NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-15-2026 1AM EDT

Episode Date: September 15, 2026

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Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. Two Senate Democrats, including minority leader Chuck Schumer, released a nearly 30-page anonymous whistleblowers account Monday, alleging that the Trump administration's Homeland Security Department may have violated state laws in an effort to find non-citizen voters. The DHS whistleblower warns the department that the department is pulling hundreds, hundreds of federal agents from national security roles in sending them on a wild goose chaf,

the goal to try and prove Trump's sad, tired, and long-debunked election conspiracy theories. The whistleblower report says the effort has been a rushed process that has not taken state law into account. In a statement to NPR, a DHS spokesperson, said the Department access publicly available data from state voter rolls and that the effort is an easy step to secure elections. Senator Schumer and Senator Alex Padilla made the whistle.

Whistleblowers claims public on the same day that the Supreme Court rejected President Trump's push for new restrictions on mail ballots for the midterm election. The Postal Service, a financial supporter of NPR, is now expected to continue delivering mail ballots as usual. The Environmental Protection Agency says it will no longer cap greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas plants. Houston Public Media's Natalie Weber reports on the rollback of Biden-era rules. The Biden administration sought to limit climate change-inducing emissions from power plants. At the time, the EPA said this sector accounted for the second highest amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin lauded the rollbacks at a press conference in Houston, saying the Biden administration overstepped its authority. Today's announcement isn't just about restoring the American economy. It's also about restoring the rule of law. Several environmental organizations have criticized the EPA's move, saying it will negatively impact the climate and public health. For NPR news, I'm Nadley Weber in Houston. Reporting from ProPublica finds that a Russian oligarch with ties to the Kremlin

spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the wedding of President Trump's son, Don Jr., back in May. NPR Salina Moore reports. According to ProPublica, Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev financed sizable portions of Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding to socialite Bettina Anderson, including renting out a private island for the reception. NPR has not independently verified this reporting, but the finding has sparked worry among national security experts,

given Kremlin's close link to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson defended their wedding festivities in a statement on social media, saying the celebration followed a private ceremony where only family was present, describing Kremlin's spending as, quote, an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend. Elena Moore, NPR News. This is NPR News.

President Trump is calling new warnings from tech leaders about artificial intelligence a hoax, saying Monday on social media that any effort to limit the technology is, in his words, a sick conspiracy. Trump is pushing back against calls by industry leaders at Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft, and others for greater AI regulation, saying the U.S. is leading China and the only guardrails AI needs is a strong. and smart president. European leaders condemning a Russian drone strike on a Ukrainian train that's used by EU diplomats traveling to and from Kiev. NPR Zellner Beardsley reports.

A video of the drone exploding as passengers run away along the station platform is playing on French TV. No one was hurt, but European officials had just taken the previous train on the same line. Analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin's provocations of Europe are getting bolder and more frequent. France's foreign minister Jean-Nuel Barreau told News Network LCI, the goading won't work. By striking a train a few hundred meters from the border of the EU and NATO, he's looking to intimidate and divide Europe, but nothing will make us abandon our strategy of supporting Ukraine, said Barrow, adding that Putin's strategies had only pushed Sweden and Finland to join NATO.

Eleanor Beardsley and Pierre News, Paris. Supply concerns amid the fighting in the Middle East. East is keeping oil prices elevated. Brent crude, the international standard, now trading above $107 a barrel with U.S. West Texas intermediate futures above $103 per barrel. This is NPR.