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

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

NPR News: 01-30-2025 2PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On NPR's Wild Card podcast, comedian Michelle Butoh says she's glad she ignored the people who told her to lose weight. I'm just going to show you what it looks like to love my body, my double chin, my extra rolls, okay? My buckets of thighs. So, it's on the side you can't afford it. I'm Rachel Martin. Michelle Butoh is on the Wild Card podcast, the show where cards control the conversation.

Lyle from NPR News in Washington. I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump offered a moment of silence for those killed in the commercial plane crash near Washington, D.C. last night. Trump spoke from the White House as recovery operations were still underway, pulling bodies from the icy waters of the Potomac River. 67 lives in all, 64 on an American airline passenger jet, three on a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, the president immediately turned his attention to speculating about what may have caused the midair collision between an American Airlines jet and the Army

helicopter. President Trump shared a variety of opinions about what went wrong. You had a confluence of bad decisions that were made, and you have people that lost their lives, violently lost their lives. Trump said the helicopter shouldn't have been at the elevation where it was,

said the pilots should have seen the plane coming, and that air traffic control didn't give enough warning. And he blamed the Biden administration and diversity programs of the Federal Aviation Administration. Asked why he thought that, Trump said, because I have common sense, okay? Tamara Keith, NPR News, The White House. Reagan National Airport's reopened. NPR's Frank Langford is at that airport and reports

some passengers are feeling uneasy a day after the crash. Passengers began returning around mid-morning. Linda Priest works for an ITechology company and is heading to Dallas. I was a little bit afraid to show up today, if I'm being honest. I considered canceling, but it's pretty important that I get to Dallas, it's for work. The airport shut down after an Army Blackhawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional jet,

plunging both into the Potomac River. Frank Langford, NPR News, Reagan National. National security is at the forefront of Senate confirmation hearings this afternoon. Tulsi Gabbard, whom President Trump nominated for Director of National Intelligence, is testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee. For too long, faulty, inadequate, or weaponized intelligence have led to costly failures and the undermining of our national security and God-given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.

The most obvious example of one of these failures is our invasion of Iraq based upon a total fabrication or complete failure of intelligence. Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the ranking member on the committee, raised concerns about the former Congresswoman's past remarks. You have repeatedly excused our adversaries' worst actions and instead often blamed them on the United States and those very allies. For example, you blame NATO for Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. You rejected the conclusion that Assad used chemical weapons in Syria.

Hearings also being held for Cash Patel, the nominee for FBI director. It's NPR News. President Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency has found a home within the federal government. NPR's Stephen Fowler says Trump wants the commission to slash government spending. An executive order from President Trump places Doge within a little known office that used to be called the United States Digital Service. Historically, the USDS has been an elite digital strike team that partners with federal agencies to improve the usability of tech and websites.

The Doge initiative was initially pitched as an outside review of federal spending, workforce and IT infrastructure, but its new mandate is more efficient. Directing the new USDS to do a software modernization initiative and create DOGE teams in each federal agency. Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta. France is expanding its deployment of special mailboxes for children to report sexual violence and other abuses as part of a nationwide effort to encourage more minors to speak out. The French capital is receiving the first such mailbox. It's

being set up at a primary school. More than 300 other special mailboxes have already been set up across the country. The program is supported by a Child Protection Association known in English as Butterflies. According to the Associated Press, its founder says, last year, more than 30,000 children used the mailboxes to report various forms of alleged abuses, from sexual violence to school bullying. Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.