NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-03-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

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Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Trump says he believes Hamas is ready for a lasting peace after the organization responded to the White House's ceasefire deal that was released earlier this week. NPR's Deepa Shivaram has more. Trump posted on social media that Israel, quote, must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza. His post came shortly after Hamas released a statement saying that it would agree to release Israeli hostages. Hours earlier, Trump set a deadline of 6 p.m. on Sunday for Hamas. to agree to the ceasefire deal, or he said hell would break out for Hamas.

That deal was released on Monday when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House. Israel already agreed to the deal, which stipulates an immediate end to the war in Gaza, with Israel allowing more aid into Gaza and Hamas releasing the remaining Israeli hostages. Deepa Chivaram, NPR News, the White House. President Trump has endorsed a candidate in Tennessee's special congressional race days before the primary election, Mariana Bacayal from Member Station WPLN reports on Trump's pick. After months of silence, Trump has endorsed Matt Van Epps, a former Tennessee commissioner and combat veteran. Van Epps has also been endorsed by Mark Green, whose surprise resignation from Congress this summer

kicked off the special election. Outside money groups, including a pack almost entirely funded by the parents of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, have spent. half a million dollars supporting his run. More money from outside groups has gone to opposing anti-school voucher candidate and state representative Jody Barrett's bid for Congress. Barrett and Van Epps will appear on a ballot of nearly a dozen Republican candidates in Tuesday's primary. The general election is set for December 2nd.

For NPR News, I'm Mariana Baca Yao in Nashville. The Silicon Valley Company OpenAI has launched a new social media platform based entirely on users' AI-generated content, NPR's Jeff Brumfield asks, what could possibly go wrong? OpenAI's SORA app looks a lot like TikTok, except everything here is fake. All you need to do is type in a quick description and out pops a very realistic video of, I don't know, Richard Nixon saying whatever you want. Tonight I have learned that the moon landings were faked.

NASA has misled us all, and the trust of this nation has been shaken. Nixon never said the moon landing was faked, obviously, but even experts, are impressed. Okay, so that's very convincing. Solomon Messing is at NYU's Center for Social Media and Politics. He also finds it very worrying. We may be entering an era when the stuff that we see just isn't believable at all. What this means for society remains to be seen. Also, I just posted a video of myself lounging on a yacht. Jeff Brumfield and PR News. Most U.S. stocks ticked higher today, sending Wall Street to more records. From Washington, This is NPR News.

FBI director Cash Patel says the Bureau is cutting ties with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. Two organizations that have tracked domestic extremism and racial and religious bias, some conservatives and allies of President Trump have complained about the groups. Authorities temporarily shut down Munich Airport after several drones were seen in the area and the latest mysterious drone overflights in the airspace of European Union member countries. Authorities haven't provided any information about who is responsible. Officials have expressed concerns that the drone flights have been carried out by Russia. Russian authorities have rejected the claims.

The WNBA Finals begins tonight. The Best of Seven series between the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury caps off another year of record attendance and ratings for the league. NPR's Becky Sullivan has more. The Las Vegas Aces are no stranger to this stage. They won the title in 2022 and 23. This year, though, the Aces were slow off the block. needed half the season to find their footing. Then they went on a 16-game winning streak to end the regular season. Star Center, in the league's leading score, Asia Wilson, was named MVP for a record fourth time.

The Mercury have a new look this season, with the arrival of all-stars, Alyssa Thomas, and Satu-Saboli. They're looking for their first title since 2014. This is the first year the finals will be a Best of Seven series. That's up from Best of Five. That's one of the ways the league is trying to cash in on the dramatic increase in attendance and ratings over the past two years. Becky Sullivan, NPR News. The S&P 500 edged up by less than a tenth of a percent adding to its all-time high today. I'm Rylan Barton. This is NPR News from Washington.