NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-14-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The Department of Veterans Affairs has dismissed more than 1,000 employees as part of the Trump administration's cuts. NPR's Quill Lawrence reports the VA claims the actions won't affect veteran care. Democrat Richard Blumenthal is ranking member on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. He says President Trump and Elon Musk's cost-cutting measures will hurt VA care and compromise personal data of millions of military veterans. He says he's ending abuse, but he is abusing our veterans and many other Americans. VA Secretary Doug Collins said on X that he welcomes Musk's Doge team at VA.

Making sure that we have the best-run facility for efficiency to make sure who the veteran gets the care they need. Collins says the cuts won't hurt veterans despite staff shortages and a backlog of disability claims. Quill Lawrence, NPR News. Vice President J.D. Vance tells the U.S.'s European allies that the biggest threat to their continent is the threat from within. He says censorship of conservative and right-wing views shuts people out from the democratic

process. At the Munich Conference Security Conference today, Vance also raised concerns about immigration. Of all the pressing challenges that the nations represented here face, I believe there is nothing more urgent than mass migration. This was Vance's first major national security speech, but he quickly dispensed with national security issues like the war in Ukraine, defense spending, and the threats posed by Russia and China in a couple of sentences launching into a blistering critic critique of European politics

Ukraine says a Russian drone struck the Chernobyl nuclear power plant today It hit the radiation shelter protecting a damaged reactor and PRS Joanna kisses reports from Kiev that Russia called Ukraine's accusations a Provocation the strike caused a fire that Ukrainian firefighters were able to extinguish. Ukrainian authorities say radiation levels have not increased. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted surveillance video from the plant showing the moment the drone struck the concrete and steel structure. Speaking to reporters in Munich, he said the damage was significant. He says he believes the attack was a sign of hostility from Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia does not attack nuclear infrastructure. Chernobyl is the site of the world's worst nuclear accident. An explosion there in 1986 sparked a health emergency across Europe. Joanna Kekesis, NPR News, Kiev. The sour U.S. stocks are mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 70 points at 44,637. The S&P is up 3 and the NASDAQ is up 33 points. It's NPR News. Retail sales in the U.S. fell sharply in January. The Commerce Department is

reporting a decline of nine tenths of a percent from the month before. After two months of strong gains, the declines due in part to cold weather. More people stayed indoors. Auto dealers saw 2.8 percent decline in sales last month. Sales of furniture stores, home and garden centers, and the online retail sector also hit. Well, it's Valentine's Day and guess what? Chocolate is more expensive because of shrinking cocoa supplies and Piazolina Soliuk has details. Cocoa prices first broke the all-time record around Valentine's Day last year. Since then, they've doubled.

That's because the global supply of cocoa has declined for three years now. Most of the world's cocoa beans come from West Africa, and farmers there have dealt with abnormal weather and changing climate patterns that have been hard on their trees. David Branch is an analyst at Wells Fargo. The deficit ended up the highest deficit in 60 years. The shortage of cocoa has left many chocolate makers in a crunch. Big brands including Nestle, Hershey and Mondelez,

which makes Cadbury and Milka, have all raised prices already. Branch forecasts prices will likely keep rising over this year. Alina Seluch, NPR News. That's Philadelphia today. Thousands of Eagles fans celebrating their Super Bowl champions with the parade after their team defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 to secure the franchise's second Super Bowl title since 2018. Last check on Wall Street, the Dow is down 76 points. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.