NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-31-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

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Technologist Pau Garcia is using AI to create photos of people's most precious memories. How her mother was dressed, the haircut that she remembered. We generated tens of images and then she saw two images that was like, that was it. Ideas about the future of memory. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. As the National Transportation Safety Board is analyzing the voice and data recorders from the American Airlines jet that collided with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C. Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration says near misses aren't uncommon near Reagan National Airport.

In Piers Robert Manacasa reports, the FAA says it's recorded dozens of near misses, and many involve military helicopters. An NPR analysis of the Federal Aviation Administration's data on rare near midair collisions shows 30 reports near the airport since the late 1980s. Ten involved at least one military aircraft. Seven involved a military helicopter. Mike McCormick is the former FAA director for safety and operations at all U.S. control towers. Our system, although the safest in the world, it is still shocking when a tragedy like this occurs.

McCormick says the FAA is studying the crash to see if immediate changes should be made. Robert Benincasa, NPR News, Washington. President Trump's FBI nominee, Cash Patel, had a contentious Senate confirmation hearing yesterday after spending the last couple of years as a fierce critic of federal law enforcement. And Pierce Carey Johnson has more. He says he wants to focus on fighting terrorism and violent crime, preventing the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs, and to give the good cops the leeway to do their jobs. Patel talked about his 16 years in public service as a public defender, a prosecutor,

a national security aide, but he really has a lot less legal and management experience than most of the previous eight FBI directors. And in the first Trump administration, then Attorney General Bill Barr said Patel was unqualified and would get a job at the FBI over his dead body. And here's Kerry Johnson. Confirmation hearings for Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard also took place yesterday.

Hamas says it will release three more hostages tomorrow, including an American citizen. And Piers Daniel Estrin reports it's part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas has released the names of three Israeli hostages it says it will release Saturday. One is 65-year-old dual American-Israeli Keith Siegel. His wife Aviva, a former hostage, told NPR last year how she'd react when he'd be freed. I think I'll scream and just jump on him. I can't wait.

Two other men on the list to be freed Saturday include a 35-year-old father. There's been speculation about the fate of his wife and young children in captivity. Hamas says they were killed. Israel has not confirmed that. Israel has promised to release more than 100 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the three hostages Saturday. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. U.S. futures contracts are trading higher at this hour. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. NPR has learned the director of the Census Bureau, Robert Santos, is resigning, giving President Trump an early opportunity to nominate a new

political appointee to lead the agency. Before becoming director, Santos was a vocal opponent on how Trump officials handled the 2020 census. The decision by the first Latino to head the Bureau, who started as the Bureau's director in 2022, cuts short a five-year appointment during key preparations for the 2030 census. The next constitutionally required headcount of the country's residents is set to be used to redistribute political representation, along with trillions of dollars in federal funding across the country over the next decade.

A mountain in New Zealand has been granted legal rights similar to a person. As Kristina Kukalawa reports, it's part of a government settlement compensating indigenous Maori people for land theft and other harms caused by British colonization. Under a new law passed on Thursday, Taranaki Maunga, formerly Mount Egmont on New Zealand's North Island, has been given the legal rights, powers, duties and responsibilities of a person. Local indigenous Māori communities regard the dormant volcano as an ancestor, and together with the government will manage the mountain's natural resources. The new status is also intended to help protect the popular tourist spot and surrounding

peaks and land. New Zealand has already granted legal personhood to a river and native forest land on the North Island. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukola in Melbourne, Australia. And I'm Janine Herbst and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.