NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-05-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, the Labor Department has released its latest monthly jobs reports. In August, only 22,000 new jobs were created. That's about 50,000 fewer jobs than analysts were expecting. The New York Times is reporting that during President Trump's first term in office, he authorized a top-secret military mission into North Korea. In 2019, a Navy SEAL team landed on the North Korean shoreline, according to the Times. they were supposed to plant a device to monitor the communications of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. But the mission failed. After the seals were discovered by some North Koreans who were killed, they were apparently civilians.

David Phillips was one of the New York Times reporters for this article. They were expecting the shore to be empty. When they reached this area, instead they encountered a boat that started flashing lights down at the submarines. And the Seals, who were on the shore watching this, didn't know what to do. And so they opened fire and killed everybody on the boat. He spoke to NPR's morning edition. The New York Times is also reporting leaders in Congress were not informed about the SEAL's mission. President Trump is expected to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War.

NPR's Quill Lawrence reports. Almost from the country's founding, the U.S. military was overseen by the War Department. Then after World War II, President Harry S. Truman changed the name to the Department of Defense, housed in the newly finished Pentagon building in Virginia. Last month at an event at the Oval Office, President Trump said the department should go back to the old name, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegeseth said it was in the works. It's not clear Trump can officially change the name without congressional action, but the president said he would do so regardless. as the largest department in the U.S. government, even just changing signs, seals, and titles could cost tens of millions of dollars. Quill Lawrence and PR News. Missouri Republicans are closer to redrawing the state's congressional maps.

They would be following Texas Republicans who did the same after a demand from President Trump. St. Louis Public Radio's Jason and Rosenbaum reports the Republicans' goal is to send more GOP lawmakers to the U.S. Congress. A statehouse committee approved revised congressional lines that would convert Democratic Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-based district into a GOP leaning seat. Unlike places like Texas, Missouri Republicans hold a supermajority in the state house and Senate and could likely pass the map even if Democrats don't show up to vote. But Democratic State Representative Jeremy Dean says the GOP may face backlash at the polls. Not only are they wasting taxpayer money by doing this, but they're actually subversive. the will of most of our voters and the people of the United States whenever they do this. The Missouri House is slated to begin debate over the new map early next week.

For NPR News, I'm Jason Rosenbaum in Jefferson City. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Immigration officials say they have detained more than 450 people at a Hyundai plant in Savannah, Georgia. Federal officials say they're construction workers and they're in the U.S. illegally. The plant makes electric vehicles. The operation has forced a Hyundai facility to stop construction on a factory on site that is supposed to produce EV batteries. The U.S. has announced it's helping to procure a new HIV prevention drug.

Over the next three years, millions of people in low-income countries could receive it. NPR's Gabriela Emmanuel reports the medication has been called a game changer. With just two injections a year, you are almost completely protected against contracting HIV. The U.S. says it's going to work with the drug maker, Gilead, and the Global Fund, the International Financing Organization, to get Lena Capavir to the country's hardest hit by HIV. After billions cut in foreign aid, Linda Gail Becker of the University of Cape Town says this is welcome news. Many of us were in a great deal of dismay and despair, But this announcement really brings a mixture of hope and relief.

The Trump administration says this approach of buying commodities and focusing on medical breakthroughs will be a model for how it does global health work in the future. Gabriela Emmanuel and PR News. The powerball jackpot is growing. It's now worth about $1.7 billion. The next drawing is tomorrow night. This is one of the largest powerball jackpots ever.

I'm Corva Coleman. NPR News in Washington.