NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-19-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, Ankara Kulman, top U.S. and Russian diplomats, have held their most direct conversations in years yesterday in Saudi Arabia, focusing on the war in Ukraine. President Trump is blaming Ukraine for prolonging the war and for failing to surrender territory to Russia. Trump is suggesting Ukrainian officials don't deserve to be present at any talks regarding peace in their country.

And I think I have the power to end this war. And I think it's going very well. But today I heard, oh, well, we weren't invited. Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine.

To be clear, Ukraine did not start the war. Three years ago, Russia launched a surprise full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has been bombing it ever since. The Senate has confirmed President Trump's choice to be Commerce Secretary. NPR's Scott Horsley reports Howard Lotnick won the Senate's approval on a party line vote. Lotnick is a former Wall Street executive who also led President Trump's transition team. As Commerce Secretary, he'll oversee a sprawling department that includes the National Weather Service and the Census Bureau.

He'll also have wide-ranging powers on trade policy, and he's publicly endorsed Trump's plans to impose higher taxes on imports from trading partners around the world. Lutnick is a billionaire who led the Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Bank. The bank lost nearly 700 employees, including Lutnick's brother, in the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. His nomination was narrowly confirmed by a vote of 51-45. Scott Horsley, MPR News, Washington. Separately, President Trump says he plans to impose fresh tariffs on imported automobiles, semiconductor chips, and on pharmaceuticals. He says the tariffs could be worth up to 25% or higher,

and these could start in April. Reuters news agency says nearly half of all generic prescriptions filled in the U.S. during 2022 were imported. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is considering whether to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office. The governor held meetings with top civic and political leaders from the city yesterday.

As NPR's Brian Mann reports, Mayor Adams is in the midst of an alleged corruption scandal. Mayor Adams was charged last year with federal bribery and corruption charges. Last week, the Trump administration's DOJ agreed to suspend that criminal case. It was a move so controversial, seven DOJ attorneys resigned rather than go along with it. Critics say Adams leveraged the favor from Trump's team after agreeing to collaborate with the White House's crackdown on illegal immigration. After four of Adams' own top aides resigned this week, Governor Hockel began talks with

officials about whether to use her authority to remove atoms from office. It's unclear when she'll decide. Brian Mann, NPR News, New York. On Wall Street in pre-market trading, Dow futures are down by nearly 60 points. NASDAQ futures are about 12 points lower. You're listening to NPR. Frigid weather remains locked in over much of the central U.S. The National Weather Service has posted extreme cold warnings

from the Canadian border to Dallas. The wind chill readings in that Texas city are about zero degrees. In North Dakota, the temperature is about 20 below zero. Meanwhile, a winter storm is blasting Kentucky and several neighboring states. Kentucky just got hit over the weekend with powerful storms and flash flooding that killed at least 14 people. Today marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II, and B.R.'s Netta Ulubi reports the Library of Congress has preserved hundreds of hours of sounds

from the front lines of battle. The Marine Corps combat recordings document one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. More than 6,000 Americans died in the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. So did 22,000 Japanese, says Patrick Mitling, an archivist at the Library of Congress. The war is happening around them, but these are people telling their stories, and it's our duty to share that memory with everyone. This collection, he says, includes marine war correspondence covering battles, but also the sounds of church services and the music of Indigenous people in the Pacific Islands.

Metta Ulupi, NPR News. Authorities in Australia say a pod of beached, false killer whales is unlikely to survive. NPR News.