NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-06-2026 12PM EST

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump is paying tribute to Congressman Doug Lamalfa, a seven-term Republican representative from California, who died at the age of 65. He was the leader of the Western Caucus, a fierce champion on California water issues. He was great on water. He wanted to release the water.

He'd scream out of him. A cause of death has not been released. Lamalfa's death as well as the Resignation of former representative Marjorie Taylor Green further narrows the GOP majority in the U.S. House. At a GOP retreat today, President Trump told Republicans they would need to unify and move forward with their agenda this election year. Today marks five years since the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. A mob of supporters of President Trump violently stormed the building and injured approximately 140 police officers. President Trump issued mass pardons to the rioters on his first day in office.

NPR's Tom Dreisbach reports police officers who were assaulted that day say they are still dealing with trauma. Washington, D.C. police officer Daniel Hodges was repeatedly attacked on January 6, 2021. Riders punched him, kicked him, tried to gouge out his eyes, and then crushed him in a metal door. President Trump gave all of the people who assaulted Hodges' full pardons. Hodges says that only adds to the damage done on January 6th. I can't draw a straight line between this and the 6th, but I've been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, anxiety adjustment disorder, and PTSD symptoms. Hodges told NPR he will keep speaking out about the insurrection to try to preserve an accurate account of what happened that day. Tom Dreisbach, NPR News.

Residents of Caracas reported heavy gunfire last night just around Venezuela's presidential palace. NPR's Ada Peralta reports it appears to stem from confusion. On social media, videos from Caracas showed men with rifles trading fire on the streets. From their balconies, residents saw what appeared to be anti-aircraft fire streaking through the air. The government's information ministry told the Spanish News Agency EFE that the gunfire was to disobeyed drones over flying Miraflores, the presidential palace. The violence surfaced fears that there might be a struggle for power following the U.S. capture of President Nicolas Nicolas Luis Rodriguez was sworn in as acting president.

The Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padino, also said the Venezuelan armed forces are firmly behind Rodriguez. At a federal courthouse in New York yesterday, Venezuela and President Maduro and First Lady, Flores, pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking weapons and other charges in the U.S. This is NPR News. One of the first law enforcement officers to respond to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvaldi, Texas, is standing trial. Opening statements were scheduled to begin today, now that a jury has been seated. Former Uvaldi School's officer Adrian Gonzalez is facing 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment. He is one of two officers facing criminal charges, but an investigation found that nearly 400 officers from various agencies were at the side of the school attack.

They waited 77 minutes before they breached the classroom and killed the shooter. In that time, the gunman had killed 19 students and two teachers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says U.S. flu cases are surging and the season is likely to get worse. Here's NPR's Jail Snyder. states reported high or very high flu activity during the final week of December up from 30 states a week before. CDC estimates there have been at least 11 million illnesses so far this season well above what was reported during the same time period last year. Hospitalizations are up. The CDC says the flu has hospitalized at least 120,000 people since the start of the season,

and there have been 5,000 deaths. Public health experts say holiday travel likely, contributed to the surge over the Christmas holiday, also low vaccination rates, and a partial vaccine mismatch. They expect increased flu activity will likely continue for several weeks. Trial Snyder, NPR News. The Dow is up 285 points. It's NPR.