Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor, Johnston.
President Trump today ruled out using a nuclear weapon against Iran.
“He also said he has plenty of time to reach a peace deal and stress that his top priority”
is making sure that Iran never possesses nuclear weapons.
NPR's Daniel Kurt Slaven reports. Trump was "testie," responding to a report's question as to whether he'd use a nuclear weapon against Iran. Why would I use a nuclear weapon when we've totally in a very conventional way decimated them without it?
No, I would use it. I nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody. Earlier this month, Trump threatened Iran on social media saying, quote, "a whole civilization will die tonight never to be brought back again," unquote. Trump also tells reporters now that he is not in a hurry to come to a peace deal with
Iran saying, quote, "I don't want to rush it. I want to take my time. We have plenty of time."
“Daniel Kurt Slaven and PR News, the White House, President Trump says Israel and Lebanon”
have agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks. The two sides met at the White House today for high-level negotiations. The Justice Department's Inspector General is investigating whether the agency has complied with the law passed by Congress to release all of its files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while makeer say the department did not meet a December deadline to release
all files in its possession. The DOJ says it has complied with the law. Federal authorities have charged a special forces soldier involved in the capture of Venezuela and President Nicholas Maduro, and PR's Bobby Allen reports prosecutor say the Army official profited on the site "poly market."
Prosecutors have unsealed an indictment against Ganon Ken Van Dyke, a U.S. special forces soldier who helped plan and carry out the arrest of Maduro. Under the username, "Bird in some mix," Van Dyke allegedly placed $32,000 in bets on poly-market that Maduro would soon be out of power. Those wagers netted him more than $400,000 in profit.
Poly-market is an overseas unregulated exchange where traders are anonymous and bet with cryptocurrency, but Federal investigators worked with poly-market to identify Van Dyke. He's the first person criminally charged in the U.S. over trades on prediction markets, which have seen massive growth in Trump's second term. Donald Trump Jr. is an investor and advisor to Poly-market.
Bobby Allen and PR news. Firefighters are working to contain a series of wildfires that are burning across parts of South Georgia. Brentley County manager Joey Cason says gusty winds are forcing additional evacuations. "We have folks that have been told to evacuate in the last 10 minutes.
We need folks to understand they need to be prepared to evacuate. This is a dynamic fire that's changing."
The firefighters in Brentley County are about 15 percent contained.
At the close-on Wall Street today, the Dow was down 179 points. This is NPR News in Washington. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted to merge with Paramount Skydance. NPR's Mandalita Barco reports that media mogul David Ellison offered to buy Warner and all of its assets for $110 billion.
If U.S. and international regulators approved the merger, David Ellison would get the legendary century-old movie studio, its streaming services and cable channels such as CNN and HBO. Ellison has repeatedly promised that combined Warner Bros. and Paramount merger would release 30 films a year, while shareholders approved the deal. They rejected a generous compensation proposal for Warner Bros. executives.
But that vote is non-binding, meaning the board could still give current Warner Bros. CEO
David Zasloth, a golden parachute, nearly $887 million.
This morning in New York, filmmakers protested the mega-deal saying the consolidation will lead to layoffs, less competition, and more media concentration by the Ellison family, which is friendly with President Trump. Mandalita Barco and PR News. World soccer champion Italy says it's not interested in replacing Iran at the World Cup
of summer, and envoy to President Trump told the financial times he suggested it to the international soccer governing body. Iran is not withdrawn from the games. Iranian officials say the team is preparing to play its group stage matchups in California and Seattle as planned in June.
I'm Windsor Joltsten and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Every episode of NPR's Its Bene Minute podcast starts with a question about how culture shapes our lives.
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