Nasrallah to speak on Yemen Friday amid Future tensions

BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to speak Friday for the third time in less than one month on Yemen amid simmering tensions between his party and its political rival the Future Movement.

In a statement released late-Sunday, Hezbollah called for a gathering at 5 p.m. Friday against the Saudi-led military campaign launched last month against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Nasrallah will speak during the event, the statement added.

The speech comes at a sensitive time in Future-Hezbollah relations, which have plunged since a Saudi-led coalition began bombing Yemen on March 26 to halt advances by Houthi rebels battling the government loyalists.

However, dialogue between the rivals launched in December has continued despite the tensions. The two are expected to hold a fresh round of talks Tuesday.

On Monday, Future official Mustafa Alloush called on his party to end the dialogue with Hezbollah over anti-Hariri comments made by Nasrallah and party bloc members.

“Dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah must end in the wake of Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah and MP Mohammad Raad’s insistence on attacking Mr. [Saad] Hariri and the Future Movement,” Alloush said in remarks published by the Kuwaiti daily Al-Anbaa.

Tensions surged last week after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah launched a verbal attack against Saudi Arabia in an interview with Syrian TV channel Al-Ikhbariya.

Nasrallah also invoked Hariri in a speech late-last month, in which he pointed to the irony of the former premier denouncing Iran for interfering in regional affairs as Saudi Arabia launched a military intervention in Yemen.

Hariri attacked Nasrallah for criticizing Riyadh and denounced Iran over its role in Lebanon and Yemen.

A rebuttal then came from MP Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, who described Hariri last week as either a "slave," "ignoramus" or "coward" for going along with the Saudi war in Yemen.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Sunday that he would call on Hezbollah and the Future Movement to use a less antagonistic tone in addressing disagreements between the two parties.

Berri assured that dialogue will go on despite the rhetoric and said the next meeting is scheduled for April 14.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri said Monday that “Lebanese-Saudi relations are stronger than being evaluated by Hezbollah’s behavior,” adding that “all Lebanese from all sects respect the kingdom's deeds.”

The Hezbollah-Saudi tensions were also reflected in a lawsuit that Riyadh filed against Al-Akhbar newspaper, which generally supports Hezbollah and has openly denounced the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

The Lebanese newspaper considered the lawsuit “a direct threat to the lives of the institution’s employees,” and a group of journalists held a protest last week in solidarity with it.

'Hillary Clinton' Is Back, But Will There Be A Return Of The Rodham?

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Hillary Clinton announced Sunday she is running for president. But without her maiden name, Rodham, a name she had held onto for many years, including in 1992 when her husband Bill ran for president. Tom Holoubek/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Tom Holoubek/AFP/Getty Images

Hillary Clinton announced Sunday she is running for president. But without her maiden name, Rodham, a name she had held onto for many years, including in 1992 when her husband Bill ran for president.

Tom Holoubek/AFP/Getty Images

When the former senator, secretary of state and first lady announced for president on Sunday she smiled into the camera and said, "I'm Hillary Clinton."

Those who were hoping for a return of Hillary's family name, "Rodham," as part of her public identity, might have felt some disappointment. For many of her admirers, Hillary Rodham Clinton was the embodiment of aspiration for a woman in public life. This was the woman they wanted to elevate to the White House in her own right.

When she just went by "Hillary" alone, it had a species of charm. But as Hillary Clinton, she seemed more tied to her spouse and his demons and all the bad memories of two decades ago.

The candidate herself, it seems, has gotten past all that. The controversy over how many names to use, or which ones, belongs to an earlier phase of her multi-phased career.

She was Hillary Rodham when she addressed her commencement at Wellesley in 1969 (the first graduating senior to do so) and in the byline given her when LIFE magazine reprinted her remarks.

She was still Hillary Rodham when she got her law degree from Yale. Even after she wed her ambitious law-school classmate, she went by Rodham for most of the first decade of their marriage. It seemed a symbol of the new attitude both Clintons were bringing to the Arkansas of the 1970s.

