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--:-- Leila Faldin: Good morning. It's Leila Faldin here with A. Martinez.
--:-- A. Martinez: A quick word before the show. Today is Giving Tuesday. It's a global day of generosity and the perfect day to support NPR and our work here on Up First.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Yeah, Up First is also part of the NPR network of public radio stations across the country, which serves many places that have seen other news sources diminish. Big, small, rural, or urban NPR is there, and we're able to do this thanks to your support.
--:-- A. Martinez: So thank you if you already support us through NPR Plus or by donating to your local station. And if you haven't heard of NPR Plus before, it's a new way to support NPR with a tax-deductible recurring donation that unlocks perks to more than 25 NPR podcasts, including sponsor-free listening to this podcast, Up First.
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--:-- A. Martinez: OK, now let's get to the show. President Biden is getting blowback for his decision to pardon his son.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Look, you understand his feelings as a father, but he should have put those aside. Some critics think the choice could upend his legacy.
--:-- A. Martinez: I mean, Martinez, that's Leila Faldin. And this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Leila Faldin: A nearly 14-year civil war in Syria was frozen in an unsettling stalemate, then a rebel offensive in Syria against the government shook the status quo. How opposition forces are taking advantage of Syria's distracted allies cut up in other conflicts.
--:-- A. Martinez: And protesters in Georgia are calling for elections as the government suspends talks for membership to the European Union.
--:-- Leila Faldin: They stole our voice, they stole our future, and we do not accept that. Stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day.
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--:-- Leila Faldin: President Biden came into office promising to respect the independence of the justice system. But this week, he did something that his critics and even a few of his allies say undermines his arguments that no one is above the law.
--:-- A. Martinez: He pardoned his son Hunter after saying many times he would not. To help us make sense of the politics of this moment and what it means for Biden's legacy, we're joined now by NPR White House correspondent Asma Khaled.
--:-- Asma Khaled: Good morning, Leila. Good morning, A. Martinez.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Okay, so the president signed this full, unconditional pardon for his son. Tell us more about how this is being received.
--:-- Asma Khaled: So it did not come as a complete surprise but the reaction has been strong. Mona Charin is a former Republican who a couple of weeks ago worried about this possibility wrote a piece for the anti-publication called The Bulwark saying President Biden, don't pardon Hunter.
--:-- Leila Faldin: So I asked her what she made of the president's decision.
--:-- Mona Charin: Look, you understand his feelings as a father, but he should have put those aside because this is so discredits everything he had been saying about why he was different from Trump. Biden ran on preserving democracy and the rule of law, and he was a former chair in the Senate of the Judiciary Committee.
--:-- Asma Khaled: Trump has long insisted the Justice Department is being weaponized against him and his supporters. And now Biden is saying his son was unfairly targeted by the justice system.
--:-- Leila Faldin: As you can imagine, Republicans were quick to criticize the president. House Speaker Mike Johnson explicitly blamed Biden for damaging trust in the justice system.
--:-- Asma Khaled: Okay, so you mentioned that some Democrats are trying to argue that the other side is worse. What are other Democrats saying?
--:-- Leila Faldin: To be clear, Biden has many defenders in his party who say that he made the right move and reject that what Biden is doing is somehow equivalent to what Trump has done.
--:-- Asma Khaled: But some Democrats are publicly frustrated by the president's pardon. They point out that the president's son, Hunter, was convicted by a jury of his peers.
--:-- Leila Faldin: I spoke to Senator Michael Bennett of Colorado. He told me there's already this feeling in America that powerful people live by a different set of rules than normal folks.
--:-- Asma Khaled: And this feeds into that. He also told me that he's worried about how this could embolden Trump.
--:-- Leila Faldin: I am worried that one of the things that will come from this is that the next president, who himself is not committed to the rule of law at all, will use President Biden's pardon of his son as a cudgel and as a precedent to erode the rule of law.
--:-- Asma Khaled: And he's not alone. The governor of Colorado said it will tarnish Biden's reputation. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan said it erodes faith in government and described it as an improper use of power.
--:-- Leila Faldin: One reason why this is all so top of mind to Democrats is that Trump has said he'll pardon January 6th rioters on day one.
--:-- Asma Khaled: And Trump's first response to the news of Hunter Biden's pardon was to again refer back to those January 6th rioters. He sees those as political prosecutions.
--:-- Leila Faldin: This pardon could make it harder for Democrats to criticize Trump if he moves forward with that pledge.
--:-- Asma Khaled: And really quickly, how is the White House defending this decision?
--:-- Leila Faldin: We haven't heard from the president directly since he issued a press release about the pardon Sunday night. He's in the country of Angola for the next couple of days.
