Up First from NPR - Haiti Governance, EU AI Bill, Third Party Bids

Episode Date: March 14, 2024

Many Haitians are troubled by an international plan to impose a transitional government. European Union lawmakers have approved the world's first comprehensive regulations on artificial intelligence. And as we barrel toward a presidential election with two unpopular candidates, third-party bids are scrambling to get on the ballot.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Tara Neill, Dana Farrington, Nick Spicer, Jan Johnson and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Lindsay Totty. 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

Many Haitians are troubled by an international plan to impose a transitional government. The biggest gang in Haiti is the state of Haiti itself. So who should get a say in picking their country's next leader? I'm Leila Faldel, that's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. Setting regulations for artificial intelligence has stumped governments around the world. Now the European Union says it's got a plan. We want our citizens to know that thanks to our rules, they can trust the businesses that will develop AI in Europe. How will the EU regulations work and can they work?

And as we barrel toward a presidential election with two unpopular candidates, third-party bids are scrambling to get on the ballot. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day. 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. Who will Haiti's next leader be? It seems to be anyone's guess. Days after the country's prime minister announced his intention to resign, the plan to get a transitional government in place is being tested. Now, politicians of all stripes have also started jockeying for power. And Haitian citizens, well, they are expressing reservations. NPR's Eder Baradda is in the Dominican Republic, right at the border with

Haiti. Eder, let's start with what you've been seeing and hearing down there at the border. Yeah, we've been seeing a lot of Americans evacuating from Haiti, and we've been seeing Dominican authorities deporting busloads of Haitians. They've long run a mass deportation program here, and they haven't stopped it despite the circumstances. The Haitians I've talked to have expressed a sense of desolation, of dread. So many Haitians I've talked to have expressed a sense of desolation, of dread. So many people here I've talked to say, this is in God's hand. I met Rafael Macezon, even at 23, he's cynical. He says, yes, the prime minister has promised to resign, and yes, the international community has crafted this plan to put a transitional council in charge, but he's pessimistic.

And he says ever since he was a kid, Haiti has been in disarray. So he asks, what makes you think that anything will be different now? Now, that's along the border in northern Haiti. Have you been able to gauge at all the reaction in the capital, Port-au-Prince? There's been broad praise for the prime minister's decision to resign, but there's been sharp criticism of this plan, which was brokered by the international community, to install this transitional council. One example, I spoke to Guy Philippe.

He's a former senator, former chief of police. He helped lead a coup against Jarbert-Trad-Aristide, and he was sent to jail in the U.S. for drug-related money laundering. He was deported to Haiti three months ago, but he says he wants to be president, and he has built a following fairly quickly. What he told me is that this plan was drafted without any Haitian input, and it puts in power the same politicians who got Haiti into this mess. He says the plan focuses on sending foreign forces to fight the gangs,

and he says it ignores an open secret in Haiti that politicians were the ones who have funded and armed the gangs in Haiti. The biggest gang in Haiti is the state of Haiti itself. It's the president, the prime minister, the ministers, the elite. They are the worst gangs in Haiti. So Guy Philippe has started a campaign for president. He promises to give amnesty to the foot soldiers and come after the politicians who he says put them there. You mentioned foreign forces to help fight the gangs. That was that peacekeeping force that was arranged.

Is it still happening? I mean, does it look like it's going to be deployed? It's been stalled. The Kenyans who are supposed to lead this force say they will not send their police until Haiti has new leadership. This deployment was approved by the UN last year, and it has been delayed over and over. And this is yet one more wrinkle. And one more thing. I mean, you're reporting from the Dominican Republic side of the border.

Are you still hoping to get into Haiti? That's a sore subject, eh? But look, we've been trying, but Dominican authorities have not allowed us to leave their country by land and cross into the border into Haiti. They say it's for our own safety. They say it's to avoid a diplomatic problem with Haiti. The airports are closed in Haiti. So a land crossing with the Dominican Republic is the only way for us to get closer to this story. But unfortunately, despite days of appeals to the Dominican foreign ministry, to immigration authorities, to the presidency, we have not been allowed to exit the Dominican Republic to cross into Haiti to bring our listeners this story.

All right. That's NPR's Eder Peralta. Thanks a lot. Thank you, E. The world's first comprehensive AI legislation is here, and it comes from Europe. European Union lawmakers have approved the bloc's Artificial Intelligence Act. It aims to shape the creation of what they call human-centric AI with regulations which will apply to any product or service that uses the technology. Terry Schultz joins us now from Brussels to tell us what the regulations will and will not do. Terry, governments around the world are trying to figure out how to regulate AI. So what's the European Union doing? Well, this AI Act is pretty ambitious, and the EU is quite proud of it.

It took several difficult years of negotiation and public feedback. They had to balance this complicated technology and a very powerful industry with consumer protections, and then get 27 governments to agree to the same set of rules. Here's one of the parliamentarians who led work on the law, Dragos Todorache. We have a duty to recognize this potential because it is going to be the technology that will be driving us into the future. And at the same time, you realize that clearly there are risks, there are concerns. All right, so that's the philosophical approach to it, Terry. So how are they going to do it practically? So the AI Act will classify systems or applications into four categories according to what's considered their potential risk to society, from low to limited to high,

up to unacceptable. And each of these will be subject to different levels of regulatory control. At the low end, there won't be any requirements or regulation. And at the unacceptable end, they'll be banned altogether in the EU. So, okay, give us some examples of what we're talking about here. I mean, who gets to decide how risky a certain use of AI would be? Well, at the low risk end are applications such as AI in video games or spam filters. We're all familiar with those. And at the unacceptable end are uses such as biometric identification,

which will be prohibited in public spaces, except in special cases like law enforcement or counterterrorism. But authorities will have to get special permission, and it will be really strictly limited. EU governments are the ones responsible for evaluating and enforcing the act on their own territory, but the bloc has set up an office here in Brussels to help coordinate and make sure it's being done in a fair way across the EU.

It'll also provide guidance for companies and developers so they're in compliance. Developers, that's the other party in this. What's been the response from the tech industry, from those developers? And what happens if companies just don't want to comply? Parliamentarians said it was one of the most heavily lobbied pieces of legislation in years, but they feel like they've both protected consumers and the technology's potential. This is how it was described by Brando Benefe, one of the co-leaders of the parliamentary work. Too many citizens in Europe are skeptical of the use of AI, and I think this is a competitive

disadvantage, and this would stifle innovation. Instead, we want our citizens to know that thanks to our rules, they can trust the businesses that will develop AI in Europe. So, A, I'm not sure if tech companies are buying that explanation of how more regulation is going to be good for them, but they won't have a choice. The Act will get final approval from EU leaders in the next month or two. It'll be gradually implemented over the next two years, and then violators can be fined up to 7% of a company's annual turnover. All right, we'll see how it works out. That's Terry Schultz in Brussels. Terry, thanks. Thanks, A. We are headed once again for a presidential rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump,

but polls and NPR's own reporting suggest many Americans aren't exactly thrilled about that. So other candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are seeking to capitalize with third-party bids. And they're trying to gain attention in unorthodox ways, like maybe naming a famous professional quarterback to the ticket. Let's bring in NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro to help us sort all of this out. So Domenico, RFK Jr. is the nephew of a former president. He's controversial. He took false stances related to vaccines, and most members of his family don't want him to run, but he is running. He is running as an independent, so how is he planning to name a vice presidential running mate? Well, that's right. I mean, Kennedy's campaign tells NPR he's already made the decision about a vice presidential running mate, and that he's

going to let everyone know about it on March 26th in Oakland, California. We don't know who that's going to be, but the campaign confirms that in addition to others, Kennedy has reached out to former Minnesota governor and wrestler Jesse Ventura, and yes, Aaron Rodgers, the former Green Bay Packer and current New York Jet. We don't know how realistic this is, but Rodgers has praised Kennedy. They align on their views on vaccines. I mean, you'll remember that during the pandemic, Rodgers landed in hot water after claiming to be, quote, immunized when he'd never been vaccinated against COVID. And he's also continued to needle those who are promoting vaccines. Yeah, the announcements in Oakland, he went to Cal. Aaron Rodgers went to Cal nearby, and he's supposed to be being the quarterback of the Jets in November. So I don't know how he's

going to handle both if he's the guy. But OK, so why is Kennedy doing this now? I mean, just for attention? Certainly helps in that regard. I mean, he needs signatures to get on ballots across the country, and that's a tough thing to do when you're not affiliated with a major party. But more practically, he needs to meet filing deadlines that require naming a vice president. And it's not just Kennedy who's doing this or needing to. Other third-party candidates like Cornel West, the Harvard professor, says that he's going to name a VP by the end of the month too. And then there are groups that are trying to sort out the top of their ticket, like No Labels. So where are they at with who might they pick?

Yeah, No Labels is sort of stalled right now. Today, the group is going to announce the panel that would be tasked with picking a candidate. The group so far has really struggled to find someone. Several higher profile moderates like Senator Joe Manchin in West Virginia said no. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has opted to run for the Senate. Nikki Haley said that despite her differences with Trump, she's a Republican. The latest potential name being floated is Jeff Duncan, a former lieutenant governor from Georgia. But it's not clear no labels is going to find anyone at all at this point. And that's music to Democrats' ears who believe a third party moderate would only hurt Biden's chances. So realistically, then, I mean, what impact could third parties have on this presidential election?

I mean, they could be pretty decisive and could create a path for Trump back to the White House. Trump has a pretty solid base of support, but didn't get above 47% of the vote in either 2016 or 2020. He won in 2016, though, when the third party vote was 6%. He lost in 2020, when it was less than 2%. RFK Jr. potentially scrambles things in really unconventional ways. I mean, polling has been inconsistent about who he pulls from the most, but Democrats are particularly nervous about his campaign and with good reason. He's got a famous Democratic last name. His campaign says that he's polling best with people under 35 and seeing lots of them at rallies.

And the issue set that he's campaigning on skews pretty progressive, calling out corporate greed, being pro-environment and against war. That's a really big potential problem for Biden, who needs younger voters and the left flank of his party if he hopes to win re-election. And former President Trump has called RFK Jr. a very smart person. You know, I just thought about it. Aaron Rogers only plays one game a week. He can play on Sundays, then campaign the rest of the week. And maybe this speculation will last longer than the four plays he played for the Jets. There you go. There you go. NPR's senior political editor and correspondent, Domenico Montanaro. Thanks a lot. You got it. And that's Up First for Thursday, March 14th. I'm Amy Martinez. And I'm Leila Faldil.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Tara Neal, Dana Farrington, Nick Spicer, Jan Johnson, and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams, and Lindsay Toddy. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Zach Coleman. Start your day here with us again tomorrow. And you can listen to this podcast sponsor-free while financially supporting public media with Up First Plus. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.