NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-31-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

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Hey, it's Robin Hilton from NPR Music. Many years ago, I helped start the Tiny Desk Concert Series. 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

Shea Stevens. The National Transportation Safety Board hopes to have a preliminary report within 30 days on the midair crash near Reagan National Airport. But NTSB board member Todd Inman says it'll take longer to determine how and why a passenger jet collided with an army helicopter on a routine training flight. Our investigative team will be on scene as long as it takes in order to obtain all of the perishable evidence and all of the fact-finding that is needed to bring us to a conclusion of probable cause.

Our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened, and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again. The remains of many of the 67 crash victims and the black box recorders have been recovered from a river where both aircraft landed. Among the victims of the crash was 26-year-old Asra Hussein. From member station WFIU, Ethan Sandweiss spoke with the woman's husband. Raised in Carmel, Indiana, Asra Hussein worked as a healthcare consultant. Her husband, Hamad Raza, said she had a vision to reform healthcare in America, and he feels she had more to give. She was returning from a work trip where she was helping to improve a hospital that really

needed help. And she was doing what she loved. She was even working on the flight. Hussein and Raza met through the Muslim Student Association at Indiana University. They were married two and a half years. For NPR News, I'm Ethan Sandweiss. Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee

pushed the nominee for National Intelligence Director on her defense of Edward Snowden, the former NSA analyst who leaked classified documents. The lawmakers say Tulsi Gabbard's past defense of Edward Snowden, the former NSA analyst who leaked classified documents. The lawmakers say Tulsi Gabbard's past defense of Snowden might anger the U.S. spy she hopes to lead. NPR's Jenna McLaughlin has more. Former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard faced over two and a half hours of questions

from senators who will be voting on whether they believe she is fit to serve as President Trump's director of national intelligence. Several asked about her record on foreign policy, like her decision to visit former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017, or excuses she's made for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Others focused on pushing Gabbard

to condemn former NSA contractor Edward Snowden for leaking classified documents about US intelligence operations. Gabbard said Snowden broke the law, but she refused to call him a traitor. She said he helped to expose illegal programs and inspired reform. Jen McLaughlin, NPR News. During a second heated Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced

more questioning about his views on vaccines. Maryland Democrat Angela Also Brooks asked Kennedy about his past remark that Black people should not receive the same vaccine schedule as white people because of differing immune systems. Kennedy cited a study by Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. Gregory Pollan, who says that there is no evidence to back up the nominee's comments. You're listening to NPR News. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new non-opioid medication that's designed to treat moderate to severe acute pain linked to injury or after surgery.

The pill, made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is also reportedly designed to eliminate the risk of addiction and overdose. Three more Israelis have been released by Palestinian militants and returned to Israel after being held for more than 15 months in Gaza. Five Thai hostages taken into Gaza at the same time were also freed. In exchange for Palestinian prisoners, will be freed from Israeli jails. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf has more. The final female Israeli soldier held in Gaza was paraded on a stage by Mas Hamas gunmen

before being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The handoff happened in the northern city of Jabalia, the center of intense fighting and Israeli bombardment just weeks ago. Two other Israeli hostages, civilians, were handed over by Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group in Gaza, in the southern city of Hanunis, in a chaotic scene with thousands of onlookers. The five Thai hostages, who had been working in Israel as agricultural laborers when they were taken, were also handed over there. In exchange for the Israeli hostages, 110 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are expected to be released by Israel later in the day. Kat Lonsdorf, MPR News, Tel Aviv.

Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and Stevie Wonder are among the performers at two relief concerts still underway in Southern California to benefit the victims of several recent Los Angeles area wildfires. Proceeds from the event, dubbed Fire Aid, will also be used to help rebuild whole communities that were gutted by the blazes. This is NPR News. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies, sending blazes. This is NPR News.