--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Ian Martinez: All right, we made it. It's Friday.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Washington, D.C. He's expected to meet with President Trump to sign a development deal for Ukraine's rare earth and mineral deposits. What is he hoping to get in return?
--:-- Ian Martinez: I'm Ian Martinez, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The Tate brothers face criminal charges in Romania for sexual abuse and human trafficking. The social media influencers were allowed to leave that country and arrive yesterday in Florida.
--:-- Ian Martinez: We live in a democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty, and I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Did their support of President Trump influence Romania to lift travel restrictions?
--:-- Ian Martinez: And foreign aid organizations haven't been paid for five weeks. Lawsuits seeking the release of funds from the Trump administration have just landed in the Supreme Court.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades in]
--:-- Ian Martinez: This message comes from BetterHelp. President Fernando Madeira describes how BetterHelp Online Therapy has helped him.
--:-- [Audio clip of Fernando Madeira]
--:-- Fernando Madeira: For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right? is going to be there and they're going to listen to me. And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today. And it feels natural. I love it.
--:-- Ian Martinez: To get matched with a therapist, visit betterhelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Ian Martinez: This message comes from Sony Pictures Classics. In Eleanor the Great, June Squibb brings to vivid life the spirited 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein, who after a devastating loss tells a tale that spirals beyond her control.
--:-- [Audio clip of movie trailer]
--:-- Ian Martinez: From director Scarlett Johansson comes a comically poignant exploration of how the stories we hear become the stories we tell. Deadline puts it, there won't be a dry eye in the house. Eleanor the Great, now playing only in theaters.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades in]
--:-- Ian Martinez: This message comes from NPR sponsor AARP. Where do you see your career in 12 years? What are you doing now to help you get there?
--:-- [Audio clip of AARP representative]
--:-- AARP Representative: The sooner you start enhancing your skills, the sooner you'll be ready. That's why AARP has management, finance, and small business reskilling courses, all to help your income live as long as you do.
--:-- Ian Martinez: Because the steps you choose to take today will help you love what you do in the future. Learn more at aarp.org slash skills.
--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is here in this city today. He's expected to have his first meeting with President Trump since the inauguration.
--:-- Ian Martinez: The two leaders are supposed to sign a preliminary deal to give the U.S. access to Ukraine's natural resources.
--:-- Michelle Martin: However, it's not clear that the deal will offer Ukraine future security guarantees, which the country says it needs to protect itself from Russia.
--:-- Ian Martinez: Joining us now to talk about all this is NPR's Joanna Kakissa. She's in Kiev, Ukraine's capital.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: Good morning, Michelle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Good morning, Joanna. So tell us about this critical raw materials agreement. What does it include and what does Ukraine get out of it?
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: Well, Michelle, the idea of swapping revenue from Ukraine's natural resources for continued U.S. support came from Zelensky himself last year as part of his proposal to end the war.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Zelensky says the deal on the table today is a framework rather than a final agreement, and it says the U.S. and Ukraine will jointly develop deposits of rare earth metals and critical minerals.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: These are used in high-tech devices, and also develop deposits of oil and gas.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I spoke about all this with Yuri Sok. He is an advisor to Ukraine's Minister of Strategic Industries.
--:-- Yuri Sok: We will need the U.S. to continue to be our strategic partner. So we need to rebuild our country after we end the war. And this agreement is going to work towards that goal.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, this agreement establishes a fund to help Ukraine recover should the war end. The fund would be managed by both countries, with Ukraine committing 50 percent of revenues earned from state-owned natural resources.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: Now, this raw materials agreement has gone through many drafts. You've told us that Zelensky rejected early versions. Why is that?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Well Zelensky said earlier agreements would have used revenue to pay back aid Ukraine has already received from the U.S.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: In the current version the terms are more favorable to Ukraine and the revenue appears to go to future U.S. investment in Ukraine.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Zelensky says he's pushing for security guarantees to be added to any final agreement.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: I think, Michelle, I think people will remember that Trump called Zelensky a dictator last week, and now Trump has moved to warm relations with Russia, which invaded Ukraine.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This is very difficult for Zelensky.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: So are Ukrainians expecting anything positive from this meeting?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Well, Ukrainians I spoke to say it is a victory that this meeting is happening at all.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: Serhii Fursa, he's a financial consultant who is deputy director of Dragon Capital in Kiev. He's been following this deal very closely.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And he said today's meeting gives Zelensky a chance to talk to Trump in person before Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: So I do not think that President Zelensky will enjoy his meeting with Trump.
--:-- Michelle Martin: He said this is also a crucial opportunity for Zelensky to reset Ukraine's relationship with the Trump administration.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: The stakes seem really high for this meeting, Joanna. Are Ukrainians worried it could go poorly?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yes, I heard that fear from many Ukrainians, including Anna Kolesnik. She's a communications manager in Kiev.
--:-- Anna Kolesnik: God help us not to lose a lot, meaning our territories, our raw materials or our mines, and to gain as much benefits from this meeting.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Because, she says, these days it feels like the U.S., Ukraine's most important ally, seems to be threatening to take things away.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: That is. And Paris, Joanna Kakissa in Kiev.
