NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-06-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: September 6, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Trump administration is pushing to extend its federal crackdown on crime, eyeing a new wave of U.S. cities for National Guard deployment. Troops could begin arriving in Baltimore, New Orleans, and Chicago as early as this weekend. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf is in Illinois, where state officials are threatening legal action to block the move. Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat and a big opponent of Trump, has come out strongly against it. In a statement, he said, quote, none of this is about fighting crime or making Chicago safer. And many other local politicians here, you know, senators, aldermen have said similar things. Democratic lawmakers in many other cities, Baltimore, for example, have said they plan to push back if Trump follows through with his threats. NPR's Kat-Lonstorf reporting from Chicago, the governor of Louisiana, says he would welcome the move. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s stance on vaccines is stirring nationwide backlash after a heated appearance on Capitol Hill this week. NPR's Rob Stein reports. Everyone expected Democrats on the committee to go after Kennedy at the hearing, but they were joined by some Republicans, including Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming.

I'm a doctor. Vaccines work. Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I've grown deep. deeply concerned. Kennedy was defiant throughout the hearing. Kennedy got the director of the CDC fired because she wouldn't go along with some of his vaccine policies, and many people around the country are already having a harder time getting one of the new COVID-19 vaccines because of new federal restrictions. Rob Stein in Peer News. The Associated Press says it has new evidence raising serious questions about Israel's rationale for an attack that killed 22 people. including five journalists in August. NPR's Jane Arraf reports from Amman Jordan.

Israel said after striking the Nassar hospital that it was targeting a Hamas position, saying in support of the accusation, there was a towel on the camera and on the cameraman. AP says the camera was that of a Reuters video journalist who regularly filmed from that position while covering the camera to protect it from heat and dust. The Reuters cameraman, along with a reporter,

working for AP and three other journalists were killed along with 17 other people when Israel shelled the hospital and then struck it again as first responders rushed in. The AP report says Israel frequently observed the media group by drone, giving them the opportunity to identify the Reuters video journalist. The Israeli Prime Minister called the journalists killing a tragic mishap but has not explained how it happened. Jane Arraf and Per Nuz Amman. This is NPR News in Washington. Tonight's Powerball Jagpot is now the second largest in U.S. history, an estimated $1.8 billion. NPR's Amy held reports no one has been able to hit all six numbers in more than 40 straight drawings.

Without a winner, the price keeps rolling over until someone eventually wins. I bought the ticket because I'm going to win. How often do I buy the ticket? every drawing. That's Sharon Taylor of Philadelphia, whose dreams grow with the prize. Set up a trust fund for my grandchildren. Don't tell anybody where I'm at. The odds, though, are terrible. One in almost 300 million. Still, data show lottery spending is on the rise. Americans spent an average of more than $300 playing in 2023, and researchers say when times are tough, participation grows. Same when the prize grows. At the last powerball drawing, more than

160 million tickets sold, a near 200% increase from the week before. Amy held and PR News. AI research company Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class action lawsuit. A group of authors accused the company of using their copyrighted books to train its artificial intelligence system. As part of the settlement, Anthropic has also agreed to destroy downloaded copies of the books. The proposed agreement marks the first settlement. in a series of lawsuits against big tech, including OpenAI, Microsoft, and meta-platforms. Under the deal, Anthropic could still face copyright claims tied

to content generated by its AI models. 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, dot com. T's and Cs apply.