NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-10-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

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Hey, it's Rachel Martin from Wildcard. This Valentine's Day, NPR wants to show our love for listeners like you by giving away a free year of NPR+, and $100 worth of NPR merch to one lucky winner. Enter for a chance to win at npr.org slash valentine. No purchase necessary. Entry page and a link to the official rules can be found at npr.org slash valentine. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman, a third federal judge has blocked President Trump's executive action attempting to repeal birthright citizenship for some

Americans. NPR's Jimena Bustil reports Trump's action is intended to deter migration. The judge heard arguments over the Trump administration's effort to reinterpret the 14th Amendment to limit which U.S. born children get automatic citizenship. The judge raised questions over what might happen to the children of migrants without permanent status if they were to hypothetically be born while the courts decide the rule of law. U.S. government lawyers said the Supreme Court could eventually restore citizenship to those

who might lose it if it rules against the government. But lawyers on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union said family stuck in limbo would suffer irreparable harm. The judge ultimately said he was not persuaded by the government's position. Jimena Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote today on whether to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence. NPR's Christian Wright reports Gabbard is one of President Trump's most divisive cabinet nominees.

The former Hawaii Congresswoman's record on foreign policy has come under sharp scrutiny even by Republicans, including her past defense of Edward Snowden, who revealed a secret government surveillance program and leaked classified documents. Some senators are also troubled by Gabbard's comments suggesting support for Russia. And her 2017 visit was Syria's now ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad. She narrowly survived an Intelligence Committee vote, winning key Republican support to advance to the Senate floor today. NPR's Kristen Wright reporting.

To retaliate or not to retaliate, that is the question many countries are mulling today. That's after President Trump's announcement last night of 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported into the U.S. And here's Lauren Fraher has more from London. The British steel industry is already in decline and a 25 percent tariff on exports to the U.S. would be a quote devastating blow. That's according to a statement from the head of UK Steel, an industry group, which is calling on the UK government to quote act decisively in response. British officials already have a plan on the

shelf for retaliatory tariffs, but they're holding off so far to see if they can possibly get an exemption from Trump. 10% of British steel goes to the US. It's the industry's second biggest market after the European Union. The UK has a trade deficit with the US and had been hoping to avoid tariffs now that it's exited the EU. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London.

President Trump also says he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs this week on other countries if they impose retaliatory tariffs. This comes as China imposes tariffs today on U.S. products of 10 to 15 percent. These target U.S. farm products and U.S. crude oil. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials are up nearly 120 points. You're listening to NPR. Weather forecasters have issued extreme

cold warnings for the northern plains today. Wind chills may fall to 50 degrees below zero in Montana, North Dakota, and northwestern Minnesota. Novelist Tom Robbins has died at the age of 92. The acclaimed author was best known for books such as Jitterbug Perfume and even Cowgirls Get the Blues. As Tom Vitale reports, Robbins died over the weekend at his home in Washington State. Tom Robbins was known for novels filled with colorful language, eccentric characters, and bizarre situations that helped define him as a counterculture writer starting in the early 1970s. But Robbins told NPR in 2014 he thought that label pigeonholed his writing unfairly. I wouldn't have missed say the 60s for a billion dollars but neither I nor

my life's work can be defined by counterculture sensibilities. What could define the work of Tom Robbins, he said, was the way he used language. Brilliantly, playfully, and precisely, in best-selling novels that must have been both a joy and a challenge for the people who translated them into Russian, Spanish, and more than a dozen other languages. For NPR News, I'm Tom Vitale in New York. Officials in Perth, Australia say that pop singer Brian Adams called off a concert last night. The trouble was the sewage system in the arena in Western Australia. It turns out there was a huge blockage in the pipes of fat, grease, and rags. It's sometimes called a fatberg.

Local water authorities say if toilets overflowed, that could be a health risk. You're listening to NPR.