--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- Host (Michelle Martin): Protests in Boston over the arrest of a Tufts University student by ICE agents. When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Get a program! Is the Trump administration targeting students just for criticizing Israel?
--:-- Host (Michelle Martin): I'm Michelle Martin, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Host (Michelle Martin): The Trump administration plans to cut 20,000 jobs from the Department of Health and Human Services. We have two goals. The first is obvious, to save the taxpayer money. And the second is to radically improve our quality of service. Can they really cut that deep without hurting critical services?
--:-- Host (Michelle Martin): And President Trump keeps House Republicans' slim majority intact by pulling Elise Stefanik's nomination for U.N. ambassador. Plus, Steve Inskeep is in China, where he's seeing how American tariffs are changing business in one of the world's largest trading hubs. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
--:-- Host (Michelle Martin): This message comes from BetterHelp. It's only human to ask others for advice, like turning to your barista, hairdresser, or a taxi driver for life advice. But when you're looking for help about relationships, anxiety, depression, or other clinical issues, they may not have all the right answers. Instead, get guidance from a licensed therapist online with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- Host (Michelle Martin): 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. 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.com, promo code NPR.
--:-- Host (Michelle Martin): Support for this podcast and the following message come from Betterment. Start investing in a better future. Whether it's saving for today or building wealth for tomorrow, Betterment helps people and small businesses put their money to work by automating to make saving simpler, optimizing to make investing smarter, and building innovative technology backed by financial experts. So be invested in yourself. Be invested in your business. Be invested in better with Betterment. at Betterment.com. Investing involves risk, performance not guaranteed.
--:-- Host (Michelle Martin): Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. has revoked hundreds of visas as part of a crackdown on student activists who opposed Israel's war in Gaza. Outside Boston this week, about 2,000 people took to the streets to call on the government to free Tufts University student Rumaysa Ozturk. When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Get up with that!
--:-- Host (Michelle Martin): Immigration agents in plain clothes and face masks arrested Ozturk off the street and plan to deport her. She's the latest foreign-born student taken into custody as the Trump administration goes after university protesters. NPR's Adrienne Florido has been tracking these developments, and she's with us now.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Good morning, Michelle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Good morning, Adrienne. So, Adrienne, tell us more about Ramesa Ozturk and what happened to her.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Well, I'll start with what happened. It was Tuesday. A security camera captured it. Ozturk is about to cross the street on her way to dinner to break the Ramadan fast with friends. Six agents surround her and one grabs her arm. Ozturk screams visibly, terrified as agents handcuff her and lead her to an unmarked car.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: She is Turkish and a PhD student at Tufts on a student visa. She's been involved in pro-Palestinian activism. Last year, she published an op-ed criticizing her school's leaders for not condemning the war in Gaza or cutting economic ties with Israel.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Okay, so here's the critical question. Do we know if that op-ed is why immigration agents arrested her?
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Not precisely, but the Department of Homeland Security said that Ozturk has, quote, engaged in activities in support of Hamas. DHS has offered no evidence of this. Her lawyer calls those allegations baseless.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: She says Ozturk is a gifted student and Fulbright scholar studying child development. But last night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he personally revoked her visa after assessing her activities.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: The activities presented to me meet the standard of what I've just described to you, people that are supportive of movements that run counter to the foreign policy of the United States.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: If necessary, and a court compels us, we'll provide that information. But ultimately, it's a visa. Judges don't issue student visas. There is no right to a student visa.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Oster, after her arrest, was quickly flown to a detention center in Louisiana, Michelle, and her lawyer is fighting to free her.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: And of course, I think many people may remember that Mahmoud Khalil was arrested at Columbia University three weeks ago on similar accusations after the Secretary of State decided to revoke his green card.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Now let me remind here that he is a legal permanent resident not a student visa holder and he married to an American citizen.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Other students and scholars have also been pursued or arrested. So how wide is this dragnet?
