News Wrap: Cheaper gas helps ease U.S. inflation in November

Geoff Bennett:

Cheaper gas helped ease inflation in November. The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index edged up just one-tenth of a percent last month from October. On a year-to-year basis, the rate dropped slightly to 3.1 percent from the previous November. The core inflation rate, excluding volatile food and energy costs, rose three-tenths of a percent. That's a bit faster than in October.

House Republicans moved today to set a vote on formalizing their impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The focus is whether he benefited from family business dealings, but so far there is no evidence tying him to wrongdoing. Republicans argued today the resolution would give them stronger legal backing for subpoenas.

Democrats said it's all a political stunt. They spoke at separate briefings.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA):

To fulfill our constitutional responsibility, we have to take the next step. We're not making a political decision. It's not. It's a legal decision. So, people have feelings about it one way or the other. We can't prejudge the outcome. The Constitution does not permit us to do so. We have to follow the truth where it takes us.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA):

The vote this week is the culmination of the extreme MAGA Republican yearlong agenda exacting political retribution on behalf of Donald Trump. It's painfully obvious that they are trying to hurt President Biden politically to help President Trump get reelected.

Geoff Bennett:

With a closely divided House, the resolution would need near-total Republican support. The vote could come tomorrow.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley gets a key endorsement in New Hampshire tonight six weeks before that state's primary. Governor Chris Sununu is expected to come out for Haley. He's been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump. Polls show Mr. Trump leading by wide margins in New Hampshire.

Claudine Gay will stay as president of Harvard after a backlash over her congressional testimony on campus antisemitism. The university's governing body issued a statement today saying — quote — "President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing."

At a House hearing last week, Gay and other school leaders struggled to answer questions from Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. Today, Stefanik had fresh criticism.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY):

This is a moral failure of Harvard's leadership and higher education leadership at the highest levels. And the only change they have made to their code of conduct, where they failed to condemn calls for genocide of the Jewish people, the only update to the code of conduct is to allow a plagiarist as the president of Harvard.

Geoff Bennett:

Harvard's governing body says an independent review of plagiarism allegations against Gay found no violation of school standards.

In Pakistan, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a police station today, killing at least 23 people. A Taliban offshoot claimed responsibility. The attack in the northwestern part of that country was one of the deadliest in recent months. The force of the blast shattered windows, damaged nearby businesses, and wounded dozens of people. Pakistan's military said other militants triggered an hours-long shoot-out before they were killed.

Back in this country, Google will appeal a federal jury verdict in San Francisco that found its android App Store operates as an illegal monopoly. Epic Games argued the system quashes competitors and ultimately hurts smartphone users. The judge will now determine what steps Google must take, but the appeals process could take years.

And on Wall Street, stocks advanced again on the inflation report and ahead of tomorrow's Federal Reserve statement on interest rates. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 173 points to close at 36578. The Nasdaq rose 101 points. The S&P 500 added 21.