NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-22-2024 9AM EST

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

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Hey, it's Aisha 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, I'm Cora Va Colman. President-elect Donald Trump has named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his

nominee to be the next U.S. Attorney General. This comes after former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew his name yesterday. Gaetz has been investigated by the House Ethics Committee on allegations he had sex with an underage girl and for allegations of sex trafficking. Gaetz has denied the allegations. It's not clear if the Ethics Committee's report on its investigation of Gates will ever be released. Maryland Democratic Congressman Glenn Ivey, an Ethics Committee member, doesn't know

either. Whether the committee decides to release the materials or not, you know, remains to be seen. I don't know what the decision would be on that front. We'd have to wait until the next meeting. The next meeting of the House Ethics Committee is supposed to be December 5th. Some of the nation's largest retailers are warning of potential price increases when the new administration takes over next year. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports President-elect Trump is proposing

sweeping new tariffs that could affect the cost of almost everything, from construction materials to groceries. opposing sweeping new tariffs that could affect the cost of almost everything, from construction materials to groceries. Jonathan Gold is the vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. He says if Trump goes forward with the proposed tariffs, consumers can expect to pay more. The impact to products such as apparel, footwear, furniture, home appliances, toys and travel goods would be pretty significant.

Consumers would lose about $46 to $78 billion worth of spending power as prices on those products would increase. During his first term in office, Trump imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods. This time around, he's proposing even more, 60% or more on China, while up to 20% on other countries. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. Pennsylvania incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey has conceded defeat to Republican

rival David McCormick. There were only about 16,000 votes separating them. Russian leader Vladimir Putin says his country has the right to retaliate against NATO countries that arm Ukraine. As NPR's Greg Meyry reports, Putin has been ramping up threats against Ukraine and the West in a series of recent moves. Putin spoke on television after Russia fired an experimental ballistic missile into Ukraine, one that had not been used previously in the war. The Russian leader said this was a direct response to Ukrainian attacks earlier this week.

That's when Ukraine fired American and British missiles into Russia for the first time. In a pointed warning to Ukraine's supporters, Putin said Russia is within its rights to hit the Western countries that supply those weapons. All this comes just days after Putin lowered the threshold for Russia to use nuclear weapons. He said they could now be employed if the country is facing a quote, critical threat. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR. Weather forecasters say California could get several more inches of rain today from a powerful storm system that blew through Oregon and Washington State to

this week more than 180,000 customers in Washington State still don't have power one utility company says this week strong winds did unprecedented damage to its power lines some people won't get power back until tomorrow. The film Wicked debuts in movie theaters across the U.S. today. As NPR's Danica Panetta reports, fans of the Broadway musical have a special request for moviegoers. Please do not sing along. Popular, you're gonna be popular Many fans say this is what they want to hear in theaters, and they're calling on audiences

to keep their mouths closed when Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are singing. But theater writer Howard Sherman says the urge to sing along is not a bad thing. That we can be together, that we can cheer together, that we can lift our voices together, is a reminder of our common humanity. Yet, he says audiences should let others enjoy the movie. If enjoying means you'd like to sing, special sing-along screenings begin on December 25th. Danica Panetta, NPR News. The motoring club AAA says a lot of people will be traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday.

AAA estimates nearly 80 million people will be traveling. The time period spans the Tuesday before Thanksgiving until the Tuesday after the holiday. Most people will be traveling on the road in autos. This is NPR News.