NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-15-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. President-elect Donald Trump has named former campaign rival Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head to the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump praised Kennedy Thursday during a celebration at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

We want you to come up with things and ideas and what you've been talking about for a long time and I think you're going to do some unbelievable thing. Nobody's going to be able to do it like you. Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic and critic of US health care policies. He's also promoted conspiracy theories, including claims that COVID-19 was a virus created to target certain ethnic groups.

President-elect Trump has also tapped his personal attorney, Todd Blanch, to serve as the number two person at the Justice Department. He also wants attorney Dean Sauer to become Solicitor General. Sauer represented Trump during his Supreme Court hearing on presidential immunity. Trump says he'll announce North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to head the Department of the Interior. NPR's Stephen Fowler has more. Speaking at the America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago Resort in Florida, Trump teased the announcement would come Friday.

He said Burgum will be part of a second term's goal of cutting regulation, waste, fraud and inefficiency. If confirmed, Burgum would play a key role in pushing Trump's agenda to increase oil, gas and coal production on public lands. The Interior Department also oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A key refrain from Trump on the campaign trail was a vow to quote, drill, baby, drill. Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta. Meanwhile, former Georgia Congressman Doug Collins is being nominated to head the Department of Veterans Affairs.

California voters have turned rightward on crime by approving a ballot measure that toughens punishments for certain drug and theft offenses. They also rejected two progressive district attorneys, as NPR's Kelly McEvers reports. Allen Oskulian says he doesn't consider himself a tough on crime person. But one day, three men broke into his jewelry store in Irvine, California, smashed the glass cases and stole everything. The sound, it was deafening. Oskulian was one of nearly 70% of California voters who supported Prop 36, which will make

certain crimes that were misdemeanors, felonies. Activist and community organizer Stephen Q. Jean-Marie frames the outcome of the vote in stark terms. Stephen Q. Jean-Marie, Director, National Congress for the Rights of the Child of the United States of America, USA, and the United States of America. They would rather have black and brown folks as a sacrifice in order to keep other people safe. Researchers say Prop 36 will increase the number of incarcerated people in the state.

Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Los Angeles. The Federal Reserve Board is expected to cut its key interest rate again before the end of the year. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says that inflation is still inching toward the central bank's target of 2 percent. This is NPR News. Virginia-based meat processor Smithfield has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations of child labor violations.

The Minnesota Department of Labor says it found at least 11 minors aged 14 to 17 at the Smithfield plant in St. James from April 2021 through April of last year. The company denies knowingly hiring underage workers. Where the Tampa Bay Rays will play baseball next season has been up in the air since Hurricane Milton ripped off the roof at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Skye LeBron of Member Station WUSF reports that the Rays have found a temporary solution. The Rays will play their home games next year at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training ballpark for the New York Yankees. It's about 21 miles and a long bridge away from Tropicana Field. The city of St.

Petersburg, which owns the drop, released an assessment that says the stadium needs roughly $56 million in repairs to be ready for the 2026 season. This all comes as the city and Pinellas County are working on the final touches for a new $1.3 billion stadium deal, but that won't be ready for the raise until 2028 at the earliest. For NPR News, I'm Sky Lebron in Tampa. Food and Drug Administration is ordering drug makers to be more specific about the medications they advertise on radio and television. The guidelines are designed to halt industry practices that show active patients that critics say downplay side effects.

According to ad tracker Ipsodotv, prescription drug companies spent over $4 billion on commercials last year. This is NPR News.