NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-26-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

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Politics is a lot these days. I'm Sarah McCammon, a co-host of the NPR Politics Podcast, and I'll be the first to tell you what happens in Washington definitely demands some decoding. That's why our show makes politics as easy as possible to wrap your head around. Join us as we make politics make sense on the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Live from the NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Russia has launched massive drone and missile strikes against Ukraine for the third day in a row, killing more than a dozen people. NPR's Joanna Kekisis reports that President Trump criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for the attacks, but did not offer new sanctions against the Kremlin. In Kiev the Russian strike

sounded like this. NPR's bureau recorded this overnight as Ukraine's air defenses shot down Russian drones flying over the neighborhood. Trump wrote on social media that Putin had quote, gone absolutely crazy in attacking civilians in cities. But Trump also criticized Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky saying that everything that comes out of Zelensky's mouth causes problems. Zelensky wrote on social media that only tougher Western sanctions on Russia will force the Kremlin to stop bombing Ukraine. Joanna Kekesis, NPR News, Kiev.

The massive tax cut bill is now in the hands of the Senate. The measure cleared the House last week by one vote. NPR's Mara Eliason reports the bill is expected to undergo significant changes in the upper chamber. All of President Trump's priorities are in this bill, tax cuts that skew to the wealthy, more money for defense and border security, and cuts to Medicaid and other programs that benefit lower income Americans. Its passage in the House, despite concerns from some Republicans about the trillions

of dollars it adds to the deficit, showed Trump's rock-solid hold on the Republican Party. Whatever its final form, the bill is sure to become a major issue in the midterm elections. Both Democrats and Republicans are convinced the politics of the bill will work to their advantage. Mara Laiassen, NPR News. There's no trading today on Wall Street.

NPR's Scott Horsley reports later this week investors will be watching for new data on inflation in the US economy as well as consumer confidence. The stock market's closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. That could be a welcome break after last week's turbulence which saw all the major stock indexes falling about two and a half percent. This coming week we'll get an update on consumer confidence from the Nonprofit Conference Board. Confidence has been falling for the last five months, dropping to its lowest level since the early days of the pandemic.

That's not always a good predictor, though, of people's actual spending habits. On Friday we'll get a look at how personal spending held up in April. That's also when the Commerce Department will report on inflation, a measure that's closely watched by the Federal Reserve. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Stocks across Asia traded mixed today with markets posting gains in Japan. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The FBI says a flight from Tokyo to Houston was diverted to Seattle on Saturday after a passenger tried to open one of the plane's exit doors in flight. Passengers and crew members restrained the person, who was later hospitalized for a medical evaluation.

No charges have been filed yet. Hollywood set records at the box office this weekend. NPR's Bob Mandello reports. The film industry has gotten used to adding the words since the start of the pandemic whenever new records are cited, not this weekend. Ancient cobra bubbles. We have a blue dog to catch. Lilo and Stitch is expected to earn a four-day total

of $180 million in North America, easily the most ever taken in over a Memorial Day weekend. Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning will earn close to $80 million, the best opening ever for a Mission Impossible movie. Together, they'll power a weekend total for all movies in North America of more than $320 million, the highest Memorial Day total ever. And combined with international totals, the phenomenon that I'm probably alone in calling Stitchin' Impassilillo will approach a four-day

total worldwide of half a billion dollars. Bob Mandelo, NPR News. King Charles will open Canada's Parliament on Tuesday, becoming only the second monarch in the country's history to do so. His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, was the first to take part in the historic ritual in 1977. The two-day visit is meant to underscore Canada's sovereignty after President Trump repeatedly said he wanted to make Canada the 51st state of the U.S. This is NPR News in Washington.