NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-01-2025 4AM EST

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. President Trump is responding to reporting by the Washington Post that says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a second strike on a drug cartel boat back in September. It came after the first strike killed all but two people who were left clinging to this side of the boat. Speaking with reporters on Air Force One Sunday, Trump says Hegseth told him the story is not true. We'll look into it, but no, I wouldn't have wanted that, not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine if there were two people around. But Pete said that didn't happen. Does that make you? I am great confidence. Critics say that if a second strike was approved, it would amount to murder.

The White House has announced a new effort to increase artificial intelligence research and innovation. They're calling it the Genesis mission, and the plan will involve national labs, universities, and the private sector. Empires Deepa Chivram has our reports. The president signed a recent executive order that, launched the new AI initiative. Officials claim that by releasing federal data sets, scientific discovery and innovation with AI will happen at a much faster rate, as in what used to take years could take days. The push to innovate faster comes as the White House and some Republicans have also expressed interest in quashing state regulations on AI. Proponents of the idea say that

having a patchwork of state AI laws makes commerce more difficult, but critics say that in lieu of Congress passing anything on regulating AI, states need to make their own laws to try to protect consumers and hold tech companies accountable. Deepa Shiverum, NPR News. Indonesia says the death toll from this week's flooding on the western island of Sumatra has reached 435 people. Southeast Asia has been battered by storms in the past several weeks. Michael Sullivan reports from Thailand. The more towns and villages, the authorities in Sumatra reach the higher the death toll climbs. Three provinces have been hardest hit by the flooding triggered by the latest tropical storm this week, cutting off roads, damaging bridges, and downing communications links.

Relief teams are using helicopters and fixed-winged aircraft to deliver aid where possible to areas inaccessible by road. Hundreds of people remain missing, with nearly a quarter million displaced. In Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health says deaths related to flooding there have reached 170. Tropical storms have killed nearly a thousand people in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia this month. For NPR news, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Asian stock shares have started the week mostly down. Tokyo's benchmark Niki average fell almost 2% after the release of data showing weak factory activity in November. In Seoul, meanwhile, the Cosby slipped

two-tenths of percent, while Taiwan's Thai-X lost one percent. Futures for the S&P 500, meanwhile, were down seven-tenths. Dow futures were also down. This is NPR News. When the government shut down disrupted federal food assistance, many local governments stepped in to help low-income residents. Now, one of those efforts is showing traction in Nashville, Tennessee. Tony Gonzalez, with member station WPLN, reports the city accelerated a program that allows qualifying residents to ride city buses for free. When SNAP benefits were delayed by the shutdown, Nashville's public transportation agency, We Go Transit, tried to lessen the financial strain.

SNAP recipients are among those who qualify for a free bus fare program, and the city set up more enrollment tables outside its agencies, libraries, and bus stations. Riders, like mother of two Antoinette Hatton, says the pass will save her about $60 a month. If you have to go to the grocery store and bag and school and back and pick them up from school, I have to get off from work. I have to, I've spent sometimes $25 in a day or two on the bus. Enrollment was slow at first, but sign-ups have now topped 6,000. For NPR News, I'm Tony Gonzalez in Nashville. The WNBA and the Players Union have agreed to an extension of the current collective bargaining agreement to January 9th.

That agreement came just before the current extension ran out Sunday night. Both sides had met over the weekend, hoping to come up with an agreement. Michaela Schifrin extended her winning streak in Slalom skiing this weekend to four with a victory in Colorado. The win gave her a record extending 104th World Cup victory, as well as her 67th win in slalom. She beat Lena Dore of Germany by 1.57 seconds. Her Copper Mountain win was her first win in Colorado in more than a decade. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.