NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-08-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: November 9, 2025

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There's a battle playing out over who should control American universities. We're going to bankrupt these universities. In season one, we were guessing what was to come. Now we know. We want $500 million from Harvard. It's season two of The Harvard Plan. This time, it really is personal. Listen to On the Media wherever you get your podcasts.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. Hunger nonprofits are trying to meet the surging demand from millions of Americans missing their first monthly installment from the SNAP program. Blake Farmer of Member Station WPLN reports from a distribution event in rural Tennessee. A nonprofit called OneGen Away that serves Tennessee and Alabama has been adding more opportunities to get food as it becomes available, and right now the demand far outstrips the supply. Peggy Martin's raising three grandkids and says she's using the free groceries to fill the gap left by $500 in federal food business. benefits she normally receives. If Iowa had not been raised country and knew how to survive,

I would really be in a fix. I can bake, I can hunt, I can forage too. I think we're okay. We'll make it. Martin says she's worried for those who aren't as self-sufficient. More than 40 million Americans rely on the food assistance program. Friend Pair News, I'm Blake Farmer, in Hickman County, Tennessee. President Trump on social media today urged Senate Republicans to send funding for Affordable Care Act subsidies directly to people and not insurance companies. They expire at the end of the year, raising premiums much higher for millions of people. But that would require an act of Congress. This after Democrats yesterday put up a proposal that had an extension of those subsidies for a year

in order to reopen the government, but Republicans rejected the offer. Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The Democrats' proposal is just more of the same. masking rising premiums and patting insurance companies' profits with more taxpayer dollars. Speaking on the Senate floor in a rare Saturday session on ending the shutdown, which is now the longest in history, the Senate adjourned without taking action. They returned tomorrow afternoon. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Senate to get rid of the filibuster, which Republicans are reluctant to do. A single infusion of an experimental gene-editing drug appears safe and effective for cutting cholesterol.

possibly for life. The approach could someday offer a powerful new weapon to fight heart disease, which is the nation's leading killer. And peers Rob Stein has more. Doctors infused an experimental gene editing drug into 15 patients to test whether a one-time infusion can permanently lower cholesterol by editing a gene in the liver and found the infusion could safely cut cholesterol as well as triglycerides by as much as have. The findings presented at the American Association's annual scientific meeting mirror those produced by a similar experimental approach also being tested. But much more research is needed to confirm that a one-time infusion can safely and effectively cut cholesterol for life.

Rob Stein, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is denying a report that the Washington National Opera may leave its home in the nation's capital. In Pierce Chloe Veltman reports, the company has been residents there for more than 50 years. In an email to NPR, Washington National Opera Board of Trustees President Andy Farrow said the company, quote, has no plans to move out of the Kennedy Center and is proud to be part of America's Cultural Center. The statement came hours after The Guardian published a story quoting Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, as saying her company may quit the Kennedy Centre as a result of President Donald Trump's takeover. Trump declared himself chair of the institution in February, firing and replacing its board and leadership.

Zambello told the Guardian her company has been forced to consider other options, owing to tumbling ticket sales and audience protests. When asked by NPR for a response to the Kennedy Center's rebuttal, Zambella only re-shared the board president's statement. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. The NFL is playing its first regular season game in Berlin, Germany, tomorrow, with the Indianapolis Colts taking on the Atlanta Falcons. Kickoff is at the Olympic Stadium. It happens at 9.30 a.m. Eastern Time,

and it will be broadcast live via the NFL. This is part of the NFL's long-term. strategy to capitalize on the strong fan base in Germany as it works to grow U.S. football globally. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. 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 Cs apply.