NPR News: 09-15-2026 4PM EDT

0:00Lie from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Iran War has cost at least $38 billion. That estimate does not include extensive damage to U.S. military bases abroad. And listen, two months before the midterms, the CBO also finds that the war is helping to drive up inflation, as energy prices increase due to the conflict. In a week of prominent warnings over the rapid evolution of AI, a major rally in the nation's capital today, features unlikely alliances to pressure the government to ensure humans stay in control. They include Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. AI has the potential to eliminate tens of millions of jobs, wiping out entire professions. And former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, who later took the stage where he called out those who were central in getting AI to the public. The American citizens are not going to be supplicants to the oligarchs anymore.

1:03Bannon's message standing in stark contrast to President Trump's fear of support to keep developing AI and building data centers. He says the U.S. needs to stay ahead of China in AI. The U.S. government publicly confirms, for the first time, it has deployed space-based weapons in Irv's orbit. Here's NPR's Cat Lawn Store. U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Mink told the crowd gathered for the air, space, and cyber conference in Maryland this week that the military is, quote,, meeting the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist. This is why the United States now has, on orbit, space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action. He did not provide any further details or specifics on the weapons. It's the first time the U.S. has publicly revealed such capabilities amid growing concerns about potential threats in space from Russia and China. The Trump has often touted the U.S. Space Force, which he created in 2019 as part of the Air Force, as a new way to boost U.S. military capabilities in space.

2:03Cat Lawn Store, NPR News, Washington. FBI Director Cash Patel is testifying on Capitol Hill in testimony before Senate lawmakers, but tell defended recent changes may that loosen the bureau's hiring requirements. And Piers Ryan Lucas is more. Earlier this year, the FBI lifted an automatic ban on hiring applicants who had engaged in prostitution or bestiality, prompting a wave of public criticism. Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Cash Patel defended the changes. He said it's about giving victims of such acts a chance to work at the bureau. We did not want to make it an automatic disqualification for the FBI to consider you if you are a victim of these awful heinous acts. They still have to go to the same rigorous standards and application process. Patel touted the drop in violent crime under the Trump administration, but he faced sharp criticism from Democrats, including over his firing of veteran agents and his handling of the Epstein files. It's NPR. A federal judge's rule that the board of directors of the Kennedy Center cannot return

3:05President Trump's name to the Arts Center. However, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper left up in the air for now whether or not the board can name its planned fundraising campaign, the Trump Kennedy Center fund or include any such plaque or other signage at the center, noting that the fund had not yet raised any money let alone its intended $100 million. The board has said using Trump's name was crucial to its efforts to restore the center's finances. America's public school buildings are aging nearly half of school districts have chronic problems with things like electricity or water leaks that can disrupt learning for millions of students according to a new report from the federal government and PR's Danaki Meta has details. The extreme indoor temperatures, plumbing and structural damage are some of the common problems plaguing America's deteriorating public school buildings. The government accountability office or GAO is an independent federal watchdog. It's report this week found that in the 2024-25 school year, one in five districts canceled

4:10school because of facilities issues. The cancellations affected about two million students who lost about 3.5 million days of learning as a result. According to the GAO, 55 percent of districts said they simply don't have enough money for building upkeep. The results come from a national survey in visits to nine districts in Alabama, Maine and Oregon. Janaki Meta and PR News.