Trump's Cabinet Picks, UN Femicide Report, COP29 Deal

Summary

Up First from NPR – November 25, 2024

NPR's Up First delivers the three biggest stories of the day with in-depth reporting and analysis, presented by hosts Leila Fadel, Rob Schmitz, and others. This episode covers President Elect Donald Trump's cabinet nominations, a critical United Nations report on femicide, and the outcomes of the COP29 climate conference.

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1. President Elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet Nominations

Overview: As President Elect Donald Trump steps into his new role, he has been actively selecting nominees for key cabinet positions. These nominations range from the Department of Treasury and Labor to pivotal roles like the CDC and FDA. With a Republican-controlled Senate holding 53 seats, the question arises whether Trump’s choices will secure the necessary 51 votes for approval.

Key Discussions:

• Attorney General Nominee – Pam Bondi: President Trump announced Pam Bondi as his new Attorney General after Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination amidst controversies. Bondi, a former Florida Attorney General, is viewed as a steadfast Trump loyalist with a strong prosecutorial background. Unlike Gaetz, Bondi lacks significant political baggage, making her a more viable candidate for confirmation.

  Deirdre Walsh comments, “Pam Bondi just doesn't have the same kind of political baggage that Gaetz had,” highlighting her suitability and relative uncontroversial standing within the GOP.

• Other Nominees Facing Scrutiny:

  • Pete Hegseth for Pentagon: A former Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran, Hegseth faces allegations of sexual assault from 2017. Despite his lawyer confirming a settlement to prevent further legal action, his nomination may encounter resistance.

  • Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence: Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination is under scrutiny due to her past interactions with Syrian President Basar al-Assad in 2017, raising concerns among senators like Jim Lankford.

  Deirdre Walsh notes, “Senators like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are emphasizing that while the president nominates candidates, the Senate must provide advice and consent,” indicating potential bipartisan evaluations.

• Senate Dynamics: With the Senate majority, most of Trump’s nominees are expected to pass. However, influential senators such as Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitch McConnell stress the importance of thorough vetting, suggesting that a few dissenting votes could impact confirmations.

  Deirdre Walsh states, “I expect most will [be confirmed]. Even if three Republicans break and vote against a nominee, Vice President J.D. Vance can break a tie,” underscoring the likelihood of successful confirmations barring significant opposition.

Notable Quote:

"The president gets to nominate who he wants, but it's the Senate's job to advise and consent." — Deirdre Walsh [05:27]

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2. United Nations Report on Femicide

Overview: A stark and sobering United Nations report released today reveals that in 2023, a woman or girl was killed every 10 minutes. This alarming rate of femicide underscores a global crisis where homes, often seen as safe havens, become the most perilous places for women and girls.

Key Findings:

• Statistics and Regional Impact: The report highlights that 85,000 women and girls were intentionally killed in 2023, with 60% of these killings perpetrated by intimate partners or close relatives. Regions such as Africa and Asia exhibit the highest numbers, reflecting deep-seated societal and cultural issues.

• Challenges in Enforcement: Despite existing laws aimed at preventing gender-based violence, enforcement remains weak. In countries like Mexico and South Africa, high femicide rates persist despite robust legal frameworks, primarily due to systemic impunity and distrust in the justice system.

  Beatrice Garcia Nice, a researcher in Ecuador, explains, “In Mexico, between 2018 and 2020, 93% of known femicide cases were not prosecuted. That’s insane.”

• Impact on Survivors and Reporting: The failure to enforce laws effectively leads to survivors losing faith in protective institutions. Many women no longer report violence, fearing dismissal or inadequate protection, which tragically contributes to the ongoing cycle of violence.

• Efforts Towards Improvement: Positive steps include the establishment of safe shelters in Ecuador and coordinated efforts in Colombia between government branches and the judicial system to better respond to femicide. However, experts emphasize the need for comprehensive social and cultural reforms to address the root causes of gender-based violence.

Notable Quotes:

"This is a war against women. The number we have there is even bigger than fatalities that we see being recorded in the war." — Calliope Minjeru, UN Women [07:25]

"When the system fails to protect survivors, it leads to them being killed." — Ronelle Kukamore, Gender Rights in Tech [09:31]

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3. COP29 Climate Conference: Financing Deal Reached Amidst Discontent

Overview: The COP29 climate conference concluded with a contentious agreement to triple climate financing for developing nations, aiming to provide $300 billion annually by 2035. While this deal marks progress, it falls short of the needs expressed by poorer countries grappling with severe climate impacts.

Key Discussions:

• The Agreement and Its Shortcomings: The primary outcome was the commitment to $300 billion a year in climate financing. However, delegates from the most affected nations criticized the amount as inadequate and the timeline as unrealistic. Research indicates that developing countries require over a trillion dollars annually to effectively combat climate change.

