NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-23-2024 4PM EST

Episode Date: November 23, 2024

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Noor Ram. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Ram. President-elect Donald Trump has selected billionaire investor Scott Benson to serve as his Treasury Secretary. It's a position with widespread responsibilities on economic, regulatory, and international affairs. NPR's Scott Horsley has more. He'll probably get a friendly reception from the new GOP Congress if he's confirmed.

One of his first jobs will be getting an extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts, parts of which are set to expire next year. He'll likely be pushing on an open door when it comes to cutting taxes, although that would probably add to the federal debt, which we learned just yesterday has now surpassed $36 trillion. NPR's Scott Horsley. Trump has chosen Russell Vogt to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vogt was involved with drafting Project 2025, a blueprint for overhauling the federal government.

Trump's choice for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is former Texas state representative Scott Turner, who was once a football player, spending nine seasons in the NFL. Trump is promising to deport millions of migrants during his upcoming term. There's growing concern that would threaten the $106 billion construction industry in Texas. Julian Aguilar reports from El Paso. Veronica Carrasco, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, has worked as a painter for a home remodeling company in Mesquite, Texas for 12 years.

It makes me frustrated and worried. I am a single mom. I have three children. Some economists and industry leaders are worried too. The housing would disappear. I think they'd lose half their labor. That's Stan Merrick, the CEO of Merrick, a Houston-based commercial and residential construction giant. In 2022, more than a half million immigrants worked in the Texas construction

industry, according to a report by the American Immigration Council. Almost 60 percent of that workforce was undocumented. For NPR News, I'm Juliana Aguilar in El Paso. Heavy rain and snow are dousing wildfire concerns in the northeastern U.S. In New Jersey, officials have lifted statewide fire restrictions. NPR's Amy Held reports. 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. There's still no agreement in Baku, Azerbaijan, at the UN-sponsored climate talks. Participants are trying to agree on how much Richard nations should pay to help developing

nations deal with climate change. A team in the UK says it's approximated King Richard III's voice with 90% accuracy. Catherine Fink reports. Catherine Fink, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The to see. Catherine Fink reports. It all started 12 years ago when Richard III's skeleton was found underneath a parking lot in England. Turns out a person's skeleton can tell us a lot about what they sounded

like. We can predict the likely pitch range of a voice from a skeleton. Vocal coach Yvonne Morley Chisholm assembled a team of doctors, linguists, actors, and forensic psychologists to recreate Richard III's voice. It's a tall order for someone who's been dead for over five centuries, but they found clues everywhere. His upbringing, his spelling, even his scoliosis. And now, a digital avatar is on display in England

where you can hear the king in his own words and his own voice or something close to it. Catherine Fink, NPR News. Security is heightened for the president of the Philippines after Ferdinand Marcos was threatened by his vice president. In an online news conference today, Vice President Sara Duterte said if she is killed, she's already instructed an assassin to kill Mar Marcus, his wife, and the speaker of the House of Representatives.

She said this was not a joke. Duterte and Marcus were running mates in the presidential election two years ago on a platform of national unity. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.