NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-21-2024 6PM EST

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

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Hey, it's Ayesha Harris from Pop Culture Happy Hour. If you love NPR podcasts, you'll want the new NPR Plus podcast bundle. Enjoy an all-you-can-eat selection of NPR Plus podcasts with sponsor-free listening and bonus episodes. Plus, you'll be supporting public radio. Check it out at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Senate Republicans are reacting with a combination of surprise and relief at the news that Matt

Gates, President-elect Trump's pick for attorney general, has withdrawn. MPR's Deidre Walsh explains. A day after Vice President-elect J.D. Vance accompanied Gates to a series of meetings with Senate Republicans, the former Florida congressman posted on social media that his nomination was becoming a distraction and dropped out. Several Senate Republicans acknowledged Gates faced an uphill battle. A House ethics panel investigated him for allegations of paying for sex, including with a minor. This week the committee deadlocked over whether to release the report. Republican Senator Susan Collins said she was willing to let the confirmation process play out, but added,

Certainly there were a lot of red flags. Most GOP leaders declined to offer suggestions for Trump's next pick for attorney general. Deidre Walsh, NPR News, The Capitol. A newly released police report is adding more detail to the sexual assault allegation against President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be the next Secretary of Defense. More from NPR's Bill Chappell. The woman who accused then Fox News host Pete Hegseth of sexual assault in October of 2017 told police that when she was in Hegseth's hotel room she quote, remembered saying no a lot. That's according to the report by police in

Monterey, California. The woman, identified as Jane Doe, said that after a Republican conference, Hexeth took her cell phone, blocked her from leaving his room, and sexually assaulted her. Hexeth told investigators they had sex, but that it was consensual. In a statement, the Monterey County DA says, quote, no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Hexett's attorney says his client reached a settlement with his accuser several years ago to protect his career.

Bill Chappell, NPR News. While Thanksgiving and the winter respiratory season are approaching, most people still have not gotten their recommended flu or COVID-19 vaccinations. That's according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Here's according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Here's NPR's Rob Stein. The CDC says only about one-third of adults have gotten this year's flu shot and less than 18 percent have gotten one of the new COVID boosters. As for the new RSV vaccine,

only 40 percent of adults ages 75 and older have gotten that recommended shot. There isn't a lot of flu or RSV right now, and the COVID numbers are still falling from this summer's big surge. But all those viruses could pick up quickly as people start to travel and gather for Thanksgiving in the winter holidays. Rob Stein, NPR News. Fueled by crypto-friendly comments from the incoming Trump administration,

Bitcoin has been on the ascendancy since Trump won office. Price of Bitcoin knocking on the door of a $100,000 valuation, up more than 40% in the past two weeks. Still analysts say it's impossible to know how long the rally might last. The Dow was up 461 points. This is NPR. Russia is confirming it's fired a new type of ballistic missile at the central Ukrainian city of Dnieperow, reportedly striking a military industrial facility there.

However, the message was meant more for NATO, at least initially touching off debate, about whether Moscow had launched an ICBM. It hadn't, but the new missile raced to its target at roughly 10 times the speed of sound, too fast to be stopped by modern anti-missile systems. Western experts say it appears to be the first time such a weapon has been used in any conflict. The ceremony for this year's National Book Awards were held last night. The prizes are some of the most prestigious awards in American literature. MPR's Andrew Limbong has more on this year's winners.

Percival Everett won the Fiction Award for his book James, which is a retelling of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, except from the perspective of Jim, Huck's friend escaping slavery. In his speech, Everett thanked his wife, his agent, his two teenage sons. Who's near complete apathy about my career helps me keep things in perspective. Over in nonfiction, Jason De Leon won for his book Soldiers and Kings about people who smuggle migrants over the southern U.S. border. He thanked the subjects in his book. And everyone out there on the migrant show trying to make ends meet and trying to do the right thing

all keeping hope alive. And the poetry award went to Lena Khalaf-Tufaha, whose collection Something About Living is an expansive history of the Palestinian people. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. Crude old futures prices followed stocks higher today. That says tensions mount between Russia and Ukraine. Oil was up $1.35 a barrel, or 2%. Settle at $70.10 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.