NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-15-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: August 15, 2025

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Duhli Saikoutal. Former President Barack Obama says the right way to do democracy is not to have the people who are already in office select who's going to vote for them. He was on a video call speaking to Texas House Democrats, praising them for leaving their home state to stop a GOP redistricting effort. Because of your actions, because of your courage,

what you've seen is California responding, other states looking at what they can do to offset this mid-decade gerrymandering that is highly irregular and is not what we should be doing to balance out the maps for this upcoming election. Texas Governor Greg Abbott wants to order new congressional maps at the request of President Trump to try and swing the midterm elections in Republicans' favor. Ahead of his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin today, President Trump is continuing to talk about a possible second meeting that would include Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenskyy. NPR's Daniel Kurtzleben has more.

Speaking on Fox Radio's Brian Kilmead show, Trump said he has started thinking about the logistics of a second meeting. Depending on what happens with my meeting, I'm going to be calling. pulling up President Zelensky and let's get him over to wherever we're going to meet. I don't know where we're going to have the second meeting, but we have an idea of three different locations. Trump added that he's considering Alaska where he's meeting Putin. However, when pressed by Kilmeet about whether he had told Zelensky to be prepared to travel,

Trump responded that he would call Zelensky only if the Putin meeting goes well. Trump did not specify what he would be offering or threatening Putin with in tomorrow's meeting. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, the White House. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says he will soon open another detention center for people taken into custody by ICE. NPR's Greg Allen reports the state plans to reopen a prison in North Florida. Governor DeSantis says the prison in North Florida can hold more than 1,300 detainees. It's been vacant since it was shut down two years ago because of a declining inmate population. This follows construction of a larger detention facility in the Everglades that's expected to hold as many as 5,000 detainees.

The governor says the state now needs. additional capacity. You will have the same services that you have at Alligator Alcatraz. Costs will be reimbursed by our federal partners. DeSantis says reopening the shuttered prison will cost just a fraction of the $450 million allocated for the detention center in the Everglades. A federal judge is considering whether construction of that facility violated federal law. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami. Stocks in Asia ended mixed. Hong Kong's Hangseng fell. Japan's Nikai was up. This is NPR News. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole,

as Washington's D.C.'s new emergency police commissioner, giving him full control of the Trump administration's takeover of law enforcement in the nation's capital. Bondi also told Dacey's mayor and the Metropolitan Police to end the district's capital sanctuary city policies. Top leaders of religious groups in D.C. say President Trump's description of blood-thirsty criminals and roving mobs of youth increases the risk of indiscriminate arrest and excessive use of force. In a joint statement, the group called on political and civic leaders to reject fear-based governance and to work together in a spirit of dignity and respects. students are still aren't still aren't showing up to school at pre-pandemic numbers. Chronic absenteeism was still elevated in new numbers from the 2024-25 academic year and Pyrs Sequoia Corrilla reports.

Five years after the onset of the pandemic and switch to virtual learning, students remain out of the classroom at higher rates than before lockdown. A new report out of the Rand Corporation finds that the problem is particularly persistent in urban districts. This past school year in roughly half of urban school districts, more than 30% of students were chronically absent. On top of that, one quarter of students in K-12 districts say they do not think that being chronically absent is a problem. District leaders continue to worry about the impact of high absenteeism on students' actions. This is in peace.