NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-14-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

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Public media counts on your support to ensure that the reporting and programs you depend on thrive. Make a recurring donation today to get special access to more than 20 NPR podcasts. Perks like sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, and more. So start supporting what you love today at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington on Korova Coleman, NPR has learned that many federal workers are being let go from a variety of federal agencies. That's from the Education Department to the agency that safeguards U.S. nuclear weapons. Dozens of people have been fired from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

NPR's Laurel Walmsley has more. According to several current staffers, between 70 and 100 staff were terminated at CFPB on Thursday evening. Earlier this week, dozens of other employees at the bureau were fired. The most recent firings targeted term staff who have contracts for a set length of time.

Two letters shared with NPR said the employees' jobs were being terminated due to President Trump's executive order that outlines Elon Musk's plan to downsize the government. CFPB staff are hearing talk that wider cuts will happen soon. Republicans have long criticized the Bureau as being too heavy-handed in its regulation. Consumer advocates warn that a gutted CFPB will mean Americans are left vulnerable to financial abuse and fraud. Laurel Wamsley, NPR News, Washington. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been sworn in as the nation's newest secretary for health and human services.

He had been fiercely opposed by Democrats who cited his years of work spreading conspiracy theories about vaccines. Kennedy opposes vaccine mandates, but he says he won't stop people from getting one if they want. I'm not going to take away anybody's vaccine. If people are happy with their vaccines, they ought to be able to get them. He spoke on Fox's The Ingram Angle. Louisiana will no longer promote mass vaccination in that state.

The Louisiana Surgeon General says his agency encourages patients in Louisiana to talk about vaccines with their providers. Separately, a measles outbreak is growing among children in West Texas. At least two dozen people are ill. None of them was vaccinated. Ukraine says a Russian drone struck the Chernobyl nuclear power plant today. It hit the radiation shelter, protecting a damaged reactor. NPS Joanna Kokisys reports from Kyiv that Russia is calling 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 Zelensky 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. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The new Environmental Protection Agency administrator says he will try to claw back about $20 billion in certain grants. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says this is for clean energy projects that are focused on disadvantaged communities. Republicans say the grants are actually part of a slush fund. Residents of Los Angeles are recovering after a winter storm system dropped as much as five inches of rain.

Among the areas hardest hit are Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Steve Futterman reports they're still recovering from last month's wildfires. There were some close calls. An Elvira County fire employee had his SUV pushed into the Pacific Ocean by a mudslide. He was rescued. All day long, people were on alert. Ariel Cohn of the National Weather Service.

There will be the potential for very severe debris flows to occur. At times, there were torrential rains. Streets were flooded. Cars were trapped by mud and had to be abandoned. Some homes and businesses sustained damage. But for the most part, the big fears of massive and deadly debris flows didn't happen. The Southern California area is not home free yet.

The mountains and foothills and affected fire areas remain saturated and there is still the potential for mudslides. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles the video sharing app tiktok is back Apple and Google have restored it to their app stores That's despite a new federal law banning tiktok But new US Attorney General Pam Bondi says she's not going to enforce that law You're listening to NPR Planet money is there from California's most expensive fires ever. It was my home home force that law. You're listening to NPR.