NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-16-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: November 16, 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, I'm Dale Willman. A Southwest Airlines flight preparing for takeoff was hit by a bullet Friday night. Airline officials say the bullet entered the airplane on the right side, just below the flight deck.

The plane taxied back to the gate where passengers for the flight to Indianapolis were removed. No injuries were reported in the incident. As President-elect Donald Trump continues to announce picks for his cabinet, newly elected Senate Majority Leader John Thune says the legislative body will be working hard to quickly confirm those appointments. The president got a big mandate. The American people want change in this country. They're tired of the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda and they want President Trump to fix

some things. And he wants to get a team in place that can do that and we're going to work with him to see that he gets his team installed as quickly as possible so he can implement his agenda. Thune was speaking on Fox News. Trump meanwhile named 27-year-old Caroline Levitt to serve as his press secretary. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. Trump meanwhile is turning once more to the stars of Fox News to stock his second administration. As NPR media correspondent David Falkenflich reports, the former and Israel is turning once more to the stars of Fox News to stock his second administration.

As NPR media correspondent David Folkenflick reports, the former and future president is a close watcher of television news. Pete Hegseth to the Pentagon. He's been a host of Fox and Friends Weekend. Trump's pick for the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. Sure, she was a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, but she became a paid Fox commentator. Trump's choice over Homeland Security, Tom Homan, also a commentator.

Ambassador to Israel designate Mike Huckabee had a weekly show after his unsuccessful run for the White House in 2012, while others have effectively auditioned on Fox. Trump selected cable news warrior Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general. And Robert F. Kennedy popped up on Fox repeatedly to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris from the left. Now Kennedy's the Trump choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services. David Falkenfleck, NPR News. Tropical Storm Sarah is dumping huge amounts of rain as it moves just off the coast of Honduras this weekend. As NPR's Ador Peralta reports, forecasters say the rain could cause widespread damage.

The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Sarah will meander near the northern coast of Honduras through tomorrow evening. It means some parts of the country could see more than 20 inches of rain, which could cause, quote, catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides. The Disaster Management Agency in Honduras

says some areas have been experiencing torrential rain since Thursday night. So far, the agency says 20,000 people have been affected, 86 homes have been damaged, and three people are missing. Tropical Storms era is expected to make landfall in Belize and then make its way across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula before emerging in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday. Eder Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City. 27-year-old Jake Paul beat 58-year-old and former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson Friday night in a boxing match carried live on Netflix.

The decision was unanimous in Paul's favor. This is NPR News. Stocks lost ground this week. news of strong consumer spending and Pierce Scott Horsley reports that investors gave back some of the big gains that followed last week's election. Giddy investors got a little more cautious this week especially after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank doesn't need to be in a hurry to make further cuts in interest rates. Today's relatively high interest rates haven't put much of a damper on consumer spending. On Friday, the Commerce Department said retail sales had grown more than expected in October.

Investors are still betting the Fed will cut interest rates at its next meeting, just over a month from now, but they're less certain about that than they had been for the week the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.25 percent, the broader S&P 500 index fell 2.1 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped more than 3 percent. Scott Horsley, Empire News, Washington. Donald Trump says North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum will lead a new National Energy Council in his upcoming administration.

Trump has already said he'll nominate Burgum to head the Interior Department. Trump says the new council will establish U.S. energy dominance around the world, but the U.S. is already the world's number one oil producer. A wildfire burning along the New York New Jersey border is now mostly contained. Officials say the blaze on the New Jersey side is 90% controlled now while it's at about 70% contained in New York's Orange County. The fire has burned seven and a half square miles since it began more than a week ago, and it has claimed at least one life, and that happened when a tree fell on a fire last

weekend in New Jersey. I'm Dale Willman, and you're listening to NPR News.