NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-28-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. Police in Minneapolis updated the number of injured and dead in yesterday's mass shooting at a Catholic church to 20. Two children died, 18 others were injured, 15 of them children, as they attended the first mass of the year. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara says they believe the shooter Robin Westman acted alone. This is an individual who, unfortunately, like so many other mass shooters that we have seen in this country, too often and around the world, had some deranged fascination with previous mass shootings. Authorities searched the church and three homes and recovered 116 rifle rounds, three shotgun shells, and one live round from a handgun that police say appears to have malfunctioned.

Meanwhile, FBI director Cash Patel says the mass shooting was, quote, an active domestic terrorism motivated by a hate-filled ideology. But some extremism analysts say materials believed to be connected to the shooter, paint another picture. And peers Odette Yusuf has more. believed to be connected with the shooter show extensive writings and weaponry with inscriptions scrawled on them. They reveal an obsession with other mass shooters. Cody Zossach of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue

says it aligns with a category of mass shooters who seek notoriety through violence. We found no evidence that this individual was driven by desire for political or social change, that they were influenced by any ideology. Authorities in Minnesota today said the shooter was not on law enforcement's radar. Odette Yusef, NPR News.

Shares in NVIDIA fell today, even after the chip company beat analyst expectations and reported more than $26 billion in profit. As NPR's Maria Aspen reports, the market reaction tells a larger story about the AI frenzy. Invidia is the most valuable company in the world. It got this way by selling the computer chips that are powering the artificial intelligence boom. Now its status as a big tech bellwether has put NVIDIA squarely at the center of questions about politics, the U.S. government's control over private business, and the huge AI bubble. Invita reported earnings days after an MIT survey raised new concerns about the amount of money companies are making, or in most cases not making, from their investments in artificial intelligence. That

made some investors question their optimism about big tech companies, which have been a bright spot amid growing worries about the broader U.S. economy. Maria Aspen, NPR News. Wall Street higher by the closing bell, the Dow up 71 points, NASDAQ up 115, S&P 500 up 20 to another record close. You're listening to NPR News. A trio of retailers are saying Americans are still shopping more, even as prices are ticking up slightly from tariffs. Best Buy, Dollar General, and Dick's sporting goods all describes shoppers as resilient, reporting their financial results from the latest quarter. And here's Alina Seljuk has more. Big retail chains have been acknowledging that some prices are rising because of new tariff costs on virtually all imports. But

big stores and their suppliers have also been absorbing many of those costs. So price increases for shoppers have so far been, quote, sporadic and surgical, as Dick Sporting Goods executives put it. That chain is actually raising its financial forecast for the year, as it says people are visiting more often and spending more when they do. Dollar General says it also has raised some prices, but so far, people across all income brackets are still shopping more than before. And Best Buy says shoppers are hunting for deals and discounts, but still willing to spend more on big ticket items when needed.

The economy rebounded this spring from a first quarter downturn caused by fallout from President Trump's trade wars. The Commerce Department says the second estimate of the GDP, the country's output of goods and services, expanded in the second quarter, at a 3.3% annual pace. That's better than the 3.0% first estimate, as consumer spending, which rose 1.6% was also higher than first thought, and that remains strong, helping push the. GDP higher. U.S. Futures contracts are trading lower at this hour. I'm Janine Hurst, 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.