NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-07-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

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The news is saturated with coverage of President Trump, but it is easy to get overloaded. So on Trump's terms, we bring you short, digestible stories, five minutes or less, about the 47th president. Listen for same-day developments on tariffs, the economy, and all of the ways that Trump is governing like no president ever has before. Trump's terms. Listen on the NPR app wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Amy Held. In an at-time's combative Senate hearing, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced members of the Trump administration are on their way to Chicago. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says President Trump has ordered up hundreds of National Guard troops from Texas to his state against his wishes. NPR's Katlawnsdorf reports.

Attorney General Bondi made the comments while testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. She sparred with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the committee who pressed her on the rationale behind sending the guard into Chicago. Bondi responded saying troops are on the way, along with top administration officials. I wish you love Chicago as much as you hate President Trump. And currently, the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will. Governor Pritzker has repeatedly said there is no need for the National Guard in Chicago, as the administration has said it is necessary to protect federal immigration officials and facilities.

Similar debates have been playing out between Trump and other Democratic-led cities, including Portland, Oregon. Kat Lansdorf, NPR News, Washington. The government shut down now in its seventh day with growing impacts. President Trump signaled today he may try to deny back pay to some furloughed workers. And NPR's Joel Rose reports an air traffic controller shortage has led to flight disruptions with more possible. The Federal Aviation Administration says staffing shortages caused delays at airports serving New York, Denver, and Los Angeles. Perhaps the worst problems were at the airport in Burbank, County.

California, where no air traffic controllers were on duty for a time, leading to average delays of more than two hours. Controllers at another facility in Southern California had to take over. Air traffic controllers are required to work during the government shutdown, but they don't get paid until it ends. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that there had been a slight tick-up in sick calls since the shutdown began. Duffy says the FAA will limit the number of takeoffs and landings as needed to keep the system safe. Joel Rose and PR News, Washington. Chat, GPT maker OpenAI has spent $1 trillion this year on energy to power its AI systems. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, analysts are warning the AI industry's rapid spending could lead to an investment bubble.

Open AI has inked about a trillion dollars in deals for AI data centers, processing chips on its GPUs, and cloud infrastructure. AI companies like OpenAI are energy guzzlers and companies are scrambling to build more data centers to meet AI's massive power needs. Goldman Sachs estimates AI's. driven data centers are set to consume 8% of total U.S. electricity by 2030. The trillion dollars in open AI computing power deals first reported by the Financial Times

comes as the company's revenue falls far behind those commitments. Tech analysts say the massive spending into a technology some consider overhyped is reminiscent of the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s when the NASDAQ crashed 77% and led to a recession. Bobby Allen, NPR News.

It's NPR News. Thousands of people convened in southern Israel today marking two years since the Hamas-led attacks left some 1,200 people dead and plunged the region into a devastating ongoing war. In Gaza, Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed tens of thousands of people and destroyed whole cities. Those who can are fleeing another Israeli invasion of Gaza's city. Meantime, Israel and Hamas press on with U.S.-led peace talks in Egypt. A federal agency is considering a rule to protect people from what can be a significant workplace risk, heat. NPR's Alejandra Buranda reports.

There is no national rule granting U.S. workers' rights to shade water and rest breaks when the weather turns sweltering. That has consequences. A new study published in the journal Environmental Health compares injuries reported to Ocean in 2023 with daily temperatures at the injury location. Barak Alahamed is at Harvard University and led the study. He says injury rates go up with temperature. At around 80 to 85, it starts to increase and anything above 90, it really escalates. The researchers determined about 28,000 injuries per year in the U.S. could be tied to heat. The proposed OSHA rule would require employers to take protective measures when the heat annexes is higher than 80.

Alejandro Burundah, NPR News. This year's Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three University of California scientists. John Clark, Michelle Deverey, and Jarn Martinez. Their discoveries have been far-reaching for computers, helping develop more powerful devices. Prizes will be awarded all week, culminating in the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. This is NPR News.