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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theschmidt.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump now says anything short of unconditional surrender by Iran would be unacceptable.
He made the comment on social media today, Iran has shown no interest in doing that. And Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi says despite comments from Trump that Iran asked for talks, it's not true. We are not asking for a ceasefire. And we don't see any reason why we should negotiate with the U.S. When we negotiated with them twice and every time they attacked us at the middle of negotiations.
So there is no request for a ceasefire by us and there is no request for the negotiation with the U.S. from us. Speaking there to NBC News, Tom Yamas. Meanwhile, President Trump met today with some of the biggest U.S. defense contractors. And Piers Franco-Ordonez reports it comes amid concerns about weapons stocks as the U.S. and Israel continue strikes on Iran in the war's seventh day.
President Trump took to social media where he boasted of a very good meeting with the largest U.S. defense manufacturing companies. He said they have agreed to quadruple production of the, quote, exquisite class of weaponry.
Chapter 2: What recent statements did President Trump make regarding Iran?
Weapons are already underway, he wrote. But U.S. officials who were not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that there are concerns about a lack of missile interceptors and that they may have to draw from other stockpiles. Trump dismissed those concerns, charging that they have a virtually unlimited supply of medium and upper-medium-grade munitions.
But he said those orders have been increased as well. CEOs attending with Trump included those from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. Trump said they planned another meeting in two months. Franco Ordonez, NPR News, the White House. A disappointing update on the U.S. job market. The Labor Department says the U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February.
NPR's Scott Horsley says the numbers are much weaker than expected. Job losses were widespread, with factories, construction companies, and the federal government all shedding workers. Even health care, which has been a source of strength in the job market, lost jobs in February, partly as a result of a nurses' strike.
Job gains for December and January were also revised downward, with December now showing a net loss of jobs. The unemployment rate inched up last month to 4.4%. policymakers had hoped the job market was stabilizing after anemic hiring in 2025, but February's job loss suggests continued weakness.
Average wages for those who are working continue to climb, with hourly wages up 3.8 percent in February from a year ago. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. And on Wall Street at the close, the Dow was down 453 points, the Nasdaq down 361. For the Nasdaq, that's down more than one and a half percent. This is NPR News. Netflix says it's acquired Ben Affleck's AI-powered filmmaking tool company.
And Pierce Coyle Development reports it comes just over a week since the streamer pulled out of a deal to acquire Warner Bros. In a video accompanying Netflix's announcement, Ben Affleck says his company Interpositives Technology does not enable filmmakers to build scenes from scratch using prompts. It allows them to build their own AI models based on the scenes they've already shot.
You can use your own model to remove the wires on stunts, reframe a shot, get a shot you missed, sheep the lighting, enhance the backgrounds. In an email to NPR, IATSE, the main union supporting Hollywood's technical workers, said it does not comment on mergers and acquisitions. This is just the latest agreement the Oscar-winning filmmaker has struck with Netflix.
Earlier this week, Affleck and Matt Damon's production company, Artists' Equity, signed a major partnership with the streamer. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. An asteroid NASA used for target practice a few years ago was nudged into a slightly different route around the sun. A new study says it's the first time a celestial body's solar orbit was deliberately changed.
Scientists say the impact by the DART spacecraft in 2022 not only trimmed the asteroid's orbit around its bigger space rock companion, but also around the sun. Researchers say their findings could help divert any incoming killer space rock, given enough advance notice. The study was published in Science Advances. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.
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