The News Roundup For January 30, 2026

This message comes from Schwab. At Schwab, you can get everything from self-directed investing to full-service wealth management, all in one place. No matter your investing goal, life stage, amount to invest, or know how, you can invest your way with Schwab. Hey, everybody, it's Todd, your host for this edition of the News Roundup. As you know, news develops fast and things may have changed by the time you hear this episode. Stay up to date with all the latest by listening to your local NPR member station and visiting npr.org. You're listening to the 1A podcast, and it's time for our weekly news roundup. I'm Todd's Willick. Alex and Renee, I'm gonna let it shine. Alex and Renee, I'm gonna let it shine. Voices raised Wednesday here in Washington, D.C., in memory of the two American citizens shot to death by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Renee McClend Good on January 7th and now Alex Prettie on Saturday. In both killings, Trump administration officials responded by smearing the victims, calling them terrorists, or in Prettie's case, saying he was out to massacre federal agents. But now this week, for the first time, Since the start of the crackdown in Minnesota, lawmakers who had stayed silent or who had defended the administration's actions are starting to break ranks. We're going to talk about the investigation into Prettie's killing and the political reverberations of lethal government aggression so far without accountability, but also other big news of the week, including a Trump administration raid on the election center in Fulton County, Georgia. and a storm of propaganda and disinformation around voting coming from the president himself. Our panel is here, and you know them all. Amanda Becker is here, Washington correspondent for the 19th. Hi, Amanda. Hello, always great to be here. Always great to have you. Megan Scully is here at the table. Congress editor for Bloomberg News. Hi, Megan. Hi, thanks for having me. And just to Megan's left, Taylor Poplar's National Political Reporter for Spectrum News-based at the White House as always. Taylor, hi. Hey, Todd. Great to have you. Now, gang, first, let's go to Minneapolis and check back in with Matt Sepik. Matt has been on 1A a lot lately. He's a correspondent for MPR News. That's Minnesota Public Radio. We've been relying on Matt an awful lot. Hi, Matt. Hi, good to be back. Yeah, great to have you back. So Donald Trump says now that he's making changes since the uproar over Alex Preddy's killing. We've been talking to you about it all week. And eroding support from some Republicans, especially here in Washington. Now, two federal agents have been put on administrative leave. Gregory Bovino, the aggressive face of the Border Patrol, has been shipped out. Tom Homan, the White House Border Bazaar.

borders are, is now in Minneapolis. What does the city look like now? Things are pretty much the same. More protests are planned for today. Part of a national day of action, as you recall last Friday, there was a very large protest in... Very cold temperatures. Tens of thousands of people walked through the streets peacefully. Of course, that was a day before a Border Patrol agent killed Alex Preti, and the anger here has continued to build. The mayor, Jacob Frey, governor, Tim Walz, both Democrats want this operation ended. And we're hearing murmurs from the administration that they may be winding things down. As of yet, there has not been any concrete action. We have not seen any of these 3,000 agents, ICE and Border Patrol, beginning to leave Minnesota. Now, speaking of drawing down, here's Borders, our Tom Homan from Minneapolis, talking about just that. This is common sense cooperation that allows to draw down on the number of people we have here. Yes, I said it, draw down the number of people here. Now, you just started to talk about it, Matt Seppick. There's the borders are saying draw down. Has that reached the streets? I don't. I think people are really believing that until they see a stop to these aggressive actions by masked agents in the street. Once that happens, once we see some concrete evidence of what Holman there is talking about, then I think people will believe it. But protests will continue. The First Avenue, a legendary concert venue that was made famous by Prince in Purple Rain. He's holding a benefit concert this afternoon for the... families of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Preti. That's in addition to this big protest today. Bicycle rides are being organized not only here, but around the world in honor of Prettie, who is an avid cyclist. And yes, it is January, but people still do ride bikes here. There in Minneapolis. Well, we got a lot of journalists around the table. Matt, what we realized prepping the show is that everybody has questions for you, which is understandable. Let me throw it open. We got the panel here. Taylor Popolize, you go first. Do it some questions for Matt SEPIC, Minnesota Public Radio. Yeah, hey there, Matt. Thanks for all the work you're doing. I'm based at the White House each day, and it's been interesting to hear the Trump administration talk about the reality on the ground in Minnesota, though most of those officials are here in Washington. I'm curious from all the locals that you've been interacting with, do any of them acknowledge or agree with the administration's goals that there are... bad criminals that need to be removed from the communities and that there is a safety threat there or do people say what the administration is claiming they're doing and what's kind of the core of this operation is just not the reality that they're seeing in their own backyard

Well, I think the latter, I don't think there's anybody here, any politician of any stripe who would disagree with the notion that people here illegally who have committed felonies, particularly violent crimes, should be arrested. But what we're seeing is agents with masks on busting down doors without warrants of American citizens, of people with legal... immigration status who have not committed any crimes. And I'll give you an anecdote here. There was among American man, a U.S. citizen, Chung Lee Tao, his name, his door was busted down by agents who were saying they were on the lookout for a sex offender who was at large, who was in the country illegally. Well, guess where that sex offender turned out to be? He's in a Minnesota prison. there has been this narrative that the administration is developing that local officials aren't cooperating. And in fact, the Minnesota Department of Corrections held a news conference. I believe they put together a website to refute a lot of this information. There are people who are undocumented, who have committed crimes, who have been through Minnesota's criminal justice system and put in prison. And when their release date comes up, the department... of corrections here has been in touch with immigration authorities who have subsequently taken these folks into custody. So there's idea that there are so many violent criminals running around here and that local officials aren't cooperating is just not true. Matt, let's get to a couple other quick questions from the panel. Megan Scully, go ahead. Sure. Sure. Thanks again. When talking to people in Minneapolis, one thing that comes up again and again is, you know, the financial, psychological, and personal damage that individuals in the city are experiencing on a day-to-day basis. And yet, as you discussed, we're seeing continued protests and benefits and all of that. Can you talk a little bit about what day-to-day life is like in the city, you know, kind of juggling this, you know, this damage that people are talking about with a result? as well. Well, as I think I may have said on the air last week, if you're not scrolling through social media, you're not paying attention to the news, you can drive around here and things look... pretty normal. There are not tanks in the streets. There's not what most people would think of as a major military occupation in this city. There have not been the civil unrest, certainly. I mean, no rioting at all that we saw in the wake of the murder of George Floyd nearly six years ago. These are, these happen, these raids, I should say, happen in small pockets of the city. And I should also add, too, most of our coverage because we're focused here in Minneapolis and St. Paul, the large population center, a lot of these operations, armed operations, are taking place in smaller communities, rural communities across Minnesota that because there are, there's less population density, there are fewer people to watch and document what is happening. But to your point, they, the economy here is, it's taking its toll on the economy.

There are many immigrant-owned businesses that have closed or there are many fewer customers showing up because they're afraid to go out. Schools in many cases are going to e-learning because... students of color are afraid to go out. And I mean all students of color, people who are here in this country legally, in many cases, U.S. citizens. This is taking an economic toll. And it reminds me in a lot of ways of what this community and many others went through during COVID in 2020. Amanda Becker, go ahead. Yeah, I wanted to follow up on that bit about the more rural parts of Minnesota. I have been spending a lot of time in Springfield, Ohio. It's a town of 60,000. And they are expecting a ramp up of ICE and Customs and Border Patrol next week. And I think we've mainly kind of seen and heard about how this feels for people in Minneapolis. Do you have any insight into how this has felt for people in the more rural places of Minnesota and the smaller towns and kind of the preparations that people in those communities have taken? Well, I haven't been out to our rural communities here personally, but my colleague who is based in southwestern Minnesota, Hannah Yang, has done some reporting on this. And it is beginning to take a toll as well. Minnesota is home to many different meat packing plants as many Midwestern states are. This is the home of spam and Hormel. And these communities rely on immigrant workers, of course, people who are. are here legally and in many cases citizens. But these communities, too, are beginning to see a lot of effects from this that are not good in terms of what's happening to their local economies and they're largely immigrant workforces. Matt Seppick, just a couple of seconds before we have to let you go. But what are you watching for next? As the government in Washington says, they're de-escalating, they're drawing down, the reality. in Minneapolis might be different. What are you watching for? Well, the next thing I'm watching for, we've had a couple of journalists arrested who were documenting a protest at a Twin Cities, St. Paul Church, where the local ICE director is on the ministry team. Right. You're talking about Don Lemon. Don Lemon was arrested, as was an independent black journalist, Georgia Fort. And she was arrested at her home here this morning. And we're watching to see what charges, if any, have been filed against those journalists. All right. That's Matt Sepp. Minnesota Public Radio. Matt, as always, thank you. Stay safe. Okay. All right to be here. Thanks. More on the immigration crackdown. More from Minneapolis. More on the roundup after a brief pause. Stay with us.

