Haiti Governance, EU AI Bill, Third Party Bids

Setting regulations for artificial intelligence has stumped governments around the world.

Now the European Union says it's got a plan.

bids are scrambling to get on the ballot.

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It seems to be anyone's guess.

Days after the country's prime minister announced his intention to resign, the plan to get a

transitional government in place is being tested.

well, they are expressing reservations.

NPR's Eder Barada is in the Dominican Republic, right at the border with Haiti.

Eder, let's start with what you've been seeing and hearing down there at the border.

Dominican authorities deporting busloads of Haitians.

They've long run a mass deportation program here and they haven't stopped it despite the

circumstances. The Haitians I've talked to have expressed a sense of desolation, of

dread. So many people here I've talked to say this is in God's hand.

I met Rafael Mckesson even at 23.

He's cynical. He says, yes, the prime minister has promised to resign and yes, the

international community has crafted this plan to put a transitional council in charge.

But he's pessimistic.

And he says ever since he was a kid, Haiti has been in disarray.

So he asks, what makes you think that anything will be different now?

Have you been able to gauge at all the reaction in the capital, Port-au-Prince?

sharp criticism of this plan, which was brokered by the international community to install

this transitional council.

One example, I spoke to Guy Philippe.

He's a former senator, former chief of police.

He helped lead a coup against Jean-Bertrand Aristide and he was sent to jail in the U.S.

for drug related money laundering.

He was deported to Haiti three months ago, but he says he wants to be president and he

has built a following fairly quickly.

What he told me is that this plan was drafted without any Haitian input and it puts in

power the same politicians who got Haiti into this mess.

He says the plan focuses on sending foreign forces to fight the gangs.

And he says it ignores an open secret in Haiti that politicians were the ones who have

funded and armed the gangs in Haiti.

It's the president, the prime minister, the ministers, the elite.

They are the worst gangs in Haiti.

He promises to give amnesty to the foot soldiers and come after the politicians who he says

put them there.

That was a peacekeeping force that was arranged.

Is it still happening? I mean, does it look like it's going to be deployed?

their police until Haiti has new leadership.

This deployment was approved by the U.N.

last year and it has been delayed over and over.

And this is yet one more wrinkle.

Are you still hoping to get into Haiti?

Look, we've been trying, but Dominican authorities have not allowed us to leave their

country by land and cross into the border into Haiti.

They say it's for our own safety.

They say it's to avoid a diplomatic problem with Haiti.

The airports are closed in Haiti.

So a land crossing with the Dominican Republic is the only way for us to get closer to

this story. But unfortunately, despite days of

appeals to the Dominican foreign ministry, to immigration authorities, to the

presidency, we have not been allowed to exit the Dominican Republic to cross into Haiti

to bring our listeners this story.

Thanks a lot. Thank you, E.

The world's first comprehensive AI legislation is here and it comes from Europe.

It aims to shape the creation of what they call human centric AI with regulations which

will apply to any product or service that uses the technology.

not do. Terry, governments around the world are trying to figure out how to regulate

AI. So what's the European Union doing?

It took several difficult years of negotiation and public feedback.

They had to balance this complicated technology and a very powerful industry with

consumer protections and then get 27 governments to agree to the same set of rules.

Here's one of the parliamentarians who led work on the law, Dragos Tutorache.

that will be driving us into the future.

And at the same time, you realize that clearly there are risks, there are concerns.

So how are they going to do it practically?

what's considered their potential risk to society from low to limited to high up to

unacceptable. And each of these will be subject to different levels of regulatory

control. At the low end, there won't be any requirements or regulation.

And at the unacceptable end, they'll be banned altogether in the EU.

I mean, who gets to decide how risky a certain use of A.I.

in video games or spam filters, we're all familiar with those.

And at the unacceptable end are uses such as biometric identification, which will be

prohibited in public spaces except in special cases like law enforcement or

counterterrorism. But authorities will have to get special permission and it will be

really strictly limited.

EU governments are the ones responsible for evaluating and enforcing the act on their

own territory. But the bloc has set up an office here in Brussels to help coordinate

and make sure it's being done in a fair way across the EU.

