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NPR News Now

NPR News: 12-04-2025 1PM EST

04 Dec 2025

Transcription

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

0.098 - 14.057 Unknown

Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theschmidt.org.

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15.961 - 29.603 Lakshmi Singh

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The Pentagon watchdog finds Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated Pentagon policies when he discussed sensitive operational details on a Signal group chat.

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30.404 - 42.424 Lakshmi Singh

The investigation was launched at the request of the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee after The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he was included in a chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen.

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42.404 - 57.404 Jeffrey Goldberg

There were two problems with the chat. One, that it was happening in a commercial messaging app. And the second was that they didn't know who they had added into the chat, namely me, and, you know, violating basic rules of good digital hygiene.

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57.865 - 74.469 Lakshmi Singh

Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg speaking with NPR's Morning Edition. We should note NPR CEO Catherine Marr chairs the board of the Signal Foundation. Hegseth is also under heavy scrutiny over military strikes on boats suspected of carrying drugs from South America to the U.S.

75.17 - 83.143 Lakshmi Singh

Some military lawyers and political leaders have raised concerns that a war crime might have been committed in one such encounter on September 2nd.

83.123 - 102.668 Lakshmi Singh

The Washington Post first reported that Secretary Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill everybody on the boat, and according to unnamed sources, when two survivors were detected, Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley directed another strike to comply with Hegseth's order that no one be left alive. Lawmakers were expected to hold closed-door briefings today with Bradley.

103.137 - 114.666 Lakshmi Singh

The FBI says it has arrested a man suspected of placing pipe bombs near the U.S. Capitol complex ahead of the insurrection at the Capitol nearly five years ago, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Here's NPR's Kerry Johnson.

114.73 - 130.392 Carrie Johnson

The FBI has spent years searching for the person who put bombs near the Democratic and Republican Committee headquarters, hours before the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Now, a federal law enforcement source says authorities think they have identified the culprit.

Chapter 2: What violations did Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly commit?

130.832 - 149.665 Carrie Johnson

FBI agents conducted 1,000 interviews and reviewed nearly 40,000 video files. But the alleged bomber remained elusive for years, despite a half-million-dollar reward. New leaders at the FBI and the Justice Department intensified their focus on the case this year. Carrie Johnson, NPR News.

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150.742 - 175.709 Lakshmi Singh

New York Attorney General Letitia James is challenging the legality of Trump loyalist John Sarkozy's appointment as acting U.S. Attorney for Northern New York. A court hearing is scheduled today. James is disputing his authority to oversee a Justice Department investigation into regulatory lawsuits she filed against President Trump and the National Rifle Association. U.S.

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175.729 - 204.666 Lakshmi Singh

stocks are mixed this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 71 points at 47,811. The S&P has gained three points and the Nasdaq is up 36 points. From Washington, this is NPR News. Investors are getting mixed signals today about the U.S. job market, and Pierre Scott Horsley reports on conflicting signs. Layoffs are either up or possibly down.

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204.846 - 221.085 Scott Horsley

A consulting firm that tracks layoff notices says U.S. employers announced more than 71,000 job cuts last month. That's fewer potential pink slips than announced in October, but more than this time last year. That's according to a tally compiled by the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

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221.606 - 242.646 Scott Horsley

New applications for unemployment benefits, which are often seen as a proxy for layoffs, fell last week. The Thanksgiving holiday may have affected those numbers. As of mid-November, some 1.8 million people were receiving some form of jobless assistance. Asian stocks were mixed overnight, up in Tokyo and Hong Kong, but down in Shanghai and Seoul. Scott Horsley, Empire News, Washington.

243.082 - 253.9 Lakshmi Singh

The color company Pantone has announced its annual color of the year, and it's Cloud Dancer. It's the first shade of white Pantone has chosen since the start of this tradition in 1999. Here's NPR's Andrew Limbaugh.

253.94 - 266.001 Andrew Limbaugh

It's a slightly muted shade of white with a few hints of gray and brown in there. In the video making the announcement, Pantone executive director Leitris Eisman says the color is imbued with a feeling of serenity.

265.981 - 275.95 Leitris Eisman

At this time, we are reimagining our future and our place in the world. Cloud Dancer is a discreet white hue offering a promise of clarity.

275.97 - 294.047 Andrew Limbaugh

These pics are supposed to be zeitgeisty, tapping into the feelings and needs of the culture at large. In this case, the white is meant to respond to our ever frantic and frazzled lives. Keep your eyes peeled for the color showing up in everything from couches to post-its to Play-Doh in 2026. It's NPR News.

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