NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-04-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Some current and former Census Bureau workers tell NPR that the Trump administration's push to pull government data records is making it harder to convince people to participate in federal surveys. NPR's Hansi Loong reports many experts are concerned about how that could make future employment numbers, census results, and other key statistics less reliable. The push by the Trump administration's Doge team to access and compile government records has sparked investigations and lawsuits claiming privacy violations. Now some current and former Census Bureau workers tell NPR

that push has become one of the reasons people cite when declining to share their information for the federal government's ongoing surveys. Nancy Bates, a retired researcher for the Bureau, says this new complication adds to a decades-long fall in survey response rates and trust in government. This is kind of like a tsunami, pushing the public to have higher mistrust levels. So yeah, I think it's going to take years to get back to where we were. The Census Bureau's acting director, Ron Jarman, says in a statement that new technology and data science are helping to, quote, efficiently produce high quality statistics.

Anzila Wong in Fair News, Washington. An arrest has been made in connection with last month's bombing outside of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California. Steve Futterman reports. Daniel Park is accused of working with Guy Edward Bartkus, the man accused of setting off the bomb who was killed in the explosion. According to law enforcement, both men had so-called anti-life, pro-moralist beliefs. The head of the FBI Los Angeles office, Akil Davis.

He posted about these ideologies on Internet forums dating all the way back to 2016. According to the FBI, Park allegedly helped Bartkus obtain 270 pounds of ammonia nitrate. The two men allegedly spent two weeks earlier this year conducting experiments. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. A nationwide surveillance program is testing wastewater for evidence of measles in 40 U.S. states. NPR's Maria Godoy reports scientists hope the testing will boost public health officials' ability to spot measles cases before outbreaks occur. The testing is being conducted by Wastewater Scan, a program that provides a real-time

look at circulating pathogens based on testing wastewater samples from around the United States. The program already tracks viruses including COVID, flu, and RSV. Program co-director Marlene Wolf of Emory University says, with the U.S. seeing a sharp increase in measles cases this year, it makes sense to add the virus to its monitoring program. We detect it with an increasing frequency, so more and more of the samples in a row are positive. That would be something that we would look at as a potential sign of an outbreak. Wastewater scans, measles data is publicly available as of this week. Maria Godoy, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Global World

Pride is underway in Washington DC. The annual parade and performances by Jennifer Lopez and dozens of other artists are scheduled for this weekend. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports President Trump's anti-trans and DEI policies and rhetoric are impacting attendance and funding. Hundreds of World Pride events have been taking place throughout D.C., including concerts by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington. People travel from around the globe to attend World Pride, but Executive Director of Capital Pride Alliance, Ryan Boss, says attendance has been down this year.

We anticipated bookings to be much higher at this time for World Pride and do know that the concern for folks internationally to travel to the United States is real. Past Pride sponsors including Booz, Alan Hamilton and Comcast are not donating this year. Tickets to this weekend's closing ceremonies though are nearly sold out. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News, Washington. Smoke from wildfires burning across central Canada is drifting into parts of the northern U.S., triggering air quality alerts from Montana to Michigan.

Officials are urging people, especially those with breathing problems, to limit outdoor activity. Schools in some areas have canceled recess, and cities are opening clean air shelters. Wildfire season is just beginning, but smoke is already stretching across the border and health officials say this could be the new normal. On Wall Street the Dow is down four points. This is NPR News.