NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-11-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

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This message comes from Home Instead. Home Instead knows that if you leave home to seek aging care, you say goodbye to where you built your life. So why not stay with help from Home Instead? Learn more at HomeInstead.ca. Home Instead. For a better what's next. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Donald Trump and the head of his government efficiency office, Doge, sought to both tout and justify recent actions today at the White House. Elon Musk, with one of his children in tow, joined Trump in the Oval Office. And Piers Tamara Keith has more. Trump started out briefly and then just handed the floor over to Musk, who went on at length

about his work, offering anecdotes about alleged government waste and making bold and vague statements. If the people cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives in the form of the president and the Senate and the House, then we don't live in a democracy. We live in a bureaucracy. At times he talked about minute details like payment categorization codes being missing from Treasury payments but it isn't clear how he's backing up claims that he has already saved the American public billions of

dollars. NPR's Tamara Keith. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today threatened to resume hostilities with Hamas in Gaza unless the militant group releases hostages as scheduled this weekend. The threat comes after Hamas in Gaza, unless the militant group releases hostages as scheduled this weekend, the thread comes after Hamas said it would delay the release, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf has more from Tel Aviv. Netanyahu met with his security cabinet for many hours today, a meeting that was moved up after Hamas announced the delay.

In a speech afterward, Netanyahu demanded that Hamas return the hostages as planned, or afterward Netanyahu demanded that Hamas return the hostages as planned or The ceasefire will end and the Israeli military will resume intense combat, he said. Earlier, President Trump had demanded that all the hostages be released by Saturday, a proposal very different from the current agreement or quote, all hell is going to break out. A senior official with knowledge of the matter not authorized to speak publicly later clarified to NPR that Israel expects three hostages released Saturday, as previously scheduled. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. It's Linda McMahon's turn to face a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday. If she gets

through the process successfully, she would lead the Department of Education. NPR's Janaka Mehta reports. If she becomes the next Secretary of Education, the first order of business for McMahon will be to start shrinking the agency. On Monday, the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency Unit, or DOJ, cut dozens of contracts tied to the Department of Education. And in recent days, the White House confirmed the president's plans to call on Congress to close the department

altogether. Some who worked with McMahon during her time leaving the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term tell NPR she was an effective leader who had an eye for making the public sector more efficient. Recently, McMahon expressed support for school choice and expanding career and technical programs for students, ideas that align with the Trump administration's goals. Janaki Mehta, NPR News. On Wall Street, the Dow rose 123 points, the Nasdaq was down 70 points. You're listening to NPR News.

PBS is shuttering its diversity, equity, and inclusion office. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports the news comes in response to an executive order from President Trump curtailing DEI workplace initiatives. In a statement shared with NPR, PBS said it is closing its DEI office to ensure compliance with the order. The statement said DEI staff members are leaving the company and that the public broadcaster would continue to stick to its mission and values. PBS also shared a memo sent to staff by President and CEO Paula Kerger, stating that it has been working with legal counsel to understand how the executive order would potentially impact the organisation. PBS and NPR received some federal funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

NPR did not respond to questions about its diversity office. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. The FBI now says it's discovered about 2400 new records related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. A revelation coming as the agency seeks to comply with an executive order from President Trump to release thousands of classified files. The FBI says it's working to transfer the documents to the National Archives. In the early 1990s, the federal government had mandated all documents related

to the Kennedy assassination be housed there. Majority of the collection has been released, though thousands of files are yet to be released, either entirely or partially. Crude oil futures prices bumped up to a two-week high today amid concerns about Russian and Iranian oil supplies and amid increased Middle East tensions. Oil gained a dollar a barrel today to end the session at $73.32 a barrel in New York.

I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Sending or spending money abroad? Hidden fees may be taking a cut. With WISE, you can convert between up to 40 currencies at the mid-market exchange rate. Visit WISE.com. TNCs apply.