Support for NPR and the following message come from Ollie. Matching outfits, extravagant birthdays, many nicknames. A few classic moves of a dog-obsessed parent. Ollie is obsessed with how obsessed you are with your pup, so they strive to give your dog the best. From fresh human-grade dog food to in-app health check-ins to track your dog's well-being. Visit ollie.com slash wolf and use code wolf to get 70% off your welcome kit. Ollie. Feed the obsession. This message comes from Jerry. Are you tired of your car insurance rate going up, even with a clean driving record? That's why there's Jerry, your proactive insurance assistant. Jerry compares rates side by side from over 50 top insurers and helps you switch with ease. Jerry even tracks market rates and alerts you when it's best to shop. No spam calls, no hidden fees. Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1,300 a year. Switch with confidence. Download the Jerry app or visit jerry.a.ai slash NPR today. Back to the roundup now and let's stay in Minneapolis where we just left off with Matt Seppik. While the president says he's trying to deescalate, political violence continues. A man wielding a syringe filled with vinegar apparently attacked Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a town hall event in Minneapolis. On Tuesday night, Omar is Somali American. She represents Minnesota's fifth congressional district and was sprayed while speaking at the town hall about the crackdown and Alex Preti's death. Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment. I don't know. We will continue this. I'm not going to get away with you. Now, what you're hearing there is the man approached Congresswoman Omar at the podium. He seems to yell, you must resign. He sprays her with the liquid in this syringe kind of all over her, all over her front, all over her chest or so it appears. Now, he's been charged with assault in federal court. President Trump speaking in Iowa about immigrants just hours before the attack, once again, as he often repeatedly has done over the last several many years, went after Ilhan Omar. They have to show that they can love our country. They have to be proud. Not like Ilhan Omar. Did you see what? Did you see that wise guy? You know, she's always talking about the Constitution, you know, provides me with the following. You know, the Constitution. She comes from a country that's a disaster. So probably it's considered, I think, it's not even a country. Amanda Becker, what's been their reaction to this attack and Ilhan Omar's response to it?

Well, she continued with the event, first of all. She said, I'm not going to let, you know, this disrupt my event and these, you know, bullies and their attacks shut this down. We haven't seen really any response from the administration in terms of improving security for lawmakers or anything like that. I know Capitol Police are investigating. But as we just heard from the president, he has shown time and time again that he is willing to actually ramp up rhetoric. She had already received more death threats than I think any other single member of Congress. She is a frequent target of him. And, you know, when you are using your platform to... attack people, sometimes your words have real world consequences. And we saw that play out kind of in real time this week. Now, we've been talking about the fallout from the Trump administration's violent immigration surge in Minneapolis. In fact, this week, a federal judge in Minnesota. said that ICE has violated nearly 100 court orders just in the last month. He said that ICE has violated more court orders than most federal agencies will do in their entire existence. And it's connected to this case, Amanda Becker, the detention of a five-year-old boy from Minneapolis who's now being held in Texas. What's the latest? Why the continued focus on this particular case? Yeah, little Liam. Well, first of all, not only did federal immigration enforcement pick up his father and send him to detention in Texas, they used him as kind of bait to knock on other doors and see if he could lure out any other immigrants they might be able to pick up before they also took him into custody, and now he has joined his father in Texas, in Dilley, Texas, an immigration detention facility. We have seen protests there all week. We have seen lawmakers, both state and federal lawmakers, visiting the father, Adrian Conejo Arias and Liam in the detention center. Representative Joaquin Castro visited them. We have heard from Liam's father that he's depressed, that he has fallen ill and he's not doing great, which I think are probably very normal reactions for a five-year-old, a child that young, put into a federal detention situation. You know, young children thrive on. repetition and their schedules and patterns. And he is not in his school. He's not with his friends. He's not in his home. And he's essentially in a jail with his father. So, you know, the situation just kind of continues to get worse for them. And he is not responding well. All while a federal judge in Minnesota castigates ICE and its leaders for repeatedly violating the orders of the court. Now, moving outside of Minnesota and we'll be back. There's so much news from Minnesota this week. The Trump administration recently surged. immigration enforcement into Maine, Megan Scully, but Republican Senator Susan Collins, who's up for re-election and vulnerable in Maine, says,

ICE is now leaving. What's going on? So, yes, she is probably the most vulnerable Senate Republican who is up for re-election. She and Trump have clash in the past. She's also the chairwoman of the very powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. So there's a lot at play right here. But yes, she has said that ICE will be pulling out of her state and ceasing operations there. We'll see if that continues to happen. She is at the center of negotiations right now on whether or not the government shuts down after today. And her vote is critical on a number of things, including Trump's Fed Pick and other items that are coming up. So there definitely seems to be a lot of politics there. Well, if senior members on the Appropriations Committee are called Cardinals, Susan Collins. would be the Pope or at least one of them. So, yeah, president may want to pay attention to what Susan calls, who is vulnerable in Maine. Yes. And she may not be a MAGA senator, but she does have an R after her name. So they ostensibly don't want her to lose. We're going to talk about the popularity, the lack of popularity about these ICE and immigration enforcement efforts in just a minute, too. Meanwhile, still in Congress. Here's Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who's also having a moment announced yesterday that she's running for governor. I'm running for every Minnesotan who wants ICE and its abusive tactics out of the state we love. Amy Klobuchar, Taylor Poplars. What does that mean for her for Democrats right now? So she becomes the immediate frontrunner to be the next governor of Minnesota. It's obviously a pretty blue state. She has been in the Senate. I think she assumed office in 2007. Before that, she was a local prosecutor in Minnesota. She's very, very popular, has a history of winning by double digits. And once current governor, Tim Walz, decided that he was going to retire, her name immediately got floated. And I think it's notable. She's currently the number three ranking Democrat in the Senate. A lot of people viewed her as a potential Senate majority leader. one day of Democrats after Chuck Schumer kind of passed the torch. And so the fact that she's going to turn her attention back home is notable. And in her launch video, you played that clip where she talked about these tensions over ICE and these deportation operations. Notably, though, she did not mention President Trump by name in this almost five-minute video. I think it's an acknowledgement, as we were talking earlier, about the more rural areas of Minnesota where she's going to try to continue to appeal to voters she's had success with overtime. Megan. It's going to be an interesting race. We've already seen one. Republican candidate drop out. Yeah, pull out of the race. Yes. In the primary. The ICE operations have made it impossible for a Republican to win. She's going to be running against, among other candidates, Mike Lindell, the My Pillow guy. Ah, running for governor. Yes. So we get more Mike Lindell with the president's encouragement. Can't wait. We're going to talk in a minute about the Attorney General Pam Bondi and the message that she had for Minnesota officials this week, speaking of elections. But before we get there, let's talk about how the ICE effect has taken over Congress, or some of Congress anyway. Senate leaders were up late last night scrambling to avert a partial government shutdown with immigration enforcement ice and its tactics in the center of all of it.

