NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-30-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: April 30, 2025

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This is out of her glass. In Lily's family, there's a story everybody knows by heart. If this story had never happened. All of us wouldn't be here right now. Sammy wouldn't be here. Nina wouldn't be here. Wally wouldn't be here. Anyone that we know wouldn't be here.

So what happens when Lily's mom tells her this story is not true? This American life, surprising stories every week. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. President Trump has celebrated what he's calling 100 days of greatness by holding a rally in Michigan. NPR's Tamara Keith reports. President Trump boasted his movement is taking back the country from a, quote, sick political class.

In 100 days, we have delivered the most profound change in Washington in nearly 100 years. I read an editorial today that this is the most consequential presidency in history. How about that? Even critics agree Trump's presidency has been consequential by, among other things, pushing the limits of presidential power and launching a trade war that has sent consumer confidence spiraling. limits of presidential power and launching a trade war that has sent consumer confidence spiraling. Trump also questioned the validity of polls that show him with the lowest approval rating

at the 100-day mark of any president going back 80 years. Tamara Keith, NPR News. The Supreme Court is tackling a subject today that could transform public education in the U.S. For the first time, the justices are being asked whether overtly religious schools may also be publicly funded charter schools. NPR's Nina Totenberg explains. Nina Totenberg Like 45 other states, Oklahoma has charter schools that allow for more flexibility and innovation in education. But under both state

and federal law, charter schools are defined as public schools because they're funded by the state, closely supervised by the state, and importantly, must be nonsectarian. Two Catholic dioceses tried to establish a virtual Catholic school that would be funded under the charter school program, but the state Supreme Court ruled that the overtly religious nature of the education conflicted with the state and federal constitutional ban on state-sponsored religious indoctrination. Now the Supreme Court will decide if that's right.

Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington. A World War II unit comprised only of black women has now been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. The 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only unit of black women to serve in Europe during the war. They solved a catastrophic mail crisis. They cleared a backlog of 17 million pieces

of desperately sought mail in three months. Like many black American troops of the time, their contributions were not recognized. House Speaker Mike Johnson presented a medal to the family of the unit commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams-Early. These women and the entire 6888 are great American patriots, loyal to a nation that for far too long failed to return that favor. A film about the 6888 has been released on Netflix. The House of Representatives is expected to vote today on a Republican effort to get rid of a California plan

to block most sales of gasoline-powered cars by the year 2035. The plan had been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency under former President Joe Biden. You're listening to NPR. President Trump is welcoming a group of CEOs to the White House today. It's part of his effort called Investing in America.

Top executives from NVIDIA and SoftBank will attend, among others. Trump says his tariffs will persuade companies to invest in the U.S. Yesterday, IBM announced that it will invest $150 billion in the United States with a focus on AI and computing. Trump's terrorists are rattling the coffee industry. Murray Carpenter reports the terrorists are supposed to encourage production in the U.S., but that's not going to happen with coffee. The U.S. grows about 1% of its coffee supply in Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

United States is the largest coffee-consuming nation in the world. Melissa Raftery roasts more than 80,000 pounds of coffee each year at 44 North Coffee in Maine. We can't grow enough for ourselves. President Trump's first round of tariffs included steep import taxes on major coffee producers, Vietnam and Indonesia. He's paused the country-specific tariffs and replaced them with 10% tariffs on most imports, but the coffee industry is rattled.

The National Coffee Association has requested an exemption from the tariffs, and the entire industry is waiting to see how things shake out. For NPR News, I'm Murray Carpenter. More than 400,000 power customers in central and western Pennsylvania do not have electricity this morning. That's according to the tracking site, poweroutage.us. Destructive winds lashed the area around Pittsburgh yesterday. The National Weather Service reports that some gusts from thunderstorms in Western Pennsylvania hit hurricane strength. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.

There was Barbenheimer summer, then Brat summer. What will this season bring? Maybe it's the I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.