NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-16-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: April 16, 2025

NPR News: 04-16-2025 9AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. The Justice Department is suing the state of Maine. That's over Maine's refusal to ban transgender athletes from participating in women's and girls' sports. President Trump has signed an executive order barring trans athletes from doing this. Maine Democratic Governor Janet Mills has refused to comply. She says she has a duty to follow state law. This morning, U.S. Attorney General

Pam Bondi explained why her agency is suing Maine. This is a violation of Title IX. The Department of Justice will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports. This is about sports. This is also about these young women's personal safety. The Trump administration has tried to force Maine to obey. It has moved to cut off all of Maine's funding for public schools over the issue of trans athletes, and it has also tried to cut off funding for school lunch programs. A U.S. Democratic senator from Maryland

is now flying to El Salvador to try to secure the release of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. The Trump administration mistakenly deported the migrant from Maryland last month. NPR's Kristen Wright reports on the standoff between the Trump administration and Abrego-Garcia's supporters. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen wants to visit Abrego-Garcia who's being detained in a Salvadoran mega prison. Van Hollen posted a video on X before he got on the plane. I hope to have the chance to actually see Kilmar and see what his condition is, but we are going to keep fighting because this is a miscarriage of justice.

Van Hollen requested to meet with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who said he's not returning at Brego Garcia. The U.S. government must explain under oath to a federal judge in the coming days what it's doing to bring him back. The Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. Kristen Wright, NPR News, Washington. The measles outbreak in Texas continues to grow, with 20 more cases reported over the past five days. As NPR's Ping Huang reports,

the costs of containing the measles outbreak are also mounting. The outbreak started in late January and has now grown to more than 600 cases across Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Dr. David Sugarman is a senior scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, working on its measles response.

The estimates are that each measles case can be $30,000 to $50,000 for public health response work and that adds up quite quickly. A measles outbreak in New York City back in 2018 had around 650 confirmed cases and cost more than $8 million to bring under control. Sugar Minces Texas has been asking for resources and help. The state lost several hundred million dollars in public health funding and a federal clawback of COVID funds that began late last month. Ping Huang, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. President Trump has ordered a national security

review of imports of critical minerals. These are widely used in defense and technology. Trump will decide whether to put tariffs on them. China leads the world's production of rare earth minerals and Beijing has slapped export restrictions on these. Jury selection is underway in the retrial of Harvey Weinstein in New York. The disgraced former film producer is again facing charges. He sexually assaulted three women. Ilya Meritz reports. Dozens of prospective jurors raised their hands when asked by the judge if they doubted they could be

fair and impartial in this case. They were dismissed. Outside court, Lindsay Goldbrum, a lawyer for a Weinstein accuser whose identity has not yet been made public, said her client wants the jury to get to the truth. During the trial, there will be a lot of pundits, commentators, and so-called experts discussing whether or not these acts were consensual. But what matters here is the facts. Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty. He was separately convicted of sex crimes in California in 2022. He's filed an appeal in that case.

For NPR News, Amelia Meritz in New York. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is dined of a pulmonary embolism according to his consulting company. He was 79 years old. Armitage served under three Republican presidents, was the top deputy to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and advocated a strong U.S. presence abroad. Armitage also disclosed he was the source who named the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plane after the invasion of Iraq. No criminal charges were lodged. Funeral details have not yet been announced. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.