Famine in Northern Gaza, Epstein Docs, CA/TX Maps

For the first time, famine has officially been declared in northern Gaza.

Israel is accused by human rights organizations of using food as a weapon of war.

Will this declaration change the trajectory of its offensive in Gaza and the military's plan to seize Gaza City?

I'm Michelle Martin.

That's Leila Fotto, and this is up first from NPR News.

The House Oversight Committee is getting some of Jeffrey Epstein's Justice Department files today.

We're going to be transparent.

We're doing what we said we would do.

We're getting the documents.

The Republican chair says some of those documents will be made public eventually, but will that be enough to satisfy Trump supporters?

And California Democrats pushed through a redistricting plan that could get them more House seats.

We have a lot more work to do.

Get this done November 4th.

Will California voters approve it?

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A UN-backed panel of experts experts on starvation has declared that northern Gaza is in a full-blown famine, with half a million people facing, quote, catastrophic conditions.

This comes after almost two years of war and Israeli limitations on aid entering the territory.

For two and a half months, it blockaded all aid.

Israel blames the food crisis on Hamas, which it accuses of hijacking aid.

No evidence has been presented publicly to show that.

Aid groups have also told NPR they haven't seen that systemic theft.

Today's declaration, according to one leading aid group, is the first time a famine has ever been declared in the Middle East.

With us to talk about this is NPR's international affairs correspondent, Jackie Northam, in Tel Aviv.

Good morning, Jackie.

Morning, Layla.

Okay, so this expert panel is saying for the first time that northern Gaza is in the grip of famine.

What did they find?

Well, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or the IPC,

is an international panel of independent experts on food scarcity, and it informs the UN on food insecurity and malnutrition.

And they've been watching the worsening crisis in Gaza for many months now and had previously warned of famine conditions there, but they stopped short of what they actually came out and announced today: what they call phase five, which is the most severe level of hunger crisis.

They say it's characterized by starvation, destitution, and death.

And it's taken hold in the north of Gaza, which includes Gaza City.

The report says half a million people are facing that level of starvation.

And it also warns that another million people, that's just over half the population of Gaza, are facing severe food deprivation.

Additionally, it said that at least 132,000 children under the age of five are at risk of death from acute malnutrition in the coming year.

Now, Jackie, some have been asking why this took so long, given the images of starvation from Gaza.

Well, part of it is lack of outside access to the Gaza Strip.

And these these numbers, high as they are, the IPC says they're likely an underestimate.

And the IPC warned that those figures are likely only to get worse.

How has Israel responded to the report?

The Israeli military agency charged with transferring aid to Gaza called the IPC report false and biased.

It said there was no famine in Gaza,

where Israel has been fighting Hamas since October 2023 when militants launched a deadly attack on southern Israel.

But Israel has restricted restricted food, medicine, and other essentials going into the territory, saying that Hamas steals them and uses them for its own purpose.

And for several months earlier this year, it stopped all aid going into Gaza.

It now oversees a distribution of some food through a handful of U.S.-backed distribution sites, but hundreds of Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces overseeing those sites since they opened.

Does this report clearly say who's responsible for the famine?

No, it doesn't.

The IPC report does not appoint blame.

It said what's needed is a ceasefire and an end to the war so aid can be flooded into Gaza.

But, you know, aid groups have been warning for months that famine is already settling into Gaza.

As I said, Israel denies it's to blame, and all of this comes as Israel is preparing to launch a new offensive against Gaza City.

And it's already calling up tens of thousands of extra soldiers for a campaign to destroy Hamas, it says.

And just last night, there was a lot of bombing in and around the densely populated Gaza City.

I'm Pierre's international affairs correspondent, Jackie Northam, in Tel Aviv.

Thank you, Jackie.

Thank you.

The Justice Department will send their first batch of Jeffrey Epstein files to a top House Republican today.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer told reporters yesterday they will make at least some of those records public eventually.

