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

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. A federal judge is denying a request to temporarily block DOJ's takeover of the US Institute of Peace or USIP. Some former members of the congressionally funded think tank have sued the government, alleging they were unlawfully removed from their positions. More from NPR's Brian Lucas. The lawsuit seeks to reinstate the board members who were removed and to block DOJ from further accessing the Institute or its systems. At a hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said

she was very offended by how DOJ has moved to take over USIP. That includes threatening criminal prosecution and showing up with armed law enforcement to remove senior employees from the building. But Judge Howell says there is confusion in the lawsuit and that she has concerns about its likelihood of success on the merits. She therefore denied the former USIP board member's request for a temporary restraining order blocking Doge's actions while the lawsuit proceeds. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. North Dakota jury has found Greenpeace must pay hundreds of millions of dollars in

a case stemming from protests over the Dakota Access pipeline nearly a decade ago. The case raised questions about the limits of free speech and protest rights and whether private companies can claim restitution for blocked or delayed projects. Demonstrators led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe camped out for months drawing worldwide media attention to the project. Energy Transfer, which built the pipeline, claimed the environmental group's actions raised the cost of construction by at least $300 million. And now a jury says Greenpeace is on the hook for that.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he had a frank and substantive conversation with President Trump today, just a day after Trump spoke for more than two hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin. MPR's owner Beardsley has more. At a key of grocery store, 27-year-old Bella, who didn't want to give her last name for fear of retaliation, says Trump seems to be pursuing a deal in favor of Putin. Which is making me insecure about what's coming, but at the same time, I don't know, I have to accept what's going on and contribute to what I can. She says drones, possibly those supplied by Iran, kept her up last night.

So I've been hearing explosions and I've been hearing how the Shaheds are flying here. Zelensky says he is committed to not striking Russian oil depots and energy infrastructure for 30 days, but he says Ukraine wants a ban on striking civilian infrastructure, which Putin has not yet agreed to. Eleanor Beardley, NPR News, Kyiv. Parts of the Midwest are still reeling from tornadoes last week and now they're getting what amounts to a one-two punch. In parts of the Midwest and Great Plains face blizzard conditions, as well as the risk of high winds.

Kansas and central Wisconsin could see anywhere from a few inches upwards of a foot of snow. Stocks gained ground on Wall Street, the Dow rose 383 points. This is NPR. More people are turning to AI chatbots for talk therapy. But a new collaborative study by scientists at Yale and Zurich universities finds chatbots can become quote, traumatized by the stories they hear.

And here's Ruth Sherlock explains. Scientists told OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot, chatGPT, to pretend to be a human being with emotions. They then gave the chatbot a questionnaire used to assess anxiety levels in humans and found that the chatbot scored higher, as in became more anxious after being exposed to traumatic accounts about crime or war.

Ziv Benzion, now at Haifa University, is a clinical neuroscientist who led the study. He warns this finding matters because a more quote anxious AI can give biased or skewed responses to humans who may be struggling with mental health and have turned to the AI for therapy. Ruth Sherlock, MPI News, Rome. The maker of Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey and Americone Dream, Vermont based ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, says it believes its CEO was unlawfully removed by parent Unilever because of the company's liberal social activism.

In a federal court filing today, the company says Unilever informed the board March 3 it was removing and replacing CEO David Steaver. Ben & Jerry's says that's a violation of its merger agreement with the giant multinational, which states any decision regarding a CEO's removal should follow consultation with an advisory committee from the company board. Crude Oil futures prices moved higher with some new government data showing demand for fuel picking up, oil up 26 cents a barrel to 67.16 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.