NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-15-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: March 15, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Forecasters are warning of dangerous weather moving into the deep south today after multiple tornadoes were reported in the Midwest. More than 160,000 customers are without power in Missouri, and there are reports of major tornado damage in Cape City, Arkansas. According to the city's Facebook page, a state of emergency has been implemented and a Dusted on curfew is in place.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is defending his decision to vote for a measure that prevented a government shutdown last night. The CR bill is a bad bill. But as bad as the CR is, I believe that allowing Donald Trump to take even more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option.

Schumer's decision to join nine other Democrats to vote with Republicans sparked anger among House Democrats, exposing divisions within the party over how to respond to President Trump's second term. The White House says that Hamas is making unreasonable demands and negotiations to extend a ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel hopes will lead to the release of more hostages held by the Palestinian militant group. Ampere's Tamara Keith reports the top U.S. envoy is calling this a bad bet. The White House says Mideast envoy Steve Woodcoff presented a bridge proposal to extend the

current ceasefire beyond Passover in Ramadan to allow more time to negotiate a permanent ceasefire. Hamas has said publicly that it is willing to release the one American hostage still alive in Gaza, as well as the bodies of four others it has been holding since the October 7th attack. But a statement from Witkoff and the National Security Council says privately Hamas is making demands that are entirely impractical. The statement goes on to say that, quote, Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not.

Tamara Keith and PR News, the White House. Now to West Texas, where the measles outbreak continues to grow with 36 more confirmed cases, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the state to 259. Texas Public Radio's Gabriella Alcorta-Celorio has more. Danielle Pletka The State Health Department reports the number of hospitalizations rose to 34 cases, two new counties reported cases. Since late January, one death has been confirmed in Texas in an unvaccinated child connected to the outbreak. Another death was reported in New Mexico at the beginning of this month.

Two of the confirmed measles cases are unvaccinated people. The rest are unvaccinated or their status is unknown. The state reported that three of the cases previously reported as vaccinated were actually found to be unvaccinated cases. Health experts have emphasized the best way to prevent measles is to receive the two doses of the MMR vaccine. I'm Gabriela Alcorta Solorio in San Antonio. And this is NPR News. At the Kennedy Space Center last night, the replacements for the two astronauts who've

been stuck on the International Space Station for the past nine months are on their way to the orbiting outpost. They are to arrive at the ISS late tonight. Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams have been living at the station since last June. They arrived there for what was supposed to be a week-long test flight, but their Boeing Starliner capsule malfunctioned and returned to Earth without them for safety reasons. Wilmore and Williams are now expected to be back on earth sometime next week. The United States has reached out to Denmark and other European countries asking for help

supplying eggs amid a severe shortage brought on in part by an outbreak of bird flu. Adrienne Murray has more from Copenhagen. Letters were sent to egg-produ producing nations by the US Department of Agriculture last month Reuters reports even as Trump threatened Denmark and the European Union with tariffs. Jørn Newberg Larsen, head of the Danish Egg Association said Europe does not have a big surplus of eggs but that they want to help their American friends. More than 20 million eggling chickens have died or were culled in the last quarter in the US, according to data from the USDA, while prices have spiralled to record highs last month. For NPR News, I'm Adrienne Murray in Copenhagen.

And I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News from Washington.