Trump Fires Kristi Noem, Middle East War Latest, Venezuela-US Diplomacy

President Trump tries new leadership at the Department of Homeland Security.

Kristi Noem oversaw an operation that killed two Americans in Minnesota.

She lost her job when lawmakers questioned her spending on ads that promoted her.

I'm Michelle Martin.

That's Seedinsky, and this is up first from NPR News.

The US-Israeli war with Iran is widening.

Israel ordered residents to flee the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Israeli's described the area as a stronghold of his bloc.

Her correspondent saw roads choked with people fleeing before bombs fell on their neighborhoods.

And two months after US forces seized Venezuela's President, the two countries, are cutting

deals.

What is Washington one from Caracas?

Stay with us.

We've got the news you need to start your day.

President Trump has fired his Homeland Security Secretary.

Kristi Noem became the public face of the administration's mass deportations project.

Now she is a casualty in the first cabinet shake-up of Trump's second term.

The president announced her firing in a truth social post on Thursday and said Mark Wayne

Mullin, a senator from Oklahoma, would replace her.

Let's talk this through within PR immigration policy correspondent, Jimene Bistillo.

Amen.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I've just come about.

Well, we didn't know Trump would fire her, but during two congressional hearings before

the House and Senate Judiciary Committees this week, I did notice that both Republicans

and Democrats had questions about her leadership, including how efficiently the agency distributed

disaster relief funds and what she had been spending her agency's money on.

One of the most notable moments came during questions from GOP Senator John Kennedy of

Louisiana.

He asked Noem about a multi-million dollar immigration-related ad campaign that she ran last year.

The contract for the ads went to a firm that was created just days before, and according

to reporting from investigative news outlet, ProPublica, one of the beneficiaries was connected

with the husband of former DHS spokesperson Trisha McLaughlin.

Now, NPR has not independently confirmed that reporting, but Kennedy did ask Noem if President

Trump had asked her to run these ads, and Noem said and basically confirmed that Trump

was okay with it.

Kennedy's questioning was interesting because he asserted that this contract was for hundreds

of millions of dollars, and that they basically promoted Noem, rather than administration

policy, that they were promotional ads for her and done by a company with political connections

to her.

Although it strikes me that that was her most prominent job, was being the face of immigration

enforcement.

Right.

She was featured in many promotional social media videos, including standing in places

like El Salvador's notorious prison secot, and on the front lines of many individual

immigration arrests themselves.

And she always defended the actions of the agency, but that backfired after events in

Minnesota.

If you remember, two U.S. citizens were killed by immigration officers there back in January,

and after the death of one of them, Alex Prety, Noem was quick to label him a domestic

terrorist.

This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation

of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism.

Now, that language, although used before, drew immediate bipartisan scrutiny in this

case.

Okay.

So, she's out.

We haven't even gone through all the different controversies involving her.

And she is to be replaced by Mark Wayne Mullin, United States Senator from Oklahoma.

When would he start?

Trump says that Mullin takes over by the end of March, although, of course, he does need

to get confirmed by the Senate to officially take on the post.

Here's Mullin speaking reporters on Capitol Hill after the announcement.

I am super excited about this opportunity.

It came at a, not a complete surprise, but it came at a little bit of surprise force.

And so, the president, I, as you guys know, were great friends, and we get along great.

I look forward to working with him and his cabinet, of course, we still got to build this

little thing called confirmation.

One of his first tasks will be to address the lack of trust and immigration enforcement,

which was a big theme this week during those hearings.

Where does the agency stand overall?

The agency is now in its third week without funding, which means hundreds of thousands

of employees are furloughed or working without pay.

Now, zooming out, Trump won his election in part due to promises to clamp down on border

security.

But in the wake of Minnesota, nearly two-thirds of Americans say immigration and customs

enforcement has gone too far.

That's according to a poll from NPR, PBS News, and Marist last month.

Still, immigration enforcement continues to be a top issue for the president and for Democrats

as we enter the midterm cycle.

And, Pierre Semenovistillo, thanks as always.

Thank you.

The Israeli forces struck a suburb of Lebanon's capital overnight.

Beirut is a city of millions of people now shaking from bombs and filled with evacuees.

Israel ordered residents to flee a southern suburb that it describes as a stronghold of

his below.

That group had responded to the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran.

And Pierre Sadeel Al-Shalchi is in Beirut with the report, either a deal.

Good morning.

What's it like where you've been in the last 24 hours?

Well, it was quiet early this morning, but the Israeli military just announced that it

is still striking the thawian neighborhood.

It's really actually not that far from downtown Beirut close to where I am, just about four

miles away.

And the Lebanese government says that the death toll has now gone up to 100 people since

the war with Iran began.

Now, Steve, I was out reporting last night right before the strikes yesterday.

And roads, which are normally not busy at that time of night, were gridlocked.

Israel had issued an evacuation order for the entire southern suburb.

And families were fleeing in trucks.

You know, the back of them were stuffed with blankets, kitchen products.

You know, they stuffed their kids back there too.

And then Beirut itself is just crowded with the displays.

You know, those with money are able to afford hotels or rent apartments.

I found it hard to find a hotel room myself before coming here because they're so full.

But then those who can't afford hotels are sleeping in their cars.

And on the streets, the sidewalks are packed here with displaced families, mothers and

children, huddled under blankets to stay warm, men sitting around little fires to keep

warm, also smoking cigarettes.

And Lebanese officials say over 95,000 people are now displaced.

And some of those people from the south have had to evacuate their homes multiple times.

Well, I want to understand how we got here.

So the US and Israel struck Iran last weekend.

Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is allied with Iran.

They fired upon Israel, the Israelis fired back.

And then how did we get from that initial exchange of fire to this massive evacuation?

So you have to remember that Israel has actually been striking in southern Lebanon and what

it's calling Hezbollah installations for the past 15 months already, even though there

was a ceasefire broker last year.

But then it just ramped it up after, like you said, Hezbollah launched rockets into northern

Israel earlier this week.

Now, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group first said this was in solidarity with Iran.

And then it backtracked it and said the rockets were because of ongoing Israeli attacks.

But this is still the first time Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in those 15 months.

And so now we're seeing the Lebanese government is really trying to distance itself from Hezbollah

and from Iran.

Earlier in the day, I sat with Lebanon's Justice Minister Adam Lassad.

He instructed the Lebanese security authorities to issue arrest warrants for the Hezbollah

members who launched those rockets into Israel this week, which is kind of unprecedented.

The Assad wants to dismantle Hezbollah's military wing.

There is a move now in Lebanon to do that.

Hezbollah's military wing operates mainly out of southern Lebanon.

But look, Hezbollah still enjoys popularity in Lebanon.

But I'm hearing more and more people here say that they've dragged them into an unnecessary

war.

And so Nassar says there are huge challenges.

What does this fit into other developments in the war?

Well, earlier this morning into Iran, there was heavy bombardment in the city center

near the Supreme Leader's old home, fighter jets flew overhead.

There were huge explosions.

And then in the Gulf, Qatar's Defense Ministry said it thwarted a drone attack at the biggest

U.S. military facility in the Middle East.

And in Bahrain, the government said two hotels and a residential building were targeted

by Iranian strikes.

And Israel was quieter than previous nights with no incoming missile attacks.

And the military's chief of staff there said last night that the U.S. and Israel are

working in what he called a, quote, historic cooperation.

And Vyarsadil Al-Shalchihan, Beirut, thanks so much.

You're very welcome.

This network sends correspondence to get a first-hand view of events.

And today we have a report from inside Venezuela.

Two months ago, U.S. forces swooped into Caracas and seized Venezuelan President Nicolas

Maduro and his wife.

Since then, the relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela seems to be on a very fast

mend.

The two countries have made oil deals, they're now talking critical minerals, and have agreed

to re-establish diplomatic relations.

And President Paralto is in the country.

Hey there, Ada.

Hey, good morning, Steve.

What's it feel like to be in Venezuela?

It is absolutely surreal, because you land at the airport and the signs are in Spanish,

Russian, Arabic, and Chinese, which tells you just where this country was facing a few

months ago.

And then you go out on the streets and people here tell you that they feel like a weight

has been lifted.

For the first time in a long time, there are street protests, opposition groups are holding

public meetings.

I was at the Justice Department building yesterday, and there was a group of protesters

calling for all political prisoners to be released.

Venezuela has passed an amnesty law, but it excluded anyone who called for a foreign

intervention.

And I met Edward Ocaliz there, and he's a former political prisoner.

He has faced a wrath of this government.

But then right there in public, he taunted the government.

They call us traders, he said, but look at them now.

Son ellos, los que no se rodilla, se acuesta ahora con Estados Unidos.

Now it's them who are not only kneeling, he's saying, but sleeping with the United States.

And to be clear, he thinks the U.S. intervention was regrettable, but he also thinks that something

good came out of it, and that allows him to say this in public without being thrown back

in prison.

Is that the only point of view you've been hearing?

No, I mean yesterday was also the 13th anniversary of the death of former president Ugo

Ocaliz, and so hundreds of people came to pay their respects at his burial ground.

And in the middle of this crowd was this guy playing the guitar.

And he is singing Yankee Go Home.

It was pure defiance at Chavis's tomb, but of course this is happening at almost the

exact time that Chavis' own party was sitting at the presidential palace cutting deals with

U.S. officials.

Wow.

American Secretary of the Interior is visiting.

How's that going?

I suppose it could have been awkward, because Interior Secretary Doug Bergham sat for a meeting

right in front of Venezuela and Interior Secretary of Yosdalo Cabello.

And that is the man who is wanted in the U.S. for narco terrorism.

In fact, they're still offering $25 million for his capture, but what we saw instead were

lots of smiles.

Bergham ignored questions about Cabello or democracy, and he made clear that this is about

business.

The interim Venezuelan government has passed laws that make it easier for U.S. oil companies

to do business here.

And Bergham says that they're about to do the same for the mining sector, and he explained

that the real politics at play here.

One of the highest strategic national security threats to any democratic nation right now is

China's control of critical minerals.

And those are the minerals in your laptop, for example.

And he says Venezuela likely has those minerals.

American companies would like to extract them, and Venezuela could suddenly become key

in helping the U.S. break reliance on China.

A win-win, he called it.

And yesterday Trump said, quote, Venezuela is working.

Once again, he was framing it as the model for regime change.

OK.

And Pierre Zeta-Peralta reporting from Caracas, Venezuela, with sounds on the streets.

Thanks.

Thank you, Steve.

Just a reminder to follow us wherever you get your podcasts.

And in addition to the daily news, you get the Sunday story on the first podcast from

NPR.

This weekend, you hear about an open secret in India.

Women are selling their eggs illegally for IVF.

This is just about providing a part of your body to another person, and once that will

work, they will have the babies.

We get to hear the story from one of our great storytellers, NPR correspondent Dia Hadid,

investigating the black market for human eggs in India.

She also meets women who are selling their eggs to survive.

And that's a first for this Friday, March 6th.

I'm Steve Hinske.

And I'm Michelle Martin.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukinanov, Hannah Block, Tara Neal, Mohamed

El Mardisi, and Alice Wolfleet.

It was produced by Ziegbutch and Nia Dumas.

Our director is Christopher Thomas.

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Our technical director is Carly Strange.

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