--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Hundreds of Palestinians were killed or injured in surprise overnight attacks by Israel. The punishing strikes on Gaza come in the midst of fraught ceasefire negotiations. Does this mean the war is back on?
--:-- A Martinez: I mean, Martinez, that's Leila Fadel, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Leila Fadel: A judge is asking the Justice Department to explain why it ignored orders to stop the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans. So what I see them doing so far is playing footsie with the notion of defying a court order rather than actually defying a court order.
--:-- A Martinez: How far will the White House try to stretch its powers?
--:-- Leila Fadel: And the Department of Government Efficiency broke into the U.S. Institute of Peace offices with the help of police.
--:-- A Martinez: D.C. police showed up at my office and said, it's time for you to go.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
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--:-- A Martinez: Instead, get guidance from a licensed therapist online with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- Leila Fadel: 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.
--:-- Leila Fadel: That's L-E-E-S-A dot com, promo code NPR.
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--:-- A Martinez: You can do all that with the all-new Adobe Acrobat Studio. Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat.
--:-- [Music transitions to a news segment]
--:-- Leila Fadel: In Gaza overnight, a series of punishing and deadly Israeli airstrikes took Palestinians by surprise. A Palestinian woman in Gaza City there screaming for her children.
--:-- A Martinez: That was a scene in a hospital in the north. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
--:-- Leila Fadel: The strikes are the most intensive violence since a tenuous ceasefire began in January between Israel and Hamas as they negotiated an end of the war.
--:-- NPR's Hadil El-Sheld: Good morning, I'm Hadil El-Sheld, and I'm joining you now from Tel Aviv with the latest.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So why is Israel launching this attack now?
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been threatening this whole time to go back to war if Hamas did not release more hostages.
--:-- A Martinez: This time, Israel says it is targeting Hamas militant commanders, wants to degrade Hamas' ability to rearm.
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: That's according to an Israeli official who wasn't authorized to speak publicly. Just a reminder, the first phase of the ceasefire ended on March 1st.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Over six weeks, Hamas released 33 hostages. Israel freed almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: The second phase was supposed to see a total withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a permanent end to the war.
--:-- A Martinez: But instead of starting those second phase talks, Israel came back and said it wanted an extension of the first phase where Hamas would return half the living hostages still held in Gaza.
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: So what did Hamas say?
--:-- Leila Fadel: Well, Hamas said that it had held up its end of the first phase of the deal and wanted to start second phase deal talks.
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: It refused the extension, which has led to these attacks.
--:-- A Martinez: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that, quote, the gates of hell will open in Gaza if all the hostages are not returned.
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: And then we also know that the White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt confirmed that Israel consulted the Trump administration before the strikes.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And what are we hearing from inside Gaza?
--:-- A Martinez: I mean, explosions could be heard across the strip. The Gaza Health Ministry says hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, including children.
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: NPR's Gaza producer Enes Baba was at Al Ahli Hospital this morning.
--:-- Enes Baba: Dozens of bodies lay in every corner here in front of me, wrapped in winter blankets brought by relatives or maybe some ambulances.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Women and children, entire families laid in front of me here. The relatives are wailing.
--:-- A Martinez: The smell of blood mixed with gunpowder and burning flesh is returned once more in Gaza.
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: Also, an Israeli military spokesman warned residents in several Gaza neighborhoods to start evacuating immediately.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So we heard there, Enes, describe really what sounds like war again.
--:-- A Martinez: Do these strikes mean the ceasefire is done and the war is back on?
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: So it might be a little too early to tell if the war is fully back on or what these strikes mean exactly for the ceasefire.
--:-- Leila Fadel: You know, in recent weeks, Israel has been steadily increasing strikes in Gaza. Hamas hasn't yet responded with its own strikes.
--:-- A Martinez: But today's assault is, of course, a pressure tactic by Israel to get Hamas to accept that extension.
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: And they're a huge step back. Israel has blocked all aid, including food and medical supplies, three weeks ago.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So aid groups are rationing quickly dwindling supplies.
--:-- A Martinez: And of course, what does this mean for the fate of the hostages still inside Gaza?
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: Israel says 59 remain held by Hamas, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive.
