NPR News: 11-23-2024 7AM EST

Summary

NPR News Now: November 23, 2024, 7 AM EST

Hosted by NPR, this episode of "NPR News Now" delivers the latest news in five minutes, updated hourly. Below is a detailed summary capturing all key points, discussions, insights, and conclusions from the November 23, 2024, 7 AM EST episode.

---

1. President-Elect Donald Trump's Appointment of Scott Turner to HUD

Timestamp: [00:19] - [00:36]

Giles Snyder reported that President-Elect Donald Trump has nominated former Texas State Representative Scott Turner to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Turner, who served nine years in the NFL before venturing into politics, previously worked on economic development during Trump's first term. In 2019, Trump appointed Turner to lead a council focused on revitalizing distressed communities by directing billions in private investment to opportunity zones—areas grappling with high unemployment and deteriorating housing. While the initiative received bipartisan praise, critics argued that wealthy investors benefiting from tax breaks were prioritized over local residents. Under Trump's administration, HUD faced significant budget cuts, which Congress opposed. Looking ahead, Trump's Project 2025 aims to further constrain housing aid and reduce HUD's influence.

2. Trump's Cabinet Nominations and Legal Challenges

Timestamp: [01:18] - [01:48]

Giles Snyder continued with news on Trump's recent cabinet nominations, highlighting Scott Besant, a billionaire hedge fund manager, appointed as Treasury Secretary, and Lori Chavez de Remer, the outgoing Oregon Republican Congresswoman, selected as Labor Secretary. In a separate development, NPR's Windsor Johnston reported that a New York City judge has indefinitely postponed President Trump's sentencing in his criminal hush money case. Convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May, Trump’s legal team is pushing to dismiss the case entirely. The judge granted a deadline of December 2nd for filing a motion to overturn the conviction, which the Manhattan District Attorney's office intends to oppose. The jury found Trump guilty of creating false business records to conceal a hush money payment to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 election.

3. Amazon's $4 Billion Investment in AI Startup Anthropic

Timestamp: [02:15] - [03:13]

Giles Snyder introduced a significant development in the tech industry: Amazon is investing an additional $4 billion into the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. NPR's Bobby Allen elaborated on this move amidst the fierce competition in Silicon Valley to dominate the AI landscape. Anthropic's language model, Claude, competes directly with OpenAI's ChatGPT. The AI sector sees major players like Microsoft supporting OpenAI, Amazon backing Anthropic, while Elon Musk's Xai and Google also vie for prominence in what Bobby Allen described as an "AI standoff." The influx of capital into AI ventures is driven by the quest to develop the next ChatGPT—AI-powered products with broad commercial appeal. Significant investments enable AI startups to access the necessary compute power required to run complex AI systems. Concurrently, Washington regulators are scrutinizing leading AI companies, a focus that may lessen once Trump assumes office in January.

4. NATO's Engagement with President-Elect Trump and International Tensions

Timestamp: [03:13] - [04:08]

Giles Snyder reported that NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta met with President-Elect Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday. This meeting precedes emergency talks scheduled for Tuesday between NATO and Ukraine following Russia's use of an experimental hypersonic ballistic missile to attack the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the attack was retaliation for Ukraine's deployment of US and British long-range missiles targeting locations within Russia. Additionally, negotiators at the UN Climate Talks in Azerbaijan faced intense pressure to finalize a deal on funding for developing nations to adapt to climate change. The talks, initially set to conclude on Sunday, extended beyond the scheduled time to address these critical funding issues.

5. Kendrick Lamar's Stellar Year and New Album Release

Timestamp: [04:08] - [04:55]

Isabella Gomez Sarmiento of NPR highlighted the remarkable achievements of rapper Kendrick Lamar over the past year. In May, Lamar unofficially won an ongoing rap battle against Drake, and his diss track "Not Like Us" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart twice. Lamar is also set to headline the next year's Super Bowl halftime show and has earned over half a dozen Grammy nominations earlier in the month. Continuing his momentum, Kendrick Lamar is releasing his sixth album, "gnx," unexpectedly. This release follows two critically acclaimed records: 2022's "Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers" and 2017's "damn," the latter of which won a Pulitzer Prize for Music. The new album features collaborations with artists like SZA and Data Barrera, and production from renowned figures such as Jack Antonoff and Kamasi Washington.

