NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-04-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. The official tributes to former President Jimmy Carter begin today in Georgia. Reporter Steve Futterman is there. Six days of remembrances, honors and religious services will begin here at a medical center in America's Georgia. The former president's flag-draped casket will be put into a hearse. A motorcade will then make a 10-mile trip to Plains, where Carter was born.

There will be a pause in front of his boyhood home. During the pause, a farm bell will ring 39 times to commemorate Carter being the 39th president. Then his body will be taken to Atlanta. There will be another pause in front of the state capitol. It will then be taken to the Carter Presidential Center and Library. After a private service, Carter's body will lie in repose until Tuesday when the former president's casket will be flown to Washington. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Americas, Georgia.

House Speaker Mike Johnson expressing gratitude for President-elect Donald Trump after narrowly winning re-election. Johnson won the Speaker's gavel in the first round of voting after he and Trump spoke with two GOP holdouts. Johnson says he did not offer anything to get them to switch their votes. He says he just made his case. It's unified government and Republicans have control of the Senate and the White House and the House so it's a very different situation than the last Congress was, and they can hold me accountable for that. We're going to have a member-driven, bottom-up process for the development of this really important legislation, and we must succeed.

We have no margin for error. So that's all it was. No promises. Later in the day, Trump learned that he will be sentenced in the Hush Money case next week on January 10th. Although New York Judge Juan Marchand has indicated that Trump is unlikely to serve any jail time, Trump is calling Marchand's decision an illegitimate political attack. The French and German foreign ministers have made their first visit to Damascus

since rebels overturned the former Assad regime and established a new government. And Piers Diahadid reports from Damascus on the meeting with Syria's de facto leader. A video of the meeting between the ministers and Syria's new ruler, Ahmad al-Sharah, was widely shared online. That's partly because Sharah, a conservative Muslim, politely declined to shake the hand of Germany's female foreign minister. Ahead of her trip, Anna-Lena Baerbach said in a statement that the EU will offer support to Syria and that the bloc expects Syrians from all minorities and religious groups to have a role in the country's politics. Shara is urging Western countries to lift sanctions once imposed to punish the former Assad regime. Some foreign policy experts also call on Western countries to offer a swift roadmap to international recognition. They say delays will embolden

hardliners. Deah Hadid, NPR News, Damascus. And from Washington, this is NPR News. White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, says President Biden's decision to block the nearly $15 billion deal between Japan's Nippon Steel acquiring Pittsburgh-based U.S. steel was based on national security reasons. Corrine Jean-Pierre It is about making sure that a U.S. company is U.S. owned, U.S. operating, supporting, continuing to protect. The U.S. steel steel makers obviously are union, and that's what the president wanted, led with,

and that's how he made this decision. Following a year long review, President Biden blocked the deal yesterday, but in a joint statement, both companies say there is no credible evidence that the proposal presents a national security issue. In Utah, a strike by ski patrollers at the nation's largest ski resort now entering its second week. MPR's Kirk Sigler has the latest. The

strike that began December 27th has disrupted resort operations at Park City during the holidays, one of the busiest and most important times economically for ski resorts. This strike is the culmination of a years-long labor dispute with industry conglomerate Vale Resorts, which owns the Park City Resort. Among other things, the union is asking for an across-the-board $2 raise. Some rookie patrollers get paid less than starting wages at local fast food restaurants, even though they conduct avalanche controls and rescues. Vail has been sending managers to Utah to fill in, but guests are reporting frustrations with long lift lines and closed terrain.

The union says it has made some progress in talks with a federal mediator, but the strike continues. Kirk Ziegler, NPR News. And I'm Joel Snyder. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.