Up First from NPR - Arizona Abortion Politics, Trump-Johnson Meeting, Argentine Economic Woes

Episode Date: April 13, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris was in Arizona, where the state's high court reinstated an 1864 law all but banning abortion. House Speaker Mike Johnson met with former Pres. Donald Trump in Florida. Argentine police are breaking up protests with water cannons as the economy falters.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Argentina's president in the U.S. for the third time in four months meets with Elon Musk in Austin. While Argentines take to the streets protesting the country's financial turmoil. I'm Aisha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News. Today on the podcast, we take you to Buenos Aires. Also, we broke Roe v. Wade. It's one of Donald Trump's signature achievements as president. We gave it back to the states. Today, we also stop in Arizona, where an 1864 law all but bans abortion.

And we'll hear about a Florida meeting between Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Please stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend. Now, Our Change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to Our Change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. Vice President Kamala Harris began her weekend in Tucson, Arizona, where there's been a tectonic shift in the political landscape. This week, the state Supreme Court ordered the enforcement of a law

banning nearly all abortions. It's a ruling that puts Arizona into the middle of the national debate on abortion rights. Member station KJZZ's political editor, Ben Giles, is in Phoenix and joins us now. Ben, thanks for being with us. Thank you. The vice president was in Arizona, presumably to try and make some political capital on the ruling. Do you see the Biden-Harris campaign making her message even more resonant in the months ahead? Well, in Tucson yesterday,

the Harris message was simple. They are tying the decision in Arizona to former President Donald Trump. In fact, she noted that as she was speaking across the country in Florida, the former president was boasting about overturning Roe v. Wade. Donald Trump just said the collection of state bans is, quote, working the way it is supposed to. And in Florida Friday, Trump indeed did take credit for, in his words, breaking Roe v. Wade. We gave it back to the states, and the states are working very brilliantly, in some cases conservative, in some cases not conservative, but they're working, and it's working the way it's supposed to.

Democrats are happy to tie Trump to Roe v. Wade, and by extension, then, this Arizona Supreme Court ruling, they think criticizing the ruling is a winning issue with Arizona voters who generally support abortion rights with some restrictions. What indications are there that this will still be an issue, though, in November? Well, along with races for president, for U.S. Senate, for Congress, there's also going to be a ballot initiative up for a vote in November that Democrats say will correct the Supreme Court's error here. It will enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona Constitution. What about Republican candidates, including Donald Trump? How are they talking about abortion in the wake of this ruling? Well, we've already seen Trump criticize the Supreme Court for going too far with its ruling in Arizona. That's a clear sign that Republicans fear this is a losing issue in November. We've also seen down the ballot candidates like U.S. Senate hopeful Carrie Lake, who repeatedly praised the near-term when she was running for governor of Arizona two years ago.

Now she's calling it a bad law and calling on state lawmakers to repeal it. Further down the ballot, there are Republican congressmen in swing districts like David Schweiker and Juan Cisney, who are now more vulnerable or seen as more vulnerable than they were at the start of the week. They too are saying the Supreme Court got it wrong. Bad law got it wrong. How is that sentiment shared by Republican voters in Arizona? I'm seeing a lot of disappointment among Arizona conservatives who've been fighting to make abortions illegal for years. There was an effort from Democrats at the state capitol this week to repeal the 1864 ban, but Republican leaders blocked that effort because a lot of rank-and-file members in the state legislature think the court's ruling was a great victory.

And I think we're going to start to see on the campaign trail too. Thursday, Lake was in Southern Arizona, and she faced questions from voters about why she's done a 180 and now opposes a near total ban that she once praised. KJZZ's Ben Giles in Phoenix. Ben, thanks so much for being with us. Thanks for having me. Next up, the Florida meeting between House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Trump. It's where Trump made the comments that we heard at the very top of today's podcast and in Ben Giles' report from Phoenix. And it's where he said this about Speaker Johnson. He's doing a really good job under very tough circumstances. Those kind words come after a rough week of Republican infighting in the Capitol. NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt joins us now from Capitol Hill.

