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NPR News Now

NPR News: 01-21-2026 3PM EST

21 Jan 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.841 - 3.966 Nora Rahm

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm.

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Chapter 2: What does President Trump propose regarding Greenland?

4.567 - 21.533 Nora Rahm

President Trump says he won't use force to take over Greenland and that he's seeking negotiations to acquire the territory from Denmark. His comments at the World Economic Forum come as Europeans are anxious over how the standoff will play out. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports.

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21.513 - 38.948 Mika Blujan-Mared

European leaders consider Trump's talk of acquiring Denmark's autonomous territory of Greenland and threatening to use sanctions on any country that stands in his way as crossing a red line. Greenland is under NATO's protection, they say, and any forceful attempt to take it would break the alliance.

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38.928 - 52.065 Mika Blujan-Mared

Arctic and Greenland expert Mika Blujan-Mared says it's hard to predict what Trump will do, but territorial expansion to mark America's 250th anniversary this year is the kind of thing that would appeal to the president.

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52.285 - 54.909 Nora Rahm

He wants to provide something for the legacy.

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Chapter 3: What are the implications of the Supreme Court's decision on presidential authority over the Federal Reserve?

54.929 - 67.365 Mika Blujan-Mared

Delivering the massive, mineral-rich island would bring an additional 25% to the landmass of the U.S., he says, and make it the world's second largest country after Russia. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

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67.598 - 74.047 Nora Rahm

The Supreme Court heard arguments today on whether a president has the authority to fire a member of the Federal Reserve.

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Chapter 4: What issues are raised in the public benefits fraud scandal in Minnesota?

74.588 - 86.764 Nora Rahm

President Trump wants to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. He accuses her of mortgage fraud, which she denies. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, said allowing this could have consequences in the future.

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86.964 - 113.89 Unknown

Let's talk about the real-world downstream effects of this, because if this were set as a precedent, it seems to me... Just thinking big picture, what goes around comes around. All the current president's appointees would likely be removed for cause on January 20th, 2029, if there's a Democratic president, or January 20th, 2033.

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Chapter 5: How is the military being deployed in response to events in Minnesota?

114.173 - 129.583 Nora Rahm

The Federal Reserve Board was set up to be independent to protect it from political pressure. A congressional panel heard testimony on a public benefits fraud scandal in Minnesota. One witness was the right-wing influencer whose video allegations sparked new attention to the issue.

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Chapter 6: What trends are observed in the decline of Catholicism in Latin America?

130.164 - 132.148 Nora Rahm

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

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132.128 - 149.158 Nick Shirley

Nick Shirley said young people have lost trust in public benefits spending. A former Minnesota fraud investigator told lawmakers his early recommendations were not taken seriously, leading him to retire in 2019. Republicans on the panel repeatedly cast blame on Democrats.

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149.138 - 158.974 Nick Shirley

though a witness with an independent watchdog called out the Trump administration for undermining anti-fraud efforts by, among other things, firing inspectors general and attacking whistleblowers.

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159.434 - 175.72 Nick Shirley

Lawmakers also heard from the head of an autism clinic for children who said her center did nothing wrong, yet now it's at risk of closing because all child care funding has been frozen by the Trump administration, which says it's protecting taxpayer dollars. Jennifer Lutton, NPR News, Washington.

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175.7 - 201.645 Nora Rahm

And you're listening to NPR News in Washington. More soldiers are being told to prepare to go to Minnesota. A U.S. official has confirmed to NPR that an Army Military Police Battalion stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, has received a repair-to-deploy order to Minnesota. Last week, 1,500 soldiers with the Army's 11th Airborne Division in Alaska returned receive the same order.

202.487 - 214.309 Nora Rahm

A new study from the Pew Research Center finds that over the past decade, Catholicism in Latin America has declined sharply. Aleja Herzler-McCain of Religious News Service reports.

214.329 - 235.495 Aleja Hertzler-McCain

The largest Latin American countries are now only two-thirds Catholic. In some, like Brazil, Catholic adults make up less than half the population. This represents a significant decrease over the last 10 years. That's largely because many Latin Americans are becoming religiously unaffiliated. But being unaffiliated doesn't mean they don't believe in God or pray daily.

235.956 - 257.293 Aleja Hertzler-McCain

They actually report doing both at almost the same rate as European Christians. Latin American Pentecostals have been an important demographic politically. Their support has been linked to conservative success, but Pew's data shows that now a smaller share of Latin American Protestants are Pentecostal as compared to a decade ago. For NPR News, I'm Aleja Hertzler-McCain.

257.662 - 279.501 Nora Rahm

Pork processor Smithfield Foods will buy Nathan's Famous, which has been selling hot dogs for more than a century. The deal is worth $450 million. Nathan's was started as a hot dog cart in 1916 by immigrant Nathan Handwerker on Coney Island, New York, the site of a hot dog eating contest every Fourth of July. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News.

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