NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-06-2025 7AM EST

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

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On the ThruLine podcast, the myth linking autism and vaccines was decades in the making and was a major moment for vaccine hesitancy in America, tapping into fears involving the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government. No matter how many studies you do showing that this is not a problem, it's very hard to unring the bell. Listen to ThruLine from NPR, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. An independent federal board has ordered the Department of Agriculture to temporarily reinstate

thousands of probationary workers who've been fired. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports. Merit Systems Protection Board member Kathy Harris issued the decision. She granted a request from the Office of Special Counsel, which is investigating the firings of probationary employees across the federal government. That investigation has found that nearly 6,000 probationary employees at USDA had received identical letters telling them that they were being fired for performance reasons, when in fact the agency had not considered performance or conduct when deciding to fire them. Instead, the special counsel said they were fired as part of a reorganization,

which requires a number of procedures which USDA failed to do. The 45-day pause on the terminations will allow the investigation to continue. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. European leaders are holding an emergency meeting in Brussels today. They're talking about boosting their own defense spending after Trump administration officials said the U.S. needed to be less involved in the defense of the continent. This also comes as President Trump suspended U.S. military aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

NPR's Tom Bowman says he has stopped sharing U.S. intelligence with Ukrainian officials. Tom Bowman, NPR's U.S. Secretary of State for Ukraine and Ukraine's Defense Secretary for Ukraine and Ukraine, U.S. officials, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, they've indicated that a pause might be short-lived if President Trump determines Ukraine is serious about moving forward with peace talks. But the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia,

said cutting off intelligence support to our Ukrainian partners will cost lives. NPR's Tom Bowman reporting. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has never said he would refuse to come to peace talks. In fact, he's been demanding a seat at the table. That includes in recent talks the U.S. held with Russian diplomats. Ukraine was not invited.

Farmers in North Dakota say they're worried about their economic livelihoods as the Trump administration levies steep tariffs on Chinese, Mexican, and Canadian imports. And Pierre's Kirk Siegler reports. At the annual North Dakota winter ag show, tariffs, namely of the retaliatory kind from next door in Canada, are top of mind for vendors like Butler Machinery. Justin Stringer sells farm equipment across the Dakotas and says there's a lot of local anxiety that prices for everything will go up even more.

When you're getting them tariffs put on from a factory, it's how do we help our customers take less impact because we want to keep our customers strong and our economy strong and we know what the backbone of the country is. During the last trade war in 2018, the previous Trump administration sent billions in aid to the Midwest, but many farmers here say they still haven't fully recovered and now a new tariff war is looming. Kirk Sigler, NPR News, Jamestown, North Dakota. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

Writing online, President Trump is demanding that Hamas release all Israeli hostages now or it is over for you. Trump also told Palestinians in Gaza that they could have a beautiful future but not with hostages. He wrote, quote, if you do, you are dead. Hamas is rejecting Trump's demand and says the current ceasefire deal with Israel must remain in effect. Organizations that help refugees resettle in the US are in turmoil. The State Department terminated resettlement contracts last week. There's a lawsuit over this. From member station

WABE in Atlanta, Emily Wu-Pearson has more. In January, President Trump issued an executive order stopping federal grants and work for refugee resettlement. But last week, a U.S. district judge issued a preliminary injunction against the order. Still, contracts were terminated with all 10 non-governmental organizations that use federal funds to resettle refugees in the U.S. Six out of those 10 organizations resettle people to Georgia. Mujda Oryakil leads a coalition of nearly two dozen nonprofits

that provide refugee services in the state. One of our clients, she is pregnant, and she was told by her resettlement agency that we are not able to help you moving forward. The judge is expected to clarify this week whether or not the Trump administration evaded the previous ruling.

For NPR News, I'm Emily Wu-Pearson in Atlanta. Texas Democratic U.S. Congressman Sylvester Turner has died at the age of 70, according to his family. They cited ongoing health problems. Turner had also served as Houston's mayor for eight years. This is NPR.