Up First from NPR - Ukraine Missiles, G20 Summit, Trump's Plans on Fentanyl

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

Ukraine gets U.S. approval to fire long-range missiles into Russia, raising the stakes in a war that's entering a harsh winter. President Biden pushes his climate agenda at the G20 summit in Brazil, seeking to solidify U.S. leadership as allies prepare for President-elect Trump's return. And, Trump's plan to combat the fentanyl crisis sparks debate over whether tougher crackdowns on traffickers will help or harm efforts to save lives.Your feedback helps us make Up First better. Tell us what you like and what you don't like by taking our survey at npr.org/upfirstsurveyWant 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 Andrew Sussman, Tara Neill, Andrea DeLeon, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Milton Guevara.We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is Zac Coleman.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Okay, so Leila. Yeah. Do you like this podcast? At first? Yes. Yeah. Okay, thank you. Thank you very much.

I love this podcast. So what I just did was survey, well, the only other person in the studio with me at this time. Right, I'm not biased at all. Exactly, not at all, not at all. But you listening may have your own opinion and we'd like to hear from you.

There's an audience survey, which is your chance to tell us what you like and what you don't. This information will help make the podcast better. All you have to do is head to npr.org slash up first survey. It sounds so harsh, slash, but say what you want at npr.org slash up first survey after you listen. President Biden makes one of his final moves, allowing Ukraine to fire American made missiles farther into Russia. In the past, the U.S. hesitated to provoke Russia, what made the president decide that it's time to let the missiles fly. I'm Stephen Skeep with Laila Fadl, and this is Up First from NPR News.

The president is promoting his climate agenda at a summit predicting the U.S. will keep embracing clean energy. Nobody, nobody can reverse it, nobody. How are world leaders preparing for a president with a different point of view? And how does a new administration plan to attack drug gangs in Mexico? President Trump is committed to calling them terrorist organizations and using the whole money of the United States special operations to take them out. Will that really affect fentanyl use in the United States?

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design and immersive experiences, from medieval falconry to volcanic wine tasting. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of over 30 hotel brands around the world. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. On NPR's Wild Card podcast, comedian Seth Meyers talks frankly about his early career. I was far more temperamental when I was younger and things ran very hot at S&L. And there were definitely times where my instincts were to say something that would have been relationship ending to people. I'm Rachel Martin. Seth Meyers is on Wild Card,

the show where cards control the conversation. President Biden will now let Ukraine fire long-range U.S. missiles into Russia. Biden is clearing Ukraine for actions its leaders have wanted for some time. The U.S. has avoided too much provocation of the world's other leading nuclear weapons state, but now Biden acts shortly before the coming of a new administration whose approach to Ukraine is uncertain. For more on how this fits into Ukraine's larger military effort, we're joined by NPR national security correspondent, Greg Meyery. Hi, Greg. Hi, Leila. So what's changed? Why is President Biden deciding to do this with

two months left in his presidency? Well, he seems to be acting now because Russia is using some 10,000 North Korean troops in a bid to push Ukrainian forces out of Russian territory. This is according to a US official who spoke to our NPR colleague, Tom Bowman. Now, Ukraine captured a chunk of the Kursk region in Western Russia about 500 square miles back in August. These Russian and North Korean forces are clawing back some of that territory and heavy fighting. The Ukrainians will now be able to use these US missiles known as Atacams to try to hold this territory. But is President Biden no longer worried about provoking Russia here? Well, no. I mean all along his concern has been a possible Russian escalation, but now he seems the priority is signaling that his

administration wants to do what it can before leaving office in January. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week, quote, every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door. And how much will the long-range missiles help Ukraine being able to use them? Well, yeah, they should certainly help. Ukraine's argument throughout the war is that Russia can move around troops and weapons with a large degree of freedom behind the front lines on the Russian side of the border because Ukraine was unlikely to attack them from long distance.

So the attackms will make it riskier for the Russians to operate in these areas. However, there are real limits to this new policy. The US said the Russians have already pulled back things like war planes to take them out of missile range. And the US is just providing a limited number of attackms because their own stockpile is limited and they need to keep some in the US arsenal. The attackms can travel about 200 miles. They're quite powerful. Yet while Ukraine has been waiting for this permission from the US, it's been building its own attack drones, which can travel even longer distances, though they don't pack quite

the same punch. Now, we talked about how this is really just two months left in the Biden administration. Could the incoming Trump administration just change this missile policy and others related to Ukraine? Oh, yes, absolutely. And Trump has been saying he wants negotiations to end the war. The Ukrainians are concerned they'll face pressure to make concessions to Russia, including territorial concessions, which they've adamantly opposed. opposed and Trump has also expressed opposition to more US military assistance. The US had this 61 billion dollar package for Ukraine back in April and it's working its way through this. US officials say that aid already approved is likely to go ahead but additional money is now an open question. And meanwhile winter's approaching which changes the way this fight happens. What

are you watching for? Yeah, Laila, just yesterday Russia carried out a heavy strike, 200 missiles and drones, one of the heaviest in months. And every winter Russia is expected, as it has in the past, to wage sustained attacks on Ukraine's power grid. And this has done a lot of cumulative damage and it will remain a big vulnerability. That's NPR's Greg Myrie. Thank you, Greg. Sure thing. Leaders of the world's largest economies are gathering in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil today and

tomorrow. It's President Biden's last group of 20 summit and a tricky one. Some of the measures he's expected to sign on to are not supported by the incoming administration. We go to NPR's South America correspondent to hear more. Hi, Carrie Kahn. Hi, good morning. So what's the mood like in Rio right now as these world leaders gather there at the beach? The sun's out. It's a picture postcard day here, so that should help with the mood. President-elect

Trump's return, though, and global conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are all hanging over the summit. President Biden arrived here late last night. He made a stop first in the Amazon and pledged new US funds for rainforest protection. He didn't mention Trump there, who dismisses global warming, but Biden did take some jabs at those who he says would, quote, deny or delay America's clean energy revolution. Nobody, nobody can reverse it. Nobody. Not when so many people, regardless of party or politics, are enjoying its benefits.

