NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-29-2025 11PM EST

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

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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. of memory. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. A regional passenger jet apparently crashed tonight while approaching Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, D.C. A Pentagon official tells NPR that the plane collided with an Army Blackhawk helicopter at low altitude. Radar tracking sites show the passenger jet

may have fallen into the frigid Potomac River. There was no immediate word on the condition of the passengers or crew from both aircraft. The FAA says the passenger jet was a PSA Airlines flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas. PSA flights are operated by American Airlines. The Office of Management and Budget has rescinded its order to Paul's federal assistance programs. NPR's Marliasen reports. The order had caused confusion in Washington and chaos around the country as federal agencies struggled to understand exactly what the White House wanted them to do and which programs were and were not covered by the memo.

Now the Trump administration has abandoned the blanket temporary federal funding freeze. Democracy Forward says the administration has told the heads of all executive departments to contact their general councils if they have questions about how to implement President Trump's other executive orders, cutting specific funding for many programs. The conflict demonstrates the tensions inherent

in Trump's larger effort to expand the powers of the presidency and diminish constitutional checks and balances, including Congress's ability to control how the federal government raises and spends money. Mara Liason, NPR News, The White House. The president has signed a bill requiring the detention of people in the U.S. without legal status who are accused of crimes. The law was introduced after the 2024 murder of a Georgia nursing student who was killed by a man in the U.S. without legal status. The president says he'll instruct the Departments of Defense

and Homeland Security to prepare a migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. More from NPR's Jasmine Garst. At the White House signing of the L and Riley Act on immigration, President Trump announced he would be giving an executive order to prepare a 30,000 person facility at Guantanamo Bay to house deported migrants. We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. Some of them are so bad we don't even trust the countries to hold them. The Trump administration has also indicated that it is negotiating an agreement

with the president of El Salvador, Naib Boukele, to accept deported migrants. Jasmine Garst and Pure News New York. Federal Reserve has left its key interest rate unchanged following its first meeting of the year. The central bank indicates it is taking a more cautious approach after cutting interest rates three times last year. Chairman Jerome Powell has repeatedly said the Fed still has a target inflation rate of 2 percent. At a press conference today, Powell did not address President Trump's recent call for

lower interest rates. This is NPR News. Former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. The New Jersey Democrat was convicted last year of accepting bribes and acting as an agent for foreign government. Two business associates received lesser sentences for their roles in the schemes, and Menendez's wife Nadine is also charged in the case, but is still awaiting trial. In response to a deadly terrorism attack on New Year's Day,

the city of New Orleans is implementing extra security around the French Quarter ahead of next month's Super Bowl. NPR's Debbie Elliott has details. The plan is to establish an enhanced security zone around Bourbon Street, with Louisiana State Police operating checkpoints to enter. Governor Jeff Landry says only small bags will be allowed and are subject to search.

To prevent and deter the introduction of any destructive explosive materials in the French Quarter, coolers and ice chests will be prohibited. The man who drove a truck into a new year's crowd on Bourbon Street had earlier placed explosive devices around the French quarter packed in coolers. Debbie Elliott, NPR News. A preliminary analysis of samples from a near earth asteroid has detected organic compounds that scientists say are necessary for life. The

rock and dust samples were collected in 2023 and could be further evidence that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth. Stocks closed higher today. The Dow Jones industrials lost 136 points. U.S. futures are higher in after hours trading. This is NPR. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies, sending U.S. futures are higher in after-hours trading. This is NPR.