NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-19-2024 8AM EST

Episode Date: November 19, 2024

NPR News: 11-19-2024 8AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On the TED Radio Hour, on December 24th, NASA's Parker Solar Probe will touch the sun. The spacecraft will hit the closest approach ever to the sun. Astrophysicist Noor Awafi leads the mission. We will be making history. To this day, it's still like magic to me. Ideas about the sun. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree updating his country's nuclear doctrine. It expands Russia's options for carrying out a nuclear strike.

NPR's Charles Maynes reports from Moscow, they appear to be a response to growing U.S. military support for Ukraine. Under the changes, Russia reserves the right to respond to a conventional attack by countries supported by a nuclear power with its own nuclear strike. The Kremlin claims the revisions to the nuclear doctrine are defensive in nature, but the updated text means anything from an enemy drone to conventional missiles or aircraft could trigger a Russian nuclear response. The Kremlin first announced the planned revisions in September, but Putin's signing appeared a direct response to reports the Biden administration had approved Ukraine's use of U.S. missiles

to target deep inside Russia. The Kremlin says it has yet to receive confirmation of that change in U.S. policy, but warned if true, Russia viewed the move as a major escalation. Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow. Meanwhile, Russia claims Ukraine has carried out its first attacks using U.S.-made long-range missiles on Russian territory. Russia says Ukraine fired six attack missiles into western Russia. No injuries were reported.

President-elect Donald Trump is tapping another Fox News contributor for his cabinet. NPR's Joel Rose reports he's chosen former GOP Congressman Sean Duffy to head the Department of Transportation. Duffy represented a district in Duffy to head the Department of Transportation. Duffy represented a district in his native Wisconsin in the House of Representatives for eight years. He's worked as a contributor at Fox News since 2020 and hosted the bottom line on the Fox Business Network since 2023.

Duffy's roots in the television business run deep. He appeared on MTV's The Real World in 1997 before going on to serve as a district attorney in northern Wisconsin and then in Congress, where he sat on the House Financial Services Committee. This is the second time in as many weeks that President-elect Trump has chosen a Fox host to serve in his cabinet.

Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. President Biden has asked Congress for nearly $100 billion in emergency disaster relief for Americans. It's to deal with crises, such as the recent Hurricane Helene, the storm damage to North Carolina factory that produces IV fluids for much of the country. And Pierre Sidney Lepkin reports

the factory is starting to recover. Health and Human Services Secretary Javier Becerra is celebrating a milestone in recovery from Hurricane Helene. As ordinary and mundane as that might look, to see those trucks rolling out, right there, that's helping save some lives. He was pointing at trucks filled with freshly made IV fluids driving over a temporary bridge and out into the world. Helene flooded the Baxter International factory that made 60% of the IV fluid used

in hospitals around the country. The government has been helping the company get the facility back up and running. Officials say hospitals should be able to order their usual amounts of many IV fluid products by the end of the year. Sydney Lepkin, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Superstar singer Beyoncé will bring her own holiday gift to football fans. She plans to provide the halftime show during Netflix's Christmas Day live stream of the NFL game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans. NPR's Eric Deggans reports 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 Swift's 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. A New York judge could decide today what happens next with President-elect Donald Trump's criminal convictions in his hush money case. The judge was considering the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity. Trump's lawyers say the case should now be dismissed. New York City has declared a drought warning. it's the first one in 20 years. New York residents are being urged to conserve water. Federal officials say this comes as parts

of the East Coast are facing severe or extreme drought conditions. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News from Washington.