Transcript of FBI Search Journalist's Home, U.S. Greenland Talks, Mental Health Funding

The FBI searched the home of a Washington Post reporter as part of a leak investigation.

Press advocates warned this crosses a dangerous line.

There's a whole pattern in this administration of trying to undermine an independent press.

I'm Michelle Martin with A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. After a meeting with the President's top aides, Denmark's Foreign Minister says Trump still wants Greenland.

It's clear that the President has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom.

How far is the President willing to push American allies?

The White House cut billions in funding for mental health and addiction programs. The next day, it restored it. What is the whiplash say about the future of public health under this administration? Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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Some media executives are calling the FBI's search of a reporter's home an alarming intrusion into the freedom of the press.

That search of a Washington Post reporter's house happened on Wednesday as part of the Trump administration's investigation of a leak.

Npr media correspondent David Falkenflick joins us. David, all right. Load us down with some details.

Well, as the Washington Post itself is reported, it stems from The government's case against a contractor named Orelio Perez-Lugones. He was charged in Maryland by federal authorities with unlawfully retaining national defense information. The post reporter involved is Hannah Natensen. Her home yesterday morning in Virginia was searched. Law enforcement agents seized two computers, one of which was her own personal computer, her Garmin Smartwatch. She's been dubbed by a colleague at the post, the federal government whisper over the course of the past year. She's really documented the purge of hundreds of thousands of federal employees, completely reshaping the federal workforce. Last month, she wrote this first-person story about this process, how depleting it was, but how fulfilling the mission was. She said she relied on 1169 confidential sources, people whose lives were upended. Yesterday, over the course of the day, the executive editor, Matt Murray, wrote about the profound concerns about this. It said the institution was standing behind her and encouraged reporters to do their constitutionally protected duties, that is to report. There were of the strong statements from the publisher and from the editorial page as well.

Okay, so what does the government have to say about this?

Well, according to the Washington Post, the government has told the newspaper that Natensen is not a focus of the investigation. But I will say once news got out, FBI director Cash Patel posted on X that Natensen allegedly had obtained and reported, Classified sensitive military information from a government contractor, endangering our warfighters and compromising America's national security. That's stern stuff. He's focusing the attention on what she did as opposed to what the contractor that they have charged allegedly with having held on to this information illegally, what he did. Now, there are protections for journalists against prosecutors on both the federal and local level, just routing around in reporters' records to figure out where leaks came from. But there are exemptions, including for national security. That's obviously what federal authorities, including the attorney general, are pointing to right here. Okay.

Why are press advocates alarmed by all this?

Well, first off, this is highly unusual and considered incredibly aggressive to search a reporter's home instead of going to the office, and particularly instead of giving a subpoena to allow employers, news organizations to comply or to fight that. I talked yesterday to a bunch of media executives and First Amendment lawyers, and I think that what they felt in some was encapsulated by the former executive editor of the Washington Post, that's Marty Baron. Here's what he had to say.

There's a whole pattern in this administration of trying to undermine an independent press in this country and impede their work one way or another.

Why would he say that? Well, the pattern includes lawsuits filed against the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, the BBC by President Trump as an individual. His top broadcast regulator has launched investigations of CBS, at CBS, and NPR, and NBC. There's been pressure of the corporate owners of CNN, The Washington Post, and CBS. President Trump himself has repeatedly called for journalists who won't reveal their sources to be threatened in jail. One more thing, given what Natensen wrote last month in all those 1,169 confidential sources, is this only about Perez Lugones, or is this a fishing expedition seeking information about who made leaks beyond the case in Maryland?

That's NPR's David Falkenflick. David, thank you.

You bet.

Denmark's foreign minister says there is still a fundamental disagreement between his country and President Trump over the Danish territory of Greenland.

Lars, look at Rasmussen said, After meeting with Vice President Vance and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio on Wednesday, it is clear that Trump wants to, quote, conquer the territory. But the two sides did agree to form a working group to keep talking about US security concerns.

Npr Whitehouse correspondent, Franco Ordoñez, has been following it all. So, Frank, it was interesting how the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland were the first to speak after the meeting. What did they have to say?

Yeah, I thought it's well, the US somewhat ceded the spotlight for a bit and actually allowed them to get out front. It It was clear that the Danish Foreign Minister, Lars-Luker Rasmussen, wanted to push back on the narrative being promoted by President Trump.

It is not a true narrative that we have Chinese warships all around the place. According to our intelligence, we haven't had a Chinese warship in Greenland for a decade or so.

Rasmussen did say they share some of Trump's security concerns, but that didn't mean the US should acquire Greenland, which he said is, quote, absolutely not necessary. Denmark has said that the US can add more military bases on the island, thanks to the 1951 agreement that grants wide latitude to the US in terms of access. He said he hopes the high-level group, though, can find some mutual understanding.

