Vance Iran Negotiations, Israel-Lebanon Talks, Artemis II Return To Earth

0:02Vice President J.D. Vance leads U.S. negotiations to end a war he reportedly never wanted. President Trump says Vance gets the blame if he fails and Trump takes the credit if he succeeds. Which sounds like a joke, but is it? I'm Leila Faldil, that's Stephen Skeep, and this is Up First from NPR News. President Trump told Israel's prime minister to, quote, go low-key in its attacks on Lebanon after it killed hundreds in one day. Israel agreed to negotiations with Lebanon, its neighbor and enemy, since 1948. But can there be progress when the Lebanese government is weak and has little control over the political and armed group Hezbollah?

0:39Also, the Artemis II crew is returning from a journey around the moon. They plan to splash down near California tonight after traveling farther into space than any humans in history. Stay with us. We'll give you the news from around the world and a bit beyond.

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1:39Be honest. Are you happy with your job? Are you stuck in a job you've outgrown or never wanted in the first place? Are your reasons for staying really just excuses for not leaving? Let a career coach from strawberry.me help you get unstuck. Discover the benefits of having a dedicated career coach in your corner and get 50 % off your first coaching session at strawberry.me slash NPR. This weekend's negotiations to end the war with Iran puts some pressure on Vice President J.D. Vance. Yeah, Vance is to lead the U.S. team that will meet for talks in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It's a big role for an Iraq War veteran whose political brand included opposition to American wars in the Middle East.

2:24His task now is to bring together two countries that have been enemies for almost half a century. NPR White House correspondent Daniel Kurtzleben is covering the story. Daniel, good morning. Hey, good morning. Why would the White House send J.D. Vance to negotiate? Well, you know, he's been asked how he got pulled into all these negotiations. and specifically if those previous non-interventionist statements you all mentioned, if those might be a reason why he's been involved. And he's also been asked if Iranians requested that he be in negotiations. Vance responded to all of that by demurring, saying he'd be surprised if that's true.

2:57He really tried to downplay his role here, saying that he just thought he could make a difference, that that's why he's there. But it has been reported that Vance was initially, within this administration, a loud voice against this war. So there's some logic to him playing a part in trying to end it. Not to mention that if he wants to run for, say, the presidency in 2028, he'd probably like to be able to say he helped end a conflict that a lot of people disliked. But all of that said, Trump laid out a sort of classic vice presidential trap last week at an Easter breakfast. Here's what he had to say about peace negotiations.

3:32So if it doesn't happen, I'm blaming J.D. Vince. If it does happen, I'm taking full credit. You know, it sounds jokey, but Trump does love claiming a win, and he doesn't like taking responsibility for losses. What is going to make it tough for Vance to get to a win here? Well, he's trying to broker a permanent peace between parties that don't even agree on what the current ceasefire is. For example, a big goal is to make sure the Strait of Hormuz is open, but that strait doesn't appear to be fully open right now, even after the ceasefire. And where things stand there has been really unclear. Trump this week even floated the idea of the U.S.

4:09and Iran together charging fees for ships to pass through, though he didn't explain any further how that would work. And that said, though, yesterday on social media, Trump posted that Iran better not be, his words, charging tankers right now to pass through. But besides the strait, there's enriched uranium. Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt has said it's a red line that Iran turned that over. But that's after President Trump has waffled on that issue. Last week, he said in an interview that he doesn't even care about the uranium. And again here, Trump has floated the idea of cooperating. On social media this week, he suggested the U.S.

4:44and Iran dig up uranium together. Okay, so how do you think Vance is likely to take up that challenge? Well, we don't have a track record to look at. Prior to being the VP, Vance was a senator from Ohio and only for two years, so he doesn't have a lot of international experience. But he's been less than diplomatic in the lead-up to these negotiations. We can say that because when asked about accusations from the Speaker of Iran's parliament that the U.S. had violated points of the ceasefire this week, Vance had this to say about that speaker. I actually wonder how good he is at understanding English because there are things that he said that frankly didn't make sense in the context of the negotiations that we've had.

5:23Now, that doesn't mean Vice President Vance will be disagreeable or anything at the negotiating table, but it does show that like his boss, he can be harsh. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben, thanks so much for the insights. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Now, the ceasefire is showing immense signs of stress. Yeah, that's especially true because it's not a ceasefire at all in Lebanon. Israel says Lebanon's not part of the deal. And Wednesday, it launched its deadliest attacks of the entire war, including on densely populated civilian areas of Beirut, far from places known as Hezbollah strongholds. Many of those strikes came with no warning for civilians and killed more than 300 people.

6:04Today, Lebanese are still pulling their dead from the rubble, and Israel has issued new evacuation orders. Under pressure from President Trump and other leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will enter into direct talks with Lebanon. How is that supposed to help? We go to NPR's Carrie Khan in Tel Aviv to explain. Carrie, welcome. Hi, good morning. Okay, so I get that they're longtime enemies, these two neighbors, and it's a big deal for Israel to talk to Lebanon's government. So first, what brought that about? Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing quite a pressure campaign. Iran's foreign ministry says it won't be involved in overall peace talks that are going to be held in Pakistan on Saturday unless this Lebanon issue is part of the ceasefire agreement.

6:48Trump is telling Netanyahu to pull back. And speaking to NBC, Trump said Netanyahu got the message and is, quote, going to low-key it. A person briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly tells NPR that Israel has agreed to reduce its military activity and that talks will take place directly between Israel and Lebanon at the ambassador levels, and that will happen in Washington. We don't know exactly when. So, as you said, this is a huge deal. The two countries have never had negotiations directly like this before. Huge deal, but I'm trying to understand this as an outsider.

