NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-11-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: January 11, 2025

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Noor Aram, NPR News. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Aram. Firefighters in Southern California are reporting some progress in containing several major wildfires that erupted this week. Officials say the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County is now about 15 percent contained. The strong Santa Ana winds are expected to return today and last through Wednesday. Residents are urged to listen to orders to evacuate. Kevin McGowan is the director of emergency management for LA County.

He says the county is working to fix the alert system that put out faulty evacuation information this week. We've made the preliminary determination that the echo alerts happened as cell towers came back online after they were knocked offline due to this disaster. The outdated alerts were cached in the system and as they came back online, started being released to the public. Officials say at least 11 people have died since the fires broke out Tuesday. They warn the death toll could rise when rescue workers reach more burned out buildings. The wildfires have also disrupted the industry that makes the region famous, Hollywood. NPR's Mandelie Del Barco reports.

Hollywood A-listers Billy Crystal and Milo Ventimiglia were among those whose homes burned to the ground. On The Tonight Show, actress Jamie Lee Curtis talked about how her Pacific Palisades neighborhood was destroyed. It's just a catastrophe. The market I shop in, the schools my kids go to, many, many, many, many, many friends now have lost their homes. The deadly wildfires have also affected countless others who work in the TV and film industry. Some studios paused productions on their lots and the film permitting offices not allowing productions in evacuated zones. Some red carpet events were canceled and award shows postponed. The

fires also prompted a delay of nominations announcements for the upcoming Academy Awards. Mandelita Elbarco, NPR News, Los Angeles. Tick-Tock is awaiting a decision over its future from the Supreme Court. Arguments were heard yesterday. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, unless the court stops it, the app is set to be banned in the United States in eight days. TikTok told the Supreme Court that shutting down the service would deprive 170 million Americans of their free expression. The government countered that TikTok's owner, ByteDance,

had a chance to sever ties with the app, and it has not. While TikTok maintains it is independent from its Beijing parent company, Chief Justice John Roberts said that TikTok's owner, ByteDance, had a chance to sever ties with the app, and it has not. While TikTok maintains it is independent from its Beijing parent company, Chief Justice John Roberts said lawmakers determined that China has a history of exerting influence over ByteDance. It seems to me that you're ignoring the major concern here of Congress, which was Chinese manipulation of the content and acquisition and harvesting of the content. TikTok asked the court for the ban to be delayed and for the law to be overturned.

President-elect Donald Trump has committed to finding a way to keep Tick-tock alive in the U.S. Bobby Allen, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. A publication by the Islamic State does not claim responsibility for the New Year's attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people. It does affirm that the man behind the operation was inspired by ISIS materials. NPR's Odette Youssef has more.

An editorial in the Islamic State's weekly newsletter praises the attack, but it indicates that the organization had no knowledge that it was coming. Colin Clark, a counterterrorism expert with the Soufan Group, says this is highly concerning because it means online ISIS materials were sufficient to inspire the attacker to think of the operation on his own. This is set it and forget it. Like this is the realization of exactly what they're hoping to achieve. Clark says this model is really difficult, if not impossible, to stop, especially if a would-be terrorist has good operational security, as he says the New Orleans attacker did.

Odette Youssef, NPR News. New Orleans is set to host the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 9th, and then Mardi Gras Day in March, a celebration that marks the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. It includes parades, mask balls and lavish dinners. Both annual events attract visitors from around the world. Mayor Latoya Cantrell says the city is prepared for whatever happens. Our unified command has been working for over two years now on plans and activations in preparation for Super Bowl 59.

So we know that we're ready. The city's director of Homeland Security says his department is working alongside local, state and federal officials to ensure the safety of residents and visitors. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.