Lifestyle
Top contenders to lead the Senate. And, Trump's DOJ priorities
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Today’s top stories
Congress returns this week with a busy agenda. The first item on the list is electing who will lead each chamber. President-elect Donald Trump has made it known he wants to influence these choices, and his allies are pushing to make his preferences happen.
Mladen Antonov/Getty Images
Mladen Antonov/Getty Images
- 🎧 Senators John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota are the frontrunners to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is stepping down from leadership, NPR’s Barbara Sprunt tells Up First. However, there is a push from Trump-world for Florida Senator Rick Scott to get the top leadership gig. The vote for who will lead is secret. The House of Representatives, where the GOP appears to be on track to retain a majority, will have leadership elections for Speaker tomorrow.
One of Trump’s biggest decisions will be selecting the leader of the Justice Department. On the campaign trail, he criticized the DOJ and FBI. Soon, he will have the opportunity to address his grievances.
- 🎧 Some potential candidates for the attorney general position include Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Jeff Clark, a DOJ official Trump attempted to promote in 2020, and Mark Paoletta, a longtime D.C. attorney. NPR’s Carrie Johnson says top priorities for Trump’s new DOJ would involve his plans to pardon people involved in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Trump could cut grant funding for local police that oppose his immigration plans, enforce the Comstock Act against mailing abortion medications, and reinstate federal capital punishment for around 40 individuals on death row.
President Biden travels to Peru and Brazil this week to meet with leaders of the world’s biggest economies at two summits: APEC in Lima and the G20 in Rio. This is likely his last significant opportunity to leave a mark on the global stage, but it comes on the heels of Trump’s victory. As a result, Biden finds himself in a challenging position regarding his final message.
- 🎧 Over the past four years, the Biden administration has focused on rebuilding alliances, expanding NATO, and countering China’s influence since taking office after Trump, NPR’s Asma Khalid says. Biden is expected to provide assurances about the United States’ long-term commitment to global affairs. He has mostly retained the tariffs on China that were implemented during the Trump era, and one key message he might convey this week is that the threat of imposing additional tariffs is a reality.
Special series
Tom Homan speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July. Trump announced on Sunday that the former acting ICE director will oversee border control in his second administration.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Each day this week, Morning Edition will dive deep into one of the promises President-elect Donald Trump has made for day one of his administration.
One of Trump’s signature campaign promises was to “launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America.” Now, he’s appointed a ‘border czar,’ Tom Homan, to carry it out. Homan led Immigration and Customs Enforcement for part of Trump’s first term. Andrew Selee, president of the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute, talks with Morning Edition about what a plan for mass deportation might look like including whether living in a red or blue state matters.
Today’s listen
Karla Sofía Gascón plays the title role in Jacques Audiard’s film Emilia Pérez
Shanna Besson/PAGE 114 – WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS – PATHÉ FILMS – FRANCE 2 CINÉMA
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Shanna Besson/PAGE 114 – WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS – PATHÉ FILMS – FRANCE 2 CINÉMA
Karla Sofia Gascón plays the title role in the new film Emilia Pérez, the world’s first Mexican cartel musical focusing on a trans woman. When Gascón’s character is introduced, she is known as the cartel leader “Manitas” del Monte, who rules by fear and deadly force. But she wants to leave the life of violence behind and become her true self: a woman. She emerges from gender-affirming surgery, performing good deeds to right the wrongs from her past. Morning Edition and Up First host Steve Inskeep spoke with Gascón about what drew her to the role. Listen to what she had to say about the character and more.
3 things to know before you go
Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande arrive at the premiere of “Wicked” in Los Angeles on Saturday. Mattel is among the many brands have collaborated on “Wicked”-themed products ahead of the movie’s release.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
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Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
- Toy company Mattel is apologizing after packaging for its Wicked dolls had a misprint leading shoppers to a pornographic website.
