NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-17-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: May 17, 2025

NPR News: 05-17-2025 5AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We've all been there running around a city looking for a bathroom but unable to find one. Hello, do you have a restroom we could use? A very simple free market solution is that we could just pay to use a bathroom, but we can't. On the Planet Money podcast, the story of how we once had thousands of pay toilets and why they got banned from Planet Money on NPR, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder.

The mayor of London, Kentucky says he believes there are at least 14 fatalities in his community from last night's severe storms that brought high winds, torrential rain, golf ball-sized hail and tornadoes. Karen Zahra is with member station WUKY in Lexington. She reports on what state residents faced. Confirmed tornado warnings were issued in parts of Kentucky Friday night, meaning a tornado was sighted or indicated by weather radar. In Somerset, Sean Likens and his son Garrett captured what appeared to be a funnel cloud illuminated in the darkness by

flashes of lightning. It's right there. It's right there. It's a rope. It's a rope. It's right there. Less than a minute and a half later, Garrett pleaded for his father to come inside. Dad, we gotta go.

Thousands of Kentuckians are without power and flooding is now a concern for parts of this state. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zarr in Lexington. According to the tracking website, poweroutage.us, more than 140,000 customers are without power in Kentucky, and outages stretch from Missouri to Ohio and North Carolina. More than 168,000 customers remain without electricity from Thursday night storms in Michigan where two tornadoes have been confirmed. 168,000 customers remain without electricity from Thursday night storms in Michigan, where two tornadoes have been confirmed.

St. Louis searchers have been going building to building looking for people who've been trapped or hurt following severe storms that included at least one tornado. Dennis Jenkinson is the fire chief in St. Louis. We have at this time mapped the path of the tornado. We've got a very good idea of the path it took and the destruction that came after. St. Louis officials say more than 5,000 homes were damaged by a powerful tornado that ripped through the city during the afternoon rush hour yesterday. President Trump back at the White House from his trip to the Middle East.

He returned last night as Republicans on the House Budget Committee. Planned to try again tomorrow night to advance his budget package called the big, beautiful bill. That bill hit a roadblock in the Budget Committee yesterday. And Pierce Tamara Keith has reaction from the White House. Fiscal conservatives on this key committee are balking at the bill, but this isn't the end of the story. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said the White House will continue to have conversations over the weekend to strongly urge House Republicans to support the bill, describing it as a generational

opportunity. Levitt added that the White House expects all Republicans to vote for this bill. This bill is the main legislative vehicle for President Trump's agenda, including big tax cuts and cuts to spending on programs, including Medicaid and food assistance for the poor. In an earlier social media post, Trump demanded unity and said, quote, We don't need grandstanders in the Republican Party. Tamara Keith, NPR News. And from Washington, you're listening to NPR News. Former FBI Director James Comey is being investigated by the Secret Service.

The Homeland Security Department says Comey has been interviewed about a social media post that Republicans say was meant to incite violence against President Trump. On Thursday, Comey posted a photo of seashells arranged to form the numbers 86, 47, 86, a slang term that could be taken to mean to kill, and Trump is the 47th president. Authorities in Louisiana searching for the seven inmates who remain on the loose after escaping from a New Orleans jail. Ten initially broke out yesterday. Three have been caught so far.

A new report finds that states across the country have made some progress in addressing the mental health needs of pregnant and postpartum women. Maternal mental health conditions like postpartum depression affect about one in five U.S. mothers every year, and MPR's Ritu Chatterjee reports about three-quarters never get treatment. Researchers at the Policy Center on Maternal Mental Health put out a report card that graded states for their level of access to care for mental health problems in pregnant women and new moms. They found that while overall the country is still failing to adequately address maternal mental health needs, there were incremental improvements since the year before.

Five states, California, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Washington, got the top grade of B for the very first time. Michigan had the biggest jump in grade from a D plus to a B minus by taking several steps to improve care, including screening for maternal mental health conditions. Two states, Alabama and Mississippi, received failing grades. NPR News.