NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-05-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

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On the ThruLine podcast from NPR, the story of the undersea cables that run the internet. Other historians have compared it to the Apollo missions of going to the moon. Listen to ThruLine in the NPR app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. Democratic candidates did well in yesterday's elections. they won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey and the mayoral race in New York City. Some exit polls, such as those from CNN, suggest that voters who are worried about the cost of living chose Democratic candidates. In California, voters overwhelmingly chose to allow state lawmakers to redraw congressional districts.

The goal is to try to send up to five more Democrats to Congress. California acted after President Trump pressured Texas lawmakers to redraw their districts. that goal is to send Republicans to Congress. President Trump is blaming bad results for Republicans in last night's elections on the government shutdown. And Fierrez Franco Ordonez reports Trump is pressing Republican lawmakers to get rid of the filibuster. That requires approval from 60 senators. And President Trump's first public remarks after Democratic victories in the New York City mayor's race, as well as the New Jersey and Virginia governor's races, Trump lamented to Republican senators is that Democrats were not getting more of the blame for the shutdown,

which is now the longest in history. If you read the pulses, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans. And that was a big factor. And they say that I wasn't on the ballot was the biggest factor. But I don't know about that, but I was honored that they said that. Trump argued that eliminating the filibuster was the only way to end the government shutdown. Republicans have so far opposed the effort. O'Donias. NPR News, the White House. Nearly 42 million people are losing a big part of their food

budget this month as the federal government delays their monthly snap payments. Some non-profits and private companies aren't trying to bridge the gap. NPR's Maria Aspen reports on one tech startup that is 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, NPR News, New York. The mayor of Louisville, Kentucky says the death toll from yesterday's plane crash has now risen to nine people. A UPS cargo plane was trying to take off when it caught fire, exploded, and crashed. On Wall Street, the Dow was up, about 25 points. This is NPR. A federal judge is ordering the White House to immediately begin providing American

sign language interpretation at its press briefings. That's when President Trump or Press Secretary Caroline Levitt are speaking. NPR's Kristen Wright reports on the preliminary injunction. The judge writes, the exclusion of deaf Americans from White House press briefings is likely a violation of federal disability rights law and creates harm as the briefings engage Americans on important issues like the economy and health care. The National Association of the Deaf alongside two deaf men filed the lawsuit in May. In a statement to NPR, NAD says it's pleased with the judge's decision, and that ASL is essential to full and equal access to information. The White House stopped using the interpreters at briefings and other public events

when President Trump began his second term. It has until Friday to tell the court how it will comply. The White House did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on the temporary injunction. Kristen Wright, NPR News. President Trump has again nominated billionaire Jared Isaacman to run NASA. Isaacman, an ally of billionaire Elon Musk, and also a civilian astronaut, was first nominated to run NASA earlier this year. But his nomination was pulled after Trump and Musk had a falling out. Last night, Trump wrote online he was again submitting Isaacs' name to the Senate to be confirmed for NASA's top job. The supermoon is coming tonight. It's when the moon gets to its closest point to the Earth. It will also be full.

NASA says that means the moon will look like it's 14 percent larger and nearly one-third brighter than it usually is. I'm Corfa Coleman, NPR News.