NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-07-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. The White House says President Trump is open to meeting with Russian President Putin on a ceasefire on Russia's more than three-year-old war after Moscow invaded Ukraine. But speaking from the Oval Office today, Trump says he's not making a possible meeting contingent on Putin meeting with Ukrainian president Zelensky. They would like to meet with me and I'll do whatever I can to stop the killing. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says the administration, The administration's preference, though, is still for a trilateral meeting. This after the White House pushed back on claims by Russia

that a meeting between Trump and Putin had been agreed to with a location decided upon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel intends to take full control of the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas. He says it's to ensure Israel's security and that Gaza's administration would eventually be transferred to what he calls friendly Arab forces. The Israeli security cabinet would still have to approve such a decision. This says the enclave is facing severe hunger shortages, food shortages, rather, that have drawn international condemnation and deaths from starvation. Hospitals in Gaza, meanwhile, say at least 42 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings.

President Trump plans to nominate White House economist Stephen Myron to fill a short-term vacancy on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. And Pierre Scott Horsley has more. In a post on social media, Trump says he wants Myron to fill the seat on the Fed's governing board being vacated by Adriana Coogler, whose term is set to expire early next year. Coogler announced last week she's stepping down early to return to a teaching post at Georgetown University. Myron is currently chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisors. Trump says he's still searching for a nominee to fill the job of Fed Governor on a long-term basis. The President's been critical of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues for not moving more aggressively to lower interest rates.

Cougler's departure gives the president an early opportunity to put his stamp on the seven-member Fed governing board. Powell's term as Fed chairman expires next May. Scott Horsley and Pairn News, Washington. And on Wall Street, investors had mixed reactions to President Trump's latest tariffs deadline. And Piers Maria Aspen reports. Most of President Trump's sweeping tariffs have now officially kicked in after months of delays. The new taxes are widely expected to raise prices on almost everything Americans import, which sent investors into a tailspin when Trump first announced his tariffs in April.

But by now, Wall Street's reaction is relatively muted. The Dow and S&P 500 are down, but the tech-heavy NASDAQ hit another record high. It was an eventful and political day for big tech companies. Shares in Apple rose more than 3% after Trump said that it could avoid his new tariffs on semiconductors. And peers Maria Aspen reporting. Wall Street ended this. Today in Mixed Territory, you're listening to NPR News. The federal judge has ruled in favor of humanities groups that are suing Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

As NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports, Doge abruptly terminated humanities grants to thousands of groups around the country in April. Doge eliminated $65 million in funds Congress had already approved for state human. Humanities councils. Those councils support local museums, media projects, book festivals, and other cultural programs. Oregon Humanities and the Federation of State Humanities Council sued Doge and the National Endowment for the Humanities in May. This week, U.S. District Judge Michael Simon wrote that the councils were likely to succeed on their claim and that withholding funds was unconstitutional. He ruled the lawsuit can proceed. The president of the Federation of State Humanities councils, Phoebe Stein, a plot of the decision, but added some humanities groups have already laid off staff

and canceled programs. Elizabeth Blair and PR News, Washington. Roblox, the online gaming platform, wildly popular with children and teens, is rolling out an open-source version of an AI system. It says can help preemptively detect predatory language and game chats. This is the company faces lawsuits, claiming it doesn't do enough to protect children from predators. The AI system, system called Sentinel helps detect early signs of possible child endangerment, such as grooming. On Wall Street, the Dow was down 224 points. The NASDAQ up 73, SMP500, down 5. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.