WSJ What’s News - Democratic States Band Together to Counter RFK Jr.

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

A.M. Edition for Oct. 15. Governors from 15 mainly blue states are forming a shadow public-health alliance, in a sign of growing resistance to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda. Plus, with the fight against Israel on pause, Hamas launches a violent crackdown on rival militias, seeking to assert its authority in Gaza. The WSJ’s Benoit Faucon explains how the infighting could complicate a peace plan that Israel has conditioned on Hamas disarming. And Beijing plays hardball on trade, in a bet that President Trump will fold before launching new tariffs that would roil markets. Caitlin McCabe hosts. Want to know how changes to 2026 Medicare plans could affect you? Check out our explainer.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you support Movember, you're not just fundraising, you're showing up for the men you love. Your dad, your brother, your partner, your friends. It isn't just a men's issue. It's a human one. That's why Movember exists to change the face of men's health. From mental health and suicide prevention to prostate and testicular cancer research and early detection, Movember is tackling the biggest health issues facing men today. Join the movement and donate now at Movember.com.

Pete Hegseth joins NATO's defense ministers to discuss bolder action to combat aerial threats from Russia. Plus, as Israeli forces pullback in Gaza, Hamas begins a violent crackdown in a show of authority. And blue states banned together to counter RFK Jr. Governors have formed this alliance because they're worried that federal funding cuts and policy changes, like changes to the vaccine policy, they're worried that they are putting citizens at risk and forcing the governors to find alternatives. It's Wednesday, October 15th. I'm Caitlin McKay for the Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. NATO is discussing new rules that can make it easier to shoot down

Russian fighter jets. Changing NATO's rules of engagement is one of several moves to improve its defenses following recent incursions into the bloc's airspace. Here's the Lithuanian defense minister, Dovili Shakalienne. Lithuania has changed legislation to ensure that there is no need for political permission for each time that an object needs to be neutralized. I'm hoping that all other countries will ensure that exceptions that prevent immediate reaction by our air force are removed as fast as possible. Nobody can have time in the sky for political negotiations. While Russia has denied any involvement in drone and jet incursions over Poland, Denmark and Germany in recent weeks, ministers arriving at the meeting this morning, including Estonia's

Hanophevkore, did not mince their words about the security threat facing NATO members. Communicating with Russia means that you can never expect that they will tell the truth. They will just tell what they want to say. It was the same also with mix. So they said that they were not in our airspace. So that's the reality. More support for Ukraine is also on the docket, with Dutch minister Ruben Breckleman's among allies backing the provision

of U.S. longer range Tomahawk missiles that can strike deep into Russian territory. We always said as the Netherlands that we are supporting deep strike operations by Ukraine that there is no limit or no boundary to this in terms of kilometers. There's also no limit when it comes to the type of missiles. It's up to the U.S. to decide. But if the United States decides to provide Tomahawk missiles, we will definitely support that. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Higgseth is set to press more allies to pay for U.S. weapons for Ukraine.

So far, deals worth just over $2 billion have been agreed, and Washington and Kiev want countries such as Britain, France, Spain, and Italy to open their wallets too. turning now to the situation in Gaza, where a pause in the war between Hamas and Israel under the U.S. brokered ceasefire has resulted in a violent crackdown between Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups in the enclave. Journal Security correspondent Benoit Fokane says the group is trying to assert authority as the remaining governing power in Gaza. The Israeli forces have pulled back from only part of the enclave, and that's where Hamas is real estateing power and they have been ready. They've been preparing for months to retake control.

One thing they did is they set out a police force that was more focused on price gouging and looting and initially was actually sort of unarmed because they didn't want to be targeted by the Israelis. So Hamas officials told me that they really were working on this strategy and sort of setting new people on the ground. We also have a report from the Gaza entire ministry that I obtained that basically shows that they identify a dozen subgroups in Rafa under Israeli control, and they are so far out of reach unless Hamas launched an operation on effectively Israeli control territory. And so far, the Israelis and Hamas have avoided to have a direct confrontation over these groups. And Benoit says the crackdown could complicate Israel's hope for Hamas to disarm,

something the militant group did not agree to under the ceasefire deal. It's privately something Hamas has said that they think that the presence of armed groups that are rivaled to their power, or in their case, that they see as a source of disorder and criminality. They see it as an additional reason why they would need to keep weapons, officially in their case, for law and order, but also obviously to protect themselves against attacks from these groups. So it's clearly an additional reason why Hamas is struggling to come to that particular point, which is the most fundamental one for Israel. which is disarming. As the Trump administration tries to publicly calm renewed trade tensions with China, Beijing may have found America's Achilles' heel. President Trump's fixation on the stock market. According to people close to Beijing's decision-making, President Xi Jinping is betting that the U.S. economy can't absorb a prolonged trade

standoff with the world's second-largest economy. The market's sharp negative reaction on Friday, to China's new rare earth restrictions, was a reminder of the economic vulnerability Beijing could be trying to exploit in a bid to force Trump to negotiate. Many economists say the U.S. isn't positioned to absorb another trade fight with China, with hiring, slowing, manufacturing, contracting, and prices continuing to rise. Just yesterday, China sanctioned the U.S. units of a South Korean shipping company, resulting in another rollercoaster day for markets.

