NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-03-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: May 3, 2025

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Hey, it's Aisha Harris from Pop Culture Happy Hour. If you love NPR podcasts, you'll want the new NPR Plus podcast bundle. Enjoy an all-you-can-eat selection of NPR Plus podcasts with sponsor-free listening and bonus episodes. Plus, you'll be supporting public radio. Check it out at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. President Trump's tariffs on foreign auto parts are now in effect.

The 25 percent tariffs kicked in today in a move the administration says is aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing. The tariffs apply to a wide range of auto parts, including engines and transmission, so Trump this week did ease their impact on automakers and allowed for some exemptions for qualifying parts imported from Mexico and Canada. President Trump downplaying concerns about an economic slowdown in an interview for NBC's Meet the Press. Trump said he is not worried about a recession, but NPR's Tamara Keith reports he also acknowledged there could be short term pain for the country. NBC's Kristen Welker asked Trump about concerns being voiced by some on Wall Street that the

U.S. could be headed for a recession. The economy had negative growth in the first quarter of this year, and that was before Trump launched his global trade war. Trump insisted there are others on Wall Street who say, quote, this will be the greatest windfall to ever happen. Is it okay in the short term to have our session? Look, yeah, everything's okay. What we are, I said, this is a transition period.

I think we're going to do fantastically. Trump administration officials say they expect to strike trade deals soon, but so far none have materialized. Tamara Keith, NPR News. West Virginia is leading a coalition of states in a lawsuit challenging Vermont's climate superfund law, as Curtis Tate from West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports. Attorney General J.B. McCuskey and 23 other state attorneys general took Vermont to federal court in a lawsuit

filed late Thursday. Their challenging of Vermont law enacted last year that imposes fines on fossil fuel producers for the greenhouse gas emissions they caused over a 30 year period. The states, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute, say the law violates the U.S. Constitution. They say Vermont is preempted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

Earlier this year, West Virginia sued New York over a similar law. For NPR News, I'm Curtis Tate in Charleston, West Virginia. Tate, that the Justice Department rather sued Vermont and also Hawaii, Michigan, and New York over state climate laws. PBS President Paula Kerger responding to President Trump's move aimed at slashing federal funding from PBS and NPR. Paula Kerger- Our business is to provide content that is educational, and there isn't a lot of content that looks like us across the spectrum. Nat. President Trump signed an executive order this week that instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease federal funding for PBS and NPR. Kurger says the move threatens PBS's ability to serve the American public with educational

programming. Both networks are vowing to fight back. You're listening to NPR News. Cleanup efforts are underway in parts of Oklahoma, hit this week by flooding caused by heavy rain, the flooding trapped Sarah Greeley and her new puppy at her veterinarian's office when water surrounded the building. Sarah Greeley We did call 911. They said, you know, as long as no one was injured, we just kind of... We're on the list. We just have to wait. There was water rescues all over town happening. Nat. Oklahoma has been battered in recent weeks by a steady line of slow-moving thunderstorms

at seven Oklahoma cities set rainfall, at least seven Oklahoma cities set rainfall records for the month of April. The comedian and actress Ruth Buzzi has died, according to her Facebook page. She died at home in Texas at the age of 88 after battling Alzheimer's disease. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports that Buzzy was best known for her award-winning appearances on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In at the 1960s and 70s NBC variety show. Ruth Buzzy's most famous laugh-in character was Gladys Ormpfby, an elderly lady with a severe henna-encased bun and shapeless brown clothes. In one memorable bit, she fawns over John Wayne.

Oh, I wonder what it would be like to be married to a man like John Wayne. Only to beat him up after her dream comes true, which causes Buzzy to break character. Stop, I don't want to do this! Over her long career, Buzzy appeared in many TV shows including Sesame Street and The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. She performed in movies such as the 1983 horror film The Being and had her own successful nightclub act. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. This is NPR.

Tariffs, recessions, how Colombian drug cartels gave us blueberries all year long. That's the kind of thing the Planet Money podcast explains. I'm Sarah Gonzalez and on Planet Money, we help you understand the economy and how things all around you came to be the way they are. Para que sepas. So you know. Listen to the Planet Money podcast from NPR.