NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-18-2024 11PM EST

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

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Shea Stevens. 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. Shea Stevens. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens, NPR News Anchor Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. President-elect Donald Trump is urging Republicans to reject Speaker Mike Johnson's proposal for keeping the government funded through mid-March. As NPR's Barbara Sprunt

reports, House Republicans are now working toward a revised measure that would avert a government shutdown on Saturday. Shea Stevens, NPR News Anchor After intense pressure from billionaire adviser Elon Musk, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance are calling on Republicans to reject the bill. The short-term measure includes over $100 billion towards disaster aid and farm subsidies, among other things. In a statement, Trump and Vance called for a bill they say doesn't include any legislative

wins for Democrats. This leaves Republicans scrambling to keep the government open right as Congress is also prepping to go home for the holidays. Barbara Sprint, NPR News, The Capitol. California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in response to the ongoing spread of bird flu in dairy cattle. The move signals growing concern over the situation in California, which is the epicenter of the outbreak.

More from NPR's Will Stone. More than 300 dairy herds have tested situation in California, which is the epicenter of the outbreak. More from NPR's Will Stone. More than 300 dairy herds have tested positive in California in the last 30 days alone. The governor said that cases detected in dairy cows on farms in Southern California showed the need for expanded monitoring and a more coordinated statewide response. There's no evidence of ongoing human-to-human spread in California or the rest of the country, but scientists warn that uncontrolled spread in dairy cattle heightens the risk of spillover into humans, which could give the virus a chance to acquire dangerous mutations. The state of emergency in California comes on the heels of another worrying development,

the first severe illness in a U.S. resident linked to bird flu. That was reported in a Louisiana resident who tested positive after being exposed to sick birds. Will Stone, NPR News. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments over the constitutionality of a U.S. ban on TikTok. The ban was set to take effect January 19th unless TikTok's owner sells it. TikTok says the law would violate the First Amendment rights of its U.S. customers. The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates by another quarter percentage point, but hints at fewer rate cuts next year. NPR's Scott Horsey reports that the news triggered a

sharp sell-off on Wall Street. All the major stock indexes dropped sharply after the Fed signaled that it may keep interest rates higher for longer than investors had expected. On average, members of the Central Bank's rate-setting committee now expect rates to fall just half a percentage point in 2025, not the full point they were projecting back in September. Inflation has been sticky in recent months, and some of President-elect Donald Trump's policy proposals could push prices higher. Given that, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says it makes sense to proceed with caution.

It's not unlike driving on a foggy night or walking into a dark room full of furniture. Powell says the U.S. economy continues to perform well, giving the Fed more latitude to take its time in lowering rates. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR News. Unionized workers at some Amazon facilities in New York, Illinois, Georgia, and California are preparing to walk off their jobs tomorrow morning. The Teamsters Union says the online retailer failed to meet a deadline for reaching an

agreement for better pay and working conditions. Amazon says the strike will not affect business during the holidays. The union represents roughly 10,000 Amazon workers in the U.S. After the Earth's moon formed, it went through a period when a lot of the solid rock remelted. As NPR's Nell Greenfield-Voice reports, a new study shows that that could explain why most moon rocks are surprisingly young. Astronauts brought back moon rocks, and almost all date back to around 4.35 billion years ago.

Trouble is, scientists think the moon got created much earlier than that, when an object the size of Mars slammed into the Earth. Now, in the journal Nature, researchers offer this explanation. As the moon moved away from Earth, at a certain point it underwent a temporary period of re-melting due to gravitational forces that heated it up. Frances Nimmo is with the University of California, Santa Cruz. I think it was mostly solid on the inside, but there was melt being generated all the time, and that was being erupted as volcanoes.

Creating new rocks that appeared to be younger than the true age of the moon. Nell Greenfield-Bois, NPR News. U.S. futures are flat and afterours trading on Wall Street following today's losses. On Asia Pacific markets, shares are lower, down 1 percent in Tokyo and in Shanghai. I'm Shea Stevens. This is NPR News.