NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-21-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: August 22, 2025

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Congress has voted to eliminate federal funding for public media. So what does that mean for the future? We're figuring out the way forward. One thing we do know is that the future for public media depends on you. Join other listeners who've stepped up to support public radio with NPR Plus. Sign up and get a ton of great perks. Go to plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan.

President Trump visited with National Guard and Federal Law Enforcement forces in Washington today. NPR's Franco Erdogan's reports Trump boasted he's reduced crime in the city. Carrying a handheld microphone, President Trump strolled into a group of law enforcement officers, wearing vests that identified them as FBI and Secret Service, D.C. Metropolitan Police, and National Guard troops in fatigues. The president thanked them for their efforts to address what he has described as rampant crime and homelessness. We've had some incredible results.

The results have come out, and it's like a different place. It's like a different city. It's the capital. It's going to be the best in the world. He also promised to improve areas maintained by the National Park Service, including planning new grass. Trump had earlier suggested he would be going out on patrol with the officers. Instead, he brought them hamburgers and pizza.

Franco, Ordoñez, NPR News, the white. House. Hundreds of centers for disease control and prevention employees are receiving permanent termination notices this week. That's according to the union that represents them. The American Federation of Government employees says the firings only compound the trauma that workers went through with the recent targeted shooting in Atlanta where the CDC is based. From member station WABE, Lilly Oppenheimer reports. Union leaders say the U.S. Health and Human Services Department led by anti-vaccine. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is firing many workers who even supported violence prevention work in

wake of the shooting. Authorities say the gunmen who stormed a campus in Atlanta fired 500 shots at CDC buildings, killing a local police officer. Officials say he blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for his mental health issues. Union officials are now demanding more safety precautions and are calling on the Trump administration to condemn vaccine disinformation. The union also says it plans to appeal the layoffs with the Federal Merit Systems Protection Board. For NPR News, I'm Lili Oppenheimer in Atlanta. Walmart CEO told analysts that President Trump's tariffs are impacting the economy, but the world's largest retailer has been able to offset many of the tariff costs so far, but the cost are increasing every week. NPR's Alina Salyukes says that Walmart's customers

are looking for value, and the company is attracting more high-end shoppers. Walmart has acknowledged that it's had to raise some prices. but largely it's been trying to absorb any of the extra tariff costs. For example, for back-to-school shopping, Walmart says its top products were actually cheaper this year than last year. But for some things that are imported, the cost of tariffs trickles down, and we've seen some of that on electronics and furniture, for example. Walmart said its second quarter sales were up 4.6% year over year. You're listening to NPR News.

The California Parole Board has denied parole for. Eric Menendez, ending for now his push to be released early from prison. His older brother, Lyle Menendez, still has a hearing scheduled for Friday. The two were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for killing their parents in 1989. They admitted to the killings but said they maintained they were done in self-defense and that they had been sexually abused by their father. Both men are eligible for parole under California's youthful offender law because they committed the murders before they were the age of 26. New research finds that even after a limb is amputated, it lives on in the brain. NPR's John Hamilton reports on a study in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Researchers wanted

to test a widely held view that the brain changes dramatically after the loss of a limb. So they studied three people who were scheduled to have an arm amputated because of cancer or some other disease. All three had brain scans before and after surgery. Hunter Shone of the University of Pittsburgh says the team looked for changes in a brain area that maintains a detailed map of the hand. On every measure we could think of, we see no evidence that the phantom hand representation has changed. The finding suggests that the same brain circuits once associated with a natural limb can be used indefinitely to control a prosthetic or robotic limb. John Hamilton, NPR News.

Hurricane Aaron is slowly moving away from the eastern seaboard after grazing North Carolina. of the storm brought heavy rain, rain, and a storm surge. The National Hurricane Center says it now has sustained winds of 100 miles per hour. You're listening to NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit wise.com. Tease and Cs apply.