We hate seeing Americans killed in the streets or anybody killed on the streets. But we also realize that this puts our democracy at risk. It's a force of thuggery. We ought to pass the package on the floor, fully fund the government, and move on to other things that the American people expect us to work on. That was Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, first of New York, and Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, second. Now, Democrats are refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security long term unless they see a number of reforms to ICE. What's going on right now, Taylor? So this is all a bit in the weeds, but it has to do with government funding, and there are multiple appropriations packages. And basically, there was bipartisan consensus on what was originally six appropriations packages, but then the one focused on Homeland Security. There was outrage after the Alex Preti shooting. And Democrats especially said, we want to renegotiate that aspect. We're going to peel that off. Peel that off. And what's interesting, and I think it's an acknowledgement from the Trump administration and Republicans at large, is they came to an agreement. said, all right, we'll peel that one off. We'll pass these other five so we can avoid a government shutdown. But then Thursday night, one senator has the power to hold up things. And South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Megan Scully, Taylor's talking about Lindsey Graham late last night. Everybody made a deal. Okay, we can peel off Department of Homeland Security. We can negotiate over that. Let's not have a government shutdown. Then Lindsey Graham entered the chat. What happened? Absolutely. Well, as Taylor said, any one Republican or any one senator can gum up the works in that chamber. Lindsey Graham came out and talked to reporters, gave kind of like a long rant in which he didn't specifically say why he was holding it up. But we do. think it has something to do with, there was a tussle between the House and the Senate over whether senators could sue basically Department of Justice and reap benefits. He would be one of the senators who could. If their phone records were seized in the January 6th investigation. Yes, yes. So that language was stripped from the bill. It has become a pet peeve of his. It's unclear whether it is that specific. thing that is tying this up. He also has sanctuary cities legislation. There's a number of other things that he could be taking issue with. We have heard this morning they think that this bill will pass today. Most likely, senators are eager to get out of town. But the House still needs to pass this revised package. So Amanda Becker, does that mean brief government shut down over the weekend? Is that what's happening? Perhaps, I mean, depending on how quickly they can get back the House, and Megan or Taylor might, I'm not currently physically in Washington, so they might know more about that. But even longer term, it's somewhat unclear to me kind of whether the Democratic asks, and even in terms of the short-term extension, negotiate more on DHS funding.

how their asks are going to go over with Republicans and also how their asks are going to go over with Democratic voters, who I think maybe want them to ask for more than they're aiming for in these negotiations. Well, while we're in Congress, here are a couple of data points right here. The latest national poll from Pew Research, it says just 37% of Americans now approve of Donald Trump's performance as president. Just 56% of Republicans now say, they support all or most of the president's agenda. For context, overall, only a quarter of Americans say that, that they support most or all of Donald Trump's agenda. And growing number of Republicans who've supported Trump's immigration policies are now pushing back on the White House. North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis has absolutely had it with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and with Stephen Miller, senior advisor to the president. He said so to pretty much anyone. who asked this week. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is another Republican calling for a gnome to be fired. And that got President Trump to call both of them losers on ABC on Wednesday. Here's Thom Tillis. I am thrilled about that. That makes me qualified to be Homeland Security Secretary and Senior Advisor to the President. Megan Scully, Mike dropped there from Thom Tillis. But what's happened within the GOP more broadly over the last week as the party in power reacts to the Trump administration and aggressive, violent at times immigration tactics in Minneapolis? Absolutely. Well, first of all, it's important to note that Thom Tillis is not running for re-election. They tend to talk that way when they don't have to run again. Yeah, he definitely has some more leeway than other senators. We have seen pushback from some Republican lawmakers. Certainly not across the board. I would not consider this a break with Trump, but certainly an unease among Republicans. They've been careful, though, in how they're wording this, talking about needing more training, for instance, for ICE and blaming it on that and not necessarily pointing to Trump himself or Kristi Noem or Stephen Miller, sort of the architects of this plan. So it has been a delicate dance. As we get closer to the midterms and we see Trump's race. go down, or even if they stay at 37 percent, we'll continue to see some pushback. But the president does, can still hold a lot of sway and a lot of power over the Republicans in the House and Senate. He also has a humongous fundraising arm, MAGA Inc. and that it will be critical to the midterm fights. So this is not going to be the end of the, you know, Love relationship between Trump and Republicans. We got this comment from Hazel in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I appreciate that Thom Tillis is speaking out about Kristi Noem, but please remind him that he voted to confirm her. Actions have consequences. Voter sentiment has consequences to Republicans are reading the same polls that I just mentioned, Taylor. They are. There was actually one on Friday morning that I read that Punch Bowl reported Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, his political action committee, somebody who has presidential ambitions, got polling back that a majority of voters, including Republicans, think ICE has been handling things to...

abruptly and they want to see changes. That's an indication that even hardline Republicans are saying we have to lower the temperature, or that could have an impact. Even the base is noticing the numbers. Even they are not immune, which is fascinating. We have to take a quick break, but still more to come, the economy, affordability, and a lot more. Support for NPR and the following message come from Ollie. Matching outfits, extravagant birthdays, many nicknames. A few classic moves of a dog-obsessed parent. Ollie is obsessed with how obsessed you are with your pup, so they strive to give your dog the best. From fresh human-grade dog food to in-app health check-ins to track your dog's well-being. Visit ollie.com slash wolf and use code wolf to get 70% off your welcome kit. Ollie. Feed the obsession. This message comes from Jerry. Many people are overpaying on car insurance. Why? Switching providers can be a pain. Jerry helps make the process painless. Jerry is the only app that compares rates from over 50 insurers in minutes and helps you switch fast with no spam calls or hidden fees. Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1,300 a year. Before you renew your car insurance policy, download the Jerry app or head to jerry.a.a.a slash NPR. This message comes from Audible. Manifestoes are a call to action, an artful scream. They capture people's anger and try to do something with it. Dan Taberski's Manifesto is a podcast that attempts to take the manifesto back from mass shooters and nihilists and return it to its rightful place with regular folks with just the right amount of crazy. Listen to Dan Taberski's Manifesto wherever you get your podcasts or binge the entire series right now, only with Audible. Let's get back to the roundup with this message that we got from Sarah in Virginia. The murders of good and pretty in Minneapolis are tragic, and they're among many egregious wrongs committed by DHS. Everyone deserves to go about their business and have their human and constitutional rights protected. They don't have to be poster children of wonderfulness. They certainly don't have to be white. Sarah, thank you for that comment. Before we took a break, I said that we were going to talk about Pam Bondi and Minneapolis. And we've been talking about the midterms. And all of those things are coming together now. Megan Scully, Pam Bondi wrote a letter to officials in Minneapolis this week, offering them a way out of the immigration crackdown on their streets. What did the Attorney General have to say? Basically, Pam Bondi is wanting information on voter rolls in Minneapolis. Elections, of course, are run by states. They are not run by the federal government. And she wants details.

