NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-25-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: January 25, 2025

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Matt Wilson spent years doing rounds at children's hospitals in New York City. I had a clip-on tie. I wore heelies, size 11. Matt was a medical clown. The whole of a medical clown is to reintroduce the sense of play and joy and hope and light into a space that doesn't normally inhabit. Ideas about navigating uncertainty. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari is welcoming the four female Israeli soldiers released today by Hamas, but he says Israel will not forget the others who are

still being held in Gaza. We cannot and will not forget the 90 hostages, including women, children, and elderly men, still remain in brutal conditions in Hamas captivity. The four soldiers were handed over to the Red Cross in a brief ceremony today in Gaza City with armed and masked Hamas fighters standing in line next to a stage. As part of the ceasefire deal that has brought a pause to the fighting, Israel released 200 prisoners and detainees today. The exchange is the second since the ceasefire went into effect nearly a week ago.

President Trump's unbattled nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been approved by the Senate by the narrowest of margins. Hegseth needed Vice President J.D. Vance to break a 50-50 tie in a vote on his nomination late last night. Hegseth was dogged by doubts about his qualifications as well as allegations of sexual misconduct, public drunkenness, and financial mismanagement at two veterans' nonprofits. Here's MPR's Tom Bowman. Three Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, voted against him, citing his alleged misconduct and his lack of experience. Hegseth is an Army National Guard combat veteran and former Fox News host,

but he calls himself someone with dust on his boots, who will be a change agent at the Pentagon, a place he claims has focused on woke politics and diversity at the expense of war fighting. Hegseth has changed his long-held stance against women in ground combat, saying women can serve in those roles as long as they meet the standards. But he says the fitness requirements are lower for women and has vowed a review. Tom Bowman, NPR News. The Trump administration is giving immigration authorities new power to quickly expel migrants who were temporarily admitted into the country by the Biden administration.

And here's Joel Rose has more on a memo signed by acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamin Huffman. It appears to give immigration authorities permission to begin removing migrants who were admitted to the country under two Biden era programs. That is the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry to begin their asylum claims. And the other is a separate program for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Those two Biden era programs were terminated earlier this week. They admitted more than a million migrants into the U S president. Trump will be in Las Vegas today. He's told a rally after touring disaster areas in Southern California and North Carolina, where he told reporters that he is considering getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He said he prefers that states be given federal money to handle disasters themselves. And from Washington, you're listening to NPR News. The Trump administration has revoked federal protection for Dr. Anthony Fauci, who helped lead the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NPR's Rob Stein has more. Dr. Fauci has been guarded because of threats he's been getting because of the pandemic. Fauci was considered a hero by many from his role fighting COVID-19, but the National Institutes of Health scientists was vilified by some due to conflicting advice about masks, vaccine mandates and the origins of the virus. During a visit to North Carolina, President Trump said Fauci and other former federal officials whose protection has been cancelled can afford to pay for their own security. A source close to the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says Fauci, who

is now retired, has hired private guards. Rob Stein, NPR News. Paul McCartney has told the BBC that the British government's proposed changes to copyright law would threaten the livelihood of musicians. You get young guys, girls coming up and they write a beautiful song and they don't own it and anyone who wants can just rip it off. The truth is the money's going somewhere.

You know, when it gets on the streaming platforms, somebody's getting it and it should be the person who created it. It shouldn't just be some tech giant somewhere. The changes would allow artificial intelligence firms to use artists' content on the internet to develop their computer models unless the copyright owners opt out. I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News from Washington.