NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-20-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: April 20, 2025

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Wait, wait, don't tell me. Fresh Air, Up First, NPR News Now, Planet Money, Ted Radio Hour, Thru Line, the NPR Politics Podcast, Code Switch, Embedded, Books We Love, Wildcard, are just some of the podcasts you can enjoy sponsor-free with NPR+. Get all sorts of perks across more than 20 podcasts with the bundle option. Learn more at plus.npr.org. option. Learn more at plus.npr.org. Janine Herbst Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen says the U.S. is nearing a constitutional crisis, saying the Trump administration is flouting the courts. This stays after he returned from visiting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man illegally deported to a prison in

El Salvador. The courts ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return, but so far they've ignored the orders and the White House says Abrego Garcia, whom they claim is a gang member, which he denies, will never come back to the U.S. Imperius Domenico Montanaro has more. It feels like we really are nearing a constitutional crisis. The administration continues to say it's following court orders and has found ways to walk a very fine line, even if sometimes it seems to be violating the spirit of the law or these emergency orders it's enacting. I mean, the administration's claiming terrorist invasions, that there are state secrets for why they can't tell judges specifics on deportations or what they did or

didn't do to bring back someone mistakenly deported because they can't tell a foreign country what to do. And Pierce Domenico Montanaro reporting. The Israeli military says the killing of 15 Palestinian medics in Gaza by its soldiers was due to quote professional failures. The military issued a report on its investigation into last month's incident today. Andieres Hadil al-Shalchi has more. An Israeli military investigation said poor night visibility led a deputy battalion commander to assess that a convoy of ambulances belonged to Hamas

and to shoot at it. It said that the commander would be fired due to his decisions. At first the military said that the medical vehicles approached the troops suspiciously, but video released later showed the marked rescue vehicles had headlights on and flashing red emergency lights. The Israeli troops buried the medic's bodies in a mass grave and bulldozed over the ambulances. The military investigation said the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong, but that there was no evidence to support claims of, quote, execution. Hadeel Alshalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Pope Francis made a rare public appearance at the Vatican today, Easter Sunday.

NPR's Joe Hernandez reports it comes as the 88-year-old continues to recover from a life-threatening illness that had him hospitalized earlier this year. Francis appeared on the Loggia of St. Peter's Basilica as a blessing he'd written was read aloud by another church official. He also toured through St. Peter's Square in the Pope Mobile, greeting worshippers who'd gathered for Easter Mass. Francis' public appearances have been limited since he was released from the hospital in late March. He'd been hospitalized for five weeks to treat several medical conditions, including a severe respiratory infection and bilateral pneumonia.

On Sunday, Francis also met briefly with Vice President J.D. Vance, who had traveled to Italy with his family. Joe Hernandez, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. A new study shows a further decline in TV series and films shot in Los Angeles once the entertainment capital. NPR's Mondali Delbarco reports production on L.A. sound stages has plummeted as well. On location productions in Los Angeles dipped more than 22 percent the first three months of this year, according to FilmLA, which issues film permits in the area.

The nonprofit group found production also shrank on LA sound stages. Spokesman Philip Sokolowski says other states and countries have lucrative tax credits to lure productions out of California. Meanwhile, studios and streamers are ordering fewer series and films. It's not just Los Angeles that is feeling this. It's happening in every other major production center. And with less work to go around, the competition for what's left is intensified. The report says the recent wildfires had only a small effect on LA filming.

Productions are still rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic and delays by the Hollywood writers and performers strikes. Mandelit Del Barco, NPR News, Los Angeles. At the weekend box office, Sinners took the top spot, debuting with an estimated $45 million in ticket sales. The Warner Brothers release, a 1932 set vampire movie about bootlegging brothers, both played by Michael B. Jordan, who open a juke joint in their Mississippi hometown, cost around 90 million dollars to produce. In second place, a Minecraft movie, this year's biggest Hollywood hit, with 41 million dollars in its third week of release, it's made 720 million dollars globally

so far. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington. Having news at your fingertips is great, but sometimes you need an escape. I'm Ginny Herbst, NPR News in Washington.