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NPR News Now

NPR News: 12-08-2025 11PM EST

09 Dec 2025

Transcription

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

0.098 - 13.983 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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16.809 - 32.533 Shea Stephens

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stephens. The Trump administration says it plans to spend $12 billion to help U.S. farmers stay in business and to compensate for their trade war losses. Frank Morris of member station KCUR has details.

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32.813 - 49.579 Frank Morris

President Trump's trade wars aggravated a bleak equation for U.S. farmers. His tariffs jacked up the prices of the supplies and equipment they need to buy. And retaliatory tariffs cut export sales and drove down grain prices. Many Midwestern farmers lost money this year.

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49.559 - 56.796 Frank Morris

Missouri farmer Richard Oswald says the bailout will help cover bills and loan payments, but won't make up for this year's losses.

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57.037 - 66.066 Unknown

They're attempting to replace profit with bailout money. It's not the same as having a good market and making a profit.

66.306 - 78.458 Frank Morris

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it will distribute bailout funds by March, with row crop farmers taking $11 billion and other farmers splitting another $1 billion. For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris.

78.738 - 91.851 Shea Stephens

Paramount is mounting a hostile takeover bid for Warner Brothers Discovery. As NPR's Maria Aspin reports, Saudi Arabia and China are involved in the latest Hollywood drama, and so is President Trump's son-in-law.

92.185 - 96.932 Maria Aspin

Paramount is taking on Netflix, which last week agreed to buy some of Warner Bros.

Chapter 2: What financial aid is the Trump administration providing to farmers?

96.992 - 119.003 Maria Aspin

businesses. Paramount wants to control all of them and is offering Warner Bros. shareholders a deal worth $108 billion. Paramount is also controlled by Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest people, and his son David. But they're not putting up all the cash themselves. Instead, they've lined up money from the governments of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar.

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119.544 - 137.25 Maria Aspin

Another investor has ties to China, and another was founded by President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Paramount says that if its hostile takeover succeeds, the Middle Eastern governments and Kushner's firm would not be involved in running Warner Brothers. Maria Aspin, NPR News, New York.

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137.29 - 154.153 Shea Stephens

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet with the European Union and NATO leaders in Brussels. As Terry Schultz reports, they are expected to discuss an EU plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's recovery and war effort.

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154.37 - 165.172 Terry Schultz

President Zelensky will hold a previously unannounced meeting with the top leaders of both the European Union and NATO at the home of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen will be there.

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165.552 - 186.685 Terry Schultz

One of her main priorities at the moment is convincing the Belgian Prime Minister to allow the use of more than $100 billion worth of Russian money immobilized in a Belgium-based financial institution as collateral for a loan to Ukraine. The plan envisions paying back the funds to Moscow after it compensates Kiev for the damage it's caused. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels.

187.226 - 212.169 Shea Stephens

U.S. futures are flat and after-hours trading following today's losses on Wall Street. This is NPR. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is with pulling back its changes to a policy on grants to ease homelessness. HUD will now continue mandating treatment and transitional housing for the homeless grants, but it will also cap the amount of funding for permanent housing.

212.83 - 227.425 Shea Stephens

It will also require that aid be aligned with Trump administration policies against diversity, equity, and inclusion. A new study finds that this is golden era for discovering the variety of life on Earth. Details from NPR's Nathan Roth.

227.766 - 248.653 Nate Rott

There are two and a half million unique species on Earth that we humans have discovered and categorized. But that number is constantly growing. A new study published in the journal Science Advances looks at the history of species discovery and how it's changing. And it finds that on average, humans are now discovering 17,000 new species every year.

248.633 - 270.675 Nate Rott

Estimates range widely about how much unique life there is on Earth, from the low hundreds of millions of different species to the trillions. The new study's authors say our ability to find new life will only increase with technological advancements like DNA analysis. But for now, they say Earth continues to be a poorly known planet. Nate Rott, NPR News.

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