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President Trump rolled out the red
carpet for President Xi Jinping of China.

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Besides all the pomp and pageantry, what
consensus have they reached on issues such

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as their trade war and artificial
intelligence? I'm Leila Faldil,

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that's A. Martinez,
and this is Up First from NPR News.

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While Trump courts Xi, U.S. television
networks have not broadcast any footage

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of the summit. They're waiting for the
White House to confirm CNN will be given

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equal access as part of the TV press pool.

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How long will the president keep up
his attack on the press? At the U.N.

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General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at critics.

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Many diplomats walked out. How is
Netanyahu's speech being viewed in Israel?

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

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Thank you. Bye.

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President Trump and Chinese leader Xi
Jinping have met all over the world in

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the last 10 years,
but this week, for the first time,

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they met at the White House. Trump hosted
Xi for a lavish state dinner last night.

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The U.S. president literally rolled out
the red carpet for the Chinese leader

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as they discussed artificial
intelligence, trade, and the Iran war.

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NPR White House correspondent Deepa
Shivaram joins us now to discuss all

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of this. So Deepa, what kinds of things
of substance came out of the meetings and

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the summit? Yeah, I mean,
there were no major announcements,

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but there were a few concrete
takeaways from the summit.

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The first is the U.S. announced a
two-month extension of the trade agreement

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between the countries, which was
established last year when Trump and Xi

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met in South Korea. And there were also
discussions about artificial intelligence.

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U.S. and Chinese officials had deliberated
over information sharing systems

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that would help alert each other over
AI incidents that would affect national

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security.

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because there aren't a lot of guardrails
that exist for this technology.

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But it's unclear how far that
proposal on AI will actually go,

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because in his remarks
on Thursday morning,

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Trump was clear that on AI he wants to,
quote, leave it exactly where it is.

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Trump has been opposed to any kind of
regulation around the technology and often

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speaks about beating China on AI.
Overall, though, I mean,

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there were low expectations for anything
major to come out of the summit.

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The meeting had more of an emphasis
on Trump and Xi's personal relationship,

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the friendship between the two
countries. She, I will say,

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made several comments about
the responsibility the U.S.

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and China have to cooperate
and communicate.

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State visits usually involve some
level of pomp and circumstances.

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It really seemed, though, like President
Trump wanted to go all out to welcome Xi

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to the White House. You heard Layla
mention literally rolling out the red

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carpet. What did that entail?
Yeah, I mean,

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the welcome that Xi got
was actually unusual,

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because Trump met him on the tarmac
when he arrived in Washington.

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And at the White House,

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talked up things like building the helipad
on the South Lawn as something to show off

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during Xi's visit. And sure enough,
Trump showcased the new helipad,

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had military flyovers, even gave Xi a tour
of sorts of the South Lawn and some of

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the construction he's been working on.
It definitely did seem like there was

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a bigger red carpet rollout
than usual for this visit.

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I talked to Sam Sachs about all of this.
She's a senior fellow at Think Tank New

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America. And she actually said

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have been ramping up so much. I don't want
to understate the importance of pageantry

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at this moment because
things have been so toxic.

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And so the pageantry itself creates a kind
of breathing space that is stabilizing.

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What's interesting, though, is that
because of Trump's ban on three media

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outlets, there wasn't any
TV coverage of all of this.

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Trump posted about it on Truth Social
yesterday and complained about how

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the major TV networks didn't
show the quote made for television

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All right. So what are we looking forward
to when it comes to Trump and Xi? Well,

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a couple of announcements from Xi
yesterday included the news that two new

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Chinese pandas are coming
to the zoo in Atlanta.

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I know the bar was low
for major takeaways,

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but panda diplomacy
remains alive and well.

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Most overhyped black and white animal,
the panda. That's another topic.

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Another time, another time. But honestly,
the real conversation between the U.S.

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and China simply just continues.

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possibly two more times
before the end of this year.

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China's hosting the APEC
Summit in November,

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and that's the same summit where Trump
and Xi met on the sidelines of last year

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in Korea. And it would be significant
if Trump traveled to China for the second

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time this year. And then it's possible
Xi could come back to the U.S.,

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where Trump is hosting the G20
Summit in Miami in December.

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That's NPR's Deepa Shibram.
Thanks a lot. Thank you.

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The fight over press freedom in the U.S.
continues to play out against the backdrop

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of Trump's summit with Xi.
As we just heard,

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major TV networks dialed back their
coverage at the summit in protest over

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Trump's attempt to ban three news
organizations from the White House.

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CNN, MSNOW and Politico had
their press passes reinstated,

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but some journalists at CNN and MSNOW
were denied access to last night's state

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dinner. And TV coverage of Trump
is still not back to normal.

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the developments and joins me now.
Good morning, Brian.

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Good morning, Layla.
So what happened last night?

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Well, despite the judge's order restoring
press access for these organizations,

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CNN and MSNOW say at least three of their
journalists were turned away from covering

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the state dinner. Journalists
for state-controlled Chinese media were

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allowed in. And this came following days
when the White House launched attack after

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attack against U.S.
journalists covering Trump's presidency.

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He's accused them of purposefully
writing negative news,

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and he's tried to dictate which
organizations could have access.

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TV networks that provide that shared pool
coverage of the president still haven't

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restored full coverage. What they're
asking for is written assurance from

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the White House that CNN, one
of the news outlets Trump tried to ban,

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will be given equal access and treatment
without government interference.

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NPR reached out to the White
House for comment about that.

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We haven't heard back. So for now,
that full coverage is on hold. Yeah.

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Much of the White House press corps
is united pushing back against Trump.

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Is that pretty unusual?

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Yeah, it's really different. Trump has
kept the news media on the defensive

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throughout his second term using lawsuits
and regulatory threats to influence

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coverage. And while the president
targeted three news organizations,

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this time he did say on True Social there
would be other fake news media outlets

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to follow. But this time, TV networks
didn't just complain individually.

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They first refused to provide pool
coverage after CNN was banned late last

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week.

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Outlets, including The New York
Times, The Washington Post, NPR,

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and many other outlets
then followed. And together,

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that muted the amount of attention
the president has received.

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What has President Trump said
about the media's pushback?

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Writing on Truth Social yesterday,
that's his platform,

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Trump complained about the lack
of coverage. Then in front of Xi,

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Trump said how much he preferred
the Chinese press to his own.

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The Chinese government, of course,
has been notoriously repressive toward

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independent journalists.

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sent a letter yesterday to the White
House calling that ad government-funded

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propaganda. Yesterday's court order
reinstated these press passes for two

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weeks. Where do we go from here?

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Judge Timothy Kelly has said he's going to
reschedule another hearing in the coming

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days to determine whether his
temporary order will be made permanent.

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We'll be watching today to see if that
hearing is expedited in light of these

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journalists being turned away
from the state dinner last night.

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Judge Kelly has signaled that he doesn't
think the White House has a very strong

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argument for banning
these news outlets. Yeah.

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NPR's Brian Mann.
Thank you, Brian. Thank you.

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Music.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
returns to Israel today after a very short

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trip to New York to address
the United Nations General Assembly.

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His speech was defiant and defensive
as Israel has become increasingly isolated

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on the world stage.
We're joined now by NPR's Kat Lonsdorff,

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who's been following from Tel Aviv.
Kat, so what are the top takeaways

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from Netanyahu's address?

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Yeah, the speech was dramatic,
and it even started that way.

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As Netanyahu took the podium,
dozens of diplomats got up and walked out.

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There was some booing, while some
supporters cheered from the public

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gallery. There were calls for order,
and then Netanyahu began...

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If there are any other moral cowards,
who haven't yet left this hall,

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Please do so now.

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Thank you very much. He went on to
celebrate and defend the U.S.-Israeli war

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in Iran, calling it one of the easiest
decisions he's ever had to make,

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saying if he hadn't attacked
Iran, quote, we'd all be dead.

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He also defended Israel against much
of the criticism that has come its way

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recently. He downplayed settler violence
against Palestinians in the occupied West

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Bank, saying it was the work of 150
juvenile delinquents. But in reality,

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that violence has been incredibly

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and land grabs amount to,
quote, ethnic cleansing.

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Netanyahu rejected claims that Israel
has committed genocide in Gaza,

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something that's come up repeatedly
from other world leaders this week.

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He also accused the media
of not telling the, quote,

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truth about what's happening
in Gaza. But just a reminder,

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Israel has not allowed outside journalists
to enter Gaza to independently report

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in almost three years
the entirety of this war.

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And we should mention that the Palestinian
leader also spoke, but via video.

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Yeah, right. Mahmoud Abbas was denied a
visa by the Trump administration to attend

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in person on grounds that Palestinian
leadership is undermining the prospects

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for peace, even though a

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has been consistent in his
call for a two-state solution,

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including in his speech yesterday.
It's the second year in a row this has

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happened. In his video, Abbas
called Israel's actions in Gaza a,

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quote, genocidal war and appealed to world
leaders to stop Israel's violence in both

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Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Did Netanyahu address any of the criticism

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that Israel's gotten this
week at the United Nations?

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Yeah, Netanyahu called many of the
world leaders who have been critical,

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quote, tyrants. Something that was very
clear this week is how increasingly

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isolated Israel is becoming,
both at the United Nations,

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but also in public opinion. There were
big protests in New York yesterday outside

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the UN against Netanyahu's visit. New York
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has also been very

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vocally against Netanyahu
coming to the city.

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Mamdani calls Netanyahu a war criminal and
says that federal authorities should act

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on

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arrest warrant for him. Netanyahu also
met with very few world leaders during his

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short visit, and perhaps most
notably did not meet with Trump,

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which is unusual. Now, Israel has a big
election coming up next month that will

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determine if Netanyahu
will remain prime minister.

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Were Israelis paying attention
to his speech? Oh, yeah, absolutely.

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The reaction here, though,
has not been that pronounced.

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Many expected it to be
a campaign speech, basically,

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and that's what it sounded like
to them. One of the themes in

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speech was that Israel will, quote, win.
And he seemed to imply that he was the one

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who could lead Israel to that victory. The
polls are tight headed into this election

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and Netanyahu is feeling that. It
was clear in his speech that he's feeling

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pressure from all sides right now,
both at home and abroad. All right.

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That's NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv.
Kat, thank you. Thank you.

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And that's Up First for Friday,
September 25th. I'm Amy Martinez.

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And I'm Leila Faldin. Today's episode
of Up First was edited by Emily Kopp,

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Rebecca Metzler, James Heider, Tina
Kriya, Alice Wolfley, and Lina Advani.

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It was produced by Ziad
Butch and Nia Dumas.

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Our director is Christopher Thomas. We
get engineering support from Nisha Hines.

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Our technical director is Carly Strange.
And our executive producer is Jay Shaler.

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Join us again on Monday.

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you

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you