NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-22-2024 10PM EST

Episode Date: November 23, 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 Jack Spear. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen hedge fund manager Scott Besson to be Treasury Secretary. Besson has become a key economic adviser to Trump's team and has in the past advocated for both tax reform and deregulation in order to stimulate bank lending and energy production. Confirmed the 62-year-old Besson would have the job of helping turn some of Trump's campaign promises into reality, including the idea of putting in place across

the board tariffs on U.S. imports. President Trump, elect Trump, is also bringing back Russell Vogt to head the Office of Management and Budget. Here's NPR's Stephen Fowler. Vought held the same role in Trump's first term in office. The OMB runs the president's budget and supervises executive branch agencies. So Vog VOTE will play a key role in shaping Trump's second term vision for how the government operates. That likely includes plans VOTE wrote for the conservative policy playbook, Project 2025. In that document, VOTE wrote that, quote, it is the president's agenda that should matter to the departments and agencies and not their own. Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta.

In a nomination pact evening, Trump also says he's nominated Congresswoman Lori Shavez, Dreamer of Oregon, to be a secretary of labor, Dr. Marty McCary, a surgeon from Johns Hopkins, to be FDA commissioner, and Fox News contributor Dr. Jeanette Neshawat for surgeon general. New York Judge Juan Marchand has indefinitely adjourned President-elect Trump's criminal sentencing, as NPR's Samantha Bastille reports reports both sides signaled they want to push a sentencing till after Trump won the presidential election. After several days, today Marchand adjourned next week's sentencing date. Trump's lawyers have long attempted to dismiss the case, arguing that evidence used in the

case should not have been introduced and the incoming president cannot be prosecuted. Prosecutors have also prepared to fight the dismissal. Filings are due in December. Jimena Bustillo, NPR News, New York. Open enrollment is currently happening on healthcare.gov, otherwise known as Obamacare. As NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin explains, during the Biden administration, enrollment hit new highs. After a bumpy start way back in 2013, healthcare.gov is on a roll. More than 21 million people are currently enrolled in health plans there and on state-run health insurance marketplaces.

So far this year, nearly 500,000 new customers have bought plans, so federal health officials hope that enrollment for 2025 will break this year's record. This year for many people, premiums are $10 or less per month, and there are lots of plans to choose from. People who are uninsured or looking for a new plan can get help from navigators who walk people through the signup process without any commissions since they're funded through federal grants. For plans that start on January 1st, the deadline to sign up is December 15th. Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News.

US financial markets have ended another trading week on an up note. The Dow gained 426 points, the NASDAQ rose 31 points, the S&P was up 20 points. This is NPR. Airports across the country are expecting to see a record number of passengers over the Thanksgiving holiday period. NPR's Regina Barber says that means a lot of people passing through multiple time zones resulting in jet lag. Regina Barber, NPR When people feel jet lag, it's partly due

to a lack of sleep, says behavioral sleep psychologist Jade Wu. She says the feeling of jet lag also comes from the exhaustion due to the body's internal clocks being misaligned with the outside environment, specifically sunlight. When there isn't a lot of light coming into your eyes, the body starts to produce melatonin. This is the hormone that builds up in the evening and makes you sleepy, and when it ramps down in the morning you start to feel more alert. Wu suggests shifting your sleep schedule to the new time zone beforehand and going outside into the sun first thing in the morning at the new destination. She says to me wary of melatonin supplements because they are not regulated and the doses could be inaccurate. Regina Barber, NPR News.

Congestion pricing after initially being shot down is back in New York City and takes effect in early January. That's after the U.S. Transportation Department approved the state's plan to impose a $9 congestion charge for driving into Manhattan below 60th Street. The first of its kind congestion charge was revived last week by Governor Kathy Hochul after the idea was put on hold earlier this year. With implementation of the toll in New York City, the city now joins London, Stockholm and Singapore in implementing congestion pricing. Crude old futures prices continued to move higher in part due to escalating tensions

between Russia and Ukraine, which boosted the so-called risk premium oil up $1.14 a barrel to $71.24 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.