NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-04-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, former Vice President Dick Cheney has died at the age of 84, according to his family. Cheney was chief of staff to President Ford, a Wyoming congressman, and defense secretary to President George H.W. Bush. And then Cheney served two terms as vice president under George W. Bush, with whom he was believed to have great influence. In a 2004 interview, Cheney said he was merely a top staffer for Bush. My job is to offer advice, which I do, to take on assignments, which he gives me, which I do. But I say I'm there specifically to serve him in any way I can and not worry a lot about what my public image might be. Am I warm and fuzzy or am I perceived as the tough guy? I really don't worry about that.

Cheney was a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, which was based on faulty intelligence about weapons of mass destruction. Iraq did not possess them. Its election day, turnout is expected to be high in New York City as voters choose a new mayor. Democratic socialist Zoran Mamdani has been the frontrunner. But NPR's Brian Mann reports, President Trump is backing Mamdani's chief rival, former New York governor, Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani's volunteers have fanned out across New York, pushing a big turnout for the Democratic candidate. Mamdani's movement has captured the imagination, especially of younger voters here. Cuomo, once a leading Democratist,

attempting a comeback as an independent, a sexual harassment scandal, derailed Cuomo's political career, leading him to resign his governor in 2021. There is a Republican in this race, Curtis Sliwa, but in a last-minute move, Trump endorsed Cuomo, saying a vote for Sliwa is effectively a vote for Mamdani. Trump falsely claimed to Amdani as a communist and threatened to limit federal funds for New York City if he's elected. Mammani has promised to focus on making New York City more affordable. If elected, he'll be the city's first Muslim mayor. men. NPR News, New York. The Trump administration says it will restart SNAP food benefits, but only at half the usual amount. NPR's Windsor-Johnston reports on how the decision is hurting low-income

families, especially those with children. Funding for SNAP is in limbo, and that's putting millions of children at risk. Many live in households that are already stretched thin. While adults may understand what a government shutdown means, kids just feel the stress. Martha Wadsworth is a professor of psychology at Penn State University. She says when access to food becomes unpredictable, a child's sense of safety starts to slip. I work with kids and families, and the kiddos are often, you know, they show up for our research visits and they're really hungry. So parents are worried about their ability to put food on the table. Wadsworth says she's already seeing signs of anxiety in kids, including sleep disruption and irritability. Windsor Johnston, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street and pre-market trading, stock features are lower. It's NPR. Coffee retailer, Starbucks, is forming a joint venture in China with a Chinese equity firm. Starbucks is selling about 60% of its stake in its Chinese business to the new venture. The sale is worth about $4 billion. Big tech companies, OpenAI, and Amazon's cloud computing business have forged a $38 billion partnership. It's the latest move by OpenAI to get more computer.

including power for its large language models. NPR's John Rewich explains. Amazon Web Services says OpenAI, which is the parent company of the popular chat-GPT chatbot, will start using its infrastructure immediately. That gives OpenAI access to hundreds of thousands of state-of-the-art GPU chips for AI workloads, and it says it could expand further in 2027 and beyond. The CEO of AWS says its infrastructure will serve as a backbone for OpenAI's AI ambitions. The agreement is the latest in a straightforward.

of recent deals worth billions between open AI and computing infrastructure companies. Open AI is trying to lock in computing power for the future and consolidate its position as a leader in AI. The news sent Amazon's share price up more than 4%. Amazon is a financial supporter of NPR. John Rewitch, NPR News. The next supermoon happens tomorrow night. That's when the moon reaches its closest point to the Earth.

It will also be a full moon, and it will look enormous. At its closest point, NASA says, the full moon can appear up to 14% bigger. It can also appear nearly a third brighter compared to the faintest moon of the year. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News, in Washington. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR NewsNow Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.