NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-15-2024 9PM EST

Episode Date: December 16, 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 Janene Hurst. President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is due on Capitol Hill this week to meet with senators to shore up support for his nomination. Vaccines will probably also be a topic of conversation. Kennedy, as an independent presidential candidate this year, ran on an anti-vaccine campaign, and his personal lawyer had reportedly filed suit to get the FDA

to revoke the polio vaccine. That's gotten pushback from Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor. And Pierce Franco or Donius has more. Now Kennedy himself says he doesn't want to take away anyone's choice to take vaccines but still McConnell, without naming Kennedy, said any efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are, quote, not just uninformed, they're dangerous. He went on to say that anyone seeking Senate confirmation would, quote, do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.

Danielle Pletka And here is Franco Ordonia's reporting. With just weeks left in his administration, President Biden today took stock of his accomplishments and thanked members of the Democratic National Committee during their holiday celebration. Have we left the country better shaped than we found it? Today, I can say without every fiber of my being, of all my heart, the answer to that question is a resounding yes.

Yes. Yes. He urged party members to keep a strong sense of mission. First Lady Jill Biden was also there along with Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Amhoff. Unidentified drones over the Northeast have led to a lot of speculation and concern. And now German authorities say there have been sightings over sensitive military and industrial sites, including a U.S. Air Force base. And Piers Robb-Schmitz has more. The sightings, first reported by Der Spiegel magazine, were made by German security authorities

who reported several drones flying over the Rammstein U.S. Air Force base on December 3rd and 4th. The report also said unidentified drones were seen over facilities belonging to arms maker Reinmetall. The report also said unidentified drones were seen over facilities belonging to arms maker Ryan Matal. A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force says its Romstein base is unaffected. Over the past few weeks, unidentified drones have been seen over New Jersey and reported in other Northeastern states. U.S. officials said there was no evidence the sightings posed a national security threat.

Rob Schmitz and Peer News. In central California, cleanup efforts are underway after a rare December tornado yesterday flipped cars and damaged buildings north of Santa Cruz. Scott's Valley Mayor Randy Johnson says they were caught off guard. Randy Johnson, Mayor of Scott's Valley The massive amount of debris, it's so rare, obviously, that I don't know if we have that technology to, quote, give us a warning, but we add it to the list. At least five people were injured. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

One of the giants of Indian music has died. Zakir Hussain was a virtuoso Indian tabla player who was widely respected as both a traditionalist and an innovator. The 73 year old musician died at a hospital in San Francisco according to his family and Pierce Felix Contreras has more. After being trained in India and moving to the US, Zakir Hussein defied genre almost from the beginning by befriending and jamming with grateful dead drummer Mickey Hart in the late 1960s, playing on a George Harrison album in the early 70s, and forming the Indian and jazz ensemble Shakti with guitarist John McLaughlin in 1974. In a career that spanned over five decades,

Zakir Hussain was revered in his home country and beyond as a national treasure of India, while musicians as diverse as jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd and bluegrass musicians Edgar Meyer and Bela Fleck collaborated with him on records and on stage. Felix Contreras, NPR News. The baseball that Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman used in Game 1 of this year's World Series with the first ever walk-off grand slam in series history was sold at auction this weekend for more than one and a half million dollars. Freeman was at the plate with a sprained ankle, the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 10th against the Yankees when he hit the first pitch 413 feet for a walk-off grand slam and

the 6-3 win. I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. 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.