NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-05-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: April 5, 2025

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This message comes from Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right. They offer premium wireless plans for less and all plans include high-speed data, unlimited talk and text, and nationwide coverage. See for yourself at mintmobile.com slash switch. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. The stock market closed sharply lower on Friday across all major indices. It's the second straight day of major drops caused by fears about the impact of President Trump's newly announced tariffs on the world economy. MPR's Scott Horsley says the issue is complicated. Part of the president's stated goal here is to encourage more domestic manufacturing. And certainly tariffs, along with low taxes and limited regulation, can help to foster that.
Starting point is 00:00:43 But another thing factory owners look for is a stable, predictable business environment. And as economist Ernie Tedeschi of the Yale Budget Lab says, nothing about the last few weeks would suggest that's what they'll find in the United States right now. As the markets fell, Trump was playing golf at his resort in Florida. Writing on social media before his game, he said, this is a great time to get rich. A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return a Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador by mistake. The
Starting point is 00:01:10 decision is guaranteed to set up another high stakes clash between the White House and the courts. MPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran reports. U.S. District Judge Paula Zinis called the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia an illegal act. The man had been living in the US legally and had a work permit when he was arrested and deported last month, despite having been granted deportation protection by an immigration judge in 2019. The Justice Department admits that Abrego-Garcia was deported because of an administrative error, but DOJ lawyers argued that he is a member of the criminal gang MS-13 and that the judge lacks the authority to order his return since Abrego Garcia is now in El Salvador. But Judge Zinis did not agree. She ordered the
Starting point is 00:01:50 government to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. by 11.59 p.m. on Monday, April 7th. Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News. Staff with the National Endowment for the Humanities have been placed on administrative leave. As NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports, this comes just two days after the Trump administration terminated millions of dollars in federal grants for cultural groups across the country. 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.
Starting point is 00:02:30 The source says a team from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, 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. After a long overnight session, the GOP-led Senate has passed an effort to approve their multi-trillion-dollar tax breaks and spending cuts framework. The vote was 51 to 48 along partisan lines.
Starting point is 00:03:03 Passage of the plan paves the way for Republicans to push a tax bill through both chambers of Congress. Democrats say the measure will increase the deficit and cut key safety net programs. This is NPR News. Sunday's championship game for women's college basketball is now set. It'll be Connecticut and South Carolina
Starting point is 00:03:22 after both schools won semifinal games on Friday night. Steve Funderman has more from Tampa, Florida. In the first of the semifinals, defending champion South Carolina fell behind Texas early by as many as eight points, but slowly took over, eventually winning by 20. In the second semifinal, it was Yukon domination. The Huskies led wire to wire beating UCLA by
Starting point is 00:03:45 34 points the most one-sided game in women's Final Four history Yukon star Paige Becker's had 16 points now on Sunday in her final college game She will have one last chance to win the championship which has eluded her You don't want to get caught up in the moment of being so anxious and trying to win the national championship in one possession that you're just psyching yourself out. Meanwhile, South Carolina will try to become the first to win back-to-back women's titles since Yukon in 2016. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Tampa. More than 12 protests are planned across the country today where people will demonstrate against President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
Starting point is 00:04:25 The rallies are being called hands off and they include more than 150 groups including labor unions, LGBTQ plus advocates and veterans groups. The Trump administration has decided not to cover expensive obesity treatments under the Medicare program. Medicare covers health expenses mostly for people 65 years or older. Former President Joe Biden had proposed a rule last November that would have extended coverage to such drugs. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. You have your job, but you also have a life. And you're not just one thing. Neither is the Here
Starting point is 00:05:03 and Now Anytime podcast. Every weekday, we break down the biggest story of the day and something else, like a new trend everyone's talking about. It's Here and Now Anytime, a daily podcast from NPR and WBUR.

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