NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-29-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

NPR News: 08-29-2025 11AM 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 Windsor Johnston. The Trump, administration has revoked former vice president Kamala Harris' secret service detail. In a statement to NPR, Harris's senior advisor said the vice president is grateful to the agency for its professionalism and dedication. Harris is set to begin a book tour next month.

The White House says it's taking back nearly $5 billion in foreign aid. NPR's Franco Ordonez reports the administration is using a rarely used president. presidential power to hold back money that Congress has already approved to be spent. President Trump sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson alerting him that his administration would be rescinding $4.9 billion worth of aid for foreign aid programs. He did not give details about what specific programs would be struck, but said his administration was using a mechanism called a pocket rescission to take back the money, meaning that the official request to Congress has made without sufficient time before the end of the

fiscal year, so that lawmakers don't have the time to act or try to block the move. That plan is likely to raise alarm bells across Washington as it challenges the traditional separation of powers, and specifically Congress's power of the purse. Franco, Ordonez. NPR News, the White House. European Union defense ministers are discussing additional ways to help Ukraine amid intensifying Russian air assaults. Terry Schultz reports the meeting comes, day after strikes that killed more than 20 Ukrainians. European leaders are under U.S. pressure to define how they would monitor or guarantee

a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, as remote as that possibility seems. Lithuanian defense minister DeVille Sackalina called it naive to think Russian President Vladimir Putin will stop fighting. All Putin is doing is really stalling, actually cheaply buying time to kill more people. Estonian defense minister Hanophevkar, who says his country is willing to send troops for an eventual coalition mission in Ukraine dismisses Putin's rejection of that plan. It's not Russia who can say what we are doing in Ukraine. We have to agree with Ukraine. Ukrainian defense minister Dennis Schmiel joined the meeting virtually to continue

Kiev's pleas for any and all support. For NPR news, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. The Israeli military is lifting its paws on airstrikes in Gaza City that were meant to allow Aiden pushing the region deeper into famine. Cindy McCain, head of the UN World Food, program got a firsthand look at the conditions in Gaza. I was at a clinic for pregnant women and lactating women as well as children, and it's very evident that there's not enough food. McCain said she spoke with the Israeli government about getting more humanitarian assistance into Gaza. This is NPR News in Washington. Today marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall

in New Orleans. The city is holding events to honor those who lost their lives and those who survived. Actor and New Orleans native, Wendell Pierce, who's been active in rebuilding, will take part. I had an opportunity with my platform to give voice to the voiceless, to make sure that we exercised our right of self-determination. In the lower ninth ward, where the levees broke, a brass band will lead a second-line parade, a tradition of mourning and resilience, a moment of silence for the victims will also be held. The Trump administration is moving ahead with a plan to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, which protects nearly 60 million acres of national forests.

NPR's Nate Rot reports its rationale for the repeal is raising questions with fire scientists. Calling the Roadless rule burdensome and outdated, the Trump administration says removing roadless protections in national forests will help firefighting efforts. Alexandra Seiford, Director of Science for the Global Wildfire Collective, says the problem is roads are often where fires start. So by rescinding the rule, you're largely increasing the probability that you are exacerbating a potential fire problem. A 21-day public comment period on the proposed rescission starts today. Nate Roth, NPR News. Stocks are trading lower on Wall Street at this hour.

The Dow was down 186 points. The NASDAQ down 256. the S&P down 47. This is NPR News. It's that time of gear again. Planet Money Summer School is back. This semester with help from professors, policy experts, and yes, even a Nobel laureate, we're diving into how government and the economy mixed and asking the big questions like, what role should government play in our economy? Does government intervention help or hurt and how big should the government be? That's on Planet Money Summer School from NPR, wherever you get your pocket.

Podcasts.