Minnesota and 23 other states, I believe, have pushed back on the federal government wanting to get this information. The federal government has said it, under the Trump administration, has said it wants it to help them clear the roles of ineligible candidates. There's no evidence that there's widespread voter fraud, I should definitely say, leading into this. But the inference in this letter was essentially turn over your... Turn over your roles. Give us the information that we want. And, you know, maybe you'll benefit in return. Turn over your voter rolls less than a year before the midterms. And maybe you'll benefit while this crackdown is on your streets. Well, that brings us to Atlanta in the presidential swing state of Georgia, which Donald Trump lost in 2020. On Wednesday, the FBI raided and searched the main elections office. In Fulton County, Georgia, the county says they were served a warrant for records related to the 2020 election. Agents took 700 boxes of ballots, voting machine records, and more. Amanda Becker, what do we know? Yeah, so they rated the Voting Center on Wednesday. And let's go back a little bit. If people remember right after the 2020 election in those weeks where we were waiting for days or weeks where we were waiting for kind of the final votes to be tallied. People, election workers in this county in this area were receiving debt threats. They could not go to the grocery. Things got very heated. Trump has challenged the results in Georgia multiple times and been told every time that it was by the book. So, you know, the Department of Justice had already sued the county clerk of courts for election materials that was met with a motion to dismiss. But when they showed up on Wednesday, it said they could seize physical ballots, ballot images, and voter rolls from the 2020 election. Of course, people have responded to this very strongly, including Senator Assoff from the state, called it a sore losers crusade because the administration has been told so many times by different courts and officials that everything was by the book in Georgia in 2020. So this is, you know, all kind of... taken in tandem with what they're asking for in Minnesota, really setting the stage for types of potential interference in the upcoming midterms is what election experts are worried about. Well, Shelby in Birmingham, says, are we preparing to see our own Maduro election in November 2026? A question started the typical. rigged election of authoritarian regimes. I think Shelby in Birmingham has a question that a lot of Americans are asking themselves when they see the Attorney General asking for voter rolls and seeing the FBI raid voting facilities. Rob Pitts is the chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. On Thursday, he talked to reporters about this FBI raid. As long as those documents were here in Fulton County, in our elections of, under our care, I was confident. confident that they were safe and secure. Once they left that facility last night in those FBI trucks, I don't know where they are now. I don't know who has them. I don't know what they're doing with them. Are they opening the boxes? Are they stuffing other ballots in there? I have no clue. I can use my imagination. Rob Pitts, Taylor Poplars is talking about chain of custody there of ballots from six years ago. Mm-hmm.

state officials in Georgia who upheld the election returns in 2020. I think that's very important to note. And that should give some confidence to Americans concerned about this. And I will say once again, these elections are run by states, not by the federal government. Well, another important foundation of the democracy is confidence in our economy, that it's being run. by objective professionals and being run with an eye toward markets, not toward political patronage. President Trump announced Kevin Warsh, a former governor at the Federal Reserve, is going to be his pick to replace Jerome Powell when his term as Fed chair ends in May. Now, the selection came today. It comes at a crucial moment for the central bank, whose officials have faced a barrage of a tax and pressure from Donald Trump to lower interest rates. Jerome Powell's been the central bank's chair since. 2018 when Donald Trump nominated him during his first term, even though he blames Joe Biden for Jerome Powell's term. It was indeed Donald Trump who nominated him. What do we know about Kevin Warsh, Megan Scully, and how he might run the central bank if he gets the job? Sure. I'll give you a quick rundown on that, but then I will say this all goes back to Pam Bondi again. She's coming up again and again. You don't say. Kevin Warsh was a Fed governor during the George W. Bush administration. he was just in his mid-30s. He has been advising Trump on economic policy, you know, through his campaigns for several years. He was considered for the Fed pick back in 2018. So he has, his name has been in the mix for a long time. In the past, he has been hesitant to do the kind of aggressive interest rate cutting that Trump wants. But he certainly changed his tune in recent years. He would ordinarily be somebody who could get through the Senate pretty easily. However, I will say Thom Tillis is – Who we just heard from. Who we just heard from is also fighting the administration on this front because of Pam Bondi's investigation into Jerome Powell and into the Fed over the renovations that are going on at – at the Federal Reserve headquarters. So this could get ugly. Now, hang on. Thom Tillis says you're investigating the Fed chairman criminally. You have a new nominee for Fed chair. And guess what? He will not be approved over my senator objections until you are not investigating Jerome Powell. Absolutely. And even John Thune last night said, I don't see a path forward for not for confirming Kevin Warsh. With Thom Tillis in opposition, Thom Tillis can gum up the works in the Senate Banking Committee, which then essentially would force a 60 vote threshold on the Senate floor. And Republicans know they do not have 60 votes in the current environment to get him confirmed. That would require Democrat support. Donald Trump has also gone after Fed Governor Lisa Cook. The Supreme Court, Taylor Poplars, appears skeptical of his authority to fire her. But here are senators, Republican senators, saying, no, no, no, no, you're not going to take political control of the Fed while you're prosecuting the Fed chairman. There's deep concern. The Fed is supposed to be and has long been viewed as this independent, you know, central bank of the world. It's not just the U.S. economy, but it's the world economy. And even Republicans, especially those who sit on the Senate Banking Committee, which is a pretty bipartisan.

and Functioning Committee, they're concerned about this becoming political. And a lot of people view Kevin Warsh, even though he has this history in the Bush White House, as somebody who's just becoming kind of a yes man for president. And that's something that Democrats feel, but also some of these Republicans. Well, the Federal Reserve held rate steady this week. They've been cutting rates, I think, three times in a row, right, Megan? But this week, they held them steady. So seeing maybe some stability in the economy if they're holding rate steady. Meanwhile, this is all supposed to be about employment. and prices. That's what it's supposed to be about. And affordability has been a top issue for voters. Recent CBS poll found that 76% of Americans polled say their incomes are not keeping up with inflation. And they would know because they balance their own checkbooks. President Trump addressed affordability at an event in Iowa on Tuesday blaming Democrats for high prices and mocking the very idea of affordability. This election is all about affordability. Well, They're the ones that caused the problem. But nobody knows that. You know, people forget. So they say, oh, affordability. Let's vote for the Democrats. It's no affordability. They caused a tremendous price increases. It was caused by the worst inflation we've ever had. Amanda Becker, Trump mentioned needing to win the midterm elections in his speech. He's talked to other Republicans this week behind closed doors, behind the scenes, saying if he doesn't win the midterms, he'll be impeached. He seems to know which way the wind is blowing. How well is this new strategy working for him to talk about affordability in some way? this shift. So I think it's a little bit early to tell how it's working. He did manage in this speech in Iowa to stay mostly on message, which as we know, the president often has the tendency to veer off into other topics, to not read the teleprompter, to go into his, you know, familiar. anecdotes that he likes to tell. He said inflation had been defeated, which is false. He said the 2020 presidential election was rigged, which is false. He talked about running for a... He also attacked Ilhan Omar, as we heard, and he continued attacking Jerome Powell, the Fed Reserve chair. So, you know, he wasn't able to, even in this first speech where he's unveiling kind of this new focus on the economy because he knows that immigration enforcement is not going to win him the midterms at this point. not going to win the party, the midterms. So he's trying to go back to this issue that is why a lot of people voted for him, which is rising cost of living and people feeling, you know, crunched. But even in this first speech, he couldn't stay away from the misinformation about the election and attacks on, you know, political rivals and airing of grievances. Well, also this week, some important... news from the world of health. The nation's largest organization of pediatricians broke with the CDC for the first time in 30 years to issue its own guidance on vaccines for children. The American Academy of Pediatrics said Monday that it's going to continue to recommend that kids get vaccines that protect against 18 potentially life-threatening diseases. That's after the CDC under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr..

changed its guidance earlier this month to reduce its recommended vaccines for all children from 18 to 11. Public health experts, the ones who pay attention to data, say those changes are not supported by decades and decades of reliable scientific data on the effectiveness and the safety of vaccines and the vaccine recommendations for children. Well, as we wind up the hour, guys, I want to make you aware if you're planning to attend award-winning composer Philip Glass's world premier. of his symphony Lincoln at the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Center in Washington, D.C. Think again, those tickets might not be any good. On Tuesday, Philip Glass polled the premier from the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Center, citing conflicting values with the cultural center's leadership and the symphony's message. Now, over the past year, President Trump and his hand-picked board of trustees at the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Center have placed the center in the middle of the fight against what Maga Wright and the coalition calls. woke culture. Other artists like opera legend Renee Fleming, banjo player Bella Fleck of Bella Fleck and the Flecktones also say they won't perform. Now, Taylor quickly, just as we head out for the hour, what's happening at the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Center when honorees like Renee Fleming and Philip Glass are pulling performances at this historic venue? It's in many ways becoming the president's own personal performing arts venue. He put his name on it, you know, kind of out of step with the rules. He fired the board and installed himself as chairman, and he's having constant events there, including on Thursday night, the premiere of the first lady's documentary about herself. So it's becoming kind of a maga world venue rather than the performing arts venue that it's been for decades. I want to thank our panel for this part of the roundup, Amanda Becker, Washington correspondent for the 19th. Megan Scully, Congress editor for Bloomberg News and Taylor Poplarz. national political reporter for Spectrum News based at the White House. And don't go anywhere because right after this, we have another panel with all of the headlines from around the world. More in a moment.

