Transcript of Lebanese Conflict Moves North, Week in Politics, Helene Recovery

Israel widens its airstrikes in Lebanon, this time moving to the north of the country.

Hamas says one of its commanders in a refugee camp there was killed.

I'm Scott Simon.

I'm Ayesha Rosco, and this is Up First from NPR News.

Meanwhile, the bombardment of Beirut continues.

Israel says it's targeting Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters. We'll have more. Plus, what the latest US jobs numbers say about the economy.

More than a week after Hurricane Helene hit Southerners states, some roads are still impassable.

We have not had a lot of help. I understand why, but we're hopeful that that's going to be happening soon.

Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.

Jd Vance and Tim Walsh had their first and only debate on Tuesday Today. What happened? The NPR politics podcast has you covered with all the news and analysis from the vice presidential debate. Listen to the NPR politics podcast wherever you get your podcast.

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Until now, Israel has attacked Southern Lebanon, where the militant group Hezbollah is located or the capital of Beirut and its suburbs.

That changed overnight as it struck a refugee camp in the north.

And here's Jane Araff is on the line with to us from Tripoli in northern Lebanon. Thanks for being with us, Jane.

Thank you, Scott.

What have you seen? What happened overnight?

Well, early this morning, an Israeli airstrike hit a Palestinian refugee camp just on the outskirts of Tripoli. Tripoli is Lebanon's second biggest city, and it is, as you mentioned, in the north of the country. A lot of the displaced have been flooding north from the south, but a lot of them still stopping in Beirut and other places. But now we're seeing a different dynamic here. More people coming from the south to Tripoli. And that strike this morning was the furthest north that Israel has hit. It said it was targeting a Hamas commander. Hamas said it killed the commander, the strike did, along with his wife and two young children. And it has people here really rattled. We're in a public square. Some families here who came to escape, lots of people on motorcycles, and families who came to escape the fighting. One family had two little kids who turned to what appeared to be their aunt and said, Are they going to bomb here, too? So things are widening.

Tell us about the widening of Israeli attacks, if you could.

Well, Hezbollah, as you know, has been fighting Israel, the two sides of traded attacks on the border, the Lebanon-Israeli border, since the war in Gaza began a year ago. But recently, in the past two weeks, in fact, Israel has focused strikes in Lebanon, in the Southern suburbs of Beirut, where it killed Hezbollah Commander Hassan Nasrallah. It has continued to target that neighborhood to the point where their entire apartment complex is demolished and almost no one left living there. All of those people have flooded out of those Southern suburbs, and they've joined the people who have left villages in the south of Lebanon, where Israel has been attacking and telling civilians that they have to leave. Israel lately has been striking not just Hezbollah targets, targets, but also Palestinian Hamas targets and others. And that, too, is creating a very unsett feeling here. We spoke to one man here. His name was Raqad. Like most people, he didn't give his full name because they're afraid of being targeted. He explained to us why he and his family left the South a few days ago.

We came because all of Daha and all of the south are being destroyed.

Destruction everywhere.

No place is safe.

The Israelis are bombing. Jane, it's been almost a year since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, and now we see Israel fighting the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. How did one event lead to the other?

Well, as soon as the war in Gaza started, Hezbollah jumped in in support of Hamas, the Palestinian group, and it has been trading attacks with Israel across the Lebanon-Israeli border for the entire time. Recently, what we've seen is an escalation of Israeli attacks here in Lebanon, aimed at both killing the Hezbollah leadership, but also going after Allied groups as well. Those attacks have been widening both geographically and in terms of targeting. Obviously, that has been Very devastating along that border. On both sides, civilians have been evacuated. There has been destruction. What we're seeing now, though, appears to be an escalation of even that.

And here's Jenna Rafe in Tripoli, Lebanon. Thanks so much for being with us.

Thank you, Scott.

In the US, another televised debate took place this week, this one between the vice presidential contenders, Republican J. D. Vance and Democrat Tim Walsh.

And Pierre Senior Editor and Correspondent Ron Elvin joins us now to talk about that and other developments of the Week in Politics. Ron. Thanks for being with us.

Good to be with you, Scott.

Voters have had a bit of time now to reflect on that debate between Senator Vance and Governor Tim Walsh. If they saw it or clips of it, do you think it changed anything in the race?

Some people saw that exchange about the 2020 election, the way Walsh immediately described it, a damning non-answer, the evasive words of an election denier. But overall, the debate may have moderated some views of Vance. He was sharp. He seemed certainly sure of himself, clearly capable of being civil. So no surprise, his favorability scores, notably low since July, got a big boost. But then so, too, did those numbers for Walls. The Minnesotan seemed personable and sincere, even when he was dialing back on some of his exaggerations about his experiences overseas and elsewhere. In fact, his favorable numbers went up by nearly as much as Vance's did. So that kept Walsh well ahead on that measure. But as to the overall state of the race, Scott, we're still looking for something that might move the polls more than an inch or two in either direction.

In the same week, a brief unveiled more details from Special Counsel Jack Smith's January sixth case against President Trump, including, he says, When President Trump was told that Vice President Mike Pence had to be evacuated from the Capitol, Mr. Trump reportedly said, So what? Why are these details being unveiled now when obviously the case is not going to be tried before election day?

