The Headlines - Fed Expected to Cut Rates, and C.E.O. Shooting Suspect Branded Terrorist

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

Plus, a beefy new skin care trend.   On Today’s Episode:The Economy Is Finally Stable. Is That About to Change?, by Ben Casselman‘No Place to Hide’: Trapped on the Border, Immigrants Fear Deportation, by Edgar SandovalMangione Faces First-Degree Murder Charge That Brands Him a Terrorist, by Hurubie MekoInsurers Are Deserting Homeowners as Climate Shocks Worsen, by Christopher Flavelle and Mira RojanasakulPeople Are Putting Beef on Their Faces. What Could Go Wrong?, by Hank Sanders Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter. Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. 

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Wednesday, December 18th. Here's what we're covering. Today the Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates, a sign that officials think their efforts to stabilize the U.S. economy are working. But the question now is if that stability will continue. Inflation has cooled a lot.

The unemployment rate is still low. Yet the outlook for 2025 is as murky as ever. And there's really one reason for that, and it's Donald Trump. My colleague Ben Casleman is covering the potential economic consequences of the policies that Donald Trump has been floating. Tariffs, mass deportations, and tax cuts. He says the Fed will be watching to see which of those Trump follows through on, and so will investors.

A lot of investors on Wall Street are banking on a pretty rosy scenario. They expect Trump to focus on tax cuts and deregulation, things that would be good for corporate profits, but it's not at all clear that they're right about that. And I talked to economists who think it's much more likely that Trump will impose steep tariffs and start another trade war that he will be more aggressive on immigration than Wall Street seems to be anticipating. And in a worst-case scenario, that could result in reduced investment, in a shortage of workers, and ultimately in higher prices and slower growth. None of that is remotely guaranteed,

and the positive scenario remains very plausible. But that's kind of the point. The outlook for the future remains as uncertain as ever. Meanwhile, along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, immigrant advocates are racing to help undocumented immigrants and their families prepare for the crackdown that Trump has promised. In southern Texas alone, there are thousands of people living without authorization. Many of them settled there years ago. They have children who are U.S. citizens and have largely not been targeted by authorities.

But now, with Texas officials offering to help the Trump administration round people up, fear is spreading. One advocacy group is holding trainings, acting out possible scenarios to teach people how to react if they're stopped for questioning. My colleague Edgar Sandoval recently sat in on one of the training sessions. The first sketch was basically designed to show them everything they could do wrong, right? For example, a man playing a police officer stops a woman. The moment playing the migrant

basically divulges that she's lacking identification, that she doesn't have car insurance, and that was the first red flag according to the activists. He said, when you do this, what you're really doing is giving the police permission to call for Border Patrol for backup because they have a suspected undocumented immigrant. So he explained that they have a right not to answer questions, the right to call an immigration lawyer. And another important plan that they were told about was to secure power of attorney in case they get deported and their children stay behind. That way their children can be adopted by a legal relative

instead of ended up in foster care. Even though they learned all this, there was still a lot of fear amongst the group. One man raised his hand and said, why don't we just pack our bags and voluntarily go back home? Why are we waiting for us to be picked up one by one? That was his fear. But a lot of them walked away feeling at least that they can have some sort of plan. Let me say a bit more about the charges. They include one count of murder in the first degree as a killing and further of terrorism,

two counts of murder in the second degree. One... The District Attorney of Manhattan announced yesterday that Luigi Manjone has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, and he classified Manjone's alleged actions as terrorism. So in its most basic terms, this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror. This was not an ordinary killing not to suggest that any killing is ordinary, but this was extraordinary. A legal expert told the Times that the classification is notable because, quote, this isn't traditionally

how we think of terrorism. Prosecutors are arguing that the Brazen shooting on a Manhattan sidewalk in front of a busy hotel was intended to arguing that the Brazen shooting, on a Manhattan sidewalk in front of a busy hotel, was intended to intimidate the public, thus meeting the definition. If convicted, Manjone faces a life sentence without parole. He was also indicted on additional murder and weapons charges. He's set to appear in a Pennsylvania courtroom tomorrow for hearing about his extradition to New York. The U.S. has a homeowners insurance crisis, and it's getting worse. As climate change has increased the risks of wildfires, flooding, storms, insurance

companies have had to pay out, getting claim after claim from people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. Facing major losses, some insurance companies have stopped renewing policies. Last year, Congress demanded that the country's largest insurance companies share data on where this is happening and how often. The Congressional report is now out, and it shows that non-renewal rates have tripled in at least 200 counties across the country. There are the expected areas, California and Florida, some insurance companies have pulled out of those states entirely.

But the dropped policies have also become an issue along the Gulf Coast, in some of the Plains states, in the Mountain West, and all the way along the Atlantic coast all the way up to New England. There is a caveat. The data doesn't show why each policy wasn't renewed, so it can't be entirely attributed to climate threats. But areas deemed uninsurable can see property values plummet. That means less tax revenue for schools, police, and other basic services. And it's not just a problem for existing homeowners.

If you can't get insurance, you can't get a mortgage. lease and other basic services. And it's not just a problem for existing homeowners. If you can't get insurance, you can't get a mortgage. Without a mortgage, most Americans can't buy a home to begin with. You can see the full map of where homeowners have been dropped by insurance companies at nytimes.com. And finally, Nothing has like cleared cleared my skin until I saw a TikTok talking about beef tallow. Today's hottest skincare trend is beef, specifically beef tallow, which is rendered fat from a

cow's internal organs. I put beef tallow on and it's almost like instant relief. It's become the sought-after ingredient in cosmetics and for people who make their own skincare products at home. I made this yesterday from a big package of ground beef that I got. I basically just like cooked it down and whatever. Users swear by it as a natural organic moisturizer. Not everyone's on the beef train though.

Guys, I don't know if I look glowy or greasy. Including several dermatology experts that the Times spoke with. They warned that just because something is natural doesn't mean you should put it on your face. There's very little data about Talo as a skincare product, and it can cause acne or other irritation. Some farms and butchers are cashing in while it lasts though. One ranch owner said she sold through $42,000 in tallow products in a single night, using cow parts she used to throw away. This is, of course, not the first you're putting what on your face beauty

phenomenon. The snail mucus trend is still going strong. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, a look at the rape trial in France that has captivated the country for months and turned into a reckoning. The verdict is expected this week. That's next in the New York Times audio app, where you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.