--:-- Joanna Kakissa: You're welcome.
--:-- Ian Martinez: Andrew and Tristan Tate, brothers who face charges in Romania for sexual abuse and human trafficking, are now in Florida.
--:-- Michelle Martin: They arrived yesterday by private jet after their travel restrictions were lifted by Romanian authorities.
--:-- Ian Martinez: Andrew Tate is a self-described misogynist with millions of followers on social media.
--:-- Michelle Martin: He and his brother are vocal supporters of President Trump.
--:-- Ian Martinez: And there are questions about whether the Trump administration may have played a role in relaxing their travel restrictions.
--:-- Michelle Martin: NPR's Greg Allen joins us now from Miami to tell us more about this.
--:-- Greg Allen: Good morning, Michelle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So just like you said, why are we talking about Andrew Tate? He has a big following on TikTok and X, popular with some young men, where his sort of displays of masculinity and his extravagant lifestyle.
--:-- Greg Allen: So bring us up to date on what he's charged with.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Well, you know, he and his brother face charges both in Romania and in the United Kingdom for being part of a criminal enterprise that allegedly lured women to Romania where they were sexually exploited.
--:-- Greg Allen: Andrew Tate also faces a rape charge.
--:-- Michelle Martin: In December, a Romanian court said that the case against the Tates couldn't go to trial, though, because of procedural and legal mistakes that had been made by prosecutors.
--:-- Greg Allen: The case does remain open, though, and the brothers are supposed to be available to return to Romania to face charges when the time comes.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But many are skeptical they will return now.
--:-- Greg Allen: Here's what Andrew Tate had to say yesterday after arriving in Fort Lauderdale.
--:-- Andrew Tate: We live in a democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty, and I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood.
--:-- Michelle Martin: There's a lot of opinions about us, a lot of things that go around about us on the Internet.
--:-- Greg Allen: We've yet to be convicted of any crime in our lives ever. We have no criminal record anywhere on the planet ever.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Tate says the charges against him and his brother are false, and they're based on lies that he says have been concocted by the media.
--:-- Greg Allen: So for people who haven't been following this story, Greg, tell us again, Who is Andrew Tate, and how did he become so famous on social media?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Right. Well, you know, he's a former kickboxing champion who first became well-known nearly 10 years ago on the British version of the reality show Big Brother.
--:-- Greg Allen: He rose to fame, though, through social media, Twitter, NowX, YouTube, and TikTok, where he posts about his success and his lifestyle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: He's drawn a lot of attention with the outrageous and offensive way in which he's talked about women.
--:-- Greg Allen: A couple of years ago, he got into an online fight with environmental activist Greta Thunberg, you might recall, when he bragged about his 33 Lamborghinis and other big cars and their enormous emissions, as he called them.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, he's been in Romania for several years living there. The case against him involves seven women who say they were misled and transported to Romania where they were then sexually exploited
--:-- Greg Allen: And he faces those similar charges in the United Kingdom
--:-- Michelle Martin: Do we know whether the Trump administration did play a role in getting their travel restrictions relaxed so they could come to the U.S.
--:-- Greg Allen: The Financial Times reported last week that members of the Trump administration pressed remaining authorities to lift the travel restrictions.
--:-- Michelle Martin: President Trump was asked about that at the White House yesterday, and he said he didn't know anything about it.
--:-- Greg Allen: Here in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis was also asked about it yesterday, whether he had any advance notice that Andrew Tate and his brother were headed here.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And he said no.
--:-- Greg Allen: He also had this to say. Florida is not a place where you're welcome with that type of conduct in the air. And I don't know how it came to this.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We were not involved. We were not notified. I found out through the media.
--:-- Greg Allen: DeSantis says it's up to the federal government, not the state, to decide whether to allow the Tate brothers to enter the country.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And he said Florida's attorney general is looking at what jurisdiction the state may have over any of the charges that are outstanding.
--:-- Greg Allen: Now, both Andrew and Tristan Tate are U.S. British citizens.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Interestingly, President Trump is expected to be at Mar-a-Lago just up the highway this weekend, and there's no indication yet of whether or not the Tates might be invited for a visit.
--:-- Greg Allen: That is, and Paris Greg Allen in Miami.
--:-- Greg Allen: You're welcome.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We have reported extensively on how President Trump has spent his first five weeks in office trying to expand executive power.
--:-- Ian Martinez: Yeah, his attempt to slash the federal workforce has drawn various lawsuits trying to stop him.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Two cases that have just arrived at the Supreme Court could offer some early clues on whether his methods will hold up.
--:-- Ian Martinez: They involve some $2 billion in unpaid bills.
--:-- Michelle Martin: NPR's Frank Langford has been tracking the matter. He's with us now.
--:-- Frank Langford: Good morning, Michelle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So we've been covering these cases at NPR. They are about the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
--:-- Frank Langford: Just remind us of the details.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah, Trump officials at USAID, you remember, they cut off funding to thousands of aid recipients.
--:-- Frank Langford: This began January 20th when Trump took office. And the idea was they were going to review contracts to see if they were aligned with Trump's America First agenda.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, this hit these organizations incredibly hard. They had to furlough people. Some were at the risk of going bankrupt.
