MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has vowed to punish Iran for a missile assault on Israel last night.
STEVE INSKEEP: Yeah, Iran fired about 180 ballistic missiles, according to the Israeli military, sending millions of people across Israel into bomb shelters.
MARTIN: NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi is with us now from Tel Aviv. Hadeel, good morning.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So what was it like last night?
AL-SHALCHI: So it really all started around 5:00 p.m. local time. We heard through the news that the U.S. warned Israel about an imminent Iranian threat. And then very quickly, after the Israeli military confirmed that news, the streets here in Tel Aviv fell eerily quiet. And then a couple of hours later, this is what it sounded like.
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AL-SHALCHI: Air raid sirens wailed across the country. And then we heard loud booms, and the night sky lit up with orbs of light, many of which exploded into smoke. And that was, of course, the work of Israel's powerful air defense system blowing up the missiles before they hit the earth. Luckily, in Israel, we have many bomb shelters across the cities and inside homes now, so many people were able to take shelter. And while the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza weren't the targets of this attack, the majority of Palestinians in those areas don't have specialized shelters, and the one confirmed death was in the West Bank.
MARTIN: So Hadeel, you know, in the last few weeks, we've been saying tensions are rising in the Middle East. We keep saying that over and over again. But this sounds like a major escalation. Why don't you remind us of how we got here?
AL-SHALCHI: For sure. So I'm going to take you all the way back to October 8. That's really when it started. Hezbollah began trading fire with Israel on the Israeli-Lebanese border. But then it got really bad a couple of weeks ago. Israel unleashed a much larger campaign on Lebanon. And that included a pager and walkie-talkie explosion operation and then airstrikes on Beirut that killed more than 1,000 people, including the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, which was a huge blow not only to the group, but also its funder, Iran. So Iran claimed that yesterday's missile attack was in response to that assassination. And if you go even earlier this year, in April, an Israeli strike killed several leaders of Iran's military in Syria. So Iran attacked Israel then also with more than 300 drones and missiles, but almost all of those were intercepted.
MARTIN: So what have we heard from Israeli and American officials so far?
AL-SHALCHI: Right. So Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came out and spoke last night, and he had a stern warning for his neighbors.
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PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "Whoever attacks, we will attack them," Netanyahu said. And then he went on to name Iran, Syria, Lebanon and the West Bank. He also thanked the U.S. for its support. American naval destroyers had shot down missiles with Israel. And then President Biden also spoke later, reiterating the U.S.'s commitment to its ally.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Make no mistake - the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.
AL-SHALCHI: Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, also spoke, and he said that the U.S. made clear that, quote, "there will be consequences, severe consequences for this attack," and he said that the U.S. will work with Israel to make that the case.
MARTIN: What might we expect next?
AL-SHALCHI: So there's been a lot of rhetoric from all sides. Yesterday, Iranian Mission to the United Nations said its action were, quote, "duly carried out." But then it said that if Israel retaliated, there would be a, quote, "crushing response." And we seem to be in this spiral of escalation, and I don't want to speculate too much here, but it seems like we're getting closer to that wider regional war we've been talking about for about a year.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi. Hadeel, thank you.
AL-SHALCHI: Thank you.
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MARTIN: Last night, Ohio Senator JD Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had one of the most anticipated vice presidential debates in recent memory.
INSKEEP: Turned out to be a - kind of a polite discussion. They were largely civil, noting some areas in which they agreed. They did clash over immigration, reproductive rights and the economy.
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JD VANCE: If Kamala Harris has such great plans for how to address middle-class problems, then she ought to do them now, not when asking for a promotion, but in the job the American people gave her 3 1/2 years ago.
INSKEEP: That's Republican JD Vance. Democrat Tim Walz painted Trump as dangerous to women's health.
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TIM WALZ: This issue is what's on everyone's mind. Donald Trump put this all into motion. He brags about how great it was that he put the judges in and overturned Roe v. Wade, 52 years of personal autonomy.
MARTIN: White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez was watching, and he's with us now to give us his thoughts about all this. Good morning, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Michelle.
MARTIN: So this was, you know, the first introduction for many Americans who don't necessarily watch these campaigns so closely to these two candidates. What overall impression do you think they made?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, I mean, it was a very substantive debate. I mean, there were really not that many personal attacks. I mean, to me, it was clear that Vance was the more polished candidate. He was more comfortable in the spotlight, you know, batting down - back questions and critiques. Walz - he started off a little rusty but improved as time went on, especially when he was talking about that signature issue of their campaign, reproductive rights. Perhaps, though, the best moment for Walz was at the end, though, when pressing Vance directly on Trump and the 2020 election.
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WALZ: Did he lose the 2020 election?
VANCE: Tim, I'm focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?
WALZ: That is a damning...
VANCE: Has she tried to...
WALZ: That is a damning nonanswer.
VANCE: Has she - it's a damning nonanswer for you to not talk about censorship.
