NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-20-2025 7PM EST

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

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This message comes from Bayer. Science is a rigorous process that requires questions, testing, transparency, and results that can be proven. This approach is integral to every breakthrough Bayer brings forward. Innovations that save lives and feed the world. Science Delivers.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the months-long National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C., NPR's Julianna Kim, reports. U.S. District Judge Giacob ruled that by sending thousands of National Guard troops to

Washington, D.C., President Trump undermined the city's autonomy and presented harms to the nation's capital. She issued a temporary block on the deployment, but it won't take effect until next month in order to give the Trump administration time to appeal. As of Wednesday, there were over 2100 guard forces in D.C. that includes troops from several states. In a statement, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson asserted that Trump was well within his authority to send the guard to D.C. in order to, quote, protect federal assets and assist law enforcement. Juliana Kim, NPR News. The Trump administration has revised a CDC website to contradict the scientific consensus

that vaccines don't cause autism. The update has outraged public health and autism experts. It's part of the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Overhaul of U.S. vaccine policy, as NPR's Ping Huang explains. As Health Secretary, Kennedy has been sowing doubts about vaccine safety. earlier this year during a big measles outbreak in Texas, which killed two children. Kennedy went on Fox News and said that the measles vaccines kills people every year, gives them the same symptoms you get from measles. That is not true. He's also been making changes to how vaccine policy gets made. So he stacked a CDC vaccine advisory committee with people known for their unorthodox views who have been raising unsupported conspiracy theories at public meetings, and they've already made some changes to policies for flu and COVID vaccines. NPR's Ping Huang reporting, former Vice President Dick Cheney was memorialized as a no-nonsense public servant who loved his country at his funeral in Washington, D.C. today. Former President's George W. Bush and Joe Biden attended NPR's Don Gagne reports.

Attendees included four former vice presidents and numerous members of Congress passed and present, Republicans and Democrats. George W. Bush recalled Cheney as his closest White House advisor in times of crisis, but said Cheney, ever ceased being that guy from Wyoming. I wish more Americans got to know Dick Cheney the way the folks in Casper, Cody, and Laramie got to know him, smart and polished, without heirs. President Trump did not attend. Cheney's daughter, Liz, spoke and made this brief reference to her father's strong criticism of Trump in recent years.

For him, a choice between defense of the Constitution and defense of your political party was no choice at all. Don Gagne and BR News. New York City mayor-elect Zoran Mundani says he hopes to share the facts about the affordability crisis in the city during an oval office meeting with President Trump tomorrow. Momdani says he has differences with the president, but added he's willing to work with anyone to make the city more affordable for a more affordable place to live. This is NPR. The Trump administration wants to use the military to stop the killings of Christians in Nigeria by militants. A state department official told a congressional committee that, quote,

possible Department of War engagement is part of the plan to prevent religious violence. Earlier this month, President Trump said on social media that the U.S. would go into Nigeria with, quote, guns ablazing against Islamic militants. Moss was able to survive nine months of exposure to space outside the International Space Station, NPR's Nell Greenfield Boyce reports. Tamomichi Fujita is with Hokkaido University. He says a few years ago, astronauts attached the spore containing parts of a common moss to the outside of the space station. They spent 283 days there before returning to

Earth, and most of them were able to successfully germinate in the lab. They didn't mind the space condition. They can keep their life for such a long time. He and his colleagues say the moss could have survived the harsh conditions even longer, perhaps as long as 15 years. They're now exploring the potential of mosses for constructing new ecosystems in place. places like the moon or Mars. Nell Greenfield-Boyce, NPR News. Colombian scientists have recovered a cannon, three coins, and a porcelain cup from the Caribbean Sea. The site is where the Spanish galleon San Jose sank in 1708.

The United States, Colombia, and Spain all claim rights to the sunken treasure. The wreckage lies 600 meters deep, but its exact location is a state secret. I'm Rylan Barton. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. T's and C's Apply.