Governors and the National Guard, Europe and Ukraine, Texas Redistricting

Summary

NPR Up First – Episode Summary

Date: August 20, 2025
Hosts: Michelle Martin, Amy Martinez
Main Topics: National Guard Deployments to D.C., European and U.S. Roles in Ukrainian Security, Texas Redistricting and National Implications

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Episode Overview

This episode spotlights three top developments:

• The decision by six Republican-led states to deploy National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. in response to President Trump’s crime emergency declaration.
• Europe’s scramble to take the lead on securing Ukraine, amid the U.S. shifting its direct involvement and Trump pledging security guarantees (but no U.S. troops).
• Texas Republicans’ push to redraw congressional districts—potentially adding five GOP seats—while California and other states prepare countermoves.

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1. National Guard Deployments to Washington, D.C.

Segment Start: [02:16]

Key Discussion Points

• Deployment Details:

  • Six states (West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee—all with GOP governors) will send over 1,100 National Guard troops to D.C.
  • Action follows President Trump declaring a “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital.

• Political Overtones:

  • The states involved are all Republican-led, which has sparked accusations of politicizing the Guard.
  • South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster: Troops are to “support President Trump and his mission to restore law and order.”
    (Meg Anderson quoting McMaster at [02:48])
  • Democratic Governors Association chair, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, urges fellow governors to “reject the temptation to use their soldiers to reinforce a dangerous, politically motivated agenda.”
    (Anderson at [03:15])
  • Vermont’s Republican Gov. Phil Scott refuses to send troops, calling it inappropriate.

• Local Issues:

  • Many states committing troops have higher crime rates in some cities than D.C. itself:
    • Jackson, MS: Murder rate 4x D.C.; Memphis: nearly 3x; New Orleans: nearly 2x
      (Meg Anderson at [03:44])
  • “This is about a political power grab and political theater, not about making cities safer.”
    – Insha Rahman, Vera Institute of Justice ([04:12])

• Effectiveness of National Guard as Police:

  • The Guard is trained for crowd control and disaster response, not local policing.
  • “This is kind of described as, like, the grenade effect: they throw a considerable amount of resources at a problem over a short period of time… But it doesn’t actually help address the problem over the long run.”
    – Mark Krapanski, Arnold Ventures ([05:20])
  • Proven crime reduction strategies: community policing and boosting local social services.

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2. Europe and Ukraine: Shifting Security Guarantees

Segment Start: [05:56]

Key Discussion Points

• U.S. and European Roles:

  • President Trump meets with President Zelenskyy and EU leaders, asking Europe to take charge of Ukrainian security.
  • U.S. will offer “security guarantees,” but no U.S. troops will be deployed.

• European Response:

  • EU leaders swiftly debrief and coordinate after D.C. meetings.
  • European Council President Antonio Costa: “The U.S. commitment to participate in the security guarantees... is a very important step, a very welcome step.”
    (Costa, via Schultz, [07:20])
  • Europeans feel reassured but recognize “a difficult road ahead.”
    (Schultz at [07:33])

• Coalition and Challenges:

  • Over 30-country “coalition of the willing” and a separate 27-member EU session convene.
  • Uncertainty persists over:
    • Goals and duties of the force (monitor, reinforce, or defend a ceasefire?)
    • Whether a small “tripwire” force will suffice, and what happens if it’s attacked.

• NATO-Style Guarantees and U.S. Role:

  • Concerns over the clarity and depth of “NATO-style” security protections for Ukraine.
  • “...If you apply this to Ukraine, will all European Union members or NATO members, including the U.S., come if it’s attacked again after a peace deal?... I think everyone here is eager to hear what kind of commitments the U.S. is ready to make.”
    – Terry Schultz ([09:11])
  • Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. could provide air power is seen as a positive signal.

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3. Texas Redistricting: GOP Strategies and National Ripples

Segment Start: [09:49]

Key Discussion Points

• The Texas Battle:

  • Texas Republicans aim to redraw districts to add up to five GOP-held congressional seats (from 25 out of 38 to potentially 30).
  • Democrats had left the state to stall the process but returned under threat of arrest or replacement.

