NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-22-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

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Conductor Robert Franz says a good melody captures our attention. And then it moves you through time. Music is architecture in time. If you engage in the moment with what you're listening to, you do lose a sense of the time around you. How we experience time. That's on the TED Radio Hour from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korava Coleman. Police in Washington, D.C. say two staff members from the Israeli embassy were shot and killed in the city last night. The Israeli government identified them as Yaron Leshinsky and Sarah Milgram.

A suspect is in custody. NPR's Becky Sullivan reports D.C. police say the suspect said, free, free Palestine when he was arrested. The shooting took place shortly after nine o'clock as a museum event hosted by a pro-Israel advocacy group. The American Jewish committee was coming to a close. Two people were killed. It's a Metropolitan Police Chief, Pamela Smith. The suspect was observed pacing back and forth outside of the museum. He approached a group of four people, produced a handgun, and opened fire, striking both of our decedents. Police said they had tentatively identified the shooter as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez

of Chicago. It's said he was not previously known to police. American and Israeli officials alike condemned the shooting. An FBI official said it would be investigated for ties to terrorism or to hate crime. Becky Sullivan in PR News, Washington. The House is still in session debating the multi-trillion dollar budget bill strongly supported by President Trump. No Democrats support the measure. Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost explained why he's against it. This is a moment I'm never gonna forget because tonight hundreds of Republican

members of Congress are wanting to line up to vote for the biggest transfer of wealth from the working poor and the working class to billionaires and mega corporations that we've seen in this country's history. Indiana Republican Congresswoman Erin Houchin disagrees. She says the measure is careful about how it manages food assistance known as SNAP. The bill requires states to have skin in the game on SNAP. The bill requires states to be more responsible about how Medicaid is funded. The bill provides needed tax relief for seniors.

These are good things. But some fiscally conservative Republicans haven't signed on to the bill. They say it will astronomically increase the U.S. debt. President Trump is hosting an exclusive dinner tonight at his Washington, D.C. area golf club. Attendees are top investors in Trump's meme coin. As NPR's Scott Newman reports, the event is raising ethical concerns. Companies tied to President Trump own about 80% of his meme coins. But on the guest list for this dinner are the next 220 top investors.

An elite group at the very top will also get a private tour of the White House conducted by the president himself. Norm Eisen was an ethics advisor to President Barack Obama. Foreigners and foreign governments are going to take advantage of that situation to put money in, expecting things in return. The White House says the president is working to secure good deals for all Americans, not for himself. Scott Newman, NPR News, Washington.

This is NPR. North Korea has launched multiple cruise missiles into the sea, according to South Korea's military. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports this comes on the same day North Korea reported an accident during the launch of a new warship. The South Joint Chiefs of Staff says the missiles were launched from South Hamgyong Province eastward into the sea. North Korea's last missile test involved short-range ballistic missiles on May 8.

Meanwhile, state media report that leader Kim Jong-un was at the port of Chongjin on Wednesday watching the launch of a new 5,000-ton guided-missile destroyer. The ship was launched sideways, but the bow got stuck on the slipway, damaging the ship's hull. Kim called the accident a criminal act caused by carelessness and irresponsibility. The ship appears to belong to a new class of destroyers which are believed to be the biggest and most advanced in the North's Navy. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

The fire department in Memphis, Tennessee, says a fire that broke out late last month at a historic black church was intentionally set. The Claiborne Temple was undergoing renovations. Investigators say the fire was set inside of the building. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was at that church to meet with striking sanitation workers in 1968. He was later assassinated in the city.

This year's most valuable player in the NBA is Oklahoma City Thunderguard, Shay Gailges Alexander. It's his first MVP award in the league. He's also the third Thunder player to win the honor. The runner-up in the voting was Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. I'm Korava Coleman, NPR News from Washington. When the Star Wars prequels came out, they were polarizing. of a Coleman NPR News from Washington.