NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-25-2025 6PM EST

Episode Date: January 25, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Pete Hegseth was sworn in as defense secretary today after the Senate confirmed his nomination by the narrowest of margins last night with Vice President Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. It's only the second time in history that a vice president was needed to break a tie for a cabinet-level nominee. During his swearing-in ceremony, Hegseth said he has three priorities in his new job. Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do.

Rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence. We don't want to fight wars. Hegseth survived a brutal fight with Democrats and a few Republicans who questioned his fitness to run the massive department with its nearly 3 million employees, which includes around 1.3 million active duty service members over allegations of financial mismanagement and sexual assault. The former Fox News host and military veteran says the Defense Department has been weakened by woke generals and diversity programs.

Israelis celebrated the release of four female soldiers held captive in Gaza, and Palestinians cheered the release of 200 prisoners and detainees. The successful swap came as the Gaza ceasefire is still holding a week after it started. And here's Greg Myrie has more. Palestinians in Gaza gave a rousing welcome to prisoners who arrived in the territory shortly after being freed by Israel. Most of the 200 Palestinians released were sent to their home areas in the West Bank or Gaza.

But Israel insisted that 70 be sent into exile elsewhere in the region. Many were serving life sentences after being convicted of killings. Earlier in the day, Hamas released the four female Israeli soldiers held in Gaza for more than 15 months. With the ceasefire intact, Israelis and Palestinians are scheduled to carry out similar swaps over the next several weeks. Greg Myhre, NPR News, Tel Aviv. In California, there's new concern today in Altadena where residents are still recovering from the deadly Eaton fire.

That fire is now 95 percent contained, but people are now worried about the rain that's forecast. The National Weather Service says up to two inches could fall. Steve Futterman has more. They could have used this weeks ago. Instead, the rain is coming now. Here in Altadena, many are grabbing sandbags at special locations. Michael Bustamante was lucky when it came to the fires, but he's preparing

for a different threat now. All of the homes around me were burned and Altadena is at an angle and so we're very concerned about the debris flow and the runoff from the rains. It's all about location and topography. Altadena is located just below the San Gabriel Mountains. Landslides have historically been a problem here, and this will be a continuing concern in the months ahead. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Altadena, California. This is NPR News.

The Trump administration says it's working on a plan to save TikTok that involves tapping software company Oracle and a group of outside investors to effectively take control of the app's global operations. That's according to two people with direct knowledge of the confidential talks who are not authorized to speak publicly. Under the deal, TikTok's China-based owner ByteDance would retain a minority stake in the company, but the app's algorithm, data collection, and software updates would be overseen by Oracle, which already provides the foundation of TikTok's web infrastructure. It also means American investors would effectively own a majority stake,

but the terms of the deal are still being hammered out. CBS's new drama debuts tomorrow, reimagining Sherlock Holmes' sidekick John Watson as a medical detective running a clinic in Pittsburgh. NPR's Eric Deggans says the decision to cast a black man as Watson also opens up new storytelling opportunities. Morris Chestnut plays John Watson as the super sharp leader of a medical clinic, with little patience for staffers who don't understand the assignment. CBS's Watson matches together several traditional TV genres, placing Watson in charge of a medical

clinic while looking into the mysterious death of his friend Sherlock Holmes. Chestnut, a heartthrob known for films like The Best Man, offers a version of Watson as a suave, handsome African-American hero, reinventing traditional takes on the character. Eric Deggans, NPR News. And I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.