LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The spotlight in the presidential race has shifted away from Donald Trump lately, which doesn't happen too often. Yesterday he had a chance to take it back when he appeared at a convention for Black journalists. He used the moment to mock Vice President Kamala Harris' racial identity.
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DONALD TRUMP: She was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black. So I don't know. Is she Indian or is she Black?
RACHEL SCOTT: She has always identified as a Black woman.
FADEL: Harris went to a historically Black university and has always identified as both Black and Indian American. NPR's Franco Ordoñez was listening in from Pennsylvania, where Trump held a rally last night, and he joins us now. Good morning, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: OK, I mean, we should mention the fact that Trump was even invited to speak to the National Association of Black Journalists was controversial - right? - because of things he's said and done. Tell us more about the event.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, it was very controversial, the invite. And, frankly, right off the bat, he sparred with ABC's Rachel Scott, who was one of the moderators. She said she wanted to address the, quote, "elephant in the room." And then asked him pretty directly why Black voters should trust him when he's used words like animal to describe Black district attorneys and told Black elected officials to, quote, "go back to where they came from."
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TRUMP: First of all, I don't think I've ever been asked a question so - in such a horrible manner, a first question.
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TRUMP: You don't even say hello, how are you?
ORDOÑEZ: He was also asked if he agreed with some Republicans who have called Harris a, quote, "DEI hire." Here's more of what he said.
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TRUMP: I respect either one. But she obviously doesn't because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she became a Black person.
SCOTT: Just to be clear, sir, do you believe...
ORDOÑEZ: I mean, it was really kind of nuts all the time. I mean, the event started late, it was cut short. And I'll just add that Trump has a history of promoting racist birther conspiracy theories targeting Harris, and even before her, former President Barack Obama.
FADEL: Right. And what he's saying there isn't actually true, as we pointed out. She's always been clear about her identity. Have we heard a response from the vice president?
ORDOÑEZ: Yes, we did. And she was speaking to a conference, addressed this while speaking at a historically Black sorority in Houston.
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VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: It was the same old show, the divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say, the American people deserve better.
ORDOÑEZ: She said Trump's comments were yet another reminder of what his presidency was like.
FADEL: So beyond the remarks about Harris, as well as calling Rachel Scott - the ABC moderator, the reporter - a nasty woman, that woman, did he have a broader message for the group?
ORDOÑEZ: I mean, he talked about jobs and the economy. He claimed to be the best president for Black people since Abraham Lincoln. He talked about the border, and he appeared to be trying to pit immigrant workers against Black workers. But even that message itself got overtaken by Trump's comments about Harris.
FADEL: Now, you were at Trump's rally in Harrisburg last night, the first rally in Pennsylvania since the attempted assassination, I should say. Did he continue to question Harris' background or address it in any way?
ORDOÑEZ: You know, he doesn't typically, you know, back down from controversy.
FADEL: Right.
ORDOÑEZ: But he didn't bring it back up. But he did certainly continue to attack Harris, called her names, including lunatic. And again, this is the kind of comments that he has a history of doing. And, really, as a result of all this, you know, this is what we're talking about instead of immigration, which is what - something might help him with voters.
FADEL: Franco, thanks so much for the reporting.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Leila.
FADEL: That's NPR's Franco Ordoñez.
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FADEL: The case against three of the alleged plotters of the 9/11 attacks has finally reached a conclusion.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The alleged mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, has spent nearly two decades in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, awaiting trial. Now, he and his two accomplices will plead guilty in exchange for an expected life sentence. By doing that, they'll avoid a death penalty trial. The settlement was announced by the Pentagon last night.
FADEL: NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer who's been covering the 9/11 case for years is here with us with the details. Good morning, Sacha.
SACHA PFEIFFER, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So tell us more about what this plea deal says.
PFEIFFER: So, Leila, you know that Guantanamo to the general public is largely a forgotten place.
FADEL: Yeah.
