0:02

The

0:02

two train derailment in India has

0:04

killed more than 280 people and

0:06

injured more than

0:08

Rescuers spent all day sorting

0:10

through the wreckage. We'll have the latest details.

0:13

I'm Aisha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon

0:15

and this is Up First from NPR News.

0:19

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0:32

averted an economic crisis, an

0:35

economic collapse. Also, the U.S. tests

0:37

the waters quite literally between China

0:39

and Taiwan, as the Secretary of Defense outlines

0:42

renewed military interest in the Asian Pacific

0:45

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1:59

There is a day of mourning in India following

2:02

one of the deadliest train disasters there in

2:04

decades. Rescuers climbed atop

2:07

the trains to break open doors and

2:09

rip through metal with cutting torches.

2:12

Journalist Shalu Yadav joins us now from

2:14

Delhi. Thank you so much for being with us, Shalu. Good

2:17

morning, Scott. Can you tell us what

2:19

happened? Well, this horrific accident

2:21

happened late on Friday evening

2:23

in the eastern state of Odisha in

2:25

Balasur district. It takes about 140

2:28

miles from Kolkata when multiple

2:30

coaches of a passenger train derailed

2:32

before being struck by another passenger

2:34

train, which in turn derailed as well.

2:37

Now, there's a third train, a freight train that's

2:39

believed to be involved in the accident as well.

2:42

Visuals on the television and social media

2:44

show the coaches and the wreckage still lying

2:46

on the railway tracks, dead bodies being

2:48

carried away from the spot, even as the

2:51

scale of this tragedy is still panning

2:53

out. Now, we have one of the survivors

2:55

on tape, though, unfortunately, we

2:57

don't have his name. He

3:02

said he woke up from the impact once the

3:04

train derailed and saw multiple

3:06

people piled on top of one another.

3:07

When he left his carriage,

3:09

he saw someone had lost their hand, another

3:12

person had lost their leg, and someone

3:14

else's face was disfigured.

3:16

Officials say the death toll is expected

3:19

to rise further as more bodies

3:21

are found. The cause of the accident

3:23

is yet to be ascertained.

3:25

A probe has been ordered and the Prime Minister

3:27

held a high-level meeting to review the situation.

3:30

He's visiting the site today. Hundreds

3:33

of people are reported to be injured. How are

3:35

the local authorities in Odisha prepared

3:38

to handle all the people who need help?

3:40

First Court, the authorities, as well as the hospitals,

3:43

are completely overwhelmed. There have

3:45

been more than 200 ambulances there,

3:47

taking the injured to the hospitals. Those

3:50

who survive have been looking desperately for

3:52

their loved ones, and locals are rushing

3:54

in large numbers to donate blood at the

3:57

hospitals. In fact, they had been helping

3:59

the rescue team.

3:59

and provided them with supplies of food

4:02

and water overnight. The National

4:04

Disaster Response Force, along with the Rapid

4:07

Action Force and Police Forces, had

4:09

all been working against the clock, as

4:11

every minute is precious to save

4:13

lives in such situations.

4:15

India's railway network is huge,

4:17

and dozens of accidents happen every

4:19

year, some of them deadly. What

4:22

kind of efforts are going on to try and improve

4:25

safety?

4:25

Yes, that's right, Scott. India's railway

4:28

network is actually one of the oldest

4:30

and largest in the world. It's always

4:32

a work in progress, and yes, accidents

4:35

are very common, despite the government investing

4:37

hundreds of millions of dollars to improve

4:39

the infrastructure. The latest accident

4:42

is believed to be the worst India has seen

4:44

in the last two decades. Now, such

4:46

mishaps are mostly blamed on human

4:48

error or outdated signaling equipment.

4:51

And we have to ask if there are any political

4:53

implications from this disaster that might

4:56

occur.

4:56

Well, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been

4:59

getting a flak on social media for the negligence

5:01

that often causes such tragedies. People

5:04

are asking why the government is spending more

5:06

on high-speed trains when the older passenger

5:08

trains remain outdated and prone to disasters.

5:11

But politically, such tragedies often

5:13

bring all parties together to look for solutions

5:16

and immediate relief for victims. Even

5:19

so, there are calls for the resignation

5:21

of the railway minister, as many are

5:23

saying that he should take responsibility

5:25

for this tragedy.

5:26

Journalist Shailu Yadav in Delhi,

5:29

thanks so much for being with us. Thank you, Scott.

5:36

President Biden bringing the debt ceiling

5:38

drama to a close. Today, he's signing

5:41

into law a deal to raise the debt limit

5:43

and avoid economic catastrophe.

