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Episode Date: May 22, 2026

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Live from NPR news, I'm Jail Snyder. President Trump is facing a backlash from Senate Republicans. They've left town for the Memorial Day recess, delaying a vote on a measure to fund immigration enforcement over the next three years. The delay comes after Trump created a nearly $1.8 billion fund that may grant money to January 6 rioters. Here's NPR's Eric McDaniel. The fund out of the Department of Justice, nearly $2 billion, meant to pay folks who've been victimized by the government. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress that might include people who attacked lawmakers and police on January 6, 2021, as President Trump tried to remain in power despite losing the 2020 presidential election. As you might imagine, that upsets some folks, which when both chambers have nearly the smallest majorities you could have is a problem.

Republican resistance has also emerged over the $1 billion in ballroom funding the White House is seeking. comedian Stephen Colbert hosted CBS as a late show for a final time Thursday night, signing off after 11 seasons with Paul McCartney as his final guest. Colbert joked about being forced from CBS, which canceled the show last year, citing financial reasons. California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order to help protect workers from AI. And Pierre Strawn Ruich reports. The forecasts can be dire when it comes to the effect of AI on jobs, and it's something a lot of people, are worried about, according to polls. Newsom's executive order directs the state to dig into the issue. Within a half a year, for instance, the labor and workforce department must submit a review

of policies and practices that provide workers with a safety net. It also has to come up with a plan for expanding enrollment in employment insurance and make recommendations for how to boost worker training. Newsom directed part of the government to team up with the University of California and Stanford to develop ways to help AI advance the public good and address problems facing society. Newsom says California has led the way on innovation, and now it needs to reimagine work, governance, and how people prepare for the future. John Rewich, NPR News. Eli Lilly is studying a next-generation obesity drug, not on the market yet, but a new study results show it helped people lose more weight than obesity injections and drugs already on the market.

NPR Sidney Lopkin. Eli Lilly is researching Reda Trutide. Unlike Wagovi and Zepbound, which target the GLP1 hormone, this new drug works on three hormones, GLP1, GIP, and glucagon. The company says that in the clinical trial, people taking it for 80 weeks lost an average of more than 70 pounds at the highest dose. That's compared with 5.5 pounds for the patients taking a placebo over the same time period. And people taking Eli Lilly's experimental drug lost more weight than people taking Zepbound or Wagovi over a similar time period in other studies. Common side effects were similar to other GLP1 drugs, including nausea and other gastrointestinal issues. Eli Lilly has not yet submitted Red of Trutide for Food and Drug Administration approval. Sydney Lubkin, NPR News. This is NPR News. SpaceX says it may try again later today.

The private space company scrubbed a test launch in Texas Thursday evening for a bigger version of the company Starship. The countdown clock got within 40 seconds of the launch before the decisions of scrub was made. A series of problems forced to delay as SpaceX prepares to go public and what could be the largest IPO ever. The premier of the Canadian province of Alberta, Danielle Smith, says voters will be asked this fall whether it's time to leave Canada. In a prime time address Thursday night, Smith said the referendum will not trigger separation, but rather it would start the legal process toward a binding vote. She said her preference is to remain. AI is quietly making its way into some therapy offices as tools to record sessions and generate clinical notes. Critics worry AI could

undermine trust as MPR's Windsor-Johnston reports. Molly Quinn says her therapist recorded her using an AI note-taking tool without her consent. It's that like a violation? And the more that I thought about it, I just started getting like more and more sick to my stomach. Many therapists are increasingly using AI tools to transcribe sessions to generate notes for insurance and medical records. Marissa Cohen is a couple's therapist in New York who refuses to use the technology. Clients know like something is listening to them and that can alter their disclosure. Therapist Kim Tolson says the technology can reduce clinician burnout.

The amount of time we spent on the admin, it's giving therapists their lives back. Molly Quinn eventually found a new therapist, one who doesn't use AI. You're listening to NPR News.