NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-07-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

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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 in Washington on Corva Coleman, stock markets are tanking around the world this morning in response to President Trump's new global tariffs. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged more than 13 percent. European markets are slumping by about 5 percent. Wall Street isn't yet open. NPR's Maria Aspensis last week was terrible, but this week could be worse. When the futures markets opened last night, meaning that traders could start putting in

their orders to buy and sell, prices immediately turned red. By early this morning, Dow futures were down around 1300 points or more than 3%. And it's not just stocks. Oil futures are down and Bitcoin, which trades around the clock, is down below $77,000. Remember, it hit $100,000 not that long ago, weeks after President Trump was elected on the industry's hopes for a more crypto-friendly president. NPR's Maria Aspin reporting. President Trump defended his tariffs yesterday to reporters. He said, quote, sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something. NPR's Amy Held reports on further world reaction.

Trump's tariffs have sent the world's markets plummeting, leaders moving to retaliate, and companies scrambling to adapt. The British carmaker of Jaguars and Land Rovers announced its pausing shipments to the U.S. to figure out how to operate now. In Missouri, Bryant Kagee farms soybeans, mostly sold to China, which has imposed its own retaliatory tariffs. But he says his bigger concern is the uncertainty ahead. I'm more worried about what it's going to do for some of the other stuff that we

will purchase throughout the year, whether that's equipment, equipment parts, chemicals in the future, fertilizer prices. In social media posts, Trump told Americans to hang tough. He wrote, This is an economic revolution and we will win. Amy Held and PR News. Much of the Midwest and the South are waterlogged after days of heavy storms and torrential rain that have killed at least 18 people. Parts of a dozen states remain under some kind of flood warning from Ohio to Texas. Many areas are trying to fend off rising river levels that have surged into homes and businesses.

For Member Station WUKY, Karen Zahr reports, Kentucky's governor has asked people in many communities to flee to higher ground. So many roads are closed in Kentucky because of flooding. 250 barricades have been delivered from Chicago to divert traffic. Governor Andy Beshear says the water in several communities is still rising. The rivers have encrusted in many areas of the state and so there are a day if not several days left on this event. Swift water rescue teams have been working around the clock. Flooding is being blamed for the deaths of a nine-year-old boy who was swept away while walking to the bus stop and a 74-year-old found in a submerged vehicle.

For NPR News, I'm Karen Zarr in Lexington. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to bring back a Maryland man deported to El Salvador. U.S. District Judge Paula Zinies explains the U.S.'s actions are, quote, wholly lawless. A U.S. immigration judge had previously forbade the U.S. from deporting him. A new NPR Ipsos poll looks at the current reading habits of Americans. As NPR's Andrew Limbong reports, reading is more of an aspiration than reality for most

people. To be clear, respondents respect and even venerate reading. Respondents overwhelmingly think reading is relaxing and is a way to learn about the world. 98% of respondents with kids say they want their children to develop a love of reading. And yet 51% of respondents say they read a book in the last month, compared to the about 80%

who say they've watched streaming TV or use social media Mallory Newell vice president of public polling at Ipsos says what gets in the way of reading isn't just other entertainment It's the rest of life I think reading is up against the fact that we just don't have enough time in the day that said 63% of people said they want to become a better reader. Andrew Limbang and Peer News. In pro hockey, Washington Capital star Alex Ovechkin broke the all-time NHL scoring record yesterday. He scored 895 times in his 20 seasons. Ovechkin surpassed the scoring record set by hockey icon Wayne Gretzky. The University of Connecticut has won the women's NCAA basketball

championship. UConn defeated last year's champion, South Carolina, yesterday. The men's championship game is tonight between Florida and Houston. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington. The crackdown on immigrants in the U.S. without legal status has left many unsure what to do. In the up-first feed, how some immigrants are responding to the clear message the Trump administration is sending. Leave now.

If you don't, we will find you and we will deport you. A look at the blanket of fear affecting many immigrant communities. Listen to the Sunday story in the Up First podcast from NPR.