NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-27-2025 7AM EST

Episode Date: November 27, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Two National Guard members who were shot blocks from the White House yesterday remain in critical condition. President Trump calls it an act of terror. The Department of Homeland Security says the suspect is a 29-year-old immigrant from Afghanistan who came to the U.S. when Kabul fell to the Taliban. Officials say he was wounded and is in custody. There's no word on a motive. The presence of the National Guard in cities around the country has drawn criticism. And Pierce Kat Lonsdorf has more. There have been more than 2,000 National Guard troops in D.C. from several states since August when Trump ordered the deployment over concerns about the city's crime rate. This has been part

of a pattern of Trump deploying the National Guard to Democratic-led cities around the country, often against the wishes of local governors and authorities. And, you know, D.C. is unique. Unlike in the 50 states, the president has the authority to deploy the National Guard in D.C. And Pierce Kat Lonsdorf, Trump says he's ordering an additional 500 troops to the nation's capital. The Georgia criminal case against President Trump and more than a dozen of his allies over their efforts to overturn the 2020 election result is officially over. NPR Sam Greenglass reports a state judge dismissed the case in its entirety yesterday after a special prosecutor moved to drop all charges. The prosecution was the last outstanding criminal case against the president after a pair of federal prosecutions were dropped earlier this year. In 2023, a grand jury in Fulton County charged Trump and 18 others in a sweeping racketeering case, spurred in part by Trump's call to Georgia's Secretary of State asking him to find votes. Pete Scandalakis, director of the state prosecuting attorneys counsel, took over the case after a court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fawney Willis over an alleged. conflict of interest stemming from an improper relationship with a special prosecutor.

Scandalacus found that the alleged criminal conduct was conceived in Washington, D.C., writing the federal government is the appropriate venue for this prosecution. Sam Gringlass, NPR News. Millions are traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, and Pierce Joel Rose reports, it's a big test for the U.S. aviation system. At Ronald Reagan, Washington National Airport, many travelers said they were pleasantly surprised to find manageable lines and few delays. Patrice and David Lombardo flew in from Savannah, Georgia.

I'm so surprised how well it's going. Amazing. We're prepared to be unhappy, and we're not. There were a few signs of the staffing shortages of air traffic controllers that caused disruptions during the government shutdown. But there were some weather-related problems, as a major storm caused delays at airports in the Twin Cities and Chicago. Airlines for America, an industry trade group, says airlines will carry more than 31 million passengers

during the Thanksgiving travel season. Joel Rose, NPR News, Arlington, Virginia. You're listening to NPR News. Well, it is Thanksgiving, and for millions of Americans, that means buying, cooking, and eating a lot of food. And Pierce Jacqueline Diaz reports it also means tons of food waste. Thanksgiving is the biggest day for food waste in the U.S. That's according to the Natural Resources Defense Fund, an Environmental Advocacy Group. Roughly 200 million pounds of turkey meat are thrown out every year.

But food waste is a year-round problem. Ted Janicki is a professor at Penn State who studies this problem. If food waste were its own country, then it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. Those emission figures are from all stages of the food system, from farm to landfill. Food tossed into landfills piles up, breaks down, and produces methane, a greenhouse gas. But there are things we can do. including composting food and freezing leftovers. Jacqueline Diaz, NPR News.

A U.S.-Russia crew is on their way to the International Space Station after launching from the Russian Space Facility in Kazakhstan this morning. The Soyuz rocket is carrying NASA astronaut, Chris Williams, along with two Russian crewmates, Sergei Mikhailov and Sergei Kudskvvvv. They're expected to spend about eight months at the orbiting outpost, where they will join seven others. who are already there, conducting scientific research and exploration. NASA says it's the first space flight for Williams and also for Mikhail.

I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.