NPR News: 03-25-2026 8PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton, thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division are expected to deploy in the coming days to the Middle East. There's no detail on what their role will be in the Iran War, but as NPR's Tom Bowman explains, there's speculation that they could be used to seize a key island or take Iranian territory on the mainland. The idea seems to be if you take, let's say, Carg Island, it would shut off the Iranian oil further cripple its economy and put more pressure on the regime to negotiate. You could also take even more territory from Iran on the mainland, setting up the option of providing naval escorts for oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz. Of course, now the Iranians have closed the strait to almost all shipping that effort for the U.S. to take control of the strait would require a massive effort of aircraft, minesweepers, and also destroyers to do that job. NPR's Tom Bowman reporting, the Justice Department is settling lawsuits that allege the Biden administration pressured social media companies to suppress speech.

1:04NPR's Kerry Johnson reports the cases had once reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The settlement would resolve allegations by Missouri and Louisiana that Biden-led agencies tried to shut down speech about the pandemic in the 2020 election. Conservatives argued they'd been de-platformed by major social media sites for taking unpopular views. The cases hinged on bitter divides over misinformation, disinformation, and censorship. The new agreement would bar the surge in general, the CDC, and the cybersecurity agency, from threatening social media companies to take down posts or face punishment. Attorney General Pam Bondy says the deals are, quote, key steps in undoing abuses of the first amendment, especially against conservative media. The settlement still require judicial approval. Kerry Johnson, NPR News, Washington. The White House is poised to miss a deadline for naming a new leader at the nation's top public health agency, NPR's Ping Huang reports that leaves the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention in an unusual position.

2:04Wednesday marks 210 days since the last CDC director was fired. According to the Federal Vacancies Act, that's a limit for how long the role can be filled in an acting capacity by temps. The Vacancies Act is intended to prevent a president from circumventing the Senate confirmation process. Starting Thursday, the CDC's interim leader, Dr. Jay Batacharya, will no longer be the official acting director, but at a CDC all-staff meeting, he said he would continue acting in the capacity as director. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services says Batacharya will continue to perform the delegable duties of the CDC director while the health secretary evaluates candidates for the permanent CDC role. Ping Huang, NPR News. The NBA's Board of Governors approved a plan today that brings the league one step closer to adding teams in Las Vegas in Seattle. U.S. stocks largely closed up today. This is NPR News from Washington. Mexican President Claudia Shainbaum says her country will continue to have Cuban doctors

3:05work in Mexico. It comes as the Trump administration is pressuring nations to ditch their agreements with Cuba's government. Shainbaum's support for the Cuban medical program comes as President Trump has sought to isolate the Caribbean nation and push for regime change. Drought could be increasing antibiotic resistance in soils according to new research. As NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports, that resistance seems to be ending up in some hospitals. Antibiotic resistance is on the rise worldwide. Researchers typically point to human overuse as the main driver, but antibiotics and resistance to antibiotics ultimately trace back to bacteria in the soil. And soils around the world are becoming drier from climate change. To see if this might impact resistance levels, researchers analyzed soils from around the globe. They found that drier soils tended to have bacteria with more resistance genes, and some of these genes were exactly the same as those found in human infections at local hospitals. The study also found that hospitals in drier areas tended to have more resistant infections,

4:10a problem that could worsen with climate change. The research was published in the journal Nature Microbiology, Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. Some major league baseball stadiums are embracing the 999 challenge that's 9 beers, 9 hot dogs during a 9 inning baseball game, though with smaller portions. The homes of the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and Houston Astros and others will feature 9 flight sized beers and mini hot dogs. 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.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.