NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-21-2025 5PM EST

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The leaders of the far-right extremist groups, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, are out of prison. The release comes a day after President Trump issued sweeping pardons for the people who were charged in the January 6th insurrection. NPR's Windsor Johnson reports the move is drawing outrage from police officers who were defending the Capitol that day. Former District of Columbia police officer Michael Fanone was violently attacked by rioters

at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6th. He calls Trump's proclamation a betrayal. I have been betrayed by my country and I have been betrayed by those that supported Donald Trump. Whether you voted for him because he promised these pardons or for some other reason, you knew that this was coming. Trump has either commuted, pardoned, or pledged to dismiss the cases of more than 1,500 people who took part in the insurrection. They include rioters from extremist groups who were convicted of assaulting police officers

that day. Trump claims his supporters were treated unfairly by the legal system. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. Attorneys general from 18 states and two cities say they'll fight in court to overturn President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship.

As NPR's Brian Mann explains, the case is expected to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. President Trump signed an executive order limiting citizenship for babies born to migrants and others in the U.S. without legal status or in the country temporarily. New Jersey State Attorney General Matthew Plattkin, a Democrat, said the order violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. We are a state of immigrants. Millions of people in our state have obtained their citizenship through birthright citizenship, and it is enshrined in our state have obtained their citizenship through birthright citizenship.

And it is enshrined in our constitution for a reason. State AGs in California, Washington, and more than a dozen other states are also suing to block Trump's executive order, and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a separate lawsuit. This legal fight is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration, aimed at pushing millions of migrants in the country illegally out of the U.S. Brian Mann, NPR News, New York. A rare winter storm is gripping the U.S. Gulf Coast. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports heavy snow sleet and ice are making travel conditions treacherous across the region from Houston

into the Florida panhandle. Governors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida have all declared states of emergency as the snow starts to pile up in places that rarely see it. A thick coat is blanketing New Orleans French Quarter and blizzard warnings were up in Lake Charles and Lafayette, Louisiana. Officials across the Gulf South are urging people to shelter in place and be ready for possible power and water outages. Forecasters predict historic snowfall amounts for much of the region.

Debbie Elliott, NPR News, Orange Beach, Alabama. Stocks rose on Wall Street today, the Dow jumped 537 points. This is NPR. As the World Economic Forum gets underway in Davos, Switzerland, participants are getting something to talk about in terms of proposed policies from the incoming Trump administration. Trump, among other things, has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization. European Union Chief Ursula von der Leyen defended the Paris climate talks after Trump

ordered the U.S. pullout, also likely to be discussed at the first full day of Davos, energy trade and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Commercial poultry activities remain suspended in Georgia after officials there detected a positive case of avian influenza. It's the first bird flu case that's been confirmed at a commercial poultry facility in Georgia, one of the nation's largest chicken-producing states. Jess Maydort, member, station WAB in Atlanta, has more. Georgia officials have placed under quarantine and are testing birds at all operations within

six miles of the case located at a farm in northeastern Georgia. And sales of live birds remain suspended for now. State officials have not identified any human cases of bird flu, but there have been dozens nationwide, according to the CDC, mostly among people directly exposed to infected animals and one reported human death in Louisiana. Georgia's Agriculture Commissioner says the agency is working around the clock to mitigate further spread and ensure normal poultry activities in the state as quickly as possible.

For NPR News, I'm Jess Madore in Atlanta. Crude oil futures prices fell today oiled down 99 cents a barrel to $75.89 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.