NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-08-2025 7AM EDT

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

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Hey, it's Rachel Martin. I'm the host of Wildcard from NPR. For a lot of my years as a radio host, silence sort of made me nervous. That pause before an answer, because you don't know what's going on on the other side of the mic. But these days, I love it. Hmm. Ah. Gosh. Give me a minute. Yeah, yeah. Think. Listen to the Wild Card podcast, only from NPR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kurova Coleman. President Trump says he doesn't want to go to war in American. cities. This comes after he posted an image of himself over the weekend, sitting in front of a picture of the Chicago skyline with helicopters and flames behind him. The post invoked the Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. Trump also said Chicago was about to find out why it's called the Department of War, his alternate name for the Department of Defense. Now Trump says his administration is not going to war, but will clean up cities so there are no murders. And he would not say when troops might go into the Illinois city.

We could solve Chicago very quickly, but we're going to make a decision as to where we go over the next day or two. Huge crowds of people turned out in Chicago over the weekend to protest Trump's plans to deploy federal troops to Chicago and boost immigration operations. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said that his state would not be, quote, intimidated by a wannabe dictator. Jury selection begins today in Florida for the man charged

with attempting to assassinate then candidate Donald Trump last year. A Secret Service agent says he spotted Ryan Ruth holding a rifle and fired on him while Trump was golfing at his West Palm Beach Club in September. And Pierre's Greg Allen reports. A witness says he saw Ruth running from what prosecutors call a sniper's nest in the tree line near Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach. Ruth was arrested a short time later, driving north on the interstate. Ruth faces five charges, including attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate,

which carries a maximum sentence of life. He'll be representing himself in court. U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon granted Ruth's request to dismiss his federal public defenders but said they will remain on standby. Last week, Judge Cannon denied Ruth's request to subpoena President Trump, saying his motion contained, quote, various insults and no pertinent facts. Greg Allen, NPR News, Fort Pierce, Florida.

A UN agency says postal traffic to the U.S. has fallen significantly. That's after the Trump administration suspended, a trade exemption rule in late August, and Pierre Chandelese 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 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 and fentanyl entering the country. Chandelise Duster, NPR News. President Trump speaks to the Religious Liberty Commission today in Washington, D.C. He'll give remarks at the Museum of the Bible. This is NPR.

Israeli police say gunmen have killed at least six people in Jerusalem today. They opened fire at a bus stop in a large intersection that leads to Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. The gunmen were shot by a civilian and a security officer. Hamas has praised the shooting. The U.S. Department of Transportation says it will train more than 160 new railroad bridge inspectors. This will expand federal and state oversight of more than 70,000 railroad bridges in the country. Reporter Lex Doig has more. The announcement follows an Associated Press report produced by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University

that found the Federal Railroad Administration had just six employees overseeing railroad bridge safety. This allowed companies to largely inspect themselves, with little oversight. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said his agency will now train existing federal and state track inspectors to also inspect railroad bridges. Those workers will be able to recommend civil penalties for companies when defects are found. The Rail Union SmartTD said on its website the development is a clear step forward in addressing rail workers' safety concerns, saying, though, quote, there is more work to be done. For NPR News, I'm Lex Doyle. Spaniard Carlos Alcarez won the U.S. Open men's tennis tournament yesterday. He defeated top opponent, Italian player Yannick Sinner.

Alcerez is now the top men's tennis player in the world. world. On Saturday, Arena Sabalanka successfully defended her title repeating as the winner of the women's U.S. Open tennis tournament. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.