But as the 1970s gave way to the 1980s, and Bill Clinton lost his bid for re-election as governor in 1980, that symbol of the new was taking a toll.

"I learned the hard way that some voters in Arkansas were seriously offended by the fact that I kept my maiden name," she later wrote.

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Bill and Hillary Clinton campaign in St. Louis in 1992 before a crowd of 40,000. Tim Clary/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Tim Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Bill and Hillary Clinton campaign in St. Louis in 1992 before a crowd of 40,000.

Tim Clary/AFP/Getty Images

So for years the Rodham was submerged.

When the Clintons, plural, emerged on the national stage in the early 1990s, the Rodham was back for a time, despite polls that showed the nation disapproved. When the Clinton presidency hit its early rough patches, the Rodham went away again — even as the initials HRC became increasingly common shorthand for the First Lady.

Later, when Hillary Clinton became a senator in her own right and secretary of state as well, the Rodham appeared periodically in official biographies and reference books. But, in the end, when she ran for president in 2007, she kept the simpler handle. And it appears she has resolved to do so again, despite the fact that her 2014 book Hard Choicesidentifies its author on the cover with Rodham smack dab in the middle.

We assume that anyone who has been in the public eye as long as Hillary Clinton has had to repackage themselves at least a time or two. In her case, there have been several swings between the New Woman, at the leading edge of her generation's historic changes, and the more familiar wife-and-mother in a political supporting role.

She has been a prominent attorney, campaign warrior, policy wonk, candidate and cabinet member in her own right. She is far from the past model of a politician's wife who steps into her husband's role upon his death or disability. By contrast to that, she seems every bit as likely to have been in politics as her spouse.

But her latest public challenge takes yet a new form. Yes, she has run before and even been the frontrunner before. Yes, she has endured as much scrutiny and crossfire as any public figure in our time. But this is different because now she stands alone as the champion of her party — and possibly the first woman president in American history.

She has neither primary rivals with whom to spar nor teammates with whom to battle the opposition party. With 18 months to run before Election Day, she is alone — not only in her own lane, but on her own track. What non-incumbent presidential candidate has ever been so uniquely exposed so early in the process?

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Hillary Clinton is running with all the advantages and challenges of someone who has been in the public eye for more than two decades. Andrew Burton/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Hillary Clinton is running with all the advantages and challenges of someone who has been in the public eye for more than two decades.

Andrew Burton/Getty Images

So as she contemplates these many months in the trenches, Hillary Clinton clearly wants to present the persona that is easiest for the largest possible number of voters to accept. She will try to balance the appeal of being just Hillary with the gravitas of the resume and experience she has had as Hillary Clinton.

But the Rodham will still be there, in the sense that it has never left. The Rodham is still telling us she wants to be the person she was when she first found her way into public life — on her own terms.

SuperPACS Are Back And They Are More Powerful Than Ever

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

Presidential campaign donors can give as much as they want to superPACs. These groups aren't officially affiliated with the candidate, but they're changing the nature of presidential campaigns.

2016 Presidential Field Expands; Obama Returns From Americas Summit

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

Hillary Clinton has made it official: she's running for president in 2016. Sen. Marco Rubio is set to announce his presidential plans Monday. In Panama, leaders wrapped up the Summit of the Americas.

With A Handshake And More, Obama Shifts U.S.-Latin America Policy

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President Obama, seen shaking hands with Raul Castro at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, engaged in the first substantive face-to-face U.S.-Cuba talks in more than 50 years. Scott Horsley/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Scott Horsley/NPR

President Obama, seen shaking hands with Raul Castro at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, engaged in the first substantive face-to-face U.S.-Cuba talks in more than 50 years.

Scott Horsley/NPR

The hemispheric summit meeting that just wrapped up in Panama was the first to include the president of Cuba.

But even if Raul Castro and his brother Fidel were kept out of sight at past Summits of the Americas, they were never out of mind.

