NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-17-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

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Am I a propagandist? A truth teller? An influencer? There's probably no more contested profession in the world today than mine, journalism. I'm Brian Reed, and on my show, Question Everything, we dive head first into the conflicts we're all facing over truth and who gets to tell it. Listen now to Question Everything, part of the NPR Podcast Network. Jack Spear Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The U.S. Supreme Court said today it will hear expedited arguments in May, testing a claim long pushed by President Trump, namely his contention there's no such thing as a constitutional right to birthright citizenship.

More from NPR's Anita Totenberg. Trump has long asserted that babies born in the US are not automatically citizens of this country. But the Supreme Court 127 years ago ruled that under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, they are US citizens. And since then, the court has never disturbed that ruling. Yesterday, the justices bowing to Trump's desire for a new look agreed to speed up briefing in the case with arguments May 15th. That likely will mean a decision by late June or early July. Nina Totenberg in PR News, Washington. Authorities in Florida say a suspect is in custody following a shooting at Florida State

University that left two people dead. They're apparently not students. At least six others were injured or wounded. The alleged gunman is also hospitalized, described as a 20-year-old FSU student, who officials say is the son of a deputy sheriff and had access to a weapon. Jason Trumbauer is the chief of police at Florida State University. At approximately 1150 a.m. Thursday, April 17th,

a gunman opened fire on the main campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, shooting multiple individuals in the vicinity of the student union building FSU police responded immediately engaged neutralized and apprehended the shooter. Students at the university described a chaotic scene with one student saying he and thirty others hid in a bowling alley inside the student union classes at the university are canceled through tomorrow

after first saying he was prevented from meeting with Kilmar Obrego Garcia in El alley inside the student union. Classes at the university are canceled through tomorrow. After first saying he was prevented from meeting with Kilmar Obrego-Garcia in El Salvador, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland now says the pair have met. Obrego-Garcia was illegally deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration, which continues to maintain he is a gang member. The Supreme Court has told the administration to facilitate Garcia's return to the US. Van Hollen posted a photo of himself and Garcia sitting at a table.

President Trump continues to bash the chair of the Federal Reserve. Trump upset over the fact the central bank is not aggressively lowering interest rates and saying Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's termination cannot come fast enough. Because NPR's Scott Horsley reports whether the president can fire Powell remains an open question.

Ousting Powell would almost surely spook financial markets even more than they already are. And Powell insists Trump does not have the authority to fire him. He says he can only be fired for bad behavior, not because of a disagreement over interest rates. And there's a Supreme Court case from the Franklin Roosevelt era that supports that, but the White House has signaled a willingness to test that precedent. Powell said he has no intention of stepping down before his term expires next year. Trump's own tariffs have been starting to push up prices, potentially slowing growth. Stocks lost ground on Wall Street today, the Dow fell 527 points. This is NPR.

A day after outages reported by global video platform Zoom, some users of the music platform Spotify have also been reporting disruptions. Tens of thousands of Spotify users reported difficulties with the platform. That was apparently back up and running within a few hours. Some users reported trouble loading both the app and the desktop site.

Others noted support issues. Spotify did not immediately provide more information on the outage. AIDS activists piled coffins outside the State Department today in an effort to protest cuts to US foreign assistance. They're concerned the cuts could lead to a new AIDS crisis in Africa and around the world. More from MPR's Michelle Kellerman.

As the Trump administration dismantled the lead US aid agency, Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that life-saving work would continue. That includes PEPFAR, the president's emergency plan for AIDS relief. But Charles King, an AIDS activist who runs Housing Works, says he's hearing about clinics closing and canceled contracts. It's really critical to impress on Secretary of State Rubio and on the public the cost of eliminating PEPFAR which has saved so many lives and probably the greatest achievement of George W. Bush. The activists wore black as they piled up coffins warning of a potential new AIDS crisis. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.

Crude old futures prices moved higher today amid some hopes for a trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union. Oil was up $2.21 a barrel and the session at $64.68 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. With WISE, News in Washington.