NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-29-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

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This is Eric Glass. In this American life, sometimes we just show up somewhere, turn on our tape recorders, and see what happens. If you can't get seven cars in 12 days, you gotta look yourself in the mirror and say, holy, what are you kidding me? Like this car dealership, trying to sell its monthly quota of cars, and it is not going well. I just don't want one balloon to a car. Balloon the whole freaking place so it looks like I'm circus. Real life stories every week. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. At the signing of the Lake

and Riley Act on immigration today, President Trump announced plans to establish a 30,000 person facility at Guantanamo Bay for deportation of migrants considered especially dangerous. Trump saying the order would instruct the Department of Defense and Homeland Security to do that work. The measure is his first piece of legislation since starting his new administration. It would allow for detention and possible deportation of those in the U.S. without authorization,

who are accused of theft or violent crimes, potentially even before they are convicted. As the administration moves ahead with its deportation plans, in Florida, Republican leaders are split over how to handle immigration enforcement there. NPR's Greg Allen reports Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is threatening to veto an immigration bill passed by GOP lawmakers. The bill passed by Florida's legislature increases penalties for immigrants without legal status who commit crimes.

It also allocates more money to pay for beds and officers to hold migrants detained by federal authorities. And it would make Florida's agriculture commissioner the state's chief immigration officer. Governor DeSantis says the bill is much weaker than the one he's proposed. We don't have time for half-baked measures. We've gotta be strong.

We've gotta lead the way when it comes to immigration enforcement. DeSantis has indicated he'll veto the bill. It's not clear yet whether Republican lawmakers have the votes to override his veto. Greg Allen in PR News Miami. Federal workers are being given a choice. Either say by next week you'll resign in September or be prepared to come back to the office. However, even if they take the early out, the language is confusing.

The administration is seeking to clarify the, quote, expectation employees will be put on administrative leave until their departure. However, the word buyout does not appear in the letter to employees, nor is there an offer that includes any kind of lump sum payment. MENA and the company's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg have paid President Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit. As NPR's Bobby Allen explains, Trump filed the suit after he was suspended from Facebook and Instagram in the wake of the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Meda and Zuckerberg agreed to the $25 million payout to Trump after years of fighting the litigation. In his suit, Trump claimed his First Amendment rights were violated when he was booted from Facebook and Instagram, since, Trump argued, Meda was acting at the behest of lawmakers who wanted Trump removed. But Meadow said it pushed Trump off its platforms for violating policies for inciting violence. The settlement is the latest example of Zuckerberg yielding to Trump after years of hostilities. Zuckerberg ended a fact-checking program criticized by Trump supporters and appointed Trump ally Dana White to

met his board. Before he was elected, Trump wrote if Zuckerberg crossed him, he could be thrown in prison for the rest of his life. Bobby Allen, NPR News. On Wall Street, stocks slipped slightly today. The Dow was down 136 points. The Nasdaq fell 101 points. You're listening to NPR.

A stampede of attendees at a religious event in India has claimed the lives of at least 30 people and left at least twice as many injured. Police there say the festival turned deadly when some of the millions of pilgrims attending the event rushed to dip in the sacred waters where three rivers converge, including the Ganges. Hindus believe a dip in the waters can cleanse them of past sins and will lead to reincarnation. The latest edition of what's known as the nation's report card has been released. NPR's Cory Turner reports it's an important snapshot of how fourth and eighth graders are doing nearly five years after the pandemic for school closings.

The previous results from 2022 reflected some steep declines in student learning and the hope this time was that 2024 would show a turnaround. In fourth grade math it did with scores improving for most students though they're still not back to pre-pandemic levels. Reading on the other hand was rough. Scores continued to fall for both fourth and eighth graders and the lowest performing students are really struggling, scoring even lower in 2024 than the lowest performing readers did 30 years ago. Other research has shown COVID relief dollars

did help students make up some ground. These new data just underscore how much work is left to do. Corey Turner, NPR News. Tax season is now underway with the Internal Revenue Service expecting when all its over upwards of 140 million people will file returns by April 15th and the agency says if you want a faster refund you should file your taxes electronically. Choose to get a refund via direct deposit and the IRS says it could come even sooner. I'm Jack Spear

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