Up First from NPR - National Guard Shooting & Immigration, Venezuela Latest, Ukraine Negotiations

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

The White House is moving swiftly to tighten legal immigration reviews after two National Guard members were shot in Washington, D.C. last week, escalating scrutiny on asylum seekers, green card holders and refugees already living in the U.S.U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean are under growing scrutiny, as some lawmakers warn one attack may constitute a war crime.And Ukraine enters a new round of negotiations without its top negotiator, after a corruption scandal forces out President Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff.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 Anna Yukhananov, Tara Neill, Miguel Macias, Mohamad ElBardicy and Lisa Thompson.It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Good morning, A. Hello, Leila. I know, you don't say good morning. Guess what tomorrow is, eh? Well, it's not my birthday, so it's just another Tuesday, as far as I'm concerned. Okay, not just another Tuesday. It's giving Tuesday. That's right.

That's forgotten. Yeah, and NPR celebrates this global day of generosity every year, but we've never had a year quite like this one before. Right, and everyone out there probably by now has heard that federal funding for public media was eliminated as of October 1st. That means NPR is now operating without federal support for the first time in our history. That's more than 50 years. And it's a big change. Also a big challenge, but one that we definitely can overcome together. Right. Overcome it because of our listeners.

You count on Up First to bring you the news you need to start your day. And we're so grateful to the listeners who have already stepped up to donate for this program. Like Rika in Tennessee, who says, every day I listen to Up First in the car after I drop my kids off at school. It allows me to stay connected and informed with honest, eloquent reporting. Your show helps me stay educated and engaged. Oh, she called me eloquent. Thank you so much, Rika. And thank you for listening and thank you for your support.

And you can be like Rika, too. Please make your Giving Tuesday gift right now by signing up for NPR Plus. Thank you for coming to us for your news, for trusting us, and for supporting us. It's a simple recurring donation that gets you perks across NPR's podcast, and you'll be supporting public media while you listen. Join us at plus.npr.org. The White House is tightening legal immigration pathways after last week's shooting of two National Guard members.

Because the suspect was Afghan, the administration is now pausing all asylum decisions. How else is it limiting legal immigration? I'm May Martinez, that's Leila Faddle, and this is up first from NPR News. The U.S. strikes in the Caribbean are under bipartisan scrutiny, and now some lawmakers say defense secretary Pete Heggseth may have violated international law when he reportedly gave an order to kill everyone aboard one of the alleged drug votes. This rises to the level of a war crime if it's true. We'll hear how the Trump administration is responding. And Ukraine heads into a new round of peace talks without its top negotiator.

President Zelensky's right-hand man resigned in a corruption scandal, so how will the shake-up impact Ukraine's hand at the bargaining table. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. The White House is moving fast to tighten legal immigration reviews after last week's shooting of two National Guard members here in Washington. The suspect is Afghan National Rachmanila Lockenwal, who's been charged with first-degree murder. He was granted asylum earlier this year after coming to the U.S.

under a Biden-era program that facilitated temporary legal status for people who work with the U.S. military in Afghanistan. NPR's Jimenez-Bosteo covers immigration policy for us and joins me now. Good morning. Good morning. What are the changes the administration announced after the shooting? We're going to be talking about a few different types of immigration processes. First, the administration paused all asylum decisions and also visa reviews for people from Afghanistan. An order from the State Department also pauses the special immigrant visa for Afghans, which is a specific program for those who helped the U.S. military and its allies.

To be clear, the suspect was not on that visa, but like you mentioned, had been granted asylum earlier this year under the Trump administration. Second, Joseph Edlo, the director of U.S. citizenship and immigration services, said anyone who applies for a green card from one of 19 countries on a list will face heightened scrutiny. And that list includes Afghanistan. Trump officials argued that those who came to the U.S. under former President Biden through these legal processes were not vetted properly. Still in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press, Homeland Security Secretary, Christy Noam, said investigators have other leads. But I will say, we believe he was radicalized since he's been here in this country.

