NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-18-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, President Trump spoke from the White House last night. He insists the U.S. is headed for an economic boom. He blamed all economic problems on former President Joe Biden. But today's inflation rate is running at about the same pace as it was when Biden left office. NPR's deepest shiverum says Trump's speech comes as Americans are deeply gloomy about the cost of living. His message overall is essentially telling people to just hang on in wait. He says costs of goods like gas are going down, and he said the administration is, quote, making progress on lowering other costs, but it's not done yet. In other words, the policies that he passed this year will have benefits next year. This comes as the government is about to release its delayed report on consumer prices this hour.

Some economists say the rate is stuck around 3%. A Senate panel grilled the chair of the Federal Communications Commission yesterday, Brendan Carr, has launched investigations of media networks that President, Trump doesn't like. And peers David Fulkenflick reports. Carr pressured the Walt Disney company to take action against Jimmy Kimmel's ABC show, famously saying we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar asked him about that. Do you think it is appropriate to your position to threaten companies that broadcasts political satire? I think any licensee that operates on the public airways has a responsibility to comply with

the public interest standard. That standard was historically seen to ensure the stations covered local matters and represented a wide range of views. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz says no one should interfere with protected speech no matter what party. David Fokinflick and PR News. Carr also claimed the FCC was not an independent agency, even though that's what the agency's website said yesterday morning. In a statement, the FCC says the website needed updating to reflect the positions of the agency's news. leadership. Authorities are still searching for the suspect in the Brown University mass shooting last weekend in Rhode Island. Now they're looking for a second person who was seen near the

unidentified man. From Ocean State Media, Ben Burke, explains. Investigators are imploring the public to review blurry footage of a heavyset man wearing a dark medical mask walking casually through the east side of Providence. That's their suspected shooter. And now, authorities released a photo of a second person. Providence police chief Oscar Perez says they were seen in close proximity to the suspect before the shooting. How close? Close. Close enough that we feel that we need to speak with them. Investigators say they still don't have any leads on a potential motive for the shooting, which killed two students. Another eight students were hospitalized. For NPR news, I'm Ben Burke in Providence. On Wall Street in pre-market trading, Dow futures are higher.

You're listening to NPR. The Senate has passed the $900 billion defense policy bill and sent it to President Trump. It revamps how the Pentagon will buy equipment and gives troops a nearly 4% pay raise. This comes as the Pentagon announced a fresh strike on an alleged drug boat yesterday. It says four men aboard were killed. The Academy Awards are moving to YouTube. Starting in 2029, the ceremony will move to the streaming service instead of being brought on television, and Pierreznetta Ulibe reports it had been broadcast for more than 70 years.

The deal right now between the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and ABC expires in 2008, and YouTube has secured exclusive rights to the show. ABC has broadcast the Oscars since 1976, and the news is being reported as a shocker in Hollywood industry publications. Oscar ratings have faltered over the past few decades, but last year saw a 4% increase from the year before. Almost 20 million people tuned in. Academy leaders in a statement said this new partnership will expand access to the largest worldwide audience possible. Netta Ulippi, NPR News. A U.S. Appeals Court has weighed in on horse racing regulations. The federal judges upheld a law passed by Congress that gave a private, non-profit entity

the authority to regulate thoroughbred racing. Three states had sued. They had argued it was unconstitutional to give the horse racing integrity and safety authority the power to help regulate and enforce horse racing rules and safety. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.