NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-28-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

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This is Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air, and I just talked to Pamela Anderson about her big career comeback after years in the tabloids and not being taken seriously. She's entered a new era on stage and screen. Suzanne Summers had a great line. She said, You can't play a dumb blonde and be a dumb blonde. Find this interview with Pamela Anderson wherever you listen to Fresh Air. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. A federal judge has moved a block, at least for now an effort, by the Trump administration

to pause federal spending. Proposal caused massive confusion today. We hear from NPR's Tamara Keith even after some White House explaining it wasn't much clearer. Tamara Keith The language in the original memo was quite broad and has caused widespread confusion about just what funding might be cut off. So throughout the day, there have been some clarifications from the White House. Among those clarifications is that the pause does not apply across the board. It doesn't affect direct payments to Americans like Medicaid student loans or food assistance. The White House has had a lot to say about what isn't affected, but they've been far less clear about what is going to be

affected and how. A DC court judge has blocked that spending freeze until at least next week. The White House says it wanted the funding paused and conduct an ideological review of government spending. On the eve of his Senate confirmation hearing, get another scathing indictment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. again by a member of his own family. Kennedy is the Trump administration's nominee to be the nation's next health secretary. But in a post on social media today, along with a letter to lawmakers,

cause on Caroline Kennedy called RFK Jr. a predator addicted to power and a poor choice for the job. I've known Bobby my whole life. We grew up together. It's no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets because Bobby himself is a predator. I urge the Senate to reject his nomination. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy

and a former U.S. ambassador, pointed out while RFK speaks out against vaccinations, he's vaccinated his own children. NPR has reached out to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s office for comment but received no immediate response. Even as the flood of orders and actions from President Trump continues, the first lawsuits against some of those efforts are being launched.

NPR's Selena Simmons Duffin reports a group of six transgender active duty service members and two former service members seeking reenlistment have filed suit in federal court for opposing Trump's latest effort to ban transgender troops in the military. It's a revival of the trans military ban that started back in 2017.

It's no surprise that Trump signed this order. He talked about it a lot on the campaign trail. This executive order is light on details right now in terms of who will be affected and how it will all play out, but it appears to be more sweeping than the trans-military ban in the first Trump administration. MPR Selena Simmons Duffin. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is announcing he'll come to Washington for a February 4th meeting with President Trump at the White House. It would

make Netanyahu the first foreign leader to meet with Trump during his second term in office. The announcement comes as the U. the US continues to exert pressure on both Israel and Hamas to continue an ongoing ceasefire that's halted 15 months of fighting in Gaza. Stocks gained ground on Wall Street today, the Dow up 136 points, the Nasdaq rose 391 points today. You're listening to NPR. President Trump's newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary,

Kristi Noem, donned a uniform and joined officers during an immigration enforcement operation today that resulted in several arrests in New York City. It's part of an ongoing effort by the administration to crack down on individuals which it maintains are in the U.S. illegally. The administration's been stepping up actions to about 1,000

to 1,200 arrests a day. That's above the daily average from last year of just over 300. Hot, dry conditions that fueled the Los Angeles wildfires are connected to climate change. That is according to new analysis from climate scientist, Morph from NPR's Lauren Summer. This winter, the stage was set for a disaster in Los Angeles. After a long hot summer, the vegetation was dry. That high heat is linked to climate change and the heat trapping gases that come from burning fossil fuels. That's according to a new analysis from World Weather Attribution, an international collaboration of climate scientists. Seasonal high winds and a lack of rain also made the conditions worse, but figuring out the influence of climate change on them

is trickier scientifically. Climate scientists are developing new computer models that can better analyze those complex impacts. Lauren Summer, NPR News. Some big companies now say they're poised to help provide the power to energy-hungry AI data centers in the U.S. Oil giant Chevron announcing it's partnering with GE Vernova

to create natural gas power plants, be linked to data centers to provide electricity for future AI advancement. One of the proposed projects, a joint venture, says it intends to tackle building a multi-gigawatt scale co-located power plant and data center. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.