEP: NPR monetary correspondent Maria Aspan has been following this story. Maria, good morning.
MARIA ASPAN, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: Stating the apparent, $5 billion feels like lots, however we stated $5 billion on paper. How is that this foreign money doing?
ASPAN: Certainly. President Trump and his household personal a giant stake in World Liberty Monetary. However apart from the theoretical increase to their wealth, the primary few days of buying and selling sort of fell flat. The brand new World Liberty Monetary crypto tokens are at the moment buying and selling at about 23 cents, which is down from the excessive of over 30 cents after their launch on Monday. The corporate has additionally stated that Trump and his sons are barred from promoting their very own tokens in the interim. So there’s not a right away payday for the Trumps. And even when they may promote, them promoting would in all probability drive down the value much more. All of that stated, this launch certain does create extra pathways for them to revenue from the crypto business, which, in fact, President Trump has embraced wholeheartedly.
INSKEEP: So that they’ve created this foreign money with Trump’s title on it. The household holds lots of the foreign money. So if folks exterior purchase the opposite foreign money, that drives up the value and drives up their wealth. I get that. What does it matter that the president of the US went into the crypto enterprise whereas additionally selling that exact same enterprise as president of the US?
ASPAN: Effectively, as you level out, it underlines the extraordinary diploma to which President Trump and his household are utilizing the Oval Workplace to revenue personally and the way a lot the crypto business is basically on the heart of that. I imply, you might recall, Steve, that only a few years in the past, Trump known as crypto a rip-off. Now he is embraced it. He is vowed to make the US the crypto capital of the world. He is loaded up his administration with crypto-friendly regulators, and he began crypto companies so he is able to revenue from these extra relaxed guidelines popping out of his authorities. All of this is the reason many authorities ethics and monetary consultants have raised alarms about conflicts of curiosity. I spoke about this with Ross Delston, who’s a lawyer and a former banking regulator on the Federal Deposit Insurance coverage Company.
DELSTON: Is that this the sort of cash that anyone desirous to affect the president, grow to be associates with the president, would wish to put money into? Completely. It was once you needed to be part of Mar-a-Lago. That is rather more enjoyable. You do not even need to get off the bed within the morning.
ASPAN: Delston additionally identified how upfront Trump has been about his enterprise pursuits, regardless of all of the considerations about conflicts of curiosity. The White Home has repeatedly stated there are not any such conflicts of curiosity, which a spokesperson once more advised NPR final night time.
INSKEEP: Acquired it. Are there any limits in place on what the president does?
ASPAN: As Delston advised me, there’s actually no federal regulator who appears more likely to name Trump out on any of this as a result of he controls them. Below the Biden administration, offers like this is able to have drawn lots of scrutiny from regulators just like the Securities and Trade Fee. However now the president has appointed lots of crypto-friendly folks to his administration. And, Steve, it is price declaring that it was that harder method on the SEC that gave Trump a chance to courtroom the crypto vote and their cash, and now he is within the place to form the principles, or the shortage of guidelines, for a enterprise the place he and his household stand to revenue.
INSKEEP: NPR’s Maria Aspan. Thanks for the reporting.
ASPAN: Thanks.
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INSKEEP: China held a army parade in the present day to mark the eightieth anniversary of the top of World Struggle II.
MARTIN: The nation flexed its army muscle tissue in a giant manner, but additionally diplomatic ones. It is the primary time because the top of the Chilly Struggle, greater than six a long time in the past, that the leaders of China, North Korea and Russia have met.
INSKEEP: NPR’s Anthony Kuhn joins us now from Seoul, South Korea, the place he is following this story. Hello there, Anthony.
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE: Hey, Steve.
INSKEEP: I used to be simply taking a look at some tv photographs of the parade. It seems like numerous tracked autos with missiles on them and so forth.
KUHN: That is proper. And China holds these parades on, for instance, nationwide days each decade or so, and there is a lot that is related about them. Beijing is blanketed in heavy safety. You see the army rolling its newest {hardware} by Tiananmen Sq.. I believe the defining picture this time was seeing Chinese language chief, Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean chief Kim Jong Un collectively watching this parade. The leaders of 26 nations have been there, most of them fairly intently aligned with China and Russia, comparable to Iran, Vietnam, Cuba, Belarus and Myanmar.
INSKEEP: Effectively, why would you select a commemoration of the top of World Struggle II to carry this parade and make this joint look with all these leaders?
KUHN: Effectively, Xi Jinping’s message was that China fought Japan from 1931 to 1945, longer than different international locations. China suffered 35 million folks killed and wounded within the battle. And because the winners in World Struggle II, they acquired to grow to be everlasting members of the U.N. Safety Council, they usually see themselves as co-founders with the U.S. of the post-war worldwide order, and they also deserve a serious say in it. Xi Jinping in contrast China’s World Struggle II battle for survival with the present day. Here is what he stated.
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PRESIDENT XI JINPING: (Talking Mandarin).
KUHN: At this time, he stated, “humanity as soon as once more faces the selection between peace or battle, dialogue or confrontation, a win-win or a zero-sum sport.” Now, Xi stated that China stands on the appropriate aspect of historical past at this important second, however he additionally stood with President Vladimir Putin, and partly for that cause, and Russia’s battle in Ukraine, western leaders largely stayed away from this occasion.
INSKEEP: I simply wish to remind folks, Anthony, of a number of the context right here. On the finish of World Struggle II, the US led the best way in establishing lots of world establishments, a U.S.-dominated post-war order that has endured in some methods ever since, however that we in the US have determined we do not like anymore. We’re bored with paying for it. We predict our personal allies are ripping us off and so forth. Is there a bigger message from China in that context, given this anniversary?
KUHN: Sure, Xi’s message ties in with this, and that message is that we are actually seeing historic adjustments, together with the rise of China and the decline of the U.S.-led post-war order. And this shift within the steadiness of energy is meant to assist China obtain its objectives of modernization and having a world-class army by the center of the twenty first century.
INSKEEP: Now, President Trump did remark about this. He had a sort of sarcastic tweet saying, ship my finest needs to Putin and Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, as you conspire in opposition to the US. Can we anticipate that these international locations will cooperate much more in opposition to the U.S.?
KUHN: We do not know that for certain. Xi, Kim and Putin are anticipated to carry bilateral conferences amongst themselves, however there is no trilateral assembly of those three nuclear-armed nations anticipated. The query is, will they’ve them sooner or later? In contrast to the U.S., South Korea and Japan, they do not have a trilateral workplace of their very own. They do not have three-way joint army drills but. However as you famous, President Trump is definitely involved about it.
INSKEEP: NPR’s Anthony Kuhn. Thanks a lot.
KUHN: Thanks, Steve.
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INSKEEP: And that is UP FIRST for this Wednesday, September 3. I am Steve Inskeep.
MARTIN: And I am Michel Martin. Your subsequent hear is Take into account This from NPR. At UP FIRST, we offer you three large tales of the day. Our Take into account This colleagues take a unique method – they dive right into a single information story and what it means to you in lower than quarter-hour. Pay attention now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
INSKEEP: At this time’s UP FIRST was edited by Megan Pratz, Rafael Nam, Ryland Barton, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. These names have been written on the display as I used to be speaking – simply in time supply of the credit. We get engineering help from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Carleigh Unusual. Be a part of us tomorrow.
I used to be going to really simply say it was produced by pod producer. I am Ron Burgundy.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
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