NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-21-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: May 21, 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 is 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 Lakshmi Singh. Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris says there is no way President Trump's massive budget bill passes the House today. He told Newsmax this morning, quote, this bill actually got worse overnight. He and fellow conservative Congressman Chip Roy are demanding

more spending cuts to keep the debt from spiraling higher. We, as members, are at the table. We don't want the deal to be ended. This is an arbitrary deadline. If today comes and goes, it doesn't mean that this possibility to make sure that taxes stay low and that we fix America's healthcare care system and fix America's energy system. It doesn't mean that prospect is off the table. The Congressional Budget Office recently issued an analysis that projects President Trump's tax policies will add $3.8 trillion to the national debt. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is back on Capitol Hill facing questions about budget

cuts and the dismantlement of the US agency for international development. And he's getting a lot of pushback from Democrats. More from NPR's Michelle Kelliman. The ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee says this is not the Rubio he once knew as a longtime Florida senator who often talked about democracy and human rights. Secretary Rubio is doing precisely what Senator Rubio feared, withholding congressional appropriated funds, stonewalling oversight, and acting as if laws passed by this body are optional. Rubio is defending his record, saying he's reviewed all aid to make sure it aligns with the Trump administration's America First policy.

He says he's folding what remains of USAID into the State Department. Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, the State Department. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground in St. Louis to survey tornado damage. St. Louis Public Radio's Hiba Ahmed reports city officials have shared more details about last Friday's storm. St. Louis Mayor Kara Spons Spencer said the tornado siren system

failed to warn residents to take shelter. There was a failure, a human failure, a failure in protocol to get the sirens up and running, to let the community know that there was a massive weather event hitting our community. The tornado, which had wind speeds of up to 150 miles per hour and stretched at least a mile wide, tore through residential areas leaving homes and local businesses in rubble. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe says after FEMA completes its survey, he will ask for a major

disaster declaration from President Donald Trump, which would open up federal assistance. For NPR News, I'm Hiba Ahmed in St. Louis. US stocks are mixed this hour. The Dow Jones industrial average down 335 points, more than three quarters of a percent at 42,341. The S&P is down eight points. The NASDAQ has risen 79 points. From Washington, this is NPR News. The new U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, tells NPR he is, quote, outraged at the leaders of the U.K., France, and Canada for condemning Israel's new military offensive in Gaza. Israel launched a new intensified military offensive Sunday, ordering mass evacuations,

stepping up airstrikes throughout the territory, and killing hundreds of people, according to Gaza health officials. Under intense international pressure, Israel has allowed a small amount of aid into the enclave. Today, the family of cheers, where everybody knows your name as the popular TV theme on the NBC show goes, is mourning the loss of a very familiar character, Norm, played by George Wendt. When died yesterday, he was 76 years old. He earned six Emmy nominations for his portrayal of the role. Remember station WBUR?

Suvahn Lee reports from the Boston Bar that inspired the theme of the show. In the Subground Tavern in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood, staff had set a large face of flowers and a mug of Sam Adams at the corner of the bar. A laminated printout showed a photo of Wendt with a message, Thank you for all the laughs. Miles Hager says he came to the bar to pay tribute to the late actor. He was just absolutely hilarious, a typical, I wouldn't call him a bar fly, but a typical bar regular who came in and, you know, he's part of the crew in a sense and part of the show.

Wendt appeared in all episodes of the show from 1982 until its finale, which aired May 20, 1993, exactly 32 years prior to the day of his passing. World news is important, but it can feel far away. Not on the day of his passing.