NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-16-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

NPR News: 08-16-2025 12PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

These days, there's so much news. It can be hard to keep up with what it all means for you, your family, and your community. The Consider This Podcast from NPR features our award-winning journalism. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a news story and provide the context and analysis that helps you make sense of the news. We get behind the headlines. We get to the truth. Listen to the Consider This podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is to come to Washington on Monday to meet with President Trump. Trump said he spoke with Zelenskyy, well, flying back from Alaska, where he met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The two men met for nearly three hours, but did not reach any agreement involving Russia's war against Ukraine.

NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. Standing in front of a banner that read Pursuing Peace, President Trump said he has a fantastic relationship with Putin, though they didn't. announce a ceasefire or any concrete plan to end the war. But we had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. Putin called the war a tragedy without addressing his role in starting it, and he said Europe and Ukraine should not try to torpedo what he called

nascent progress in the summit in Alaska. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Washington. The Trump administration has agreed to leave the Washington, D.C. police chief in charge of the department. It had said it was naming a federal official as the new emergency head. The change came after a court hearing yesterday. The Attorney General for the District of Columbia is suing the administration, claiming it's attempting a hostile takeover of the city's police force. The Justice Department disagrees.

NPR's Carrie Johnson has more. Justice Department leaders say the White House is responding to a big crime problem here in D.C. On Fox News, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi explained why the federal government's getting so involved. D.C. will not remain a sanctuary city actively shielding criminal aliens. Will not happen. Bondi says the feds have been working with D.C. police for the last few nights arresting around 150 people and seizing firearms, too. NPR's Carrie Johnson. News statistics show ICE arrest dipped again last month.

Local resistance to arrests and deportations may be playing a role. NPR's Martin Coste reports on the situation in Oregon. It's midnight outside the ice building in Portland, and young protesters are tiptoeing up to a line in the driveway that marks the edge of federal property. Sometimes they hop over it, going back and forth. Tonight, this provokes only a brief appearance at the main gate of masked federal officers. But on other nights, the protests have earned a bigger, response. Michael Green recalls what federal officers did just a few nights ago. They came out of

every side gate, every kind of gas, all the way down the block. It was just chaos. This has been going on now for two months. ICE wouldn't respond to NPR's requests for comment on this story, but earlier this week, Homeland Security Secretary Christy Nome was on Fox News, criticizing the actions of sanctuary jurisdictions. Martin Costi, NPR News, Portland, Oregon. This is NPR News in Washington. Washington. The National Hurricane Center is tracking Hurricane Aaron in the Caribbean. It's now a category five storm, with maximum sustained winds of nearly 160 miles per hour. It's not expected to make landfall, but its outer bands could affect several islands. Aaron is the first hurricane of the Atlantic season. The Midwest Regional Black Family Reunion is underway in Cincinnati. Tanya

Weingartner of member station WVXU reports it's one of the longest running such events in the country. Civil rights activist Dorothy Haight created the National Black Family Reunion in 1986, a multi-day festival with parades, concerts, job fairs, and other events that celebrate black families and culture. Regional events quickly followed in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Cincinnati. Executive Director Tracy Artists says it's important to shine a light on strong black families. Families allow our communities to thrive, our schools to thrive and our churches to thrive. So the Black family is a very, very, very important group in the city of Cincinnati and nationally. Artists says spending time together makes

all families stronger, and stronger families lead to stronger communities and a stronger country. For NPR News, I'm Tana Wengartner in Cincinnati. Air Canada has suspended operations after its flight attendants went on strike. More than 10,000 workers walked off the job this morning after there was no agreement on a new contract. The union representing them rejected the latest offer yesterday, as well as a request to enter into government-directed arbitration. I'm Nora Rahm. NPR News in Washington.