NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-19-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

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Okay, so does this sound like you? You love NPR's podcasts, you wish you could get more of all your favorite shows, and you want to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public. If all that sounds appealing, then it is time to sign up for the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Hurst. On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Trump addressed a victory rally at an arena in Washington, D.C. tonight, telling the thousands of supporters he means business. By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt and all the illegal border trespassers will in some form or another be on their way back home.

Trump also says he plans to reverse bans on oil drilling, enact mass deportations of people in the country without legal status that's said to be starting next week. And he says he will issue lots of executive orders. Meanwhile, thousands of supporters are in the nation's capital to celebrate the inauguration, which was moved inside because of cold temperatures that are expected for tomorrow. President Biden is using his clemency power to pardon or commute the sentences of seven more people,

adding to a historic roster. And Piers Meier-Eliason has more. With just hours left in his presidency, President Biden issued pardons for five people, most of them convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, but one of them given posthumously was for Marcus Garvey, the early 20th century civil rights leader. Another is Don Scott, who was the first black speaker

of the Virginia House of Delegates. President Biden also commuted the sentences of two people serving decades long sentences. Biden said they would not have received under current law. In a statement, the president said America is a country built on the promises of second chances. Biden has made more pardons and commutations than any other president in US history.

Mara Eliasson, NPR News. Israel has released around 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from its jails. This in exchange for three Israeli hostages held in Gaza who are now at a hospital in Israel. MPR's Hadil El-Shulchi has more from the hospital. Emily Demary, Roni Gonen and Dorn Steinbrecher aged between 24 and 31 were all flown by helicopter to the Sheba Hospital outside of Tel Aviv just a couple of hours after they were released from Gaza. Doctors here said that the three women are in stable condition and their priority was

to be reunited with their families. Photos of Demary showed that she had two fingers missing from one hand. Israeli officials said her hand was wounded on October 7th when she was attacked by Hamas militants. Friends and family of the three women gathered in the hospital, some draped in Israeli flags. Bystanders cheered and danced as the ambulances carrying the women drove by. In a statement released by Demare's mother,

she said that while the nightmare was over for her daughter, the wait for the other families, waiting for their loved ones to come out of Gaza is still impossible. Hadil Alshalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. It's the first of several hostage and detainee exchanges set to take place during an expected six-week ceasefire in Gaza. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Justice Department is suing Fayette County in western Tennessee, alleging it's violating the Voting Rights Act. The DOJ says the country's map of voting districts dilutes the votes of black residents in violation

of federal law, and is asking a federal court to order the county to draw a new voting map. This is one of three voting rights lawsuits filed in the final days of the Biden administration. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging health care workers who are treating hospitalized flu patients to test for bird flu within 24 hours of admission. Scott Messioni of Member Station WYPR has more. The CDC advisory underscores increasing concern over the potential for bird flu to spread. Earlier this month, the Louisiana man became the first person in the U.S. to die of the

disease. There are also multiple reports of domestic cats contracting the virus after being exposed to raw milk or contaminated pet food. The bird flu has still not mutated to the point of human-to-human transmission and therefore remains a low threat to most of the U.S. population. However, a recent study from Scripps Research shows the virus may be getting close to that capability. The CDC's concern over bird flu rose after a child in California contracted the disease late last year without any known contact to infected animals. For NPR News, I'm Scott Massione.

A quiet weekend at the box office, the buddy comedy One of Them Days debuted in the top spot with an estimated $11.6 million in ticket sales. The R-rated Sony release cost only $14 million to produce. I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. This is Eric Glass. In this American life, sometimes we just show up somewhere, turn on our tape recorders, NPR News from Washington.