NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-14-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: October 14, 2025

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I'm Mario Glass. On This American Life, we tell real-life stories, really good ones. My mother said, I'm sorry that you weren't here because Father Sager was here visiting, and he found a very nice orphanage for you. And I said, but I'm not an orphan. Surprising stories in your podcast feed, This American Life. Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, in the day since Israel declared a ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas, has been carrying out a bloody crackdown on rival Palestinian clans. President Trump said Hamas is acting with U.S. approval. NPR's Daniel Estrin has more from Tel Aviv.

Videos show gun battles in the streets of Gaza and Hamas carrying out a field execution of several people accused of collaborating with Israel. The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip declined to give NPR statistics on deaths and injuries. Hamas said in a statement that since the ceasefire with Israel, it's carrying out an operation to restore security and stability in Gaza, targeting gangs it accuses of stealing humanitarian aid. It's seen as a Hamas power battle against rival, clans, and militias to assert itself as the most powerful force in Gaza,

even as the U.S. wants Hamas to give up its weapons and control. Asked about the Hamas crackdown, President Trump told reporters, they do want to stop the problems, and we gave them approval for a period of time. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Televester. President Trump will posthumously award the Presidential Medal of Freedom today to the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk was shot and killed last month at an event on a college campus. And Pierre's Daniel Kurtzleben has more. Trump announced shortly after Kirk's death that he would award the medal to Kirk. The president has said that Kirk's widow, Erica Kirk, will be there for the ceremony. Since Charlie Kirk's death, she has taken over as CEO of Turning Point USA, the campus activist organization he founded. Kirk was beloved, among the MAGA movement and often deliberately provocative. His organization created a watch list of professors perceived to be too liberal,

leading to harassment of those professors. He also promoted baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election and called the Civil Rights Act a mistake. Danielle Kurtzleben and PR News. Maine Governor Janet Mills has announced she's running for the U.S. Senate in next year's elections. She'll first face an oyster farmer in the Democratic primary. From Maine public, Steve Missler reports, Mills is aiming for incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins.

Mills was a top recruit for Democratic Senate leaders who view the two-term governor as their best chance to topple Republican Senator Susan Collins next year and helped them retake the majority. Mills said she wasn't planning to run but was drawn into the contest after her high-profile confrontation with President Trump in February. She said Congress and Collins have failed to stand up to the president, but she will. I've fought for these things all my life, all my career. And I know I can take on this one last fight and get it done.

Collins, who withstood an expensive bid to unseat her in 2020, is expected to seek a sixth term. To run against Collins, Mills will first have to win a potentially bruising Democratic primary. For NPR news, I'm Steve Missler in Augusta, Maine. On Wall Street, the Dow is down 20 points. It's NPR. It's been two weeks since the federal government shut down. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant says the shutdown is starting to affect the U.S. economy. He told Fox Business News that to pay the U.S. military,

the Trump administration is holding back payments to other federal workers and federal services. Amid the shutdown, some state agencies say they may not have the funds to reimburse schools providing free and low-cost meals, and P.R.'s Caden Mills has more. Schools serving free and reduced meals are entitled to reimbursements from state agencies. Those agencies get their funds from the USDA. Diane Pratt-Hevner is a spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association. She says some agencies have told her organization they don't have the money to pay schools back for meals served during the shutdown. While they're not panicked yet, she says she's keeping a watchful eye.

We are hopeful that the administration or Congress will act before this becomes an issue. Before the shutdown, USDA released a contingency plan, outlining funds states, could tap into to cover any gaps. USDA did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment. Kaden Mills, NPR News. The Defense Department is imposing new rules today on reporters who cover the Pentagon. The agency says journalists who want to keep their press credentials must sign a pledge that they won't seek or ask for any information that the Defense Department does not specifically

authorize. NPR has refused to sign the pledge, along with other organizations such as the New York Times, the Associated Press, and the conservative site, Newsmax. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington. 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.