--:-- Asma Khaled: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did tell reporters on that foreign trip that they feel that Hunter Biden was singled out because his last name was Biden.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Over the last few months, she has told reporters that a pardon was not in the works. And so she's facing a lot of questions now about the administration's credibility over the issue.
--:-- Asma Khaled: NPR's Asma Khaled, thank you, Asma. Good to speak with you.
--:-- Leila Faldin: From afar, the rapid advance by rebel fighters in Syria seemed to come out of nowhere. Yet this is part of a series of events in the Middle East that have been taking place for more than a year now.
--:-- A. Martinez: Collectively, they have destabilized the wider region and helped reignite a civil war in Syria that had settled into a years-long stalemate. For a closer look, we're now joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myrie.
--:-- Greg Myrie: Hi, Leila. Hi, A. Martinez.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Okay, so let's start with a quick update on the latest fighting in Syria after this rebel offensive began. Where do things stand?
--:-- Greg Myrie: Right. So the rebels have effectively captured Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, which is in the northwest. And they've been pushing south now for several days in the direction of the capital, Damascus, though that's still quite a distance away.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Syria's government army is trying to regroup. Syria is getting at least some help from its traditional allies Russia is carrying out airstrikes Iran is trying to rally diplomatic support
--:-- Greg Myrie: So right now we watching to see if the rebels can continue to gain ground or if the Syrian army along with its allies, can stop the advance and mount a counterattack.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Now, this isn't happening in a vacuum, right? What other events are linked to what we're seeing in Syria?
--:-- Greg Myrie: Yeah, Leila, I think we really need to begin with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th last year.
--:-- Leila Faldin: The very next day, the Lebanese group Hezbollah joined in, firing rockets into northern Israel as a show of support for Hamas in Gaza.
--:-- Greg Myrie: And then the fighting kept spreading in the region. We saw the first ever direct confrontations between Israel and Iran.
--:-- Leila Faldin: And despite all this fighting in Syria, President Bashar Assad tried to keep a low profile. He wasn't saying much. He didn't want to get involved in the surrounding conflicts.
--:-- Greg Myrie: Now, Assad has been accused of widespread abuses and atrocities since Syria's civil war began in 2011. But the war's been on a low simmer for the past few years, and Assad wanted to keep it that way.
--:-- Leila Faldin: But what sparked this new round of fighting?
--:-- Greg Myrie: So I put that question to Paul Salem. He's based in Beirut with the Middle East Institute.
--:-- Paul Salem: He drew a series of connections that followed the Hamas attack on Israel last year. In Israel's large-scale retaliation, it has dealt a staggering blow to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
--:-- Leila Faldin: And Hezbollah in Lebanon, which was one of the main fighting forces that saved the Assad regime from collapse in 2015, they are no longer really available to do that.
--:-- Greg Myrie: Also, Iran itself, they really are on the back foot as well. So the rebels saw Syria's allies weakened and distracted, and they launched this offensive against the Syrian government troops.
--:-- Leila Faldin: And the speed of this rebel advance has really surprised most everyone.
--:-- Greg Myrie: Yeah, I mean, this stunning takeover of Aleppo, can it keep going? Do the rebels have the firepower to keep going?
--:-- Leila Faldin: You know, it's not clear. The rebel force is known as HTS. It's an Islamist group once linked to al-Qaeda.
--:-- Greg Myrie: It's cut those ties, but it still wants to establish an Islamist state. The group isn't claiming territory as fast as it was a few days ago, and it could become stretched too thin if the Syrian forces can regroup.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Okay, can the Syrian forces, the Syrian army, regroup and counterattack?
--:-- Greg Myrie: That's really an open question. Paul Salem says Syria's allies are providing some help. Russian air forces are already pounding areas in what's called the rebel-held areas.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Iran is already moving allied militia forces to Syria. I wouldn't be surprised to read reports that Hezbollah is moving fighters from Lebanon to Syria as well.
--:-- Greg Myrie: But he stresses that this help is expected to be limited.
--:-- Leila Faldin: That's NPR's Greg Myrie. Thank you, Greg.
--:-- Greg Myrie: Sure thing, Leila.
--:-- Leila Faldin: A political crisis is deepening in the country of Georgia. Yeah, for much of the past week, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets At issue is a government decision to suspend membership talks with the European Union.
--:-- A. Martinez: And as a former Soviet state, some fear the country could be slipping back into Russia's orbit.
--:-- Leila Faldin: NPR international correspondent Charles Maines is on the line from Moscow, but recently returned from reporting in Georgia.
--:-- Charles Maines: Good morning, Leila.
--:-- Leila Faldin: So what's the latest with the protests?
--:-- Charles Maines: Well, it was another tense night in the capital of Tbilisi, but there seems to be a pattern emerging. Every evening, mostly peaceful protesters, now in the tens of thousands, gather outside the parliament.
