Trump & Harris Appearances, Ferguson 10 Years Later, Olympic Track Night

The U.

With less than 90 days until the election, how's the race shaping up?

I'm Michelle Martin, that's Leila Fadl, and this is up first from NPR News.

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There are less than 90 days until the November election and it feels like the campaign is in full force.

For the first time since Vice President Harris announced her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, her opponent, former President Donald Trump, spoke at a news conference. It was rambling and chaotic. Meanwhile, Harris and Walz continued their debut tour with a stop in the battleground state of Michigan.

For more on Trump and Harris latest appearances, NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben is with us Hi, Danielle.

Hey, good morning.

Good morning, So let's start with Trump's press conference yesterday. What did we learn from it?

Well, the main news we learned from it is that Trump is now open to doing three debates with Kamala Harris now. That comes after weeks of waffling about whether he would debate her at all. Now. He named three dates in September on which he would debate, and three networks ABC News, NBC News and Fox News. Shortly after he said this, Harris said she would do the September 10th debate on ABC.

And Trump took questions for nearly an hour What kind of things did reporters ask him?

Well, this was rambling and chaotic. Yes, so I can't really get to everything here, but I'm going to hit on a few things. He got to a lot of topics that we had all in the press corps been wondering about for the last few weeks. Now. One is his comments that Harris only recently started saying she was black. Now, a reporter asked, How is that true?

Oh, give me a break.

Listen, I had 107,000 people in New Jersey.

You didn't report it? I'm so glad you asked.

What did she have yesterday?

2,000 people? If I ever had 2,000 people, you'd say my campaign is finished.

Now, a quick fact check. That New Jersey Rally, it really was big, but the idea that it was 100,000 has been fact-checked. It does seem to be too high. But again, you can hear there, he seemed quite angry. One other thing is, he was asked about abortion.

So that's what the press wanted to know. What did Trump seem to want to get out of this press conference?

Well, a few things. First of all, to say that he would do the debates now, second, to slam Harris and Tim Walz to say that they're too liberal. He said a couple of times he doesn't think it's fair to run against her, since Biden was the one running in the primary.

So Harris, meanwhile, along with Walz, made an appearance in Detroit with the UAW Labor Union. What did she say?

Well, she thanked them for their endorsement. She talked a lot about how unions are great, they create fairness. Now. What's striking is just that she and Walz just seem to be putting out this positive message, which really seems to be what they're leaning into. Since she is the new candidate at a time when many American voters were just exhausted by Biden and Trump.

That's NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben, Thanks, Danielle.

Thank you.

Today marks 10 years since the death of Michael Brown Jr. The 18-year-old Black man was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri, in a confrontation with a white police officer, Darren Wilson. His name became a rallying cry for a protest movement in the St. Louis area that lasted for more than a year. What's his name?

Mike Brown What's his name? Mike Brown hands up.

Don't shoot hands up those. Protesters demanded a change in how police treat people, especially Black people. And, of course, Michelle has been in St. Louis all week, asking people a really key question.

Yeah, Layla. And while I was here, I moderated a panel discussion hosted by St. Louis Public Radio. It included government leaders like the Ferguson police chief and the city's mayor, and also veterans of the protest movement. But most importantly, Layla, there were people from the community.

You just cannot blame the police that's here now. This stuff started back way when he's doing an amazing thing and I'm going to speak my mind. So chief Mayor, keep on doing what you're doing.

And Chief Doyle talked about hiring more Black officers and more women officers. He said most of the force is new, and he also said he's working on a culture change. He's even changed the look of the uniforms in the police cars since he told us that the sight of the old ones was so triggering to people.

Okay, so that's what's changed. The Department of Justice found systemic problems, though, that the Ferguson Police Department had a pattern of discriminating against Black people. Did those findings have an impact on the way police treat their residents? They're tasked with protecting?

Yeah, so what you're talking about here, Layla, is that. The Ferguson Police Department entered into a consent decree with the DOJ to change their training and practices, Chief Doyle says. They're slowly coming into compliance. He said when he took over the department a year ago, officers saw the consent decree as punishment. But he's trying to make the case that what it's really doing is bringing in best practices.

