NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-02-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

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This message comes from Bayer. Science is a rigorous process that requires questions, testing, transparency, and results that can be proven. This approach is integral to every breakthrough Bayer brings forward. Innovations that save lives and feed the world. Science Delivers.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he closely followed the first U.S. military strike against a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean. three months ago, but he says he did not order a follow-up attack that killed survivors. NPR's Greg Myrie has more. Defense Secretary Hegseth described his actions during the first U.S. attack in the Caribbean on September 2nd. I watched that first strike lot. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we got a lot of

things to do. So I didn't stick around, so I moved on to my next meeting. Nine people were killed initially, but two people survived. A second U.S. strike killed them, but Hegss said he only learned hours later that this follow-up strike took place. He said the commander of the operation made the correct decision to, quote, sink the boat and eliminate the threat. But critics have raised the possibility the attack could be a violation of U.S. law or the laws of war. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Washington. Congress is a step closer to attempting to alter a key set of numbers from the 2030 census. NPR's Hansi Lo Wong reports those numbers influence how,

presidents and members of Congress are elected. How many U.S. House seats and electoral college votes each day gets for a decade is determined using a census count. The 14th Amendment requires that count to include the, quote, whole number of persons in each state. But the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee has advanced a bill that calls for excluding people living in the states without U.S. citizenship, such as green card holders. During the last Congress, a similar bill passed a Republican-controlled House but never got a Senate vote. The current bill is making its way to a possible House floor vote, months after President Trump put out a social media call for a, quote, new census that

excludes people living in the States without legal status. That kind of change would be unprecedented in U.S. history and likely be challenged in court. Hansi Luong, NPR News, Washington. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman issued a code red to employees this week over Google's growing artificial intelligence capabilities. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, Google's latest version of its Gemini AI chatbot exceeded expectations. In a memo, to Open AI staff confirmed by NPR, Altman said the company needs to hyper-focus on improving chat GPT. And as a result, Altman told employees it is pushing back work on other products like AI agents for health and shopping and pausing a push into advertising. It comes as Google's latest

Gemini chatbot beat out all the rival AI chatbots in a series of industry benchmark tests. It for the first time pulled Google ahead of the competition in the AI race. While chat GPT remains the most popular chatbot, the company is confronting questions about its finances. And that's because Altman said the company is not turning a profit and isn't expecting to until 2030. Bobby Allen, NPR News. Sacramento, City Council voted unanimously to repeal a 76-year-old law banning the sale of comic books to minors. The ordinance passed during a panic about comic books inspiring delinquency. This is NPR news. Costco is joining other companies that aren't waiting to see whether the Supreme Court strikes down President Trump's tariff powers. They're

demanding refunds on the tariffs they've paid. The Court of Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled earlier this year that Trump's biggest and boldest import taxes are illegal. The case is now before the Supreme Court. The luxury group Prada has completed its purchase of its Italian fashion rival Versace. The deal is worth almost $1.4 billion. And as NPR's Alina Seleuk reports, investors hope it gives Versace a much-needed boost. Versace has struggled to keep up financially, and its fate has been tied up with a turbulent few years at its parent company, Capri Holdings. Capri took over in 2018. Versace was a famously family-run fashion house, known for designs that are over the top,

loud and proud, like Baroque printed silks. The conglomerate Capri owns many other brands, including Michael Coors and Jimmy Chu, and it had tried to sell itself a couple years ago, but that deal was rejected by U.S. regulators. Now tariffs and tighter consumer budgets are weighing on the company. Earlier this year, Capri replaced Donatella Versace. which is the creative director after nearly 30 years and soon after announced a deal to sell Versace to Brada. Alina Seluk, NPR News. A group of scientists is calling on Chile's government

to halt plans for a giant renewable energy complex in sight of one of Earth's most productive astronomical facilities. Chile's Atacama Desert is one of the darkest spots on Earth, attracting astronomers who study the origins of the universe. They warned that the site will create light pollution, making it more difficult to observe the stars. I'm Rylan Barton. This is NPR News from Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe.

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