Six years ago, President Obama stood on a rooftop in Trinidad, talking with reporters about his first summit. Scott Wilson, a Washington Post correspondent with lots of Latin-America experience, asked the president what he'd learned from listening to his fellow leaders.

Obama said he'd been struck by the goodwill Cuba had won throughout the hemisphere by sending thousands of doctors to practice in other countries.

"It's a reminder for us in the United States that if our only interaction with many of these countries is drug interdiction, if our only interaction is military," Obama said, "then we may not be developing the connections that can, over time, increase our influence."

Six years later, Obama has taken that lesson to heart.

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Richard Nixon, then vice president, meets with Cuba's Fidel Castro on April 19, 1959. It was the last time an American leader would meet with one of the Castros until Obama did this past weekend. AP hide caption

itoggle caption AP

Richard Nixon, then vice president, meets with Cuba's Fidel Castro on April 19, 1959. It was the last time an American leader would meet with one of the Castros until Obama did this past weekend.

AP

There was less talk about the drug trade at this summit, and more talk about airplane sales. Obama boasted that U.S. trade with the rest of the hemisphere has grown more than 50 percent since he came into office.

He repeatedly talked about the $1 billion aid request in his budget to help Central America foster economic opportunity as an alternative to the violent underground.

And he talked up his executive action — currently in legal limbo — to protect those who immigrated illegally to the U.S. from Latin America and elsewhere from deportation. Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, who hosted the summit, said that would play a big role in Obama's ultimate legacy.

Obama is also promoting cheaper, cleaner energy in Latin America and the Caribbean. And he spoke with his fellow leaders about ways to improve infrastructure — both physical and digital.

"The United States is more deeply engaged across the region that we have been in decades," Obama said Saturday on the closing night of the summit. "We're focused on the future and what we can build and achieve together."

Of course, the most visible symbol of that newfound engagement is Obama's decision to seek normal diplomatic relations with Cuba after a half-century of official hostility. The diplomatic thaw was unanimously applauded by leaders from across the hemisphere and across the political spectrum.

"At this summit, it's the most important event," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said. "Everybody south of the Rio Grande has appreciated this tremendous step and is very enthusiastic about what this is going to mean for the future of our relations."

Leftist leaders also celebrated Cuba's inclusion at the summit, even as they continued to complain about past abuses by the United States. Many of the events they cited took place before Obama was born.

"I always enjoy the history lesson," Obama said wryly during the summit's long-winded plenary session.

"I'm certainly mindful that there are dark chapters in our own history," he said. But while bashing the U.S. may serve some leaders' political needs, Obama added, "that's not going to bring progress. That's not going to solve the problems of children who can't read, who don't have enough to eat. It's not going to make our countries more productive or more competitive in a global economy."

Cuban president Raul Castro delivered one of the longer indictments of past U.S. policy during the summit. But afterward, Obama said, he had a "candid and fruitful" conversation with the Cuban leader, offering the possibility of moving the two countries' relationship in a "different and better direction."

"Cuba is not a threat to the United States," Obama said. While the two countries will still have serious differences, "there are going to be areas where we cooperate as well."

Once again, he brought up those globetrotting Cuban doctors, saying they "made a difference" in West Africa, battling the recent Ebola outbreak.

Obama's foreign policy has been repeatedly tested over the last six years, and often it's collided with harsh reality in places like Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine.

Closer to home, though, America's soft power appears on the road to recovery, thanks in part to an unexpected dose of strong Cuban medicine.

Marco Rubio Expected To Announce Presidential Bid

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

Miami will be the scene of another expected presidential announcement. Sen. Marco Rubio is set to announce he's running for the GOP presidential nomination on Monday.

Rubio's Path To The Nomination And 3 Obstacles In His Way

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Marco Rubio celebrates on stage with his family in 2010 after winning his U.S. Senate seat in Florida when he was just 39 years old. Now, he's expected to embark on a run for president. Alan Diaz/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Alan Diaz/AP

Marco Rubio celebrates on stage with his family in 2010 after winning his U.S. Senate seat in Florida when he was just 39 years old. Now, he's expected to embark on a run for president.

