NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-14-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: August 14, 2025

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I'm Rachel Martin, host of Wildcard from NPR. I've spent years interviewing all kinds of people, and I've realized there are ideas that we all think about, but don't talk about very much. So I made a shortcut, a deck of cards with questions that anyone can answer, questions that go deep into the experiences that shape us. Listen to the Wild Card podcast only from NPR. Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwaalisa Kautau. National Guard troops are now spreading across the District of Columbia just days after President Trump said the federal government would take over the city and local police. Ava Shen is a 27-year-old D.C. business consultant.

I've lived in cities my whole life, and I don't think D.C. is more dangerous than other cities that I've lived in. Like, I think this summer actually has been, like my personal experience, has been calmer than other summers. Alicia Cooper also lives in the district. She works in property. management and said she likes the idea of federal oversight of police. The positive is a sense of security. Residents at the end of the day, they can feel secure that they know that there is a higher level of chain command that is monitoring, you know, what's going on. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the National Guard troop deployment an authoritarian push.

Many Ukrainians say no one will be looking out for their interests when President Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin hold their summit. this Friday in Alaska. NPR's Greg Maury reports many fear they'll be asked to make concessions. In the run-up to the summit, Ukrainians are expressing a recurring theme. They say Ukraine is a bystander to the summit, but could face demands that come out of the meeting. Roman Hebrich works at a company that does wellness screenings so Ukrainians can check their level of stress and anxiety. We are exhausted. We want this war to end, but not because we want to stop fighting in any cost. Recent polls here show a strong majority supports negotiations to end the war.

But an even bigger majority says Ukraine should not give up large parts of the country for the sake of peace. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Kiev. A federal judge will soon decide whether an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades will have to close. NPR's Greg Allen reports that issue is whether construction of the facility without public input or without an environmental impact assessment violates federal law. The four-day hearing in federal court in Miami ended with several key questions unanswered. At the top of the list is one asked repeatedly by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. Who's running the show? Lawyers for two environmental groups cited comments made by Trump administration officials in interviews and in social media posts that it's an immigration

and customs enforcement facility. Lawyers for Florida and the Trump administration told the judge it's a state detention center operating under ICE authority, but they couldn't tell the judge who actually is in charge at the site. The plaintiffs are asking the judge to issue a preliminary injunction that would require the state and federal government to wind down operations within 14 days. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami. Asian stocks are mixed.

Japan's NICA fell after a record six-day rally shares in China and Hong Kong climbed. You are listening to NPR News from New York City. South Korea's Supreme Court has rejected an American composer's claim that a South Korean company, Pinkfong, plagiarized his Baby Shark tune, which has been globally streamed billions of times. The plaintiff Jonathan Wright alleged that the 2015 viral South Korean created Baby Shark was copied from his melody in 2011, but both songs are inspired by a folk tune traditionally popular at summer camps in the U.S. The top court in Seoul said the plaintiff's version had not reached a level of substantial alteration from the original song, so it cannot be protected under copyright law. Pediatricians in Florida are concerned about low immunization rates among kindergartners, as doubts about vaccine safety are on the rise. Carrie Sheridan from Member Station WUSF reports.

The CDC says for highly contagious diseases like measles, 95% of people need to be immunized, to prevent outbreaks. Across Florida, only seven out of 67 counties meet that threshold. Dr. Rana Alyssa leads the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. It's very scary and worrisome because the worst is coming. In Sarasota County, rates are among the lowest. Only 79% of incoming kindergartners are up to date on all their shots, according to the State Health Department. That's about the same level of immunization in areas of Texas where a deadly outbreak of measles killed. two children earlier this year. For NPR News, I'm Carrie Sheridan in Sarasota.

And I'm Dua Halisa Kautau, NPR News in New York City. There's a lot of news happening. You want to understand it better, but let's be honest, you don't want it to be your entire life either. Well, that's sort of like our show, here and now anytime. Every weekday on our podcast, we talk to people all over the country about everything from political analysis to climate resilience, video games. We even talk about dumpster diving on this show. Check out here and now anytime, a daily podcast from NPR and WBUR.