NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-19-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: February 19, 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 News in Washington, on Korova Coleman, Russia says Washington and Moscow are on their way toward normalizing relations. That follows yesterday's talks in Saudi Arabia. It was the first direct high-level exchange between the two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago. NPR's Charles Means reports the talks mark an abrupt shift in U.S. policy. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, briefing Russian lawmakers on the Saudi talks, praised President Trump as the first Western leader to publicly acknowledge the prospect of NATO expansion into Ukraine as a major cause of the war. Lavrov said there was now a shared desire not only to end that conflict, but possibly

work with the U.S. to develop new trade and geopolitical partnerships. To do that, Lavrov said both sides first had to, quote, clean up Biden administration efforts to undermine relations. The Biden White House sought to isolate Russia over its invasion of its neighbor. In contrast, President Trump said he wants to work with Russia to end the war, unnerving Ukraine and traditional U.S. allies in Europe. Charles Maines, NPR News.

Frigid temperatures are blanketing the central U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Orison says millions of people are under extreme cold warnings. We have temperatures up across the northern plains region that are on the order of minus 30 to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The Dakotas, parts of Montana, on down into the Nebraska, but it's very cold all the way south down into Texas. Some parts of Texas, especially northern Texas, the temperatures are in the single digits and there's actually a few sub-zero

temperatures there. There are also winter storm warnings in several Appalachian states. Stocks opened lower this morning as the Commerce Department reported a sharper than expected drop in home construction last month. And Pierre Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrial average fell about 140 points in early trading. It's hard to break ground on new houses when much of the ground is frozen. Housing starts fell nearly 10% last month as frigid winter weather blanketed much of the country. Permits for future home construction tell a somewhat warmer story. They showed little change from December. President

Trump's pick to run the Commerce Department has won Senate confirmation on a narrow party line vote. As Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick will oversee a sprawling department that includes the National Weather Service and the Census Bureau, which counts things like housing starts. The former Wall Street executive will also enforce the President's trade agenda, including tariffs. Scott Horsley in Peer News, Washington. President Trump's choice to be Labor Secretary will appear this morning for her confirmation

hearing. Former Oregon Congresswoman Laurie Chavez de Riemer drew strong labor support while in office. Her nomination has been praised by the head of the Teamsters Union. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials are now down 150 points. You're listening to NPR. Demonstrators gathered at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta yesterday. Georgia Public Broadcasting's Sophie Gratas reports they were protesting the firing of thousands of workers in federal health agencies.

The CDC has lost about 10 percent of its workforce, more than a thousand people, since termination letters went out across the Department of Health and Human Services last week. Barbara Stanky, retired from state public health, says that the cuts will leave frontline workers without critical guidance. The CDC is sponsoring that. They're the ones who coordinate that. It takes a lot. It takes a lot to get from federal to state to local to the people and communities.

And those communities need good information, she says, to fight infectious and chronic diseases. For NPR News, I'm Sophie Grotus in Atlanta. The Vatican says Pope Francis continues to rest in a Rome hospital. He's now been diagnosed with a severe case of pneumonia. The pope was initially hospitalized last week for the treatment of bronchitis. Pakistani officials have increased the number of arrests of Afghan citizens who are in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. More arrests have been

reported in a nearby city. The Afghan Embassy in Islamabad claims that Pakistan is trying to expel all Afghan refugees from the country. Pakistan denies this, but Pakistani leaders have previously vowed to eject Afghan nationals. The Associated Press reports more than a million Afghans are now living in Pakistan after they fled the Taliban takeover of their country. Many are seeking resettlement in the U.S. It's NPR. Bella DiPaolo is glad if you're happily married, but she is perfectly happy being single. I would love to have someone who took care of my car or someone who cleaned up the dishes

after dinner, but then I'd want them to leave. From yourself to your dog to your spouse are significant others. That's on the TED Radio Hour from NPR.