NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-08-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: April 8, 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 Shea Stevens. Despite growing concerns about a trade war and rattled stock market, President Trump is insisting that his tariffs are needed to rebalance global trade and rebuild domestic manufacturing. Trump says he may soon announce even more new tariffs on China.

With China, as you know, against my statement, they put a 34 percent tariff on above what their ridiculous tariffs were already. And I said if that tariff isn't removed by tomorrow at 12 o'clock, we're putting a 50 percent tariff on above the tariffs that we put on. Trump made the remarks in the Oval Office alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but did not indicate whether he plans to also lift his 17 percent tariff on Israel. May well the European Union is preparing retaliatory measures while also offering to remove its

levies on U.S. goods if Washington does the same. The U.S. Supreme Court is backing the Trump administration's efforts to continue deporting Venezuelan migrants, it says, are gang members. In a 5-4 decision, NPR's Semina Bustillo reports that the court's conservatives have opened the door for using the controversial Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Semina Bustillo, NPR The order from the Supreme Court's conservative judges allows the government to continue using the Alien Enemies Act to deport people it says are members of Tren de Agua, a Venezuelan gang.

But the justices did say people need to have adequate notice of their removal and an opportunity to contest it. The judges also sided with the government in arguing any disputes need to be individually filed in the states where people are held. The ACLU and other organizations sued in Washington, D.C., and sought to represent all people who may be subject to the Alien Enemies Act in the U.S. It's unclear what the order means for people who were already deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act after their lawyer said they did not get enough notice of removal.

Jimena Bustillo and PR News, Washington. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has agreed to pause a lower court order concerning the fate of a Maryland man. The Justice Department argued that the lower court judge who issued the order had overstepped her authority. The powerful storms that pummeled parts of the Mid-South in the past week have moved on. But NPR's Giles Snyder reports that major river flooding is expected to persist for a few more days. Forecasters say the storm system responsible

for the extreme weather is moving off into the Atlantic, but rivers and streams are so swollen, they warn that the flood threat, especially in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama could persist for days. Flood warnings remain in effect for much of Kentucky, where Governor Andy Beshear says more than 500 roads throughout the state were still closed Monday evening. Danielle Pletka Giles Snyder reporting.

This is NPR. The federal judge is hearing arguments over the landmark $2.8 billion settlement that will affect every part of college sports. The settlement calls for billions of dollars in images to athletes, claiming the NCAA and five of the biggest conferences have prevented them from profiting off their celebrity status. Many athletes say the settlement is confusing and unfair, and attorneys say that they're concerned about how the plan would affect campuses across the U.S. Federal Judge Claudia Wilkins has asked both sides to return to her courtroom

in a week to discuss how they might address those concerns. A new report finds the memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue, by George M. Johnson, is now the most challenged book in libraries. NPR's Andrew Limbong has more in the report from the American Library Association. The ALA has released its annual State of America's Libraries report listing the most challenged books in school and public libraries. The second most challenged book of 2024 is Maya Cobabe's Gender Queer, and the third is a tie between Stephen Chabosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. According to the report, more than 70% of challenges,

that is, any attempt to remove or restrict materials, came from organized groups and elected officials, whereas parents and individual library users accounted for about 20%. This report comes after President Trump moved to dissolve the Institute of Museum and Library Services last week. That is the agency in charge of sending federal money to libraries. Andrew Limbang, NPR News. U.S. futures are higher in after-hours trading. This is NPR News.

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