NPR News Now - 4am ET, October 16 | The latest headlines from NPR

Episode Date: October 16, 2026

The latest headlines from NPR at the top of this hour. The stories you hear are written, reported and fact-checked by NPR journalists.  Learn more about the standards of our journalism at npr.org/ethics. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

This is NPR News Now. The latest headlines every hour. Live from NPR News, I'm Jail Snyder. Heartbroken and horrified. The school superintendent in Bend, Oregon, Stephen Cook, describing what the Bend community is going through after a gunman killed three children and a teacher at an elementary school. This is the kind of thing you hear about in other places

and pray that it never happens here. And it has happened here. The children killed were age 5, 8, and 11, and in addition to the teacher killed, another student and teacher were injured and taken to a hospital. Police say the gunman was 16 years old, and he was killed by an armed member of the community who had pursued him into the school. President Trump spoke to first responders Thursday about the importance of Republicans voting in the midterm elections. MPR's Daniel Kurtzleben reports. The president mentioned high-profile Senate races like those in Michigan and Texas, and also emphasized tax cuts that his administration has signed into law.

Many of his remarks focused not on future plans, instead touting accomplishments and past election wins. So I think you ought to fire your top people that supported Kamala. Can you imagine? You have Trump and you have Kamala, and they supported Kamala. What were they thinking? He also spoke about his various White House renovation projects, including the Rose Garden.

The president has done a series of gatherings this year in what is now a paved patio area for various constituencies, including hunters and fishers, farmers, and school-aged children and their parents. Danielle Kurtzleben and PR News, the White House. After campaigning for Republican candidates in Alaska, Arizona, and Montana this week, President Trump is getting back on the road today. He is to be in Georgia this afternoon to campaign with GOP candidates for Senate and governor. Another hurricane has formed off Mexico's Pacific Coast,

a national hurricane center in Miami, says, the center of Hurricane Trudy will approach the coast of southwestern and west central Mexico sometime Saturday. France's cybercrime agency is investigating a hacking attack on supermarket refrigeration systems. And Biers-Ele-Birdsley reports no culprits have yet been named in the hack that has shocked the country. Manager of an intermarche supermarket, Sirius Shebowl, got a call about 4 a.m. Monday from a surveillance company that temperatures were rising in his freezers. When I opened the freezers, there was no more cold, just hot air coming out. Between 500 and 700 store refrigeration systems were hacked across France to push the temperatures from minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit to over 140. The incident has prompted worries over food security and interference ahead of next spring's presidential election. What is weird is that those hackers didn't ask for any money so far. That's internet expert Julian Coulon. he says the attack could be an attempt to destabilize the companies and the country.

Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. And you're listening to NPR News. FBI employees fired for their roles in the investigation of President Trump's retention of classified documents at his Florida estate are suing to get their jobs back. Their complaint filed Thursday calls their terminations, unlawful acts of political retribution. The suit was filed in federal courts in Washington. D.C. on behalf of nine agents, intelligence analysts and staff operations specialists, FBI

Director Cash Patel says employees he has fired had weaponized the FBI. Prices are rising, but Americans are still spending. MPR.'s Katie Riddle reports. Retail spending rose by eight-tenths of a percent last month. Much of this was at the pump. Gas station spending alone jumped by 6.4 percent, spending at grocery stores and restaurants also rose slightly. These numbers don't necessarily mean Americans are buying more. Inflation is driving up the cost of most goods. The data does indicate, however, that consumers are resilient. Some analysts stress that while the economy is on solid footing overall, the burden of inflation is not distributed equally. Lower and middle income families are feeling a significant strain. Katie Riddle.

NPR News. The Milwaukee Brewers are heading to Major League Baseball's World Series for the first time since 1982. The Brewers staged a comeback in game four with Garrett Mitchell hitting the go-ahead home run to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6 to 4 and sweeping the best of seven National League Championship Series in four games. I'm Jail Snyder. This is NPR News.