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

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

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This is Ira Glass with This American Life, each week on our show. We choose a theme, tell different stories on that theme. All right, I'm just going to stop right there. You're listening to an NPR podcast, chances are you know our show. So instead, I'm going to tell you, we've just been on a run of really good shows lately. Some big epic emotional stories, some weird funny stuff too. Download us, This American Life. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. weird, funny stuff too. Download us. This American Life. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear.

Even as he continues to exert control over large swaths of the federal government, there are increasing questions from Democrats about billionaire Elon Musk's powers. The world's wealthiest person, Musk, was brought in by President Donald Trump to pare down the US government. Speaking in the Oval Office today, Trump praised Musk and the entity Doge for looking to shut down the US Agency for International Development. He's done a great job. Look at all the fraud that he's found in this USAID.

It's a disaster what the people radical left lunatics. They have things that nobody would have even believed. What issues or fraud have been uncovered though is not clear. Musk's actions involve departments created by Congress but are happening without congressional oversight. Musk was brought in as a special government employee, meaning he's not subject to the same ethics and disclosure rules as other federal workers. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s cleared a major hurdle on his way to becoming Secretary of Health and Human Services. As NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin explains,

his nomination now moves to the full Senate. A scion of the famous Democratic family, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent years as an environmental attorney before pivoting to anti-vaccine activism, which built his reputation and fortune. The outcome of Tuesday's vote in the Finance Committee was uncertain. Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana,

who's a physician, said he was struggling with the decision because of how it could affect vaccination. But in the end, all Republicans voted in favor of confirmation and all Democrats opposed it. If confirmed, Kennedy will oversee all the health agencies, which includes Medicare, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and more. Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News, Washington. Many of those who lost homes in the Los Angeles fires and also earlier lost

their homeowners insurance, forcing them to use an insurer of last resort. As NPR Jennifer Ludden reports, that's making recovery even tougher. Major insurers have pulled back from California in recent years. The industry says that's because regulations don't let them charge enough to cover their risk. Altadena resident Sogol Moschves lost her policy last summer. A broker said the only option left was through her mortgage lender. But that policy does not cover the possessions her family lost or rent for a temporary place.

When Mosfest thinks about rebuilding. I'm trying to be really optimistic about it, but there's like so much of me that's like, this is gonna bankrupt us. California's state insurance plan of last resort also costs more and covers less. Brand new rules will let companies raise rates but they'll take time to roll out.

Jennifer Levin, NPR News. Stocks close mostly higher on Wall Street today as investors shook off worries about a possible brewing trade war between the US and China. The Dow was up 134 points. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. As he meets today at the White House with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump and his advisers say a three- to five-year timeline for the reconstruction of Gaza is, quote, preposterous and won't work. The administration reiterating calls for Arab nations to relocate displaced Palestinians following the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas,

which has left much of Gaza destroyed. Egypt and Jordan have rejected Trump's calls. The famous fantasy author Neil Gaiman and his estranged wife Amanda Palmer are being sued by their former nanny for human trafficking. The lawsuit comes after a string of allegations of sexual misconduct against the author, Morgmendriars Andrew Limbong. Scarlett Pavlovich was a live-in nanny for Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer starting in 2022.

According to the lawsuit, Gaiman raped Pavlovich multiple times and coerced her into unwanted sex acts under the condition of receiving pay and housing. Pavlovich alleges that Palmer knowingly benefited from the situation. Gaiman has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, first in a podcast series released by Tortoise Media over the summer, then again last month in a New York magazine story.

Gaiman denied any wrongdoing. Since then, multiple adaptations of Gaiman's work have either been paused or canceled. Dark Horse Comics announced they'd no longer be working with him. NPR has reached out to representatives for both Gaiman and Palmer. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. With the price of eggs showing no signs of easing, one of the nation's highway restaurant chains now says it's temporarily adding a 50 cent per egg surcharge. Waffle House says an egg surcharge due to the biggest bird flu outbreak in decades has

increased the restaurant chain's costs. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. Our long national nightmare is over. cost. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.