NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-02-2024 5AM EST

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. President Biden is pardoning his son Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing this month in two federal cases. One involved his conviction on gun charges. The other involved Hunter Biden's guilty plea in a tax evasion case. The president's decision reverses his previous pledges not to pardon his son or commute his sentences. As NPR's Luke Garrett reports, the outgoing president says his son was selectively and unfairly prosecuted. President Biden fully and unconditionally pardoned his son weeks before Hunter was set to face sentencing for federal charges. In a statement, Biden said Hunter was quote singled out only because he is my son,

end quote. The White House has previously said Biden would not pardon Hunter or commute his sentence. The about face and full pardon comes weeks before Biden leaves office and transfers power to President-elect Trump, who has attacked Hunter over legal and personal issues. In a separate statement responding to the pardon, Hunter said he has, quote, admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction, end quote. Biden and Hunter spent the Thanksgiving weekend together in Nantucket, Massachusetts. President Biden closed his statement by saying, quote, I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision. End quote. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. Many Republicans in Congress are criticizing the president's pardoning of his son after repeatedly

saying he would not. President-elect Donald Trump calls President president's pardoning of his son after repeatedly saying he would not. President-elect Donald Trump calls President Biden's pardon of Hunter Biden an abuse and miscarriage of justice. Trump himself pardoned his son's father-in-law, Charles Kushner, for tax evasion and witness tampering during his first term in office and recently named him to be ambassador to France. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in today on the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of vaping.

E-cigarettes are supposed to help people quit smoking, but vaping has become popular with teenagers, as NPR's Nina Totenberg reports. In 2009, Congress enacted a new regulatory regime aimed at curbing cigarette use and most particularly cigarette use by underage children. The FDA in carrying out that mandate ultimately concluded that it would not approve most flavored e-cigarettes with names like Pink Lemonade and Rainbow Road because those products contain nicotine and amount to a gateway product to lure kids to more dangerous tobacco use.

The agency, however, did approve tobacco and menthol-flavored e-cigarettes because they were a functional aid to breaking the more dangerous tobacco habit for adults. The vaping industry contends that the FDA did not fairly evaluate the vaping products. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington. More lake-effect snow was likely this week in parts of the northeast and the upper Midwest. Snow was being measured by the foot over the weekend in parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, and Ohio. This is NPR News from Washington. It's been five days since Israel and Hezbollah began implementing a 60-day

ceasefire in Lebanon. Sporadic incidents of violence continue to be reported, though the truce largely appears to be holding. Lebanon's army says an Israeli drone targeted a Lebanese military bulldozer doing fortification work inside a military base. It was near Lebanon's border with Syria. That strike left one Lebanese army soldier wounded. The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees says it's suspending deliveries of humanitarian aid through the main cargo crossing into

Gaza. It cites threats from armed gangs who've recently stolen some aid convoys amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Early results from Romania's parliamentary elections shows pro-European union parties appear likely to keep their majorities. Terri Schulz reports. The leftist Social Democratic Party looks set to maintain its dominance in Romania's parliament, with most of the votes counted in Sunday's balloting. The far-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians has come in second. However, votes from Romanians abroad still need to be counted, and in the

first round of presidential elections on November 24th, they voted for a far-right pro-Moscow candidate, Colleen Georgescu. The fact that Georgescu won the most votes after polling at just 5% has sparked a demand for a recount and possibly even a revote. Romanian officials say they detected a huge surge in online activity on behalf of Gheorghescu. The country's Constitutional Court is scheduled to decide whether to annul the outcome and hold another round. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz.

I'm Dave Mattingly in Washington. This is Eric Glass. On This American Life, we specialize in compelling stories from everyday life. I was like, wow, you literally just died and came back. And the first thing you ask is, do you need any money? Real life stories, really good ones, in your podcast feed, This American Life.