NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-09-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

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On this week's episode of Wild Card, actress Elizabeth Olsen reflects on being a Marvel superstar. I think I haven't always successfully made choices in my work that are aligned with my personal taste. And that is something I feel like I'm still trying to prove. I'm Rachel Martin. Join us for NPR's Wild Card Podcast, the show where cards control the conversation. Laxmelea Sing Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Laxmelea

Sing. Big rally on Wall Street this afternoon after the Trump administration announced plans to take tariffs back down to 10% for 90 days for most countries, except China. For now, the administration's hitting the pause on the most recent raft of reciprocal tariffs imposed in response to levies on U.S. goods. While easing up on other countries, as President Trump says, have been willing to work with the U.S., he is ramping up tariffs on a defiant China to 125 percent. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says China should drop its retaliatory measures. China is the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world and

they are the biggest source of the US trade problems and indeed they are problems for the rest of the world because what we've seen is that as the US announced the tariff wall last week many of those goods have already started flooding into Europe. The Dow is up more than 22,200 points, or roughly 6 percent. The S&P closing in on 7 percent. NASDAQ is up nearly 9 percent. The acting commissioner of the IRS is stepping down. NPR's Scott Horsley reports a move comes after the agency agreed to share private taxpayer

data with federal immigration officials. Melanie Krause is the third IRS leader to quit the tax collection agency since President Trump took office. News of her departure come shortly after the Treasury Department agreed to allow immigration officials to use some taxpayer data in their search for people who are in the country illegally. IRS data has traditionally been closely guarded even from other government agencies. Critics say the new agreement likely violates data privacy laws and may discourage immigrants without legal status from filing tax returns.

A Treasury spokesperson says the Trump administration is, quote, breaking down data silos, adding that sharing taxpayer information will help to identify waste and fraud and make for a safer country. Scott Horsley, Impair News, Washington. A federal judge in Texas is blocking the administration deporting Venezuelans currently in detention in South Texas to El Salvador. NPR's Ximena Bustia reports a decision comes as immigrant rights groups pivot their legal fight against the Alien Enemies Act to federal courts across the U.S. The ACLU of Texas filed an emergency lawsuit in the Texas federal court to pause removals

under the Alien Enemies Act for people within that court's judicial district. Within hours, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order blocking the government from transferring any person under the act outside two nearby counties. The suit comes after the US Supreme Court earlier this week lifted a pause

on the use of the Alien Enemies Act, and it's ruling the court ordered that people who could be removed under the act are entitled to challenge their removals, but must do so in the courts where they are held. A lawsuit had been filed by the National ACLU and other groups where they claimed to represent any person potentially targeted across the country. Jimena Bustillo, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News. You're listening to NPR. Major League Baseball is mourning the deaths of former players Octavio Dottel, Tony Blanco,

and others in a roof collapse in Santo Domingo. Nelsie Cruz, a governor of the Dominican Republic's Montecristi province and the sister of MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz, was also killed. In a statement, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says the connection between baseball and the Dominican Republic runs deep. Local authorities say at least 113 people were killed hundreds more injured when the roof of Santo Domingo's iconic Jetset nightclub collapsed early yesterday. It's unknown what caused the roof to cave in. Scientists have replicated a pathway that senses pain using human nerve cells grown in a dish.

NPR's John Hamilton reports on a study in the journal Nature. Pain signals start at a nerve ending, then travel to the spinal cord, to an area deep in the brain, and finally to the brain's outer layer, the cortex. A team at Stanford recreated this pathway using clusters of human neurons designed to mimic each stop along the way. Dr. Sergio Pascca says then they exposed the nerve endings on one cluster to a chemical found in chili peppers. The neurons that sense these signals get activated

and they transmit that information to the next station and the next station all the way to the cortex. Pascca says this sensory pathway in a dish could be used to test drugs meant to block pain. John Hamilton, NPR News. The Dow is up more than 6.5% or roughly 2,500 points. The Nasdaq has climbed 9.6%. The S&P is up nearly 8%.

It's NPR News. Oh, hey there. I'm Brittany Luce. S&P is up nearly 8%. It's NPR News.