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR's Hadil al-Shalchi in Tel Aviv, thank you for your reporting, Hadil.
--:-- Hadil El-Sheld: You're welcome.
--:-- [Music transitions to a new segment]
--:-- Leila Fadel: A federal judge wants the Justice Department to explain its actions in deportations that took place over the weekend.
--:-- A Martinez: A judge asked for a sworn declaration from the DOJ by noon today detailing how planes carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members were flown from the U.S. to El Salvador despite a judge's orders to turn the planes around.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So what I see them doing so far is playing footsie with the notion of defying a court order rather than actually defying a court order.
--:-- A Martinez: How far will the White House try to stretch its powers?
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR's Franco Ordonez is here with more about how President Trump is testing his executive powers.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Good morning, Lila.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So this story really blew up over the weekend. What's the controversy here?
--:-- Franco Ordonez: The controversy is whether the U.S. government defied a legal court order, which would be a potential breakdown between the executive branch and the judicial branch.
--:-- A Martinez: And many legal experts say this would create a major constitutional crisis.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Now, the White House says they did not ignore the court, and they're painting this as a counterterrorism operation.
--:-- Leila Fadel: They say most of the migrants on the plane were members of a Venezuelan gang known as Tren de la Agua. Others were from the Salvadoran gang, MS-13.
--:-- A Martinez: But really, as you noted, part of this debate is over the timing of the order.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: The White House says the written order was issued after the flights had taken off.
--:-- Leila Fadel: But the earlier, the judge did give a verbal order.
--:-- A Martinez: Okay, so before we talk about the legal issues, how does the White House view the politics of this issue?
--:-- Franco Ordonez: I mean, politically they see this as a winning issue. I mean, it's one Trump campaigned on, and they claiming this operation is him carrying out that promise.
--:-- Leila Fadel: I mean, they feel that most Americans care more that violent gang members are being removed from the country.
--:-- A Martinez: I mean, they even made light of the controversy yesterday and over the weekend, reposting a note by the Salvadoran president who wrote online, quote, oopsie, too late after the judge called back the plane.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: And they're also posting on social media video of tattooed migrants with their hands chained boarding planes to different kinds of music.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So making light of this really important question of whether or not the Trump administration defied the court order.
--:-- A Martinez: What did the Trump administration say about that?
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Well, they say they did not. And I did speak with Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University who served in the Biden White House.
--:-- Leila Fadel: He said it's clear the Trump administration is attacking the judicial branch in alarming ways, but he said it was not clear whether the administration was actually violating those orders yet.
--:-- A Martinez: So what I see them doing so far is playing footsie with the notion of defying a court order rather than actually defying a court order.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: They're getting cute. They're getting up to the line.
--:-- Leila Fadel: You know, he adds that they talk tough on TV and press briefings. Vice President Pence has attacked judges saying they're not allowed to control executive branch.
--:-- A Martinez: Just yesterday, the borders are. Tom Homan said on Fox he didn't care what judges think.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: But so far, Levitt says a Trump administration has complied with the orders, albeit reluctantly.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And how does this test of Trump's power fit with other moves the administration's making?
--:-- A Martinez: I mean, this is a case that should not be looked at in a vacuum. The question at hand is not whether or not these people are dangerous and should be in the country, but the process of their removal.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Is it legal? And specifically, did the administration knowingly ignore this order?
--:-- Leila Fadel: This is just another example, though, of how the White House is working to stretch its powers.
--:-- A Martinez: And we have seen this with the legislative branch, and we're now seeing it in the judicial branch.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Thanks, Lila.
--:-- Leila Fadel: That's White House correspondent Franco Ordonez.
--:-- [Music transitions to a new segment]
--:-- Leila Fadel: The U.S. Institute of Peace was the scene of a hostile takeover by the Department of Government Efficiency.
--:-- A Martinez: They were helped by D.C. police.
--:-- Leila Fadel: D.C. police showed up at my office and said, it's time for you to go.
--:-- A Martinez: That's George Moose, who had been running the institute, which is a think tank funded by Congress.
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR's Michelle Kellerman spoke to him on the steps of the institute just across from the State Department.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: Good morning, Leila.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So, Michelle, you were right there when Doge forced their way into the building. What did you see?
