NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-10-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

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This is Eric Glass. In this American life, sometimes we just show up somewhere, turn on our tape recorders, and see what happens. If you can't get seven cars in 12 days, you gotta look yourself in the mirror and say, holy, what are you kidding me? Like this car dealership, trying to sell its monthly quota of cars, and it is not going well. I just don't want one balloon to a car. Balloon the whole freaking place so it looks like I'm circusing. Real life stories every week. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President-elect Donald Trump returns to office in 10 days with

a felony conviction on his record, but no punishment. In New York today, Judge Juan Morshon sentenced Trump to unconditional discharge. Eight months after a state jury convicted Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records linked to a hush money payment. Today Mershon described the extraordinary nature of the protections afforded Trump. Ordinary citizens do not receive those legal protections. It is the office of the president that bestows those far reaching protections to the office holder. And it was the citizenry

of this nation that recently decided that you should once again receive the benefits of those protections which include among other things the Supremacy Clause and presidential immunity. Trump appeared virtually. He maintains he's done nothing wrong and was the target of a witch hunt to derail his campaign. In Southern California, firefighters are making incremental progress against two of the biggest wildfires, one's 8% contained and the other 3%. The fires have resulted in at least 10 deaths, thousands of structures are damaged or destroyed. And moments ago, Los Angeles area authorities issued another warning about lootersers and Pierre's Greg Allen says at least 20 people have been

arrested so far. Mandatory evacuations are still in effect for a number of areas and looting has become a significant problem. In Alta Dena, Teandra Pitts says looters took her son's sneaker collection, her jewelry and even her washer and dryer. They take everything. We've seen them doing it. How do you take that from somebody who already have enough disaster? Communities throughout the region have imposed curfews. Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna says deputies are stepping up enforcement. If you are in one of these areas and you do not belong there, you are going to be subject

to arrest. National Guard troops have been deployed to help man checkpoints in vulnerable communities. Greg Allen, NPR News, Los Angeles. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments today in a case involving TikTok's future in the U.S. Here's NPR's Windsor Johnston. The appeal from TikTok challenges a Biden administration law that will ban the app in the United States. The platform argues that the law violates free speech for tens of millions of Americans,

including many who use it to make a living. The Justice Department argues that the site poses a threat to national security because it could be used by foreign adversaries to gather data on American users. Legislation to ban the app in the U.S. was a bipartisan effort in both chambers of Congress last year. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to save TikTok and has asked the court to delay the start date of the law until he takes office. Windsor-Johnston NPR News Washington. From Washington this is NPR. From Washington, this is NPR. The U.S. Census Bureau is asking for public feedback on its plans for the first major field test ahead of the next national headcount in 2030.

NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports the Bureau says the test, to be held next year, is designed to help produce an accurate tally of the country's residents that will be used to redistribute political representation and federal funding. Next year's census test is set to involve more than 600,000 participants in parts of Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. Counting who lives in college dorms, nursing homes, and other group living quarters has long been a challenge. One of the potential changes the Bureau plans to test before the 2030 Census is giving administrators and residents of those group quarters the option to fill out a census form online.

Another change is training some census workers specifically to interview residents of group quarters as well as those of individual households. Public comments on testing plans are due in early March. Results of the actual census in 2030 are set to be used to determine each state's share of congressional seats, electoral college votes, and trillions in federal funding for the next decade. Hansi Luong, NPR News. The Labor Department's latest monthly jobs report shows a higher than expected gain of 256,000 jobs in the month of December. Free breakfast and lunch may be available to

every student in the state of New York no matter their family's income under a proposal Governor Kathy Hochul announced today. Hochul cites research that links available school meals to better learning. Eight states have similar programs. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.