NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-06-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: May 6, 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 in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. Veterans groups say that President Trump's

domestic policy plans include a dangerous loophole that would make GI benefits more accessible to for-profit schools. Details from NPR's Quill Lawrence. 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. President Trump says he wants to reopen California's Alcatraz as a federal prison. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports that the move is raising some questions about whether the island penitentiary can be brought back into operation over 60 years after being 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 is 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. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp says he will not run for U.S. Senate next year. It is a setback for Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic Senator John Ossoff. Raul Balli of WABE has more. 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 John 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. You're listening to NPR. Atlanta. You're listening to NPR. Two major storms have been dumping heavy rain on parts of the southern plains and northeast. In Texas, crews were searching for a 10-year-old girl on Monday.

The child was swept away by rising floodwaters. Forecasters warn that the next storm threatens to dump as much as six inches of rain on southeast Texas Tuesday. A flood watch is posted from New Mexico to Mississippi. Three dozen prospective jurors have been questioned on the first day of the sex trafficking and racketeering trial of hip-hop mogul Sean Combs. 55-year-old Combs has pleaded not guilty. His trial is getting underway days after he rejected the prosecution's plea offer. Combs could face life in prison

if convicted on all of the charges against him. The United States is sending a patriot air defense system to Ukraine via Israel. From Kyiv, NPR's Joanna Kokissus reports that the Ukrainian government has been pushing for more support. Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had told President Trump that Ukraine

needs more Patriot systems. The two men spoke at a Vatican Basilica just before Pope Francis' funeral. Ukraine has suffered a series of deadly Russian attacks in recent weeks. Air defense systems can help shoot down Russian drones and missiles, says Roman Kostenko, a colonel in Ukraine's armed forces and a lawmaker on Parliament's Defense and National Security Committee. He says he has not heard how many patriot systems are arriving, only that they will come from Israel.

Joanna Kekesis, NPR News, Cave. On Asian market shares are mixed up 1 percent in Tokyo. This is NPR News. You may have heard that President Trump has issued an executive order seeking to block all federal funding to NPR. This is the latest in a series of threats to media organizations across the country. Millions of people depend on the NPR network. Now more than ever, we're depending on you.

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