It'll also provide guidance for companies and developers so they're in compliance.

What's been the response from the tech industry, from those developers?

And what what happens if companies just don't want to comply?

years, but they feel like they've both protected consumers and the technology's

potential. This is how it was described by Brando Benefe, one of the

co-leaders of the parliamentary work.

competitive disadvantage.

Instead, we want our citizens to know that thanks to our rules, they can trust the

businesses that will develop AI in Europe.

going to be good for them, but they won't have a choice.

The act will get final approval from EU leaders in the next month or two.

It'll be gradually implemented over the next two years, and then violators can be

fined up to seven percent of a company's annual turnover.

That's Terry Schultz in Brussels.

Terry, thanks. Thanks, A.

We are headed once again for a presidential rematch between Joe Biden and Donald

Trump, but polls and NPR's own reporting suggests many Americans aren't exactly

thrilled about that.

Kennedy Jr. are seeking to capitalize with third party bids, and they're trying to

gain attention in unorthodox ways, like maybe naming a famous professional

quarterback to the ticket.

Montanar, to help us sort all of this out.

So Domenico, RFK Jr.

is the nephew of a former president.

He's controversial.

He took false stances related to vaccines, and most members of his family don't want

him to run. But he is running.

He is running as an independent.

So how is he planning to name a vice presidential running mate?

decision about a vice presidential running mate and that he's going to let everyone

know about it on March 26th in Oakland, California.

We don't know who that's going to be, but the campaign confirms that in addition to

others, Kennedy's reached out to former Minnesota governor and wrestler Jesse

Ventura and yes, Aaron Rodgers, the former Green Bay Packer and current New York

Jet. We don't know how realistic this is, but Rodgers has praised Kennedy.

They align on their views on vaccines.

I mean, you remember that during the pandemic, Rodgers landed in hot water after

claiming to be, quote, immunized when he'd never been vaccinated against COVID.

And he's also continued to needle those who are promoting vaccines.

Aaron Rodgers went to Cal nearby, and he's supposed to be being the quarterback of

the Jets in November. So I don't know how he's going to handle both if he's the guy.

But OK, so why is Kennedy doing this now?

I mean, he needs signatures to get on ballots across the country.

And that's a tough thing to do when you're not affiliated with a major party.

But more practically, he needs to meet filing deadlines that require naming a vice

president. You know, and it's not just Kennedy who's doing this or needing to.

Other third party candidates like Cornel West, the Harvard professor, says that he's

going to name a VP by the end of the month, too.

No Labels. So where are they at with who might they pick?

And today the group is going to announce the panel that would be tasked with picking a

candidate. The group so far has really struggled to find someone.

Several higher profile moderates like Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said no.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has opted to run for the Senate.

Nikki Haley said that despite her differences with Trump, she's a Republican.

The latest potential name being floated is Jeff Duncan, a former lieutenant governor

from Georgia. But it's not clear No Labels is going to find anyone at all at this

point. And that's music to Democrat's ears who believe a third party moderate would

only hurt Biden's chances.

presidential election?

White House. And Trump has a pretty solid base of support, but didn't get above 47

percent of the vote in either 2016 or 2020.

He won in 2016, though, when the third party vote was 6 percent.

He lost in 2020 when it was less than 2 percent.

RFK Jr. potentially scrambles things in really unconventional ways.

I mean, polling has been inconsistent about who he pulls from the most.

But Democrats are particularly nervous about his campaign and with good reason.

He's got a famous Democratic last name.

His campaign says that he's polling best with people under 35 and seeing lots of

them at rallies. And the issue set that he's campaigning on skews pretty progressive,

calling out corporate greed, being pro-environment and against war.

That's a really big potential problem for Biden, who needs younger voters and the

left flank of his party if he hopes to win reelection.

And former President Trump has called RFK Jr.

a very smart person.

He can play on Sundays, then campaign the rest of the week.

Jets.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Tara Neal, Dana Farrington, Nick Spicer,

Jan Johnson and Ben Adler.

It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams and Lindsay Tauti.

We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott and our technical director is Zach

Coleman. Start your day here with us again tomorrow.

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