NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-29-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

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Presentato for me, Mariel Segarra. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. FBI director Cash Patel is calling the deadly mass shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis an act of domestic terrorism motivated by hate-filled ideology. But some extremism analysts say materials believed to be connected to the shooter paint another picture. Details from NPR's Odette Youssef. YouTube videos 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 said the shooter was not on law enforcement's radar. Odette Yusef and PR News. Deputy Health Secretary Jim O'Neill will be named interim CDC director to replace Susan Menares who's suing to keep her job. Dozens of CDC employees staged a walkout Thursday to support top scientists who resigned after Menares was fired. From Member Station, WABE, Christopher Austin has more. Members of the public joined current and former CDC employees to line the street outside the center's entrance.

One of the officials who resigned, former chief medical officer, Deborah Hauri, was met with cheers and applause from the crowd. I just can't tell you what CDC means to all of us, the mission, the work, your commitment. Thank you, and we're so honored to have done this for you. Howry was joined by Daniel Jernigan and Dimitri Daskalakis, formerly directors of centers overseeing immunizations and infectious diseases. The three say they were escorted off the property earlier in the day. For NPR News, I'm Christopher Alston in Atlanta. judge has ordered a new trial for three former Memphis police officers convicted of crimes related to the beating of motorist Tyree Nichols. From member station WKNO, Christopher Blank, reports

that newly unsealed documents note the appearance of judicial bias. The motion for a new trial revealed why federal judge Mark Norris recused himself from the case just days before sentencing in June. After one of his law clerks was shot during a robbery, shortly after the verdict, Norris suspected a defendant had been involved. He told a federal investigator that the Memphis Police Department was, quote, infiltrated to the top with gang members. Norris's replacement, U.S. District Judge Cheryl Lipman, said the risk of bias was too high and granted a new trial. The three former officers had been found guilty of some, but not all federal charges related to beating Tyree Nichols after a 2023 traffic stop. He later died from his injuries.

For NPR News, I'm Christopher Blank in Memphis. You're listening to NPR. The Department of Homeland Security wants to use a naval station near Chicago to support its crackdown on illegal immigration. A spokesman at the base says DHS has requested facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical support. The request comes as National Guard troops patrol parts of the nation's capital. A state of Texas will soon restrict property sales and rentals to people and companies from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The Texas Foreign Ownership Bill signed in June. takes effect on Monday and carries penalties of jail or fines of more than $250,000 for

violations. State officials say is needed to protect national security. Critics say it's discriminatory and potentially harmful to business in Texas. A new study finds an interesting link between forest elephants and ebony trees. NPR's neat rot reports that jet black ebony wood is commonly used for stringed instruments. Ebony trees are rare. They're wood expensive. The new study published in the journal Science Advances comes after nine years of fieldwork to better understand how the tree is spread in West African forests. Tom Smith, the conservation ecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, says they worked with indigenous groups in Cameroon. And one day, they said, did you know that ebony is often found in elephant dung? And the

seedlings often sprout in elephant dung. They found that by eating ebony fruit and depositing the seeds, the elephants are moving the tree through the forest. Illegal poaching for the ivory trade has greatly reduced elephant populations, though the study found also reducing the number of new ebony trees. Nate Rot, NPR News. This is NPR. 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.