NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-25-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: May 25, 2025

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Hey, it's Sarah Gonzalez. The economy has been in the news a lot lately. It's kind of always in the news and Planet Money is always here to explain it. Each episode, we tell a sometimes quirky, sometimes surprising, always interesting story that helps you better understand the economy. So when you hear something about cryptocurrency or where exactly your taxes go, yes, I was. Listen to the Planet Money podcast from NPR. ago. Yes, I was. Listen to the Planet Money podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. The fate of what President Trump calls his big, beautiful bill is now in the hands of the Senate. House Republicans narrowly passed a massive tax and spending bill early Thursday morning along party lines. And now

NPR's Deidre Walsh says senators are talking about some major changes. They're going to be changes. And it's possible at the end of the day, the sort of one thing that brings the Republican Party together extending these tax cuts could be sort of the one thing that ends up sort of being the easier thing to get done, along with money for the border. Medicaid cuts could be a problem for some Senate Republicans. And there are other conservatives in the Senate who just dismiss the House bill as really not serious on slashing spending. Senate Republican leader John Thune has said he wants to push the bill through by the 4th

of July holiday. Russia and Ukraine have completed the prisoner swap they agreed to during talks in Istanbul earlier this month over the past three days. The two sides exchanged 1,000 prisoners each as well as 120 civilians each. Today's swab came after Russia launched a second consecutive night of drone and missile attacks. Dozens of Jewish organizations calling on the federal government to do more to prevent anti-Semitic violence. NPR Center for London reports their push comes after Wednesday's killing of two Israeli

embassy staffers in Washington DC. InC. In a joint statement, the groups say tragedies like the one in D.C. are a direct result of rising levels of anti-Jewish incitement in city council meetings, schools and social media. And they say it's not right that the institutions being targeted should bear the increasing cost of this threat. Eric Fingerhut heads the Jewish Federation of America. It is the cost of the security guards and the off-duty police, all of whom we need more of. We have to protect our perimeters. We have to have more events covered, more hours covered.

The groups say they'll push for more federal funding to local police and the FBI and for a crackdown on anti-Semitic hate in online platforms. Jennifer Lutten, NPR News, Washington. Now to Kentucky. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is open to disaster recovery centers following last weekend's deadly tornadoes, as Karen Zarr reports from Investation WUKY. Storm victims are flowing into the FEMA's Center in London, Kentucky, where they can talk directly to agents about individual assistance. If approved, they'll get funds to cover things like property loss, damage to their homes

and temporary housing. FEMA Public Information Officer Daniel Bernardi says the center was up and running within hours of President Trump granting Governor Andy Beshear's request for federal aid. We will get those wheels rolling ahead of time and there's a major disaster so that we can be ready to respond quickly. FEMA was already in Kentucky helping with major weather disasters that hit the state in

February and April. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zarr in London, Kentucky. This is NPR. 350,000 people expected today in Indianapolis for one of the world's biggest sporting events. The Indy 500 gets underway this afternoon. And NPR's Amy Held reports for the first time in nearly a decade, the grandstands are sold out. The green flag means go. 33 racers, 200 laps, 500 miles. Make 109 years of iconic auto racing history. Kyle Larson looking to secure his own pit stop in history after the checkered flag finish line he's off to Charlotte, North Carolina via helicopter, not race car for tonight's Coca-Cola 600.

Seeking to become just the fifth driver to pull double duty. Last year's bad weather thwarted those plans. This year's forecast looks good. The gates are already open for the sellout crowd at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after days of pre-events, including Carb Day, a practice session named after carburetors, not the bread, though the Weenie 500 Friday saw six wiener mobiles hauling buns. Fans are still hungry for the main event. Amy Held, NPR News. In New Zealand, male politicians have started describing their outfits on social media.

The BBC's Cecilia Hatton explains why. New Zealand's Finance Minister Nicola Willis unveiled a national budget on Thursday. However, some in New Zealand chose to focus on what Ms. Willis was wearing as she delivered her budget speech in a tongue-in-cheek response. The minister's male colleagues said they've never been asked about their outfits and have started supplying lengthy descriptions of the origins of their clothing from their ties to their socks. I'm Giles Snyder.

This is NPR News from Washington. Conductor Robert Fron 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.