NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-16-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: May 17, 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 Jack Spear. The US Supreme Court has temporarily blocked

the Trump administration from deporting a group of migrants in Texas under the Alien Enemies Act. The 18th century wartime power was invoked by Trump to quickly deport Venezuelans, deems our members of a gang, MPR Sergio Martinez Beltran is more. The Supreme Court says the Trump administration did not give the men at a detention center in Northern Texas enough time to challenge their deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. The unsigned order says the Tainis are entitled to more notice than the roughly

24 hours the government gave the Venezuelan men at the center of this case. Conservative justices Samo Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. This ruling did not address the question of whether Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act was legal. The high court did say that this order does not stop the government from removing people from the US under other lawful authorities. Sergio Martinez Peltran, NPR News, Austin. The Texas House of Representatives

has voted to repeal a law banning homosexual conduct. Houston Public Media's Andrew Snyder reports the bill faces steep odds in the state Senate, even though the original law has been unenforceable since the US Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional more than 20 years ago. The Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that state laws criminalizing consensual sex between people of the same sex

were unconstitutional. But the Texas law survived on the books due to conservative resistance. Democratic State Representative Ventin Jones, one of the first black gay members of the Texas legislature, wrote the bill to repeal it. I'm not asking you to vote based on whether or not you agree with the Lawrence v. Texas ruling.

Instead, I'm asking you to vote on a law that strengthens the fundamental civil liberties and individual freedoms that all Texans deserve. The bill passed the House on its final reading by a vote of 59 to 56 with a handful of Republicans joining forces with Democrats. I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston. Two of the country's top cable companies are announcing a multi-billion dollar merger. As Marlon Heide of member station WABE reports, the cable industry has been struggling to compete with cheaper streaming services. Cox Communications, which has its headquarters in Atlanta, is merging with Charter Communications in a deal valued at more than $34 billion. Cox is the third largest cable television company in the country with more than 6.5

million digital cable, internet, telephone, and home security customers. Charter, better known as Spectrum, has more than 32 million customers in 41 states. If approved by regulators, the merger would create one of the biggest TV and internet providers in the U.S. The combined company will change its name to Cox Communications within a year after closing. For NPR News, I'm Marlon Hyde in Atlanta. Stocks gained ground on Wall Street to close out a winning week.

The Dow was up 331 points to 42,654. The Nasdaq gained 98 points today. You're listening to NPR. At least four people are reported to have been killed and authorities were searching for possible additional victims after severe storms and a possible tornado hit an area near St. Louis. The storms tore roofs from homes, ripped off siding and downed trees and power lines. National Weather Service radar indicated a tornado touched between 2 30 and 250 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri. St. Louis Mayor Kara Spencer confirmed the deaths in a media briefing.

Pope Leo XIV made his first address to diplomats around the world in his speech to ambassadors appointed to the Vatican. NPR's Ruth Sherlock says the pope expressed his position on a wide range of topics. The pope spoke in support of migrants saying their dignity must be respected. Pope Leo XIV, who is both a US and Peruvian citizen, described himself as a quote, descendant of immigrants and called for compassion and solidarity with displaced people. He addressed social issues too, stating the church's more traditional position on marriage, affirming it as a stable union between a man and a woman. He reaffirmed the church's position against abortion.

He said there must be, quote, respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Rome. Citing rising US debt levels, credit rating agency Moody's has joined others in downgrading

the US sovereign credit rating from AAA to AA1. Rival Fitch in August of 2023 also cut the US sovereign debt rating. Standard & Poor's did so in 2011. This is NPR.