The Latest: 08/21/2025 12:02pm ET

All the latest national and international news. Topics also include finance, weather and entertainment.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This since your twenty four to seven use update the
latest use this hour in just four minutes. President Trump's
penalty in his New York civil fraud case is being tossed.
An appeals court made the ruling today. In the case
involving Trump being accused of lying on financial statements to lenders.
He had been ordered to pay three hundred and fifty
five million dollars in penalties, which had grown to more

(00:22):
than five hundred million with interest. The appeals court judges
said the penalty is an excessive fine that violates the
Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The White House
said this is another failed skirmish in the discredited lawfare
campaign against President Trump. California Democrats are pushing to have
their congressional maps redrawn as a response to Texas Republicans

(00:43):
passing their own maps. The Texas State House approved redistricting
legislation yesterday after weeks of trying to do so, with
Democrats leaving the state to break quorum before eventually returning. Today,
California lawmakers will take up three bills that would create
a special election to pass an amendment to replace current
congressional maps. Through t twenty thirty In Texas, the state
Senate will reconvene tonight, with the redistricting plan expected to

(01:05):
be quickly approved. Hurricane Erin is now causing coastal flooding
in parts of North Carolina. NBC's Aaron Gilchrist has more
from North Carolina's outer banks, where some areas are under
evacuation orders and where a state of emergency is in effect.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
We knew this was going to be an ocean event,
this was going to be a wind event that we've
been seeing strong winds in this area gus where we
are in the thirty mile an hour range. There have
been stronger gus closer to fifty miles an hour.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
The storm remains a category two with maximum sustained winds
of one hundred and five miles an hour and is
about two hundred and ten miles east of Cape Hatteras.
The National Hurricane Center says it's moving north northeast as
it heads away from the coast. Meantime, swimming at most
east coast beaches is being discouraged because of the thread
of potentially life threatening surf and rip currents. A California
parole board is considering the fate of the Menendez brothers

(01:53):
today and tomorrow. The siblings, Lyle and Eric have spent
the past thirty years behind bars for the highly publicized
murders of their parents in nineteen eighty nine. They were
re sentenced earlier this year to allow for the possibility
of parole. I'm Chris Cragio. Labor Day weekend is coming
up and people will be hitting the road in skies
for one last summer trip. New York and Las Vegas
remain popular destinations here in the States. Overseas, people are

(02:17):
also heading to Tokyo, London, and Rome. Hopper reports that
domestic airfare is six percent cheaper on average than last year.
TRIPAA reports hotel rates have also dropped about eleven percent.
The Powerball jackpot is rolling over once again. Michael Kasner reports.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
With no grand prize winner on Wednesday night, the already
massive jackpot now stands at at least seven hundred million dollars,
with the next drawing set to take place on Saturday.
There were a couple of million dollar winners, however, in
Michigan and Oklahoma, as well as a two million dollar
winning ticket sold in Tennessee. I'm Michael Casner.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Shaquille O'Neill is accepting a challenge to fight Will Smith's
former bodyguard Charles Charlie mack Alston in the boxing ring.
Alston challenged the NBA life to the bout on Instagram,
explaining the two first had an issue when O'Neil tried
to cut in an autograph line and Alston had to
chop him in his neck. O'Neil accepted the invitation in
the comments, saying he doesn't run from anybody. The fight

(03:14):
is being arranged through officially Celebrity Boxing, which promotes fights
between retired sports figures. Hertz's partnering with Amazon to sell
you used cars. The car rental company announced yesterday that
its pre owned vehicle sales will be hosted on the
Amazon Auto website. Customers seventy five miles within Dallas, Houston, LA,
and Seattle can start shopping now. Google has unveiled its

(03:35):
new Pixel smartphone. The tech giant introduced its new products
in a showcase yesterday, which included the Pixel ten series
of smartphones, the Pixel four watch, and a revamped set
of Pixel earbuds. The devices reportedly have new AI features. Fairfield,
Connecticut is advancing to the Little League World Series title
game this weekend. The team beat Las Vegas yesterday. Fairfield

(03:56):
has not lost a game yet in the tournament and
will play the winner of today's game between V I
Guas in South Carolina. The US title game will be
played Saturday. I'm Chris Kraji.