  Nkiruka Madweakwe, Delegate from Nigeria, expressed strong disapproval: "$300 billion till 2035 is a joke." [11:21]

• Delegates’ Frustrations: The negotiation process was marred by frustration, leading to extended discussions and shortened time frames. The inadequate funding and delayed implementation have left many delegates disillusioned about the tangible impact of the agreement.

• Future Implications and U.S. Role: The deal's effectiveness hinges on wealthy nations honoring their commitments. However, with President Elect Trump expressing intentions to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, the future of international climate cooperation remains uncertain. Despite this, other actors such as states, cities, and private companies continue to play significant roles in advancing climate initiatives.

  Simon Steele, UN Climate Chief, remains cautiously optimistic: “This deal will keep the clean energy boom growing, helping all countries to share in its huge benefits.”

Notable Quotes:

"$300 billion till 2035 is a joke." — Nkiruka Madweakwe, Nigerian Delegate [11:21]

"This deal will keep the clean energy boom growing, helping all countries to share in its huge benefits." — Simon Steele, UN Climate Chief [12:14]

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Conclusion

This episode of Up First from NPR delves into the significant developments shaping today's headlines. From the strategic maneuvering within President Trump's cabinet nominations and the grim realities of femicide highlighted by the UN, to the fragile outcomes of the COP29 climate conference, these stories paint a complex picture of the current global landscape. The discussions emphasize the interplay between political strategies, societal challenges, and international cooperation in addressing some of the most pressing issues of our time.

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Produced by NPR's Up First Team

For more detailed insights and updates, subscribe and listen to NPR's Up First. Support your local NPR station at donate.npr.org.

Transcript

[Layla Fadel]

Is that Rob? Layla, good morning.

[Rob Schmitz]

Good morning.

[Layla Fadel]

Probably a much more decent hour from Berlin. Are you hosting from Berlin? You are right.

[Rob Schmitz]

Yes. It is 10:30 in the morning.

[Layla Fadel]

I'm so jealous of you.

[Rob Schmitz]

President elect Donald Trump's picks for cabinet nominees keep rolling in.

[Layla Fadel]

He's got a new choice for attorney general and he's made selections for everything from the Department of Treasury to Labor. Will his nominees sail through a Republican controlled Senate?

[Rob Schmitz]

I'm Rob Schmitz. That's Layla Fadel. And this is up first from NPR News. Last year, a woman or girl was killed every 10 minutes.

[Deirdre Walsh]

This is a war against women.

[Rob Schmitz]

That's according to a new UN Report on femicide around the world. Why are women in girls homes often the most dangerous places for them?

[Layla Fadel]

And negotiators struck a deal at COP 29 to triple the amount of climate financing for developing nations. But for poorer countries dealing with the effects of climate change, $300 billion till.

[Michael Copley]

2035 is a joke.

[Layla Fadel]

Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

[Michael Copley]

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[Fatma Tanis]

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[Layla Fadel]

Has announced more choices for who he wants to serve in his Cabinet.

[Rob Schmitz]

He's filling top positions for everything from the Department of Treasury and labor to who will head up the CDC and the fda. A Republican controlled Senate is expected to consider these nominees early next year.

[Layla Fadel]

NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh joins us now with more on what's ahead. Good morning, Deirdre.

[Deirdre Walsh]

Good morning, Layla.

[Layla Fadel]

So let's start with his pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, who was named just hours after Matt Gaetz dropped out last week. Now she seems to be getting a much better reaction, right?

[Deirdre Walsh]

Definitely. As Senate Republicans point out her experience. She was a prosecutor eight years as Florida's attorney general. Like Matt Gaetz, she's viewed as a strong Trump loyalist. She defended him as part of his impeachment team, defense team back in 2019. Bondi just doesn't have the same kind of political baggage that Gaetz had. A House ethics committee investigated him for allegations of sex trafficking. That just made his nomination an uphill battle from the day he was picked. In terms of the Justice Department, Pam Bondi is likely to pursue the same kind of agenda Trump campaigned on. And Gates was promising reforms at the department and retribution against Trump political opponents.

[Layla Fadel]

Now, are there some nominees that could face challenges in the Senate from Republicans as well as Democrats?

