NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-13-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

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NPR covers the stories that shape our world. Whether you're here for news or culture or good conversation, we're proud to be here for you. Federal funding helps keep the public radio network strong and available to all for about a dollar and sixty cents per person each year. Visit ProtectMyPublicMedia.org to learn more about safeguarding public media's future. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The US Senate's green-lighting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the nation's next Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Moments ago lawmakers confirmed Kennedy. As NPR Selena Simmons-Stefan reports, Senator Mitch McConnell was the only Republican to vote no. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was one of President Trump's most controversial cabinet nominations. He built his fortune and reputation sowing doubts about vaccines. Now he oversees federal vaccine policy as health secretary. Kennedy faced opposition from the political right because of his past support for abortion rights and from the left for his decades of espousing conspiracy theories about vaccines and HIV and Lyme disease and more. Public health experts warn that even the fact of Kennedy's confirmation could affect vaccine confidence across the country.

Right now, a measles outbreak in West Texas is underway. There are 24 confirmed infections, all of them unvaccinated. Most are children. Selena Simmons Duffin, NPR News, Washington. A Senate committee has advanced Cash Patel's nomination for FBI director and President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has just begun her confirmation process. President Trump plans to announce more tariffs this afternoon.

NPR's Scott Horsley reports a move could complicate efforts to combat inflation. President Trump wants to impose what he calls reciprocal tariffs, matching the import taxes that other countries charge on U.S. exports. Trump insists the move would give a boost to domestic manufacturers. It also has the potential to raise prices. Stock and Deere & Company has lost a little green after the farm equipment maker warned of slowing sales in North America. U.S. farmers get more than 20 percent of their income from exports and they're often a high-profile

target in any trade war. Scott Horsley, MPR News, Washington. The Justice Department is suing the state of New York and top officials there in a dispute over immigration enforcement. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports it's the second case by the Trump administration against a Democratic-led jurisdiction. Attorney General Pam Bondi says New York is prioritizing people in the country unlawfully over its own residents. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Tish James, and the head of the state's DMV are also named in the civil case. Bondi's targeting New York's green light law, which allows people in the country illegally

to apply for a driver's license. Bondi says the state law is unconstitutional and she says if other jurisdictions don't comply with federal law, the DOJ will take them to court too. New York Governor Hockel says the case is driven by publicity and she won't back down. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington. U.S. stocks are trading higher this hour. The Dow is up 111 points at 44,482. From Washington, this is NPR News. A car plowed into a crowd in Munich a day before the German city hosts a global security

conference. Local authorities say at least 28 people were injured today. Police say the car was driven by a 24-year-old Afghan national when the vehicle struck pedestrians mid-morning local time. The motive remains under investigation. NBC News reports that the U.S. Secret Service says there was, quote, no protective impact to Vice President J.D. Vance, who is in Germany to attend the conference. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also scheduled to

attend. A new study suggests people who regularly consume yogurt over many years may receive protection from certain aggressive types of colon cancer. And Piers Maria Godoy has more. In this study, researchers at Mass General Brigham in Boston looked at data from more than 150,000 people who were followed for at least three decades. They found that people who ate two or more servings of yogurt per week had lower rates of proximal colon cancer.

That's a type of colon cancer that can be particularly aggressive and have worse survival outcomes. The findings are in line with prior studies that have linked yogurt intake to a lower risk of colorectal cancer. Study co-author Dr. Tomotaka Ugae says the good bacteria in yogurt appear to be helping to keep the gut microbiome healthy, thus protecting against colorectal cancer. My kind of message is that if you like yogurt, go for it. The findings appear in the journal, Gut Microbes.

Maria Godoy, NPR News. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington. At the Super Bowl halftime show, Kendrick Lamar indeed performed his smash diss track, Not Like Us, in Washington.