Alan Diaz/AP

Marco Rubio, the charismatic, Hispanic, young (and even younger looking) freshman senator from Florida is launching his campaign for the White House Monday in Miami.

Rubio, 43, will be entering a growing field of candidates. Right now, he's considered a second-tier candidate, polling behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the man Rubio has called a mentor.

That could change once he gets in. Rubio's advisers believe he has a path to the nomination with assets few other candidates can match.

The Rubio theory goes like this:

Right now, no single faction in the GOP is large enough to nominate its preferred candidate. In the past, in an open race, the "establishment" faction has always been able to nominate its man. Think Bob Dole, George W. Bush, John Mccain, Mitt Romney. But this year the GOP is perhaps more fractured than ever with potentially two dozen candidates running.

Bush, the current candidate of Republican elites, is not as formidable a front runner as his brother George was in 2000, because he's not as acceptable to the other factions of the party. He doesn't scoop up evangelicals the way his brother did.

Rubio, though, his advisers say, is the candidate most acceptable to the broadest cross section of the party. A recent NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll, for example, showed Rubio was the candidate that more Republicans said they could see supporting than anyone else:

NBC/WSJ poll, conducted March 1-5, 2015 NBC/WSJ poll hide caption

itoggle caption NBC/WSJ poll

Rubio can win the first Republican nominating "bracket" — the young, fresh face category — vanquishing Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, because he is more thoughtful, serious and credible.

Then, according to this theory, Rubio will be able to appeal to the establishment, "governing wing" of the party as well as to Tea Party insurgents (who supported him in 2010). He's also acceptable to the foreign-policy hawks and, as a pro-life Catholic who's been outspoken on religious liberty laws, to social conservatives as well.

In the war of attrition that the crowded Republican primary may become, being everyone's second or third choice for a while might be enough. Rubio fans also say he has a ton of charisma — the most raw political talent of anyone in the race.

Now for the cold water.

Obstacle No. 1 — Jeb Bush

Every Republican in the race has a Bush problem, including Jeb, but Rubio's is unique. Jeb not only has an overwhelming financial advantage, but he's from Florida. So is Rubio. There's a lot of overlap in their network of donors, advisers and policy views. They even both check the Hispanic box. (Ba dum)

Obstacle No. 2 — Experience

Although there is a great hunger for generational change and for a new fresh face among Republican voters, in the post-Obama era, there's also skepticism about first-term senators running for president. A lot of conservatives have misread the lesson of Obama — thinking that because one guy caught lightning in a bottle that everyone should go outside, bottle in hand.

Obama may have made it harder for candidates like Rubio, as well as Cruz and Paul, to be taken seriously on the Republican side. Their supporters would argue the opposite — that rank-and-file activists might be more open to someone with less experience post-Obama, because, "Hey, if Obama could do it...." Nonetheless, Rubio will have to answer the criticism from the governors — with long records — in the race that he lacks a record of accomplishment.

Obstacle No. 3 — Immigration

Rubio made a huge political miscalculation after Romney lost the Hispanic vote to Obama by 71 to 27 percent margin in 2012. Back then, Rubio agreed with many mainstream Republicans that the party needed to embrace comprehensive immigration reform.

He was one of the Gang of Eight that wrote the Senate immigration bill, which passed the Senate overwhelmingly, but then was roundly rejected by the Tea Party grassroots. Rubio, once a Tea Party hero, looked like a turncoat to them.

Since then, he's backed away from comprehensive reform, saying the border has to be secured first. It's hard to tell exactly how much of the damage Rubio has been able to repair. His team would argue he's in good company, that many of the other candidates, either now or at some point in the past, supported a path to legalization — what the Tea Party calls "amnesty." But will he be able to sell that to the base after his high-profile support of the Senate bill?