NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-05-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: February 5, 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 Windsor Johnston. Reaction is pouring in from all over the world, a day after President Trump said the United States would take over the Gaza Strip.

Trump also suggested that Palestinians who have been displaced by the war should be relocated to other countries. Yousef Maniour is a senior fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, D.C. He says such a move would further destabilize the region. The last thing that anyone in the region wants to sign up for or thinks is a path to stability is more ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. So Trump has obviously identified a problem here but is really more like an arsonist than a firefighter.

Danielle Pletka Trump's plan would call for nearly two million Palestinians to leave Gaza. Employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development will be put on leave Friday as the Trump administration moves to dismantle it. NPR's Shannon Bond reports the agency and the State Department are planning to recall overseas staff within 30 days. The directive placing all staff on leave was sent out to agency employees and posted on USAID's website. It said there would be some exceptions for, quote,

mission-critical functions, core leadership, and specially designated programs. One senior USAID official told NPR it amounted to a shutdown of the agency, which distributes the bulk of US foreign aid. USAID has been in chaos for two weeks as the Trump administration froze funding, laid off contractors and ordered staff to stop work. President Trump and his advisor, Elon Musk, have accused the agency of corruption and fraud without providing evidence. Shannon Bond, NPR News.

Two groups of FBI agents are suing the Justice Department. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports the separate lawsuits are seeking to block the DOJ from making public the names of agents who worked on January 6th Capitol riot cases. One of the lawsuits was filed by the FBI Agents Association and the other by a group of nine anonymous FBI agents. In recent days, the Justice Department has sought to obtain a list of FBI officials who worked on the Capitol riot investigation and or cases involving now President Trump. Both lawsuits view this as a retaliatory measure and seek to block the Justice Department from making public any such

list of FBI agents. The plaintiffs fear, among other things, is that if the list is released it could open agents and their families to possible retribution by the 1,500 or so January 6 defendants who have been pardoned by President Trump. Ryan Lucas, NPR News at the Justice Department. Stocks are trading mixed on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 12 points. The Nasdaq Composite trading lower down 77. The S&P down 10 points.

This is NPR News from Washington. The nominations of two more of President Trump's cabinet picks have advanced out of Senate committees. If confirmed by the upper chamber, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will become the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is next in line to be the director of national intelligence. Egg prices in the United States continue to go up as the spread of bird flu at poultry farms results in growing egg shortages. Marlin Hyde from Member Station WABE reports some restaurant chains, including Waffle House,

say they're having to charge customers more. Marlin Hyde, Member Station WABE, Waffle House is placing a temporary 50 cent per egg surcharge across its over 2000 locations in 25 states. According to the Georgia company, the current bird flu outbreak and egg shortage has driven up the price of an essential ingredient for the breakfast chain. The egg surcharge, which applies to all menus, became effective this week. According to the American Egg Board, the country has lost nearly 50 million laying hens in the past year due to highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Industry leaders say stabilizing the supply will require a sustained period without new bird flu detections on egg farms. For NPR News, I'm Marlon Hyde in Atlanta. The United States Postal Service says it will continue to accept all international packages from China and Hong Kong, the agency had previously suspended incoming parcels. The reversal comes a day after the Trump administration imposed 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News in Washington.