NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-31-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

NPR News: 01-31-2025 2AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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. Wichita, Kansas Mayor Lilly Wu says that her city is in mourning over the 67 people who perished in the midair crash between a passenger jet and a military helicopter near Washington, D.C. As Celia Hack reports from member station KMUW, the passenger plane took off from Wichita. An American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people and a military helicopter carrying three soldiers collided last night near Reagan National Airport. Officials said it's unlikely that there are any survivors.

Wu said Wichita is grieving. We have been told that there are no survivors. Wu said Wichita have been told that there mourn with all those who h is a terrible tragedy tha those in Washington D. C. forever. Wu said the city information about the pas flight until families hav and Wichita, Kansas forever. Wu said the city will not share any information about the passengers who were on the flight

until families have been contacted. For NPR News, I'm Celia Hack in Wichita. As investigators try to determine what caused the deadly crash near Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport, President Trump is blaming the tragedy on diversity hiring. NPR's Tamara Keith reports. It didn't take long for

President Trump to transition away from Consolar-in-Chief. I put safety first. Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put policy first. That is, he said DEI policies, which have been a frequent focus of Trump's ire. He began reading headlines from old articles. And here's one. The FAA's diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. Trump last week signed an executive order banning diversity initiatives at the FAA. Asked if he really thought DEI was to blame for this crash,

Trump said, quote, it just could have been. Tamara Keith, NPR News. President Trump's nominee to become FBI director appeared at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday. Cash Patel is a critic of federal law enforcement and says he wants to focus on fighting terrorism and drug trafficking. As NPR's Kerry Johnson reports, Senate Democrats were concerned about Patel's support for some of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.

Patel helped promote a song by what's been called the J-6 choir. That's a group of rioters who had been detained in the same D.C. jail. Patel is actually listed as a promoter of the choir and at least five of the members pleaded guilty to attacking police. One of them sprayed Officer Brian Sicknick with chemicals. That officer died the next day after suffering a stroke. NPR's Gary Johnson. The nation's gross domestic product, the economy's output of goods and services, grew at an annual

rate of 2.3 percent in the last quarter. You're listening to NPR News. A federal appeals court has struck down a law that banned handgun sales to people under the age of 21, saying it violated the Second Amendment. A three-judge panel from the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court in New Orleans says people ages 18 to 20 should be allowed to buy guns. It cites a 2022 US Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights.

The ruling sends the case back to a lower court judge. The World Health Organization says it's allocating $1 million and sending experts to Uganda to respond to an outbreak of Ebola. NPR's Gabriella Emanuel reports on Uganda's first confirmed death from the outbreak. The patient was 37 and a nurse at one of the country's biggest hospitals. After developing a fever, chest pain and difficulty breathing, he had multi-organ failure.

The virus spreads through bodily fluids and Ugandan officials are monitoring 45 people who had contact with him. Jean Kesea heads the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When we have this Ebola, we need to act very quickly. The neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo is also dealing with a likely Ebola outbreak. Out of 12 suspected cases, seven have died. Gabrielle Emanuel, NPR News.

Hamas-led militants freed eight more hostages Thursday, three of them from Israel and the others from Thailand. In exchange for 110 Palestinian prisoners, it was part of the Gaza ceasefire deal. The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement stressing the need to ensure the safety of all those who are being set free. This is NPR News.