NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-27-2025 2PM EST

Episode Date: November 27, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Federal authorities have identified the man who shot two members of the National Guard near the White House on Wednesday. The West Virginia Guard troops remain in critical condition. NPR's Jackie Northam reports the suspect was injured and taken into custody. The U.S. Attorney Janine Piro says that his name is Ramanala Lackenwall, and he's a 29-year-old Afghan National. And she said he came to the U.S. in 2021 as part of a resettlement program set up by the Biden administration. And Piro said Lackenwall was living in Bellingham, Washington with his wife and five children, and that he drove across the country to carry out what she called a brazen and unprovoked attack on the two guards.

That's NPR's Jackie Northam reporting. President Trump may be changing his mind about extending subsidies to help people by health insurance. NPR's Mara Liason reports. For months, President Trump and Republicans in Congress said the government should not extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. But now, as a promised December vote on the tax credits nears, Trump may be reversing his position. He is reportedly considering a plan to extend the subsidies for two years with an income cap, even though it's not clear that Republicans in Congress would go along with that.

And the president himself said on Tuesday that he would rather not extend the subsidies, But, quote, some kind of extension may be necessary. More than 20 million people benefit from the Obamacare tax credits to help them afford health insurance. President Trump has tried and failed to get rid of Obamacare altogether, but the program has proved tough to uproot. Mara Liason, NPR News. As families across the United States gather today for the Thanksgiving holiday, it was technically Virginia, where the first Thanksgiving was honored two years before the Pilgrims in Massachusetts.

Brad Cutner from Radio IQ in Richmond has this report. That's Batapenai Chief Mark Falling Star Custelo at Virginia's Governor's Mansion Wednesday morning as part of the Commonwealth's 348-year-old Thanksgiving tribute ceremony. Maggie Creech at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture says the event marks the grant of land Virginia's indigenous tribes in 1677. It was quite literally a day to give thanks that they had made it safely. to this area of Virginia that they were trying to settle on and to colonize. And it was ordered to be observed annually,

which I think really sort of distinguishes it from perhaps the more famous Massachusetts Plymouth Thanksgiving. Settlers landed in Virginia in 1619. They started their annual recognition of Thanksgiving two years before the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. Brad Cutner from Radio IQ reporting. This is NPR News in Washington. Crowds lined the streets in New York City for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Giant character balloons, marching bands, and dozens of floats made their way from the Upper West Side to Herald Square. Police say more than 3,000 officers were stationed along the route with drones monitoring from above.

Organizers say the parade drew one of its largest turnouts since before the pandemic. Fever is a common response to viral infection. And many researchers think it helps fight the virus. But precisely how it helps has been a mystery. NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports on new research that suggests an answer. There are two main ideas for how fevers fight infection. One is that the high temperature is itself the point and helps cook off the virus by messing with its ability to hijack ourselves.

The other is that high temperatures somehow help our immune system work better. New research in the journal science suggests that it's the heat that counts, at least in mice. Lab mice just so happened to not get feverish when infected with the flu. So to study this question, researchers infected mice and turned up the heat. Mice housed at room temperature got sick

after infection. But those housed in conditions simulating a fever fared much better, suggesting that the heat helped them fight the flu. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. The Olympic torch is officially on its way to Italy for the upcoming winter games.

The flame left Greece yesterday where the lighting ceremony was moved indoors because of poor weather. The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in February. This is NPR News.