NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-04-2025 2PM EST

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

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JANENE HERBST, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON,

TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, TX, N over this speech. This Congress, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans, they have been remarkably acquiescent to Trump's norm-shattering moves. And that acquiescence has come even as Trump has consolidated wide-ranging governmental powers into the executive branch, including powers that Congress historically has had, things like imposing tariffs. Slaipin And here's Danielle Kirstein reporting. Ukraine's President Zelensky says on social media he's ready to sign a minerals deal with the U.S. and work with President Trump. He says no one wants an endless war and that his meeting with Trump at the White House last Friday didn't go as it was supposed to. And he says that was regrettable.

Wall Street is sharply lower today, actually in mixed territory at this hour, on growing fears of a global trade war. NPR's Maria Aspin has more. Global trade tensions are escalating, and Wall Street is worried. President Trump imposed a 25% tariff against Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China. Now China and Canada have announced retaliatory measures. China, Canada, and Mexico are the largest U.S. trading partners, and the new tariffs are expected to increase consumer prices for a wide range of products. Shares

of automakers Ford, GM, and Tesla are all down amid the broader market sell-off. So are shares in Best Buy and Target, as both retailers warned investors that the new tariffs could increase their prices. Maria Aspin, NPR News, New York. The new Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, sent a note to staff making it clear she will work quickly to dismantle the department. And here's Corey Turner has more. The new secretary's note, which is posted on the Education Department's website, says the department is not working as intended.

We must start thinking about our final mission at the department as an overhaul, she writes, a last chance to restore the culture of liberty and excellence that made American education great. And she closes, speaking directly to education department staff telling them This is our opportunity to perform one final unforgettable public service for students according to a new NPR PBS news Marist poll 63 percent of Americans do not support getting rid of the US Department of Education Corey Turner NPR news getting rid of the U.S. Department of Education. Corey Turner, NPR News.

Wall Street has pulled up off earlier lows amid trade war worries. The Dow is down 321 points. The Nasdaq is now in positive territory, up 81 points. The S&P 500 down 21. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. An architect from China has won

architecture's most prestigious award, the Pritzker Prize, and Firsnetta Ulubi has more. Lu Jiaokun was born in 1956. He was one of the first architects to start a private firm in China. He's mostly worked there throughout his career, designing museums, university buildings, even a maternity ward for pandas at a research institution in Chengdu. Liu told NPR through his translator, his 24-year-old son Martin, that after a deadly earthquake in 2008, his firm made bricks from the rubble.

They became known as rebirth bricks because of what they were used for. Like reconstructions of some buildings in villages and also some public buildings in the city. Each brick, he said, contained a visible memory of what came before. Neda Ulibi, NPR News. It's Mardi Gras. And celebrations got underway early in New Orleans. This is severe weather is forecast for the area, and that's forced officials

there to reschedule or shorten some of the parades because of possible thunderstorms that the National Weather Service says could bring heavy rain damaging gusty winds over 60 miles an hour and also the possibility of small hail. Mardi Gras meaning Fat Tuesday is the final day of decadence before Lent the start of 40 days when many Christians reflect on the events leading up to, including, the death of Christ. Wall Street trading mixed, the Dow is down 322 points. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.