NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-16-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

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On the Planet Money Podcast, the economic world we've been living in for decades was built on some basic assumptions. But the people who built that world are long gone. And right now, those assumptions are kind of up in the air. Like the dollar as the reserve currency. Is that era over? If so, what could replace it? And what does that mean for the rest of us? Listen to the Planet Money Podcast from NPR wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. Minnesota authorities have arrested a suspect wanted in the fatal shootings of a top Democratic state lawmaker and her husband.

Minnesota Public Radio's Matt Sepick says officers spent nearly two days looking for the suspect. 57-year-old Vance Belter allegedly killed former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark after driving to their home dressed as a police officer. He's also suspected of shooting and wounding Democratic State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. Investigators say they found a list of names and addresses of public officials from at least five other states in Belter's vehicle.

Matt Sepick reporting. Israel and Iran have continued to exchange fire overnight. The conflict is now in its fourth day and it shows no sign of slowing down. Iran's health ministry says Israeli strikes have killed more than 200 people, including women and children. Another 1,000 Iranians are injured. Israeli officials say that Iranian strikes have killed more than 20 people in Israel. President Trump says he believes Iran and Israel could work out a truce to end the days of intense airstrikes. But as NPR's Greg Myrie 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, NPR News, Washington. Lawyers for Harvard University will return to federal court today. NPR's Alyssa Nadwarni reports they're challenging the Trump administration's move to block the university from enrolling international students. On June 4th, President Trump issued a proclamation preventing Harvard's international students from entering the country, citing national security concerns. The Ivy League school sued, calling the order, quote, another illegal retaliatory step and claiming it is in violation of the school's

First Amendment rights. Federal Judge Allison D. Burroughs, an Obama appointee, issued a temporary block and on Monday will decide whether or not to issue an indefinite block until the suit goes to trial. The administration has attempted to limit international students at Harvard, which make up about a quarter of the student body through policies at the U.S. State Department and the Department of Homeland Security. But the presidential order at question in Monday's hearing is the first time Trump has used his executive powers to limit Harvard. Alyson Adwani, NPR News.

On Wall Street in pre-market trading, Dow futures are up 150 points. This is NPR. Officials in San Antonio, Texas say that 13 people have now died from a major flooding event that hit the city last week. San Antonio got at least six inches of rain in just three hours. Several vehicles were swept into a creek where many victims perished.

It has taken days for searchers to clear the wreckage out of the Texas Creek. Meanwhile, flash flooding in West Virginia over the weekend has killed at least five people there. From West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Chris Schultz reports several people are still missing. West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrissey declared a state of emergency Sunday for Ohio County after the region received three inches of rain or more in just 30 minutes. By evening, he declared another state emergency for Marion County after flash flooding caused

the partial collapse of an apartment building. Rushing floodwaters picked up vehicles and washed out roads, bridges, and highways. Morrissey mobilized the National Guard Sunday morning. We know that the National Guard aviation assets remain on standby to conduct search and rescue missions for individuals. Morrissey said the focus was on search and rescue before assessing the full damage. For NPR News, I'm Chris Schultz in Morgantown, West Virginia. A Los Angeles area cable provider says that its service is down in some areas. Spectrum is blaming criminal vandalism for the cable, landline, and internet

outages in the LA area. The outages started early yesterday morning and it is not clear when full connectivity will be restored to the Southern California region. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.