NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-22-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

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This is Fresh Air contributor Anne-Marie Baldonado. I talked with actor Cole Escola about their hit Broadway play, Oh Mary. Cole plays an unhinged alcoholic Mary Todd Lincoln, who's an aspiring cabaret performer. If that makes no sense, that's part of the point. You can find my interview on the Fresh Air podcast. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. The U.S. Supreme Court has unexpectedly released a decision today. In an evenly divided opinion, it will not allow the state of Oklahoma to set up a publicly

funded religious charter school. The tie vote means that the court upheld the Oklahoma State Supreme Court. That state court also ruled against the religious charter school. The U.S. Supreme Court vote was tied because Justice Amy Coney Barrett had recused herself. The House has passed a multi-trillion-dollar government spending bill by a single Republican vote. President Trump helped persuade Republicans who did not like potential cuts to social services or its effect on government red ink.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it faces more doubters. NPR's Maria Aspin explains this budget bill significantly increases the deficit. President Trump and his party are trying to pass a budget bill that would include tax cuts. Tax cuts means less revenue coming in, and that will make it even harder for the government to reduce the deficit. And then on Friday, Moody's downgraded the United States. It specifically cited the rise in the national deficit. And it said

that it doesn't expect the Republicans' budget proposals to create what it called material reductions. NPR's Maria Aspin reporting. Police in Washington, D.C., say that two staffers at the Israeli embassy were shot and killed last night as they left an event at a Jewish museum. D.C. police say they have arrested a suspect who chanted, Free Palestine, when he was in handcuffs. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says authorities believe the suspect acted alone. European countries are condemning Israel after its military fired warning shots near a group of foreign diplomats in the occupied West Bank. The incident comes as the European Union is re-evaluating its ties with Israel over its

expanded military offensive in Gaza. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv. A group of diplomats mostly from Europe were on a tour of the Palestinian city of Jenin to observe the results of an Israeli military operation that has emptied the Jenin refugee camp of its residents. Israeli soldiers opened fire, sending the diplomats running for cover. No one was wounded. The Israeli military said the diplomats strayed from an approved route and soldiers fired warning shots in the air to, quote,

distance them away. Several European countries said they're summoning Israel's ambassadors. The EU's foreign policy chief called it unacceptable. Israel is facing new pressure from European allies over its intensified offensive in Gaza and limits on humanitarian aid. The EU is reviewing its trade agreement with Israel. Danielle Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Authorities in San Diego say a light twin-engine jet crashed into a city neighborhood overnight

in dense fog. It's at homes and cars on fire. It's unclear if there are injuries. It's not known who was aboard the plane. Responders say jet fuel is covering several blocks. You're listening to NPR News. The ACLU says detained activist Mahmoud Khalil will be allowed to have a visit with his wife, but apparently not his newborn baby, whom he has never met.

Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student and permanent legal U.S. resident, is being detained in Louisiana. The Trump administration wants to deport him. His lawyers say that's for peaceful activism, calling for an end to the war in Gaza. Investigators say a fire that burned down a historic black church in Memphis was arson. The landmark church served as headquarters for the sanitation workers' strike in the 1960s that brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis, where he was assassinated. And Piers Christen Wright reports authorities are looking for a person of interest.

Piers Christian Wright, P.S. The Memphis Fire Department released surveillance pictures of someone they think was involved with the arson. Church leaders at Claiborne Temple say in a statement they're heartbroken to confirm what they knew, that last month's fire was not an accident. Flames gutted the 130-year-old church, where in 1968, black sanitation workers and marchers organized, not only for wages, but also dignity. The campaign's iconic I Am a Man signs were made in the basement. Dr. King came to Memphis to support the striking workers and delivered his final speech at the nearby Mason Temple.

Clayborne Temple closed for many years and was undergoing a major renovation before the arson. Church leaders vow to rebuild. Kristin Wright, NPR News. The upcoming Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, but forecasters say a powerful nor'easter is headed for the northeastern part of the U.S. The rare storm may bring heavy rain. This is NPR.

These days there's a lot of news. This is NPR.