NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-02-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

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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. Listen to The Indicator, the daily economics podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear.

The FBI says the driver who killed 14 people in New Orleans on New Year's Eve night acted alone and there is no more threat to the public. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports Bourbon Street is open again. It didn't take long for this iconic strip to swing back to life. Quinton and Gina Snow came this week from Texas and were on this street until just an hour before the attack. They say it feels surreal now, but they're grateful the large security presence that was here near Zeeve acted fast. You can't anticipate everything sadly. And there were cars and trucks at many of the intersections. Businesses say they've taken a hit at one of their peak times, but they hope people don't stay away.

Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, New Orleans. Officials now say the man who detonated a rented Tesla cyber truck packed with explosives in front of President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel apparently shot himself in the head before the vehicle burst into flames. Sheriff's Department officials identified the man as 37 year old Master Sergeant Matthew Allen Littlesburg. Spencer Evans is the FBI agent in charge of the investigation. Says at present it appears the suspect acted alone but he says they aren't ruling anything out. The question about whether it's

being investigated globally, absolutely. Like I said, we're running down investigative leads around the world. No information that we're aware of right now that connects this individual to any terrorist organization around the world. Seven people were injured. Officials say there does not appear to be a connection to an incident in New Orleans where a former soldier drove a truck into a crowd of New Year's revelers, killing 14 people.

Congress returns tomorrow with Republicans holding narrow majorities in both houses that could complicate President-elect Trump's plans to pursue an ambitious legislative agenda. Here's Embarrassed Lexa Schepittle. The first order of business in the House will be electing a new speaker. While incoming Speaker Mike Johnson has Trump's endorsement, just a few Republican defectors could derail the voting process. If the House hasn't chosen a speaker by Monday, that could delay the Johnson has Trump's endorsement, just a few Republican defectors could derail the voting process. If the House hasn't chosen a speaker by Monday, that could delay the certification of Trump's 2024 presidential victory.

Trump's legislative priorities will likely include passing a border security package and extending the tax cuts Republicans passed during his first term. Those are set to expire this year. Lawmakers will also need to fund the government by March to avoid a shutdown. And the Senate will soon begin confirmation hearings for Trump's cabinet picks, some of whom have yet to secure the support they'll need. Lexi Shapiro, NPR News, Washington. Better than expected weekly jobs numbers continue to suggest American workers are enjoying a fair degree of job security. Labor Department reporting first-time jobless

claims last week fell by 9,000, was seasonally adjusted 211,000, four-week moving average was to take some of the volatility out of the weekly numbers also declined. Stocks helped move Wall Street lower on the first trading day of the new year. The Dow fell 151 points. The Nasdaq was down 30 points. You're listening to NPR. Back to the office today for workers at Amazon, and already there are concerns about what that will mean in Seattle, where the e-commerce giant employs about 55,000 people at its campus there. Amazon had been allowing its employees to work from home three days a week,

but is now requiring workers to be in the office five days a week. Scientists have analyzed DNA from a mysterious and elusive animal, the marsupial mole. As NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boysch reports, this mole tunnels beneath the sands of remote deserts in Australia. This mole is so rare, a mere sighting in the wild makes headlines. To learn more about it, researchers analyzed DNA from a single dead mole stored in a museum. Sarah Lucas is with the University of Munster in Germany. She says the genetic evidence suggests that this mole's population size abruptly crashed about 70,000 years ago. I think that's definitely one of the major findings of this paper because they were listed as extremely endangered because we had no

idea about what their population dynamics were happening and again it's really hard to find a living one. A report on the finding in the journal Science Advances says the decline may have happened during a period of past climate change. Nell Greenfield-Boyce, NPR News. New data company rankings are showing Aeromexico was the best on time record, had the best on time record globally last year. Sorry, I mean, its annual airline rankings released today says nearly 87% of the carrier's flights arrived on time. Delta was the best scoring U.S. carrier at the bottom of the rankings. Canadian Airlines WestJet, Air Canada and Denver-based Frontier.

I'm Jack Spear, NPR News. What's in store for the music, TV and film industries for 2025? Denver-based frontier. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News.