NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-07-2026 4PM EST

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Trump is defending the ICE officer who shot and killed a Minnesota woman in her car and blamed the radical left for the incident. In his social media post, Trump said ICE agents are, quote, just trying to do the job of making America safe. Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walls says he's been warning for weeks that someone would be hurt in Trump's immigration crackdown. Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam confirmed today that immigration officers, killed the woman in Minneapolis. NPR's Meg Anderson spoke with protesters in residents at the scene. The atmosphere was tense at the intersection in South Minneapolis, where ICE officers shot and killed a woman in her car. Witnesses said it looked like she was trying to turn around.

Federal authorities said she was driving at ICE agents. Ice officers had already dispersed by midday, but local and county police were on the scene as a large crowd gathered and chanted. Wren Kleinfelter lives just across the street, and for hours after the shooting, the victim's SUV remained rammed against a utility pole. We don't want like this happening in our neighborhood to our neighbors. She says she saw the woman pulled from the vehicle. She was already unresponsive. Meg Anderson, NPR News.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the administration has a three-step plan for Venezuela, including stability, recovery, and transition. He briefed senators about the plan this morning. NPR's Jackie Northam reports. Secretary Rubio said step one, stabilization involves quarantine, for Venezuela's oil. Venezuela currently can't move its oil because of sanctions. Rubio says the plan is to sell off sanctioned oil and distribute the profits. And we feel very positive that not only will that generate revenue that will be used to the benefit of the Venezuelan people, and we're

insured that that's what the case is, but it also gives us an amount of leverage and influence and control over how this process is saying. Rubio says the second step will be recovery, involving opening Venezuelan markets and national reconciliation. The third step will be transition, but Rubio gave no details. Jackie Northam, NPR News. The Labor Department says there were fewer job openings in November than the month before. NPR's Scott Horsley reports that's one of several clues we'll get this week about the strength of the U.S. job market. Today's report on job turnover in November tells a familiar story. There has been relatively little churn in the labor market for months now, as most people who have jobs are reluctant to give them up. We'll get the

government's most complete report on employment and unemployment for December later this week. The Board of Directors at Warner Brothers is once again urging shareholders to reject a hostile takeover bid from Paramount valued at close to $78 billion. Netflix has offered $72 billion for Warner Brothers streaming and studio business. The Board is recommending that shareholders take that offer. Crude oil prices are lower today. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. At last check, the Dow dropped 1%. Today, the S&P 500 dropped 3.00. 10th of a percent. This is NPR. Florida governor Ron DeSantis is calling for a special legislative session in April to redraw congressional districts in favor of Republicans. President Trump has

been calling for Republican-led states to redistrict to boost the party's chances of retaining control of the House of Representatives this year. DeSantis says he wants to wait for a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act before proceeding. The ruling could affect protections against discrimination in voting. A year after deadly wildfires in Los Angeles damaged or destroyed some 17,000 structures, many survivors are still in limbo. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports on what's being called an uneven recovery. With the January 7 fires crossing multiple jurisdictions, survivors say it can feel like no one is in charge of the recovery,

especially with FEMA's budget being cut. In Altadena, Andrew King is trying to rebuild but is frustrated. The way that politics has gotten into our recovery, has really started to hurt people on the ground, and I wish it wasn't that way. Disaster is nonpartisan. Everyone believes that the government should step in and help. I wish that would happen sooner. Meanwhile, King has a building permit and is going ahead with pouring the concrete for his garage,

even though he still hasn't settled with his insurance company. Kirk Sigler and PR News, Pasadena. Soccer legend Leonel Messi says he would prefer to become a club owner rather than a coach when he quits as a player. The Argentina Star signed a three-year contract. extension is a player with Inter Miami in October. The agreement includes a future minority ownership stake with the team. I'm Rylan Barton. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.