NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-05-2025 8PM EDT

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Unlike headlines or social media posts, books can give you the long view on the news, which is where NPR's Book of the Day can help. To think big picture about stories like the death of Pope Francis. What's missing from the picture, he says, is the merciful face of Christ. You can find this interview and others just like it on NPR's Book of the Day podcast. Tune out the noise and listen every weekday. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Trump says he wants to reopen California's Alcatraz as a federal prison. MPR's Windsor Johnson reports the move is raising questions about whether the island penitentiary can be brought back into operation more than 60 years after it was shut down. President Trump says he wants to reopen Alcatraz to house what he calls the

worst criminals, reviving the image of one of the nation's most notorious prisons. But can it happen? Experts say the costs would be staggering. There's currently no functioning infrastructure and mostly everything would have to be rebuilt. The island was closed in March of 1963 because it became too costly to maintain. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other federal penitentiary. Additionally, the island is now a protected historical site managed by the National Park Service, and reopening the prison would likely require a congressional act. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. Veterans groups say what President Trump is calling a big beautiful bill includes

a dangerous loophole. NPR's Quill Owens reports it would make the GI bill benefits more accessible to for-profit schools. The Republican policy bill working its way through Congress currently includes a repeal of the 90-10 rule that says for-profit schools can get no more than 90 percent of their revenue from federal funding. It's a market test to make sure at least 10 percent of students would pay their own money to go. For years, though, there was a loophole.

GI bill benefits were counted in that 10 percent. That meant for-profit schools aggressively targeted veterans for enrollment, including so-called diploma mills that drained veterans' benefits without providing a useful degree. Legislation finally closed that loophole in 2023, but veterans advocacy groups are flagging a line in the current Republican draft bill that would eliminate the 90-10 rule altogether. Quill Lawrence, NPR News. Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp says he will not run for U.S. Senate next year.

Rule Valley of Member Station WABE reports it's a setback for national Republicans who wanted Kemp to challenge Georgia's Democratic incumbent. In a social media post, Kemp says he told President Donald Trump and U.S. Senate leadership of his decision and that he would work to find a Republican nominee who could win in Georgia next year. State and national Republicans believe Kemp would be the best candidate to challenge Jon Ossoff, the only incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator running next year in a state Trump won in 2024. Kemp defeated popular Democratic figure Stacey Abrams twice for governor, along with defeating a Trump-backed Republican challenger in 2022. Possible options for Kemp include running for Georgia's other U.S. Senate seat or for president in 2028.

For NPR News, I'm Raul Balli in Atlanta. On Wall Street, the Dow is down 98 points. This is NPR. The event known as the Conclave, where a successor to Pope Francis will be chosen, begins this week and as per tradition will be cloaked in secrecy. All the Vatican personnel involved in the process take an oath, a violation of which would result in automatic excommunication. At a ceremony today, mentated by Vatican law, participants took that oath. Nearly 135 cardinal electors gathered at the Sistine Chapel Wednesday to be in the process of voting in secret. This year's Pulitzer Prizes honoring journalism, music, and letters have

been announced. The New York Times won four awards and the New Yorker three. NPR's Andrew Limbong has more. One of those New York Times wins went to Doug Mills for his work photographing the attempted assassination on President Trump in July. He told NPR in an interview the day after that he didn't realize what he had caught on camera until after he sent his photos to his editor. She said, there's actually a picture with a bullet going behind him.

And I said, oh my God. The staff of the Washington Post won the Breaking News Reporting Award for their coverage of that day, and Reuters won for its investigative reporting into the fentanyl industry author Perceval Everett won for his novel James and the biography award went to David Greenberg for his book about the late congressman John Lewis Andrew Limbong and peer news president Trump today announced the

2027 NFL draft will be held on the National Mall in Washington, DC The 2027 NFL Draft will be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Trump flanked by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and Josh Harris, owner of the Washington Commander's football team. Most recent draft in late April was hosted in Green Bay. It drew 600,000 fans over three days. Pittsburgh will host the event next year. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News.