We're going to be transparent.

We're doing what we said we would do.

We're getting the documents, and

I believe the White House will work with us.

But critics, including some Republicans, say they're worried the release will be far from comprehensive.

NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Crisadis has been following this and joins me now.

Good morning, Claudia.

Good morning, Leela.

Okay, so there's been a lot of attention over the Epstein case.

What role is the House Oversight Committee playing here?

Well, so far, they're playing the biggest role we've seen from Congress.

Earlier this month, the committee subpoenaed the Justice Department for records related to its investigation of Epstein and his longtime associate.

This is convicted sex trafficker Geelin Maxwell.

And Chairman Comer said the first batch of those documents are expected to arrive today and more will follow from there.

Comer says the names of victims will be redacted before they decide what to release publicly.

And this really marks a major step for for Republicans who for months have fended off questions about transparency around Epstein, who died in a jail cell by suicide six years ago this month.

The party's base has clearly been angry with President Trump and the party for not releasing these records as part of a campaign promise, raising the heat on lawmakers, even forcing the House to leave early for this current August recess to avoid any more votes on the issue this summer.

Yeah, I mean, we've been seeing all this infighting in the the Republican Party, the anger from the base, but what about Democrats?

What are they saying about these records going to the committee now?

Well, they argue ultimately this document release will be limited and carefully controlled by Republicans.

And they've really jumped on this issue as part of a political calculation inflaming this GOP party divide with the base.

And last month, Trump called for the release of some grand jury records.

Where do those stand?

Or where does that stand, sir?

Right, right.

The Justice Department asked three judges to unseal those records, but in all three cases, the judges said no.

That includes a federal judge in Manhattan this week who said there was not sufficient justification to unseal those records.

The judge said thousands of pages in the government's possession would go further to inform the public than the mere 70 pages of testimony the DOJ was asking for.

Now, Congress will return from their recess after the Labor Day holiday.

What role should we expect them to play with this issue in their back?

Well, we know the House Oversight Committee also wants to speak with Geelynn Maxwell and is trying to negotiate a date to interview her with her attorneys.

The committee also wants testimony from nearly a dozen witnesses.

These are top officials, and they include former President Bill Clinton, his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, several past attorneys general, and former FBI Director Robert Mueller and James Comey.

We also know that Democrats are going to continue to push for more transparency, and they have an unlikely ally in House Republican, Thomas Massey.

Massey said he's going to force a vote in the House on the full release of these records when Congress returns next month.

And he told me before the House left for this recess that Republican leaders were betting this would die down during this break.

But his prediction that it would not seem to be exactly what's playing out here.

That is NPR's Claudia Grisalis.

Thank you, Claudia.

Thank you.

The fight President Trump started for control of Congress is fully underway.

The Texas Senate plans to vote on a redistricting map today.

It's a plan that's already passed the House there and would give Republicans the edge on five more seats.

And California is reacting.

The Democratic governor there, Gavin Newsom, posted it's on on social media Wednesday.

He signed two bills passed by the Democratic-led legislature Thursday that would pave the way to a redistricting plan of their own, one that would give Democrats the edge on more seats in the House.

But that's only if California voters approve it in a special election.

Laura Fitzgerald is a political reporter with Cap Radio in Sacramento who has been following this story.

Good morning, Laura.

Good morning.

Okay, so now that the governor and the legislature have gotten their work on this plan done, what are you watching for next?

Well, California's redistricting process is going to look a lot different than how it looks in Texas.

Here, we have an independent commission of citizens that redraws political lines instead of politicians.

And that's all outlined in our state constitution.

So voters here have to decide whether we can bypass that commission through 2030 and let this new map, which has been drawn to the Democratic advantage, take effect.

And as you mentioned, Layla, the Texas proposal, Republicans advanced their own mid-decade map and the House approved it this week.

The Senate is expected to take it up Friday and it does appear that that's going to pass.

