Trump Arraignment, Republicans and Climate Change, Russia Strikes Ukrainian Port

It was amazing.

Everybody needs to watch it.

You need to watch it, Zach.

I was like crying and laughing the whole time.

to charges that he conspired

to overturn the 2020 election.

and this is Up First from NPR News.

When it comes to climate change,

the science is settled.

Our summers are record hot

and they're going to get hotter.

New polling from NPR shows

that's a top concern for most people

with one exception, Republicans.

as a weapon of war.

After Moscow pulled out of a vital grain deal,

it attacked a port in Ukraine,

damaging 40,000 tons of grain

destined for countries around the world.

What does that mean for global food prices?

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Former President Donald Trump

is returning to the nation's capital today.

He's set to appear before a federal judge

on new criminal charges

related to January 6th.

stemming from his efforts

to hold on to power

after the 2020 election.

At the same time,

he's running for president.

Franco Ordoñez is here

to talk about how he's trying

to balance those objectives

and to pay for them.

Good morning, Franco.

to happen in court today?

with four crimes,

including leading a conspiracy

to defraud the U.S.

and obstructing an official proceeding.

He's expected to plead not guilty

to all of them.

His lawyer, John Lauro,

talked to our own Sasha Pfeiffer

on All Things Considered yesterday,

and he says that Trump

is protected by the First Amendment

and that the Justice Department

is trying to criminalize free speech.

that he had every right

that he believed in

and his supporters believed in.

paint a much different picture

in the 45-page indictment.

They say Trump can advocate

for his position.

They say he can even lie

about the results.

But they say he can't use

the tools of government

and enlist co-conspirators

to try and prevent

a core function of democracy.

That's the peaceful transfer of power.

is one of many,

and defending himself can't be cheap.

How is Trump paying all his lawyers

while also funding

an expensive presidential campaign?

and defending these cases

has been a drag on the campaign.

I mean, Trump's leadership committee

has spent more than $40 million

on legal costs just this year,

according to The Washington Post.

But he's making a lot of money as well.

The campaign uses these challenges

to really flood the inboxes of supporters

to help fund the defense.

And we've seen the numbers,

and it's been pretty fruitful.

He's making money off it.

But what about to his campaign?

What's his messaging on this,

his third criminal indictment?

all added to the mix.

I mean, Trump points to the charges

to push his claims.

He's a political victim.

He's been on social media

even this morning,

tweeting about free speech.

And I'm sure he'll bring it up

in Alabama and South Carolina,

where he's expected to speak

later this week.

Layla, one popular line

that he likes to repeat,

and I bet we'll hear it soon,

is that federal prosecutors

are not coming after him.

They're coming after you.

He means the voters, of course,

and that he's standing in the way.

And it's a line that often

gets a lot of applause.

have been reticent

to speak against him,

some even defending him.

But we did hear from

former Vice President Mike Pence.

Has this indictment

changed those dynamics now?

some of the sharpest language

yet from Pence yesterday.

to put him over the Constitution,

but I chose the Constitution

and I always will.

over the Constitution

should never be president

of the United States.

because Pence has been resistant

to speak out against Trump,

and most of his rivals

continue to be,

and that's because

of Trump's popularity

with the Republican base.

Both Governor Ron DeSantis

and Senator Tim Scott,

for example,

they accused the Biden administration

of weaponizing government.

So it's going to be interesting

to see whether Pence

benefits from the tough talk

or is politically hurt by it.

Franco Ordoñez.

Thank you, Franco.

ever recorded on planet Earth.

are fueled by climate change,

and scientists say

it's only going to get hotter.

That is unless leaders

of the world's most powerful countries

step up to curb emissions,

but for the most part, they're not.

And in the U.S.,

a new NPR-PBS NewsHour Marist poll

shows that it's largely

because one political party

is turning away

from the climate crisis.

and more in this latest survey

is NPR Senior Political Editor

and Correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

Hi, Domenico.

Hey, thanks for having me.

All right.

So let's get to climate change

and the party we're talking about,

Republicans.

What did Republicans we talked to

say about the climate crisis?

about climate change,

including one that I think

is really key for why

so little is getting done in Congress

to address the problem,

and that's exploring this tension

between climate change and the economy.

Now, climate change is costing

the country and the world

billions of dollars

in disaster funding and preparation,

but Republican messaging to their base

has been about the potential

short-term cost of climate change.

So we asked if priority

should be given to climate change,

even at the risk of slowing the economy,

or to the economy,

even if it means ignoring climate change.

The results really were eye-opening.

I thought overall,

a majority of people said

climate change should be the priority,

including a majority of independents.

But here's the rub.

Three-quarters of Republicans

said the opposite.

In fact, as the days have gotten hotter,

Republicans have only increased

in feeling this way,

up 13 points in the last five years.

A lot of that could be attributed

to the way former President Trump

speaks about the climate crisis.

