NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-13-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

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Valentine's Day is on the horizon and NPR's All Songs Considered has you covered with a mix of lesser-known love songs for that special someone in your life. You don't make your wife playlists? Well, not anymore. I sealed the deal. Robin. Robin, Robin, Robin. Mr. Robin. We're going to discuss this later. Hear new episodes of All Songs Considered every Tuesday, wherever you get podcasts. New episodes of All Songs considered every Tuesday, wherever you get podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. President Trump says he's spoken by phone separately with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky about negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump says Putin indicated he'd be willing to negotiate with Zelensky. Trump says Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe will help lead talks with Russia. The Senate is expected to vote this morning on the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of President Trump's most controversial cabinet nominations because he's built his personal fortune and reputation sowing doubts about the safety

of vaccines. As health secretary, he will oversee federal vaccine policy. Kennedy faced opposition from the political right because of his past support for abortion rights and from the left because of his decades of espousing conspiracy theories about vaccines and also about HIV and Lyme disease and more Democratic senators railed against his nomination for hours on the Senate floor yesterday But he's expected to have enough votes to win confirmation today Selena Simmons Duffin and PR News, Washington

Today, Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News, Washington. Also today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on the president's nomination of Cash Patel to lead the FBI. Yesterday, the full Senate approved Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence. A federal judge in Massachusetts has declined to block the Trump administration's offer of deferred resignation to federal employees. That offer expired last night. It gave more than two million federal workers the option to resign now with pay and benefits through September or keep their job and risk being laid off later. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole ruled the unions that challenged the

offer lacked standing to bring that lawsuit. The White House says the Trump administration will continue to appeal judicial rulings that hinder the president's efforts to cut federal spending and shrink the size of government. NPR's Tamara Keith has more. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said the media is spending too much time talking about the possibility of a constitutional crisis and said President Trump will comply with the law and the courts but will also seek every legal remedy to overturn the injunctions. The real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch where district court judges and liberal

districts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump's basic executive authority. The White House has taken an across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump's basic executive authority. The White House has taken an expansive view of the president's executive authority. Echoing Trump's words, Levitt called the judges activists. Tamara Keith, NPR News. This is NPR News from Washington. The U.S. Navy says two crew members aboard an attack jet were rescued in the waters off Southern California yesterday after they ejected before that jet crashed. The Navy says the crew members were rescued from the water off San Diego by a sport fishing vessel. The jet went down during what's known as a go-around maneuver in which the pilot lands and attempts to take off again. A new study suggests people who regularly consume yogurt over many years may receive protection from

certain aggressive types of colon cancer. NPR's Maria Godoy reports. 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, N for it. The findings appear in the journal Gut Microbes. Maria Gadoy, NPR News. Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan are formally ending their merger talks. The $60 billion proposed deal would have created the world's third largest automaker. I'm Dave Mattingly, NPR News in Washington.