NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-03-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

NPR News: 06-03-2025 10PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Know that fizzy feeling you get when you read something really good, watch the movie everyone's been talking about, or catch the show that the internet can't get over? At the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, we chase that feeling four times a week. We'll serve you recommendations and commentary on the buzziest movies, TV, music, and more. From lowbrow to highbrow to the stuff in between, catch the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. stuff in between, catch the pop culture happy hour podcast from NPR. Jack Spear Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The State Department is defending a new private aid operation in Gaza, which the UN has dubbed

a death trap. The Gaza Health Ministry says 27 Palestinians were killed trying to reach the distribution centers, as NPR's Michelle Kalman reports. Michelle Kalman The Israeli military has acknowledged that it fired warning shots near the aid distribution centers and says it is investigating reports of Palestinian deaths. UN spokesman Stefan DeJaric says the new aid distribution is putting civilians at risk. It is unacceptable. Civilians are risking and in several instances losing their lives just trying to get food.

At the State Department, spokesperson Tammy Bruce says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has managed to deliver seven million meals in the past week. She calls it a creative solution and says it will be, quote, refined as it goes on. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. The White House says it is sending Congress a $9.4 billion rescissions measure that would include reductions to funding for NPR, PBS and cuts to foreign aid.

The measure in some cases asking lawmakers to reverse spending they've previously approved. Package includes 8.3 billion in cuts to foreign aid and another $1.1 billion in cuts to public media. The measure can pass the House and Senate with a simple majority. Still not clear what rescissions could be approved as Senate lawmakers also grapple with a massive bill that cuts taxes while also cutting funding for Medicaid and food aid. The House has approved that measure. Many people looking to buy a home are having second thoughts. This April saw the slowest existing home sales numbers of any April in 16 years, and May's numbers are not looking too much better, as

pending sales also slipped. Mortgage rates are a factor, but NPR's Laura Wamsley spoke with a couple of would-be buyers to say the political climate has caused them to put their searches on hold. 35-year-old Jeffrey and his husband had been shopping for a home in Dayton, Ohio, where they live. But those plans have changed as he's watched President Trump strip away civil rights protections and sign executive orders on DEI and gender identity. Jeffrey worries that as a gay couple, their rights could be the next to go. It's hard to have any sort of future plan when things feel so unstable and like an executive

order can just be passed on a whim that could attack my rights. He asked that his full name not be used out of fear for his safety. Political and economic uncertainty may be factors in the slow U.S. home sales this spring. Mortgage rates near 7% don't help either. Laurel Wamsley, NPR News. The number of job openings in April rose unexpectedly, showing even amid some signs of a weakening economy, the employment market is largely holding up. Labor Department reporting today employers posted 7.4 million vacancies in April, up from 7.2 million in March.

On Wall Street, the Dow was up 214 points. This is NPR. Authorities now say the wife and children of a man suspected of using an improvised flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to target a group of demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado have been taken into custody. US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announcing the arrest today in a post on social media. 45-year-old Mohammed Sabri Soliman faces multiple charges, as well as a federal hate crimes charge, in connection with the attack. Authorities say the Egyptian national,

who had overstayed his visa through the firebombs at a group, calling for the release of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. The government's case against Sean Combs has relied heavily on a hotel surveillance video of the hip-hop mogul beating his then-girlfriend. A former hotel employee testified Combs bribed him for the footage. And a note this report contains mentions of violence. Here's Isabella Gomez Sarmiano reports. Eddie Garcia was a security supervisor at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.

That's when hotel cameras captured Combs hitting, kicking, and dragging the singer Cassie Ventura. Garcia told the court that after the assault, Combs and one of his assistants repeatedly called him asking for the footage. Garcia said his boss offered to hand it over for $50,000. Garcia testified he later met with Combs, who gave him a paper bag with $100,000 in cash in exchange for the video. Garcia said he did not know other copies existed until CNN obtained and released the video

last year. It's been a key piece of evidence in the sex trafficking and racketeering case against Combs. Isabella Gomez-Armiento, NPR News. And I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. And I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.