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--:-- Scott Simon: The federal government will stay open, at least until mid-March. Congress ratifies a bipartisan short-term spending plan to avert a government shutdown this weekend.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Scott Simon: Republicans defy the demands of President-elect Donald Trump and vote in favor of the deal. He wanted any spending package to also raise the debt ceiling, but the debt ceiling is going to stay where it is for now.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: We'll have more on that story, plus a car plows into a busy Christmas market in Germany, killing at least five people and leaving more than 200 injured.
--:-- Scott Simon: And Netflix tries once more to stream major sports events, this time with two NFL games on Christmas Day. Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.
--:-- Scott Simon: This message comes from NPR sponsor Adobe. Introducing the all-new Adobe Acrobat Studio, now with AI-powered PDF spaces.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Need to turn 100 pages of market research into five insights with a click? Templates for a sales proposal that'll close that deal? Or an AI specialist to tailor the tone of your market report? You can do all that with the all-new Adobe Acrobat Studio.
--:-- Scott Simon: Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: That's adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat. ZipRecruiter.com slash zip. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash zip.
--:-- Susan Davis: Lawmakers voted late last night to approve the short-term spending package just as the federal government was about to shut down. But not until after Trump interfered with his own demands and threats.
--:-- Scott Simon: NPR political correspondent Susan Davis joins us. Sue, thanks for being with us.
--:-- Susan Davis: You're welcome.
--:-- Scott Simon: Just after midnight, renegotiated legislation was approved. What's in it?
--:-- Susan Davis: Well, it's a slimmed-down version of the original bipartisan deal that was derailed earlier in the week after Trump and one of his newest top lieutenants, billionaire businessman Elon Musk, came out in opposition to it after it had been negotiated.
--:-- Scott Simon: It still keeps the government on autopilot until mid-March, so don't worry, they get to do this all over again in the spring.
--:-- Susan Davis: It still includes about $100 billion for states still recovering from natural disasters like North Carolina and Hawaii, and it still extends farm programs for about a year.
--:-- Scott Simon: Speaker Mike Johnson removed some previously agreed-upon measures to cover things like pediatric cancer research funding, although I should note the Senate ultimately passed that last night as a standalone measure, and a measure to try to control prescription drug costs because it was seen as too big of a giveaway to Democrats.
--:-- Susan Davis: One other thing, it's just shorter. Musk and others helped drive opposition to the bill, in part because it was initially 1,500 pages long. Conservatives really don't like behemoth legislation like that.
--:-- Scott Simon: The new bill was just about 120 pages. And this was something of a political aim for Donald Trump, who isn't, of course, not going to be president for another month.
--:-- Susan Davis: What did the president-elect get out of this legislation?
--:-- Scott Simon: You know, I think Trump and his allies are going to point to things like the removal of a provision that would have given members of Congress their first pay raise in about 17 years.
--:-- Susan Davis: They didn't like the way that looked, especially at Christmastime for the party.
--:-- Scott Simon: But, Sue, I think a lot of this episode this week potentially exposed more of Trump's political weaknesses.
--:-- Susan Davis: He tried to strong-arm into the bill an unconditional increase in the debt ceiling. That's the nation's borrowing limit because he wanted to do it on President Biden's watch to alleviate the political pressure on his administration to do it when that vote happens, likely sometime next summer.
--:-- Scott Simon: Not only is it not in the deal but a failed second attempt to passage was rejected by 38 House Republicans. That's a pretty big number willing to directly defy Trump.
--:-- Susan Davis: And they did it even after he explicitly threatened to primary anyone who opposed his plans in the 2026 midterms, saying simply they don't seem to be afraid of that threat.
--:-- Scott Simon: Let me ask you about the status of Elon Musk following all this. Richest man in the world, also now one of the most powerful men in politics.
--:-- Susan Davis: Absolutely. You know, Musk was really a central figure in killing this original deal. He used his social media platform X to drive public opposition to it.
--:-- Scott Simon: He was cheering on Republican lawmakers who are coming out in opposition to it.
