NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-31-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: May 31, 2025

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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 Giles Snyder.

President Trump says his plan to double tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum will take effect next week. Trump announced a hike during a visit to Pittsburgh yesterday to promote a deal with Japan's Nippon Steel that he says will ensure the future of US Steel Corporation and steelmaking in the region, as MPR's Don Gagne reports. Flanked by steelworkers and local officials, Trump said Nippon Steel has promised a $14 billion investment with modernization of blast

furnaces, a U.S. CEO, and a majority U.S. board of directors for U.S. steel. It includes vital protections to ensure that all steel workers will keep their jobs and all facilities in the United States will remain open and thriving. The president cited a commitment to full capacity for at least a decade. The full agreement has not been released. Local union leaders praised the news, but the International United Steelworkers Organization has been critical citing, among other things, Nippon Steel's history of violating U.S. trade laws. Don Gagne, NPR News, Pittsburgh.

Upon his return to the nation's capital, Trump told reporters that he has yet to approve the agreement Nippon has been seeking to buy U.S. steel since 2023. Immigrant advocates are dismayed by the Supreme Court's ruling allowing the Trump administration to revoke temporary legal status for people who fled unstable countries. NPR's Adrian Florido reports up to half a million people now face deportation even though the court's decision is still being litigated. It's known as CHNV because under the Biden administration people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were given temporary status if they had a U.S. sponsor. Garlene Joseph directs the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an advocacy group.

This is a group of people who followed every single rule and came here with that status, and now it is taken away from them. She says the legal fight to protect CHNV will continue. Adrienne Floodyville, NPR News. Israel has banned aid to Gaza from Jordan and Egypt, that's according to the UN. The move leaves hundreds of millions of dollars of food and medicine intended for Gaza stuck in warehouses and on trucks, as NPR's Jane Araf reports. This UN warehouse on the edge of Amman is piled high with boxes of food, hygiene kits

and medical supplies. $24 million worth. It's been here for months. And now... We're looking at boxes of food here which have been sitting here, you know, in some cases since January. That's Jonathan Fowler with the UN's Palestinian Refugee Agency. Among the food is 200,000 tons of flour at risk of being thrown out. Israel has started a new mechanism to get food into Gaza, but it can only come from

Israel, says the UN in Gaza. The Israeli military declined to comment on the change. Jane Araf, NPR News, Amman. This is NPR. The following reports on the federal criminal trial of hip-hop mogul Sean Combs mentions physical and sexual violence. Week three wrapped up with prosecutors bringing former employees to the stand to bolster their charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, as NPR's Anastasia Siolkas reports. A former employee appearing under the pseudonym Mia testified that Sean Combs repeatedly sexually assaulted her, threw items at her, and threatened her. Former employee Capricorn Clark testified that Combs had kidnapped her during a jealous rage involving his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, and the rapper Kid Cudi.

Deontay Nash, a former stylist to both Combs and Ventura, testified that Ventura told him on multiple occasions that she did not want to participate in Combs' so-called freak-offs, marathons of sex and drug use with male prostitutes that Combs allegedly forced Ventura to take part in. Anastasiia Tsouliakas, NPR News, New York. male prostitutes that Combs allegedly forced Ventura to take part in. Anastasiia Tsoukis, NPR News, New York. Measles cases around the U.S. were up slightly this week. Federal health officials say there are now 1,088 confirmed cases, up 42 from last week.

Texas added at least nine cases. Texas, grappling with the nation's largest outbreak, but there are others. Officials say Colorado has now joined at least seven other states with active outbreaks. European club soccer's biggest prize is on the line. Champions League final is today. The French champion, Paris Saint-Germain, and the Italian runner-up Inter Milan are playing for the title in Munich. I'm Trials Snyder, NPR News. When Malcolm Gladwell presented NPR's Through Line podcast with a Peabody Award, he praised it for its historical and moral clarity. On Through Line, we take you back in time to the

origins of what's in the news, like presidential power, aging, and evangelicalism. Time travel with us every week on the Through Line podcast from NPR.