MARTIN: So let's say that that moment was a win for the Walz-Harris campaign. What about Vance? When did he succeed?
ORDOÑEZ: Vance was most effective when he repeatedly reminded those watching that while Harris and Walz talk about all these changes, Harris has had some opportunities, ample opportunities, to enact those policies but hasn't.
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VANCE: Who has been the Vice President for the last 3 1/2 years? And the answer is your running mate, not mine.
ORDOÑEZ: You know, that was something actually that Vance did a lot more effectively than Trump did in his debate with Harris a few weeks ago, and it's something Trump's allies wish he did more.
MARTIN: So, you know, the way a lot of people watch these debates - they don't watch the whole thing. They watch the clips. Are there specific moments that you think will be seen over and over?
ORDOÑEZ: Yes. I mean, I think the one of Walz pressing Vance about the 2020 election is one. That was positive for him. But another where he struggled was trying to explain previous claims that he had made about travel to Hong Kong and China during the Tiananmen Square protests.
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MARGARET BRENNAN: Governor, just to follow up on that, the question was, can you explain the discrepancy?
WALZ: No, just - all I said on this was is I got there that summer and misspoke on this. So I will just - that's what I've said.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. It was really one of the most uncomfortable moments in the debate for him. And I'd say one for Vance was when his mic was cut off. He interrupted the moderators after they fact-checked his false claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.
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BRENNAN: And just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio, does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status.
VANCE: Well, Margaret, but...
BRENNAN: Thank you.
VANCE: No.
NORAH O'DONNELL: Senator, we have so much to get to.
BRENNAN: Thank you, Norah.
VANCE: Margaret, I think it's important because...
BRENNAN: We're going to turn now to the economy. Thank you.
ORDOÑEZ: It was the only time that they muted the mics, I'll say.
MARTIN: So before we let you go, Franco, in the end, how much do you think this debate really matters to voters?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, I mean, I think both candidates did exactly what they intended. They found moments to relate to the audience, you know, but point out some differences between the bosses, the presidential candidates. But vice presidential candidates rarely move the needle in elections, and it's unlikely this one will either.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Franco Ordoñez. Franco, thank you.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you.
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MARTIN: President Biden visits North Carolina today, where recovery has been slow since the remnants of Hurricane Helene tore through the area last weekend, causing damaging flooding.
INSKEEP: The death toll is rising across the Southeast. Tens of thousands of people remain without electricity or water or cell service and, in some places, all three.
MARTIN: NPR's Jennifer Ludden is in nearby eastern Tennessee. Good morning, Jennifer.
JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: Can you just help us see the challenge here? And I'm thinking one reason is just, to put it simply, this was just a massive storm.
LUDDEN: Exactly. It hit multiple states, you know, across hundreds of miles, and we're talking mountainous terrain. There are winding rivers, and they've stayed at high levels for days. Major highways are ripped up. And it's just been hard for authorities to get places. Now, the Biden administration says there are several thousand federal responders on the ground, hundreds more on the way. They are signing people up for aid and say that number's going to go up quickly. First responders are just pleading for people to be patient. But, you know, there is frustration. Residents don't know everything behind the scenes and feel that they've been left to cope with this unprecedented disaster on their own.
MARTIN: And for people in that situation, how are they coping?
LUDDEN: You know, there are a lot of food and water distribution sites. But I got to say that the scale of regular people pitching in to help is striking. I met Matthew Jackson, who'd set up a roadside tent in Newport, Tenn. He'd shut down the pizzeria he owns in Knoxville an hour away and spent two days grilling up hundreds of hot dogs, burgers and chicken sandwiches to give out.
MATTHEW JACKSON: I'm from Florida. I've been through a lot of these. I've seen this a lot of times. These people over here have never been through something like this, so they don't understand what it takes, what it's going to be, how long it's gonna last.
LUDDEN: In one neighborhood that was hit hard by flooding, residents told me strangers had come by to help haul out their furniture and scrub away the mud. And one young man was using his forklift to take people's furniture to the dump. Just across the state line, a search-and-rescue official in North Carolina yesterday urged everyone to do this kind of thing. He said, this disaster is just so big, neighbors helping neighbors is the only way to get through it.
MARTIN: It's just a hard thing to even sort of estimate, but Jennifer, do you - can you give us any sense of a timeline for getting back basic amenities that people have been doing without?
LUDDEN: No one is really doing that, no. It does get a bit better every day. More people have power. Officials are working to repair cellphone towers, putting in temporary ones if - where it's going to take a while. You know, but it could be weeks before even the water comes back. A lot of infrastructure was just destroyed. Our colleagues at Blue Ridge Public Radio in Asheville, N.C., report that a regional health center is urging later-term pregnant women and also parents of newborns to evacuate this area because it says the water situation is just too unsafe.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Newport, Tenn. Jennifer, thank you so much.
LUDDEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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