NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-15-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

NPR News: 10-15-2025 10AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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 Washington, on Korova Coleman. The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments today in a major case. M.P.R.'s Nina Totenberg reports it could invalidate the last major provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that remains standing. Once considered the jewel in the crown of the civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act has been largely dismembered since 2013 by the increasingly conservative Supreme Court conservative majority.

The major exception is the provision aimed at ensuring that minority voters are not shut out of the process of drawing new congressional district lines. Just two years ago, the court upheld that provision, but now a group of a dozen Louisiana voters calling themselves non-African Americans are challenging the voting rights law, contending that it unconstitutionally discriminates based on race. Nina Totenberg and PR News, Washington. The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is experiencing some setbacks. Hamas has released eight bodies to Israel, but the Israeli military said today, testing revealed one of those bodies. was not that of a hostage. There are also reports of several shooting incidents in Gaza. These involve Israeli troops and clashes between Hamas fighters battling rival Palestinian militias. The federal government shutdown is more than two weeks old. Senate Republicans and Democrats

failed again last night to pass a spending bill that would reopen the government. Federal agencies are closed. Most federal workers are not getting paid. But Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told CNBC today, members of the U.S. U.S. military will get paid today. We are paying our military today. The Pentagon went into surplus funds and will be able to make the paychecks. President Trump continues to fire federal workers. Unions representing federal workers have sued the Trump administration.

There's a hearing scheduled today on the matter in a federal court in San Francisco. Stocks open higher this morning on news of more big profits at beginning. banks. And B.R. Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial average jumped about 360 points in early trading. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley both reported better than expected quarterly profits fueled in part by robust deal-making fees. B of A helped two big railroads couple up this summer, while Morgan Stanley helped brew the coffee merger combining Kourag, Dr. Pepper, and Pete's. The solid results echo the profit reports from other big banks earlier this week. Stock in Papa John's pizza jumped after reports that a private equity firm wants to take the company private, Apollo Global Management's offering $64 a share.

And this was the day we were supposed to get an inflation report for September. That report's been pushed back until next Friday, though, as a result of the government shut down. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. On Wall Street, the Dow is again up 360 points. This is NPR. About 30,000 nurses and some health care workers with Kaiser Permanente, Across the West Coast are in the midst of a five-day strike. Workers in California, Oregon, Hawaii, and Washington State are off the job, seeking higher wages. Kaiser says that it has offered the unionized workers above market wages.

President Trump honored conservative activist Charlie Kirk posthumously yesterday with the country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And Pierre Deepa Shiverram reports. Kirk founded Turning Point USA, one of the country's largest conservative. conservative youth organizations that has chapters all over the country. The Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony was held on what would have been Kirk's 32nd birthday. He was assassinated last month at an event in Utah. In the White House Rose Garden, Trump called Kirk a martyr and an American hero. So today, like those martyrs before him, Charlie's voice, his message and his legacy are stronger and greater than ever before.

The ceremony took place shortly before the State Department started revoking visas of people, who they described as foreigners who had, quote, celebrated Kirk's death. Deepa Chivaram, NPR News, the White House. Retailer Walmart says it's going to partner with artificial intelligence company OpenAI. They say they will use chat GPT to help consumers shop. It is supposed to assist customers who are searching online for Walmart items, including clothing, food, and entertainment. The Walton Family Foundation is a financial supporter of NPR.

I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News, from Washington.