"Lie from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh.
President Trump's on a high stakes visit to China, where he and President Xi Jinping
“are expected to address the Iran war, Taiwan, and trade among other issues.”
And Pierre Stammerke reports on Trump's arrival in Beijing today. "There was a red carpet rolled up to Air Force One and a military band started playing as Trump appeared at the top of the stairs." Trump was greeted by the Vice President of China, and 300 Chinese teens in matching outfits, who waived small Chinese and U.S. flags in sync, while chanting a welcome
to Trump. "There was a fire on the ground." A much larger ceremony is planned for when Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes Trump at the Great Hall of the People. Trade is on the agenda for the visit, and to drive that home, Trump was joined on
the flight over by Nvidia CEO Jensen Wang and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Tamer Keith and Pierre News Beijing. "Chinese interests are on the line in Washington, where a bipartisan effort is underway in Congress to ban Chinese vehicles in the U.S. Kevin Murschard of conversation W.E.M.U. has more."
Called the Connected Vehicle Securities Act, the legislation would prohibit the importation,
“manufacture, and sale of vehicles, software, and hardware linked to China.”
Canada has been accused by the U.S. government of using technology to collect and transmit sensitive information from vehicles it produces. The legislation expands on orders from the first Trump and the Biden administrations by putting the protections into law. Kevin Murschard reporting.
The Trump administration says it is imposing a six-month moratorium on new Medicare enrollments by hospice and home health agencies in order to root out fraud.
Vice President J.D. Vance is also announcing administrations deferring more than a billion dollars
in Medicaid funding for California, Medicaid assists, low-income individuals, and people with disabilities. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that a map aimed at netting another seat for Republicans is in effect. St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum reports a decision yet another blow for Democrats
in a mid-decade redistricting scramble. Missouri lawmakers passed a map last year that seeks to convert Democratic Representative a manual cleaver's Kansas City-based district into a GOP-leaning seat.
“The two voters sued, contending that the submission of referendum signatures prevented”
that map from going into effect. But the Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the new map is in effect until Missouri Secretary of State verifies it has enough signatures. That might not happen until a few days before the state's primary, and that may be too late into the election process to switch to a map that's more favorable to cleaver.
The court's decision comes as states like Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee are eliminating heavily democratic majority minority seats thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision weakening the Voting Rights Act. For MPR News, I'm Jason Rosenbaum in Jefferson City. It's NPR.
Jason Collins, the NBA player who became the first openly gay athlete in the Big Ford North American
men's professional sports leagues, has died of a brain tumor. NPR's Becky Sullivan has more. Back in 2013, Jason Collins stunned the sports world when he published a cover story and sports illustrated with the headline, "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center, I'm Black, and I'm gay."
In an interview with ABC recorded just hours after the announcement Collins said he'd fought his sexuality for years before embracing it. "When you finally get to that point of acceptance, there's nothing more beautiful." There was an outpouring of support afterward, and even a phone call from President Barack Obama who told Collins he was proud of him.
Once played 13 seasons in the NBA, only one of them after he came out. In the decade plus since then, openly gay athletes remain extremely rare in men's professional sports. Last year, Collins married his longtime partner. Then, just months later, he was diagnosed with glioblustoma, a fast-moving form of brain
cancer. He was 47. Becky Sullivan, NPR News. Kevin Worsh, President Trump's pick to lead the federal reserve once Senate confirmation today, just in time to officially take over as a chair of the Central Bank at the end of
this week. Trump has publicly criticized outgoing chair Jerome Powell for resisting bigger interest rate reductions. And he may be frustrated when Worsh takes over as well given the persistent rate of inflation. New York City Mayor, Zaramam Donny's taking a victory lap after saying his administration
balance the city's budget.
Yesterday, the Democrat presented a $124.7 billion spending plan without raising property
taxes, critics warn. The plan relies on short-term fixes. It's NPR. New shows, new music, new movies, keeping up with pop culture sometimes feels like a full-time job.
Thankfully, over at pop culture happy-hour, it's literally our job. We break down what's actually worth watching, listening to, and pretending you already knew about. So the next time someone says, "Did you see that?" You can say, "Yeah, obviously."
Follow NPR's pop culture happy-hour wherever you get your podcasts.
