NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-23-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Koura Coleman, the UN General Assembly opens this hour in New York. President Trump is expected to address delegates later this morning. One topic sure to come up is the recognition of a Palestinian state by several U.S. allies. They include Canada, Australia, France, and the U.K. Riyadh Mansour is the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. This is historic. This is an accumulation of so many things, especially when countries like France, UK, and the others to recognize the state of Palestine. It's an investment in peace and saving the

state solution. Israel has condemned the recognition of a Palestinian state, saying this only helps Hamas. The Secret Service says it's dismantled a network of electronic devices in the New York area. These were sophisticated and could have significantly disrupted emergency communications. That includes for the UN General Assembly meeting getting underway in New York. President Trump has signed an executive order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. And Pierre's Odette Yousaf reports. Antifa is shorthand for anti-fascist. It is described as a decentralized far-left movement or ideology.

Jason Blasakis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies says the domestic terrorist designation represents a first and that it may run into trouble. First, Antifa is not a structured group. and the U.S. government has a definition of domestic terrorism but does not have the legal authorities to designate entire organizations as domestic terrorist groups. Under U.S. law, groups with foreign operations may be formally sanctioned as terrorist organizations. Blasakis said no such process exists for purely domestic groups because of the risk of infringing on First Amendment freedoms. Odette Yusef, NPR News. The talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live returns tonight. less than a week after ABC suspended it indefinitely. ABC's parent company, Disney, said it acted

following comments that Kimmel made after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Steve Futterman reports Kimmel's colleagues are elated. On late-night TV last night, there was celebration. Our friend Jimmy Kimmel will be back on the air. Seth Myers told his audience on NBC, Stephen Colbert told those watching his show on CBS. Our long national late nightmare is over. Five days after Kimmel was indefinitely suspended ABC and Disney reverse course, and tonight Kimmel will be back. In a statement, Disney said its decision last week was to avoid further inflaming a tense situation.

However, the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns ABC affiliates in 30 markets, says it will not broadcast the Kimmel show. Sinclair says talks with ABC are ongoing. For NPR news, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. This is NPR. Danish police are investigating who flew two or three very large drones over Copenhagen Airport last night for hours. They were so large they couldn't be shot down. Police said there were too many nearby passengers. Denmark's prime minister says this is the most serious attack yet on Danish critical infrastructure.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris kicks off her nationwide book tour tomorrow. and Pierre's deepest shiverum reports the book 107 days chronicles her run for the White House last year. The memoir is written candidly as Harris recalls chaotic and frustrating moments from the campaign, including a call with Biden right before Harris was headed out to the debate stage where she says the president spoke at length about himself and questioned her loyalty. She also writes about her own running mate selection process, revealing that her first choice was actually former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, But she didn't think America would support a ticket with a black woman president,

a Jewish first gentleman, and a gay vice president. Harris' book tour is scheduled through November and also includes international stops in London and Toronto. Deepa Chivaram and PR News. The Educational Group, UNCF, formerly the United Negro College Fund, says it has received a donation of $70 million. It's from philanthropist McKenzie Scott. Officials with UNCF say the money will be used

to bolster the financial health of 37 private, historically black colleges and universities. McKenzie Scott was formerly married to Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News, from Washington.