NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-27-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

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On NPR's ThruLine, witnesses were ending up dead. How the hunt for gangster Al Capone launched the IRS to power. Find NPR's ThruLine wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. The Trump administration is asking federal agencies to cancel their remaining contracts with Harvard University. The administration accuses the Ivy League School of anti-Semitism, which Harvard denies.

As NPR's Elissa Nadwerney reports, the lost contracts are worth an estimated $100 million. ELISSA NADWERNEY A letter from the U.S. General Services Administration, dated Tuesday, tells agencies to review current contracts with Harvard and terminate or find an alternative vendor. The letter asks agencies to submit a list of contracts they have terminated with the university by June 6th. This is in addition to the more than $2 billion the administration has already frozen.

Harvard has not yet responded to NPR's request for comment. The school is suing the Trump administration to block the federal funding freeze. The university claims that the administration's moves are unlawful and that the cuts threaten academic freedom and First Amendment rights. Alyson Adwerney, NPR News. Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has announced that he'll run for governor of Alabama next year. From Troy Public Radio, Joey Hudson reports that Tuberville is doubling down on his background as a college football coach in the state and as an ally of the president. Speaking with Fox News, Tuberville, who has been a strong supporter of Trump, thanked the president for

endorsing his Senate campaign. He's been behind me ever since. And today, I will announce that I will be the future governor of the great state of Alabama. In 2023, as part of Tuberville's initiative to serve Trump's agenda, the senator blocked the promotions of hundreds of senior-level military positions. This was in protest of a policy allowing pregnant service members to receive reimbursement for travel costs to get legal abortions. For NPR News, I'm Joey Hudson in Troy, Alabama.

Russia plans to restart the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. From Kyiv, NPR's Hanna Palamarenko reports that Greenpeace Ukraine warns of the dangers of what it calls an illegal restart. Greenpeace's satellite monitoring has revealed the construction of more than 56 miles of power lines in the occupied territories. Head of the Center for Occupation Studies, Petro Andryushenko, told NPR the work to integrate the nuclear power plant into the Russian power grid is almost complete. In the near future, they will be ready to connect the occupied cities to the Zaporozhia nuclear power plant, he said, and the part of the electricity will be

consumed by the Russians in their power systems. Environmentalists believe the restart of the reactors after three years of occupation poses a high risk of an accident. Hanna Polomarenko, NPR News, Kyiv. Wall Street stocks closed higher with the Dow Jones industrials gaining 740 points. The Nasdaq rose 461 points. This is NPR. A manhunt is underway in Connecticut where a gunman opened fire inside a mall in the

city of Waterbury, injuring five people. The police chief, Fernando Spagnolo, says the suspect knew the victims and that the shooting followed a dispute that quickly escalated. Investigators are searching for the unidentified assailant who is believed to be a man in his 20s. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer recommending routine COVID vaccinations for children and healthy pregnant women. Health Secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the new policy is effective

immediately. Dr. Vinay Prasad, who oversees the FDA's vaccine program, says COVID vaccines will be available as the administration gathers new data on whether they're still benefiting healthier people. SpaceX has completed its ninth test flight of its Starship rocket. As Jeff Brumfield reports, the test did not go according to plan. Starship lifted off from the coast of Texas to loud cheers from SpaceX employees. It shot out over the Caribbean, separated from its giant booster rocket, and powered

its way to the edge of space. What a moment. Incredible. Alright, did I mean that? That was better than the last two flights, which exploded shortly after launch. But all was not well aboard Starship. About a half hour into the flight, it began to tumble out of control. At this point we are kind of in a spin.

The Starship is presumed to have broken apart somewhere high above the Indian Ocean. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. This is NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. With WISE, you can send, spend, or receive money across borders, all at a fair exchange rate. No markups or hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit WISE.com.

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