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- [00:00]
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- [00:19]
Jack Spear
News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. A federal court has blocked President Trump's worldwide tariffs. NPR's Scott Horsley reports. The U.S. court of International Trade says the president overstepped his authority in taxing imports from nearly every other country.
- [00:34]
Scott Horsley
In a unanimous ruling, the three judge panel said the Constitution gives Congress the exclusive power to regulate trade and impose tariffs. The court says the 1977 emergency law trump relied on in ordering tariffs does not give the president unbounded power to tax imports from nearly every other country. If that ruling stands, it would strike down all the tariffs that Trump ordered on April 2, as well as separate taxes on imports from China, Canada and Mexico, some of which have been temporarily suspended. The tariffs were challenged by a dozen states and five businesses. The three judges who ruled against the president were appointed by Presidents Reagan, Obama and Trump himself. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
- [01:16]
Jack Spear
President Trump is out with a plethora of pardons today. According to White House officials, Trump has pardoned former Republican Representative Michael Grimm, who served seven months in prison for tax fraud a decade ago, along with rapper Kentrell Gaulden, who was sentenced to two years ago in a federal gun. He commuted the sentence of Chicago gang member Larry Hoover, who was serving multiple life terms for crimes, including murder. Trump also apparently pardoning former Connecticut Governor John Rowland, who left office amid a federal corruption investigation and later pleaded guilty to tax fraud. The Department of Health and Human Services has canceled the federal government's only contract to develop a vaccine to protect people against bird flu virus that experts fear could cause a pandemic. Here's NPR's Rob Stein.
- [02:01]
Rob Stein
Federal officials are canceling a contract with Moderna to develop an MRNA vaccine to protect people against flu strains that could cause pandemics. That includes the H5N1 bird flu virus that's been spreading among dairy cows in the U.S. the cancellation comes even though the company says A study involving 300 healthy adults has produced positive results. An HHS spokesman says the contract was canceled because of concerns about the safety of MRNA vaccines. Rob Stein, NPR News.
- [02:33]
Jack Spear
With its war against Russia's invasion of Ukraine dragging on, Germany now appears ready to step in and fill some of the void left by a lack of Western assistance. German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz promising to help Ukraine develop its own long range missile systems would be free of Western imposed limitations. President Trump today, meanwhile, downplayed the possibility of new sanctions against Russia, saying he expects to know in a week or two whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is committed to ending the war against Ukraine. Stocks added to their losses late in the session. The dow was down 244 points to 42,098. The NASDAQ fell 98 points. The S&P dropped 32 points. This is NPR. Singer Smokey Robinson has filed a countersuit against the former employees who accused him of sexual assault earlier this month. As NPR's net @uluby reports, Robinson claims the women are guilty of defaming him.
- [03:29]
Neta Ulubi
In the suit filed in California Superior Court. Smokey Robinson and his wife, Frances, say the four women are extorting them. Robinson became known for a string of Motown hits in the 1960s. The women worked as housekeepers for the couple. They accused Robinson of multiple instances of rape in a civil lawsuit. The Robinsons countersuit claims the accusers demanded $100 million before taking legal action and seeks damages of $500 million. The Robinsons lawyers also argue in a separate filing that the women, who filed anonymously as Jane does, lacked the legal standing to hide their identities. A criminal investigation into the women's claims is ongoing. Neta Ulupi, NPR News.
- [04:13]
Jack Spear
Astronomers are still puzzling over the discovery of a new object in our Milky Way they say is emitting X rays around the same time, it's also shooting out radio waves located some 15,000 light years away. Scientists say they're not sure if the object is a star, a pair of stars, or something else entirely. NASA Chandra X Ray Observatory spotted the emission by chance last year while focusing on the remains of an exploded star. They say the hyperactive phase of the object lasted for about a month. The findings are published in the journal Nature. Crude oil futures prices moved higher today. Oil up 95 cents a barrel to 61, 84 a barrel. In New York, I'm Jack Spear, NPR News, in Washington.
- [04:57]
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