NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-01-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

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This message comes from Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right. They offer premium wireless plans for less and all plans include high-speed data, unlimited talk and text, and nationwide coverage. See for yourself at mintmobile.com slash switch. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. The Trump administration has resumed deportations to El Salvador. As NPR's Adrienne Florido reports, the latest group, like the first, is accused of gang activity. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the government sent 17 violent criminals to El Salvador. He claimed they're members of the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs.

El Salvador's president posted videos of the men being unloaded from a plane and locked up in a prison. Earlier this month, President Trump sent more than 130 alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, arguing that an 18th century wartime law gave them authority to summarily deport them without hearings. Some of their families have denied their in-gangs. A federal judge temporarily blocked more deportations under that law. It's not clear if this new group of men were expelled in violation of the judge's ruling or because they had valid deportation orders. Adrienne Floodivo, NPR News.

President Trump says the search for missing American journalist Austin Tice continues. As NPR's Franco Ordoniez reports, Tice disappeared in Syria nearly 13 years ago. Austin Tice is an award-winning freelance journalist and Marine veteran. He wrote for the Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers, and other U.S. base outlets before he was captured in Syria in 2012. Speaking from the Oval Office, President Trump said there's been virtually no sign of him. It's just a lot of dead ends. He's been gone for a long time.

The problem is there's never been a sighting. You know, sometimes you'll have somebody, you're looking for them and there's a sighting. There's never been a sighting of Austin. In December, a rebel group ousted Syria's former dictator, leading to hopes that Tice would soon be found. Trump says they'll never stop looking until they find out something definitive.

Franco, Ordonez, NPR News. Two states will hold special elections Tuesday as Democrats seek a clear response to the Trump administration's policies. As NPR's Greg Allen reports, Florida voters will choose candidates to fill seats in that state's first and sixth congressional districts. Both vacancies have to do with President Trump, who's looked to Florida to fill a bunch of positions in his administration. One of the seats in Florida's first congressional district

is the one that belonged to firebrand Republican Matt Gates, who was Trump's first pick to be attorney general. That nomination fizzled, though, because of Gates' controversial history, that one that included separate investigations for sexual misconduct and sex trafficking and drug use allegations. And then after he withdrew his nomination, Gates, who denied any wrongdoing,

resigned and became a talk show host. The other seat was opened up when Mike Walz became President Trump's national security advisor. Walz, of course, has his own problems now. He's the official who added a journalist to a private top-level signal group chat. In Wisconsin, voters will decide which party will control the balance of power in that state's highest court.

This is NPR. A federal judge in Pennsylvania says the state's election boards may not invalidate mail-in ballots simply because of inaccurate or handwritten dates on exterior return envelopes. U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter says most Pennsylvania counties did not argue that dates on exterior ballot envelopes serve any important state interest. Baxter says the Republican National Committee and one county did argue that ballot date restrictions help combat voter fraud.

An RNC spokesperson says the party will appeal the judge's ruling. China says it's launched fresh military exercises around Taiwan. The Chinese military says the drills are meant to send a warning to those seeking independence for the island. NPR's John Rewich has details. The Eastern Theater Command of China's People's Liberation Army says the exercises involve Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force units. It says they'll conduct drills around combat readiness patrols, attacks on maritime and land targets, and blockades of key areas and sea lanes.

Vessels and aircraft will also practice approaching the island from multiple directions. Taiwan is a democracy that's been self-governed for decades, but Beijing considers it a part of China to be reunified with the mainland. A spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command said the exercises are a, quote, stern warning and powerful deterrence against Taiwan independence separatist forces. The spokesperson says they are legitimate and necessary to safeguard China's sovereignty and maintain national unity. John Ruhich, NPR News, Beijing.

U.S. futures are flat and after hours trading on Wall Street, Asia Pacific markets are mostly higher. This is NPR News. This message comes from Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right. They offer premium wireless plans for less and all plans include high-speed data, unlimited talk and text, and nationwide coverage. See for yourself at mintmobile.com switch.