NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-11-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

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Support for NPR, and the following message come from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, whose bequest serves as an enduring investment in the future of public radio and seeks to help NPR produce programming that meets the highest standards of public service in journalism and cultural expression. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan. At this hour in Utah, officials are releasing new video in connection with the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah on Wednesday. His body was returned to Phoenix, where he lived today above Air Force 2. Kirk's murder is leading to an outpouring of grief online.

NPR's Jeff Bronfield reports. Throughout the conservative movement, commentators and influencers are mourning Kirk's death, like conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. Charlie Kirk is an American martyr. He is a Christian martyr. He died for his faith and his country. Many also angrily blamed Democrats in the political left for his death, even as the shooter's identity and motive remain unknown. Nicole Hemmer is a historian at Vanderbilt University.

She says more may be to come following Kirk's assassination. I think it expands people's capacity for imagining violent revenge. American politics has centered what she calls a violent season. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. Hundreds of people arrested and an immigration. raid at a Hyundai factory in Georgia are en route from Atlanta to South Korea. From member station W.A.B.E. in Atlanta, Emily Wu Pearson reports. The flight left a day later than anticipated. South Korean officials say the U.S. offered to let the

people arrested, mostly South Korean citizens, stay and finish work at the electric vehicle battery plant in Southeast Georgia. Only one South Korean stayed. They have family in the U.S. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security visited the facility with an arrest warrant for four people, but arrested 475. That's according to an attorney representing more than a dozen of those arrested. DHS claimed the workers were here on the wrong visa or overstayed their visas, but the attorney disputes that. The president of South Korea has said the raid will cause Korean companies to hesitate before investing in the U.S. For NPR News, I'm Emily Wu Pearson in Atlanta. The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry to gauge how artificial intelligence

chatbots are affecting children. NPR's John Ruich reports this comes amid concern about the effects of the interactive and popular technology. The FTC says it's ordering several companies to provide information about how they measure, test, and monitor potentially negative impacts of AI technology on children and teens. The companies include some of the biggest in the arena, like Facebook owner Meta, Google Parent, Alphabet, and OpenAI, which operates ChatGPT. Chatbots have been in the spotlight after reports surfaced of young people who died by suicide following discussions with them. Last month, the parents of a 16-year-old California boy sued Open AI, claiming that ChatGPT had coached him on how to end his life. The FTC is asking for a wide range of information,

including how AI characters are developed, how the companies make money from user engagement, and how they deal with personal information obtained from users through chats. John Rewich, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR. The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., has fired another high-profile administrative leader in its ongoing shake-up.

NPR's Anastasia T's Old Keys has more. Kevin Struthers had been an arts administrator at the Kennedy Center for 30 years. He ran the center's jazz programming and was in charge of other special concerts. He confirmed NPR that he has been terminated. Struthers is the latest in a long line of staff dismissals and resignations at the famed D.C. arts institution since President Trump became its chair in February and appointed Richard Grinnell, its new president. Previously, the Kennedy Center had been celebrated for inviting a vibrant roster of established and emerging jazz artists. The only main stage jazz performance still on the Kennedy Center's schedule is an October performance by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, a group which began recording in 1939.

Anastasi Aze Silkus and Pierre News, New York. The United Kingdom's Foreign Office has fired its ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, over his alleged times. to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The British newspaper The Sun published private emails that Mendelsohn exchanged with Epstein in 2008 encouraging Epstein to continue the legal fight to stay out of prison after he was indicted by a grand jury on sex-related charges. In an interview Wednesday before he was fired, Mendelsohn called Epstein a charismatic liar and said he regrets that he fell for his lies. Just 24 hours before being fired, he was given a vote of confidence. I'm Dan Ronan, NPR News in Washington.

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