--:-- Lakshmi Singh: Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: As the holiday season begins to ramp up, airlines are starting to cancel hundreds of flights to meet a federal target of 10 percent fewer traffic at the nation's busiest airports, the fallout of a government shutdown.
--:-- Transportation Secretary: Sean Duffy says air traffic restrictions will happen gradually. It's going to be 4 percent today in regard to those 40 airports, And again, we're going to step ladder that up to get to 10 percent next week. The exact number I can't give you. And I don't want to see the disruption. I don't want to see the delays.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: As air traffic controllers go on five weeks working without pay, Duffy says the restrictions are the best way to keep air travel safe.
--:-- Transportation Secretary: Duffy addressed reporters at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., where in January a mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter killed 67 people.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: The shutdown has forced a broad cross of federal workers to go weeks without a paycheck. Some community organizations are stepping up.
--:-- Jackson Sinnenberg: From member station WAMU, I'm Jackson Sinnenberg, and I'm reporting on how one school district in the Washington D area is helping.
--:-- [Sound of a school bell]
--:-- Jackson Sinnenberg: Arlington is the first Virginia suburb you hit west out of D.C. and home to the Pentagon. It's a hotbed for federal employees. That's why the superintendent of Arlington Public Schools asked the district to come up with ideas to help families.
--:-- Frank Bellavia: One solution? Serve dinner at three schools while the shutdown lasts.
--:-- Jackson Sinnenberg: Arlington Public Schools' Frank Bellavia.
--:-- Frank Bellavia: When you think about communities, you think about the schools that are there, and these really are the backbones of the community. So us being here and doing this, me, is nothing different.
--:-- Jackson Sinnenberg: The school system plans to serve 250 meals at each school every weeknight for 30 days, or until the shutdown ends.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: For NPR News, I'm Jackson Sinnenberg in Washington, D.C.
--:-- [Sound of a newsroom]
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: The first Friday of the month typically offers a comprehensive report on the performance of the nation's employment sector for the prior month. Today, Labor Department has not released such a report, the government shutdown.
--:-- President Trump: President Trump says that Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords.
--:-- Frank Ordonez: But NPR's Frank Ordonez reports Kazakhstan already has full diplomatic relations with Israel.
--:-- President Trump: The president declared the move as a major step toward building bridges across the world.
--:-- Frank Ordonez: At a dinner with Central Asian leaders including Kazakhstan, Trump posted that the administration is negotiating with other foreign leaders about joining.
--:-- Frank Ordonez: The Abraham Accords are very sought after right now. We're going to be announcing some very important countries that are joining.
--:-- Frank Ordonez: It's a largely symbolic move. The White House described it as a signal that the accords are alive and well in the second administration.
--:-- Frank Ordonez: Regional concerns over the war in Gaza has been a major impediment to attracting more signers to the agreement, including Saudi Arabia.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: That's Frank Ordonez.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: The Trump administration struck two more deals with the pharmaceutical industry as part of its push to get lower drug prices for Americans.
--:-- Sydney Lepkin: This time, they involve the popular and expensive obesity drugs made by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
--:-- Sydney Lepkin: A lot of the stuff about the obesity drugs is unique to the administration's arrangements with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
--:-- Sydney Lepkin: That said, today's deals also included similar terms to deals with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, such as a three exemption from certain tariffs.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: Sydney Lepkin reporting.
--:-- [Sound of a newsroom]
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing allegations of mortgage fraud.
--:-- Lauren McGahee: The accusations are similar to the ones against New York Attorney General Letitia James in Virginia.
--:-- Lauren McGahee: Each is accused of claiming multiple homes as a primary residence on mortgage documents in an effort to secure more favorable interest rates.
--:-- Lauren McGahee: Hunter Bonner is a lifelong Republican and chairman of the Marion County GOP, but he's also a critic of Paxton, who's running to unseat Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn.
--:-- Hunter Bonner: Bonner said he filed a federal complaint against Paxton, alleging the attorney general committed mortgage fraud by claiming multiple homes as his primary residence.
--:-- Lauren McGahee: The allegations are similar to those the Trump administration has leveled against prominent Democrats.
--:-- Lauren McGahee: Bonner hasn't heard back about the complaint and isn't optimistic that the administration will investigate.
--:-- Lauren McGahee: It is hypocritical in any sense of the word to give a pass to bad behavior.
--:-- Lauren McGahee: Paxton's campaign spokesman said the complaint is not serious.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: I'm Lauren McGahee in Austin, Texas.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: The Nasdaq is down more than 2 percent. The S&P has fallen 1.2 percent.
--:-- Lakshmi Singh: This is NPR.
