NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-18-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: May 19, 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, I'm Dale Willman. Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed

with prostate cancer, NPR's Luke Garrett reports. Last week, former President Biden was evaluated after a small nodule was found in his prostate. The 82-year-old was then diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday. The cancer has metastasized to Biden's bone and is a more aggressive case, according to a statement from the personal office

of the former president. The statement says the cancer appears to be hormone sensitive, allowing for effective management, and that Biden and his family are reviewing treatment options. Prostate cancer is the second most common form of cancer, according to the CDC, and is treatable. The diagnosis comes days before the publishing

of an expose book on Biden and a growing debate over the former president's mental fitness during the latter portion of his presidency. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. Trains with New Jersey Transit will be back for Tuesday morning's commute. The union representing its locomotive engineers say they've reached a tentative contract agreement with the agency. For Member Station WNYC, Catalina Gagnalla has more. More than 450 engineers walked off the job Friday, halting all NJ Transit rail service

across the state. The shutdown affected nearly 300,000 weekday riders, making it one of the most disruptive strikes in the transit agency's history. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen says the deal includes higher wages than the proposal union members rejected last month. Engineers have gone six years without a raise. The strike marked NJ Transit's first major rail shutdown since 1983. The contract still needs to be ratified by union members and approved by NJ Transit's board in June. For NPR News, I'm Catalina Gonella in New York City.

Verizon has become the latest big company to scale back on diversity, equity, and inclusion under pressure from the federal government. And not long after it did so, the FCC on Friday gave Verizon its blessing for a $20 billion deal. NPR's Maria Aspin has more. Many big companies are backing away from what's known as DEI, after once promising to create more equitable opportunities for all employees.

But now, President Trump has declared such programs illegal, and the Federal Communications Commission has taken a big role in trying to pressure companies to do away with them. For example, Verizon has been seeking approval to buy Frontier, a broadband provider. So it told the FCC that it would end many of its policies relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Verizon will no longer set goals to hire more minorities, and it will remove references to DEI from its websites. Now the FCC has approved Verizon's deal and it specifically cited Verizon's promise to end DEI related practices.

Maria Aspin, NPR News, New York. And you're listening to NPR News. Republicans on the House Budget Committee have managed to advance their massive tax cut and border security package. The action came during a rare Sunday night session. The bill had failed to make it out during a vote on Friday. Four conservative Republicans voted against the bill on Friday, saying they wanted greater cuts to such programs as Medicaid. Cleanup is continuing in several Midwestern states, where severe storms and tornadoes

Friday night left more than two dozen people dead. Kentucky was hardest hit, with at least 19 people killed. Karen Zahr with Member Station WUKY reports. At First Baptist Church in London, Kentucky, congregation members celebrated their faith less than 48 hours after some of them lost everything. Pastor Jesse Armstrong's message to them? God was and he is and he will continue to be all over this community. The church has become a hub to collect supplies

for storm survivors. There were so many people that came up here to help, and I didn't call a single one up. Within hours, they were out of room, so Armstrong recruited the church down the street to become a second donation center. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zarr in London. The Oklahoma Thunder is now in the NBA Western Conference Finals after a 125-93 win over

the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. The Nuggets took it to seven games before losing. The top-seeded Thunder will now host the six-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves with the first game on Tuesday. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. Tuesday. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.