NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-19-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: September 20, 2025

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On the TED Radio Hour podcast, Astro Teller leads Alphabet's secret lab behind successful projects like self-driving cars and high-profile flops like Google Glass. We were too, too early in that case. The CEO of Alphabet's Moonshot Factory on innovation and getting the timing right. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. For the third time this month, the U.S. military has destroyed a boat the White House claims was smuggling drugs from South America. Imperial Lawrence reports three people on board were killed. President Trump announced on social media that he had ordered a deadly strike on what he called

a vessel affiliated with a designated terrorist organization conducting narco-trafficking. Trump added in all caps, stop selling fentanyl, narcotics, and illegal drugs in America. U.S. Southern Command referred all questions about the attack to the White House. House. In the two previous lethal strikes this month, the boats had left from Venezuela, a country where a small amount of mostly cocaine transits to the U.S. The vast majority of fentanyl comes from Mexico. The White House has not provided detailed briefings to Congress on the subject, and some lawmakers from both sides of the aisle say these strikes amount to execution without trial. Quill Lawrence NPR News. The crackdown on critics of slaying

conservative activist Charlie Kirk has ignited a debate about free speech. President Trump today complained that news networks overwhelmingly report bad news about him, saying that's illegal. When you have networks that give somebody 97% bad publicity or 94% bad publicity, I think that's dishonesty. He also praised the FCC chair for pressuring ABC to indefinitely suspend comedian Jimmy Kimmel for his comments about Kirk. ABC, owned by Disney, already paid Trump $15 million. to settle a defamation lawsuit, and CBS News paid $16 million over a 60-minute interview with presidential candidate Harris. Democrats and some Republicans are pushing back, and Pierce Tamara Keith has more.

One really interesting thing here is there has been some dissent from conservatives. Ted Cruz, the Republican senator, said that the FCC commissioner's threats were dangerous as hell and like something right out of Goodfellas, the mob movie. You know, when the FCC chairman says we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way, it's not hard to tell what he wants to happen. And Pierce Tamara Keith. The Senate today failed to advance bills passed by the House to fund the federal government as a shutdown looms. Senate Majority Leader John Thune says Democrats are dragging out a process they know they won't succeed in.

They're trying to use what they think is leverage to get a bunch of stuff done. That's never going to happen. I mean, can you imagine anything in that bill that they sent it? that we voted down today passing in the Republican House of Representatives? Absolutely not. It's just not serious. They're not being serious. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says if a shutdown happens, it would be the Republicans' fault. Now that it's clear that neither bill will get the 60 votes that the Senate needs, it's time to negotiate. The theater must end.

You're listening to NPR News. The federal court says the Trump has, the Trump administration can't start withholding billions of dollars from a group of states that refused to turn over the personal data of food assistance recipients. And Pierce Jude Jaffe Block reports the legal fight isn't over. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is requiring states turn over sensitive information about people have received federal food assistance over the last five years from the program known as SNAP. At least 23 states complied, turning over the names, social security numbers, addresses, and other data about SNAP recipients. But other states in the District of Columbia refused,

many of which joined together to sue the USDA, alleging the data demand is unlawful. USDA then threatened to take away significant funds from states that didn't comply. But a federal judge in San Francisco has ruled the federal agency cannot withhold funding from states that sued as the case proceeds. Jude Jaffe Block, NPR News. President Trump signed an executive order today, creating a new expedited visa, a so-called Trump gold card for people willing to pay $1 million to enter the U.S. or be sponsored by their company for $2 million. His administration claims it would add more than $100 billion to the U.S. Treasury. Trump also signed an executive order today announcing a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa holders. Those are the highly skilled tech worker

programs that's widely used in Silicon Valley. Both moves will likely face legal challenges. All Street hire by the closing bell, the Dow up 172 points. I'm Janine Herb's NPR News in Washington. 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 C's apply.