Democratic Party Tensions Ahead of Midterms

Happy almost birthday America, Tomorrow, the United States turns two hundred and fifty years old. And parts of the country may feel like it's two hundred and fifty degrees. a heatwave from Texas to the east cooast is already forcing cities to cancel parades and fireworks. I'm Michelle Martin. that's A Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. The death toll from Russia's attack on Kyiv is climbing. Ukraine's president says more air defenses could have saved lives. And Democrats are hoping to win back the House this fall, but a fight within the party could get in the way. Progressive and Democratic socialist upsets are energizing voters in blue cities. The worry is whether that message can win in the places Democrats actually need to take back the majority. Stay with us. 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Visit carvana d. com today Today is the eve of the two hundred fiftieth birthday of the United States. Tomorrow, there will be celebrations of Independence Day large and small all across the country, many of which are being affected by intense heat. NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Sokos has been tracking the festivities across the US. So what are some of the difficult choices some people have to make about public events Well, that heat wave is extending from Texas all the way up and down the east cooast. And officials across much of the country are going to have to make some tough decisions, potentially at the last minute But some places have already decided to cancel or cut back on their festivities D. The city of Philadelphia, which of course, is central to our independent story, has already decided to substantially cut its annual fourourth of July parade route. Many communities in Colorado, like Durango and Vale, have cancellled their fireworks displays due to the risk of wildfires And it's not clear yet what's going to happen in Washington, DC, where President Trump has, of course, been emphasizing this two hundred fiftieth anniversary. Yeah, that's the big spot that everyone's looking at because the great American State fair is out there on the national Mall and it's going to be out there in blazing heat no matter what That's right. yesterday afternoon, morning Edition producer Lindsey Toddi headed out to the mall to check out the state Fair. It was one hundred and one degrees and it felt like one hundred fourteen with the heat index And for security reasons, metal and glass water bottles aren't allowed. so folks can only bring in or buy plastic ones. And water is priced like at an airport, It's five bucks for a twenty ounce bottle. Lemonade is ten dollars. But there are also hydration stations scattered around where visitors can get free bottles of water and a bit of space to cool down. All right, well at least there's that. So what's the plan for the evening in DC for the Capitol Fourth concert and fireworks display? That is a good question, and we just don't have a good answer yet. Yesterday, the Capitol Police in DC announced they'll be making a call this morning whether or not the public will be allowed to attend the Capitol Fourth event this evening. Today, the forecast is for one hundred two degrees with the heat index expected to make it feel up to one hundred thirteen And Washington in the summer is notoriously hot and muggy in any case, you are really reminded that this city was built on a swamp A couple of days ago, President Trump said at a public event that he intended to give a quote really long speech on the night of the fourth. but it's supposed to be nearly as hot then as it will be during the day. All right, what about some other big two hundred fiftieth anniversary events that are happening elsewhere? Well,, as of now, the coast is clear, so to speak for the arrival of the tall ships here in New York where I'm based. As of now, we're still expecting about forty tall ships from around the world and something along the lines of twenty thousand sailors to be here Starting this afternoon. And that is despite scorching temperatures and a heat index of up to one hundred and fifteen degrees. All right That's MPR's anastia Sal becausecause thanks a lot Thanks for having me Rescue workers in Kyiv pulled bodies out of an apartment building overnight, a building that was crushed by a Russian missile on Thursday. Officials say thirty people were killed in the volley of missiles and drones in Ukraine's capital. The attack was Russia's response to weeks of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries That's an attempt by Ukraine to weaken the Kremlin's ability to wage war. Joining us now is MPR's Joanna Kkissis, who is in Kyiv. Joanna, how is Kyiv recovering Well, many here A, they're still very shaken, especially in Southeastern Cave where Russian missiles hit this high rise apartment complex. And if you walk outside this complex, you will see right next to a kindergarten where one of the missiles left this giant crater An apartment building collapsed and Ukrainian President Volodyimyr Zelensky spoke to reporters outside the rubble . He looked tired and angry and he said, lookook, if our allies had delivered the air defense supplies they had promised on time, I think we could have saved more lives than homes. He said Russia's latest attack exposed Ukraine's shortage of interceptors for missiles. Yeah I saw NATO leaders meeting in Turkey next week The security lance has been helping Ukraine defend itself. I mean, does Vol Zelensky have a message for them Yes, he has said many times before that Russia is a threat not just to Ukraine, but to Europe as a whole. And in his evening video address last night, Zelensky said he wants to secure licenses to produce U. S. designed Patriot air defense missiles in Ukraine and Europe. it He's saying If NATO still means something to the Allies, Europe must have its own capacity to defend itself from all types of threats, including Russian ballistic missiles Now last month, G seven leaders said they would consider granting a license to Ukraine to produce air defense missiles. Is Ukraine developing its own anti missile system Yeah, actually they are. The Ukrainian defense firm, FirePoint is testing an anti ballistic interceptor to destroy Russian missiles. Those interceptors are not ready yet. so there's this gap. Ukraine has already developed interceptors that destroy Russian drones. And I know yeah that Ukraine has also made its own attack drones, including some that can travel more than h thousandousand miles. So how does Ukraine use those? Yeah, well, for weeks now, Ukraine has launched this systematic campaign of long range drone strikes deep inside Russia and in Russian occupied Ukrainian territories. Ukrainian drones have even hit Moscow and Staint Petersburg and as far away as Siberia. An the targets have largely been Russia's oil industry. This is a pillar of the Russian economy Since this March, this past March, there have been more than fifty reported Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries and energy facilities. And what's the goal with those drone strikes So Ukraine says these long range strikes are targeting what it calls Russia's war machine. It is an attempt to pressure the Kremlin to end the war. The drone strikes have caused widespread gas shortages in Russia, and Russia is also making very little progress on the front line. Ukrainian drone strikes have hit supply routes and logistic centers for Russian troops on the front line and inside Russia. And a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies says that the Russian military is actually suffering far higher casualties than Ukrainian forces. A rate of nearly eight to one, which is much higher than it was at the beginning of the war. Zelensky has said many times that he wants to bring the Kremlin's war home to Russians and Russians are now feeling the pain That's MPR's Joanica Kisses, Joanna. thanks. You're welcome Lawmakers in Congress have gone home for the fourth of July recess. and when they return, much of their focus will turn to this fall's midterm election. This morning, we wanted to focus on the race for the House, where Democrats are hopeful they can win back the majority But fighting within the party could complicate their plans. NPR political reporter Allena Moore has been following this. so Eena, primaries can expose tensions inside a party, but it seems for Democrats this year, it feels especially pronounced. Why is that? Well, Democrats have long been struggling with how to re energize their base. And in some Democratic primaries this cycle, voters have been engaged, and they're turning out because there's deep frustration with the party establishment and politics as usual. And most recently, we've seen this dynamic play out in some high profile upsets where Candidates in Denver and New York City have ousted sitting Democrats that they feel are not far enough to the left. OkayK so how do those upsets happen? These are candidates who are running on a core set of issues. in large part, they want the party to adopt ambitious economic policies to address the affordability crisis. They're also talking a lot about money in politics and criticizing elected Democrats for taking donations from corporate pacts and pro Israel lobbying groups. And those were key issues for Daria Lisa Avila Cheivalier She's a Democratic socialist from New York who successfully challenged Adriano Espayat, the chair of the powerful Cgressional Hispanic caaucus in the House. And one thing A that made that such a big deal is Espayat was backed by House mininority leadeader Hakim Jeffries, so his loss may underscore that frustration a lot of voters are feeling with the establishment right now Okay, so if it appears to be a winning message and Democrats want to win and need to win, I would assume, I mean why aren't they embracing more of these candidates? Well, some are. I mean, just yesterday, we saw Alexandria Ocasio Cortez endorse Abdul El Sayed in Michigan's Democratic primary for Senate. We should say El Sayad is a progressive, not a Democratic socialist, but he's one of several candidates that's being painted as too extreme by Republicans Now, that's an attack that all Democrats are bracing for, because even though Democrats broadly agree on key economic issues, they worry that other positions held by more leftist candidates will muddy their message. Take Avila Cheavalier, for example, She holds positions that make some Democrats nervous. For one, on her campaign website, she advocates for abolishing the quote mine. She is also one of several candidates who has faced criticism that their opposition to Israel's war in Gaza borders on anti Semitism, and those are charges that these candidates deny. All right, so how is all of this affecting the way Democratic leaders are thinking about November and maybe even past that? It's complicated, because it's clear that these candidates have