PFEIFFER: But in Guantanamo circles, this is a really big deal because the 9/11 case has been dragging on for 20 years. It's viewed as increasingly unlikely ever to go to trial, a massive legal morass, billions of dollars spent. So this brings partial closure to something that had been in total gridlock. So Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, KSM, as well as two co-defendants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, have said they will plead guilty to all charges against them. That includes conspiracy charges and the murder of nearly 3,000 people. Their exact sentences, the details, have not been disclosed yet. But we do know it means no more risk of a death penalty, and the likelihood that all three of them will spend the rest of their lives in prison.
FADEL: I mean, it's been 20 years. And why and how did this happen now?
PFEIFFER: The timing is really curious. The background is that settlement talks started a little over two years ago but had stalled because the Biden administration would not agree to some conditions, primarily no solitary confinement and the defendants wanted torture rehab. They were tortured by the CIA in these secret overseas black sites, they were called. There's a thought that maybe now that Biden's a lame-duck president, he might be doing these hard things on his way out the door. But the National Security Council issued a statement saying he had nothing to do with this decision.
The Pentagon might have been motivated by the possibility of a Trump presidency, because Trump would be very unlikely to agree to plea deals. Also, the 9/11 case had not been going well for prosecutors. They were getting heavy pushback on trying to introduce evidence gained through torture. And so they might've realized, we're not going to be able to take this to trial - let's settle. And people have been going back and forth to Cuba on this case for years. They simply might've gotten tired and realized it's time to try another path.
FADEL: Have you heard any reaction from family members of 9/11 victims?
PFEIFFER: Yes, I spoke to some who are just - they're celebrating, essentially.
FADEL: Yeah.
PFEIFFER: They thought a trial would never happen, that this was the only pragmatic way to resolve this. Others are disappointed. They really wanted to try to see the defendants pushed - or put to death. They also felt that by going to trial, there might be some secrets we don't yet know that might come out. But as a condition of the plea deal, the defendants do have to answer questions from victim family members about why they did what they did and what their roles were. So that information may come out.
FADEL: And where will they serve their sentences?
PFEIFFER: That is not known. There is a U.S. law that says Guantanamo prisoners cannot enter the United States for any reason, including to go into a supermax prison. That means, right now, Guantanamo is almost their only option, so they might remain there and die there.
FADEL: What happens to the other 9/11 defendants who have not pleaded guilty?
PFEIFFER: This case originally had five men. Last year, one of them was removed from the case because he was found mentally incompetent, so it's unclear how that case will proceed. The final man, whose name is Ammar al-Baluchi - I talked last night with one of his defense attorneys. She said he hasn't agreed to a deal because he wants it to include rehab for torture, medical treatment. And he wants a guarantee that the government cannot use evidence obtained through torture. But she did say they are still continuing settlement discussions.
FADEL: Sacha, you talk about Guantanamo Bay as this forgotten place, but there are still people there. Once these cases resolve, how many people are left?
PFEIFFER: After that, 30 men left, some of them are so-called forever prisoners, meaning they're being held without charge even though they've cleared for release and being held. So those cases still have to be resolved, all those men.
FADEL: That's NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer. Thank you, Sacha.
PFEIFFER: You're welcome, Leila.
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MARTÍNEZ: First Israel said it had killed a Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
FADEL: And then not 24 hours later came word of the killing of Hamas' top political leader in Iran. Three hundred days into the war in Gaza, many worry these assassinations may kill prospects of a cease-fire and could destabilize an already inflamed region.
MARTÍNEZ: Joining us is NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Tel Aviv. Hadeel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Israeli television last night. What'd he have to say?
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Well, first, nowhere in his speech did Netanyahu claim the airstrike in Tehran which killed Hamas' top political chief Ismail Haniyeh yesterday. But he also didn't deny it. But that's not so surprising. Israel rarely comments when it comes to attacks on Iran. In his speech, Netanyahu addressed the Israeli people, saying that, quote, "challenging days are ahead of us."
