NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-13-2025 7PM EST

Episode Date: February 14, 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 60 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 Janene Hurst. President Trump says Ukraine would have a seat at the table in negotiations over the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

MPs Deepa Sivarama reports Trump also reiterated that he quote trusts Russian leader Vladimir Putin when he said he wanted peace. Trump spoke over the phone this week with Putin and with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said Ukraine, Russia, and other people would be involved in negotiations to end the war. We would have Ukraine, we would have Russia, and we'll have other people involved,

a lot of people, a lot of forks in the, a lot of forks in this game. Trump also said he'd like to see Russia rejoin the G7 group of nations. Russia was previously in what was called the G8, but was removed in 2014 after it annexed Crimea. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News. Federal workers are starting to get layoff notices as the Trump administration moves ahead with plans to drastically downsize the government.

NPR's Shannon Bond reports many of the first cuts are targeting employees who were recently hired and still on probationary status. Some probationary staff at the Department of Education received notices they were being terminated effective immediately, according to employees who spoke with NPR on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. At the General Services Administration, many recently hired employees were called into meetings late Wednesday and told they were being let go. The cuts come days after President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies

to start preparing to, quote, initiate large scale reductions in force. Trump and his advisor, Elon Musk, say they are slashing what they say is excessive government spending. Shannon Bond, NPR News. Shannon Bond The State Department says it's abandoning plans to buy $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles. As NPR'sbi Allen reports, the potential federal purchase drew scrutiny since Tesla CEO Elon Musk is now a top White House adviser. The State Department says it is pausing a $400 million request for armored Teslas. The Trump administration says it has no plans of completing the contract. This comes after the State Department published a document detailing a plan to buy Tesla vehicles

by September. The document didn't specify which Tesla model, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk has compared the company's Cybertruck to a futuristic battle tank. Soon after the document received attention, NPR noticed the word Tesla was removed to say the bid was for $400 million worth of armored electric vehicles. In a statement, the Trump administration says the contract was started in the Biden White House and is now indefinitely on hold. Bobbi Allen, NPR News. U.S. futures contracts are trading in mixed territory at this hour. Dow futures are up a fraction. NASDAQ futures are down about one-tenth of a percent.

This is NPR News. One of the country's top music venues, Carnegie Hall, will celebrate America's 250th anniversary in its new season with American music and culture. Among the performers, Harry Connick Jr., who's making his debut on that stage, Jeff London has more. Harry Connick Jr., the New Orleans-born crooner pianist, composer, and arranger, has never been on Carnegie Hall's main stage, but that will change next May. It had to be you. It had to be you. I wandered around and found a place... Connick will present two evenings of his work, but May 22nd will be extra special, he says.

That date is my mother's 100th birthday. She always wanted me to play at Carnegie Hall. Connick will premiere a three-movement orchestral work with piano dedicated to his mother's memory on that evening. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have called off talks on a possible $60 billion merger. If it had gone through, it would have created the world's third biggest auto group by sales

volume. Honda top executives who had questioned whether teaming up with a struggling automaker was prudent. They eventually floated the idea of Nissan being a subsidiary of Honda. Well, that was something that Nissan didn't want. Wall Street higher by the closing bell, the Dow up 342 points. I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.