GOP Spending Rift, Zelenskyy Interview, Louisiana Police Probe

The Republicans are a house divided. Members are struggling to overcome the party's deep divisions on funding the government.

We've got plenty of time here, we're making big progress.

Will they avert a shutdown?

I'm Laila Fauldin, that's Amy Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News.

We have the same values freedom and democracy, and that's why we are fighting against Russia.

But his term is up. Can Ukraine hold elections in a war zone?

And a Louisiana City police force faces tough questions over cops accused of beating people in an unmarked warehouse.

I decided to permanently close the facility.

We'll hear how officials in Baton Rouge are responding. Stay with us, we've got all the news you need to start your day.

On the Ted Radio Hour, MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle, her latest research into the intimate relationships people are having with chatbots. Technologies that say, I care about you, I love you, I'm here for you, take care of me. The pros and Cons of artificial intimacy. That's on the Ted Radio Hour from NPR.

House Republicans started the week with a plan to vote on their own spending bill to show the Senate they could pass something and force negotiations to take place over government funding.

But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spent much of the week battling a handful of hardline members who are blocking their own party from even debating spending bills. McCarthy, though, downplayed the rift.

This is a good lesson for America.

Why would we quit? why would we give up? We've got plenty of time here, we're making good progress.

NPR Congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh is following this. Deirdre. We're just days away from a deadline to fund the government by the end of the month. Is there any plan at all to avoid a shutdown?

No House Republicans met last night to try to get on the same page about how much money overall the federal government should be spending. A really basic question that was actually decided already in the debt ceiling deal that the Speaker and President Biden hammered out back in May. And the Senate is using that overall spending level to craft their bills.

Okay, so even if they can't agree on the long-term spending plan, why can't they agree to keep the government open while they debate?

There's still this group of five to seven House Republicans who just say they oppose any CR or continuing resolution to keep the government open. I spoke with Florida Republican Cory Mills. He wants the speaker to follow through on his pledge to pass all of the spending bills. He wants to see how House Republicans are actually cutting programs that they've vowed to shrink. He says. He's a no on any stopgap bill.

Until someone's willing to actually make a stand and say, Hey, look. I'm not going to continue to support this type of behavior or this reckless and irresponsible spending, or I'm going to hold leadership accountable. On the fact that we didn't get the bills out, then it's going to continue, okay. The House, in theory, though, could pass a short-term spending bill that would get support from majority Republicans and probably a lot of Democrats. So why isn't that happening?

Because McCarthy knows he would put his own job as speaker at risk if he cuts a deal with Democrats. He only has a four-seat majority, and some of his GOP critics are threatening to bring up a vote to oust him if he works with Democrats. Right now, House Republicans are talking about passing a one-month spending bill that attaches border security provisions to. It creates a bipartisan commission to look at the national debt. But it's unclear they even have the votes to get that through.

All right, so if they could pass that, is that something that can get through the Senate?

No. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has made it clear that the partisan border security provisions on that and other things are just non-starters. The goal that the Speaker and House Republicans have now is to show they can pass something they've just spent the last week or so at war with themselves. There are some talks happening with a group of House Republicans and Democrats who believe the speaker ultimately will have to cut a deal.

NPR's Deirdre Walsh Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

The President of Ukraine visits Washington today. Volodymyr Zelensky wants to persuade U.S officials to continue supporting Ukraine's defense against Russia.

In an interview with NPR, Zelensky says the U.

And that's why we are fighting against Russia.

He faces the military, diplomatic, and political challenge of sustaining that fight.

Zelensky spoke with our co-host Steve Inskeep, who's joining us now. Steve, what is his case?

Essentially, that Russia is so bad that it has to be resisted. He does face stiffening resistance. In the United States. There's a majority of Democrats and Republicans who support aid to Ukraine, but there's a faction of Republicans who have included Ukraine aid. In this budget crisis, this spending crisis that's approaching a deadline in Washington, D..C.

Does he also face concern about being a democratic country? I know he's had martial law in effect since the war began.

Yeah, they've imposed restrictions on the media, they've delayed parliamentary elections, and, of course, most Ukrainian men can't leave the country, among other rules. And this has led to some questions from Ukrainians, which we heard when talking with people in preparation for this interview. One Ukrainian analyst in Kiev asked the president, Could you ease some of the rules around the media?

I'm ready to conduct elections at any time, starting from today. Well, absolutely ready.

So is that a yes? There will be an election?

The most important is that our population and our society would really like that to happen and would be ready for that to happen. And so that there's three or four political experts who are working, I don't know, for some money. And they should not be the only ones who would want that, but the whole Ukraine would need to want that, that's important.

So not a definite yes on elections, it depends on conditions. And we also spoke about corruption. He just had to remove the entire leadership of his Defense ministry over suspicions of corruption. And Zelensky said he is fighting corruption because it undermines his case for additional U.S.

I wonder because overnight Zelensky became one of the most well-known people in the world, but under extremely stressful circumstances. Now we see him on TV. Steve, you got to sit a few feet away from him. What were you able to glean about the weight he's been carrying for the last year and a half?

It is remarkable when he walks into a room, all attention turns toward him. He is somebody who has been thrust into the center of this global drama. And when you talk to him, you realize, I mean, he's very impressive, but he's one person, he's one person.

That's NPR's Steve inskeep, Steve, Thanks.

You're welcome.

The Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has temporarily disbanded its street crimes unit as it faces multiple allegations of brutality.

Several lawsuits allege that civil rights violations took place in an unmarked warehouse police officers used as an interrogation center. They're accused of beating people. The F.BI appears to be getting involved in the investigation.

Aubrey Procell, with member Station WRKF in Baton Rouge, has been following the story. He's here to tell us more, Aubrey. So that unmarked warehouse that's been dubbed the Brave Cave, how else is it being described?

Well, civil rights attorneys are calling it a torture warehouse and a black site, and said it was used because of its low profile and lack of cameras. We first learned about the Brave Cave's existence in late August. After a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jeremy Lee, the suit says he was beaten at the site by members of the Street Crimes Unit. There's no footage of Lee being beaten, but police body camera footage does show Lee sitting in a wooden chair with his hands bound in this nearly empty warehouse. One official in the mayor's office told me It was a pretty disturbing image.

And now, since these revelations and this first lawsuit, a woman filed another one this week. What does that lawsuit say?

That one was filed on behalf of Turnell Brown. She was arrested in June after officers found a gun and a bottle of medication in her car. Now she had a prescription, according to her attorney, and she even tried to show it to the officers. But instead, she was taken to this brave cave. There she was allegedly illegally strip searched and her body cavities examined with a flashlight. She was eventually released with no criminal charges.

Now, how did officials respond to these lawsuits and the revelations of this unauthorized interrogation space?

Chief of Police Murphy Paul and Mayor Sharon Weston Broome seemed to be caught by surprise when the news broke. Shortly afterwards, the mayor appeared on our local talk show, Louisiana Considered.

Well, of course. I was appalled to hear what was being alleged to take place there, at that facility. And as a result of our initial review and based on information that I received from Chief Paul, I decided to permanently close the facility.

Also, this street crimes unit that was using the warehouse has been disbanded while the investigation is underway, with two officers put on administrative leave just this week.

And how did the FBI get involved with this?

Mayor Broome announced that at a press conference this week. That's new. Chief Paul said that he asked the FBI for help and said his department would cooperate with any federal investigation. But a spokesperson with the FBI office in New Orleans was more vague They didn't confirm or deny that the agency was investigating.

That's Aubrey Procell with member Station W.

Thank you.

And before we go, we wanted to bring you one more bit of news. Nearly half a million Venezuelans who are already in the U.S will now be eligible for work permits.

That's because the Biden administration is expanding the temporary protected status program to include more Venezuelans. It's a big deal because many recent Venezuelan immigrants hadn't been able to get work permits, meaning they couldn't support themselves.

The expansion will include about 472,000 newly eligible Venezuelans in the U.

This might be the White House's answer to the political pressure from Democratic governors and mayors to speed up work authorizations for the growing number of newly arrived migrants.

And that's up first for Thursday, September 21st. I'm a Martinez.

And I'm Laila Faldal. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Christian Dov Calimer, Susana Capilouto, Ali Schweitzer and Olivia Hampton. It was produced by Shelby Hawkins, Ziad Butch and Julie Deppenbrock. We get engineering support from Hannah Glovna, and our technical director is Zach Coleman. Start your day here with us tomorrow.

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