NPR News: 04-16-2026 9PM EDT
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump says peace talks between the U.S. and Iran could take place in the coming days.
Iran wants to make a deal, and we're dealing very nicely with them. We've got to have no nuclear weapons. That's a big factor, and they're willing to do things today that they weren't willing to do two months ago.
speaking there at the White House before he headed to Las Vegas for an economic roundtable. Trump says if it does happen, he might travel to Pakistan. That country has served as a mediator in the talks. Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to attend a ceasefire that's now underway. The two countries held their first diplomatic talks in decades after more than a month of war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, which wasn't part of the talks. Israel's attacks have hit civilian areas, displacing around one million people in Beirut. This after Iran said the Israeli strikes on Lebanon have to stop as part of any longer-term peace deal with the U.S. After a months-long search, President Trump has selected a former military physician to serve as director of the CDC.
And Pierce Ping Wong reports she has a long list of credentials.
Dr. Erica Schwartz has served as chief medical officer for the Coast Guard and as deputy surgeon general in the first Trump administration. She's a preventive medicine doctor and lawyer with a master's in public health from the Uniformed Services University. Admiral Brett Giroir worked closely with her as assistant secretary for health in the first Trump administration.
Her academic training and intellect is second to none. I mean, she's a person of the highest integrity. in commitment to service to this country.
Schwartz will now go through the Senate confirmation process, which could take several months. In the meantime, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya will continue to lead both the CDC and the National Institutes of Health. Ping Huang, NPR News.
Uncertainty around natural disasters and immigration policy is causing uncertainty in the housing market. That's according to a new report from Oxford Economics that revised down the number of needed houses due to a drop in net migration. NPR's Stephen Basaja has more.
Long term, there's uncertainty around how many homes will need replacing due to extreme weather events. Oxford economics Nancy Vandenhouten also says declining U.S. birth rates mean immigration policy will also play a role. I mean, if immigrants are going to make up a larger share of the population and there's more uncertainty about how many immigrants we're going to have, That creates more uncertainty for our forecasts for the amount of needed housing. There's also short-term uncertainty due to the war with Iran driving up borrowing costs. The National Association of Home Builders' Index on Builder Sentiment is the most pessimistic it's been in seven months. Stephen Basaha, NPR News.
Wall Street higher by the closing bell. The Dow was up 115 points, the Nasdaq up 86. You're listening to NPR News. Police say former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax killed his wife before killing himself at their northern Virginia home today. Their two teenage children were home at the time. This amid acrimonious divorce proceedings. In 2019, two women also accused Fairfax of sexual assault, allegations he denied. Fairfax was only the second black person elected to statewide office in Virginia since Reconstruction. A federal judge has ruled that above-ground construction on the new White House ballroom project must stop until lawmakers approve. Ampere's Anastasia Slioukas reports the ruling says the below-ground work at the site, including building a bunker,
The judge, Richard J. Leon, is continuing to block the Trump administration from building a 90,000-foot ballroom on the site of the White House's former East Wing until the new addition is approved by Congress. In his ruling, Judge Leon wrote, quote, But the judge is allowing the White House to proceed with below ground work on a bunker and other, quote, national security facilities on the construction site.
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