NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-22-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

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Donald Trump is starting his second term as president. What will his administration do and what policies will it promote? On the NPR Politics Podcast, we'll break down what the new administration does and explain why it matters. Listen to the NPR Politics Podcast every day. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan. Police groups are expressing some disappointment over President Trump's pardons and commutations for people charged with crimes during the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

NPR's Martin Castee reports. The National Office of the Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement along with the police chief's association, the IACP, saying they're discouraged by recent pardons by presidents Biden and Trump of people who've harmed police officers. The statement does not specify the cases of Trump supporters who assaulted police officers at the Capitol, but David Carter, a former cop who researches policing at Michigan State University, says those pardons are on officers' minds.

They are disappointed, and I think it's more of a reaction of, are you kidding me? Why would you do that? After taking office on Monday, Trump pardoned some 1,500 people convicted of crimes committed at the Capitol in January 2021 as protesters tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory. Martin Costi, NPR News. A number of states are suing the Trump administration over an executive order, attempting to end

birthright citizenship in the U.S. Eighteen states and two cities filed one lawsuit in Massachusetts. Scott Greenstone at member station KUOW has more on the other states that filed suit in Washington state. Washington state will be joined by Oregon, Illinois, and Arizona in the lawsuit. Washington attorney general Nick Brown said he's also filing an emergency order to block any federal agency from denying citizenship to babies born in Washington state. The president's executive order claiming to end birthright citizenship in the United States

is plainly and obviously illegal. Washington State will not abide by such harmful and unjust action. Republicans in Washington State have claimed this lawsuit is a distraction or a quote, craven political move. For NPR News, I'm Scott Greenstone in Seattle. Weather forecasters say the heavily damaged Southern California region could get badly needed rain as recently as this weekend. It would help firefighters in their battle against the wildfires, but Mayor Karen Bass is expressing caution.

The action plan I have directed our city public works bureaus to implement includes the installation of barriers, debris removal, and diverting runoff from our stormwater system and into our sewer system where it can be treated. The mayor has issued an executive order to expedite the cleanup efforts in the burn areas and limit the environmental impact. On Wall Street, all three of the major indexes posted gains. The Dow up 537 points. the NASDAQ added 126, the S&P also had a good day adding 52 points

on Wall Street. From Washington, this is NPR News. Decorated French military officer, Valérie Andre, who was also a brain surgeon and an accomplished helicopter pilot who in the 1950s flew rescue missions into combat zones, has died in Paris at the age of 102. Andre was also the first woman to reach the rank of general in the French armed forces.

She said early on in her career her male superiors were resistant to the idea of her being in war zones. She convinced them and made more than 120 helicopter rescue missions, often landing near enemy fire and on jungle airstrips. She was a strong advocate for pushing for more women in the French military, especially the medical corps. Space, it seems, turns out to be kind of chatty. NPR's Regina Barber reports on a natural phenomenon which produces bursts of radiation

that is called chorus waves. That sound isn't from Star Trek. It's an audio clip created from radiation coming 100,000 miles above Earth's surface. These waves are thought to be created from bunched-up charged electrons trapped in Earth's magnetic field. These rising and lowering waves of radiation have been studied for the past 70 years. And a new study from Beijing, China, published in the journal Nature, was the first to find these waves at this location where Earth's magnetic field is weak and less uniform. This information could help protect satellites and other spacecraft from

damage since coarse waves can accelerate particles to close to the speed of light. Regina Barber, NPR News. Officials in Turkey say 76 people have died in a fire that raged through a hotel frequented by skiers. This is NPR News. Support for NPR. Hey, it's Robin Hilton from NPR Music. Many years ago, I helped start the Tiny Desk Concert Series.

Right now, NPR is looking for the next great undiscovered musician to perform behind the famous desk. Think you've got what it takes? Submit a video of you playing an original song to the Tiny Desk Contest by February 10th. Find out more and see the official rules at npr.org slash tiny desk contest.