NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-31-2024 4PM EDT

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

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On the Embedded Podcast, every Marine takes an oath to protect the Constitution. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This is the story of a Marine in the Capitol on January 6. Did he break his oath? And what does that mean for all of us? Listen to A Good Guy on the Embedded Podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Former President Trump's using some of the limited time he has left before election day detouring from battleground states to court votes in traditional blue

states. Today it's New Mexico, but the Trump campaign's gambling that it can capitalize on inroads the GOPPs made among registered Latino voters, especially Latino men. I like them. They're smart. They're a lot smarter than the person running for president on the Democrat side. You could say a lot smarter than Biden, too, I could tell you.

But Trump's stop today in Albuquerque comes against a backdrop of racist and inflammatory remarks made on the campaign trail, including a pro-Trump comedian's poorly received joke that Puerto Rico was garbage. Vice President Kamala Harris says Trump's remark that he'd protect women, whether they quote like it or not, is very offensive. In terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right, and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies.

And this is just the latest on a series of reveals by the former president of how he thinks about women. Danielle Pletka The Democratic nominee is speaking to reporters in Wisconsin before she also left a campaign in Southwest battlegrounds. Homing in on a crucial battleground, Pennsylvania, and Piers Windsor-Johnston reached out to voters in suburban Philadelphia to find out how they plan to vote. Mohammed Qureshi is a registered nurse

who lives in Philadelphia County. He voted for Donald Trump in 2020, but he says he's supporting Kamala Harris in this election, mainly because of her stance on reproductive freedom. Patients should be given a choice what they need to do, what is dangerous for them. A person cannot go for an abortion even if she's having medical issues because our government decides to go ahead and put a ban on it. With 19 electoral votes at

stake, Pennsylvania could play a critical role in the outcome of the election. Recent polls show about 3% of voters there remain undecided. Windsor Johnston, NPR News. An IV fluid production plant damaged by Hurricane Helene is partially back online. Here's NPR Sydney Lupkin. A Baxter International factory in North Carolina had to shut down more than a month ago because of flooding from Hurricane Helene. Before being knocked out of commission, the factory made 60% of the IV fluids used in hospitals around the country. The resulting shortage means hospitals are conserving IV bags for the neediest patients and postponing or canceling some procedures. The Biden administration

invoked the Defense Production Act to help Baxter get materials needed to clean and rebuild the factory. Now Baxter is restarting production lines of the most commonly used IV fluids. It'll take time for the new supplies to reach hospitals, however. The first batches of IV fluids won't be shipped until late November, Baxter said. Sydney Lupkin, NPR News. This is NPR. Sydney Lepkin, NPR News. This is NPR. Officials in Spain now say more than 150 people have been killed in this week's flash flooding. About 1,200 emergency workers have been deployed to Valencia and other affected regions. Some areas remain inaccessible as rescuers try to clear vehicles and debris from mud

cage roads and restore communication links. Arturo Valoria de Rana is one of the Red Cross volunteers currently in Valencia. He says people were trapped in shelters. They're trying to recover as soon as possible their normal lives. And many people were in Valencia working or just passing in a travel from home. They are just trapped here in Valencia and many other people here in these shelters are coming from the surrounding small towns waiting to know about the roads in order to reach their homes. De Arana on the BBC. Eight of Mexico's 11 Supreme Court justices have

tendered their resignations. Here's NPR's Ada Peralta. Mexico's Chief Justice Norma Piña made her resignation letter public, saying it was an act of dignity and intellectual honesty. This summer's Mexico's ruling party won the presidency and an overwhelming majority in the federal and state legislatures. They immediately passed a constitutional amendment that makes all federal judges elected by the people, instead of appointed as they are in the US. Eight of eleven Supreme Court justices now say they will not participate in those elections next year, that the elections politicize Mexico's judiciary, and that they imperil judicial

independence. Next week, the court will also weigh whether the constitutional amendment that changed their jobs is constitutional. Eder Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City.