NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-06-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

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Federal funding for public media has been eliminated, which means decades of support for public radio and television from both political parties is ending. To be clear, NPR isn't going anywhere, but we do need your support. We hope you'll give today to keep rigorous, independent, and irreplaceable news coverage available to everyone free of charge. Make your gift at donate.npr.org. And thank you. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roran. The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has filed an emergency petition against one of the top Democrats in the Texas House, Representative Gene Wu. This, after Wu and dozens of other state lawmakers, departed Texas to avoid redrawing the state's congressional districts by Republicans. Abbott said Democrats violated the state constitution and abandoned their office by fleeing to Illinois and other states.

By leaving Texas, the Democrats are denying Republicans. a quorum needed to move the bill forward. Meanwhile, President Trump is weighing in, taking questions from reporters at the White House and indicating he supports Abbott's efforts to bring the Republican, to bring the Democrats back to Austin. We have a wonderful governor in Texas. He feels strongly about it. It's going to be up to him. I think there's tremendous support for it. The new congressional districts could give Republicans a significant advantage in at least five districts now held by Democrats. For a little more than a week, Israel's been allowing countries to drop food into Gaza from cargo planes. The airdrops come after images of starving people in Gaza

prompted a global outcry. NPR's Ava Bertrani has more on the challenges of the airdrops. Palestinians say the airdrops from Arab and European countries land haphazardly, sometimes in the sea and sometimes with the food unfit for human consumption. posted on social media. A man named Uday Al-Qarán picks up a handful of aid that's been airdropped into Gaza and is now full of sand. El Karan says this isn't how to deliver humanitarian aid. This, he says, is how to torment people. He asks, why can't this food be delivered through the border with Israel? Show us mercy, he pleads. El Karan was killed days later by a fallen irdrop Tuesday that crushed him, says the Alaksa Hospital where he worked as a nurse.

Ayyabotrawi, M.P.R. News. robbing for the release of grand jury testimony connected to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison while waiting to go on trial on sex trafficking charges. They're also seeking transcripts from Jelaine Maxwell, his longtime associate. It's opposed by Maxwell's lawyers. NPR's Elena Moore reports. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking and other charges in connection with her work with Epstein.

But in a court filing submitted Tuesday, her lawyer, argued that making the transcripts public could negatively impact Maxwell's efforts to have the Supreme Court review her case. They wrote, quote, public curiosity is insufficient when Maxwell's legal and reputational interests are at stake. It comes as the Trump administration continues to face mounting criticism from supporters and lawmakers over its handling of information related to Epstein's case. Elena Moore, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR. years ago, the Titan submersible imploded on its way to view the Titanic, killing five people on board. Now investigators have issued a report saying the tragedy could have been prevented.

South Carolina Public Radio's Victoria Hansen covered last summer's hearings in Charleston that led to Tuesday's findings. The Coast Guard's highest level of investigation now says the man who designed and piloted Titan, Ocean Gate CEO Stockton Rush, ignored safety warnings, skirted regulations and exhibited negligence. Investigators say Rush would have likely faced criminal charges if he'd survived. The 61-year-old was taking four passengers on a dive to see the Titanic wreckage when it imploded in June of 2023. For days, the world watched his crew's search for the missing vessel, hoping to find survivors.

Instead, pieces of the wreckage were found on the ocean floor. Ocean Gate has since disbanded. For NPR News, I'm Victoria Hanson. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wants to make it easier for businesses to use drones to make deliveries. Inspect power lines, work in agriculture, and many other areas. Duffy on Tuesday announced a plan to spell out the procedures for expanded drone usage and rules they'd have to follow. Under the plan, drones used by businesses would have to be built to an industry standard and equipped with collision avoidance systems to ensure a safe separation from aircraft, including planes.

The drones could only be flown at altitudes of 400 feet or less, and they would have weight restrictions as well. From Washington, this is NPR News. I'm Dan Ronan. Congress has approved a White House request to eliminate federal funding for public media. NPR remains committed to our mission of informing the public, increasing your understanding of the world and enriching everyday life. But without federal funding, we are relying on your support now more than ever. please give today at donate.mpr.org.