NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-03-2025 7AM EDT

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. The man accused of attacking at least 12 people in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday is facing a federal hate crimes charge. That's along with a litany of state charges, including attempted murder. Authorities say the suspect told them he had planned the attack for at least a year. He's accused of throwing incendiary devices toward a group of people marching in support of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Two people remain hospitalized from the attack.

Meanwhile, the outdoor pedestrian mall in Boulder, where the attack occurred, has reopened. From member station KUNC, Emma Vanden Heide reports, some people have had questions about security. Pedestrians have mixed emotions about safety. John Taylor, the president of Boulder's Chamber of Commerce, says that while the area is not immune from these kinds of attacks, he will work with officials on being extra vigilant moving forward. Pearl Street is a welcoming environment for all residents and visitors. We will make sure to keep it doubly safe and maintain it as Boulder's living room

and a place to come enjoy community. The suspect has been charged with several felonies, as well as a federal hate crime. it as boulders living room and a place to come enjoy community. The suspect has been charged with several felonies, as well as a federal hate crime. For NPR News, I'm Emma Vanden Heide in Denver. The Department of Homeland Security is increasing its arrest quotas for immigration officers. NPR's Hima Nabustio reports the demand to arrest more people comes at the same time DHS is running out of space to hold detainees and money. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed over the weekend that Immigration and Customs

Enforcement Agency is now required to conduct 3,000 arrests a day. That quote is an increase from 1,800. But the department is also struggling to keep up with its own pace. It currently has more people in detention than it has detention beds, and the administration is asking Congress for billions of dollars to hire more people and increase detention space, but that money may not come for several more weeks. The targets also come amid efforts to streamline and expedite deportations, but with limited resources, including personnel, to carry out those efforts.

Ximena Bustilla and PR News, Washington. A new insurance report shows that hurricanes have caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damage in the U.S. over the last decade. As NPR's Rebecca Hershner reports, about half of those losses were insured. Of the five most expensive hurricanes to ever hit the U.S., three of them have happened in the last eight years. That's according to an analysis by the reinsurance company Munich Re. Property insurance companies were on the hook for about half the bill from those storms, the analysis estimates. Insurance

companies rely on their own insurance to cover such losses in the form of what's called reinsurance. Home insurance prices and the price of reinsurance for companies have both skyrocketed in recent years. This is the first week of Atlantic hurricane season. It runs through the end of November. Rebecca Hersher, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. A new report from the American Psychological Association warns of the potential harms of artificial intelligence on the mental health of adolescents. As NPR's Ritu Chatterjee reports, it also calls for developers to build safeguards into AI systems to protect youth mental health. The authors note that systems using artificial intelligence are already becoming pervasive in the lives of adolescents,

and that their age makes them especially vulnerable to the pitfalls of AI. Report author Mitch Prinstein is chief of psychology at the American Psychological Association. Already we're seeing that kids are getting information from AI that they believe when it's not true and they're developing relationships with bots on AI. Prinstein says some teens are being driven to violence and even suicidal behaviors by bots. He and his colleagues are calling on AI developers to build in guardrails to protect youth from such exploitation and manipulation. Reetha Chatterjee, NPR News.

Weather forecasters have issued air quality warnings for parts of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin because of smoke from Canadian wildfires. But areas farther south and east are reporting smoke issues, too, such as in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, forecasters are warning a massive dust plume from the Sahara Desert is settling across thousands of miles of Caribbean islands. The plume won't stop there. Forecasters warn this hazy cloud of dust will hit Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana this week. Caribbean residents with watery eyes say that they have been coughing and sneezing.

I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.