NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-24-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

NPR News: 01-24-2025 8AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Technologist Paul Garcia is using AI to create photos of people's most precious memories. How her mother was dressed, the haircut that she remembered. We generated tens of images and then she saw two images that was like, that was it. Ideas about the future of memory. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, Ankura Korova Coleman. President Trump is visiting the scenes of two disasters today. He'll go to the Los Angeles area this afternoon. It's recovering from a series of deadly and devastating wildfires this month. First, he'll fly to North Carolina. That's where residents are still recovering from Hurricane Helene. Blue Ridge Public Radio's

Felicia Sonmez has more. This will be Trump's first visit to the state since the start of his second term. Helene caused catastrophic damage when it swept through western North Carolina in September. The storm brought historic flooding, wind, and landslides, killing 104 people and damaging or destroying an estimated 126,000 homes. Nearly four months after the storm, thousands of residents remain without a permanent place to live. A bipartisan funding bill signed into law last month by then-President Biden allocated

billions of dollars to disaster relief. But the aid will take months to arrive, and local officials say more help is needed. For NPR News, I'm Felicia Sodomiz in Asheville. President Trump's choice for defense secretary has passed a procedural vote in the Senate. Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats to vote against Pete Hegseth. The final Senate vote is expected today. Hegseth appears likely to be confirmed. A federal judge in

Seattle has temporarily blocked President Trump's executive order that tries to limit birthright citizenship for some Americans. NPR's Martin Costey reports the court order applies nationwide. This lawsuit by Oregon, Arizona, Illinois, and Washington state is one of several brought against Trump's effort to curb the right of citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil, as laid out in the 14th Amendment. In a packed courtroom in downtown Seattle, Judge John Kuhnauer told the Justice Department lawyer that the Trump policy is clearly unconstitutional. Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown welcomed the judge's skepticism. To hear the judge from the bench say that in his 40 years as a judge, he has never seen

something so blatantly unconstitutional sets the tone for the seriousness of this effort. The court order temporarily bars the administration from enforcing its restriction on birthright citizenship. Martin Kosty, NPR News, Seattle. President Trump is calling on Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices. He claims that could help bring an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. And Beers Deepa Shivram has warned. Trump addressed the Economic Forum in Switzerland with a focus on tariffs, saying that if products

aren't made in America, there will be tariffs added to them. He also said he would call on Saudi Arabia to bring down the cost of oil and that doing so would, quote, immediately end the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia, which exports a lot of oil, has been relying on the high cost of it to sustain the war. Trump also said China's Xi Jinping could help pressure Russia's Putin to end the conflict. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News, The White House. You're listening to NPR News.

Health insurance Company United Health Care Group has named a company executive as its new CEO. Tim Noel will take the job after former CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed last month in New York. The slaying shocked many. Noel recently ran United Health Care's Medicare and Retirement Division. The record label for the late rock icon Tina Turner has released a previously lost song by the singer. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports Hot For You Baby isn't creating sparks among critics, but it's a welcome dose of nostalgia for her fans. Hot For You Baby was originally destined for Tina Turner's blockbuster 1984 album Private Dancer,

but it didn't make the cut. The song languished forgotten for roughly 40 years until Turner's record label rediscovered the master tape. Rolling Stone magazine contributing editor Anthony de Curtis says Hot For You Baby is a bit one-dimensional, not nearly as nuanced as tracks like What's Love Got to do with it. But you know, it's got energy and it's got power and it's got excitement. The critic says most importantly, it makes us feel like Tina Turner, who died in 2023, is still with us. Chloe Valtman, NPR News.

Men's tennis star player Novak Djokovic suddenly withdrew from the Australian Open Tennis Tournament today. He'd lost the first set in his match, but he stopped, shook his opponent's hand, and then walked off the tennis court as some fans booed. Djokovic said a leg injury that has plagued him throughout the tournament prevented him from continuing. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News from Washington. The indicator for Plano Money is diving into the world of batteries. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News from Washington.