NPR News: 10-25-2025 6PM EDT

Summary

---

NPR News Now – October 25, 2025, 6PM EDT

Host: Luis Schiavone
Main Theme:
A concise update on major world and national events, including President Trump’s Asia trip, an immigration legal battle, the federal shutdown’s impacts, the legacy of June Lockhart, and Hurricane Melissa’s threat to Jamaica and the Caribbean.

---

Key Stories and Discussion Points

---

1. President Trump's First Asia Trip Post-Return to the White House

• Bilateral Trade and Diplomacy
  • President Trump begins a six-day trip to Asia, starting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Main agenda: potential trade talks with Asian nations; uncertainty over a direct meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
  • Both sides are expected to make concessions in ongoing US-China trade talks.
  • US and Chinese officials hold de-escalation talks in Kuala Lumpur, but China hasn't confirmed a Trump-Xi meeting at the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.
  • Trump expressed openness to meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while in South Korea; both leaders have made similar statements, but no meeting is currently planned.
• Notable Quote:
  • “He expects a good meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but that both sides may need to make concessions.” — Anthony Kuhn (00:18)

---

2. Controversial Deportation Case: Kilmar Abrego Garcia

• Background and Legal Complications
  • Justice Department now seeks to deport Garcia to Liberia, an unusual choice as he is from El Salvador.
  • A 2019 judge ruled it unsafe to return Garcia to El Salvador, but the Trump Administration deported him there “by mistake”; he has since been returned to the US.
  • Lawyer Simon Sandoval Moshenburg argues government’s insistence on Liberia is punitive; Costa Rica offered as an alternative.
  • DOJ describes Liberia as having “robust protections for human rights,” but won’t clarify if Liberia will prevent onward deportation to El Salvador.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “They are using the selection of the country of removal as a means of punishing him.” — Simon Sandoval Moshenburg (01:36)
  • “Justice Department calls Liberia a thriving democracy, which provides, quote, robust protections for human rights.” — Martin Kosti (01:41)

---

3. Impact of the Federal Government Shutdown (Day 25)

• Local Impacts in Pennsylvania
  • Over 300,000 households affected as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is delayed; no federal funding until at least December.
  • Families face tough choices: potentially sacrificing basic needs such as food and medicine.
  • Officials promise rapid program restoration once Federal funds resume.
• Notable Quote:
  • “I think a lot of people are going to sacrifice food, medicine, medical care, other life essentials. I think people will fall behind on their rent.” — Liz Marks, Pennsylvania Utility Law Project (02:36)

---

4. Remembering June Lockhart (1925-2025)

• Television Legacy and Career
  • June Lockhart, famed for her roles as Ruth Martin on Lassie and Maureen Robinson on Lost in Space, has died at 100.
  • Started in Hollywood as a child, debuting alongside her actor parents in MGM’s 1938 A Christmas Carol.
• Memorable Moments:
  • “There’s no room in this house for two stubborn females.” — June Lockhart as Ruth Martin in Lassie (03:24)
  • “Aren’t you forgetting a small ingredient for happiness known as love?” — June Lockhart as Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space (03:35)

---

5. Hurricane Melissa: Threat to Jamaica and the Caribbean

• Current Situation
  • Melissa has strengthened to a hurricane; torrential rains and flooding anticipated in Jamaica.
  • Vendors hurriedly selling and stocking goods; uncertainty and anxiety among locals.
• Community Response and Resilience:
  • “I may have asked Him this morning to keep me. Can turn back the storm. We cannot manage it.” — Diane Thompson, vendor (04:17)
  • “After the storm, there must be a camp, so we all come together and do a cleanup.” — Clive Davis, fisherman (04:29)
  • Haiti and the Dominican Republic are also bracing for impact.

---

Memorable Quotes and Moments (with Timestamps)

• 00:18 – Anthony Kuhn: “He expects a good meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but that both sides may need to make concessions.”
• 01:36 – Simon Sandoval Moshenburg: “They are using the selection of the country of removal as a means of punishing him.”
• 01:41 – DOJ via Martin Kosti: “...Liberia a thriving democracy, which provides, quote, robust protections for human rights.”
• 02:36 – Liz Marks: “I think a lot of people are going to sacrifice food, medicine, medical care, other life essentials. I think people will fall behind on their rent.”
• 03:24 – June Lockhart as Ruth Martin: “There’s no room in this house for two stubborn females.”
• 03:35 – June Lockhart as Maureen Robinson: “Aren’t you forgetting a small ingredient for happiness known as love?”
• 04:17 – Diane Thompson: “I may have asked Him this morning to keep me. Can turn back the storm. We cannot manage it.”
• 04:29 – Clive Davis: “After the storm, there must be a camp, so we all come together and do a cleanup.”

