NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-14-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: February 15, 2025

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Technologist Paul Garcia is using AI to create photos of people's most precious memories. How her mother was dressed, the haircut that she remembered. We generated tens of images and then she saw two images that was like, that was it. Ideas about the future of memory. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. of memory. That's on the Ted Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau not to lay off more employees. For now, the Bureau's Rafael Nam reports the agency's terminated more than 100 workers this week. The order from Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court in Washington is a

major reprieve to staff at the agency, which had been bracing for mass layoffs. Judge Jackson also said the agency cannot delete data held by the CFPB, and she ruled that the agency cannot transfer money from its reserve funds unless it's for operational reasons. A union representing CFPB employees had filed a lawsuit after the agency had ordered staff to stop all work. It also filed another suit saying the Trump administration had accessed its information violating the Privacy Act. Congress created the CFPB in the wake of the 2008 meltdown that was triggered by and the ongoing war in his countries negotiated with President Trump. Zelensky also saying Trump gave him his phone number prior to the opening of the Munich Security Conference.

Zelensky during a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance at the conference said today, his country wants, quote, security guarantees for any talks to end the conflict begin. Investigators are focusing on the possible malfunction of a key piece of equipment in last month's mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet. The crash near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C. killed 67 people. David Schaper reports the pilot of the helicopter may have had inaccurate altitude readings. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy confirms that the Blackhawk

helicopter was flying higher than it should have been when it crashed into the American Airlines regional jet. Its altitude was 278 feet. But I want to caution that does not mean that's what the Black Hawk crew was seeing on the barometric altimeters in the cockpit. We are seeing conflicting information in the data. Homendy says it also appears that the helicopter crew did not fully hear a critical radio transmission from air traffic control telling them to pass behind the regional jet and that night vision goggles may have made it difficult to see the plane.

The investigation continues. For NPR News, I'm David Schaper. While many US adults will tell you they think the federal government spends too much that apparently depends on what the money is being spent on, a survey by the Associated Press-Nork Center for Public Affairs research shows two-thirds of Americans think the government spends too little on social security and education. On Wall Street, the Dow fell 165 points. This is NPR.

Residents in parts of Southern California already hard hit by recent wildfires now have another problem to contend with. Mud slides and debris that came down off fire scarred hillsides due to heavy rainfall. Among the areas that were hit hard yesterday, the city of Sierra Madre where at least one car was trapped in mud several homes were damaged also reporting flooding was the Pacific Coast Highway area near Malibu. An 86 year old white man from Kansas City charged with shooting a black teen who mistakenly rang his doorbell pleaded guilty to second-degree assault as Peggy Lowe member station KCUR reports the

plea bargain means Andrew Lester will avoid a trial. Lester appeared in Clay County Court in a wheelchair, the teen he shot, Ralph Yarrow, was in the front row surrounded by family. When sentenced next month, Lester could get between one and seven years in prison. District Attorney Zach Thompson said he will ask for five years. This outcome ensures accountability for the defendant, provides closure to Mr. Yarrow and satisfies the need to achieve a just result in the case. Yarrow's mother, Cleo Nagby, issued a statement saying the family hopes that Lester's sentencing will uphold the seriousness of the

crime and not merely be a slap on the wrist. For NPR News, I'm Peggy Low in Kansas City. The rocket company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos says it's cutting about 10% of its workforce in an email to staff company CEO Dave Limp relaying it was a tough decision, but says the company grew too fast over the past years as it worked to develop its heavy-lift rocket, the New Glenn. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News. This message comes from NYU Langone. the new Glenn. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News.