NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-16-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

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When the Star Wars prequels came out, they were polarizing. Many fans of the original trilogy hated the phantom menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, though many younger fans loved them then and love them still. So we're re-watching them with fresh eyes 20 years later. From Jar Jar Binks to the climactic nooooo that broke the internet in half, listen on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. Shea Stevens Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing arguments over the authority of lower courts to restrict President Trump's executive orders.

The justices are deciding whether judges can block Trump's attempt to reinterpret a clause in the U.S. Constitution. NPR's Carrie Constant reports that that clause deals with birthright citizenship. Many of the justices have been on record in speeches and writings saying they do not like this idea that one judge who can be very wrong in one part of the country can make a decision that binds everybody else for a long period of time. Those justices include Elena Kagan, but today she said in her questioning

that this case is different because it involves this issue of birthright citizenship, which has basically been settled law for over 125 years. It involves Supreme Court precedent, the 14th Amendment. And here's Kerry Johnson reporting. A judge in Wisconsin accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities has pleaded not guilty to federal charges.

Mayon Silver from member station WUWM has more. Supporters of Judge Hannah Dugan protested outside the courthouse in Milwaukee. Are we going to allow dedicated public servants to be smeared? No! And are we going to allow them to smear the reputation of the Honorable Hannah Dugan? Dugan pleaded not guilty to concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. The judge is accused of directing a defendant without legal status out of her courtroom as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to arrest him.

A federal grand jury indicted Dugan Tuesday. She and her attorneys left the hearing without speaking to reporters. They're asking for a speedy trial. For NPR News, I'm Ayaan Silver in Milwaukee. The Department of Homeland Security is asking the Pentagon to provide 20,000 National Guard troops for the government's immigration crackdown. The Trump administration already has more than 10,000 active-duty troops along the southern border. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sounding

pessimistic about talks in Turkey on ending Russia's war in Ukraine. NPR's Michelle Kellerman has the story. Secretary Rubio says President Trump is impatient and wants the war to end, but the Kremlin balked at the idea of high-level talks with Ukraine, so now Rubio is talking about a one-on-one between Presidents Trump and Vladimir Putin. I think he's ready to have that engagement and determine once and for all if there's a path forward and what that path is. And it's my assessment that I don't think we're going to have a breakthrough here until the President and President Putin interact directly on this topic." Rubio sounded disappointed that the Russian

sent a low-level team to Turkey so he doesn't expect much to come out of the talks in Istanbul. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. U.S. futures are flat and after hours trading. This is NPR. An audit of Maryland autopsies has uncovered dozens of deaths in police custody that should have been labeled homicides. The review was sparked by a former state medical examiner's testimony in the death of George Floyd, the man killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2021. Former Maryland chief medical examiner Dr. David Fowler rejected the theory that heart disease caused Lloyd's death.

According to Gaza health officials, Israeli airstrikes have killed almost 200 people in the past two days. Several medical facilities have been struck, as NPR's Keri Kahn reports. Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza south and struck several homes in a complex that included a mosque in the north around the city of Jabalia. Panicked patients and wounded tried to find help wherever they can, says NPR's producer, Anas Baba. Patients do not know where to go as the hospitals are threatened, already out of service.

Overnight I can hear, and even through the day, I can hear the air strikes north from me in Jabbelia City. Israeli military officials say they are targeting Hamas and that numerous steps are taken to mitigate civilian harm. With Anas Baba in Gaza City, Keri Kahn, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Engineers working for one of the nation's largest transit systems are threatening to stop working on Friday. Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the New Jersey Transit Authority remain in contract talks,

with wages being the main sticking point. A work stoppage would affect roughly 350,000 commuters traveling between New Jersey and New York each day. This is NPR News. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. With WISE, This is NPR News.