NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-17-2025 11PM EST

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

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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. Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. Controversy surrounding New York City Mayor Eric Adams deepened today. Four of his top aides and deputy mayors announced their resignations. This comes after the Trump

administration's Justice Department moved to drop corruption charges against Adams. Here's NPR's Brian Mann. Critics say the DOJ shelved criminal corruption and bribery charges against Mayor Adams, a Democrat, after he agreed to collaborate with President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Adams faces growing calls to resign, and now four of Adams' most senior aides say they're leaving office. In a joint statement, three of the officials pointed to the extraordinary events that have rocked Adams' administration in recent weeks.

They said, quote, to stay faithful to the oaths we swore to New Yorkers, we've come to the difficult decision to step down. Speaking over the weekend, Adams rejected calls that he leave office. In a statement sent to NPR, Adams says he's disappointed by the resignations. Brian Mann, NPR News, New York. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has issued a statement saying she will meet with key leaders tomorrow with the goal of ensuring stability in New York City. After the Eaton fire broke out in Los Angeles, it was not fully contained for more than three

weeks. NPR's investigations team transcribed hours of first responder radio to better understand how the power company was involved. Here's more from NPR's Chiara Eisner. When high winds and dry conditions whip up a wildfire, power lines can cause problems by sparking or falling down. That's dangerous for first responders and can also start new fires. NPR analyzed almost a hundred hours of radio traffic exchanged among firefighters responding to the eaten fire. Delta branch three. I just met with Edison's reps. They're not going to be able to guarantee shutdown in here. That evidence shows the power company, Southern California Edison, wasn't able to quickly shut

off power in two key neighborhoods, and that live power lines led to new fires. The Eaton fire burned down about 10,000 structures and led to the deaths of 17 people. Kiara Eisner, NPR News. Extremely cold temperatures are gripping many parts of the country this week. NPR's Joe Hernandez reports that some regions could be in for another round of snow. The high pressure system is pushing Arctic air down from Canada and into the central US beginning on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service, some of the coldest conditions will hit parts of the Great Plains where wind chills could reach negative 60.

But the bitter cold will spread across much of the US, with freezing temperatures reaching as far south as the Gulf Coast. Potentially heavy snowfall is also in the forecast. Parts of Kansas and Missouri could receive something like eight inches of snow through Wednesday, while several inches could fall in nearby states,

including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia. Joe Hernandez, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News. The National Transportation Safety Board sending investigators to Toronto to assist their Canadian counterparts in the investigation into Monday's crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport, a Delta flight out of Minneapolis crashed while landing and flipped upside down. Officials say 18 people were injured but no one was killed.

The runway was covered in snow and winds were gusting up to 40 mph at the time of the crash. The job cuts announced by Southwest Airlines are the first major layoffs in the company's more than 50-year history. Southwest said Monday that it's eliminating 1,750 jobs, or 15% of its corporate workforce. The airline says the cuts will be focused on corporate overhead and leadership positions, including 11 senior leadership jobs.

The spring movie audiences may think they're seeing double or even more than double. Here's MPR's Bob Vandello. In a new mafia epic, Robert De Niro plays real-life mob boss Vito Genovese. Where do I start? And also plays rival mob boss Frank Costello. You're going down a very dangerous road. Have we ain't been down dangerous roads before? I tell you, but you're not where I am. De Niro meets De Niro in The Alto Nights. Michael B. Jordan has a similar double assignment in the thriller Sinners. You twins? No, we cousins.

Nope. Twin brothers named Smoke and Stack. And if double casting seems tricky, it's child's play next to what Robert Pattinson signed on for in the cloning movie Mickey 17. Every time I died, they just printed me out again. There are so many of him that one day he meets himself. Aaaaaah! Multiples.

Multiples of movie multiples coming soon to the multiplex. Bob Mandelo, NPR News. And this is NPR News. Technologist Paul Garcia is using AI to create photos of people's most precious memories. How her mother was dressed, the haircut that she remembered. We generated tens of images and then she saw two images that was like, that was it. Ideas about the future of memory. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR.