NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-04-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington on Corva Coleman, billionaire Elon Musk has caused a sensation on Capitol Hill. Writing online, he sneered at the multi-trillion-dollar spending bill that narrowly passed the House last month. Musk calls it a quote, disgusting abomination, and he told lawmakers who voted for it that they should be ashamed. Oklahoma Republican Senator James Langford, who serves on the Senate Finance Committee, says Musk is free to criticize the bill.

Obviously, he is one American and has an option to be able to give an opinion on it. There are 215 Republican House members that went through this in pretty great detail and sent it over to the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has told media outlet Politico President Trump will meet Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee at the White House today to review the spending bill. The U.S. private group distributing food in Gaza is suspending operation today. This comes after three deadly shootings in the past three days near the group's distribution sites. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed there since the group began work in Gaza more than a week ago and Piers Carey-Kahn has more.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, says it has paused food distribution for one day as it works to, quote, update organization and efficiency. The group says it was not prepared to deal with the large crowds at one site. 15,000 people arrived in one hour. On Tuesday, Israel's military says it fired warning shots at quote suspects deviating from designated routes to the food distribution but did not fire into crowds. Eyewitnesses and health officials in Gaza say dozens were killed by Israeli gunfire. GHF just appointed

evangelical leader Johnny Moore to its leadership. Moore has defended GHF's Gaza work posting on social media that reports of deadly shootings were, quote, a lie. Kari Kahn, NPR News, Tel Aviv. There's a vigil planned tonight in Boulder, Colorado, for the 12 victims injured in this week's fiery attack. They were marching in support of hostages in Gaza. Closing arguments resumed today in the New York Reed Trial of former movie producer Harvey Weinstein for alleged sex crimes.

His earlier New York conviction was overturned. Jurors have seen two very different accounts of Weinstein's actions. Ilya Meretz has this report. In his summation, Weinstein's lead attorney, Arthur Idala, said the three women who testified against his client believed they could trade sex for success in the entertainment business. When that didn't work out, they became angry and redefined consensual sexual encounters as assault, as a way of getting fame and money. Weinstein has denied ever engaging in non-consensual sex. Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg responded that the women appeared voluntarily and have no

reason to lie. For Inpeer News, I'm Ilya Meretz in New York. Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles of separate sexual assault and rape charges. He's been sentenced to 16 years in prison there. Weinstein's crimes and alleged crimes helped spark the Me Too movement in 2017. This is NPR.

Overnight, U.S. terrorists on imported steel took effect. They've doubled from 25 to 50 percent. President Trump claims he'll protect U.S. tariffs on imported steel took effect. They've doubled from 25 to 50 percent. President Trump claims he'll protect U.S. jobs. Critics say it will cost more to buy sodas or new homes. A new report estimates that having a loved one in prison or jail costs families across the country a collective $350 billion every year. As NPR's Meg Anderson reports, the research aims to capture the hidden costs of incarceration. The advocacy organization

Forward.us surveyed more than 1,600 people to try to capture the wide range of costs when a family member is sent to prison. Families pay for emails and phone calls to their loved ones. They travel to visit them and send what they can for the commissary. And they lose income, too, from the person behind bars and when other family members have to cut hours to care for children. Zoe Towns is the organization's executive director. That's a lot of money, I think, for anybody. I think it's important to understand that it's actually falling on those families

that can least afford it. The report comes at a time when incarceration rates across the country are creeping back upward after more than a decade of decline. Meg Anderson, NPR News. A trade group of contractors that runs the centers for the Job Corps program is suing the Trump administration. Job Corps is one of the largest job training programs for low-income youth in the country. The Trump administration has moved to suspend it. Many students are formerly homeless or in foster care, and Job Corps provided them with housing.

The Trump administration says the program is not working well. This is NPR.