NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-30-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: January 31, 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.

President Donald Trump says former president Joe Biden's DEI policies could be to blame for the deadly midair crash last night involving a flight from Wichita, Kansas, coming into Washington, D.C. Biden's former transportation secretary shot back the trumpet fired and suspended key safety personnel, but federal officials pointing fingers, Wichita leaders want to unify the community, KMUW's Celia Hack reports. Wichita is home to a large aviation community. At a prayer service here, local elected officials and religious leaders spoke about rising above division in grief. Ryan Beatty, a Republican,

is chair of the Sedgwick County Commission. All eyes are on Wichita in many regards. When they see Wichita, what I hope they see is they see a community rising above those conversations, kicking out politics. I think we have an opportunity here to demonstrate how you love, to demonstrate how you mourn. Wichita MayorACK, Wichita Mayor, Lili Wu, a libertarian, said she was proud that residents from a diversity of backgrounds, religions and races came together at the prayer service to mourn. For NPR News, I'm Celia Hack in Wichita. Tense questioning on Capitol Hill today, Cash Patel coming under fire regarding what some termed an enemy's list. He denied there is such a list and also said the bureau under his leadership

would not seek retribution against Trump's adversaries or launch politically motivated investigations. 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. Democrats also confronted Patel about his statements about the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. In response, he said there can never be a tolerance for violence against

law enforcement. The National Science Foundation has stopped funding existing research grants. As Jonathan Lambert explains, it's pausing payments as it works to comply with Trump administration executive orders. Hundreds of scientists who receive direct funding from NSF for their livelihoods are unable to get paid right now, and the research funds that go to institutions and universities are in limbo. NSF is congressionally mandated to consider how its grants will boost underrepresented groups' participation in science.

That mandate is at odds with Trump's executive orders aiming to terminate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across the government. The National Science Foundation has an annual budget of around $9 billion to fund research grants. Payments of those grants have been paused since Tuesday as the agency reviews their grantmaking and the projects they fund. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. A rebound in the tech sector helped lead much of the market higher today, all three of the major U.S. stock market indexes gaining ground. The Dow closed up 168 points to 44,882. The

Nasdaq was up 49 points. This is NPR. The Hamas Militant Group announced today it's released eight more hostages being held in Gaza in exchange for another 110 prisoners. The latest release is part of a ceasefire deal negotiated earlier this month. The hostages were released during a chaotic handover as an unruly crowd stood on the sidelines. The prisoner swap was briefly placed on hold by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who demanded mediators assure the safe exit of the hostages. The United Parcel Service says it will deliver fewer packages from its biggest customer, Amazon, moving forward. As Marlon Hyde from member station WABE reports,

UPS released its 2024 quarterly earnings today. UPS reported revenue of more than $25 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024, a 1.5% increase from the previous year. The company says it plans to reduce volume with its largest customer, Amazon, by 50% in the second half of 2026. It's part of an initiative to cut costs and save UPS around $1 billion. Here is CEO Carol Tomei. Amazon is our largest customer, but it's not our most profitable customer. Its margin

is very dilutive to the U.S. domestic business. UPS expects sales of about $89 billion for 2025. For NPR News, I'm Marlon Hyde in Atlanta. The reports have increased volcanic activity at a popular tourist destination in Greece, the island of Santorini. It announced this week the country's climate crisis and civil protection ministry, saying monitoring sensors have picked up mild seismic volcanic activity there. Similar volcanic activity was reported in 2011, lasting for 14 months but ending without any issues.

I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. issues. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.