"Live from NPR news in Washington," 9/4 of a Coleman, stocks open mixed to th...
as the Commerce Department reported an uptick in 1/4 economic growth.
“NPR Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrial average jumped about 430 points in”
early trading. The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2% in the first 3 months of the year. That's a little bit slower than four casters had expected, but a marked improvement from the final 3 months of last year when growth was hampered by the 6-week government shutdown. Consumer spending grew at an annual rate of 1.6% during the first quarter, business investment
was upsharply as companies continued to pour money into data centers and artificial intelligence. The ongoing stalemate in the straight-of-war moves continues to push crude oil prices higher. Triple A says retail gasoline prices jumped another 7 cents overnight to an national average of $4.30 a gallon for regular. Scott Horsley and PR News Washington.
The Pentagon estimates the war with the run has cost the U.S. $25 billion so far.
That number emerged yesterday when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified to a house committee and sparked with Democrats on the panel.
“NPR's Greg Myri reports Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee press Secretary”
Hegseth on the cost of the war and how it might end. A combative Hegseth repeatedly pushed back saying the biggest adversary at the moment was the quote "reckless, veckless and defeatest words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans." Committee members asked Hegseth if he understood the economic burden the war was imposing on American consumers.
In one exchange, Hegseth responded "What would you pay to ensure Iran doesn't get a nuclear pump?" What would you pay? Hegseth testified again today before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Greg Myri MPR News Washington.
Ron Supreme Leader has released a written statement. He has pledged to secure the Persian Gulf. This comes as both Iran and the U.S. blockade the Strait of Hormuz. Dury Baskaran reports from Istanbul.
“"A Ron Supreme Leader, a most tabah homini, struck a hard line, and a wide-ranging written”
speech, was read aloud by a state television anchor. He lambasted what he called foreigners who greedily commit atrocities, saying they have no place in the Strait of Hormuz. In his words, "accept at the bottom of its waters." The leader also pledged to protect Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities.
Hormone has not been seen in public since he was injured in the air strike that killed
his father, the former Supreme Leader on the first day of the war.
Frontry News, I'm Dury Baskaran, in Istanbul." The House of Representatives has narrowly passed a blueprint to pave the way for funding federal immigration enforcement programs, the part of the Department of Homeland Security, but DHS has been partly shut down since mid-February. Democrats want changes in federal immigration operations after agents killed to American
protesters. It's NPR. Main Democratic Governor Janet Mills is suspending her campaign for the U.S. Senate. She has been hoping to unseat incumbent Republican senators Susan Collins, but Mills has to win a Democratic primary first.
She says while she has the passion and commitment, she doesn't have the resources. Mills also faces a strong rival in Democrat Graham Platner. The former Marine and Oyster farmer has won support, despite controversy over past online statements and a tattoo deemed anti-Semitic. Platner apologized and had the tattoo changed.
New research suggests artificial intelligence may not be the cost-savered many companies expected. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports the study found global IT spending should reach about 6.3 trillion dollars this year, partly driven by investment in AI. The study was conducted by Gartner, a firm that tracks global technology spending, analysts
with Andrew says while companies are using AI to improve efficiency, the financial picture is still unclear. What might be true is that a lot of people have spent more on AI than they did on people and that they're asking themselves what they might have gotten if that money had gone towards the towards people, but more thoughtful and deliberate mix.
Andrew says some companies are seeing savings in specific tasks like generating content or testing software, but overall, he says AI is often used more broadly, creating more output and driving new spending, making it difficult to compare directly to human labor. Windsor Johnston and PR News, this is NPR. Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks, Amazon Prime Members can listen to NPR News now,
sponsor free through Amazon Music, or you can also support NPR's Vital Journalism and get NPR Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.
