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Congress Faces Pressure, Year's Strongest Storm & Halloween Candy Trends - Tuesday, October 28, 2025
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Today is Tuesday, October 28th. We're talking about the latest on the government shutdown, a top union's demand for Congress, and why the impacts are about to get worse. Hossa will update you on what's now the strongest storm the planet has seen all year. Plus, President Trump's message for Japan's new leader, why Halloween candy is costing more this year and why both superstar Taylor Swift and her NFL player fiance have new reasons to celebrate those stories and even more news to know coming up. Welcome. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the days news in around 10 minutes. Fast, fair, fun and on the go. I'm Erica. Mandy, thanks so much for being here. You ready? Let's do this. Congress is under increasing pressure to end the government shutdown. America's largest federal employee union has now called on Congress to immediately pass a spending bill and make sure workers get their full pay. But at this point, Democrats and Republicans seem to be sticking to their positions with no visible movement toward negotiations. And the impacts of the shutdown are about to get worse. As we've told you, popular programs are about to run out of money. For example, those that offer food assistance, early childhood education and air service to rural communities. TSA screenings and air traffic control operations are also expected to be stunted even more than they already are. Plus, November 1st is when open enrollment begins for health plans through the Affordable Care act. So people will start to see just how much their premiums are expected to rise since tax credits are set to expire. Of course, this is the central point of the conflict between Democrats and Republicans right now, with Dems saying they won't vote to reopen the government until the GOP starts to negotiate on health care and Republicans saying they won't negotiate until Dems vote to reopen the government. Some lawmakers have ideas on how to make the shutdown less painful with more narrow bills of funding just parts of the government. But at this point, none of those measures appear to be on the fast track to passing. Vice President J.D. vance plans to visit with Republicans on Capitol Hill today. The relationship between the US And Russia is getting even more tense and both countries leaders warning the other in pretty strong terms. First, Russian President Putin spoke about what he says is an invincible nuclear missile that went on an 8,000 mile test flight earlier this week. It's been dubbed a flying Chernobyl after the Soviet nuclear disaster. And Russia says it could even strike targets in the U.S. well, President Trump responded by saying he doesn't need to go 8,000 miles, that the world's greatest nuclear submarine is already owned by the US and positioned right off Russia's shores. Then Trump said instead of testing missiles, Russia should end the war in Ukraine. Remember, Trump already scrapped the meeting he had planned with his Russian counterpart. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky is still pressing for American long range missiles to force Putin to make peace. So far, no word on whether it's something the White House is considering. Hurricane Melissa is now a Category 5 storm, making it the strongest the world has seen all year. And at least 25 million people are in its path. Jamaica seems to be taking a direct hit, with landfall expected this morning. It's on track to be Jamaica's worst storm in its history, with rains measured not in inches but in feet and winds have topped 175 miles an hour. The prime minister ordered mandatory evacuations. He told CNN he didn't think there was, quote, any infrastructure within this region that could withstand a storm as powerful as Melissa. Communication is already cut off in parts of the country. After Jamaica, the storm looks certain to strike Cuba, so the US Navy has evacuated about 1,000 non essential personnel from its Guantanam Bay base and moved eight Navy warships out of the storm's path. Dozens of ICE agents and Homeland Security contractors were already evacuated last week after the last migrants held there were deported to Central America. Now about 3,000 people are still on the base where there are hurricane shelters and emergency supplies. A British political commentator was arrested by American immigration officials. Sami Hamdi is Muslim, and he was scheduled to speak at a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. but Hamdi was detained at the San Francisco International Airport before he could make it. The Council on American Islamic Relations, AKA cair, put out a statement condemning his detention, saying Hamdi was only targeted because he criticized Israel's actions in Gaza, calling it a blatant affront to free speech. But the Homeland Security Department says Hamdi supports terrorism and undermines American national security, so his visa was revoked. Similarly, the Trump administration has denied visas to applicants whose social media histories have been critical of his policies and removed several protesters involved in unrest on college campuses. By the way, it's possible President Trump's immigration crackdown is about to get even more aggressive. Several reports say the White House is planning to replace some regional leaders at Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, AKA ice, and Border Patrol officials are expected to take their spots. NBC News cites officials who say the Trump administration has welcomed Border Patrol's more aggressive tactics to make more arrests. For example, rappelling into apartment buildings from Black Hawk helicopters, jumping out of rental trucks and Home Depot parking lots, using tear gas against protesters and more. And Trump officials apparently believe the changes will result in more daily arrests and mass deportations, though the Border Patrol's approach has also sparked some of the strongest backlash from protesters and prompted new lawsuits. For now, the Trump administration just says the president's entire team is working in lockstep to implement the president's policy agenda. President Trump has been busy this morning on the second leg of his Asia tour. He met Japan's first woman prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, for trade and security talks. Trump praised her rise to the top, as well as her promise to increase Japan's military capacity and buy more American defense equipment. Takechi spoke about Trump's role in securing ceasefires around the world and announced she is nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Together, Takechi and Trump signed an agreement on securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earth supplies, as well as the trade deal that was announced over the summer. After Japan, Trump is expected to go to South Korea, and White House officials say a new trade deal is also likely there. That's also where he's scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was supposed to be his final stop, but the president said he would extend the trip to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. That is, if Kim is willing to meet with him. To be continued. More news in just a moment, but first I want to talk about our sponsor, dos. Your liver is the second largest organ in your body and it does a lot more than most of us realize. It's responsible for over 500 functions, filtering what we