NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-26-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

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Hey, it's A Martinez a lot of short daily news podcasts focus on one story, but sometimes you need Tomas for up first on NPR We bring you the three top world headlines every single day in under 15 minutes because no one story can capture all that's happening It's the mundo tangrande on any given morning. So listen to the up first podcast from NPR on any given morning. So listen to the Up First Podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kori Va-Coleman, President Trump's National Security Advisor,

Mike Waltz, says he's taking responsibility for creating a text group that talked about secret war plans. The group used the commercial messaging app Signal to exchange information. A journalist was inadvertently included on that chat. Waltz told Fox News' Laura Ingraham that he built the Signal Chat group, not a subordinate. Was there a mistake? Absolutely.

We're going to improve it. We're going to fix it. We're going to move forward to achieve the president's agenda. Top Trump administration officials were on the Signal Chat, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Both will testify before a House committee today. A note, the CEO of NPR, Catherine Maher, also chairs the board of the nonprofit Signal Foundation.

Vice President Vance says he plans to join his wife on a trip to Greenland this week. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports Greenland has gotten a lot of attention since President Trump began talking about acquiring the Danish territory. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark. In a White House video, the vice president says he will look into, quote, security at the U.S. Space Force base there. A lot of other countries have threatened Greenland, have threatened to use its territories and its waterways to threaten the United States, to threaten Canada, and of course to threaten the people of Greenland.

So we're going to check out how things are going there." Greenlandic leaders were already expressing concern that National Security Advisor Mike Walz would travel to Greenland later this week, as President Trump has ramped up rhetoric of wanting to annex the island. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News, The White House. The CEOs of NPR and PBS will appear today before a House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency. It's chaired by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

As NPR's Scott Newman reports, the heads of the largest U.S. public broadcasting networks will be there to answer questions about perceived political bias. NPR CEO Catherine Maher and PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger will appear on Capitol Hill before Georgia Republican Greens delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee. Green and several of her GOP colleagues have accused the public broadcasters of a left-wing bias in their news and cultural programming. The hearing is part of a larger Republican-led push to eliminate federal funding for public broadcasting. NPR receives about 1 percent of its operating revenue directly from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting, while PBS receives about 16 percent of its funds

from the CPB. Scott Newman, NPR News, Washington. President Trump has signed a new executive order on voting. It requires voters to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote using the federal form. Trump has made baseless claims about large numbers of non-citizens voting. To be clear, such cases are extremely rare. Voting rights advocates say Trump does not have the authority to do this, and legal challenges

are expected. You're listening to NPR. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will visit a prison today in El Salvador. This is where more than 200 Venezuelan migrants were sent after they were deported from the U.S. President Trump deported them using a disputed wartime power. A federal judge has put a temporary hold on that power. South Korea is battling some of the worst wildfires in that country's history and P.R. Se-Woon Gong reports from Seoul at least 24 people have been killed since Friday. Some of the large fires that broke out in South Korea's Gyeongsang province are still burning.

The biggest one started in the southeastern town of Uiseong and has spread fast toward the north and the east due to strong winds. That fire and two other major wildfires have together burned more than 90,000 acres. A sudden rise in temperature over the past week from low 30s to 75 degrees had dried up the forests. Authorities evacuated tens of thousands of residents. Sections of highways and railways are closed off. Hundreds of buildings are destroyed, including national heritage assets. Officials say the victims include four firefighters and one pilot whose firefighting helicopter

crashed. Se Eun Gong, NPR News, Seoul. Thousands of people turned out in Hungary's capital yesterday. They marched in Budapest against a proposed law that would ban the annual Pride March supporting the LGBTQ community. Hungarian lawmakers passed the law last week, saying the Pride March could be harmful to children. The protest march held yesterday is the second in a week to support the Pride event.