7:23Israel is fighting with Hezbollah, this armed group in Lebanon, which is not exactly the same as the Lebanese government with whom the Israelis are going to talk. Right. So talks are going to be difficult for sure. Israel and Lebanon have been in a perpetual state of war since Israel's establishment in 1948. Lebanon's government is very weak right now and doesn't have much control over Hezbollah. Hezbollah, it does hold seats in the government, few, but they always say that the Lebanese leadership and the government doesn't speak for them. And last night, a Hezbollah representative said that it rejects outright direct talks with Israel.

8:01So it is going to be tough. You're reporting from Israel. Do Israelis want to ceasefire? Well, I just got back from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, and I heard repeatedly in those communities that have been hit hard by Hezbollah rockets, that they don't want Israel to stop until they say Hezbollah is finished once and for all. I heard that a lot, including from the general manager of the border town of Shlomi. His name is Luchi Yusuf. And he said, if Israel were to stop right now, what was the point of the whole war? It looks like there's no big achievement. We are in almost the same place as we were about 40 days ago.

8:38And he says, in a few months, Hezbollah will just be back, re-armed, and fighting will resume again, as it always does. Okay, key player here, obviously, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He has signaled that he's willing to back off a little bit in Lebanon. What is he telling his own people? He put out a video last night saying, look, don't worry, I am not backing down. He said, there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We are still striking Hezbollah with great force, and we won't stop until we restore your security. That doesn't sound like he's low-keying it, to use President Trump's phrase.

9:16Not at all. And Pierre's Carrie Kahn is in Tel Aviv. Carrie, thanks so much. You're welcome.

9:28Okay, the Artemis II crew is coming back to Earth. The four astronauts launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida nearly 10 days ago after a mission around the moon and back. They're set to splash down near California tonight. Just an amazing story that's unfolded over the last couple of weeks. Brendan Byrne of Central Florida Public Media has been covering the whole thing, and he's on with us again. Good morning. Good morning, Steve. How do the astronauts get home? So the crew has been preparing their cabin for reentry for a bit now. They're packing all of their stuff up. They're putting their seats back in place, pulling out their spacesuits.

10:01They're going to hit the Earth's atmosphere about 25 ,000 miles per hour. experience temperatures. Yeah, it's fast. Experience temperatures up to 5 ,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Jeff Radigan, Artemis II lead flight director, says the whole process will take only about 13 minutes. I'm going to tell you, it's 13 minutes of things that have to go right, is the way I think about it. I have a whole checklist in my head that we're going through of all the things that have to happen. All the things that have to happen include blowing the top off the capsule so that a series of parachutes can deploy. Those parachutes will slow them down to just 20 miles per hour, and they'll splash down in the Pacific.

10:37Now, I should add, mission control will lose contact with the crew for six of those 13 minutes during their entry process. Suspenseful six minutes, I'm sure. 5 ,000 degree temperatures, okay, there's a heat shield slowing from 25 ,000 miles an hour down to 20. How risky is all of this? Steve, there's always a risk when returning from space. Mission pilot Victor Glover called it like riding a fireball through the atmosphere. Speaking from the Orion spacecraft, Kraft Glover said that he had been thinking about this portion of the mission since he was selected for it back in 2023, and he's been looking forward to it ever since.

11:12We have to get back. There's so much data that you've seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. There's so many more pictures, so many more stories. And gosh, I haven't even begun to process what we've been through. One thing to keep in mind, which you mentioned, Steve, is the heat shield. This is the piece of hardware beneath the capsule that protects the crew from those extreme temperatures during reentry. Well, NASA tested it on the uncrewed mission that came before this one, and they found the heat shield wasn't performing as designed. So NASA and the Artemis II crew worked on a way to mitigate the risk.

11:44What was the solution? Well, the solution was to hit the atmosphere steeper and faster. Wow. Sounds kind of like the opposite of what you should do, right? But by approaching this reentry that way, the crew will spend less time in those really energetic moments of return. And that should keep the crew safe, Radigan says. as long as they get that initial approach just right. Let's not beat around the bush. We have to hit that angle correctly. Otherwise, we're not going to have a successful reentry. And then what happens? Once they get down, I mean. Well, there's a recovery team stationed on the USS John P.

12:16Murtha that will head out to the capsule. They'll deploy a raft just outside the hatch, which they're calling the porch, and pull the astronauts out. They'll head back to the transport ship and then hitch a ride to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Their capsule will be scooped up out of the water, then trekked across the country, returning it here to Florida's Space Coast in about two weeks. Remember, this is a test flight, so engineers are going to be picking apart the spacecraft to see how it performed and make any necessary changes ahead of the next mission, Artemis 3, which NASA wants to launch next year.

12:44I'm just enjoying the idea they're going to be stepping out onto the porch. Brendan, thanks so much. Anytime, Steve. That's Brendan Byrne from Central Florida Public Media. He hosts the space podcast, Are We There Yet?

12:59And that's Up First for this Friday, April 10th. I'm Steve Inskeep. And I'm Leila Faldin. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Rebecca Metzler, Jerry Holmes, Amina Khan, Mohamed Elberdisi, and Taylor Haney. It was produced by Ziad Butch and Ava Pukach. Our director is Katie Klein. We get engineering support from Nisha Hines. And our technical director is Carly Strange. Our executive producer is Jay Shaler. Join us again on Monday.

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