NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-20-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: December 20, 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 Shea Stevens. Current government spending expires at midnight, and congressional lawmakers have failed to pass two proposals that would have averted a partial shutdown. A bipartisan deal was rejected by House Republicans Thursday, and NPR's Barbara Sprunt says members

of both parties jettisoned a proposed GOP alternative at the suggestion of billionaire Elon Musk. Danielle Pletka It's really notable how much power and influence he's already wielding here. An unelected billionaire, in fact, the richest man in the world with the ear of the president-elect, he trashed the bill, spread false information about what was in it. He personally thanked members of Congress who said they wouldn't support that initial bill. That's a lot of involvement. It's a lot of power. And Democrats are seizing onto this, referring to him as President Musk, so clearly trying

to get under Trump's skin. NPR's Barbara Sprunt reporting. Thousands of Amazon drivers were made on strike over pay, health care benefits, and working conditions. Marlon Hyde of member station WABE reports from Atlanta. Who are we? Teamsters! Dozens of drivers wave signs outside the DGT-8 delivery station in Alpharetta, Georgia in a strike launched by the Teamsters Union. The union says it represents about 10,000

Amazon drivers. Amazon accuses the Teamsters of quote, misleading the public and coercing employees to join them. Amazon driver Andrew Jacobs says they're overworked and do not receive holiday pay. A lot of people that you see here today, they're just fighting for the right to be treated equally or the same as the actual Amazon workers in the warehouse. Amazon says in a statement that these protests historically have not impacted its operation. For NPR News, I'm Marlon Hyde in Atlanta. The man accused of killing UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson is being held without bail

in Manhattan on several charges, including federal murder. 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was transferred to New York Thursday from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested. From member station WPSU, Sydney Roach has more. Since Mangione now has legal counsel in New York, his Pennsylvania lawyer says he was arrested. From member station WPSU, Sydney Roach has more. Since Mangione now has legal counsel in New York, his Pennsylvania lawyer says he was comfortable releasing him to New York police. Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks says they will continue to assist the New York investigation. It would have been laughable and a waste of resources and time for us to try to keep this

defendant here for our charges and delay New York's custody of the defendant for the more serious case. Mangione waived his preliminary hearing for his Pennsylvania charges, pushing it off until February. He did not enter any pleas for those charges, which include gun and forgery offenses. For NPR News, I'm Sydney Roach in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. A Southern California man is charged with acting as an illegal foreign agent for China in 2022 while working for a candidate for City Council in Arcadia, California. Federal prosecutors accused 64-year-old

Yaning Sun of conspiring with another man who admitted to the same charges. This is NPR. A judge in Michigan is refusing to allow a convicted high school mass shooter to withdraw his guilty plea. Ethan Crumbly is serving a life sentence without parole for killing three people and injuring eight others three years ago when he was 15. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbly, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year and are serving 15 years in prison.

Rock climbers are rejoicing after Congress unanimously passed an act that improves access to the outdoors. From Embers Station, Wyoming Public Radio's Hannah Merzbach has details. Hannah Merzbach After scaling big walls or mountains, there often isn't a safe way to walk down. So climbers use what's known as fixed anchors, metal bolts drilled into walls that they repel off of. That includes Charlie Thomas and the Tetons. I think people are just relieved that they're not gonna have to worry about getting to the top of a climb and having no way to get off. Last year the National Park and

Forest Services proposed banning most anchors, saying they violate the Wilderness Act. But now both chambers of Congress have unanimously supported allowing the hardware. The legislation is headed for President Biden's desk. For NPR News, I'm Hannah Merzbach in Jackson, Wyoming. And Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy says he hopes the incoming Trump administration will reverse logging restrictions and road construction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Dunleavy is asking President-elect Trump to issue an executive order that would ease restrictions

on drilling for oil, gas and minerals in his state. I'm Shae Stevens. This is NPR News. This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, we like stories that surprise you. For instance, imagine finding a new hobby and realizing... To do this hobby right, according to the ways of the masters, there's a pretty good chance that you're going to have to bend the law

to get the materials that you need. If not break it. Yeah. To break international laws. Real life stories, really good ones. This American Life.