• Dramatic Protest:

  • Some Democrats refuse to sign pledges ensuring legislative attendance; Rep. Nicole Collier stays in the chamber in protest while others tear up their pledges and join her.
  • “She calls it demeaning…and she was planning on staying there again.”
    – Blaze Gainey ([10:54])

• Accusations and Legal Battles:

  • GOP argues redistricting is legal and points to Democratic precedents in other states.
  • Democrats claim the map weakens Black and Latino votes and plan to challenge it in court.

• State Cascades:

  • California, the more populous Democratic-led state, is considering its own mid-decade redistricting to counter Texas’s move—aiming for a five-seat Democratic edge.
  • “Unlike Texas, California law requires that an independent commission do the redistricting to take the politics out of it...”
    – Blaze Gainey ([11:51])
  • California legislature seeks to bypass this with voter approval in a November special election; GOP is already suing to block the plan.

• National Stakes:

  • Other states are watching, and the GOP House majority is narrow, so even a five-seat swing could dramatically affect President Trump’s agenda.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "This is about a political power grab and political theater, not about making cities safer." – Insha Rahman ([04:12])
• “This is kind of described as, like, the grenade effect... might help to drive that number down in the short term, but it doesn’t actually help address the problem over the long run.” – Mark Krapanski ([05:20])
• “Their commitment to participate in the security guarantees with the Europeans and other like minded countries is a very important step, a very welcome step.” – Antonio Costa ([07:20])
• “I think everyone here is eager to hear what kind of commitments the U.S. is ready to make.” – Terry Schultz ([09:11])
• On Texas redistricting protest: “She calls it demeaning and she’s so far refused to sign and has chosen to stay in the chamber since Monday, giving interviews and even slept there.” – Blaze Gainey ([10:54])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• National Guard Deployments: [02:16]–[05:44]
• Europe & Ukraine Security: [05:56]–[09:39]
• Texas Redistricting: [09:49]–[12:46]

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For further reporting, listen to the full episode or visit NPR’s Up First.

Transcript

[Michelle Martin]

Six states, all with Republican governors, plan to send National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. but many have cities with higher crime rates than the Capitol.

[Amy Martinez]

So exactly how might these deployments reduce crime?

[Michelle Martin]

I'm Michelle Martin. That's a Martinez. And this is up first from NPR News. President Trump wants Europe to take the lead on security in Ukraine, although he said that the US Will help provide security guarantees for the country. The stakes are high for the EU.

[Blaze Gainey]

I want it that we face a difficult road ahead.

[Michelle Martin]

How are European leaders responding?

[Amy Martinez]

And Texas Republicans are about to redraw the state's voting map. How might that help their party in the midterms? And which states might follow suit? Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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[Amy Martinez]

A total of six states have now promised to send their National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. that will bring more.

[Michelle Martin]

Than 1100 additional soldiers to patrol the streets. The deployments follow President Trump's declaration of what he has called a quote, crime emergency, unquote, in the Capitol. All the states sending troops are led by Republicans, and that has raised concerns that the Guard is being politicized.

[Amy Martinez]

NPR criminal justice reporter Meg Anderson joins us to explain. So as Michelle just mentioned, the deployments are from states with Republican governors. I mean, that can't be a coincidence Is it?

[Meg Anderson]

Yeah, yeah, it's not. So so far, the states are West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, and as of yesterday, Tennessee. And, you know, in their statements, they echoed what Trump has said about crime. In D. South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster said the troops were there to, quote, support President Trump and his mission to restore law and order. And this really is falling mostly on partisan lines. Yesterday, Governor Laura Kelly of Kansas, she's the chair of the Democratic Governors association, put out a statement urging state leaders to, quote, reject the temptation to use their soldiers to reinforce a dangerous, politically motivated agenda. And I should note, Vermont Governor Phil Scott, he's a Republican. He said he's not going to send his troops. He didn't feel like it would be an acceptable and appropriate use of them.

[Amy Martinez]

Okay. Now, the thing I think a lot of people find puzzling is that many of these states are sending troops to D.C. half cities with crime rates that are higher than the Capitol. Don't they need them?

[Meg Anderson]

Yeah. I mean, so I. That's true. I looked at last year's murder rates, and in Jackson, Mississippi, the murder rate was more than four times the rate in D.C. in Memphis, it was nearly triple. In New Orleans, it was nearly double. I spoke about this with Incha Rahman. She's with the advocacy group the Vera Institute of Justice. They work to end mass incarceration.

[Terry Schultz]

Trump enlisting Republican governors to send National Guard troops signals one thing very clearly.