--:-- Frank Langford: And so they ended up suing to get paid.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, a lower court ordered the government to pay up and gave a deadline.
--:-- Frank Langford: Still, the government would not pay.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And on Wednesday night, the Trump administration was about to blow through this deadline.
--:-- Frank Langford: So it appeals to the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts.
--:-- Michelle Martin: He pauses the case, hands the government a temporary victory.
--:-- Frank Langford: And naturally, that got a lot of attention.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So those are the details.
--:-- Frank Langford: Everybody wants to get paid what they are owed. But are there bigger stakes here? And if so, what are they?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah, definitely. These are among the first cases in front of the Supreme Court that involved the president's attempts to expand executive power, like you were just saying.
--:-- Frank Langford: And after all, in these cases, the government had effectively refused to pay money that Congress had already appropriated and the government clearly owes, and that this judge had told it to pay.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And the government says in one of its filings that it thinks the lower court exceeded its authority in doing that.
--:-- Frank Langford: And so people are watching very closely now to see how the Supreme Court responds to all of this.
--:-- Michelle Martin: What do legal analysts make of this case?
--:-- Frank Langford: You know, Michelle, they point out that people's interest really perked up with the Supreme Court's initial ruling in favor of the government.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And now the court, of course, it's got a conservative supermajority.
--:-- Frank Langford: Trump appointed three of those justices.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Stephen Vladek, he's a law professor at Georgetown.
--:-- Frank Langford: He's an expert on federal law.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And he was writing about this in his substack.
--:-- Frank Langford: And he thinks Roberts, you know, may have just been trying to give the justices some time to make a reasoned decision rather than one right up against the clock.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And Vladek says at a superficial level, quote, it's obvious to him that the government should ultimately lose these cases.
--:-- Frank Langford: And that's because the government's not allowed to just not spend money appropriated by Congress.
--:-- Michelle Martin: As we said, I think, often on these shows, under the U.S. system of government, Congress has the power of the purse.
--:-- Frank Langford: However, Trump says he wants to change the law so that the president can impound money approved by Congress.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So what is the government telling the court right now?
--:-- Frank Langford: Yeah the government says it actually changed its tune a little bit.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It says it is committed now to paying what it owes but it needs to do what it calling a payment integrity review to make sure that all these invoices are legitimate
--:-- Frank Langford: But remember, the government did unilaterally halt these payments, and it could have restarted them at any time.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Where's this headed next?
--:-- Frank Langford: Yeah, the plaintiffs have to file a response to the government today.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Legal scholars think the justices are going to move quickly to try to resolve the case because, you know, almost none of these organizations, they're getting, they've been paid.
--:-- Frank Langford: It's been five weeks and every day their financial situations are only getting a lot worse.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That is NPR's Frank Langford.
--:-- Frank Langford: Happy to do it, Michelle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We are also following this story today.
--:-- Ian Martinez: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a challenge to the Justice Department to disclose if she's under investigation.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The New York Democrat held an online seminar earlier this month encouraging constituents to know their rights.
--:-- Ian Martinez: That attracted attention from President Trump's border czar.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Tom Homan told Fox News he had asked the Justice Department if she was helping immigrants without legal status to avoid deportation.
--:-- Ian Martinez: Ocasio-Cortez told our co-host Steve Inskeep she intended to ask the Justice Department about it.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So let's hear a bit of their NPR video interview.
--:-- [Audio clip of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]
--:-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: I was informing all of my constituents of their constitutional protections.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And in particular, their constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure in the United States.
--:-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Holman was upset, I suppose, because he felt that you were giving advice to people who were here illegally.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Were you?
--:-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: I was giving advice to all of my constituents.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah.
--:-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: He said he was going to report you or even that he did reach out to the Department of Justice.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Have you heard from the Department of Justice?
--:-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: I have not, and I intend on reaching out to the Department of Justice to inquire.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Really?
--:-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: What would your question be for the Department of Justice?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Well, there is a member of the Trump administration who is threatening and seeks to open an inquiry, and are you going to do it?
--:-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: After the interview, Ocasio-Cortez sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, which she shared with NPR.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The letter asks if Bondi had, quote, yielded to political pressure, unquote, to investigate elected officials for their speech.
--:-- Ian Martinez: We've reached out to the Justice Department for comment and we have not yet gotten a response.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And that's up first for Friday, February 28th.
--:-- Ian Martinez: I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Ian Martinez.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It's time for the Oscars.
--:-- Ian Martinez: And this weekend on The Sunday Story, NPR's pop culture happy hour team joins us for their predictions on who will take gold or simply leave empty handed.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's on the next Sunday Story from Up First.
--:-- Ian Martinez: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Ryland Barton, Russell Lewis, Catherine Laidlaw, Jenea Williams and Alice Woelfle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams, Christopher Thomas and Paige Waterhouse.
--:-- Ian Martinez: We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Our Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.
--:-- Ian Martinez: Thank you for joining us.
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--:-- Ian Martinez: That's O-D-O-O dot com.
