--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, February 28th. Here's what we're covering.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: On Thursday, Republican lawmakers in Iowa overwhelmingly passed a bill that would end state civil rights protections for transgender people. Advocates for LGBTQ rights say if the governor signs the bill into law, as expected, Iowa will become the first state in the country to remove those kinds of broad and explicit protections against discrimination.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Iowa had put them into state law almost two decades ago. Back in 2007, when a Democratic trifecta inserted this gender language into our code, most could not have foreseen the ultimate ramifications of the change. Now we do.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Supporters of the bill say it's necessary to remove the protections because otherwise they could be used to mount a legal challenge to other state laws. Iowa has laws restricting gender transition treatments for minors and barring transgender women and girls from playing in women's sports.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: We won't go back! We won't go back! Critics of the bill held protests at the state capitol this week as it was up for debate. They say they fear transgender people will face widespread discrimination and harassment without the protections.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Some people pleaded directly with lawmakers not to go forward with the bill. You have children. You have grandchildren. If their rights were taken away, would you stand up for them? I think you would. That's what I'm saying. Thank you.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The Iowa bill comes as the Trump administration has moved to limit trans rights at a national level. The president issued an executive order saying the government will only recognize the gender people were assigned at birth.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: On social media last night, Trump posted, thank you, Iowa.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: So President Zelensky is coming to see me on Friday, Friday morning. Today President Trump is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House to sign an agreement over mineral rights.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Their meeting comes a week after Trump called Zelensky a dictator. Did I say that I can believe I said that?
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Next question.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In the Oval Office yesterday, Trump brushed past that comment and said he and Zelensky are ready to work together.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The exact terms of the mineral rights agreement haven't been released, but it will mark a clear shift for the countries, effectively turning their alliance into a business relationship.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: You know, we're doing the deal and we're going to be in there. We're going to be actually in there digging our hearts out. Ukraine will share some of the revenue from its valuable mineral resources.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Trump has said that's payback for the military support the U.S. has already provided. Zelensky's made clear he wants a future guarantee of U.S. protection.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But a draft of the deal the Times reviewed only vaguely referenced that with no specific commitment.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Also on Thursday. From the talks with Canada and Mexico so far, are you not seeing the progress that you wanted in order to extend that?
--:-- Tracy Mumford: I don't see it at all. No, not on drugs. President Trump announced his plan for tariffs on Canada and Mexico is back on starting next week.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The 25 percent surcharges have the potential to upend supply chains and drive up prices, especially for cars and some food products.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Trump first announced the tariffs last month, then almost immediately paused them, saying he was giving the country's time to meet his demands for border security, including stopping the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The drugs continue to pour into our country, killing hundreds of thousands of people. We're losing...
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Now, Trump says neither country has done enough. That has Canada unsure of how to appease the president, since very little fentanyl actually comes across the northern border.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: U.S. authorities only seized about 40 pounds of the drug coming in from Canada last year, compared to 500 times that amount from Mexico.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: On Mexico's part, it's been moving troops to the border and escalating its raids on drug labs.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And yesterday, Mexican authorities transferred 29 top cartel members into American custody, turning over people U authorities had been trying to prosecute for decades.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The first phase of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is set to expire tomorrow night, and what comes next is a big question mark.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Phase one of the agreement was designed to pause the fighting and build momentum toward a more long-lasting deal.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But Israel and Hamas are still as far apart as they've ever been on the crucial issues that need to be resolved, like if Hamas will agree to disband its forces and if Israel will agree to end the war completely.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: If the deadline tomorrow comes and goes without a deal for phase two, it does not necessarily mean fighting will restart right away.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Under the current plan, the truce can be extended if negotiations are actively ongoing.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In Syria, my colleague Raja Abdulrahim has been reporting on what life has looked like there since the fall of the brutal Assad regime.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: After decades of war and political repression, Raja says people have spent the past three months celebrating a newfound sense of freedom.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: There's music in the streets, families are having picnics in places the government had made off-limits, and Syrians are packing into small venues for comedy.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Syria is a country that I've covered for a long time. And one of the things that I've noticed is how much Syrians have this sort of dark, gallows humor and that they used it as a way to cope and to sort of almost poke fun or laugh at their situation, which really was tragic.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Raja recently went to one of the comedy shows. She says there was a lot of classic stand-up material about religion, marriage, and sex.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But the biggest punchline of the night was about Bashar al-Assad, the ousted dictator.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Basically, just a few weeks earlier, those jokes would have landed people in prison, possibly gotten them killed.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: These were jokes that people would not have even said in their own homes, you know, among relatives, because Syria was a country that basically lived under the warning that the walls have ears.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But one of the things that we're not necessarily hearing jokes about are the new leaders the new rulers of Syria.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Comedians and Syrians in general are very unsure about what this new government which is dominated by Islamist officials will they tolerate an open comedy scene and what red lines will be drawn, if any.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: So basically these comedians are trying to take advantage of the opportunity now and get their lines in while they can.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And finally, the Oscars are this Sunday. Some movie buffs are preparing to go all out, hosting viewing parties, maybe building out a menu of themed snacks in honor of the nominees.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That might mean Demi s'mores, or maybe a bowl of popcorn, if you're a Conclave fan.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Have you been to the Oscars? I've never been to the Oscars. This is the only way I could get invited.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The host this year will be Conan O'Brien, who talked with my colleague Milena Ryzik about taking on the famously tricky job of trying to keep people laughing at a ceremony that can push four hours.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The pressure is definitely on as the show tries to reverse its slipping viewership numbers.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It's not the communal campfire that it maybe once was, but I still think the Oscars has meaning.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: I still think that really good cinema has an incredible amount of resonance and importance right now.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And this is the night that celebrates that. And so that's the attitude I'm going into it with, which is just very excited and appropriately, appropriately worried.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: For live coverage of the Oscars on Sunday, all the winners, all the red carpet fashion, you can go to nytimes.com.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, the Friday Politics Roundtable.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: This show is made by Will Jarvis, Jessica Metzger, Jan Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The headlines will be back on Monday.
