NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-16-2024 5AM EST

Episode Date: December 16, 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 Dave Mattingly. President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is scheduled to be on Capitol Hill this week. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to meet with a number of Republican senators ahead of his confirmation hearings. NPR's Amy Held says Kennedy's nomination has received

pushback because of his comments questioning the safety of vaccines. Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican, says nominees should not discredit the polio vaccine. About a decade before it was available, McConnell contracted polio as a toddler. Now, he praises the quote, saving power of the vaccine for those who came after him. Most adults in the U. the US were vaccinated as children, providing protection from the highly infectious disease that can cause paralysis and death.

Now, the New York Times reports the lawyer helping Kennedy pick health officials for the Trump administration petitioned the FDA to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine. Kennedy has said he is not planning to take away vaccines, but he has a history of anti-vaccine advocacy. Health officials say the best way to prevent polio is with a safe and effective vaccine.

Amy Held, NPR News. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is recovering from hip replacement surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Germany. The 84-year-old Democratic congresswoman from California fell last week while attending an event in Luxembourg with other members of Congress. A spokesperson issued a statement saying Pelosi is well on the mend. Later today, President Biden plans to honor former Labor Secretary Frances Perkins by declaring her home in Maine to be a national monument. NPR's Franco Ordoñez has more.

President Biden will sign a proclamation establishing the Francis Perkins National Monument in New Castle, Maine. Perkins served as Labor Secretary under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was the leading architect behind the New Deal that helped Americans recover and return to work following the Great Depression. Perkins helped create social security, fought for workers' rights to organize, as well as establish the minimum wage and prohibitions on child labor. The White House says the new monument advances Biden's commitment to greater recognition of women's history. Owned by her family for more than 270 years, the Perkins Homestead includes the family

home known as the Brickhouse, a barn, gardens and part of a stone wall surrounding the property. Franco Ordonez, NPR News. Most economists say they expect the Federal Reserve to announce a quarter-point cut in interest rates when Fed policymakers meet this week. It would mark the Fed's third rate cut since September. With inflation in the U.S. economy still elevated, economists say this could be the Fed's last rate cut for a while. Dow futures are up 42 points this morning. This is NPR News.

Officials in the French territory of Mayotte and the Indian Ocean say hundreds of people are feared dead as the result of a cyclone that did extensive damage over the weekend. Hundreds of people were also injured, some critically. It's been called the worst cyclone to hit the island in nearly a century. The French Weather Service says Cheeto's top sustained winds when it hit Mayotte were equal to a category four hurricane. Pope Francis is remembering migrants who've died in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports on the pope's visit to the island of Corsica. The pope's visit was one of the briefest outside Italy, lasting just nine hours. It included a 40-minute meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. The

Pope also met with Corsica's oldest citizen, 108-year-old Jeannette Marie. It was broadcast on French television. Une émotion sensationnelle. It's a sensational emotion, she said. I would have never thought I'd meet the Pope at my age. The Pope spoke of the importance of taking care of old people and children. He also said the tragedy of migration has turned the Mediterranean into Europe's largest cemetery. Eleanor Beardsley in Pierre News, Paris.

South Korea's Constitutional Court is preparing to review the impeachment of the country's president, Yoon Song-yol. Over the weekend, Parliament voted to impeach Yun over his decision to declare martial law earlier this month. The court has six months to act. I'm Dave Mattingly, NPR News in Washington. This is Ira 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.