NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-23-2024 11AM EST

Episode Date: November 23, 2024

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How much can one person change in four years? The answer comes down to who he puts in charge. Trump's Terms is a podcast where you can follow NPR's coverage of the people who will shape Donald Trump's first 100 days in office and what their goals are. We will track his cabinet picks, his political team, his top military leaders to understand who they are, what they believe, and how they'll govern. Listen to Trump's Terms from NPR. Noor Aram Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm.

President-elect Donald Trump has picked billionaire investor Scott Bettson to be his Treasury Secretary. Other choices announced last night include outgoing Congresswoman Lori Chavez de Riemer for Labor Secretary and former football player Scott Turner to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trump is bringing back Russell Vogt to head the Office of Management and Budget.

NPR's Stephen Fowler reports. Vogt held the same role in Trump's first term in office. The OMB runs the president's budget and supervises executive branch agencies. So Vogt will play a key role in shaping Trump's second term vision for how the government operates. That likely includes plans Vogt, 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. A challenge to the Texas law that allows abortion after, outlaws abortion after a so-called fetal heartbeat is detected could be dismissed after a so-called fetal heartbeat is detected, could be dismissed after a ruling from the state's Supreme Court. For Member Station, KERA Tulwani Osabamuwele reports.

Planned Parenthood Centers and other abortion rights advocates sued the anti-abortion rights group, Texas Right to Life, in 2021. The plaintiffs say the group was trying to organize lawsuits against providers seen as violating the Texas Heartbeat Act. State courts rejected Texas Right to Life's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but the Texas Supreme Court has now ruled those courts failed to consider whether the suit has standing. John Segoe is with Texas Right to Life.

There's really no role for the judge. There's really no role for the court to stop us from doing anything or from trying to regulate our speech. A lower appeals court must now decide whether the lawsuit can continue. For NPR News, I'm Toluwani Ocbamolo in Dallas. Heavy rain and snow are dousing wildfire concerns in the northeastern U.S. In New Jersey, officials have lifted statewide fire restrictions, while in the West, an atmospheric river is bringing a new risk to wildfire ravaged areas. NPR's Amy Held reports.

Amy Held This fall, historic drought in the northeast contributed to surging wildfires hundreds, including one that burned 5,300 acres of forest land for two weeks in New York and New Jersey, now it is 100% contained, thanks in part to the first significant rain in weeks dropping like blanket on the blaze. Extreme swings from wet to dry and back are growing more common as the earth heats up from human-caused climate change, making large destructive wildfires more likely. In the Western U.S. meantime, a bomb cyclone and an atmospheric river event mean lots of moisture and a different wildfire-related

risk. Burn scar areas now susceptible to landslides. In Northern California, officials are pre-positioning rescue crews. Amy Held, NPR News. This is NPR News in Washington. The United Nations climate talks in Azerbaijan are in overtime. They were supposed to wrap up yesterday, but negotiators are still trying to reach an agreement. Nearly 200 countries are taking part. They're discussing how much richer countries should pay to help developing countries deal with climate change and the rising costs of storms, floods, and droughts. Music mogul Sean Diddy Combs made his third unsuccessful attempt at bail yesterday,

ahead of his sex trafficking and racketeering trial. NPR's Sydney Madden has details. Defense attorneys for Combs asserted that private notes from his jail cell had been unlawfully seized to try and keep him behind bars, and that a key piece of evidence in the case, surveillance video of Colmes assaulting his ex-girlfriend, does not depict trafficking. The defense presented a robust bond package of $50 million, but prosecutors argued it's a shameless attempt to buy his way out of jail, and that Colmes can't be trusted not to intimidate witnesses if he were to be released. The federal judge said he would make a decision promptly and sent Combs back to jail while he decides. The music exec was arrested back in September.

He's pleaded not guilty to all charges and is set to stand trial in May. Sydney Madden, NPR News. In women's soccer, the championship match will be held tonight in Kansas City. The number two seed, the Washington Spirit, will face the top seeded Orlando Pride and its Brazilian superstar, Marta. She scored the Pride's game-winning goal in their semifinal match last weekend. During the regular season, Washington played Orlando twice and lost both times. I'm Nora Rahm. NPR News in Washington.