NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-25-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

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On the ThruLine podcast from NPR, immigration enforcement might be more visible now, but this moment didn't begin with President Trump's second inauguration, or even his first. A series from ThruLine about how immigration became political and a cash cow. Listen to ThruLine in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Defense Secretary Pete Hagseth has ordered hundreds of generals and admirals to Quantico, Virginia next week. No details were provided about the meeting. The Pentagon confirmed the meeting today. It is highly unusual to bring in military leaders from across the globe to one central location.

It remains to be seen if the Justice Department will ask a grand jury to indict former FBI director James Comey. It has been widely reported. The DOJ is weighing the matter. President Trump raised Comey's name today. I think I'd be allowed to get involved if it want, but I don't really choose to do so. I can only say that Comey's a bad person. He's a sick person. I think he's a sick guy, actually. He did terrible things at the FBI.

But I don't know. I have no idea what's going to happen. A few days ago, Trump appeared to call on the Attorney General for action against Comey and others. The president addressed reporters today as he was hosting Turkish president, Recepai, Bairdawan. A new report from Democratic lawmakers says President Trump's cost-cutting commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, is putting Americans' data at risk. Here's NPR's Jeff Brumfield. The report says Doge has created, quote, unprecedented privacy and cybersecurity risks. As evidence, it points to a whistleblower claim that a copy of the nation's social security data was created exclusively for Doge employees.

The Social Security Administration says that copy exists within the agency's security. cloud and is not at risk. The report also says Doge employees operate outside of existing government cybersecurity rules and without appropriate oversight. Democrat Senator Gary Peters of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs led the effort. He says his staffers were repeatedly denied access to Doge workspaces within the agencies they are responsible for overseeing. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. In Gaza, hospitals are saying that 95 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across the territory over the past day. NPR Zanisbaba reports 40 of these individuals who were killed were in areas Israel's militaries

instructing people to flee to for safety. One of Israel's airstrikes killed 13 displaced people who were sheltering in attending campments. That's according to Al-Aksa Hospital where the victims were taken. In Gaza City, health officials say Israeli shilling and bombardment forced several hospitals to stop all services this week. Israel's military says it struck 170 Hamas target across Gaza over the past day. But in Gaza City, attacks have hit neighborhoods where many civilians still reside. Rescue teams say a woman buried under rubble who had been bleeding for help on the phone for three days. Has not been found.

Her home was bombed the second time while she was waiting to be rescued. Anas Baba, NPR News, Gaza City. From Washington, this is NPR News. Former French President Nicola Sarkozy has been sentenced in Paris to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy, and he called today's ruling a scandal. Sarkozy is accused of trying to use Libyan funds to finance his 2007 campaign. The French court has also convicted two of Sarkozy's former ministers. Jailed hip-hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs and his attorneys were back in a New York City courtroom today to argue that his conviction should be overturned. In July, a federal jury found Combs guilty on two counts of interstate transportation for the purposes of prostitution.

The judge says he'll rule soon on whether to toss out the charges or move forward with sentencing set for next week. A trio of spacecraft are on a mission to track space weather after a launch from Florida Space Coast yesterday. Central Florida public media's Brennan has details. The missions will study the sun's solar winds, a continuous stream of particles that create the northern. lights. They're also a significant source of radiation in space, which could negatively affect satellites in orbit or are power grids here on Earth. The three spacecraft, operated by NASA and NOAA, will help track and forecast these space weather events. NASA's head of science, Nikki Fox says, along with helping us here on Earth, the spacecraft will help keep astronauts

safe on missions to the moon and beyond. It's going to be providing really critical data to let us know about the radiation environments that our astronauts are traveling through. The spacecraft were launched on SpaceX's Falconine rocket. Just hours. after liftoff, NASA confirmed all three are operating as planned. For NPR News, I'm Brendan Byrne in Orlando. The Dow is down 315 points. It's NPR News.