NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-03-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

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These days, there is a lot of news. It can be hard to keep up with what it means for you, your family, and your community. Consider This from NPR is a podcast that helps you make sense of the news. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a story and provide the context, backstory, and analysis you need to understand our rapidly changing world. Listen to the Consider This podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kora Vekulman. Stocks opened sharply lower this morning as investors react to President Trump's sweeping tariff announcement. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrial

average tumbled more than 1,300 points in early trading. The size and scope of the new tariffs caught many investors by surprise. Stock markets around the world sank, a flashing red warning sign of the economic fallout that's expected to result from the president's widening trade war. Starting this weekend, the U.S. will impose a minimum 10 percent tariff on nearly all imports, with much higher levies to follow next week on goods from dozens of countries around the world. The import taxes amount to a nearly nine-fold increase in tariffs the U.S. had been charging last year. Much of that cost will be bor tariffs the U.S. had been charging last year.

Much of that cost will be borne by U.S. businesses and consumers. The tariffs are expected to lead to higher prices and slower economic growth. Factories and farmers could also suffer as global trading partners retaliate with tariffs of their own on U.S. exports. Scott Horsley in Peer News, Washington. Automaker Stellantis says because of Trump's new tariffs on imports of foreign autos, it will pause production at plants in Canada and Mexico for about two weeks. But news reports say Stellantis will also trigger temporary layoffs of about 900 auto

workers at U.S. plants in Michigan and Illinois. Writing online, President Trump appears enthusiastic about the tariffs. So is Vice President Vance. We're going to cut taxes for American workers and for American companies that build here. We're going to make it harder to ship American jobs overseas. It's a total shift in the way that we've done economic policy in the United States of America, but it was necessary. So, yeah, we're going to cut your taxes. You're going to have more money in your pocket, and that's of course going to help you deal with the cost of inflation.

Vance spoke to Fox News this morning. Israel is expanding its war in Gaza. It has now ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate areas from the north to the south of the enclave. NPR's Ea Batraoui reports Gaza's health ministry says since Israel broke the ceasefire last month, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and more than a third of them are children. Israel's military has ordered people across northern Gaza, the entire southern area of Ravach and now eastern Gaza City to flee. The evacuation orders issued online tell people to move to designated shelters, but aid groups say schools that have been bombed in the war are already full with displaced people

and they're running out of tents to distribute because of a month-long blockade imposed by Israel. UN staff in Gaza have seen civilians shot trying to flee Rafah in recent days. 15 paramedics and rescue workers were killed by Israeli soldiers trying to rescue people in Rafah. The military says it was firing on militants. Israel says it's seizing large areas of Gaza to expand a buffer zone. It's also working to facilitate the removal of Palestinians from the territory altogether. Eyal Batraoui, NPR News, Dubai. On Wall Street, the Dow is now down well over 1,400 points. The Nasdaq is off nearly 5 percent. It's NPR. At least three people have been killed in

tornadoes and other severe storms, one person in Missouri and two more in Tennessee. The National Weather Service says a multi-day series of storms are now underway. These are expected to produce catastrophic flash flooding from eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas to the Ohio Valley. There have been numerous tornadoes sighted in the region. The CEO of aircraft maker Boeing is acknowledging the company made serious missteps that hurt the quality and safety of its aircraft. But as David Schaper reports, he's promising key lawmakers Boeing is improving its safety protocols and culture. Under questioning from members of the Senate Commerce Committee, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg admits production flaws and lax oversight led to a door plug blowing out of an Alaska

Airlines 737 in flight in January of last year. Boeing made serious missteps in recent years and it's unacceptable. In response, we've made sweeping changes to the people, processes and overall structure of our company. Changes that Ortberg says will improve, and overall structure of our company. Changes that Ortberg says will improve the quality and safety of Boeing planes. But family members of those killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes want the company held accountable for its design and production flaws and for deceiving safety regulators. For NPR News, I'm David Schaper. In battle, New York City

Mayor Eric Adams says he will withdraw from the upcoming Democratic primary. He plans to run for reelection as an independent candidate. A federal judge this week upheld the Justice Department decision not to prosecute Adams for alleged corruption. Again on Wall Street, the Dow is down 1400 points. This is NPR. Since Donald Trump took office in January, a lot has happened. This is NPR.