---

This summary encapsulates the key developments and discussions presented in the November 23, 2024, episode of "NPR News Now." For real-time updates and more detailed coverage, listeners are encouraged to tune into NPR's broadcasts.

Transcript

[NPR Sponsor]

This message comes from BetterHelp. BetterHelp is committed to making mental well being a priority and offering support in taking on everything life demands. With therapists available to communicate via video chat or [e-mail] News live from NPR.

[Giles Snyder]

News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. President elect Donald Trump has tapped former Texas State Representative Scott Turner as his choice to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Turner worked on on economic development in Trump's first term, as NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

[Jennifer Ludden]

Turner spent nine years in the NFL before entering politics. In 2019, Trump appointed him to lead a council tasked with turning around distressed communities. That included steering billions in private investment to so called opportunity zones, places struggling with high unemployment and rundown housing. The effort won by partisan praise, though critics suggested the wealthy investors getting tax breaks saw more benefit than local residents. In his first, Trump targeted the housing agency HUD for deep budget cuts. Congress pushed back, but the conservative agenda, Project 2025 again calls for limiting housing aid and shrinking HUD's role. Jennifer Luttin, NPR News.

[Giles Snyder]

Trump announced a flurry of cabinet picks and choices for other high ranking administration polls last night, among them billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Besant for Treasury secretary and outgoing Oregon Republican Congresswoman Lori Chavez de Remer for labor secretary. A judge in New York City has indefinitely postponed Donald Trump's sentencing in his criminal hush money case. Trump was convicted on 34 accounts of falsifying business records in May. NPR's Windsor Johnston.

[Windsor Johnston]

The sentencing hearing was scheduled to be held next week as Trump's attorneys continue their push to dismiss the case altogether. The judge has also given Trump's legal team until December 2nd to file a motion to throw out the conviction, but the Manhattan district attorney's office says it will oppose the request. A jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 election.

[Giles Snyder]

NPR's Windsor Johnston reporting. Amazon says it's investing another $4 billion into the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. The move comes amid the ongoing battle to lead the AI future in Silicon Valley. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, Amazon's big.

[Bobby Allen]

Bet on AI startup anthropic doubles its investment in the company. Its language model Claude competes with ChatGPT from rival companies OpenAI and the race is on. Microsoft back OpenAI, Amazon backed Anthropic and Elon Musk's Xai, with support from Google, are locked in an AI standoff. The money pouring into AI ventures is fueling a search for the next ChatGPT, an AI powered commercial product with mass appeal. Much of the big tech investment allows AI startups to access what's called compute, or the immense amount of power it takes to run AI systems. It all comes as regulators in Washington probe into leading AI companies scrutiny that may diminish when President elect Donald Trump enters office in Jan. Bobby Allen, NPR News.

[Giles Snyder]

And you're listening to NPR News. NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta has met with President Elect Trump, a NATO spokesperson said early today. The two met in Palm Beach, Florida, Friday. On Tuesday, NATO and Ukraine are to hold emergency talks after Russia used an experimental hypersonic ballistic missile in an attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that the attack was retaliation for Ukraine's use of US And British long range missiles to attack targets inside Russia. Negotiators at the UN Climate talks in Azerbaijan under pressure to reach a deal on funding for developing nations to adapt to climate change. The talk scheduled to end yesterday, but they've gone into overtime. Rapper Kendrick Lamar has had a big year, and now he's topping it off with a newly released album. As NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reports, Kendrick.

[Isabella Gomez Sarmiento]

Lamar is on a roll. In May, he was unofficially crowned the winner of an ongoing rap battle with Drake. His diss track not Like Us topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart not once but twice. He set to headline next year's super bowl halftime show. And earlier this month he racked up more than half a dozen Grammy nominations. Now he's dropping his sixth album, gnx, without warning. The new album follows two highly acclaimed records from Lamar, 2022's Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers and 2017's Dam, which won a Pulitzer Prize for music. GNX features performances from SZA and Data Barrera. Producers include Jack Antonoff and Kamasi Washington. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News.

[Giles Snyder]

And this is NPR News.

[Windsor Johnston]

This message comes from NPR sponsor Shopify, the global commerce platform that helps you sell and show up exactly the way you want to customize your online store to your style. Sign up for a $1 per month trial [e-mail] NPR.