NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-08-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: April 9, 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, I'm Jack Spear. Mixed messages on President Trump's tariffs roiled financial markets again. World leaders, investors, and business executives are all becoming increasingly vocal as trillions of dollars of U.S. wealth

continues to evaporate ahead of the imposition of more tariffs at midnight. MPR's Maria Aspin is more. Most CEOs have been pretty reluctant to criticize Trump in public. So the fact that more are speaking out now gives you an idea of just how worried they are about the damage the tariffs can cause. And we should note that even Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, who's Trump's close advisor and one of the wealthiest

men in the world, he's not happy. Writing on his ex-social network, Musk attacked President Trump's very pro-tariff trade advisor, Peter Navarro, and called him a moron. Economists say the tariffs could push the country and the world into recession, while some countries say they're willing to talk. One notable exception has been China, which says it will retaliate against the Trump tariffs. The Dow fell 320 points today. A Louisiana judge says she'll decide later this week whether a Columbia University activist involved in pro-Palestinian protests can continue to be detained by the government.

30-year-old Mahmoud Khalil was the first of a number of foreign-born students targeted for deportation. MPR's Adrian Florido reports. Judge Jamie Komen set a lightning-fast timeline. She gave the government a day to submit its evidence to support the charge that Khalil poses a threat to the foreign policy interests of the United States and that he committed fraud on his green card application.

She said that two days later on Friday, she's going to rule on whether he should be released or whether he should be deported. His lawyers were a little bit concerned that that wouldn't give them enough time to review the evidence that the government submits against him. But if the judge rules that he should be deported, that decision would be appealable. Meanwhile, new data from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation find students are increasingly concerned about discussing their views supporting Palestine or Israel on campus. A federal judge has ruled that Trump White House must admit the Associated Press's journalist and news events ruling its exclusion over what to call the Gulf of Mexico was unlawful. Almost two hours later, two AP journalists

were rejected from the White House pool to cover a Trump speech. More from NPR's David Falkenfleck. David Falkenfleck, NPR News Reporter, The Gulf of Mexico President Trump and other senior government officials had shut the Associated Press out of dozens of major events at the Oval Office and elsewhere because the news service refused to go along with Trump's decree that the Gulf of Mexico should henceforth be known as the Gulf of America. The AP goes by the historic name for the body of water, but notes Trump's order. Judge Trevor McFadden had seemed skeptical of the AP's arguments last month.

In his order, however, he found that the White House actions had harmed the AP's ability to cover the news. McFadden, a Trump appointee, wrote, quote, The AP's exclusion has been contrary to the First Amendment. No comment yet from the White House. David Folkenthalik, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon made a rare appearance at a conference in San Diego today where she was asked about changes to her department,

including telling school leaders recently they had to get rid of DEI programs or risk losing funding for low-income students. Beerus Janaka Meadow reports. Asked about what exactly the administration meant by DEI programs, here's what Secretary McMahon said. We need to continue to focus on where these funds need to be spent, but making sure that we are treating everyone equally. We're not taking away the rights of anyone to serve the rights of another. There's been confusion around how state and local leaders should respond to the latest threat to pull funding.

Many say they already follow civil rights laws, including New York and Minnesota's education departments, which pushed back against the federal directive, saying there is nothing illegal about diversity programs at schools. The U.S. Department of Ed has not said how they will enforce the ban on DEI. Junaki Mehta and PR News. The measles outbreak in Texas is showing no sign of easing,

with multiple cases being reported today, including some involving children who are too young to be fully vaccinated. West Texas, which has been the epicenter of the outbreak, is now reporting more than 500 measles cases as of today. The highly contagious virus began spreading in January, primarily among unvaccinated people. Outbreaks have been reported in multiple states. At least three individuals were reportedly dying from the disease, including two young

children in Texas. Critical futures prices continued their downward slide. Oil fell $0.12 a barrel to $0.59-$0.58 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. 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 switch.