We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state. And we're going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members. to talk to them. So far, we've had some participation. So it's unclear what prior vetting could have uncovered. Okay. What other restrictions is the administration talking about? These changes came days after the administration said it would review refugee status of those already living in the U.S. A refugee is a person outside the U.S. who is forced to flee their home country due to violence, persecution, or other issues that put them in danger.

The process can take years of vetting before someone is approved to enter the U.S. Now the administration is reconsidering those already here. I obtained a memo issued by the director of U.S. citizenship and immigration services late last month. That memo calls for reviewing all refugees admitted into the country under the Biden administration, essentially reopening their cases. They may need to be re-interviewed and some may lose their status. The memo says the agency should, quote, only admit refugees that can fully and appropriately assimilate. Immigration advocates have called the recent changes on refugee reviews, visa, and green card applications deeply destabilizing to families already in the U.S. And that's very broad, refugees who can fully and appropriately assimilate.

What about asylum cases from other countries? Right. Asylum, a different process. And as I mentioned, all asylum applications were paused after the shooting. During that interview yesterday with NBC's Meet the Press, Noam said asylum reviews would restart when the agency has, quote, dealt with the backlog. There is a one million case backlog at USCIS. For now, the administration is likely to continue to scrutinize, not just those who want to come to the U.S.,

but also those who are already here. Thank you. That's NPR's Jimenez-Bustillo. Thank you. Some U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say at least one of President Trump's attacks against a boat in the Caribbean Sea may have been a war crime. So far, U.S. military forces have destroyed 21 boats that the administration says were trafficking drugs and killed 83 people without publicly releasing evidence that the boats were actually carrying drugs. Meanwhile, Venezuela is warning that the U.S. intends to invade the country and seize its oil reserve. For more, we now go to John Otis, who is covering the story from neighboring Colombia. John, the U.N. says these American strikes violate international laws.

Some U.S. lawmakers now have raised the issue of war crimes, but there is no declaration of war against Venezuela. Yeah, that's correct. There's no formal war between the two countries, but Trump has said that he's waging war against Venezuelan drug traffickers. And as you mentioned, U.S. forces have destroyed more than 20 ledge drug boats killing more than 80 people. people. But the Washington Post reported that following one of the first strikes back in September, there were initially two survivors clinging to the boat wreckage. According to the post, defense secretary Pete Hegseth had given an order to kill everyone aboard alleged drugboats and that this order led to a second strike in which those survivors were killed. Here's Senator

Tim Caine, a Democrat from Virginia speaking on the CBS News program, Face the Nation. If that reporting is true, it's a clear violation of the DOD's own laws of war, as well as international laws about the way you treat people who are in that circumstance. And so this rises to the level of a war crime if it's true. Hague Seth has called the post report fake news and Trump speaking with reporters last night on Air Force One backed him up. But the House and Senate Armed Services committees have vowed to increase oversight of the boat strikes. Now, President Trump has been warning airlines to steer clear of Venezuelan airspace. So what does that mean about a possible attack? Yeah, you know, ever since his first term, Trump has been pushing for regime change in Venezuela.

Its president, Nicolas Maduro, has crushed the country's democracy and its economy, prompting about 8 million Venezuelans to flee overseas. Trump has also confirmed that he recently talked to Maduro on the phone, though he didn't provide any details. On Sunday, Venezuela's vice president, Delci Rodriguez, read a statement from Maduro claiming that this is all about oil. Now, here she's saying, Venezuela formally accuses the U.S. government of trying to take control of Venezuela's vast oil reserves. But experts say the 15,000 U.S. troops based on warships in the Caribbean are not enough to take control of Venezuela. Trump could instead order limited attacks on Venezuela and territory, or he might just stick to these boat strikes.

Now, John, while this is happening, President Trump then suddenly announced that he has plans to pardon a former Honduran president who is convicted of drug trafficking. So why that, why now? Yeah, the timing on this is quite strange amid Trump's anti-narcotics campaign. And just before the Hunter and presidential election that took place on Sunday. But Trump has also been quick to defend former presidents elsewhere in the world. get into legal hot water. Juan Orlando Hernandez is a former Andoran president who was sentenced last year in the U.S.

to 45 years in prison for helping to traffic more than 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. Without providing any evidence, Trump claimed that Hernandez was, quote, set up by the Biden administration and that he deserves a full pardon. That's John Otis, reporting from the Colombian capital of Bogota. Thanks a lot, John.

