NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-19-2025 1PM EST

Episode Date: January 19, 2025

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It still feels a bit surreal to me that I got to spend an hour talking with filmmaker David Lynch in the last year of his life. Life is such a gift and can be enjoyed and it's all okay. Nothing to worry about, really. I'm Rachel Martin. My conversation with the legendary filmmaker David Lynch is on the Wild Card Podcast, the show where cards control the conversation. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Ramm. Three women are back on Israeli soil after being held by Hamas in Gaza for 15 months.

Their release was part of a ceasefire that went into effect today, pausing the war that's killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and flattened neighborhoods. As Israeli troops pulled back, NPR's air patrol reports many Palestinians are rushing to assess the damage to one city in the south. NPR producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, saw people in cars and many on foot celebrating their return to the southern city of Rafah for the first time in eight months. Mohammed Abou Mohsen was among those running to enter Rafah, the keys of his house in hand. Though it was unclear if his home was still standing, Rafah, like other areas of Gaza, has been mostly leveled by Israeli airstrikes and controlled demolitions.

There are bodies and unexploded ordnance buried in the rubble, local officials say, making recovery and rebuilding a difficult task. Israel and Hamas agreed to an initial six-week ceasefire to allow for hostages and detainees to be released. The deal also calls for a surge in needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. Eya Batraoui and Per News Dubai with reporting by Annis Baba in Gaza. Donald Trump becomes the 47th president of the United States tomorrow. Trump and his border czar Tom Homan are planning raids to round up and deport people in the country illegally. Congressman Jim Jordan is the chairman

of the House Judiciary Committee. He says improving border security is a top priority because that's what the voters support. They want the border secure. They want people who broke the law, particularly ones who came here and did bad things. They want those people repatriated back to their native country. And then you go to the 1.3 million who've been in front of a judge, in front of a court, and the court has said, you do not qualify under our asylum laws. That's where Tom Homan's going to start. And I think that's exactly what the election was about and appropriate and consistent with

the rule of law. Jordan was interviewed on CNN. The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded Elon Musk's Starship program after last week's rocket explosion. Texas Public Radio's Jerry Clayton has more in the story. The FAA said it will ground the Starship until SpaceX completes an investigation and puts into place any corrective actions. The regulator says they will review the findings before approving Starship's return to flight.

The SpaceX Starship was lost on Thursday after it blew up shortly after launching from South Texas. The debris rained down over the Caribbean as air traffic controllers scrambled to divert air traffic from the area. Elon Musk released a statement that said the explosion was caused by an apparent fuel leak in the aft section of the ship. There were no reports of injuries from the falling debris. The booster section of the rocket was successfully captured back at the launch site.

The Starship program is a reusable launch system and part of SpaceX's plans to colonize Mars. I'm Jerry Clayton in San Antonio. This is NPR News. South Korea's impeached President Yoon Song-yeol was formally arrested early this morning. His supporters then stormed the courthouse where the arrest warrant had been issued, attacking police and smashing windows. Yoon is facing charges for his attempt to impose martial law in South Korea last month. The Biden administration has shelved a policy intended to protect the nation's old growth

forests, a policy opposed by Republican lawmakers and the timber industry. Katie Myers of Blue Ridge Public Radio reports. The Blue Ridge Mountains have much of the East Coast's remaining old growth forest. In western North Carolina, local activist Will Harlan saw Hurricane Helene topple more than 187,000 acres of trees on Forest Service land. One thing about the old-growth amendment is it really emphasized the pressure that these forests are under because of climate change.

However, Harlan said, many forest advocates were frustrated with the amendment because they said it had too many loopholes for logging in old-growth forests. Now that the policy is shelved, Harlan and other advocates plan to continue to fight logging projects at the local level. For NPR News, I'm Katie Meyers in Barnardsville, North Carolina. The National Weather Service is expecting Santa Ana winds to return to Southern California tomorrow, complicating firefighting efforts.

Fire crews have been battling several major wildfires in and around Los Angeles since January 7th. The largest, the Palisades Fire, has burned more than 23,000 acres. It's now about 52% contained. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News. For every headline, there's also another story about the people living those headlines. On weekdays, Up First brings you the day's biggest news. On Sundays, we bring you closer with a single story about the people, places and moments reshaping our world. Your news made personal every Sunday on the Up First podcast from NPR.