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Well, yesterday, Rubio said that he has revoked hundreds of visas, many of them student visas, making those people immediately deportable.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Here he is again. We are not going to be importing activists into the United States. They're here to study. They're here to go to class. They're not here to lead activist movements that are disruptive and undermine our universities.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: I think it's lunacy to continue to allow that.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Rubio is delivering on President Trump's promise, Michelle, to deport non-citizens whose activism he claims supports Hamas, terrorism, and is anti-Semitic.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Trump has taken special aim at universities, saying they're infested with radicalism. He's demanded that schools crack down on protests and is pressuring them with funding cuts or threats of funding cuts.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Student activists say this is all about muzzling dissent and free speech and that these deportation arrests are about spreading terror and punishing students for their political beliefs.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: And they say that the arrests are unconstitutional and lawyers are fighting them.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: And what might be next for these students who have been targeted?
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Well, like I said, their lawyers are fighting in federal courts and immigration courts to prevent their deportations.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: Some are making constitutional arguments, leaning on the First Amendment right to free speech. The government is also aggressively defending its authority, though, to revoke the legal status of these students and to expel them.
--:-- Adrienne Florido: That is NPR's Adrienne Florido. Adrienne, thank you.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Thanks, Adrienne.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The Trump administration plans to restructure the Department of Health and Human Services and cut 20,000 employees. HHS is the umbrella agency that includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Medicare and Medicaid, the National Institutes of Health, and a lot more.
--:-- Michelle Martin: NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin has been reporting on these plans and what they mean, and she is with us now.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: Good morning, Michelle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced this plan yesterday. What's he trying to do?
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: Well, Secretary Kennedy says HHS is a huge bureaucracy filled with silos, and that he wants to streamline things.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: He says they'll do that by consolidating administrative work like IT and human resources, but that the restructuring won't affect the work the agencies do.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: Kennedy draws a direct line between the problems with America's overall health and the way HHS has been set up.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: I think most Americans would agree with me that throwing more money at health care isn't going to solve the problem or would have solved it already.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: Obviously, what we've been doing hasn't worked. That's why we're making this dramatic overhaul.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: Okay, so Selena, these plans were just announced, but what's been the reaction so far?
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: My inbox was flooded with shocked responses yesterday from Democratic lawmakers, nurses groups, public health groups, advocates for seniors.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: They say this isn't an overhaul, it's a wrecking ball.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: I asked former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for her reaction. She was incredulous that Kennedy thinks he can cut HHS staff so steeply and not affect services.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: Well, that's what I find so incredibly insulting. To me, what they're saying is there are 20,000 people working for HHS who do nothing.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: She was especially critical of the plan to cut the number of regional offices from 10 to 5 and to combine certain agencies.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: She questioned how it would help efficiency to combine CDC, which is in Atlanta, with the Strategic Preparedness Agency, which is in D.C.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: Do we know yet which agencies are going to be the most affected?
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: It looks like the steepest cuts are coming from CDC and FDA. Also, a lesser-known agency called the Administration for Community Living, which helps seniors and people with disabilities live independently.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: They do work like meal delivery, transportation support for caregivers. Under the plans, that agency will be dismantled and its, quote, critical services will get spread out over a few different agencies.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: So employees whose jobs are getting cut could get notices as soon as today with the cuts effective in May.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: And HHS did not respond to NPR's request for an interview with Secretary Kennedy or give answers to a list of questions about the plans.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So presumably some people do support these plans. So what do Kennedy's supporters or supporters of these plans say?
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: Republican lawmakers have been fairly quiet so far, especially compared to Democratic members of Congress who have quickly put together press conferences, quote, sounding the alarm about this plan.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the Republican chair of the Health Committee, did not respond to NPR's request for comment.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: What Republicans have said is that the details are out yet that they believe there is administrative sprawl at HHS that it can be streamlined and that they trust Kennedy.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That is NPR health correspondent Selena Simmons. Selena, thank you.
--:-- Selena Simmons-Duffin: You're welcome.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Republicans on Capitol Hill have worked quickly to confirm President Trump's cabinet nominees. Yes, some have faced contentious battles. Others have sailed right through Senate votes.
--:-- Michelle Martin: There was only one pick left to appear in front of the Senate, and that was New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, President Trump's choice to be ambassador to the United Nations.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But that changed yesterday when he pulled her nomination, saying he's asked her to stay in the House of Representatives.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Here to explain why is NPR political reporter Alina Moore. She's here with me in our studios.
--:-- Alina Moore: Good morning.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So Elise Stefanik's nomination was expected to be an easy vote. So what happened?
--:-- Alina Moore: Well, Stefanik is a close ally of the president, and she's really been seen as a rising star within the party.
--:-- Alina Moore: She was elected in 2014 and at the time was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
--:-- Alina Moore: She was a vocal Trump defender during his 2019 impeachment hearing and later rose to a top leadership position within the party.
--:-- Alina Moore: All of this was supposed to make her confirmation process appear easy.
--:-- Alina Moore: The problem, it turned out, Michelle, wasn't Stefanik, but House Republicans and their razor-thin majority.
--:-- Alina Moore: You know, on most bills, the party can only afford to lose one or two votes.
--:-- Alina Moore: And, you know, there was a chance Stefanik's departure would only make things harder, which, you know, Trump decided was too risky.
--:-- Alina Moore: He wrote on social media yesterday that Republicans needed to maintain every seat they can.
--:-- Alina Moore: Already as far back as November when Trump picked Stefanik.
--:-- Alina Moore: So why now?
--:-- Alina Moore: Yeah, I mean, well, since the fall, two other Republicans have left office.
--:-- Alina Moore: Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who resigned before the start of the term, and former Florida Congressman Mike Waltz, who now serves as Trump's national security advisor.
--:-- Alina Moore: Special elections are underway for both of those seats, and Republicans are easily expected to hold on in Gaetz's district.
--:-- Alina Moore: But the race for Waltz's seat is shaping up to be way more competitive than expected.
--:-- Alina Moore: And, you know, Stefanik won her race by double digits last fall.
--:-- Alina Moore: But, you know, the decision to withdraw her nomination shows that Republicans just don't want to take any more risks right now in any more races, especially when there's still a long to-do list on Capitol Hill.
--:-- Alina Moore: You know, Trump has done a lot by executive action, but in terms of legislation, it's a different story.
--:-- Alina Moore: Republicans want to make Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent. They also want more funding for defense and the president's immigration agenda.
--:-- Alina Moore: So, again, Michelle, this really is a reminder of just how fragile the GOP majority in the House is right now.
--:-- Michelle Martin: What's been the reaction on Capitol Hill?
--:-- Alina Moore: Well, for her part, Stefanik told Fox News last night that she supported Trump's decision.
--:-- Alina Moore: I have been proud to be a team player. The president knows that.
--:-- Alina Moore: He and I had multiple conversations today. And we are committed to delivering results on behalf of the American people.
--:-- Alina Moore: House Speaker Mike Johnson has invited Stefanik back to House GOP leadership, but it's unclear what role that may be since her old job has since been filled.
--:-- Alina Moore: And, you know, though Johnson expressed enthusiasm about having her back, on the Democratic side, they're framing this whole moment pretty differently.
--:-- Alina Moore: In a statement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, he said, quote, House Republicans are running scared.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That is NPR political reporter Alina Moore. Alina, thank you.
--:-- Alina Moore: Thanks.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Just about every day, we learn of new tariffs threatened or imposed by the United States. President Trump ordered tariffs on auto imports this week, sending the stock market falling.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Next week, the administration promises new tariff numbers for every country based on a calculation of tariffs that they charge.
--:-- Michelle Martin: 20% tariffs are already in effect on goods from China. And Steve Inskeep has been talking with some of the sellers.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Hello there, friend.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Hi there, friend. So where have you been?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Well, we've been visiting the source of your stuff, Michelle. Things like hairpins, pots and pans, toys. You've got a grill, don't you?