coming up, U.S. states are joining forces to help one another prepare for pandemics and buy vaccines in bulk, amid concerns around the federal health department's preparedness. That story and more after the break. It's been roughly five weeks since conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead while speaking on a college campus in Utah, and tensions over his killing are still running high. Yesterday, the State Department said it revoked the visas of at least six people over their comments on his death, including nationals of countries, including Argentina, South Africa, and Mexico. The Department said on social media that the U.S. has, quote,

no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans, end quote. It didn't say if the people were currently in America and didn't specify what kind of visas they held or when they were revoked. And we're exclusively reporting that governors from 15 mainly blue states, including New York, California, and North Carolina are forming a shadow public health alliance in a sign of growing resistance to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s agenda. The journal's Betsy McKay says the initiative aims to help detect and respond to disease threats of all kinds.

So they're joining forces to help one another prepare for pandemics, track infectious diseases, write public health guidelines that the federal government normally writes and share expertise on everything from preventive care to outbreaks. So these governors said they would share public health intelligence and data with each other, disease fighting strategies, and states that are well-resourced like New York said they will share information on health threats that they identify in their own laboratories with each other, with less-resourced states. Betsy says the states, which represent about a third of the U.S. population, have joined forces out of concern that the Trump administration's federal funding cuts and policy changes are

putting their citizens at risk. So New York Governor Kathy Hinkle said that with the assaults on science and medicine from Washington, governors have no choice but to step up and lead to protect their citizens. Just this past weekend, 600 jobs were eliminated at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the federal shutdown. So most federal funding to the CDC goes to state and local health departments, and there have been cuts. And the shutdown is just exacerbating that. So officials in the state of Maine asked the CDC in September for help with a response to an outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C. And the CDC approved the request, but the state of Maine learned on Friday, but the CDC can't send teams

right now because of a shutdown. A health and human services spokesman accused Democrat-run states of eroding Americans' trust in public health agencies and said the HHS would ensure policy on vaccines is set based on rigorous evidence and not the, quote, failed politics of the pandemic, end quote. And in other health care news, enrollment for 2026 Medicare coverage starts today. And for the second year in a row, big changes are coming to the program, which means seniors could end up with surprises like higher drug costs or the loss of a favorite doctor. Thankfully, our colleagues on the health team have put together an explainer walking you through all the potential pitfalls of this year's Medicare enrollment. You can check it out now

on WSJ.com, and we'll leave a link in our show notes. And finally, London, England is very much known as the land of the black cabs. Soon, however, they'll be getting some new competition, Robotaxies. Waymo says it will launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in the UK next year, marking the alphabet-owned company's European debut. And Uber is also planning to roll out a London Robotaxie service after striking a partnership with local autonomous driving startup, Wave. Journal Auto's reporter Stephen Wilmot says these sorts of ventures are finding fertile ground in the UK. The UK government rolled out a red carpet for robo-taxies.

In June, it announced a plan to allow pilot programs starting in the spring of 2026, and it has a full legal framework for robo-taxies coming out in the second half of 2027. But I think that that plan announced in June was clearly a way to say, don't wait until 2027, we want you to start testing earlier. The UK government, led by Kiyos Stama, is very keen to reinvigorate. growth. They've made a big deal of this, and they're looking to welcome anything that looks like artificial intelligence, high-tech-led investment. So, yeah, it's part of the UK government's growth agenda. Uber's partner wave is already testing its self-driving technology in London with

safety drivers behind the wheel of adapted cars. I asked Stephen how worried black cabs were about competition from robotaxies. I spoke to the head of their union, and his response was, well, I don't think they'll work, which is not unreasonable. Until they take the safety drivers out, we don't actually know what they'll do. And until then, they're just expensive taxis. And that's it for what's news for this Wednesday morning. Today's show is produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Bolivant. Our supervising producers were Christina Rocha and Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Caitlin McCabe for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back tonight with the new show. Until then, thanks for listening. Thank you.