NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-15-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: June 15, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. President Trump says he thinks Iran and Israel could work out a truce to end days of intense airstrikes. But as NPR's Greg Myhre reports, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu appears committed to an extended operation. President Trump said on Truth Social that quote, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel and end this bloody conflict. But he didn't offer details. Israel's Netanyahu, in an interview with Fox News, vowed to press ahead with attacks intended

to knock out Iran's nuclear program and its stockpile of ballistic missiles. So far, Trump has tried to strike a middle ground. He's supportive of Israel and the U.S. military is helping Israel defend against Iranian attacks. But the president says the U.S. is not involved in airstrikes against Iran and he doesn't want the U.S. dragged into another Middle East war. Greg Myhre, MPR News, Washington. A manhunt is underway for Vance Belter, the suspect in the shootings in Minnesota yesterday that left one state lawmaker dead, another one wounded.

Authorities say there's a nationwide warrant for his arrest on murder and attempted murder charges. And here's Meg Anderson has more. Early Saturday morning, Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in their home by a man impersonating a police officer. In another attack, state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot in their home. They survived. State police said they found a hit list of individuals inside the suspect's car. That list included his victims and other prominent Democrats. Governor Tim Walsh has called it a

targeted political attack. That would make it part of a larger trend of rising political violence in the country. In a study last year, researchers found nearly half of the state lawmakers they surveyed had experienced threats or attacks. Meg Anderson, NPR News. The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly pausing its efforts to deport immigrants in the U.S. without legal status who are working in hotels, restaurants, and on farms, according to the New York Times. NPR's Mara Eliason has more.

President Trump's decision to change course on immigration raids came after he posted that he'd been hearing from farmers and hotel owners that, quote, our aggressive policies on immigration are taking good, long time workers away that are impossible to replace. About 40% of agriculture workers lack legal status to work in the US. Trump had originally said he would focus on deporting people in the country illegally who have committed crimes. And polls showed that effort was very popular.

But expanding the raids to sweep up construction workers, farm workers, and garment workers is very unpopular. Mara Liason, NPR News. US futures contracts are trading flat at this hour. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Leaders of some of the world's biggest economic powers, including President Trump, will be in the Canadian Rockies this week for a G7 summit that's been shadowed by an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and Trump's unresolved trade war.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has decided not to issue a joint statement, and with other leaders wanting to talk to Trump in an effort to try to talk him out of imposing tariffs, the summit risks being a series of bilateral conversations rather than a show of unity. The risk of wildfires is rising across the West. Colorado Public Radio's Ishan Thakur reports that's affecting how some homeowners prepare. When the Marshall Fire tore through Lewisville, Colorado in 2021, it destroyed entire neighborhoods. Afterwards, neighbors Anne Brennan and Lisa Hughes rebuilt their homes to be more fire-resistant.

It's called home hardening. They installed fine metal mesh over vents to block embers. And they cleared anything flammable like mulch and trees from near their homes. Fire expert Kimiko Barrett is with the research group Headwaters Economics. She says many of these changes are within reach. We do know that many of the most effective home hardening risk reduction strategies are also the most affordable. Brennan and Hughes worked with their neighbors. Now, their community has a three-year action most affordable.