NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-11-2024 5AM EST

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. The man suspected of killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in New York City is fighting extradition from Pennsylvania. Sydney Roach, with member station WPSU, says the suspect was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday, five days after CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. 26-year-old Luigi Mangione wore an orange jumpsuit as police led him to his seat in the courtroom. His wrists and ankles were restrained. Mangione tried to speak up at one point in the hearing, but his lawyer, Thomas Dickey, turned around and said, quote, not a word.

Dickey told the court they want a hearing on Mangione's extradition. The Blair County District Attorney's Office says it's in the process of getting a governor's warrant from New York. The court gave the state 30 days, during which time Mangione plans to contest extradition. The court also denied bail, with Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks saying Mangione is a flight hazard. For NPR News, I'm Sedi Roach in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Congress has begun looking at the scope of President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to carry out mass deportations of those who are in the U.S. illegally when he returns to the White House.

Alisa Resnick with member station KJZZ reports on yesterday's testimony at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Trump has said deportations would begin on his first day in office, and he'd even use the military to carry them out. Retired Army Major General Randy Manor told lawmakers the military's already engaged in over 160 countries and working to counter threats from China and Russia. Additional training or deployments to support deportation operations would absolutely harm operational readiness and reduce the military's ability to counter adversaries or respond

to crises in combat. Manor said directing resources into a mass deportation mission could also degrade public trust in the military and harm morale. There are roughly 13 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., many of whom have been here for at least 15 years. For NPR News, I'm Elisa Resnick in Tucson. The latest series of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have killed more than two dozen people. That's according to Palestinian medical officials.

They say most were killed in an airstrike that hit a house in northern Gaza, where people who'd been displaced by the ongoing fighting were sheltering near the Israeli border. Crews in southern California are struggling to contain a large wildfire that's forced thousands of people to evacuate the Malibu area. It's burned more than 3,000 acres since Monday night and destroyed several homes. The fire is burning near Pepperdine University. Firefighters have yet to contain any of the fire. Officials in Malibu say the flames have spread across the Pacific Coast Highway toward the area of the Malibu Pier.

That's an area popular with tourists. This is NPR News from Washington. Prosecutors in Wisconsin have filed additional felony counts against three people who advised Donald Trump to submit a slate of false electors in the state following the 2020 presidential election. Mayon Silver, with member station WUWM in Milwaukee, says a total of 10 more charges have been added. Two former Trump attorneys, Jim Troupis and Kenneth Chesbrough, along with Mike Romant, a Trump aide, had each been charged with a single felony forgery count in June. The charge stemmed from their effort after the 2020 election to have 10 Republican electors in Wisconsin cast their ballots for Trump, despite the fact that Biden won the state. Defendants say

they were keeping their options open in case the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Trump's favor in a lawsuit challenging the Wisconsin vote after the election. Despite that, the Wisconsin Department of Justice hit each of them with the additional felony forgery charges, one for each attempted elector. Litigation related to this scheme is also before courts in four other states. For NPR News, I'm Ayaan Silver in Milwaukee. Judges in Oregon and Washington state are blocking the proposed merger of grocery store chains Kroger and Albertson's. A judge in Portland issued a preliminary injunction yesterday following a hearing that lasted

three weeks. Later, a judge in Seattle issued a permanent injunction to block the deal in a separate case, saying the merger would lessen competition and violate Washington State's consumer protection laws. It would have been the largest merger of grocery chains in U.S. history. I'm Dave Mattingly in Washington.