NPR News: 09-04-2026 6AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News and Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Labor Department is set to offer an update on the U.S. job market later this morning. NPR's God Horsley reports, forecasters expect a modest improvement from the previous month. Today's reports expected to show that employers had it anywhere from 25,000 to 125,000 jobs in August. Any job growth would be a step up from the July report, which show that employers cut about 23,000 jobs that month. The July figure included a big drop in public school jobs, which may have been skewed by summer vacation. The Labor Department tries to account for that, but its seasonal adjustments are not always foolproof. We'll also get an update on the unemployment rate, which has been hovering at just over 4%, that's low, in part, because the number of people actively looking for work is growing slowly, or not at all. Thousands of baby boomers are retiring every day, and immigration has been largely shut off. Scott Horsley in Pair News, Washington. The Trump administration is again asking the Supreme Court to allow restrictions on

1:00mail-in ballots to take effect before the November midterm elections. NPR's Hansi Lowong reports the appeal comes after a federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked President Trump's executive order. Now, the administration is back to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on the legality of the Postal Services plan to follow that order. And I should note, USPS is a financial support of NPR. Basically, the question before the court this time is, does USPS have the legal authority to refuse to deliver ballots to voters if state election officials don't turn over to USPS, lists of mail-in voters names and addresses, and if officials don't have certain barcodes on the ballot envelopes? NPR's Hansi Lowong reporting. The US ambassador to Israel continues to condemn violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, calling those behind the attacks terrorists. The United Nations says attacks on Palestinians by extreme Israeli settlers have skyrocketed this year as NPR's KerryCon reports.

2:02US ambassador Mike Huckabee condemned the quote, Israeli terrorists. On local radio Friday, however, he said he believes the number of those attacking Palestinians is tiny. And said he was speaking out because of concern that the incidents are harming Israel's image abroad. The more young Americans hear about attacks, it will be all they hear about Israel, and that will have an impact, he said. Last weekend, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in the town of Kusra and an NBC news crew in the northern West Bank. They also set a mosque on fire, spray painting graffiti on a wall that read Huckabee regards from the terrorists. In a rare move to curb the violence, Israeli officials arrested a 19-year-old in the attack on Kusra. KerryCon NPR news, Tel Aviv. Diesel prices have hit an all-time high. The national average is now $5.85 per gallon. This is NPR News in Washington. The rate of American teens receiving several recommended routine vaccinations has remained

3:08below target levels for the past several years. That's according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says about 90% of American teens have received at least one dose of tea dab, a vaccine that protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. That's the same rate that have gotten the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, which protects against four bacteria strains that can cause life-threatening infections. That vaccination rate hasn't changed since 2019. Meanwhile, just under 78% of teens had received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine, which protects against human papaloma virus, a commonly sexually transmitted virus. Large studies have shown that vaccination against HPV in adolescents can prevent cervical, oral, penile, and other cancers caused by the virus. Maria Gadoe and PR News. Flop cameras are becoming a campaign issue in races across the country.

4:09The AI-powered license plate readers collect information on passing vehicles that law enforcement agencies can search and share nationwide. Growing concerns about the system have prompted candidates in both parties to call for bands, restrictions, or cuts in funding. Flop safety says the cameras are an important crime-fighting tool. Critics argue the past network amounts to warrantless mass surveillance. This is NPR News. This week on the NPR Politics Podcast, Democratic Socialists are having a moment. What's their goal? The goal being to eventually realign the Democratic Party to perhaps someday develop an independent party, but we recognize that in the United States there just is a two-party system. How Democratic Socialists are staking out political territory. This week on the NPR Politics Podcast.