NPR News: 01-06-2026 12PM EST

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NPR News Now 4 min 4 speakers 6 chapters transcribed 27 days ago

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What is the opening news briefing and who is being honored today?

Lakshmi Singh 0:01

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Sang. President Trump is paying tribute to Congressman Doug Lamalfa, a seven term Republican representative from California, who died at the age of sixty five.

Donald Trump 0:15

It was the leader of the Western Caucus, a fierce. Champion on California water issues. He was great on water. He wanted release the water it'd scream at him.

Lakshmi Singh 0:25

A cause of death has not been released. Lamalfa's death as well as the resignation of former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene further narrows the GOP majority in the U.S.

How did President Trump address GOP unity at the retreat?

Lakshmi Singh 0:36

House. At a GOP retreat today, President Trump told Republicans they would need to unify and move forward with their agenda this election year. Today marks five years since the January sixth attack on the US Capitol. A mob of supporters of President Trump violently stormed the building and injured approximately one hundred forty police officers. President Trump issued mass pardons to the rioters on his first day in office. NPR's Tom Dreisbach reports police officers who were assaulted that day say they are still dealing with trauma.

Unknown 1:12

Washington DC police officer Daniel Hodges was repeatedly attacked on January sixth, twenty twenty one. Rioters punched him, kicked him, tried to gouge out his eyes, and then crushed him in a metal door.

What are the lasting impacts on officers who faced the Jan. 6 Capitol attack?

Unknown 1:23

President Trump gave all of the people who assaulted Hodges full pardons. Hodges says that only adds to the damage done on January sixth. I can't draw a straight line between this and the six, but I've been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, anxiety adjustment disorder. Yeah. BDSD symptoms. Hodges told NPR he will keep speaking out about the insurrection to try to preserve an accurate account of what happened that day. Tom Dreisbach, NPR News.

Lakshmi Singh 1:54

Residents of Caracas reported heavy gunfire last night just around Venezuela's presidental palace.

Why did gunfire erupt around Venezuela’s presidential palace?

Lakshmi Singh 2:00

НPR's Ada Peralta reports it appears to stem from confusion. On social

Gary King 2:05

media, відеos from Caracas showed men with rifles trading fire on the стріт. From their balconies, residents saw what appeared to be anti-aircraft fire streaking through the air. The government's information ministry told the Spanish news agency EFE that the gunfire was to dissuade drones over flying Miraflores, the presidential palace. The violence surfaced fears that there might be a struggle for power following the U.S. capture of President Nicolás Maduro. But earlier in the day, Venezuela's vice president Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as acting president. President, the Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino, also said the Venezuelan armed forces are firmly behind Rodriguez.

What legal challenges is President Nicolás Maduro facing in New York?

Lakshmi Singh 2:47

At a federal courthouse in New York yesterday, Venezuelan President Maduro and First Lady Flores pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking, weapons, and other charges in the U.S. This is NPR News. One of the first law enforcement officers to respond to the twenty twenty two mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvaldi, Texas is standing trial. Opening statements were scheduled to begin today now that a jury has been seated. Former Uvaldi Schools Officer Adrian Gonzalez is facing twenty nine counts of child abandonment or endangerment. He is one of two officers facing criminal charges. But an investigation found that nearly four hundred officers from various agencies were at the site of the school attack.

Lakshmi Singh 3:33

They waited seventy seven minutes before they breached the classroom and killed the shooter.

How severe is the current U.S. flu season and what are the public‑health warnings?

Lakshmi Singh 3:37

In that time, the gunman had killed nineteen students and two teachers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says US flu cases are surging and the season is likely to get worse. Here's NPR's Giles Snyder.

Giles Snyder 3:52

Forty-five states reported high or very high flu activity during the final week of December, up from thirty states the week before. CDC estimates there have been at least eleven million illnesses so far this season, well above what was reported during the same time period last year. Hospitalizations are up. The CDC says the flu has hospitalized at least one hundred twenty thousand people since the start of the season, and there have been five thousand deaths.