NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-10-2025 6PM EST

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

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Donald Trump is starting his second term as president. What will his administration do and what policies will it promote? On the NPR Politics Podcast, we'll break down what the new administration does and explain why it matters. Listen to the NPR Politics Podcast every day. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Donald Trump is imposing new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. NPR's Scott Horsley reports rising metal prices are also putting pressure on the humble penny. President Trump says he plans a 25% tax on all imported steel

and aluminum extending a trade battle he launched during his first term in the White House. The move has the potential to boost domestic steel and aluminum makers while also raising costs for businesses and consumers that buy steel and aluminum, ranging from automakers to soda pop and beer drinkers. President Trump says he's directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies. The government's been losing money on the coins, which each cost more than a penny to make.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. A federal judge in Rhode Island has found the Trump administration has continued to freeze some federal funds despite a recent temporary restraining order. As NPR's Elena Moore explains, it's the latest development in a lawsuit brought by 22 states and the District of Columbia against the administration's attempt to pause payments for grants and other federal programs. The order directs the Trump administration to immediately end any federal funding pause, pointing to information from states that details how some funding has remained inaccessible.

The legal challenge is one of two lawsuits sparked by a memo from the Office of Management and Budget last month. That memo was rescinded days after it was released, but the White House says a review of federal funding is still necessary. The administration also argued in a court filing that it had acted, quote, in good faith to interpret the scope of the court's temporary restraining order. Elena Moore, NPR News. President Trump's newly installed chief of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

told members of the agency to work from home. As he announced over the weekend, he was shuttering the agency's DC headquarters. Russell voted a long-time budget hawk, took over at CFPB Friday. Democrats have been pushing back meanwhile, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who helped create the agency and is the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. She took part in a protest today in Washington. Congress created the CFPB to protect people from getting swindled. Congress built it and no one other than Congress, not Donald Trump, not Elon Musk, no one can fire the financial cops. The CFPB was created as part of the sweeping 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law after

subprime lending abuses and lax regulation triggered a recession. As Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell prepares for a semi-annual testimony for House and Senate members on Capitol Hill, billionaire Elon Musk in a series of social media posts over the weekend was suggesting closer scrutiny of the central bank. Musk, who's heading up Doge, says all aspects of the federal government, including the Fed, should be under heightened scrutiny. Stocks moved higher in Wall Street today that dow up 167 points. You're listening to NPR. President Trump said today Palestinians in Gaza would not have a right to return under his plan for U.S. ownership of the war-torn territory.

That contradicts what other members of his administration have been saying, which is that Trump is only calling for a temporary relocation of the population. Trump made his remarks during an interview with Fox News. Researchers are trying to understand how a man expected to develop Alzheimer's in middle age has remained mentally sound into his mid-70s. St. Buiar's John Hamilton explains the study is in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The man has a rare gene mutation that caused family members to develop Alzheimer's in their 30s and 40s.

Yet he still shows no sign of the disease at 75. Jorge Giebre of Washington University in St. Louis is part of a team that's been studying the man, along with two earlier cases of people who defied their genetic destiny. It's so important, right, because it's telling us that something is going on that is protecting these people. Jibre says the man's brain has high levels of proteins found in people exposed to high temperatures and other forms of stress. He says these proteins may help protect the brain from Alzheimer's.

John Hamilton, NPR News. Arizona says it's adding a new species of bat to the night creatures visiting the state. Recent confirmation of the return of the Mexican long-nosed bats in part confirmed with the help of residents and researchers who gathered samples from hummingbird feeders. In the past, a bat would have to be captured, but researchers tested the feeders for saliva of the bats through DNA. Bexon Longnose Bat has been enlisted as an endangered species since 1988. This is NPR.

At the Super Bowl halftime show, Kendrick Lamar indeed performed his smash diss track Not Like Us and brought out Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams, and SZA. We're recapping the Super Bowl, including why we saw so many celebrities in commercials this year. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR.