NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-03-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: August 3, 2025

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This summer on Planet Money Summer School, we're learning about political economy. We're getting into the nitty-gritty of what government does with things like trade, taxes, immigration, and healthcare. So politics and economics, which are taught separately, they shouldn't be separated at all. I think you have to understand one to really appreciate the other. So what is the right amount of government in our lives? Tune into Planet Money Summer School from NPR, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm.

The Senate began its month-long summer recess last night without voting on dozens of President Trump's nominees. Trump had been pressuring Republicans to move quickly to advance his choices. But Democrats have resisted, insisting on roll call votes for most of them. Republican Mark Wayne Mullin told Fox's Sunday Morning Futures the Senate will be forced to change its rules. Soon as we get back through this through the August, we're going to be working on rules change. When we get back, we're going to have to implement those rules change. And it's not our fault.

People, the Democrats are going to scream saying we're doing the nuclear option. No, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats did the negotiation or did the nuclear option because they have filibustered. We have 131 nominees confirmed. They have filibustered every single one of those except Marco Rubio. Minority Chuck Schumer said they've never seen nominees as flawed, compromised and unqualified. Trump said the Republicans should go home and tell their constituents what bad people the Democrats are.

When the Senate returns after the recess, abortion rights activists are pressuring senators to oppose some of President Trump's judicial nominees. NPR's Sarah McCammon reports. Three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion rights groups are fighting to prevent more losses in the courts. They say they're concerned about threats to access to abortion pills and other new restrictions. Kelly Rehmar is with the abortion rights group,

Free and Just. We are keeping track of all of the attacks on reproductive freedom that come out of this administration, especially because so many of them are under the radar and not something that most Americans are going to see or read about every single day on the front page. Reemar says her group will be partnering with women around the country who've been affected by abortion restrictions to host events and lobby senators to reject Trump's nominees. Sarah McCammon, NPR News, Washington. Israel's best-known living writer David Grossman is calling his country's

war in Gaza a genocide. NPR's Emily Fang reports from Tel Aviv. News Anchor 3 A longtime peace advocate, Grossman has known personal tragedy himself. In 2006, his 20-year-old son was killed while serving in Israel's military in a war with Lebanon. Grossman has won the International Booker Prize and top Israeli and European literary awards. And now he says with a quote, broken heart that Israel's war in Gaza with Hamas, one that has led to more than 60,000 Palestinian deaths and mass starvation in Gaza, is a genocide.

He is in the minority in Israel. In a survey last month of Jewish and Arab Israelis by Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, more than 60 percent said they were not distressed by the humanitarian situation in Gaza. After Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Grossman called for peace with Arab countries. Emily Fang, NPR News, Tel Aviv. And you're listening to NPR News in Washington.

Russian officials say a Ukrainian drone hit an oil depot on Russia's Black Sea coast overnight, sparking a major fire. It was one of nearly 100 Ukrainian drones launched overnight. Russia says it shot down most of them. Ukraine regularly targets sites that provide fuel for the Russian military. Ukrainian authorities say Russia fired drones and missiles at cities across Ukraine, damaging or destroying at least 10 homes in the northern region of Kharkiv.

Wildfires continue to burn in western Canada, spreading smoke across the country and into the midwestern U.S. Air quality alerts are in effect in several states. The U.S. National Women's Swimming Team set a new world record at the World Championship Competition in Singapore today. NPR's Joe Hernandez reports. Four swimmers from the U.S. broke the world record in the women's 4x100 medley relay with

a time of 3 minutes and 49.34 seconds. Kate Douglas, Regan Smith, Gretchen Walsh, and Tori Husk nabbed the record on the final day of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. They beat the record previously set by Team USA at the Summer Olympics in Paris last year by less than half a second. Last week, USA Swimming announced

it was treating some members of the team for acute gastroenteritis, which had caused several swimmers to miss events at the competition. Joe Hernandez, NPR News. The Lollapalooza Music Festival wraps up tonight at Chicago's Grant Park. Tonight's headliners, Sabrina Carpenter and Asap Rocky, will close out four days of music, glitter and dancing. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News. There's a lot of news happening. You want to understand it better, but let's be honest. music, glitter, and dancing. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News.