NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-12-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

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Support for NPR and the following message come from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, whose bequest serves as an enduring investment in the future of public radio and seeks to help NPR produce programming that meets the highest standards of public service in journalism and cultural expression. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The White House says President Trump is preparing for his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on. Friday. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt described the upcoming meeting as a listening session. The goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war. And the president said at this podium yesterday when he joined all of you in the room that he hopes in the future there can be a trilateral meeting with these three leaders to finally bring this conflict to an end. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who has not been invited, has said any agreement must start with some kind of

truce or ceasefire. President Trump says he plans to discuss possible land swaps, something that Zelensky has repeatedly rejected, saying that Ukraine's constitution forbids giving away land. Trump has said that he's ready to walk away on Friday if he decides a deal is impossible. The trial over California's National Guard deployment continued in federal court in San Francisco today. The court is facing the Question of whether President Trump's federalization of National Guard troops violated the law by using the military for domestic law enforcement. Laura Fitzgerald from Capp Radio reports. Trump deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June, saying they were needed to protect federal agents and buildings amid widespread protests against immigration enforcement in the region. Witnesses for the trial recounted what the troops were doing on the ground, laying the foundation for attorneys to argue whether or not their actions were,

local law enforcement. California asserts their actions were illegal and furthered tensions in LA. Attorneys for the federal government argue the guard troops were needed as backup security for agents facing violent threats. The trial is scheduled to go through Wednesday. For NPR News, I'm Laura Fitzgerald in Berkeley. Mexico has transferred more than two dozen people linked to criminal organizations to the U.S. to face prosecution. Nina Kravinsky from member station KJZ has more. Mexico's security secretary says on social media that the transfer was made at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, which committed to not seeking the death penalty. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico says the individuals faced charges in U.S. federal courts, including

drug trafficking and organized crime. Earlier this year, Mexico handed over nearly 30 other cartel figures in the days before the U.S. delayed a 25 percent tariff on Mexican goods. Mexico is again approaching a tariff deadline with the U.S. President Trump agreed to delay a 30% tariff for 90 days after a call with Mexico's president late last month. For NPR News, I'm Nina Kravinsky in Hermosio, Mexico. Stocks traded higher today on Wall Street. The Dow up 483 points at the close. This is NPR News in Washington. Republican leaders in Texas say they're ready to end the current legislative session and immediately begin another. showdown with Democrats. The two sides have been deadlocked over legislation that would

redraw congressional maps in favor of the GOP. Dozens of Democrats left the state earlier this month, preventing the vote from moving ahead. George C. White, founder of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, has died at the age of 89. While White was not a household name, the organization he founded was the incubator of over 1,000 plays and musicals, many quite popular. Jeff London has this appreciation. A Connecticut native and Yale graduate, George C. White, a director himself, had the vision in 1964 to create a kind of summer camp on the Long Island Sound for playwrights, composers, and lyricists to develop their work in a safe environment.

Among the authors who worked there were August Wilson, Edward Albee, Sam Shepard, Wendy Wasserstein, and Beth Henley, musicals from Avenue Q. in the Heights were developed in the barn on the property. White was chairman of the O'Neill Center, which picked up two Tony Awards, for 37 years. He retired in 2000 and was inducted in the Theater Hall of Fame in 2011. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. Recapping stocks on Wall Street, the Dow was up 483 points today. The NASDAQ composite also traded higher up 296, the S&P, up 72 points.

This is NPR News.