Transcript of Seattle Shooting, Iran War Pause, Midterm Elections

At least 3 people have been killed after a shooting at a food festival in Seattle.

4 others are injured, including a 2-year-old boy. Police say a suspect is in custody while another is on the loose.

I'm Leila Fadel, and that's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. After nearly 2 weeks of intense airstrikes, the U.S. and Iran have paused their attacks.

What the president is doing right now is giving some talks some space.

An Iranian spokesperson confirmed that the two countries are exchanging messages.

And with fewer than 100 days until Election Day, some key races across the country are heating up. Democrats are hoping to retake control of at least one chamber of Congress in November, while Republicans are trying to retain their grip on power. At this stage, who has the upper hand? Stay with us, we've got the news you need to start your day.

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3 people are dead after a mass shooting at a food festival in Seattle on Sunday.

Police there say they have one person in in custody, and one more person could be involved who has not been arrested.

Casey Martin from member station KUOW has been following the story. Casey, what do we know about what happened on Sunday?

Well, we don't know much at the moment, but here's what we have. This was at the base of the Space Needle. This is the really tall tourist attraction, probably the landmark that Seattle is most famous for. And surrounding that Space Needle is a big park. This is an open civic park where there's all kinds of festivals, including this very popular food festival. This is an annual event that families go to every year. And on Sunday night around 6 PM, people heard gunshots, multiple gunshots, and started running away. Seattle Police who were at the festival, they found a shooter. That person surrendered and was arrested, they said. Police have only said it was a young person, so we don't know if they were an adult or juvenile. Two guns were found at the park. And I spoke to Jessica Allison, who was there with her young daughter and her husband.

And I was like, should I grab a stroller? He's like, run! We had to run. We hid. We just didn't know what to do. It was just, it was really scary.

It was, my heart's still pumping really fast.

Thankfully, they did get out safely after hiding under a performance stage, though she said getting out of that park was really chaotic.

Okay, so what about the suspects?

As of last night, another suspected shooter was still on the loose. Police said they were still figuring out what that person's involvement was. Police said it appeared that two people were shooting at each other, but that's still being investigated.

All right, so what do we know about, uh, the victims?

Yeah, 3 people were killed. 2 died at the park and a 3rd died at the hospital. 4 were injured, including a toddler. A hospital spokesperson said these people were shot in their arms, legs, abdomen, and lower back, and they're in satisfactory condition now.

What are, uh, elected officials saying?

Late last night, Washington's governor, a congresswoman, and the mayor of Seattle, they all came to the scene. They shared information and condolences with the victims' families. Here's Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson.

What happened here today at the Seattle Center was an unbelievable tragedy and a horrific act of violence. My heart right now is with the victims and their families and with everyone in our community who is reeling from what happened here today.

Local police said they're getting help from the State Patrol and also the FBI. The park is closed and will be for a while, they said. And now police need the public's help for video as there were no surveillance cameras right where the shooting happened. So that will be an ongoing conversation about public safety here.

Wow, okay. Now, you mentioned that it's a very popular event for families. Can you give us a sense of what the scene was like and how well attended it was?

Yeah, this is one of the biggest events in the city. It's really, really well known for folks who live here, this "Bite of Seattle." Hundreds of people were at this festival trying all kinds of food. There's also a big water fountain where kids were playing. Plus, there's always tourists visiting the Space Needle. So people I talked to said they were getting away from the shooting. Really chaotic scene, a bit of a stampede. One person who works for the carnival games there said they were helping children and adults hop over a fence to escape. So a lot of people, Many with children trying to get out of the spot.

That's Casey Martin from member station KUOW. Thank you, Casey. Thank you. There has been a pause in attacks in the war in Iran.

The U.S. and Iran have been exchanging diplomatic messages after almost 2 weeks of U.S. attacks and Iranian counterattacks on U.S. bases and other targets in the Gulf.

NPR's Jane Arraf has been following the development, joins us from Amman, Jordan. Jane, clearly tension is still high, but over the weekend, no reported attacks. So tell us what's happened.

Well, what's newsworthy is pretty much nothing happened over the weekend in terms of those attacks by the U.S. There were none by Iran either. And that's after intensive strikes of the U.S. attacking Iranian military targets and infrastructure, and Iran hitting U.S. bases and other targets in Jordan and Gulf countries. Countries. So why the lull? This is what the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.

What the president is doing right now, as we've seen all along, is giving some talks some space. Talks are ongoing. They're happening at every level, from the more technical aspect of it all the way to the highest levels, of course.

He did say, though, that Trump was keeping, quote, all options on the table. And both the U.S. and Iran have made clear they don't trust each other.

Okay, that's expected, I guess. Now, so what more do we know about the negotiations, and what is Iran saying about this?

