NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-27-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

NPR News: 05-27-2025 5AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This is Ira Glass, the host of This American Life. So much is changing so rapidly right now with President Trump in office. It feels good to pause for a moment sometimes and look around at what's what. To try and do that, we've been finding these incredible stories about right now that are funny and have feeling and you get to see people everywhere making sense of this new America that we find ourselves in. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. Police in Liverpool, England say the driver of a minivan

is under arrest after they say he plowed the vehicle into crowds of soccer fans, celebrating Liverpool's Premier League Championship. More than 40 people were injured, including a number of children. Witnesses say when people in the crowd began smashing the van's windows the driver rammed into more pedestrians. However as Villamarks reports the incident is not being investigated as an act of terrorism. Video shows the vehicle plowing through a large crowd of people in the city

center with several individuals thrown off its front windshield and hit by both sides too. Authorities say a 53 year old man from the city has been arrested. A police cordon, ambulances and fire trucks now surround the area just yards from where Liverpool Football Club had celebrated a successful soccer season earlier with an open top bus parade. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he's monitoring developments has thanked the emergency workers and called the incident quote appalling. For NPR News, I'm Villamarks in London. In Pennsylvania police say a shooting at a park in Philadelphia last night left two people

dead and at least nine others injured. Those killed at Fairmount Park were a man and a woman. Several teenagers were among the wounded. Police say no arrests have been made. It's unclear what sparked the gunfire. A massive budget bill that passed the House last week by one vote is now in the hands of the Senate. One Republican senator, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, says the bill will need to undergo significant changes before it can clear the Senate.

Johnson told CNN's State of the Union program the bill doesn't do enough to cut federal spending. President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are hoping for Senate passage by July 4th. The Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency is attempting to eliminate some of the surveys conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. As NPR's Hansi Lo Wong reports, the effort is raising concerns from government data watchers. For this push to end some U.S. government surveys, the DOJ team created its own called the quote 2025 survey of surveys. NPR obtained a copy from a federal agency official who was not authorized to share it with the press. One of its questions is quote, what are the

implications if this survey were discontinued tomorrow? Some government data watchers are pointing out DOJ may be duplicating the oversight work of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, which is required by law to review all federal surveys. In a social media post on X, DOJ said its review has terminated five surveys but did not name them. It did criticize questions about people's internet usage and alcohol consumption. Both topics have long been tracked by some of the surveys the Census Bureau conducts

to produce statistics to help guide policymaking and research. Hansi Lawong, NPR News, Washington. Wall Street futures are sharply higher this morning following yesterday's market holiday for Memorial Day. This is NPR News from Washington. Three inmates who escaped with seven others from a jail in New Orleans more than a week ago have been recaptured, one in Louisiana and two in Texas. Two inmates remain at large. Authorities in Arkansas are searching for a former police chief serving time for murder and, who escaped from a prison on Sunday. Grant Harden had been held at the facility in Calico Rock since 2017. Corrections officials say Harden escaped by disguising himself as a member of law enforcement in what's described as a makeshift outfit.

It's unclear how he was able to do so. The prison is about 30 miles south of the Missouri state line. In Massachusetts, an endurance swimmer has completed a 12-day swim around the island of Martha's Vineyard. NPR's Vanessa Romo has more. Lewis Pugh says he's been swimming about 6.2 miles a day wearing just a speedo and a swim cap. The water has been cold and choppy, but that's not new to him. The British South African swimmer has also crossed the North Pole and plunged the depths

of Antarctica's icy waters, all to raise awareness about threats to oceans. This time around, he chose Martha's Vineyard because it's where the movie Jaws was filmed. His goal is to bring attention to the dangers sharks face due to overfishing and climate change. The International Union for Conservation of Nature reports 37% of shark species are currently threatened with extinction. On his website, Pew says sharks are key indicators of ocean health and a decline in sharks signals a system out of balance. Vanessa Romo, NPR News. I'm Dave Mattingly, NPR News in Washington.

World news is important, but it can feel far away. Not on the State of the World podcast. NPR News in Washington.