NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-04-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: October 4, 2025

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In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dua Halisa, Cowtown. The Trump administration has activated 200 National Guard troops to Oregon to support federal immigration and customs enforcement agents. But it isn't clear when their deployment will take place pending a judge's ruling, possibly later today. Meanwhile, the White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt announced that the Department of Justice will investigate the Portland Police Bureau

after conservative online journals was arrested in South Portland Thursday during an alleged clash outside an ICE. facility. I just spoke with the president about this and he has directed his team here at the White House to begin reviewing aid that can potentially be cut in Portland. We will not fund states that allow anarchy. There will also be an additional surge of federal resources to Portland immediately, including enhanced CBP and ICE resources. The Democratic nominee for Attorney General in Virginia is apologizing after it was reported he sent text messages wishing violence on a prominent Republican. VPM News' John Khalil reports. The National Review first reported on the text messages from 2022.

In them, J. Jones, the Democratic nominee for Attorney General talked about the Republican Speaker of Virginia's House of Delegates at the time being shot. Jones apologized publicly for the remarks and said he had also apologized to the former speaker. He said he was embarrassed and ashamed by what he said. The text messages drew widespread condemnation from fellow Democratic candidates, including gubernatorial nominee, Abigail Span Berger, who said the violent language did not belong in politics. Recent polls put Jones ahead of incumbent Republican Jason Miaris. Their contest is considered to be the closest of the three statewide races in Virginia's off-year election. For NPR News, I'm Jad Khalil in Richmond.

President Trump has endorsed a candidate in Tennessee's special congressional race days before the primary election. Mariana Bacayahu 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 Bacayahu in Nashville. And you are listening to NPR News from New York. Japan's ruling Democratic Party has elected a new leader, Sanay Takaichi. She defeated four male opponents setting her up to become the country's first female prime minister. A new study shows that artificial intelligence could be used to evade biosecurity systems at companies that make DNA. And Pierre's Nell Greenfield-Boyce reports these companies screen customer orders to keep this information out of the wrong hands.

In the journal Science, researchers say they wanted to know if AI tools could rewrite the code for hazardous proteins like toxins. And it turns out AI could. It generated thousands of them. Eric Corvitz is Microsoft's chief scientific officer. To our concern, these reformulated sequences slipped past the biosecurity screening systems used worldwide by DNA synthesis companies to flag dangerous orders. The research team quickly produced a software fix and rolled it out with the help of a DNA manufacturing industry group.

But the episode shows how AI is revving up longstanding concerns about how to keep well-intentioned biology from being misused. Nell Greenfield-Boyce, NPR News. The Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Otani will make history today when he debuts as pitcher against the Phillies in game one of the National League Division. series. Shohei is the league's first to start games as both a pitcher and as a non-pitcher in a postseason. Otani has been recovering from a second elbow surgery. This is NPR news.