NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-28-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

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There's something wrong with the plumbing in Cincinnati. Billions of gallons of raw sewage ends up in waterways every year. And for some, that raw sewage is a lot closer to home. When it's coming out of the drain down there, it's sewage. The stench was terrible. Listen to the Backed Up podcast from the NPR Network and Cincinnati Public Radio. Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. Authorities are releasing more details about the person responsible for a deadly mass shooting

at a Minneapolis church yesterday. Two children were killed in the attack. 18 others were injured, including 15 children. Kirstie Marone with Minnesota Public Radio has more. Law enforcement officials say the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Robin Westman, previously attended Annunciation Church and School. Joe Thompson, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota,

says Westman left behind hundreds of pages of writing. The shooter expressed hate towards black people. The shooter expressed hate. towards Mexican people. The shooter expressed hate towards Christian people. The shooter expressed hate towards Jewish people. In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us. Thompson says Westman seemed to idolize other perpetrators of mass shootings and was obsessed with harming children. For NPR News, I'm Kirstie Morone in St. Paul. Health and Human Services Deputy Jim O'Neill will be named interim director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He will replace

Susan Menares, who was fired by the Trump administration just a month after she started the job. She's fighting the removal. This is causing bipartisan concerns as Secretary Kennedy pushes anti-vaccine policies. And Pierre Selena Simmons-Duffin has more. The CDC is the agency in charge of emergency preparedness and response. And public health leaders across the country are just really hoping there is no public health emergency right now with the CDC in such disarray. And there is some discussion happening about logistically how public health works without CDC. You know, the truth is there's no replacement for the federal government, not just in terms of resources, but in terms of legal authority. And Pierre Selina Simmons-Duffin reporting. Russia carried out one of its largest airstrikes of the war,

inflicting heavy damage on Ukraine's capital, Kiev, killing at least 18 people. And peers Greg Myrie reports the overnight barrage comes less than two weeks after President Trump's major diplomatic effort to end the fighting. The Russian assault on Kiev included a direct missile strike on an apartment building that largely reduced it to rubble. The Russian military also hit a shopping mall in the city center and offices belonging to the European Union in Britain. While Kiev was hardest hit, the Russians also targeted several other Ukrainian cities. Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said, quote, Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table. President Trump held separate meetings this month with Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a bid to end the war.

But there's been no let up in the fighting. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Lviv, Ukraine. Russian officials safe forces targeted military sites. All Street higher by the closing bell, the Dow up 71 points, NASDAQ up 115. This is NPR News. Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for the $218 million cost of converting a training airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention center that may be soon empty of detainees. A federal judge ordered operations to wind down indefinitely at the facility, known as Alligator Alcatraz, over environmental concerns. The Department of Homeland Security says it's complying and moving detainees elsewhere. Civil rights groups have also filed lawsuits over detainee treatment at that facility. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has asked

a federal court in Washington to block President Trump's attempts to fire her. And Pierre Scott Horsley reports the legal fight will test the president's power to control the central bank. By law, designed to insulate the central bank from political pressure, Fed governors can only be fired for cause. But it's never been established just what counts as a legitimate cause for removal. President Trump says he's firing Lisa Cook over allegations she made false claims on a mortgage application.

But those claims have not been substantiated. and Cook's lawsuit says they don't meet the test of a fireable offense. She also says the mortgage allegations are a mere pretext designed to let the president install a hand-picked governor undermining the independence of the central bank. The Supreme Court's given the president wide latitude to fire leaders of other independent agencies, but the court has signaled the Fed could be a special case. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. U.S. futures contracts are trading lower at this hour.

Both the Dow and NASDAQ futures are down about one-tenth of a percent. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington. 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. T's and Cs apply.