NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-11-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

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Am I a propagandist? A truth teller? An influencer? There's probably no more contested profession in the world today than mine, journalism. I'm Brian Reed, and on my show, Question Everything, we dive head first into the conflicts we're all facing over truth and who gets to tell it. Listen now to Question Everything, part of the NPR Podcast Network. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump says he'll sign an executive order tomorrow to reduce prescription drug prices by up to 80 percent.

It's a controversial policy from his first term that was ultimately blocked by federal courts that would reduce costs by directing the federal government to base payments for certain medicines administered in a doctor's office on their prices in other countries. Fierce opposition from pharmaceutical companies is expected. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says two days of talks with Chinese counterparts over tariffs in Switzerland this weekend have led to, quote, substantial progress. This amidst severe tensions between the world's two biggest economies.

Willa Marx has more. Besant and the US Trade Representative Ambassador Jameson Greer ended the weekend's discussions by talking up the two negotiating team's achievements. Besant promised further details Monday. Ambassador Greer called the talks constructive and said it was important to note how quickly both delegations had found common ground, an indication, he said, that differences were

perhaps not as sizeable as many had imagined. But trade experts caution that this initial agreement is far from a done deal, even if it may provide optimism for financial markets and businesses worldwide, roiled recently by Trump's towering tariffs on Chinese imports and China's response with tariffs of its own. For NPR News, I'm Vila Marx in Geneva. President Trump is taking credit for the U.S. role in mediating a shaky ceasefire between India and Pakistan after Vice President Vance said it was none of our business. And Piers Mara-Liason has more.

The president's America First foreign policy is turning out to be less isolationist than expected. On Thursday, Vice President Vance told Fox News that, quote, we're not going to get involved in the middle of a war that's fundamentally none of our business. But then over the weekend, President Trump was taking credit for talks he said were mediated by the United States and that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire. Hours after the ceasefire was announced, however, there were reports of continued fighting

between the two nuclear-armed countries, and it was not clear if the ceasefire would hold. Mara Liason, NPR News. In New Jersey, a glitch affecting operations caused a 45-minute ground stop at Newark Airport this morning, the third such incident in several weeks. The FAA says it was a telecommunications issue. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer

is calling on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to quickly solve the issue. The FAA must put Newark first and must put everything they've got into fixing Newark ASAP. Last week, Duffy announced a plan to update the aging technology used in air traffic control systems around the country. And in Atlanta, hundreds of flights were delayed by runway equipment issues at Hartsfield Jackson Airport, one of the world's busiest. This is NPR News. The Trump administration has fired the nation's top copyright official, Shira Perlmutter. This comes days after the abrupt termination of the head of the Library of Congress, which

oversees the U.S. Copyright Office. Perlmutter had been in the Copyright Office post since 2020, and the office says she received an email this weekend notifying her that her position had been terminated, effective immediately. This also comes after the Copyright Office released the third part of a lengthy report examining whether artificial intelligence companies can use copyrighted materials to train their AI systems. Texas-born country music singer Johnny Rodriguez died Friday at the age of 73, according to his family. He was known for chart-topping hits in the 1970s. Texas Public Radio's Jerry Clayton has more. Born in Sabinal, Texas, of Mexican heritage, Johnny Rodriguez became a prolific musical

artist in both Tejano and country music and was one of the first Latinos to break into country music in Nashville. He had 45 Billboard chart singles and 6 number one hits during his career. He was most well known for the hit songs, That's the Way Love Goes and Riding My Thumb to Mexico. Rodriguez was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. His daughter says he died in San Antonio surrounded by family. I'm Jerry Clayton in San Antonio.

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