5:45

Biden spoke about the compromise in

5:48

a rare address from the Oval Office last

5:50

night. NPR White House correspondent

5:52

Asma Hallett was watching. She joins

5:54

me now. Welcome. Great to be here.

5:57

So Asma, this was the first time

5:59

that this... president has given a speech

6:01

from behind the Resolute desk in

6:04

the Oval Office, what was the

6:06

point that he wanted to make last night? Well

6:08

he emphasized that this was a win

6:11

for the country, that the U.S. avoided

6:13

what could have become a financial catastrophe

6:16

and really Ayesha it was striking to

6:18

me that he was rather effusive at moments

6:20

in his praise for the Republican Speaker Kevin

6:22

McCarthy. Biden emphasized

6:24

this notion of bipartisanship. I

6:27

know

6:27

bipartisanship is hard and

6:29

unity is hard, but we can

6:32

never stop trying because

6:34

the moments like this one, the ones

6:36

we just faced, were the American economy

6:39

and the world economy is at risk of collapsing.

6:41

There's no other way.

6:43

You know Biden campaigned for president

6:45

in 2020 as a consensus builder,

6:47

someone who could find compromise and that

6:50

is in fact what he has done throughout

6:52

this debt ceiling debate, but I do think there

6:54

was another message he was trying to send last night

6:56

and that was more political. You know he highlighted

6:59

his own political Democratic priorities,

7:01

he spoke about being able to protect things

7:03

like Medicaid and Social Security and

7:05

also spoke about some of the things he still wants

7:07

to achieve like raising taxes on the wealthy.

7:10

We've heard a lot about the debt ceiling over the past

7:12

few months and how important it is to try to

7:14

avoid default and what

7:16

the impact would have been. So why

7:19

Biden bothered to make these remarks

7:21

at all? Like we already knew this was important right? You

7:24

know I think part of this was just a matter

7:26

of setting the record straight. I mean throughout the debates

7:29

on the debt ceiling, the president was

7:31

reluctant to talk to reporters about

7:33

the negotiations and that was in stark

7:36

contrast to Republicans who were constantly

7:38

talking to the press. The White House has

7:40

often said that Biden does not like

7:42

to negotiate in public. This

7:44

speech was I think an opportunity for him

7:46

to you know look presidential, seem

7:49

above the fray and it also comes

7:51

at a time when the 2024 presidential

7:53

campaign is starting to heat up. It

7:56

allows the president to provide some

7:58

contrast with the Republicans in the

7:59

field, who we saw all last week were,

8:02

you know, quibbling amongst themselves. I

8:04

also think it's a reminder of how he

8:06

has said he intends to govern to go back to this issue

8:08

of bipartisanship. And it was also,

8:11

you know, an answer to some on the left

8:13

who really wanted to see him make a

8:15

bigger case for his own priorities throughout

8:18

these talks. Polling has shown

8:20

that many people are worried about the economy

8:22

and don't approve of the way Biden has

8:25

handled it. So does this debt

8:27

ceiling deal help alleviate

8:29

some of those concerns? And that's

8:32

a great question. The president said yesterday that

8:34

because this deal is in place, the

8:36

economy can continue to soar. You

8:39

know, if you look at economic data, you saw

8:41

new jobs numbers yesterday, they

8:43

continue to be rather robust. Inflation

8:46

has been coming down for 10 consecutive months.

8:49

Prices are dropping. But at the same time,

8:52

this debt drama has created questions

8:54

about whether the country is totally in the

8:56

clear. You saw Fitch Rating Service warn

8:59

yesterday that it could still downgrade the U.S.

9:01

credit rating. And I spoke with

9:03

the Democratic pollster yesterday, Celinda Lake,

9:05

who said that voters seem to be

9:07

beginning to feel a bit more positive about

9:09

the economy, but they're still anxious,

9:12

particularly around prices and inflation. And

9:14

they're nervous about whether or not the stability

9:16

is in fact here to stay. She

9:18

told me that voters need to see these positive

9:21

economic trends continue for a number

9:23

of more months in order to really feel

9:25

confident and ultimately for Biden

9:28

to ultimately get the kind of political

9:29

credit that he is seeking. NPR

9:32

White House correspondent Asma Khaled, thank

9:34

you so much for this. My pleasure.

9:44

Military leaders from around the world are meeting

9:46

this weekend in Singapore. Defense Secretary

9:49

Lloyd Austin was there. He challenged

9:51

China to reopen lines of communication

9:54

between the two countries' militaries.

9:56

is

10:00

anytime. The right time to

10:02

talk is every time. And

10:04

the right time to talk is

10:07

now. Right as he was talking, the U.S.

10:10

took a step that suggested it isn't just

10:12

going to play Mr. Nice Guy. The

10:14

U.S. sailed a Navy ship through the Taiwan

10:16

Strait.

