NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-18-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: March 19, 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 Jack Spear. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is skeptical about the limited ceasefire deal agreed to by presidents Trump and Putin during a two-hour phone conversation today. As NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports Putin agreed to stop targeting energy infrastructure but called on Trump to end foreign military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine.

Zelensky spoke in an online press conference after the Putin-Trump call. President Trump... Sorry to repeat this, he said, but we need more details. It's a question of mechanisms and details. Zelensky said he was worried about Putin's political will, saying he thought the Russian president wanted to continue the war. Despite his promise to stop targeting Ukraine's energy facilities, a substation was hit in the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk, and

NPR reporters heard drones being shot down over Kyiv. European leaders said any ceasefire must be verifiable and Ukrainians must be at the negotiating table. France and Germany say they will continue sending military aid to Ukraine. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kyiv. A federal judge has ruled Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution in their decision to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.

NPR's Windsor Johnston reports the preliminary injunction blocks further cuts to the agency. The court found that the rapid shutdown of the department stripped Congress of its constitutional authority over federal agencies. The decision requires the Trump administration to restore email and computer access for all USAID employees, including those who have been placed on administrative leave. The ruling marks the first time that a judge has ruled that Elon Musk is exercising enough independent authority to require him to be confirmed by the Senate.

NPR's Windsor Johnston. Nearly three days after more than 200 Venezuelans were flown to El Salvador, there's still no clarity on who they are. NPR's Adair Peralta reports human rights groups warned they've been sent into a procedural black hole. The U.S. says many of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador are suspected of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Now all of them are in a prison called Secot.

Salvadoran President Nay Bukele built that massive maximum security prison after he ordered the detention of some 80,000 suspected gang members. In Secot, prisoners are not allowed visitors and they're never allowed outside. Human rights groups say they have been jailed without a judicial process. The government says the prisoners there will never be released. It's unclear whether the deportees will face the same fate. The office of the Salvadoran president has not responded to multiple text messages and calls from NPR.

Ede Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City. Stocks took another swing to the downside today. The Dow fell 260 points. The Nasdaq was down 304 points. The S&P 500 lost 60 points. You're listening to NPR. A pair of NASA astronauts who spent far longer aboard the International Space Station than they expected because of Boeing's problem-plagued Starliner capsule have returned home. Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams returning aboard a SpaceX capsule that splashed down this evening off the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Two were only scheduled to be in space for about eight days, but wound up spending nine months aboard the International Space Station. The Treasury Department has promoted two longtime special agents at the IRS who investigated former President Biden's son Hunter Biden for tax evasion. NPR Scott Horsley reports the two had accused the Biden administration of interfering with their probe. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson has tapped veteran investigators Gary Shapley and Joseph Sigler to serve in leadership positions. The two men had investigated Hunter Biden over unpaid taxes and later complained they faced interference and retaliation from the Biden

administration. A federal prosecutor denied the tax probe faced political interference, but a whistleblower watchdog did find Shapley and Ziegler suffered retaliation. Bessent said in a statement the two men will help drive what he calls much-needed cultural reform at the IRS. Hunter Biden ultimately pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion. He was later pardoned by his father. Scott Horsley in PR News, Washington. Salmon fishing has been banned off the California coast for the past two years and could be idled or fishermen could be idled for a third year. They are turning to creative solutions.

They do say it's increasingly hard to hold on though. Fishermen have run historic cruises, parties and even scattered people's ashes to stay afloat. Trump administration has been pushing to send less water through some California waterways that could make things worse. You're listening to NPR. Following the news out of Washington, D.C. can be overwhelming. I'm Scott Detro and NPR has a podcast that can help. It's called Trump's Terms, stories about big changes the 47th president is pursuing

on his own terms. Each episode is short, usually around five minutes or so. We keep it calm and factual. We help you follow what matters and we leave out what doesn't. Listen to Trump's Terms from NPR.