Various Interviewees (e.g., Abbas Arachi, Scott Besant, Donald Trump) (3:15)

On Wednesday, there would be no victory for anybody. It would be a devastating war. And since the Americans bases are scattered through different places in the region, then unfortunately, perhaps the whole region would be engaged and would be involved.

Cecilia Ley (3:33)

Iran is in a precarious position. Increasing arrest at home, more citizen protests and a new round of sanctions from the US have only upped the pressure to make a deal. And while Thursday's session appears to have inched things forward, Le Poitevin says diplomacy is ultimately about crossing the T's and dotting the ayes. But if both sides can't do that, then talks will have to end at some point.

Olivia Lepoitevant (3:56)

There is certainly a sense that there is a move in a direction towards trying to get some kind of tangible framework together. And I think that is why we're starting to see this kind of speed pick up. Whether it's quick enough, whether that will be enough to answer Trump's personal concerns, that is yet to be seen.

Cecilia Ley (4:15)

Continued negotiations are reportedly scheduled for next week, a sign that diplomacy may very well continue for now. Since the Supreme Court struck down most of President Trump's global tariffs, a lot of businesses have been asking each other the same question. How do we get our money back? Big Companies like Dyson, FedEx, L' Oreal and others have filed lawsuits to try to recoup tariff costs that they've covered. Importers and retailers have also been feverishly talking to each other to figure out what to do next.

Alina Selyuk (4:55)

It was like a torrent of text messages I started getting from retailers, importers all over the country. They were texting each other, they were getting all caps messages from their trade groups. This was a decision they'd been waiting for with literally bated breath for a very long time.

Cecilia Ley (5:13)

Alina Selyuk is a business reporter with npr. The tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down are worth around 130 billion doll. Technically, anyone who paid those taxes is supposed to get reimbursed. But the court did not explain how

Alina Selyuk (5:28)

many of those businesses are US Based importers and retailers. These are large companies, your big box stores, your Walmarts, your Amazons. But there's also a lot of small businesses, your local bookstore, your local toy manufacturer.

Cecilia Ley (5:42)

That includes a small business owner in Virginia named Sarah Wells, who sells backpacks and totes for new moms.

Alina Selyuk (5:49)

She used to manufacture most of her stuff in China. Sometime last year, she switched her manufacturing to Cambodia. And looking back in the past year, she estimates that she has paid $35,000 specifically in the tariffs that are now struck down by the Supreme Court.

Cecilia Ley (6:05)

In addition to that, she also spent close to half a million dollars to make changes to her business to survive tariffs long term, things like laying off staff, moving manufacturing and holding shipments abroad. And unlike those big companies that filed laws, pursuing litigation is not an easy task for Wells. Here's what she told NPR we not only need the money back, but we need a process to get the money back that doesn't involve lawyers. Really time consuming paperwork, expensive processes. Like none of us have the bandwidth or the resources to do that. Before the Supreme Court ruling, the Trump administration said it would issue refunds, but the path forward is unclear. The administration has signaled it may be ready for a legal fight, with Trump, wagering aloud that a resolution could take years. Here's what Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said from the Capitol in an NBC interview on Tuesday.

Various Interviewees (e.g., Abbas Arachi, Scott Besant, Donald Trump) (7:00)

The Supreme Court remanded the refunds back down to a lower court. There will be a 42 day period before that even happens and then we will see what the lower court says and we will follow what the lower court says to do.

Cecilia Ley (7:16)

About 900 claims have been filed seeking refunds, according to a legal group that represented some of the small businesses in the Supreme Court case. The New York Times reports that the federal government must respond to that group's efforts in court as soon as today. Mexico is still assessing the fallout of the killing of the country's most powerful cartel leader over the weekend. The military raid that resulted in the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho. That operation took place as the US Pushes Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to take more decisive action against cartels. Reuters reports that it's a pivotal moment in Sheinbaum's tenure. She has to prove to the US That Mexico is capable of executing sophisticated operations against the cartels. Emily Green, chief correspondent for Reuters in Mexico, told us how analysts and officials are assessing the country's position right now.

Emily Green (8:15)

This is a strong message to President Trump that yes, I take her concerns seriously. I have the same concerns. We are going after the cartels. We are going after the most wanted cartel leader in Mexico. But we will do it on our terms.

Cecilia Ley (8:31)

The Trump administration has been aggressive and what it says is a campaign against the flow of drugs into the US that includes a series of boat strikes in the Caribbean, the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and this comment from Trump on Fox News last month about going into Mexico to target cartels.