Support for NPR and the following message come from Ollie. Matching outfits, extravagant birthdays, many nicknames. A few classic moves of a dog-obsessed parent. Ollie is obsessed with how obsessed you are with your pup, so they strive to give your dog the best. From fresh human-grade dog food to in-app health check-ins to track your dog's well-being. Visit ollie.com slash wolf and use code wolf to get 70% off your welcome kit. Ollie. Feed the obsession. Now let's get to the international edition of the Roundup. About once a century, maybe twice, geopolitics resets, power shifts, the balance of power shifts, and global politics enters a new paradigm. The end of World War II in 1945 qualifies. So does the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. You get where I'm going here. Will historians of the future look back on President Donald Trump's new imperialism and rattling of America's alliances and decide 2026 was a year that changed everything? And, of course, renewed threats against Iran. Marco Rubio faces lawmakers about Venezuela and tragic new numbers from Ukraine, the cost of Russia's invasion at close to 2 million soldiers dead, wounded, or missing. Here to talk about all of that and so much more. Nancy Yusuf, staff writer at the Atlantic covering national security and the Defense Department. Hi, Nancy. Hi, great to be with you. Nancy, we should point out there's a big snowstorm hit Washington, D.C. are usually here, and today they snowed you in. They snowed me in on day six, actually, of the snowstorm. The plows came, and Nancy Yusuf's car is stuck where it is. So that's why you're hearing her over the line. We're happy to have you nonetheless. Greg Myrie, however. owns a pickaxe, he told me, and he got out of the ice and snow to make it into the studio. He's national security correspondent with NPR with a focus on the intelligence community. Great to have you here, Greg. Hey, hi, Todd. And congrats to your pickax. And Joyce Karam is here. You might know her as senior news editor at All Monitor. She has a new role editor-in-chief. Congratulations to you, Joyce. Todd, great to be with you. All right, we're going to start in Iran gang. President Trump, of course, has turned his attention back to the Islamic Republic this week. Popular protests over the state of the economy spread across Iran late last year and have shaken the regime, which has responded with brutal violence. But Donald Trump didn't mention any of that this week as American air and sea power approached Iranian shores. The president... took to social media on Wednesday. He demanded that Iran negotiate a new deal over its nuclear program. And if not, Trump said new airstrikes on Iran, quote, will be far worse than the ones the U.S. conducted on its nuclear enrichment sites last summer. The president is reportedly considering strikes that would target Iran's political leadership and security officials.

as well. And testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who's also the acting national security advisor, said preemptive strikes on Iran are possible. The president always reserves the preemptive defensive option. In essence, if we have indications that, in fact, they're going to attack our troops in the region to defend our personnel in the region. So I think it's wise and prudent to have a force posture within the region that could respond and potentially, not necessarily what's going to happen, but if necessary, preemptibly prevent the attack against thousands of American servicemen and other facilities in the region and our allies. I hope it doesn't come to that. But that's, I think, what you're seeing now is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel. They certainly have the capability to do it because they've amassed thousands and thousands of ballistic missiles that they've built. So that's a preemptive defense option, according to the Secretary of State there. Nancy Yusuf, President Trump demanded Iran give up all of its enriched uranium that could be used for nuclear weapons. What else did he demand? Well, he has said that he wants negotiations in the past. He has said that he wants the protesters to stop. But you're getting at a key point. The president has so far laid out. through sourcing anyway, potential targets, but he hasn't laid out the specific aims of the strikes. And so what we've heard from him is threats that if the Iranians don't negotiate, don't agree to some sort of deal to get rid of their nuclear program, that he would launch strikes. I think the challenge with that is what do strikes do towards that, while strikes can do damage to facilities. and there can be assassination of scientists. It doesn't get rid of all the enriched uranium stockpiles, and you can't sort of bomb your way to that sort of expertise that would allow the Iranians to rebuild their nuclear program. And so we're in this period where once again, as he did in the run-up to strikes in Venezuela, he's put out a tweet telling the leadership of Iran that time is running out and that they need to strike a deal soon or they will essentially feel the U.S. military might. To what aim, though, we still don't know. That's the nuclear aspect, the enrichment aspect, Greg Myrie. What else is the president demanded of Iran as he presses? for a deal, he says, for negotiations now with the threat of the tip of the American spear in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. Yeah, he hasn't been entirely clear, as Nancy noted. So last June, the U.S. joined Israel and specifically targeted nuclear sites, did damage. We don't know precisely where that ended up. A couple weeks ago, he was talking about the protesters in Iran who've been killed by the thousands. Didn't the president also demand that Iran give up its missiles that could strike Israel?

and give up support for Iranian proxies. True. And obviously that's the close partner of its nuclear program. As it does have these missiles, we saw them hit Israel. Most of them were shot down in a... combination of U.S.-Israeli teamwork last June, but Iran could strike again. And so that's a big factor as well. And again, Iran has always resisted negotiating away its missile program and what it says is peaceful nuclear enrichment, although the U.S. and many others say that's not the case. Joyce Karam, the president also said that Iran must give up. all support for these proxies I mentioned, groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen. How is that demand going down in Tehran? Is it realistic? And as the Iranians calculate what to do next with a president who just showed he's willing to invade Venezuela, how are they thinking about those demands we just mentioned? Nuclear enrichment, missiles, as Greg Mirey mentioned, and support for Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups. No, very good question. So there's two tier here. On the nuclear front, the Iranians are saying, okay, we're willing to sit down, we're willing to talk. We reserve the right to enrichment because that's protected under the NPT. On the missiles issue, they're saying... Wait a minute. This is not something we're going to give up, and this is not something we think you could destroy. We rearmed very much most of our missile stockpiles since the June strikes, and we will continue to do so. Now, the problem for President Trump, as Nancy mentioned, is even if he carries out air strikes, they're not enough to eliminate the nuclear program or... and the missile program. So what the administration seemed to be looking at is a gradual escalation of coercive measure similar to Venezuela that maybe they could. lead to regime change in Iran. Obviously, there is also the diplomatic track. There are meetings happening in Turkey. We know President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to the Iranians today. The foreign minister is visiting. So there are efforts to try to at least come to the table and bring a nuclear agreement together. The issue with the proxies... The Iranians are nowhere near giving up support for the proxies. And those proxies, the ones you mentioned, Hezbollah, the Houthis, militias, and Iraq are saying, we're going to retaliate if Iran is hit. And they also have very much rearmed since the last round of fighting. Nancy Yusuf, on the nuclear issue, President Trump claimed over and over that the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last summer.

