NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-04-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

NPR News: 09-04-2025 2AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. Survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein say they were horrified to learn through the media that convicted collaborator Glenn Maxwell had been transferred. As Patrick Davis reports, Maxwell was moved from a Florida prison to a minimum security facility in Texas. The federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, where Maxwell is serving time now,

is located just a few blocks from the town's quaint downtown and five miles from Texas A&M University and College Station. Jessica Nunez is a second-year student at the university. I don't necessarily feel that minimal is right for her just because of how much harm she did do to other people. The prison camp mostly houses white-collar criminals, including Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and Jen Shaw of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

The camp offers work release and nursing degree programs. It is not clear if Maxwell is eligible for those. programs. For NPR news, I'm Patrick Davis and Brian, Texas. Florida is taking steps to become the first state in the nation to eliminate all vaccine mandates. From member station WUSF, Kerry Sheridan reports that polio and measles shots could be the first to go. Florida's Surgeon General Joseph Latipo announced the move at a press conference near Tampa. The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all. vaccine mandates in Florida law.

All of them. He says the State Department of Health can start now by ending daycare and preschool requirements for about seven vaccines. Those include shots to prevent whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, hepatitis B, and chickenpox. Major medical organizations continue to say these shots are safe and effective. For NPR News, I'm Carrie Sheridan in Tampa. A wing of Louisiana's notorious Angola Prison now holds 51 immigrants

and has the capacity to hold hundreds more. Alex Cox of Member Station WRKF has details. The new camp is called Louisiana Lockup, and it's set to hold what federal officials are calling the worst of the worst. Angola is known for its history of violence and use of inmate labor. Secretary of Homeland Security, Christine Nome, says the choice of venue was deliberate. This is a facility that's notorious. It's a facility.

Angola prison is legendary, but that's a message that these individuals that are going to be here that are illegal criminals need to understand. The funding for the camp comes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July. It will have over 400 beds. For MPR news, I'm Alex Cox and Angola, Louisiana. President Trump is appealing a recent federal appeals court ruling that most of the terrorists he imposed in February and April were illegal. The lower court ruled that Trump exceeded his authority by imposing the import levies.

Trump is now asking the high court to take up the case as quickly as possible. This is NPR. In Boston, a federal judge is ordering the Trump administration to restore $2.6 billion in research funding to Harvard. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs says the funding cuts were illegal and retaliatory. The administration froze grants to the Ivy League institution, citing its response to anti-Semitism on campus, along with its hiring and admissions policies. Judge Burrell says Harvard is taking steps to address those issues and appear. to be willing to do more. The Trump administration has vowed to appeal. A legal battle is brewing between two conservative news outlets. A lawsuit filed by Newsmax

alleges Fox News has pressured pay TV platforms to keep the smaller channel out of their offerings. As NPR's David Fokinflik reports, Fox rejects the allegation. Newsmax CEO and founder Chris Ruddy tells NPR that Fox has been very effective in exerting what he calls monopoly power. Newsmax is alleging anti-competitive acts. saying that Fox had secret or implicit deals that raised the cost to pay TV platforms to carry Newsmax, including requirements that those platforms that did so also pay for Fox Business Network or other sister channels. In a statement, Fox says, quote, Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can't attract viewers. Yet Fox executives traded concerns as the network bled viewers in the aftermath of the 2020 race,

with many fans of President Trump turning instead to Newsmax. David Fokinflik, NPR News. U.S.S. futures are flat and after-hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia-Pacific markets, shares are mixed up one and a half percent in Tokyo. This is NPR News. 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.

Tease and Cs apply. Bye.