NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-23-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

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The indicator from Planet Money is diving into the world of batteries. Not the kind you buy at the grocery store. We're talking really big batteries. The kind that can power thousands of homes. This technology came seemingly out of nowhere. We're digging deep into the battery industry in three back-to-back episodes. Listen to the indicator from Planet Money podcast on NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kori Vaakulman. President Trump's border czar says immigration actions have started in some parts of the U.S. Tom Homan told Fox News immigration and Custom Enforcement teams are prioritizing public

safety. But there is no word of any large ICE raids. Separately, President Trump has directed the Pentagon to send 1,500 additional U.S. troops to the southern border. And Piers Quill Lawrence reports they'll support border patrol and National Guard troops who are already deployed there. A Pentagon statement announced that the ground personnel will support operations along the border with Mexico, as well as helicopters and intelligence analysts, to support detection

and monitoring efforts. The statement said military airlift may also be used for deportation flights of more than 5,000 people detained by Customs and Border Protection near San Diego, California and El Paso, Texas. Troops will also assist in the construction of barriers to stop illegal border crossings and smuggling, and the Pentagon said additional deployments are expected. Both President Biden and President Trump during his first term sent active-duty troops to the border.

Quill Lawrence, NPR News. President Trump was interviewed on Fox News last night. He's questioning the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and what might happen to California's request for fire disaster relief aid. Trump is claiming that Democrats have mismanaged FEMA. FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly because I'd rather see the states take care of their own problems. He did say that the federal government could help states with money in disaster, but Trump

claims FEMA gets in the way. FEMA previously had run a site that debunked false claims about the agency's disaster relief efforts. The president's remarks come as new wildfires break out north of Los Angeles. The Hughes fire that started yesterday has scorched 15 square miles in less than a day. Some federal judges in Washington, D.C. are sharply criticizing Trump's decision to pardon some 1,500 people convicted or accused of participating in the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

NPR's Tom Dreisbach reports. The judges at the Washington, D.C. federal courthouse handled all of the January 6th cases. Now, some of those judges have used legal filings to push back against Trump's pardons and defend their handling of these cases. District Judge Tanya Chutkin said, quote, no pardon can change the tragic truth of what happened. Or, she said, whitewash the terror of that day.

Senior Judge Beryl Howell described the rioters as, quote, poor losers for the reaction to the 2020 election. She said allowing them to get away with their crimes raises the specter of future lawlessness. Trump has defended his pardons and commutations for even violent rioters by saying that they were treated unfairly. Tom Dreisbach, NPR News. One of the released prisoners is Stuart Rhodes, the founder of the far right Oath Keepers. He was on Capitol Hill yesterday hoping to meet with lawmakers.

You're listening to NPR. Officials in Nashville are investigating yesterday's deadly high school shooting. Authorities say a male student shot and killed another female student in the school cafeteria. A third male student was grazed, apparently, by a bullet. Nashville police don't have a motive yet for the shooting. It's not immediately clear if the victims were targeted. Investigators in South Korea have turned over impeached President Yoon Song-yol to prosecutors. They're seeking his indictment on insurrection charges. MPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul that Yoon has been in detention for eight days.

Anthony Kuhn, MPR, News 8 Yoon has refused to answer anti-corruption investigators' questions and argues that they have no authority to investigate cases involving insurrection. Investigators say they've secured evidence that Yun committed insurrection by deploying special forces to parliament and ordering them to arrest lawmakers. Yun denies this, but military and intelligence officials say they received these orders directly from Yun and then disobeyed them. Only prosecutors can indict Yun, which they're expected to do early next month.

Meanwhile, a constitutional court trial is in progress, which will decide whether to uphold or overturn Yun's impeachment by parliament. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. In Thailand, same-sex couples were officially married today. The country's Marriage Equality Act has gone into effect. The group Bangkok Pride organized a huge wedding event today at a mall. LGBTQ activists have worked for more than a decade in Thailand to pass a marriage equality law. It gives married same-sex couples inheritance and adoption rights. I'm Korva Kuhlman, NPR News.