NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-16-2024 9PM EST

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. A New York judge has rejected President-elect Donald Trump's bid to have his hush-money conviction dismissed after the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity. Today's ruling by Judge Juan Marchand upholds Trump's felony conviction for falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal. But the case's overall future is unclear, and Trump's attorneys have raised other arguments for dismissal. Prosecutors say there should be some accommodation for his upcoming presidency, but insist the conviction should stand.

And Trump's picks to head the Health and Human Services Department, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was on Capitol Hill today for the first of several meetings with Republican senators trying to shore up support ahead of his nomination hearings. This has questions arise after his personal attorney reportedly filed suit against the FDA to revoke the polio vaccine. That drew criticism from Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor. But Senator Mark Wayne Mullin says Kennedy doesn't want that vaccine revoked. He said, I 100% support the polio vaccination. That's one that's different. You go to the base of where the vaccination started from, polio was one of them. The basis of the issue

is why are we giving our kids 72 shots now? I mean, I'm a father of six. When you go in at two years old, they come out and look like a pincushion. Kennedy is expected to be on the Hill for several days of meetings. The Biden administration is insisting that to date, the recent suspicious sightings in the skies don't pose any threat to national security or public safety. And Piers Azmahalled has more. The White House says the flying objects that have been spotted along the Northeast are just lawful commercial drones, law enforcement drones, helicopters,

and even stars mistaken as drones. To date, their assessment is that none of this poses a risk to America's. Here's White House National Security spokesman John Kirby. I think it's important to remember a bit of context here. There are more than one million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration here in the United States. His comments came after President-elect Donald Trump earlier in the day criticized the Biden administration for not disclosing more about these drone sightings. Asma Khalid, NPR News. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence in parliament, triggering the dissolution of parliament and rare early elections,

putting an end to his fractured government, just as Europe's biggest economy is faltering. Parliamentary snap elections are now scheduled for February. He will again run in that election for his job. US futures contracts are trading in mixed territory. Dow futures are down a fraction. NASDA contracts are trading in mixed territory. Dow futures are down a fraction. NASDAQ futures are up a fraction. Wall Street was mixed by the closing bell. The Dow was down 110 points. The NASDAQ up 247. You're

listening to NPR News. A judge is allowing attorneys for ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to examine George Floyd's heart issue, tissue rather, as Matt Sepick of Minnesota Public Radio reports Chauvin is trying to reverse his conviction on federal civil rights charges. In 2021, a state jury convicted Derek Chauvin of murder. He later pleaded guilty to federal counts of using excessive force on George Floyd. Chauvin is serving concurrent sentences of around 20 years. Chauvin argues that his original defense attorney failed to tell him about an email from a Kansas pathologist

who believes Floyd died of a heart condition, not from the pressure of Chauvin's knee on his neck. Federal Judge Paul Magnuson is letting defense experts examine preserved samples of Floyd's heart tissue and bodily fluids. The Justice Department contends that because a jury already rejected a similar medical opinion, Chauvin's conviction should stand. For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepick in Minneapolis. Nat. Soon, people riding in the back of a passenger vehicle will get an audible warning if they haven't buckled up. It's similar to what drivers experience now. The National Traffic Highway Safety Administration says it finalized the rule and it takes effect in 2027.

The same rule for front seat passengers takes effect the year before in 2026. The rule will apply to all cars, trucks, and also multipurpose vehicles that weigh up to 10,000 pounds, but it won't take effect for school buses. U.S. futures contracts are trading flat at this hour. I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies.

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