NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-18-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: April 19, 2025

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You want to follow what's happening in Washington, D.C., but you don't want to be scrolling your phone all day. I'm Scott Detrow, and NPR has a podcast that can help. It's called Trump's Terms, stories about big changes the 47th president is pursuing on his own terms. They're short, they're focused episodes that tell you calmly, factually, what is happening and what isn't. Listen to Trump's Term terms from NPR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return Tufts University student Rameza Osturk to New England. Osturk was flown to a detention facility in Louisiana last month after the State Department revoked her visa over her pro-Palestinian activism. NPR's Adrienne Florido has more.

ICE agents detained Ostrick outside Boston and quickly moved her to New Hampshire and then Vermont before flying her to Louisiana. They did that despite a Massachusetts judge's emergency order that she be kept in the state so she could challenge her detention there. The case is now being heard by a federal court in Vermont. Judge William Sessions ruled that because ICE ignored that initial order not to move Ozturk, it must now return her to Vermont by May 1st. He wrote that not requiring that would turn judicial authority into a mockery. Once Ozturk is back in Vermont, he said he will decide whether she should also be freed from detention while she fights her deportation.

Adrienne Flaherty, NPR News. U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen says the Maryland man, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, is no longer housed in a maximum-security prison. Van Hollen says Kilmar Obrega Garcia told him during his visit there this week that he had shared a cell with 25 prisoners and was traumatized before being transferred to another facility. President Trump says the U.S. plans to finalize a rare earth minerals agreement with Ukraine next week.

More from NPR's Greg Meyry. The deal on valuable minerals was supposed to be signed when Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House in February, but that meeting descended into a shouting match and the agreement was postponed. Trump now says it will be signed next week. Still, Trump says this about Zelensky. I wouldn't say he's done the greatest job. Okay, I'm not a big fan. I really am.

I'm not a big fan. Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated the U.S. was growing frustrated with efforts to broker a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war. He said, quote, if it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on. Greg Myre, NPR News, Washington. At least 36 new confirmed cases of measles have been connected to an outbreak in West Texas. David Martin-Daisies has more. 597. That's the total of confirmed measles cases since late January, the start of the outbreak,

according to the Texas Department of State Health Services in their Friday update. 62 of the patients have been hospitalized. There have been two fatalities in school-aged children. Despite claims by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the outbreak is not slowing down. Texas Health and Human Services say that due to the highly contagious nature of the virus, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and in the surrounding communities. David Martin Davies, this is NPR. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed legislation calling on local officials to support the

Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Under the Republican-backed proposal, local officials would not be able to refuse or restrict cooperation with federal agents or impede their work. Hobbs says she'll continue supporting federal border security efforts, but that she will not force state and local officials to take marching orders from Washington. A government agency that's a major source of funding for science and engineering research is canceling numerous grants. The National Science Foundation says the projects are not aligned with agency priorities.

Details from NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boyce. In 2010, Congress told the NSF to support efforts to expand the participation of women and individuals from underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. But NSF now says it's ending funding for projects that involve diversity, equity and inclusion. The agency says projects designed to boost participation need to be broad engagement activities that don't favor or limit the participation of any particular groups. NSF also announced it will not support any research with the goal of combating, quote, misinformation or, quote, disinformation, saying it's a matter of free speech rights.

Nell Greenfield-Boice, NPR News. The pending merger between Capital One and Discover Financial Services has received the approval from regulators that brings the $35 billion tie-up closer to being finalized. This is NPR News. Since Donald Trump took office in January, a lot has happened. This is NPR News.