NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-16-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: October 16, 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 Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The federal government shutdown continues. the Senate is scheduled to meet again today to vote on a spending measure that could end it. But Republicans and Democrats cannot agree, and the bill is expected to fail.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the shutdown. Unions for thousands of federal workers sued. The judge ruled that she saw sufficient evidence to show that the firings are probably illegal. But MPR's Andrea Shue says the case is not over. There will be another hearing on October 28th when the judge will consider indefinitely pausing the layoffs. Now, temporary restraining orders are meant to be stopgap measures. They're not generally appealable, but that hasn't stopped the Trump administration in the past. So we can expect the administration to fight this pause all the way to the Supreme Court if it has to.

Already, the Supreme Court has signaled a willingness to side with the government in cases about the fate of federal employees. NPR's Andrea Shoe reporting. The Kansas Young Republicans Organization is now inactive. This follows a report from the media outlet Politico that showed the group's national chat, including racist and anti-Semitic messages. From the Kansas News Service, Zane Irwin, has more. The group chat included leaders of young Republican groups in Kansas, New York, Arizona, and Vermont. Politico reported the group chat members used slurs for gay and black people, repeated white supremacist slogans, and joked about being pro-Nazi.

The Kansas GOP and the Young Republicans' National Federation condemned the messages. One group chat member was fired from his post at the Kansas Attorney General's office. Vice President J.D. Vance, however, has come to the group's defense. Vance said on social media that he, quote, refused to join the pearl clutching and referenced defensive texts that a Democratic Virginia Attorney General candidate sent in 2022.

For NPR news, I'm Zane Irwin. Kansas City, Missouri. Authorities in Western Alaska have evacuated hundreds of people away from the coast. Last weekend, the remnants of a typhoon crashed into Western Alaska. One person was killed and two more people are missing. From member station KYUK, Evan Erickson reports it is not clear when people fleeing the typhoon's destruction can go home. Hundreds of evacuees awaited a flight to anchorage at the National Guard Armory in Bethel. They're fleeing remote communities devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Hulong on Sunday. Jodi Agimuk and his family lost everything in their home community of Kipnuk.

Feeling heartbroken? Just please. I hope we won't have a heart campaign in place. The storm has left more than 1,000 without homes. State officials are rushing in aid with winter just weeks away. For NPR news, I'm Evan Erickson in Bethel, Alaska. On Wall Street, stock futures are trading higher. This is NPR.

President Trump says he has authorized CIA operations within Venezuela's territory. He says he's trying to stop drug trafficking. This comes as the U.S. military has destroyed several boats in the Caribbean Sea, killing people aboard. Trump says these were drug traffickers, but he has shown no evidence to prove his accusation. New research suggests an experimental Alzheimer's drug might help some of the people most likely to get the disease. NPR's John Hamilton reports on a study published in the journal, Drugs. People who inherit two copies of a gene called APOE4 face at least 10 times the average risk for Alzheimer's. But Dr. Susan Abushakra of the biotech firm Alzion says existing treatments often cause dangerous side effects in these people.

They have an immediate need for a safe and effective approach to Alzheimer's. So Alzion has been testing a drug that appears to be safer but has yet to prove its effectiveness. In a study of 325 people with two copies of the APOE4 gene, the drug failed to help people with more severe symptoms of Alzheimer's. But in people with milder symptoms, the drug helped preserve memory and thinking and dramatically reduced brain atrophy. John Hamilton, NPR News. Billionaire philanthropist McKenzie Scott is making more large donations. This time she's supporting black students and culture. Scott has given $63 million to one of the largest historically black college.

in the U.S., Morgan State University in Marlon. She's also donated $40 million to the African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, is sharing her wealth. It's NPR.