NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-19-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

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Public media counts on your support to ensure that the reporting and programs you depend on thrive. Make a recurring donation today to get special access to more than 20 NPR podcasts. Perks like sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, and more. So start supporting what you love today at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. A federal judge in San Francisco is questioning whether the Trump administration is complying with his order to reinstate certain fired government workers. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports this judge's order covered six federal agencies.

U.S. District Judge William Alsop said he'd seen media reports that federal agencies had rehired probationary employees fired last month, but immediately put them on paid administrative leave. He said that was not allowed under his preliminary injunction because government services wouldn't be restored if people aren't working. Attorneys for the government did not deny that agencies have placed reinstated employees on leave, but called it an intermediate measure, a first step to getting people fully reinstated. They did not say what the next

steps would be or if they'd be carried out while the government appeals the judge's ruling. Several federal employees told NPR they are getting paid but have gotten no news about going back to work. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. A separate federal judge has given the Justice Department another deadline. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is questioning the Trump administration's use of a rarely used wartime power to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador last weekend. The judge ordered the administration not to use the wartime power for the deportations and to even turn the planes back if necessary.

But that didn't happen. And Piercerio Martinez Beltran says Boasberg then told the Justice Department to explain what happened. Judge Boasberg asked the Trump administration to answer four detailed questions about the deportation flights. The administration partially complied. The DOJ provided a sworn declaration that no one was deported after Judge Boasberg's return order was removed under the Alien Enemies Act.

And Pierre Sergius Martinez Beltran reporting. But Judge Boasberg wants many more details about the deportation flights. He's ordered another response and it's due by midday today. He wants to know when the flights left U.S. airspace and when they landed in El Salvador. Officials in Ukraine say there have been numerous Russian airstrikes overnight, including attacks that hit two hospitals in northern Ukraine. This comes after President Trump and Russian President Putin said they'd agreed to start talks toward a ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine.

But NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports Ukrainians are skeptical of this. President Putin told President Trump Russia would stop targeting energy facilities, but Ukrainian officials say a major transformer in eastern Ukraine has been hit and drones continued to attack Ukraine's cities, including the capital, Kyiv. It is these nighttime attacks by Russia that are destroying the country's energy sector, infrastructure and the normal life of Ukrainians, said Zelensky. And the fact that this night was no exception shows that Ukraine must continue to put pressure on Russia if it wants peace.

Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kyiv. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Israel's prime minister says any further talks for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will only take place under fire. Israel has resumed bombing Gaza in an effort to pressure Hamas to release more Israeli hostages. More than 400 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of others wounded in the sudden resumption of fighting.

Hamas says it is committed to the original ceasefire that it struck with Israel. In the U.S., federal health officials say there are more than 300 confirmed measles cases. Most of them are in Texas. Texas Public Radio's Gabrielle Alcortes-Solorio has more. Of the nearly 280 confirmed cases, two are in vaccinated people. The rest of the patients are not or their status is unknown. Dr. Michael Chang, a Houston pediatric infectious disease specialist, spoke during a Children at Risk press conference last week on the misconceptions for measles treatment. I want to emphasize there's no antiviral treatment for measles and vitamin A is not an antiviral. So while vitamin A has shown some mortality and morbidity benefits in malnourished children,

its role in healthy children is not clear. Chang added that vitamin A in high dosages can lead to serious toxicity and the only way to prevent measles is to be vaccinated. I'm Gabriela Alcorta Solorio in San Antonio. The National Weather Service is warning that gusty winds and dry conditions could spark wildfires across several states from Texas to West Virginia, when gusts could hit 50 miles per hour in parts of west central Texas. Most of that state is under a red flag warning.

I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News. On the embedded podcast. No, no. It's called denying a freedom of speech. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.