[Deirdre Walsh]

There's already more attention on Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon. He's a former Fox News host who served in the Army National Guard. He was accused of sexual assault in 2017. NPR has seen the police report from the Monterey, California police. Heth argues he was cleared, there were no charges filed. And his lawyer confirmed to NPR that Heth settled with the accuser to prevent her from filing any lawsuit. He already has some significant support. Senior Republicans on the Armed Services Committee and the new number two GOP leader John Barrasso, has endorsed him. Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, she's a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, is another nominee facing some scrutiny. Oklahoma Republican Senator Jim Lankford, who sits on the Intelligence Committee, said on CNN yesterday there are lots of questions for Gabbard. He pointed to a trip she took back in 2017 when she was serving in con Congress to Syria where she met with the Syrian president, Basar al Assad. All these nominees are expected to go through some background checks in some form. And Barrasso said they're going to start hearings on January 3rd and he expects some votes on nominees on Inauguration Day.

[Layla Fadel]

Now, as we mentioned, Republicans will control the Senate with 53 seats. And for Cabinet nominees to be approved, they just need a simple majority. That's 51 votes. Does this make it likely that most of the president's picks will get through.

[Deirdre Walsh]

I expect most will. I mean, even if three Republicans break and vote against a nominee, Vice President J.D. vance, who will also be serving as president of the Senate, can break a tie. If four Republicans oppose a nominee, they will fail. There are a group of senators we're keeping an eye on who have raised questions about nominees and want to see more information. People like Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, incoming Utah Senator John Curtis, who replaces Mitt Romney, and Mitch McConnell, who stepped down from leadership but is still in the Senate. All of these senators are saying the same thing. The president gets to nominate who he wants, but it's the Senate's job to advise and consent. Some nominees will have bipartisan support. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who is up for secretary of state, is well known. And some Democrats I talked to say they could see voting for him.

[Layla Fadel]

That's NPR's Deirdre Walsh. Thank you, Deirdre.

[Deirdre Walsh]

Thanks, Layla.

[Layla Fadel]

A woman or girl was killed every 10 minutes in 2023. That's according to a new report released today by the United Nations.

[Rob Schmitz]

The report looks at femicide, or gender related killings, and it finds that the vast majority of killings were perpetrated by a partner or close relative.

[Layla Fadel]

NPR global health correspondent Fatma Tanis is here to tell us more. Good morning, Fatima.

[Fatma Tanis]

Good morning, Leila.

[Layla Fadel]

So what's the big takeaway from this report?

[Fatma Tanis]

The key takeaway is that femicide is happening at a high rate and it is universal. Last year, the report says that a total of 85,000 women and girls were intentionally killed. Now, 60% of those people were killed by their partners, husbands, boyfriends or family members. In some regions like Africa and Asia, we saw the highest numbers. I spoke with Calliope Minjeru. She's the UN Women's chief of ending violence against women. And here's how she put it.

[Deirdre Walsh]

This is a war against women. The number we have there is even bigger than fatalities that we see being recorded in the war.

[Fatma Tanis]

She says that for many women and girls around the world, their home is not a safe place and that the people they trust the most can be the most dangerous in their lives. Now, Leila, many countries have laws meant to prevent this kind of violence. But despite that, the report shows even those countries are seeing high rates of femicide.

[Layla Fadel]

I mean, the number is just shocking, right? Every 10 minutes. But if there are laws in place to prevent femicide, why are the numbers still so high?

[Fatma Tanis]

Researchers say it's a lack of enforcement in many Countries, women are reporting violence from their partners, but often you see they are dismissed by police or referred to social services instead. Beatrice Garcia Nice is a researcher in Ecuador. She leads the Gender Based Violence project for the Wilson Center. It's a nonpartisan think tank in Washington. Here's how she explained it.

[Layla Fadel]

In Mexico, between 2018 and 2020, 93% of known femicide cases were not prosecuted. That's insane. And Mexico has some of the best laws on femicide and gender based violence. Yet it's one of the most violent countries for women.

[Fatma Tanis]

And she says the impunity has led to women being distrustful of the system in Mexico and many don't report incidents to police anymore. I want to bring up another country, South Africa. Again, it has the laws, but has one of the highest rates of femicide. I spoke to Ronelle Kukamore. She's with the local organization called Gender Rights in Tech. She works with friends and family of femicide victims to help get them justice. And before that, she worked with survivors of gender based violence.

I can't tell you how many times when the perpetrator would get bail, the survivor was basically told by the prosecutor, it's got a lot to do with the capacity and the holding cells and in the prisons and that that's more of the consideration than the survivors actual safety.

So when the system fails to protect survivors, it leads to them being killed.

[Layla Fadel]

Now, is there any good news, any reason to be hopeful?

[Fatma Tanis]

There is. You know, in Ecuador, they're creating safe space shelters for women who are at risk. In Colombia, government branches are coordinating social services, is working with the judicial system to respond. But experts said that there's a lot of work to be done at social, cultural, and especially family levels, the way children are being raised and whether they are taught equality and mutual respect when it comes to other genders.

[Layla Fadel]

That's NPR's Fatma Tanis. Thank you, Fatima.