- A South Carolina research facility has recovered 25 of the 43 monkeys that escaped from the laboratory last week when a caretaker accidentally left the door to their enclosure unsecured.
- A study of cells from 84 brains found that Alzheimer’s has two distinct phases and that a specific type of neuron is particularly vulnerable, suggesting treatments may be most helpful early in the disease.
This newsletter was edited by Obed Manuel.
Sequin-covered ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz appear at the offices of Profiles in History in Calabasas, Calif. on Nov. 9, 2001.
Reed Saxon/AP
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Reed Saxon/AP
MINNEAPOLIS — A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28 million at auction Saturday.
Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3 million or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled it within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum.
Including the Dallas-based auction house’s fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5 million.
Online bidding, which opened last month, had stood at $1.55 million before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon.
The sparkly red heels were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case.
Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018. Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn’t publicly exposed as the thief until he was indicted in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023. He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.
His attorney, Dane DeKrey, explained ahead of sentencing that Martin, who had a long history of burglary and receiving stolen property, was attempting to pull off “one last score” after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value. But a fence — a person who buys stolen goods — later told him the rubies were just glass, DeKrey said. So Martin got rid of the slippers. The attorney didn’t specify how.
The alleged fence, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of the Minneapolis suburb of Crystal, was indicted in March. He was also in a wheelchair and on oxygen when he made his first court appearance. He’s scheduled to go on trial in January and hasn’t entered a plea, though his attorney has said he’s not guilty.
The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of several pairs that Garland wore during the filming, but only four pairs are known to have survived. In the movie, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.”
As Rhys Thomas, author of The Ruby Slippers of Oz, put it, the sequined shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have seen “more twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.”
Over 800 people had been tracking the slippers, and the company’s webpage for the auction had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, said Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the auction house.
Among those bidding to bring the slippers home was the Judy Garland Museum, which posted on Facebook shortly after that it did not place the winning bid. The museum had campaigned for donations to supplement money raised by the city of Grand Rapids at its annual Judy Garland festival and the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.
After the slippers sold, the auctioneer told bidders and spectators in the room and watching online that the previous record for a piece of entertainment memorabilia was $5.52 million, for the white dress Marilyn Monroe famously wore atop a windy subway grate.
The auction also included other memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz, such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West. That item went for $2.4 million, or a total final cost to the buyer of $2.93 million.
The Wizard of Oz story has gained new attention in recent weeks with the release of the movie Wicked, an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West.
TMZSports.com
Bill Romanowski tells TMZ Sports despite the repeated head trauma he suffered during his NFL career, he’s still feeling great … although he admits he has to work at it daily.
The legendary tough guy played linebacker for four different teams in the league from 1988 to 2003 … and he revealed to us this week he ended up with “20 documented concussions” in that timeframe.
But, he said as of now, he’s showing no signs of ill effects from the brain blows — although he did relent he’s working like a dog daily to make sure things stay that way.
“I got this saying,” he told us, “‘Don’t let the old man in, because he’s knocking every day.’ I work at it.”
The 58-year-old says he takes “a million supplements every day” — including products from his Lean1 nutrition line — and he works out all the time as well.
Romo says he swims, lifts weights … and even gets in red-light treatment therapy too.
It’s all clearly important to him, especially in the wake of Brett Favre‘s recent Parkinson’s diagnosis … as well as his family’s genetic background.
Romo told us his mom died in a battle with Alzheimer’s, so he’s “worried” about his future.
But, check out the energy he had in our interview … it’s obvious he’s not slowing down any time soon.
The rise of momfluencers and tradwives are filling a void for modern mothers. In this episode, we continue our conversation about the hellscape of modern motherhood, and look into an alternative to the tradwife lifestyle.
We want to hear from our listeners about what you like about Code Switch and how we could do better. Please tell us what you think by taking our short survey, and thank you!
This episode was produced by Jess Kung. It was edited by Courtney Stein. Our engineer was Josephine Nyounai.
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