NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-31-2025 7PM EST

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

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Support for NPR, and the following message come from Yarl and Pamela Mohn, thanking the people who make public radio great every day and also those who listen. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee have released the transcript of their interview with former special counsel, Jack Smith. As NPR's Kerry Johnson reports, Smith has volunteered to testify in public, but so far no one in GOP leadership has taken him up on that offer. The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee dropped the nearly 300-page transcript on New Year's Eve. Jack Smith fielded questions about his work building criminal cases against now President Donald Trump over Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged refusal to turn over secret documents to the FBI. Smith told lawmakers the election case was built on Republicans who put their allegiance to the country before their political party

and that several state and federal officials would have been witnesses for the prosecution. The Justice Department dropped both cases against Trump after last year's election, following a long policy that the sitting president cannot be prosecuted. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington. As people add losing weight to their list of New Year's resolutions, they might be considering trying one of the blockbuster weight-lost drugs known as GLP1s. MPR-Sidney Lubkin has more about how 2026 could be another big year for those drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration approved a Wagovi pill at the end of 2025, and it will become available this year. A competing pill made by Eli Lilly could soon follow. Meanwhile, direct-to-consumer GLP-1s sold by the drug companies to patients who don't use their insurance could continue to grow in popularity. Those discounted prices have dropped over time. But the drug's sticker prices haven't dropped, and insurance coverage for the injectables has actually gotten more restrictive when it comes to weight loss. For example, some plans only cover obesity drugs for patients with a body mass index over 40, even though obesity is classified as having a BMI of 30 or higher.

Citi Lepkin, NPR News. The U.S. economy is closing out the year, having done better than many economists had expected, and the stock market also had a good year, but many Americans are still unhappy about the economy. One bright spot, says NPR Scott Horsley, was the third cut in interest rates that occurred this month. It does make it a little cheaper to buy a car or grow a business. You know, mortgage rates have also come down a little bit. The mortgage giant Freddie Max said the day that the average rate on a 30-year home loans down to 6.15%, which is the lowest it's been all year. That could give a little boost to the housing market, which has been in a deep slump.

That's NPR's Scott Horsley. President Trump says the National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland are all heading home. He made an announcement on social media this afternoon, his deployments, have met resistance from federal judges. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court left in place, a ruling by a federal judge that bars the use of troops in Illinois. Stocks were down on Wall Street. You're listening to NPR News.

Bubbles are a sort of bright spot in the slowing wine sales scene, as the Washington State Wine Commission reports, quote, sparks of growth for sparkling. Now, more Northwest wineries are dipping a toe into sparkling wines. Northwest Public Broadcastings and a King has. as I reports. Chad Johnson is a co-owner of Dusted Valley winery in Walla Walla. He says Northwest makers are starting to get creative with sparkling wines. Some like him are using native yeast and low inputs into the wines. All the kind of traditional things that have been done and are

continue to do and getting better as vine age and the winemakers are getting better. But literally, almost anything on trend anywhere in the world, whether it be natural or varietals, it's happening right here in the backyard, and you can have access to it. Styles of wines that Northwestmakers make include traditional style sparkling wines, petnap, a wine that's fermented with yeast left in the bottle, and even forced carbonation wines that usually retail for less. For NPR News, I'm Anna King. Zoran Mondani will become mayor of New York City at midnight.

There will be a small swearing-in ceremony at the historic City Hall subway station. and then tomorrow afternoon there will be a bigger public event on the steps of City Hall, along with the block party with thousands of people expected to attend. In college football, Mark Grinowski threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another as Iowa beat number 13 Vanderbilt today, 34 to 27. Grinowski was 16 to 22 and passed for 212 yards. Duke, meanwhile, beat Arizona State 40 to 39, and Texas beat Michigan, 41 to 27. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.