NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-07-2026 8AM EST

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, both the full House and Senate will receive closed briefings this morning about the Trump administration's military actions in Venezuela to remove then-President Nicholas Maduro. Democratic lawmakers have complained President Trump has a legal duty to inform Congress so it can conduct oversight. Many Republicans say they're comfortable with Trump's decisions. The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says her party won elections and is ready to govern. Trump is said he doesn't think she has support in Venezuela. Machado's spokesman, David Smolanski, says she does have Venezuelan voters' support.

We proved we won with 70% of the vote. We have the voting tallies. She is the one that can guarantee a prosperous rebuilding of the nation and restore democracy. Machado has thanked President Trump for the U.S. military raid that removed Maduro. The Trump administration says it is freezing billions of dollars and low-income aid for five Democratic-led states. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports officials are citing concerns about fraud concerns but have offered no evidence. The funding freeze is for California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, and New York. The biggest chunk is $7 billion for cash assistance, plus money to help families with child care and other social services.

A health and human services official confirmed the move to NPR, but did not say why only these states. The New York Post first reported the freeze, citing claims the money was going to migrants who were in the U.S. illegally, but with no specific evidence. This all follows a wider freeze on child care funding after a right-wing media influencer put a spotlight on alleged welfare fraud in Minnesota. On X, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand accused the administration of political. retribution. Jennifer Lutton, NPR News, Washington. The U.N. says many Palestinians who fled Gaza during the war are still waiting to be reunited with their families. As NPR's Anas Baba reports, a key border crossing may soon open. Israel's political leadership has yet to officially green light the opening of

Gaza's border crossing with Egypt. Despite international calls and U.S. involvement, Gaza remains under tight siege. Egyptian security officials say plans are in place. though, for the Raffa crossing to be supervised by European monitors and Palestinian authority officials. Israel's will strictly control entry and exit remotely. The border has been shot for a year and a half, ever since Israeli forces occupied this part of southern Gaza. But reopening even slightly could be seen as a progress in President Trump's peace plan. If Raffa opens again, Egyptian officials say Israel's ban on international journalists and 48 organizations from entering Gaza will remain in place.

Annas Bobo, NPR News, Gazal City. This is NPR. An Alaska Airlines pilot is suing aircraft maker Boeing. Captain Brandon Fisher safely landed a Boeing plane two years ago after a door plug blew out over Oregon. He's been credited by federal agencies with saving everyone aboard. Boeing is being sued. Fisher's lawyers allege Boeing is trying to blame him and the jet's crew for the incident. They say that the jet was improperly maintained.

Federal corrections officials say that convicted spy Aldrich Ames has died at a prison in Maryland. Ames was a longtime CIA counterintelligence officer. He spent more than 30 years behind bars. That was for revealing the names of Soviets who spied on behalf of the U.S. And Pierre's Greg Myrie has more. Aldrich Ames was a career CIA official. He rose to a highly sensitive position with access to the names of the most valuable Soviet agents recruited by the CIA. AIMS walked into the Soviet embassy in Washington in 1985 and began providing those names.

He fed secrets to the Soviets for years, often concealing documents for them in his suburban Washington neighborhood. Acting on that information, Moscow reportedly executed 10 of its citizens spying for the U.S. The CIA knew its Soviet agents were being compromised but didn't identify Ames as a source for nearly a decade. Moscow reportedly paid him around $2 million over the years. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said he died in Cumberland, Maryland. He was 84.

Greg Myrie, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News.