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

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

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This message comes from Wondery. At 24 years old, Monica 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 Monica Lewinsky. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. When President Trump delivers the first joint address to Congress of his second term, he'll be speaking to a deeply divided America. Trump is expected to talk about immigration and border security along with the economy. As NPR's Marla Iason explains, high prices remain something that's been a stubborn sticking

point. People voted for him because they didn't like inflation. He promised to bring prices down and he was very explicit about it. But since he's been in office, he has backed off from those promises. He's talked about how hard it is to bring down prices. And what I'm watching for tonight is how he talks about something that he hasn't prioritized, but that we know voters are very concerned about because polling shows more than half of Americans think Trump is not doing enough to bring down prices. Some Democrats angered over Trump's drastic approach to government downsizing, say they

will not attend tonight's speech. A number of other Democrats say they'll wear blue and yellow to show their support for Ukraine. After President Trump delivers his address tonight to the joint session of Congress, Democrats will get their chance to weigh in. NPR's Don Ghani reports Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin will give the party response. Slotkin is new to the Senate after representing a Michigan U.S. House district that leans Republican for three terms.

A centrist Democrat with a resume that includes time as a CIA intelligence analyst during both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies. She campaigned last year saying Americans are tired of divisive politics and said she's ready to reach across the aisle. Still she has delivered pointed criticism of Trump administration policies including the firings of federal workers, tariffs, which she says will hurt US automakers, and the president's Oval Office

berating of Ukrainian President Zelensky. Don Gagne, NPR News. The Texas measles outbreak continues with an increase in confirmed cases this week. Texas Public Radio's Gabriela Alcortes-Olorio reports. The number of confirmed cases has risen to 159 from last week's update of 146. The outbreak is still isolated to West Texas. Out of the total number of cases, five are

vaccinated, the rest are not, or their status is unknown. The majority of the cases are in Gaines County, where the outbreak is centered. So far one death has resulted from the outbreak, a school-aged unvaccinated child who lived in the area of the outbreak. For NPR News, I'm Gabriella Alcorta Solorio in San Antonio. According to the Vatican, Pope Francis is in stable condition, has been breathing with just the help of supplemental oxygen after suffering more respiratory crises yesterday. According to doctors, the pontiff continues to try to recover from a case of double pneumonia. Francis

will apparently wear a non-invasive mechanical ventilation mask. Doctors say the Pope's prognosis remains guarded. Stocks plunged on Wall Street today the Dauphel 670 points. This is NPR. Mamma Mia! the popular jukebox musical featuring Abba's songs, is returning to Broadway for a six-month run starting in August. The original production ran for over 14 years and became a film with a sequel, Jeff London reports. Mamma Mia! opened on Broadway in October of 2001, a little over a month after the 9-11 terror attacks, and its mixture of pop tunes and an escapist story set on a Greek island proved irresistible

to audiences. It ran for 5,773 performances, making it the ninth longest-running show in Broadway history. After ten years away and numerous productions around the world and on cruise ships, it's coming back. Producer Judy Kramer told the New York Times, it celebrates women, it's about second chances, it's about hope, and it's not political. It brings audiences together. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York.

The state of Minnesota says it intends to crack down on sites and apps that help people to create and distribute so-called deep fake pornography. Bill making its way through the state legislature there targets so-called notification websites that allow people to upload photos of someone to generate a sexually explicit image or video. It's one of the ongoing strategies lawmakers are taking, trying to crack down on. In many cases there already are bans on dissemination of such sexually explicit images. Critical futures prices fell to multi-month lows today as markets try to adjust to the

Trump tariffs oiled down 11 cents a barrel to 68.26 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. Sending or spending money abroad? Hidden fees may be taking a cut. Washington.