He started off in a similar way as he did when addressing Congress last week. He called Iran an axis of evil, and that Iran wanted to strangle Israel's neck with terror and missiles. He also thanked Israel's military and security community for their work in eliminating a top Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, in a strike in Beirut this week. Israel said Shukr was behind a strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, which killed 12 children and teens. Netanyahu also pointed out that he has not bowed to calls for him to end the war in Gaza and vowed not to listen to those voices, but that has kind of been his rhetoric throughout the war.
MARTÍNEZ: So we've heard what Iran has said, but is there any way to really know what Iran will actually do?
AL-SHALCHI: Iran has vowed revenge. And, truly, many of us here in Tel Aviv went to bed last night prepared for a possible night of bombing by Iran. Luckily, so far, it's quiet here. But, yeah, as you said, people are waiting to see how Iran reacts. The New York Times yesterday reported that Iran's supreme leader issued an order for Iran to strike Israel directly. But, you know, even if Iran chooses not to retaliate directly, it may do so through its powerful proxy groups in the region, including Hezbollah and Lebanon. There are two funerals are being held for Hamas' top political chief Ismail Haniyeh, today in Tehran and tomorrow in Doha, where he'll also be buried. And we'll be watching for what Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, says at Haniyeh's funeral today.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, and in the meantime, hanging in the balance, the fated negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza and also a hostage release. I mean, where do you think those go after the killing of Haniyeh?
AL-SHALCHI: I mean, truly, this remains to be seen. You know, Hamas may decide to halt for a bit and then regroup. But none of the sides have actually said they'll outright withdraw from the talks yet. You know, dangerous times bring people together, and Netanyahu has never been this popular among Israelis since the beginning of the war. So we'll see what that does to his position in the talks. From a U.S. perspective, they've been telling us that Haniyeh was actually not the person calling the shots anyway when it came to the talks. The guy in charge has always been Hamas' Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar. So, honestly, the next couple of days are going to be a bit uncertain, really not knowing where this cycle of violence might go next.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Tel Aviv. Thank you very much.
AL-SHALCHI: You're welcome.
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MARTÍNEZ: And last but not lease this morning, we've got another update from our team covering the Olympics.
JUANA SUMMERS, BYLINE: Good morning from Paris. This is Juana Summers. I'm one of the hosts of All Things Considered and part of the team that is bringing you all of the news from here at the Paris Olympics. It's Thursday, so here's the latest. As of this morning, Team USA is still in the lead in the medal count with 30 medals. Five of those are gold. The team picked up another gold last night when swimmer Katie Ledecky made history with that dominant performance in the 1,500-meter freestyle. I was in the crowd when Ledecky won her eighth career gold medal, finishing nearly 10 seconds ahead of the second-place competitor. It was incredible to watch.
There's a packed schedule here at the games today and a whole lot to get excited about. First up, it is a big day for gymnastics. The women's individual all-around finals are later today, and we're all looking to see what Simone Biles and Suni Lee can do. Biles was the 2016 champion in Brazil, and Lee won in Tokyo in 2021, if you remember, after Biles was sidelined. It is the first time two Olympic individual all-around champions will compete in the same all-round final. And back at the pool, Katie Ledecky will be back. She's competing in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay final. The U.S. took silver at that event in Tokyo, won gold in the two previous games. Excited to see what she and the team are going to do there.
But I'd also keep an eye on the 200-meter butterfly final. Canada's Summer McIntosh is the gold medal favorite. But U.S. swimmer Regan Smith, who picked up a silver medal earlier in the 100-meter backstroke, could give her a strong challenge. And just on a personal note, I am really excited to watch Team USA's Alise Willoughby. She's a BMX racer, and she's competing later today. Now, this is Willoughby's fourth Olympics. She's got this incredible personal story. Her husband, Sam Willoughby, who was a standout BMX star in his own right, is now her coach after he was paralyzed in a crash. Alise picked up a silver medal at the 2016 Games in Rio. This year, she is really hoping to bring home that gold. Catch all of our team's coverage on your radio, online, wherever you get your news from NPR. Talk to you soon. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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