NPR News: 03-06-2026 5AM EST

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingley. President Trump is repeating his call for members of the Iranian regime to lay down their arms in exchange for immunity. He did so yesterday during an event at the White House. NPR's Tom Bowman says as U.S. and Israeli forces continue attacking Iran, Pentagon officials remain concerned about Iranian drones. They're very hard to detect, they're small, they're fast, they can evade radar. So that's a continued threat that people are really worried about. And Ukraine is now reaching out to the U.S. and say, you know, we can help you with OSHA head drones because we've been fighting them for the past four years. Speaking earlier yesterday, Trump said he would be involved in deciding who Iran's next leader will be. The Treasury Department is issuing a temporary waiver to allow refineries in India to purchase oil from Russia. NPR's Julia Simon reports on what energy experts are saying about that move.

1:00In a statement on X, Treasury Secretary Scott Besent wrote the 30-day waiver for India to buy Russian crude will, quote, not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea. This is a significant turnaround after months of the Trump administration leaning on India to stop accepting Russian oil. Experts tell NPR it's a move to try to avoid higher oil prices in the U.S. and around the world. India is vulnerable to the current shortage of oil from the Persian Gulf because of the war with Iran. Around 40 percent of Indian crude imports come through the state of Hormuz, which is effectively blocked. Julia Simon and Pierre News. Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran in January of last year, but Moscow says Tehran has not asked for Russia's help to defend the country from U.S. and Israeli attacks. President Trump says he wants Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

2:02NPR Sam Gringlass says the President fired DHS Secretary Christine Nome yesterday, following Nome's two days of testimony on Capitol Hill. Mark Wayne Mullen is a relatively fresh face in the Senate. He got there in 2023 after a decade in the House. As a member of the Cherokee Nation, he's the first tribal citizen in the Senate in years. Mullen does not have a background in Homeland Security. His career before politics was in construction and ranching, and professional mixed martial arts fighting. He now serves on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which is in the middle of the standoff over funding for the Department Mullen has been asked to lead. DHS is shut down as Democrats push for changes on how immigration officers operate. Sam Gringlass NPR News Washington. Nome has come under criticism from members of Congress for her handling of the President's crackdown on illegal immigration. This is NPR News from Washington. Pentagon is raising the stakes in its disputes with the artificial intelligence company

3:05Anthropic. As NPR's John Ruich reports, Anthropic's CEO says the company has been designated a supply chain risk to U.S. national security. Anthropic CEO Dario Amade says in a statement, his company received a letter from the Pentagon declaring it a supply chain risk. Anthropic makes the popular AI chatbot Claude, and it's been in a dispute with the Department of Defense over how its AI models can be used. Anthropic is uncomfortable with the Pentagon potentially being able to use its AI for mass surveillance of Americans and for fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon has sought permission for all legal uses. According to Amade, the Pentagon's action has a narrow scope and the vast majority of Anthropic's clients are unaffected. Amade says Anthropic does not believe the designation to be legal and has no choice but to challenge it in court, although he says there have been productive discussions. John Ruich NPR News. The Pentagon says it hopes advanced DNA technology will help identify the remains of 88 U.S. Navy sailors and Marines killed aboard the USS Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl

4:10Harbor. The remains were buried in a cemetery in Honolulu marked as unknowns following the attack on December 7, 1941. The defense POW-MIA accounting agency says DNA samples collected from family members will be compared with those remains. Wall Street is coming off another down day for stocks, the Dow lost 784 points yesterday or more than one and a half percent. I'm Dave Mattingley, NPR News in Washington.