NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-08-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: May 8, 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 Shea Stevens. In what would be the first agreement

since U.S. tariffs on global imports took effect, President Trump says he'll announce a trade deal later today. The announcement on Truth Social did not mention which country would be involved in the deal. The trade war is among the factors considered in the latest decision by Federal Reserve Board policy makers to leave interest rates unchanged. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says the risks of rising unemployment and inflation will increase if the tariffs are sustained.

Depending on the way things play out, that could include rate cuts, it could include us holding where we are. We just are gonna need to see, you know, how things play out before we make those decisions. Danielle Pletka Paul says the central bank is using its tools to foster maximum employment and price stability with no consideration for the political pressure to lower its key rate. Many Afghans who've had temporary protective status in the U.S. since their government

fell to the Taliban fear that their lives would be in danger if sent home. From Houston public media, Andrew Schneider reports that the Trump administration is ending programs that have allowed thousands of Afghans to remain in the Houston area. Many Afghans who settled in Houston after the fall of Kabul had spent years aiding U.S. and Native forces in the war in Afghanistan. But immigration attorney Ali Zakaria says President Trump is determined to deport as many of them as he can. What Trump administration's policy at this moment is to create this mass group that can be deported and one way

is to cancel the existing legal protocols or legal protections that are in place. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced temporary protected status for Afghans will end May 20th. In a statement DHS said Noem decided the TPS was no longer needed as the situation in Afghanistan had improved. For NPR News, I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston. A new accuser has taken the witness stand in the second New York sex crimes trial of former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Ilya Merz has details. Prosecutors say Kaya Sokola was about 20 years old when Weinstein assaulted her in a hotel in 2006. It's one of three criminal counts against him. On the witness stand, Sokola described winning a modeling competition in her native Poland at just 14 years old and soon traveling to Paris and New York for work. She'll be back on the stand Thursday. Six female accusers testified at Weinstein's first New York trial in the year 2020, but only three are expected this time, and Sokola is the only new accuser the jurors will hear from.

Weinstein maintains he's innocent. His previous conviction was overturned on procedural grounds. For NPR News, I'm Ilya Meretz in New York. U.S. futures are virtually unchanged in after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. changed in after hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. The judge overseeing the sex trafficking, racketeering, and conspiracy trial of Sean Diddy Combs says that a jury is likely to be seated this week. Many of the prospective jurors questioned so far said they believe they could be impartial. Forty-five people have been chosen for the pool from which 12 jurors plus alternates will be picked. Combs has pleaded not guilty

to the charges against him. The cardinal electors that is gathered at the Vatican will hold a second vote on candidates to replace Pope Francis. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports that the first round of voting at the Papal Conclave had not produced a successor. The first vote just hours after the start of the conclave, was always unlikely to result in a papal election. But nonetheless, crowds of thousands stood in St Peter's Square keeping their eyes trained on that small chimney, the cardinal's only way of signalling to the outside world if they've chosen a new pope. Many priests and nuns were among the crowd, praying that the cardinals

will hear the Holy Spirit to discern God's will about who should become pope. There was laughter too as a seagull landed near the chimney settling in for a front row seat. The sky grew dark and then black smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, St Peter's Square, Pletka There have been no reports of any major issues now that the real ID requirement is in effect. Domestic-era travelers and people visiting federal buildings are now required to have a real ID or some other government-issued identification. Many airports reported wait times of only a few minutes at security checkpoints.

This is NPR News.