NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-12-2024 11PM EST

Episode Date: December 13, 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 Dan Ronan. The Justice Department's Inspector General has released a long-awaited report on the FBI's intelligence collection efforts

ahead of the January 6th U.S. Capitol attack in 2021. The Watchdog Group found the FBI recognized the potential for violence. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports. The report found that the FBI worked to identify domestic extremists who planned to travel to Washington, D.C. for the events of January 6th. But the inspector general determined that the Bureau failed to canvas its field offices

for intelligence about potential threats to the electoral certification. The Bureau's deputy director called that, quote, a basic step that was missed. The report also says that no FBI undercover employees were in the protest crowd or at the Capitol that day, but 26 FBI informants were. None of them were authorized to break the law, the watchdog says, although four of the informants did enter the Capitol with the rioters.

Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. The White House is downplaying the threat risk from mysterious drone sightings in the New York and New Jersey area. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, this comes as local officials and state officials are raising alarms. The reported drone sightings, which began in late November, are being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and FBI. White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said federal investigators as well as state and local law enforcement have not been able to corroborate the sightings. Upon

review of available imagery, he said many of the objects appear to be manned aircraft, not drones, and operated lawfully. We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. Kirby says the investigation will continue. Tamara Keith, NPR News, The White House. President Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan was in Israel on Thursday talking

about Syria, Lebanon and the war in Gaza. He thinks Israel and Hamas are close to a ceasefire and a hostage deal. NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. Among the hostages still being held by Hamas are seven Americans, three of whom are presumed to be alive. That's according to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who says he's trying to close a hostage deal this month. We've been close before and haven't gotten there, so I can't make any promises or predictions to you. But I wouldn't be here today if I thought this thing was just waiting until after January 20th.

Sullivan says he's been coordinating with the incoming team for President-elect Trump and traveling next to Egypt and Qatar, the countries that have been talking to Hamas. Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, Tel Aviv. It was a losing day on Wall Street Thursday. All three stock indexes closed down. The Dow lost 234 points, closing at 43,914. The NASDAQ dropped 132 points, closing at 19,902. You're listening to NPR.

The Writers Guild of America is calling on Hollywood studios to take action against plagiarizing scripts reportedly written by artificial intelligence. NPR's Mandelit DiBarco reports the union has sent a letter to the major studios. The letter was addressed to the CEOs of Amazon, MGM Studios, Disney, Universal, Paramount, Netflix, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Discovery. In it, leaders of the Writers Guild called on the studios to take legal action against companies that reportedly plunder scriptwriters' work to train their AI software tools. Quote, tech companies have looted the studio's intellectual property, they wrote, without

permission or compensation. The WGA's letter comes in response to a recent story in the Atlantic alleging that a data set used by Apple, Meta and other companies is using subtitles from thousands of Oscar-winning films and hit TV shows. The Guild says the collective bargaining agreement with Hollywood Studios requires them to defend their copyrights on behalf of writers. Mandelit Del Barco, NPR News. FAA Administrator Mike Whittaker said he will resign at the end of the Biden administration,

giving the incoming Trump administration the opportunity to select their own head of the Aviation Oversight Agency. Senators from both parties have praised Whittaker's tenure at the FAA as he's led a tougher enforcement policy towards the airlines and the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, which has been cited for a variety of safety problems, including having a door plug panel blow off of an Alaska Airlines 737 jetliner. From Washington, you're listening to NPR News.