NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-03-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: January 4, 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 newly Republican controlled Senate

has elected its first new party leader in nearly 20 years. NPR's Claudio Grisales reports that South Dakota GOP Senator John Thune was overwhelmingly supported by his colleagues. Congress began a new term today, the first step in shifting full control in Washington to the GOP. In the Senate, newly elected Majority Leader John Thune is the GOP's first new leader in the upper chamber since 2007. That year, his predecessor Mitch McConnell took over as Republican leader, stepping down from that role this year.

Thune, the former longtime Senate Republican whip, is considered a moderating voice in the party and has been on the other side of debates from president-elect Donald Trump numerous times. However, Thune endorsed Trump late in the presidential race last year and has become a growing ally to the incoming president. Claudia Grisales, NPR News. Authorities are learning more about the highly decorated soldier who shot himself in the head inside a fireworks and fuel-packed Tesla cyber truck outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel.

37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger was apparently trying to send a message. Las Vegas Assistant Sheriff Dory Corrin reading some of the writings left behind by the suspects. This was not a terrorist attack. It was a wake-up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives? Authorities say Livelsberger shot himself shortly before the vehicle exploded, bursting into flames. Seven people in the immediate area suffered minor injuries. Defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton will pay the federal government nearly 16 million dollars to settle fraud

allegations. The company allegedly used illegally obtained information to secure Defense Department contracts. Texas Public Radio's Paul Flav reports. Prosecutors said Booz Allen used civilian government contractors to obtain confidential bidding and competitor proposal information to rig the bid in their favor for a flight simulator contract. In 2023, a San Antonio-based Air Force contractor, Kevin Seguin, was sentenced to 15 years in prison over the scheme. He took bribes to influence $100 million in contracts over 10 years, said investigators. At least three others have been found criminally responsible for the fraud, including two Booz Allen Engineering Services program managers.

The mega defense contractor admitted no legal liability in this settlement. It's at least the second settlement over false claims acts violations for the company that agreed to pay nearly $400 million to the government in 2023. I'm Paul Flav in San Antonio. The northeast and mid-Atlantic regions are bracing for what's expected to be an icy winter blast over the weekend into early next week. Meteorologists forecasting a snow and ice storm to be followed by frigid temperatures this week could hit the eastern two-thirds of the country, perhaps reaching as far south as Florida. Snow could begin falling in some spots tomorrow.

On Wall Street, the Dow was up 339 points. This is NPR. Alcohol consumption is a leading preventable cause of cancer linked to about 20,000 cancer deaths per year. That's according to a new warning from the U.S. Surgeon General. NPR's Allison Arby reports the warning comes as scientists weigh changes to current guidelines. More than two-thirds of adults in the U.S. report having at least one drink or more per week. But Surgeon General Vivek Morthy says what many don't realize is that alcohol can increase

the risk of breast and colorectal cancer, as well as cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and liver. The science has been building for years, creating greater and greater certainty about more and more types of cancer. The precise amount of alcohol that may increase a person's risk is not clear. It's linked to a range of factors including genetics and family history. Current U.S. guidelines recommend no more than one drink a day for women, two for men. A review of the evidence underway now could lead to revisions later this year.

Alison Aubrey, NPR News. President Biden has blocked Nippon's steals nearly 15 billion dollar acquisition of storied U.S. steel. Biden in a statement today saying, quote, we need major U.S. companies representing the major share of U.S. steel making capacity to keep leading the fight on behalf of America's national interests. Biden's decision comes after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. spent months reviewing potential security risks, but could not reach consensus on the deal. Nippon is the world's fourth largest steelmaker. U.S. Steel traces its origins to the late 19th century and its materials have been used in everything from bridges and skyscrapers to tanks and battleships.

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