NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-02-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: March 3, 2025

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This message comes from Wondery. At 24 years old, Monika Lewinsky was in a scandal that defined who she was for the entire world. And now she's ready to draw from her own experience on what it means to redefine yourself on her new podcast, Reclaiming with Monika Lewinsky. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. At a summit of 20 world leaders in London today, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Europe has to do the heavy lifting to secure a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine, but that the effort also needs the strong backing of the U.S. Starmer says Britain, France and Ukraine have agreed to work on a ceasefire plan to present to the U.S.

Terry Schultz has more. Now, this is going to require a lot more money, sustained funding, sustained weapons transfers to Ukraine. And eventually, the Europeans say several countries are willing to put their own troops on the ground to monitor a ceasefire. But there's a big contingency clause here. This will require American help and backup to keep Russia on its side of a ceasefire line Asked whether he thought Donald Trump would agree to this

Starmer said he'd spoken with Trump last night and would not be moving ahead if he wasn't confident of that Terry Schultz reporting Dr. Republicans are questioning President Zelensky's leadership of Ukraine Following his heated meeting with President Trump at the White House last week. But not all of the GOP is on the same page. And here's Luke Garrett has more. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, through his support of Zelensky, into doubt on Sunday. He told NBC News, Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone

else needs to lead the country to do that. On Friday, following the tense Trump-Zelensky meeting, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina suggested Zelensky should resign or change. But on Sunday, GOP Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma told NBC News he disagrees. I'm not interested in calling on the resignation of other world leaders. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont defended Zelensky outright on NBC News. Zelensky is leading a country trying to defend democracy against an authoritarian dictator, Putin, who invaded his country.

Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. President Trump signed two executive orders aimed at increasing American lumber production and possibly increasing tariffs on lumber imports. And Pierce Danielle Kurtzleben reports, it's one of a slew of tariffs the Trump administration is currently threatening. Pierce Danielle Kurtzleben One order directs agencies to find ways to increase lumber production. Another directs the Secretary of Commerce to investigate possible lumber tariffs.

The White House says the goal is to reduce the cost of building housing. Tariffs are taxes American businesses pay to import products from abroad. Trump has also threatened tariffs on an array of other goods in countries. Canada accounts for around 40% of American lumber imports, by far the largest of any country. Trump has also threatened blanket 25% tariffs on Canada as well as Mexico, saying those could take effect as early as March 4th. Danielle Kertzleib in NPR News, West Palm Beach, Florida. Danielle Kertzleib U.S. futures contract have slipped into negative territory. Dow futures are down about one-tenth of a percent. This is NPR News.

A Texas-based company has landed a spacecraft on the moon in a new step for U.S. space exploration. As MPR's Joe Hernandez reports, the lunar lander carried a number of NASA science experiments on board. Joe Hernandez The Blue Ghost Lunar Lander by the American company Firefly Aerospace touched down on the moon early Sunday morning. The mission is part of a NASA program to contract with private space companies to deliver scientific instruments and other payloads to the Moon. Included on the Blue Ghost lander are a device to collect rock samples from the lunar surface and an X-ray imager to study Earth's magnetic field. The successful touchdown came after several attempts by other private companies

to land on the moon in recent years. Blue Ghost's landing capped a 45-day journey covering more than 2.8 million miles. Joe Hernandez, NPR News. At the weekend box office, Captain America, Brave New World took the top spot once again with an estimated $15 million in ticket sales. The Anthony Mackie-led film has made $163 million since its release, but it has been slammed by many critics and audiences for failing to bring the Marvel reset some had hoped for. In second place, The Last Breath, with just $7 million, the film, based on a true story adventure, is about a routine deep-sea diving mission

that goes terribly wrong when a young diver is stranded some 300 feet below the surface. And in third place, The Monkey, with $6 million. I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from Wondery. Scam Factory, the explosive new podcast series, exposes a multi-billion dollar criminal empire where thousands are being forced to scam others under the threat of death. Follow Scam Factory wherever you get your podcasts.