NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-30-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Seng. The Trump administration is drastically cutting the number of refugees it will admit to the United States, capping it at 7,500 for the next year. That's the lowest level on record. NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. In a notification in the Federal Registry, President Trump has capped the refugee admissions for the next fiscal year at 7,500. And he says most of those spots will be set aside for white, Africans, who he says are the victims of, quote, unjust racial discrimination. It makes no mention of

Afghans despite past promises to help those who supported the U.S. in America's longest war. Afghan Evac, a group that advocates for bringing those Afghan allies here, says tens of thousands remain in danger abroad and this new policy gives them no safe pathway to the U.S. Michelle Kellerman and PR News, the State Department. Bermuda is now in the path of a hurricane that has left a long trail of carnage from Hispaniola to the Bahamas. At least 30 people are believed to have died. The majority of the fatalities were in Haiti, which was not directly hit but suffered because of severe flooding and landslides. Hurricane Melissa did make landfall as the strongest storm to ever hit Jamaica.

Reporter Nick Davis is surveying the damage in Falmouth where several people died. We're driving through what was originally one of the coastal roads through Falmouth. It is just a river right now. The mangrove which historically protected a place, a town, or anywhere actually along the coast, has done nothing. It has not been a sea barrier and we are driving just through pretty high flow to be able to get out of town. This town, which is a major tourist town, there's a number of big hotels on either side of, the actual town itself is isolated. It's like it's got a moat running around it.

Nick Davis reporting. Open enrollment for people purchasing 2026 health insurance on the Affordable Care Act Marketplace starts Saturday. Sarah Bowden reports many are going to get sticker shock when they see next year's offerings. Congress has not extended subsidies that make marketplace health insurance more affordable. Monthly premiums, according to health policy think tank KFF, are expected to more than double on average. Devon Trolley is the head of the insurance marketplace in Pennsylvania. With these higher prices, what we'll really be looking at is how many of our current enrollees

are making the difficult decision to drop coverage? And are we getting any new enrollees in, or are they really pushed away by the cost as well? If enough people decide to forgo insurance in 2026, that might result in even higher premiums for those purchasing coverage in 27. That's Sarah Bowden reporting. It's NPR. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security published this recruitment ad on Instagram. Equally important as the task of securing our borders is the task of defending our culture and what it means to be an American. NPR's Jasmine Garz reports on how these social media campaigns are playing with Latino voters. Homeland Security social media posts often call on Americans to join ICE and, quote, defend your culture.

Peter Gonzalez, 66, is a retired Coast Guardsman. He voted for President Trump because he wanted immigration control, but he finds these ads off-putting. Defend Your Culture? I don't agree with that, Defend Your Culture, because the American culture is all cultures. NPR reached out to DHS for comment and received no response. Jasmine Garst and Pier News, New York. Universal Music Group says it has reached a settlement with the Artificial Intelligence Music Platform Udio in copyright infringement lawsuit. And UMG says the two are collaborating. They're launching a subscription-based AI music creation, consumption, and streaming platform next year. UMG is also joining

forces with stability AI to work with artists in creating licensed tools. UMG, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records are still suing the developer of Suno AI. UMG released the big announcements hours before its earnings report was set to be released this afternoon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now up 124 points at 47,756. The SMP's down 29 points, and the NASDAQ is off 218 points. This is NPR News.