NPR News Now - NPR News: 07-02-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

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Hi, it's Terri Gross, host of Fresh Air. Hey, take a break from the 24-hour news cycle with us and listen to long-form interviews with your favorite authors, actors, filmmakers, comedians and musicians, the people making the art that nourishes us and speaks to our times. So listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and WHYY. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The sex trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean Diddy Combs has ended with a mixed verdict. The once powerful hip-hop mogul was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution but was acquitted on the more serious charges, racketeering and sex trafficking. In New York, the judge decides today if Combs

will be released on bail to await sentencing. And Piers Anastasias-Yulkas was at the court of Manhattan for the verdict. The jury deliberated for more than 13 hours before finding Combs guilty of two counts of a relatively minor federal offense, transporting sex workers across state lines to participate in sex marathons that Combs called freak-offs or hotel nights with two of his former girlfriends. Each of those counts has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. If he'd been found guilty of the other accusations, Combs would have faced up to life in prison.

Some of the people in the courtroom and overflow rooms erupted into gasps and cheers when the first not guilty verdict was announced and members of both Combs's family and his defense team began to cry. Anastasiia Tsoukis and PR News, New York. The House, Republican leaderships racing to secure enough support to get President Trump's domestic agenda to a final vote this week. The bill cuts taxes. It also cuts Medicaid and nutrition assistance funding. Julie Roffner of KFF Health News describes what's at stake for people's coverage. According to the CBO, the Senate bill would increase the number of Americans without health insurance, including many who will technically still be eligible for the program. Right now, there are about 26 million Americans with no health insurance.

That would go up by a third because of this bill, so an additional 12 million uninsured in 2034. And that doesn't even count several million more people who could lose coverage as a result of changes to other insurance programs, like the private plan sold on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. That's Julie Roffner. President Trump says the U.S. has made a trade deal with Vietnam as part of his push to negotiate tariffs with dozens of countries. Comes as the president's self-imposed deadline for those tariff negotiations is just a week away. Here's NPR's Danielle

Kurtzleben. In a social media post, Trump said tariffs will now be 20% on goods from Vietnam and 40% on goods shipped through Vietnam. That would mean businesses in the U.S. will pay 20 or 40% taxes on goods shipped to the U.S. from Vietnam up from the current 10%. In early April, Trump set tariffs on goods from around the world with a 46% rate for Vietnam. He then temporarily lowered rates to 10%, saying he'd negotiate tariffs with countries by July

9th, when rates would snap back to higher levels. According to the Commerce Department, the U.S.'s top imports from Vietnam include machinery, appliances, clothes, and shoes, meaning prices on those goods could now rise. Danielle Kertzleben, NPR News. This is NPR. The president says Israel has agreed to a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, and he's telling Hamas to accept it. Trump told reporters that he believes a deal could come next week, which is when Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to visit the White House. A plea hearing is underway for the man who now admits to killing four University of Idaho students in 2022. Brian Coburger has just pleaded guilty. His decision will spare him the death penalty. The parent company of 60 Minutes has struck a deal with President Trump to pay his future library $16 million to settle his lawsuit over an interview last fall with then Vice President Kamala Harris.

NPR's David Falkenflick reports Paramount Global's controlling owner, Sherry Redstone, had sought to settle the suit as she tries to sell the company. David Falkenflick, NPR Legal Observers interviewed by NPR say Trump's lawsuit was meritless, even laughable. But it mattered because the sale has to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Under Trump's pick as chair, the Commission was reviewing CBS for so-called news distortion. Trump alleged election interference because 60 Minutes used two different parts of Harris's answer to a question on the Israel-Hamas conflict

for two different shows. The executive producer of 60 Minutes and the president of CBS News and Stations left after arguing against any settlement or apology. Paramount paid to smooth the way for the deal, which includes Trump's legal costs. David Falkenfleck, NPR News. U.S. stocks are mixed this hour. The Dow is down 61 points. The S&P is risen 18. The NASDAQ has gained 157 points. It's NPR News. Recycling can feel like a lost cause, but one college student our knees.