[Fatma Tanis]

Thank you.

[Layla Fadel]

The COP 29 climate conference ended with an agreement on Sunday which didn't always look likely.

[Rob Schmitz]

Now, at one point, delegations from some of the most affected nations staged a walkout. But in the end, negotiators struck a deal to provide climate financing to developing nations to help cope with the effects of climate change.

[Layla Fadel]

Michael Copley from NPR's Climate Desk is here with me in studio to explain the deal. Good morning, Michael.

[Michael Copley]

Good morning, Layla.

[Layla Fadel]

So the focus at this year's conference was money. So remind us, what was the big goal for countries coming into the meeting?

[Michael Copley]

So the conflict is always the fact that wealthy Countries are responsible for a lot of the climate pollution that's raising global temperatures, but it's poorer countries that are suffering some of the worst impacts, like more extreme heat waves and floods. So years ago, wealthy countries agreed to help developing countries pay for stuff like renewable energy and protecting themselves. It's an acknowledgement that the poor countries didn't cause the problem and they can't pay to deal with it on their own. So the goal this year was to come up with a new funding target. And on Sunday, they did that. They agreed to $300 billion a year. But people still left really unhappy.

[Layla Fadel]

Now, the meeting went on more than a day longer than it was supposed to. What were people so upset about?

[Michael Copley]

It's really that the money the countries promised wasn't nearly enough. Researchers estimate that developing countries will need more than a trillion dollars a year for climate change. One of the people who spoke at the closing meeting was a delegate from Nigeria, Nkiruka Madweakwe. And you'll hear she got a big applause. $300 billion till 2035 is a joke.

[Deirdre Walsh]

And it's not something we should take lightly.

[Michael Copley]

I do not think it's something we.

[Deirdre Walsh]

Should clap our hands and force us to take it.

[Michael Copley]

And it's not just the amount of money. You know, it's not due until 2035. And what developing countries had said they need is more grant funding, not loans, so they don't add to their already high debt burdens. They didn't get any commitment around that.

[Layla Fadel]

So, Michael, I can hear how upset some countries are or were. Why'd they agree to the deal?

[Michael Copley]

You know, they don't really have a lot of options. You know, they can't afford to protect themselves, and so they're kind of stuck taking what's offered. And rich countries say they can't afford to foot the bill on their own. They say that they're working with private investors and groups like the World bank to get more money flowing into developing countries. So the work now is to try to actually do that. Simon Steele's the UN Climate chief, and he said the deal that was agreed to in Azerbaijan is a step in the right direction. This deal will keep the clean energy boom growing, helping all countries to share in its huge benefits. More jobs, stronger growth, cheaper and cleaner energy. The big question now is whether wealthy countries make good on their promise. They were slow to deliver money on their last commitment. So poor countries are in a position of relying on unreliable neighbors.

[Layla Fadel]

And just before I let you go, I mean, this conference was held a few weeks after President Elect Trump was chosen here in the U.S. trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris agreement, the key international agreement underlying these talks. What does this mean for these talks going forward?

[Michael Copley]

It is really uncertain, right. Trump is expected to pull the US out of Paris again, which could really diminish the US Role in these kinds of talks. But I think it's really important to remember that other countries are working on this issue, and so are states and cities in the US as well as companies. So what the Trump administration does is really important. But they aren't the only player here.

[Layla Fadel]

That's Michael Copley from NPR's Climate Desk. Thank you, Michael.

[Michael Copley]

Thanks, Layla.

[Layla Fadel]

And that's up first for Monday, November 25th. I'm Leila Fadl.

[Rob Schmitz]

And I'm Rob Schmitz. And don't forget, please take our audience survey. This will help us make this podcast better, and it will give you a chance to tell us more about what you like or don't like. Go to npr.org upfirstsurvey Today's episode of.

[Layla Fadel]

Up first was edited by Krishna Gov Kalmar, Jim Cain, Rachel Waldholtz, Lisa Thompson and Mohammed Albardisi. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas and Lily Quiros. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

[Fatma Tanis]

Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon prime members can listen to up first sponsor free through Amazon Music, or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get up first [e-mail] that's plus.NPR.org this message comes from NPR sponsor Merrill Whatever your financial goals are, you want a straightforward path there. But the real world doesn't usually work that way. Merrill understands that. That's why with a dedicated Merrill advisor, you get a personalized plan and a clear path forward. Go to ML.combullish to learn more. Merrill, a Bank of America company, what would you like the power to do Investing involves risk. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith Inc. Registered broker dealer, Registered investment advisor Member, sipc. This message comes from NPR sponsor Shopify, the global commerce platform that helps you sell and show up exactly the way you want to customize your online store to your style. Sign up for a $1 per month trial [e-mail] NPR.