--:-- Michelle Martin: You've got a grill? I do.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And pots and pans. Okay, well, we saw a place where they sell enormous numbers of grills.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: A lot of that kind of consumer stuff comes to America through a Chinese trading city called Iwu, Y-I-W-U, Iwu, where thousands of wholesalers ship products from nearby factories.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Our tour through this area gave us a little bit of news, how some Chinese businesses are responding to those tariffs, and also a picture of life.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: This international trading market is like a shopping mall next to a shopping mall next to a shopping mall.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: I walked through with our colleague Rina Advani and we recorded as we went.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Let's just listen to a little bit of that.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: They're all made here. So there's an umbrella store. Nothing but umbrellas.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And there's yoga mats, chairs, it looks like parasols, all sorts of things here you can find.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Light bulbs, like a light bulb store. That's what they sell.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Shop after shop after shop, and then we settled in at a display room for hardware.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: I've been going around the store just writing down things that are for sale.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Spades, saws, staplers, caulk guns, garden shears, wire cutters, bolt cutters, garden hose nozzles.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Okay, Steve, sounds like a shopper's paradise, but what did you learn about tariffs?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: That the Chinese suppliers of our goods are dealing with those tariffs in different ways.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The hardware store seller who's selling screwdrivers, jackhammers, any number of things, says she thinks that her tools are in demand and that American consumers are just going to pay more.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: She's not changing her prices.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Well, that's what economists say will happen with tariffs, that it's a tax that Americans will pay.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: She says she's just going to improve the packaging and marketing a little bit.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But with that said, we also heard some stories of people who have lost business or agreed to make some tradeoffs.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Okay, what do you mean by that?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Well, for example, a seller of hairpins and claw clips told us she had an order from Target.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And they said, would you pick up half the cost of the tariffs?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: She tried to negotiate and they delayed the order.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: She's losing the business.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: We also met a guy who sells thousands and thousands of toys made on 3D printers.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: He says one of his clients asked for half the tariffs to be paid by him.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: He said, sure, his business is expanding.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And regardless, tariffs or not, he is raising his prices.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So what's the bottom line here?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: That there is a give and take, I guess.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: It seems like suppliers will, in fact, pay some of the tariffs, but American consumers will too.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And it's also clear to us from here that China has some options.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: They sell all over the world, including outside of the United States, in a rapidly changing marketplace.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's Steve Inskeep speaking to us from Shanghai. Steve, thank you.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: You're welcome, Michelle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: What do Mudang, the pygmy hippo, social media sensation hawk to a girl, and the president of the United States all have in common?
--:-- Michelle Martin: They've all inspired meme coins, which are a valuable, highly volatile type of cryptocurrency.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I mean, I definitely would say this is just gambling. Everyone involved would agree with that.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I think. But it's a really weird form of gambling.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This Sunday on Up First, understanding the meme coin boom. How does it work? And who are the winners and losers in this gamble?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Listen to the Sunday story right here on NPR's Up First podcast.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And that's Up First for Friday, March 28th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm A Martinez.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Ready for more NPR news?
--:-- Michelle Martin: I know that you are.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Well, There's a radio show for that. Find NPR's Morning Edition on your NPR station at stations.npr.org.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And for podcasts, local news, and the latest headlines, take NPR everywhere with the NPR app.
--:-- Michelle Martin: You can find that in your app store.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And don't forget, Up First airs on Saturday, too.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Ayesha Roscoe and Scott Simon have all the news.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It'll be right here in this feed or wherever you get those podcasts.
--:-- [Theme music fades in]
--:-- Michelle Martin: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Eric Westervelt, Jane Greenhalgh, Jason Breslow, Reena Advani, Arezou Rezvani, and Mohamad ElBardicy.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Milton Guevara, Aowen Cao, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Our Executive Producer is Jay Shaylor.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Support for NPR and the following message come from USPS. With USPS Ground Advantage Service, it's like your shipment has a direct line to you.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It leaves the dock, you know about it. It's on the road, you know. And when it reaches your customer, you guessed it, you're still in the know.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Here's the real game changer. It's one journey, one partner, total peace of mind.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Check out USPS Ground Advantage Service at usps.com slash in the know.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Because if you know, you know.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from the NPR Wine Club, which has generated over $1.75 million to support NPR programming.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Whether buying a few bottles or joining the club, you can learn more at nprwineclub.org slash podcast.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Must be 21 or older to purchase.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from Albert Ayo. Albert Ayo supports teachers with rigorous question banks and adaptive skills practice for all subjects, end-of-course exams, and learning standards.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Go to www.albert.io to get started for free today.
--:-- [Theme music continues to play]
