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Israeli forces captured a medieval castle. Their deepest incursion in Lebanon in 26 years. Iran says any deal to end the war must include Lebanon where Israel is ramping up its military operations. So where does this lead the talks?
>> I'm Steven Skip with Amartinus.
And this is up first from NPR News.
[MUSIC] Congress is back in Washington facing a jammed-up immigration bill. The President's anti-weaponization program that could pay January 6th to Fendance is holding everything up. And Trump keeps making enemies of Republicans he needs.
>> The anti-weaponization fund is also getting scrutiny in the courts. One judge temporarily blocked any payouts and another is asking President Trump's personal lawyers to defend the settlement that created the fund in the first place.
“Stay with us, we've got all the news you need to start your day.”
[MUSIC] >> Every episode of its Venom in it NPR's What's Happening in Culture Podcast starts by asking three questions, who, how, why now?
If the culture's asking it, we're talking about it.
At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious and indulge your cultural curiosity. Follow its Venom in it wherever you get your podcasts. And we'll break down the zeitgeistie topics that are filling your feed. >> At the official level, there are ceasefires in both the Iran war and the Lebanon war, yet we have reports this morning of fighting on both fronts.
>> The United States and Iran have been trading long distance fire. Israel is expanding ground operations in southern Lebanon and Israeli troops have captured a medieval castle. >> For more on this, we're joined by MPR's Greg Myri in Tel Aviv. Greg, let's start off with the fighting in Iran.
>> Yeah, the US military says American aircraft fired on a number of Iranian sites over the weekend.
Now, they include a radar station, some drones and a command center for drones.
And this included an attack on Keshem Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Now, the US says it acted because Iran had earlier shot down a US predator drone. The US military says this US drone was flying over international waters. And just this morning Iran says it's fired on a US military base in the region. It didn't say which one.
However, Kuwait's military says the country has come under attack from missiles and drones and defend it itself and the US does have a number of bases in Kuwait.
“>> Okay, so where does this leave talks to in the war in Iran?”
>> Well, President Trump remains confident. He took to true social this morning and said, quote, Iran really wants to make a deal. And it will be a good one for the USA. And then he went on to say, just sit back and relax. It will all work out well in the end.
It always does. Yet, we're seeing today just how volatile conditions remain and how fragile the ceasefire is. You know, Trump met with the top advisors at the White House Friday afternoon. Said he would make a final determination on the proposal to bring the war to an end. But that meeting broke up with no decision.
And even if the president does come out in support for a plan, that isn't necessarily enough. The Iranians keep saying that the deal is not finalized and that the details keep shifting. >> Right, so that's Iran. Let's now turn to Lebanon. That's where Israel claimed military defense over the weekend.
>> Yeah, Israeli forces captured this 900-year-old hilltop castle in southern Lebanon. And it's part of Israel's deepest push into that country in decades. And Israeli flag is now flying over the Beaufort Castle. And from this site, the Israelis have a commanding view over southern Lebanon. The Israelis say Hezbollah was using this area to fire on nearby northern Israel.
And this is a historic castle that carries a huge amount of symbolism. It was the scene of battles ever since the Crusaders built it back in the 12th century. And more recently, Israel captured it in a bloody battle during a 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Israel remained there until it withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. So this raises memories of that long Israeli occupation.
And certainly questions about how long Israel plans to stay this time.
“>> How much is the fighting in Lebanon tied to efforts to end the Iran war?”
>> Yeah, they're very closely related, fighting in Lebanon certainly complicates the Iran talks and could potentially undermine them. Iran issues almost daily statement supporting Hezbollah. And it says peace efforts must address the wars in both Iran and Lebanon. Yet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps saying he wants Israeli forces to keep going
in Lebanon. Just this morning, he issued a statement saying he's ordered the military to attack Hezbollah's strongholds in the southern suburbs of Beirut. >> That's NPR's Greg Myri in Tel Aviv, Greg thinks. >> Sure thing.
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>> Congress returns to Washington from a memorial day break with a very long ...
>> Republicans want to improve funding for immigration enforcement for the rest of Trump's
term. That would be insurance against Republicans losing power to Democrats in Congress who would not vote for so much money. But the funding measure that Trump wants is stuck because of something Trump did. He claimed the power to give taxpayer money to people who claim the federal government targeted
them, including Trump supporters who attacked the capital. >> Eric McDaniel reports on Congress for us, so Eric, how did immigration funding and
“the president's nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund get all mixed together like this?”
>> Well, in order to pass something on a party-lined vote in the Senate procedurally, you've got to let the minority party in this case Democrats propose a lot of amendments to the bill. And those amendments can be on, well, I guess whatever Democrats want. So for the three-year immigration enforcement bill, Democrats are going to propose amendments that put their Republican peers on the record about this anti-weaponization fund.
It became clear, though, that in amendment outlawing the fund could get like 30 Republican votes, probably, which would be embarrassing for Republicans, so GOP leaders push the vote on the package to this week, but President Trump hasn't backed down on the fund in the time they were at home, and I'm just going to say it doesn't seem like waiting has made things any easier.
Some lawmakers are also angry that the president allocated this money in the first place.
