NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-18-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

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Do you have a question that no one in your life can help with? Something that makes the people around you go, yikes, what a weird question. Well, Freak, here on How to Do Everything, we want to help you out. Each week, we get fantastic experts to answer your questions. People like U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limone, bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, and rapper Rick Ross. Season two, just launched to go listen to How to Do Everything from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Steens. Three police officers are dead and two others are hospitalized in critical but stable condition after being gunned down in southern Pennsylvania.

The officers were following up on a domestic incident in North Cador's township when they were attacked. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro says the entire Commonwealth is devastated. This kind of violence isn't okay. We need to do better as a society. We need to help the people who think that picking up a gun, picking up a gun, picking up, a weapon is the answer to resolving disputes. We can do better when it comes to mental health. We need to do better when it comes to looking out for those who are in need. So we don't have to deal with tragedies like this. Authorities say the unidonified gunman who shot the officers is dead.

ABC has announced that its late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live has been suspended indefinitely. The move coming days after Kimmel made comments about the killing of conservative. activist Charlie Kirk. Steve Futterman has more. The Kimmel comments suggested that conservative groups in Kimmel's words were trying to score political points over Charlie Kirk's death. These are some of the comments. We hit some new lows over the weekend with the Maga Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from. In a brief written statement, ABC said that the show

will be preempted indefinitely. Just prior to the announcement, Next Star, which owns 200 TV stations, said it was taking Kimmel off of its 32 stations, which are ABC affiliates. Kimmel's comments have also been criticized by the chairman of the FCC. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. FBI director Cash Patel sparred with Democratic lawmakers again Wednesday, this time before House panel. Patel was grilled on why he has not release more documents on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee has defeated a Democratic proposal to subpoena the CEOs of four major global banks tied to Epstein. The Federal Reserve has cut its short-term borrowing rate by a quarter point. NPR's Maria Aspen has

details. The Fed has been keeping interest rates high to try to cool inflation, especially as President Trump adds tariffs to virtually all imports. But now, the central bank is also worried about hiring in the labor market, which you can try to shore up by lowering rates to stimulate spending. Trump has been pressuring the Fed to lower interest rates all year. This week, he succeeded in getting a close ally, Stephen Myron, onto the 12-person Fed Committee that votes to set borrowing costs. Myron was the only dissenting vote. He wanted a bigger rate cut.

Maria Aspen, NPR News, New York. This is NPR. Former CDC Director Susan Minar, as she was fired after refusing to pre-approved recommendations from a new vaccine panel set up by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. At a Senate hearing Wednesday, Menares said that Kennedy had dismissed data showing that existing vaccines are safe and efficient. She also warned that the American health care system is heading into a dangerous place. Menares was fired as head of the CDC last month after just 29 days in the job. A Chinese citizen journalist who reported some of the earliest COVID-19 stories from Wuhan is about to stand trial in Shanghai.

Ashish Valentine reports that she could face a sentence of up to five years in prison. The NGO, Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, says Zhang Jans will face the charge of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. It's a criminal offense frequently applied to journalists and activists, and it's the second time Zhang faces it. Zhang was first arrested in May 2020 after posting over 100 videos on social media in the early stages of the pandemic. She spent four years in prison and at times went on hunger strike. RSF says she nearly died and was force-fed through a nasal tube, and at times prison guards left her handcuffed for days. She was released in June last year, but re-arrested months later. For NPR News, I'm Ashish Valentine in Taipei.

higher in after-hours trading on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Asia-Pacific market shares are mixed. This is NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit wise.com. T's and Cs apply.