NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-11-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

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What's made you happy as of late? On Pop Culture Happy Hour, we've been talking about the things that have made us happy in the pop culture universe for the past 15 years. Whether it's a blockbuster or deliciously bad reality TV, the newest shows, dramas, and reboots, we're here to keep your spirits high. Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. A manhunt continues for the assassin who killed Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.

As NPR Stammer Keith reports, the 31-year-old conservative activist and Trump ally was gunned down while addressing a crowd at a Utah Valley University. In a post on truth social, Trump says, quote, the great and even legendary Charlie Kirk is dead. Trump adds he was loved and admired by all, especially me. The president also offers his sympathies to Kirk's white. and the couple's two young children. At 31 years old, Kirk was a popular right-wing influencer who helped galvanize young voters in support of Trump. Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University when he was shot in the neck. It was to be the first on a 15-stop college tour for his organization Turning Point USA. Republicans and Democrats alike have taken to social media

to condemn the shooting saying political violence has no place. Tamara Keith, NPR News, the White House. Investigators say Charlie Kirk was killed by a single shot in a targeted attack. The slaying comes amid a spike in attacks on political figures across the ideological spectrum. Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among several leaders who survived attacks on themselves or relatives and are condemning the assassination of Kirk. In Colorado, two teenagers remain in critical condition after a shooting at their high school about 40 minutes west of Denver. The already say the 18-year-old shooter took his own life.

From member station KUNC, Emma Van Deniety, has more. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office receive reports of an active shooter at Evergreen High School just before 1230 local time. Public Information Officer Jackie Kelly says multiple agencies responded to the incident, including the FBI Denver Division. I think the reason that the response was so quick and so overwhelming is because we're law enforcement. Police and fire just show up. when you hear the words, active shooter, and you know that there's kids involved who we're coming. Medical officials say the three students that were transported to a nearby hospital were taken to surgery or the emergency room. For NPR news, I'm Emma Vand 90 in Denver.

Poland's foreign minister Radislav Sikorsky says Russia is mocking U.S. efforts to get a ceasefire in Ukraine. The remark coming a day after Russian drones violated Polish airspace during a major assault on Ukraine. Siskorsi says Poland, NATO, and the EU will not be intimidated. Poland has activated NATO's Article 4, which provides for joint consultations between NATO allies, quote, whenever in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence, or security of any of the parties is threatened, end quote. Socorzi says NATO and Poland have determined that drones made in Russia did not enter Poland's airspace by accident. He said has happened 19 times. This is NPR.

A Florida appeals court has struck down the state's ban on carrying weapons out in the open without a permit. The court found the ban incompatible with the Second Amendment. That rolling overturns the conviction of a man who was arrested in 2022 for standing on a street in Pensacola with a holstered pistol. For the fifth time this year, Cuba is without electricity. The total blackout there is being blamed on fuel shortages and an aging power grid. U.S. sanctions have worsened Cuba's economic and energy crisis, In remarks on state television, Prime Minister Manuel Morrero urged Cuban citizens to be patient as power is restored gradually.

Veteran actor Polly Holliday, who starred as Flo in the sitcom Alice and later in her own spin-off, has died in Manhattan. She was 88 years old. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has this appreciation. Floe Castleberry was the gum-chewing, wise-cracking waitress in Mel's Diner on Alice in the late 1970s. She had a famous catchphrase. Kiss my great! The role earned Polly Holiday four Emmy nominations and two Golden Globes. Polly Jean Holliday was born in Jasper, Alabama in 1937.

After earning a master's and music education from Florida State University, she joined the Oslo Repertory Theater Company in Sarasota, where she performed classic plays by Shakespeare and Chekhov. Holiday was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Big Mama and Cat on a Hot tin roof. Her movie credits include Gremlin's and the Parent Trap. Elizabeth Blair reporting. This is NPR News.

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