NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-18-2024 10PM EST

Episode Date: December 19, 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 Jack Spear. President-elect Donald Trump and VP-elect JD Vance are attacking a bipartisan measure aimed at preventing a government shutdown after midnight Friday. Trump basically telling House Speaker Mike Johnson to blow up the agreement and threatening any Republican lawmakers who break ranks.

House Democratic leader, Keem Jeffries, said Webber is quick to note the fact that there is a government shutdown Republicans will be to blame. House Republicans will now own any harm that is visited upon the American people that results from a government shutdown or worse. An agreement is an agreement. It was bipartisan and there was nothing more to say. Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise won questions, said there is now no deal. The White House says the government shutdown would endanger government services and hurt communities recovering from disasters.

In Los Angeles, city officials announced today FBI agents have searched the home of a Los Angeles deputy mayor to investigate a bomb threat he allegedly made against City Hall. More from Aleus Libby Rainey. The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that an investigation had found that deputy mayor for public safety, Brian Williams, was the likely source of a bomb threat made against City Hall earlier this year. The LAPD says it then referred the case to the FBI. That's because Williams oversaw the department and other public safety agencies in his role as deputy mayor. LA Mayor Karen Bass's office said that Williams has been

placed on immediate administrative leave. Williams could not immediately be reached for comment. For NPR News in Los Angeles, I'm Libby Raney. The country's consumer finance watchdog is taking steps to rein in credit cards that use bait and switch tactics for their rewards programs. As NPR's Laura Wamsley reports, moves are intended to protect consumers from illegal practices and help people save money. We've all seen credit cards offering big rewards like free flights or cash back for signing up. But according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the credit card companies often fail

to deliver the rewards they promised. The agency issued a new circular to law enforcement agencies and regulators warning that some credit card companies may be breaking the law, for instance by illegally devaluing rewards points and airline miles. The CFPB has launched a new tool that allows consumers to find the lowest credit card rates available. Research from the agency has found that the largest credit card issuers charged interest rates 8 to 10 percentage points higher than did smaller banks and credit unions. And store-issued cards tend to have the highest rates of all. Laurel Wamsley, NPR News, Washington.

Announcement by the Federal Reserve, it's likely to put in place fewer interest rate cuts next year. Since stocks tumbling, the Dow was down more than 1100 points, the Nasdaq fell 716 points. This is NPR. Members of the Teamsters Union now say they will walk off the job at multiple Amazon warehouses tomorrow at 6 a.m. Eastern time. Strike to involve unionized workers at Amazon facilities in New York City, Skokie, Illinois, Atlanta, San Francisco and Southern California would come just days before the Christmas holiday. Union represents about 10,000 workers at Amazon's U.S. facilities who are seeking better wages and working conditions. Teamsters local unions are also putting up picket lines at hundreds of Amazon fulfillment

centers across the country. Scientists are declaring victory in their five-year-old fight against an invasive giant hornet that threatened agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Member station KUOW Jason Pagano reports. Federal and Washington state authorities say it's been three years since the last confirmed sighting of a northern giant hornet, also known as the murder hornet. On Wednesday they declared that the aggressive invasive species had been eradicated from the US. Sven-Erik Spiesjager with Washington state's Pest Program says tipsters played a big role.

Every time a hornet was flying around and visiting somebody's window, we seemed to get a call about it. We even got a call about one visiting somebody's doorbell cam. And you know, that helped direct us to the nests and take them out. The northern giant hornet can destroy a hive of honeybees in under two hours and would pose a major risk to pollinators and crops if they caught on. Officials in neighboring British Columbia, where the hornet was first spotted in 2019, declared the species eradicated earlier this year. For NPR News, I'm Jason Pagano in Seattle.

Crypto futures prices rose after a drop in U.S. inventories. Oil gained 50 cents a barrel to settle at 70.50 a barrel. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.