Barbara, thank you for being with us. Thanks for having me. So Johnson and Trump standing side by side at Mar-a-Lago. It definitely sends the message that they're in sync. Are they really? It's a good question. I think the proof will be in the pudding there. It's a little too early to tell, I think, if this is going to do what I suspect Johnson

hopes it will, which is to boost support among his conference and remind folks that he has a relationship with Trump. Long before he was speaker, Johnson supported Trump through both impeachments. He authored a legal defense challenging the 2020 election results on his behalf. And I think this week in particular, Johnson is painfully aware of how much influence Trump has over House Republicans. The former president took to social media earlier this week to call on House Republicans to tank the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He says it

was used against him during his first campaign. And in the end, over a dozen members voted to block a reauthorization of a key part of that law. All of that over Johnson's objections. So it's just another example of how tough a job he has. He has a very narrow majority. He has big divisions within his conference. One member told me this week in the hallway that Jesus himself could not manage this conference. And some of his loudest critics are major allies of Trump. So take Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. She's a staunch Trump ally.

They speak regularly. Trump yesterday called her a friend. And she's the Republican member behind the effort to oust Johnson as speaker. Trump was asked about that yesterday when he appeared with Johnson in Florida. He said it's actually unfortunate, in his words, that people bring up this motion to vacate, this motion to oust speaker. It's not an easy situation for any speaker. I think he's doing a very good job. He's doing about as good as you're going to do. And I'm sure that Marjorie understands that. She's a very

good friend of mine. And I know she has a lot of respect for the speaker. Well, you know, I do think Jesus could manage this caucus, but he might be the only one. A little fact check for my issue there. So, you know, Johnson obviously gets something from his appearance with Trump. But what does Trump get? Yeah, I mean, there's a couple things there that I think he gets. One, they were talking about two issues, election integrity, voting integrity. Those are sort of the way that they talk about some signature issues of Trump's campaign and issues on the southern border with immigration. And those are big hitting, you know, topics for them. And he gets to do it alongside the Speaker of the House. Now, this proposed bill doesn't really have a political future.

It certainly wouldn't pass the Democratic controlled Senate, but it does send a message. And also, you know, Trump does stand to gain, I think, if the House can be a little less chaotic. It's an election year. Of course, the Republican Party is focused on the White House, but they're also focused on holding on to control of the House of Representatives. And there's a sense that the more the House is mired in these speakership fights and they can't advance legislation and there's all this infighting, the more Democrats are able to say to voters, you know, like, look, the GOP House is in chaos. Why would you want to keep them in the majority? It kind of weakens their case. What do you think this means for big legislation Johnson has on his list for the coming weeks, you know, things like aid for Israel and Ukraine. Well, I spoke to some GOP members this week on the Hill, and they're

agitating to vote on these very things that you said, aid to Israel, aid to Ukraine. They're tired of what they call some of the drama and theatrics of the effort to remove Johnson as speaker. Ukraine, though, is an issue where there's big divisions, too. Trump has historically opposed efforts for a Ukrainian aid package, although yesterday he did say he was, quote, looking into aid in the form of a loan with Johnson. Johnson did try to make the case in a recent Christian Broadcasting Network interview this week that aid for Ukraine would actually help Trump if he were to win reelection because he'd be, he argues, in a better position to help broker a peace agreement. So you can see there's some maneuvering on that

end. And Greene, who I mentioned has that motion to vacate in her pocket, she has previously suggested that if Johnson moves forward with Ukrainian aid on the floor, she may trigger that vote to oust him as speaker. Then again, that was before Trump came out yesterday and said he thinks it's unfortunate that people bring up these moves to get rid of Johnson. So whether that changes her tune at all, you know, it remains to be seen. That's NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt. Barbara, thank you so much. Thank you. Finally today, Argentina, where police have been breaking up protests in Buenos Aires with water cannons. A series of strikes have gripped the country as opposition grows to President Javier Millet's economic policies.

