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- [00:01]
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Windsor Johnston
O.com Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Witnesses are describing moments of terror and courage during a mass shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis. This NPR's Vanessa Romo spoke with one woman who was there when gunfire blasted through the church's stained glass windows.
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Vanessa Romo
Mass had begun and the worshippers of Annunciation Church had just finished the psalm. You have searched me and you know me, Lord. When the first shots rang out, Kathryn Spandel, an alumni of the small Catholic school, was attending. She says she hid under the pews amid the gunfire. She reached for a familiar hand.
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Kathryn Spandel
As I lay there on the ground, I looked forward and the young woman, too, rose ahead, who is our pastoral minister for the church. She was facing me and we reached towards each other and we prayed the Hail Mary together and we were both crying.
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Vanessa Romo
Eight year old Fletcher Merkel, who was one of two students killed in the shooting, sat just four pews ahead of Spandel. At least 18 other parishioners, a majority of them children, were injured. Vanessa Romo, NPR News Vice President JD.
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Windsor Johnston
Vance is defending the administration's federal crackdown on crime in US Cities. Speaking in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Thursday, Vance said President Trump wants cities to invite the government in to help.
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J.D. Vance
What the president has said is that very simply we want governors and mayors to ask for the help. The president of the United States is not going out there forcing this on anybody, though we do think that we have the legal right to clean up America's streets if we want to. But what the president has said is very simply, why don't you invite us in?
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Windsor Johnston
Vance says that effort could target cities like Chicago and Milwaukee. He also praised the administration's weeks long federal takeover of Washington, DC's police department and other institutions including Union Station. A federal judge is ordering a new trial for three former police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, convicted of crimes in the beating death of motorist Tyre Nichols. Christopher Blank, with member station WKNO reports that newly unsealed documents reveal an appearance of judicial bias.
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Christopher Blank
The motion for a new trial revealed why federal Judge Mark Norris recused himself from the case just days before sentencing in June after one of his law clerks was shot during a robbery. Shortly after the verdict, Norris suspected a defendant had been involved. He told a federal investigator that the Memphis Police Department was, quote, infiltrated to the top with gang members. Norris's replacement, U.S. district Judge Cheryl Lippman, said the risk of bias was too high and granted a new trial. The three former officers had been found guilty of some, but not all federal charges related to beating Tyre Nichols after a 2023 traffic stop. He later died from his injuries. For NPR News, I'm Chr. Christopher Blank in Memphis.
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Windsor Johnston
This is NPR News. In Washington, Millions of Americans are expected to travel over the Labor Day weekend. The Transportation Security Administration says more than 17 million passengers are expected to pass through security checkpoints at airports. Eixa Diaz is with aaa.
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Eixa Diaz
They want to go to Seattle, Orlando, New York City, Miami, Las Vegas, Denver. Those are the top destinations and you're going to be paying more if you want to go.
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Windsor Johnston
Hitting the road. Good news at the gas pump, prices are slightly lower than they were this time last summer. Best Buy, Dollar General and Dick's Sporting Goods say Americans are still shopping despite rising prices due to tariffs. NPR's Alina Selyuk reports. The retailers describe their customers as being resilient.
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Alina Selyuk
Big retail chains have been acknowledging that some prices are rising because of new tariff costs on virtually all imports. But big stores and their suppliers have also been absorb many of those costs. So price increases for shoppers have so far been sporadic and surgical. As Dick's Sporting Goods executives put it. That chain is actually raising its financial forecast for the year, as it says people are visiting more often and spending more when they do. Dollar General says it also has raised some prices, but so far, people across all income brackets are still shopping more than before. And Best Buy says shoppers are hunting for deals and discounts, but still willing to spend more on big ticket items when needed. Alina Seluk, NPR News.
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Windsor Johnston
On Wall Street, Dow futures are trading lower at this hour. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News, in Washington.
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