NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-23-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: December 23, 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, I'm Dale Willman. President-elect Donald Trump was in Arizona on Sunday where he spoke at a right-wing convention. He and his supporters celebrated Republican sweeping wins and talked about how the left has failed to appeal to groups like men in 2024.

For Member Station KJZZ in Phoenix, Cameron Sanchez reports. The convention is called America Fest and is put on annually by a conservative nonprofit called Turning Point. One of the attendees is college student James Hart who says that Trump gives his generation a voice. You know Trump isn't super young but he has that young energy, that young males need. You know somebody they can look up to and say I want to be like that. I want to be you know successful. I want to have a family and I want to build a house and stuff like that.

A crowd of thousands was hyped up by an emboldened slate of speakers including Trump himself. He touted his cabinet picks, thanked his supporters, and doubled down on promises he's made on the campaign trail. For NPR News, I'm Cameron Sanchez. A government shutdown was avoided this weekend, but as NPR's Mara Liason reports, the effort it took to reach an agreement suggests President-elect Donald Trump may have a hard time next year passing spending bills through the House.

Before Republicans finally came up with a bill that could pass, 34 Republicans helped defeat the bill Trump wanted. A bill that would have, among other things, raised the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is the amount of money Congress allows the government to borrow to pay for spending Congress has already approved. Trump's plans, including tariffs, tax cuts, and deportations, are estimated to add as much as seven trillion dollars to the national debt and Trump didn't want the debt ceiling in his way. But even if Trump doesn't care about deficits there are still about three dozen Republicans in the House that do and that means Trump may have difficulty convincing Congress to approve all the expensive things he wants to do next year.

Mara Eliason, NPR News. The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary says he's concerned about favorable reactions on social media to the man suspected of killing health insurance CEO Brian Thompson in New York. The shootings revealed anger over America's insurance-based health care system, with people sharing stories of being refused coverage. Alejandro Mayorkas said the praising of Luigi Mangione was a sign of violent extremism. We have been concerned about the rhetoric on social media for some time. I still am alarmed by the heroism that is being attributed to an alleged murderer of

a father of two children on the streets in New York City. Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have announced plans to merge. If it is successful, it would make the new company the world's third largest automaker by sales. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding today. Mitsubishi Motors has also agreed to join in on talks to integrate their businesses even after the merger though Toyota would still remain the leading Japanese automaker. Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Monday following a poor week for Wall Street. You're listening to NPR News. Drivers at some Amazon distribution centers including these at a facility in Get up! Get down! Atlanta is a union town!

Drivers at some Amazon distribution centers, including these at a facility in Georgia, remain off the job this weekend. They're pushing the company to recognize them as unionized employees. Workers at several Starbucks stores on the West Coast are also off the job after negotiations that began in April have not achieved a contract. Students are off for the holidays while researchers are busy tracking how they've performed academically this year. NPR's Johnnie Cmento reports on their progress. Early reports show that students have made some progress in math, but English language

arts looks to be stagnant or even declining. That's according to NWEA and curriculum associatesulum Associates, who look to how students have recovered academically since the pandemic. When those two assessments are combined, they look at millions of students several times a year. Some states like Alabama, Connecticut, and Mississippi have made small gains in math, but overall, students have a long way to go to get back to pre-pandemic levels of academic achievement. The nation's report card, which comes out at the end of January 2025, is the gold standard for academic assessments and will give a clearer view of how America's K-12 students are faring. Janaki Mehta, NPR News.

New York City police say they have one person in custody following the death of a woman on a city subway on Sunday. They say the woman may have been sleeping in a subway car in Brooklyn when a man set her clothing on fire. The suspect was arrested after three teens identified him after watching video clips that were released by police. Police say they don't believe the man and woman knew each other. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. Hi, I'm Ramtin Adabluy from ThruLine. Electricity, internet, cell service, all the things we rely on every day can be unreliable or inaccessible in an emergency. But through any storm or crisis, radio is a lifeline.

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