NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-07-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: September 7, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hirst. President Trump is trying to walk back his comments that Chicago is about to, quote, find out why it's called the Department of War, referring there to his efforts last week to rebrand the Department of Defense. This says Chicago braces for Trump to send in the National Guard as he did in Washington, D.C. And Piers Mara Liason has more. The district is a federal district, not a state. It's unclear whether courts, are going to allow him to do this in places where governors control their state National Guard troops. He's already had one court ruling against him about sending troops to Los Angeles over the objections of the governor there. And part of this, as Trump himself has explained,

is political. He says the midterm elections will be about crime. He wants them to be about crime. He says the crime issue is good for Republicans, and he doesn't want them to be about the Jeffrey Epstein files or vaccines or the economy. InPier's Mara Liason reporting. Yesterday, thousands of people marched in D.C. calling for Trump to remove the National Guard and federal law enforcement troops from the nation's capital. EU leaders are condemning Russia's overnight strikes on Ukraine the biggest air attacks since Russia's full-scale invasion began more than three years ago. Terry Schultz has more. Top officials in the European Union vow quick work on tightening up sanctions against Russia.

European Council President Antonio Costa wrote on X, Talking about peace while escalating bombings and targeting government buildings and homes, this is Putin's version of peace. EU foreign policy chief Kayakhalis also addressed Putin's seriousness about the peace talks President Trump is trying to arrange. Every Russian attack is a deliberate choice, Callas wrote on X, and a message, Russia does not want peace. European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen described the Kremlin actions as mocking diplomacy, trampling international law and killing indiscriminately. The bloc aims to approve its 19th sanctions package against Russia this month. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. A UN agency says postal traffic to the U.S. has fallen significantly after the Trump administration

suspended a trade exemption rule in late August. Empire Shandalee's Duster has more. The Universal Postal Union says postal traffic to the U.S. came to a near halt, dropping 81% after August 29th. That's when the de minimis trade exemption that allowed passers, packages worth less than $800 to be exempt from tariffs ended. At least 88 postal operators have suspended some or all services to the U.S. until there is a solution, the union says.

The agency also says it is working on ways to get postal traffic flowing back to the U.S. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the Trump administration has defended ending the trade exemption as a way to crack down on counterfeit products. NPR Shandalees Duster reporting. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The $24 million Broadway revival of Cabaret is closing earlier than planned after the withdrawal of actor Billy Porter. Set to close on October 19th, it will now close September 21st, that's according to its producers. Jeff Ludden reports.

The revival, fresh from rave reviews in London, opened in April of 2024, with a record-breaking $24 million price tag, the highest for a Broadway revival. The August Wilson Theater was extensively modified into an environmental setting and rebranded the Kit Kat Club. Eddie Redmayne played the MC. But reviews were mixed to negative. The weekly break even was high, and once Redmayne left, ticket sales went down. The final cast replacement in the role was Billy Porter, but he had to withdraw due to sepsis. While Porter is expected to recover, the production is closing at a loss. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. Hurricane Kiko is expected to generate

swells that could bring potentially life-threatening surf to Hawaii today. Forecasters say Kiko's outer bands extend up to 35 miles from the center of the storm and tropical force winds are up to 80 miles out. The storm has weakened to a category two with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles an hour. The National Hurricane Center says Kiko, which is expected to weaken to a tropical storm by Tuesday, is expected to pass north of the Hawaiian Islands by midweek. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington.