Middle East Escalation, Senate Immigration Bill, Grammy Awards

The U.

But the Biden administration says it doesn't want a wider war. Will Secretary of State Antony Blinken's latest visit to the region calm things down?

I'm Michelle Martin, that's Leila Fadl, and this is up first from NPR News.

Taylor Swift made history at the Grammys last night.

Mind-blown. Thank you so much.

It was an evening dominated by women. Although some people are wondering how Beyoncé still hasn't won Album of the year. Stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day.

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On the Ted Radio Hour, MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle, her latest research into the intimate relationships people are having with chatbots. Technologies that say, I care about you, I love you, I'm here for you, take care of me. The pros and Cons of artificial intimacy. That's on the Ted Radio Hour from NPR.

But over the weekend, the U.

For a closer look, we're joined by NPR's Greg Myrie in Tel Aviv. Hi, Greg.

Hi Layla.

So Greg, let's talk about the why here. Why has the Israel-Hamas war really roiled the region and led to these armed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen getting involved?

Yeah, so whenever the Israeli-Palestinian conflict heats up, it inflames passions in the wider region. And inevitably, you see these various players act to show solidarity with the Palestinians in their quest to end the occupation and achieve statehood. So this has been building for months in Yemen. The Houthi militia keeps firing on commercial ships in the Red Sea in Iraq, and Syria militias have been firing at U.S.

So the U.

So the aim is to de-escalate. The message the U.S is trying to send is that it will use serious firepower in an attempt to make these attacks stop. But that's not necessarily how the message will be received, especially in Iran, which supports all these militias. We've just mentioned. I spoke about this with Paul Salem, who heads the Middle East Institute in Washington.

It's quite clear that Iranians are willing to fight to the last Arab. Their proxies get hit. That doesn't really affect them directly. I think Iran will continue in this medium level of on and off escalation.

OK, but what are the chances that we see direct confrontation between the U?

Yeah, Leila. That's certainly the big worry, the bright red line that neither the U.S nor Iran is prepared to cross so far. The U.S.

Now, Israel and Hamas are discussing a possible ceasefire, maybe temporary hostages for prisoner swaps, the fighting stops. Would this lower the temperature in the wider region?

You know, Paul Salem thinks so, here he is again.

I think the Biden administration is well aware that the best way to de-escalate wider conflict in the region is to get to a temporary and then eventually permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Of course, getting to that ceasefire, even a temporary one, is far from certain. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu says his goal is destroying Hamas. Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops. And I'll just end on a cautionary note from CIA director Bill Burns, who just wrote an essay saying quote. I have spent much of the last four decades working in and on the Middle East, and I've rarely seen it more tangled or explosive.

Wow, NPR's Greg Myrie in Tel Aviv. Thanks Greg.

Sure thing, Laila.

After months of talks, a bipartisan trio of Senate negotiators has released a $118 billion bill meant to address national security at home and abroad.

The 370-page bill changes immigration laws to reduce the record numbers of migrants at the U.

NPR Congressional correspondent Deirdre Walls joins us now to talk about the details. Good morning Deirdre.

Good morning.

So what's in the deal?

Well, this bill has some pretty major changes to border policies. it's not a comprehensive immigration bill. It focuses mainly on tamping down and managing the record number of migrants we've seen crossing the Southwest border over recent months. It has a new requirement for the president. He would be mandated to effectively shut down much of the Southwest border to any new asylum claims. Once the number of migrants approaching the border hits 5,000 people, or migrants on average per day over the course of the week.

The bill reforms the asylum approval process and system so that claims are heard in six months, not 10 years, as is often the case today.

And what about money for Ukraine and Israel?

Right, this bill has about $60 billion for Ukraine. That's what President Biden requested. Last year. Republicans insisted any new money for Ukraine had to be linked to border security. There's also about $14 billion in security aid for Israel and $10 billion for humanitarian relief for civilians affected by both wars.

OK, so the big question is, does this have enough bipartisan support to move forward?

In the Senate, it's unclear right now Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is teeing up a test vote for this Wednesday. But in the hours since the bill came out last night, there's really been a lot of criticism from both the left and the right. Some outside immigration advocates are saying that some of the proposals to expedite asylum are positive, but they oppose this mandatory trigger to shut down much of the border.

Well, on top of all that, it's an election year. It's rare for major bills on policies as complicated as immigration to get through. What are the prospects?

Not great, I mean, President Biden did say last night, get this bill to his desk and he will sign it. We've seen recent polls showing Biden's handling of the border is really a weak spot politically for him, and he's increasingly been leaning into much tougher border policies. But former President Trump, the likely 2024 Republican nominee, really wants to wield this issue against the president.

NPR's Deirdre Walsh, Thanks, Deirdre, thank you.

And their big winner was Taylor Swift.

Must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero.

The Grammy ceremony was dominated by women artists.

And joining us to talk about all this is another woman, NPR's Mandalit del Barco, Hi Mandalit.

Hey Leila.

OK, so Taylor swift taking a lot of Grammys home. Tell us about that.

Yeah, well. Taylor Swift actually made history by becoming the first artist ever to win the Grammy for Album of the Year four times. And in doing that, she surpassed Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.

All I want to do is keep doing this. So thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to do what I love so much.

Mind blown, Thank you so much.

Mind blown, and you know, she also surprised all her fans the Swifties by announcing her next album is dropping on April 19th. But, you know, Leila, in addition to Taylor Swift? It was a really big year for female artists, who won in all nine of the big categories handed out during the televised ceremony. Miley Cyrus She gave a fabulous mic dropping performance on stage and she won two Grammys Record of the Year and Best pop solo performance of the year. Then Billie Eilish and her brother Phineas O'Connor picked up the song of the year for What was I made for? from the Barbie soundtrack.

So the Grammys are known for their live performances. What were the big highlights?

Well, there were some really poignant performances by legends including Billy Joel making a comeback on the piano, and Joni Mitchell, who, at age 80, had never before performed at the Grammys. Annie Lennox sang in tribute to the late Sinead O'Connor, and afterwards, she made a call for peace and a ceasefire in Gaza. You know, another live performance that was really a highlight was when Tracy Chapman took the stage with country singer Luke Combs to sing.

Someone beautiful. So some amazing performances, women sweeping at the Grammys, but there are always strange and unusual moments. What were they last night?

Yeah, well. During the pre-televised ceremony, when most of the Grammys are handed out, Atlanta rapper killer Mike won three awards. And then he was handcuffed and arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault. He was released last night and I'm sure we're going to get more details today. But you know, another thing that happened on stage?

We love y'all, we want y'all to get it right, at least get it close to right. Obviously it's subjective because you know, it's music and it's opinion based, but you know some things, you know, I don't want to embarrass this young lady, but.

She has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the year.

So, even by your own metrics, that doesn't work.

You know, last year, Beyonce lost to Harry Styles in that top category, and Jay-Z really questioned the Recording Academy while he still accepted his trophy.

All right, Mendeley, thanks so much for that.

Sure.

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And I'm Michelle Martin. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Jerry Holmes, Sadie Babitz, Bilal Qureshi and Mohamed El-Bardisi. It was produced by Ziad Bunch, Ben Abrams and Julie Deppenbrock. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

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