NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-21-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: September 21, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Security is expected to be tight at today's public memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Arizona. Glendale Police Sergeant Brian Hoskin says officers will be out and force around the venue where the service is taking place. Our officers and personnel are very well prepared. We're always going to be vigilant and ready to go. Thousands of supporters will attend the memorial. President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and other top Republican leaders are scheduled to speak at the service. Steve Futterman is outside of State Farm Stadium, where people have been arriving there since midnight, local time. Right now, the streets are pretty jammed.

You see long lines of vehicles waiting to get inside. Some people have parked their cars maybe a quarter or half mile away and are walking to the stadium. Now, they expect between 60 to 70,000 people to fit inside the stadium. If they need more space, there's an arena across the street where the overflow crowd will be held. That's Steve Fetterman reporting from Glendale, Arizona. An influential advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made changes to vaccine policy at a two-day meeting last week. NPR's Ping Huang reports from Atlanta. The panel is handpaked by Health Security.

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and skews towards being critical of COVID vaccines. They voted to recommend that people consult with a medical provider before they get one. Panel member Retzf Levy, who led the discussions, wanted input on what people hear about the vaccines. Do we have a culture of safety? This has to do with acknowledging what the risks are and be truthful to parents and patients about what are the risks. The documented side effects are well known, fever, body aches, a rare risk of heart problems for young men. But the committee voted to add theoretical risks to a consumer information sheet, even though some of those harms have not been proven, despite billions of doses being given out.

Ping Huang and PR News. Several European airports are reporting delays because of a cyber attack that began on Friday night. The breach caused major disruptions at some of the busiest hubs. Terry Schultz reports the issue centered around the provider of check-in and boarding systems. The cyber attack on a software system made by Collins Aerospace, shut down automated check-in and boarding at airports, including London's Heathrow, Berlin's Brandenburg, and Brussels Airport. Dublin Airport was also impacted, along with Ireland's second biggest airport in Cork.

Airlines staff had to resort to paper and pen to fill out boarding cards, causing delays and cancellations. Brussels Airport asked airlines to cancel half their scheduled departing flights for Sunday. There's been no information released on who is responsible for the attack, and no word on when it might be resolved. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz. This is NPR. The Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funding from transit agencies in Boston and Chicago over concerns about crime and safety.

Jeremy Siegel of member station GBAH reports the warning came and a pair of letters sent by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. In his letters to the heads of Chicago's CTA and the MBTA in Boston, Duffy urged both agencies to quote, take action. that enhance safety and reduce crime or risk a loss of federal support. Jim Aloisi is the former head of Massachusetts State Transportation Department. He says it's a mostly empty threat. The day-to-day operations of the T or CTA are not funded at all by the federal government. So the threat of pulling that money is not existing because it doesn't exist. Still, Duffy is asking both agencies to turn over documents related to plans to reduce crime.

The move comes amid a broader federal effort to exert more control over transit hubs around the country. For NPR News, I'm Jeremy Siegel in Boston. President Trump has nominated Senior White House aide Lindsay Halligan as the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia. She'll replace Eric Siebert, who stepped down on Friday shortly after Trump called for his removal. Seabert had been pressured by the White House, to bring charges in a mortgage fraud investigation involving the New York Attorney General. I'm Windsor Johnston, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.