← The NewsWorthy
The NewsWorthy
"Golden Age of America", Pentagon's AI Ultimatum & Olympic Ratings - Wednesday, February 25, 2026
00:15:01
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
A
Today is Wednesday, February 25th. We have some of the biggest takeaways from last night's State of the Union address, from the economy to immigration to the few moments of bipartisan agreement. Also, why an air safety bill that passed in the Senate unanimously still failed to become law. Plus, the ultimatum Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a major AI company, why American businesses are making leadership changes at a record rate, and what made this year's Winter Olympics so, so popular. Those stories and even more news coming up. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this. Members of Congress and the rest of the nation got a window into President Trump's America as he sees it. The president delivered his State of the Union address last night in which he called this the Golden Age of America. It set a record for the longest speech of its kind. And while not all of it was accurate, he did address what Americans have said are their biggest concerns. For example, the economy. Trump spoke about lower prices for gasoline, mortgage rates and prescription drug prices, as well as gains in the stock market. And he blamed undocumented immigrants for many of the ways in which Americans are still struggling, saying they're responsible for higher medical bills, car insurance rates, rent, taxes and crime. Trump strongly criticized Democrats for allowing what he said was an invasion of undocumented immigrants. And in one particularly tense moment, he asked everyone in the chamber to stand if they agreed with the idea that the first duty of elected officials was to protect American citizens instead of immigrants who entered the country illegally. Republicans cheered and broke out into chants of USA Democrats were mostly silent and most stayed seated, to which Trump said, quote, you should be ashamed of yourself. But there were a few moments of bipartisanship. There was applause on both sides of the aisle when Trump condemned political violence and when he expressed support for a stock trading ban for lawmakers. Both Democrats and Republicans also cheered for many of President Trump's invited guests, who painted a picture of American patriotism. For example, the American men's hockey team, Trump said on top of the gold medal the players just won in Italy. The team's goalkeeper, Conor Hellebuk, would be receiving a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Then the president awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to American war heroes. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger gave the Democrats response, and as expected, she criticized the president, accusing him of lying, scapegoating and dividing the country with his address. She told Americans to forget what they heard from the president and to instead ask themselves if they're really doing better under Trump's policies, like whether their life is really safer or more affordable. Spanberger won her election last November by double digits, and that victory was followed by several other high profile wins for Democrats. Now the focus for both Democrats and Republicans is increasingly on the midterms. In fact, in many parts of the country, early voting for the primaries has already begun. It was a bipartisan bill that unanimously passed in the Senate, and federal investigators say if it had been law a year ago, it could have helped prevent the worst US Civil aviation disaster in more than two decades that happened near the nation's capital. But yesterday, the bill still ended up failing in the House. The measure would have required planes to carry advanced location tracking technology. It it would have given pilots real time weather and traffic information, and it would have required more information sharing between the FAA and the military. The bill seemed like it was pretty much a done deal until Monday when the Pentagon came out against it despite supporting it just a few months ago. The Defense Department's latest statement said it would create budgetary burdens and operational security risks without specifying exactly what they were. Then some GOP leaders from key House committees argued the bill was overly restrictive and and would have undermined national security, so it did not get the required 2/3 majority vote. Now a Republican congressman is pushing his own aviation safety bill that also has bipartisan support. Representative Sam Graves says his version will try to address all safety recommendations laid out by the National Transportation Safety Board in response to last year's crash, but it doesn't require the advanced technology on every aircraft. And for now, that bill does not have the same endorsement from the ntsb, aviation industry, trade unions, or families of crash victims the way the last one did. And many of those families now say they're going to keep pushing for the original bill's passage to be continued. Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie and her family are now offering $1 million for any information leading to her kidnapped mother. That's on top of the $100,000 reward offered by the FBI, even though, sadly, in her latest video, Savannah acknowledged that Nancy Guthrie is possibly already gone. Despite more than 20,000 tips, the investigation into her disappearance seems to be cooling. After more than three weeks, there was still no suspect, no getaway car, and no known motive. Still, investigators insist they're not giving up. They have some solid clues, like the image of a masked man from Nancy Guthrie's front door camera, her blood drops on the doorstep, a series of ransom notes and more. And in her latest video, Savannah Guthrie again begged anyone who may know something that can bring her family answers to come forward. She also spoke about millions of other families who have suffered with the same kind of uncertainty she's living with. So she announced the Guthries are also planning to donate half a million dollars to the national center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Northeast is not getting much of a break from winter weather. Just days after the last historic blizzard, the next system is already dropping more snow. This one is not expected to be nearly as intense, but it will still drop about 1 to 3 inches on areas that are just starting to dig out from feet. And it doesn't end here yet another system could bring more light snow to the Mid Atlantic tomorrow. Meanwhile, airlines are trying to make up for the thousands of flights that have had to be canceled over the last few days by adding more to their regular schedules. Electricity is slowly returning, too, with hundreds of thousands of customers getting their power back yesterday. Still, there's more work to be done removing snow, restoring power, and getting travel back to usual. More news is still coming up, but first I want to take a moment to talk about our sponsor, Rosetta Stone. There's something so satisfying about learning something new, doing more than you even thought possible, and just watching yourself grow and progress over time. Well, Rosetta Stone is a great way to start learning a new language and take on a fun and useful hobby in a way that actually fits your busy schedule. I know for me, learning a new language would never be possible if it wasn't flexible. But thanks to Rosetta Stone, you can learn anytime, anywhere with on the go learning from your desktop or mobile app, whether you have just five minutes or a full hour. Plus, Rosetta Stone has been the trusted leader in language learning for more than 30 years, and their method ensures you're learning the language naturally. So no memorizing random vocabulary lists or feeling lost. I'm now super interested in learning a new language for my own growth, future travel, and to show my son it's never too late to try something new. So don't wait. Unlock your language learning potential. Now the newsworthy listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. That's unlimited access to 25 language courses for life. Visit RosettaStone.com newsworthy to get started and claim your 50% off today. That's RosettaStone.com newsworthy and start learning today. Okay, now back to the news. The U.S. supreme Court ruled the Postal Service cannot be sued even even if mail carriers deliberately refuse to deliver mail. In a 5 to 4 vote, justices voted against a black woman who says her mail was intentionally withheld for two years in part because of racial prejudice. Justice Clarence Thomas explained the majority opinion saying federal law shields USPS from lawsuits over missing, lost and undelivered mail, and that the precedent applies even in this situation. On the other side, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said said the decision was wrong because the protection does not extend to situations where mail is not delivered for malicious reasons. The Trump administration had warned if the high court had ruled the other way, it could have led to a flood of similar lawsuits against a postal service that's already strapped for cash. And at least some justices did bring up that point in arguments saying the consequences could have been $3 letters. Now it's case close. Ever since the U.S. supreme Court struck down President Trump's biggest tariffs, the list of global corporations demanding refunds has grown. Originally, it was more than 1,400 importers like Costco, Toyota, Goodyear and Revlon suing for tariff money back, saying they already paid tariffs that were never legal. Now that the High court agreed, FedEx, L' Oreal and Dyson have followed suit, and trade lawyers say this is likely just the beginning, since the companies who have already sued represent only a fraction of those that may be eligible for compensation. Though to be clear, the U.S. supreme Court did not actually address the issue of refunds, an actual recovery process would have to be worked out by a lower court, and individual resolutions could take months, if not years. The debate is deepening over the role artificial intelligence could have in national security. The US Military has been using Anthropic's AI model Claude, for its most sensitive work, and now the Pentagon is threatening to force the company to let it use the product the way it wants to. Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly had a tense meeting with Anthropic's CEO yesterday about the AI company's refusal to loosen its safety standards. Hegseth says that needs to change, that the military needs unrestricted access, and that if Anthropic doesn't allow it, there will be consequences. For example, the Pentagon could cut ties and declare Anthropic a supply chain risk, which is basically considered a government blacklist. Or the Pentagon could invoke the Defense Production act to force the company to tailor its model to the military's needs. Anthropic's CEO reportedly told Hegseth he would adapt policies for the Pentagon, but that there are two clear red lines that cannot be crossed. The company won't let the government use its model for the mass surveillance of Americans or the development of weapons that fire without human involvement, while Hegseth reportedly said he won't let any company dictate the terms under which the US Military makes operational decisions, and he gave the company until Friday to agree to its terms. By the way, Anthropic was just the first AI company to get approved for classified military networks, but other companies, like Elon Musk's xai, say they're ready to take on the responsibility, too. Stay tuned. Meta has announced what seems to be its largest AI partnership yet, which is saying a lot for a company that's already made several multibillion dollar deals. This latest one is with Advanced Micro Devices, also known as AMD. It's valued at more than $100 billion, and it could leave Meta owning as much as 10% of AMD stock. By the way, it comes just a week after Meta announced a deal to buy chips from AMD's rival Nvidia. Meta has committed up to $135 billion in spending this year as it tries to keep pace with the likes of Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic. Overall, Meta has plans for 30 data centers. Sports far the others have plans for hundreds more. The 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina delivered NBC's highest viewership since 2014 and nearly doubled the audience from the Beijing Olympics four years ago. Specifically, NBCUniversal says the games average 23.5 million viewers a day across NBC, Peacock and its cable and digital platforms. The rebound comes after the last Winter Games posted record low primetime ratings. So what changed? Well, executives say there were a few factors. First, the European time zone, making it much easier for American audiences to watch events live. Second, strong American storylines, including the journeys to Alyssa Liu's gold in women's figure skating, Mikaela Shiffrin's gold in Alpine skiing, gold medals in men's and women's hockey, and more. And third, a heavy streaming push with Peacock offering hundreds of live events and multi view options. All of it helped power what NBC called a legendary February, which also included the super bowl and the NBA All Star Game. NBC now hopes to keep that momentum going into the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. And that's it for the May News Today. So now it's time for Work Wednesday when we break down one interesting career or work related news story every Wednesday. But first, this episode is brought to you by Haya Health. Need an easy win as a parent? Grab Hyah's Children's vitamins, Haya's vitamins and probiotics have become such a simple part of our morning routine that both my son and I love. He gets a great tasting chewable that he happily eats daily and I get the peace of mind of knowing that Haya has looked at what modern kids are actually eating or not eating and formulated their vitamins around those specific nutritional gaps. We're talking vitamin D, B12C, zinc, folate, all the foundational nutrients that support immune health, energy levels, brain function, mood regulation, concentration and the development of strong teeth and bones. And listen parents, if getting your kids to eat vegetables feels like an impossible daily battle, Haya's New Kids Daily Greens plus Superfoods is a game changer. It's basically chocolate milk stuffed with veggies. It's a greens powder that's packed with over 55 whole food sourced ingredients. Just mix one scoop with milk or any non dairy beverage and watch them actually enjoy something that's secretly fueling their growing bodies. We've worked out a special deal with Hiya for their best selling children's vitamin receive 50% off your first order to claim this deal you must go to hyahealth.com newsworthy this deal is not available on their regular website. Go to H I y a h E-A-L-T-.com newsworthy and get your kids the full body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults. Now back to work Wednesday. So American companies are making leadership changes at a record rate. The Wall Street Journal looked at the country's 1500 largest publicly traded companies and it found about one in nine got a new CEO last year. That's the highest rate since at least 2010. And it seems they're being replaced by newcomers who are younger and less experienced than before. Specifically, over the last year, the average age of an incoming CEO went from about 56 to 54, and more than 80% of newcomers had never run a major company before. Keep in mind this is just last year. Since then, dozens more companies brought in new CEOs, e.g. walmart, P&G, Disney, PayPal, HP, Kroger, and more. So what's behind the turnaround? Well, experts tell the Journal there are quite a few factors, including the rise of AI and the breakdown of long established trade practices. Basically, the thought is someone who specializes in the playbooks of the past probably is not right for the job right now. They also point out how just because someone hasn't run a standalone company doesn't mean they're untested. And in fact, having someone who has instead been working in the trenches could be right for the moment. Now the business world is watching to find out exactly what changes they'll make and what it all means for the Future of Fortune 500 companies. Thank you so much for listening today. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest news. Until then, have a great day.