NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-20-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

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Lately on the NPR Politics Podcast, we're talking about a big question. How much can one guy change? What will change look like for energy? Schools? Healthcare? Follow coverage of a changing country? On the NPR Politics Podcast. Live from NPR Politics Podcast. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. In an extraordinary move, President Biden has issued pardons to members of the January 6th Committee, Dr. Anthony Fauci and General Mark Milley. They and others have been verbally targeted by President-elect

Trump and his allies. NPR's Tamara Keith reports Biden's act is an effort to protect them from potential investigation and prosecution by the Trump administration. In a statement, Biden said the people he is pardoning are public servants who, quote, do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions. In addition to the high profile names, Biden said he is also pardoning staff who assisted the January 6th committee with its work and members of law enforcement who testified about what happened on the day

four years ago. Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Trump said he believes in the rule of law, but these are exceptional circumstances. And he said the issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgement of wrongdoing or an admission of guilt. Tamara Keith, NPR News. President-elect Trump is scheduled to take the oath of office in three hours inside the U.S. Capitol. The swearing-in ceremony was moved indoors and away from the west front of the Capitol outside because of frigid and dangerously cold temperatures in Washington.

Supporters who wanted to see the ceremony are being asked to go to a local arena to watch a live stream. Trump says he will swing by after the event. With the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas now in its second day, people in Gaza are returning to neighborhoods that have been flattened by 15 months of war. Food has been scarce in Gaza but MPR's Eya Batraoui reports on the surge in humanitarian aid. This is the sound of relief for people in Gaza. A long line of trucks carrying food, winter supplies, and fuel entering the territory. The UN Humanitarian Affairs Office says more than 630 trucks of aid entered Gaza on day one of the ceasefire Sunday, marking one of the

biggest hauls to enter Gaza in a single day since the start of the war. For the past many months, a fraction of that was entering Gaza daily. And much of it was looted by armed gangs inside the territory before it could reach warehouses and those in need. Starving crowds were lining up for hours at charitable food kitchens for one hot meal a day, but many couldn't even get that. The UN says humanitarian needs in Gaza are staggering. Ayyab al-Trawi, Ampere News. Weather forecasters say dangerous winds are returning to the Los Angeles area today.

Similar winds fueled the blazes that killed at least 27 people. LA County Fire Chief Anthony Maroney told fire victims that when the Los Angeles area rebuilds, it must be prepared to face fire conditions. We have to make a community that can withstand 80 to 100 mile an hour winds associated with a wildfire. The fires destroyed more than 14,000 structures. This is NPR. The mother of a missing U.S. journalist has traveled to Syria. Deborah Tice is searching for her son, Austin Tice.

He disappeared in Syria in 2012. He was seen in a video a few months after he vanished, held by armed men. Deborah Tice says she hopes the incoming Trump administration will help her find her son. China's vice president is in Washington for today's inauguration. He met yesterday with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and with Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk. NPR's John Rewich has more. Han Jung is attending the inauguration as Chinese leader Xi Jinping's special envoy. According to Chinese state media, he told Vance Beijing is willing to work with the U.S. to promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations.

Despite differences in friction, he said there are enormous common interests and room for cooperation and the two sides should strengthen dialogue. In separate meetings, Han told American business leaders a call last week between Xi and President-elect Donald Trump was a good start. And he told Musk, who's become a close Trump advisor, that Tesla and other U.S. companies were welcome in China to seize opportunities and promote China-U.S. economic and trade ties. John Ruech, NPR News, Beijing. Dangerously cold weather is descending on much of the U.S. There are extreme cold warnings from North Dakota to Texas.

Some areas in the Dakotas could get wind chills of 50 degrees below zero. There's also a rare, significant winter storm spreading across southern Gulf Coast states. The National Weather Service says these are areas that are not used to this kind of winter weather. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington. Wait, wait, don't tell me. Fresh air? Up first. NPR News in Washington.