Up First from NPR
National Guard Shooting & Immigration, Venezuela Latest, Ukraine Negotiations
01 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning, A. Hello, Layla.
I know, you don't say good morning.
Guess what tomorrow is, A. Well, it's not my birthday, so it's just another Tuesday as far as I'm concerned.
Okay, not just another Tuesday. It's Giving Tuesday.
That's right. That's forgotten.
Yeah, and NPR celebrates this global day of generosity every year. But we've never had a year quite like this one before.
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Chapter 2: What recent event prompted the White House to tighten immigration policies?
Thank you.
Some U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say at least one of President Trump's attacks against a boat in the Caribbean Sea may have been a war crime.
So far, U.S. military forces have destroyed 21 boats that the administration says were trafficking drugs. and killed 83 people without publicly releasing evidence that the boats were actually carrying drugs. Meanwhile, Venezuela is warning that the U.S. intends to invade the country and seize its oil reserves.
For more, we now go to John Otis, who is covering the story from neighboring Colombia. John, the U.N. says these American strikes violate international law. Some U.S. lawmakers now have raised the issue of war crimes, but there is no declaration of war against Venezuela.
Yeah, that's correct. There's no formal war between the two countries, but Trump has said that he's waging war against Venezuelan drug traffickers. And as you mentioned, U.S. forces have destroyed more than 20 alleged drug boats, killing more than 80 people.
But the Washington Post reported that following one of the first strikes back in September, there were initially two survivors clinging to the boat wreckage. According to the Post, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given an order to kill everyone aboard alleged drug boats and that this order led to a second strike in which those survivors were killed.
Here's Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, speaking on the CBS News program Face the Nation.
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Chapter 3: How is the U.S. responding to drug trafficking in the Caribbean?
If that reporting is true, it's a clear violation of the DOD's own laws of war, as well as international laws about the way you treat people who are in that circumstance. And so this rises to the level of a war crime, if it's true.
Ag Seth has called the Post report fake news, and Trump, speaking with reporters last night on Air Force One, backed him up. But the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have vowed to increase oversight of the boat strikes.
Now, President Trump has been warning airlines to steer clear of Venezuelan airspace. What does that mean about a possible attack?
Yeah, you know, ever since his first term, Trump has been pushing for regime change in Venezuela. Its president, Nicolas Maduro, has crushed the country's democracy and its economy, prompting about 8 million Venezuelans to flee overseas. Trump has also confirmed that he recently talked to Maduro on the phone, though he didn't provide any details.
On Sunday, Venezuela's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, read a statement from Maduro claiming that this is all about oil.
Now, here she's saying Venezuela formally accuses the U.S.
government of trying to take control of Venezuela's vast oil reserves. But experts say the 15,000 U.S. troops based on warships in the Caribbean are not enough to take control of Venezuela. Trump could instead order limited attacks on Venezuelan territory, or he might just stick to these boat strikes.
Now, John, while this is happening, President Trump then suddenly announced that he has plans to pardon a former Honduran president who is convicted of drug trafficking. So why that? Why now?
Yeah, the timing on this is quite strange amid Trump's anti-narcotics campaign. And just before the Honduran presidential election that took place on Sunday. But Trump has also been quick to defend former presidents elsewhere in the world who get into legal hot water. Juan Orlando Hernandez is a former Honduran president who was sentenced last year in the U.S.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of the shooting of National Guard members for asylum seekers?
You know, that said, Trump has dismissed this as basically deal-making 101. And Putin also defended Witkoff, saying, yeah, he's a polite and intelligent guy who tried to work with us. And wouldn't it be strange if he'd come here and just insulted us and expected to get anything done?
So, OK, Wyckoff and Putin have some rapport, as I hear there. Trump says he does as well with Putin. But has that translated into any actual flexibility in the Russian position?
It's a good question, you know, because Putin, it seems, is trying to tempt the U.S. into upping the pressure on Ukraine to accept a deal.
On Friday, he offered an immediate end to hostilities if Ukraine withdraws from territory Moscow claims, which may sound appealing if you ignore that it's Ukrainian land that Russia hasn't been able to seize in more than three years of fighting, although Putin argues it's just a matter of time. Meanwhile, Russia has been tempting the U.S. in other ways.
Putin's negotiators, they constantly talk about how much money the U.S. could make in Russia once the war ends and sanctions are lifted. which is why some of these statements out of Florida were interesting to hear. You know, they suggest the U.S. now sees prosperity, business deals as key to a lasting peace.
The question is, to what degree are they seen as a substitute for Western security guarantees for Ukraine that Kiev has always sought and Moscow has always rejected?
That's NPR's Charles Maines in Moscow. Thank you, Charles.
Thank you.
And that's Up First for Monday, December 1st. I'm Leila Faldin.
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Chapter 5: What changes are being made to visa reviews for Afghan nationals?
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