NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-28-2024 2AM EST

Episode Date: December 28, 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. An unusual coalition that included MAGA supporters alongside tech industry leaders helped Donald Trump win the November presidential election. Now that coalition may be pulling apart over the issue of immigration at stake are H-1B visas used by tech companies to hire skilled

workers. Some conservatives want those visas restricted along with other immigration. NPR's Stephen Fowler says Congress will be getting involved next year. There's also interest on reforming the visa process, not just for these tech workers from lawmakers across the aisle who say it's an overly complex system, chock full of carve-outs that benefit certain industries and, like Trump has said, are being abused. But there's also a lot of conservatives, especially among the base of the GOP, that shape primary elections, who believe Trump's hardline immigration stances means reform should primarily come in a reduction of immigrants. That's NPR's Stephen Fowler. President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to pause a law that could ban

TikTok next month. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, the high court is set to hear oral arguments over TikTok's future in two weeks. President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to pause enforcement of a law that bans TikTok nationwide on January 19th, the day before Inauguration Day. That's shortly after the high court is set to hear oral arguments over whether the ban is constitutional. It was possible the Supreme Court would have stayed the start date even before the request

to allow for time for a decision. But Trump's filing claims he possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise to negotiate a way to save TikTok while dealing with the national security concerns. Trump did not take a position on the legal questions facing TikTok, which the court will hear arguments over on January 10th. The Justice Department is pushing for the ban, saying TikTok's China-based owner makes it a national security risk. Bobby Allen, NPR News.

New details are emerging about a Louisiana resident who was recently hospitalized with bird flu. A report from the CDC indicates the virus gained some mutations after the person was infected. NPR's Will Stone has more. This is the first instance of a person falling severely ill from bird flu in the US during the current outbreak. The patient was infected after being exposed to backyard flocks.

The CDC's analysis showed the virus acquired mutations, affecting a protein on its surface. This is what allows the virus to latch on to receptors and infect a cell. Changes in this protein are seen as a key step if the virus were to evolve to better infect humans. The CDC says it appears the mutations emerged while the person was sick, and there's no evidence they went on to infect anyone else. The finding underscores the need to track bird flu and contain outbreaks, given its potential to mutate. Will Stone, NPR News. Three months after the last winning number was drawn, there's a new Mega Millions winner. The ticket is worth $1.22 billion, which is the fifth highest jackpot in that game's history.

This is NPR News. The Broadway revival of Gypsy, which stars six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, canceled its Friday night performance. It's the fifth performance of the show to be canceled during the lucrative holiday season. Jeff London reports. Gypsy opened on December 19th. Everything's a-coming up roses. And everything was coming up roses.

The reviews were raves, audiences were flocking to see Gypsy on Broadway, and then on December 22nd Audra McDonald posted a picture of herself on Instagram breathing through a humidifier mask, asking audiences to be understanding as a bug was making its way through the cast and crew. The next night the show canceled its performance and hasn't played since. It comes at a critical time as the week between Christmas and New Year's is the highest-grossing one every year, when tickets are sold at a premium for holiday theatergoers. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York.

Two Canadian cabinet ministers met at Mar-a-Lago Friday to discuss trade with incoming officials of the Trump administration. Trump has threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian exports if the country doesn't slow what Trump says is a flow of fentanyl and migrants into the U.S. Canada's Prime Minister met with Trump last month. According to China, he has sentenced a man to death for killing 35 people last month when he drove a car into a crowd. The attack raised national concerns about mass killings in China.

In imposing the death sentence, the court called the crime extremely vile and said the means were particularly cruel. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.