NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-04-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

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Our long national nightmare is over. Beyonce has finally won the Grammy for Album of the Year. How and why did it take so long for Beyonce to win the top prize at Music's Biggest Night? We're talking about her big wins and breaking down the Grammys for Kendrick Lamar, Chappell Rhone, and Sabrina Carpenter. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. President Trump has agreed to hold off imposing tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico for 30 days. This follows talks yesterday with the leaders of both countries. As

Emma Jacobs reports from Montreal, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement after his phone calls with, Trump said the tariffs would be paused, quote, to see whether or not a final economic deal with Canada can be structured. But the question is, what is the best way to deal with this? And the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, the answer is, Trump said the tariffs would be paused, quote, to see whether or not a final economic deal with Canada can be structured. Canada had promised retaliatory tariffs with the possibility of an escalating trade war. These will also be paused for 30 days. When President Trump was asked earlier what Trudeau

could do to change his mind, he responded that he'd like to see Canada become the 51st state, which Canadians overwhelmingly oppose. For NPR News, I'm Emma Jacobs in Montreal. Trump is going ahead with new 10 percent tariffs on goods imported from China. In response, Beijing has announced it's implementing 15 percent tariffs on imports of coal and natural gas from the U.S., China says it will also place 10 percent tariffs on imports of crude oil, agricultural machinery, certain SUVs and other products. China's tariffs are set to take effect on February 10th.

The Trump administration is sending out new terms governing its offer of deferred resignations for most federal employees. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports on the revisions. Nearly all federal workers had been told if they agree to resign by February 6th they can be paid through September. In new memos sent out by at least two federal agencies employees are offered a quote form agreement that lays out some fine print, including that employees who take the offer are agreeing to continue working through the end of February to ensure a smooth transition of duties. That's a departure from earlier guidance, which states that employees will not be

expected to work during the deferred resignation period. One agency memo also states that employees will be put on paid leave through September, subject to the availability of appropriations. Agency funding is set to run out in mid-March if Congress doesn't act. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. The Trump administration is considering significant cuts to programs and staff at the Department of Education. They include executive action to shutter department programs not protected by law and calling

on Congress to close the DOE permanently. An announcement could be made this week according to multiple government sources. Dozens of employees there are now on paid administrative leave. This is NPR News. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due at the White House today for talks with President Trump. The meeting comes amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and Gaza, with Hamas having released Israeli hostages and Israel having freed Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The agreement took effect the day before Trump was inaugurated for a second term in the White House. Major League Baseball is cutting ties with one of its umpires for violating the league's betting policies.

Here's NPR's Charles Snyder. Major League Baseball says its investigation found no evidence that Pat Hohberg bet on baseball or manipulated games. But it did find that Hoburg shared his legal sports gambling accounts with a friend who did place bets. The league says Hoburg also intentionally deleted text messages relevant to the investigation. In a statement MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said that protecting the integrity of games is the league's most important priority. He upheld a recommendation made in May that Hoburg be fired. Hoberg issued his own

statement saying he takes full responsibility for his actions but that he'd never bet on baseball. He can apply for reinstatement at the start of spring training in 2026. Joel Snyder, NPR News. Google is asking a federal appeals court in California to overturn a jury's verdict declaring its App Store for Android smartphones to be an illegal monopoly. The company also wants the three-judge panel to block the penalties imposed by a federal judge. The case against Google was brought by video game maker Epic Games. I'm Dave Mattingly, NPR News in Washington.