Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. President Trump has vetoed a bill to fund a drinking water pipeline project in rural Colorado. Alejandra Alonso Galva with Colorado Public Radio has the story.
The bipartisan Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act passed unanimously in both the House and Senate. It was meant to help finish a project that's been decades in the making and would bring clean water to 39 communities in the southeastern plains of the state. It was designed to eventually stop groundwater withdrawals in the area, which can produce water tainted with radioactivity.
The veto is notable because it's in a rural portion of GOP Representative Lauren Boebert's district that voted heavily for Trump. The project would also provide badly needed jobs for the area. While she did not threaten an override vote in a statement Tuesday night, the Republican lawmaker expressed her displeasure with the president's decision. For NPR News, I'm Alejandro Alonso Galva in Denver.
A federal judge is ordering the Trump administration to continue seeking funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The administration is trying to dismantle CFPB, which was created in response to the Great Recession to protect consumers from predatory businesses. The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for parts of upstate New York.
As Bruce Convisor reports, from New York City, residents downwind of the Great Lakes will be hard hit.
Lake effect snows are common for communities south and east of the Great Lakes, Ontario, and Erie. Wind-driven snows blowing into northern New York from Lake Ontario are expected to pound the region with two to four feet of snow, and forecasters add some places could receive more. The heavy snow will be whipped up by driving winds gusting to 40 miles per hour.
That creates the potential for whiteout conditions.
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Chapter 2: What recent decision did President Trump make regarding a Colorado water project?
Some communities have already received more than 20 inches of snow. The winter storm warning is in effect through Saturday morning. Farther west, buffalo should be spared the worst of the storms, but nearby communities such as Orchard Park could receive one to three feet of snow. The winter storm warning there is in effect through very early Friday. For NPR News, I'm Bruce Convisor in New York.
Major U.S. cities are ramping up security ahead of New Year's Eve. Outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams says there are no credible threats against the city, but officials there are prepared just in case.
We will have plane-closed K-9 teams, officers on horsebacks, on our trains, subway stations, and in helicopters and on boats. Pedestrians and vehicle closures will be in effect leading up to and during the Finth Security is everyone's responsibility. Again, see something, say something, do something.
Adams says the right to protest will be protected in New York City, but disruption to the New Year's celebration in Times Square and beyond will not. You're listening to NPR. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has suspended child care funding to Minnesota. and it's demanding an audit of alleged fraud involving government programs.
In his announcement on X, acting CDC director Jim O'Neill references a right-wing influencer's viral YouTube video suggesting that several Somali-run child care centers in Minneapolis are shell companies. Governor Tim Walz says the state is already looking into fraud claims and is calling federal interference a blatant attempt to harm his state.
Meta is buying an artificial intelligence company called Manus. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, Meta will pay $2 billion for the tech firm, which has ties to China.
Manus is based in Singapore but has Chinese founders. It became a hot startup after a demo last spring showed how its AI agent can analyze stock portfolios, book vacations, and screen job candidates. Meta says it plans to integrate Manus' services across all of its social media products like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
It's a latest sign that the battle over the next phase of the AI race is focused on AI agents. They are AI tools that can perform real-world tasks and serve as a kind of automated personal assistant with little or no human guidance. Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Palantir and others are all rushing to develop cutting-edge AI agents.
A Meta spokesperson says once the deal is complete, Manus' services and operations will be shut down in China. Bobby Allen, NPR News.
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