Mideast Update, Texas Border Feud, Farmers Blockade Paris

He says an attack on U.S. forces risks widening the war instead of ending it.

Texas is telling the federal government to stay out of the way at the southern border.

border control?

they're calling a siege.

We'll hear why farmers in France are forcing a standoff with the government over wages

and regulations.

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The Prime Minister of Qatar is in Washington for talks with U.S. officials trying to work

out a framework of a deal to pause or end the war in Gaza and get Israeli hostages released.

So what's this warning about?

Three American service members were killed in the drone attack in Jordan.

The U.S. says the attack came from an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq.

And officials tell NPR that the air defense systems at the base were thwarted.

It appears that a U.S. drone was in the sky at the same time as this enemy drone.

And so operators were confused.

They didn't know whether this was a friendly or an enemy aircraft.

So it was able to attack the base.

More than 40 other U.S. troops were injured.

And now what everyone is waiting for is the U.S. response.

could derail these talks.

The prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani,

is in Washington for talks with U.S. officials.

Qatar is playing a critical role in the negotiations with Israel, the U.S., and Egypt.

And speaking to the Atlantic Council, he said the situation in the Middle East is boiling.

Everyone, he says, is dancing at the edge.

And everyone knows that this attack against U.S. forces in Jordan will have consequences.

Let's listen.

Yet, it will definitely have an impact on it and will, one way or another, it will have

an impact on the regional security.

And we hope that things get contained and not to get scattered beyond control.

Israeli war against Hamas.

The death toll is mounting.

There are still more than 100 Israeli hostages in Gaza.

They've been there since October 7th.

There's been high-level meetings in Paris to reach a deal or to try to stop or pause

the fighting and to release the hostages.

And the worry is that these attacks in the region can complicate those talks.

And what the prime minister of Qatar is saying is that whatever that American retaliation

is has the potential to throw the peace process between Israel and Hamas into disarray.

And that's important because so much of this chaos has emerged from this conflict.

Just to put that in context, the Pentagon says that there have been about 160 attacks

against U.S. bases since the Gaza war broke out.

that was hashed out by the international community.

And the outside world seems much more hopeful about the prospects.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there was, quote, real hope for a deal.

But since those talks wrapped, there have been dueling statements issued by Israel and

Hamas that leave an impression that there is still a lot of work to do.

There's even disagreement about what a ceasefire would mean.

Would it be for a determined amount of time or would it be a permanent ceasefire?

And meanwhile, the war continues in Gaza.

More than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's health ministry.

And yesterday evening, Hamas launched rockets toward here in Tel Aviv.

That hadn't happened in weeks.

And in the West Bank city of Jenin, Israeli military raided a major hospital there and

killed three militants.

They say they were planning an attack.

The hospital says that they were actually patient.

Thank you very much.

He joins us now from El Paso.

Two weeks of this border standoff.

What's the state of Texas' argument for its hardline stance?

Security, in short, Texas isn't budging and won't surrender control of Shelby Park.

That's the area in Eagle Pass that was heavily traversed by migrants who were seeking asylum

until Texas National Guard and state police took control.

Paxton's response came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that U.S. Border Patrol

agents can remove some of the barriers erected by state officers, which includes miles of

razor wire.

Agents said they have a right to access the river to perform their duties, which include

apprehending migrants and processing them according to federal law.

But here's Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on Friday basically telling the federal government,

give it up and move on.

United States, so that makes its border with Mexico America's border with Mexico.

So, Julian, what's the question here?

Texas's actions are part of Operation Lone Star, which Governor Greg Abbott initiated

three years ago to stop what he claims are the Biden administration's, quote, open border

policies.

And while Border Patrol agents apprehend and process migrants, which is part of their job,

Texas is arguing that migrants should be arrested on the spot and detained.

And that's what state officers have been doing with control over the park, arresting

migrants on trespassing charges.

That's different from what federal agents do when they detain migrants and release some

of the migrants while they await immigration hearings.

I mean, is Texas openly defying the Supreme Court here?

at least not yet.

So the five to four order only vacated a lower court order that forbade federal agents from

cutting the wire as the case plays out in the courts.

But the justices didn't explain why in their one page order.

Steve Ladek, a constitutional scholar at the University of Texas at Austin, said the high

courts ruling essentially protects the federal government from sanctions if they remove the

wire, but it didn't order Texas to withdraw or stop doing anything.

The larger issue that the court will eventually have to tackle is who is the supreme authority

on immigration, individual states or the federal government.

I mean, how worried are people about that?

So nerves are somewhat frayed, but it's not as if state guard troops and federal agents

are locked and loaded and pointing weapons at each other.

In the past, there has been good cooperation between the state and federal officers, specifically

state officers turn over migrant women and children to Border Patrol on most occasions.

But a group that called itself Take Our Border Back put out on social media an open call

to active and retired law enforcement and military ranchers, truckers and other, quote,

freedom loving Americans to rally in Arizona, California and Eagle Pass, Texas this weekend

to call on the federal government to, quote, secure the border.

It's billed as a peaceful event, but there have been reports of messages in online chat

rooms that include some alarming language that gives a nod to vigilantism and possible

violence.

Thank you.

capital.

It's all part of a standoff between the farmers and the French government.

So, Rebecca, a siege.

That sounds very intense.

Why are farmers using the word siege?

Siege.

But whatever you call it, they're causing major traffic disruptions.

The farmers are blocking the main highways that enter Paris one by one.

I was at the A1 highway last night, which is the main road between the city and Charles

de Gaulle Airport.

Hundreds of farmers are camped out there.

Dozens of tractors are blocking all lanes in both directions.

And the farmers are settling in for what could be a long week.

They have tents set up, barbecues and even portable toilets.

So what's got them so angry that they're using tractors as traffic barriers?

But let me walk you through some of the big ones.

There are mounting complaints about poor working conditions, unfair competition caused by

cheaper agricultural products coming in from elsewhere in the EU, even countries like Spain

and Italy and beyond.

And then you have this question of overregulation.

I spoke with one farmer whose family has been in this business for over 100 years.

His name is Pierre de Wilde.

And here's what he had to say.

So he's saying things have become increasingly difficult in the last 10 years in particular,

with too much regulation at both the French and EU level, which has significantly lowered

the farmers' output, which has in turn lowered their profits.

So how's the French government responding?

So the French government actually did make some concessions last week.

They promised to change some of these bureaucratic regulations,

give farmers some emergency funding and guarantee a living wage.

They also said they would scrap plans to get rid of a diesel subsidy for farmers.

But it obviously hasn't been enough to please them entirely.

For example, France's regulations for organic produce are stricter than the rest of the EU.

And the farmers say that's not fair.

Regulations to do with climate change are also stricter.

And all this puts the French farmers at a disadvantage compared to other farmers in the EU.

And the new French prime minister, Gabriel Attal,

is supposed to address all this in parliament later today.

It sounds to me, Rebecca, like they're the ones most affected,

from what the farmers produce to having their commutes being blocked.

But I have to say, there's actually pretty big widespread support.

One poll has shown that 90% of the French population supports the farmers on this one.

I spoke to Tufik Balakat, and he's a taxi driver,

someone whose livelihood is directly impacted by all this.

Right.

And here's what he had to say.

So he's saying he doesn't have a problem with what they're doing,

and he's actually ready to lose money

if it means the farmers are going to get more help from the French government.

If you remember this siege, it's not even 24 hours old yet.

And the farmers say they're going to stay at least until Thursday,

when French President Emmanuel Macron is going to be in Brussels for an EU summit.

And the farmers are demanding that Macron use this visit

as an excuse to carry this fight to the EU level.

Thanks a lot.

I'm A. Martinez.

Today's Up First was edited by Jerry Holmes,

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