NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-15-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: November 15, 2025

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From NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass urging city residents to pay attention to weather conditions this weekend. Slow down if you're driving and plan ahead for the potential for longer travel times. And please, if you don't have to leave your home, please don't. Thanks to an atmospheric river storm rain is expected to fall through the weekend in Southern California. Flood watches have been posted and evacuation warnings are in effect. area scarred by recent wildfires. City officials say area is affected by the January wildfires highly susceptible to mud and debris flows. President Trump has removed tariffs on a lengthy list of

items, reversal of some of his sweeping import taxes. Come after Democrats won several high-profile seats in last week's elections, many of the winning candidates focused on affordability. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben has more. The long list of items that tariffs will be removed from includes foods like fruits and vegetables, beef, and coffee. American importers paid those tariffs, with many passing costs onto U.S. consumers. Removing these tariffs could therefore lower the higher prices the tariffs caused. The tariffs that will be removed are the sweeping country-by-country tariffs, Trump first introduced in April, calling them reciprocal tariffs.

Recent polls have shown Americans' approval of Trump on the economy, typically a strong issue for him, has slipped. Consumer confidence has also declined. Danielle Kurtzleben and PR News. President Trump says he will sue the BBC telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he will likely seek up to $5 billion. The BBC has apologized for a wrongly edited video of a speech Trump delivered on January 6, 2021, when supporters, when his supporters stormed the Capitol, but says there is no legal basis for his claim. The Pentagon says it has destroyed another small boat in the Caribbean. The attack killed all four men on board.

In Piers Quill Lawrence reports this at least a 20. boat targeted since September. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted a video of a speedboat exploding. He says it was carrying drugs on a known smuggling route. The Trump administration says it is at war with drug cartels and therefore the military may legally kill alleged traffickers on suspicion alone. Critics say this is murder. At least 80 people have so far been killed and two survivors were repatriated and set free by their home countries. The latest strike comes as the U.S. has assembled a massive fleet off the coast of Venezuela in what is seen as an effort to intimidate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro has responded by mobilizing hundreds of thousands of

troops to resist possible U.S. military action. Quill Lawrence NPR News. The Federal Aviation Administration easing restrictions on flights following the government shut down beginning this morning. The agency says the 6% cut it had ordered at 40 major airports around the country is being reduced to 3% the FAA said the flight cuts were necessary to relieve pressure on the aviation system. This is NPR. Disney and YouTube have made up. They've reached an agreement that restores Disney-owned networks like ABC and ESPN back to YouTube following a fee dispute. The contract dispute led to a blackout of news and sports programming for millions of subscribers.

It lasted for about two weeks. Alphabet, which owns YouTube TV, and Google is a financial supporter of NPR. Kentucky's hemp farmers say a new federal limit on THC-infused products will be disastrous for their livelihoods. Shepard Snyder, with member station W.E.KU reports that the provision is part of the stopgap spending bill, President Trump signed into law this week. The provision limits the amount of THC and sellable hemp to just 0.4 milligrams per container. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell added the provision. saying it's meant to close a legal loophole and keep mind-altering substances out of the hands of children.

But Abram Phillips, who runs a hemp farm out of northern Kentucky, says imposing such a limit would need cap their profits. At that point, your consumers don't care because that's not what they want. So why would they buy something they don't want? We don't have consumers, we have no market. The provision passed despite opposition from fellow Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. The ban would go into effect a year from now. For NPR News, I'm Shepard Snyder in Lexington, Kentucky. The Mega Millions Lottery says a winning ticket matching all six numbers from last night's drawing was sold in Georgia.

That player won a jackpot worth $980 million. It's not among the top 10 largest in U.S. history, but it is the eighth largest for the Mega Millions game. 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 Cs apply.