NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-22-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: May 22, 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 in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. Two employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC

have been shot to death at the Capitol Jewish Museum. Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith says a man was spotted pacing outside of the museum where the American Jewish Committee was holding an event. Smith says the suspect has been arrested. Once in handcuffs, the suspect identified where he discarded the weapon and that weapon has been recovered and he implied that he committed the offense. The suspect chanted, free, free Palestine while in custody.

The suspect has been identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Illinois. Authorities are trying to determine whether anti-Semitism was a motive for the attack. The Walt Disney Company has placed Florida-based employees living in the U.S. under temporary protected status on unpaid leave. The move comes after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to end TPS for 350,000 Venezuelans. NPR's Chloe Veltman has the story. Around 45 employees received emails from

Disney saying they must provide valid new work authorizations or they will lose their jobs next month. A Disney spokesperson says the company's placed affected employees on leave with benefits for 30 days effective May 20th to ensure the company is not in violation of the law. New Yorker Melendez is the co-founder of the non-profit Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid. It is terrible. We as Venezuelans feel really frustrated. Temporary protected status provides non-permanent legal status to individuals threatened by armed conflict and other catastrophes in their

home countries. A California federal judge is scheduled to hear a case next week challenging the Trump administration's plans to end this protection for Venezuelans. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. CLOYE VALTMAN Various former health officials have addressed Senate Democrats on the impact of recent firings at their agencies. As NPR's Ritu Chatterjee reports, it was part of a two-day forum hosted by Senators Tami Baldwin of Wisconsin and Peter Welch of Vermont.

Allison Barkoff headed the Administration for Community Living, or the ACL. She left the agency before President Trump was elected, but advocated on its behalf Tuesday. ACL provides critical life-sustaining supports, including Meals on Wheels, delivering over 260 million meals and connection each year to homebound older adults. Support to more than 1.5 million family caregivers annually. And connects over 50,000 people with disabilities to services. Barkov said that nearly half of ACL staff had been fired, making it impossible for the remaining staff to fund and implement agency programs.

Ritu Chatterjee, NPR News. This is NPR. The Trump administration is abandoning settlements with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville. The agreements called for reforms in wake of the 2020 police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. A consent decree signed in the final days of the Biden administration required court approval, but the Justice Department says it has no plans to proceed. The Justice Department is also backing away from its own

findings of civil rights violations at six other police departments. In Spain, an advisor to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was shot dead in front of a school outside of Madrid. NPR's Miguel Macias reports. The victim is 51 year old Andriy Pornov, a former Ukrainian politician closely tied to President Yanukovych, having served as deputy head of the presidential office from 2010 to 2014. Police said Pornov was getting into his car when he was approached by more than one gunman and shot several times. Emergency services confirmed his death from a gunshot to the back of his head. was getting into his car when he was approached by more than one gunman and shot several times.

Emergency services confirmed his death from a gunshot to the back of his head. Portnove had just dropped off his daughters at the exclusive American school in the town of Posuelo de la Argonne, outside of the Spanish capital. Portnove was widely seen as a pro-Russia political figure. In 2021, the United States imposed personal sanctions on Portnove, designating him as someone engaged in corruption. The gunmen remain at large and the motive for the killing is still under investigation. Miguel Macías, NPR News, Seville, Spain.

U.S. futures are flat and after hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia Pacific, market shares are mostly lower, down 1 percent in Tokyo. This is NPR News. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. down 1% in Tokyo. This is NPR News.