NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-07-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

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Lyle from NPR News. I'm Lakshmi Singh. Against the backdrop of market volatility, more than half a dozen Republican senators have signed onto legislation to try to rein in President Trump's tariffs. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports the bill is being led by a Senate Democrat. Washington State Senator Maria Cantwell filed legislation to force the president to negotiate with Congress before imposing tariffs. The Democrats' plan has 13 cosponsors and a growing list of Senate Republicans signing on.

This comes as President Trump's wave of tariffs is fueling havoc through global financial markets and raising worries of long-term economic impacts. Several senior GOP senators are among the Republicans signing on, including former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The effort is not expected to get very far with stronger opposition in the Republican-led House, but it sends a signal of a growing divide with the president. Claudia Gonzalez, NPR News.

We see cutting into steep losses. The Dow is now down 133 points. The S&P is up 21 points, and the NASDAQ has gained nearly 150 points, up roughly 1 percent. Tariffs top the agenda during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House today. NPR's Hadil Al-Shalchi is following developments from Tel Aviv. They're also slated to talk about a new hostage deal, which despite American intervention broke down last month and Israel renewed its offensive in Gaza, killing more than a thousand

Palestinians in less than a month, according to health officials. And just a reminder, last time the two met, Trump announced his vision of displacing Palestinians in Gaza and rebuilding it into some sort of Riviera resort town under US ownership, which, you know, the Israeli government and military have been moving on making it a reality. NPR's Hadil Al-Shalchi reporting.

The Trump administration is forming a special team to investigate complaints against transgender athletes. The government says it is receiving an increasing number of complaints from female athletes. More from NPR's Kristen Wright. The Justice Department and the Department of Education are forming the Title IX Special Investigations Team. The government says the unit will streamline complaints, speed up investigations, and resolve cases faster. Education Secretary Linda McMahon made the announcement on X. The establishment of this team will benefit women and girls across this nation who have been subjected to discrimination and indignity in their educational activities.

McMahon says the team will address a quote, staggering number of complaints. This, as the Education Department was recently gutted to half its size. President Trump issued an executive order in February banning transgender athletes from women's sports. But critics say these athletes make up only a handful of players on teams. Kristen Wright, NPR News, Washington. From Washington, this is NPR News. Swollen rivers and floods threaten parts of the southern and midwestern United States where communities are recovering from enormous amounts of rainfall and tornado damage in some parts inflicted in recent days.

At least 20 deaths are now linked to storms that have rolled through multiple states since last week. Forecasters have warned flooding may persist for days, including in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. Advocates for wastewater recycling say the technology could make a dent in water shortages across the western U.S. However, some states are lagging behind from Eversatian KUNC Alex Hager with details. Wastewater recycling can safely turn sewage back into drinking water. Arizona recycles more than half of its water and Nevada recycles 85%. Bronson Mack is a spokesman for that state's largest

water agency. That gives our community not just a reliable water source, but helping to stretch and extend that water supply, to meet water demands today and meet water demands tomorrow. A study released by UCLA says that technology could be a big help for other states connected to the Colorado River system. Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah all recycle less than 4%

of their water. For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager in Fort Collins, Colorado. After seeing it decline by hundreds of points, the Dow is now down 132 points at 38,182. The NASDAQ is up 140 points, or nearly 1%. This is NPR. Psychologist Dali Chugg studies the lengths we will go to protect the way we see ourselves. We care about whether we're seen as a good person, whether others see

us as a good person, and whether we feel like good people. Ideas about our self-image. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR.