NPR News: 12-19-2025 4AM EST

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NPR News Now 4 min 5 speakers 7 chapters transcribed 2 months ago

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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Jorge Sedano 0:00

Support for NPR and the following message come from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, whose bequest serves as an enduring investment in the future of public radio and seeks to help NPR produce programming that meets the highest standards of public service in journalism and cultural expression.

Shea Stephens 0:20

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stephens.

What happened at Brown University and who is Claudio Neves Valente?

Shea Stephens 0:24

The suspect wanted for killing two people and injuring nine others at Brown University in Rhode Island has been found dead in Salem, New Hampshire. He's been identified as 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, a naturalized citizen from Portugal and former Brown student. U.S. Attorney Leah Foley explains how Valente likely avoided being captured.

0:45

He was using a phone that was obfuscating ability to track it And he was using financial, like not credit cards that were tied to his name. And so he was sophisticated in hiding his tracks.

Shea Stephens 1:00

Foley says Valente is also suspected in the murder of an MIT professor in Massachusetts on Monday, then traveling to New Hampshire, where he apparently took his own life.

How is President Trump's executive order changing marijuana classification?

Shea Stephens 1:11

President Trump has signed an executive order to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. As NPR's Franco Ordonez reports, the order effectively eases federal restrictions on cannabis use without decriminalizing it.

Franco Ordonez 1:25

Speaking in the Oval Office, President Trump said the change would allow more research on medical uses and added that many friends have urged him to make the change.

Donald Trump 1:34

I promised to be the president of Common Sense and that is exactly what we're doing. This is really something having to do with Common Sense.

What are the implications of TikTok's new deal regarding its U.S. operations?

Donald Trump 1:42

And it's something having to do with the fact that so many people that I respect ask me to do it. People that are having problems, big problems.

Franco Ordonez 1:49

The shift represents one of the most significant federal changes to marijuana policy in decades. While it does not fully legalize the drug, the executive order equates the dangers of marijuana on par with more common prescription drugs. Franco Ordonez, NPR News, the White House.

What led to the suspension of the green card lottery program?

Shea Stephens 2:07

TikTok has signed a deal to end the years-long effort to get its China-based owner to sell its U.S. operations. The new entity will be mostly controlled by a group of investors. This is NPR. President Trump has suspended the green card lottery program in wake of the mass shooting at Brown University. The suspect in the attack was a legal U.S. resident from Portugal. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted the suspension on the social media platform X. Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with more than 131,000 winners who still must undergo vetting. Defense attorneys for Luigi Mangione are asking a judge... to drop most of the evidence in his murder case.

What new guidelines has the Department of Health and Human Services issued?

Shea Stephens 2:51

As WNYC's Walter Wuthman reports, Mangione is accused of killing a health insurance executive last year.

Scott Horsley 2:57

The Labor Department says consumer prices in November were up 2.7 percent from a year ago. That's a smaller annual increase than reported in September and cooler inflation than forecasters had expected. Analysts cautioned, however, the numbers may have been skewed somewhat by the government shutdown, which prevented federal workers from... This is NPR.

Shea Stephens 3:21

A Wisconsin jury has found a Milwaukee County judge guilty of helping an undocumented migrant evade federal authorities. Hannah Dugan was accused of directing agents to the chief judge's office to give the defendant time to leave the courthouse during a hearing in a state battery case. Dugan now faces a sentence of up to five years in prison. Defense attorneys for Luigi Mangione are asking a judge to drop much of the evidence in his murder case. As WNYC's Walter Wuthman reports, Mangione is accused of killing a health insurance executive last year.

3:55

Defense attorneys argue that police did not read Mangione his Miranda rights and did not have a proper warrant when they interrogated him and searched his backpack at a Pennsylvania McDonald's last December.

How are current consumer prices affecting the economy?

4:06

Attorney Karen Friedman Ignifilo says prosecutors are now trying to cover their tracks. We want to thank everyone for coming and for sitting through a three-week mini-trial that should have been a half a day.