NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-28-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

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Sources and methods, the crown jewels of the intelligence community. Shorthand for, how do we know what's real? Who told us? If you have those answers, you're on the inside. And NPR wants to bring you there. From the Pentagon to the State Department to spy agencies, listen to understand what's really happening and what it means for you. Sources and Methods, the new national security podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Thousands gathered at prayer vigils across Minneapolis last night,

honoring the victims of a deadly shooting at a Catholic church and school. At Linhurst Park, Mayor Jacob Fry pleaded for stricter gun control laws. Each and every one of us must commit to making this all means something greater than just the words. We need to have true gun reform right now. Not tomorrow, not the next day. A gunman opened fire through the windows of Annunciation Catholic Church and school during Mass on Wednesday morning, killing two children, and injuring 17 other people. The 23-year-old shooter later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The director of the CDC is refusing to step down, even after federal health officials posted online that she was out of the job on Wednesday. Jess Maydor of member station WABE reports that Susan Menares was sworn in less than a month ago. The Washington Post first reported Monarez's ousting, citing unnamed officials with the Trump administration who said she'd refused to commit to changing COVID vaccine policy without first consulting with her advisors. It comes just weeks after a shooting at the main CDC campus in Atlanta that damaged buildings and killed DeKalb County police officer David Rose in a tweet, asked Monares for her service and said Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confident CDC will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious disease. For NPR news, I'm Jess Maydor in Atlanta. Exclusive reporting from NPR examines the role the U.S. played in Gaza's humanitarian crisis nearly two years into the war.

NPR's Fat Matanis reports former Biden administration officials say they struggled to get food and water into the region. as Israel restricted the flow of aid. NPR spoke to more than two dozen former U.S. officials in the Biden administration. With the situation in Gaza worsening in recent months, many of them said they were asking the question, did we do enough to prevent this? They said the administration constantly pressured Israel to allow more aid in, but ultimately President Biden and his advisors were reluctant to criticize Israel publicly

or to withhold U.S. military aid to Israel. Humanitarian groups told NPR that the Trump administration has not pushed Israel at all on the issue of aid, even during Israel's three-month blockade of Gaza. In the end, humanitarian experts say both the Trump and Biden administrations failed to get Israel to change its aid policies. Fat Matanis, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Pope Leo is making a strong appeal to the world to help NPR. the deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas. During his weekly audience at the Vatican, the pontiff called on Israel to stop the collective punishment and forced displacement of

Palestinians in Gaza. He also called for the release of the remaining hostages taken by Hamas in southern Israel. North Korea says its leader Kim Jong-un will join other heads of state for a military parade in China next week. And PR's Anthony Kuhn reports that, that Japan formally surrendered 80 years ago on September 3rd, marking the end of World War II. North Korean state media announced that Kim will visit Beijing at the invitation of China's leader, Xi Jinping. China's foreign ministry released a list of 26 heads of state and government who will attend. Slovakia's prime minister is the only Western one. Kim has not visited China since 2019.

China has historically been North Korea's main ally, but Kim has recently drawn closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin who will also attend the parade. China is celebrating its victory in what it calls the War of Resistance against Japanese aggression, which lasted from 1931 to 1945. Over 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed or wounded in the conflict. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. Stocks across Asia, close mix today, shares traded higher in China and Japan,

while markets and Hong Kong posted losses on Wall Street, Dow Futures are trading mixed at this hour. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News, in Washington. Military commanders, intelligence officials, diplomatic power players, they know things you may not about where the world is headed, and we will pull back the curtain on what they're thinking on sources and methods, NPR's new national security podcast. Our team will help you understand America's shifting role in the world. Listen to sources and methods from NPR.