NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-07-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

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A lot happens in Washington every day, from the White House to Capitol Hill and everywhere in between. That's where we come in. On the NPR Politics Podcast, we keep you up to date on what happens inside Washington and what it means for you and your community. The NPR Politics Podcast. Listen wherever you listen. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. Two days after President Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, he's taking steps to relax them again. First, he paused tariffs on imported goods related to the U.S. auto industry. Now, he's offered relief to Canadian and Mexican goods that are covered by a mutual trade agreement.

NPR's Ada Peralta reports on Mexico's response. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that during a phone call she walked President Trump through a set of his own government statistics. They showed a huge drop in the amount of fentanyl being seized by border authorities. I asked him how can we continue to collaborate if the U.S. is doing something that hurts the Mexican people? It wasn't a threat, she said. I just asked him to understand my position. Shane Baum said after a respectful conversation, Trump agreed to pause most of the new tariffs

and review it in a month. Shane Baum had been set to announce retaliatory measures at a mass rally on Sunday. Now she says it will be a celebration. Eder Peralta, in PR News, Mexico City. President Trump says his cabinet members are initially responsible for cutting their agency's work forces, not Elon Musk. The billionaire has led Trump's doge efforts to fire tens of thousands of federal workers and sharply cut federal agencies. While Trump says cabinet secretaries have the firing power,

he is keeping a roll for Musk. We want them to keep the good people. And so we're going to be watching them, and Elon and the group are going to be watching them. And if they can cut, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting. This comes as a federal judge again ordered the Trump administration to pay some global

health groups. These payments halted when the administration froze U.S. foreign aid. The federal judge says the government has until 6 p.m. Eastern time on Monday to pay the money that it owes the groups. Ukrainian officials are adapting after the U.S. stopped sharing intelligence data. NPR's Joanna Kikissus reports from Kyiv, France and other countries are trying to fill that gap. U.S. satellites helped Ukraine identify Russian jets that might be carrying ballistic missiles. NATO countries could offer their own intelligence to Ukraine now, but their systems are integrated with American ones.

It is the first time when we are really in such situation in the history of NATO. Hanna Shellest is the director of security studies at the Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council. We don't know yet the consequences because nobody previously doubted the reliability of the U.S. as the partners. For years now, she says, Ukraine has also shared intelligence about Russia with the United States. The Trump administration has also frozen military aid that was on order or already en route to Ukraine. Joanna Kekesis, NPR News, Kiev.

You're listening to NPR News. The Labor Department releases its monthly report on jobs this morning. Forecasters expect the report on February employment might be better than January's when cold weather interfered with outdoor work. They don't expect cuts to the federal workforce will show up yet in today's data. The private company SpaceX lost another of its giant Starship rockets during a test flight last evening, flaming debris from the immense rocket rained down into the Caribbean Sea. That forced the Federal Aviation Administration

to briefly issue a ground stop for flights at four Florida airports. The FAA says it will investigate what it calls a mishap. NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports this is the second Starship failure this year. The flight test appeared to start smoothly. The rocket took off from its pad in Texas and flew out over the Gulf. is the second Starship failure this year. The flight test appeared to start smoothly. The rocket took off from its pad in Texas

and flew out over the Gulf. Starship separated from its massive super heavy booster. The booster flew back to the launch pad where it was caught by a pair of giant mechanical arms. Stuck the landing. Wow. That will never get old. But moments later several of the Starship's engines abruptly cut out as it entered space.

It looks like we are losing attitude control of the ship. Starship then tumbled out of control before exploding over the Caribbean. This was the second failure in as many launches. Elon Musk hopes the rocket will one day carry people to Mars. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. Weather forecasters say winter storm warnings are still up for parts of the West and Central Plains this morning. These warnings reach from Colorado to South Dakota.

I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington. Bella DiPaolo is glad if you're happily married, but she is perfectly happy being single. I would love to have someone who took care of my car or someone who cleaned up the dishes after dinner, but then I'd want them to leave. From yourself to your dog to your spouse are significant others. That's on the TED Radio Hour from NPR.