NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-18-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: October 18, 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 Giles Snyder. after meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Sunlinsky at the White House, President Trump called on Ukraine and Russia to, in his words, stop where they are and bring the war to an end. Trump made the statement on social media after seeming to back away from supplying Ukraine with tomahawk missiles. Here's NPR's deepest shiveron.

Trump says it could be a point of leverage to help end the war. He said that yesterday on the phone, he asked Putin, would you mind if I gave a couple thousand tomahawks to your operas? position, and he said Putin did not like that idea. Zelensky, though, has been asking for these weapons, and he suggested that if the U.S. were to give Ukraine these tomahawk missiles, then Ukraine could provide more drones to the U.S. And Trump seemed to be maybe a little bit open to that idea, but he said he'd rather the war be over entirely. The White House meeting came a day after President Trump spoke by phone with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin and announced that the two are planning a meeting in Hungary. President Trump has commuted the sentence of former New York Republican Congressman

George Santos. Santos had been sentenced to more than seven years in prison this past April. Here's NPR's Barbara Sprunt. Trump announced the commutation of the former congressman via his social media platform. He wrote that George Santos will be released from prison, quote, immediately. Santos pleaded guilty to a raft of federal charges, including wire fraud and identity theft for, among other things, stealing people's identities to make donations. to his campaign. He reported to prison in July. In his post, Trump praised Santos for always voting Republican. Barbara Sprint and Pierre News, Washington. One of Santos's lawyers has told the Associated Press that Santos was released from a federal prison and fair to New Jersey late last

night and that he was greeted outside the facility by his family. Americans across the country will take to the streets today to protest against the Trump administration. In Pierce, Joel Rose, reports that the No King's rally protests are planned at more than 2,000 locations. The organizers of the No Kings protests say they're expecting millions of people to demonstrate against what they call the Trump administration's authoritarian agenda. Leah Greenberg is with the nonprofit group Indivisible, one of the organizers of the events. There is nothing more American than saying that we don't have kings and exercising our right to peaceful protest.

Republicans, meanwhile, are trying to portray the protesters as radical and violent. How Speaker Mike Johnson has described the. event as a hate America rally, while other GOP leaders suggested the events are likely to turn violent. The organizers reject those claims as an attempt to smear the protesters and emphasize that the events are intended to be peaceful. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. With No King's protesters preparing to rallying communities across the country, President Trump is at Mar-a-Lago. He is expected to be back in Washington, D.C. tomorrow evening. You're listening to NPR News.

Dozens of South Koreans have returned home from Cambodia, where most were detained during a crackdown on online scam centers. They arrived today on a chartered flight, and South Korean authorities say they will face criminal investigations. Their return follows the death of a South Korean college student who was reportedly forced to work in a Cambodian scam center. Delegations from Afghanistan and Pakistan are heading to Doha for crisis talks following more than a week of fighting. that has killed dozens of people and injured hundreds of others on both sides. Both sides say they've been responding to aggression from the other. Pakistan also accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants who've been carrying out attacks along the border. Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohay Antoni hit three home runs and pitched six innings of shutout ball last night, leading the Dodgers to the World Series.

Chuck Wurmbach reports. The Dodgers defeated the Milwaukee Brewers by a score five to one sweeping the team's National League Championship series. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says Shohei Otani's hitting and pitching was probably the best performance ever in postseason baseball. And there's been a lot of postseason games, and there's a reason why he's the greatest player on the planet. You know, what he did on the mound, what he did at the bat. Next up for the Dodgers in the World Series will be the winner of the American League Championship Series between the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays.

For NPR News, I'm Chuck. Quirmbach, the American League series heading into game six tomorrow night. The Mariners hold of three games to two lead over the Blue Jays. I'm Jail Snyder. This is NPR News.