NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-22-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: September 22, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Trump is openly directing the Justice Department to go after his political adversaries. In recent days, Trump singled out a New York state official, a California senator, and a former FBI director as targets for prosecution. That's adding to a sense of unease inside the Justice Department, as NPR's Carrie Johnson explains. The DOJ is operated with a measure of independence from the White House. That is not happening now, and people inside justice are afraid. Stacey Young used to work there. Now she runs a group to help Department of Justice employees called Justice Connection.

This Attorney General sent a memo on day one that made it clear that Justice Department lawyers were the president's lawyers. And we are now seeing how that's playing out and how dangerous it is. After all, Stacey Young says if the president's willing to fire a prosecutor for not pursuing his enemies, anybody at the Justice Department could get fired. and some lawyers have already quit because they're worried about crossing ethical lines and about how DOJ is being used as a weapon against Trump's enemies. NPR's Carrie Johnson reporting, artificial intelligence leaders Open AI and NVIDIA say they're forging a strategic partnership to build up computing power for AI development. NPR's John Rewish reports.

The agreement is a letter of intent to form a partnership at this point, but the proposed buildout is huge. The statement says the partnership would enable Open AI to build and deploy. at least 10 gigawatts of AI data centers using Nvidia systems. That's enough electricity to power millions of homes. Invidia says it intends to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI as the computing power is deployed. OpenAI runs the popular chatbot chat GPT, and Nvidia makes the world's most coveted chips for AI development. Several big U.S. tech firms are developing multi-gigawatt data centers for AI development, pouring money into what many see as a race to dominate a key technology of the future. John Rewitch, NPR News.

The man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump when he was running for president last year, rested his case today. Ryan Ruth is representing himself in court and is pleaded not guilty. NPR's Greg Allen reports, Ruth presented just three witnesses. Prosecutors presented 38 witnesses who detailed what they say was Ruth's assassination attempt against the then-presidential candidate while he was golfing at his West Palm Beach Club. Ruth's main defense witness, a former Marine sniper, testified that when he test fired the SKS-style, rifle left at the scene several months later, it malfunctioned. Prosecutors attributed that to the effects of acid used by investigators to recover the guns obliterated serial numbers. When Ruth asked

his witness whether the rifle would be able to hit a target 375 yards away, the former Marine sniper said, depending on the skill of the shooter, yes. Greg Allen, NPR News, Fort Pierce, Florida. U.S. stocks set more record highs today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 66 points to 46,381. This is NPR. The White House says it's standing behind borders are Tom Homan following bribery allegations. MSNBC and the New York Times reported Homan had accepted $50,000 from undercover agents posing as business people during an undercover FBI operation last year. NPR has not independently verified the allegations. The Trump administration shut down the investigation.

The White House says the encounter was an effort by the Biden administration to entrap one of the president's top allies. Rivers and streams in the U.S. are increasingly experiencing heat waves. NPR's Nate Rot reports a new study finds those hotter water temperatures are threatening wildlife, water quality, and food production. We're all familiar with air heat waves, which are increasing in intensity, frequency, and duration as the global climate warms. The new study, published in the journal PNAS, found that it's even worse for rivers, where heat waves are accelerating faster and lasting nearly twice as long as those in the air. Rising river temperatures are dangerous for many aquatic species, particularly for cold-blooded fish like salmon and trout. They also raise

the cost of treating water for human consumption and can cause toxic algae blooms. The researchers say their findings suggest the trend is likely happening worldwide. Nate Roth, NPR News. A Seattle seafood distributor is recalled more shrimp sold at Kroger grocery stores because of potential radioactive contamination. The Food and Drug Administration issued a safety alert in August. Officials say the risk is small, but the shrimp could pose health concerns. From Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. This is NPR News.