NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-18-2024 2AM EST

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. Twenty-six-year-old Luigi Mangione is now charged with murder as an act of terrorism. That's in addition to murder charges he was already facing in connection with the December 4 shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York. Here's Manhattan District Attorney Alan Bragg. The maximum penalty possible for murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism is life without parole. The maximum penalty for murder in the second degree is 25 years to life.

There are additional counts as well. Mangione is awaiting extradition from Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested days after the attack. In Madison, Wisconsin, Police Chief Sean Barnes says several factors may have led a teenager to kill two people and injure six others at a Christian school there on Monday. Barnes says the shooter, identified as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, took her own life. Congressional leaders have released details of a bipartisan stop-gap spending bill designed to avert a partial government shutdown before Christmas. NPR's Claudia Grisalas reports that the proposal

also includes significant disaster relief. Claudia Grisalas, NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's

NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's NPR's N follows days of intense negotiations between leaders for House Republicans and Senate Democrats. And it starts the clock for both chambers to vote on the plan by week's end. It includes about $100 billion in federal aid for natural disaster recovery and more funds to rebuild from the Maui fires and damage caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton. It also gives a one-year extension to the farm bill, a five-year plan that sets agriculture and food policies. Finally, it includes funding to rebuild the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

Claudia Grisales, NPR News, The Capitol. President-elect Donald Trump is suing the Des Moines Register over a poll showing him trailing in Iowa days before the November election. He won by double digits. As NPR's David Fulkenflick reports, the long shot suit is part of a strategy to take on the media. The case is reliant on consumer protections in Iowa state laws. Trump publicly attacked Ann Selzer of the Iowa poll as she conceded she got it wrong

in early November and retired shortly after. His lawyers are now arguing in court that she sought to harm his chances. Legal observers say it's a pretty flimsy case. Trump has taken CBS and the New York Times to court as well as the Watergate icon Bob Woodward and ABC News just agreed to pay him fifteen million dollars plus a million dollars in legal costs to settle a defamation suit involving anchor George Stephanopoulos. Usually presidents take to the bully pulpit to challenge the press, Trump is taken to the courts and promises to use government agencies, too.

David Folkenflick, NPR News. This is NPR. NASA has once again delayed the return of the two astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were thrust into orbit on a Boeing Starliner capsule for a week-long stay last June. The space agency says a fresh crew must be launched before the pair can return to Earth and that the next mission has been moved from February to late March. The union representing Starbucks workers says its members have voted to authorize a future

strike as it heads into final contract talks with the coffee giant. NPR's Alina Seljuk has the story. It's been three years since Starbucks workers in the first few stores voted to join the Starbucks Workers United. Now the union represents baristas at more than 500 locations. Only since the spring have Starbucks and the union been having a meaningful negotiation over the collective bargaining contract. Both say they've reached agreements on dozens of topics but the union wants Starbucks to bring a quote comprehensive

economic package to the table and to resolve hundreds of allegations of unfair labor practices and so the union says 98 percent of its members voted in favor of authorizing a strike, quote, if necessary. Starbucks called the vote disappointing in contrast to what it called extremely productive negotiations. Alina Seluk, NPR News. No country for old men. The Texas chainsaw massacre, Beverly Hills cop, and angels with dirty faces are among

the movies that are being added to the National Film Registry this year. Each year since 1988, the Librarian for Congress chooses 25 films to add to the registry, which now includes some 900 works. I'm Shea Stevens. This is NPR News.