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

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

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Wait, wait, don't tell me. Fresh Air, Up First, NPR News Now, Planet Money, Ted Radio Hour, Thru Line, the NPR Politics Podcast, Code Switch, Embedded, Books We Love, Wildcard, are just some of the podcasts you can enjoy sponsor-free with NPR+. Get all sorts of perks across more than 20 podcasts with the bundle option. Learn more at plus dot npr dot org. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Financial markets are rebounding after three days of steep losses. NPR Scott Horsley reports President Trump is touting a new round of negotiations with multiple trading partners. Steep new tariffs on many imported goods are set to take effect tomorrow.

But investors are crossing their fingers that the economic fallout from the trade war might be tempered through negotiations. President Trump has said many U.S. trading partners are eager to make a deal, although Trump is non-committal on what he's willing to offer in return. Even before Trump's big tariff announcement last week, many small business owners were feeling less bullish about the economic outlook. The Small Business Optimism Index, compiled by a national federation of business owners, fell last month. That is now just below its long run average.

Scott Horsley in Peer News, Washington. President Trump spoke with the acting president of South Korea today about tariffs and said on social media that, quote, things are looking good. He said South Korea was sending a team to the U.S. to try to negotiate a deal. It's the third leader that Trump has announced he has spoken with since his tariff announcement last week raised global economic worries. Iran disputes its upcoming talks with the Trump administration will be direct. Dari Buskaran has a reaction from Tehran after President Trump announced weekend plans to

discuss Iran's nuclear program. In a press conference, Iran's government spokesperson, Fatima Mohajarani, insisted that talks with the U.S. government will be indirect, held through a mediator and in Oman. As we have said before, we fundamentally believe in negotiations, Mohaj Arani said. If the language that's used is respectful, we will negotiate. On Monday, Trump warned that Iran would be in great danger if the country does not abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Iran ramped up its efforts to enrich weapons-grade uranium after Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from a landmark nuclear accord back in 2018. For NPR News, I'm Dari Buscaran. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water. NPR's Maria Godoy reports on Kennedy's remarks to the Associated Press during a visit to Utah yesterday. This year, Utah banned adding fluoride to public water systems. Kennedy says he's assembling a task force to study and

make a new recommendation on fluoride. Meanwhile the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would start a review of the scientific information on quote potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water. Fluoride is commonly added to drinking water to prevent tooth decay. It's considered a great public health success. Research has found fluoride is not harmful at the levels recommended in the U.S. drinking water supply. But data does show the possibility of harms to children's neurodevelopment when the fluoride levels are more than twice what's recommended.

Maria Godoy reporting, it's NPR. President Trump takes executive action today to boost the U.S.'s struggling coal industry. He is expected to relax mining and leasing restrictions and examine ways coal can power energy-hungry artificial intelligence data centers. When former President Biden was in office, he sought to phase out coal and other fossil fuels, its scientists say, are large contributors to global warming and its catastrophic effects. A proposed legal settlement that could transform the business of college sports is on the

brink of approval after a hearing in federal court. If approved, the house settlement would allow schools to pay student athletes directly for the first time ever. Here's NPR's Becky Sullivan. Hundreds of thousands of current and former Division One student athletes are plaintiffs in the class action case. The defendants are the NCAA in five of its biggest conferences. The proposed settlement would allow schools to share millions of dollars in revenue and payments to players, and it would distribute more than $2 billion in damages to athletes

who played before licensing deals were allowed. Federal Judge Claudia Wilkin did not immediately approve the settlement. She asked the lawyers who negotiated it to address concerns raised in the hearing, especially about the roster limits that the settlement would impose that could cost some athletes their spots on teams. The response is due in a week. The judge's final approval could follow shortly after. Becky Sullivan in PR News.

The Dow Jones Industrial Averages up 953 points or roughly two and a half percent at 38,919. I'm Lakshmi Singh in PR News. A couple months ago here at Planet Money, we stumbled across our favorite kind of economic mystery. Jack, what is this? A deal that seemed way too good to be true. What I'm seeing here, at least, is that it's very high clarity. Join us on our adventure.

Talk to me. Show me what you got. To find out exactly how much a diamond is worth. Planet Money from NPR. Wherever you get your podcasts.