NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-23-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Donald Trump now says Ukraine could end up winning back all of its territory currently occupied by Russia. NPR's Mara Liason reports. It appears to be a 180-degree reversal in Trump's view of the war in Ukraine. After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations, Trump posted on social media that he now thinks Ukraine, backed by the EU and NATO, could win back all its territory. Previously, Trump had said that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine would involve Russia keeping parts of Ukraine that it took by force.

Now he says Russia looks like a paper tiger that is in big economic trouble. What remains to be seen is whether Trump will put meaningful sanctions on Russia or give Ukraine the weapons it needs to win the war. Mara Liason, NPR News. President Trump canceled a White House meeting with top Democratic leaders initially planned for Thursday. NPR's Deirdre Walsh reports the prospects for a show. government shutdown are rising. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said they planned to push for measures to lower health care costs as part of a government funding deal. But in a post on his social media platform, the president called the demands

from Democrats unsurious and ridiculous and said no meeting could be productive. The House approved an extension of current funding levels until November 21st, but the measure failed to advance in the Senate. Without any negotiations, a potential shutdown could start October 1st. Jeffrey says the president chickened out. The president left the door open to a future meeting if Democrats shift their demands. Deirdre Walsh and PR News. Jimmy Kimmel Live is back on ABC tonight. In the meantime, FCC chair Brendan Carr is applauding local TV stations for pushing ABC to take Kimmel off the air last week Over comments he made about Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin. In a post on X, Carr says local TV stations, not national programmers, quote, have public interest obligations.

Roughly a quarter of the country's ABC broadcast affiliates still won't be showing Kimmel's return. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports. Broadcaster Next Star, which operates 32 ABC stations around the country, said in a statement today that it's waiting on assurance that, quote, all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful constructive dialogue in the markets we serve. Now, Next Star was the first to Paul Kimmel's show last week after the chair of the FCC took issue with how Kimball spoke about the suspect in Charlie Cook's murder. But it's important to note that Next Star is in the middle of a major merger.

It's waiting on FCC approval to acquire Tegna, which also owns TV stations around the country. And also there's this other broadcasting group, Sinclair, which says it's still going to preempt the show. It's got stations of 30 markets. And the company said yesterday, it's still. in discussions with ABC about the show's potential return. NPR's Chloe Veltman reporting. This is NPR News.

Arizona voters are choosing a replacement for late Democratic Congressman Rahul Griehlva during a special election today. The frontrunner is his daughter Adelita Griehlva, also a Democrat. She says if she wins, she'll sign on to a petition to force a vote on whether to release the Epstein files. The petition is bipartisan support, but is one signature short of getting a vote. Griehalva would be eligible to add her name to the petition as soon as she's sworn into office. Roughly 1.3 billion people around the globe are currently living with uncontrolled high blood pressure.

That's according to a new report by the World Health Organization, NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports. High blood pressure is the leading cause of many health problems, including heart attacks, stroke, and dementia. Each year, it claims more than 10 million lives around the world. Here's Leanne Riley of the World Health Organization. So the human and economic cost is just immense. In many of those countries, the majority of people aren't currently able to access adequate treatment, the report found. In economic terms, the WHO estimates hypertension health effects and deaths have cost these countries an estimated $3.7 trillion since 2011. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News.

Acclaimed Italian actor Claudia Cardinali has died at the age of 87. She starred in over 100 films, becoming famous for roles like Federico Fellini's 8.5 and Sergio Leone's once upon a time in the West. Cardinali began her career at age 17 after winning a beauty contest in Tunisia. From Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. This is NPR News.