NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-12-2025 12AM EST

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

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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. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. An American prisoner held in Russia is back in the United States after serving time on

drug charges. 63-year-old Mark Fogel was welcomed home by President Trump late Tuesday. 95-year-old Malfine Fogel calls her son's release a beautiful shocker. MALFINE FOGEL I actually felt just dizzy for a while until I got my composure. And then I talked to him and he said he was at the Moscow airport and he was waiting to get on a plane. And it was just the most wonderful news we could have had. Fogle had been held in Russia since August 2021 when he was arrested for possession of

medical marijuana. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz says his release was negotiated as part of an exchange, but he didn't indicate whether the U.S. had freed anyone in return. Lawmakers, labor advocates, and federal workers gathered outside the U.S. Capitol Tuesday. NPR's Andrea Shue reports they accused the Trump administration of politicizing civil service. Federal employees have been hit with a lot in the several weeks since President Trump was sworn in.

The administration has put people on leave, shuttered offices, halted a lot of work, and encouraged more than two million workers to resign. Gay Henson is an employee of the Tennessee Valley Authority and secretary treasurer of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. It's not well thought out. It's not well planned. They should do a study or something and they figure out what needs to be cut and do it in a respectful way. This is just very disrespectful to American workers who've given their lives to the service of the country.

President Trump has said he got elected to make the government smaller and more efficient and that's what he's doing. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. President Trump is pressuring Jordan and other nations to take in Palestinians from Gaza. NPR's Franco Ordonia reports on Trump's White House meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah. With the king sitting beside him in the Oval Office, Trump again outlined his plans to move Palestinians out of Gaza so that the territory could be redeveloped.

I believe we'll have a parcel of land in Jordan. I believe we'll have a parcel of land in Egypt. We may have someplace else, but I think when we finish our talks, we'll have a place where they're going to live very happily and very safely. It's a plan that Arab leaders have roundly rejected. But when it was his time to speak, King Abdullah proceeded more cautiously, saying Arab leaders will meet soon in Saudi Arabia to discuss how they can work with the U.S. The king did announce that Jordan would take in 2,000 children from Gaza who have cancer

or are sick. Franco, Ordonez, NPR News. Israel is threatening to resume its war in Gaza if the mosque doesn't release more hostages on Saturday. The two sides are accusing each other of violating a three-part ceasefire. This is NPR News. The U.S. and Britain have declined to sign a declaration on artificial intelligence at this week's AI summit in Paris.

Vice President JD Vance told those gathered that world nations, and Europe in particular, should avoid over-regulating AI development. But Vance suggested international regulations are needed to foster AI technology. An estimated 127.7 million viewers watched Sunday's Super Bowl, that would be a record, according to TV ratings company Nielsen, and the largest in Super Bowl history. More from NPR's Eric Deggans. The game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs may have been a blowout for the Eagles, and it was witnessed in record fashion on Fox's Super Bowl broadcast,

which attracted 4 million more viewers than last year to become the most watched single network telecast in U.S. TV history. The peak average audience hit 137.7 million viewers at about 8 p.m. with viewership counted across Fox and NFL digital platforms and out-of-home viewing like bars, according to Nielsen. Overall, about 83 percent of households watching TV were tuned to the Super Bowl. Eric Deggans, NPR News. NASA says it may bring stranded astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home sooner. The pair became the first man crewed aboard the Boeing Starliner in June. The Starliner's thrusters malfunctioned on approach to the International

Space Station, making it too risky to use for bringing the astronauts back to Earth. NASA says it may use the SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying a crew to the space station in mid-March to bring the stranded astronauts home. This is NPR News. This message comes from the Kresge Foundation. Established 100 years ago, the Kresge Foundation works to expand equity and opportunity in cities across America. A century of impact, a future of opportunity. More at kresge.org.