Up First from NPR - Domestic Pressure on Netanyahu, GOP Debate in Miami, Union Deal with Hollywood

Episode Date: November 9, 2023

Israelis blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for security failures that led to 1,400 deaths by Hamas. GOP presidential candidates take heated shots at the third debate in Miami. And the Screen Actors Guild reaches a tentative agreement with major studios.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Michael Sullivan, Megan Pratz and Rose Friedman. It was produced by Shelby Hawkins, Ben Abrams and Milton Guevara. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott and our technical director is Zac Coleman.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

There are growing calls for Israel's prime minister to resign. They blame him for security failures that led to the Hamas attack. Benjamin Netanyahu cannot stay even one more day. So will he heed the call? I'm Amin Martinez, that's Leila Fadl, and this is Up First from NPR News. Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy traded shots during the third GOP debate. She made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. Leave my daughter out of your voice.

Of the five candidates on stage, who stood out and who floundered? And the Actors Union reached an agreement with studios to end its strike. Obviously, we'd like to try to preserve a summer of films. So what are the terms? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. Now, Our Change will honour 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. We start with reports of Arab countries and the U.S. trying to negotiate a three-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. It would be in exchange for the release of up to a dozen hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, according to the Associated Press. The discussions come amid a worsening humanitarian crisis inside the Palestinian enclave as Israel expands its ground and air campaign. Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing political problems at home. Many Israelis blame him for security failures that preceded the

October 7th Hamas attack. Inside Israel, there are growing calls for Netanyahu to step down. NPR's Lauren Frayer has been reporting on all this in Tel Aviv and joins us now. Hi, Lauren. Hi, Leila. Okay, so who's been calling for Netanyahu to resign, and what is it that's pushing them to do that? What do they want? It's people like Noam T. Bon. He's a retired major general in Israel's army,

and on October 7th, he grabbed his pistol and raced south from his home in Tel Aviv and ended up joining gun battles with Hamas. He was shocked by what he calls a colossal breakdown of Israeli security, and he told me there's one person he blames. Benjamin Netanyahu cannot stay even one more day on the chair of the prime minister. He's a failure and he must go. You know, Netanyahu long positioned himself as tough on security. Earlier this year, though,

he tried to weaken Israeli courts. He's also on trial for corruption. So before this war, Tel Aviv was filling with 100,000 protesters calling for him to resign over other stuff. And now there are fresh protests blaming him for these security lapses. Most of the rallies have been for the more than 240 hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas. You know, at first, many of their families and friends were sort of unsure about raising their voices. Now some of them are calling for the prime minister's resignation. And the question is really when. Even some of Netanyahu's longtime critics say political change shouldn't happen during the war. I mean, I also heard that from a lot of survivors

who talked about for hours having nobody come help them. Has Netanyahu addressed this? He's been repeatedly asked whether he will resign, and here's what he told foreign reporters. The only thing that I intend to have resign is Hamas. We're going to resign them to the dustbin of history. He says there will be an investigation. He's happy to answer questions, but only after the war. Meanwhile, Israel's defense minister, the military chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet, the domestic security agency, they have all personally accepted responsibility. A municipal official from Netanyahu's Likud party for the south, where actually the attacks happened, resigned on live TV. Netanyahu has visited soldiers preparing to go into battle in Gaza, but he has not publicly gone to any of the funerals of those killed on October 7th. Oh, wow. I mean, how representative is this feeling domestically? What is the public opinion of Netanyahu?

There was a poll this month that found 76 percent of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. Another one late last month put his approval rating lower than at any point since surveys began 20 years ago. But you know, as you know, Netanyahu has managed to get the opposition to join him in a war government. I talked to one of his biographers who says Netanyahu knows he probably has a window of opportunity to salvage his legacy during this war because he probably won't be in office much longer after that. NPR's Lauren Freyer in Tel Aviv. Thanks, Lauren. You're welcome. Thank you. Republican presidential candidates met for a third debate last night in Miami, Florida. Yeah, and a smaller slate of five candidates on stage made for some heated confrontation.

That's even with the party's frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, across town at his own rally. NPR's Domenico Montanaro was at the debate in Miami and joins me now. Good morning. Morning. Glad to be here. So, Domenico, what are the biggest things people need to know coming out of Wednesday's debate? Well, the stage was really winnowed down here. I mean, there were five candidates, and it really at times felt even smaller than that. You really got the sense that there were really two clear tiers here. You know, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, were really at the top of that.

And then there was really the rest. You had a much more subdued Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor. And you could sense a bit of desperation in the air really for South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy, the former tech CEO. This was the first debate since the Israel-Hamas war. So I was really interested to hear how the candidates would talk about this. And it was a very hawkish stage. Tim Scott even explicitly called for a strike inside of Iran. And here's what some of the candidates said at this debate hosted by NBC News. I would be telling Bibi, finish the job once and for all with these butchers, Hamas. The last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do. The only thing we should be doing is supporting them and eliminating

Hamas. It is not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel. Israel has the right and the responsibility to defend itself. So sounds like a lot of agreement there. Domenico, what stuck with you from last night? Well, yeah, I mean, there weren't really a ton of fireworks at this debate, you know, but it really got ugly between Ramaswamy and Haley. Ramaswamy came out swinging hard. He even called for the Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to resign. And he really seemed to want to go after Haley. Here he was attacking her on foreign policy and Haley's response at this debate hosted by NBC News. She made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the he was attacking her on foreign policy and Haley's response at this debate hosted by NBC News.

