NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-30-2024 6PM EST

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

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On the latest NPR Politics podcast, we look back on the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter. The former president died Sunday at the age of 100. And unlike other presidents, his accomplishments after leaving the Oval Office are arguably what most define his story. Listen to our remembrance of the 39th president on the NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Funeral preparations are coming together for former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday at the age of 100. Grant Blankenship of Georgia Public Broadcasting reports Carter's hometown is already preparing. Carter spent most of his life in the southwest Georgia farming community

of Plains. Normally the Christmas decorations outside the main strip of shops downtown would have another week before they came down. Now most have been replaced with red, white, and blue ribbons and the flags are at half staff. Agnes McAllister has cleaned rooms at the Plains Inn on the corner of the strip for about five years. And I have to get everything ready upstairs because all the Carters will be staying upstairs. It makes me feel good that I'm able to do that for them. Carter's funeral schedule will both begin and end in Plains. Between he will lie in repose at the Carter Center in Atlanta and lie in state at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

For NPR News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Plains, Georgia. A New York federal appeals court has upheld a $5 million judgment in the case against President-elect Donald Trump for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben has the latest. E. Jean Carroll had accused Trump of assaulting her in a Manhattan department store in 1996. She had also accused him of defaming her in a 2022 statement claiming she had made up

the story. He also said, quote, this woman is not my type. In their appeal, Trump and his attorneys argued that the court should not have admitted certain evidence, including testimony from two other women accusing Trump of sexual misconduct, as well as the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which Trump boasted about being able to grope women at will. But the appeals court said the lower court had not been wrong to admit those. In a statement, Trump spokesman Stephen Chung calls the case a witch hunt and says that Trump will continue to appeal. Danielle Kurzlaven, NPR News.

The Treasury Department says a state-sponsored actor in China hacked some workstations at the agency. NPR's Rafael Nam reports the department says it's considering the breach a major cybersecurity incident. On December 8, Treasury was told by a third-party software provider called Beyond Trust that a hacker from China had gained access to a security key used by the vendor. The hacker then used that key to remotely gain access to a number of Treasury workstations and access unclassified documents, according to a letter seen by NPR. Treasury said it was working with the FBI and security officials

to look into the breach. In a statement, the agency says the hacker no longer has access to Treasury systems or its information and that it takes all threats to its systems and its data very seriously. Rafael Nam, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Early next year, a probe called Lunar Pathfinder is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral headed for the moon. Joe Palka reports it will go into orbit and measure the amount of water there. Joe Palka, NASA Launch Commentator It's important to remember that water comes

in many forms. Bethany Hicks, NASA Launch Commentator When we talk about water on the moon, we're not talking about lakes or oceans or any body of water that you could jump into and take a swim in or even a puddle you could splash around in. Bethany Elman is a professor of planetary science at Caltech. She's Lunar Trailblazer's principal investigator. She says the water could be in the form of ice or possibly water vapor, or it could be individual water molecules bound to rocks.

Lunar Trailblazer will also make detailed maps of where the water is. Knowing the location and composition of the water is important if future astronauts hope to use it for extended missions to the moon. For NPR News, I'm Joe Palka. Actress Linda Lavin, perhaps known for her role in the 1970s sitcom Alice, has died. Lavin also spent a large part of her career performing on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in the Neil Simon play Broadway Bound in 1987. She also earned nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2010.

A representative for Levin said she died of complications from lung cancer on Sunday at the age of 87. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News in Washington.