NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-12-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

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As AI permeates every aspect of our lives, who are the people behind this huge inflection point? What keeps them up at night? I fear that what it means to be human may suddenly not be our own. We've got a special series from NPR's TED Radio Hour. It's called The Prophets of Technology. What they got right, wrong, and where these pioneers think we're headed next. Listen to the TED Radio Hour, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kristen Wright.

As residents of Washington, D.C., wait for the National Guard to deploy on their streets. Many say they're skeptical of President Trump's plan to deal with crime in the city. NPR's Brian Mann reports. During a White House press conference, Trump laid out an aggressive plan for how National Guard and Metropolitan D.C. police under federal authority will attack crime. Trump also says people without housing will be forced out of Washington. J.U. King, a student at Howard University, says he doesn't think tough police tactics will solve complex. social problems. Every city has their crime, their gangs, their homelessness, but I don't feel like the displacement of those things are going to cause the solution. I think it's going to cause more

damage. Federal data shows crime was already dropping here before these federal measures. Drums control of metropolitan D.C. police is expected to last at least 30 days. Brian Mann, NPR News, Washington. China is welcoming a further 90-day extension of a tariff deadline between Washington and Beijing. The deadline would have seen tariffs between the two countries rise significantly. From Taipei, Yan Khamisen Brumby has more. The last-minute extension buys time for both nations to work out a more agreeable tariff arrangement. Beijing has welcomed the extension saying it was, quote, a measure to further implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, referencing a June 5th phone call between President Trump

and Chinese President Xi. China added that the extension would also provide stability for the global economy. The move increases the chances of a future summit between the two leaders, something that President Trump has hinted at in the past. But despite the extension, Washington has recently also warned it may still apply secondary tariffs to Beijing in an attempt to prevent them from buying Russian oil. FNPR News, I'm Jan Kaminson Brumby in Taipei. European Union leaders are warning that the path to peace can't be decided without Ukraine at the negotiating table. But Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky says Russia is getting ready for a new offensive in the war, not peace.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are holding talks in Alaska on Friday. Texas House Democrats are still out of the state protesting a Republican redistricting plan, Democrats say, is meant to help President Trump. The Texas newsrooms, Blaise Ganey, has more. During this quorum break, Republican Governor Greg Gabbitt has issued arrest warrants for Texas Democrats and asked the court to remove minority leader Gene Wu from office. Abbott says if they don't return before the special session ends, he'll just call another. Wu says Democrats would gladly come back if the agenda was solely focused on flood recovery. We're hoping that the next special session does not also have to be corrupt. Flood-related bills are technically on the call,

but Democrats say Republicans are fast-tracking redistricting instead of addressing damage from last month's deadly hill country flood. For NPR news, I'm Blaise Ganey and Austin. This is NPR. Public health officials are concerned for their safety after a shooting at the CDC on Friday and other threats. NPR's Pinkhung reports. Since the COVID pandemic, public health officials have reported being threatened and harassed. They've been decried as corrupt and accused of harming people by those who oppose masks, vaccines, and other public health measures. Dr. Ali Khan, with the University of Nebraska Medical School, says this type of speech has consequences.

And in this case, if you keep vilifying public health, individuals will take that into account and go out and commit violence. On Friday, a man who thought he had been harmed by the COVID vaccine fired more than 180 rounds into the CDC's main campus in Atlanta. Staffers barricaded themselves in their offices and hid under desks. The shooter killed a responding police officer and was found dead at the scene. Ping Huang and PR News. In a surprise announcement, Taylor Swift is making a big reveal on her boyfriend Travis Kelsey and his brother Jason's podcast, New Heights. This is my brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl. The Life of a Showgirl will be Swift's 12th studio album.

Swiftie's standby, though, she hasn't given any other details just yet, not even an official release date, but pre-orders in some formats are available. New numbers on inflation will be out this hour. Economists are watching for signs of how tariffs are affecting costs. Meanwhile, President Trump is nominating conservative economist E.J. Antony to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics after firing the last one, the last commissioner. I'm Kristen Wright, and this is NPR News. Support for NPR.