Trump’s Deadline for Ukraine, and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Abrupt Resignation

0:02From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, November 24th. Here's what we're covering.

0:13All right, we had a very good day today. I think we made a tremendous amount of progress, even from the last time I spoke to you. And I apologize for keeping you waiting, but there was more work to be done. U.S. and Ukrainian officials are sounding an optimistic note about a peace plan that could help stop the brutal war in Ukraine. I don't want to declare victory or finality here. There's still some work to be done. But we are much further ahead today at this time than we were when we began this morning. The two countries said that in talks yesterday, they had, quote, updated and refined the 28-point proposal that the U.S.

0:47put forward last week. President Trump set a deadline of this Thursday for Ukraine to agree to the plan. And my colleague Cassandra Vinograd says that diplomats have been working to get on the same page. When the draft proposal started circulating last week, a lot of Ukrainians rejected it outright, saying it was akin to a wish list for the Kremlin. It repeated so many of President Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands, including requirements that it cede territory, reduce the size of its military, and rule out NATO membership. We're still unclear today what points may have been adjusted and what issues still need to be addressed.

1:26Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the outstanding points not unsurmountable. But we do have word from at least one European leader this morning saying that major issues remain unresolved. Cassandra says that there was no immediate comment from the Kremlin about yesterday's talks. But Turkey's president, who has offered to help mediate, said he expects to speak with Vladimir Putin about the potential agreement today.

1:57Now, two quick updates from Washington. Did you expect it to be so chummy? What was going through your head when you were standing there? You know, I thought again and again about what it would mean for New Yorkers if we could establish a productive relationship that would focus on the issues that those New Yorkers stay up late at night thinking about. New York City's Mayor Alex Zoran Mamdani and President Trump are both signaling that they intend to work together following a remarkably friendly meeting at the White House. For months, the two had attacked each other, with Mamdani calling Trump a fascist and Trump calling Mamdani a lunatic.

2:29But talking to reporters after their sit-down on Friday, they were very buddy-buddy, with Trump even jumping in to defend Mamdani from pointed questions from conservative news outlets. In interviews over the weekend, Mamdani insisted that he'll be able to find ways to work with Trump on the centerpiece of his campaign, making New York City more affordable. And Trump said he has no immediate plans to send the National Guard to New York, something he'd been threatening to do. If they need it, right now other places need it more. But if they need it, we had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that.

3:02But if they need it, I would do it. Momdani's term as mayor will begin on January 1st.

3:11Meanwhile, in another unexpected political twist. I have too much self-respect and dignity. I love my family way too much, and I do not want my sweet district to have to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the president that we all fought for. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia abruptly announced her plan to resign from office after President Trump unendorsed her and called her a traitor. While Green was once one of Trump's most forceful supporters, she's been drifting away in recent months, opposing military aid to Israel, calling for the extension of Obamacare subsidies, and most notably, demanding that the administration release the Epstein files, something Trump long resisted.

3:56Her decision to leave Capitol Hill came as a surprise even to her inner circle, who apparently got only a 20-minute heads-up before she posted the video announcing that she'll be done January 5th. According to Green's friends and associates, she'd felt increasingly isolated politically, disgusted with her own party, and terrified by a wave of death threats, apparently from supporters of the president. In the meantime, her public rift with Trump underscores the fact that there's some dissatisfaction among the president's base with parts of his agenda, as his lock-tight grip on the Republican Party has started to show some signs of weakening.

4:39In the UK, the country's prime minister is trying a new approach to immigration policy. It's what experts in immigration have labeled negative nation branding. In practice, it makes the lives of refugees as uncomfortable as possible to deter others from making the same trip. Under the plan, asylum seekers will no longer be entitled to automatic aid like housing. And even if they are granted asylum, they'd have to wait 20 years rather than the current five before they could apply to stay permanently. There's also a provision where the government can take in asylum seekers' valuables or jewelry to help pay for the cost of shelter.

5:16A lot of elements of the plan come straight from Denmark's policies. The Danish model is essentially a model that tries to tell asylum seekers that they aren't really welcome here. Like the goal is to get people to leave if they have any other choice. My colleague Gina Smilak has been covering how negative nation branding played out in Denmark. It tightened its rules about a decade ago. And while the number of asylum seekers has dropped all across Europe, Denmark has one of the lowest rates of people applying for asylum in the entire EU. Other countries are now using its policies as a playbook, like the UK, where the prime minister's party is trying to fend off an anti-immigration party that has a double-digit lead in recent polling.

5:56I think what we've seen around the world, in the United States, in much of Europe, is that a lot of working class voters in particular really want to see parties taking a hard stance on immigration. They think that immigration has gotten out of control. They think that it hasn't been managed very well in recent years. And so we're seeing parties that lean to the left embracing these harder stances. Critics of Negative Nation branding say the people who lose out are those seeking asylum, as people who are already vulnerable may get caught in worse conditions.

6:32The Federal Transportation Department has approved new standards for a crash test dummy, designed to more accurately capture what happens to the female body during car crashes. Most of the safety features in modern cars have been designed and tested with the proportions of a man in mind, a man from about half a century ago. But female drivers in the U.S. are almost 75 % more likely than a male driver to be severely injured in a crash, and about 17 % more likely to die, according to government data. A government report linked that disparity to how cars are designed. The government says the new dummy will more accurately reflect the shape of women's necks, collarbones, pelvises, and legs.

7:16But traffic safety advocates want the government to go further and require carmakers and the auto industry at large to use the new design. At the moment, it's optional. Legislation's been introduced in Congress to make it mandatory and to make sure that tests put the female dummy in the driver's seat. At one point, the government updated some of its testing standards, but only required the female dummy to be in the passenger seat or the back seat, even though licensed female drivers in the U.S. outnumber male drivers by about 3 million.

7:54And finally, the Internet has a new challenge. Luckily, this one doesn't involve getting dunked in water or having to chug anything. It is all about timing. You listen to Whitney Houston's big hit, I Will Always Love You, and you wait for the dramatic pause. Then you try to come back in by hitting a drum or clapping your hands right when the song does. Videos of people trying and often failing have racked up millions of views, whether it's Scarlett Johansson or a middle school band teacher giving it a shot.

8:31The consensus is that it is way harder than it looks, which I personally very much agree with.

8:39So the Times called up David Foster, who produced and arranged the song for Whitney, to ask, why is it so difficult? He said, one tricky thing is that the booming of the drum lands between beats, which even he described as so random. The Times then obviously asked him to try it, and even he struggled. But now that you know about the between the beats thing, here's one more chance for you to give it a try. Ready? I wish you love.

9:17Did you get it? Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.