NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2024 9AM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 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 Corva Coleman, leaders of G20 nations are meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During their summit this week, they'll discuss issues of poverty, climate change, and income inequality.

But Donald Trump's election is a factor. He has promised to thoroughly shift U.S. priorities on matters from global warming to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports from Rio de Janeiro, President Biden is at the summit. This is President Biden's last G20 summit. He stopped in the Amazon before arriving in Rio, pledged U.S. funds for rain forest protection, and took some jabs at those he said would try and deny

or delay America's clean energy revolution. Brazil's President, Luisa Nassio Lula da Silva, is forging ahead with his progressive proposals clean energy revolution. Brazil's president Luis Anasio Lula de Silva is forging ahead with his progressive proposals to tax the world's super rich and plans to alleviate hunger and poverty. But Argentina's ultra libertarian president Javier Millet, just back from a quick visit to Florida to personally congratulate Trump, could be the wild card. He's not expected to sign off on a final joint declaration calling for a wealth tax or curbing

climate change. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. President-elect Trump has now named more than 30 people he wants to appoint to serve in his next administration. Few of them have been more polarizing than his choice of former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz for attorney general. NPR's Luke Garrett has more.

Trump's pick for the nation's top cop was being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for various allegations, including sexual misconduct. Gaetz has since resigned from Congress, making it unclear whether the committee's investigation will be released. On Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson made his wishes clear on CNN. The report is not finished. It's in a rough draft form. Was not yet ready to be released.

And since Matt Gaetz left the Congress, I don't think it's appropriate to do so. Speaker Johnson went on to say he has not discussed this with Trump. The president and I have literally not discussed one word about the ethics report, not once. In the past, the House has at times released ethics reports on former members of Congress. And some Senate Republicans are now saying they want to see this report on Gates. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. The New York City Transit Authority is voting today on a plan to impose a fee on motorists driving in the busiest parts of Manhattan.

New York's governor says it should be $9, but documents suggest that by 2031, the base toll will grow to $15. There is a lot of opposition to the congestion fee. New York Democratic Assemblyman David Weprin says it's a tax that will hurt more than motorists. The financial burdens associated with congestion pricing will shut down businesses across New York City or force them to pass on the added

cost to consumers. If the plan is approved the initial nine dollar toll will begin January 5th. This is NPR. NPR has learned President Biden will allow Ukraine to fire US-made long-range missiles nearly 200 miles into western Russia. These could hit targets in and around the Kursk region, where North Korean troops are deployed with Russian troops. About 10,000 North Korean troops are believed there. The Ukrainians could use the U.S. missiles to hit Russian weapons stockpiles, logistical centers and airfields.

New research underscores the difficulties of buying a home in the U.S. As NPR's Amy Held reports, more people are being priced out of the housing market. The housing piece of the American dream is getting more out of reach. Research by Oxford Economics finds affording a metro area median-priced single-family home means making, on average, at least $107,000 a year. That's nearly double from just five years ago. Only a third of households now meet that bar. The least affordable areas, all California cities,

San Jose, San Francisco, San Diego, and L.A., plus Honolulu, the Midwest fares better for affordability, though house prices increased all over. It comes amid soaring mortgage rates and tightening inventory for everyone, including renters. Zillow says the median cost to rent in the U.S. now tops $2,000 a month. Amy Held, NPR News. A gold pocket watch with history behind it has sold at auction for nearly $2 million. The watch was given to Captain Arthur Rossrun, whose ship rescued hundreds of people from the Titanic in 1912. The watch was given to him by three widows whose husbands perished when the Titanic

sank. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.