NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-07-2024 7PM EST

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

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JANINE HERST Enjoying the podcast so far? Get more from shows like this one with NPR+. For a simple recurring donation, you'll get perks from over 20 NPR podcasts, including sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, shop discounts, and more. Join us in making the world a more curious and well-informed place at plus.npr dot org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. The first day of the second Trump administration takes place in about two months. So what will it bring? Well, on the campaign trail, the president-elect has said he would conduct mass deportations on day one. But as NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports, how

he would do that isn't clear. Danielle Kurtzleben He has said he would use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to do those deportations of undocumented people. But there could be some really big hurdles to that. One is legal. You will have groups like the ACLU come together to fight deportation to say, for example, that it's unconstitutional. And even if Trump did have a legal way to do it, there are also logistical problems. There just aren't enough ICE personnel to deport millions upon millions of people. And here's Danielle Kurtzleben reporting. Meanwhile, Trump is starting to fill out his

administration. Today, his campaign announced Suzy Wiles will become his chief of staff. She was the campaign manager on his latest run for the White House. Trump calls her tough, smart, innovative, and universally admired and respected. She will be the first female White House chief of staff in U.S. history. Republican David McCormick has won the Pennsylvania Senate race, narrowly defeating the Democratic incumbent, Senator Bob Casey, that's according to a race called by the Associated Press. Empire Susan Davis reports that McCormick's victory

ensures a 53-seat Senate Republican majority. Races in Arizona and Nevada have not been called yet, which will determine the final Senate partisan breakdown. David McCormick and Bob Casey waged one of the more expensive and negative campaigns of 2024. Casey tried to paint the former hedge fund executive as an out of touch carpet bagger for maintaining a residence in Connecticut. But those attacks were not enough to overcome a Donald Trump led wave of Republican victories

across Pennsylvania. McCormick underperformed Trump's winning margin, but he was still able to defeat Senator Casey by about 31,000 votes. Susan Davis, MPR News, Washington. But the Casey campaign is disputing the AP's call, saying there are tens of thousands of ballots still to be counted. As expected, the Federal Reserve today cut the benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point. This comes two months after the Fed lowered

the interest rate by a half percent, dialing back its years-long fight against inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell says the economy is strong overall and has progressed toward their goal of 2% interest rate. Inflation has eased substantially from a peak of 7% to 2.1% as of September. President-elect Trump appointed Powell in 2017, and President Biden appointed him to a second term, though Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell, saying a president should be able to weigh in on interest rates. At a press conference today, when asked if he would quit if Trump asked him to, Powell said no. He maintains Trump doesn't have the legal

authority to fire him. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Hurricane Rafael is still a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 miles an hour and is moving over open waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Yesterday, Rafael made landfall in Cuba with heavy flooding and strong winds that knocked out power and left more than 460 structures destroyed. The National Hurricane Center says the storm is over the southern Gulf of Mexico, where it's expected to remain for the next few days. The latest figures from Brazil's government shows deforestation is down in

the Amazon. Officials, though, are cautioning that the current numbers don't reflect a recent surge in devastating forest fires. And Pierce Carey-Kahn has more. Piers According to the government of Luis Ignacio Lula de Silva, clearcutting of trees in the Amazon was down by 30.6% from the year before. Deforestation also dropped in Brazil's vast savanna known as the Cerrado by more than 25%. Lula pledged to stop deforestation that

spiked during the government of his far-right predecessor, however he's facing heat for some recent decisions including plans to pave an Amazon dirt highway, drill for oil at the mouth of the Amazon River, and build a railway to Amazon ports. Deforestation numbers also do not capture the last few months as a historic drought and rise in forest fires have devoured hundreds of acres of the rainforest. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. U.S. futures contracts are trading flat at this hour, and Wall Street closed mixed by the bell.

The Dow down a fraction, the NASDAQ up 285 points. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from Indiana University. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.