NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-19-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: February 19, 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 Washingtonhington on corva colman a federal judge is declining to temporarily halt the work of president trump's doge entity it's overseen by billionaire elon musk more than a dozen democratic state attorneys general had sued to try to block musk's team

from accessing government systems and laying off federal employees as npr's bobby allen reports the judge did raise concerns about the legality of Musk's work in the White House. Fourteen states sued to prevent Doge from accessing government data and participating in laying off thousands of government workers. The states argued that only an official who was nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate can have that much power. Judge Tanya Chutkin in Washington notes that Musk's actions appear to be precisely the executive abuses the Constitution intended to prevent, but she would not issue a temporary restraining order, saying the state's request lacked evidence. While Musk is the public face of Doge, the White House now says in court papers that

Elon Musk is not its leader. Trump officials have now publicly stated who is running Doge. Bobbi Allen in PR News. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is asking the U.S. to stop using Kremlin disinformation when talking about Russia's war on Ukraine. Yesterday, President Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war with Russia. That is not true. Russia launched a full-scale surprise invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

NPR's Joanna Kikissis reports this comes as Trump's special envoy on Russia and Ukraine arrived in Kiev today. Zelensky looked grim and exhausted as he briefed reporters in Kiev about the challenges facing Ukraine a day after the U.S. and Russia appeared to take the first steps toward normalizing ties. After Trump recently said, you shouldn't have started the war, a Kremlin talking point, Zelensky said Trump appeared to be living in a zone of disinformation. I would like to see more truth out of the Trump team, Zelensky said, because this affects

Ukraine and not in a positive way. He said he hopes to make his case to Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, who is in Kyiv for talks. Joanna Kekissis, NPR News, Kyiv. Brazil's attorney general has indicted the country's former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro. And Pierce Carey-Khan says prosecutors accuse Bolsonaro of plotting a coup in 2022 to stay in power.

There's stunning charges. The standout points, prosecutors say that Bolsonaro and 33 others, or they said it was this vast criminal organization to keep him in power after he narrowly lost to the current president, Luis Ignacio Lula de Silva. On top of that, there was also this plot outlined to poison Lula, kill his vice president and a Supreme Court justice who Bolsonaro has feuded with. NPR's Carrie Kahn reporting. Bolsonaro has denied the allegations. He says they're fanciful and won't prevail in court. This is NPR. President Trump says he plans to impose fresh tariffs on imported automobiles, semiconductor chips,

and on pharmaceuticals. He says these tariffs could be worth up to 25% or higher, and they could start in April. Reuters news agency says nearly half of all generic prescriptions filled in the U.S. during 2022 were imported. The head of the U.S. Postal Service says he is going to step down. Louis DeJoy has served as Postmaster General for nearly five years. He has asked the Postal Service Board of Governors to begin seeking his successor.

In Portugal, surfers have again faced the giant waves of Nazaré, about 70 miles north of Lisbon, and Piers Miguel Macias reports their intruder Nazaré's big wave challenge. Playa do Norte Beach in Nazaré is not just another big wave site, it actually holds the record for the biggest wave ever surfed, over 90 feet tall, and the next three spots in that ranking. On Tuesday, Frances Justine Tupont won the women's competition in her return to the yearly Nazaré challenge. And that's no small feat for the 33-year-old champion who took the stage holding her one-year-old child and thanked her team.

You can say we should have a prize for the best driver in Nazaré for all time, it's Eric, he's the best driver for all the time. And that's because catching such a big wave is too dangerous to attempt on your own. Surfers like Dupont are propelled by a teammate driving a jet ski who place them in the sweet spot to be able to ride these giants. Miguel Macias, NPR News. And I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.