Transcript of US-Iran Talks Begin, Dems List Of DHS Demands, Search For Nancy Guthrie Continues New

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The US and Iran opened talks in a bid to avoid a war.

President Trump, though, moved Navy ships and warplanes to the region for possible military strikes. What happens if talks fall apart this time?

I'm Steve Inskeep with Leila Fadel, and this is First from NPR News. Democrats gave a detailed list of demands to change how immigration agents operate. Lawmakers have a week to reach an agreement or lose funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Agencies like the TSA and FEMA could be affected if Congress doesn't reach a deal in time.

The FBI confirms a ransom letter in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today's show host, Savannah Guthrie. But no direct contact has been made with the family What's the latest in the investigation? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

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The US and Iran open negotiations today in a bid to avoid a war.

They meet at the urging of Iran's neighbors. The neighbors know Iran has threatened attacks in all directions if it is struck in any way. The US has an aircraft carrier and other forces in the region.

To set this up and to break this down, we're joined by NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myri. Good morning.

Hi, Leila.

So, Greg, what is the prospect for a deal here?

Well, Leila, there is a chance if these talks, which are taking place in Oman, are limited to Iran's nuclear program. Now, this is what Iran wants. Iran is in a position of real weakness, and it's likely to make some concessions. It suffered multiple setbacks in the past two years, and this includes the US and Israeli bombing campaign against nuclear facilities last June. But the sides are far apart. Here's the real catch. In most negotiations, if the two sides can't agree, the diplomats go home and decide whether to meet again. This scenario is different. The US has spent a month moving Navy ships and warplanes into the region. If there's no deal, President Trump could unleashish attacks on Iran.

What if Iran offered a limited nuclear agreement? Would that be enough to satisfy President Trump?

Probably not. The The US Delegation, led by Steve Whitkoff wants to talk about broader issues, and they include limits on Iran's ballistic missiles, the missiles they fired at Israel and US military targets last June. The US also wants Iran to stop supporting militant proxy groups in the region. Also, it's not clear if they'll discuss the thousands of Iranian protesters that were slaughtered by government security forces just last month. Iran has always resisted widening the scope of the talks. I spoke about this Alex Fatanka, an Iran expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington. He watched the speech this week by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Hamaneh. I can see he wants to avoid war, but I can't see. I didn't hear a man who's ready to change course. I'm not listening to a man who says, Yeah, we've been wrong in the way we've handled our nuclear program. So they're essentially engaged in what I can only call a crisis management day to day, avoid war.

What do we know about the state of Iran's nuclear program right Well, we know it was set back.

We don't know all the details. Trump claimed last year it was obliterated, but that doesn't really seem to be the case. If so, there'd be no need for additional negotiations or military strikes. The big question is the roughly 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium. It may have been moved out of the nuclear sites before they were bombed or buried inside those facilities that were hit. Only Iran knows the answer, and it isn't talking about it.

If the talks fail and this becomes an armed confrontation, I mean, what might that look like?

Well, the US has amassed this large force that could wage an extended fight, but that doesn't mean it would topple the Iranian regime, especially if it's a short battle. The Iranians still have missiles and drones that would threaten US military targets and Israel. The additional risk is that the war could spread to the wider Middle East.

Thank you. That's NPR's Greg Myrie.

Sure thing, Leila.

The clock is ticking for the Department of Homeland Security, where one week from today, the agency is due to run out of baseline funding.

Lawmakers are in talks on a new DHS plan, which would revamp the way federal immigration officers do their jobs, but it's not clear that any deal is in sight.

Npr Congressional Correspondent Claudia Cresales has been following all this and joins us now. Good morning, Claudia.

Good morning, Leila.

Okay, Democrats have this new list expanding on specific reforms they want to see. What is new in these demands?

Right. They released a 10-point plan for DHS immigration law enforcement agents in a letter to their GOP counter parts, part of a continuing response to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretty in Minneapolis last month. We heard Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeim Jeffrey's reiterate some of their past asks, such as the The removal of masks for DHS, immigration law enforcement agents, the mandatory use of body cameras, and rules for the use of force. But now they also want these agents to wear identifying information like their last name, and an end to what they call paramilitary police. That is why they want standard uniforms and equipment to bring them in line with civil enforcement. They also want expanded training, and they want officers removed from the job if they do use force for the duration of an investigation.

There's also big concerns about the warrants used in these deportation actions, right? What can you tell us about that?

