NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-28-2024 12AM EST

Episode Date: November 28, 2024

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwahle Siakaw-Tow. The Biden administration says its diplomacy with China paid off, and now three Americans have been freed from Chinese jails. As NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports, members of Congress are welcoming the news. Republican Congressman Chris Smith says he was overjoyed to hear the news that Mark Sui Don, Kai Li, and John Luong have been released from what he calls their unjust detention in China, Smith co-chairs the Congressional Executive Commission

on China, along with Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon. I really applaud the Biden administration for putting a lot of diplomatic muscle into this effort at the close of their administration to get these individuals released. Merkley says there's usually a quid pro quo with these prisoner releases, but the administration has not informed Congress about who or what China gets in return.

Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, the State Department. Secretary Antony Blinken late Wednesday shared a social media post saying he spoke to Sweden, Li and Liang as they were on route home from China to the US in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. President-elect Donald Trump announced that former national security aide and retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg will be his special envoy to Russia and Ukraine. More from NPR's Franco Ordoñez. Trump said in a statement that Kellogg was with him right from the beginning, and that quote, we will secure peace through strength and make America and the world safe again. Trump has promised to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Kellogg's appointment could shed

some light on how he expects to accomplish that. Kellogg wrote a plan for the America First Policy Institute that suggested establishing a demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine. The plan also includes conditioning military aid for Ukraine on the government entering peace talks. To entice Putin, Kellogg suggests that the President offer to put off NATO membership for Ukraine. The U.S. would also offer to lift all sanctions if Russia signs a peace agreement that is acceptable to Ukraine. The U.S. would also offer to lift all sanctions if Russia signs a peace agreement that is acceptable to Ukraine.

Franco Ordonez, NPR News. The rocky mountains are heavy with snow after a few early storms. From member station KUNC, Alex Hager reports this is good news for the Colorado River. Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico are getting a snowy start to the winter. Mountain ranges in those states are all above average for this time of year. Some regions have more than 170 percent of normal snow for late November. About 85 percent of the Colorado River comes from mountain snow. Once it melts around the end of April, it becomes the water supply used by 40 million

people from Wyoming to Mexico. Policymakers are hoping a wet winter will give them breathing room to come up with new long-term rules for sharing the river, which is shrinking due to climate change. For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager in Fort Collins, Colorado. And this is NPR News. Some of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks have been targets of bomb threats and swatting. That's when a false report triggers a police response.

A spokesperson for Trump's transition team said several of his administration appointees were targeted on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in quote, violent un-American threats to their lives. The FBI is investigating. Those targeted include New York Representative Elise Stefanik, Trump's nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, and former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin, Trump's choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Despite losing Venezuela's presidential election, dictator Nicolas Maduro is refusing to give up power. Now Venezuela's leading opposition voice says the U.S. can help bring about a democratic transition. John Otis reports.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was barred from the July election, but her replacement, Edmundo Gonzalez, beat Maduro by a landslide, according to voter tally sheets. Since then, Maduro has launched a brutal crackdown, forcing Gonzalez to flee Venezuela and Machado to go into hiding. But she tells NPR that last week's decision by the U.S. to recognize González as president-elect could help ease out Maduro.

Because Maduro tells those that still support him that the world will turn the page and that he will be able to stay by violence. And this sends a message that this is not going to happen. The opposition wants a solution by Inauguration Day on January 10th. For NPR News, I'm John Otis. This is NPR News in New York.