--:-- [Up First theme music plays]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Top foreign policy officials from the U.S. and Russia meet in Saudi Arabia today.
--:-- A Martinez: Yeah, Ukraine isn't invited, but ending the war is a primary focus. What's on the bargaining table without Ukraine present?
--:-- Leila Fadel: I'm Leila Fadel, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- A Martinez: The country's health agencies have not been spared from federal job cuts. Regardless of whether they were filling an important role or how they were performing in that role.
--:-- Leila Fadel: We'll hear what people were told about why they were let go.
--:-- A Martinez: And the governor of New York may try to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office. Controversy surrounding the mayor has deepened since four of his top aides and deputy mayors announced that they will resign.
--:-- Leila Fadel: What Mayor Adams is saying about his own future. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
--:-- [Up First theme music continues]
--:-- Leila Fadel: This message comes from Doctors Without Borders. People are living through a moment defined by unrelenting crises and need. Civilians are caught in the crossfire of violence and war. Malnutrition threatens the lives of children. Communities depend on life-saving humanitarian aid. Doctors Without Borders is meeting this moment of overwhelming need with action. But they can't do it alone. Help provide life-saving care around the world. Learn how to donate today at doctorswithoutborders.org slash NPR.
--:-- A Martinez: 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.
--:-- Leila Fadel: This message comes from Mint Mobile. If you're tired of spending hundreds on big wireless bills, bogus fees, and free perks, Mint Mobile might be right for you with plans starting from $15 a month. Shop plans today at MintMobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of $45 for a 3-month 5GB plan required. New customer offer for first three months only. Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.
--:-- A Martinez: Today, in Saudi Arabia, U.S. and Russian diplomats met to discuss ways to end Russia's war in Ukraine. After the meeting, which was billed as Peace Talks, the U.S. delegation, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, addressed reporters.
--:-- Leila Fadel: We agreed on what the goal is. The goal is to bring an end to this conflict in a way that's fair, enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all parties involved.
--:-- A Martinez: Joining us to talk about what was achieved and what wasn't is NPR's Russia correspondent, Charles Maines. Good morning, Charles.
--:-- Charles Maines: Hi there.
--:-- A Martinez: Okay, so this meeting just wrapped up. What can you tell us?
--:-- Charles Maines: Well, the meeting was a direct result of that phone call last week between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which these two leaders agreed to pursue this negotiated end to the war in Ukraine.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as we heard, headed the U.S. delegation, along with White House Envoy Steve Witkoff, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz as well, who said that they showed up determined to get things done.
--:-- Charles Maines: President Trump is determined to move very quickly. We just had a head of state phone call, the first in years, and here we are less than a week later at the highest level of the U.S. and Russian government, and we expect to continue to drive that pace.
--:-- A Martinez: Now, these talks paced out at about four and a half hours. Both sides described them as positive as serious. They also made clear this was just an initial step towards more negotiations to end the war. They didn't expect to solve it in one day.
--:-- Leila Fadel: But Charles, notably Ukrainian and European officials were absent today. Did either side address that?
--:-- Charles Maines: Yeah, no, that's right. Ukraine was not even invited, although both Trump and the Kremlin say Ukraine will be involved in some way at some point.
--:-- A Martinez: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Kiev won't recognize any deals that are done without Ukraine. And Europe, of course, has been upset about being sidelined, an issue they see as key to European security.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Yet the American delegation, Waltz in particular, pushed back against this idea that somehow Kiev or Europe was being ignored. He said, no, this was just shuttle diplomacy. You talk to different sides and pass on what they have to say.
--:-- A Martinez: Now, given the atmosphere you describe, are we witnessing something more here? Is this a reset between the U.S. and Russia?
--:-- Charles Maines: Well, it certainly feels like it's headed that direction. You know, both sides say they would move forward with plans for a meeting between Trump and Putin. They've now agreed to meet face to face.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So by all accounts, Russia's isolation over its actions in Ukraine appear over. In fact, after the talks, Lavrov spoke about how it wasn't normal for big countries like the U.S. and Russia to not engage as they hadn't during the Biden years.
--:-- A Martinez: But things were different now. So here he says that the talks were useful, and for the first time in a long time, Russia felt not just heard, but listened to.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Okay, following these talks, do we have any sense of what the outlines of a deal might look like?
--:-- Charles Maines: Well, President Trump has said Ukraine must give up both its NATO ambitions and territory to Moscow. These are two key Russian demands that have really fed fears that Ukraine won't have a say in its own future.
