NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-25-2025 5PM EDT

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The nation's top two intelligence officials testified they did not share classified information in a group chat about the U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen. As NPR's Greg Meyery explains, Democratic senators pushed back aggressively against those claims. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the Senate Intelligence Committee that they have not shared classified material outside of proper channels.

They did not speak on behalf of other officials who were also part of the group on the Signal Messaging app. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said national security officials in the Trump administration have already taken a number of actions he described as, quote, sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior. The hearing came just a day after journalist Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that he was inadvertently included in the group chat with other national security officials. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Washington.

NPR CEO Catherine Maher chairs the board of the Signal Foundation, which supports the Signal app. President Trump is defending his national security advisor, Mike Walz, following the incident, accidental inclusion of a journalist in the messaging app Group Chat about the US attack on Yemen. Trump also repeating assertions no classified information was involved. Walz said technical experts and lawyers at the National Security Council were looking at the incident, but he slammed the Atlantic and the media over

the focus over the issue. In Gaza, Palestinians staged a rare protest against Hamas, the militant group that rules the territory. Israel resumed fighting last week to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages. More from MPPR's Daniel Estrin. Videos posted on social media show crowds chanting, out, out, out, Hamas, go out. Protesters called for media coverage, chanting, where is the media? Eyewitnesses say thousands took part in the demonstration in Beit Lehiya in northern Gaza, which began as an anti-war protest.

One protester who requested we only use his first name, Ibrahim, to speak freely against Hamas, told NPR, Hamas is not taking us into account. It has two million people in Gaza who need to live. He called on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages and leave Gaza. Over the years, Hamas has cracked down on dissent, but open criticism has grown during the war. Hamas did not break up the protest. It issued no comment.

Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Vice President JD Vance says he'll join his wife Usher Vance in visiting Greenland this week. The second lady announced a cultural visit to the Danish territory, sparking consternation from political leaders in Greenland and Denmark who are concerned about Trump administration's interest in acquiring the territory. from political leaders in Greenland and Denmark were concerned about Trump administration's interest in acquiring the territory. While Usha Vance has said she planned to attend a dog sled race,

she and the Vice President now say they'll visit a U.S. Space Force base on the island. Stocks closed modestly higher on Wall Street today. This is NPR. Five high-level officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are announcing they are leaving. The departures were announced today at a meeting of agency senior leaders, while the latest

exodus, roughly a third of the agency's top management, has now stepped down. The United Nations says U.S. funding cuts to global HIV-AIDS efforts will lead to millions of deaths over the next four years. More from MPR's Fatma Tannis. Officials with the United Nations program on HIV-AIDS said the sudden withdrawal of US support was having a quote devastating effect. UNAIDS executive director Winnie Bianima said on Monday that the cuts had led to closures of clinics in many African countries and severe shortages of life-saving HIV medications. Bian Yima warned that the cuts would lead to 2,000 new infections each day and over

6 million deaths over the next four years. We'll see it come back and we'll see people dying the way we saw them in the 90s and in the 2000s. Until the Trump administration's pause on foreign aid, the US had been the biggest funder of HIV treatment and prevention around the world. Fatma Tanis, NPR News. Robo-taxi company Waymo says it's adding Washington DC to its list of cities, where it's pioneering the latest technology that will be another year before actual driverless taxis are on the streets. For now, the company's robo-taxis are mapping D.C. streets and corridors with a driver behind the wheel to take control

if something goes wrong. Wemo's robo-taxis are already providing service in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin. I'm Jack Spear and PR News in Washington.