Zelenskyy in London, Gaza Ceasefire Status, Judicial Accountability
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After Ukraine's president was berated at the White House, he gets a very different reception in London. You're very, very welcome here in Downing Street. With the U.S. possibly turning on its ally, can Europe hold off Russia? I'm Michelle Martin, that's Leila Fadl, and this is Up First from NPR News. ♪

Israel stops all aid to Gaza as the first phase of the ceasefire agreement ended this weekend. Israel wants to continue the hostage for prisoner exchanges, but Hamas wants to move to phase two, Israeli troop withdrawal. Can the ceasefire hold? And an NPR investigation finds major gaps in the system used to report misconduct by federal judges. The judge was the HR department. The judge was my boss. The judge was a colleague.

The judge was everything. He had all the power. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

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When Ukraine's president visited the White House, it devolved into this. You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now. That's President Trump scolding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday. A day later, though, Zelensky got a very different reception in London. You're very, very welcome here in Downing Street.

And as you heard from the cheers on the street outside... That's British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcoming Zelensky and telling him Europe has his back. They were joined yesterday by nearly 20 other global leaders, mostly from Europe, who pledged to work together to stop Russia's war in Ukraine. NPR's Lauren Frayer joins us now from London to discuss all this. Good morning, Lauren. Good morning. OK, has Friday's meltdown at the White House spurred Europeans into action?

Well, we're going to have to see whether hugs and cheers outside and words of shock and support translate into action. After this summit, I hopped on the phone with Lord Peter Ricketts. He's a member of the House of Lords, a former UK ambassador to France and NATO. And I asked him to gauge the mood among leaders. They were glad to be doing something, not just wringing their hands about what looked like a terrible car crash in the Oval Office.

And I heard a lot of expressions of determination that Europe must do more. Europe must do more. So what more do the Europeans say they're going to do? Well, Britain and France say they're working with Ukraine on their own ceasefire plan, which they'll present to the U.S. It may entail deployment of British peacekeepers. Here's what Prime Minister Starmer said last night. The U.K. is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air together with others.

Europe must do the heavy lifting. And by heavy lifting, he means funding Europe's defense. You know, since World War II, the U.S. has basically guaranteed Europe's security. But if that's no longer the priority under President Trump, European leaders say they're going to have

to step up. Starmer has hiked British defense spending. He said other countries have pledged to do the same. Yesterday, Starmer also announced another $2 billion in financing for Ukraine to buy more air defense missiles. But can Europe do that without U.S. support?

Well, Europe has already actually given more aid to Ukraine than the U.S. has. But in terms of ending the war, they're using the phrase coalition of the willing and they want it to be backed by the U.S. Prime Minister Starmer is really trying to sell Trump on security guarantees. And I asked Lord Ricketts what that could mean. You couldn't attack a European force if you were Russia without serious consequences.

that the Americans would be there to support their European allies in some form. But I think it's a very long way from any clarity as to what President Trump might be willing to do, and I suspect not very much. So that's a big question mark. You know, what role the U.S. would play on the ground or in the air over Ukraine, if any, and whether it would be enough for Europeans to feel secure in sending peacekeepers. OK, Lauren, so what happens next?

Well, there is a European Union summit later this week. A top EU official, Ursula von der Leyen, says she'll unveil plans there for the rearming of Europe. You know, as you know, there's no Europe-wide military. Countries have their own armies. Most are also part of NATO. But coordination among them could be a challenge. And leaving London last night, von der Leyen said the goal is to turn Ukraine into a, quote, steel porcupine that is

indigestible for potential invaders. And by invaders, of course, she means Russia. And here's Lauren Frayer with The View from Europe. Thank you, Lauren. You're welcome. ♪

Israel has blocked all aid and supplies into Gaza. That includes food and medical supplies. The move comes as the first phase of the ceasefire deal with Hamas expired over the weekend. Israel has been pushing for a new plan outside of the original agreement, a plan which Hamas has rebuffed. For more, we're joined by NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Good morning, Kat. Good morning. Okay, so Israel says there's a new plan for the ceasefire. What do we know about where it came from and what is being proposed?

So Israel announced this plan yesterday, calling it the Witkoff Plan and saying that President Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, came up with it. It's unbelievable.

It's unclear when Witkoff would have presented it. Israel says they've already agreed to it. The plan would extend the first phase of this ceasefire agreement by 50 days. On the first day of that extension, Israel wants Hamas to release half the remaining living hostages and half of the bodies of those who have been killed. And then by the end of the extension, if an agreement to end the war permanently is reached, the remaining live and dead hostages would be released then.

Israel reiterated that it has the right to go back to war if those negotiations are ineffective. And what are you hearing from Hamas? Are they on board with this plan?

