NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-05-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

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This is Ira Glass, the host of This American Life. So much is changing so rapidly right now with President Trump in office. It feels good to pause for a moment sometimes and look around at what's what. To try and do that, we've been finding these incredible stories about right now that are funny and have feeling and you get to see people everywhere making sense of this new America that we find ourselves in. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. President Trump was asked this weekend

whether he should uphold the Constitution and responded by saying, I don't know. His comment came during a wide ranging interview on NBC's Meet the Press, NPR's Luke Garrett reports. President Trump said he wants to deport millions and doesn't know if deportees deserve due process. When asked whether this violates the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, Trump responded by saying he was elected on the promise of mass deportation.

NBC's Kristen Welker then pressed the president on the issue. Given those numbers that you're talking about, don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president? I don't know. I have to respond by saying again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. In March, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law that allows a president to deport invading enemies without a court hearing. Recently, a court partially blocked

Trump's use of this act to deport Venezuelans. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. At a town hall outside of Atlanta Sunday, Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock told voters he's disappointed in his Republican colleagues' unwillingness to push back on President Donald Trump. For Member Station WABE, Sam Greenglass has more. For nearly two hours inside Zion Hill Baptist Church, attendees were called to the mic by raffle ticket, unloading fears about Trump's tariffs and the mass firings of federal workers. But no matter the topic, most voters landed on a similar question. What are you doing about it?

Warnock said one thing he's doing is pressuring GOP senators. What I'm saying to them is that they ought to be concerned about this because, like, I mean, it takes a lot of work to get to be a U.S. Senator. Why would you go through all of that and then hand your power over to a wannabe autocrat? We could stop a lot of this if we could just get forwarded. Warnock told voters, sometimes your voice is the only thing you've got. For NPR News, I'm Sam Greenglass in Atlanta. At Mass is a cross-roam and around the world on Sunday, Catholics offered prayers for

the next pope. The conclave that will elect the successor for Pope Francis, who died last month, begins on Wednesday at the Vatican. Empire's Sylvia Paggioli says it will be a very busy day. A Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter's in the morning and in the afternoon the cardinals will be escorted by Vatican Gendarme to the Sistine Chapel. Once inside, the master of liturgical celebrations will say the words, extra omnis, meaning all who aren't Cardinal electors, get out. After that, the door is shut, conclave, after all, means with key. And the waiting begins. That's NPR's Sylvia Pujole reporting from the Vatican.

Police in Brazil say they stopped a plot to detonate a bomb at Lady Gaga's weekend concert in Rio de Janeiro. The Saturday event brought two and a half million people to Copacabana Beach. Police say the two people arrested were a part of a group that spreads hate speech against the LGBTQ plus community. You're listening to NPR News. A hard-right nationalist politician has won the first round of Romania's presidential election.

Terry Schultz reports that this is the second time Romanians cast their ballots for president because the first vote was annulled over concerns about irregularities and foreign interference. With nearly all the votes counted, George Simeone is leading among the 11 candidates vying to be Romania's next president. Simeone heads the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party and aligns himself with President Trump, even wearing a MAGA cap. He's critical of the European Union, saying more power needs to remain with national governments, and he pledges to end Romania's aid to Ukraine.

When the now annulled vote was held last year, far-right candidate Colin Gierdescu came out of nowhere to win the first round with a largely online campaign Romanian intelligence has since concluded was propelled by Moscow. For NPR News, I'm Terri Schulz. President Trump said Sunday night he's authorized a 100 percent tariff on any movies that were produced outside the U.S. He says movies that were produced outside the U.S. He says the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative would be responsible for that tariff. Many movies, though, are shot in more than one country, so it's not clear just how any tariff would be implemented.

The Marvel Studios flick Thunderbolts debuted in first place this weekend in North American box offices, bringing in a healthy $76 million in ticket sales. The horror film Sinners landed in second, while a Minecraft movie claimed third. Minecraft has brought in $398 million in one month of distribution. The accountant too, meanwhile, was in fourth, followed by Until Dawn in fifth. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. You may have heard that President Trump has issued an executive order seeking to block I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.