10:17

NPR's Emily Fang is in Singapore.

10:20

She's covering the meeting, as you'll tell

10:22

from all the background noise. Emily,

10:24

thanks so much for being with us. Thanks for

10:26

having me. And tell us more please about Secretary

10:29

Austin's speech. What did he lay out as U.S.

10:31

priorities in the Asia Pacific area?

10:33

Well, much of his speech was to show how

10:35

the U.S. military is reorienting

10:37

itself back to being a maritime power in the

10:40

Pacific. Because remember, the last two decades,

10:42

the U.S. military was primarily in the Middle East. But

10:45

now they're pivoting back to the Asia Pacific,

10:47

which means it's expanding its military drills

10:50

with Asian partners and allies. Austin

10:52

talked about sharing new technology with

10:54

Australia and Japan. And one of

10:56

the big questions is where the

10:58

U.S.-China military relationship is headed. Because

11:01

earlier this week, China rejected an invitation

11:03

from the U.S. for their two defense chiefs to

11:05

speak. And China has cut off

11:08

direct communication channels between the two militaries

11:10

since last summer. Now, last night,

11:12

the British think tank that organizes this summit

11:14

called the Shangri-La Dialogue, they conveniently seated

11:17

Secretary Austin next to China's defense

11:19

minister, Li Shang-fu, at this dinner we were

11:21

all at. And the two did shake hands. They

11:23

said hi to each other. But that's about it. And

11:26

as you just heard in the intro, Austin said the U.S.

11:28

is ready to talk to China more substantially.

11:31

But at the same time that he was speaking, the U.S.

11:34

Navy and the Canadian Navy, by the way, sailed

11:36

a warship each through the Taiwan Strait

11:39

near Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.

11:41

And how did China respond? Any

11:43

way in particular? Well,

11:46

China's defense minister is yet to speak, so we

11:48

will hear more from him tomorrow. But I managed

11:50

to interview Lieutenant General Hele. He

11:52

helps head the Chinese Military Academy in

11:54

Beijing. And he dismissed Austin's

11:56

speech as a gesture for public show

11:59

only.

11:59

He says if

12:02

the two defense chiefs were to meet,

12:04

we need to first get rid of unilateral sanctions.

12:07

The U.S. keeps trying to push back on China's bottom

12:09

line and threaten its core interests, so the

12:11

conditions were just not there for a meeting. And

12:15

Lt. Gen. Hu is referring to the fact that back

12:17

in 2018, the U.S. actually sanctioned

12:19

the man who just this year became China's

12:21

new defense chief, Li Shung-fu. So

12:24

China wants those sanctions dropped first

12:26

before they agree to any meeting, and they want the U.S.

12:28

to back off militarily in the Asia

12:30

Pacific, stop those close exchanges

12:32

with Taiwan. That's the island China

12:34

claims as its territory, but the U.S. has a strong interest

12:37

to protect. And Emily, are those conditions

12:39

the U.S. could possibly meet? I

12:41

mean, it sounds like they're creating circumstances

12:44

for more disagreement.

12:45

You're right, because Secretary Austin

12:48

just laid out the significant investments the U.S.

12:50

military is making to buy new weapons,

12:53

develop new weapons, share

12:55

those with partners in the Asia Pacific. And in

12:57

his speech, he made clear the U.S. is not

12:59

trying to create an alliance like NATO in the Pacific, but

13:01

China doesn't believe in. They're genuinely afraid

13:03

this is happening. And China just

13:05

doesn't believe the promises or gestures the U.S.

13:08

has made. It's demanding things the U.S. is committed

13:10

to as critical defense strategy, and it's not going

13:12

to back away from.

13:13

And here's Emily Fang in Singapore. Thanks

13:16

so much. Thanks, Scott.

13:21

And that's up first for Saturday, June 3rd, 2023.

13:24

I'm Scott Simon. I'm Ayesha Roscoe.

13:27

Tomorrow on this podcast, an investigation

13:30

into how conspiracy theories led

13:32

to the dismantling of an elections

13:35

tool that helped clean up voter

13:37

databases and catch fraud.

13:39

Today's episode of Up First was

13:41

edited by Roberta Rampton, Don Clyde,

13:43

Hideo O'Shalchi, and Matthew Sherman.

13:45

It was produced by Andrew Craig

13:47

and Danny Hensl and directed

13:50

by Michael Radcliffe with engineering

13:52

support from Hannah Glovna.

13:53

Stevie Stone is our senior supervising

13:55

editor, our executive producer is Sarah Lucy

13:58

Oliver, and our deputy managing editor...

13:59

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Sondermind. Your mental health is

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feeling off. They're available within days

14:38

with virtual or in-person options, and

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