NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-03-2025 5PM EST

Episode Date: February 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he is now the acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, though he says he's delegating that authority to someone else. More from NPR's Fatma Tarnas. Speaking to reporters in El Salvador, Rubio said the agency was, quote, completely uncooperative and that it had to be aligned with U.S. foreign policy. Earlier on Monday, Elon Musk announced that his task force, the Department of Government Efficiency, is in the process of shutting down USAID. The agency works to alleviate poverty, disease and humanitarian need in countries around

the world. It has bipartisan support in Congress. This morning, USAID employees woke up to an email that told them the headquarters in Washington would be closed for the day and that they should work from home. Since President Trump's executive order to freeze all foreign assistance,

USAID employees described utter chaos at the agency with hundreds of layoffs and furloughs. Fatma Tanis, NPR News, Washington. Even as Canadians chafe under President Trump's continued remarks about making Canada the 51st state, there's word this hour proposed tariffs set to go into effect tomorrow have now been postponed for at least 30 days. That's according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump's threat of tariffs against Canada prompted the country to respond with tariffs of 25%

on U.S. imports, including beverages, cosmetics and paper products. Nearly $2.5 billion worth of goods and services cross the U.S. border daily, with Canada a top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Layers are warning the Justice Department firing career prosecutors and FBI agents without cause is not legal. MPR's Kerry Johnson reports they're also worried about possible threats to those employees if their names are made public. CARRIE JOHNSON, NPR Reporter, NPR News. Lawyers Mark Zaid, Norm Eisen and Nancy Gertner say the civil servants at the DOJ and FBI

must be afforded due process before they're terminated. Acting and interim leaders at the Justice Department have already dismissed prosecutors who investigated Donald Trump, senior FBI officials and lawyers who worked on Capitol riot cases. The Trump administration is compiling a list of potentially thousands of FBI agents who worked on January 6th prosecutions. Lawyers warn a wholesale purge will leave the country vulnerable at a time of serious threats to national security. Making the names of FBI agents public could prompt threats from defendants,

including the 1,500 people Trump recently pardoned. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington. Salvage crews say they've recovered a sizable piece of the commercial jet that crashed into the Potomac River last week following a mid-air collision with a military helicopter. The crash claimed the lives of a total of 67 people. The authorities say it may still be several days though till all the crash debris there is recovered. Stocks lost ground on Wall Street today.

The Dow fell 122 points. The Nasdaq was down 235 points. This is NPR. Two weeks into the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and Gaza, aid is flowing back into the war-torn region again, supplies offering some relief to an area devastated by 15 months of fighting. But Palestinian aid workers say it's also been an uphill battle getting help to everyone who needs it.

There also remains the possibility fighting will resume if the ceasefire breaks down, for they're complicating getting aid to those who need it most to destroy roads in unexploded ordinance. The Food and Drug Administration is approving the first study to evaluate transplanting kidneys from genetically modified pigs to people who need organs. Here's NPR's Rob Stein. United Therapeutics Corporation says the FDA cleared the company's

request to launch the study testing kidneys from pigs with 10 genetic modifications designed to help the organs work in people. Surgeons have already transplanted modified pig kidneys and hearts into a handful of patients with no other options, only one to survive more than two months, an Alabama grandmother who is still being monitored in New York. The new study, which will involve about 50 patients, is the first attempt to carefully evaluate whether pig kidneys and other organs can really help solve the organ shortage. Rob Stein, NPR News. Another casualty, the Trump administration's saber-rattling with other countries over trade, bitcoin and many of the other cryptocurrencies taking a hit after Trump's announcement about possible large tariffs.

Bitcoin fell below $100,000, though has since rebounded. Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Dogecoin and others fell more than 10%. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.