NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-09-2025 11PM EST

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have outlined their plans to slash the federal workforce with the help of a team of quote small government crusaders. What's in store for federal workers and how are they planning for change? This January 1A's dot gov series guides you through various government agencies and the people working for you. Listen to the 1A podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. Los Angeles County officials say between 4 and 5,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed by the series of wildfires burning in the area. As Steve Futterman reports, a shift in weather conditions has given fire crews some relief.

With the Santa Ana winds less intense, fire crews went on the attack, going after the destructive fires both on the ground and from the air. Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft spent the day dropping water and retardant on hot spots. Amidst the damage and destruction, 20 people have been arrested on suspicion of looting. L.A. Sheriff Robert Luna says it will not be tolerated. If you are in one of these areas and you do not belong there, you are going to be subject to arrest.

I hope that is as clear as I can make it. Even though fire officials are hopeful that they can make progress, the fires are still largely uncontained and continue to burn. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Pacific Palisades, California. President-elect Donald Trump suffered a legal setback after a federal appeals court decided to allow special counsel Jack Smith to release his report on at least one of the federal criminal trace cases against Trump. NPR's Jimena Bustillo has more. The Justice Department wants to publicly release only part of its final report based on Smith's recommendation. The first volume of his report covers the investigation and charges against Trump tied to the 2020 presidential election.

The second volume of the report, which concerns the federal case against Trump's handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, will only be available to review to a small handful of lawmakers. A Florida judge had blocked the report's release pending the emergency appeal. Trump's legal team is likely to appeal the latest ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Jimena Bustillo and Peer News. New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton has been hired to review security protocols in New Orleans. As Matt Bloom with member station WWNO reports, the move comes in the

aftermath of the deadly New Year's Day attack in the French Quarter. Bratton twice served as New York's police commissioner and chief of police of Los Angeles, where he became known for his broken windows policing style, which targets petty crimes. New Orleans chief Ann Kirkpatrick says he'll work closely with her over the coming months. He is here to serve all of us. This is a community endeavor. Kirkpatrick made the announcement during a city council meeting where she also said she would not resign in the wake of last week's truck attack on New Year's Day. For NPR News, I'm Matt Bloom in New Orleans. Former President Jimmy Carter has been laid to rest in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, following a funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.

President Biden delivered the eulogy while former presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump and the Carter family looked on. This is NPR News. The U.S. Senate has advanced legislation to allow federal authorities to detain unauthorized migrants accused of certain crimes. Democrats joined Republicans in allowing debate on the measure, named after Lakin Riley, the Georgia nursing student who was killed by a migrant last year. Riley's assailant entered the U.S. illegally and had been allowed to stay pending his immigration

case. A popular education tech firm says it is the victim of a cyber attack. While the company says the incident is contained, NPR's Jenna McLaughlin reports that the attackers stole private data on students and on parents. School districts across the country, from Connecticut to Indiana, warned parents this week that hackers had access to their private data. Education tech company Power School says it sells its cloud-based and software programs

to more than 16,000 customers across North America to support tens of millions of students. The company became aware of the breach just days after Christmas, a time period hackers often take advantage of due to lack of security staffing. The company says there is no disruption of services to schools and that they took steps to prevent the stolen data from being further misused, though they didn't clarify what those steps were. Jen McLaughlin, NPR News. Alec Baldwin is suing officials in Santa Fe, New Mexico for alleged malicious prosecution

and civil rights violations. The civil lawsuit comes months after a judge cleared the actor of an involuntary manslaughter charge stemming from the 2021 death of cinematographer Helena Hutchins during the filming of a movie. This is NPR News. Wait, wait, don't tell me. Fresh air? Up first. NPR News Now, Planet Money, Ted Radio

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