NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-19-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

NPR News: 03-19-2025 2PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Honest Baba is NPR's eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. Wherever you put your eye to the horizon, it's the same. Destruction everywhere. On the Sunday Story, what it's like to be a reporter covering the war in Gaza while also living through it. Listen now to the Sunday Story on the Up First podcast from NPR. Live from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. A day after Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts, issued a rare rebuke for President Trump's

call to impeach District Court Judge James Boesberg, White House Press Secretary, Caroline Levitt said that the Supreme Court should quote, reign in these activist judges issuing orders blocking President Trump's agenda. Though Trump says he will comply with court orders, he also called for Boasberg's impeachment after the judge issued a temporary halt to deportation flights. Despite the court order, last week in the government invoked a rarely used wartime law to go ahead with the transfer of alleged Venezuelan gang members from the

U.S. to El Salvador. President Trump spoke to Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky earlier today for about an hour, their conversation coming a day after Trump also held a lengthy call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to try to reach a ceasefire deal. Yusen Pierszasz-Mahaled. Yusen Pierszasz-Mahaled. This all comes as Trump tries to broker a truce. He wants to end this now three-year war. The president posted on social media that he had a quote, very good telephone call with Zelensky and said much of their discussion was based on the conversation he had Tuesday

with Russia's leader. Trump says he's trying to align Ukraine and Russia's requests and needs. After Trump spoke with Russia's Vladimir Putin, Moscow agreed to stop strikes on energy infrastructure. But Zelensky says that even after that agreement, Russian drones hit energy targets and two hospitals. Asma Khalid, NPR News. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from terminating billions of dollars in grants for clean energy projects. More from NPR's Michael Copley. The EPA last year awarded nonprofits about $14 billion in grants to help pay for things

like solar projects in low-income communities. Congress provided the money under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed by former President Biden. Under President Trump, the EPA said it was canceling the agreements, based in part on concerns about waste, fraud, and abuse. However, Judge Tanya Chutkin said the EPA hasn't provided evidence of wrongdoing. As for comment, the EPA pointed to a social media post by Administrator Lee Zeldin saying he won't rest until the money is returned to the U.S. Treasury. Michael Copley, NPR News. until the money is returned to the U.S. Treasury. Michael Copley, NPR News. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady

this afternoon as policymakers wait to see how President Trump's policies will affect the U.S. economy. The central bank's benchmark rate helps set the cost for anyone trying to borrow money to buy a car, grow a business, or carrying a balance on their credit card. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 218 points, or roughly half a percent, at 41,799.

The S&P has risen roughly three-quarters of a percent. The Nasdaq now up more than one percent. This is NPR News. A federal judge in New York is transferring the lawsuit filed by former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil to New Jersey. He's fighting his recent arrest by immigration authorities. More from NPR's Ximena Bustillo. Khalil has lawful permanent residency in the U.S. and his lawyers are fighting his arrest and planned deportation.

He's being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, and the Trump administration sought to move his legal case there. But Jalil's lawyers wanted to move his case to New York, where he resides and was arrested. In the end, both sides agreed New Jersey could serve as the venue because that's where Jalil was briefly detained when his lawyers first filed. Any further decision about his lawsuit will now be made by judges in the Garden State. Jimena Bustillo, NPR News, New York. A lot of recent medical research has focused on why some groups of people become sicker

than others. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports many researchers worry that the administration may limit that work. Health disparity is among hundreds of terms federal agencies are reportedly scrubbing from websites and flagging for review and documents. For many researchers reliant on federal funding, that's raising concern. Dr. Fola May studies disease patterns at UCLA and worries the term disparity is misunderstood.

We have to recognize that disparities are affecting everyone, not just racial ethnic minorities. I'll give an example. White individuals that live in rural areas of the United States are less likely to get a screening test. The National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs, both federal research funders, did not respond to requests seeking comment. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News. This is NPR.

Man, I mean, that might have been the only time I've really faced myself. NPR News.