NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-22-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

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Americans are living longer than ever before. On the Sunday story from Up First, we look at a growing number of people using these extra years to find new meaning. You get to the point where you start asking, what did you do in your life that was significant? A look at the transformative power of human passion and finding your purpose in the third act of life. Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR.

Live from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Cora Vakulman. There's no word on potential federal immigration raids in sanctuary cities across the U.S. President Trump's incoming border czar had said these could happen quickly in cities such as Chicago. The Department of Homeland Security has just issued new guidelines. These say that federal agents can take people from anywhere, including from areas previously off limits, such as children's schools and from churches. And Pierceria Martinez Beltran reports this change stems from Trump's many executive actions this week.

Trump's executive actions range from sending the National Guard to the southern border to ending birthright citizenship. Dean Stein is president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for tighter immigration laws. So it's going to be a period of, you know, both conflict and battle, but it would be a mistake to underestimate the determination of Trump 2.0 in getting the borders under control and restoring some kind of common sense to the immigration system. The ACLU has already filed a lawsuit over the end of birthright citizenship. The organization says it will prevail. Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Washington.

Former President Joe Biden and President Trump have used their executive powers to pardon hundreds of people just this week. NPR's Martin Costey reports two major police organizations say they are discouraged by the actions. Martin Costey, NPR's Martin Costey, NPR In an unusual joint statement, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police say they're not happy with recent clemency actions for people convicted of harming law enforcement officers. The most dramatic case of this was President Trump's pardon of nearly all the people arrested or convicted of crimes

during the assault on the Capitol four years ago. Michael Fanon was a DC cop caught up in that, and he's angry. You know, at the end of the day, the whole idea of backing the blue and the intern is all just crap. The joint statement also cites clemency actions by President Biden, which include the commutation of the life sentence of Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents 50 years ago. Martin Costi, NPR News. President Trump is announcing a new investment venture centered on artificial intelligence. He was joined by the CEOs of SoftBank, Oracle, and OpenAI to announce the new project, which will be called Stargate.

Trump says Stargate will build data centers around the country. A new American company that will invest $500 billion at least in AI infrastructure in the United States and very quickly moving very rapidly, creating over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately. It's not clear how Trump came up with the estimate for new job creation. The president says he wants the United States to lead China in artificial intelligence development. You're listening to NPR. Israel ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza is holding in its fourth day. That's as Israel started a new military operation in the occupied

West Bank. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports Israel says it's using key lessons learned from the war in Gaza. Kat Lonsdorf The Israeli military has turned the Jenin refugee camp essentially into a closed military zone. Jenin is an urban area that's home to many Palestinian families and kids. It's also long been a militant stronghold. Israel says this is a counterterrorism operation aimed at strengthening security in the West Bank. But some Palestinians in the West Bank, like 53-year-old Walid Amr, say it feels like the

war in Gaza is shifting over to them. Of course the war is coming here, he says. The Israeli government wants to prove something to their people, and the West Bank will become the place to prove it. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz called this new operation a quote, significant shift in Israel's approach to the West Bank. Kat Lansdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Winter storm warnings are still up from northern Florida to South Carolina.

Several inches of snow are falling. The Gulf Coast and southeast states have been pounded by the storm. New Orleans got at least eight inches of snow. The tracking site, poweroutage.us, says more than 100,000 customers don't have power from Texas to Georgia. Firefighters are still working to control several wildfires in the Los Angeles area. The Clay Fire broke out yesterday in Riverside County east of L.A. It's 38 acres and nearly half contained.

The L.A. wildfires have killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 15,000 structures. This is NPR.