NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-04-2025 7PM EST

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. A UPS cargo plane has crashed near the main airport in Louisville. The McDonnell-D-11 cargo jet was headed to Honolulu. Television images show a massive cloud of smoke and a wide, swath of buildings on fire near the airport. Police reported injuries and have issued a shelter and place warning for the surrounding area. UPS says three people were aboard. The Federal Aviation Administration says the airport will be closed until 7 a.m. Eastern tomorrow. Almost 42 million people are losing a big part of their food budget this month as the federal government delays their monthly snap payments. Now some nonprofits and private companies are trying to bridge the gap for those

who use food stamps. NPR's Maria Aspen reports on one tech startup that's sending cash to some recipients. Jimmy Chen runs a small tech company called Propel. It makes a free app for people on the federal government's supplemental nutrition assistance program or SNAP. About 5 million people use Propel's app, meaning that Chen sees just how much the delayed payments are hurting their families. So Propel teamed up with a non-profit, give directly, to run a crowdfunding campaign.

This weekend, they started giving $50 each. to propel users with little or no income and kids to feed. We understand that $50 is not enough. It's not enough to help a family afford food for a whole month or anything even close. But until the government fully restores SNAP payments, he's hoping that it makes a little bit of a difference. Maria Aspen and PR News, New York. Voters are casting ballots across the country.

The New York City mayor's race between Zeran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo will determine whether the city elects its first Muslim mayor or offers a comeback to a governor who resigned in disgrace four years ago. Democrats in California hope a ballot measure to redraw congressional maps will counter Republican redistricting efforts in states like Texas, and voters are weighing in on races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia. Maryland Governor Wes Moore is pushing the state into the nationwide redistricting battle, announcing an advisory commission to recommend new congressional maps. Jenny Abamu from member station WAMU has more. Maryland's Democratic State Senate president said last week, it was both risky and undemocratic

for Maryland to redraw as congressional maps. But David Moon, the Maryland House Majority Leader, says the state needs to respond that maps Texas and Georgian Republican lawmakers are creating ahead of the midterms. Frankly, I don't think we have a choice. I think Maryland, and it's not even a matter of how many votes it is or it's not even a partisan matter.

Just from a matter of state dignity right now, we need to be treated the same as all of the other states. The commission will organize public hearings, solicit public feedback, and make recommendations to the governor and Maryland General Assembly. Lawmakers are anticipating this will be challenged in court. For NPR News, I'm Jenny Abevue. Stocks fell on Wall Street today. The SMP 500 slid one in two-tenths of a percent.

This is NPR News from Washington. The COVID-19 vaccine season is starting slowly for Pfizer, with U.S. sales of its common camaraderity shots sinking 25 percent. That's after federal regulators narrowed recommendations on who should get them. Experts say interest in COVID-19 shots has been declining, and that trend could pick up this fall due to anti-vaccine sentiment and confusion about whether the shots are necessary. The U.S. is providing $24 million in emergency assistance for Jamaica and other Caribbean nations in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. Cuba is also getting some aid, as NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. State Department officials are touting what they say is the Trump administration's first major humanitarian response after

the dismantlement of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The State Department is now in the lead of foreign assistance. The initial funding includes $12 million for Jamaica, $8.5 million for Haiti, and $3 million for Cuba. There, the Catholic Church will deliver U.S. assistance, not the Cuban government. A top State Department officials says a disaster team of more than 30 U.S. government officials remains in Jamaica and will announce further aid packages after assessment. the needs. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.

Victor Conti, the architect of a scheme to provide undetectable performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes, has died at 75 years old. The scheme included baseball stars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and Olympic track champion Marion Jones, a sports nutrition company Conti founded, said in social media posts that he died on Monday. This is NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. T's and C's Apply.