NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-04-2026 11PM EST

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

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Live from NPR news, I'm Jail Snyder. Iran's foreign ministers says nuclear talks with the Trump administration are now set for Friday in Oman. NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he's not sure if the U.S. can reach any deals with the Iranian government, but he says President Trump prefers to have negotiations about a range of issues. And that includes the range of their ballistic missiles. That includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region. that includes a nuclear program and that includes the treatment of their own people.

Rubio brushed off concerns that a meeting now would legitimize the Iranian regime after thousands of protesters were killed there. Trump had told the protesters last month that help was on its way and that the U.S. was, quote, locked and loaded. Michelle Kellerman and PR News, the State Department. And a one-sentence order today, the Supreme Court upheld California's mid-decade redistricting, which could yield five more House seats for Democrats. in the upcoming election. And Paris-Nina Totenberg reports on the decision that effectively mirrors and might offset what the High Court did in a case from Texas in December.

While the Trump administration supported the Texas redistricting, it opposed California's describing it as tainted by an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. But California countered that its redistricting, unlike the redistricting in Texas, was approved by California voters by a nearly two-thirds margin. And the Supreme Court seemed to conclude, that what's good for the Texas goose is good for the California gander. There were no noted dissents. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

A legal fight is brewing in Fulton County, Georgia. County officials are asking a federal court to order the FBI to return ballots and other documents from the 2020 election that agencies last week. Fulton County is a Democratic enclave in Georgia. It's been a target of President Trump since he lost the state to Joe Biden in 2020. Borders are Tom Holman says the immigration. Immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota is not ending, but he says he is withdrawing hundreds of immigration officers. Homan on Wednesday said about 700 will be immediately withdrawn about a quarter of

the federal officers deployed in the state. Federal judge in Florida has sentenced the man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump on a golf course when he was running for president in 2024. NPR's Greg Allen reports Ryan Ruth will spend the rest of his life in prison. U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon previously found Ruth guilty on five counts for his plan attempt on Trump's life when the then-presidential candidate was golfing at his club in West Palm Beach. A secret service agent saw Ruth holding a rifle in the tree line a hole ahead of where Trump was golfing. The agent accosted and then fired on Ruth, who fled in his car and was arrested a short time later. At a sentencing hearing, Ruth addressed the court seeking leniency, but Judge Cannon

was unmoved. Your plot to kill was deliberate and evil, she said. You are not a peaceful man. Ruth's attorney says he will appeal the life sentence. Greg Allen, NPR News. NPR. Today's show host Savannah Guthrie has posted a message on social media asking anyone who might be holding her 84-year-old mother to provide proof that she is alive. Guthrie appeared in the Instagram video with her brother and sister, their mother, Nancy Guthrie, vanished from her home near Tucson, Arizona over the weekend. Authorities believe she was abducted. President Trump has posted a new rendering of the White House ballroom he wants to build. And Piers' Tamara's Tamara. Rick Keith reports this is one of several controversial construction projects being pushed by Trump.

The rendering created by ballroom architect Shalom Baranis gives a sense of scale of the massive addition. In his social media post, Trump says it is, quote, an identical height and scale and is totally in keeping with our historic White House. He points out that the design for the north wall of the new ballroom structure replicates the north facade of the White House. Trump also recently posted a rendering of a large arch he wants installed at the end of the National Mall. Both projects will face additional review from two commissions that oversee construction and architecture in the Capitol, though Trump has packed them with allies. Tamara Keith in PR News. The Winter Olympics opening ceremony is not until Friday. The competition has kicked off. The first curling matches opened the games in Italy, Wednesday night. The mixed doubles tournament saw two major medal contenders playing each other. Britain beat Norway 8 to 6. Canada also won an opening round match against the Czech Republic. I'm Joel Snyder. NPR News.

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