The right-wing populist won in November and vowed to deliver what he's calling economic shock treatment. We're joined now by Daniel Politi. He's a freelance journalist in the Argentine capital. Thanks so much for being with us. Thank you for having me. What changes has President Mele carried out? How serious is the opposition? Well, President Mele really is attempting a wholesale reform of Argentine society. And he came into power as a libertarian, espousing the idea that the government was at the root of all of Argentina's problems. And now he's pursuing efforts to deregulate the economy, slash state spending, and impose a series of austerity measures that include slashing the network of subsidies. And you asked about opposition, and he is facing quite a bit of

opposition in Congress. He's a clear minority there. His allies don't have as many seats to get all his ambitious reform passed. And he's also facing opposition in the streets, where this week there were leaders of social organizations that paralyzed much of downtown Buenos Aires for a few hours when they were protesting the government's moves to slash social safety nets. They say they were receiving a lot less food for soup kitchens at the time when demand is soaring. The next day, bus drivers paralyzed much of the capital amid a strike, complaining that their salaries were not keeping up with inflation that's soaring. Well, and let me ask you about inflation because it arguably was the issue that brought President Mele to office. But it's become worse since he's taken over, hasn't it? Yeah, I mean, inflation really did soar particularly strongly in the first weeks of his presidency.

That was not a surprise. He did win the election on the platform to end inflation, but he had warned that inflation would get worse when he came into office. In part, that was a defensive move by many companies, private sector, retailers. They didn't know what to expect, so they defensively raised prices. But it also meant his deregulation of many sectors

led to prices soaring on things like health insurance and cell phone services. But the truth is that so far at least, the Argentine public seems to be giving him the benefit of the doubt. Surveys show he continues to enjoy a honeymoon period and he hangs on too much of the support that brought him into office in the first place. He's asked Argentines for patience, saying they'll have to experience some pain now to

come out the other side. And after years of what he says is mismanagement of government spending that led to this inflation problem getting worse, Argentina, as you know, has one of the world's worst inflation rates. And he points to how inflation has, in fact, been decelerating a bit in the past few weeks as proof that his plan is working. For now, at least, Argentina seems to be on board. And, of course, he's become acclaimed in much of the global right. He's in the U.S. currently on his third trip in four months. Why? Why is it important to him to come to the United States? And I gather he's meeting with Elon Musk. Yeah, I mean, Malay, who has always said he's an avowed admirer of former President Trump,

he came into power saying that Argentina needed to boost its ties with the United States, move away from years of what had been increasing alliances with Russia and China, and he wants to send a message that a new era has dawned in Argentina. He's hoping to parlay that popularity into concrete investments. You mentioned Elon Musk. He has characterized himself as a huge fan of Malay, and there's lots of speculation that Musk could be interested in Argentina's hugely untapped potential for lithium, for example. Daniel Politi is reporting from Buenos Aires. Thanks so much for being with

us this morning. Thank you. And that's up first for Saturday, April 13th, 2024. I'm Aisha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon. Fernando Narro produced today's podcast with help from Gabe O'Connor and Martin Patience. Andrew Craig directed. Ed McNulty edited along with Padna Rama, Kelsey Snell, and Shannon Rhodes. Our technical director is Hannah Glovna with engineering support from Carly Strange, Nisha Hynes, and Phil Edfors. Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor. Sarah Lucy Oliver is our executive producer. Jim Cain is our deputy managing editor. Tomorrow on Up First, what do you need? It's always a great question, and now it's the title of a new book about helping people thrive in the workplace. Reflections and advice, Sunday on Up First. What do you need?

What about to turn on the radio and listen to weekend edition Edition and Morning Edition and all things considered by finding your NPR station at stations.npr.org. Or on your smartphone, right? Yes, that's what everyone needs.