NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-18-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

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On Thru Line from NPR. The consequences for the country would have been enormous. It would have been a crisis. The man who saw a dangerous omission in the U.S. Constitution and took it upon himself to fix it. Find NPR's Thru Line wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. Palestinian health officials say at least 200 people were killed and dozens more are wounded as a result of renewed Israeli airstrikes across Gaza.

NPR's Sadil Al-Shalchi reports from Tel Aviv. This is the first round of Israeli strikes in Gaza since the first phase of a ceasefire deal ended at the beginning of the month. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes because Hamas had quote repeatedly refused to release all the hostages. No official death toll was reported by the Gaza Health Ministry, but individual hospitals reported some dozen Palestinians killed. The shaky first phase of the ceasefire deal saw 33 hostages held by Hamas released and about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed

from Israeli jails. Netanyahu wanted Hamas to accept an extension of the first phase to release more hostages and Hamas insisted on beginning second phase talks which would see a permanent end to the war. Hadeel Al-shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Administration officials are insisting that President Trump's order to remove plane loads of alleged Venezuelan gang members is protected under the 18th Century Alien Enemies Act. A federal judge says the Justice Department violated a weakened court order to turn around planes carrying the deportees to Venezuela.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says it's unclear whether the court order was issued properly. There's actually questions about whether a verbal order carries the same weight as a legal order, as a written order, and our lawyers are determined to ask and answer those questions in court. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is giving government lawyers until noon Tuesday to submit a plan for bringing the Venezuelan deportees back to the U.S. The Pentagon has deployed a Navy destroyer to guard the U.S. southern border.

The U.S. has gravely departed Virginia on Saturday to help assist the U.S. Northern Command's border security mission along the Gulf. The ship is designed to intercept ballistic missiles and was recently used in the Red Sea. President Trump has tapped Michelle Bowman to serve as the Federal Reserve's top banking regulator. As NPR's Scott Horsley reports, Bowman is a former community banker who has served on the Fed's governing board for the past seven years.

President Trump said in a social media post that he plans to nominate Bowman to be the next vice chair for supervision at the Fed. If confirmed, she'll fill the vacancy left when Michael Barr stepped down at the end of February. Barr, who was appointed by former President Biden, continues to serve on the Fed's board of governors but gave up the bank's supervision job to avoid what he said would be a distracting legal fight with the Trump administration. Bowman, who helped to run her family's bank and later served as state banking commissioner

in Kansas, is expected to exercise a lighter regulatory touch than Barr. Banking industry groups were quick to praise her nomination. Scott Horsley in PR News, Washington. U.S. futures are virtually unchanged in after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sent letters to 20 major U.S. law firms seeking information on their diversity and employment practices. Acting EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas says those firms may be violating federal

civil rights laws. The agency has set up an email address for whistleblowers who have information on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Discount clothing chain Forever 21 is closing all its stores in the U.S. following the company's second bankruptcy filing in less than six years. The Los Angeles-based fast fashion retailer cites economic hardships plus competition from overseas rivals including Xi and Timu and Tsar as its reasons for closing. Singer-songwriter Jesse Collin Young has died at the age of 83.

As NPR's Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento reports, Young was the voice behind the summer of love anthem, Get Together. Jesse Collin Young and his band, the Young Bloods, did not write Get Together, but their rendition of the song captured the hearts of a generation wishing for world peace. Come on, keep an eye on it. Smile on your brother, everybody, get together.

Get Together climbed all the way to number five on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. After several albums with The Young Bloods, Young found success as a solo artist. He wrote and recorded music for more than five decades, much of which celebrated his love of the natural world. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News. You're listening to NPR.

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