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Episode Date: January 6, 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, I'm Dale Willman.

The FBI says the man who carried out the New Year's Day terror attack in New Orleans visited the city twice beforehand and he recorded video of the area he ended up targeting. As NPR's Robbie Griffiths reports, FBI agents also said that he visited Egypt and Canada the year before the attack, which killed 14 people. In a press conference on Sunday, the FBI said that Shamsuddin Jabbar travelled to New Orleans twice in recent months, filming in the city's French Quarter using hands-free smart glasses. Agents also revealed that Jabbar, who was inspired by the terrorist group ISIS to drive a truck into Revelers in the early hours of New Year's Day, travelled to both Cairo and

Ontario from his home in Houston last summer. It is not yet clear if those trips were connected to the attack. Agents still believe Jabbar, who was killed by police soon after the attack, was acting alone. New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell said the city, which is soon set to host Mardi Gras events

and the Super Bowl, is bringing in experts to assess security. Robbie Griffiths, NPR News. Joe Biden only has a few more weeks as president. In his NPR's Mara Liason reports, he's trying to make it harder for incoming President Donald Trump to overturn his legacy. In the final days of his presidency,

Biden is trying to Trump-proof his accomplishments. He's created legal roadblocks to Trump's plan to fire tens of thousands of civil servants. And he's reportedly considering a preemptive pardon for former representative Liz Cheney, who led the investigation into the January 6th attacks. Trump has said he wants to put her in jail. Biden may also place a permanent ban

on oil and gas drilling in federal waters. If Trump wanted to reverse that, he'd need congressional approval. And in another final act, Biden has reportedly notified Congress that the U.S. will sell $8 billion of weapons to Israel. Mara Liason, NPR News. A polar vortex has been pounding the central portion of the U.S. this weekend, bringing

heavy snow and ice that's been shutting down highways and cutting off power in some areas. Now that storm is reaching into the mid-Atlantic region. Washington, D.C. is expecting as much as a foot of snow overnight, but transportation official Sharon Kirschbaum says they're ready for it. We have about 250 heavy and light plows that are queued up. Our teams started today at noon with all the salting and chemical treatment, and as soon as the snowflakes start we give it about two inches and then we put the plows down. And we're going to work until it's done. Congress, meanwhile, will be braving the weather to meet to certify the presidential election results from last November. New York City's new congestion pricing plan got underway today.

That program requires a toll for drivers who enter the center of Manhattan. Under the plan, many drivers will pay $9 to drive into the busiest part of the city during peak hours. It's meant to reduce traffic gridlock and to improve the city's air quality. The money raised through the toll be used to fix the city's aging subways and other public transit systems. You're listening to NPR News. OB award-winning playwright, director, and producer Richard Forman died on Saturday in New York City of complications from pneumonia. He was 87 years old. As Jeff London reports, Forman was a fixture of the avant-garde off

Broadway. A theater kid from Scarsdale, New York and educated at Brown and Yale, Richard Forman established his own company in 1968. Called the Ontological Hysteric Theater and located in the East Village, he created many epics on stages frequently bisected by strings and poles with titles like Dream Tantras for Western Massachusetts and My Head Was a Sledgehammer. He frequently collaborated with composer Stanley Silverman. At the age of 58, Foreman was awarded a MacArthur grant. He also worked in more mainstream venues, including a well-received version of the Three

Penny Opera at Lincoln Center. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. Walt Disney's Mufasa ruled North American box offices this weekend, bringing in twenty three point eight million dollars for moviegoers. It's the Lion King prequels third week in movie theaters. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 meanwhile came in second after having spent the past two weeks in the number one spot. Nosferatu came in third, while Moana 2 and Wicked rounded out the top five in the movie

theaters. Less than a week into the new year, the 2025 box office is already up about 20% over the same week last year. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. 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.