NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-06-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: September 6, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The governor of Maryland says he's sending state police into Baltimore to assist city law enforcement. The move coincides with the Trump administration's plans to deploy National Guard troops to the city. Scott Massione from member station WIPR reports it's part of a broader effort by the White House to crack down on crime in U.S. cities. The state police are tasked with conducting proactive enforcement in high crime areas. They aim to have a visible presence to deter crime, according to Maryland governor, Wes Moore. It comes after President Trump threatened to send National Guard troops to Baltimore, claiming it would reduce crime. Moore says that would not be helpful and that crime needs to be addressed holistically. We said that we were going to take an all the above approach to public safety, that you were never going to militarize your way into safe streets.

Baltimore is experiencing record low crime rates and is on track to have the few homicides in half a century. For NPR news, I'm Scott Masseoni in Baltimore. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is working to ease tensions with the United States. After Washington announced, it's sending 10 fighter jets to reinforce its already substantial military presence in the Caribbean. But he's also warning the White House against interfering in the affairs of other countries. States should abandon its plan of violent regime change in Venezuela and in all of Latin America and the Caribbean and respect sovereignty, the right to peace, to independence.

The Venezuelan president heard through a BBC interpreter. The Trump administration says it's cracking down on cartels, trafficking drugs to the United States. Venezuela denies the accusations that the country is linked to a drug gang. A sweeping new plan backed by the governor of Oklahoma is targeting homeless people in the same. City of Tulsa. Ben Abrams of Public Radio Tulsa reports local officials are pushing back against the crackdown. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt suddenly announced a planned Thursday which directs the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to tear down encampments. It's backed by a law criminalizing any unauthorized camp on state-owned property. Malachi McCullough was sleeping near the Tulsa

County Jail when he awoke to a loud bang. His dog was shot by a highway trooper and taken to a vet for treatment, which the Highway Patrol confirmed in a statement, characterizing the dog as aggressive. They were telling us that we had to leave their property because of a law was being passed, that we had to move. Mack Haltam, executive director of Tulsa Day Center, says shelters are already full, and the move could push homeless people toward private and city-owned property. For NPR News, I'm Ben Abrams in Tulsa. This is NPR News in Washington.

One of Canada's hockey greats has died. Ken Dryden was 78. Dan Carpenchuk reports the Hall of Fame goalie had been battling cancer. Ken Dryden was a crucial member of the Montreal Canadiens' 1970s era. And in the 1972 summit series between Canada and the former Soviet Union, considered a monumental moment in hockey history, Dryden shared the goaltending duties helping Canada defeat the Soviets four games to three. He helped the Canadians win the Stanley Cup in 1970.

and then for three more consecutive years. Dryden retired at 31, became an author, then a hockey executive. In 2004, he turned his hand to politics, winning a seat in Parliament for the Liberals. Tributes are pouring in for Dryden, including from Prime Minister Mark Carney, who says, few Canadians have given more or stood taller for our country. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpenchuk in Toronto. 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 open AI, Microsoft, and meta-platforms. Under the deal, Anthropic could still face copyright claims tied to content generated by its AI models. The powerball jackpot has soared to a staggering $1.8 billion. The next trawling is tonight. This is NPR.