NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-27-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: November 27, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Federal prosecutors say the man accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House yesterday drove across the country from Washington State before carrying out the attack. FBI director Cash Patel says authorities are treating this as a coast-to-coast investigation. We will continue to hit the streets and hit every town and every house and talk to every witness. the men and women of the FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department and the Interagency to include the Department of Homeland Security, DEA and ATF, are working tirelessly on this Thanksgiving day. And I know just by talking to the leaders behind me that instead of going on and being with their families, everyone rogered up and showed up to work today. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia says the suspect, an Afghan national, will face federal terrorism charges.

hospital officials say both of the National Guard members are listed in critical condition. Leaked recordings of President Trump's special peace envoy speaking with a Russian official are raising new concerns in Ukraine. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports, Ukrainians consider Steve Witkoff a tool of the Kremlin rather than a neutral mediator. Transcripts of phone conversations revealed by Bloomberg show Whitkoff giving advice to Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy on how Putin should speak. speak with Trump. He says Putin should flatter Trump and compliment his recent Mideast Peace deal. As the head of one Ukrainian newspaper put it, teaching murderers how to talk to Trump.

Ukrainians already considered Whitkoff biased. He often spouts Kremlin talking points after visits to Moscow and has never visited Ukraine. In an interview six months ago with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, Whitkoff was unable to name the four Ukrainian provinces he said Ukraine should seed to Russia. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kiv. Many families in Texas. are facing their first Thanksgiving without loved ones after flooding on the 4th of July left at least 138 people dead. Houston Public Media's Dominic Anthony Walsh reports the community is still working to rebuild four months later.

18-year-old Chloe Childress was one of two counselors, along with 25 young girls, swept away from Camp Mystic, the century-old Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River. Her father, Matthew Childress, says the family. is creating new holiday traditions this year, leaving town instead of staying in with family. But there's always this sort of dark clouds sort of waiting for you, that reminder that, oh, yes, this happened. And this is something that we're stuck with that we can't escape. The ongoing state investigation of the floods and lawsuits against Camp Mystic make the grief hard to forget. I'm Dominic Anthony Walsh in Houston.

Stocks across Asia traded higher with Japan's NECA average at more than 600. points today. Wall Street is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. This is NPR News. Hong Kong's deadliest fire in years is still burning with at least 75 people dead and nearly 300 others missing. Fire crews have been pulling residents from two high-rise apartment buildings since the blaze broke out Wednesday. By early Thursday, the fire had spread through seven of the complex's eight buildings, forcing hundreds of residents to a evacuate. Police say three men have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. A group of military officers in Guinea-Bissau say they've taken control in the country. Michael Koloki reports from

Nairobi. The army officers appeared on the country's national television station on Wednesday and said they had ousted President Umaro Embalo and had shut the country's borders. Embalow had been vying for a second term in office during last weekend's presidential elections. The country's electoral commission was due to release the provisional poll results today. Earlier on Wednesday, gunfire was reported in parts of the country's capital Bissau. The United States mission to Guinea Bissau issued a security advisory calling on U.S. citizens in the country to seek secure shelter. The African Union and West African Regional Block ECOWAS issued a joint statement expressing deep concern over the coup announcement. Guinea Bissau has witnessed continued political

turmoil. There have been several coups in the country since it gained independence over five decades ago. For NPR News, Michael Kaluki in Nairobi. Heavy rains have triggered flooding and landslides in central Sri Lanka, killing at least 40 people. Rescue efforts are underway in the affected regions. Officials say reservoirs and rivers have overflowed, blocking many roadways. I'm Windsor Johnston, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.