NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-20-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The government entity called DOJ is claiming that it has saved taxpayers billions of dollars. This week, the Trump administration launched a website that tracks these savings. But it appears Stephen Fowler says the claimed savings are not as rosy as DOJ says they are. The claims went off by just a little bit, but rather overstated by billions. Half of these savings claimed in these receipts comes from what Doge said was actually a typo entered into the federal contract database a few years ago that made a listing worth up to $8 million look like $8 billion. That

typo was fixed in the system a few weeks ago, but only fixed on the Doge website yesterday. NPR's Stephen Fowler reporting. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone today with several European leaders. NPR's Polina Litvinova reports the leaders have held a second meeting in Paris. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among those who assured Ukraine of their support. He published a video on X saying Canada will always stand up for Ukraine. Canada and our allies are unequivocal on standing up against Vladimir Putin's illegal, immoral, unjust violations of the international order. After President Trump criticized Ukraine's leader for not holding elections during the war and called him a dictator, some European leaders spoke up in support of Zelensky.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was dangerous to deny Zelensky's legitimacy. The Ukrainian constitution prohibits elections during martial law, which was announced in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Polina Litvinova, NPR News. Kyiv. Israel has received the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in captivity in Gaza. They included a young mother and her two children. The fourth body was that of an older man.

Habas is scheduled to release six living hostages on Saturday. In exchange, Israel is to free about 600 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Stocks opened sharply lower this morning after a cautious sales forecast from Walmart. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrials fell about 400 points in early trading. Walmart reported strong sales and profits for its most recent quarter, but the retail giant is warning of a possible slowdown in the months to come as cautious shoppers keep a tight grip on their wallets and President Trump's tariff moves threaten to put upward pressure on prices.

New applications for unemployment benefits showed little change last week. Widespread job cuts in the federal government have yet to show up in the data. Republican Congressman Don Bacon is urging the government to be more thoughtful about those job cuts after the Agriculture Department mistakenly fired workers who were fighting the bird flu outbreak, cuts the department is now trying to reverse Humpty Dumpty style. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR. Temperatures are still frigid in much of the central U.S. this morning. In Bismarck, North Dakota, it's 22 degrees below zero. With the windchill, it feels like more than 40 degrees below zero.

It's been really cold for days in the Plains, and the National Weather Service says that widespread record cold will continue through tomorrow. Weather forecasters say that a warming trend will arrive by the weekend. Philadelphia is saying goodbye to the SS United States. It has been docked in the city for nearly 30 years. Now the historic ocean liner is starting its final voyage. From member station WHYY, Matt Gillum reports the vessel is poised to set one more record. The nearly thousand foot long SS United States is finally on its way to begin its transformation

into the biggest artificial reef in the world. The now rusting but stately ocean liner set the transatlantic speed record in both directions on its 1952 maiden voyage, a record it still holds. The rise of the jet age proved the ship's downfall and it left active service in 1969. Dubbed America's flagship, the SS United States. United States is bound for Alabama where it will be cleaned and prepared for its final resting place on the seafloor in the warm waters off

the Florida Panhandle. For NPR News, I'm Matt Gillum in Philadelphia. Former Democratic U.S. Senator for Oklahoma and Governor David Boren has died at the age of 83, according to his family. He'd had a long illness. Warren served several terms in the Oklahoma State House before becoming a U.S. Senator. After leaving Congress, Warren was president of Oklahoma's largest public university, retiring in 2018.

This is NPR.