--:-- A Martinez: But Secretary of State Rubio, as we heard in that intro, says he wants a deal acceptable to all parties. How that works, where borders are drawn, I don't think anybody knows, including Rubio.
--:-- Leila Fadel: But there's clearly a concern in Ukraine that while Kiev wants a just peace, Trump just wants peace. And because of that, and because Moscow has the upper hand, both on the battlefield and around the negotiating table, they're nervous.
--:-- A Martinez: NPR's Russia correspondent, Charles Maines, thank you for your reporting.
--:-- Charles Maines: Thank you.
--:-- [Up First theme music continues]
--:-- Leila Fadel: The Trump administration has begun making broad cuts to federal health agencies. More than a thousand employees got letters terminating their employment at the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health.
--:-- A Martinez: NPR's Ping Wong joins us now to discuss. Good morning, Ping.
--:-- Ping Wong: Good morning, Leila.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So what will staffers of these agencies find as they get back to work from the three-day weekend? You know, they're not really clear.
--:-- Ping Wong: They're going back to the office today, and they don't really know who to expect or who they're going to see.
--:-- A Martinez: That's because over the weekend, around 1,000 people got fired from NIH, around 750 from CDC. Some people are also let go from FDA, though we're not sure how many at this point.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And I do want to note that those numbers are quite a bit lower than what was expected. We heard some people that told us that they had been told on Friday they were going to lose their jobs but haven't gotten a letter yet.
--:-- A Martinez: And we heard that some of those jobs were saved at the last minute because they were considered essential, but people in leadership say they're really not clear what the criteria was.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Do we know who was cut?
--:-- Ping Wong: So we know some were people that were working to ensure medical devices are safe at FDA. Others were diagnosing the causes of outbreaks at CDC, and there were many, many others.
--:-- A Martinez: What they seemed to have in common was that they were mostly probationary employees, so people who were new to the agency or just moved to a different job.
--:-- Leila Fadel: They were serving a one or two year trial period and they have fewer worker protections.
--:-- A Martinez: He spoke with Steve Monroe, a senior official who retired from CDC in 2021. He says it seems short to just ask the people that are easier to fire.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Regardless of whether they were filling an important role in the organization or how they were performing in that role, we're just going to fire everybody who's been here for less than a year.
--:-- A Martinez: He says it's also bad for development and for morale.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Well, on that point of performance, how much do we know about why they were fired?
--:-- Ping Wong: Well, the letters that they received, and we've seen a few of them, they're all very similar. They came from the Department of Health and Human Services, which is the agency that oversees all the health agencies now led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
--:-- A Martinez: And the letters do say, quote, you are not fit for continued employment with the agency and, quote, your performance has not been adequate.
--:-- Leila Fadel: It ends their employment on March 14th and says they're going to be put on administrative leave until then.
--:-- A Martinez: But we know for a fact that many of the people who got this letter had recently received stellar performance reviews from their workplace.
--:-- Leila Fadel: One from CDC had recently received an award of excellence for their work preventing animals with infectious diseases like rabies from entering the country.
--:-- A Martinez: It's not clear why these employees were told their performance was inadequate, but many have responded with documentation of their high performance.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So where does this leave the agencies?
--:-- Ping Wong: Well, it's been a really confusing and chaotic time. Workers say that they feel demoralized, vilified, characterized as lazy by some in the Trump administration.
--:-- A Martinez: When they and their colleagues say that they work really hard to serve and protect the public. And they see this as just the first wave. They're expecting more cuts, deeper restructuring to come.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Even workers with full protections think they could be next. You know, they've been canceling their Netflix accounts, reducing retirement contributions to save a little money in case they find themselves fired too.
--:-- A Martinez: NPR's Ping Wong. Thank you, Ping.
--:-- Ping Wong: You're welcome.
--:-- [Up First theme music continues]
--:-- Leila Fadel: New York Governor Kathy Hochul says she may use her authority to force New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office. That announcement came after four of Adams' most trusted aides, including the city's first deputy mayor, announced yesterday they're quitting.
--:-- A Martinez: Turmoil in New York escalated after the U.S. Department of Justice dropped corruption charges against Adams. And critics say that move was part of the deal to secure Adams' help with President Trump's deportation policies.
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR's Brian Mann has been following all of this and joins me now. Hi, Brian.
--:-- Brian Mann: Hi, Laila.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So what did Governor Hochul say?
