NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-18-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

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On the ThruLine podcast from NPR, immigration enforcement might be more visible now, but this moment didn't begin with President Trump's second inauguration, or even his first. A series from ThruLine about how immigration became political and a cash cow. Listen to ThruLine in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Turning Point USA has named Charlie Kirk's widow, Erica Kirk, as its new CEO and chair of the board. In a statement, the nonprofit says it's fulfilling a wish that its co-founder expressed to multiple executives in the event of his death. The right-wing activist was assassinated last week in Utah. He was 31.

Turning Point USA has said it will continue his work advocating conservative principles. It continues its American comeback tour today, Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Colorado Public Radio's Tony Gorman reports. There will be a visual for Kirk at Canvas Stadium in place of events that were previously scheduled. Some CSU students like Nick Nye say they remain concerned with security after the conservative activist was gunned down on the campus of Utah Valley University last week.

I think it is an eye opener and it shows a lot of potential for like scary things to happen. So yeah, I think it's concerning. but I also don't feel like there's much chance that it gets better for security. The university officials said some student groups and external organizations had planned unrelated memorials, but they were asked to move their activities to the stadium. For NPR News, I'm Tony Gorman in Denver. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood are accusing Disney-owned ABC of bowing to a censorship campaign that they say is targeting President Trump's most vocal detractors,

including late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. They're protesting ABC's decision to suspend Kimmel's late-night show indefinitely after he criticized the Republican response in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's killing, and quote, the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered him as anything other than one of them, end quote.

The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the president to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve's governing board. Move coming days after federal appeals court on a two-to-one vote, blocked President Trump from firing Cook, arguing that doing so would likely violate the Federal Reserve Act, which includes provisions designed to insulate the central bank from political pressure from the White House. Trump met with British Prime Minister Kirstarmer on the second day of his state visit to the United Kingdom. NPR's Michelle Kellerman says one of the topics was Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine and President Trump's frustration with Russian leader of Vladimir Putin.

You've had these incursions into Polish airspace of Russian drones. You've had the damage to the British Council in Kiev and the EU embassy, things that the Europeans thought were going to be off limits in Kiev. He said it's time to put pressure on Putin. You hear this frustration from Trump, but you don't hear any like, what is he going to do? NPR's Michelle Kellerman reporting. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 148 points. From Washington, this is NPR News. The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that it will partner with more than 40 conservative organizations to create educational civics content and programming ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

Here's NPR Sequoia Carrillo. Called the America 250 Civics Education Coalition, the project will be overseen by the Education Department and led by the America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit conservative organization. The group says its goals are to promote patriotism, civics education, and, quote, America's enduring values. The press release did not explain what kind of educational content it would provide over the next year. The federal government is prohibited by law from, quote, any direction, supervision, or control over curriculum in schools. But they did announce proposed speaker series on college campuses and promised more to come. Sequoia Carrillo, NPR News.

In Brazil, the lower house of Congress sought to fast-track an amnesty bill less than a week after former president, Jail Bolsonaro, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for trying to overthrow the government. His Julia Gardnero. The bill could propose to reduce the sentences or even pardon those who took part in the January 8 riots in Brasilia in 2023 and could benefit Bolsonaro. The former president was diagnosed with skin cancer on Wednesday. This adds to health issues resulting from the assassination attempt, Bolsonson. Sanaro suffered seven years ago. His health conditions could prevent him from serving time behind bars, remaining under house arrest. For NPR news, I'm Julia Carnero in Rio de Janeiro. This is NPR.