NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-02-2024 7PM EST

Episode Date: December 3, 2024

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Many lawmakers on Capitol Hill are criticizing President Biden over his decision to sign a full and unconditional pardon for his son, Hunter, something he long insisted he would not do. As MP Rosalene Moore reports, the decision has gotten pushback from Republicans and Democrats.

In a statement on X, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed the Biden family for eroding public trust in the justice system, adding that, quote, real reform cannot begin soon enough. Johnson is one of a handful of prominent Republicans who have spoken out about this, and some Democrats have also come out against the pardon. Colorado Senator Michael Bennett wrote on X that Biden's decision puts quote personal interest ahead of duty, adding that it further erodes Americans faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all. Elena Moore, NPR News. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be the next Pentagon chief was on Capitol

Hill meeting with lawmakers today that included a meeting with Alabama Republican Tommy Tomperville who said he supports Pete Hegseth to head the DOD despite new allegations against him. Obviously, if it's to a certain degree, people are not going to vote to confirm him. But what I know and what I've talked to him about, what I've read, what I've studied, and been around him, I'll vote for him.

Today's meeting comes as more allegations of sexist behavior and alcohol problems are emerging. Hegseth was listed in the report by The New Yorker. Meanwhile, while never charged with a crime, according to his lawyer, Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her an undisclosed sum in order to protect his job as a Fox News anchor. Republican state senators in North Carolina

voted today to strip power from the incoming Democratic governor, order to protect his job as a Fox News anchor. Republican state senators in North Carolina voted today to strip power from the incoming Democratic governor, lawmakers there overriding Governor Roy Cooper's veto of the measure, which now goes to the statehouse. Colin Campbell of Member Station WUNC has warned the power struggle resulting from last month's election.

The bill from the Republican legislature would prevent incoming Democratic Governor Josh Stein from appointing the state's elections board. And it would take power away from other statewide offices won by Democrats. Current Democratic Governor Roy Cooper says the changes are unconstitutional and shouldn't have been attached to a Hurricane Helene relief bill. Republican State Senator Ralph Heiss defended the changes. Senator Heiss, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate

Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, Senator Heiss, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, Senator Heiss, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, Senator Heiss, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, Senator Heiss, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, Senator Heiss, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, U.S. Senate Speaker, Despite the spicy language the governor tried to throw in his little veto message that's coming in, this is a good policy for the state of North Carolina. The vetoed bill now goes to the state house where three Republicans voted against it last month.

For NPR News, I'm Colin Campbell in Raleigh. As expected, Sunday was the busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving holiday, setting a new record according to the Transportation Security Administration. TSA says nearly 3.1 million travelers passed through checkpoints on Sunday. A mixed close on Wall Street today, the Dow was down 128 points. You're listening to NPR. Artificial intelligence applications have a great deal of promise, but perhaps nowhere more than in drug development.

Pharmaceutical industry execs are hoping AI can tackle some of the biggest challenges they currently face, including coming up with cheaper and faster ways to make new medicines, even with billions pouring into research by Big Pharma. It typically takes a decade or more to develop a new drug. Companies using AI to develop next generation medicines hope the technology will allow that time to be significantly reduced. After France's Prime Minister forced a budget bill through Parliament using an emergency clause because he did not have the votes to pass it, the far left and far right have come together under vote of

no confidence. NPR's owner reportedly reports today's no confidence vote will likely lead to the collapse of the French government within days. There was an uproar in the French parliament as Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced that he had no choice but to push the budget through using the emergency clause. The far left and far right, which have the largest voting blocs in parliament, are objecting. They say by naming a centrist prime minister to continue his policies, President Emmanuel Macron refuses to accept that he lost snap parliamentary elections last summer. They say the country voted to end Macron's policies. While no

party has an outright majority, the leftist coalition won the most seats in parliament five months ago and say the prime minister must come from their camp. Eleanor Beardsley in PR News, Paris. Good ol' futures prices were little change today. Oil rose ten cents a barrel to settle at 68.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.