NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-04-2025 5PM EDT

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

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When Malcolm Gladwell presented NPR's Throughline podcast with a Peabody Award, he praised it for its historical and moral clarity. On Throughline, we take you back in time to the origins of what's in the news, like presidential power, aging, and evangelicalism. Time travel with us every week on the Throughline podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Stocks sank for a second day as investors recoiled from President Trump's widening trade war.

Estimates are upwards of $6 trillion in wealth has evaporated nearly overnight. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell fell more than 2200 points today is down nearly 8% for the week. Fallout from the far-reaching tariff plan that Trump announced two days ago continues to pummel financial markets. China promised to retaliate with steep tariffs of its own on US exports. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged Trump's import taxes are higher than most people expected. As a result Powell says they'll likely push prices up and slow the economy down more Jerome Powell acknowledged Trump's import taxes are higher than most people expected. As a result, Powell says they'll likely push prices up and slow the economy down more than

many people anticipated. There was some positive economic news. The Labor Department reports that U.S. employers added 228,000 jobs last month, more than twice as many as the month before. That count is a little stale, though, since it was taken three weeks ago before this week's tariff turmoil. Scott Horsley in PR News, Washington. The 2200 point drop in the Dow the fourth time that's ever happened. Looking at the Nasdaq and the S&P both were down nearly 6% today. Companies that rely on cross-border supply chains are relieved. Mexico largely escaped President Trump's new tariffs.

Goods that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement are exempt. Angela Kachurga of Member Station KTP reports. On the border, warehouse and customs brokerage services have been in higher demand. Some companies have moved more products into the US ahead of new tariffs. Uncertainty leading up to the latest tariffs

has slowed growth on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Octavio Saavedra is president of EP Logistics, which has operations in both countries. It has stopped the investment in this area because whatever goes into Mexico here in Juarez, there's a huge investment also in the El Paso side, in the U.S. side. EP Logistics' massive warehouses offer a glimpse of the kinds of goods in cross-border manufacturing supply chains, including electronic components and auto parts. For NPR News, I'm Angela Cochergan-El Paso. Staff at the National Endowment for the Humanities have been placed on administrative leave. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has more.

A source tells NPR that nearly 80 percent of the National Endowment for the Humanities staff of 185 people have been placed on administrative leave, effective immediately. The agency funds museums, history, education, and preservation projects through a competitive application process. The source says a team from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOJ, has been visiting the NEH offices. Among the NEH staff affected are people in communications, directors, and program officers. The NEH did not respond to NPR's request for comment. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR. Exciting news for Bruce Springsteen fans.

This summer, The Boss will put out a collection of seven previously unreleased albums. NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has more. Bruce Springsteen has announced that tracks two, The Lost Albums, will include dozens of previously unheard songs, including this one, Rain in the River. That's a song from an unreleased 2018 album. But the entire collection will span as far back as four decades, and it will connect the dots between some of Springsteen's most notable projects, like Nebraska and Born in the USA.

Lauren Anke is a professor of music at George Washington University. She says, Every little piece that can be revealed tells us more about his work as a songwriter and as a singer. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News. While highly preventable and virtually eradicated in the U.S. just 25 years ago, Measles is making a comeback this year. The U.S. is reporting twice the number of cases of the disease compared to just a year ago with two reports of fatalities involving unvaccinated people. The contagious diseases airborne and preventable by vaccines outbreaks have occurred in Texas, New Mexico,

Ohio, Kansas and Oklahoma. A group of space tourists have returned home today after their SpaceX capsule splashed down in the waters of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California. The group, including Bitcoin investor Cheng Wang, spent a total of three and a half days in orbit and paid an undisclosed price for the ride. He was joined by Norwegian filmmaker, a German robotics researcher, and an Australian polar guide. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. On this week's episode of Wild Card, actress Elizabeth Olsen reflects on being a Marvel superstar. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.