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: Yeah, I mean, they tried several times to get in to install a new president, and they finally made it in at the end of the day.
--:-- A Martinez: The White House says Moose was fired last week along with most of the board members.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Moose is challenging that. And he was holed up in his office for a while yesterday after he says Doge broke in.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: But police caught up with him and escorted him out. He called it a sad day, and he talked about the work that he and his colleagues do there.
--:-- Leila Fadel: This building really was built not just as a platform for the work that we do. It was built as a symbol of the aspiration of the American people to be peace builders in the world.
--:-- A Martinez: That's why it is as beautiful as it is.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: And I have to believe that in the long term, that purpose, that mission will be reaffirmed and that we will, in one way or another, be allowed to continue it.
--:-- Leila Fadel: He says it's a mission that should be in line with the Trump administration.
--:-- A Martinez: Michelle, the question I have, and I think so many people have, is, is this legal? Can the Trump administration do this?
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: Because this isn't a government agency, right? It's a nonprofit funded by Congress.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Yeah. I mean, Doge says that D.C. police escorted in his replacement after Moose refused to let in the replacement.
--:-- A Martinez: A White House official called Moose a, quote, career bureaucrat who wants to be unaccountable to the American people.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: But a lawyer for USIP says that all of this is being done illegally, that President Trump, he can fire board members, but only for cause.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And the lawyer, George Foote, also explains that USIP is not a government agency. It has a bit of a different legal status, and it also owns the building.
--:-- A Martinez: He spoke to me outside the building yesterday.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: So the building has been seized by force by police officers with guns acting under the authority of a resolution that we're going to have a court declare to be invalid.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So this seems to be a pattern with Doge, right? An attempt to cut funds without consulting Congress, only for it to all land in court.
--:-- A Martinez: Yeah, I mean, Foote told me that Doge is using their usual playbook here, but he's convinced that the law is on USIP's side.
--:-- Leila Fadel: We'll have to see, though, what the courts decide and see if USIP employees can get back to their building and regain access to their computers.
--:-- A Martinez: It'll also be interesting, Leila, to see if anyone in Congress steps in.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: After all, Congress created the U.S. Institute of Peace and funds it.
--:-- Leila Fadel: That's NPR's Michelle Kellerman.
--:-- [Music transitions to a final segment]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Today, President Trump will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone.
--:-- A Martinez: The U.S. is pursuing a ceasefire deal in Russia's war on Ukraine, the largest armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Ukraine has already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire.
--:-- A Martinez: Kiev says it wants an exchange of prisoners and a return of the thousands of children it says Russia has illegally taken.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Russia has its own conditions before it agrees.
--:-- A Martinez: Among Putin's demands, an end to international sanctions on Russia and no NATO membership for Ukraine.
--:-- Leila Fadel: If a ceasefire is reached, the two sides say a more sustainable peace can be discussed.
--:-- A Martinez: An aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that Ukraine wants peace more than anyone, but he said we cannot accept peace at any price.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And that's Up First for Tuesday, March 18th.
--:-- A Martinez: I'm A Martinez.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And I'm Leila Fadel.
--:-- A Martinez: There is an easy way to stay connected to news and podcasts from the NPR network, the NPR app.
--:-- Leila Fadel: You can hear community coverage from your local stations, stories from around the world, and podcast suggestions based on what you like.
--:-- A Martinez: So download the NPR app in that app store.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Gerry Holmes, Roberta Rampton, Russell Lewis, Alice Woelfle, and Janaya Williams.
--:-- A Martinez: It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Destinee Adams, and Christopher Thomas.
--:-- Leila Fadel: We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent.
--:-- A Martinez: And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Join us again tomorrow.
--:-- A Martinez: Scaling with efficiency. Odoo. Exactly what a business needs. Sign up today at odoo.com.
--:-- [Theme music fades in]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Up First is a production of NPR.
--:-- A Martinez: And this message comes from NPR sponsor Odoo.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Learn more about sponsor message choices at podcastchoices.com/adchoices.
--:-- A Martinez: NPR Privacy Policy at npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy.
--:-- [Theme music continues to play until the end of the episode]
