NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-07-2025 5PM EST

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The rare event that is a presidential funeral has made its way to Washington with the body of Jimmy Carter taken by horse-drawn caisson through the snowy streets of the nation's capital. Members of the military escorting Carter's flag-draped casket to the Capitol Rotunda, where the 39th president will lie in state this week. Members of Congress, the Supreme Court justices, and the public will be able to honor Carter there. Carter's body left the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta this morning and was flown to Washington aboard a special plane. Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100 last month.

The formal state funeral will be held Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral. The new Congress, meanwhile, is moving ahead on immigration just days after being sworn in. NPR's Amanda Bastille reports about House passage of immigration bill. 48 Democrats joined 216 Republicans in the House in passing the Lake and Riley Act, which would require the detention

of any unauthorized migrant charged with theft or burglary. The bill is named after a Georgian nursing student who was killed last year. A Venezuelan man who had entered the U.S. illegally was convicted of her murder. Lincoln Riley's death became a rallying cry for Republicans criticizing the Biden administration's approach to border security. With the Senate now in Republican control, the bill could be voted on as soon as Friday, but Republicans will need Democratic support to send the measure to the president. Jimena Bustillo, NPR News.

President-elect Donald Trump is floating plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. NPR's Windsor Johnson reports on what it would actually take to change the name of an international body of water. During a wide-ranging press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump announced his intention to rename the Gulf of Mexico. We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name. Trump didn't specify when or how he intends to

make the change, saying he would provide those details at a later date. But renaming a body of water isn't something that can be done unilaterally. It typically requires a written proposal to the relevant state or federal geographic names board in addition to a compelling reason for the change. Windsor-Johnston NPR News, Washington. Frigid temperatures that have settled across a large swath of the country courtesy of what meteorologists call a polar vortex, apparently not going away anytime soon. The weather system that dumps snow in much of the U.S. now

threatens to dump more snow in parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Winter weather system has shuttered schools and government offices and led to thousands of flight cancellations and delays. Once again a day where what's good for Main Street went the other way on Wall Street, stocks losing ground, the Dow is down 178 points. You're listening to NPR. A strong earthquake that hit western China and areas of Nepal yesterday is now being blamed for at least 126 deaths in Tibet.

The quake damaged homes and left streets littered with rubble. Nearly 200 others were reportedly injured in the strong earthquake, which hit a sparsely populated region. According to the USGS, the magnitude 7.1 quake was felt several hundred miles from the epicenter. Rescue workers were digging through debris with heavy equipment searching for survivors. A new rocket developed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is preparing to launch from Florida later this week, and Pierce Jeff Bromfield has more. The rocket is called New Glenn.

It's built by Bezos' space company Blue Origin. In many ways, it's similar to rockets being developed by another billionaire, Elon Musk. Musk's company SpaceX launches rockets that can fly back and land their lower stage, making them cheaper and more reusable. New Glenn will try a similar approach, but in other ways it's different. While Musk and SpaceX are currently attempting to develop the tallest rocket ever, Bezos is focusing on girth. The New Glenn rocket will be nearly twice as wide as the one SpaceX currently uses for most of its launches. That added circumference should allow New Glenn to carry larger payloads.

Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. Getty Images says it's agreed to buy rival Shutterstock in a $3.7 billion deal. Companies say the move creates a visual content company which would be able to better deliver images, video, music and other products. Once again repeating this hour's top story, the body of former President Jimmy Carter has arrived at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda to lion's state. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.