NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-29-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

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On Fridays, the 1A podcast is all about helping you cut through the info fog and get to what's important in the news. Close out the week with us on our Friday News Roundup. Here from reporters who've been embedded with the biggest news of the week. Join us every week for the Friday News Roundup. Listen to the 1A podcast from NPR and WAMU. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shays-Stevens. Authorities are reviewing social media postings by the 23-year-old gunmen who killed two people and injured 18 others at the Catholic School Church in Minneapolis. Investigators say the assailant was a former student who idolized mass killers.

NPR's Jason DeRose spoke with a young survivor of Wednesday's attack. Right. Rosie Stiggy is eight years old. She just began third grade and was sitting with her class yesterday morning during the first mass of the school year. So we were like just in the middle of mass. and then like big like the sound went on and then it was like really smoky and we all had to like run to preschool rooms and the police came and got him. While an 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old classmate Harper Moisky were killed in the attack, Merkel's father says he wants his son to be remembered

for the person he was and not the act that ended his life. And as NPR's Windsor Johnston reports, the Minneapolis shooting is renewing fears over school safety. Children were inside the church when the gunfire began. Some were praying. Others were hiding. Now families are being forced to explain why a place that was supposed to be safe suddenly wasn't. Psychologist Melissa Brimer advises parents to check in with themselves before talking to their kids. Take that breath, acknowledge that what feelings are coming up, and then have that conversation with your child about first what have they heard about the event

and what do they need before they go to school. Mental health experts say it's crucial to let children talk, ask questions, and feel what they feel, especially when violence hits close to home. Windsor Johnston, NPR News. A judge in Washington is set to hold a hearing today on the firing of Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook. As NPR Spranko Ordonia's reports, the case sets up a showdown. over presidential power. President Trump announced earlier this week that he was firing Cook over allegations that she committed mortgage fraud related to two residential properties that she

owns, which he described as potentially criminal. But Cook has not been charged criminally. In her lawsuit, Cook is asking the court to declare Trump's removal order unlawful and void. If Trump replaces Cook, his appointees would make up a majority of the Fed board. The case is likely headed to the Supreme Court. And the outcome will have major implications on the independence of the Federal Reserve, as well as the power of the presidency. Franco Ordonez. NPR News. Border Patrol agents arrested two firefighters who were working on a massive blaze in Washington State. The arrest came after the Bureau of Land Management asked Border Patrol to help check on the identities of the firefighting crew. This is NPR.

The Trump administration is offering military funeral honors for slain capital rioter. Ashley Babbitt was an Air Force veteran from California when she joined others who stormed the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. She was shot to death. The Trump administration has also agreed to pay nearly $5 million to settle a wrongful death claim filed by Babbitt's family. Shares and NVIDIA fell on Thursday, even after the chipmaker reported, more than $26 billion in profits. As NPR's Maria Aspen reports, the market reaction is telling a larger story about the AI frenzy. NVIDIA 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 business. bubble. NVIDIA 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. It was 20 years ago today that Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana. Thousands of people

People are expected to gather today in New Orleans to honor those affected by the disaster. The ceremonies will include laying a wreath at the memorial for the dozens of unidentified victims. This is NPR News. On the TED Radio Hour podcast, Tech CEO, Victor Rip Our Belly, says that in the future, AI avatars will be teaching our kids. Your kids, kids may not read and write. They'll be watching and listening instead. Hey, there, learners. I'm Professor Cadens Hartman. I promise I got some interesting stuff, and it's going to take less than two minutes

How AI is shaping education. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.