NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-08-2026 12AM EST

Episode Date: January 8, 2026

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This message comes from Data Bricks, the data in AI company. Are your AI agents working? Most aren't reliable for business. You need AI that's accurate. Agent Bricks, AI agents grounded in your data and built for your goals. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. There are conflicting reports on the circumstances leading up to the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an immigration officer. The Trump administration insists that 37-year-old Bernan Nicole Good was a threat to officers, while bystanders are saying the opposite.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz calls it the consequences of governance by fear and reality TV. They don't tell us they're coming. They don't say why they're sending the largest deployment in American history to Minneapolis. They're not making us any safer. We don't have any of that coordination. They should be talking to us when we do these things. Let us know we're going to be down here. This is going to happen.

A number of videos of the fatal encounter have been posted online. Meanwhile, a crowd stood in the Minneapolis snow late Wednesday for a vigil to remember Renee Good. The White House has not ruled out military options for a U.S. takeover of Greenland. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says all options are on the table, but that the president's first option is diplomacy. More from NPR's Deepa Shivaram. President Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. should acquire Greenland territory that's controlled by Denmark. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says the president isn't ruling out any options for how the U.S. could take over the land. The president has been very open and clear with all of you and with the world that he views it in the best interest of the United States to deter Russian and Chinese aggression in the Arctic region.

Leavitt says U.S. ownership of Greenland would allow for more control in the Arctic region. But Denmark has repeatedly insisted that Greenland is not for sale. and its prime minister says any military force to take the land would effectively dissolve NATO. Trump posted on social media that the U.S. would always be there for NATO, even if it's not reciprocated. Deepa Chivaram, NPR News, the White House. In a social media post, President Trump says he's spoken with Colombia as President Gustavo Petro and says the two leaders will soon meet, setting aside months of tense exchanges. NPR's Gary Kahn reports from Bogotao that Trump spoke with Petro as Colombians rallied.

in protest of his threats of military action. In downtown Bogota's main plaza, Petro told a huge crowd he had just gotten off the phone with Trump and was glad to reestablish communication. Speaking directly is critical, said Petro, exhibiting a much softer tone since Trump threatened Colombia with intervention similar to what the U.S. did in Venezuela.

Protesters held signs saying Latin America doesn't want kings and Colombia will never be a colony. 74-year-old retiree Roberto Cordoba said he was still worried, though, about Trump's possible actions. You can't trust that man, said Cordoba. He's a psychopath, he said. Kerry Kahn, NPR News, Bogota. This is NPR. The U.S. has seized two more tankers linked to Venezuelan oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

the Trump administration says the vessels were apprehended in the North Atlantic and had been under surveillance by air and by sea. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says the tanker crew will be brought to the U.S. for prosecution. Warner Brothers' discovery has once again rejected a takeover bid from the family of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. As NPR's David Fokinflick reports, the parent company of HBO Max and CNN says it is sticking with an offer from Netflix.

Larry Ellison is the co-founder of Oracle and one of the world's richest people. He agreed to personally guarantee $40 billion of his offer, valued at more than $100 billion. With his son, David Ellison now has a controlling stake in Paramount, which owns CBS and Paramount Plus streaming. They want to combine it with Warner to take on Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and a bulked-up Disney. Warner Brothers Discovery Chairman Sam DiPiazza told CNBC, no dice, though Netflix doesn't want its cable channels. Ultimately, he didn't raise the price. So in our perspective, Netflix continues to be the superior offer, a clear path to closing. DiPiazza argues that antitrust regulators in the U.S. and abroad would be more likely to knock down a takeover by Paramount.

David Fulkinflik and PR News. U.S. futures are flat in after-hours training on Wall Street. Following Wednesday's losses, the Dow fell to 466 points. On Asia-Pacific market, shares are mixed, down 1% in Hong Kong and, in Tokyo. This is NPR News.