NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-04-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: March 5, 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 Jack Spear. Speaking on Capitol Hill tonight to a joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump to cheers from Republicans and jeers from Democrats that America is back. But what has been a tumultuous few weeks continued in the House chamber. Democrats repeatedly interrupting Trump as he sought to take a victory lap with Republicans rushing to support him.

We won the popular vote by big numbers and won counties in our country. Representative Al Green of Texas refused to be seated saying you have no mandate to cut Medicaid. House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered him out. Take your seat, sir. Take your seat. Finding that members continue to engage in willful and concerted disruption of proper decorum, the chair now directs the sergeant-at-arms to restore order.

Remove this gentleman from the chamber. The quorum was eventually restored, though some House Democrats held signs reading Musk steals. Trump's speech tonight mostly hitting familiar themes, including cutting federal workers' jobs, blaming former President Biden for inflation, and taking aim at transgender athletes. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling tariffs against goods imported into the US by his country imposed by the Trump administration very dumb. Trudeau also calling out Trump for appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a news conference today, Trudeau said his country will retaliate against the US by imposing tariffs on more than $100 billion worth of American goods.

China would saw tariffs against its U.S. imports double, is also imposing 15 percent tariffs on key U.S. farm products. Mexico is yet to announce how it will retaliate against the U.S. Veterans of foreign wars, one of the country's biggest vet groups, is warning of harmful cuts at veterans' affairs. NPR's Quo Lawrence reports VFW leaders testified on Capitol Hill. In a congressional hearing, VFW commander Al Lippard condemned the cuts of thousands of VA staff as indiscriminate.

When I was wounded in Vietnam, or shrapnel, instead of just taking my arm off, the medics took the time to just pick out the pieces. That's the way that we need to be addressing these issues. It needs to be with a scalpel and not just a saw." Congress has given veterans these benefits by law, Lippert said. It's a contract. This is not an ask. Honor the contract. The new secretary of the VA says cutting staff and hundreds of contracts will improve VA services. Quill Lawrence, NPR News.

For a second straight day of punishing session on Wall Street, the Dow fell 670 points, the Nasdaq was down 65 points, the S&P fell 71 points. This is NPR. Today, two eaglets broke out of their shells and into the world in a nest high up in a pine tree in the mountains east of Los Angeles. Tens of thousands of people from around the globe tuned into their 24-7 livestream to catch a glimpse. KVCR's Madison Almat is more. The new parents, two eagles known as Jackie and Shadow, have become internet celebrities.

Early in the morning, some 75,000 people watched as the chicks, only about three inches tall, hatched. Sandy Steers, who runs the camera, says from now on, Jackie and Shadow will be busy. They will be protecting the eaglets and keeping them warm and covered and away from the elements, and they will be bringing food continuously. Listen closely, and you can hear Jackie pick tiny pieces off a fish from nearby Big Bear Lake to feed the chicks.

Steer says a third egg could still hatch. She says to stay tuned because soon the chicks will learn to fly. For NPR News, I'm Madison Aument. For a second straight year, former New York City Mayor and entrepreneur Michael Bloomberg tops the list of the country's biggest donors. Its annual ranking, the Chronicle of Philanthropy singling out Bloomberg for giving a total of $3.7 billion to support arts, education, the environment and public health. Bloomberg last year gave $1 billion of that to Johns Hopkins University to make medical

school free and to provide financial aid to nursing and public health students. Repeating this hour's top story, President Trump has begun his address to Congress and the American people laying out his plans for the months ahead. Trump's dizzying first weeks have featured dismantling of the federal government, tensions with America's allies, and a trade war. This is NPR. This message comes from Wondery. Scam Factory, the explosive new podcast series, and PR.