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--:-- Shea Stevens: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens.
--:-- Shea Stevens: The Trump administration is planning a special immigration enforcement operation in Charlotte, North Carolina. As Nick Della Canal of member station WFAE reports, Border Patrol agents could arrive in Charlotte as soon as this weekend.
--:-- Nick Della Canal: The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office says Border Patrol agents will arrive in Charlotte in the coming days, but details are still vague, including how many federal agents and for how long.
--:-- J.D. Masuera Arias: If there is an operation or presence in Charlotte, the public has the right to know what's happening and why it's happening.
--:-- Nick Della Canal: Latino advocacy groups say the announcement has already sparked fear, with families staying home and immigration help hotlines lighting up.
--:-- Shea Stevens: For NPR News, I'm Nick Della Canal in Charlotte North Carolina.
--:-- Shea Stevens: The government shutdown delayed funding for a program that helps millions of Americans pay heating bills buy fuel and fix broken heaters. But WHYY Sophia Schmidt reports that many families won't get that assistance right away.
--:-- Sophia Schmidt: Several states have delayed their low-income home energy assistance programs, or LIHEAP, while they wait for federal funding.
--:-- Mark Wolf: He says it usually takes the federal government about a month to release LIHEAP money after Congress passes a funding bill. But that was before the Trump administration fired the staff that administer the program this spring.
--:-- Sophia Schmidt: And for families that use delivered fuels, heating oil and propane, that could put them in a precarious situation because they have to pay the vendor to get fuel delivered.
--:-- Shea Stevens: The Department of Health and Human Services says it will work swiftly to administer the funds. For NPR News, I'm Sophia Schmidt in Philadelphia.
--:-- Shea Stevens: A federal judge is weighing arguments over the appointment of the U.S. attorney who secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The story from NPR's Ryan Lucas.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Attorneys for both James Comey and Letitia James say that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsay Halligan was unlawfully appointed. Because of that they say the separate indictments against Comey and James should be found invalid and dismissed.
--:-- Justice Department: The Justice Department meanwhile argues that Halligan appointment is valid and legal and any perceived problem with it is at most quote a paperwork error.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan-Curry was assigned to hear challenges to Halligan's appointment. Curry heard a little more than an hour of arguments from defense attorneys and prosecutors.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: She did not rule from the bench, but she did say she plans to issue her ruling by Thanksgiving.
--:-- Shea Stevens: Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Alexandria, Virginia.
--:-- Shea Stevens: On Wall Street, stocks close sharply lower. The Dow Industrials tumbled 797 points. The Nasdaq lost 536 points.
--:-- Shea Stevens: You're listening to NPR.
--:-- Shea Stevens: Regents at Texas A&M University have adopted a policy that requires prior approval before professors can discuss topics on race and gender in class. The change comes months after a video of a student confronting a professor over a gender identity lesson went viral.
--:-- Shea Stevens: The BBC has apologized to President Trump over a 2021 documentary on the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. The British media organization edited Trump's remarks to supporters ahead of the attack Trump legal team gave the BBC until Friday to make a public apology or face a billion defamation suit
--:-- Shea Stevens: The music of two annual celebrations collides on this week Billboard charts as the Halloween rush gives way to Christmas music. And if you think the Christmas season starts earlier each year, NPR's Stephen Thompson reports that there is data to back you up.
--:-- Stephen Thompson: The new charts cover the weekend of Halloween, so they're full of spooky music. Ghostbusters, Somebody's Watching Me, Monster Mash, and Michael Jackson's Thriller, which re-enters the top ten.
--:-- Stephen Thompson: But a fair bit of Christmas music also re-enters this week's charts, as fans started streaming their favorites while pumpkins were still on their doorsteps.
--:-- Stephen Thompson: Michael Buble's album Christmas is one of four holiday records re-entering the album's chart, while two holiday classics make their way back to the Hot 100. They're by Mariah Carey and Wham!
--:-- Shea Stevens: Stephen Thompson, NPR News.
--:-- Shea Stevens: U.S. futures are flat in after-hours trading. This is NPR.
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