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--:-- Windsor Johnston: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Congress is pointing fingers this morning as a government shutdown takes effect. Senate leaders from both parties are blaming each other for the stalemate that brought the federal government to a standstill overnight.
--:-- Chuck Schumer: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Republicans failed to deliver. There are going to be millions of American families in the next week in October sitting down and saying, how are we going to pay these damn bills?
--:-- John Thune: Senate Majority Leader John Thune is placing the blame on Democrats. The Democrat caucus here in town, in the Senate, has chosen to shut down the government over a clean, nonpartisan funding bill.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Essential government services like Social Security checks and VA benefits will continue, and air traffic controllers will remain on the job. But museums and many federal offices are now closed Republicans control both chambers of Congress but need Democratic support in the Senate to approve any government funding deal
--:-- Windsor Johnston: The White House has threatened mass layoffs of federal employees in addition to furloughs during the shutdown.
--:-- Andrea Shue: NPR's Andrea Shue reports federal employee unions are now suing the Trump administration.
--:-- Andrea Shue: The lawsuit stems from a memo that the White House Office of Management and Budget sent to federal agencies last week. It told agencies to consider sending layoff notices to federal employees working on programs or activities that aren't consistent with the president's priorities in the event of a government shutdown.
--:-- Andrea Shue: The two unions behind the lawsuit together represent more than 800,000 federal employees. They argue that the threat of layoffs is, quote, an unlawful abuse of power designed to punish workers and pressure Congress.
--:-- Andrea Shue: They've asked a federal court in San Francisco to find that the Office of Management and Budget unlawfully exceeded its authority in issuing the memo and to invalidate actions that come from it.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Andrea Hsu, NPR News.
--:-- Cindy Lupkin: The White House is launching a website for prescription drugs called TrumpRx.
--:-- Cindy Lupkin: NPR Cindy Lupkin reports the site would facilitate sales directly to consumers at a discount.
--:-- Cindy Lupkin: President Trump announced a deal with Pfizer to sell its drugs directly to consumers
--:-- Cindy Lupkin: The medicines will be available through a website operated by the federal government called TrumpRx
--:-- Cindy Lupkin: The United States has done subsidizing the health care of the rest of the world. It's a big thing. This is I can't tell you how big this is.
--:-- Cindy Lupkin: The announcement came as part of the president's push to get lower drug prices for Americans. He aims to bring them in line with what other developed countries pay.
--:-- Cindy Lupkin: The deal also includes discounts for Medicaid and a pledge from Pfizer to sell new drugs at the same price in the U.S. and other developed countries.
--:-- Cindy Lupkin: Trump says similar deals with other drug makers are in the works.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Sydney Lepkin, NPR News.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: This is NPR News in Washington.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Starting today, Amazon is officially retiring its Prime Invitee program. Users will no longer be allowed to share free shipping benefits to people who don't live in their household.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: The replacement is Amazon Family, which only allows benefit sharing among people who share the same address.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: The change is part of the company's push to reduce benefit leakage and enforce stricter membership rules.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: Hollywood is pushing back against the arrival of an AI avatar whose creators are calling quote the next Scarlett Johansson.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: NPR Chloe Veltman reports Tilly Norwood has so far only appeared in short social media clips
--:-- Chloe Veltman: It's also unclear whether Tilly Norwood, a fair-skinned brunette with a Margot Robbie smile, can perform scenes with other actors, since the AI has so far only made solo appearances on social media.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: Nevertheless, its presence has riled up the acting community since the company that made Tilly Norwood, Particle 6, announced this past weekend the creation of a new AI talent studio.
--:-- Ariana DeBose: Oscar winner Ariana DeBose.
--:-- Ariana DeBose: Computer programs don't have emotions. They don't have life experiences to draw on. So simply put, this is one area where computers cannot replace people.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: The Actors Union SAG-AFTRA has issued a statement condemning the AI.
--:-- Whoopi Goldberg: But some actors don't seem phased. Bring it on, said Whoopi Goldberg in a segment on ABC's The View.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: Chloe Valtman, NPR News.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: On Wall Street, Dow futures are trading lower at this hour.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: This is NPR News.
