NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-03-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corvac Coleman. Later this hour, two lawmakers will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill. Republican Thomas Massey and Democrat Rokana will be joined by survivors of sexual abuse by late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The congressmen are trying to use a procedural tool in the House to force the release of documents from the Epstein investigation. Some Republican leaders say they do not want the full files to be shared in order to protect the women who were involved. Some of the survivors plan to speak at the Capitol today. One of them is podcaster Lisa Phillips. She says survivors need full disclosure.

We're already being harmed because there's no accountability. There's no transparency. That's what harms us. Is that the people that need to be held accountable aren't. She spoke to NPR's Morning Edition. A panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked the Trump administration from using a wartime power to deport Venezuelans from three states.

As NPR's Heiman and Bastillo reports, that means the issue of President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act could wind up back at the U.S. Supreme Court. The latest court decision blocks deportations with the use of the Act from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Earlier this year, Trump invoked the 18th century wartime power to help streamline deportations of Venezuelans, he says, are members of the Thren de Aragua gang. Since then, the use of this power has attracted numerous legal challenges, including two prior Supreme Court decisions. But the High Court has yet to directly address the larger question of whether Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act at all was legal. This preliminary injunction can now be appealed by the Trump administration to settle that bigger question. Human Abustillo, MPR News, Washington. Staffers at the Department of Health and Human Services have sent an open letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Congress.

A thousand agency workers are calling on him to resign. The letter says Kennedy has put the health of all Americans at risk. The workers said they've already urged him to stop spreading inaccurate health information. Stocks open mixed this morning as Kraft Hines prepares for a breakup and Google does not. NPR Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped about 160 points in early trading. Stock in Kraft Hines rose after the company announced plans to split in two. The corporate breakup comes a decade after Kraft and Hines merged in an effort to capitalize on their massive scale. But sales have fallen in each of the last.

last five years amid shifting consumer tastes. A federal judge in San Francisco stopped short of ordering a breakup of Google and its Chrome browser. The judge did impose new restrictions on the search giant in an effort to prevent Google from abusing its monopoly power. McDonald's is rolling out new discounts on combo meals next week in an effort to win back some of its most price-sensitive customers. The fast food industry overall has seen a drop-in business from lower-income diners.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The mayor of Baltimore says he does not want the National Guard deployed in his city. President Trump says he is ready to send federal authorities there to combat crime. Trump already deployed the guard in Los Angeles and Washington and federalized D.C.'s police force. And Pierre's Christian Wright has more. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott says rates of homicide and non-fatal shootings in the city are at historic lows. He told local TV station WJZ, there are better way.

ways for the federal government to help Baltimore further reduce crime. We want to keep that work going, but we do not need or want the National Guard in Baltimore to do that. The best way for us to continue this progress or help us continue this progress that we are already making is to restore the funding for public safety programs that the president cut, pass a federal ban on ghost guns and glocks switches. Scott, a Democrat, is also calling for the repeal of laws limiting the disclosure of firearms. records. Kristen Wright and PR News, Washington. President Trump says he also plans to send National Guard troops to Chicago. A federal judge in Texas is going to hear arguments today in a case involving

aircraft maker Boeing. The Justice Department is seeking to drop conspiracy charges against Boeing. This is in connection with two huge plane crashes of its 737 max jetliner. 346 people were killed. one in an accident off Indonesia, another in Ethiopia. Relatives of the victims are trying to stop the Justice Department from dropping the charges. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.