completely obliterated, his words, completely obliterated Iran's nuclear capabilities. So why is he demanding the country accept a new nuclear deal now? I thought that was unnecessary. Because they didn't, very simply. I mean, the strikes that you saw in last June with those bunker busing munitions hit facilities. But as Joyce noted, it didn't completely destroy the nuclear program. And in fact, there were intelligence assessments that said that by the United States intelligence community that said that there was capability to come back potentially in a matter of months. The president disputed that and it was quite controversial at the time. But destroying the nuclear program is not a matter of an hour-long strikes. It's not, it's, and as Joyce also noted that they have the right to enrich uranium under the MPT. And so this is not a simple issue of if you just do enough strikes, you can destroy the nuclear program. Practically speaking, programs like this have dismantled not through strikes, but through a combination of strikes and long negotiations, detailed negotiations. And so that's the limitation of what the United States did in June. It doesn't mean it didn't have any effect. But it certainly wasn't one that in one fell swoop eliminated the nuclear program. Well, let's talk about Iran's reaction and Iran's posture here. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media that Iran's military is, quote, prepared with their... fingers on the trigger to immediately and powerfully respond to any aggression. A senior advisor to Iran's supreme leader had another warning. This one mentioning Israel, he warned in a post written in Hebrew on X, Twitter, that any military action from the United States would lead to immediate action from Iran aimed at, quote, the heart. of Tel Aviv. Israel and Iran had a short but devastating war last June. Greg Maury, how are the Israelis reacting? How are the Americans reacting? I don't think it was a surprise that this is the dynamic. I'm willing to stipulate they weren't shocked by this news that the heart of Tel Aviv would be struck. But the risk here is a regional war. Oh, absolutely. The Israelis have been relatively quiet. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long been hawkish on aggressive action towards Iran. He's not saying a lot right now. Could be for a couple reasons that last June, Israel was in the lead and the attacks and the U.S. joined in, and that's sort of flipped right now where Trump is taking the lead and engaged in the heated rhetoric. There's also the question of whether Israel is fully prepared again for another wave of Iranian military. missile and drone strikes? Do they have enough interceptors in place? Is there enough U.S. help in the region? So that may be one of the factors as well. Israel may not feel that it's fully prepared to take on another onslaught of Iranian missiles and drones. Joyce, it was Israel, according to reports, that a couple of weeks ago during the height of deadly and brutal crackdown on protesters in Tehran and around the country?

largely that the United States held off. Donald Trump was saber rattling against Tehran, and the reporting was that Israel asked the United States, and European countries too, asked the United States to back off for the moment because of an apparent lack of preparedness, maybe in Israel or maybe American assets as well. Is that what happened? Does Israel have a preparedness issue here? Well, that's one version that came out that the Israelis don't think there is enough U.S. equipment, military equipment, aircraft carriers, destroyers in the region to fend them off in case of a joint attack. Since then, what we're reporting today actually is the Israelis have up intelligence sharing with the Americans in anticipation of strikes that come within weeks. So they're not at the... preparedness level they like to be, but they see this is as a gradual escalation ladder that they could get there in a matter of weeks. And, I mean, Todd, we've discussed on this program a lot. There is... It's Benjamin Netanyahu's dream to see, you know, the Iranian regime go down. There is definitely a big appetite on Israel to see the U.S. go after the leaders in Tehran, whether it's Khomeini, whether it's the IRGC, because this is their arc enemy in the region. Well, let's not forget the crackdown internally in Iran. Again, the president did not mention it in this latest round of social media posting and threats against Iran. But protests, of course, broke out just a couple of weeks ago. President Trump spoke directly in a social media post on January 13th back then when he promised protesters that help is on the way. And he said they should keep protesting. take over your institutions. Since then, Nancy Yusuf, we've gotten lots of conflicting reports, and understandably so. There's an internet blackout in Iran about just how many Iranians may have been killed by their own government in the streets. What do we know now about the toll of that crackdown on protests and who may have been killed? You're right, that blackout. for weeks and so we're just starting to see the trickling of videos and pictures and they're horrified because they really show a very aggressive and violent crackdown on those protesters. The Iranian government figures at 3100 and it's assumed that that is a low estimate. Various human groups have put deaths as high as 16,000. We've heard even references higher to that. But we're not just seeing the number, but we're really seeing through these images and videos, the degree of the crackdown, that there was an aggressive push by the Iranian security forces to go after protesters. And so.

While they didn't execute the prisoners that they detained as Trump had demanded at the first sort of confrontation between these two countries, the Iranian government clearly very aggressively went after protesters to put down this crackdown. We're going to keep watching Iran, not only the fate of protesters, but the escalation as the United States, again, parks multiple assets, destroyers, aircraft carrier groups, naval assets in the Persian Gulf. and in the Indian Ocean in a stepped-up escalation strategy, as Joyce Karim says, against Iran. And we will be following that story. All right, we have to talk about Venezuela, of course. There's a lot more in the news as we travel around the world here on the roundup as we do every week. We noted the Secretary of State Marco Rubio. appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. This is nearly four weeks after the United States invaded Caracas and seized Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro. And on the hill, things got heated. Finally, a public hearing. Wow, how novel. Finally, a public hearing in the Senator House. This is the first public hearing we've had. 200 folks who are on secret designated combatants have been killed. U.S. troops have been injured. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent. An armada amassed. The announcement of a new Monroe doctrine, which does not land well in the Americas. Democrats have been asking over and over again, can we have a public hearing? That was Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, but Secretary Marco Rubio attempted to reassure lawmakers that the United States is making progress in Venezuela and around the world. Greg, Greg Myrie, the takeover of Venezuela did not get congressional approval. I mean, I think that's, I know that's what's under Tim Kaine's skin there. That's the nexus of his anger that you hear there. What did Marco Rubio have to say about the decision to bypass Congress, capture Maduro, and then set up an oil for cash scheme of Venezuela's resources? Right. So he basically laid out what has become the norm now if the U.S. is conducting a relatively, what's believed to be a relatively short operation, it can do it without... congressional approval and then you get into all sorts of these legalisms and within sixty days congress needs to be uh... notified and and act on it uh... to approve an extended military operation but Marco Rubio and and others have talked about an imminent threat now we can certainly have a debate here about

how imminent was any threat from Venezuela, but that was sort of Marco Rubio's argument. But is he making that argument just because the law says he has to some technicality of a statute, or does he mean it? I mean, how is he justifying imminent threat? Right. Again, I'm not sure that that's a case that they've made very strongly other than the fact that they made it clear that they're going to have increased emphasis on the Americas. Marco Rubio, son of Cuban immigrants, has really stresses this Don Roe doctrine. updating of the Monroe Doctrine. And that really seems to be the focus. And this is what this administration wants to push in Venezuela and perhaps elsewhere. Well, another key moment in that hearing, the question of further use of force in Venezuela. Here's Marco Rubio. The president never rules out his options as commander-in-chief to protect the national interest of the United States. I can tell you right now with full certainty, we are not postured to, nor do we intend or expect to have to take any military action in Venezuela at any time. The only military presence you'll see in Venezuela is our Marine Guards at an embassy. Okay, that is our goal. That is our expectation. And that is what everything that outlines towards. But if that said, if an Iranian drone factory pops up and threatens our forces in the region, the president retains the option to eliminate that threat. Now, also before Marco Rubio on Wednesday, the Trump administration's decision, as I just mentioned, to sell off oil reserves. belonging to Venezuela for hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump confirmed some oil was already being sent to refineries in Houston telling the New York Post. And here's a quote, let's put it this way, they don't have any oil. We take the oil. Nancy Yusuf, you had some in-depth reporting on these oil sales. What did you find? wanted to look at the Venezuelan people's relationship with oil. And what we found is going all the way back to the 1920s, it's really quite complicated that oil sales for them has been both an engine for their economic prosperity at times and also a tool for their political oppression. And so we were really fascinated by the dynamics of that relationship. And why it's relevant now is we're hearing a lot from Venezuelans that while some think of the oil as their sort of national... treasure, they are willing to make deals if it leads to economic prosperity because of that relationship that they've had with oil. And so we're seeing that play out just this week. We saw in Venezuela legislation that sort of remove some of the restrictions around sales that it's clear that this government is interested in making sales that are quite favorable to the United States.