No. Hamas has essentially rebuffed the plan. In a statement, the militant group said that Israel is trying to evade the original ceasefire agreement. Just to be clear, this new plan is not the deal that both sides agreed to originally. I'll remind you of what that plan was. It had three phases. The second phase was supposed to be negotiated during the first phase, which didn't happen. Under the second phase, all living hostages are to be released and Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza. And then the second phase was supposed to be negotiated during the first phase,

And then phase three would see all hostage bodies returned and the start of reconstruction of Gaza, which is expected to take years. Now Israel has introduced this whole new plan, the Wyckoff plan. It's important to note that Hamas has not outright rejected it, but it isn't embracing it either. Okay, so Hamas is not embracing it, as you point out. And in response, Israel has blocked all aid into Gaza. What does that mean exactly? Yeah.

We're trying to still figure out exactly what it means, but basically Israel has stopped the flow of much-needed aid, you know, like food and medical supplies, into the enclave. Israel controls what gets in and out of Gaza, and it had allowed a big uptake of aid into Gaza in the past six weeks of the ceasefire. But aid and food are still desperately needed there. Aid groups have warned that this blocking of aid violates international law. Other Arab countries have condemned it.

The block comes as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan just started over the weekend. Hamas called the decision to stop aid, quote, cheap blackmail in an attempt to get the group to agree to this new plan. OK, so does this mean the ceasefire is broken?

For now, it still appears to be holding. You know, it's fragile and talks are continuing. An official familiar with the details but not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that Israel is, quote, giving it a few days to see where negotiations lead and that Israel is not rushing to return to fighting in Gaza.

Wyckoff is expected in the region in the coming days. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech last night in English where he thanked President Trump several times. In that speech, he said that Israel will, quote, take further steps if Hamas continues to hold the hostages. He ended saying that he knows America and President Trump have Israel's back to do so. That's NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Kat. Thank you.

A new NPR investigation has found problems with the system for policing bad behavior by federal judges and a pervasive culture of fear about blowing the whistle. Justice correspondent Carrie Johnson interviewed dozens of people who worked in the judicial branch, and she's here now to talk more about what she's uncovered. A warning, this investigation and Carrie's reporting mentions sexual assault. Carrie, thanks for being here. Thanks, Leila.

Okay, so tell us a little bit more about the scope of what you found and when you started looking into this.

I've worked on this project for nearly a year. I talked with 42 people who are current or former employees of the federal courts, everyone from law clerks to court reporters to people in probation and public defender offices. They told me about bad experiences with more than two dozen judges. Those judges represent both major political parties. They're men and women who work all over the country.

Okay, bad experiences. That's pretty broad. I mean, what were the common themes you heard in talking with all sorts of people?

Well, let's start with the idea that the relationship between a federal judge and a law clerk can be pretty imbalanced. Judges have the power to make or break the career of a young lawyer with only a phone call or two. People told me they were afraid to report bullying or harassment by federal judges because the internal systems are so complicated. The consequences for them are huge, and there's really no guarantee those people can remain anonymous.

Did you get some former clerks to share their stories? What stands out to you about them?

Yes, I spoke with a former law clerk in Alaska. She moved there in 2020, and she had hoped the clerkship would jumpstart her career in the law. She was afraid to talk on tape, so we found a voice actor to share her words verbatim. The judge was the HR department. The judge was my boss. The judge was a colleague. The judge was everything. He had all the power. Wow.

That judge, Joshua Kindred, began to text her constantly, sometimes really personal things, and after she left her clerkship, she said he sexually assaulted her. The judge later said the encounter was consensual and said he had no, quote, sinister intent. Eventually, a court investigation found he created a hostile work environment for his clerks and had an inappropriately sexualized relationship with one of them. That judge resigned last July.

So what are the federal courts saying about what you found in this investigation? The Administrative Office of the Courts helps set policy for the court system and handles all kinds of administrative tasks.

They said the changes they've put in place since the Me Too scandals in 2017 are real and that they're working. They say they're continuing to make improvements and more people are using their systems to complain. But few of those complaints are actually about judges who behave badly. People who follow this system tell me those numbers are low because clerks are afraid to complain about judges and sometimes because clerks are discouraged from filing any paperwork at all.

But then you have a lot of these young clerks that you spoke to that feel unprotected. Are there any efforts to change the system? There are some. Democrats in the U.S. House, like Norma Torres of California and Hank Johnson of Georgia, have been pushing for some change. Their bill to give judicial workers more legal protection died last year without any action from Congress. Thank you, Carrie. I'm sure we'll hear more of your reportings and your findings in the weeks and months ahead. Thanks for having me.

And that's a first for Monday, March 3rd. I'm Layla Folden. And I'm Michelle Martin. For your next listen, try NPR's Consider This podcast. We here at First give you the three big stories of the day. Our Consider This colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you. Learn about a big story of the day in less than 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Didi Skanki, Krishna Dove-Kalimer, Alice Wolfley, and Mohamed El-Badisi. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Claire Morishima, and Chris Thomas. We had engineering support from Zach Coleman, and our technical director is David Greenberg. Join us again tomorrow.

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