NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-05-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

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Does the idea of listening to political news freak you out? Well, don't sweat it. The NPR Politics Podcast makes politics a breeze. Every episode will break down the day's headlines into totally normal language and make sure that you walk away understanding what the day's news might mean for you. Take a deep breath and give politics another chance with the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman.

President Trump, when asked during an interview Sunday whether he believes that he needs to uphold the Constitution, responded, quote, I don't know. He made his comments in an interview aired by NBC. He did say, though, that he would follow whatever the Supreme Court says. Trump's tariff plans, meanwhile, continue to affect the nation's economy, as NPR's Osama Khalid tells us. There is certainly economic anxiety. You see that in the polling.

New figures from the Commerce Department last week also showed that the U.S. economy shrank during the first three months of this year. You know, broadly I will say, President Trump believes that economists were wrong about the negative consequences of tariffs in his first term. And so he's trying to sort of cast doubt, and I've heard this from the White House, about some of the foreboding messages from economists now. But to be clear, Trump's tariffs now, this time around, are much steeper than what he put in place in 2018. And Piers Asmikhaled.

The Catholic cardinals who elect the next pope are now meeting with each other and preparing for the conclave that begins on Wednesday. And Piers Scott Detro has more from Rome. On Sunday, New York's Archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, presided over Mass in a residential Roman neighborhood. This will be the second conclave Dolan takes place in after the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. He says this time he's better prepared.

It helps. I was so nervous last time and I thought, now what do I do? But now I feel kind of seasoned, a little more relaxed. Dolan spoke at both of President Trump's inaugurals. Asked about Trump's social media posts showing an AI image of Trump as Pope, Dolan said it, quote, wasn't good and that he hoped Trump himself was not directly involved in the post. The Catholic bishops of New York State released a statement criticizing Trump's post, writing, quote, do not mock us.

Scott Detro, NPR News, Rome. Police in Brazil say they foiled a bomb attack that had been planned for an open air Lady Gaga concert held Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro. Julia Canaro has our report. According to Rio's police and the Ministry of Justice, the plan was being orchestrated on social media. A group was recruiting participants to carry out attacks at the concert with improvised explosives aimed especially at LGBTQ fans. They set quote a collective challenge to gain notoriety

online. Police say they managed to neutralize the plot, avoiding any panic or impact. They arrested two people and carried out 15 search warrants. Rio's free open air concert on Copacabana Beach was bigger than Madonna's last year and historic for Lady Gaga. On social media, she said seeing the crowd of more than two million people, her biggest ever, took her breath away. For NPR News, I'm Julia Carneiro in Rio. Flash flood warnings remain across much of Puerto Rico this weekend. Heavy rains have submerged streets, stranded families and caused at least one death so far.

Police say a 44-year-old man was killed and a 43-year-old woman was hospitalized after a tree fell in her car. A state of emergency, meanwhile, has been declared in a city on the island's northern coast. You're listening to NPR News. Texas has a new city. As Texas Public Radio's Jerry Clayton reports, SpaceX head Elon Musk has been pushing to grade the city in Deep South Texas for several years. Starbase, Texas came into being on Saturday with a vote to incorporate the SpaceX company town on the Gulf Coast in

Deep South Texas. The final vote tally was 212 to 6 with most of the 283 eligible voters being connected to SpaceX. Voters also elected a mayor and two commissioners. The incorporation comes after several failed attempts by Elon Musk to rename and take control of the area where the rocket launch facility resides. Musk first floated the idea of creating a city that encompasses the facility in 2021. The Texas legislature has recently begun to reconsider a measure which would allow SpaceX to close access to a public beach in the area during

rocket tests and launches. I'm Jerry Clayton in San Antonio. Flights at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport were briefly halted on Sunday after a missile launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen landed on an access road. The attack came just hours before Israeli cabinet members were set to vote on whether to intensify Israel's military operations in Gaza. Some US and European airlines, meanwhile, have temporarily suspended their flights to Tel Aviv because of that missile attack. Scotty Scheffler won big on Sunday taking the CJ Cup Byron Nelson Golf Tournament by eight strokes. He finished the 72-hole event with a record tying 253 and he ended at 31 under par. He might have broken the record but carried a bogey on the card of the bogey in the par third 17th hole.

I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.