NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-03-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

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This message comes from Click Here. Erased is a four-part investigation into how China is wiping Uyghur culture from existence. Erased uncovers an authoritarian regime's campaign to delete a culture. Listen to Click Here wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. More than a thousand current and former staff members at the Department of Health and Human Services are calling for Secretary Robert of Kennedy Jr. to resign. NPR, Selina Simmons-Duffin reports 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 Tuesday, saying she agreed with the signatories that Kennedy should resign. And if he does not, President Trump should fire him for doing.

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-D. Duffin and PR News, Washington. Vice President J.D. Vance and the Second Lady today visited the Catholic Church. and Minneapolis were a shooter killed two children and injured 21 others a week ago.

Matt Seppick of Minnesota Public Radio reports the second couple also met privately with families. The vice president and second lady placed flowers outside Annunciation Catholic Church to honor eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moisky who were killed in the attack. The Vance's did not make public remarks. St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebdo wasn't invited to the meeting with the vanses and victims' families, but said before the visit that he's happy the couple came. Hebda says the church must be reconsecrated before services resume. It involves a blessing with holy water, of the walls, an altar.

But it's also, it's a penitential time, too, because we realize that there's been a harm done that's there. Hebda says he's uncertain when anunciation will reopen. For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepik in Minneapolis. A federal watchdog agency says about 10% of employees have left the federal emergency management agency this year. NPR's Rebecca Hersher reports the departures have left FEMA strained as peak hurricane season unfolds in the U.S. Between January 1st and June 1st, about 1, 400 workers left FEMA. That's according to a new report from the government accountability office. They include workers who retired, who were laid off, and who voluntarily left the agency.

The report warns that those departures could make it difficult for FEMA to respond to weather disasters. such as major hurricanes. Peak hurricane season in the Atlantic is underway now and runs into October. Rebecca Hersher, NPR News. At the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 24 points, the NASDAQ up to 18. This is NPR. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill today examined how artificial intelligence is shaping mental health care. NPR's Ritu Chatterjee reports the House hearing looked at both the promises and the potential risks. Among those testifying at the hearing was psychologist Vale Wright. She's Senior Director of Healthcare Innovation at the American Psychological Association.

Wright said AI has the potential to benefit the mental health of patients and providers, for example, by alleviating burnout among providers by taking over administrative tasks, or by delivering evidence-based treatments to patients. But she noted that unregulated chatbots are already causing harm. One entertainment chatbot presenting itself as a psychologist, engaged in millions of chats. And in another documented case, the chatbot appeared to validate our users' violent thoughts

toward his family members. This is unacceptable. She said youth are particularly vulnerable and that Congress should put in guardrails to protect them. Ritu Chatterjee, NPR News. Florida could become the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates. A long-time cornerstone of public health policy aimed at protecting school children and communities from infectious disease.

The state surgeon general calls existing vaccine requirements and intrusion on personal rights, adding that parents should decide whether their kids are vaccinated. But physician groups say vaccines are safe and critical to preventing the spread of disease. I'm Windsor Johnston, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. 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.