NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-11-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: August 11, 2025

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Do you ever look at political headlines and go, huh? Well, that's exactly why the NPR Politics Podcast exists. We're experts, not just on politics, but in making politics make sense. Every episode, we decode everything that happened in Washington and help you figure out what it all means. Give politics a chance with the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kristen Wright. President Trump is threatening a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., citing crime and homelessness in the nation's capital. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports he'll give more details this morning.

In a social media post during the weekend, President Trump said he will announce his plans for the city with a focus on crime and cleanliness in the District of Columbia. In another post, he wrote, quote, the homeless have to move out immediately. Trump added that Muriel Bowser, Washington, D.C.'s Democratic mayor, quote, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances. Statistics from D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department show violent crime has been falling after a 2023 peak. President Trump's recent anger over D.C. crime seems to have been spurred by an assault in the city of a federal employee and former Doge staffer.

Danielle Kurtzleben and PR News. Vice President Vance says the U.S. is trying to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to the table for talks on ending Russia's war against Ukraine. Vance was optimistic on Fox News yesterday. Vladimir Putin said that he would never sit down with Zelensky, the head of Ukraine, and the president has now got that to change. We're at a point now, we're now trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict.

President Trump and Putin are meeting for talks in Alaska on Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defending his plan to take over parts of Gaza. The Israeli military is expanding the new offensive from its initial announcement. Israel's military has killed Gaza's most prominent television journalist in a targeted airstrike. The strike also killed four other members of his Al Jazeera crew. As NPR's Aya Betrawi reports, the Israeli military says the correspondent was a Hamas cell commander, but critics questioned the timing of the attack. Anas al-Sherif was Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, documenting the past 22 months of

Israeli attacks on the territory. He continued to do so even after six of his colleagues at the Arabic broadcaster were killed in the war. El-Sharif continued to report on airstrikes and starvation in Gaza even after Israel accused him 10 months ago of working to promote Hamas propaganda. Israel named him in a list that included five other Al Jazeera journalists at the time, some of whom were later killed or wounded. The committee to protect journalists called Israel's allegations unsubstantiated and says the military has killed nearly 200 journalists in Gaza.

The 28-year-old father of two left a pre-written statement upon his death saying he never once hesitated to convey the truth. Aya Batrawe, MPR News. The Texas State House will attempt to reconvene today. About 50 Democratic representatives left the state to block Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps

that favor the GOP. This is NPR News in Washington. More dry and windy weather is in the forecast today in western Colorado, where massive wildfires have burned more than 110,000 acres. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports, firefighters have made progress keeping the largest fire from burning into the small town of Meeker. Michelle Morgan owns the Elk Mountain Inn in the small hunting and ranching town of Meeker, Colorado, about 150 miles west of Denver. Yes, we are full with firefighters. Morgan says it was a dicey couple of days. with the massive lee fire burning within a mile of town, but fortunately in the last day or so,

the fire has been moving away to the south, just as firefighting resources are pouring into the area. Firemen have been unbelievable. Our local team and they're all volunteer, but just all these men and women have come from everywhere. They were here so fast. Resources have been available thanks to it being a relatively quieter than predicted summer wildfire season in the West so far. Kirk Sigler and PR News. The state of emergency is in effect in Milwaukee. The mayor says the city hasn't seen flooding this bad in a long time. Thunderstorms and heavy rain hit southeastern Wisconsin over the weekend. Rain fell for nearly 24 hours straight in some areas, and it's not over. It's supposed to rain again today in the Milwaukee area. Flood warnings are in effect.

Ahead of a potential strike, flight attendants for Air Canada are planning to pick it today. at four airports in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. The flight attendants want better pay and pay for all working hours. They could strike as early as this weekend. I'm Kristen Wright, and this is NPR News.