The Latest: 04/23/2025 09:59am ET

All the latest national and international news. Topics also include finance, weather and entertainment.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is your twenty four to seven use update. The
latest use this hour in just four minutes.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
The body of Pope Francis is now lying in state
at the Vatican. The eighty eight year old Pope died
Monday after suffering a stroke. David Ushery at the Vatican
as pilgrims remember the late Pontiff.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
At the setting of the Roman sun, the collective cadence
of faith and prayer could be heard in Saint Peter's.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Square ed benedittos brutus ventris to irisis.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
They prayed for the improved health of Francis here in
much the same way, now, praying for his rest in peace. Earlier,
the body of Francis displayed for the first time.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
For now.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
The ritual gatekeeper is the Irish American Cardinal Kevin Ferrell,
once a bishop in Dallas. Vatican employees who worked in
Casa Santa Marta, where Francis lived, lining up to bid farewell.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
This morning, his body was taken to Saint Peter's Basilica,
where it will lie in state for three days of
public viewing until Saturday's funeral. Among the mourners on Saturday
will be President Trump. The first Lady Malania, Trump, Britain's
Prince William and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, as
well as Frend's President Emanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Zolensky.

(01:18):
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is claiming, while offering no proof,
that paid protesters are responsible for the automakers decline in
earnings this year. Overall profits fell seventy one percent in
the first three months of the year. On Tuesday, Musk
said protesters have been targeting Tesla since he started slashing
federal jobs for the Trump administration because they're either getting

(01:42):
fraudulent money or they're the recipients of wasteful largesse. The
acting Governor of New Jersey is declaring a state of
emergency where raging wildfires forcing thousands to evacuate. About three
thousand evacuations have been ordered in Ocean and Lacy townships,
where multiple roads have been closed off and over thirteen

(02:02):
hundred structures are being threatened by the wildfire. I'm Michael Kassner.
The Trump administration is collecting private medical records from both
federal and commercial databases for Health and Human Services Secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Junior's new autism study more from Mark Mayfield, the.

Speaker 4 (02:20):
Director of the National Institutes of Health, confirmed the move
this week, saying the new data will allow Kennedy's researchers
to study comprehensive patient data with broad coverage of the
US population for the first time. Doctor j Botaharia since
the study will include medication records from pharmacy chains, private insurers,
smart watches, and fitness trackers, as well as federal sources.

(02:41):
Kennedy had hoped to get to the bottom of what
causes autism by September. Doctor Bodicharia now says that could
take until next year.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
The Department of Education will resume collecting defaulted student loan debt.
Brian Shook reports.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
The department announced collections will begin on May fifth, and
borrowers could be referred to debt collectors or have money
deducted from their paychecks. Student loan repayment requirements were paused
in March twenty twenty due to the COVID nineteen pandemic.
The Biden administration opted not to resume collections and attempted
to forgive student loan debt in a program that was

(03:16):
ultimately struck down by the Supreme Court. The Trump administration
has indicated it would offer no such concessions to borrowers.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
The International Monetary Fund is slashing US economic growth projections
for this year, citing Trump administration tariffs. Nick Harper with more.

Speaker 5 (03:34):
The latest report makes sobering reading, with the IMF saying
that tariffs will cause a significant slowdown, leading it to
cut the US's economic growth for this year by almost
a whole percentage point, down from two point seven percent
to one point eight percent growth. That's the largest reduction
of any of the advanced economies. The IMF has downgraded

(03:57):
its growth forecast for nearly every major economy worldwide, and
has cut its global growth expectation by half a percent.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
I'm Michael Casner.