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

Episode Date: April 5, 2025

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Imagine, if you will, a show from NPR that's not like NPR, a show that focuses not on the important but the stupid, which features stories about people smuggling animals in their pants and competent criminals in ridiculous science studies, and call it Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me because the good names were taken. Listen to NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Yes, that is what it is called wherever you Get Your Podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Thousands of protesters are gathering around the Washington monument today.

They're protesting what they say is executive overreach by President Trump and his ally billionaire Elon Musk. NPR's Emily Fang has more. The gathering here is one of more than 1,000 similar protests planned across the country this weekend. In Washington, protesters from the city and elsewhere are demonstrating against what they say are assaults on the U.S.'s democratic institutions, against trade tariffs, the firings of federal employees, and executive actions cracking down on immigration, among other issues.

Here's protester Austin Shriver, who drove in from Virginia. If the president can decide that he's going to ignore the courts when they tell him he's doing the wrong thing, then the courts have no power to check the executive. The protest today is the first large-scale organized show of dissent against the president in his second term. Emily Fang and Peer News, Washington. Stock market has dropped sharply this week after President Trump announced he's imposing a new round of tariffs on products from nearly all countries.

China announced its imposing of 34 percent tax on U.S. goods starting next week. NPR's Ron Elving reports Trump believes it will be worth it in the long run. They say the retaliation we're seeing from China and elsewhere will be transitory. They say our trading partners will knuckle under and lower their own tariffs. And most important, they say American companies will bring home the jobs that they've shifted overseas and that other countries will shift their manufacturing to the U.S., creating jobs here rather than in their own countries. NPR's Ron Elving, the British maker of Jaguars and Land Rovers, announced today it's pausing

shipments to the U.S. as it considers how to deal with a 25 percent tariff imposed on its vehicles. The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with the Trump administration in a dispute over the Department of Education's freeze on what it names DEI-related grants. NPR's Nina Totenberg has more on the story. At issue are grants totaling $65 million for teacher training and professional development. A federal district judge issued a 14-day temporary restraining order to consider the question. And while such 14-day orders are rarely appealable, the Supreme Court majority viewed this case

differently and granted the administration's request to block the lower court order. Chief Justice Roberts noted his disagreement. The other three dissenters were more pointed. They noted that not only was the TRO about to expire anyway, but that the court wasn't making a mistake by making significant changes in the law with bare bones, briefing, no argument, and scarce time for reflection. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News in Washington.

United Nations Relief Chief Tom Fletcher is in Myanmar, where he's urging nations around the world to help that country recover from last month's 7.7 magnitude earthquake. More than 3,300 people were killed. The response from the U.S. has been limited after the Trump administration shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, the main agency for disaster relief overseas. Reuters is reporting that three U.S. aid workers arrived in Myanmar to help and received notice they've been fired.

The men's Final Four semi-finals open tonight with a matchup between Auburn and Florida. That will be followed by Duke against Houston, a school that holds a dubious Final Four distinction. Greg Eklund explains. No men's team in college basketball has made it to the Final Four more times without winning a national championship than the Houston Cougars, who are making their seventh trip overall. Cougars guard LJ Cryer says it's part of the team culture to play with a chip on their shoulder because...

We are the overlooked players, the players that didn't get recruited by all the blue bloods and stuff like that so you definitely got to carry that on the court when you go out and play. Last year, Houston's season ended in a close game against Powerhouse Duke in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. Florida and Auburn will meet for the first time since an early February conference game that the Florida Gators won. For NPR News, I'm Greg Eklund.

The women's championship is set for tomorrow. Connecticut plays South Carolina. I'm Nora Rahm. NPR News in Washington.