NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-15-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: March 15, 2025

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This message comes from Wondery. Kiki Palmer is that girl, and she's diving into the brains of entertainment's best and brightest to have real conversations on her podcast, Baby, This is Kiki Palmer. 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. In Missouri, Butler County Emergency Management Director Robbie Myers told CNN of major damage in the community of Poplar Bluff where one person is reported dead. Right there, there's one particular swath that is just heartbreaking to see. Major damage also reported in Cove City, Arkansas.

Power outages stretch from Texas to Indiana. Federal cutbacks have pushed hundreds of meteorologists, technicians, and more out of the National Weather Service, as Alaska Public Media's Eric Stone reports. Between firings and so-called fork-in-the-road resignations, a Weather Service union official tells Alaska Public Media that nearly 300 out of 4,000 employees are no longer on the job. At the Environmental Modeling Center, which develops the nation's weather models, the union says about half of the jobs are now vacant. Retired Coast Guard Captain Ed Page says that's worrying.

He says knowing the weather is even more important than wearing a life jacket. Of the top 10 things you need to worry about when you go to sea, number one is, what's the weather? Weather experts say the cutbacks will mean less accurate forecasts across the country. For NPR News, I'm Eric Stone in Juneau, Alaska. In a highly unusual move, President Trump delivered an openly political speech at the Justice Department, as NPR's Tamara Keith reports. Just a year ago, Trump was facing charges brought by the Justice Department.

Now he's back in office and has scores to settle. During his lengthy remarks at Justice Department headquarters, Trump attacked his perceived enemies and complained about how he has been mistreated. And I believe that CNN and MSDNC, who literally write 97.6 percent bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party. And in my opinion, they're really corrupt and they're illegal. What they do is illegal. Presidents have typically tried to avoid any appearance of political interference in the justice system.

Tamara Keith, NPR News, The White House. Stocks rallied on Friday, but could not erase a big sell-off earlier in the week. NPR's Scott Horsley reports all of the major stock index has lost ground over the last five days. The stock market was dragged down again this week by tit-for-tat tariff threats. President Trump imposed 25% import taxes on steel and aluminum Tuesday. Other countries promised to retaliate, prompting Trump to warn of even bigger tariffs on European wine and spirits. The trade war overshadowed some positive inflation

news. The Labor Department said consumer prices rose just 2.8% in the last 12 months. Tariffs could interrupt that progress. A survey by the University of Michigan found even Republicans who support the president are rattled by the chaotic rollout of economic policy. For the week the S&P 500 index fell 2.25%, the Nasdaq dropped 2.4%, and the Dow lost more than 3 percent. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. And you're listening to NPR News. Congress has avoided a government shutdown.

The Senate passed a short-term spending bill that keeps the government operating for six months. Ten Senate Democrats voted to advance the bill, exposing divisions within the party. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he's kicking out the new ambassador from South Africa. He's accusing him of hating America and President Trump. Rubio had skipped a G20 meeting in South Africa as well. As MPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. In a fiery tweet, Secretary Rubio calls Ambassador Ibrahim Rasool a, quote, race-baiting politician who hates the U.S. president.

Rubio says the U.S. has nothing to discuss with Rasool, and so he's considered persona non grata. Rubio initially misspelled the ambassador's name, as did an article he posted by the right-wing news organization Breitbart. The article says that the ambassador told a foreign policy seminar that the Make America Great Again movement is a white supremacist response to demographic shifts in the US. Rubio canceled a trip to South Africa earlier this year after Trump and his South African-born advisor Elon Musk falsely accused the government

there of trying to steal land from white farmers. Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, the State Department. The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, says Russian leader Vladimir Putin will have to come to the table sooner or later during an online meeting today. Starmer urged world leaders to keep the pressure on Putin to back a ceasefire in Ukraine. Starmer is leading a video call among a group of Western countries to show support for Ukraine. The U.S. is not participating. I'm Giles Snyder.

This is NPR News.