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Live from NPR in New York City, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao. President Donald Trump insisted [坚持] today he's not putting troops [部队] anywhere, but seemed to leave the door open to using ground troops in the war on Iran if necessary. NPR's Mara Eliasson reports. President Trump said that the United States will do whatever is necessary in the war on Iran, but he told reporters that if he was going to commit ground troops, quote, I certainly wouldn't tell you. Polls [民调] show committing ground troops would be extremely unpopular on top of a war that most Americans already oppose [反对]. The president also addressed [回应] reports of a potential $200 billion funding request [资金请求] for the war in Iran. Trump called that a small price to pay. But United States Congress has not voted to approve [批准] the war, and many Republicans [共和党人] could find it hard to justify [证明合理] spending the equivalent [相当于] of a quarter [1/4] of the United States Department of Defense's annual budget [预算] at a time when gas and other prices are rising because of the war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims [声称] Israel is winning the war against Iran, saying today the Islamic Republic can no longer enrich uranium [浓缩铀] or make ballistic missiles [弹道导弹]. Hundreds of their launchers [发射器] have been destroyed. Their stockpiles [库存] of missiles are being hit hard [遭受重创], and so are the industries [产业] that produce them. That's important. At the White House, while hosting Japan's first female prime minister [女性首相] today, Trump suggested [暗示] the war may be over with pretty soon, but didn't provide details [细节].
The former director [主任] for Iran at the National Security Council, Nate Swanson, told NPR, the endgame [最终结果] for the war in Iran keeps changing [不断变化]. I don't know if it's to calm markets [安抚市场], if it's buyer's remorse [事后反悔], or if it signals something broader [更广泛], which is his recognition that there's no easy way out [出路] of this. There's no good options [选择] for ending this war. And so at some point [某个时候], he's just going to have to force an ending. So I don't know which one of those it is, and maybe it's some combination [组合] of all those options at this point. Swanson is a resident senior fellow [常驻高级研究员] and director for the Iran Strategy Project at the Atlantic Council.
The United States Senate is one step closer [更进一步] to voting on President Trump's new choice to run the United States Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican Senator [参议员]. As NPR's Elena Moore reports, his nomination [提名] moves out of committee [委员会] and heads to the Senate floor. The Senate Homeland Security Committee has voted to advance [推进] Mullin's nomination, with eight lawmakers [议员] voting for and seven against. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the sole [唯一的] Democrat [民主党人] to vote yes. And the only Republican on the panel to vote no, committee chairman Rand Paul of Kentucky. During Mullin's committee hearing [听证会] on Wednesday, Paul questioned [质疑] whether he was the right person to lead DHS, zeroing in on [集中于] Mullin's temperament [性格] and frequent use of violent rhetoric [暴力言论]. Mullin walked [收回] some of that rhetoric back and distanced himself [保持距离] from the administration on some hardline [强硬的] immigration enforcement [移民执法] policies. Mullin's nomination now proceeds [进入] to the Senate floor for a vote, but it's unclear when that will happen.
The Minnesota family, whose five-year-old son Liam Conejo-Ramos made national headlines [头条] in his bunny hat [兔子帽] while being taken into immigration custody [移民拘留], planned to appeal [上诉] their case. An immigration judge [法官] rejected [驳回] the family's asylum case [庇护申请] yesterday, according to the family's attorney [律师], Dania Mulliver. The Minneapolis-based lawyer said the family, which includes Liam, an older brother, their parents, and a third child on the way [即将出生], told the Star Tribune newspaper that the family is very disappointed [失望] and had hoped to get their day in court to present their testimony [证词].
NPR has learned that a new company is setting up a lab in New York City to try to edit [编辑] the genes [基因] of human embryos [胚胎]. NPR's Rob Stein reports. The company is called Orgenesis Genomics, and founder Kathy Tie tells NPR that her goal [目标] is to demonstrate [证明] that it would be safe to edit DNA in human embryos. I am very excited. This is the most important technology of my generation [代]. Most scientists and bioethicists [生物伦理学家] say it's too dangerous to try to use genetically modified embryos to make babies, and some worry this could lead to a dystopian [反乌托邦的] future of designer [定制] babies. But Tai says gene-editing embryos could prevent children from being born with devastating [严重的] genetic disorders [遗传疾病]. At least two other U.S. startups [初创公司] have recently been formed with the same controversial [有争议的] goal.
U.S. oil prices have climbed more than 48 percent since the start of the war in Iran. The price of Brent crude is over $113.
