NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-30-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

NPR News: 01-30-2025 3PM 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. Sauce 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. Lakhshmi Singh Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakhshmi Singh. The recovery operation continues this hour in the frigid waters of the Potomac near

Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. Moments ago, the National Transportation Safety Board's chairwoman, Jennifer Homendy, told reporters every member of the board is present. We are all here because this is an all-hands-on-deck event. It's been about 15 hours since an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers collided into an American Airlines flight with 64 souls on board as the jet was cleared to land. Officials say they believe there were no survivors. NPR's Rachel Triesman reports elite figure skaters were on the plane. US figure skating confirmed to NPR that an unspecified number of athletes, coaches, and

family members were among the 60 passengers of the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas. The city hosted the US figureS. Figure Skating Championships last week, followed by a national development camp for young and new athletes. The Kremlin confirmed that Russian figure skaters were also on board, including a pair of 1994 world champions who were married to each other. Authorities said Thursday morning that they don't believe anyone survived the crash. Rachel Triesman, NPR News. Operations at Reagan National are slowly returning to normal. NPR's Windsor Johnson has been

speaking. American airline passengers at the airport as flights resume. The mood here is really subdued. On a regular day, American Airlines counters are extremely busy and today many of them are empty, some with just a few people in line. Many flights have been canceled for today with some routes limited. I've spoken to a number of passengers who are on scheduled flights. One woman who's flying to Philadelphia

with her husband called last night's crash chilling and said her thoughts are with the families who lost their loved ones. Another passenger, a former pilot, said what happened is rare and he doesn't have any concerns when it comes to safety. Windsor-Johnson reporting. Cash Patel, President Trump's pick to run the FBI, is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Here's NPR's Alaina Moore. Cash Patel told senators that national security is at risk both internally and externally. "...if confirmed as the next FBI director, I will remain focused on the FBI's core mission. That is to investigate fully wherever there is a constitutional factual basis to do so." Patel has argued the agency is mismanaged and has been politicized against Trump. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have broadly backed Patel's pledge to make changes at the FBI, but Senate Democrats have urged him to clarify how he'll keep the agency independent. That's NPR's Elena Moore reporting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 284 points. You're listening to NPR News. An NPR examination of court records has found that dozens of people who received pardons for their role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol also had prior criminal convictions. As NPR's Tom Dreisbach tells us, those convictions include sexual abuse and domestic violence. Theodore Middendorf pleaded guilty to a charge of destruction of government property for trying to smash a window on January 6th.

Trump's pardon wiped away that case, but it did not affect Middendorf's state criminal sentence. Middendorf was convicted in Illinois of predatory criminal sexual assault of a seven-year-old child, and he remains in prison. Dozens of January 6th defendants had other criminal charges on their records, including rape, manslaughter, and drug trafficking. President Trump gave clemency to all January 6th defendants for their conduct that day, even those who assaulted police and those who had serious criminal histories.

Tom Dreisbach, NPR News. The Israeli military says Hamas freed eight hostages today, three Israeli and five Thai citizens held in Gaza. As part of their ceasefire agreement, Israel was expected to release more than 100 Palestinian prisoners. The U.S. economy, it grew 2.3% in the October to December period, slowing down a tad, about 3% growth in each of the previous two quarters. That was also a little lower than expectations, though it's still a decent number that showcases

how former President Biden has left behind a fairly healthy economy. U.S. stocks trading higher, Nasdaq's up 93, the Dow is up 291 points. It's NPR.