NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-04-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington. I'm Dave Mattingly. This is Election Day across the U.S. When the polls open later this morning, voters in Virginia and New Jersey will be choosing a new governor. In New York City, voters will be deciding whether their next mayor will be Democrat Zohran Mamdami, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who's running as an independent,

or Republican Curtis Leewa, who sums up the election this way. This will be a race where the Republicans, Billionaires, the influences, the insiders, will not pick the next mayor of the city of New York. The people are going to pick the next mayor. In Michigan, voters in Detroit will be choosing a new mayor for the first time at a dozen years. As Quinn Kleinfelter, with member station WDET reports, the winner of the mayoral race will make history in the Motor City. City Council President Mary Sheffield took office shortly before Detroit exited bankruptcy in 2014. Now Sheffield could blaze a trail as a first woman to ever serve as the city's mayor.

Most Detroiters believe that it is time for a woman, a woman that is capable and experience and ready day one to lead. Her opponent, the Reverend Solomon Kinlock Jr., also stands on the edge of history as potentially the first clergyman to ever lead Detroit's government. It gives us an opportunity to rebrand not only the church, but also the preacher's role in responsibility. Both candidates are Democrats, so no matter who wins, Detroit will remain a blue city. For NPR News, I'm Quinn Kleinfelter in Detroit. Voters in California will be deciding on Proposition 50, which asks whether the state should move ahead with redrawn congressional maps. Jury selection is underway in Washington, D.C., in the trial of a former Justice Department employee, charged with assaulting a federal law enforcement officer, as NPR's Kerry Johnson,

in reports the man allegedly threw a sandwich at the officer as President Trump was deploying National Guard troops in the nation's capital during the summer to combat crime. Sean Charles Dunn faces a single misdemeanor charge for allegedly assaulting or impeding a customs and border protection officer. The image of him hurling a footlong sub has since appeared on t-shirts and banners across the city. Dunn was fired from his job at the Justice Department and the White House later promoted a video of at least 20 armed. officers showing up at his apartment to put him in handcuffs. Judge Carl Nichols is looking to identify jurors who can keep an open mind despite publicity about the case. The judge says the trial

should take no more than two days because according to him, it is, quote, the simplest case in the history of the world. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington. Wall Street futures are sharply lower this morning. Dow futures are down 414 points following yesterday's mostly down day. This is NPR news. President Trump is pledging to help American ranchers by making loans more affordable and expanding grazing access. NPR's Kirk Sigler has more. The American cattle herd is as low as it's been in 75 years. That's tough on consumers at the supermarket.

But for ranchers like Spencer Black, the high prices mean they can pay off some debt, though it's still hard to build back. We have these high prices. Guys are jumping out. Young people can't afford to get in right now. because the prices are so high. The Trump administration wants to build the cattle herd back by making loans cheaper and expanding grazing leases. Environmentalists like Greg Ladon say the arid west can barely support the cattle it has already. You could essentially eliminate all public lands grazing without noticing a change in the price of hamburgers or steaks,

particularly given the increases over the last year. The administration hopes to finalize its plan this month. Kirk Sigler and PR News. Amazon says it will soon run OpenA systems on its cloud services. It's part of a $38 billion deal announced yesterday by the two companies. OpenAI says it will access hundreds of thousands of Nvidia's AI chips through Amazon's web services. Amazon is a financial supporter of NPR. Video game maker Nintendo is reporting sharp jumps in earnings and sales. The Japanese company says net profit rose 85% in the period of April through September compared to the same period a year ago. Nintendo says sales more than doubled following the launch of its Switch 2 gaming console. I'm Dave Mattingly, NPR News,

in Washington.