NPR News: 12-02-2025 9PM EST
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he closely followed the first U.S. military strike against a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean three months ago, But he says he did not order a follow-up attack that killed survivors. NPR's Greg Myrie has more.
Defense Secretary Hegseth described his actions during the first U.S. attack in the Caribbean on September 2nd.
I watched that first strike line. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we've got a lot of things to do. So I didn't stick around, so I moved on to my next meeting.
Nine people were killed initially, but two people survived. A second U.S. strike killed them, but Hegseth said he only learned hours later that this follow-up strike took place. He said the commander of the operation made the correct decision to, quote, sink the boat and eliminate the threat. But critics have raised the possibility the attack could be a violation of U.S. law or the laws of war. Greg Myhre, NPR News, Washington.
Congress is a step closer to attempting to alter a key set of numbers from the 2030 census. NPR's Hansi Lo Wong reports those numbers influence how presidents and members of Congress are elected.
How many U.S. House seats and Electoral College votes each state gets for a decade is determined using a census count. The 14th Amendment requires that count to include the, quote, whole number of persons in each state. But the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee has advanced a bill that calls for excluding people living in the states without U.S. citizenship, such as green card holders. During the last Congress, a similar bill passed the Republican-controlled House but never got a Senate vote. The current bill is making its way to a possible House floor vote months after President Trump put out a social media call for a, quote, new census that excludes people living in the states without legal status.
That kind of change would be unprecedented in U.S. history and likely be challenged in court. Hansi Luwong, NPR News, Washington.
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman issued a code red to employees this week over Google's growing artificial intelligence capabilities. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, Google's latest version of its Gemini AI chatbot exceeded expectations.
In a memo sent to OpenAI staff confirmed by NPR, Altman said the company needs to hyper-focus on improving chat GPT. And as a result, Altman told employees it is pushing back work on other products, like AI agents for health and shopping, and pausing a push into advertising. It comes as Google's latest Gemini chatbot beat out all the rival AI chatbots in a series of industry benchmark tests. It, for the first time, pulled Google ahead of the competition in the AI race. While ChatGPT remains the most popular chatbot, the company is confronting questions about its finances. And that's because Altman said the company is not turning a profit and isn't expecting to until 2030. Bobby Allen, NPR News.
Sacramento City Council voted unanimously to repeal a 76-year-old law banning the sale of comic books to minors. The ordinance passed during a panic about comic books inspiring delinquency. This is NPR News. Costco is joining other companies that aren't waiting to see whether the Supreme Court strikes down President Trump's tariff powers. They're demanding refunds on the tariffs they've paid. The Court of Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled earlier this year that Trump's biggest and boldest import taxes are illegal. The case is now before the Supreme Court. The luxury group Prada has completed its purchase of its Italian fashion rival Versace. The deal is worth almost $1.4 billion, and as NPR's Alina Seljuk reports,
Investors hope it gives Versace a much-needed boost.
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