NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-04-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

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The news can feel like a lot on any given day, but you can't just ignore it when big, even world-changing events are happening. That's where the Up First podcast comes in. Every morning in under 15 minutes, we take the news and pick three essential stories so you can keep up without getting stressed out. Listen now to the Up First podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. Stocks opened higher this morning despite a disappointing report on private payrolls.

NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 40 points in early trading. The payroll processing company ADP, which handles paychecks for more than 25 million workers in the U.S., projects private employers added just 37,000 jobs last month, the smallest increase in more than two years. The ADP survey is a poor predictor of the official job tally from the Labor Department, which we'll get on Friday, but the low number still prompted President Trump to resume badgering Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates. One reason the Fed's been reluctant to cut borrowing cost is uncertainty over Trump's tariffs and what they might do to inflation.

The tariff on most imported steel and aluminum doubled today, which could affect the price of everything from washing machines to six packs of beer. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Billionaire Elon Musk is blasting President Trump's signature spending bill as a, quote, disgusting abomination. The remarks follow Musk's departure as head of the White House cost-cutting initiative and PR's Bobby Allen has more. In a post on X Musk has escalated his attacks on President Trump's big beautiful bill which is awaiting a vote in the Senate. Musk writes the legislation is a quote massive outrageous pork-filled congressional

spending bill saying the House lawmakers who passed it should be ashamed. The bill would cut taxes, boost military and border security spending, and slashes funding to Medicaid and clean energy programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would add more than $2 trillion to the deficit. In a White House briefing, Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt said Trump knows where Musk stood on the bill, and that does not change Trump's opinion. Bobbi Allen, NPR News.

Federal immigration agents have detained the family of the suspect in the Boulder, Colorado attack. The Homeland Security secretary says authorities will investigate whether the suspect's wife or five children had any role in the fiery attack that injured 12 people. Federal authorities claim the suspect is illegally in the US. More people in the US are dealing with air quality problems. Smoke from wildfires burning in Canada is traveling thousands of miles and spreading into multiple states and bears Christian Wright has more. Environmental officials in Iowa put out a statewide air quality alert

warning that bands of thick smoke from Canada are hanging over the state and elevating levels of unhealthy air. They're advising against being outside for too long. For days now, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Michigan have also been dealing with air quality problems. Now, add to the list, Cleveland and parts of the East Coast including most of Connecticut. There are also air concerns in the south not from the Canadian wildfires but rather the Sahara Desert. Winds are carrying a huge

cloud of dust from Africa across the Atlantic and into the Gulf Coast and southeast. Kristin Wright NPR News. It's NPR. The Justice Department says it has charged two Chinese researchers for allegedly attempting to smuggle a fungus into the US. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports the charges come as the Trump administration says it will revoke visas for Chinese students. The two Chinese nationals are accused of smuggling into the US a fungus that prosecutors say can be classified as a potential agroterterrorism weapon. It causes head blight in wheat, barley, maize, and rice.

Court papers say one of the defendants was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan. Last summer, her boyfriend, who is also a researcher, allegedly brought samples of the fungus into the U.S. during a visit from China. Court papers say he initially denied knowledge of the samples, but later acknowledged having them and said he intended to continue his research while in the US. The pair face several charges, including conspiracy, smuggling, and false statements. One of the defendants is in custody.

The other is believed to be in China. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. NPR has learned that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the U.S. Navy to strip the name of San Francisco politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk from a naval warship. Milk was a Navy Reserve officer who saw action in the Korean War. He was assassinated in 1978. There is apparently a list of other possible name changes, including stripping ships of names for late Supreme Court justices Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Other possible name removals could include naval ships named for civil rights activists

Harriet Tubman, Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, and Medgar Evers. This is NPR. It all starts with listening. To the person in front of you and the person you'll never meet. To the person living a story and the journalist who helps you see it in a new light. The NPR network is built on listening with microphones in every region so where there any time a voice or sound demands to be heard. Hear stories in the first person, hear the bigger picture on NPR.