NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-31-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

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It's a new year, and according to Pew, 79% of resolutions are about one thing, health. But there are so many fads around how to keep ourselves healthy. On It's Been A Minute, I'm helping you understand why some of today's biggest wellness trends are, well, trending. Like why is there protein in everything? Join me as we uncover what's healthy and what's not on the It's Been A Minute podcast from NPR. Live from NPR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Federal investigators have retrieved the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday night near Washington, D.C. Sixty-seven people died in the crash. NPR's Frank Langford has more. The so-called black boxes, which are actually orange in color, will allow investigators to hear the final conversations in the cockpit before the two aircraft collide over the Potomac River.

They'll also provide crucial data, including the altitude of the plane leading up to and at the time of the collision. Once investigators have the recorder from the Black Hawk helicopter, they'll have a better sense of the paths the aircraft took that led to the crash. Officials tell NPR that the Black Hawk was supposed to be flying no higher than 200 feet, while sources say it was flying at least 100 feet higher. Meanwhile, members of the crew of the American Airlines jet have been identified. They include First Officer Sam Lilly, a second-generation pilot who was engaged to be married. Lilly's father, Tim, wrote this on Facebook.

It hurt so bad, I can't even cry myself to sleep. Frank Langford, NPR News. Among key and contentious confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill yesterday for President Trump's cabinet picks, Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Some senators focused on the Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel's previous comments criticizing U.S. involvement abroad, especially in the Middle East, and that she met with ousted Syrian President Assad. Senator Mark Kelly.

Mark Kelly So my big concerns with Colonel Gabbard is, you know, that she's contradicted our own intelligence community on Assad's use of chemical weapons against his own people. And then she also has this propensity to use information as if it's true when it comes from, you know, dictators like Putin and Assad and Syria. Danielle Pletka Speaking there to NPR, Kelly says Gabbard is a patriot who served and cares about this country, but he says he doesn't feel she's up to this job.

Stocks opened higher this morning as the Commerce Department reported a jump in personal spending last month. NPR's Scott Horsley has more. Personal spending jumped by seven-tenths of a percent in December. As Americans spent more on both goods and services, personal income was also up during the month, but not as much. Many people dipped into savings or borrowed money to finance their additional spending. The already low personal savings rate fell further in December to 3.8 percent. The Commerce Department's inflation yardstick, which is closely watched by the Federal Reserve,

shows prices in December were up 2.6 percent from a year ago. That's a slightly larger annual increase than the previous month. Asian stocks were mixed overnight up in Tokyo but down in Seoul. Markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai remain closed for the Lunar New Year. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. And the Dow is up 32 points right now. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. NASA's two-stranded astronauts got a change of scenery, stepping out for the first time together, 260 miles above the Earth. And Piers Amy Held reports on the historic spacewalk outside the International Space Station.

Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams' time aboard the orbiting lab was supposed to last about a week this summer. They're still there. For what's looking like a 10-month stay after their ride, the Boeing Starliner experienced leaks and other problems. So it's understandable they'd want to get out and stretch their legs. That's just what they did Thursday for five and a half hours on their first joint spacewalk. Williams works on the removal of... Successfully removing a stubborn broken antenna, narrated by Mission Control. ...has been attempted to be removed on two previous...

Williams already performed a spacewalk earlier this month, but this, her ninth overall, broke a record, for the most time spent on a spacewalk for any female astronaut. NASA says she and Wilmore will return to Earth by late March at the earliest aboard a SpaceX capsule. Amy Held, NPR News. One thousand endangered sea turtles have been rescued in Florida.

Officials with the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission say the endangered reptiles were suffering because of a rare winter storm in the area that sent water temperatures plunging. The turtles' flippers were paralyzed and they couldn't come up for air, but the wind and currents carried their bodies ashore where they were rescued. Officials say it was among Florida's biggest cold-water turtle rescues in the last 15 years. I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. This is Tonya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. NPR News from Washington.