--:-- Brian Mann: Well, in a statement, Hochul said she spoke with Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer, one of Adam's top aides who's resigning. And that conversation left Hochul with, and I'm quoting here, serious questions about the long-term future of this mayoral administration.
--:-- A Martinez: Hochul acknowledged no governor in the last 235 years has used their authority to oust an elected mayor of New York City. But Hochul then pointed to the crisis in City Hall, which she said is troubling and cannot be ignored.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So Hochul now says she'll meet with key leaders in Manhattan later today for what she describes as a conversation about the path forward.
--:-- A Martinez: Now, four top Adams aides are quitting. How big a deal is that?
--:-- Brian Mann: Yeah, it's huge. It's a wipeout of Mayor Adams' top leadership. And this clearly got Hochul's attention.
--:-- Leila Fadel: New York City is a complicated place to govern under the best of circumstances. And those departing hold key roles, dealing with everything from the city's infrastructure to the ongoing challenges from migrants arriving in the city.
--:-- A Martinez: These were really the people keeping things on track while Adams faced those DOJ criminal charges. Now they're headed out the door.
--:-- Leila Fadel: It's important to remember, too, Layla, this isn't the first wave of departures. Other key city leaders have also gone.
--:-- A Martinez: And this case has been mired in controversy, Brian. We saw a slew of resignations at the Department of Justice over its decision to drop the charges against Mayor Eric Adams.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Just remind us what Adams was accused of and why the DOJ suspended the case.
--:-- Brian Mann: In September, the DOJ laid out a sweeping case against Adams alleging he used the power of various city offices over nearly a decade to solicit lavish vacations and improper campaign contributions. Some of the bribes allegedly came from foreign agents working for Turkey.
--:-- A Martinez: Adams has denied any wrongdoing and said the charges were political retribution for his criticism of the Biden administration's immigration policies.
--:-- Leila Fadel: He never offered any evidence to support those claims.
--:-- Brian Mann: This month, the DOJ moved to shelve this case, saying a criminal trial would prevent Adams from helping the Trump administration deal with migrants in the city who don't have legal status.
--:-- A Martinez: As you say, that decision by the Justice Department was so controversial, at least seven top federal attorneys have resigned.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Any sign that Adams plans to step down?
--:-- Brian Mann: You know, he's facing intense pressure to go. Hochul's statement and these latest resignations raised the temperature even more.
--:-- A Martinez: But speaking on Sunday at a Baptist church, the mayor was defiant. And I want you to be clear. You're going to hear so many rumors and so many things. You're going to read so much. I am going nowhere. Nowhere.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And in a statement Layla sent to NPR, Adam said he's disappointed by these latest departures. But the city will keep functioning.
--:-- A Martinez: The situation, of course, moving very quickly. We'll see what moves Governor Hochul makes later today.
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR's Brian Mann following developments in New York City, I'm sure, will have you back on soon. Thank you, Brian.
--:-- Brian Mann: Thank you.
--:-- [Up First theme music continues]
--:-- Leila Fadel: And that's up first for Tuesday, February 18th. I'm Leila Fadel.
--:-- A Martinez: And I'm A. Martinez. How about giving Consider This a try? The team behind NPR's All Things Considered goes deep into a single news story in just 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get those podcasts.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Ryland Barton, Jane Greenhalgh, Denice Rios, Reena Advani, and Janaya Williams.
--:-- A Martinez: It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Join us again tomorrow.
--:-- A Martinez: This message comes from NetSuite. What does the future hold for business? Can someone invent a crystal ball? Until then, over 42,000 businesses have future-proofed their business with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one AI cloud ERP, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, and HR into one platform.
--:-- Leila Fadel: With real-time insights and forecasting, you're able to peer into the future and seize new opportunities. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at netsuite.com slash story.
--:-- A Martinez: 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.
--:-- Leila Fadel: 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.
--:-- A Martinez: That's L-E-E-S-A dot com, promo code NPR.
--:-- Leila Fadel: This message comes from Rosetta Stone, an expert in language learning for 30 years. Right now, NPR listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership to 25 different languages for 50% off.
--:-- A Martinez: Learn more at rosettastone.com slash NPR.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And that's the end of our show for today.
--:-- A Martinez: Thanks for listening to Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Leila Fadel: We'll be back tomorrow with more news.
--:-- A Martinez: And don't forget to subscribe to our podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And if you like what you hear, consider supporting our show with a donation to your local NPR station.
--:-- A Martinez: Thanks for listening.
--:-- [Up First theme music ends]
