NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-07-2026 5AM EST

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington. I'm Dave Mattingly. President Trump is urging the major oil companies to make large investments in Venezuela following the ouster of the country's president, Nicholas Maduro, by the U.S. military. NPR's Camilla Domenoski says it would cost billions of dollars to boost oil production in Venezuela. Getting Venezuela's oil out of the ground is not simple. Kevin Book is with Clearview Energy Partners. It's not just a geologic problem or an engineering problem, but a math problem. Would companies make back the money they put in? Is the country stable enough to invest? And thanks to an oversupply of oil, global crude prices are comparatively low right now. So these investments might not be profitable at all without subsidies. On the other hand, there is a lot of oil in Venezuela, making it a good opportunity for future growth.

And the kind of crude that is abundant there, heavy crude, would be welcomed by the U.S. refineries that have specialized equipment perfect for handling. it. Camila Dominovsky, NPR News. On Monday, Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges in New York. Their next court appearance is scheduled for March 17th. In a post on social media, President Trump says Venezuela and authorities will be turning over 30 to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S., which will then be sold at market price. Trump says he'll control the proceeds from the oil sales to ensure they benefit the people of Venezuela and the U.S. Trump says the arrangement has been coordinated with what he called Venezuela's interim authorities.

A former school police officer in Uvaldi, Texas, is on trial in connection with the deadly attack on an elementary school there nearly four years ago. David Martin Davies, with Texas Public Radio reports on an unexpected turn in that trial. Testimony has been halted in the trial of Adrian Gonzalez, the police officer accused of not taking action to stop to lay or distract the mass shooter who killed 19 students and two teachers at Rob Elementary in 2022. Stephanie Hale, who was a teacher at Rob, testified that she saw the gunman on the south side of the school the same area where Gonzalez was. This testimony had not surfaced in earlier interviews, prompting an immediate objection from defense attorneys

who claimed this was a violation of prosecution's disclosure requirement. Judge Sid Harrell will hear motion arguments which could lead to a mistrial. Victims' families are upset that this could hurt the case against Gonzalez. I'm David Martin Davies in San Antonio. Wall Street is coming off record high closes for the Dow and the S&P 500. The Dow added 484 points yesterday to finish above the 49,000 mark for the first time. That's a gain of nearly 1%. The S&P added 42 points to close at 6944. The NASDAQ was also higher. This is NPR News. Nick Reiner is scheduled to be arraigned today in Los Angeles. He's facing two counts of first-degree murder in the slings of his parents,

actor and director Rob Reiner and wife Michelle Singer-Riner. It's been a year since wildfires in Southern California left more than 30 people dead in and around Los Angeles and caused billions of dollars worth of damage. NPR's Liz Baker says L.A.'s new fire chiefs. has announced a new independent investigation into the department's response. The Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people, started after high winds stirred up the remains of another blaze, the L.A. Fire Department believed they had extinguished one week earlier. In fact, it was still smoldering underground. The outcome has made it incredibly clear that our mop-up and verification process needed to be stronger.

We have to own that. And I do. L.A. Fire Chief Jaime Moore, who was not in charge during the fires, says his department has made changes since, including use of thermal imaging and drones. He also announced a second independent investigation into the LAFD's response to both fires after acknowledging that the first report, which published before his tenure as chief, was heavily edited to shield department leadership from responsibility. Liz Baker and Peer News, Los Angeles. Among the handful of NFL head coaches to be fired this week was the Baltimore Ravens John Harbaugh.

He coached Baltimore for 18 seasons, winning one suit. Super Bowl trophy. The Ravens were a favorite to return to the NFL's championship game this season, but finished with a record of 8 and 9 and missed the playoffs. I'm Dave Mattingly in Washington.