NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-20-2024 12AM EST

Episode Date: November 20, 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 Shea Stevens. President-elect Donald Trump has announced more nominations for his cabinet, including Linda McMahon, who's being tapped for Secretary of Education. And Pierre's Janaka Mehta has more.

Linda McMahon is a professional wrestling business magnate who helped build World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, into a powerhouse. In his first presidency, Trump selected McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration. After two years in that role, she stepped down to run the pro-Trump super PAC, America First Action. McMahon's experience working with public schools is limited. Between 2009 and 2010, she served on the Connecticut State Board of Education but resigned when she ran for U.S. Senate.

In a post on Truth Social, President-elect Trump said as Secretary of Education, McMahon would, quote, empower parents to make the best education decisions for their families. Janaki Mehta, NPR News. Ukraine has fired several U.S. ballistic missiles into Russia, only days after the Biden administration gave the go-ahead. As NPR's Tom Bowman reports, Russia is expressing strong opposition to the move, calling it an escalation of its war with Ukraine. Tom Bowman, NPR's Secretary of State, said that Russia has been

in a position to respond to the move. Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov called it, quote, a new phase of the Western War against Russia. And he said, we will react accordingly, though he didn't say what that means. He also pointed out that Russia has lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. That means nuclear weapons could be used in the case of a conventional weapons attack on Russia, one that is, they say, a critical threat to sovereignty or its territorial integrity. Russia has been saying for some time that such long-range attacks would mean NATO is directly involved in the Ukraine war,

indicating that Russia could hit NATO targets, like, you know, stocks of weapons destined for Ukraine. NPR's Tom Bowman reporting. Brazil's president used the last day of the G20 summit he hosted to call for quicker and more decisive action on global warming. As NPR's Carrie Khan reports, the leftist leader also got member nations to endorse a joint statement. The summit's final joint declaration includes a condemnation of the wars in Ukraine and

Gaza and a proposed taxation of the world's billionaires. Brazilian President Luisa Nácio Lula da Silva had also pushed for a pledge to reform the UN Security Council to include more members from developing nations. President Biden, who met privately with Lula, also pledged initiatives and more money to combat climate change, however unlikely to get support from President-elect Trump. And despite concern that Argentina's far-right libertarian president might derail a joint declaration that included a billionaire tax and proposals promoting gender equality, in the end Argentina signed on.

Carrie Khan, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. You're listening to NPR News. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell faced some tough questioning at congressional hearings Tuesday on her agency's recent hurricane response. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports that Criswell spent the day defending FEMA before two House committees. Much of the testimony centered on a FEMA supervisor fired earlier this month for directing workers to skip over Florida houses with Trump campaign signs. New Jersey Republican Anthony Despacito of the House Transportation and Infrastructure

Committee. Reports of FEMA employees skipping homes based on political affiliation and support of President-elect Donald Trump is both shocking and absolutely disturbing. The head of FEMA says new teams are visiting some 20 homes affected. To ensure that they have had an opportunity to register for assistance. We've provided refresher training to all of our staff in the field to remind them about the importance of serving all people. Deanne Criswell denies the incident reflects a wider problem at FEMA.

Debbie Elliott, NPR News. SpaceX has completed its sixth test launch of the massive Starship rocket from the company's facility near Brownsville, Texas. But mission managers called off efforts to use giant mechanic arms to catch the rocket's first stage booster, saying that not all of the criteria had been met. The booster was directed to splash down into the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship is designed to play a key role in NASA's Artemis program, aimed at carrying astronauts to the moon.

U.S. futures are higher in after-hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia Pacific, market shares are mostly lower.