[Meg Anderson]

That this is about a political power.

[Terry Schultz]

Grab and political theater, not about making cities safer.

[Meg Anderson]

To be clear, D.C. still has had higher violent crime rates than many other major cities, but the numbers are falling now.

[Amy Martinez]

Did you reach out to any of those governors who are deploying troops?

[Meg Anderson]

I did. I only heard back from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's office. They said they've sent their troops outside the state before, including the inaugurations of both President Trump and former President Joe Biden, and also to protests in Minneapolis and natural disasters in Florida, North Carolina and Louisiana.

[Amy Martinez]

So how well suited is the National Guard at actually policing streets?

[Meg Anderson]

Yeah, so, you know, the National Guard usually is engaged in crowd control or helping in the aftermath of a natural disaster. They are not experienced in doing local police work. Policing expert Mark Krapanski noted that, too. He's with Arnold Ventures, a group that funds criminal justice initiatives, and he says he suspects using the Guard like this is not going to reduce crime. This is kind of described as, like the grenade effect, where they throw a considerable amount of resources at a problem over a short period of time, and that might help to drive that number.

[Amy Martinez]

Down in the short term, but it.

[Meg Anderson]

Doesn'T actually help address the problem over the long run. And you know, he stressed that there are long term strategies that we do know work in lowering crime, things like community policing and boosting social services in neighborhoods like adding employment opportunities and mental health resources.

[Amy Martinez]

That is NPR's Meg Anderson. Meg, thanks.

[Meg Anderson]

You're welcome.

[Amy Martinez]

Following meetings with President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, European leaders have been urgently trying to figure out what they need to do next to end Russia's nearly four year war in Ukraine.

[Michelle Martin]

Trump has ruled out sending US Troops to join a European led force that would guard against another Russian invasion from Brussels.

[Amy Martinez]

Terry Schultz joins us now to talk about the challenges Europe faces with so many factors still dependent on Washington. So Terry, how have European leaders been digesting the events from D.C. well, quickly.

[Terry Schultz]

Is the best way I can describe it. It was less than 24 hours after those meetings at the White House that the EU leaders who'd been present there were back here in virtual sessions debriefing their counterparts. And that urgency just goes to show how high stakes the situation is for Europe. They had both a meeting of this coalition of the willing that some 30 countries which have expressed their readiness to physically help support a ceasefire in Ukraine, and they had one with just the 27 EU member countries.

[Amy Martinez]

Okay. Now President Trump has made it pretty clear that he wants Europe to take the lead on Ukrainian security. That's, that's our understanding, right?

[Terry Schultz]

That's right. And they'd more or less already decided that themselves before, before Trump became more supportive of Ukraine. But now the President has confirmed it many times over. And the good news for the Europeans is that Trump is now pledging for the first time to help with these security guarantees for Ukraine. Chairing the meeting of EU leaders, European Council President Antonio Costa said Europe is actually now working hand in hand with.

[Meg Anderson]

The US Their commitment to participate in the security guarantees with the Europeans and.

[Blaze Gainey]

Other like minded countries is a very important step, a very welcome step.

[Terry Schultz]

Now, Costa says there's still a difficult road ahead, but Europeans are feeling reassured by the new U.S. support.

[Amy Martinez]

Okay, now how might this look, though, practically? I mean, this coalition has been meeting for months without the participation of the.

[Terry Schultz]

US well, and also without even a basic outline of what a final peace deal might look like between Russia and Ukraine. So what would be the rules and protections and obligations of such a mission on the ground? In addition, it's been hamstrung since it was created by the US Lack of support earlier, which is really critical both in terms of capabilities such as intelligence sharing and surveillance where the US Is dominant, but also the deterrent factor, sort of the stick that you have with an agreement backed by the US Especially in the eyes of the Kremlin. So now discussions will take a new, more optimistic shape.

[Amy Martinez]

Now, President Trump says no U.S. troops would join this mission. So how willing are Europeans to send their people into Ukraine?

[Terry Schultz]

Well, that's a huge unanswered question because it's not clear whether this mission would be to sort of monitor a ceasefire or reinforce it or defend certain lines. And those verbs all mean very different things carrying different levels of danger for those deployed. In general, European countries are going to have to send forces, and it seems about 10 have committed to doing that so far. But some options are much less palatable than others. And if this is a small force that's just there to deter Russia re attacking Ukraine, this is sometimes described as a tripwire force. What happens if it is attacked? We don't have any answers yet. Or are we going to need to see hundreds of thousands of European military personnel armed to fight back? I think that's pretty unlikely.

