NPR News: 12-25-2025 5AM EST

Summary

NPR News Now: December 25, 2025 – 5AM EST

Host: Louise Schiavone
Length: ~5 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers a concise roundup of national and international news, focusing on Southern California’s weather crisis, significant religious and holiday observances, travel industry updates, a Powerball jackpot win, a look at a revived Nashville Christmas tradition, and cybersecurity concerns in Europe.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Southern California Storm Emergency

[00:14–01:12]

• State of Emergency Declared:
  • Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declares a city emergency due to severe flooding, mudslides, and widespread power outages.
  • California Governor Gavin Newsom also issues a statewide emergency earlier.
• Storm Severity:
  • Steve Futterman details the situation: “The declaration comes after a day of floods, fallen trees, mudslides, traffic jams and power outages... a new series of powerful storms will hit the area today.” (00:27)
• National Weather Service Warning:
  • Oriel Cone (paraphrased by Louise Schiavone) warns:

    “We're going to see the flood waters be reinforced with landslides, rock slides and mudslides all being reinforced across the area.” (00:53)

• Ongoing Impact:
  • Over 10 inches of rain fell in some mountain areas Wednesday; storms expected through Friday.

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2. Global Christmas Celebrations Amid Change

[01:12–02:12]

• Historic Papal Christmas Mass:
  • Pope Leo XIV celebrates his first Christmas Mass at St. Petersburg’s basilica and plans a second on Christmas Day in the Vatican Basilica—a first since Pope John Paul II.
• Return to Bethlehem:
  • Thousands gather in Bethlehem and Holy Land cities, reviving holiday festivities “after two years of war.”
  • Groups also celebrated in Gaza, Bethlehem, and Nazareth: “The cities where Christians believed Jesus was born and lived.” (01:12)
• Airlines Brace for Holiday Travel:
  • Joel Rose reports airlines are focused on avoiding IT disasters from past years, especially after Southwest Airlines’ notorious 2022 meltdown.

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3. Airlines & Technology: Learning From the Past

[02:12–02:53]

• Southwest’s Improvements:
  • Lauren Woods, Southwest CIO, discusses major investments in technology to handle outages more quickly after their previous crisis.
  • Quote:

    “We may have a tech outage, but you care less about it if it's a five-minute recovery ... versus I had one major tech outage and it took me down for a day.” (02:30, Lauren Woods)

• Industry-Wide Challenge:
  • Focus is on speed of recovery—”The test is how quickly they can get their planes and their customers back in the air.” (02:40, Joel Rose)

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4. Lottery Win & Holiday Markets

[02:53–03:34]

• Powerball Jackpot:
  • After three months without a winner, Powerball’s $1.8 billion ticket is claimed in Arkansas.
• Asian Markets Update:
  • Asian shares show mixed results as most markets are closed for Christmas.

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5. Rediscovering a Nashville Christmas Tradition

[03:34–04:11]

• Bank Employee Choirs:
  • Reporter Justin Barney revisits Nashville’s lost tradition of bank choirs performing carols in the 1970s.
  • Memorable Moment:
    • Archival audio: “We wish you a merry Christmas. We wish you a merry Christmas.” (03:34)
  • The tradition revived after a bank employee choir record resurfaced.

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6. Major Cyber Attack in France & U.S.-EU Diplomatic Tension

[04:11–04:54]

• French Post Office Hacked:
  • French prosecutors say a pro-Russian hacking group disrupted postal services days before Christmas.
• U.S. Travel Bans on European Officials:
  • The Trump administration bans five EU officials over regulatory issues relating to tech companies and free speech.
  • Notable Attribution:

    “Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the five radical activists.” (04:50)

  • One official banned, Thierry Breton, was the former EU commissioner who supervised social media rules.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We're going to see the flood waters be reinforced with landslides, rock slides and mudslides all being reinforced across the area.”
  — National Weather Service (via Louise Schiavone), [00:53]
• “We may have a tech outage, but you care less about it if it's a five-minute recovery ... versus I had one major tech outage and it took me down for a day.”
  — Lauren Woods, Southwest Airlines CIO, [02:30]
• “We wish you a merry Christmas. We wish you a merry Christmas.”
  — Nashville bank choirs (archival audio), [03:34]
• “Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the five radical activists.”
  — Louise Schiavone, [04:50]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Southern California storm crisis: [00:14–01:12]
• Christmas Mass at Vatican & Bethlehem celebrations: [01:12–02:12]
• Holiday travel, Southwest Airlines tech upgrades: [02:12–02:53]
• Powerball jackpot, Asian markets: [02:53–03:34]
• Nashville bank choir tradition: [03:34–04:11]
• Cyber attack on France, US-EU tensions: [04:11–04:54]

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This episode delivers brisk, essential news across weather, religion, travel, business, culture, and international affairs—offering a snapshot of Christmas morning in a global context.