The other part of this is that Rasmussen talked about this being an emotional issue for both Greenland and Denmark. How significant of a threat is this?

Yeah, I mean, is it a threat? Is it negotiations? Trump is known for taking the most hard line approach when he wants something. But Stuart Patrick, who served in the George W Bush State Department, told me this is a really pivotal moment that it's testing rules of international order, going back to the UN charter that basically says you cannot use force against another country to acquire territory, especially smaller ones.

What the President of the United States is proposing to do is to throw the entire weight of the most powerful country in the world against a loyal ally that has shed as much blood and treasure over wars that the United States has been involved in over the past two decades to be able to get what he wants to force them to give up Greenland.

Patrick, who's now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is noting the high number of Danish soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan with American forces.

I'm sure the President has been asked about this. What do we heard from him?

Yeah, he had a signing ceremony yesterday where he was pressed about what he was going to do, and he did not back down.

Greenland is very important for the national security, including of Denmark. The problem is, there's not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland. But there's everything we can do. You found that out last week with Venezuela.

So Franco mentioning Venezuela like that sounds a bit like an ominous warning.

Yeah, it really does. Denmark is taking this very seriously. Denmark also announced plans to build its military presence in Greenland, and this seems to be more of an effort to push back against the idea that it cannot defend the territory. But Sweden and Germany also announced that they would be sending forces, which could also send a different message to the US, and that is that Denmark is not alone.

That is White House Correspondent, Franco Ordonias. Thanks a lot.

Thanks, Hey.

After a day of confusion and backroom negotiations, the Trump administration last night restored roughly $2 billion in grant money for mental health and addiction programs nationwide.

The money had been cut off without warning, sending shockwaves through the country's public health system.

Npr's Brian Mann broke this story. He's here to update us. Brian, so do we know for sure that all these care providers are actually going to get that funding?

Yeah, that's confirmed. Npr first reported Wednesday morning that Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was terminating these grants for roughly 2,000 organizations. These are frontline programs helping some of the most vulnerable people in the country. The decision to slash the money came as a complete shock, and it triggered a huge political backlash. Last night, an administration official confirmed NPR the cuts are being reversed. They asked not to be identified because they didn't have permission to speak publicly about this move. They said organizations were being notified, the full $2 billion in funding are being restored. I spoke about this with Hannah Wazlowski. She's with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, who said she's relieved but also exhausted. After a day of panic across the country, nonprofits and people with mental health conditions are deeply alarmed, but hopeful that this money is being restored. That being said, this is hit after hit after It. Wazlowski said these organizations are deeply demoralized over the last 24 hours. A lot of people thought they were losing their jobs. They thought their really sick patients were going to lose care.

So any idea why the Trump administration reversed course like this?

It's not clear who actually who ordered those termination letters to be sent out in the first place. Npr also wasn't able to confirm who ordered this reversal. What we do know is that after NPR reported on the cuts, care providers like Dr. Dan Lustig, who runs an addiction treatment program in Chicago, started reaching out to lawmakers in Washington, DC with a simple message that these cuts would have been dangerous. We provide treatment, life-saving treatment, because if people don't get access to treatment, they just die. That's a fact. I mean, you could spin this any way people want to, but people are going to die. It appears lawmakers got that message. There was a bipartisan effort to convince the Trump administration to reverse course. Again, here's Hannah Wazalowski. We heard from offices on both sides of the political aisle who were working on this issue throughout the day and really speaks to the power of the collaboration on this issue.

All right, Brian. The money is on the way, this time, at least. What does this whiplash, a day, really about the direction of leadership of public health in the US.

Yeah, it's a remarkable moment. People I've been talking to say the country feels rudderless with public health. On Tuesday, all these programs were being defunded. No one's sure why. Now the money is restored. Again, no clear explanation. For months, the Trump administration has been signaling that they think many of the country's current public health programs are ineffective and need to be replaced. But people I'm talking to say there's no clear plan, just these moments of disruption and chaos. The fear is the federal government could dismantle the current safety without putting anything new in its place.

All right, that's NPR Addiction Correspondent Brian Mann. Brian, thank you for your reporting on this. Thanks, Hey. That's up first for Thursday, January 15th. I'm A. Martinez.

I'm Michelle Martin If you're looking for more reporting and conversations, you can find our radio show, Morning Edition, and a lot more NPR content on the NPR app. Listener support is what makes all this possible. Please consider joining the community of public radio supporters today by signing for NPR Plus.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Emily Kopp, Rebecca Metzler, Mohamed El Bardici, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Katie Klein, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We got engineering support from Nisha Hynes. Our technical director is Carly Strange, and our Deputy Executive producer is Kelly Diggins. Join us again tomorrow.

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