NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-16-2024 1AM EST

Episode Date: December 16, 2024

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwahleysi Kautau. Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, has been meeting with senators ahead of his confirmation hearing, facing questions about an alleged sexual assault. Now Senator Lindsey Graham says Hegseth plans to release his accuser from a negotiated settlement, and Pierce Luke Garrett reports. The Republican senator from South Carolina told NBC News that Hegseth promised to end his confidential settlement agreement with his accuser. He told me he would release her from that agreement.

This action could lead Hegseth's accuser to come forward publicly with her allegations, something Graham encouraged. Come forward and make it, like they did in Kavanaugh. We'll decide whether or not it's credible. A police report shows an unnamed woman accused Hegseth of sexually assaulting her back in 2017, an encounter Hegseth says was consensual. Earlier this month, Hegseth's lawyer told CNN that his accuser had already violated the settlement agreement.

Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. Republican Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt says he has no concerns about President-elect Trump's pick Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. On ABC News Sunday, responding to a question about her close ties to former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Schmidt called Gabbard a patriot, saying she believes in the Constitution. It's smearing her as some sort of foreign asset is a slur against her. I look forward to her opportunity to answer these questions in the Senate confirmation hearing.

Gabbard had a secret meeting with then-President Assad in 2017 after he used chemical weapons on protesters and she later said Assad, who fled Syria last week for Russia, was not an enemy of the U.S. Unidentified drones over the Northeast have led to a lot of speculation and concern on now. German authorities say there have been sightings over sensitive military and industrial sites, including a U.S. Air Force base. And Piers Rapschmidt reports. The sightings, first reported by Der Spiegel magazine, were made by German security authorities who reported several drones flying over the Rammstein US Air Force Base on December 3rd and 4th. The report also said unidentified drones were seen over facilities

belonging to arms maker Ron Matal. A spokesperson for the US Air Force says its Rammstein base is unaffected. Over the past few weeks, unidentified drones have been seen over New Jersey and reported in other Northeastern states. US officials said there was no evidence the sightings posed a national security threat. Rob Schmitz and Pierre News. The death toll in the French island territory of Mayotte in the southwestern Indian Ocean is so far unknown, following what emergency officials are describing as the worst storm there in a century. The top government official of Mayotte Francois

Xavier Bouville speaking to a local broadcaster estimated that tropical cyclone Chito has left several hundred dead, perhaps a thousand. This is NPR News from New York. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has been discharged from a hospital after two surgeries this week to stop bleeding in his brain. Julia Carnera reports from Rio. Doctors were announcing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's release from a hospital in São Paulo when the president appeared at the press conference. In a Panama hat, Lula said he had returned to deliver, quote,

a great government. Brazil's leftist leader said he was 79 with the drive of a 20-year-old and was back to take care of the country. Doctors said Lula is to avoid travel and exercise in the coming month. He underwent emergency surgery last week to stop a brain bleed caused by a fall in October. Doctors performed a second operation to prevent future bleeding. For NPR News, I'm Julia Carneiro in Rio. The Bombay-born tabla genius Zakir Hussein has died in San Francisco. The classical Indian artist has mesmerized audiences for more than five decades, performing

Indian drums since he was about the age of seven. His father was tabla master Ala Raka. Hussein earlier this year won three Grammys for Contemporary Instrumental Album, Global Music Album, and Global Music Performance. He told NPR in 2015, you know, you come from India and you say, okay, I'm representing a 3,000 year old history, so you think you're gonna teach the world about rhythms and drums and so on. Then you arrive here, you're just little one, one little dot in the painting that is the universe. This is NPR.

This is Eric Glass. On This American Life, we like stories that surprise you. For instance, imagine finding a new hobby and realizing... To do this hobby right, according to the ways of the masters, there's a pretty good chance that you're going to have to bend the law to get the materials that you need. If not break it. Yeah. To break international laws. Real life stories, really good ones.

This American Life.