NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-04-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Hurst. On Capitol Hill today, fiery bipartisan pushback for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who testified before a Senate committee over questions about his decision to oust the CDC director, Susan Manaras, which he defended, claiming she was dishonest, and his move to limit COVID vaccines. Empire Selena Simmons-Duffin has more. This year, because the FDA's approval of the COVID-19 booster limits who can get it, there's all this confusion about how the fall rollout is going to go. Kennedy and the hearing refused to acknowledge that that does, in effect, limit who has access to the vaccines. And he also refused to have concede that COVID vaccines saved millions of lives, which is something there's scientific consensus about.

And Pierre Selina Simmons-Stefin reporting, a federal appeals court has lifted a lower court injunction to wind down operations, at an immigration detention center in Florida's Everglades. And Pierce-Greg Allen reports the appeals court says the facility officials call alligator alcatraz can continue operations while a legal challenge proceeds. The decision, a two-to-one vote by a three-judge panel at the federal appeals court in Atlanta, reverse the ruling by a lower court judge in Miami. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams had ruled that construction of the facility in the Everglades

without public input or an environmental impact statement violated federal law. and she gave Florida and the Trump administration 60 days to cease operations. The appeals panel ruled that a recent Supreme Court decision allows flexibility in how agencies weigh environmental consequences. And the lower court erred by not taking that into account. The panel has blocked the lower court judge from taking any further action while the appeal continues. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami. Northwestern University President Michael Schill says he will resign following a three-year tenure marked by escalating tensions with the White House. This after the Trump administration froze hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding

amid heated criticism from House Republicans over the university's response to campus protests. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is designating two Ecuadorian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, and he says the U.S. will help Ecuador crack down on them. And peers Michelle Kellerman reports. Secretary Rubio describes Ecuador's president, Daniel Neboa, as a willing partner in the war on drug trafficking, he named two groups Los Gennaros and Los Lobos as terrorist organizations, which means the U.S. can share information that Ecuador can use to kill them. These guys don't usually go down willingly, you know, and so it opens up the aperture

for the amount of intelligence that we can now share, which is very valuable when you're trying to wage war against these vicious animals, these terrorists. U.S. tariffs on Ecuador remain a sore point in relations, but Rubio says he thinks there will be progress on a trade deal soon. You're listening to NPR News. Washington, D.C.'s Attorney General is suing President Trump and the military to end federal National Guard deployment to the nation's capital. Brian Schwab says the military shouldn't be involved in domestic law enforcement. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who's trying to walk a tight rope with the Trump administration, says the presence of National Guard troops isn't working out,

but she did credit Trump's actions with bringing down crime. The White House says deploying the Guard to protect federal assets and assist law enforcement is within Trump's authority as president. Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died. He was 91 years old. Armani died at home from an undisclosed illness. As Diana Apong reports, he helped modernize late 20th century style. Georgia Armani's designs are synonymous with luxury,

and fashion. But Armani grew up without much money. He was born in a northern Italian city not too far from Milan. That's where he founded his luxury fashion house in 1975. He loved early 20th century designers and architects and was fascinated with film. That's Georgia Armani speaking in a short documentary made by Martin Scorsese from 1990. By the end of his life, Armani was everywhere. Accessories, perfume, and even at the mall with Armani Exchange. But Giorgio Armani never lost his style and direction. His influence on the world of fashion feels eternal. For NPR News, I'm Diana O'Pong. And I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.