NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-14-2024 11PM EST

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

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This message comes from Indiana University. Indiana University is committed to moving the world forward, working to tackle some of society's biggest challenges, nine campuses, one purpose, creating tomorrow today. More at iu.edu. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

As NPR's Stephen Fowler reports, Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic who has espoused conspiracy theories about health care. In the announcement on his Truth Social platform, Trump says that public health has seen, quote, deception, misinformation, and disinformation from drug and food companies. In recent years, Kennedy himself has shared conspiracy theories about health, falsely claiming Wi-Fi causes cancer, and that chemicals in water can make children transgender. If confirmed by the Senate, Kennedy would oversee nearly $2 trillion in mandatory spending. HHS also oversees the CDC, the FDA, and the National Institutes of Health.

Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta. Republicans will retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year, according to the Associated Press. As NPR's Dominican Montanaro reports, it creates a clear path for President-elect Trump's agenda. Donald Trump will go into office with full control over the levers of power in Washington. He'll be in the White House, and Republicans will have majorities in both the House and Senate.

That means Trump will likely have an easier time passing priorities like extending tax cuts and confirming more federal judges. Congress holds the purse string, so that could help on money for border control efforts, but much of what Trump intends to do to curb illegal immigration, including his promise of a mass deportation, will come from the White House and federal agencies. Domenico Montanaro and PR News, Washington. Republican lawmakers in Ohio have approved a bill that would require transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Ohio Public Media's Karen Kastler has details. The ban requires public and private, primary and secondary schools to designate bathrooms and facilities for the exclusive use of either males or females. Republican Senate President Matt Huffman says it's about safety and security. I think that this bill in fact protects the rights of most people. The bill will threaten students mental and physical health according to LGBTQ activists such as Morgan Zickus with the group Equality Ohio. Trans students want a fair chance to succeed in school and these bills make that harder. 11 other states have some form of a bathroom ban at least four have been

challenged in court. Those 11 states in Ohio all voted for Republicans in last week's election. For NPR News I I'm Karen Kassler in Columbus. President Joe Biden is in Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, known as APEC. The White House says that Biden will highlight U.S. economic leadership and engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. The President's six-day foreign trip also includes stops in Brazil for the G-20 summit. Biden is expected to reinforce U.S. leadership on workers' rights and clean economic growth while meeting with his Brazilian counterpart. This is NPR.

In Texas, a grand jury has indicted a construction supervisor and his employer in connection with the deadly trench collapse in 2021. As NPR's Robert Benincasa reports, a 24-year-old worker died in that incident. Juan Jose Galván Batalla was completely buried in soil and debris when he was working in a trench in Travis County installing a sewer line. Project Superintendent Carlos Alejandra Guerrero and his employer were charged with criminally negligent homicide. County District Attorney Jose Garza cited NPR's investigation earlier this year, which found that 250 workers died in largely preventable trench collapses from 2013 to 2023, and that only 11 employers had been prosecuted. Garza noted that none of

those prosecutions took place in Texas and that it was time to hold employers accountable. An attorney representing the project superintendent says the worker's death was a tragedy, but it was also an accident. Robert Benincasa, NPR News. And Paris authorities were on high alert Thursday as pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered to protest a soccer match between France and Israel. More than 4,000 officers were deployed in wake of anti-Semitic violence last week in Amsterdam.

Paris officials say turnout for the soccer match was low, as fewer than a quarter of the available tickets had been sold. On Wall Street, stocks lost more ground today, with the Dow Jones industrials losing 207 points. The NASA Composite Index fell 123 points, the S&P 500 dipped 36. US futures are lower in after-hours trading. This is NPR News. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial. When your celebration of life is prepaid today, your family is protected tomorrow. Planning ahead is truly one of the best gifts you can give

your family. For additional information visit DignityMemorial.com.