She made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. So you might want to take care of your family first. Leave my daughter out of your voice. The next generation of Americans are using it. You have her supporters propping her up. That's fine. You're just scum. The easy answer. Yeah, you could hear her kind of do a little bit of a Will Smith PG-13 Oscar impression there. And I've never quite heard at a debate another candidate call another fellow colleague scum. And that's what Nikki Haley did. And it was really kind of surprising to hear. But Ramaswamy going after her daughter, that really seemed to be a bridge too far for everyone on the stage and the audience. So some fireworks there. What was missing from the debate? Any topics you expected but didn't hear much about? I was really surprised that they got to the election results from Tuesday and abortion so late, you know, really with only

about 15 minutes left in the debate. And, you know, the candidates really just continued to have few answers to the problem Republicans continue to face when it comes to how they talk about abortion rights. You know, some complain that there wasn't enough money spent to win these ballot initiatives, that there weren't competing referenda. You know, Tim Scott called for a federal 15-week ban, which is something he wouldn't commit to early on in the campaign and something that really didn't exactly win the day in Virginia where Democrats took over the full legislature and the governor there had campaigned on a 15-week ban. And Nikki Haley continues to call for a consensus position, which really walks a pretty risky line, but really very few answers here for Republicans

on how to win over the middle. Really quickly, I mean, you're saying not many standout moments. Will this impact Republican primary voters? Not much really changes here. It was really like watching a play-in game for the NCAA tournament with a 65th versus 66th seed trying to fight to play against the top team. And here's Domenico Montanaro. Thanks, Domenico. You're welcome. The Hollywood actor strike ended at midnight, 118 days after it began. The union, SAG-AFTRA, reached a tentative new contract with the major studios and streaming companies. Members of the union still need to ratify the proposed contract, but now they'll be able to get back to work.

Now, just to note, many of us at NPR are members of SAG-AFTRA, but under a different contract, and we were not on strike. NPR's Mandeleet Delbarco has been covering the actor's strike since it began, and she joins us from Los Angeles. Good morning, Mandeleet. Good morning, finally. Yes. So what do we know about this agreement?

Yeah, well, we're not privy to all the details yet, but the union's negotiating committee is calling it a billion-dollar deal of, quote, extraordinary scope. In a statement, they said the agreement includes increases in compensation, a bonus for participating in streaming shows, and very key to the actors, dancers, voiceover actors, stunt performers, are protections from artificial intelligence. The negotiators say they're thrilled about the deal that they voted for unanimously.

And last night at a party after the deal was announced, committee member and actress Sherry Belafonte told The Hollywood Reporter that she was especially proud of the AI protections. This was monumental. We could not have done this without the solidarity, the support, and the love that we felt from the picket lines. So throughout the strikes, things seemed pretty tense between the union and major studios and streamers, right? That's true. The studios and streaming company heads originally said the actors and the writers' demands were not realistic and too expensive, and union leaders chastised the executives for being greedy.

But as the strike dragged on, the executives seemed less fiery and more interested in getting a deal done, and they stepped in to personally bargain with the union hours before the deal was announced. This is what Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zasloff and Disney CEO Bob Iger had to say. We recognize that we need our creative partners to feel valued and rewarded. And look forward to both sides getting back to the business of telling great stories. Obviously, we'd like to try to preserve a summer of films. The entire industry is focused on that. We don't have much time to do that.

So many film premieres have been delayed because of the strikes and the upcoming TV season had been in jeopardy. It's not clear how long it will take to start productions again, but a lot of people are raring to go. But on the other hand, there may be far fewer TV shows for the actors to be in. What are union members saying about the deal? Well, from what I've seen, relief that it's finally over. SAG after President Fran Drescher hopped on social media to celebrate the victory,

and so did the members of the negotiating committee. Actors Zac Efron found out the news at last night's premiere of the wrestling movie, The Iron Claw. I'm so happy that we're all able to come to an agreement. Let's get back to work. Let's go. I'm so stoked. But there are still hurt feelings that could take time to get over. Here's SAG-AFTRA strike captain Chelsea Schwartz outside Amazon Studios yesterday.

How do you go from being so angry at these people to being like, and we're best buds now working together on set? You know, it's we forgive, but you don't forget. So what happens now? Well, the union leaders have to send the tentative contract to the national board, and then their 160,000 members will vote whether or not to ratify it. But already union leaders ended the strike last night and said no one will be picketing anymore. So they may soon be performing again, and cameras may soon be rolling.

Since the strike is over now, they're already promoting their work, tweeting about their new shows and movies, doing interviews, showing up on red carpets for premieres. Being on strike out of work has been so rough on so many people, and everybody I talked to told me they just really want to get back to work, whether or not they're in one of the unions or not. NPR culture correspondent Mandeleet Delbarco in Los Angeles. Thanks, Mandelit. Thank you. As the international community watches the war unfolding in Gaza, another humanitarian crisis is taking place in Sudan. The war there is in its seventh month as the Sudanese army battles a powerful military group for control of the country. Adib Youssef is a former governor in Darfur in the west of the country. He says international support is urgently needed.

The humanitarian situation also is getting worse. For those suffering people, there's no organization or UN agencies that are supporting them. This is an appeal to the international community, therefore is in a very critical situation and people are suffering. In Sudan's capital Khartoum, activists have set up an underground network of safe spaces which offer counseling, shelter, and what little medical resources they can get. For more on this story, tune in to Morning Edition or visit NPR.org. And that's Up First for Thursday, November 9th. I'm Leila Faldin. And I'm Ian Martinez. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Michael Sullivan, Megan Pratt, and Rose Friedman. It was produced by Shelby Hawkins, Ben Abrams, and Milton Gavata.

We got engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Zach Coleman. And as always, start your day here with us tomorrow. And also, you can listen to this podcast sponsor-free while financially supporting public media with Up First Plus. Learn more at plus.npr.org Learn more at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.