Well, Walt said Oman and other mediating countries have been particularly engaged in talks over the past few days. The Iranian army spokesperson confirmed Sunday that Iran had indeed halted attacks at the same time that the U.S. had, and Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Ismail Bagheri, confirmed messages were exchanged between Iran and the U.S. Mediators, but he said Monday that Iran had not asked for talks and said, "We are currently not holding any negotiations with the American side." Iran also says that it's exchanging messages with Oman over regulating the Strait of Hormuz, that oil waterway that's been the key issue in this war.

Now, one new detail: Iran isn't the only player involved now. Tehran has been getting help from Yemeni rebels. What can you tell us about that?

Well, Yemen's Houthi rebels known as Ansar Allah, they control the north of the country in the capital, and they've closed another key shipping lane. It's near the Red Sea. It's called Bab el-Mandeb. And that closure is a move aimed at Saudi Arabia, which supports the rival internationally recognized government of Yemen. So there hasn't been a lot of oil or other traffic moving through either of those channels. That contributed to oil prices last week reaching a 2-month high of more than $100 per barrel. It's now down to $92 in this morning's trading. But all of this is an indication that the conflict has spread way beyond the original parameters of the U.S. and Israel against Iran. In particular, Iran has reiterated that a real ceasefire with the United States means that there has to be a ceasefire in Lebanon where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. The Israeli military is occupying southern Lebanon. And they've pledged to withdraw from some test areas, but that process is going really slowly.

All right, that's NPR's Gina Rapp. Gina, thank you. Thank you. There are now fewer than 100 days until Election Day in November.

Yeah, and some states still have primaries to set those fall matchups, all leading to the big question: Will Democrats win control of at least one chamber of Congress, breaking up to pick up full Republican control in D.C.

For insights into that, let's go to senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Mara, both Democrats and Republicans are making the case for why they'll win congressional majorities in the midterms. So let's start with Democrats. What are they touting as advantages for them?

Well, I see the midterms as a story of two competing forces. Republicans have some structural advantages. Democrats have some organic advantages. Democrats are running against an unpopular incumbent and his party. Even though Donald Trump is not on the ballot, his approval rating is under 40%, and that hurts Republicans. Voters have soured on his agenda. They're unhappy with the economy. They're unhappy about the Iran war and tariffs. They blame both of those things for high prices. Democrats also have an advantage in voter enthusiasm and turnout. More Democrats have been turning out in primaries and special elections this year.

All right. What about the case for Republicans?

Right. Republicans, you would think that when you look at all these organic factors, you would say, whoa, looks like a big blue wave forming. But historical rules only work till they stop working. And Republicans have some structural advantages. The Democratic brand is polling very poorly now. So Democrats are not able to take full advantage of the incumbent party's problems. Republicans also have raised much, much more money than Democrats. President Trump helped his party when he initiated an unprecedented wave of mid-cycle partisan redistricting, or gerrymandering, and Republicans were able to create more Republican-leaning House districts and decrease the number of competitive House districts overall. That gives them a big advantage.

Now, millions of voters will cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, so for many, there are fewer than 99 days until they make their choice. So is there anything you see maybe that could alter the prevailing narrative?

Theoretically, yes. President Trump could find a face-saving way to end the Iran war, and then maybe some of the economic pressures, especially high gas prices, could ease up in time for voters to change their minds. Or the Democratic Party could nominate candidates too far to the left to win general elections in some swing districts or battleground states. That said, in the past, uh, when we get to August and September, voters' minds are pretty much made up. It's hard to change them. Divide that.

Any particularly juicy races you're keeping an eye on?

Yeah, I'm keeping an eye on two Senate races in particular. In Michigan, I'm watching the Democratic primary, which happens next week. Uh, Democrats there have a choice between a left-wing populist, Abdul El-Sayed, or a more centrist candidate, Hailey Stevens. And the question is, can a left-wing populist win a general election in a swing state like Michigan, which Democrats have to win if they're going to have any chance of winning the Senate majority? I'm also looking at Maine, where Democrats also need to win if they're going to get the Senate majority. And they have a new candidate there, Troy Jackson. He's replaced Graham Plattner on the ballot, and they're trying to defeat Susan Collins, who is the only Republican Senate incumbent running this year in a blue state, a state that went for Kamala Harris. So the big question there is, can Jackson stand up a campaign, raise millions of dollars to defeat Collins? Who has tons of money and has proven she can win tough races in Maine.

That's NPR's Mara Liasson. Mara, thanks. You're welcome.

On the streets of Denver, 19 disabled protesters blocked buses to demand accessible transportation.

It kind of scared me a little bit. You proud of it now, though?

Yeah. It changed lives.

On the Sunday Story, how a little-known group of activists in 1978 helped spark the modern-day disability rights movement. Listen now to the Sunday Story from the Up First podcast on the NPR app.

And that's Up First for Monday, July 27th. I'm Amy Martinez.

And I'm Leila Fadel. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macías, Tina Crea, Ben Swayze, H.J. Mai, and Ali Schweitzer. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes, and our technical director is Stacey Abbott. Join us again tomorrow.

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Like, that's unbelievable. Everything is unbelievable.

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