NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-16-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

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JANINE HERBST Donald Trump is back in the White House and making a lot of moves very quickly. Keep track of everything going on in Washington with the NPR Politics Podcast. Every day, we break down the latest news and explain why it matters to you. The NPR Politics Podcast. Listen every day. JANINE HERBST Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Several European leaders will meet in Paris tomorrow to try to come up with a response to U.S.-led negotiations on a peace plan for Ukraine. Terry Schultz reports, Ukraine envoy General Keith Kellogg told Europeans not to expect

to be a party to the negotiations. French President Emmanuel Macron has invited leaders from Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, the UK, NATO and European Union institutions to brainstorm about their approach to the US led peace process for Ukraine. Christine Brezina with the German Marshall Fund says there's a lot to assess. What is the spending plan and a capability plan that they can do for themselves? What is their recommendation to Ukraine? The US says European governments will be expected to monitor any potential ceasefire.

So Brezina says they have reason to be displeased about being excluded. For Washington to sideline Europe in this process is a deep insult. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also wants Europe involved in negotiations. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, calls allegations of a quid pro quo with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, quote, ridiculous. This after the Justice Department Friday ordered federal prosecutors to move to dismiss corruption charges against Adams, a move that led several prosecutors to resign.

Afterward, Adams met with Homan and agreed to allow immigration agents to access the prison on Rikers Island. But Homan says the two events aren't related and that he had been seeking Adams' cooperation for months. I'm not asking his officers to be immigration officers. I'm not gonna push them to enforce immigration law. I told him, I want to arrest the bad guy. I want to arrest the public safety threats. I want to get to Rikers Island so we can get the public safety threat before they're released to the street. I want his help, especially the NYPD Intelligence Unit. Speaking there on CNN's State of the Union, Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused in the his help, especially the NYPD Intelligence Unit. LESLIE KENDRICK, CNN STATE OF THE UNION, TALKING ON CNN. Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian

Thompson in December, is due back in a court in New York this week, this time on state charges. Ampere's Ava Puchacz reports a legal fundraiser has already raised more than $400,000. On a website set up by his attorneys to provide updates on the case, a statement from Mangione reads, quote, I am overwhelmed by and grateful for everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support. Pennsylvania's Governor Democrat Josh Shapiro and other lawmakers have said that Mangione should not be treated like a folk hero. Mangione pleaded not guilty to 11 charges in New York,

including first-degree murder. He also faces charges in federal court, as well as in Pennsylvania. While New York has abolished the death penalty, prosecutors could pursue it in the federal case. Eva Pukac, NPR News. Wall Street is closed tomorrow in observance of the President's Day federal holiday. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Deadly storms swept through the southeast last night with heavy rains, winds, and flash flooding. At least nine deaths are blamed on the storm, eight in Kentucky and one in Georgia.

The storms left some roads impassable in Kentucky, damaged buildings, and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers throughout the region. One of the advances in cancer is that new treatments do less damage to healthy parts of the body. And Pirozuki Ngochi reports that's allowing some patients to preserve their fertility.

Studies show an alarming increase in women getting cancer at younger ages. For many of those young adults, preserving the ability to have children after treatment is a huge concern. That includes Maggie Laux, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 28 and always wanted her own children.

After the initial shock of the diagnosis, that was the most present thing on my mind. And that was really almost even harder than the treatment for breast cancer. She is now age 40, cancer-free, and has had three children. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News. At the weekend box office, Captain America, Brave New World debuted in the top spot with an estimated $88 million in ticket sales. And despite unfavorable reviews, those numbers make it the biggest opening of the year so far. In second place, Paddington in Peru opened with an estimated $13 million in ticket sales.

It's the third installment in the beloved franchise of the marmalade-loving bear. The franchise has always been more of a hit overseas and this installment followed suit grossing 115 million dollars internationally. This is NPR News. This message comes from NYU Langone. The NYU Langone Health app gives you access to your electronic health record. Keep track of your visits, lab results, and images all in one place. Better health starts with a better health system.