NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-25-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

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Am I a propagandist? A truth teller? An influencer? There's probably no more contested profession in the world today than mine, journalism. I'm Brian Reed, and on my show, Question Everything, we dive head first into the conflicts we're all facing over truth and who gets to tell it. Listen now to Question Everything, part of the MPR Podcast Network. Live from MPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. The Trump administration is trying to downplay the incident in which a journalist was added to an intelligence group chat discussing plans for U.S. military strike in Yemen. The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeff Goldberg says National Security Advisor Mike Walz,

or someone in his office, added him to the chat. NPR's Deepa Sivaraman has more. The National Security Council is investigating how Jeffrey Goldberg got looped in. President Trump is defending Walz and says he does not need to apologize. The president also says, as far as he understands, there was no classified information shared in the encrypted messaging app Signal. If it was up to me, everybody would be sitting in a room together. The room would have solid lead walls and a lead ceiling and a lead floor.

But, you know, life doesn't always let you do that. The president did not specify if he would ban the use of Signal for his administration officials. Catherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, also chairs the board of the Signal Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the messaging app. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News, The White House. The Senate has confirmed a Stanford University researcher as the next director of the National Institutes of Health. NPR's Rob Stein reports.

Dr. J. Bhattacharya, a Stanford health economist, was easily confirmed by the Senate. Bhattacharya takes over the NIH at a time when the world's biggest public funder of biomedical research is in turmoil. The NIH has lost hundreds of employees so far in the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the federal workforce, terminated hundreds of grants to medical researchers across the country to comply with executive orders, and could be facing a major restructuring as the administration refocuses the nation's federal health agencies. Rob Stein, NPR News. A federal judge in Syracuse has heard arguments in the first hearing in a free speech lawsuit

filed against the Trump administration. From member station WSKG, Phoebe Taylor-Fuolo reports that the case was filed by a Cornell University student who's facing deportation. The lawsuit argues the administration is violating the First Amendment by threatening international protesters with deportation. After filing the lawsuit, doctoral student Mamadou Tal was told that his student visa had been revoked. Attorney Eric Lee asked a judge to block the government from detaining him. Momodu Tull is a test case that will determine whether the government can come to your house and grab you and put you in jail for the things you say criticizing the United States government

and its policies. The Department of Justice says Tull's visa was revoked a day before the lawsuit was filed and that the federal court no longer has jurisdiction over the case. For NPR News, I'm Phoebe Taylor-Vuolo in Syracuse, New York. Meanwhile, a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to halt attempts to deport a Columbia University student from South Korea who has legal residency. This is NPR. A federal appeals court says the Trump administration may temporarily suspend approval of new refugee

applications amid ongoing legal proceedings over an executive order that suspended the refugee admissions program. But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled that applications by refugees who received conditional approval before President Trump took office must still be processed. Cannabis has a distinct skunky smell, but as the drug grows in popularity, new strains have cropped up with notes of lavender, cloves, and cognac. And Piers Ping Wong went to a grow farm in Maryland to check it out.

Andras Kershner is the founder and head grower of District Cannabis, which sells weed in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. ESA's weed strains these days have a wide variety of smells. From berry to citrus, lemon, lime, cherry, a lot of the popular strains are kind of a combination between the gas and another flavor.

This trend is related to a better understanding of the science behind the gassy, skunky smell of weed, which has been traced to a sulfur compound, and to consumer demand. As recreational use grows, cannabis brewers and growers are developing new strains that are more pleasant smelling to more people. Ping Huang, NPR News. Consumer confidence has slipped again for the fourth month in a row. The Conference Board, which measures Americans' views about their future finances, says its confidence index fell over seven points to a 12-year low.

This is NPR News. This message comes from NYU Langone. The NYU Langone Health app gives you access to your electronic health record. Keep track of your visits, lab results, and images all in one place. Better health starts with a better health system.