NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-15-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: February 15, 2025

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Planet Money is there. From California's most expensive fires ever. That was my home home. Yeah. I grew up there. It's ashes. To the potentially largest deportation in U.S. history. They're going to come to the businesses. They're going to come to the restaurants. They're going to come here. Planet Money. We go to the places at the center of the story. The Planet Money podcast from NPR. Live from NPR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on stage at the annual Munich Security Conference. Look at what Putin is trying to do now. This is his game. Putin wants one-on-one talks with America. Just like before the war, when they met in Switzerland and looked like to carve up the world. Next, Putin will try to get the US president standing on Red Square on May 9th. This year, not as a respected leader, but as a probe in his own performance.

Solensky is speaking a day after Vice President J.D. Vance used his speech at the conference to attack European democracies, saying he fears free speeches and retreat in Europe, alleging that European leaders are centering conservative and right-wing views. Three Israeli hostages held by Hamas have been released, a six-group freed as part of a fragile ceasefire deal with Israel that nearly collapsed this week. In exchange for the released hostages, Palestinian authorities expect Israel

to release more than 350 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. And Piers Hodeel Al-Shalchi reports. The three male civilian hostages released are 36-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Sagih Dekelkhen, 29-year-old Russian-Israeli Alexander Trupanov, and 46-year-old Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horne. The hostages were brought onto a stage where a slogan on a large poster alluded to President

Trump's plan to transfer Gaza's entire population to neighboring countries. The banner said, No migration except to Jerusalem. The three hostages were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Khan Yunis, a city in South Gaza. Among the 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees expected to be freed by Israel on Saturday are 36 who served life sentences in Israeli prisons convicted for deadly attacks against Israelis. Hadeel Alshalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

To Missouri, where clinics will begin offering abortion services after a Missouri judge granted a request to overturn licensing requirements for clinics that provide the procedure, St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Fenton reports. Missourians in November voted to enshrine the right to access an abortion in the state's constitution. After that, a Kansas City judge halted a near total abortion ban that had been in place since 2022. But that order still left some restrictions in place, including a rule that providers give all patients pelvic exams.

Clinicians in Missouri said some requirements were so strict, they still couldn't offer abortions. The judge's temporary order reversed her earlier decision and put a hold on the restrictions, saying they were discriminatory. Clinics in Missouri say they plan to begin offering abortions within days. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Fenton in St. Louis. And you're listening to NPR News. Investigators say the crew of the Army helicopter that collided in midair with an American Airlines jet near Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport may have had inaccurate altitude readings. And the National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer

Homendy says the Blackhawks voice recorder suggests the crew may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers. CVR data from the Blackhawk's voice recorder suggests the crew may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers. CVR data from the Blackhawk indicated that the portion of the transmission stating the CRJ was circling may not have been received by the Blackhawk crew. The president of Brazil says he's prepared to reciprocate if the US behaves poorly toward his country. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports a South American leader has been relatively quiet about President Trump's tariffs on Brazilian steel and now new threats against ethanol exports.

In a local radio interview, President Luisa Nácio Lula da Silva said Brazil does not want friction with anyone, but he added, quote, If Trump behaves like this toward Brazil, we will reciprocate in kind. Lula added that Trump is acting like he is sheriff of the world. So far, Brazil has not levied any new import tariffs. Trump slapped 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the U.S. Brazil is the second largest supplier of steel to the U.S. Trump also announced reciprocal tariffs on all countries for Brazil that would affect its large ethanol exports.

Lula insists the U.S. and Brazil trade is in balance and does not need protectionist tariffs. Carrie Cahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News. I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News.