NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-09-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: October 9, 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, I'm Dale Wilman. President Trump says the whole world is.

come together to support the latest plan to end the war in Gaza. He says hostages should be getting out early next week. And the president is planning a trip to the region as well, as NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. In the first phase of the deal, Hamas and other militants would release all of the hostages they've been holding since their attack on Israel two years ago. Israel would pull back, let in aid, and release Palestinian prisoners. President Trump says the hostages should be getting out Monday or Tuesday. And that'll be a day of of joy. I'm going to try and make a trip over. We're going to try and get over there and we're working on the timing. Trump says he plans to go to Egypt where the deal was reached. He's also been

invited to speak to the Israeli parliament and says he hopes this will be a first step toward a lasting peace. Michelle Kellerman and PR News, the State Department. One popular national park is fully reopened this week despite the federal government shutdown, which is now in its ninth day. As Pierce Gentry with member station W.UOT reports local governments near Great Smoky Mountains National Park came up with the money to keep it fully staffed. Seven local governments and one nonprofit in the region have partnered to commit nearly $2 million to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to help keep staff paid and popular destinations such as Cades Cove open for visitors. Severe County is home to a significant portion of the park and fronted much of the money. Here's vice mayor, Brian McArthur.

If that place is not open, the perception amongst a lot of folks is, well, then Severe County must be closed. And so we have to make sure that that opens to drive that economy. The National Park Service estimates the park was responsible for nearly $3 billion of investment and surrounding communities during 2024. McCartor says they can keep this up for about a month and hope to get their money back once the federal government reopens. For NPR News, I'm Pierce Gentry. Two court challenges to President Trump's efforts to use National Guard troops in U.S. cities are underway today. NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran says the Chicago court hearing is challenging Trump's legal ability to deploy the troops.

It's always been at the request of state officials. This time is different, though. They don't want it here. And that's why the anger, frustration, and at times despair of residents is so palpable here. Last night, hundreds of people peacefully marched in downtown Chicago protesting the deployment of the troops. Chicago's mayor and the state's governor, meanwhile, said they won't back down after threats by President Trump to have them jailed for opposing the deployment.

And President Trump is appealing a court order, stopping any guard deployment. to Portland, Oregon. Tropical storm Jerry is moving in the Atlantic, but forecasters are keeping an eye on tropical storm Priscilla. It's moving along Mexico's Pacific coast, but it could bring flash flooding to the U.S. southwest this weekend, and off the southeast U.S. coast, a storm is combining with king ties and heavy winds to potentially cause coastal flooding there. You're listening to NPR News. Japanese automaker Honda is relying more on Canada in instead of the U.S. to make cars that Honda can then export overseas. The automaker is trying to avoid U.S. tariffs.

Stephen Besaha of the Gulf State's Newsroom reports. Honda's still building cars in the U.S., but those factories are now focusing on making vehicles for Americans, rather than for exports. Lamar Whitaker is the head of Honda's Alabama plant, and he said that's allowing the car company to still meet demands. Without passing on the cost of tariffs to our customers. David Fernandez runs the Mazda Toyota plant. in Alabama, and said several of their models are setting sales records, but the industry is

still dealing with uncertainty. Supply chain for at least our products is pretty stable right now, but it's just the lack of visibility to know what's going to happen in the future. Meaning they don't know if President Donald Trump will make sudden changes in trade policy like he's done before. For NPR News, I'm Stephen Besaha in Huntsville, Alabama. Laslo Krasno Horke has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He's the first Hungarian winner since 2013.

His novels have been praised for the artistic depth. Several of his works, including the novel Santiago, have been adopted into films. He's previously won the Man Booker International Prize at the National Book Award for Translated Literature in the U.S. Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russian forces shot down on Azerbaijani plane last December. 38 people were killed after the plane tried to land in Western Kazakhstan. Putin called it a tragic incident, but he stopped short of accepting any responsibility. 67 people were on board the plane at the time of the crash. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.