Transcript

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[Louise Schiavone]

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. As Southern California continues to get hammered by heavy rains, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has declared a state of emergency. Steve Futterman has details.

[Steve Futterman]

The declaration comes after a day of floods, fallen trees, mudslides, traffic jams and power outages. The move paves the way for the city to deploy adequate resources to deal with the storms. Earlier, California Governor Gavin Newsom also issued a state of emergency. Right now, the forecast does not look good. A new series of powerful storms will hit the area today. Oriel cone is with the National Weather Service.

[Louise Schiavone]

We're going to see the flood waters be reinforced with landslides, rock slides and mudslides all being reinforced across the area.

[Steve Futterman]

In some mountain areas, more than 10 inches alone fell on Wednesday. The storms are expected to continue into Friday. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles.

[Louise Schiavone]

Christmas Eve at the Vatican. Leo XIV has celebrated his first Christmas Mass as pope, offering Mass last night at 10pm local time on Christmas Eve in St. Petersburg's basilica. The pontiff also planned to celebrate Mass on Christmas Day 12 hours later in the Vatican Basilica, a first for a pope since John Paul II's leadership of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. In Bethlehem, thousands poured into Manger Square and other sites in the Holy Land, bringing the season back into the region after two years of war. In Gaza, groups marched and played music in Bethlehem and Nazareth, the cities where Christians believed Jesus was born and lived. Millions of Americans will fly during this holiday season. NPR's Joel Rose reports that airlines are hoping to avoid a repeat of the IT meltdowns that have disrupted the industry in years past.

[Capital One/KeyBank Announcer]

It's been three years since a major winter storm brought Southwest Airlines to its knees. While other airlines managed to get their operations going within days, Southwest did not. Since then, Chief Information Officer Lauren woods says Southwest has made big investments in technology so it can anticipate and respond to outage more quickly.

[Louise Schiavone]

We may have a tech outage, but you care less about it if it's a five minute recovery and I have many of those versus I had one major tech outage and it took me down for a day.

[Capital One/KeyBank Announcer]

Southwest is just one of many airlines that have been forced to ground their planes because of IT outages. The test is how quickly they can get their planes and their customers. Back in the air, Joel Rose, NPR News.

[Louise Schiavone]

The Powerball lottery has ended a three month stretch without a winner. Last night, a winning number was drawn for the $1.8 billion jackp, the second largest purse in US history. The number drawn in Arkansas. Asian shares were mixed in thin holiday trading where most markets in the region and elsewhere were closed for Christmas. This is NPR in Nashville. There is new interest in an old Christmas tradition from member station WPLN in Nashville. Justin Barney tells us that banks there once had competing Christmas choirs made up entirely of employees. We wish you a merry Christmas. We wish you a merry Christmas.

[Justin Barney]

That's what you would hear in the lobby of a bank in Nashville in the 1970s. Tellers, loan officers and bank executives of two of Music City's biggest banks. It said it's Christmas. That's Jim Norton, a cameraman for the popular TV specials that the choirs taped. The tradition may have been lost, but they pressed the carols to vinyl. One of those albums was recently rediscovered, and it's uncovered this once beloved tradition for a new generation. For NPR News, I'm Justin Barney.

[Louise Schiavone]

French prosecutors say a pro Russian hacking group has claimed responsibility for a major cyber attack on France's national postal service. The attack halted package deliveries just days before Christmas in Europe. And the UK Leaders are calling out the Trump administration for imposing travel bans on five Europeans for certain regulatory policies. The White House charges the five are guilty of pressuring tech firms to censor or suppress American views. One of the five is Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner responsible for supervising social media rules. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the five radical activists. I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

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