NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-29-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

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There's a lot of news happening. You want to understand it better, but let's be honest, you don't want it to be your entire life either. Well, that's sort of like our show, here and now anytime. Every weekday on our podcast, we talk to people all over the country about everything from political analysis to climate resilience, video games. We even talk about dumpster diving on this show. Check out Here and Now Anytime, a daily podcast from NPR and WBUR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. A federal judge in Washington, D.C. is set to hear arguments today in a high-stakes fight over the future of Lisa Cook's job at the Federal Reserve as governor. NPR Scott Horsley reports Cook is challenging President Trump's effort to fire her from the Fed's governing board. Trump announced on social media Monday he was firing Cook over allegations she made false statements on a mortgage application. But in legal papers, Cook argues even if there were what she called a clerical error, a mere pretext for Trump's real agenda. She points to comments the president made in a cabinet meeting this week that he'll soon have a majority of appointees on the Fed board, giving Trump more power over Fed decisions on interest rates. Congress designed the central bank to operate

independently of the White House, and Cook says allowing the president to replace her with a political ally would jeopardize that independence. She's asking a court for a temporary restraining order to preserve her seat on the Fed board. Scott Horsley and Pear News, Washington. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had three top leaders resign in protest this week after the newly sworn-in director was forced out. NPR, Salina Simmons-Duffin reports one of those leaders has concerns about Jim O'Neill, the incoming acting director. Dr. Deb Howery was CDC's chief medical officer. She told NPR it became clear that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is letting anti-science activists run the show. So on Wednesday, she and two of CDC's center directors decided to resign on mass.

We care about the agency and the people, and this is the way we could make that strong statement. Howie says she's concerned about the fact that Kennedy's choice for acting CDC director, Jim O'Neill, is not a physician or scientist. You do need to at least have a knowledge of, you know, how you'd handle an outbreak or an emerging pathogen. The next CDC director will have to go through the Senate confirmation process, which often, takes months. Selina Simmons-Duffin and PR News, Washington. Communities across Minneapolis are mourning the loss of two children who were killed in a church shooting this week. 18 others were injured when a shooter fired through the windows of the Annunciation Catholic School on Wednesday morning during Mass. Juliet Neijar Seifert's son

is a student there. She says when the shooting started, he shielded a younger child by pushing him under a church pew. His buddy's family. reached out to me to just say how much they're thankful for Francis, my son's name, for protecting their young first grader. And I'm so proud of my son for doing that. Counselors remain on site today. The 23-year-old shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The FBI is investigating the attack as a hate crime. This is NPR News in Washington. Tariffs on small packages from around the world take effect today under a new executive order from President Trump. Until now, shipments valued under $800 could enter the U.S. duty-free.

That changed earlier this year for packages from China and Hong Kong, and now the same rules apply everywhere else. Packages will now face tariffs and inspection. The White House says the move closes a loophole that allowed far. Orange shippers, dodged tariffs and slip counterfeit goods and drugs into the country. Despite not having released an album in nearly a decade, the group Radiohead is back on the Billboard music charts, with one of its songs from the 1990s. NPR Stephen Thompson explains. Radiohead's catalog is full of classic albums that are sonically experimental, even otherworldly. But it doesn't have many pop hits.

Until this week, only three Radiohead songs have ever hit the Billboard Hot 100, led by Creep in 1994. This week, a song from 1997 becomes Radiohead's fourth track ever to crack the Hot 100. Let Down enters this week's chart at number 91. The song found a new audience thanks. thanks to its placement on an episode of the TV show, The Bear, then later blew up through the magic of TikTok. Stephen Thompson, NPR News. I'm Winter Johnston, NPR News.