---

Additional Notes

• The episode’s tone remains balanced and factual, focusing on timely reporting and community voices.
• The episode moves swiftly across both national and international events, weaving in first-person perspectives with expert and official commentary.

---

Transcript

[A]

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Luis Schiavone. President Trump has embarked on his first trip to Asia since returning to the White House. Bilateral trade talks could be on the agenda with multiple nations. NPR's Anthony Kuhn has details on one of the main challenges of the six day trip.

[B]

President Trump told reporters en route to his first stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that he expects a good meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but that both sides may need to make concessions. Yet US And Chinese trade officials held talks in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday seeking to de escalate the trade spat. China has not yet confirmed that Xi Jinping will meet Trump on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in South Korea next week. President Trump also said he's open to meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while he's in South Korea. Kim has made similar remarks, and the two met three times in 2018 and 2019. But there are currently no plans for the two to meet on this trip. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

[A]

The Justice Department says it now wants to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the African nation of Liberia. But as NPR's Martin Costi reports, his lawyers say it's an unacceptable option.

[C]

A Judge ruled in 2019 that although Abrego Garcia was in the US illegally, he shouldn't be sent back to El Salvador because of dangers he'd face there. The Trump administration deported him there anyway, it says, by mistake, and he was returned to the US In June. Now his lawyer, Simon Sandoval Moshenburg, says Costa Rica could take Abrego Garcia, but the administration keeps insisting on sending him farther away.

[D]

They are using the selection of the country of removal as a means of punishing him.

[C]

In its court filing, the Justice Department calls Liberia a thriving democracy, which provides, quote, robust protections for human rights. But it doesn't say whether Liberia has promised not to send Abrego Garcia on to El Salvador. Martin Kosti, NPR News.

[A]

The federal government shutdown has now moved into its 25th day, and more Americans are beginning to feel the effects. Sophia Schmidt of member station WHYY reports Pennsylvania is delaying a program that helps families heat their homes in the winter.

[E]

More than 300,000 households in Pennsylvania rely on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help buy heating oil or pay their energy bills. The program usually opens in November, but without federal funding, the state is pushing it back to December. Liz Marks directs the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project. She says families will be forced to make hard choices.

[F]

I think a lot of people are going to sacrifice food, medicine medical care, other life essentials. I think people will fall behind on their rent.

[E]

Pennsylvania officials say once federal funds start flooding, flowing again, they'll start up the program as quickly as possible. For NPR News, I'm Sophia Schmidt in Philadelphia.

[A]

This is NPR News. Actress June Lockhart, known to generations of TV viewers as the mom and Lassie, has died of natural causes at her California home. She was 100. NPR's Chloe Veltman has this remembrance.

[G]

June Lockhart was one of television's most beloved mothers. She cared for an adopted son and a famous dog as Ruth Martin in the popular series Lassie from 1990, 1958 to 1964.

[H]

There's no room in this house for two stubborn females.

[G]

And later in the 1960s, Lockhart explored far off planets as the matriarch Maureen Robinson in the kitsch adventure series Lost in Space.

[H]

Aren't you forgetting a small ingredient for happiness known as love?

[G]

The daughter of two actors, Lockhart was born in New York in 1925. Her family moved to Los Angeles a decade later. She made her screen debut in MGM's 1938 movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol, starring alongside her parents as the Cratchit family. Chloe Veltman, NPR News.

[A]

Torrential rain is in the forecast for Jamaica as Tropical Storm Melissa is now a hurricane. In Kingston, Jamaica, there are preparations for days of heavy rain and flooding. Vendors at Coronation Market were hurrying to sell and stock goods before the storm. Diane Thompson sells herbs there.

[I]

I'm a garden. I have no problem. I may have asked him this morning to keep me. Can turn back the storm. We cannot manage it.

[A]

All you can do is survive it, says fisherman Clive Davis.

[I]

After the storm, there must be a camp, so we all come together and do a cleanup.

[A]

Haiti and the Dominican Republic are also in the path of the storm. I'm Luis Chiavone and PR News.