NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-03-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

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Maybe you're wondering, how do I escape quicksand or how do I break up with my dentists? Well, season two of NPR's How to Do Everything podcast is launching this fall and we will attempt to answer your questions. Sometimes we'll actually succeed. Send us your questions at how to at npr.org. That's how to at npr.org. More than 1,000 current and former Department of Health and Human Services employees are calling on Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign. An NPR, Selena Simmons report that more Democratic lawmakers are also calling for Kennedy to step down or be fired. The letter was addressed to Secretary Kennedy and members of the current Congress.

It argues that Kennedy's actions at the helm of HHS are endangering Americans' health. Democratic Representative Diana DeGette of Colorado mentioned the letter in a hearing two Tuesday, saying she agreed with the signatories that Kennedy should resign. And if he does not, President Trump should fire him for doing such damage to the institutions that have up until now been the paragons of research in the world and have kept Americans healthy and safe. DeGette is one of a growing number of lawmakers in the minority calling for Kennedy's resignation. A few Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about some of Kennedy's actions,

but have not moved to sanction or restrain him. Selina Simmons-Duffin and PR News, Washington. President Trump is appealing of federal court ruling that outlawed his use of troops to control protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles. Laura Fitzgerald of Cap Radio has the story. California Governor Gavin Newsom had sued the Trump administration for deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles this summer. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer heard the case over a three-day bench trial in August and ruled on Tuesday that the deployment was illegal. He said the troops broke the law, prohibiting the military from engaging in domestic law enforcement by setting security perimeters and traffic blockades. The ruling was stayed until September 12th, allowing the Trump administration time to appeal.

Now that it has, the case heads to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. For NPR News, I'm Laura Fitzgerald in Sacramento. President Trump is turning up the pressure on Pfizer to release more evidence that his COVID vaccine is safe and effective. NPR's Rob Stein reports. Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Borla released a statement defending the evidence supporting the COVID vaccines. The statement comes amid controversy over new federal restrictions on the vaccines and a call by President Trump to make more information about the vaccines public. Borla says Pfizer's data has appeared in more than 600 published studies and the company has provided detailed data to regulators in 130 countries, including the FDA.

Bay. Borla says the company plans to release more data soon. Rob Stein and Peer News. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is poised to sign a bill designed to crack down on the use of abortion pills. The measure would allow residents to sue out-of-state providers and manufacturers of the medication for up to $100,000. The aim is to stop the flow of abortion pills from democratic-leaning states where abortion is still legal. This is NPR. Several survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are calling for the release of files on the investigation of the late sex offender. The women, flanked by supporters in Congress, gathered outside of the U.S. Capitol today to recount their experiences.

They also said they were offended by claims that their allegations are a hoax. Epstein died in 2019, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His accomplice, Gillen Maxwell, is serving a 20-year sentence in a low security facility in Texas. A new study finds that the majority of preschool-aged children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder or ADHD were prescribed medications. But as NPR's Ritu Chatterjee reports, drugs should not be the first line of treatment for young children. Researchers looked at the electronic health records at pediatric clinics affiliated with eight academic institutions across the country. Of the more than 700,000 3 to 5-year-old seen at these clinics between 2016 and 2023, 1.4% were diagnosed with ADHD. Nearly 70% of those kids were prescribed medications before they turned 7, and more than 40% got their prescriptions within 30 days of their diagnosis.

Preschool 8 children with symptoms of ADHD are at risk of social and emotional problems as well as failure in academics. And the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends then the first line of treatment for such young children is to give parents the tools to manage behavior in kids. The findings appear in JAMA Network Open. Read the Chatterjee, NPR News. You're listening to NPR. This message comes from Wise,

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