But having said all that, I think, is with the expectation and that this leads to some sort of economic prosperity for the Venezuelan people. And that is the hope that comes out with it. But it is not as tethered to keeping oil in Venezuelan hands and in Venezuelan businesses. Because for the Venezuelan people in our reporting... They don't think of it as necessarily something that guarantees freedom for them. Under the Maduro or excuse me, under Hugo Chavez in particular, it was the most effective tool in sort of holding them down both politically and economically. Well, what about the money, Nancy? What about this account in Qatar? that Donald Trump is reportedly using parking Venezuela's oil money there and the dispersing as he sees fit. What did Marco Rubio have to say to senators about this offshore account not under control of the U.S. Congress and not parked in the United States Treasury? Yes, so you heard the president in the early days after Maduro was captured saying that there's about $300,500 million worth of oil, and that was oil essentially already extracted, and they started to sort of move that oil, as you mentioned, to Houston. The Secretary of State described a quote-unquote novel approach to dealing with that money, in which case they have basically taken funds from that and have it managed through Qatar to... funnel those proceeds back to Venezuela under oversight with Qatar sort of acting as a natural, or excuse me, a neutral host for those funds. Oversight from whom? You said oversight. From whom? Well, that the United States would sort of have some oversight over it in terms of how the money is spent and making sure that it's being used for the benefit of Venezuelan infrastructure and people. And so... Remember, Qatar has before and after this had an interest in being a facilitator in this conflict. And so they've sort of treated Qatar as sort of the middle ground to hold those funds as they figure out how to do it. He talked about the Venezuelans presenting a monthly budget. But it really sort of showed how much the United States is pulling the levers financially over what happens with these oil sales. And it's monitoring of the Venezuelan government and it's handling. of those funds. Joyce Karam, I have to ask. I mean, the president has accepted a $400 million jet from Qatar. The president is now suing the IRS of his own government for, I can't remember the figure, but it's many billions of dollars that he would pay himself. The list goes on. The New York Times reports that the president has made $1.4 billion. That's the low ball during his presidency. How do we know that some of this money in the account in Qatar outside of Congress's purview won't wind up in the president's pocket? Me, we want.

We won't know. The Qataris have every interest to keep the administration happy, to keep President Trump happy. We saw when he visited, you know, a huge reception with a red carpet. They've gone out of their way to keep, you know, the Trump administration happy on the board of peace and everything they're doing. They're just their audience. It's an audience of one. So until you see Congress asking questions, until we see. investigations into, you know, money, not just from Qatar, I have to say, you know, the other Gulf countries coming in. We just simply won't know. All right. Let's move to Ukraine and to Russia. Another spot where we... Find ourselves here on the roundup nearly every week and rightfully so alarming new casualty figures out this week. United States and British officials say almost 1.8 million soldiers are killed, wounded, or missing. Nearly four years after Russia's invasion and the ensuing war, President Trump broke down the numbers even more starkly saying 26,000 troops are dying in Ukraine every week. On Thursday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged... Dead soldiers held in refrigerated trucks. Russia returned 1,000 remains Ukraine, returned 38. Greg Myrie, you spent a lot of time reporting in Ukraine. How are these losses felt four years after the full-scale invasion of February 22? Yeah, they're felt in every part of the country. You know, you will be going places and you'll see funerals just happening. You'll see more women out and about and fewer men. And it's been very hard to get numbers throughout this war. Neither side has divulged the exact figures. So these figures, there may be some element of estimates in here, but it does give you this sense. We're talking about 1.2 million Russians who've been killed or wounded, 600,000 Ukrainians who've been killed or wounded, an extraordinary toll in just four years. Puts it into respect to when you look at other conflicts around the world. I mean, just the numbers are just devastating. Staggering, absolutely. Well, on Tuesday, a Russian drone hit a passenger train in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, killing five people. One man escaped onto snow-cover tracks along with a woman and a baby and called for help.

Now, President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine responded on X. In any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be regarded in the same way purely as an act of terrorism. Now, Ukrainian troops say they're causing damage in Russia with drone attacks of their own. Their soldiers spoke to France 24. These are Ukrainian lutee drones, probably one of the most effective unmanned aircraft existing in the world today. Their range is up to 1,500 kilometers. And those soldiers described their handwritten messages. May they burn in hell. That's the main thing we write every time. Nancy Yusuf, earlier this month, President Trump told the New York Times that the only limit on his powers is, quote, my own morality, my own mind. It's the only thing. that can stop me. How do we see that operating in Ukraine now? And we're going to talk more about the president's approach and mentality after a break here. I think he sees himself as the key broker to Ukraine that he believes that he can convince Vladimir Putin to reach deals, that he can set the terms telling the Ukrainians that they might have to give up territory. But I think in practice what we've seen is that he hasn't been able to break that logjam and that while there have been multiple negotiations. These are two parties that are not willing to capitulate to sort of the deal as he sees it. And it's why the war continues to go on and why resolving these key issues on things like Dinesk and the power plant and who controls it has been so difficult to achieve. All right, gang. Well, we've talked about Iran. We've talked about Ukraine. We've talked about Venezuela. Not so much China today. I have a feeling they... they might come up in the next few minutes here. In the time we have left, I just want us to step back a little bit. The balance of power, as we mentioned at the top of the show, the shape the world for 80 years, is changing. There's no doubt about it. A lot of people think Donald Trump is trying to break the world. He doesn't think so. Last April, in a phone call with Atlantic staff writer Michael Scherer, Donald Trump said he's trying to rescue it. The first time I had two things to do, run the country and survive. I had all these crooked guys, you know? And the second time I run the country in the world because, you know, it's the world I'm trying to save. It's the world I'm trying to save. Now, to that end, earlier this month, Trump told the New York Times, and I just mentioned this before, I want to apply it to the whole world now. Trump told the New York Times that the only limit on his power is, quote, my own morality, my own mind, it's the only thing that can stop me. So I want to pose this to all of you. For the last 80 years, we've had superpowers. We've had the UN Security Council, alliances that projected U.S. power. And at least sometimes, sometimes stability, not in the aughts.

But overall, sure, stability at times. Trump's trying hard to shake that paradigm, antagonizing European allies, a close affinity for dictators and strongmen, a new American imperialism in Venezuela and Greenland and possibly beyond. Nancy Yusuf, Donald Trump says he's the one who can save the world. What does the world say? Start anywhere you like with this question. Well, yeah, I'm happy to do that. I want to start, though, what we've seen, though, from his sort of foreign policies so far. I think if you were to summarize it, I think it's power base, it's hemispheric, it's transactional, and it's really focused on U.S. economic interest. So the world is seeing that and asking, how does it respond? Because it doesn't have the same guarantees of alliances that the U.S. has projected. previously, and the president has made reference to this multiple times. I think this was shown in the most pronounced way a couple weeks ago when we saw the threats on potentially taking Greenland from a NATO ally. The most notable response we've heard was from the Prime Minister of Canada in his speech at Davos in which he really urged middle powers to come together and sort of create their own alternative system that was not as dependent on, I think, what he would sort of consider predatory great powers, the U.S. and China. Well, let's, actually, Nancy, let's hear from Mark Carney right now on that very issue. We understand that this rupture calls for more than adaptation. It calls for honesty about the world as it is. We are taking the sign out of the window. We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn't mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy. But we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just. This is the task of the middle powers. Nancy, this is the task of the middle powers. He says, we've taken the sign out of the window. This is our choice. That's right. So I'll start broadly, and I'll leave it to Greg and Joyce to Finescidas. I know they will. economically, there are deals that we're starting to see happen between, for example, India and the EU. We've seen various European leaders visiting China in the past month and more so anticipated to do so in the coming weeks. So there are efforts at economic engagement. Moreover, we're seeing these middle powers invest more in their defense. The challenge in the short term, I think, is I don't think you can completely cut off the U.S. or China economically or in terms of security. So what does that look like? When are you cooperating with the U.S. and China? When are you not? the part that I think you're seeing middle powers really wrestling with right now, the balance in that relationship between diversifying who they're investing and working with while acknowledging and recognizing that it can't be done by siphoning off the U.S. and China, at least not now. Joyce, what's your view on this question? The middle powers, the reordering of world power and America's New Doctrine.

