NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-19-2024 2AM EST

Episode Date: November 19, 2024

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Shae Stevens. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. As President-elect Donald Trump makes choices to fill his cabinet, the process of picking the next U.S. Treasury Secretary is unclear. Some observers believe that Trump will choose between billionaire investors Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent. But NPR's Maria Aspin reports that supporters of both candidates, including Elon Musk, are publicly fighting over who should get the job.

Maria Aspin It's turned into a little bit of Game of Thrones at Mar-a-Lago. You know, Letnick and Besant have been publicly campaigning to a certain extent, writing op-eds and giving interviews about how great Donald Trump is, and some of this is, you know, the usual auditioning. But then over the weekend, things did get messy in public. Enter Elon Musk. He's, of course, the Tesla CEO, the billionaire who's exerting a tremendous amount of influence on Trump's new government. Musk posted on

X that Besant would be a, quote, business as usual choice, and that Musk would prefer Lutnick. quote, business as usual choice, and that Musk would prefer Latin. NPR's Maria Aspin reporting. Pennsylvania Supreme Court is siding with Republican groups in the latest wrangling over the state's mail-in ballots. As NPR's Hansi LeWong reports, it's a long-running battle over ballots from this year's general election. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered the state's county election officials not to count mail-in ballots that arrived on time, but in envelopes without the correct date handwritten by the voter. State law requires a voter to sign and date the outer return envelope,

but it's an open question whether rejecting ballots for not having the correct date violates Pennsylvania's Constitution. The Republican National Committee asked the state's Supreme Court to weigh in after some counties decided to tally what are often called undated or misstated ballots. A related lawsuit was also filed by David McCormick, the Republican whom the Associated Press declared last week the winner of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race that's undergoing a recount. Two years ago, McCormick argued in court that undated and misstated ballots should be counted. Anzila Wong, NPR News. President Biden says it's OK for Ukraine to fire U.S.

ballistic missiles deeper into Russia. As NPR's Greg Miber reports, Ukraine waited a long time for that approval. President Biden's decision will allow the Ukrainians to use the missiles known as Atacams

against Russian and North Korean forces in ongoing heavy fighting. Ukraine is trying to hold territory it captured inside Western Russia back in August. Ukraine is trying to hold territory it captured inside Western Russia back in August. Ukraine has long argued that Russia moves troops and weapons freely behind the front lines on the Russian side of the border because Ukraine can attack from long distance. Biden had resisted this move, saying Ukrainian attacks with U.S. weapons inside Russia could lead to an escalation

in the war. But the Biden administration has been signaling that it wants to do what it can to help Ukraine during his final months in office. Greg Myhre, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR. A former U.S. soldier has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for attacking police officers during the Capitol riots in January 2021. 41-year-old Edward Richmond Jr. had already been court-martialed for a decades-old fatal shooting of a handcuffed civilian during the war in Iraq. U.S. District Court Judge John Bates told Richmond during sentencing on Monday that

he seemed to be genuinely remorseful. Russia has vetoed a Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and over 10 million have been displaced since the civil war there began in April 2023. More from Linda Fasulo. The Security Council draft resolution proposed by Britain and Sierra Leone calls on Sudanese government forces and the rebel RSF to immediately end hostilities and begin dialogue with the aim of achieving a national ceasefire. It also urges the warring parties to agree to humanitarian

pauses to allow the safe passage of civilians and delivery of aid across Sudan. After the veto, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said it was unconscionable that Russia would quote, cynically stand in the way of demanding actions to save lives in what she called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, the Sudanese government

commended the Russian veto for imperialism and silo in New York. U.S. futures are flat and after hours trading on Wall Street following Monday's mixed close. On Asia Pacific markets, shares are higher at the sour. I'm Shea Stevens. This is NPR News.