NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-30-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

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Hey, it's Robin Hilton from NPR Music. Many years ago, I helped start the Tiny Desk Concert Series. And right now, NPR is looking for the next great undiscovered musician to perform behind the famous desk. Think you've got what it takes? Submit a video of you playing an original song to the Tiny Desk Contest by February 10th. Find out more and see the official rules at npr.org slash tiny desk contest. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. Authorities say 64 people were aboard a passenger jet that collided with an Army helicopter carrying three soldiers near Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport.

There's been no official word on the fate of the passengers and crew. Washington, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly says search and rescue efforts continue in the Potomac River, where both aircraft landed late Wednesday. It's a highly complex operation. The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders. It's cold. They're dealing with relatively windy conditions. The Wind is hard out on the river. 19 aircraft had to be diverted to a nearby airport. Here's Jack Potter, the CEO of the Metro Washington Airport's authority.

We did have folks who were at the airport to pick up loved ones. And so American has set up a center in their lounge at the north end of the airport, and we've directed the families there, and there are folks there, councils there to work with the families. Reagan National Airport is closed at least until 11 a.m. Thursday. PSA Airlines Flight 5342, operated by American Airlines, was arriving in D.C. from Wichita, Kansas

when it attempted to land at Reagan National shortly before 9 D.C. from Wichita, Kansas when it attempted to land at Reagan National shortly before 9 p.m. American Airlines says it set up a hotline for friends and family seeking information about the passengers and crew. The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a team of experts to investigate the mishap. Wednesday's collision near Reagan National was the first major commercial crash involving a U.S. passenger plane since 2009, when a Colgan air flight killed 50 people near Buffalo, New York. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that outlines a government crackdown on anti-Semitism in the U.S., especially on college campuses.

And Peristovia Smith has details. Citing a quote, unprecedented wave of vile, anti-Semitic discrimination, vandalism, and violence, the order says the U.S. will use all available tools to prosecute perpetrators. It also suggests that some student protests could be considered a violation of federal law barring individuals from supporting terrorism,

and it encourages schools to monitor and report any such activities by foreign students so they could be investigated and possibly deported. Critics immediately vowed to challenge any such deportation, saying it would be a violation of the First Amendment. But the order was welcomed by others who said they are thankful that the president is taking seriously the quote, rampant anti-Jewish hatred sweeping college campuses. Tovia Smith, NPR News. President Trump has signed the Laken Reilly Act requiring the detention of people in the US without legal status who are accused of crimes. The bill was introduced after the 2024 murder of a Georgia nursing student. This is NPR News.

Former US Senator Bob Benendez has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. The New student. This is NPR News. Former U.S. Senator Bob Benendez 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 scheme. Benendez's wife, Nadine, is charged in the case but is still awaiting trial. The Navajo Nation in northern Arizona has reached a deal with a uranium mining company to resume transporting uranium across tribal lands. From member station KJZZN Flagstaff, Michael Moritzko has the story. Michael Moritzko Under the terms of the agreement, Colorado-based

energy fuels will enhance some of its safety standards for shipping uranium from its northern Arizona mine through the Navajo Nation to its processing plant in southern Utah. In addition, the company will pay 50 cents per pound to process uranium equating to about $50,000 per month. Steven Etzity is executive director of the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency. I would say that, you know, we signed off on them, so we're fine with what we negotiated. Energy Fuels will also aid the tribe in cleanup of 10,000 tons of leftover material from uranium

mines abandoned during the Cold War. Transportation resumes in February. For NPR News, I'm Michel Marisco. Federal Reserve Board left interest rates unchanged at its last meeting. Central Bank is taking a more cautious approach this year after cutting interest rates three times last year. Chairman Jerome Powell has repeatedly said that Fed still has a target inflation rate of 2 percent. This is NPR News. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies, sending This is NPR News.