NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-01-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

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What's in store for the music, TV, and film industries for 2025? We don't know, but we're making some fun, bold predictions for the new year. Listen now to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. In brief remarks from Camp David tonight, President Biden gave an update on what he calls a fluid situation after the attack in New Orleans, saying Americans stand behind the people in the city. To all the families of those who were killed, to all those who were injured, to all the people of New Orleans, we're grieving today.

I want you to know I grieve with you. Our nation grieves with you. Meanwhile, the Sugar Bowl game has been postponed until tomorrow as authorities scrambled to determine why a man drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in the early hours of the morning, killing at least 15 people. MPs Martin Costee says the FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism. FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan says the driver of the truck was a 42-year-old Texan and Army veteran named Shamsuddin Jabbar.

He was driving a Ford pickup truck, which appears to be unrented. An ISIS flag was located on the trailer hitch of the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations. Police say they had parked a squad car across the entrance to Bourbon Street, but the truck got around it by driving up on the sidewalk. They say Jabbar drove through the crowd, crashed the truck, and was killed in a firefight with officers. Martin Kosty, NPR News.

Meanwhile, President Biden says authorities are looking into whether there's any connection between the New Orleans attack and the Tesla cyber truck explosion outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas today that left one person dead several others injured. Police say there's no threat to the community. It's not clear if it was an accident or intentional. Jeffrey Schwartz is the FBI's special agent in charge. He says they're working to determine what happened. I know everybody's interested in that word and trying to see if we can say, hey, this is a terrorist attack.

That is our goal and that's what we're trying to do. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on X, a site he also owns, the vehicle was functioning properly. Russia hit Ukraine's capital early today with a drone attack that left one person dead, several others injured. And Piers Bryan Mann has more. Kiev's anti-aircraft weapons began to fire just before dawn as the buzz of Russian drones could be heard overhead. Russian attacks like this one have been part of daily life for Ukrainian civilians for

nearly three years. 24-year-old Yaroslav Meschkov says he's not hopeful for peace in 2025. I think I do not have a lot of hopes. Maybe that Ukraine will be existing next year and that will be great and that my friends will be alive. More young Ukrainians are being recruited to fight in the war as the country tries to remedy a desperate shortage of soldiers. Russia's army is making gains along the Eastern Front. Brian Mann, NPR News, Keefe. Wall Street was closed today for the New Year's holiday. U.S. futures contracts are trading flat. This is NPR News.

Employers in New York now have to offer pregnant workers an additional 20 hours of paid leave to attend medical appointments for prenatal care. Governor Kathy Hochul says the new law makes New York the first state in the country to do so. All pregnant workers in the private sector are eligible for the paid time off. Hochul pushed for the measure in the state's last legislative session as a way to help reduce maternal and infant deaths in New York. It applies to all private sector employers in the state. In California, the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena kicked off the new year just north of Los Angeles. Yuzuru Farzan of Member Station LAist has more. Hundreds of thousands of people cheered as floats carrying giant frolicking pandas, a dog the size of a giraffe, and a volcano spouting fire.

All the floats are decorated with seeds, fruits, vegetables, dried florals, grass, and of course fresh flowers. But for Angela Butler, who drove over 70 miles to come to the parade, the floral floats were not the draw. I just love watching the marching bands, but the Jackson State Marching Band is one of my favorite marching bands. They're very exciting. I love the drum majors and so that's why I'm here. The parade was momentarily disrupted by protesters calling for an arms embargo on Israel. A city spokesperson said around 14 people

were detained. For NPR News, I'm Yusra Farzad in Pasadena. And I'm Janine Herbst. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Indicator is a podcast where daily economic news is about what matters to you. Workers have been feeling the sting of inflation. So as a new administration promises action on the cost of living, taxes and home prices, the S&P 500 biggest post-election day spike ever, follow all the big changes and what they mean for you. Make America affordable again.

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