NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-04-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. President Trump's threats to impose across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico became reality overnight. He imposed 25 percent tariffs on them and a fresh 10 percent tariff for China. Trump says it's to stop these countries from illegally sending fentanyl into the U.S. NPR's Brian Mann has more. In a statement explaining new tariffs that go into effect today, the White House again pointed to drugs and fentanyl as a key rationale, describing overdose deaths in the U.S. as a national

emergency and saying other countries have failed to adequately address drug smuggling. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau punched back, saying fentanyl smuggling from Canada is quote, near zero. Chinese officials, meanwhile, say they've already stepped up drug interdiction efforts. A spokesman for China's foreign ministry described the fentanyl issue as a pretext for new tariffs. Both countries say they'll retaliate with new tariffs on U.S. goods. This trade fight comes as deaths from fentanyl are dropping fast in the U.S., down more than 30 percent over the last year, according to federal researchers. Brian Mann, NPR News, Washington. President Trump says he is suspending

U.S. military aid to Ukraine. NPR's Joanna Kakissus reports Ukraine is drafting plans to manage without the U.S. aid, at least in the short term. Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, said the PASS feels like betrayal from Ukraine's strongest single ally. When you deprive a country of capabilities and weaponry to defend itself,

it inevitably has tragic consequences in terms of human lives. So I didn't believe that it would happen. The PAS affects at least a billion dollars in weapons and ammunition already in transit or on order. Ukraine says it has enough stockpiles to manage for a few months without U.S. assistance. The European Union and the United Kingdom are also offering to increase military aid. Joanna Kikissis, NPR News, Kiev. President Trump will give an address to a joint session of Congress tonight. NPR's Claudia Grisales says he is expected to demand that

lawmakers move on a huge bill featuring his priorities. Now Trump wants to put the squeeze on Republicans to move very quickly on getting a partisan bill out of Congress that would install another series of massive changes from $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, an extension of a program installed during his first term, as well as a dramatic $2 trillion in cuts to federal spending that has some worried about Medicaid cuts. And before they can even get to all of that, they have to address a government shutdown deadline. And Bios Claudia Grisales reporting. The Senate has confirmed billionaire Linda McMahon to be the next U.S. Education Secretary.

She served as the chief of the Small Business Administration during President Trump's first term in the White House. McMahon says that she will carry out his plans to dismantle the U.S. Education Department. You're listening to NPR News. The Egyptian government has convened an emergency summit of the Arab League. Arab leaders are working on a plan that would rebuild Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas is over. The summit was hastily called. It came after Israel said last weekend it was cutting all aid to Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is demanding that Hamas accept some revised terms to the ceasefire that was hammered out earlier this year.

Hamas has refused. President Trump has also called for Palestinians who live in Gaza to be relocated and the enclave redeveloped as a tourist destination. The Egyptian-led alternative would allow Palestinians to remain in temporary housing during reconstruction. Scientists at a Texas biotech company say they've taken another important step in their quest to bring the woolly mammoth back from extinction. MPR's Rob Stein has the story. Scientists at Colossal Biosciences in Dallas say they've created what they call woolly mice.

These are mice that have been genetically engineered to have traits that made woolly mammoths distinctive, like their long shaggy coat. The scientists say they plan to do the same thing with the mammoth's closest living relatives, Asian elephants, and hopefully someday release herds of these mammoth-like elephants into the Arctic. Critics worry about unintended consequences of these mammoth-like elephants into the Arctic. Critics worry about unintended consequences of releasing mammoth-like elephants into the Arctic. Rob Stein, NPR News. On Wall Street and pre-market trading Dow futures are lower.

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