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

Episode Date: February 1, 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? 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 Windsor Johnston. Recovery operations are continuing in the Potomac River in Washington DC, two days after a deadly collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter. In the meantime, helicopter flights near Ronald Reagan National Airport have been restricted. NPR's Joel Rose reports the investigation into the crash is ongoing. The Federal Aviation Administration will limit helicopter flights on routes along the Potomac River near the airport as well as over the airport itself.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said today, quote, said that would, quote, help secure the airspace near Reagan Airport, ensuring the safety of airplane and helicopter traffic, unquote. That's NPR's Joel Rose reporting. Federal agencies were scrambling to meet a deadline today to purge programs and content related to gender issues. NPR's Franco Argonia reports the departments had until the close of business this afternoon to complete the work. The directive called for the elimination of agency programs promoting, quote, gender ideology as well as content on government websites and social media accounts.

President Trump was asked about websites possibly being taken down in order to scrub for content involving diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. He said he didn't know of that happening but that... It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. DEI would have ruined our country and now it's dead. I think DEI is dead so if they want to scrub the websites that's okay with me. The website of the National Institute of Health's Office for Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office disappeared. Several web pages from the Center for Disease

Control and Prevention with reference to LGBTQ plus health also disappeared. Franco Ordonez, NPR News, The White House. A Louisiana mother and a New York doctor have been indicted for allegedly providing abortion medication to a minor in Louisiana. Rosemary Westwood with Member Station, WWNO, reports it's the first case of its kind in the state where abortions have been illegal since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. A West Baton Rouge grand jury handed down the indictments. Assistant District Attorney Tony Clayton said he will prosecute the case.

The charges aiding and abetting in the commission of an abortion in the state of Louisiana, which is a crime. Clayton told the news show Talk Louisiana that he plans to seek a warrant for Dr. Margaret Carpenter despite New York laws that protect physicians who mail abortion medication to states where abortions are illegal. You can't hide behind the borders of New York and ship pills down here to to commit abortions in Louisiana. Clayton said he will not seek charges against the minor who was given abortion medication

by her mother. For NPR News, I'm Rosemary Westwood in New Orleans. At the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 337 points. This is NPR News in Washington. Authorities in Pennsylvania say a small plane has crashed into a shopping mall in northeast Philadelphia. It remains unclear where the flight had originated from and what led to the crash. Videos on social media show a thick cloud of smoke in the sky near the crash site.

Emergency crews are working to put out the fire after the plane crashed into the mall and into several nearby buildings. The Grammy Awards will take place in Los Angeles this weekend, but the city is still recovering from wildfires. Recording Academy officials explained their decision to go on with this year's show. NPR's Sydney Madden has more. It's called Music's Biggest Night for a reason. But almost a month after wildfires ravaged many parts of LA, this year's Grammy Awards will be different.

Major record labels have canceled parties leading up to the big night, but the Recording Academy has made the decision to proceed with the ceremony and use it for good. Harvey Mason, Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, shared that the ceremony will feature fundraising callouts throughout the night to support wildfire relief efforts, including those for musicians and industry professionals who've lost their homes. The 67th Annual Grammy Awards will take place live from Crypto.com Arena in LA this Sunday, February 2nd.

Sydney Madden, NPR News. Stocks traded lower across the board on Wall Street today. The Dow was down 337 points. The Nasdaq Composite down 54. The S&P 500 fell 30 points. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies, sending Johnston, NPR News, in Washington.