--:-- Rylan Barton: This message comes from Mattress Firm. A restless partner can steal your rest. Mattress Firm sleep experts can match you with the Tempur-Lux Adapt, built to absorb motion for undisturbed sleep. Visit Mattress Firm and upgrade to a Tempur-Pedic. They make sleep easy.
--:-- Rylan Barton: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton.
--:-- Rylan Barton: Vice President J.D. Vance came to the White House press briefing today to make the Republican case for ending the government shutdown.
--:-- Tamara Keith: As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, most Democrats are withholding votes on funding legislation to negotiate an extension in tax credits to help make health insurance more affordable.
--:-- Tamara Keith: Both sides are trying to convince the public that the other party is to blame for the shutdown. And Vice President Vance used the briefing to repeatedly blame Senate Democrats.
--:-- Tamara Keith: They're trying to take a hostage and we're not going to let them.
--:-- Tamara Keith: On the issue of health care, he says that's not a conversation for right now. We think that we can open the government and then have the conversation about what best health care policy to fit the needs of the American people. That's all we're trying to do. That's all we're trying to accomplish. We've got to reopen the government first.
--:-- Hakeem Jeffries: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats are willing to sit down with anyone anywhere to negotiate.
--:-- Tamara Keith: But that's not happening.
--:-- Tamara Keith: NPR News.
--:-- Meg Anderson: Thousands of misconduct cases filed against federal prison employees have been left unresolved for years. That according to a report released this week from the Government Accountability Office.
--:-- Meg Anderson: As NPR's Meg Anderson reports, that backlog of cases can have consequences for other aspects of prison life.
--:-- Meg Anderson: According to the GAO, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has more than 12,000 employee misconduct cases waiting to be looked into. About one-third of those cases have been open for three or more years.
--:-- Greta Goodwin: That matters because if a guard is being investigated, they're often pulled off their rounds while the case is open.
--:-- Meg Anderson: That's according to Greta Goodwin, who directs the GAO's Homeland Security and Justice team.
--:-- Greta Goodwin: That does not help BOP staffing challenges because that's one less guard who is available to do the work that needs to be done at BOP.
--:-- Meg Anderson: Goodwin says that can affect things like employee well-being and programming and health care for prisoners.
--:-- Meg Anderson: NPR News.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: A federal judge says the Trump administration must continue to provide millions of dollars in disaster funds to states.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: NPR's Rebecca Herscher reports the affected states are all currently run by Democrats.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: The funds in question come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA. They total about $1 million and are used to train and pay salaries for local first responders among other things.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: The money is supposed to go to 11 states including California, New York, and Illinois as well as Washington D.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: The Trump administration is trying to block those states from receiving the funds in what Democrats say is an attempt to punish jurisdictions for not cooperating with immigration enforcement efforts.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: The states sued to retain the funding. Now, a judge says the money must continue to flow while the lawsuit moves through the courts.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: NPR News.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
Stocks rose to more record highs today. The S&P 500 climbed three-tenths of a percent to top its prior all-time high, which was set last week.
--:-- Rylan Barton: This is NPR News.
--:-- Ari Daniel: Investigators in Colorado are reviewing the 2005 shooting death of journalist Hunter S. Thompson, which was ruled a suicide.
--:-- Ari Daniel: There's no new evidence suggesting foul play in Thompson's death, but county sheriff's office started the review at the request of his widow, Anita Thompson.
--:-- Ari Daniel: Thompson popularized a first-person form of gonzo journalism in articles and books like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
--:-- Ari Daniel: A harbor seal has about 100 whiskers, and it can use them to sense the water movements left by the fish it wants to eat.
--:-- Ari Daniel: Ari Daniel explains understanding how those whiskers work could help engineers design underwater robots.
--:-- Ari Daniel: Rainbow trout can camouflage their swimming by bending into a C and spinning off two vortex rings in opposite directions. Only one of them moves parallel to the fish, potentially confusing a harbor seal in pursuit.
--:-- Ari Daniel: I wanted to know if a harbor seal can read that camouflage and still follow the fish.
--:-- Ari Daniel: University of Rostock biologist Yvonne Kruger trained a harbor seal to distinguish between two artificial vortex rings of different sizes, demonstrating it'd be able to successfully hunt its prey.
--:-- Ari Daniel: The results may inspire sensors that could help aquatic robots navigate their surroundings.
--:-- Ari Daniel: For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel.
--:-- Rylan Barton: AOL's dial-up internet has officially logged off.
--:-- Rylan Barton: Formerly America Online, AOL introduced households to the Internet with its series of beeps and buzzes heard over the phone used to connect computers online.
--:-- Rylan Barton: The company ended the service yesterday.
--:-- Rylan Barton: I'm Rylan Barton. This is NPR News from Washington.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
This message comes from NPR sponsor, FX's The Lowdown, starring Ethan Hawke.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
This new crime drama follows quirky journalist Lee Raybon, whose obsession with the truth always gets him into trouble.
--:-- [Announcer voice]
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