--:-- Susan Davis: He and Vivek Ramaswamy are about to head up a new non-governmental entity that was created by Trump. It's called the Department of Government Efficiency.
--:-- Scott Simon: Musk says they want to find about $2 trillion in spending cuts to the federal budget. That's a pretty big sum of money.
--:-- Susan Davis: And it's clear he intends to be a player here in these budgetary fights.
--:-- Scott Simon: And the next Congress is going to have a lot of them.
--:-- Susan Davis: Remember, Scott, the Trump tax cuts expire at the end of 2025. Republicans need to pass a budget first in order to extend them.
--:-- Scott Simon: They still need to pass all 12 spending bills from the last fiscal year and 12 more for this fiscal year.
--:-- Susan Davis: And the other lesson this week is that Republicans can't do any of it without Democrats.
--:-- Scott Simon: They need their votes in the House to pass anything spending-related because there's always going to be a group of hardline conservatives who are going to oppose it.
--:-- Susan Davis: And Senate Democrats still have the filibuster. So they're still going to have a seat at the table in any spending talks in the next Congress as well.
--:-- Scott Simon: And House Speaker Mike Johnson up for reelection or replacement on January 3rd?
--:-- Susan Davis: Yeah. Are his prospects good?
--:-- Susan Davis: It's really hard to say, but they're not looking great. For no other reason, he has almost no room for error.
--:-- Scott Simon: And it's unclear if Donald Trump's going to continue to back him for the job.
--:-- Susan Davis: He's going to have to preside over one of the narrowest majorities in history, and he can only lose one, two, maybe three votes and hold on to that gavel.
--:-- Scott Simon: So the new Congress could open on a fairly chaotic note.
--:-- Susan Davis: You know, remember, the House can't do a single thing until they elect a speaker.
--:-- Scott Simon: And we saw this happen just last fall when Republicans kicked out Speaker McCarthy.
--:-- Susan Davis: The House didn't operate for 21 days until Mike Johnson ultimately won that race.
--:-- Scott Simon: He and the House of Representatives could be facing a similar fate in just a few weeks.
--:-- Susan Davis: And parapolitical correspondent Susan Davis, thanks so much.
--:-- Susan Davis: You're welcome.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: Authorities in Germany say a man intentionally drove a BMW into an outdoor Christmas market yesterday in the city of Magdeburg.
--:-- Scott Simon: They have identified the man as a Saudi doctor who has lived in the country for about two decades.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: His motive remains unclear.
--:-- Scott Simon: Reporter Rebecca Collard joins us. Thank you for being with us.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: Hi.
--:-- Scott Simon: Begin, please, by telling us some of the details of yesterday's incident.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: Yeah, so yesterday's attack took place about 7 p.m. local time, and you can see in this security camera footage that's being run on German media that the incident looks really terrifying.
--:-- Scott Simon: You can imagine for those that were inside this crowded market when this happened just how scary this must have been.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: You can see this car barreling into the market through the crowd and police say that the car traveled some 400 meters into the market before it was stopped.
--:-- Scott Simon: The official death toll was increased this morning and so was the number of people that are in serious condition.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: The police have also raided the home of the suspect but really haven't provided more details about him.
--:-- Scott Simon: You know, what we know is that he's a 50-year-old man of Saudi origin, a doctor, that he's been living in Germany since 2006.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: And we also know that he was living just south of where this attack took place.
--:-- Scott Simon: Police have also said that this man, they think, acted alone.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: But despite that, a number of Christmas markets and events have been cancelled and security has been increased in a lot of locations across Germany.
--:-- Scott Simon: And nothing determined yet about any possible motive, I guess.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: Yeah, you know, there's nothing official about the motive, even though the suspect is in police custody.
--:-- Scott Simon: I will say, you know, yesterday as this news broke and police said this man was of Saudi origin, immediately there were comparisons to the Christmas market attack here in Berlin in 2016.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: I think that is still very much etched in the minds of Berliners.
--:-- Scott Simon: Then a man drove a truck through a crowded Christmas market killing 13 people.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: And that attack of course was claimed by the Islamic State.
--:-- Scott Simon: Now police have not released the suspect's name in this attack which is normal here.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: But despite that, there's been an awful lot of speculation online and in the news media as to his identity, but also as to the motive of motive of this attack.
--:-- Scott Simon: German media are saying that the suspect has actually been sharing anti-Islamic opinions online and even expressing support for the far-right alternative for Germany party, which is a party that wants to curb immigration.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: And, you know, some of the AFD, Alternative for Germany, party members have even been accused of racism and Islamophobia in the past.
--:-- Scott Simon: And then interestingly, Scott, you know, after visiting the site today, German Interior Minister Nancy Fazer told reporters that the suspect in this attack, this man of Saudi origin, was clearly Islamophobic.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: But the minister did not elaborate on his political affiliations.
--:-- Scott Simon: I do think that all of this speculation reflects a very intense political moment in Germany right now.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: Elections are scheduled for February, and much of the debate here has really focused on both immigration and security.
--:-- Scott Simon: And I gather Chancellor Scholz visited the market earlier today.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: Yeah, I think a lot of the things that you would expect a chancellor to say in this position, so he talked about solidarity with the victims, solidarity with the city, solidarity with Germans as a whole, and he said of course it's important that Germans not be divided by hate but instead be united.
--:-- Scott Simon: You know the Chancellor said he also had received messages of support from around the world and he said that an investigation is being carried out and that it is important to understand how this attack happened and also its motivation.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: And you know Scott just for a bit of context, Schultz lost a vote of confidence last week and as I said Germans are going to the polls in February And the future of Chancellor Schultz, his partners in this now broken political coalition, is very uncertain.
--:-- Scott Simon: Schultz arrived at the market with the Minister of Interior and then the Minister of Justice, as well as the State Premier, who said that there will be a memorial service held this evening.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: Reporter Rebecca Collard in Berlin, thanks so much.
--:-- Rebecca Collard: You're welcome.
--:-- John Oran: Netflix has streamed live events before, but they are stepping up their game this Christmas Day.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Netflix will try to bring two live NFL games to viewers around the world.
--:-- John Oran: And a Beyonce halftime show to boot.
--:-- Scott Simon: Can Netflix handle that traffic?
--:-- John Oran: John Oran is here to tell us more. He covers sports and business for Puck News. Thank you for being with us.
--:-- John Oran: Thank you for having me, Aisha.
--:-- Scott Simon: Okay, so as I mentioned before, Netflix has hosted live events before.
--:-- John Oran: There was last month's boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, as well as a live reunion last year for the reality show Love is Blind.
--:-- Scott Simon: How have these live events gone in the past?
--:-- John Oran: Well, there have been a couple of hiccups, particularly with the boxing match, When people did get in, sometimes there were too many people that were watching so that everything got buffered.
--:-- Scott Simon: The video wasn't as clear as people are expecting when they watch live events.
--:-- John Oran: So one of the main things I'm going to be watching for Christmas is to see whether people have problems coming in to watch the NFL games.
--:-- Scott Simon: And particularly, as you mentioned, when Beyonce ends up being the halftime show, we know from the Super Bowl, the halftime show gets the highest ratings by far for the game because there's a crush of people that want to come in to see that.
--:-- John Oran: But really, this is a short-term problem.
--:-- Scott Simon: Amazon has proved that it can get tens of millions of streams and still provide a quality broadcast with no buffering.
--:-- John Oran: I have no doubt that Netflix will get there.
--:-- Scott Simon: I do have some doubt whether they'll be able to get there next week or not.
--:-- John Oran: What's in it for the NFL?
--:-- Scott Simon: There is that risk of technical issues, even if that's just short term.
--:-- John Oran: They're also competing against Christmas Day NBA games.
--:-- Scott Simon: So what is the upside for the NFL?
--:-- John Oran: Oh, there's huge upside for the NFL.
--:-- Scott Simon: All of the sports leagues have been praying and trying to cajole Netflix into coming in and being a serious bidder for these rights.
--:-- John Oran: Because if Netflix comes in to be a serious bidder for these rights, it's like buying a house.