Thanks. This week sees the U.S. again ramping up diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine. A senior White House delegation hosted Ukrainian negotiators on Sunday, and more talks are expected when U.S. envoy, Steve Whitkoff, heads to Moscow later today. Joining us to talk about the state of play is NPR's Charles Mains, who joins us on the line from Moscow. Hi, Charles? Morning, Leila. Okay, so let's begin with this weekend's negotiations. What can you tell us? Yeah, sure. You know, so on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with White House envoy Steve Whitkoff, and Jared Kushner, who of course the son-in-law of the president, hosted a Ukrainian delegation for talks in Florida, which has emerged as kind of a nexus for Ukraine-related diplomacy in recent weeks.

Discussions were focused on this new U.S. peace plan, initially criticized as heavily tilted in Russia's favor, but since amended with input from Ukraine and Europe. Now, Rubio called the meeting productive, even as he made clear there was plenty more work to do. He also had this to say. We don't just want to end the war. We also want to help Ukraine be safe forever. So never again will they face another invasion? And equally importantly, we want them to enter an age of true prosperity. Now, this meeting was also notable because of a shift in the makeup of the Ukrainian delegation.

That's after a corruption scandal led to the resignation of Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky's chief of staff, who had been the lead negotiator with the U.S. How much that influenced the talks is tough to say. Trump, in brief comments to journalists Sunday, referred to the corruption scandal as a little problem. Rubio didn't mention it at all. Okay. Now, White House envoy, Steve Wickhoff, is expected in Moscow soon. Any sense of what he can expect? Yeah, you know, he arrives later today and I'll meet with Russian president, Vladimir Putin, either tonight or tomorrow. But Whitkoff has his own baggage. You know, a recently leaked transcript of an audio recording reported by Bloomberg News, certainly appeared to show. Whitkoff actively coaching the Kremlin on how to engage with Trump and working with them to incorporate key Russian talking points into the original draft of the peace plan. You know, that said, Trump has dismissed this is basically dealmaking 101.

And Putin also defended Whitkoff, saying, yeah, he's a polite and intelligent guy who tried to work with us. And wouldn't it be strange if he'd come here and just insulted us and expected to get anything done? So, okay, Wittkoff and Putin have some rapport, as I hear there. Trump says he does as well with Putin, but has that translated into any actual flexibility in the Russian position? It's a good question, you know, because Putin, it seems, is trying to tempt the U.S. into upping the pressure on Ukraine to accept a deal. You know, on Friday, he offered an immediate end to hostilities if Ukraine withdraws from territory Moscow claims, which may sound appealing if you ignore that it's Ukrainian land that Russia hasn't been able to seize in more than three years of fighting, although Putin argues it's just a matter of time.

Meanwhile, Russia has been tempting the U.S. in other ways. Putin's negotiators, they constantly talk about how much money the U.S. could make in Russia once the war ends and sanctions are lifted, which is why some of these statements out of Florida were interesting to hear. You know, they suggest the U.S. now sees prosperity, business deals as key to a lasting peace. The question is, to what degree are they seen as a substitute for Western security guarantees for Ukraine that Kiev has always sought, and Moscow. is always rejected.

That's NPR's Charles Mains in Moscow. Thank you, Charles. Thank you. And that's up first for Monday, December 1st. I'm Lila Faldi. And I'm Amey Martinez. If you enjoy starting your day with Up First and our radio show Morning Edition,

and I know that you do, please consider donating to your local NPR station. It goes to supporting reporters in your communities and also around the world. So keep the NPR network strong. Visit donate.

mpr.org slash Upfirst to contribute. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukoninov, Taranil, Miguel Macias, Mohammed al-Radisi, and Lisa Thompson. It was produced by Ziyadh, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas.

We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.