--:-- Leila Faldin: And every evening, we see heavy police presence disperse them using tear gas and water cannons.
--:-- Charles Maines: And then things seem to devolve into more pitch battles between smaller groups of demonstrators who clearly came prepared. They're wearing gas masks armed with pyrotechnics, in other words, fireworks, that they shoot back at security forces.
--:-- Leila Faldin: And there have been reports of injuries from both sides, including over 100 police.
--:-- Charles Maines: We don't have figures for the protesters, but there are clearly more. And at least 220 people have been arrested so far, some amid some pretty aggressive policing
--:-- Leila Faldin: Remind us how did this all start?
--:-- Charles Maines: Well you know you mentioned the decision to suspend talks with the European Union The government indeed said it won engage with the EU until 2028 As to why, the answer lies in recent parliamentary elections.
--:-- Leila Faldin: An October vote in Georgia saw the ruling Georgian Dream Party claim victory with some 54% of all ballots, a result that was certified, by the way, by the Election Commission.
--:-- Charles Maines: The opposition argues those results were rigged. And as of last week, the European Parliament agreed. They were calling now for a do-over.
--:-- Leila Faldin: That's infuriated the Georgian Dream government, but of course also galvanized supporters of the opposition.
--:-- Charles Maines: People like Bochum Sikoladze, a sailor from the Georgian Navy I met in an earlier rally, he told me he'd always hoped the crowds would come.
--:-- Leila Faldin: They stole our voice. They stole our future. And we do not accept that. We'll stand here. How long and much it takes. I'll protect my country. I'll protect my voice. And I'll be glad if many, many people will join us.
--:-- Charles Maines: Was there a larger significance to the vote?
--:-- Leila Faldin: Well, you know, it's important to point out that even before these protests, this election was seen by the opposition as a critical vote to get Georgia back on track with the EU and the West in general.
--:-- Charles Maines: Over the past year, Georgian Dream is legislation and positions that seem to echo Kremlin policies that have really been used to crack down on freedoms here in Russia.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Has that fed the impression of a Kremlin hand in a lot of this?
--:-- Charles Maines: Well, you know, clearly the opposition, and in particular the country's pro-EU president, Salome Zoroashvili, thinks so. Whether or not that's true, they've amped these claims in order to rally the West to their cause.
--:-- Leila Faldin: And to a degree, it's working. The U.S. froze a strategic partnership agreement it had with Georgia.
--:-- Charles Maines: Baltic countries, of course, also former Soviet republics, have imposed sanctions on Georgian Dream's leadership.
--:-- Leila Faldin: But Georgian Dream is also digging in. The prime minister has vowed no negotiations with the opposition.
--:-- Charles Maines: And the government argues its problems with the West are overhyped and really temporary. They argue things will quickly settle down once Donald Trump gets into office in January.
--:-- Leila Faldin: That's NPR's Charles Maines in Moscow. Thank you, Charles.
--:-- Charles Maines: Thank you, Leila.
--:-- Leila Faldin: And that's up first for Tuesday, December 3rd. I'm Leila Faldin. And I'm A. Martinez.
--:-- A. Martinez: For your next listen, how about consider this from NPR? We're here to first give you the three big stories of the day. Our Consider This colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you in just 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get those podcasts.
--:-- Leila Faldin: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Andrew Sussman, Nick Spicer, Lisa Thompson, and H.J. Mai.
--:-- A. Martinez: It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Katie Klein.
--:-- Leila Faldin: We get engineering support from Nisha Hines, and our technical director is Carly Strange.
--:-- A. Martinez: Join us again tomorrow.
--:-- Leila Faldin: This message comes from Lisa. Lisa mattresses are meticulously designed and assembled in the USA for exceptional quality. And each mattress is designed with specific sleep positions and feel preferences in mind.
--:-- A. Martinez: Plus, they back it all up with free shipping, easy returns, and a 100-night sleep trial. Visit lisa.com for 25% off mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR. That's L-E-E-S-A dot com, promo code NPR.
--:-- Leila Faldin: This message comes from MidiHealth. If you're a woman over 40 dealing with hot flashes, insomnia, weight gain, or brain fog, you don't have to accept it as just another part of aging.
--:-- A. Martinez: The clinicians at MidiHealth understand what you're experiencing and know how to help. Midi Health provides specialized care for perimenopause and menopause, covered by insurance. Book your visit today at joinmidi.com. That's joinmidi.com.
--:-- Leila Faldin: This message comes from Lisa. Lisa mattresses are meticulously designed and assembled in the USA for exceptional quality, and each mattress is designed with specific sleep positions and feel preferences in mind.
--:-- A. Martinez: Plus, they back it all up with free shipping, easy returns, and a 100-night sleep trial. Visit Lisa.com for 25% off mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR. That's L-E-E-S-A dot com, promo code NPR.