And when do voters in California decide whether they'll allow this?

November 4th.

That is when Governor Gavin Newsom is called for the special election and it lines up with when a lot of cities are already having their local elections.

Now that this proposal is out of the legislature's hands, Democrats here have to convince voters to vote to let them carry out this redistricting plan.

The governor even talked about that at a press conference yesterday.

We have a lot more work to do.

Get this done November 4th.

And that happened almost immediately after he signed the bills yesterday.

Newsom and other Democrats went straight to the state Democratic Party headquarters near the Capitol in Sacramento to hold a press event for the campaign side of things.

Okay, so that's what Democrats are doing and saying in California.

What about Republicans?

You know, I've heard a lot of Republicans say that they want to get out and campaign against this measure.

They've already tried to sue.

that was blocked by court, but they could try again.

But across the board, this new map could really shake things up.

Republican representatives in these redrawn congressional districts will face much more difficult reelections in 2026.

Now that the plan is underway, they're probably thinking about next steps.

But ultimately, this map could mean California's Republican delegation to the U.S.

House is just for people.

Do you have any sense of how voters might vote on this issue?

issue?

Well, there's a mix of polling out there right now and even more underway, but it's still very early.

I actually asked Matt Rexroad this exact question.

He's a Republican political consultant and redistricting expert here in California.

He told me this special election is about a lot more than redrawn lines.

This election is not going to be decided on redistricting.

I personally love redistricting.

I wish people would talk about it all the time.

But the issue that voters are going to vote on in this election will be, do you support President Trump or do you support Gavin Newsom?

Rex wrote here, he's referring to the fact that Newsom is widely seen as someone who might have national aspirations.

So, as this campaign develops over the coming weeks, it'll be really interesting to see what kind of political tone this redistricting measure takes on, both with California politicians and with voters.

Laura Fitzgerald, political reporter with CAP Radio in Sacramento.

Thank you for your reporting, Laura.

Thank you, Leyda.

And we've got another important story for you.

The Trump administration created a special weaponization group inside the Justice Department.

Its stated goal to investigate what the White House calls political bias by federal law enforcement.

One of their new hires is Jonathan Gross, a lawyer who defended January 6th rioters and compared those prosecutions of people who attacked the Capitol to the Holocaust.

These prosecutors are evil people.

They will put you on a cattle car to Auschwitz without an eye.

I will tell you, some of them were scarier than others.

The scariest ones of them are cold-blooded killers.

Former January 6th prosecutors, many of whom were fired because of their work, say they are outraged about the, quote, weaponization group, which is essentially investigating them, the investigators.

Mike Gordon is one of them.

He's suing the government over his firing and says hiring gross sends a bad signal.

that what this weaponization, so-called weaponization working group is doing is actually weaponizing the government against its own employees.

You can hear more about the Justice Department's weaponization group and this recent hire on our radio show, Morning Edition.

Listen on your local NPR station or anytime at npr.org.

And that's Up First for Friday, August 22nd.

I'm Leila Falden.

And I'm Michelle Martin.

This Sunday on Up First, it's been 20 years since Hurricane Katrina.

Before the storm, the New Orleans public schools system was considered one of the worst in the country by a number of measures.

In the aftermath of the hurricane, some saw an opportunity.

It is an opportunity to pick your best principals, your best teachers, get training done, rethink the delivery of curriculum and instruction.

But others saw a hostile takeover.

The idea of someone at the state coming in and taking over the schools was very offensive to us.

This is our system.

We look at one of the biggest experiments in public education to ever happen in the U.S.

Listen to the Sunday story this weekend, right here in the Up First podcast.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Jason Breslow, Emily Kopp, Acacia Squires, Arizu Razvani, and Mohamed El Bradisi.

It was produced by Ziad Buch, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas.

We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is David Greenberg.

Our executive producer is Jay Shaler.

Join us again on Monday.

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