NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-03-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

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As AI permeates every aspect of our lives, who are the people behind this huge inflection point? What keeps them up at night? I fear that what it means to be human may suddenly not be our own. We've got a special series from NPR's TED Radio Hour. It's called The Prophets of Technology. What they got right, wrong, and where these pioneers think we're headed next. Listen to the TED Radio Hour wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Janene Herbst. Texas House Democrats are leaving the state to prevent Republicans from passing a heavily redrawn congressional

map aimed at securing five extra seats for the GOP in the midterm elections. Houston Public Media's Andrew Schneider has more. More than 50 Democrats had planned to leave Texas, most of them to Chicago, to prevent Republicans from adopting a map President Trump and Republicans are hoping will help them to retain their majority in midterm elections. State Representative James Tellerico of Austin posted a video explaining the move on social media. If this power grab succeeds, they will hang on to power without any accountability from the voters. The Texas Democrats are fighting back.

We're leaving the state. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burroughs issued his own statement on social media, saying that the House would convene Monday at 3 p.m. Central Time, and if there is no quorum, all options will be on the table. For NPR News, I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston. The Trump administration could soon fast track logging,

drilling, and mining on public lands by limiting public input. Oregon Public Broadcasting's April Erlich has more. When the federal government plans a project that could harm the environment, like through logging or road building, it needs to let the public weigh in. The Trump administration is proposing to drastically limit that public process.

Randy Rasmussen of the Backcountry Horsemen of America says it's a big deal for western states like Oregon, where there is a lot of federal land. The public will be more and more shut out on decisions that affect our livelihoods, our recreational activities, the things that we all as Oregonians care about. The proposed changes are coming to a 55-year-old law called the National Environmental Policy Act. The public can comment on these changes until Monday. For NPR News, I'm April Erlich in Portland, Oregon.

Ukraine and Russia traded long-distance airstrikes overnight with both sides inflicting damage on the other. And Piers Gregmyrie has the latest on the fighting from Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. A Ukrainian drone hit a large fuel storage tank and ignited a huge blaze in the southern Russian city of Sochi on the Black Sea coast. This is according to Russian officials who say the Ukrainians fired nearly 100 drones overnight. Most were shot down. Ukraine regularly targets fuel sites used by the Russian military. Meanwhile, the Russians launched more than 70 drones and several missiles at cities across Ukraine.

Officials said at least 10 homes were damaged or destroyed and several casualties were reported in the northern region of Kharkiv near the Russian border. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Kyiv. US futures contracts are trading higher at this hour. Dow futures up a fraction. NASDAQ futures up one-tenth of a percent. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The U.S. National Women's Swimming Team set a new world record at the World Championship Competition in Singapore today. And here's Jo Hernandez reports. This comes days after the team said members were recuperating from a stomach bug.

Four swimmers from the U.S. broke the world record in the women's four by one hundred medley relay with a time of three minutes and forty nine point three four seconds. Kate Douglas, Reagan 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.

At the weekend box office, Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four First Steps, held onto the top spot in its second weekend with an estimated $40 million in ticket sales. The superhero film, the last major blockbuster of the summer, has brought in nearly $370 million worldwide. In second place, The Bad Guys 2 debuted with $22 million. In third place, another debut, Paramount's slapstick comedy sequel, The Naked Gun, with $17 million in ticket sales. And in fourth place, James Gunn's Superman, with $13 million, so far that film's made $550 million globally.

I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.