NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-08-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

NPR News: 04-08-2025 1AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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. Beijing is vowing retaliation as President Trump threatens to increase U.S. tariffs on goods from China. Trump said the new levies would be imposed if Beijing refuses to retract its 34 percent tariffs on U.S. goods. As NPR's Franco Ordonius reports, the president made the remarks alongside Israel's visiting prime minister, who is also

seeking tariff relief. Netanyahu in the beginning promised to eliminate trade deficits with the U.S. as well as trade barriers. You know, on the big list of tariff countries, Trump actually imposed a 17 percent tariff on Israel that Netanyahu made very clear that he wants to address. And Trump used the prime minister's proposal to cut trade barriers as an example of how the U.S. is forcing countries to come to the table and try to negotiate. Now, Trump would not say, however, whether he would lower the tariffs on Israel, but he did kind of tease a new trade arrangement.

Danielle Pletka And Piers Franco-Ordonez reporting. A stock market swing of more than $2 trillion appears to have been due to false comments posted on Elon Musk's X. Reports that President Trump was pausing sweeping tariffs went viral on Musk's social media site, as NPR's Bobby Allen reports. It all started when the National Economic Council's Kevin Hassett was asked during a live Fox News interview whether Trump would consider a 90-day tariffs pause. He said the president is going to decide what the president decides. Somehow on X, that turned into a bogus headline that Trump was considering a 90-day tariff reprieve.

It was soon picked up by CNBC and Reuters, which have since backed away from the report. But not before $2.4 trillion was added then wiped away from the markets, according to data from Dow Jones. Disinformation researchers say the episode illustrates the danger of some of Musk's changes to X, including that verification badges can be purchased, which can help false information go viral. Bobbi Allen, NPR News. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced what it calls a heartbreaking decision

to end partnerships with the federal government, citing the Trump administration's funding freeze on refugee resettlement. NPR's Sarah Ventry has the story. The break comes after Catholic bishops sued the administration in February over its abrupt halt in aid to newly arrived refugees. The bishops say they are owed millions of dollars that were already allocated. Now the bishops say that the administration's reduction on these programs drastically forces them to reconsider the best way to serve these communities. Archbishop Timothy Brolio is president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops.

He says, quote, as a national effort, we simply cannot sustain the work on our own at current levels or in current form. And he asks for prayers for those affected. The bishops have overseen Catholic agencies who do resettlement work for a century. Sarah Ventry, NPR News. Sarah Ventry, NPR News. US futures are flat in after-hours trading. This is NPR. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation.

Kennedy says he's putting together a task force to study the issue and make some new recommendations. Meanwhile, the EPA says it is reviewing new scientific information on the potential health risks of putting fluoride in drinking water. National health organizations warn that removing fluoride from tap water could hurt low-income residents who cannot afford routine dental visits. A proposed legal settlement that could transform the business of college sports is on the brink of approval after a hearing Monday in federal court. If approved, the settlement would allow schools to pay student athletes directly for the first time ever. NPR's Becky Sullivan has details. Hundreds of thousands of current and former Division I

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, NPR News. On Asia Pacific, market shares are mostly higher, up nearly 5% in Tokyo. This is NPR News. 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.