NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-21-2025 5PM EDT

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

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These days, there's so much news, it can be hard to keep up with what it all means for you, your family, and your community. The Consider This podcast from NPR features our award-winning journalism. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a news story and provide the context and analysis that helps you make sense of the news. We get behind the headlines. We get to the truth. Listen to the Consider This Podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Tech billionaire and White House advisor Elon Musk met with the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon today. NPR's Quill Lawrence reports the White House has denied he was briefed on China.

U.S. officials had told NPR and other media outlets that Musk was scheduled for a briefing in a secure facility known as the tank, normally used by the Joint Chiefs, and that he be informed of sensitive Pentagon plans regarding China, including by the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Instead, Musk met with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in his office to discuss cost-cutting and innovation, according to Hegseth. Speaking at the White House soon after, President Trump said he would never show U.S. war planning to anybody, especially a businessman like Musk with interests in China. Trump called reports to the contrary false and said they're meant to undermine the relationship between

the Pentagon and Musk. Quill Lawrence, NPR News. The White House is slashing funding to major universities, citing policy disagreements and compliance issues. And Piers Windsor-Johnston reports the move is raising concerns about the broader landscape of higher education in the U.S. The Trump administration has canceled or paused hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to universities.

This week, the White House froze $175 million to the University of Pennsylvania, criticizing its policies on transgender athletes and women's sports. Earlier this month, the administration canceled $400 million in funding to Columbia University, accusing the school of not doing enough to address anti-Semitic harassment on campus. Johns Hopkins University lost $800 million in funding from USAID, which was dismantled by the White House. Dozens of other universities are facing federal inquiries, which could lead to cuts in federal funding. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. Russia and Ukraine are trading blame over the destruction of a gas transit station in

Russia's contested Kursk region. And Piers Charles-Mains reports the incident came as both sides agreed to a U.S. negotiated deal to pause attacks on energy infrastructure. The apparent attack took place at an inactive gas metering station in the Russian city of Suja near the Ukrainian border, causing a large fire to break out. Russia's defense ministry accused retreating Ukrainian troops in the area of sabotage and trying to discredit President Trump's partial ceasefire initiative. Meanwhile, Ukraine said Russia had targeted its own gas infrastructure in a bid to pin blame on Kiev. The 30-day

pause on attacks on energy infrastructure was the key outcome of Trump's negotiations with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Following lengthy phone calls this week, Trump had sought a full-month-long ceasefire, but Putin rejected the deal. Charles Mayne's NPR News, Moscow. Wall Street, higher by the closing bell, you're listening to NPR News. Street higher by the closing bell, you're listening to NPR News. Amid looming tariff threats on drug imports from President Trump, Johnson & Johnson says it will boost U.S. investments by 25 percent, that's more than $55 billion, in four new factories in the U.S. in the next four years. The pharmaceutical giant says it will add

some $100 billion a year to the U.S. economy. Jane Jay's rival Eli Lilly also announced plans for new U.S. factories last month, saying it will invest $27 billion in U.S. production facilities over five years. Librarians in Cincinnati got a shock recently when an overdue book was returned after 98 years. For member station WVXU, Hannah Weingartner reports, it was in such good condition, it's being put back into circulation. The copy of Wild West by Bertrand W. Sinclair was due back on November 23, 1926. Christopher

Smith is a reference librarian with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. I've seen books come back that were due in the in the eighties and the nineties and even the seventies. But this is the first time I've come across a book that was almost a century overdue. Family members discovered the book after an elderly loved one died, though Smith says it's unclear who actually checked it out all those years ago. The library no longer charges late fines, but if it did, he calculates it would be roughly $730. For NPR News, I'm Tana Weingartner in Cincinnati. And I'm Janine Herst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.