[Amy Martinez]

So how does then this fit into this idea of, quote, NATO style security guarantees that the Trump administration first brought up?

[Terry Schultz]

Well, another unanswered question, but I basically described the dilemma already with NATO's Article 5. An attack on one is considered an attack on all. So if you apply this to Ukraine, will all European Union members or NATO members, including the U.S. come if it's attacked again after a peace deal? And what about if a European soldier is attacked? I think everyone here is eager to hear what kind of commitments the US Is ready to make. And certainly Trump's latest suggestion that air power could be provided will be welcome.

[Amy Martinez]

That's Terry Schultz in Brussels. Terry, thank you.

[Terry Schultz]

Thank you.

[Amy Martinez]

Texas Republicans are on the verge of redrawing the state's congressional districts for President Trump.

[Michelle Martin]

Trump wants the change to help Republicans potentially five more seats in next year's elections. Now, other states are looking to support or counter that Texas Democrats left the state for a couple of weeks to try to slow it down.

[Amy Martinez]

The Texas Newsroom's Blaze Gainey is in Austin to discuss this. So, Blaze, Texas Democrats came back to the legislature Monday after their walkout. So where do things stand now?

[Blaze Gainey]

Yeah. So first, while they were gone, House Democrats were threatened with arrest or being replaced. And when they came back to the House floor, Republican House Speaker Dustin Burroughs ordered them to sign a paper if they wanted to leave pledging they'd show up for today's session, and until then, they'll be technically under custody of Texas law enforcement. Most of them signed and went home, except for one who refused, Representative Nicole Collier. She calls it demeaning and she's so far refused to sign and has chosen to stay in the chamber since Monday, giving interviews and even slept there. It's become a form of protest. And some Democratic colleagues tore their papers up and said they were joining her last night and she was planning on staying there again.

[Amy Martinez]

Wow. Okay. So remind us again what the issue is at stake here. What are Texas Republicans trying to do?

[Blaze Gainey]

Yeah, I mean, Texas Republicans want more seats in Congress. Right now there are 38 congressional districts in Texas, 25 are held by Republicans. And Republicans are trying to redraw the districts based on how people have voted in the past to give their party an edge and at least five more seats. Republicans say this is legal. They note that Democrats have done it in other states in the past. But usually states do redistricting at the start of the decade when the national census count comes in. Democrats say these maps that Republicans have drawn weakens the vote of black and Latino voters in ways that are illegal and they will challenge in court. Republican lawmakers aim to vote in favor of this plan today and then in Senate tomorrow. And Governor Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, is expected to sign it when it gets to him.

[Amy Martinez]

So other states are watching. Texas, especially the one state with a bigger population, Democratic led, California. So what might California do?

[Blaze Gainey]

Yes, that's correct. And you know, this is all prompted by the movement from President Trump in Texas. Several other states are talking about mid decade redistricting right now. The main one, as you said, California, they are directly to counter Texas. Democrats in the California legislature have actually drawn a map that'll give an edge to five more Democrats next year. They plan to vote on that this week. But they are seeking approval of voters in a special election in November because unlike Texas, California law requires that an independent commission do the redistricting to take the politics out of it. Now, they want voters to approve redistricting without that commission. The legislature might vote on that Thursday, but California Republicans have filed a lawsuit yesterday trying to slow that down. Now, some other Republicans in Democratic states are talking about redistricting, too. But for right now, Republicans only hold the House by a few seats. So a five seat swing either way could really make a difference for President Trump's agenda.

[Amy Martinez]

All right, that's Blaze Gainey of the Texas newsroom. Blaze, thank you very much for this update.

[Blaze Gainey]

Thank you.

[Amy Martinez]

And that's up first for Wednesday, August 20th. I'm Amy Martinez.

[Michelle Martin]

And I'm Michelle Martin. The NPR Network includes the work we do at NPR and the work of reporters at member stations across the country. You can support that [e-mail] UpFirst Today's.

[Amy Martinez]

Episode of Up first was edited by Martin, Martha and Overland Tara, Neal, Ryland Barton, Acacia Squires, Olivia Hampton and Mohamed El Bardisi. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Harley Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

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