Various Interviewees (e.g., Abbas Arachi, Scott Besant, Donald Trump) (8:49)

We are going to start now hitting land with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It's very, very sad to watch and see what's happened to that country.

Cecilia Ley (9:01)

At his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, Trump depicted the killing of Oseguera Cervantes as a US Success and didn't mention Mexico's role.

Emily Green (9:10)

It's been a fear and it remains a fear that the US Will try to do some kind of unilateral action against the cartels because Trump and I think in many ways wants to claim credit for it. And so Shane Bomb is navigating a very delicate situation where she is trying to accommodate President Trump's concerns and his demands that she go after the cartels, but is also sticking by her red line that she will not accept U.S. troops on the ground.

Cecilia Ley (9:40)

For Shanebaum, it also represents a bit of a shift from the philosophy that governed her predecessor's approach.

Emily Green (9:47)

Her mentor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, he very much adopted a strategy of not confronting the cartels. He, in fact, had the slogan hugs not bullets. And the idea was to go after the root causes of violence, including, of course, poverty.

Cecilia Ley (10:05)

Greene says she hasn't abandoned that strategy, but this appears to mark a more aggressive posture and one that risks triggering more violence. The issue has been that taking out cartel leaders hasn't necessarily resulted in major changes is in the past.

Emily Green (10:19)

I think that you're kind of seeing this see sawing of strategies. The capture of El Chapo, for example, didn't end the Sinaloa cartel by any measures. And in fact, there's been huge amounts of violence and the capture of other cartel leaders within the Sinaloa cartel has further fueled violence. So I don't think that there's a sense that just by going after drug kingpins and that that in and of itself solves a problem of organized crime and cartel violence in Mexico.

Cecilia Ley (10:51)

Whether Shane Bomb can prevent more violence in the coming months and how she balances Mexico's security against mounting pressure from Washington may ultimately define the success of last weekend's opera. And finally, a few other stories were following. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified in a deposition Thursday that she has no new information regarding the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, initially refused to comply with a congressional subpoena to testify, but ultimately agreed after facing potential contempt charges. In her opening statement posted on social media, Clinton said she never flew in Epstein's plane nor visited his island or home. She accused Republican on the House Oversight Committee of engaging in, quote, fishing expeditions. Her testimony was halted briefly after two leaked photos of the interview were posted on social media by a right wing influencer. The photos were taken by Republican Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Democrats are leveraging the Clintons depositions to compel the same out of other prominent figures, including President Trump. Former President Clinton is scheduled to give his deposition today. Netflix has dropped its bid to buy Warner Bros. Ending a tense standoff between the streaming giant and Paramount, which is now poised to take over the historic studio. Netflix is not increasing its bid after the board of Warner Brothers said Paramount's newest offer is superior to the deal it had already made with Netflix. Netflix had until March 4 to make a counteroffer but instead pulled out. Previously, Netflix agreed to buy Warner Brothers for $83 billion, but were outbid this week when Paramount upped its offer to 100 doll. Now Paramount will cover a $2.8 billion termination fee that Warner Brothers owes Netflix for backing out of their deal. And finally, it appears Pope Leo isn't all that impressed with AI. After delivering remarks to the Diocese of Rome, Leo warned priests against using AI to write homilies, saying, like other parts of the body, the brain needs to be exercised so it doesn't lose its capacity. The pope went on to say AI will never be able to share their faith. Leo also took aim at other technology like smartphones, saying devices have contributed to loneliness and isolation. The pope made his remarks in response to a question from a young clergyman who asked him how to be effective in a postmodern culture and avoid being outdated. The Times of London notes Leo is a pretty tech savvy guy and enjoys using apps like Duolingo and playing wordle. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the news app right now, stick around for the latest episode of Apple News in Conversation this week, we're revisiting Shamita Basu's conversation with reporter Gardner Harris. His investigation into the global healthcare corporation Johnson Johnson exposes how the company contributed to the opioid epidemic, even though the company, Purdue Pharma, is commonly held responsible for the crisis.

Various Interviewees (e.g., Abbas Arachi, Scott Besant, Donald Trump) (14:07)

During the height of the prescription opioid crisis, about 10 to 20% of the bodies that showed up in morgues had a Purdue Pharma product in their system. Roughly 60% had a Johnson and Johnson product in their system.

Cecilia Ley (14:22)

If you're listening in the podcast app you can follow Apple News and Conversation to find that episode, or come back to the Apple News Today feed tomorrow. Enjoy the weekend and I'll be back with the news on Monday.