NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-20-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: February 20, 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 in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. President Trump is warning Ukraine's president to quickly negotiate an end to the war with Russia or risk losing his country.

Meanwhile, Trump is facing criticism from senators in both parties for claiming Ukraine started the conflict. Louisiana Republican John Kennedy says he disagrees with that claim. I think Vladimir Putin started for it. I also believe, from a better experience, that Vladimir Putin is a gangster. He's a gangster with a black heart. In a posting on the social media site X, former Vice President Mike Pence says Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion that's claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Pence also

says the road to peace must be built on truth. President Trump has signed another executive order to expand his power over federal advisory committees. More from NPR's Mar Lyson. The president has issued a series of executive orders designed to expand his power over the federal government. It would allow him to get rid of or downsize a group of federal advisory committees, such as the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Inter-American Foundation, the Presidio Trust, and the Presidential Management Fellows Program. Some of these committees were authorized by Congress. And like similar executive orders Trump signed to give himself direct control of agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the latest executive order may also be challenged in court.

Mara Liason, NPR News. According to the Associated Press, the Internal Revenue Service is preparing to lay off more than 6,000 workers beginning Thursday. The AP reports that the job cuts will affect probationary workers who've been with the IRS roughly a year or less. IRS workers involved in the 2025 tax filing season were told earlier this month that they are exempt from job cuts. The Trump administration has ordered New York to halt a congestion pricing program, which

imposes a $9 fee for driving in a section of Manhattan during peak hours. As WNYC's Stephen Nesson reports, the Transportation Department has terminated approval for the toll. In a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the tolling program that was approved by the Biden administration should have never been given the green light. But Hochul says the toll has reduced traffic in the city, boosted local businesses, and that she vows to fight the administration. I don't care if you love congestion pricing or hate it.

This is an attack on our sovereign identity, our independence from Washington. And this is... We are a nation. We are a nation of states. MTA officials filed a lawsuit against the Transportation Department, and for now, Hockel says the tolling cameras are staying on. Stephen Nesson reporting.

This is NPR. Recent fires at an energy storage facility in Northern California have caused major health concerns in Monterey County. As KQED's Joseph Gehald reports, the blaze first erupted about a month ago and reignited this week. Monterey County fire officials say they were called to Vistra Energy's Moss Landing battery facility around 630 Tuesday evening. They found smoke near a rubble pile that ignited into a fire and burned until 8 a.m. Wednesday. Eric Sandusky, an on-scene coordinator for the U.S. EPA, said his team

has been monitoring air quality since the last fire. We did not see any sustained readings above the moderate air quality index level throughout the entire incident. There were a few spikes that were a minute long or so above that, but not directed towards the community. Joseph Gija, San Francisco Electric Truck Startup, Nikola, is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after failing to raise funds or secure a buyer. The news comes over a year after the Arizona-based company faced a series of scandals, including

the fraud conviction of its founder. Nicola makes heavy-duty commercial vehicles powered by battery or fuel cells. Its bankruptcy filing sent company shares down over 50% on Wednesday. U.S. futures are lower in after hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia-Pacific market, shares are down 1% in Tokyo and in Hong Kong. This is NPR.

Technologist Pau Garcia is using AI to create photos of people's most precious memories. How her mother was dressed, the haircut that she remembered. 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.