He did it unilaterally, even though it is, of course, Congress's job to decide how taxpayer dollars are spent. >> And then Eric, there's another sticking point, and that's been votes over the run-war. >> Right, folks might remember the Senate actually advanced a measure that would force an end
“to the conflict, which is driving up the cost of living and very unpopular among the”
American public. In part, that's because the president keeps making enemies of Senate Republicans, Trump backed a primary opponent against Louisiana's Bill Cassidy, and after Cassidy lost his reelection race, he joined with Democrats in their effort to force an end to the war. The House of Representatives actually delayed a vote on a Democratic war powers resolution
after it looked like Republican absences meant it would have passed. But all of this, of course, is mostly symbolic. The president can veto any of these resolutions that reach his desk. But I should also say the Constitution does give Congress the power to declare war and regulate military conflicts.
And Trump is legally required to get their approval in order to continue his war. That has not happened. >> And just to guess, I imagine the political dynamics only get a lot more difficult as we are closer to November in the general election. >> You know, that's a good guess for one, the president's European lawmaker enemies list continues
to swell. Not just Cassidy, but also Senator John Corden, representative Thomas Massey out of their seats. So for Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who has effectively a one vote majority because of what we're told is a long-term medical absence among one of his members. That means Massey could decide to sink any vote he chooses.
And as we move out of primary races, where party voters matter the most, and into general election season, where all voters matter, midterm headwinds are only going to blow stronger. There are so few races, though, that are actually competitive, maybe 25. But with majority's this narrow, you only need a few seats to flip for capital Hill to just be turned upside down.
>> Massey MPR's Eric McDaniel, Eric Banks. >> Thank you. [MUSIC] >> President Trump's anti-webundization fund isn't just getting pushback in Congress. It's also facing scrutiny in the courts.
>> Judges issued two orders in one day at the end of last week. First, a judge temporarily blocked the government from establishing the president's settlement fund to reimburse people who claim the federal government targeted them. Then another judge said she would investigate Trump's settlement with himself. The president arranged the payoffs and a deal with agencies he controls.
MPR's Jacqueline Diaz is with us to break all of this down, so Jacqueline remind us where we are with his fund. >> So there were a few developments on Friday. This anti-webundization fund was created by the DOJ, and it was part of a settlement of President Trump's civil lawsuit against the IRS.
Trump sued his own government back in January for the leak of his tax returns in 2019.
The DOJ set aside almost $1.8 billion for this fund.
People who feel like they were targeted by the federal government can apply for this fund and get payouts for damages. Groups like the non-profit democracy forward sued the government over this whole program. And on Friday, a judge temporarily blocked the DOJ from moving forward with the fund. That means no payouts right now.
She's not thinking about whether to grant a longer term pause. Trump's lawyers have about two weeks to respond.
“>> Right, so Steve earlier mentioned another judge, what about that other judge?”
>> Yeah, so the original federal judge who oversaw Trump's lawsuit over his tax return leaks also weighed it on Friday. That judge, Judge Kathleen Williams, had earlier dismissed the case after the government and Trump settled. Before dismissing it, she expressed some concerns.
She said she was worried that Trump and the IRS, which is obviously a part of...
weren't really on opposite sides, and that the court itself might be a quote victim of fraud.
“35 retired federal judges waited and urged judge Williams to take another look and stay with”
me here. Judge Williams said she's going to consider that. She's giving Trump's lawyers until June 12th to respond. Trump's supporters have really wanted something like this to exist. But there's a lot of legal obstacles here for the president to get his fund up and running.
>> Yeah, you say some supporters wanted this. How some lawmakers responded to the fund? >> Well, there's some serious bipartisan pushback to this whole program. Republican Senate majority leader John Thun has said previously that he is not a big fan of this fund.
The loudest critics have been naturally Democrats. Some top Democrats are really concerned with another part of this settlement. That is one that bars the U.S. government from taking action over past tax returns filed by Trump his companies and his family. One Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland said on Friday that Congress should not have to wait
for the courts and has the power to act itself.
“>> How has the Trump administration responded to this criticism?”
>> Well, President Trump and other folks in the White House have said repeatedly that he does not get any personal benefit from this fund. And the Justice Department has defended its legality. The DOJ for its part did not respond to requests for comment from NPR. But we do know that some Trump supporters who feel like they've been targeted by the DOJ
have started applying for the fund. So far, that's included Michael Caputo, a Trump ally, and former Health and Human Services spokesman, he has said he and his family were targeted by the Biden administration. Blanch the acting attorney general is sure to get questions about the weaponization fund
“and who might benefit when he testifies before a House budget hearing on Tuesday.”
>> All right, that's MPR's Jacqueline Diaz, Jacqueline thanks for laying all this out for us. >> Thank you. >> And before we go, scientists say that sitting is the new smoking, which has experts trying to answer this question, what's the least amount of movement that you can do to offset
the arms of sitting? >> On the Sunday story, how five minutes can change your life.
Listen, that of Sunday's story right here in the first podcast.
[MUSIC] >> And that's a first from Monday, June 1st, I mean, RTA. >> And I'm Steven Skap today's up first was edited by Tina Crya and you can not off. Mom and Elper, D.C., and Lindsey Todd, and it was produced by Ziyat Bunch and Mia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas, we get engineering support from Zil Bandgenhobin and
our technical director is Carly Strange, join us again tomorrow. [MUSIC] >> NPR's newest podcast is where you can find NPR's biggest interviews. I'm Steven Skap. The program is called NewsMakers.
We talk with some of the most powerful and influential people at this moment to put real
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