NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-12-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

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Planet Money is there. From California's most expensive fires ever. That was my home home. Yeah. I grew up there. It's ashes. To the potentially largest deportation in U.S. history. They're going to come to the businesses. They're going to come to the restaurants. They're going to come here. Planet Money. We go to the places at the center of the story. The Planet Money podcast from NPR. center of the story, the Planet Money podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly.

American schoolteacher Mark Fogel is back in the U.S. after spending more than three years in a Russian prison. Fogel's release was part of a deal negotiated by the Trump administration. NPR's Iyana Archie says Fogel met with President Trump last night at the White House. Fogel, who was 63 years old, was arrested more than three years ago by Russian customs agents who say he had medical marijuana in his luggage.

The State Department deemed Fogel unjustly detained last year. His mother was persistent in bringing attention to her son's case, which eventually got the attention of President Trump, who promised to bring him home. I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all. And President Trump is a hero. These men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes.

National Security Advisor Mike Walz said Fogel was brought back as part of an exchange with Russia, but it is unknown what the U.S. provided. Ayanna Archie, NPR News. Later this morning, the Senate is expected to vote on Tulsi Gabbard to be the next director of national intelligence. Yesterday's confirmation vote was postponed because of a winter storm affecting Washington, D.C. Gabbard is a former Democratic member of Congress from Hawaii, who sought the party's presidential nomination in 2020. She joined the Republican Party last year and backed Donald Trump's bid for the White House.

Gabbard also serves as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. The president's nominee to be Education Secretary Linda McMahon is scheduled to have her Senate confirmation hearing tomorrow. NPR's Joannaki Mehta says McMahon is best known to many as a former executive with World Wrestling Entertainment. McMahon's business acumen may have translated to her last job in the federal government as head of the Small Business Administration during

Trump's first term. Now, if she's confirmed, she will be tasked with leading the Department of Education and working towards shutting it down. On Monday, the Trump Administration's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, slashed research contracts at the Education Department. It's what some see as the beginnings of dismantling the agency. If a recent contentious House hearing on education is any indication, McMahon may be questioned on how she will execute

Trump's plan to close a department, what her role would be in improving dismal student achievement, and her views on expanding school choice, an idea she supports. Janaki Mehta, NPR News. The FAA says all three runways at Reagan National Airport in Washington are now open for the first time since last month's midair collision involving an American Airlines regional jet and a military helicopter. Two shorter runways at the airport were closed following the collision on January 29. This is NPR News from Washington.

Much of the central and eastern part of the U.S. is dealing with snow and ice this morning. Winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings extend from Colorado to New England. In other areas, there are concerns about flooding and wildfires, as NPR's Alana Wise reports. Parts of the East Coast are getting a dump of snow and ice. The South is bracing for heavy rains and the West Coast is under flash flood warnings. These big, potentially catastrophic weather events come after weeks of calamitous weather across the U.S. After fires ravaged California, an icy weather wreaked havoc across the Midwest and eastern seaboard. The winter

storm is expected to pummel Kentucky to West Virginia, from Richmond to Philadelphia with heavy snow. California is bracing for heavy rain and what is on track to be the strongest storm of the season there. Meanwhile, Texas is facing the prospect of wildfires in the West, snow in the Panhandle and flooding in the East part of the state. Alana Wise, NPR News. Health officials in West Texas say they've identified at least two dozen cases of measles over the last couple of weeks north of Odessa.

Some people have been hospitalized. At least one case of measles has been confirmed in neighboring New Mexico and Lea County. Officials say that infection involves an unvaccinated teenager. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. usually records fewer than 200 cases of measles each year. I'm Dave Mattingly, NPR News in Washington. If you love NPR News in Washington.