NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-06-2026 7PM EST

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. Venezuela's main opposition leader praised President Trump for seizing the country's former leader Nicholas Maduro and his wife. Maria Karina Machado lauded Trump for his actions, even as the president has sidelined her in any future plans for the South American country. NPR's Kerry Khan reports. Machado has posted little publicly since U.S. Special Forces removed Maduro and his wife. Speaking on Fox News, Machado said, she wants to share her Nobel Peace Prize with President Trump. After spending most of the interview exalting Trump, Machado said her opposition party will come to power.

In free and fair elections, we will win with over 90% of the votes. I have no doubt about it. Trump broke with Machado following the U.S. military action backing Maduro's vice president, who has since been appointed Venezuela's new interim leader. U.S. officials say elections in Venezuela are not possible at this time. Trump insists the country's oil industry must be rebuilt first. Kerry Kahn, NPR News, Bogota, Colombia. Democrats and Congress are marking five years since supporters of President Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol.

Meanwhile, the White House released a web page that insists rioters were peaceful and accuses Democrats of certifying a, quote, fraud-ridden election. Congressional Republicans are mostly ignoring the anniversary. NPR's Sam Gringlass. has more. More than 140 police officers were injured defending the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a mob tried to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election results. Here's House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Donald Trump and far-right extremists in Congress have repeatedly attempted to rewrite history and whitewash the horrific events of January 6th. We will not let

that happened. House Republicans were at the Kennedy Center for a retreat, including a speech by President Trump, who assailed investigations into the role he played in sparking the violence. Trump has pardoned more than 1,500 January 6th participants. Sam Greenglass, NPR News, Washington. The Department of Health and Human Services has changed the recommended vaccine schedule for children, removing many shots that have been deemed safe. Former CDC director Richard Besser says the change will lead to confusion and potentially death. I took care of patients before most of those vaccines were either on the list or recommended. And I saw children hospitalized. I've seen children die for many of these diseases that are now no longer in the recommended column. Now vaccines for diseases

like flu, hepatitis A and B, and meningitis are only recommended for those at high risk or after consultation with a health care provider. This is NPR News from Washington. A former Republican lawmaker in Arizona has been sentenced to probation and a five-year ban on running for public office. Austin Smith pleaded guilty to using forged signatures on nominating petitions for a 2024 primary election. He was a leader for the conservative group Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of Turning Point USA. Smith admitted to forging a dead woman's signature and using false petitions. The Department of Health and Human Services has frozen Biden-era child care funding affecting 1.4 million children. NPR's Caden Mills reports.

The new rules are for the federal Child Care and Development Fund, one of the largest federal funding sources meant to help low-income families pay for child care. Current rules require states to base funding for providers on enrollment rather than verified attendance. Under the new rules funding will be attendance-based, and states will be allowed to reimburse providers rather than pay them in advance for their services. The administration also moved to prioritize parent vouchers, moving away from grants paid to providers. A cap on family co-payments will also be scrapped. Childcare advocates say the proposed changes would roll-back rules designed to encourage a more stable and affordable child care industry. Kaden Mills, NPR News.

An AI-generated report in the Heber City, Utah Police Department, mistakenly reported that an officer had been turned into a frog. The program automatically generates police reports from body camera footage. A police sergeant told Fox 13 in Salt Lake City that the software had picked up a movie in the background, the princess and the frog. This is NPR News.