NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-26-2024 9PM EDT

Episode Date: October 27, 2024

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Hey there, it's Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I know this is hard to believe, but one day the election will be over. Then the winner gets a lot more powerful. It's my job to report on what they do with that power. That's public accountability, but it's not possible without public support. So please support our work. Sign up for NPR+. Go to plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. The election is just 10 days away, and both presidential candidates are campaigning in swing states again today. Vice President Harris rallied in Kalamazoo, Michigan with

Michelle Obama. The former first lady says there are a lot of angry people out there frustrated with the pace of change, but she says to anyone out there thinking about sitting out this election or voting for Donald Trump or a third party candidate in protest because you're fed up. Let me warn you, your rage does not exist in a vacuum. If we don't get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women will become collateral damage to your rage. Michelle Obama is the latest in a long line of high-profile supporters of Harris, including Beyoncé, who appeared with her in Houston last night. Tomorrow, Harris campaigns in Philadelphia. Former President Trump, meanwhile, campaigned in Houston last night. Tomorrow, Harris campaigns in Philadelphia.

Former President Trump, meanwhile, campaigned in two states today, Michigan this morning, in a Detroit suburb, where he again slammed the city as needing help. And Piers Donganye has more. The Trump campaign is working to make inroads with traditionally democratic groups, including the large Muslim and Arab American population in Michigan. There's anger in that community toward the Biden administration over the lack of a ceasefire in Gaza. At Trump's Saturday rally, he announced the endorsements of a group of local Muslim leaders he met with, among them, Imam Bilal al-Zuhari, who spoke to the

crowd. The bloodshed has to stop all over the world. And I think this man can make that happen. Don Gagne, NPR News, Detroit. And tonight, Trump campaigned with a rally on the campus of Penn State University in Pennsylvania, courting new voters. In recent days, hundreds of people in southeast Sudan have been killed by the paramilitary group at war with Sudan's army. It's according to local activists. As many

as 150,000 people have been killed in the war that's been going on for a year and a half. It's also caused the world's worst displacement crisis. NPR's Emanuel Ekenmoto has more. More than 400 people have been killed over the last week by fighters from the Rapid Support Forces or RSF, according to emergency response volunteers. The massacres took place in villages in Al Jazeera state, an agricultural region in Sudan. The attacks are widely believed to be reprisals after the RSF's commander in the region defected to the Sudanese army earlier this month.

AMNA NAWAZ Wall Street ended the week in mixed territory amid a slew of corporate earnings. For the week, the Dow was down more than 2.5 percent, the S&P 500 down about 1 percent, the Nasdaq was up about 2 tenths of a percent. This is NPR News. Many school districts have been divided in recent years by fights over book bands and how teachers should discuss topics such as race and gender. In Pierce-Corey-Turner reports, a team of university researchers from across the country

set out to measure just how much money these fights have cost schools. The researchers surveyed 467 public school superintendents, with just over a quarter working in what the researchers call high conflict zones. And this conflict, playing out at school board meetings, on social media, and in schools themselves, came with a host of costs. Like hiring security guards, spending staff time to fulfill huge public records requests, not to mention the cost of hiring and training new staff to replace educators who have been targeted, burnt out, and leave. In all, the researchers found these

divisive cultural fights last year cost the nation's public schools approximately $3.2 billion. approximately $3.2 billion. Corey Turner, NPR News. The U.S. has approved $2 billion in arms sales to Taiwan. And that includes the first delivery of an advanced surface-to-air missile defense system. It's a move that will probably anger China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory. Taiwan's president's office today thanked Washington for the measure as China increased its military threats against the island.

In L.A., Game 2 of the World Series between the L.A. Dodgers and the New York Yankees is underway. The score at last check, 1-1 in the bottom of the third. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.