NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-11-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: December 12, 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. President Trump has signed an executive order to override state laws regulating artificial intelligence. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, the tech industry has lobbied for the move.

The order instructs the Justice Department to challenge state AI laws it views as burdensome. States this year have passed more than 100 laws attempting to regulate AI while Congress hasn't passed any. Trump says a patchwork of state laws could give China an edge in the AI race. Every time you make a change, and it could be a very reasonable change, you still won't get it approved if you have to go to 50 states. So this centralizes it. But trying to override state AI laws. laws has been met with opposition from both parties and prominent members of the MAGA movement. White House AI and Crypto Tsar David Sachs helped advance the order.

Sachs is a longtime venture capitalist with deep connections to Silicon Valley. Bobby Allen and PR News. Indiana state senators voted down a Republican-friendly congressional map today. Though lawmakers in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina have answered President Trump's call to boost Republicans' chances of keeping control of the U.S. House next year, WFYI's Ben Thorpe says Indiana is. the first GOP-led state to vote against the effort. There were protesters against redistricting that you could hear from inside the Senate

chamber today, and looming over everything was this pressure from the Trump administration. Here's one of the Republicans who opposed the new voting map, State Senator Spencer Deary. As long as I have breath, I will use my voice to resist a federal government that attempts to bully, direct, and control this state or any state. Giving the federal government more power is not conservative. Opponents also noted that states usually redistrict early in the decade after the census comes in. Republicans just passed the current map in 2021. WFYI's Ben Thorpe.

Kilmar Obrego-Garcia has been released from immigration custody. It's the latest development in the case of the man who is deported by mistake. NPR's Humena Bastio has more. Lawyers for Obrigo Garcia confirmed to NPR he was released this afternoon from the custody of immigration and customs enforcement. This comes after a federal judge ordered his law. released earlier in the day. The White House has said that it will appeal the order but didn't do so in time to block the release. Abrago Garcia has become one of the symbols of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown this year. He was deported to El Salvador in March, contrary to a judge's

order, and he spent several months in a notorious prison. The administration later brought Abrago Garcia back and charged him with human smuggling. In our latest filing, Judge Palazzini's argues that Brigo Garcia has no pending removal order to justify his continued detention. Jimenez-Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. President Trump's tariff policies have cost the average American household nearly $1,200 this year. That's according to calculations by Democrats on Congress's Joint Economic Committee. They used Treasury Department numbers on revenue from tariffs and Goldman Sachs estimates of who ends up paying for them. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

The Utah man, charged with killing Charlie Kirk, made his first. in-court appearance today. Tyler Robinson's attorneys are pushing to limit access in the case, saying media attention could interfere with his right to a fair trial. He's been charged with aggravated murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Washington State is under a state of emergency as storms caused catastrophic flooding. Natalie Akhani Newcomb of member station KUOW reports on how some people are looking out for each other. Rebecca Rowe and her husband live in an RV park for seniors in Sumner, Washington, along the Puyallup River. As soon as they heard the flood alerts, the couple started knocking on doors and helping people move out.

There was a couple of people that the water had come up to their floor, to their doors, but we got them out. Everyone's safe, and that's what matters. But the couple has yet to evacuate, even though the water is in their driveway. Rebecca says they stayed to keep an eye out for looters. The couple plans on leaving once the water gets to the third step of their front door. They and their two dogs will go by canoe. For NPR news, I'm Natalie Akane Nukum in Seattle. A hiker was rescued from quicksand in Utah's Arches National Park.

Rescuers responded to an emergency satellite beacon activated by the backpacker. The man first tried to dig himself out with a shovel supplied by park rangers. Rescurers ended up placing a ladder and boards on the quicksand so they could get him and work his leg loose. Another quicksand rescue happened in the same area in 2014. I'm Rylan Barton. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. 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 C's Apply.