NPR News: 07-26-2025 4AM EDT

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What is President Trump’s agenda during his Scotland trip and could it lead to a new trade deal?

Dale Willman 0:01

Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. President Trump is in Scotland this weekend where he'll visit two of his golf courses and meet with European officials to discuss trade. Trump says it's possible he may return home with a significant trade agreement in hand.

Donald Trump 0:14

With the uh European Union, I think we have a good fifty fifty chance. That's a lot. Well what are the sticking points that you Well I don't want to tell you what the sticking points are, but the sticking points are having to do with uh maybe uh twenty different things. You don't want to listen to all of 'em.

Dale Willman 0:30

Trump's visit is being met with protests across the country and there are complaints about the cost to local police departments to protect Trump. Security for a similar visit in twenty eighteen cost about nineteen million dollars. Three Justice Department workers who were fired this month are now suing over their terminations.

Why are three former Justice Department employees suing over their dismissals?

Dale Willman 0:48

As MPR's Carrie Johnson reports, they allege violations of due process.

Carrie Johnson 0:52

Joseph Terrell led the Justice Department's ethics office for years until he was fired without warning this month. Michael Gordon served as a federal prosecutor in DC and Florida with outstanding performance reviews until he was let go. Batty Hartman worked as a public affairs officer, writing press releases about cases involving the Capitol riot. Now all three are suing Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ, alleging violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and simple due process. Their attorney, Abby Lowell, says they were terminated for political reasons, and the new case is about protecting the integrity of the legal system. The Justice Department did not give reasons for the firing site.

Carrie Johnson 1:30

presenting only the president's authority under the Constitution. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

Dale Willman 1:35

Deadly rainstorms in Texas this month lifted much of that state out of severe drought.

How are recent Texas rainstorms affecting drought‑stricken water supplies?

Dale Willman 1:40

As Mos Bouchel from Member Station KUT reports, some areas are watching water supplies rise to levels not seen in years.

Unknown 1:49

This spring, the reservoirs that supplied the city of Austin were half empty. They are now around ninety five percent full. John Hoffman is VP of Water for the Lower Colorado River Authority that manages those reservoirs. He says it's not uncommon in this part of the state, known as Flash Flood Alley, for droughts to be broken by otherwise catastrophic storms. And uh while we don't often have 'em in July, it's not unprecedented. And I think the real message is in this part of the world it can actually happen any time of the year. But not all parts of Texas saw the same kind of relief. Supplies in the Edwards aquifer that provide San Antonio with much of its water remain well below average, with drought restrictions there expected to stay firmly in place.

Unknown 2:34

I'm Mose Bouchell in Austin.

What happened in the University of New Mexico dorm shooting and who is the suspect?

Dale Willman 2:37

A fourteen year old boy is dead and a nineteen year old boy is wounded following a shooting early Friday at a University of New Mexico dormitory in Albuquerque. Officials say four people were playing video games inside a dorm room when the shooting began. They have arrested an eighteen year old suspect who is one of those four in that room. You're listening to NPR News. The US's top aviation regulator says there was no mechanical fault in the Boeing plane that crashed in India last month. Amkar Kandakar reports that this has returned the focus of investigators to the theory that a pilot air could have caused the Air India flight disaster that killed more than two hundred sixty

Omkar Khandekar 3:20

people. Brian Pedford, who heads the Federal Aviation Administration, told reporters on Thursday that he was confident the Boeing jets crash in India last month wasn't because of a fault with its fuel control unit. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau says these switches, which controlled the fuel supplied to the engine, had changed positions shortly after takeoff. According to investigators, the pilots were debating who turned the switch off seconds before the crash. Earlier this week, Air India also said it had inspected the Boeing planes it operates and found no issues with fuel control switches.