NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-08-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dohaelisa Kowtow. President Trump is dialing back his threats to Chicago after posting on social media that the city is, quote, about to find out why it's called the Department of War. Referring to his executive order signed Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense, NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports Trump still plans to take federal action on the city. Trump has said he will deploy troops to Chicago. He just hasn't said when. But when asked if he was threatening war with Chicago, he said this. We're going to clean up our city. We're going to clean them up so they don't kill five people every weekend. That's not war.

That's common sense. Trump maintains that the National Guard would be sent in to fight crime in the city, even though data shows violent crime is down in recent years. He's also threatened to send in federal immigration officials to increase deportations. Large crowds took to the streets in downtown Chicago to protest Trump's plans, and local lawmakers strongly opposed them as well. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker posted on social media that Trump's plan was one repeated by, quote, dictators across history, inciting the local population before sending in disruptors. He said Illinois won't fall for it. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Chicago. The number of Americans missing work for National Guard deployments or other civil service is at a nearly 20-year high. Economists say it's putting added strain on the labor market, as NPR's Windsor-Johnson reports.

Employers in the U.S. reported more than 90,000 week-long absences from January to August. That's more than double the number this time last year. The Labor Department says it's the highest since 2006 when National Guard troops were deployed to Iraq. The spike comes amid President Trump's ordering of thousands of troops to major U.S. cities and as he considers new deployments. Economists say it's straining both workers and employers. A fugitive who is the first born and raised American to be on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list will appear in a London courtroom Monday. Vicki Barker has more. Daniel Andrea San Diego is the FBI's prime suspect in a series of bombings in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2003,

for which two animal rights extremist groups claimed responsibility. No one was injured in the attacks, but investigators believe that was down to luck, A double explosion at a biotech company near Oakland was apparently timed to target any first responders. And the second attack at a nutritional products company 30 miles east involved a nail bomb. San Diego vanished soon after and was finally found in a cottage in Wales last year. A five-day extradition hearing will determine whether he can be returned to the U.S. to face charges. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London. And you are listening to NPR News from New York City.

Self-harm and suicide attempts with substances increased by more than nine folds among 11 and 12-year-olds from January 2000 to December 2020. That's according to a new study in pediatrics. NPR's Ritu Chatterjee reports researchers looked at data on more than 1.5 million calls to poison centers across the country. They look specifically at data on 6 to 12-year-old children being exposed to substances like pain medications, antihistamines, vitamins, stimulants, and street drugs. The overall number of exposures grew by more than 50% during this time and the vast majority involved accidental exposures, mostly among the youngest children. But the number of intentional exposures, including for suspected self-harm and suicide, also grew over time. Overall, a little less than 5% of the exposures were linked to self-harm and suicide. But they went up dramatically between 2008 and 2021 before decreasing in 2022 and 2023.

Most of this rise was among pre-teens, especially girls. Rithu Chachiji and PR News. The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards took place last night, and video of the year went to Ariana Grande for her song, brighter days ahead. Other winners included Lady Ganga for Artist of the Year, Sabrina Carpenter for album of the year with short and sweet, and Ricky Martin won the first ever Latin icon award. And in case you miss watching the 41st VMAs, go back and look for LaBou. This is NPR.