Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryan Barton, Luigi Mangione, the man ac...
United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the Midtown Manhattan sidewalk in 2024 pleaded guilty
“today to federal stalking charges, and also admitted to shooting in killing Thompson, as”
Imperial's Brian Man reports. Mangione, who's 28 years old, appeared today in what looked like a 10 prison uniform and his face showed no emotion and with Brian Thompson's family sitting right there in court, he voiced no remorse. I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died, Mangione said, "I knew what I was doing."
Under questioning by federal judge Margaret Garnett, Mangione described crafting a gun using a 3D printer, which he equipped with a silencer. Mangione did talk briefly about his motives. He said he experienced pain from a back injury, and he grew frustrated with America's healthcare and insurance systems.
NPR's Brian Man reporting, the Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration
are investing $5.3 billion in rail projects across the country.
From Member Station WVXU, Tana Weingartener reports, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
“made the announcement in Cincinnati's historic union terminal.”
With his voice echoing through the train stations, Rotunda, Duffy said the dollars will fund closing 30 grade crossings in upgrading more than 1,000 more. Nationally, there are more than 2,000 accidents a year, and 200 deaths a year at these accurate rail crossings. The funding will also pay for $43 new made in the U.S. Amtrak trains, and to overhaul 41
locomotives serving Amtrak's Midwest and Pacific routes. The money comes from previous administration grants to build high speed rail in California, which the Trump administration canceled last year. For NPR News, I'm Tana Weingartener in Cincinnati. Five years ago, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, vanquishing Western-backed Afghan
forces as U.S. forces withdrew nearly two decades after it first invaded, and here's D.A. Hadid reports. The Taliban's unexpectedly swift seizure of Afghanistan hastened the U.S. withdrawal, leading to thousands of Afghans trying to flee.
“Afghanistan is now far more peaceful, but desperately poor.”
Some half of the population of 40 million people need aid, millions are hungry, but the
U.S. and much of the West have dramatically reduced aid, and hundreds of Hellclinics have shudded this year, meaning women and babies are now more likely to die. The Taliban have imposed increasingly hard-line rules. Most girls cannot attend school after grade 6, cannot work in most professions, and have little right to leave a violent spouse.
According to the crisis, Iran and Pakistan have expelled some 6 million Afghans overwhelming services in an already devastated country. D.A. Hadid, NPR News. Americans unexpectedly cut their spending in July by the biggest drop since May 2025. That raises doubts about consumers who kept spending and powering the economy despite rising
daily expenses. It's NPR. A suspect has been arrested and will be charged in connection with putting bubbles in the fountain of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Melissa L. Ferris will be charged with depredation against property of the United States and destruction of veterans memorials,
the offenses carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison. At Big Ben National Park in Texas, federal contractors are bulldozing through a wildlife habitat as part of the Trump administration's plan for border security infrastructure. The work has prompted backlash as Carlos Morales reports. In this pocket of the Texas Mexico border, the latest plans from the federal government call
for vehicle barriers, surveillance technology and 200 miles of new patrol roads across the rugged and awe-inspiring terrain of Big Ben National Park. The Big Ben region as a whole sees the fewest illegal crossings in the state and the local advocacy group says within the National Park that number is even lower. Lake in Jordan is with the Center for Biological Diversity.
This is going to go down on the records of Governor Abbott, Senator Cornan, Senator Cruz as a heinous attack on the natural heritage of the Great State of Texas. Just this week, a group of over 40 Texas lawmakers, including a handful of Republicans, wrote to the Texas governor expressing their concern over the work happening within the National Park.
For NPR News, I'm Carlos Morales in Morphatexus. The Picasso Etching Print stolen from a Milwaukee Art Gallery in 2018 has been recovered. A Milwaukee landlord found it while cleaning out a vacant apartment. The stolen Torrero Etching is one of 30 known to exist signed by Picasso Milwaukee Police say the investigation is continuing.
This is NPR. Democrats are fighting for the future of their party. This week on the NPR Politics Podcast, we break down where the lines are being drawn between centrists and progressives, both sides have scored victories this primary season and both are certain that they will be more electable in November.
We'll catch you up on the key players and their pitches to voters.
