NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-17-2025 4PM EDT

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

NPR News: 06-17-2025 4PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On the plus side, you get sponsor-free listening to over 25 NPR podcasts. On the minus side, you get fewer chances to tap fast forward on your podcast player. On the plus side, you get to support something you care about. On the minus side, you like challenges and think this makes it too easy. So why don't you join us on the plus side of things with NPR Plus? Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org. Lyle from NPR News. I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump's met with his national security team in the Situation Room as the conflict between Israel and Iran escalates. On social media, Trump warned Iran to make a deal on its nuclear program. In an apparent attempt to increase the pressure, he also called Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah

Ali Khamenei, a, quote, easy target. But Trump said he's safe for now. Jordan and Lebanon are among several countries caught in the flight path between Israel and Iran's air war. Zen Piers Jane Araf reports from Amman, people are coping in different ways. For citizens, there's nothing they can do but watch. And that's exactly what many are doing. This is a rooftop bar near Beirut on the weekend.

Lebanese musician Eila Atayek plays saxophone while diners snap photos of Iranian missiles in the sky. The video went viral. Atayek, whose stage name is O. Alan Sax, tells NPR he kept playing because he wanted to make people feel better. It gives this love to everyone who's feeling emotionally disturbed to make them feel good. In Jordan too, despite the danger, people have hurried outside to watch when they hear

air raid sirens. So much so that the government has warned them to stay indoors. Jane Arraff, NPR News, I'm on. Top law enforcement officials on Capitol Hill brief senators on security protocols today following the targeted political assassination of one Minnesota state lawmaker. More from NPR's Deirdre Walsh. Senators from both parties say the Capitol police need more money to investigate threats and step up security for lawmakers. Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal says he doesn't plan to

change how he does his job. The solution here is not to limit accessibility, it's to provide security and deter these incidences of political violence. Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn says there has to be a balance when it comes to adding resources. It's trying to be make sure that it's proportional to the threat and not an overreaction. Congress could increase the US Capitol Police's budget in the annual spending bill for the agency this fall to address the uptick in threats. Deirdre Walsh, NPR News, The Capitol. threats. Deirdre Walsh, NPR News, The Capitol. Downtown Los Angeles is no longer under the overnight curfew that was imposed in

response to unrest over federal immigration raids and the deployment of the National Guard and Marines. Active-duty Marines now being deployed escalating tensions in our city. Democratic Senator Alex Badia of California speaking on the Senate floor earlier today, denouncing the military's presence without the governor's consent. Badi drew headlines last week when he was handcuffed after being forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem's news conference, in which she defended the immigration enforcement actions. From Washington, this is NPR. Two new major wildfires are burning out of control in Utah since they erupted in recent days, each 0% contained.

Local media report that high winds helped the larger of the two blazes, the France Canyon fire double in size, that is, over the last 24 hours to more than 4700 acres. A major pop star joins the race to score 2025's unofficial song of the summer, NPR Steven Thompson with details. 2024 gave pop fans a crowded race for the year's unofficial song of the summer as major stars and new faces flooded the market with massive pop hits. This year, it's been slower, as the pop charts have been loaded with last year's

hits, alongside new ones from the country star Morgan Wallen and the ever-present hit Ordinary by the singer Alex Warren. ["Omama, you're taking me out of the ordinary"] This week, the Song of the Summer sweepstakes finally gets a rowdy pop contender, Sabrina Carpenter's Man Child. Man Child is off to a good start. It debuts on this week's Billboard Hot 100 at number one. Stephen Thompson, NPR News. The only commercial robo taxi operating in the US so far says it's expanding across the San Francisco Bay Area. Alphabet, the parent company of the self-driving

ride hailing service Waymo, says it plans to reach paying customers in more parts of Los Angeles as well starting tomorrow. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.