NPR News: 12-09-2025 10PM EST
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. President Trump traveled to northeastern Pennsylvania tonight to talk about the economy as polls show Americans worried about high prices. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports the speech often strayed far from economics.
Trump gave the speech in front of a large sign reading, lower prices, bigger paychecks.
What did President Trump discuss during his speech in Pennsylvania?
At the same time, he dismissed the affordability message Democrats have been focused on.
The new word is affordability. So they look at the camera and they say, this election is all about affordability.
Polls show that voters are deeply concerned about the cost of living as Trump's tariffs have pushed up prices on a wide range of goods. Trump's speech frequently veered into culture war issues and personal insults against opponents. Trump at one point took aim at Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, an immigrant from Somalia, prompting the crowd to chant, send her back. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News.
Democrats in South Florida are cheering tonight. Voters in Miami have elected the first woman to be the city's mayor. And Eileen Higgins is set to become the first Democrat to hold the office in nearly 30 years. as NPR's Giles Snyder reports.
Eileen Higgins is a former Miami-Dade County commissioner whose race to lead the city of Miami received more attention than usual ahead of next year's midterm elections. The contest's significance grew after Democratic victories last month in New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City, and President Trump helped nationalize the race when he endorsed Higgins' Republican opponent. Higgins easily led the first round of voting last month, but she didn't get the majority she needed to win outright. According to preliminary vote tallies published by the Miami Herald, Higgins will take office having won nearly 60 percent of the vote in the runoff. She is the first Democrat to win the mayor's office since 1997.
Trial Snyder, NPR News.
A new study finds air pollution dropped 22 percent after New York City implemented its congestion pricing plan last January. The policy is intended to lighten traffic and air pollution by charging car and truck drivers who enter certain parts of the city, NPR's Alejandra Barunda reports.
Cities like London and Stockholm tried congestion pricing first and saw air quality get better. But the air pollution drop of 22% in New York City may be one of the biggest ever seen. The study was published in the journal NPJ Clean Air. It looked at levels of pollution called PM2.5. Those are tiny particles about 30 times smaller than the width of human hair. Cars and trucks burning gas or diesel are a major source. NPM 2.5 air pollution can worsen many different health problems, from breathing problems like asthma to brain diseases like dementia. But it'll still take a while to see if New Yorkers' health improves from the cleaner air. Alejandra Burunda, NPR News.
The first of a series of powerful storms is slamming the Pacific Northwest, dumping heavy rain and swelling rivers. Meanwhile, the Midwest is expecting a winter storm. This is NPR. GoFundMe says there was a 20% increase in people using the crowdfunding platform to raise money for essentials like housing and food. That follows a quadruple increase in that same category last year. Monthly bills was the second fastest-growing category in 2025. Raul Malo has died at age 60. He was the frontman of the country band The Mavericks. He died of cancer at his home in Nashville last night. NPR's Felix Contreras has this appreciation.
For over 30 years, the Mavericks lived up to their name by ignoring genre boundaries and mashing up country, American folk, blues, Latin music, and rock and roll. And from the beginning, it was Raul Malo's voice that converted curious listeners to diehard fans. In 2020, Raúl Malo returned to his bilingual roots when the Mavericks recorded an all-Spanish language album called En Español. A spokesman for the band says Malo was diagnosed with colon cancer in May of this year. He died at home in Nashville just days after a tribute concert was held in his honor at the Ryman Auditorium.
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