NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-28-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

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Lie from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Seng. About 42 million Americans stand to lose federal food benefits this Saturday. Today, more than two dozen Democratic attorneys general, as well as the Democratic governors of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Kansas sued the Department of Agriculture for suspending SNAP assistance during the government shutdown. They allege the Trump administration is unlawfully withholding assistance. NPR Stephen Fowler reports the USDA is facing pressure to attack, into its $6 billion contingency fund.

There's this memo released Friday by the USDA that argues it's actually illegal to use these contingency funds to pay for benefits right now. The administration claims that the emergency money is only able to be used as a supplement when there's regularly appropriated funds, which, because of the shutdown, there are not. Budget experts I spoke with also point to the funding bills that created the contingency funds intended for use as necessary to, quote, carry out program operations. That's NPR Stephen Fowler reporting. Hurricane Melissa has made landfall in Jamaica as a category five storm.

It now has top sustained winds of 165 miles per hour, according to U.S. forecasters. It is the most powerful hurricane to directly strike the island in 174 years. Nick Davis is among the millions of people sheltering in place in Jamaica. Here in Kingston, I'm not leaving the shelter in my home, but I can hear the impact already. Power went off about an hour and a half ago, loud generators from the gas station in my home and from houses nearby, a sign that the infrastructure is under attack by the elements. Bands of rain are constantly sweeping in and tree debris litteres the ground, but it's what's happening further down and across the island that's most concerning. The hurricane pushed further along the coast has built up intensity, storm surges and flooding that may have caught people off guard despite the warnings. That's Nick Davis reporting from Kingston.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed his country's military to carry out strikes in Gaza after Israel accused Hamas of violating the U.S. brokered ceasefire. Here's NPR's Rob Schmitz. An official from Israel's military not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that Netanyahu ordered the military strikes after Hamas carried out an attack against Israeli soldiers beyond the so-called yellow line in an area, under Israeli control. The order also comes after Hamas handed over the partial remains of a deceased Israeli hostage who had previously been returned to Israel from Gaza. Hamas announced it found another body of an Israeli hostage in one of its tunnels, but will postpone its return to

Israel due to pending airstrikes from Israel's military, all of which constitute the latest threat to the already fragile ceasefire brokered by President Trump. Rob Schmitz and Pierre News, Tel Aviv. It's NPR. CBS News anchor John Dickerson has announced that he will leave the network. The first major on-air departure since its parent company was acquired by David Ellison's Skydance Studios. NPR's David Fokinflik reports. John Dickerson proved a mainstay at the network for 16 years. He hosted Face the Nation, its morning show, and most recently it's evening news broadcast.

He's also been a correspondent for 60 minutes in CBS Sunday morning and served as the network's political director. His mother, Nancy Dickerson, was CBS's first female correspondent. As far as commercial TV news goes, Dickerson provides an unusual appreciation for history, and he often applies a gentle moral calculus in his analyses. CBS Evening News has undergone a series of anchor shifts and has struggled in the ratings. The network's new editor-in-chief Barry Weiss,

a critic of the mainstream press and of CBS itself, is expected to revamp the show once more. David Fulkinflick and PR News. In game three of the World Series Monday, which actually ended really early this morning for fans in the Eastern time zone, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue J-6-to-5. The Dodgers, Shohei Otani, had a huge night becoming the first player to reach base nine times in a postseason and the first in 119 years to have four extra base hits in a World Series game. He had two home runs, a second of which forced the game into extra innings. Freddie Freeman helps seal game three hitting a walk-off home run in an episode. 18th inning. The Dodgers now lead the series two games to one. Game four is tonight again in

Los Angeles. U.S. stocks trading higher. The Dow is up 331 points. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.