NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-12-2024 8PM EST

Episode Date: December 13, 2024

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all on the web at theschmidt.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. With the stroke of a pen or perhaps a few strokes, President Joe Biden today commuted the sentences of a large group of people who have been moved out of prisons during the pandemic. MPR's Deepa Sivaram reports. Was about 1,500 people who got commutations.

And that means that their sentences were shortened. So they don't have to serve any more time. And they were all people who were released from prison and placed in what's called home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic a few years ago. You'll remember that at the height of the pandemic, prisons were one of the top places where the virus was rapidly spreading. The White House says it is the largest single day of clemency in modern history. The president also pardoned 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes. Biden recently granted a

blanket pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, who was prosecuted for attacks and gun crimes. The White House is downplaying the threat risk from mysterious drone sightings in New York and New Jersey. As NPR's Tamara Keith explains, it comes as state and local officials are raising alarms and demanding answers. 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-elect Donald Trump says firebrand supporter Kerry Lake will lead the voice of America. Judges and inspector generals have found Trump appointees broke the law in his first term

as they sought to bring the federally owned network to heel. More from MPR's David Falkenfleck. The Voice of America broadcasts in nearly 50 languages across the globe, reaching an audience estimated at more than 350 million people weekly. It covers news in areas that may not have a robust and free press, and models how that works by including reports about the United States. Trump says that's propaganda. He wants the government to reflect his government's policy and priorities.

Lake unsuccessfully ran for governor in U.S. Senate in Arizona as a Republican, wrapping herself in the MAGA brand. She had previously been a local TV news anchor there. It's not clear Trump can simply just appoint her. A bipartisan board is supposed to make such selections. Congress passed safeguards in 2020 after Trump's appointees went after Voice of America journalists.

David Folkenthalik, NPR News. On top of November's continued inflation at consumer level, the latest wholesale numbers show even more pronounced price increases last month. Producer Price Index, which measures the cost of goods before they reach retailers or supermarket store shelves, jumped four-tens of a percent. Stocks lost some altitude on Wall Street today that dowed down 234 points. You're listening to NPR.

Most people living outside of Africa today have a small amount of Neanderthal DNA as due to early modern humans and Neanderthals interbreeding tens of thousands of years ago. Reporting Ari Daniels says new research has refined the timing of the event. Ancient specimens tend to be in rough shape. So Arav Sumer, a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute, was fortunate to analyze the genomes of a set of well-preserved early human remains from Europe. She and her colleagues determined how many generations had passed since Neanderthals

and the predecessors of these individuals interbred. We estimate now between 45 and 49,000 years ago for multiple generations, possibly over hundreds or thousands of years. Meaning that our ancestors ultimately fanned out across the world on the more recent side of what researchers have believed, adding a little more clarity to the complex story of human origins. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel. On Wall Street this morning, President-elect Donald Trump ringing the opening bell.

It's something relatively few get to do. Ronald Reagan rang the bells. President 1985, other notable bell ringers have included former New York Mayor Michael it's something relatively few get to do. Ronald Reagan rang the bell as president in 1985. Other notable bell ringers have included former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Martha Stewart, and even one of the most famous Muppets, Miss Piggy. The first guest ever to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, however, was a 10-year-old boy given the honor after winning a TV quiz show. Cradle futures prices closed mostly flat today, oil ending the session down 27 cents

a barrel to settle at 70.02 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the Wyse app today or visit wyse.com, T's and C's apply.