NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-19-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi saying. Hours after the U.S. House approved legislation on largely partisan lines that funds federal agencies through November 21st, the U.S. Senate failed to advance the bill. NPR's Dieter-Walsh reports of prospects of a shutdown are increasing. The Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed to advance a stopgap funding bill. Two Republicans and all but one Democrat opposed the bill the House had just approved. An alternative Democratic proposal also failed. House Speaker Mike Johnson says the Democrats pushed to add an extension of health care subsidies to the package was a non-starter and says they should be blamed if the government shuts down. If they choose to vote against this clean, completely nonpartisan CR, then they will be choosing to shut the government down and they will owe the consequences of what happens following that.

Both the House and Senate are scheduled to be on recess next week. In less, the two chambers agree on a funding deal, a shutdown could start on October 1st. Deirdre Walsh, NPR News, the Capitol. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Panel that advises the government on vaccines will delay its vote on hepatitis B vaccinations following heated debate during a two-day meeting. The members of this group were selected by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long questioned the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Elaine Chen is a reporter for our partners at Stap, the Health and M. medicine publication. The current schedule for hepatitis B is that the first dose is given to newborns at birth in the hospital, but the group was considering recommending that this first

dose be delayed to one month, and specifically for children born to mothers who test negative for hepatitis B. And many experts that we talked to were very concerned with this. Elaine Chen speaking with NPR. Now to Gaza City where staff at the main morgue say at least 50 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours. Israeli forces are also operating in the South. And Pierre Zanis Baba reports in military says four soldiers were killed yesterday in Gaza but offered no further details. That's the sound of Israeli warplanes bombing Gaza City with at least 16 missiles back to back. The intense bombardments came without warning. Israel has ordered all of Gaza City's residents to leap south as its troops make a push for

the center, but hundreds of thousands of people remain. Many say they have no place to go. Others do not have the thousands of dollars it coast to move south, and some families fled but returned to Gaza City, citing any humane conditions in the south. The offensive on Gaza City comes as 14 countries at the UN Security Council voted in support for an immediate ceasefire. Anas Baba and PR News, Gaza City. On social media, President Trump says he'll be hosting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House next Thursday to talk. talk about trade and military deals. This is NPR News.

In Florida, prosecutors are presenting their final witness today in the case against Ryan Ruth, the man charged with trying to assassinate then-candidate then-candidate Donald Trump last year. Here's NPR's Greg Allen. FBI supervisory special agent Kimberly McGreevy spent hours on the stand detailing data from cell phones and surveillance cameras. The evidence, she says, shows that Ryan Ruth was in Palm Beach County from mid-August until September 15th.

when he was arrested, in her words, stalking the former president. She showed evidence that Ruth made repeated visits to Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach. McGrivia also detailed Ruth's alleged purchase of the SKS-style rifle seized at the golf course by federal agents and his attempt to buy a more powerful weapon, a 50-caliber rifle. Acting as his own lawyer, Ruth is scheduled to begin his defense case Monday. Greg Allen, NPR News, Ford Pierce, Florida. A top South Korean official says his country will not yet deliver on the investments it pledged to the U.S. until it is satisfied a dispute over visas is resolved. And peers Anthony Kuhn reports.

Since immigration authorities raided a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia this month, detaining more than 300 Korean workers, South Korea has requested a new visa category for its skilled workers. Cho-Hun is South Korea's foreign minister. Resolving the visa issue is not a precondition for investments in the U.S., but realistically speaking, it's a very important issue, Cho told reporters. President Trump has confirmed the need for Korean workers to come to the U.S. to build factories and train American workers. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. The Dow is now up 165 points. This is NPR News.

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