NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-13-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. White House officials say people living on the streets in Washington, D.C. may go to jail if they don't agree to go to shelters. NPR's Brian Mann reports this type of pressure from the administration is concerning advocates for people without housing. With National Guard troops now deployed on the streets of the nation's capital, White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said part of the public safety push means people living on the street have to go to shelter. or accept treatment for mental illness and addiction. And if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time. But critics say that's not a solution for people who are severely ill or can't afford the city's high housing costs.

Jesse Rabinowitz is with the National Homelessness Law Center. There are very few beds available. There are a handful of shelter beds available in far-flung parts of the city. According to Leavitt, dozens of homeless camps here have already been cleared out. Brian Mann, NPR News, Washington. The president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, is meeting with European leaders ahead of the U.S. Russia summit Friday, to which he was not invited. Speaking through an interpreter, Zelensky, says he and his German host, Chancellor Friedrich Meritz, talked today about what they hope will be the top priority at the U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska. We hope that the central topic will be, that's his fire, immediate cease.

President Trump has described his upcoming summit with Russian leader of Vladimir Putin as a chance to assess the prospects of a negotiated truce in Russia's war with Ukraine. The face-to-face to be held in Alaska would be the first for them since 2019. Meanwhile, Vice President J.D. Vance is in the UK where he says one of the top priorities for the U.S. and its ally is to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The President of the United States came in six months ago, and I just talked to him right before I came on the stage. And he said very simply that we are going to make it our mission as an administration to bring peace to Europe once again. Vance speaking during a visit with U.S. Service members station in Britain. Parts of Tennessee remain under a flood alert a day after emergency personnel rescued people from their homes and cars caught in high waters.

Hamilton County authorities say heavy amounts of rain saturated the ground in a suburb of Chattanooga yesterday. Three people died. Hopes for a drop in interest rates are fueling a rally on Wall Street. NPR Scott Horsley has more. Despite a jump in core inflation last month, investors are betting the Federal Reserve. will cut its benchmark interest rate in September. GE Appliances plans to build more refrigerators, stoves, and water heaters in the U.S. The company says it's shifting some production out of Mexico and China and investing more than $3 billion in domestic factories. The Treasury Department says

it collected $28 billion in tariff revenue last month, an nearly fourfold increase from July of last year. The government's still running a big deficit, however, and this week the accumulated federal debt, top $37 trillion. $10. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR News. In Gaza, health officials say Israeli gunfire has killed at least 25 people while they were seeking humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government will permit Palestinians to leave as Israeli forces carry out an offensive in some of Gaza's most populated areas. Today, Hamas and Egyptian officials met in Cairo as part of an effort to revive. Ceasefire Talks with Israel. President Trump's announcing this year's Kennedy Center honorees.

The recipients are Kiss, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, Sylvester Stallone, and Michael Crawford. America's 250th birthday celebration takes place next year. NPR's Chloe Veltman says state fairs across the U.S. have already begun to incorporate the theme. At the Illinois State Fair currently underway in Springfield, visitors can visit the governor's tent to pick up a free, pocket-sized copy of the Declaration of Independence and decorate their own 250th commemorative plate. Later this month, the theme of the Oregon State Fair in Salem will be America 250 celebrating 250 years of creativity. The fair's creative living competitions highlight the state's talent from decorated cakes and tables to quilts and calligraphy. And at the Missouri

State Fair in Jefferson City, Governor Mike Kehoe recently launched Show Me America 250. The statewide initiative it focuses on Missouri's role in shaping the country's history, like commemorating the Battle of Fort San Carlos, likely the only American Revolution battle west of the Mississippi River. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. The Dow is up 332 points. It's NPR News.