Well, the unveiling was done in this case by the judge. In the case, Judge Chutkan, who's been reviewing the new filings by special counsel Jack Smith on her own timetable. The judge has been reviewing them for some time now after months of delay that made it impossible to get to trial before the election. Smith had been ready to go to trial with his case over six months ago, but the Supreme Court waved in, delaying the trial and then ruling that a president is immune from prosecution if the crimes alleged were part of his official presidential duties. So Smith has retooled his case to show how Trump was well outside the bounds of his official duties, committing crimes in violation of his oath of office in order to remain in office after losing Some surprisingly strong job numbers yesterday.

We also saw dockworkers return to their jobs after an agreement about wages. And yet another union this time, the firefighters decided not to endorse anyone for president.

Yeah, that's why it's a boon and a burden to run as the incumbent vice president. You get some credit for things that go well, but also shoulder responsibility for everything in the country that makes people unhappy. So, Harris has been able to thread the needle so far pretty well on domestic issues. Now, the Middle East is another magnitude of political hazard. But closer to home, the Doc strike looked scary, then it went away. The idea of a recession being just around the corner has been haunting Wall Street and certain kinds of websites for months. Trump is always talking about how horrible the economy is. But the fact is the economy is growing at a healthy pace. Unemployment rates down to 4.1%, even as inflation continues to recede, and the Federal Reserve says it's time to celebrate with lower rates. As for that union support, Teamsters were all pretty much all alone among the biggest national unions in not endorsing Harris, but she has been endorsed by some of the Teamsters' statewide organizations in swing states such as Pennsylvania and Arizona.

Well, one month before election day, so glad to speak with you again. And Pierre Zeran Elvin, thanks so much for being with us.

Thank you, Scott.

Recovery efforts are underway in the Southeastern US, which felt the brunt of Hurricane Helene.

More than 200 people have died, and that is climbing.

Getting help to people in the Appalachian Mountains has been difficult.

Laura Hackett of Blue Ridge Public Radio joins us now from Asheville, North Carolina, which is in one of the mountainous areas. Thanks so much for being with us, Laura.

Yes. Thank you so much for having me.

What's it like to be there?

Yeah, I think a lot of people are still in shock. Some folks have evacuated, some are working and volunteering around the clock, just doing whatever they can to feel okay right now. It's interesting because Every pocket of Western North Carolina is different. In Asheville, some places are okay while others are caked in this polluted, scary mud. Some businesses are open, others have been wiped away. Most places in the county still do not have running water. Over the last few days, our team has been driving into these harder to reach areas where the most devastation has occurred, just really peeling back the layers of what's happened here. I just went out to Fairview, a small valley town where they had a lot of mud slides, where homes and people were lost. Some roads are still unreachable. Search and rescue is still happening there as well, even though this storm happened more than a week ago.

What help is on the ground from FEMA and other agencies?

There is now federal aid moving through, though that's definitely taken longer in these more isolated areas that I was just describing, especially where the roads are blocked. There is enough bottle water and dry food for now. Many folks are subsisting on those snacks and granola bars. Real meals are a little bit more difficult. Given that there's so many places without power. I did talk to one man, Alan Die, who has been one of the many who have formed a community network in his small river town of Swana Noah.

We have not had a lot of help.

I understand why, but we're hopeful that that's going to be happening soon.

He said, So far, it's mostly been neighbors helping each other get by. He told me about a group of computer programmers who have done rescues with their canoes. There are also a lot of people here with ATVs, and they've been using them to deliver meals to their neighbors. Overall, they're really just willing to do whatever to help each other survive right now.

Of course, a lot of people were living without electricity or running water. How do they get through the day and night?

Again, many people are still in shock that they're going to have to continue in these conditions for such a long time. Roads are going to take months, which is delaying water system repairs. Water system repairs are going to take weeks in some places There's still 300,000 people without power. I've met people who are sleeping at their friends or their neighbors' houses right now. But I am seeing some really creative solutions. In Asheville, there's a grassroots project called the Flush Brigade, where people are crowdsourcing buckets and trucks and delivering non-potable water to neighborhoods, especially in public housing, where people have struggled to flush their toilets without running water. Another example I saw in Suana Noah, there are instructions about how to register for FEMA plastered in paper all over a climbing wall at a playground. It's amazing, really, just how they're filling in gaps however possible in this really dire time.

Laura, how are you and your colleagues, our colleagues at Blue Ridge Public Radio doing.

Thank you for asking, Scott. Our team has been working 14-hour days. In a week, we've shifted from our regular programming to specifically airing only the things that people in our community really need right now. So where to get water, food, updates on when utilities may come back online. We created a blog that gives constant updates on these fronts, too. We can tell they're using it. Radio has become super vital here. In a situation where internet and cell service are still so spotty, the radio signal is able to reach so much more of the community. People are really telling us that we are a lifeline for them right now. It's a big responsibility, but we're proud to do it.

Well, we're proud to be your colleagues. Thanks so much, Laura Hackett of Blue Ridge Public Radio.

Thank you so much, Scott.

That's up first for Saturday, October fifth. I'm Ayesha Rosca.

I'm Scott Simon.

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