NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-20-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

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These days, there's a lot of news. It can be hard to keep up with what it means for you, your family, and your community. Consider this from NPR as a podcast that helps you make sense of the news. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a story and provide the context, backstory, and analysis you need to understand our rapidly changing world. Listen to the Consider This Podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. President Trump met congressional Republicans on Capitol Hill today. He's trying to get his party to pass what he calls the big, beautiful bill. The spending legislation includes massive parts of Trump's agenda,

such as tax cuts and border security. But NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports, disagreements among GOP members means there's no guarantee that it'll pass. Not all Republicans have been on board with the bill, but Trump seemed to ignore that as he walked into the Capitol, saying the Republican Party has never been more unified. This is really just a pep talk. We have a very unified House, and we have a very unified Senate. But he was quick to then critique Kentucky Representative Thomas Massey, who was shared concern that the bill would add to the national debt. Trump said Massey should be voted out of office. House Speaker Mike

Johnson has made Memorial Day the self imposed deadline to get the legislation passed. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News. The United Kingdom is pausing trade talks with Israel and summoning the country's ambassador. It's over the expansion of Israel's military operation in Gaza. NPR's Lauren Freyer reports from London. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament the trickle of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza. It's totally and utterly inadequate. So we must coordinate our response. In addition to pausing trade talks with Israel, the UK government says it's also imposing

more sanctions on settlers responsible for violence against Palestinian communities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Those include a travel ban on 79-year-old Daniella Weiss, who's often referred to as the grandmother of the extremist settler movement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls his military actions in Gaza defensive and said recent criticism from the UK, France and Canada is a quote, huge prize for Hamas. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. The Department of Homeland Security has conducted its first voluntary removal charter flight

from Texas to Honduras and Colombia. As NPR's Jimena Bastille reports, the flights are part of the administration's push to get immigrants without legal status to leave the country. DHS said 64 people who opted to quote self-deport back to their home countries were on the flight. The department called it a voluntary charter flight. They say that's different from a flight Imm and customs enforcement would use for deportations. Each person also received a $1,000 stipend and quote, preserved the possibility that they could one day return to the US. The administration has launched a multimillion dollar ad campaign encouraging immigrants

without legal status to leave or face arrest and detention. But immigration advocates say questions remain over how many people may trust this program. And lawyers for immigrants argue that it could discourage people who may have legitimate asylum claims from pursuing legal options to stave off deportation. Jimena Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. On Wall Street, the Dow is down 120 points. The Nasdaq is down nearly 90. This is NPR. Louisiana's Attorney general says officials have arrested an employee at a New Orleans jail. He's accused of helping 10 inmates break out last week. Six of them are still at large. Authorities allege the

worker turned off the water to the inmates cell. They then yanked a toilet off the wall and broke out of the wall. There are questions about Georgia's restrictive law about abortion. This comes as a woman in the state who is brain dead has been kept on life support. That's because she's pregnant. From member station WABE in Atlanta, Sam Greenglass has more. Adriana Smith was two months pregnant when doctors declared her brain dead after a medical emergency, Her family told local tv says Emory University Hosp on life support since Feb

law banning most abortio weeks. Democratic state parks wrote Attorney gener for clarity. Medical prof are struggling to inter this poorly written law that has a lot of gray area. The Attorney General's office responded saying the law does not require keeping a woman on life support after brain death.

Emory Health Care has said treatment decisions are based on quote, consensus from clinical experts, medical literature and legal guidance. For NPR News, I'm Sam Greenglass in Atlanta. Streaming service Netflix says it will pick up the iconic children's show, Sesame Street. It was dropped recently by Max. Under the new agreement with Netflix, PBS will run new episodes of Sesame Street on the same day they stream on Netflix.

I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News. On NPR News.