NPR News: 03-18-2026 11AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kurova Coleman, Oklahoma Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen is at a Senate confirmation hearing to be Homeland Security Secretary. The DHS is partially shut down over democratic concerns about federal immigration agents' operations. Do you have to Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan pointed to the killing of Minneapolis protestor Alex Pretti in January? Mullen responded. I don't get to choose the laws that I enforce. You guys pass the laws. I enforce those laws. Right. And the reason why we haven't had it. Shooting a protestor who is exercising his First Amendment speech and carrying a lawfully licensed gun is not a lawful behavior. Mullen also says 280,000 DHS employees have gone a month without pay. That includes TSA agents at airport security. One airport in Houston says half of its TSA agents have called out this week. Israel and Iran have traded airstrikes today as the war in the Middle East continues.

1:01Iran's president confirms Israel killed Tehran's intelligence minister, Esmail Katib, overnight. Yesterday Israel killed another top Iranian leader, the man widely believed to be running Iran. Ali Larajani. Iran is retaliated, firing at Gulf countries and at Israel, and bears Daniel Eastern reports from Tel Aviv. After Israel's killing of top Iranian leader Ali Larajani, Iran says it targeted the Tel Aviv area with multiple warhead missiles, also known as cluster munitions. A man and woman were killed in their apartment in Ramadgan, a suburb of Tel Aviv. The Iranian missile attack also caused damage in other parts of Central Israel, including a train station in Tel Aviv. Iran's missile attacks across the region have been the most lethal in Israel, where at least 14 people have been killed since the war started. Israel's military says it struck air defense systems in Tehran and has below rocket launchers in Lebanon, Tuesday, and has bullet-fired more rockets into northern Israel, Tuesday. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

2:03President Trump continues to raise the idea of the U.S. taking over Cuba. And Pierre's Franco-Artonius reports Trump says he expects to announce something soon. Trump's threats come as the 10-year anniversary of former President Barack Obama's visit to Havana approaches when he celebrated his own agreement, creating business opportunities with the island nation. Mark Firestein, who served in the Obama White House, sees the possibility of a similar Obama 2.0 deal. The contours of an agreement, I think, looked a lot like what Obama and the Cubans agreed to 10 years ago, which was basically the Cubans opening up the economy, releasing political prisoners, pledging to ease oppression, and in turn, United States lifting sanctions. But Trump rescinded that deal, and his team has signaled they're looking for leadership changes, as well as economic changes. They're listening to NPR News from Washington. President Trump has waved a century-old maritime law in an effort to lower gasoline prices.

3:06The law is called the Jones Act. When it's in force, it requires all goods that are shipped between U.S. ports be transported on U.S. built and U.S. flagged vessels. But Trump has waved this law. That means foreign vessels can now do this. That could possibly cut fuel costs and speed up deliveries. Many Americans who use marijuana say they do so for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. NPR's Will Stone reports on a major review published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry. This is the largest effort to date to pull together all the data from high-quality trials on cannabis and mental health. The researchers at the University of Sydney concluded there was no indication cannabis is effective for anxiety, depression, PTSD and other conditions. It found limited support for a few areas like insomnia, autism, and Tourette syndrome. Ziva Cooper is a cannabis researcher at UCLA who was not involved in the new paper. I would say that there are significant limitations with these types of studies.

4:08She says yes, there is a need for more well-controlled trials on cannabis. But the new review excluded other evidence that does show certain compounds in the plant can be beneficial for anxiety and other symptoms. Will Stone and PR News. Venezuela defeated the United States last night, three to two, in the championship game of the world baseball classic. Venezuela's Eugenio Suarez hit the go ahead double in the ninth inning to clinch the win for Venezuela. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from Schwab. Everyone has moments when they could have done better, like cutting their own hair, or forgetting sunscreen. So now you look like a tomato. Same goes for where you invest. Level up and invest smarter with Schwab. Get market insights, education, and human help when you need it. Learn more at Schwab.com