NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-12-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

NPR News: 08-12-2025 3PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump's nominee to leave the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests suspending the monthly jobs report. In an interview with Fox business, E.J. Antony raised concerns that the methods used to compile the monthly snapshot of the labor market's performance are flawed. President Trump fired Antony's predecessor hours after the most recent jobs report showed weak growth in July and historically large revisions for May and June. In the latest back and forth between the administration and higher end,

the Department of Justice has notified George Washington University that it is in violation of federal civil rights law. Here's NPR's Alyssa Nat Warnie. In a letter to George Washington University, the DOJ says Jewish students were intimidated and fearful during the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus last spring and that the school took, quote, no meaningful action, unquote, to combat anti-Semitism, resulting in harm to Jewish students and faculty.

A GW spokesperson said that, the school condemns anti-Semitism and has taken action to hold individuals and organizations accountable. Last month, the DOJ notified the University of California, Los Angeles, that it too had broken federal civil rights law due to anti-Semitism on campus. After that, finding, the Trump administration froze $500 million in federal funding to the public university. Elison Adwarnie, NPR News. National Guard troops are being deployed on the streets of the nation's capital, a day after President Trump directed them to help address crime.

Local police have been placed under federal oversight. Today, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt laid out Trump's plan. Over the course of the next month, the Trump administration will relentlessly pursue an arrest every violent criminal in the district who breaks the law, undermines public safety, and endangers law-abiding Americans. But local and federal data show violent crime has actually dropped in D.C. nearly 30%. Civil rights advocates pointed Trump's references to other major Democratic-led cities, arguing that the president's actions are less about crime and more about power.

After months of delays, a state department is out with its annual review of human rights around the globe. Critics argue it's been politicized, and peers Michelle Kellerman reports. The Trump administration spent the past few months rewriting the Biden administration's initial draft report to focus more on new priorities. On Brazil, for instance, the report now criticizes what it sees as the suppression of free speech by supporters of former president. Jair Bolsonaro, who is close to Trump. It also criticizes a South African bill that it says is unfair to Afrikaner landowners. The Trump administration started a refugee program for them, while it paused other refugee admissions. The State Department has stripped sections in the report on LGBTQ rights and other issues the Trump administration has downplayed. Michelle Kellerman

and PR News, the State Department. Major market indices are all up. More than one percent. It's NPR news. The 48th Kennedy Center honorees will be announced tomorrow. President Trump posted that news on truth social. Honors have long been considered prestigious lifetime achievement awards in the arts. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has more. Traditionally, artistic excellence has been the main criterion for the awards. Past honorees include Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, and Rita Moreno. Honorees are usually living artists when they receive the award. Trump has floated the names Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley as

possible recipients. Trump posted that, quote, tremendous work is being done to prepare for the honors, but the Kennedy Center staff was caught off guard by the announcement, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional repercussions. They're worried they won't have enough time to sell tickets and sponsorships. The Kennedy Center Honors has traditionally been the performing arts venue's biggest fundraiser. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News, Washington. International tennis Hall of Famer, Monica Sellis, is speaking after the first time about her battle with Myasthenia Gravus, a chronic neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the voluntary muscles. The 51-year-old Sellis tells the Associated Press she was diagnosed three years ago with MG and wants to raise awareness about it.

The interview is out less than two weeks before the U.S. Open as the same Grand Slam tournament where Sellis made her comeback in 1995, more than that. and two years after she was stabbed by a man during a live tennis match in Germany. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up, 456 points. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.