NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-08-2025 8AM 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 on Corva Coleman. President Trump is threatening tougher sanctions against Russia after Russia launched its biggest drone attack yet on Ukraine over the weekend. At least eight people were killed and a government building was damaged. Ukraine is boosting its own defense as the Kremlin shows no apparent interest in a ceasefire. NPR's Joanna Kikis reports from Kyiv. Speaking in this nightly video address, Zelensky said Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want peace and is testing world leaders.

will they put up with it, Zelensky asked, adding that it's important statements are backed up by action, like tariffs against Russia and those nations supporting Russia. President Trump says he is considering more sanctions on Russia after the weekend attack on Ukraine. In the meantime, Zelensky says Ukraine has made air defense a top priority, producing more interceptor drones to take down Russian attack drones. Joanna Kikisis and PR News have. President Trump says he doesn't want to go to war in American cities. This comes after he posted an image online of himself over the weekend.

The image showed Trump sitting in front of a picture of the Chicago skyline with flames and helicopters. It invoked the Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. City and Illinois state officials reacted with shock and anger, but Trump said yesterday he only wants to clean up American cities. Tanya Woods leads the West Side Justice. Center in Chicago. She says her group has launched a program to teach people what to do if they encounter National Guard or other troops. And so together we have collaborated to pull together a training program, a community workshop, if you will, so that we can inform and educate people about

their resources, their rights, and their risks. Separately, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, says Chicago and other sanctuary cities should expect to see immigration enforcement action this week. The number of Americans missing work for National Guard deployments or other civil service is at a nearly 20-year high. NPR's Windsor-Johnston reports economists say it's putting an added strain on the labor market. U.S. employers reported more than 90,000 week-long absences between January and August, more than twice as many as the same period last year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it's the highest number since 2006 when the National Guard was deployed to Iraq. Since taking office, President Trump has sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and is considering deployments to Chicago and New Orleans.

Economists warn the burden is growing, not just for the workers being called up, but for employers as well. They say it's getting harder to plan around deployments, especially in a shaky job market with slower hiring and fewer openings. Windsor Johnston, NPR News. You're listening to NPR. France's prime minister could lose a vote of confidence today in the French parliament. A no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Francois-Birut would collapse the French government. French President Emmanuel Macron would have to pick another Prime Minister. Annalise Macron would have a tough time because the President doesn't have a majority in Parliament anymore.

Norwegians are picking their new Parliament, ultimately Prime Minister as well, over two days of voting that wrap up tonight. Terry Schultz reports, geopolitics and the high cost of living. have been driving the debates. A left-wing block led by the incumbent Labor Party and Prime Minister Yonis Gar-Store is expected to narrowly hold on to power in Norway, but only by a handful of seats at best. Opinion polls show right-wing parties, including the Populist Progress Party and the Conservatives, are expected to gain seats in the 169 member parliament. Störe, a former foreign minister, portrays himself as the most experienced pair of hands to guide the NATO country, which shares an

arctic border with Russia. But domestic issues have also been key, especially the high cost of living and the country's controversial wealth tax. Former NATO chief, Yen Stoltenberg, is now Labor's Finance Minister and promises a review of Norway's tax laws if his party stays in power. For NPR news, I'm Terry Schultz. The Catholic Church has canonized the first saint of the millennial generation. Carlos Akutis was 15 when he died in 2006. Before he died of leukemia, a Acutus created a website promoting Catholic miracles. The late Pope Francis had supported the Akutas canonization intending to attract more young people to the faith.

I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.