NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-14-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. Some federal lawmakers are appraising a federal prosecutor in New York. She resigned rather than drop a corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. A top Justice Department official had ordered prosecutors to dismiss the case. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports the episode is amplifying concerns about politics in the agency. Congressman Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, says the acting U.S. Attorney in Manhattan

took an eloquent stand for the rule of law. Danielle Sassoon quit her job, and so did five other lawyers who work on public corruption cases in Washington, D.C. Sassoon wrote a letter to DOJ saying, there's no good reason to dismiss the bribery case against Eric Adams. In fact, she wrote, prosecutors were considering adding a new charge of obstruction against him. Congressman Raskin says she raised disturbing concerns about a quid pro quo and cover-up

inside the Justice Department. He's asking whistleblowers to come forward to Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington. Russia is acknowledging some role for Ukraine as it pursues peace negotiations with the U.S. These negotiations are aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. This comes amid concern that the White House was sidelining Kiev in negotiations with Russia over Ukraine's future. NPR's Charles Mains reports.

Speaking on state television, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine would be participating in negotiations, quote, one way or another. Peskov said Russia anticipated a two-track approach to talks, one directly with the U.S. and another, quote, connected to Ukraine's involvement. Kremlin propagandists have long painted Ukraine and Europe as subservient to the U.S. and insisted only the White House could deliver a lasting peace. Those same voices have also celebrated President Trump's announcement he would negotiate directly with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the war, particularly after Trump appeared

to concede the key Russian demands over NATO expansion and Ukraine forfeiting land. Charles Maynes, NPR News. A new poll from NPR and Ipsos finds that Americans remain deeply divided over President Trump's new immigration efforts. The poll shows growing support for more restrictions on immigration, but Democrats oppose nearly all

of Trump's immigration policies, including his efforts to overturn the constitutional right to birthright citizenship. NPR's Joel Rose says Republicans are strongly backing the president. This NPR episode's poll shows that Republicans, for the most part, are very united in support of the president's crackdown. Four out of five support deporting all immigrants without legal status. Three out of four support denying federal funding to sanctuary cities that limit their

cooperation with immigration authorities. And a big majority of Republicans say the U.S. has been experiencing an invasion at the southern border. NPR's Joel Rose reporting. On Wall Street, the Dow is down nearly 30 points. The Nasdaq is up more than 40. This is NPR. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is refusing to send a doctor from her state to Louisiana to face charges. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry says the doctor is accused of providing abortion medication online to a Louisiana resident. That's illegal in Louisiana, but not in New York. New York also has a shield law protecting providers who supply patients in other states abortion medication online.

protecting providers who supply patients in other states abortion medication online. The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to offer an update today on last month's deadly aircraft crash in Washington, D.C. Sixty-seven people died when a military helicopter and a passenger jet collided. David Schaper reports. The Army Blackhawk helicopter slammed into an American Airlines regional jet as the regional plane was coming in for a landing at Reagan National Airport. Both aircraft plunged into the frigid Potomac River. There were no survivors. Investigators have already determined that the helicopter was flying higher than it should have been and was at about 300 feet when it

collided with the plane, but it's not yet known if the pilots of the plane knew that the helicopter was close by. New information could come from the flight data and cockpit voice recorders and investigators' interviews with air traffic controllers, but it will likely take a year or longer before the NTSB determines a probable cause. For NPR News, I'm David Schaper. The igloo company is recalling about a million of its coolers. That's because the handles are a danger and they can pinch people using them. A small number of people have had their fingertips amputated. The recalled

items are Igloo's 90-quart flip-and-toe rolling coolers. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.