--:-- Scott Simon: If you get more than one bidder, the prices are going to go up.
--:-- John Oran: And what you have now is that you have NFL packages that all of the broadcast networks have, that Amazon has.
--:-- Scott Simon: If they get one more bidder involved, that could say, like, oh, you know what, I want to take Monday Night Football off of ESPN, and that better has deep pockets like Netflix, sports rates are going to continue to soar.
--:-- John Oran: Are the viewers, the fans of these sports, are they making the jump to streaming?
--:-- Scott Simon: Like, right now, it seems like they need a cable package, Amazon Prime Video, they might need Peacock.
--:-- John Oran: Are they going to have to add Netflix to the list?
--:-- Scott Simon: I mean, this could be a lot just for the fan to keep up.
--:-- John Oran: You know, you mentioned the NFL.
--:-- Scott Simon: Imagine being a New York Yankees fan and you need to get Roku.
--:-- John Oran: You need to get Apple TV Plus.
--:-- Scott Simon: You need to get Amazon Prime.
--:-- John Oran: You need to get a cable subscription to watch it on Yes Network.
--:-- Scott Simon: All the leagues know that fans are getting disenfranchised by having these games going across so many different outlets like that.
--:-- John Oran: Right now, they're still in a little bit of a testing mode.
--:-- Scott Simon: So, yeah, you're going to have to get a Netflix subscription if you want to watch every single NFL game in addition to cable, in addition to Amazon, in addition to there was an exclusive game on Peacock as well.
--:-- John Oran: There's an exclusive game on ESPN Plus.
--:-- Scott Simon: That is going to change eventually, I would assume.
--:-- John Oran: Netflix has secured the streaming rights for the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women's World Cups.
--:-- Scott Simon: What does that tell you about the company's kind of longer-term strategy when it comes to sports?
--:-- John Oran: There are going to be a lot of headlines about this deal saying, here comes Netflix.
--:-- Scott Simon: But really, this is still kind of dabbling in sports to me.
--:-- John Oran: Netflix had the opportunity to get a significant NBA package, and it declined to do that because that wasn't going to be a couple hundred million dollars like the Women's World Cup rights.
--:-- Scott Simon: That was going to be an investment in the billions of dollars.
--:-- John Oran: And they're not quite ready to make that sort of statement yet.
--:-- Scott Simon: But you certainly see where the trend line is going.
--:-- John Oran: And when the next batch of rights are up by the end of this decade, which is when Major League Baseball rights are up, the NFL is going to potentially be up in 2029, 2030.
--:-- Scott Simon: This is a step toward then to where we'll be looking to see if Netflix gets really serious or not.
--:-- John Oran: That's John Oran. He covers sports and business for Puck News. Thank you so much for joining us.
--:-- John Oran: That was fun. Thank you for having me.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And that's up first for Saturday, December 21st, 2024.
--:-- Scott Simon: I'm Scott Simon.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And I'm Aisha Roscoe.
--:-- Scott Simon: Our producer is Martin Patience, who had help from Andrew Craig, Elena Twarik, and Gabe O'Connor.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Our director is Danny Hensel.
--:-- Scott Simon: Our editors are Kelsey Snell, Nick Spicer, Shannon Rhodes, Will Jarvis, and Matthew Sherman.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Andy Huther is our technical director with engineering support from Zach Coleman, David Greenberg, and Arthur Halliday-Lorent.
--:-- Scott Simon: Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Sarah Lucy Oliver is our executive producer.
--:-- Scott Simon: And also along with us this week, Julia Redpath.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Luis Clemens is our deputy managing editor.
--:-- Scott Simon: Tomorrow, on the Sunday Story from Up First...
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: The story of a young black man convicted for killing a white businessman and how he remained in prison even as witnesses recanted their testimony.
--:-- Scott Simon: And for more news, interviews, sports, and music, you can tune in to Weekend Edition on your radio.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Just go to stations.npr.org to find your local NPR station.
--:-- Scott Simon: They're looking for you.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: It'll be a holiday treat.
--:-- Scott Simon: Muhammad.
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