NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-06-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

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These days, with all the information coming at you, it can be hard to know what's accurate, what's not, and what's worth your time. Here to help you navigate it all is 1A. Five days a week, the 1A podcast provides a forum for curious minds to explore different angles on the biggest headlines and give you a more balanced take on what's happening. Listen to the 1A podcast from NPR and WAMU. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Today, the Supreme Court allowed President Trump to begin carrying out his ban on

transgender military service members, at least for now. More from NPR's Nina Totenberg. Trump has been trying to ban transgender troops in the military since his first term as president. Back then he partially succeeded, but the ban was reversed by President Biden, only to be put back in place by Trump when he returned for a second term. The new policy strengthens the plan he put in place in the first term and bars individuals from enlisting and discharges active duty transgender service members as well.

The lower courts temporarily put the policy on hold, but today the Supreme Court disagreed, allowing the administration to carry out the ban while the case is litigated in the lower courts. The court's three liberal justices dissented. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington. House Democrats are launching a new effort that attempts to block cuts to Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. At the same time, Republican leaders are working to reach a consensus on potential cuts as

they draft a spending bill. Here's NPR's Elena Moore. House Republicans need virtually full party support to pass their bill. And roughly a dozen moderates have come out against drastic cuts to programs like Medicaid. So minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats are calling for GOP support. All we need are four Republicans to do the right thing, stand up for Medicaid and stand up for SNAP so they can stand up for the American people. But Democrats have an uphill battle in getting any Republicans to break with their party.

Plus, Republicans haven't formally released their proposed cuts. And GOP leadership says they're still working to get moderates on board. Elena Moore, NPR News, The Capitol. President Trump's trade war is taking a toll on cargo traffic across the Pacific. NPR Scott Horsley reports about 20 percent of the ships that were scheduled to dock at the Port of Los Angeles this month have cancelled. Rather than pay tariffs of 145 percent, many importers have put shipments from China on hold.

The number of import containers passing through the Port of LA this week is down about 35 percent from a year ago. While businesses tried to stockpile goods before the tariffs took effect, the port's executive director Gene Sirocco expects those inventories will start to run out in four to six weeks. So if you go to the store and you're looking for a blue shirt you may see a bunch of purple ones. You may not see that blue one in your size or style and probably it will be more expensive than it was previously. Sirocco says the trade war is also hurting exports with fruit, nut and wine growers in

California's Central Valley reporting a steep drop in overseas sales. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Stocks lost ground on Wall Street today. The Dow was down 389 points. The Nasdaq fell 154 points. You're listening to NPR. Israel's military says air strikes had launched against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have fully disabled the international airport in the capital Sana. It says several power plants were

also struck in the area. Israel launched similar attacks yesterday in retaliation for a Houthi missile strike Sunday that caused damage near Israel's international airport. Houthi controlled Saba Network says three people were killed, 30 others were injured as a result of the Israeli airstrike. The historically stable Taiwan dollar has strengthened against the US dollar in its fastest clip in decades, a sign of disquiet at the stability of the US economy after multiple rounds of terrorist by President Trump, including on Taiwan, and Bureau's Emily Fang reports. Worries about the US have led Taiwanese insurance companies

and pension funds to sell off their US dollar-backed securities, leading in part to an 8% gain of the Taiwanese dollar against the US dollar. Taiwan sent a delegation for its first round of tariff negotiations with the US this month. Taiwan buys more and more US goods, but it does have a trade surplus with the US this month, Taiwan buys more and more US goods, but it does have a trade surplus with the US because the US buys so many advanced semiconductor chips

made on the Asian island. A weaker US dollar would actually help make US exports to Taiwan cheaper. That the US asked the Taiwan government to intentionally depreciate the US dollar against the Taiwanese currency, Taiwan's central bank explicitly denied this. Emily Fang, NPR News. Crude oil futures prices rose today mid-signs of higher demand from Europe and China. U.S. crude was up nearly 3.5% to settle at $59.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. of exchange. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.