consume, storing vitamins and minerals, helping digestion, even impacting energy and sleep. But here's the thing. Over 30% of Americans have a sluggish liver without even knowing it. So I was intrigued when I learned about dose. It's a natural science backed way to support one of the hardest working organs in your body. Each shot is formulated to help your liver do its job better, cleansing unwanted elements, aiding digestion and helping you feel more energized over time. In fact, in a double blind placebo controlled clinical trial, Dose for your Liver lowered liver enzyme levels by 50% in over 86% of participants. Plus, each shot is equivalent to 17 shots of turmeric juice. And I can tell you it tastes delicious. My husband and I both love how easy it is to take every morning. Save 25% on your first month of subscription by going to DueDaily co newsworthy or entering Newsworthy at checkout. That's D O s E D A I l y co newsworthy for 25% off your first month subscription. Now back to the news. The world's oldest ruler was just re elected. Cameroon's President Paul Biya is 92 and will be nearly 100 years old when this term ends. It's actually going to be his eighth term in office, but this last election was controversial with complaints about several irregularities. There have also been concerns about the president's health on top of his age. The country's constitution says if BIA were to die in office, the president of the Senate would take over while the person in the top Senate post is 91 and in poor health. Protests broke out yesterday, some of which turned violent well back in the U.S. america's oldest president gave his first speech since completing cancer treatment. Former President Biden received a lifetime achievement award at the Kennedy Institute in Boston. There, he said the country is facing dark days under President Trump, specifically bringing up what he called attacks on free speech and tests on the limits of executive power. The former president urged Americans to get up instead of check out, saying that's the way to make sure America comes out stronger. In response, the White House said the real dark days were under Biden, not Trump, mentioning immigration, inflation and transgender athletes in women's sports. It actually used to be a strong tradition in US Politics for former presidents to refrain from publicly criticizing or commenting on their successors. But the norm has shifted in recent years on both sides. Corporate workers are facing job cuts across retail, tech, media, manufacturing and beyond. The most recent layoffs are expected to happen at Amazon. As Reuters reports the company is planning to slash as many as 30,000 corporate jobs beginning today. It doesn't come as a big surprise, since Amazon CEO has said he wants to cut down on what he describes as an excess of bureaucracy within the company. And over the summer, he said artificial intelligence tools will likely lead to even more job cuts. Also, this is part of a broader trend, as several other companies announced job cuts just last week. For example, Target now has plans to cut about 1,800 positions from its corporate staff. More job cuts were announced at Molson, Coors, Rivian, Paramount, Skydance and more. Proving this trend is now happening across many different sectors of the economy. A national candy company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, even though the biggest candy holiday of the year is coming up. The national candy distributor Candy Warehouse announced the move right before Halloween, saying it's a way to reorganize and restructure its debts. The whole candy industry has actually been making changes, especially when it comes to cost, an analysis of Nielsen IQ data found. Overall, candy is nearly 11% more expensive this Halloween season than last year. There are a few reasons for the higher costs, the biggest one being that the price of cocoa beans has skyrocketed with climate change impacting the harvests. Energy and packaging costs have gone up too. And heads up. Besides charging more, some candy producers are including less chocolate per package. Others are making more gummy candy and rolling out special flavors that don't rely so much on chocolate. Still, Americans are expected to buy up plenty of all of it, spending nearly $4 billion on treats this Halloween. Pop star Taylor Swift and her NFL star fiance Travis Kelce both made history this week. Swift set a Billboard record when her new album, the Life of a Showgirl stayed at number one for a third straight week. That means over the course of her career, Swift has spent a total of 89 weeks at number one, more than any other solo artist in history. Then last night, kelce caught his 100th career touchdown pass when the Chiefs played the Commanders. It was also his 83rd during a regular season, tying him with Chiefs legend Priest Holmes for the most touchdowns in team history, and it helped the Chiefs win last night's game. Of course, those are just the latest records for both Swift and Kelce, and they're both expected to surpass even more of them in the weeks, months and maybe even years to come. That's it for the main news today, but now it's time for Trivia Tuesday when we ask a different trivia question every week. But first, this episode is brought to you by Oneskin. Did you know this time of year it's totally normal for hair to shed a little more. Seasonal shedding can happen from cooler and drier conditions, but OneSkin's OS1 hair can help your hair stay healthy and strong. I love knowing I'm doing something for my hair today that will help its health long term. It's a lightweight, drug free scalp serum that's powered by their patented OS1 peptide, which is scientifically proven to target aging at the cellular level, the same breakthrough that powers One Skin's skin care line. And the results are impressive. In clinical studies, Participants saw a 43% increase in hair thickness and a 40% increase in hair density after six months, along with fuller, healthier looking hair that feels stronger over time. Born from over 10 years of longevity research, OneSkin's OS1 peptide is proven to target the cells that cause the visible signs of aging. So your scalp and your hair stay healthy now and as you age go to Oneskin Co hair and use code newsworthy for 15% off your first order. After your purchase, they'll ask where you heard about them. So please support our show and tell them we sent you. Again, go to Oneskin Co Hair and use the code newsworthy for 15% off your first order. Okay, now back to Trivia Tuesday. And today's trivia question is what do you call a group of hippos? Listen again next Tuesday for the answer and explanation. As for last week's trivia question, how many people have ever lived on Earth? The answer is 117 billion. Granted, the number is an estimate. Demographers go through data to know how many people have lived at different times, the average life expectancy and birth rates. But records are not always reliable, especially not from centuries ago. So to calculate populations from hundreds or thousands of years ago, researchers used clues like city size, population density, and archaeological remains. Of course, today we have the census, making population counts much easier. The world's current population is estimated at 8.2 billion people. And if the estimates are correct, that means we make up about 7% of all people ever born. Thank you so much for joining us to get caught up on the news today. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest to know. Until then, have a great day.