NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2024 6PM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

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The ocean floor is abundant with minerals needed to power electric cars and other green technologies, but mining those minerals may harm coastal communities. These metals that are going to be dug out of our ocean will not benefit anyone from here. On the Sunday story from Up First, a look at the opportunity and dangers of mining the ocean floor. Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR. floor. Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR. Jack Spear Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Biden is requesting more than $98 billion in emergency funding from Congress. NPR's Franco Ordonez reports the money is to help address a series of natural

disasters. Frank Ordonez The money is being directed to 16 different agencies including the Agriculture Department and Housing and Urban Development, to help repair, housing and rebuild infrastructure. Since the last disaster package Congress passed two years ago, Shalonda Young, the director of Office of Management and Budget, says hurricanes Helene and Milton have torn through the southeast, killing hundreds of people. It is absolutely critical that these communities know that their government has not forgotten

them. The biggest amount, about $40 billion, would be for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Relief Fund so that it has enough money to last through the coming year. Franco Ordonez, NPR News. An attorney who represents two women who testified before a House committee investigating President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general shared more details about what his clients told the committee.

The attorney, Joel Leppard, said he represents two women who testified before the House Ethics Committee in its investigation of Matt Gaetz. Leppard said his clients went to more than five sex and drug parties with Gaetz in 2017 and 2018. One of his clients went to more than five sex and drug parties with Gates in 2017 and 2018. One of his clients said she witnessed Gates having sex with a minor at a party. An FBI investigation into sex trafficking allegations that began in 2020 was closed without charges. It confirmed as Attorney General Gates would also oversee the FBI.

The newsletter website Substack became a major online forum to discuss politics ahead of the election, drawing many influencers and users away from other sites. But NPR's Winsor Johnston reports profitability for the creators moving ahead is yet to be determined. When it comes to revenue and readership, discussions around politics continue to dominate Substack. Imani Cheers, a professor of media studies at George Washington University, says she expects paid subscriptions to political newsletters on the site will rise, especially when the next administration takes over.

People want to support. They want to support. And in particular, if their favorite journalist, political commentator, they're going to look to find their unique content, their content that we're not going to see maybe on other platforms, your traditional legacy news outlets. In 2023, Substack said it had reached 2 million paid subscriptions and more than 50 million monthly visits to the site. Windsor-Johnston and PR News. There's some speculation that some of the antitrust watchdog groups went after big tech

monopolies may be de-fanged a bit under a new Trump administration. Regulators began cracking down on Google and Facebook. However, many experts in antitrust rules say they expect some of that will ease. It's also expected the Trump administration could see an upside to big businesses becoming even bigger. You're listening to NPR News. A typhoon that slammed into the Philippines has left at least seven people dead, many others were displaced. The storm caused large landslides. Typhoon Manyay was one of the strongest of six major storms to strike the region in less than a month. Disaster response officials say they're

looking at damage to several villages directly in a typhoon's path after it moved away from the northern Philippines. Superstar singer Beyoncé will bring her own holiday gift to football fans, providing the halftime show during Netflix's Christmas Day live stream of the NFL between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans. NPR's TV critic Eric Deggans says her appearance only raises the stakes for the streamer. When Netflix live-streamed a boxing match between YouTube star Jake Paul and former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson on Friday, they drew 60 million households and an avalanche of complaints over bad connections and disconnected service, which raises questions over how Netflix

will handle live broadcasts of two NFL games on Christmas Day, especially now that one game includes a show by one of the world's biggest music stars. Fans are also hopeful that another megastar, Taylor Swift, might show for the other Christmas Day game which features the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Kansas City Chiefs, with presumably Swiss boyfriend Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce. That could also increase viewers at a time when doubts remain about Netflix's capacity. Eric Deggans, NPR News.