NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-14-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: August 15, 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 New York City, I'm Dwa Halisa Kautau. The city of Anchorage in Alaska is busy preparing to receive journalists and high-ranking officials, ahead of tomorrow's historic summit with President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Earlier at the White House, Trump told reporters

the meeting is very important because, in his words, we're going to save a lot of lives. We have a meeting with President Putin tomorrow. I think it's going to be a good meeting, but the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we're having. We're going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelensky, myself, and maybe we'll bring some of the European leaders along, maybe not. People living on the streets of Washington, D.C.

are being forced to move into shelters or leave the city. This comes after President Trump announced he would clean up homelessness and crime in D.C. And Pierre's Brian Mann reports that officials move to break up homeless encampments early today. A bulldozer clears away a tent from this camp near the Lincoln Memorial, dumping debris into a garbage truck. David Beatty, a man in his 60s, has lived here for months. It just feels wrong to me. The idea that we're poor makes them uncomfortable, and they don't want to be reminded that poor people exist. During a press conference this week, Trump said people living in camps like this one are turning the nation's capital into what he described as a wasteland and have to go.

Critics say neither Trump nor local leaders have done enough to make housing more affordable for low-income Americans. Brian Mann, NPR News, Washington. A number of states across the country are considering redistricting plans, and today in California, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a special November election to redraw congressional maps. If approved, they would go into effect for House elections in 2026, 2028, and 2030. He told reporters, we will affirm our commitment to the state independent redistricting after the 2030 census, but he said we're asking the voters for their consensus to do mid-decade redistricting. The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to block enforcement of Mississippi's new social media age verification law.

As Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Will Stribling reports, the law requires a social media platforms to verify parental consent before along minors to create accounts. The Justice has denied an emergency request from Tech Industry Group Net Choice to block the law while its legal challenge plays out. Net Choice argues the state's age verification and parental consent law violates the First Amendment. And litigation co-director Paul Tasky says it's still on borrowed time. Justice Kavanaugh's concurrence makes clear that Net Choice will ultimately succeed in. in defending the First Amendment, not just in this case, but across all of Net Choices, ID for speech lawsuits. Kavanaugh wrote that Net Choice is likely to win its case on the merits, but hadn't proven

that letting Mississippi's law stay in effect would cause more harm than pausing it. For NPR News, I'm Will Stribling and Jackson. And this is NPR News. A federal judge in Maryland has struck down two Trump administration memos to cut federal funding from nation schools and universities that have DEI or diversity equity and inclusion initiatives. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallinger, appointed by President Trump, said the Department of Education violated the law when it issued a dear colleague letter threatening to cut funding for what it saw as illegal DEI efforts. One of the plaintiffs, the President

and CEO of Democracy Forward, Sky Perryman wrote, threatening teachers and sewing chaos in schools throughout America as part of the administration's war on education, and today the people won. New research shows there's an emerging digital divide around schools teaching about AI or artificial intelligence. Reportedly Gaines explains. Robin Lake studies how schools are beginning to use AI in the classroom. The AI divide is starting to show up in just about every major study that I'm seeing. Lake is director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education at Arizona State University. Her research found that affluent and suburban districts are more likely to provide AI training to teachers than high poverty or rural districts.

She says some students are already using AI. And they're starting to use AI to improve their essays, improve their research skills. While others don't know how to use it, she says students need to learn about the technology so that no one is left behind in an AI powered economy. For NPR News, I'm Lee Gaines. And I'm Doa Lysa Kautel, NPR News in New York. This message comes from the Kresgey Foundation. Established 100 years ago, the Kresge Foundation works to expand equity and opportunity in cities across America. A century of impact, a future of opportunity. More at Kresge.org.