NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-21-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

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Do you make resolutions in January? We do. Specifically, we make pop culture resolutions. We also check in on what we resolved to do this last year. Did we catch up on all those classic movies or finally write that novel? Find out on the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. President Trump has pardoned about 1,500 people convicted of or accused of involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol four years ago. 140 law enforcement officers were hurt at that time, including those with crushed spinal

discs and traumatic brain injuries. Rioters who are imprisoned will be freed. That includes the man who attacked former Washington, D. Washington DC police officer Michael Fanon with a stun gun. Fanon was tased repeatedly and rioters threatened to murder him with his own gun. Fanon says he later had a mild heart attack. He has strong words about the president's executive action. I have been betrayed by my country and I've been betrayed by those that supported Donald Trump. That audio is courtesy of CNN's Anderson Cooper, AC 360. President Trump focused heavily on border security and immigration during his inaugural address.

He has declared a national emergency exists on the southern U.S. border. He then signed scores of executive actions on the issues. MPR's Tamara Keith reports Trump is taking aim at one right that is protected by the U.S. Constitution. Trump is already testing the limits of his executive power, including with an executive order that would end birthright citizenship for the children of people who are not in the country legally,

or who are in the U.S. lawfully, but temporarily. Birthright. That's a big one. Birthright citizenship is written into the Constitution, and Trump admitted he doesn't know whether his order will hold up to legal challenge. It's just absolutely ridiculous, but we'll say we think we have very good ground. The order was part of a stack of executive actions signed by Trump in the Oval Office just hours after being sworn in. Tamara Keith, NPR News.

The ACLU is filing suit over the birthright issue. President Trump also says the United States will once again consider itself a growing nation that expands its territory. John Otis reports in his inaugural address, Trump has renewed his threat to seize the U.S. built Panama Canal. The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and is a key route for world shipping. It was built and operated by the U.S.,

but under a treaty signed by both countries in 1977, the canal was handed over to Panama. In his address, Trump insisted that U.S. ships are now being overcharged to use the waterway and claimed, without evidence, that it's controlled by China. China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama and we're taking it back. However, Trump offered no details on how that would happen. And Panama's president, José Raúl Molino, insisted that the canal belongs to Panama.

For NPR News, I'm John Otis. You're listening to NPR. Israel's prime minister says his country's military is conducting a major raid in the occupied West Bank to combat terrorism. Palestinian officials in the West Bank say at least six Palestinians have been killed. This comes as a ceasefire continues to hold in the separate Palestinian enclave of Gaza. A former Georgia prosecutor goes on trial today charged with interfering in the police investigation of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

He was the black jogger chased and killed by three white men in 2020. And Piers-Debbie Elliott reports, no arrests were made until months later and only after video of the crime was leaked. Former Glen County District Attorney Jackie Johnson is charged with violating her oath of office and hindering a police officer.

State prosecutors say she sought to shield charged with violating her oath of office and hindering a police officer. State prosecutors say she sought to shield Ahmaud Arbery's killers from arrest. One of them had previously worked as an investigator in her office. His father, Marcus Arbery, says it's important to hold the former prosecutor accountable. You get 100 percent justice for Ahmaud. Johnson, who is white, served as the Glen County DA for 10 years. She has denied interfering and said she immediately recused herself from the Arbery case. Jury selection begins today.

Debbie Elliott, NPR News. The three men who murdered Arbery are serving life prison sentences. There are blizzard warnings up for parts of Louisiana's Gulf Coast. Up to four inches of snow may fall on the region, not far from New Orleans. It's part of a massive winter storm blanketing the southern U.S. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.