NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-18-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: December 18, 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 Shae Stevens. Congressional negotiators have unveiled a proposal to prevent a partial government shutdown this weekend. It's unclear when lawmakers will begin voting on the plan, as NPR's Giles Snyder reports.

Lawmakers seem certain to act on the measure before a current funding runs out. The deadline to avoid a shutdown is midnight Friday, and they'll want to get it done before adjourning for the holidays. The measure would keep the government running through March 14 likely at its current more than $6 trillion funding level. It also provides more than $100 billion in hurricane and wildfire disaster relief and $10 billion for struggling farmers. Giles Snyder reporting. Luigi Mangione has been indicted on 11 counts related to the killing of United

Health Care CEO Brian Thompson. The charges include murder in the first degree in furtherance of terrorism. Details from NPR Sierra Venturi. In a press conference on Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the murder was intended to cause shock and intimidation. And... In its most basic terms, this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch says while some on social media have

praised the attack, we shouldn't celebrate murders or lionize the killing of anyone. The unsealing of today's indictment brings us one step closer to securing justice for Brian Thompson and his family and affirming the primacy of the rule of law in the city of New York. If found guilty, Mangione's charges could result in life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Sarah Ventry, NPR News, New York. Health insurers are drawing more scrutiny, including from President-elect Donald Trump.

Shares in the UnitedHealthcare Group, CBS, and Cigna fell again on Tuesday. NPR's Maria Aspin has more. It's been a bad month for big health care companies. Investors are spooked by the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. They're also bracing for more scrutiny of his industry. Thompson ran the largest U.S. health insurer. The apparent motive for his killing uncorked waves of consumer frustration over denied claims and the high cost of care in the United States. Now, both Congress and President-elect Trump are talking about breaking up the behemoths.

Trump threatened to go after the pharmacy benefit managers, known to their critics as middlemen. We're going to knock out the middlemen. Any crackdown would likely target UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna. Combined, they process 80 percent of all U.S. prescriptions. Maria Aspin, NPR News, New York. President-elect Trump is accusing the Des Moines Register newspaper and its pollster of election interference. Trump cites the newspaper's publication of a poll suggesting Democrat Kamala Harris was

leading by three percentage points in Iowa days before the November general election. This is NPR News. President-elect Trump has tapped former pro football player Herschel Walker to become U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas. Walker ran for U.S. Senate seat in 2022, but he lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock. The Russian intelligence agency FSB says it is holding a suspect in the slaying of a senior Russian general. Igor Kirolov was killed Tuesday when a bomb hidden in a scooter went off outside of an apartment building in Moscow.

The suspect is described as a citizen of Uzbekistan who reportedly was recruited by intelligence services in Ukraine. First, it was the move from PBS to HBO, and now Sesame Street is again looking for a new home. HBO is ending its partnership with the Venerable Children's program, and NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports that Max will discontinue streaming new episodes after next season.

In a statement, Max says that new episodes of Sesame Street are no longer core to its strategy, but it will rerun old episodes through 2027. Sunny days sweepin' sweeping up clouds away. A lot of Sesame Street's educational content is evergreen, but it's also known for talking about current issues in ways kids can understand

and reaching underserved audiences. Polly Conway is senior editor for TV and streaming at Common Sense Media. Finding a new home is gonna be integral to them creating new content and really reaching the audiences that need to be reached. In a statement, Sesame Workshop says it plans to announce new distribution plans in the coming months.

Elizabeth Blair reporting. This is NPR News.