Yeah, they want to ensure that DHS officers are using judicial warrants instead of what's happening now, where DHS is using warrants written by agency officials. Democrats say judges should be signing off and that these administrative warrants risk violating people's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. They also want other basic rights protected, such as immediate access to legal representation for those who are taken into custody and charged. As part of all this, they want heightened oversight, such as allowing members to access detention facilities regardless of who funds them.

Are Republicans open to these demands?

Well, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson are not clear they can get this done. There are some areas Republicans say they'll support things like body cameras, but there are others are flatly rejecting, for example, getting rid of masks. That's been a nonstarter for Republicans who say that doing so would put agents at risk of being targeted. Democrats argue this is how they're held accountable. So Republicans aren't shutting down the overall proposal as of yet, but there's still a lot of negotiating left to do and not a lot of time. And one option could be another stop gap bill that kicks the can down the road for a few more weeks.

Okay, so it looks like there's openings for negotiation not much time, like you said. But what if these talks end up breaking down entirely? What happens then?

Well, as we know, Immigration and Customs Enforcement got a huge injection of cash last year with the partisan GOP plan. They dubbed the one big, beautiful bill. In fact, they got $75 billion, which makes them the government's largest law enforcement agency. So it wouldn't make much of a difference when it comes to ICE, which is the thing Democrats want to reform. But the rest of the agency would lose out. That includes the Coast Guard, the TSA, and disaster response at FEMA. So both sides still, however, want to own this issue, and they want to take a winning message to voters in the midterms this year. So a lot of incentive there as well.

That's NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thanks, Claudia.

Thank you. The FBI has confirmed the existence of a ransom letter for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today's show host, Savannah Guthrie.

This was the letter that a few media outlets received earlier in the week. Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on Sunday from her home in Tucson, Arizona.

Npr's Elana Wise has been following the story and joins me now. Good morning.

Good morning.

Elana, what's the latest with the case?

The FBI said they are taking the ransom note seriously. Officials say that the ransomers have not made contact with the Guthrie family since the message was sent to the media. Keith Yonke is with the FBI's Phoenix office. He said it's out of the ordinary at this stage in a kidnapping case for the kidnappers not to make additional contact to the family of the victim. Also, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said yesterday there was blood found on the porch of Nancy Guthrie's house. Dna testing confirmed the blood belongs to the 84-year-old mother of three. The Sheriff said investigators are operating as though Nancy is alive, and they're hopeful that she can be found and returned home safely.

Do they have any suspects?

No, and officials say they still don't know how many people might have been involved. The FBI said they're looking through information from banks, social media, and phone companies to learn more about her disappearance. Sheriff Nanos gave this timeline of what happened on the night Nancy disappeared. Nancy had gone to one of her daughter's houses for dinner on Saturday night. She was dropped back off at her home around 9: 48 PM. At 1: 47 AM, her doorbell camera was disconnected, and a while later, her pacemaker disconnected from the app. The doorbell camera picked up some movement, but they haven't been able to restore the footage. Now, the FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to Nancy Guthrie's recovery and/or the arrest and conviction of whoever took her. Here's the FBI's, Keith Yonke, addressing the Guthrie family. Please know that we are doing everything to bring your mother home. The case has gotten massive national attention. Earlier this week, President Trump said he had reached to Savannah Guthrie and would dedicate whatever federal resources were needed in order to find her.

And just recap for us what we've heard from the family this week.

Of course, there was this emotional video earlier in the week on Instagram where Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings were pleading with potential kidnappers to bring their mom home. They said they were, quote, ready to talk, and they wanted clear proof that Nancy was still alive.

We live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen.

The family talked about how Nancy is elderly, how she needs certain medications, and she experiences daily pain. But they also talked about what she's like as a mother and a grandmother, and they talked about how much they missed her and wanted to see her come home. And just last night, Cameron Guthrie, Nancy's son, issued a new plea in an Instagram video. In it, he said the family had not heard directly from any alleged captors.

We need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward.

The FBI has said that any decision to work with ransomers would ultimately be up to the family.

That's NPR's Elana Weis. Thank you for your reporting.

Thanks, Leila.

And that's up first for Friday, February I'm Leila Faulding.

And I'm Steve Inscape. Today's Up First was edited by Andrew Sussmann, Jason Breslow, James Dubeck, Mohamed Albardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Zyad Batch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Milton Guevara. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes, and our technical director is the equally supportive Stacey Abbott. Our executive producer is Jay Shaler. Join us Monday.

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