NPR News: 10-16-2025 2PM EDT
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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theschmidt.org.
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump says he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a productive phone call today about ending the Russia-Ukraine war and about trade with the U.S. after the conflict's over. On his social media network today, Trump announced a senior level meeting next week, then a face-to-face at some point with Putin in Hungary. Trump says he'll fill in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the upcoming U.S.-Russia talks when Zelensky visits the White House tomorrow. The president says he authorized covert CIA operations on Venezuelan soil. He describes it as a pressure campaign against the Venezuelan drug trade. The U.S. military has struck at least six boats that allegedly were carrying illegal narcotics.
NPR's Frank Ordonez has more.
We're talking about a lot of military hardware, including destroyers and thousands of sailors and Marines just off the coast of Venezuela. Benjamin Gaddan, who led the Venezuela portfolio at the Obama White House, told me that he doesn't think, quote, anyone plausibly believes this is merely a counter-narcotics operation.
NPR's Franco Ordonez reporting.
What recent developments have occurred in U.S.-Russia relations?
Well, after a 10th vote, the U.S. Senate was still unable to approve a measure to end a more than two week old government shutdown. NPR's Greg Allen reports people who need flood insurance are among those feeling the pain. The National Flood Insurance Program stopped writing new policies on October 1st and cannot resume until it is reauthorized by Congress.
The shutdown of the federal flood insurance program is affecting homebuyers nationwide, but nowhere more than Florida. In Fort Lauderdale, insurance broker Andy Kasten says because of the shutdown, a client suddenly found the $700 annual flood policy he expected to buy from the federal government was no longer available.
We just had to write a private flood policy and it ended up costing him $1,200 and change. So because we had to wait, he had to purchase the more expensive policy.
The National Association of Realtors estimates that nationwide, as many as 1,400 home sales a day may be affected by the suspension of the National Flood Insurance Program. The shutdown is providing a boost to the fast-growing private flood insurance market. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.
New York City's three remaining mayoral candidates will debate tonight ahead of the general election. WNYC's Bridget Birkin reports.
Democratic nominee Zoran Mamdani takes the stage as the frontrunner after pledging to tackle the city's rising cost of living through policies like free buses and universal child care. His closest rival is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York state governor running as an independent. He's criticized Mamdani's lack of experience. A poll last week showed Mamdani leading Cuomo by 13 points. They'll be joined by Republican Curtis Sliwa, who founded the red beret-wearing subway safety group the Guardian Angels nearly 50 years ago. He's currently polling at 15 percent. The city's current mayor, Eric Adams, will be absent from the stage. He suspended his reelection bid last month after polling in the single digits.
That's Bridget Bergen reporting. It's NPR. Americans are paying a lot more these days for everything, including health care. Most working adults get their health insurance through their employers, and prices for those plans are surging. But as NPR's Maria Aspin explains, some lucky workers don't pay anything up front.
Last year, the average employer paid more than $19,000 in premiums per worker for a family health insurance plan. That's according to the health policy nonprofit KFF. Employers don't have a lot of control over these costs, but they do control how much of them they pass on to workers. And some aren't passing any on. That can cost employers a lot of money. But companies that do this, like Boston Consulting Group, say it's worth the investment.
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