NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-05-2026 10PM EST

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. Owsted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made his first appearance in federal court in New York today. A 25-page indictment alleges Maduro provided drug traffickers with diplomatic passports and partnered with cartels to send cocaine to the U.S. If convicted, Maduro and his wife could face life in prison. NPR's Jasmine Garst has more on the proceedings. It was a bizarre scene inside the courthouse. Maduro was wearing his purse. prison uniform. And as he walked out, he kept looking at reporters in the eye and wishing them

a happy New Year in English. When he was asked by the judge to identify himself, Maduro did so as the president of Venezuela. And he also said he's a prisoner of war who has been kidnapped by the U.S. He and his wife, Celia Flores, pleaded not guilty to all of the charges from narco-terrorism to weapons crimes. NPR's Jasmine Garst reporting Florida's large Venezuelan expatriate community is celebrating the capture and arrest of Maduro. But as NPR's Greg Allen reports, many now wonder what comes next. President Trump says with Maduro's ouster, his administration now supports another member of the Maduro regime, the newly sworn in interim president, Delci Rodriguez. Especially troubling to Venezuelan expatriates were Trump's comments about opposition leader Maria Karina Machado. Trump said

he believes she doesn't have the support and respect to be able to lead Venezuela. Since then, top Republicans, including Florida Senator Rick Scott, have tried to walk back those comments. And I think it's going to happen, but it's going to take time to make that happen. Maria Carina Machado will be part of leadership of Venezuela, and I think she's well respected by Venezuelans. Corrina Machado is a Nobel Prize winner. His political coalition, according to the U.S., won the 2024 election before it was stolen by the Maduro regime. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is taking administrative action against Senator Mark Kelly. NPR's Quill Lawrence reports it comes after the Democrat spoke out against President Trump.

Senator Kelly served 25 years as a Navy pilot and retired with full military benefits, so he's still subject to military code. Secretary Hegseth claims that Kelly's statements, including a message telling troops not to follow illegal orders, amount to sedition. Hegsteth says on social media that he has initiated a formal, 45-day process to reduce Kelly's rank and retirement pay. Senator Kelly replied in a statement that he earned his rank in combat and as an astronaut and that Hexeth and the Trump administration are trying to stifle free speech and dissent among retired military officers. Kelly called that outrageous and un-American.

Quill Lawrence NPR News. U.S. flu infections are surging. Health officials say the already severe season is likely to get worse. A new strain of the flu virus is accounted. for many of the cases. This is NPR News. The official plaque honoring the police who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021 is nowhere to be found. It's supposed to be on display at the Capitol, as required by law. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has yet to formally unveil it.

The Justice Department is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit demanding that it be displayed. Many members of Congress have mounted replicas of the plaque outside their office doors. Some new coins begin circulating this week to mark the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. NPR's Scott Horsley reports, designs of some of the coins were altered by the Trump administration. Congress authorized the anniversary coins back in 2021. And after years of polling and focus groups, a citizen's advisory committee recommended five anniversary quarter designs, including coins marking the abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement, and women's suffrage. But when the Trump administration recently unveiled the new

coins, those designs had been replaced with quarters featuring pilgrim. The Revolutionary War and the Gettysburg Address. Donald Scorinsey, who served on the advisory committee, was disappointed. They stopped history at the Civil War. They just kind of said, okay, this series of quarters doesn't really reflect where we are 250 years later. A spokeswoman for the Mint says some of the rejected designs could be revived later. Scott Horsley and Pear News, Washington. One of the world's rarest whales, the North Atlantic right whale, is having more babies this year.

But experts say many more are needed to help stave off the possibility of extinction. There are just an estimated 384 of the mammals in the wild, but that's a gain of more than 7% of their 2020 population. I'm Ryland Barton. This is NPR News.