NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-29-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

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World news is important, but it can feel far away. Not on the State of the World podcast. With journalists around the world, you'll hear firsthand the effects of U.S. trade actions in Canada and China, and meet a Mexican street sweeper who became a pop star. We don't go around the world. We're already there. Listen to the State of the World podcast from NPR every weekday. Live from NPR News in Washington, on Korova Coleman, a federal judge holds a hearing in Boston today over the Trump administration's order revoking Harvard University's ability

to enroll international students. The judge has temporarily blocked that order. A separate judge, his ruled secretary of state, Rubio, likely violated the Constitution. That's after he stripped Mahmoud Khalil's green card and ordered him deported over pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University. And fears Adrian Florido reports the judge stopped short of ordering Khalil freed from custody. Judge Michael Farber said in his ruling that Rubio likely overstepped when he relied on

an obscure statute that allows him to personally order someone deported who he thinks threatens US foreign policy goals. Rubio claimed, without offering evidence, that Khalil's protests were anti-Semitic and therefore undermined what Rubio said are the government's efforts to fight anti-Semitism worldwide. The judge said using that authority to go after Khalil for his protests would probably be proven unconstitutional at trial. His lawyers hoped the judge would free Khalil from immigration detention as the case moves forward, but the judge said his legal team needs to submit more evidence to show how Khalil is being harmed by his detention.

Adrienne Flauivo, NPR News. The National Association of the Deaf is suing the White House. The organization says the use of American sign language interpreters abruptly stopped during press briefings when President Trump returned to office. NPR's Kristen Wright reports that's despite the organization's repeated requests. The federal lawsuit is filed on behalf of two deaf men who watched televised White House press briefings and have trouble understanding closed captioning, which can be unreliable. The suit says the men and others in the deaf community are missing a litany of vital information, press briefings and have trouble understanding closed captioning, which can be unreliable.

The suit says the men and others in the deaf community are missing a litany of vital information on the economy, social security and DEI, among other issues affecting Americans. ASL is the primary language for many deaf people. Joy Banister contracts ASL interpreters to the federal government. It's really at the detriment to our deaf community. So we want to make sure that they are able still to be a part of the community and have the accesses that they that they need. In 2020 NAD reached a federal settlement ordering the Trump White House to provide ASL interpreters for coronavirus related public briefings.

Kristen Wright NPR News, Washington. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says travel delays and security concerns should be easing at Newark Liberty International Airport. Air traffic controllers recently had briefed about alarming equipment failures. Duffy says part of that problem is being addressed. Verizon has laid a brand new fiber line between Philadelphia and New York. That was the troubled portion of the line. That's been laid.

We're doing some of the connections right now, and then we have to test it. Officials have also limited the number of planes that can take off or arrive at New York. They say this has eased the air traffic load. You're listening to NPR News. The U.S. Court of International Trade has overturned nearly all of President Trump's global tariffs. The three-judge federal panel says Trump cannot use a 1977 law to declare an emergency and impose the tariffs.

The judges say that only Congress has the exclusive authority to regulate, trade, and impose tariffs. The Trump administration says it's appealing the decision. It appears Broadway has recovered from low attendance triggered by the pandemic. As Jeff London reports from New York, the latest season was record-breaking with nearly $1.9 billion taken in at the box office.

Five years ago, Broadway theaters were shuttered, and after an 18-month pause from COVID-19, box office and attendance began to tentatively come back. But this past season, Broadway posted its highest box office numbers to date, even if attendance was slightly behind the last season before the pandemic. Part of this trend is the box office bonanza of a few high-profile productions of plays featuring big Hollywood stars. Among them, Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, George Clooney, and Kieran Culkin.

Those plays brought in more money in most weeks than big musicals like Wicked, Hamilton, and The Lion King. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. Tonight is the final round of this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee. Nine spellers have reached the final round out of 99 who made it to yesterday's quarterfinals. The Scripps Cup and a $50,000 prize will be awarded to the winner. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.