Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues his trip overseas and is now in Hungary. Earlier today in Slovakia, he told that country's president that the U.S. is committed to strong ties with European allies.
I see it reported yesterday in some places, oh, the Europeans are very upset. They're going to be less dependent on America now. We don't want Europe to be dependent. We're not asking Europe to be a vassal of the United States. We want to be your partner. We want to work with Europe. We want to work with our allies. We want to work in cooperation with you.
And our point has been and continues to be, the stronger you are, both on an individual basis in terms of countries and collectively as an alliance, the stronger the members of NATO are, the stronger NATO is.
Chapter 2: What are the key updates from Secretary of State Marco Rubio's overseas trip?
Rubio addressed the Munich security conference yesterday and tomorrow. He meets with Hungarian President Viktor Orban, who's considered one of President Trump's closest allies in Europe. Orban's also maintained close ties to Russian President Putin. Democratic leaders say the party is ready to spend millions of dollars on a ballot measure in Virginia.
allowing Democrats to redraw the state's congressional map. And Pearsall Ashley Lopez reports it's an effort to offset President Trump's plans to tilt maps in the GOP's favor for the midterms.
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Democrats can put a ballot measure before voters that would pave the way for the party to draw as many as four more seats that would favor them this year. In an interview with CNN, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the party will fight hard to make sure that measure passes.
We will spend tens of millions of dollars to make sure that the Republicans do not successfully manipulate voters in Virginia and that voters have all of the information necessary to make a decision.
GOP leaders in Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri redrew their congressional maps at President Trump's urging last year. The special election in Virginia will be held in April. Ashley Lopez, NPR News.
On a holiday-shortened trading week, investors on Wall Street will get the latest GDP data. NPR's Rafael Nam reports.
For a long time, there's been a difference between how Americans feel about the economy and what the data actually show. A long period of high prices and uncertainty about the labor market has left many households feeling a little skittish about their future. The data, though, largely have shown the U.S.
economy is expanding at a very solid pace, growing more than 4 percent in the summer and early fall. On Friday, we'll get the latest GDP report, this one covering from October to December. That's going to give investors a good report card on the economy, including on consumer spending and the impact of tariffs.
Another important clue will come on Thursday, when Walmart will report earnings, giving us another good view of consumer spending. Rafael Nam, NPR News.
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