NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-03-2025 4AM EST

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

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Making time for the news is important, but when you need a break, we've got you covered on All Songs Considered, NPR's music podcast. Think of it like a music discovery show, a well-deserved escape with friends, and, yeah, some serious music insight. I'm going to keep it real. I have no idea what the story is about it. Your new episodes of All Songs Considered every Tuesday, wherever you get podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. Defense Secretary Pete Hagseth is coming under mounting pressure over the decision to launch a second strike against a suspected drug smuggling boat in September. Hegss spoke about the strike Tuesday, as NPR's Greg Myrie reports. President Trump convened a cabinet meeting and Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth spoke about that operation on September 2nd.

That's when the U.S. military hit a suspected drug boat. Nine people were killed and the boat was set aflame initially. Here's what Hegseth said. 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. So he was fully engaged when the initial attack took place and didn't remain around for what followed. HECSA said he didn't hear about the second strike order by Navy Admiral Mitch Bradley until later. Bradley is expected to meet with members of Congress this week. Republicans have held on to a House seat in Tennessee. Republican

and Matt Van Epps won Tuesdays closely watched special election. The race was hotly contested. It saw millions in outside spending. Congress is a step closer to attempting to alter a key set of numbers from the 2030 census. And Pierce-Honzi-Low 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 in Pierre News, Washington. Pope Leo has opened up on his first few months in the papacy, and Pierre's Ruth Sherlock was with him on the plane, returning from his first foreign trip to Turkey and Lebanon.

Pope Leo seemed happy to share his impressions, telling journalists he is sometimes entertained by the way they describe him in the media. My face is very expressive, but I'm oftentimes amused by how the journalists interpret my face. serious. I mean, it's interesting. Sometimes I get, you know, like really great ideas from all of you because you think you can read my mind or my face. And it's not, you're not always correct. Asked a question by a Vatican journalist who will soon retire. Leo said that just a year or two ago, he too thought about retiring one day. You have received that gift, apparently, he told the journalist. Some of us will continue to work, he joked. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Rome.

NPR News. The Trump administration is seeking to force Democratic-led states to provide data about those who receive food assistance through SNAP. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says the administration will withhold administrative funds beginning next week, unless those states provide data, including names and immigration status. Democratic states have been resisting the demand for data. A federal judge ruled in October that the Agriculture Department cannot deny funds over data. compliance. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman issued a code read to employees this week over Google's growing artificial intelligence capabilities. NPR's Bobby Allen reports that Google's latest

version of its Gemini AI chatbot exceeded expectations. In a memo sent to OpenAI staff confirmed by NPR, Altman said the company needs to hyperfocus 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 ChatGPT 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. National Weather Service expects that winter storm that's been socking the northeast to move out of the region today. The storm has dumped as much as 10 inches of snow in parts of New York and central New England. I'm Giles Snyder, NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe.

When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. T's and Cs apply. Thank you.