An NBC News investigation reveals childhood vaccination rates are dropping as measles cases surge. Democrats skeptical about working with new White House chief of staff Stephen Miller. And Russia’s top independent newspaper shuts down after more than two decades.
Here’s what to know today.
U.S. on the verge of losing measles-free status as cases surge
Should the U.S. lose its measles elimination status? That’s what public health experts expect will be the outcome of a meeting this week of an independent commission of the Pan American Health Organization. The group of eight people is made up of epidemiologists, infectious disease and vaccine experts from countries in the Americas.
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If the U.S. loses elimination status, it will join Canada as the only other country in the region to have lost control of the virus, paving the way for illnesses and deaths. The milestone would also mark a stunning reversal of efforts to stop the spread of the world’s most contagious disease.
In 2000, there were only about 100 confirmed cases in the entire country. This year, there have been more than 5,000 confirmed cases and 43 new outbreaks across the country. Eight people, including four babies too young to be vaccinated, have died.
An updated NBC News/Stanford University analysis reveals an alarming drop in childhood vaccination rates, particularly in the country’s most vulnerable areas. In hard-hit Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the share of kindergarteners who got MMR vaccines in 2025-26 was 87.6%, compared to 95.5% before the pandemic.
An immunization rate of 95% is needed to prevent the spread of measles.
The country’s immunity was eroded by decades of scientifically dubious claims about the dangers of childhood vaccines, and misinformation then exploded during the pandemic.
More from The Vaccine Divide:
- See maps of vaccination rates in your county and where exemption rates in schools are rising.
- Learn more about how NBC News gathered and analyzed the data.
Stephen Miller’s elevation sends a message to Dems
President Donald Trump signaled he might be willing to work with Democrats on his priorities after last week’s election results. But his decision to oust Susie Wiles and install Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff has left some Democratic lawmakers pessimistic.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to become House speaker, said he has “zero interest” in working with Miller, calling him a “stone-cold racist.” Rep. Jamie Raskin said Miller, the face of hard-line immigration enforcement, “might not be able to engage in any kind of course correction.”
Democrats have recoiled at Miller’s elevation, expecting blanket opposition to the bills they pass and the oversight investigations they plan to launch. Among Republicans, views are more mixed, with some seeing his promotion as a reaffirmation of the very policies that contributed to the party’s midterm collapse. MAHA advocates, meanwhile, are excited for Miller’s new leadership post.
What Democrat and GOP lawmakers said of Miller.
More politics news:
- The Republican-led House rejected a push to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, effectively killing the effort.
- House Republicans elected Jim Jordan as their new party leader, replacing outgoing Speaker Mike Johnson.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders won’t support Chuck Schumer to be the next Senate majority leader, saying “the time is now for change.”
- Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar won re-election in her Miami-based congressional district after clashing with Trump over his immigration agenda.
- For subscribers: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is laying the groundwork to set up a think tank, marking his first move toward a possible presidential run.
- Nine members of the Kennedy family asked a judge to join the legal battle to stop construction of Trump’s “triumphal” arch.
Nvidia hires top lawyer to investigate Jensen Huang affair
Nvidia has hired a former federal prosecutor and one of Wall Street’s top law firms to investigate the events surrounding CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with an alleged Chinese spy.
Joon H. Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, prosecuted mob bosses and billion-dollar hedge funds during his career. His law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is among the country’s most prestigious, with a track record of taking on powerful corporate figures.
The appointment of the high-profile lawyer signals that Nvidia’s board, many of whose members have worked alongside Huang for decades, intends to conduct a serious investigation into the circumstances surrounding the CEO’s affair with Alice Huang.
How the affair has affected Nvidia’s stock.
Staff Pick: Russia’s top independent newspaper closes
Novaya Gazeta was an increasing rarity in Russia: a fearlessly independent newspaper in a country where most media have been brought to heel by the Kremlin. Its investigations exposed abuses by Russian forces in Chechnya and offshore wealth linked to President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Since 2000, five of its journalists and associates have been murdered and a sixth has died of suspected poisoning.
This week, NBC News witnessed the somber spectacle of staff shuttering its offices in central Moscow.
Russian authorities branded the newspaper a “foreign agent,” accusing it of spreading misinformation about the authorities and citing its opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Officials had already revoked its print and online publishing licenses, and now the newspaper was being evicted from its offices, too.
For the paper, its readers and supporters abroad, human rights organizations and Western governments, the closure is a stark example of Putin’s intensifying crackdown on free speech and the media.
“People say: ‘You decided to shut down,’” the newspaper’s co-founder, Dmitry Muratov, told NBC News. “It’s like talking about a situation when a person has been shot in the head three times and then he is asked: ‘Tell me, at what point did you decide to die?’”
“This was not our choice,” he added. “We were strangled.” — Alexander Smith, London-based senior reporter
Read All About It
- Three people were killed and three were injured after a vehicle struck pedestrians in Los Angeles.
- Three men have been arrested after protesters threw objects at former President Joe Biden during a protest outside a university in Dublin, police said.
- A woman seen making racist gestures outside the apartment of several Black Ole Miss students apologized for her actions and reportedly withdrew from the university.
- An 11-month old boy said to have been taken by his father was found alive buried in a dog crate in South Carolina.
- Sofia Franklyn, the co-“founding father” of the podcast “Call Her Daddy,” released a memoir detailing her fallout with Alex Cooper.
- For subscribers: The price of infant formula just had its largest-ever monthly increase — and shows why inflation will be tough for Democrats to tame.
NBC Selected: Online Shopping, Simplified
Poppi founder Allison Ellsworth just launched a new beverage brand. Here’s everything you need to know. Plus, if you’re headed to a holiday party this year, don’t forget to grab your host a thoughtful gift. These are our picks that’ll make you the most valuable guest of the evening.
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