I mean, what you're seeing is peak disruptive Trump. You know, it's either my way or the highway, but, you know, there's a way in the middle. And as Nancy mentioned... The successive visits we've seen from European and Western leaders to China are not a coincidence. I mean, we've seen Emmanuel Macron. We've seen now the British Prime Minister is there. We've seen Carney go to China. All of a sudden, China at Davos is the defender of multilateral approaches and is the defender of free trade. You're seeing a massive, massive trade deal, free trade deal between India. and the European Union. That free trade agreement should have been between India and the United States, but Trump and Narendra Modi couldn't make it happen. So, you know, U.S. allies are not waiting. It's almost Trump is driving Europe into Asia and, you know, India's arms. So this is a shift, as Courtney mentioned, that... ship that has sailed and there is no going back to the old order. I would say in the Middle East, Todd, it's not, I mean... Trump gets credit, for example, on the Gaza's fire. We've seen this week the return of the remains of the last hostage. So that's great. But you're seeing middle powers also, you know, rise to the occasion and do their own thing. You're seeing proxy war in Sudan, proxy war in Yemen, and the U.S. is very much absent on the diplomatic track on these conflicts. Greg Meyer. Yeah, the one thing I'll add is we're seeing Trump be much more aggressive around the world. tearing down the old order. You framed it very well at the top of the show. But he is, in effect, kind of beating up on much smaller, weaker places, whether it's Venezuela or Greenland or Gaza or Iran. On the big questions, how is he dealing with China or Russia? He hasn't been able to sort of throw the U.S. weight around and get an agreement with U.S. and China. They're kind of at a truce on the trade war. With Russia, he touts his good relationship. relationship with Vladimir Putin, but it hasn't led to any agreement. So where Trump has had just overwhelming power leverage, he's using that in a very aggressive way. But I think on some of the bigger questions, it hasn't delivered so far. Nancy, what about the post-Trump years? And I mean the immediate ones. Three more years left in this presidency. Despite what he says, he won't be... He won't be president after 2028. Yes, I said it. He won't be.

The next president, whoever they are, let's pretend it's a Democratic president, will probably be much more amenable to NATO, much more attached to the current world arrangement, the current recipe for stability. How are Europeans and countries around the world viewing this dynamic? They're stuck, if I can use that phrase, with Trump now, but it's not forever. Is it that they know they can't sort of trust the United States to be consistent now? I think that is that essentially what they're saying. To your question, I personally think that we're not going to see the immediate effects of these kinds of shifts in the short term. The next president, I think, will see them because these are major transformations that are happening. You're seeing, for example, European nations now commit to 5% of their GDP on defense spending after spending decades, depending on the U.S. to sort of lead their defenses. You're seeing these deals start to come into fruition and being finalized. So the question for the next president is, if a new world order emerges in which the United States has a much different role, how does then the United States adjust to that? And I think that's going to be the challenge for the next administration. And what are the long-term implications for U.S. economic security, its military dominance as these new deals start to come together in that post-Trump period? Nancy, how does Trump's Board of Peace fit in? to all this. I mean, originally conceived to enlist international help with the 20-point plan for peace and reconstruction in Gaza. It's morphed into something quite different. You can pay a billion dollars to be an elite gold circle member. You can join for free, but only for a three-year stint. I don't know how real or how effectual or what the Board of Peace is actually doing now. How does it fit into this discussion about how Donald Trump? runs things for the next three years. I think it really typifies how he thinks about his place and in resolving these conflicts because the Board of Peace and its bylaws which were published doesn't mention Gaza and in fact talks about sort of broad aims. But it does make him the sort of central authority in this. And some would see this as challenging traditional institutions that we have stood up and supported like the United Nations as sort of alternative approach. And so. That plus the demand that there be funding towards this, I think creates this alternative sort of system in which it is very focused on Trump being at the senator of this international peace architecture. A Board of Peace that, well, sensibly for Gaza really goes beyond that and really recasting leadership, global leadership roles and how we think about it with all the sort of a hodgepodge of members in this Board of Peace. And so I think if you think about it,

That is how Trump is thinking about foreign policy, not with traditional institutions, but ones that he's created on his terms in which he plays a central role. Joyce, how are leaders around the world? You can focus on the Middle East, if you like, viewing the Board of Peace. proposition. They figured out that a $400 million jet or a gold statue or an award from FIFA or some other organization is a great way to get Donald Trump happy with you, a great way to get him to do what you want. For the price of a billion dollars, you can be an elite permanent member of the Board of Peace. Have they figured out that for the low, low price of a billion dollars, you can put Donald Trump in a good mood? So for the Europeans, the major powers or those who sit on the UN Security Council, there hasn't been much interest in Trump's Board of Peace. But when you look at the Middle East, exactly what you're mentioning, these countries that have carried favor by, you know, playing to Trump's ego by... paying, investing in his companies and all of that, they have joined the Board of Peace. 40% of the membership are Middle Eastern countries. The interesting part here is this is something that's expected to lead the change, the peace in Gaza, but there are no Palestinians that sit on it. It bypasses the United Nations. It's very much, as you mentioned, a pay-by-play mechanism. You pay the billion dollar, you get a permanent seat. So in the short term, this will be, you know, a vehicle to push Trump agenda. In the medium term, it's unclear. I mean, what's going to happen in 2028? Do we see China being more forceful at the United Nations with Trump, you know, creating an alternative or a rival, not alternative mechanism? Well, while we talk about... transactionalism and the new American imperialism. Of course, we're about to talk about Greenland. Several European leaders attended a form in Paris to short support from allies and portray a United Front in response to Donald Trump. European leaders are still reeling from Davos, where Trump said he had a framework deal for the future of Greenland. Of course, the president didn't give any actual detail or facts about that. Here's French President Emmanuel Macron at the end of that summit. Events show that events in Greenland are a strategic wake-up call for the whole of Europe on reaffirming our European security, on combating global warming, foreign interventions, and on reducing strategic dependence. We got this question from Donald who says, did Trump's attempt to acquire Greenland voluntarily or otherwise create a permanent rift with NATO? Is there any serious attempt for Europe and Canada to create a joint defense without the United States? How would the U.S. defense posture improve if we gain Greenland but lost the NATO alliance? There's a lot of questions there. But Greg, Myrie, what about Canada, Europe, other NATO allies realizing as...

Mark Carney said if Canada were taking the sign out of the window, he wasn't talking about NATO directly, but there are implications here. Are they starting to think about their own defense? Oh, yeah, we've seen this in a lot of ways. One interesting report, the Germans are German companies expected to make more artillery shells than this year than the entire U.S. capacity. So Europeans are thinking about this. They are trying to do stuff. Are they ready to sort of become NATO without the U.S.? No, they're not there. What does the transition look like as NATO watches war on its eastern front? Well, we don't know, but I think Ukraine will be a huge test to see how much the Europeans can fill in the end of U.S. assistance to Ukraine. We have to leave it there, but I want to thank my panelists for today. Nancy Yusuf, staff writer at the Atlantic covering national security and the Defense Department. Greg Myrie, national security correspondent with NPR. the focus on the intelligence community, and Joyce Karam, the new editor-in-chief at all monitor. Mike Kidd is our sound designer and engineer with help this week from Kellyn Quigley. Chris Castano is our digital editor, Maya Garg is our senior managing producer, and Alexandra Bouti is our senior supervising producer. Eileen Humphreys is the editor and producer of 1A on demand, and Barbong Guiano produces our podcast. And special thanks to Matthew Simonson for additional podcast and on-demand support this week. This program comes to you from WAMU, part of American University in Washington distributed by NPR. Have a great weekend. This is 1A.

This message comes from Middy Health. Co-founders, Dr. Kathleen Jim Jordan, and CEO Joanna Strober discuss why they started a virtual care platform for women in paramenopause and menopause. The symptoms and experiences that women have in midlife, I think were underappreciated or possibly even trivialized. The changes of perimenopause and menopause create a broad spectrum of symptoms and can actually lead to long-term health issues, but too few clinicians are trained in it. I also want to add, often the type of care that women are needing is very iterative. It requires trying different medications, learning about their body, and learning how to take care of themselves. And so what we've tried to do at Midi Health is create a new type of care system that is responsive to women's needs and helps them take care of themselves and stay healthy instead of just treating disease. Midi Health, committed to helping women in midlife with paramenopause and menopause care, accessible via telehealth visits at join-M-I-D-I-D-com.