NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-20-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: April 20, 2025

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Cell phones, cars, coffee. How do these goods make their way to us from overseas? And what will President Trump's tariffs mean for their price tags? Join the 1A Podcast as we explore supply chains and costs associated with some of your favorite products. It's our series, How Did This Get Here, every Wednesday. Listen to the 1A Podcast from NPR and WAMU. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Violent storms have prompted tornado warnings rolled through the central U.S. last night. Parts of central and southern Oklahoma were hit with flash flooding and local media reporting storm damage in the town of Ada.

Two people are reported missing in flash flooding in the city of Moore, Oklahoma. Thousands of protesters were back on the streets across the country this weekend demonstrating against the Trump administration. There were hundreds of rallies and events. Bruce Convicer reports from New York. The crowd was smaller than the hands-off protest earlier this month, but they came with the same anger and trepidation. Jennifer Fisher was among those concerned about the country's future. I am worried for our democracy, so I have read that the best way to bring down attempted

authoritarians is to take to the streets. The crowd waved American flags and placards. Some mocked the president and his adviser, Elon Musk. Some called for Trump to be put in jail and for the South African-born Musk to be deported. For NPR News, I'm Bruce Convyser in New York. Ukraine is accusing Russia of continuing to fire artillery and launch drone strikes despite a brief ceasefire declared by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to mark Easter. Ukraine's military acknowledges it was quieter in some areas but said fighting continued in others. President Volodymyr Zelensky is

suggesting that for any ceasefire to be worthwhile, it should last for 30 days rather than the 30 hours announced by Russia. Here's BBC's James Waterhouse. Russia has announced short last-minute ceasefires in the past, notably at the start of 2023 during the Christmas holidays. We reported from a front-line city of Bakmut back then, and there was no lull in fighting, and Bakmut would eventually be captured by invading Russian forces. So this has happened before. I don't think you're suddenly going to see both sides downing weapons and planning for

the long-term future, as much as the White House would like that to happen. But this is the first lull in fighting, fighting broadly we've seen pretty much since 2014, but these incredibly early days. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has no choice but to continue fighting in Gaza. In a pre-recorded message televised last night, Netanyahu said he has instructed the Israeli military to intensify pressure on Hamas, the militant group that carried out the October 7th attack on Israel, NASA's oldest serving astronaut back on Earth. And touchdown. Soyuz MS-26 is home at 8.20 p.m. Central Time.

NASA commentator marking the moment when the Soyuz spacecraft carrying Dan Petit touched down in Kazakhstan. Pettit returned to Earth on his 70th birthday. Alongside two Russian cosmonauts, Pettit and his Russian crewmates spent more than 200 days orbiting aboard the orbiting outpost. It was Pettit's fourth space mission. This is NPR News. Canadian election officials say the first day of early voting in the country's federal election broke records.

The nonpartisan agency Elections Canada estimates that nearly 2 million votes were cast on Friday amid reports of long lines across the country. Canadians are voting amid tensions with the Trump administration over trade and talk of making Canada the 51st state. It's been 15 years since a BP oil rig exploded in what was then the Gulf of Mexico. MPR's Debbie Elliott reports that the deadly blast set off the worst marine environmental disaster in U.S. history. In the dark of the night on April 20, 2010, oil and gas erupted from a BP well nearly a mile deep in the Gulf off the coast of Louisiana. It caused the Deepwater Horizon drilling

rig to explode and catch fire, killing 11 rig workers and injuring more than a dozen others. Oil spewed unchecked from the Gulf floor for nearly three months, killing wildlife, polluting beaches and devastating Gulf Coast businesses. Investigations and court rulings put the blame on a tragic series of safety failures. BP has paid some $70 billion in judgments and settlements and for cleanup and restoration projects which are still underway 15 years later. Debbie Elliott, NPR News, Orange Beach, Alabama.

Former President Bill Clinton was in Oklahoma City this weekend 30 years after the bombing of the federal building that left 168 people dead. He delivered the keynote address at a remembrance ceremony. I'm Gile Snyder. This is NPR News.