You know, the leader of the Republican Party

over the last several years.

The science is settled,

the evidence is clear,

but he's downplayed its effects,

and we've seen that base

that loves him so much

seem to really lap up

everything he's had to say.

the science is settled.

Don't most people see climate change

as a major threat,

not just to the country,

but to the world we live in?

but only a small minority of Republicans do,

and you need Republicans and Democrats

to be able to agree on something

to get something done.

Seventy percent of Republicans

in our poll said that climate change

is either just a minor threat

or no threat at all.

Overall, majorities of respondents

also said climate change

is having a serious impact

and having at least some effect

on their communities now.

But 80 percent of Republicans

said climate change

will in the future

only have a minor impact

or in their communities,

none at all.

The only potential glimmer

for climate change action here

is that younger people

are more likely to say

that they see climate change

as a major threat.

wide-ranging poll

beyond just climate change,

and it dealt with how people

also view institutions

in this country,

like Congress,

where these climate laws

would be made.

What did it find?

are really suffering right now.

I mean, Congress has,

among the lowest ratings

we've ever tested,

just 22 percent said

they have some confidence in Congress.

The Supreme Court

continues to get poor ratings.

Even the FBI,

which had been so vaunted

for so long,

has become really split

with people with Republicans

not trusting it,

Democrats trusting it.

And we've seen that

there's been all these indictments

of former President Trump,

and it's really been

in the middle of all of our politics.

coming up.

What about politics?

How are people viewing

the parties and President Biden?

people don't like either party,

you know,

and President Biden

is getting really

middling approval ratings,

just a 41 percent approval rating.

Somebody's got to win in 2024,

even though people

don't seem to like President Biden

or former President Trump.

This spells a lot of volatility,

and we shouldn't be surprised

by any surprises

that come forward

in the 2024 election.

thank you so much.

a way to export its grain

as Russia repeatedly

strikes its ports.

have hit Ukrainian ports

on the Black Sea

for the last couple of weeks,

ever since Moscow

withdrew from a deal

safeguarding ships

carrying Ukrainian grain exports

to world markets.

And Russia is now targeting

a main alternative route

for that grain

at Ukraine's ports

on the Danube River.

to talk about this

is NPR's Joanna Kakasis.

Hi, Joanna.

on the Danube River.

How important have they become

to Ukraine's exports?

since Russia pulled out of that deal

protecting container ships

in the Black Sea,

the river ports of Izmail and Rennie

have become essential

to keeping grain exports moving.

These ports are located

on the lower Danube River

in the far southwest of Ukraine.

The Danube is the largest river

in the European Union.

It starts in Germany

and runs through Eastern Europe,

and it forms part of Ukraine's

border with Romania,

a member of NATO

and the European Union.

The Danube also empties

into the Black Sea,

but in a part of the sea

that is very close to Romania

and, of course, NATO.

And so until now,

it felt more protected

than other ports on the Black Sea.

And I should say

that before the war,

these Danube ports were hardly used.

They are much smaller

than the port of Odessa,

for example.

But now they account

for at least a third

of grain exports,

according to Ukraine's

infrastructure ministry.

Ukraine is also trying

to transport grain by rail and road,

but that's very expensive.

have the Russian strikes

on these river ports caused?

Russia used drones to hit Izmail,

which is Ukraine's main inland port.

It's right across the river

from Romania.

The drone attacks destroyed

buildings in the port

and also stranded ships

preparing to load

with Ukrainian grain.

Ukraine's infrastructure ministry

said that these attacks

also damaged and destroyed

almost 40,000 tons of grain

that was supposed to be

going to countries in Africa,

as well as to China and Israel.

Global food prices shot up.

And, you know, the attacks,

you know, really scared people

in the city of Izmail.

I spoke by phone with

Mykola Koplyenko,

who lives in Izmail

and works at the local university.

And he said this remote

corner of Ukraine

was largely spared during the war.

And now it feels almost

like a front line

and a front line

just across the river

from NATO and the EU.

for the EU, I guess,

because sometimes, you know,

the drone can miss.

The territory of Izmail port

is like 200 meters

from the territory

of the European Union.

an errant missile or drone

could strike Romania.

this 40,000 tons of grain

that was damaged,

that was supposed to go

to other countries.

Ukrainian grain is a vital

food source for many countries,

especially in Africa.

What options does Ukraine

have at this point

to get the grain

to countries that need it?

are asking their allies

for more help,

like to beef up air defense

around these Danube ports.

And Mykola Koplyenko,

the Izmail resident I spoke to,

he said, you know,

they understand

that the Ukrainian military

may not have the resources now.

So he says local residents

are actually trying to crowdsource

to help pay

for air defense equipment.

Meanwhile, with exports,

the alternatives,

transporting this grain

via train or road,

that's much more expensive

and not very efficient.

As I mentioned earlier,

a lot of countries

are relying on this grain.