Also yesterday at the G20 venue, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was asked how world leaders should prepare for another Trump administration. He urged them to quote, race much faster to tackle common challenges like climate change and inequality, but also he said strengthen global governance and institutions now. And if you are able in all these areas to make a strong bet on multilateralism, that is the best possible response. Okay, so Trump's not there and not president yet, but he is looming large already during

the summit. What are the G20 leaders going to address this week? The host Brazil's president, Luís Anassiolula da Silva, leftist, remains unfazed and is pushing ahead with his progressive proposals that include attacks on the world's wealthiest and plans to alleviate poverty and hunger. Over the weekend, he blasted quote neoliberalism for aggravating economic and political inequality. He says to reach the hearts of citizens, governments need to close that gap between the voice of

the markets and the voice of the streets. Lula's been trying to position himself as a world leader, especially on issues of climate change. But here at home, his leftist party took a beating in last month's nationwide elections. He's also dealing with far-right leaders in South America, like former President Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina's ultra-libertarian Javier Millet, who are both feeling quite emboldened with Trump coming back to power. Now, these summits are also a lot of posturing, photo ops, but are you expecting any surprises?

I think the wild card here will be Millet, Argentina's president. He's just back from Florida where he personally congratulated Trump. He's known for his brash showmanship abroad. He just pulled out of the COP29 climate talks and he also had Argentina cast the lone vote against a UN resolution condemning gender-based violence. His negotiators here signed on to the G20's draft joint declaration, but there's talk that they won't now, especially with that global tax on the super rich in it. So we'll be watching him.

NPR's Keri Kahn. Thank you, Keri. You're welcome. Fentanyl and other street drugs are still killing nearly 100,000 people in the US every year. That number has been dropping, but is still very high. So what does a new administration plan to do about it? President-elect Trump made several big promises while campaigning and people who work on the issue now assess how they would turn out.

NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann is here to talk us through some of Trump's ideas. Good morning, Brian. Good morning. So how does Donald Trump say he'll end fentanyl overdoses? Well, it's interesting. Over the last four years, we saw the Biden administration really shift the fentanyl street drug response to a public health model. That means a lot more treatment and better medications.

Donald Trump's focus during the campaign was very different. A big pivot. He talked almost exclusively about cracking down on fentanyl traffickers and dealers securing the border. Here's Trump talking during one of his rallies. Sir, I heard you want the death penalty for drug dealers. Why? Well, you know, I'd like to end the drug epidemic if that's okay. And then after the election, Laila, the man Trump named to serve as border czar Tom Homan raised the stakes promising US military action against Mexican

drug cartels during an appearance on Fox News. President Trump is committed to calling them terrorist organization and using the full might of the United States special operations to take them out. Okay, so that's a pretty drastic change, a big pivot from the public health approach. Do experts think this will work? Well, the short answer is no. Even a lot of drug policy and addiction experts who do want a tougher response to fentanyl. Tell me they're worried Trump's team will go too far. Jonathan Calkins is a drug policy analyst at Carnegie Mellon University. Even invoking the idea of military action in Mexico against traffickers, the worst idea anybody has ever, ever had.

Culkens and other experts believe, Leila, that US military strikes would do little to slow fentanyl smuggling or save American lives, but it could shatter diplomatic relations and destabilize Mexico. I also spoke about Trump's policy ideas with Brandon del Pozo, a former police chief who studies drug policy at Brown University. He blasted Trump's idea of giving drug dealers the death penalty. He called it ineffective and unethical. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Americans who are our neighbors who are doing something that's illegal, right?

They're definitely dealing drugs, but they might be doing it because they're addicted to drugs. The idea that we would execute them, that shocks the conscience. Okay, so he calls it ineffective and unethical, but I imagine there are people who like and support this Trump getting tough approach. Yeah, absolutely. There is a view among some drug policy thinkers that the response to fentanyl got too liberal, sort of too soft and tolerant. Tom Wolfe is an activist in California himself in recovery from opioid addiction. People are tired of the theft, they're tired of the open drug use, and they want some accountability to be injected back into the process. Wolfe thinks Trump's Get Tough message worked because people are tired of this crisis. They want people using

fentanyl off their streets, out of their parks and neighborhoods. Now we talked about the Biden administration's focus on public health as they hand over the reins. Is there any sign that was working? Well, you know, drug deaths actually dropped sharply over the last year, a trend that saved about 16,000 lives according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A lot of people I talk to say they're worried Trump will cut or defund programs like the Affordable Care Act that appear to be helping. One more thing I'm hearing is that no one believes this crisis can be solved fast. Progress is being made, but the fix for fentanyl is expected to take years, maybe decades. That's Brian Mann, NPR's addiction correspondent, looking ahead at the Trump team's plan to

tackle the fentanyl crisis. Thank you, Brian. Thank you. And that's A First for Monday, November 18th. I'm Leila Faldon. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Don't forget, you can take our audience survey, which helps to make this podcast better and gives you a chance to say what you think.

Go to npr.org slash up first survey. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Andrew Sussman, Tara Neal, Andrea de Leon, Mohammed El-Bardisi and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziyad Butch, Neha Dumas and Milton Guevara. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent and our technical director is Zach Coleman. Join us again tomorrow. Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to Up First sponsor-free through Amazon Music. Or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get Up First Plus at plus.npr.org.

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