NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-07-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

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Live from NPR News on Corva Coleman, the Biden administration says a new rule will remove medical debt from Americans' credit reports. NPR's Asma Khalid says the change was announced today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Tens of millions of people in the United States are saddled with medical bills they cannot pay, sometimes forcing them to drain their savings. Under this new rule, medical debt will no longer be listed on anyone's credit report. The White House says today's rule will remove $49 billion in unpaid medical bills from people's

credit reports. This means some people may see their credit scores improve and have an easier time receiving a mortgage. The CFPB has made going after medical debt a priority, but some congressional Republicans have long criticized the agency. And it's not clear what will happen in a new Trump administration. Asma Khalid, NPR News. Special counsel Jack Smith is preparing to submit his final report in the investigations of President-elect Trump.

This comes as Trump's lawyers are asking the Justice Department to block the report's release. And Piers Carey Johnson tells us the two-volume report will be transmitted to the Attorney General today. Attorney General Merrick Garland will decide how much of the report to make public in the days ahead. During his confirmation hearings, Garland said he wanted to be transparent about the decisions prosecutors made. Special Counsel Jack Smith has been unwinding his investigations of Trump because the Justice Department believes a sitting president cannot be prosecuted. But many people have been waiting to read his final report about 2020 election interference and the mishandling of classified documents. Two other defendants, longtime Trump aides, are still being prosecuted over the classified papers at

Mar-a-Lago. They're fighting the idea of any more information in that case becoming public. Carrie Johnson in PR News Washington. Parts of the Central US and Mid-Atlantic states are recovering from a powerful winter storm. It dumped several inches of snow and ice from Missouri to New Jersey. There are nearly 60,000 customers in Virginia who still don't have power back. Now National Weather Service meteorologist Peter Mullinax says there is a new winter storm preparing to strike the South, starting at the Gulf Coast. We're going to end up seeing areas of snow and ice start to take shape across parts of northern Texas, southern Oklahoma, as we get into Thursday morning.

And then by the time we get to Thursday night into Friday, snow and ice will make its way across the Arcletex region and lower Mississippi Valley that will ultimately lead to some pretty disruptive and even significant snow and ice accumulations in parts of those regions. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service is warning the Los Angeles area of dangerously strong winds today. These could be life-threatening. Forecasters say some winds could gust to hurricane strength. These could blow over tractor trailers and even huge trees.

On Wall Street, the Dow is up about 80 points. You're listening to NPR News. Chinese state media say a powerful earthquake in Tibet not far from Mount Everest has killed at least 126 people today. There have been dozens of aftershocks. McDonald's is the latest major corporation to announce it's rolling back some policies it implemented to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive company. NPR's Kristen Wright reports the fast food giant made the announcement in an open letter to employees. McDonald's will no longer set goals for diverse representation. It says more than 30% of its US leaders are

members of underrepresented groups. McDonald's is also ending a pledge with suppliers that encourage them to increase leadership and staffing opportunities for people of color in their own companies. McDonald cites a shifting legal landscape and the 2023 Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions. The company's move is just the most recent in a series of corporate DEI rollbacks.

McDonald says it benchmarked its new approach to what some other companies are doing. It maintains it is still committed to inclusion. The incoming Trump administration is expected to challenge corporate diversity programs. Kristen Wright, NPR News. The body of former president Jimmy Carter will be flown to Washington DC today. He will lie in state in the US Capitol building. Carter State funeral will be then held on Thursday. He'll be buried in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Two leading visual content companies say they're going to merge.

Getty Images and Shutterstock say they'll join to build a company valued at $3.7 billion. They will be known as Getty Images. Wait, wait, don't tell me. Fresh air? Up first. NPR News Now, Planet Money, Ted Radio Hour, ThruLine, the NPR Politics Podcast, Code Switch, Embedded, Books We Love, Wildcard... are just some of the podcasts you can enjoy sponsor-free with NPR+. Get all sorts of perks across more than 20 podcasts with the bundle option. Learn more at plus.npr.org.