NPR News: 03-11-2026 4AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. President Trump is set to hit the road today. He is to visit a pharmaceutical company in Cincinnati and then appear in the District of Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massey, one of Trump's most prominent GOP critics in Congress. The war in Iran will be in the backdrop. NPR's Franco-Ordonia's reports on how the conflict is playing out among congressional Republicans. Republican House members were very concerned about mid-term election season coming up. They want the president to be focused more on domestic economic issues. And I think you're kind of seeing those signs of that, is Trump tries to make the pivot, because it is his kind of MO, not to be in a long-lasting war. He wants strategic strikes. The U.S. and Israel have been carrying out what are being called the heaviest strikes on Iran since the war started more than a week ago. Iran is retaliating firing missiles and launching drones at targets across the region, including oil, infrastructure, and Saudi Arabia.

1:02House Speaker Mike Johnson says he and President Trump are in lockstep in their plans to pass stricter federal voting requirements. Trump says the bill he calls the Save America Act is this year's number one priority. NPR's Claudia Grasalus reports. Speaker Johnson said he'll keep working to defend President Trump's top priority this year, despite setbacks in the Senate. He reiterated the message Trump delivered Monday to House Republicans at their retreat taking place at his Dural Resort. And the president is laser focused on that, and we are as well, and we'll continue to message it and do everything we can in a legislative branch to try to get it done. Outside of a potential deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, Trump says he will not sign any other legislation into law until the Save Act is sent to his desk. The bill is stuck in the GOP-led Senate, where Democrats are blocking passage. For now, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is shutting down calls from the hard right to end that blockade with a so-called talking filibuster. Claudia Grasalus in NPR News.

2:03Now, to Europe, where the German auto company Volkswagen, the country's largest employer, says it will cut 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, as its profits drop through their lowest levels in a decade. VW Chief Executive Oliver Bluma told Shareholders that the cuts would take place in Germany and fall across all of the company's holdings, including Audi and Porsche. Europe's largest automaker says its profits had fallen by 44% in 2025. Bluma said the company was hit hard by US import tariffs, intense competition from China, and high restructuring costs from the shift from combustion engines to electric vehicles. The company projects profits as low as 4% in 2026, even lower than last years. The company's woes reflect a lagging German economy that is vulnerable to energy price fluctuations and tariffs. Rob Schmitts in Pair News, Copenhagen.

3:14Europe says a tornado touched down near the fairgrounds and Newton County, Indiana. Multiple homes were reported destroyed to NATO watches and affect from Texas to Michigan. A meeting between the WNBA and its players Union stretch pass midnight last night is a deadline to reach a deal as at hand. The meeting at a hotel in New York City came on the day the league said it needed at least a handshake agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. Revenue sharing is the key sticking point. In Miami on Tuesday, BAM at a bio on the Miami Heat came through with the second highest point total in single game history, putting up a remarkable 83 points, Steve Futterman reports. It was a game that BAM at a bio will never forget. Yes sir, about some more, a 30 point first quarter. Recall on the Miami Heat Network, early on it was clear he was on a scoring tear. By half time he had 43 points and it continued in the second half. With just over a minute left in the game, he scored his 83rd point, surpassing Kobe Bryant's

4:1781 point performance in 2006. After the game at a bio talked about Bryant. To be 83 and you pass him, just a surreal moment being in a company with somebody you idolized growing up. Will Chamberlain still holds the all time record for most points in the single game, 100. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman. This is NPR News. Listen to this podcast sponsor free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus dot NPR dot org. That's plus dot NPR dot org.