NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-23-2025 7AM EDT

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

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Do you remember when discovering a new artist felt like finding buried treasure? At All Songs Considered, NPR's music recommendation podcast, we put that kind of magic back into discovering new tracks. We're here to make the hunt for new music easy, delivering you the cream of the crop from every genre. We'll help you make music feel fun again, only on All Songs Considered from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Cora Vekulman. The body of Pope Francis is now lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Members of the public are now allowed to pay respects. NPR's Lauren Freya reports from Rome that Pontus' funeral is set for Saturday. A choir sang and cardinals chanted in Latin as Pope Francis' body was carried in a red velvet lined open casket into St. Peter's Basilica, flanked by Swiss guards and priests carrying long candles. Public viewing lasts through Friday evening. Then on Saturday, hundreds of thousands are expected to attend the Pope's open-air funeral in St. Peter's Square. President Trump,

Ukrainian President Zelensky, and Britain's Prince William are among those who have confirmed their attendance. The Cardinals' conclave, where a new pope will be chosen through secret ballot inside the Sistine Chapel, is not expected for another two weeks. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, Rome. A federal judge in Maryland has castigated the Trump administration for disregarding her orders. She's demanded to know exactly what the Trump administration has done to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. The migrant was illegally deported from Maryland to El Salvador. The judge has told the Justice Department to get her that information by six o'clock tonight. A group of Democratic House lawmakers tried to see Abrego Garcia in El Salvador this week,

but were denied. Arizona Congresswoman Yasamin Ansari says other migrants were also deported to the country. For the first time, the U.S. Embassy has asked about the hundreds of Venezuelan migrants who were illegally sent to this prison as a result of our advocacy. So we know that we need to keep pushing. Another federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to provide evidence by today that it did not disobey him

when he ordered the administration to turn around deportation flights. Billionaire Elon Musk says he will limit his time with the White House's cost-cutting Doge effort starting next month. NPR's Bobby Allen reports the move comes after EV company Tesla, where Musk is the CEO, posted worse than expected numbers for the latest quarter. On a Tesla earnings call, Musk said establishing Doge within the federal government is mostly

done and that he expects to soon work just a day or two per week on White House matters. Musk, the executive of Tesla, has been operating as a special government employee, allowing him to work for 130 days in government. But his future in the White House beyond that has always been unclear. President Trump has supported the efforts of Musk, but his hard charging approach defying norms and procedures has frustrated others in the administration. Still, Musk said he plans to be involved in government in some fashion for as long as Trump allows. Musk's announcement came as Tesla reported that its quarterly profits have dropped 71%.

Bobbi Allen, NPR News. On Wall Street in pre-market trading, the Dow is up 700 points. It's NPR. More than 170 presidents of U.S. colleges and universities have signed a letter. It denounces the Trump administration's actions that target higher education institutions. NPR's Janaki Mehta reports they're asking for constructive engagement. The statement by the American Association of Colleges and Universities shows higher Ed leaders are by and large forming a united front against the Trump administration, which in recent weeks has frozen billions of dollars in federal funding for several universities because it says they aren't doing enough to address anti-Semitism and are promoting

DEI programs it considers illegal. The letter calls the Trump administration's actions, quote, unprecedented government overreach and political interference in higher education. Those who have signed include leaders of state schools, liberal arts colleges, and private universities, from Whitman College in Washington Adventist University to Princeton, Brown, and Harvard. Janaki Mehta and PR News. Today is the 20th anniversary of the debut of YouTube. The first YouTube video to be posted online was from co-founder Joad Karim.

He visited the San Diego Zoo, where he admired the length of the elephant's trunks. Alright, so here we are, one of the elephants. The cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really, really long fronts, and that's cool. And that's pretty much all there is to say. YouTube is now available nearly worldwide. It has some 3 billion users. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News from Washington. These days there is a lot of news. Orva Kuhlmann, NPR News from Washington.