NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-08-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. The American military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is being prepared to receive what could be thousands of migrants. The White House says it will send what it calls illegal criminals to the base. Homeland Security Secretary Christine Noem visited the base on Friday. I'm down here at Guantanamo Bay checking out some of the operations that we're standing up to house the worst of the worst and illegal criminals that are in the United States of America. They won't be there for long.

Two flights of detainees have already been sent to the base so far this week. The Justice Department has agreed, at least for now, to not make public the names of FBI agents who were involved in capital riot cases. This comes in response to two lawsuits filed to protect agents' identities from being released to the public. MPR's Ryan Lucas has more on that story. The FBI Agents Association and two groups of anonymous FBI employees filed suit after the Justice Department demanded a list of all FBI personnel involved in investigating January 6 cases.

The department says the names are necessary as part of an internal review. The lawsuit says agents fear the lists will be used to fire people on retaliatory grounds. They are also concerned that the names could be made public, opening up agents and their families to possible threats from the 1,500 January 6 defendants that Trump pardoned. Now, according to a new court filing, the government will not make the list public, directly or indirectly, without two days prior notice, while the lawsuits move forward. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. The window to recover the bodies of 10 people killed in a plane crash near Nome, Alaska, will be limited.

As the Alaska Desk's Jeremy Shea reports, the crash site sits on unstable sea ice and a winter storm is on its way. Responding agencies had relatively safe conditions to work the search and rescue operation on Friday. They found the wrecked Cessna on sea ice about 34 miles southeast of Nome but couldn't recover the bodies or the plane. Jim West Jr., the local head of the incident response, said the ice isn't stable. It's a dynamic situation and there's slushy young ice. A winter storm is forecast to hit Sunday, bringing a mix of snow, ice, rain, and 45

mile per hour wind gusts, further threatening the recovery effort. West said the hope is to recover the bodies and collect wreckage for the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation before the storm. For NPR News, I'm Jeremy Shea in Anchorage, Alaska. The CDC says the flu season is particularly brutal this year. The percentage of doctors visits driven by flu-like symptoms is higher than at any time in the past 15 years. The flu has forced schools to close in several states and so far there have been 13,000 deaths including at least 57 children that were

caused by the flu. It was a down day on Wall Street Friday all major indices closed down. You're listening to NPR News. President Donald Trump approved a military aid package for Israel on Friday that totals some $6.75 billion. The package includes munitions and guidance systems. Another deal will allow the sale of $660 million worth of Hellfire missiles. The news came as Israel's Prime Minister visited Washington, D.C. Stocks ended lower for the week with the Dow losing more than 200 points. As NPR's Rafael Nam reports, trading was volatile because of fears about tariffs.

President Trump has frequently said he would impose tariffs on a number of countries and trading partners. Investors in Wall Street were never sure if Trump was serious or whether he was using tariffs as a negotiating tactic. That uncertainty remains today. Stocks initially plunged on Monday after Trump announced tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada, although they recovered somewhat later that day after he put on hold the tariffs on the country's North American neighbors. But investors remain nervous. Widespread tariffs could spark more inflation at home

and lead to retaliation against American businesses. Certain markets could remain volatile for a while. Rafal Naim, NPR News. The first regular season NFL game this fall will be played in Dublin, Ireland. The league announced that plan on Friday. Only one of the two teams playing in the game has been named so far. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be playing, but the other team will not be named until sometime this spring.

The league announced earlier this week that one game in 2026 will be played in Australia. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.