Municipal court revenues in 2013, just in the St. Louis region, were over $60 million.

In 2023, that figure is $17.

Out of poor Black communities.

I want to say something that's a pain point here. The DOJ report, which was produced after extensive investigation under the Obama Justice Department, contradicts some of what people first believe. And a lot of people here still seem to believe about exactly what happened the night Michael Brown died. The DOJ report says that the evidence supports that Brown did reach for officer Darren Wilson's gun. That there was a scuffle for it and he did not have his hands up when he was shot. As I said, a lot of people don't accept the findings of the DOJ report, but even people who do acknowledge that. This underlying culture of heavy-handed policing, which was more about money than safety, had to be exposed.

So, 10 years? Some of the underlying issues that led to the protests are being worked on. What's next for Ferguson?

Well, there's a big focus on job development, especially for young people. Here's how Henry Jones, Ollie Brown and Willie Powell put it. We met them at a park in Ferguson.

Some young guys and these young kids be right here where we are. But majority of the time, we watch them and we're watching them like a train out of control. They just got in their head, they want to be a gangster, you know?

Gangs can't change. It. Got to start from home first.

So unfinished business, more to do, and a sense of empowerment that some things can get done.

All right, thanks for bringing this to us, Michelle.

Thank you.

To Paris next, where the Olympics are in the final days.

Last night, there was triumph for the U.

And PR's Brian Mann is at the Games in Paris. Hi, Brian.

Hi Lila.

OK, So let's start with American sprinter Noah Lyles. He was hoping for a historic finish in the 200-meter final. What happened?

Yeah, this did not go as Noah Lyles planned. He calls himself the fastest man on Earth and triumphed Sunday in the 100-meter sprint. So last night he was hoping to win what's known as the Olympic sprint double, taking gold in the 100 and the 200. Lila. Only nine men have ever done this before. But right from the start, it was clear something was wrong. Lyles never hit his stride.

I didn't want to make assumptions of what he could be going through, but I thought, maybe just one of those days when he's not having a great day. So I didn't think of Covid.

U.

So when I covered the Olympics in Tokyo three years ago, it felt like everyone was getting taken down by Covid, isolated. Not to mention the rules, the constant testing. Is this the first time Covid has impacted these Olympics?

You know, we have seen Covid pop up here and there. A top British swimmer, Adam Peady, got sick. He also competed but said it affected his performance. So Covid hasn't reshaped these games the way it did Tokyo and Beijing, but it's definitely here, and there just aren't special Covid rules here.

OK, the u.

Yeah, this was big. I was in Eugene, Oregon, a couple of months ago when Sydney McLaughlin-Lebronni set a world record in the women's 400 meter hurdles. And then last night, on the biggest possible stage, she did it again, gliding over the hurdles, she broke away from the other runners and again shattered her own world record.

I just always want to continue to try to improve and figure out ways to just continue getting better.

McLaughlin-Lebronni won by a second and a half. That's just bonkers. She's already single-handedly redefined this race, pushing the speed faster and faster, and Laila. The U.S now has more than 100 medals in these Olympic Games, with three days of competition to go.

OK, we have to talk about that big scare. On the basketball court. Last night, the latest version of the American Dream Team nearly lost to Serbia. What happened?

Yeah, the U.

NPR's Brian Mann in Paris? Thank you, Brian.

Thank you.

And that's a first for Friday, August 9th. I'm Laila Faldal.

And I'm Michelle Martin and Don't Forget Up First airs on the weekend, too. Ayesha Roscoe and Scott Simon have the news. It will be here in this feed or wherever you get your podcasts.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Megan Pratz, Erica Aguilar, Russell Lewis, Janaya Williams and Ali Schweitzer. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, Ben Abrams and Julie Deppenbrock. We get engineering support from Robert Rodriguez and our technical director is Zach Coleman. Join us again on Monday.

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