NPR News: 09-12-2025 2AM EDT

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens.

A manhunt continues for the gunman who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he addressed a crowd at Utah Valley University.

The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox says investigators are analyzing forensic evidence taken from the crime scene, but need the public's help.

We cannot do our job without the public's help right now.

The public has answered our call for action.

So far, we've received more than 7,000 leads and tips.

I would just note that the FBI hasn't received this many digital media tips from the public since the Boston marathon bombing.

Cox is also urging the public to ignore social media messages designed to trigger outrage and violence.

The creators of animated series South Park have removed a recent episode from broadcast rotation because it parodied Charlie Kirk.

More from NPR's Andrew Limbaugh.

Comedy Central reruns South Park in the early morning hours, and it's set to air episode one from the most recent season and and episode three.

Episode two, however, titled Got a Nut, features the character Cartman turning into a Charlie Kirk-esque online debater.

I have my arguments down rock solid.

These young college girls are totally unprepared, so I can just destroy them and also edit out all the ones that actually argue back well.

When it came out, Charlie Kirk was a good sport about the episode.

Here's how Kirk reacted to it on his own show.

I personally, I think a lot of it was hilarious towards me.

I think

some of it was very funny.

The episode is still available to stream on Paramount Plus and Comedy Central on Demand.

Andrew Limbong and Pierre News.

The trial of Ryan Ruth has begun in Fort Pierce, Florida, where he's charged with five counts stemming from the attempted assassination of President Trump last year.

Ruth was arrested by a Secret Service agent who says he saw the defendant holding a rifle at Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach.

Ruth is acting as his own attorney and faces life in prison if convicted.

Inflation rose last month, and NPR Scott Horsley has details on what that means for shoppers.

Consumers paid higher prices last month for groceries, gasoline, and other goods.

The overall cost of living in August was up 2.9 percent from a year ago.

That's a bigger annual jump than the previous month, and stubborn inflation may complicate the Federal Reserve's calculation as it considers cutting interest rates.

The central bank is still widely expected to lower its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point when policymakers meet next week.

The Fed's in a tight spot, though, as it faces both rising prices and a sagging job market.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

U.S.

futures are flat in after-hours trading on Wall Street.

Following Thursday's gains, the Dow Jones Industrials jumped 617 points.

The NASDAQ rose 157.

On Asian market, shares are higher.

This is NPR.

Hundreds of South Korean workers have returned home following detention in the U.S.

The Koreans were among 475 people arrested and detained during an ICE raid on on an auto plant in Folkestone, Georgia.

The arrests and images of the workers in shackles and chains sparked protests outside of the U.S.

Embassy in Seoul.

South Korea says that U.S.

officials agreed to release the workers without physical restraints and to grant them permission for return at a later date.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is considering several nominees for top jobs in the State Department, including oversight of the nation's refugee program.

As NPR's Michelle Kelleman reports, the Trump administration has drastically cut refugee admissions and is focusing mostly on white South Africans.

Andrew Viprick says the office he's been tapped to run, the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, has facilitated mass migration to the country.

That will not recur on my watch.

If confirmed, I will direct the Bureau to support the voluntary remigration of those who have no right to be in our country and support other countries that help us achieve our immigration enforcement goals.

Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, asked him about reports that the administration will resettle up to 60,000 people, nearly all of them white South Africans.

Viprick says President Trump is the one who made this group a priority in refugee admissions, though he wouldn't comment on the number reportedly being considered.

Michelle Kelleman, NPR News, the State Department.

Again, U.S.

futures are flat, and after hours trading, Asian markets are higher, up 1% in Hong Kong.

This is NPR News.

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